A bowfishing arrow with a medium that receives a slider and allows the slider to traverse a substantial length of the arrow shaft. The slider can receive a fishing line and when being drawn, the slider allows the slider and fishing line to remain in front of the bow and, upon release, the slider traverses to the back of the arrow during flight but, the slider at all times remains in front of the bow.

From the early days of man, there were those that were referred to as gatherers, and then, there were the hunters. And although the origin of the hunter's adventures was one meant for survival, the innate character of mankind still thrived on the sport of the hunt. One of the earlier, and safer forms of the hunt, was fishing, also referred to as angling. Fishing has roots that extend back to as early as 2000 BC in which an ancient Egyptian angling scene depicts men with sticks and lines, as well as nets, seeking their prey. Today, angling as a sport is main-stream with fishing tournaments, sponsored anglers, fishing shows on primetime, and the like.
Another form of hunting that dates back at least to the Stone Age is bow hunting. The oldest arrow heads were discovered in Africa and were dated to be from before 25,000 BC. Scientists have theorized that the bow was created as an off-shoot of the spear-thrower. Somewhere around 25,000-18,000 BC, man began to use fire to further harden his stone arrowheads and added feathers to his arrows in order to improve accuracy. Approximately around 2800 BC, the first composite bow was produced by the Egyptians. This composite bow was made from wood, tipped with animal horn and held together with animal sinew and glue. Unstrung, it resembled a "C" shape and would have required 2 people to string it. The bowstring was made from "catgut" (sheep intestines). The arrows used were extremely light, could be shot 400 yards using the composite bow and would easily penetrate the armor of that time period. The Egyptians used archers on the back of light chariots who were highly trained and skilled and could easily outflank an enemy army with devastating effect.
It shouldn't be all that surprising, that given the adventurous and inventive nature of mankind, that eventually these two sports would be combined. Today, the popular sport of bowfishing has a national organization called the Bowfishing Association of America, which was originally established in 1990 to track of bowfishing tournaments in the United States, and which now lobbies for the rights to bowfish and promote the sport.
Bowfishing is a method of fishing that uses specialized archery equipment to shoot and retrieve fish. Fish are shot with a barbed arrow that is attached with special line, typically to a reel mounted on the bow or elsewhere. Some freshwater species commonly hunted include common carp, grass carp, bighead carp, alligator gar, and paddlefish. In saltwater, rays and sharks are regularly pursued. An even more recent variation in the sport is aerial bowfishing in which the hunter shoots fish as they leap from the water.
Bowfishing equipment generally includes a bow, arrows, line, reels and glasses. Some of the bows used by bowfishermen are simple and do not include any sights—aiming is by line-of-sight judgment down the arrow. There are a couple of types of rests including the hook and roller rest. Most bows have little to no let off and not much draw weight. There are two main types of bows: traditional and recurve bows. The traditional bows are like long bows. In more modern times compound bows came into use. They use a system of pulleys to help the archer. Modern bows can have as much as 120 pounds (50 kg) draw weight. The crossbow is also sometimes used in the sport of bowfishing and has its own advantages including the use of a reel.
The arrows used in bowfishing are typically heavier and stronger than arrows used in other types of archery and are most commonly constructed of five-sixteenth inch fiberglass, but, other arrows can be found to be constructed of solid aluminum, carbon fiber, and carbon fiber reinforced fiberglass. Bowfishing arrows generally lack fletching, as it can cause the arrow to flare to one side or another underwater and they are not required at the relatively short ranges associated with bowfishing. Line is attached to the arrow by tying to a hole in the arrow shaft or through the use of a slide system.
Bowfishing line is often made from braided nylon, Dacron, or Spectra. Commonly used line weights range from eighty to four-hundred pound test, with six-hundred being used when bowhunting for alligators. Line color is normally selected to be lime green, white, or neon orange.
The bows used in bow fishing are similar to the traditional bow but, traditionally have usually been very simple. Most of the bow fishing bows did not include sights and aiming was performed by line-of-sight judgment down the arrow. Most of the bows have little to no let off and not much draw weight. This differs with what one has available and personal preference. There are two main types of bows (a) traditional bows—long bows and (b) recurve bows. In more modern times, compound bows have been used. These compound bows use a system of pulleys to help the archer. Modern bows can have as much as 120 pounds (50 kg) draw weight.
The crossbow has also been used in bow fishing both from above the surface and below the surface of the water.
Several types of reels are commonly used in bowfishing: Hand-wrap, spincast, closed reels and retriever. Hand-wrap reels are the simplest reels consisting of a circular spool that line is wrapped onto by hand and then secured in a line holding slot. When the arrow is shot, the line comes free from the line holder and feeds off the spool. Hit fish are fought and retrieved by pulling the line in hand over hand. Hand-wrap reels are the least effective at fighting arrowed fish, but they can be used in conjunction with a float system to shoot and fight fish. Retriever reels have a "bottle" which holds the line in place. When shot the line comes out either until the shot goes too far and the line runs out or the hunter pushes down a stopping device which can be used to keep a fish from traveling too far. Some retriever reels have slots cut in them and are known as slotted retriever reels. They are more commonly used for alligator, alligator gar, shark and other big game that will take more time to chase down than smaller game fish.
An important aspect to bowfishing is having a good visual of the target. To see the fish in the water on a sunny day, polarized sun glasses are helpful. The polarized lens can cut the glare on top of the water to make it easier to see below the surface. Different tints and lens colors are used depending on the color of water the hunter is fishing in, from darker brown to clearer blue and green. At night glasses are unnecessary, as light is used to see through the water.
Most states allow bowfishing of the so-called "rough" fish. Those are suckers, eels, perch, gars, carp and the like. Gars and carp are the most popular and usually the most plentiful. Carp can be found in almost any body of water, large or small, year round. The best times are during the spawn in spring or after some good rainfall when the water in the shallows is deeper. The only things needed are bow, arrows, and waders. At times the fish can be so involved in spawning, the bowman can walk out among them and shoot. Some bow fishermen use field arrows so that they can just flip the fish onto shore without having to disengage the barbs to get the arrows out.
As the sport of bowfishing continues to grow in popularity, the bow fisherman naturally seeks inventive mechanisms and techniques to improve on the sport, increase the bow fisherman's productivity, and decrease the laborious aspects of the sport. The present disclosure is focused on such an inventive improvement.


A tape cassette accommodating a magnetic tape therein includes a cassette body having a front opening across which a run of the tape is guided, an outer lid pivotally mounted on said cassette body for movements between opened and closed positions in respect to the front opening of the cassette body, a first inner lid disposed between the outer lid and the cassette body and pivoted in respect to the latter upon movement of the outer lid between its opened and closed positions, a second inner lid mounted either slidably or pivotally on the first inner lid for movement relative to the latter between an extended position and a retracted position, a driving mechanism for displacing the second inner lid to its extended and retracted positions relative to the first inner lid in response to movements of the outer lid to its closed and opened positions, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape cassette such as a video cassette having a double lid structure formed by an outer lid and an inner lid.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1A and 1B show a known video cassette in the related art. This video cassette has a cassette body 1 accommodating a magnetic tape 2. The cassette body 1 has a front opening 3 defining a path of the magnetic tape 2 drawn from the cassette body 1. The front opening 3 is adapted to be opened and closed by an outer lid 4 of a single lid structure. A pair of right and left side plates 4a of the outer lid 4 are pivotably connected through a pair of right and left pivot pins 5 to a pair of right and left outside walls 1a of the cassette body 1, respectively. Thus, the outer lid 4 is vertically pivotable about the pivot pins 5 in the opposite directions indicated by arrows a and a', thereby opening and closing the front opening 3. The magnetic tape 2 is adapted to be drawn from the front opening 3 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 1B.
In this video cassette, the front opening 3 can be sufficiently opened with a small rotational angle of the outer lid 4. That is, as shown in FIG. 1B, a large opening amount H.sub.2 of the front opening 3 can be ensured with a small opening amount H.sub.1 of the outer lid 4. However, no inner lid is provided in the video cassette, so that the magnetic tape 2 in the front opening 3 is not completely enclosed. Accordingly, dust or the like entering through a bottom opening 6 of the cassette body 1 is apt to be attached to the magnetic tape 2, thus reducing the desired dustproof effect.
FIGS. 2A and 2B show another video cassette with an improved dustproof effect and which is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,449,677. In this video cassette, an inner lid 7 is pivotably connected through a pair of right and left pivot pins 8 to the inside surface of an outer lid 4. A pair of right and left guide pins 9 are formed at the right and left ends of the inner lid 7 on the back side thereof, and a pair of right and left guide grooves 10 are formed in the opposed inside surfaces of a pair of right and left inside walls 1b of a cassette body 1, so as to guide the right and left guide pins 9, respectively. The outer lid 4 is adapted to be pivoted about a pair of right and left pivot pins 5 in the opposite directions of arrows a and a', and the guide pins 9 of the inner lid 7 are adapted to be guided by the guide grooves 10 to move the inner lid 7 together with the outer lid 4 in the directions of the arrows a and a', thereby opening and closing a front opening 3 of the cassette body 1.
As mentioned above, the video cassette shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B has a double lid structure formed by the outer lid 4 and the inner lid 7 to cover both the outside and inside surfaces of a magnetic tape 2 extending across the front opening 3 in the closed condition of the outer lid 4. That is, the magnetic tape 2 extending across the front opening 3 can be completely enclosed in the closed condition of the outer lid 4, thus improving the dustproof effect. However, a relatively large rotational angle of the outer lid 4 is required to raise the inner lid 7 to a sufficiently high level for clearing the tape 2. That is, if an opening amount H.sub.2 of the front opening 3 is to be made equal to that in the video cassette shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, an opening amount H.sub.1 of the outer lid 4 will have to be considerably larger than that in the video cassette shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B.
A space to be occupied by the video cassette in a VTR is determined by the opening amount H.sub.1 of the outer lid 4. Accordingly, the increase in the opening amount H.sub.1 causes an increase in the occupied space to hinder reduction in the size of the VTR.


Accessories for LED lamps and methods of attaching accessories to illumination sources (e.g., LED lamps) are disclosed. A beam shaping accessories mechanically affixed to the LED lamp. The lens is designed to adapt to a first fixture that is mechanically attached to the lens. Accessories are designed to have a second fixture for mating to the first fixture such that the first fixture and the second fixture are configured to produce a retaining force between the first accessory and the lens. In some embodiments, the retaining force is a mechanical force that is accomplished by mechanical mating of mechanical fixtures. In other embodiments, the retaining force is a magnetic force and is accomplished by magnetic fixtures configured to have attracting magnetic forces. In some embodiments, the accessory is treated to modulate an emanated light pattern (e.g., a rectangular, or square, or oval, or circular or diffused emanated light pattern).

Accessories for standard halogen lamps such as MR16 lamps include, for example, lenses, diffusers, color filters, polarizers, linear dispersion, accessories, collimators, projection frames, louvers and baffles. Such accessories are commercially available from companies such as Abrisa, Rosco, and Lee Filters. These accessories can be used to control the quality of light from the lamps including elimination of glare, to change the color temperature of the lamp, or to tailor a beam profile for a particular application.
Generally, accessories for certain lamps (e.g., halogen lamps) are required to withstand high temperatures. Often, such halogen lamp accessories require disassembly of the lamp from the luminaire to incorporate the accessory. This set of disadvantages results in the accessories having high costs and being cumbersome, and/or expensive and/or complicated to install.
There is a need for improved approaches for attaching field-installable accessories to lamps.


This charged particle beam device is characterized by controlling a deflector in a manner so as to correct the amount of scanning deflection of a charged particle beam between: a first detection condition for detecting a secondary charged particle (112) signal; and a second detection condition for detecting a reflected charged particle (111) signal. As a result, it is possible to correct length measurement error and scaling fluctuation arising when altering the type of charged particle to detect. Thus, in the observation, measurement, and the like of a low-step sample or a charged sample, even when forming an image that is on the basis of the reflected charged particle signal, it is possible to obtain an accurate image regardless of length measurement error and scaling fluctuation.

As one of devices for performing observation and measurement of a sample using an electron beam, there exists a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The SEM acquires a two-dimensional image reflecting a surface configuration of a sample, by irradiating the sample with an electron beam and by detecting electrons emitted from the sample in the form of a signal.
The electron beam arrives at the sample and the arrived electron beam causes atoms on the sample surface to be excited, which emits a signal electron having a low energy. The signal electron is referred to as a secondary electron. When an electron beam is applied on an edge part of such a sample having irregularities as a semiconductor circuit pattern, this causes an edge effect to generate secondary electrons and increase the amount of such electrons, which results in formation of an image a contrast dependent on the irregularities.
On the other hand, an electron, again emitted from the sample surface while the electron beam is scattered in the sample, is referred to as a reflected electron. Such reflected electrons are signal electrons having high energies and form an image having a contrast not depending upon the irregularities of the sample but depending upon the composition of the sample.
In these years, as a process for a semiconductor, a magnetic head or the like is more complicated, and such measurement of a low-step sample as not having irregularities on the observation surface of a sample are more required. In such a case, the amount or magnitude of detected secondary electron signal is reduced. To avoid this, reflected electrons in place of secondary electrons are detected, and the signals and images are synthesized to reinforce information on edge and contrast, thus enabling enhancement of the image quality and the length measurement accuracy. The aforementioned method is valid, because, when the irradiation of the electron beam in the SEM observation causes the surface to be charged to several and several tens of volts (v), and even when this forms a barrier for the secondary electrons, reflected electrons can be detected.
There is disclosed in PATENT LITERATURE 1 a technique in which, when a reflected electron is detected and amplified, scanning conditions for an electron beam applied onto a sample before change of a magnification are set to be nearly the same as scanning conditions after the magnification change so as to form a suitable reflected electron image regardless of the magnification change. PATENT LITERATURE 2 explains a method by which, after a secondary electron image is selectively displayed and then adjusted in magnification and so on, the brightness and contrast of the secondary electron image are changed and adjusted operatively with the brightness and contrast of the secondary electron image of a reflected electron image not selectively displayed yet, and then observation is made by switching the display to the reflected electron image. PATENT LITERATURE 3 discloses the effect that, in order to detect and process a reflected electron signal or a secondary electron signal and an X-ray signal to obtain an integrated signal having a high contrast and signal/noise ratio (S/N ratio), respective magnifications, biases and weighting proportions are controlled for addition and division processing.


Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems include a path management hub and proxy server nodes that form a mesh network. The hub receives link performance metrics from each of the nodes. The hub determines optimal paths between first and second nodes for each of a plurality of metric types or a combination of metric types using the received link performance metrics. The hub maps a service identifier to a plurality of the determined optimal paths for a context representing one or more link performance metric types. The hub transmits a next hop for each of the plurality of mapped optimal paths along with the mapping to the first node. The first node receives the service identifier mapped to the next hops and traffic for the first connection. In response to determining the received traffic is for the service, the first node selects a first next hop and forwards the traffic.

Content delivery networks (CDNs) aim to serve content to end-users with high availability and high performance. In particular, CDNs deploy proxy servers in multiple, geographically diverse data centers to cache and serve the content. When the content is requested, the request is directed to the node that, e.g., will require the fewest hops, is the least number of network seconds away from the client requesting the content, etc. Typically, this results in the selection of an edge node that is closest to the client. For example, a proxy server within a telecommunications service provider (TSP) network may cache and serve content to customers of the TSP to lessen demands on the network backbone and quickly and reliably deliver the content. Caching content in many locations to maximize the chances of having a proxy server close to any given client, however, can incur significant costs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Context-aware path computation and selection


A non-aqueous inkjet ink comprising a coloring material and a water-insoluble solvent, wherein the coloring material is water-soluble or water-dispersible, and the amount of water within the ink is less than the amount of water required to dissolve or disperse the coloring material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-aqueous inkjet ink.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet recording system is a system in which an inkjet ink with a high degree of fluidity is sprayed from very fine head nozzles in the form of ink particles, and these ink particles then record an image on a printing target positioned opposing the nozzles. This type of system enables high-speed printing to be conducted with minimal noise, and is therefore rapidly becoming widespread.
In terms of the solvent, inks can be broadly classified into aqueous inks and non-aqueous inks. Non-aqueous inks that do not use water as the ink solvent medium, including solvent-based inks that use a volatile solvent as the main constituent and oil-based inks that use a non-volatile solvent as the main constituent, exhibit superior drying properties to aqueous inks, and also exhibit excellent printability.
The coloring material for a non-aqueous ink may use either a dye or a pigment, although using a dye offers the advantage of particularly favorable color production.
In a non-aqueous ink, an oil-soluble dye is used, and when printing is performed onto plain paper, the oil-soluble dye tends to be readily drawn into the interior of the recording paper together with the non-aqueous solvent medium. As a result, the image density tends to fall, and show-through (a phenomenon in which the ink penetrates through to the underside of the printed item) becomes prevalent.
Another example of a non-aqueous ink that uses a dye is a water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion ink in which an aqueous solution containing a dissolved water-soluble dye is emulsified within a non-aqueous solvent. Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H04-170475) and Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H04-183762) disclose, as inkjet inks, water-in-oil emulsion inks comprising an oil phase component, a water phase component containing water and an aqueous dye as the main constituents, and an emulsifier. Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. H05-9421) discloses an inkjet ink comprising a core material, which is composed of a colorant dissolved or dispersed within a first solvent medium, emulsified within a second solvent medium that does not dissolve the core material.
W/O emulsion inks exhibit minimal show-through when printed onto plain paper, but if a dye having low solubility in water is used, then achieving a combination of favorable image density and good ink storage stability has proven difficult.
Conventional W/O emulsion inks require an amount of water that is sufficient to completely dissolve the dye within the ink, meaning increasing the dye concentration within the ink requires a concomitant increase in the amount of water. However, as the amount of water within the ink is increased, the emulsion stability may deteriorate, or a W/O emulsion may not be able to be formed at all. In other words, in conventional W/O emulsion inks, the dye content is limited by the amount of water, and if the amount of water is reduced to enable favorable retention of the storage stability of the ink, then the amount of dye is also reduced, making it impossible to improve the image density.
Patent Document 4 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-212466) discloses an oil-based ink for an inkjet that is formed from a mixed liquid comprising an aqueous dye solution and a reverse micelle solution prepared by dissolving a surfactant in a non-polar organic solvent. However, in a similar manner to W/O emulsion inks, an amount of water that is sufficient to completely dissolve the dye within the ink is required, and therefore improving the image density while ensuring favorable retention of the storage stability is very difficult.
Furthermore, even in non-aqueous inkjet inks that employ self-dispersible pigments, in a similar manner to that described above for inks that employ dyes, an amount of water that is sufficient to completely disperse the self-dispersible pigment within the ink is required, meaning improving the image density while ensuring favorable retention of the storage stability is problematic.
As described above, in those cases where a water-soluble or water-dispersible coloring material is used within a non-aqueous inkjet ink, problems remain in terms of the storage stability and the image density.


In an embodiment, an immunochemistry analysing system includes a source of paramagnetic particles, a source of fluid, a cuvette configured to receive the paramagnetic particles and the fluid, a pipette configured to (i) translate so that at least a portion of the pipette is located within the cuvette and (ii) dispense at least one of the paramagnetic particles and the fluid into the cuvette so that the paramagnetic particles and the fluid can be mixed within the cuvette, a motor configured to move the pipette while located in the cuvette, and a control unit configured to vary a motor drive of the motor to cause the pipette to mix the fluid with the paramagnetic particles within the cuvette.

Many immunochemistry analysis systems require that analyte molecules in a patient's biological sample (e.g. serum or plasma) attach to paramagnetic particles. Such systems require that magnets be positioned so that the paramagnetic particles can be localized and one or more washing steps can be performed to remove background signals associated with potential contaminants and interfering substances that may be present in samples.
When a magnetic force is applied to the paramagnetic particles, however, the magnetic force can cause the paramagnetic particles to cluster, even after the magnetic force is removed. There is accordingly a need for equipment that can mix the paramagnetic particles to break up the clusters so that assays can be performed using the paramagnetic particles. There is also a need for equipment that can perform such mixing without the need for constant calibration.

Apparatuses and methods for mixing fluid or media by vibrating a pipette using transient and steady-state intervals


The digital copying machine has a printer, a writer and optionally a disk destruction devise connected to a personal computer by a USB port cable. The computer can select files from its hard drive and place them in a folder for writing on a disk in the digital copying machine. The personal computer can also make copies of a disk in its disk drive or make copies of portions of the disk in its disk drive and add files from the computer hard drive or from memory. The digital copying machine can print on the disks to identify them. The digital copying machine has a robotic arm for removing disks from a stack and placing them in the writer, the printer or on a finished stack. Software in the personal computer can be programmed for the number of copies to be made and what is printed on the disks.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to use of a personal computer to run a digital copying machine for copying, labeling and optionally destroying CDs and DVD's from files in the personal computer or on a disk in the personal computer using a USB 2.0 connector between the personal computer and the disk copying machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common to have personal computers with a CD or DVD reader and a separate CD or DVD writer such that copies of the master CD or DVD can be made in the personal computer. The personal computer is efficient for making one or two copies of a master CD or DVD, however it is not suitable for making large numbers of copies and does not have an automatic feeder for the blank disks and an automatic stacker for the copied disks. Further the writers in a PC for CD's and DVD's generally do not have a printer for printing on the surface of the disks.
For making large numbers of copies of master disks stand alone CD and DVD copy machines are used. These machines use a master disk in a read drive to be copied and a plurality of write disk drives to make copies of the master disk. The CD or DVD copy machine may automatically load a disk into the write disk drives for making copies of the master and then automatically remove the copy and place it in a stack of copied disks. The CD or DVD copy machine may include a printer for printing on the copied disks to show what the content of the disk is. A PC may be used to read the master disk and transfer the data to the writers in the disk copying machine.
In the past the computer which contained the disk reader or the information to be transferred to the CD or DVD digital copying machine had to have special cabling and the digital copying machine needed special software and cards to run the digital copying machine. These special connections and cards increase the cost of the disk copying machines.
Making copies of disks one at a time in a personal computer is labor intensive and time consuming for making large numbers of copies.
Making copies of disks in currently available digital copying machines requires expensive specialized equipment for copying a master disk and is geared for large numbers of copies.
It is desirable to have a disk copying machine such that a personal computer can run the disk copying machine and for selecting portions of data stored on a hard drive or in memory in the computer or on portions of a disk, to make copies of the data without having to copy a master disk. It is further desired to be able to copy a master disk to one or more writer drives without special cabling or software cards in the digital copying machine. It is also desirable to use a standard USB 2.0 port and cable to connect a personal computer to a stand-alone digital copying machine to make copies of disks and to print on the disks.
One problem with digital copying machines is there is a robotic arm having a stepper motor for picking up disks and placing them in disk drives, printer drives and stacks of finished disks. The stepper motors are noisy and set up vibrations which can hit resonant frequencies on the digital copying machine. The digital copying machines are frequently weighted in various locations to dampen the vibrations and noise but this adds weight to the digital copying machine.
Another need is for destroying and certifying the destruction of disks containing private information or copyrighted works. A digital copying machine should be capable of placing a serial number electronically on the disk for identification and a disk destruction system should be able to read the serial number and record the destruction.


A computer keyboard assembly includes a bottom module connected separably to a top module. The bottom module has a top wall formed with through holes registered respectively with key caps mounted movably on the top module, a wiring board provided with electrical contacts, an actuating unit disposed on the wiring board and having upright biasing members, each extending upwardly through a corresponding through hole and having an actuator contacting electrically a corresponding electrical contact as a result of movement of a corresponding key cap from a normal position to a depressed position, and a keyboard controller for interpreting a mode identification signal from a mode-determining unit of the top module so as to output an identification code corresponding to the mode identification signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a computer keyboard, more particularly to a computer keyboard assembly having separable top and bottom modules.
2. Description of the Related Art
A computer keyboard assembly having separable top and bottom module assemblies has been disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0000048A1. In the aforesaid computer keyboard assembly, the top module assembly is configured to include a plurality of key sets that are mounted respectively and fittingly on the bottom module assembly. However, the bottom module assembly cannot match another top module assembly provided with a game control device, such as a joystick device, for use in a game input mode.

Computer keyboard assembly having separable top and bottom modules


A mechanism for optimizing transaction retries within a system utilizing a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus architecture. Specifically, one embodiment of the present invention includes a system which optimizes transaction retries issued by a PCI bus master device to a target device coupled to a PCI bus. The system includes a target device communicatively coupled to a PCI bus and able to issue a retry signal over the PCI bus. Furthermore, the system includes a PCI bus master device communicatively coupled to the PCI bus and able to issue a transaction signal to the target device over the PCI bus. Moreover, the system includes a retry timer circuit coupled to the PCI bus master device in order to respond when the PCI bus master device receives the retry signal issued by the target device over the PCI bus. The retry timer circuit causes the PCI bus master device to wait a fixed period of time before reissuing the transaction signal to the target device over the PCI bus. The fixed period of time is regulated by the retry timer circuit and is hardwired into the retry timer circuit.

The present invention generally pertains to the field of the peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus architecture. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of transaction retries over a PCI bus.
Computers are useful functional devices which are fabricated in a variety of sizes ranging from computers which occupy large office space down to computers which are held in one""s hand. These varying sizes of computers also perform an extremely wide variety of useful operations, depending on the software which is installed within their particular memory storage device. For example, computers can manage numerous financial transactions of a bank, control the fabrication of items ranging from automobiles down to integrated circuit chips, store addresses and telephone numbers of business and personal acquaintances, enable someone to produce and edit documents, along with transmitting and receiving data over a network such as the internet.
It should be appreciated that within a typical computer system there exists one or more bus architectures which are used to convey signals and information between distinct internal components of the computer system. For example, one or more bus architectures are typically used to connect a central processing unit (CPU) of the computer system to one or more of its memory storage devices. Additionally, the CPU is also usually connected to varying input/output components of the computer system by utilizing one or more different bus architectures. Therefore, when the computer system executes its programming, useful information and signals are able to be communicated between the CPU, memory storage devices, and diverse input/output components of the computer system.
In order to increase the functionality and usefulness of a computer system, varying peripheral devices are typically connected to it, such as a small computer systems interface (SCSI) host bus adapter, local area network (LAN) adapter, video adapter, graphics adapter, and the like. Additionally, these types of peripheral devices are also connected to the CPU, memory storage devices, and other components of the computer system by using one or more different bus architectures. It should be understood that over time the computer and electronics industry has developed several different types of bus architectures. One of the most widely used and widely supported bus architectures in the computer and electronics industry is the peripheral component interconnect bus architecture, commonly referred to as the PCI bus architecture. The PCI bus was developed in order to provide a high speed and low latency bus architecture from which a wide variety of systems can be developed. As part of the PCI bus architecture, a definitive set of rules and protocols were established for PCI agents connected to a PCI bus in order to standardize the manner of accessing, utilizing, and relinquishing the PCI bus. One of the purposes for the PCI standard is to maximize the data transfer bandwidth of the PCI bus. It should be appreciated that the set of rules and protocols of the PCI bus architecture are set forth in an industry standard PCI specification.
There are disadvantages associated with the PCI bus architecture. For instance, there are situations where the availability of the PCI bandwidth is substantially reduced, thereby limiting access to other requesting PCI bus master devices connected thereto. Specifically, one example of this occurs when a PCI bus master device issues a transaction to a target device over a PCI bus and the target device is currently unable to fulfill the requested transaction. As such, the target device issues a retry signal to the master device over the PCI bus. The receipt of the retry signal causes the master device to relinquish control of the PCI bus so it may be used by other PCI bus master devices. Under the rules of the PCI specification, the master device continues to reissue the transaction to the target device until the transaction is finally completed by the target device. As such, the master device typically arbitrates for and acquires the PCI bus as soon as possible in order to reissue the transaction to the target device for a second time. If the target device is still not ready to fulfill the requested transaction (which can often happen), the target device again issues a retry signal to the master device causing it to relinquish control of the PCI bus. This process continues until the transaction is eventually completed by the target device.
Given that the PCI specification dictates that only one transaction can take place over a PCI bus at any given time, the PCI bus is tied up by the PCI bus master device continually reissuing the transaction to the target device. Therefore, the availability of the PCI bandwidth is substantially reduced, thereby limiting access to other requesting PCI bus master devices connected thereto.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method and system for optimizing transaction signal retries between a PCI bus master device and a target device communicatively coupled by a PCI bus. The present invention provides a method and system which accomplishes this functionality along with other benefits.
Specifically, one embodiment of the present invention provides a system which optimizes transaction retries issued by a PCI bus master device to a target device coupled to a PCI bus. The system includes a target device communicatively coupled to a PCI bus and able to issue a retry signal over the PCI bus. Furthermore, the system includes a PCI bus master device communicatively coupled to the PCI bus and able to issue a transaction signal to the target device over the PCI bus. Additionally, the system includes a retry timer circuit coupled to the PCI bus master device in order to respond when the PCI bus master device receives the retry signal issued by the target device over the PCI bus. The retry timer circuit causes the PCI bus master device to wait a fixed period of time before reissuing the transaction signal to the target device over the PCI bus. The fixed period of time is regulated by the retry timer circuit and is hardwired into the retry timer circuit.
In another embodiment, the present invention provides a system which is similar to the previous embodiment. Specifically, the system of the present embodiment includes a retry timer circuit coupled to the PCI bus master device in order to respond when the PCI bus master device receives the retry signal issued by the target device over the PCI bus. The retry timer circuit causes the PCI bus master device to wait a delay value before reissuing the transaction signal to the target device over the PCI bus. The delay value is regulated by the retry timer circuit and is stored by the retry timer circuit. It should be appreciated that the delay value stored by the retry timer circuit can be changed by the PCI bus master device and/or by a remote device (e.g., CPU).
In still another embodiment, the present invention includes a system which dynamically optimizes transaction retries issued by a PCI bus master device to a target device coupled to a PCI bus. The system also includes a target device and a PCI bus master device communicatively coupled to a PCI bus. Additionally, the system includes a latency determination circuit coupled to the PCI bus master device and able to determine a delay value equivalent to how much time expires between the PCI bus master device receiving a first retry signal from the target device and the target device finally fulfilling this transaction issued by the PCI bus master device. Moreover, the system includes a retry timer circuit coupled to receive the delay value from the latency determination circuit. The retry timer circuit is able to respond when the PCI bus master device receives a second retry signal over the PCI bus corresponding to a second transaction issued by the PCI bus master device. The retry timer circuit is also able to cause the PCI bus master device to wait the delay value before reissuing the second transaction over the PCI bus. The delay value is regulated by the retry timer circuit. The latency determination circuit is able to increase or decrease the delay value stored within the retry timer circuit in order to optimizes transaction retries issued by the PCI bus master device.

Mechanism for optimizing transaction retries within a system utilizing a PCI bus architecture


A centrifugally cast hollow fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) column having angled corners and straight sides. Interiorly of the column adjacent each corner are angled corner fillers that have straight angled sides adhered to straight interior wall surfaces of the column adjacent the respective corners. During molding, the corner fillers are supported within the mold with their straight sides in parallel spaced relation to the straight interior walls of the mold adjacent the respective mold corners a distance slightly greater than the desired minimum wall thickness of the column, whereby when the mold is rotated, uncured FRP material within the mold will flow by centrifugal force into engagement with the interior walls of the mold and around the corner fillers into the space between the corner fillers and interior walls of the mold adjacent the respective mold corners to form a column having a substantially uniform FRP wall thickness.

The present invention relates to centrifugally cast hollow straight sided fiberglass reinforced columns used for example as architectural structures as vertical support members and as ornamentation and to the method of casting such columns.
Centrifugally cast fiberglass reinforced columns are typically fabricated by depositing a predetermined amount of uncured fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) material in a column mold and then rotating/spinning the mold to cause the uncured FRP material to move outwardly by centrifugal force into engagement with the interior walls of the mold. The mold is continuously rotated until the FRP material has cured sufficiently to permit the column to be removed from the mold.
The exterior shape of the column will generally correspond to the interior contour of the mold. However, the wall thickness of a centrifugally cast FRP multi-sided column is typically not uniform throughout its circumference because of a build up of the FRP material that occurs at the corners of the mold during mold rotation. Accordingly, more FRP material must be used to centrifugally cast a multi-sided column of the desired minimum wall thickness intermediate the corners. Not only does this significantly add to the overall cost of the column, the greater mass of FRP material at the corners results in more shrinkage at the corners during curing causing the sides of the column to become slightly concave instead of straight.
There is thus a need for a centrifugally cast multi-sided FRP column that has straight sides and a substantially uniform wall thickness throughout its circumference. Also there is a need to be able to make such columns at less cost.
The present invention relates to centrifugally cast multi-sided hollow FRP columns that have a substantially uniform wall thickness throughout their periphery and straight sides. Also, the invention relates to a method of centrifugally casting such columns that minimizes the amount of FRP material required to obtain a desired minimum wall thickness throughout the circumference of the columns. This is accomplished by placing angled corner fillers adjacent the corners of the mold with the angled sides of the corner fillers supported in spaced relation from the adjacent wall surfaces of the mold at the mold corners a distance slightly greater than the desired minimum wall thickness of the columns.
The hypotenuse of the corner fillers is desirably outwardly radiused (i.e., convexly curved) to aid in the flow of the FRP material around the corner fillers and into the space between the corner fillers and adjacent wall surfaces of the mold at the mold corners during mold rotation. Also, the radiused hypotenuse of the corner fillers adds to the stiffness/rigidity of the corner fillers, which must be rigid enough to maintain the desired spacing between the corner fillers and adjacent interior walls of the mold at the mold corners.
The corner fillers are extruded out of a suitable plastic material such as high impact polystyrene to which a wood filler may be added to further increase the rigidity of the corner fillers. The ends of the corner fillers are supported in spaced relation from the interior walls of the mold at the corners by spacer inserts placed in the ends of the mold. These spacer inserts may have protrusions thereon shaped for close sliding receipt into the hollow ends of the corner fillers.
To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but several of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.

Centrifugally cast hollow straight sided fiberglass reinforced columns