A bearing comprising a body of polymeric material and a reinforcing member embedded in the body and having a plurality of perforations throughout which are affixed in the reinforcing member. The polymeric material extends through the perforations. The bearing may have various configurations. The reinforcing member may comprise a thin metal sheet having perforations therein, a woven metal body defining the perforations, or adjacent woven metal bodies each having perforations. In one form, a backing member is adhered to on one side of said reinforcing member. Where a thin metal sheet is used, it has a roughened surface finish at the interface with the plastic body.

Hydraulic pumps and motors of the piston type utilize a plurality of axially extending pistons and associated cylinders and a yoke engaged by the pistons and pivoted by annular bearings in a housing.
In another type of hydraulic pump or motor, the bearing form is that of a partial journal bearing often termed a "saddle bearing". The use of this bearing form gives the advantage of a reduction in overall size and in utilizing fewer parts in the bearing area thereby making it more reliable, easier to maintain, involving less deflection on the yoke. The saddle bearing can be either a rolling element or a non-rolling element bearing format. This invention deals with a non-rolling element form of saddle bearing.
In hydraulic pumps and motors journal bearings generally function through hydrodynamic, hydrostatic or hybrid oil filmgeneration processes. There are, however, circumstances when normal lubrication mechanics are insufficient to correctly form a fluid film for the journal bearing to function, typical cases are extreme load, quasi-steady state operation or poor lubrication. Such is the case with a non hydrostatic form of a saddle bearing. Under these circumstances surface to surface contact can and does occur with resulting high coefficients of friction and wear rates. In an attempt to overcome this problem a self lubricated material is used for one of the surfaces in contact. Self lubricated bearings, thus formed however, do have limitations; temperature, load, speed of operation, etc. Many of the self lubricated bearing forms utilize a polymer as the self lubricated material. While these polymers impart a low coefficient of friction for the bearing pair they have a relatively low load capacity due to the yield strength of the polymer. Other materials possessing a higher yield strength cannot achieve a suitably low coefficient of friction. Attempts have been made to increase the yield strength of the polymer by the use of a filler material intimately mixed with the polymer to form a composite material. These composites have, however, failed due to an increase in the coefficients of friction. These higher coefficients of friction are due to the wear process exposing the filler material so that the mating surface no longer rides on a true polymer interface. Another technique, which has been used to attempt to increase the yield strength of the polymer is the incorporation of a woven metal screen to form a composite. This also fails as the friction between the metal threads is insufficient to prevent yielding of both the polymer and the lateral movement of the screen wires across each other. Further, the yielding of the screen wire can be preferential depending on the direction of the shear force and the "lay" or "bias" of the woven screen. Attempts to further increase the strength of the composite by adhesively bonding the screen to a metal backing has failed as the area open to bonding is small due to the roundness of the screen wires and the fill of the polymer in the mesh.
Accordingly, among the objectives of the present invention are to provide a positive displacement pump or motor which has a non-rolling element saddle type bearing of increased load capacity; which would withstand the normal forces on the bearing on the pump or motor; and which can be relatively easily manufactured; and bearings which can be utilized in other force conditions involving radial and axial loads.
In accordance with the invention, a bearing comprising a body of polymeric material and a reinforcing member embedded in the body and having a plurality of perforations throughout which are affixed in the reinforcing member. The polymeric material extends through the perforations. The bearing may have various configurations. The reinforcing member may comprise a thin metal sheet having perforations therein, a woven metal body defining the perforations, or adjacent woven metal bodies each having perforations. In one form, a backing member is adhered to one side of said reinforcing member. Where a thin metal sheet is used, it has a roughened surface finish at the interface with the plastic body.


Macroporous copolymer particles are prepared via a process wherein phase separating diluent is removed from copolymer particles and isolated (e.g., by distillation). The isolated diluent is purified by eluting the diluent through a column containing a purification agent such as alumina. The recycled diluent can be employed in the further preparation of macroporous copolymer particles.

This invention relates to a process for manufacturing macroreticular crosslinked copolymer particles, wherein the resulting copolymers are substantially consistent from batch to batch in pore size and porosity. These copolymer particles are capable of being converted into ion exchange resins.
Polymeric ion exchange resins in the form of spheroidal beads are used in many applications as chelating resins and as anion or cation exchangers. Of particular interest are those resins prepared from macroporous copolymer particles (i.e., copolymer particles having a macroreticular character). Such copolymer particles are typically prepared by suspending a suspension polymerizable monomer and crosslinking agent in a reaction medium in the presence of a diluent in which the monomers are soluble, but the copolymer prepared therefrom is not. During polymerization, the copolymers phase separate and agglomerate from the diluent phase. Thus, spaces or channels left between the precipitated copolymer agglomerates form the pores of the macroporous particles. The diluent which can remain in the pores of the copolymer particle is typically removed by techniques such as steam distillation.
In commercial processes, after the macroporous copolymer particles are polymerized and separated from the diluent, the diluent is recycled. The problem with the prior art is that the quality of the macroporous copolymer particles varies a great deal. Therefore, it would be highly desirable to provide a process for preparing copolymer particles having a macroreticular character, which process is capable of producing copolymer particles that exhibit high quality consistently.
Contrastingly from these commercial processes, we have discovered that as recycled diluent is employed in the preparation of further amounts of macroporous copolymer particles, the diluent may become contaminated. We have also discovered that this change in diluent purity can result in the preparation of macroporous copolymer particles which exhibit significant differences in particle porosity.

Controlled macroporous copolymer properties by removal of impurities in the diluent


The present disclosure provides a method and a device for recognizing a product, an electronic device and a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, relating to a field of unmanned retail product recognition. The method includes the following. A video taken by each camera in a store is acquired. A recognition is performed on each video to obtain a video segment that a product delivery is recognized and to obtain participated users. The participated users include a delivery initiation user and a delivery reception user. The video segment is inputted into a preset delivery recognition model to obtain a recognition result. The recognition result includes a product delivered and a delivery probability. The product information of products carried by the participated users is updated based on the recognition result.

At present, in a smart retail store, gravity sensors and cameras may be installed on shelves to recognize the product taken by customers from the shelves. However, it is difficult to recognize a delivery of the product between the customers, resulting in a difference of the productions under the name of the customer from the reality.

Method and device for recognizing product


Computer-implemented method of preoperatively determining the optimized external shape of a prosthetic femoral hip stem for use in partial cementing hip replacement procedures and of a reamer for reaming a cavity in the femur of a patient for implanting the prosthetic femoral hip stem, comprising: a) setting an initial external shape of the prosthetic femoral hip stem based on the reconstructed femur anatomy of a patient, b) generating an associated initial reamer by negatively offsetting the initial external shape of the prosthetic femoral hip stem by an uniform offset value δ, c) calculating contact stresses at the interface of the prosthetic femoral hip stem and the patient's femur when reamed by the initial reamer and d) optimizing the offset value δ, so that the contact stresses are within a predetermined acceptable range.

The present invention relates to a computer-implemented method of preoperatively determining the optimized external shape of a prosthetic femoral hip stem (implant) having a proximal and a distal segment as well as an intermediate segment between them, the proximal and distal segments to be press-fitted with an intramedullary canal of the femur of a patient and the intermediate segment having a reduced cross section for injecting cement, for use in partial cementing hip replacement procedures, and of a reamer for reaming a cavity in the femur of a patient for implanting the prosthetic femoral hip stem.
Accidents, bone disease and age cause damage to different human bones and joints, which leads to bones and joints being replaced or amended. All over the world several hundred thousands patients undergo surgeries for joints replacement or bone amendments due to accidents while several other thousands undergo implant operations due to age and bone diseases.
Everyone's bones are unique. They may be similar in size and shape, but the dimensions are different from patient to patient. Cemented implants were able to address these variations with only a few sizes, letting them "customize" the fit to the individual's bone. Without cement, it became much more difficult to address anatomical variations and still provide the required stability and contact. Most manufacturers of the cementless implants simply took a given design and made it larger or smaller to create a range of sizes. Unfortunately all patients are not built that way. The target market of the first custom made, however, traditional custom implants (i.e. in patients with tumors or trauma). If a patient has truly unique hip joint anatomy, doctors prefer the custom approach. In most revision cases they also prefer to use custom implants design. Custom-made implants up until this time were used mainly for tumor or trauma cases where a part is missing or badly misshapen.
The idea of custom-made cementless implants for the femur was developed. In this way a unique implant is made for each patient, thereby addressing the patients' individual anatomic variations. The challenge is to manufacture an implant accurately and without too much additional cost. The tailor-made implants could prove more durability over a wider range of motion for patients.
In presence of marked deformities, custom made prostheses may be the only viable solution. When compared with standard cementless design, custom-made prostheses seem to achieve better contact at the bone-implant interface leading to the least stress shielding.
Unfortunately bone quality for hip replacement patients are not the same (tumor and bone diseases). So, part of the patient bones (high quality) could withstand the cementless technique, while the rest (bad quality) could only withstand the cemented hip technique.
In view of this, hybrid-segmented or (tri-compartmental) hip implants (prosthetic femoral hip stems) were developed. Such a hip implant comprises a proximal and a distal segment and an intermediate segment between them. The proximal and distal segments of the implant are manufactured so as to provide a press-fit with the patients' intramedullary canal. In contrast the intermediate segment is provided with a reduced cross section so as to create a clearance between the implant and the bone. Thereby the implant can be cemented to the patients' bone in the intermediate section.


A system includes a computation processor for determining phase angles of RF pulses for use in acquiring MR signal data of a desired coherence pathway in response to, predetermined data indicating a number of coherence pathways in multiple MR datasets to be acquired, predetermined information indicating different types of MR signals present in the multiple MR datasets to be acquired and at least one phase equation selected in response to a corresponding at least one type of the types of MR signals present in the MR datasets to be acquired. The number of coherence pathways represents a corresponding number of groups of protons having substantially the same proton spin precession angle. An RF signal generator generates RF pulses for acquiring multiple MR datasets including MR signal data of the desired coherence pathway using the determined phase angles. Multiple MR datasets are acquired using the generated RF pulses.

Many magnetic resonance (MR) sequences generate data which contains signals in multiple coherence pathways representing groups of protons having substantially the same proton spin precession angle. Usually only the signal in one certain coherence pathway is desired. If this signal cannot be isolated, or the other unwanted signals cannot be suppressed, errors occur in the results. Many magnetic resonance (MR) pulse sequences contain multiple radio-frequency (RF) pulses to prepare the magnetization before acquiring the data. Some examples include spectroscopy techniques such as stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) single voxel spectroscopy, point resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) and double-quantum filtered (DQF) spectroscopy, and imaging techniques such as displacement-encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) and harmonic phase analysis (HARP). In the acquired data of these sequences, signals from multiple coherence transfer pathways (CTPs) exist. Depending on the applications, usually only the signal in one certain coherence pathway is desired. If this signal cannot be isolated, or the other unwanted signals cannot be eliminated, then the acquired data is contaminated as ghosting artifacts and poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be seen and this leads to inaccurate results.
Known systems use phase cycling to address this problem, where desired signals add coherently and unwanted signals add destructively. This selective constructive or destructive addition can be achieved by carefully cycling the phases of the RF pulses to particular values. In the initial implementations of phase cycling, data from various imaging scans is averaged by saving data in the same memory location. Therefore, at the end of acquisition, various original phase cycling scans cannot be inspected separately. Moreover, only the desired signal in certain coherence pathway is available. The signals in other coherence pathways cannot be inspected, although in most cases there is no need to inspect them.
Known systems also use phase rotation to address shortcomings of phase cycling in localized spectroscopy. In phase rotation, the phases of the RF pulses are still carefully set to cycle among particular values, and data from various imaging scans is stored as rows in a two-dimensional (2D) matrix. After the data acquisition, a one-dimensional (1D) Fourier transform is performed in the column direction on this matrix, and a specific row of this transformed matrix is extracted to represent the 1D free induction decay (FID) containing only the desired signal in a certain coherence pathway, while some other particular rows contain the signals in the unwanted coherence pathways. Other post-processing such as zero-padding and frequency/phase correction may be applied on the rows, and followed by a 1D Fourier transform in the row direction to obtain a resultant 2D matrix, having rows comprising 1D spectra of the corresponding signals in different coherence pathways. Phase rotation therefore enables inspection of spectra of the separated signal in different coherence pathways at the same time by observing an overall view represented by a resultant 2D matrix.
Some imaging techniques, such as displacement-encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) and harmonic phase analysis (HARP), have a similar need to isolate the specific signal in one certain pathway. Known systems use variants of phase cycling methods to isolate desired stimulated echo signals. In known systems, phase cycling steps need to achieve the effect that desired signals add coherently and unwanted signals add destructively and planning phase cycling methods is difficult. In addition, known phase cycling methods typically use a simple average to only acquire a desired signal, and are unable to concurrently acquire unwanted signals. A system according to invention principles addresses these deficiencies and related problems.

Coherent signal acquisition system for MR imaging and spectroscopy


A motor vehicle chassis for a motor vehicle with a longitudinal support beam and with a crashbox introduced into the longitudinal supporting beam, in that state when it is separated from the longitudinal supporting beam, is narrower than two opposing walls of the longitudinal supporting beam. By virtue of this the crashbox can be simply inserted into the longitudinal supporting beam. After assembly the lateral shell parts of the crashbox are pre-tensioned against the walls of the longitudinal supporting beam. By virtue of this the crashbox) is firmly joined with the longitudinal supporting beam.

Such motor vehicle chassis are often used in current motor vehicles and are known in the practice. The purpose of the crashbox is to reduce the energy of the impact in the case of a frontal or rear impact of the motor vehicle. The insertion of the crashbox into the open, facing the direction of travel, end of the longitudinal supporting beam makes an even introduction of forces into the longitudinal supporting beam possible. It is, however, a disadvantage in this case that tolerances are present between the longitudinal supporting beam and the crashbox. To compensate for the tolerances between the crashbox and the walls of the longitudinal supporting beam a gap has to be provided. To ensure, however, the intended function of the crashbox, a force-locking and/or form-locking joint with the opposite situated walls of the longitudinal supporting beam is utilized.
One could conceive to construct both opposite situated walls of the longitudinal supporting beam in a flexible manner and to deform them during the assembly of the crashbox. The longitudinal supporting beam is very rigid and is, in addition, usually provided with reinforcing sheets, so that an adequate deformation of the end of the longitudinal supporting beam, facing the direction of travel, cannot be ensured.
Furthermore, one could think of passing bolts through the end of the longitudinal supporting beam and the crashbox transversely to the axis of the longitudinal supporting beam and thus bolting the longitudinal supporting beam and crashbox with one another. The disadvantage of this, however, is that the walls of the longitudinal supporting beam have to be exactly parallel.

Motor vehicle chassis for a motor vehicle


A sequence of processing transactions operating on a cached data set, which depend on each other because they operate on the same items of data from the data set. The transactions are saved until the master copy of the data becomes available. The transactions are played back against the master copy until one of the played back transactions fails because another transaction which operated on the same items of data but against a separate cached copy and originating from another application, was successfully played back on the master copy at an earlier time. At this point, all subsequent transactions which depended on the failing transaction are rolled back on the cached copy (with appropriate failure reports generated) and activity resumes from there. “Chained” (optimistic) transactions can therefore be applied to cached data and can be allowed to progress by recording their dependencies so they can be undone when required.

A known server in a distributed system can maintain a cache of resources locally to provide independence from centralised infrastructure and/or performance benefits of avoiding network communications. Applications executing on that server make updates to the resources, generally being unaware of the existence of the local cache. If these updates are transactional, then the locks and log entries used to maintain the transactionality will also only have scope local to the server.
At some point it will be appropriate to reconcile the updates made locally with some master state held in a central server. At this point it May be discovered that the state of the updated resources has been changed since the last time the cache was reconciled. Either direct updates on the server may have taken place, or another peer distributed server may have successfully reconciled some changes to the same resources. Since the basis on which the applications made their updates to the cache are now invalid (or at least questionable) it would not be appropriate to reflect those updates in the master state.
In a replicated messaging system using optimistic locks, several applications acting on different replicas may attempt to consume the same message. These actions may be asynchronous. This will be resolved when an arbitrating server ultimately commits one of the optimistic transactions and rolls back all of the others.
U.S. Published Patent Application 2003/0149709 to Banks discloses enabling one or many replicas of a data resource to be updated independently of a master copy of the data resource, and then each replica to be separately consolidated with the master copy. If a data update is applied 'optimistically' to a local replica and conflicts with updates applied to the master copy (since the last consolidation with that replica), then the local update will not be applied to the master copy. All updates are treated the same and rolled back together.
Transactions in such a server fail due to contention when they try to consume or update data that no longer exists. This arises in cases where the updated data is shared between updaters—i.e. accessible to several of them. One of the reasons for failing is that one update, although not conflicting with a prior update, is dependent on a conflicting update.
A system holding a local cache may keep any records which are part of an optimistic transaction locked until the optimistic transaction is committed in the master server. This prevents any other applications running against that local cache from making changes dependent on the optimistic data. So once a cache has been updated, no more updates can be made until the optimistic transaction involving that message has been committed in the master server.

Commitment chains for conflict resolution between disconnected data sharing applications

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of user data authorization based on blockchain includes: storing, by a first application client, encrypted user data of user data in a blockchain database through a blockchain node, generating authorization information in response to a request of acquiring the user data by a second application client, and notifying the second application client to obtain the authorization information such that the second application client obtains the user data based on the encrypted user data and the authorization information. The encrypted user data is stored in the blockchain database such that the encrypted user data cannot be tampered with and a leak of real user data is prevented. The second application client obtains the user data based on the authorization information and the encrypted user data.

This section is intended to provide a background or context to embodiments of the invention that are set forth in the claims. Though provided, no description in this section is an admission as prior art.
The development of Internet technology has driven the prosperity and rapid rise of applications. Various applications can enable users to achieve different functionalities and address different needs.
Although the development of applications is rather rapid, the landscape is not changed as different applications are isolated from each other. For instance, data generated from an application cannot be shared with other applications. Behavior data or information data generated by an interaction of a user with an application is limited to the scope of use of the application and is not able to be shared with other applications or correlated with behavior data or information data generated by the user in other applications. It has been a problem to share user data between different applications on the premise of user data security.

Methods, media, apparatuses and computing devices of user data authorization based on blockchain


A method of accessing memory, in accordance with one embodiment, includes receiving a memory access request that includes a virtual address. An address of a given page table is determined utilizing a page directory stored in a particular one of a plurality of computing device-readable media. A given one of the plurality of computing device-readable media that stores the given page table is determined from a table aperture attribute in the page directory. A given physical address of a page is determined utilizing the given page table stored in the given computing device-readable media. A corresponding one of the plurality of computing device-readable media that stores the page is determined from a page aperture attribute in the given page table. The corresponding computing device-readable media at the given physical address is then accessed.

Instructions and data used by a computing device are stored at physical addresses in one or more primary or secondary memory devices. Primary memory devices, such as system memory, graphics memory and the like, is characterized by quick access times but stores a limited amount of data. Secondary memory devices, such as magnetic disk drives, optical disk drives and the like, can store large amounts of data, but have relatively longer access times as compared to the primary memory devices.
Generally, instructions and data are stored in pages in the one or more secondary memory devices. As pages are needed by a given client (e.g., a particular process of an application being performed by a particular engine), they can be moved into one or more primary memory devices. Pages that are no longer needed by the client can be moved from the primary memory device back to the secondary memory device to make room for other pages that are needed by a given application. When pages are moved from secondary to primary memory or moved from primary memory back to secondary memory, their physical addresses change. However, it is undesirable and inefficient for applications running on a computing device to keep track of these changing physical addresses.
Accordingly, the applications utilize virtual addressing to access instructions and data. Virtual addressing provides a separation between the physical memory and the virtual addresses that an application utilized to load or store data and instructions. Processes running inside a virtual memory space do not have to move data between physical memory devices, and do not have to allocate or reallocate portions of the fixed amount of system level memory between them. Instead, a memory management unit (MMU) and/or the operating system (OS) keeps track of the physical location of each piece of data, and moves data between physical locations to improve performance and/or ensure reliability.
Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary address translation data structure utilized to translate virtual addresses 110 to physical addresses 120 is illustrated. The address translation data structure may include a page table data structure 130 and a translation lookaside buffer (TLB) 140. The page table data structure 130 may include a page directory 150 and one or more page tables 160-190. The page directory 150 includes a plurality of page directory entries (PDE). Each PDE includes the address of a corresponding page table 160-190. Each PDE may also include one or more parameters. Each page table 160-190 includes one or more page table entries (PTE). Each PTE includes a corresponding physical address of data and/or instructions in primary or secondary memory. Each PTE may also include one or more parameters.
Upon receiving a virtual address, the TLB 140 is accessed to determine if a mapping between the virtual address 110 and the physical address 120 has been cached. If a valid mapping has been cached (e.g., TLB hit), the physical address 120 is output from the TLB 140. If a valid mapping is not cached in the TLB 140, the page table data structure is walked to translate the virtual address 110 to a physical address 120. More specifically, the virtual address 110 may include a page directory index, a page table index, and a byte index. The page directory index in the virtual address 110 is used to index the page directory 150 to obtain the address of an appropriate page table 170. The page table index in the virtual address 110 is used to index the appropriate page table specified in the given PDE to obtain the physical address 120 of the page containing the data. The byte index in the virtual address 110 is then used to index the physical page to access the actual data. The resulting mapping is then typically cached in the TLB 140 for use in translating subsequent memory access requests. Furthermore, as a page moves from secondary memory to primary memory or from primary memory back to secondary memory, the corresponding PTE in the page table data structure 130 and TLB 140 is updated.

Memory access techniques in an aperture mapped memory space


An apparatus for converting measurement signals into digital signals suitable for processing in a microprocessor (12), with the signals having been initiated in a piezo sensor (6) by accelerations acting on the sensor during the impacts of a percussion device (1), particularly a hydraulic hammer, and being used to determine the number of work strokes that have been executed in the impact direction (arrow 3) of the percussion device (1). The conversion apparatus includes: a rectifier (8) that is connected to the output (6a) of the piezo sensor (6) and suppresses the negative component of the measurement signal; a peak-value detector (9) that is connected to the rectifier (8) and converts the remaining, positive component of the measurement signal into an envelope curve; a high-pass filter (10) that causes the envelope curves of consecutive measurement signals to be converted into intermediate signals whose amplitude respectively has a zero passage; and a comparator (11) that is disposed downstream of the high-pass filter (10) and whose output is connected to the digital input (12a) of the microprocessor (12), thereby effecting the conversion of the intermediate signals into digital signals having a rectangular amplitude response.

This application claims the priority of German Patent Application No. 101 31 284.9 filed Jun. 28, 2001, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to an apparatus for converting measurement signals into digital signals that are suitable for processing in a microprocessor. More particularly the present invention relates to such an apparatus wherein the signals have been initiated in a piezo sensor by accelerations acting on the sensor during the impacts of a percussion device, particularly a hydraulic hammer, and are used to determine the number of work strokes that have been executed in the impact direction of the percussion device.
Similarly to the solution known from the document DE 199 23 680 A1, the invention is based on the realization that the current total number of impacts executed by the percussion aggregate represents a relevant variable for determining the active service life, andxe2x80x94through a comparison to comparable preset valuesxe2x80x94can also yield information regarding the state of utilization of the relevant percussion aggregate.
The simplest method of obtaining information about the state of utilization of the percussion device is to check whether the current total number of impacts executed by the percussion device has attained an order of magnitude that corresponds to the total number of impacts that defines a maintenance-free operating period.
The above cited document, which was published prior to this application, proposes to determine the service life and the state of utilization of a hydraulic percussion device by generating measurement signals during the individual, consecutive operating periods of the percussion device, from which the number of strokes that the percussion piston of the percussion device has executed in a direction of movement can be determined. The publication further proposes to continuously add the number of signals and store the total number, and make the current total number of signals recognizable, at least temporarily, in the form of an indicator of the state of utilization.
To generate the measurement signals that indicate the number of impacts, a measurement-value indicator can be provided in the form of a piezo sensor, which detects oscillations that have been initiated by the percussion-piston strokes.
It is the object of the invention to provide an apparatus for converting relevant measurement signals that have been generated by a piezo sensor into digital signals, with the apparatus reliably supplying the necessary information and having a low energy requirement, despite the difficult working conditions expected in the use of hydraulic percussion devices.
Furthermore, the novel conversion apparatus is intended to be embodied to permit a compact design, and thus easily be mounted, without any special measures, to the percussion device at a location that is suitable for generating measurement signals.
Finally, the conversion apparatus is intended to be distinguished by the fact that it is extensively independent of the design, structural size and other characteristic features of the percussion device to be monitored.
The above object generally is accomplished by a novel conversion apparatus wherein the underlying concept lies in re-forming measurement signals, which have been generated in consecutive stages by a piezo sensor, into digital signals that provide sufficiently reliable information about the impacts executed by the percussion device, and are in a suitable form for processing in a microprocessor.
The conversion apparatus according to the invention includes: a rectifier that is connected to the output of the piezo sensor and suppresses the negative component of the measurement signal produced by the piezo sensor; a peak-value detector, that is connected to the output of the rectifier and converts the remaining, positive component of the measurement signal into an envelope curve; a high-pass filter that causes the envelope curves of consecutive measurement signals to be converted into intermediate signals whose amplitude has a regenerative zero passage; and a comparator, which is disposed downstream of the high-pass filter and is connected on the output side to the digital input of the microprocessor, that effects the conversion of the intermediate signals into digital signals having a rectangular amplitude response.
The high-pass filter changes the signals that are introduced into it such that their amplitude has a perfect zero passage. Accordingly, the conversion apparatus is automatically adapted to the associated percussion device. Consequently, the conversion apparatus can be used in connection with differently-configured percussion devices without necessitating an equipment conversion.
Within the scope of the invention, a piezoelectric shock sensor, such as is found in a laptop for protecting the hard disk, can be used as a piezo sensor.
According to a feature of the invention, the comparator additionally has a capacitor that is designed such that only digital signals located at a predetermined minimum interval from the digital signal of the preceding impact are present at the comparator output. The additional capacitor therefore assures the suppression of xe2x80x9cerror signalsxe2x80x9d also generated by the piezo sensor, which may be initiated, for example, by accelerations of the percussion aggregate that are not typically anticipated.
The invention is preferably embodied such that the piezo sensor simultaneously forms the energy source for the components disposed upstream of the comparatorxe2x80x94namely, the rectifier, the peak-value detector and the high-pass filterxe2x80x94and the comparator is connected to an energy supply that is independent of the piezo sensor. The advantage of this feature is that the conversion apparatus, with the exception of the comparator, requires no external energy supply, and only exhibits a low energy consumption.
Accordingly, it is possible to equip the conversion apparatus and the downstream microprocessor with an integrated battery unit that may permit a service life of more than five years. The battery unit can particularly comprise one or more lithium-thionyl-chloride batteries.
In a measure for improving the handling and the economical aspect of the conversion apparatus, the piezo sensor, the rectifier, the peak-value detector, the high-pass filter and the comparator can be combined with the microprocessor to form a combined mechanical component, which is secured as a unit to the housing of the percussion device.
The listed components, as well as the aforementioned battery unit and the capacitor that may additionally be associated with the comparator, are preferably secured inside a metallic sleeve by an elastic filling compound, while the sleeve is secured to the housing of the percussion device by an elastic damping layer. The oscillating behavior of the filling compound and the damping layer stipulates that they be designed such that the accelerations originating from the percussion device initiate the necessary signals in the piezo sensor with sufficient reliability.
In a normal scenario, it suffices for the piezo sensor, the rectifier, the peak-value detector, the high-pass filter and the comparator to be designed, and matched to one another, such that the components are capable of functioning at percussion-device impact frequencies between 3 and 70 Hz. This embodiment renders the conversion apparatus extensively independent of the design, structural size and other characteristic features of the percussion device, without significant adaptive measures.
The invention is described in detail below in conjunction with the drawing.

Apparatus for converting measurement signals into digital signals, the signals having been initiated in a piezo sensor by the impacts of a hydraulic percussion device


In the light or radiation detector of this invention, each of the molding structure, the first member, and the second member is formed such that the molding structure to protect the conversion layer and voltage application electrode has the resistance higher than the first member composed of the planar conductive buffer that is laminated on the (light or radiation) incident surface side of the molding structure, and that the first member mentioned above has the resistance higher than the second member composed of the planar conductive member that is laminated on the incident surface side of the first member. Consequently, occurrence of the noise from the static electricity may be suppressed.

An X-ray detector will be described by way of example. The X-ray detector includes an X-ray conversion layer of an X-ray sensitive type. The detector detects X-rays by converting X-rays into electric charge information with the X-ray conversion layer upon incidence of the X-rays and reading out the electric charge information converted. Since the electric charges converted from the X-rays with the X-ray conversion layer are extremely small, the electric charges need to be amplified. The extremely small electric charges may occur not only from the X-rays but also changes in static electricity. Thus, where an electric potential change occurs from static electricity with respect to signal lines such as data lines at a previous stage of an amplifier, the change in the static electricity is identified as a signal by mistake to be amplified altogether. This results in occurrence of noise. There is a technique in which dummy lines to reduce influences of such static electricity are arranged in the thin film transistor (TFT) itself, thereby suppressing noise from the static electricity (see, for example, patent document 1.)
Here, according to a direct conversion type X-ray detector configured to convert incident radiation directly into charge information with an X-ray conversion layer, electric charges are generated with the X-ray conversion layer upon incidence of X-rays. In that case, it is necessary to apply a high bias voltage (for example, around several hundreds V to several tens kV) to the X-ray conversion layer. Electric discharge needs to be prevented for application of a high voltage. Thus, measures will be taken such as covering of the conversion layer with an insulator generally called a "molding structure." A frame is provided around the perimeter of the X-ray conversion layer or voltage application electrode, and an insulator such as a glass is placed on the frame. Subsequently, an insulating resin is poured into a space between the X-ray conversion layer or voltage application electrode and the glass for sealing. Such a configuration is general and leads to covering and protecting of the X-ray conversion layer or voltage application electrode with the insulating resin.
No electric discharge will occur in an applying surface of the voltage application electrode covered with the insulator such as the molding structure. On the other hand, static electricity will occur in an incidence surface (i.e., an opposed surface of the applying surface) of the molding structure. Consequently, the amplifier amplifies the change in the static electricity altogether, as mentioned above, leading to occurrence of noise. Such molding structure includes a technique to remove the static electricity using a conductive member grounded instead of the glass, thereby suppressing occurrence of the noise from the static electricity (see, for example, patent document 2.)
There is another technique in which the grounded conductive member is arranged between a photo-timer and X-ray detector for blocking of radiation noise from the photo-timer and dissipating the radiation noise through the ground (see, for example, patent document 3.)
[Patent Document 1]
JP2003-46075A1 (Page 2 to 11, FIG. 1)
[Patent Document 2]
JP2004-268271A1 (Page 1 to 9, FIG. 1)
[Patent Document 3]
JP2005-241334A1 (Page 1 to 6, FIGS. 2, 3)

Light or radiation detector and method of manufacturing the same


An apparatus for providing an indication of the amplitude of a length signal having a top peak, a bottom peak and an intrinsic offset and being indicative of viscoelasticity of a sample. A peak measurement circuit is provided for measuring values of top and bottom peaks of the length signal to determine the amplitude thereof and an offset circuit is connected for providing a compensative offset. An adder circuit is provided for adding the compensative offset to the length signal. An offset calculation circuit receptive of the values of the top and bottom peaks from the peak measurement circuit is provided for outputting to the offset circuit, according to the received values, a control signal effective to control the offset circuit to provide an update compensative offset effective to cancel the intrinsic offset of the length signal.

The present invention relates to measurement of the amplitude of a length signal in viscoelasticity analysis of a sample.
In the prior art as shown in FIG. 3 the amplitude of a length signal is maintained sufficiently smaller than the effective measurement range of a peak measurement circuit and the amplitude is measured while it contains an offset.
The above-noted prior art has the drawback that a major part of the effective measurement span of the peak measurement circuit is provided for the offset, which thereby impairs the accuracy of the measurement of the amplitude.

Amplitude measurement device for viscoelasticity analysis


Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to assign viewers to media meter data are disclosed. An apparatus includes memory to store instructions, and a processor to execute the instructions to at least: determine first probabilities for first panelists in a media meter household during a first set of time periods, determine second probabilities for second panelists in a plurality of learning households during a second set of time periods, compare the first probabilities and the second probabilities to identify a candidate household from the plurality of learning households to associated with the media meter household, and impute ones of the first number of minutes to individual ones of the first panelists when second panelist behavior data associated with the candidate household indicates activity during one of the second set of time periods that matches activity in the media meter household during one of the first set of time periods.

In recent years, panelist research efforts included installing metering hardware in qualified households that fit one or more demographics of interest. In some cases, the metering hardware is capable of determining whether a media presentation device (such as a television set) is powered on and tuned to a particular station via a hardwired connection from the media presentation device to the meter. In other cases, the metering hardware is capable of determining which household member is exposed to a particular portion of media via one or more button presses on a People Meter by the household member near the television.

Methods and apparatus to assign viewers to media meter data


A computer-implemented method and system for detecting instances of missing data records in Usage Data Records (UDRs) generated for wireless services is disclosed. The system and method comprises recording a sequence of events related to transmission of data through at least one service element, transmitting the sequence of events as usage data records to a server for accounting and using an anomaly detection algorithm to detect instances of missing usage data records in the transmitted usage data records.

Devices, whether phones, radios or other types of hardware, that are intended to connect to networks, such as wireless or cellular networks, ordinarily are associated with a user's account and subscription with a network provider. The network provider in turn bills users for the usage of network services based on the amount of data transmitted, location and/or time, typically through the accounting records generated as usage data records (UDRs) associated with the user's account by the network provider. Since these UDRs are used by network providers for billing users for their use of network services, it is important that the UDRs are accurate.
However, the network providers may use network protocols that are fast but unreliable, such as User Datagram Protocol (UDP), to transmit data from a service element to Business Support System/Operational Support System (BSS/OSS) through service element proxies. Since these protocols are not intended to ascertain that the transmitted data is received by the receiver, some of the UDRs may be lost during transmission, and the ability to bill accurately would be compromised.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method to address the issue of missing data records due to unreliable or lossy protocols. The present invention addresses such a need.

System and method for detecting instances of missing data records in usage data records generated for wireless services


A drawer guide is provided for displaceable arrangement of a drawer configured to be pulled out from a carcass. The drawer guide has at least two guide rails, which are displaceable relative to one another by means of rolling elements, and at least one functional device for influencing a relative movement of at least one of the at least two guide rails relative to at least one further one of the at least two guide rails. At least two substantially C-shaped guide rails are provided, which each have a rail back which connects at least two legs to one another, on which, in each case, at least one rolling element track is configured. The at least two C-shaped guide rails are arranged with the rail backs facing away from one another. At least one receiving element is provided to at least partially receive the at least one functional device.

A functional device of a drawer guide, for example a self-closing device and/or a damping device, may, for example, be arranged separately from the drawer guide on the carcass or on the drawer. However, this separate arrangement increases the outlay for assembly of the combination of the drawer guide and functional device on a carcass and/or a drawer.
The present invention is based on the object of providing a drawer guide, which is compact and is configured to be assembled with a low assembly outlay.


Systems, methods, and other embodiments associated with adaptively determining a preventive maintenance schedule based on historical system operation are described. The prognostic parameter values are continuously partitioned into a number of operating states based on observed maintenance costs associated with the prognostic parameter values. The operating states range from absolutely healthy, one or more degrees of degradation, to fully degraded. A system cost function is used as the discriminant function. The system cost function is an expected maintenance cost when a given preventive maintenance (PM) schedule is adopted. The system cost function calculates the expected cost based on the observed cost of operation in each of the operating states and a probability of the computing system being in each of the operating states as determined by the PM schedule. The PM schedule that minimizes the cost function is determined to be the optimal PM schedule.

One of the essential elements of active control of a computing system's health is designing and implementing an efficient preventive maintenance schedule. Any action that can be taken to avoid a system failure is considered preventive maintenance. Examples of preventive maintenance include replacement of a failing hardware component, software rejuvenation to clear internal system states, database optimization (restructuring in distributed databases), and controlling environmental conditions in data centers.

Adaptive preventive maintenance for computing systems


A method for operating a furnace with a multi-burner system for generating a hot gas is provided. The furnace has a combustion chamber with a plurality of burners, each having a fuel feed. The method includes regulating a first fuel feed to at least one of the plurality of burners as a function of pressure pulsations that occur in the combustion chamber so as to achieve a steady operation of the furnace. The multi-burner system may be a gas turbine, preferably of a power plant.

The present invention relates to a method for operating a furnace with a multi-burner system for generating hot gas, particularly a gas turbine, preferably of a power plant.
A furnace, for example, a gas turbine, normally has a combustion chamber with multiple burners. Moreover, it is often the case that a fuel supply system is provided by means of which fuel is fed to the burners.
With an eye towards the ever more stringent regulations pertaining to the mandatory limit values for the emission of pollutants, efforts are made to operate the burners under the leanest conditions possible, that is to say, with a marked excess of oxidant, usually air. Such lean operation is able to considerably reduce particularly the formation of especially toxic NOx emissions. The lean combustion concurrently causes the combustion reaction to approach its lean extinguishing limit. Therefore, in order to keep pollutant emissions to a minimum, efforts are geared towards operating the gas turbine or its combustion chamber as close to the lean extinguishing limit as possible. For this purpose, with a conventional operating method, the fuel feed has to be adjusted as a function of various boundary conditions. The boundary conditions normally observed are, for instance, the ambient temperature, the relative humidity, the momentary air mass flow rate, which is particularly dependent on the degree of contamination of a compressor located upstream from the combustion chamber, the switching position ("ON" or "OFF") of a fuel or air preheater, the composition of the fuel currently being used and so forth. The control of the fuel supply system is particularly complex when the boundary conditions taken into account vary. For example, as a rule, the ambient temperature and/or the fuel composition tend to vary over the course of the day during operation of the gas turbine. Since the individual boundary conditions affect the stability of the combustion procedure in different ways, it is not always possible to find a setting for the fuel feed that allows a stable operation of the individual burners close to the lean extinguishing limit. In order to nevertheless ensure proper operation of the gas turbine, which is of the utmost priority in power plants used to generate electricity, it is regularly accepted that the combustion chamber is operated at a certain safety margin from the lean extinguishing limit, and consequently, the higher pollutant emissions that inevitably result from this also have to be accepted.


A method for estimating a system state, in a decentralized network having a plurality of nodes, each node being confined for receiving and sending information, and for processing information. Each node being connected to neighboring nodes of the network. At each node the method includes: (i) maintaining a set of particles and associated weights, which represent an estimate of the system state, (ii) representing the estimated system state as a mixture of Gaussian distributions in a channel filter, and communicating the mixture to neighboring nodes, and (iii) a neighboring node receiving the mixture in a channel filter that contains a similar Gaussian representation of its own estimate of system state, and dividing the incoming mixture by the existing mixture, for updating the estimate of the system state that is maintained at the node.

The particle filtering technique is known, see Arulampalam, IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing Vol. 50, No. 2, February 2002, pp 174188 "A Tutorial on Particle Filters for Online Nonlinear/Non-Gaussian Bayesian Tracking"
A particle filter algorithm may be summarised as including the following key steps:    1. A set of particles are maintained that are candidate representatives of a system state. A weight is assigned to each particle, and an estimate of the state is obtained by the weighted sum of the particles (a non-analytic probability distribution function (pdf)).    2. A recursive operation is carried out that has two phases: prediction and update.    3. For prediction, at time t=k, the pdf is known at the previous time instant t=k−1. A system model is used to predict the state at time t=k    4. For update, at time t=k, a measurement of the system becomes available, which is used to update the pdf that was calculated in the prediction phase. During update, the particles may be resampled to remove particles with small weight.    5. return to 3.
An objective of particle filtering may be to track a variable of interest as it evolves over time, for example the state of an aircraft, by means of a series of observations with a number of sensors. The observations typically have a non-Gaussian measurement function. The technique is a sequential Monte Carlo method, in which a set of state trajectories (or particles) are maintained that are candidate representatives of a system state. When a new observation is made, each trajectory is extended and weights are assigned to each particle according to the likelihood of the state it represents given the measurement. A new particle population is generated to replace the old one by resampling from the old particle population in proportion to the weights.
Algorithms for solving problems over a network fall into three classes:
Centralised algorithms: Centralised algorithms require that all data be sent to a single node. The processing occurs at that node and the assignment solution is sent out to all nodes. Centralised algorithms are not robust and do not scale well with network size. They are not robust since the removal of the central node causes complete failure. They do not scale well as the number of messages that must be sent down a given link will tend to grow with network size (or the number of links to the central node will grow).
Distributed algorithms: Distributed algorithms require that all data be sent to all nodes. Each node is then able to process the data to arrive at the optimal solution. Distributed algorithms are robust, but not scaleable.
Decentralised algorithms: This applies to networks wherein each node is connected for receiving or transmitting information to selected other nodes of the network, usually neighbouring nodes. Decentralised algorithms include data fusion (for the purposes of this specification, data fusion is intended to mean processing of information) at each node before information is passed on to connected nodes. This allows some of the processing necessary to reach an optimal answer at a particular node, to be carried out at neighbouring nodes, and avoids the requirement that all data be sent to all nodes. Decentralised algorithms are robust and scaleable. A decentralised network has the following properties:                1. There is no single central decision centre; no one node should be central to the successful operation of the network.        2. Nodes do not have any global knowledge of network topology, or size;        nodes should only know about connections in their own neighborhood.
There are published methods for decentralising the particle filter, where data processing is carried out locally at selected nodes of a network of nodes, each node corresponding for example to a sensor. The results of the data processing are exchanged between neighbouring nodes. The decentralised methods published in the literature, achieve decentralization through a compact representation of the particle filter's particle population; see:
M. Rosencrantz, G. Gordon, S. Thrun, "Decentralized Sensor Fusion With Distributed Particle Filters", Proceedings of the 19th Annual Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (UAI-03), Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, San Francisco, Calif., 2003, pp 493-500 M. Coates, "Distributed Particle Filters For Sensor Networks", Information Processing In Sensor Networks Proceedings of the third international symposium on Information processing in sensor networks, Berkeley, Calif., USA, 2004, pp 99-107
The problem with these published methods is that they do not provide a robust representation, that there is no quantitative measure of the quality of the representation achieved, and that the representations do not lend themselves well to inclusion in a decentralized tracking scheme.
The use of a mixture of Gaussian distributions as a compact representation for a non-Gaussian probability distribution in decentralised tracking is described in S. Kumar and B. Upcroft, "ANSWER II Interim Progress Report: Algorithmic Design" Department of Aerospace, Mechatronic and Mechanical Engineering, University of Sydney, July 2004. This work makes no mention of application to particle filtering, and involves the assimilation of multiple Gaussian mixture distributions that is identified as a drawback with large computational requirements.

Method for estimating a system state in a network


A motion producing device comprising an output member with a contact surface and a reference member. An actuator member is attached to the reference member, the actuator member having a traction surface and comprising actuator zones, each actuator zone being energizable to move a corresponding portion of the traction surface to change a contact state of the traction surface with the contact surface depending on an energized state of the actuator zone. An energy source is operatively coupled to the actuator zones for sequentially changing the energized state of the actuator zones. The actuator member provides a torque transmission path between the reference member and the output member.

High torque actuators are difficult to create. U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,220 claims to describe a compact cam phaser that has a flexible spline deformed into a non-round shape and engaging a mating ring gear or circular member at angularly spaced locations for transferring camshaft drive torque between them. While this patent seems to disclose a working embodiment, it uses separate components for torque transfer than for actuation and has other differences from what is disclosed here.

Actuator using expansion or contraction to produce linear or rotary motion


An automobile rear body structure includes a roof panel, for forming an upper surface of a roof portion of a vehicle body, which is provided with an integrally formed downwardly extending portion to form an outer surface of a rear pillar at a rear side portion thereof. The rear body structure also includes a rear fender panel joined to a lower end of the downwardly extending portion for forming an outer surface of a rear side wall, a quarter panel located inside the rear fender panel, and a reinforcement member for connecting the rear fender panel and the quarter panel at a location near a lower end of the rear pillar. The reinforcement member may be formed by bending the rear fender panel inwardly from a joint between the rear fender panel and the downwardly extending portion of the roof panel. Alternatively, the reinforcement member may be formed of a separate reinforcement element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an automobile body structure, and more particularly, to the structure of an automobile rear body in the vicinity of rear pillars and rear fenders.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, an automobile rear body structure includes rear fender panels which form outer surfaces of the side walls of the rear portion of an automobile. Each of the rear fender panels is provided, in the vicinity of a rear portion of a room compartment, with an upwardly extending portion forming an outer surface of each rear pillar.
The Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Application No. 61-146475 discloses one example of the upwardly extending portion of the rear fender panel, the upper end of which is bent inwardly and joined to a roof panel which forms an upper surface of a roof portion of the automobile body.
In this rear body structure, however, the upwardly extending portion of the rear fender panel and the roof panel must be tightly joined to each other so as to form a strong bond along the entire joint to prevent rain water or the like from entering the room compartment. Accordingly, spot welding, which is superior in workability, can not be used. Rather, MIG welding or the like is generally employed to provide a continuous weld.
Because of this, the conventional automobile rear body structure is not easily assembleable and requires a relatively large number of man-hours to assemble. The manufacturing costs therefor are thus relatively high.
It has, therefore, been proposed to eliminate the need for MIG welding by forming a downwardly extending portion, which constitutes the outer surface of the rear pillar, at a rear side portion of the roof panel and by joining the lower end of the downwardly extending portion to the rear fender panel. However, this structure results in a body structure having insufficient rigidity.

Structure of an automobile body in the vicinity of a roof panel, a rear fender panel and a quarter panel and including a reinforcement member


An exposure system (8) for fabricating optical film (40) by exposing a pattern such as for photoalignment, where the optical film (40) has a photosensitive layer (20) and a substrate (10). The exposure system (8) directs an exposure beam from a light source (1) to a reflective polarization modulation device (88). The modulated exposure beam is then reflected onto the photosensitive medium (20) for forming a pattern onto the optical film (40).

This invention generally relates to a method and a system for manufacturing an optical film and more particularly relates to a method and system for fabrication of an optical film having a patterned layer formed by exposure of photosensitive material using a reflective spatial light modulator.
Considerable interest has been shown in photo-alignment methods for the fabrication of optical components including optical films. As just one example among many, U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,138 (Gibbon et al.) discloses a photo-alignment process using UV light for aligning a liquid crystal medium. Among the advantages of photo-alignment methods over traditional mechanical alignment methods, such as rubbing, is the capability to generate a high resolution pattern in the exposed photosensitive medium. Photo-alignment techniques can be used to form patterned alignment layers such as those used in an liquid crystal display (LCD) to create multi-domain liquid crystal structures and patterned optical films used as image cards, security cards, and the like. Depending upon the response characteristics of the photosensitive medium, patterns can be formed by changing various characteristics of the exposure energy, typically intensity or polarization, for example.
In photolithography, used, for example, in the manufacture of electronic circuits on silicon, a geometric pattern is imposed onto a photoresist wafer substrate by applying a mask to selectively block the exposure energy over specific areas. This same concept, using a static mask, can be applied to optical film fabrication, where the same regular pattern is used repeatedly as part of the fabrication process.
Driven in part by the high costs and schedule impact of mask fabrication and the difficulty of changing masks to correct for errors or to rework a fabrication process, the semiconductor industry has shown significant interest in xe2x80x9cmasklessxe2x80x9d photolithography. Using this approach, as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,691,541 (Ceglio et al.) and 6,060,224 (Sweatt et al.), a digital micromirror device (DMD) is used to reflect a pattern onto the photoresist substrate. The DMD comprises an array of tiny mirrors, each separately addressable for reflecting light onto or away from the photoresist substrate. The exposure pattern can thus be formed on the DMD. Then, the exposure source is reflected from the DMD surface and focused onto the substrate for forming circuitry components. This approach appears to have merit where light intensity is used to form the desired pattern.
For many types of optical film, such as the film treated using the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,138, for example, the polarization state and direction of light, rather than light intensity, is used for conditioning alignment or other pattern formation in a photosensitive medium. Following the photolithography paradigm, masks have been employed in a number of devices used for exposure of optical film with polarized light, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,698 (Chigrinov et al.) It can be expected, however, that some of the same cost and deployment difficulties confronted when using masks in microlithography will also discourage the use of masks with optical film fabrication.
In an attempt to meet the need for an adaptive solution, U.S. patent application publication Ser. No. 2002/0027624 A1 (Seiberle) discloses a transmissive optical component that acts as a mask, producing patterned, linearly polarized light. FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate the basics of the process described for exposure of an optical film 40 comprising a photosensitive layer 20 and a substrate 10. A light source 1 emits a polarized light 91 having p-polarization. Transmissive mask 98, a transmissive LCD spatial light modulator, selectively modulates exposure beam 92 over each pixel area to provide either p-polarized light, as shown in FIG. 1A, or s-polarized light, as shown in FIG. 1B. As with the DMD solution for microlithography described above, the solution of the Seiberle disclosure offers a mask solution that is dynamically changeable, eliminating the need to prepare and deploy separate masking components to support optical film fabrication.
When used for photo-alignment, photosensitive layer 20 is typically a thin photo-reactive alignment medium, typically linear photo-polymerization media (LPP), also known as photo-oriented polymer network (PPN). Photosensitive layer 20 is applied to substrate 10 and is then irradiated, typically using UV light, to provide a directional alignment bias.
There are a number of photo-alignment methods, based on different photoreaction processes. In general, a photo-alignment method may be one of three basic types:
(1) Isomerization, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,941 (Gibbons et al.);
(2) Photo-dimerization, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,661(Schadt et al.); and
(3) Photo-dissociation, as taught in xe2x80x9cProspects of the photo-alignment technique for LCD fabricationxe2x80x9d SID Digest 1997, pp. 311-314 (Iimura et al.).
Once photosensitive layer 20 is aligned, a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) layer is applied over the LPP layer that has been treated to provide a preferred alignment orientation. As is well known in the photoalignment art, LCP materials include cross-linkable liquid crystalline monomers, oligomers, or pre-polymers having cross-linkable groups. Depending on the intended application, the cross-linkable liquid crystal material may exhibit a nematic, smectic, or cholesteric phase.
Although transmissive LCD spatial light modulators have been used successfully in a number of projection display apparatus, these devices have inherent disadvantages for high-energy exposure environments. As is well-known in the optical arts, transmissive LCDs are fabricated onto a clear substrate, so that circuit traces and componentry reduce the active area of each LCD cell that modulates a pixel. As a result, the effective aperture size for each pixel is a fraction of the area available on the transmissive LCD. This is a significant constraint on the amount of light available for each pixel, whether considered in terms of brightness, irradiance, or exposure energy. As a result, higher energy light sources must be used, with low levels of efficiency. Due to device geometry, there are also limitations to the resolution levels that can be achieved. Thus, while the transmissive LCD of U.S. patent application publication Ser. No. 2002/0027624 has some capability for adaptive pattern forming on optical film, there are some restrictions with respect to allowable intensity and resolution. Imaging at other than 1:1 magnification presents further difficulties, due to interference effects and focus restrictions.
Reflective LCD spatial light modulators have been used to modulate the polarization of incident light in imaging apparatus for display and projection. In these devices, light directed to the reflective LCD via a polarization beamsplitter is modulated by selectively altering the polarization state of individual pixels of incident light. The reflected light is sent back in the same direction as the incident light, but is transmitted through the polarization beamsplitter along its way to a display surface. For example, LCD spatial light modulators have been developed and employed for digital projection systems for image display, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,137 (Konno et al.) and in miniaturized image display apparatus suitable for mounting within a helmet or supported by eyeglasses, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,808,800 (Handschy et al.) Improvements in reflective LCD components have improved the resolution of these devices. Because each pixel cell in the LCD array is reflective, aperture sizes are maximized, providing significant improvements in brightness or irradiance when compared with transmissive LCDs. However, disclosed uses of reflective LCD components are in image-forming for print and projection apparatus.
Thus, it can be seen that, while there have been some solutions presented for fabricating a patterned optical film by exposure of photosensitive materials using masks, there is room for improvement, particularly with respect to light efficiency and resolution.
The object of the present invention is to provide an improved apparatus and method for forming a pattern in fabrication of optical film. With this object in mind, the present invention provides an apparatus for exposing a pattern onto a photosensitive medium, the apparatus comprising:
(a) a source of exposure radiation for providing an incident light beam to a reflective polarization light modulator; and
(b) the reflective polarization light modulator comprises an array of pixels for modulating, at each pixel, the polarization state of the incident light beam in order to reflect an exposure beam to the photosensitive medium.
A feature of the present invention is the formation of a pattern onto a photosensitive medium by modulating the polarization of a beam of light that is reflected toward the photosensitive layer.
It is an advantage of the present invention that, because it uses a reflective LCD as a reflective xe2x80x9cmask,xe2x80x9d it allows a pattern to be changed quickly, even during exposure operation.
It is a further advantage of the present invention that it employs reflective means for light modulation, thereby increasing the optical aperture available to radiant exposure energy.
It is yet a further advantage of the present invention that, by using reflective LCDs, it offers the potential for higher resolution than exposure apparatus using transmissive LCDs.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein there is shown and described an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

Apparatus and method for selectively exposing photosensitive materials using a reflective light modulator


Methods and systems for providing related message threads in a message storage system are disclosed. One method includes identifying a plurality of message threads within the message storage system, wherein the plurality of message threads each have a relationship with the first file, wherein the message storage system provides a platform for storing and sharing message threads, and each message thread includes a message and associated information. The method further includes generating a list of inquiries based on the plurality of message threads, providing, by the system server, the list of inquiries to at least one sender of the first file, receiving from the at least one sender at least one response to the list of inquiries, selecting a subset of the plurality of message threads based on the at least one response, and storing information related to the selected subset of the plurality of message threads.

Search engines running on message storage systems use a variety of search techniques to present individual messages or message threads to users based on one or more search terms that are provided by the users. The relevance of search results relate closely to the search terms, one or more senders, and date sent. The search engine generally produces a large number of message threads that include some irrelevant results and are difficult to sort for relevant messages or message threads. Many suggested message threads are not relevant to the user. Relevant results are not always provided.
It is desirable to have methods and systems for providing a list of message threads related to the selected message thread relevant to the subject matter of the selected message thread.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Identifying message threads of a message storage system having relevance to a first file


A chair with a footrest mechanism includes two upright rods, a seat cushion arranged between the two upright rods, and a footrest mechanism. A hanging part is arranged on each of both sides of the seat cushion, and both ends of the hanging part are fixedly connected to the seat cushion. The middle part of the hanging part is fixed to the upper end of the upright rod. The footrest mechanism includes a footrest part, a connecting rod and a pull belt. A first end portion of the connecting rod is fixedly connected to the footrest part, and a second end portion of the connecting rod is fixedly connected to the seat cushion. A first end portion of the pull belt is fixedly connected to the footrest part, and a second end portion of the pull belt is connected to the hanging part.

Chairs in the prior art, especially the folding chairs, typically do not provide users with a footrest mechanism that is convenient to rest their feet while sitting. As a result, users cannot comfortably rest their feet when seated.
Therefore, it is highly desirable to provide an improved chair with a footrest mechanism.


A longwall shearer is positioned adjacent a face conveyor for transporting material that is cut from a mining face. The longwall shearer includes a chassis, an arm pivotably coupled to the chassis, a cutting drum for engaging the mining face, and a lump breaker for engaging material on the face conveyor. The chassis includes a first end and a second end, and the chassis is movable in at least a first direction that is generally parallel to the mining face. The cutting drum is rotatably supported on the arm. The lump breaker is pivotably coupled to the chassis about an axis, and the lump breaker includes at least one tooth for breaking apart the cut material.

The present invention relates to underground mining machines, and in particular to a lump crusher for a longwall shearer.
Longwall shearer mining machines are commonly used in underground mining applications. Conventional longwall shearers generally include a chassis and a pair of arms pivotably coupled to the chassis. Each of the arms supports a rotatable cutting drum that is equipped with teeth and removes material from a mining face. The longwall shearer is coupled to an armored face conveyor for movement in a lateral direction substantially parallel to the mining face. In operation, large pieces of removed material fall from the mining face onto the armored face conveyor, which carries the material away from the mining face. If not broken up, crushed, or split into fragments, the large pieces of removed material may become stuck between an underside of the chassis of the longwall shearer and the armored face conveyor, thereby clogging the passage of the removed material and potentially causing production delays.


A turbomachine blade comprising a root portion and an aerofoil portion, the aerofoil portion having a leading edge, a trailing edge, a concave metal wall portion extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge and a convex metal wall portion extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge. The concave metal wall portion and the convex metal wall portion form a continuous integral metal wall. The aerofoil portion has a hollow interior defined by at least one internal surface and the hollow interior of the aerofoil portion is at least partially filled with a vibration damping and stiffening system that comprises a vibration damping material. The vibration damping material is bonded to the at least one internal surface and the vibration damping and stiffening system comprises a variation of material properties between the wall portions.

Conventional narrow chord fan blades for gas turbine engines comprise solid metal.
One conventional wide chord fan blade comprises a concave metal wall portion, a convex metal wall portion and a honeycomb between the two metal wall portions. This wide chord fan blade is produced by hot forming the wall portions into concave and convex shapes respectively, placing the honeycomb between the metal wall portions and brazing, or activated diffusion bonding, the metal wall portions together around the honeycomb. The interior of the fan blade is evacuated.
Another conventional wide chord fan blade comprises a concave metal wall portion, a convex metal wall portion and metal walls extending between the two wall portions. Placing a metal sheet between two tapered metal sheets and diffusion bonding the sheets together at predetermined positions to form an integral structure produces this wide chord fan blade. Then inert gas is supplied into the interior of the integral structure to hot form the integral structure into a die to produce the concave and convex walls and the walls extending between the concave and convex walls. The interior of the fan blade is evacuated.
A disadvantage of a wide chord fan blade is that it is not as stiff as a narrow chord fan blade. The reduced stiffness results in an increased risk of stalled flutter within the operating range of the gas turbine engine and an increased susceptibility to other forms of vibration. A further disadvantage of the wide chord fan blade is that it is very expensive and time consuming to produce.
One solution to damping the vibrations of a fan blade is to fill the interior with a viscoelastic material core, bonded to the interior of the wall portions, as disclosed in the UK Patent Application GB0130606.7. However, the structural requirements of a fan blade and thus the core are to resist rotational, vibrational and impact loads. A disadvantage of this system is that rotational and impact loads require a core of high strength and high stiffness, whereas for vibration damping the core is preferably of a low modulus. A further disadvantage is that the damping ability of the viscoelastic material core is compromised by the necessity to reduce the parasitic weight, which is achieved by inclusion of microbubbles.


A mechanism is provided to implement an action-object interaction detection mechanism for recognizing actions in cluttered video scenes. An object bounding box is computed around an object of interest identified in a corresponding label in an initial frame where the object of interest appears in the frame. The object bounding box is propagated from the initial frame to a subsequent frame. For the initial frame and the subsequent frame: the object bounding boxes of the initial frame and the subsequent frame are refined and cropped based on the associated refined object bounding boxes. The set of cropped frames are processed to determine a probability that an action that is to be verified from the corresponding label is being performed. Responsive to determining the probability is equal to or exceeds a verification threshold, a confirmation is provided that the action-object interaction video performs the action that is to be verified.

The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically, to mechanisms for improving action-object recognition in cluttered video scenes by utilizing text.
The process of training a machine learning (ML) model or a deep learning (DL) model involves providing an ML or DL algorithm (that is, the learning algorithm) with training data to learn from. The term "ML model" or "DL model" refers to the model artifact that is created by the training process. The training data must contain the correct answer, which is known as a target or target attribute. The learning algorithm finds patterns in the training data that map the input data attributes to the target (the answer that you want to predict) and it outputs an ML or DL model that captures these patterns.

Action-object recognition in cluttered video scenes using text


The bifurcated forceps is a tweezers-like instrument having two elongate, flattened arms joined at their mutual proximal ends, and each arm extends to a distal end having two laterally separated tines extending therefrom. The mutually facing surfaces of the corresponding tines of each arm are provided with serrations or teeth along the majority of their lengths, the facing serrations meshing with one another. The bifurcated forceps may have laterally straight arms, or laterally curved arms. Reusable forceps may be formed of surgical steel, and disposable forceps may be formed of a suitable plastic. The laterally separated tines enable the bifurcated forceps to grip a portion of tissue or other matter simultaneously at two separate points, thereby holding a greater span of the tissue clear of the underlying structure to facilitate surgical procedures and the like.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to surgical implements, and particularly to bifurcated forceps in which each of the jaws has two parallel, laterally separated tines for gripping a sheet of material (anatomic tissue, etc.) simultaneously at two spaced apart locations.
2. Description of the Related Art
The medical profession requires a number of specialized instruments for various medical procedures. It is often necessary to retract or otherwise displace some tissue structure (e.g., skin, subcutaneous structure, blood vein or artery, etc.) in order to access some underlying organ or other structure of concern. Some form of gripping device, e.g., forceps or tweezers, is customarily used for such purpose.
The problem with conventional forceps and tweezers is that they have only two mutually opposed jaws, which each comprise a single element. Hence, the tissue structure can only be gripped at one point between the two jaws. As most bodily tissues are relatively soft and flaccid, particularly when the patient is anesthetized, the tissue tends to withdraw back toward its original position or location. The underlying structure is therefore exposed only in a relatively narrow area beneath the point gripped by the conventional forceps, which may not provide the surgeon with sufficient line of sight to observe as required and/or sufficient room to perform the procedure. Accordingly, two sets of conventional forceps or tweezers are commonly used. An assistant (operating room nurse, etc.) holds the second set in response to the directions from the surgeon. Clearly, this is not only a labor intensive procedure, but it also often results in interfering with the line of sight and the work of the surgeon, even though it is necessary to open up the sightline and operating path for the surgeon.
Thus, a bifurcated forceps solving the aforementioned problems is desired.