Apparatus for collapsing an on-board crop receiver of a harvester to a transport position, utilizing a remotely releasable locking element to allow telescopic collapsing or retracting the receiver without entering the receiver, and powered apparatus for positively collapsing a duct extending between a row unit of the harvester and an inlet opening of the receiver. The duct is telescopically retractable at an inclined angle by a similarly inclined duct driver to a height about equal to that of the receiver when in the transport position, so as to be freed from the receiver and any associated hood extending outwardly therefrom associated with the inlet opening. Using crop compactor apparatus within the interior of the receiver, the compactor can be lowered and the locking mechanism unlocked, and then the compactor operated to telescopically collapse or retract the receiver. The receiver can be extended in the reverse order.

Crop harvesters such as for cotton, typically include a plurality of row units for harvesting or stripping crop from plants, which row units are arrayed across a front end of the harvester. Such harvesters include ducts extending individually or in pairs upwardly and rearwardly from the row units to an inlet opening or openings through the upper front region of a crop receiver structure. The receiver is generally in the form of a basket, and typically includes a compactor apparatus operable for compacting cotton received and contained therein.
More advanced cotton receivers are configured as cotton module builders, and include compactor apparatus operable for building a densely compacted, freestanding module from the cotton. Reference in this latter regard, Covington et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,178,454 issued Feb. 20, 2007, and entitled Compactor Apparatus Including Single Cylinders and Guide Members on the Sides of an On-board Module Builder of a Cotton Harvesting Machine. The overall operational height of such harvesting machines typically exceed height limits for vehicles for travel over public roads and thoroughfares. As a result, many cotton receiver structures, as exemplified by the module builder of the Covington et al. patent, are designed to be collapsible or retractable to a shorter height. To illustrate, the module builder of the Covington et al. patent is collapsible to a sufficient extent so as to have an overall collapsed height which is at or below the height limit for road travel, and is about the height of the roof of the operator cabin of that harvester.
Typically, when a cotton receiver is filled to its capacity with cotton, or at other times, the receiver can be unloaded. Some cotton receivers are raised in their entirety for unloading. For others, such as the module builder of the above-referenced Covington et al. patent, only the front end of the receiver is raised, so as to tilt the receiver for unloading. In still other constructions, the receiver is tilted to one side or the other, as illustrated in Wigdahl et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,701,701, entitled Duct Support and Transition Structure for a Harvester, issued Mar. 9, 2004. In each instance, the front end of the receiver is required to be moved away from the cotton ducts, which typically remain in their operational positions. To accommodate this, the referenced Covington et al. patent utilizes a well known construction wherein the upper ends of the ducts terminate in curved, rearwardly open end portions aligned with forwardly facing openings on the upper front end of the receiver. The forwardly facing openings may, or may not, include associated hood structures extending thereabove. An observed advantage of this construction is that it allows the receiver to freely move away from and toward the ends of the ducts. In the harvester of the Wigdahl et al. patent, the upper ends of the ducts terminate with an upwardly facing opening beneath or within the interior of a larger hood extending continuously the width of the upper front end of the receiver, and the hood is moved away with the cotton receiver from the ducts during the unloading operation. As with the Covington et al. construction, an advantage is that no disconnection or disassembly of the receiver from the ducts is required for the unloading operation.
When the cotton receiver is vertically telescopically retracted or collapsed into a reduced height transport and storage mode, the ducts are also typically telescopically retracted or collapsed to a reduced height. In the referenced Covington et al. construction, the ducts are telescopically collapsible in the well known manner, and the upper ends of the ducts are located forwardly of the front end of the receiver and any associated hood structure. This enables collapsing both the cotton receiver and any associated hood structure to about the cabin height, without requiring disassembly. As another example of a known duct structure reducible in height to that of the operator cabin, reference Schneider et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,908 entitled Duct Structure for a Cotton Harvester, issued Jan. 12, 1999, wherein the upper portions of the respective ducts are pivotable relative to the lower portions.
In contrast, in the referenced Wigdahl et al. construction, apparatus is provided for connecting the upper ends of the ducts together for joint vertical movement between the operational and collapsed states, which apparatus includes fluid cylinder drivers for powered operation, and which vertical movement maintains the upper ends of the ducts when in the collapsed state directly beneath the larger hood. A limitation of this arrangement, however, is that in the illustrated collapsed state, the receiver structure still has an overall height well above the operator cabin. Thus it is apparent that the hood would have to be disassembled from the cotton receiver, or the ducts removed, for the receiver to be vertically collapsible to about the height of the operator cabin. This would be time consuming and costly, and reassembly would be required render the harvester operational again.
Therefore, what is sought is apparatus and a method for collapsing a cotton receiver and ducts for transport and storage, that is at least partially automatic, and reduces or eliminates need for disassembly and reassembly of any associated hood or hoods, and otherwise overcomes one or more of the problems and shortcomings of the known constructions and methods.

Collapsing on-board crop receiver and duct of a cotton harvester


A droplet ejection device includes a head that ejects droplets onto a recording medium so as to form an image, an extract unit that extracts a part of the image as a specific image portion, and a control unit that controls a treating-agent application member to apply treating agent to a first section and a second section of the recording medium. The specific image portion is formed in the first section, and at least a part of a non-specific image portion of the image is formed in the second section. When a remaining amount of the treating agent is less than a first amount, the treating-agent application member applies the treating agent to the second section by an amount less than an amount of the treating agent that is applied to the second section when the remaining amount is not less than the first amount.

There has been proposed an inkjet printer that applies a treating agent to a recording medium prior to and/or after ink ejection to the recording medium. The treating agent is liquid or solid (film-shaped, for example) agent with desired characteristics.
A treating agent that is applied prior to ink ejection (pre-treating agent) prevents ink blur and ink seep through, improves color development, reduces dry time, and prevents recording medium cockle and curl that may occur after ink ejection. Note that "ink seep through" means that ink ejected on a surface of a recording medium seeps through the recording medium to the other side thereof. A treating agent that is applied after ink ejection (post-treating agent) forms a layer to protect images formed on a recording medium by improving rub resistance, water resistance, light resistance, gas resistance, and the like, and to produce gross on the surface of the recording medium.
There is also known a method for suppressing ink blur and the like by reducing the ejection amount of ink droplets without using a treating agent when the remaining amount of the treating agent is low.

Droplet ejection device that applies treating agent to recording medium


A method of drilling a borehole into a subsurface earth formation, using a tubular drill string which includes at its lower end a bottom hole assembly comprising a drill bit, a drill steering system, and a surveying system. The drill string includes a selectively closable passageway for passing an auxiliary tool from a first position interior of the drill string above the bottom hole assembly to a second position. In the second position, at least part of the auxiliary tool is exterior of the drill string below the bottom hole assembly. The drill string is progressed into the earth formation by drilling. When a tool operating condition is met the passageway is opened and the auxiliary tool is passed through the passageway from the first position to the second position, where the auxiliary tool is operated.

In conventional drilling a drill string is used including a drill bit at its lower end, and progression into the earth is obtained by rotating the drill string while putting weight on the bit. In order to be able to perform directional drilling, a specialised so-called bottom hole assembly has to be used, which forms the lower part of the drill string. At minimum, in order to be suitable for directional drilling, a bottom hole assembly must comprise a drill bit, a drill steering system, and a surveying system. The drill bit forms the lower end of the drill string and is provided with cutting elements for progression into the earth formation. The drill steering system serves to point or push the drill bit into the desired direction. For this purpose, two different approaches are currently used, on the one hand rotary steering systems wherein the rotation of the drill bit is deflected into the desired direction while the entire drill string is rotated from surface, or mud motors in combination with bent subs or housings, wherein only the lower end of the drill string is rotated by the action of the mud motor. The surveying system can include a measurement-while-drilling (MWD) system and/or a logging-while drilling (LWD) system for determining orientation parameters in the course of the drilling operation and/or measuring parameters of the formation or in the borehole.
Directional drilling operations are becoming more and more important for the optimised production of oil or gas from subsurface formations. An example are so called 'Extended Reach' wells, which are wells which typically laterally extend up to 2 kilometers or more from the wellhead, with high angle or horizontal deviation. During drilling of such a borehole a plurality of situations and problems can be encountered which can require specialized equipment and tools at the lower end of the drill string to deal with. If the need for such specialised equipment is known in advance, it can sometimes be included in the bottom hole assembly. For example, the surveying system can include highly specialised logging tools for surveying a particular parameter of the surrounding formation or inside the borehole.
In this way, bottom hole assemblies used for directional drilling have developed to a high degree of complexity. Due to the high cost thereof, the risk of a loss of the bottom hole assembly in the borehole increases significantly. Also, it is impossible to include all equipment needed in unforeseen situations. For example, when suddenly mud losses are encountered, it may be desirable to seal fluid communication between borehole and the surrounding formation near the drill bit, but normally this cannot be done with the bottom hole assembly in place.
It is normally undesirable to pull the entire drill string up to surface, in order to replace the bottom hole assembly by, for example, a fluid injection tool (e.g. a cementing tool or a tool for injecting lost circulation material), or in general any other auxiliary tool. Pulling and running back in the drill string can be extremely time-consuming, in an extended reach well this can be a matter of several days. In some critical situations pulling the entire drill string up to surface is not be practically performable at all.


It is an object of the present invention to provide an information recording and reproducing technique capable of improving the reliability of information recorded on a recording medium. A recording condition comprising amplitude information and the ratio of the amplitude to the recording power is previously recorded on the recording medium. Using this previously recorded information, information is recorded and then immediately reproduced to calculate the optimum recording power from the amplitude information obtained from the reproduced signal. By adapting the recording condition accordingly, it is possible to secure reliability of information in performance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording and reproducing technique for recording and reproducing information to and from an information recording medium and, in particular, to an information recording and reproducing technique for recording and reproducing information to and from an information recording medium by using laser light.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally in a conventional optical information recording and reproducing apparatus capable of recording and reproducing information onto and from an optical recording medium such as an optical disk, after information is recorded in a disk area, a part of the recorded information is reproduced, the Beta value of the reproduced signal is calculated to judge the recording quality and, if the Beta value is not within the allowable range, error information is output to a host computer (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-161272 (pages 4 through 6, FIG. 1)).

Information recording and reproducing apparatus and information recording medium


A start up circuit includes: a diode Q0; a first transistor Q1 coupled in series with the diode Q0; a first resistor R4 coupled in series with the first transistor Q1; a second transistor Q2 having a control node coupled to a control node of the first transistor Q1 and coupled to a node between the first transistor Q1 and the first resistor R4; and a second resistor R2 coupled in series with the second transistor Q2 such that a current in the second transistor Q2 is independent of a voltage applied across the diode Q0, the first transistor Q1, and the first resistor R4.

This invention generally relates to electronic systems and in particular it relates to start up circuits for high speed bias generators.
A very important part in the design of operational amplifiers is the bias generator. Bias generators provide a reference current that sets the quiescent current for the given design. Usually bias generators can be independent of supply voltages, so references like Vbe (base to emitter voltage) or Vt (threshold voltage) are used. One important part of the design of the bias generator is the startup circuitry. Start up circuits will force the bias generator to operate in the non-zero state. They do this by putting a small current that will force the circuit to operate and keep it from turning off.
In the world of high speed circuits an essential requirement for bias generators is to be able to tolerate the high frequency feed through of the signals that will ripple back from the main circuit. The signals that ripple back can cause the bias generator current to spike up or to almost turn off. The bias generator has to be able to absorb these signals and recover in a very short amount of time. As soon as the bias generator starts to turn off, the start up circuit should catch up bringing the bias generator current back to its normal state. The start up circuit has to be fast for a very high-speed circuit. What one would ambition is a bias generator that could speed up as a result of a fast transient but after that overshoot it never undershoots, i.e., a 50-60 degrees of phase margin. This is why in high-speed design extra compensation to the bias generator is not desirable.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art PTAT bias generator with a high speed start up circuit. The start up circuit 20 is always providing a current to the bias generator 22, as opposed to xe2x80x9cnon-high speedxe2x80x9d start up circuits which are disconnected when they are not needed. The reason for having the circuit providing a constant start up current is to fulfill the requirement for a fast start up circuit when dealing with high-speed signals. One thing to keep in mind when designing the startup circuitry is not to limit the power supply""s voltage range beyond what the core circuitry already does. Emitter degeneration resistors 30 and 32 (R3) are usually used to improve the matching of the transistors in the start up. Typically, the voltage drop across them is no more than 10 VT where VT=kT/q. For voltage drops larger than 10 VT the improvement achieved is almost insignificant and it starts to limit the power supply voltage range.
Prior art start up circuits such as the one shown in FIG. 1 have the problem of being power supply dependent. The start up reference current in transistor Q2 will be determined by the difference in voltage between the power supplies Vcc and Vee minus one diode drop across transistor Q1 divided by a set of resistors R1 and R4 (R1+R4, of which R4 usually dominates). This is imposed into the base of transistor Q2 setting the start up current. Notice how the start up current will also be power supply dependent. This can be a problem on a wide supply voltage application. If the start up current becomes large it will introduce a substantial error in the reference current as a result of the impedance drop in the PNP mirrors 24 and 26. This error will affect the currents throughout the whole circuit and increase the power consumption. On the other hand, if it gets too small it will fail to keep the bias generator from recovering fast after a fast transition ripples back to it nearly turning it off.
A start up circuit includes: a diode; a first transistor coupled in series with the diode; a first resistor coupled in series with the transistor; a second transistor having a control node coupled to a control node of the first transistor and coupled to a node between the first transistor and the first resistor; and a second resistor coupled in series with the second transistor such that a current in the second transistor is independent of a voltage applied across the diode, the first transistor, and the first resistor.

Power supply independent all bipolar start up circuit for high speed bias generators


An integrated circuit wherein no disturbances due to spikes occur is provided for converting a gap-infested clock into a gap-free clock. In a phase-locked loop the frequency of a read-in clock is supplied to a phase discriminator via a frequency divider and the frequency of a read-out clock is supplied to the phase discriminator via another frequency divider. A succession of clocks shifted in phase relative to one another is provided by a generator from an auxiliary frequency of a crystal oscillator which feeds an auxiliary successor sequence clock generator which provides a plurality of successor auxiliary clocks. Which of these clocks provides the read-out clock after a division in a frequency divider is defined by a switching frequency output by a frequency divider which is controlled by the phase discriminator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for converting a gap-infested read-in clock into a gap-free read-out clock having the same number of pulses on the basis of phase-shift control (PLL) and is also directed to an arrangement for implementation of the method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such an arrangement is utilized in the receiving path of digital multiplexer systems since the clock of the respective sub-channel is required for the recovery of the sub-channel. It is disclosed in European Patent application No. 0 266 588 A1. In this arrangement, however, realization in an integrated circuit and, in particular, the circuit simulation, presents difficulties due to the appearance of spikes.

Method and apparatus for converting a gap-infested read-in clock into a gap-free read-out clock


A support pad for a keyboard has a number of features including a cover that is attached along the rear edge of the pad and can be pulled over a keyboard on the pad, a riser system for achieving desired height and angulation, and a wrist and/or palm support pad. The riser system is disposed between the support pad and an underlying horizontal surface. One or more inflatable balloons are used to set the height and angulation of the wrist and/or support pad. The support pad for both the keyboard and the palms and/or wrists has an upper exterior layer below which one or more layers of soft plastic bubbles are disposed.

The computer is part of today's life, and we are faced with using them in our jobs, and at times even at home. I believe it would be hard to find an advanced office in the U.S. that does not have a computer in use. However use of computers and keyboards is not totally benign and easy, and some difficulties have occurred. One of my patients developed carpal tunnel syndrome which was believed to be due to heavy use of a computer keyboard. In my experience other problems also occur, such as pain in areas of the hands that touch the hard parts of the desk or the keyboard of the computer. Since people are different, I believe it is not possible to make a single keyboard that will match and be perfect for everyone. The fact is that people have different sizes, body figures, make-up, sexes, ages, etc. Some people are twice as tall as others, or even more. Some have about twice the width as others. This is true about other parts of their bodies and arm sizes too. The difference between the hands of men and women is obvious. Most men have big bulky hands and most women have slim smaller hands with less muscles. Even in one sex and family the difference can be noted; my son puts the keyboard in a different position than I do. So even in one home and one family, the husband, the wife, the girls and boys, the older and younger children may have different choices for the keyboard and its height, angulation, etc.
Another important point that I want to mention is that from my own experience a single person may wish to use a keyboard differently when one part of the hand has been under pressure for awhile and different muscles and parts of the hands previously used may be wished to be left free for awhile. However in practice, there is not much choice in keyboards and their sizes. Even their height cannot be adjusted easily, which I believe is a part of the problems with the present keyboards. So when we consider people with different sizes, arm lengths, back bone and back structure, the fact is that the chair and the desk they use are many times different and at times not adjustable as they wish. Then we reach the conclusion that it will be advantageous, and even at times necessary, to have a keyboard that allows its height to be adjusted, which is not possible with the units that I have seen. This is also true about angulation between the keyboard and the user. It is true that most keyboards have a couple of snaps in their bottom that can be raised to cause angulation of the keyboard. But it is only one choice and not more. Therefore I believe it will be very useful to have a unit added that gives a choice of angulation between the keyboard and the user which is not possible with present units.
Another major problem that I have noticed during my work with the computer is that the rear part of my palms sits against and touches the edge of the keyboard and the table, and this gets so painful that I have to stop many times to avoid pain. To solve this problem I once used a piece of plastic with bubbles that was used in packing a unit which was shipped to us. I noted that it was helpful to some degree, but not much, and the bubbles also popped since they were not designed for this job and were not protected properly from localized pressure from the base of my palms.
These observations gave me the belief that there is a need for a unit to give more freedom, choice and support for keyboard users, and this made me present my own unit for this use.
This unit is made from combinations of soft and hard plastic, and may have sponges in its construction as well as mosaics of bubbles and balloons and elastic bands. This unit has a rectangular area in its top surface that matches and accepts the keyboard of a computer. This place may also be covered by a thin layer of plastic which has mosaics of bubbles inside it, which I believe causes dissipation and absorption of some of the pressure from the tips of the fingers.
In front of this place there is another place that allows the palms and part of the wrist in some cases to be placed. This area has a rectangular shape and is covered by a soft pad. The soft pad is either permanently attached to this unit and area, or it can be removably and exchangeably stuck or placed in that area. For this purpose, this unit has a flat surface in its front that has patches of Velcro.sub.TM to allow the matching pieces of Velcro.sub.TM from the bottom of the soft pad to stick to it and hold it in place. This allows different soft pads to be stuck and to be exchanged easily. The surface of the soft pads can be flat, or convex, or concave. Also it will allow pieces with different thickness and softness to be chosen.
This invention allows the height of the keyboard as well as its angulation to be adjusted, and the parts that are touched to be softer. The unit also has an empty space in its bottom like a rectangular flat space that allows multiple pieces of matching boards to be placed in it. These boards have different shapes; some are like regular flat boards, while others have the shape of smooth flat wedges. These boards can be connected to each other by simple ways to make a unit with adjusted height and angulation to be placed under the keyboard. The soft pad in front is made from mosaics of soft plastic bubbles covered by a soft non-irritant plastic that can have different shapes to allow the base of the palms to be situated on it for better and softer feelings. This prevents the hands from touching the hard part of the table as well as the hard edge of the keyboard. Dust also is dislikeable and may gradually damage the unit, and to prevent its accumulation on the keyboard, a cover is connected to the rear end of this unit that can be pulled to cover the keyboard from dust.


In a reserve tank structure for supplying, to a collecting gutter mounted slantedly in a lower part of a pachinko island and communicating with a lower tank above which a polishing and lifting device is located, pachinko balls which have flowed over the polishing and lifting device, a reserve tank is divided into a plurality of tank parts arranged on a plane. These parts each have an inclined bottom surface and each includes, under a lower portion of the entire reserve tank, an inclined lower gutter communicating with the bottom surfaces of the individual tank parts and also communicating with the collecting gutter.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a reserve tank structure for storing pachinko balls when those in a pachinko island of an amusement arcade are more than enough and for supplying the pachinko balls in stock to the pachinko island when those in the island are not enough.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in an amusement arcade such as a pachinko parlor, a player throws the pachinko balls, which were received as prizes from the pachinko machine, into a ball counter to record the number of the pachinko balls such as on a receipt paper or a magnetic recording card, and then brings the receipt paper or magnetic recording card to an exchange counter for exchange with a premium. Meanwhile the pachinko balls put into the ball counter are collected to be redistributed to the individual pachinko machines and ball dispensers, thus being circulated through the island.
A circulation system for pachinko balls is currently known in which a polishing and lifting device is located above a lower tank communicating with a collecting gutter extending slantly in the lower part of the pachinko island so that pachinko balls flown over the polishing and lifting device can be supplied to a reserve tank communicating with the collection gutter. This known art is exemplified by our coassigned Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 3-85013, in which there is equipped with a large reserve tank having in its bottom an opening through which pachinko balls are to be supplied to the collecting gutter.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 9 of the accompanying drawings, a plurality of pachinko islands 2 are provided in an amusement arcade 1 in parallel relationship with an aisle 3 between adjacent islands. On opposite sides of each pachinko island 2, a pair of arrays of pachinko machines 21 are installed with a ball dispenser 22 between adjacent pachinko machines 21, 21. In the center of each pachinko machine array, there is also installed a ball counter 51, which serves as a ball collector to collect the pachinko balls, which were received from outside the island as returned by players, into the island.
As shown in FIG. 10, there are in each pachinko island 2 upper and lower tanks 24, 31 for storing pachinko balls in the island. Each pachinko island 2 also has an upper path 25 extending over the individual pachinko machines 21 and ball dispensers 22 from the upper tank 24, and a lower path 26 extending under the individual pachinko machines 21 from the upper tank 24.
Downstream of the lower path 26, there is situated a polishing device. Thus in each pachinko island 2, pachinko balls in the upper tank 24 are supplied to the individual pachinko machines 21 via the upper path 25 and a ball supplier 123, and are also supplied to the individual ball dispensers 122 via the upper path 25 so that a quantity of pachinko balls according to the amount of money inserted by a customer can be dispensed to the customer. The pachinko balls inserted into the individual pachinko machines 21 by players, i.e. from outside the island, flow into the lower path 26. The pachinko balls collected from the ball counter 51 are discharged to the lower path 26, which serves as a ball collecting path, via the lower tank 31, and the pachinko balls collected from the lower path 26 are raised into the upper tank 24 by the polishing device 27.
The lower tank 31 is located below the upper tank 24 having in its bottom an opening from which pachinko balls are to be discharged to the lower path 26. In the opening 43 of the lower tank 31, there is located a shutter 44 for regulating the quantity of pachinko balls to be discharged from the lower tank 31.
The upper and lower tanks 24, 31 are connected with each other by an overflow tube 29 through which the pachinko balls which have overflowed from the upper tank 24 are transferred to the lower tank 31.
The pachinko balls in the upper tank 24 are supplied to the individual pachinko machines 21 and the individual ball dispensers 22, and the pachinko balls inserted into the individual pachinko machines by players flow into the lower path 26. Meanwhile, the pachinko balls returned to the ball counter 51 from players flow into the lower path via the lower tank 31 after being counted by the ball counter 51. The pachinko balls collected from the lower path 26 are raised into the upper tank 24 by the polishing device 27, which polishes the pachinko balls while lifting. The pachinko balls overflown from the upper tank 24 are transferred to the lower tank 31 through the overflow tube 29. Thus pachinko balls are circulated in the pachinko island 2.
However, with the known arrangement, since the single large reserve tank has a large bottom surface, bridging of balls tends to occur on the bottom surface at the upper side away from the opening so that many pachinko balls will be not be discharged out of the reserve tank and then will stay there as dead balls. Consequently these remaining pachinko balls would finally be rust. Further, since a lot of pachinko balls are discharged at once to the collecting gutter, the pachinko balls in the collecting gutter would not flow smoothly and would tend to get clogged.

Reserve tank structure for pachinko island


A quick attach/detach adjustable hitch which allows the operator of a towing vehicle to connect to a trailer without leaving the driver seat. The preferred embodiment includes a lifting carriage connected within a frame by a hydraulic cylinder. Guiding members are used to ensure correct alignment of the hitch ball receiver and hitch ball, and a hold-down bar is used to prevent accidental detachment of the trailer from the towing vehicle. The preferred embodiment also includes an alarm to inform the operator when the hitch ball receiver and hitch ball are in correct alignment.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a device which can be used to hitch vehicles, trailers, and the like. More specifically, the invention comprises an adjustable hitch which can be used to hitch vehicles, trailers, and the like without requiring the operator to leave the driver seat.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitches are commonly used to tow vehicles and trailers. Many types of hitch mechanisms are known in the art, including hitches which can be raised or lowered. Despite the existence of these various mechanisms there is a need to have an adjustable hitch which can be used to hitch a trailer to a vehicle without requiring the operator of the vehicle to leave the driver seat. This is especially true in applications where the frequent hitching and unhitching of trailers is contemplated.
One example of such an application is in the harvesting of crops. Some harvesters use trailers to haul harvested crops. Since unloading the trailers can be laborious and time consuming, it is often desirable to utilize multiple trailers. Typically, an operator of a tractor will tow an empty trailer to the field to collect harvested crops. When the trailer is full, the harvester brings it back to the storage area and disconnects it. Another empty trailer is then connected to the tractor and brought back to the field to collect more harvest. This process is repeated until all of the harvested crops are collected in trailers. Those that are skilled in the art appreciate that the time taken to connect and disconnect trailers alone can easily exceed two hours a day. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have a hitch which can be quickly connected and disconnected.


In the present invention a method for generating tests for a combinational logic circuit of the PLA type is disclosed. The method is suited to generate tests to determine the input signals, the mid-term output signals of the AND gates, and the output signals, for stuck-at-0 and stuck-at-1 conditions.

Methods for generating tests for logic circuits to detect faults therein are well known in the art. Most of these prior methods use the so-called "stuck-at" fault model and are based on path-sensitization. See, for example, J.P. Roth "Diagnosis of Automated Failures: A Calculus and A Method", IBM Journal of Research and Development, No. 10, October 1966, pp. 278-281; P. Goel, "An Implicit Enumeration Algorithm to Generate Tests for Combinational Logic Circuits", IEEE Transactions on Computers, Vol. C-30, March 1981, pp. 215-222; and H. Fujiwara and T. Shimono, "On the Acceleration of Test Generation Algorithms", IEEE Transactions on Computers, Vol. C-32, December 1983, pp. 1137-1144.
In general, the three steps involved in a pathsensitization algorithm are:
1. Specification of inputs to generate the appropriate value at the site of the fault (0 for stuck-at-1 fault and 1 for a stuck-at-0 fault). This step is called fault sensitization.
2. Selection of a path from the fault site to an output and specification of additional signal values to propagate the fault along the path to the output. This step is called error propagation.
3. Specification of input values to produce the signal values specified in step 2. This step is called line justification.
See M.A. Breuer and A.D. Friedman, Diagnosis and Reliable Design of Digital Systems, Computer Science Press, 1976, p. 37.
The prior art methods are suitable for generating tests for general combinational logic circuits that are composed of arbitrary interconnection of logic circuits. As a result, the algorithms are complex and difficult to implement.
For certain types of applications, such as Programable Logic Arrays (PLA), where the logic circuits comprise an array of a first type of logic circuits interconnected with an array of a second type of logic circuits and have a well defined interconnection, the method for generating tests for the combinational logic circuits can be greatly simplified.

Method of generating tests for a combinational logic circuit


A communication system is described in which a NATed IP address of a home base station is communicated to the home base station by a home base station gateway or a mobility management entity. In one embodiment, the gateway or the mobility management entity receives the NATed IP address from a security gateway that is used to establish a secure tunnel with the home base station through an IP network.

Under the 3GPP standards, a NodeB (or an eNB in LTE) is the base station via which mobile devices connect to the core network. Recently the 3GPP standards body has adopted an official architecture and started work on a new standard for home base stations (HNB). Where the home base station is operating in accordance with the (Long Term Evolution) LTE standards, the HNB is sometimes referred to as an HeNB. A similar architecture will also be applied in the WiMAX network. In this case, the home base station is commonly referred to as a femto cell. For simplicity, the present application will use the term HNB to refer to any such home base station and will use the term NodeB generically to refer to other base stations (such as the base station for the macro cell in which a HNB operates). The HNB will provide radio coverage (for example, 3G/4G/WiMAX) within the home, small and medium enterprise, shopping Malls etc and will typically connect to the core network via a suitable residential gateway and public or corporate broadband access network (for example via an ADSL link to the Internet).


In one embodiment, a battery stack assembly includes a plurality of sleeves, a plurality of battery cells, and one or more retention bands. The plurality of sleeves is arranged in a stack along a common plane, each of the plurality of sleeves including a slot. The plurality of battery cells are positioned within the plurality of sleeves such that at least a portion of each battery cell is accessible when positioned within a dedicated sleeve. The one or more retention bands extend through each of the slots formed in the plurality of sleeves, wherein the one or more retention bands facilitate application of compression across the stack, and release of compression allows a chosen cell to be withdrawn from the dedicated sleeve.

Hybrid/electric vehicles may include battery packs that include a stack of battery cells. During operation, the battery stack is kept under compression by non-adjustable structure, for example, riveted retention bands. However, if an individual cell goes bad (e.g., dies, malfunctions, or the like), it is difficult to remove an individual cell from the stack to replace the bad cell. Accordingly, often when a single cell goes bad, the entire battery back may be replaced as opposed to just the bad cell.
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative battery stack assemblies and methods for replacing a battery cell that provide improved ease of replacement of individual cells.

Battery stack assemblies and methods for replacing a battery cell

Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.


An electrical connector assembly (200) includes a plug connector (100) and a board connector (300). The board connector defines a frame (80) having a pair of holes (809) for receiving a pair of latches (3112) of a latch member (31) the plug connector, a hollow interior cavity (806) receiving part of housing (1) of the plug connector, and an insulative housing (90) supported a number of terminals (91) electrically connecting with conductive pads (21) of a circuit card (2) of the plug connector (100). The plug connector (100) includes a pulling member (32) cooperating with the latch member to actuate the latches of the latch member from separating from the holes of the board connector to disengage the board connector from the plug connector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to an electrical connector assembly with small size used for high-speed signal transmission.
2. Description of Related Art
A committee called SFF is an ad hoc group formed to address storage industry needs in a prompt manner. When formed in 1990, the original goals were limited to define de facto mechanical envelopes within disk drives can be developed to fit compact computer and other small products. Specification SFF-8088 defines matable Compact Multilane Shielded connectors adopted for being used in laptop portable computer to connect small-size disk drives to a printed circuit board. The connectors comprise a cable connector assembly connecting with the small-size drive and a header mounted on the printed circuit board. The cable connector assembly defined in the specification comprises a pair of engagable metal housings together defining a receiving space therebetween, a PCB received in the receiving space, a cable comprising a plurality of conductors electrically connecting with the PCB, and a latching mechanism assembled to a top surface of the upper metal housing. The latching mechanism comprises an elongated T-shape latch member for latching with the header mentioned above and a pulling member cooperating with the latch member for actuating the latch member to separate from the header. The latch member is assembled to a rear portion of a base of the upper housing with latch portion exposed beyond a front portion of the base of the upper housing to locate above a tongue portion of the upper housing. However, such elongated latch member is hard to be actuated by the pulling member, otherwise the latch member must have enough thickness or made by high-quality material having enough rigidity to achieve the goal of latching reliably and unlatching easily.
High speed data transfer systems require electrical connectors in which the electrical impedance can be controlled in order to maintain the required data transfer rate of the electrical system. Low profile connectors, such as those used in SFP (Small Form Factor Pluggable) applications are desired in electronic devices in which space is at a premium and thus it is difficult to guide the opposing mating plug connectors into contact with such connectors. The plug connector typically includes a circuit card that has a projecting edge that is received within a card opening in the SFP connector. Shielding cages are typically utilized with such connectors to control the emission of electromagnetic interference. These cages often serve as a secondary housing for the connector in that they substantially enclose the connectors. The small size of the SFP style connectors makes it difficult for ensuring that the opposing mating connectors mate properly with the SFP connectors, especially in a blind mating application.
Hence, an improved electrical connector assembly is provided in the present invention to address the problems mentioned above and meet the current trend.

Small size electrical connector assembly


A method includes associating an e-mail address with a plurality of telephone numbers; associating one of the telephone numbers with a one number service (108); allowing telephone calls to the one of the telephone numbers by selecting the e-mail address. In some embodiments, the allowing telephone calls comprises calling a programmed caller number and calling to a called party number associated with the e-mail address. In some embodiments, a called party and a calling party are subscribers to a one-number service (108).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to telecommunications systems. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved one number service.
2. Description of the Related Art
Users of telecommunications services increasingly desire to be reachable at all times. To this end, users often have a plurality of telecommunications devices and hence telephone numbers. For example, a user can have one or more business, home, and cellular telephones and corresponding telephone numbers. Paradoxically, this proliferation of devices can inhibit communication, as a caller does not necessarily know at which device the user is available. Thus, actually completing a call to the user can require the dialing of a plurality of telephone numbers, which can be relatively time-consuming and frustrating for the caller.
One Number Service (ONS) is a service which allows a user to have one telephone number for multiple telephones. The user can specify an ONS telephone number and/or a personal identification number (PIN) where the call can be received at a given time. For example, the user can have a call to the given number forwarded to his cell phone, his business phone, or his home phone.
Telephonic communication is frequently triggered by reception of an e-mail. However, if the e-mail itself does not contain the sender's ONS identification, the user must manually look up the ONS number or PIN. Further, if a caller has multiple entries in his address book for the user, he does not necessarily know which of the numbers is the ONS "one number," which can obviate any advantage in having the One Number Service.
In addition, traditional One Number Services are essentially local to a given premises or company. While network federation implementations could allow for One Number Service across companies, they are relatively complex and expensive processes, particularly when only a small number of employees from each of the interworking companies need to interact. In such cases, the usual option is to completely forego a One Number Service. Thus, users generally cannot readily leverage or make use of ONS tools to reach or collaborate with someone across premises or companies. Again, this limits the advantages of having the One Number Service.
Finally, existing One Number Services are associated with individual users rather than a particular enterprise or business entity. Thus, if the user leaves the enterprise, he takes his One Number Service and hence his contacts with him. Thus, existing One Number Services are not necessarily retained by the enterprise.
As such, there is a need for an improved One Number Service.

Method and apparatus for one number mapping directory presence service


Oil wells productivity is increased by cyclically treating a shaft-adjacent zone of the well with a seam-forming liquid which contains additional activating components.

The present invention relates to a method of increasing oil well productivity, by acting on a zone which is near a well.
It is known that the permeability of the near well zone has a decisive influence on its productivity. This zone is in the most stressed condition as for the specific quantity of extraction product which passes through it, and mechanical compression stresses. One of the very important problems in this field is to increase its permeability and reduce sressed in the near well zone.
Known methods of the use of seam-forming reactants are based on dissolving and removal from the near well zone of a part of rock, for example by treatment of carbonate collectors etc. This is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,733,727, 4,703,803, 4,604,218, British patent 2 167 470, and Soviet Inventor's certificates 1 411 441 and 1 476 111. The common disadvantage of these methods is violation of strength of the structure of a new space, which can lead to fast reduction of oil filtration in the seam, and also impossibility of prevention of swelling of minerals of montmorillonite group clays, for example bentonite clays.
A method of hydraulic fracturing of productive seams for forming horizontal cracks is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,965,982. In accordance with this method, upper and lower packers are installed in the well against the seam, to form contact with the exposed surface of the seam. In accordance with another method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,138, the permeability of productive seams is increased by introduction into the seam treating liquid of aluminous loosening agent. In accordance with still another method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,792 hydraulic fracturing of productive seams is obtained with the use of viscous solutions of surface-active substances. In this method the pressure in the well is increased to the value, at which the cracks in rock are formed, and the pressure is maintained for 0.5-6 hours. Then the pressure is reduced, and the well is emptied.
A method of multiple fracturing of underground seams is known, in which in order to rupture the seam which is opened by the well the working liquid is pumped through the well into the seam and then particulate loosening material is introduced into the cracks. After this, the working liquid is pumped into the well for a next fracturing of the seam, and the particulate loosening materials is introduced into the new crack, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,271.
It is also known to loosen the cracks in productive seams by introducing a viscous liquid so that it fills the cracks and is retained in them. Then the introduction of liquid is stopped and the crack is left open till the liquid is hardened and loosens the crack, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,029,149. Finally, the productive seams can be ruptured by an acid foam. In this method a gel-like solution which contains surface-active substances and inert gas for forming cracks in the seam are introduced into the seam with a sufficient pressure as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,833.
The above described methods are based on formation of hydraulic connection of the productive seam or group of seams with the well through a low-permeability zone or practically impermeable zone which is near to the well and is characterized by increased concentration of stresses. However, when rock is not excavated and no gap-like cavities are formed, no unloading zone in the near well zone will be formed.
The proposal which is the closest to the present invention is disclosed in the publication "Opening of Seams and productivity increase of well", by V.A. Sidorovskii, in "Nedra" Moscow, 1978, page 111. It includes cyclic treatment of the near well zone with seam-treating reactant which is an acid solution. This method has almost universal action on the near well zone, provides productivity increase of wells, their yield, and straightens the profile of advancement of water pumped into the well to maintain the seam pressure. However, this method has a low efficiency for terigen aluminous seams, in which the process is impeded by swelling and peptization of aluminous particles.

Method of oil well productivity increase


An adjustable beam holder to be used with parallel spaced apart forming boards. The holder includes an elongated case with a longitudinal and centrally disposed slot that receives an elongated removably mounted connector member with an elongated protruding platform member on one side and the opposite side having perpendicularly mounted walls that are removably attached to the slot. Headed threaded shank members are inserted inside the case through openings defined by removable tabs formed on removable cap members mounted to the ends of the case. Readily detachable arms are mounted to the connector mounted to the case member in order to rest over the edges of forming wall and thereby aligning the upper wall flush with the plane defined by the upper edges.

1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to beam holders, and more particularly, to those that are imbedded in concrete slabs or tie beams to anchor truss members.
2. Description of the Related Art.
Several devices have been designed in the past to operate as anchors in concrete for other construction members or fixtures. However, none of them have been directed to the typical wooden trusses of a roof. The acts of God, in particular hurricanes, have proven to cause damages not imaginable as the wind forces are difficult to predict. The need to keep the truss members in place has become quite apparent in South Florida with the recent hurricane Andrew.
The above referenced patent application provided a break through for beam holders as anchorage devices for trusses. However, the present device overcomes problems found in the production line and in the field, bring a faster solution to the users which in turn is translated into savings.
Other patents describing the closest subject matter provide for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention.


A method for determining a color profile from received raster data and printing the raster data is provided. Color profiles provide a mapping from a color space of the raster data to a color space of the printer, which typically uses CMYK toner or ink. A text color profile may be employed to print crisper text, or a photo color profile may be employed to produce better images. The raster data includes a plurality of raster scan lines containing digital pixel values. The method includes determining a number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values and a number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values for the plurality of raster scan lines. A color profile is selected based on a determination between the repeated and non-repeated digital pixel values. An example image forming apparatus that may carry out the method is also provided.

A typical image forming apparatus uses toner or ink to form images on paper. The toner or ink most commonly comes in four different colors—cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). In a typical operation of an image forming apparatus, a print job is received, a color conversion process from the image color space (such as RGB) to the printing color space (such as CMYK) is performed, and an appropriate amount of each of the colors of toner or ink is applied to form an image on a page. However, using every single color of toner or ink in order to produce an image on a page may result in a poor quality and visual artifacts. For instance, printing a page consisting mostly of black or gray text against a white background using cyan, magenta, yellow, and black toner or ink may produce "color fringes" (sometimes referred to as "chromatic aberrations") around the text, resulting in a fuzzy text printed onto the page.
In order to remedy the quality issues when printing with all colors of CMYK toner or ink, a color profile may be employed that specifies how color conversion is performed. The color profile is used to convert the document or image in a print job from its original color space (such as RGB) to a CMYK color space, which may then be employed by an image forming apparatus to use CMYK toner or ink to produce an image on a page. In the example of a document consisting mostly of black text against a white background, a text color profile that converts a document or image into CMYK color space maps RGB color pixels to CMYK pixel values and maps RGB black/gray pixels to K-only pixel values; in other words, pixels with color are mapped to full CMYK values, whereas pixels without color (black or gray) are mapped so that the CMY values are set to zero and only the K value remains. Employing a text color profile thus does not produce a black and white only document, but instead suppresses the use of cyan, magenta, and yellow toner or ink for any pixels that are black or neutral gray, thereby avoiding the color fringes while still printing a document in color. Thus, sending a printer both the image to be printed and a color profile may improve the quality of the image to be printed onto a page. Note that the color profile sent to an image forming apparatus is typically included as metadata along with the raster data, and has been predetermined by a computer, for example.
The image forming apparatus may select the color profile used for a respective print job based on metadata contained within the print job information received by the image forming apparatus (from a personal computer, for example). This metadata may be configured in a variety of different ways for different printing devices. However, as the types of computing devices sending the data to image forming apparatuses and print job data format standards become increasingly diverse, it becomes more difficult to have a particular computing device send compatible data to a particular image forming apparatus. In other words, in order to execute a print job on a specific image forming apparatus, a computing device must be aware of the print job data format compatible with that specific image forming apparatus.
In order to remedy the compatibility issues that arise from these different printing standards and increasing diversity of computing devices, the metadata may be removed entirely and the raster data by itself may be sent to an image forming apparatus. This provides the advantage of improved compatibility in printing documents from a variety of computing devices to a variety of image forming apparatuses; however, it removes the ability to send over the document type containing a color profile that was previously embedded in the metadata.
In current implementations, an image forming apparatus may employ a default color profile that may not be appropriate for printing a respective print job. For example, the default color profile may be a photo color profile, even though the document contains mostly black or gray text, thus causing the image forming apparatus to unnecessarily print the text using colors other than black, which may result in "color fringes" and other visual artifacts to be formed on the printed page.

Method and system for determining an object type from raster data in an image forming apparatus


An example compressor shroud assembly includes a shroud body extending along an axis and having a hollow bore. An enlarged flange is located at one axial end of the shroud body. The enlarged flange provides a rotating surface for a retention plate on a first side and a rotating surface for a drive ring on an opposing, second side. The enlarged flange establishes a channel that receives the retention plate. The channel has a ratio of the channel depth to the channel width that is between 0.0216 and 0.0251.

This disclosure relates to a compressor shroud incorporated into a compressor for use in supplying cabin air in an aircraft.
Compressors are known and include a motor driven to rotate a shaft and in turn drive a compressor rotor. Some compressors include variable diffuser vanes. One end of the variable diffuser vanes is secured relative to a drive ring. Rotating the drive ring moves the variable diffuser vanes.
In one known compressor, the drive ring and the vanes are located on opposing sides of a compressor shroud flange. The compressor shroud flange establishes an annular channel on the vane side. Pins extend from the drive ring through apertures in the compressor shroud flange to drive the variable diffuser vanes. The apertures are established within the annular channel and at least partially covered by a retention plate that moves with the drive ring. The retention plate limits leakage through the apertures as the variable diffuser vanes are moved. The retention plate moves within the annular channel. In the past, the retention plate would sometimes bind when attempting to move the variable diffuser vanes.

Compressor shroud having a retention cover channel for receiving a retention cover


A processor places a printer apparatus in a reduced activity mode after printing requests have not been received for an “inactivity” time period. A belt support device rotates a photoreceptor belt at a reduced speed when the printer apparatus enters the reduced activity mode and for a “delay” time period after the printer apparatus enters the reduced activity mode. The belt support device returns the rotational speed of the photoreceptor belt to the original speed if a new printing request is received during the delay time period. However, the belt support device stops rotation of the photoreceptor belt and reduces the belt tension if the delay time period expires without receiving a new printing request.

Embodiments herein generally relate to printers and printing systems, and more particularly to extending the life of photoreceptor belts by controlling photoreceptor belt detensioning cycles using extended slower belt rotation.
Modern electrostatic printing devices use a photoreceptor belt as a platform to accept a patterned charge, collect toner in the pattern represented by the charge, and transfer the toner to a media material. The media can be, for example, a continuous roll or web of material, or can be cut sheets. The media can be any suitable material including paper, plastic, transparencies, etc.
The photoreceptor belt needs to be durable, yet cannot be excessively expensive. Therefore, a number of systems and processes are used to extend the life of photoreceptor belts.

Control of photoreceptor belt detensioning cycles using extended slower belt rotation


In a method for determining a position of a first electronic device including a first touch screen relative to a second electronic device including a second touch screen, a communication connection between the first electronic device and the second electronic device is established. When a user slides an object from the first touch screen to the second touch screen, a departure touch point and a departure time that the object departs from the first touch screen, an arrival touch point and an arrival time that the object arrives at the second touch screen are obtained. If a difference between the departure time and the arrival time falls within a specified range, the position of the first electronic device is determined. The position of the first electronic device is stored into a storage system of the first electronic device.

1. Technical Field
The embodiments of the present disclosure relate to positioning systems and methods, and particularly to an electronic device and a method for determining a position of the electronic device relative to another electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
Touch screens are widely used in electronic devices such as mobile phones. Some applications may be designed to function between two electronic devices that both include touch screens. For example, a user may combine touch screens of two electronic devices to emulate one large touch screen. However, before implementing such application, a position of one electronic device relative to the other electronic device is needed to be determined.

Electronic device with touch screen and method for determining relative position of the electronic device with respect to another electronic device


According to one implementation, a stereoscopic image display system includes a computing platform having one or more hardware processor(s), a system memory storing a software code, an autostereoscopic display, and a user tracking unit controlled by the hardware processor(s). The hardware processor(s) execute the software code to utilize the user tracking unit to detect a left eye location and a right eye location of a user of the stereoscopic image display system, and to determine a left eye image and a right eye image corresponding to an output image of a content being played out by the stereoscopic image display system based on the respective left eye location and right eye location of the user. The hardware processor(s) further execute the software code to render the left eye image and the right eye image using the autostereoscopic display to generate a three-dimensional (3D) image of the output image.

Popular communication devices such as smartphones and tablet computers typically include a display providing a two-dimensional (2D) image. As a result, and despite their ability to display sharp, richly featured, high definition images, the experience of a user viewing such images is less immersive than if the images were being viewed as three-dimensional (3D) images. Despite the desirability of 3D imagery for users, several significant obstacles to its wider use exist. For example, in order to enjoy 3D movie or television content, a user must typically wear 3D glasses. Moreover, projection of 3D images usually requires multiple projectors, augmented reality (AR) headgear, and/or other complex display technologies. Additional complications can arise if the 3D image is to be viewed from more than one perspective and by more than one user at the same time.

User tracking stereoscopic image display system


An EPG extraction portion extracts EPG information; a program type decision portion decides the type of broadcast program using the extracted EPG information, and outputs a ratio modification signal to change the ratio of the image display interval to the black display interval according to the program type; a driving pulse generation portion generates a gate driver control signal which changes the write timing of a frequency-doubled image signal and frequency-doubled black display signal in one field interval, according to the ratio modification signal; and, a gate driver changes the write timing of the frequency-doubled image signal and frequency-doubled black display signal according to the gate driver control signal, to change the ratio of the image display interval to the black display interval.

Conventionally, liquid crystal display devices have frequently been used as computer display devices by virtue of their light weight, thin shape, low power consumption, and other advantages, but as screen sizes have grown, there has been a gradual increase in the cases of use as television sets. Because these liquid crystal display devices are hold-type display devices in which display of an image is continued for one frame interval, there is occurrence of motion blurring phenomena (hereafter called "edge blur"), in which the outlines of images are blurred during video display, and so video display performance comparable to that of the CRTs (cathode-ray tubes) generally used in television sets is not obtained.
Numerous research reports have been published concerning the principle of occurrence of the above edge blur (for example, see Taishiro Kurita, "Hold gata Display ni okeru Douga Hyouji no Gashitsu" (Picture Quality of Movie Display in a Hold-type Display), IEICE Tech. Rep., EID99-10, 1999, pp. 55-60), and as a liquid crystal display device in which edge blur is improved, there is a display in which frequency-doubled image signals and black display signals are written periodically within one field interval (see for example Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-31790).
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional liquid crystal display device. The liquid crystal display device shown in FIG. 8 comprises a signal conversion portion 101, driving pulse generation portion 102, source driver 103, gate driver 104, and liquid crystal panel 105. The signal conversion portion 101 frequency-doubles the input image signal for each line, using an input synchronization signal as reference, converts the image signal into a frequency-doubled signal consisting of a frequency-doubled image signal and frequency-doubled black display signal, and outputs the frequency-doubled signal to the source driver 103. The driving pulse generation portion 102 outputs a source driver control signal and gate driver control signal, with the input synchronization signal as reference, to control the source driver 103 and gate driver 104. The source driver 103 applies the voltage to be applied to individual pixels within the liquid crystal panel 105 to the source lines SL1 to SL10. The gate driver 104 applies, to the gate lines GL1 to GL10, a voltage to set each of the pixels in the liquid crystal panel 105 to the on state or the off state. At this time, each of the gate lines GL1 to GL10 of the liquid crystal panel 105 is selected twice within one field interval, and an image signal and black display signal are written once each to the pixels on each of the gate lines GL1 to GL10. Hence black insertion driving, in which a black display signal is written periodically while writing image signals, can be realized.
FIG. 9 is a drawing showing the change with time in pixel brightness in the conventional liquid crystal display device of FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 9, one field interval consists of an image display interval T1 and a black display interval T2, and a given pixel is driven as illustrated so that black is periodically displayed. In this case, the driving method in the liquid crystal display device is pseudo-impulse driving (hereafter called "pseudo-impulse driving"), and the edge blur which occurs in video display can be improved.
However, although edge blur can be improved through pseudo-impulse driving in the above-described liquid crystal display device, each field interval comprises a black display interval, so that the average brightness is decreased. The longer the black display interval is made in order to improve edge blur, the more pronounced is this tendency, so that brightness is decreased and satisfactory video display is not possible.
Further, because the amount of motion of an image in the display of video changes variously according to the type of video, the required black display interval length also changes variously. Hence when a black display interval appropriate to an image having an average motion amount is set, edge blur can be reduced sufficiently for images with a small amount of motion, but the brightness is reduced unnecessarily, and satisfactory video display is not possible.
Further, when using a TN (Twisted Nematic) mode in the above-described liquid crystal display device, the driving response time is slow at approximately 16 ms, so that even if a black display interval is set, edge blur may remain due to the slowness of the driving response of the liquid crystal panel.

Display apparatus and display apparatus drive method

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An MBMS-GW delivers multicast data from a contents management server respectively to base stations, partitions and codes the multicast data into a plurality of pieces of multiple description code data, and delivers the plurality of pieces of MD-code data respectively to the base stations. Each of the base stations arbitrarily sets a plurality of transmission carrier frequencies for respectively transmitting the plurality of pieces of MD code data, and concurrently transmits the plurality of pieces of MD code data delivered from the MBMS-GW by respectively using the plurality of transmission carrier frequencies set by the transmission frequency setting unit. An LTE terminal or an LTE-A terminal receives, from a corresponding base station, any one or more of the plurality of pieces of MD code data transmitted by using the plurality of transmission carrier frequencies, and decodes and reproduces the multicast data from the received MD-code data.

With rapid developments in recent network systems, attention has focused on a multicast communication for simultaneously transmitting, to a plurality of terminals, so-called multimedia data including video data, audio data and the like such as a network game, a teleconference, streaming delivery and the like.
Also wireless communication systems have advanced toward broadband deployment, and 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), which is a standardization body, has laid down a specification for a multicast system as MBMS (Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service).
Additionally, 3GPP is laying down next-generation specifications for LTE (Long Term Evolution), and LTE-A (LTE-Advanced) implemented by further developing LTE. LTE-A is compatible with LTE, and may perform transmission and reception operations by simultaneously combining a plurality of frequency bands in order to improve a transmission rate.
A technique disclosed hereafter takes LTE and LTE-A as examples. However, the technique is not limited to LTE and LTE-A.
A multicast delivery system includes a server for managing multicast data, a gateway for delivering the multicast data to a plurality of base stations, the plurality of base stations for transmitting data to mobile terminals, and the mobile terminals receiving data.
Additionally, for LTE, introduction of MBSFN (MBMS Single Frequency Network) that may expand a coverage area with improvements in reception quality of mobile terminals by transmitting the same data at the same timing with the same frequency resources used by a plurality of base stations is in study.
A mobile terminal that receives a multicast service receives multicast data by selecting a service needed for the local terminal based on schedule information notified from a base station.
The mobile terminal may maintain the multicast service by executing a handover process for switching a base station from which the mobile terminal receives the data while moving. However, if a base station at a switching destination delivers the multicast service only at one frequency, the mobile terminal may not be able to perform a handover in some cases depending on the state of the base station. For example, there may be cases where the number of mobile terminals accommodated in a frequency band at the switching destination becomes too large to accommodate a new mobile terminal.
The following prior art document is disclosed as a conventional technique related to the technique disclosed by the present application.    Patent Document 1: Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2005-508584

Multicast data communication method and communication system


A method in a wireless communication device comprises determining transmission powers for at least two clusters, wherein each cluster includes at least one physical resource block (RB), determining a difference in a characteristic of the transmission powers determined for the at least two clusters, and varying a transmit power allocated to at least one cluster if the difference in the characteristic exceeds a power spread threshold, wherein the power allocated to each cluster is a function of pathloss between the wireless communication device and a serving base station.

OFDM-based multi-cluster transmission has been specified in 3GPP LTE Rel-10 uplink within a component carrier and with carrier aggregation (e.g., intra-band contiguous carrier aggregation of two or more carriers), including simultaneous Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)+PUSCH, PUSCH+Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and SRS+SRS transmissions where the transmissions are made by a single power amplifier (PA) in the user equipment (UE). The need to meet out-of-band (including spurious emissions) and in-band emissions requirements necessitates a Maximum Power Reduction (MPR) on the uplink (UL) transmit power in the multi-cluster case. Recently, RAN4 endorsed a MPR mask equation for adoption into TR 36.807 wherein the mask is described as a piece-wise linear curve that is a function of an allocation ratio, which is equal to a sum of ratios of Resource Block (RB) allocation sizes of different clusters to the total UL bandwidth (BW) expressed in number of RBs.
Several problems arise with the proposed framework for RAN4. When there is a large power imbalance between any two clusters, the resource allocation can be either limited by Out-of-Band/In-Band (OOB/IB) emissions or by an error vector magnitude (EVM) on the cluster with lower transmit power. The current solution in TR 36.807 does not address this. For simultaneous PUSCH+PUCCH transmission with power spectral density (PSD) imbalance between PUSCH and PUCCH transmit powers, the current TR 36.807 formulation likely allows for a MPR that is much higher than necessary, which would lead to sub-optimal UE implementations and some loss in UL spectral efficiency. Further the MPR equation that is piece-wise linear in the allocation ratio (A) but, independent of other parameters such as edge ratio (E), gap ratio (G), etc. leads to over-dimensioning of the MPR, which again lead to the problems identified above.
Others have observed that PUSCH+PUCCH with power imbalance leads to a lower required backoff than allowed by the TR 36.807 piecewise linear mask. As a result UL spectral efficiency is negatively impacted if there are inefficiencies in UE implementations that make use of more backoff than is necessary. In general, using a piece-wise linear function of just one parameter (as in TR 36.807) can lead to over-dimensioning of the allowed MPR (more pessimistic than required to meet requirements). For example, from FIG. 4 in [1], for a allocation ratio equal to 0.1, the piece-wise linear parameterization of MPR in terms of the single parameter A leads to MPR=6 dB.
The various aspects, features and advantages of the invention will become more fully apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon careful consideration of the following Detailed Description thereof with the accompanying drawings described below. The drawings may have been simplified for clarity and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Multi-cluster uplink transmission in wireless communication network


A thin film transistor array substrate is provided. A plurality of shield lines are disposed between the lead lines in a peripheral circuit region of the substrate. A connecting line connected to the shield lines is also disposed in peripheral circuit region of the substrate. The shield lines and the connecting line are formed of a metal layer so that light leakage between the lead lines of a source/drain layer or a gate layer is reduced. Furthermore, the line widths in the connecting portions of the shield lines connected to the connecting lines are smaller than the distance between the lead lines. Therefore, if a short happens between the lead lines and the shield lines, repair may be performed by cutting the connection portions between the shield lines and the connecting lines.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention generally relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) and thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal display and thin film transistor array substrate thereof including a peripheral circuit region with terminal-narrowed shield lines.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, with great advance in the fabricating technique of electrical-optical and semiconductor devices, flat panel displays (FPDs), such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), have been developed. Due to the advantageous features of LCDs, for example, low operation voltage, no harmful radiation, light weight, and compact size, LCDs replace the conventional Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors and become mainstream.
FIG. 1 is a simplified cross-sectional view of a conventional liquid crystal display module. The liquid crystal display module shown in FIG. 1 comprises a thin film transistor array substrate 110, a color filter substrate 120, a black matrix layer 122 thereon, a sealant 130, a liquid crystal layer 140, polarizing films 152, 154 and an outer frame 160. The black matrix layer 122 is disposed on the color filter substrate 120. The sealant 130 is disposed between the color filter substrate 120 and the thin film transistor array substrate 110. The liquid crystal layer 140 is disposed within the space bounded by the color filter substrate 120, the thin film transistor array substrate 110 and the sealant 130. Furthermore, the polarizing films 154, 152 are disposed on other sides of the thin film transistor array substrate 110 and the color filter substrate 120, respectively. The outer frame 160 is disposed on the polarizing film 152. In addition, the thin film transistor array substrate 110 can be divided into a pixel region 110a and a peripheral circuit region 110b. The peripheral circuit region 110b has a plurality of lead lines 112 therein for connecting pixels in the pixel region 110a and peripheral circuits in the peripheral circuit region 110b.
In a drop filling (ODF) process for forming the liquid crystal layer 140, if the sealant 130 is non-uniformly radiated by ultraviolet, the incompletely hardened sealant 130 may contaminate the liquid crystal 140. For this reason, the black matrix layer 122 on the color filter substrate 100 is slightly shrunk towards the center of the panel. However, because of the slight shrink of the black matrix layer 122, an area with light of leakage 170 is formed between the black matrix layer 122 and the sealant 130. In addition, there is no shield between the lead lines 112 within the peripheral circuit region 110b. Hence, light 180 emitted from the back light module may pass through the gaps between the lead lines 112, and light-leakage occurs at the junction between the outer frame 160 and the thin film transistor array substrate 110.
Therefore, in a prior solution, a shield layer, made of a first metal layer (M1) and a second metal layer (M2), is between the lead lines. FIG. 2 shows a partial top view of the peripheral circuit region of the thin film transistor array substrate. Referring to FIG. 2, each of a plurality of shield lines M10, made of the first metal layer, is disposed between two source lines S10, each made of the second metal layer. For leakage prevention, the shield line M10 is partially overlapped with two adjacent source leads S10. However, in case of particle contamination or static discharge, shorts occur at the overlap, for example, pointed by an arrow A10 in FIG. 2, between the shield line M10 and the source line S10. If so, a corresponding row of pixels is called a "bright line", and the panel is not qualified.

Liquid crystal display and thin film transistor array substrate thereof


The present invention provides a data processor including an instruction cache that can operate at low power consumption, avoiding useless power consumption. The data processor includes a plurality of cache memory units, wherein only a cache memory unit that stores a demanded instruction is enabled, while other memory units are disabled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a data processor, and specifically relates to a data possessor such as a microprocessor and an image processor that include an instruction cache.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, various processors take in an instruction from an external memory (RAM), and execute the instruction by an execution unit.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing this kind of microprocessors. A microprocessor 10 has an execution unit 11. The execution unit 11 executes an instruction stored in an external RAM 12, which functions as an external memory, by the following procedure. First, the execution unit 11 outputs an instruction address to the external RAM 12 (step 1), and receives a corresponding instruction (step 2). Then, the execution unit 11 analyzes and executes the instruction (step 3). In that event, the execution unit 11 outputs the data address to the external RAM 12 (step 4) in order to read and write data, and reads and writes the data (step 5). Here, the operation in the steps 4 and 5 may be omitted depending on instructions.
With the configuration of FIG. 1, it is necessary to access the external RAM 12 every time an instruction is executed, causing a problem that the execution of the instruction takes time.
In order to solve this problem, practices have been to provide an instruction cache 13 in a microprocessor 10A as shown in FIG. 2. When the instruction cache 13 does not contain an instruction required, the instruction is read from the external RAM 12 according to the procedure of steps 1 and 2 and supplied to the execution unit 11, and the instruction is stored in the instruction cache 13. When the execution unit 11 requires the same instruction afterwards, the corresponding instruction is read from the instruction cache 13 which received the instruction address, and the instruction is supplied to the execution unit 11. Since the time to access the instruction cache 13 is generally shorter than time to access the external RAM 12, time until an instruction is read and executed can be shortened.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing configuration of the instruction cache 13 shown in FIG. 2. The instruction cache 13 has an instruction address register 14, two units of tag RAM 15 and 16, two units of cache RAM 17 and 18, 2 comparators 19 and 20, a hit/miss checking logic circuit 21, and a selector 22. The tag RAM 15 and the cache RAM 17 are interlocking (system #0), and the tag RAM 16 and the cache RAM 18 are interlocking (system #1).
The instruction cache 13 receives an instruction address from the execution unit 11 shown in FIG. 2, and outputs a corresponding instruction through the selector 22. The instruction address is sent to the external RAM 12, and a corresponding block is received from the external RAM. A block is a group of a plurality of instructions specified by continuous addresses.
FIG. 4 shows instructions that are executed sequentially. In FIG. 4, the instructions are specified by continuous instruction addresses except for the branch instruction (branch). The instructions are executed in the order shown by the arrow on the right-hand side of FIG. 4. The four instructions, for example, specified by the continuous addresses are considered as a block.
The instruction address register 14 of FIG. 3 is divided into areas of a block offset, a line address, and a tag address. Two cache RAMs 17 and 18 are accessed by the line address and the block address, and output a specified instruction. The line address is used in order to limit an area in the cache RAMs 17 and 18 wherein instructions from the external RAM 12 are to be stored. For example, an instruction stored in the addresses xxxx and yyyy of the external RAM 12 is stored in zzz of the cache RAM 17 or 18. If the instruction is allowed to be stored in an arbitrary storage area of the cache RAM 17 or 18, accessing the cache RAM 17 and 18 will take time.
Here, the instruction read from the external RAM 12 can be stored in the two cache RAMs 17 and 18. In this case, it is said that the degree of association is 2. The cache RAMs 17 and 18 may be configured by discrete memory chips, or by splitting a storage area of one memory chip.
The block offset specifies an instruction within a block from a line address. For example, an xe2x80x9caddxe2x80x9d instruction to add in the first line of FIG. 4 is specified by the line address, and the instructions of xe2x80x9caddxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9csubccxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9corxe2x80x9d, and xe2x80x9csetxe2x80x9d are specified by changing the block offset from xe2x80x9c00xe2x80x9d to xe2x80x9c01xe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9c10xe2x80x9d, and xe2x80x9c11.xe2x80x9d
The tag RAMs 15 and 16 output a tag address in accordance with the line address. Comparators 19 and 20 compare the tag addresses read from the tag RAMs 15 and 16, respectively, with the tag address read from the instruction address register 14 to determine whether they match. When an instruction specified by the line address is stored in the cache RAM 17, the comparison result of the comparator 19 is a match (cache hit). To the contrary, when the instruction specified in the line address is stored in the cache RAM 18, the comparison result of the comparator 20 is a match (cache hit).
The hit/miss checking logic circuit 21 controls the selector 22 according to an output of the comparators 19 and 20. If the comparator 19 outputs a match signal, the selector 22 will select the cache RAM 17, and if the comparator 20 outputs a match signal, the selector 22 will select the cache RAM 18. The selected instruction is supplied to the execution unit 11.
FIG. 5 shows the above-described process where the tag address read from the tag RAM 15 and the tag address read from the instruction address register 14 are in agreement. In the drawing, thick lines indicate flows of the address, the instruction, and a signal and the like used in the read-out operation.
FIG. 6 shows a case where comparison results of both comparators 19 and 20 were negative (cache miss). In the drawing, thick lines indicate flows of the address, the instruction, and the signal used in write-in operation. In this case, the instruction is read from the external RAM 12 and is written into the cache RAM 17 or the cache RAM 18. FIG. 6 shows an example in which the instruction read is written into the cache RAM 17. Further, the tag address of the instruction address that was missed is written in the tag RAM 15 that corresponds to the cache RAM 17. Further, the instruction stored in the cache RAM 17 is read, and supplied to the execution unit 11 through the selector 22.
However, there is a problem in the conventional instruction cache described above.
FIG. 7 shows a sequence of instruction reading from the instruction cache 13 configured as shown in FIG. 3. In order to clearly illustrate flows of an address and the like, some of the reference numbers given to the components shown in FIG. 3 are omitted. In FIG. 7, one instruction is made of 4 bytes and 1 block is made of four instructions (that is, 1 block includes 16 bytes). Moreover, the number of lines is 128. The read-out sequence starts at a step (a) and ends with a step (e).
Suppose that an instruction address of xe2x80x9c0xc3x9700000000xe2x80x9d is supplied from the execution unit 11, and stored into the instruction address register 14. In this case, the line address is xe2x80x9c0000000xe2x80x9d and the block offset is xe2x80x9c00.xe2x80x9d At the step (a), it is assumed that the tag address of the instruction address is the same as the tag address read from the tag RAM 15. Therefore, the hit/miss checking logic circuit 21 selects the cache RAM 17 by controlling the selector 22. For example, the addition instruction xe2x80x9caddxe2x80x9d of FIG. 4 is read from the cache RAM 17.
Next, the instruction address xe2x80x9c0xc3x9700000004xe2x80x9d is stored in the instruction address register 14 in the step (b). In this case, the block offset is incremented by one from xe2x80x9c00xe2x80x9d, and it is set to xe2x80x9c01xe2x80x9d. Since the line address does not change, the cache RAM 17 stays selected and an instruction corresponding to the block offset xe2x80x9c01xe2x80x9d is chosen (subtraction instruction xe2x80x9csubccxe2x80x9d in FIG. 4).
Further, the block offset is set to xe2x80x9c10xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c11xe2x80x9d in accordance with the instruction address xe2x80x9c0xc3x970000008xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9c0xc3x970000000cxe2x80x9d, respectively, and an xe2x80x9corxe2x80x9d instruction xe2x80x9cORxe2x80x9d and a set instruction xe2x80x9cSETxe2x80x9d are respectively read from the cache RAM 17 (steps (c) and (d)). The line address does not change in the meantime, however.
Next, when the instruction address changes to xe2x80x9c0xc3x9700000010xe2x80x9d at the step (e), the line address will be incremented by one to become xe2x80x9c0000001.xe2x80x9d At the step (e), it is assumed that the tag address of the instruction address is the same as the tag address read from the tag RAM 16. Therefore, the hit/miss checking logic circuit 21 selects the cache RAM 18 by controlling the selector 22.
Throughout the steps from (a) to (e) that are specified by the address indicative of the continuous instructions, the cache RAM 18 was performing read-out operation although it was not selected. Where one or more cache RAMs are marked with a thick lined circle in the drawing, it indicates that the cache RAM is in an enabled state (it is also called an active state). Therefore, the problem is that useless power is consumed.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that substantially obviates one or more of the problems caused by the limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
Features and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent from the description and the accompanying drawings, or may be learned by practice of the invention according to the teachings provided in the description. Objects as well as other features and advantages of the present invention will be realized and attained by an apparatus particularly pointed out in the specification in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to practice the invention.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention provides a data processing apparatus with an instruction cache, which can operate with low power consumption, solving the problem of the above-mentioned conventional technology, and avoiding the useless power consumption.
The above-mentioned objective can be attained by a data processor with a plurality of cache memory units, wherein only a cache memory which stores demanded instructions is enabled, while other cache memory units are disabled (it is also called being in an inactive state). Since a cache memory that does not store the demanded instructions is disabled, power is not consumed. That is, only the cache memory that stores the demanded instructions consumes power. Therefore, useless power consumption by other memory units is avoided and the instruction cache with low power consumption can be realized.

Data processor having instruction cache with low power consumption


The present disclosure discloses an optical imaging system including, sequentially from an object side to an image side along an optical axis, a first lens, a second lens, a third lens, a fourth lens, a fifth lens, a sixth lens and a seventh lens. The first lens has a negative refractive power; each of the second lens, the third lens, the fourth lens, the fifth lens and the sixth lens has a positive or a negative refractive power; an image-side surface of the third lens and an object-side surface of the sixth lens are concave; and the seventh lens has a negative refractive power, and an image-side surface thereof is concave. A combined focal length f56 of the fifth lens and the sixth lens and a combined focal length f1234 of the first lens, the second lens, the third lens and the fourth lens satisfy 2≤f56/f1234<6.

With the diversified development of portable electronic products such as smart phones, consumers have higher and higher requirements for the camera function of the portable electronic products. Consumers want to be able to record beautiful things in various scenarios with portable electronic products. This puts forward higher requirements on the optical imaging system assembled on portable electronic products in terms of ultra-thin, miniaturization and high imaging performance.
On the other hand, as the performance of the conventional photosensitive elements, such as a photosensitive Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) or a Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS), is improved and the size thereof is reduced, higher requirements have been placed on ultra-thinning, miniaturization and high pixels of the optical imaging system to which the photosensitive elements will be applied.