A system and method for enabling a user to invoke a service over a signaling channel in a communication system with a communication device such as a mobile phone. The user dials a series of digits into their phone and enters them into the disclosed system, for example by pressing the send key on a mobile phone. The digits entered by the user include a prefix or routing code, and a data code. The dialed digits are transferred to a call switching system, which determines, based on the prefix code, a processing system to which a message is sent. The processing system further determines, based on the data code of the dialed digits, the service to provide and how the service should be fulfilled. The service can be fulfilled by content over the signaling channel or a transport channel, or both.

The present invention relates generally to service invocation in a communication system, and relates more specifically to a system and method to permit a user to invoke a service and receive content over a signaling channel with a communication device in a communication system.
Marketers of various types of goods and services often seek media vehicles to communicate product information to potential customers. Great efforts have been made to provide product information in ways that are effective, in terms of who the information is provided to, and the nature of the information provided. The difference between effective and ineffective product marketing campaigns often hinges on the specific advertising techniques used.
Various specific forms of advertising are currently in use, including television, radio, print, on-line and billboard advertising. In many cases, the people exposed to a given advertisement have differing degrees of interest in the product or service being advertised. For example, some of the people that see a billboard advertising a certain product might be completely uninterested in buying the advertised product, while others might become interested in obtaining more information about the product.
In existing advertising approaches, when a potential customer desires further information regarding an advertised product, they take some sort of affirmative step to obtain such information. The step might be calling a toll-free "800" telephone number given in the advertising itself, sending a text message to a given address or entering a URL web address in an internet browser on a wireless PDA or on their PC at home. However, such approaches are often inconvenient, since, in the case of a telephone call, time to take down or memorize a telephone number is often limited. In addition, the telephone call may involve a voice conversation during which the user generally takes down or remembers more information about the product. The time at which the advertisement is seen or heard may not be a time when the potential customer can conveniently place the telephone call. Additionally, if sufficient time passes after a toll-free telephone number is seen (and possibly recorded by the customer in some way), the potential customer may forget about it completely, and the call may never be placed.
Other advertised sources of additional product information, such as websites, suffer from similar problems, since advertised website addresses call on the potential customer to maintain interest in the product after exposure to the initial advertisement until a later point in time when the additional information can be expressly obtained. Having the potential customer remember long and complex URLs for websites after the initial advertising exposure has proven to be problematic for advertisers. The point of maximum influence from the advertiser's perspective is in the initial few seconds after the advertisement has been seen by the consumer. This is the so called "emotional connection" period and is the point when calls to action are most likely to elicit a response. Moreover, these existing techniques for providing additional product information cannot provide information tailored to an individual requester, since usually a single "800" number or website is, at least initially, accessed by all potential customers.
The increasing use and availability of mobile telephones, referred to also as cell, phones and/or wireless phones, as well as wireless PDA, pagers, or other wireless communication devices makes it more convenient for a potential customer to immediately dial an "800" number for additional information regarding an advertised product. However, the time required to obtain information in a voice conversation may still be a deterrent to many people making a call at the time they see the advertisement, since they are often busy driving or performing some other activity that makes dialing a number or conducting a lengthy phone call impractical or inconvenient, especially during the emotional connection period. Moreover, a potential consumer viewing an advertisement may not have a practical way to record information obtained during a phone call that they could refer to later.
For these reasons and others, it would be desirable to have a system for providing product information to potential customers that desire the information where the potential customer is not required to remember and dial a telephone number or remember and enter a website URL address. In addition, it would be desirable to avoid exposing the potential customer to a voice based conversation to request or receive product information or cause the user to be connected to a potentially confusing IVR (Interactive Voice Response) Automated Attendant phone system, or to urge the user to enter a URL into a web enabled phone, for example. The system should facilitate the provision of personalized product information to potential customers, and minimize the resources used to provide such information, such as telephone system bandwidth. Additionally, the system should be convenient to set up for a given advertiser and/or product, and minimize the time required of the potential customer to request the information.

System and method for service invocation and response with a communication device based on transmitted code content recognition


A method of and an apparatus for reducing the transmission error rate in the site diversity reception among related base stations system are disclosed. A base station controller compares data received from a plurality of related base stations to eliminate errors in frame unit base, predetermined size unit base which is divided from a frame, or bit unit base, and composes those units based on the decision by majority but adopts the data having highest reception potential when the comparison by the way described above is unavailable, in order to transfer no error data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile telephone system, and more particularly to a mobile telephone system which adopts the site diversity reception wherein a signal from a mobile station is received by a plurality of base stations to choose the most available base station.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Mobile telephone systems such as portable telephone systems have been popularized widely. In a mobile communication system of the cellular system, for example, each of a plurality of base stations has an area called cell covered by it, and the cells are disposed without any gap among them to allow a mobile station to communicate over a wide area.
In the cellular mobile telephone system, when a mobile station moves into a new cell, the communication is switched over from the present base station to the base station which covers the new cite without being suffered from interruption of the communication. The switch over of communication is called as xe2x80x9chand overxe2x80x9d.
Where a plurality of cells form an area in which they overlap each other on the boundary between or among them, if a mobile station roams into the overlapping area, it can communicate with all of the base stations which cover the overlapping area, or in other words, can communicate with a plurality of base stations simultaneously.
This fact is utilized in a conventional mobile telephone system (for example, a spread spectrum system) so that, when a mobile station is roaming around the boundary of two base stations, the mobile station communicates with the two base stations simultaneously. The method just described is adopted by the diversity hand over which is disclosed, for example, in xe2x80x9cFrom the Beginning to Applications of the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) Techniquexe2x80x9d by Takuro Satoh, published by Linearize Company.
The diversity hand over described in the xe2x80x9cCDMA Techniquexe2x80x9d is one of the communication system described above, a reception of an upward link signal from a mobile station to base station is utilized a site diversity reception among a plurality of related base stations.
The conventional site diversity reception among related base stations selection is described below.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a usual mobile telephone system.
Referring to FIG. 1, base station 1 covers cell 2, and base station 3 covers cell 4. Base station 1 and base station 3 communicate through base station controller 6. Connector 7 to different networks is, for instance, a mobile communication switch or a gateway switch for connecting to a public telephone network.
The conventional mobile telephone system has the space diversity configuration. In particular, when cell 2 and cell 4 have an overlapping area among them and mobile station 5 is roaming within the overlapping area as seen in FIG. 1, mobile station 5 communicates with both of base stations 1 and 3 simultaneously. The signals received by the two base stations from mobile station 5 are combined by a host station, i.e., base station controller 6, and then transmitted to the other party of communication.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a structure of a conventional base station and base station controller.
Base station 1 includes receiver 1b for receiving a radio signal from mobile station 5 through reception antenna 1a, analog to digital converter 1c for converting the analog signal from receiver 1b into a digital signal, counter spreader 1d for counter spreading the signal from analog to digital converter 1c, decoder 1e for decoding the signal from counter spreader 1d, error detector 1f for detecting whether the signal from decoder 1e contains some error or not, and reception level measurement unit 1g for measuring the reception level of the signal from counter spreader 1d. The signal from mobile station 5 after the error detection by error detector 1f is transmitted to base station controller 6. Also the information of a result of the detection by error detector 1f representing whether some error is included or not is transmitted to base station controller 6. Further, also the reception level measured by reception level measurement unit 1g is transmitted to base station controller 6.
Also base station 3 similarly includes receiver 3b, analog to digital converter 3c, counter spreader 3d, decoder 3e, error detector 3f, and reception level measurement unit 3g. Base station 3 transmits a signal from mobile station 5 after error detection by error detector 3f to base station controller 6, transmits information of a result of detection by error detector 3f whether some error is found or not to base station controller 6, and further transmits a reception level measured by reception level measurement unit 3g to base station controller 6.
Base station controller 6 includes selective composition controller 6m, data buffer 6b for storing a signal from base station 1, and data buffer 6c for storing a signal from base station 3.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an internal structure of selective composition controller 6m shown in FIG. 2.
A signal from mobile station 5 transmitted through base station 1 is inputted to and stored into data buffer 6b. A signal from mobile station 5 transmitted through base station 3 is inputted to and stored into data buffer 6c.
Selective composition controller 6m includes no error data selector 6f, and highest reception level data selector 6k.
No error data selector 6f refers to information of presence/absence of an error received from base stations 1 and 3 and controls data buffers 6b and 6c to select that one of the data stored in data buffers 6b and 6c (signals from mobile station 5 received through base stations 1 and 3) which includes no error.
If both information of presence/absence of error received from base stations 1 and 3 indicates absence of error, then either information may be selected. On the other hand, if both information of presence/absence of error received from base stations 1 and 3 indicates presence of error, no error data selector 6f informs highest reception level data selector 6k of the presence of error.
If both information of presence/absence of error received from base stations 1 and 3 indicates presence of error, then highest reception level data selector 6k refers to reception levels received from base stations 1 and 3, and controls data buffers 6b and 6c to be selected either one having higher reception level data.
In this manner, that one of the data stored in data buffers 6b and 6c which is selected by selective composition controller 6m is transmitted to connector 7 to a different network.
As described above, in the conventional mobile telephone system, a signal from a mobile station to a base station (upward link signal) is received by a plurality of base stations, and each of the base stations performs error detection detecting an error detection signal included periodically (for example, at intervals of 10 ms) in the received signal and measurement of the reception level. Then, each of the base stations sends results of the error detection and the measurement of the reception level to a base station controller which is connected to the base stations and acts as a controlling apparatus to them. The base station controller selects one of the signals sent thereto from the base stations which is free from an error, but if all of the received signals contain an error, then the base station controller selects that one of the received signals which has the highest reception level, thereby to assure augmented reception quality.
In a mobile telephone system, a signal is divided into units called frames before it is transmitted from a mobile station to a base station. Error detection code mentioned above is provided for each frame formed with a time width of, for example, 10 ms, so that a transmission error can be detected in units of a frame.
FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view showing an example of a structure of a frame used in a mobile telephone system.
As seen in FIG. 4, the frame shown is formed with a time width of 10 ms and includes user information bits which are real information transmitted by a mobile station and CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) check bits which form error detection codes.
However, in a conventional selection diversity system, if all of signals transmitted from a base station contain an error, then a base station controller selects one of the signals which has the highest reception level. Therefore, a signal transmitted to a connector to a different network in this instance contains an error without exception.
Where a signal in the form of a voice signal is transmitted, conversation is possible even if the signal includes some error. However, advancement of multimedia technology in recent years has increased transmission of data of images and the like information. Where the signal to be transmitted is data of images or the like, even a small amount of data error disables the value of data. Therefore, a mobile telephone system which allows further reduction of the error rate than ever is demanded.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mobile telephone system of the selective diversity type which can transmit data with a reduced error rate.
In order to attain the object described above, according to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication system, wherein communication information from a transmitter is received by a plurality of receivers, and if all of the communication information received by the receivers contain a communication error, then communication information free from a communication error is produced based on the communication information received by one of the receivers and the communication information received by the other one or ones of the receivers.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile telephone system which employs the among base stations selective diversity wherein a signal from a mobile station is received by a plurality of base stations and the base stations transmit the respective received signals to a base station controller, wherein the base station controller produces a signal free from a communication error based on the signal from a predetermined one of the base stations and the signal or signals from the other one or ones of the base stations.
The mobile telephone system according to claim 2 of the present invention is characterized in that each of the signals received through the base stations by the base station controller includes a frame composed of user information bits which are real information transmitted from the mobile station and CRC check bits which form error detection codes, and the base station controller divides each of frames from the base stations into units of a predetermined size and rearranges the units into several combinations to obtain a signal free from a communication error.
The mobile telephone system according to claim 2 of the present invention is characterized in that the base station controller compares the signals received through the base stations with each other in units of a bit and changes the value of a bit with regard to which the result of the comparison does not exhibit coincidence to produce a signal free from a communication error.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mobile telephone system which employs the among base stations selective diversity wherein a signal from a mobile station is received by a plurality of base stations and the base stations transmit the respective received signals to a base station controller, wherein the signal received from the mobile station by the base stations is a signal of Reed-Solomon codes, and the base station controller compares the signals received through the base stations with each other in units of a bit, estimates that a symbol which contains a bit with regard to which the result of the comparison does not exhibit coincidence is an erroneous symbol, and uses the result of the estimation as error symbol position information in Reed-Solomon decoding to augment the error correction capability by the Reed-Solomon decoding.
The mobile telephone system according to claim 3 of the present invention is characterized in that the signal received from the mobile station by the base stations is a signal of convolutional codes and the base station obtains reliability information which represents a magnitude of reception energy for each of units divided from the frame when each of the base stations Viterbi decodes the signal, and when the base station controller changes a combination of the units, the base station controller selects that one of the units with regard to which the reliability information exhibits the highest reliability as a rearrangement candidate thereby to decrease the processing time required to find out a no error frame.
The first characteristic of the present invention resides in that, as described in connection with the first embodiment, when all of the signals received by the receivers in the among base stations selective diversity contain a communication error, the opportunity to obtain a no error signal can be increased by dividing the signal received by each of the base stations into a plurality of units and performing reconstruction and error re-detection for all possible combinations of the divided units of the received signals.
The second characteristic of the present invention resides in that, as described in connection with the second embodiment, when all of the signals received by the receivers in the among base stations selective diversity contain a communication error, the opportunity to obtain a no error signal can be increased by performing comparison of the signals received by the base stations with each other in units of a bit and performing reconstruction and error re-detection for all possible combinations of information bits at positions of the signals at which the signals are different from each other.
The third characteristic of the present invention resides in that, as described in connection with the third embodiment, when all of the signals received by the receivers in the among base stations selective diversity contain a communication error, the error correction capability by Reed-Solomon decoding can be augmented by comparing the signals received through the base stations with each other to detect a position at which the signals are different from each other and using the position as error symbol position information in Reed-Solomon (RS) decoding used for data communication.
The fourth characteristic of the present invention resides in that, although a frame reconstruction function and an error detection function are additionally provided as new functions to the base station controller, a conventional communication protocol can be used as the communication protocol between the base stations and the base station controller.
The fifth characteristic of the present invention resides in that, as described in connection with the fourth embodiment, when all of the signals received by the receivers in the among base stations selective diversity contain a communication error, by dividing each of the signals received by the base stations into a plurality of units, determining reliability information for each of the signal units and reconstructing a frame with the divided signal units selectively used in a descending order of the reliability, a combination of no error signal units can be find out rapidly.

Mobile telephone system and site diversity reception method


A projector includes a projection angle deriving section which generates projection angle information indicating an angle formed by a projection target area and projection light projected onto the projection target area; a projection distance deriving section which generates projection distance information indicating a distance from an aim area in the projection target area to a projection section which projects the projection light; a control information generation section which generates direction control information for aligning a projection direction of the projection light with a normal direction of the projection target area based on the projection angle information, and generates projection section control information for controlling the projection section so that the projection light is projected onto the aim area based on the projection distance information; a pedestal driver section which drives a pedestal which adjusts the projection direction of the projection light based on the direction control information; a control section which controls the projection section based on the projection section control information; and the projection section.

The present invention relates to a projection control system, a projector, and a projection control method capable of deriving a projection angle based on sensing information and adjusting a projection direction or the like based on the projection angle.
When a projector projects an image onto a screen or the like, image distortion (keystone distortion) occurs depending on the angle formed by a projection target area on the screen or the like and projection light from the projector.
In this case, the projector performs image processing of eliminating image distortion by software correction.
The software correction can be performed at low cost, but causes the image quality to deteriorate.
Therefore, a method of eliminating image distortion by hardware correction has been proposed aiming at improving the image quality. In an automatic image position adjustment method for a projector disclosed in JP-A-2000-241874, a specific test pattern is projected onto a screen from a projector, the image of the test pattern projected onto the screen is sensed by using a monitor camera, and the image data of the sensed test pattern is analyzed to adjust the focus of the projector. The automatic image position adjustment method disclosed in JP-A-2000-241874 projects a quadrilateral solid white image onto the screen as the image of the test pattern, and detects the position of the screen in the solid white image sensed by using the monitor camera. The projected image is expanded or reduced by using a zooming function of the projection lens until the projected image reaches the detected endpoints of the screen, and the angle of elevation of the projection lens is adjusted to display the projected image at the center of the screen. The automatic image position adjustment method disclosed in JP-A-2000-241874 adjusts keystone distortion of the projected image by means of software or hardware (optically) by calculating the keystone distortion adjustment value from the positions of the endpoints of the screen and the positions of the endpoints of the solid white image.
However, processing takes time when using this method of adjusting the angle of view by expanding or reducing the projected image by using the zooming function of the projection lens until the projected image reaches the detected endpoints of the screen as disclosed in JP-A-2000-241874. Moreover, the method disclosed in JP-A-2000-241874 cannot be applied when the aspect ratio of the screen differs from the aspect ratio of the projected image. JP-A-2000-241874 adjusts the image display position by adjusting the angle of elevation of the projection lens so that the projected image is displayed at the center of the screen. However, JP-A-2000-241874 does not disclose detailed processing.

Projection control system, projector and projection control method


Methods and arrangements are provided to efficiently use 3-D vision systems to measure selected features of objects that are semi-constrained in compartmented trays having a uniform geometric arrangement. The methods are particularly well suited for optimizing the 3-D measurement of leads on integrated circuit devices which are packaged in trays.

This present invention relates to increasing the utility of 3-D triangulation sensors which inherently take longer to gather data as their field of view is widened (at constant resolution).
The operation and application of 3-D triangulation sensors is well known in the art and is exemplified by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,238,147, 4,590,367 and 5,028,799 which teach the relative motion between a sensor that projects a plane of light on an object whose surface data is to be recorded and the object itself. The plane of light may be formed by a collimated laser beam spread by a cylindrical lens or by a spot of light which is deflected by a mirror mounted on a galvanometer, mechanical motion, spinning mirror, or acoustooptic deflector to form an equivalent plane made of a group of spots. The surface depth information is obtained by reading a signal for each part of the plane from a position sensing detector which may be a TV camera, a linear photodiode array, or a linear or area type photoconductive device which provides a voltage ratio proportional to the x and/or y position of an incident light spot. All of these detectors and their use for range readout in 3-D triangulation systems are well known by those versed in the state of the art.
When a scanned spot is used to create the light plane and each spot is immediately read out from the detector, the scan time to scan a given area increases in proportion to the number of spots since a finite time is required to project the light energy and to read out the data for each spot. When an integrating device such as a TV camera is used to gather the data from a projected plane (or equivalent group of spots) the width that can be accommodated is defined by the resolution of a pixel (often 1/512th of the length or width of the detector) and the corresponding resolution desired on the object. This follows from the typical camera pickup resolution created by a 512 by 512 pixel array. The readout time for the 3-D data contained in the projected plane corresponds to the time to read the picture frame which is normally 1/30th of a second. Thus, again, the number of 3-D points scanned and read out is limited by time available; typically 512 3-D points in 1/30th of a second.
3-D sensors are often translated via mechanical means which carry the sensor along its intended measurement path, often at a constant velocity. Any time the path is changed from a straight line or changes to a new straight line path, it is required that the mechanism be accelerated and/or decelerated which often slows the net scanning speed far below what would be achieved if acceleration were not required. This is particularly a problem when scanning around the periphery of a particular semiconductor device in a tray since it requires three changes of direction to scan leads on the four sides of the device. It is an important object of this invention to significantly reduce the number of times this acceleration/deceleration is required.

Method for obtaining three-dimensional data from multiple parts or devices in a multi-pocketed tray


Various improvements for dual-elevation edge roll system used in fused downdraw glass forming process are disclosed.

Glass display panels are used in a variety of applications, from hand-held mobile devices to tablets to computer monitors to television displays.
One method of producing glass for optical displays is by an overflow downdraw process (also known as a fusion downdraw process). This process produces pristine surface quality compared to other processes referred to as the float and slot techniques in the literature. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,338,696 and 3,682,609 (Dockerty), which are incorporated in their entirety herein by reference, disclose a fusion downdraw process which includes flowing a molten glass over the edges, or weirs, of a forming wedge. See also U.S. Patent Publications Nos. 2005/0268657 and 2005/0268658, the contents of which are also incorporated herein in their entireties by reference. The molten glass flows over converging forming surfaces of the forming wedge, and the separate flows reunite at the apex, or root, where the two converging forming surfaces meet, to form a glass ribbon, or sheet. Thus, the glass which has been in contact with the forming surfaces is located in the inner portion of the glass sheet, and the exterior surfaces of the glass sheet are contact-free.
The sheet as it evolves decreases in thickness under the forces of gravity and pulling equipment. In particular, pulling rolls are placed downstream of the forming wedge's root and to adjust the rate at which the ribbon leaves the forming wedge, and thus help determine the thickness of the finished sheet. The pulling equipment is located sufficiently downstream so that the viscous glass has cooled and become rigid enough to be pulled. The contacted edge portions are later removed from the finished glass sheet. As the glass ribbon descends from the root of the forming wedge, it cools to form a solid, elastic glass ribbon, which may then be cut to form smaller sheets of glass.
The glass sheet that is produced by the fusion downdraw process, however, has a narrower width than the viscous glass ribbon at the root. This loss of width is due to contraction of the glass ribbon laterally within the viscous region of the drawing process, which is also referred to as sheet width attenuation. Contraction of the ribbon laterally during the viscous phase of the drawing process is also related to an instability known as sheet width variation, which may be characterized by unstable velocity contours within the viscous glass sheet.
The loss of sheet width within the viscous region of the downdraw process also manifests itself as accumulated thickness, or beads, at the edges of the sheet. Due to the differences in both thickness and temperature between the beads and the center of the sheet, the formation of these edge beads gives rise to a multitude of issues. For example, the formation of edge beads can cause temporary stresses that produce an unstable ribbon shape during the draw process and/or permanent stresses in certain regions of the sheet upon cooling of the glass. The edge beads may also prevent an operator from bending the glass ribbon to a desired radius of curvature, such as may be necessary where the glass is prepared for use in certain applications. Thus, systems for drawing sheet glass, such as fusion draw systems, utilizing single-elevation edge roll or dual-elevation edge rolls have been introduced in the industry. In order to optimize certain aspects of implementation of such fusion draw systems, improvements in various aspects of the fusion draw system hardware are desired.

Dual-elevation edge roll system for fused downdraw glass forming


A sensor ring and seal casing for a wheel speed sensor are maintained as a unit handled package by a specially designed shipping and installation jig, which protects the components before they are installed, and which maintains the components in the proper orientation to be installed.

Wheel speed sensors have received increasing attention with the renewed interest in antilock braking systems. Almost all wheel speed sensors incorporate a sensor ring, often a toothed steel ring, that turns one-to-one with the wheel, and a pickup sensor facing the toothed ring. The pickup sensor is generally mounted stationary relative to the vehicle, since it has lead wires. Exactly where to mount the rotating sensor ring and the stationary sensor is a matter of design choice. The sensor ring may be mounted to a shaft that turns one-to-one with the wheel, and the sensor hung on a bracket fixed to the vehicle body. Such a system is generally not sealed from the environment. The vehicle wheel is always associated with a rolling bearing, which has one race that rotates at wheel speed and one that is stationary. Such a bearing may be part of the differential, or may be the bearing that directly mounts the wheel to the vehicle. Such bearings also generally have a sealed and protected interior annular space between the races, which contains the rolling bearing elements and their lubricant. When that annular space is large enough, one obvious expedient is to mount the sensor ring to the rotating race inside the sealed annular space, while inserting the sensor through the stationary race, or through a seal that is fixed to the stationary race. Thus, the sensor ring and sensor are sealed from the environment. The sensor may be made removable for easy post installation servicing, if desired. One such design is disclosed in USPN 3,719,841 to Ritsema.
A drawback of mounting components inside the bearing space is that removal of a component necessarily breaks the seal and exposes the bearing interior space to the environment, however briefly. Thus, wheel speed sensing has also been provided by mounting the components to the outside of the bearing. An extra seal or seals are provided to create a separate, dedicated sealed space for the sensor and sensor ring. One drawback of the exterior mounted approach is the extra expense involved in providing the extra seals necessary. However, the extra seal does keep bearing lubricant away from the sensor components, and allows the sensor to be pulled out without exposing the bearing to the environment. A more practical drawback is that the sensor components and extra seal may have to be shipped, handled and installed piecemeal to the bearing. An example of such an exterior mounted system with multiple components is disclosed in USPN 3,772,549 to Cumming.

Easily installed wheel bearing sensor package


It is an object of the present invention to provide a battery remaining amount warning apparatus capable of using battery power efficiently to the full and allowing the user to select its mode according to the remaining amount of the battery. The A/D converter always measures a voltage value of the battery and when the voltage value of the battery falls below a specified level due to consumption, etc., of the battery, the A/D converter applies a pulse signal to the dummy-load circuit and measures the voltage of the battery when the pulse signal is applied and the A/D converter detects a voltage drop of the battery. When a voltage drop of the battery is detected, the data LCD displays warnings about supply voltage drops corresponding to various modes such as a recording mode, playback mode, flash charge image pickup mode, etc., of the digital camera simultaneously.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a battery remaining amount warning apparatus used for a digital camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional method for warning about a remaining amount of a battery of an electronic device, it is a general practice that a battery voltage is measured and a warning about the remaining amount is issued when the battery voltage falls below a specified value or DC resistance of the battery increases.
There are a variety of types of battery such as alkaline cell, nickel hydrogen cell, nickel cadmium cell, and there are also a variety of battery characteristics. However, with a monitoring of the battery voltage alone, depending on the type of the battery, the battery power may not be used to the full because a considerable amount of the battery can still be used after the warning is given about the insufficient remaining amount of the battery.
Furthermore, when the remaining amount of the battery is predicted from the battery voltage, the voltage varies depending on the type of the battery and when the battery voltage is low because of the nature of the type of the battery, a warning is issued earlier. For example, a warning is issued with an alkaline cell at 1.5 V/cell and with a NiCd cell at 1.2 V/cell.
To solve this problem, there is also a proposal of a method for measuring a battery voltage by providing a dummy-load circuit (Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-3538). However, this method increases unnecessary power consumption.
There is also a proposal of a method for deciding whether a camera operates normally or not based on a boosting operation of a booster circuit when a flash capacitor is charged (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2000-56370), but when no flash is used or can be used, there is no way to decide it.
Digital cameras are becoming widespread today. Their batteries are however likely to run down quickly when a liquid crystal monitor or drive system is used frequently.
In order to use battery power to the full and avoid the battery from running down while a digital camera is operating, a conventional camera shows a remaining amount of the battery and gives a warning when the camera is continuously used in a mode under operation such as a recording mode, playback mode and flash charge mode.
However, since a digital camera has various modes using different supply currents such as playback, recording and flash charge, etc., there are various cases, for example, flash charge is not possible while recording without flash is possible or recording is not possible while playback is possible. In such cases, it would be convenient if the user can select a mode according to the remaining amount of the battery and this will prevent the battery from running down during operation.

Battery remaining amount warning apparatus


Apparatus whereby seeds, in particular unginned cottonseeds having lint, may be wetted with liquid active ingredients. To achieve this, the cottonseeds are separated in a feeder and metering device having conveyor screws and a baffle, and fitted uniformly into a spray chamber. In the spray chamber an atomizer produces a fine spray mist and wets the dropping seed grains. The grains drop into a mixing and transport chamber wherein they are mixed by mixer and agitator shafts. A conveyor screw transports the seed during the mixing slowly toward an inlet opening.

The invention relates to an apparatus for the wetting of seeds with active ingredients dissolved in a liquid. Such an apparatus includes a feeder and metering device with an opening directed from above into a spray chamber that is open at the bottom, in which an atomizer for the liquid active ingredient is located, and includes a mixing and discharge means under the spray chamber. In particular, the invention relates to an apparatus for the wetting of unginned cottonseeds which include lint, using active ingredients, such as, for example, insecticides or fungicides.
In agriculture, seeds are treated to protect them against fungi, insects, rotting and the like, by chemical means. For this purpose, the seeds are wetted in appropriate apparatuses uniformly with a liquid containing the necessary active ingredient. The uniform distribution of the active ingredient is important, as both an excessively high or low concentration can endanger the seed, in the first case by the active ingredient itself and in the second, by the lack of any effect. For this reason, a uniform flow of the seed is initially provided, for example by vibrating screening on a conveyor belt. Subsequently, the uniformly distributed material is wetted by the active ingredient on the conveyor belt. It is also possible to wet the seeds while they drop in a shaft.
Not all seeds can be separated by such simple means to obtain a uniform material flow. Cottonseeds, for example, have tiny hairs on their outer skin and therefore tend to form clusters which can no longer be treated by the conventional processes. For this reason, the seeds are delinted in a first working step in order to obtain the necessary material flow properties. Sulfuric acid or hydrochloric acid are customarily used in the process; flame scarfing is another process. After delinting, cottonseeds may be processed as described above.
In DE-A-3 239 867 for example an apparatus for the pickling of delinted seeds is described, in which the seed is divided by the centrifugal action of a rotating grain centrifuging disk, which is part of a metering device, in a treating chamber into a uniform cloud. A spray disk is located immediately following the grain centrifuging disk, which finely divides the liquid pickling agents in said cloud. By the inherent motion of the delinted seeds in this spray mist, the surface of each seed is wetted in a relatively uniform manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,155,542 describes a pickling apparatus for cottonseeds. In this apparatus the cottonseeds are brought into a treating chamber by means of a vertical auger type conveyor. In the chamber, they drop onto a rotating cone, which distributes the seed outwardly against the inner wall of the chamber. A rotating spray disk is located under the centrifugal cone, which produces a fine mist of the pickling agent. While dropping, the cottonseeds pass through the mist, whereby their surface is wetted. To prevent the cottonseeds, which are not entirely delinted, from balling up, spatula-like arms are provided to the right and the left of the screw conveyor as baffles, which project into the conveyor and are intended to separate the clusters of cottonseed formed. Although larger clusters are comminuted in this manner, cottonseeds, which are not completely delinted, cannot be scattered individually.
In the case of wet soil, delinting has a detrimental effect on the planting, as the hairs protect the seed against excessive wetness. For this reason delinting is often entirely eliminated.
Special machines are used for the wetting and pickling of cottonseeds that have not been delinted. For example, to separate clustered cottonseed, a vertical filler tube in such an apparatus leads into a truncated cone, the lower end of which opens into a wider tube forming the spray chamber. A rapidly rotating disk is located inside the truncated cone, directly under the end of the tube, which throws the seeds introduced against the walls of the truncated cone, from which they bounce back and drop in the more or less uniform distribution into the spray chamber. The metering of the material flow is controlled by varying the distance of the disk from the end piece of the filler tube, i.e., by the adjustment in height of the disk. For wetting, two other disks are rotating in the axis of the first disk, into the center whereof the liquid active ingredient is introduced. The rotation of the disk is intended to provide a fine, droplet shaped distribution of the liquid in the spray chamber. From below the spray chamber the seeds are transported by means of an auger conveyor into a chamber, wherein they are further mixed mechanically in order to distribute the wetting agent more uniformly over the surface of all of the seed grains.
An essential problem in the aforedescribed layout is posed by the material flow, which is difficult to control. A slight lowering of the rotating disks already leads to the separation of remaining clusters of cottonseeds. The spraying process is again not satisfactory, as the cottonseed in their free fall are not sprayed uniformly from all sides. Furthermore, too much wetting liquid is applied to the walls of the spray tube and is thus lost.


The incremental measuring system comprises a scale member with an incremental scale and a scanning unit comprising scanning sets for generating analog measured-value signals in response to the scanning of the scale. The system also comprises an evaluating unit for deriving digital countable signals from the analog measured-value signals and for generating a reference pulse. At least one pair of reference marks are spaced along the scale on a carrier releasably fixed to the scale member. The scanning unit comprises a reference mark scanning set to scan the reference marks and connected to the evaluating unit. A reference point which registers with a selected increment of the scale is disposed on the carrier between the reference marks of the pair and can be defined by the distances from the reference point to the reference marks, and these distances are stored in a memory. When the reference mark scanning set has scanned one reference mark and has then moved toward the reference point by a distance equal to that of the stored distances, a pulse shaper stage in the evaluating unit will generate a reference pulse when this scanning set scans the reference point.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an incremental measuring system, particularly to a system for measuring lengths, comprising a scale member, which is provided with a scale, which is adapted to be scanned in a non-contacting manner, a scanning unit including scanning sets for scanning said scale and for generating analog measured-value signals in response to the scanning of the scale, and an evaluating unit for deriving countable signals from said measured value signal. Said scale member is provided in association with said scale with reference marks and the scanning unit comprises an additional scanning set for scanning said reference marks. An evaluating circuit is provided, which in response to the signals generated in response to the scanning of the reference marks generates reference pulses, each of which is associated with a location which is spaced a predetermined distance from one of the reference marks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
DE-A-34 45 694 discloses an incremental measuring system in which the scale can be optoelectronically scanned in a non-contacting manner by the scanning unit. Other known measuring systems are provided with scales which can be scanned by inductive, magnetic or capacitive methods. The measured-value signals generated in response to the scanning of the scale are periodic, e.g., sinusoidal analog signals, in which a complete signal period is associated with a complete scale increment, which in case of an optoelectronic scanning may consist of a bright field and a dark field of the scale. At least two measured-value signals are generated, which are displaced 90.degree. in phase and one of which leads the other in dependence on the direction of movement of the scanning unit so that that sequence can be used to determine the direction of the scanning movement. In the processing of the analog measured-value signals to generate digital countable signals the scale increments may be subdivided electronically or arithmetically, e.g., by means of microcomputers. The digital countable signals may be used as control signals for a machine or robot and for a display of the results of measurement by display units. In order to establish a definite relationship between each countable signal and the currently scanned location of the scale the counting means must be set to certain values, such as zero, when the scale is scanned at predetermined or preselectable locations. For that purpose, reference marks may be provided for permitting a generation of reference pulses in various length portions of the scale member in definite association with the scale. In that case a reference point which is being approached must be identified so that the control can be related to the associated location of the scale. It is known to provide expensive control and switching systems for a distinction between selected and unselected reference points. For exact measurements the reference points are defined by reference marks, which are provided on the scale member jointly with the scale but in a separate track. In applying said reference marks, care must be taken to ensure an exact register of the reference marks with increments of the scale. The scanning of such reference marks through an associated grating of a separate scanning unit will directly result in a generation of reference pulses, which are required to occur in proper edge coincidence and phase coincidence with the measured-value signal and countable signals. It is possible to provide a plurality of reference marks on the scale member and to select one or some of said reference marks for the actual control. That selection may be effected in that unselected reference marks are covered or removed. Such covering or removal of reference marks will be expensive if the measuring system is encapsulated, as is usually the case, and may be performed only by skilled labor and reference marks which have been removed cannot be renewed. Known selecting systems include mechanical on-off switches, which are known from DE-A-18 14 785 and are actuated by separate stops during the scanning movement of the scanning unit and which activate the evaluating circuitry only in response to the scanning of selected reference marks. In a design disclosed in DE-B-25 40 412 those mechanical switches have been replaced by magnets, which are adapted to be attached to the scale member at predetermined locations and serve to actuate selecting switches, which consist of reed relays provided in the scanning unit. It is also known to provide the reference marks in a plurality of reference tracks, to provide a scanning unit for each track, and to select a reference mark in that the scanning unit of the track in which that reference mark is contained is selectively enabled to generate reference mark signals. That concept requires an expensive design of the scale member and of the scanning units and requires difficult adjusting operations to be performed when the measuring system is to be activated. In preferred designs, the reference marks which may be selected are provided in a single track. In accordance with EP-A-0 239 768 an indentification of a selected reference mark is permitted in that the reference marks are evenly spaced apart and that reference mark which is adjacent to a selected reference mark is removed. Two scanning units are used, which comprise scanning sets, which are spaced like the reference marks and arranged in an antiparallel connection so that signals generated by existing reference marks will offset each other. When the selected reference mark is being scanned, the signal which would otherwise be generated by the adjacent reference mark is not generated because that adjacent reference mark has been removed. In response to the scanning of a selected reference mark, a reference signal which can be evaluated will be generated because in such arrangements it will be virtually impossible to effect a subsequent change of the selection of reference marks.
It is known from EP-A-0 172 323 to apply pairs of reference marks with a periodically changing spacing so that a length code is obtained, from which that half of a reference mark can be defined from which a reference pulse that is to be evaluated can be derived.
It is known from DD-A-58 394 to provide a scale member with code marks which can be displaced along the scale member and can be fixed in position and which can be scanned for a generation of control commands. It is not possible to position a code mark so accurately relative to the scale that the control signals which are generated are in phase and edge coincidence, like the reference pulses derived from stationary reference marks, with an analog measured-value signal generated in response to the scanning of the scale and with a digital countable signal which has been derived from that analog signal. That inaccuracy may result in measurement errors and/or control errors also in dependence on the directions in which a given reference mark is approached.


The present invention provides a closed system to propagate virus-infected cells without the effect of shear force, while providing quicker access to nutrients than is available conventionally. This system design allows for a high density of infected cell growth to increase the virus yields and to maintain homogeneity of the contents of the main container. The system further provides a nuclease to degrade the cellular DNA prior for purification of the virus or viral components. As the system is designed for maximum containment at low risk, the live virus can be a hazardous virus such as a Bio-safety Level 3 (BSL 3), BSL 4 or BSL5 virus.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to the systems, components and methods for in vitro culturing of eukaryotic cells and, in particular, mammalian cells for the production of bulk quantities of virus. In addition, these systems, components and methods are useful for the propagation of virus from cell cultures by elimination of cellular DNA as well as residual proteins to obtain and isolate virus and viral components, preferably in an inactivated form, for the manufacture of vaccines.
2. Description of the Background
The ability to grow viruses and culture cells in vitro has been one of the single greatest advances in biology and medicine. Cell culturing has led to an understanding of the functions of cellular mechanisms, unraveling the processes cell-to-cell interactions, drug discovery and even the ability to develop and manufacture vaccines.
Currently, there are a great many variations in the in vitro culture of eukaryotic cells. Most advances in cell culture today are directed to addressing the specific requirements of one cell or tissue type. These advances include the use of incubators, capillaries, and micro-carriers, variations in culture media, cell-adhesion materials such as matrixes, the use of a movable bag referred to as a wave bioreactor and others (e.g., BioWave, Wave Bioreactor, BIOSTAT CultiBag, AppliFlex, Cell-Tainer, Tsnumai-Bioreactor, Optima, and Orbicell,). Each of these techniques addresses a unique problem encountered with a particular cell or tissue type. However, the basic concerns in achieving a successful cell culture after virus inoculation remains largely the same.
With all virus infected cells grown in vitro, there are at least six principle areas to be addressed: (i) appropriate starter cells are necessary; (ii) the critical mass of the cell culture needs to be determined; (iii) cells must be readily supplied with nutrients including necessary vitamins and minerals as well as oxygen; (iv) cell waste products must be efficiently removed; (v) stress on the cell cultures attributable to the incubation system should be minimized or eliminated, such as shear forces and hydrostatic pressures, (vi) sterility must be maintained throughout which includes complete separation from not only contamination in the form of bacteria and virus, but isolation from other cells and cell cultures. The infection of these cells with a virus for the purpose of manufacturing a vaccine adds the additional steps of inactivating the virus, the elimination of cellular DNA as well as residual proteins to obtain and isolate virus and viral components for a usable therapeutic vaccine and ensuring that the system operates in a safe manner for those working with potentially hazardous viruses.
The choice of appropriate cells for culturing and virus infection has remained a significant issue for decades. Currently, most virus infected cells obtained from a biological sample are maintained, if only for short periods of time. Many tissue types are harvested after growth and virus inoculation with the goal of seeking viable cell cultures. As yet there are no well-defined markers for determining viability in virus inoculated cell culture.
Supplying nutrients to the cells and removing cell waste products efficiently has been the subject of a great deal of research with much success. The issue of supplying nutrients such as carbohydrates, lipids, minerals, and vitamins has been successfully resolved by several techniques, such as, for example, hollow fiber technology. These and other advantages have been successfully incorporated into many cell culturing systems and techniques. However, the principles determining maximum cell mass after virus infection is closely related to the ability of the system to provide readily available nutrients including oxygen, and also remove waste products.
In the virus infected cell culture systems, stress on the cells should be minimized or eliminated. The presence of stresses, such as shear forces and hydrostatic pressures, greatly affects the efficiency of the culture system, and the amount of final virus yields derived which can increase from each run. Prior methods of reducing shear and hydrostatic forces include developing new oxygenation devices in order to reduce shear caused by bubbles, exploiting different protective agents, and modifying existing impellers and designing new types of agitators and immobilizing cells within a carrier matrix.
Conventional cell culture techniques typically involve a situation of no stress or stress. In the no stress situation, cells grow in relative stasis and without stress damage, but due to inadequate media exchange are less vigorous and proliferate poorly. In the stress situation, although the media exchange and removal of cell metabolites is good for vigorous cell growth, shear forces disengage the cells from anchorage surfaces and these detached cells perish which diminishes the amount of final viral yield.
The implementation of facile sterilization procedures for bioreactors and associated components is essential for clinical utility of inoculated virus cells to be used as a vaccine. The procedures for sterilization are well established, including standard methods both for sterilization of extracorporeal devices and for maintaining asepsis by standard in-line filters.
The inactivation of the cultured viral product is often achieved by solvent/detergent inactivation, pasteurization, pH activation or ultraviolet inactivation and chemical treatment. The inactivation method chosen often depends on the desired viral product. The solvent/detergent method is effective with viruses containing a lipid envelope, as the detergents used interrupt interactions between the molecules in the virus's lipid coating. As most enveloped viruses cannot live without their lipid coating, they die when exposed to these detergents. Common detergents used in this method include Triton-X 100. Pasteurization can also be effective if the desired proteins are ore thermally resistant than the viral impurities with which they are in solution. Certain proteins act as thermal stabilizers for viruses. Additionally, if the target protein is not heat-resistant, pasteurization could denature the target protein as well as the viral impurity. With pH inactivation, some viruses will denature spontaneously when subjected to low pH (acidic). This technique is useful if the target protein is more resistant to low pH than the viral impurity, and is generally more effective against enveloped viruses as opposed to unenveloped viruses. Ultraviolet inactivation can be used to induce the dimerization of nucleic acids within the virus. Once the DNA is dimerized, the virus particles cannot replicate their genetic material, preventing infection. Among the known chemical inactivation formaldehyde and Beta Propiolactone have been used for very many virus inactivations.
Vaccine Production
Each day, the human body is attacked by bacteria, viruses or other infectious agents. When an individual becomes infected with a disease causing agent, the body's built-in immune system attempts to defend against the foreign agent. When the body successfully defends itself, immunity against the infectious agent results. When the body's natural defenses fail to quell the attack, an infection can be the results. In the natural process of developing immunity, B cells produced by the body produce substances known as antibodies that act against the specific infectious agent and create a "log" of this experience that can be called upon for protection when exposed to the same infectious agent again months, years or even decades later. For subsequent times that the person encounters that specific infectious agent, circulating antibodies quickly recognize the infection and eliminate that infection from the body before signs of disease develop. It has been estimated that antibodies which can recognize as many as 10,000 different antigens or foreign infectious agents are circulating the blood stream.
A vaccine works in a similar manner in that it induces the body to generate an immunogenic response. However, instead of initially suffering the natural infection and risking illness in order to develop this protective immunity, vaccines create a similar protective immunity without generally exposing the body to a condition wherein an infection could occur.
Development of vaccines against both bacterial and viral diseases has been one of the major accomplishments in medicine over the past century. While conventional procedures have allowed for the development of effective vaccines for a number of diseases, these procedures have been ineffective for others. Thus a need remains for the development of safe and effective vaccines for a number of additional diseases.
Several basic strategies are useful in the manufacture of vaccines. One strategy is directed toward preventing viral diseases by weakening or attenuating a virus so that the virus reproduces very poorly once inside the body. Measles (Morbilliviruses virus), mumps (which can be viral or bacterial), rubella (Rubivirus or German measles) and chickenpox (varicella zoster virus) vaccines are made this way. Whereas natural viruses usually cause disease by reproducing themselves many thousands of times, weakened vaccine viruses reproduce themselves approximately 20 times. Such a low rate of replication is generally not enough to cause disease. Although the preparation of live, attenuated infectious agents as vaccines will often provide improved immunologic reactivity, such methods increase the risk that the vaccine itself will be the cause of infection, and that the attenuated organism will propagate and provide a reservoir for future infection. One or two doses of live "weakened" or attenuated virus may provide immunity that is life-long; however, such vaccines cannot be given to people with weakened immune systems.
Another method to manufacture viral vaccines is to inactivate the wild-type virus and use the inactivated materials to generate an immune response. By this method, viruses are completely inactivated or killed using a chemical. Killing the virus makes the virus unable to replicate in a body and cause disease. Polio, hepatitis A, influenza and rabies vaccines are made this way. The use of inactivated or killed bacterial or viral agents as a vaccine, although generally safe, will not always be effective if the immunogenic characteristics of the agent are altered. An inactive virus can be given to people with weakened immune systems, but may have to be given multiple times to achieve immunity.
Vaccines may also be made using parts of the virus. With this strategy, a portion of the virus is removed and used as a vaccine. The body is able to recognize the whole virus based on initial exposure to a portion of the virus. The hepatitis B vaccine for example, is composed of a protein that resides on the surface of the hepatitis B virus.
Thus, one must generally choose between an improved effectiveness and a greater degree of safety when selecting between the inactivation and attenuation techniques for vaccine preparation. The choice is particularly difficult when the infectious agent is resistant to inactivation and requires highly rigorous inactivation conditions which are likely to degrade the antigenic characteristics which help to induce an immune response and provide subsequent immunity.
In addition to the dead or weakened infectious agent, vaccines usually contain sterile water or saline. Some vaccines are prepared with a preservative or antibiotic to prevent bacterial growth. Vaccines may also be prepared with stabilizers to help the vaccine maintain its effectiveness during storage. Other components may include an adjuvant which helps stimulate the production of antibodies against the vaccine to make it more effective.
Methods to prepare vaccines today involve treating samples with glutaraldehyde or formaldehyde to fix or cross-link the cells or infectious particles. Such treatments generally involve denaturation of the native forms of the infectious particles. A disadvantage to this approach is that the protein coats of the infectious particles are damaged by this process, and thus may not be recognized by the immune system.
A clear need exists for a complete, modular, scalable system to handle large-scale bulk manufacturing of viruses including bio-safety level 3 viruses safely and efficiently. The problems with existing bioreactor designs include inadequate oxygenation, minimal capacity for the biological cell component, limited capability for removal of toxins, excessive shear and hydrostatic forces, and difficulty in transferring biosynthetic cell products for patient use. In addition, existing bioreactor designs have not dealt effectively with the diffusion-limited thickness of the cell mass, with providing a critical mass of cells, and with supplying oxygen throughout the length of the bioreactor.
Thus, there is a need for a composite apparatus that is able to carry out the entire process of cell growth, virus infection and propagation, purification and inactivation in a closed, low- or no-stress apparatus that maximizes cell growth and virus propagation, and increase throughput, recovery and safety.

Systems and methods for virus propagation in cell cultures for vaccine manufacture


An architectural software framework is provided for creating Web-style application software incorporating protocols and means for expansion and interfacing with other Web-style programs, as well as a reusable basic programming structure, including abstract and concrete data types, that assist in building Web-style applications. The architectural software framework includes a page function and frame. Each Web-style application includes one or more page functions which communicate via the frame.

A user interface is a portion of a program with which a user interacts. Types of user interfaces, or UIs (in the idioms of computer engineering), include command-line interfaces, menu-driven interfaces, and graphical user interfaces. A windowing environment, which uses a graphical user interface, is an operating system or shell that presents the user with specially delineated areas of the screen called windows, which may be resized and moved around on the display of a computer. The Macintosh OS and Microsoft Windows are both examples of windowing environments. Graphical user interfaces are one of the means by which a user interacts with an application, which is a program designed to assist in the performance of a specific task, such as word processing, accounting, or inventory management. Graphical user interfaces allow a user's action in one window to cause an application to open another window. In such a case, the original window, which caused the new window to be opened, appears behind the new window. Many applications allow an unlimited number of such windows to be open at the same time. However, a user can generally interact only with the top-most window. As a result, the top-most window is said to be the active window. All other windows are said to be inactive windows.
Windows can be classified as modeless or modal. If an active window is modeless, a user is able to make any inactive window active by using a pointing device to click on any portion of an inactive window that is visible to a user. If, however, an active window is modal, a user cannot activate other windows until the active window is closed. For example, a user may have to complete a task in the active window, which is modal, such as filling in some fields and pressing an OK button to close the active window before other windows can be activated.
An active window that is modal may open another window, which will become active and modal, on top of it, and so on. Only the top-most active window that is modal is active. All other windows, whether they are modal or modeless, are inactive and cannot be activated until the active modal window is closed. Applications use modal windows as detours away from some primary task to perform an auxiliary task. Once a user closes a modal window, the operating system reactivates the original window that the user employed to activate the modal window. Returning a user to the original window effectively completes the detour, thereby allowing a user to continue with his original task.
FIG. 1 illustrates an interactive help utility called a wizard 100, which appears as a modal window, within an application. The wizard generates windows that guide a user through each step of a particular task, such as starting up a word processing document in the correct format for a business letter. The GUI window of the wizard 100, like other window applications, includes a title bar 102, which is a horizontal space at the top of a window that contains the name of the window. Appearing as a square button in the right corner of the title bar 102 with an X mark on it is a close button 104. Clicking on the close button 104 cancels the wizard 100. The wizard 100 also includes a number of screens 106, 108, and 110, that present information and receive input (information) from a user during the performance of the task defined by the wizard. The screens 106-110 may be navigated back and forth using a back button 112 or a next button 114. After collecting sufficient information from a user, the wizard 100 presents a finish button 115. A user clicking the finish button causes the wizard 100 to proceed to perform the wizard's task. At any point, a user may exit from the wizard 100 by clicking on a cancel button 116. Clicking on the cancel button causes the wizard 100 to quit and returns the user to the application that originally invoked the wizard 100.
Wizards and similar programs work fine for the purpose for which they were designed. However, because of various constraints, wizard-type programs are typically not used in user interfaces for interacting with various applications. The main problem with the wizard-type programs is their modal nature. When a wizard presents a question to a user, the user must contemporaneously have sufficient information to answer the question or must cancel the entire process. Because of the modal nature of wizard-type programs, a user cannot reactivate the application that has invoked the wizard or other applications to gather information with which to answer a question presented by the wizard. In various usability studies, users have complained that they feel forced down a particular, and unknowingly lengthy, path by a wizard. In certain wizards, the next button 114 is unclickable until a user has answered the presented question, thereby preventing the user from skipping a question that the user has insufficient information to answer. Another problem is the lengthy linear sequence of screens of wizards. A user may have sufficient information to answer many screens of questions only to find out near the end of the wizard screens that a question cannot be answered, thereby forcing the user to quit the wizard prior to completion. A further problem is that wizards must follow a rigid dialog template without deviation. Besides the fixed screen dimensions within which the wizard is presented to the user, navigational facilities within the wizard are limited to the back button 112, the next button 114, or the cancel button 116. Given these constraints, a wizard is more appropriately used in the context of a help utility rather than as a user interface for complex applications.
The linear rigidity employed by wizards to force a user to interact in a specific manner in order to accomplish a desired task is overcome by Web-style applications, such as Microsoft Money 2000. An example of a Web-style application 200 is shown in FIG. 2. A Web-style application is not a Web site, but it shares many properties in common with Web sites. The user interface of the Web-style application 200 shown in FIG. 2 consists of a plurality of full-screen pages 202, 220, and 230, shown in a shared frame 201, with tools for navigation, such as a back button 206, a forward button 208, and a Home button 210. The user interface of the Web-style application 200 may also include a title bar and a close box like the wizard 100, but are not shown here for brevity purposes. The shared frame 201 includes a navigation bar 204 that contains the name of the page being displayed in the shared frame 201, as well as the navigation controls i.e., the Back button 206, the Forward button 208 and the Home button 210.
The first page of the Web-style application 200 is a Home page 202 which includes a list of tasks that a user can select to be performed. The tasks are invoked by clicking on a hyperlink, such as a pay a bill hyperlink 212, a balance an account hyperlink 214, or a track a stock portfolio hyperlink 216. When one of these hyperlinks, 212-216, is activated, a "process," which consists of a page or series of pages that are employed to perform the selected task, is invoked.
In the example shown in FIG. 2, a process 218 is invoked when the user selects the pay a bill hyperlink 212. The invoked process 218 includes two pages 220, 230. A number of exemplary payable bills are presented on the first page 220, namely, a Cablevision bill 222, an AT&T bill 224, and a City Power bill 226. Each of these bills 222-226 is presented as a hyperlink. Clicking on one of these hyperlinks causes the bill associated with the hyperlink to be paid, as noted in the title bar 204. The first page 220, additionally, allows a user to view bills that are one month away by clicking on a hyperlink 228. When this hyperlink 228 is clicked on, the second page 230 is shown. The second page lists an exemplary bill from MSN. This bill is associated with a further hyperlink 232. Clicking on the further hyperlink 232 causes the bill from MSN to be paid (as noted in the title bar 204). When a user is finished with the bill paying task, the user may click on another hyperlink 234 titled, for example, "I am done paying bills". When this hyperlink is clicked, the Web-style application 200 automatically represents the Home page 202, i.e., the page from which the user initially launched the bill paying process 218.
This behavior of always returning a user to the page that launched the invoked process is not achieved through a hard-coded hyperlink on the final screen of the process, such as the last page 230 of the process 218. This is because the destination of the final hyperlink may vary, and a hard-coded hyperlink cannot anticipate the precise launching page from which a process is invoked. Instead, the Web-style application 200 implements the behavior of always returning a user to the page that invoked a process in a different way. More specifically, the Web-style application 200 maintains a stack of launching pages that are independent of the normal navigation offered by the back button 206 and the forward button 208. When a user launches a process, the launching page is pushed onto the stack. When a user clicks the done hyperlink on the final screen of the process, the Web-style application 200 pops the most recent launching page off the stack and returns the user to that page.
Unlike the linear rigidity associated with the wizard 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 and discussed above, at any point during the operation of the Web-style application 200, a user may navigate backward or forward from any page, even the pages included in an invoked process, such as the process 218. When a user does navigate away from a page in a process, the page that launched the invoked process remains active on the stack. Thus, the user can still complete the process by backing up to the page where he left it and will always be returned to the launching page because of the stack. This process allows a user to make a detour or back up, and then go on with a process. Thus, the non-linear-structure of Web-style applications overcomes many of the limitations of wizard-type applications.
The dynamism of the user interface of a Web-style application that allows a user exploration is ensured by the steadfastness of the stack in that the stack always returns the user to the launching page from which a process is invoked. While a significant advance, the constant interposition of launching pages can hinder Web-style application from forming super-processes that comprise the functionalities of two or more processes. This hindrance is illustrated in FIG. 3A, which shows a Web-style application 300 at a macroscopic level, i.e., without a shared frame and page details. A Home page 302 includes a hyperlink that, when clicked, brings a user to a Launching page 304. The Launching page 304 contains one or more hyperlinks, including a hyperlink to invoke a first process 306. When the first process 306 is invoked, the Launching page 304 is placed on a stack, and the first page, page A 308, of the process 306 is displayed. As discussed before, a user may navigate away from the pages of the process 306, or the user may navigate through the first process 306 by working with the pages of the process, namely, page A 308, page B 310, and the final page, page C 312, to complete the task associated with the process. The Launching page 304 is popped from the stack and represented to a user when a hyperlink on first page C 312 of the first process 306 is selected to indicate the completion of the task associated with the process 306.
If the user desires to perform a second task associated with a second process 322, the user must click another hyperlink contained in the Launching page 304. Clicking this hyperlink causes the first page of the process 322, page X 316, to be displayed. From page X 316, the user can progress to the next page Y 318 and then to the final page, page Z 320, to complete the second task. Similar to the invocation of the first process 306, the Launching page 304 is again pushed onto the stack prior to the presentation of the pages of the second process 322. At the conclusion of the second task, the Launching page 304 once again is popped from the stack and represented to the user.
In the past it has not been possible for a designer of the user interface of the Web-style application 300 shown in FIG. 3 to combine the functionality of a first process 306 with the functionality of a Web-style application, such as a second process 322 while keeping each of the process pages 308-320 separate so that each page can be used in other contexts. The undesired interposition of the Launching page 304 in the Web-style application 300 prevented a seamless user interface experience between the presentation of the pages of the first process 306 and the presentation of the pages of the second process 322. The only way to provide the functionalities of both of the processes 306, 322 is to combine the pages of each of the two processes 306, 322 in another process.
Besides the problem of assembling two or more processes without interference by the interposition of the launching pages, the processes of previously developed Web-style applications are designed with no thought that these processes may be reused to form new functionalities in other applications. This problem is better illustrated in FIG. 3B, which shows a partial navigational flow 326 is taken from a Web-style application of the type shown in FIG. 3A. The partial navigational flow 326 includes the Launching page 304 from which the first process 306 is invoked. The first page of the first process 306 is page A 308, and the remaining pages are page B 310 and page C 312. When exiting from the process 306, the Launching page 304 is popped from the stack and represented to the user.
As shown, each of the pages 304-312 is tightly coupled to a database 326 where data is shared. To use the database 326, each of the pages 304-312 must intimately know all the data that can be written to or read by the other pages. Otherwise, one page could mistakenly access and change data in the wrong place in the database 326 resulting in the corruption to the rest of the pages and possibly detrimental repercussions to the Web-style application 300. Unfortunately, this requirement results in the data in the database 326 being vulnerably exposed by necessity to all of the pages 304-312. The lines 328A-328J are included to show the data access paths of the pages 304-312.
To summarize, in the past, Web style applications were developed separately from one another. It was not envisioned that the processes employed by Web-style applications might be used outside the context of Web-style applications for which they were designed. This resulted in Web-style application processes being tightly coupled to a data source, such as the database 326, which is specific to a particular application domain. AS a result, prior Web-style applications are Web-like only in that the pages and the pages of the processes are linked together in a complex, non-sequential web of associations in which the user may browse in a single application. But a process in one Web-style application cannot access a process in another Web-style application unless the data of one application is completely exposed to the other application. This presents a serious security problem. Additionally, this is similar to the proscription in computer science in the use of global variables to store states across functions because global variables limit reuse and makes understanding code difficult.
The problem of tight coupling is further illustrated in FIG. 3C, which illustrates a first process 306 of the type associated with the Web-style application 300 shown in FIG. 3A and a further process 336 associated with another Web-style application. As discussed before, the pages of the first process 306 (page A 308, page B 310 and page C 312) are tightly coupled to a first database 326. The pages of the further process 336, which includes page U 338, page V 340, and page W 342, are tightly coupled to another database 344. The lines 328C-328G are included to show the data access paths of the pages of the first process 306, and the lines 346A-346F are included to show the data access paths by the pages of the further process 336. Given the tight coupling between the first process 306 and the first database 326, and the tight coupling of the further process 336 and the second database 344, it is difficult to combine the functionality of the first process 306 and the functionality of the further process 336. To do so would require a user interface designer to be intimately familiar with the relationship between the first process 306 and the first database 326, and the further process 336 and the second database 344. Not only would this be a time-consuming undertaking, but it may also hinder the efficiency of designing and improving Web-style applications.
As noted above, exposure of the data of a process poses a security risk. For example, suppose that the first process 306 and its database 326 are designed by Corporation A, and the further process 336 and its database 344 are designed by Corporation B. Suppose further that it would be synergistic for the functionality of the first process 306 to invoke the functionality of the further process 336. The only way to do so at present is for Corporation A to completely expose the data associated with the first process 306 stored in its database 326 to Corporation B, and for the Corporation B to completely expose the data associated with the further process 336 stored in its database 344 to Corp oration A. Such exposure creates a security risk for Web-style applications designed by both Corporations A, B.
FIG. 3D illustrates another problem associated with the tight coupling design of previously developed Web-style applications. FIG. 3D illustrates a first process 306 tightly coupled with its database 326 as discussed before. Another process 350, which comprises page R 352, page S 354, and page T 356, is tightly coupled to a related database 360. Lines 358A-358F are included to illustrate the data access paths of the pages of the other process 350 to its database 360. Another level of tight coupling is shown by lines 348A-348F. These lines are illustrative of the data accesses between the pages of the first process 306 and the pages of the other process 350. FIG. 3D shows that there may be three levels of tight coupling, each of which may inhibit and hinder the ability of a user interface designer to reuse processes of previously developed Web-style applications. One level is the coupling between the first process 306 and its database 326. Another level of tight coupling is between the other process 350 and its database 360, and the final level is the coupling between the first process 306 and the other process 350. If a user interface designer desires to use either the first process 306 or the other process 350 with another Web-style application, the designer will find it extremely difficult to do so. The only way to reuse either the first process 306 or the other process 350 is to completely expose the data of both processes, which, as noted above, creates a security risk.
Thus, there is a need for an architectural software framework for designing Web-style applications that incorporates protocols and means for expansion and interfacing with other Web-style programs, as well as a reusable basic programming structure that assists in building secured Web-style applications, while avoiding the foregoing and other problems associated with existing Web-style applications.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A solid single leg terminal includes an electrical conductor end portion at one end and an opposing substantially solid mounting end portion for mounting through a whole other printed circuit board. The mounting end portion forms an elongate mounting leg of substantially uniform cross-section and defines a longitudinal axis. The mounting leg is dimensioned to be substantially fully receivable within the whole from one side of the printed circuit board through to the other side of the printed circuit board. At least one elongate indentation is provided in the mounting end portion substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis to facilitate splitting of the mounting leg along the indentation into two half leg portions and splaying same into abutment against the other side of the printed circuit board to secure the position of the terminal on the printed circuit board.

1. Field Of The Invention
This invention generally relates to electrical terminals for mounting electrical components on printed circuit (PC) boards and, in particular, to a solid single leg terminal suitable for mounting through a mounting hole on a PC board without cutting, deforming or otherwise damaging or affecting the integrity of the PC board.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
The conventional way to mount small electrical terminals (like pins and single leg tabs) on a printed circuit (PC) board is to force the mounting leg of the terminal into a hole on the PC board. The hole diameter is generally smaller than the diagonal or diameter of the mounting leg, so that there is an interference or press fit as shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-section of the mounted pin of FIG. 1, showing the interference fit after soldering.
Where a press fit created between the terminal leg and the PC board hole is tight, it produces stresses in the PC board which, if excessive, can crack or warp the board. Also, the insertion force is significantly higher, which may cut into or deform the terminal. An interference fit will also produce board material shavings and excessive board material displacement around the hole which make soldering difficult and can produce a weak solder joint.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,529, the mounting legs establish an interference fit of the legs in the circuit board hole, the legs penetrating the material of the circuit board relatively deeply. It is stresses of this type that the subject invention seeks to eliminate.
An electrical terminal is subject to several different forces (insertion, withdrawal, contact, normal force, vibration, shock, etc.). As above suggested, if the terminal is soldered into the PC board hole with very little interference fit, those forces will be transmitted directly to the solder joint instead of to the board material, which may result in cracking of the solder joint. In an effort to avoid the aforementioned problems, efforts have been made to insure that just the right interference fit exists between the PC board hole and the terminal leg. However, this has necessitated the use of tight tolerances, typically in the range of .+-.0.002 inches.
A number of compliant spade type terminals have been proposed which typically include a pair of spaced legs facing each other, with each of the legs being provided with an outwardly expanded hook portion which forms an elastic contact for compressed fitting with a through hole. The resulting prongs extend through the hole or bore in the printed circuit board to secure the terminal by snapping into place once the prongs have been fully inserted through and exit the hole. Typical of constructions of this type is the terminal disclosed in U.S Pat. No. 4,353,609.
It has also been proposed that the electrically conductive portions of a component or terminal to be mounted be passed through the hole on one side of the circuit board and at least two spaced conductors bent in opposite directions into contact with the soldering conductors or pads on the other side of the board. Typical art of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,068,554 and 3,184,532. In the first mentioned patent, a process is disclosed for making magnetic core memory, wherein the ends of staples are bent back against the lower face of the circuit board by the use of a conical mating tool driven between adjacent but spaced staples. In the latter patent, a flaring tool in the shape of a truncated cone is used to bend lead wires of an electrical component toward terminal portions on the bottom of the panel. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,479,634 and 3,536,869. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,869,107, the protruding tabs are twisted to lock the position of the terminal and prevent the tabs from being removed through the openings through which they were inserted.
In some instances, the art has suggested the use of generally cylindrical one legged terminals which are, however, hollow. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,367, a hollow-type rivet is deformed by striking it with a hammer or other instrument after it is passed through the hole in the board. Similar terminals are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,990,533; 2,947,964 and 3,445,929, wherein the hollow mounting legs are splayed by various tools.
A circuit board pin is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,166 has a compliant portion formed by two side-by-side beams joined along one edge to produce a longitudinal V-shaped groove. The resulting elastic hinge insures good contact with a conductive sleeve material which lines the through hole.
A terminal tab intended for mounting on a circuit board is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,436,358 which includes a mounting leg made of flat strip material provided with a longitudinal slot to divide the leg into two sections which are of decreasing width with increasing distance from the base portion mounted on the PC board. The terminal is mounted on a PC board by inserting the tapered leg sections through a hole in the board, the leg portions being deformed or bent in opposite directions by a ram-like member provided on the underneath side of the board. The patentee teaches, however, that the dimensions of the leg should be selected such that a tapered portion of the leg at the upper surface of the board likewise be forced into the circuit board in order to provide an interference fit of the leg in the circuit board.
Thus, the known prior art terminals generally tend to fall into one of two general categories. The first includes mounting legs having at least one dimension greater than the size of the hole through which the mounting leg is placed to cut into the board or otherwise move or deform the board material. The second involves mounting legs which have generally circular cross-sections which can be received within the mounting holes without an interference fit. However, such hollow mounting legs complicate the terminals and increase the manufacturing costs since such terminals cannot simply be made as inexpensively as from strip material nor as easily produced on continuous carrier strips.


A method for generating a favorite channel list, where a device for generating the favorite channel list includes a receiver and a processor, is disclosed. The method includes receiving a signal of a first channel of a television signal by the receiver; clearing channels stored in the favorite channel list by the processor before the receiver receives the television signal according to the television signal; and adding the first channel to the favorite channel list by the processor when the signal of the first channel is switched from a first program to an advertisement.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for generating a favorite channel list and a related device thereof, and particularly to a method and a related device thereof that can generate a favorite channel list according to a condition corresponding to a signal of a channel of a television signal being switched from a program to an advertisement.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, many television remote controls can have a "LAST" key, and the "LAST" key is used for adding a channel watched by a user over a predetermined time (e.g. 10 minutes) to a favorite channel list. That is to say, when the user keeps watching the channel over the predetermined time, it is meant that the user is interested in the channel. Thus, the favorite channel list can store channels which interest the user, and the user can utilize the "LAST" key to browse the channels stored in the favorite channel list.
However, it is difficult for the prior art to determine length of the predetermined time. That is to say, if the predetermined time is too long, the user may miss some favorite channels; and if the predetermined time is too short, the channels stored in the favorite channel list may be very indiscriminate. Therefore, the prior art is not a good choice for the user.

Method for generating a favorite channel list and related device thereof