A feeder assembly for birds or other animals having a pan member, a feeder tube defining a channel for receiving feed from a feed supply and defining a brood gate opening, a plurality of wing members having a plurality of fingers for adjustably engaging the feeder tube, and a cone member disposed about the feeder tube and slidably mounted to the plurality of wing members by a plurality of engaging arms. The cone member is adapted to slide relative to the feeder tube between a raised position to open the brood gate opening and a lowered position to close the brood gate opening. The pan member and an end of the cone member define a feed opening for permitting feed to pass from the feeder tube to the pan member for presentation. The feed opening can be adjusted in size either by adjusting the wing members relative to the pan member or by sliding and adjustably positioning the cone member relative to the feeder tube and the wing members. The brood gate opening can be opened or closed in an adjustable manner by adjustably positioning the cone member relative to the feeder tube and the wing members. The elevation of the brood gate opening can be adjusted by adjusting the wing members relative to the pan member.

Utilization of efficient low-cost poultry feeding systems, which allow poultry and the like to be raised from inception to harvest with a minimum amount of time and effort, is a prerequisite to economic survival in the business of raising poultry. An important component of such poultry feeding systems are the poultry feeder assemblies that present the feed to the poultry.
Operation of one known type of poultry feeding system, for instance, commences with a supply of feed being conveyed from a storage hopper, through a series of transport conduits and ultimately into individual poultry feeder pan assemblies, which are readily accessible to the feeding poultry crop. An example of a feeder assembly that has been successful in connection with such a poultry feeding system is the feeder assembly disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,026, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. The poultry feeder assembly of the '026 patent includes a dome-shaped feeder body contoured to prevent poultry from roosting upon it and a feeder tube extending through an uppermost surface of the dome-shaped body to operatively connect with a feed transport conveyor system. Feed supplied by the transport conveyor falls into the feeder tube and is directed through a feed opening at the bottom of the dome-shaped body and into a pan of the feeder assembly which is disposed below the lowermost edges of both the dome-shaped body and feeder tube. The outer periphery of the pan, in combination with the outer wall of the dome-shaped body, forms a limited annular poultry feeding area accessible to a large number of feeding poultry.
Releasable and adjustable engagement between the pan and the remaining structure is facilitated by circumferentially-spaced wing members formed integral with and extending outwardly of the dome-shaped feeder body. The distal end of these wing members are provided with a plurality of closely-spaced fingers which can be adjustably positioned to interlock with a corresponding arrangement of flange members provided on an annular lip or rim portion of the pan to incrementally adjust the size of the feed opening. Utilization of materials with sufficient resilient flexibility to form the pan member of the poultry feeder assembly allows the feed system operator to manually release and adjustably position the fingers relative to the pan member, and thereby adjust the size of the feed opening, without the aid of any tool. Thus, the feeder can be easily adjusted at its point of use to accommodate a variety of different-sized birds and to adapt to a varying range of feed flow characteristics.


An electromechanical program timer provides at least a section with a slower timing speed besides a major timing speed. The timer includes a driving motor rotationally drives a driving shaft. A driving gear and an eccentric shaft are formed on the driving shaft for driving a cam disk through a main driven gear and via a pushing pawl to a driven ratchet respectively. The main driven gear includes at least a missing gear portion where the driving gear is free from driving the main driven gear, and the pushing pawl and the driven ratchet take place. The driving shaft engages and rotates the cam disk through the main driven gear in a major timing speed. While at the missing gear portion, the eccentric shaft oscillates the pushing pawl and drives the cam disk through the driven ratchet step by step in a reduced timing speed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to an electromechanical program timer, and in particular relates to a program timer having at least a section with reduced timing speed different from a major timing speed.
2. Related Art
There have been so many home appliances, such as air conditioners, televisions, dishwashers and clothes washing machines, which help people comfortable and easy in their daily lives. No wonder how hard it would be for us if all these appliances were gone.
Many home appliances have timer functions that control the appliances on/off or other functions according to user""s or the appliance default settings. In a washer, for example, a dial knob is provided for user to choose programs of automatic washing and drying. The dial usually is an electromechanical program timer having a cam drum or a cam disk driven by a gear reduction motor for activating several electrical contact portions (blade switches) in predetermined timing defined by tracks on the cam unit. Correspondent actuators, such as water inlet solenoid, heater, spinning motor and draining motor, that connected to the contact switches are then controlled on and off by each track of the cam unit. There is a kind of driving mechanism of the cam unit that uses an eccentric rotor for oscillating a drive pawl and pushing the cam unit with step-by-step increments instead of using reduction gears.
Whatever a driving mechanism is used, the cam unit moves in a predetermined timing speed as the driving motor runs in a specific speed. When a serial control program is made on the cam unit, the rotational cycling angle of the cam wheel (equal or less than 360 angular degree of a revolution) is shared by the whole program timing. If the program is complicated and some control tracks have relatively small activating time periods, then the resolution, precision and endurance of tracks on the cam unit are hard to be achieved due to mechanical restrictions. For example, if a serial program lasts 3 hours (180 minutes), then a half-minute on/off cam shares only 1 angular degree for forming a ramp, peak and valley on the track to activate the contact switch follower. The small peak portion is weak and easy to be deformed. Therefore, it is often desired to include more programs or longer timing intervals on a cam unit while providing higher timing resolution for some small timing intervals.
An ideal solution of the need is to provide a two-speed or multiple-speed timer that during a longer timing section, a reduced timing speed mechanism works; while at the rest, a normal timing speed mechanism functions.
In a dishwasher program timer, for example, it is often desired to set up a dishwasher but delay the running of the program cycle for a number of hours. Some attempts in the past to provide a program timer with a delayed start feature have utilized a second motor to time the delay period. Other attempts have utilized a complex arrangement driven by the timer motor to prevent the main program from becoming effective during the delay period.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,649,239 discloses a program timer having a timing cam member including a delay ratchet wheel having a pin which engages an abutment inside the cam member at one relative position of the delay ratchet to the cam member. The cam member ratchet ring has a gap at the desired delay position so that when the delay ratchet wheel is set to a desired delay, and the drive pawl is at the delay position, the drive pawl extends into the gap to only move the delay ratchet wheel until the pin engages the cam member. The cam member is then advanced along with the delay ratchet wheel until such time as the gap in the cam member ratchet ring has advanced past the drive pawl. From then on, the regular cam member advance takes over. The delay arrangement of the program timer includes additional delay ratchet wheel with at least a dead zone, resilient tabs, a shoulder and a pin. The cam member ratchet ring is also formed with gaps of omitted teeth. The root radii of the ratchet teeth are no greater than the minimum root radius of the teeth of the ratchet ring. When a delayed start is in effect, the drive pawl extends into the gap of the ratchet ring to engage the ratchet teeth of the ratchet wheel. Accordingly, the ratchet wheel is advanced. The drive pawl continues to advance only the ratchet wheel until the ratchet wheel is in such relative angular position with respect to the cam member that the pin contacts the abutment. The arrangement and construction of the delay timer is rather complicated that requires an additional delay ratchet wheel and specific engagement mechanisms.
These prior attempts all have certain drawbacks such as requiring a separate motor or complicated mechanisms.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a program timer having at least a section with reduced timing speed different from a major timing speed.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a program timer utilizing a simple mechanism for both the reduced timing speed and the major timing speed.
An electromechanical program timer according to the invention includes a driving motor, a driving shaft, a cam disk with a main driven gear and a driven ratchet, and a pushing pawl. The driving motor rotationally drives the driving shaft through a first gear formed on the driving shaft. A second gear and an eccentric shaft are formed on the driving shaft for driving the cam disk through the main driven gear and via the pushing pawl to the driven ratchet respectively. The main driven gear includes at least a missing gear portion where the second gear is free from driving the main driven gear, and the pushing pawl and the driven ratchet take place. The driving shaft engages and rotates the cam disk through the main driven gear in a major timing speed. While at the missing gear portion, the eccentric shaft oscillates the pushing pawl and drives the cam disk through the driven ratchet in a reduced timing speed. The eccentric shaft oscillates the pushing pawl once per revolution of the driving shaft so as to provide the cam disk with the reduced timing speed.

Electromechanical program timer with delay sections


A memory module having a DRAM device configured to generate a low DQS state on a DQS line, and a buffer coupled to the DRAM device, the buffer having a plurality of drivers, wherein the buffer is configured to detect the low DQS state by comparing the low DQS state to a low voltage level of one of the plurality of drivers.

The operating speed and computing power of computers and computerized devices has increased dramatically over the past several years. The computers of today are able to operate many times faster than those produced just a few years ago, and this treNd shows no sign of stopping. An important part of these speed increases have been increases in the speed and size of computer memories. Computer memories serve as a short term storage location where a computer's processor can store programs, data, and other information that needs to be accessed relatively quickly. Most computer memories are composed of multiple dynamic random access memory ("DRAM") devices arranged on memory modules, such as dual inline memory modules ("DIMMs"). The memory modules are typically coupled in parallel along a memory channel within the computer. This type of memory arrangement is known as a "multi-drop bus."
As processors have become faster and computer programs have become more complex, the amount of memory in a typical computer and the speed of that memory have increased. Unfortunately, memory operating at these increased speeds becomes more susceptible to signal integrity problems, which also become more prevalent as more and more memory is placed on the multi-drop bus. This leads to one important limitation of conventional multi-drop bus memory systems, the faster the memory devices operate, the less of them that can he used in a computer and vice-versa. The practical effect of this is that computer system designers are sometimes forced to make a tradeoff between memory speed and memory capacity. Customers, however, are demanding both at the same time while also demanding the ability to employ this greater amount of faster memory on existing multi-drop bus systems.


Information about coupling of a seismic receiver is obtained from a power spectrum for a record acquired at a seismic receiver. In one method, the power spectrum for the record is compared with a reference power spectrum, which may be known a priori or which may be determined from the power spectra of records acquired by a group of receivers. In an alternative method, one receiver of a group of receivers is designated as a reference receiver, and the power spectra of records acquired by other receivers in the group are compared with a power spectrum for the reference receiver. The obtained information about the coupling of a receiver may be used to determine a coupling correction operator for the receiver, and this operator can be applied to seismic data acquired by the receiver to correct for the effects of imperfect coupling of the receiver.

In a seismic survey a source is actuated to generate seismic energy, and the resultant seismic wavefield is sampled by an array of seismic receivers spaced from the seismic source. Each receiver acquires seismic data, which are normally in the form of a record or "trace" representing the value of some characteristic of the seismic wavefield against time. The acquired seismic data are a representation of the seismic wavefield at the receiver location. Information about the earth's sub-surface can be obtained from the acquired seismic data.
One well-known type of seismic receiver is the seismic geophone. A geophone contains one or more sensors mounted in a casing. A geophone may be single component geophone, which contains one sensor that records the component of the seismic wavefield parallel to a pre-determined direction. Information about the vertical component of the seismic wavefield, for example, may be obtained using a single component geophone oriented such that the sensing direction of the geophone is substantially vertical. Alternatively, a geophone may be a three-component geophone which contains three sensors oriented so as to record the components of the seismic wavefield in three orthogonal directions (normally denoted as the geophone's x-, y- and z-axes).
A geophone may be deployed simply by placing the geophone casing on the earth's surface. This may be done in land-based surveys or in marine surveys where geophones are deployed on the sea-floor. Alternatively, geophones in which the casing is provided with a spike are known, and these are deployed by driving the spike into the earth's surface. Spiked geophones are generally limited to use in land-based surveys.
In order accurately to measure the seismic wavefield, a geophone must be well coupled to the Earth's surface. The output from a geophone is the seismic wavefield convolved by the transfer function between the ground and the geophone. The transfer function represents what is commonly called the "coupling" of the geophone. If the coupling between the geophone and the ground is perfect, the transfer function is equal to one for all frequencies and the output signal is a good representation of the seismic wavefield. If the transfer function is not equal to unity for all frequencies of interest, however, then the output signal from the geophone is a distorted representation of the seismic wavefield. Where a multi-component geophone is used, there will be a separate transfer function for each component of the seismic wavefield that is sensed by the geophone or, if mutual effects are not negligible, a multi-channel transfer function.
Acknowledgement of the Prior Art
The study of geophone transfer function has formed the subject of several publications. It has been recognised for some time that the motion of a geophone case resting on the Earth's surface is not the same as the motion of the earth that would occur in the absence of the geophone case. The coupling between a geophone and the earth was investigated by Washburn, H. and Wiley, H. in "The effect of the placement of a seismometer on its response characteristics", Geophysics, Soc. of Expl. Geophys., 06, 116-131 (1941) and by Wolf, A. in "The equation of motion of a geophone on the surface of an elastic earth", Geophysics, Soc. of Expl. Geophys., 09, 29-35 (1944). However, these classical theoretical works are based upon a model of a geophone with a flat base resting on the Earth's surface, and this would be expected to have different coupling to the ground from the nowadays commonly used spiked geophone.
Drijkoningen, G. G. has reported, in "The usefulness of geophone ground-coupling experiments to seismic data", Geophysics, Soc. of Expl. Geophys., 65, 1780-1787 (2000), field experiments on geophone coupling and has proposed a two-state system to explain the phenomena that occur with planted spike geophones: spike coupling and gravitational coupling. These two states correspond respectively to a firmly planted geophone and to a geophone resting on its base. In the first state, the coupling resonance frequency is (at least for vertical component geophones) beyond the seismic bandwidth, but in the second case (of gravitational coupling) the coupling resonance frequency may, depending on the soil firmness, be within the seismic bandwidth and therefore affect the amplitude and phase of the signal recorded by the geophone. In this case the signal recorded by the geophone is no longer proportional to the ground particle velocity. (The term "coupling resonance frequency" denotes the frequency at which a resonance, arising as a result of the geophone coupling, occurs in the transfer function). Gravitational coupling is the mechanism upon which most of the seabed seismic acquisitions are based, but it is undesired in a land-based seismic survey where spike coupling is expected to be the dominant mechanism.
Krohn, C. E. has reported, in "Geophone ground coupling", Geophysics, Soc. of Expl. Geophys., 49, 722-731, (1984), laboratory and controlled small scale field experiments leading to the conclusion that good planting of modern vertical component sensing geophones having spikes up to 5 inches long is acceptable for conventional seismic surveys using frequencies up to 100 Hz and in which the particle velocities at the geophone are less than 10−2 cm/s. However, in commercial size acquisitions, the quality of geophone planting cannot be guaranteed throughout the surveyed area, and it is also possible for a well-planted geophone to be disturbed after planting. Moreover, in sand-covered areas geophones without spikes are often used, buried a few centimetres below the surface. A simple method of detecting bad coupling conditions is highly desirable, as this would allow data acquired by a badly-coupled geophone to be corrected to compensate for the bad coupling.
When a multi-component geophone is deployed, coupling between the geophone and one component of the seismic wavefield may be better than the coupling between the geophone and another component of the seismic wavefield. U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,307 proposes a method for determining a filter that corrects for imperfect coupling of a geophone to the cross-line component of the seismic wavefield on the assumption that the geophone is perfectly coupled to the in-line component of the seismic wavefield.
However, this method will give good results only if the geophone is well coupled to the in-line component of the seismic wavefield.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,724,306 proposes a method for determining a filter that corrects for imperfect coupling of a geophone to a component of the seismic wavefield. This method is applicable to a seismic receiver that contains a geophone and a hydrophone, and is based on the assumption that the hydrophone is perfectly coupled. This method cannot, however, be applied to a receiver that does not contain a hydrophone and so cannot be used in a land-based seismic survey.


A gusset plate assembly for use in connecting at least two beams to a hollow tubular column in a building. The gusset plate assembly can receive said at least two beams in a biaxial orientation of said beams. The gusset plate assembly comprises gusset plates sized for transferring the weights of said at least two beams and their reaction forces and bending moments from the application of severe load conditions acting on the building to the hollow tubular column. At least one of the gusset plates receives a portion of a second of the gusset plates. A joint penetration groove weld joining the first and second gusset plates together allows the gusset plate assembly to be free of welds on its internal corners. A method of assembling a gusset plate assembly is also disclosed.

It has been found in a moment-resisting building having a structural steel framework, that most of the energy of an earthquake, or other extreme loading condition, is absorbed and dissipated, in or near the beam-to-column moment resisting joints of the building.
It is desirable to achieve greater strength, ductility and joint rotational capacity in beam-to-column moment resisting connections in order to make buildings less vulnerable to disastrous events. Greater connection strength, ductility and joint rotational capacity are particularly desirable in resisting sizeable moments in both the lateral and the vertical plane. That is, the beam-to-column moment-resisting connections in a steel frame building can be subjected to large rotational demands in the vertical plane due to interstory lateral building drift. Engineering analysis, design and full-scale specimen testing have determined that prior steel frame connection techniques can be substantially improved by strengthening the beam-to-column connection in a way which better resists and withstands the sizeable beam-to-column, joint rotations which are placed upon the beam and the column. That is, the beam-to-column connection must be a strong and ductile, moment-resisting connection.
Hollow tubular columns are structurally efficient members to use in a variety of building design applications (both structural and architectural), including moment frames. Hollow tubular columns include, but are not limited to, Hollow Structural Section (HSS) columns and built-up box columns. However traditional moment connections types that connect a wide flange ('H' section) beam to a hollow tubular column involve significantly different design considerations than does connecting a wide flange beam to a wide flange column. During loading conditions, the moments in the wide flange beams are resolved into concentrated forces at the beam flanges that must be transferred into the column. The main difference between a hollow tubular column and a wide flange column is how the forces from the beam flanges are transferred into the column webs to be resisted as shear. In a wide flange column, the web is located at the center of the column flange. In a hollow tubular column, the forces from the beam flanges applied to the column face must be transferred to the sidewalls of the column, which act as the webs of the column. For traditional moment connection types that connect a wide flange beam to a hollow tubular column, the side walls of the hollow tubular column facing the beams ("flange walls") must structurally span between the other sidewalls ("webs") of the column to transfer out-of-plane forces from the beam flanges to the column webs. Accordingly, for such traditional moment connection types, the thickness of the flange walls of the hollow tubular column becomes a critical consideration for the out of plane strength and stiffness of the flange walls.
Conventional methods of connecting a hollow tubular column to a wide flange beam must rely on technically uncertain and costly means to transfer significant moment forces to the webs of hollow tubular columns. These current methods are typically used in uniaxial moment frame applications. One such method is directly welding flanges of the wide flange beams to the flange wall faces of a hollow tubular column. This method is self-limiting when the applied moment approaches the full flexural strength of the beam because of the inherent out of plane flexibility of the flange wall thickness of the hollow tubular column. Therefore, the direct welding technique has limited capacity to transfer applied moment forces through out-of-plane bending and shear to the connecting webs of the hollow tubular column.
Another conventional method is through-plate connections wherein the hollow tubular column is cut in two places at each floor level to allow through-plates attached to the top and bottom flanges of the wide flange beam to pass through the column. These through-plates are welded along the full perimeter of the cut sections of the hollow tubular column on both top and bottom faces of each through-plate. These type of connections have proven to be both costly to fabricate and uncertain in their performance when subjected to violent earthquakes. For example, the connection may be inherently susceptible to out-of-plane punching shear failures in the through-plate due to cyclic tensile forces in the column.
Exterior diaphragm plate connections (also known as cut-out plates) are similar to the through-plate connections in that they use flange plates attached to the top and bottom flanges of the beam to transfer the moments. However, in the exterior diaphragm plate connection the hollow tubular column remains continuous and the top and bottom flange plates are made wider than the width of the hollow tubular column to allow for cut openings having a perimeter that surrounds and is attached to the full perimeter of the hollow tubular column. This connection is inherently difficult to fabricate and erect.
Interior diaphragm plate connections consist of shop welded plates that are cut to fit along the inside perimeter of the hollow tubular column, thereby stiffening the flange walls of the hollow tubular column and thus providing a strengthening means to transfer beam flange forces to the sidewall webs of the hollow tubular column. Top and bottom flanges of wide flange beam are directly welded to the flange wall faces of the column. The fabrication of this connection type is difficult because of precise fit up issues and difficulty in access for welding of interior diaphragm plates to inside faces of the hollow tubular column. The performance of this connection type is correspondingly uncertain.

Gusset plate and column assembly for moment resisting bi-axial beam-to-column joint connections


The present invention provides a light source module for a vehicle comprising: a plate-like heat sink; substrates provided on both sides of the heat sink, respectively; light emitting devices provided on the substrates, respectively; a hole for transmitting light emitted from the light emitting devices; and a pair of bases coupled to the outside of the substrates, wherein the light emitting device includes a first light emitting device and a second light emitting device which are arranged diagonally, and a blocking member is disposed at a lower end of the second light emitting device. As such, it is possible to increase the heat dissipation efficiency by increasing the contact between the heat sink and the substrates.

Generally, various lamps are provided in a vehicle to secure visibility of a driver by emitting light forward according to an external environment and time and inform a traveling path to the other vehicle.
The lamps are classified according to the purpose of use, such as headlamps having a purpose of illuminating a forward direction, turn signal lamps having a purpose of securing visibility of the driver and informing a position of the vehicle, fog lamps configured to secure visibility of the driver and informing a position of the vehicle along with the headlamps in foggy or rainy weather, and backup lamps configured to turn on when the vehicle is reversed.
Halogen bulbs have been mainly used as conventional lamps for a vehicle. When halogen lamps are used as a light source, reflectors configured to reflect light emitted from the halogen lamps are provided, and the light reflected from the reflectors is emitted forward. However, while halogen lamps have an advantage of being inexpensive, the halogen lamps have a disadvantage in that the halogen lamps generate a large amount of heat when being used and have a low luminance compared to the amount of electricity being used and a short lifespan.
In order to solve such a problem, lamps for a vehicle using light emitting diodes (LEDs) are emerging. LED lamps have advantages of high luminance, long lifespan, and low power consumption.
However, headlamps to which LEDs with high luminance are applied generate extremely high heat when the LEDs are turned on, and thus there is a limit in that parts around the LEDs are thermally deformed, thereby reducing durability of the headlamps. Accordingly, for lamps to which LED light sources are applied, a heat dissipation structure is the most important matter.


A method for packaging a liquid crystal panel includes the steps of: (1) providing a liquid crystal panel mounted on a carrier substrate; (2) placing a window frame over the liquid crystal panel; (3) placing a lens or windowpane on a supporting platform of an inner flange of the window frame and then laterally repositioning the windowpane against the positioning ribs distributed on the inner flange; and (4) depositing sealing glue into a groove area between the window frame and the windowpane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for packaging a liquid crystal panel, and more particularly, to a method of mounting a liquid crystal panel onto a window frame.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The final step of packaging a conventional liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) panel or a liquid crystal display panel typically involves placing a window frame and a windowpane on the panel to prevent the attachment of dust to the surface of a dust cover, thereby negatively affecting the quality of the images.
Please refer to FIG. 1 through FIG. 4. FIG. 1 through FIG. 4 are cross-sectional diagrams showing the method of disposing of the window frame and windowpane on a liquid crystal panel according to the prior art. As shown in FIG. 1, a liquid crystal panel 10 is fixed on a carrier substrate 12, in which the surface of the liquid crystal panel 10 includes a dust cover 14 disposed thereon. First, a window frame 20 is fixed on a gasket 16 that surrounds the liquid crystal panel 10. The window frame 20 comprises a central opening 22 corresponding to the light sensitive region of the liquid crystal panel 10 and the inner flange of the window frame 20 provides a supporting platform 24 and a positioning side 26 for supporting the window frame.
As shown in FIG. 2, a sealing process is performed to deposit a sealing glue 32 on the supporting platform 24. As shown in FIG. 3, a windowpane 40 is placed on the supporting platform 24 of the window frame 20 and by utilizing the fluidity of the sealing glue 32, the windowpane 40 is adjusted and repositioned against the positioning structure 26.
Next, the finished product of the liquid crystal panel covered with the windowpane 40 is moved to a device for ultraviolet treatment, in which the sealing glue 32 is solidified by the ultraviolet rays, as shown in FIG. 4.
The conventional methods often include the following disadvantages:
(a) An uneven force distribution will result when the sealing glue 32 pulls the windowpane at the supporting platform 24 and eventually influences the direction of the polarizing beams.
(b) After the sealing glue is deposited, the placement of the windowpane is hindered because the location of the positioning structure 26 is difficult to recognize. Additionally, overflow of the sealing glue must be prevented.
(c) Disposed near the edge of the groove area, the positioning structure 26 is an unsuitable chamfer.
(d) Some sealing glue will remain in between the windowpane 40 and the positioning structure 26 resulting in a less tightly attached windowpane. This has a negative effect on the overall yield.
(e) It is difficult to control the amount of deposited sealing glue 32. Deposits of excessive sealing glue 32 will cause overflow (shown in FIG. 3) and result in a dirty windowpane 40 or dirty dust cover 16 surfaces. Occasionally, the entire device will fail and become unfixable.
(f) The long duration of the sealing process and ultraviolet exposing process will influence the overall yield.

Method for packaging a liquid crystal panel


A commercial dishwasher comprising spray nozzles for spraying liquid into a treatment region in the form of a treatment chamber or a treatment zone for treating items to be washed; at least two centrifugal pumps, which are arranged in series hydraulically one behind the other, for conveying liquid from the wash tank to the spray nozzles; a control device for alternatively operating only one centrifugal pump or at least two of the centrifugal pumps which are connected hydraulically one behind the other in series, in order to thus generate different liquid pressures.

Commercial dishwashers for which the invention can be used include program-controlled dishwashers (called batch dishwashers or batch warewashers or else box machines), conveyor dishwashers (conveyor warewashers) in the form of, for example, flight-type dishwashers (flight-type warewashers) or in the form of rack conveyor dishwashers (rack conveyor warewashers) and hood-type dishwashers (hood-type warewashers). The program-controlled dishwashers have a single treatment chamber for accommodating and for treating items to be washed. A dish rack into which the items to be washed can be loaded is preferably provided. The treatment chamber can be closed by a door. The conveyor dishwashers have at least one wash zone and at least one final rinse zone. Hood-type dishwashers have a treatment zone beneath a hood which is arranged such that the hood can move up and down.
A program-controlled dishwasher is known, for example, from DE 10 2005 023 429 A1. Conveyor dishwashers are known, for example, from WO 2006/007236 A2, EP 1 637 059 A2 and DE 10 2005 035 764 A1.
Items to be washed include, in particular, crockery, glasses, cutlery, cooking utensils, baking utensils and serving trays.
When cleaning items in commercial dishwashers, in particular in program-controlled dishwashers, it is often necessary to have cleaning programs with different liquid pressures, which are matched to the items to be washed, for the wash liquid and/or for the final rinse liquid.
If an electrical centrifugal pump whose polarity can be reversed and which can be changed over from two-pole operation to four-pole operation is used to deliver the wash liquid, a reduction in the rotational speed of the pump motor from 3000 revolutions per minute to 1500 revolutions per minute can be achieved on account of such polarity reversal. This reduction in the rotational speed causes a change in the water pressure at the pump output (pressure side of the pump). However, halving the rotational speed of the pump motor (and therefore also the rotational speed of the pump) in this way does not halve the water pressure. Instead, the water pressure changes from approximately 1.0 bar at 3000 revolutions per minute to approximately 0.25 bar at 1500 revolutions per minute. This disproportionate change means that the wash liquid pressure is often too low for glasses and crockery. A wash liquid pressure of approximately 0.5 bar would be more advantageous. The liquid pressure acting on the items to be washed is dependent on the line system, for example wash system and/or final rinse system, installed in the dishwasher.
It would be desirable to provide a way of alternatively generating in each case two different liquid pressures in a simple manner, with each liquid pressure being matched to the different items to be cleaned.

Commercial dishwasher with centrifugal pumps arranged in series


A lighting assembly having a series of telescoping tubes is mounted in a box, and an interior spring urges the tubes to extend out of the box into a use position. A light on the free end of the tubes simulates a candle. One end of cable within the spring is connected to the free end of the tubes, and the other cable end is wound on a drum connected to a brake/motor combination. When the brake is released, the cable unwinds and the tubes extend in response to the urging of the spring. When the tubes are to be retracted, the motor winds the cable back onto the drum. A group of assemblies are mounted in the box and their cable drums controlled by a common drive shaft. Drums of different diameters are provided to determine the extension of the cables, and hence the tubes, to thereby provide lighting fixtures of different heights.

For theater sets, it is frequently desirable that electric lighting in the form of simulated candles be provided, and it is desirable that the lighting arrangements be quickly installed or moved into a scene, and then quickly removed. In one currently successful show, this is accomplished by assembling lighting fixtures that are fully erected beneath the floor of the stage, and the entire fixture is raised and lowered through a door in the floor as needed. In some cases, it is desirable that the light supports or "candlesticks" be of different lengths, some of them approaching three feet in length. In a fixed assembly, this therefore necessitates that the fixture be lowered at least three feet below the floor. While this can be accomplished fairly economically with relatively permanent-type construction for a show that is expected to play for many months, such construction is not practical for theater runs of a short duration. In addition to the cost of building such structures, there is the further expense of shipping and handling bulky and fragile components. Further, many theater floor arrangements are such that three feet of vertical space is not available at floor levels, without significant modification.
Thus, a need exists for a lighting apparatus that can collapse into a relatively small package. Further, such apparatus must be reliable, but yet relatively inexpensive. In addition, it must be easily remotely controllable, in a rapid, repeatable manner.


The method relates to the input of a security code by means of a touch screen of an electronic device such as a watch for access to a specific function, an apparatus or a given location. This touch screen comprises control keys, which can be activated by a manual action of a user using a finger or a stylus. Each key is linked to a microprocessor unit of the electronic device. The method comprises steps which consist of placing a finger or stylus on a key of the touch screen, which represents a first reference of the code to be entered, moving the finger or stylus from the first reference to a key of a second reference over a specific trajectory through the microprocessor unit, keeping the finger on the second reference for a given period of time or detecting a change in trajectory of the finger in the area of the key of the second reference to be input, moving the finger from the key of the second reference to a key of a third reference over a specific trajectory, and removing the finger or stylus from the touch screen to validate the entered code and access to the function, apparatus or given location.

In some applications it is necessary to compose a security code to give access for an authorised person to an apparatus such as a personal computer workstation, or a protected location such as a strong room, or a specific location of a building or the person's own home. For this, it has already been proposed in the document GB 2 129 176 to provide a user with a wrist watch, in which a security code has been stored in a non-volatile memory. The back-cover of the watch case contains electric contacts for contact with the wrist of a user. The watch also contains means for transmitting the security code. When a finger of the wearer of the personal watch comes into contact with a conductive surface of a receiver of a location to be accessed, the security code is automatically transmitted numerically via resistor. The signals of the security code are therefore transmitted through the hand of the wearer of the watch from a processing unit of the watch to the receiver. This security code is therefore dependent on the physical parameters of the wearer of the watch and this can enable identification of the authorised person to enter the protected location.
A disadvantage of such an access procedure is that the transmission of this security code is also dependent on the capacitor value defined between the wrist of the user of the watch and earth. As a result, the type of shoes worn by the user of the watch can have a considerable influence on recognition of the security code transmitted to the receiver of the location to be accessed.
Other solutions are conceivable for input of the security code. In more complicated devices, a check can be conducted via voice recognition, a fingerprint or the internal structure of the eye to provide a security code for access to an apparatus or a given location.
More simply, the security code can be entered on a watch and transmitted in particular by means for transmitting radio-frequency, optical or acoustic signals. This security code can be input by different buttons or keys of the watch. According to the present invention, the security code is input, for example, by a user by means of a finger or a stylus on a touch screen of an electronic device.
In the field of character recognition, it is known to use a touch screen fitted with several touch-sensitive pads. The document U.S. Pat. No. 4,139,837, which describes a wrist watch with such a touch screen, may be cited in this regard. In this document, the sensitive pads of the touch screen are linked to a logic circuit and to a processing unit for the recognition of characters such as digits or arithmetic operators indicated by the finger of a user. The processing unit recognises the digit or operator indicated by the finger of the user taking into account the start sensitive pad, the last sensitive pad of the finger and sensitive pads touched during movement of the finger. Thus, with the aid of this touch screen it is possible to achieve recognition of a character by movement of the finger on the sensitive pads of the glass. This watch can be used as a calculator, for example. However, there is no provision in this watch for entering a security code to allow access to a particular function of the watch, an apparatus or location remote from the wearer of the watch.
Therefore, the subject of the invention is a method of input of a security code by means of a touch screen of an electronic device for access to a function, apparatus or location, which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art and which allows said security code to be entered quickly and easily.

Method of input of a security code by means of a touch screen for access to a function, an apparatus or a given location, and device for implementing the same


A slim and cost effective power module solution derived from the multiple-phase buck converter technology that addresses the problems of inductor thickness and excessive magnetic material use. Such power module solution utilizes a multi-phase constant current topology and a corresponding electronic controller to provide a constant current source for various OLED lighting applications. The multi-phase constant current topology comprises two or more inductor-flyback diode feedback loops. Each inductor-flyback diode feedback loop is triggered ON and OFF out-of-phase by a current controller, which senses and estimates the average current supplied to the load, and causes the adjustments to the average current supplied to the load by controlling the ON duration of the inductor-flyback diode feedback loops.

Compared with traditional lighting technologies such as tungsten bulbs, fluorescent tubes and LEDs, OLEDs have the advantages of having slim physical sizes, wide color variety, and physical bendability. These characteristics of OLEDs avail the technology to many new applications, such as decorative and effect lighting, which were not practically achievable in the past. For example, an OLED lighting module, without the accompanying power convertor and mechanical supporting structure, may have a thickness of less than 1 mm. On the other hand, its relatively high price at the present limits its application in general lighting purposes.
Similar to LED lighting and unlike tungsten bulbs and fluorescent tubes, OLED lighting requires to be driven by electric current as power source and brightness control. Therefore, a power converter is required to provide a controlled electric current. In the applications of decorative OLED lighting, the power sources are often 12-48V DC voltage sources. A power converter is then used to convert the constant voltage to a controlled constant current. A conventional power converter uses a single-phase buck current converter as shown in FIG. 1. It converts a direct current (DC) voltage to the controlled constant current.
To maintain the slimness and bendability of an OLED lighting panel (i.e. within 1.5 mm thickness including mechanical supporting structure), the power converter needs to be thin as well. Otherwise, the power module cannot be integrated into the OLED panel and must be installed separately and connected to the OLED panel with long wires. Long wires carrying constant current are not desirable as there can be substantial energy loss in the transmission. More importantly, the wires of individual panels have to be separated due to its constant current nature, and cannot be combined to save space and cost.
To build a 1.5 mm thick power module, all components needed to be 1.0 mm or less in height as 0.5 mm is normally reserved for the flexible printed circuit board (PCB) and mechanical mount. Among the electronic components within a power module, inductors with low profiles are the least available components. For instance, a normal surface mount 15 uH 0.6 A inductor already has a thickness of 1 mm. As another example, a low-profile 60 uH 1.2 A inductor has a thickness of 5 mm, while an inductor with a normal profile is even thicker.
On the other hand, an OLED lighting panel usually has a large surface area (i.e. 100 mm×100 mm is commonly found and 300 mm×100 mm is forthcoming) that can easily conceal a power module there behind. This means that there are more space allowance in the length and width dimensions, but very limited in the height dimension for the power module. As such, the inductor's thickness is the critical factor, and there is no practical solution in the art currently to enable slim power modules for OLED lighting due critically to the thickness of normal inductors.
A possible but undesirable solution is to replace one thick inductor by multiple smaller thin inductors, so that the thickness of the power converter can be reduced in the expense of having a larger occupying area in the length and width dimensions. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the 60 uH 1.2 A inductor is replaced by a network of sixteen 15 uH 0.6 A inductors. Since the height of each 15 uH 0.6 A inductor is only about 1.0 mm, the power converter with this network of inductors may meet the thickness requirement. However, the total magnetic material used is doubled as compared with the single 60 uH 1.2 A inductor. Also, the much higher component count increases material cost and assembly cost significantly. The amount of magnetic material used is a major factor affecting the size of the inductors.

Method and apparatus of a multi-phase convertor topology


An xe2x80x9cobject extractorxe2x80x9d automatically identifies and segments repeating media objects in a media stream. xe2x80x9cObjectsxe2x80x9d are any section of non-negligible duration, i.e., a song, video, advertisement, jingle, etc., which would be considered to be a logical unit by a human listener or viewer. Identification and segmentation of repeating objects is achieved by directly comparing sections of the media stream to identify matching portions of the stream, then aligning the matching portions to identify object endpoints. Alternately, a suite of object dependent algorithms is employed to target particular aspects of the stream for identifying possible objects within the stream. Confirmation of possible objects as repeating objects is achieved by automatically searching for potentially matching objects in a dynamic object database, followed by a detailed comparison to one or more of the potentially matching objects. Object endpoints are then determined by automatic alignment and comparison to other copies of that object.

1. Technical Field
The invention is related to media stream identification and segmentation, and in particular, to a system and method for identifying and extracting repeating audio and/or video objects from one or more streams of media such as, for example, a media stream broadcast by a radio or television station.
2. Related Art
There are many existing schemes for identifying audio and/or video objects such as particular advertisements, station jingles, or songs embedded in an audio stream, or advertisements or other videos embedded in a video stream. For example, with respect to audio identification, many such schemes are referred to as xe2x80x9caudio fingerprintingxe2x80x9d schemes. Typically, audio fingerprinting schemes take a known object, and reduce that object to a set of parameters, such as, for example, frequency content, energy level, etc. These parameters are then stored in a database of known objects. Sampled portions of the streaming media are then compared to the fingerprints in the database for identification purposes.
Thus, in general, such schemes typically rely on a comparison of the media stream to a large database of previously identified media objects. In operation, such schemes often sample the media stream over a desired period using some sort of sliding window arrangement, and compare the sampled data to the database in order to identify potential matches. In this manner, individual objects in the media stream can be identified. This identification information is typically used for any of a number of purposes, including segmentation of the media stream into discrete objects, or generation of play lists or the like for cataloging the media stream.
However, as noted above, such schemes require the use of a preexisting database of pre-identified media objects for operation. Without such a preexisting database, identification, and/or segmentation of the media stream are not possible when using the aforementioned conventional schemes.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for efficiently identifying and extracting or segmenting repeating media objects from a media stream such as a broadcast radio or television signal without the need to use a preexisting database of pre-identified media objects.
An xe2x80x9cobject extractorxe2x80x9d as described herein automatically identifies and segments repeating objects in a media stream comprised of repeating and non-repeating objects. An xe2x80x9cobjectxe2x80x9d is defined to be any section of non-negligible duration that would be considered to be a logical unit, when identified as such by a human listener or viewer. For example, a human listener can listen to a radio station, or listen to or watch a television station or other media broadcast stream and easily distinguish between non-repeating programs, and advertisements, jingles, and other frequently repeated objects. However, automatically distinguishing the same, e.g., repeating, content automatically in a media stream is generally a difficult problem.
For example, an audio stream derived from a typical pop radio station will contain, over time, many repetitions of the same objects, including, for example, songs, jingles, advertisements, and station identifiers. Similarly, an audio/video media stream derived from a typical television station will contain, over time, many repetitions of the same objects, including, for example, commercials, advertisements, station identifiers, program xe2x80x9csignature tunesxe2x80x9d, or emergency broadcast signals. However, these objects will typically occur at unpredictable times within the media stream, and are frequently corrupted by noise caused by any acquisition process used to capture or record the media stream.
Further, objects in a typical media stream, such as a radio broadcast, are often corrupted by voice-overs at the beginning and/or end point of each object. Further, such objects are frequently foreshortened, i.e., they are not played completely from the beginning or all the way to the end. Additionally, such objects are often intentionally distorted. For example, audio broadcast via a radio station is often processed using compressors, equalizers, or any of a number of other time/frequency effects. Further, audio objects, such as music or a song, broadcast on a typical radio station are often cross-faded with the preceding and following music or songs, thereby obscuring the audio object start and end points, and adding distortion or noise to the object. Such manipulation of the media stream is well known to those skilled in the art. Finally, it should be noted that any or all of such corruptions or distortions can occur either individually or in combination, and are generally referred to as xe2x80x9cnoisexe2x80x9d in this description, except where they are explicitly referred to individually. Consequently, identification of such objects and locating the endpoints for such objects in such a noisy environment is a challenging problem.
The object extractor described herein successfully addresses these and other issues while providing many advantages. For example, in addition to providing a useful technique for gathering statistical information regarding media objects within a media stream, automatic identification and segmentation of the media stream allows a user to automatically access desired content within the stream, or, conversely, to automatically bypass unwanted content in the media stream. Further advantages include the ability to identify and store only desirable content from a media stream; the ability to identify targeted content for special processing; the ability to de-noise, or clear up any multiply detected objects, and the ability to archive the stream more efficiently by storing only a single copy of multiply detected objects.
As noted above, a system and method for automatically identifying and segmenting repeating media objects in a media stream identifies such objects by examining the stream to determine whether previously encountered objects have occurred. For example, in the audio case this would mean identifying songs as being objects that have appeared in the stream before. Similarly in the case of video derived from a television stream it can involve identifying specific advertisements, as well as station xe2x80x9cjinglesxe2x80x9d and other frequently repeated objects. Further, such objects often convey important synchronization information about the stream. For example the theme music of a news station conveys time and the fact that the news report is about to begin or has just ended.
For example, given an audio stream which contains objects that repeat and objects that do not repeat, the system and method described herein automatically identifies and segments repeating media objects in the media stream, while identifying object endpoints by a comparison of matching portions of the media stream or matching repeating objects. Using broadcast audio, i.e. radio, as an example, xe2x80x9cobjectsxe2x80x9d that repeat may include, for example, songs on a radio music station, call signals, jingles, and advertisements.
Examples of objects that do not repeat may include, for example, live chat from disk jockeys, news and traffic bulletins, and programs or songs that are played only once. These different types of objects have different characteristics that for allow identification and segmentation from the media stream. For example radio advertisements on a popular radio station are generally less than 30 seconds in length, and consist of a jingle accompanied by voice. Station jingles are generally 2 to 10 seconds in length and are mostly music and voice and repeat very often throughout the day. Songs on a xe2x80x9cpopularxe2x80x9d music station, as opposed to classical, jazz or alternative, for example, are generally 2 to 7 minutes in length and most often contain voice as well as music.
In general, automatic identification and segmentation of repeating media objects is achieved by comparing portions of the media stream to locate regions or portions within the media stream where media content is being repeated. In a tested embodiment, identification and segmentation of repeating objects is achieved by directly comparing sections of the media stream to identify matching portions of the stream, then aligning the matching portions to identify object endpoints. In a related embodiment segments are first tested to estimate whether there is a probability that an object of the type being sought is present in the segment. If so, comparison with other segments of the media stream proceeds; but if not further processing of the segment in question can be neglected in the interests of improving efficiency.
In another embodiment, automatic identification and segmentation of repeating media objects is achieved by employing a suite of object dependent algorithms to target different aspects of audio and/or video media for identifying possible objects. Once a possible object is identified within the stream, confirmation of an object as a repeating object is achieved by an automatic search for potentially matching objects in an automatically instantiated dynamic object database, followed by a detailed comparison between the possible object and one or more of the potentially matching objects. Object endpoints are then automatically determined by automatic alignment and comparison to other repeating copies of that object.
Specifically, identifying repeat instances of an object includes first instantiating or initializing an empty xe2x80x9cobject databasexe2x80x9d for storing information such as, for example, pointers to media object positions within the media stream, parametric information for characterizing those media objects, metadata for describing such objects, object endpoint information, or copies of the objects themselves. Note that any or all of this information can be maintained in either a single object database, or in any number of databases or computer files. The next step involves capturing and storing at least one media stream over a desired period of time. The desired period of time can be anywhere from minutes to hours, or from days to weeks or longer. However, the basic requirement is that the sample period should be long enough for objects to begin repeating within the stream. Repetition of objects allows the endpoints of the objects to be identified when the objects are located within the stream.
As noted above, in one embodiment, automatic identification and segmentation of repeating media objects is achieved by comparing portions of the media stream to locate regions or portions within the media stream where media content is being repeated. Specifically, in this embodiment, a portion or window of the media stream is selected from the media stream. The length of the window can be any desired length, but typically should not be so short as to provide little or no useful information, or so long that it potentially encompasses too many media objects. In a tested embodiment, windows or segments on the order of about two to five times the length of the average object of the sought class or so was found to produce good results. This portion or window can be selected from either end of the media stream, or can even be randomly selected from the media stream.
Next, the selected portion of the media stream is directly compared against similar sized portions of the media stream in an attempt to locate a matching section of the media stream. These comparisons continue until either the entire media stream has been searched to locate a match, or until a match is actually located, whichever comes first. As with the selection of the portion for comparison to the media stream, the portions which are compared to the selected segment or window can be taken sequentially beginning at either end of the media stream, or can even be randomly taken from the media stream.
In this tested embodiment, once a match is identified by the direct comparison of portions of the media stream, identification and segmentation of repeating objects is then achieved by aligning the matching portions to locate object endpoints. Note that because each object includes noise, and may be shortened or cropped, either at the beginning or the end, as noted above, the object endpoints are not always clearly demarcated. However, even in such a noisy environment, approximate endpoints are located by aligning the matching portions using any of a number of conventional techniques, such as simple pattern matching, aligning cross-correlation peaks between the matching portions, or any other conventional technique for aligning matching signals. Once aligned, the endpoints are identified by tracing backwards and forwards in the media stream, past the boundaries of the matching portions, to locate those points where the two portions of the media stream diverge. Because repeating media objects are not typically played in exactly the same order every time they are broadcast, this technique for locating endpoints in the media stream has been observed to satisfactorily locate the start and endpoints of media objects in the media stream.
Alternately, as noted above, in one embodiment, a suite of algorithms is used to target different aspects of audio and/or video media for computing parametric information useful for identifying objects in the media stream. This parametric information includes parameters that are useful for identifying particular objects, and thus, the type of parametric information computed is dependent upon the class of object being sought. Note that any of a number of well-known conventional frequency, time, image, or energy-based techniques for comparing the similarity of media objects can be used to identify potential object matches, depending upon the type of media stream being analyzed. For example, with respect to music or songs in an audio stream, these algorithms include, for example, calculating easily computed parameters in the media stream such as beats per minute in a short window, stereo information, energy ratio per channel over short intervals, and frequency content of particular frequency bands; comparing larger segments of media for substantial similarities in their spectrum; storing samples of possible candidate objects; and learning to identify any repeated objects.
In this embodiment, once the media stream has been acquired, the stored media stream is examined to determine a probability that an object of a sought class, i.e., song, jingle, video, advertisement, etc., is present at a portion of the stream being examined. Once the probability that a sought object exists reaches a predetermined threshold, the position of that probable object within the stream is automatically noted within the aforementioned database. Note that this detection or similarity threshold can be increased or decreased as desired in order to adjust the sensitivity of object detection within the stream.
Given this embodiment, once a probable object has been identified in the stream, parametric information for characterizing the probable object is computed and used in a database query or search to identify potential object matches with previously identified probable objects. The purpose of the database query is simply to determine whether two portions of a stream are approximately the same. In other words, whether the objects located at two different time positions within the stream are approximately the same. Further, because the database is initially empty, the likelihood of identifying potential matches naturally increases over time as more potential objects are identified and added to the database.
Once the potential matches to the probable object have been returned, a more detailed comparison between the probable object and one or more of the potential matches is performed in order to more positively identify the probable object. At this point, if the probable object is found to be a repeat of one of the potential matches, it is identified as a repeat object, and its position within the stream is saved to the database. Conversely, if the detailed comparison shows that the probable object is not a repeat of one of the potential matches, it is identified as a new object in the database, and its position within the stream and parametric information is saved to the database as noted above.
Further, as with the previously discussed embodiment, the endpoints of the various instances of a repeating object are automatically determined. For example if there are N instances of a particular object, not all of them may be of precisely the same length. Consequently, a determination of the endpoints involves aligning the various instances relative to one instance and then tracing backwards and forwards in each of the aligned objects to determine the furthest extent at which each of the instances is still approximately equal to the other instances.
It should be noted that the methods for determining the probability that an object of a sought class is present at a portion of the stream being examined, and for testing whether two portions of the stream are approximately the same both depend heavily on the type of object being sought (e.g., music, speech, advertisements, jingles, station identifications, videos, etc.) while the database and the determination of endpoint locations within the stream are very similar regardless of what kind of object is being sought.
In still further modifications of each of the aforementioned embodiments, the speed of media object identification in a media stream is dramatically increased by restricting searches of previously identified portions of the media stream, or by first querying a database of previously identified media objects prior to searching the media stream.
Further, in a related embodiment, the media stream is analyzed by first analyzing a portion of the stream large enough to contain repetition of at least the most common repeating objects in the stream. A database of the objects that repeat on this first portion of the stream is maintained. The remainder portion of the stream is then analyzed by first determining if segments match any object in the database, and then subsequently checking against the rest of the stream.
In addition to the just described benefits, other advantages of the system and method for automatically identifying and segmenting repeating media objects in a media stream will become apparent from the detailed description which follows hereinafter when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures.

System and method for identifying and segmenting repeating media objects embedded in a stream


A liner is the product of reaction of (a) a hydrophilic prepolymer bearing isocyanate groups; and (b) a water-borne polymer dispersion, the polymer bearing groups that are reactive to isocyanate groups; wherein the dispersion has a sufficiently high solids content, and the polymer has a sufficiently high modulus and glass transition or crystalline melting temperature, that the product of reaction exhibits a 24-hour Tensile Strength of at least about 2.5 MPa.

Underground mining requires support of the roof and walls of the mine to prevent injury due to rock bursts. Several materials have been used for this purpose, including shotcrete, wire mesh, and sprayable liner compositions. Both shotcrete and wire mesh are somewhat difficult to handle and apply in the underground mines, more particularly in deep mining applications. The application of shotcrete/gunite is labor intensive, and the linings are generally brittle, lacking in significant tensile strength and toughness, and prone to fracturing upon flexing of the rock during mine blasting. In addition, shotcrete/gunite generally develops its desired strength of about 1 MPa only slowly. The sprayable liners that develop strength quickly are often toxic during spray application, whereas liners that have low toxicity during spray application are often not tough enough and generally require more than four hours (at ambient temperature without application of heat) to develop the minimum strength desired to be useful in the mining environment.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An engine torque control device is configured to provide increase engine output torque during shifting, with excessive engine output torque being prevented while shift shock is reduced. The engine torque control device has an automatic transmission control section that controls an automatic transmission and an engine output torque control section that performs a torque increasing control of an engine output torque to increase the engine output torque during a downshifting so that an actual engine speed will substantially approach a target speed. The allowable time for torque increasing control is set according to the amount of torque increase. If the increase in engine output torque is below a specified value at the point when the allowable time has elapsed, the torque increasing control is continued, but if the torque increase is at or above the specified value when the allowable time has elapsed, the torque increasing control is forcibly halted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an engine torque control device that increases engine output torque during the downshifting of an automatic transmission so that the engine speed will substantially match or approach a target speed.
2. Background Information
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 09-105458 discloses a technique for reducing shift shock by increasing engine output torque during the downshifting of an automatic transmission having a stepped shifting mechanism. With this torque increasing control during downshifting, a shift shock is prevented by increasing engine output torque during an inertia phase, lasting from when the friction engagement elements that were engaged in a pre-shift gear begin to be disengaged until the friction engagement elements to be engaged in the next gear begin to be engaged.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved engine torque control device. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.


This disclosure is generally directed to communication systems, devices used in communication systems and associated methods which may implement parallel hypothesis search techniques. The disclosed parallel hypothesis search techniques may permit a hypothesis to be dismissed early (i.e., before hypotheses in other searchers have completed their evaluation). Early hypothesis dismissal permits a new hypothesis to be loaded into the searcher while other searchers advantageously continue to evaluate their hypotheses.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to communication systems. More particularly, the invention generally relates to an improved synchronization search technique and more particularly to using a random access sequence generator during the synchronization search process.
2. Background Information
In some cellular networks, information (e.g., voice signals) are encoded with a scrambling code, transmitted to a receiving device, and decoded by the receiving device. In CDMA cellular networks like W-CDMA and CDMA2000 systems, each cell or base station sector uses a different time offset of the scrambling code. To establish a communication link, the mobile station searches for a cell and determines the frame synchronization associated with that cell.
To achieve this synchronization, the mobile station uses a "searcher" to perform initial cell acquisition, cell measurement and delay profile estimation. The mobile station may acquire the scrambling code, code offset, and carrier frequency of the strongest base station when it has no radio link established to any particular base station. The mobile station then may measure the radio link quality of the neighboring cells to support various types of handover procedures. The mobile station then may estimate the delay profile to decide on allocation of Rake fingers or demodulator elements. In general, the searcher tests the hypothesis that a spread spectrum signal exists at a particular code offset and/or at a certain carrier frequency and/or with a certain scrambling code, and so on.
All of these requirements benefit from a high "search throughput" from the mobile station. The "search time" may also greatly impact performance during power up of the mobile device. A method for reducing the search time and increasing the search throughput is desirable.

Searching in a spread spectrum communications


A holder for silk flowers including multiple extensions extending laterally outwardly of the holder, a pair of spaced discs respectively interconnected with the inner surface of the holder, a pair of apertures formed respectively in the discs, and multiple pointed prongs extending from the lower disc and into the aperture formed therein.

This invention relates to cemetery flower holders. Generally, cemetery flowers are displayed in a brass or similar type vessel which is affixed to a gravesite memorial. Typically, silk flowers are inserted into a cone-shaped foam insert which is then placed into the flower vessel. If the foam insert is too large, it must be reduced in size by carving away the excess material. If the holder is too small, the entire flower assembly is prone to be blown away by high winds or it simply floats upwardly when the flower container fills with water.


An optical pickup for recording/reproducing information on/from an optical disc having recording layers, includes a light source; an objective lens for condensing an optical beam emitted from the light source on the recording layer; a photo-detector having a light-receiving section for receiving return light from the optical disc; an optical-path separating unit for separating the optical path of the return light reflected by the optical disc from the optical path of the optical beam emitted from the light source; and a masking member having a masking unit shielding part of a passing-through optical beam, in which the masking unit shields the central region of the optical beam to be incident in the light-receiving section among the optical beams reflected by the other recording layers or surfaces different from the recording layer recording/reproducing information so as not to admit the central region to the light-receiving section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical pickup for recording information signals on an optical disc and reproducing information signals from a recorded optical disc, and an optical disc apparatus including the optical pickup.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a recording medium of information signals, optical discs, such as CDs (compact discs) and DVDs (digital versatile discs), have been used, and there has been an optical disc apparatus for recording information signals on such an optical disc and reproducing information signals from a recorded optical disc. The optical disc apparatus is provided with an optical pickup that is moved in the radial direction of the optical disc to emit an optical beam on the optical disc.
The optical pickup generally includes a light source, a beam splitter, an objective lens, and a photo-receiver. An optical beam emitted from the light source passes through the beam splitter and is condensed by the objective lens to form an optical-beam spot on a recording layer of the optical disc. The optical beam condensed on the recording layer of the optical disc is also reflected to again enter the beam splitter so that its optical path is changed by the beam splitter, thereby entering the photo-receiver.
The optical disc includes a monolayer type having a single recording layer and a multi-layer type having a plurality of recording layers. In the multi-layer optical disc, when an optical beam is condensed on one recording layer, for example, the beam is reflected by other recording layers adjacent to the one recording layer.
In the monolayer optical disc, when an optical beam is condensed on the recording layer, the optical beam is also reflected by the surface of the optical disc (the other recording layers or surfaces are also referred to "other recording layers below".
In such a manner, not only the optical beam reflected by the recording layer, on which the optical beam is condensed for recording/reproducing, but also the optical beam reflected by the other recording layers may be incident to the photo-receiver as stray light.
Such stray light may cause the quality deterioration of RF (radio frequency) signals and defects such as servo signal offset, as well as may cause the interference between the optical beams reflected the respective layers. Also, especially when an optical beam is divided with a diffraction element for producing a tracking-error signal, the interference between the principal light flux and the secondary light flux may pose a large problem due to a light density ratio.
In general, when an optical beam emitted from the light source is divided into 0-order light and ±1st-order diffracted light by a diffraction element, while the optical power of the 0-order light is increased as the principal light flux for detecting the RF signal, the ±1st-order diffracted light is about 10% of the 0-order light in the optical power in order to prevent the extinction of the recorded information on the recording layer due to the ±1st-order diffracted light as the secondary light flux.
If the 0-order light reflected by the other recording layers to be received on the photo-receiver herein is about 10% in the optical power per unit area of the 0-order light reflected by the recording layer where the optical beam is condensed for recording/reproducing information signals (also referred to as a "focus recording layer" below) to be received on the photo-receiver, for example, the ±1st-order diffracted light reflected by the focus recording layer to be received on the photo-receiver is to be roughly identical to the 0-order light reflected by the other recording layers to be received on the photo-receiver in the optical power, so that a great problem arises when a tracking error signal, spherical aberration, a land groove, and a crosstalk are detected using the ±1st-order diffracted light.
When information signals are recorded/reproduced on/from the optical disc having a plurality of recording layers in such a manner, the return light from the other layers adjacent to the focus recording layer exists in the photo-receiver other than return light from the focus recording layer for recording/reproducing, so as to interfere with each other. By the interference, a noise element may be unfavorably generated in the signal detected by a light detector.
In order to solve this problem, an optical pickup has been devised in that masking means having a masking member is arranged in the way back of an optical system for avoiding the interference by preventing the return light of the other recording layers from entering the photo-receiver (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-63595). However, the loss in the optical power is unfavorably increased.

Optical pickup and optical disc apparatus including the same


A new and distinct variety of Hybrid Tea rose Plant is provided having double flowers of original even mauve blend. The new variety is particularly suited for use in the beautification of parks and gardens.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of rose plant of Hybrid Tea class which is distinguished from already known varieties in this class and color range. The new variety of rose plant was originated by me by crossing the variety Swarthmore, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 2,444, with the product of the pollination of the variety Paradise, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,552 and an unnamed seedling.
The present variety has an erect growth habit which is well organized and balanced. The plant has a double flower of original mauve blend never before realized that it is even in color and fade resistant. The plant tolerates heat conditions very well. Because of the above-mentioned characteristics, the present invention responds to the needs of the horticultural industry for all uses and, particularly, for park and garden decoration.
The new variety of rose plant owes its origin to an artificial pollination made between two parents by me in a greenhouse in Chino Calif. in 1983. The rose plant chosen as the seed parent was the product of the pollination of the patented variety Paradise by an unnamed seedling. The plant chosen as the pollen parent was the patented variety Swarthmore. The operation of artificial pollination thus made is expressed by the following: (Paradise.times.unnamed seedling).times.Swarthmore.
The seeds resulting from the above-noted pollination were sown and small plants were obtained. These plants were both physically and biologically distinct from one another. After eliminating all the deficient or abnormal subjects whose characteristics deviated from those which were the object of the research, propagation of the remaining plants was undertaken. In the course of this study all the varieties were systematically eliminated, with the exception of the plant closest to the desired goal.
This rose plant produced double flowers of an original mauve blend color which did not fade. For exhibition purposes, the flowers showed a very nice shape with petals displaying an even color. Technical tests of asexual propagation by budding, grafting and cuttage were then undertaken in a greenhouse in Chino, Calif. with the aim of verifying the behavior and the productiveness of the created variety. The results were conclusive and stressed the importance of this variety with a view to its industrial exploitation for all uses and more importantly for park and garden decoration.
The characteristics and properties of the new variety obtained are stable and are transmissible by budding, grafting and cuttage. This new variety is called the Lady Lavendar variety of hybrid tea rose plant.

Hybrid Tea Rose plant named `Lady Lavendar`


A rail bar for a drawer includes an end to be connected to a wall element, in particular a front panel or a rear wall, of a drawer, and a length adjustment element which is movable relative to the rail bar in the longitudinal direction of the rail bar in order to cover a gap occurring between the end of the rail bar and the wall element in a connected state of the rail bar to the wall element. A spring element is supported on a stationary part of the rail bar and pushes the length adjustment element towards a maximum position, in which the length adjustment element lengthens the rail bar to a maximum extent.

The invention concerns a rail bar for a drawer, including an end to be connected to a wall element, in particular a front panel or a rear wall, of a drawer, and at least one length adjustment element movable in the longitudinal direction of the rail bar relative to the rail bar in order to cover a gap occurring between the end of the rail bar and the wall element in a connected state of the rail bar to the wall element. The invention further concerns an arrangement comprising at least one such a bar and at least one wall element, in particular a front panel or a rear wall of a drawer, wherein the end of the at least one rail bar is connected to the wall element and a gap occurs between the end of the rail bar and the wall element, the gap being covered by the at least one length adjustment element, and a drawer including at least one such arrangement.
FIGS. 1a to 1c show a railing bar 101 for a drawer including an end 103 to be connected to a wall element 102, for example a front panel or a rear wall, of a drawer and a length adjustment element 104 movable in the longitudinal direction 105 of the rail bar 101 relative to the rail bar 101 to cover a gap 106 which occurs in a connected state of the rail bar 101 to the wall element 102. Such rail bars are known from the state of the art, for example DE 198 30 740 A1.
In more detail, FIG. 1a shows the rail bar 101 with the length adjustment element 104 being shown in two different positions relative to the rail bar 101 or the end 103 of the rail bar 101. In order to change the position of the length adjustment element 104, it is displaced by hand relative to the rail bar 101.
FIGS. 1b and 1c show an arrangement 114 comprising a rail bar 101 and a wall element 102, wherein the end 103 of the rail bar 101 is connected to the wall element 102 by way of a furniture fitment 112 on the rail bar 101. In order to make the connection between the rail bar 101 and the wall element 102, firstly, the length adjustment element 104 is displaced towards the right, that is to say, away from the wall element 102 of the connecting location. After the connection is made, there is a gap 106 between the end 103 of the rail bar 101 and the wall element 102. In order to cover that gap 106 as well as the visible part of the furniture fitment 112, the user then pushes the length adjustment element 104 towards the left until the length adjustment element 104 bears against the wall element 102 (see position in FIG. 1c).
A disadvantage in this case is that the user has to perform a plurality of successive steps for mounting the rail bar 104 to the wall element 102. Therefore, the last step, covering the gap 106, is often forgotten, whereby the appearance of the drawer is adversely affected. Ultimately, that reflects badly on the manufacturer of the rail bar 104.
The same disadvantage can arise by virtue of the fact that, even if the length adjustment element 104 is moved into the position shown in FIG. 1c during assembly, at a later time differing from the time of assembly, the length adjustment element 104, is moved out again of that position in the course of the period of use of the drawer, for example due to vibration or when cleaning the drawer.


A system and method for distributing data across a network including a plurality of trunked port lines, including modifying an existing field within one layer of a data packet on the basis of information found within another layer of the data packet and restricting the process of trunking distribution to only consider the modified layer. In an exemplary embodiment, a method and a system for improving packet data distribution across a communication network environment is provided that changes a field within the Layer 2 (L2) section of the packet on the basis of fields within the Layer 3 (L3) section of the packet. This may involve changing the destination Media Access Control (MAC) address on the basis of the destination IP address and limiting the trunk distribution determination to the L2 section of the packet data.

In networking applications, an incoming packet enters an input port of a network component, such as a data processing node or a switch, wherein the network component processes the incoming packet and directs it to an output port. In processing the incoming packet, the network component can examine the incoming packet on the input side of the network component, and can determine addressing and routing information to enhance network performance.
For instance, network components, such as an Ethernet switch, can have several output ports, trunked together either externally or in the backplane of a chassis based switch. Trunking involves the use of multiple network cables or ports in parallel. Trunks may be used to interconnect switches to form networks. Trunking increases the link speed beyond the limits of any single cable or port. Often, distribution of packet traffic is not done evenly across the trunked ports causing inefficient use of the total available bandwidth.
Current trunk distribution technology can lead to congestion, for example, a large number of traffic flows being distributed down certain ports while other ports have only a light amount of traffic distributed to them. This can cause the trunk group to function inefficiently by not being able to carry as much traffic as would be possible if the flows were evenly distributed.
In addition, different ports in a trunk may take different amounts of time to transmit a packet. Thus, packet traffic can sometimes be delivered to their final destination out of order, causing significant delay or failures in the transmission of information across the communication network. Almost all high level networking protocols require that the data packets associated with them arrive in order. Thus, packets of data should not be randomly distributed among different lines of a trunk group.
When a related flow of data packets, such as an Ethernet flow, is sent through a group of ports that are trunked together, the flow must be sent down a single port. If packets from the same flow are sent down different ports, it is possible that they will be delivered out of order. Delivering packets out of order causes a very detrimental effect on higher layer Ethernet protocols such as Transmission Control Protocols/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
When a group of several ports are trunked together, an algorithm is needed to distribute flows of traffic, such as Internet Protocol (IP) traffic, evenly so that the total available bandwidth can be used. However, as described above, each flow between network endpoints must go down a single port of the trunk to ensure that the packets are not delivered to their final destination out of order.
A typical trunk distribution algorithm involves manipulating various fields within the header structure of a packet to form a hash value and this value is used to determine the port to which the packet will be sent. The hash algorithm used is typically the Exclusive OR (XOR), or sometimes, a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC), such as CRC16. Using a CRC redundancy check on different fields of the packet distributes data packets in a more random way than the use of an XOR hash. A hash key is created and then a part of the key field is used as an index in order to determine which port in the trunk will be used. A relatively simple hash distribution algorithm is important because the hash value must be calculated for each packet at the rate at which it arrives at the switch chip (i.e. at "wire speed").
However, these algorithms tend to fail during testing with artificially generated test traffic when certain fields are incremented together to define each flow. When the fields are processed using the XOR operation, a single index is produced and all the traffic is directed down a single port of the trunk. Similar problems are found in real world systems such as server farms which have very similar header fields for each flow.
In these typical systems, there is usually some degree of control provided over what fields are used in the calculation of the hash value. This degree of control usually allows the use of any of: just Layer 2 (L2) fields; L2 and Layer 3 (L3) fields; or L2 , L3 , and L4 fields. "Layer" references, such as Layer 2 (L2) and Layer 3 (L3) refer to the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) seven layer model. However, finer control of the fields may be provided. There may also be some degree of control over the hash algorithm. For example, a selection between XOR and CRC16 hash generation may be provided.
However, regardless of the degree of control provided over what fields are used in the calculation of the hash value and over the hash algorithm, these algorithms are fixed by the logical design of the switch chip with which they are used and these algorithms cannot be readily changed to adapt to changing network conditions or congestion caused by a particular test configuration.

Method and system for improving traffic distribution across a communication network