The system has a pleated net run by ropes that begin from the same side of the retention case, cross the net and continue upwards to all upper fixed horizontal guide, and are fastened at the upper part of the system. This invention uses wire rope which has one edge fastened at the upper truck, passes horizontally above the net, then parses through the pulley at the upper part of the sliding case, follows a vertical course towards the second pulley at the lower part of the sliding guide, crosses the lower fixed horizontal guide and is fastened on the lower part of the vertical fixed side guide. In case of a system with two or more leaves, this invention uses a ropes' central end component, tension adjusters and a ropes' run component.

According to the current state of the art, systems use mainly anti-mosquito net (screen) which is pleated, that is it has pleats in its fabric, so that the net can be folded and unfolded. The present invention concerns anti-mosquito systems with such pleated net (with pleats).
According to the current state of the art, these systems resemble a frame, which has two vertical sides, two cases: the retention case and the sliding case. The retention case is fixed, fastened and firmly attached to the one vertical side of the frame of the opening. At the same time, a fixed side guide is fastened and firmly attached to the opposite vertical side of the frame of the opening. The sliding case is movable, it moves with a direction from the retention case towards the fixed side guide and vice versa, and at a position always parallel to those two parts. The pleated net is folded in pleats (frill), between the two vertical cases, the fixed retention case and the movable sliding case.
As two horizontal sides, up and down, the frame has on the top part a straight horizontal permanent guide and on the bottom part has either a second straight horizontal permanent guide, or an articulated guide.
One problem that appears in the current state of the art is that the ropes that run through the net and run across the bottom guide of the system, often due to usage and passing of the users are cut. Their replacement is arduous, as it requires the removal of the net and its return to the producer for repair and replacement of the cut net.
Another technical problem of the current state of the art is that had the dimensions of height of the retention case, the sliding, case and the vertical side guide not been measured correctly, the entire anti-mosquito system is useless, the dimensions have to be measured again and a new system to be ordered again. That happens because during its placement the system is a single technical element, a ready-made frame of four sides, which was made according to the specific dimensions of the order and is fastened at the particular opening for which it has been ordered. The anti-mosquito system that has been cut and assembled according to wrong dimensions, especially the height of the vertical side guide and the two cases (only a miscalculation of the order of ±1 mm is forgiven) cannot be fixed, nor is there a possibility to substitute any of its components. The above technical problems aim to solve EP 0549209, EP 1903175 and EP 0999335, but without providing the possibility of correcting wrong dimensions.
One last problem is that the ropes used by the systems of the present state of the art are fastened to the system with components which allow the movement of the nets of the anti-mosquito system only up to a point where these components reach and meet the guides, so the movement of the ropes is terminated. For this reason, these systems present a technical problem, that is, if the width of the frame exceeds its height, the leaves do not open completely, but only to the point where the rope following the movement of the net and the frame "terminates" with the component inside the guide and stops the system. Therefore, these systems cannot be used to cover openings that are larger than its height.
EP 1653038 aims also at solving the aforementioned technical problems; in EP 1653038, however, as opposed to the current invention, the two horizontal guides of the system, the top and the bottom ones, do not have any independence. Neither the top guide nor the two end parts can be detached from the retention and the sliding cases without the dismantling of the whole system. If they are detached, the two retention ropes will be detached and then the bottom guide will be disassembled, as well as the bottom ends that are restrained by the bottom rope of retention and therefore the whole system.
There are also solutions that allow the correction of wrong dimensions by using a kit, as they are presented in the pending applications GR 20100100552 (EP11386006.8) and GR 20110100129 (PCT/GR2011/000016), but this is done in a different way to the present invention. Specifically, in GR 20100100552 (EP11386006.8) for the overcome of this technical problem an additional component is used, a height regulator, a component which is not needed in the current invention while in GR 20110100129 (PCT/GR2011/000016) two articulated guides are used, the top and the bottom ones, placed diagonally, while the current inventive idea uses no articulated guide.
A kit solution is recommended also by the EP 2157274 A2 and EP 1653038. However these two solutions present significant differences to the present invention, as they utilize components which are not necessary for this invention, as, for example, a support, a spiral spring; also, the articulated guide is not fastened neither on the sliding case nor on the retention case (EP 2157274) etc., and they present a completely different arrangement of ropes as opposed to the present invention with the use of many springs (EP 1653038 A2).
A solution to the above technical problems is also recommended by EP2034123 A1, where however, the use of additional technical means is presented as a technical difference with the current invention. Such means are the components with pulley which are screwed on the net on both its sides in order to direct the ropes, while the present invention does not have components with pulleys on the net. Moreover, end components are utilized where all the ropes end up on both of their end points, while in the present invention not all the ropes end up on them but just a few of them, and finally in EP2034123 an independent net system is presented which require two articulated guides, at the top and the bottom, in order to function properly, whereas on the contrary, the current invention at the top has a fixed horizontal top guide and at the bottom could have whichever type of bottom guide, either fixed or articulated.
Solution to the above technical problems is also recommended by the no. PCT/GR2012/000009 which nevertheless presents some technical differences from the present disclosure: The end of the articulated guide which is located within the retention case is not fastened at any point. As a consequence of that when the sliding case is driven towards the opposite vertical fixed side and unfolds the net, it is easy for the guide to come off from the retention case because it is pulled out by the bundle of the ropes which are fastened on it. But when the opposite movement is performed and the sliding case is directed towards the retention case folding the net, then there is no counterweight which will exert the opposite attraction and will pull off the end of the articulated guide and will direct it again back inside the retention case.
A solution is also meant to be given by the EP2025858A2 but there an extra component of spring is used to which is directed and fastened the bundle of the ropes, while the present invention does not utilize such a component. Also, a similar solution is suggested by EP 2157274 A2, where a step component is used, while the present invention does not use such a component.
Finally, a solution is proposed by implementing WO 2015/079267, which however uses an articulated guide at its lower part, in contrast to this invention, which uses no such articulated guide, only simple guides at the upper and lower parts. The system, that WO 2015/079267 presents, fails to solve the aforementioned problem where the width of the opening must necessarily be less than its height as it uses an end ropes component on which all the ropes are tied and which when stopped at the top pulleys or the lower pulley of the system, cannot pass through the pulleys because of its size, thus ending the movement of the pleats and immobilizing the system. Alternatively, it ties the ropes to an articulated guide. In addition, the system proposed in WO 2015/079267 is difficult to be mounted and assembled due to the several pulleys throughout the system—four at the upper part of the slide guide—and the accessories, as well as due to the fact that the ropes must be tied on the end component or an articulated guide and be regulated one by one. It is also unstable, a problem which may be solved if all the pleats open only from one side, whereas the other side will be fixed on the frame without being opened.

Autonomous anti-mosquito net system for a fixed lower guide


A composition for controlling a building-inhabiting pest, the composition including, as an active component, at least one kind of an amide derivative represented by the following Formula (1) in which, Q represents an unsubstituted phenyl group or a phenyl group substituted at the 2-, 3- or 4-position with one fluorine atom, R represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group, and each of Y1 and Y2 independently represents a bromine atom, an iodine atom, or a trifluoromethyl group, and a method for controlling a building-inhabiting pest, the method including treating a space in a building with the composition.

Conventionally, as a method for controlling pests inhabiting a building, a method of directly spraying pests with a composition containing a pest control component, a method of fumigating or smoke-treating the inside of a building with a composition containing a pest control component, or the like has been used. As pest control components, a pyrethroid compounds, carbamate compounds, and the like are known. Pyrethroid compounds are known to be excellent in terms of an immediate effect against pests due to a knockdown action, and to have a repellent effect. Further, pyrethroid compounds decompose quickly, and are excellent in terms of safety for human beings and animals.
However, pests that have acquired resistance to pyrethroid compounds have appeared, which has become a problem.
In addition, various compounds as an amide derivative having a pest control action, and the methods for using them have been disclosed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 to 3). In Patent Documents 1 to 3, it has been described that an amide derivative having a specific chemical structure can control building-inhabiting pests; however, details of the effective amount and a method for using the amide derivative have not been disclosed, and a method for controlling a building-inhabiting pest by using the amide derivative has not been substantially disclosed.

Method for controlling building-inhabiting pest and composition for controlling building-inhabiting pest


First-arriving-pulse detector (FAP) circuitry includes a correlator circuitry and a threshold circuitry. The correlator circuitry correlates a received signal with a template signal to provide an output signal. The threshold circuitry provides a first-arriving-pulse signal depending on the relative values of the output signal of the correlator circuitry and a threshold signal.

This invention relates to communication, ranging, and positioning systems and, more particularly, to detecting first-arriving pulses in ultra-wideband communication, ranging, and positioning systems.
Modern communication and radar applications often involve positioning and ranging determinations. These applications typically seek to ascertain the range between two locations, for example between a radar station and a target, between two mobile stations, or between a base station and a mobile station. Other applications seek to determine the absolute or relative position of a target or a location.
Current positioning and ranging techniques suffer from a number of undesirable characteristics. For example, Global Positioning Satellite, or GPS, presently has a resolution limited to a few feet. Moreover, GPS systems rely on expensive, sophisticated satellites orbiting the earth. Thus, ranging and positioning applications that use GPS depend on the availability of the satellites and the signals that the satellites provide. In indoor areas, for example, GPS equipment typically cannot receive satellite signals and, thus, cannot provide reliable ranging and positioning information.
To overcome the shortcomings of GPS systems, other ranging and positioning systems use radar techniques. Radar systems usually transmit a signal that includes a plurality of pulses and, by timing the arrival of a signal reflected from a target, determine the range or position of a target. Those radar systems, like GPS systems, have a limited resolution. To provide improved resolution, some ranging and positioning systems use a single pulse. Proper and reliable operation of those systems, however, depends on their ability to distinguish the first pulse that may include information about the range, position, or both, of a target. Unfortunately, no known reliable techniques exist for detecting the first-arriving pulse and, thus, for determining the range, position, or both, of a target accurately and with improved resolution.
One aspect of the invention contemplates first-arriving pulse (FAP) circuitry for use in ranging, positioning, and communication systems. In one embodiment, FAP detector circuitry according to the invention includes a correlator circuitry configured to correlate a received signal with a template signal to provide an output signal. The FAP detector circuitry also includes a threshold circuitry configured to provide a first-arriving-pulse signal depending on the relative values of the output signal of the correlator circuitry and a threshold signal.
In another embodiment, a radio-frequency apparatus according to the invention includes a radio-frequency circuitry configured to receive a plurality of pulses that result from a transmission of a radio-frequency pulse in a multipath propagation medium. The radio-frequency apparatus also includes a detector circuitry configured to discriminate from a noise floor a first pulse in the plurality of pulses.
In a third embodiment, a communication system according to the invention includes a transmitter circuitry configured to transmit a radio-frequency pulse into a multipath propagation medium and a receiver circuitry configured to receive a plurality of pulses that result from the transmission of the pulse into the multipath propagation medium. The communication system also includes a detector circuitry configured to detect the first pulse of the plurality of pulses.
Another aspect of the invention relates to methods of using FAP circuitry according to the invention in ranging, positioning, and communication systems. In one embodiment, a method of detecting a first-arriving pulse includes correlating a received signal with a template signal to provide a correlation output signal, and comparing the correlation output signal and a threshold signal to provide a first-arriving-pulse signal.
In a second embodiment, a method according to the invention for method of detecting a first pulse includes transmitting a radio-frequency pulse in a multipath propagation medium. The method also includes receiving, by using a radio-frequency circuitry, a plurality of pulses that result from the transmission of the radio-frequency pulse; and discriminating, by using a detector circuitry, a first pulse in the plurality of pulses from a noise floor.

First-arriving-pulse detection apparatus and associated methods


Provided is a sheet feeding device capable of cleaning a pickup roller satisfactorily, which is downsized and reduced in the number of components. The sheet feeding device rotates the pickup roller under a state in which the pickup roller abuts against a friction body, to thereby clean the pickup roller.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a sheet feeding device, an image forming apparatus including the sheet feeding device, and a method of controlling the sheet feeding device.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional image forming apparatus includes at least a placement member on which a sheet is to be placed, and a sheet feeding device including a pickup roller for pulling out the sheet from the placement member. The sheet feeding device performs a sheet-feed operation as follows. The sheet feeding device brings the sheet placed on the placement member into abutment against an outer circumferential surface of the pickup roller, and, in that state, rotates the pickup roller to pull out the sheet from the placement member. Then, the sheet pulled out from the placement member is fed to a sheet conveying path provided inside the image forming apparatus.
In the conventional configuration, when sheet powder flown from the sheet adheres to the outer circumferential surface of the pickup roller, the pickup roller idly rotates in spite of the fact that the pickup roller and the sheet abut against each other, which causes a trouble that the sheet is not pulled out from the placement member satisfactorily.
In this context, in the related art, a sheet feeding device has been proposed in which a cleaning member such as a cleaning belt is provided separately and is allowed to circulate while abutting against the outer circumferential surface of the pickup roller, and thus, paper powder adhering to the outer circumferential surface of the pickup roller is removed.
In the proposed conventional configuration, the cleaning member for cleaning the pickup roller is provided separately, and hence, the pickup roller can be cleaned reliably. However, when the cleaning member is provided separately, there is a new problem in that the number of components increases to raise cost. Further, it is necessary to secure a space for disposing the cleaning member, which hinders downsizing of the sheet feeding device, and thus it becomes difficult to install the sheet feeding device in a small image forming apparatus.

Sheet feeding device, image forming apparatus including the same, and method of controlling the sheet feeding device


Data are transmitted over a bus including a plurality of lines, wherein energy is dissipated as a result of data transmission. Preferably, the data to be transmitted in parallel are partitioned in a plurality of clusters of data bits. Each cluster is subject to re-ordering according to a set of reordering patterns to produce a corresponding set of respective candidate clusters of data bits. Crosstalk activity values related to transmitting the various candidate clusters are calculated and compared to identify an optimum cluster of data bits that minimizes the energy dissipated as a result of transmission by jointly minimizing the switching activity and the crosstalk activity. The optimum cluster of data bits so identified is then used for transmission over the bus. The optimum cluster of data bits thus causes those bits that give rise to high crosstalk activity to be allotted to bus lines having lower crosstalk capacitance values.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to bus switching techniques. Specifically, the invention relates to certain improvements over the solution disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,933,863, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
The scenario of new sub-micrometric technologies (DSM) allows integration of increasingly more complex devices in increasingly smaller silicon wafers, while also effectively controlling power consumption and speed performance of the related systems. Current forecasts indicate the possibility of integrating increasingly more complex systems, while being able to control power consumption at both the technological and system levels. However, while future systems are expected to have very small dissipation levels, energy consumption by interconnection units is not expected to follow that trend. This applies particularly to off-chip electrical buses, with the ensuing dissipation level of the units that drive the associated pads and the power consumption process related to the process of charging and discharging the parasitic capacitances associated therewith.
In fact, a generic node i, fed with a voltage Vdd and having associated a parasitic capacitance Ci, dissipates at an operating frequency f a dynamic power Pi given by:
                              P          i                =                              1            2                    ·                      C            i                    ·                      V            dd            2                    ·          f          ·          α                                    (        1        )            where α (alpha) is the so-called switching activity, namely the percentage of 1→0 and 0→1 transitions that occur in a time unit. It will be appreciated that the dependency on the voltage Vdd follows a quadratic law, while the dependency on the other parameters is linear.
Prior art techniques for reducing the dissipated power Pi typically rely on reducing the voltage Vdd (which may turn out not be feasible due to the need of ensuring signal integrity against disturbances), lowering of the operating frequency f (which inevitably impacts on performance), or signal encoding to reduce inasmuch as possible the parameter α. In fact, bus-encoding techniques act on switching activity, namely the parameter α, without affecting system performance or its capacitance to reject disturbances affecting the useful signal.
Bus encoding is convenient if the additional consumption related to the presence of the encoding/decoding systems is lower than the energy savings achieved on the bus. In general terms, encoding an address bus is simpler than encoding a data bus.
This is because of the spatial and temporal (time) locality principle that governs the generation of addresses in a CPU.
Simply stated:
temporal or time locality means that, if a CPU uses a certain resource at a time t, then a substantial likelihood exists that it will be using that resource at a slightly later time;
spatial locality means that a CPU uses a certain location at a time t, then a substantial likelihood exists that at a slightly later time that CPU will be using a location nearby.
These considerations are exploited, e.g., in "cache" memories, which strongly reduce the times of access to an external memory by storing the locations that are used more frequently.
Bus encoding techniques tend to become less effective as the bus size, and consequently the transmission rate increase. To counter this, one of the simplest bus encoding techniques is the so-called "bus-invert" technique. This is based on the concept of estimating the switching activity associated with the transmission of a given set of data over the bus and complementing (i.e., chenging 1→0 and 0→1) the set of data transmitted if the estimated switching activity exceeds 50%.
In particular, in the presence of identical line capacitances, the parameter α (alpha) is measured by counting the number of logical "1s" in the transition between B(t−1) and B(t), that is in the transition between two subsequent states of the bus output.
In mathematical terms, if the bus has N lines ("wires"):
                              B                                (            t            )                          =                  {                                                                      b                                                        (                    t                    )                                                                                H                                                              [                                                                        b                                                                                (                            t                            )                                                                          ⊕                                                  B                                                                                (                                                          t                              -                              1                                                        )                                                                                ]                                                        <                                      N                    /                    2                                                                                b                    _                                                                          (                    t                    )                                                                                H                                                              [                                                                        b                                                                                (                            t                            )                                                                          ⊕                                                  B                                                                                (                                                          t                              -                              1                                                        )                                                                                ]                                                                                >                    _                                                                          N                    /                    2                                                                                (        2        )            where b(t) represents the bus input at time t (i.e., the string of bits to be transmitted in parallel over the bus at time t) and ⊕ denotes the Exclusive-OR (X-OR) logical operator
The parameter α (alpha) is computed by using the Hamming operator (H), that is by counting the number of "1s" in the Exclusive-OR above.
Such an approach is no longer accurate if the capacitances in the bus are not identical. In that case, the dynamic switching power P, that is the power related to loading/unloading the bus self capacitances, becomes (for a bus of N identical lines):
                    P        =                              ∑                          i              =              1                        N                                                                                1              2                        ·                          C              i                        ·            f            ·                          V              dd              2                        ·                          α              i                                                          (        3        )
That formula includes constant factors (namely f, Vdd, ½=0,5). The parameter αi can be expressed as:
                              α          i                =                              lim                          T              ->              ∞                                                                                n                i                                                          (                T                )                                      T                                              (        4        )            where N is the number of the lines in the bus, T is the time between two subsequent states in the bus (i.e., the time between two subsequent transmissions of data on the bus and ni(T) represents the total transitions (0→1 and 1→0) measured in the time interval [0,T] corresponding to the i-th bus line.
By purging the effects of the constants f, Vdd, N and 0.5, the "normalized" power therefore becomes, in the case of switching only (self capacitance activity):
                    p        =                              ∑                          i              =              1                        N                                                                                C              i              s                        ·                          n              i                                                          (        5        )
The quantity CS (S=self capacitance) takes into account (notonally for each bus line, thus the suffix i) the bus asymmetry, while the ni's can assume values equal to 0 or 1. The formula thus provides a value proportional to the energy dissipated for each cycle T.
As indicated, Bus Invert techniques are known in the art: see, e.g., K. W. Kim, K. Baek, N. Shanbag, C. L. Liu and S. Kang "Coupling Driven Signal Encoding Scheme For Low-Power Interface Design" in ACM/IEEE International Conference on CAD. November 2000, where a so-called Coupled Bus Invert (CBI) technique is known. Bus switching techniques, essentially aiming at reducing switching activity in large electrical buses are disclosed, e.g., in:
M. Olivieri, F. Pappalardo and G. Visalli "Bus-Switch Coding, For Reducing Power Dissipation In Off-Chip Buses" in IEEE Transaction on Very Large Scale integration Systems Volume 12 No. 12 Dec. 2004; or
U.S. Pat. No. 6,933,863 issued to G. Visalli and F. Pappalardo.
Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 6,933,863 discloses a procedure that, from the logical point of view, is an iterative procedure. A large size bus is partitioned into a plurality of smaller identical clusters, so that the string of bits to be transmitted over the bus is similarly partitioned into a corresponding plurality of clusters of bits. Each cluster is re-ordered by resorting to an exchange sequence (reordering pattern) that admits only one inverse pattern for the recovering upon reception the data transmitted. Each cluster as re-ordered is subjected to a further encoding function, which leads to a further increase in performance. The encoder performs trials, evaluating that function by considering all the possible re-ordering patterns, and selecting the one that implies the minimum electrical activity (metric of the encoder) of the whole bus. The number of iterations is a function of the cluster depth based on a factorial law: a cluster of 4-lines admits 4!=24 possible sequences of re-ordering.
Crosstalk is another source of energy dissipation, which prevails in on-chip buses. In short, simultaneous switching on two adjacent bus lines connected by a parasitic capacitance leads to a disturbance overvoltage applied on a "victim" line plus power dissipated due to the change of polarity on the line.
FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of three adjacent bus lines including a "victim" line K, having two adjacent lines K−1 and K+1 likely to act as "attacker" lines with associated disturbance generators G1 and G2. CS and CL are representative of the "line" (self) and "crosstalk" capacitances, respectively. In order to properly take into account crosstalk, one must be able to evaluate the effects thereof with regard to the various possible logical states of both attacker and victim lines.
In fact Kim et al., cited previously, have already suggested a variation of the bus-invert technique somewhat intended to take into account crosstalk. That approach is essentially a coupling driver bus-invert (CBI) technique based on the hypothesis/assumption that the capacitances CS and CL are equal. This is inevitably a strong limitation and the effectiveness of the technique is thus limited to those situations that come sufficiently close to that assumption.

Bus switch encoding for reducing crosstalk effects in buses


A device for holding and viewing playing cards is herein provided and discloses an apparatus that allows the viewing of playing cards that are placed down on the device for those who have limited use of their hands or would benefit from such a device. The invention takes the form of an angled stand with the approximate dimensions of four inches by six inches where a portion of this area is used to hold the cards face down, as placed there by the dealer or player's assistant, although other sizes and shapes for accommodating multiple card are envisioned. The device is shielded so that adjacent players are denied the ability to view the cards. A dual mirror assembly is visible through a viewing window that is used by the player. In such a manner, players without the use of their hands or arms can see their cards in an easy manner without the aid of another person.

Card games are among the most popular of today's recreational and social activities. Millions of people enjoy the numerous existing card game variations. These games are popular among people of all ages, as they provide a means to gather with friends and socialize. A common factor in just about every type of card game is that a player must hold their cards, most typically in close proximity to one's body, to prevent other players from seeing them. While this is usually a simple and obvious task, it is almost impossible for those with limited use of their hands and/or arms. In cases where a disabled player wishes to play cards, someone else must hold the disabled person's cards and go to great lengths to avoid looking at them, especially if they are also playing. Whatever the reason for not being able to hold one's own cards, it affects their ability to play the card games, making it less enjoyable for all involved. The development of the present invention addresses this issue. While the present invention is most particularly suited for the popular Texas Hold-Em version of poker, it can easily be used for other playing card games.
Several attempts have been made in the past to provide a means to assist disabled persons in holding and viewing playing cards in a secure and sturdy apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,940 in the name of Nimry discloses a collapsible game card holding means consisting of a plurality of flexible fingers that are separated and retracted in a fan-like configuration. The Nimry device does not disclose a novel box-like mirror apparatus to provide security from other players' viewing angles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,880 issued in the name of Flam provides a card holder in the form of a shell or shield with slots or pockets into which a plurality of cards are placed. In the Flam device, the card holder is configured in a vertical device, which provides less stability when placed on a horizontal surface. Hence, the Flam device must be held and is therefore not in the scope of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,198 issued in the name of Alvarez describes a playing card holder with a hand shape with rubber finger tips that is attached to a plate with a spring-biased clip to retain the cards and finger rings on the plate that the player uses to hold the device. The Alvarez device suffers from the same problems as the aforementioned Flam device in that it is designed to be held by the player and, therefore, also does not fall under the scope of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,378 issued in the name of Cook discloses a playing card holder having an extendable handle attached to a head extension, which is in turn attached to a support plate with a plurality of pockets for retaining playing cards therein. The Cook device is also equipped with a base for supporting the device on a horizontal surface. The Cook device lacks features to eliminate surreptitious viewing from neighboring players and also must be manipulated by hand, which is not necessary with the present invention.
Other, various ornamental designs of playing card holders are prevalent in the prior art, such as U.S. Pat. No. D 493,199, issued in the name of Cowgill; U.S. Pat. No. D 431,052, issued in the name of Wilcox; U.S. Pat. No. D 347,451, issued in the name of Kazakowitz; U.S. Pat. No. D 286,897, issued in the name of Herbert; and U.S. Pat. No. D 367,082 issued in the name of Harley.
None of the prior art particularly describes an apparatus and method for displaying and viewing playing cards in a novel, box-like mirrored assembly that can be placed on a horizontal surface and provides a secure means for viewing said playing cards. Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus suitable for use by disabled, elderly, novice, or expert players to confidently view playing cards in a secure manner that is also sturdy, resilient, and easy to use.

Device for holding and viewing playing cards


A method, apparatus, and system are disclosed for creating a conferencing access logic. The logic is for allowing access to a conference in an internet protocol (IP) network. The invention entails establishing an allow list of allowed users, setting up a default policy applicable to unlisted users, matching listed users with corresponding conference rights, and assigning a uniform resource identifier (URI) to the access logic. The URI is for identifying and editing elements of the access logic, including the allow list, the default policy, and the conference rights.

When more than two people participate in a telecommunications session, the session becomes a conference. An Access Control List (ACL) is typically used to define who is allowed (or not allowed) to join the conference. If a user attempts to join a conference, but the user is not in the ACL then (depending on the conference policy), the conference chair may be consulted whether the user can be accepted to join the conference. Thus, there must be a mechanism to define the Access Control List (ACL) so that user access can be pre-authorized (or denied). It must be possible to add and delete users to/from the ACL. It can be possible to consult a user with appropriate privileges (such as the chair or the owner) when an unknown user tries to join the conference. The chair may accept or deny the join attempt.
Conference participants may have different privileges (i.e. rights). In the simplest case, only two kinds of participants exist: the conference chair (with all the privileges), and normal participants (without any privileges). For example, the following privileges may be supported:                Right to terminate a conference        Right to disconnect participants        Right to manage general conference properties        Right to manage conference access control list (ACL)        Right to manage conference-wide media sessions (e.g. add audio session into conference)        Right to manage other participant's session parameters (such as media)        Right to make real-time authorization (for join attempts)        Right to hand-off all (or some of) the above privileges to another participant
Some conferences may utilize more complex privilege definition and hierarchy; such as guru-participants having the right to disconnect participants. Therefore, protocol mechanisms must be in place to translate these rights into actions. It must be possible to define different privileges to different participants. It may be possible that different participant levels are defined (e.g. senior-member, panelist), having different rights. Rules should be defined for special cases, such as if the chair leaves suddenly, or the chair tries to take privileges away from all privilege holders. Also, it must be possible to add and delete users into and from the ACL white list (allowed to join) and the ACL black list (not allowed to join). The ACL conflicts must be solved in a well-defined way (e.g. what if user appears both in black list and in white list). It should be possible to use wildcards in ACL (such as *.company.com in white list), and it should also be possible to allow and disallow anonymous and/or hidden users to access the conference.
All of these requirements have not yet been met. These requirements need to be met somehow, and that is the problem to which the present invention is addressed. The present invention is also more generally directed at solving the problem of defining a conferencing policy that will be run when a conference is created.
A typical Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) conference includes a focus, which is defined as an SIP user agent. The focus maintains an SIP signaling relationship with each participant in the conference. The focus is responsible for ensuring, in some way, that each participant receives the media that make up the conference. The focus also implements conference policies, and is a logical role.
A floor is defined as a set of shared resources within a conference; a single conference may have multiple floors. A conference member is a member or participant that has a signaling relationship with the conference focus, and receives one or more of the media streams that are part of the conference.
A conference owner is a privileged user who defines rules for running the conference; by default, the conference creator becomes the owner, but the role can be delegated to another entity. The conference owner may delegate some of these responsibilities to another party. The conference owner does not have to be a member in the conference.
A chair is normally a person who manages one floor by granting, denying, or revoking privileges. The chair does not have to be a member of the conference. The chair is sometimes also referred to as the moderator. Different floors within a conference may have different chairs, and chairs may change during a conference. A conference client will therefore be either an ordinary member, or alternatively will be a chair.
SIP supports the initiation, modification, and termination of media sessions between user agents. These sessions are managed by SIP "dialogs," which represent an SIP relationship between a pair of user agents. Because dialogs are between pairs of user agents, SIP's usage for two-party communications (such as a phone call), is relatively obvious. Communications sessions with multiple participants (i.e. conferencing) is more complicated.
FIG. 1 depicts the overall conferencing architecture. As mentioned, the "focus" is an SIP user agent that is addressed by a conference URI. The focus maintains an SIP signaling relationship with each participant in the conference. The focus is responsible for insuring, in some way, that each participant receives the media that make up the conference. The focus also implements conference policies. The focus is a logical role. Participants or "clients" are user agents, each identified by a URI, which are connected to the focus for a particular conference. A "conference policy server" is a logical function which can store and manipulate rules associated with participation in a conference. These rules include directives on the lifespan of the conference, who can and cannot join the conference, definitions of roles available in the conference and the responsibilities associated with those roles, and policies on who is allowed to request which roles. The conference policy server is a logical role. A "media policy server" is a logical function which can store and manipulate rules associated with the media distribution of the conference. These rules can specify which participants receive media from which other participants, and the ways in which that media is combined for each participant. In the case of audio, these rules can include the relative volumes at which each participant is mixed. In the case of video, these rules can indicate whether the video is tiled, whether the video indicates the loudest speaker, and so on. A "mixer" receives a set of media streams, and combines their media in a type-specific manner, redistributing the result to each participant. A "conference server" is a physical server which contains, at a minimum, the focus, but may also include a media policy server, a conference policy server, and a mixer. A "floor control server" is another term for "floor controller," and is responsible for determining which participant(s) in a conference are allowed to speak at any given time, based on participant requests as well as access rules and the chair's decisions.
A floor control protocol is used to convey the floor control messages among the moderator or moderators of the conference, the conference server and the participants of the conference. The floor control protocol does not deal with the conference management such as how to elect the moderator of the conference or how to add users to the conference.
In the past, conferences were created and the policy was statically defined on the server. The simplest approach was to provide offline a conference ID and password to users who are allowed to join the conference. According to that simple approach, there was no real user identification for joining the conference; any user with the correct conference ID and password could join. Although access control lists for conferences have now become a familiar concept, their implementation still fails to satisfy the wide variety of current requirements.


According to embodiments of the present invention, there is provided a cooking apparatus for cooking a foodstuff. The cooking apparatus comprises a vessel configured to accept, in use, liquid therein; a closing sub-assembly configured to be releasably coupled to the vessel, the closing sub-assembly defining an aperture; a steam leading tube operatively coupled to the aperture, the steam leading tube configured to provide a passage, in use, for the steam generated within the vessel from the liquid towards an interior of the foodstuff.

Various devices exist for cooking, such as an oven, a stove top, a grill, an open flame of fire. These cooking devices are used for preparation of various foodstuffs, including, but not limited to, meat, poultry, vegetables and alike. It is known to use different heat sources in order to cook various foods, such as either using the heat provided from an oven, stove or grill, or having built-in heat source.
It is appreciated that while cooking large fowls such as turkeys, there is a good chance that the cooking may render uneven cooking results. This is due, at least partially, to the fact that the most delicate meat is in the breast that is directly exposed to the heat source, therefore it is being cooked much faster than the interiorly located dark meat, which is shielded by the carcass of the bird and surrounded by dense bones. As a result, the bird can be unevenly cooked, causing one portion of the bird to become overcooked and/or another portion of the bird to be undercooked.
Most cook books recommend cooking a turkey for about 20 minutes per pound in a 325° F. oven. Therefore, an average 17 pound turkey conventionally takes five to six hours to cook. A solution known by professionals is to separate the breast meat from the dark meat, cooking them separately and to reassemble the bird for table presentation. Evidently, this is not a convenient solution for the presented problem, especially for home cooking applications.
Several solutions have been disclosed in the prior art, solutions involving use of an open vessel inserted into the inner hollow cavity of the meat or poultry in order to provide steam into the inner cavity of the meat when roasting. Examples of such prior art cooking devices are described more detail in the following patents CN 11344268; CN 21208192; KR 7072354; U.S. Pat. No. 6,779,438; KR 4077094; U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,082; U.S. Pat. No. 6,502,501; U.S. Pat. No. 7,146,905; WO10247524; U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,739; U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,792; JP 2000271016; RU 2164529; JP 2000166771; U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,612; U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,131; U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,312; U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,142; U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,039; U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,675.
Most of the devices described in the above-referenced documents are designed in a somewhat similar manner and are generally configured to transfer some heat by conduction directly into the foodstuff, which leaves little or no space for steam to cook the meat, rather most of the steam escapes to the outside not to the most inner surface of cavity of the meat which is abutting the outer surface of the open ended can. In addition the steam is only heated to 212° F., i.e. substantially the boiling point of water. In addition, in such devices, the meat or poultry is held in an upright position, which does not provide optimal heat distribution. Another disadvantage of these devices is the necessity to adapt the diameter of the open ended vessel respectively to the diameter of the inner cavity of the cooking foodstuff. Holding the meat in an upright position is unstable and causes possible dripping of liquids onto the heat source.
In the case of cooking large fowls, such as turkeys, usage of this method of cooking is limited due to requirements of size of the heat source, such as an oven or a grill. Furthermore, said method does not allow cooking a stuffed bird as steam dispersion inside the inner cavity of the fowl is blocked by stuffing. All mentioned above has to be performed while, maintaining the stability during cooking process, protecting the exterior of the meat from overexposure to intense heat and allowing shortening the cooking process.


A status holding circuit includes a transistor having an emitter coupled to a negative power source, a collector and a base coupled to said collector and having a negative conductance range, first and second input terminals to which first and second input signals are applied, a first resistor provided between said first input terminal and the collector of said transistor, a second resistor provided between said second input terminal and the collector of said transistor, and an amplifier provided between a positive power source and said negative power source, for amplifying an output of said transistor drawn from said base thereof to thereby generate an amplified output signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a status holding circuit and a logic circuit using the same. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a status holding circuit utilizing a hysteresis characteristic and a logic circuit using the same. Further, the present invention relates to a sequential logic circuit called a latch circuit.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, digital logic circuits are each classified as either a combinational logic circuit or a sequential logic circuit. The output status of a combinational logic circuit is based on only the present input status. On the other hand, the output status of a sequential logic circuit is not based on only the present input status but the present status of the sequential logic circuit as well as the previous input status. Such a sequential logic circuit includes a latch circuit or a flip-flop circuit without exception. A flip-flop circuit can be formed by two latch circuits. From this viewpoint, all types of logic circuits can be configured by only latch circuits and NOR (or NAND) gates. Recently high integration density high-speed LSIs have been demanded. Particularly, there is a trend of an attempt to simplify latch circuits to meet the above-mentioned demand.
Conventionally, normal transistors are used as logic elements for configuring a latch circuit. For example, a D-type latch circuit which is a logic circuit has a D-input and a clock input. An information (data) signal applied to the D-input of the latch circuit is stored therein and then drawn therefrom in synchronism with a clock pulse signal applied to the clock input. A D-type latch circuit based on the transistor-transistor logic (TTL) is formed by a large number of bipolar transistors. A D-type latch circuit based on the emitter-coupled logic (ECL) is formed by at least seven transistors. That is, there is a need for a large number of transistors which configure a latch circuit. Additionally, the use of a large number of transistors prevents high integration and high speeds.

Status holding circuit and logic circuit using the same


In a glass cutter wheel where a blade edge is formed on a disk-shaped wheel, grooves having a predetermined shape are formed at a predetermined pitch in a ¼ or smaller or ¾ or smaller blade edge line portion of the entire perimeter of the blade edge. The ratio of the groove portion to the entire perimeter, which largely contributes to a scribing characteristic, is changed such that a desired scribing characteristic can be obtained.

FIGS. 1(a) through 1(d) are cross-sectional views for illustrating a first separation method of a liquid crystal mother substrate in a step-by-step manner as an example of a conventional procedure for cutting a bonded glass substrate, such as a liquid crystal mother substrate, at a desired cutting position. In the following descriptions, in a bonded glass substrate formed by a pair of glass substrates, which is a liquid crystal mother substrate, one of the glass substrates is referred to as an A-side glass substrate, and the other glass substrate is referred to as a B-side glass substrate, for convenience of explanation.
(1) First, as shown in FIG. 1(a), the bonded glass substrate 1 is placed on a first scribing apparatus such that the A-side glass substrate is laid over the B-side glass substrate, and the A-side glass substrate is scribed using a glass cutter wheel 2 so as to form a scribe line Sa.
(2) Next, the bonded glass substrate 1 in which the scribe line Sa was formed in the A-side glass substrate is turned over, and transported to a second scribing apparatus. In this second scribing apparatus, the B-side glass substrate of the bonded glass substrate 1 is scribed using a glass cutter wheel 2 so as to form a scribe line Sb which is parallel to the scribe line Sa as shown in FIG. 1(b). It should be herein noted that, in the case of a liquid crystal mother substrate, a plurality of liquid crystal panels are formed from the liquid crystal mother substrate, and in each liquid crystal panel, it is necessary to form terminals at a side edge portion in one glass substrate. Thus, in many cases, the scribing position of the scribe line Sa formed in the A-side glass substrate and the scribing position of the scribe line Sb formed in the B-side glass substrate are shifted from each other along a horizontal direction as shown in FIG. 1(b).
(3) Next, the bonded glass substrate 1 where the scribe lines Sa and Sb were formed in the A-side glass substrate and the B-side glass substrate, respectively, is transported to a first breaking apparatus without being turned over, i.e., without exchanging the positions of the A-side glass substrate and the B-side glass substrate. In the first breaking apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1(c), the bonded glass substrate 1 is placed on a mat 4. A break bar 3 is pushed against the B-side glass substrate of the bonded glass substrate 1 along the scribe line Sa formed in the A-side glass substrate. As a result, a crack extends upwardly from the scribe line Sa, and accordingly, the lower A-side glass substrate is broken along the scribe line Sa.
(4) Next, the bonded glass substrate 1 in which the A-side glass substrate was broken is turned over such that the A-side glass substrate is over the B-side glass substrate, and transported to a second breaking apparatus. In the second breaking apparatus, as shown in FIG. 1(d), the bonded glass substrate 1 is placed on a mat 4. A break bar 3 is pushed against the A-side glass substrate of the bonded glass substrate 1 along the scribe line Sb formed in the B-side glass substrate. As a result, the lower B-side glass substrate is broken along the scribe line Sb.
By performing above steps (1) through (4), the bonded glass substrate 1 is separated into two at desired positions.
As illustrated in above steps (3) and (4), the break bar 3 is pushed against the upper glass substrate, whereby the lower glass substrate is broken. For example, as shown in FIG. 1(c), when the break bar 3 is pushed against the upper B-side glass substrate, the A-side glass substrate and the B-side glass substrate are bent downward at a position against which the break bar 3 is pushed, whereby force is applied to the A-side glass substrate so as to horizontally widen the crack formed along the vertical direction (vertical crack) of the scribe line Sa formed in the A-side glass substrate. As a result, the vertical crack extends upwardly so as to reach the upper surface of the A-side glass substrate, whereby the A-side glass substrate is separated. On the other hand, in the scribe line Sb formed in the upper B-side glass substrate, force in a horizontal direction from both ends of the B-side glass substrate toward the crack, which is the opposite direction to that of the force caused in the lower glass substrate, is applied so as to compress the crack (vertical crack). Therefore, the B-side glass substrate is not broken.
In the breaking steps performed at steps (3) and (4), when the vertical crack of the scribe line Sa of the lower A-side glass substrate is shallow as shown in FIG. 1(c), it is necessary to apply a relatively large pushing force in order to break the A-side glass substrate. However, when the pushing force applied by the break bar 3 is too strong, the upper B-side glass substrate may be broken simultaneously with the A-side glass substrate. In this case, in the lower A-side glass substrate, the vertical crack extends along a substantially vertical direction to break the lower A-side glass substrate, i.e., no problem is caused. However, since in the upper B-side glass substrate, the position where the force is applied by the break bar 3 is different from the position of the scribe line Sb formed in the B-side glass substrate, force is not caused in a direction such that the upper B-side glass substrate is broken. Thus, a separation face may be formed in an oblique direction. Furthermore, cracks may be formed so as to be in contact with each other so that defects (horizontal cracks) are caused at that position of contact. A bonded glass substrate having such a separation face extending along an oblique direction, or such defects, has no commercial value as a liquid crystal panel.
The applicant of the present application has proposed a separation method of a brittle substrate which can solve such problems in Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 6-48755 entitled "Separation Method of Bonded Glass Substrate".
FIGS. 2(a) through 2(d) are cross-sectional views which illustrate a second separation method for separating a brittle material, which is described in the above publication, in a step-by-step manner. Hereinafter, the method described in this publication is described with reference to FIGS. 2(a) through 2(d). In the following descriptions also, as referred to in FIGS. 1(a) through 1(d), in a bonded glass substrate formed by a pair of glass substrates, which is a liquid crystal mother substrate, one of the glass substrates is referred to as an A-side glass substrate, and the other glass substrate is referred to as a B-side glass substrate, for convenience of explanation.
(1) First, as shown in FIG. 2(a), the bonded glass substrate 1 is placed on a first scribing apparatus such that the A-side glass substrate is over the B-side glass substrate, and the A-side glass substrate is scribed using a glass cutter wheel 2 so as to form a scribe line Sa.
(2) Next, the bonded glass substrate 1 where the scribe line Sa was formed in the A-side glass substrate is turned over, and transported to a first breaking apparatus. In this first breaking apparatus, as shown in FIG. 2(b), the bonded glass substrate 1 is placed on a mat 4. A break bar 3 is pushed against the B-side glass substrate of the bonded glass substrate 1 along the scribe line Sa formed in the A-side glass substrate. As a result, in the lower A-side glass substrate, a crack extends upwardly from the scribe line Sa, and accordingly, the A-side glass substrate is broken along the scribe line Sa.
(3) Next, the bonded glass substrate 1 where the A-side glass substrate was broken is transported to a second scribing apparatus without being turned over, i.e., without exchanging the positions of the A-side glass substrate and the B-side glass substrate. In this second scribing apparatus, the B-side glass substrate of the bonded glass substrate 1 is scribed using a glass cutter wheel 2 so as to form a scribe line Sb which is parallel to the scribe line Sa as shown in FIG. 2(c). It should be herein noted that, in the case of a liquid crystal mother substrate, a plurality of liquid crystal panels are formed from the liquid crystal mother substrate, and in each liquid crystal panel, it is necessary to form terminals at a side edge portion in one glass substrate. Thus, in many cases, the scribing position of the scribe line Sa formed in the A-side glass substrate and the scribing position of the scribe line Sb formed in the B-side glass substrate are shifted from each other along a horizontal direction.
(4) Next, the bonded glass substrate 1 is turned over such that the A-side glass substrate is over the B-side glass substrate, and transported to a second breaking apparatus. In the second breaking apparatus, as shown in FIG. 2(d), the bonded glass substrate 1 is placed on a mat 4. A break bar 3 is pushed against a portion of the A-side glass substrate of the bonded glass substrate 1 which corresponds to the scribe line Sb formed in the B-side glass substrate. As a result, the lower B-side glass substrate is broken along the scribe line Sb.
By performing above steps (1) through (4), the bonded glass substrate 1 is separated into two at desired positions.
In this second separation method of a brittle material, as illustrated in steps (2) and (4), at a breaking step, the lower glass substrate to be broken has a scribe line whereas the upper glass substrate to does not have a scribe line. Thus, the upper glass substrate is not broken simultaneously with the breakage of the lower glass substrate. Therefore, occurrence of the problems which may occur in the first separation method illustrated in FIGS. 1(a) through 1(d), such as a separation face extending along an oblique direction, formation of defects, etc., can be avoided.
FIG. 3 is a side view of the glass cutter wheel 2 used in the first and second separation methods, which is seen along a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the glass cutter wheel 2. The glass cutter wheel 2 is formed into the shape of a disk, where φ denotes the wheel diameter and w denotes the wheel thickness, and a blade edge having a blade edge angle α is formed along the perimeter of the wheel.
The applicant of the present application further improved the glass cutter wheel 2 shown in FIG. 3 to obtain a glass cutter wheel which can form a deeper vertical crack, which is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Publication No. 9-188534 entitled "Glass Cutter Wheel".
FIG. 4 is a side view of a glass cutter wheel disclosed in this publication, which is seen along the rotation axis of the glass cutter wheel.
This glass cutter wheel 5 has undulations at the edge line portion of a blade edge formed at the perimeter of a wheel. That is, U-shaped or V-shaped grooves 5b are formed at the edge line portion 5a of the blade edge. These grooves 5b are formed by cutting notches at depth h from the edge line portion 5a at pitch P. By forming these grooves 5b, protrusions j having a height h are formed at pitch P.
In FIG. 4, the grooves formed at the edge line portion are shown in a large size for the purpose of readily recognizing the grooves. However, the actual size of the grooves is a size of the micron order, which is not perceptible by a human eye.
TABLE 1 below shows specific numerical values of the wheel diameter φ, the wheel thickness w, etc. The values are shown for two examples, Type 1 and Type 2.
TABLE 1Type 1Type 2Wheel diameter φ 2.5 mm 2.0 mmWheel thickness w0.65 mm0.65 mmBlade edge angle α 125° 125°Number of protrusions j 125 110Height h of protrusions j  5 μm  10 μmPitch P  63 μm  63 μmBlade edge load 3.6 Kgf 1.8 KgfScribing speed 300 mm/sec 400 mm/sec
The glass cutter wheel having undulations at the edge line portion has a significantly improved scribing characteristic, i.e., a significantly improved ability to form a vertical crack. By performing a scribing process using this glass cutter wheel, a deep vertical crack which almost reaches the vicinity of the lower surface of a scribed glass plate can be obtained in the scribing process.
The glass cutter wheel 5 having undulations at the edge line portion has a significantly improved scribing characteristic as compared with a conventional glass cutter wheel. However, since precise undulations are formed along the entire perimeter of the edge line portion of the glass cutter wheel 5, the process and formation of the undulations in the edge line portion requires a long process time, and there are some problems in processibility.
In the case where the second separation method illustrated in FIG. 2 is performed using the glass cutter wheel 5 having undulations at the edge line portion, a scribe line Sb of a deep vertical crack is formed in the B-side glass substrate, and in some cases, the bonded glass substrate 1 is substantially separated at the time when the upper B-side glass substrate has been scribed at Step (3). Thus, when the bonded glass substrate 1 is transported using a suction pad, or the like, to the second breaking apparatus during a transition period between Step (3) and Step (4), one piece of the separated bonded glass substrate 1 may be left in the second scribing apparatus. Furthermore, during transportation of the bonded glass substrate 1, one piece of the separated bonded glass substrate 1 may fall from the suction pad. In such a case, a production line apparatus for separating the bonded glass substrate 1 may not operate in a normal manner.
The present invention was conceived to solve the above problems. An object of the present invention is to provide: a glass cutter wheel where problems in processibility, which may occur in a glass cutter wheel having undulations in the entire perimeter of the edge line portion, are solved, and a desired scribing characteristic can be obtained, i.e., a scribe line of a vertical crack having a desired depth can be formed in a glass substrate separation process; a scribing method for forming a scribe line which enables separation of a brittle material; a scribing apparatus incorporating such a cutter wheel; and a cutter wheel production apparatus for producing such a cutter wheel.

Scribing method, cutter wheel, scribing device using the cutter wheel, and cutter wheel manufacturing device for manufacturing the cutter wheel


Disclosed is an improved process for purifying phosphoric acid where a calcium sulfate hemihydrate slurry is first filtered to produce a first filtrate and a filter cake which comprises calcium sulfate hemihydrate, the calcium sulfate hemihydrate filter cake is slurried to produce a slurry containing less than 2% by weight free sulfate ion, which is hydrated in a hydration tank to produce a calcium sulfate dihydrate slurry, and the calcium sulfate dihydrate slurry is filtered on a second filter to produce a second filtrate and a gypsum filter cake. The improvement comprises recycling the second filtrate to the second filter in an amount (1) sufficient to reduce the flow rate of the calcium dihydrate slurry from the hydration tank to the second filter so that the residence time of the slurry in the hydration tank is at least two hours and (2) at least sufficient to maintain liquid on the second filter. Also disclosed is an apparatus for performing this process.

This invention relates to an improved secondary purification process for phosphoric acid. Specifically, it relates to such a process where a portion of the filtrate from the calcium sulfate dihydrate filter is recycled to the same filter.
Superphosphoric acid (SPA), which is used in the manufacture of fertilizers, is phosphoric acid containing about 68 to about 70% by weight of P.sub.2 O.sub.5. It can be manufactured by dissolving calcium phosphate rock with sulfuric acid, producing a slurry of calcium sulfate hemihydrate in a solution of phosphoric acid. The slurry is filtered and the calcium sulfate hemihydrate filter cake is discarded. The filtered acid is evaporated to about 48% P.sub.2 O.sub.5 for further purification.
Some phosphate rock used in this process contains a significant quantity of magnesium, which is dissolved by the sulfuric acid. If the magnesium is left in solution with the phosphoric acid, magnesium pyrophosphate forms when the solution is evaporated to SPA. When the SPA is ammoniated, an ammonium magnesium pyrophosphate sludge forms which creates a serious pluggage problem for liquid fertilizer manufacturers.
In order to avoid this problem, the magnesium is removed from the phosphoric acid. This can be accomplished by the addition of synspar, essentially a calcium fluoride compound made as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,171,342 and 4,243,643, herein incorporated by reference. The addition of the synspar to the phosphoric acid slurry results in the precipitation of Ralstonite, MgAlF.sub.5 (aluminum is normally present in the rock and is dissolved by the sulfuric acid), and hemihydrate gypsum.
To remove the Ralstonite and hemihydrate gypsum, the slurry is filtered on a rotary drum vacuum filter. The hemihydrate cake containing Ralstonite is discharged to a hydration tank, and is reslurried with pond water. The hemihydrate gypsum dissolves and reforms as dihydrate gypsum in this tank. The slurry is then filtered on a second rotary drum vacuum filter. The filtrate is mixed with the filtrate from the first drum filter for further processing. The dihydrate cake containing Ralstonite is disposed of.
In order to maximize the P.sub.2 O.sub.5 recovery, it was, until now, necessary to maintain a minimum of 2% free sulfate ion in the hydration tank. As long as the free sulfate ion concentration in the hydration tank was maintained at least 2%, recrystallization of the calcium sulfate hemihydrate as calcium sulfate dihydrate occurred even though the residence time of the slurry in the hydration tank often varied considerably. But when the free sulfate ion concentration fell below about 2% more time was required to convert the hemihydrate crystals to dihydrate crystals, and frequently the residence time in the hydration tank was not long enough for a complete conversion to occur. When that happened calcium sulfate hemihydrate entered the calcium sulfate dihydrate filter and formed calcium sulfate dihydrate on the filter, plugging the filter.
In order to maintain a free sulfate ion concentration of at least 2% in the hydration tank, it was necessary to add sulfate ion (as sulfuric acid) in excess of the amount required to precipitate the dissolved calcium as calcium sulfate. However, if calcium phosphate rock having a high concentration of magnesium was used in the process, it was necessary to add extra synspar to remove the extra magnesium, and, since the calcium in the synspar removes sulfate ion as calcium sulfate, the free sulfate ion concentration would sometimes fall to less than 2%, or even less than 1%. When the free sulfate ion concentration was less than 2%, the residence time of the calcium sulfate hemihydrate slurry in the hydration tank was frequently not long enough to convert all of the calcium sulfate hemihydrate to calcium sulfate dihydrate. The unconverted calcium sulfate hemihydrate would then enter the calcium sulfate dihydrate filter where it would form the calcium sulfate dihydrate and clog the filter. If the residence time in the hydration tank was increased by shutting off the flow of the slurry from the hydration tank to the calcium sulfate dihydrate filter, the calcium sulfate dihydrate filter would become "dry" and would have to be shut down and restarted again when the required residence time had passed and slurry was again available for filtering. This resulted in P.sub.2 O.sub.5 losses in the lines and equipment, known as "tramp" losses. There did not appear to be any way of solving this problem without reducing the efficiency of the process and lowering the recovery of P.sub.2 O.sub.5.

P.sub.2 O.sub.5 recovery and phosphoric acid purification


A horizontal anomaly detection method includes receiving at plurality of objects described in a plurality of information sources, wherein each individual information source captures a plurality of similarity relationships between the objects, combining the information sources to determine a similarity matrix whose entries represent quantitative scores of similarity between pairs of the objects, and identifying at least one horizontal anomaly of the objects within the similarity matrix, wherein the horizontal anomalies are anomalous relationships across the plurality of information sources.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to anomaly detection and more particularly to anomaly detection with multiple sources of information.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Anomaly detection refers to the task of detecting objects whose characteristics deviate significantly from the majority of the data. Anomaly detection is widely used in a variety of domains, such as intrusion detection, fraud detection, fault detection, system health monitoring, event detection in sensor networks, and so on.

Identifying inconsistencies in object similarities from multiple information sources

International Business Machines Corporation


A smart device receives applications from locales wherein the application is useful only within the locale or a designated portion of the locale. The smart device includes a processor. The processor receives a signal indicating an application useful in a locale or a portion of the locale is available from a designated location, determines whether the device is authorized to download the application from the designated location, and if not, not download the application. If the device is authorized to download the application from the designated location, the processor determines whether the application is already stored in the device memory, and if so, runs the application when the smart device is in the designated portion of the locale, and if not, download the application from the designated location, and run the application when the smart device is in the locale or the designated portion of the locale.

The advent of smart devices such as smartphones, tablets, wearables, smartwatches, headsets, virtual reality headsets, augmented reality headsets, mixed reality headsets, etc., and their software, have created a demand for increased computational power which cannot currently be met by current processing technologies. Furthermore, current smart devices require placement at a physical location on a person's body, which can become unnatural, distracting, and rude to the view of others.
Additionally, as a result of recent developments in augmented and mixed reality technology for use in portable devices, such as smartphones, headsets such as virtual reality headsets, smart glasses, and the like, there has arisen a critical need for miniaturized portable hardware capable of storing greater quantities of data and capable of processing the large quantity of data generated and used by these portable devices than is currently available. For example, a smart phone can be used to view, through the camera thereof, a space, and also overlay, into the viewed spaced, digital images. These digital images are rendered from the memory of the smart phone, or are received by the smart phone through a wireless or cellular interface, and then processed and rendered into the viewed overlayed image. Currently, these uses of smart devices, except for smart phones. are in the early adopter stage, where only a limited number of users in a wireless or cellular environment are using the technology. However, in the near future it is anticipated that a much larger number of users will be using this technology, and simultaneously using it in the same immediate area, and each device of each user in the same immediate area will be accessing the same local wireless or the same cellular system at the specific location for data and images, or, each users' device will require a very large storage capability which is preloaded with image information used by the smart device. In many cases, an application required to access this content is operable only at a specific location, and it cannot be accessed remote from that location. If a user is intending to engage interactively with another user, then the interactively engaging users must engage with one another in either a hard wired, or wireless/cellular, way. As a result, the user's device requires storage capacity which is not practical today, or bandwidth that is not obtainable once a number on devices are demanding access and bandwidth from the same source. Additionally, even where the device has a large data storage capacity, that capacity is also used to store specific functionality application programs and data for other functionalities of the device, and in use, the user will often add additional data and functionalities for a limited use, for example, an immediate use by the device to deliver information or content to the device at the user's request, but the data and functionality will remain in the data store of the device thereafter taking up data storage space therein. These application programs are opened by an interface of the user's device, which is typically an icon on a touch screen, and as a result a device as the user add additional data and functionalities for a limited use, the touch screen will become cluttered with a number of interfaces, or, the device will have a master interface for accessing these specific functionality application programs. For example, the device home screen may display all pre-installed applications that are available for the smart device's users to access. This solution requires using the storage capacity of the device to store the application in preparation for use even if the application is not going to be used in the near future.
Furthermore, smart devices such as head mounted wearable devices (smart glasses, virtual reality headsets, mixed reality headsets, smart sunglasses, augmented reality headsets, etc.) block off portions of the body, i.e., block certain body parts such as the head, the face, or portions thereof when used, of the users of these devices, from being viewed in images taken from cameras and smart devices of others, and from images of other head mounted wearable device users. Certain body parts such as the face are crucial for personal interactions between people, and when obstructed, can be perceived as rudeness to surrounding people and other users interacting with the user having the blocked body part. For example, people that are wearing virtual reality headsets which completely cover the eyes appear disoriented and unrecognizable in photographs or camera images appearing on another user's device, including another users augmented reality headset. Current image capturing devices, and the image generation system of the device which displays the captured image enhance people, do not "edit out" or enhance the smart device on, or worn by, the user that is visible in the view. Current imaging capturing devices, and the image generation system of the device which displays the captured image, do not overlay an image of a body part such a face on a body image on smart devices where the body part is blocked from view.
Also, there is a critical need for miniaturized portable hardware capable of processing the large amounts of data generated and used by these portable devices. For example, a smart phone can be used to view, through the camera, a space, and also overlay, into the viewed spaced, digital images. These digital images are rendered from the memory of the smart phone, or are received through a wireless or cellular interface, and then processed and rendered into the viewed image. Currently, processing technologies struggle to render high quality, high accuracy digital images, as well as large quantities of digital images, and all images received through the camera/lens of the device at the device image refresh rate are digitally processed regardless of whether or not they are being viewed, which takes up, and thus limits, the processing power needed to process other applications, such as augmented reality content to be displayed in an image on a screen or display. Furthermore, in the near future, the need for faster refresh rates and attendant greater processing and rendering of digital images will arise.
Further, the increase in demand for 3D, stereoscopic displays has presented a struggle to create and replay 3D content and models. Currently, capturing images and creating a multidimensional (3D) model of an object or person requires technology, particularly scanning technology that is inaccessible on a day to day basis. Some capturing devices include a multi-camera rig that takes pictures from various angles and focal lengths. These rigs are typically stationary and fixed in size. Standalone, portable 3D scanning devices also require precise movements, scanning time, and processing time. In the near future, virtual, augmented, and mixed reality will create the need for faster and intuitive methods to create 3D models that can be displayed later.
Further, the online shopping experience using smart devices does not allow shoppers to interact with the products or a representation of the products they are buying before purchasing. Shopping interfaces are limited to 2D UIs which include images, videos, or other media of product offerings. The style of the online interfaces is a list, or scrollable view of the product offerings. These interface styles do not parallel the experience that shoppers would be able to get at a physical retail store.

Method for managing data, imaging, and information computing in smart devices


A fluid product dispensing device has a reservoir containing fluid and dispenser head with a dispensing orifice. The reservoir moves relative to the dispenser head to cause dispensation. The reservoir is moved by a lateral actuator that pivots in relation to the dispenser head which in turn pivots an actuator link that is located in the middle of the lateral actuator which in turn is in contact with the reservoir itself. As the lateral actuator moves, the actuator link pivots and moves the reservoir closer to the dispensing head, which causes dispensation as desired by the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid dispenser device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fluid dispenser device, in particular for dispensing pharmaceuticals, or for use in the fields of perfumery or cosmetics, generally comprises one or more reservoirs containing the fluid, and a dispenser member, such as a pump or a valve, mounted on said reservoir. A dispenser head provided with a dispenser orifice is assembled on the pump or the valve so as to dispense the content of the reservoir. Generally, the head is axially displaceable relative to the reservoir, so as to actuate the pump or the valve. Nowadays, it is common to use portable devices so as to make it possible to use the dispenser device whenever or wherever desired. Such devices are therefore generally transportable, e.g. in a handbag, a pocket, or the like. In this event, the problem exists of the device being actuated accidentally while it is being transported or stored in said handbag. Generally, in order to avoid the device being actuated accidentally, a system is provided that the user must manipulate before being able to use the device. Pull-tab or slide systems that prevent the device from being actuated are well known. However, such devices are relatively complex to manufacture and to assemble, and they require the user to perform specific hand movements in order to be able to use the device.


An insulating layer is formed over a surface of a semiconductor wafer to be the bond substrate and irradiation with accelerated ions is performed, so that an embrittlement region is formed inside the wafer. Next, this semiconductor wafer and a base substrate such as a glass substrate or a semiconductor wafer are attached to each other. Then, the semiconductor wafer is divided at the embrittlement region by heat treatment, whereby an SOI substrate is manufactured in which a semiconductor layer is provided over the base substrate with the insulating layer interposed therebetween. Before this SOI substrate is manufactured, heat treatment is performed on the semiconductor wafer at 1100° C. or higher under a non-oxidizing atmosphere such as an argon gas atmosphere or a mixed atmosphere of an oxygen gas and a nitrogen gas.

1. Field of the Invention
In this specification, a technique relating to a method for manufacturing a substrate having a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure in which a semiconductor layer is provided on a substrate with an insulating layer interposed therebetween is described. Further, a technique relating to a reprocessing method of a semiconductor wafer which has been used in manufacturing this SOI substrate is described.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor substrate having an SOI structure (hereinafter referred to as an SOI substrate) in which a semiconductor layer is provided on a substrate with an insulating layer interposed therebetween has attracted attention as a substrate suitable for manufacturing an LSI which has low power consumption and can operate at high speed.
One of known methods for manufacturing an SOI substrate is a hydrogen ion implantation separation method (e.g., see Patent Document 1). As described in Patent Document 1, an SOI substrate is manufactured using two bulk silicon wafers in the hydrogen ion implantation separation method. One of the two bulk silicon wafers serves as a bond substrate (also referred to as a donor substrate) and the other serves as a base substrate. The bond substrate provides a semiconductor layer, and the base substrate forms the SOI substrate body. A method for manufacturing an SOI substrate by the hydrogen ion implantation separation method is briefly described below.
An oxide film is formed on the bond substrate by a thermal oxidation method, and then irradiation with hydrogen ions is performed to form a microbubble layer inside the bond substrate. Then, the bond substrate and the base substrate are disposed in close contact with each other with the oxide film interposed therebetween and bonded to each other. After that, heat treatment is performed and the bond substrate is divided at the microbubble layer, so that a silicon layer is formed on the base substrate with a thermal oxide film (insulating layer) interposed therebetween. The silicon layer is a semiconductor layer which has been separated from the bond substrate. Then, heat treatment or the like is performed on the base substrate in order to strengthen the attachment between the silicon layer and the base substrate, so that an SOI substrate is completed. Further, in the hydrogen ion implantation separation method, the bond substrate from which the silicon layer has been separated can be reused, and the used bond substrate is reprocessed and reused.
However, oxygen is incorporated into the bond substrate because of the manufacturing method; therefore, crystal defects due to oxygen such as oxide precipitate, dislocation, or stacking fault are formed in the vicinity of a surface of the bond substrate which forms the semiconductor layer by heat treatment in the manufacturing process of an SOI substrate (typically, heat treatment in a step of forming the thermal oxide film and a step of dividing the bond substrate). Accordingly, the crystal defects in the vicinity of the surface need to be reduced in order to reuse the bond substrate.
For example, Non-Patent Document 1 discloses that crystal defects in the vicinity of a surface of a CZ silicon wafer can be reduced by annealing at 1200° C. under a hydrogen gas atmosphere (the proportion of the hydrogen is 100%).
In addition, Patent Documents 2 to 4 each disclose reuse of a bond substrate.
Patent Document 2 discloses that in order to increase the number of times of use of a bond substrate, a silicon wafer formed by slicing an ingot is used for a bond substrate. The ingot is grown by a CZ method and includes neither aggregate of vacancy-type point defects whose oxygen concentration is 5×1017 atoms/cm3 to 14×1017 atoms/cm3, nor aggregate of interstitial-silicon-type point defects.
Patent Document 3 discloses that by performing heat treatment rapidly on a bond substrate from which a silicon layer has been separated at 1150° C. to 1300° C., oxide precipitate in the bond substrate can be reduced.
Patent Document 4 discloses that a CZ wafer with few defects whose whole surface is formed using an N region is used as a bond substrate and RTA treatment is performed as reprocessing treatment of the bond substrate at higher temperature than that in a step of forming a thermal oxide film performed on the bond substrate.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A pouch is mounted on a vehicle door that comprises a frame, an inside panel, and screws securing the inside panel to the frame, using an elongate mounting bracket coupled to the pouch and having two opposite ends and a hole adjacent each end. Two of the screws are removed, from opposite respective edges of the door, and the bracket is placed against the inside panel with the holes aligned with the screw holes in the door frame. The screws are inserted into the door frame through the respective holes in the mounting bracket.

This invention relates to a pouch for mounting to a vehicle door.
When driving a truck, it is frequently necessary to have access to various things such as maps and delivery instructions. It is also convenient for the driver of a truck to have books and magazines available for reading while the truck is stationary, for example during rest periods. Maps, books, and similar articles can be kept close at hand and well organized by placing them in a pouch attached to the driver's side door of the truck.
The door of a truck generally comprises a metal frame which defines a window opening at its top and is enclosed at the bottom by an outside metal panel, which is integral with the frame, and an inside panel, which is held in place by screws that enter the metal frame. The inside panel may be made of fiber material, covered with a vinyl decorative layer.
It is known for a truck driver to attach his pouch to the door by use of two-part snap fasteners, one part of each snap fastener being attached to the inside door panel and the other part of the fastener being attached to the pouch. In order to attach the snap fasteners to the inside door panel, it is necessary to remove the panel and drill holes in the panel. This is inconvenient, and also damages the panel. Moreover, if a large quantity of material is placed in the pouch, the snap fasteners may separate and the pouch will then fall between the driver's seat and the door and will not be readily accessible.
A second method of attaching a pouch to the driver's door is by use of hook and loop material, such as that sold under the trademark VELCRO. The hook material, for example, may be attached to the inside door panel by use of self-tapping screws and the loop material is attached to the pouch, typically by stitching. This method of attaching the pouch avoids the inconvenience of having to remove the door panel, but is subject to the other disadvantages of using snap fasteners.
A third method of attaching a pouch to the door involves use of screws that pass through the material of the pouch and engage the inside door panel. This method avoids the problem of the pouch possibly falling from the door, except in the most extreme circumstances, but increases the possibility of damage to the door panel because if sufficient weight is applied to the pouch for the pouch to fall, it will normally involve the screws being torn from the panel.