A system and method of mapping underground utilities and other subsurface objects involves one or more of acquiring utility location data using a number of different detectors and sensors, processing the multiple detector/sensor output data to produce mapping data, storing the mapping data in a database, and providing access to and use of the stored mapping data by subscribing users on a usage fee basis.

The present invention relates generally to the field of underground utility and object detection, and, more particularly, to one or more of detecting buried utility and subsurface objects, mapping such utilities and objects, and electronically distributing mapping data to subscribing users.
Various techniques have been developed to locate and map underground utilities and other manmade subsurface structures. Present utility mapping practices take two basic forms: active systems that must have some type of connection to the utility at some accessible point along its path, and passive systems that attempt to map utilities independent of any connection or even prior knowledge of their existence.
Active systems are problematic for various reasons, such as the difficulty and cost of physically accessing the utility and difficulty in sensing non-conductive utilities. Passive systems currently in use often employ GPR. GPR surveys are conducted from the surface, and the location and relative depth to potential utilities are determined from an analysis of reflected energy.
GPR, in general, is a very good sensor for utility mapping purposes, in that GPR is easy to use and provides excellent resolution. However, GPR has problems detecting utilities in certain soil types and conditions that limit GPR""s use in many areas of the United States and the world, such as much of southwest United States (e.g., Arizona). Improvements in GPR sensor design can help overcome some aspects of these inherent limitations, but in many geographic areas, GPR should not be solely relied on due to imaging reliability and accuracy concerns.
Before trenching, boring, or otherwise engaging in invasive subsurface activity to install or access utilities, it is imperative to know the location of any existing utilities and/or obstructions in order to assist in trenching or boring operations and minimize safety risks. Currently, utilities that are installed or otherwise discovered during installation may have their corresponding physical locations manually recorded in order to facilitate future installations. One such system is referred to as the One-Call system, where an inquiry call can be made to obtain utility location information from an organization that manually records utility location information, when and if it is provided. However, the One-Call system is not particularly reliable, as only a certain percentage of the utilities are recorded, and those that are recorded may have suspect or imprecise location data. As such, currently-existing location data for buried utilities is incomplete and often questionable in terms of reliability.
There is a need in the utility installation and locating industries to increase the accuracy of buried utility/object detection. There exits a further need to collect, maintain, and disseminate utility location data of increased accuracy. The present invention fulfills these and other needs, and provides additional advantages over the prior art.
The present invention is directed to improved systems and methods of detecting underground utilities and other subsurface objects. The present invention is also directed to systems and methods of mapping underground utilities. Embodiments of the present invention are also directed to systems and methods of acquiring and storing mapping data in a database. Embodiments of the present invention are further directed to systems and methods of providing access to and use of stored mapping data by subscribing users. These and other features disclosed and claimed herein may be employed individually or in various combinations in accordance with the principles of the present invention.
In one embodiment, a method of detecting one or more underground utilities involves concurrently sensing a number of physical parameters of a subsurface, storing data associated with the sensed physical parameters, and detecting the utilities within the subsurface using the stored data. Detecting the utilities may involve associating stored data for each of the sensed physical parameters in terms of depth and position.
Detecting the utilities may also involve combining the stored data to produce combined data, and detecting the utilities within the subsurface using the combined data. The stored data may be combined to produce combined data expressed in terms of subsurface depth. The stored data may also be combined to produce combined data expressed in terms of horizontal path length. Also, the stored data may be combined based on soil characteristics to produce combined data. The utilities within the subsurface can be detected using one or more of these combined data types.
Detecting one or more underground utilities may also involve determining one or more soil characteristics using one or more of the sensed physical parameters. For example, one or more of soil resistivity, conductivity, permittivity, temperature, water saturation, composition, and hardness may be determined using one or more of the sensed physical parameters.
Detecting underground utilities may involve weighting the stored data based on signal noise associated with the sensed physical parameters, The utilities within the subsurface can be detected using the weighted stored data. Detecting the utilities may further involve fusing the stored data to produce fused data. The utilities within the subsurface can be detected using the fused data.
Tolerance factor data associated with the stored data may further be computed. The tolerance factor data may be computed dynamically or subsequent to storing the data. Weighting the stored data may be accomplished using the tolerance factor data. Tolerance factor data may be computed for each data point of the stored data. Tolerance factor data may also be computed for each of the detected utilities in toto. Ground truth data may be processed to enhance the accuracy of the utility detection result.
Detecting underground utilities may further involve generating a map of the detected utilities. Data associated with the map may be incorporated within a Geographic Information System or other geographic reference system. A 2-D map or a 3-D map of the detected utilities can be generated. Data associated with one or more of the sensed physical parameters or one or more of the detected utilities may be displayed, such as by use of an operator interface.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, detecting one or more underground utilities involves generating radar waves and seismic waves of about the same wavelength. A number of physical parameters of a subsurface are concurrently sensed using the radar waves and seismic waves. Data associated with the sensed physical parameters are stored, and the utilities within the subsurface are detected using the stored data.
The seismic waves, in one embodiment, comprise seismic shear waves. In one embodiment, the seismic shear waves have frequencies of less than 1,000 Hz. In another embodiment, the seismic shear waves have frequencies in excess of 1,000 Hz. For example, the seismic shear waves may have frequencies in the range of about 2,000 Hz to about 3,200 Hz. In another approach, the seismic shear waves may have frequencies of at least about 3 kHz.
The radar waves and seismic waves typically have wavelengths for detecting underground utilities of a predefined size. By way of non-limiting example, the radar waves and seismic waves may have wavelengths for detecting underground utilities having a dimension of at least xe2x85x9c-inch. The radar waves and seismic waves may, for example, have wavelengths of about 3 inches. In general, the radar waves and seismic waves preferably have wavelengths that can facilitate detection of underground utilities at depths of up to about 50 feet, preferably by use of both wave types, but at least by use of one of the waves types for deeper target utilities. For example, the radar waves and seismic waves may have wavelengths of less than about 0.5 feet for conducting near surface (e.g., 15-30 feet or less) underground utility detection. It is understood that the principles of the present invention may be applied for detection of utilities at depths in excess of 50 feet depending on the detection capabilities of the detectors employed. The detection methodology may further involve determining velocities of the radar waves and seismic waves, respectively.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the present invention, detecting one or more underground utilities involves concurrently sensing a number of physical parameters of a subsurface, storing data associated with the sensed physical parameters, and mapping the utilities within the subsurface as a function of subsurface depth using the stored data. The utilities are typically mapped within the subsurface as a function of position and subsurface depth.
Mapping the utilities typically involves computing depth of the utilities as a function of position. Mapping the utilities may further involve computing a depth tolerance factor associated with at least some of the sensed physical parameters. The depth tolerance factors are typically computed as a function of position. Tolerance factor data may be computed for each data point of the stored data. Tolerance factor data may also be computed for each of the utilities in toto. Ground truth data may be used to enhance the accuracy of utility mapping.
A 2-D map or a 3-D map of the utilities may be generated. Mapping data may be incorporated within a Geographic Information System or other positional reference system. The Geographic Information System, for example, preferably defines subsurface mapping data in three dimensions using subsurface depth data. Data associated with one or more of the sensed physical parameters, one or more of the detected utilities, or a map of the detected utilities may be displayed.
In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, an apparatus for detecting underground utilities includes a sensor system comprising a number of sensors. Each of the sensors senses a physical parameter of the subsurface differing from that sensed by other sensors of the sensor system, it being understood that redundant sensors sensing the same physical parameter or parameters may be employed.
A memory stores sensor data acquired by the sensors. A processor is coupled to the sensor unit and memory. The processor controls contemporaneous acquisition of the sensor data from the sensors and detects underground utilities within the subsurface using the sensor data. The apparatus may further include a positional reference system. The positional reference system produces position data associated with a position of each of the sensors.
In one system deployment, the system includes a radar unit that generates radar waves and a seismic unit that generates seismic waves. Preferably, the radar and seismic waves have about the same wavelength, as discussed above. The seismic unit preferably generates seismic shear waves.
The sensor system may include two or more of a ground penetrating radar (GPR) sensor, a seismic sensor, a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) sensor, an electromagnetic (EM) sensor, a time-domain electromagnetic (TDEM) sensor, and cone penetrometer instrument. The sensor system may also include one or more of a resistivity sensor, a permittivity sensor, a conductivity sensor, and a magnetometer. One or both of an infrared sensor and a video device may further be included.
The processor, in one embodiment, is coupled to a data fusion engine for processing the contemporaneously acquired sensor data. The processor performs joint inversion of the sensor data to determine a depth and a location of the detected utilities. The processor computes tolerance factor data associated with sensor data stored in memory. The processor weights the stored data using the tolerance factor data. Tolerance factor data may be computed for each of the detected utilities. The memory may store ground truth data and the processor may process the ground truth data to enhance accuracy of utility detection.
A processor, which may be a processor different from that coupled to the sensor unit, generates a map of the detected utilities using the sensor data. Data associated with the map may be incorporated within a Geographic Information System or other geographic reference model. The processor may generate a 2-D map or a 3-D map of the detected utilities. A display is coupled to the processor. The processor causes the display to display data associated with one or more of the sensed physical parameters or one or more of the detected utilities.
According to another embodiment, a utility mapping database system stores, manages, and disseminates utility detection and mapping data. Detector data acquired and processed during a mapping operation is preferably stored in a utility location database. It is understood that data stored and processed within the utility mapping database according to this embodiment may be developed by multiple utility detectors, as discussed above, or a single utility detector, such as a GPR or seismic sensor. As such, the features and advantages realized by implementation and use of a utility mapping database system according to this embodiment of the present invention do not require that the utility data be obtained using a multiplicity of utility detectors.
The utility location database may be a single or distributed database. The utility location database preferably stores mapping data for numerous areas or regions within cities, countries, and continents. The mapping data for given locations may vary in terms of confidence level (e.g., accuracy or reliability), with lower confidence level mapping data being replaced with higher confidence level mapping data over time.
A mapping data distribution system provides user access to mapping data and ancillary resources which may be accessed via public and private interfaces. In one embodiment, internet/web access to the mapping data distribution system provides for world-wide access to the system""s mapping data and resources. Accounting and billing mechanisms provide a means for charging users for accessing and utilizing data and resources of the mapping data distribution system.
The above summary of the present invention is not intended to describe each embodiment or every implementation of the present invention. Advantages and attainments, together with a more complete understanding of the invention, will become apparent and appreciated by referring to the following detailed description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Utility mapping and data distribution system and method


A gas nozzle has a body threaded on a threaded conduit with an insert therebetween. This insert is not changed for another insert in order to adapt the nozzle to either natural gas or LP gas; instead, the body is tightened onto the insert and threaded conduit for LP gas and is loosened about one thread for natural gas. The insert has a first restricted orifice and a bypass passageway around this restricted orifice. The body has a second restricted orifice which is larger than that of the first restricted orifice. Thus, when the body is tightened on the conduit, a seal is made to close off the bypass passageway and the gas flow is through the first and second restricted orifices in series. When the body is loosened, the bypass passageway comes into effect and the gas flow is also through the bypass passageway to be restricted only by the second restricted orifice. The foregoing abstract is merely a resume of one general application, is not a complete discussion of all principles of operation or applications, and is not to be construed as a limitation on the scope of the claimed subject matter.

In a number of gas-heated appliances, usually for households, it is common for a manufacturer to provide two different nozzle assemblies so that a nozzle with a first restriction may be used if the household is equipped to burn liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, and a second nozzle assembly with a less restricted outlet if the household is equipped to use natural gas in the gas appliance. This is due to the lower BTU content of natural gas compared with LPG to achieve the same rate of BTU output of the gas appliance.
In many cases, the two alternative gas nozzle assemblies are ones wherein the gas to the nozzle comes through a conduit, a cap is fitted onto the end of the conduit, and the cap holds in place either one of two different inserts which have different size openings for the two types of gas. Once installed, the other insert often gets lost so that it becomes difficult to convert the appliance to the other type of gas. Also, merely assembling the proper insert in the nozzle assembly by a householder may be most difficult for one with arthritic fingers, for example, and often the gas nozzle assembly is in a relatively inaccessible space within the gas appliance.


A modular, expandable, low-weight electric motor has a cylindrical, non-magnetic casing formed in axially-aligned sections. The casing sections are releasably connected to define a unitary structure with a polygonal exterior surface and a circular interior surface. Separate U-shaped stator pole assemblies are releasably mounted against the exterior of the casing, each casing section carrying the poles associated with a different motor phase. The poles extend through apertures into the interior of the casing, and have active pole faces which are curved and substantially flush with the circular interior surface of the casing. A modular rotor is mounted in the interior of the casing and carries magnetic elements in axially spaced-apart sets corresponding to each motor phase. The active faces of the magnetic elements are curved and oriented in a cylindrical arrangement. During each rotation of the rotor, the pole faces of each motor phase simultaneously and repeatedly register with the associated magnetic element faces forming air gaps, and the magnetic elements simultaneously complete local magnetic circuits with each stator pole assembly. The sets of magnetic rotor elements are indexed circumferentially relative to one another such that the motor is self-starting.

Prior switched reluctance motor generally comprise a housing which contains a number of stator poles wound with electromagnetic coils and a rotor with complementary components. The stator poles are often integrally formed with or very much a part of the motor's support structure, the support structure being required to complete the magnetic flux paths between stator poles and rotor components that are necessary for production of motor torque. This precludes any extensive use of light-weight, non-magnetic materials. A significant mount of heat is generated within the motor housing, and steps must be taken to generate and direct air flows through the interior of the motor housing to dissipate heat, particularly in the windings and stator poles. These factors complicate manufacture of a motor and add considerably to cost, size and weight. Since requirements for back-iron and cooling increase significantly with the number of motor poles, it is comparatively rare for a commercial switched reluctance motor to be manufactured with six or more poles.
The stator poles and complementary rotor elements of a switched reluctance motor will normally have a different pitch. The general object is to ensure that one stator pole always overlays one rotor element so that a motor torque initiating rotor rotation can at any time be generated. The natural consequence of such an arrangement is relatively low torque during start-up under loads. To compensate for inherent low starting torques, manufacturers will normally oversize a motor relative to steady-state torque requirements. This further contributes to excessive weight and cost, and also to poor motor efficiency during steady-state operation. Motor efficiency is further reduced by requiring long magnetic flux paths through motor support structure.
The basic motor geometry necessary to ensure self-starting creates additional problems. In steady-state operation only one pole in most commercially available switched reluctance motor can be energized to produce a motor torque. This results in considerable torque ripple, especially given the limited number of poles commonly associated with such a design. This arrangement also produces localized and unbalanced forces in the motor housing and support structure, which must be accommodated with a more robust support structure, further contributing to the weight of the motor.
Lastly, many prior switched reluctance motors involve commutators or slip rings. Such components further complicate manufacture and add to the cost of a motor. Also, these components are subject to excessive wear and tend to require periodic maintenance.


A method of changing the position of a component controlled by a servo system is disclosed. In accordance with the disclosed invention, the current position and the current control signal corresponding to the current position is determined. A target control signal corresponding to a target position is also determined. A smooth control signal profile is then calculated between the current control signal and the target control signal. The smooth control signal is then applied to move the component form the current position to the target position. In some embodiments, the smooth control signal can be, for example, a half-period sine wave with one extreme at the current control signal and the opposite extreme at the target control signal.

CD-ROM Appendix A, which is a part of the present disclosure, is a CD-ROM appendix consisting of twenty two (22) text files. CD-ROM Appendix A is a computer program listing appendix that includes a software program executable on a controller as described below. The total number of compact disks including duplicates is two. Appendix B, which is part of the present specification, contains a list of the files contained on the compact disk. The attached CD-ROM Appendix A is formatted for an IBM-PC operating a Windows operating system.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
These and other embodiments are further discussed below.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk drive and, in particular, to a servo system that calculates shaped control efforts for controlling components of the optical disk drive.
2. Discussion of Related Art
The need for compact data storage is explosively increasing. The explosive increase in demand is fueled by the growth of multimedia systems utilizing text, video, and audio information. Furthermore, there is a large demand for highly portable, rugged, and robust systems for use as multimedia entertainment, storage systems for PDA""s, cell phones, electronic books, and other systems. One of the more promising technologies for rugged, removable, and portable data storage is WORM (write once read many) optical disk drives.
One of the important factors affecting design of an optical system (such as that utilized in a WORM drive) is the optical components utilized in the system and the control of actuators utilized to control the optical system on the disk. The optical system typically includes a laser or other optical source, focusing lenses, reflectors, optical detectors, and other components. Although a wide variety of systems have been used or proposed, typical previous systems have used optical components that were sufficiently large and/or massive that functions such as focus and/or tracking were performed by moving components of the optical system. For example, some systems move the objective lens (e.g. for focus) relative to the laser or other light source. It was generally believed that the relatively large size of the optical components was related to the spot size, which in turn was substantially dictated by designs in which the data layer of a disk was significantly spaced from the physical surface of the disk. A typical optical path, then, passed through a disk substrate, or some other portion of the disk, typically passing through a substantial distance of the disk thickness, such as about 0.6 mm or more, before reaching a data layer.
Regardless of the cause being provided for relative movement between optical components, such an approach, while perhaps useful for accommodating relatively large or massive components, presents certain disadvantages for more compact usage. These disadvantages include a requirement for large form factors, the cost associated with establishing and maintaining optical alignment between components which must be made moveable with respect to one another, and the power required to perform operations on more massive drive components. Such alignment often involves manual and/or individual alignment or adjustment procedures which can undesirably increase manufacturing or fabrication costs for a reader/writer, as well as contributing to costs of design, maintenance, repair, and the like.
Many early optical disks and other optical storage systems provided relatively large format read/write devices including, for example, devices for use in connection with 12 inch (or larger) diameter disks. As optical storage technologies have developed, however, there has been increasing attention toward providing feasible and practical systems which are of relatively smaller size. Generally, a practical read/write device must accommodate numerous items within its form factor, including the media, media cartridge (if any), media spin motor, power supply and/or conditioning, signal processing, focus, tracking or other servo electronics, and components associated or affecting the laser or light beam optics. Accordingly, in order to facilitate a relatively small form-factor, an optical head occupying small volume is desirable. In particular, it is desirable that the optical head have a small dimension in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the spinning media. Additionally, a smaller, more compact, optical head provides numerous specific problems for electronics designed to control the position and focus of the optical head.
Additionally, although larger home systems have little concern regarding power usage, portable personal systems should be low power devices. Therefore, it is also important to have a system that conserves power (e.g., by optically overfilling lenses) in both the optical system and the electronic controlling system.
Therefore, there is a need for an optical head and optical media drive system with a small form factor and, in addition, a servo system for controlling the optical head and optical drive system so that data can be reliably read from and written to the optical media.
In accordance with the present invention, a method of positioning an optical pick-up unit relative to an optical media in an optical drive is presented. In some embodiments, the optical pick-up unit can be positioned without exciting mechanical resonances in the actuator controlling the position of the optical pick-up unit. The optical disk drive system includes a spin motor on which an optical media is positioned, an optical pick-up unit positioned relative to the optical media, an actuator arm that controls the position of the optical pick-up unit, and a control system for controlling the spin motor, the actuator arm, and the laser. The control system can include a read/write channel coupled to provide control signals to a servo system.
The optical media can be a relatively small-sized disk with readable data present on the surface of the disk. Furthermore, the optical disk may have a pre-mastered portion and a writeable portion. The pre-mastered portion is formed when the disk is manufactured and contains readable data such as, for example, audio, video, text or any other data that a content provider may wish to include on the disk. The writeable portion is left blank and can be written by the disk drive to contain user information (e.g., user notes, interactive status (for example in video games), or other information that the drive or user may write to the disk). Because there may be optical differences, for example in reflectivity, and in the data storage and addressing protocols between the pre-mastered portion of the disk and the writable portion of the disk, a control system according to the present invention may have different operating parameters in the different areas of the disk.
The optical pick-up unit can includes a light source, reflectors, lenses, and detectors for directing light onto the optical media. The detectors can include laser power feed-back detectors as well as data detectors for reading data from the optical media. The optical pick-up unit can be mechanically mounted on the actuator arm. The actuator arm includes a tracking actuator for controlling lateral movement across the optical media and a focus actuator for controlling the position of the optical pick-up unit above the optical medium. The tracking and focus actuators of the optical pick-up unit are controlled by the controller.
The servo system includes various servo loops for controlling the operation of aspects of the optical disk drive, for example the spin motor, the optical pick-up unit, and the controller. The servo loops, for example, can include combinations of a tracking servo loop and a focus servo loop.
A method of positioning a component in a servo system according to the present invention includes determining a current position and a current control effort for the component, the current control effort being the control effort required to position the component at the current position; determining a smooth control effort that moves the component from the current position to a target position; and applying the smooth control effort. In some embodiments, the component can be an optical pick-up unit. In some embodiments, the servo system can be a focus servo system and the current position and the target position are positions in the focus direction, the focus direction being the direction normal to the surface of the optical medium. In some embodiments, the servo system can be a tracking servo system and the current position and the target position are positions in the tracking direction, the tracking direction being a direction in a plane parallel with the surface of the optical medium.
In some embodiments, the smooth control effort is shaped as a half-period sine wave with one extreme at the current control effort and the opposite extreme at the target control effort. The smooth control effort, when applied to an actuator for movement of the component, can minimize the excitation of mechanical resonances.
A servo system according to the present invention, then, includes a component mounted on an actuator; and a processor coupled to receive a signal from the component and provide a control signal to the actuator, the processor executing an algorithm that determines a current control signal corresponding to a current position, determines a target control signal corresponding to a target position, calculates a smooth control signal profile from the current control signal to the target control signal, and applies the smooth control signal as the control signal to the actuator to move the component from the current position to the target position. These and other embodiments of the invention are further described below with respect to the following figures.

System and method for moving optical pick up from current position to target position with smooth control


A discharge valve is incorporated into a scroll compressor for use in a refrigerator or an air conditioner. A valve element seating surface having a concave cylindrical shape is formed in the upper surface of the stationary disk of the stationary scroll plate of the scroll compressor, a discharge port is formed through the stationary disk of the stationary scroll plate so as to open in the valve element seating surface, and a discharge valve element having a cylindrical shape conforming to the concave cylindrical shape of the valve element seating surface is seated on the valve element seating surface so as to open or close the discharge port. The valve element seating surface having a concave cylindrical shape facilitates machining the stationary scroll plate, reduces the top clearance of the scroll compressor without reducing the rigidity of the stationary disk, prevents the concentration of stress on the delivery valve, and improves the reliability of the delivery valve.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a delivery valve to deliver compressed refrigerant from a scroll compressor incorporated into a refrigerator or an air conditioner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a prior art scroll compressor disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open (Kokai) No. Hei 2-163486 and FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of FIG. 5.
This prior art scroll compressor has a stationary scroll plate 1 and a revolving scroll plate 2. The stationary scroll plate 1 is fastened closely to the surface of an upper wall of a closed vessel 10 so as to partition the interior of the closed vessel 10 into a high-pressure chamber VH and a low-pressure chamber VL.
The stationary scroll plate 1 has a stationary disk 1a, a circumferential annular wall 1b having the shape of a skirt and formed integrally with the stationary disk 1a, and a scroll wrap 1c protruding from the lower surface of the stationary disk 1a and formed integrally with the stationary disk 1a. The revolving scroll plate 2 has a revolving disk 2a, a scroll wrap 2b protruding from the upper surface of the revolving disk 2a and formed integrally with the revolving disk 2a, and a pin 2c projecting downward from the center of the lower surface of the revolving disk 2a. The stationary scroll plate 1 and the revolving scroll plate 2 are combined so that the scroll wraps 1c and 2b engage.
When the stationary scroll plate 1 and the revolving scroll plate 2 are thus combined, a first compression chamber, i.e., an innermost compression chamber, a second compression chamber on the outside of the first compression chamber, and a third compression chamber on the outside of the second compression chamber, i.e., an outermost compression chamber, are formed between the scroll wraps 1c and 2b. The revolving scroll plate 2 is supported by an Oldham ring 5 on a main frame 6. The main frame 6 is disposed fixedly in an upper portion of the internal space of the closed vessel 10 at a position under the revolving scroll plate 2. A secondary frame 9 is disposed fixedly in a lower portion of the internal space of the closed vessel 10. A crankshaft 4 is supported for rotation in bearings 31 and 32 on the main frame 6 and the secondary frame 9.
A hole 4a is formed in the upper end of the crankshaft 4. The hole 4a is eccentric with respect to the axis of the crankshaft 4. The pin 2c of the revolving scroll plate 2 is fitted in the hole 4a.
An axial lubricating oil hole 4b is formed through the crankshaft 4 along the axis of the same. The lubricating oil hole 4b an upper end opening into the hole 4a and a lower end opening into lubricating oil 13 contained in the bottom of the closed vessel 10.
The crankshaft 4 is driven for rotation by an electric motor having a stator 7 and a rotor 8 fastened to the crankshaft 4 by shrink fit.
An inlet pipe 11 is connected to a lower portion of the circumferential wall of the closed vessel 10 to supply a refrigerant from an external refrigeration cycle into the low-pressure chamber VL. A delivery pipe 12 is connected to the top cover of the closed vessel 10 to deliver the compressed refrigerant gas from the high-pressure chamber VH.
The stationary scroll plate 1 of the prior art scroll compressor thus constructed is provided with a delivery reed valve having a discharge valve element 25 for closing or opening a discharge port 28 formed in the central portion of the stationary disk 1a. The discharge port 28 opens into a recess 24 formed in the central portion of the upper surface of the stationary disk 1a of the stationary scroll plate 1. The discharge valve element 25 is received in the recess 24. The bottom surface of the recess 24 is inclined at a predetermined angle to form a valve element seating surface 27 on which the discharge valve element of the reed delivery valve is seated. The lift of the discharge valve element 25 is limited by a valve holding member 26. The valve holding member 26 is fastened to the valve element seating surface 27 together with the discharge valve element 25.
When the crankshaft 4 is driven for rotation by the electric motor, the torque of the crankshaft 4 is transmitted to the revolving scroll plate 2 to revolve the revolving scroll plate 2 along a circular path by the agency of the Oldham ring 5. Consequently, the volume of the space formed between the scroll wrap 1c of the stationary scroll plate 1 and the scroll wrap 2b of the revolving scroll plate 2 varies to compress the refrigerant. The refrigerant delivered from the external refrigeration cycle flows through the inlet pipe 11 into the closed vessel 10, and then the refrigerant is compressed sequentially in the compression chambers formed between the scroll wrap 1c of the stationary scroll plate 1 and the scroll wrap 2b of the revolving scroll plate 2.
When the refrigerant is compressed by the compressing action to a pressure higher than a pressure on the high-pressure side of the external refrigeration cycle, the the discharge valve element 25 is lifted up by the pressure of the refrigerant and the compressed refrigerant flows through the discharge port 28 into the high-pressure chamber VH. All the refrigerant sucked into the compression chambers is not discharged from the compression chambers and part of the refrigerant sucked into the compression chambers remains in the compression chambers because the delivery valve closes upon the equilibration of the pressure of the refrigerant in the compression chamber and the pressure of the same on the high-pressure side of the external refrigeration cycle. The refrigerant thus discharged into the high-pressure chamber VH of the closed vessel 10 flows through the delivery pipe 12 to the external refrigeration cycle.
The sum of the volume of the first compression chamber, i.e., the innermost compression chamber, immediately before the communication of the first compression chamber and the adjacent second compression chamber and the volume of the discharge port 28 is designated as top clearance. The top clearance must be small to reduce reexpansion loss that occurs immediately after the communication of the first compression chamber with the second compression chamber. The volume of the discharge port 28 which does not contribute to compression must be reduced to the least possible extent to reduce the reexpansion loss. In this specification, the only volume of the discharge port 28 will be referred to as top clearance. The recess 24 is formed in the central portion of the upper surface of the stationary disk 1a to reduce the top clearance. The recess 24 must have a considerably large sectional area corresponding to that of the discharge valve element 25.
Since the prior art scroll compressor is thus constructed, the top clearance of the discharge port 28 needs to be reduced by increasing the depth of the recess 24 to reduce recompression loss in the discharge cycle. However, increase in the depth of the recess 24 reduces the strength and rigidity of the stationary disk 1a. Therefore, there is a limit to the reduction of the top clearance by increasing the depth of the recess 24.
Furthermore, since the recess 24 having the valve element seating surface 27 inclined at a predetermined angle has a complicated shape, it is difficult to machine the stationary disk 1a with an end mill to form the recess 24 and hence the machining cost increases.


This disclosure is directed to a multi-adjustable, multi-functional, space saving workplace system. The subject workplace system comprises a substantially horizontal table member including a first slot located within the top horizontal surface at the rearward portion of the table member. The plan view of the table member is substantially V-shaped. The portion of the table member forward of the slot forms a work surface for conducting workplace operations. The table member is supported in a substantially horizontal position with respect to the vertical axis of the workplace system.. A substantially horizontally-disposed covering member is located above the first slot and is disposed substantially parallel to the table member. The covering member provides acoustical integrity for workers located within the confines of the workplace system. It includes second slot located in the bottom horizontal surface at the rearward portion of the covering member.

This invention relates to an adjustable, multi-functional, space-saving workplace system which provides an acoustically-controlled work compartment within its confines.
The modular office system industry has grown dramatically in the last several years. Employers are attempting to locate as many of their employees as possible in a given office area so that their space usage will be maximized and their costs will be minimized. The cost of providing and installing such modular units, as compared to conventional office construction, is less, the installation time is reduced, and the units are portable and readily movable to another location if need be.
However, a number of problems have evolved. A major problem is the effective separation of respective co-workers from each other and from the outside environment which is easily done when individual offices are conventionally constructed using permanent walls. Conventional modular units do not provide effective sound and visual barriers for separating respective co-workers.
A further problem resides in the minimum functionality of conventional modular units. Instead of providing maximum functionality, these units are limited in that they perform certain fixed, defined functions and cannot be adapted for other purposes. In this way they are still much like conventional furniture. For example, these conventional modular units are limited as to what can be attached to the unit, its size, where and how attachment can take place, and what minimum adjustability, if any, is imparted to the system. The units also include numerous inherent structures requisite to supporting the system which interfere with the user's movement and result in the minimization of open space for storage and for attachment of accessories.
Another major problem inherent in conventional modular units is a minimum work surface area and a minimum internal storage as compared to conventional office space. Storage above and below table members in modular work areas are not significantly utilized.
Finally, wiring for office utilities used within the modular work area provide safety and aesthetic problems since they are generally strewn about the floor of the unit.
Accordingly, there is a need for a workplace system which comports with conventionally constructed offices but which is modular in nature.

Multi-adjustable, multi-functional, space saving workplace system


The interaction between a filling valve (28) on the filling device and an adapter valve on a bottle adapter has improved anesthetics filling features including radially inwardly directed bars (26), which engage (pass into) corresponding slots on the outlet pipe of the bottle adapter. The bars engaged in the slots actuate the adapter valve. The bars are provided on the inner wall of a filler neck (22).

A filling system of the type mentioned has become known from U.S. Pat. No. 6,585,016 B1. To make it possible to fill liquid anesthetic into an anesthetic evaporator, a bottle adapter is necessary, which establishes the connection between the storage container for liquid anesthetic and the filling device at the anesthetic evaporator. A collet, which has two grooves for receiving an index collar arranged at the neck of the storage container, is provided at the bottle-side end of the bottle adapter. The index collar has an anesthetic-specific design, so that only the bottle adapter fitting the storage container can be screwed on the thread of the bottle.
An anesthetic-specific coding in the form of two projections, which are arranged offset in relation to one another at an angle and which engage corresponding openings on the filler neck of the filling device, is likewise provided at the neck of the bottle adapter.
The outlet pipe of the bottle adapter is closed by means of a spring-loaded adapter valve, so that no anesthetic vapor can escape into the environment. A corresponding filling valve is provided at the filling device. A stationary bar, whose length is selected to be such that the adapter valve can be opened when the adapter neck is introduced into the filler neck of the filling device, is located in the middle of the filler neck. The interaction between the bottle adapter and the filling device is designed such that the filling valve opens first and the adapter valve opens thereafter. Liquid anesthetic can then flow from the storage container into the tank of the anesthetic evaporator.
The drawback of the prior-art filling system is that the stationary bar, with which the adapter valve is opened, and the filling valve are connected to one another as one assembly unit and can therefore mutually affect each other. In addition, the design of the valve is relatively complicated.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Filling system for an anesthetic evaporator


A portable printer coater for use with a printing press includes: a counter for indicating wear on seal components, a system for installing and removing the coater without lifting, and a tensioner for improving lifetime of seals in the chambered doctor. The counter records operating time or revolutions and provides an output indicating consumed lifespan or remaining lifespan. A split catwalk is provided on a press and rollers are provided on the printer coater to facilitate moving the printer coater into engagement with the press. A cart is used to move the printer coater adjacent the press and rails are used to move the printer coater from the cart onto the catwalk. One adjustable tensioner is positioned to apply force to the center of the chambered doctor and reduced wear on seal components.

Offset lithography is a process well known in the art which utilizes the planographic method. Image and non-printing areas are essentially on the same plane of a thin metal plate and the distinction between them is maintained chemically. Ink is offset from a plate on the plate cylinder to a rubber blanket on a blanket cylinder and then from the blanket to a substrate supported on an impression cylinder on which printing occurs.
Conventional sheet-fed, rotary offset printing presses typically include one or more printing units through which individual sheets are fed and printed. After the last printing unit, freshly printed sheets are transferred by a delivery conveyor to the delivery end of the press where they are collected and stacked uniformly. In a typical sheet-fed, rotary offset printing press, the delivery conveyor includes endless chains carrying gripper bars with gripper fingers which grip and pull freshly printed sheets from the last impression cylinder and convey them to the sheet delivery stacker.
Printed lithographic ink on the surface of the substrate sheet dries relatively slowly through oxidation and is easily smeared by subsequent transfer cylinders between the individual printing units of the press. Any relative movement of the freshly printed surface relative to a support surface can result in smearing. Modified and specialized equipment and techniques have been developed to combat this problem.
A related problem that is faced in the prior art is the problem of "offsetting" and "set off" of freshly printed ink at the delivery end of the press after the printed sheets are collected and stacked. A similar problem occurs in roll form material produced on a web-fed press. In some printing jobs, offsetting is prevented by applying a protective and/or decorative coating material over all or a portion of the freshly printed sheets. Some coatings are formed of an ultra-violet (UV)-curable or water-dispersed resin applied as a liquid solution over the freshly printed sheets to protect the ink from offsetting or set-off and improve the appearance of the freshly printed sheets. Such coatings are particularly desirable when decorative or protective finishes are applied in the printing of posters, record jackets, brochures, magazines, folding cartons and the like. In cases where coating is to be applied, the coating operation may be carried out after the last printing unit, most desirably by an in-line coating application. It is highly undesirable to process the sheet through the press a second time in order to apply coatings, although this is sometimes done for special effects that are not otherwise obtainable.
The ability to overall coat, spot coat or print with aqueous, flexographic and UV curable inks and/or coatings in combination with lithographic, flexographic and waterless printing processes on a rotary offset printing press is highly desirable. Flexographic printing or coating with aqueous, flexographic and UV curable inks from a blanket or a relief plate can permit much heavier wet and dried ink film layers on the substrate. This is largely due to the nature of lithographic inks. Lithographic inks are generally oil based inks that are formulated to print from planographic surfaces based on the principle that oil and water do not mix. Lithographic inks are generally very strong in color value to compensate for the lesser amount that is printed. They are among the strongest of all inks. The average amount of ink transferred to the paper is further diluted by the double split of the ink film between the plate cylinder and the blanket cylinder and between the blanket cylinder and the substrate to be printed in the nip between the blanket cylinder and the impression cylinder. In many situations, only a quarter of the film thickness on the plate is transferred to the substrate. This can make it difficult to obtain sufficient opacity with white or metallic (gold, silver or other metallic) ink or in printing specialized vehicles such as "scratch-and-sniff" materials from a slurry containing encapsulated essence. This often means that sheets or substrate must be removed and transferred to a second type of machine using the flexographic process to apply greater amounts of ink thickness or the sheets must make successive or two or more passes on a lithographic press to achieve desired print quality.
The prior art has attempted to solve these problems to obtain higher applied film weights on lithographic printing presses in a variety of ways. Much of the prior art has disadvantages. Retrofitting existing presses is often difficult because of space considerations, especially between printing units. A dedicated coating unit is often not possible because of limited space and involves press downtime and substantial capital costs. Retrofitted devices that utilize the print cylinder or blanket cylinder of the press can limit the ability of that station to lithographically print in the normal manner.
Coaters which utilize the plate cylinder or the blanket cylinder of the printing unit still suffer from the disadvantage that the coating is split which reduces the wet film thickness that can be applied to the substrate itself. A few add on coating units that print directly on the substrate on the impression cylinder or a transfer cylinder are limited to the last printing station on the press where there is more room for installation. Such equipment can be moved away or the operator can do the make ready work on the opposite side of the last printing station in the conventional work space for the operator. If such equipment is mounted in the interstation space on a lithographic press, the equipment interferes with operator access to the next station.
Much of the prior art consumes large areas of space on the press, both between printing units and in some instances in the overhead area because of the complexity and size of equipment, limited locations are available for which it can be used. Additionally, the prior art devices are heavy; thus, when installing these devices, cranes or similar equipment are often required to properly mount the devices in position. A further disadvantage is that these devices are expensive to manufacture and maintain. Finally, the prior art devices are not designed as portable devices for placement on different printing presses or on different printing units. Most printer coater devices are attached to a single printing unit and require extensive connections that must be disconnected requiring extensive labor and costs. Also, as stated previously, with some embodiments, each time a printer coater is moved, a crane or other transport device is required to remove and carry the printer coater to a different printing unit.
It is desirable not to have to cut into press frame to gain access to the main gears and not to have to manually engage and disengage indexed gear teeth of gears on the coater with gears on the press. The ability to flexographically coat, spot coat or print on the substrate at an intermediate printing station with an apparatus that is inexpensive and compact so that it can fit into small areas is highly desirable. It is also desirable to have a lightweight and portable device so that it can be carried by humans for use on any printing unit of a lithographic printing press or to a completely different printing press of the same size and installed or removed without the use of heavy equipment. In various embodiments, the device of the present disclosure may be able to provide various of these desirable results or even combinations of these desirable results.


A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium stores therein a learning data selection program that causes a computer to execute a process including: extracting a first input data group relating to first input data in correspondence with designation of the first input data included in an input data group input to a machine learning model, the machine learning model classifying or determining transformed data that is transformed from input data; acquiring a first transformed data group of the machine learning model and a first output data group of the machine learning model, respectively, the first transformed data group being input to the machine learning model and corresponding to the first input data group, the first output data group corresponding to the first transformed data group; and selecting learning target data of an estimation model from the first input data group.

Recently, classification or determination which uses machine learning has been performed with respect to various fields of data. When using the machine learning, classification or determination with high accuracy is possible. On the other hand, typically, it is difficult to know which feature amount of the machine learning is the factor of classification or determination.
When the machine learning performs classification or determination, in a case where it is not clear that classification or determination is performed by which factor, for example, a risk is caused when expanding an application field of the machine learning.
As a method of estimating a feature that becomes the factor of classification from a classification result obtained by a classifier that can be used in the machine learning, there is known a method called local interpretable model-agnostic explanations (LIME) (for example, refer to "Why Should I Trust You?" Explaining the Predictions of Any Classifier, Marco Tulio Ribeiro et. al., Proceedings of the 22nd ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, August, 2016). In LIME, with respect to an arbitrary classifier f and input data u, an element and a feature of u that greatly contributes to a classification result f(u) of u are estimated and suggested.
In the method of LIME described in "Why Should I Trust You?" Explaining the Predictions of Any Classifier, Marco Tulio Ribeiro et. al., Proceedings of the 22nd ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, August, 2016, the following configuration is described. Specifically, estimation of cause for a classification result, in which an image is set as a target, is performed to estimate that which image portion contributes to the classification result.
FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an overview of classification of input data by a classifier and estimation of a classification factor. In classification performed by using a classifier of typical machine learning, transformed data, which is obtained by transforming input data into dimensions which can be processed by the classifier, is generated, and learning and classification are performed with respect to the transformed data that is generated.
With regard to classification performed by using a classifier of typical machine learning as illustrated in FIG. 2, when performing estimation of a classification factor with respect to a classification result by the method of LIME, estimation is made for correlation of a classification result with which factor of the transformed data instead of correlation of the classification result with which factor of input data. Accordingly, it is difficult to say that the estimation is useful.
As described above, in the classifier of the machine learning in which transformed data is generated by transforming input data into dimensions capable of being processed by the classifier, and learning and classification are performed with respect to the transformed data that is generated, estimation of a classification factor in the input data is demanded.
FIG. 3 is a view illustrating an overview of input data and transformed data which are related to the classifier of the machine learning, in which classification of the transformed data generated from the input data is performed, and which are supplied to the classifier in each feature space. In FIG. 3, a point u corresponds to data that is determined as a positive example, and a point v1, a point v2, and a point v3 correspond to data that is determined as a negative example. The points are points on an input data feature space 21 and a transformed data feature space 22.
In the transformed data feature space 22, explanatory vectors 25-1, 25-2, 25-3, and 25-4, which are vectors indicating a direction in which a prediction value greatly varies, are respectively given to the point u, the point v1, the point v2, and the point v3. In addition, in the transformed data feature space 22, an approximation identification line 24 is a boundary line that approximates an identification boundary between the positive example and the negative example. In the input data feature space 21, an identification boundary between the positive example and the negative example of the classifier is not always clear, and thus the approximation identification line is not drawn in the input data feature space 21 in FIG. 3.
Here, a configuration in which estimation of the classification factor as illustrated in FIG. 2 is performed with respect to the vicinity of the point u in FIG. 3 corresponds to a configuration in which an identification factor 26 indicating an identification factor in the vicinity of the point u of the approximation identification line 24 that identifies the positive example and the negative example is estimated.
In a case of estimating the classification factor in the vicinity of the data u, in the input data feature space 21, the point u, the point v1, the point v2, and the point v3 are spaced away from each other, and thus it is not appropriate that the point v3 is treated as a point in the vicinity of the point u in the method of LIME.
In a case of estimating the classification factor by the method of LIME described in "Why Should I Trust You?" Explaining the Predictions of Any Classifier, Marco Tulio Ribeiro et. al., Proceedings of the 22nd ACM SIGKDD International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, August, 2016, a point in the vicinity of the point u within the transformed data feature space 22 is selected, and the classification factor is estimated. Specifically, estimation of the classification factor is performed by an estimator that performs machine learning in a state in which the point v1, the point v2, and the point v3 in the vicinity of the point u in the transformed data feature space 22 are set as learning data. That is, learning is performed in a state in which a point such as the point v3 that exists in the vicinity of the point u in the transformed data feature space 22 but does not exist in the vicinity of the point u in the input data feature space 21 is included in learning data. Accordingly, there is a problem that determination accuracy by an estimation model that is learned deteriorates.

Learning data selection method, learning data selection device, and computer-readable recording medium


The present invention provides a test arrangement and test method for testing a wireless device under test. A first antenna may be arranged at a first distance from the device under test, and a second antenna may be arranged at a second distance from the device under test. In particular, the second antenna may be arranged closer to the device under test and the first antenna. Physical parameters characterizing the transmission properties between the individual antenna and the device under test are determined for the first and the second antenna. Test of the device under test is performed employing the second antenna, wherein the signals are rescaled based.

Although applicable in principal to any wireless test system, the present invention and its underlying problem will be hereinafter described in combination with testing of wireless devices.
The use of wireless communication systems for communication between electronic device increases continually with the advance of high-speed wireless data communications.
During development or production of devices for such communication systems it is necessary to thoroughly test the devices for compliance with communication standards and legal regulations.
Usually the respective wireless communication standards and legal regulations will determine the circumstances under which a test must be performed.
For example, usually the compliance tests of such devices require far-field measurements of the respective devices. However, far-field measurements usually require large measurement chambers with sizes of up to 100 s of meters or complex and costly arrangements, like e.g. Compact Antenna Test Ranges or CATRs. Furthermore, far field measurements require higher output power of wireless signals for communication between a measurement device and the device under test.
Against this background, the problem addressed by the present invention is to provide an efficient test equipment for wireless devices.


A non-contact charger includes: a casing having a recessed portion in which a cordless handset is placeable; a primary coil which is provided in the casing to be opposed to the cordless handset upon placement of the cordless handset in the recessed portion of the casing; an oscillating portion which is oscillatable to generate a magnetic flux energy from the primary coil; a detecting portion which detects at least one of a current value and a voltage value in the oscillating portion; and a controller which stops a generation of the magnetic flux energy based on at least one of the current value and the voltage value detected by the detecting portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-contact charger and a non-contact charging system which prevent a metallic foreign matter such as a coin from being heated.
2. Discussion of Related Art
There is known a non-contact charger which charges an equipment that is placed therein so as to be charged. In the non-contact charger, the placed equipment is charged with electricity by transmitting a magnetic flux energy (electromagnetic induction energy). When a metallic foreign matter such as a coin is placed in the non-contact charger, the foreign matter is heated by an eddy current. In order to prevent the foreign matter from being heated, a technique has been developed, which detects whether the equipment to be charged or the foreign matter is placed in the non-contact charger.
For example, Patent Document 1 (JP-A-2002-34169) discloses an non-contact charger in which a mobile phone as the equipment to be charged is arranged to change a charging load according to a predetermined pattern upon placement of the mobile phone for initiation of charging. The non-contact charger keeps generating the magnetic flux energy that is enough to charge the mobile phone only when the non-contact charger detects a change of the charging load according to the predetermined pattern during a predetermined time period. On the other hand, in a case where the foreign matter such as the coin is placed in the non-contact charger, it is impossible that the non-contact charger detects such a charging load change according to the predetermined pattern during the predetermined time period. Thus, it is apparent that the foreign matter instead of the mobile phone is placed in the non-contact charger, so that heating of the foreign matter is prevented by means that the non-contact charger generates an imperceptible volume of the magnetic flux energy or stops a generation of the magnetic flux energy.
However, in order that the mobile phone changes the charging load according to the predetermined pattern and the non-contact charger detects the change of the charging load, the mobile phone and the non-contact charger need to incorporate respective circuits having complicated structures.

Non-contact charger and non-contact charging system


Alerting systems and methods for an enhanced approach monitor are provided. The system is configured to: determine a missed approach altitude (MAA), an intended configuration, and target approach speed, each being related to the intended approach procedure and aircraft specific data. At a decision point defined as a co-occurrence of (a) the RT distance is substantially equal to or less than a distance threshold, and (b) the RT altitude is substantially equal to the MAA, the system identifies go-around scenarios, such as when (i) the RT speed exceeds the target approach speed, or (ii) the RT configuration is not equal to the intended configuration, or (iii) an RT approach path angle exceeds the target angle. The system issues a go-around alert based on whether the aircraft can perform a go-around operation, as determined based on aircraft performance data and terrain data.

The approach and landing flight phases continue to dominate aviation safety considerations. A stabilized approach to a target runway may generally be defined in established stabilized approach standard operating procedures that include minimum acceptable criteria, such as approach speed, approach angles, and equipment configuration. The pilot and/or flight crew monitors the aircraft's performance and configuration in comparison to the established stabilized approach standard operating procedures. When the aircraft approaching the target runway is not meeting the minimum acceptable criteria at a designated altitude, the pilot is expected to respond by performing a go-around operation.
The minimum acceptable criteria vary in detail, but the Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) stabilized approach criteria are the key international standards that were established in 1999. The FSF criteria generally state several altitudes for which the approach must be stabilized, where each altitude applies to a different approach scenario. Performing a go-around operation when required ensures that an aircraft is not approaching the target runway too fast, at too steep of an angle, arriving too high above a runway threshold, or not otherwise incorrectly configured for landing and deceleration.
In some instances, pilots believe that the go-around criteria for a stable approach are too conservative and may disregard indicators for the need to conduct a go-around; and, in some instances, land the aircraft without any negative consequences. Indeed, research has shown that there is a lower than expected compliance with stabilized approach standard operating procedures. Therefore, improved flight deck systems that provide go-around guidance that pilots trust and will result in increased compliance is a technical problem to address.
Accordingly, improved systems and methods for generating go-around alerts for the aircraft approaching the target runway are desirable. The desirable enhanced stable approach monitor is an alert system that utilizes aircraft-specific data in combination with approach procedure data and terrain data to generate and issue an enhanced go-around alert. The desirable alert system inspires greater compliance with go-around alerts due to its improved determinations. The following disclosure provides these technological enhancements, in addition to addressing related issues.

Systems and methods for an enhanced stable approach monitor


A device for conveying a sheet of material from one printing unit to a second printing unit consisting of a frame having horizontal lateral beams, a plurality of cross-shafts extending between the beams, each shaft being provided with a plurality of axially-spaced rollers, a plate being mounted on a lower surface of each of the lateral beams having apertures arranged to allow a lower portion of each roller to extend therethrough and an arrangement for applying a suction to the interior of the frame to draw air in the gap between each aperture and roller to hold a sheet against the rollers as it is conveyed from one unit to the next.

The present invention is directed to a device for conveying a plate-like sheet, such as sheets of paper board or corrugated board, within a rotary multi-color printing machine for plate-like matter or sheets.
In practical use, machines, which include a feeding station and several printing units allowing a production of a multi-color print and, if necessary, a cutting station, a stripping station and final station for the delivery of the sheets, must be able to handle sheets having important dimension up to a length of 5 meters and a width of 3 meters. The use of such a machine involves the compulsory accessibility to the inner space of the printing unit, whether it is either for changing the printing plates on the plate cylinder, for providing various settings of the inking process, or for cleaning the distributor and inking rollers.
For achieving the operation mentioned above, most machines presently built are fitted on lengthwise extending rails. This allows a disconnection of the links between two successive printing units and the shifting of the units, either upstream or downstream, on the rails to provide a space between two adjacent units which allows access to these units. With certain machine designs, it is possible to pull the printing unit laterally from the whole assembly and, thus, provide access and the possibility of easy working on the rollers. Such solutions, particularly those of shifting the printing units, might become inadequate on larger machines on account of the number of links that need to be disconnected, as well as the weight of the various printing units.
For large machines or installations, the designers have preferred to provide a permanent free space and to add a sheet conveyance device between the printing units. Obviously such a conveying device is expected to be adjustable to the width and thickness of the board or sheets being conveyed. The device used up to now consists of a horizontal frame holding a row of striated shafts extending orthogonally with regard to sheet travelling direction. With this system, two lateral beams are to hold the carrier rollers arranged opposite striated shaft. These two lateral beams are held symmetrically for the sidewise functions, as defined with regard to the lengthwise axis of the machine. Such lateral beams are held by two crosswise shafts, one which is destined to hold the vertical position of the lateral beams and the other to drive the carrier rollers. Sidewise shifting of the lateral beams is insured by threaded axles acting as pairs on both lateral beams. In this way, the actuation of the threaded axles allows the lateral beams to be moved together or apart in such a way that the carrier rollers are moved to a position as required, for instance on the non-printed edges of the sheets or with the possibilities permitting to any other area enabling the conveyance without the hazard of mackling the print. Moreover, the vertical position of the upper frame carrying the striated shafts can be adjusted in such a way as to provide between the shafts and their respective rollers the distance required by the sheet thickness.
The above-described device has numerous drawbacks. In fact, as may easily be understood, the two lateral edges or the area on which the carrier rollers and the striated shafts act should be conspicuously free from print as otherwise the sheets conveyed might be mackled.
If the sheet is carried on its printed edge, mackling will occur. To avoid this, it is appropriate to increase the sheet width in such a way as to obtain transportation on the print-free area. However, this entails unwanted waste.
Another or second drawback involved with this type of arrangement is that the edges or any other area originating from the compulsory sheet pinching which depends on the board features is likely to result in leaving the sheet with imprints, which are unacceptable on the final product to be manufactured from the printed sheets.
A third drawback is that the arrangement involves fastidious settings of the device with regard to width and thickness of the sheets. In fact, on the one hand, it is easy to conceive motorized sidewise shifting of the lateral beams but, on the other hand, vertical setting of the cradle can be achieved mechanically with sufficient precision only by means of considerable backlash on the cams, pinions and levers. As with any setting, several tries are necessary with subsequent correction before a satisfactory result can be obtained. Even after such settings have been carefully obtained, subsequent adjustments, both in the lengthwise and sidewise settings with certain sheets are likely to occur in the course of a production run. Finally, and especially so, this device necessitates a voluminous mechanism causing the cost to increase and limiting access to the upper part of the printing unit, particularly at the contact level between the impression cylinder and the printing plate cylinder.

Device for conveying plate-like matter within a rotary printing machine


An image forming apparatus connected to a network and including a storage part, a printing request receiving part for receiving a printing request from a data processing apparatus via the network and recording the printing request in the storage part, the printing request including a page description language list indicating at least one page description language applicable to the data processing apparatus, a determining part for determining whether the data processing apparatus is to convert electronic data associated to the printing request into printing data based on whether the page description language list includes a page description language processable by the image forming apparatus, a data obtaining part for transmitting first and second requests to the data processing apparatus and receiving the printing data or the electronic data in response to the first and second request; and a printing part for printing data obtained from the data obtaining part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a printing control method, and a computer-readable recording medium thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, PDL (Page Description Language) is set to be interpretable in correspondence with each printer. Therefore, in a case where a PC (Personal Computer) requests a printer to print a printing target (electronic document), the PC is to convert the electronic document into printing data described in a PDL that can be interpreted by the printer.
Recently, however, some printers are able to accept not only printing data but also an electronic document itself as a printing target. Such printers have functions of converting an electronic document received from a PC and printing the electronic document. Therefore, the conversion into printing data does not always need to be performed by the PC side.
Conventionally, however, the type of data format of the electronic document to be transmitted to the printer is decided by the PC side (the side requesting the printer to perform a printing process). Because such decision is made by the PC side, it is difficult to perform a printing process efficiently and flexibly.

Image forming apparatus, printing control method, and computer-readable recording medium thereof


A method and apparatus are provided for resolving user input that crosses different application domains to identify a discourse item such as a command or entity. To resolve the input, a discourse item definition is selected based on the user input. The discourse item definition is associated with a first application and comprises at least one defining entity that is to be used to identify a discourse item. An entity definition associated with a second application is selected based on the user input, wherein the entity defined by the definition can fulfill the role of the defining entity in the discourse item definition. An entity is then identified using the entity definition and the user input. The discourse item is identified based on the identified entity, the discourse item definition and the user input.

The present invention relates to methods and systems for defining and handling user/computer interactions. In particular, the present invention relates to systems that resolve user input into a command or entity.
In most computer systems, applications are written to satisfy certain classes of tasks that users wish to perform. For example, calendar applications are written to allow users to schedule meetings, find meeting information such as the date of a meeting, the meeting's attendees, and the subject of the meeting. A map application, on the other hand, is written to fulfill tasks such as obtaining directions from one location to another and obtaining a graphical image showing the area around an address. Thus, each application represents a domain of tasks that the application is able to service.
Limiting applications to specific domains is desirable because it reduces the complexity of designing applications and allows users to pay for only those tasks that they wish to have supported.
However, because each application is only able to perform tasks within its limited domain, users must keep track of which applications can be used to perform a task and must interact with a number of different applications to perform a task that crosses domains. For example, if a user wants to e-mail directions for driving to their friend's house to everyone who was at a lunch meeting on Friday, they must interact with a map application to get the directions, interact with a calendar program to determine who was at the meeting, and interact with an e-mail program to find each attendees e-mail address. The user must then embed the directions from the map application in an e-mail and send the e-mail. Thus, having separate task domains for separate applications places a burden on the user.
As such, a system is needed that allows separate applications to be maintained but that also provides a framework in which cross-domain tasks may be executed utilizing a number of different applications without placing an increased burden on the user.

Method and apparatus for federated understanding


An application distribution control system is made up of an information processing apparatus including a data collecting part that collects and stores data of a use state when using an application of an application distribution server into a memory and a data moving part that moves the use state data to a client terminal; the client terminal including a data setting part that receives the use state data from the information processing apparatus to set a use state of the application in accordance with the use state data and a request transmitting part that transmits a use request for the application to the application distribution server; and the application distribution server including a service providing part that receives the use request for the application from the client terminal to allow for the use of the application through the network.

The present invention relates to an application distribution control system, and application distribution control method, an information processing apparatus, and a client terminal and, specifically, to a technology that enables improvement of operating efficiency for users, etc., by reducing network loads and avoiding load concentration on a server due to a screen transfer mode in server-based computing.
Software such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management), collaboration tool, and ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) package becomes more important in corporate information systems and is incorporated in many companies. Such software is often conventionally operated by a company's IT department having everything from hardware to applications. Therefore, introducing software requires a lot of time and effort for consideration of specifications, purchase, establishment, operation, etc.
On the other hand, recently, software service in the forms called SaaS (Software as a Service) and ASP (Application Service Provider) is becoming widely used. If SaaS and ASP are utilized, software functions provided by an external vender are utilized via a network to outsource a portion of company's information system functions. Utilization of SaaS and ASP allows a company to quickly use necessary software services when needed and to hold down the initial investment cost and the operation cost. It is also advantageous in that a company does not have to possess servers and software as asset.
On the other hand, the performance of PC is further enhanced as utilization of PC in company's general business operation is expanded. As the performance is enhanced, a frequency of replacement of PC lent to company's employees is further increased, requiring more investments. As the number of employees increases, it becomes extremely difficult to integrally manage version-up, bug fixing, antivirus activity, backup, etc., of OS (operating System) and business applications of individual PC.
One technique for reducing the management costs is introduced as a system operation mode called a server-based computing mode (or client-server mode). This mode includes accumulating main programs and data in a server to reduce data accumulated in clients such as thin clients, for example (see e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-094411). Since calculation processes and data accumulation are mainly performed by a server, the server-based computing mode reduces the necessity and the frequency for performing version-up, bug fixing, antivirus activity or virus elimination, etc., of OS and applications utilized in business operations individually in clients such as thin clients, and overall management costs may be reduced. Since hardware may be replaced only on the server side, the reduction of costs may be achieved.

Application distribution control system, application distribution control method, information processing apparatus, and client terminal


A charger capable of safely charging an apparatus even when the current limit value of an external power supply is less than the maximum charging current of the charger or when the battery voltage is low. Charger 100 has backup charging circuit 160 that performs charging using a current that is less than the charging current of charging control section 120. Control circuit 170 performs control so that charging control circuit 123 of charging control section 120 fixes charging control transistor 121 to OFF, makes backup charging circuit 160 operate, and performs backup charging using minute current Ichsub when battery voltage Vb is lower than predetermined value Vbx1, and fixes control transistor 111 of DC/DC converter 110 to ON when supply voltage Vc is less than a first supply voltage value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charger of a secondary battery, and more particularly to a charger that efficiently charges a secondary battery such as a mobile apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, with the development of high capacity batteries used in mobile apparatuses and the development of safety designs of the mobile apparatuses during use and charging, techniques for safely and efficiently charging secondary batteries are required. The mobile apparatus charging system typically employs a configuration of using an external power supply typified by an AC adapter as the input source, and charging the secondary battery via a charger having a series regulator configuration. The series regulator is provided with a control transistor between the input and output, and controls output voltage (the charging voltage of the secondary battery) and output current (the charging current of the secondary battery) using the control transistor as a variable impedance. Hereinafter, the control transistor will be referred to as the charging control transistor of the charger.
The external power supply is also typically provided with an overcurrent protection function. Standard overcurrent protection has a drooping characteristic whereby, when the output current (that is, the input current for the charger or the charging current to the secondary battery) of the external power supply reaches the limit value, the output voltage of the external power supply (hereinafter referred to as the supply voltage from the external power supply, as viewed from the charger) decreases with the current value maintained. For the charger, the external power supplies can be broadly divided into two types according to the drooping characteristic. One is an external power supply whose current limit value is less than the maximum charging current, and the other is an external power supply whose current limit value is greater than or equal to the maximum charging current.
In the initial charging stage when the secondary battery voltage is low and the charger attempts to charge the battery using the maximum charging current, if the current limit value of the external power supply is less than the maximum charging current of the charger, the supply voltage from the external power supply is drooping and the charging control transistor operates in a saturated state. On the other hand, when the current limit value of the external power supply is greater than or equal to the maximum charging current of the charger, the supply voltage from the external power supply does not decrease, and therefore the difference voltage (Vc−Vb) between supply voltage Vc from the external power supply and voltage Vb of the secondary battery is applied to the charging control transistor, and the loss Pd=(Vc−Vb)×Ichmax obtained by multiplying the difference voltage by the maximum charging current Ichmax occurs.
Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1994-253467) discloses a charger that is provided with a switching step-down type DC/DC converter between a charging control transistor and an input terminal to which supply voltage is applied from an external power supply, and efficiently lowers the supply voltage from the external power supply using this DC/DC converter and decreases the loss caused by the charging control transistor.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the charger described in the above Patent Document 1.
In FIG. 1, 1 is an AC adapter that supplies DC voltage Vc, 2 is a secondary battery, and 10 is a charger. Charger 10 is configured with step-down type DC/DC converter 20 that converts at high efficiency supply voltage Vc to voltage Va, charging control section 30 that performs control of supplying charging current Ich to secondary battery 2 based on voltage Va from step-down type DC/DC converter 20, and voltage difference detection circuit 40 that detects the voltage difference between output voltage Va of DC/DC converter 20 and battery voltage Vb.
Step-down type DC/DC converter 20 is configured with control transistor 21, inductor 22, commutation diode 23, capacitor 24 and DC/DC control section 25, and charging control section 30 is a series regulator configured with charging control transistor 31, charging current detection resistor 32 and charging control circuit 33. The output of voltage difference detection circuit 40 is fed back to DC/DC converter 20, and DC/DC converter 20 controls output voltage Va so that the detected difference voltage (Va−Vb) becomes constant. In step-down type DC/DC converter 20, the difference voltage (Va−Vb) is kept constant, thereby preventing power loss upon supply of charging current Ich in charging control section 30.
FIG. 2 is an operation waveform diagram of each section of the above-mentioned charger 10, and shows the sectional time charts from the initial charging stage, of secondary battery 2 to charge completion. FIG. 2 shows supply voltage Vc from AC adapter 1, output voltage Va of DC/DC converter 20, battery voltage Vb of secondary battery 2 and charging current Ich from charging control section 30. As shown in FIG. 2, in the initial charging stage when battery voltage Vb is low, charging is carried out at a fixed maximum charging current (see CC charging in FIG. 2), and, when battery voltage Vb reaches a predetermined value near the full charge voltage, the charging switches to constant voltage charging (see CV charging in FIG. 2). During all periods, output voltage Va of DC/DC converter 20 changes in response to the change of battery voltage Vb. Thus, in the initial charging stage when battery voltage Vb is low, output voltage Va becomes a low value, and the power loss of charging control section 30 during CC charging decreases as expressed by Pd=(Va−Vb)×Ichmax. Furthermore, the power loss of the overall charger 10 requires consideration of the loss for DC/DC, which is expressed by the following equation 1. Thus, the total power loss of charger 10 is expressed by the following equation 2.Pd(DC/DC)=Va×Ichmax×(1−efficiency rate)/efficiency rate  (Equation 1)Pd=(Va−Vb)×Ichmax+Va×Ichmax×(1−efficiency rate)/efficiency rate  (Equation 2)
However, in such a charger of prior art, there is a problem that the operation of the DC/DC converter becomes unstable when the current limit value of the external power supply is less than the maximum charging current of the charger or when the battery voltage is low.
For example, charger 10 having the configuration of FIG. 1 is designed under the premise that the current limit value of the external power supply is greater than or equal to the maximum charging current Ichmax of charger 10. When the current limit value of the external power supply is less than the maximum charging current Ichmax of charger 10, supply voltage Vc from the external power supply, which is the input voltage of DC/DC converter 20, decreases during CC charging of the initial charging stage, and therefore the operation of DC/DC converter 20 becomes unstable. DC/DC converter 20 controls output voltage Va so that the detected difference voltage (Va−Vb) becomes constant, and therefore, when supply voltage Vc is extremely small, DC/DC converter 20 becomes saturated, and the operation becomes unstable. That is, although the operation is not performed as difference voltage output operation of DC/DC converter 20, power is supplied to DC/DC converter 20, and therefore the operation results in a meaningless waste of power and the amplification of noise. Thus, in terms of safety, it is not preferable that charging control section 30 performs charging when the operation of DC/DC converter 20 is unstable.
In addition, there is a risk of causing damage to secondary battery 2 if quick charging is performed at the maximum charging current when the battery voltage is low. For example, in the initial charging start stage indicated by CC charging in FIG. 2, if the chargeable charging current is supplied to secondary battery 2 to the fullest, secondary battery 2 is damaged, resulting in deterioration, and further, causing the risk of heat generation.

Battery charger with backup charging circuit