The present invention discloses a method for multi-core instruction-set simulation. The proposed method identifies the shared data segment and the dependency relationship between the different cores and thus effectively reduces the number of sync points and lowers the synchronization overhead, allowing multi-core instruction-set simulation to be performed more rapidly while ensuring that the simulation results are accurate. In addition, the present invention also discloses a device for multi-core instruction-set simulation.

With the development of technology, instruction-set simulator (ISS) is an indispensable tool for system level design. A hardware designer is able to perform the exploration and/or verification by an instruction-set simulator before the realization of the design. As a result, it is able to decrease the non-recurring engineering cost (NRE cost) in product development. A software designer can test a program on an instruction-set simulator instead of running it on real target machines, and hence the turnaround time can be reduced.
After several years of development, the performance of the traditional instruction-set simulator integrated into a single core machine is nearly optimum (fast and accurate). However, as the evolution of semiconductor manufacturing processes, two or more processors can be encapsulated in a single chip. Traditional single-core systems have been gradually substituted by multi-core systems. In order to maximize multi-core efficiency, more and more applications or programs are developed by using parallel programming model; however, the instruction-set simulator of a traditional single core system cannot manage the different cores synchronously so that simulations by different cores are not executed efficiently.
In a multi-core system, a plurality of programs is simultaneously and synchronously performed. So far, multi-core instruction-set simulation (MCISS) is designed for the programs on multi-core systems. Generally, multi-core instruction-set simulation can be established by a plurality of instruction-set simulators; however, it might result in that the instruction-set simulators randomly being arranged to the idle host core.
Refer to FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B respectively showing that the simulation time and the asynchronous target time for performing a four-core instruction-set simulator by host core 1 and host core 2. Simulation time means that the time for performing the instruction-set simulators by a host core, and target time means that the actual time for the simulated programs performed in the target. In this example, four instruction-set simulators are performed by two host cores so that each instruction-set simulator is switched to execute between two host cores and this is named context switch. If the above simulation programs start at the same time, as shown in FIG. 1B, the target time of each of the target cores is asynchronous. It may result in that the correct interaction between target programs cannot be simulated, and the problems such as race condition or deadlock cannot be revealed. Using traditional lock-step approach enables the instruction-set simulators to be synchronized in each clock tick (as shown in FIG. 1C) for the purpose of solving the above problem. As shown in FIG. 1D, it enables the target times of all simulation programs to be synchronized. The time points needing to be synchronized are named "sync point", and each clock tick starts is a sync point. The instruction-set simulators need to stop at each sync point for the purpose of performing synchronization. Therefore, lock-step approach incurs overhead in synchronization.
Current multi-core instruction-set simulators involve a tradeoff between simulation speed and accuracy. Consequently, how to rapidly and accurately perform multi-core instruction-set simulation is a crucial role for efficient development. The present invention is directed to a method for multi-core instruction-set simulation, and it enables to perform an instruction-set simulation more rapidly and accurately by means of identifying the correlation among the processors.

Method and device for multi-core instruction-set simulation


A slide member disposed to a housing in which a card is mounted and engaged with the card to be movable in an insertion and ejection direction of the card as the card is inserted and ejected, is formed of one metal plate, and in the slide member, a lock pin urging part for supporting a lock pin to enable swing and for urging its one end toward a heart-shaped cam groove, an elastic fastening part for holding the card at a mount position by engagement with a fastening recess part of the card, and a guide part for guiding movement when the card is moved in the insertion and ejection direction are integrally formed by bending.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure of a card connector device used for a small memory card or the like for use in various portable information terminals such as a portable telephone or a PC, or memory support equipment such as a digital camera or digital AV equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
A card connector device is generally used as an expansion recording device of electronic equipment such as a personal computer or a digital camera. A PC card or a memory card has been widely used as a storage medium of this card connector device.
This PC card or memory card is mounted in the card connector device to write and read necessary information, and some card connector device is provided with a lock mechanism for holding a slide member, which houses a card and can move in an insertion direction of the card, at a mount position of the card. There is known one having such a structure that in a case where the card held at the mount position is ejected to an ejection position, the lock of the locked slide member is released to move the slide member in an ejection direction of the card by the urging force of a return spring urging the slide member toward the ejection direction of the card, so that the card, together with the slide member, is pushed out.
The lock mechanism is provided with a heart-shaped cam groove having a lock part, a lock pin slidable along this heart-shaped cam groove, and an urging spring for urging one end of this lock pin toward the heart-shaped cam groove, and the structure is such that with the movement of the slide member, the lock pin is moved in the heart-shaped cam groove and is locked to the lock part, and when the card is once pressed, the lock of the slide member is released and the card is ejected.
In this case, although the slide member is locked to the mount position of the card by the lock mechanism, the card is held only by a terminal pressure of a connector terminal or the like at the mount position, and there is a fear that the card falls out by vibration or the like, and therefore, in order to ensure the holding of the card, there is recently proposed such a structure that an elastic projecting piece having elasticity is formed at the slide member housing the card, and this elastic projecting piece is made to engage with a fastening recess part of the card at the mount position so that the card is held.
However, in the above-described conventional card connector device, it is necessary that the slide member is provided with the elastic projecting piece for holding the mounted card and the urging spring for urging the lock pin toward the heart-shaped cam groove, and there have been problems that since the number of parts becomes large, the number of assembling steps is increased, and the workability becomes complicated so that the cost is raised.
Accordingly, the invention has an object to solve the foregoing problems and to provide a card connector device including a slide member engaged with a card and to be movable as the card is inserted and ejected, in which the number of parts of an ejection mechanism for ejecting the card is reduced, and the workability of assembly is simplified so that a low price can be realized.
In order to solve the problems, first means of the invention comprises a housing in which a card is mounted, a slide member disposed to engage with the card and to be movable in an insertion and ejection direction of the card as the card is inserted and ejected, a return spring for urging the slide member toward the ejection direction of the card, and lock means including a lock pin and a heart-shaped cam groove along which the lock pin slides, for locking the slide member at a mount position of the card against an urging force of the return spring and for releasing a lock by moving the slide member from the lock position to a back side, and is characterized in that the slide member is formed of one metal plate, and in the slide member, a lock pin urging part for supporting the lock pin to enable swing and for urging its one end toward the heart-shaped cam groove, an elastic fastening part for holding the card at the mount position by engagement with a fastening recess part of the card, and a guide part for guiding movement when the card is moved in the insertion and ejection direction are integrally formed by bending.
Besides, second means is characterized in that the heart-shaped cam groove is formed at a front end side of the housing in the card insertion direction, the lock pin sliding along the heart-shaped cam groove projects from a front edge part of the slide member and is supported, and the lock pin urging part is shaped into a plate spring having elasticity by folding back the front edge part of the slide member rearward.
Besides, third means is characterized in that the lock pin urging part is provided with an insertion part through which one end side of the lock pin is inserted to enable swing, folded parts positioned at both edges of the insertion part, and a pressing part coupled to the folded parts, for urging one end of the lock pin toward the heart-shaped cam groove, and the pressing part is formed to be long in a direction orthogonal to a projecting direction of the lock pin.
Besides, fourth means is characterized in that projecting parts projecting from the front edge part of the slide member are formed in the folded parts, and the one end of the lock pin is disposed between both the projecting parts.
Besides, fifth means is characterized in that a return spring for urging the slide member toward the ejection direction of the card is disposed at a rear end side of the housing in which the heart-shaped cam groove is formed at a front end side, and the slide member is formed to overlap with the heart-shaped cam groove when the slide member is moved to the mount position of the card.
Besides, sixth means is characterized in that the guide part is formed by bending one side edge part of the slide member toward an inner bottom surface side of the housing, and a concave guide groove corresponding to the one side edge part is formed in the inner bottom surface of the housing.


Disclosed is a refrigerating machine oil composition comprising:. (A) 85 to 30% by weight of alkyl benzene having a kinematic viscosity at 40.degree. C. of 30 cSt or more; PA0 (B) 5 to 70% by weight of a paraffin-based mineral oil having a kinematic viscosity at 40.degree. C. of 20 to 500 cSt, a pour point of -35.degree. C. or lower, a viscosity index of 60 or more, and a sulfur content of 100 ppm or less; and PA0 (C) 1 to 30% by weight of a naphthene-based mineral oil having a kinematic viscosity at 40.degree. C. of 5 to 500 cSt, a pour point of -30.degree. C. or lower, and a sulfur content of 0.05 to 1% by weight, the total sulfur content of said composition being 0.01 to 0.10% by weight.. The present composition is excellent in stability, lubricity, compatibility with refrigerants, and low temperature property.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerating machine oil composition. More particularly, it relates to a lubricating oil composition for use in refrigerating machine, which has excellent low temperature properties including a low flock point, excellent stability and lubricity in a Flon refrigerant, and further, a favorable compatibility with the Flon refrigerant in spite of its comparatively high viscosity. In the specification, Flon means a fluorocarbon, a chloro-fluorocarbon, a fluoro-hydrocarbon or a chlorofluoro-hydrocarbon.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Generally, refrigerating machine oils are required to have properties such as;
(1) a favorable compatibility with a refrigerant, PA1 (2) a favorable stability in contact with a refrigerant, PA1 (3) a favorable lubricity (anti-seizure property, anti-wear property). PA1 (A) 85 to 30% by weight of alkyl benzene having a kinematic viscosity at 40.degree. C. of 30 cSt or more; PA1 (B) 5 to 70% by weight of a paraffin-based mineral oil having a kinematic viscosity at 40.degree. C. of 20 to 500 cSt, a pour point of -35.degree. C. or lower, a viscosity index of 60 or more, and a sulfur content of 100 ppm or less; and PA1 (C) 1 to 30% by weight of a naphthene-based mineral oil having a kinematic viscosity at 40.degree. C. of 5 to 500 cSt, a pour point of -30.degree. C. or lower, and a sulfur content of 0.05 to 1% by weight, the total sulfur content of said composition being 0.01 to 0.10% by weight.
As refrigerating machine oils satisfying these requirements, there are known those that are improved in stability, lubricity and low temperature property by mixing different base oils and adjusting thier sulfur content (Japanese patent application Laid-Open No. 295995/1987). However, such refrigerating machine oils having a comparatively high viscosity, as used in refrigerating machine employing a rotary compressor, have problems particularly in that (i) the compatibility with Flon refrigerant is low, (ii) the two-layer separation temperature rises, (iii) a poor oil returning from evaporator occurs in the system, and (iv) the flock point rises to cause a poor low temperature property.


A thermal board including a first layer, a reflective layer a spacing device and a second layer bonded together as a single unitary structure. The spacing device forms a cavity between the first and second layers in which insulation may be positioned. It is contemplated that in one embodiment the first layer is provided as gypsum board and the second layer is a paper material. In another embodiment, a third layer is positioned between the first and second layers, where the third layer is a dense fiber board. Reflective layer(s) is/are provided as thermally reflective layers are provided as, for example, a spray coating and/or a metallic foil acting like a mirror to Infrared Radiation. The thermal board may be provided as a 4′×8′ sheet of material as a single bonded, unitary structure that may be cut and installed in the same manner as standard drywall.

The use of wall board, which may include, for example, sheetrock or drywall, has been in use for many years. Drywall is used as a finish material for interior spaces, e.g., walls and ceilings, whether in a residential, commercial or industrial environment. Typically, the installer will affix the drywall to the interior surface of the support structure, which may include, for example, wall studs, ceiling joints, etc., which can then be finished with various wall coverings.
However, drywall is primarily provided as an interior wall finish and provides little, if any, barrier to thermal losses. To minimize thermal losses from the interior space to the outside (whether loss of cooling in the summer or loss of heat in the winter), typically an insulating product is installed in the interior of the wall space. The insulation, for example, a fiberglass product or thermal foam product, has a thermal curve so as to minimize the migration of thermal energy across the insulating material.
Typically, the thicker the insulation, the larger the thermal curve, which in turn, provides a better thermal barrier. With the rising cost of energy, the finite sources of non-renewable energy, economic downturns and a desire to minimize the carbon impact on the environment, the need to lower energy consumption has become a major consideration for consumers.
With commercial and residential construction, typically the install will position insulation so as to minimize thermal losses from the building. This would entail, for example, locating insulating material in exterior walls and ceilings. Once the insulating material is installed, the interior surface of the support structure is then covered by the drywall. While this does provide a thermal barrier between the interior of the building and the exterior, there is still thermal migration is occurring inside the wall (e.g. where the insulating material is positioned). While standard fiberglass insulation does provide a fairly good thermal curve, especially when the thickness of the insulating material is increased, thermal losses from the space do escape into the wall (e.g. past the drywall into the insulation). This thermal loss through the drywall escapes upward inside the wall (e.g., between the drywall and the insulation).
There are a number of products that have been used that can lower thermal migration inside the wall cavity (such as, foam insulation that substantially takes up all the space in the wall cavity). However, known methods require special equipment and training, are difficult to install, are expensive to install and, once installed, make it virtually impossible to use the wall cavity space as a chase for wiring installed at a later time (e.g., it is virtually impossible to run electrical/data/telephone wiring in a wall filled with foam insulation).
According, what is desired is a system and method that provides improved thermal insulating properties from an interior space to an exterior space over standard insulating materials.
It is also desired to provide a system and method that minimizes or substantially prevents thermal migration within a wall cavity.
It is further desired to provide a system and method that minimizes or substantially prevents thermal migration within a wall cavity while at the same time, does not interfere with or prevent an installer from using the wall cavity as a chase for equipment (e.g., wiring) retrofit after the installation of the insulating material.
It is still further desired to provide a system and method that provides improved thermal insulating properties that is easy to install, does not require the use of specialized equipment and does not require specialized training to install.


Apparatus and methods for altering the appearance of wearable device are disclosed. The apparatus may statically or dynamically alter the appearance of the wearable.

Static methods for changing the visual appearance of a wearable device are known in the art. FIG. 1 shows a view of a prior art static apparatus 110 for changing the visual appearance of a wearable device. There is presently a market, for example, for adhesive decals that customize the appearance of headphones. A drawback is that users find the adhesive decals difficult to apply with good alignment, with the process typically requiring about fifteen minutes of work. Furthermore, once the decals are applied, they are not easily removed if the user wishes to change the device's appearance.
Wearables having internal lights and a translucent cover are also known in the art. FIGS. 2A and 2B show views of a prior art wearable device 200 having removable colored lights. In particular, FIG. 2A shows display apparatus 210 including an array of seven LEDs 212 within the interior of a translucent headphone case 214 that cause the case to glow with changing colors. This approach to wearable customization presents a number of major problems, including difficultly in programming and charging the lights as both actions require opening of the case. Another key drawback to this approach is that the display lacks spatial resolution. Since the cover is translucent, not transparent, it cannot display detailed images, only solid colors.
Dynamic wearable visual displays are also known from prior art. FIGS. 3A and 3B show views of a prior art wearable device with an animated display 310 driven by a detachable battery/controller pack 320. In particular, FIG. 3 shows a garment 300 with an embedded LED display panel 310. The main drawback of incorporating the visual display in a soft article of clothing like a shirt is discomfort to the wearer. The relatively stiff display does not accommodate biaxial bending or stretching and can feel awkward to the wearer. Also problematic are the stiffness of the wire and the bulk of the battery/controller pack 320.
Headphones with passive detachable decorative plates are also known from the prior art. FIG. 4 shows a view of a prior art headphone 400 with mass-produced passive decorative plates 410 that affix by means of a circumferential snap-fit ridge that engages a receiving groove on the circumference of the housing. A first drawback of this system is the lack of customization; mass production of plates does not afford the wearer an opportunity to customize the appearance of their personal headphone, for example by specifying a monogram at the time of ordering the plate. A second drawback of this system is that the ear cup housing does not provide an electrical connection to the cap. Thus the system only supports the mounting of unpowered, inert decorative plates, limiting the ability to change the appearance of the device dynamically by the action of electrical current that moves a mechanism or patterns a visual display.

Apparatus and methods for altering the appearance of wearable devices


The present invention provides a method of widening or extending fractures in a subterranean formation which intersect a wellbore to enhance the flow of fluids from the formation. The enhancement is achieved by introducing an explosive gas comprising a gaseous oxidizer and a gaseous fuel and optionally a quantity of inert gas into at least one fracture intersecting the wellbore and then detonating the explosive gas. The detonation produces a pressure wave which passes down the length of the fracture. The pressure wave can cause the fracture to extend and can cause the face of the fracture to yield whereby rubble is produced within the fracture which can prop the fracture in an open position.. Identical application of the method can be used to rubblize a formation for solution mining of minerals of said formation.

1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention provides a method of opening and extending fractures in a subterranean formation surrounding a wellbore penetrating the formation. The invention is particularly useful in formations which are naturally fractured such as coal seams, shales and chalk formations.
2. Brief Description Of The Prior Art
In many types of wells penetrating subterranean formations a casing is placed in the borehole and the casing then is perforated to establish communication between the wellbore and the subterranean formation. The casing typically is cemented in place within the borehole. The formation of perforations in the casing preferably establishes communication through the casing and surrounding cement into the adjacent subterranean formation. It is often desirable to fracture the subterranean formation in contact with the perforations to thereby facilitate the flow of any hydrocarbons or other fluids present in the formation to the wellbore.
Various methods and apparatus have been used to effect perforation of a well casing and fracturing of a subterranean formation. Perforations have been produced mechanically such as by hydrojetting and through the use of explosive charges such as in jet perforating. Fracturing has been accomplished by introducing an aqueous or hydrocarbon liquid into the formation through the perforations at a rate and pressure sufficient to fracture the subterranean formation. In some instances, the fracturing fluid may include a propping agent to prop the created fracture open upon completion of the fracturing treatment. The propped fracture provides an open channel through which fluids may pass from the formation to the wellbore.
Fracturing also has been accomplished by the detonation of explosives within a portion of a wellbore or the ignition of a quantity of a combustible gas mixture confined within a wellbore which produces a high pressure wave that fractures the formation surrounding the wellbore. Combustible or explosive liquids also have been utilized to fracture a subterranean formation. In this instance, the liquid reactants are injected into a wellbore and into the adjacent porous portions of the formation after which the liquid reactants are detonated to produce fractures in the formation.

Method of stimulation of a subterranean formation


A bidirectional shock sensor has a housing mounted directly to a printed circuit board. The housing contains a switch or sensor embedded in the housing and is connected by leads to the circuit board. A pendulum sensing mass is suspended from two flexible pendulum arms. The arms come together where they are attached to the housing and constrain the mass to swing along an arc that lies in a plane. A magnet either forms the sensing mass or is mounted to the sensing mass. A reed switch or Giant Magneto-Restrictive (GMR) type sensor is encapsulated within the base of the housing. When a shock causes motion of the sensing mass and the magnet the motion is detected by the sensor or switch.

A typical motor vehicle manufactured today has a number of safety systems which function to deploy airbags, and possibly to retract seatbelts. The number of airbags provided in a vehicle continues to increase. Systems now in development deploy multiple airbags to protect vehicle occupants from front, rear, and side impacts, and to position the vehicle occupant's body to withstand acceleration. Deployment of safety systems requires sensors that can detect and characterize a crash as it occurs. Wide use of advanced active safety systems is dependent on producing systems that are sufficiently cost effective that they may be economically employed on a large number of vehicles.
Typically the lowest cost sensors are those formed on an integrated circuit chip using the technology used to form electronic circuitry. This technology is used to fabricate micro devices or accelerometers that can detect accelerations indicative of a vehicle crash. These sensors are particularly cost effective when the sensor can be fabricated together with the deployment logic circuitry using the same technology that is cost effective for large scale integration. However the very small size of these devices makes them sensitive to electromagnetic interference and the like, which can result in false indications of a crash.
Thus an important role remains for macro scale mechanical devices which are less prone to false readings. Such devices are used to verify the occurrence of an actual crash. These macro scale devices employ a sensing mass mounted on a spring or pendulum. Motion of the mass is detected by actuation of a reed switch or a magnetic field sensor of the Hall type.


A method of screening manufacturing defects at a memory array may include programming a background pattern of physically inverse data along conductive lines extending in a first direction. The programming may include providing a program conductive line with a high value. The method may further include programming a memory cell at an intersection of the program conductive line and a conductive line extending in a second direction to a selected high value, and determining whether a cell initially at a low value and associated with a conductive line extending in the first direction and adjacent to the program conductive line is disturbed.

Since the advent of computers, there has been a steady drive toward producing smaller and more capable electronic devices, such as computing devices, communication devices and memory devices. In order to reduce the size of such devices, while maintaining or improving their respective capabilities, the size of components within the devices must be reduced. Several of the components within electronic devices are made from semiconductor materials, which in some cases are provided via a structure called a semiconductor wafer. Semiconductor wafers may be used to produce integrated circuits (ICs) having the performance and size characteristics desirable for a particular component.
Since modern integrated circuits can be manufactured to such small scales, any defects on the ICs may have a relatively large impact on performance. If a defect is of a nature or size that is sufficient to damage semiconductor circuits or degrade the operating characteristics of such circuits, the corresponding semiconductor device's performance may be deteriorated. Defects, which may be produced during any of a plurality of manufacturing process steps, may cause shorts, opens or other anomalies that prevent normal operation of the semiconductor device. The impact caused by a particular defect is often directly related to the corresponding nature (e.g., size and/or location) of the defect. These defects must typically be recognized so that the defective components may be removed before they are provided to consumers.
Numerous testing processes have been developed to attempt to identify defects at various stages of the production process. However, a common problem with conventional testing procedures is the fact that several cycles of testing may be required in order to detect potential defects in various aspects of device performance, thereby increasing the cost of testing and consuming testing capacity resources.
Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide an improved testing method that may address some of the shortcomings described above.

Test method for screening manufacturing defects in a memory array


Techniques for measuring and/or compensating for process variations in a semiconductor manufacturing processes. Machine learning algorithms are used on extensive sets of input data, including upstream data, to organize and pre-process the input data, and to correlate the input data to specific features of interest. The correlations can then be used to make process adjustments. The techniques may be applied to any feature or step of the semiconductor manufacturing process, such as overlay, critical dimension, and yield prediction.

The semiconductor manufacturing industry is known as a complex and demanding business, and it continues to evolve with major changes in device architectures and process technologies. Traditionally, the semiconductor industry has been characterized by sophisticated high-tech equipment, a high degree of factory automation, and ultra-clean manufacturing facilities that cost billions of dollars in capital investment and maintenance expense.
For decades, semiconductor manufacturing was driven by Moore's Law and planar transistor architecture. This provided a predictable, self-sustaining roadmap for transistor cost scaling and well-defined interfaces where each individual process/layer could follow its own technology trajectory independently. However, as the industry scales to provide sub-20 nm nodes and other popular device architectures, such as MEMS, new processes are required, and new approaches for semiconductor manufacturing are being explored and implemented.
For sub-20 nm nodes, entirely new device architectures are needed. In parallel, the rapid growth in the Internet of Things (IoT) is driving the MEMS market. These changes have presented difficult and unprecedented challenges for the industry, generally resulting in lower manufacturing yields.
In order to achieve acceptable yield and device performance levels with these new architectures, very tight process specifications must be achieved. Thus, better process control and integration schemes are needed now more than ever.
One example of a specific current challenge for the industry is lithography processes for sub-20 nm node manufacturing. EUV lithography techniques are known but have not yet been widely adopted for production, and therefore, 193 nm immersion lithography must extend its capability via multi-patterning schemes, which adds masks and process steps, and is therefore complicated and expensive.
Various processes also require more complex integration, and therefore can no longer be developed independently of each other. For example, the three-dimensional architecture of finFET's and 3-D NAND's, as well as the complex relationships between corresponding process steps, have changed the way that process variabilities can affect device performance and yield. As an example, many semiconductor manufacturers are experiencing lower yield on their finFET lines, and the need to increase yield is urgent. In the memory space, 3-D NAND has become the dominant architecture, and process control is a key issue for 3-D NAND process layers. The IoT space is increasingly dominated by the "More-than-Moore" trend, where devices incorporate technologies that do not necessarily scale to Moore's Law. This growing market space is driven by diversified and specific processes, and the need for new ways to improve yield and reduce manufacturing costs when implementing manufacturing solutions is needed.

Process control techniques for semiconductor manufacturing processes


A hulling apparatus having a main frame, a moveable support frame, a rotatable drum fixed in position relative to the main frame, a housing supported by the moveable support frame and a hulling chamber formed by the placement of the drum inside the housing. A contact element having one or more brush assemblies is attached to the drum such that the bristles project into the hulling chamber to engage walnuts, pecans or other food products and remove the outer hull therefrom. The walls of the housing are formed from one or more screened panels having openings therein to pass the removed hull material and spiral members thereon to help guide the food products through the apparatus. The housing moves up and down to increase or decrease the size of the hulling chamber. The apparatus speeds the process of hulling walnuts and pecans and more effectively utilizes the brush assemblies.

A. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention relates generally to apparatuses and methods for separating an outer portion of food product, such as nuts, from an inner portion of the product. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatuses and methods, by way of example but not of limitation, for removing the outer hulls of walnuts and pecans. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to such hulling apparatuses and methods that utilize an inner, moveable conical element having brush members configured to remove the outer portion of the food product.
B. Background
Many food products have an outer, non-edible portion that covers and protects an inner portion of the food product. A common example of such food products are nuts. Some nuts, such as walnuts and pecans in particular, have a hull or husk portion that covers an inner nut portion, in which is the edible portion of the nut, commonly referred to as the nut meat. As is known in the art, walnuts and pecans are ripe when the hull still exhibits some degree of softness (i.e., such that it can be indented with the thumb or a finger). Waiting until the hull is black and mealy generally increases the possibility that the nut portion will rot. As a result, the harvesting of walnuts and pecans, which typically involves shaking the nuts from the tree, sweeping the nuts into windrows and then picking up the nuts with a harvester, is typically done when the hull portion of the nut is still a green to brown color. Once harvested, the hull portion of the walnut or pecan is removed and disposed of and the nut portion is cleaned, dried to reduce the moisture content and sorted as necessary. In commercial operations, the drying of walnuts and pecans typically involves the use of apparatuses configured to supply heated air. For non-commercial operations, the drying is achieved by storing the nut portion for several months. Once dried, the nut portion of the walnut or pecan is cracked to remove the shell from the nut meat.
In larger scale commercial operations, it is necessary to utilize an apparatus configured to remove the outer hull portion of the walnut or pecan from the inner nut portion. A number of such apparatuses are known. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 313,984 to Burckhardt describes a conically-shaped grain hulling apparatus that utilizes rows of tufts made out of metallic brushes and arranged in spiral form on the inner portion of the shell to break and hull corn. U.S. Pat. No. 831,663 to Grohens discloses a rotatably configured conical brush disposed in a conical hulling cylinder for removing the, skin from the nut-kernels of peanuts. A nut huller for removing hulls from walnuts and other nuts is described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,388,026 to Conner. This patent discloses the use of a rotatable plate that cooperates with a horizontally arranged circular brush disposed inside a cylindrical shell to dehull the nuts. U.S. Pat. No. 2,094,880 to Formway discloses a walnut huller that transports the walnuts on an endless belt below a series of removable brushes attached to an inclined brush frame configured to remove the hull from the nut portion without penetrating the shell. U.S. Pat. No. 2,147,022, also to Formway, discloses a walnut hulling device that utilizes a plurality of cutter bars to cut into the hull prior to being engaged by the brushes. U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,845 to Bichel discloses an apparatus for hulling nuts that utilizes a rotatable roller cage comprising a plurality of roller brushes radially arranged inside a chamber to remove the semi-soft fibrous hull found on many nuts, including pistachio nuts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,094 to Savage, Sr. discloses the use of an endless belt having a nut engagement portion forming a nut passageway below a rotatable scrubbing mechanism. The patents described above are representative of hulling apparatuses known in the prior art that utilize contact with a brush mechanism to remove the hull of the food product.
Although the prior art discloses a number of hulling apparatuses for removing the hull of a food product to expose the inner portion of the product, there are certain characteristics of the known hulling apparatuses that limit their complete acceptance, usefulness and/or cost effectiveness. For instance, it is well known that the trash particles, such as rocks, sticks and the like, that are collected during the harvesting of walnuts and pecans damage or completely knock out part of the stationary brush mechanism, which creates a groove or channel in the bristles of the brush mechanism. A certain amount of the unhulled food products will tend to follow the path of the bristle-free groove and, as a result, will not have their hulls removed by the hulling apparatus. Because of extra handling and re-hulling and the need to shut down operations to replace the brushes on a not so infrequent basis, this effect can substantially slow the hulling process and increase the cost of hulling food products. In addition, practical limits on the size of the apparatuses substantially limit the amount of area actually available for hulling food products, which slows the ability of the hulling apparatus to handle large quantities of product. What is needed, therefore, is a hulling apparatus and method of hulling that substantially reduces or prevents the movement of unhulled food products through bristle-free grooves. Such an apparatus should provide for increased hulling area without requiring substantial increase in the hulling apparatus itself, be relatively simple to operate and provide for the replacement of brushes, albeit less frequently, as needed.


The invention relates to an AC power adapter plate capable of being mounted to a wall, ceiling, or power receptacle which comprises ports for connecting and providing DC power to peripheral devices and accessories.

There is increasing demand for modern homes, offices, and other interior spaces to have electronic interconnectivity and capabilities. There is also increasingly available electronic accessories for the home, office, and workspace, from security cameras to climate control devices to music speakers to microphones. However, it is generally aesthetically undesirable and costly to install new receptacles in walls and ceilings for each new device one wishes to install. Furthermore, seamlessly integrating peripheral devices in the home is challenging due to alternating current (AC) requirements, requiring line cords, etc. Since interior areas and facilities, such as houses, offices, garages, and the like, are initially wired with various AC receptacles, which are commonly equipped with fixtures such as smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, lights, fans, security cameras, and other devices, there exists a need to have an AC/DC power adapter that integrates seamlessly with pre-installed AC receptacles and fixtures. It is with these desires, among others, that aspects of the present invention were conceived.
The present invention relates to an AC power adapter plate capable of being mounted to a wall, ceiling, or power receptacle which comprises ports for connecting and providing DC power to peripheral devices and accessories. The adapter plate may be mounted on any surface or receptacle with an AC power connection and may be mounted between another fixture and a wall or ceiling surface. For example, the adapter plate may be mounted behind and serve as a physical mount for smoke and carbon monoxide detectors or light fixtures. The adapter plate provides DC power for electronic peripherals, which may be removably attached directly or indirectly to the adapter plate at a variety of connection ports, which are accessible whether or not another fixture is mounted to the adapter plate. The peripheral devices may be connected directly to the adapter plate or mounted nearby and connected via a power wire to the adapter plate. The adapter plate may have various types of connectivity ports commonly used by peripheral devices, and may be powered at various common levels, such as 5V DC, 12V DC, or 110V AC power. The adapter plate is preferably rotatable on its receptacle or independently within its own housing so as to assist in the positioning of peripheral devices. The adaptor plate may optionally incorporate internal sensors, such as for temperature, humidity, audible signals, or smoke or gas. The adapter plate also may provide for remote operation of peripheral electronic devices, which allows for seamless integration into the home via AC availability at smoke detector locations or other AC receptacles. The adapter plate may also have integrated or modular capabilities to receive or send information with other devices or to a computer or cellular device via various wireless data transmission signals, such as WiFi, Bluetooth, or cellular signals.


An exemplary embodiment is a method, system and storage medium for arranging a database corresponding to a first Web site accessed by a user. The system includes a host system for preparing a plurality of groups of keywords, each of the plurality of groups having a corresponding relevancy weight, wherein each of the plurality of groups includes keywords based on a specificity ranking, receiving a question including a term, determining whether the term in the question corresponds to one of the plurality of groups, assigning the corresponding relevancy weight to the term, determining a link to a second Web site based on the assigning and presenting the link. A network is coupled to the host system, and a database is coupled to the host system.

The invention relates generally to searching information in a database and, more specifically, to a method, system and storage medium for arranging a database.
In the past, searching techniques were optimized to find all information that was even slightly relevant to a search term. In other words, the searcher was inundated with results that buried relevant results in multiple pages of results, or that did not even include relevant results. Although some techniques allowed for xe2x80x9cexact phrasexe2x80x9d matching to retrieve a relevant result, the user had to know what xe2x80x9cexact phrasexe2x80x9d to use.
Further, traditional searching techniques are unforgiving in that they do not account for misspelled words, typos, company specific language and nomenclatures. Basically, these techniques merely counted words and phrases without any connection to the actual meaning of the words and phrases, resulting in a flood of irrelevant search results. Additionally, poorly managed or developed databases may cause incorrect or unusable search results. Finally, traditional searching techniques leave users discouraged and irritated after surfing through endless, irrelevant search results.
Thus, there is a need for an efficient and effective method, system and storage medium for arranging a database.
An exemplary embodiment is a method, system and storage medium for arranging a database corresponding to a first Web site accessed by a user. The system includes a host system for preparing a plurality of groups of keywords, each of the plurality of groups having a corresponding relevancy weight, wherein each of the plurality of groups includes keywords based on a specificity ranking, receiving a question including a term, determining whether the term in the question corresponds to one of the plurality of groups, assigning the corresponding relevancy weight to the term, determining a link to a second Web site based on the assigning and presenting the link. A network is coupled to the host system, and a database is coupled to the host system.

Method, system and storage medium for arranging a database


The present invention relates to a hydrocyclone apparatus which is simple in design, more space efficient, and easier to maintain than prior art designs. The invention comprises a three chamber vessel wherein the inlet chamber is between the outlet and overflow chambers. Therefore, the inlets to the liners are between the plates dividing the vessel into separate chambers and the outlets from the liners extend directly into the end chambers the labyrinth of passages and conduits for the overflow liquid. The present invention includes a no bolt securing arrangement for securing the liners in the vessel. In particular, the liner includes a shoulder portion which abuts one of the dividing plates and an end cap which closes the open end of the vessel being in close proximity to the ends of the liners thereby securing the liners in the opening in the dividing plates. The shoulder further includes lobes to limit rotation of the shoulders. The present invention further includes a new arrangement for providing an inlet for the liner. The inlet is formed into an inlet block which is made out of a different material than the rest of the liner for abrasion resistance and is inserted into the liner through a breech opening in the side of thereof. The breech loaded inlet block is secured by a overflow plug which screws into the header end of the liner.

Hydrocyclones have been used for a number of years in offshore petroleum platforms for separating oil and other residue from water so that the water is clean and environmentally suitable for discharging into the sea and the oil may be directed to a suitable transport for shipping to a refinery. Such hydrocyclones are used for separating fluid mixtures having a wide range of oil/water proportions. Some hydrocyclones are designed to separate oil from water, others are designed to separate water from oil, and there are still others that are designed to separate mixtures of generally equal proportions. The latter hydrocyclones are sometimes referred to as pre-separation hydrocyclones since the outlet streams are often directed to dewatering and de-oiling hydrocyclones as is known. With the space limitations and weight carrying capacity of an offshore platform, weight and size of most equipment is carefully scrutinized. Accordingly, there has been a lot of developmental work on improving the efficiency of the hydrocyclone operation so that the oil outlet stream includes minimal water content and the water outlet stream includes minimal oil content. As the hydrocyclones have further developed in both complexity and capacity, the vessels in which they operate have become bigger to handle the equipment and additional liners used to separate the liquid constituents.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a simplified prior art design of a hydrocyclone generally indicated by the number 10. The prior art design includes a vessel 20 having a liquid mixture inlet port 21 generally at one end and a water outlet port 22 generally at the other end. Within the vessel 20, there is a mounting plate 25 having a plurality of openings through each of which a liner 30 may be inserted and mounted. The plate 25 divides the vessel into an inlet chamber 26 and a water outlet chamber 27. As may be more clearly understood from FIG. 2, the plate 25 is comprised of two plate halves 25A and 25B which define a plenum for the receipt and collection of oily water. The oily water is discharged from the vessel through a conduit 25C which leads to a oil outlet port 23 at the side of the vessel 20. As can be more clearly seen in FIG. 2, the liner 30 comprises a number of elements that are assembled at the vessel 20. The liner 30 comprises an elongate tube 31 having a reducing inner diameter, an involute inlet head 32 connected to the larger diameter end of the elongate tube 31 for admitting the liquid mixture into the liner 30 and directing it into a swirling motion, and an overflow gallery 33 for collecting the overflow fluid exiting through the axial port in the involute inlet head and directing the overflow fluid though the passage indicated at 35 to the interconnected plenums in the plate 25. The elements 31, 32 and 33 are stacked and held together by bolts 37 which are attached to the plate 25 by screw threads. To assemble a number of liners 30 in a vessel requires significant manual labor holding each of the elements in position to insert a bolt down through the stack, threading and tightening the bolts. In the adverse conditions of an offshore platform, maintaining the vessel may be quite difficult and time consuming as well as a safety hazard for maintenance personnel.
Additionally, the combination of the bolts and the overflow gallery add significantly to the dimension of the liners. As noted above, platform space is critical and any waste of space will not be tolerated. The capacity of the hydrocyclone apparatus is determined by the size and number of the liners. With the space taken by the return line in the overflow gallery, and the space used by bolts prevents using any additional interior vessel space for adding to the capacity of the vessel 20.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a hydrocyclone apparatus which overcomes the drawbacks and disadvantages of the prior art as discussed above.
It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide a hydrocyclone apparatus which has greater fluid separation efficiency in the smallest possible package.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a hydrocyclone apparatus which is less complex than prior art hydrocyclone devices and is more easily serviced by maintenance personnel.

Three chamber vessel for hydrocyclone separator


A method, system and program product for synchronizing playing of a playlist on multiple audio devices. The method includes installing code on multiple audio devices connected to a network, the code being configured to synchronize playing of a playlist on the devices, and configuring, using the code, one device as a primary device for synchronizing playing of the files in the playlist on the other devices located in multiple locations. Further, the method includes communicating data corresponding to a current state of the primary device to each secondary device that is to play the playlist in synchronization with the primary device, synchronizing, using data communicated by the primary device, a current state of the secondary device that is to play the file, and playing the playlist on the secondary device, such that the secondary device plays the playlist at a same time in synchronization with the primary device.

As wireless technology becomes more prevalent in the marketplace, product manufacturers are creating audio players that use the wireless technology to play digital music. Increasingly, consumers are interested in purchasing audio players that can not only play digital music wirelessly, but can also do so throughout an entire area, such as, an office or a house, etc. As such, audio equipment manufacturers require innovative ways to create audio products that fit different consumer lifestyles and products and that are affordable to consumers.

Method and system for synchronizing playing of an ordered list of auditory content on multiple playback devices

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides a system in which a user can login to a World Wide Web server's (Web) application page and get help on the features assigned to an instrument such as a telephone or a service such as a voicemail system that is a configurable asset specifically assigned to that user. The on-line help is preferably kept in text and/or multimedia format on a server. The entity or that is displaying the help information is preferably a different entity than the service provider device that is providing the functionality or service to the asset. A synchronization process occurs so that thew server providing the Web-based help has a database of features assigned to the user as well as other information about the user.

A wide variety of service provider devices provide services to users through the use of configurable assets. Typically, the service provider device is configurable as well. A common example of a service provider device is a telecommunications switch, such as a private branch exchange (PBX) device, that services the configurable assets, such as telephones, that are connected to the device. The distinction between a service provider device and an asset as used herein is that the device is an entity that provides a service and that is owned by the organization or administrators managing and providing the service, while the asset is the entity that receives the service provided by the device and that is owned by, or configured for the use of, an end user.
The assets are primarily controlled by the configuration of the device, for example, the switch. However, a limited amount of control often resides with the end user of the asset so that the end user can manage and program the features offered by the asset and the device.
The users of these assets can program them directly or through the use of software applications to alter the default functionality of the asset. For example, a user can often program the keys and features of the user's telephone to behave differently from other telephones.
Similarly, administrators can program a telecom switch to support one set of features versus another set of features, or to alter the accessibility and behavior of the set of features available to the assets controlled by the switch.
Often, help information regarding features on assets such as telephones is provided in brochures that the user misplaces or files away. Other methods of providing online help may provide help on all possible features. This may make it more difficult for the user to zero in on or to find help on a feature that is specific to them. Also, when all help is provided, the user may see a feature that is not provisioned for them that they would like to use or that they have questions about. If such were the case, that user might take up more of the administrator's time and the administrator might have to explain to the user a feature that this user is not even allowed to have—as a policy decision, for example.
Typically, on-line help is an electronic version of all feature operations. In a configurable asset environment, only a limited set of all features may be implemented. So in either a printed document or on-line version of all feature help the user is presented with much more information than is needed and has more difficulty navigating to the specific help that is needed.
In other instances, the issue extends beyond a set of features that are made available or that are denied to a user. Feature behavior can change dynamically because of programmatic changes introduced on the service provider devices or on the assets serviced by the devices.
It is thus a challenge to provide help information on features, commands and operational behavior of an asset to its user subject to ever changing conditions of the asset and the device that controls it. The user often has to wade through pages of manuals, which may also be lost by this time, to get help on a feature. Furthermore, such information may only be useful for providing help on static features, that is, features that are either enabled or disabled but whose fundamental behavior does not change. Users would not have any help or guidance on how to use or work with features that change dynamically. An example of a dynamic feature is the numeric prefix that often needs to be dialed to get to an external phone from an internal telephone line in a company.
As network and communication devices become more versatile and programmable, it is desirable to present the user of these resources with an accurate guide to using these features. It would be useful to provide the user with specific help information in accordance with actual assets used by that user, for example, in a distributed system environment. At the same time, it is desirable not to burden the user with complex technical details, which might even be outmoded in the wake of dynamic programming of asset and device functionality. It would be desirable to limit the security risks and to reduce the chance of contention over access to features by focusing help information on those features that are both operational and that are within the purview of the end user.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for providing user specific web-based help in a distributed system environment


A method and apparatus are provided for Fast Data Weighted Average (DWA) double-sampling modulators with minimal loop delay supporting improved stability. Quantization and DEM are accomplished within non-overlap time. By this reduction in time delay, power can be saved for analog integrators. The DC signal of partitioned DWA is removed by alternating reference voltages, and there is no additional delay as the alternation is performed at the comparator inputs. Embodiments employ an oversampling ratio (OSR) of 8 and a 15-level quantizer.

A broad range of products incorporate analog to digital and digital to analog converters. Performance expectations of these products are constantly driving designs to achieve greater linearity and bandwidth while limiting or reducing power consumption. Oversampling delta sigma (ΔΣ) modulators with feedback support analog-to-digital (A/D) and digital to analog (D/A) architectures to meet these needs. Oversampling converters offer lower power consumption and complexity than pipelined A/D converters. However, technology imposes limits on the oversampling ratio (OSR). A consequence is that when the OSR is low, and resolution and bandwidth need to be high, multibit quantization is needed with oversampling modulators. However, mismatch-induced errors in multibit digital to analog converters (DAC)s for multibit quantization can be the driver limiting the spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR). In order to match the SFDR of the modulator's linearity, linearization techniques are used. Dynamic element matching is one of these. Dynamic element matching (DEM) is a process of dynamically selecting the unit elements of a multilevel DAC to produce an output level corresponding to a digital code. Although dynamic element matching increases chip area and complexity, the increases are relatively small. Dynamic element matching employs the averaging intrinsic to oversampling modulators to decorrelate mismatch-induced DAC errors from the input signal and move noise power out of the signal band. Several algorithms exist to dynamically select the unit elements. One of the DEM techniques is data weighted average (DWA). It is not only used to shuffle, but also applied to filter the DAC mismatch error out of the signal band by using a scrambler to change the connections of the thermometer coded quantizer outputs before they are applied on the feedback DAC. However, for delta sigma modulators at slow input signal, the DWA algorithm generates strong in-band signal-dependent tones that degrade the signal-to-noise-plus-distortion ratio (SNDR).
A variation of the DWA algorithm is the partitioned DWA (P-DWA). The P-DWA algorithm is based on DWA; it decreases the delay of DEM circuitry, but at the cost of an increase in inband tones. For the P-DWA algorithm, the multibit DAC is divided into two partitions, each containing half of the unit elements. DWA is performed independently within each partition to determine which set of unit elements in each partition is selected to generate a DAC output. To obtain the digital input codes for each of the partitions, the overall digital input (which encodes the desired output level as a thermometer code) is split into two equal parts. The even bits of the digital input are used as the inputs to the first partition, and the odd bits are allocated to the second partition. A concern in the case of P-DWA is the effect of systematic mismatch among the average capacitor values in the two partitions. If this mismatch becomes linearly increased compared to the mismatch between the unit elements within each partition, in-band tones are added to the overall in-band quantization noise power. While the P-DWA algorithm can reduce the time delay by half, it increases in-band tones and generates a DC signal.
FIG. 1 is a fully differential switched-capacitor implementation of the fifth-order cascaded delta sigma (ΣΔ) modulator integrated in CMOS technology. As noted previously, because of the noise shaping provided by each stage in this architecture, the circuits in the first stage are subject to the most stringent requirements. This section therefore stage, with special consideration given to the difficulties encountered in the design for operation from a low supply voltage.
FIG. 2 is a DWA circuit from Zhang, Z., and Temes, G. C., 'A Segmented Data-Weighted-Averaging Technique', ISCAS, May 2007, New Orleans, pp. 481-484. While displaying limitations, it provides good tonal behavior in a P-DWA circuit device (102 in FIG. 1) comprising at least two inputs of multiplexer (MUX) provided signals from analog-to-digital converter (as quantizer) 101 in FIG. 1; at least two MUXs; at least two inputs per shifter, selecting between the signals of at least a first input of MUXs and the signals of at least a second input of MUXs providing inputs to a DAC 103 (and 104, 105) in FIG. 1; at least two pointer generator, generating a rotation pointer indicating where each input should be rotated during the next cycle, whereby outputs of the plurality of shifters direct to a plurality of outputs, whereby non-overlap alternation of the signals of the at least a first shifter block and the at least a second shifter block with double sampling quantization and DEM removes DC components but increases instability by introducing the additional loop delay of MUXs.
FIG. 3 is a 4-bit DWA circuit containing a pointer generator and a shifter. The pointer generator generates the rotation pointer indicating where each input bit, q(3)-q(0), should be rotated during the next clock cycle. The shifter rotates each input bit to the proper position through the binary-weighted control code sh(1)-sh(0). In some DWA implementations, instead of a shifter, a coder is used to directly map the quantizer output bits through the MUX to the DAC inputs d(3)-d(0), but this implementation is slower than the shifter-based one. Also, such coder-based DWA system introduces more loop delay in a continuous-time DSM, making it less stable. In an SC realization, settling errors are introduced in the integrating phase. Hence, shifter-based DWA implementation is often preferred.
Each of these approaches has consequences such as loop delay; stability impacts, DC signals and notable power consumption. What is needed are techniques for a double-sampling AE modulator architecture giving improved performance without increasing power consumption.

Fast data weighted average circuit and method


In a method of operating a computing system, a disk image corresponding to a production managed machine is mounted on a service managed machine that performs operations distinct from those performed by the production managed machine in providing a computing service. The disk image is scanned at the service managed machine to determine a corrective action to be performed with respect to the disk image, and performance of the corrective action for the disk image of the production managed machine is initiated at the service managed machine. Related systems and computer program products are also discussed.

The present disclosure relates to computing systems, and in particular to maintenance of computing systems, such as in virtualized computer environments.
Virtualized computing environments, also referred to as cloud computing systems or composite information technology systems, are used to provide computing resources to end users. In a cloud computing environment, the physical hardware configuration is hidden from the end user. Cloud computing systems may include servers, network storage devices, routers, gateways, communication links, software (e.g., applications, operating systems, web services, etc.), and other devices. However, because the physical hardware and software platforms on which cloud computing system is implemented are hidden within a "cloud," they can be managed, upgraded, replaced or otherwise changed by a system administrator without the customer being aware of or affected by the change.
In a typical cloud computing environment, applications may be executed on virtual machines or appliances, which are guest operating systems installed within a host system and an optional preset configuration and structure (e.g., combination of operating system and web server). A virtual machine (VM) can be a software implementation of a machine or computer that executes programs as would a physical machine, in a manner that is transparent to a user. Virtual machines are typically implemented with software emulation and/or hardware virtualization. A single hardware and/or software platform may host a number of virtual machines, each of which may have access to some portion of the platform's resources, such as processing resources, storage resources, etc.
Many maintenance tasks on virtual machine disks (VMDKs) can be executed while the virtual machine (VM) is online, using for example the hardware resources associated with or used by the VM. These maintenance tasks can include (but are not limited to) defragmenting (either the files into the VMDK or the VMDK file in datacenter), wiping deleted files/cleaning (temporary folders, browsing history, cache, etc.), scanning for malicious software (malware), removing malicious software if found (by anti-virus, etc.), configuration management of operating systems (such as set registry values or configuration files), file integrity monitoring and reports (checksums), backup operations, disk formatting, and others. As such, hardware resources of the VMs' host (including for instance, CPU, memory, disks, and/or network resources) may be consumed in performing these and/or other maintenance tasks.

Centralized, policy-driven maintenance of storage for virtual machine disks (VMDKS) and/or physical disks


Apparatus for performing optical scanning functions, wherein the apparatus includes an exterior scan module to facilitate a compact size. That is, the scanning apparatus in accordance with the present invention is made smaller by way of a deployable guide track and an external scan module that is configured to be guided by, and to move relative to, the guide track while performing scanning functions. The guide track can be configured to be extendable and/or retractable from a base unit that can also be included in the apparatus. The guide track can thus be coiled when retracted, or alternatively, can be foldable, or telescopic.

Optical scanning devices are well known in the art. An optical scanning device is configured to convert visual data into digital electronic data. For example, an optical scanning device ("scanning device") can optically scan a visual document, such as a letter, to thereby generate a set of electronic data (typically in a digital format) which is representative of the original, visual, document (the "hard copy"). This digital electronic data can then be stored, transmitted, or used in some other way.
Scanning devices are employed in a wide array of applications. For example, some scanning devices are employed solely for scanning while other scanning devices are employed in conjunction with additional devices and operations. For example, some scanning devices are produced as stand-alone devices used solely for scanning, while other scanning devices are integrated with additional devices such as facsimile machines, copiers, and the like, wherein the scanning operation is integrated with additional operations and/or processes such as data signal transmission and/or with image-producing processes.
Various configurations of scanning devices exist in the art, including those known as flatbed scanners, sheet-fed scanners, handheld scanners, and drum scanners. One of the most popular scanning device configurations is the flatbed scanner. The flatbed type of scanning device is also known as a desktop scanner. Flatbed scanning devices generally employ a horizontal, flat, glass plate, or platen, that is typically located at the top of the scanning device. A scan head is operatively positioned beneath the glass plate and is configured to move back and forth under the platen between a position proximate one end of the platen and another position proximate the opposite end of the platen.
The hard copy document to be scanned is placed face down on the top of the platen. The scanning operation is then initiated and the scan head moved along the underside of the platen to thereby optically scan the document through the platen. The scanning head generally includes a light source. As the scan head is moved underneath and past the document, light from the light source passes through the platen and reflects off of light reflective portions of the document.
The light reflected from the document then passes back through the platen and is recorded by sensors (which are typically located in the scan head). The sensors are typically configured to generate signals in response to detecting the reflected light. The signals are received by a processor or the like to create an electronic image (typically in the form of a digital file) that is representative of the object being scanned.
The size of the platen on a flatbed scanning device must be at least as large as the largest document or portion thereof that is to be scanned in a single pass of the scan head. Thus, most flatbed scanning devices have platens with dimensions of at least eight-and-one-half inches by eleven inches (approximately 21.6 cm by 27.8 cm) so that a standard sheet of paper can be scanned. In many cases, the platen of prior art scanning devices is at least slightly larger than the size of a standard sheet of paper so that oversize sheets can be scanned.
Generally, the scannable area below the platen must be substantially "clear" of obstructions and the like in order to permit the scan head to sweep the entire scannable area of the platen during the scanning process. Additionally, a chassis or frame or the like generally surrounds the periphery of the platen for structural support thereof as well as for structural support of the scan head and related components such as those employed for moving the scan head back and forth from one end of the platen to the other. Moreover, a skin or outer body or the like is employed to protect the internal components of the scanning device. Thus, the "foot print" of a given platen and related components on a typical flatbed scanner can be considerably larger than the largest scannable area of the given platen.
Typically, the scanning device also includes a removable cover which is used to cover the platen during a scanning process. The cover reduces the intrusion of ambient light into the scanner during the scanning process and helps to hold the document in a stationary position in contact with the platen during the scanning process. More importantly, the cover is typically configured to provide a reflective surface adjacent to the platen so that scannable areas of the platen which are not covered by a document during a scanning process will be generated as white areas on the resulting image. This results in a more visually appealing image, and also reduces the consumption of the toner or ink used to generate the image.
Thus, because of the required size of the platen and related components, the size and/or the "footprint" of typical prior art flatbed scanning devices can be significantly large. That is, the size and/or footprint of prior art flatbed scanning devices is dictated by the size of the "bed" of the scanning device which includes the platen, the cover, the surrounding support structure and motive components, and the body, even though the size of the actual components of a typical prior art flatbed scanning device are relatively small compared to the "swept area" which must be maintained for movement of the scan head during the scanning process.
What are needed then, are scanning apparatus that achieve the benefits to be derived from similar prior art methods and/or devices, but which avoid the shortcomings and detriments individually associated therewith.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A composition of matter has the formula:

The invention relates a poly(1, 4-ethylene-2-piperazone) composition, a method of production of the poly(1,4-ethylene-2-piperazone) composition, the use of the poly(1,4-ethylene-2-piperazone) composition in the detection of trichloroethylene (TCE), and a sensor using the poly(1,4-ethylene-2-piperazone) composition.
Halogenated hydrocarbons, such as chlorinated hydrocarbons and chlorinated solvents (hereinafter collectively referred to as xe2x80x9cchlorinated solventsxe2x80x9d) are commonly used in industry as chemical carriers, solvents, paint removers, and cleaners. The chlorinated solvents have low flammability and are fairly stable, both chemically and biologically. Chlorinated solvents are alsoused a""s intermediates in chemical manufacturing and as carrier solvents for pesticides and herbicides.
Chlorinated solvents are relatively toxic at low levels, and many chlorinated solvents have been classified as suspected or confirmed carcinogens. Chlorinated solvents are prevalent contaminants in groundwater and soil because of their widespread use and long-term stability. Chlorinated solvents from various sources have contaminated groundwaters and soils. These sources include, but are not limited to, disposal facilities, chemical spills, and leaking underground storage tanks. Chlorinated solvents also may be released to the environment through the use, loss, or disposal of a neat liquid, and alternatively through the use or disposal of wash and rinse waters containing residual solvents. In recent years, soil and groundwater contamination by chlorinated solvents has become a recognized environmental problem. Chlorinated ethylenes, such as trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (commonly known as perchloroethylene (PCE)), and chlorinated ethanes, such as 1,1,1,-trichloroethane (TCA), are recognized as environmental pollutants. Due to the high water solubility of chlorinated solvents, for example about 1100 mg/l trichloroethylene (TCE) at about 25xc2x0 C., chlorinated solvents are highly mobile in soils and aquifers, and thus, should be removed before dispersing too far in the soils and aquifers. Therefore, a method to detect chlorinated solvents in contaminated soil and groundwater is needed.
Sensors have been proposed to detect trichloroethylene (TCE), in which the sensors attempt to detect trichloroethylene (TCE) by a variety of methods, including reacting pyridine, trichloroethylene (TCE), a base, and appropriate phase-transfer catalysts to generate a trichloroethylene (TCE) indicator. Other proposed sensors rely on fiber optic chemical sensors, immuno-assay methods, and gas chromatography to measure amounts of trichloroethylene (TCE). The prior sensors are costly, are typically labor intensive, and may not provide real-time detection that can be analyzed and reported. While such proposed sensors may have limited applications, attempts to automate such sensors have not been successful.
Hand-held sensing units using the above-mentioned technology have been proposed, however, automating such sensors presents problems in incorporating reagent delivery systems. These hand-held units are often difficult to use, provide inaccurate reagent delivery, and present difficulties in field operations. Another problem associated with automation of the above-mentioned technology arises in the storage and disposal of the chemicals in the field.
Various materials and compositions have been proposed to detect the presence of trichloroethylene (TCE), and other materials and compositions. For example, litmus paper has been used to detect the presence of acidic or base compositions. While materials and compositions that detect other materials and compositions (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cdetector compositionsxe2x80x9d) are known, their applications in sensors are limited, more detector compositions for detecting chlorinated solvents are needed.
Therefore, a need exists for a composition to detect chlorinated solvents, such as trichloroethylene (TCE). Also, a need exists for a method to detect chlorinated solvents, along with a sensor that incorporates a composition to detect trichloroethylene (TCE), and avoids the above-mentioned problems.
Accordingly, the invention provides a composition of matter, in which the composition of matter is provided that has the formula:
where n is an integer equal or greater than 1.
In another aspect, a method for generating the composition
comprises reacting trichloroethylene (TCE) with poly(ethylenimine) in accordance with the Equation:
where n is an integer equal or greater than 1.
Also, the invention sets forth a sensor to detect trichloroethylene (TCE) in materials. The sensor includes the composition:
that can absorb at least one of infrared (IR) and visible (VIS) energy when formed by the reaction trichloroethylene (TCE) with poly(ethylenimine).
These and other aspects, advantages and salient features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which, when taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, where like parts are designated by like reference characters throughout the drawings, disclose embodiments of the invention.

Poly (1,4-ethylene-2-piperazone) composition, method for production of a poly(1,4-ethylene-2-piperazone), composition TCE-detecting method and sensor

Abstract: where n is an integer equal or greater than 1. The composition of matter possesses characteristic absorbance behavior with respect to infrared and visible energy, which is used to detect and determine the concentration of TCE. In another aspect, a method for generating the composition comprises reacting trichloroethylene (TCE) with poly(ethylenimine) in accordance with the formula:

Abstract: where n is an integer equal or greater than 1. Also, the invention sets forth a sensor to detect trichloroethylene (TCE) in materials. The sensor includes the composition of material that can absorb at least one of infrared (IR) or ultraviolet (UV) or visible (VIS) energies when formed by the reaction of trichloroethylene (TCE) with poly(ethylenimine).


A multi display device can include a first display panel including a display region having a plurality of pixels for displaying an image and a non-display region at a periphery of the display region; and a second display panel including a display region having a plurality of pixels for displaying an image and a non-display region at the periphery of the display region of the second display panel, wherein a portion of the non-display region of the first display panel includes a transparent region, wherein the second display panel is disposed such that a portion of the display region of the second display panel overlaps the transparent region of the non-display region of the first display panel.

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a display device, and more particularly, to a display panel including a display region and a non-display region and a multi display device including the display panel.
Discussion of the Related Art
Recently, various display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, a plasma display panel (PDP) and an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device have been developed as a device for displaying an image. The various display devices have been used for various products such as a smart phone, a notebook, a television and a tablet personal computer (PC).
However, when the display device is implemented in a public institution for displaying an image to many people, a display device of a large size is required. Although the display technology has been developed, it is still hard to fabricate a single display device having a size greater than about 100 inches because of a fabrication process.
As a result, a multi display device including a plurality of display panels has been suggested for a large size. Since a plurality of display panels or display devices are combined to constitute a large-sized single image in the multi display device, the multi display device may be applied to a public institution with various methods.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a multi display device including two display panels according to the related art.
In FIG. 1, the multi display device according to the related art includes a first display panel 10 at one side (left side) and a second display panel 20 at another side (right side).
Although a plurality of display panels are disposed adjacent to each other, each of the first and second display panels 10 and 20 has an individual non-display region A. As a result, a user viewing an image may recognize a total non-display region B greater than the individual non-display region A between the first and second display panels 10 and 20.
Accordingly, the total non-display region B of the multi display device according to the related art in a public place may be recognized as an unpleasant portion to a user viewing an image, and a user may not be able to view a perfect or good image due to a border line between images.
Recently, the total non-display region between the display panels or the display devices has been reduced due to various efforts and various technologies. However, since the individual non-display region in the related art multi display device is essential for supplying an image signal and a power to a display region and conductive lines are formed in the individual non-display region, reducing the individual non-display region is substantially limited.

Display panel and multi display device having at least display panels including a transparent region in a non-display region


A method of determining an accident time parameter for evaluating an accident situation of a motor vehicle, including a) determining at least two of the following values: (i) a current value of a measured acceleration, (ii) a first integral of the measured acceleration, or (iii) a second integral of the measured acceleration, and b) determining an accident time parameter from the at least two values determined in step a).

The present invention relates to a method of determining an accident time parameter for evaluating an accident situation in a motor vehicle, the method being used, in particular, for controlling the activation of at least one restraint system in a motor vehicle.
Modern motor vehicles usually include a plurality of safety functions, which are supposed to protect the occupants of the motor vehicle in the event of an accident. These include, for example, airbags and belts, which are tightened in the case of an accident. Such restraint systems are normally activated as a function of a time elapsed since the beginning of a collision. However, conventional design approaches for determining the collision time are often inaccurate. In addition, an accident, which has not taken place, may be detected. In particular, in irreversible restraint systems (that is, in the case of ones, which must be exchanged after activation and may not be reused), considerable repair costs may be generated by erroneous activation.

Method of determining an accident time parameter for evaluating an accident situation in a motor vehicle


A method, a system, and a computer program product for executing synthetic backup processes and deduplication backup storage with landing zone. A synthetic backup of a data file is received. A partial re-synthesis of the synthetic backup of the data file is performed. A total size of the partial re-synthesized backup of the data file and the received synthetic backup is determined. A size of a complete re-synthesis of the synthetic backup of the data file is computed. The complete re-synthesis of the synthetic backup of the data file is performed when the determined total size exceeds the computed size of the complete re-synthesis of the synthetic backup of the data file.

A synthetic full backup file image contains a recipe for how to recreate a traditional full backup image from of a series of INCLUDE references for data that are contained in previously received backup files, as well as NEW references for unique bytes of backup data. While synthetic full backups may greatly reduce the time it takes to complete a periodic full backup operation, it comes with the following negative tradeoffs. Some of these include slower restores and tape copies due to disk fragmentation, and increased processing time to resolve indirect pointer chunks of data from multiple incremental and synthetic full backup images. Additionally, the processes are impacted by a difficulty in scaling the metadata of potentially billions of indexed entries to track all of the unique and identical parts of multiple incremental and synthetic full backup images. A coordinated set of processing operations between the backup server and the deduplication system is needed to optimally manage the unique workloads of synthetic full backups.

Synthetic full backups and deduplication backup storage with landing zone


A frame section for a switching cabinet rack having at least one inner wall which faces the inside area of the switching cabinet and is fitted with a row of regularly spaced fastening cavities. The fastening cavities do not reduce rigidity to any significant degree. At the same time fixtures can be mounted on the fastening cavities in a stable manner by designing the fastening cavities as slotted openings with clear openings larger in the longitudinal direction of the frame section than the width of the clear openings perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a frame section for a rack of a switchgear cabinet having at least one interior wall facing an interior of the switchgear cabinet, which has at least one row of fastening receivers cut at even distances.
2. Description of Prior Art
A rack of this type is described in German Patent Reference DE 33 44 598. The rack has twelve identical frame sections, which are connected with each other. The frame sections support two interior walls, which are connected with each other at right angles. A row of fastening receivers is cut into each of these interior walls. The fastening receivers are formed by holes with an essentially square cross section.

Frame section for a switching cabinet rack


An architecture for exploring large design spaces is disclosed. The architecture consists of three main components. A Design Seeker methodically considers and evaluates a very large number of design candidates. A Filter based on a dominance criterion locates a relatively small number of promising candidates that are retained for further analysis. A Viewer allows a designer to examine tradeoff diagrams that present the filtered candidates for evaluation, analysis, and further exploration. The computational load of the Design Seeker may be distributed among a large number of workstations in a client-server computing environment.

The present invention is in the field of automated decision-making support systems. A system and an architecture for exploring very large design spaces is disclosed.
Design may be considered to start from a specification of properties and behavior that an artifact is intended to satisfy. It typically ends when the designer is able to describe a set of components and their interconnection, and a mode of use by a designer. If an instance of the artifact is constructed with the components in the specified inter-component relationships, and if a designer interacts with it as described in the mode of use, then the artifact""s properties and behavior are supposed to satisfy the given specifications.
Design may be formulated as a search in a problem space. Except in routine design tasks, the design process usually involves considering alternative configurations of components, alternative components, and various parameter values. The design candidates that arise during this process are usually evaluated using multiple criteria. Due to time and other resource limitations, designers usually consider only a narrow range of the possible combinations of components and configurations.
In prior art systems, the design problem has been formulated explicitly as a parameter optimization problem, and well-known optimization techniques may be applied. Most commonly, these techniques are variations of hill climbing. Given a design candidate, the direction of change in which the gain in a performance measure is largest is first ascertained, a new design candidate is chosen in that direction, and this process is repeated until changes in any direction result in a decrease in the performance measure. However, this optimization technique is not always applicable. When design candidates are generated by changes of components and configurations, which may be unordered, there may be no adjacency relationship to exploit in the space of design candidates. Moreover, hill climbing techniques, by requiring that a single evaluation function be defined, preclude explicit, local reasoning about tradeoffs among multiple performance criteria. In general, it is hard to use symbolic knowledge in numerical optimization schemes and thus, they are not very good for early-stage design.
The disclosed system and architecture supports exploration of very large design spaces, for example, spaces that arise when design candidates are generated by combining components systematically from component libraries. The architecture is comprised of a Design Seeker, a Filter, and a Viewer. Using the Design Seeker, a very large number of candidates (millions or more) are methodically considered and evaluated. The architecture is especially appropriate during the stage of conceptual design when high-level design decisions are tinder consideration, multiple evaluation criteria apply, and the Designer Seeker assures that good design possibilities have not been overlooked. The Filter uses a technique based on a dominance criterion to select, from millions of design candidates, a relatively small number of promising candidates for further analysis. The dominance criterion applied by the Filter is lossless in that it insures that each candidate not selected is inferior to at least one of the selected candidates. The Viewer provides an interactive interface through which the selected designs are presented to the designer for analysis of tradeoffs and further exploration. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the computational load is distributed among a large number of workstations in a client-server computing environment. The results of experiments using the architecture to explore designs for hybrid electric vehicles are presented.
In the present invention, a design-space exploration technique is used that explicitly considers large numbers of design candidates, sampling widely from all regions of the design space. This exploration tells the designer how the design candidates in the space behave with respect to the various evaluation criteria, and helps to identify candidates or regions with interesting properties. All regions of the design space are sampled sufficiently to develop an understanding of the characteristics of the design space. A very large number of design candidates may be considered. This initial exploration permits for a more detailed exploration of selected areas of the design space. Thus, this kind of exploration is especially appropriate for the conceptual design stage.
The need to examine a very large number of candidates requires substantial computing power. Fortunately, conceptual design is a relatively small part of the overall design process. Thus, allocation of substantial computing resources for this stage of design may be justified in view of its importance, especially as computing power is becoming more affordable. This kind of design space exploration has natural parallelism that can be exploited to distribute the computational burden. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a large collection of networked workstations provide the needed computing power.
The present invention includes one or more computers adapted to perform the steps of generating and evaluating design candidates, filtering design candidates to select a relatively small number of design candidates for further evaluation, and presenting selected design candidates to a designer for further consideration. The present invention also includes software conforming to the architecture of the present invention.

System for multi-criterial decision making

The Ohio State University Research Foundation


The present invention relates to the use of universal joints, especially constant velocity universal joints, to provide multi-axial rotational freedom on exercise, rehabilitation and testing machines. The universal joints may be an integral part of the exercise, rehabilitation and testing machines, or they be provided as adapters for use on uni-axial machines. Furthermore, the adapters may function to act as converters such that attachments designed for machines using a receiver apparatus may be used on machines with an input shaft. Conversely, the adapters may function to act as converters such that attachments designed for machines using an input shaft may be used on machines using an attachment receiver. Additionally, an improved apparatus attachment is provided which uses an arm/joint stabilizer to further support the arm and joint position. The apparatus attachment primarily comprises a lever arm with a hand grip attached to a first end and the arm/joint stabilizer attached to a second end. The apparatus attachment is adapted to be used with any of the embodiments of the adapters described herein.

The subject of this invention relates to physical rehabilitation and exercise machines. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an adapter for use on machines developed to exercise or rehabilitate arthroidial joints and attendant soft articular tissues which provides for multi-axial rotational freedom about an arthroidial joint axis and provides for a constant velocity of rotation regardless of angular deflection from said rotational axis.

Constant velocity universal joint for therapy devices


Dynamic data masking by intercepting data derived from a database, creating a tabular representation of the data, and masking any of the data in accordance with a masking policy that specifies which of the data are to be masked if a masking condition is met, where the masking condition references the tabular representation of the data using a tabular positional reference.

Dynamic data masking refers to securing data in real time by masking sensitive data as it is accessed, such that sensitive information is not provided to unauthorized recipients. Thus, for example, when a database query is received from an unauthorized or restricted user or application, dynamic data masking may be employed to mask some or all of the data so that sensitive data are not exposed to the requestor. In some dynamic data masking approaches data queries are analyzed and modified to cause data that are retrieved as a result of such queries to be masked. In other approaches rules are defined at the database level that specify specific tables and columns to be masked in anticipation of queries.

Dynamic data masking of post-output database data