An articulating cabinet support assembly for a moving conveyor system includes a base assembly, fixed to the conveyor, and a movable support arm. A cabinet traveling down an assembly line is arranged on the support arm as the cabinet proceeds through various assembly stations. The support arm can articulate relative to the base assembly from a home, normally horizontal position to a position angled with respect to the direction of travel in order to enhance assembly procedures. An adjustable arm assembly including a cam roller and roller guide structure are provided to establish the home position and to counterbalance the weight of the cabinet. A tilt stop mechanism is employ to enable adjustments in the degree of pivoting of the support arm and provisions are made to automatically reposition the cabinet in the home position following various assembly stages.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the art of cabinet assembling and, more specifically, to a cabinet support assembly for a moving conveyor system which enables a cabinet, particularly an appliance cabinet, to be selectively articulated substantially perpendicular to a moving direction of travel along a conveyor during assembly.
2. Discussion of the Art
In assembling various types of cabinets, a formed cabinet is directed along an assembly line upon a conveyor. As the cabinet reaches individual assembly stations, predetermined assembly functions are performed on the cabinet, either by assembly personnel or robotic units. When assembling rather large cabinet arrangements, an assembly operation could require line personnel to stand on a raised support and/or reach a fair distance in order to even access the assembly location. Certainly, this type of arrangement does not represent the most efficient method of aligning and attaching various components to the cabinet.
This problem can particularly occur in the production of various types of appliances, especially refrigerators. In the manufacture of a refrigerator, it is common to have a cabinet, formed from folding a metal cabinet blank, move down an assembly line upon a conveyor, with the cabinet being supported upon one or more fixed blocks attached to the conveyor. Most typically, the refrigerator cabinet would be supported in a fixed position on a back panel portion to expose the open front and other portions for particular assembly operations. The major drawback of such a known arrangement is the difficulties associated with assembling, including the manner of insertion and aligning, of various components given the bulky nature of the refrigerator cabinet, as well as the associated design considerations with respect to the mounting of a liner for the refrigerator. In any event, just given the size of the cabinet, performing certain assembly operations can be difficult.
To address this problem, it would be beneficial to incorporate a versatile cabinet support system for use in the assembly of appliances and other large cabinet arrangements. More particularly, it would be advantageous to employ a cabinet support system which enables a cabinet moving down an assembly line to be readily shifted to an efficient assembly position by tilting of the cabinet relative to the conveyor. Although it is known in the manufacturing art to provide product supports on conveyors wherein the supports can be tilted for various reasons, such as for off-loading of products which need to be sorted, there still exists a need in the art for a reliable and cost effective articulating support assembly which will enable a cabinet on a conveyor to be presented during assembly in an easy and convenient manner that enhances process efficiencies and flexibility so as to provide an optimum arrangement for assembly workmanship.
The present invention is directed to an articulating cabinet support assembly for a moving conveyor system wherein the support includes a base assembly, fixed to the conveyor, and a movable arm assembly. A cabinet traveling down an assembly line is supported on the arm assembly as the cabinet proceeds through various assembly stations. The arm assembly can articulate relative to the base assembly from a normally horizontal position to a position angled with respect to the direction of travel in order to enhance assembly procedures. Provisions are made to transfer the cabinet onto the arm assembly, with either the top or bottom of the cabinet defining a leading end in the direction of conveyor travel. In accordance with the most preferred form of the invention, the cabinet can be manually tilted, in opposing directions, to an optimal position from either side of the conveyor, while having the arm assembly automatically repositioned to a desired position for return of the support at the end of the conveyor run.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the base assembly includes a mounting plate fixed to a respective portion of the conveyor, an arm assembly pivot mount attached to the mounting plate, and a cam roller assembly. The pivot mount preferably includes a pair of spaced, upstanding plates which define a pivot axis for the articulating arm assembly. The cam roller assembly includes at least one cam roller which is rotatably attached to the arm assembly pivot mount, while being pivotable about an axis which is substantially perpendicular to the direction of travel of the cabinet. An adjustable tension spring arrangement is employed to bias the cam roller towards the pivot mount.
The arm assembly incorporates a cam roller guide including a pair of cam adjustment slides which are selectively, shiftably mounted on opposing sides of the cam roller, with the slides being adjustable towards and away from the cam roller. The slides are preferably constituted by bars having beveled edges adjacent the cam roller, with the bars being shiftable relative to respective slide retainers. The slides function to locate the cam roller by establishing a normal travel or home position for the assembly, with the home position being defined by a space formed between the slides. Each slide can be adjusted by a screw acting on an end portion of the slide and locked into position by a retainer screw which extends through a respective slide retainer.
The arm assembly also includes spaced side members through which the arm assembly is pivotally mounted to the upstanding plates of the base assembly, as well as side guides and rubber padding for supporting the cabinet in a protected manner. In addition, tilt stop plates of the arm assembly extend between the arm members, with adjustable screw stops extending through the stop plates. The screw stops are adapted to abut respective portions of the base assembly to limit the permissible degree of tilting for the arm assembly relative to the base assembly.
With this arrangement, each arm assembly is initially arranged in the home position for receipt of a respective cabinet, with the cam roller being positioned between terminal end portions of the sliders. An optical sensor is employed to coordinate the movement of a deliver conveyor and the conveyor employing the articulating support assembly of the invention. The side guides and padding on the arm assembly are preferably formed of rubber and protect the cabinet against sliding and marring. With the slides adjusted, the arm assembly is allowed to articulate relative to the base assembly, with the roller cam initially riding up the beveled or tapered edge of a respective slider, under increasing spring tension, and then rolling upon an exposed surface of the slider. The tension actually allows a smooth articulation by acting as a counterbalance to offset the weight of the cabinet. The arm assembly can be tilted until the stop screws abut the base assembly. The side guides also function here to retain the cabinet on the arm assembly in the desired, tilted position.
By riding up a respective slider, the arm assembly and, correspondingly, the cabinet can be tilted in opposing directions as needed for enhancing the overall assembly process. Therefore, the cabinet can be arranged in an assembler established, optimal position in each assembly stage. The conveyor can actually be continuously moved during this process or stopped in any number of positions. At least at the end of the conveyor run, fixed guide rail structure of the overall conveyor is provided to engage the arm assembly in order to force the arm assembly back to the home position as the cabinet is removed from the conveyor and the arm assembly continues to a position below the conveyor and back to receive another cabinet.
Additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent when the above description is taken in conjunction with the drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts in the several views.

Articulating cabinet support assembly for moving conveyor system


A swingable and pivotable seating system includes a base portion, a swing arm, a seat and a control system. The swing arm is pivotable about a generally vertical first pivot axis and has a first end pivotally mounted at the base portion and a second end opposite the first end. The seat is pivotally supported at or near the second end of the swing arm and pivotable about a generally vertical second pivot axis. The control system controls pivotal movement of the seat about the second pivot axis responsive to a degree of pivoting of the swing arm about the first pivot axis. The seating system may include a desk portion, and the control system may limit pivotal movement of the seat when the seat is near the desk portion and may allow greater pivotal movement of the seat when the seat is swung away from the desk portion.

Swinging and pivoting seat assemblies for lecture halls and the like are known. Typically, the seats are pivotally mounted to a swing arm, which in turn is pivotally mounted to a base at a desk or table. Thus, pivotal movement of the swing arm relative to the base moves the seat towards and away from the desk or table, while the seat is freely pivotable relative to the end of the swing arm to allow for pivoting of the seat at the end of the swing arm to ease the user's ability to sit at the seat and/or to get up from the seat. However, because the seat is freely pivotable at the end of the swing arm, the seat often hits the edge of the desk or table, making noise and/or causing damage to either the seat or the desk or table.


A pressure sensitive adhesive film attached to a surface is cut by pulling a filament from an adhesive tape applied on to the surface through that part of the film over the tape so as to cut the film and to form a cut edge of the film. The filament is a polyester multi-fiber filament of the order of 16 tex which provides a strength to break of the order of 2 pounds force and an extension of the order of 15% under a load of 1.0 pounds force. The tape comprises a polyethylene substrate of 0.125 inch in width. The filament is extendible so that, when the tape is stretched the filament stretches with the tape and does not pull out or separate. The filament can be broken by hand and has an ability to bend to a radius of curvature of less than 0.5 inches without any stiffness in the filament.

Popular customization of vehicles in some cases involves the application of an adhesive film carrying printed graphics to the exterior surface of the vehicle. Such a film is readily available for example from 3M and is provided in large sheets carrying a pressure sensitive adhesive covered by a release layer allowing the sheet to be printed with the required graphics and applied to the vehicle.
Such films can be pre-printed with a pattern, may be single color for cutting into shapes for generating patterns on the vehicle and/or may be textured with varying thicknesses which provide various visual effects. Many different possibilities for the type of film are available and new films become available regularly.
One issue which remains a difficulty is that of cutting the film at required locations so that the film terminates at the edge of a panel or at any other required location on the vehicle.
The above patents show methods of cutting the film applied over a tape attached to the surface to be covered, with the tape carrying a filament which is pulled from the tape to effect a cutting action through the film.
Films have been and are being introduced which cause a significant increase in the difficulty of cutting the film with a clean effective cut. These films provide a softer more pliable vinyl for easier attachment and provide additional textured effects so that the film is inherently more difficult to cut. Such films are typically formed by casting the vinyl material and previous methods of calendaring the vinyl to a constant thickness are typically being replaced. The intention in this industry is to provide more and more enhanced effects by taking the material itself and the patterns into which it is shaped to more extreme processes.
In addition pressure sensitive adhesive films of this type are also widely used as masking material for use in defining or delineating an area to be coated with a colored coating where the method and tape described herein is used for cutting the masking material which is then removed after the coating is applied in the non-masked area.

Wrapping an object with a film using a tape for cutting the film


This application is a signal processor having a signal processing circuit for generating the data for displaying a program table in which a program being broadcasted or to be broadcasted and a selected program are arranged so that time axes become common and a configuration is disclosed in which the selected program is recorded so that it can be played in accordance with a playing designation performed by a user at an optional time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal processor, particularly to a signal processor for a program table.
2. Related Background Art
Various apparatuses for recording and playing digital broadcasting in this type of field have been proposed so far. Particularly, an apparatus for recording and playing digital broadcasting is noticed which has a follow-up playing function for receiving and storing digital broadcasting including the information on a conventional program table and follow-up-playing a purposed program currently broadcasted at a designated playing speed (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-119671).
FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional apparatus for recording and playing digital broadcasting.
A receiving controller 502 receives desired received data from a receiver 501 in accordance with receiving channel information and the data is directly put in a TS divider 505 in accordance with a designation from the controller 502 in the normal state, once stored in a received moving picture storage unit 504 at the time of a pause or follow-up playing, then put in the TS divider 505. The received data is divided into moving picture data and program information data by the TS divider 505, converted into desired data by a moving picture decoder 506 and a program table producer 507 and then synthesized by a display controller 508 and output from a monitor 509.
At the time of follow-up playing, the moving picture decoder 506 can execute decoding at a plurality of playing speeds and the playing speeds are changed in accordance with the playing speed designation information from a user. At the same time, the information on the follow-up playing residual time is synthesized by the decoded data sent to the display controller 508 and output according to the presently-broadcasted time from a broadcasting time driver 510 and the presently-played time of the data received from the program table producer 507 in a delay state calculator 511. Moreover, the information on the playing speed selected by the user is sent to the display controller 508, synthesized to the decoded data and output.
FIG. 23 is an illustration showing the input screen of the playing speed at the time of the above conventional follow-up playing. In this screen, the playing speed designated by a user is displayed and moreover, the difference time between playing time and presently broadcasting time is displayed.
FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the apparatus for recording and playing digital broadcasting disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-119671, in which a component common to that in FIG. 22 is provided with the same symbol and its description is omitted.
In the case of this apparatus, the moving picture decoder 506 can execute decoding at a plurality of playing speeds, a playing speed is calculated by using the playing information on the presently broadcasted time from a broadcasting time deriver 510, the time for presently playing the data received from the program table producer 507 and the end time from a user sent through a controller 712 according to a playing speed deciding unit 711 and a playing speed is designated to the moving picture decoder 506. Moreover, the information on the residual time of follow-up playing from the playing speed deciding unit 711 and the information on the user input waiting screen such as end time designation from the controller 712 are sent to the display controller 508, synthesized to decoded data and output.
In the case of the apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-119671, when a desired end time from a user is set by an input unit 514 at the time of follow-up playing, a playing method and a playing speed are decided in accordance with the table shown in FIG. 25 by using the expression of magnification P=(desired end time-playing time)/(desired end time-broadcasting time).
FIG. 26 a conceptual view showing a configuration of a conventional system for receiving digital broadcasting.
In this system, reference numeral 1 denotes an IRD (Integrated Receiver/Decoder) for receiving digital broadcasting and outputting received results of a plurality of programs and 2 denotes a monitor for monitoring the image and voice of the IRD. The IRD 1 and the monitor 2 are connected by a cable 3 for transmitting image and voice signals. Reference numeral 4 denotes a remote controller for sending an instruction to the IRD 1 and 5 denotes an antenna for receiving a digital telecasting signal of a satellite or ground wave.
FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the IRD 1 in FIG. 26. For a user to audiovisually get digital broadcasting of a satellite, CATV, or ground wave, it is firstly necessary to set a frequency and TSID in which a CPU 1204 corresponds to a channel (service ID) designated through an operation unit 1208 to a broadcasting receiver 1201 by using the remote controller 4 and thereby, a signal received by the antenna 5 is converted into TS data. The TS data is divided into image data, voice data, data broadcasting data, and other data by a demultiplexer 1211. The image data is sent to the CPU 1204 through an MPEG2 video decoder 1212, the voice data is sent to the CPU 1204 through a MPEG2 audio decoder 1213, the data broadcasting data is sent to the CPU 1204 through a data broadcasting decoder 1214 and other data is sent to the CPU 1204 through a memory 1203.
In the case of enciphered TS data, a deciphering key and deciphering program are necessary for decoding. The MPEG2 video decoder 1212 decodes a video signal compressed by a MPEG2 method and sends the decoded video signal to a display data producing unit 1206 through the memory 1203. The decoded result is converted into a display signal by the display data producing unit 1206 and output to the monitor 2 connected by the cable 3.
The MPEG2 audio decoder 1213 decodes an audio signal compressed by the MPEG2 method and sends the decoded signal to a D/A converter 1207. The decoded result is D/A-converted by the D/A converter 1207 to become a left-channel signal and a right-channel signal and the signals are output to the monitor 2.
The data broadcasting decoder 1214 decodes a file described by a mark-up language such as BML and moreover makes a corresponding decoder decode a contents file of image and voice used in the file described by the mark-up language and sends the file to the display data generator producing unit 1206 through the memory 1203. The decoded result is converted into a display signal by the display data producing unit 1206, sent to the D/A converter 1207 to become a left-channel signal and a right-channel signal and the signals are output to the monitor 2.
To audiovisually get a recorded program to be audiovisually got by storing received broadcasting data and playing the stored broadcasting data, TS data output from the broadcasting receiver 1201 is stored in a TS storage unit 1209.
To play the stored TS data, the DTV module 1202 is designated to output the TS data from the TS storage unit 1209. The stored TS data is controlled by a control program in the CPU 1204 and the TS data selected and designated through the operation unit 1208 is played by each decoder of the DTV module 1202 as a TS data file by using the remote controller 4 or the like. Moreover, a program is recorded and deleted also by the control program and the TS data selected and designated through the operation unit 1208 is process as a TS data file by using the remote controller 4 or the like.

Signal processor, program signal recorder, display unit, television set, signal processing method and signal processing program


A drive unit has an engine, an operatively connected driveshaft, a transmission, and a propeller shaft connected to a rotor outside a gear case. A plate, extending above the rotor, is adapted to slidingly receive along a joint axis, an accessory having an accessory joint element which is one of a channel and a protrusion. Extending parallel to the joint axis along a plate joint surface, which is one of a first surface facing away from the rotor and a second surface facing toward the rotor, is a plate joint element, which is the other of the channel and the protrusion, adapted to slidingly interlock with the accessory joint element to thereby prevent displacement thereof in a first direction parallel to the plate joint surface and perpendicular to the joint axis, and in a second direction normal to the plate joint surface. An accessory attachment method is also disclosed.

The gearcase of an outboard engine of a boat is often provided with an anti-ventilation (AV) plate, which is also sometimes referred to as an anti-cavitation plate or a cavitation plate. The AV plate, which extends horizontally and rearward from the gearcase above the propeller, is intended to prevent surface air from being sucked down into the rotating propeller. The AV plate can also provide some measure of splash protection to the engine extending thereabove and the interior of the boat against the water being sprayed by the rotating propeller. Additional flanges extending rearwards from the gearcase or the midsection of the engine may also be provided.
It is known to adapt the AV plate to other functions by either modifying the plate itself or by attaching hydrodynamic elements to/near the AV plate. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,564,903, issued Aug. 21, 1951 to Irgens, describes an AV plate that doubles as a trim tab having angled surfaces to provide lift. Other examples of hydrodynamic elements that have been provided on or near an AV plate include hydrofoil wings of various kinds for generating lift, pivotable fins to compensate for torque created by the propeller, and trolling plates.
These structures are typically attached to the AV plate by bolts extending vertically through the horizontally extending AV plate. The installation of the structures on the AV plate may require access to the space between the AV plate and the propeller, and the structures may also need to be held to the AV plate by other means while they are being positioned thereon and fastened thereto.
It is desirable to have a quick, easy and reliable attachment system for installation of hydrodynamic structures and other accessories on an outboard engine. It is also desirable to have an attachment system that is versatile and able to receive different kinds of accessories.

Accessory attachment system for a marine outboard engine


Authentication mechanisms are disclosed herein that authenticate user access to enterprises. For example, either an enterprise associated number or a social security number (SSN) can be provided to the enterprise to enter a first level. Then, any one of a ZIP code number, a device calling/contacting number, a date of birth, and a portion of the SSN can be provided to access applications in the first level. Lastly, a PIN can be provided to enter a second level of the enterprise. Additionally, these authentication mechanisms can be added and/or changed. In the former case, if a user used a SSN to enter the mentioned first level of the enterprise, then a date of birth can be used to update an authentication mechanism. Alternatively, if a user used an enterprise number to gain such access, then part of the SSN can be used for the update. If the user wants to change the authentication mechanism, the date of birth can be used for the update.

A plurality of authentication mechanisms exist in the art. Some are based on user input of user identification and/or password, others are based on documentation, such as providing a driver's license or a credit card, and still others are based on biometrics, including iris scans, fingerprints, and so on. Such authentication mechanisms may grant users access to various levels of a given enterprise. For example, when users call banks, they may have to provide a personal identification number (PIN) to check the balance of their savings account. However, this single mechanism, and others like it, is insecure since users tend to pick PINs that can be easily hacked (or, alternatively, they may forget their PINs and/or disable this feature altogether when accessing an enterprise). In fact, none of the mechanisms in the art are arranged and structured in such a way as to leverage the strong aspect of each individual mechanism while minimizing the weak aspect thereof. Thus, what is needed are sound authentication mechanisms that are built on a plurality of other mechanisms in such a way as to leverage the strong aspects of each of the plurality of other mechanisms while minimizing the weak aspects.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

United Services Automobile Association (USAA)


A silver halide black and white photographic material for printing a developed transparent color photographic material is disclosed, which comprises a support having thereon at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer, wherein the emulsion layer is composed of a silver halide emulsion which maintains a spectral sensitivity substantially between 520 nm and 620 nm and contains substantially no iodine.

As a silver halide black and white photographic material for printing a developed or processed transparent color photographic material (e.g., a color negative photographic film), a blue spectral-sensitized black and white photographic paper and a panchromatically sensitized black and white photographic paper are well known. However, when the former type of photographic paper is used for printing a developed transparent color photographic material, the graininess of the images formed is very poor since such a photographic paper mainly contains yellow colored images of the developed transparent color photographic material as information. Hence, the images formed are unsuitable for viewing. the other hand, since in the latter type of panchromatic photographic paper, the safelight for the printing is limited to panchromatic light or infrared light, the working place for the printing is restricted and further, since the safelight for handling the photographic paper is dark, it is impossible to perform the work while confirming the progressing state of the development of the photographic paper, this results in a reduction of the finished quality of the print. Also, since the panchromatic photographic paper picks up cyan colored images of a developed transparent color photographic material as information, the sharpness of the images formed is reduced.

Silver halide black and white photographic material


A first inlet is formed in the front portion of the box of an indoor unit, and a second inlet is formed in the upper portion of the box of the indoor unit. Openable/closable covers are provided to the second inlet. The covers are closed when a silent operation mode is set by an operation unit. When the covers are closed, the second inlet is closed, and the sound caused by a hissing indoor fan in the indoor unit and the sound of the refrigerant flowing in the indoor heat exchanger of the indoor unit will not leak to the outside of the indoor unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air conditioning apparatus having inlets for taking in indoor air at the front portion and upper portion of the indoor unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, the indoor unit of an air conditioning apparatus has an inlet at its front portion and an outlet at its lower portion. An air passage is formed from the inlet to the outlet, and an indoor heat exchanger and an indoor fan are provided along the air passage. Hence, when the indoor fan is operated, indoor air is taken in through the inlet, passes through the indoor heat exchanger, and is discharged into the room through the outlet.
An example of such an air conditioning apparatus is an apparatus described in Published Unexamined Japanese Utility Model Application No. 59-172921. In this air conditioning apparatus, an inlet is formed at an front portion of an indoor unit, and an outlet is formed at the lower portion of the indoor unit. An air passage is formed from the inlet to the outlet, and an indoor heat exchanger and an indoor fan are provided along the air passage. An inlet grill is provided to the inlet. The inlet grill can be manually opened/closed. When the air conditioning apparatus is not to be used for a long period of time, the inlet grill is closed, so that dust will not enter the indoor unit.
Another example of the indoor unit is an indoor unit having inlets at its front and upper portions, respectively. In this case, an indoor heat exchanger is provided to oppose the respective inlets. That is, although the size of the indoor unit is decreased, a sufficiently large heat exchange area of the indoor heat exchanger is assured.
However, in this indoor unit having the inlets at its front and upper portions, respectively, the sound caused by the hissing indoor fan and the sound caused by the refrigerant flowing in the indoor heat exchanger leak to the ceiling of the room through the upper inlet and are reflected by the ceiling, which are regarded as noise by the person in the room. This noise gives discomfort to the person in the room.
In an air conditioning apparatus having a heat pump type refrigerating cycle, a cooling operation can be executed by operating the indoor heat exchanger as an evaporator, and a heating operation can be executed by operating the indoor heat exchanger as a condenser.
In some air conditioning apparatuses each having the heat pump type refrigerating cycle, a reheater is provided downstream the indoor heat exchanger, so that the apparatus has a function of a dehumidifying operation in addition to the functions of the cooling and heating operations. In the dehumidifying operation, the indoor heat exchanger serves as an evaporator, and the reheater is operated, so that air cooled and dehumidified by the indoor heat exchanger is heated by the reheater and discharged into the room. That is, dehumidified air whose temperature is not excessively low is discharged into the room.
There are a plurality of types of dehumidifying operations, e.g., a mode of a dehumidifying operation on the cooling side wherein the temperature of air discharged into the room is lower than the indoor temperature, an isothermal dehumidifying operation mode wherein air discharged into the room is maintained at substantially the same temperature as that of the indoor temperature, and a mode of a dehumidifying operation on the heating side wherein the temperature of air discharged into the room is higher than the indoor temperature.
In an air conditioning apparatus using an electric heater as the reheater, in the mode of the dehumidifying operation on the cooling side, the capability of the compressor is set to a predetermined value or more, and the cooling capacity of the indoor heat exchanger is increased. In the isothermal dehumidifying operation mode, the capability of the compressor is set to a predetermined value or less, and the cooling capacity of the indoor heat exchanger is decreased.
It must be noted that, in the air conditioning apparatus described above which has the inlets at the plurality of portions of the indoor unit to increase the heat exchange area in the indoor heat exchanger, even when the isothermal dehumidifying operation mode is set, since the heat exchange quantity of the indoor heat exchanger is large, the temperature of air discharged into the room is largely decreased, and the obtained air conditioning result is the same as that obtained in the mode of the dehumidifying operation on the cooling side. As a result, the person in the room feels chilly.
In order to solve this inconvenience, the capacity of the electric heater serving as the reheater may be increased. However, in the recent trend of the size reduction of the indoor unit, the electric heater and other components are close to each other. Thus, when the capacity of the electric heater is excessively increased, heat generated by the electric heater adversely affects other components.
As an alternative way of solving the above inconvenience, the capability of the compressor may be decreased as low as possible. When, however, the capability of the compressor is excessively decreased, the evaporative temperature of the refrigerant in the indoor heat exchanger is increased, and in an extreme case, the temperature of the discharged indoor air cannot be maintained at a dew point temperature or less, and the dehumidifying function is disabled.
In order to solve this problem, the capability of the compressor may be decreased as low as possible, and at the same time the blowing air quantity of the indoor fan may be decreased. That is, the heat exchange efficiency of the indoor heat exchanger is degraded to suppress an increase in evaporative temperature. In this case, however, since the blowing air quantity of the indoor fan must be extremely decreased, the air conditioning efficiency becomes poor, and a sufficiently high dehumidifying effect cannot be obtained.

Air conditioning apparatus having a plurality of inlets for taking in indoor air at a plurality of portions of main body thereof


A system and method for speech recognition includes generating a set of likely hypotheses in recognizing speech, rescoring the likely hypotheses by using semantic content by employing semantic structured language models, and scoring parse trees to identify a best sentence according to the sentence's parse tree by employing the semantic structured language models to clarify the recognized speech.

1. Field of Exemplary Embodiments
Aspects of the invention relate to language modeling, and more particularly to systems and methods which use semantic parse trees for language modeling and confidence measurement.
2. Description of the Related Art
Large vocabulary continuous speech recognition (LVCSR) often employs statistical language modeling techniques to improve recognition performance. Language modeling provides an estimate for the probability of a word sequence (or sentence) P(w1 w2 w3 . . . wN) in a language or a subdomain of a language. A prominent method in statistical language modeling is n-gram language modeling, which is based on estimating the sentence probability by combining probabilities of each word in the context of previous n−1 words.
Although n-gram language models achieve a certain level of performance, they are not optimal. N-grams do not model the long-range dependencies, semantic and syntactic structure of a sentence accurately.
A related problem to modeling semantic information in a sentence is the confidence measurement based on semantic analysis. As the speech recognition output will always be subject to some level of uncertainty, it may be vital to employ some measure that indicates the reliability of the correctness of the hypothesized words. The majority of approaches to confidence annotation methods use two basic steps: (1) generate as many features as possible based on speech recognition and/or a natural language understanding process, (2) use a classifier to combine these features in a reasonable way.
There are a number of overlapping speech recognition based features that are exploited in many studies (see e.g., R. San-Segundo, B. Pellom, K. Hacioglu and W. Ward, "Confidence Measures for Spoken Dialog Systems", ICASSP-2001, pp. 393-396, Salt Lake City, Utah, May 2001; R. Zhang and A. Rudnicky, "Word Level Confidence Annotation Using Combination of Features", Eurospeech-2001, Aalborg, Denmark, September, 2002; and C. Pao, P. Schmid and J. Glass, "Confidence Scoring for Speech Understanding Systems", ICSLP-98, Sydney, Australia, December 1998). For domain independent large vocabulary speech recognition systems, posterior probability based on a word graph is shown to be the single most useful confidence feature (see, F. Wessel, K. Macherey and H. Ney, "A Comparison of Word Graph and N-best List Based Confidence Measures", pp.1587-1590, ICASSP-2000, Istanbul, Turkey, June 2000). Semantic information can be considered as an additional information source complementing speech recognition information. In many, if not all, of the previous studies the way the semantic information is incorporated into the decision process is rather ad hoc. For example in C. Pao et al., "Confidence Scoring for Speech Understanding Systems", referenced above, the semantic weights assigned to words are based on heuristics. Similarly, in P. Carpenter, C. Jin, D. Wilson, R. Zhang, D. Bohus and A. Rudnicky, "Is This Conversation on Track", Eurospeech-2001, pp. 2121-2124, Aalborg, Denmark, September 2001, such semantic features as "uncovered word percentage", "gap number", "slot number", etc. are generated experimentally in an effort to incorporate semantic information into the confidence metric.

Semantic language modeling and confidence measurement

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and apparatus for graphic processing using multi-threading includes at least one context task, mediation task, and control task executed by a processor. The at least one context task sequentially generates graphic commands. The mediation task mediates processing of the graphic commands. The mediation task may process a particular graphic command on behalf of the at least one context task, and change a processing order of the graphic commands. The control task transmits the graphic commands to a graphic hardware.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to a method and apparatus for graphic processing using multi-threading.
2. Description of the Related Art
A computer system may include two computation units, that is, a central processing unit (CPU) and a graphics processing unit (GPU).
Development of the CPU is progressing from a single type to a core type, a multi-core type, or a multi-processor type. Also, demand for a multi-core or a multi-processor with respect to a CPU used in a mobile environment is rapidly increasing. In addition, in a multi-core or multi-processor environment, a technology for simultaneous execution of a plurality of applications is in increasing demand. Accordingly, a device driver which enables a plurality of applications to manage a single CPU is now necessary.
The speed of the GPU is considerably increased in comparison to the speed of the CPU. Accordingly, demand exists for a GPU device driver which is capable of minimizing a waiting time of a CPU by efficiently managing a plurality of applications.

Method and apparatus for graphic processing using multi-threading


Systems and methods for medical imaging. The method may include acquiring a tube voltage switching waveform for a radiation source of a medical device. The method may include determining a tube current switching period based on the tube voltage switching waveform. The method may include determining a sampling period correlated with the tube current switching period. The method may include acquiring projection data according to the sampling period. The method may further include reconstructing an image based on the acquired projection data.

With the extensive development of modern medical imaging technology, a density image of voxels obtained by a conventional computed tomography (CT) may not be able to identify a substance differentiation accurately. To resolve the issue, an energy imaging technology based on fast tube voltage (kV) switching is developed, which can accurately identify different voxel substances. During a dual energy imaging, a high energy kV and a low energy kV may be switched quickly, which may facilitate to obtain simultaneous homologous data domain energy imaging. In clinical applications, the energy imaging is an attractive imaging technology.
During the dual energy imaging, the ideal kV switching waveform should be a square waveform (or a rectangular waveform), which has the highest spectral energy separation capability and the best image quality. However, the limitations of actual physical conditions (e.g., output capacitances of a high voltage generator (HVG) and a high voltage (HV) cable), result in the transition time during which the kV switches from the high energy kV and the low energy kV. The shorter the transition time, the better the spectral energy separation capability, and the better the image quality of the energy imaging.
Since the transition time (e.g., kV fall time) is directly related to the tube current (mA) and the output capacitance of the HVG. The mV is used to discharge the output capacitance of the HVG to achieve the reduction of the kV. In some cases, if the output capacitance is fixed, high mV can be usually used to reduce the kV fall time. While high mA can bring a high scan dose, which is harmful to the subject. Therefore, it is desirable to develop systems and methods for energy imaging having a low scan dose.

SHANGHAI UNITED IMAGING HEALTHCARE CO., LTD.


A technique performs data reduction on host data of a write request during ingest under certain circumstances. Therein, raw host data of a write request is placed from the host into a data cache. Further, a data reducing ingest operation is performed that reduces the raw host data from the data cache into reduced host data (e.g., via deduplication, compression, combinations thereof, etc.). After completion of the data reducing ingest operation, a late-binding operation is performed that updates a mapper with ability to access the reduced host data from secondary storage. Such ingest-time data reduction may be enabled/disabled (e.g., turned on or off) per input/output (I/O) operation (e.g., used only for relatively large asynchronous I/O operations) and/or activated in situations in which the ingest bandwidth is becoming a bottleneck.

Data storage systems perform data storage operations on behalf of host computers. Such a data storage system may include storage processors (SPs), a logger formed from non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), and backend storage (e.g., solid state drive or SSD memory).
In response to receipt of a host write operation from a host computer, an SP receives host data within an SP cache, transfers the received host data from the SP cache (perhaps along with checksum data generated while the host data was in the SP cache) to the logger, and then notifies the host computer that the write operation has completed successfully. In the background, the SP then flushes the host data from the logger into the backend storage. During such flushing, the SP may perform deduplication and compression on the host data.

Performing data reduction during host data ingest


The present disclosure provides a wildlife guard for electrical power equipment including a disc having a central opening for fitting onto the equipment. The disc includes an electrically insulating material with a conductive filler material in quantity sufficient for the disc to maintain an electrostatic charge. The disc has an insertion slot extending from an outer portion to the central opening for movement of the disc onto the equipment. The present disclosure also provides a wildlife guard for an electrical insulator bushing having an electrical conductor extending outwardly therefrom. The wildlife guard includes an electrically nonconductive cover for covering at least a portion of the electrical conductor, the cover being adapted to mount upon the bushing and a conductive panel attached to the cover.

Distribution and substation equipment used to supply electrical power have used wildlife protection to prevent wildlife from simultaneously contacting energized and grounded surfaces or adjacent phases. When such contact occurs, short circuits and consequent power outages frequently are the result. The wildlife protection is typically applied to an equipment bushing or lightning arrester of the distribution or substation equipment. For adequate protection, a number of presently available wildlife guards have also required an insulated or covered wire between the bushing and arrester.
Available wildlife guards have posed problems because they only attempt to deter the animal from simultaneously touching a grounded surface and an energized surface. The guards do nothing to cause the animal from climbing on the equipment alone entirely. As a result, because the animal is not deterred from staying away from the equipment entirely, the animal may still find a way to simultaneously touch energized and grounded surfaces or may cause the wildlife guard to be move or removed from the protected device. Additionally, the animals, particularly squirrels, have a tendency to chew on prior art wildlife guards. As a result there is a need for a wildlife guard that prevents or deters animals from climbing upon energized equipment. Devices that provide an electrostatic shock to animals are known in the art. While these devices work for their intended purposes, they generally are categorized by a complex construction, non-desirable geometry and thus have a higher cost to produce.
The assignee of the present invention is the owner of U.S. Pat. No. 5,864,096 (the '096 patent), the entire disclosure of which is incorporate herein by reference. It has been found that an extremely useful and novel animal guard can be constructed in accordance with the '096 patent modified in accordance with the present invention. While the invention in one form is described in accordance with the '096 patent, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize the wider applicability of the invention, including other forms of animal guards. The result is a lower cost, easier to install, more durable animal guard having wide applicability in the electrical utility field.

Wildlife guard for electrical power distribution and substation facilities


In one aspect, the invention relates to methods of synthesizing acryloyl compounds, comprising the step of hydrosilylating a compound having the structure:

Acryloyl-functionalized linear polydimethylsiloxanes can have a satisfactory oxygen permeability yet suffer from hydrophobicity, thereby repelling water and increasing the incidence of corneal staining. That is, introduction of a siloxanyl group for the purpose of increasing oxygen permeability can negatively impact other properties of the composition. Further, when an acryloyl-functionalized polydimethylsiloxane is copolymerized with a hydrophilic monomer (e.g., 2-hydroxyethyl(meth)acrylate) in order to increase the hydrophilicity, phase separation can occur due to the static repulsion between the polar hydroxyl group and the nonpolar siloxanyl group, so that a transparent polymer cannot be obtained. Accordingly, such compositions can have poor optical quality.
Moreover, some acryloyl-functionalized polydimethylsiloxane compositions produced by an addition reaction between an epoxy compound having a siloxanyl group and (meth)acrylic acid can contain unsatisfactory concentrations of undesirable impurities, for example, epoxide or diol moieties that can have irritating properties when the compositions are used as, for example, contact lenses and intraocular lenses.
Therefore, there remains a need for methods and compositions that overcome these deficiencies and that effectively attain a satisfactory balance between improved oxygen permeability and hydrophilicity while achieving an acceptably low concentration of undesirable impurities.

Abstract: with a compound having the structure A-H, wherein A comprises a siloxanyl group, to yield a compound having the structure:

Abstract: Compounds and compositions produced thereby can effectively attain a satisfactory balance between high oxygen permeability and hydrophilicity while achieving an acceptably low concentration of undesirable impurities. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention.


A system for reloading a cartridge including seating a primer in the cartridge for use in a predetermined firing chamber includes at least one reloading die and reloading shim adapted to selectively insert into the chamber. A desired seating depth is determined and an offset factor is determined using a primer pocket depth, a primer height, and the seating depth. This calculated dimension is transferred to a primer-seating press. The primer-seating press includes an arm hingeably configured to operate in a first position, a second position, and a third position; a cross pin configures on the press horizontally and selectively slides from a retracted position to an extended position and an adjustable stop disposed on the arm. The stop is pre-set to using the calculated dimension to limit travel of the arm by cooperating with the cross pin. The seating press includes a vertically arranged piston operated by the arm.

Hand-loading cartridges (also called reloading) is a manual process of loading and assembling firearm cartridges or shotgun shells from individual components including, for example, a case (or hull), primer, powder, and bullet (or shot).
The accuracy of a rifle shot, or other small-arms intentional discharge, significantly increases when the shooter uses a hand-loaded cartridge compared to a bulk, "off-the-shelf" premade cartridge. This improved accuracy, in part, is a result of less variability in weight and balance obtained by precise hand loading of the cartridges. Commercially purchased, pre-assembled, bulk quantities of cartridges, often have a higher variability in weight and balance, which contributes to inaccuracies and variability shot to shot.
Hobbyists, professionals, and recreational shooters often elect to hand-load cartridges—not only for the enjoyment of the task—but also to reduce or eliminate variables that prevent repeatable performance. Further, the hand loading of cartridges enables the shooter to customize the round for the task at hand, whether it is competitive shooting events, hunting, or target practice. Accordingly, customized rounds may be constructed to optimize specific performance parameters such as bullet velocity, accuracy between firings, and shot-to-shot consistency.
The hand-loading process can realize increased accuracy and precision through improved consistency of manufacture, by selecting the optimal bullet weight and design, and by tailoring bullet velocity to the purpose. Each reloaded cartridge can have each component carefully matched to the rest of the cartridges in the batch. Brass cases can be matched by volume, weight, and concentricity, bullets by weight and design, powder charges by weight, type, case filling (amount of total usable case capacity filled by charge), and packing scheme (characteristics of granule packing).
In addition to these critical items, the equipment used to assemble the cartridge also has an effect on its uniformity/consistency and optimal shape/size. Normally, a reloading die is used to size the cartridges to more precisely match the cartridge to the exact size of the chamber in a given firearm. Typical reloading die kits are available, for example, from Sinclair International (www.sinclairintl.com) and are manufactured by Lee Precision, Inc. such as model number 100-010-122WS for hand guns or a Redding (manufacturer) Type-S model number 749-007-898 WS die set for rifles.
Guns and reloading dies have been made for over a century; however there has never been a reliable, accurate way to adjust a loading die for a specific rifle/pistol chamber. In part, the difficulty in adjusting a loading die for a specific chamber is due to inherent variation in the tolerances maintained during the manufacturing of the various components and tools. Modern manufacturing processes will yield highly predictable results in the tolerances of the parts they produce, but a natural, statistical distribution of sizes remains part of the controlled process. This natural variation, when compounded for each component used in assembly of a round, plus the natural, accepted variation in the tools used to measure the components and the natural variation inherent in the firing components, results in a stacked variation that is manifested as shot inconsistency.
To counter this shot inconsistency, some shooters will try a rudimentary sorting of the components in an attempt to size the round to the chamber. This may reduce the shot-to-shot variation experienced by the variation in tolerances that are inherent in the manufacturing of chambers, reloading dies, shell holders and loading presses, all of which contribute to the difficulty and inaccuracy of improper die adjustment. However, there is not a systemic, proven, repeatable method or system or tool that enables a shooter to consistently improve the selection of components and reloading process. Thus, much of the current hand reloading process is based solely on an artful combination of long-practiced, experience-based skill and some guesswork.
Further, hand reloading is not without inherent danger. For a given firearm, improperly adjusted dies can be dangerous. For example, if the shoulder of the cartridge is pushed back, this creates excessive headspace in the firearm, which can result in a case head separation, causing the firearm to explode when pressures from the cartridge escape. Likewise, if the die is not adjusted properly and the shoulder of the cartridge is not pushed back sufficiently, the cartridge will not chamber in the firearm.
Obtaining the proper results of hand-loaded ammunition—thus far—is only achieved thru trial-and-error attempts by the hand-loader. In the current art to achieve the desired setting a cartridge needs to be fired and reloaded several times until the action of the bolt becomes hard to close. The hand loader then attempts to screw the die down progressively until the shoulder of the cartridge is compressed and sized enough to allow chambering. Acceptable tolerances in chamber dimensions usually run or vary from about 0.000 to 0.006-inches. If the cartridge is re-sized repeatedly with a 0.006-inch headspace, head separation is inevitable after repeated firings.
Reloading dies also have tolerances and the usual reference is to screw the die down against the shell holder (which also has tolerances) hoping to size the cartridge sufficiently to chamber, yet not be sized to the point of being dangerous by tolerance variations in dies and shell holders.
Reloading dies are generally sold in sets of two or three dies, depending on the shape of the case. The first die typically is used to size and de-cap, and expand the neck. The last die in the set seats the bullet and may apply a crimp. Special crimping dies are often used to apply a stronger crimp after the bullet is seated.
Reloading dies work in conjunction with a press. Once the appropriate die is selected and loaded with a cartridge case, they are positioned under a ram of a die that then forces the case to conform to the wall of the die, or—depending on the operation—crimp the case, or seat a primer.
Seating the primer is another important step in hand loading a cartridge. Again, the hand loading operation is attempting to create a very tight, repeatable, and exact tolerance match between the finished cartridge and the firing chamber of a given firearm. However, because of the complicated stack up of tolerances, which are unique to each hand-loader's set up, for over a century primers have been seated by feel. This is a highly variable, highly subjective, and skill-intensive manual operation and no two people have the same feel. This subjective feel results in crushed and irregular seated primers, which in turn result in misfires and poor ignition qualities. Currently, all hand-held and bench mounted priming tools are used by this subjective "feel technique."
This highly variable feel technique to self-loading ammunition is counter-productive for recreational and competitive shooters. To improve target consistency shooters desire a reduction in variables that affect their shots. Although little can be done for ambient lighting, wind, and weather (outdoors), one variable in control of the shooter is attaining a repeatable and consistent muzzle velocity. Once factor contributing to muzzle velocity is proper seating of the primer.
Achieving a low standard deviation in muzzle velocities is the key to long range shooting success and victory over other competitors. Eliminating the vertical stringing in group size by achieving single digit velocities (low standard deviations in velocity) is most important to long range shooters, which are greatly impacted by the duration of the flight and gravity action on the shot due to the extreme ranges involved.
Primer seating and depth of the primer seated contribute to consistent ignition, which in-turn relates to low deviations in velocity. As primer pockets expand, the feel one is expected to know, changes, and this results in inconsistent seating depth, which affects velocity and ignition. The depth at which the primer seats has a significant impact on the behavior of the ammunition both during firing and after it leaves the muzzle. For example, firing pin protrusion and inertia energy ignite the primer in the cartridge case, thus when the primer is seated to irregular depths, protrusion and ignition are affected and this results in inconsistent ignition, misfires and extreme spreads in velocities from projectile to projectile during a shooting session.
When primers are seated consistently to an exact depth, the consistency of the spark produced by the primer, which ignites the powder column, is improved. Spark ignition, spark intensity, and cone of spark fire all contribute to uniform burn rates and low standard deviations in muzzle velocity.
When primers are seated to the bottom of the primer pocket in the cartridge case, the pressure developed from burning powder pushes the primer back against the bolt-face; this—in turn—interrupts the harmonic node traveling down the barrel. And, this results in inconsistent timing and exit of the bullet from the barrel and affects accuracy. Minimizing and or eliminating "primer back-up" by properly seating the primer is therefore of paramount importance as it negates harmonic interruption.
English, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,049,044 issued on 1962 Aug. 14, teaches one representative example of known devices and methods for seating primers in a cartridge. Lee, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,305 issued on 1980 Sep. 16, teaches another hand tool for installing (seating) primers in ammunition cartridges. Both of these aforementioned teaching in the art rely on the feel technique for setting the desired primer position relative to the bottom of the shell or casing and further rely solely on a threaded member for infinite adjustability of this seating position. Yet another hand-held tool for seating a primer includes the disclosure of Brand et el. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,260,463 issued 2001 Jul. 17.
Markle, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,706 issued 1991 Jun. 25, teaches a bench-mounted, controlled-depth primer-seating tool that includes a dial measurement component.
Despite the known teachings in the art, there is yet still a need for a device and system that ensures proper primer seating and consistent, repeatable primer seating for the hand loading of ammunition.


A method of presenting data entities of standard device applications in wireless devices is provided. Component-based applications are hosted on a wireless device providing an application runtime environment for hosting at least one component-based application. Component definitions are hosted for developing the component-based application. A standard data component implements a standard data component definition; the standard data component definition is embedded into the component-based application definition during development. The standard data component providing access to a standard device data entity by invoking device dependent APIs the standard data component presenting the standard device data entity as a user defined data component. The application runtime environment automatically making functionality available of the user defined data components available to standard data component.

Due to the proliferation of wireless networks, there are a continually increasing number of wireless devices in use today. These devices include mobile telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) with wireless communication capabilities, two-way pagers and the like. Concurrently with the increase of available wireless devices, software applications running on such devices have increased their utility. For example, the wireless device may include an application that retrieves a weather report for a list of desired cities or an application that allows a user to shop for groceries. These software applications take advantage of the ability to transmit data of the wireless network in order to provide timely and useful services to users, often in addition to voice communication. However, due to a plethora of different types of devices, restricted resources of some devices, and complexity of delivering large amounts of data to the devices, developing software applications remains a difficult and time-consuming task.
A wireless handheld device has limited battery power, memory and processing capacity. Since communication on a device is very expensive in terms of energy consumption, it is desirable to minimize resource use of the device as much as possible.
Devices from different manufacturers expose standard device application data entities (SDADEs) by providing their in-house application programming interfaces (APIs), which are usually not compliant to each other. Following the traditional way of developing a device application, a third party device application vendor tailors or re-develops applications on a per-device manner in order to use specific vendors' proprietary function calls to access SDADEs. Furthermore, for a specific device, the same piece of code has to be rewritten for each of its applications in order to access the device's SDADEs, which should be avoided by somehow sharing the code among these applications.

System and method of presenting entities of standard applications in wireless devices


A portable electronic device includes first body and second body pivoted to the first body. The first body includes casing, supporter, first magnetic component and torsion component. The casing includes accommodating trench and first trench. First lateral of the supporter is pivoted to the casing via the torsion component, and second lateral of the supporter includes notch. When the supporter is located in the accommodating trench and the first magnetic component extends into the notch, the supporter is positioned inside the accommodating trench by the first magnetic component, and the torsion component stores elastic potential energy. When the second body rotates close to the first body, the first magnetic component exits the notch due to magnetic repulsive force of second magnetic component of the second body, and the torsion component releases the elastic potential energy so that the second lateral of the supporter rotates out to support the second body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly, to a portable electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, the notebook with two bodies able to be respectively pivoted and a pivot angle close to 360 degrees is already on the market, and the notebook can provide functions of a normal notebook, or, functions of a tablet PC. As a tablet PC, if it can stand with a particular angle, the tablet PC can be more convenient for the user to view or operate. However, the user needs to carry a supporter in addition, so that it is inconvenient for user when the tablet PC is being carried.

Portable electronic device having supporter


A first unit acquires attribute record data and a second unit acquires deterioration degree data from a terminal device mounted on a ship. The attribute record data indicates an attribute relating to a past sailing of the ship. The deterioration degree data indicates a deterioration degree, which is checked during performance of maintenance work, of each device mounted on the ship. A third unit generates relational data indicating a relation between various attributes relating to the state of the sailing of the ship and the deterioration degree of the device based on the attribute record data and deterioration degree data. A fourth unit acquires estimated attribute data indicating an estimated value of the attributes relating to sailing of the ship. A fifth unit generates timing data indicating a timing of maintenance work to be performed on each device based on the attribute record data, estimated attribute data, and relational data.

For an industrial device, a timing at which maintenance work should be performed is usually determined by a manufacturer of the device. For example, a timing of maintenance work performed on a piston of an engine is determined such that the maintenance work should be performed after every 12,000 hours of operation time of the engine.
Additionally, a degree of deterioration of a device is influenced by the magnitude of a load applied to the device during operation. Thus, a technique is proposed to determine a timing at which maintenance work should be performed on a device to reflect the magnitude of a load applied to the device.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP2007-206007A proposes a technique for determining an exact timing to replace parts of a machine based on a use time that is calculated to reflect the magnitude of a load applied to the machine under use.
For a device mounted on a ship, a timing at which maintenance work should be performed is also usually determined by a manufacturer of the devices. However, a degree of deterioration of such a device mounted on a ship is influenced by, in addition to the magnitude of a load applied to the device and an operation time of the device, various factors such as a ship speed, an attitude of the ship, a meteorological or hydrographic phenomenon that the ship has encountered during sailing, and a type of fuel oil used by a main engine.
In view of the foregoing, it is an object of the present invention to provide a means for enabling determination of a timing of maintenance work to be performed on a device mounted on a ship.

Device, program and recording medium for assisting maintenance of marine equipment


Provided is a wholly aromatic polyester superior in melt processability and tenacity which consists essentially of the following structural units (A), (B) and (C) and wherein 0.2 to 40 mole % of the total of said units are of ortho configuration; ##STR1## where Ar.sup.1 and Ar.sup.2 each represent a divalent aromatic hydrocarbon group having 6 to 20 carbon atoms, the hydrogen atoms of said aromatic hydrocarbon group may be substituted with a halogen atom, an alkyl or alkoxy group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, or phenyl; Z is ##STR2## --O--, or --SO.sub.2 --; m is 0 or 1, at least 60 mole % of Ar.sup.1 being constituted by a group selected from 1,4-phenylene, substituted 1,4-phenylenes, naphthyl and 4,4'-biphenyl.

The present invention relates to wholly aromatic polyesters, particularly wholly aromatic polyesters superior in melt processability and tenacity.
Recently there has been an increasing demand for upgrading of organic, high molecular materials so that there can be obtained fibers, films and moldings superior in mechanical properties such as tensile strength and modulus and in heat resistance.
As a high molecular material which satisfies the above demand there is known a rigid-rod polymer wherein only aromatic rings are linked together in the form of a straight chain. But this polymer is very poor in its solubility to solvents and the melting point thereof is very high. For this reason it has been difficult to effect processing in the state of a solution or in a melted state.
For solving the above problem there have been proposed a method of introducing an aliphatic chain in the main chain, a method of introducing therein an m-substituted compound, a method of introducing therein a 2,6-substituted naphthalene ring, and a method of introducing in an aromatic ring a bulky substituent such as alkyl, halogen, or phenyl. Since the melting point can be lowered by these methods, it becomes possible to effect melt molding, and particularly in a liquid crystal phase, the fluidity is improved and so it becomes easy to perform molding. As typical examples of prior art publications disclosing polymers which exhibit such melt anisotropy there are mentioned Japanese Patent Publications Nos. 47870/1972 and 482/1980, 18016/1981 and 13531/1984 as well as Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 65421/1978, 77691/1979, 144024/1980, 172921/1982, 69199/1979 and 25354/1982.
In those methods, however, there remain many problems to be solved. In the case where an aliphatic chain is copolymerized with the main chain, the resulting polymer is inferior in its mechanical properties and the heat resistance is impaired markedly. Also in the introduction of an m-substituted compound by copolymerization, the mechanical properties of the resulting copolymer are not always satisfactory and the tenacity is impaired. The method of introducing a 2,6-substituted naphthalene ring can afford superior mechanical properties, but the retention of strength at high temperatures is not satisfactory and the monomer is expensive. The method of introducing a bulky substituent is also disadvantageous in that the retention of strength at high temperatures is not satisfactory and the monomer is expensive.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a wholly aromatic polyester capable of being subjected to melt molding and superior in tenacity such as high impact resistance while having superior heat resistance.


A document recycling copier having, in a system configuration, a copier body, a recycling document handler which may be loaded with a stack of documents of different sizes, and a finisher for automatically arranging and binding a series of copied paper sheets. The copier is capable of copying the individual documents of different sizes on paper sheets the sizes of which are individually associated with the documents, or copying all of the documents of different sizes on paper sheets of the same size, as desired.

The present invention relates to a document recycling copier and, more particularly, to a document recycling copier of the type having, in a system configuration, a copier body, a recycling document handler which may be loaded with a stack of documents of different sizes, and a finisher for automatically arranging and binding a sequence of copied paper sheets. The copier with which the present invention is concerned is capable of copying documents of different sizes on paper sheets which individually match the documents in size, or copying all of them on paper sheets of a single size, as desired.
A current trend in the copiers art is toward a multi-function and systematic configuration which includes an automatic document feeder (ADF). An advanced type of ADF available today is a recycling document handler (RDH) having a document tray which may be loaded with a stack of documents of different sizes randomly. The RDH sequentially transports such documents one by one from the tray to an exposing station defined on a copier body while returning them to their predetermined position on the tray. Further, a copier with an RDH is operable with a finisher which automatically arranges and binds copied paper sheets which sequentially come out of the copier. With the combination of a copier, RDH and finisher, therefore, it is possible to automatically produce a desired number of bound sets of copies each consisting of reproductions of a sequence of documents simply by stacking the documents on the tray of RDH and then pressing a print key of the copier.
A problem with the prior art copier is that a stack of documents of different sizes cannot be reproduced without lowering the copying efficiency to a critical extent. Specifically, the sizes of the individual documents have to be sensed at each time of copying so as to select paper sheets of a size which match a particular document size each time. Further, when paper sheets of a particular size are selected beforehand, optics of the copier have to be moved to select an adequate magnification each time. A copier may be provided with an RDH constructed such that a stack of documents of different sizes laid on the tray are sequentially transported toward a glass platen of a copier body, the lowermost document being first, while being squentially returned to the tray after imagewise exposure, as disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 61-263534 by way of example. The copier disclosed in this Laid-Open Patent Publication has a capability for steering a copied paper sheet which carries an image on one side thereof, i.e., one-sided copy to return it toward a copy processing section of the copier body for thereby automatically producing a two-sided copy. This kind of copier has document size sensing means for sensing the sizes of individual documents while the documents are sequentially fed from the tray, document size sensing means for sequentially memorizing the sensed document sizes while the documents are circulated once prior to the start of actual copying operations, and means for sequentially reading the document sizes out of the storing means to group the documents on a size basis. While such a copier is capable of reproducing documents belonging to a particular size group on paper sheets which have the same size as the documents, it cannot reproduce all the documents of different sizes on paper sheets of a single size with high efficiency.
Another problem with a prior art copier having an RDH and a finisher is that when documents of different sizes are to be stacked on the tray of the RDH to be copied size by size and then automatically bound by the finisher, one has to rearrange the documents on a size basis before actually operating the copier. In addition, when bound sets of copies which are different in size from each other are driven out of the finisher onto a discharge tray randomly, it may occur that a larger set of copies is laid on a smaller set of copies. This not only prevents the bindings from being stacked neatly on the discharge tray but also makes it difficult for one to see the underlying bindings.

Document recycling copier for copying documents of varying sizes


A method and system for managing top-level windows controlled by a conference enabler is disclosed. The system operates in a conferencing network system having a conference enabler for distributing applications to a plurality of servers. Each server has its own display. The method and system identifies a top-level window sent by the conferenced application. Next, it identifies whether a top-level window is among the requests sent by the conferenced application is a root window. The system then enters a window ID associated with the top-level window into a list of top-level windows. Then, the system provides a slot associated with the top-level window within the list for storing the window configuration of the top-level window as configured by each of the participant servers.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates, in general, to a conference enabled networking system and, more specifically, to the management of windows within a conferenced enabled window application distributed over a networking system. More specifically still, the present invention relates to a method of tracking the size and location of top-level windows for conference enabled X-windows applications for participants in a conference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Windows are the most fundamental of all resources formed by an X-windows application. Windows are grouped into hierarchial relationships, each having a parent (with the exception of the root window) and zero or more children. Application "top-level" windows are created as children of the root window. A window manager, if present, typically reparents these windows underneath one of its own windows in order to provide border controls for the application. From the conferencing enabler's perspective, the window is still considered to be a top-level window even though it may have been reparented by the window manager. Accordingly, a top-level application window may be defined as being one whose parent window is not owned by the application. Every application has at least one primary top-level window. "Pop-out" windows, such as, for example, pull-down menus and dialog boxes, are also generally implemented as top-level windows by X applications.
Top-level windows are of interest to the X conferencing enabler primarily for two reasons: input focus switching, and positioning of pull-down menus. Conference applications are made aware of the state, which include location, size, color, contents, etc., of top-level windows on the input focus X server. Since the application "thinks" that it is only talking to one server, it makes sense to return replies and events containing relevant window information from the input focus server. When the input focus is switched, the enabler must be able to inform a conferenced application of the different window configurations as they exist on the new input focus display. Top-level window locations are also used to correctly position pull-down menus belonging to a conferenced application for each participant.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method for allowing an X windows conferencing enabler to track top-level window configurations for participants in a conference.

Method for managing top-level windows within a conferencing network system

International Business Machines Corporation


A resister controlled delay locked loop (DLL) is provided which is capable of reducing current consumption by operating the DLL loop when the semiconductor device is only at an operation mode. A semiconductor device having the register controlled DLL and an internal circuit synchronized with a DLL clock signal output from the register controlled DLL, includes an enable signal generator generating an enable signal for the register controlled DLL to control a generation of the DLL clock signal in response to an activation or non-activation signal of the semiconductor device.

The application claims, under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119, the priority benefit of Korean Patent Application No. 2001-38872 filed Jun. 30, 2001, the contents of which are herein fully incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a delay locked loop (DLL) in a semiconductor memory device and, more particularly, to a resister controlled DLL capable of reducing current consumption by operating the DLL loop when the semiconductor device is only at an operation mode.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, in system circuits of semiconductor devices, a clock signal has been used as a reference signal for adjusting operation timing or guaranteeing a high-speed operation without an error. When a clock signal from an external circuit is used in an internal circuit, a time delay (or clock skew) is generated. A DLL has been used to compensate for such a time delay by providing the same phase between the external and internal clock signals. As compared with the phase locked loop (PLL), the DLL has an advantage in that it is less sensitive to a noise than the PLL. Accordingly, the DLL has been widely used in synchronous memories such as DDR SDRAMs (Double Data Rate Synchronous DRAMs). A register controlled DLL has been generally used as a DLL circuit.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional register controlled DLL includes first and second clock buffers 11 and 12, a clock divider 13, a phase comparator 19, a delay unit 10 which has first to third delay lines 14 to 16, a delay monitor 23 having a shift register 17 and a shift controller 18 in a DLL loop, first and second DLL drivers 20 and 21, and a delay model 22.
The first clock buffer 11 receives an inverted external clock signal/clk and produces a first clock signal fall_clk synchronized with a falling edge of the clock signal/clk. Likewise, the second clock buffer 12 receives the external clock signal clk and produces a second clock signal rise_clk synchronized with a rising edge of the clock signal clk. The clock divider 13 divides the second clock signal rise_clk into n signals (n: a positive integer, e.g., n=8) and then produces a reference signal ref and divided clock signals div_in.
The first delay line 14 in the delay unit 10 receives the first clock signal fall_clk according to an amount of delay from the shift register 17, which is controlled by the shift controller 18, and produces a first internal clock signal ifclk. Also, the second delay line 15 receives the second clock signal rise_clk according to an amount of delay from the shift register 17, which is also controlled by the shift controller 18, and produces a second internal clock signal irclk. The first and second DLL drivers 20 and 21 receive the first and second internal clock signals ifclk and irclk and produce first and second DLL clock signals fclk_dll and rclk_dll, respectively. The third delay line 16 receives the divided clock signal div_in from the clock divider 13 and produces a delayed clock signal feedback_dly. The delay model 22 receiving the delayed clock signal feedback_dly provides the same signal processing path to the delayed clock signal feedback_dly as the actual signal processing path.
The phase comparator 19 compares the phases of the output signal (feed_back) from the delay model 22 with the reference signal ref and provides a control signal ctrl to the shift controller 18 according to the phase difference. The shift controller 18 outputs a shift right or left signal SR or SL to the a shift register 17 in response to the control signal ctrl, and the first to third delay lines 14 to 16 shift the input clock signals (e.g., fall_clk, rise_clk and div_in) based on the amount of shifting stored in the shift register 17. Also, the shift controller 18 outputs a DLL locking signal dll_lockb when there is no phase difference between the output signal from the delay model 22 and the reference signal ref. The delay model 22 includes a dummy clock buffer, a dummy output buffer and a dummy load, which is called a replica circuit. The shift register 17 and the shift controller 18 form the delay monitor 23 used to control the first to third delay lines 14 to 16 within the delay unit 10.
The DLL operation of the device shown in FIG. 1 will be described in detail below. The first clock buffer 11 receiving the inverted external clock signal/clk from an external circuit produces the first clock signal fall_clk, and the second clock buffer 12 receiving the external clock clk produces the second clock signal rise_clk. The clock divider 13 produces n clock signals in response to the second clock signal rise_clk, thereby forming the reference clock signal ref and the divided clock signal div_in which are synchronized with the external clock signal clk every n divided clock signals.
At the initial operation, the divided clock signal div_in passes through the third delay line 16 in the delay unit 10, thereby forming the delayed clock signal feedback_dly, and the delayed clock signal feedback_dly is delayed in the delay model 22 to form another delayed clock signal (another feedback signal).
The phase comparator 19 compares the rising edge of the reference signal ref with that of the feedback signal feed_back and thereby produces the control signal ctrl. The shift controller 18 produces shift control signals SR and SL, each of which determines the right or left shift for the shift register 17, in response to the control signal ctrl from the phase comparator 19. Also, the shift register 17 determines the amount of the right or left shifting needed in the first to third delay lines 14-16 of the delay unit 10 in response to the shift control signals SR and SL. By comparing the delayed feedback signal feed_back with the reference signal ref on the DLL feedback loop, a delay locking is achieved at the time when a minimum jitter is present between the compared signals where the delay locking signal dll_lockb is produced as a signal notifying such a locking.
Once the phase locking is achieved, the DLL clock is continuously toggled, except for refresh and power-down modes, as shown in FIG. 2. For example, the DLL clock is toggled during the write, precharge or read operations. In FIG. 2, xe2x80x9cACT,xe2x80x9d WT,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cPRExe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cRDxe2x80x9d denote active, write, precharge and read commands, respectively. Accordingly, this continuous toggling of the DLL clock increases power consumption and, specifically, this power consumption is much higher at high frequency operations.
On the other hand, in peripheral circuits of the semiconductor memory devices, a multistage repeater 1 as shown in FIG. 3 is generally employed in order to maintain a slope or shape of the clock signal. However, since the size of the repeater 1 is relatively large, a large amount of current is consumed by the repeater 1. Typically, ten repeaters require or consume 10 mA amount of current. Accordingly, when the DLL clock signal is continuously toggled, the current consumption of the peripheral circuits increases significantly.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a register control delay locked loop capable of reducing current consumption caused by an unnecessary toggling of a DLL clock signal and to provide a semiconductor memory device having the same.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device having a register controlled delay locked loop (DLL) and an internal circuit synchronized with a DLL clock signal outputted from the register controlled DLL, the semiconductor device comprising: an enable signal generator for generating an enable signal of the register controlled DLL to control a generation of the DLL clock signal in response to an activation or nonactivation signal of the semiconductor device.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a register controlled delay locked loop (DLL) in a semiconductor device comprising: an internal clock generator for generating an internal clock signal synchronized with an edge of an external clock signal, a delayed clock signal and a reference clock signal; a first delay unit for compensating an amount of delay caused by a signal transmission path of the delayed clock signal; a phase comparing unit for detecting a difference between the reference clock signal and the delayed clock signal; a controller having a plurality of second delay units for controlling an amount of delay of the delayed clock signal in response to the detection signal from the phase comparing unit; a driver for driving a DLL clock signal from the delayed clock signal of which the delay amount is controlled by the controller; an enable signal generating unit for generating an enable signal in response to an activation or non-activation signal of the semiconductor device; and a clock controller disposed between the internal clock generator and the second delay unit(s), for selectively transferring the internal clock signal from the internal clock generator to the second delay unit in response to the enable signal from the enable signal generating unit.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a register controlled delay locked loop (DLL) in a semiconductor device comprising: an internal clock generating unit for generating an internal clock signal synchronized with an edge of an external clock signal, a delayed clock signal and a reference clock signal; a first delay unit for compensating an amount of delay caused by a signal transmission path of the delayed clock signal; a phase comparing unit for detecting a difference between the reference clock signal and the delayed clock signal; a control unit having a plurality of second delay units for controlling an amount of delay of the delayed clock signal in response to the detection signal from the phase comparing unit; a driving unit for driving a DLL clock signal from the delayed clock signal of which the delay amount is controlled by the control unit; and an enable signal generating unit for enabling the driving unit in response to an activation or non-activation signal of the semiconductor device.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a register controlled delay locked loop (DLL) in a semiconductor device, wherein the register controlled DLL has delay paths, which generates internal clock signals synchronized with each edge of an external clock signal, and a feedback loop for controlling an amount of delay of the internal clock signals based on a register, the register controlled DLL comprising: a switching unit for controlling a transfer of the internal clock signals on the delay paths; and a control unit for selectively turning on the switching unit in response to an activation or non-activation signal of the semiconductor device.
These and other objects of the present application will become more readily apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

Register controlled DLL for reducing current consumption


A process directly converting ethane to ethanol and methanol uses controlled oxidation. The reaction takes place in an inert reactor, i.e., one having internal surfaces which do not affect the reaction, in the absence of a catalyst. The ethane is intimately mixed with air or oxygen prior to the introduction of the mixed gases into a heated pre-reactor which allows the pre-reaction or induction period to proceed. The pre-reacted gases then enter the reactor where the reaction takes place at elevated temperatures of 200.degree. to 350.degree. and at elevated pressure of from 10 to 150 atmospheres. The percentage of oxygen in the mixture of reactant gases is kept below 15% by volume and is preferably 2 to 10% by volume. Apparatus for carrying out the method is also described.

I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the controlled oxidation of ethane to produce primarily ethanol with some methanol and little or no aldehyde or acid.
II. Description of Prior Art
This invention relates to the direct conversion of ethane to ethanol (Direct Ethane Oxidation, DEO). Ethanol (C.sub.2 H.sub.5 OH) is presently produced either by the fermentation of sugar (Reaction 1) or by the hydration of ethylene (Reaction 2) which is normally formed by the dehydrogenation of ethane (Reaction 2a). ##STR1## The ethanol cost from these two processes are estimated to be $1.67 and $1.38 US/gal respectively.
Other processes have been described which include the hydrogenation of acetic acid (by Humphreys and Glasgow) and the hydrogenolysis of methyl acetate (by Halcon SD). Ethanol from these two processes is estimated to cost $1.06 and $1.15 US/gal respectively.
Ethane is a by-product recovered from natural gas in the liquified petroleum gas fraction along with propane and butane. Ethane is primarily used to make ethylene (via Reaction 2a) which is used to produce the plastic-polyethylene (polythene). There is presently a surplus of ethane on the world market and it is used as a fuel for its heat value. The estimated cost of ethanol via the DEO process of this invention is approximately $0.53 US/gal which makes it an attractive octane enhancer for gasoline.
Previous attempts to convert ethane directly into ethanol by partial oxidation met with limited success (Newitt and Block, Proceedings of Royal Society, Vol. 140A, p. 426, 1933; Newitt and Szego, Proceedings of Royal Society Vol. 147A, p. 555, 1934; Bell et al, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol. 41, pg. 2609-12, 1949; Shlau and Albright, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry--Process Development Vol. 21, p. 101, 1982).
Only the early workers, Newitt and coworkers, obtained ethanol in significant yields (20 to 60%).
One of the neglected aspects of the oxidation process is the induction period which Bone and Hill (Proceedings of the Royal Society Vol 129A, p. 434, 1930) showed in a static system to decrease with increase in temperature and increase in pressure. In plug flow reactor system this induction period must be dealt with by the use of a pre-heater.
Accordingly, the object of the invention is to provide a process for the direct conversion of ethane to ethanol which is relatively easy to operate and which gives a good yield of alcohol with high selectivity.

Direct conversion of ethane to alcohols by high pressure controlled oxidation


Using a computer and storage, a circuit design process is executed to preserve overall design quality while obtaining quality placements for a full class of pipeline structure signatures. These signatures include classic latch to latch pipelines, as well as a variety of latch to latch and mixed logic pipelines. The process employs a method for optimizing pipeline structure placement in a circuit design, by initiating an analysis of pipeline logic structures for correcting poor quality of result (QOR) placements by identifying poor placements caused by placement algorithmic response to degenerate cases and in the process of analysis preserving high quality placements of global placement and timing to preserve preponderant non-degenerate cases in said circuit design. Then employing a plurality of global placement steps, wherein each subsequent placement's quality of result (QOR) is dependent upon the prior placement's quality of result (QOR), circuits are identified as being involved in a class of degenerate cases, and circuits having poor placements are removed by unplacing them from the global placement solution and also other non-degenerate poor quality placements are corrected.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the performance optimization of integrated circuit (IC) designs, and particularly to a faster, more efficient approach to timing closure for integrated circuit designs containing pipeline logic structures, especially where the logic compositions of said pipelines structures are unrestricted in their definition
2. Description of Background
Within IBM automated design of integrated circuits generally employs a suite (mix) of IBM design tools and algorithms to simultaneously address the problems of performance optimization and full design wireability, such as those netweight solutions described in US Patent of Publication Numbers US20060015836 A1 dated Jan. 19, 2006 and US20060010410 A1 dated Jan. 12, 2006 illustrating improvements which are now included within a tool set called IBM PISCES and used internally by IBM. Such mixtures have proven effective in achieving these goals for a majority of integrated circuit designs and logic configurations. However, certain specific logic connectivity scenarios and physical configurations have not responded well to this methodology approach. This class of special connectivity scenarios forms a set of degenerate cases when standard linear and quadratic algorithms are employed in design optimization. One case in point has been logic pipeline structures. The placement of logic pipelines in response to standard design optimization tools and algorithms has been poor—resulting in timing violations and missed performance objectives.
Before our invention, designers used simple scripts to re-place the failing pipeline logic. Creation of the scripts carried with it an overhead in manpower and design time. More problematic was the fact that this approach was not very effective for complex pipeline structures. These structures, unlike classic latch to latch pipelines, contained functional logic between the latches for at least some portion of the pipeline. In such cases the ineffectiveness of simple scripts forced designers to resort to more manually directed operations.
These operations carried a considerable burden in manpower, and had a considerable impact on design closure schedules.

Method for optimizing of pipeline structure placement