A stove of saving the combustible gases and ornamenting a kitchen. The stove includes a multiple burner configuration composed of improved removable burners. Each removable burner has a plurality of gas ports for generating angularly patterned flame directly in contact with the bottom surface of a cooking utensil, combustible gas dispersing means and gas-primary air mixing means for producing a homogeneous mixture of the combustible gases and air to achieve efficient combustion. The gas ports are located to each burner's upper section which is surrounded by a removable heat transfer regulating apparatus, wherein the apparatus focuses heat on the utensil positioned onto the apparatus and above the burner to thereby prevent loss of the heat. A flat top plate of the stove conceals the apparatus, which causes the stove to have a flat top surface, so that the visual effect of the flat top surface of the stove is in harmony with that of the horizontal surface of a counter top where the stove is installed to thereby additionally ornament the kitchen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to cooking appliances, and more particularly to an improved stove of ornament and gas saving in cooking.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general gas stoves are well known. The following 13 United States patents and published patent applications are the closest prior art references which are related to the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,156,087 issued to Kupfer on Oct. 12, 1915 for "Flame Shield For Gas Stove" discloses a cylindrical metal tube which is used as a flame shield for a burner of a gas stove. The flame shield is positioned between the stove grids on the cooktop and a platform placed under the cooktop, wherein an upper end of the shield reaches into the plane of the undersurface of the grids, a lower end of the shield rests upon the platform, and the body of the shield surrounds the burner.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,166,442 issued to Kahn on Jul. 18, 1939 for "Cooking Stove" discloses a mechanical structure which is connected to the top of a gas burner having a plurality of gas ports and the cooktop of a stove, wherein an annular curved shield surrounds the burner adjacent the gas ports and extends upwardly and outwardly to the inside edge of the recessed shoulder of the cooktop for directing the heat from the burner toward the grate opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,187,742 issued to Power on Jun. 8, 1965 for "Combination Gas Burner Grid And Flame Shield" discloses an improved gas burner grid comprising a substantially rigid and arcuate shield, which is a horizontal plated structure used to eliminate any undesirable overheating of a pan handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,851,419 issued to Reiner on Feb. 8, 2005 for "Portable Hiking Stove" discloses an improved portable hiking stove.
U.S. Patent Publication No.: 2005/0115556 issued to Carson et al. on Jun. 2, 2005 for "Turkey Fryer/Outdoor Cooker Wind and Fire Guard" discloses a windscreen device for outdoor grill. The device can be assembled from a horizontal bottom plate and a series of vertical side plates to be a cuboid enclosure or windscreen.
United States Patent Publication No.: 2004/0045542 issued to Zhou et al. on Mar. 11, 2004 is for an "Outdoor Cook Stove". The Publication discloses a portable outdoor stove including a burner and a wind guard having an opened bottom end of cylinder shape capable of tightly coupled with a cooking vessel, wherein the burner is placed at the center of the opened bottom of the wind guard.
United States Patent Publication No.: 2005/0109330 issued to Pestrue et al. on May 26, 2005 for "Cooking Stove Including Invertible Support Rack, Support Rack With Dual Cooking Surfaces And Method Of Using Same" discloses a stove for outdoor use. The stove includes a hollow shell, supporting structure, and a burner assembly, operatively attached to the side of the shell, and a vessel support rack for placement on the shell.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,335 issued to Farnsworth et al. on Jul. 25, 1989 for "Vented Gas Range Top Burner" discloses a top burner for a gas cooking range, which includes a burner vent having a radially upwardly sloping wall to surround the burner head. An annular ring projects upwardly from an inner radial extremity of the wall to direct combustion products from the burner head into immediate scrubbing contact with the bottom of a cooking utensil.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,851,420 issued to Jennings (the Jennings patent) on Feb. 8, 2005 for "Burner With Piloting Ports" discloses an improved burner having ports that are aligned in a defined alignment with respect to an adjacent structure of the a burner body with a piloting zone so that adjacent structure guides the formation of a flame kernel at an outlet of the port.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,093,018 issued to Avshalumov on Jul. 25, 2000 for "Gas Burner" discloses an improved gas burner. The burner comprises in combination means for controlled feeding and subsequent admixing of a secondary air directly to the base of flame in a form of a cap coaxially surrounding a burner head of the gas burner having lateral apertures for issuing combustible air-gas mixture to form a flame.
In addition, gas burners that incorporate two and three flame rings having the laterally oriented gas ports are known in the field of the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,132,205 issued to Harneit (the Harneit Patent) on Oct. 17, 2000 for "Multi-Ring Sealed Gas Burner" discloses a multi-ring burner assembly that utilizes at least two flame rings to gently and evenly warm food and a third outer flame ring in conjunction with the first two flame rings for cooking food.
The modern gas stoves for the household usage can be classified to a sealed burner mounting and an opened burner mounting (see commercial stoves elsewhere), regarding the mechanical structure for affixing gas burners to the cooktops of the stoves. The former one is also illustrated from U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,759 issued to Hammel et al. on Jun. 28, 1994 for "Sealed Burner Mounting Assembly" (the Hammel patent) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,621 issued to Gabelmann on Jan. 14, 2003 for "Sealed Gas Burner Assembly" (the Gabelmann patent).
From the above illustration of the existing technologies on structural components of the cooking stoves, it has been discovered that there is absence of an apparatus in use of regulating transfer of the flame heat from a burner of the gas stove to a utensil in cooking. The apparatus is removably placed on the stove cooktop to surround an upper section of the gas burner and support the utensil. Therefore, heat radiation and convection generated by flame of the gas burner can be well regulated. This means the apparatus focuses heat on the utensil to thereby prevent loss of the heat and increase efficiency of heating the utensil in cooking. For this purpose, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/811,521 (the '521 Application) has disclosed such removable flame heat transfer regulating apparatus. The '521 Application further experimentally demonstrates that with the aid of the invented apparatus, it can significantly increase the flame heating efficiency in cooking, when the apparatus is incorporated with an existing stove burner having the laterally oriented gas ports.
However, it would be appreciated that, application of the invented apparatus is only a passive solution in terms of increasing the heating efficiency. This means, what the apparatus can contribute is only to regulate the heat transfer from the flame that is already controlled by structures of the existing burners having the laterally orientated gas ports.
Referring to the Jennings and Harneit Patents, the existing gas burners in the western market provide the laterally oriented gas ports that are generally in the shape of a circular opening or rectangular aperture. They are radially and circumferentially spaced apart on a flame ring, which results in a phenomenon that a mixture of the primary air and combustible gases under the supplied pressure is rushed to flow transversely out of the gas ports. In this situation, the flame kernels generated at the respective outlets of the gas ports also burn in the respective transverse directions. Obviously, this phenomenon is most apparent when the gas ports are provided by the mixture of air and combustible gases at the maximum flow rate (or pressure).
Referring further to FIGS. 2 and 2a of the Jennings patent, there is illustrated that the top flame burns in an ascending direction, when the top flame is in distance to an outlet of a gas port. In this situation, the transverse flow of the mixture of the primary air and combustible gases is sharply weakened due to a quick dissipation of its supplied pressure when the combustible mixture flows out of the outlet of the gas port.
As compared with the naturally upward pattern when a flame burns, the flame pattern governed by the existing gas ports is altered if there is a cooking utensil positioned above the flame, which has been discussed in the '521 Application. In that situation, the flame elongates in the respective transverse directions under the utensil bottom surface. This is because the bottom surface of the utensil blocks the upward pathway of the top flame, which forces the flame positioned under the utensil to transversely extend more before it ends.
In the situation when the maximum flow rate (or pressure) of the combustible mixture is supplied, such flame transverse elongation also reaches the maximum extend. This will cause two major disadvantages even after applying the invented apparatus, which negatively affect the heating efficiency in cooking when applying the most popularly and probably usable cooking utensils which have sizes ranging from 15 cm to 20 cm in diameters.
First, a portion of the heat of the top flame, which is represented by the radiated heat and convected heat, will be escaped through a gap between the bottom of the utensil and top of the apparatus before the heat could reach the utensil. This results in loss of the thermal energies. Such energy loss is absolutely happened since the apparatus having fixed diametrical sizes practically cannot accommodate every specific situations in cooking, including the maximum flow rate of the combustible mixture. In fact, the sizes of the apparatus including a diameter of the top circumference of an inner shell are designed from considering overall effect in application of the apparatus, which includes convenience of usage, ability to fit the respective most popularly and probably usable cooking utensils, and save the thermal energies.
Second, majority of the top flame is moved outwardly to come into contact with areas of the bottom surface of the utensil, wherein the contacted areas are more towards the outer circumference of the utensil bottom surface. This causes a large area of a "cold spot" on the utensil bottom surface. In addition, the flame elongation will further enhance a chilling effect of the flame, if the bottom surface of the utensil is positioned higher than a position that the top flame can reach. The chilling effect is also negative to the object of achieving a high heating efficiency in cooking since the top flame that has the highest temperature cannot directly come into contact with the utensil bottom surface.
Following the above disclosed first reason of losing the thermal energies, it would be appreciated that besides the factor of the transversely oriented gas ports, an additional factor of extra large sizes of the (outer) flame rings is also a cause of losing the thermal energies in cooking even the gas ports of the respective flame rings are oriented upwardly. In the above conclusion, the extra large sizes of the flame rings are defined as that they are not proportional to the diametrical sizes of the respective heat transfer regulating apparatus and the most popularly and probably usable cooking utensils. For example, most burners of the gas stoves in the Asian market including the Chinese market have a dual flame-ring configuration including smaller central and larger outer flame rings. However, the outer rings are usually very large, which the maximum diameters could be 12.5 cm. In that situation, losing the thermal energies absolutely happens in cooking.
Therefore, regarding the above identified two problems, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/313,940 (the '940 Application) has disclosed flame (outer) rings having improved gas ports and optimum diametric sizes, which are incorporated with the heat transfer regulating apparatus to best fit the most popularly and probably usable utensils. The improved gas ports have structure for directing the combustible gas-air mixture to flow at an ascending angle relative to a transverse plane where the flame ring is positioned, and securing stabilities of the flame kernels generated at outlets of the respective improved gas ports for prevent lifting or backlash of the kernels.
Obviously changing structures of the gas ports including their orientations and defining the optimum diametrical sizes of the flame rings are the active solutions in terms of increasing the heating efficiency as compared with the passive solution from implementing the heat transfer regulating apparatus disclosed by the '521 Application. Therefore, the '940 Application has brought a better solution for increasing the heating efficiency of the flame in cooking.
Further, the '940 application has additionally disclosed alternative materials of ceramics to be used in manufacturing the apparatus, since the ceramic materials have large heat capacities, which is an additional positive factor to increase the heating efficiency in cooking.
However, the '940 Application does not disclose major structure of an entire stove, including structure related to two subjects. The first one is regarding a preferred embodiment of a lower part of the burner that could additionally contribute to save gases in cooking. The second one is regarding the stove having flat top plates which could conceal the upward apparatus thereby causing the stove to have a flat top surface. Therefore, the stove having the flat top surface can be fitted into a modernized kitchen that requires appliances of ornament and excellent performance. This means a stove is expected to have a few marketable values if its upwardly positioned apparatus is not concealed, since the visual effect of the upwardly positioned apparatus is out of harmony with that of the horizontal surface of the counter top where the stove is installed to thereby not ornament the kitchen.
It would be appreciated that these two subjects are equally important for a marketable stove installed in a kitchen which is the principal place of a house where happens a majority of daily activities of a family.
Gas stoves are popularly used in human society. Usage of the gas stoves consumes tremendous amount of the combustible gases, and also generates significant amount of carbon dioxide gases which are of total greenhouse gases generated by the human society. Therefore, there is a significant need of the present invention to provide a stove, which not only saves combustible gases in cooking but also is ornament, so that the present invention stove could make people enjoy more the modern style of living from reducing the combustible gas consumption to lower the living costs and protect environment, and from improving ornamentation to a modernized kitchen.

Gas stove having improved burners incorporated with removable flame heat transfer regulating apparatus concealed by top plates of the stove


A dioramic apparatus includes a vessel having an inferior portion and a superior portion. The vessel includes a shell and defines an interior space. The interior space is partially filled by a liquid medium. At least one dioramic scene is disposed in the interior space. A reservoir is in fluid communication with the interior space. The reservoir includes a flow plate defining at least one liquid intake and at least one liquid output port. The at least one liquid intake is configured and arranged for receiving at least a portion of the liquid medium from the interior space when the dioramic apparatus is at least partially inverted. The at least one liquid output port is configured and arranged to output at least a portion of the liquid medium from the reservoir when the vessel is placed in an upright position.

Fascination for recreating miniaturized versions of specific settings, real, idealized, or even imaginary, has fueled the desire of some people to attempt to create dioramas which may include certain people, places, or events contained within vessels completely filled with a liquid medium. Artificial snowflakes are commonly added to the completely-liquid-filled vessels so that, when the completely-liquid-filled vessels are agitated, the artificial snowflakes may swirl around the diorama before settling due to gravity. The swirling artificial snowflakes may give the appearance of snow falling onto the diorama for a period of time to temporarily enliven and dramatize the diorama.

Device for creating and displaying liquid-medium movement within a vessel containing a dioramic scene


An information processing apparatus driven by an AC power supply or a rechargeable battery has a charge directing unit which initiates charging of the battery from the AC power supply, provided that the remaining amount of power of the battery is lower than a predetermined charge-start-criteria level and that the information processing apparatus is driven by the AC power supply. Also included is a drive history storage which stores a drive history including information indicating which of the AC power supply and the battery was driving the information processing apparatus in each time period in the past. A recharge-start-criteria-level-setting unit sets the charge-start-criteria level on the basis of the drive history.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of being powered by a rechargeable battery. More particularly, the present invention relates to adaptive methods and apparatus for controlling the charging and discharging of the battery.
2. Background
In recent years, small lightweight information terminals (or portable computers) have come into wide use. Such information terminals are ordinarily provided with rechargeable batteries which enable the information terminals to be used while being carried outdoors or in the field. Each of the batteries is charged by an AC power supply when the information terminal is connected to the AC power supply, and can drive the information terminal when the information terminal is disconnected from the AC power supply.
Various kinds of batteries such as nickel-cadmium batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries and lithium-ion batteries are being used. Such batteries typically degrade due to repeated charging and discharging. For example, with a nickel-cadmium battery or the like, there is a memory effect problem due to repeated charging after partial discharge. With other types of batteries free of the memory effect, there is also a problem that a control circuit incorporated in the battery is incapable of suitably controlling the full charge capacity which changes as the battery experiences repeated charge and discharge cycles.
Various techniques relating to these known problems have been proposed. See, for examples, Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 9-233722, Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 9-205736, Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2001-136673, Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2002-315198, and Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2002-223529.
Technologies have been used that automatically starts charging a battery of an information processing device without any direction from a user when the device is connected to an AC power supply. This conveniently eliminates the need for troublesome operations for recharging and allows a sufficient amount of power of the battery to be maintained as long as possible. However, the technology starts charging on connection to an AC power supply even if the remaining amount of battery power is so sufficient that charging is not required. Consequently, the number of recharges of the battery increases and therefore the battery may degrade sooner.
When a battery degrades, the full charge capacity of the battery is reduced. At this time, a control circuit incorporated in the battery changes the upper limit of the amount of charging on the basis of information on the number of charging/discharging cycles, the charge/discharge capacity and the battery terminal voltage for example for the purpose of preventing overcharging of the battery. In some cases, e.g., a case where a short charging/discharging cycle is repeated, however, there is a possibility that the actual full charge capacity and the upper limit of the amount of charging set by the control circuit will differ from each other as a result of accumulation of errors in information about the battery. A user may perform a regeneration process of repeating complete charging and complete discharging to reset the upper limit of the amount of charging set by the control circuit to the actual full charge capacity. A comparatively long time is required to perform the regeneration process, but it is difficult for the user to determine in advance whether the full charge capacity can be actually recovered by the regeneration process. The conventional art therefore entails a possibility of failure to suitably perform the regeneration process for enabling the battery to perform the essential function.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus and related methods capable of solving the above-described problem. This object can be attained by a combination of features described in the independent claims in the appended claims. In the dependent claims, further advantageous examples of the present invention are specified.

Information processing apparatus for setting charge-start criteria level based on power supply drive history


A method for monitoring an elevator system utilizes a mobile terminal device having at least one sensor to collect measurement values in an elevator car. The mobile terminal device is carried by a passenger of the elevator system. The collected measurement values are transmitted by the mobile terminal device to a central evaluation unit where they are evaluated. The mobile terminal device activates a measurement mode when it detects that it is located in a region of a shaft door of the elevator system.

US 2016/0130114 A1 describes a method of monitoring an elevator system in which a passenger with a mobile terminal device, for example a mobile telephone or smartphone, in an elevator car can take measurements and transmit them to a central evaluation unit for evaluation. The mobile terminal device for this purpose has a sensor in the form of a microphone which can pick up sounds of the elevator system during a trip of the elevator car. For this purpose, the passenger starts a program in the mobile terminal device by means of which the measurements can be started and transmitted to the evaluation unit. The passenger taking the measurements can be for example a service technician, and in-house technician, or some other user of the elevator system.
US 2015/0284214 A1 describes a method of monitoring an elevator system which automatically recognizes when an elevator car in an elevator shaft is moved in the vertical direction. As soon as a mobile terminal device identifies movement of the elevator car up or down, collection of the measured variables by sensors of the mobile terminal device is started. So as to activate this method, a user must activate a special mode of the mobile terminal device.
For effective monitoring of elevator systems, it is important that measurement values from the largest possible number of trips of elevator cars be collected and evaluated by the central evaluation unit. In order to obtain readiness for performing such measurements from as many elevator car passengers as possible, the expense for detection and transmission must be as small as possible.

Method for monitoring an elevator system


This invention is in the field of fluorescence imaging and relates to a new near infrared (NIR) reactive oxygen species (ROS) sensor designed with controlled fluorescence on-off switching mechanism.

With the quick and significant growth of interest in function and control of free radicals in biology species, a tool to measure either the integrated production rates or the steady-state concentrations, and to visualize the spatial distribution has become a need. Compounds that can help visualize such free radicals would be extremely useful understanding the role free radicals may play in cellular processes, dysfunction, and disease.

Turn-on near infrared fluorescent probes for imaging lysosomal ROS in live cells at subcellular resolution


A method and means for positioning bedfast patients where the apparatus iudes a rectangular pad which dwells on the bed surface and extends at least from above the shoulders of the patient to a point at least below the hip areas. Pairs of straps are secured to the pad and extend transversely across the pad in substantial alignment with the shoulders and hip areas, respectively, of the patient. Hand gripping loops are formed in the strap elements adjacent the side edges of the pad. Slide buckles are secured to the strap elements which extend outwardly from the side edges of the pad, and hook elements are secured thereto for securement to bed rails and the like to temporarily hold a patient in a side rest position, for example. The method involves exerting pulling pressure on various of the straps of the pad to engage the hip or shoulder of the patient to effect movement of the patient from a back rest position to a side rest position; longitudinally moving the patient on a bed surface; or moving the patient to a sitting position.

Invalid bedfast patients must be moved from position to position at least every two hours to prevent the occurrence of bed sores. Thus, a patient in a back rest position must be rolled to one side or the other periodically to prevent bed sores from occurring through lack of circulation at pressure points on the body.
Semi-invalid patients have a tendency to migrate longitudinally on the bed surface from the head of the bed towards the foot of the bed, particularly when the head of the bed is slightly elevated. It is common that such a patient will have to be moved upwardly towards the head of the bed up to 16 times in a 24-hour period.
It is often extremely difficult to reposition such patients as described above, or to occasionally move them to a sitting position on the bed. Statistically, 50% to 60% of all nursing injuries occur while they are turning or repositioning patients. Many times, two nurses are required to perform the repositioning function. Because of the difficulty in repositioning a patient, and because of the back injuries frequently experienced by nurses in performing this function, some patients are not moved as often as they should be.
It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention to provide a method and means for positioning bedfast patients which will not likely incur back injuries to the nurses performing the repositioning function.
A further object of this invention is to provide a method and means of positioning bedfast patients which will not be harmful to the patients themselves.
A further object of this invention is to provide a method and means of positioning bedfast patients whereby the patients can be easily moved longitudinally in the bed, rolled from side to side, or moved to a sitting position.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Robert Lonardo, Trustee of the Robert Lonardo Living Trust Agreement


A method for controlling the operation of an aseptic product filling machine includes the steps of performing a pre-production test procedure during a pre-production phase in which at least a set of subcritical control parameters are measured, diagnosed and stored, checking if those subcritical control parameters are within their range, starting a production phase if all of the subcritical control parameters are indeed within their range, and measuring, diagnosing and storing a set of supercritical control parameters and not the subcritical control parameters during the production phase.

In an aseptic filling machine holders, like glass or plastic bottles, carbon packages, or the like, can be sterilized and subsequently filled with a product, in particular a food product, under sterile conditions. After being filled with the product, the holders can be hermetically closed under these same sterile conditions with a sealing element, like a screw cap, foil lid, or the like. These actions of sterilizing, filling and closing of the holders take place at sterilization, filling and closing stations. Before starting with an actual production phase during which the holders are sterilized, filled and closed, firstly the stations are sterilized in a pre-production phase. The stations are placed in a machine base frame in which an aseptic zone is defined. The aseptic zone is also sterilised prior to starting the actual production.
The proper aseptic operation of such an aseptic filling machine is monitored on the basis of a number of defined critical control parameters, so-called CCP's. As soon as one of these CCP's gets outside a pre-defined range, the production phase or the pre-production sterilization phase, is immediately stopped. Only after it has been detected what went wrong, and, if necessary, after maintenance has been performed, the production phase can be re-started again. Before re-starting the production process, it is however necessary to first sterilize the stations themselves, and the aseptic zone, again. In presently known aseptic filling machines, the CCP's are monitored continuously. Not only during the actual production phase, but also during the pre-production phase of sterilization of the stations and of the aseptic zone, and sometimes even during stand-still of the machine. With this all the measured data for the CCP's are saved on a legal data recorder, so that the data can be used as evidence for governmental health department rules.
A disadvantage of this is that the total number of CCP's can be enormous. In fact since during the last years the design of the aseptic filling machines gets more and more complex, the total number of CCP's increases rapidly. At this moment there are aseptic filling machines known in which 1000-1500 CCP's are defined, all of which need to be monitored continuously. This permanent monitoring of such a large number of CCP's is very complex and expensive, particularly when they all need to be saved on a legal data recorder. Furthermore it is disadvantageous that the larger the number of CCP's, the more complex, expensive and less reliable the aseptic filling machine becomes.

Method for controlling the operation of an aseptic filling machine


Sensing strain in an adhesively bonded joint includes inducing a strain wave in the joint, and sensing a change in local magnetic characteristics in the joint. An array includes a plurality of elements for sensing and inducing a strain wave in selected regions of a structure having the adhesively bonded joint. The elements include at least one micromechanical driver for inducing strain waves in selected regions, a plurality of mechanical sensors for measuring vibrations resulting from the induced strain waves, a plurality of micromagnetic drivers for generating weak magnetic fields over the selected regions, and a plurality of micromagnetic sensors for sensing magnetic responses of the selected regions to the strain waves.

Lightweight composite materials hold great promise for the aircraft industry. Fiber composites provide a significant improvement in specific strength and stiffness over conventional metal alloys. Better specific strength and stiffness translates into weight savings, which translates into fuel savings and lower operating costs. Additionally, composites do not corrode like aluminum, and they are more resistant to fatigue.
Composite elements such as skins, stiffeners, frames and spars are joined together to form major components such as wings, fuselage and empennage. The composite elements may be bonded together with polymeric adhesive. In theory, adhesive bonds alone have sufficient strength and integrity to support loading of these components. Therefore, adhesive bonds should be able to greatly reduce the number of metal fasteners in the major components.
In practice, however, certain federal aviation regulations require substantiation that a bonded joint between any two primary structural components will carry a specified load with a maximum disbond (that is, where an entire bond line is missing). One solution to this lack of confidence in adhesively bonded joints has been to add metal fasteners. In the event an adhesively bonded joint fails, a metal fastener would continue holding the joint together.
The use of metal fasteners adds weight to aircraft components. The use of metal fasteners with composite structures also increases the time, cost and complexity of fabrication. High precision machines and complex procedures are used to drill through composite structures. Moreover, penetrations for fasteners provide unwanted paths for lightning strike and corrosion.
Weight is also added by plies of composite that are added around the drilled holes to satisfy requirements for by-pass bearing loads. The presence of fastener holes also forces the selection of composite ply layup orientations that reduce the strength of panels and bonded joints (as compared to optimally designed panels and joints without fasteners).
It is believed that adhesive bonds alone, if properly designed, prepared and controlled, have sufficient strength and integrity to bond primary structures together. However, data proving consistency and reliability is unavailable,
Data about an adhesive bond can be gathered by measuring strain in the adhesive bond. The distribution of strain in the adhesive can be affected by weak bonds and other structural inconsistencies.
It would be desirable to increase the sensitivity of sensing the strain in an adhesively bonded joint.

Array for sensing and inducing strain in an adhesively bonded joint including magnetostrictive material


A region extracting section 31 extracts an image of a subject region and an image of a background region from a picked up image. A region-specific exposure control amount calculating section 33 calculates a subject region exposure control amount based on the image of the subject region and a background region exposure control amount based on the image of the background region. An exposure control amount calculating section 34 sets a contribution ratio of the subject region exposure control amount and a contribution ratio of the background region exposure control amount, and calculates an exposure control amount for use in exposure adjustment by mixing the subject region exposure control amount and the background region exposure control amount at a mixing ratio based on the set contribution ratios. A control section 55 controls a shutter speed, an aperture value, and other settings based on the exposure control amount calculated by the exposure control amount calculating section 34. Thus, regardless of whether or not flash light emission is to be performed, stable exposure is obtained with natural, balanced brightness ensured in the picked up image.

In the past, imaging apparatuses have performed exposure control in such a manner as to acquire picked up images of appropriate brightness. For example, PTL 1 describes techniques by which the region of a subject and that of the background are separated from each other so as to find a difference in average luminance therebetween, the difference being used to calculate an overall exposure control amount. PTL 2 describes techniques by which, with the subject region extracted, photometric values of the subject region and of the background region are used to calculate contrast values for determining a final exposure control amount.

Control apparatus and control method for exposure adjustment


In an EEPROM array the cells are pre-charged or pre-erased so that they will respond uniformly to the same read voltage level. By clearly defining the threshold voltage for the cells in their erased states and in their programmed states, it is possible to define more than one read voltage and thus provide cells that an store multiple values and even analog values.

EEPROM cells make use of a dual gate structure to place an electric field over a field region between two p+ composite regions. The p+ composite regions are commonly referred to as drain and source regions since the structure is essentially a dual gate PMOS transistor.
EEPROMs typically come in one of two configurations: stacked EEPROM, as shown in FIG. 1, and free EEPROMs as shown in FIG. 2. The stacked EEPROM structure of FIG. 1 includes two polygates 100,102 stacked on top of each other. The top gate 100 is connected to a voltage source while the lower gate 102 is not externally connected and is thus floating. The gates 100, 102 are separated by an oxide 104, thus when a voltage is applied to the gate 100, the two gates act as a first capacitor. Similarly, the lower gate 102 is spaced from the active region 106 by a gate oxide, or tunneling oxide 108, thereby creating a second capacitor, which is formed in series with the first capacitor. Typically, the areas of the oxide regions 104, 108 are chosen so that the capacitance of the first capacitor (formed by the two gates 100, 102) is substantially larger (typically >5 times larger) than the capacitance of the lower (second) capacitor (formed by the lower gate 102 and the active region 106). It will be appreciated that oxide thickness can also be chosen to adjust the capacitance ratio. Thus when a voltage is applied to the top gate 100, a lower voltage (10× lower in the case where the top capacitor has 10× the capacitance of the lower capacitor) will appear across the lower capacitor. As part of the active region 106 are p+ composite regions on either side of a well. These composite regions define a drain region 110, and a source region 112 of a transistor.
FIG. 2 shows a plan view of a free EEPROM 200. In this configuration the first capacitor 202 is formed laterally spaced from the second capacitor 204. The first capacitor 202 is again substantially larger than the second capacitor 204, as is discussed in more detail below. In this case, however, they share one continuous common polysilicon floating gate region 206. The second capacitor 204 is defined by the common floating gate 206 separated by an oxide layer 320, from an active region (in particular from an n-well 300), as shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the left hand portion of the EEPROM 200 along the line A—A. As can be seen from FIG. 3, this left hand portion defines a PMOS transistor with p+ drain and source regions 302, 304 on either side of the n-well 300. FIG. 4, in turn, shows a section along B—B of the right hand portion of the EEPROM 200. The right hand portion also defines a PMOS transistor. In this case the p+ regions 210 formed on either side of an n-well 410, form a second active region to define a control gate (non-floating gate). The control gate 210 is provided with a control gate contact 420. As mentioned above, the first capacitor 202 is substantially larger than the second capacitor 204. This is achieved, in this free EEPROM configuration, by means of the E-shaped polysilicon region 206, which provides a large periphery and thus a large capacitor area, best seen in the plan view of FIG. 2. The capacitor 202 is thus defined by the control gate 210 separated by the oxide region 320 from the floating gate 206. The location of the contact 420 of the control gate 210 is indicated in FIGS. 2 and 4. The control gate 210 serves to erase the EEPROM, as is discussed in greater detail below, and the floating gate 206 is used for programming the EEPROM.
In order to better appreciate the purpose of the capacitors in an EEPROM cell, it is useful to consider the three modes that an EEPROM can operate in: program mode, erase mode, read mode.
The read mode seeks to determine the state of a memory cell by supplying the first polygate with a certain read voltage and monitoring the drain current. In the case of the stacked configuration the drain current is the current flowing between drain 108 and source 110, and in the case of the free configuration, it is the current flowing between drain 302 and source 304. In order to affect the drain current so as to distinguish between a programmed memory cell and an unprogrammed cell, the cells in an array structure are first erased and then selectively programmed.
Program Mode:
During the program mode, in order to program a memory cell, a programming voltage, e.g. 10V is applied to the non-floating gate (gate 100 in the case of the FIG. 1 configuration, and gate 200 in the case of the FIGS. 2–4 configuration). Due to the capacitor ratio, which is 10:1 in the example discussed above, 10V applied to the gate 100 or gate 200 appears as approximately 1 V across the second capacitor. The resultant electric field across the second capacitor attracts electrons. Thus, it provides hot electron injection into the second (floating) gate. Thus, once programmed, there is an electron charge on the floating gate 102, 202.Read mode: In order to read a cell, a relatively small read voltage, e.g. 1V, is applied to the control gate 100, 210. This voltage provides a voltage of about 0.1V across the second capacitor and has the effect of attracting any electrons that were injected into the floating gate. By attracting the electrons in the floating gate sufficiently strongly, the electric field across the second capacitor is reduced, allowing drain current to flow. It will be appreciated that in the case of an unprogrammed cell, where there is essentially no charge on the second capacitor, very low gate voltage will suffice to produce drain current. Also, in the case of a programmed cell, it will be appreciated that depending on the amount of charge on the second capacitor the read voltage required to achieve drain current flow will vary. For any particular cell, a read voltage can thus be chosen at which drain current will flow for an unprogrammed cell but where the voltage is not large enough to achieve drain current in the case of a programmed cell, i.e., the read voltage lies between the threshold voltage Vth for a programmed cell and the Vth for an unprogrammed or erased cell.
However, due to minor structural variations between memory cells in an array, the threshold voltages will vary. For example, varying amounts of nitride impurities in the oxide 108, 320 will result in varying numbers of electron and/or hole traps in the oxide, thereby affecting the threshold voltages. Thus different cells in an array will have different electric fields across their floating capacitors and will require different threshold voltages Vth to achieve drain current flow. This is best illustrated by the Vth curves across an array (in this case a die defining an array of memory cells), as shown in FIG. 5. The upper curve 500 shows the varying threshold voltages to achieve drain current flow when the cells are programmed. The lower curve 502 shows the varying threshold voltages to achieve drain current flow when the cells are not programmed. If a single threshold voltage is selected for reading all of the cells, e.g., the read voltage indicated by the broken line 504, it will be noted that some cells will provide a wrong result. For instance the cell defined by the threshold voltage 510 would not produce a drain current even if erased since its threshold voltage is higher than the chosen read voltage 504. Similarly, the cell next to it would provide incorrect results since it would always show a drain current at the chosen read voltage of 504, even if it is programmed (since not only is its threshold voltage when unprogrammed, but also its threshold voltage when programmed, lower than the chosen read voltage 504).
Erase Mode:
As mentioned above, prior to programming EEPROM memory cells, the entire array or, in some types of EEPROMs, entire sectors in the array are first erased. This is done by "sucking" off electrons from the floating gate by Fowler-Nordheim effect, which involves applying a large electric field to the top or bottom of the capacitor and pulling off the electrons. When sucking electrons off the top of the capacitor, this can be done by keeping the drain at 0V to avoid further electrons being injected in from the bottom of the floating gate, and applying a large positive voltage to the non-floating gate to suck off the electrons off the top through the non-floating gate by Fowler-Nordheim effect. Instead, the electrons can be sucked off the bottom by holding the non-floating gate at 0V and applying a large positive voltage to the drain 110, 302.
As discussed above, the variations between the cells in an array creates a problem when trying to use a single threshold voltage, as a threshold judgment criteria, to determine whether or not a cell is programmed or erased, i.e., using a single threshold voltage during the read operation, for all cells in the array.

Reducing cross die variability in an EEPROM array


Measurement/analysis unit in a Java virtual machine has the function of measuring data when an event of garbage collection occurs, and the function of periodically measuring data. The measurement/analysis unit analyzes the measured data and predicts a danger of a memory shortage, and predicts a danger using an algorithm depending on the type of garbage collection used by the Java virtual machine. An application server is notified of a warning of the predicted danger of a memory shortage by an analysis result notification means by an inter-process communication, or the like. The measurement/analysis unit calculates a memory capacity required to avoid the predicted danger of a memory shortage, and the calculated memory capacity is transmitted to the application server by the analysis result notification means by an inter-process communication, or the like in the same way as the warning.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for predicting and avoiding danger in execution environment to stably operate an application program, and more specifically to the method for predicting and avoiding danger in execution environment by monitoring a status of the execution environment of an intermediate layer arranged on a server during an operation of the application and avoiding a dangerous state of the execution environment in a 3-layer system comprising a client layer, an intermediate layer, and a database layer, which make an enterprise application, thereby successfully operating the application with stability.
2. Description of the Related Art
The above mentioned enterprise application may be a Web application that mainly uses Java (registered trademark). The structure of the above mentioned enterprise application may also be a 4-layer system in which the intermediate layer are further divided into 2-layer. An execution environment of the intermediate layer arranged on the server may be a Java virtual machine, etc. The present invention is applied an execution system such as Java which has a memory management function such as garbage collection.
Java is used as an example for explanation below. FIG. 1 shows an example of an operation environment of a Java application. In the example shown in FIG. 1, data is collected which are in operating an application in an execution environment 1000 of a Java application, and the collected data is analyzed by a performance analysis tool 2000. By feeding back an analysis result from the performance analysis tool 2000 to the execution environment 1000 of a Java application, the most suitable operation environment of the optimum Java application can be structured.
In the execution environment 1000 of a Java application, a Java virtual machine 1020 is arranged in an upper layer of an OS 1010, and an application server 1030 is arranged in an upper layer of the Java virtual machine 1020. An example of the application server 1030 may be an EJB container and a Servlet container, which are programs for operating an EJB (enterprise JavaBeans) and a Servlet, respectively. In the upper layer of the application server 1030, an application 1040 such as the Servlet, a JSP (Java server pages), and the EJB, etc. operates. A Web server 1050 accepts a request from a client. What best understands the operation status of the Java application is the Java virtual machine 1020 which is arranged in the bottom layer of the execution environment 1000 and actually executes an application.
In the performance analysis tool 2000, the data collected from the execution environment 1000 is accumulated in a performance database 2010, and the accumulated data is analyzed by an analysis program 2020. An analysis result is displayed on a monitoring tool 2030 and more precisely analyzed by a drill down tool 2040. Additionally, a service level diagnosis (tool) 2050 makes a diagnosis such as whether or not the server determines replies to the request from a client within a predetermined time, or whether or not the status of the current service has been satisfied.
FIG. 2 shows an example of a method for analyzing an operation environment of the conventional Java application. In FIG. 2, the data collected from a server 3000 for operating a Java application (a server having the execution environment 1000 of a Java application) is accumulated in a data accumulation device 3010 which has the performance database 2010. A performance analysis device 3020 refers to the data accumulated in the data accumulation device 3010, and analyzes the data using the analysis program 2020. An operation administrating person 3030 uses the performance analysis device 3020 to display an analysis result with a graph by using the monitoring tool 2030, to perform a detailed analysis by using the drill down tool 2040, and to diagnose a service level by using the service level diagnosis 2050.
The conventional technologies relating to the safe operation of an enterprise application are listed below.
(First Conventional Technology)
There is a technology in which an operation administrating person monitors a service throughput and a system performance on the server by a monitoring tool. This technology analyzes measured data, predicts and detects a sign of trouble by using a threshold, and notifies the operation administrating person of the sign. Further, this technology analyzes the measured data by using an analyzing tool, and then, based on the analysis, makes a graph of the operation status and evaluated it, and analyzes performance data in detail (drill down), thereby this technology supports to specify a bottleneck of a lowering of performance etc. The example in FIG. 2 is an example of the first conventional technology.
The throughput of the service may be how many second is needed to response to the request from the client. The system performance on the server may be the CPU use rate, the memory use amount, the network use rate, etc.
The documents listed below describes the first conventional technology:
Non-patent Document 1; Systemwalker, Performance Management Product, Fujitsu Limited (URL (old): http://systemwalker.fujitsu.com/jp/com/conc/pafo.html or URL (new): http://systemwalker.fujitsu.com/jp/perfmgr/),
Non-patent Document 2; System Management/Tivoli, Performance & Availability Product, Japan IBM, (URL: http://www-6.ibm.com/jp/software/tivoli/products/index.html#per), and
Non-patent Document 3; Precise/Indepth for J2EE, Nikki Information Software (URL (old): http://www/jsys-products.com/product/pre_ind_j2ee/document. html or URL (new): http://www.cosmos.jp/data/indepth_j2ee.pdf).
(Second Conventional Technology)
There is a technology in which the processing time of services such as Servlet, EJB, etc. is measured in the environment in which servers have different levels of throughput, and a high-speed processing server is automatically selected and allotted to a request from a client, thereby efficiently performing the process of the entire system.
The document listed below describes the second conventional technology:
Non-patent Document 4; IBM eServer, Work Load Management Among Different Models, Japan IBM (URL: http://www-6.ibm.com/jp/servers/eserver/ac/tech/index2—1.html)
(Third Conventional Technology)
There is a technology in which, using the API (application program interface) for checking the memory capacity of Java, the size of the memory (heap) managed by the Java virtual machine is periodically checked to detect memory shortage. In this technology, when free space of memory is smaller than a threshold, garbage collection is forced, thereby supporting the recovery of the free space of memory.
The document listed below describes the third conventional technology:
Non-patent Document 5; WebLogic Server, Tuning of Java Virtual Machine, Automatic Detection of Low Memory Status and Forcing Garbage Collection, Japan BEA Systems (URL (old) : http://edocs,beasys.co.jp/e-docs/wls/docs70/perform/JVMTuning.html.#489159 or URL (new): http://edocs.beasys.co.jp/e-docs/wls/docs70/perform/JVMTuning.html).
(Fourth Conventional Technology)
There is a technology in which an event generated in a Java virtual machine is measured by Java virtual machine profiler interface, and then, based on the result, a detection is performed to detect a method taking a long execution time (bottleneck), to detect an object having a danger of a memory leak, and to detect a thread having a danger of a deadlock.
An event measured by a Java virtual machine profiler interface may be "Garbage collection has been started/terminated", "Java method has been started/terminated", "An object has been assigned/released", and "The status of a Java thread has changed", etc.
However, the conventional technology relating to the stable operation of the above mentioned enterprise application has the following problems
(Problems with the First Conventional Technology)
In the first conventional technology, a monitoring tool is used for collecting various data and graphing the data, but requires the interference of an operating person in predicting and avoiding trouble. Therefore, it lacks timeliness and autonomy. Especially, the analysis method using the drill down tool thoroughly lacks timeliness. Furthermore, in many cases, although data collection, service level diagnosis (analysis), and notification of a warning may be automatically performed, countermeasures to be taken after receiving a notification have not been automatically realized. Additionally, conditions for the amount of data to be collected and about when data is to be analyzed, etc. have affected the danger detection timing.
(Problems with the Second Conventional Technology)
In the second conventional technology, processes are automatically performed. However, it is only a system of the load balance of distributing a load by measuring the service time, so that it is not a technology of analyzing various collected data to find the factor of a danger.
(Problems with the Third Conventional Technology)
In the third conventional technology, although processes are automatically performed, there have been problems with the algorithm for predicting a trouble. A memory (heap) shortage of a Java virtual machine is a main factor of the trouble. However, correct judgment cannot necessarily be made only by detecting an insufficient heap by comparing available capacity with a threshold.
When a heap becomes short, a Java virtual machine automatically performs garbage collection to recover memory. However, the third conventional technology is designed to recover memory in the preceding stage using forcible garbage collection. The technology may be effective in a case that a memory use amount gradually increases after the memory use amount exceeds a threshold, and it takes relatively a long time until garbage collection is automatically performed.
However, the situation depends on each case. For example, when an absolute amount of memory becomes short and the frequency of the garbage collection is high, the garbage collection continuously occurs although the garbage collection is forcibly performed. As a result, the garbage collection is repeatedly performed, load of which is high.
(Problems with the Fourth Conventional Technology)
In the fourth conventional technology, the frequency of issuing an event provided by Java virtual machine profiler interface is very high, so that an excess load is occurred to a Java virtual machine. Furthermore, since a predetermined interface is used, the information required to detect a danger lacks, or the flexibility of a desired process is limited. A number of tools, which detect a sequence call (bottleneck) having a high CPU use rate or a memory leak, use a profiler interface. However, the tools are subject to a relatively high load, and are to be used not in the application operation but at a test stage.
To solve the above mentioned problems of the conventional technology, to stably operate an application, and to realize a mission-critical system, it is necessary to detect and avoid a danger of trouble before an abnormal condition occurs. Accordingly, it is required that the following conditions should be filled in the period from the detection of the danger to the avoidance thereof.    (1) A load of collecting data for prediction of trouble is to be reduced and no load is allowed for the operation of an application.    (2) Appropriate determination material and algorithm are used to predict trouble for realizing correct prediction.    (3) The process of measuring data, predicting, notifying, and avoiding trouble is to be performed timely and in a short time. Furthermore, it is desired to automatically (autonomically) perform these steps.

Method for predicting and avoiding danger in execution environment


The invention relates to a single-shell helmet made from a styrene or polystyrene-based foam plastic. Unlike in the case of the hitherto known one-piece helmets of this type, the invention subdivides the helmet into shell parts, which are integrated together by means of hinged areas and can be easily adapted to different head sizes by means of an adjusting system.

The invention relates to a single-shell helmet made from foamed plastic and a process for the production thereof.
For example US suppliers refer to such a helmet as a soft-shell helmet. Such helmets comprise a polystyrene-base foamed plastic and in particular Styropor. These helments comply with the ANSI standard and are conventionally given a textile covering for individual colouring purposes.
The major disadvantage of such helmets is that as a result of their closed, one-piece form, they take up a relatively large packing volume. In addition, such helmets do not have adequate flexibility for adapting to different head sizes. This adaptation has hitherto been achieved by two or three generally different helmet sizes, the finer adaptation taking place by applying soft material cushions to the inner surface of the helmet. The helmet has conventionally been fixed by means of a chin strap with a chin strap triangle.
Other protective helmets for racing cyclists are in particular constructed in two-shell form generally involving the combination of an inner rigid foam shell and an outer shock-proof plastics material shell.
An example of the latter helmet is known from DE 36 32 525 A1. However, this helmet only has a web-like, inner head protection made from flexible foamed plastic, whose size can be adjusted at the back of the head, e.g. using burr fastenings. However, from the safety standpoint, an outer rigid shell is placed over the skull. In another protective helmet, such as is known from DE 31 29 199 A1, use is made of an outer helmet shell made from shock-proof plastic with a soft inner cushioning.
However, also in the case of the last-mentioned helmets, the problem of the large packing volume, inadequate adjustability and adaptation to different head sizes still exist.
While taking into account of these disadvantages of the prior art, the problem of the present invention is to provide a helmet in a simple form with a high adaptation for comfort and while retaining the safety aspects, at the same time achieving a relatively flat packing volume and enabling production in one process step.


A light-emitting device includes a light-emitting element, a first sealing unit that covers the light-emitting element and includes a light-transmissive resin, and a second sealing unit disposed on top of the first sealing unit and includes a light-transmissive resin. The light-transmissive resin of the first and second sealing units contain phosphor of the same type but at different levels of concentration.

A light-emitting device that is equipped with LED (Light Emitting Diode) has shown problems in that the color shades of the light produced thereby differs according to the viewing angles. For example, when such a device is attached to a lighting equipment, there is a variation in the visible color depending on the viewing angles. Such a problem can often occur due to various factors in manufacturing methods and structures of the light-emitting device equipped with the LED on a substrate, and the like.
In one example, the light-emitting device is equipped with light-emitting elements on the bottom of the reflection pane. This light-emitting device that is equipped with the reflection pane has the problem of a narrow light distribution angle. Accordingly, there is a need for a light-emitting device that is capable of widening the light distribution angle, and suppressing the variation in the color based on the emission angle.

Light-emitting device including sealing units with different phosphor concentrations


A system and method are disclosed for recommending a resource to a customer service representative that includes one or more databases that store data describing electronic communication between one or more customer system communication devices and one or more service center communication devices. Embodiments further include a computer coupled with one or more databases and configured to monitor communication activity to determine whether a customer service ticket has been opened between one or more customer system communication devices and one or more service center communication devices and determine a customer service representative score based on one or more customer service representative ranking factors.

In a customer service center, some agents resolve customer issues more quickly and with higher satisfaction than others. In some cases, the agent may simply be more skilled and knowledgeable in one type of customer issue than he or she is in others. However, simply assigning a customer to the agent who is most skilled and knowledgeable at handling their customer issue results in the agents with the highest skills and knowledge on a particular issue are assigned all customers who are experiencing that issue, while the agents who are less skilled and knowledgeable are assigned no customers at all. What is needed is a way to make the skills and knowledge of the most proficient agents available for all agents in a manner that increases efficiency and customer satisfaction. The inability to make the skills and knowledge of proficient agents available to all agents is undesirable.

System and method of real-time wiki knowledge resources


A seat driving device includes a rotary motor having a rotary shaft, operation members, and clutch mechanisms. The operation members are separately arranged to respectively correspond to position adjustment mechanisms. The clutch mechanisms are separately arranged to respectively correspond to the position adjustment mechanisms. When any one of the operation members is operated, each clutch mechanism selectively connects the corresponding position adjustment mechanism to the rotary motor. In response to operation of any one of the operation members, the rotary motor is energized with the polarity corresponding to the operation direction of the operation member. Each clutch mechanism is arranged with respect to the rotary motor such that the axis of the clutch mechanism is parallel with the axis of the rotary shaft.

Conventionally, a seat driving device has been proposed in, for example, Patent Document 1. The seat driving device includes a rotary motor, operation members, and clutch mechanisms. The operation members are separately arranged to correspond to position adjustment mechanisms provided on the seat. The clutch mechanisms are separately arranged to correspond to the position adjustment mechanisms. In response to operation of any one of the operation members, the clutch mechanisms selectively connect the corresponding position adjustment mechanism to the rotary motor. In response to operation of any one of the operation members, the rotary motor is energized with the polarity corresponding to the operation direction of the operation member.
Rotation of the rotary shaft of the rotary motor is transmitted to each clutch mechanism via a gear train of a skew arrangement composed of a worm provided on the rotary shaft and a worm wheel provided on the input shaft of each clutch mechanism.


An image sensor having a plurality of pixels, each including a sense node; an output node; a first device, connected to the sense node, producing a signal at the sense node that is proportional to incident light intensity at the pixel; at least one select node to receive a first select signal for selecting the pixel output node from the plurality of pixels; a reset device for resetting the pixel; and a sample and hold circuit including a sample node coupled to the sense node. At least one amplifier is provided, including a first input node to receive an output signal from the output node of a selected pixel and a second input node connected to a reference voltage source provided as a reference to reset a selected pixel. An amplifier output node is connected to couple an amplifier output signal to a selected pixel's sample and hold circuit.

This invention relates to image sensor array configurations for reducing image array pixel reset noise. More specifically, the invention relates to pixel designs for resetting pixels in a manner that reduces pixel reset noise.
CMOS image sensors are attractive due to the compatibility with VLSI circuits. However, CMOS imagers have typically higher noise than CCD imagers. While CCD imagers employ correlated double-sampling (CDS) to remove the reset noise commonly referred to as kTC noise, the operation of most CMOS imagers does not allow for true CDS. Instead, uncorrelated double-sampling is typically employed to remove the constant reset level. Unfortunately, this method often actually increases reset noise.
There have been proposed various CMOS pixel designs that incorporate correlated-doubling sampling functionality in the pixel itself. Although such circuits are found to often substantially remove the reset noise, in general such designs require the inclusion of an amplifier device and two additional devices that are necessary within each pixel to provide the CDS functionality. This added circuitry greatly increases the area of the pixel. In particular, the inclusion of a separate amplifier in each pixel substantially increases the size and cost of an imaging array of such pixels. As a result, a tradeoff between CDS functionality and imager array size and cost has typically been required.

Pixel design including in-pixel correlated double sampling circuit


Embodiment methods and systems enable a broadcast network, such as a MediaFLO network, to maintain the presentation quality of video data received from content providers when transforming it to a format suitable for broadcasting to mobile devices. Methods enable encoding of H.264 frames received from a third-party encoder into superframes for broadcast over MediaFLO FLO TV®. The methods group individual image frames together into superframes for broadcast, making allowances for frames which are supposed to be decoded in one second but presented or displayed in a subsequent second. The various embodiments ensure that image frames are group together into superframe so that frames that are supposed to be presented together in the same second are displayed together and so that frames that are dependent on those frames for decoding are not put ahead of the frames from which they depend.

Wireless communication technologies have seen explosive growth over the past few years. This growth has been fueled by wireless services providing freedom of movement to the mobile public, and cutting the tether to hardwired communication systems. As a result of service enhancements, the popularity of wireless services is expected to continue to grow rapidly. A recent addition to wireless communication services has been the ability to broadcast television and other content to mobile devices. Mobile multimedia broadcast services allow users to view TV programming, as well as receive mobile editions of news, entertainment, sports, business, and other programming, using their cell phone or other wireless mobile device configured to receive the mobile broadcast transmissions.

Method and system for organizing broadcast content


A system and method for maneuvering a robotic end-effector using one or more motors that have a force limiter that is adaptable to take into account any effects of a changing gravitational force as the system moves. In one embodiment, the system includes an actuator, such as a drive motor, for applying a force vector to actuate a function of the end effector, such as moving the end-effector along a track that is attached to a contoured surface. Further, a force limiter coupled to the actuator is configured to interrupt the actuating if the force exceeds a first threshold. Further, the system includes an orientation detector to determine any changes in orientation with respect to gravity so as to adjust the force limit accordingly. Thus, if the force limiter determines that a threshold has been exceeded, the force limiter may limit or interrupt the motion while taking changing gravitational forces into account.

As manufacturing environments become more automated and complex, robotics and other automated machinery is becoming more and more prevalent in all phases of manufacturing. Very specific tasks that are conventionally performed by a skilled artisan may be performed by highly specialized robotics having highly specialized end effectors. For example, drilling holes in composite sections of a contoured section of an airplane wing may require a high level of precision with respect to applying torque to a motor for moving the end effector around a contoured wing surface. A further example is the need to tightly control the actuation force applied to the wing section by the drill bit in order to avoid compromising the wing itself.
In the past, a force limitation circuit or device has been employed to limit the force applied by a moving motor or an end effector actuator. However, as large end-effector/motor housing machines move around a contoured surface, the effect of gravity on the package changes. Thus a force required by the motor for moving the package upward along a contoured surface will be different than a force required for moving the same package downward. Therefore, a single force limitation parameter will not be sufficient for both scenarios.

System and method for adjusting end-effector actuation based on relative position with respect to gravitational force


Currently disclosed is a device for increasing visibility of a guy line at night. The device includes a housing, a light emitting source, a power source, and an on/off switch. The housing having an internal portion, external portion, and an attachment mechanism located on the external portion of the housing locking in place the housing to the guy line. The light emitting source is located within the housing and powered by the power source. The on/off switch is in contact with the power source providing readily activation of the light emitting source. The attachment mechanism may comprise at least one hook portion and a tensioning mechanism. The tensioning mechanism may comprise at least one offset portion. The tensioning mechanism prevents the device from sliding down the guy line.

Most modern tents used in recreational camping are supported with ropes or wires attached to stakes driven into the ground. Said ropes or wires are commonly referred to as guy wires or guy lines. Guy lines are typically taunt angled low to the ground providing support and stability to a freestanding structure, such as a tent. However, guy lines may cause problems when navigating around the tent or other structure as people can trip on the taunt guy lines. This is especially a problem at night, as the stakes and lines around a tent are farther out than the perimeter of the tent itself. Additionally, due to their small size, guy lines are near invisible at night making them hazardous. Therefore, there is a need for a solution for increasing the visibility of guy lines at night to reduce the probability of someone tripping over the lines and potentially becoming injured.

Device for increasing visibility of guy lines at night


A reverberation generation processor. The reverberation generation processor generates a specific auditory signal according to a predetermined virtual environment having characteristics of spatial dimension, sound reflection, and decline. The natural sequence generator generates a natural sequence having a predetermined number of items according to the characteristics of the virtual environment. The sequence adjusting device adjusts gains of the items and a time scale between the items of the natural sequence and outputs an audio signal. The filter processor filters a predetermined frequency band of the audio signal according to the characteristics of the virtual environment and divides the filtered audio signal into a high frequency audio signal and a low frequency audio signal. The high frequency reverberation generator transforms the high frequency audio signal to a high frequency reverberation signal. The low frequency reverberation generator transforms the low frequency audio signal to a low frequency reverberation signal. The output device combines the high frequency reverberation signal and the low frequency reverberation signal to output the specific auditory signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a reverberation generation processor. In particular, the present invention relates to a reverberation generation processor for simulating a virtual environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Virtual auditory displays (including computer games, virtual reality systems or computer music workstations) create virtual worlds in which a virtual listener can hear sounds generated from sound sources within these worlds. In addition to reproduce sound as generated by the source, the computer also processes the source signal to simulate the effects of the virtual environment on the sound emitted by the source. In a computer game, the player hears the sound that he/she would hear if he/she were located in the position of the virtual listener in the virtual world.
One important environmental factor is reverberation, which refers to the reflections of the generated sound which bounce off objects in the environment. Reverberation can be characterized by measurable criteria, such as the reverberation time, which is a measure of the time it takes for the reflections to become imperceptible.
FIG. 1 is a graph depicting the time and intensities of the direct sound, early reflection, and late reverberation components. The first signal that reaches the listener is the direct signal which undergoes no reflection. Subsequently, a series of discrete xe2x80x9cearlyxe2x80x9d reflections are received during an initial period of the reverberation response. Finally, after a critical time, the xe2x80x9clatexe2x80x9d reverberation is modeled statistically because of the combination and overlapping of the various reflections. The magnitudes of Reflections_delay and Reverb_delay are typically dependent on the size of the room and on the position of the source and the listener in the room.
Research continues in methods to create realistic sounds in virtual reality and gaming environments. However, the related circuits are complicated.
The object of the present invention is to provide a reverberation generation processor to simulate the reverberation effect as shown in FIG. 1.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a reverberation generation processor for generating a specific auditory signal according to a predetermined virtual environment having characteristics of spatial dimension, sound reflection, and decline. The natural sequence generator generates a natural sequence having a predetermined number of items according to the characteristics of the virtual environment. The sequence adjusting device adjusts gains of the items and a time scale between the items of the natural sequence and outputs an audio signal. The filter processor filters a predetermined frequency band of the audio signal according to the characteristics of the virtual environment and divides the filtered audio signal into a high frequency audio signal and a low frequency audio signal. The high frequency reverberation generator transforms the high frequency audio signal to a high frequency reverberation signal. The low frequency reverberation generator transforms the low frequency audio signal to a low frequency reverberation signal. The output device combines the high frequency reverberation signal and the low frequency reverberation signal to output the specific auditory signal.


An in-vehicle device may receive an alert that includes first vehicle identifying a first vehicle and first location data identifying a first location, and may determine whether a second location of the in-vehicle device is in a geographic area associated with the first location. The in-vehicle device may cause, when the second location is determined to be in the geographic area associated with the first location, images or video to be captured of second vehicles, and may process the captured images or video, with a machine learning model, to determine second vehicle data in real time relative to capturing the images or video. The in-vehicle device may determine whether the second vehicle data substantially includes the first vehicle data, and may provide a notification to a device when the second vehicle data substantially includes the first vehicle data.

Vehicles are equipped with several vehicle devices that enable capture of images or video surrounding the vehicle. For example, a vehicle may include a dash camera, several parking assist cameras, a backup assist camera, an on-board diagnostic (OBD) device, an electronic control unit (ECU), and/or the like that enable capture of images or video for different purposes.

Systems and methods for utilizing machine learning to identify vehicle surroundings, route conditions, and points of interest


Flame retardant polymer blend compositions comprise a polycarbonate polymer, an ABS resin, a phosphate ester flame retardant and a terpolymer formed from an aryl brominated monovinylic aromatic monomer, an ethylenically unsaturated nitrile monomer, and an alkyl methacrylate monomer in which the alkyl group has from 1 to 4 carbon atoms. A preferred terpolymer comprises a dibromostyrene-acrylonitrile-methyl methacrylate terpolymer.

Polymer blend compositions for use in engineering applications should exhibit a combination of physical properties such as heat resistance, good impact strength and good modulus. Additionally, the blend compositions should exhibit good melt flow properties which facilitate processing and molding of the blend compositions. Polycarbonates are popular blend components owing to their toughness and relatively high softening temperatures. However, owing to their relatively poor melt flow characteristics, polycarbonates are often blended with one or more additional polymers to improve their melt flow properties. Examples of such blend compositions include the Grabowski U.S. Pat. No. 3,130,177 which discloses blends of polycarbonates with polybutadiene, styrene, acrylonitrile graft polymers and the Grabowski U.S. Pat. No. 3,162,695 which discloses blends of polycarbonates with butadiene-styrene, methyl methacrylate, styrene graft copolymers. The Parsons U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,855 discloses blends of polycarbonate, ABS resin and styrene polymers which exhibit a good combination of physical properties. The Liebig et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,140 also discloses a thermoplastic molding composition comprising a blend of a polycarbonate, a diene rubber graft polymer such as ABS, and a styrene polymer. Similar blends of polycarbonate with styrenemaleic anhydride copolymer, ABS resin and styreneacrylonitrile random copolymer are disclosed in the Henton U.S. Pat. No. 4,218,544. The Grigo et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,554 discloses thermoplastic molding compositions comprising a blend of a polycarbonate, a graft polymer such as ABS and a polymeric acidifying agent. European Patent Applications Nos. 135,492 and 135,493 also disclose polymer blends of polycarbonates, ABS polymers and styrene polymers. These blends exhibit various physical properties depending on the type and ratio of components included therein.
It is also desirable that such polymer blend compositions exhibit flame retardant properties for use in various applications. While the addition of conventional flame retardant compounds provides a degree of flame retardancy to such polymer compositions, the addition of reasonable amounts of such conventional compounds does not provide sufficient flame retardancy to allow thin samples of the blend compositions (for example, sheets of a thickness of 0.060 inches) to pass such flammability tests as the UL 94 V or the UL 94 5V tests with VO ratings because of material dripping. The UL tests are standard test procedures of the Underwriters Laboratory to measure the flame retardant properties of a material. It has been known to include halogenated polymer components in such compositions in order to improve the flame retardant characteristics of the compositions. For example, ABS resins including one or more halogenated styrene components have been proposed for use in polycarbonate compositions. However, large amounts of the halogenated polymer component must often be included in order to achieve the desired flame retardant properties whereby one or more physical properties of the compositions are disadvantageously compromised.
Accordingly, a need exists for improved compositions of polycarbonate and ABS resin which exhibit satisfactory flame retardant properties without sacrificing the advantageous physical properties of such compositions.

Flame retardant blends of polycarbonate, ABS and a terpolymer


A forced air convection oven includes a cooking compartment and an air heating chamber adjacent to one wall of the cooking compartment. An air circulating fan and an air heater are mounted in a central section of the chamber. An elongated section of the chamber extends from the fan along the compartment wall and has an uniformly decreasing cross section area. There is an inlet opening in the compartment wall aligned with the fan and a plurality of outlet openings uniformly spaced apart along the compartment wall communicating with the elongated chamber section. Each outlet opening has a cross sectional area equal to the cross section area of the end of the elongated section adjacent to the fan divided by the number of outlet openings.

This invention relates to forced air convection ovens, and more particularly to an improved air flow system for such ovens.
Forced air convection ovens have been known for many years and have become more popular for household or domestic use in recent years. In a convection oven air is heated outside the cooking compartment and the heated air then is blown into the compartment to cook food in the compartment. They have the advantage of normally cooking in less time than cooking with radiant heat. A large item will occupy a large portion of the cooking compartment and, when cooking several smaller items each will be in a different place in the compartment. Thus, it is important that the flow of heated air to the compartment be uniform throughout the cooking compartment. This is of particular concern in smaller domestic ovens which tend to have smaller, less powerful fans. Many attempts have been made to improve the air flow in convection ovens, without complete success.
An object of this invention is to provide a forced air convection oven with an improved air flow system.
Another object is to provide such a system which provides improved, more uniform air flow to the cooking compartment.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide such an improved system that is simple and easy to manufacture.

Convection oven tapered air heating chamber


This invention relates to a bony fixation system and method for use as a prosthetic implant. The system and method includes a plate dimensioned to be situated between adjacent bony structures, such as adjacent vertebrae. Screws are provided in one embodiment and are dimensioned or configured to be inserted into a bony structure and to lock against each other to retain the screws and consequently secure the plate in place against the bony structure.

The spine of most human adults consists of 24 connected bones called vertebrae. The cervical vertebrae begin at the base of the skull. Seven vertebrae make up the cervical spine, which are abbreviated C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6 and C7. The cervical vertebrae are smaller in size compared to other spinal vertebrae. The purpose of the cervical spine is to contain and protect the spinal cord, support the skull, and enable a wide range of head movement. The vertebrae allow the head to rotate side to side, bend forward and backward.
Frequently cervical spine disorders require surgery to relieve painful symptoms. One of the contributing factors associated with most spine disorders is the dehydration of the intervertebral disks, which act as a cushion between adjacent vertebrae. Over time these disks can dry out and become flattened, causing the vertebrae to lose height and its healthy resilience. The degeneration of the disks allow the vertebrae get closer together and cause nerve irritation, which usually stems from a ruptured disc, bone spurs or stenosis. Vertebral motion (neck movement) results in chronic pain.
Cervical fusion has become an accepted procedure to relieve the pressure on one or more nerve roots, or on the spinal cord. It involves the stabilization of two or more vertebrae by locking (fusing) them together in a desired spacing and orientation. The fusion restores the proper distance between the vertebrae thus preventing nerve irritation.
The cervical spine may be approached by the surgeon anteriorly, which refers to the front. The surgeon reaches the cervical spine through a small incision in the front of the neck. After retracting neck muscles, the surgeon often removes the affected intervertebral disk, which takes the pressure off the nerves or spinal cord. This is procedure is known as decompression. The surgeon then replaces the removed disk with a bone graft which aids in the fusion of adjacent vertebrae and restores the distance between the vertebrae. The surgeon then may use various types of plates which provide extra pressure and support the neck to make certain that the bones fuse adequately. Holes may be drilled or tapped in the bone to allow for attachment of a plate using a bone screw or other fastener.
One of the problems associated with the fusion of cervical vertebrae is the tendency of the screws or other fasteners to loosen over time. As the fasteners or screws loosen the plate is not able to support or maintain the proper orientation of the vertebrae. The plate and other associated implants, which are no longer secure, can cause irritation and even trauma to local tissue structures.
What is needed, therefore, is a system and method, which facilitates overcoming one or more of the aforementioned problems as well as other problems and to provide a device that has unique features that will facilitate reducing the risk associated with neurological surgeries and advance the present state of the art.


In order to accurately scan an object for the purposes of determining the dimensions, surface finish or the like, the position of the object according to the measuring system coordinate grid is determined. Using this orientation, the degree of misalignment with respect to a standard position on the grid is determined and the scanning devices which perform the actual measurement, are moved to positions which take the amount of misalignment into consideration and wherein accurate examination is assured.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to automatic production line quality control and more specifically to an automatic system for measuring various dimensions of a vehicle chassis or similar structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to alleviate tedious manual work it has been previously proposed to measure the dimensions of a vehicle using a reflected light beam technique. Viz., in order to measure the various dimensions in a manner to determine the accuracy with which the vehicle chassis (or the like structure) has been assembled, the chassis is carefully disposed in a predetermined position in which a predetermined measuring coordinate grid is defined. Measuring devices which are located in predetermined locations of the coordinate grid are then used to scan the structure using laser beams or the like. The data derived from the scanning is then used to develop an image or images which can be compared with blueprint models to determine if the required degree of accuracy has been attained or not.
However, this system has suffered from the drawback that even though care is taken to assure that the chassis is located in exactly the correct position within the coordinate grid, still erroneous readings tend to be produced and the need for manually executed backup checking and the like, to be executed is induced.

Automatic quality control measuring system for automotive assembly line or the like


A roof integrated photovoltaic (RIPV) system has a plurality of solar tiles that are mounted to a roof. The tiles may be mounted using a metal batten and hanger system or some other attachment system. Each tile has an electrical edge junction extending rearwardly from its top edge. The edge junction is coextensive with or contains the plane of the solar tile and may be slightly thicker than the solar tile. Sockets on opposed ends of the edge junction receive plugs of electrical cables for interconnecting the array of solar tiles together electrically. The edge junctions provide for a low profile installation that mimics the appearance of a traditional roofing tile such as a slate tile. The slightly thicker edge junctions may raise solar tiles of one course above the surfaces of solar tiles of a next lower course to provide ventilation for the RIPV array and to provide accommodating space for system wiring.

Roof integrated photovoltaic (RIPV) systems are continually becoming more available and more affordable. These systems have evolved in recent years such that many of them no longer present a bulky industrial and unsightly appearance on a roof. The solar tiles or, more appropriately solar tiles, of these systems have become increasingly thinner. In fact, some solar tiles are less than half an inch thick and resemble traditional slate or asphalt shingles when installed in courses on a roof. This is good for consumers because modern RIPV systems can actually be architecturally pleasing and desirable while also producing sustainable electrical energy from sunlight.
As demand for thinner and lower profile solar tiles has grown, a problem has arisen with the electrical connector systems on solar tiles and solar tiles that are used to interconnect the solar tiles of a RIPV array together electrically. More specifically, these connectors traditionally are on the terminal ends of wires that extend from junction boxes mounted to the backs of solar tiles. This limits the thinness of a solar tile assembly to the thickness of the tile itself plus the thickness of its junction box and/or connectors. A need exists for an RIPV system wherein the thinness of individual solar tiles is not limited by the electronic junction boxes or connectors of the tile. It is to the provision of such a RIPV system that the present invention is primarily directed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Methods and systems for remotely monitoring and/or controlling a demand control ventilation system are disclosed. In one illustrative embodiment, a demand control ventilation device having a damper and a controller are provided. The damper may have a range of damper positions for controlling a flow of outside air into the building. The controller controls the damper positions such that a desired flow of outside air is drawn through the damper and into the building. A remote monitoring device may also be provided. The remote monitoring device may be located remotely from the demand control ventilation device, but in communication with or part of the controller. In some instances, the remote monitoring device may have a user interface for remotely monitoring and/or controlling at least certain aspects of the demand control ventilation system from the remote location.

Most modern buildings use some sort of an HVAC system to control the environment conditions inside of the building. Such HVAC systems can be configured to control a number of different environmental conditions including, for example, temperature, humidity, air quality and/or other environmental conditions, as desired. In many HVAC systems, air from the building's inside space is drawn into return ducts and provided back to the HVAC system, where the return air is conditioned and provided back to the inside space. To meet desired ventilation requirements, some HVAC systems include demand control ventilation systems (DCV). Such systems often include an exhaust port for exhausting at least some of the return air to the outside environment, and/or an intake port for bringing fresh air into the HVAC system. In some instances, a damper system is provided to control how much return air is exhausted and/or how much outside air is brought into the building. In many instances, the air supplied by the HVAC system to the inside space can be a mixture of fresh outside air and return air, depending on the conditions.
In some cases, the exhaust and/or intake port can be part of an economizer unit, which in some instances can help provide the demand control ventilation function. That is, in addition to providing a desired level of ventilation to the building, such an economizer may, under certain conditions, act as a first stage of cooling to help decrease energy usage of the HVAC system. In one example, the economizer may draw in cooler outside air to provide essentially "free" cooling during some cooling cycles.
In many cases, economizer/DCV systems (e.g. >60%) are not properly calibrated during the commissioning process, or are never commissioned at all. Calibration during the commissioning process can be considered complicated and time consuming for a typical installation technician. Even if properly calibrated during the commissioning process, the calibration may be completed under certain environmental conditions. Over time, and as the environmental conditions or the performance of the system components changes, the initial calibration may become less than optimal.
In order for a customer and/or installer to determine if an economizer/DCV system is functioning properly, someone may need to physically visit the air handling unit. In some instances, the air handling unit may be located in an inconvenient location, such as on a rooftop of the building. In some cases, it may be desirable for an Economizer/DCV system to be tested and certified at least yearly by a certified technician, but this can be fairly expensive. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a user with an easier way to verify a DCV system is functioning properly, without having to physically visit the air handling unit.

Demand control ventilation system with remote monitoring