A method and a device for displaying information pertaining to an installation part of an industrial installation on a mobile display device. Each installation part of the industrial installation has a transmitter, which transmits a signal that identifies the installation part. This transmitted signal is received by a receiver of the mobile display device and is relayed to a central analysis station, which makes available information pertaining to the installation part and transmits such information back to the mobile display device, where video signals corresponding to the information sent back are displayed on a display. Preferably, all the aforementioned processes take place automatically as soon as the mobile display device is brought into the vicinity of the installation part.

The present invention relates to a method and a device for displaying information pertaining to an installation part of an industrial installation on a mobile display.
It is conventionally known that mobile display devices may be used in conjunction with industrial production and, specifically, with manufacturing installations, in which installation parts may be set up at locations that are far apart.
Such conventional mobile display devices have a display on which information regarding a particular installation part can be displayed in the form of images and alphanumeric data. This displayed information may also contain a detailed view of the installation part, alphanumeric information such as process data, instructions to an operator, and alarm information and curves pertaining to the installation part.
However, to arrive at this display of information, the operator must manually retrieve data pertaining to the particular installation part from a respective central analysis station. To do so, the operator must have knowledge of the structure of the entire industrial installation, which may also include a plurality of central analysis stations. On the basis of this structural knowledge, the operator must navigate in the database stored in the respective analysis station to arrive at the data pertaining to the desired installation part. Such navigation is both tedious and time consuming. In addition, it is disadvantageous that the operator is required to have knowledge about the structure of the industrial installation, in particular, knowledge about the design of the industrial installation and a visualized installation guide.
Such a scenario is described in WO 02/075466 A2, for example, which discusses the operation and/or observation of equipment monitoring an installation control system. As disclosed therein, the monitoring equipment has a control unit, on at least one separate operating unit that communicates with the monitoring equipment, which is connected to an installation. An additional function block is also provided, in particular, in the form of an additional program, as part of the monitoring equipment or a device connected to the monitoring equipment. The additional function block intervenes in communication between the monitoring unit or a monitoring function block on the one hand, and the connected operator units on the other hand, in the manner of an interface module. Specifically, the additional function block analyses the information directed to a connected operating unit and processes this information so that the information, which is then relayed, can be displayed directly by the respective operating unit in the manner of a terminal. The connection between a central operation and monitoring device and/or a server and the decentralized operating device (i.e., client computer) can be made by data lines that run together in a star pattern in the server, by a network having a ring structure, with each connected client computer having an individual address, by infrared or wireless interfaces, by a national data network, or by an internal data network, wherein the communication may also, if necessary, be carried across the oceans by satellite.

Method and device for displaying information pertaining to an installation part of an industrial installation on a mobile display


The present disclosure provides compounds of Formula (VIA), Formula (IIIA), Formula (IVA), and Formula (VA). The compounds are prodrugs of alpha-ketoglutarate, alpha-ketobutryrate, alpha-ketoisovalerate, and alpha-ketoisohexanoate, which are useful in treating or preventing age related diseases, disorders, or conditions.

Certain naturally occurring small molecules increase the lifespan of certain species, e.g., C. elegans, by 50-70%. Related effects are seen in mammals. In particular α-ketoglutarate is such a life-extending molecule. Other similar molecules, for example, 2-hydroxyglutarate, also have such effects. Such molecules are disclosed in U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2016/0354334. These life-extending effects are believed to be mediated by inhibition of ATP synthase and mTOR signaling.
Metabolism and aging are intimately linked. Compared to ad libitum feeding, dietary restriction (DR) or caloric restriction (CR) consistently extends lifespan and delays age-related diseases in evolutionarily diverse organisms. Similar conditions of nutrient limitation and genetic or pharmacological perturbations of nutrient or energy metabolism also have longevity benefits. Several compounds that modulate aging have been identified.

Prodrugs of alpha-ketoglutarate, alpha-ketobutyrate, alpha-ketoisovalerate, and alpha-ketoisohexanoate, and uses thereof

The Regents of the University of California


An independent, broadcast medium (32) is used to communicate an time reference to each element: switch element (36), active element (14-20) or passive element, of an in-vehicle network (30). Each element (36) in the network accepts the time information, i.e., a time reference from the source. The time reference is then used by each element (36) to adjust an internal clock of the element. Commands may then be sent to the elements to occur at a particular time.

The commonly assigned U.S. patent application entitled "Vehicle Active Network," Ser. No. 09/945,581, filed Aug. 31, 2002, the disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference, introduces the concept of an active network that includes a switch fabric. The switch fabric is a web of interconnected switching devices. Control devices, sensors, actuators and the like are coupled to the switch fabric, and the switch fabric facilitates communication between these coupled devices.
The coupled devices may be indicator lights, vehicle control systems, vehicle safety systems, and comfort and convenience systems. A command to actuate a device or devices may be generated by a control element coupled to the switch fabric and is communicated to the device or devices via the switch fabric. The command may require simultaneous activation of two or more devices. However, the switch fabric may be a packet based communication medium making coordinating simultaneous events difficult.
To illustrate this difficulty take for example the need to illuminate the left, right and center high-mounted brake lights on an automobile. Each of the brake lights should appear to illuminate substantially simultaneously. Each of the lights is coupled to the switch fabric. The command to illuminate the lights may be generated by a braking control module, which is also coupled to the switch fabric. The command is communicated from the braking control module to the three brake lights. However, the command may take different incremental amounts of time based upon the paths the command takes through the network to arrive at each of the three brake lights. If the brake lights act on the command when received, the lights may not appear to come on simultaneously. The command may give a time at which to activate, but if each of the brake lights are not time synchronized, they still will not actuate at the same coordinated time.
Another problem may involve the communication of information from many devices to a single device. For example, it may be necessary to communicate various control parameters from a number of engine sensors to an engine controller so that it may then issue commands for the control of the engine. For example, to detect misfire the engine controller receives data from several oxygen sensors, the crankshaft position sensor and potentially other sensors. To be certain that the misfire is detected for the correct engine cylinder so that control parameters may be varied to correct the misfire, the data must arrive to the engine controller in a coordinated manner or have a reliable time indication. Again, unless each of the sensors are time synchronized, there is no way to accurately time stamp the data packets or to effectively communicate them to the engine controller in a coordinated manner.
Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus to synchronize elements of an in-vehicle network.

Method and apparatus for time synchronizing an in-vehicle network


Provided here are new methods to identify specific families of mammalian odorant receptors for odorants or aroma, particularly indole and skatole malodors and their use in assays that may be used to discover compounds that modulate (blocking, enhancing, masking or mimicking compounds) their activity. Orphan mouse odorant receptors are identified from olfactory sensory neurons that respond to target compounds. The resulting receptors as well as their human counterparts can be screened in assays against test compounds to confirm their identity as odorant or aroma receptors, particularly malodor receptors and subsequently discover for example modulators that inhibit the perception of the malodor in humans.

Olfaction is one of the most complex and poorly understood of human sensory systems. From olfactory receptor (OR) activation to perception, there are many steps that still require further investigation. If we can understand how the OR code for individual odorants and mixtures translates into perception then we can exploit this knowledge to bring significant benefit in several areas. These areas include odor modulators like malodor counteractants that block the perception of unpleasant odors, new flavor and fragrance ingredients that replace non-biodegradable or toxic compounds, and odor enhancers that would limit our reliance on difficult to source compounds from natural sources. The 'olfactory code' combinatorial paradigm is centered on the observation that any single OR may be activated by multiple odorants, and conversely most odorants are capable of activating several ORs. In the mouse genome there are ˜1,200 distinct ORs. Humans, by contrast, have ˜400. In both cases, the repertoire of ORs is activated by many thousands of odorants in the world, and it is this combinatorial complexity that allows for the breadth of olfactory sensations we can perceive. However, odorants or ligands for only 95 mouse (˜8%) and 41 human ORs (˜10%) have been identified as of 2014 using traditional deorphanization methods. In addition, the physiological relevance of most ligands for the human ORs, essentially identified in vitro, has not been tested.
Different OR de-orphanization methods have been described in the literature [e.g. Touhara (2007) Deorphanizing vertebrate olfactory receptors: Recent advances in odorant-response assays Neurochem Int 51, 132-139, Saito et al (2009) Odor coding by a Mammalian receptor repertoire. Sci Signal 2, ra9, and Peterlin et al. (2014), The State of the Art of Odorant Receptor Deorphanization: a Report from the Orphanage, J Gen Physiol; 143(5): 527-42]. Many of these methods rely exclusively on cell-based assays where the OR is expressed in non-olfactory cells that are suitable for high-throughput screening. However, ORs are often retained in the endoplasmic reticulum of such heterologous cells. Failing to traffic to the cell surface, the ORs are thus unable to interact with the odorant [Min et al. (2004) Endoplasmic reticulum degradation impedes olfactory G-protein coupled receptor functional expression. BMC Cell Biol 5, 34]. Thus, a systematic approach where hundreds to thousands of different cell lines, where each cell line possess a unique OR protein that can be assessed for odorant activity, is not a suitable approach for comprehensive decoding of the combinatoral interactions between odorants and ORs since many or most of the receptors do not function properly in such cell lines. There is therefore a need for new methods that can rapidly and reliably identify the relatively small subset of ORs, within the entire repertoire of ORs that exist in an organism, that are specifically activated or inhibited by one or more odorants. There is a further need for a method to involve the identification of ORs from the olfactory neurons themselves, where the ORs are presumed to be fully functional, thus circumventing the well-known challenges of OR assays in non-olfactory cells.
Malodor compounds such as indole, skatole (3-methyl indole), and p-cresol generate unpleasant odors that arise for example from latrines and other "bathroom" sources that contain fecal matter. Hence, malodor counteractants that mask or reduce the perceived intensity or modify the perceived quality for example of human smell of the compounds are desirable. Odorant receptors and more particularly malodor receptors have a need to be identified. Receptors that bind to indole and skatole have also been identified and compounds that bind to those receptors have been discovered and reported as potential modulators of malodor. However, the rapid identification of the complete repertoire of receptors that bind to malodors, particularly indole or skatole receptors continues to be desirable due to the numerous ORs that exist in mammals. Assays that rely on new malodor receptors to identify new potent compounds that bind to these receptors are further desired.

Methods of identifying, isolating and using odorant and aroma receptors


A gamma prime nickel-base superalloy and components formed therefrom that exhibit improved high-temperature dwell capabilities, including creep and dwell fatigue crack growth behavior. The superalloy contains, by weight, 10.00 to 22.0% cobalt, 10.0 to 14.0% chromium, 4.0 to 6.0% tantalum, 2.0 to 4.0% aluminum, 2.0 to 6.0% titanium, 1.5 to 5.0% tungsten, 1.5 to 5.0% molybdenum, 1.0 to 3.5% niobium, 0.05 to 0.6% hafnium, 0.02 to 0.10% carbon, 0.01 to 0.40% boron, 0.02 to 0.10% zirconium, the balance essentially nickel and impurities, wherein the titanium:aluminum weight ratio is 0.7 to 1.5. The superalloy is hot worked and heat treated to contain cellular gamma prime precipitates that distort grain boundaries, creating tortuous grain boundary fracture paths that are believed to promote the fatigue crack growth resistance of the superalloy.

The present invention generally relates to nickel-base alloy compositions, and more particularly to nickel-base superalloys suitable for components, for example, turbine disks of gas turbine engines, that require a polycrystalline microstructure and a combination of disparate properties such as creep resistance, tensile strength, and high temperature dwell capability.
The turbine section of a gas turbine engine is located downstream of a combustor section and contains a rotor shaft and one or more turbine stages, each having a turbine disk (rotor) mounted or otherwise carried by the shaft and turbine blades mounted to and radially extending from the periphery of the disk. Components within the combustor and turbine sections are often formed of superalloy materials in order to achieve acceptable mechanical properties while at elevated temperatures resulting from the hot combustion gases. Higher compressor exit temperatures in modern high pressure ratio gas turbine engines can also necessitate the use of high performance nickel superalloys for compressor disks, blisks, and other components. Suitable alloy compositions and microstructures for a given component are dependent on the particular temperatures, stresses, and other conditions to which the component is subjected. For example, airfoil components such as blades and vanes are often formed of equiaxed, directionally solidified (DS), or single crystal (SX) superalloys, whereas turbine disks are typically formed of superalloys that must undergo carefully controlled forging, heat treatments, and surface treatments such as peening to produce a polycrystalline microstructure having a controlled grain structure and desirable mechanical properties.
Turbine disks are often formed of gamma prime (γ′) precipitation-strengthened nickel-base superalloys (hereinafter, gamma prime nickel-base superalloys) containing chromium, tungsten, molybdenum, rhenium and/or cobalt as principal elements that combine with nickel to form the gamma (γ) matrix, and contain aluminum, titanium, tantalum, niobium, and/or vanadium as principal elements that combine with nickel to form the desirable gamma prime precipitate strengthening phase, principally Ni3(Al,Ti). Gamma prime precipitates are typically spheroidal or cuboidal, though a cellular form may also occur. However, as reported in U.S. Pat. No. 7,740,724, cellular gamma prime is typically considered undesirable due to its detrimental effect on creep-rupture life. Particularly notable gamma prime nickel-base superalloys include René 88DT (R88DT; U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,567) and René 104 (R104; U.S. Pat. No. 6,521,175), as well as certain nickel-base superalloys commercially available under the trademarks Inconel®, Nimonic®, and Udimet®. R88DT has a composition of, by weight, about 15.0-17.0% chromium, about 12.0-14.0% cobalt, about 3.5-4.5% molybdenum, about 3.5-4.5% tungsten, about 1.5-2.5% aluminum, about 3.2-4.2% titanium, about 0.5.0-1.0% niobium, about 0.010-0.060% carbon, about 0.010-0.060% zirconium, about 0.010-0.040% boron, about 0.0-0.3% hafnium, about 0.0-0.01 vanadium, and about 0.0-0.01 yttrium, the balance nickel and incidental impurities. R104 has a composition of, by weight, about 16.0-22.4% cobalt, about 6.6-14.3% chromium, about 2.6-4.8% aluminum, about 2.4-4.6% titanium, about 1.4-3.5% tantalum, about 0.9-3.0% niobium, about 1.9-4.0% tungsten, about 1.9-3.9% molybdenum, about 0.0-2.5% rhenium, about 0.02-0.10% carbon, about 0.02-0.10% boron, about 0.03-0.10% zirconium, the balance nickel and incidental impurities.
Disks and other critical gas turbine engine components are often forged from billets produced by powder metallurgy (P/M), conventional cast and wrought processing, and spraycast or nucleated casting forming techniques. Gamma prime nickel-base superalloys formed by powder metallurgy are particularly capable of providing a good balance of creep, tensile, and fatigue crack growth properties to meet the performance requirements of turbine disks and certain other gas turbine engine components. In a typical powder metallurgy process, a powder of the desired superalloy undergoes consolidation, such as by hot isostatic pressing (HIP) and/or extrusion consolidation. The resulting billet is then isothermally forged at temperatures slightly below the gamma prime solvus temperature of the alloy to approach superplastic forming conditions, which allows the filling of the die cavity through the accumulation of high geometric strains without the accumulation of significant metallurgical strains. These processing steps are designed to retain the fine grain size originally within the billet (for example, ASTM 10 to 13 or finer), achieve high plasticity to fill near-net-shape forging dies, avoid fracture during forging, and maintain relatively low forging and die stresses. In order to improve fatigue crack growth resistance and mechanical properties at elevated temperatures, these alloys are then heat treated above their gamma prime solvus temperature (generally referred to as a solution heat treatment or supersolvus heat treatment) to solution precipitates and cause significant, uniform coarsening of the grains.
Though alloys such as R88DT and R104 have provided significant advances in high temperature capabilities of superalloys, further improvements are continuously being sought. For example, high temperature dwell capability has emerged as an important factor for the high temperatures and stresses associated with more advanced military and commercial engine applications. In particular, as higher temperatures and more advanced engines are developed, creep and crack growth characteristics within the rims of turbine disks formed of current alloys tend to fall short of the desired capability to meet mission/life targets and requirements of advanced disk applications. It has become apparent that a particular aspect of meeting this challenge is to develop compositions that exhibit desired and balanced improvements in creep and dwell (hold time) fatigue crack growth rate (DFCGR) characteristics at elevated temperatures seen by disk rims, for example, 1200° F. (about 650° C.) and higher, while also having good producibility and thermal stability.
Creep and crack growth characteristics can be significantly influenced by the presence or absence of certain alloying constituents, as well as by relatively small changes in the levels of the alloying constituents present in a superalloy. However, complicating this challenge is the fact that creep and crack growth characteristics are difficult to improve simultaneously. For example, higher cooling or quench rates from the solution heat treatment can be used to improve creep behavior, but often results in poorer dwell fatigue crack growth rate behavior. While fatigue crack growth resistance can be improved by reducing the cooling rate following the solution heat treatment, such improvements are typically obtained at the expense of creep properties. For these reasons, the cooling rate at the rim of a turbine disk formed of R104 or R88DT is typically limited to maintain an acceptable fatigue crack growth rate within the rim. However, the lower cooling rate within the disk rim reduces rim creep capability. In particular, while a relatively coarse gamma prime precipitate size (promoted by slower cooling) is often optimal in the rim to promote dwell fatigue crack growth resistance, a finer gamma prime precipitate size (promoted by more rapid cooling) is often optimal for disk hubs to promote tensile strength and burst capability, as well as rim creep capability.
An alternative heat treatment approach is to use a slow initial cooling rate (typically less than 10° F. (about 6° C.) per minute) followed by a high temperature hold prior to a rapid quench. With this approach, a serrated or convoluted irregular grain boundary can be formed that is capable of improving dwell time crack growth resistance by creating a more tortuous grain boundary fracture path. However, this approach tends to achieve this benefit at a sacrifice to creep and tensile strengths. Furthermore, such a heat treatment may require an extended hold at the high hold temperature, which is dependent on the specific alloy and below the gamma prime solvus temperature of the alloy, but typically in excess of about 2000° F. (about 1090° C.). Finally, such heat treatments, with their controlled slow cooling rates and extended holds at an intermediate temperature, add complexity to the production and manufacturing of articles.

Nickel-base alloy, processing therefor, and components formed thereof


An apparatus is provided for processing fruit or vegetables in order to obtain a flowable mass, such as juice or puree and includes a receptacle, an extraction unit for mechanically extracting juice and pulp from the fruit or vegetables, the unit being located within the receptacle for discharging the juice and pulp into the receptacle, a motor unit, drivingly connected to the extraction unit, an outlet unit for collecting flowable mass from the receptacle.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for extracting juice and pulp from fruit or vegetables.
It is desirable to enhance the yield in the extraction of juice and pulp from fruit or vegetables.
According to a first aspect, a first apparatus is provided for extracting juice and pulp from fruit or vegetables in order to obtain a flowable mass, such as juice or puree, comprising:
a receptacle;
a cylindrical strainer located within said receptacle and rotatable about its axis of symmetry, said cylindrical strainer having a bottom and a perforated side wall;
a motor unit for rotating said cylindrical strainer about its axis of symmetry;
an inlet unit for introducing fruit or vegetables into said strainer;
an outlet unit for collecting flowable mass from said receptacle, characterized in that the apparatus further comprises
a flexible element located within said strainer and urged against the inside surface of said perforated side wall.
According to a second aspect, an apparatus is provided for extracting juice and pulp from citrus fruit, comprising:
a receptacle;
a strainer, preferably having a cylindrical shape, located within said receptacle and rotatable about a strainer axis, said strainer having a bottom and a perforated side wall;
a citrus mill rotatable about a citrus mill axis, said citrus mill having a citrus mill dome provided with protrusions, preferably ribs, at its outer surface;
a motor unit for rotating said strainer about said strainer axis and for rotating said citrus mill about said citrus mill axis;
an outlet for collecting juice and pulp from said receptacle, characterized in that
said citrus mill is located within said strainer;
said strainer is rotatably driven via a strainer power train operatively connected between said motor unit and said strainer;
said citrus mill is rotatably driven via a citrus mill power train operatively connected between said motor unit and said citrus mill.
The first apparatus and the second apparatus can be transformed into each other by exchanging their respective extraction units.
The extraction unit of the first apparatus includes
the cylindrical strainer located within the receptacle and rotatable about its axis of symmetry by the motor unit, said cylindrical strainer having a bottom and a perforated side wall; wherein
the flexible element located within the strainer and urged against the inside surface of the perforated side wall.
The extraction unit of the second apparatus includes
the strainer located within the receptacle and rotatable about the strainer axis by the motor unit, said strainer having a bottom and a perforated side wall;
the citrus mill rotatable about the citrus mill axis by the motor unit, said citrus mill having a citrus mill dome provided with protrusions, preferably ribs, at its outer surface; wherein
said citrus mill is located within said strainer;
said strainer is rotatably driven via a strainer power train operatively connected between the motor unit and the strainer;
said citrus mill is rotatably driven via a citrus mill power train operatively connected between the motor unit and the citrus mill.
It is a further object of the present invention to prevent dripping of juice and pulp from the outlet of the apparatus.
According to a third aspect, an apparatus is provided for processing fruit or vegetables in order to obtain a flowable mass, such as juice or puree, comprising:
a receptacle;
an extraction unit for mechanically extracting juice and pulp from said fruit or vegetables, said unit being located within said receptacle for discharging said juice and pulp into said receptacle;
a motor unit drivingly connected to said extraction unit;
an outlet unit for collecting flowable mass from said receptacle,
characterized in that said outlet unit comprises:
a spout duct associated to an opening at the bottom of said receptacle; and
a valve element for opening and closing said opening;
said spout duct and said valve element being coupled to each other ("spout operated valve");
said spout duct being pivotably supported about a horizontal axis and having an inner duct portion extending underneath said opening and an outer duct portion protruding from said apparatus;
said pivotable spout duct being pivotable between a first position where said spout duct forms a downward slope from its inner duct portion to its outer duct portion and where said valve element is in its opened position, and a second position where said spout duct forms an upward slope from its inner duct portion to its outer duct portion and where said valve element is in its closed position.

Apparatus for extracting juice and pulp from fruit or vegetables


Aspects of the present disclosure involve a system comprising a computer-readable storage medium storing at least one program and a method for rendering a virtual object in a real-world environment depicted in image content based on contextual information. A virtual object template is selected. One or more stylizations for the virtual object template are determined based on contextual information associated with a computing device. A virtual object is generated by applying the one or more stylizations to the virtual object template. The virtual object is rendered within a 3D space captured within a camera feed of the computing device.

Virtual rendering systems can be used to create augmented reality experiences, in which three-dimensional (3D) virtual object graphics content appears to be present in the real-world. Many conventional virtual rendering systems often render basic static templates that are common to all users and often fail to provide engaging and entertaining augmented reality experiences. These systems can also be subject to presentation problems due to environmental conditions, user actions, unanticipated visual interruption between a camera and the object being rendered, and the like.


A method of facilitating push-to-talk (PTT) communications between a server device and a client device using SIP-based messaging, the server device being in communication with a media server. The method includes receiving in the server device from the client device a SUBSCRIBE message for subscription to a push-to-talk group, the SUBSCRIBE message including media information of the client device, storing in the server device the media information of the client device, and sending from the server device to the client device a NOTIFY message, the NOTIFY message including media information of the media server for storage by the client device.

Push-to-talk (PTT) generally refers to real-time direct one-to-one and one-to-group voice communication service, which may occur in the cellular, Public Switch Telephone Networks (PSTN) and Internet networks. PTT calls can be directed to both individuals and talk groups. In a PTT call, the call connection is initiated by an originator device while the receiver typically does not have to "answer" the call.
PTT calls are one-way communications (half-duplex), which means that while one person speaks the others listen. In a PTT conversation, users typically no longer need to make several calls to coordinate with a group.
PTT service users are typically engaged in some other activity than a telephone call, and they listen to the group traffic during their activity. A user is usually contacted by receiving a PTT call from a member of the PTT group and can respond to the PTT group with a push of a key.
Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) is a protocol which is based on a request-response model. SIP leaves open the particular implementation of the desired functionality, and for example does not provide for specific implementation of PTT. As the interpretation remains open, some implementations of PTT using SIP may lead to inefficiencies.
For example, in some conventional systems implementing PTT using SIP, media parameters are negotiated and communicated only once the PTT call is initiated by a user. This wastes resources and time between when the user actually initiates the PTT call and when the system connects the user to the receiving units. Call lags may occur each time a user initiates a PTT call. Further, such inefficiencies become magnified when the PTT group involves a large number of parties.
Other difficulties with existing conventional systems will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the detailed description below.
Similar reference numerals may have been used in different figures to denote similar components.

Systems and methods for facilitating push-to-talk (PTT) communications using SIP-based messaging


An optical compensatory sheet comprises a transparent substrate, an orientation layer and an optically anisotropic layer in order. The optically anisotropic layer comprises discotic liquid crystal molecules. The orientation layer comprises a denatured polyvinyl alcohol having a hydrocarbon group containing 10 to 100 carbon atoms or a denatured polyvinyl alcohol containing fluorine atoms. The discotic liquid crystal molecules are aligned at an average inclined angle in the range of 50xc2x0 to 90xc2x0. An orientation layer, a liquid crystal display of an STN mode and a method of alignment of discotic liquid crystal molecules are also disclosed.

The present invention relates to an optical compensatory sheet comprising a transparent substrate, an orientation layer and an optically anisotropic layer comprising discotic liquid crystal molecules in order. The invention also relates to an orientation layer for liquid crystal. The invention further relates to a liquid crystal display of an STN mode. The invention furthermore relates to a process of alignment of discotic liquid crystal molecules at an average inclined angle in the range of 50xc2x0 to 90xc2x0.
A liquid crystal display of an STN mode comprises a liquid crystal cell of an STN (Super Twisted Nematic) mode, two polarizing elements arranged on each side of the liquid crystal cell, and one or two optical compensatory sheets (phase retarders) arranged between the liquid crystal cell and the polarizing element.
The liquid crystal cell comprises a pair of substrates, rod-like liquid crystal molecules and an electrode layer. The rod-like liquid crystal molecules are provided between the substrates. The electrode layer has a function of applying a voltage to the rod-like liquid crystal molecule. Each of the substrates has an orientation layer, which has a function of aligning the rod-like liquid crystal molecule. The rod-like liquid crystal molecules are twisted by using a chiral agent. A twist angle of the molecules is in the range of 90xc2x0 to 360xc2x0.
Without use of an optical compensatory sheet, a liquid crystal display of an STN mode displays an image colored blue or yellow because of birefringence of rod-like liquid crystal molecules. The blue or yellow color is inconvenient for not only a black and white image but also a color image. An optical compensatory sheet has a function of removing color from an image to display a bright and clear image. The optical compensatory sheet also has a function of enlarging a viewing angle of a liquid crystal cell. A stretched birefringent film has usually been used as the optical compensatory sheet. Japanese Patent Provisional Publication Nos. 7(1995)-104284 and 7(1995)-13021 disclose an optical compensatory sheet made of a stretched birefringent film for a liquid crystal display of an STN mode.
An optical compensatory sheet comprising an optically anisotropic layer on a transparent substrate has been proposed to be used in place of the stretched birefringent film. The optically anisotropic layer is formed by aligning discotic liquid crystal molecules and fixing the aligned molecules. The discotic liquid crystal molecules usually have large birefringence. The discotic liquid crystal molecules also have various alignment forms. Accordingly, an optical compensatory sheet obtained by using the discotic liquid crystal molecule has a specific optical characteristic that cannot be obtained by the conventional stretched birefringent film. The optical compensatory sheet using the discotic liquid crystal molecule is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 6(1994)-214116, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,583,679, 5,646,703 and German Patent Publication No. 3,911,620A1. However, the disclosed optical compensatory sheet is designed to be used in a liquid crystal display of a TN (Twisted Nematic) mode.
The optical compensatory sheet containing the discotic liquid crystal molecules should be redesigned to be used in a liquid crystal display of an STN mode. In a liquid crystal cell of the STN mode, rod-like liquid crystal molecules are aligned according to a super twisted birefringent mode at a twist angle of larger than 90xc2x0. The liquid crystal display of the STN mode can display a clear image of a large volume according to a time-sharing addressing method even though the display has a simple matrix electrode structure (having no active matrix such as a thin film transistor or a diode).
The discotic liquid crystal molecules should be essentially vertically aligned (homogeneously aligned) to optically compensate the liquid crystal cell of the STN mode. The discotic liquid crystal molecules are preferably further twisted. Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 9(1997)-26572 discloses an optical compensatory sheet in which discotic liquid crystal molecules are twisted. The drawings of Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 9(1997)-26572 further illustrate that discotic liquid crystal molecules are essentially vertically aligned.
It is technically difficult to align discotic liquid crystal molecules uniformly (monodomain alignment) from an interface facing an orientation layer to another interface facing the air according to the disclosures of Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 9(1997)-26572. If the discotic liquid crystal molecules are not uniformly aligned, disclination of the molecules causes scattered light, which decreases a contrast ratio of a displayed image.
Rod-like liquid crystal molecules used in a liquid crystal cell have been investigated to align the molecule essentially vertically (homeotropic alignment). For example, a liquid crystal display of a vertical alignment (VA) mode uses an orientation layer having a function of essentially vertically aligning rod-like liquid crystal molecules. In the liquid crystal display of the VA mode, rod-like liquid crystal molecules are essentially vertically aligned while not applying voltage to the cell, and are essentially horizontally aligned while applying voltage to the cell. Various orientation layers have been proposed to align rod-like liquid crystal molecules.
Discotic liquid crystal molecules are completely different from the rod-like liquid crystal molecules in molecular structures and in optical characteristics. Most of the orientation layers having a function of aligning rod-like liquid crystal molecules are not effective in aligning discotic liquid crystal molecules.
An object of the present invention is to provide an optical compensatory sheet suitable for a liquid crystal display of an STN mode.
Another object of the invention is to provide an orientation layer having a function of aligning liquid crystal molecule (particularly discotic liquid crystal molecules) vertically.
A further object of the invention is to provide a liquid crystal display of an STN mode that can display a clear image of a high contrast, in which blue or yellow color caused by birefringence of rod-like liquid crystal molecule is reduced.
A furthermore object of the invention is to provide a method for vertical, uniform and stable alignment of discotic liquid crystal molecules.
The present invention provides an optical compensatory sheet comprising a transparent substrate, an orientation layer and an optically anisotropic layer in order, said optically anisotropic layer comprising discotic liquid crystal molecules, wherein the orientation layer comprises a denatured polyvinyl alcohol having a hydrocarbon group containing 10 to 100 carbon atoms, said discotic liquid crystal molecules being aligned at an average inclined angle in the range of 50xc2x0 to 90xc2x0.
The invention further provides an orientation layer provided on a support, said orientation layer having a function of aligning liquid crystal, wherein the orientation layer comprises a denatured polyvinyl alcohol having a hydrocarbon group containing 10 to 100 carbon atoms.
The invention furthermore provides a liquid crystal display comprising a liquid crystal cell of an STN mode, two polarizing elements arranged on each side of the liquid crystal cell and one or two optical compensatory sheets arranged between the liquid crystal cell and the polarizing elements, wherein the optical compensatory sheet comprises a transparent substrate, an orientation layer and an optically anisotropic layer in order, said transparent substrate being adjacent to the polarizing element, said optically anisotropic layer comprising discotic liquid crystal molecules, said orientation layer comprising a denatured polyvinyl alcohol having a hydrocarbon group containing 10 to 100 carbon atoms, and said discotic liquid crystal molecules being aligned at an average inclined angle in the range of 50xc2x0 to 90xc2x0.
The invention still furthermore provides a method of alignment of discotic liquid crystal molecules, which comprises forming an optically anisotropic layer comprising discotic liquid crystal molecules on an orientation layer comprising a denatured polyvinyl alcohol having a hydrocarbon group containing 10 to 100 carbon atoms to align the discotic liquid crystal molecules at an average inclined angle in the range of 50xc2x0 to 90xc2x0.
The invention also provides an optical compensatory sheet comprising a transparent substrate, an orientation layer and an optically anisotropic layer in order, said optically anisotropic layer comprising discotic liquid crystal molecules, wherein the orientation layer comprises a denatured polyvinyl alcohol containing fluorine atoms, said discotic liquid crystal molecules being aligned at an average inclined angle in the range of 50xc2x0 to 90xc2x0.
The invention further provides an orientation layer provided on a support, said orientation layer having a function of aligning liquid crystal, wherein the orientation layer comprises a denatured polyvinyl alcohol containing fluorine atoms.
The invention furthermore provides a liquid crystal display comprising a liquid crystal cell of an STN mode, two polarizing elements arranged on each side of the liquid crystal cell and one or two optical compensatory sheets arranged between the liquid crystal cell and the polarizing elements, wherein the optical compensatory sheet comprises a transparent substrate, an orientation layer and an optically anisotropic layer in order, said transparent substrate being adjacent to the polarizing element, said optically anisotropic layer comprising discotic liquid crystal molecules, said orientation layer comprising a denatured polyvinyl alcohol containing fluorine atoms, and said discotic liquid crystal molecules being aligned at an average inclined angle in the range of 50xc2x0 to 90xc2x0.
The invention still furthermore provides a method of alignment of discotic liquid crystal molecules, which comprises forming an optically anisotropic layer comprising discotic liquid crystal molecules on an orientation layer comprising a denatured polyvinyl alcohol containing fluorine atoms to align the discotic liquid crystal molecules at an average inclined angle in the range of 50xc2x0 to 90xc2x0.
In the present specification, the term xe2x80x9caverage inclined anglexe2x80x9d means an average of angles between discotic planes of discotic liquid crystal molecules (or long axes of rod-like liquid crystal molecules) and a surface of a transparent substrate (or a surface of an orientation layer). The present specification refers to alignment of liquid crystal molecules at an average inclined angle in the range of 50xc2x0 to 90xc2x0 as essentially vertical alignment of the molecules.
The applicants have succeeded in obtaining essentially vertical, uniform and stable alignment of liquid crystal molecules by using an orientation layer comprising a denatured polyvinyl alcohol having a hydrocarbon group containing 10 to 100 carbon atoms or a denatured polyvinyl alcohol containing fluorine atoms. The orientation layer is particularly effective in aligning discotic liquid crystal molecule.
An optical compensatory sheet suitable for a liquid crystal display of an STN mode is now obtained by using the discotic liquid crystal molecules of the essentially vertical, uniform and stable alignment. Thus, blue or yellow color is reduced in a liquid crystal display of an STN mode to display a clear image of a high contrast by using an optical compensatory sheet, in which the discotic liquid crystal molecules are essentially vertically aligned (and preferably twisted).

Optical compensatory sheet comprising substrate, orientation layer and optically anisotropic layer


Diagnostic information is produced from a computer memory operably connected to a DBMS. A command is received from a user wherein the command comprises an identifier of a resource associated with the DBMS. The identifier is utilized to determine one or more control blocks residing within the computer memory and wherein the one or more control blocks are related to the resource. The memory locations occupied by the one or more control blocks are determined and the contents of the memory locations are then copied to a target destination. In this manner, the target destination forms a logical dump containing the diagnostic information.

Large enterprises throughout the world rely on mainframe computers running sophisticated Database Management Systems and applications to mange data critical to the survival and growth of their business. One such Database Management System is IMS. IMS is a Hierarchical Database Management System (HDBMS) developed by International Business Machines Corporation. IMS has wide spread usage in many large enterprises where high transaction volume, reliability, availability and scalability are of the utmost importance. IMS, therefore, is particularly relevant to the teachings contained herein where any disruption to processing may have catastrophic implications.
Accordingly, when any problem or disruption of IMS processing occurs, finding the cause and taking corrective action is typically a very high priority task within the enterprise. This error analysis phase frequently involves taking a console dump of the entire DBMS address space, which in the case of IMS is the IMS Control region address space, to diagnose the problem. This dump may contain the critical information that is desirable, or even essential, to resolving the problem at hand.
The IMS console dump is typically written to the SYS1.DUMP data set. The amount of data written to the SYS1.DUMP data set, representing information available for all IMS resources, may be very large. In these cases, IMS transaction processing and corresponding user response times may be substantially degraded for several minutes until the writing to SYS1.DUMP is complete. The overall performance of the operating system in which DBMS is executing may also be negatively impacted because of the extensive I/O operations involved in completing the dumping operation.
Furthermore, the space allocated to receive the console dump may be too small to receive all of the dumped memory. In this case, the console dump operation may fail to capture essential information within the partially recorded data necessitating a complete repeat of the dumping operation along with a repeat of the incumbent disruption to the IMS user.
Further still, a large console dump will also consume a vast quantity of disk storage. For many enterprises, disk storage is a scarce resource representing a significant portion of the Information Technology (IT) budget to install and manage. Network resources may also be negatively impacted in that the console dump is frequently transmitted to an off-site support center for analysis.
Accordingly, there is a great need to provide a more efficient and cost effective method for obtaining required information to facilitate failure analysis tasks related to real or perceived problems within the operation of a DBMS.

Command initiated logical dumping facility


An augmented reality game system that facilitates the participation of remote players in casino table games. The game system and method of the present invention utilizes a plurality of augmented reality devices that are placed in table positions at casinos. A remote player will communicably couple to the augmented reality device and utilize the elements thereof to engage in the table game such as but not limited to poker. The augmented reality game system incorporates a method wherein an operator will provide a website and a software application that facilitates registration and participation of casinos and remote players. Subsequent operable coupling with an augmented reality device, a remote player will receive liver video feed, audio data and scanned poker card data images from the augmented reality device. The remote player has operational control of the augmented reality device and utilizes to communicate with a dealer at the table game.

In the United States the gambling industry is a multi-billion dollar per year industry. While some states have more open regulations than others, most states have at least some form of entertainment wherein it is permissible to bet with the provider or other individuals participating in the activity. Gambling activities include betting on events such as but not limited to horse racing. The most popular form of gambling are casinos wherein casinos provide numerous types of table games ranging from roulette to card games and many others. Casinos are destinations and are not provided in all states. Most states allow some form of online gaming wherein a player can login to a website and play a game such as but not limited to poker and place bets. One of the problems with this is the lack of simulation of reality. Online poker games are software simulations of card games the use algorithms and a software interface to simulate a poker game. These can be financially risky and further do not provide a true poker game experience.
The online gaming industry includes the ability to virtually place bets on games and events but does not provide simulation and an interaction synonymous with attending a facility such as but not limited to a casino. Many players desire the interaction with the dealer and the other players as part of the tactile experience of participating in a game. Additionally, similar to the appeal of attending a destination like Las Vegas, players enjoy the opportunity to visit various casino facilities to participate in a variety of games.
Accordingly, there is a need for an online augmented reality game system that is configured to provide a remote player an augmented reality experience at a facility such as but not limited to a casino wherein the present invention facilitates the ability for the remote player to join a game being played at a table in the casino.

Augmented reality game system and method thereof


A textile greige includes a plurality of woven medical tube textiles in a series that share a set of warp yarns and a first weft yarn. The medical tube textiles have different diameter segments such that less than all of the warp yarns are included in a small diameter segment of the medical tube textile. A diameter control weave of a second weft yarn is woven with segments of the warp yarns that are outside of the woven medical tube textiles. Later processing includes cutting the diameter control weave from the medical tube textile.

Woven medical tube textiles have been known for many decades. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 2,924,250 teaches a bifurcated textile tube that is used in the replacement of certain diseased or damaged blood vessels. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,904,714 and 8,696,741 are of interest for teaching continuously flat-woven implantable tubular prosthesis that have differing diameters along a length of each woven tube. The woven medical tube textiles may start out as parts of a textile greige with a plurality of medical tube textiles woven continuously end to end. Later processing separates the individual medical tube textiles from the textile greige. Although not apparently recognized in the art, controlling the diameter of the medical tube textiles during the weaving process can be problematic in meeting tight tolerances associated with the finished medical tube textile.
The present disclosure is directed toward controlling medical tube textile diameters during the weaving process.

Variable diameter woven medical tube textiles and method of making same


A method and apparatus for selecting a particular node from a plurality of nodes connected to a common bus to allow the node to use the bus. The nodes have a pre-determined priority. After initially enabling the nodes, the bus is monitored for a bus idle condition. It is then determined which of the nodes are enabled message nodes, which are enabled nodes that have a message to send on the bus. There is then arbitration between the enabled message nodes after the bus is in the bus idle condition for a first period of time, such that the enabled message node having the highest pre-determined priority among the enabled message nodes is disabled for arbitration purposes, and also at the same time selects a target and performs a transfer. This procedure is repeated until all the enabled message nodes have been disabled. Thereafter, all of the nodes on the bus are enabled when the bus is in the bus idle condition for a second period of time, which is longer than the first period of time.

In an arrangement in which a plurality of nodes are connected to a common bus, some kind of scheme is needed to select which node will be able to use the bus at any given time. One scheme which has been used in prior systems is to assign a fixed priority to each of the nodes connected to the bus so that if two of the nodes desire to use the bus at the same time, the node having the higher priority will win every time. The advantage of using a fixed priority is that the nodes which need to use the bus the most have the most opportunity to do so. The scheme has an inherent disadvantage in that the higher priority nodes can effectively monopolize the use of the bus so that lower priority nodes may never have the opportunity to use the bus.
Another scheme which has been used in the past is a round robin arbitration. Each node is sequentially enabled in round robin fashion so that there is an equal sharing of the bus between the nodes. Although this provides equal access to all of the nodes, the scheme can be inefficient since nodes which need to use the bus more often than other nodes have to wait for the round robin to complete before being able to use the bus again. However, the nodes which use the bus less frequently are less likely to actually use the bus during their turn, so there is often a waste of the time reserved for nodes which use the bus less frequently.

Fair arbitration scheme for arbitrating between multiple nodes in a computer system seeking control of a common bus


The present invention relates to a method for determining an optimal frame size for tag collision prevention in an Aloha-based RFID system in which frame sizes limited to a certain unit are used to identify tags, the method including the steps of using an RFID for: (a) calculating an estimated optimal frame value for the RFID reader identifying the tags; (b) calculating expected time delays per tag of a left-hand frame size and a right-hand frame size, which show the smallest differences with respect to the estimated optimal frame value, among the frame sizes; (c) comparing, the expected time delay per tag of the left-hand frame size with that of the right-hand frame size; and (d) determining a frame size which has a smaller expected time delay per tag, between the left-hand frame size and the right-hand frame size, to be an optimal frame size.

One important function required in an RFID system is to rapidly and efficiently identify tags. However, in a case where a plurality of tags exist within an identification range of an RFID reader, since all the tags attempt to respond through an equal channel at the same time, collisions occur, thereby delaying tag identification. Also, an idle phenomenon where tags do not respond at all may occur in a certain channel, which also decreases the efficiency of tag identification. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an RFID tag identification method capable of maximizing the efficiency of an RFID system by controlling inevitable collisions, the idle phenomenon, and the like, to be minimized under the limited functions of tags.
With rapid development of information communication technologies, efforts are being made to create a ubiquitous environment in which information communication devices can be easily and conveniently used in regular life, regardless of time and place. In order to create such a ubiquitous environment, a wireless identification technology enabling information communication devices to efficiently perceive and identify each other from a remote is necessary. The RFID technology is becoming attractive as a representative wireless identification technology.
The RFID is one of automatic identification technologies, such as a barcode, a magnetic sensor, an IC card, and the like, and is the most up-to-date technology used for wirelessly identifying data stored in a microchip by using an ultra-short wave or a long wave. The RFID technology is increasingly used in the industrial world to such a degree that the RFID technology is regarded as a substitute technology for the barcode, which is currently used in distribution and circulation fields, financial services, etc.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a conventional RFID system.
As shown in FIG. 1, in order to identify a tag 120 attached on an object, a conventional RFID reader 110 identifies an identifier stored in the tag 120 by transmitting/receiving RF signals to/from the tag 120.
In this case, tag identification protocols used for the conventional RFID reader 120 to identify the tag 120 may be roughly classified into Aloha-based protocols and tree-based protocols.
The Aloha-based protocols include a pure Aloha protocol which cannot control collisions between identifiers, the idle phenomenon, and the like at all, a slotted Aloha protocol which can control collisions and occurrence of the idle phenomenon through time slots, and a frame-slotted Aloha protocol which can more efficiently control collisions and the occurrence of the idle phenomenon by grouping slots in units of frames. Here, the collision phenomenon between identifiers represents that the conventional RFID 110 receives two or more identifiers at the same time, and the idle phenomenon represents that the conventional RFID 110 cannot receive an identifier during a certain time period.
Meanwhile, the tree-based protocols employ a method of dividing tags into two groups upon occurrence of a collision and extending the search space.
Of the Aloha-based protocols and the tree-based protocols, the Aloha-based protocols are expected to be used as a standard for the RFID technology.
As described above, the Aloha-based protocol, and especially the frame-slotted Aloha protocol, which is to be widely used in the future, employs a method in which each of one or more tags selects one slot within a frame size, which corresponds to the number of slots constituting one frame, the efficiency of tag identification significantly varies depending on the adjusted frame size. For example, in an environment where a plurality of tags 120 exists around the RFID reader 210, if the RFID reader 210 uses too small a frame size, the number of collision slots increases, so that the tag identification performance becomes degraded. In contrast, if the RFID reader 210 uses too large a frame size, the number of idle slots increases, so that the tag identification performance becomes degraded.

Method for determining optimal frame size for tag collision prevention in RFID system


The method for managing a plurality of windows of a browser application on an electronic device includes assigning a priority level to each process, including the browser application, running on the device, and distributing computing resources based on priority level. In response to receiving an action to open a window, the browser application starts the execution of a process for opening the window, associates the process with the window, and assigns a priority level to the process associated with the window. The browser application then monitors an activity level of each process associated with its windows. If the activity level decreases, the browser application assigns the process with the decreased activity level to a lower priority level. If requested computing resources exceed a maximum threshold, a process is selected from the lowest priority level processes, and the selected process is suspended.

A web browser application allows a user of a computing device to open multiple web pages simultaneously using multiple windows or tabs. If a user has multiple browser windows open, one or more of the open windows may be in the background view of the device display, rather than visibly been displayed in a foreground view. Despite being in the background view, these open windows still use computing resources of the device, since the browser application and its windows run as a single process on the device. In case the computer operating system of the device now requires additional computing resources, suspending background windows to free up resources would therefore require suspending the browser application and its foreground window. Thus, a monolithic browser application lacks the flexibility to adjust its demand on computing resources based on one or more of its background windows being inactive.

Priority-based managing and suspension of window processes in a browser application


The invention relates to a clamping apparatus comprising a base body and two clamping straps which are arranged opposite one another on one side of the base body, are made flexible at least sectionally, extend convexly to one another in a non-clamping state of the clamping apparatus and can be brought into engagement by being pressed together in order thereby to fasten an object located between the clamping straps and the base body to the clamping apparatus of a clamping fit.

Such a clamping apparatus is generally known. In one kind of clamping apparatus, a clamping arm is supported on a side of the base body by means of a complex hinge. The object to be fastened is placed on the base body, the clamping arm is folded over it and the free end of the clamping arm is latched to the base body to achieve a clamping connection of the object between the clamping arm and the base body. In another kind of clamping apparatus, it is a question of a two-part system that includes a base body and a separate clamping part which can be plugged together or placed onto one another and latched to one another, whereby an object arranged between the base body and the clamping part is held in a clamping manner.
It has proven to be a problem with both types of clamping apparatus that in each case two components which are separate at least originally, namely the base body and the clamping means, have to be joined together to form a complex article. Moreover, the assembly of the hinge described above and the folding over of the clamping means in an automated process is particularly problematic.


A method for starting a combustion turbine generator 10 includes configuring the generator so that the generator""s rotor 16 is connected to receive all DC electrical power from the armature 30 of a DC-field brushless exciter 20 after rectification by a rotating rectifier. The method also includes causing the DC-field brushless exciter 20 to provide all of the DC electrical power to the rotor 16 by rotating a shaft 12 with a turning gear 22 to drive the DC-field brushless exciter 20 and rotor 16. The method further includes supplying electrical power to the generator""s stator 18 as the shaft 12 is rotating so that the stator 18 provides an accelerating torque to operate as a synchronous motor to bring the rotational speed of the shaft 12 up to a starting rotational speed. A combustion turbine generator includes a starting controller 28 to control the rotational speed of the shaft 12 and the supply of electrical power to the stator 18.

The present invention relates generally to power generators, and, more particularly, to combustion turbine generators and methods for their starting.
Combustion turbine generators are widely used by electric power utilities to generate electricity. A combustion turbine power generator includes an electrical generator and a combustion turbine for driving the generator. The generator includes a rotor surrounded by a stator, electrical power being generated as the rotor turns within the stator. The combustion turbine drives the generator by turning a shaft connected to the rotor. The shaft is turned by an expansion of hot gas within the turbine. Air enters an inlet, is compressed by an air compressor, and then supplied to a combustor where fuel (e.g., natural gas) is burned to produce hot gas. The hot gas travels through the turbine where the expanding gas drives the shaft to turn the rotor.
The generator needs to be excited in order to create magnetic flux necessary for the generation of electrical power. An exciter, such as a brushless DC-field exciter, can provide the necessary excitation power. An exciter typically includes a rotating armature connected to the shaft and a field surrounding the armature. As the turbine turns the shaft, the shaft rotates the armature within the surrounding field to provide a current to the rotor.
A conventional combustion turbine power generator typically lacks a self-starting capability. Starting thus requires a motor or other external device to increase the rotation of the shaft up to a rotational speed at which the turbine can take over and drive the shaft.
A static start system can be employed for the static start of a conventional combustion turbine power generator. This technique employs a Static Frequency Converter (SFC) to provide three-phase ac power of variable frequency and magnitude to a generator stator while an excitation system simultaneously provides dc excitation to the field winding. The synchronous generator is operated as a synchronous motor. As the stator frequency is increased, the shaft accelerates to maintain synchronism, until ignition speed for the combustion turbine system is attained. Present static start systems use static excitation systems, employing slip rings and carbon brushes to provide dc excitation power. Another starting system is disclosed in one of the coinventor""s own patents, U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,089 B1, which has the same assignee as the present invention. The patent discloses an alternating current (AC) induction exciter that provides excitation to the rotor regardless of the rotational speed of the shaft and without the use of slip rings or brushes. Nonetheless, a conventional combustion turbine generator may not be equipped with the AC induction exciter.
It is generally thought that static starting is not possible with a generator that uses a brushless DC-field exciter unless a separate set of slip rings and brushes is used to provide excitation to the rotor during starting. It is costly, though, to install and maintain slip rings and brushes. It is costly, as well, to maintain a separate starting supply. Moreover, the use of a starting static excitation system introduces mechanical concerns related to vibration and operation.
With the foregoing background in mind, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide methods for starting a combustion turbine power generator using a DC-field exciter and without slip rings or brushes.
This and other objects, features, and advantages in accordance with the present invention are provided by a method of starting a combustion turbine power generator by rotating the generator""s shaft to cause a shaft-driven DC-field exciter to supply all the DC power to the generator rotor field winding and by supplying electrical power to the generator""s stator with, for example, a static frequency converter. The result is an electrical torque on the shaft that increases the rotating speed of the shaft. The torque accelerates the rotation of the shaft thereby increasing field current supplied by the brushless exciter, thereby increasing the power supplied to the rotor, the increased power causing continued acceleration until the combustion turbine is rotating at a ignition speed.
More particularly, the combustion turbine power generator will include a shaft and a combustion turbine for driving the shaft. A turning gear may be used for rotating the shaft when it is not being driven by the turbine so as to effectively eliminate warping of the shaft. The combustion turbine power generator also typically includes a rotor connected to the shaft and a stator surrounding the rotor. A DC-field exciter comprising an armature connected to the shaft and a field surrounding the armature may also be part of the combustion turbine power generator.
The method may include configuring the combustion turbine power generator so that the rotor is connected to receive all DC electrical power needed for starting from the armature of the DC-field exciter. This configuring of the turbine power generator, accordingly, may include making the rotor to be devoid of brushes or slip rings, or simply not using the brushes or slip rings if the rotor already includes same.
The turning gear of the combustion turbine power generator may have a nominal rotational speed and an upper rotational speed. The method of starting the combustion turbine power generator may therefore include increasing the rotational speed of the shaft from the nominal rotational speed to the upper rotational speed. The turning gear may turn the shaft, thereby rotating the brushless DC-field exciter and causing it to generate a direct current in the generator rotor and a corresponding magnetic flux in the gap between the generator rotor and stator. As the speed increases, so does the field current and, hence, the magnetic flux.
Electrical power may be supplied to the stator as the shaft is rotating. The result is a stator current that also produces a corresponding magnetic flux. The magnetic flux from the rotor and the magnetic flux from the stator interact to create a torque on the shaft to increase its speed.
A field voltage may be applied to the DC-field exciter once the shaft reaches the upper rotational speed. The turning gear may then be disengaged. As the shaft rotates, electrical power may be supplied to the stator when the rotational speed of the shaft has reached the upper rotational speed.
The combustion turbine power generator may have a maximum start time. Accordingly, electrical power may be supplied to the stator so that the shaft reaches the starting rotational speed before the maximum start time. Current through the stator may give rise to an internal stator voltage. Accordingly, the electrical power also may be supplied to the stator so as to avoid an xe2x80x9cover-excitationxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cover-fluxingxe2x80x9d (i.e. excessive Volts/Hertz) condition of the stator, while still providing sufficient torque to accelerate or spin the rotor at a given speed, as appropriate.
Another aspect of the invention pertains to a combustion turbine power generator configured to implement the methods of starting already described. The combustion turbine generator may include a shaft, a combustion turbine for driving the shaft, a rotor connected to the shaft, a stator surrounding the rotor, and a DC-field exciter comprising an armature connected to the shaft and a dc field winding surrounding the armature. A turning gear may be used to rotate the shaft. The combustion turbine generator also may include a stator power supply that supplies electrical power to the stator during starting.
A starting controller may be connected to the turning gear and to the stator power supply. The starting controller may control the turning gear to rotate the shaft so that the DC-field exciter provides all DC electrical power to the rotor. The starting controller also may also control the stator power supply so that electrical power is supplied to the stator as the shaft is rotating.

Methods for starting a combustion turbine and combustion turbine generator configured to implement same methods


Shear wave dispersion ultrasound vibrometry (SDUV) is implemented in some embodiments to form, from a single tracking pulse, in-parallel-directed receive lines (411-426) for making measurements of a monochromatic shear wave. In some embodiments, sampling is performed, over spatial locations by means of passes over the locations, in an interlaced pattern (600) for making measurements of the wave. In some embodiments, measurements are made of the wave and to the measurements are applied a bank of filters (S724) that are tuned to respective candidate wave speeds, all without the need to determine a difference between wave phases at different spatial locations (451-454).

Mechanical changes in living tissue correlate with pathological changes. As between healthy and pathological tissue, the shear elastic modulus (stiffness) and viscosity can vary significantly. With the advent of ultrasound elasticity imaging development over the past decade, many clinical studies have shown that tissue visco-elastic properties provide useful information to physicians for better cancer diagnosis and therapy assessment.
Shear Wave Dispersion Ultrasound Vibrometry (SDUV) is an acoustic radiation force based technique that measures tissue shear elasticity and viscosity by characterizing shear wave speed dispersion, i.e., by frequency. An application of this technique is the non-invasive measurement of liver stiffness to stage liver fibrosis and cirrhosis.
Interrogation by ultrasound, for purposes of medical imaging, often makes use of longitudinal waves. In body tissue, the ultrasound propagates in wave form. In effect, particles all along the propagation path vibrate, in place, back and forth, and the vibration occurs in the direction of propagation. The vibrations create compressions and rarefactions. These are modeled as the peaks and valleys of a sinusoid. Energy is conveyed to the target and back by means of the oscillatory particle movements.
An ultrasound shear (or transverse) wave, by contrast, is characterized by back and forth in-place movement that is perpendicular to the direction of propagation. Oscillation one way creates the peaks, and the other way creates the valleys.
Performing SDUV entails issuing a series of focused longitudinal-wave push pulses. They are high intensity, narrow bandwidth signals which are fired with a repetition rate of (say) 100 Hz. After several of these pulses are fired, each laterally coinciding and in the same direction, they establish a shear wave which propagates out from the focus and in a direction perpendicular to that of the push pulses. The focal depth has been selected so that the shear wave travels through a region of interest (ROI).
A longitudinal-wave tracking pulse is issued to the ROI to assess, at the sampling point, the amplitude of the shear wave. This measurement is used in estimating the phase of the shear wave at the sampled location.
To sample another location, another push pulse issues to the same pushing focus, followed by a tracking pulse to that location. This second cycle is needed, because the difference in phase between two points is used in the determining of elasticity and viscosity.
Shear waves with frequencies of typically 100 Hz and harmonics (200 Hz, 300 Hz, 400 Hz), i.e., components (or "monochromatic shear waves"), are present because the envelope of the pushing pulse is a square wave. The speed estimations at the different frequencies are used in deriving tissue shear elasticity and viscosity.

Spatially-fine shear wave dispersion ultrasound vibrometry sampling


A drive shelf includes an embedded switching hub (ESH) that monitors Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL) traffic, including loop initialization requests (LIRs), coming from drives attached to the ESH. When a number of LIRs issued by a single drive within a certain amount of time exceeds a threshold, the drive is bypassed. One threshold (a “burst” threshold) measures the number of LIRs issued within a short period of time. If the number exceeds a threshold that would prevent other data from circulating through the loop, the drive is bypassed. A second threshold (a long-term threshold) measures the number of LIRs issued within a longer period of time. If the drive issues a number of LIRs at a slower rate than the burst threshold, but still above the long-term threshold, the drive is bypassed.

A network appliance is a processing system that may be connected to a network to provide service to other devices over the network. A file server, or filer, is an example of a network appliance. A filer is a form of storage server which provides file storage and file access to remote clients that request access to the data storage. Another type of storage server, which may be implemented as an appliance, is one which provides clients with block-level access to stored data, rather than file-level access. Such a server can be used in a storage area network (SAN), for example, to provide an interface between clients and mass storage devices.
A filer typically manages a number of storage devices, such as disk drives, that may be assembled in redundant arrays of independent (or inexpensive) disks (RAID) groups. Several drives arranged in RAID groups may be contained in a shelf unit that is managed by a shelf head. The shelf head can monitor the status of the drives and associated hardware, including monitoring physical characteristics of the drives, such as operating temperature, voltage, etc. The shelf may also pass data requests to the drives from the filer.
FIG. 1 illustrates a loop topology. The loop 100 includes a filer communicating with several drives. The filer 102, in this instance, initiates access requests to the several drives 104. The filer 102 and the drives 104 are interconnected using a connection 106. The connection 106 may utilize any one of several loop interconnect technologies, such as Fibre Channel Arbitrated Loop (FC-AL). FC-AL is defined in ANSI standard ANSI X3.272:1996. In this example, requests originate with the filer 102 and travel clockwise (i.e., one-way) through the connection 106. When one of the drives 104 receives an access request from the filer 102, the request is fulfilled, and returned through the connection 106.
If the filer desires data from the drive 104b, a read request is issued through the connection 106. The read request first travels to the drive 104a, which recognizes that the request is not addressed to it, and allows the request to continue on to the drive 104b. When the request reaches the drive 104b, the drive 104b fulfills the request, and returns it to the filer 102 over the connection 106. The fulfilled request passes the drive 104c on its way to the filer 102.
When one of the drives 104 is first connected to the loop 100, the drive 104 issues a loop initialization request (LIR), which generally comprises a number of loop initialization primitives (LIPs). The LIR is used to initiate a connection with the loop 100, assign the new device a loop ID and allow the new device to report its position in the loop 100. All existing devices, including drives, participate in the loop initialization process on loop 100 and, when complete, the initiator device (FC-AL adapter) is made aware of the new drive and knows the make-up of the loop topology. As a result, when a LIR is issued by a drive connecting to the loop 100, every device attached to the loop temporarily ceases moving data and begins to participate in the loop initialization protocol.
Occasionally, for unknown reasons a drive will continuously and unnecessarily issue LIRs, even though the drive is established on the loop 100. When LIRs are continuously and unnecessarily issued, the loop 100 may, in some cases, no longer be able to handle data traffic since so many LIRs are being issued. For example, if a drive is issuing 20 or more LIRs every minute, the loop 100 will be constantly initializing and will be unable to transmit data altogether. Even if the drive is issuing fewer LIRs, unnecessary LIRs may slow data transfer. What is needed then is a way to remove drives that begin issuing LIRs unnecessarily.

Method and apparatus for detecting and remedying excessive loop initialization