A wiper device of a motor vehicle has a cowl provided adjacent a front edge of a windshield, and a bulkhead in a form of a box laterally extending under the cowl. The space in the bulkhead is divided into a wiper housing at a front side and an air duct at a rear side by a front panel. A wiper linkage is provided in the bulkhead under the cowl, extending through an opening formed in the front panel.

The present invention relates to a wiper device provided in a bulkhead of a motor vehicle between an engine space and interior space.
Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 62-37815 and Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 62-130983 disclose the wiper device which are disposed inside a bulkhead formed as a box.
In order to improve aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle, a windshield is considerably rearwardly raked and hence a front edge of the windshield is located at a forward position. In such a body, the space in the bulkhead becomes small, because the front edge of the windshield is located near strut houses of a front suspension system. Consequently, it is difficult to provide the wiper device in the bulkhead, as described below.
In a typical wiper device, a wiper motor is provided in the bulkhead at the passenger side of the front seat of the vehicle, and a side wiper link is located in a side of the vehicle body at the driver's seat. The wiper link forwardly protrudes from a pivot thereof. Therefore, the front end of the wiper link touches the bulkhead. In order to avoid this contact, the strut houses and the bulkhead must be formed into complicated shapes. This decreases productivity and hence increases manufacturing cost


A method for selectively compressing data in a data storage system is provided. Data storage system cache memory is arranged into multiple input/output (IO) cache macroblocks, wherein a first set of IO cache macroblocks are configured as compressed IO cache macroblocks storing a plurality of variable sized compressed IO data blocks, and a second set of IO cache macroblocks are configured as non-compressed IO cache macroblocks storing a plurality of fixed sized non-compressed IO data blocks. An IO activity level of IO data blocks stored in IO cache macroblocks is determined. Multiple macroblock groups are created which correspond to a particular IO activity level. IO data blocks are arranged into macroblocks belonging to a macroblock category according to data block IO activity level. Each macroblock group is compressed, wherein compressing includes selecting a compression algorithm based on the macroblock category. The macroblocks are written to corresponding macroblocks in persistent storage.

Technical Field
This application relates generally to managing selective compressions in data storage systems.
Description of Related Art
Data storage systems are arrangements of hardware and software that include storage processors coupled to arrays of non-volatile storage devices. In typical operation, storage processors service storage requests that arrive from client machines. These storage requests may specify files or other data elements to be written, read, created, or deleted. The storage processors run software that manages incoming storage requests and performs various data processing tasks to organize and secure the data stored on the non-volatile storage devices.
Some data storage systems store data in discrete units called data blocks and provide each data block with a physical address in storage. Such block-based data storage systems have metadata to describe the data stored in the blocks. The speed of such data storage systems may be optimized by sequentially writing data blocks, similar to a log-structured file system.

Selective compression in data storage systems


A shock absorber strut that includes inner and outer tubes which slide one over the other in a telescopic relationship. In the space confined between closed ends of the tubes, a stack arrangement of compressible elastomeric material pad assemblies is provided to function as shock absorber medium. Each assembly has a pad of compressible material having a central opening, a metal plate having a corresponding central opening and abutting one end of the pad, and a flanged bearing through said openings and abutting the plate to the pad. The pad has ends provided with a series of different sized bores cooperating to define flow spaces for compressed elastomer material to avoid contact with the guide rod. A guide rod extends substantially through the strut through the bearings. The entire arrangement of the bearing provides a glide path for the guide rod. Each plate has a plurality of holes, sub-peripherally located, the holes having torn and jagged protrusions engageable with the pad end.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to shock absorber struts, and more particularly to a very large heavy strut means wherein inner and outer assemblies can rotate independently in at least two different directions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heavy off-road haulage trucks, which are designed to carry loads in the range of from 35 to 220 tons over rough terrain, are designed to employ some sort of shock absorber strut means. Such strut means are massive in size, for example, a strut means for a 150 ton hauler weighs in the range of 1,100 to 1,200 lbs. and is approximately 71/2 ft. long and 14 inches in diameter. A substantial number of such struts employ hydraulic principles to absorb the shock. Characteristically, they leak and require frequent servicing. Invariably they must be removed entirely from the vehicle and taken to a repair shop, for example, for servicing, which, as appreciated because of their size, is very difficult. The present inventor, in an earlier development, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,512, issued July 12, 1988, to Robert S. Toms, Jr., overcame the deficiencies associated with struts employing hydraulic principles by designing a suspension strut using elastomer material pads assembled in stacks, as sold by Miner Enterprises, Inc., of Geneva, Illinois, under the trade name "TecsPak", and more fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,037, issued Apr. 15, 1980, to Anderson. The strut assembly comprises a pair of telescoped tubes housing therein a stack of pads, each having a central opening for admitting a steel guide rod. The pads are separated from each other by intervening steel plates. It has been determined that occasionally, the suspension strut, when subjected to compression, will compress the elastomer material to such an extent that the size of the central openings in some of the pads will be decreased by the flow of the elastomer material, which then applies a compressive force to the guide rod, thereby rendering it less effective in providing a cushioning force. Furthermore, such gripping of the guide rod by the pads causes wear in the pads by enlargement of the central openings to such an extent that the guide rod loses its function of maintaining the pads concentrically in the telescoped tubes.
It is, therefore, a prime objective of the present invention to provide shock absorber strut means using pads which are not subjected to mechanical deterioration as the pads move along the guide rod.
Another object of the invention is to use a pad assembly comprising a pad made from resilient mat.RTM.rial, a steel plate, and a bearing, all arranged as a single unit and substantially isolating the resilient material from contacting the guide rod.
A further object of the invention is to provide an assembly of two different types of pad assemblies in a shock absorber strut to provide a predetermined amount of damping.

Heavy off-road large vehicle suspension strut


The present invention relates to an amphiphilic block copolymer represented by formula I, a preparation method thereof, and a nanomicelle drug delivery system formed from the copolymer and a poorly soluble drug. The amphiphilic block copolymer includes a hydrophilic chain segment, a hydrophobic chain segment, and a linker for linking the hydrophilic chain segment to the hydrophobic chain segment. The linker contains an unsaturated structure, which can enhance the interaction between the poorly soluble drug and the copolymer to improve the drug loading ability and stability of the nanomicelle. The invention also relates to a nanomicelle drug-loading system, a preparation method thereof, and the use of the nanomicelle drug-loading system for preparing medicines for treating tumors, inflammation, diabetes, central nervous system diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and psychological disorders.

The delivery of poorly soluble drugs has always been a problem in the drug formulation technology. Only the dissolved drugs can be absorbed by the gastrointestinal mucosal epithelial cells. According to statistics, more than 40% of the drugs currently on the market are poorly soluble drugs. With the general use of combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput screening in the research and development of new drugs, the portion of poorly soluble drugs has been continuously growing. The less soluble the drugs are, the lower oral bioavailability they will have and thus they are unsuitable for an oral preparation. In order to better deliver the poorly soluble drugs, the conventional method is to develop them into injections through increasing the solubility by pH-adjustment, salt-formation, adding solubilizer or dissolving drugs in oil. But in practice, these approaches also introduce some deficiencies in the meantime of increasing the drug solubility.
Taxanes such as paclitaxel, docetaxel, cabazitaxel, larotaxel, etc., have been widely used as antitumor drugs because they can induce and promote tubulin polymerization, protect tubulin from disassembly, and stabilize microtubules. Spindle apparatus and spindle filaments thus fail to organize during mitosis, which in turn inhibits cell division and proliferation, and exerts antitumor effects. However, taxanes are very hydrophobic and can only be administered by injection with anhydrous ethanol as a solvent. A large amount of polyoxyethylene castor oil or Tween 80 is usually used as a solubilizer to promote the dissolution of the drugs in the injection preparation. These solubilizers will cause allergic reactions and hematological toxicity. On one hand, patients are required to receive desensitization before administration. On the other hand, the therapeutic dose is limited, and the best therapeutic effect of taxanes cannot be exerted. In addition, taxanes will precipitate due to the decreased solubility when this kind of injection is diluted in blood, resulting in inaccurate dosages. Thus the therapeutic effects will be unstable unless the injection process is in precise control. Therefore, a novel, safe and stable drug delivery system is in urgent need.
The amphiphilic block polymers will self-assemble into copolymer micelles with a spherical core-shell structure in aqueous solution. The hydrophobic segment forms the core while the hydrophilic segment forms the shell. The inner core works as a container for hydrophobic drugs through solubilizing the drug, which will increase the drug-loading capacity and reduce toxic side effects. The shell protects the drug from degradation and improves the stability. After the micelles are diluted in the blood, the spherical core-shell structure is slowly dissociated and then the drug is released, which achieves the sustained release effect. The particle size of micelles, usually between 10-200 nm, is much larger than that of small molecule drugs, which slows down the excretion by the kidney and the absorption by the reticuloendothelial system, extends the circulation in the body, and improves bioavailability. For anti-tumor drugs, passive targeting to tumor cells, which improves tumor-selective distribution, enhances drug efficacy and reduces system side effects, can also be achieved through enhanced permeability and retention effect (EPR effect).
Among amphiphilic block copolymers, PEG-PLA (Poly (ethylene glycol)-poly (lactic acid) copolymers) has been studied most extensively and intensively. Approved by FDA as a non-ionic water-soluble polymer, PEG (polyethylene glycol) possesses good biocompatibility, can be easily cleared from the body and show very low toxicity to the human body. Therefore it is prevalently used as pharmaceutical excipients. PLA (poly(lactic acid)/polylactide) is one of the first studied biodegradable polyester materials. The final degradation products in the body are carbon dioxide and water. Lactic acid, as the intermediate metabolite, is also a regular metabolite that will not accumulate in the body or cause toxic side effects. Thus PEG-PLA is a promising safe biomedical material.
Samyang Biopharmaceuticals in South Korea is the first company that applies PEG-PLA for drug delivery in clinic. A micelle formulated paclitaxel for injection (trade name Genexol-PM) from Samyang has been launched into market. When paclitaxel is loaded, the highest content ratio of drug to polymer is 20:100, and the micelles become unstable over a period of 24 h at room temperature after dissolution, indicating low drug-loading capacity and poor stability (Pharmaceutical Research 2007, 24, 1508-1516). When the interaction between drug and polymer is weak, the formed micelles will dissociate quickly after entering the bloodstream, causing drug leakage, which fails to achieve effective drug-loading and passive targeted delivery. It was disclosed in patent CN103772686B that when the termini of PEG-PLA chain was modified with t-butoxycarbonyl protected phenylalanine, it could appropriately improve the stability of micelles, but the drug/copolymer ratio was still only 20:100 at most. As described in patent CN105287377A, modification of PLA terminal with 9-Fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl and t-butoxycarbonyl double-protected lysine also helped stabilizing micelles while the drug/copolymer ratio was yet only 20:90. Although natural amino acids were used in these modifications, the presence of protective groups may generate metabolic by-products that are harmful to the human body when the copolymer enters the blood.
On the other hand, during the synthesis of the copolymer, the catalysts for initiating lactide polymerization reported above are stannous octoate, and the reaction temperature is about 130° C. Tin reagents are highly toxic, so trace residues will have great influence on the biosafety of the polymers. Researches suggest that excessive tin in polymers will make a significant interference on the dynamic stability of the micellar system. In addition, when poly(lactic acid) is polymerized at high temperature, the back-biting of the chain (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2016, 138, 8674-8677) is prone to broaden the molecular weight distribution of the copolymer, resulting in uncontrollable drug release. In practical production, it usually requires very elaborate purification methods to obtain qualified copolymers suitable for drug delivery. For instance, patent CN106349466A described a method by membrane ultrafiltration to obtain a copolymer with narrow molecular weight distribution. Patent CN103768013A disclosed a method of cation exchange resin to reduce tin residue in the mixture introduced by the catalyst. According to the method described in patent CN103980466B, active metal sodium and organic naphthalene were employed as catalysts in place of stannous octoate. However, sophisticated operative skills are necessary as the active metal is very sensitive to air and moisture. Besides, a large amount of explosive and narcotic ethyl ether are involved in the precipitation and purification of the copolymer in the prior art, which is very dangerous in the scale-up production.
In conclusion, the existing drug-loaded micelles based on PEG-PLA show various defects such as low drug-loading (the maximum drug/copolymer ratio is only 20:90), harsh synthetic conditions and complicated purification methods. In order to realize safe, effective and stable micellar drug delivery, it is necessary to modify the structure of the copolymer in a more systematical manner to improve the drug-loading capacity and micellar stability to a greater extent while ensuring safety. Meanwhile, there also exists a need to develop a method for copolymer synthesis with stable and environmental-friendly process and controllable quality.

Amphiphilic block copolymer, preparation method thereof and nanomicelle drug-loading system


A method for forming a self aligned pattern on an existing pattern on a substrate comprising applying a coating of the masking material to the substrate; and allowing at least a portion of the masking material to preferentially attach to portions of the existing pattern. The pattern is comprised of a first set of regions of the substrate having a first atomic composition and a second set of regions of the substrate having a second atomic composition different from the first composition. The first set of regions may include one or more metal elements and the second set of regions may include a dielectric. The masking material may comprise a polymer containing a reactive grafting site that selectively binds to the portions of the pattern. The masking material may include a polymer that binds to the portions of the pattern to provide a layer of functional groups suitable for polymerization initiation, a reactive molecule having functional groups suitable for polymerization propagation, or a reactive molecule, wherein reaction of the reactive molecule with the portion of the pattern generates a layer having reactive groups, which participate in step growth polymerization. Structures in accordance with the method. Compositions for practicing the method.

A number of applications and technologies involve structures having a well-defined arrangement of chemically distinct components at the surface of a substrate. A common example is a substrate surface having metal conductor regions separated by insulator regions. Normally, these structures are defined by patterning processes such as lithography, embossing, and stamping, and have length scales ranging from 10 nanometers to several microns. In many of these systems it may be necessary or highly beneficial to apply an additional component or treatment to only one of the components at the surface. One technique for performing this task is through the use of a mask to protect regions where this additional application or treatment is not desired. Effectively, the mask material directs this treatment to the intended surfaces that are fully exposed. Unfortunately, typical procedures to generate a mask by lithographic or other means can be expensive and error prone. Thus, a method in which these conventional approaches can be circumvented would be highly advantageous.
A particular example in which such strategies would be useful involves integrated circuits comprised of metal and dielectric components. It is widely known that the speed of propagation of interconnect signals is one of the most important factors controlling overall circuit speed as feature sizes are reduced and the number of devices per unit area is increased. Throughout the semiconductor industry, there has been a strong drive to reduce the dielectric constant, k, of the dielectric materials existing between metal lines and/or to minimize the thickness of layers having comparatively larger dielectric constants, e.g., cap barrier layers. Both of these approaches reduce the effective dielectric constant, keff, of the components between metal lines, and as a result, interconnect signals travel faster through conductors due to a reduction in resistance-capacitance (RC) delays. Unfortunately, these strategies are difficult to implement due to limitations in maintaining significant properties, i.e., mechanical, barrier, electrical, etc., that result with a reduction in thickness or change in the chemistry of the layers.

Nonlithographic method to produce masks by selective reaction, articles produced, and composition for same

International Business Machines Corporation


A method, system and computer program product for obtaining vector representations of code snippets capturing semantic similarity. A first and second training set of code snippets are collected, where the first training set of code snippets implements the same function representing semantic similarity and the second training set of code snippets implements a different function representing semantic dissimilarity. A vector representation of a first and second code snippet from either the first or second training set of code snippets is generated using a machine learning model. A loss value is generated utilizing a loss function that is proportional or inverse to the distance between the first and second vectors in response to receiving the first and second code snippets from the first or second training set of code snippets, respectively. The machine learning model is trained to capture the semantic similarity in the code snippets by minimizing the loss value.

Deep learning (also known as deep structured learning or hierarchical learning) is part of a broader family of machine learning methods based on learning data representations as opposed to task-specific algorithms. Learning can be supervised, semi-supervised or unsupervised.
Deep learning architectures, such as deep neural networks, deep belief networks and recurrent neural networks, have been applied to fields including computer vision, speech recognition, natural language processing, audio recognition, social network filtering, machine translation, bioinformatics, drug design and board game programs, where they have produced results comparable to and in some cases superior to human experts.
Deep learning architectures have also been applied to analyzing source code. However, such deep learning architectures do not accurately capture the semantics or meaning of the code. Instead, such deep learning architectures only capture the syntax of the source code, such as the arrangement of the terms in the code.
Capturing the semantics or meaning of the code is important in order to identify the same code implemented in different ways. For example, there are many different ways to write code to perform the same function (e.g., loop function) for a subset of input parameters. However, there is currently no means for identifying such code snippets that are semantically similar.

Generating vector representations of code capturing semantic similarity


A polarizing element includes a plurality of polarizing sections, wherein a first polarizing section included in the plurality of polarizing sections has a first base material and a plurality of first acicular particles dispersed in the first base material such that long axes of the first acicular particles are aligned in substantially the same direction, a second polarizing section included in the plurality of polarizing sections has a second base material and a plurality of second acicular particles dispersed in the second base material such that long axes of the second acicular particles are aligned in substantially the same direction, and the specification of the first acicular particles is different from that of the second acicular particles.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a polarizing element, a liquid crystal device, and an electronic apparatus.
2. Related Art
As one type of polarizing element, a polarizing glass is known. A polarizing glass can be composed only of an inorganic substance, and therefore, as compared with a polarizing plate containing an organic substance, the deterioration thereof due to light is significantly less. Therefore, a polarizing glass has drawn attention as an effective optical device in a liquid crystal projector whose brightness has been enhanced recently.
As a general polarizing glass, those described in JP-A-56-169140 are known, and a method for producing such a polarizing glass is as follows.
(1) A glass product having a desired shape is produced from a composition containing silver and at least one halide selected from the group consisting of chlorides, bromides, and iodides.
(2) The produced glass product is heated to a temperature which is higher than the strain point but not higher than the softening point of the glass by about 50° C. for a period of time sufficient to produce crystals of AgCl, AgBr, or AgI in the glass product, whereby a crystal-containing product is produced.
(3) The resulting crystal-containing product is elongated under stress at a temperature which is higher than the annealing point but lower than a temperature at which the glass has a viscosity of about 108 poises so that the crystals are elongated to have an aspect ratio of at least 5:1.
(4) The elongated product is exposed to a reducing atmosphere at a temperature which is higher than about 250° C. but not higher than the annealing point of the glass by about 25° C. for a period of time sufficient to develop a chemically reduced surface layer on the product. By this process, at least a portion of the elongated silver halide particles are reduced to elemental silver.
According to the production method described in JP-A-56-169140, the halide deposits uniformly in the glass product, but, in the reducing step, only the halide which is contained in the surface layer of the glass product can be reduced. Therefore, the halide remains in a central portion in the thickness direction of the glass product. Due to this, the transmittance of a polarizing element is decreased, and when the polarizing element is applied to a liquid crystal display device or the like, there is a possibility that a sufficient brightness cannot be obtained.
Many of the liquid crystal display devices capable of full-color display in the related art are provided with a color filter comprising a plurality of color material layers of, for example, red (R), green (G), and blue (B). In general, the polarization property of the polarizing element depends on the wavelength, and when one piece of polarizing element is used, the polarization properties with respect to red light, green light, and blue light are different. Therefore, a polarizing element having polarization properties averaged for red light, green light, and blue light was usually used. In other words, the polarization properties of the polarizing element were not optimized for each of red light, green light, and blue light. As a result, the liquid crystal display devices in the related art had a problem that sufficient brightness and contrast, and color reproducibility cannot be obtained.
JP-A-2004-256915 only describes that nanoparticles having an absorption wavelength peak in the visible range are used as a coating material, and the application thereof to a polarizing element is not suggested therein.

Polarizing element, liquid crystal device, and electronic apparatus


According to an embodiment, a quantum communication device is adapted to correct first sift key data acquired by performing sift processing with respect to a quantum bit string received from a transmission device via a quantum communication path. The quantum communication device includes a determination unit and a correction unit. The determination unit determines setting information of error correction on the first sift key data from an estimated error rate of the first sift key data and a margin of the estimated error rate. The correction unit generates corrected key data by performing the error correction with the setting information.

A low density parity check (LDPC) code attracts attention as an error correction code having an error correction capability very close to the Shannon limit that is the theoretical limit value of an information transmission rate. Thus, for example, it is actively considered to implement an LDPC decoder as hardware in fields of communication, storage system, and the like.

Quantum communication device, quantum communication system, and quantum communication method


Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed toward techniques and apparatus comprising at least one layer of an ONN that includes an optical matrix multiplier provided in a semiconductor substrate to receive a plurality of optical signal inputs and to linearly transform the plurality of optical signal inputs into a plurality of optical signal outputs. The optical matrix multiplier comprises one or more 2×2 unitary optical matrices optically interconnected to implement a singular value decomposition (SVD) of a matrix, and a nonlinear optical device coupled with the optical matrix multiplier in the semiconductor substrate, to receive the optical signal outputs and to provide an optical output that is generated in a nonlinear manner in response to the optical signal outputs of the optical matrix multiplier reaching saturation or attenuation. Additional embodiments may be described and claimed.

Machine learning architectures are typically based on artificial neural networks (ANNs). Traditional complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-based ANNs may be limited in computational speed and power efficiency. Optical neural networks (ONNs) are physical implementation of ANN that use optical components as building blocks. The basic building blocks of an ONN typically include interconnected Mach-Zehnder interferometers (MZI) that perform unitary transformations on an array of optical signals.

Optical analog matrix multiplier for optical neural networks


A servo control device for controlling a motor based on a position command when an operation target is connected to the motor via a wave gear reduction mechanism may include a position control system configured to detect a shaft angular position of the motor to perform a closed-loop control based on the shaft angular position; an inverse control element having an inverse characteristic of dynamics of the position control system; and a compensation amount generation unit configured to generate a compensation amount for compensating for an angular transmission error of the wave gear reduction mechanism. The inverse control element is configured to apply compensation amount to the position control system.

A wave gear device configured by combining an annular internal gear having internal teeth on an inner peripheral side, a flexible annular external gear arranged radially inward of the internal gear, the external gear including external teeth meshing with the internal teeth of the internal gear on an outer periphery thereof, and an elliptical cam arranged radially inward of the external gear, the cam being configured to radially deform the external gear by being rotated, is characterized in that the wave gear device can provide a large reduction ratio, the wave gear device provides input and output on the same shaft, the size of the wave gear device is small, and the like, and is widely used as a reduction gear in a drive shaft of an industrial robot, for example. A reduction gear using a wave gear device is called a wave gear reduction mechanism. It is known that the wave gear device has an angular transmission error (also referred to as a rotation transmission error) unique to the wave gear device caused due to a processing error of teeth in each spline, or the like (see Non-Patent Literature 1, for example (Takeshi Ishida, et al., "Rotational Transmission Errors of Strain Wave Gearing (Experimental Study)", Journal of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, Series C, Vol. 61, No. 592 (1995), p. 202-210)). A prominent first-order frequency component of the angular transmission error is an error caused due to a rotational angular position of an output shaft periodically fluctuating around a reference position determined by a reduction ratio from a rotation angular position of an input shaft. Since this error is a cyclically fluctuating error, for example, in a case of a robot provided with a wave gear reduction mechanism, the angular transmission error causes an arm to vibrate. In particular, when a robot arm is driven, if the first-order frequency component of the angular transmission error matches a mechanical resonance frequency of the arm, the arm will vibrate continuously.
Robot servo control usually employs semi-closed loop control in which a rotational position of a motor configured to drive each arm is detected, and a performance of a servo control system is enhanced to provide compensation to prevent vibration of the motor shaft due to disturbance or the like. However, it is difficult to remove an influence from disturbance having periodicity and being added at the rear of the motor shaft, such as disturbance generated by the wave gear reduction mechanism, simply by enhancing the performance of the servo control system, and thus, the robot arm may still continue to vibrate.
A method of compensating for an angular transmission error of the wave gear device is disclosed in Toshimasa Miyazaki, et al., "Robust Speed Control for Robot Arm Considering Angular Transmission Error of Gear", Journal D of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan, Vol. 118, No. 12 (1998), p. 1427 to 1434 (hereinafter, referred to as Non-Patent Literature 2). The method in which a two-inertia system model is introduced and an observer is used for the compensation, however, in this method, a controller becomes highly complicated. Makoto Iwasaki, et al., "Suppression of Resonant Vibration due to Angular Transmission Errors of Harmonic Drive Gearings by Variable Notch Filter", Journal of the Japan Society for Precision Engineering, Vol. 78, No. 10 (2012), p. 887-893 (hereinafter, referred to as Non-Patent Literature 3) discloses a method of suppressing vibration due to an angle transmission error by inserting a notch filter in a closed loop and compensating for torque applied to the closed loop as disturbance. Since the frequency of each component of the angular transmission error is proportional to the number of rotations of the input shaft, in this method, it is necessary to make the cycle of the notch filter variable, however, if the cycle of the notch filter is variable, then the device becomes too complicated, but a great effect cannot be expected.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-175120 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Literature 1) discloses a method of enhancing a positioning accuracy of an output shaft of an actuator provided with a motor and a wave gear reduction mechanism connected to the motor. In the method, when control is performed by feeding back position data of a rotating shaft of the motor, compensation about the angular transmission error is performed for a feedback amount of the position with reference to a correction table obtained by previously measuring and accumulating the relationship between the position of the rotating shaft of the motor and the angular transmission error. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-90692 (hereinafter, Patent Literature 2) discloses that, in the method described in Patent Literature 1, the compensation is performed also for the feedback amount of a speed with reference to the correction table.
As the methods of performing the servo control by compensating for the angular transmission error of the wave gear device, the methods described in Non-Patent Literatures 2 and 3 have a problem in that a scale of the device is increased, or the effect is limited for the scale of the device. The methods in Patent Literatures 1 and 2 of performing correction for the feedback amount of the position, based on the rotational position of the motor also have limited effects due to an influence of dynamics of the system.

Servo control device, robot, and servo control method


The present invention is a manufactured screed, smoothing, finishing and decorative rolling toll applied to vertical surface fresh concrete/cementous material. The screed/decorative rolling of a vertical fresh concrete surface demands more adjustments in blade or roller angle of the screed/decorative rolling tool than what is needed for horizontal fresh concrete. The vertical concrete surface screed/decorative rolling tool operator can in most applications efficiently and effectively vertically screed, smooth, finish and/or decorative roll concrete without tiring too quickly. The vertical concrete screed/decorative rolling tool can be adjusted and be fixed to numerous blade or roller angles of adjustments in relation to the pole/handle by the screed/rolling tool multi-axis connection head. A vibrator attaching point is manufactured on the multi-axis connection head.

A number of tools are used to screed and smooth finish horizontally or flat placed fresh concrete. In most horizontal/flat wet concrete screeding and smoothing applications where a pole or handle is attached to the screeding/smoothing blade or roller, the screeding tool operator is in a fairly upright standing position, walking backwards, facing the screed/smoothing tool. The operator pulls the screeding/smoothing blade/roller across the un-screeded/smoothed concrete, leveling, smoothing, finishing and compacting the pulled over fresh concrete. The screeding/smoothing tool blade or roller end may be vibrated by some vibratory means to assist in screeding/smoothing the concrete.
A roller may also be used on horizontal fresh concrete when there is the desire for decorative application treatments. The decorative roller may be used in an application to press in a concrete stencil into a fresh concrete surface. Another decorative roller application may be where a pattern is imprinted on the roller where when the roller is rolled over the horizontal fresh concrete the roller pattern is left on the face of the concrete.
Most all of the existing horizontal flat concrete screed/decorative rolling tool blades or rollers are in a fairly fixed position as to the angle of the blade or roller to the pole or handle, vertically or laterally, and cannot be readily adjusted to allow the blade or roller to be rotated and fixed into a new angle in relation to the axis of the pole or handle. In horizontal flat fresh concrete screed/decorative rolling there is usually not a need for multi-axis rotation of the blade or roller due to the position of the tool operator being fairly "squared up" pulling and/or pushing in an applied force perpendicular to the longitudinal surface of the blade or roller.
A significant amount of the horizontal screed/smoothing and decorative rolling tool weight can be placed on the horizontal flat fresh concrete surface such that the screed/decorative tool operator is not having to carry the majority of the horizontal tool weight. In most of the horizontal/flat concrete screed/decorative rolling tool application approximately ½ to ⅔rds of the tools weight is placed on the horizontal flat fresh concrete surface. The ability for the horizontal fresh concrete to carry much of the screed tool load is very beneficial to vibrating screed/rolling tools especially when the vibrating power motor is placed closed to the blade or roller.
Screed, smoothing, finishing and/or decorative rolling a vertical fresh concrete surface is significantly different and usually more difficult taking more concentration by the vertical screed/decorative tool operator to screed/decorative roll than on a horizontal flat concrete surface. When attempting to screed or roll vertical fresh concrete the tool operator needs to continually align the vertical screed/rolling tool blade or roller in the right angle with the plane of the surface of the fresh concrete, while maintaining effective pressure on the vertical tool, pulling, drawing or pushing the vertical screed/rolling tool. The vertical surface may be above the operator's chest height, equal to or below his chest height, at angles many times difficult for the vertical tool operator to continually maintain. Also the vertical surface(s) may have various turns and angles. The vertical screed/rolling tool cannot be so heavy, especially at the blade or roller end, that the vertical screed/decorative rolling tool operator tires too quickly.
What is needed is a screed, smoothing, finish and decorative rolling tool that has enough blade, roller, pole/handle adjustments that allows the tool operator to screed/decorative roll the vertical fresh concrete at a comfortable and efficient alignment/angle(s). The vertical screed/decorative rolling tool needs to be also efficient and light enough to not over burden the tool operator.

Vertical concrete screed and rolling tool


An integrated circuit and an operation method of a SERDES PHY layer circuit thereof are provided. When the SERDES PHY layer circuit is in a calibration preparation state and a signal of a first calibration input pin is an enable state, or when the SERDES PHY layer circuit is in the calibration preparation state, and signals of first and second calibration input pins are in the enable state, the SERDES PHY layer circuit enters a calibration state (using a reference resistor for current calibration). After the current calibration is completed, the SERDES PHY layer circuit enters a calibration completion state (without using the reference resistor and connecting the first calibration input pin to the first calibration output pin). The SERDES PHY layer circuit sets the signal of the first calibration output pin to a disable state when the SERDES PHY layer circuit is not in the calibration completion state.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electronic circuit, and particularly relates to an integrated circuit and an operation method of a serializer/deserializer (SERDES) physical (PHY) layer circuit.
Description of Related Art
Serializer/deserializer (which is generally referred to as SERDES) may transform parallel data into serial data, or transform serial data into parallel data. FIG. 1 is a block schematic diagram of integrated circuit configured with general SERDES. Referring to FIG. 1, the integrated circuit 100 includes an upper layer circuit 110 and a plurality of SERDES physical layer (PHY layer) circuits. For example, n SERDES PHY layer circuits 120_1, 120_2, . . . , 120_n are illustrated in FIG. 1, where n is any integer determined according to an actual design requirement.
The upper layer circuit 110 can be a data link layer, a network layer and/or other functional circuit. The SERDES PHY layer circuits 120_1-120_n respectively have a data pin. The data pins of the SERDES PHY layer circuits 120_1-120_n are electrically coupled to the upper layer circuit 110. The SERDES PHY layer circuits 120_1-120_n may transform parallel data output from the upper layer circuit 110 into serial data, and output the serial data to a circuit outside the integrated circuit 100 through data pads 130_1, 130_2, . . . 130_n; and/or receive serial data from the circuit outside the integrated circuit 100 through the data pads 130_1-130_n, and transform the serial data into parallel data for providing to the upper layer circuit 110.
The SERDES PHY layer circuits 120_1-120_n respectively have a reference resistor pin. The reference resistor pins of the SERDES PHY layer circuits 120_1-120_n are electrically connected to reference resistor pads 140_1, 140_2, . . . , 140_n. The reference resistor pads 140_1-140_n are respectively connected to reference resistors 10_1, 10_2, . . . , 10_n. During an initialization period after power is supplied to the SERDES PHY layer circuits 120_1-120_n, the SERDES PHY layer circuits 120_1-120_n may simultaneously enter a calibration state, such that the SERDES PHY layer circuits 120_1-120_n respectively perform current calibration by using the reference resistors 10_1-10_n electrically connected to the reference resistor pads 140_1-140_n. In case that a reference voltage is supplied to the reference resistors 10_1-10_n, the reference resistors 10_1-10_n may respectively provide corresponding reference currents to the SERDES PHY layer circuits 120_1-120_n, and the SERDES PHY layer circuits 120_1-120_n may respectively perform the current calibration according to the reference currents.
Generally, resistances of the reference resistors 10_1-10_n are the same. If the SERDES PHY layer circuits 120_1-120_n may commonly use a single reference resistor, the amount of the reference resistors 10_1-10_n can be greatly decreased. However, the SERDES PHY layer circuits 10_1-120_n cannot commonly use a same reference resistor since the SERDES P layer circuits 120_1-120_n may simultaneously enter the calibration state (i.e. simultaneously use the same reference resistor). When the SERDES PHY layer circuits 120_1-120_n simultaneously use the same reference resistor, the reference current required for the current calibration is changed due to a parallel effect, which influences a result of the current calibration.

Integrated circuit and operation method of serializer/deserializer physical layer circuit thereof


A plasma generator may include a first electrode extending in one direction, and a second electrode spaced apart from the first electrode. Facing surfaces of the first electrode and the second electrode may have spiral shapes along the one direction. A cross-section of the first electrode and a cross-section of the second electrode, which are perpendicular to the one direction, may have at least partially concentric shapes. An electrode for generating plasma may include a platform extending in one direction, and at least one protruding thread spirally formed on a surface of the platform along the one direction.

1. Field
This disclosure relates to an electrode for generating plasma and a plasma generator for depositing a thin film on a substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
During chemical vapor deposition (CVD) or atomic layer deposition (ALD), simultaneous application of precursors and plasma is often required. Plasma may be generated by applying voltage between two or more electrodes facing each other. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a conventional plasma generator. The plasma generator includes electrodes 101, 102 facing each other, and a power source 103 for applying voltage between the electrodes 101, 102. One electrode 101 includes protruding threads 110 with sharp ends. When voltage is applied by the power source 103, plasma 104 may be generated between the protruding threads 110 and the electrode 102.
When a flat-type electrode is used, capacitive type plasma may be generated. However, the capacitive type plasma needs a low pressure of about 1 Torr or below. It is difficult to generate the capacitive type plasma at an atmospheric pressure. In order to generate plasma at an atmospheric pressure or a relatively high pressure (for example, greater than about 100 Torr), dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) or pulse corona discharge is generated, and thus, the electrode 101 has the sharp protruding threads 110 to generate plasma using DBD or pulse corona discharge.
But plasma is generated only in a region in proximity to the protruding threads 110 of the electrode 101. Hence, the uniformity of plasma is less than desirable. To improve the uniformity of plasma, method of adjusting the arrangement or number of electrodes 101, 102 is proposed. But even this method does not ensure excellent uniformity of plasma.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing another conventional plasma generator. The plasma generator of FIG. 2 includes two electrodes 201, 202 having concentric cross-sections, and a power source 203 for applying power between the two electrodes 201, 202. One electrode 201 may be located within the other electrode 202. The inner electrode 201 may have an uneven surface. At this time, plasma 204 may be generated between the outer electrode 202 and a protruding thread 211 of the inner electrode 201.
In the plasma generator of FIG. 2, the sharp protruding thread 211 is used to generate DBD or pulse corona discharge. Hence, plasma is not uniformly distributed on a substrate 200. In order to improve the uniformity of plasma, the arrangement or number of electrodes 201, 202 may be adjusted. But this method does not produce uniform radicals because concentric arrangement may not be easily obtained and plasma is not generated at the center of the electrode 201.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electrode for generating plasma and plasma generator


A fastening device includes a resilient clamping member and a holder cup respectively stopped at opposing inner wall and outer wall of a support structure, a rubber female connector accommodated in the holder cup, a fastening member adjustably inserted through the rubber female connector, the holder cup and the resilient clamping member to control the relatively clamping position between the resilient clamping member and the holder cup, and a male connector fastened to a decorative ornamental panel and detachably fastenable to the rubber female connector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to decorative ornamental panel mounting technology and more particularly, to a fastening device for fastening a decorative ornamental panel in a wall rapidly and firmly.
2. Description of the Related Art
In addition to the requirements of the fashion aesthetic, upholstery also emphasizes practical function. In order to achieve the layout of imagery patterns, decoration materials must be firmly mounted. For example, male and female connection members are commonly used to affix seat cushions, wall decorative ornamental panels, or ceiling plates. However, according to conventional designs, male and female connection members are used with screws to affix decorative ornamental panels to the object to be decorated by the decorative ornamental panels. However, if one mounting screw hole is not in perfect alignment, it is necessary to drill a new hole for mounting, complicating the installation operation.
Further, because regular male and female connection members are commonly made of plastics, the engagement force between a male connection member and a mating female connection member is low. Further, during a dismounting operation, detaching a male connection member may cause the mating female connection member to be pulled out of place, resulting in component damage. Further, after having been frequently mounted and dismounted, the tolerance between the male connection member and the mating female connection member will be expanded due to overfriction, affecting further matching stability and strength.
Further, in some cases, the decorative ornamental panel must match the mounting wall perfectly without any clearance, preventing shaking and vibration loosening. However, conventional designs do not allow relative adjustment to eliminate clearance between the decorative ornamental panel and the mounting wall, therefore, conventional designs cannot meet the actual requirements.


Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described that identify a minimum gap between a control channel transmission on a first component carrier (CC) that triggers a measurement report and an associated reference signal transmission on a second CC. The minimum gap may be based on a resource associated with a control channel transmission and a resource associated with the reference signal transmission. The first CC and the second CC have different numerologies and the minimum gap may be identified in terms of a number of OFDM symbols of the second CC that carries the reference signal transmission. The minimum gap also may be identified based on a location of the control channel transmission within a slot of the first CC. In cases where beam switching is used, the minimum gap may be further based at least in part on a beam switch time for performing the beam switching.

The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and more specifically to measurement report triggering techniques for multiple component carriers.
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations or network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
In some cases, a UE and a base station may establish a connection via two or more component carriers (CCs). Further, one or more parameters associated with each CC (e.g., a transmission power, modulation and coding scheme (MCS), etc.) may be based on current channel conditions that may be measured based on one or more transmitted reference signals (e.g., a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (CSI-RS)). In some cases, an aperiodic measurement report based on a CIS-RS may be triggered by a base station using a first CC, and the associated CSI-RS transmissions may use a second CC. A UE may receive the trigger in a control channel transmission on the first CC, perform measurements on the CSI-RS on the second CC, and transmit a measurement report to the base station. In order to reduce buffering of the second CC at the UE, certain offsets between the trigger and the CSI-RS transmission may be provided. Efficient identification and management of such offsets may be desirable to enhance the efficiency of a wireless communications system.

Measurement report triggering techniques for multiple component carriers


A signal buffer circuit includes a buffer to conduct a buffering operation for transmitting a signal to a subsequent unit; a resistor connected between an input side and an output side of the buffer; and a variable impedance device connected in series to the output side of the buffer. The variable impedance device is at low impedance when the buffer is conducting the buffering operation and at high impedance when the buffer is not conducting the buffering operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal buffer circuit, a sensor control board including the signal buffer circuit, an image scanner including the signal buffer circuit and sensor control board, and an image forming apparatus including the image scanner.
2. Description of the Background Art
Scanners receive light reflected from a document image face (hereinafter, document), and then the light is photo-electrically converted to electrical signals using an image sensor such as a charge coupled device (CCD) installed in a sensor control board, by which an image of the document is read, or scanned. In the sensor control board, signals output from the CCD are buffered by a signal buffer circuit employing an emitter follower circuit, and then the signals are input to an analog processing circuit such as an analog-front-end (AFE) via alternating current (AC) coupling. At this time, during transitional operations, such as power source ON/OFF, or clock input or shutdown, over-output or under-output from the CCD or signal disruption occurs, leading to excess voltage or excess current at the AFE.
In view of such problem, conventional methods use an emitter follower circuit disposed before the AFE to block signals or limit the signal amplification so as to prevent the occurrence of over-voltage or over-current at the AFE. For example, JP-2007-214688-A discloses a method to suppress over-voltage to the AFE, in which the power source of the emitter follower circuit is delayed to shut off a transistor, as a result of which signals output from the CCD are not transmitted to the AFE and the over-voltage at the AFE is prevented. Although successful at preventing over-voltage or over-current at the AFE, such conventional methods using the emitter follower circuit to shut down or limit signals have a drawback in that over-voltage (or reverse bias voltage) occurs at the emitter follower circuit itself that shuts down or limits the signals.

Signal buffer circuit, sensor control board, image scanner, and image forming apparatus


A process for simultaneously producing C.sub.5 -C.sub.12 alkane(s) and C.sub.5 -C.sub.8 tertiary alkyl ether(s) employs a liquid feed mixture containing (a) at least one C.sub.4 -C.sub.7 isoalkane, (b) at least one second reactant which is at least one C.sub.4 -C.sub.8 isoalkane, and/or at least one C.sub.4 -C.sub.8 tertiary alkyl alcohol, and (c) at least one C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 linear alkyl alcohol, wherein the liquid feed mixture is contacted at effective reaction conditions with a catalyst consisting essentially of trifluoromethanesulfonic acid and a specific solid carrier material (preferably alumina).

In one aspect, this invention relates to a process for converting isoalkanes and alcohols to a product mixture comprising higher alkanes and ethers employing a supported trifluoromethanesulfonic acid.
The use of supported trifluoromethanesulfonic acid catalysts for the alkylation of branched alkanes (isoparaffins) with alkenes (monoolefins) to higher alkanes is known and has been described in the patent literature, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,095. It is also known to prepare tertiary ethers (MTBE or ETBE) from branched alkenes (isoolefins) and alcohols in the presence of a catalyst comprising trifluoromethanesulfonic acid and a zeolite. The present invention is directed to a process which simultaneously converts branched alkanes and linear alcohols to a product mixture comprising both higher alkanes and tertiary ethers, in the presence of supported CF.sub.3 SO.sub.3 H catalysts. This product mixture is 8 valuable motor fuel having a relatively low vapor pressure and a high octane rating.


A plurality of actuators allow a gun operator to control the on/off status of an illuminator attached to a weapon in the area forward of the trigger guard. The actuators are spaced to allow them to extend rearwardly on opposite sides of the trigger guard. “Up” turns the light emitter on and keeps it on or allows it to turn on as long as the actuator is actuated, regardless of which side of the trigger guard the actuator is actuated.

The need to be able to effectively see a target and aim a weapon in the direction of the target is well recognized. Tactical illuminators to facilitate illuminating a target and aiming a weapon, especially under low light conditions, are known. Tactical illuminators typically have an incandescent lamp or light emitting diode (LED) to provide general illumination of an area or person of interest. The output is typically a white light capable of projecting 40 to 150 lumens, although higher output lights are also known. Some tactical illuminators have a laser for providing point of impact indication.
The tactical illuminator may be attached to a weapon, for example a handgun, long gun, or shotgun, in a variety of different ways. Some tactical illuminators are secured to a handgun having a set of rails located under the barrel, in an area forward of the trigger guard, and some tactical illuminators are secured to the trigger guard.
These tactical illuminators typically have one or more actuators to turn the light and/or laser on or off located on the ends of these devices. Some tactical illuminators for use with handguns have actuators that straddle the trigger guard to allow the operator to control the light from either side of the weapon. These actuators are not independent. Actuating one actuator on one side of the trigger guard causes the other actuator on the other side of the trigger guard to also move. In some tactical illuminators, rotating the actuator on the right side of the trigger guard upward (about a horizontal axis) causes the actuator on the left side of the trigger guard to also rotate upward. In other tactical illuminators, rotating the actuator on the right side of the trigger guard counterclockwise (about a longitudinal axis) causes the actuator on the left side of the trigger guard to also rotate counterclockwise. Placement of fingers on the trigger or non-trigger hand can impede movement of the actuator on an opposite side of the gun.


A method for creating an apparent visual appearance of a large rectangular gemstone in a setting comprising the steps of: mounting a plurality of outer stones along sides and ends of a setting; and mounting a rectangular shaped center stone in a first plane that lies above a second plane that contains the plurality of outer stones, the center stone being disposed within a center of the plurality of outer stones and in a partially overlapping manner such that an appearance of the center stone and the underlying outer stones emulates an appearance of an emerald cut gemstone having larger dimensions than the center stone.

This invention relates to a jewelry structure especially for rectangular or princess cut stones. Such structure may be employed in rings, pendants, earrings or the like.
One of the general objectives of retail jewelry sales is to provide customers with attractive jewelry items, especially those with reflective stones such as diamonds.
Conventional rectangular or princess cut stones generally have rectangular or square shapes and are held in prongs in jewelry.
Larger stones generally cost more money and therefore, there is a need to provide jewelry articles that have an appearance of a larger gemstone but at reduced costs.


Disclosed are an image forming apparatus server connected to an image forming apparatus and a print charging method thereof. A print charging method for at least one image forming apparatus, the method including: setting charging standards for a print usage volume of the at least one image forming apparatus; collecting usage volume information of the at least one image forming apparatus according to the set charging standards; and changing the charging standards by using the collected usage volume information and calculating charges by using the changed charging standards. With this, the image forming apparatus server uses the changed CPP reflecting the change to thereby reduce errors in the initial charging standards, actively respond to the changed user environment and win confidence from both a supplier and a user.

1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present embodiment relate to an image forming apparatus server connected to an image forming apparatus and a print charging method thereof, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus server connected to an image forming apparatus and a print charging method thereof which calculates charges by changing charging standards depending on a print usage volume.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus forms an image on print paper. The image forming apparatus may include a printer, a photocopier, a facsimile, a multi-function device which has at least two functions, etc.
Recently, demand for an image forming apparatus as an office automation device performing not only a document print function but also a scanning function and a faxing function has increased. Accordingly, expensive image forming apparatuses have been developed to extend functions and perform various functions with high performance.
Instead of purchasing such expensive digital multi-function devices, in many cases, people use leased devices.
If a leased digital multi-function device is used, an equipment supplier may determine a usage volume by carrying out a simulation for a predetermined time with respect to a sampling group before executing a lease agreement, and may execute the lease agreement according to charging standards in consideration of a user's print volume and an agreement term. The charges are imposed in a lump sum according to fixed charging standards.
However, such determination of charging standards after performance of the simulation may take at least one month and require high expenses. Thus, it is hard to perform the determination frequently.
While the usage volume at the time of the execution of the lease agreement is reflected in the charging standards, it may cause loss to either a supplier or a user depending on variables of user environments, such as the special nature of the user's annual work volume, an increase or decrease in the number of users due to frequent change in organizations and a difference of usage volume between the sampling group and the actual user group.

Image forming apparatus server connected to image forming apparatus and print charging method thereof


Systems and methods for delaying transmission of an alarm signal responsive to detecting delay actions indicative of progress towards confirming or denying the alarm signal are provided and can include an alarm processing device receiving the alarm signal and determining whether a user device is enrolled in an alarm notification service. When the user device is enrolled in the alarm notification service, the alarm processing device can transmit a notification to the user device, start a delay timer, and determine whether a first delay action associated with the user device is detected prior to expiration of the delay timer. When the first delay action is detected prior to the expiration of the delay timer, the alarm processing device can alter the delay timer consistent with a next delay action associated with the user device and, when the delay timer expires, transmit the alarm signal to the central monitoring station.

Known security systems often produce false alarms. To prevent transmission of such false alarms to relevant authorities, a live operator at a central monitoring station may attempt to verify an alarm signal from a security system by contacting an owner or a user of the security system prior to transmitting the alarm signal to the relevant authorities. However, such a process is expensive in terms of both time and manpower.
Known security systems can also include a web interface or a mobile application on a user device of the owner to facilitate the owner remotely monitoring the security system and conditions thereof. However, known security systems do not rely on the owner using the mobile application to confirm the alarm signal before transmitting the alarm signal to the central monitoring station because doing so could substantially delay the transmission of the alarm signal, thereby undermining a principle function of security systems: early notification of alarm conditions. Accordingly, upon receipt of the alarm signal, the operator at the central monitoring station must still attempt to verify the alarm signal in a manner as described above before contacting the relevant authorities.
In view of the above, there is a need and an opportunity for improved systems and methods.

Systems and methods for delaying transmission of an alarm signal to a central monitoring station in response to detecting delay actions


A card cage system is provided that includes a middle card guide interposed between two end card guides in an electronic equipment enclosure. Each of the card guides includes one or more channels adapted to receive a card edge. The middle card guide includes a removable adapter element that can permit insertion of two single wide cards in a side-by-side arrangement. When the adapter element is removed, a double-wide card can be received in the middle card guide such that it straddles the middle card guide. One or more elongate members can also be inserted in any of the card guides to add vertical or lateral stability. Thus, the card guide can be readily customized to accommodate a variety of card types and sizes, in various arrangements.

1. Technological Field
This invention is generally concerned with electronic equipment enclosures adapted to mechanically and electrically interface with plug-in type functional modules. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to a card cage system that can be readily customized by a user to accommodate a variety of functional module sizes, types, configurations, and arrangements.
2. Related Technology
Electronic equipment enclosures are used in a number of different industries and applications and generally serve to receive one or more pieces of electronic equipment and devices in such a way that the individual electronic components can operably interact with each other and/or with the electronic equipment enclosure. In some instances, such electronic equipment enclosures are configured to permit the use of one or more "plug-in" functional modules that electrically and mechanically interface with the electronic equipment enclosure and/or with other functional modules.
More specifically, many electronic equipment enclosures include internal structures configured to removably receive one or more functional modules in a desired arrangement. Such internal structures are often referred to as "card cages." The card cage is configured so that a user can define the functionality of the electronic equipment enclosure by selecting particular functional modules to be employed in the electronic equipment enclosure. In the event that it is desired to modify the functionality of a particular electronic equipment enclosure, such changes can be made simply by positioning additional functional modules in the card cage of the electronic equipment enclosure and/or by removing selected functional modules from the card cage of the electronic equipment enclosure.
The functionality implemented by any particular functional module or group of functional modules can vary widely. Notwithstanding their functional differences however, such functional modules may share a number of similar structural features.
For example, typical functional modules employed in conjunction with card cages include a printed circuit board, or "card," attached to a front panel that may include various indicators, readouts, and/or connectors. Circuitry disposed on the card communicates with such indicators, readouts and connectors and serves to implement the functionality associated with that particular functional module. Various connectors on the rear of the card permit communication between the functional module and other functional modules or components associated with the electronic equipment enclosure. Additionally, the front panel of the functional module typically includes a number of fasteners that engage corresponding structure of the card cage and thereby aid in removable retention of the functional module within the electronic equipment enclosure.
Conventional card cages for receiving such functional modules typically consist of mounting rails, card guides, and a backplane, and can be oriented horizontally or vertically. A typical horizontal card cage consists of one or more uniformly spaced card slots. Each card slot can accommodate a single uniformly sized functional module. The card slots are oriented horizontally and stacked vertically. Vertically oriented mounting rails are located on the left and right sides at the front of the card cage. A backplane is positioned at the rear of the card cage. The backplane typically consists of a printed circuit board containing connectors for each card slot.
Card guides are positioned on the left and right sides of the card cage and run from the front of the card cage back to the backplane. The card guides contain channels which guide the edges of the functional module PCB during insertion and align the connectors on the functional module with the corresponding backplane connectors. The functional modules are slid between corresponding pairs of card guides and the retention fasteners on the ends of the module front panel engage the mounting rails. A functional module can be taller than a single card slot by incorporating a larger front panel and additional printed circuit boards. The module height generally must be a multiple of the single slot height. However, the width of the module is generally constrained by the distance between the mounting rails of the card cage.
Such card cage arrangements serve to limit, at least, the size of the module, and corresponding card, which can be disposed within a single card cage slot. Thus, the functionality associated with a relatively wider functional module, such as might be required to permit the use of additional circuits and components, can only be implemented by positioning a series of relatively narrow cards above one another. As discussed below however, such arrangements can be problematic.
For example, each separate card must have its own electrical connection with the connectors on the card cage backplane. Moreover, the separate cards may each require additional structure, circuitry, or connections such as cables, for electrical communication with adjacent, or other, cards in the card cage system. Such requirements contribute to relatively high production costs for functional modules having these types of cards, and also serve to complicate installation. Further, in the event a functional module fails to operate properly, the use of a relatively larger number of electrical interfaces and connections impairs troubleshooting, diagnosis, and repair of the functional module.
The foregoing problems are likewise a matter of concern where two functional modules are arranged in an edge-to-edge type of arrangement. Moreover, such edge-to-edge arrangements implicate other problems as well. For example, conventional card cages configured to accommodate two single-wide cards in an edge-to-edge arrangement necessarily include a central structural element that defines a guide rail on either side. The guide rails provide support to an edge of each of the single-wide cards when those cards are received in the card cage. However, the presence of the center guide rails effectively prevents use of a double-wide, or larger, card in the same slot.
In particular, the center guide rails typically extend to the front of the equipment enclosure chassis and thus act to prevent insertion of the double-wide, or larger, card by blocking the path of the card edge. Thus, such configurations materially impair, among other things, the flexibility and the usefulness of conventional electronic equipment enclosures by limiting the ability of the user to change the arrangement of cards used in the electronic equipment enclosure, and by acting as a constraint on the size of the functional modules that may be employed.
Yet another area of concern with respect to typical arrangements of functional modules and card cages relates to the structures and devices typically employed to attach the functional module to the electronic equipment enclosure. In particular, many functional modules include a front panel with a flange that receives one or more screws. positioned to engage the card cage rail and thereby secure the functional module to the card-cage rail. Typically however, this flange is configured and arranged so as to extend laterally beyond the periphery of the card. Thus configured, such modules cannot be positioned edge-to-edge, even if the guide rails of the card cages would otherwise permit such an arrangement, because the flanges and associated screws of the adjacent functional modules would mechanically interfere with each other.
Accordingly, what is needed is a card cage system having features directed to addressing the foregoing exemplary concerns, as well as other concerns not specifically enumerated herein. An exemplary card cage system should permit a user to readily customize the card cage to accommodate a variety of card sizes, types, configurations, and arrangements.


A submersible light fixture which includes a housing, and an LED light engine mounted to a heat-conducting plate, with the heat conducting plate being supported by the housing. The housing defines an opening adjacent to the heat-conducting plate, and the opening is designed to be in fluid communication with a body of water when the light fixture is submerged such that the water acts as a heat sink to the LED light engine. In one arrangement, the opening is a gap between the heat-conducting plate and a watertight container containing a control module for the LED light engine.

Generating visible light with traditional light sources, such as incandescent or fluorescent light sources, is inefficient because thermal energy is also produced as by-product of the process. The wasted thermal energy is generally directed away from the light source in the direction of the radiant beam of light. Fixtures such as light shades or reflectors, or even the target illuminated by the light source, receive the wasted thermal energy, and consequently, rise in temperature. In some instances, the rise in temperature can reduce the useful life of a product. Further, the arrangement of traditional light sources are limited to designs that can withstand the wasted thermal energy. In underwater applications, wasted thermal energy is typically dissipated into the water, however, this does not prevent the light fixtures from having a relatively short life due to this excess heat.
It is also known to use fiber-optic cables for underwater lighting, but fiber-optic lighting is expensive and difficult to install, and is not suitable for the retro-fitting of existing pools. Additionally, the fiber-optic light fixtures are not as bright as traditional incandescent light fixtures, and are therefore not well used in pool and other underwater lighting applications.
In contrast to traditional light sources, solid state lighting, such as light emitting diode ("LED") fixtures, are more efficient at generating visible light than many traditional light sources. However, single LED lights are typically not bright enough for illuminating objects or for use in pool and other underwater lighting. In order to use LEDs for illumination, a cluster of LED fixtures must be provided. Although LEDs do not generally radiate heat in the direction of the beam of light produced, implementation of LEDs for many traditional light source applications has been hindered by the amount of heat build-up within the electronic circuits of the LEDs. This heat build-up is particularly problematic as more LEDs are added to a cluster. Heat build-up reduces LED light output, shortens lifespan and can eventually cause the LEDs to fail.
Accordingly, heat sinks have been used to dissipate heat away from LEDs; however, in the past, LEDs have been thermally coupled to heat sinks with adhesive tapes. The use of adhesive tape introduces several problems, such as the labor and time intensive process of providing tape for each individual LED. Further, adhesive tapes are susceptible to being displaced during the assembly process, resulting in less than optimal heat dissipation. Particular problems arise when the light fixture is intended for use underwater in a swimming pool, spa, fountain, sink or other water feature. Not only must a heat sink be provided, it must be able to withstand being submerged. For example, it is not possible to use adhesive tape to connect an LED to a heat sink in a fixture designed to be submerged, because the adhesive can dissolve in water, causing the connection to the heat sink to be broken.
LED light engines have recently become available, which supply multiple LED lights in an array. The light engines make it possible to provide a high lumen light using LEDs, and it is desirable to use such light engines in swimming pool, spa and other underwater lighting. However, the management of heat generated by the light engines is critical to maintaining the performance of the LED array, and it is therefore desirable to be able to package an LED light engine in such a way that it can be used in underwater applications.


An image forming apparatus includes an ink applicator unit to selectively apply ultraviolet (UV) curable ink on a media, a media support unit to support the media to receive the UV curable ink, and a UV radiation curing device to cure the UV curable ink on the media. The UV radiation curing device includes a UV radiation source module to emit an electromagnetic spectrum and a dispersion member. The dispersion member may separate ultraviolet electromagnetic radiation subtype C (UVC radiation) from at least one of ultraviolet electromagnetic radiation subtype A (UVA radiation) in the electromagnetic spectrum and ultraviolet electromagnetic radiation subtype B (UVB radiation), apply the UVC radiation to the UV curable ink on the media, and subsequently apply the at least one of the UVA radiation and the UVB radiation after the UVC radiation is applied to the UV curable ink on the media.

Image forming apparatuses may form images on media. The images may be formed on the media by ultraviolet (UV) curable ink applied by an ink applicator unit. A radiation source may emit radiation to the UV curable ink on the media. The UV curable ink may be cured by the radiation applied thereto.

Separation of electromagnetic radiation of electromagnetic spectrum to cure ink

Hewlett-Packard Industrial Printing, Ltd


A personal communications apparatus, for example a cellular telephone handset, has an antenna diversity arrangement comprising first and second antennas (102A, 102B) arranged with their polarisation axes slanted with respect to the median plane of the handset body (218). By a suitable choice of inclination angles one of the antennas can be arranged to be substantially vertical in use, whether by right or left handed users, thereby improving received signal strength from a vertically polarised base station. The arrangement also enhances diversity operation, since the correlation between the field strengths received by the antennas is reduced by their relative orientation.

The present invention relates to a personal communications apparatus, for example a cellular telephone handset, having an antenna diversity arrangement.
In cellular telecommunications systems radio signals are transmitted from a base station to a mobile station and vice versa. The radio signals transmitted by cellular base stations are normally vertically polarised. Cellular handsets typically have an antenna, such as a normal mode helix or extendible monopole, mounted at the top of the handset and approximately in line with the longest axis (median plane) of the handset. Such antennas are therefore polarised along this axis, so that when the handset is held vertically the antenna is vertically polarised.
However, cellular handsets are typically held at an angle of between 45xc2x0 and 75xc2x0 to the vertical direction, with a mean of about 60xc2x0, to align the microphone with the user""s mouth and the loudspeaker with the user""s ear (Mobile Antenna Systems Handbook, K Fujimoto and J R James, Artech House, 1994, page 227). By holding the handset at such an angle a polarisation loss is introduced in the transmission of signals between the handset and base station.
This problem has been recognised, for example in EP-A-0 652 646 which discloses a cellular handset having a pivoted antenna mast which is weighted so that the mast remains substantially vertical for a wide range of handset orientations. However, such an arrangement requires significant space inside the handset and is prone to jamming.
Additional problems with the use of cellular handsets are multipath fading, caused by signals from the base station to the handset travelling along paths of different lengths, and various other types of interference. Such problems can be addressed by the use of antenna diversity or other spatial processing techniques.
An object of the present invention is to provide a personal communications apparatus having improved radio reception.
According to the present invention there is provided a personal communications apparatus comprising a body including transceiver circuitry and an antenna diversity arrangement comprising first and second antennas arranged having their respective polarisation axes oppositely inclined to the median plane of the body.
Although the inclination of the antennas would normally be symmetrical about the median plane, this will not always be the optimum orientation. For example, if a plane through the location of the handset""s microphone and loudspeaker is not parallel to the median plane the antennas may be inclined symmetrically with respect to this plane instead (since it is location of the microphone and loudspeaker that determines the orientation of the handset in normal use). Hence, in the present specification and claims the term xe2x80x9cmedian planexe2x80x9d is to be understood to include a plane through the microphone and loudspeaker, especially when these are not arranged on the plane of symmetry of the body.

Abstract: When the apparatus is used in a system employing a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) techniques, the apparatus preferably includes a 2D Rake receiver for mitigating the effects of multipath fading and interference.


The computer system is capable of improving performance, reliability and redundancy. The computer system comprises: a plurality of server computers having different functions, the server computers being mutually connected by communication lines; a standby server computer being connected to each of the server computers by the communication lines, the standby server computer being capable of performing the function of each of the server computers; a detection unit for detecting an abnormal state of each of the server computers; and a take-over unit for controlling the standby server computer to take over the action of the abnormal server computer when the abnormal state of the abnormal server computer is detected by the detection unit.

The present invention relates to a computer system, in which a plurality of server computers are mutually connected by communication lines.
In some computer systems, in each of which a plurality of computers are mutually connected by communication lines, a standby server computer is provided for recovering any one of the server computers broken down (see Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-133542).
In the normal state, the standby server computer monitors actions of the server computers. When an abnormal state of any one of the server computers is detected, the standby server computer takes over the action of the server computer in the abnormal state.
A virtual tape system, which is capable of controlling virtual tape unit at high speed by an interface for controlling magnetic tapes, now exists as an example of said computer system. The conventional virtual tape system will be explained.
A schematic view of a structure of the conventional virtual tape system is shown in FIG. 14.
The virtual tape system 10 comprises: a upper-level switch 11 capable of being connected to a main frame; a virtual tape unit 12; integrated channel processors (ICPs) 13 provided between the virtual tape unit 12 and the upper-level switch 11; and physical tape units 14. Integrated device processors (IDPs) 15 and virtual library processers (VLPs) 16 for managing the entire system are provided between the physical tape units 14 and the ICPs 13.
The ICPs 13 are connected to the IDPs 15 by an intermediate-level switch 17. The IDPs 15 are connected to the physical tape units 14 by a lower-level switch 18.
The ICPs 13 are server computes for reading data from and writing data in the virtual tape unit 12 and connected to terminal equipments of the main frame by the upper-level switch 11.
The VLPs 16 are server computers for controlling the entire system 10 and manages volumes of the virtual tape unit 12 and the physical tape units 14.
The IDPs 15 are server computers for backing up or restoring a logical volume of the virtual tape unit 12 in the physical tape units 14.
In the virtual tape system 10, a plurality of the server computers having the same functions are provided so as to form a redundant system.
Therefore, in the conventional virtual tape system 10, the ICPs 13, the VLPs 16 and the IDPs 15 are respectively connected in parallel, and the server computers having the same function monitor each other. In case that any one of the server computers having the same function comes into an abnormal state, the rest of the server computers supplement the action of the abnormal server computer.
In the above described conventional computer system, a plurality of the server computers having the same function are connected in parallel to form the redundant system, but the action of the abnormal server computer can be taken over by only the server computer having the function which is the same as that of the abnormal server computer. Therefore, in case that the abnormal state occurs, the system performs degenerate actions or essential actions only, so performance, reliability and redundancy of the system will be lowered.
Note that, in some conventional virtual tape systems, the server computers are accommodated in one housing. In this case, it is difficult to secure a space for installing a backup system for each of the server computers in the housing.

Virtual tape system take-over-controlled by standby server computer