A method for controlling the quality of printed documents, such as banknotes, in which only part of the surface of the printed documents is available for inspection, comprising the steps of (i) storing a reference image; (ii) acquiring a sample image of a sample printed document to be controlled, which sample image covers only a limited portion of the sample printed document; (iii) selecting a search pattern within the acquired sample image; (iv) searching the reference image for a match with the selected search pattern, (v) determining control parameters linked to the position of the search pattern within said sample image and within said reference image, (vi) comparing the control parameters linked to the position of the search pattern within the sample image with the control parameters linked to the position of the search pattern within the reference image; and (vii) based on the results of the comparison of the control parameters, accepting or rejecting the sample printed document.

It is well known in the art to control the quality of the printing of banknotes and other similar documents.
In the prior art, when checking the printing quality on paper and especially the printing quality of paper securities, electronic automatic inspection means are used which comprise one or more black-and-white or color cameras to capture the images to be inspected. These images consist of matrices, usually rectangular matrices, comprising pixel values which are representative of the quantity of light reflected by the inspected material (in reflective inspection where one side of the inspected material is checked) or transmitted through the inspected material (in transparency inspection where the transmission properties of the inspected material are checked). In other words, the image is subdivided into a plurality of pixels each having a densitometric value representative of the light reflected or transmitted by a corresponding local region of the inspected material. The number of pixels relating to an image is a function of the resolution of the camera. In a monochrome (black and white) system, the image is described by a single matrix, while in polychrome systems the image is usually described by as many matrices as there are chromatic channels used. Normally, for the RGB (Red, Green, Blue) type, three chromatic channels are used. The procedures used to carry out this type of automatic check are based on the following schemes:
From a set of sheets regarded as being acceptable, a model of acceptable printing quality is constructed. Various techniques are used to construct this model. For example, from the set of sheets regarded as being acceptable, an average image is calculated, that is to say an image which is described by a matrix in which each pixel is associated with the average value obtained in the set of test sheets.
Another procedure associates each pixel with two values, one is the minimum values which has been attained in the set of test sheets and the other is the maximum values. Thus, for each image, two matrices are used, one with the minimum value and the other with the maximum value. Of course, if the image is a polychrome image, two matrices per colour channel are obtained.
The above procedures are in particular disclosed in European patent applications EP 0 527 285 and EP 0 540 833 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,390 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,859).
When producing the images to be inspected, each pixel of the image to be inspected is compared with the pixel of the model thus obtained. If the difference exceeds a predetermined threshold value or if it lies outside the minimum-to-maximum range, the pixel is regarded as having a printing defect. In the end, the total number of defective pixels determines whether or not the image will be rejected.
More precisely, according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,390, the procedure for judging the quality of a printed image printed on a printing carrier comprises: dividing a printed image to be judged into a multiplicity of image pixel elements of a preselected size; determining a nominal ink density value for each of said image pixel elements and storing such nominal ink density values in a reference image storing device; determining from a multiplicity of printed proof images judged to be acceptable the actual proof ink density values for each of said image pixel elements: obtaining from said actual values a maximal acceptable ink density value (FD MAX) and a minimal acceptable ink density value (FD MIN) for each of said image pixel elements to provide an ink density tolerance range for each said image pixel elements; allocating to said stored nominal ink density value for each of said image pixel elements an error tolerance range corresponding to the maximal and minimal acceptable ink density values FD MAX and FD MIN; measuring the actual ink density value for each image pixel element for a printed image to be judged; and comparing said measured ink density values for each image pixel element to said stored nominal ink density value and error tolerance range to determine the quality of the printed image to be judged.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,859, the process for quality control of an image, comprises: defining within a printed image to be inspected a plurality of individual image elements, each element encompassing an image pattern; storing a master printed image incorporating said plurality of individual image elements, the stored master image including for each image element a stored nominal pattern value; storing an acceptable tolerance range for each image element nominal pattern value to provide minimum and maximum allowable pattern values for each said image element; measuring individual image elements of a printed image to obtain individual measured pattern values; and comparing said individual measured pattern values with corresponding allowable maximum and minimum stored pattern values to determine errors in said printed image.
When producing certain types of valuable prints, such as securities, banknotes, stamps, etc., the images are printed using various printing techniques, such as offset, intaglio, etc. These various types of printing techniques constitute as many printing phases. In a normal printing process, the paper firstly passes through a printing system for the first phase and a first drawing is printed, and then the paper passes through a second printing system for the second printing phase enabling a second drawing to be printed on the paper. In this case, apart from the problem of printing quality, there is also the problem of printing the drawings of the different phases into a proper relative register. The reason for this is that deviations may exist between two images printed in this way in the case of drawings which are printed in different phases. These deviations, which may amount to a few pixels, may be either in the direction of movement of the paper or in a direction perpendicular. In this case, it is hardly possible to extract a model which represents the desired printing quality by using the techniques mentioned above since greatly varying values may be associated with the same pixel owing to misalignment or defective registration between the printing phases.
In this case, it has been proposed to construct a model for each printing phase. To do this, sets of sheets printed only with one of each of the printing phases are included in the set of test sheets. Using a procedure similar to the procedure described above, a model is constructed for each printing phase. During the phase of preparing these models, the operator identifies the portions of the image which comprise only or essentially only a single printing phase.
In production, firstly the relative misalignments between the printing phases are measured by using the pixels identified during the preparation of the models.
Next, the models are combined, taking into account the way in which the various phases are successively printed on the sheets in order to obtain a single reference model whose disposition corresponds to the disposition of the drawings in the images to be checked. Next, each image is compared with the model thus produced. This known procedure is complicated and particularly expensive for the printer, since for each production batch it is necessary to print as many sets of sheets representative of the desired printing quality as there are printing phases.
Other known methods are disclosed for example in EP 0 730 959 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,088), EP 0 734 863 and EP 0 985 531 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,665,424). EP 0 730 959 discloses a procedure for producing a reference model by electronic means, intended to be used for automatically checking the printing quality of an image on paper, especially for paper securities, said image being composed of drawings printed in at least two separate printing phases, which procedure comprises the following steps:
a. a set of images (test sheets), which are completely printed by means and procedures used for long print runs, is prepared;
b. said images are arranged so that the drawings of said images printed in a first phase are in register;
c. while the images remain in register they are recorded and the densitometric values of pixels constituting said images are stored in a memory;
d. the minimum value obtained from all the images of the set for each pixel location of the images of the set is associated with each pixel of a first printing phase model and the model of the drawing printed in said first printing phase is thus formed;
e. thereafter, the images are arranged so that the drawings printed in another printing phase are put into register and steps c. and d. are repeated for all the drawings printed in the separate printing phases; and
f. the models thus obtained are recombined in order to form the reference model of the final produced image on paper to be checked, each individual test sheet undergoes the same type and number of printing phases as the final produced image on paper to be checked.
Then the quality control of printed sheets is carried out by comparison of the obtained sheets with the reference model for example by comparing each pixel value obtained from a printed sheet with the corresponding pixel value of a reference image. If the pixel values obtained are within predetermined ranges of pixel values of the reference image, the controlled sheet is accepted, if not the sheet is rejected.
Another example of a control method is disclosed in EP 0 734 863. In this publication, the control process involves passing sheets of paper carrying printed images in front of a camera which inspects them and passes the captured image to a unit which is capable of measuring the misalignment. The measured value of misalignment is sent to a memory which contains all the pixel models which have acceptable misalignment and the model matching the measured value most closely is chosen and transmitted to a comparator. The comparator compares subsequent images captured by the camera with the selected pixel model thus establishing an automatic image control.
A further example of a process for producing by electronic means a model for automatically inspecting the print quality on deformable objects is given in EP 0 985 531. The model is firstly produced by capturing with an electronic camera (CCD for example) the images of a set of sheets whose print quality is regarded as acceptable; the images are stored so as to produce a first reference image, together with the relevant densitometric tolerance limits. This reference image is thereafter divided into a multitude of sub-images by superimposing a grid with very small mesh cells. During inspection, the distances between the nodes of the grid are measured on the image to be inspected: this therefore produces an elastic modification of the model, which is such as to make the distances between the nodes the same as in the image to be inspected. The image to be inspected is thus verified with respect to the modified reference (model) by using any of the standard inspection techniques.
Yet another example of a method and apparatus for controlling printing quality of banknotes during their production is disclosed in European patent application EP 0 582 548 A1. This document discloses an image processing apparatus including a data acquisition stage for acquiring data representative of several spatially separated regions of a sample. The apparatus also includes data storage means for storing reference data corresponding to the sample data, namely an image of a reference sheet. The two sets of data are compiled and analysed to determine if the sample is shifted from a nominal position.
Another type of control that is carried out on printed matter such as banknotes is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,993: after printing, banknotes are inspected photoelectrically to determine whether the printing is correctly centred upon the note. An operator initially marks any imperfectly coloured banknotes whilst still in a sheet and after subsequent cutting, stacking and counting, the individual banknotes pass by means of rollers or a conveyer belt in front of two detecting systems each inspecting both sides of the banknote. A first detecting system senses the previously applied colour mark either optically or by the magnetic or electric properties of the marking ink and a second, photoelectric, system monitors the centring of the printing. Imperfect banknotes are discarded prior to priming with serial numbers or if already printed are replaced by perfect ones. Further counting takes place before final packaging. Correct centring is determined by measuring the width of the plain border surrounding the printing at two specific points along one edge and at one point along an adjacent edge. In one arrangement the banknote must be correctly aligned on the conveyor or rollers with respect to the detecting apparatus and is arranged with its longer edge transverse to the direction of motion. Two light beams are directed onto the conveyer at spaced points across the path of the note and with associated electronic multipliers receiving reflected light time the passage of the border along the longer edge as it goes by and so provide a measure of its width at the two points. The width of the border along the adjacent edge, which extends parallel to the direction of motion, is measured by an oscillating photo-electric device scanning the border and whose readings are taken at a certain time after the leading edge of the bank-note has been detected. The electrical signals representing the widths are compared with standard electrical signals to determine whether the note is acceptable.
A method used in the art to compare printed images with a reference image is called pattern matching. In this method, one determines a reference pattern in a reference image, then one looks for said predetermined reference pattern in a sample image of the print being inspected, whereby all possible position variations of the reference pattern within a search area of the inspected print are compared for a match. This implies both that (i) the reference pattern must be sufficiently unique to be robustly identified in the sample image and that (ii) the search area must be sufficiently larger than the reference pattern to be able to find all expected position variations of the reference pattern. An example of a prior art publication related to this field is "Digital Image Processing", Gonzalez/Woods, Addison Wesley, page 583 (ISBN 0-201-50803-6).
More specifically, to carry out pattern matching, known methods can be used. This process involves mainly two phases: an off-line learning phase in which the template is processed, and a matching phase that can be executed in real time. The learning phase of pattern matching involves analysing the template image to find features that can be exploited for efficient matching performance. The matching phase uses the information from the learning phase to eliminate as much unnecessary calculation as possible.
Typically, the matching algorithm that can be used depends on whether the user has specified shift-invariant matching (finding the template at any location in the search image) or rotation-invariant matching (finding the template at any location AND rotation in the search image). Both are two-pass processes.
Shift-Invariant Matching
The first pass is a correlation that uses only the pseudo-randomly sampled pixels from the template image. The results of the stability analysis are used to determine how many positions in the search image can be skipped without missing any important features. For example, if all the sub-sampled pixels were found to be stable in a 3×3 neighborhood, the matching algorithm can skip two out of three correlations in each row and column while still guaranteeing that a match will be detected. This reduces the number of calculations required by a factor of 9. The first pass produces a number of candidate matches with rough position information.
The second pass only operates on the candidates identified in the first pass. The edge detection results of the learning phase are used to fine-tune the location of each match, and a score is produced for each based on the correlation result at that location. A user-provided score threshold determines which candidates are returned as matches.
Rotation-Invariant Matching
The first pass uses the circular intensity profile from the learning phase to search for shifted versions of that profile throughout the image. The user can input an allowable rotation range (in degrees) to reduce the number of calculations required in this pass. Several candidate matches are identified in this pass.
The second pass uses the pseudo-randomly sampled pixels to perform a correlation with all the candidates. A score is produced for each candidate to determine whether it should be classified as a match or not.
The choice of the template to be matched can have a great impact on the speed and accuracy of the pattern matching algorithm. There are some general observations:                The template should be asymmetric enough so that it can be uniquely identified at a certain orientation.        Complex templates will take longer to match than very simple ones. However, it must be ensured ensure that the template includes enough detail to uniquely identify and precisely localize the pattern.        The template should contain enough detail to fix its spatial position in the image. To do this, it needs to contain both vertical and horizontal features.        If one tries to locate a simple feature such as a dot or hole in a board, the template should be large enough to contain background information that distinguishes that particular feature from similar ones in the image.
US patent application No. 2003/0194136 A1 discloses an example of a known pattern matching technique and an image processing device to carry out the said technique. This device is adapted to detect and extract a pattern which resembles a specified pattern within image data which is obtained from a sample printed document and to calculate the degree of resemblance between the extracted pattern and a reference pattern which was established beforehand. The disclosed device is in particular intended to be used is a colour-copy machine in order to detect paper money when someone attempts to copy it and prevent the copying process from proceeding to completion. According to this application, the whole surface of the sample printed document is accessible to the image acquisition device. According to US 2003/0194136 A1, detection of a specified pattern in the image data is carried out using masks of specified sizes and checking areas of the image for patterns which are possible matches with each specified pattern which is to be detected, e.g. a mark, figure, etc. If a possible candidate is detected, a reference position of the pattern is specified and the data is transmitted for further processing to extract the specified pattern and match this pattern with a reference pattern defined beforehand.
The solution described in US 2003/0194136 A1 might be adapted to application environments where the whole surface of the sample printed documents to be tested is available for inspection. Such solution is however inadequate for applications where only a limited portion of the surface of the printed documents is available for detection.
A similar approach and device is discussed in European patent application EP 0 382 549 A2. In this case also, the whole surface of the sample printed document (e.g. a banknote) is available for inspection. This solution is accordingly also unsuited for applications where only a limited portion of the surface of the printed documents is available for inspection.
Another field linked to the production of banknotes and similar products involves the counting of the products. Typically, in the field of banknotes, one produces a certain number of individual notes which are stacked in the form of bundles and packs after cutting of sheets into the individual notes, and it is important to count the notes present in each pile to control that the each bundle and pack comprises a predetermined number of notes.
A well-known counting device is disclosed in EP 0 737 936, the content of which is incorporated by reference in the present application. This device includes a counting disc for counting sheet-like substrates arranged in a stack, such as stacks of sheets or notes. More specifically, the counting disc comprises circumferential sections arranged on its border, and each circumferential section has a suction hollow in which suction openings located one behind the other are arranged. Upon rotation of the counting disc, said suction openings are connected intermittently to a suction-air source, with the result that the corners of a stack (for example a stack of banknotes), one after the other, are subjected to suction, deformed, separated from the rest of the substrates and, by virtue of a pneumatic counting pulse being produced, counted. The suction air is supplied to the suction openings via a duct whose section, which opens into the suction openings, is directed perpendicularly with respect to the plane of the counting disc. In the end, the number of pulses produced corresponds to the number of sheet-like substrates counted.
An evolution of this counting device is disclosed in International application WO 01/14111, the content of which is incorporated by reference in the present application. In this evolution, in addition to counting the piled substrates with a rotating disc based on the technology of EP 0 737 936, said disc comprises additional means to determine the location of printed patterns on the counted substrates to carry out a check comparable to the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,993 cited above, i.e. for controlling the so-called print-to-cut register. The idea of International application WO 01/14111 is to provide means on the counting device that allow simultaneous control of the distance between an edge of the counted substrate and the printed images on said substrate, during the counting operation. Indeed, it is important to ensure that after the cutting operation a predetermined distance between the edges of the resulting substrate and the printed patterns thereon remains constant or at least within certain predetermined limits. The optical system disclosed in International application WO 01/14111 allows determination during the counting operation of said distance with respect to two edges of the substrate by a reflection measurement.
This combination of two operations (counting and distance measurement) is an advantage since it allows to reduce the time necessary to produce substrates meeting the desired quality requirements.
As mentioned above, it is sometimes important to measure the position of a print on paper relatively to the edges of the paper or between two different print processes. One example is the measurement of the position of the paper cut to the print on banknotes during the production process (the so-called print-to-cut or print-to-edge register). Normally, as in the prior art, one looks for an unique pattern in the acquired image to have an accurate measurement of the print position itself.
As already mentioned hereinabove, a condition to be met is the fact that the search area has to be larger than the search pattern to be found to cover all expected position variations.
Due to the limited available space in some machine environments it is sometimes only possible to have access to a very small viewing area of the print or paper sheet. Consequently, if one can see only a small part of the print and the variation in the normal printing process is larger than the size of the viewing area, the selected reference or search pattern can vary in its position in such a way that it may disappear from the viewing area. In this case it is not possible to use a common pattern matching method as discussed above (such as discussed in US 2003/0194136 A1 and EP 0 382 549) where the reference or search pattern is selected within a reference image, as taught by the prior art methods, and it is necessary to find a new approach. This problem is typically present in the device of International application WO 01/14111, but such problem also arises in other applications where only a small part of the print to be inspected can be viewed.

Method for controlling the quality of printed documents based on pattern matching


Embodiments relate to detecting insufficient volume of a fluid aspiration. During aspiration of fluids, a pressure trace is obtained using a pressure transducer. An algorithm is applied to detect short shot (i.e., insufficient aspiration) instances utilizing characteristics of the pressure trace. In addition, the fluid probe geometry may be optimized to improve the accuracy of the detection, and temperature may be obtained to correct the pressure trace to account for fluid viscosity and thereby further improve the accuracy.

Real time volume confirmation of aspirated fluids, such as reagents, is very desirable during operation of a diagnostic instrument to confirm the accuracy of assay results. Erroneous results can occur when the fluid volume is less than the required amount and the low volume goes undetected.
For high throughput diagnostic instrument systems, conventional techniques to detect insufficient fluid volume, such as optical detectors, have inherent shortcomings. For these high throughput systems, there is typically not enough time to pull the whole fluid segment past the optical detector in such a fashion as to prevent the fluid stream from breaking into smaller segments. It is known that a liquid stream can break into smaller segments at high flow rates. This can result in small segments of the fluid not able to pass through the optical detector during the aspiration time period, and thus the volume will be erroneously flagged as too low. An additional drawback of using an optical detector is that the tail of the liquid stream is required to flow past the optical sensor, thereby reducing throughput of the system.
Real time fluid aspiration confirmation is needed to ensure that accurate fluid volume is used in assay analyses. This document describes a technique and algorithm for real time fluid aspiration confirmation.

Real time detection of aspiration short shots using pressure signal


In a network, such as a large telecommunication switch, intended for the processing of information in different stations and for transmitting information between the stations, circuits are provided which generate independently composite clock signals containing both a clocking rate and a frame synchronizing rate. These clock signals are transmitted on three different transmission lines in parallel and independently to a station, where some kind of information processing is made in redundant planes. In the station all incoming clock signals are fed to each one of three independently operating selector units in which a choice of a clock signal is made for obtaining a clock signal to be used in the three redundant planes arranged in parallel to each other and operating independently of each other, in the station.

In the field of telephone connections and in telecommunication equipment generally, as a rule there exists a need for distribution of two clocking signals, herein called clock and synchronizing pulse rates, the latter one called "synch rate" in short, to various sub25 equipments and components therein. This distribution is particularly wide in physically large connected systems, such as in the type of switches having various multiplexing stages and similar units. The clock rate has generally a high frequency and among other things defines borders for bits in the data flowing through the equipment and the synch rate has a low frequency and defines frame borders and similar things in the data signal. The number of signals transferring clock and synch information in an equipment such as a telecommunication switch station can be rather large and in the following the general expression "the clock distribution network" is used therefor. Telecommunication equipment in a magazine or cabinet, etc., has a considerable multitude of transmission components for rate distribution in the shape of cables, pins in back planes and electrical terminals, lines in back planes, etc. The space required for all such signal connections is considerable and costs money. As a rule, the number of pins in a connector is a small resource limiting the size of for example a switch.
In equipments having large requirements of their reliability the clock distribution network must of course also fulfil large reliability requirements. The reliability of the clock distribution network can be enhanced, in the conventional way, by introducing redundancy. If the clock distribution and the clock source are designed to include redundancy, i.e. that they may be duplicated or, as is supposed in the following herein, in the preferred case triplicated, a redundant and triplicated clocking structure can be maintained from clocking source to clocking receiver, however, in the receiver end one of the clocks must of course be selected for operational use by the respective equipment.
In previous systems not having redundancy, where clock rate and synch rate are to be distributed to all magazines and cabinets, as a rule two coaxial cable have been used to each receiver or user of the rates, one coaxial cable for the high frequent clock rate and one cable for the low frequency reference rate, that we call also the frame rate or the synch rate herein.
For distribution of clocking rates, where the high frequency clock is distributed separated from the low frequency synch rate, the precision must be great so that for example the pulses in the synch rate will not end up or be interpreted at the wrong one of the edges of the clock rate pulses. This poses among other things great requirements on the similarity of the lengths of the two cables used for clock and synch rate, respectively, in relation to each other and also in relation to other pairs of cables having other destinations in the system.
Distribution of a clock signal which has a very high frequency and by means of which circuits in telecommunication systems presently generally operate, in addition poses large requirements on the shielding of cables and connectors, etc. together with good grounding connections and similar things, so that interference protection and functionality can be provided and also maintained during a long time.
In for example large switches having circuits on circuit boards in magazines and cabinets there is thus a need for distributing a clock having a relatively high frequency and a rate having a lower frequency as a reference for frame structures, etc. Clock rate and synch rate can be distributed in the shape of a single, composite signal ("Composite Clock Signal"), herein called CLSY (CLock and SYnch), as described in the International Patent Application PCT/SE94/00321, which is incorporated herein by reference.
This signal comprises a clock frequency or clock rate that has a frequency considerably lower than the real system frequency at which the circuits of the system operate, i.e. is advantageously an even fraction thereof such as 1/36 thereof, and it further comprises a synch frequency or synch rate that is modulated on top of this clock frequency and advantageously is an even fraction, such as 1/640, thereof.
A phase-locked loop circuit, PLL, is provided with logic circuits interpreting the synch information in the composite CLSY signal and it also generates a clock signal having a frequency that is considerably higher than the clock frequency of the CLSY signal, such as for example in a similar way as above, 36 times thereof. The PLL issues the synch pulse with a precision in relation to the system clock that would have been very difficult to produce using conventional clock distribution on two separate lines.
The advantages of distributing a frequency in the shape of CLSY, that has a considerably lower frequency compared to the system clock and in addition is provided with synch information and of arranging for a PLL to generate the system clock rate together with synch rate are:
1. The signal can be distributed more easily from an EMC point of view, i.e. in regard of sensitivity to interference from the outside and in regard of its own interfering influence. The distribution medium must not have the same precision as in the case where system clock and synch rate would have been distributed separately. This implies that for instance a single optocable can be used.
2. Pins and space in connectors and back planes, etc. are saved by using the same physical signal paths for both clock rate and synch rate.
3. A very good precision can be achieved by the arrangement that the PLL generates both the system clock and the synch on the same chip and from the same signal.
Redundant clock distribution systems are disclosed in the documents discussed briefly hereinafter and also in other documents.
In the Japanese Patent Application JP-A 60-225982 clock pulse synchronization is described in a triplicated system. A harmful influence of errors is prevented by correction by means of majority decisions.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,185,245 an arrangement is described for fault-tolerant clock signal distribution. First and second redundant clock signal sources are arranged. Clock receivers include sequential logic circuits for examining the two clock signals in order to ignore the clock signal pulse train that comes after the other one as to the phases thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,412 discloses a network comprising supply of clock and synchronizing signals by means of clock distribution modules that perform majority voting for output signals from three oscillators.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,932 is related to triplicated clock distribution, each clock signal including a synchronizing signal. In the receivers R logic circuits for majority voting are included comprising three AND-gates and one NOR-gate in each receiver. These majority circuits pass only the input clock signal that has a phase position located between those of the other two clock signals. No tests are made of the quality of the received clock signals in the receivers in order to make the selection.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,698,826 triplicated clock distribution is described. Each clock outputs a signal including a clock signal and a synchronizing signal.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,454 discloses a clock signal distribution arrangement having redundant clock generation. The distribution paths are duplicated for redundancy reasons.
The European Patent Application EP-A2 0 365 819 treats the problem of synchronizing the individual clocks in a multiprocessor system. A number of clock sources have each one its PLL circuit, see column 10, lines 31-58. The clocks transmit reference signals to each other which are subjected to a selection operation in each clock.
The European Patent Application EP-A2 0 366 326 treats the problem of ensuring, in a computer system in which a number of clock signals are derived from a main oscillator signal, that the clock signals appear at the right times where they are needed. It requires the introduction of a small time delay between the clock signals in order to compensate for differently long transmission paths. The solution described aims at reducing the risk of errors in the time delays of the different clock signals. A PLL circuit is used for maintaining a phase relationship between each clock signal and a reference clock signal.
In U.S. Patent Document U.S. Pat. No. 4,239,982 a fault-tolerant clock system is disclosed that is intended to produce system clock signals by means of several clock sources. Each clock source receives as input signals the clock signals generated from all other clock sources and contains receiver circuits for deriving a system clock signal from these clock sources. Each clock source generates and distributes to the other clock sources a clock signal that is locked in phase to the system clock derived from its clock receiver. The system allows the use of high clock frequencies comprising a minimum phase jitter between derived system clock signals.
In the European Patent Application EP-A2 0 303 916 four rate signals that are synchronous as to frequency and phase are generated, for providing timing for e.g. a computer system. The generation of the rate signals is made by means of four PLLs, the output signals of which are fed to four selector circuits, in which a type of majority voting is performed. The signal selected by a selector circuit is fed back to a definite one of the rate generators for controlling it. Delay circuits are introduced for adapting -the phase position of the selected signals. Such delays cannot easily be introduced in the case where the clock signal contains both a clock and a synchronizing rate, the latter one having a low frequency.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,105,900 a triplicated control system is disclosed in which three redundant sensor signals are used, one of these signals providing precise information and the remaining two ones less precise information. A selection of signal according to a preprogrammed priority order is based on the operative state of the three sensors.

Operation and maintenance of clock distribution networks having redundancy


One embodiment of the present invention relates to a user-based carrying system, including an enclosure member and a user attachment system. The user attachment system includes a hip attachment system comprising a dorsal pad and a first and second strap member coupled to the enclosure member. The strap members are configured to laterally extend around the waist region of the user. An adjustable coupling between the first and second strap members and the enclosure member includes a first and second male sleeve coupler rigidly coupled to the enclosure member and a plurality of sleeves disposed on each of the first and second padded regions. The first and second male sleeve couplers are disposed within one sleeve on the respective first and second padded region. The distal length of the first and second strap members is dependent on a plurality of sleeves within which the first and second male sleeve couplers are disposed.

Bags and carrying cases are commonly used to transport items from one location to another. Items may be contained and supported within an internal enclosure during transportation. Most bags also include some form of user attachment system that allows a user to support the bag during transportation. Many types of user-based attachment systems are designed to be positioned on a user's body in a configuration that supports the bag without assistance from the user's appendages. For example, backpack shoulder straps may be individually looped around each of a user's shoulders to support the backpack in an orientation that does not require the user to hold it with their arms. However, each type of user attachment system possesses particular performance characteristics and limitations that affect the utility of the bag. For example, a single shoulder strap or messenger style user attachment system is undesirable for exclusive support of a bag with heavier loads due to potential back and/or shoulder discomfort.
Bags and carrying cases may be further classified according to their overall shape, user attachment system(s), and material of composition. One subset of carrying cases includes bags which attach to a user's waist such as backpacks, hip-packs, shoulder bags, messenger bags, etc. These types of carrying systems may also include other user attachment systems such as shoulder straps, handles, etc. in addition to a waist attachment. A waist attachment system refers to some form of straps, belts, hooks, etc. that couple to the waist region of a user. In general, the carrying portion of the carrying system is primarily positioned on the dorsal side of the user, and the waist attachment system includes two straps which extend from the left and right regions to the ventral side of the user's body. The two straps may then be releasably coupled together forming a continuous support strap encircling the user's dorsal and ventral waist region from the carrying portion of the carrying system. By encircling the user's waist with support straps, weight is distributed between the carrying portion of the carrying system and the user's waist. It is advantageous to include rigid padded regions on the waist straps at positions corresponding to the user's hips in order to optimize load distribution and comfort during operation.
One of the problems with conventional waist-type user attachment systems is the inability of the waist attachment system to be efficiently adjusted to optimally correspond to a variety of user waist sizes. Most adjustable waist attachment systems include some form of adjustable straps which may be either lengthened or shortened to accommodate a particular user waist circumference. Unfortunately, merely adjusting the length of the straps fails to optimally align certain portions of the straps with the user's anatomy, resulting in discomfort and/or reduced performance for certain sizes of a user's waist circumference. For example, most waist attachment system straps include a padded region and an adjustable region. The padded region is positioned adjacent to the dorsal side of the user, the remainder of the carrying system, and/or the enclosed region of the carrying system. The adjustable region is usually not padded and extends distally away from the padded region and the enclosed region toward the ventral side of the user to allow for adjustment. The optimal user configuration of the waist attachment system wraps the padded regions over a substantial portion of the user's waist circumference, including the user's dorsal and hip regions, so as to optimize comfort during use. Economically, it is desirable to manufacture a single carrying apparatus that may accommodate a large range of user waist sizes. However, to enable maximum adjustability between small and large user waist circumferences, many waist attachment systems include straps with relatively long, adjustable non-padded regions. Therefore, if user's with a relatively large waist circumference, they must position the adjustable non-padded regions of the straps over portions of their waist, thereby causing discomfort, chaffing, and reduced performance during use.
Therefore, there is a need in the industry for an adjustable waist attachment system that enables adjustment over a range of waist circumference without compromising on the comfort and performance of the carrying system.

Adjustable waist belt system for a carrying apparatus


Perfluoroelastomers of tetrafluoroethylene, perfluoro (alkylvinylether) and a cure site monomer crosslinked with organic peroxide curing agent, and a process for their preparation.

Perfluorelastomers have long been used in a variety of applications that require excellent resistance to high temperatures and chemical attack. A particularly outstanding class of fluoropolymers that has been used in elastomeric applications is that prepared from tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) and perfluoro (alkylvinylether) such as perfluoro (methylvinylether) (PMVE). To permit the crosslinking in these polymers that is essential to good elastomeric properties, a small percentage of termonomer is incorporated. A wide variety of such crosslinking sites has been used in the past, including those described in Brizzolara et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,682,872.
One particularly desireable terpolymer is that prepared from TFE, PMVE and a nitrile cure site monomer, such as perfluoro (8-cyano-5-methyl-3,6-dioxa1-octene), or 8CNVE. This fluoropolymer has been cured in the past by organometallic compounds such as tetraphenyltin, which results in trimerization of the cyano function of the 8CNVE to triazine crosslinks. However, the high viscosity of the resulting compound and the slow rate of cure make the processing of this crosslinked material difficult. In addition, because the triazine crosslinks are prone to nucleophilic attack, they have inadequate resistance to aliphatic amines and water at elevated temperatures, particularly above 150.degree. C. Further improvement in these properties in the cured perfluoroelastomer has therefore been desired, along with improved processability. It would be also desirable to eliminate the need for the toxic organometallic compounds often used in the curing operation.
Accordingly, continuing effort has been directed to the development of curing systems which result in improved physical properties in the cured elastomer and which permit curing at the least stringent conditions.

Cured perfluoroelastomers and their preparation


A steering clamp yoke includes a first side surface and a second side surface. The first side surface has a first surface segment and a second surface segment that is disposed in a non-parallel relationship with the first surface segment. The non-parallel relationship between the second surface segment and the first surface segment enables a bolt that is inserted into a bolt hole of the steering clamp yoke to contact both sides of the bolt hole to reduce or minimize bolt bending.

A clamp yoke may be provided with a steering column shaft or a pinion shaft of a motor vehicle. The clamp yoke transmits a steering torque to a pinion. A bolt is inserted into a bolt hole of the clamp yoke and as a torque is applied to the bolt head, the bolt head contacts a yoke surface and the yoke deforms and secures the clamp yoke to the shaft. The moment arms of bending may reduce the amount of clamp force applied by the clamp yoke to the mating shaft.

Steering Solutions IP Holding Corporation


A User Interface (UI) providing method and a photographing apparatus using the UI providing method are provided. The UI providing method includes capturing an image, calculating a “hand shake” value of the captured image by comparing the captured image with a pre-capture image corresponding to the captured image, and displaying a UI corresponding to the calculated “hand shake” value of the captured image along with the captured image. A user can decide whether to delete or edit a captured image based on “hand shake” information relating to the captured image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept generally relates to a User Interface (UI) providing method and a photographing apparatus using the same, and more particularly, to a UI providing method, in which information relating to any shake in the hand of a user during the photographing of an image is provided to a UI, and a photographing apparatus using the UI providing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most photographing apparatuses are equipped with a liquid crystal display (LCD) screen and can thus allow users to capture an image and view the image immediately. Accordingly, users may determine whether the image is properly captured and decide whether to capture the image again.
However, even though the resolution of captured images has rapidly increased, there still is a limit in increasing the size of LCD screens, and it is difficult to properly detect "hand shake" from a captured image from an LCD screen with a limited size.
Therefore, an additional large screen may be needed to properly detect "hand shake" from a captured image.

User interface (UI) providing method and photographing apparatus using the same


A method of quantitating of ions in the extracellular polymer substances area of a dental biofilm is an effective way of assessing efficacy of oral care compositions.

Dental plaque is an example of bacterial biofilm. Dental plaque is generally made up of bacteria and extracellular polymer substances (so called "EPS"). EPS are biopolymers of microbial origin in which biofilm microorganisms are embedded. The EPS Matrix: The "House of Biofilm Cells", Hans-Curt Flemming, Thomas R. Neu and Daniel J. Wozniak J. Bacteriol. 2007, 189(22):7945. Dental plaque forms tartar and is associated with oral diseases such as caries and periodontal disease (e.g., gingivitis and periodontitis). Dental plaque can give rise to dental caries caused by the acid from the bacterial degradation of fermentable sugar. Therefore, dental plaque control and removal is important and the objective of many oral care compositions and regimens. Therefore, there is generally a continuing need to further understand the mechanisms of dental plaque formation and design oral care compositions that control or remove dental plaque.
Methods for quantitating the efficacy of oral care compositions (e.g., toothpaste, mouthwash etc.) at dislodging cells from biofilm test surfaces or inhibiting or delaying the accumulation of cells on a test surface have generally been described. Also, fluorescent probes, and confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), have been generally used to assess ions and bacterial vitality of biofilm.
The role of ions in biofilm as well as use of certain ions in oral healthcare is a subject of ongoing study. Ions could inherently exist or be introduced in biofilm. For example, biofilm naturally contains calcium ions. There are abundant calcium ions (Ca2+) in dental plaque, and the amount of calcium in plaque is two to three times greater than in saliva. It is believed that positively charged calcium ions in the saliva mask the negative charges between bacteria and a tooth's surface allowing the bacteria to attach and multiply on the tooth surface, thus contributing to the formation of dental plaque. Accordingly, inhibiting the role of calcium in biofilm has been a target of therapeutic focus in some oral care compositions. Certain ions have been added to oral care compositions to help prevent dental plaque and oral disease. For example, cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), stannous (Sn2+), silver (Ag+), copper (Cu2+) and zinc (Zn2+) are reported to help inhibit certain bacteria that can lead to tooth decay in human interproximal dental plaque. Fluoride (F−) is an ion found to help prevent caries.
It is reported that it is often difficult to purify EPS matrix constituent apart from other components of the biofilm such as cells. J. Bacteriol. 2007, 189(22):7945. However, there is a need for methods at quantitating ions localized in the EPS area of dental biofilm. For example, it is believed that calcium ions act as a "glue" or "scaffold" of EPS components. Other ions, such as stannous, zinc, fluoride could be released (or the release can be optimized) from oral care compositions to the EPS portion of dental biofilm to deliver increased efficacy. Inside cell clusters the locally high cell densities and the presence of EPS arrest the flow of water. Diffusion is limited in these biofilm systems because fluid flow is reduced and the diffusion distance is increased in the dental biofilm. As most pathogenic anaerobic microbes that cause gum problems typically reside in inner layer of EPS, these aforementioned ions need to diffuse deeper to treat these microbes. Accordingly there is a need for methods to study the diffusion pattern of these ions in the EPS area of dental biofilm.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods to quantify an ion in a dental biofilm


A needle assembly for sampling fluid from a patient including a needle guard, an insertion needle, and a needle housing. The distal end of the needle guard includes a nose portion and a flexible nose extension defining a fluid collection reservoir. The proximal end of the needle guard includes a push feature. The insertion needle has a sharpened distal tip, a proximal needle end and a shaft defining a lumen extending therebetween. The needle housing is operably coupled to the proximal needle end and is slideably coupled to the needle guard. The needle housing includes a flash chamber including a wall defining a cavity. The cavity is in fluid communication with the lumen of the insertion needle and is sealed at one end by a gas permeable flash plug. The push feature selectively engages the flash plug to divert captured bodily fluids to the fluid collection reservoir for sampling.

Various types of intravenous (IV) therapy have been used to administer medical fluids and withdraw bodily fluids from patients. IV therapy has been used for purposes such as maintenance of fluid and electrolyte balance, transfusion of blood, administration of nutritional supplements, chemotherapy, and administration of drugs and medications. Specifically, fluids have been administered intravenously by injection through a hypodermic needle, or intermittently or continuously by infusion using a needle or catheter. The most common intravenous access method utilized by clinicians has been the peripheral IV catheter.
Peripheral IV catheters are made of soft, flexible plastic or silicone, generally between fourteen to twenty-four gauge in size. In conventional venipuncture procedures, a catheter is inserted into a vein in the patient's hand, foot, or the inner aspect of the arm or any vein in the body that will accept an IV catheter. In order to properly place the IV catheter into a patient's vein, a sharp introducer needle is used to puncture the skin, tissue, and vein wall to provide a path for placement of the catheter.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a prior art conventional IV safety needle assembly 20, configured for insertion of an "over-the needle" catheter 22, is depicted. The catheter 22 is operably coupleable to the safety needle assembly 20, in part by positioning the catheter 22 coaxially over the needle 24 of the safety needle assembly 20. The catheter 22 thus rides with the needle 24 through the skin, tissue, and vein wall and into the patient's vein. Often, the insertion end of the catheter 22 is tapered in an effort to minimize the amount of force required to insert the catheter 22 into the biological site.
The catheter 22 can include a catheter hub 30, which can be selectively coupled to a portion of the safety needle assembly 20. Catheter hub 30 is sometimes configured to control the flow of fluid through the catheter 22 via an internal fluid passageway that runs substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the catheter hub 30. In some embodiments, the fluid passageway includes a septum or valve to enable sealing of the fluid passageway to restrict or prevent bodily fluid from leaking out of the catheter hub 30 when the catheter 22 is inserted into a patient's vein and the needle 24 is removed.
When the needle 24 pierces the vein, blood will "flashback" through the needle 24 and into the flash chamber 26. Thus, once the clinician observes this flashback of blood, the clinician will know that the catheter 22 and needle 24 have been inserted in the vein. The catheter 22 can be advanced further into the vein as desired and the needle 24 can then be withdrawn from the catheter 22.
In addition to placement of an IV catheter, samples of the patient's blood are often obtained (e.g., for testing, blood typing or other analysis of a patient's condition). Such analysis frequently involves testing the blood for the presence of certain characteristics, such as the presence or amount of one or more constituents, or to determine the level of one or more parameters. For many of these blood tests, only a small sample of blood is required. After the IV catheter has been inserted, the clinician may obtain a blood sample through a variety of methods. One method is to have the patient endure another needle stick either by a needle and syringe to draw an aliquot of blood, or by pricking the patient's finger with a lancet for a few drops of blood.
Because some IV catheters of the prior art include an integrated flash chamber 26, another method is to enable access to the blood within the flash chamber 26 after the catheter 22 and needle 24 have been inserted into the patient's vein. Usually the proximal end of the flash chamber 26 is blocked by a flash plug 28. The flash plug 28 typically includes a filter material that enables air to vent from the flash chamber as the blood or fluid fills the chamber, but inhibits the blood or fluid from passing from the flash chamber 26.

Needle assembly with flexible catheter nose for diagnostic sampling of fluid


A device for supplying a shielding gas to a welding torch, the device including a cylinder 1 for holding the shielding gas, a valve operatively connected to the cylinder for selectively permitting flow of gas from the cylinder, a regulator for controlling the pressure of the gas flow from the cylinder, and a guard assembly 2 coupled to the cylinder 1 and adapted to protect the valve and regulator from external forces, wherein a flow meter 4 incorporated into the guard assembly 2, the flow meter being adapted to receive the nozzle 5 of a welding torch and measure the flow rate of the gas therein.

Arc welding is the most widely used means of joining metals and alloys by fusion techniques in industry today and is of profound importance to industrialised and manufacturing countries. An arc welding process uses the heat generated by an arc struck between an electrode and the workpiece to melt and fuse metal in the joint area. The main arc welding processes in use today include MMA, MIG, TIG, FCAW, MCAW and submerged arc. In most arc welding processes the electrode is consumed to form weld metal, but it may also be a non-consumable electrode, as in TIG and plasma welding. Each process provides a protective gas cover for both the consumable and the molten weld pool to prevent oxidation or contamination. This may be in the form of an external shielding gas.
When using arc welding it is important that welders use the correct shielding gas flow rate. Using a flow rate that it either too high or too low can result in welding defects being introduced into the weld area. Using too much gas can result in turbulence which reduces the mechanical strength of the weld. Using too little gas can result in porosity in the weld area which also reduces the strength of the weld. Oxidation of the weld surface can also result from an incorrect gas flow. Using too much gas also effectively wastes money. Therefore users should be checking their flow rates each day or after breaks. Usually most welders only check the flow rate once.
The most common way of checking flow rate is with a flow meter either attached to the regulator of the gas supply cylinder or integral with the regulator. However this method can create problems because it doesn't take into account any leakage or pressure losses within the hose connecting the cylinder to the welding power source or the welding torch itself. A more accurate technique is to provide the welder with his own personal flow meter, such as a simple bobbin or turbine flow meter, so that he can measure the gas flow rate at the torch. However, very few welders use such a device, often quoting that such units are either easy to break, lose or too expensive to purchase.
There is therefore a need to provide a device which is convenient to use and difficult to lose or break.
The invention aims to provide a small but accurate flow meter built into the cylinder guard that the welder can use whenever he wishes. As the flow meter is close to the cylinder valve and regulator it is convenient to use as he starts work.


Provided is a method and apparatus for displaying a 3-dimensional (3D) image. The method includes alternately displaying left and right eye images on a display having a plurality of image lines that are arranged sequentially. Since light emission of all of segments is stopped when the left and right eye images are partially simultaneously displayed, both the left and right eye images can be prevented from being seen at the same time.

1. Field
The exemplary embodiments relate to a time-multiplexed stereoscopic system, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for displaying a time-multiplexed stereoscopic image using shutter glasses that alternately block each eye's view.
2. Description of the Related Art
Time-multiplexed stereoscopic systems using shutter glasses have been first introduced on the market to work with cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors. Recently, CRT monitors have been replaced by liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors.
When an LCD is used as a display device in a stereoscopic system, severe stereoscopic crosstalk occurs, i.e., left eye image data leaks to right eye image data and vice versa. A high level of crosstalk deteriorates greatly the quality of stereoscopic images.
Such crosstalk in the stereoscopic system using the LCD occurs due to use of a scan and hold method for image update and a low switching speed of liquid crystal cells.
A scanning backlight includes a plurality of segments that are switchable individually. The segments extend in parallel to image lines, and are arranged in a scanning direction of the image lines, that is, in a vertical direction. The segments are switched on and off in synchronization with refresh times of the image lines. That is, a segment at the same height as an image line is switched on and off in synchronization with the image line. Since a duration for which a particular segment is switched on is shorter than a frame period, the LCD, which is of a scan-and-hold type, can operate like an impulse type CRT. However, the LCD using the scanning backlight may increase the area of a screen in the stereoscopic system using shutter glasses. Since crosstalk still occurs in certain portions of the screen, there is a need to solve this problem.

Method and apparatus for displaying 3-dimensional image


A chemical delivery product for delivering an oxidizing chemical into an aqueous system is disclosed. For instance, in one embodiment, a substrate containing an oxidizing chemical, such as trichloroisocyanuric acid, is coated with a water soluble polymer in order to prevent the oxidizing chemical from degrading prior to use and in order to facilitate handling. In accordance with the present disclosure, a neutralizing agent is contacted with the substrate in order to prevent the substrate from degrading the water soluble coating. In an alternative embodiment, a package is formed from a water soluble film forming composition combined with a base.

Various different chemical agents are available that are used for cleaning and disinfecting aqueous systems or for cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and machinery. Many of these chemical agents, for instance, are oxidizing agents. For example, various oxidizing agents are used to treat and/or clean swimming pools, spas, fountains, industrial water systems, toilet tanks, surfaces in either industrial settings or residential settings, laundry and the like. Many of these chemical agents are supplied as a solid either in granular form or in a compressed shape. Examples of such chemicals include, for instance, hypochlorites and halogenated cyanuric acids, such as trichloroisocyanuric acid.
Although the above oxidizing chemical agents are well suited to cleaning, disinfecting, sanitizing and/or treating aqueous systems, difficulties have been encountered in packaging the products for use. For instance, oxidizing chemicals have a tendency to degrade over time. In order to facilitate handling, many oxidizing chemicals are coated with a water soluble substance or packaged in a sealed pouch made from a water soluble film. Problems have been experienced in designing a coating or film capable of protecting the chemical agent while also having desired water soluble properties. For example, many water soluble materials degrade and discolor when contacted with the oxidizing chemicals.
In view of the above, a need exists for further improvements in coatings and films that are used to package chemical agents, such as oxidizing chemicals that are supplied in solid form.

Chemical delivery product and process for making the same

Sekisui Specialty Chemicals America, LLC


The present invention provides a color tone correcting agent having suitable heat resistance for use in an optical filter, a novel squarylium compound that is specifically preferable as the color tone correcting agent, and an optical filter including the color tone correcting agent. Specifically, the present invention provides a color tone correcting agent including a squarylium compound represented by the general formula (1), a novel squarylium compound which is represented by the general formula (4) and is preferable as the color tone correcting agent, and an optical filter including the color tone correcting agent. The general formula (1) and (4) are each as defined in the specification.

Compounds having absorption of a large intensity against specific light are used as color tone correcting agents for recording layers of optical recording media such as CD-Rs, DVD-Rs, DVD+Rs and blue laser recording discs, image display apparatuses such as liquid crystal display apparatuses (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), electroluminescence displays (ELDs), cathode ray tube display apparatuses (CRT), fluorescence display tubes and field emission displays, CCD image sensors, CMOS image sensors; LED illuminations, and the like.
For a color tone correcting agent, light absorption property for selectively absorbing light at a required wavelength area, solubility or compatibility in organic solvents and synthetic resins that are necessary for processing into a filter or film, and stability against light and heat for maintaining performances are required.
As such color tone correcting agent, uses of a cyanine compound and a squarylium compound each having an indole backbone have been reported. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a squarylium compound having an indole backbone having a ferrocene group, which has fine solubility and light resistance. Furthermore, Patent Literature 2 discloses a trimethinecyanine compound having CF3 at the 5-position or NO2 at the 4- or 6-position, which shows precipitous absorption and has fine wet heat resistance and light resistance. Furthermore, Patent Literature 3 discloses a trimethinecyanine compound having CF3 and NO2 at the 5-position. However, in order to use the compounds as a color tone correcting agent for an optical filter, further improvement of heat resistance is demanded so as to withstand the processing temperature of the optical filter.

Color tone correcting agent, squarylium compound and optical filter


A garment including a shell adapted to receive a portion of a body of a wearer therein, the shell having an interior surface, an exterior surface and an aperture is provided. The garment also includes a conductive member having a first end disposed on the interior surface of the shell, a second end disposed on the exterior surface of the shell, and extending through the aperture to connect the first end and the second end where the conductive member enables the wearer to interact with an electronic device having a capacitive-type touch-sensing interface.

There are many types of electronic devices that are used for various reasons, including but not limited to, communications, entertainment, work, and maintaining information such as contacts and appointments. Many electronic devices are continuously decreasing in size while increasing in functionality. In addition, several of these types of electronic devices are portable, including phones, pagers, communicators, electronic organizers, personal digital assistants, and digital audio and/or video playing devices such as iPods® or MP3 players.
As a result of the decreasing size of the devices, the controls for the devices have correspondingly shrunk in size. The particular controls and methods of input for different electronic devices can vary. Some devices may include mechanical or electromechanical buttons or switches that can be activated by a user contacting the button or switch.
Other electronic devices utilize a touch-sensitive technology for the interaction between the user and the device. One example of a touch sensitive technology is a touch screen which is an interactive screen that can be contacted by a user. Another example of a touch-sensitive technology is a track pad. The touch-sensitive technologies or applications sense and track a user's touch and its subsequent movement.
Some of the applications of these touch-sensitive technologies are resistive-type systems that include a resistive layer of material and a conductive layer of material that are disposed proximate to each other and separated by a narrow space of air. When a user touches a resistive-type screen or pad, the two layers contact each other in that exact spot, thereby changing the electric field and the particular spot can be identified. Thus, a resistive-type system registers a touch or input as long as the two layers make contact. The contact can be made using any type of object.
Other applications of these touch-sensitive technologies are capacitive-type systems that include a conductive layer of material that stores an electrical charge. When a user touches a capacitive-type screen or pad, a portion of the charge is transferred between the user and the screen or pad. As a result, the charge on the capacitive layer changes. Once this change occurs, the particular location of the change can be determined by a controller. A capacitive system needs a conductive input to register a touch or input. Such a conductive input can be made using a portion of a user's body, such as a finger.
In an electronic device with a capacitive-type touch-sensing interface, a controller supplies electrical current to metal channels or conductors that form a grid and conduct electricity. When another conductor, such as a user's finger, is moved close to the grid, current wants to flow to the finger to complete a circuit. Typically, the electronic device includes a non-conductive item, such as a non-conductive piece of plastic, in the way. Thus, a charge builds up at a point on the grid that is the closest to the finger. The build up of electrical charge between two conductors is called capacitance. The controller of the electronic device measures any changes in capacitance and a signal is generated and sent to the microprocessor of the electronic device.
When resistive-type and capacitive-type touch-sensing technologies are utilized on electronic devices, these touch-sensing technologies use capacitive and resistive buttons which can replace the small mechanical button and switch input devices to maximize the available space on the device. As mentioned above, capacitive touch-sensing requires a conductive input to register a touch by a user. While a conductive input can be accomplished through the touch of a user, such a conductive input is difficult when a user is wearing a garment covering the portion of the user's body intended to provide the conductive input, such as a hand covering.
Garments, such as hand coverings including gloves and mittens, are worn for protection from cold weather or other environmental conditions. There is a decrease in tactile sensitivity in the touch-sensitive technologies utilized as input mechanisms for the devices when a user is wearing a conventional garment. In addition, conventional garments do not allow a user to provide a necessary conductive input to an electronic device. Accordingly, to operate and utilize many electronic devices, a user must remove the garment in order to effectively interact with the devices having touch-sensitive control inputs.
In an attempt to remedy this situation, certain garments have been developed that enable the wearer to interact with a touch-sensitive (resistance or conductive) input device without removing the garment by replacing portions of the material forming the garment with section of a conductive material. However, while this enables the individual wearing the garment to interact with the device, if the garment is to be formed to be weatherproof, waterproof, or otherwise protect the wearer from contact with the elements, for example, the replacement of the material of the garment with the conductive material necessarily creates a gap in the impervious material from which the garment is formed, such that there is the potential for water or other material to enter the interior of the garment.
Additionally, with many types of garments, the primary function of the garment is to protect, insulate or otherwise isolate the wearer within the garment from the outside environment. Garments of this type normally have multiple layers forming the garment to provide the necessary protection for the wearer. However, these multiple layers can prevent conductive materials from being able to transmit electric signals from the body of a wearer through all of the various layers in order to enable the wearer to interact with or control a capacitive or conductive input-sensing device while wearing the garment.
Thus, it is desirable to develop a garment that enables the wearer to provide conductive input to an electronic device, but that also has a uniform and unbroken layer surrounding the body portion of the wearer on which the garment is positioned, such that the garment is effectively weatherproof or waterproof.

Garment with non-penetrating touch-sensitive features


An apparatus (100) for a gaseous fuel injection system includes a first chamber (15b) connectable with a source of gaseous fuel at a required inlet pressure, a second chamber (15c) connectable with an engine or other apparatus so as to supply gaseous fuel thereto and further connected with said first chamber (15b) through a controllable valving means. A flow control means (25) has an inlet connectable with the first chamber (15b) and an outlet connectable with an orifice (25b) for controlling the pressure at the outlet of the flow control means (25) to be no more than 53% of the inlet pressure. The apparatus (100) further includes means (20) for detecting the outlet pressure and controlling the valving means, such that controlling the said flow control means(25) to adjust the flow of gaseous fuel therethrough controls the outlet pressure, which in turn controls the controllable valving means and the pressure in the second chamber (15c), so as to thereby control the flow of gaseous fuel to said engine or other apparatus.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for use in fuel injection systems, which term is used to describe such systems in all types of uses, industrial, vehicular, domestic and the like.
With the increasing worldwide concerns relating to pollution, the use of electronically controlled fuel injection systems for vehicle engines and in industrial applications such as boilers, is becoming increasingly popular. This is due to their superiority in providing a close control of fuel/air ratios which in turn controls the amount of pollution resulting from the vehicle or boiler exhaust for example.
In order to control the flow of gaseous fuel in a fuel injection system, there is a problem in finding a solenoid valve or other control means which will be large enough to control a sufficient volume of gas while at the same time be able to operate at a high enough speed. The larger the gas flow, the larger and slower the solenoid valve or the like needs to be.

Method and apparatus for fuel injection systems


A light emitting diode (LED) lighting device includes a frame having a substantially consistent cross-sectional profile and an inner surface; a front panel having a front surface sized and shaped to substantially correspond to the inner surface of the frame, a rear surface having a shape substantially corresponding to the shape of the front surface and a size smaller than the front surface, an edge profile extending from the front surface to the rear surface; and an adhesive positioned between the edge profile adjacent the rear surface of the front panel and the inner surface of the frame; a rear panel sized and shaped to correspond to the frame and spaced apart from the front panel a distance about the thickness of the frame; and at least one LED mounted on the rear panel.

LED signage often includes shaped housing configurations to provide desirable aesthetics for lighting. For example, LED signage may be provided in the shape of letters or a corporate logo. In the case of letters, such signage components are often referred to as channel letters, which provide internal channels for incorporating LED lighting.
Channel letters can be lit in a wide variety of ways. However, in any potential configuration, there are challenges associated with sealing the letters once assembled in a robust way. Channel letter based signage is often installed in outdoor environments, and is exposed to the elements, including moisture and rain, temperature changes, and pressure changes.
Further, because the aesthetic of channel letters is typically based on providing transparent or translucent panels to allow light to pass through selectively, such panels are often provided in combination with opaque panels that are resistant to or impervious to the passage of light. Accordingly, in many configurations, it is important to arrange components so that light cannot leak out of the housing at any location other than transparent or translucent housing panels.
Channel letters may be provided in a wide variety of lighting configurations, including face lit, side lit, and halo lit configurations. In each of these configurations, a housing is required that can consistently control the location of light output from the housing.
Further, because the geometry of the housing of such channel letters is often used to reflect or diffuse light, there are needs for improved housing geometries that can control light in new ways in order to provide improved aesthetics. There is a further need for such improved aesthetics in a housing that can be formed and assembled more easily and consistently than existing housings.
While these challenges are described in the context of channel letters, such challenges also exist in other shaped lighting houses, including in the context of lighting in the shape of corporate logos or in geometric shapes.

LED lighting device having front panel with shaped edge profile


The adjustment apparatus includes a first support, a second support and a first adjustment assembly. The second support is rotatably coupled to the first support. A fixed portion of the second support passes through first sliding groove of connecting piece of the first adjustment assembly. One end of a driving member of the first adjustment assembly is blocked by the connecting piece and rotates relative to the connecting piece. The other end of the driving member extends along a direction close to the fixed portion and is screwed to the fixed portion. The adjustment apparatus utilizes a threaded transmission relationship between the driving member and the fixed portion to drive the fastening piece to slide relative to the fixed portion of the second support, which cause the hook of the connecting piece slides relative to the fixed portion, thereby providing the adjustment apparatus with novel structure and convenient operations.

With continuous advancement of society, people have needs to view or use electronic devices in different environments and different angles. However, the fixed structural design of the electronic devices is often difficult to meet the needs of people in different scenarios and different angles. Even if people can use some tools to assist, these tools are often complicated in structure and inconvenient to operate, and require professional adjustment or guidance in real life.