A system, method and computer program storage device providing event and/or state sharing support e.g., for building object-oriented interactive groupware in wide-area distributed environments (such as the Internet). For collaborative applications programmed using events, mechanisms are provided for sharing application-specific events. For example: an event based programming model allows applications to post an event and triggers corresponding ERUs (Event Reaction Unit) in reaction to a received event; preconditions for control activation of ERUs; and event consistency policy objects implement application specified event consistency model. Some policy examples are: a policy in which event order is not guaranteed, but all events are guaranteed to be sent to the ERUs eventually; and a policy that first triggers local ERUs and then posts the event to the server. An out-of-order event is detected using the event notification from the server; and an automatic detection of out-of-order events seen by ERUs in the local workstation in this optimistic event execution model. For applications requiring support for state sharing, an asynchronous model for updating replicated state, which supports atomicity of updates across multiple shared objects is described. Coupled with a flexible marshaling framework, this allows existing application data-structure classes to be easily extended and made shareable, while providing support for context-sensitive state marshaling applications. To solve the problem of replica consistency, a novel combination of three mechanisms is used: global locks; detection of incorrect update ordering; and cloning a subset of the shared objects for state re-initialization. To reduce network load due to fine-grained user interaction, a framework for application specified event batching, called Late Event Modification (LEM), enhances the event interface to allow applications to modify the event objects after posting them to the set.

With the ability to extend web browser functionality using JAVA (a trademark of Sun Microsystems), plugins, ACTIVEX (a trademark of MicroSoft), etc., simple interactive groupware applications are being made available to a wide population of users. Examples include Internet chat and simple white boards. However, for building complex object-oriented collaborative applications, developers need a simple and powerful programming model, which at the same time should allow good response time and efficient implementation in a wide-area distributed environment. Appropriate support for sharing state is critical for supporting collaborative applications. In wide-area environments, replication of state is used to improve response time. Also, there are instances where a more primitive mechanism like event notification (also called event sharing) is a much better match for application requirements than state sharing. These high-level requirements for interactive groupware, coupled with replicated state, lead to three critical objectives that are addressed by the present invention.

Flexible event sharing, batching, and state consistency mechanisms for interactive applications

International Business Machines Corporation


A fuel processing method is operable to remove substantially all of the sulfur present in an undiluted hydrocarbon fuel stock supply which is used to power a fuel cell power plant in a mobile environment, such as an automobile, bus, truck, boat, or the like; or in a stationary environment. The power plant hydrogen fuel source can be gasoline, diesel fuel, or other like fuels which contain relatively high levels of organic sulfur compounds such as mercaptans, sulfides, disulfides, thiophenes and the like. The undiluted hydrocarbon fuel supply is passed through a nickel reactant desulfurizer bed wherein essentially all of the sulfur in the organic sulfur compounds reacts with the nickel reactant, and is converted to nickel sulfide, while the now desulfurized hydrocarbon fuel supply continues through the remainder of the fuel processing system. The method involves adding hydrogen to the fuel stream prior to the desulfurizing step. The method can be used to desulfurize either a liquid or a gaseous fuel stream. The addition of hydrogen serves to extend the useful life of the nickel reactant. The hydrogen can be derived from source of pure hydrogen gas, a recycle gas stream, or can be derived from an electrolysis cell which breaks down water produced in the fuel cell into its hydrogen and oxygen components. The hydrogen when added to the fuel stock serves to prevent or minimize carbon formation on the nickel reactant bed, thereby extending the useful life of the reactant bed, since carbon deposits tend to block active sites in the reactant bed.

The present invention relates to a method for desulfurizing gasoline, diesel fuel or like hydrocarbon fuel streams so as to render the fuel more suitable for use in a mobile vehicular fuel cell power plant assembly. More particularly, the desulfurizing method of this invention is operable to remove organic sulfur compounds found in gasoline to levels which will not poison the catalysts in the fuel processing section of the fuel cell power plant assembly. The method of this invention involves the use of a nickel reactant bed which has an extended useful life cycle due to the addition of hydrogen to the fuel stream in appropriate amounts.
Gasoline, diesel fuel, and similar hydrocarbon fuels have not been useful as a process fuel source suitable for conversion to a hydrogen rich stream for small mobile fuel cell power plants due to the existence of relatively high levels of naturally-occurring complex organic sulfur compounds. Hydrogen generation in the presence of sulfur results in a poisoning effect on all of the catalysts used in the hydrogen generation system in a fuel cell power plant. Conventional fuel processing systems used with stationary fuel cell power plants include a thermal steam reformer, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,516,344. In such a fuel processing system, sulfur is removed by conventional hydrodesulfurization techniques which typically rely on a certain level of recycle as a source of hydrogen for the process. The recycle hydrogen combines with the organic sulfur compounds to form hydrogen sulfide within a catalytic bed. The hydrogen sulfide is then removed using a zinc oxide bed to form zinc sulfide. The general hydrodesulfurization process is disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,428. While this system is effective for use in large stationary applications, it does not readily lend itself to mobile transportation applications because of system size, cost and complexity. Not only is the hydrodesulfurization process more complicated because it is a two step process, but to be effective in desulfurizing heavier fuels containing thiophenic sulfur compounds, it must operate at elevated pressures, usually greater than about 150 psig.
Other fuel processing systems, such as a conventional autothermal reformer, which use a higher operating temperature than conventional thermal steam reformers, can produce a hydrogen-rich gas in the presence of the foresaid complex organic sulfur compounds without prior desulfurization. When using an autothermal reformer to process raw fuels which contain complex organic sulfur compounds, the result is a loss of autothermal reformer catalyst effectiveness and the requirement of reformer temperatures that are 200xc2x0 F.-500xc2x0 F. higher than are required with a fuel having less than 0.05 ppm sulfur. Additionally, a decrease in useful catalyst life of the remainder of the fuel processing system occurs with the higher sulfur content fuels. The organic sulfur compounds are converted to hydrogen sulfide as part of the reforming process. The hydrogen sulfide can then be removed using a solid absorbent scrubber, such as an iron or zinc oxide bed to form iron or zinc sulfide. The aforesaid solid scrubber systems are limited, due to thermodynamic considerations, as to their ability to lower sulfur concentrations to non-catalyst degrading levels in the fuel processing components which are located downstream of the reformer, such as in the shift converter, or the like.
Alternatively, the hydrogen sulfide can be removed from the gas stream by passing the gas stream through a liquid scrubber, such as sodium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, or amines. Liquid scrubbers are large and heavy, and are therefore useful principally only in stationary fuel cell power plants. From the aforesaid, it is apparent that current methods for dealing with the presence of complex organic sulfur compounds in a raw fuel stream for use in a fuel cell power plant require increasing fuel processing system complexity, volume and weight, and are therefore not suitable for use in mobile transportation systems.
An article published in connection with the 21st Annual Power Sources Conference proceedings of May 16-18, 1967, pages 21-26, entitled xe2x80x9cSulfur Removal for Hydrocarbon-Air Systemsxe2x80x9d, and authored by H. J. Setzer et al, relates to the use of fuel cell power plants for a wide variety of military applications. The article describes the use of high nickel content hydrogenation nickel reactant to remove sulfur from a military fuel called JP-4, which is a jet engine fuel, and is similar to kerosene, so as to render the fuel useful as a hydrogen source for a fuel cell power plant. The systems described in the article operate at relatively high temperatures in the range of 600xc2x0 F. to 700xc2x0 F. The article also indicates that the system tested was unable to desulfurize the raw fuel alone, without the addition of water or hydrogen, due to reactor carbon plugging. The carbon plugging occurred because the tendency for carbon formation greatly increases in the temperature range between about 550xc2x0 F. and about 750xc2x0 F. A system operating in the 600xc2x0 F. to 700xc2x0 F. range would be very susceptible to carbon plugging, as was found to be the case in the system described in the article. The addition of either hydrogen or steam reduces the carbon formation tendency by supporting the formation of gaseous carbon compounds thereby limiting carbon deposits which cause the plugging problem.
Commonly owned co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/470,483, filed Dec. 22, 1999 describes a system and method for desulfurizing gasoline and/or diesel fuel by passing the fuel through a nickel reactant bed wherein a major portion of the sulfur in the fuel is converted to nickel sulfide. The fuel stream contains an oxygenate such as ethanol, methanol or MTBE which acts to extend the useful like of the nickel reactant bed by suppressing carbon formation on the reactant bed. The use of such oxygenates has been found to increase the capacity of the nickel reactant bed to convert sulfur in organic sulfur compounds in the fuel to nickel sulfide by about five hundred percent. The operating conditions of the system and method described in the above-noted patent application are suitable for use in mobile applications of fuel cell power plants, such as those usable in powering vehicles. One problem incurred by using MTBE is that the MTBE itself decomposes to an unsaturated hydrocarbon so it adds to the total potential carbon deposited onto the nickel. Carbon formation tends to poison the reactant by blocking pores and active sites of the nickel reactant.
It would be highly desirable from an environmental standpoint to be able to power electrically driven vehicles, such as an automobile, for example, by means of fuel cell-generated electricity; and to be able to use a fuel such as gasoline, diesel fuel, naphtha, lighter hydrocarbon fuels such as butane, propane, natural gas, or like fuel stocks, as the fuel consumed by the vehicular fuel cell power plant in the production of electricity. In order to provide such a vehicular power source, the amount of sulfur in the processed fuel gas would have to be reduced to and maintained at less than about 0.05 parts per million.
The desulfurized processed fuel stream can be used to power a fuel cell power plant in a mobile environment or as a fuel for an internal combustion engine. The fuel being processed can be gasoline or diesel fuel, or some other fuel which contains relatively high levels of organic sulfur compounds such as thiophenes, mercaptans, sulfides, disulfides, and the like. The fuel stream is passed through a nickel desulfurizer bed wherein essentially all of the sulfur in the organic sulfur compounds reacts with the nickel reactant and is converted to nickel sulfide leaving a desulfurized hydrocarbon fuel stream which continues through the remainder of the fuel processing system. Previously filed U.S. patent applications Ser. No. 09/104,254, filed Jun. 24, 1998; and Ser. No. 09/221,429, filed Dec. 28, 1998 describe systems for use in desulfurizing a gasoline or diesel fuel stream for use in a mobile fuel cell vehicular power plant; and in an internal combustion engine, respectively.
We have discovered that the capacity of a nickel reactant bed for desulfurizing a gasoline or diesel fuel stream can be extended through the addition of hydrogen to the fuel stream in appropriate proportions without the need to include oxygenates in the fuel stream. The addition of hydrogen to the fuel stream essentially doubles the useful life of the nickel reactant bed over and above the procedure which utilizes the inclusion of oxygenates in the fuel stream.
This invention relates to an improved method for processing a gasoline, diesel, or other hydrocarbon fuel stream over an extended period of time, which method is operable to remove substantially all of the sulfur present in the fuel stream.
Gasoline, for example, is a hydrocarbon mixture of paraffins, napthenes, olefins and aromatics, whose olefinic content is between 1% and 15%, and aromatics between 20% and 40%, with total sulfur in the range of about 20 ppm to about 1,000 ppm. The national average for the United States is 350 ppm sulfur. The legally mandated average for the State of California is 30 ppm sulfur. As used in this application, the phrase xe2x80x9cCalifornia Certified Gasolinexe2x80x9d refers to a gasoline which has between 30 and 40 ppm sulfur content. California Certified Gasoline is used by new car manufacturers to establish compliance with California emissions certification requirements.
We have discovered that the addition of hydrogen (H2) to the gasoline or diesel fuel stream extends the effective life of the nickel reactant sulfur-adsorption bed. The added hydrogen supresses carbon deposition on the nickel reactant bed, which carbon deposition would otherwise occupy and cover active sulfur-adsorption sites in the nickel bed, and could thereby shorten the effective life of the nickel reactant bed.
The effectiveness of a nickel adsorbent reactant to strip sulfur from organic sulfur compounds contained in gasoline or diesel fuel depends on the maintenance of as many active sulfur-adsorption sites in the reactant bed for the longest possible time. In other words, the desulfurization process depends on the amount of competitive adsorption sites of the various sulfur-containing constituents of gasoline or diesel fuel. From the adsorption theory, it is known that the relative amount of adsorbate on an adsorbent surface depends primarily on the adsorption strength produced by attractive forces between the adsorbate and adsorbent molecules; secondarily on the concentration of the adsorbate in the gasoline, and temperature. Coverage of a reactant surface by an adsorbate increases with increasing attractive forces; higher fuel concentration; and lower temperatures. Relative to gasoline, Somorjai (Introduction to Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, pp, 60-74) provides some relevant information on the adsorption of hydrocarbons on transition metal surfaces, such as nickel. Saturated hydrocarbons only physically adsorb onto the nickel reactant surface at temperatures which are less than 100xc2x0 F., therefore paraffins, and most likely naphthenes, won""t compete with sulfur compounds for adsorption sites on the nickel reactant at temperatures above 250xc2x0 F. and 300xc2x0 F.
On the other hand, unsaturated hydrocarbons, such as aromatics and olefins, adsorb largely irreversibly on transition metal surfaces even at room temperature. When an unsaturated hydrocarbon such as an aromatic or an olefin adsorbs on a transition metal surface, and the surface is heated, the adsorbed molecule rather than desorbing intact, decomposes to evolve hydrogen, leaving the surface covered by the partially dehydrogenated fragment, i.,e., tar or coke precursors. We have discovered that, at 350xc2x0 F., some unsaturated hydrocabons are dehydrogenated, and the dehydrogenated tar fragments form multiple carbon atom-to-nickel reactant surface bonds. This explains why aromatics and olefins in gasoline or diesel fuel, in the absence of H2 in appropriate concentrations, will deactivate the nickel reactant from adsorbing sulfur after a relatively short period of time.
In general, the adsorption strength of a compound depends on the dipole moment, or polarity, of the molecule. A higher dipole moment indicates that the compound is more polar and is more likely to adsorb on a reactant surface. Aromatics are an exception to this rule because their molecular structure includes a xcfx80 ring of electron forces that produces a cloud of induced attractive forces with adjacent surfaces. Based on the dipole moments of hydrocarbons, allowing for the xcfx80 ring in aromatics, the order of adsorption strength (highest to lowest) is: nitrogenated hydrocarbons greater than oxygenated hydrocarbons greater than aromatics greater than olefins greater than hydrocarbons containing sulfur greater than saturated hydrocarbons. The presence of hydrogen in the gasoline or diesel fuel being scrubbed results in hydrogenation of the dehydrogenated byproducts of the desulfurized organic compounds which are adsorbed onto the reactant surface, which frees the byproducts from the nickel reactant adsorption sites. Thus, hydrogenation can reduce the adsorption of desulfurized aromatic and olefin byproducts on the nickel reactant bed. Although saturated hydrocarbons (paraffins and cycloparaffins) would not be expected to be adsorbed on the desulfurization nickel reactant to a significant extent, hydrogenation of olefins and aromatics will also prevent them from adsorbing onto the nickel reactant.
We have also discovered that the hydrogenated hydrocarbons do not inhibit the sulfur compounds from being adsorbed on the nickel reactant because they do not adsorb onto the nickel reactant surface at temperatures in the range of about 200xc2x0 F. to about 500xc2x0 F. The sulfur compounds are quite polar and therefore contact and react with the active nickel metal reactant sites.

Method for desulfurizing gasoline or diesel fuel for use in a fuel cell power plant


Disclosed is a lead storage battery having a battery case divided into a plurality of cells. A stack of positive and negative battery plates is inserted into each cell and rests on a plurality of rest ups, which extend upward from the bottom of the case. A pair of clips are attached to the lower edge of each stack. A positive clip is attached to the positive plates and a negative clip is attached to the negative plates. When a stack is in a cell, the clips are located in receptacles, formed between the rest ups and the side walls of the case. The clips are in contact with contacts that extend through the partitions in the case, so that the positive clip on each stack is in electrical contact with the negative clip in the next cell. The receptacles are then filled with epoxy resin to anchor bond the clips into the receptacles and to insulate the clips and the contacts from the electrolyte acid.

1. Field of the Invention PA1 2. Description of the Prior Art
This invention relates in general to storage batteries and to methods of manufacturing storage batteries. In particular, this invention relates to lead storage batteries of the type used in automobiles, and to methods of manufacturing such batteries.
A typical twelve-volt lead storage battery has a battery case divided into six cells. A stack of positive and negative battery plates is located in each cell. The positive plates are typically made of lead dioxide and the negative plates are typically metallic lead. The lead dioxide or metallic lead is usually coated onto a grid of metallic lead. The plates in a stack are separated by treated wood or glass fiber spacers.
Rest ups extend upward from the bottom of the case to support the stacks. The rest ups hold the plates off of the bottom of the case, so that any debris formed on the plates during operation of the battery will fall to the bottom of the battery case below the plates. This helps avoid shorting between the plates.
The battery case is filled with an electrolyte, such as a sulfuric acid solution. The battery plates are highly porous to provide maximum surface area for contact with the electrolyte. The electrolyte reacts with the battery plates to cause an electric charge to pass through the battery.
In order for the electric charge to pass from cell to cell, the positive plates in one cell must be electrically connected to the negative plates in the next cell. In many cases, these connections are made by welding lead connectors between the plates with a burning machine. Another method of connecting the plates is by casting a lead connector directly onto the stacks with a cast-on machine. Both of these methods involve a considerable amount of labor and machinery. The process can be made more economical by removing or reducing the amount of labor and machinery required.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,253, issued Apr. 9, 1985, to Eberle, discloses a storage battery and a method of making storage batteries in which the positive plates of one cell are electrically connected to the negative plates of an adjacent cell without the need for welding or casting. A conventional battery case is modified to provide openings through the partitions between the cells. Lugs on the positive plates in each cell are positioned downward and are aligned with lugs on the negative plates in the next cell. A conductive material is added to the bottoms of the cells and extends through the openings between cells to electrically connect the positive lugs in one cell to the negative lugs in the next cell. A sealing agent, such as epoxy resin, may be placed over the conductive material to hold the material in place and to protect the material from the electrolyte in the battery case.
The conductive material is a low temperature lead alloy, that includes bismuth and cadmium. When the batteries are recycled, the cadmium must be removed from the lead alloy. This involves a dangerous and expensive process.

Storage battery and method of manufacturing


The present invention is a method and apparatus for quick and easy rubber sleeve exchanges on chill rolls, such as are used in film extrusion processes. The apparatus includes chill roll or mandrel, a rubber sleeve covering the exterior face of the mandrel, an automated cantilever system, and an air booster. The rubber sleeve is easily removed by tilting the mandrel and inserting a layer of air between the rubber sleeve and the mandrel, thereby allowing the sleeve to slip off the mandrel and allowing for a new rubber sleeve to be placed onto the mandrel.

In plastic sheet/film extrusion, a thin film of molten polymer or melt is extruded through a die between two simultaneously fed substrates and then the layered sheet is pulled down by a nip roll assembly. As shown in FIG. 1, a typical nip roll assembly comprises a chill roll, or CI drum, and a rubber-sleeved chill roll that are aligned so as to compress the layered sheet between the CI drum and the rubber-sleeved chill roll. A back-up cooling roll is positioned to maintain the pressure from the rubber-sleeved chill roll onto the CI drum to maximize adhesion between the melt and substrates.
The substrates, now coated with the melt, gets cooled by the CI drum, which has a larger outside diameter than the other rolls. The larger outside diameter of the CI drum allows the CI drum to increase the cooling time since it has a larger area of contact with the film than any of the other rolls. After the film exits the CI drum, it is cooled and ready to go on to the next lamination stages.
Rubber sleeves are required on the smaller diameter chill roll when pulling the film due to the film's friction characteristics, and to maintain an even, flat profile. However, if the rubber gets overheated, it will eventually fail. For example, the molten polymer can easily adhere to an overheated rubber and cause a buildup on the rubber. In extreme conditions, the rubber may crack or even break from the chill roll. On the other hand, if the chill roll and CI drum temperatures are too low, adhesion between substrates and melt may be ineffective due to excessively rapid quenching of the melt. So proper temperature control is key for processing an acceptable film.
The rubber sleeves may be composed of a variety of different materials and may have different surface finishes depending on the intended use. Each sleeve material has a unique temperature range for optimum performance. Because of this, whenever there is a job change on a production line and the new job requires a rubber sleeve with a different profile, the rubber sleeves on the chill rolls need to be exchanged. Further, normal wear and tear during an extended production run can cause the rubber sleeve to fail and require replacement.
In the prior art methods, in order to do a rubber sleeve replacement the entire rubber-sleeved chill roll needs to be removed from the machine and then be replaced with a new roll. The removed rubber-sleeved chill roll can be repaired on a lathe until its surface is even and flat again, though there is a limit to how many times it can be repaired. Elasticity decreases as rubber thickness decreases, failures can happen if significant torque or shear is applied to a rubber that is too thin. On the other hand, if the rubber is too thick, it won't dissipate heat too well and cause an over heat, so minimum and maximum outside diameters must be carefully determined. This can be a time-consuming process, which may be further complicated if the rubber-sleeved chill roll is not easily accessible.


A therapeutic rehabilitative apparatus is provided. The therapeutic rehabilitative apparatus is adapted to be removably attached to a standard chair or standard wheelchair in order to provide user with a means for providing physical therapy to a medically afflicted knee. The apparatus includes a bracket adapted to engage the seat portion of the standard chair. The bracket includes a fulcrum pin connector to which a lever is rotationally mounted. A tightener mechanism tightly secures the bracket against the outer ledge portion of the standard chair. The lever includes a handle mounted to an upper end and a rotatable pedal mounted to a lower end.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to physical therapy and, more particularly, to a therapeutic rehabilitative apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Treating health problems through physical therapy have been known for many years. Before World War I, few people were aware of or had any knowledge of physical therapy. Physical therapy's real worth was not recognized until World War II when medical teams in the armed forces successfully rehabilitated seriously injured patients. Their success induced more people in the medical field to appreciate the benefits that physical therapy could provide.
Physical therapy treatment is provided through various forms of treatment including heat, light, and sound treatments, massages, and exercises targeted to help heal muscles, nerves, bones, and joints. Regarding exercises, many devices have been developed to facilitate rehabilitation of joint-related injuries and trauma. However, none of these devices have taught an apparatus adapted for use with a standard chair or a standard wheelchair.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a therapeutic rehabilitative apparatus adapted for use with a standard chair or a standard wheelchair which facilitates selectively-adjustable resistance by the user, so as to allow the engaged resistance to be increased or decreased at any time during a rehabilitation cycle according to user preference. The development of the therapeutic rehabilitative apparatus fulfills this need.


Hands free voice dialing telephony devices that can perform relatively simple speech recognition, e.g., to recognize one or a few words corresponding to a command to initiate voice dialing, are described. Speech recognition models stored in the telephony devices can be relatively small and may be either of a speaker dependent or speaker independent type. In response to detecting a command to perform a voice dialing operation the telephony device establishes a connection with a voice dialing intelligent peripheral (IP). The IP includes far greater speech recognition capabilities than the individual telephone devices and is responsible for supporting voice dialing operations associated with a plurality of voice dialing service subscribers. The IP performs speech recognition on speech provided by individual telephony devices and outputs telephone numbers corresponding to recognized spoken names. Telephony devices are coupled by the telephone network to destination telephones corresponding to the telephone numbers output by the IP. In one embodiment, speech recognition models are generated by the IP from speech transmitted from the individual telephony devices. The generated model or models are then stored in the telephony devices for use during speech recognition operations. Thus, processing resources required to generate speech recognition models can be located in a centralized network accessible location.

The present invention is directed to communications systems and, more particularly, to communications systems which support voice operations, e.g., voice-dialing operations.
People frequently have difficulty remembering all of the telephone numbers that they use. In addition, many people, e.g., physically handicapped individuals, find it difficult to manually enter a telephone number into a telephone set, e.g., by depressing buttons on a telephone.
In order to facilitate dialing of telephone numbers, voice-dialing telephone services have been introduced. Once connected to a service provider, known voice-dialing services allow a caller to dial a telephone number by simply speaking a dial command followed by the name of the party to be called and/or by simply stating the name of the party to be called. Speech recognition is used in the known voice-dialing services to identify the party to be called. Once the spoken name of the party is identified, the voice-dialing service dials a telephone number associated with the identified name, thereby eliminating the need for the voice-dialing subscriber to enter the telephone number of the party to be called.
Known voice-dialing services of the type described above are frequently implemented using an intelligent peripheral, e.g., a voice-dialing platform with speech recognition capabilities, coupled to a central office (CO) switch. FIG. 1 illustrates a representative known telephone system 10. As illustrated, the telephone system 10 comprises first and second telephones 12, cell phone 14 with antenna 15, and a public switched telephone network (PSTN) 16. PSTN 16 comprises a CO switch 20, a mobile telephone switching office (MTSO) switch 22 and an intelligent peripheral (IP) 18 capable of performing voice-dialing services. The MTSO switch 22 includes an antenna 23 for communicating with cell phone 14 via antenna 15. The first and second telephones 12 may be, e.g., MINDSET telephones produced by XINEX corporation which include an RS232 interface.
One problem with the system 10 is that a call must be connected to the IP 18 before a voice-dialing service can be provided. In the known system 10, the caller may contact the IP 18 in two ways: the first way involves dialing a telephone number corresponding to the IP 18; and the second way involves initiating an off-hook condition, which automatically results in connecting a voice-dialing subscriber to the IP 18 for voice-dialing services. The second approach for connecting a voice-dialing subscriber involves the use of what has become known as the NFA protocol. A description of the second approach for connecting a service subscriber to an IP can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,784,437.
Use of the NFA protocol can eliminate the need to perform a dialing operation in order to contact an IP18 so that a voice-dialing service can be performed. As such, use of the NFA protocol eliminates the need to remember and enter the telephone number of the IP 18 that provides a voice-dialing service.
Unfortunately, even with the use of the NFA protocol, an off-hook condition must be initiated before a voice-dialing operation can be performed. The physical action of lifting a handset or pressing a button to initiate an off-hook condition can be difficult or impossible for some handicapped individuals. In addition, from a convenience standpoint, it is desirable that the need to perform a physical lifting or switching act be eliminated so that a telephone call can be initiated without the use of hands. The ability to perform a hands-free dialing operation is appealing, from a convenience standpoint, to many business, home and cellular phone users. In addition for cellular phone users operating a motor vehicle, the ability to initiate a dialing operation without having to use one""s hands offers important safety advantages to methods which require the removal of a hand from a steering wheel.
The present invention is directed to communications systems and methods and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for implementing hands-free dialing operations.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, an intelligent speakerphone, when not in an off-hook condition, is programmed to monitor ambient sounds to detect particular speech corresponding to a command to initiate a voice-dialing operation. The speakerphone""s microphone may be used to detect audio signals, which are processed by a processing unit within the speakerphone to detect a voice-dialing command. When off-hook the speakerphone may monitor for a verbal hang-up command.
Upon detecting a command or other acoustic signal used to initiate a voice-dialing operation, the speakerphone of the present invention initiates an off-hook condition. In an embodiment where the NFA protocol is used, the off-hook condition results in the caller being connected to a voice-dialing IP, thereby allowing the user of the telephone to proceed with a voice-dialing call. In embodiments where the NFA protocol is not supported, e.g., in some cellular telephone embodiments, the speakerphone of the present invention automatically dials the voice-dialing IP after initiating an off-hook condition. The dialing is automatically performed in response to the same command or signal used to initiate the voice-dialing operation. The telephone of the present invention may automatically provide the voice-dialing IP a subscriber""s personal identification number (PIN) in embodiments where such information is used to perform a voice-dialing operation.
Once connected to the IP, the IP performs a voice dialing operation in a conventional manner. In such an embodiment, the IP performs speech recognition of names of individuals and outputs the telephone number""s associated therewith. In this manner, the IP which is a shared resource is responsible for the majority of the speech recognition required to perform a complete voice dialing operation which the telephony device of the present invention only has to be capable of recognizing a single word or phrase corresponding to a dial command. In such an embodiment, the IP will normally support a vocabulary that is many times larger than the vocabulary supported by the telephony device used to initiate the voice dialing operation.
Since many speakerphones currently include processors, memory devices, and microphones suitable for implementing the present invention, the voice-dialing feature of the present invention may be implemented at little or no expense, in terms of hardware, beyond that already associated with manufacturing many modern speakerphones.
In addition to a speakerphone embodiment, the voice-dialing initiation method of the present invention may be used with computers capable of performing telephony operations, telephones capable of being controlled by an external device, e.g., a voice-dialing control circuit of the present invention, cellular telephones and a wide variety of other telephony devices. While the methods and apparatus of the present invention are described in the context of a voice-dialing embodiment, it is to be understood that the speech recognition and monitoring techniques of the present invention may be used to initiate other services, e.g., voice mail services, requiring control of a communications device and/or connection to an intelligent peripheral.
Speech recognition models used by the telephony devices of the present invention are, in one embodiment, generated by an IP from speech forwarded to the IP from the telephony devices. The speech recognition models may be speaker dependent models generated from an individual speaker and used by an individual telephony device or speaker independent models generated from multiple speakers. Speech recognition models generated by the IP are stored in and used by the individual telephony devices to detect signals or commands to initiate a voice dialing operation. By placing the burden of speech recognition model generation on the IP, the hardware requirements of the individual telephony devices can be minimized while allowing for powerful and sophisticated model training techniques to be used when generating models to be used by the telephone devices of the present invention.

Methods and apparatus for initiating a voice-dialing operation


Described herein are technologies related to enforcing thread dependency using a hybrid scoreboard. An encoded video information that includes a plurality of threads is received, a first set and a second set of threads from the plurality of thread is determined, the first and second sets of threads are assigned to a hardware and a software, respectively, and dependency threads in the first and second sets of threads is enforced.

Multi-thread decoding of encoded video information may be performed with different threads. For example, when the encoded video information has been encoded according to a particular video codec standard, the decoding tools that may be used to perform decoding tasks are designed to meet hardware constraints, usage constraints, or other criteria
A decoding thread for a current macro block or coding unit may depend on one or more other decoding threads for the current macro block or coding unit and/or, one or more other macro block or coding unit. For example, preliminary analysis of thread dependencies is performed, and the dependencies are updated during process of decoding to allow accurate determination of which threads are currently executable or "runnable." A thread is considered to be runnable, for example, if its completion does not depend on any other uncompleted threads. In this example, the decoding threads may generally consume a lot of power especially in a software scoreboard-based approach where software polling is utilized to verify the completed/uncompleted tasks.
As such, there is a need to address various concerns about power reduction during the decoding process.

Power efficient hybrid scoreboard method


An illuminating device mainly includes a tube-like lamp disposed in a main body. The tube-like lamp has two terminal portions adapted for electrically connecting to a power source and a bending portion between the terminal portions. The main body is provided with a support having two hooked portions configured to support the tube-like lamp. The present invention further provides another tube-like lamp characterized by having a buffer part securely attached on the bending portion for lessening or absorbing the shock of an impact on the tube-like lamp. The support may has a gap between the hooked portions such that the tube-like lamp fit with sufficient tightness into the gap between the hooked portions thereby immobilizing the tube-like lamp more efficiently and absorbing the shock.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an illuminating device and a tube-like lamp thereof, and more specifically relates to a backlight device for a liquid crystal display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal panel which has two substrates and a liquid crystal interposed therebetwveen, and an illuminating device such as a backlight unit which is disposed behind the liquid crystal panel. The backlight unit is configured to distribute a light from a light source uniformly over the surface of the liquid crystal panel. Currently, there are a few kinds of backlight units such as direct and edge light types.
The direct type backlight device usually comprises a U shaped lamp disposed inside a housing. The U shaped lamp has two terminal portions adapted for electrically connecting to a power source. Since the terminal portions of the U shaped lamp are located on the same side, the direct type backlight device is typically provided with a fixing mechanism such as a rubber fastener for securely attaching the bending portion of the U shaped lamp to the housing. It is noted that the conventional fastener is typically configured to directly wrap around a part of the bending portion of the U shaped lamp thereby further immobilizing the lamp.
Since the rubber fastener directly wraps around the U shaped lamp, the rubber fastener facilitates the heat dissipation from the bending portion of the U shaped lamp. Therefore, when a liquid crystal display using the aforementioned backlight device is placed in a low temperature environment (such as a 0xc2x0 C. chamber) for conducting a long-time operation test, the temperature of the bending portion of the U shaped lamp is at least 10 degrees Centigrade lower than that of other portions of the lamp thereby causing the phenomenon of low-temperature pink.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an illuminating device characterized by utilizing a novel fixing mechanism to facilitate the immobilization of tube-like lamps provided therein which overcomes, or at least reduces the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, the illuminating device mainly includes a tube-like lamp disposed in a main body. The tube-like lamp has two terminal portions adapted for electrically connecting to a power source and a bending portion between the terminal portions. The tube-like lamp is characterized by having a buffer part, e.g., an O-ring or a C-shaped ring, securely attached on the bending portion for lessening or absorbing the shock of an impact on the tube-like lamp. The main body is provided with a supporting device for engaging the buffer part of the tube-like lamp thereby helping to immobilize the tube-like lamp. Specifically, the supporting device has two hooked portions and a gap between the hooked portions. The hooked portions are configured to support the tube-like lamp, and the buffer part of the tube-like lamp fits with sufficient tightness into the gap between the hooked portions thereby immobilizing the lamp efficiently. The main body typically includes a housing, a reflector interposed between the tube-like lamp and the housing, and a diffusion plate. Specifically, the housing of the main body includes a base and a case body disposed on the base. The reflector is provided between the tube-like lamp and the base of the housing. The diffusion plate seals the top of the case body of the housing. The terminal portions of the tube-like lamp are disposed along one side of the base of the housing.
The illuminating device according to another embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the main body is provided with a first supporting device having two hooked portions configured to support a first tube-like lamp thereby helping to immobilize the first tube-like lamp. The illuminating device is preferably provided with a second tube-like lamp, a second supporting device having two hooked portions configured to support the second tube-like lamp, and a third supporting device disposed on the main body and disposed between the first tube-like lamp and the second tube-like lamp wherein the third supporting device having two hooked portions configured to support the first tube-like lamp and the second tube-like lamp.
The fixing mechanism of the present invention, i.e., the supporting device, is characterized by utilizing two hooked portions to support the tube-like lamp thereby significantly reducing the heat dissipated from the contact surface between the lamp and the fixing mechanism. Therefore, the phenomenon of low-temperature pink is not observed when a liquid crystal display using the backlight device of the present invention is placed in a low temperature environment (such as a 0xc2x0 C. chamber) for conducting a long-time operation test.

Illuminating device and tube-like lamp thereof


According to one embodiment, an electrode is provided. The electrode includes an active material-containing layer. The active material-containing layer contains an active material and a flat plate-shaped silicate.

When an active material-containing layer containing an active material is formed on a current collector such as a metal foil, water or an organic solvent is used as a solvent for a slurry containing active material particles, a conductive agent, a binder, and the like. When a slurry is applied onto only one surface of a current collector to prepare a one-side electrode, depending on the material contained in the slurry, when the coating film is dried, the coating film may contract and curve with the current collector in some cases.
When the one-side electrode curves, there is a problem that in a case where the slurry is further applied onto the other surface, cracks are generated in the formed active material-containing layer and a uniform electrode cannot be obtained. Moreover, there is a problem that the multiple-zone coating is difficult and the productivity is lowered.

Electrode, secondary battery, battery pack, and vehicle


Disclosed is a separator containing a porous polymer substrate and an inorganic particle layer formed on at least one surface of the porous polymer substrate, and the separator has increased insolubility for an electrolyte and enhanced dimensional stability at high temperatures, therefore, short circuit between a cathode and an anode may be suppressed even when an electrochemical device is overheated, and high temperature cycle characteristics of the electrochemical device are enhanced. In addition, discharge characteristics are improved due to an ion conductance enhancement, since the impregnation of the separator for the electrolyte increases. Therefore, the separator according to the present invention is suited for electrochemical devices that require heat resistance, in particular, for lithium secondary batteries for electric vehicles, since, while the separator according to the present invention has excellent heat resistance, an electrochemical device that includes the separator gives equal performance in electrochemical properties when compared to existing separators.

Interest in energy storage technologies has been growing in recent years. As the fields of application have expanded to the energy of mobile phones, camcorders, and laptops, and further to electric vehicles, efforts for the research and development on electrochemical devices have increasingly materialized. The field of electrochemical devices is receiving the most attention, and among these, the development of chargeable and dischargeable secondary batteries has become the focus of attention.
Among secondary batteries currently used, lithium secondary batteries developed in the early 1990s are highly favored due to the advantages of high operating voltage and high energy density compared to conventional batteries such as Ni-MH. However, lithium secondary batteries have a potential danger of causing an explosion due to the generation of an exothermic reaction depending on the environment of use. Particularly, a polyolefin-based porous substrate that is commonly used as a separator of an electrochemical device has a problem in that it shows a severe thermal shrinking behavior at a temperature of 100° C. or higher due to material characteristics and manufacturing process characteristics that include elongation, thereby causing a short circuit between a cathode and an anode.
In order to solve this safety problem of electrochemical devices, Korean Patent Application Laid-Open Publication Nos. 10-2006-72065, 10-2007-231, 10-2008-97364, and the like have proposed a separator in which an inorganic material coating layer made of a mixture of inorganic particles and a binder polymer is formed on at least one surface of a porous polymer substrate having multiple pores. The inorganic particles in the inorganic material coating layer formed on the porous polymer substrate play a role of a kind of a spacer that maintains the physical form of the coating layer, and prevent a cathode and an anode from being in direct contact with each other even when the porous polymer substrate is damaged.
As described above, the inorganic material coating layer formed on the surface of the porous polymer substrate can contribute to the thermal safety enhancement of an electrochemical device, therefore, the development of separators capable of further enhancing the heat resistance of an electrochemical device by adopting a binder polymer having different chemical structures from those proposed in existing patents has continued. In addition, there have been demands for the development of separators that can improve high temperature cycle performance and discharge characteristics of an electrochemical device.
Accordingly, a method for enhancing the heat resistance of a separator by forming a ceramic/binder porous coating layer in a polyolefin-based separator having weak heat resistance using polyvinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene as a binder has been proposed. However, the binder used therein has a melting point of approximately 150° C. and thereby has a limit in heat resistance.
In addition, Korean Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2008-97364 uses a binder having a cross-linking structure, however, a thermal initiator such as AIBN that produces radicals when decomposed by heat is used instead of a common chemical curing agent, therefore, the radicals generated therefrom attack the main chain of the binder polymer and as a result, the main chain of the polymer is cross-linked. Therefore, the enhancement in heat resistance has a limit in a method such as this, and in the results, the change in thermal shrinkage percentage, which is the most clear evidence of heat resistance enhancement, have not been described.
In view of the above, the inventors have developed a separator containing a porous polymer substrate and an inorganic particle layer formed on at least one surface of the porous polymer substrate, wherein a binder connects between the inorganic particles, and between the inorganic particles and the porous polymer substrate, the binder is formed on the porous polymer substrate by curing polyester that includes one or more hydroxyl groups, carboxyl groups or both at the end, in the side chain or both using an isocyanate-based curing agent at a temperature at which the porous polymer substrate does not shrink by 10% or more in length, the porous polymer substrate and the network-structured binder formed by the curing reaction of the polyester and the curing agent are integrated, and the inorganic particles are collected and fixed inside the network-structured binder, and have verified that, when the separator is used in an electrochemical device, a short circuit between a cathode and an anode can be suppressed even when the electrochemical device is overheated, since the thermal shrinkage of the porous polymer substrate that is used as a separator is suppressed when the electrochemical device is overheated, and that effects enhancing the high temperature cycle characteristics of the electrochemical device can be obtained, and have thereby completed the present invention.

Separator with enhanced heat resistance and electrochemical device containing the same

Research & Business Foundation Sungkyunkwan University


A caulk applicator attachable to a caulk delivery apparatus. The caulk applicator comprises an applicator body having a retainer bracket and a scraper element, wherein the retainer bracket is attachable to the caulk delivery apparatus. An applicator wheel is rotatably mounted to the applicator body and has a fluid application surface, wherein the fluid application surface is engageable with the scraper element.

A number of apparatuses have been employed to apply a thin bead of viscous sealing material to a surface. Particularly, many of these apparatuses are well-suited to apply a bead of joint compound or caulking compound to a joint or crack.
Once well-known method for filling a joint or crack with caulking compound employs a caulk delivery apparatus, or caulk gun, having an operating mechanism that controls the flow of caulking compound from the nozzle portion of a replaceable caulking compound container. However, when such an apparatus is used to apply caulking compound to an overhead surface, the caulking compound may fall away from the ceiling before it adheres to the joint or crack. Furthermore, normal methods of finishing caulk joints are time-consuming and cumbersome when the work area is overhead. Thus, such an apparatus is ill-suited for filling a gap or crack in a ceiling surface.
For this reason, joints or cracks in ceilings are typically finished or repaired by first applying joint tape to the crack and then blending the joint tape into the ceiling by applying joint compound using a putty knife to transfer the joint compound to the ceiling from a bucket or pan. Such an arrangement typically requires use of a ladder to allow the drywall installer to reach the portion of the ceiling being caulked. Thus, the drywall installer is limited to working on a small segment of the ceiling before the ladder must be moved, creating an undesirable inefficiency. Furthermore, when repairing an acoustic ceiling, sometimes referred to as a "popcorn ceiling," the acoustic material must first be removed in the area of the joint or crack and subsequently replaced.
It would be desirable to have a caulk applicator that is attachable to a caulk delivery apparatus to apply a thin bead of caulking compound to a crack or joint in a ceiling. It would further be desirable to have a caulk applicator that may repair a crack or joint in an acoustic ceiling without removing the acoustic material.


An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus wherein an echo signal produced by scanning an ultrasonic beam at a three dimensional region is received and a two dimensional cross sectional image and three dimensional information based on the echo signal are obtained. A display is operable in a first mode in which only the cross sectional image is displayed, a second mode in which only the three dimensional information is displayed, and a third mode in which the three dimensional information overlapped with said cross sectional image is displayed. The three dimensional information at least includes a portion of the two dimensional cross sectional image, and preferably adjacent front side and rear side regions. In a preferred embodiment, the three dimensional information is color doppler information and the two dimensional cross sectional image is a gray scale image, and the areas of the cross sectional surfaces in which the color doppler information is obtained in a direction perpendicular to the front and back of the gray scale two dimensional cross sectional image become smaller as the distance from the gray scale two dimensional cross sectional image increases.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for real time display of three dimensional information of a diagnosed portion of an object
2. Discussion of the Background
In general, in the conventional ultrasonic diagnostic system, a predetermined cross sectional surface is scanned by an ultrasonic beam transmitted from an ultrasonic probe in the form of a one dimensional array of piezoelectric transducers and a cross sectional image based on two dimensional information is displayed. On the other hand, experiments have been performed to obtain three dimensional picture image information (i.e., volume image) by operating the ultrasonic probe in a three dimensional space. In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, the display of three dimensional image has been expected to develop a new approach to diagnosis. Research has proceeded to changing a direction of an ultrasonic beam by manually or mechanically moving a convex probe and a linear array probe for an abdominal region, and using a multi plane probe having a mechanism for rotating an electronic sector for an oesophagus region.
In such a three dimensional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, three dimensional scanning in order to obtain three dimensional information is very time consuming compared to cross sectional scanning in a conventional two dimensional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. In the case of detecting an object exhibiting quick movement, such as a heart, scanning can not follow such a quick movement. A display of such an object is sometimes distorted. In the case of an object exhibiting slow movement, such as an abdominal region using a fixed probe is insufficient, yet if a moving probe is used, and the moving speed of the probe is not constant, the display of the abdominal region is greatly distorted.
Therefore, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has been developed including a two dimensional probe having an electronic scanning two dimensional phased array of piezoelectric transducers and an ultrasonic probe having a function of electronically scanning three dimensional space with a ultrasonic beam so that a three dimensional volume image is scanned at a frame rate nearly 30 frame/second (real time).
The three dimensional volume image provides information along a front-rear direction which can not be obtained in a conventional two dimensional cross sectional image and provides a capability to observe a diagnosed portion at any point of sight. However, in so doing, it is necessary to change and rotate an observed cross sectional surface. Such a capability makes it easy to reproduce a picture image at one moment and to reproduce an animation image repeatedly at several seconds. However, in the case of diagnosing an object using a continuous animation image such as an ultrasonic diagnostic image, it is again difficult to process the entire three dimensional image information due to limitations on processing speed. However, an operation of changing and rotating an observed cross sectional surface is not necessary for the entire three dimensional image.
In an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus for scanning/displaying a three dimensional volume image at real time, a request to observe an image at a frame rate substantially equal to that of a conventional two dimensional cross sectional image at a cross sectional surface would be considered in the case of displaying a three dimensional volume image. In the case of always three dimensionally scanning and reconstructing a two dimensional cross sectional image based on a received three dimensional information, a resolution level of three dimensional information is not considered of great importance in order to maintain a frame rate at real time. Therefore, an amount of ultrasonic energy for three dimensionally scanning is more than that for a conventional two dimensional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus which obtains two dimensional image information of the same quality as that of the conventional two dimensional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus. This presents a safety problem.
As described above, a conventional three dimensional ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has a drawback of not displaying the entire three dimensional information in real time and a drawback of needing more ultrasonic energy than that of a conventional apparatus in order to display a two dimensional cross sectional image.


A bag holder has a base to be attached to a vertical surface and has two hinged arms to be latched perpendicular to the base in useful positions for holding an open bag. Nestable spaces for the arms are provided within the surface of the base, and hinges connecting the arms to the base permit the arms to be turned from the nestable spaces to the useful positions. The upper edge of each arm is contoured to provide an intermediate upright portion about which a loop, or handle, of a bag is suspended. The arms are biased to be urged to the nestable positions, and latching means between the base and the arms retain the arms in the useful positions.

This invention pertains to holders, and particularly to a holder having a mounting base to which is attached spaced arms for hanging a bag by its handles in an open position for filling.
A bag-holding article is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,504 issued to Stefan Bittenbinder on June 13, 1989. A plane, rectangular base has approximate each end a groove for receiving a respective one of a pair of separated supporting arms and has a hole through each end for a mounting screw. Each of the arms has an inner end contoured to fit within one of the grooves for retaining the arm removably but rigidly and perpendicularly to the base, and each arm has a front hook and a rear hook over or around which a handle of a bag to be filled is looped, the arms and the hooks on each arm being spaced apart the distances required to hold a suspended bag open.


The brake system includes a brake lever independent of, but capable of rotating about the same point as a bell crank. Upon receiving a downward force, a member extending from the lever strikes a portion of the bell crank and generates a force that cause the bell crank to rotate. Rotational action of the bell crank transfers rotational energy to an equalizer bar thorough a linkage system. The equalizer bar's rotation increases or decreases tension on brake bands that slow a tubing drum. A cylinder can activate and cause the equalizer bar to rotate, applying tension to the brake bands and slowing the drum. Rotational energy is transferred back to the bell crank through the linkage. The rotational energy is absorbed by a spring positioned between the bell crank and the brake lever, thereby reducing the amount of sudden force passed through the brake lever to an operator.

After an oil drilling rig drills a well and installs the well casing, the rig is dismantled and removed from the site. From that point on, a mobile repair unit, or workover rig, is typically used to service the well. Servicing includes, for example, installing and removing inner tubing strings, sucker rods, and pumps. This is generally done with a cable hoist system that includes a traveling block that raises and lowers the aforementioned tubing strings, sucker rods, and pumps.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,334,217 describes a system for monitoring the movement of a traveling block on a drilling rig. As described in the '217 patent, the traveling block can be raised or lowered beyond a safe limit. This is called "crown out" if the traveling block reaches its upper-most safe position, and "floor out" if it reaches its lower-most safe position. Crown out/floor out can result in equipment damage and present a hazard to personnel working on the equipment. Because it is often not possible for the operator of the cable hoist system to see the position of the traveling block, or because the operator can be otherwise distracted from monitoring the position of the traveling block, the operator can inadvertently exceed safe positions of the traveling block.
Drilling rigs and mobile well servicing units alike are often equipped with safety devices that prevent or a least reduce the possibility of the traveling blocks from reaching a crown out or floor out position. The techniques to prevent crown outs and floor outs can vary. These techniques include use of wire trip sensors, radar, ultrasonic sensors located near the crown, drum encoders, and wire rope counters as sensing devices that determine the blocks are too close to the crown. In addition, the safety systems may incorporate programmable logic control ("PLC") circuits to detect and actuate cylinders. In another embodiment, the safety system can be configured in a "fail safe" mode. When a circuit is broken in the fail safe mode, a cylinder is activated, thereby activating the braking system on the hoist to prevent the drilling line from additional movement.
While many different methods exist for preventing crown outs and floor outs, most have a single commonality, that being when a sensor or other device detects the pending crown out or floor out, the device sets the brakes for the tubing drum via a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder. FIG. 1 provides a detailed drawing of a conventional tubing drum brake assembly 100. Although only one side of the drum 105 is shown for the sake of simplicity, a person of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that, in actuality, the tubing drum 105 typically has two brake flanges 115, one on each side of the tubing drum 105. Each side of the tubing drum 105 includes a brake band 120 wrapped around a flange 115. Each of the brake bands 120 are actuated by a equalizer bar 130. In one conventional embodiment, a common equalizer bar 130 actuates both of the brake bands 120 on the tubing drum 105. As shown in FIG. 1, the brake bands 120 are actuated by the equalizer bar 130 rotating in the clockwise direction, which generates tension on the brake bands 120, causing them to tighten up and apply pressure to the brake flanges 115. The pressure applied by the brake bands 120 causes the tubing drum 105 to slow or stop its rotation about the tubing core 110 depending on the amount of pressure applied by the brake bands 120 and causing a corresponding reduction in movement of the feed line 160 as shown in FIGS. 1-4.
As further shown in FIG. 1, the conventional braking system can rotate the equalizing bar 130, by applying a downward force on a brake handle 155. The brake handle 155 is attached to a brake lever 150 which rotates about a pivot point 145 when the downward force is applied to the brake handle 155. The rotation of the brake lever 150 rotates a bell crank 140 in a clockwise direction, the bell crank 140 and brake lever 150 being mechanically coupled to one another. The bell crank 140 is attached at one end to the brake lever 150 and attached at another end to the brake linkage 165 and rotates about pivot point 145. The brake linkage 165 is attached at the other end to the equalizer bar 130. The rotation of the bell crank 140 creates a tension in the brake linkage 165, thereby causing the equalizer bar 130 to rotate in the clockwise direction about a pivot point 125.
As the rig trips into the hole with heavy loads, the braking system heats up and the brake bands 120 expand, which can cause slack in the system 100. To compensate for this problem, conventional braking systems, like the one shown in FIG. 1, include an adjustment swivel 135 as part of the brake linkage 165. The adjustment swivel 135 can be rotated about the braking linkage 165 to shorten or lengthen the linkage 165 as the need arises. For example, as the brake bands 120 retain more heat and get longer, an operator will shorten the length of the brake linkage 165 through the use of the adjustment swivel 135. Conversely, as the brake bands 130 begin to cool and shorten, the operator will lengthen the linkage 165 by rotating the adjustment swivel 135. The objective for the operator is to maintain the brake handle 155 at a height that is comfortable for his use.
In order to effect the safe braking of the rig or hoist, the braking system 100 must operate under tight tolerances, which necessitates that the brake bands 120 remain in constant or virtually constant contact with the brake flanges 115. Because the weight of the brake handle 155 and brake lever 150 will provide sufficient down force to slow the rotation of the drum 105 the operator typically will lift up on the brake handle 155 and lever 150 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. By lifting the brake handle 155 and lever 150, the brake bands 120 provide less pressure on the brake flanges 115, thereby allowing the drum 105 to rotate at a higher rate of speed.
As discussed above and shown in greater detail in FIGS. 4 and 5, most conventional rig braking systems 400, 500 include additional features 405 to prevent a crown out or floor out event. The features can include a cylinder 410 which can be pneumatically or hydraulically operated. When activated, the cylinder 410 suddenly extends a rod 415 outward and provides pressure on a lever 420 that is attached to the equalizer bar 130. In response to the pressure, the equalizer bar 130 rotates clockwise causing the brake bands 120 to apply pressure to the brake flange 115, thereby slowing the drum 105 and the feed line 160. However, as shown in FIG. 5, because the equalizer bar 130 is also mechanically linked to the brake handle 155 via the brake linkage 165, bell crank 140, and brake lever 150, the brake handle 155 suddenly moves in the downward direction in response to the cylinder 410 firing. If the rig operator is in the vicinity of, or is holding the brake handle 155 up to reduce braking pressure on the drum 105, when the cylinder 410 fires, the operator may be injured by the brake handle's 155 sudden downward motion. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a braking system that allows the actuating cylinder to act independently of the brake handle so that when the brakes are set due to the detection of a crown out, floor out or other action or problem the brake handle will not be jerked out of the operator's hand and potentially cause injury.

Brake system for a well service or drilling hoist


A control mechanism is provided for coupling/interrupting two transmission leads. A first cam configured for spring-loaded rotation in a direction of rotation is positioned between the two leads. A lead coupler attached to the first cam couples the two leads to one another when the first cam achieves a prescribed position. A second cam is disposed adjacent to the first cam for, in sequential fashion, i) maintaining the first cam in a first position different than the prescribed position prior to rotation of the second cam, ii) permitting the spring-loaded rotation of the first cam from the first position to the prescribed position after rotation of the second cam commences, iii) inhibiting the spring-loaded rotation of the first cam from the prescribed position for a prescribed period of time during continued rotation of the second cam, and iv) permitting the spring-loaded rotation of the first cam from the prescribed position during continued rotation of the second cam after completion of the prescribed period of time.

In many explosive devices, detonation must occur at a particular time in a prescribed sequence of events. Should some malfunction occur during the prescribed sequence of events, it may be desirable to prevent detonation from every occurring thereby permanently "safing" the malfunctioned device. For example, underwater explosive devices are often placed in a shallow-water environment to clear a military landing zone. Typically, not all devices explode at time of detonation. To prevent later inadvertent detonation, unexploded devices are preferably removed from the zone. It is desirable to have confidence that any unexploded devices can be safely retrieved/removed from the area without harm to personnel. Accordingly, many fuze systems incorporate complex electronic or electromechanical components for completing a detonation train only at the appropriate time in a prescribed sequence of events. However, the complex or electric nature of such components are often the source of malfunction in harsh water environments.

Energetic transmission line completion/interruption mechanism

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A roll stabilizer for a motor vehicle includes a torsion bar and a vibration damper located on the torsion bar. The vibration damper is configured to vibrate relative to the torsion bar. The vibration damper includes two half-shells formed together about the torsion bar. Damper elements are disposed between the half-shells. The damper elements can be adjusted via an adjustment component to alter the rigidity of the damper elements.

Active roll stabilizers of this type are known from DE102008033270 A1. The roll stabilizer disposed transverse to the vehicle longitudinal axis has a divided torsion bar with an actuator functionally disposed between the two ends facing one another. These roll stabilizers are mounted on the vehicle body. Sounds emitted from the roll stabilizer while the vehicle is moving have been observed, which could be regarded as disruptive in the passenger compartment.


A stop lever is rotatable on a light shielding tunnel with an exposure aperture. When the stop lever is at a fast shutter speed position, a support pad is located below a lower metal plate of a synchronization switch of a flash circuit. The support pad holds the lower metal plate to limit rotation of a shutter blade, so that photography is carried out at a fast shutter speed. The synchronization switch is turned on after the exposure aperture is fully open. When the stop lever is at a slow shutter speed position, a support pad is away from the lower metal plate to obtain a slow shutter speed. It is possible to obtain a fast shutter speed by providing a light shielding tunnel with a fixed stopper to limit rotation of the shutter speed, and a slow shutter speed by providing a light shielding tunnel without a stopper.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens-fitted photo film unit to make exposure through an exposure aperture. More particularly, the present invention relates to a lens-fitted photo film unit to ensure flash light emission at the time when the exposure aperture is fully open.
2. Description Related to the Prior Art
A lens-fitted photo film unit has a simple photography mechanism, such as a struck-type shutter mechanism that has a shutter blade to open and close an exposure aperture. Since a photo filmstrip is preloaded in the lens-fitted photo film unit in manufacture, a user can enjoy photography right after the purchase of the lens-fitted photo film unit.
Some lens-fitted photo film units have flash devices to emit flash light to increase exposure amount in indoor or night photography. The flash device has a flash circuit that includes a main capacitor, a flash discharge tube and a synchronization switch. The synchronization switch has a pair of metal plates. In photography, the shutter blade is rotated to press one metal plate onto the other metal plate so that the synchronization switch is turned on. When the main capacitor is charged at that time, the synchronization switch outputs a trigger signal to discharge the electrons in the main capacitor to the flash discharge tube, so that flash light is emitted to increase exposure amount of a main subject.
With the flash device of the lens-fitted photo film unit, however, it is difficult to apply enough amount of flash light to a background behind the main subject. When indoor or night photography is carried out with flash device, the background on the exposed image is much darker than the main subject.
In order to deal with this problem, Japanese laid-open patent (JP-A) 11-326987 discloses a lens-fitted photo film unit that enables multiple shutter speeds by moving a stopper to limit the rotation of the shutter blade. Exposure amount of the background is increased in indoor or night photography by making the shutter speed slower.
In order to prevent failure exposure due to camera-shake, it is desirable to shorten the exposure time by making the shutter speed faster. Thus, various improvements, such as a photo filmstrip with higher sensitivity and a brighter taking lens, are applied to the lens-fitted photo film unit. It is necessary to start flash light emission at the time when the exposure aperture is fully open. Shorter exposure time makes it difficult to start flash light emission at the appropriate timing during exposure.
Moreover, the metal plates of the synchronization switch are bent upon being pressed by the shutter blade. If bending characteristics of the metal plates is changed, or if the metal plates are deformed after plural photography, time lag between flash light emission and exposure is happened. Such time lag causes under exposure.
It is also possible to control the shutter speed by providing kinds of lens-fitted photo film units with different shutter speeds. These lens-fitted photo film units have stoppers to limit the rotation of the shutter blade. The stoppers are fixed at different positions. Such lens-fitted photo film units do not include a mechanism to move the stopper, so it is possible to reduce the manufacture cost of the lens-fitted photo film unit.
Although these lens-fitted photo film units have different mechanical parts, it is preferable to use common parts as many as possible in order to increase the productivity and reduce the manufacture cost.
An object of the present invention is to provide a lens-fitted photo film unit that ensures flash light emission at an appropriate timing in photography at a fast shutter speed.
Another object of the present invention is to increase the productivity of the lens-fitted photo film units with different shutter speeds.
To achieve the above objects, the lens-fitted photo film unit has a stopper to limit the movement of a shutter lever, and the stopper is provided at a position in contact to or near one of two contact plates of a synchronization switch of a flash device. When a shutter blade presses the first contact plate onto the second contact plate at a position to open the exposure aperture, the stopper holds the shutter blade, the first and second contact plates to limit the movement of said shutter blade.
The lens-fitted photo film unit is manufactured by attaching the stopper at a position in contact to or near the second contact plate. A lens-fitted photo film unit without the stopper has a slower shutter speed, compared to the one with the stopper, because the rotation of the shutter blade is not limited. It is possible to provide plural lens-fitted photo film unit with different shutter speeds by attaching or removing the stopper.
In the preferred embodiment, the stopper is attached to a lens cover in the rotatable manner, and is movable between a fast shutter speed position in contact to or near the second contact plate and a slow shutter speed position away from the second contact plate. At the fast shutter speed position, the stop lever holds the shutter blade, the first and second contact plates to limit the rotation of the shutter blade at the open position.
One end portion of the stop lever at the fast shutter speed position is moved to the free end side of the second contact plate. The end portion of the stop lever prevents the second contact plate from being deformed when the first contact plate presses the second contact plate in exposure.
The lens-fitted photo film unit may have an operation member, a movable aperture plate and changeover means to move the stop lever according to the operation of the operation member. The operation member is preferably movable between a first position to turn off the flash device, a second position to turn on the flash device and holds the stop lever at the fast shutter speed position, and a third position to turn on the flash device and holds the stop lever at the slow shutter speed position. The changeover means preferably set a small aperture state when the stop lever is at the fast shutter speed position, and preferably set a large aperture state when the stop lever is at the slow shutter speed position.
According to the present invention, the stopper or the stop lever supports one of the contact plates of the synchronization switch of the flash device, so it is possible to ensure flash light emission at an appropriate timing even though the shutter speed becomes faster. Moreover, it is possible to increase productivity of the lens-fitted photo film units with different shutter speeds by using common mechanical and electrical components other than the stopper or the stop lever.

Lens-fitted photo film unit and method for manufacturing lens-fitted photo film unit


Method and apparatus for layer-based panoramic image blending, adjustment and editing. A panoramic image mechanism may provide the automated generation of a panoramic image from a set of input images. The panoramic image may be generated, organized and persisted as a set or stack of component layers, which enables manual modification of the component layers to optimize the panoramic image. The panoramic image mechanism may include scripts and associated user interface mechanisms that automate the generation of a panoramic image and that may provide users access to the adjustment and edit mechanisms, and that thus enable users to retouch the automatically-generated panoramic images.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer systems, specifically to computer-aided image processing, and more specifically to the merging of images to form a panoramic image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image capture devices, such as cameras, may be used to capture an image of a section of a view or scene, such as a section of the front of a house. The section of the view or scene whose image is captured by a camera is known as the field of view of the camera. Adjusting a lens associated with a camera may increase the field of view. However, there is a limit beyond which the field of view of the camera cannot be increased without compromising the quality, or "resolution", of the captured image. Further, some scenes or views may be too large to capture as one image with a given camera at any setting. Thus, it is sometimes necessary to capture an image of a view that is larger than can be captured within the field of view of a camera. In these instances, multiple overlapping images of segments of the view or scene may be taken, and then the images may be joined together, or "merged," to form a composite image, known as a panoramic image.
Many computer programs and algorithms exist for automatically assembling a single panoramic image from multiple overlapping component images. Conventional computer programs for performing automatic panorama assembly generally concentrate on tools for automating the entire process, but operate under the assumption that the final output (the panoramic image) is the acceptable result, and that further manual or hand-modification is not needed.
While automated systems often do a good job in generating panoramic images, many situations, and demanding professional photographers and artists, may require exact control over how the images are blended together, their exposure and color balance settings, how the images overlap, and so on. Especially with automatic cameras or cameras set to automatic mode, the parameters or settings on a camera may differ between images, and thus two overlapping images of a scene may have different levels of exposure, color balance, brightness, contrast, hue and saturation, white and black points, and so on. In addition, artifacts may appear in one image that do not appear in an overlapping region of another image. Moving objects may also pose problems, as a moving object may not be in the same relative position in two overlapping images; for example, a moving object may appear in two different places in two overlapping images. In addition, aspects of a scene may not line up properly after an automatically generated alignment, generating misalignment artifacts. Control over the automatic panoramic image generation process may be manually achieved to correct for at least some of these problems or other problems using some image processing applications such as Adobe Photoshop®, but such control typically requires many tedious steps to achieve a desired result.
Further, conventional computer programs for automatically assembling a single panoramic image from multiple overlapping images typically generate the panoramic image as a single image element, with pixels in the actual image manipulated or modified to achieve the desired result, making further corrections to the final panoramic image difficult if not impossible.

Method and apparatus for layer-based panorama adjustment and editing


Devices and methods for rescuing people from high-rise facilities, for example, upper floors of multi-storey buildings. A rescue device from a high-rise building includes several flexible spokes interconnected on one end to form a pyramidal figure, wherein the spokes are located on the edges, an aerodynamic deceleration element fastened to the spokes, connectors located between the adjacent flexible spokes, in so doing the connectors are located at some distance from the ends of the flexible spokes, a buffer element fastened in a point of connection of the flexible spokes and a means of fastening an object to be rescued fastened in the point of connection of the flexible spokes on the other side with respect to the buffer element, in so doing each of the flexible spokes is embodied as curved sideways from a central axis of the device.

Russian Federation Patent 2399389 discloses a device for emergency descent of a person from a high-rise building fastened to the back of a person, including a central toroidal chamber being inflated using an independent gas-filling source to which a membrane is attached and which is connected on one side to inflatable spokes which, upon inflation, form a cone, and which are interconnected by inflatable connectors, and are connected on the other side to an inflatable damping structure which has a toroidal inflatable chamber, which in relation to the central toroidal chamber is located opposite to the arrangement of the inflatable spokes interconnected by connectors. The toroidal inflatable chamber communicates with the central toroidal chamber by the spokes being inflated, and embodied by diameter which is greater than the diameter of the central toroidal chamber and is less than the diameter of the base of the cone, which is formed by spokes which are straightened out upon inflation and are interconnected by connectors. An air-impermeable perforated fabric is stretched between the spokes the toroidal chambers, or the spokes together with the toroidal chambers are covered by air-impermeable perforated protective coverings in order to form a conical deceleration shield in the form of two truncated conical pyramids with a common base in the central toroidal chamber zone and with great bases having different diameters and oppositely directed. A membrane is stretched in the toroidal chamber with damping structure and the air-impermeable fabric is embodied as perforated and the independent gas-filling source communicates with one of the toroidal inflatable chambers or with one of the inflatable spokes, and the internal volumes of all the toroidal chambers and spokes communicate with one another and form a single closed volume.
Shaping of a fly-away trajectory is one of the most important aspects of rescuing people, as is known in the prior art.
A step of shaping of the fly-away trajectory begins immediately following separation of the rescue device together with a person to be rescued, from the high-rise building.
During this step, moving away of the device, together with the person to be rescued, for some distance from the high-rise building, and orientation of the device in relation to earth and its stabilization occurs. The device finally goes into an operating position, notably, it assumes its final shape.
The device in the operating position must be oriented in relation to earth in the following way: a damping device is directed down and the inflatable spokes arranged in a cone upon inflation and interconnected by inflatable connectors are directed up. In such position smooth descent of the rescue device together with the person to be rescued occurs. Smooth descent and a low speed of descent are provided at the expense of deceleration of the device in the atmosphere.
Upon shaping of the fly-away trajectory, a range of moving away of the device, together with the person to be rescued, for some distance from the high-rise building is of great importance. The greater is a distance for which the rescue device has moved away from building, the higher is a probability of successful rescue.
In doing so, a minimum distance of moving away from the high-rise building exists for the above mentioned device. If the range of moving away of the rescue device is less than the minimum distance the orientation of the device and correspondingly, descent in a normal mode are impossible.
In the known rescue device, the inflatable spokes which, upon inflation, are arrangeable in a cone and rest against a wall of the high-rise building. At the expense of effort exerted by the present spokes on the wall of the high-rise building shaping of the fly-away trajectory occurs.
However, the effort applied by the spokes in accordance with the known technical solution is deficient for guaranteed shaping of the fly-away trajectory of the rescue device. In some cases, incomplete shaping of the fly-away trajectory is possible, and descent in an abnormal mode is possible.
To increase the effort being applied by the spokes, an increase in geometric dimensions thereof is required. The increase in geometric dimensions leads to increase in an interior volume of the rescue device, which requires use of a more powerful gas-filling source, an increase in a weight of the rescue device, and an increase in its volume in a folded up (inactive) state. Increase in the weight and volume is objectionable as the present type of the rescue device is intended for use in stress situations.

Device and method for rescuing from a high-rise facility


A method for producing a color filter involves (A) forming a photosensitive coating film on a transparent electrically conductive layer of a transparent substrate having the transparent electrically conductive layer on its surface, and exposing the photosensitive coating film to light in a first irradiation amount through a mask having a predetermined pattern of a certain light transmittance and at least once displacing the mask to another position on the photosensitive coating film and exposing the photosensitive coating film to light in a second irradiation amount different from the first irradiation amount through the mask; and (B) developing and removing a photosensitive coating film portion exposed to light in one of the smallest and largest irradiation amounts for exposing the transparent electrically conductive layer and electrodepositing a colored coating on the exposed electrically conductive layer for forming a colored layer thereon, operation of developing and removing the photosensitive coating film and electrodepositing the colored coating being sequentially repeated for the respective irradiation amounts where the sequence of repetition is selected from increasing irradiation amount and decreasing irradiation amount to form different colored layers, respectively.

This invention relates to a method for producing a color filter and more particularly to a color filter advantageously employed as a color liquid crystal display device.
Among the currently employed methods for preparing a color filter, there are a dyeing method consisting in dyeing a transparent substrate with a binder containing dyes and pigments, a printing method and a pigment dispersion method.
Since the dyeing method consists in selectively forming a thin resin film on a substrate with dyes, a resist printing process and a photolithographic process need to be performed each time the color is changed. Although resist printing is unnecessary with the printing method, there is a limit to the refinement of color patterns and, the larger is the number of colors, the printing position becomes worse. Although the fine color pattern is possible with the pigment dispersion method, a high precision photolithographic process needs to be performed each time the color is changed, resulting in a complicated process.
For overcoming the deficiency, there is proposed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 59-114572 (1984) a method for producing a color filter by an electrodeposition coating method. With this method, a transparent electrode is prepared by patterning a transparent electrically conductive film deposited on the substrate, the substrate is immersed in a colored electrodeposition bath for forming a colored layer by electrodeposition and electrical voltage is applied only to a portion of the patterned transparent electrode which is to be dyed in the same color. The substrate is then immersed in a colored electrodeposition bath for forming a different color layer by electrodeposition, and electric voltage is then applied only to a :portion of the substrate which is to be dyed in a different color. However, it is necessary with this method to perform a high precision patterning of the transparent electrode, and to pay meticulous care during the subsequent process not to break the fine pattern, because otherwise the subsequent coloring process is rendered difficult. Besides, the patterned transparent electrode needs to be electrically continuous, even in fine pattern sections, so that limitations are imposed on the degree of freedom of the pattern shape.
In Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. 63-210901 (1988), there is proposed a method consisting in forming colored layers by light exposure, development and electrodeposition, using a mask having patterns only in areas to be dyed in the same colors and a positive type photosensitive resin composition, and repeating the steps of light exposure, development and electrodeposition a desired number of times. This method is inferior in stability because it makes use of a compound containing unstable quinone diazido groups. Besides, if the quinone diazido compound is brought into contact with an aqueous alkali solution, the quinone diazido compound in the unexposed part is also reacted with an aqueous alkali solution so that photosensitivity is markedly changed to present difficulties in the subsequent light exposure and development steps.