A flat roof drainage system is disclosed which utilizes a low point column head which allows the roof to be drained at the center of a structural member located at the low point of the roof. More specifically, the low point column head is a structural extension of a building column and is adapted to permit the attachment of support beams at the column head as well as the placement of a roof drain at the center of the column head so that the roof drain can be place directly at the lowest area of the roof to eliminate standing water.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a flat roof drainage system utilizing a low point column head which allows the roof to be drained at the center of a structural member located at the low point of the roof, and more particularly, to such a flat roof drainage system utilizing a load-bearing, low point column head which is a structural extension of a building column and is adapted to permit the attachment of support beams at the column head as well as the placement of a roof drain at the center of the column head so that the roof drain can be place directly at the lowest area of the roof to eliminate standing water.
2. Background Discussion
The flat style roof is fairly common roof style used, for example, by large commercial buildings such as warehouses and the like. One particular disadvantage of the flat roof is the difficulty in obtaining good drainage since the roof is not sloping or only gently sloping and there is a tendency for water to pool and puddle. In particular, problems have been experienced regarding situating a drain at the lowest point or area of the roof because a structural column of the building is typically positioned at the lowest point of the roof and prevents providing a drain at such a location. Prior art approaches to address this problem are known.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,782 to Paquette et al. discloses a double roof drainage system for flat roofs which employs self-draining insulating panels which direct the flow of rainwater to a centrally located drain hole. However, in contradistinction to the present invention, the drain is supported by the roof insulating panels and not by a load-bearing column. Moreover, the benefit of using low point column head to create the slope of the roof is not taught or suggested by Paquette et al., but rather, Paquette et al. use expensive insulating panels to create a slope on the flat roof to facilitate drainage toward the drain hole.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,193 to Ochs discloses a built-up roof structure which creates an inwardly sloping roof at which a drain is located. However, as with the Paquette et al. patent noted above, Ochs fails to disclose the provision of a load-bearing column adapted to permit placement of the roof drain directly at the low point of the roof or the benefit of using a low point, load-bearing column head to create a roof sloped natural toward the drain in all directions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,145 to Groves discloses a saddle roof employing sets of panels of fiberboard or mineral board which are disposed at predetermined positions to form a roof sloped toward a centrally located drain. However, as with the patent noted above, Groves fails to teach or suggest the provision of a load-bearing column adapted to permit placement of the roof drain directly at the low point of the roof or the benefit of using a low point column head to create a roof sloped naturally toward the drain.
The above-noted prior art approaches are expensive and time consuming to install. In addition, these arrangements require the addition of unnecessary structure to the roof surface which adds weight thereby increases the strength requirements of the supporting structure of the roof.
Moreover, none of the prior art drainage arrangements discussed above a permit a drain to be placed at the center of a structural member located at the lowest point of the roof. In addition, none of the prior art roof drainage systems teach or suggest utilizing a load-bearing, low point column head, which is a structural extension of a building column positioned at the lowest point or area of the roof, the column head being adapted to permit the attachment of support beams at the column head as well as the placement of a roof drain at the center of the column head so that the roof drain can be place directly at the lowest area of the roof to eliminate standing water.

Flat style roof drainage system and low point column head


An information processing apparatus includes a storing unit configured to store, in a storage device, print setting information including a hierarchical structure of a document and a print attribute associated with a hierarchical level of the document, and a setting unit configured to, when the print attribute in the print setting information stored in the storage device is applied to a selected document, compare a hierarchical structure of the selected document and the hierarchical structure of the print setting information and to set a print attribute to an appropriate hierarchical level of the selected document based on a comparison result and the print attribute of the print setting information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer-readable storage medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Microsoft has announced a plan to support an extended markup language (XML) paper specification (XPS) which is a new XML-based document format by Windows Vista® ("XML Paper Specification: Overview" [search results as of Feb. 15, 2008], <URL: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/xps/default.mspx>). An XPS document has a document format including three hierarchical levels called FixedDocumentSequence, FixedDocument, and FixedPage. XML documents containing print attributes referred to as print tickets, can be associated with nodes of each hierarchical level. ("Print Ticket and Print Capabilities Support in Windows Printer Drivers", [search results as of Feb. 15, 2008], <URL: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/print/XPSDrv_PrintTicket.mspx(XPSDrv—PrintTicket.doc)>). A job-level print ticket is associated with FixedDocumentSequence. Further, a document-level print ticket is associated with FixedDocument1. Further, a page-level print ticket is associated with FixedPage1.
Since the print ticket can be specified for each node of each hierarchical level, an XPS document can change, for example, an output size for each FixedPage, or stapling setting for each FixedDocument. As mentioned in "XML Paper Specification: Overview", the XPS document has an aspect of a print spooler format used during printing, and another aspect of an ordinary document. Regarding the document aspect, the XPS document can be used as a document format for publishing and distributing various documents, in the same manner as a page description format (PDF) file. As described above, the XPS document can retain a print ticket for each node of the hierarchical levels, and as a result, it is possible to create and distribute XPS documents associated with print attributes.
Further, the XPS document includes an exception setting function which allows a user to specify different print attribute settings for each page in addition to print attribute settings for an entire job. For example, in a case where a user creates a document including a plurality of sections, the user may desire to use colored paper for first pages of the sections and white paper for the rest of the pages. In such a case, the user makes a setting to use white paper for the entire job and use colored paper only for the first page of each section, that is different from the print attribute settings for the entire job. Specifying the different print attribute settings is not limited to a paper type (color) to be used. There are cases in which a user may desire other kinds of setting, for example, a paper size, one-sided/two-sided printing, finishing, and color settings, for a specific page or a range of pages to be different from the print attribute settings of the entire job. (Refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-110638 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-250606).
When different print attribute settings are set for each page in a printer driver or an application, following procedures are often used.    1. A tab sheet or a dialog used to set page exceptions is opened to specify a page or a page range and create a partition,    2. Print attributes are specified for the partition in a lower-level dialog.
Further, in a printer driver, a print template function is installed which exports and applies "favorite" print attributes to other documents. With regard to a printing method such as a DEVMODE printing and a job definition format (JDF) printing which can output print attribute settings for the entire job together with the exception setting in one file, the print template function can be realized such that the print attributes are exported as one file, stored in a printer driver, and applied to a target document in such printing methods.
However, in a case of printing an XPS document, since the print attributes are associated with each of the hierarchical levels, the print attributes are output as a plurality of files if they are directly exported. Further, it is difficult to identify the page which the print attribute is associated with, so that the print template function cannot be realized.


An enabling circuit includes a comparison circuit configured to compare a feedback signal representative of a charge of an energy storage element of a regulating circuit with a reference charge and provide an output in response to the comparison to enable the regulating circuit to switch from a first state to a second state if the charge of the energy storage element is less than the reference charge. The enabling circuit may also be used to enable a synchronous rectifier converter to provide a charging current to a battery in a battery charging system of an electronic device thereby avoiding negative voltage transients that may otherwise occur at the output of the synchronous rectifier converter. Various methods are also provided.

This invention relates to an enabling circuit for avoiding negative voltage transients from an associated regulating circuit, and more particularly to such an enabling circuit for enabling a synchronous rectifier converter to switch from a first state to second state if the charge on an energy storage element of the synchronous rectifier converter is less than a reference charge.
A variety of circuits have energy storage element such as capacitors, inductors, and transformers that transfer energy from an input to an output of such circuits. If such energy storage elements are not properly discharged in some instances, unwanted power disturbances, e.g., negative voltage transients, may occur in the output signal causing damage to nearby sensitive components.
For instance, such a regulating circuit may be a DC-DC converter. DC-DC converters generally accept a DC input at one voltage level and convert it to a DC output at a higher or lower voltage level. Such DC-DC converters may be used in a wide variety of electronic devices in conjunction with a variety of systems. One such system may be used to provide a battery charging function for portable electronic devices such as laptop computers, cell phones, pagers, personal digital assistants, and the like.
One type of DC-DC converter is a synchronous rectifier converter (SRC). An SRC does not use any Schottky diodes, but rather uses transistors referred to as xe2x80x9csynchronous rectifiers.xe2x80x9d Such transistors may be a variety of transistors such as MOS or MOSFET transistors. An SRC may also have a variety of internal components that typically include an energy storage element, e.g., a capacitor, inductor, or transformer, with one or more transistors controlled by various control techniques, e.g., pulse width modulation where the switch frequency is constant and the duty cycle varies with the load.
When an SRC is used in conjunction with a battery power management system, the SRC may accept an input voltage from a number of different power sources and convert it to an appropriate output voltage to, among other things, provide an appropriate charging current to an associated rechargeable battery. In such a battery power management system, there is typically an associated controller used to control the battery charging process. Such controller may be an integrated circuit (IC) having a plurality of input terminals or pins, some of which are connected to the output of the SRC. For instance, two such terminals may be coupled to either side of a sense resistor. The sense resistor may be in series with the output of the SRC such that it provides a signal representative of the charging current provided at the output of the SRC.
If a soft start occurs when the energy storage element, e.g., a capacitor, of the SRC is charged at a significant value, e.g., over several volts, negative voltage transients may appear on either terminal of the sense resistor potentially causing catastrophic failure of the associated controller IC. Accordingly, there is a need for an enabling circuit and method that overcomes the above deficiencies in the prior art and is capable of avoiding negative voltage transients from an associated regulating circuit by enabling the regulating circuit only when the charge on the energy storage element is below a reference charge.
An enabling circuit for enabling an associated regulating circuit having an energy storage element consistent with the invention includes: a comparison circuit configured to compare a feedback signal representative of a charge of the energy storage element with a signal representative of a reference charge and provide an output in response to the comparison; and an output decision circuit configured to receive at least the output from the comparison circuit and provide an enabling signal to enable the regulating circuit to switch from a first state to a second state if the charge of the energy storage element is less than the reference charge.
A battery charging system consistent with the invention includes: a rechargeable battery; a power source; a synchronous rectifier converter configured to accept an input power level from the power source and provide a regulated output power level to the battery, the synchronous rectifier converter having an energy storage element; and an enabling circuit for enabling the synchronous rectifier converter, the enabling circuit comprising: a comparison circuit configured to compare a feedback signal representative of a charge across the energy storage element with a signal representative of a reference charge and provide an output in response to the comparison; and an output decision circuit configured to receive at least the output from the comparison circuit and provide an enabling signal to enable the synchronous rectifier converter to switch from a first state to a second state if the charge of the energy storage element is less than the reference charge.
A method of avoiding negative voltage transients at the output of a regulating circuit having an energy storage element consistent with the invention includes the steps of: monitoring a charge on the energy storage element; maintaining the regulating circuit in a first state if the charge is above a reference level; and switching the regulating circuit to a second state if the charge is below the reference level.
A method of avoiding negative voltage transients at the output of a synchronous rectifier converter having a capacitor, wherein the synchronous rectifier converter provides a charging current to an associated rechargeable battery, wherein such a method consistent with the invention includes the steps of: monitoring a charge on the capacitor; maintaining the synchronous rectifier converter in a first state if the charge on the capacitor is above a reference charge; discharging the capacitor until the charge on the capacitor is less than the reference charge; and enabling the charging current to flow to the associated rechargeable battery once the capacitor is discharged to a charge value less than the reference charge.
Another enabling circuit for enabling an associated regulating circuit having an energy storage element consistent with the invention includes: a comparison circuit configured to compare a feedback signal representative of a charge of the energy storage element with a signal representative of a reference charge and provide an output in response to the comparison to enable the regulating circuit to switch from a first state to a second state if the charge of the energy storage element is less than the reference charge.
Another enabling circuit for enabling an associated regulating circuit having an energy storage element consistent with the invention includes: an output decision circuit configured to receive a signal representative of a comparison between a charge on the energy storage element and a reference charge level and provide an enabling signal to enable the regulating circuit to switch from a first state to a second state if the charge of the energy storage element is less than the reference charge.

Enabling circuit for avoiding negative voltage transients


A sliding module for a slide-type portable communication apparatus including a main body and a sliding body which slides on the main body along a sliding distance provided from a start position to an end position. The sliding module includes a fixed plate engaged with the main body, a moving plate being engaged with the sliding body and sliding along the sliding distance. A sliding module is provided between the fixed plate and the moving plate and provides a dead point position between the start position and a center position of the sliding distance, or closer to the start position to slide the moving plate. The dead position prevents the accidental closing of the sliding body and loss of communication if a user's hand slips during the opening of the sliding body to expose a portion of the main body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sliding module for a slide-type portable communication apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a module for opening and closing a slide-type portable communication apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a portable communication apparatus refers to an electronic apparatus sufficiently small in size to be carried by a user to perform wireless communications with the other parties. Such portable communication apparatuses may include but are not limited to hand-held phones (HHPs), Cordless Telephone-2 (CT-2) cellular phones, digital phones, Personal Communications Service (PCS) phones, and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and may be classified into many different types according to their appearance. For example, the portable communication apparatuses may be classified as bar-type, flip-type, folder-type, and slide-type portable communication apparatuses according to their appearance. Each of the conventional portable communication apparatuses is indispensably provided with an antenna unit, data input/output units, and data transmitting/receiving units. Usually, the data input unit includes a keypad with which a user can input data by key pressing with fingers. The conventional portable communication apparatus may have actual key buttons and/or a touchscreen. The data output unit would typically include a display screen and a speaker.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, a conventional slide-type portable communication apparatus 1 typically includes a main body 2, a sliding body 3 that slides on/along the main body 2 relative to the main body, and a sliding module 4 that provides a sliding distance L1 from a start position A1 to an end position A2 to urge the sliding body 3 to slide the sliding distance L1 on the main body 2.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 4, the sliding module 4 in the conventional slide-type portable communication apparatus includes a fixed plate 2a engaged with the main body 2, a moving plate 3a that is engaged with the sliding body 3 and slides on the fixed plate 2a, and an elastic body 6 that is interposed between the fixed plate 2a and the moving plate 3a to provide an elastic force for enabling sliding of the moving plate 3a in a direction as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4.
The elastic body 6 may include, for example, a coil spring, a single-layer spring, and a push rod.
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, the conventional elastic body 6 has the aforementioned elements to urge the moving plate 3a to slide the sliding distance L1. However, as regards the drawbacks of a structure connecting the moving plate 3a to the fixed plate 2a, the moving plate 3a may come to a stop in the center between the start position A1 and the end position A2 of sliding distance L1 at which the expanding force and the contracting force of the elastic body 6 become equal to each other, causing a dead point position 5.
That is, the sliding body 3, which has been sliding on the main body 2, may stop the sliding in the center of the sliding distance L1. If a user of the slide-type portable communication apparatus 1 with the sliding module 4 slightly slides the sliding body 3 to use the communication apparatus 1 in a communication mode, the sliding body 3 may fail to pass the dead point position 5 and move back to the start position A1 of the sliding distance L1. As a result, the sliding body 3 is closed, interrupting the communication mode.
If the expanding force or contracting force of the elastic body 6 is increased to change the dead point position 5, the rotation locus of the elastic body 6 also increases, causing interference with a Flexible Printed Circuit Board (FPCB) provided in the communication apparatus 1.
Therefore, there is a need for a device capable of allowing a sliding body to slide past a dead point position of the slide-type portable communication apparatus even with a slight movement by positioning the dead point between a start position and a center point of a sliding distance without increasing the rotation locus of the elastic body.

Sliding module for slide-type portable communication apparatus

Samsung-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do


The present invention relates to horn switches provided on steering wheels of automobiles, having a base plate in a pad portion, a horn contact protrusion extending through the upper surface of a housing disposed on the base plate and operating in correspondence with the movement of a horn button on a pad portion, a contact member of the horn contact protruding from the base plate, a biasing member disposed between the base plate and the horn contact to urge the horn contact to be spaced apart from the base plate and being electrically connected to the contact member, one electrode portion disposed on the base plate and being electrically connected to the biasing member and the other electrode disposed on the base plate at a lower position than the electrode portion described above electrically connectible to the contact member by pressing the horn contact with a horn button.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to horn switches provided on steering-wheels of automobiles and wiring units used for horn switches, display apparatuses, interior wiring and others provided in vehicles such as passenger cars and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional horn switches of such structure as shown in FIG. 10 are known. Namely a base plate 11 is disposed at the bottom inside a horn button 15 which is provided on a pad portion 9 at the center part of a steering wheel. A housing 12 is provided on said base plate 11. On the surface of said base plate 11, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, an electrode portion 14a is formed extending from the one end portion on said base plate 11 to the central portion in said housing 12. The other electrode portion 14b is formed extending from the other end portion on said base plate 11 in a shape of an arc so as to encircle said electrode portion 14a.
On the upper surface of said housing 12, a horn contact 16 is protruded therethrough, the upper portion of which contacts said horn button 15. On the under surface of the horn contact 16, a contact member 16a formed in a shape of a letter T at cross-sectional view is fixed. On the outer peripheral portion of said contact member 16a, a spring 17 is provided. A masking material M covers a partial area of the electrode portion 14a on the surface of said base plate 11 where a part of said spring 17 contacts.
Moreover, in various parts of a vehicle such as a horn switch, a base plate of a display unit or tail lamps and others, wiring connects the switch, the display portion, the tail lamps and others with the power source. It is troublesome in using a connectional electric wire to connect the end portions thereof with the given terminals. Especially, where a large number of terminals are disposed, there is a problem that the volume of electric wires becomes large and the apparatus becomes big as a whole. Therefore, printed wiring has been used for switches on steering wheels which are equipped with electric circuits. Further, as shown in FIG. 12, as an inexpensive method of manufacturing printed wiring, it is throughout that wiring patterns formed by ink for selective plating (which has properties of selectively plating inked portions) are transcribed on a base 61 made of resin. And then, wiring patterns 62 of copper, nickel and others are formed by applying electroless plating on pattern portions.
In a conventional horn switch as mentioned above, since the electrode portions 14a and 14b are formed on the same plane, the masking material M is required for preventing a portion of the spring 17 to contact the one electrode portion 14a on the base plate 11, which would cause the electrode portions 14a and 14b to be conductive.
Due to the thickness of the masking material M, the spring 17 partially contacts the other electrode 14b on the base plate 11. Also, the contact portion of the spring 17 with the other electrode 14b on the base plate 11 can not be enlarged due to the masking material M. These are problems. And another problem was to increase the manufacturing cost by using the masking material M.
In the foregoing method of preparing printed board with wiring patterns and using the same, there was a problem that printed boards used for electric circuit were expensive. Also, the number of parts to be used increased and assembly manhours increased too, resulting in the increase of the manufacturing cost. In the method of employing the ink for selective plating, on the other hand, there was a defect that the boundary between the base and the inked portion by transcribing was obscure and the process was complicated. When the surface of the base which patterns are formed thereon is curved or irregular, transcribing of the ink for selection plating was not well performed.


A proportioning module for automatically changing the ratio of delivery pressure to control pressure according to whether a mode control pressure is present or absent. When the mode control pressure is present, the proportioning module is deactivated, causing the delivery pressure to be substantially equivalent to control pressure. When the mode control pressure is absent, the proportioning module functions to provide control pressure to delivery pressure ratios which are dependant upon the control pressure and the resultant delivery pressure.

The rear brakes of tractors of tractor-trailer vehicles are designed to accommodate the braking requirements of a fully loaded tractor-trailer combination, commonly referred to as the "trailering mode." Consequently, tractor rear brakes are comparatively oversized when the tractor is operated without the trailer, commonly referred to as the "bobtail mode." As a result, during bobtail operation, oversized tractor rear brakes typically promote premature rear brake lock, which can cause skidding, as well as poor vehicle stability and control.
Various solutions have been proposed in order to alleviate or minimize this problem. Anti-lock brake control systems can provide skid control. However, such skid control systems are expensive and require additional hardware and maintenance.
Proportioning modules are commonly used in the brake control systems of tractors. Proportioning modules generally operate to proportion brake service pressure between the front and rear tractor brakes to prevent premature rear brake lock and its attendant problems. Proportioning modules are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,410,218, 4,571,007, and 4,725,101. The disclosed proportioning modules override proportioning during bobtail operation when equal front-to-rear brake pressures are desirable, such as, for example, in an emergency created as a result of a failure of the tractor front brake circuit. Proportioning modules typically utilize primary proportioning means that are responsive to service pressure only. As a result, the disclosed modules typically require excessive force to operate the valve to provide desired proportioning ratios or "cut-back" features. Further, due to the high actuating forces required to operate the proportioning means, these modules are generally more complex and have larger packaging sizes than are desirable. Additionally, because the disclosed proportioning modules comprise proportioning means that are responsive to only service pressure, the potential operational response and relief curves are generally quite limited.


A sprinkler includes a stationary body portion including a fixed nozzle, and a rotatable rotor plate mounted in a hub in vertically spaced relationship to the nozzle. The rotor plate is adapted to receive and redirect a stream emitted from the nozzle. The hub which mounts the rotor plate has a first plurality of teeth formed on an external, annular surface thereof. An annular stream interrupter is loosely held on the hub and in surrounding relationship to the first plurality of teeth. The interrupter also has a plurality of stream interrupting fingers depending from a radially outermost peripheral surface thereof, arranged to be struck by the stream redirected by the rotor plate. The interrupter includes a ring having a second plurality of teeth formed on an interior annular surface thereof adapted for partial and progressive meshing engagement with the first plurality of teeth to thereby cause the interrupter to orbit the hub in a step-by-step, eccentric motion by the action of the stream on the interrupter fingers.

This invention relates to a rotary sprinkler and, more specifically, to a rotary sprinkler having a stream interrupter driven in a step-wise, eccentric rotational manner by a rotating solid stream emitted from a fixed nozzle.
Stream interrupters per se are utilized in the sprinkling art for a variety of reasons. Representative examples as described in the patent literature are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,192,024; 4,836,450; 4,836,449; 4,376,513; and 3,727,842.
One reason for providing stream interrupters is to insure uniformity of the sprinkling pattern. When irrigating large areas with sprinklers, the sprinklers need to be spaced as far apart as possible in order to minimize system costs. To achieve an even distribution of water at wide sprinkler spacings requires sprinklers that simultaneously throw the water a long distance and produce a pattern that "stacks up" evenly when overlapped with adjacent sprinklers. These two requirements are somewhat mutually exclusive in that maximum radius of throw is achieved with a single concentrated stream of water shooting at a relatively high trajectory angle (approximately 24.degree. from horizontal), but this stream by itself produces a "donut" pattern that doesn't stack evenly. Interrupting this concentrated stream, by fanning some of it vertically downwardly produces a more even pattern, but reduces the radius of throw.
The solution in accordance with this invention is to intermittently interrupt the stream so that at times, it is undisturbed for maximum radius of throw, and at other times it is fanned out to even out the pattern. To this end, the interrupter itself is moved in small rotational increments, so that the interruption points constantly move, thereby resulting in an even distribution of water around the sprinkler, and thereby precluding widely spaced dry "spoke" areas as would be left with a fixed interrupter.
Thus, in an exemplary embodiment of the invention, a self-stepping stream interrupter is provided which is designed for use in a sprinkler of the type where a stream is emitted in a substantially vertical direction from a nozzle fixed in the sprinkler body, which stream thereafter impinges on a groove formed in a rotor plate which redirects the stream radially outwardly. The groove in the rotor plate also has a circumferential component which causes the rotor plate to rotate about its center axis, which also passes through the nozzle. In the exemplary embodiment, the rotational speed of the rotor plate is slowed by a viscous fluid brake or dampener, so that the stream rotates at a speed of less than 20 rpm. In this way, both maximum throw and maximum stream integrity are achieved. Absent an interrupter, this arrangement would produce the so-called "donut" pattern described above.
In the exemplary embodiment, the rotor plate is supported on the viscous brake shaft which extends out of a brake housing supported within a sleeve or hub of the sprinkler cap assembly. The cap assembly is (removably) secured to the body of the sprinkler such that the rotor plate groove is located in vertically spaced relationship, and centered on the axis of the fixed nozzle.
The present invention seeks to take advantage of the maximum throw characteristics achieved by the relatively slow rotation of the rotor plate, and at the same time, to insure a uniform sprinkling pattern extending through a full 360.degree. radially between the sprinkler and the outermost portion of the sprinkling pattern.
In the exemplary embodiment described herein, a stream interrupter is provided which comprises an annular ring having a plurality of teeth extending radially inwardly from the inner surface of the ring. These interrupter teeth are adapted to partially engage a plurality of teeth formed on an exterior annular surface of the cap assembly hub which supports the rotor plate and associated viscous brake housing.
The interrupter in this exemplary embodiment is held loosely supported on a washer so that the interrupter can move axially in opposite directions, but not beyond the teeth on the cap assembly hub. At the same time, the minor diameter of the interrupter teeth is significantly larger than the minor diameter of the hub teeth, so that the interrupter is free to move in several directions, as well as rotationally, when struck by the stream coming off the rotor plate.
The interrupter is also provided with a plurality of depending stream interrupter fingers extending downwardly from the ring. These fingers are shaped as vanes, so that when a finger is struck by the stream, radial, circular, and tilting motions are imparted to the interrupter, as described in greater detail below.
The primary result of the oversized relationship of the interrupter vis-a-vis the hub, is that the interrupter is caused to "walk" around the hub in a step-by-step eccentric manner as the deflector fingers are struck, one at a time, by the stream emitted from the rotor plate. The vane configuration also deflects the stream sideways so that, as the stream rotates with the rotor plate, more and more of the pattern area is wetted so that, ultimately, a uniform sprinkling pattern is achieved throughout the full radial extent of the pattern.
Thus, in its broader aspects, the present invention relates to a sprinkler having a body portion including a nozzle, the nozzle adapted to emit a stream of liquid to atmosphere; first means for rotating the stream; a rotatable stream interrupter driven directly by the stream; and second means for causing intermittent rotation of the stream interrupter.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a sprinkler comprising a sprinkler body having a substantially vertical axis and means for throwing a liquid stream substantially radially relative to the vertical axis and rotating the liquid stream about the vertical axis, the improvement comprising a stream interrupter including an annular ring loosely mounted for eccentric rotation about the vertical axis, and wherein the stream drives the interrupter directly.
In another aspect, the invention relates to a sprinkler comprising a sprinkler body having a center axis and including a nozzle and associated first means for issuing a stream in a substantially radial direction, substantially perpendicular to the axis, and rotating the stream about the center axis; a stream interrupter mounted loosely for eccentric rotation about the center axis, the stream interrupter including an annular ring provided with a plurality of stream deflector fingers, the stream interrupter being driven directly by the stream impinging on the plurality of stream deflector fingers.
In still another aspect, the invention relates to a sprinkler having a fixed nozzle for emitting a stream to atmosphere; a rotor plate adapted to redirect the stream radially outwardly, the rotor plate caused to rotate about its own axis by the stream; and a stream interrupter having a plurality of stream interrupter vanes arranged to be struck by the stream as redirected by the rotor plate.
The invention also relates to a sprinkler having a fixed nozzle for emitting a stream to atmosphere; a rotor plate adapted to redirect the stream radially outwardly, the rotor plate caused to rotate about its own axis by the stream; and a stream interrupter loosely rotatably mounted on a hub, the interrupter having a plurality of stream interrupter vanes arranged to be struck by the stream as redirected by the rotor plate and rotated by the stream about the hub; and wherein the stream interrupter and the hub are provided with cooperating means for causing the interrupter to rotate in an eccentric step-wise manner about the hub.
The invention also relates to a sprinkler having a stationary body portion including a fixed nozzle, a rotatable rotor plate mounted in vertically spaced relationship to the nozzle, the rotor plate adapted to receive and redirect a stream emitted from the nozzle, the improvement comprising a hub having a first plurality of teeth formed on an external, annular surface thereof, and an annular stream interrupter loosely held on the hub and in surrounding relationship to the first plurality of teeth, the interrupter including a ring having a plurality of stream interrupting fingers arranged to be struck by the stream redirected by the rotor plate, the ring also having a second plurality of teeth formed on an interior annular surface thereof adapted for partial and progressive meshing with the first plurality of teeth to thereby cause the interrupter to orbit about the hub in a step-by-step, eccentric motion, as the fingers are successively struck by the stream.
While the stream interrupter of this invention is designed for use with a rotary sprinkler construction as described above, it will be appreciated that the stream interrupter may be applied to any rotary sprinkler that has a single concentrated emitting stream that rotates at a relatively slow speed.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description which follows.


The simulation consists of a front-end simulation and a back-end simulation. The front-end simulation can use an equivalent model at different abstraction level, or a simulation model for the back-end simulation. The back-end simulation uses the simulation result of front-end simulation so that it can run one or more simulation runs sequentially or in parallel. Alternatively, models at lower level of abstraction are simulated together with a model at higher level of abstraction in parallel using two or more simulators.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention is to increase the verification performance and efficiency for systematically verifying digital systems with more than multi-million gates by using simulation and prototyping from Electronic System Level (ESL) down to Gate Level (GL) through Register Transfer Level (RTL).
(2) Description of the Related Art
In design verification, simulation is to build a pair of computer-executable models which consists of DUV (Design Under Verification) or one or more than one design object (to be defined later) inside of DUV, and TB (testbench) which drives it, to translate it into a sequence of machine instructions of a computer through a simulation compilation process, and to execute it on the computer. Therefore, simulation execution is basically accomplished by the sequential execution of machine instructions of a computer, and there are many simulation methods (event-driven simulation, cycle-based simulation, compiled simulation, interpreted simulation, co-simulation, algorithmic-level simulation, instruction-level simulation, transaction-level simulation, RTL simulation, gate-level simulation, transistor-level simulation, circuit-level simulation, etc). In other words, simulation represents a variety of processes in which DUV and TB, that are executable SW models built in a computer at a proper abstraction level (there are many abstraction level existed in IC design such as circuit-level, transistor-level, gate-level, RTL, transaction-level, instruction-level (if the design object is a processor), algorithmic-level, etc) by a modeling process, are executed in a computer to realize its functional specification or functional characteristic in SW. The advantage of simulation is to virtually evaluate the functional specification or functional characteristic of design object before the design objects is actually implemented and fabricated, to provide a high flexibility due to the SW nature, and to obtain high visibility and controllability on DUV or TB which is critical for debugging. But, its shortcoming is a low performance comes from the fact that the simulation execution is a sequential execution of machine instructions sequence. If the design complexity is large alike to the modern designs having 100 million or more gates, the simulation speed becomes extremely slow (for example, it will take 3.2 years to simulation an 100 million gates design for 100,000,000 cycles by an event-driven simulation whose speed is 1 cycle/sec). In this present invention, the simulation is defined as any SW modeling and SW execution method of DUV and TB at the proper abstraction level. More specifically, in this present invention, the simulation is defined as the process including implementing the behavior of DUV and TB at a specific abstraction level as a specific computer data structure and its well defined operations on it so that it is computer-executable, and performing a series of computations and processing of the operations on the data structure with input values in computer (Therefore, in this present invention, the simulation can be carried out by not only any commercial simulator, but also internally built simulators. Also, any process including a series of computation or processing the operations on the data structure with input values in computer is considered as the simulation if the process meets the above definition of simulation).
In contrast, the traditional prototyping is to build a system on PCB (Printed Circuit Board) by using manufactured semiconductor chips (for example, sample chips) or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) chips, which implement DUV, and other components necessary to the construction of the entire system (in simulation, other components are modeled as TB), and to verify the DUV in either in-circuit or in-system environment while the entire system is running a real or almost real operation speed. If DUV and TB are not modeled virtually in SW, but physically implemented for verification, it is advantageous to verify at the extremely high speed. However, as in the prototyping environment the visibility and controllability are very low, the debugging is very difficult when it operates incorrectly.
The design size of digital circuits or digital systems are growing to tens of million or hundreds of million gates and their functionality is becoming very complex as the IC (Integrated Circuit) design and fabrication technology has been being developed rapidly. Especially, system-level ICs so called SOC (System On Chip) has usually one or more embedded processor cores (RISC core or DSP core, and specific examples are ARM11 core from ARM or Teak DSP core from CEVA), and the large part of its functionality is realized in SW. The reduction of design time is very critical to the related products success because of short time to market due to the growing competition in the market. Therefore, there is a growing interest from the industry about ESL design methodology for designing chips. Chips that are designed by using ESL design methodology, which exists at the higher level abstraction level than traditional RTL (Register Transfer Level), need the SW developments that drives them as well as the HW designs. Therefore, in recent development trend the Virtual Platform which is a SW model of a real HW (we will call it VP hereafter) is built as a system level model (ESL model) for architecture exploration, SW development, HW/SW co-verification, and system verification (whereas, traditional prototyping is a physical platform (we will call it PP hereafter)). VP can be also used as an executable specification, i.e. a golden reference model. As VP is made of at higher abstraction level, its development time is short. Also, it can be used to verify TB before DUV is available. VP also plays a critical role in platform-based design (PBS), which is widely adopted in SOC designs, because VP can be made of transaction-level on-chip bus models and other transaction-level component models (these are called TLM models), which can be simulated at much higher simulation speed (about 100 to 10,000 times faster than RTL model). Currently, there are many commercial tools for creating and executing VP, such as MaxSim from ARM, ConvergenSC from CoWare, Incisive from Cadence, VisualElite from Summit Design, VSP from Vast Systems Technology, SystemStudio from Synopsys, Platform Express from Mentor Graphics, VTOC from TenisonEDA, VSP from Carbon Design Systems, VirtualPlatform from Virutech, etc. Therefore, VP can provide many benefits in SOC designs. In SOC designs, as the most important factor of VP is its fast execution speed suitable to develop some softwares, it is modeled not at RTL using Verilog or VHDL, but at higher abstraction level such as transaction-level or algorithmic-level using SystemC or C/C++. The abstraction level, which is the most important concept in system-level designs, is the level of the representation detail of corresponding design object (explained in detail later). Digital systems can be classified into layout-level, transistor-level, gate-level, RTL, transaction-level, algorithmic-level, etc from the low level of abstraction to the high level of abstraction. That is, gate-level is a lower abstraction than RTL, RTL is a lower abstraction than transaction-level, and transaction-level is a lower abstraction than algorithmic-level. Therefore, if the abstraction level of a specific design object A is transaction-level and its abstraction level of a design object B refined from A is RTL, then it is defined design object A is at higher level of abstraction than design object B. Also, if a design object X has design objects A and C, and a design object Y has design objects B, which is a refined design object from A, and C, it is defined design object X is at higher level of abstraction than design object Y. Moreover, the accuracy of delay model determines the level of abstraction at same gate level or same RTL. That is, even though there are at same gate-level, the net-list with zero-delay model is at higher abstraction than the net-list with unit-delay model, and the net-list with unit-delay model is at higher abstraction than the net-list with full timing model using SDF (Standard Delay Format). Recent SOC designs can be thought as a progressive refinement process of an initial design object, which must be implemented as a chip eventually, from the initial abstraction level, e.g. transaction-level, to the final abstraction level, e.g. gate-level (refer FIG. 14). The core of design methodology using progressive refinement process is to refine the design blocks progressively existed inside a design object MODEL_DUV(HIGH) modeled at high level of abstraction so that a refined design object MODEL_DUV(LOW) modeled at low level of abstraction is obtained automatically (for example, through logic synthesis or high-level synthesis), manually, or by both. As a detailed example, in the refinement process of ESL to RTL, which is to get an implementable RTL model from an ESL model (this process is currently carried out by human, high-level synthesis, or both), the ESL model is MODEL_DUV(HIGH) and the implementable RTL model is MODEL_DUV(LOW), and in the refinement process of RTL to GL (Gate Level), which is to get a GL model, i.e. gate-level netlist, from an implementable RTL model (this process is currently carried out by logic synthesis), the RTL model is MODEL_DUV(HIGH) and the GL model is MODEL_DUV(LOW). The GL model can become a timing accurate GL model if the delay information in SDF (Standard Delay Format), which is extracted from the placement and routing, is back-annotated.
There is one thing to mention. It is not absolutely necessary for an ESL model that all design objects in the model are at system level. This is also true for a RTL model. In an ESL model, it is possible that a few design objects are at RTL and they are surrounded by the abstraction wrappers which make the abstraction of the RTL objects same as the other ESL objects. Also, in an RTL model, it is possible that a few design objects are at GL and they are surrounded by the abstraction wrappers which make the abstraction of the GL objects same as the other RTL objects. At the same reason, in a GL model a few design objects, e.g. memory block which is not produced a net-list at gate-level by logic synthesis, can be at RTL. Therefore, in this present invention "a model at the specific level of abstraction" is a model at any level of abstraction (not only ESL, RTL, and GL, but also any mixed levels of abstraction such as a mixed level of ESL/RTL, a mixed level of RTL/GL, a mixed level of ESL/RTL/GL, etc) that can be existed in a refinement process from ESL to GL. Also, the "abstraction level" includes not only ESL, RTL, and GL, but also any mixed levels of abstraction such as a mixed level of ESL/RTL, a mixed level of RTL/GL, a mixed level of ESL/RTL/GL, etc. For example, if a DUV consists of four design objects, A, B, C, and D, A and B are at ESL, C is at RTL, and D is at GL, the DUV is a mixed ESL/RTL/GL model of abstraction and can be called a model at the specific level of abstraction (Also, it is possible to be called a model at mixed ESL/RTL/GL of abstraction). From now on, we will call a model at mixed levels of abstraction if we must clearly mention that the model is represented at the mixed levels of abstraction (Arbitrary design object, such as DUV or TB, can be called a model, but if there is no specific mention, a model is defined as a design object including DUV (Design Under Verification) and TB (Testbench)).
Transaction, which is the most important concept at ESL, represents an information that is defined over logically related multiple signals or pins as a single unit, and uses function calls to communicate among design objects. By contrast, the information on the signals or pins at RTL is represented by bit or bit vector only. Transaction can be defined cycle by cycle (we'll call this type of transaction cycle-accurate transaction, and ca-transaction in short), over multiple cycles (we'll call this type of transaction timed transaction, cycle-count transaction, or PV-T transaction and timed-transaction in short), or without the concept of cycles (we'll call this type of transaction untimed-transaction in short). The timed-transaction is represented by Transaction_name (start_time, end_time, other_attributes. In fact, there is no standard definition about transaction, but it is mostly general to define and classify into untimed-transaction, timed-transaction, and ca-transaction explained above. Within the transaction, untimed-transaction is at the highest level of abstraction, but the least accurate in timing, and ca-transaction is at the lowest level of abstraction, but the most accurate in timing. Timed-transaction is at between.
The refinement process is incremental so that the design objects at TL (Transaction-level) in VP are progressively refined into the design objects at RTL which have at least signal-level cycle accuracy. At the end of the transformation, design objects at TL are translated into design objects ar RTL, therefore the transaction-level VP is refined into the implementable RTL model. Also, the design objects at RTL (Transaction-level) in the RTL model are progressively refined into the design objects at GL which have at least signal-level timing accuracy. At the end of the transformation, design objects at RTL are translated into design objects ar GL, therefore the RTL model is refined into an GL model. FIG. 14 shows the example of the refinement process explained above.
There are two objects to be designed in SOC designs, the first is DUV (Design Under Verification) and the second is TB (Testbench). DUV is the design entity that should be manufactured as chip, and TB is a SW model which represents an environment in which the chip is mounted and operated. TB is for simulating DUV. During the simulation, it is general TB provides stimuli to DUV, and processes the output from DUV. In general, DUV and TB has a hierarchy so that there may be one or more lower modules at inside, each of these lower module can be called design block. In a design block there may be one or more design modules inside, and a design module there may be one or more submodules inside. In this present invention, we will call any of design blocks, design modules, submodules, DUV, TB, some part of design blocks, design modules, submodules, DUV, or TB, or any combination of design blocks, design modules, submodules, DUV, and TB, "design object" (For example, any module or part of the module in Verilog is a design object, any entity or part of the entity in VHDL is a design object, or any sc_module or part of the sc_module in SystemC is a design object). Therefore, VP can be seen as a design object. So are the part of VP, one or more design blocks in VP, the part of a design block, some design modules in a design block, some submodules in a design module, the part of a design block, the part of a submodule, etc. (In short, entire DUV and TB, or some part of DUV and TB can be seen as design object).
In the design process using progressive refinement the simulation at high level of abstraction can be run fast, but the simulation at low level of abstraction is relatively slow. Therefore, the simulation speed decreases dramatically as the refinement process goes down to lower level of abstraction. Contrast to the conventional single simulation (in this present invention, the definition of single simulation includes not only using one simulators, but also using more than one simulators, e.g. using one Verilog simulator and one Vera simulator, and running these simulators on a single CPU), there is a distributed parallel simulation method using two or more simulators for increasing the simulation speed. The examples of the simulator are HDL (Hardware Description Language) simulators (such as NC-Verilog/Verilog-XL and X-sim from Cadence, VCS from Synopsys, ModelSim from Mentor, Riviera/Active-HDL from Aldec, FinSim from Fintronic, etc), HVL (Hardware Verification Language) simulators (such as e simulator from Cadence, Vera simulator from Synopsys, etc), SDL (System Description Language) simulators (e.g. SystemC simulator such as Incisive simulator from Cadence, etc), and ISS (Instruction-Set Simulator)(such as ARM RealView Development Suite Instruction Set Simulator, etc). For another classification, there are event-driven simulators or cycle-based simulator. The simulators in this present invention include any of these simulators. Therefore, when two or more simulators use in this present invention, each of simulators can be any of simulators mentioned above. Distributed parallel simulation (or parallel distributed simulation, or parallel simulation in short), which is to perform a simulation in a distributed processing environment, is the most general parallel simulation technique, in which DUV and TB, i.e. a model at specific level of abstraction, are partitioned into two or more design objects, and each of design objects is distributed into a simulator and executed on it (see FIG. 5). Therefore, the distributed parallel simulation requires the partitioning step at which divides a simulation model into two or more design objects. In this present invention, we will call the design object that should be executed in a specific local simulation (to be defined later) through the partition a "local design object".
Recently, distributed parallel simulation can be possible by connecting two or more computers with a high speed computer network such as giga-bit ethernet and running a simulator on each computer, or using multiprocessor-computer which has two or more CPU cores (in this present invention, local simulation is the simulation executed by each of those simulators that is called a local simulator in the distributed parallel simulation). However, the performance of traditional distributed parallel simulation severely suffer from the communication and synchronization overhead among local simulators. Therefore, two basic methods are known for synchronization, one conservative (or pessimistic) the other optimistic. The conservative synchronization guarantees the causality relation among simulation events so that these is no need to roll-back, but the speed of distributed parallel simulation is dictated by the slowest local simulation and these is too much synchronizations. The optimistic synchronization temporally allows the violation of the causality relation, but corrects it later by roll-back so that the reduction of roll-backs is very critical for the simulation speed. But, because current distributed parallel simulation using optimistic synchronization does not consider to minimize the roll-back by maximizing the simulation periods when a local simulation does not require any synchronization with other local simulations, the simulation performance degrades significantly due to the excessive roll-backs. Distributed parallel simulation using conventional optimistic approach and one using conventional pessimistic approach are well known in many documents and papers, therefore the detailed explanation is omitted in this present invention. One more thing to mention is it is desirable to have same number of processors in a distributed parallel simulation as the number of local simulations for maximizing the simulation performance, but it is still possible to perform a distributed parallel simulation as long as there are two or more processors available even though the number of local simulation is larger than that of processors. In summary, the synchronization and communication methods for both optimistic approach and pessimistic approach greatly limit the performance of distributed parallel simulation using two or more simulators.
Moreover, during the progressive refinement process it is very important to maintain the model consistency between a model at high level of abstraction and a model at low level of abstraction because the model at high level of abstraction serves as a reference model for the model at low level of abstraction. However, in the current progressive refinement process there is no efficient method to maintain the model consistency between two models existing at two different abstraction levels.
Moreover, as there is no systematic method in the debugging process in which the design errors are identified and removed in the design process using the progressive refinement, the large amount of time must be consumed.

Prediction-based distributed parallel simulation method


There is provided a light source unit comprising an excitation light shining device for emitting excitation light, a luminescent plate having a luminescent light emitting area on a base material and adapted to emit a luminescent light of a predetermined wavelength band by excitation light from the excitation shining device, two types of light source devices for emitting light of wavelength bands different from that of the light from the luminescent plate, a light guiding optical system for guiding the light from the luminescent plate and the rays from the light sources to a predetermined plane, and a light source control device for controlling the emission from the excitation light shining device and the light sources, wherein a synthetic light or a single-color light are emitted by controlling the emissions from the excitation light shining device and the light sources by the light source control device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light source unit and a projector which includes the light source unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-341105), for example, proposes a light source unit having a light emitting diode which functions as an excitation light source and a luminescent wheel in which luminescent material layers are formed on a transparent base material for converting ultraviolet light emitted from the excitation light source into visible light.
The proposal made in Patent Document 1 is a configuration in which light rays of red, green and blue wavelength bands can be emitted sequentially by rotating the luminescent wheel.
This requires excitation light to be shone continuously onto red, green and blue luminescent light emitting areas on a surface of the luminescent wheel, which requires, in turn, the excitation light source to be driven at all times, leading to a problem that the life of the excitation light source is shortened due to heat generated therein as a result of the continuous driving thereof. To cope with this problem, the driving output of the excitation light source needs to be suppressed so as to suppress, in turn, an increase in temperature of the excitation light source. In addition, due to the configuration in which the red, green and blue luminescent light rays are emitted sequentially from the corresponding luminescent light emitting areas which are formed on the luminescent wheel, it is not possible to enhance the luminance of an image by producing white light or light of a wavelength band of a highly pure complementary color through combination of the light rays of the respective colors. Further, in this proposal, since the red, green and blue light rays emitted from the corresponding luminescent light emitting areas are controlled with time sharing, the rotation of a wheel motor needs to be controlled.
Since the luminous efficiency of red, green and blue light rays which are emitted from the corresponding luminescent light emitting areas largely depends on the physical properties of the luminescent materials used, there is caused a problem that it is difficult to display on a screen an image which is superior in color balance.
It is also possible to propose a light source unit which has a plurality of types of semiconductor light emitting devices so that red, green and blue light rays can be produced by corresponding light emitting diodes. In the case of this configuration being adopted, however, the luminous efficiency of a green semiconductor light emitting device is lower than those of red and blue semiconductor light emitting devices, leading to a problem that it is difficult to obtain light source light with a high luminance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The subject matter described herein includes methods, systems, and computer readable media for network congestion control tuning. A method for network congestion control tuning occurs at a network congestion control tuning analyzer. The method includes receiving in-band telemetry (INT) metadata from a system under test (SUT); analyzing network information associated with one or more remote direct memory access (RDMA) transactions for determining a tuning action for adjusting a data center quantized congestion notification (DCQCN) mechanism associated with the SUT, wherein the network information includes the INT metadata and DCQCN information; and performing the tuning action for adjusting the DCQCN mechanism associated with the SUT.

Network operators typically test network nodes for reliability and other characteristics before deploying the network nodes to production environments (e.g., non-test environments). Generally, it is important to test networks nodes with various amounts of traffic and different types of traffic. For example, a test platform, such as an IxNetwork™ platform manufactured by Keysight, may be usable for network topology testing and traffic analysis and may generate test traffic for testing various network nodes using one or more protocols.
Data centers may be a term for distributed systems (e.g., multiple servers, switches, and/or other devices in same building) used for performing various functions. Within a data center, some nodes may perform centralized functions (e.g., services or microservices, like authentication or data access) involved with handling user traffic or providing services to users. Generally, east-west traffic may refer to intra-data center traffic (e.g., traffic within the data center or nodes thereof) and north-south traffic may refer to traffic that traverses the data center from or to a system physically residing outside the data center, e.g., traffic to or from a user.
Issues can arise when testing and/or configuring a data center or a distributed system. For example, a network operator may use one or more network congestion control mechanisms to mitigate network congestion. However, it may require significant time and testing resources to determine appropriate settings for effective network congestion control for various real-world scenarios.

Methods, systems and computer readable media for network congestion control tuning


The present invention discloses a driving method and device of a touch control display configured to resolve the problems such as image smearing and jittering caused by the touch control displaying during the image displaying by the display with the touch functions. The driving method of the touch control display includes: detecting whether or not a touch currently occurs on the touch control panel after the touch control display panel displaying the present image frame and before displaying the next image frame; when a occurred touch event is detected, controlling the display panel to display the inserted image with equal grayscale for each pixel of the display during a prescribed period; and controlling the touch control panel to execute the touch control command based on the touch signal corresponding to the occurred touch event.

A touch control panel (TP) as an input device is integrated together with a display panel to form a touch control display. The touch control display plays important roles in the field of touch control displaying.
The touch control display may be divided into a built-in type and an external type. The built-in touch control display comprises a display panel and a circuit embedded into the display panel to achieve the touch control functionality, which together implements the touch and image display functions. The external touch control display comprises a touch control panel and a display panel independent of each other, and the touch control panel is located above the display panel.
The touch control panel generally comprises a touch control circuit and a processor. The touch control circuit detects a touch point location of a touch event, and the touch point location is sent to the processor as a touch signal by the touch control circuit. The processor processes the signal and sends the signal to a computer system after processing. The touch event corresponding to the touch signal is then interpreted as a corresponding executing operation by the computer system.
At present popular touch control technologies for a mobile apparatus comprise a resistive type and a capacitive type. In the resistive technology, the touch control circuit comprises two opposing layers of oxide conductive film applied on the touch control panel. When the touch control panel is touched, the two layers of conductive film contact, thereby one of the switches is turned off to record the location of the touch event, and a touch signal is sent to the processor for further processing. In the capacitive technology, when the touch control panel is touched, the capacitance on the touch point changes, the processor determines the location of the touch point by processing the touch signal corresponding to the capacitance changes.
For both the built-in and the external touch control display, when the processor is executing the touching command, if imaging response rate of the liquid crystal display is slow, the displayed image tends to have problems such as smearing and jittering, which severely affects the imaging quality of the display.

Driving method and driving device of touch control display

BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


The invention is directed to a continuously operating double band press for fabrication of laminates, chip,- or fiberboard, plywood or the like. The double band press comprises an upper and a lower endless press band conducted over respectively two reversing drums rotatably supported in a rigid press stand. Pressure chambers are arranged on the inner sides of the press bands, which are bounded in a vertical direction by a pressure plate fastened in the press stand and the press band and in a horizontal direction by floating seals. A pressure generated by fluid agents acts in the pressure chambers upon the press bands. Heat-conducting elements are arranged in the pressure chamber for heating or cooling the press bands. These heat-conducting elements comprise a body in which means for heating or cooling the heat-conducting elements are provided.

Double band presses (DE-OS 24 21 296) serve for continuous fabrication of endless web-shaped materials, especially for production of decorative layered material laminates, copper-coated electrolaminates, thermoplast webs, chipboards, fiberboards and the like. These double band presses have two endlessly revolving press bands, in between which the material web is cured with application of pressure and possibly also heat and simultaneous conveyance in the feed direction. For generation of the pressure acting upon the material web, the so-called isobaric machines of this species are equipped with pressure chambers, which are bounded by a pressure plate and the press band in the vertical direction and on the sides by sliding face or floating seals. The pressure is built up in these pressure chambers by fluid pressure agents, such as oil or compressed air. So as to supply heat to the commodity being pressed, it is known to design the reversing drums on the inlet side of the double band press so that they can be heated. This heats the press bands of the double band press when travelling over the heated reversing drums. Then the press bands convey the quantity of heat thus picked up into the region where the commodity to be pressed lying between the two press bands is subjected to area pressure, the so-called reaction zone, and they yield there their heat to the commodity to be pressed. Because of the limited heat capacity of the press bands this quantity of heat however in many cases is insufficient.
Elements conducting heat have become known from the DE-OS 33 25 578 by means of which additional heat can be transferred to the press bands in the region of the reaction zone. These elements conducting heat consist of a material with good heat conductivity and are arranged at the pressure plate in the double band press having a surface assuring good heat conduction contact. The other surface of the heat-conducting elements contact the inner sides of the press bands in the region of the reaction zone in a dragging manner. The pressure plates are heated to a higher temperature than the specified temperature of the reaction zone, so that a heat gradient is provided between the pressure plates and the press bands and a heat flow is directed from a pressure plate through the heat-conducting elements onto the press band. This additional heat is transmitted by the press band then to the commodity being pressed. With such an arrangement a cooling of the press bands is also possible, by cooling the pressure plate.
In order to heat the pressure plates in a double band press it is further known from the DE-OS 24 21 296 to machine channels configured as bores into the pressure plate through which a heated fluid medium flows. If the pressure plate is to be cooled then a cooled fluid medium is directed through these bores. Gases or vapors but also liquids such as thermal oil or cooling liquids are suitable to be used as fluid media. Water can for instance also be used as a cooling liquid. Such fluid media for heating or cooling the pressure plate are hereinafter referred to as "heat carrier agents".
A disadvantage in the known heat-conducting elements is that the heat transfer occurs from the heat carrier agent flowing in the bores of the pressure plate onto the pressure plate, from the pressure plate to the heat-conducting element, and from the heat-conducting element finally to the press band. Each individual heat transfer results in a diminution of the effective heat-conducting capacity. The considerable travel from the bore in the pressure plate up to the press band leads also to a limitation of the heat flow. In some application cases the maximum heat transmitted by means of the heat-conducting elements is insufficient.

Continuously operating double band press


The present invention is directed towards a method for racking or unracking pipe to or from a rack and a device to facilitate the process. The method provides a controllable procedure for inserting or withdrawing the pipe that is less dangerous than prior art methods and does not damage the pipe end. The method entails inserting a pipe gripper having an expansion sleeve into an accessible end of a pipe. The expansion sleeve is forced against an inner wall of the pipe, coupling the pipe gripper to the pipe. Depending upon the application, the pipe is then either pushed fully onto the rack or is pulled partially off the rack. For unracking operations, a crane sling is attached to the partially unracked pipe and the pipe is further manipulated off the rack.

As shown in FIG. 1, pipes 100 are often warehoused in tiered racks 110. Three tiers are shown in FIG. 1, but pipe racks having five or more tiers are common in practice. Typically, the warehouse will have an overhead crane for moving the pipes. However, wrapping a crane sling around a pipe 100 disposed in a rack 110 is difficult, especially if the pipe 100 is not located on the top tier. Therefore, it is necessary to partially withdraw the pipe 100 from the rack 110 before the crane sling is wrapped around it. Prior methods of accomplishing this task were dangerous and often resulted in damage to an end of the pipe 100.
The present invention eliminates these drawbacks by providing a controllable means for withdrawing the pipe and reducing the possibility of damage to the pipe. The present invention also provides a useful means for inserting a pipe into a rack with minimal risk of damaging the pipe. A number of prior inventions disclose mechanisms for gripping and manipulating tubular structures, but none will perform satisfactorily when used to rack or unrack pipe.
Cullen et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,244) describe a lifting and reorienting mechanism. The device includes a probe for insertion into an axially extending opening of a structure to be moved. When fully inserted, movement of an outer sleeve deploys tooth-like retractable projections that extend radially from the probe. The retractable projections are forced against the inner wall of the structure to be moved. An important feature of the Cullen et al. device is a dual-arm telescoping actuator that facilitates pivoting of the probe and the structure to be moved. Although this device is capable of performing many useful functions, it is not well suited for the racking and unracking of pipes. The pivoting capability of the device is not required for pipe racking and unracking and might pose a safety hazard should it be accidentally activated. In addition, the retractable projections of the device are likely to damage the inner surface of the pipe.
Marzoli (U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,792) discloses a tube gripping device that is designed to be used in textile machines to automatically replace with empty tubes those tubes that have been wrapped with yarn. The gripping device comprises a substantially cylindrical central steel element that has its lower end of frusto-conical shape and is free to slide axially in a cylindrical gripping element. The cylindrical gripping element has its bottom shaped to receive the lower end of the cylindrical steel element. An axial upward movement of the cylindrical central element forces a localized region of the cylindrical gripping element radially outward, thereby pressing that region of the cylindrical gripping element against the inner wall of the tube. The radially outward movement of the cylindrical gripping element is localized in the vicinity of the frusto-conical lower end of the cylindrical central element. In addition, the radial motion is a direct response to the radial component of the force exerted on the cylindrical gripping element by the frusto-conical lower end of the cylindrical central element. The localized nature of the gripping force is not desirable for the pipe racking and unracking application being considered herein.
Mistrater et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,300) describe several variants of a device for supporting hollow cylinders while they are coated with an electrophotographic-imaging layer. The devices comprise an elongated arm with a shaft extending therethrough. The shaft includes a presser means at one end. An expandable disk shaped member is coaxially aligned with and slidably mounted on the shaft between the presser means and an end of the elongated arm. In an undeformed state, the expandable disk shaped member fits in a hollow cylinder with a preferred clearance of about 250 micrometers (0.01 in). Expansion of the disk shaped member is achieved by compressing the member between the presser means and the end of the elongated arm. Additional features of the Mistrater et al. device ensure that a constant force is applied to the hollow cylinder in spite of temperature variations. However, the Mistrater et al. device fails to provide a means for self-orienting the device coaxially with the hollow cylinder.

Method and apparatus for racking and unracking pipe

Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company


A method and a radio base station for autonomously adjusting a frequency band to be used by the base station that is newly installed, in order to prevent from deteriorating quality of radio waves of existing peripheral base stations, are provided.

As a common method for an improvement in a communication environment of a radio communication, there is installation of a new base station. In this case, however, the newly installed base station may possibly affect a radio communication environment of an existing peripheral base station by assigning an unoccupied radio resource to a terminal requesting for a connection, regardless of a degree of possible interference with the existing peripheral base station.
In installing the new radio base station, therefore, a field test is conducted to select a potential position to install the new base station and, based on a measurement to find out a frequency band which severely interferes with the existing base station in the periphery of the potential position, to select a less-affecting frequency band as the frequency band to be used by the new base station as well as to determine maximum transmission power of the new base station. In the field test, a spectrum analyzer and an apparatus for collecting communication quality data (see Patent Document 1) are used. Then, the base station is manually adjusted to use the frequency band and the transmission power which are determined.

Radio base station and method for selecting frequency band of radio base station

Abstract: The radio base station connected to a line concentrator via a trunk and configured to communicate with a radio terminal includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire an available frequency band based on a radio communication condition of the peripheral base station prior to start of an operation for a radio communication with the radio terminal, and a selection unit configured to select, at start of the radio communication with the radio terminal, a frequency band to use for the communication with the radio terminal from the available frequency band.