A head mounted device mounted on a user's head includes a display unit that displays an image to the user, a holding member that holds the display unit to the user's head, and an auxiliary member, including a rotation unit, that assists the holding member by rotating about the rotation unit to contact a front of the user's head. The rotation unit includes a biasing member that biases the auxiliary member in a direction of pressing the front region of the user's head and a restricting member that restricts the rotation at the rotation unit.

Field
Aspects of the present invention generally relate to a head mounted device to be mounted on a head of a user.
Description of the Related Art
Head mounted devices are conventionally known that include a display unit that displays an image, and are mounted on a head of a user when used. Such a head mounted device is referred to as a head mounted display (HMD) and can provide an image of a virtual object to a user in motion. Recently, the HMDs have been used in various fields.
A configuration of a general head mounted device, including a display unit, can be roughly divided into the display unit that displays an image to the user and a holding member for securing the display unit to the head of the user. The holding member is required to secure to the head of the user with sufficient tightening force, while be safely and easily removed. The holding member is also required to have a flexible shape that can be modified as appropriate to fit to the head shape of a particular user.
A mechanism for a head mounted device is discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-200325, which uses a belt as the holding member to satisfy the above requirement(s).
The head mounted device discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-200325 includes a display unit that displays an image, a belt extending from the display unit to the back of the user's head, and a belt extending from the display unit to the top of the user's head. The two belts prevent the user's head from slipping through a space between the belts and the display unit, and as such, overall stable securement of the head mounted device can be achieved. The belts and length of the belts are independently adjusted which provides sufficient tightening force suited to the shape of a particular user's head.
A mechanism of a head mounted device discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-010127 employs a pad and a wire member as holding members to satisfy the above requirement(s).
The head mounted device discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-010127 includes a display unit that displays an image, a wire member extending from the display unit to the back of the user's head, and a pad that contacts a portion around the top of the user's head. The pad prevents the user's head from slipping through a space between the display unit and the wire member, and as such, overall stable overall stable securement of the head mounted device is achieved. The length of the wire member and the protruding amount of the pad toward the top of the user's head are adjustable, which provide sufficient tightening power suited to the shape of a particular user's head. The length of the wire member and the protruding amount of the pad are adjustable in an interlocked manner by operating a knob.
While these conventional head mounted devices provide suitable tightening force/power, a position of an auxiliary member (a belt in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-200325 or a pad in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-010127) which assists the holding member, can be difficult to adjust.
For example, when the user wears the head mounted device discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-200325, the user first roughly adjusts the belts and length of the belts, and then mounts the head mounted device on the user's head. After the head mounted device is mounted, the belts and positions and tightening of the belts are adjusted. In this case, one of the belts might be inappropriately tightened even though the other belt is well positioned and fastened. When this happens, the user needs trial and error to loosen the belts, and to readjust the position and fasten the belts. This can be cumbersome for the user, and hinder appropriate position adjustment.
When the user wears the head mounted device discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-010127, the knob is operated to adjust tightening of the wire member and a protruding amount of the pad. The positions of the wire member and the pad may not be appropriately adjustable depending on the shape of the user's head.


A portable automatic beverage brewing drinking vessel comprising, an on/off button, a heating element, a receptacle for accepting infusible material, and a means for translating the receptacle through the liquid. The means for translating the receptacle through the liquid includes but is not limited to, an electric motor, and magnets or electromagnets. In one embodiment, a pump transfers the liquid through tubes to the receptacle. The brewing vessel is portable and provides a simple and automatic means for brewing a beverage that can be consumed directly from the vessel.

Portable single serving drinking vessels for hot beverages such as coffee or tea provide numerous advantages over multi-cup beverage brewing devices. The portable aspect of a single cup brewing drinking vessel allows for the preparation and enjoyment of a hot beverage in any environment, including but not limited to when traveling, camping, in the office, or when at home. In addition, the single serving portion of a portable single cup drinking vessel allows for the quick preparation of an amount of beverage that is appropriate for one person. Preparing a single serving in a multi-cup beverage brewing devices often results in the disposal of unused portions of the beverage, which equates to a waste of materials, energy to keep the beverage warm, and money. Another advantage of the portable single cup drinking vessel is cleanliness and the elimination of bacterial or viral exposure associated with the preparation and handling of most communal multi-beverage brewing devices.
There have been a number of approaches to meet the needs of a single serving beverage brewing and drinking vessel but there exists a need for an automatic, easy to use portable device. A simple single serving beverage brewing device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,478,586 issued to Conner, and describes generally a French press, or a device that holds a quantity of infusible material and has a means to plunge the infusible material through the liquid. This device fails to provide a means to heat the liquid, requires the user to deal with loose quantities of infusible material, and is not designed to drink from.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,065,609 issued to Lake, a beverage brewing kit is described that comprises a cup and a cylindrical filter support for receiving infusible material. Again, this invention fails to provide a means to heat the liquid, and requires the user to deal with loose quantities of infusible material, has multiple large parts and is not portable.
Therefore, there exists a need for a portable automatic beverage brewing device that heats a liquid and automatically brews a beverage, and is designed to drink directly from.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Portable automatic beverage brewing drinking vessel


A coiling machine employs an apparatus wherein a coil spring having tucked ends may be formed at the coil forming station. After the helical coil is formed, a slider member engages the next to the last formed loop of the coil and forces the loop over the trailing or last formed loop of the coil. The coil is then severed from the wire supply so as to form a coil spring having a tucked trailing end.

This invention relates generally to spring coiling machines and spring forming processes. More particularly, the present invention relates to automated coiling machines for producing helical coil springs of various configurations and to the manufacturing of coil springs having tucked ends.
The basic construction and operating principles of spring coiling machines conventionally parallel those set forth in representative U.S. Pat. No. 2,119,002 issued on May 31, 1938, for a "Spring Coiling Machine", and U.S. Pat. No. 2,831,570 issued on Apr. 22, 1958, for "Wire Coiling Machine Having Cams for Holding The Feed Rolls Separated". The coiling machine described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,119,002 has features for permitting the operator to adjust the initial settings and cam-controlled movement of various tools and devices that determine the ultimate characteristics of the fabricated coil springs. The characteristics may include a uniform or variable spacing between turns and a uniform or variable turn diameter.
For a number of spring applications, it is desirable to tuck the leading and/or trailing ends of the coil spring. In some applications, it is desirable to have a coil spring wherein both ends of the spring are tucked so that the ends of the spring cannot interfere with the bearing surface of the closed or square end of the spring.
In conventional coiling machine operations, the leading end of the spring can be tucked by means of applying an initial tension to the formed spring. The leading end tuck may be accomplished at the coil forming station as the first and second coils are being formed by appropriate setting and operation of the coiling point and the pitch tool of the coiling machine.
However, in manufacturing processes wherein it is desired to also tuck the trailing end of the coil spring, the conventional spring coiling machines do not provide an efficient means for accomplishing the trailing end tuck operation at the coil forming station. The trailing end of the coil is conventionally tucked by first forming the coil spring, and then "kicking" in the end portions of the spring in a separate operation after the spring has been transferred from the spring coiler to another work station. Because the tucking process is essentially a separate manufacturing process, the manufacturing costs associated with coil springs having tucked ends and the difficulties in performing the tucking process result in significant costs and inefficiencies.

Apparatus for coiling springs with tucked ends


The invention relates to a writable magnetic element comprising a stack of layers presenting a write magnetic layer, wherein the stack has a central layer of at least one magnetic material presenting magnetization having a magnetization direction that is parallel to the plane of the central layer, which layer is sandwiched between first and second outer layers of non-magnetic materials, the first outer layer comprising a first non-magnetic material and the second outer layer comprising a second non-magnetic material that is different from the first non-magnetic material, at least the second non-magnetic material being electrically conductive, and wherein it includes a device to cause a write current to pass through the second outer layer and the central layer in a current flow direction parallel to the plane of the central layer at an angle α lying in the range 90°±60°, in particular 90°±30°, and more particularly 90°±15° relative to said magnetization direction in order to generate an effective magnetic field in the central layer, the current being applied either in a first direction or in a second direction opposite to the first, in order to orient the magnetization direction in a first magnetization direction or in a second magnetization direction opposite to the first.

The magnetization of a layer or of a small magnetic element is commonly reversed by means of an applied magnetic field. The direction of the field is changed depending on whether it is desired to turn the magnetization in one direction or in another for example. Writing on magnetic tracks or on computer hard disks is based on this principle: the element for reversing is placed mechanically in the vicinity of a magnetic field generator so as to localize the field in three dimensions. It is the very structure of a magnetic field, which by definition is not localized in three dimensions, that raises numerous difficulties for integrating magnetic fields in devices. Thus, when no mechanical action is possible or desired, e.g. with solid magnetic memories known as magnetic random access memory (MRAM) or with logic devices, it is necessary to focus the magnetic field sufficiently for it to act only on the target cell and without impacting its neighbors. This problem becomes increasingly severe when the various memory or logic cells are located very close to one another in order to increase the density thereof.
The possibility of manipulating magnetization by means of a spin-polarized current, which was initially demonstrated theoretically in 1996, has provided a first solution to this problem. For the purpose of manipulating the magnetization at a memory point, this physical principle referred to as spin transfer torque (STT) requires the presence of at least two magnetic layers separated by a non-magnetic metal (for a spin valve type structure) or by an insulator (for a magnetic tunnel junction type structure), the two layers having magnetizations that are not colinear. The detailed physical explanation differs depending on whether a spin valve structure or a magnetic tunnel junction structure is involved, but in outline the current becomes spin polarized on passing through the first magnetic layer and then exerts torque on the magnetization of the second layer by means of the non-colinear component of the current polarization. When current densities are high enough, the magnetization of the second magnetic layer may be reversed both in spin valves and in magnetic tunnel junctions.
As described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 7,009,877 published on Mar. 7, 2006 and in US patent application No. 2009/129143 published on May 21, 2009, the electric current necessarily passes through the junction perpendicularly to the plane of the layers.
This ability to manipulate locally the magnetization of a magnetic element of sub-micrometer size by means of an electric current immediately opens up possibilities for applications. At present, industrial actors are seeking to incorporate this principle in novel architectures for MRAM memory cells and logic components.
At present, such incorporation encounters various difficulties that appear to be inter-related.
Reversal by STT requires the presence at the memory point of at least two magnetic layers that are separated by a non-magnetic spacer. As described above, writing is performed by injecting a high-density current through the entire stack perpendicularly to the plane of the magnetic layers, while reading is performed by means of the magnetoresistance of the stack: giant magnetoresistance (GMR) for spin valves, and tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) for magnetic tunnel junctions. At present, all or nearly all applications are based on using magnetic tunnel junctions. Thus although the GMR signal is only a few percent, the TMR signal from MgO-based junctions is commonly greater than 100%. Nevertheless, tunnel junctions have the disadvantage of presenting large values for the product of resistance multiplied by area (RA). Thus, for a typical current density of 107 amps per square centimeter (A/cm2) as needed for STT reversal, the voltage at the edges of the junction is 10 volts (V) for an RA of 100 ohm-square micrometers (Ω·μm2), 1 V for an RA of 10 Ω·μm2, and 0.1 V for an RA of 1 Ω·μm2. Apart from the smallest value, the power dissipated in the junction is then large, which is harmful both in terms of energy consumption and in terms of damaging said junction. Furthermore, the high values of TMR that are useful in reading are often obtained by stacks that present high values for RA. That is why present research is seeking to obtain tunnel junctions that present high values of TMR and small values of RA. In addition, even for relatively small values of voltage at the edges of the junction, accelerated aging phenomena of the junction have been observed in operation that are due to voltage cycling. At present, numerous studies are devoted to this point both for optimizing materials in existing configurations and also for defining new configurations which make it possible to decouple the write and read problems as much as possible, by using configurations having three terminals, for example.
To summarize, a difficulty lies in the impossibility of independently optimizing reading and writing since, in known STT devices, those two phenomena are intrinsically linked.
Yet another difficulty that is inherent to this link comes from the ever-greater complexity of the stacks. Thus, if it is desired that the STT effect is felt only in the layer that is to be reversed in order to store the magnetization, it is necessary for example to stabilize the other layers, e.g. by means of exchange coupling with an antiferromagnetic material: if it is desired to increase the amplitude of the STT transfer, it is necessary to optimize the polarizing layers; if it is desired to reduce the magnetic fields radiated on the sensitive layers, it is necessary for example to use artificial antiferromagnetic bilayers; etc.
As a result, typical magnetic stacks of MRAM cells or logic components may have more than ten or 15 different layers of various materials. This then gives rise to difficulties during structuring steps, and in particular during the etching step, which is one of the major blocking points for integrating such magnetic stacks.
Another line of research is to manipulate the magnetization by means of a local electric field. This may be accomplished in part by modifying the anisotropy of a material by means of an outer electric field, with magnetization being reversed by means of an applied magnetic field. One such technique is described in the article by T. Maruyama et al. entitled "Large voltage-induced magnetic anisotropy charge in a few atomic layers of iron" (Nature Nanotechnology, Vol. 4, March 2009—Macmillan Publishers Ltd.).
At present, that technique makes it possible only to reduce the magnetic anisotropy of the material. The write and read processes are then the same as those described previously, and they have the same drawbacks.

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique Et Aux Energies Alternatives

Institut Catala de Nanotechnologia (ICN)

Institucio Catalana de Recerca I Estudis Avancats (ICREA)


A display item (SW1 button 314) for instructing imaging preparation and a display item (SW2 button 313) for instructing imaging are individually displayed on a touch panel display 51. When the SW1 button 314 is touched by a touch operation by a photographer, an imaging apparatus 2 is controlled so as to perform an imaging preparation operation. When the SW2 button 313 is touched by a touch operation by the photographer, the imaging apparatus 2 is controlled so as to perform an imaging operation. Further, when the SW1 button 314 is slid so that the SW1 button 314 and the SW2 button 313 overlap, the imaging apparatus 2 is controlled so as to perform an imaging operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging control apparatus and an imaging apparatus control method for capturing an image with an imaging unit based on an operation on an operation unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Imaging can be performed using a remote imaging technique in which a live view display to be displayed on a display screen on a rear side of an imaging apparatus like a digital camera is enlarged and displayed on a display screen including a touch panel interface of a computer, and an image is captured by using remote imaging method that performs capturing by remote control. In remote imaging, in response to a touch operation made by a photographer on an imaging button or an imaging area displayed on the display screen, a release command from the computer is transmitted to the camera to perform capturing.
Conventionally, in an imaging apparatus generally called a camera, a press button type release switch is provided. This release switch has three states, a state in which the release switch is not pressed, a full press state in which the release switch is fully pressed so that the press button is pressed to the movable end, and a half press state between these two states. In a half press state of the release switch (hereinafter, "SW1"), an imaging preparation operation, such as autofocusing, automatic exposure control, and automatic white balance adjustment, is performed. Further, when the release switch is pressed to be in a full press state (hereinafter, "SW2"), an actual imaging operation is performed.
In addition, recently, in a digital camera capable of capturing while displaying and confirming an object on a liquid crystal panel screen, a touch panel display has been used for the liquid crystal display screen. In such a digital camera, the SW1 and SW2 operations on the touch panel can be realized by performing an imaging preparation operation with SW1 by making contact with the touch panel, and executing the imaging operation with SW2 in a state in which there is no longer contact on the touch panel.

Imaging control apparatus and imaging apparatus control method including a first display mode and a second display mode for executing an image preparation operation based on a touch operation


An apparatus for interconnecting a plurality of data communication network segments. The apparatus includes a switching mechanism placed between the output circuitry and the physical transmission medium. This apparatus provides high speed short latency non blocking interconnection between a plurality of network segments while providing advanced bus and management features.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of digital communications. More particularly, this invention relates to switching hubs for high speed local area networks.
2. Background
Ethernet is a specific implementation of what is generally referred to as a Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) protocol. In accordance with such protocols, only a single station is permitted to have access to the medium at any one time. A procedure is specified to resolve conflicts resulting from concurrent access attempts by multiple sources. For Ethernet, the details of this protocol are defined by the IEEE 802.3 specification.
A typical prior local area network is comprised of a set of communication agents coupled to a common communication medium. For example, an Ethernet local area network comprises a set of Ethernet compatible communication agents coupled to a coaxial, twisted pair, or fiber optics cable as a communication medium. In such systems a communication transaction between any two of the communication agents typically prevents communication among the other communication agents during the communication transaction.
One prior method for increasing the capacity of a local area network is to employ bridge circuits. Prior art bridge circuits typically couple together segments of local area networks. Typically, each segment comprises a set of communication agents coupled to a communication medium. A bridge circuit enables communication between each of the communication mediums.
Such prior are bridge circuits typically listen for communication messages on each of the communication mediums and propagate the appropriate communication messages to the other communication medium according to the network configuration. Communication messages are commonly referred to as communication frames.
Such a prior are bridge circuit typically buffers communication frames that require propagation to another communication medium. Thereafter, the bridge circuit forwards the buffered communication frames to the appropriate destination communication agents. Unfortunately, such buffering and forwarding of communication frames between communication mediums of the local area network increases the overall latency in the communication network.
Another prior art method for increasing the capacity of a local area network is to employ a switched hub circuit. A switched hub circuit is typically arranged in a xe2x80x9cstarxe2x80x9d configuration wherein each segment of the local area network coupled to a unique serial communication port of the switched hub circuit. The switched hub circuit typically senses incoming communication frames, determines the destinations of the incoming frames, and switches the incoming communication frames to the appropriate outbound transmission paths.
Such switched hub circuits typically allow parallel data transfer between ports as long as the data transfer paths do not conflict.
Unfortunately, the switching functions performed by such prior art switched hub circuits are complicated by certain types of communication traffic. For example, if more than one communication agent attempts to transmit to the same communication agent, the switched hub circuit must select one of the transmissions and delay the other transmissions. The delayed transmissions increase the latency in the network.
In addition, broadcast transmissions and multicast transmissions require a switched hub circuit to switch a single incoming communication frame to multiple destination communication agents even though conflicting traffic may be under way to the destination communication agents. The multicast transmissions typically conflict with other transmissions, thereby increasing delays in the network.
The data transmitted in the network physical medium is in a serial form. However in most switched hubs the data is transformed (demultiplexed) to a slower multi-bit parallel format. This conversion is necessary to enable storage of the data in memory devices in the standard format of bytes and words. This conversion is also required in order to match the data rate to the read/write speed of memories and other processing devices. For this purpose and particularly when the serial data rate is 100 megabit/sec or above, the data is converted to a 32 or even 64 bits parallel format.
In most prior switched hubs the inbound data is stored, at least temporarily, in the receiving memory. This data is then transferred to the destination port circuitry for processing and subsequent transmission. The data transfer either involves a plurality of data buses and a switching mechanism between these buses, or a common bus shared by all port circuits. A typical prior art switched hub is shown in FIG. 1. In such a prior art switched hub, network segments b 1-n are each coupled to a corresponding packet processing unit (PPU) 3 which in turn are coupled to cross bar switching matrix 1. Each PPU includes a transmitter 8, a receiver 9, a media access controller 10, a multiplexor 13a and a demultiplexor 13b.
One object of the present invention is to provide a switching hub for a high speed communication network, especially Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet. Another object of the present invention is to provide a switching hub for a communication network that resolves conflicts among inbound communication frame that specify the same destination, thereby preventing collisions in the network.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a switching hub for a communication network that performs broadcast and/or multicast operations while avoiding collisions with conflicting communication traffic. Another object of the present invention is to provide a switching hub for a communication network that provides a flexibility in the switching hub makeup and enables system sizing and type alteration by means of replacing modules connected to a common motherboard.
These and other objects of the invention are provided by a communication system including a switched hub circuit that transfers incoming communication frames via a set of serial communication links. The switched hub circuit stores the incoming communication frames into a set of memory buffers that supply a set of outbound communication frames for transfer over the serial communication links. The switched hub circuit includes the means to decipher the destination of each message and a crossbar type switching matrix in the outbound physical layer to route the outbound transmission to the desired destination.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings, and from the detailed description that follows below.
In general, in one aspect, the invention features an apparatus for interconnecting N network segments each of which operates in accordance with a defined bus protocol such as IEEE 802.3 or similar protocols. The apparatus includes N physical interfaces to network segments, N Packet Processing Units (PPUs) 23, a Routing Controller (RC) 21, a Switching Matrix (SM) 1, an Address Management Unit (AMU) 17 and a Packet Broadcast Controller 20, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The input from each of the N network segments 6 connects to the input port of the corresponding Packet Processing Unit 23. The output port of each of the Packet Processing Units connects to a corresponding input in the Switching Matrix. The outbound line of each of the network segments connects to the corresponding output in the Switching Matrix. The Address Management Unit 17 and the Routing Controller 21 connect to all the Packet Processing Units via a multi-bit parallel bus 4. The Routing Controller connects to the switching matrix 1 and controls its operation.
Each Packet Processing Unit receives packets from the network segment 6, decodes the packet""s source and destination addresses, and forwards this information to the Address Management Unit. When instructed by the Routing Controller 21, the Packet Processing Unit 23 retransmits the packet to the Switching Matrix 1 which provides a physical connection between PPU 23 and network segment 6. The Packet Processing Unit includes a Receiver 9, a Transmitter 8, a Media Access Controller (MAC) 10, and Memory 12, as illustrated in FIG. 3. The output of the Receiver connects to the input of the Media Access Controller. The Media Access Controller""s Data Output Bus 14 connects to the memory""s input, and the memory""s output connects to the Media Access Controller""s Data Input Bus 13. The MAC and memory are controlled by the Packet Processing Unit Controller (PPC) 11. The Receiver 9 decodes the data from the network and partitions it as 8 bit parallel data. The Media Access Controller 10 deciphers messages, detects collisions and errors, extracts packet addresses, maintains statistics, formats and sends out packets to the Transmitter, and provides xe2x80x9celasticityxe2x80x9d buffers between the received data clock and the system clock. The Transmitter 8 takes the 8 bit parallel data from the MAC and transmits it as serial Manchester-encoded data. The Memory 12 is used for temporary storage of packets between the packet reception and the time the Packet Processing Unit 23 is instructed to send out the data. The Packet Processing Unit Controller 11 controls the MAC, keeps track of packets in memory, and interfaces to the Address Management Unit 17 and the Routing Controller 21. The transmitter 8, receiver 9 and MAC 10 are implemented as in their like numbered counterparts in prior art PPUs 3 as shown in FIG. 1.
The Switching Matrix 1 is constructed as a crossbar switch having N input signal paths (each carrying a single signal) and including Nxc3x97N switching elements, each with an input and an output. Each switch element can connect one input to one output. Multiple switch elements can be activated simultaneously to connect multiple inputs to multiple outputs. This allows for a maximum of N connections between inputs and outputs at any one time. The use of the Switching Matrix increases the throughput of the switch to N times the throughput of any one network segment. The Switching Matrix is controlled by the Routing Controller 21 which receives the routing requests from the PPC 11 and activates the required connection between an input and an output when the requested output is inactive.
The PPC 11 receives the source and destination addresses of each packet from the MAC 10. The source addresses is stored in an address list that identifies the network segment associated with each address. The PPC searches its address list for the destination address of the packet and outputs a code identifying the path needed in the Switching Matrix 1 to transmit the packet to its destination network segment. The PPC sends new source addresses it received to the Address Management Unit 17 which distributes that source address to all the other PPCs. The PPC also sends Broadcast packets to the Broadcast Controller 20 which distributes those packets to all other PPCs.
In many networking protocols, such as Ethernet and Fast Ethernet, every packet contains two unique addresses: one address identifies the destination agent and one address identifies the source agent. One method of increasing network throughput is to xe2x80x9csegmentxe2x80x9d the network by physically dividing it into multiple sections, each containing a unique subset of the agents on the original network. Without segmentation every packet is routed to every agent and therefore only a single packet can be transmitted on the whole network at any given time limiting the network throughput. With segmentation, the throughput of each segment is limited only by the traffic on that segment, not by the total network traffic.
The invention presented here increases the packet capacity of a network by supporting network segmentation with N simultaneous inter-segment connections and by implementing advanced packet filtering. N simultaneous inter-segment connections are achieved using a Switching Matrix that allows N simultaneous electrical connections. Each connection provides a path from the inbound line of the source segment to the outbound line of the destination segment. Each PPU receives on its segment, and decodes the source and destination addresses of each packet received. When both addresses are on the same network segment, the packet is local to the segment and the packet is not forwarded. When the destination address segment differs from the source address segment, the switch generates an electrical connection between the output port of the receiving Packet Processing Unit and the outbound physical medium of the destination network segment. Once such an electrical connection is established, the packet is retransmitted from the receiving PPU to its destination network segment.
In the meantime the content of the packet is stored in a memory for temporary keep.
To facilitate the apparatus functionality, a packet received as a single line serial data signal on the input port of the receiver of a PPU is typically Manchester encoded but other codes may be used. The signal is first decoded and multiplexed into a parallel format, typically but not necessarily 8 bits wide. This data is next processed in the MAC where the source and destination addresses are extracted and sent to the PPC 11. In the meantime the content of the packet is stored in a temporary storage while routing is determined. In the PPC, the requested destination address is compared with the complete list of known source addresses. If the destination address is found on the list and it is on a different segment than the packet""s source address, a code is sent to the Routing Controller requesting a connection between the receiving PPUs output and the destination segment. The routing controller waits until the destination segment is not busy and then makes the electrical connection to the destination and commands the receiving PPU to recall the stored packet from memory and start the data retransmission.
In the cases where the PPC is unable to determine the transmission path of a received packet because it is not in its lookup table, it will tag that packet as a Broadcast packet, bound to be sent to all the network""s segments. In prior art switches using Crossbar switching matrices such Broadcast transmission is performed by connecting all the output ports to a single inputs which originated the broadcast packet, and then transmitting that packet to all the ports simultaneously. In this type of architecture the controller must wait for all the ports to stop their current transactions, and then hold the system in this state until the complete broadcast packet is transmitted. This operation blocks the entire switch for long periods of time and greatly reduces the data transfer rate capability of such switches.
In the invention presented here this problem is eliminated using the Broadcast Bus. Every time a packet is received with an unknown transmission path, it is sent to all the PPUs via the Broadcast bus. Each PPU receives the packet from the bus and transmits it through its serial output to the network segment to which it is connected. Since at all times each port is connected to one of the network segments, broadcast packets transmitted from all the PPUs are in fact transmitted to the network segments. This method does not block the switch while broadcasting and yet guarantees the broadcast to all the segments.
To enable each PPC to determine the transmission path of received packets all the PPCs must share a common data bus base for the locations of all the communication agents on the network. In the invention presented here each PPC contains its own list of destination transmission paths. In order to guarantee that the lists in all the PPCs are identical and updated the content of these lists is controlled by the Address Management Unit.
Per port switching capability was developed initially for 10 Mbit/sec. networks. Subsequently, increases in network speed required an ever growing level of multiplexing and intra switch bus width in order to accommodate the slower speed of memory devices used in the process and to allow adequate signal bandwidth to guarantee unimpeded data traffic. With the present invention, the per port switching technology can be efficiently and effectively extended to Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet and other high speed networks as well because the necessity for demultiplexing the entire packet is eliminated, and in all but a few cases, serial data received in the PPU is retransmitted from the same PPU which enables a modular and extendable system..
The prior state of the art may be best understood by referring to FIG. 1. Under the conventional approach to Ethernet network expansion, a very large bus or a plurality of smaller ones would have been necessary to provide per port switching capability on and between multiple network segments supported within a central switching hub. With the invention described herein, however, the switching matrix 1 that is currently used can provide N simultaneous inter-segment connections each carrying the maximum network data flow. A typical switching matrix of the type which could be used with the invention is shown in FIG. 5.
In prior art switches, the switching mechanism 1 is placed between the parallel output of the receiving MAC and the parallel input of the transmitting MAC. One aspect of the novelty of this invention is the placement of the switching matrix between the Manchester encoded serial output of the transmitting MAC and the outbound transmission line of the destination network segment. One advantage of this invention is that the received inbound data is processed and retransmitted in a single Packet Processing Unit and the routing and switching of that data to its final destination is done in the outbound transmission physical layer; each PPU is a stand alone circuit where, except in the case of broadcast, data is transferred into the port and out of the port through single line interfaces only. A Switching Hub based on this invention can be constructed as a motherboard with the port circuits as plug-ins to the motherboard. The number and size of buses on that motherboard is fixed and independent of the number or type of PPUs. The number of PPUs on a switching hub according to this invention depends only on the number of switching elements in the switching matrix used.
Other advantages and features will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment and from the claims.

Simplified switching hub for data communication networks


A combustion system includes a first combustion chamber and a second combustion chamber. The second combustion chamber is positioned downstream of the first combustion chamber. The combustion system also includes a pre-mixed, direct-injection secondary fuel nozzle. The pre-mixed, direct-injection secondary fuel nozzle extends through the first combustion chamber into the second combustion chamber.

A gas turbine generally includes a compressor, a combustion system, and a turbine section. Within the combustion system, air and fuel are combusted to generate a heated gas. The heated gas is then expanded in the turbine section to drive a load.
Historically, combustion systems employed diffusion combustors. In a diffusion combustor, fuel is diffused directly into the combustor where it mixes with air and is burned. Although efficient, diffusion combustors are operated at high peak temperatures, which creates relatively high levels of pollutants such as nitrous oxide (NOx).
To reduce the level of NOx resulting from the combustion process, dry low NOx combustion systems have been developed. These combustion systems use lean pre-mixed combustion, which pre-mixes air and fuel to create a relatively uniform air-fuel mixture before directing the mixture into the combustion zone. The mixture is then combusted at relatively lower temperatures, generating relatively lower levels of NOx.
One combustor suited for lean, pre-mixed combustion is a two-stage combustor of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,292,801, entitled "Dual Stage-Dual Mode Low NOx combustor." Such a combustor includes two combustion chambers positioned adjacent to each other. One of the combustion chambers is in communication with a number of primary fuel nozzles, while a second combustion chamber is in communication with a secondary fuel nozzle. The distinct nozzles permit introducing air and fuel into the combustion chambers in staged modes. In a pre-mixing mode, for example, a lean mixture of air and fuel is created in the first combustion chamber, which is then combusted in the second combustion chamber at a relatively lower, controlled peak temperature, reducing NOx production.
Although such combustion systems achieve lower levels of NOx emissions, the fuel nozzles may be relatively likely to experience undesirable flame conditions, such as flashback or auto-ignition. Flashback denotes the upstream propagation of a flame from an expected location in the combustion chamber into the fuel nozzle, while auto-ignition denotes the unexpected ignition of the air-fuel mixture directly in the fuel nozzle itself. Regardless of the source of the flame, the fuel nozzle may tend to "hold" the flame, which may damage the fuel nozzle or other portions of the gas turbine. To address this problem, combustion systems are normally designed to reduce the occurrence of auto-ignition, flashback and flameholding.
Recently, alternatives fuels have been investigated for use with gas turbines, which may improve efficiency, lower pollutant emissions, or both. For example, synthesis gases ("syngas") are alternative fuels derived from sources such as coal. These and other alternative fuels may have a relatively high hydrogen content, which may be relatively reactive. The reactivity of such fuels improves the efficiency of the combustor, but exacerbates the risk for undesirable flame events such as flashback, auto-ignition, and flame holding.
Flame events may be particularly likely to occur in the secondary fuel nozzle of a two-stage combustion system. Because the secondary nozzle is not suited for use with syngas and other high reactivity fuels, the fuel flexibility of the system is limited.
From the above, it is apparent that a need exists for a dry low NOx combustion system that includes a secondary fuel nozzle suited for use with alternative fuels.

Dry low NOx combustion system with pre-mixed direct-injection secondary fuel nozzle


The inventive method for indicating the level of buffer fullness of a data receiving device may be applied to editing processes and to general synchronization problems including problems involving clocks running at different speeds. The method of the present invention includes embedding into a transmitted bit stream a signal representing the fullness of the buffer of the receiving device, as calculated by the transmitting device. Thus, the bit stream received by the receiving device periodically includes a signal that indicates how full the transmitter model predicts the receiving buffer is. The receiving device applies a model decoder algorithm to the received bit stream and determines how full the buffer should be at different points for comparison with the periodic indicators.

1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of data communications systems and in particular to synchronizing received data signals within data communications systems.
2) Background of the Invention
The problem of synchronizing received signals in data communications systems is well known in the art. For example, in the case of video communications one commonly known result of this problem is difficulty in maintaining synchronization between the audio and video portions of the recorded signals over long periods of time. It is common to record the video signal nominally at thirty hertz prior to transmission in these systems. The clock of the recording device may be very precise and the signal may be recorded substantially correctly prior to transmission. At some later time a receiving device with a different clock may receive the recorded and transmitted signal. The receiving device may also have a clock which is quite accurate, also nominally thirty hertz. However, if the two clocks are even slightly different, as they often are in practice, synchronization problems may result. It will be understood that a difference on the order of one part in several million between the two clocks may be enough to cause loss of synchronization.
Loss of synchronization in this type of system may occur in different ways. As an example consider first the case in which the clock of the receiving device is slightly slower than the clock of the transmitting device. Typically in these systems the receiver buffer size is known at the transmitting end during transmission of the signals. The size of the receiver buffer determines how much data the receiver can store without overflowing. The receiver buffer is emptied by the receiver as it uses recorded data at a rate depending on its own internal clock. When the transmitter clock is slightly faster than the receiver clock there will be a gradual buildup of data stored in the receiver buffer.
At some point, if the receiver clock continues to run slower, the receiver buffer overflows. This causes an unacceptable loss of data. For example, the receiver may eventually lose a frame of video data. This may cause a loss of audio and video synchronization. Moreover, the loss of synchronization may be cumulative.
The converse problem occurs when the receiver clock is slightly faster than the transmitter clock. A conventional way to start the transmission process is for the transmitter to transmit some data to the receiver and partially fill the receiver buffer. The receiver then provides a signal to the transmitter indicating that the process is beginning. When the receiver clock is slightly faster than the transmitter clock, the receiver empties the buffer faster than the transmitter fills it. This causes the receiver buffer to be empty at some point. At this point the receiver may unsuccessfully attempt to access data from the empty buffer for display and be unable to display the next frame of video. Under these circumstances the receiver executes some predetermined strategy such as repeating a previous frame. This again may lead to loss of synchronization between audio bit stream and the video bit stream.
A well known type of transmitter/receiver data communications system wherein these types of synchronization problems may occur is encoder/decoder systems. In some of these prior art encoder/decoder systems separate bit streams representing video and audio are encoded in sections called units. These units may be arranged more or less independently to allow editing of the encoded bit streams. Thus, the units may be marked in some way for an editing process and they may be deleted from one or more of the bit streams, rearranged, or added to the bit streams. In a manner similar to that described with respect to lack of synchronization of transmitter and receiver clocks, altering the time duration of portions of the transmitted bit streams by editing in this manner may also lead to loss of synchronization between the two bit streams.
Conventional encoder/decoder systems which permit editing may have predetermined limitations imposed upon them. For example some limitations may be imposed by standardization specifications. These imposed limitations may include the buffer size of the decoder and the constant rate at which data is transmitted from the encoder to the decoder. Under these conditions, it is known by the encoder at the time of encoding of a bit stream what the size of the decoder buffer within the receiving device is. If the clocks of the encoder and the decoder are perfectly synchronized, the decoder buffer may never overflow or underflow and synchronization between the bit streams may be maintained indefinitely. However, when editing is performed on one of the bit streams, synchronization problems may be introduced into the system. For example, if a few units are removed from the audio bit stream it may get ahead of the video bit stream.


A light-emitting device includes: a plurality of light-emitting elements arranged in an array on a base member; and a compound eye lens that comprises at least four Fresnel lenses disposed above the base member and facing the plurality of light-emitting elements. In a top plan view, a center of each of the plurality of light-emitting elements is offset from a lens center of the corresponding one of the Fresnel lenses of the compound eye lens in a direction toward a center of the compound eye lens. The plurality of light-emitting elements include at least two first light-emitting elements and at least two second light-emitting elements, wherein an emission color of the first light-emitting elements is different from an emission color of the second light-emitting elements.

The present disclosure relates to a light-emitting device and a method of manufacturing the same.
Known light-emitting devices used for a flash for camera, etc., include a plurality of light-emitting elements, and a plurality of lenses, each combined with a respective one of the plurality of the light-emitting elements (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-224394).

Light-emitting device and method of manufacturing the same


A new and distinct Aloe humilis plant named ‘MOBAL 33’ which is characterized by a globular profile with linear succulent foliage arranged in a basal rosette that eventually forms a short stem with age, linear foliage with an upward and outward attitude with the distal portion of the lamina strongly curled under, dark green foliage that is thinly covered with greyed-green epicuticular wax, and prominent spinose leaf margins with large spines which generally appear to be tipped near-white. The new variety has shown to be uniform and stable in the resulting generations from asexual propagation.

Parentage: 'MOBAL 33' is a seedling selection resulting from the open pollination of a cultivated population of unnamed Aloe humilis plants (unpatented). The exact parentage is unknown. The crossing was made by the inventor in May of 2011 at a commercial ornamental plant nursery in Macquarie Fields, New South Wales, Australia. Seeds were harvested from a plurality of plants within in the population and were subsequently grown to a mature size at a secure greenhouse in Picton, New South Wales, Australia. One seedling resulting from said cross was observed to exhibit unique growth and foliage characteristics and was isolated for further evaluation in order to confirm the distinctness and stability of the characteristics first observed. Upon confirmation of distinctness and stability, the new plant was selected in June of 2012 for commercialization and given the name, 'MOBAL 33'.
Asexual Reproduction: The variety now called 'MOBAL 33' was first asexually propagated by meristematic tissue culture in December of 2012 at a laboratory in Picton, New South Wales, Australia. 'MOBAL 33' has since been vegetatively propagated through ten additional generations. Through subsequent generations, the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.


Process for polymerising, in a loop reactor, at least one olefin monomer in a liquid diluent to produce a slurry comprising solid particulate olefin polymer and said diluent, wherein the ratio between the actual volumetric solids concentration of the slurry and the maximum possible geometric volume solids concentration of the slurry as measured by the bulk density of an unpacked settled bed of particles, SVCR, is V*0.065 or greater, and the ratio of the cumulative settling distance of an average size particle at any point in the reactor in any direction perpendicular to the direction of the flow, to the internal diameter of the loop reactor, is maintained below [0.084*(V−6.62)+(0.69−SVCR)* 1.666], where V is the circulation velocity of the slurry in m/s and “cumulative settling distance” is defined as the cumulative distance, expressed as a fraction of the diameter, travelled by a particle in any direction perpendicular to the direction of the flow since the previous upstream pump.

Slurry phase polymerisation of olefins is well known wherein an olefin monomer and optionally olefin comonomer are polymerised in the presence of a catalyst in a diluent in which the solid polymer product is suspended and transported.
The present invention is more particularly concerned with polymerisation in a loop reactor where the slurry is circulated in the reactor typically by means of a pump or agitator. Liquid full loop reactors are particularly well known in the art and are described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,152,872, 3,242,150 and 4,613,484.
Polymerisation is typically carried out at temperatures in the range 50-125° C. and at pressures in the range 1-100 bara. The catalyst used can be any catalyst typically used for olefin polymerisation such as chromium oxide, Ziegler-Natta or metallocene-type catalysts. The product slurry, comprising polymer and diluent and in most cases also catalyst, olefin monomer and comonomer can be discharged intermittently or continuously, optionally using concentrating devices such as hydrocyclones or settling legs to minimise the quantity of fluids withdrawn with the polymer.
The loop reactor is of a continuous tubular construction comprising at least two, for example four, vertical sections and at least two, for example four, horizontal sections. The heat of polymerisation is typically removed using indirect exchange with a cooling medium, preferably water, in jackets surrounding at least part of the tubular loop reactor. The volume of the loop reactor can vary but is typically in the range 20 to 250 m3; the loop reactors of the present invention are of this generic type.
Maximum commercial scale plant capacities have increased steadily over the years. Growing operating experience over the last few decades has led to operation of increasingly high slurry and monomer concentrations in reaction loops. The increase in slurry concentrations has typically been achieved with increased circulation velocities achieved for example by higher reactor circulation pump head or multiple circulation pumps as illustrated by EP 432555A and EP 891990A. The increase in solids loading is desirable to increase reactor residence time for a fixed reactor volume and also to reduce downstream diluent treatment and recycling requirements (a higher solids concentration obviously corresponds to a reduced proportion of diluent). The increased velocity and pressure drop requirement of the loop has however led to increasing pump design sizes and complexity, and also increasing energy consumption as slurry concentrations increase. This has both capital and operating cost implications.
Historically the circulation velocity in the reaction loop has typically been maximised to ensure maintenance of good thermal, compositional and particle distribution across the reactor cross-section, particularly the avoidance of solids settling, stable flow characteristics, or excessive solids concentrations at the pipe wall. Inadequate cross-sectional distribution could lead to increased fouling, reduced heat transfer and reduced polymer productivity and homogeneity. For example, WO 2004024780 discloses in Tables 2 and 3 circulation velocities of at least 6.9 m/s in order to avoid saltation, which is the phenomenon of particles bouncing along the wall of the reactors rather than being wholly suspended in the diluent.
We have found that it is in fact possible to operate at lower circulation velocities and/or higher solids concentrations than typically used in the prior art by careful optimisation of the geometry of the reactor, so as to minimise the degree of uneven cross-sectional distribution of solid polymer. More specifically, we have found that it is possible to calculate the effect of gravitational and centrifugal forces acting on the slurry which contribute to an uneven cross-sectional distribution of solids, so that the reactor geometry can be designed such that the net effect of those forces in any particular direction is minimised.
The present invention therefore provides a process for polymerising, in a loop reactor, at least one olefin monomer in a liquid diluent to produce a slurry comprising solid particulate olefin polymer and said diluent, wherein the ratio between the actual volumetric solids concentration of the slurry and the maximum possible geometric volume solids concentration of the slurry as measured by the bulk density of an unpacked settled bed of particles, SVCR, is V*0.065 or greater, and the ratio of the cumulative settling distance of an average size particle at any point in the reactor in any direction perpendicular to the direction of the flow, to the diameter of the loop reactor, is maintained below [0.084*(V−6.62)+(0.69−SVCR)*1.666], where V is the circulation velocity of the slurry in m/s and "cumulative settling distance" is defined as the cumulative distance, expressed as a fraction of the diameter, travelled by a particle in any direction perpendicular to the direction of the flow since the previous upstream pump. It is preferred that V is less than 9.5 m/s. It is also preferred that the ratio of the cumulative settling distance of an average size particle at any point in the reactor in any direction perpendicular to the direction of the flow, to the diameter of the loop reactor, is maintained below 0.37.


A target object has its surface condition inspected by having its image taken from above while being irradiated by red, green and blue light beams at different elevation angles. An inspection area is set on the image and a direction is extracted on the image in which a change appears in the color phase according to the arrangement of the light sources and this extracted direction is compared with a preliminarily registered standard direction to judge the surface condition from the result of this comparison.

This invention relates to a method of inspecting the surface condition of an object having a sloped surface with a high specular characteristic by using an image taken thereof, as well as to an apparatus using such a method and particularly to an apparatus for inspecting the surface conditions of a substrate having a plurality of soldered portions.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication Tokko 6-1173, the present applicant has earlier developed an apparatus for automatically inspecting soldered portions of a substrate by an image processing method which makes use of the mirror reflection characteristic of the soldered portions. FIG. 16 shows the structure of such a substrate inspection apparatus and the principle of inspection thereby as disclosed in aforementioned Patent Publication, having three light sources 8, 9 and 10 for emitting red, green and blue light beams, respectively, and an image taking device 3 for obtaining an image of the object of inspection. In the figure, numeral 1 indicates a substrate and numeral 2 indicates a solder piece to be inspected, above which the light sources 8, 9 and 10 are arranged at different angles of elevation with respect to the substrate 1 and the solder piece 2 while the image taking device 3 is set such that the image of the solder piece 2 will be taken directly from above.
With an inspection apparatus thus structured, the colored beams of light from these individual light sources 8, 9 and 10 are projected onto the surface of the solder piece 2 from mutually different directions. If a beam of light is projected onto the sloped surface of solder piece 2 from such a direction that is symmetric with the direction to the image taking device 3 with respect to the line perpendicular to the slope at the point where the light is projected, the mirror-reflection of this projected beam will be directed toward the image taking device 3. In other words, the color of the mirror-reflected light made incident into the image taking device 3 will be different, depending upon the slope of the solder surface.
By the example of optical system shown in FIG. 16, the elevation angle as seen from the solder piece 2 is the largest for the, red light source 8 and that for the blue light source 10 is the smallest, the green light source 9 being positioned in between. Thus, if the solder piece 2 is spherical, as shown in FIG. 17, a color-partitioned image is obtained with the flat surface portion at the center appearing as a red image area, the steeply sloped surface portions close to the substrate surface appearing as a blue image area, and the intermediate gently sloped surface portions appearing as a green image area.
When a fillet of solder is inspected, as shown in FIG. 18, a color-partitioned image is obtained with the steeply sloped upper portion appearing as a blue image area, the gently sloped intermediate portion appearing as a green image area and the nearly horizontal lower portion near the substrate surface appearing as a red image area. In FIG. 18, symbol S1 indicates the range for a land.
In summary, an image partitioned into red, green and blue areas is obtained from a solder piece, depending on the change in the slope of its surface. Thus, the quality of the solder surface condition can be determined if a color image pattern of an ideally shaped solder piece is preliminarily registered and a comparison is made with such a registered pattern.
According to a prior art technology of apparatus for inspection based on the principle as described above, each of the red, green and blue color areas is extracted by preliminarily defining a binarization threshold value for each of red, green and blue gradation data comprising a digital color image and binarizing the image obtained from the image taking device 3 by using these binarization threshold values. Data such as position, shape and size of extracted areas from an image of an ideally shaped solder piece may be preliminarily registered such that the quality of a solder surface may be determined by comparing the colored areas of its image with the registered data.
With the optical system shown in FIG. 16, however, the brightness and the color on the image may be thought to vary as the brightness and the color of the illuminating light changes according to temperature and the time of use, and such variations in the brightness and the color may be considered to affect the result of extraction of the color areas. In the inspection of a solder piece, in particular, if the characteristic quantity of each color area changes due to a change in the color, it may become impossible to clear the standard set for a "good" product although the surface condition may be normal, and such a product may be judged defective.
In order to keep the accuracy of inspection at a high level, therefore, it is desirable to frequently change these binarization threshold values. Since inspection apparatus of this kind are required to keep repeating inspection processes with substrates being supplied incessantly one after another, the work efficiency is severely affected if the inspection must be stopped as the binarization threshold values are updated. Another problem is that it is difficult to judge the correct timing for updating the binarization threshold values.
As an alternative to the aforementioned binarization process, a pattern matching process may be carried out by using the image of an ideally mounted substrate as a model image. According to this method, since normalized correlation calculations are carried out between the image to be inspected and the model image, the threshold values for the judgment need not be changed although there may be a change in illumination. On the other hand, the correlation value drops even by a small change in the shape of the solder piece being inspected and the probability of obtaining a correct judgment result also deteriorates.
Moreover, the modern tendency is that substrates become smaller and more parts are mounted to them. As a result, the land area corresponding to each component part must be adjusted according to the density of mounting in the surrounding areas. As a result, the land size changes even for a same component, depending on the number of components mounted in the surrounding areas. Since the slope of a solder fillet comes to vary accordingly, depending on the mounting position of the component and hence the size and shape of each color area of a fillet image also become different. If there are relatively few components mounted near by, for example, the land may be made relatively big for the soldering stability and hence the slope of the fillet becomes gentler and the red, green and blue areas appear properly. In the case of a component mounted where the mounting density is relatively large, on the other hand, the land area must be accordingly diminished and the slope of the fillet becomes steep, the blue area becoming dominant and the green and red areas becoming smaller. Thus, the distribution of color areas on the image changes even for components of the same kind and hence the standard of judgment for each color area must be set for each component in order to maintain a high level of inspection accuracy.

Apparatus for surface inspection and method and apparatus for inspecting substrate


A system and process for video characterization that facilitates video classification and retrieval, as well as motion detection, applications. This involves characterizing a video sequence with a gray scale image having pixel levels that reflect the intensity of motion associated with a corresponding region in the sequence of video frames. The intensity of motion is defined using any of three characterizing processes. Namely, a perceived motion energy spectrum (PMES) characterizing process that represents object-based motion intensity over the sequence of frames, a spatio-temporal entropy (STE) characterizing process that represents the intensity of motion based on color variation at each pixel location, a motion vector angle entropy (MVAE) characterizing process which represents the intensity of motion based on the variation of motion vector angles.

1. Technical Field
The invention is related to characterizing video frame sequences, and more particularly to a system and process for characterizing a video shot with one or more gray scale images each having pixels that reflect the intensity of motion associated with a corresponding region in a sequence of frames of the video shot.
2. Background Art
In recent years, many different methods have been proposed for characterizing video to facilitate such applications as content-based video classification and retrieval in large video databases. For example, key-frame based characterization methods have been widely used. In these techniques, a representative frame is chosen to represent an entire shot. This approach has limitations though as a single frame cannot generally convey the temporal aspects of the video. Another popular video characterization method involves the use of pixel color, such as in so-called Group of Frame (GoF) or Group of Pictures (GoP) histogram techniques. However, while some temporal information is captured by these methods, the spatial aspects of the video are lost.
One of the best approaches to video characterization involves harnessing the characteristics of motion. However, it is difficult to use motion information effectively, since this data is hidden behind temporal variances of other visual features, such as color, shape and texture. In addition, the complexity of describing motion in video is compounded by the fact that it is a mixture of camera and object motions. Thus, in order to use motion as the basis for video characterization, it is necessary to extract motion information from the original frame sequence, and put it into an explicit format that can be operated on readily.
There are several approaches currently used for the representation of motion in video. The primary approach is motion estimation in which either a dense flow field is computed at the pixel level, or motion model parameters are derived. The latter can be used as a motion representation for further motion analysis. However, that approach is often limited to describing the consistent motion or global motion only. The former is a transform format of a real video frame, which can be used directly for motion-based video retrieval. However, many of the attributes of the optical flow field are not fully utilized owing to the lack of an effective and compact representation.
Another approach involves object based techniques, such as object segmentation and tracking, or motion layer extraction. These techniques allowed moving objects and their motion trajectories to be extracted and used to describe the motion in a video sequence. However, the semantic objects cannot always be identified easily in these techniques, making their practical application problematic.
Yet another approach to characterizing video sequences using motion takes advantage of temporal slices of an image volume to extract motion information. Although the temporal slices encode rich motion clues suitable for many applications, there are often many feigned visual patterns that confuse the motion analysis. In addition, the placement and orientation of the slices to capture the salient motion patterns is an intractable problem. Moreover, the computational complexity of the slice-based approach is high, and its results are often not reliable.
The development of MPEG video compression has brought with it various video characterizing methods using the motion vector field (MVF) that is computed as part of the video encoding process. In particular, these methods are used in conjunction with video indexing. For example, a so-called dominant motion method has been adopted in many video retrieval systems. However, this method does not provide sufficient motion information, since it computes only a coarse description of motion intensity and direction between frames owing to the fact that MVF is not a compact representation of motion. Moreover, it is impossible to discriminate the object motion from camera motion in the dominant motion method. In a related method, the parametric global motion estimation was used to extract object motion from background by neutralizing global motion. However, this extraction process is not always accurate and is processor intensive.
Some existing methods characterize video based on camera motion. In these methods, qualitative descriptions about camera motion models, such as panning, tracking, zooming, are used as motion features for video retrieval. However, although the camera motion is useful for filmmakers or other professional users, it is typically meaningless to the general users.
In addition to the need for video characterization in video retrieval type applications, such characterization is also useful in motion detection applications, such as surveillance and traffic monitoring. The simplest method of motion detection is based on characterizing the differences between frames. For example, the differences in pixels, edges and frame regions have been employed for this purpose. However, computing of differences between frames of a video is susceptible to noise. Dense flow field characterization methods have also been employed in motion detection applications. These methods are generally more reliable than difference-based methods. However, they cannot be used in real-time due to their computational complexity. Some learning-based approaches have also been proposed for motion detection. These methods involve a learned intensity probability distribution at each pixel which is less susceptible to noise. However, it is difficult to describe motion with just one probability distribution model, since motion in video is very complex and diverse. The previously mentioned temporal slice characterizations methods have also been employed in motion detection applications. For example, one such method constructs "XT" or "YT" spatio-temporal slices for detecting motions. Although these approaches are able to detect some specific motion patterns, it is difficult to select suitable slice positions and orientations because a slice only presents a part of motion information.

Content-based characterization of video frame sequences


Methods, systems, and devices for measuring respiratory parameters from an ECG device are described. The method may include receiving an electrocardiogram (ECG) signal associated with a patient. The method may further include detecting a change in modulation of the ECG signal between a first portion of the ECG signal and a second portion of the ECG signal. The method may further include determining a change in respiratory effort of the patient based at least in part on the change in modulation.

The following relates generally to physiological monitoring of a patient and more specifically to measuring respiratory parameters from an electrocardiogram (ECG) device.
In a healthcare facility such as a hospital, respiratory parameters of a patient may be monitored by one or more medical devices. For example, an ECG device may be used to measure a patient's respiratory rate and transthoracic impedance (TTI), and the TTI measurement may be used to determine a tidal volume (TV) of the patient's lungs. Although a patient's respiratory rate and TV may be determined using an ECG device, these parameters alone may be of limited use when monitoring the respiratory function of a patient.

Measuring respiratory parameters from an ECG device


A scratch-resistant glass substrate is prepared by forming a hard, scratch-resistant layer over a major surface of the substrate. The layer is formed from an inorganic material such as a metal oxide, metal nitride, metal carbide, or metal boride using, for example, physical vapor deposition such as reactive or non-reactive sputtering at a process temperature of less than 500° C. The inorganic layer is resistant to micro-ductile scratching, which can safeguard the visible appearance of the glass substrate in use. The glass substrate can include chemically-strengthened glass.

The present disclosure relates generally to scratch-resistant glass articles, and more particularly to glass substrates having a scratch-resistant layer formed over a major surface of the substrate.
Scratches are a concern for glass cover applications in hand held devices and other devices such as monitors and other displays. Scratches increase the scattering of light and can reduce the brightness and contrast of images and text that is presented on such screens. Further, in the device-off state, scratches can make the display look hazy, marred and unattractive. In particular for displays and handheld devices, scratch resistance can be an important attribute.
Scratches can be characterized by their depth as well as their width. Deep scratches extend at least 2 microns into the surface of the material, and wide scratches are more than 2 microns wide. Due to the physical extent of the scratch, fragmentation or chipping typically accompanies deep and/or wide scratches. In brittle solids, though, such as glass substrates, the resistance to deep and wide scratches can be improved through optimization of glass chemistry, i.e., glass composition.
On the other hand, scratches can also be shallow and/or narrow. Shallow scratches are characterized by a depth of less than 2 microns, and narrow scratches are characterized by a width of less than 2 microns. Scratches at these dimensional scales are sometimes described as "microductile" scratches. In displays and handheld devices, where a glass cover can be formed from an oxide glass, a large fraction of the scratches accumulated during use are believed to be microductile scratches. Though microductile scratches are not typically associated with large volumes of fragmented or chipped material, microductile scratches can adversely affect the optical properties of a glass cover. Further, in contrast to the larger, "heavy" scratches, microductile scratches are not easily prevented through modification of the glass chemistry.
The formation of microductile scratches can be attenuated by adjusting the hardness of the surface that is being scratched. Harder surfaces typically are more resistant to microductile scratching. While oxide glasses that form the glass substrates used in many glass covers typically have hardness values in the range of 6 to 9 GPa, as disclosed herein, the propensity of microductile scratch formation can be dramatically decreased by forming a hard surface layer on the oxide glass where the surface layer has a hardness value greater than 9 GPa.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a hard, scratch-resistant coating that can be applied to rigid glass covers that is economical, optically transparent and physically and chemically compatible with the underlying glass sheet.

Physical vapor deposited layers for protection of glass surfaces


A device for adjusting the distance between a web leading roll, such as a corrugating roll, and a glue applying roll in a glue unit comprises a shaft arranged to extend across the frame of the machine parallel to the glue applying roll with the gluing unit for the glue applying roll engaging the shaft, an arrangement for lifting the gluing unit to rotate around the shaft so that the glue applying roll will be positioned closer to the web leading roll and the device includes at least one cam mounted in the frame to engage a stop on the subframe of the glue unit to limit the amount of movement in elevation of the gluing unit.

The present invention is directed to a device for the adjustment of the distance between a glue application roll and a web leading roll for webs of paper or of a "single-face" corrugated board located in a corrugating machine.
In the so-called "single-face" station located upstream of a corrugating machine, a first web of paper is corrugated when it is passed between two corrugating rolls, which include an upper and a lower roll. A glue applying or application roll located almost on the level of the lower corrugating roll applies glue on the crest of the corrugated paper prior to the application of a second, covering web by means of a pressure roll arranged under the lower corrugating roll.
The quality of the single-face corrugated cardboard depends very much on the quality of the glue applying operation during which a precise quantity of glue is to be applied along every paper crest. This precision regarding the quantity of glue depends on the regular and accurate thickness of the glue present on the periphery of the glue applying roll, which is part of the gluing unit. Hence, in the course of its rotation, a surface of the glue applying roll of the gluing unit will pass, first, into a glue container and then in front of a dosing roll, whole position is such that it rejects the excess or surplus glue so as to let only the required amount pass between the two rolls.
This precision regarding the quantity of glue applied depends, of course, on the accurate adjustment of the distance between the glue applying roll and the lower corrugating roll, which requires a rigorous setting of the position of the gluing unit with regard to the frame of the "single-face" station, which supports the corrugating rolls.
For the regular cleaning of the gluing unit and of the corrugating rolls, it is common to use a gluing unit which is provided with rollers to ride along rails in order to make it easy to take the gluing unit out of the device from the back of the station.
A known device for the adjustment of the distance between the glue applying roll and the lower corrugating roll comprises two conical stops which protrude at right angles from the inner surfaces of the two lateral walls of the frame of the single-face station. Each of these conical stops can be advanced into or retracted from the wall and, hence, when the gluing unit is pushed into the station until it rests on the two stops, its final position will depend on the preset advance position of each of these stops. Thus, a complete retraction of the stops provides the maximum advanced position for the unit and, hence, a minimum distance possible between the glue applying roll and the corrugating roll. However, in practice, this device has proven to be unsatisfactory because of offals or other impurities falling on the rails, which deposits involuntarily raise the unit and set the glue applying roll too close to the lower corrugating roll. Also, because of wear marks on the rails, it sometimes will provide an uncontrolled lowering of the glue applying unit, which will set the glue applying roll too far from the corrugating roll. In the first case, the crests of the corrugating paper are slightly compressed and the glue will then overflow onto either side of the crests. In the second case, the glue application is insufficient, if it even occurs.

Device for adjusting the distance between a glue applying roll and a web leading roll


A latching actuator capable of repeated operation in a cryogenic, remote, or difficult-to-access environment, capable of enduring many cycles without user intervention or maintenance, capable of latching in a fixed position without consuming additional power, or to operate independent of external environmental conditions. In selected embodiments, a latching actuator may comprise an expansion chamber that houses a working substance capable of undergoing a phase change, a logic mechanism, a biasing assembly, and an output pin. In one embodiment, a wax motor may provide the motive force to toggle a latching mechanism. An actuator may be capable of positioning an output pin in two or more discrete latching positions and may be used to create a thermal connection between two structures, to engage or disengage a clutch, or to position an optical element in an optical instrument. An actuator may also be used as a launch lock apparatus.

Some switch systems capable of operating in a remote environment are currently available. Cunningham et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,965) disclose an automatic thermal switch that controls heat flow between two thermally conductive plates. In a normally open switch configuration, the environmental temperature to which a first plate is exposed heats the plate. A rise in temperature of the first plate drives a phase-change of ammonia, Freon, or deionized water to a gas inside a power unit which is capable of driving a piston. The increased pressure caused by the phase change motivates the piston to create a thermal path between the first and second plates. The thermal path is maintained so long as the temperature of the first plate is maintained at or above the phase-change temperature of the working substance by the ambient temperature. In a normally closed switch configuration, raising the temperature of one of the thermally conductive plates causes a reaction that breaks a thermal path between the first and second plates.
Applicants filed U.S. Non-Provisional application Ser. No. 11/467,431, on Aug. 25, 2006, entitled APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR MODIFYING A THERMAL CONNECTION, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In that application, Applicants disclosed, inter alia, a wax actuator that could extend and/or retract a plunger to motivate a thermal connector in a cryogenic atmosphere. Applicants learned after filing the application, however, that the anticipated actuator was not available and was incapable of performing the expected functions. Application Ser. No. 11/467,431 was abandoned.

Utah State University Research Foundation


A method for clearing data stored in a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chip of a computing device. The computing device further includes a CMOS jumper connected to the CMOS chip, and a general purpose input/output (GPIO) interface connected to the CMOS jumper. The method configures a GPIO pin of the GPIO interface as an output port, controls the GPIO pin to generate a GPIO signal with a high level, and outputs the GPIO signal with the high level to the CMOS jumper. After receiving a command of clearing data stored in the CMOS chip, the method pulls down the GPIO signal from the high level to a low level, to clear the data stored in the CMOS chip.

1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to data reconfiguration systems and methods, and more particularly, to a computing device and a method for clearing data stored in a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chip.
2. Description of Related Art
A complementary metal-oxide semiconductor is a chip that stores a computer's basic input/output system (BIOS) settings, basic instructions, and information about the date, time and hardware settings in the computer. The CMOS is powered by a battery. At present, if the above-mentioned data stored in the CMOS needs to be cleared under certain conditions, for example, a user may forget the BIOS password, there are two common used methods to reset the CMOS. One method is to short-circuit a CMOS jumper or another method is to remove the battery from a motherboard of the computer manually; however both methods may cause damage to components of the computer.

Computing device and method for clearing data stored in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor chip

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (ShenZhen) Co., Ltd.


A mainframe structure includes a housing having a front opening, flanges on one same plane around the front opening and stop members suspending on the inside corresponding to the flanges, a circuit module accommodated in the housing, and a cover detachably mounted in the front opening of the housing and stopped against the flanges and the stop member. The cover has two slots symmetrically disposed at two opposite lateral sides, two lugs respectively disposed adjacent to the slots and two handles respectively mounted in the slots and pivoted to the lugs in reversed directions. By means of biasing the two handles to stop against respective stop members, the user can detach the cover from the housing conveniently with the hands without any hand tools.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer mainframe design technology and more particularly, to a mainframe structure, which allows quick removal of a cover from an opening on one side of the accommodation chamber of the housing thereof by means of operating multiple handles that are pivoted to the cover, facilitating maintenance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Following fast development of electronic technology, many advanced electronic products, such as computer, cash register, auto teller machine, ticket vending machine and etc., are created and intensively used in fixed places in our daily living. The application of these advanced electronic devices saves much labor and cost. Using electronic devices to perform money counting and number calculation works, avoiding human error. For the advantages of word processing, communication and data inquiry functions and under the environment of high internet popularity, computer has become a requisite tool in most people's daily life. Nowadays, many companies, shops, persons and homes use electronic apparatus to perform different jobs.
To enhance mobility and to save space occupation, manufacturers are trying to create small-sized electronic products. FIG. 8 illustrates a conventional electronic mainframe design. As illustrated, the mainframe comprises a rectangular housing A that defines an accommodation chamber A0 and an opening A1 that is covered with a detachable cover panel A2, and a circuit board B mounted inside the accommodation chamber A0. The circuit board B carries a microprocessor B1, carrying memory, display module, network module (not shown) and many other electronic components, and a cooler module B2 that is attached to the microprocessor B1.
Because the cover panel A2 is fastened to the housing A over the opening A1 by screws and the circuit board B is affixed to the accommodation chamber A0 inside the housing A, a hand tool is necessary when detaching the cover panel A2 or the circuit board B. Without a suitable hand tool, a person cannot detach the cover panel A2 and the circuit board B. Further, because the cover panel A2 and the circuit board B are disposed at different locations, the detaching procedure is complicated, requiring much labor and time. Further, it is necessary to remove the cooler module B2 prior to detaching the circuit board B, complicating the procedure.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a mainframe structure that eliminates the aforesaid problems.


Disclosed are a polyester mainly composed of an aromatic dicarboxylic acid as an acid component and an aliphatic diol as a diol component, wherein the content of an antimony element in the polyester is from 50 to 350 ppm, the number of metallic antimony particles having a diameter of 0.5 .mu.m or more is 30,000 or more per 100 mg of polyester, the ratio of the number of fine particles having a diameter of 0.5 .mu.m to less than 0.6 .mu.m is 70% or more, and the L value in hue is 80 or more; a stretch blow molded product formed of the polyester; and a method for producing a polyester mainly composed of an aromatic dicarboxylic acid as an acid component and ethylene glycol as a diol component which comprises adding a preliminary mixed catalyst solution of an antimony compound and a trivalent phosphorus compound as a catalyst, the catalyst solution having a haze of 10% or less, at a stage showing an acid value of 1,000 eq/ton or less before initiation of melt polymerization.

Polyesters including polyethylene terephthalate are excellent in mechanical strength, chemical stability, gas barrier properties and hygienic properties, and relatively inexpensive and lightweight. They have been therefore widely used as packaging containers for various foods and drinks.
When these packaging containers are produced, methods are used in which preformed articles are first formed and then heated again to soften them, followed by reforming to desired shapes. For example, when stretch blow molded products are produced, closed-end tubular preforms are first produced by injection molding, and these preforms are usually heated again with near infrared heaters to soften them. Thereafter, the softened preforms are allowed to come into contact with metal molds having specified shapes, thereby producing the blow molded products. However, these methods have the problem that productivity is poor because it takes time to heat the preforms again.
For solving such a problem, U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,936 proposes a packaging material comprising a thermoplastic polymer composition comprising a polymer which contains metal particles intrinsically absorbing radiation in the wavelength region 500 nm to 2000 nm in such an amount that the reheat time of the polymer is less than the reheat time of the polymer in the absence of the particles. Here, the radiation in the wavelength region 500 nm to 2000 nm is a radiation generated by a general near infrared heater. The above U.S. patent further discloses in the working examples a method of adding a trivalent phosphorus compound to a polyethylene terephthalate prepolymer as a reducing agent, 10 minutes after that, adding antimony trioxide as a reducible metal compound, followed by polymerization, and reacting the metal compound with the reducing agent to generate fine metal particles. However, a result of detailed studies by the present inventors has revealed that this method shows a large variation in size of particles generated and gives a considerably large number of coarse particles. The coarse particles are smaller in surface area than fine particles having the same volume, so that the radiation absorption efficiency is insufficient. Accordingly, when this composition is formed into a packaging material, the transparency thereof is poor. Further, when this composition is formed into a packaging material, the coarse particles raise the color tone and external problems that the packaging material strongly inclines to black, and that the coarse particles are observed as black foreign matter, because the coarse particles are metal particles, which are tinged with black. Furthermore, it is necessary to add a large amount of a relatively expensive trivalent phosphorus compound, because of the insufficient radiation absorption efficiency.
On the other hand, JP-B-49-20638 (the term "JP-B" as used herein means an "examined Japanese patent publication") discloses a method for producing a polyester which comprises using a reaction solution in which metallic antimony is precipitated by allowing phosphorous acid, hypophosphorous acid, or an ester or salt thereof to act on a solution or suspension of an antimony compound as a polycondensation catalyst. However, as a result of detailed studies in this method by the present inventors, the ratio of coarse particles to precipitated particles contained in a polyester obtained by this method is high, and the radiation absorption efficiency is insufficient. Accordingly, when this polyester is formed into a packaging material, problems are encountered with regard to transparency and color tone.

Polyester, stretch blow molded product formed thereof and method for producing polyester