When advertising information is included in a received broadcasting wave, viewer attributes which have previously been registered in an IC card is collated with a target ID added to the advertising information, and the advertising information (icon) in which both of them coincide is selected and displayed (S3, S4). When there is a requesting operation of detailed information, the detailed information is obtained by link information. The detailed information can be obtained from the broadcasting wave (S11, S12) or can be obtained from a homepage via the internet (S17, S18). The detailed information is displayed in place of the picture plane of a program. When a viewer requires to finish the display, the display of the detailed information is finished (S14, S20). When the detailed information is displayed, the presence of the request for the detailed information is recorded as a history.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to information broadcasting method, information broadcasting system, and receiving apparatus for transmitting advertising and publicity information by using a digital broadcasting and, further, transmitting data other than programs through a digital broadcasting which can electronically exchange personal data such as a face image.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a digital broadcasting for transmitting multimedia data such as image signal, audio signal, etc. by using a communicating satellite has being put into practical use. The invention intends to multiplex advertising information to program information in the digital broadcasting. First, an outline of a typical digital broadcasting system will now be described with reference to FIG. 1. The side of transmitting programs is constructed by an up-link station 2, a program provider 1, and management systems 6, 7, and 8.
Video/audio data from the program provider 1 is supplied to an encoder multiplexer 3 of MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) 2 of the up-link station 2. In the MPEG2 encoder multiplexer 3, the video/audio data is compressed and the compressed video/audio data is packaged into a packet of a length of 188 bytes. Packets of video/audio data corresponding to a plurality of programs are multiplexed and a transport packet of MPEG2 is formed. A transport stream is formed by a series of transport packets. The number of transport streams corresponds to the number of transponders installed in the communicating satellite.
The MPEG2 transport stream is supplied to a transmitting system 4. In the transmitting system 4, processes such as scrambling process of each packet, error correction encoding of each packet, and modulation, and the like are executed and a modulation output is supplied to a transmitting antenna 5. The scrambling process is necessary to realize a conditional access which is used to control permission or inhibition of a monitor of each viewer. For example, it is possible to make a contract of PPV (Pay Per View) such that only a certain program is monitored each time in a toll. A key to descramble the scramble is supplied from the key management system 6 to the MPEG2 encoder multiplexer 3 and is inserted as one of the packets into the transport stream in a manner similar to video/audio information.
A systematizing management of the MPEG2 packets is performed by the program management system 7. The program management system 7 and key management system 6 are unified and encipher the key to descramble the scramble. Further, the customer management system 8 is provided and items regarding a viewer contract or the like are managed. Viewer information is transmitted to'the viewer through a telephone line 9.
A broadcasting radio wave is transmitted from the transmitting antenna 5 and is received by a receiving antenna of each home through a communicating satellite 10. A receiver 12 is connected to the receiving antenna 11. The receiver 12 is constructed by: a tuner for designating a receiving transponder; a demodulating unit; a descrambling unit for descrambling the scramble; a demultiplexer for designating a packet to be separated; a video decoding unit; an audio decoding unit; and the like. The decoded video/audio signals are supplied to a television receiver 13.
The key to descramble the scramble is enciphered and transmitted as related information together with video and audio data. The key to decipher the encryption has been stored in an IC card 14 inserted in the receiver 12. The scramble of which program can be descrambled can be controlled from the transmitting side on the basis of contract information of each reception system. The receiver having the conditional accessing function is usually called an IRD (Integrated Receiver/Decoder).
The foregoing digital satellite broadcasting system is not limited to only the monitor of a television broadcasting but can be also used as a transmitting system of a large quantity of digital data due to many channels. That is, the receiver of the digital satellite broadcasting has a function serving as an acceptor of digital data such that contract information or the like concerning the program or viewer, data for a personal computer, or the like other than the video audio data is multiplexed thereto and the resultant data is transmitted.
For example, in one broadcasting in the present satellite broadcasting system, a content description EIT (Event Information Table) of programs which are at present being broadcasted or will be broadcasted in future, an EPG (Electric Program Guides), contract information (Entitlement Control Message) including a monitor fee and a monitor age limitation, and the like are transmitted together with the video/audio data. Specifically speaking, the information such as monitor fee, monitor age limitation, and the like is broadcasted together with program information as common information (ECM: Entitlement Control Message) that is common to receiving terminals.
An ID which is peculiar to a receiving terminal is allocated and individual information (EMM: Entitlement Management Message) that is formed on the transmitting side for the viewer and is individual to the terminal is sent. At the terminal, on the receiving side, the EMM of the same ID as the own ID is decoded and a work key is loaded into the IC card. A key to decode the EMM has previously been stored in the IC card of each receiving terminal. When the program is monitored, the ECM annexed to the program is loaded into the IC card. If the work key corresponding to the program has preliminarily been stored, the descramble is performed and the program can be monitored. As mentioned above, the PPV is enabled. By instructing an up-loading of a monitor history of PPV programs from the individual terminal or providing a modem into the terminal, a purchase request for a shopping program or an answer to a questionnaire can be performed.
In the conventional digital satellite broadcasting system as mentioned above, however, by multiplexing the information concerning the program and broadcasting, an additional value of the program can be further raised or the operation can be simplified, but video/audio data of advertising/publicity information which is so called a CM (Commercial Message) that is inserted in the program is merely transmitted as a part of the program. There is, consequently, a problem such that advertising and publicity information is transmitted to the viewer irrespective of goods or services as targets of the advertising and publicity information or goods are forcedly advertised irrespective of a will of each viewer as a receiver.
In the case where the viewer has an interest in goods by watching a CM and wants to get further detailed information or the like, since there is only a method of accessing to the telephone number displayed on the screen through a telephone line, there is a problem such that the detailed information of the goods cannot be easily and promptly obtained.
Further, as an enterprise serving as a side of providing a CM, even in the case where the enterprise wants to know a monitor history, audience ratings, and the like of each CM or the like, there is a problem such that the enterprise can know the information as only monitor history and audience ratings as one program which is collected on the broadcasting station side.
A photographing/outputting apparatus which can print a face image photographed by a camera as a seal has appeared and is becoming popular. A terminology of "print club" is also popular. More specifically explaining, an image obtained by photographing one or a few persons is printed onto one seal paper as divisional images (for example, size of 3 cm×2 cm). The photographs obtained as mentioned above are not limited to a personal use but are provided as an application such that they are handed to friends or exchanged.
According to the existing photographing/outputting apparatus, the number of seals which are obtained by one photographing is limited and the seals are used as an application such that they are handed to the friends or are mailed. Therefore, a range where the seals are exchanged is limited.

Information broadcasting method, information broadcasting system, and receiving apparatus for transmitting data other than program through digital broadcasting


Ni-Ti intermetallic compounds are produced by subjecting a laminate of Ni foils and Ti foils to a rolling for thickness adjustment and then to a diffusion heat treatment at multistages within a particular temperature range for a particular time.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of directly producing Ni-Ti intermetallic compounds from a lamination of Ni foils and Ti foils by using reactive diffusion.
2. Related Art Statement
Since Ni-Ti series alloys exhibit various performances in accordance with their chemical compositions, they are advanced to be put into practical use as a material for wide applications.
Heretofore, sheet or wire of Ni-Ti series alloy has been produced through steps of melting.fwdarw.hot rolling.fwdarw.cold rolling.fwdarw.intermediate annealing.fwdarw.cold rolling.fwdarw. . . . final product likewise usual metallic materials.
However, the production by the above method is very difficult owing to the inherent properties of the Ni-Ti series alloy as mentioned below. For this end, a powder sintering method has been developed instead of the above method. According to the later method, Ni powder and Ti powder are mixed at a ratio corresponding to the final composition ratio and then the mixed powder is shaped into an objective final form or a form similar thereto by a shaping technique such as HIP, CIP, cold powder rolling or the like, which is subjected to a high temperature sintering to obtain a single phase Ni-Ti series alloy through reactive diffusion of Ni and Ti. In this method, the yields at the composition adjustment and the intermediate step are considerably improved as compared with the aforementioned method of from melting to cold working.
The above two methods are a general method used for the production of Ni-Ti series alloy at the present. As another method solving the problems of the above methods, for example, Japanese Patent laid open No. 59-116340 proposes a method wherein Ni and Ti are closely adhered to each other through a film forming method such as pressing, plating, vapor deposition or the like and heated and then reaction-diffused to obtain Ni-Ti phase.
In Japanese Patent laid open No. 62-120467, there has been proposed an improvement of the method described in the aforementioned Japanese Patent laid open No. 59-116340 on the wires of Ni-Ti series alloy, wherein plural composite wires each obtained by covering a surface of Ti core with Ni are bundled together, subjected to working for reducing the size and further to diffusion treatment to produce Ni-Ti phase. This method is sufficiently practical as a method of producing the wire. Furthermore, it is possible to produce a strip of about few mm to few cm by drawing the resulting wire.
As mentioned above, there are proposed various production methods on Ni-Ti series alloys, which have many problems to be solved as mentioned below. A main cause is a point that the atomic ratio of Ni to Ti in the Ni-Ti series alloy exhibiting useful properties is restricted to about 1:1 and the cold workability is very poor as compared with the usual metallic materials.
For example, in the production steps consisting of melting.fwdarw.hot rolling.fwdarw.cold rolling.fwdarw.intermediate annealing.fwdarw.cold rolling . . . final product generally used for obtaining plate-like Ni-Ti series alloy, the combination of cold rolling and intermediate annealing steps should be repeated to a considerable extent for working to a given thickness. Such a repetition of continuous working--softening annealing causes occurrence of edge tear in the rolling, decrease of yield due to oxidation and pickling loss or the like in the annealing pickling, degradation of properties due to the oxidation in the annealing and the like, so that the productivity of Ni-Ti is poor and the cost is too high. Particularly, the production of sheet product through cold working is industrially impossible on a composition of Ni-Ti series alloy containing not less than 50 at % of Ni required for development of super elasticity at low temperature. Since such Ni-Ti alloys are difficult in the working, the wires being relatively easy in the working have mainly been produced in great amount, and the production quantity of sheet product is very small.
As a large factor obstructing the productivity to raise the cost, there is mentioned the difficulty of smelting into adequate composition. For example, in the shape-storing material, it is most important to control the actuating temperature to a given value, but in case of Ni-Ti alloy, the actuating temperature is varied to 10.degree. C. even by the change of Ni concentration of 0.1%. Therefore, the accurate composition adjustment is necessary, but since Ti has very high activity at high temperature and is lost through oxidation loss, reaction with mold or the like in the melt casting, it is very difficult to adjust the composition to the given value. As a result, special equipment is required for the melting, which obstructs a feature that the alloys having a constant quality are cheaply produced with a good yield.
As a method of avoiding various problems through the above smelting and cold working, powder sintering method has been developed. In this method, however, Ti powder which is hardly produced and is expensive should be used, so that the product cost is too high. Therefore, the powder sintering method provides a somewhat advantage when being applied to the production of parts having a complicated shape or various kinds of parts in a small quantity, but is not suitable for the production of products such as plate and strip which should be stably and cheaply be supplied in a certain large amount. In addition, since the surface of powder used as a starting material for a powder sintered body is oxidized to a certain extent, a significant amount of oxide remains in the inside of the final product, which has a problem in the quality of the product.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent laid open No. 59-116340 proposes a method wherein plate and strip are cheaply produced as compared with the powder sintering method by using the same reactive diffusion principle as in the powder sintering method. In this case, when this method is applied to the actual production of plate and strip, if it is intended to obtain Ni-Ti alloy plate of single phase having a thickness of about 0.1 mm, it is required to conduct a diffusion heat treatment for a long time such as several hundred hours. In case that the thickness of each of Ni and Ti layers is thick, defects such as voids or the like are frequently generated in the inside of the plate during the diffusion heat treatment to injury the soundness of the structure, so that the thickness produceable as a practical material by this method is only about several ten micronmeters at most. Thereofre, the latter method can not be said to be practical as an industrial production method.
Moreover, Japanese Patent laid open No. 64-31938 discloses a method considered as an extension of the above production method. According to this method, the material is not particularly limited to Ni-Ti, but plural layers of foil-like metallic material are laminated and then subjected to a heat treatment to conduct diffusion.
In this method, however, the reactive diffusion is solid-phase diffusion, so that in case of the reactive diffusion between Ni and Ti, particularly solid-phase reactive diffusion of flatly laminated Ni-Ti plate as compared with the case of using powder as a starting material, there are caused peculiar problems as mentioned below, and consequently it is difficult to obtain members having a practically usable quality and also the treating time becomes long. Moreover, these problems have been confirmed from the experimental results of the inventors.
(1) A first point is a time required for the reactive diffusion. Considering the same weight, the interface area proceeding the diffusion (specific surface area: mm.sup.2 /g) is less as compared with the powder, so that the long time is required for the progress of the diffusion. PA1 (2) A second point lies in that voids are frequently generated by Kirkendall effect as a phenomenon inherent to the interactive diffusion because the absolute number of atoms passing per unit interface area is increased by the same cause as mentioned above. Particularly, in case of interactive diffusion between Ni and Ti, the diffusion rate of Ni atom in Ti is larger by 1000 times or more than the diffusion rate of Ti atom in Ni, so that Ni atom largely tends to reduce in the vicinity of the interface, and consequently the occurrence of Kirkendall voids becomes conspicuous. The occurrence of voids not only injures the structure but also obstructs the subsequent reactive diffusion at the interface to interfer the homogenization of the composition, so that it is required to reduce the occurrence of the voids as far as possible. Moreover, the occurrence of voids is closely related to the heat treating temperature of reactive diffusion. In case of Ni-Ti, the occurrence of voids can be controlled to a certain extent at a relatively low temperature of about 700.degree. C., but the diffusion rate becomes later and the homogenization of the composition takes a long time and it is unpractical. On the other hand, the heat treatment is carried out near to an upper limit temperature for solid reaction of about 900.degree. C. in order to shorten the reaction time, but in this case a large amount of voids is generated. PA1 (3) A third point is a phenomenon resulting from a difference in interactive diffusion rate between Ni and Ti, in which the increase and decrease of volume is caused with the advance of diffusion between Ni and Ti layers and hence stress is produced at the interface to cause the mechanical peeling phenomenon. When this point is further explained in detial, the volume naturally tends to relatively reduce in the Ni layer preferentially discharging atom, and in this case such a tendency of volume reduction is macroscopically developed as a decrease of layer thickness in the thickness direction. On the other hand, in the Ti layer absorbing Ni atom, the layer thickness macroscopically increases and also the layer expands in the plane direction. Therefore, the shearing force acts in the plane direction in the vicinity of the interface between Ni and Ti layers, and consequently the mechanical peeling is caused at the interface. PA1 (a) subjecting the laminate to a rolling for thickness adjustment in which the laminate is rolled at a draft of not less than 30% to join laminated foils to each other and then rolled to render a thickness of each foil into 3-20 .mu.m; PA1 (b) subjecting the rolled laminate to a preliminary sol id phase diffusion heat treatment at a temperature of 650.degree.-780.degree. C. for 1-10 hours; PA1 (c) subjecting to a solid phase diffusion heat treatment at a temperature of 781.degree.-955.degree. C. for 1-10 hours; PA1 (d) subjecting to a first liquid phase diffusion heat treatment at a temperature of 956.degree.-1110.degree. C. for 10 minutes to 1 hour to render only a portion having a Ti content of more than 50 at %; PA1 (e) subjecting to a second liquid phase diffusion heat treatment at a temperature of 1111.degree.-1240.degree. C. for 1 to 10 minutes to render only a portion having a Ni content of more than 50 at %; and PA1 (f) finally subjecting to a soaking heat treatment at 1000.degree.-1100.degree. C. for 1 to 10 hours.
From the above reasons, it is said that the production method described in Japanese Patent laid open No. 64-31938 is not practically applicable in industrial scale.
Although the production method described in Japanese Patent laid open No. 62-120467 can be said to be sufficiently applicable to the industrial production of wire and strip, the size of the resulting article is naturally critical because the size of original wire and strip is restricted, so that this method articles having various sizes such as thicker and wider products can not be produced.

Method of producing Ni-Ti intermetallic compounds


An electronic device includes: a reproduction section for reproducing a content item; a touch panel for detecting a user operation for changing a reproduction position of the content item; and a vibrating section for vibrating the touch panel. The vibrating section varies the vibration of the touch panel depending on whether or not the reproduction position which has been changed through the user operation detected by the touch panel is a specified reproduction position.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an electronic device which can be operated by a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic devices having touch panels such as smart phones and tablet PCs have been widespread. Such electronic devices are operated by the user sliding a finger on the touch panel.
Patent Document No. 1 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-93450) discloses a device which presents to the user a change in tactile sensation by vibrating the touch panel in accordance with the user operation on the touch panel. With the device disclosed in Patent Document No. 1 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-93450), when the user edits a movie with a frame-by-frame precision, a vibration is always generated when a frame switches to another, thereby notifying the user of the point of a frame switch.

Electronic apparatus including vibrating section which vibrates depending on reproduction position

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


In a management system for vending machines, comprising a plurality of vending machines and a host computer being connected to those vending machines via a network and enabled to manage each of those vending machines in a concentrated manner, the host computer can be accessed from a portable communication terminal via another network.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for managing a plurality of vending machines in a concentrated manner via a host computer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, such the concentrated management system for vending machines manages both operation and sales states of each of a plurality of vending machines in a concentrated manner with use of a host computer connected to those vending machines installed at various places via a specific network. This network uses a wired or radio leased line. The host computer is enabled to access a portable communication terminal. The manager who is in charge of maintenance and management of those vending machines, as well as supply of products to those vending machines can refer to various information items managed by the host computer via the portable communication terminal.
For this type management system, various information items managed by the host computer must be prevented from its leakage to third parties. This is why a leased line is used for the conventional closed communication network between the portable communication terminal and the host computer, so that the host computer is prevented from illegal accesses to the host computer from third parties. However, the use of such the leased line requires an enormous cost.
Products loaded in each vending machine are replaced periodically at each change of the season. The manager makes this replacement of products stacked in a product-stacking column. And, after such a replacement, the manager updates the information on products loaded in the product-stacking column in the host computer. Conventionally, however, the following problem often occurs; in case where a product in a product-stacking column is sold after such a product replacement in a vending machine and the sales information is sent to the host computer before the product information is updated in the host computer, then the host computer updates the number of sold products wrongly, that is, differently from the number of actually sold products. In other words, the host computer might fail in management of the number of sold products.
Object of the Invention
Under such circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a management system for vending machines manufactured at a lower cost and improved more in convenience of usage.
Summary of the Invention
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a management system for vending machines, comprising a plurality of vending machines and a host computer connected to each of those vending machines via a first network and enabled to manage those vending machines. The host computer includes management information storage for storing management information on each of the vending machines and remote management controller for accepting a connection from a portable communication terminal via a second network so as to enable the portable communication terminal to access the management information stored in the management information storage.
According to the present invention, the portable communication terminal is connected to the host computer via the second network and enabled to access the management information on each vending machine managed by the host computer. Consequently, the host computer can manage the latest proper information on each vending machine, since the manager, after doing maintenance of each vending machine, updates the management information in the host computer according by the maintenance result with use of the portable communication terminal.
The host computer in a preferred embodiment comprises identification information storage for storing identification information on a portable communication terminal of which connection is to be enabled and certifying means for certifying the portable communication terminal according to the identification information received from the portable communication terminal when communication with the portable communication terminal is started and the identification information stored in the identification information storage.
According to the present invention, therefore, because the certifying means certifies the portable communication terminal, illegal accesses from third parties can be prevented. And, because the certifying means assures the security, it is possible to use a network which opens to the public as a communication path between the portable communication terminal and the remote management controller instead of the network composed of a leased line. Consequently, the system construction cost can be reduced.
The management information storage in another preferred embodiment comprises sales information storage for storing sales information on products for each vending machine and for each product, as well as correspondence information storage for storing information on correspondence between each product-stacking column in which the products are stacked and products sold in the vending machine, for each vending machine. The remote management controller updates the corresponding information stored in the correspondence information storage upon a request from the portable communication terminal.
Consequently, it is possible to update the correspondence information stored in the host computer via the portable communication terminal even when the correspondence between each product-stacking column and the products stacked in the product-stacking column is changed. This is why the host computer can keep and manage the latest and proper sales figure information on each product.
The above and other objects, construction and advantage of the present invention will be seen by reference to the description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.


Artificial posterior cuspless teeth possess slightly convex functional occlusal surfaces in both mesiodistal and buccolingual directions on upper posterior teeth and slightly concave functional occlusal surfaces on lower posterior teeth, with both upper and lower posterior teeth configured to conform to the restored curves of Spee in an anterior--posterior direction and to conform to the restored curves of Wilson in a buccolingual direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to artificial teeth, and more particularly pertains to improved artificial posterior teeth for use in cases where the patient is completely edentulous (without teeth) and especially in cases where the edentulous ridges have been extensively resorbed or have shrunk away.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A variety of methods, some of them drastic and involving surgery and implants, have been developed to try to make dentures possessing greater stability and retention. Such surgical and implant methods expose the patient to risk and high costs.
The posterior teeth that are presently being used in dentures are generally cusped and designed to be set up in what is called a balanced occlusion. This means that a very accurate bite or centric occlusion must be established in the production of the denture. In all cases, if there is any error in setting up these teeth or even a minor amount of ridge resorption after the dentures are inserted, cusp interference will set up lateral forces which will tend to dislodge the denture when lateral or protrusive excursions are made.
The other most common type of posterior teeth presently used in dentures are those with flat occlusal surfaces known as zero degree teeth. These teeth are set up in a flat plane and as soon as the wearer of dentures moves into lateral or protrusive excursions there is no balancing occlusion. In other words, the wearer loses contact of many opposing posterior teeth and destabilizing forces are the probable outcome.

Method of making cuspless artificial dentition


A boring device is inserted into a lateral pipe to bore a pipe lining material inserted into a main pipe across the lateral pipe intersecting therewith and a portion of which blocks an opening of the lateral pipe that communicates with the main pipe. The boring device has a rotatable shaft, a bearing member for rotatably bearing the rotatable shaft, and a boring blade mounted on the rotatable shaft for rotation therewith to bore through the portion of the pipe lining material that is blocking the opening of the lateral pipe. A supporting member is mounted on one side of the bearing member. An inflatable bag is mounted on the other side of the external periphery of the bearing member. The inflatable bag is inflatable in the lateral pipe so that the inflatable bag and the supporting member are pressed against an internal peripheral surface of the lateral pipe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a boring device inserted into a lateral pipe to bore a pipe lining material that is inserted into a main pipe across the lateral pipe intersecting therewith.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A lining construction method has been proposed in the past for lining an existing pipe using a pipe lining material in order to rehabilitate an existing pipe without unearthing the pipe when a buried sewer line or other existing pipe has deteriorated with age (see JP-A 6-114939). The pipe lining material is a resin absorbent material composed of a tubular flexible nonwoven cloth impregnated with an uncured liquid curable resin (generally a thermosetting resin), formed so as to conform to the shape of the existing pipe. A highly airtight plastic film is attached to the outer circumferential surface of the resin absorbent material. In this construction method, fluid pressure is used to invert and insert the pipe lining material into the existing pipe, and, with the pipe lining material pressed against the internal circumferential surface of the existing pipe, heat is applied to the pipe lining material to cure the liquid thermosetting resin impregnated therein to provide a lined existing pipe.
Lateral pipes also join the main pipe of a sewer or the like. Therefore, when the pipe lining material is used to line the main pipe, it blocks the openings at which the lateral pipes join with the main pipe. A robot equipped with a boring device and a TV camera for operating inside a pipe is therefore placed in the main pipe and remote-controlled from above ground. The cutter (rotary blade) of the boring device is then rotated, and the portion of the pipe lining material that is blocking the end of the lateral pipe is bored through and removed (see FIGS. 5 through 8 of JP-A 2000-15509).
However, in this operation, the cutter of the boring device must be positioned in the longitudinal and vertical directions of the main pipe prior to boring. This positioning is performed while monitoring the inside of the main pipe using the TV camera, but since the inside of the main pipe is dark and yields poor visibility, errors sometimes occur in positioning, specifically, in the boring position.
In order to overcome this drawback, a method is employed whereby a hole saw connected to a flexible shaft for transmitting the rotational energy of a motor is inserted into the lateral pipe prior to the boring, and a pilot hole having a small diameter is formed from the side of the lateral pipe in the portion of the pipe lining material that blocks the opening at the end of the lateral pipe. After the pilot hole is formed, the TV camera is inserted into the lateral pipe, and boring is performed from the side of the abovementioned main pipe while monitoring the inside of the lateral pipe (see FIGS. 10 and 11 of JP-A 2000-15509).
However, in the method for forming a pilot hole from the side of the lateral pipe, the hole saw is supported by the flexible shaft so as to be able to move in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the lateral pipe. Therefore, it is difficult to position the hole saw in the desired boring position (in the center of the opening at the end of the lateral pipe, or another position, for example) in the orthogonal direction inside the lateral pipe, and the boring position is sometimes displaced from the desired position.
Particularly when the pipe lining material blocking the opening of the lateral pipe has a hard surface, the hole saw can slip and move in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the lateral pipe due to rotational recoil, and can collide with the internal peripheral surface of the lateral pipe. In this case, the hole saw is damaged, the pipe lining material suffers damage when a lateral pipe is being lined, or other such drawbacks occur.
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a boring device whereby a boring blade can be easily and reliably positioned when a pipe lining material that blocks the opening at the end of a lateral pipe is bored through, and whereby the boring blade can be prevented from colliding with the internal peripheral surface of the pipe.


An electro-optical storage system based on an air-bearing-suspended optical head and operated in a near-field configuration. The system comprises a read/write head and a head positioning system, an optics module including beam relay optics and signal detectors, an optical medium and a corresponding medium driving unit, and an electronic control system. The optical head includes a near-field lens positioned over the optical medium by a fraction of the wavelength. A transition dielectric layer is formed on the near-field lens to improve the optical and mechanical coupling between the head and the optical medium.

Optical storage can be used to achieve high areal density data storage, i.e., amount of data per unit recording area. The areal density of an optical storage device, in principle, is only limited by the diffraction limit of an illuminating optical beam for reading or writing. Electro-optical data storage systems based on magneto-optical materials may be configured to produce areal data densities of up to or greater than about one gigabit (i.e., 10.sup.9 bits) per square inch.
One approach to increase the areal data density in an optical storage system is to use a reduced beam size to write or read in a small spot. A monochromatic optical beam has a theoretical diffraction limit on the minimum beam size which is approximately on the order of its wavelength. Light sources with short wavelengths, such as those toward the blue end of the optical spectrum, may be used to further decrease the beam size and thereby achieve an even higher areal density.
Alternatively, the numerical aperture of the objective lens can be increased to focus a beam of a given wavelength to a reduced small spot within the diffraction limit. The reduced beam spot increases the areal density.

Optical head having dielectric transition layer in near-field optical storage system


A method for enabling querying independently of a computerized system about objects thereof, comprising providing a computer linked to the computerized system with replications of entries of an index of the computerized system that comprise data derived from contents of the objects, where said entries correspond to a subset of objects that are identified as related objects, thereby enabling the computer, based on the provided replications, to query locally and independently of the computerized system about the related objects according to contents thereof, and an apparatus for performing the same.

The present disclosure generally relates to indexing of objects of and enterprise, and more specifically to replicating portions of the index of an enterprise in an external computer.
Computers systems or computerized systems, particularly such of an enterprise, generally comprise numerous linked computers that store and handle plenty of objects such as files. Thus, in some cases at least, in order to efficiently and quickly retrieve objects, an index or inventory of objects is constructed and maintained. Generally, tracking objects in the computerized system may affect the computerized system such as in terms of response time or cost of equipment.

Delegating portions of an index of an enterprise


A display unit is formed of a number of individual light boxes which are electrically and mechanically interconnected in one or more rows. Each light box comprises complementary mounting and hook-on strips at two opposite sides for detachable interconnection of the light boxes in juxtaposed rows. Complementary electric connecting means are each arranged at one end of each light box for electrically and mechanically interconnecting light boxes in the same row. Current is supplied to the light boxes from one end of each row of light boxes by means of a conductor rail. To provide a play of lights, the lamp fitting of each light box has a control circuit which is designed as a receiver and whose turning on and off of the lamp fitting is controlled by a transmitter in the power supply circuit of the display unit.

For, inter alia, advertising purposes use is made of so-called display units comprising at least one translucent wall surface for supporting a large-size transparency film, and lamp fittings which are mounted internally and connectible to a current source. It also constitutes prior art to form such display units by mechanically and electrically interconnecting a number of light boxes, each having at least one translucent wall surface for supporting a large-size transparency film and each having at least one lamp fitting which can be turned on. Prior-art display units of the last-mentioned type are designed in a manner which requires a considerable expert knowledge and an electrician for mounting and connecting operations. As a result, such display units have not become so widely spread and used as they deserve.


IFAX is installed in securities firm A. PC is installed in a customer B and the other IFAX is installed in a branch C. IFAX transmits and receives image data between PC and IFAX via LAN and the Internet by use of e-mail. While, IFAX is connected to PSTN. IFAX transmits and receives facsimile data between G3FAX and IFAX via PSTN. IFAX transmits and receives image data among PC and the other IFAX and G3FAX and transmits the same image data to a host computer installed in a center in reduction in communication costs with respect to the center.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image communication apparatus for transmitting transmitted/received data to an information management center, and relates to an image communication method.
2. Description of the Related Art
By the revision of law made by Federal Securities and Exchange Commission in US, securities firms are obliged to have all data received by a facsimile apparatus browsed by a supervisor per reception and to store all copies. It is considered that a considerable amount of operations such as copying operation, filing operation, etc., occurs in order to abide by the law, and this causes troubles in day to day businesses.
In connection with such obligation, it is thought that data is received by the facsimile apparatus, thereafter, the same data is newly facsimile transmitted to a file server of an information management center for storing received data, document, etc. Also, it is thought that data is transmitted by the facsimile apparatus, thereafter, the same data is newly facsimile transmitted to the center. However, there is a problem in that such a facsimile transmission of the same data to the center after performing the facsimile transmission or reception causes an increase in communication costs.

Image communication apparatus and image communication method


The present invention relates to a toy gun that is capable of firing multiple projectiles using an internal rotating firing assembly. The toy gun further provides a separate target launching mechanism to launch a target object into the air for use as a target when firing the projectiles. A plurality of projectiles is spring-loaded into a cartridge on a barrel of the gun, where they can then be sequentially fired from the gun in rapid succession by pulling a projectile trigger. The projectile trigger activates a rotating firing control disc inside the barrel of the gun to fire at least one projectile every time the projectile trigger is pulled. Additionally, the toy gun is capable of launching a flying object with a separate mechanism for use as a target when firing the projectiles.

(1) Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of toy simulated weapons. More specifically, the present invention pertains to a toy gun capable of firing multiple projectiles in rapid succession using a rotatable firing assembly. The toy gun also has the capability of separately launching a flying object to act as a target when firing the projectiles.
(2) Background
Toy guns that fire multiple projectiles are well-known in the art. Numerous references teach mechanisms to fire a plurality of projectiles using pressurized toy guns or magazine-loading toy guns that simulate the function of real weapons. However, many existing toy guns that fire multiple-projectiles have complicated parts and electronics that are susceptible to failure when exposed to heavy use and stress, such as that typically applied by children.
Additionally, existing toy guns are directed simply to firing a projectile with the assumption that the user already has a target. However, children may often be without a playmate or a useful target with which to fire a projectile at, and adults are often weary of children playing with projectile-firing toys if a kid-safe target does not exist.
Therefore, what is needed is a multiple projectile-firing toy gun that is durable and easy to use, and free of complex electronics. Additionally, what is desired is a toy gun that provides a target for children that is both flu, safe, and challenging for a child to use.

Multiple projectile-firing toy gun with separate target-launching mechanism


A variable-magnification image processing apparatus, comprising: a magnification setting group storing unit to store a magnification setting group; a display magnification obtaining unit to obtain a display magnification of an image displayed on a display screen at an equal pixel magnification; a magnification setting selection unit configured to select one of the magnification settings in one of decreasing order and increasing order; and a display control unit configured to display the image at the magnification setting, wherein the magnification setting selection unit is configured to execute at least one of: operation to select the obtained display magnification subsequently to a maximum one of the magnification settings smaller than the obtained display magnification when a magnifying operation is conducted; and operation to select the obtained displaying magnification subsequently to a minimum one of the magnification settings larger than the obtained display magnification when a reducing operation is conducted.

The present invention relates to a variable-magnification image processing apparatus capable of changing magnification of an image to be displayed on a display screen.
A technique where an image is displayed on a display screen of a display device, such as a liquid crystal display monitor, in an equal pixel magnification display style to enable a user to check, for example, a focus state of the image is known. The term "equal pixel magnification display style" means that an image is displayed on a display screen in such a manner that pixels of the image have a one-to-one relationship with pixels of the display screen, without converting each pixel value of the image to an approximate value. Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2007-174693A (hereafter, referred to as a "patent document 1") describes an example of an apparatus capable of displaying a picked up image in the equal pixel magnification display style.
When the apparatus described in patent document 1 is set to a focus checking mode, the display magnification of an image on an image display unit is defined such that the display magnification can be changed in a range from a magnification where an image having a maximum pixel number is displayed approximately in the equal pixel magnification style to a magnification where an image having a minimum pixel number is displayed approximately in the equal pixel magnification style.

Variable-magnification image processing apparatus


A projection system suitable for use in a lithographic apparatus, the projection system including a transmissive optical element and a thermal profile corrector configured to change a thermal profile of the transmissive optical element, the thermal profile corrector including a transfer member and a thermal profile conditioner, the transfer member being moveable into and out of proximity with the transmissive optical element to transfer a desired thermal profile from the thermal profile conditioner into the transmissive optical element.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine that applies a desired pattern onto a target portion of a substrate. Lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). In that circumstance, a patterning device, which is alternatively referred to as a mask or a reticle, may be used to generate a circuit pattern corresponding to an individual layer of the IC, and this pattern can be imaged onto a target portion (e.g. including part of, one or several dies) on a substrate (e.g. a silicon wafer) that has a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist). In general, a single substrate will contain a network of adjacent target portions that are successively exposed. Known lithographic apparatus include so-called steppers, in which each target portion is irradiated by exposing an entire pattern onto the target portion at once, and so-called scanners, in which each target portion is irradiated by scanning the pattern through the beam in a given direction (the "scanning"-direction) while synchronously scanning the substrate parallel or anti-parallel to this direction.
In IC fabrication, the continuing improvements in microprocessor speed, memory packing density and low power consumption for micro-electronic components require a continuing decrease of size of the patterns that are transferred from the patterning device (e.g. mask) to the substrate by lithographic apparatus. However, as the size of an integrated circuit is reduced and its density increases, the CD (critical dimension) of its corresponding patterning device (e.g. mask) pattern approaches the resolution limit of the lithographic apparatus. The resolution of lithographic apparatus is defined as the minimum feature that the exposure tool can repeatedly expose on the substrate (e.g. wafer). Various techniques, known as resolution enhancement techniques, have been applied in order to extend the resolution limit of the lithographic apparatus.
One technique to improve resolution is off-axis illumination. With this technique, the patterning device (e.g. mask) is illuminated at selected non-perpendicular angles which may improve resolution, and particularly improves the process latitude by increasing the depth of focus and/or contrast. The angular distribution of the radiation beam at the patterning device (e.g. mask) plane, which is an object plane, corresponds to a spatial distribution of the radiation beam in a pupil plane of optical arrangements of the lithographic apparatus. Typically, the shape of the spatial distribution in a pupil plane is referred to as illumination mode. One known illumination mode is annular, in which the conventional zero order spot on the optical axis is changed to a ring-shaped intensity distribution. Another mode is multipole illumination in which several spots or beams are produced which are not on the optical axis. Examples of multipole illumination modes are dipole, including two poles, and quadrupole, including four poles. For illumination modes such as dipole and quadrupole, the size of the poles in the pupil plane can be very small compared to the total surface of the pupil plane. Consequently, all of the radiation used for exposing the substrate traverses the various optical elements at or near the pupil planes at the locations of these poles only. The optical element maybe, for example, a lens element. A fraction of the radiation traversing the lens element is absorbed by the lens element. This leads to a non-uniform heating of the lens element by the radiation beam, resulting in a local change in refractive index and a deformation of the lens element. The local change in refractive index and deformation of this lens element results in optical aberrations and a distorted image as projected by the projection system onto the resist layer. Local changes in refractive index and deformation of the lenses may alternatively, or additionally, be a symptom of aging.
It is desirable to provide, for example, a lithographic apparatus and method which obviate or mitigate one or more of the problems of the prior art, whether identified herein or elsewhere.


A circuit for prevention of unintentional writing to a memory prevents unintentional writing to a nonvolatile memory, after a recovery from a transitory power failure. The circuit includes a low-voltage detection circuit for detecting a power supply voltage drop depending on the state of a control signal for the detection circuit. A writing operation to the memory is prohibited depending on the control signal as well as upon an output signal of the low-voltage detection circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a circuit for prevention of unintentional writing to a memory. More specifically, it relates to a circuit equipped with a low-voltage detection circuit capable of preventing unintentional writing to a nonvolatile memory when the low-voltage detection circuit detects a drop in power supply voltage. The present invention also relates to a semiconductor device equipped with such circuit.
2. Description of the Background
The following description sets forth the inventor's knowledge and should not be construed as an admission that the description constitutes prior art.
A nonvolatile memory, such as an EPROM, an EEPROM and a flash memory capable of erasing stored data in blocks instead of one byte at a time, can retain stored data even when the power supply voltage is turned off. Consequently, nonvolatile memory commonly is used in devices such as microcomputers to store programs such as BIOS, so that the programs can be easily updated to fix problems or bugs discovered during evaluation and use.
However, even though it is able to retain stored data when power is turned off, a nonvolatile memory becomes unstable in operation when power is first turned on or when the power supply VDD experiences transient drops in voltage. This is because a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory has charges flowing into a floating gate, and sufficient charges cannot flow into the floating gate in the state of a low power supply voltage. As a result, the prescribed data holding characteristics cannot be assured. To overcome such a problem, a low-voltage detection circuit conventionally is provided, which directly resets the state of the nonvolatile memory itself.
The low-voltage detection circuit detects a drop in power supply voltage (such as when power is first turned on, or as a consequence of "noise" in the power supply), and automatically sends a reset signal to a writing/reading control portion of the nonvolatile memory. Thus, in a situation where the power supply voltage VDD is low, writing of data to the memory is prohibited. As a result, writing to the nonvolatile memory will be performed only when it is appropriate to execute the writing operation.
In recent years, as mentioned above, nonvolatile memories have been used in many devices, including microcomputers. The microcomputer and the nonvolatile memory conventionally are integrally formed as a single chip on a semiconductor substrate. A low-voltage detection circuit is connected to the power supply circuit of the integrated microcomputer and nonvolatile memory to detect a low-voltage status of the power supply voltage VDD.
In this semiconductor device, in cases where it is configured that the entire system is reset when the low-voltage detection circuit detects a power supply voltage (VDD) drop, there is a drawback that it takes a significant amount of time to change the system back to the default setting.
The description herein of advantages and disadvantages of various features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed in other publications is in no way intended to limit the present invention. Indeed, certain features of the invention may be capable of overcoming certain disadvantages, while still retaining some or all of the features, embodiments, methods, and apparatus disclosed therein.

Circuit for prevention of unintentional writing to a memory, and semiconductor device equipped with said circuit


Techniques are disclosed for automated provisioning of resources to fulfill a service agreement. For example, a technique for use by a service provider for automatically provisioning one or more resources based on at least one service agreement offer of a service client comprises the following steps/operations. The at least one service agreement offer is obtained. At least one implementation plan template is obtained. A provisioning description is then automatically derived in accordance with the service agreement offer and the implementation plan template, wherein the provisioning description is usable for configuring one or more resources such that a service may be provided to the service client.

In the field of information technology (IT) services, services between entities are acquired by means of service agreements. When a prospective service client submits an agreement offer, a service provider must assess whether it can comply with the agreement offer and, if so, provision the necessary IT resources for the service to be delivered. IT resources include, for example, storage, computing and networking elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,290 to Dan et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, teaches the use of service agreements to automate the delivery of services between autonomous entities. A service agreement may define penalties and rewards associated with breaking or achieving service level objectives related to the service. In this case, the IT resource configuration of a provider set up for the delivery of an agreement must implement the service in the way that it trades off rewards received and penalties incurred with the costs of IT resource usage.
Formal representations of agreements enable the automatic interpretation of service agreements. WS-Agreement (see, e.g., A. Andrieux et al, "Web Services Agreement Specification," version 1.1, draft 18, May 2004, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein) is a draft for a standard representation of service agreements and can be used in combination with service type specific representations, e.g., the Web Service Description Language (see, e.g., E. Christensen et al., "Web Services Description Language (WSDL) 1.1," World Wide Web Consortium Technical Report, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein). The Web Services Offer Language is another representation to the same end (see, e.g., V. Tosic et al, "WSOL—A Language for the Formal Specification of Classes of Service for Web Services," Proceedings of 2003 International Conference on Web Services, CSREA Press, pp. 375-381, June 2003, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein).
Deriving the set of resources, or alternative sets of resources necessary for implementing a service agreement, and subsequently provisioning this set, is essential for automating the process of automatically fulfilling service agreements. A. Dan et al, "Connecting Client Objectives with Resource Capabilities: An Essential Component for Grid Service Management Infrastructures," International Conference on Service Oriented Computing (ICSOC) 2004, pp. 57-64, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein, teaches an approach how to translate performance objectives in multiple steps into resource requirements. However, the proposed approach per se does not automate the derivation. For each particular domain, e.g., computing job scheduling, a specific resource derivation model has to be defined and implemented by a programmer. The approach gives guidance how to do this, though it does not automate the resource requirement derivation by itself. Furthermore, it does not solve the provisioning problem.
Lastly, while there are template-based provisioning approaches available from such companies as AdventNet (Pleasanton, Calif.), Cisco (San Jose, Calif.) and Veritas (Mountain View, Calif.), these approaches do not take into account service agreements.

Methods and apparatus for agreement-based automated service provisioning

International Business Machines Corporation


A die clamping unit includes a stationary platen, a tie bar which is attached to the stationary platen, a movable platen which is movable forwards and backwards along the tie bar with respect to the stationary platen, a first servomotor which moves the movable platen away from the stationary platen in a core-back operation, a second servomotor which moves the movable platen forwards and backwards to perform die-opening and -closing, and a control device which drives the first servomotor to move the movable platen away from the stationary platen and which drives the second servomotor to apply a force to the movable platen in the direction toward the stationary platen in the core-back operation.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a die clamping unit for dies, more particularly to a die clamping unit which performs a core-back operation in an injection molding process.
2. Description of the Related Art
A core-back operation is performed in a molding process in a case where a material mixed with a foaming agent is used, for example, in an injection molding machine or the like. The core-back refers to an operation in which a movable platen provided with a movable die is moved backward at a low speed wherein large part of a material is molten. Here, to move backward the movable platen indicates the moving of the movable platen in a direction away from a stationary platen. According to this core-back operation, a pressure in dies is lowered, and foaming of the foaming agent is promoted. A die clamping unit which performs this type of core-back is described in for example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-314492.
In the core-back operation, the movable platen is moved by, for example, a servomotor. In the core-back operation, an inertial force develops on the movable platen with the movement of the movable planten. Therefore, even if the drive of the servomotor is stopped at completion of the core-back, the movable platen often continues to move under its own inertia.
During the core-back, a back pressure is applied to a die clamping unit via a hydraulic die clamping cylinder. The back pressure is a pressure that generates a force in a direction opposite to a moving direction of the movable platen.


The disclosure may provide a method for obtaining a document layout, an electronic device, and a storage medium. The method may include: obtaining a plurality of pieces of first sample data; extracting structured information from each of the plurality of pieces of first sample data as target structured information corresponding to each of the plurality of pieces of first sample data; inputting the plurality of pieces of first sample data into an initial text generation model to generate predicted structured information corresponding to each of the plurality of pieces of first sample data; generating a first loss value based on a difference between the predicted structured information corresponding to each of the plurality of pieces of first sample data and the corresponding target structured information; and training a phrase generation ability of the initial text generation model based on the first loss value to generate the text generation model.

In the related art, text generation methods in deep learning are based on words, that is, the target text is generated word by word.
However, the word-based text generation model in the related art may rely on dependencies among words to generate text information, which is prone to local semantic shift phenomenon, resulting in a low accuracy of the text generation model and a poor quality of the generated text.

Method, electronic device, and storage medium for training text generation model

BEIJING BAIDU NETCOM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Methods of repairing a torque converter that enable the continued use of a torque converter and result in a repaired torque converter with a higher-strength and more durable construction. In some examples, a backing ring can be replaced with a replacement backing ring that includes a spline ring for replacing the function of a cover spline ring. In some examples, a method of repairing a torque converter can be improved by providing a replacement backing ring with a radial protrusion for locating the backing ring on the cover, and a method of determining an axial location of the radial protrusion.

When automobile automatic transmissions are repaired, the torque converter is usually disassembled, inspected and rebuilt. Generally, most of the key components are reusable. Worn and damaged parts are replaced as needed. Some original equipment (OE) torque converters are difficult to rebuild, often because the OE construction was optimized for high production rather than ease of repair. Specialized equipment is often required to repair OE torque converters, or rebuilders may simply refuse to repair certain models due to excess cost and complexity associated with repair versus replacement.
FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a portion of a prior art OE torque converter 100. The illustrated example is a torque converter from Ford's model number 6R140 transmission, which has been sold in large volumes for several years and is used in some relatively high cost diesel trucks. As described more below, prior art OE torque converter 100 has some common failure modes that are difficult to repair.
Torque converter 100 includes a cover 102 and lock-up clutch assembly 104; the lock-up clutch assembly including a piston 106 that is configured to engage a clutch pack 108 against a backing ring 110 to engage the lock-up clutch assembly. Clutch pack 108 includes two metal clutch plates 112, including front metal clutch plate 112F and rear metal clutch plate 112R, and a friction clutch plate 114 positioned therebetween. Metal clutch plates 112 each include a plurality of outer teeth 116 (only one labeled on each) that are sized and configured to slidably engage a spline ring 118 on an inner surface of cover 102. Friction clutch plate 114 has a plurality of inner teeth 119 (only one labeled) that are sized and configured to slidably engage a damper assembly (not illustrated) coupled to a transmission (also not illustrated). As is known in the art, torque converter 100 provides a fluid coupling between an engine output shaft and a vehicle transmission that transmits torque from the engine to the transmission while allowing for different rotational speeds of the engine and transmission. As is also known in the art, lock-up clutch assembly 104 can be engaged to mechanically lock the engine and transmission at the same rotational speed under certain conditions in order to improve efficiency. When lock-up clutch assembly 104 is not engaged, cover 102, piston 106, metal clutch plates 112, and backing ring 110 rotate with the engine output shaft, while friction clutch plate 114 rotates at a different speed with the transmission. When lock-up clutch assembly 104 is engaged, piston 106 forces clutch plates 112, 114 together and against backing ring 110, thereby engaging clutch pack 108 and forcing friction clutch plate 114 and the transmission to rotate at substantially the same speed as cover 102 and the vehicle engine output shaft.
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a portion of OE torque converter 100 showing piston 106 in a fully retracted position, resulting in a clutch release clearance 202 between the piston and a front side 204 of metal clutch plate 112F. An inner surface 205 of cover 102 and piston 106 define a piston apply chamber 206 for receiving pressurized transmission fluid for applying the piston against clutch pack 108 and backing ring 110. OE torque converter 100 is sometimes referred to as a "three-pass" torque converter because it includes three fluid ports (not illustrated)—two ports (inlet and outlet) for the passage of transmission fluid into and out of a main torus volume 208 of the torque converter, and a third port (also not illustrated) for delivering pressurized fluid to piston apply chamber 206. A transmission incorporating OE torque converter 100 typically includes a dedicated apply control circuit for controlling the pressure in piston apply chamber 206 and applying and releasing piston 106, which can provide a more responsive lock-up clutch assembly 104 apply and release than torque converters that do not have a dedicated piston apply control circuit.
Backing ring 110 is welded at weld B1 to cover 102. When OE torque converter 100 is repaired, backing ring 110 is typically removed to inspect or replace clutch plates 112, 114. When backing ring 110 is reattached after repairs are complete, clutch release clearance 202 must be maintained to ensure proper clutch operation. In this example, clutch release clearance 202 should typically be between 0.010-0.040 inches. It is, however, difficult to properly reattach backing ring 110 because it is difficult to hold and weld backing ring 110 in place with acceptable accuracy. It is also challenging due to the relatively short engagement C1 of backing ring 110 to cover 102 and because torque converter rebuilders lack the special fixtures and equipment that were used by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) during original manufacture. As a result of these challenges, many aftermarket torque converter rebuilders are reluctant or refuse to rebuild this type of torque converter.
FIGS. 3 and 4 are close-up views of a portion of clutch pack 108, cover 102, and spline ring 118 showing the loose fit between teeth 116 of OE metal clutch plates 112 and OE spline ring 118. Example OE spline ring 118 is rolled formed and is sometimes referred to in the art as a "Grob spline" because it is manufactured by a cold forming process by proprietary machines made by ERNST GROB AG. Spline ring 118 is pressed into and attached by welding to an inside surface 302 of cover 102. Spline ring 118 is an OE low-cost construction and is not precise in form, resulting in a loose fit with the mating teeth 116 of metal clutch plates 112, the loose fit identified as D1 in FIG. 3. The loose fit also results in a minimal engagement length, indicated by E1 in FIG. 3, resulting in minimal contact area between teeth 116 and corresponding recesses 304 defined by spline ring 118.
FIG. 4 shows a leaf spring 402, which is included in OE torque converter 100 in part to account for the loose fit described above between spline ring 118 and metal clutch plate teeth 116. FIG. 4 shows both metal clutch plates 112F, 112R and also shows inner teeth 119 of friction clutch plate 114 extending radially inward from an inner diameter 404 of metal clutch plates 112. Leaf spring 402 maintains a relative circumferential position of metal clutch plates 112F, R. Leaf spring 402 is attached to teeth 116 by pins 406 and thereby circumferentially separates the two clutch plates 112F, R and forces teeth 116 against radially-extending walls 408 of recesses 304 of spline ring 118. (As shown in FIG. 1, example torque converter 100 includes six leaf springs 402 spaced circumferentially around clutch pack 108). Leaf springs 402 can also aid in disengaging metal clutch plates 112 from friction clutch plate 114 when lock-up clutch assembly 104 is released. Leaf springs 402, however, are prone to early failure. When one or more of leaf springs 402 fail, the loose fit between spline 118 and metal clutch plate teeth 116 can result in spline backlash between spline ring 118 and metal clutch plates 112, causing vibration, rapid wear and noise when the clutch is not engaged and also causing damage to spline ring 118, which can result in the spline ring being worn beyond repair, which can leave no practical options to rebuild OE torque converter 100.

Torque converters and methods and devices for rebuilding torque converters


The present disclosure provides for a customizable, portable billboard system. The portable billboard has a number of sidewalls enabling advertisement graphic placement. These sidewalls sit upon a support base that has structures, preferably wheels, which help to facilitate movement of the billboard. The advertisement graphical overlay is attached to the sidewalls via framing that surrounds the perimeter of each of the sidewalls. The entire system is self-contained and has a generator to power any lights or speakers or the like that may be required. The system has a hitch attachment so that it may be easily maneuvered or transported to a particular location by motor vehicle.

Advertising is a manner of generally promoting a product or business via varying mediums urging consumers to take or continue to take a particular action. Advertisements are typically manifested through radio, television, print, internet, product placement, and billboard amongst many others. Billboards are large advertisements present usually in outdoor space. These large "signs" are placed in high traffic (foot or automobile) areas to generate a maximum consumer exposure. As such, this type of advertising is immensely popular in urban areas. The overarching purpose behind these advertisements is to quickly generate an impression in a consumer that lasts after the consumer has passed the billboard. However, conventional billboards do have their drawbacks.
Conventional billboards are inherently stationary. Thus, they rely on the consumer to pass them in order for them to be effective. They cannot be used to bring advertising to the consumer. In some instances, billboards are subject to a number of laws and are even outlawed in some states. As a result, various types of mobile billboards have been created. Some of these billboards are driven on trailers or trucks through traffic, while others can be towed behind bicycles. While effective to a degree, these types of billboards are not permanent and are constantly on the go. Thus there is a need for a billboard that breaches the gap between stationary and mobile billboards.
The present invention meets and exceeds these needs. The present invention provides for a customized, portable billboard that can be readily relocated to any desired area. Once delivered, the billboard is set up and upon completion of set up appears to be a billboard that is integral with the area. The billboard can remain for as long as the customer would chooses and may be moved at different times quickly and easily to take advantage of different traffic patterns at the same or different locations.
Thus, various devices are known in the art. However, their structure and means of operation are substantially different from the present disclosure. The other inventions also fail to solve all the problems taught by the present disclosure. The present invention is fully customizable and made to order for the customer. The particular specifications are not tied to any existing structure or previously used structure. At least one embodiment of this invention is presented in the drawings below and will be described in more detail herein.


A reciprocating compressor includes a piston slidably mounted within a compression chamber and defining a suction port for receiving a flow of gas. A flex mount is mechanically coupled to the piston and has an inner surface that defines a suction cavity. A suction muffler is positioned at least partially within the suction cavity and includes an inlet tube extending along the axial direction within the suction cavity and defining an inlet passageway configured to receive the flow of gas and a plurality of chamber plates that extend along the radial direction from an outer surface of the inlet tube, the plurality of chamber plates and the flex mount defining a plurality of resonance chambers to reduce compressor noise.

Certain refrigerator appliances include sealed systems for cooling chilled chambers of the refrigerator appliance. The sealed systems generally include a compressor that generates compressed refrigerant during operation of the sealed system. The compressed refrigerant flows to an evaporator where heat exchange between the chilled chambers and the refrigerant cools the chilled chambers and food items located therein. Recently, certain refrigerator appliances have included reciprocating compressors, such as linear compressors, for compressing refrigerant. Linear compressors generally include a piston and a driving coil. The driving coil generates a force for sliding the piston forward and backward within a chamber. During motion of the piston within the chamber, the piston compresses refrigerant.
Reciprocating compressors typically include a one-way valve that permits a flow of gas into a compression chamber as the piston moves into a retracted position during an intake stroke and prevents the gas from escaping the compression chamber as the piston moves into an extended position during a compression stroke. For example, the valve may include a flapper valve mounted to a compression face of the piston. The flapper valve may be thin enough to bend under the force of gas pressure from an intake conduit. Notably, the constant opening and closing of the suction valve can generate significant noise. Conventional reciprocating compressors may include mufflers to reduce noise from suction valve pulsation, but these mufflers are complicated to install, may be ineffective at reducing noise, and can harm compressor efficiency.
Accordingly, a reciprocating compressor with features for improved noise reduction would be desirable. More particularly, a reciprocating compressor with a suction muffler that is easy to install and effectively reduces compressor noise without harming compressor performance would be particularly beneficial.

Suction muffler for a reciprocating compressor


A security thread detector for verifying the authenticity of banknotes. In the preferred embodiment, the invention comprises a housing with a passage through which banknotes can be passed, wherein the housing also comprises a waveguide, a microwave oscillator for generating microwaves and two resonating slots on a wall of the waveguide, and a microwave detector. After a banknote is inserted through the passageway, the microwave diode produces an analog signal that is proportional to the microwave strength. The diode and the slots are arranged such that the radiated power from each slot is one hundred eighty degrees out-of-phase. If a banknote has no security thread, then the detector receives a balanced signal. If the banknote contains a security thread, the thread interferes with one of the radiating slots. This interference causes an imbalance condition and a corresponding signal is sent from the detector diode. The resulting signal is then sent to a microprocessor which activates an appropriate indicator. This indicator notifies the user of the presence or absence of a security thread; thus, the user can determine whether the banknote is counterfeit.

This invention relates to devices used to authenticate currency. More particularly, it relates to verification machines that detect security threads embedded in currency.
The use of security threads embedded in currency paper has increased due to the advent of high-resolution, true-color photocopying machines. If modern currency does not have an embedded security thread, the currency can be more easily duplicated with a color photocopier. When the security thread is embedded, it is harder to illicitly reproduce. Unfortunately, it is also harder to verify by visual inspection. Consequently, various detectors have been invented.
One such security thread verification device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,569 to Crane et al. This detector and others similar to it require the measurement of the thread properties in the presence of the printed currency paper. The physical properties of the security thread are different than the physical properties of the paper, yet they are difficult to measure due to the interference produced by the surrounding ink.
Detectors in the past have often included capacitors. Unfortunately, these devices are not as successful as originally anticipated. With these capacitor devices, the sensor has to come in contact with the paper immediate to the thread. If the sensor does not come into contact with the paper immediate to the thread, the sensor's ability to detect the thread is reduced, and sometimes nullified. Consequently, to ensure that the thread comes into contact with the sensor, the user or transport is forced to accurately place the currency through the detector. If the user or transport inaccurately places the currency such that the thread does not come into contact with the sensor, the detector does not detect the thread; therefore, it designates the currency as counterfeit. In addition, these capacitance devices are typically very slow in authenticating the presence or absence of the thread. This is undesirable in commercial situations where the processing of large numbers of bills must be done at high rates of speed.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved security thread detector.
It is a general object to provide a security thread detector that is not affected by a user's or transport's inaccurate placement of the thread within the device.
It is yet another object to provide a detector that works without the need of a sensor coming into contact with the paper immediate to the security thread.
It is still another object to provide a detector that can determine a banknote's authenticity at very fast rates.
It is still a further object to provide a detector that is not hampered by the presence of ink, soil, or general degradation that occurs to currency in circulation.
The above and other objects and advantages of this invention will become more readily apparent when the following description is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A one piece, injection molded single piece, well container suitable for reagents for use in a clinical instrument such as a protein analyzer, normally molded from a high density polyethylene or other recyclable plastic. The container is one or more wells, uses standard caps, and is readily adapted to automatic filling equipment. The molded, single piece reagent cartridge is used in a clinical instrument, the reagent cartridge comprised of a plurality of storage wells located in a line in fixed relationship. The reagent cartridge has a guide at one end which is engageable with a means on the receiving means on an analyzer to restrain the cartridge from radial or lateral movement. Each of the wells has side walls and a closed bottom, and the side walls have an upper terminal position including an access opening. An integrally formed hollow shell open at the bottom and otherwise substantially enclosing said wells from a point below the terminal portion is provided to form a hollow space within the shell around the exterior of the wells to permit the flow of conditioned air around the walls. Positive retention is provided by forming a hole through the wall, which engages a detent formed on the retention means.

Various reagent cartridges for use in protein analyzers and other automated clinical analyzers are known.
Fechtner U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,082 describes a reagent cartridge for use in an automated clinical analyzer having a plurality of independent storage compartments and including a body member and a bottom wall. The body member and the bottom wall are separately formed by injection molding and then the individual parts are welded together using a metal plate heated to an elevated temperature which renders the adjoining surfaces of the body member and bottom wall fusible. In the Fechtner cartridge, the chambers for storing fluids are formed by the joinder of the bottom wall to the body member.
Boris et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,797 describes a reagent cartridge which has a plurality of chambers for containing fluid reagent, each chamber having an entry port and resealable seal means for receiving a probe used to withdraw reagent from the cartridge. A vent in the form of sealing or adhesive tape is provided for each chamber in the top closure. One end of the cartridge has a flange extending outwardly therefrom which includes a plurality of vertically aligned openings or windows through which an optical signal may be transmitted. The floor of the chambers have necks with access openings sealed with an elastomeric membrane which can be pierced by the probe to remove fluid reagent. The floor and the side and dividing walls of the cartridge are molded of a single piece. The top closure is fastened to the side and dividing walls by ultrasonic welding or by adhesive fastening. Ultrasonic welding is difficult to control and tends to yield significant numbers of units which are poorly bonded and prone to develop leaks. In addition, the use of ultrasonic welding tends to locally denature the resin from which the units are made. Consequently, both welded and adhesive bonded units are not homogenous in chemical composition over the entire unit.
The cartridge of the present invention is a one piece design using a low cost commodity resin which is recyclable, whereas the two piece designs of the prior art, which are either thermally welded, bonded together on a special heat metal plate fixture, or joined by adhesives, are "non-recyclable". The two piece design also places severe constraints on the types of resins which may be used since they must be inert to the reagents as well as "bondable" to each other. Because of this and the elimination of assembly tooling and procedures, the cartridge of the invention has a lower production cost.
The single piece cartridge of this invention has molded-in threads for one or more reagent chambers or wells which are adapted to receive screw-on caps including screw-on vented caps. The single piece cartridge may also contain "thinned out" areas strategically located to permit the observation of the fluid levels within the wells at any time. These and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following more detailed description.


Dynamic caching policies and/or dynamic purging policies are provided for modifying the entry and eviction of content to the cache (e.g., storage and/or memory) of a caching server based on the current and past cache performance and/or demand. The caching server may modify or replace a configured policy when cache performance is below one or more thresholds. Modifying the caching policy may change caching behavior of the caching server by changing the conditions that control the content that is entered into cache or the content that is deferred and not entered into cache after a request. This may include assigning different probabilities for entering the same content into cache based on different caching policies. Modifying the purging policy may change eviction behavior of the caching server by changing the conditions that control the cached content that is selected and removed from cache.

A caching server and/or a group of caching servers may be deployed at different network locations to accelerate the distribution of content, services, and/or data to requesting clients in neighboring geographic regions and/or network service regions. The caching servers may use a static caching policy, such as second-hit caching, to fill the cache, and a static purging policy, such as Least Recently Used ("LRU") or Least Frequently Used ("LFU"), to remove content from the cache.
Static caching policies and/or static purging policies may be ideal for managing a large cache (e.g., terabytes worth of storage), and/or managing a cache that experiences a low request volume. In particular, static caching and/or purging policies, when used to manage a large cache, may result in a sufficiently high cache-hit ratio and/or cache performance because of their sheer size. For instance, by the time the large cache is filled and content has to be evicted, there is a high likelihood that the purged content is no longer needed in cache because the purged content has become obsolete, is requested less frequently, or has been updated with newer content. A large cache may be provided by a single caching server, or may be formed from the collective caches of a group of interoperating caching servers.
The same static caching and/or purging policies may not be ideal for managing a small cache and/or a cache that experiences a high request volume. In such cases, the static caching policy may fill the cache too quickly, causing earlier cached content to be evicted too quickly by the static purging policies before demand for the evicted content subsides. Accordingly, the static caching and/or purging policies may lead to a low cache-hit ratio and/or poor cache performance, because the contents of the cache are replaced too frequently due to the small cache size and/or high request volume. The static operation of the static caching and/or purging policies also prevents the cache from adapting to changes in the request stream and/or client demand.