The invention provides a method of producing aqueous, protective colloid stabilized vinyl ester homo- and co-polymer dispersions with a defined solids content by emulsion polymerization in the presence of a protective colloid. The method specifies that a dispersion with a solids content lower than the defined solids content is produced and then thickened to the defined solids content after the polymerization has been completed. The dispersion is thickened by adding a polymer powder which is of the same polymer composition as the emulsion polymerizate and which can be redispersed in water.

1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for preparing aqueous, protective colloid stabilized vinyl ester homopolymer and copolymer dispersions of defined solids content.
2) Background Art
Aqueous, polyvinyl alcohol stabilized dispersions of vinyl ester homopolymers or vinyl ester copolymers are used in particular as adhesives.
Dispersions having particular defined solids contents are required depending on the application in which these dispersions are to be used. Since the solids content of a polymer dispersion cannot be controlled precisely during the polymerization, and can only be increased even after the end of the polymerization by means of technically complex measures, the removal of water in vacuo being one example, which increases the production costs by prolonging the preparation times, the procedure adopted in practice is to prepare polyvinyl ester dispersions with a solids content higher than that required and then dilute the dispersion to the required solids content by adding water.
A problem with this xe2x80x9cwater dilution processxe2x80x9d is that in the range of solids contents which is relevant in practice, of between 40% and 60%, the viscosity of polyvinyl alcohol stabilized polyvinyl ester dispersions does not rise linearly with the solids content; in this range, rather, the viscosity of the dispersions increases exponentially. A consequence of this is that, in the polymerization of dispersions having a solids content higher than that to be established subsequently by water dilution, polymerization is carried out with polymerization batches which are of relatively high viscosity. The relatively high viscosity hinders the dissipation of heat by way of the reactor walls, so necessitating the installation of additional cooling equipment such as reflux condensers, leading to the formation of wall deposits, and, furthermore, markedly increasing the polymerization times. A further disadvantage is that the removal of residual monomers from dispersions of relatively high viscosity is made more difficult.
DE-A 3724331 discloses a process in which the viscosity of aqueous polyvinyl ester dispersions is increased by adding pulverulent copolymers of vinyl alcohol-1-methylvinyl alcohol copolymers. With these rheological additives it is, indeed, possible to increase markedly the viscosity of the dispersions with a virtually unchanged solids content; however, this rheological additive does alter the performance properties of the dispersions. For example, even low-level additions of these additives, which are readily soluble in cold water, impair the water resistance.
In order to increase the solids content it is proposed in a number of patent applications, for example, EP-A 614922 (US-A 5430092), EP-A 567812 (US-A 5340858), EP-A 708122, and WO-A 96/11234, to prepare the polymer dispersions in the presence of seed latices which are included in whole or in part in the initial charge or are metered in their entirety, giving polymer dispersions having a biomodal particle size distribution. A disadvantage of this procedure is the predominantly highly complex process regime. Furthermore, although dispersions of high solids content are obtainable by means of this procedure, this solids content also can no longer be increased subsequently.
The object was therefore to provide a process for preparing aqueous, protective colloid stabilized polyvinyl ester dispersions by means of which polymer dispersions of defined solids content are obtainable without the occurrence of the abovementioned disadvantages of the water dilution process, without the need for complex process steps, and without adversely affecting the performance properties of the polymer dispersions.
The invention provides a process for preparing aqueous, protective colloid stabilized vinyl ester homopolymer and copolymer dispersions of defined solids content by emulsion polymerization in the presence of protective colloid, characterized in that it comprises preparing a dispersion with a solids content lower than the defined solids content and, after the end of the polymerization, thickening the dispersion to the defined solids content by adding water-redispersible polymer powder of the same polymer composition, and prepared by the same process with subsequent drying, as the emulsion polymer.
The procedure of the invention is suitable for polymerizing one or more monomers from the group of the vinyl esters of unbranched or branched alkylcarboxylic acids having 1 to 15 carbon atoms, or mixtures of said vinyl ester monomers with one or more comonomers from the group of the methacrylic esters and acrylic esters of unbranched or branched alcohols having 1 to 12 carbon atoms, the fumaric and maleic monoesters or diesters of unbranched or branched alcohols having 1 to 12 carbon atoms, the dienes such as butadiene or isoprene, the olefins such as ethene or propene, the vinyl halides such as vinyl chloride.
Preferred vinyl esters are vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, vinyl butyrate, vinyl 2-ethylhexanoate, vinyl laurate, 1-methylvinyl acetate, vinyl pivalate and vinyl esters of alpha-branched monocarboxylic acids having 5 to 11 carbon atoms, for example, VeoVa9(copyright) or VeoVa10(copyright) (trade names of Shell). Vinyl acetate is particularly preferred.
Preferred methacrylic esters or acrylic esters are methyl acrylate, methyl methacrylate, ethyl acrylate, ethyl methacrylate, propyl acrylate, propyl methacrylate, n-butyl acrylate, t-butyl acrylate, n-butyl methacrylate, t-butyl methacrylate, and 2-ethylhexyl acrylate.
Preferred ester groups of the fumaric and maleic acid are methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, iso-propyl, n-butyl, iso-butyl, t-butyl, hexyl, ethylhexyl, and dodecyl groups.
If desired it is also possible to copolymerize from 0.05 to 10.0% by weight of auxiliary monomers, based on the overall weight of the monomer mixture. Examples of auxiliary monomers are ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acids, preferably acrylic acid or methacrylic acid; ethylenically unsaturated carboxamides, preferably acrylamides; ethylenically unsaturated sulfonic acids and/or their salts, preferably vinylsulfonic acid, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid. Further examples are precrosslinking comonomers such as polyethylenically unsaturated comonomers, for example, divinyl adipate, diallyl maleate, allyl methacrylate or triallyl cyanurate, or postcrosslinking comonomers, for example, acrylamidoglycolic acid (AGA), methacrylamidoglycolic acid methyl ester (MAGME), N-methylolacrylamide (NMA), N-methylolmethacrylamide, N-methylolallylcarbamate, alkyl ethers, such as the isobutoxy ether, or esters of N-methylolacrylamide, of N-methylolmethacrylamide or of N-methylolallylcarbamate.
Examples of preferred vinyl ester polymers which comprise if desired said auxiliary monomer units in the stated amounts are:
vinyl acetate and vinylpropionate polymers;
vinyl ester-ethylene copolymers such as vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymers having an ethylene content of from 1 to 60% by weight;
vinyl ester-ethylene-vinyl chloride copolymers having an ethylene content of from 1 to 40% by weight and a vinyl chloride content of from 20 to 90% by weight, vinyl esters present being preferably vinyl acetate and/or vinylpropionate and/or one or more copolymerizable vinyl esters such as vinyl laurate, vinyl pivalate, vinyl 2-ethylhexanoic acid ester, vinyl esters of an alpha-branched carboxylic acid, especially Versatic acid vinyl esters;
vinyl acetate copolymers with from 1 to 50% by weight of one or more copolymerizable vinyl esters such as vinyl laurate, vinyl pivalate, vinyl 2-ethylhexanoic acid ester, vinyl esters of an alpha-branched carboxylic acid, especially Versatic acid vinyl esters (VeoVa9(copyright), VeoVa10(copyright)), which if desired also contain from 1 to 40% by weight of ethylene;
vinyl ester-acrylic ester copolymers with from 30 to 90% by weight of vinyl ester, especially vinyl acetate, and from 1 to 60% by weight of acrylic ester, especially n-butyl acrylate or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, which if desired also contain from 1 to 40% by weight of ethylene;
vinyl ester-acrylic ester copolymers with from 30 to 75% by weight of vinyl acetate, from 1 to 30% by weight of vinyl laurate or vinyl esters of an alpha-branched carboxylic acid, especially Versatic acid vinyl ester, from 1 to 30% by weight of acrylic ester, especially n-butyl acrylate or 2-ethylhexyl acrylate, which if desired also contain from 1 to 40% by weight of ethylene;
vinyl ester copolymers with esters of maleic acid or fumaric acid such as diisopropyl, di-n-butyl, di-t-butyl, di-ethylhexyl, methyl t-butyl esters, for example, vinyl acetate copolymers with from 10 to 60% by weight of one or more of said maleic/fumaric esters, which if desired also contain ethylene or further copolymerizable vinyl esters such as vinyl laurate or Versatic acid vinyl esters.
Examples of suitable protective colloids are polyvinyl alcohols having a content of from 75 to 100 mol %, preferably from 78 to 95 mol %, of vinyl alcohol units and a Hxc3x6ppler viscosity of from 10 to 25 mPas, polyvinylpyrrolidones having a molecular weight of preferably from 5000 to 400,000; poly-saccharides in water-soluble form such as starches (amylose and amylopectin), celluloses and their carboxymethyl, methyl, hydroxyethyl, hydroxypropyl derivatives, for example, hydroxyethylcelluloses having a degree of substitution range of from 1.5 to 3; proteins such as casein, soya protein, gelatin; ligninsulfonates, synthetic polymers such as poly (meth) acrylic acid, poly (meth) acrylamide, poly-vinylsulfonic acids and water-soluble copolymers thereof; melamine-formaldehyde sulfonates, naphthalene-formaldehyde sulfonates, styrene-maleic acid copolymers and vinyl ether-maleic acid copolymers.
Greatest preference is given to partially saponified polyvinyl alcohols with from 78 to 95 mol % of vinyl alcohol units and a Hxc3x6ppler viscosity from 10 to 25 mPas (4% strength aqueous solution, method of Hxc3x6ppler in accordance with DIN 53015). Said partially saponified polyvinyl alcohols can also be used, if desired, in a mixture with further protective colloids from the abovementioned group. The protective colloids are generally used in an amount of from 1 to 15% by weight, based on the overall weight of the monomers.
In addition to the protective colloid it is also possible if desired to use emulsifiers in the polymerization. The amounts added are in this case generally from 0.01 to 1% by weight, based on the overall weight of the monomers. Suitable emulsifiers are, for example, anionic surfactants, such as alkyl sulfates having a chain length of 8 to 18 carbon atoms, alkyl and alkylaryl ether sulfates having 8 to 18 carbon atoms in the hydrophobic radical and up to 40 ethylene or propylene oxide units, alkyl- or alkylarylsulfonates having 8 to 18 carbon atoms, esters and monoesters of sulfosuccinic acid with monovalent alcohols or alkylphenols. Suitable nonionic surfactants are, for example, alkyl polyglycol ethers or alkylaryl polyglycol ethers having from 8 to 40 ethylene oxide units.
The polymerization can be conducted batchwise or continuously, with or without the use of seed latices, with all or individual constituents of the reaction mixture being included in the initial charge, or with the constituents, or certain constituents, of the reaction mixture being included in part in the initial charge and in part metered in subsequently, or by the metering process without an initial charge. Normally, the makeup water is included in its entirety in the initial charge together with the vinyl ester monomer fraction. The dispersants, such as protective colloid and, if appropriate, emulsifiers, can be included in whole or in part in the initial charge.
The polymerization is preferably conducted within a temperature range from 40xc2x0 C. to 80xc2x0 C. and initiated with the methods commonly used for emulsion polymerization. In the case of the copolymerization of gaseous comonomers such as ethylene the reaction is operated under pressure; it is preferred to operate under a pressure of up to 40 bar abs.
Initiation takes place by means of the water-soluble free-radical initiators which are customary for emulsion polymerization, and which are used preferably in amounts of from 0.01 to 1.0% by weight, based on the overall weight of the monomers. Examples thereof are ammonium persulfate and potassium persulfate, alkyl hydroperoxides, such as t-butyl hydroperoxide; hydrogen peroxide. If desired, said free-radical initiators can also be combined in a known manner with from 0.01 to 0.5% by weight, based on the overall weight of the monomers, of reducing agents. Suitable reducing agents are, for example, formaldehyde sulfoxylate salts, sodium bisulfite or ascorbic acid. The initiator can be included in whole or in part in the initial charge or can be added continuously or in stages in the course of the polymerization. In the case of redox initiation, one or both redox catalyst components are preferably metered during the polymerization.
The pH range desired for the polymerization, which generally lies between 3 and 7, can be established in a known manner by means of acids, bases or customary buffer salts, such as alkali metal phosphates or alkali metal carbonates. For adjusting molecular weight it is possible to add the commonly used regulators during the polymerization, for example, mercaptans, aldehydes and chlorinated hydrocarbons.
After the end of the polymerization, the dispersion can be distilled, or stripped with steam or inert gas, in order to reduce further the content of volatile constituents. These procedures are known to the skilled worker and therefore require no further explanation.
The polymerization is generally conducted so as to result in a solids content of from 30 to 65% by weight, preferably from 40 to 50% by weight. The level of the solids content aimed at after the end of the polymerization depends in this case on the viscosity of the resulting dispersion, which should not exceed a value of from 10,000 to 15,000 mPas (Brookfield viscosity at 20 r).
The water-redispersible polymer powder which is added to the polymer dispersion in order to increase the solids content has the same composition as the polymer of the aqueous polymer dispersion and is prepared with the same process. The drying of the dispersion thus obtained can take place by means of spray drying, freeze drying or fluidized bed drying. Preference is given to spray drying in customary spray drying facilities, where atomization can take place by means of single-, dual- or multi-substance nozzles or with a rotating disk. The exit temperature is generally chosen within the range from 55xc2x0 C. to 100xc2x0 C., preferably from 65xc2x0 C. to 90xc2x0 C., depending on the facility, the Tg of the resin, and the desired degree of drying.
If desired, one or more of the abovementioned protective colloids used in the polymerization can be added to the dispersion as an atomization aid for spray drying. In the case of this process step, preference is given to the addition of from 5 to 20% by weight of protective colloid.
The water-redispersible polymer powder is incorporated into the aqueous dispersion by means of conventional mixer-stirrer units. The amount added depends on the target solids content. In general, solids contents of from 50 to 75% by weight, preferably from 50 to 65% by weight, are established. The viscosity of the dispersions in this case is from 20,000 to 60,000 mPas (Brookfield viscosity at 20 r).
The dispersions prepared in accordance with the invention are suitable as adhesives for the adhesive bonding of porous substrates such as wood, paperboard and paper. The adhesive dispersions are particularly suitable as wood adhesives, wood flooring adhesives, packaging adhesives and bookbinding adhesives.
For these applications, the adhesive dispersions can be modified with the corresponding additives. Suitable additives are fillers such as chalk or gypsum. It is also possible to add wetting agents, dispersing agents, thickeners, defoamers and/or preservatives to the adhesive dispersion.
Specifically for application as wood adhesive, in order to increase the resistance to cold and hot water, it is possible to add the crosslinking agents customary for this purpose, for example, water-soluble metal salts of monobasic acids such as Al(III) and Zr(IV) salts. It is preferred to add aluminum chloride and aluminum nitrate.
With the procedure according to the invention it is possible to obtain dispersions having a high solids content without the occurrence of the disadvantages of the processes from the prior art, such as long polymerization times, complex process regimes. The performance properties of the dispersions are not adversely affected by the procedure according to the invention. Above all, the drastic reduction in the polymerization time brings considerable economic advantages.
The examples which follow serve to further elucidate the invention:
In a 120 l reactor with automatic metering devices, temperature regulation, anchor stirrer, jacket heat dissipation system and reflux condenser, 25 kg of vinyl acetate were emulsified in 50 l of an aqueous 10% polyvinyl alcohol solution. The polyvinyl alcohol had a degree of hydrolysis of 88 mol % and a viscosity of 26 mPas (4% strength aqueous solution). Subsequently, the mixture was heated to 60xc2x0 C. and the polymerization was started using the initiator system ascorbic acid/ammonium persulfate, with 0.1% of acetaldehyde as a 10% strength aqueous solution being metered in parallel with the initiator metering. About 10 minutes after the onset of the polymerization, the vinyl acetate/water azeotrope came to boiling, the temperature regulation and the initiator metering being controlled in such a way that a moderate reflux of the azeotrope over the reflux condenser was established. Thereafter, a further 30 kg of vinyl acetate were metered in such that the moderate reflux of the azeotrope was retained. After a reaction time of about 6 hours, the polymerization was at an end.
The resulting dispersion had a solids content of about 57% and a Brookfield viscosity of about 60,000 mPas at 20 r. In order to establish the target solids content of 50%, the dispersion was diluted with 15 l of water. A dispersion was obtained having a solids content of 50% and a Brookfield viscosity of 15,000 mPas at 20 r.

Process for preparing aqueous, protective colloid stabilized vinyl ester homopolymer and copolymer dispersions


A piezoelectric motor for moving and positioning a load, the motor comprising: a piezoelectric vibrator having a plurality of electrodes and a coupling surface which is pressed to a load; and a power supply selectively operable to electrify at least one vibrator electrode with time varying voltage to generate vibrations in the coupling surface that step the load to a desired position or to electrify at least one vibrator electrode with DC voltage to displace the coupling surface and move thereby the load to a desired position, which DC voltage the power supply maintains to maintain the load at the desired position.

Piezoelectric motors that are able to move a load from a first position to a second position relatively rapidly, even when moving the element requires translating and/or rotating the load by a relatively large distance and/or angle, are known in the art. Generally, such a piezoelectric motor comprises a piezoelectric vibrator having electrodes on surfaces thereon and a power supply that electrifies the electrodes with an AC voltage to generate high frequency elliptical vibrations in the vibrator. The vibrator has a coupling surface, often a "friction nub" formed from a relatively hard, wear resistant material mounted to a surface of the vibrator, which is resiliently pressed to a surface of a load that the motor moves.
To move the load, the power supply electrifies the electrodes to excite vibrations in the vibrator and as a result vibrations in the coupling surface. During each vibration cycle of the vibrator, vibratory motion of the coupling surface steps the load by a relatively small distance in a desired direction towards the second position. As a result of the high frequency of the vibrations, the motor moves the load by a large number of steps each second and thereby at a relatively high velocity.
However, there is often a need for such motors to be able to position a load that they move to an accuracy that is better than a small number of nanometers and controlling such motors to provide the required positioning accuracy is generally difficult. In addition, once a piezoelectric motor has positioned a load it is often required to reposition the load by moving it by accurately controlled nanometer distances equal to or less than a few nanometers or tens of nanometers or sub-nanometer distances. Controlling a piezoelectric motor to provide such performance is also generally difficult.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,980, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes electrifying electrodes of a piezoelectric motor with unipolar pulses to control the motor to accurately position a load at a desired location. U.S. application Ser. No. 09/980,375, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, describes controlling the step size of a piezoelectric motor by controlling motion of the motor's coupling surface perpendicular to the load independently of motion of the coupling surface parallel to the load to accurately position the load.


A system for expanding the operation and play of gaming devices such as slot machines is disclosed. It employs an enhanced gaming device including an audio and a video channel between the gaming device and a central location manned by one or more concierges who can communicate with the player, answer questions, make reservations and, in general, attend to the requests of the player. Selected video displays under the control of the concierge are substituted for the normal video display such as a pay table at the gaming device. Communication is initiated by the player by lifting a handset, operating a call button or by inserting a club card into a card slot. Any of these actions will place the call in a queue for answering. If a club card was inserted, player data is displayed before a concierge and the player views an image of the concierge. Player requests may then be addressed. Other calls are likewise addressed. Machine malfunction, jackpot win and coin in/coin out data also trigger concierge response. A variety of locally controlled video presentations may be provided. The system includes video, audio and data communication and storage. Optionally, video communication from the player to the concierge is provided. In the event of a machine malfunction, the concierge is alerted and may request technician attention. Non club card initiation of communication are prioritized with club card system operation.

In the gaming industry, a vast majority of games involve multiple players in the same location. Often a representative of the casino or house is present with a number of players around a common table. There is regular interaction between the players and with the dealer or representative of the house.
A major and perhaps most popular form of gaming, however, remains the free standing gaming device such as a slot machine controlled manually by the player with payment or credits for amounts won less than a machine defined jackpot. Some players develop a possessive feeling with respect to a particular machine at a particular time and their only contact with other players is perhaps conversation with an adjacent player or with a cocktail waitress or change attendant. It is primarily a solo gaming activity.
The players are often reluctant to leave the machine for change or other reasons and in most cases, the house or casino has no knowledge of the players identity, time or amount of play or needs, desires, or location of the player.
One advance in providing information to the house or casino of the player's identity and amount and time and machine played is through the use of card clubs in which there is a card issued to a player, usually at no cost, and a card slot in the gaming device which the player inserts providing identity of the player and the machine and time and amount of play. The card club is usually used to provide bonuses and incentives to the regular and major players of the gaming devices. This has opened the door to the knowledge of which player plays which machines and how much play in return for certain house benefits. The system providing for such communication is available from International Gaming Technology, Inc. of Reno, Nev. as their slot club player tracking system or other similar systems such as produced by Casino Data Systems, Inc. of Las Vegas, Nev.
In progressive play gaming devices, there has been developed intergame data transfer to the extent that multiple machine play can result in progressive jackpots and provide an incentive for players to participate in the progressive jackpot. Examples of such systems are disclosed in the following U.S. Patents:
______________________________________ 5,249,800 Hilgendorf et al October 5, 1993 5,280,909 D.A. Tracy January 25, 1994 ______________________________________
One attempt to encourage a player to remain at a machine by providing entertainment TV while playing is disclosed in the following U.S. Patent:
______________________________________ 5,259,613 A.A. Marnell, II November 3, 1993 ______________________________________
Other patents providing a degree of data transfer between gaming devices and a central location are shown in the following patents:
______________________________________ 5,429,361 Raven et al July 4, 1995 5,470,079 LeStrange et al November 28, 1995 ______________________________________
Still, the gaming device player constitutes a solo customer having very little interaction with his host.

Gaming device communications and service system


This invention relates to a speed monitor apparatus for monitoring speed and acceleration of rotating turbine equipment (turbomachinery) and for operating an overspeed trip to shut down the equipment in the event that the speed or acceleration exceed predetermined thresholds. The invention provides a speed monitor module wherein the speed monitor module may be may be plugged in to the same chassis as a module which is controlling the speed of the turbine, and wherein the turbine speed monitor is arranged to receive configuration parameters relating to the overspeed threshold and the overacceleration threshold only when the turbine is operating at a speed lower than a predetermined threshold.

This invention relates to a speed monitor apparatus for monitoring speed and acceleration of rotating turbine equipment (turbomachinery) and for operating an overspeed trip to shut down the equipment in the event that the speed or acceleration exceed predetermined thresholds.
Turbomachinery is used in many industries including oil and gas production and refining, chemical production and processing, power generation, paper and textile mills ands sewage treatment plants.
It is desirable that turbines used in such industries have some form of overspeed protection system which will shut down the turbine in the event that a fault condition causes the turbine to rotate too quickly or for the speed of rotation to accelerate too quickly.
This invention provides improvements to known electronic overspeed protection systems.


A method, system and computer program product for obtaining the reliability values for the hard decisions obtained by a Viterbi equalizer in a wireless communication system. A difference parameter is obtained for each Viterbi state at a stage while advancing the Viterbi trellis by the stage. The difference parameter for a Viterbi state at a stage is obtained by subtracting the path metric of the non-surviving path from the path metric of the surviving path for the Viterbi state at the stage. The difference parameter corresponding to the Viterbi state on the ML path at a stage is used as the reliability value for the hard decision obtained at L stages behind the stage, where L is the memory of the Viterbi trellis. A method for obtaining the accurate reliability values for the hard decisions corresponding to the last L stages of a truncated Viterbi trellis is also provided.

The present invention relates to a soft output Viterbi algorithm for use in wireless communication systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to an optimized method of obtaining the reliability values for hard decisions obtained by a Viterbi equalizer.
In wireless communication, the transmission channel introduces an Inter Symbol Interference (ISI) in the received signal. An equalizer is used in the wireless receiver to estimate the transmitted signal in the presence of the ISI. A method of equalization, known as maximum likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE), determines the sequence of symbols that is most likely to have been transmitted by the transmitter. MLSE is commonly used in wireless receivers such as the Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK) receivers used in the Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication systems. MLSE equalizers use an algorithm known as the Viterbi algorithm, to estimate the maximum likelihood sequence.
The conventional Viterbi algorithm obtains results in the form of the most likely transmitted symbols. However, the algorithm does not provide any information regarding the reliability or likelihood of the obtained results. Therefore, the estimated transmitted symbols are called hard decisions. Further, the hard decisions obtained by the Viterbi equalizer are used by an outer decoder to obtain the decoded transmitted symbols. The performance of the outer decoder depends on the reliability of the hard decisions. The performance of the outer decoder can be enhanced by the knowledge of the reliability of the hard decisions. A modified Viterbi algorithm, known as the Soft Output Viterbi Algorithm (SOVA), obtains the reliability of the hard decisions. The conventional Viterbi algorithm is first described with reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2 and FIG. 3. Thereafter, an implementation of the SOVA is described.
The Viterbi algorithm estimates the maximum likelihood transmitted signal at the wireless receiver, using the prior knowledge of the received signal, the channel impulse response, and the possible values of transmitted symbols. In order to use the knowledge of the possible values of the transmitted symbols, the MLSE equalizer is implemented as a state machine. The possible states of the equalizer are based on the possible values of the previous L transmitted symbols, where L is the memory of the channel, i.e., the length of the inter symbol interference introduced in the channel. Further, the state transition of the equalizer at a stage is decided by using the channel impulse response and the symbol received at that stage. To efficiently use the information available with the wireless receiver, the Viterbi algorithm uses a Viterbi trellis to represent the states and state transitions of the equalizer. The maximum likelihood sequence of the transmitted symbols is estimated by traversing the Viterbi trellis and determining a set of maximum likelihood state transitions at each stage.
Referring now primarily to FIG. 1, the Viterbi trellis for stages n and n+1 is hereinafter described. A set 102 of the previous L transmitted symbols define the Viterbi state at stage n. Similarly, a set 104 of the previous L transmitted symbols define the Viterbi state at stage n+1. Assuming two possible values {p1,p2} of the transmitted symbol, 2L Viterbi states are possible at a stage. These Viterbi states are shown as {S1, S2, . . . ,S2L}. Further, a Viterbi state set S={S1,S2, . . . ,S2L} comprises all possible Viterbi states at a stage. A possible state transition is hereinafter referred to as a branch. In a Viterbi trellis, two branches originate from each Viterbi state at a stage. Each of these branches corresponds to a possible value of the transmitted symbol. For example, branches 106 and 110, originating from Viterbi state S1 at stage n, correspond to the transmitted symbols p1 and p2, respectively. Further, two branches lead to each state at a stage. For example, branches 106 and 108 lead to Viterbi state S1 at stage n+1. A series of branches (state transitions) is hereinafter referred to as a path.
The Viterbi algorithm uses the Viterbi trellis to estimate the most likely sequence of transmitted symbols. The Viterbi algorithm involves performing a set of steps for each stage, hereinafter referred to as advancing the Viterbi trellis by a stage. The steps involve determining one surviving path leading to each Viterbi state at the stage, and taking a decision regarding a symbol at a finite number of stages N preceding the current stage. After the Viterbi trellis has been advanced by a stage, only one path for each Viterbi state at the stage survives. Therefore, only two possible paths leading to each Viterbi state at the subsequent stage remain. For example, paths 112 and 114 survive for Viterbi states S1 and S2 at stage n−1. Correspondingly, two paths leading to Viterbi state S1 remain at stage n. Once the surviving paths are determined at stage n, a decision is taken regarding a symbol at a finite number of stages N preceding stage n. The method of determining surviving paths and taking the decision is repeated at each stage of the Viterbi trellis, to estimate a maximum likelihood sequence of symbols. The method of determining surviving paths is described with reference to FIG. 2. Further, the method of estimating the maximum likelihood sequence of symbols is described with reference to FIG. 3.
Referring now primarily to FIG. 2, the method of determining surviving paths for stage n, is hereinafter described. At step 202, the received signal is convolved with the conjugate of the time-inverted channel, to obtain a symbol yn representing the received symbol at stage n. Thereafter, the first Viterbi state from Viterbi state set S is considered as state Sk at step 204. Two possible paths lead to Viterbi state Sk at a stage n+1. At step 206, a path metrics for the first possible path, leading to Viterbi state Sk at stage n+1, is obtained by using the relation
                                          CM            n                                          (                                          I                n                            ,                              S                k                                      )                          =                                            CM                              n                -                1                                                                (                                                I                                      n                    -                    1                                                  ,                                  S                                      k                    ′                                                              )                                +                      2                        ℛ                                      {                                                I                  n                                *                                  y                  n                                            }                                -                      2                        ℛ                                      {                                                I                  n                                *                                                      ∑                                          m                      =                      1                                        L                                                                                I                                              n                        -                        m                                                              *                                          x                      m                                                                                }                                -                                                                                      I                  n                                                            2                                                  x              0                                                          (        1        )            where In denotes the transmitted symbol at stage n, Sk′ is the Viterbi state on the first possible path at stage n, CMn(In,Sk) is the path metric of a possible path leading to Viterbi state Sk at stage n+1, as obtained at stage n, CMn−1(In−1,Sk′) is the path metric of the surviving path leading to stage Sk′ at stage n, as obtained at stage n−1, set {In−m,m∈[1,L],m∈I} corresponds to Viterbi state Sk, and xm is the autocorrelation value of the channel impulse response for the time delay of m stages. Further, (In*yn) is the ISI term for stage n. At step 208, the path metric for the second possible path is similarly obtained. At step 210, the path with a higher path metric among the above two possible paths is selected as the surviving path for Viterbi state Sk at stage n+1. The possible path not selected as the surviving path, is considered as the non-surviving path at Viterbi state Sk at stage n. At step 212, it is checked whether Viterbi state Sk is the last state of Viterbi state set S. If the Viterbi state Sk is not found to be the last Viterbi state, then the next state from Viterbi state set S is considered as state Sk at step 214. Steps 206, 208 and 210 are then repeated for the new state Sk. Therefore, the surviving paths leading to all the states of Viterbi state set S is determined at stage n.
Referring now primarily to FIG. 3, the method of estimating the maximum likelihood sequence of symbols is hereinafter described. The stage of the Viterbi trellis corresponding to the first symbol to be equalized is considered as stage n, at step 302. At step 303, estimated ISI terms for all Viterbi states are pre-computed. A method of pre-computing the ISI terms is disclosed in co-pending application titled "Efficient Implementation of GSM/GPRS Equalizer" Ser. No. 10/909,232 filed Jul. 30, 2004. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various other methods of pre-computation of ISI terms may be employed without deviating from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
At step 304, the Viterbi trellis is then advanced by stage n, in accordance with the method described with reference to FIG. 2. Therefore, step 304 obtains 2L surviving paths, each corresponding to a Viterbi state. Thereafter, the path with the highest path metric is selected from these surviving paths as a maximum likelihood (ML) path at stage n at step 306. At step 308, a trace back along the ML path by a finite number of stages N is performed. A series of branches at multiple stages constitute a path. Also, a branch at a stage corresponds to a state transition, which, in turn, corresponds to a symbol at that stage. Therefore, a path corresponds to a series of symbols. Therefore, step 308 of tracing back determines the symbols at previous stages along the ML path. At step 310, the symbol determined at stage n−N is established as the symbol transmitted at stage n−N by tracing back. At step 312, it is verified whether stage n is the last stage to be equalized. If stage n is not found to be the last stage to be equalized, then the next stage is considered to be stage n at step 314. Steps 304 to 310 are then repeated for the new stage n. Therefore, a sequence of hard decisions, corresponding to the transmitted symbols, is obtained by the above method.
The Soft Output Viterbi Algorithm (SOVA) obtains the reliability values for the hard decisions obtained by the conventional Viterbi algorithm. An implementation of SOVA is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,209, publication date Jan. 19, 1993, titled "Method for generalizing the Viterbi algorithm and devices for executing the method", to Deutsche Forschungsanstalt fur Luft-und Raumfahrt E.V. The patent provides a method of generalizing the conventional Viterbi algorithm, in which the difference costs from two arriving paths are calculated for each Viterbi state. The reliability value at the beginning of each path is set at a high value. Then the reliability value of the ML path is updated at the points where the hard decisions differ from the competing path. The updating is performed in accordance with a table, in which the prior reliability value and the difference costs are inserted into the table as the new input values. Then this new value is taken from the table and is stored, together with hard decisions, as the path memory. Therefore, additional storage at each stage is required compared to the conventional Viterbi algorithm. Finally the reliability value is read out after a decision delay from the stage which provides the result for the ML path. The above-mentioned and other methods of obtaining the reliability values for hard decisions add computational complexity to the conventional Viterbi algorithm. These methods also require additional storage at each stage. Therefore, there exists a need for an implementation of SOVA, which can obtain reliability values in a computationally efficient manner.
In digital communication systems such as GSM, the symbols are transmitted in the form of data bursts. A data burst is a set of symbols comprising control symbols, in addition to data symbols. A data burst, used in GSM, comprises two 58-symbol data sets, and a 26-symbol training sequence in the midamble. The header and footer of the GSM data burst comprise three tail symbols each. The tail symbols and the symbols of the training sequence are known in advance to the wireless receiver. For such data bursts, the Viterbi algorithm uses the known tail symbols to terminate the advancement of the Viterbi trellis. If the last L symbols of a data burst are already known to the receiver, the Viterbi state at the last stage of the trellis can be uniquely determined, since the Viterbi state at a stage depends on previous L symbols. Further, as only one Viterbi state is possible at the last stage, only one path survives at the last stage of the trellis. This path is selected as the maximum likelihood path. However, in certain wireless communication systems, the number of known tail symbols is less than the memory of the channel. For example, in the GSM data burst, three tail symbols are present. However, the memory of the channel, and hence the memory of the Viterbi trellis, is four. In such cases, more than one path survives at the last stage of the Viterbi trellis. The surviving path with highest path metric is selected as the ML path. Such a Viterbi trellis is known as the truncated Viterbi trellis. In an equalization that uses a truncated Viterbi trellis, the reliability value of the hard decision is critical for the performance of the outer decoder.
An approach to solve the above-mentioned insufficient number of tail bits problem pre-processes the received signal, to reduce the affect of ISI. The pre-processed received signal is then equalized, using a Viterbi equalizer with a memory less than the memory of the channel. Therefore, the required memory of a Viterbi equalizer can be reduced to the number of tail bits available. This approach suffers with the low accuracy of the hard decisions in estimating of the transmitted symbols. Further, for a truncated trellis, the SOVA implementation discussed above, provides the hard decisions by selecting the ML path from the paths surviving at the last stage, on the basis of the path metrics. However, they fail to provide a method of obtaining reliability values for the last L symbols. Therefore, there is a need of a method which can provide accurate hard decisions, along with a method of obtaining the reliability values for all the symbols of a data burst.

Modified soft output Viterbi algorithm for truncated trellis


A method for communicating digital display data and associated auxiliary processing data from a frame buffer to a post processor. The method includes storing the display data and the auxiliary processing data in the frame buffer, forming video scan lines from the frame buffer by handling both the display data and the auxiliary processing data as video data, and transferring the video scan lines over a digital video interface to a post-processor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of computer graphics.
2. Related Art
Computer graphics systems typically store digital format display images in a frame buffer, wherein the rows and columns of the frame buffer correspond to the rows and columns of the display monitor. A graphics rendering engine generates and stores the pixels for the display images in the frame buffer. A graphics processor then extracts the pixels for the display images, formats them, and sends them as a video frame. A digital to analog converter between the graphics processor and the display monitor converts the video frame into an analog video signal for the display monitor.
Alternatively, display images may be transferred from the frame buffer to a graphics post-processor which performs additional graphics processing on the display image prior to digital to analog conversion and display. For example, some computer graphics systems interpose post-processing between an image generation system and a display to perform window processing. The display images are supplemented with window ID information provided by the image generation system. Window ID information is generally considered auxiliary pixel data that identifies pixels as part of an area of the display (i.e., a window). Each window ID value is associated with a set of characteristics and features common to pixels within that window. For example, one window may contain monochrome pixels while another contains color pixels. The window ID information is used to modify the display images, which are then transferred to the display. Other computer graphics systems provide post-processing to perform various image enhancements, for example color translation.
In computer graphics systems in general, it is sometimes desired to transfer display images from a frame buffer to a post-processor supplemented with additional auxiliary information, e.g., window ID or illumination intensity. Communicating this auxiliary data from the image generation system to the post-processor has typically required implementing custom interfaces, for example, by providing a separate auxiliary data interface or by adding special operational modes to a video interface. Such custom interfaces, however, add cost and significant complexity.
Although various techniques are known for supplementing analog video data with additional information encoded during the blanking intervals, a digital data format and transfer mechanism is desired since both the frame buffer and post-processor handle data in a digital format. In addition, digital displays with digital interfaces are now being used.
Known digital video interfaces, such as the Digital Visual Interface (DVI), are available which can transfer display images in a digital format (as opposed to analog), but they do not provide the capability to supplement the display images with additional information. In particular, many known digital video interfaces do not permit the transfer of data during the blanking intervals.

System and method for communicating digital display data and auxiliary processing data within a computer graphics system


Embodiments of a golf club head comprising a club head body and a sole mass element are described herein. The club head comprises a center of gravity height measured between a club head center of gravity and at least one keel point. The club head comprises a face surface, wherein the face surface defines a face height. The club head defines a ratio of club head center of gravity height to face height, wherein the ratio is less than or equal to approximately 0.36.

Various characteristics of a golf club including the center of gravity and moment of inertia of the club head of the golf club can affect the performance of the golf club. The center of gravity and moment of inertia of the club head of the golf club are functions of the distribution of mass of the club head. In particular, distributing mass of the club head to be closer to a sole of the club head, farther from a face of the club head, and/or closer to toe and heel ends of the club head can alter the center of gravity and/or the moment of inertia of the club head. For example, distributing mass of the club head to be closer to the sole of the club head and/or farther from the face of the club head can increase a flight angle of a golf ball struck with the club head. Meanwhile, increasing the flight angle of a golf ball can increase the distance the golf ball travels. Further, distributing mass of the club head to be closer to the toe and/or heel ends of the club head can affect the moment of inertia of the club head, which can alter the forgiveness of the golf club.
For simplicity and clarity of illustration, the drawing figures illustrate the general manner of construction, and descriptions and details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Additionally, elements in the drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention. The same reference numerals in different figures denote the same elements.
The terms "first," "second," "third," "fourth," and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments described herein are, for example, capable of operation in sequences other than those illustrated or otherwise described herein. Furthermore, the terms "include," and "have," and any variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, device, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not necessarily limited to those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, system, article, device, or apparatus.
The terms "left," "right," "front," "back," "top," "bottom," "over," "under," and the like in the description and in the claims, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the invention described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.
The terms "couple," "coupled," "couples," "coupling," and the like should be broadly understood and refer to connecting two or more elements mechanically and/or otherwise. Two or more mechanical elements may be mechanically coupled together, but not be electrically or otherwise coupled together. Coupling may be for any length of time, e.g., permanent or semi-permanent or only for an instant.
"Mechanical coupling" and the like should be broadly understood and include mechanical coupling of all types.
The absence of the word "removably," "removable," and the like near the word "coupled," and the like does not mean that the coupling, etc. in question is or is not removable.
In many examples as used herein, the term "approximately" can be used when comparing one or more values, ranges of values, relationships (e.g., position, orientation, etc.) or parameters (e.g., velocity, acceleration, mass, temperature, spin rate, spin direction, etc.) to one or more other values, ranges of values, or parameters, respectively, and/or when describing a condition (e.g., with respect to time), such as, for example, a condition of remaining constant with respect to time. In these examples, use of the word "approximately" can mean that the value(s), range(s) of values, relationship(s), parameter(s), or condition(s) are within ±0.5%, ±1.0%, ±2.0%, ±3.0%, ±5.0%, and/or ±10.0% of the related value(s), range(s) of values, relationship(s), parameter(s), or condition(s), as applicable.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Club head with sole mass element and related method


The present disclosure provides systems, methods, and computer-readable storage devices for automatic generation of a design model of a building. To illustrate, a computing device may generate a design model, such as a three-dimensional model of a building, based on criteria and layout information. The design model may indicate a layout of one or more rooms (or other spaces), locations of one or more hallways, doors, windows, furniture, fixtures, or a combination thereof, within the building. The computing device may perform a load analysis based on the design model and enable selection of equipment to be included in the building based on the load analysis. Virtual models of the equipment, and connections between the equipment, may be automatically added to the design model by the computing device, thereby reducing user input and cost, and improving speed, associated with the building design process.

Construction systems enable management of the process of creating buildings, structures, or items. These construction systems typically include multiple different devices, or execute multiple different pieces of software, to enable multiple different workers associated with a construction project to contribute to the building (or other structure or item) design process. To illustrate, a contractor typically receives a set of requirements for a building from a client. The set of requirements may be reviewed and optionally added to by the contractor before the set of requirements are provided to a designer (e.g., an architect). The designer uses the set of requirements to generate a design, such as a floorplan, of rooms, hallways, or other spaces within the building that are needed to comply with the set of requirements. The designer typically uses an associated device (e.g., that operations an associated software or application) to generate the design of the building. The design of the building is then passed to engineers, electricians, plumbers, and others who are tasked with specifying equipment or other items needed to comply with the set of requirements. As an example, an engineer may specify various heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment that is needed to comply with heating and cooling requirements for the building. The engineer may analyze the building design and select various HVAC equipment, as well as specify the location of such HVAC equipment within the design and routing of ducts between the HVAC equipment. As another example, an electrician or electrical engineer may specify locations and types of power outlets, as well as the routing of associated wires, within the design of the building to satisfy electrical requirements and/or electrical regulations. Because each type of equipment is associated with different criteria, regulations, design rules, goals, etc., each of the different engineers may use a different device (or a different piece of software or application) to add their respective equipment to the design of the building. After design and layout of the different types of equipment, another engineer may combine all the various equipment designs with the original building design to generate a final design that incorporates not only the rooms and spaces within the building, but also the various equipment (and associated routing) within the building. When this design is approved the actual construction of the building may begin.
One of the drawbacks commonly associated with conventional construction systems is limited efficiency. For example, the construction system typically includes multiple different devices (or execute multiple different software or applications) to enable each individual user to perform their respective design operations using their specific design skills and knowledge. Using multiple different devices, or multiple different software or applications, increases cost and complexity of the building design process. Additional manpower may also be needed to combine the designs of the different workers (e.g., the architect, the building engineer, the electrical engineer, etc.) into a single usable design. For example, another engineer or programmer may use the construction system to convert different design outputs into a common format, to add the information related to the various equipment to the floorplan, and possibly to convert the floorplan into another format, such as converting a two-dimensional (2D) floorplan to a three-dimensional (3D) model. Such conversion operations are time consuming and expensive.
Additionally, conventional construction systems are not designed to efficiently adapt to changes in designs. To illustrate, if a particular requirement is changed prior to construction, such as a requirement regarding room placement, an equipment requirement, or the like, many or all phases of the building design process have to be reevaluated. For example, a change to a room placement requirement requires a modified floorplan to comply with all of the requirements, which requires additional work by the designer (e.g., the architect). Additionally, the modified floorplan triggers modifications to the selection or placement of HVAC equipment, electrical equipment, plumbing, or other equipment, which requires additional work by various engineers or other workers, as well as additional work to combine the modified designs into a modified final design. Thus, a single modification to the design may require significant extra manpower, in some situations even nullifying some or all of the work that was previously done, which can significantly increase the cost and the duration of the building design process.

Dynamic generation and modification of a design model of a building for a construction project


A liquid ejection head includes a recording element substrate having an ejection port, a support member having a recessed portion and supporting the recording element substrate by a bottom portion of the recessed portion, wiring electrically connected to the recording element substrate and extending between the recording element substrate and a side surface of the recessed portion, a sealant with which the wiring is covered, and a passage formed in the support member and allowing a first region where the sealant is placed and a second region different from the sealed region to communicate with each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid ejection head that ejects a liquid, and a liquid ejection apparatus that has the liquid ejection head mounted thereon and performs recording onto a recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid ejection apparatus typified by an inkjet type liquid ejection apparatus has become widespread, because running cost at the time of recording is relatively inexpensive, and the operation sound is relatively quiet. One example of the liquid ejection head (hereinafter, also called a "recording head") that is mounted on a liquid ejection apparatus is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-6522.
The recording head disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-6522 includes a print head assembly having a nozzle, an electric wiring board such as an electric circuit, and a cartridge body. Note that the nozzle, the print head assembly and the cartridge body are also respectively called an ejection port, a recording element substrate and a support member.
The recording element substrate and the electric wiring board are electrically connected via a plurality of lead terminals. The support member has a recessed portion as a die cavity, and supports the recording element substrate by a bottom portion of the recessed portion. The lead terminal extends between the recording element substrate and a side surface of the recessed portion.
Further, the recording head includes a sealant formed from a thermosetting adhesive. The lead terminals are covered with the sealant, and the electrically connected portions between the lead terminals and the recording element substrate, and the electrically connected portions between the lead terminals and the electric wiring board are protected with use of the sealant.
As the manufacturing method of the recording head disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-6522, the following two methods are cited.
The first method is a method that fixes the recording element substrate and the electric wiring board to the support member, after connecting the recording element substrate and the electric wiring board via the lead terminals, and covering the lead terminals with the sealant. The second method is a method that covers the lead terminals with the sealant, after connecting the recording element substrate and the electric wiring board via the lead terminals and fixing the recording element substrate and the electric wiring board to the support member. The second method has the advantage that at the time of manufacturing the recording head, foreign matters hardly enter the nozzle plate in which the ejection port is formed.
The second method will be described in more detail. The sealant is applied onto the lead terminals after the recording element substrate and the electric wiring board are fixed to the support member, and the sealant flows into the gap between the recording element substrate and the side surface of the recessed portion from between the adjacent lead terminals. The gap is filled with the sealant, whereby the lead terminals are buried in the sealant. As a result, the lead terminals are covered with use of the sealant.
In the second method, in the case of the sealant being caused to flow into the aforementioned gap by one coating operation, the sealant traps air in the gap, and bubbles are sometimes formed in the gap. The bubbles rapidly expand at the time of curing by heating. By rapid expansion of bubbles, the sealant is scattered, and the lead terminals are not sealed by the sealant. As a result, imperfect sealing is likely to occur.
In the recording head disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-6522, an atmosphere communication passage that discharges gas is formed in the support member in order to restrain formation of bubbles and rapid expansion of the bubbles as above. One opening of the atmosphere communication passage is located in a side surface of the recessed portion, and the other opening of the atmosphere communication passage is located in an outer peripheral surface of the support member.
When the sealant is injected into the gap, the gas in the gap between the recording element substrate and the side surface of the recessed portion is discharged to the outside of the recording head through the atmosphere communication passage. Accordingly, the gas in the gap becomes difficult to trap by the sealant, and bubbles become difficult to form. Further, even if bubbles are formed, the gas in the bubbles is discharged to the outside through the atmosphere communication passage when the sealant is cured by heating. Therefore, the sealant is difficult to scatter, and imperfect sealing hardly occurs.
Incidentally, in a liquid ejection apparatus, a liquid (an ink) sometimes adheres to the ejection port by drying, and the recording head is brought into a state incapable of ejection. Therefore, a liquid ejection apparatus is proposed, which includes a cap and a suction pump for restraining adhesion of the ink in the ejection port, and returning the recording head that is in a state incapable of ejection into a state capable of ejection.
With the cap, at least the recording element substrate and the opening of the recessed portion are covered, and the recessed portion is hermetically sealed, when the recording head does not eject an ink. The recessed portion is hermetically sealed with use of the cap, whereby the ink hardly dries, and the ink hardly adheres to the ejection port.
The suction pump is connected to the cap. The suction pump operates and sucks the ink, in the state in which the opening of the recessed portion of the support member is covered with the cap. The ink is sucked to a cap side, whereby the ink adhering to the ejection port is removed, and the recording head returns to the state capable of ejection.
However, in the recording head disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-6522, adhesion of the ink cannot be sufficiently restrained, and the adhering ink cannot be sometimes removed with use of the suction pump, even if the opening of the recessed portion of the support member is covered with use of the cap. Hereinafter, the reason will be described specifically.
The coating amount of the sealant at the time of manufacturing the recording head sometimes varies, and when the coating amount of the sealant is not sufficient, one opening of the atmosphere communication passage is not covered with the sealant. Accordingly, even after the sealant is cured, the recessed portion still remains in communication with the outside of the recording head through the atmosphere communication passage. In the recording head disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-6522, the other opening of the atmosphere communication passage is located in the outer peripheral surface of the support member, and is not covered with the cap of the liquid ejection apparatus.
Since the other opening of the atmosphere communication passage is not closed, the recessed portion is not hermetically sealed even when the opening of the recessed portion is covered with the cap. As a result, the ink easily dries, and adherence of the ink cannot be sufficiently restrained. Further, even when the suction pump is operated, the gas outside the recording head is sucked through the atmosphere communication passage, and the adhering ink cannot be removed.

Liquid ejection head and liquid ejection apparatus


One or more methods, apparatuses, and/or systems are disclosed herein for selectively grasping one or more target objects. The apparatus includes a string and a winding mechanism. The winding mechanism is configured to selectively unwind and wind the string, wherein a first portion of the apparatus is configured to be separated from a second portion of the apparatus when the string is unwound and wherein the first and second portions are configured to be adjacent to one another when the string is wound. A plurality of members are pivotally mounted to the apparatus and operably coupled to the winding mechanism, wherein the plurality of members are configured to grasp an object responsive to actuation of a button that is located within an area defined by the plurality of members.

Product manufacturers frequently seek to entertain users. For example, a manufacturer may seek to produce a toy that is interactive in nature. Interactive toys tend to capture a user's interest for a longer period of time relative to non-interactive toys, thereby alleviating a problem or issue of the user quickly becoming disinterested with the toy.
Manufacturers attempt to include as many features (e.g., interactive features) in a product as possible in order to maximize the number of output feature combinations or conditions associated with the product's use. However, maximizing the number of output feature combinations tends to increase the complexity of the product in terms of its use, as well as the cost to fabricate the product. This problem is particularly pronounced in the context of toy products, where a child's parent/guardian may be reluctant to spend very much on the toy, and where the child may quickly become disinterested in a toy if the toy does not include many output features, or if it is too difficult to cause the output features to occur on the toy.

Grappling apparatus and method of operation


A successive approximation (SA) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) capable of estimating its own capacitance weight errors includes a comparator, a capacitor set, a switch set and a controller. The capacitor set includes a primary capacitor array including a plurality of binary-weighted capacitors, and a secondary capacitor array including a plurality of binary-weighted capacitors with known capacitance weights. The controller controls the switch set and repeats the steps of pre-charging the primary capacitor array, redistributing electric charges to the primary capacitor array and the secondary capacitor array, and performing a successive approximation binary searching on the primary capacitor array and the secondary capacitor array to calculate the capacitance weight error of each capacitor in the primary capacitor array. The calculated capacitance weight errors are used for calibrating the output of the successive approximation ADC.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to the estimation of capacitance weight errors, more particularly to a full-digital capacitance weight error estimation method for estimating capacitance weight errors of a digital to analog converter (DAC) in a successive approximation analog to digital converter (ADC), and the successive approximation ADC using the same.
2. Related Art
The ADC is widely used in communication equipments, measurement instruments, and other various electrical devices. Generally, the ADCs may be sorted as flash ADCs, pipelined ADCs, and successive approximation ADCs, etc. Because the successive approximation ADC may have low power consumption, it is widely used in all kinds of applications.
The accuracy of the switched-capacitor type successive approximation ADC is mainly influenced by the capacitance weight errors. The smaller the capacitance weight errors are, the higher the accuracy of the successive approximation ADC is. However, in the manufacturing processes of the integrated circuits, the capacitance weight errors are unavoidable because of manufacturing process offsets. Therefore, it is the key point for the integrated circuit design to calibrate the capacitance weight errors caused by the manufacturing process offsets, so as to increase the accuracy of the successive approximation ADC.
A conventional technique to calibrate the capacitance weight error is using precision instruments for measuring the actual capacitance value, then using the focused ion beam (FIB) manner for connecting with capacitors in parallel to increase the capacitance value thereof, or using the laser trimming manner for eliminating parallel capacitors to reduce the capacitance value thereof, until the capacitance value thereof matches the expected value, which means the calibration of the capacitance value is done. For either the laser trimming manner or the FIB manner, it is necessary to use extra manpower and equipment resources for calibrating the chipped integrated circuits. This causes extra expenses and enormous time may be required, which increase the manufacturing costs.
Another conventional technique uses a resistor type DAC for generating an analog calibration voltage. After the analog calibration voltage supplies to a terminal of the calibrated capacitor, by changing the digital input code of the DAC, the voltage outputted by another terminal of the calibrated capacitor may be similar to the output voltage of the ideal capacitor without the calibration voltage. Afterward, the digital input code corresponding to the calibration voltage is stored. When the calibrated capacitor needs to be used, the digital input code is converted into the corresponding analog calibration voltage, for compensating the capacitor.
However, because the actual implemented circuits can only generate positive voltages, thus the above resistor type calibration manner is only suitable for the actual capacitance value smaller than the ideal capacitance value. That is, the above manner can only perform the one-sign calibration of the capacitance weight errors. In addition, the above manner needs an extra resistor type DAC. Thus, extra hardware is required, and the errors generated by the resistor type DAC may also influence the accuracy after the calibration.

Method for estimating capacitance weight errors and successive approximation analog to digital converter using the same


Supporting framework of a tent with a roof having a pyramid shape, a supporting structure comprising at least four supports, at least three outer scissor-type grid sections for each outer side of the supporting framework, a device for attaching the roof to the central post, central diagonal bars extending from the central post, wherein the central diagonal bars are connected to the outer scissor-type grid sections via scissor-type grid sections directed inwards into the tent, and wherein the central post is extended by means of a handling bar—for the formation of the apex of the roof, and wherein the handling bar or the central post can be connected to the central diagonal bars.

The present invention relates to a supporting framework and a stabilizer device for a tent according to the preamble of patent claims 1 and 10 as well as a tent according to claims 11 and 12.
A tent is known from DE 10 2011 054 205 B4 which has a skin and a framework covered at least partially by the skin in the set-up state of the tent. The skin is the term used to describe the fabric material of the tent roof.
The tent has a plurality of ridge elements connected to a common center piece as well as a plurality of post elements. In the set-up state of the tent, the post elements are placed on one level.
Generally, tents have four vertical corner supports, which serve to support the supporting framework, i.e. the overall static system of the supporting members which are decisive for the stability of the structure, and, in combination with the supporting framework, the tent roof.
For this purpose, the corner supports are connected to each other, with the connection also running crosswise. These connections include profile elements, which are today commonly commercially manufactured from aluminum and configured in the form of bar profiles.
Tents are often configured in the form of folding tents. In order to be opened and closed for this purpose, profile elements configured in the form of scissor-type profiles or scissor-type grid profiles, which are part of the supporting framework of the tent, extend from the corner supports. Such scissor-type profiles are also used for tents which are not configured in the form of folding tents. Here, the terms scissor-type grid profile and scissor-type profile are used synonymously.
Pagoda tents are a particular configuration of tents and commonly have a square floor plan. The square floor plan is often 4×4 m, 5×5 m, 6×6 m, 7×7 m etc.
In comparison to classic tents, in particular folding tents, and pavilions, pagoda tents with their high, pointed roofs look lighter and more elegant. A further advantage is that due to the high and pointed roof, rainwater runs off evenly on all four sides and ponding of rainwater can be avoided. In addition, heat cannot accumulate under the pointed roof as easily as under a flat roof.
In the case of larger tents, the aforementioned profile elements or scissor-type profiles are connected to at least one connecting element arranged on the long and/or wide side of the outer supporting structure.
A support of the connecting element on the long sides of the tent by means of a supporting element or a supporting strut, as for example in the case of the aforementioned corner supports, is often avoided, because such a supporting element or such a supporting strut is considered to be optically disturbing and impairs access to the inside of the tent.
Depending on the number of profile elements to be connected, the connecting element usually has an elongated, T-shaped or cross-shaped configuration. It also serves to receive a scissor-type profile performing functions towards the inner area of the tent roof.
A tent arrangement comprising a fabric of a tent roof held by a supporting structure is known from the German utility model DE 20 2004 016 429 U1, which was registered by the applicant. This structure comprises circumferential tubular holding elements having a tent roof supporting structure in the shape of a scissor-type grid, also of a foldable type, and supporting the latter. The internal supporting structure, i.e. the structure forming a framework, in turn has at least one supporting element, which is referred to below synonymously as central post or central pole, which is directed towards the fabric of the tent roof and holds it directly so that the fabric is for the most part located away from the tent roof supporting structure having the shape of a scissor-type grid and forms a typical cone-shaped tent roof structure. A device is connected to the central post or the central pole which serves to firmly attach the fabric of the tent roof to the central post or the central pole. In addition, the device serves to allow a pole, for example for an advertising flag, to be connected to the supporting structure. If the fabric of the tent roof has a plurality of central posts or central poles connected to the supporting structure, each central post equipped with a device or each central pole can be connected to a pole.
The aforementioned utility model also describes a mushroom-shaped sealing of the apex of the tent roof in relation to the pole, which holds an advertising flag in this embodiment. The present application adopts the disclosure content in this respect. By way of example, but not by way of limitation, it is based on a basic framework structure of a tent roof, as is shown in particular in FIG. 5 of this utility model.
Tents other than folding tents have to be assembled or screwed together in a time-consuming and thus cost-intensive manner, especially with regard to their supporting framework. This applies in particular to tents which exceed specific floor plan dimensions, for example tents exceeding square floor plan dimensions of 4×4 m. This applies to tents irrespective of their geometrical roof shapes and thus irrespective of whether they are pagoda tents, tents with a low cone shape or the like.
Tents exceeding specific dimensions can no longer be transported in the folded state by means of a passenger car or a station wagon, or, for example, their corner supports have to be divided into so many part sizes that, although they make such a tent suitable for transport, they make the setting up of the tent more time-consuming and, above all, lead to a reduction in stability. This will be briefly explained below with reference to a tent having a square floor plan of 5×5 m:
Such a tent with a square floor plan of 5×5 m has an overall height or packing height of 2.50 m in the closed state, because it has two scissor-type profiles which are opened when the tent is set up. This means that the scissors then also have a length of 2.50×2.50 m. An overall height of 2.50 m results in cumbersome handling when transporting a folded tent in a passenger car or a station wagon.
In the case of the tent with a square floor plan of 5×5 m, as explained by way of example, it is out of the question to reconfigure the double scissor-type profile arrangement of 2×2.50 m into a scissor-type profile arrangement consisting of three scissor-type grid profile sections with a length of approx. 1.66 m (in the following: approx. 1.70 m). This is because the supporting framework of a tent does not only consist of such scissor-type grid profiles running laterally around the outer edge of the supporting framework. Rather, they must also have connections directed towards the inner area of the supporting framework, which converge in a central pole, which in turn supports the apex of the tent roof fabric. This is because such a division into three scissor-type grid sections of approx. 1.70 m in length results in a total of nine partial square areas for a tent with a square floor plan of 5×5 m if additional profile elements extend from the end points of the scissor-type grid profiles and from each of the four sides of the supporting framework at right angles and run towards the inside of the tent. This means that a center or junction point of the tent formed by the same scissor-type grid sections is missing, i.e. these profiles branching off from the scissor-type grid sections and being directed into the inside of the tent do not run towards a central post arranged in the middle of the tent and receiving the apex of the tent roof.
Based on these drawbacks of the state of the art, the technical problem of the present invention is therefore to develop a tent which has a lower packing height or overall height compared to the state of the art.
This also involves the further problem of developing a supporting framework of a tent which has more than two scissor-type grid sections running circumferentially on each outer side of the supporting framework, and in which the profile elements of the supporting framework nevertheless run towards a center or junction point configured in the form of a central post arranged in the middle of the tent and receiving the apex of the roof.
In addition, a supporting framework of a tent is to be provided which avoids a time-consuming and cost-intensive assembling or screwing together of its individual profile elements when the tent is set up.
Furthermore, a supporting framework is to be provided which, despite its reduction in packing height/overall height in the folded state, enables a roof structure which has a high and relatively pointed roof, i.e. a roof which is commonly referred to as pagoda roof.
A further sub-problem is the aim of providing improved stability of a supporting framework structure for tents with larger floor plans, i.e. floor plans exceeding 4×4 m in square or 3×4 m in rectangular form.
These problems are solved by a supporting framework having the features of claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are laid down in the sub-claims. A tent according to the invention is described in claim 12.

Supporting framework and stabilizer device for a tent


A multiprocessor-scalable streaming data server arrangement in a multiprocessor data server having N processors, N being an integer greater than or equal to 2, includes implementing N NICs (Network Interface Cards), a first one of the N NICs being dedicated to receiving an incoming data stream. An interrupt from the first one of the N NICs is bound to a first one of the N processors and an interrupt for an nth NIC is bound to an nth processor, 0<n<=N. A DPC (Deferred Procedure Call) for the nth NIC is bound to the nth processor. M client connections may be tightly coupled to the nth processor via the nth NIC, M being a positive integer. P server threads may be bound to specific ones of a second through N processors. L1 (Level 1) and L2 (Level 2) caches may be defined for each of the N processors, instructions and temporal data being stored in L2 caches of the N processors and non-temporal data being stored in L1 caches of the N processors, bypassing the L2 caches.

One application area for servers is to provide streaming data over the Internet or over a corporate intranet. The streaming data may consist of multimedia data (e.g.—audio/video), character streams (e.g.—stock quotes), etc. On-demand content refers to the streaming of specific client-requested data files whereas broadcast content refers to content delivered from a source, such as an encoder system, onto an incoming network link, and streamed out to thousands of clients over a set of outgoing network links.
It is been found through measurements that currently used multiprocessor servers have poor SMP (Symmetric Multi-Processing) scalability. In most cases, the processor is the performance limiter. In such processor-bound cases using processors having 2 MB L2 caches, the following was noted:
A very high CPI (Clocks per Instruction retired) was noted with measured CPI ranges of between 4.0 and 6.0, which is considerably above the average for most server applications.
A very high L2 MPI (Level 2 Cache Misses per Instruction retired) was noted with measured L2 MPI's in the range of 2% to 4%. This indicates that on the average, 3 out of every 100 instructions results in an L2 miss.
A saturated front-side bus was noted. That is, performance counters show that the data bus is actively transferring data 40% of the time. When accounting for the read/write transaction mix, bus efficiency, and MP arbitration, this indicates that the front-side bus is close to being saturated.
The raw data bandwidth requirements for streaming are typically much lower than the capabilities of the system and the I/O buses. Thus, the observed saturation of the bus clearly indicates that there is a large overhead of unnecessary data transfers.
It has been found that poor scalability of such systems are due to the following factors:
Interrupt/DPC (Deferred Procedure Call) Migration: Hardware interrupts from the NIC (Network Interface Cards) are routed to any available processor by the OS (Operating System). The DPC handler, which is set up by the OS, is executed in turn by some other processor.
Loosely-coupled Connection Processing: Client connections are processed by different processors during connection lifetimes. The same processors process both input and output streams.
Thread and Buffer Migration: The threads of the server process are not bound to any specific processor. Thus, during the course of transferring data between input and output buffers, the server thread runs on different processors at different times. This migration of threads leads to the pollution of the processor caches, since the same buffer ping-pongs around between processors.
Inefficient L2 Cache Utilization: The large L2 processor caches are not properly utilized. The nature of streaming data is non-temporal, that is, the data is used only once and never used again, thus, the caching of this data serves no useful purpose and yet the data is loaded into the L2 caches. Since the threads write to the data buffers in order to extract/append network protocol headers, this leads to dirty write-backs when the next incoming buffer is accessed by a processor.

Multiprocessor-scalable streaming data server arrangement


High torque causing machine failures and motor damage are corrected by the embodiments of this invention. Springs are put on both ends of the lead shaft and the windings around the lead shaft are reduced to substantially reduce the torque created during a power on-power off situation in addition to during normal operations.

When photocopiers were first used, charging of the photoreceptor or photoconductive surface was usually accomplished by rubbing the photoconductive surface with electronic charging materials such as rabbit fur. Today, much more sophisticated charging means are used, in particular, corona charging devices such as corotrons, scorotrons, etc. Generally, the corona charger comprises a charge-emitting wire or an array of charge-emitting pins located in close proximity to a corona grid. The pins emit the charge and convey this charge to a conductive grid, which provides uniformity of charge across the entire used surface of the photoreceptor. The grid is specifically configured so as to have uniform charge-emitting capabilities across its entire longitudinal surface. It is especially important to maintain the grid surface and wire in condition where they will provide this uniform charge distribution across the photoreceptor or photoconductive surface. Once a uniform charge is placed by the grid across the photoreceptor surface, the remainder of the imaging process is followed, i.e. exposure of image, dissipation of charge in image configuration, contact with toner and fixing of toner image on a paper or receptive surface.
Contamination of the pins, wire, or inner and outer sides of the grid could lead to print quality defects, such as streaks, image quality defects and other performance problems. Examples of image quality failures would be half tone non-uniformities and white and dark streaks in the final image. Also, the life of the corona-charging mechanism can be adversely affected if the wire and grid are not kept uniformly clear of contaminants such as dust and toner.
There are used today various automatic corona-cleaning methods and apparatus to remove the toner build up and other contaminates from the wire and grid. Traditionally, these corona-cleaning devices have focused on cleaning the pins, wires and surface of the corona grid. Usually, in these automatic cleaners, a brush is used to clean the grid while a pad located below the brush is used to clean the pins or the corona wire. They move together when the shaft and brush-pad holder are moved. A winding on a lead shaft is used to project the brush and pad holder along the longitudinal plan of the wire and grid.
Currently, the existing charge scorotron assembly cleaner has design flaws that cause high torque conditions which, in turn, cause field issues, especially during power on, power off (POPO) conditions or paper jamming. A current prior art design enables the machines to cycle the above scorotron cleaner every 1000-1500 copies to clean the grid, pins and charge scorotron wire. However, if and when a paper jam or power off condition occurs, the machine is "dumb" and does not have a sensor or have the capability to tell where in position the cleaner assembly is when machine is ready then for printing. Thus, the machine automatically instructs the auto clean device to turn on for 33 seconds to complete one cycle (back and forth). If the auto clean device is moved away from the home position, i.e. cleaning when jammed, the machine does not know this and still cycles the auto-cleaner for 33 seconds. Currently, there is a high torque issue with this prior art system and device with the added cycle time due to jamming or other issues. This will, most likely, eventually overstress the system causing breakage of the motor gears and cause the machine to fault. This equals customer dissatisfaction and expensive repairs.
The present embodiments of this invention will solve this potential quality repair and customer dissatisfaction issue. In addition, in one embodiment making the device and shaft of this invention by plastic injection molding rather than metal will save a considerable amount of money; over 20% of previous costs. This amount is based on current projections but may, in fact, exceed this projection.


The present invention is provided with an assembly for producing forficiform spray, which comprising a base body, the base body is disposed with a waterway inside; the waterway includes an inlet, an outlet and a circular cavity, the circular cavity is connected between the inlet and the outlet; the diameter of the outlet is larger than that of the inlet, the outlet is conical shaped with big end down; the joint of the inlet and the circular cavity is chamfered arc. When water flows into the cavity from the inlet, with the characteristics of the water, the outlet water forms a forficiform water of periodicity open and close; the present invention is full in granule, better suction effect, visual effect and massage effect.

In the exiting technology, especially in switch assembly in a shower or a nozzle, there are fewer assemblies to produce a forficiform spray that will periodically open and close; the existing technology has problems that the period of the forficiform spray is unstable, the water splash is dull, the water is weak in granule and weak in suction effect, and intermittently leaking may happen during suction.

Assembly for producing forficiform spray

XIAMEN SOLEX HIGH-TECH INDUSTRIES CO., LTD.


A method for starting an operation process comprises: receiving an operation request message from a terminal device in response to the terminal device scanning a barcode to obtain barcode information and determining an address of the server based on the barcode information, the operation request comprising an image of text associated with the barcode scanned by the terminal device, and the image of text specifying an operation function; determining text content based on the image of text; searching a correspondence relationship between different text content and respective operation access information to obtain operation access information corresponding to the determined text content; and returning the operation access information to the terminal device, for the terminal device to start an operation process by using the operation access information, the operation process having the operation function specified by the received image of text.

A barcode is a group of bars and spaces arranged according to some coding rules and is used for representing some information formed by characters, numbers and symbols. Barcodes comprise one-dimensional barcodes and two-dimensional barcodes, where a one-dimensional barcode represents information by multiple black bars and spaces arranged according to a rule, and a two-dimensional barcode (also referred to as a Quick Response (QR) code) records information by a pattern in black and white with a particular geometric shape distributed on a plane (in two-dimensional directions) according to a rule.
With the development of mobile Internet technologies and smart terminal devices, people become increasingly used to complete various tasks in work and life by using networks. These tasks may be regarded as operation performed based on networks. In the operation performed in combination with an offline scenario, the approach through scanning a barcode has been extensively used to start an operation process. However, to deploy barcodes in an offline scenario, the barcodes need to be generated, and barcode materials need to be printed and placed. How to reduce material and labor costs required by starting an operation process via the way of scanning barcodes is an issue to be considered in implementing the operation process.

Service process starting method and apparatus


In semiconductor wafer manufacturing, processes such as analyzing test data associated with semiconductor wafers, interpreting the test data analysis, and acting on the test data interpretation and analysis are automated. Such automation can eliminate delays that were previously imposed by the action of test analysis engineers and wafer fabrication personnel, thereby reducing the amount of useless material that is produced before a process defect can be detected.

Most semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing processes have some form of unit process output that can be monitored at the process step to ensure that the manufacturing tool is functioning properly. Sheet resistance is one example of a unit process output that can be monitored and measured at the process step.
However, some process outputs cannot be measured at the process step; because the complete testing structure has not been constructed. For example, in wafer level reliability (WLR) testing of certain oxides, for example gate oxides and tunnel oxides, it may take several days to complete the structure that will actually be used to test the oxide. As an illustrative example, an oxidation process may be followed sequentially by a polysilicon deposition process, a polysilicon doping process, a photolithography process, and an etching process, all of which must be performed to provide the structure necessary for WLR testing of the oxide. Due to the aforementioned four additional process steps which must be performed before the oxide can be tested, several days can elapse between the oxidation process and the electrical testing of the oxide produced by that process.
Moreover, and continuing with the aforementioned oxide example, even after electrical testing of the oxide has been performed, a test analysis engineer must then analyze and interpret the electrical test data and then determine and implement an action plan. For example, if the test analysis engineer determines from the test data that a particular tool involved in the oxidation process is not performing properly, the engineer can inform personnel in control of the wafer fabrication process that the particular tool should be removed from the manufacturing process, whereupon tool repair, tool replacement or other appropriate action can be taken.
As demonstrated above, even after the electrical testing has been completed, a significant additional amount of time can be required for the test analysis engineer to perform the test data analysis and interpretation, and then to communicate an appropriate recommendation to the wafer fabrication personnel, and then for the wafer fabrication personnel to receive the recommendation and ultimately take the necessary step(s) to remove the tool from the process flow. It is therefore not uncommon for at least an additional day to elapse between the completion of the electrical testing and the removal of a defective tool from the manufacturing process.
As demonstrated by the foregoing example, a significant amount of time (several days) can elapse before any determination that the aforementioned oxidation process is defective and should be shut down. During this entire amount of elapsed time, i.e., for several days, the oxidation process continues to operate, thereby potentially producing several days' worth of defective, useless material. This of course translates directly into a financial loss, the magnitude of which can easily reach hundreds of thousands of dollars for some processes.
It is desirable in view of the foregoing to reduce the time that elapses between the performance of a semiconductor manufacturing process step and the detection of a defect in that process step.

Automated control of semiconductor wafer manufacturing based on electrical test results