A video data playback system for reproducing requested video data by switching coded video data to be reproduced between normal playback coded video data and fast playback coded video data according to a requested playback mode, where the normal playback coded video data are encoded by a first video coding scheme using both intra-frame coding and inter-frame coding, while the fast playback coded video data are encoded by a second video coding scheme using only intra-frame coding and having a playback bit rate and a frame rate identical to those of the normal playback coded video data. The normal playback coded video data can be obtained by encoding the original video data first, then the fast playback coded video data can be obtained by encoding selectively decoded normal playback coded video data. Alternatively, the normal and fast playback coded video data can be obtained by synchronizing start and end of encoding by the first video coding scheme and encoding by the second video coding scheme.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video data playback system capable of operating in a normal playback mode and a fast (forward and reverse) playback (visual search) mode, and more particularly, to a scheme for producing coded video data for the fast playback mode in this type of video data playback system, which can be utilized for video data input at a center (video server) of a video-on-demand (VOD) system to realize interactive video data playback between a center and a terminal via a communication channel, or for video data input at a stand-alone type video disk drive device.
2. Description of the Background Art
The video-on-demand service for providing video data is realized by connecting a video server for storing coded video data and a set-top device for reproducing video data from the coded video data via a communication path.
For this video-on-demand service, there is a proposition as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,303 for a scheme to realize a fast playback (visual search) mode similar to that provided in a usual VTR device, in which normal playback coded video data and fast playback coded video data are separately stored in advance in the video server, and coded video data to be used for video data reproduction are switched among these two types of coded video data whenever a normal playback request or a fast playback request is issued by the set-top device.
In a case of realizing this video-on-demand service with the fast playback mode, the normal playback coded video data are to be encoded by a video coding scheme using both intra-frame coding and inter-frame coding in view of the coding efficiency, whereas the fast playback coded video data are to be encoded by a video coding scheme using only the intra-frame coding that enables random access at any desired frame, because when the set-top device issues the fast playback request is not known in advance.
Now, in a video data playback system capable of operating in a normal playback mode and a fast (forward and reverse) playback (visual search) mode, the coded video data required in realizing the fast playback mode are to be produced by a coded video data production device and stored in a storage device such as a video server in advance.
In this regard, the conventionally known schemes for producing the fast playback coded video data are as follows.
A first conventional scheme is a scheme in which the same video source is reproduced at a normal speed by a normal playback device as well as at a fast speed by a fast playback device, and each video frame reproduced at a normal speed is encoded by an encoder for a normal playback mode so as to produce the normal playback coded video data, while each video frame reproduced at a fast speed is encoded by an encoder for a fast playback mode so as to produce the fast playback coded video data.
In other words, independent playback devices and independent encoders are provided for the normal playback and fast playback modes, and the normal playback coded video data are produced by the playback device and the encoder for a normal playback mode while the fast playback coded video data are produced by the playback device and the encoder for a fast playback mode, both from the same video source independently.
In this first conventional scheme, the normal playback coded video data and the fast playback coded video data are to be produced by independent processing systems, so that in principle it may become impossible to link these normal playback and fast playback coded video data properly when there is even a slight difference or variation in clocks of these two processing systems.
For example, if there is 1% error in clocks of these two processing systems, when the normal playback and fast playback coded video data for a video source with 100 minutes of reproduction time are produced by accurately aligning them at the beginning, there is going to be an error of one minute in links between them at the end of the video source. If there is a request for switch-over from the normal playback to the fast playback at this point, the playback point would be displaced by one minute when the playback mode is switched in response to the request.
In addition, in this first conventional scheme, there is a structural difficulty related to the fast playback device. Namely, the tape recording format used by a usual analog VTR presupposes a use of a normal playback, so that stripe like noises are often produced at a time of the fast playback, and in order to realize the video data playback without such noises even at a time of the fast playback, it is necessary for the playback device to have a special structural configuration for a noise reduction which is not provided in a usual playback device.
On the other hand, a second conventional scheme is a scheme which uses a configuration as shown in FIG. 1, in which each video frame is encoded by an encoder 42 to produce the normal playback coded video data 43 first, and then the normal playback coded video data 43 so obtained are entered into a filter 44 to extract only selected frames of the normal playback coded video data to produce the fast playback coded video data 45.
In this second conventional scheme, several problems arise when the encoder 42 employs a video coding scheme such as MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group: ISO/IEC11172) which uses both the intra-frame coding and the inter-frame coding.
FIG. 2 shows an exemplary manner of producing the fast playback coded video data 45a in a case of using MPEG as the video coding scheme at the encoder 42.
Namely, each original video frame 41a is encoded by the encoder 42 to produce the normal playback coded video data 43a first. Here, a symbol such as I1, B2, P4, etc. shown in each frame of the normal playback coded video data 43a indicates a frame type and a number of frames from the top for each frame. For instance, I1 indicates that it is the coded data for I-frame which is the first frame from the top, B2 indicates that it is the coded data for B-frame which is the second frame from the top, P4 indicates that it is the coded data for P-frame which is the fourth frame from the top, and so on.
Note that the normal playback coded video data 43a encoded by MPEG include a coded frame data called I-frame which only contains data in an original frame and which is produced by the intra-frame coding, and coded frame data called B-frame and P-frame which contain data on difference between the original frame and the I-frame and which are produced by the inter-frame coding. Here, the I-frame can be decoded into the original frame from the coded frame data of this I-frame itself alone, but each of the P-frame and the B-frame cannot be decoded into the original frame without using the coded frame data of the I-frame.
Now, consider a case of producing the fast playback coded video data 45a from the normal playback coded video data 43a encoded by MPEG as described above. In the fast playback control using the fast playback coded video data 45a, when there is a fast playback request during the normal playback, it is necessary to realize the fast playback by switching the coded video data to be reproduced from the normal playback coded video data 43a at that point to a corresponding point of the fast playback coded video data 45a, so that it is necessary for the fast playback coded video data 45a to be capable of starting the fast playback from an arbitrary point.
For this reason, it is necessary to form the fast playback coded video data 45a by I-frames in which every frame is encoded by the intra-frame coding. In other words, the fast playback coded video data 45a are produced by extracting only I-frames by means of the filter 44.
Here, however, the I-frame is produced by using only the data in the original frame at a time of the encoding, so that its data size is considerably larger than that of the P-frame or the B-frame in general, and consequently the fast playback coded video data 45a so produced by extracting only the I-frames has a considerably larger data size per frame compared with the normal playback coded video data 43a.
For instance, when the data sizes for the same six frames are compared in FIG. 2, it can be seen that the fast playback coded video data 45a has about 2.5 times greater data size than the normal playback coded video data 43a. This implies that, if the normal playback and the fast playback are to be made by the same frame rate (i.e., a case of full motion fast playback) using the normal playback coded video data 43a and the fast playback coded video data 45a, the playback bit rate in a case of the fast playback would be 2.5 times as much as the playback bit rate in a case of the normal playback.
Such a difference in the playback bit rate depending on the playback mode can be very inconvenient in a case of constructing the video data playback device.
Namely, in a case of using a stand-alone type video data playback device such as a video disk drive device, for example the transfer bit rate from the video disk drive device is going to be different for the normal playback and the fast playback, so that it becomes necessary to provide an additional mechanism to control the rotational speed of the disk according to the playback mode.
Also, in a case of using the video-on-demand service system for providing the coded video data via a communication channel, it becomes necessary to provide a complicated communication channel resource management capable of dynamically changing the communication channel rate according to the playback mode.
Moreover, in order to cope with a case in which many terminals utilizing the video-on-demand service issue fast playback requests simultaneously, it is also necessary for a communication channel provider to provide extra channel resources in excess to the usual need.
Furthermore, in this second conventional scheme, the filter 44 for producing the fast playback coded video data 45a is required to extract the I-frames only, so that the fast playback speed to be realized by the fast playback coded video data 45a can be set only to an integer multiple of the I-frame interval in the normal playback coded video data 43a.
For example, in a case of FIG. 2, the I-frame appears in every six frames in the normal playback coded video data 43a, so that the six times faster playback is realized by extracting the I-frame from every six frames in a sequence of I1, I7, I13, and so on. In this case, the other possible settings of the fast playback speed are limited only to integer multiples of six, such as the twelve times faster playback that can be realized by extracting the I-frame from every twelve frames in a sequence of I1, I13, I25, and so on.

Video data playback system using effective scheme for producing coded video data for fast playback mode


The present application provides a method of reducing and/or removing diglyceride from an edible oil, comprising admixing an edible oil with an acyl acceptor substrate and a diglyceride: glycerol acyltransferase, wherein the diglyceride:glycerol acyltransferase is characterized as an enzyme which in an edible oil is capable of transferring an acyl group from a diglyceride to glycerol. The diglyceride:glycerol acyltransferase can comprise the amino acid sequence motif GDSX. The present invention also relates to the use of a diglyceride:glycerol acyltransferase in the manufacture of an edible oil, for reducing and/or removing diglyceride from said edible oil and to the use of said enzyme in the manufacture of a foodstuff comprising an edible oil for improving the crystallization properties of said foodstuff.

Oils and fats consist of complex mixtures of triacylglycerols (TAGs), diacylglycerols (DAGs), free fatty acids and other minor components. The crystallisation of these mixtures depends on the characteristics of the TAGs (structure, chain length, saturation compared with unsaturation, and the like) and the interaction of these TAGs with each other. Regarding the presence of DAGs, previous studies have shown that they have significant effect on the physical properties of oils and fats. These vary from rate of crystallisation, polymorphism changes, melting point, crystal size and habits (Siew, 2001).
In most oils that are extracted from oilseeds, the effect of DAGs is less pronounced, as DAGs are only present in small quantities. In primarily palm oil and olive oil, which are oils containing high natural amounts of DAGs, however, the quality of these oils suffers if DAGs are present therein.
Palm oil obtained from oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is commercially important edible oil. Palm oil has been a prominent fat and oil resource for the food industry due to several advantageous properties, such as high productivity, low price, high thermal and oxidative stability and plasticity at room temperature. In addition, compared with other vegetable oils, palm oil is a rich source of the anti-oxidant vitamin E.
A typical chemical composition of refined palm oil is about 93% triglycerides, 6% diglycerides and 1% monoglycerides (MAGs) (Okiy, 1977).
When palm oil crystallizes, a complex 3-dimensional network of the present components is formed. In the theory it is described that the bigger the diversity of the building blocks (TAGs, DAGs and MAGs) in the network, the more complicated the network will be and the slower the crystallization will happen (Jacobsberg & Ho, 1976). This theory was confirmed by Drozdowski (1994). Furthermore, his studies showed that the more the fatty acid composition variation in the triacylglycerol molecule, the more difficult was the transition between the different crystal phases.
As previously mentioned, a high content of diglycerides in palm oil affects its crystallization properties (Okiy et al., 1978, Okiy, 1978).
The presence of diglycerides in such oils is disadvantageous. In particular, diglycerides in edible oils (in particular palm oil) can lead to a low quality oil.
The problems relating to the diglyceride content in palm oil and other edible oils and fat have been the subject of many studies and different solutions to attempt to overcome the problem of too much diglyceride can be found in the literature.
The Japanese enzyme producer Amano on their home page (Amano Enzyme Inc., 2004), recommend an enzymatic process to remove diglyceride in fats and oils. This process is based on the use of an enzyme LIPASE G "AMANO" 50 which is able to degrade diglycerides to free fatty acids and glycerol. This enzyme is a diglyceride (DAG) and/or monoglyceride (MAG) hydrolyzing. The free fatty acids produced are removed by vacuum distillation or fractional crystallisation.
EP 0 558 112 describes a process for the enzymatic hydrolysis of residual diglycerides in triglyceride preparations in emulsions. The process is based on the hydrolysis of diglyceride with Lipase G from Amano, Japan (supra). The process was enhanced by making the enzymatic reaction in an emulsion for the degradation of diglyceride to fatty acids and glycerol. The water phase is separated after reaction and the enzyme is partly reused.
JP 62061590 teaches a hard butter containing low amounts of diglyceride, which is manufactured by treating oils or fats with a partially glyceride-specific enzyme (e.g., a lipase) in the presence of a catalytic amount of water and by a lipase that is a 1,3-specific enzyme in the presence of fatty acids, fatty acid esters, or other glyceride oils or fats. The product is hard butter especially suitable for use as a cacao butter substitute. Thus, lipase G and Rhizopus deremer lipase (1,3-specific enzyme) were mixed with diatomaceous earth and granulated. The granules was mixed with palm medium melting point fraction (5.7% diglyceride, acid value 0.25) and water (10% with regard to the partial glyceride-specific enzyme). The mixture was stirred at room temp. for 1 h, and the enzymes and water removed to give a hard butter containing 1.2% diglyceride (acid value 10.5).
The prior art thus teaches ways to reduce or remove the content of diglyceride in palm oil and other edible oils by enzymatic reactions. These processes rely on the hydrolysis of diglyceride with a specific diglyceride hydrolysing lipase during formation of free fatty acids and glycerol. The free fatty acids can then be removed by means of different processes like vacuum distillation or fractionation.
The disadvantage of using a specific diglyceride hydrolysing enzyme is the disadvantageous formation of free fatty acids. These free fatty acids have to be removed from the palm oil. Thus, the formation of free fatty acids is often considered as loss of product.
To overcome the problems with the removal of free fatty acid and the loss of product caused by the free fatty acid formation we have found a new method to overcome the problems with high diglyceride content in palm oil and other vegetable oils.
Enzymatic removal of diglycerides from palm oil has been taught by use of lipases, which are typically 1,3 specific triacylglycerol hydrolyzing enzymes (E.C. 220.127.116.11) (for example see JP 62061590 or EP 0 652 289). WO00/05396 teaches inter alia treatment of a food material which may comprise glycerol with a lipase to effect glycerolysis in a low water environment.
However, both 1,3 specific triacylglycerol hydrolyzing enzymes (lipases) and DAG/MAG hydrolyzing enzymes result in a significant increase in free fatty acid in the oil, and also result in the hydrolysis of monoglycerides.
However, in some vegetable oils for some applications for example it may be desirable to increase the monoglyceride content of the oil as this provides emulsifier functionality. Thus, in one aspect it is preferable to reduce diglyceride content without decreasing the monoglyceride content. In another aspects it may preferably to reduce both the diglyceride and monoglyceride content.
Lipase enzymes can also result in a detrimental increase in DAG due to the hydrolysis of triacylglycerol (TAG), the bulk lipid present in food oils.


An image recording apparatus for making index data from a part of image information read out of a recording medium. This apparatus comprises a memory for storing information regarding a character recognition error, a searching unit for searching the image information corresponding to search data, and a changing unit for changing a part of the search data on the basis of the information stored in the memory when the image information cannot be searched by the searching unit. Preferably, the change in search data by the changing unit is stopped by a predetermined instruction or when the number of changing operations has reached a predetermined number of changing times. Or, preferably, the search data can be rewritten to the index data by a predetermined instruction. If corresponding image information doesn't exist in the input search data, a part of the search data is changed in accordance with a character recognition error ratio which has previously been obtained, so that the image information can be searched even if there is a recognition error in the index data.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to image processing method and apparatus to form index data from image information by character recognition.
2. Related Background Art
Hitherto, there has been known an apparatus in which image information is read out of a recording medium and a part of the read image information is recognized and stored as index data.
The index data is stored together with the read image information and the index data is searched by search data which is supplied by an operator, so that the corresponding image information can be obtained.
In such a conventional technique, however, there is a drawback such that if image information has erroneously been recognized at the stage of the recognizing process of the image information to form index data, a searching process cannot be also executed.


An indexing and braking mechanism for a manual transmission having a shifting mechanism and at least one rotatable drive shaft is disclosed. The mechanism includes an indexing mechanism for controlling movement of the shifting mechanism between at least a first position and a neutral position. The indexing mechanism has a plate having a plurality of notches formed thereon, wherein one notch corresponds to the first position and another notch corresponds to the neutral position. A locking mechanism is provided for selectively limiting movement of one of the at least one rotatable drive shaft. The locking mechanism is adapted to selectively engage the plurality of notches to selectively maintain the indexing mechanism in one of the first position and the neutral position. The locking mechanism includes an indexing lever having a contact surface for contacting the rotatable drive shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a indexing and locking mechanism for use in a drive train for a motor vehicle to provide for the smooth shifting between gear positions and provide for the braking of intermediate drive shaft in a neutral position. The present invention also relates to a drive train having a free wheel clutch operating in parallel with a centrifugal clutch. The indexing and locking mechanism and the drive train are useable on an all terrain vehicle ("ATV"), scooters or any other recreational vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
Various manual transmissions for internal combustion engine driven vehicles (e.g., an ATV or a scooter) are known in the art. In a typical arrangement, an internal combustion engine provides energy to drive a drive shaft through suitable engine gearing. This can be accomplished by a belt-driven constant velocity transmission (CVT) that acts, preferably through a manual transmission, on a driven shaft that is connected to at least one driving wheel. A forward gear, a reverse gear, or neutral positions can be selected as desired by the manual transmission.
In the prior art, the drive unit transmits power to the drive shaft through a centrifugal clutch and an interposed CVT. The centrifugal clutch transfers engine torque to the drive shaft a certain engine speeds (e.g., 4000 rpm) and forms a rigid drive connection between the drive unit and the driven shaft above a certain engine speed. At lower engine speeds, no engine torque is transmitted between the drive unit and the driven shaft. This has potential adverse impacts when the engine is used, for example, in an ATV and operated at low engine speeds. When in an idling state, no engine torque and hence no braking moment is transmitted to the driven shaft. When the ATV is positioned on a hill, the ATV picks up speed. The engine cannot control the speed. At low speeds, the engine torque can serve as a braking moment for the driven shaft.
The freewheel clutch can be locked up so as to transmit torque in one direction and to freewheel in the other direction. The purpose of the freewheel clutch is to permit an engine braking effect to act on the driving wheel at low engine speeds, when the centrifugal clutch is not activated. In this way, at low engine speeds, torque can be transferred to the driven shaft. At high engine speeds no engine torque is transferred to the drive shaft through the freewheel clutch. Freewheel clutches, and in particular sleeve-type freewheel clutches, often produce a negative secondary effect, namely, that as a result of friction, a small amount of torque will be transferred in the free-wheel direction. In particular, in the case of rotational conformity of the drive unit, as in the case of four-cycle engines, a small amount of torque will be transferred from the drive unit through the freewheel clutch to the drive shaft. If a gear position is selected from the neutral position by the manual transmission, a jolt or a loud noise is produced. As such, it is desirable to provide a brake to eliminate any rotation associated with the small amounts of torque. Others have tried to provide such a brake.
DE 44 22 427 A1 describes a reverse gear selector for a motor vehicle change-speed gearbox that incorporates a braking device that is actuated during the gear-change process by part of the selector mechanism, and which is used to brake a gear shaft that is still spinning as the result of residual momentum. In this, a part of the gear-change device actuates a switch that allows an auxiliary force to act for a specific period of time on a servo that activates a braking device that in turn acts on the gear shaft that is still spinning. The servo device is in the form of a solenoid that acts through a selector fork, a selector rod, or directly on the synchromesh ring of a forward gear.
DE 100 09 584 A1 shows a multi-speed manual transmission for motor vehicle; this comprises a separating clutch, a drive shaft, and a driven shaft, on which there are gear wheels that mesh with each other in order to provide various gear ratios. The gear wheels for the various gear ratios can be locked positively to the gear shaft through a clutch. Thus, the gear ratios are synchronized centrally, because the gear shaft is slowed down by a flywheel brake when a higher gear is selected, whereas the gear shaft is accelerated by an central engine control unit when changing down to a lower gear. Central synchronization makes it possible to dispense with a synchronizing unit for each gear ratio that is selected.
DE 198 42 478 A1 describes an hydraulic clutch brake for gearboxes. Retardation of the gear shafts, which is usually taken care of by the clutch stop, is effected in that the load on the gear shafts is increased. This can be done, for example, by increasing the hydraulic load of a pump that is driven by a gear shaft.
These braking devices for manual transmissions, however, have rather complex constructions and have relatively high design and production costs.


A sterilized glove comprises a glove body and an organic polymer film layer containing an antibacterial zeolite and formed on the entirety of at least one surface of the glove body in an upheaval shape.

The present invention relates to a glove, especially to a glove having an organic polymer film layer containing an antibacterial zeolite and formed on the entirety of at least one surface of the glove body so as to be suitable in handling foods or the like.
All kinds of popular operation gloves such as working gloves for handling foods, medical gloves, kitchen gloves which prevent chapped fingers, are usually made by a secondary processing of extruded film or sheet formed from thermoplastic resin, or made by covering a surface of a woven fabric with resin layers.
The surfaces of said gloves have not been protected against pollutions at a distribution stage or at a storage stage. Moreover, due to their bad ventilation in use, the gloves do not allow for the evaporation of sweat, but do allow for the breeding of microbes on their inner surfaces. That ended up with giving off a bad smell.
As a solution to said bad influence on the microbe, there has been proposed a glove having an antibacterial ion containing zeolite (so-called antibacterial zeolite) kneaded therein which is highly safe for human bodies (refer to Unexamined Published Japanese Utility Model Application Serial No. 62-201607).
Unlike conventionally used germicides or bactericide, an antibacterial zeolite is an excellent bactericide in that its antibacterial material will not be dissolved and come out or be vaporized, so that it hardly alters the taste of food or is hardly virulent. Further, the sterilized effect of the antibacterial material will last longer.
In processing this antibacterial zeolite into a glove, however, if it is simply kneaded and is filmed in a resin such as polyethylene, a small amount of the antibacterial zeolite exists merely in a part of the surface of the glove to present the sterilization effect, but most of it is in the resin and does not contribute to the sterilization effect at all.


A vibration system that fits on top of a conventional truss with minimal alteration. The system comprises a propulsion assembly powering a vibration assembly. The propulsion assembly comprises two parallel rails forming a lateral path between truss ends and supporting a mobile carriage. Each rail comprises abutting segments coextensively surmounting the truss. Each segment attaches at respective truss cross-beams to define a continuous runway for carriage movement. Each segment also defines a channel for a chain rack anchored at opposite truss ends. The carriage comprises an undercarriage supporting an offset platform. The undercarriage comprises a rail-spanning frame with supporting runway tracking wheels. A motor propels the carriage by turning an axle with terminal pinions entrained about the rack. The offset counterbalances the vibration assembly to reduce torsion. A coupling hitch protrudes from the platform opposite the offset to support the vibration assembly. The vibration assembly comprises an elevator that vertically displaces a gang of vibrators between deployed and retracted positions. The elevator comprises a hydraulic cylinder coaxially centered between two sleeves with sliding arms that couple the gang to the elevator. The gang comprises a plurality of quick-coupling pendulous vibrators across the truss front. A motor drives multiple vibrators via a split axle connected to several gearboxes in series. When deployed, the vibrator tip thrusts into the concrete and undulates rapidly for a selected time. Afterwards, the vibrators retract and the carriage moves to an adjacent vibrated sector of concrete until completely traversing the truss. They system may operate automatically or manually.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to finishing machines for bridges. More particularly, the present invention relates to an universal vibration system for a bridge deck finishing machine. Known prior art may be found in U.S. Class 404, subclass 16 and the other various subclasses listed thereunder.
II. Description of the Prior Art
It is well-known that plastic concrete should be vibrated to densify and consolidate it during finishing to produce desirable results. The prior art includes a wide variety of vibration devices for settling and densifying plastic concrete. Several of these devices have been used with bridge decks to vibrate the plastic concrete thereon. Most of these bridge deck devices can be grouped as either single portable vibrators or truss-mounted gangs of multiple vibrators.
The portable vibrators permit an operator to vibrate a small area of concrete prior-to other finishing operations. The portable units generally comprise a power supply coupled to an elongated flexible pendulous vibrator. The operator generally transports the power unit on their back while thrusting the vibrator into the concrete. Unfortunately, these units require several operators to effectively vibrate large sectors of concrete. Also, they require experienced operators if the results are to be satisfactorily uniform. This lack of uniformity is undesirable because it often leads to sections of unconsolidated or otherwise weakened concrete. Consequently, automatic gangs of vibrators are often specified to be employed with large concrete pours to ensure satisfactory uniformity.
Several known prior art devices have been proposed to satisfy the need for an efficient bridge deck vibrating system. For example, a company named Bid-Well located in Canton, S. Dak., produces different types of bridge deck trusses. However, most of their vibrating gangs require specialized bridge deck trusses that are unduly complicated to employ for a number of reasons discussed hereinafter. One recently introduced machine mounts on the front of their proprietary bridge deck truss to alleviate some of the problems with their other specialized vibrating trusses. However, this machine does not readily retrofit other, non-proprietary bridge deck trusses commonly employed in the construction industry. Moreover, it is not a stand alone unit in that it requires a sizable remote power supply with accompanying cumbersome transfer cabling and constant operator supervision. It also exerts torsion on the truss that could adversely affect finishing operations.
It is believed that Bid-Well (or a related corporation named CMI located in Oklahoma City, Okla.) owns several patents of general relevance to the present invention. These patents include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,738,763, 3,593,627, 4,484,834, 5,492,432, 4,256,415, 4,320,987, 4,708,520 and 4,775,262.
Other known relevant art includes U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,359. This patent shows a self-propelled concrete vibrator apparatus which includes a plurality of hydraulically powered vibrators positioned at evenly spaced apart intervals across the full width of a support truss. This device includes a plurality of hydraulic rams which raise and lower the plurality of vibrator units into and out of a mass of wet concrete. A second group of horizontally oriented hydraulic rams is coupled to the plurality of vibrator units and laterally displaces the vibrator units between a first and a second position. This device includes a hydraulic pump driven by an internal combustion engine and a plurality of four drive units for longitudinally translating the entire structure along the length of the concrete to be vibrated.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,223,734 discloses a concrete vibrator which is longitudinally translatable along the length of an area of wet concrete. This device includes a vibrator carriage that is longitudinally translatable between a first and a second position. The carriage also includes a centrally mounted shaft that permits it to pivot and thereby partially elevate the mechanically driven concrete vibrators with respect to the surface of the wet concrete.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,248,103 discloses an attachment for a screed which includes a laterally oriented frame having a plurality of evenly spaced apart vibrators. A and actuated lever permits an operator to simultaneously raise or lower all of the vibrators with respect to the surface of the wet concrete.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,382,096 discloses a paving machine having a plurality of vibrator units mounted at fixed positions laterally across the face of the device. The vibrators span the entire width of the wet concrete surface to be vibrated. This device includes a concrete screed and it is hydraulically powered. The plurality of vibrators are pivoted about a point and inserted at an angle into the wet concrete in a manner that permits the vibrators to travel beneath the concrete screed.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,292,733 discloses a concrete vibrating device including a plurality of vibrators mounted at a fixed position along the entire width of the device. The vibrators are flexibly coupled to the frame, thus permitting them to be deflected to the rear of the frame as it advances through the concrete.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,461,500 discloses and apparatus for compacting concrete slabs that includes a plurality of vibrator units mounted at fixed positions laterally across the device. Each vibrator is driven by a motor coupled to a flexible shaft. The vibrators trail behind and penetrate below the surface of the wet concrete as the device advances through the concrete.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,148,214 discloses a vibrating machine that includes an inverted "T"-shaped horizontally oriented vibrating tube that is immersed into the wet concrete. U.S. Pat. No. 2,233,833 discloses a related device having three horizontally oriented vibrating tubes that vibrate the wet concrete. A screed is also used to level the surface of the wet concrete.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,555,983 discloses a paving grout control device that includes vibrator units positioned at evenly spaced intervals laterally across the front of the device. This device includes a comb-like structure that is immersed at a point behind the vibrating units at a predetermined depth into the paving material.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,113,494 discloses a machine for finishing concrete surfaces that includes a mechanically vibrated screed. This device is laterally translated by a pair of manually operated winches, one of which is coupled to each end of the frame.
Other known patents of lesser relevance include U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,747,555, 2,030,315, 1,898,158, 3,413,902, 3,042,386, 3,180,625, 3,188,054, 2,261,659, 2,380,435, 2,583,108, 3,110,234, 3,377,933, 3,753,621, 3,299,786, 3,450,011 and 3,541,931.
Other patents owned by the assignee of this invention include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,108,220, 5,480,257, 5,480,258, 4,577,993, 4,249,327, 4572,704 and 4,314,773, as well as others. Of the former, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,572,704 and 4,314,773 are the most relevant to the present invention and their disclosures are hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein. They both discloses bridge deck machines that are capable of vibrating plastic concrete with gang vibrators. However, they may not be easily retrofitted to other conventional bridge deck trusses nor can they be used as stand alone vibratory gangs.
The known prior art fails to adequately address the need for all easily retrofittable gang vibration system for conventional bridge deck trusses. A conventional truss comprises several independent sections that are typically coupled together at the construction site. Since the sections are commonly available in 8, 10 and 12 foot lengths, the overall width of a particular truss may thus be adapted to satisfy varying operational parameters.
The conventional truss also employs a pair of spaced apart end stanchions that support it above the bridge or other work area. Generally, the stanchions are coupled to the exterior truss sections and they are nominally equipped with motorized wheels that move the truss. Normally, the wheels ride on a pair of spaced apart tubes that typically bound the construction site longitudinally. Thus, as the truss traverses the tubes, work is performed on the area underneath and adjacent to the truss.
However, the known prior art devices generally require specialized unitary bridge deck trusses that cannot be assembled on site in appropriate lengths to satisfy varying operational parameters. As such, they are generally undesirable. These devices also lack adaptability and they typically demand excessive prior planning to ensure their availability and workability at the Construction site. Furthermore, they also cause logistical problems that are difficult to resolve.
An improved vibration system should be installable on a conventional bridge deck truss with minimal truss alteration. Preferably, the system should be self sufficient and it should be able to operationally stand-alone without needing truss supplied power. A particularly desirable system would have guidance and location controls that enabled it to operate with minimal operator supervision or direction.


A system for identifying persons, animals or objects provided with identifying badges comprises at least one interrogator provided with a microwave transmitter producing interrogation signals modulated by a BARKER code. A plurality of transponder type identifying badges use the power of a BARKER code modulated signal received from an interrogator to transmit a respective microwave response code transposed from the received signal. At least one identification receiver is adapted to decode the microwave response codes from the badges by a correlative method. The system is incorporated into a server application, in particular a multiservice telephone installation processing the identification information that it provides.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a radio-based system for identifying persons, animals or objects wearing or carrying identifying transponder type badges. It is also concerned with the component parts of a system of this kind, such as a badge interrogator and a receiver processing at least in part the responses provided by the badges, the badge itself and applications of a system of this kind.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The identification of persons, animals or objects by means of badges is conventionally applied directly in entry or transit control and indirectly in presence control.
Each badge has a characteristic that can be recognized by an appropriate identification system, either individually or within a category.
The recognition of the characteristic of a badge by an identifier system implies the use of an information receiver with which the badge is required to communicate.
This communication can be established at the initiative of the badge wearer in some applications, in particular when the wearer requires access. It can also be initiated automatically by the presence of the badge wearer without the latter having to do anything in particular, for example when initiation is triggered by the passage of the badge through an accessway equipped to achieve this.
It is standard practice in microwave communications and in particular in radio direction finding to trigger the transmitter of a transmitter-receiver device by sending a signal to the receiver of the device from an interrogator.
This method can be used with a transmitter-receiver implemented as a badge and relieves the badge wearer of any need to concern himself with setting up a communication link, so that badges can be assigned to "wearers" in whom no responsibility need be placed, such as animals and objects.
The badge must then either incorporate its own power source or receive external power enabling it to transmit to the receiver(s) of the radio identification system.
For technical and economic reasons that are well known in the field of radio communications, transmission by the interrogators and the badges is discontinuous and initiated only when necessary, insofar as this is possible.
One technical reason for minimizing transmission by the badges is that it entails the consumption of power from a supply whose state of depletion and/or deterioration must be checked periodically if the supply is incorporated into the badge.
This constraint is a major drawback in radio identification systems where the badge wearer is often required to assume minimal or even no responsibility with regard to the radio identification equipment.
A second technical reason for minimizing the duration of transmission by the badges is related to congestion and radio frequency interference that could be caused by long and/or simultaneous transmissions, to the detriment of both the radio identification system itself and the general environment.
The duration of transmissions by the badges and the possibility that more than one badge may transmit at a time have a direct influence on the identification capacity of the radio identification system, on the complexity of the identification receiver(s) and on the system in general.
The present invention is therefore concerned with a system for identifying persons, animals or objects provided for this purpose with transponder type identifying badges.
It also concerns the component parts of a system of this kind such as a badge interrogator and a receiver processing at least in part the responses provided by the badges and applications of a system of this kind.

Identification system using transponder badges, component parts therefor and applications thereof


A switch in an inductive circuit is prevented from avalanche operation when the switch is turned off. By preventing avalanche, the associated EMI is reduced or eliminated. Switch avalanche can be prevented using an active component, such as a transistor, or a passive component, such as a resistor, coupled to the switch gate to control current in the switch gate. By controlling current in the switch gate during turn-off, avalanche operation can be prevented without a significant increase in turn-off energy.

Power MOSFETs in inductive circuits will frequently go into avalanche during turn off if Eoff (turn-off energy) is to be limited. Avalanche current has a high di/dt and produces high frequency oscillation in the range of 10 MHz to 30 MHz and is a source of EMI radiation.
More specifically, DC-Loop parasitic inductance (Lp) stores energy when a FET in the loop conducts. This energy is discharged in the FET when it turns off. Lp begins to discharge when the drain source voltage Vds exceeds the bus voltage. When Vds reaches BV (breakdown voltage) the FET avalanches. Energy stored in Lp is the lower limit of Eoff In order to get the lowest Eoff that can be achieved with a hard switching circuit, the FET should avalanche at turn-off. Avalanche, however, produces high di/dt and is followed by high frequency voltage oscillations in the range of 10 MHz to 30 MHz. Therefore, to minimize these potential EMI sources avalanche should be avoided.

Gate control circuit for prevention of turn-off avalanche of power MOSFETs


An image distortion correction apparatus is disclosed which can correct misconvergence using a D-class amplifier. The image distortion correction apparatus has an image processor for detecting an image signal and horizontal/vertical synchronous signals from a signal received from an external source; a distortion value calculator for calculating a misconvergence value occurring when the image signal is scanned based on the horizontal/vertical synchronous signals; a correction value calculator for calculating a convergence correction value of a pulse waveform to correct misconvergence of the image signal based on the misconvergence value; an amplifier for performing a D-class amplification with respect to the convergence correction value; and a convergence yoke fixed to a cathode ray tube (CRT) for controlling a path of an electron beam corresponding to the image signal based on the convergence correction value amplified in the amplifier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an image distortion correction apparatus of a projection television system, and more particularly to an image distortion correction apparatus of a projection television system capable of correcting misconvergence of an image signal scanned by a magnetic field formed in a coil of a convergence yoke (CY) by amplifying an electric signal applied to correct the misconvergence of the image signal and providing the amplified electric signal to the convergence yoke. The present application is based on Korean Patent Application No. 2002-24207 filed on May 2, 2002, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a television system carries out functions of respectively outputting to speakers and to a screen, audio and video signals, which are transferred over a wire and wirelessly. In such a television system, as the quality of life gets better, a high-quality television system becomes more desirable. A high-quality television system, such as a projection television system, uses lenses to enlarge an image based on respective red (R), green (G), and blue (B) cathode ray tubes (CRT), projects the enlarged image into a mirror, and reflects the image incident on the mirror to output the image onto a large screen, to thereby display a received image signal as an enlarged television image.
FIG. 1 is a view for schematically showing a display device of a general projection television system. The display device has a RGB CRTs 2a, 2b, and 2c (hereinafter, referred to as '2'), a mirror 4, and a screen 6. The RGB CRT 2 projects R, G, and B images by electron beams respectively. At this time, the RGB CRT 2 is provided with lenses (not shown) enlarging the respective images. Accordingly, the images are enlarged and then projected. The mirror 4 receives and reflects the R, G, and B images respectively projected through the lenses. The screen 6 displays the reflected and enlarged images received from the mirror 4.
At this time, optical distortions occur when the images are displayed on the screen 6 of the projection television system, because of influences due to optical devices and the positions and angles of plural CRTs 2 prepared for the R, G, and B images.
FIG. 2 is a view for showing respective R, G, and B image trajectories appearing on the screen 6 of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the R, G, and B image trajectories displayed on the screen 6 may become incongruous, skew, and/or angled, depending on the relations between the arranged positions of the RGB CRTs 2 and the position of the mirror 4.
Such optical distortions have nonlinear characteristics due to various factors such as the positions of the CRTs 2 and the mirror 4, lens magnifications, magnetic fields formed based on currents applied to the CRTs 2, and so on.
The projection television system has three RGB CRTs 2a, 2b, and 2c, which are generally not placed in the same position but arranged side by side, so respective R, G, and B electron beams are not projected on the same spot of the screen 6. Accordingly, in the projection television system, convergence distortions appear, together with optical distortions, which prevent proper color images from being obtained.
FIG. 3 is a view for schematically showing a conventional image distortion correction apparatus of a projection television system. The image distortion correction apparatus has amplification parts 10 and 20 for amplifying electric signals for correcting an image misconvergence, convergence yokes 32a, 32b, and 32c for forming certain magnetic fields based on the currents of the amplified electric signals from the amplification parts 10 and 20, and CRTs 2a, 2b, 2c having the convergence yokes 32a, 32b, and 32c fixed thereto for controlling scanning directions based on the magnetic fields formed in the convergence yokes 32a, 32b, and 32c for respective RGB images.
The amplification parts 10 and 20 have three amplifiers 12, 14, and 16, and 22, 24, and 26, respectively, and the respective three amplifiers are packaged in one module. Further, the amplifiers 12, 14, 16, 22, 24, and 26 are grouped by two into pairs, and one amplifier of each pair amplifies an electric signal for controlling the horizontal convergence and the other amplifier of the pair amplifies an electric signal for controlling the vertical convergence.
FIG. 4 is an exemplary cross-sectioned view of the convergence yoke 32a. The convergence yoke 32a is annularly fixed to the CRT 2a. The convergence yoke 32a has coils H1 and H2 symmetrically arranged on the left and right, into which currents are applied to control the horizontal (H) convergence of an R image, and has coils V1 and V2 symmetrically arranged on the up and down sides into which currents are applied to control the vertical (V) convergence of the R image. Accordingly, a certain magnetic field is formed based on the currents applied in the coils H1, H2, V1, and V2. Therefore, an electron beam for the R image is corrected for its scan direction based on a magnetic field formed in the convergence yoke 32a.
FIG. 5 is a view for showing the amplifier 12, from the amplification parts 10 and 20 of FIG. 3, for amplifying a voltage applied to control the horizontal convergence of the R image. The amplifier 12 amplifies an applied voltage and outputs an amplified voltage to the convergence yoke 32a. The convergence yoke 32a forms a certain magnetic field in a coil L based on the applied voltage. In the meantime, a voltage due to a current passing through the coil L is fed back to the amplifier 12. Accordingly, the amplifier 12 amplifies and outputs a difference value of the voltage applied from external and the voltage fed back. Such an amplifier 12 is called 'Operational Amplifier (OP AMP)'. Such an operational amplifier is a C-class amplifier which is constituted with power transistors.
However, the power transistor constructing the Operational Amplifier is a current-driving device and, at the same time, has a large conducting resistance valve. Therefore, when a large current flows in the Operation Amplifier, the Operational Amplifier has a high heat emission. Accordingly, in the conventional art, there exists a problem in that a large-sized heat-sink plate is required to radiate such heat. That is, since the heat emission occurring from the power transistor exponentially increases with respect to a conducting current, a larger heat-sink plate is provided for the projection television system to radiate such heat emission, causing a problem in that the volume of a product becomes larger. Further, since a larger heat-sink plate is required compared to the sizes of the integrated circuits (IC) components mounted for the projection television system, there exists difficulties in arranging IC components and printed circuit boards on which IC components are mounted.
Further, since the conventional amplifier 12 is an Operational Amplifier, a differential and amplified current from the amplifier 12 is applied to the convergence yoke 32a. Accordingly, the current flowing in the convergence yoke 32a decreases over time, causing a problem in that misconvergence cannot be exactly corrected as much as desired.

Image distortion correction apparatus capable of correcting misconvergence using an amplifier


A twist-beam rear axle for motor vehicles includes a flexurally stiff but torsionally compliant cross strut (2) which is combined with flexurally and torsionally stiff longitudinal arms (3) carrying an axle coupling (6) and a hub carrier (7). The cross strut (2) consists of an extruded aluminum channel section which determines the position of the roll center (RC) and of which the open-bottom U-shaped cross-section has closed chambers (25 and 26) at the free ends of its sides (21 and 22). At the ends of the cross strut (2) the sides (21 and 22) of the section are separated and are bent apart outwards to form portions of the longitudinal arms (3) which are closed by corresponding shaped members (8). Upper and lower chambers (23, 24 and 25, 26) are provided in each side (21 and 22) of the section allowing tuning of the torsional rigidity of the cross strut.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a twist-beam rear axle for motor vehicles. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of aluminum extrusions to form a flexurally stiff but torsionally compliant cross strut and flexurally and torsionally stiff longitudinal arms.
2. Disclosure Information
A twist-beam rear axle of this kind for motor vehicles is known from German patent specification 44 41 971, wherein the cross strut is formed from a section which determines the position of the roll center and is in the form of an extruded aluminum channel section of which the open-bottom U-shaped cross-section is provided with closed chambers at the free ends of the sides of the section.
In this case the cross struts, after separation, or removal of a connecting piece, and bending the two sides apart outwards, form regions for the longitudinal arms which are formed by closure with corresponding shaped members.
The known twist-beam rear axle has the disadvantage that the U-shaped cross-section of the extruded aluminum channel section forming the cross strut has an undesirably high warping constant, which impairs the fatigue strength of the twist-beam rear axle. On alternating spring deflection, and thus twisting, of the cross strut the normal stresses set up in the transition region between the cross strut and the longitudinal arm are so high that cracks are formed after only a short time. In addition, the torsion constant which can be achieved is too small.
It is an object of the invention to provide a twist-beam rear axle of the kind referred to above capable of obtaining, by means of a correspondingly optimised cross-section of the cross strut in the form of an extruded aluminum channel section, as low a warping constant as possible together with high bending strength, particularly about the vertical axis, and increased torsional stiffness. Furthermore the particular position of the roll center also plays a significant part.


A slip element installable about a downhole tool apparatus for use in anchoring a downhole tool in a wellbore. The slip element has at least one slip button made of a metallic-ceramic composite material comprising an effective percentage by weight of a preselected titanium compound. The composite makes the slip button resistant to chipping upon setting but has favorable drillability characteristics upon drilling the downhole tool from a wellbore. The slip element may include at least one slip element made of a non-metallic material such as a laminated nonmetallic composite material. Preferably at least one slip button is made of a metallic-ceramic composite material comprising less than about 75 percent by weight of titanium carbide having a density ranging between about 5 to 7 grams per cubic centimeter. Preferably, the slip button is cylindrically shaped and is installed in at least one slip element at a preselected angle and extends outwardly at a preselected distance from a face of the slip element.

This invention relates generally to downhole tools for use in oil and gas wellbores, and more particularly, to such tools having drillable components made from metallic or non-metallic materials, such as soft steel, cast iron, engineering grade plastics, and composite materials and further having buttons incorporated into anti-slip elements which facilitate the setting and anchoring of downhole tools such as drillable packer and bridge plug tools in wellbores.
In the drilling or reworking of oil wells, a great variety of downhole tools are used. For example, but not by way of limitation, it is often desirable to seal tubing or other pipe in the casing of the well, such as when it is desired to pump cement or other slurry down the tubing and force the slurry out into a formation. It thus becomes necessary to seal the tubing with respect to the well casing and to prevent the fluid pressure of the slurry from lifting the tubing out of the well. Downhole tools referred to as packers and bridge plugs are designed for these general purposes and are well known in the art of producing oil and gas.
The EZ Drill.RTM. SV.RTM. Squeeze Packer, for example, includes a set ring housing, upper slip wedge, lower slip wedge, and lower slip support made of soft cast iron. These components are mounted on a mandrel made of medium hardness cast iron. The EZ Drill.RTM. Squeeze Packer is similarly constructed. The Halliburton EZ Drill.RTM. Bridge Plug is also similar, except that it does not provide for fluid flow therethrough.
All of the above-mentioned packers are disclosed in Halliburton Services--Sales and Service Catalog No. 43, pages 2561-2562, and the bridge plug is disclosed in the same catalog on pages 2556-2557.
The EZ Drill.RTM. Packer and the EZ Drill.RTM. Bridge Plug and the EZ Drill.RTM. SV.RTM. Packer are designed for fast removal from the well bore by either rotary, cable tool, or coiled tubing drilling methods. Many of the components in these drillable packing devices are locked together to prevent their spinning while being drilled, and the harder slips are grooved so that they will be broken up in small pieces. Typically, standard "tri-cone" rotary drill bits are used which are rotated at speeds of about 75 to about 120 rpm. A load of about 5,000 to about 7,000 pounds of weight is applied to the bit for initial drilling and increased as necessary to drill out the remainder of the packer or bridge plug, depending upon its size. Drill collars may be used as required for weight and bit stabilization.
Such drillable devices have worked well and provide improved operating performance at relatively high temperatures and pressures. The packers and bridge plugs mentioned above are designed to withstand pressures of about 10,000 psi (700 Kg/cm.sup.2) and temperatures of about 425.degree. F. (220.degree. C.) after being set in the well bore. Such pressures and temperatures require using the cast iron components previously discussed.
In order to overcome the above long standing problems, the assignee of the present invention introduced to the industry a line of drillable packers and bridge plugs currently marketed by the assignee under the trademark FAS DRILL.RTM.. The FAS DRILL.RTM. line of tools consist of a majority of the components being made of non-metallic engineering grade plastics to greatly improve the drillability of such downhole tools. The FAS DRILL.RTM. line of tools have been very successful and a number of U.S. patents have been issued to the assignee of the present invention, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,468 to Streich et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,540 to Streich et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,737 to Jacobi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,540,279 to Branch et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,959, Hushbeck et al., and pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/888,719 filed Jul. 7, 1997, to Yuan et al.
The preceding patents are specifically incorporated herein.
The tools described in the above references typically make use of metallic or non-metallic slip-elements, or slips, that are initially retained in close proximity to the mandrel but are forced outwardly away from the mandrel of the tool upon the tool being set to engage a casing previously installed within an open wellbore. Upon the tool being positioned at the desired depth, or position, the slips are forced outwardly against the inside of the casing to secure the packer, or bridge plug as the case may be, so that the tool will not move relative to the casing when for example operations are being conducted for tests, to stimulate production of the well, or to plug all or a portion of the well.
It is known within the art that cylindrically shaped inserts, or buttons, may be placed in such slip elements, especially when such slip elements are made of a non-metallic material such as plastic composite material, to enhance the ability of the slip elements to engage the well casing. The buttons must be of sufficient hardness to be able to partially penetrate, or bite into, the surface of the well casing which is typically steel. However, especially in the case of downhole tools being constructed of materials that lend themselves to being easily drilled from the wellbore once a given operation involving the tool has been performed, the buttons must not be so hard or so tough to resist drilling or fouling of the cutting surfaces of the drilling bit or milling bit.
Currently, it is known that buttons made of zirconia ceramic materials offer to a certain extent, the desirable characteristics of being of a sufficient hardness to bite in the casing upon setting the tool, but are not so tough as not to be drillable when it comes time to remove the tool from the wellbore. However, it has become evident that the first portion of the button to contact the casing which is usually the most protruding or leading edge of the cylindrically shaped buttons made of such zirconia ceramic materials are brittle and therefore prone, if not expected, to chip or fracture as the slip element engages with the well casing. Many times, such chipping along the leading edge does not degrade the anti-slipping ability of the tool to a level that the tool actually slips in the casing under normal conditions. However, under extremely high pressures or temperatures the undesired chipping could adversely affect the anti-slip performance of the slip elements because the button would not be able to bite as deeply into the casing as would be possible if the leading edge were not chipped during the setting of the tool.
In order to remedy the problematic chipping characteristic associated with zirconia ceramic buttons, tungsten-carbide material from Retco Tool Co. has been used to form buttons. The tungsten carbide buttons offer enhanced anti-chipping characteristics but do so at the expense of not being as easy to drill or mill as the zirconia buttons when destructively removing the tool from the cased wellbore due to the extreme hardness, higher density, and toughness of the tungsten carbide buttons. Such drilling and milling problems include the tungsten carbide buttons fouling, dulling, difficulty in circulating pieces of the buttons within fluids that may be present in the well bore, and the tungsten carbide buttons simply resisting the cutting edges of the drilling or milling tools. Such resistance causes increased costs associated with the rig and tool crews having to expend more time to manipulate the drill string in order to successfully drill, or mill, the tool from the wellbore.
Thus, there remains a need in the art to identify slip button materials that are sufficiently hard to resist chipping upon biting into the wellbore casing yet not be so tough as to unduly resist drilling or milling when it comes time for the tool having such buttons to be destructively removed from the wellbore casing.
There also remains a standing need in the art to identify cost effective technically suitable slip button materials that are able to withstand the various chemicals, temperatures, mechanical loadings, and pressures encountered in downhole environments.

Chip resistant buttons for downhole tools having slip elements


A method for identifying a threatening network comprises an asymmetric threat signature (AT-SIG) algorithm comprising a network movement before/after algorithm that provides a graphical plot of changes in network transaction activity from before to after a specified time and further comprising one or more of: a network progression algorithm that provides a graphical plot to analyze behavior in small increments of time without specification or emphasis upon a particular time or event; a statistical network anomaly ranking algorithm that provides as output a ranked list of the networks; and an anomaly trend graphs algorithm that analyzes and visualizes the networks' anomaly scores over time. Also disclosed are an AT-SIG system and a software program product.

Link-based data, which captures connections or relationships between entities (people, locations, organizations, IP addresses, etc.), is an important type of information for intelligence analysis. The rapid advancement and spread of information and communications technology, combined with capabilities for monitoring the use of this technology, results in large volumes of link-based data. Automated tools are needed to exploit this type of data, to reveal the structure of the underlying human and computer networks and identify behavior that indicates threatening activity.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for identifying a threatening network


A method for providing data channel virtualization between one or more devices and one or more applications is disclosed. In one example, a device policy manager (DPM) is initialized by creating an instance of the DPM before creating any application. Further, the DPM is configured for device management by identifying each device of the one or more devices and its associated device data channel (DDC) to be managed by the DPM. Each of the one or more devices is identified using an associated device identity (ID) and its corresponding DDC. Furthermore, one or more virtual data channels (VDCs) are created and provided to the one or more associated applications upon receiving a request from each of the one or more applications using a device identity (ID) and any application specific configuration parameters provided by the application.

With increase in processing capabilities of embedded processors over the years, the functionality of embedded systems is getting increasingly complex. Often audio/video data originating from one or more devices need to be processed differently by different application programs. Similarly, the audio/video data produced by different application programs need to be played out/rendered on one or more output devices.
For example, the application programs may need to transform input audio/video data coming from one device (e.g., a camera, a personal computer (PC), a microphone and the like) in multiple ways. For example, a video captured from a single high definition camera might have to undergo a low bit rate and low frame rate encoding for a live streaming application and a high bit rate high frame rate encoding for a recording application. Also, data captured from a network socket might need to be processed by different application programs in different ways. For example, a recorder and a transcoder working on single input stream.
Further, the application programs may need to render/play out video/audio data coming from multiple devices on to a single output device (for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, a personal computer (PC), a speaker, and so on). For example, a video communication application requiring displaying video of all attendees in a multiparty video conference on a single monitor. At the same time, a media player application may have to render presentation content onto same output device. Furthermore, the application programs may need to encode and stream multiple streams of input data. For example, a video surveillance system capturing from an array of cameras, encoding and streaming all input video streams over a network.
Even though the newer processors are capable of processing multiple streams of audio/video data, the number of pins available for audio/video data communication with other devices (e.g., cameras, display controllers and so on) can be a significant constraint as well. This may result in only a single data channel being available for the processor for communicating multiple streams of audio/video data with external devices (e.g., monitors, speakers and so on). In most of these cases, audio/video data corresponding to different channels would have to go through the same set of pins in the processor using time or space division multiplexing schemes.
In addition, majority of existing audio and video device drivers which drive the external device support only one user. They assume single stream of data communication through the data channel. However, they may be ignorant of the underlying data. Most of the existing embedded application programs interact directly with these device drivers to transfer single stream of data through the device data channel (DDC).
Moreover, it can be difficult to manage a single DDC when more than one application needs to access the DDC without being aware of the presence of any other application. Further, it may be difficult to maintain a same level of performance and flexibility of the use of the DDC when there is only a single application.
Existing solutions are not independent of underlying platforms. Furthermore, existing solutions when sharing device input/output (I/O) buffers across many applications may result in access conflicts or deadlocks requiring specialized buffer management.
Moreover, simulating same/different virtual channel properties (VCPs) (for example, video properties, audio properties and system properties, such as resolution for video and sampling frequency for audio) to multiple application programs may be difficult using existing solutions. In addition, it may be difficult to achieve a reduced central processing unit (CPU) and memory utilization needs for the DDC management operation and any additions to processing latency when using existing solutions.
The architecture, systems and methods disclosed herein may be implemented in any means for achieving various aspects. Other features will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follow.

Method and architecture for data channel virtualization in an embedded system


A hydraulic swash block positioning system for positioning a swash block to set a variable displacement, the hydraulic device including a rotor with pistons and piston chambers, the positioning system having, between the housing and the swash block, a positioning cylinder with a positioning piston forming a positioning chamber for setting an average value of the swash block position and a control valve connecting the high oil pressure source with the positioning chamber through a feeding line. In accordance with the invention the feeding line is connected to an oil container that has a variable container volume that can be adjusted synchronously with the changes in the number of piston chambers connected to the high oil pressure source.

An example of a pump with such a system is a Variable Displacement Pump 101 as illustrated in FIG. 1. The control valve 105 can change the oil flow through a control flow line 106 and flow restriction 107 thereby changing the oil pressure in the feeding line 112 so that the average position of the swash block position around the swash block axis changes.
The piston chambers are connected via a high pressure port in a valve plate with the high oil pressure source 104 or a low pressure port in the valve plate with the low pressure source 103. The piston chambers connected to the high oil pressure source 104 exert a resultant force on the swash block. Rotation of the rotor changes the length of an arm between the swash block axis and the resultant force. Furthermore, a piston chamber passing a transition between the high pressure port and the low pressure port changes the pressure in the piston chamber. This influences the resultant force on the swash block and its position. This means that all piston chambers together create a swivel torque on the swash block around the swash block axis that oscillates with an oscillation frequency that is equal to the number of piston chambers that rotate along the swash block times the number of full rotations of the rotor per second. This oscillating swivel torque causes the swash block to oscillate around the swash block axis.
In the prior art, there is a compensation cylinder with a compensation piston forming a compensation chamber that is connected to the high pressure source and has an oil flow to and from the compensation chamber without any obstruction and the pressure in the compensation chamber does not influence the oscillation of the swash block. The oil to and from the positioning chamber 102 cannot flow freely as the oil pressure in the feeding line 112 determines the average setting of the swash block position. The oil pressure in the feeding line 112 depends on the inflow through the control valve 105 and the outflow through the flow restriction 107 since the feeding line 112 is connected to the control flow line 106 between the control valve 105 and the flow restriction 107.
In the pump according to the prior art, the control valve 105 is open and there is an oil flow from the high oil pressure source 104 through the control valve 105 and through the flow restriction 107 to a drain that is connected to the low pressure source 103. If the swash block would not oscillate and the volume of the positioning chamber 102 would not change the opening of the control valve 105 and the flow restriction 107 would determine the more or less constant pressure in the positioning chamber 102. The setting of the control valve 105 is controlled by a load sensing system and the control valve 105 has approximately a constant setting when compared to the oscillation frequency of the swash block.
However, as described earlier, the swash block oscillates and therefore the positioning chamber 102 has a variable volume. The variable volume of the positioning chamber 102 caused by the oscillating swash block leads to compression and expansion of the oil volume in the positioning chamber 102, the feeding line 112 and the control flow line 106 and to an oscillating oil pressure. This oscillating oil pressure leads to variable oil flows through the control valve 105 in the feeding line 112 and through the flow restriction 107 out of the feeding line 112 whereby the resulting average oil pressure in the feeding line 112 ensures an average swash block position. These average values remain more or less independent of the rotation speed of the pump and of the oscillation frequency.

Hydraulic swash block positioning system


The present disclosure relates to identity verification devices and methods. A system is provided that utilizes a system of tonal and rhythmic visualization of a spoken word to accurately identify the true owner of a credit or other personal card based on their voice.

Identity theft and credit card fraud are becoming huge liabilities for card issuers as well as creating many problems and potentially high costs for consumers whose identity is stolen. As yet, no reliable way to protect against credit card misuse has been developed. Methods and devices are needed that provide accurate and efficient identification of individuals in a cost-effective manner.

Method and apparatus for identity verification using visual representation of a spoken word


A motor driven storage unit is configured to bring individual shelves to a standard handicapped accessible height for viewing and selection of product on shelves. The shelves are controllable and move in a continuous path that has both a front vertical path and a rear vertical path. Stationary guide tracks and complimentary tracking elements connected to the shelves are used to keep shelves stable. A connecting lever is used to attach the shelves to the chain or other transport means and along with the tracking system ensures that fill storage utilization of the shelves and the space between them can occur.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to closet space improvement and increased functionality of home storage. It relates in general to shelving that display goods for viewing and selection. More particularly the invention relates to a powered carousel unit configured to bring shelves to a standard height.
2. Description of Prior Art
There are many different means for storing household items with some of the current design approaches being stationary shelves, baskets, drawers or in some cases square cubicles. These designs are used through out the home including bedroom closets, kitchen pantries, etc. These methods are effective but they do not allow storage capacity to be significantly improved. Nor do they allow every storage container to be brought to a convenient height for access to its contents. The present invention overcomes these relatively static approaches by utilizing a motor driven vertical carousel to improve storage capacity and increase the ease to which goods can be retrieved.
A variety of carousel shelving units are known and have been used in a variety of settings for various purposes. For example U.S. Pat. No. 2,912,118, U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,647, U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,880 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,815 all disclose vertical carousel shelving units of different configurations, some of which could be used for home storage. However, none of these carousel shelving units have gained any acceptance for use in the home. To date, no efficient or effective carousel unit is available or in widespread use in the home because the designs are too complex to be affordable or they simply don't work well enough. Furthermore, there are some handicapped products that automatically lower shelves to an accessible height for the physically challenged but there are no carousels that are available or in widespread use to solve the same problem.
A key point for carousel design is a guide system that is simple, effective and allows for the shelves to not have to be spaced so far apart vertically that space is wasted. To accomplish this, the guide system must work in conjunction with a lever arm connected to the chain or other transport means so as to give the shelves enough angular velocity so that the shelves don't make contact with each other as they travel from front to back and from back to front. U.S. Pat. No. 2,912,118 accomplishes this in its design but not with out using additional parts from what is required in the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,647, U.S. Pat. No. 6,119,880 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,815 are the other patents that are closest to the present invention but they do not accomplish this feature and hence they require a significant amount of space between shelves where no storage can occur. Also, if the shelves are open on the top this can also result in serious jamming of the system if items that are too tall are placed on the shelf. This problem along with other issues are solved by the design of the present invention.
3. Objects and Advantages
Several objects and advantages of the present invention are:                a) A simple guide system that prevents unnecessary swinging of shelves, is quiet when in operation and cannot jam.        b) A guide system that allows for easy installation and removal of shelves.        c) A connecting lever that attaches to the transport chain to ensure that shelves can be properly spaced so that no space is wasted.        d) A simple and effective means for attaching the connecting lever to a standard roller chain which is used to transport the shelves.        e) A mechanism for ensuring that no slack can occur in the transport chain and that the chain is always in tension.        f) An accessible means for retrieving stored items for persons of varying height including those that are physically challenged and or use a wheel chair
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.


A computing device-controlled system is described for the generation of amplitude-modulated pulse-width modulation (AMPWM) signals for use in treating neurological dysfunction via cranial neurostimulation, where the AMPWM signal is specifically designed to minimize the electrical impedance of the tissues of the head. A low-frequency carrier signal is determined for the AMPWM signal by measuring EEG activity at a reference site or sites, generally corresponding with the location of suspected brain dysfunction. Carrier signal frequency is variably related to critical frequency components of the EEG power spectral density, determined from statistical analysis of amplitudes and variability, and dynamically changed as a function of time to prevent entrainment. The AMPWM signal is presented to a subject via a plurality of neurostimulation delivery modes for therapeutic use.

In the 1960's and early 1970's, Robert Monroe of the Monroe Institute of Applied Sciences explored the effects of sound on the brain and discovered that he could produce a driving or entrainment of brain waves. Dr. Gerald Oster, a biophysicist, also investigating the effects of sound on the brain, discovered that pulsations called binaural beats occurred in the brain when tones of different frequencies were presented separately to each ear. The beat frequency equals the frequency difference between the two tones. Both Monroe and Oster began using electronic oscillators to provide tones with frequency, purity and intensity that can be precisely controlled.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,218 to Robert A. Monroe shows a method for inducing sleep by amplitude modulating a pleasing sound with a delta-rhythm signal that is referred to as an "EEG sleep signal." The '218 patent uses sound to induce sleep by creating a specific signal that coaxes the brain into a relaxed state. This signal chosen in the '218 patent is chosen based upon its proximity to signals that are strong during normal sleep.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,175 to Nagle shows a method and apparatus for repetitively "producing a noise-like signal for inducing a hypnotic or anesthetic effect . . . " by creating frequency bursts of digital pulses that are then passed through a pink noise filter to eliminate frequencies above a certain cut-off. The resultant signal is then passed through a band pass filter and used to drive an audible signal source.
An apparatus for electrophysiological stimulation is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,516 to Meland et al. in which a first signal above the delta-beta frequency range is modulated by signal within that range and applied to electrodes on the forehead of a user.
A learning-relaxation device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,502 has both lights for pulsing signals and sound means for a pulsing sound signal as well as a control means that can individually vary the light and sound signals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,701 to Masaki shows a device similar to those used by Monroe and Oster with first and second generators with frequencies above 16 hertz and a frequency difference of 4 to 16 hertz sounded to lower the brain wave frequency of a user. The term "entrainment" began to be accepted for such devices: "This phenomenon, in which one regular cycle locks into another, is now called entrainment, or mode locking." (Gleick, Chaos: Making of a New Science 1987, Penguin Books, p. 293). An article entitled "Alpha Brain Waves & Biofeedback Training" in the December 1972 Popular Electronics show a system that uses a person's own EEG signal to modulate a tone generator which, in turn, then drives a speaker heard by the same person. The device allowed a person to "hear" his or her own brain signals in an attempt to voluntarily control the frequency. A similar device that allows a person to "see" his or her own brain waves is shown in an article entitled "Mind Power: Alpha" in the July 1976 Radio-Electronics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,036,858 to John L. Carter, Harold L. Russell and Len Ochs shows the use of EEG electrodes attached to the head of the user along with an amplifier for determining a current brain wave frequency of a user, which is communicated to a computer processor. A new frequency is generated which is between the current brain wave frequency and a desired brain wave frequency and is within a predetermined range of the current brain wave frequency. This has become known as electroencephalographic entrainment feedback if it is used to "lock" the current brain wave frequency into a desired frequency.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,939 to Len Ochs provides a method of "exercising" the brain by using a device producing audio and visual stimulation to move a user's brain wave frequency back and forth between predetermined frequency levels.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,743 to John L. Carter, Harold L. Russell, W. Daniel Vaughn and Robert R. Austin, a method for treating an individual is described by determining a brain wave frequency which corresponds to a highest evoked response of the individual, entraining the brain wave frequency to the brain wave frequency corresponding to the highest evoked response, and then maintaining the brain wave at that frequency for a predetermined length of time. The highest evoked response is described as the highest EEG response or the highest cerebral blood flow (CBF) of the individual or even some other measure.
Two patents in application at the time of the disclosure of the present invention relate to the present invention. In Application No. 20010003799 by Birinder B. Boveja an apparatus and method for adjunct (add-on) therapy utilizing an external stimulator is described to stimulate a cranial nerve according to a predetermined program.
In Application No. 20010007950 by Richard B. North et. al. a neurostimulation system and method is described that includes an implantable stimulator and patient interactive computer. Also, the '950 application requires patient interaction.
Prior methods of neurostimulation for therapeutic purposes have in many ways attempted to ameliorate brain functioning by providing the brain with electrical energy that is designed to be a reflection of the brain's own activity, often with the intent of modifying the brain electricity to follow, or entrain to, a desired frequency, range of frequencies, or relationship among frequencies, or alternately to target theoretically and empirically derived frequency states as a goal of training or therapy. However, little attention has been given to signal design for overcoming the complex and composite impedance presented by the tissues of the head. Such signals, when properly constructed, will limit attenuation of neurostimulation signals for improved effectiveness in patient treatment.
Regarding the concept of conductivity, it is known that the tendency of any conductive material to limit the flow of electrical charge, otherwise known as electrical current, is known as impedance. In general terms, attenuation of current flow is proportional to the magnitude of a material's impedance. The impedance of a substance Is a function of its material and physical properties. Environmental factors, such as temperature, also influence the impedance of a material. Most significant to the disclosure of the present invention is the relationship between impedance of a material and the frequency of the electrical signal being conducted through the material.
In its most fundamental terms, three electrical effects govern impedance: resistance, capacitance and inductance. Resistance is a fundamental form of impedance that is constant in time. Therefore, the frequency of a signal has no effect on resistance. However, both capacitive and inductive effects are functions of frequency. Inductive reactance, the formal name for impedance due to inductance, is proportional to frequency. Thus, the higher the frequency of a signal is, the higher will its corresponding inductive reactance be. Capacitive reactance, the formal name for impedance due to capacitive effects, is inversely proportional to frequency. Thus, as a signal's frequency increases, the impedance of a material due to capacitance decreases. For very high frequencies, capacitive reactance can become very small, and the resulting attenuation of the flow of current will be correspondingly less.
The head is comprised of a series of tissues that can be approximately thought of as composite layers surrounding the brain. Specifically, these layers of tissue include the dermal layers of the scalp, the skull, the meninges, the cerebral spinal fluid that bathes the brain, and the brain itself including both healthy tissues and unhealthy tissues such as lesion matter forming in the region of damage. The impedance of the tissues of the head is known to be complex in nature, that is, they have both a resistive component and a capacitive component. Thus, the overall impedance of these tissues will be a function of signal frequency because of capacitive reactance, and an electrical circuit model of these impedances must account for this fact. Because of the nature of this impedance, a higher frequency signal will pass through the tissues with much less attenuation.

Method and apparatus for utilizing amplitude-modulated pulse-width modulation signals for neurostimulation and treatment of neurological disorders using electrical stimulation


A system for estimating an angle of arrival of a signal includes an object, a movable component that is movably coupled to the object, and at least first and second spaced-apart antennas coupled to the movable component. The system also includes a controller that is configured to estimate an angle of arrival of a signal based on a difference between a time the signal arrives at the first antenna and a time the signal arrives at the second antenna while the movable component is moving, and a difference between a frequency of arrival of the signal at the first antenna and a frequency of arrival of the signal at the second antenna while the movable component is moving.

Known tracking techniques often utilize the angle of arrival (or arrival angle) of an incoming signal to determine a position of one platform relative to another platform. The platforms may be stationary or moving relative to each other. In some applications, one platform is stationary and the other platform is moving. In yet other applications, both platforms are moving. In a common application, the platform transmitting the signal is stationary and the platform receiving the signal is moving. For example, in aerospace applications, the signal-transmitting platform can be a flight control element positioned on the ground and the signal-receiving platform can be an aircraft in flight (e.g., airborne). In such applications, the angle of arrival is defined as the angle between the direction of the signal received by the aircraft (which corresponds with the position of the signal-transmitting platform) and the orientation of the aircraft. The orientation of the aircraft is commonly associated with the direction of travel of the aircraft.
Certain conventional tracking techniques determine the angle of arrival of a signal from a signal-transmitting platform by comparing the characteristics of signals received by two or more spaced-apart, signal-receiving aircraft. The signal characteristics may include the time of arrival of the signal at the two signal-receiving aircraft and/or the frequency of arrival of the signal at the two signal-receiving aircraft. The geographical diversity between the two signal-receiving aircraft and the relative velocities of the aircraft promoted the accuracy of such multi-platform techniques. However, such multi-platform techniques require two or more aircraft for proper execution, which may be difficult and costly to implement. Accordingly, in many instances, determining the angle of arrival of a signal at a signal-receiving aircraft independent of other signal-receiving aircraft or platforms is desirable.
Some single-platform tracking techniques determine the angle of arrival of an incoming signal at a signal-receiving aircraft, without relying on other signal-receiving aircraft or platforms. Such single-platform techniques are based on a difference in the time of arrival of the signal at two different antennas on the aircraft and/or a difference in the frequency of arrival of the signal at the two different antennas. However, because the distance between the antennas on the aircraft is negligible and the antennas are not moving relative to each other, the use of time-difference-of-arrival (TDOA) techniques and frequency-difference-on-arrival (FDOA) techniques often resulted in inaccurate estimations of the angle of arrival.

Apparatus, method, and system for estimating the angle of arrival of a signal