A leg press exercise machine that provides translational and rotational motion of the user support structure by translating the user support structure along two intersecting non-orthogonal linear paths. A front portion of the user support structure travels along an inclining linear path and a rear portion of the user support structure travels along a declining linear path. The translation of the user support structure along the inclining and declining linear paths results in the user support structure exhibiting a rational motion, defining an arcuate path.

It is often necessary or desirable for a person to exercise a particular muscle or group of muscles, such as to recover from surgery or injury, to increase strength, stamina and endurance, and to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle, as well for aesthetic purposes. Various machines have been developed to exercise different muscles and muscle groups by forcing the muscles to contract and extend under a load, such as by moving a free weight against the force of gravity or by moving an object whose movement is resisted by resistance force, such as a, spring or a weight attached to a cable and pulley system.
One exercise that has been developed to exercise the leg muscles is known as the leg press. A leg press involves a pushing motion wherein a person pushes with his/her feet and legs to extend the legs from a hip and knee flexed starting position to a hip and knee extended finishing position, thereby contracting the muscles in the legs and lower torso, namely the quadriceps, gluteal, and calf muscles, as well as any ancillary muscles involved in such a motion.
A typical leg press machine includes a footplate and a seat. A user sits in the seat, generally facing opposite the footplate, applies force to the footplate in the leg press motion, which is typically a compound motion of the hip and knee pushing the footplate away from the user's torso. This force is countered by the force generated by the hip and knee applied through the torso against the seat, rendering the body relatively motionless with respect to a fixed frame such as the ground. As the legs extend, either the footplate or the seat (or both) is moved, generally in a somewhat linear path, allowing the exercise motion to proceed. A resistance device is coupled to the moving elements to provide the necessary resistance.
Currently, leg press exercise machines having features similar to those disclosed in Jones, U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,080, and Simonson et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,914, include an adjustable seat for accommodating users having different body sizes and leg lengths. The position of the seat relative to the footplate is adjusted prior to the commencement of exercise such that the user can exercise over a full range of motion. Alternatively, the footplate may be disposed at various initial positions with respect to a fixed seat.
In known leg press machines, the motion of the moving portion of the machine is generally fixed to one linear or rotational degree of freedom. Thus, when the leg press exercise is executed, the body or the machine move in a generally linear, straight translational motion or a single axis rotational motion. This results in an exercise which mostly stresses the quadricep muscle group in the leg, but does not fully engage various other muscle groups in the hips and lower torso, which are often integral to the motion of the lower body. Examples of such muscle groups are the hip extensor and lower back muscles.
It is desirable therefore, to provide an exercise machine for the legs, which also incorporate a means by which the hips and lower back muscles may be exercised to a higher intensity and with a greater range of motion, in addition to the muscles exercised by a traditional leg press.


A powershift transmission includes a plurality of clutches, including a final or directional set of clutches. The clutches are controlled by electro-hydraulic direct acting valves and two electro-hydraulic proportional or pressure modulating valves. The pressure modulating valves modulate the pressure supplied to the direct acting valves associated with the three directional clutches. Vehicle deceleration during a shuttle shift is achieved by releasing (unpressurizing) all clutches, then gradually pressurizing only two clutches in the final or directional set.

This invention relates to a vehicle transmission control system, in particular a method for shuttle shifting a powershift transmission having solenoid valve operated transmission control elements, such as brakes and clutches.
Power shift transmissions are known in the art. A control system for a known powershift transmission such as a Funk 8000 Series powershift transmission is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,470, issued Feb. 5, 1991 to Bulgrien. This powershift transmission includes an initial set of three clutches, an intermediate set of three clutches and a final or directional set of three clutches. The clutches are controlled by nine electro-hydraulic 3-way, 2-position direct acting valves and two electro-hydraulic proportional or pressure modulating valves. The pressure modulating valves modulate the pressure supplied to the direct acting valves associated with the three directional clutches. Such powershift transmissions may be controlled to provide a shuttle shift capability which permits the vehicle to slow down and then change direction of operation without requiring the movement of the gearshift lever through each intermediate gear ratio. One such shuttle shifting method is described in the above mentioned patent to Bulgrien, wherein all clutches in an initial set of clutches are released to disconnect the engine from the drive train, at least two clutches in an intermediate set of clutches are engaged to lock up the transmission, at least one clutch in a final set of clutches is engaged to reduce vehicle speed to zero, then after the vehicle speed has been reduced to zero, one clutch in each set is engaged to engage the desired new gear ratio. Thus, this method requires that a minimum of at least three clutches be operated merely to decelerate the vehicle during a shuttle shift. It would be desirable to decelerate the vehicle during a shuttle shift with fewer clutch operations in order to increase system reliability.

Transmission shuttle shift deceleration method


A method and apparatus for refreshable tactile output of information from a computer, includes using a movement actuator to move in unison along a first dimension a plurality of tactile elements that can be touched by a user of the tactile output. Based on data received from a computer processor, a particular tactile element of the plurality of tactile elements is locked with a corresponding lock actuator of a corresponding plurality of lock actuators different from the movement actuator. The method and apparatus allow a low cost, highly reliable movement actuator to be employed that does not substantially exceed the size of the tactile output area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tactile displays for computer systems that can be used to present Braille characters and other information with movable tactile elements that can be touched by a human user. In particular, the present invention relates to a refreshable tactile display using one actuator protected from touching forces for moving tactile elements and separate actuators to lock the tactile elements in place.
2. Description of the Related Art
To make computer systems accessible to visually impaired users, a tactile display with multiple tactile elements that can be touched by a user serves many purposes. A tactile display with two positions for the tactile elements (raised and lowered) can be used to form Braille characters that can be scanned by a trained user more rapidly than a speech synthesizer can pronounce the same material. A tactile display with contiguous tactile elements that each can assume one of two positions can form raised ridges against a recessed background that can be used to present lines, curves and blocked areas of black and white graphics. A tactile display with contiguous tactile elements that can each assume multiple vertical positions can form variably raised ridges that can be used to present topographic information, such as the contours of a face or a relief map of a portion of the earth's surface.
Typically, the tactical elements are cylindrical pins that can be moved by actuators up or down in the dimension defined by a long axis of the pins. The properties of tactile displays are controlled by the properties of actuators that can convert electric signals controlled by a computer processor to mechanical movement of tactile elements sufficient to be felt a human user.
Experience with Braille displays shows a human can feel a pin displacement of 0.010 inches when the human applies a force of 20 grams to the pin, so this force should be opposed by the display; and the human can feel a pin displacement of 0.020 to 0.030 inches without an opposing force, such as if the pin moves under the human's touch. The specifications for Braille characters and common extensions to Braille specifications, define characters that each are made of up to eight dots in two columns of up to four dots, include dots with a height difference (z-dimension) of about 0.019 inches, in. (0.48 millimeters, mm), a dot diameter of about 0.057 in. (1.45 mm), a spacing between dot centers in the same character of about 0.092 in. (2.34 mm), and a separation between corresponding positions on adjacent Braille characters of about 0.245 in. (6.22 mm) for adjacent characters on the same line (x-dimension) and, for six dot Braille characters, about 0.400 inches (10.16 mm) for adjacent characters on different lines (y-dimension). Typical embossed paper Braille displays, which are not refreshable, present 25 lines of 40 six-dot Braille characters that are found acceptable presentations for scanning.
Using conventional commercial refreshable Braille displays, 25 lines of 40 characters are not achieved. Instead, a single line with up to 80 characters, but more typically only 40 characters, is commercially available. For example the Power Braille 80 Display by Blazie Engineering, and available from Freedom Scientific, presents a single line of 80 eight-dot Braille characters on a relatively large flat rectangular box; the unit is 24 inches long (x-dimension), 11.5 inches wide (y-dimension), 1.5 inches thick (z-dimension), weighs about ten pounds, and retails for about $10,000. A 40-character display from the same company is about half as long (only 14 inches), half as heavy (about five pounds) and costs about half, but is about the same width (13 inches) and thickness (1.5 inches) as the 80-character display.
The actuators used by many commercial systems, including the Power Braille 40 and Power Braille 80, employ piezoelectric bending elements. These actuators are favored because they are simpler to manufacture, more reliable in use, and consume less power than arrays of tiny electromagnetic coils acting on magnetized pins; however, these actuators require considerably more space than electromagnetic coils. A piezoelectric material changes shape when subjected to a large electric field. Piezoelectric bending elements curl when subjected to a strong electric field, but the deflection at the end of a beam of such material is a small percentage (often less than 1%) of the length of the beam. To achieve a deflection of 0.02 inches, on the order of a Braille dot height, from a material with a 0.2% deflection in an electric field, a beam about 10 inches long is utilized. This provides an important reason for the great width (11.5 to 13 inches) of the Power Braille displays. In alternative configurations, small mechanical levers can be used to amplify small deflections, but such approaches increase the complexity and cost of such devices.
A simple approach is to use an array of small electromagnetic coils with magnetized cores to displace the pins that serve as tactile elements. Sizes useful for multi-line displays are not achieved unless the size of each electromagnet is about one sixth the area allotted for each six-dot Braille character on a page (or one eighth the area allotted for each eight-dot extended Braille character).
This approach suffers from several disadvantages. One disadvantage is that such tiny electromagnets are expensive to manufacture and assemble in arrays, are unreliable, and are difficult to replace in the tight arrays needed for Braille characters.
Another disadvantage is that such electromagnets consume substantial power to move a pin a Braille character height and sustain the pin in the moved position against the forces applied by a human reader. For example, it is assumed that an electromagnet consumes 100 milliWatts to move and sustain a pin in a non-rest state (either raised or lowered). A display having 25 lines of 40 eight-dot characters includes 8000 pins, and would consume 800 Watts to move all the pins. A graphical or topographical display would have many more pins in the same area and consume considerably more power. For example, each six-dot Braille character is allotted an area about 0.4 inches by 0.25 inches in which there would be 40 contiguous pins of diameter 0.05 inches. This is five times the number of pins used in the example Braille display, and results in a power consumption of 4000 Watts. A typical residential electrical outlet supplies only about 1200 Watts. Thus an array of small electromagnets can exceed the power capacity of a residential electric outlet for graphical or topographical displays.
Another disadvantage is that electromagnets small enough to generate Braille characters are still not small enough to represent graphic and topographic information, in which pins about the size of Braille dots are contiguous. The electromagnet diameter would be constrained to be about 0.05 to 0.06 inches in diameter.
In another approach, the electromagnets are used to raise the pins, but the pins are then locked in place so that the electromagnets do not have to expend power to maintain a pin in a non-rest position. Such an approach reduces the power problems in Braille and graphical or topographical displays. However, the complexity and cost of the display is increased by the extra components required for the locking mechanism in addition to the cost and complexity of the tiny electromagnets.
Another approach forms Braille characters on a rotating rim of a fixed wheel. For each dot of the three or fours dots on each column of a Braille character, two inverted "T" shaped grooves are cut in the wheel at different radii from the axis of rotation, separated by the Braille dot height distance. Flanges are added to the pins used as tactile elements to hold the pins in place in one of the two grooves. An electromagnetic coil moves a magnetized rod at a non-rotating position on the wheel and moves pins to engage one of the grooves. If the flange on the pin engages the outer groove, the pin is extended beyond the rim; if the flange engages the inner groove, the pin is recessed in the rim. Holes in the rotating rim drag both extended and recessed pins one circuit around the wheel in the grooves. When the pins return to the fixed position of the electromagnetic coils, the pins are reset to one of the two groves for the Braille characters on the next line. A reader positioned away from the electromagnetic coils reads the Braille characters as they rotate with the rim past the reader.
A disadvantage of this approach is the great thickness of a display device that accommodates the diameter of the wheel. Another disadvantage is that a reader cannot skim several lines during the time of a single rotation by the rim. Another disadvantage is that the approach is not suitable for displaying graphical information, which would employ many more than the one row provided by this approach. Another disadvantage is that the approach is not suitable for displaying topographical information, which would employ many more than the two radial positions allowed by the two grooves for the tactile elements.
A smaller, lighter mechanism to generate each character would allow multiple-line Braille displays favored for scanning by human users. A mechanism to generate each character that is less complex and less costly to manufacture would allow affordable prices that foster more widespread use. In addition, smaller and lighter mechanism would allow better tactile graphic and topographic displays.
Based on the foregoing, there is a clear need for a smaller, less complex mechanism for generating Braille characters in a refreshable display for computers.
In addition, there is a clear need for a smaller, less complex refreshable tactile display that represents graphical or topographical information.
In addition, there is a need for a smaller, less complex mechanism for a refreshable tactile display that can represent Braille characters and also can represent graphical information or topographical information or both.
The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.


The processing device is capable of high efficiency processing with a laser and a punch press while neutralizing the effects on the laser by vibrations caused by punch processing. The punch press device has a servo-motor and a crank system that converts the rotation of the servo-motor to a reciprocal movement of the ram. A NC device controls the processing device. The NC device has determination standards which assign either the punch press part or the laser processing part by predetermined values obtained by the mutual relationship of the work thickness, material and circumferential length with respect to hole processing.

Conventionally, a composite processing device provided with a punch press part and laser processing part has been used. On this type of composite processing device, the laser processing part is arranged in order to perform detailed processing and the processing of complicated shapes such as those which can not be performed by punch processing but for reasons of operating costs and processing efficiency, punch pressing is mainly used. Thus due to these factors, press ability (punch ton amount) is an important specification of the punch press part.
However, when a large press ability is required of the punch processing, this is rarely used and as a punch press part having a large press ability is provided for this seldom used processing, the wasteful use of the equipment is great.
Furthermore, on this kind of composite processing device provided with a punch press part and laser processing part, the large vibrations of during punch processing influence the optical devices of the laser processing part thus maintenance of the high accuracy in the laser processing is difficult.
Conversely, in order to reduce the noise and vibration of the punch press device, it is preferable to reduce the speed at the instant when the punch tool contacts the work surface by changing the punch speed mid-stroke. This kind of speed change mid-stroke is normally impossible for mechanical press devices and requires a hydraulic press.
However, the equipment cost of hydraulic presses increases as a hydraulic unit is necessary. In order to solve this problem, the present applicant tested a device where punch driving was performed directly by a servo-motor. However, with direct driving by a servo-motor, obtaining enough press ability for punch processing when the work is thick or when the hole to be punched has a large diameter is difficult due to the limits of the motor output generally produced.

Composite laser and punch processing device


A display panel for a flat panel display includes an array of LCD devices and an array of LED devices that are configured to radiate light in a light path that impinges on the array of LCD devices, to provide backlighting on the array of LCD devices. A solid colloidal dispersion of particles of a first material having a first index of refraction dispersed in a second material having a second index of refraction, such as a solid foam structure, is provided in the light path to reduce spatial non-uniformity of the backlighting.

LCD devices are widely used in flat panel displays for monitors, televisions and/or other displays. As is well known to those having skill in the art, an LCD display generally includes a planar array of LCD devices that act as an array of optical shutters. Transmissive LCD displays employ backlighting using fluorescent cold cathode tubes above, beside and sometimes behind the array of LCD devices. A diffusion panel behind the LCD devices can be used to redirect and scatter the light evenly to provide a more uniform display.
For example, it is known to use one or more fluorescent cold cathode tubes adjacent one or more edges of the planar array of LCD devices, and a light guide or light pipe that directs the light from the fluorescent cold cathode tubes, to illuminate the face of the planar array of LCD devices. Unfortunately, such edge lighting may be inefficient, with up to 50% or more of the light being lost.
It is also known to provide an array of fluorescent cold cathode tubes behind and facing the planar array of LCD devices. Unfortunately, an array of fluorescent cold cathode tubes may increase the thickness of the LCD display and/or increase the power consumption thereof. It also may be difficult to uniformly illuminate the planar array of LCD devices with the array of fluorescent cold cathode tubes.
Semiconductor light emitting devices, such as Light Emitting Diode (LED) devices, also may be used for edge illumination of a planar array of LCD devices. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/898,608, filed Jul. 23, 2004, entitled Reflective Optical Elements for Semiconductor Light Emitting Devices, to coinventor Negley, and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety as if set forth fully herein, describes side emission LEDs that may be used for large area LCD and/or television backlighting.
Semiconductor light emitting devices, such as LED devices, also may be used for direct backlighting of LCD displays. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/022,332, filed Dec. 23, 2004, entitled Light Emitting Diode Arrays For Direct Backlighting Of Liquid Crystal Displays, to coinventor Negley et al., and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in it entirety as if set forth fully herein, describes an array of LED devices that is closely spaced apart from an array of LCD devices to provide backlighting therefor.
It is generally desirable to provide backlighting for an LCD display that appears uniform to a user of the display. Uniform backlighting may be provided by increasing the space between the LED devices or cold cathode tubes and the diffusion panel, to allow a relatively thick "mixing zone", wherein the light output from the LED devices and/or fluorescent tubes can mix uniformly. Unfortunately, if the thickness of the mixing zone is increased, the overall thickness of the flat panel display may also undesirably increase. Backlighting uniformity also may be provided by decreasing the pitch between adjacent LED devices and/or fluorescent cold cathode tubes. Unfortunately, if the pitch is decreased, more LED devices and/or fluorescent cold cathode tubes may be used, which may undesirably increase the cost and/or power consumption of the flat panel display.

Solid colloidal dispersions for backlighting of liquid crystal displays


Pivot mechanism incorporating first and second rigid plates interconnected by a hypocycloid gear train, the first plate being formed in one piece with a circular toothing belonging to the hypocycloid gear train. A seat frame is fixed to the first plate by a weld located at the position of the toothing.

More specifically, the invention relates to a pivot mechanism incorporating:                first and second juxtaposed parallel rigid plates, interconnected by a hypocycloid gear train, the first plate having first and second faces, and the said first plate being formed by a single piece having an outer circular toothing belonging to the said hypocycloid gear train and positioned on the said first face,        a first seat frame fixed to the first plate.
The document FR-A-2 578 601 describes an example of a pivot mechanism.

Pivot mechanism, method for manufacturing it, and vehicle seat incorporating the mechanism


Semiconductor-on-glass integrated circuits may include photodetectors which are stimulated by backside light passing through the glass substrate; this provides information reception by optical communication. Bipolar and field effect transistors are shielded from the light by their buried layers. Further, LEDs integrated together with photodetectors permits all optical communication among glass substrate chips. Alternative uses of glass substrate include thermal isolation for efficient thermally regulated integrated circuits.

The present invention relates to electronic integrated circuits and methods of fabrication, and, more particularly, to semiconductor integrated circuits on dice with transparent substrates.
Silicon-on-insulator substrates
Integrated circuits fabricated in silicon-on-insulator substrates offer performance advantages including freedom from latchup for CMOS structures, high packing density, low parasitic capacitance, low power consumption, radiation hardness, high voltage operation, and the possibility of three dimensional integration. Indeed, isolation trenches extending through the silicon layer down to the insulation provide a simple approach to dielectric isolation of integrated circuit devices. The sidewalls of such trenches are coated with an insulator, usually silicon dioxide ("oxide"), and the remaining portion of trench opening, if any, is filled with a filler which is usually polycrystalline silicon. Diffused PN junctions can also be used for lateral isolation.
Silicon-on-insulator wafer bounding as described by J. Lasky et al., Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) by Bonding and Etch-Back, 1985 IEDM Tech. Deg. 684 (1985), proceeds as follows: a lightly doped epitaxial layer of silicon is grown on a heavily doped silicon substrate, oxide is thermally grown on the epilayer, a second lightly doped silicon substrate is thermally oxidized, the two oxidized surfaces are pressed together. See FIG. 1a. The pressed together wafers are inserted into an oxidizing atmosphere at 1,100.degree. C. to bond them as illustrated in FIG. 1b. Lastly, grinding and polishing or a preferential etch is used to remove the heavily doped substrate, leaving the thin, lightly doped epitaxially layer above the bonded thermally grown oxides which are now on the second substrate as shown in FIG. 1c. The resulting thin silicon layer above the thermally grown oxide has high quality and the oxide also retains its quality and may be thick, as might be desired for CMOS or high voltage devices, or thin, as might be desired for shared element applications. FIG. 1d heuristically illustrates trench isolation with poly filled trenches isolating MOSFET and bipolar devices.
Co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/921,197, filed Jul. 28, 1992 (Linn, Lowry, Rouse, Buller, and Speece), discloses wafer bonding with the use of an oxidizer to lower the temperature of the oxidation bonding as illustrated in FIGS. 2a-c.
Direct wafer bonding of dissimilar materials is well known to those skilled in the art and not discussed in detail.
Integrated circuits formed in semiconductor substrates may incorporate various types of photodetectors. Incident light with sufficiently short wavelength generates electron-hole pairs in the semiconductor and thereby increases the conductivity of photoresistors or the current in photodiodes and phototransistors. The incident light typically enters through an opening in the wiring on the front side of the integrated circuit and forms electron-hole pairs near the surface (penetration of about 1 .mu.m for yellow-green light in silicon).
Integrated circuits also may be fabricated with light emission sources such as light emitting diodes or lasers, typically made of gallium arsenide type compound semiconductors. This permits optical communication between integrated circuits using optical fibers affixed to the light sources and detectors.
Temperature regulation of integrated circuits can compensate for the temperature coefficients of parameter change for circuits such as voltage references and current sources. However, known regulation methods of temperature sensing and heating a die containing an integrated circuit requires large amounts of power dissipation due to the vertical heat conduction out of a die. Various heat sensitive circuits such as bolometers have used circuits formed in suspended semiconductor films to provide thermal isolation; however, such suspension yields fragile structures.
Features
The present invention provides integrated circuits made in wafers of semiconductor layers bonded to glass substrates and with optically active devices coupling to backside light passing through the glass substrate. Glass substrates also provide enhanced thermal isolation for thermally regulated circuits.


The disclosure provides a coating composition comprising a treated inorganic particle having reduced photoactivity and improved anti-microbial properties, wherein the treated inorganic particle comprises: an inorganic core particle; a first treatment of a silicon compound, wherein the silicon compound is added in a single step; and a second treatment comprising co-precipitated zinc oxide and alumina.

This disclosure relates to an inorganic oxide pigment, and in particular to titanium dioxide pigment, TiO2, suitable for use in coating compositions.
Coating compositions of interest in the present disclosure are water-dispersible coating compositions such as latex coating compositions, e.g. acrylic, styrene acrylic, vinyl acetate, ethylene vinyl acetate, polyurethane, alkyd dispersion etc; and solvent based such as alkyd coating compositions; urethane coating compositions; and unsaturated polyester coating compositions, acrylic, styrene-acrylic compositions typically a paint, clear coating, or stain. These coatings may be applied to a substrate by spraying, applying with a brush or roller OF electrostatically, such as pigment coatings, etc. These coating compositions are described in Outlines of Paint Technology (Halstead Press, New York, N.Y., Third edition, 1990) and Surface Coatings Vol. I, Raw Materials and Their Usage (Chapman and Hall, New York, N.Y., Second Edition, 1984).
Inorganic pigments may be added to the coating compositions. In particular, titanium dioxide pigments have been added to coating compositions for imparting whiteness and/or opacity to the finished article. To deliver other properties to the coating compositions, additional additives are incorporated into the compositions. What is needed is a titanium dioxide that has multiple properties associated with it.
A need exists for a simplified process for the addition of silica, alumina and zinc oxide to the titanium dioxide pigment that provides opacity, reduced photoactivity and mildewstat properties to the coating.

Treated inorganic pigments having reduced photoactivity and improved anti-microbial properties and their use in coating compositions


A contactless rotary pull switch includes a switch knob assembly rotatable about an axis to a plurality of rotational positions and actuatable to at least one pull position, with the switch knob assembly including a knob element and a rotational shaft fixedly coupled thereto. A rotational magnet is coupled to the rotational shaft so as to rotate therewith, and at least one pull magnet is positioned separately from the rotational magnet. A rotational sensor senses a magnetic field generated by the rotational magnet to identify a rotational position of the switch knob assembly and at least one pull sensor senses a magnetic field generated by the pull magnet(s) to identify a pull position of the switch knob assembly. A rotatable arm member selectively enables/inhibits sensing of the magnetic field generated by the pull magnet(s) by the at pull sensor(s), to identify distinct pull positions of the switch knob assembly.

Embodiments of the invention relate generally to rotary pull switches and, more particularly, to contactless rotary pull switches such as might be used as lighting switches for a motor vehicle.
In specialty vehicle markets—such as heavy trucks, agricultural equipment, and construction equipment, for example—various types of electrical switches are used as control switches for a variety of applications, including general vehicle features/applications (e.g., switching the motor vehicle lighting, the windshield wipers, the rear windshield heating, the cruise control functions, etc., on and off) and critical or safety related vehicle features/applications (e.g., power take-off (PTO) switches, "e-stop" type switches, etc.). With respect to a vehicle lighting switch in particular, a typical vehicle lighting switch includes a rotary control having at least three positions: all lights (parking lamps and headlamps) OFF, parking lamps ON, and all lights ON. The vehicle lighting switch may also incorporate an auto-light function, and two pull-on functions for turning ON fog lamps.
The typical rotary pull vehicle lighting switch includes mechanically engageable contacts (e.g., wiping contacts) for controlling all of the vehicle lighting functions/modes—with a sensing or determination of a rotational position and pull position being achieved via such mechanically engageable contacts. While such rotary pull switches having mechanically engageable contacts are most often employed in vehicle lighting switches, it is recognized that vehicle lighting switches may also be constructed as contactless rotary pull switches. Such contactless rotary pull switches may operate by rotating a magnet past a fixed magnetic sensor, such as a Hall effect IC or a magnetoresistive sensor. It is also known to make a contactless switch that operates using the Wiegand effect.
With respect to contactless rotary pull switches that are utilized in vehicle lighting switches or in switches for other applications, it is recognized that existing designs of such switches can limit the performance thereof. For example, existing contactless rotary pull switches often incorporate a single magnet or arrangement of magnets—in conjunction with a number of sensors—for determining both the rotational position of the switch and the pull position of the switch. In such an arrangement, the pull position is determined by sensing the strength of a magnetic field of the magnet by way of a pull position sensor—with the strength of the magnetic field varying as a distance between the magnet and the pull position sensor increases/decreases. However, these variations in the magnetic field strength may not be great enough to discern a distinct switching position. As another example of limited performance, the circuit board in existing contactless rotary pull switches—and light emitting diodes (LEDs) included on the circuit board for providing backlighting to symbols on the face of the switch—are often located at a back portion of the switch module at a distance from the vehicle dashboard. As such, mechanisms such as optical fibers or light pipes are necessary for transmitting light from the LEDs to the symbols on the face of the switch, thereby increasing the cost and complexity of the switch.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a contactless rotary pull switch—such as might be utilized for controlling of vehicle lighting—that provides distinct switching positions and increased durability. It would further be desirable for such a rotary pull switch to utilize low cost and efficient lighting to provide backlighting for lighted symbols on the face of the switch.


The present disclosure relates to an apparatus comprising at least one sensing capacitor and a controller, wherein the controller is configured to receive a signal from the at least one sensing capacitor indicative of a change of charge of the sensing capacitor, and wherein the controller is configured to determine an amount of force applied to the sensing capacitor, an acceleration of the sensing capacitor, a torsion of the sensing capacitor, a vibration of the sensing capacitor or a pulling force applied to the sensing capacitor based on the change of charge of the at least one sensing capacitor.

An apparatus that is configured to sense a mechanical force requires a sensing element. It is known in the state of the art to use piezo sensors or micro-optoelectro-mechanical systems sensors (MEMS sensors) for measuring mechanical forces. In addition, it is known in the state of the art to use capacitors to sense mechanical forces. To measure a mechanical force with the help of the known sensing capacitors the capacitance change is detected and the mechanical forces are determined based on the change of capacitance of the sensing capacitors. According to one example, at least one of the conductors of a capacitor like a plate of a plate-type capacitor is moveable relative to the dielectric in response to an applied mechanical force. Thereby, the capacitance of the capacitor changes and based on said change of capacitance the applied mechanical force can be determined.
One disadvantage of the known sensing elements for mechanical forces is that they have to be individualized to each type of application. Furthermore, the sensing capacitors known that allow a measurement of mechanical forces based on their change of capacitance are expensive compared to standard capacitors.
Moreover, said piezo and MEMS sensors may not be mounted to printed circuit board using integrated process technology easily. For example, piezo sensors are sensitive to heat and soldering cables may damage the piezo sensors. Furthermore, MEMS sensors may not be capable to respond to high frequencies.
It is therefore one objective of the present disclosure to overcome the problems of measuring mechanical forces by a sensor that may be coupled to a circuit board by using integrated process technology easily and that is of low costs. Another object of the present invention is to provide a sensor that allows a measuring of mechanical forces with a high frequency response.

Vibration and dynamic acceleration sensing using capacitors


A buoyancy control system comprises a housing and first and second pistons movably supported by the housing. In a shallow mode, displacement of the first piston alters a buoyancy of the buoyancy control system. In a deep mode, displacement of the first and second pistons alters the buoyancy of the buoyancy control system.

The ability to control the buoyancy of an object is desirable in many applications. For example, in the field of unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs), it is often desirable to adjust the buoyancy of the vehicle to stabilize it in the water column (hover) or to make the vehicle rise or sink within the column.
Accordingly, many waterborne objects are provided with a buoyancy control mechanism, or "buoyancy engine", that allows active control of the buoyancy of the object. Active buoyancy control allows the buoyancy of an object to be adjusted as necessary for a desired maneuver or to accommodate unknown or changing environmental conditions. For example, the buoyancy of the object may be adjusted to bring a submerged object to the surface so that it can communicate via radio, then return the object to a submerged condition. As another example, the buoyancy of an object might be adjusted to accommodate variations in density of the surrounding water due to changes in temperature and/or salinity.
The present application is generally applicable to any type of waterborne object for which buoyancy control is desirable. Examples of waterborne objects that employ or may employ buoyancy control include: floats, buoys, weaponry (torpedoes), and manned and unmanned powered submarines. The present is invention is, however, of particular significance when applied to the class of UUV's referred to as "gliders". A glider is propelled through the water completely by changes to the buoyancy of the vehicle. The present invention will be described in detail below in the context of a glider.
For UUVs that are powered by batteries or other fixed energy storage mechanisms, one design goal is to optimize the energy efficiency of all onboard systems. The buoyancy control engine can be a major consumer of stored energy, so an effective buoyancy control engine should be energy efficient. The buoyancy engine should also be reliable, low weight, and easily maintainable.
Conventional gliders have a buoyancy engine that effectively changes the volume of the glider. One class of conventional gliders (e.g., the "Seaglider" produced by the University of Washington and the "Spray" produced by Bluefin Robotics) uses hydraulic pumps to transfer hydraulic fluid from an internal bladder to an external bladder. Yet another class of gliders (e.g., the "Slocum Thermal" produced by Webb Research) harvests the thermal energy of the ocean to move a transfer fluid between an internal bladder and an external bladder. The buoyancy engines employed by these gliders will be referred to as "internal bladder/external bladder" buoyancy control engines.
Another class of gliders (e.g., the "Slocum Electric" produced by Webb Research) uses a motor to drive a ball screw. The ball screw in turn drives a piston inside a rolling diaphragm. The diaphragm/piston combination displaces water when extended and ingests water when retracted. This type of buoyancy engine will be referred to as "ball screw/piston" type buoyancy control engines.
A related class of UUVs includes floats or buoys (e.g., The "ALACE" (Autonomous Lagrangian Circulation Explorer) floats). In the case of floats or buoys, the purpose of the buoyancy control system is typically to maintain neutral buoyancy for a period of time at a predetermined depth and then adjust the is buoyancy to cause the vessel to surface and communicate data. After the communication process is completed, the buoyancy of the vessel is again adjusted to cause the float or buoy to descend and then become neutrally buoyant at the predetermined depth. Such floats or buoys also use an "internal bladder/external bladder" configuration to control buoyancy.
One problem with the "internal bladder/external bladder" class of buoyancy engine is that a large amount of fluid is required to adjust the buoyancy of the device. Because the fluid is transferred into a bladder that directly displaces the water, there is a one to one ratio between required fluid and potential displacement (i.e. one liter of fluid is required to displace one liter of water). The ratio of required fluid to potential displacement limits the net buoyancy of the vehicle. In the context of gliders, this limitation on net buoyancy limits the speed of the glider and also the ability of the glider to adjust its buoyancy in response to changes in salinity and temperature.
Another disadvantage of the "internal bladder/external bladder" buoyancy engine is that the hydraulic pumps used in these designs are typically optimized for maximum efficiency at a significantly higher pressure than the operational pressure of the device. In particular, the hydraulic pump does not operate at maximum efficiency at the maximum operational depth of the vessel, and the hydraulic pump is even less efficient at shallower depths.
For example, the "Seaglider" glider developed by the University of Washington employs the Hydro LeDuc model PB32.5 pump. This pump has a maximum total efficiency (combined mechanical and volumetric efficiency) that peaks at approximately 34 MPa (˜5000 psi), while the pressure at the Seaglider's maximum operational depth of approximately 1,000 m yields a pressure of approximately 10 MPa (˜1500 psi). The efficiency of the buoyancy engine of the "Seaglider" glider is less than 15% at 200 m operation and only 40% at 1000 m operation.
The "ball screw/piston" type of buoyancy engine similarly suffers from low efficiency. Small DC motors are typically designed to run at high speeds (e.g. 5,000-10,000 rpm). While these motors can be highly efficient (typically 80-90%) at these relatively high operational speeds, the speed of such motors needs to be significantly reduced to drive a ball screw assembly of a "ball screw/piston" type buoyancy engine. A reduction gear is thus typically used to reduce the speed of the motor; a reduction gear is usually about 70% efficient, giving a combined efficiency in the range of 56-63%. In addition, the ball screw assembly itself typically operates at only about 95% efficiency, thereby reducing the maximum potential efficiency of this system to a range of 50-60%. The "Slocum Electric" device produced by Webb Research, which uses a ball screw/piston type buoyancy engine, has a published buoyancy engine efficiency of about 50%, which is at the low end of the theoretical range of efficiencies for the "ball screw/piston" type of buoyancy engine.
It is therefore an object of the current invention to provide buoyancy control systems and methods for a submersible vessel having improved efficiency over the entire operational depth range of the vessel. An additional object of the current invention is to provide buoyancy control systems and methods that are reliable and easy to manufacture and maintain.

Buoyancy control systems and methods for submersible objects


A method of transmitting data streams representing stimuli of at least one particular type, including a first step of setting up transmission of a particular stream Vstr1 from an interface device INFD to a terminal LT1 initially selected as the destination terminal. The method further includes a step of identifying terminals CTj compatible with said particular stream Vstr1; a step of selecting as the new destination terminal LT2 of said particular stream Vstr1 a terminal that has been identified as compatible, and a second step of transmitting said particular stream Vstr1 to the new destination terminal LT2. The method authorizes dynamic control of stream sharing or transfer between two or more terminals with no branch connection between said terminals.

Such methods are routinely used in systems for transmitting data streams that represent audio and/or video stimuli and can therefore convey data representing cinematographic works or teleconferences proceeding in principle in real time, for example.
Because of a background trend producing effects that are apparent in the telecommunications industry in particular, data of various types is conveyed more and more frequently by means of a common infrastructure, usually employing one or more communications networks, for example a main network conforming to the Internet Protocol cooperating with one or more auxiliary networks, which could be networks of radio stations conforming to a third generation telephone protocol, e.g. the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications system) standard, cable local area networks, e.g. conforming to the Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) standard, or wireless local area networks, for example conforming to the WiFi (IEEE 802.11) standard.
An auxiliary network can be provided in a home by a local area network of a particular type in which an interface device, for example a home gateway, provides an interface between the main and auxiliary networks and is physically connected to a plurality of terminals such as a television receiver, a personal computer, a telephone, possibly a videophone, etc.
In the current state of the art, known interface devices are arranged so that certain terminals known as dedicated terminals are intended to send or receive only one type of data stream, for example a television receiver receives a data stream representing a television program. For that kind of dedicated terminal to be able to receive a data stream of some other type, assuming that it would be more advantageous to use the dedicated terminal to play back the stimulus concerned, an auxiliary network user must, should it be physically possible, set up a branch connection between the dedicated terminal and an initial terminal considered by the user as being less able than the dedicated terminal to play back the stimulus concerned. To return to the example in which the dedicated terminal is a television receiver, the initial terminal could be a videophone with a screen that is small and therefore less advantageous than the screen of the television receiver.
Thus to share a stream between terminals or to transfer a stream from one terminal to another, a user of the auxiliary network must set up a physical connection between those terminals, representing a time and hardware investment and resulting in the presence in their environment of a cable that is generally unattractive, and that must furthermore be present all the time to allow dynamic control of stream sharing or transfer.

Method and system for the dynamic management of the transmission of streams within a plurality of terminals


A graphical representation of available Storage Area Networks (SANs) and of available hosts is displayed. Storage is provisioned from a selected SAN to a selected host in response to dragging and dropping the graphical representation of the selected SAN into the graphical representation of the selected host. Thus, a drag-and-drop metaphor may be used to facilitate storage provisioning. Related methods, systems and computer program products are disclosed.

Various embodiments described herein relate to computer systems, methods and program products and, more particularly, to storage provisioning computer systems, methods and program products.
Storage provisioning is the process of assigning storage, usually in the form of server disk drive space, in order to optimize the performance of a Storage Area Network (SAN). Traditionally, provisioning has been done by a SAN administrator, and can be a tedious process.
Storage provisioning is often performed in steps, which generally must be followed in a specific order. Specifically, the storage is configured for optimum SAN performance. Logical Unit Numbers (LUNs) are assigned within the network. The administrator confirms that the data storage and recovery routes will be available to all users when needed. Alternate routes are put in place that can keep the SAN functional in the event of partial failure. The administrator confirms that the SAN can accommodate expected future expansion. After everything has been connected and all the programs have been installed, the entire SAN generally is tested before sensitive and valuable data is committed to it.
In recent years, automated storage provisioning, also called auto-provisioning, computer programs have become available. These programs can reduce the time required for the storage provisioning process, and can free the administrator from the often distasteful task of performing this chore manually.
One example of a computer program that can provide automated storage provisioning is "CA Server Automation". CA Server Automation is an integrated data center management solution that automates provisioning, patching and configuration of operating system, storage, network and application components across physical, virtual and public cloud systems. It can greatly simplify server operations and system management tasks and can increase the speed and accuracy of delivering IT services. See the Data Sheet entitled "CA Server Automation", CA Publication No. CS2674_0812, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference as if set forth fully herein.


Providing for management of wireless communications in a heterogeneous wireless access point (AP) environment is described herein. By way of example, system data of an over-the-air message can be configured to include information identifying a distinct type of transmitting base station. In some aspects, the information can include an access type of the base station and/or a sector ID for distinguishing the base station among large numbers of other base stations. According to other aspects, the information can include wireless channel resources designated for a particular type of base station, or blanked by the transmitting base station, to facilitate interference reduction on such resources. By employing aspects of wireless communication management disclosed herein, efficient and reliable communication can be affected in large heterogeneous AP networks.

I. Field
The following relates generally to wireless communication, and more specifically to preamble design of a wireless signal facilitating reduced interference for semi-planned or unplanned wireless access networks.
II. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as, e.g., voice content, data content, and so on. Typical wireless communication systems can be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems can include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and the like.
Generally, wireless multiple-access communication systems can simultaneously support communication for multiple mobile devices. Each mobile device can communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from base stations to mobile devices, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from mobile devices to base stations. Further, communications between mobile devices and base stations can be established via single-input single-output (SISO) systems, multiple-input single-output (MISO) systems, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, and so forth.
Wireless transmissions are typically sub-divided in time, frequency, according to codes, and so on, to convey information. For instance, in an ultra mobile broadband (UMB) system, forward link messages comprise at least one time superframe (e.g., of 25 millisecond length) segmented into one superframe preamble and several time frames. The preamble carries acquisition and control information, while the various other time frames carry traffic, such as voice information pertinent to a voice call, data packets pertinent to a data call or data session, or the like. Acquisition information can be utilized by mobile terminals within a given mobile network sector to identify transmitting base stations within the sector. Control channel information provides commands and other instructions for decoding received signals.
In UMB, a superframe preamble comprises eight orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM) symbols. The first symbol typically carries a forward primary broadcast control channel (F-PBCCH) and the next four symbols can carry a forward secondary broadcast control channel (F-SBCCH) and forward quick paging channel (P-QPCH). The F-PBCCH and F-SBCCH typically provide initial configuration information required by terminals entering a UMB system. For instance, the F-PBCCH channel might carry deployment-wide configuration information that is common across sectors, while the F-SBCCH might carry sector-specific configuration information. The F-QPCH can carry quick pages which are used to direct idle mode terminals to read a page and open a connection if a page is received.
The last three OFDM symbols of the UMB preamble can carry acquisition pilot information. The first of these three symbols typically carries a sector-independent signal used to determine the existence of a UMB system and to acquire initial timing and frequency. A second, sector-dependent signal can be utilized to determine identity of a transmitting sector and/or base station. A third signal, also sector-dependent, can carry information used to determine initial system parameters such as whether the system is synchronous or asynchronous, what time division duplex (TDD) partition to use, and so on.
While the foregoing describes a preamble for a UMB system, various other mobile communication systems also utilize channel preambles, or similar structures, for signaling, acquisition, control or like wireless communication functions. Specifically, a preamble can carry synchronization and/or acquisition pilots, control information enabling a remote terminal to search for a sector at power-up, determine initial parameters of a sector necessary for making handoff decisions, establishing communication with a network, and demodulating non-control channels. Other functions can include specifying formats of traffic channels for some wireless systems. Typically, a preamble is set apart from a traffic-related portion of a wireless signal to facilitate distinction of application-related information and control information at a receiver. Thus, the receiver can monitor control portions to identify whether a signal contains traffic pertinent to a receiving device, without having to monitor the traffic portions themselves. Because the control portion is typically only a small fraction of the total signal, receiver devices can significantly reduce processing requirements and power consumption by monitoring a signal preamble to determine whether relevant information is contained in the signal. Employing control channels for wireless signaling therefore leads to more effective communication, as well as improved mobility by extending battery life for mobile devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A package for an optical semiconductor element is provided. The package includes: a stem body having a sealing hole therein; and a lead pin having a glass sealing portion which is sealed with sealing glass in the sealing hole. Characteristic impedance of the glass sealing portion is adjusted to a given value. The characteristic impedance Zo is given by: Zo=(138/Er1/2)×log(D/d), where a hole diameter of the sealing hole is D, a wire diameter of the lead pint is d, and a dielectric constant of the sealing glass is Er, and the dielectric constant Er of the sealing glass is set by controlling an amount of bubble contained in the sealing glass.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a package for an optical semiconductor element and more particularly to a package for an optical semiconductor element having an excellent property in high-speed communication.
2. Related Art
In a communication field, a value of characteristic impedance of a signal wire is unified as 50Ω. As for a package for an optical semiconductor element used for optical communication, it was not necessary to pay attention to matching of the characteristic impedance in the past. However, in high-speed communication at 8 Gbps, for example, a problem occurs in that signal transmission efficiency deteriorates if the value of the characteristic impedance deviates from 50Ω. Therefore, the characteristic impedance is required to be matched.
A signal wire (lead pin) used for the package for the optical semiconductor element is attached to a stem body by glass-sealing and the signal wire becomes a pseudo-coaxial structure. The present invention relates to a technique capable of matching the characteristic impedance in a portion where the lead pin is sealed.
Characteristic impedance Zo of a signal lead pin is given by the following expression:Zo=(138/Er1/2)×log(D/d),where Er is a dielectric constant of glass used for sealing the lead pin, D is a hole diameter of a sealing hole for mounting the lead pin, and d is a wire diameter of the lead pint.
The shape, size, and the like of the packet for the optical semiconductor element are various. In a general package for an optical semiconductor element (for example, TO-46 type) used for optical communication, the dielectric constant Er is 5.0, the sealing hole of the lead pin is 1.2 mm, the wire diameter of the lead pin is 0.45 mm, and the value of the characteristic impedance is 25Ω. Accordingly, in the package for the optical semiconductor element in which the value of the characteristic impedance deviates from 50Ω, it is necessary to correct the value of the characteristic impedance to 50Ω in order to improve a signal transmission property (see e.g., JP-A-2007-220843).
Also, as a method of enabling the value of the characteristic impedance of the package for the optical semiconductor element to be close to 50Ω, a method of increasing the hole diameter D of the sealing hole of the lead pin, a method of decreasing the wire diameter of the lead pin, and a method of decreasing the dielectric constant Er of sealing glass are taken into consideration.
Among these methods, the method of increasing the hole diameter D of the sealing hole of the lead pin results in reduction in an area where an optical semiconductor element of the step body is arranged due to the increase in the sealing hole. Therefore, the size of the hole diameter D is restrictive due to the specification of the stem body.
In addition, in order to realize the method of decreasing the wire diameter of the lead pin, the wire diameter has to be set in consideration of a wire bonding property, since an end surface of the lead pin is a wire bonding surface.
The method of using glass having a low dielectric constant Er as sealing glass also has a problem in that glass having the low dielectric constant is generally poor in a sealing property and an airtight property is problematic when the lead pin is sealed. In general, when the dielectric constant of glass is decreased, modifier oxide (metal oxide or the like) added to the glass has to be reduced. For that reason, an amount of an additive contributing to the airtight property with the lead pin or the stem body is reduced, and thus the airtight property with the lead pin or the like deteriorates. Moreover, since the additive has a function of adjusting a thermal expansion coefficient of glass, the airtight property may deteriorate in a package (matched type) for an optical semiconductor element in which the thermal expansion coefficient of the glass varies by changing the amount of additive and the thermal expansion coefficient of the glass is matched with the stem body.

Package for optical semiconductor element


According to one aspect, embodiments herein provide a power converter configured to monitor at least one of current and voltage at a bidirectional AC load terminal, determine, based on the monitoring, whether the power converter is receiving AC power from at least one Photo-Voltaic (PV) inverter or whether AC power is being drawn from the power converter by at least one load, determine whether an energy storage device coupled to the power converter is fully charged, and in response to a determination that the power converter is receiving power from the at least one PV inverter and a determination that the energy storage device is not fully charged, operate a power conversion unit in the power converter to convert the AC power received from the at least one PV inverter into DC power and provide the DC power to a bidirectional DC terminal to charge the energy storage device.

Field of the Invention
At least one example in accordance with the present invention relates generally to Photovoltaic (PV) inverters.
Discussion of Related Art
A Photovoltaic (PV) (i.e., solar) inverter is traditionally utilized to convert the DC output of a PV solar panel into an AC output that can be fed into an electrical grid or used by a local, off-grid, electrical network.

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC SOLAR INVERTERS USA, INC.


A vibration-proof removable module is described. The vibration-proof removable module includes a chassis and sidewalls. The chassis further has a vibration-proof space to avoid interference between the chassis and an electrical device fixed within the vibration-proof removable module. The sidewall further has a sliding vibration absorption device to isolate the vibration-proof removable module from the vibration force and shock force of an outside environment. The sliding vibration absorption device has a vibration absorption slider and the vibration absorption slider further has leaf springs thereon. Furthermore, the sliding vibration absorption device has a vibration absorption pad therein to improve a vibration absorption effect.

Information technology and the computer industry are highly developed now. People rely heavily on computer systems. Therefore, computer servers with high calculation capacity and high stability are important for computer systems. Due to increasingly reduced office space, area occupied by computer servers must also be reduced. Computer servers must maintain a high degree of stability to serve users, and the space occupied by one computer server is usually greater than or equal to that of a desktop computer. Accordingly, the management of computer servers is difficult and space utilization is tightened. Typical companies have 2 or 3 computer servers while others may have more than a thousand computer servers. Computer server management and space utilization become more critical in companies with more computer servers.
A 1U computer server mounted on a standard 1U server rack is the mainstream computer server arrangement. Each standard layer of the rack is about 1.75 inches (about 4.5 centimeters), so that the 1U computer server and the rack effectively conserve space of the computer servers. Moreover, the 1U servers and racks are more efficiently controlled because the 1U servers and racks can be centrally managed and easily stacked. Normally, hardware used in the 1U server is provided with a smaller size and lower height to fit the thickness limitation of 1.75 inches.
A server system is convenient to a user for seeking or storing data because the server rack usually provides numerous hard disks to store data therein. The hard disks on the server racks are especially convenient for data exchange, repair and installation because each hard disk is installed in a removable module and the removable module is installed in the server rack.
The dimensions of the server rack and the dimension of the removable module limit the quantity of conventional removable hard disk modules which can be installed in one server rack. That is to say, due to the width and height limitations, some residual space of the server rack cannot be utilized for hard disk installation. Therefore, various hard disk removable modules are manufactured to effectively utilize the limited space in the server racks. However, due to effective utilization of the limited space in the rack, the space designed between the hard disk and the removable module is constantly being compressed. Accordingly, a vibration-proof mechanism between the hard disk and the removable module is more difficult to design.


A storage medium-compatible communications unit, a phase detection unit, a parameter acquisition section and a location detection section are provided. The storage medium-compatible communications unit communicates with a storage medium by wireless using electromagnetic waves at a predetermined frequency. The phase detection unit detects phases of signals received from the storage medium. The parameter acquisition section acquires a distance detection parameter to be used in detecting a storage medium distance from a first position of an antenna to the storage medium. The first position is a position in a range of positions of the antenna from which the distance to the storage medium is shortest. The distance detection parameter is a value set in accordance with a positional relationship between the first position and a second position. The second position is a position of the antenna in the range of positions of the antenna that is different from the first position. The location detection section detects the storage medium distance, using a first phase detected by the phase detection unit at the first position, a second phase detected by the phase detection unit at the second position, and the distance detection parameter acquired by the parameter acquisition section. The location detection section identifies the first position at a time at which a trend of changes of phase detected by the phase detection unit in association with movement of the antenna reverses.

A technology is known that, with a view to detecting the location of a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag, utilizes phases of plural tag signals that are obtained in accordance with a user moving an RFID tag-compatible reader and determines a bearing on which the RFID tag is disposed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
However, in the technology described above, although the bearing on which the RFID tag is disposed can be detected, a distance to the RFID tag is not detected. A technology is known (for example, see Patent Document 2) that detects a distance to an RFID tag as described below. A reader transmits plural signals to an RFID tag using plural signals with different fundamental frequencies. In response to these signal transmissions, the RFID tag applies backscatter modulation to the plural signals. The reader determines phases of the plural backscatter-modulated signals received from the RFID tag, and determines a rate of change of the phases of the backscatter modulation signals with respect to a rate of change of the fundamental frequencies of the transmitted signals. The reader then utilizes information on the determined rate of change of phase to calculate the distance to the RFID tag.
Patent Document 1: European Patent Application, Publication No. 2779020
Patent Document 2: U.S. Pat. No. 7,119,738

Storage medium location detection system and program


Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for providing assistance to users by integrating social computing system with conversational user interface. In some cases, a user interacting with a virtual assistant of a conversational user interface provides input that the virtual assistant is not able identify a matching intent. As a result, the virtual assistant can leverage the social computing system to generate a new question based on the user input and post the question to the social computing system. Users of the social computing system can provide an answer, which the virtual assistant provides to the user in the conversational user interface. The social computing system can also generate a new intent for the virtual assistant to increase efficiency of the virtual assistant.

Organizations implement a variety of support services to assist users of products and/or services offered by that organization. One such support service is a conversational user interface that organizations implement in order to assist users as well as enhance user experience with the product and/or service (e.g., a software program product). Conversational user interfaces include a custom trained virtual assistant that reduces the burden on customer support by processing questions without human involvement.
However, despite implementing conversational user interfaces with virtual assistants, some users may not get the support requested. While virtual assistants are trained to provide support to users, virtual assistants are not trained for every possible question or set of circumstances because the training of virtual assistants for every such question or circumstance can be time and resource consuming. Additionally, training a virtual assistant for every known and unknown question and/or circumstance is not possible. As a result, when a user has an uncommon question or struggles to articulate a question, the virtual assistant may not be able to provide the support request. The failure of a virtual assistant is also referred to as a fallback, where the virtual assistant, having failed to provide assistance, directs the user to a human support agent.
Users that are not able to get assistance from a virtual assistant of a conversational user interface may reach out to a live support agent for assistance, defeating the purpose at least in part of implementing a conversational user interface. Additionally, failure of the virtual assistant to provide assistance to users is a strain on resources of an organization and can result in a negative user experience with not only the support service but also with the product and/or service as well as the organization.
Therefore, a solution is needed to train a virtual assistant of a conversational user interface to reduce the number of fallback instances without straining the resources of an organization.

User support with integrated conversational user interfaces and social question answering


An implantable lead for a medical device with an isolated contact connection for connecting a conductor to a contact reduces the opportunity for conductor material to migrate to a contact or into a patient. The implantable lead comprises a lead body having a proximal end and a distal end, at least one conductor, at least one contact carried on the proximal end, at least one contact carried on the distal end, at least one coupling. The lead has an exterior surface. The conductor is contained in the lead body and extends from the lead proximal end to the distal end. The conductor is electrically insulated. The contact carried on the proximal end is electrically connected to the conductor. The coupling has a conductor coupling and a contact coupling. The conductor coupling is placed over the conductor and attached to the conductor. The contact coupling exits the lead body and has a weld to connect the contact coupling to the contact. There is an isolation space created between the conductor and the contact to prevent the weld from containing conductor material.

This disclosure relates to medical devices and more particularly to an implantable lead.
The medical device industry produces a wide variety of electronic and mechanical devices for treating patient medical conditions such as pacemakers, defibrillators, neuro-stimulators, and therapeutic substance delivery pumps. Medical devices may be configured to be surgically implanted or connected externally to the patient receiving treatment. Clinicians use medical devices alone or in combination with therapeutic substance-therapies and surgery to treat patient medical conditions. For some medical conditions, medical devices provide the best and sometimes the only therapy to restore an individual to a more healthful condition and a fuller life. One type of medical device is an implantable neurological stimulation system that can be used to treat conditions such as pain, movement disorders, pelvic floor disorders, gastroparesis, and a wide variety of other medical conditions. The neurostimulation system typically includes a neurostimulator, a stimulation lead, and an extension such as shown in Medtronic. Inc. brochure "Implantable Neurostimulation System" (1998). More specifically, the neurostimulator system can be an ITREL He II® Model 7424 or an ITREL 3® Model 742.5 available from Medtronic, Inc., in Minneapolis, Minn., that can be used to treat conditions such as pain, movement disorders and pelvic floor disorders. The neurostimulator is typically connected to a stimulation lead that has one or more electrodes to deliver electrical stimulation to a specific location in the patient's body.
Implantable leads have conductors that are connected to contacts to form electrical paths. The connection between the conductors and the contacts should have a solid mechanical connection and a low impedance electrical connection for efficient operation and reliability. Conductors manufactured from low impedance materials such as silver make forming a connection with good mechanical properties challenging because silver has substantially less tensile strength than a more common conductor material such as MP35N. Additionally, silver content in the weld joint between a conductor and contact increases the chances of separation, silver exposure to tissue, and weld corrosion during lead operation. Some previous connections directly connect the conductor to the contact but sometimes the conductor material is not ideal for forming a strong mechanical connection. Additionally, conductor material such as conductor ions can migrate from the conductor to the contact or even from the conductor into the patient. Other previous connections use a tube crimped to the conductor that is welded to the contact. Although the tube can improve the mechanical connection, material from the conductor can still migrate from the conductor to the contact or into the patient. An example of a lead with a joined conductor and electrode is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,181,971 "Joining Conductor Cables And Electrodes On A Multi-Lumen Lead. Body" by Doan (Jan. 30, 2001).
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for an implantable lead with isolated contact couplings to reduce the opportunity for conductor material to migrate to the contact or into the patient.

Implantable lead with isolated contact coupling


A storage system is disclosed comprising a management computer and multiple storage subsystems with multiple volumes accessible to a host computer. The host computer sends volume configuration information to the management computer. Each storage subsystem retrieves information from the volume directory corresponding to a requested volume and sends it to the management computer. The management computer comprises a volume information table holding the volume configuration information obtained from the host computer, information on storage subsystems, and use-related ID group IDs; a unit which identifies the volumes belonging to a specified group ID, locates the storage subsystems these volumes belong to, and obtains information on the desired volumes from their corresponding volume directories; and a display device which displays information on the usage of the volumes that is obtained from storage subsystems. Thus, volume information in multiple storage subsystems can be collected in an integrated manner, thereby reducing management overhead.

The present invention relates to a storage management method and system, and more specifically to a method for monitoring the status of storage usage in a computer system having a large number of storage units. Compound computer systems in which a number of host computers carry out jobs while sharing, or exclusively using, logical areas allocated in storage units such as disks are in common use. In such compound computer environments, as the system becomes more large-scale or the jobs become more diversified, it is increasingly demanded that a large variety of data be handled efficiently by a storage subsystem. In addition, such demand needs to be satisfied while reducing the overall storage management cost. To meet these requirements, it is important to build an environment which allows the information on storage usage and file allocation to be obtained efficiently.
A number of methods for managing storage usage have been proposed. For example, Laid-open Patent Specification No. 2003-303054 discloses an arrangement in which each storage subsystem monitors and manages the storage usage inside it by itself. More specifically, each of the storage subsystems is provided with a management module, which constantly monitors the usage of each volume in it by the user's computers and informs the user of the storage usage status whenever there is a change in it. This arrangement allows storage usage to be monitored and managed efficiently, without getting the user's computer to be involved.


The invention discloses a direction-adaptive image deblurring method, comprising steps of: (1) defining a minimum cost function for deblurring an image by direction-adaptive total variation regularization; (2) converting the unconstrained minimization problem in step (1) to a constrained problem by auxiliary variables d1=Hu, d2=∇xu and d3=∇yu; (3) obtaining a new minimum cost function from the constrained problem in step (2) by introducing penalty terms; and (4) converting the minimization problem in step (3) to an alternating minimization problem about u, d1, d2 and d3, where a minimum of a variable is calculated as other variables are determined, and obtaining a deblurred image by solving the alternating minimization problem by an alternative and iterative minimization process. Compared with the prior art, the present invention obtains a new direction-adaptive cost function by introducing local direction information into a maximum a posteriori algorithm, solves a problem of edges of an image restored by traditional TV regularization terms being blurred, and can restore images of complex blurring types or images with abundant textures.

Spacial targets such as communication satellites and resources satellites launched at home and abroad can be used in network communication, aerophotography, geodesy, etc. Targets in images obtained by sensors tend to be blurred due to limited spacial resolution of a camera and interference of random noise and atmospheric turbulence with a remote optical imaging system, which makes post operations such as target positioning and target categorizing quite difficult, and therefore, how to improve imaging quality of the images becomes a focus of research both at home and abroad. Intensive studies on deblurring algorithms on targets under the above imaging conditions have been carried out and relevant achievements have been made. For example, Turbulence-degraded Infrared Image Blind Restoration Method Based on Generalized Regularization, He Chengjian, Hong Hanyu and Zhang Tianxu, Infrared Technology, No. 8, Vol. 28, August 2006, proposes a generalized regularization method developed from a conventional nonlinear regularization which can realize correction effectively. However, the method mainly targets at infrared imaging in turbulence and correction on remote visible imaging is not covered. Blind Restoration of Turbulend-degraded Image Using Maximum Entropy Algorithm, Fu Changjun, Xu Dong and Zhao Yan, Infrared and Laser Engineering, No. 3 Vol 37, June 2008, approximates a nonlinear entropy expression by a two order polynomial to avoid complex computations caused by nonlinearity of maximum entropy regularized terms. Theoretical analysis shows accuracy of the approximation can be assured by density transformation and the problem can be solved by a conjugate method which needs less computation. Deblurring Poissonian Images by Split Bregman Techniques, S. Setzer, G. Steidl and T. Teuber, J. Vis. Commun. Image R. 21 (2010) 193˜199 proposes a rapid image deblurring method based on split Bregman techniques which can only improve velocity of the algorithm and fails to improve correction quality of the images.

Direction-adaptive image deblurring method

Huazhong University of Science and Technology


The present invention provides efficient methods for performing motion compensation. The methods are particularly useful during motion compensation based decoding and recoding. In one aspect, motion compensation in accordance with the present invention improves on-chip memory usage. This is done by creating and storing a reference window in the on-chip memory. The reference window is constructed such that the reference frame portions required for motion compensation of a current frame are contained within the reference window and in the on-chip memory with a high frequency. In another aspect, selective methods are provided to recode compressed video data. The methods selectively apply re-quantization and motion compensation to the residual error between frames of the bitstream based on the amount of motion in the video data.

The present invention relates generally to systems and methods for processing video data. More specifically, the present invention relates to efficient systems and methods for performing motion compensation based decoding and recoding.
Video data is transmitted in a bitstream, or a continuous sequence of binary bits used to digitally represent compressed video, audio or data. The bitstream is transmitted over a transmission channel. One problem with existing transmission channels is their ability to transport video data. In multimedia streaming applications for example, the video data requires significant bandwidth from a communication channel. Since transmission of video data with existing communication channels is often excessive, compression is an approach that has been used to make digital video images more transportable. Digital video compression schemes allow digitized video frames to be represented digitally in much more efficient manner. Compression of digital video makes it practical to transmit the compressed signal using digital channels at a fraction of the bandwidth required to transmit the original signal before compression.
International standards have been created for video compression schemes. These include MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.261, H.262, H.263, H.263+, etc. These standardized compression schemes rely on several algorithm schemes such as motion compensation, transform coding (for example, DCT transforms or wavelet/sub-band transforms), quantization of the transform coefficients, and variable length coding (VLC). The motion compensation removes the temporally redundant information between video frame sequences. The transform coding enables orthogonal spatial frequency representation of spatial domain video data. Quantization of the transformed coefficients reduces the number of levels required to represent a given digitized video. The other factor contributing to compression is the use of variable length coding (VLC) so that most frequently used symbols are represented by the shortest code word.
The system that is used to compress digitized video sequence using the above-described schemes is called an encoder or encoding apparatus. Decoding of a bitstream refers to the process of converting compressed video data to a displayable output. Recoding of a compressed video bitstream refers to a process performed on a compressed video bitstream that results in a different bit usage than the originally compressed bitstream, and may include partial or full decoding and re-encoding.
Commonly, transmission of video data is intended for real-time playback. This implies that all of the information required to represent a digital picture must be delivered and displayed in a timely manner. Real time video typically includes more than a thousand of frames per minute. Thus, motion compensation applied during decoding or recoding must be performed quickly. However, motion compensation of compressed video images and data, during decoding or recoding, is generally the most computationally expensive process and represents the bottleneck to decoding and recoding compressed video data.
Motion compensation of an MPEG bitstream includes an iterative process where I, P and B frames are reconstructed using a framestore memory or frame buffers. Motion compensation is typically performed on the reference frame store whose content is the reconstructed image samples from the input compressed bitstream. In most cases, on-chip memory is insufficient to hold the video data for an entire compressed frame. For an HDTV signal, for example, the framestore memory must contain up to 12 MB of memory if an entire frame is used for motion compensation. Thus, the framestore memory or frame buffer is typically an off-chip memory source. Using off-chip memory may dramatically slow down decoding and recoding of compressed video, particularly when the motion compensation must be quickly performed.
Untimely decoding and recoding encountered as a result of off-chip memory delays may undesirably introduce processing delays during transmission and decoding. In a digital video broadcast where thousands of bitstreams are transmitted for example, undesirable processing delays may compromise broadcast transmission.
Therefore, there is a need for efficient methods and systems of performing motion compensation, while minimizing undesirable computational delays.

Efficient methods of performing motion compensation based decoding and recoding of compressed video bitstreams


A life safety device can include a sensor configured to sense a hazardous condition, an interconnect module configured to communicate the hazardous condition to a wired life safety device using one or more wires, and a transceiver module configured to wirelessly communicate the hazardous condition to a wireless life safety device.

It is known to use life safety devices within a building or other structure to detect various hazardous conditions and provide a warning to occupants of the building of the detected hazardous condition. Examples of well-known life safety devices include smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors. Many life safety devices include both the capability to detect a hazardous condition, for example smoke, and to generate an audible and/or visual alarm to provide an alert that a hazardous condition has been detected. Other life safety devices are configured to detect a hazardous condition, and when a hazardous condition is detected, send a signal to a remote alarm device that generates the alarm. In each case, a hazardous condition is detected and an alarm is generated warning of the hazardous condition.
In typical systems, the life safety devices can be interconnected to one another using one or more wires. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,791,453 to Andres et al., the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,791,453, a system includes a plurality of devices connected to one another by wires used to provide power and facilitate communication between each device. With a system configured in this manner, if a hazardous condition is detected by one device located in one part of a building, the device can communicate the hazardous condition through the wires to devices located in other parts of the building to cause those devices to generate a warning to alert occupants of the hazardous condition.
While systems such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,791,453 are advantageous in that the systems can alert occupants throughout a building of a hazardous condition, the systems can be disadvantageous in that they require wires to be run between each device in the systems to allow for communications between devices. Such systems can be economically installed in new construction, but it can be costly and time-consuming to install the wiring required for these systems in existing construction.
Attempts to remedy this problem include systems with devices that communicate with one another via wireless technologies such as radio frequency (RF) signals, in which the device that detects a hazardous condition sends an RF signal to other devices in the building, thereby triggering a warning on those devices. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,587,705; and 5,898,369. The use of RF interconnected life safety devices can be attractive, as an existing building, for example a home, can be equipped with the safety devices without the need to run new wiring throughout the building.
However, when a device needs to be added in a building having an existing system of wired life safety devices: (i) the new device must be wired to the existing system of wired detectors to allow the new device to communicate with the existing system; or (ii) the entire system of wired devices must be replaced with wireless devices to allow for wireless communication between the devices.
It is therefore desirable to provide systems that allow for a hybrid of wired and wireless interconnections between devices of the systems.

Gateway device to interconnect system including life safety devices


A sprinkling appliance (1) comprising a reservoir (2), a metering means (3) and a preferably compressed-air actuated conveying and dispensing (5), respectively, for dispensing the sprinkling material, wherein the metering means (3) for metering sprinkling material has at least one conveyer or closure surface (19), respectively, capable of being rotated about an axis of rotation (4′).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sprinkling appliance.
2. Prior Art
Such sprinkling appliances are intended for sprinkling or spraying sprinkling material, in particular dry sand or other anti-skid materials, in front of the wheels of vehicles, such as, e.g., rail-borne vehicles or motor trucks.
From AT 403 599 A, a sprinkling appliance is known which comprises metering by means of an axially displaceable piston, which metering is separate from the conveyance of the sand. After metering, the material to be sprinkler is fed into a conveying and dispersing device designed as an injector and actuated by compressed
air so as to be dispensed therefrom. This has the advantage that a substantially smaller amount of sprinkling material is consumed than in sprinkling appliances in which metering of the material to be sprinkled is not effected separately from its conveyance, This sprinkling appliance does, however, have the disadvantage that the metered amount of material to be sprinkled, e.g. sand, will depend on the quality of the
sand or on the grain size of the sand, since the opening gap of the metering piston is not changeable, This harbors the risk that the opening gap will be too small for coarse-grained sand, and thus the opening of the metering piston will be clogged by sand grains not passing therethrough, resulting in an undesired interruption of the sand discharge.
DE 30 42 413 A1 shows a sprinkling appliance for grained material comprising a motor-driven rotor hurling the sprinkling material into a discharge opening. Yet the rotor is not designed as a metering means, much rather an undosed spraying of the sprinkling material is achieved by a brush roll.


A passive safety device for an energy storage cell for positioning between two electrically conductive layers of the energy storage cell. The safety device also comprising a separator and a non-conductive layer. A first electrically conductive material is provided on the non-conductive layer. A first opening is formed through the separator between the first electrically conductive material and one of the electrically conductive layers of the energy storage device. A second electrically conductive material is provided adjacent the first electrically conductive material on the non-conductive layer, wherein a space is formed on the non-conductive layer between the first and second electrically conductive materials. A second opening is formed through the non-conductive layer between the second electrically conductive material and another of the electrically conductive layers of the energy storage device. The first and second electrically conductive materials combine and exit at least partially through the first and second openings to connect the two electrically conductive layers of the energy storage device at a predetermined temperature.

Energy storage cells (also referred to herein as "cells" or "batteries") sold for consumer use in portable electronic devices and other applications have occasional failure in the field. These cells have typically passed a wide variety of safety tests, such as those required by governmental shipping regulations and by other certification organizations, but fail after the cells have been in use over time (e.g., several months), even though there have been no other reported problems with the cells that fail. Regardless, these failures can result in the cells overheating, and in some cases, going into thermal runaway wherein the cell can ignite and burn. For example, these incidents have been reported in the media as "the burning laptop" and have resulted in the recall of millions of batteries. At least some of these failures have been attributed to a latent defect introduced during the cell manufacturing process that escapes detection during initial acceptance testing and results in an internal short circuit between the positive and negative components of a cell (electrodes or current collectors) after having been in use for some time.
Safety measures such as additives, new materials, and new designs are incorporated into the cell to address these internal short circuit failures. Some test approaches/methods have been proposed to simulate an internal short to evaluate the modified design and material features. Previous approaches/methods have included (nail or rod) penetration and crush tests. For example, the military uses a nail or bullet to penetrate the battery at a specifically designed test facility; National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) uses a crush test implementing a rounded rod that is pressed into the battery at the test facility; United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC) test procedure includes nail or rounded rod penetration; Underwriters Laboratory (UL) uses a blunt nail crush test, and some battery manufacturers use a pinch test. Other approaches have included retrofitting a metallic particle into the "jelly roll" of a battery during manufacture, which triggers a failure upon compressing, repeated charging/discharging, sonication, thermal ramping, or overcharging/over discharging at a test facility. Still other approaches include assembling a micro-heater in the cell between the anode and separator or cathode and separator and heating the separator to its melting point at a test facility. These test methods are not representative of field failures, and cannot be readily used as a safety device for batteries.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.

Passive safety device and internal short tested method for energy storage cells and systems