An engine lubricating oil supply device (1) according to the present invention is configured such that a connection hole (45) is opened and closed by a ball valve element (53) based on a balance between a biasing force of a shape memory spring (51) which changes in accordance with the temperature of the lubricating oil and a hydraulic pressure of the lubricating oil flowing into a piston chamber (31) such that the lubricating oil flowing into an accommodating space (44) from the connection hole (45) is drained via a second drain oil passage (46), thereby adjusting the degree of opening of a first drain oil passage (34) by causing a piston (35) to slide on the basis of a balance between a biasing force of a valve spring (39) and a pressure differential between an upstream chamber (32) and a downstream chamber (33) which is generated in accordance with a flow of the lubricating oil passing through an orifice (38).

In a diesel engine, lubricating oil (engine oil) stored in an oil pan is supplied (fed under pressure) by a lubricating oil supply device, such as an oil pump, for the purpose of lubricating and cooling various parts of the engine. However, in recent diesel engines, advances have been made in lowering the rated engine speed (number of revolutions), due to demands for reduced friction and reduced noise, and the like. In order to achieve high torque from a low engine speed range, turbo supercharging is carried out from low engine speeds, and engine oil is essential not only for lubrication and cooling of the turbo which is activated from a low engine speed range, but also as a special cooling jet for the pistons which are subjected to high torque and which generate heat. For this reason, it has become necessary to supply, from a low engine speed, an amount of lubricating oil which conventionally it has been necessary to supply to the various parts of the engine from the lubricating oil supply device principally in a high engine speed region. In order to respond to this, the ejection flow volume of lubricating oil is raised by increasing the size and supply rate of the oil pump.
On the other hand, with regard to the specifications of the oil pump (gear pump), the ejection pressure and the ejected oil volume are specified with reference to the lowest speed (number of revolutions) of the engine, the oil pump is driven in proportion with the engine speed and the ejection volume of the lubricating oil from the oil pump increases in proportion with the engine speed. However, the flow rate of lubricating oil required for lubrication of the engine is inevitably proportional to the speed of the engine, and in a high speed region of the engine, excess work is generated in the oil pump and the load on the engine is increased. Therefore, a lubricating oil supply device is known, in which the engine speed and the ejection pressure from the oil pump are detected by detection means, whereupon an oil regulating valve is driven on the basis of electric control by a controller (ECU) and a portion of the lubricating oil ejected from the oil pump is relieved, in such a manner that lubricating oil approaching the required volume corresponding to the engine speed is supplied to the respective parts of the engine (see, for example, Patent Document 1).


An automatic equalizer is capable of updating tap coefficients and constituted to vary the frequency at which to update the tap coefficients depending on the magnitude thereof. There are provided a plurality of ways to vary the frequency at which to update the tap coefficients. One way is to divide the taps into two groups, one group having its tap coefficients updated at a relatively high frequency, the other group having its tap coefficients updated at a relatively low frequency. Another way is to vary the frequency at which to update the tap frequency based on the result of suitably judging the magnitude thereof.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit containing an automatic equalizer or an adaptive digital filter and the circuits associated therewith and, more particularly, to a semiconductor integrated circuit applied to an echo canceler type transmitting device for data transmission over telephone lines.
Where telephone lines or similar circuits are used for voice and data transmission, the transmission line characteristic is known to fluctuate. Thus an automatic equalizer is incorporated in the receiver or in the transmitter, the coefficient of the equalizer being varied in accordance with the transmission line characteristic as it changes.
The prior art automatic equalizer is generally constituted by a transversal filter. The operations of the filter fall into two categories: those for generating a filter output value based on input data and tap coefficients (called output operations), and those for modifying tap coefficients by use of the filter output value, the difference from an ideal filter output value, and the input data (called update operations).
Meanwhile, improvements in the digital signal processor (DSP) technology of late years have made it possible to implement an automatic equalizer using a DSP. Although the typical DSP seeks to improve the efficiency of multiply and add operations, there are limits to the amount of operations that may be performed within a given sampling time. This disadvantage appears to have been minimized by the automatic equalizer proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-139717. The proposed equalizer is designed to lower the amount of operations per sampling time.
However, the abovementioned prior art automatic equalizer has two disadvantages. One disadvantage is that in its training period, the proposed automatic equalizer provides a slower convergence of tap coefficients than other equalizers which update the coefficients in each sampling period. The other disadvantage is that in a system where the characteristic of the line for transmitting sampled data continuously changes, the follow-up characteristic of the automatic equalizer tends to deteriorate.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-206232 discloses a method for updating part of the tap coefficients involved in the initial stage of training and for updating all tap coefficients from the middle stage of training onward. One disadvantage of this method is that because all tap coefficients need to be updated in each sampling period from the middle stage of training onward, the number of the taps with the automatic equalizer must be limited under constraints of the throughput of the digital signal processor.

Semiconductor integrated circuit containing an automatic equalizer including a circuit for periodically updating a plurality of tap coefficients at varying frequencies


Automatic license plate recognition occurs when a light sensor that continually captures video detects motion as a vehicle is driven through a gate. The light sensor detects the vehicle and license plate in the video stream captured by the light sensor. An algorithm associated with the video stream of the light sensor is trained to detect license plates. The light sensor starts executing the recognition algorithm when it detects motion. Recognition of characters in the license plate is based upon an aggregation of several captured video frames in which a license plate is detected.

Automatic license plate (or number plate) recognition (ANPR) is a technology that uses optical character recognition on images to read vehicle registration plates to create vehicle location data. It can use existing closed-circuit television, road-rule enforcement cameras, or cameras specifically designed for the task. Among its many uses, ANPR is used by police forces around the world for law enforcement purposes, including to check if a vehicle is registered or licensed. It is also used for electronic toll collection on pay-per-use roads and as a method of cataloguing the movements of traffic, for example, by highway agencies.
There are several difficulties attendant with ANPR. These include, for example:                Poor file resolution, usually because the license plate is too far away, but sometimes resulting from the use of a low-quality camera;        Blurry images, particularly blurriness because of motion;        Poor lighting and low contrast due to overexposure, reflection, or shadows;        An object obscuring part of the plate, quite often a tow bar, or dirt on the plate,        License plates that are different at the front and the back of the vehicle because of towed trailers, campers, etc.;        Vehicle lane change in the camera's angle of view during license plate reading;        Use of a nonstandard font, which is popular for vanity plates;        Circumvention techniques;        Lack of coordination between countries or states. Two cars from different countries or states can have the same license plate number but different plate designs.


The described technology is generally directed towards generating shared authentication keys using network connection characteristics. According to an embodiment, a system can comprise a processor and a memory that can store executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations. The operations can comprise generating a first authenticator based on a first authentication key generated based on a first connection characteristic of the first device and a second connection characteristic of a second device. The operations can further comprise incorporating the first authenticator into first content for authentication by the second device employing a second authentication key, generated by the second device based on the first connection characteristic and the second connection characteristic. The operations can further comprise establishing, based on the first content, a connection with the second device.

As the use of computer networks increases, the importance of authenticating network communications before establishing a communication continues to increase. One way of authenticating network communications is by using a single key on both a source and destination device, e.g., when communications include an authenticator generated by the source device using the key, the destination device can verify the authenticator using the key. This same approach can be used for encrypting communications as well.
Problems can occur however, based on the sharing of the keys with both the source and destination systems. This sharing process can, in some circumstances, introduce security vulnerabilities based on different factors, including a potential interception of the keys by third parties.

Generating shared authentication keys using network connection characteristics


A method for executing a secure online transaction between a vendor computer and a user computer, wherein the vendor computer and the user computer are interconnected to a computer network such as the Internet for data communications therebetween. The method comprises the steps of the user computer transmitting a transaction request message to the vendor computer via the computer network, the financial transaction request comprising user identification data unique to the user computer; in response to receiving the transaction request, the vendor computer sending a transaction verification request to a trust server computer interconnected to the computer network, the transaction verification request comprising the user identification data and data indicative of the requested transaction; in response to receiving the transaction verification request, the trust server computer authenticating the user computer by using the user identification data and communicating with the user computer for verification with the user identification data; and the trust server authorizing the transaction when the authenticating step has passed.

This invention relates to online electronic commerce, and in particular to a secure methodology for approving an online transaction carried out over the Internet by authenticating the identity and credit of the purchaser without transmitting a credit card number or other payment means as part of the online transaction.
The Internet is constantly expanding at a very high pace and has become one of today's essential communication and information environments. But nevertheless, its potential as a facilitator of electronic commerce has not been fully realized. This is because today's networks are not secure enough for transmitting sensitive financial information. Despite the constant development of new encryption methods, they are seemingly never beyond a hacker's ability. Most users do not even want to take the chance of someone eavesdropping on their credit-card number or even postal address as it is carried along even the most secured network communication paths. The biggest problem for electronic commerce today is users' lack of trust and the psychological barriers to use of the Internet as a tool for commerce that arise therefrom.
Prior art systems have been developed in an effort to meet this need; for example, a system has been proposed called Secure Electronic Transaction (SET). With SET-enabled software and an account with a financial institution that supports the system, a user can go to an Internet World Wide Web (WWW) site, choose products to buy, and then order them with a few mouse clicks. The order is processed, the buyer's identity and account are verified, and the transaction is complete. Whether it's a checking or credit card account, or another payment system such as DIGICASH or FIRST VIRTUAL, it will be with a financial institution (such as MASTERCARD or VISA) that supports electronic payments, referred to as the Bank.
When a user opens the account, he receives from the Bank an electronic file called a certificate, which acts like a credit card for on-line purchases. It contains information about the user, including a public key, it has an expiration date, and it has been digitally signed by the Bank to ensure its validity. On the other end, merchants doing business with the Banks also get certificates that include both the merchant's public key and the Bank's public key. This certificate also is signed by the Bank to indicate that the merchant is legitimate. The merchant's key will be used for ordering, while the Bank's key will be used for paying.
The user indicates to the merchant what product or service he wishes to purchase via e-mail, through a Web page data transfer or the like. The following series of events is set in motion that takes a few seconds to complete. First, the user's software receives a copy of the merchant's certificate and verifies that it is dealing with a valid store since the certificate has been signed by the Bank. The user's software sends the merchant three items, all of which have been signed: the order information, which is encrypted with the merchant's public key; the payment information, which is encrypted with the Bank's public key (thus, the merchant cannot see the payment information); and a message digest (a code containing information from both the payment and the order) that ensures that the payment can only be used for that order.
After receiving these items, the merchant checks the user's digital signature. The merchant validates the user's information with a third party (likely, but not necessarily, the Bank) to make sure the user is genuine. The merchant then sends the user a message indicating that the order has been received. The merchant also sends a signed message to the Bank using the Bank's public key. This message includes the customer's payment information (which the merchant can't interpret) and the merchant's certificate.
The Bank first verifies that the merchant is legitimate, then checks the signature of the message it just received to make sure that the message is legitimate. The Bank then opens the enclosed payment information from the customer and verifies that it is good. The Bank also checks to make sure the payment information is for that merchant and that particular order. The Bank signs and encrypts an authorization to the merchant, which can then ship the goods.
The SET system has been criticized for various reasons, one of which is the possibility that a keystroke stealing program that attaches itself to the keyboard drivers in a user's computer can lay dormant until it is activated by the presence of a digital wallet program. It then records the keystrokes performed (before they are encrypted) and sends them to a third party. Such a phantom program could be disseminated inside a modified (but seemingly normal) electronic-commerce software package unknowingly distributed by a financial institution.
The SET methodology relied heavily on encryption, which is also another potential weakness. Certificates play a major part in SET's security scheme. The parameter that gives the certificates mathematical resistance to decryption is the length of the original encryption key. SET certificates will use a key 1,024 bits long, which is felt to provide strong enough security. But, as with any encryption-based scheme, a hacker can break the code given enough time and computing power. The problem with a total reliance on cryptographic methods is that if they are decrypted, they fail totally. Worse, if decryption is performed by a third party and goes undetected by the legitimate users, a false sense of security ensues. Stronger security for electronic transactions must have some sort of backup mechanism in place, rather than simple faith in a particular encryption scheme.
In another prior art electronic commerce scheme, the FIRST VIRTUAL system does not rely on any form of cryptography, rather it allows non-sensitive transaction information to travel over the Internet, while users' credit card numbers are gathered by phone. In addition, there is a buyer feedback mechanism built atop existing Internet application protocols including e-mail, FTP, telnet, and the World Wide Web. Because those protocols carry no proof of identity, FIRST VIRTUAL uses a payment system based on e-mail call-backs. When asked to process a financial transaction, it looks up the buyer's account and sends an e-mail message asking the buyer to confirm the validity of the transaction. The buyer can respond with "yes", "no", or "fraud". Only when the buyer says "yes" is a financial transaction initiated.
Moreover, FIRST VIRTUAL's dependency on e-mail and the "VirtualPIN" avails itself to a potential hacker's perusal for several reasons. First, e-mail is relatively easy to subvert, since it uses well known ports and can be "spoofed" or faked with simple tools and a rudimentary understanding of SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). In addition, in the case of a slow e-mail gateway (such as that provided by most commercially available online services), mail delivery can take up to a day or more. Furthermore, the VirtualPIN is static and therefore can be impersonated.
A different scheme for electronic payments was developed by DIGICASH, based on a digital wallet containing tokens. The tokens are validated (digitally countersigned) by a bank, but the bank can't trace the tokens to an individual user,
None of the prior art systems provide a secure electronic commerce methodology sufficient to be carried out in large scale use over a non-secure network such as the Internet. Primary reasons for shortcomings of the prior art are the reliance on encryption as well as the transmittal of sensitive financial data over the Internet.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a secure methodology and system for approving an online transaction carried out over the Internet by authenticating the identity and credit of the purchaser without transmitting a credit card number as part of the online transaction.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a system that does not rely on encryption for transmittal of data over the Internet as part of the transaction approval process.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a system that utilizes a third party as a trust broker that has users (purchasers) and vendors pre-registered, so that the trust broker may validate the transaction by authenticating the user by utilizing data internally stored that is not transmitted over the Internet.

Method and system for secure online transaction processing


There is provided a ghost cancelling method and apparatus in which a video signal is input to a transversal filter to generate a ghost correction signal and the ghost correction signal is mixed with the original video signal to automatically cancel a ghost. To improve the ghost cancelling speed, a correlative operation is performed between the video signal input and a ghost cancelling reference signal, to thereby determine an initial filter coefficient of the transversal filter.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ghost cancelling method and an apparatus thereof for a television video signal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a ghost cancelling method and an apparatus thereof for automatically cancelling a ghost by inputting an original video signal to a transversal filter to generate a ghost correction signal and mixing the ghost correction signal with the original video signal.
When a television signal is transmitted over a channel, the television signal may pick up a ghost signal as a result of a multiplexed path reflected from a big object such as a building, etc. Such a ghost signal is received at a time that is delayed in relation to the main signal, due to the added length of the ghost signal path. Also, since the ghost signal has a narrower amplitude than does the main signal, it appears as a dark image which is offset from the image formed by the main signal on a television screen, when the television signal is reproduced by a receiver.
To remove such an undesired ghost signal from the received signal, various prior art technologies have been proposed. These prior art technologies utilize a common principle in which the main signal is delayed so as to be synchronized with the ghost signal, and the amplitude of the main signal is attenuated so as to be equal to that of the ghost signal.
As a result, the attenuated and delayed main signal, that is, the ghost correction signal, cancels the ghost signal.
As shown in FIG. 1, showing a block diagram of a conventional ghost cancelling apparatus, the above-mentioned ghost correction signal is generated by a transversal filter 3. The ghost correction signal is subtracted from the input image signal x(n) in a subtracter 2, thereby generating a ghost-cancelled signal y(n). The transversal filter 3 comprises a tap delay line 4, a coefficient circuit 5, a filter coefficient memory 8 and an adder 6. The tap delay line 4 sequentially delays the output signal y(n) from the subtracter 2 every cycle. The coefficient circuit 5, which is composed of a plurality of multipliers, each of which is connected to each tap corresponding to each delayed output, multiplies each output by a filter coefficient that is supplied to the coefficient circuit 5 from a filter coefficient memory 8, and supplies each multiplied result to an adder 6. The output of the adder 6 is the ghost correction signal supplied to the subtracter 2.
The filter coefficient of each tap is corrected in a filter coefficient corrector 11, based on an error signal e(n) between a ghost cancelling reference signal r(n) and the ghost-cancelled output signal y(n). The correction occurs every cycle, to thereby generate the optimum ghost correction signal.
In such a conventional ghost cancelling system, an initial filter coefficient of each tap is set to "0". Then, the filter coefficient is corrected based on the video signal generated due to this initial filter coefficient and the ghost-cancelled reference signal. By repeating the above-described filter coefficient correction process, the optimum filter coefficient can be obtained. Accordingly, since a number of repeated correction processes to reach the optimum filter coefficient are required, it takes a long time to cancel the ghost signal. For example, it can take three seconds or so to cancel it. Thus, since the conventional system is delayed in its response to the generated ghost, the ghost is often not sufficiently cancelled. In particular, in cases of time-variant moving ghosts generated due to reflected signals from an airplane, it is not possible to cancel the ghosts adaptively and continuously.

Ghost cancelling method and apparatus which perform a correlative operation to speed processing


Systems and methods for predicting enterprise cyber incidents using social network analysis on the darkweb hacker forums are disclosed.

With the recent data breaches such as those of Yahoo, Uber, Equifax among several others that emphasize the increasing financial and social impact of cyberattacks, there has been an enormous requirement for technologies that could provide such organizations with prior alerts on such data breach possibilities. On the vulnerability front, the Risk Based Security's VulnDB database published a total of 4,837 vulnerabilities in a quarter of 2017, which was around 30% higher than previous year. This motivates the need for extensive systems that can utilize vulnerability associated information from external sources to raise alerts on such cyberattacks. The darkweb is one such place on the internet where users can share information on software vulnerabilities and ways to exploit them. Surprisingly, it might be difficult to track the actual intention of those users, thus making it necessary to use data mining and learning to identify the discussions among the noise that could potentially raise alerts on attacks on external enterprises. In this paper, the information obtained from analyzing the reply network structure of discussions in the darkweb forums is leveraged to understand the extent to which the darkweb information can be useful for predicting real world cyberattacks.
It is with these observations in mind, among others, that various aspects of the present disclosure were conceived and developed.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding elements among the view of the drawings. The headings used in the figures do not limit the scope of the claims.

Systems and methods for social network analysis on dark web forums to predict enterprise cyber incidents

Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University


An security module includes a detection module for determining that an electronic message received for scanning includes a protected component. The security module also includes a parsing module for parsing the electronic message to identify potential passwords for the protected component. The security module further includes an analysis module for attempting to access the protected component of the electronic message using the identified potential passwords. A submission module submits potential passwords to a decomposition module for accessing the protected component. If the correct password is found, the decomposition module opens the protected component and/or extracts the contents of the archive. An analyzer module analyzes or scans the contents of the protected component.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains in general to computer security, and more specifically to techniques for enabling scanning of protected components of electronic messages for computer viruses or other malicious software.
2. Background Art
Computer systems are continually threatened by a risk of attack from malicious computer code, such as viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. As used herein, "malicious computer code" or "malicious code" is any code that enters a computer without an authorized user's knowledge and/or without an authorized user's consent. Malicious code may or may not include the ability to replicate itself and compromise other computer systems. For example, malicious code may attach itself to files stored by a computer system or use a network to infect other clients through password cracking, buffer overflow attacks, e-mail distribution, etc.
Malicious code can infect a computer in a number of manners. For example, a user might insert an infected disk or other medium into a computer so that the computer becomes infected when the disk files are accessed. Computers connected to networks are also vulnerable to attack. In a network-based attack, malicious code can be transmitted to the computer as an executable program, for example in an attachment to an electronic message. In this example, the malicious code might attack the computer when the user clicks on the electronic message attachment, or the attachment might open automatically when the user reads, or in certain cases previews, the electronic message. In addition, malicious code can even be embedded within the text of the electronic message itself.
Antivirus prevention/detection software can be installed on computers in an attempt to prevent malicious code attacks. For example, antivirus-scanning software scans computer files, including electronic message attachments and electronic messages, to detect the presence of malicious code. When scanning an archive or container of files, such as a .zip file, which might be transmitted to a user as a component of an electronic message, the antivirus scanning software must open up the archive and scan its contents. More recently, however, malicious code has been embedded within an archive or other type of electronic message component that is encrypted and requires entry of a password to open the archive. In some recent cases, the password needed to open the archive has been embedded in the text of the electronic message itself, or some other similar location. In the case of a protected archive that requires entry of a password to be opened, the antivirus scanning software scans the electronic message, but is unable to open the archive to scan its contents without having access to the password. Thus, the antivirus software is unable to detect and eliminate the threat of malicious code that may be hiding within the protected archive.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a technique that will allow antivirus software to quickly and effectively access and analyze the contents of protected components of electronic messages.

Method for scanning protected components of electronic messages


Disclosed is a method for preparing an alkali metal salt of a hydroxy-substituted hydrocarbon which comprises the steps of (i) contacting in solvent media at least one hydroxy-substituted hydrocarbon with a base comprising an alkali metal cation; and (ii) devolatilizing the solvent media comprising alkali metal salt by adding or spraying the solvent media into a substantially water-immiscible organic solvent, said solvent being at a temperature greater than the boiling point of solvent media at the prevailing pressure. In one embodiment the solvent media comprises water, and optionally at least one water-soluble protic organic solvent.

This invention relates to methods for making salts of hydroxy-substituted alkyl or aromatic hydrocarbons. In one particular embodiment the invention relates to the preparation of alkali metal salts of hydroxy-substituted alkyl or aromatic hydrocarbons.
Salts of hydroxy-substituted hydrocarbons are frequently required for synthesis of hydroxy-substituted hydrocarbon derivatives or for use as bases in chemical reactions to name just two of their many uses. For example, salts of hydroxy-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons (sometimes referred to as phenate salts) are frequently required for synthesis of hydroxy-substituted aromatic hydrocarbon derivatives. In some embodiments salts of dihydroxy-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons are used in the preparation of monomers for use in condensation polymerization to form polymers with structural units derived from said dihydroxy-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons. For example, alkali metal salts of dihydroxy-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons may be employed in displacement reactions with appropriately substituted phthalimides to prepare monomers for use in synthesis of polyetherimides. Salts of dihydroxy-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons may also be used themselves as monomers in condensation polymerization. For example, alkali metal salts of dihydroxy-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons may participate in polymerization reactions with appropriately substituted aromatic bis(substituted phthalimide)s to prepare polyetherimides directly. In particular examples U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,482 discloses a displacement method for the preparation of polyetherimides from bis(chlorophthalimides) and alkali metal salts of dihydroxy-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons using a solvent of low polarity such as o-dichlorobenzene in the presence of a thermally stable phase transfer catalyst such as a hexaalkylguanidinium halide. U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,974 discloses a similar method using a monoalkoxybenzene such as anisole as solvent. These methods made it possible for the first time to envision the commercial production of polyetherimides and other condensation polymers by a displacement method. Nevertheless, several problems remain to be solved for the optimum development of the displacement reaction for condensation polymer preparation. In particular a reliable method is needed for synthesis of alkali metal salts of hydroxy-substituted hydrocarbons and particularly hydroxy-substituted aromatic hydrocarbons on a large scale.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,520,204 describes the manufacture of salts such as bisphenol A disodium salt by forming the salt in an aqueous solution with sodium hydroxide and adding the aqueous solution to refluxing ortho-dichlorobenzene with removal of water to afford a salt slurry. The salt slurry in organic solvent is further dried by refluxing over calcium hydride or by azeotropic removal of water with an organic solvent. The procedure is problematic in that foaming may occur during the addition of the aqueous salt solution to the refluxing ortho-dichlorobenzene.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,207 describes the manufacture of anhydrous salts of dihydroxyaromatic compounds by forming the salt in an aqueous solution with excess sodium hydroxide and then isolating the solid salt from the reaction mixture. The solid salt is then treated with an organic solvent and the mixture evaporated to dry the salt. In this procedure the salt may be obtained as a hydrate with varying degree of hydration making it difficult to do stoichiometry calculation in subsequent reactions.

Method for making salts hydroxy-substituted hydrocarbons


A latching device capable of being remotely released and a method of remotely releasing a locking tab from a locking body. The latching device includes a locking tab comprising a shaft with an engaging recess and a head with a buckle; a locking body comprising a slide with a channel for the shaft of the locking body, a ramp and shoulder for securing the locking tab, a leg with a trigger surface, an ejector pin and ejection spring for ejecting the locking tab from the locking body and a slide biasing spring; a trigger comprising a knob, shank and foot; and an extension for attaching the latching device to a brace holding fire fighting equipment.

An important piece of equipment of a fire fighter is the Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) which provides a fire fighter with a supply of oxygen to breath while engaging a fire. The SCBA allows a fire fighter to fight a fire under conditions where the oxygen levels in the burning structure are dangerously low due to the consumption of oxygen by the fire or where the smoke and noxious chemical resulting from the fire makes breathing difficult or dangerous.
Some fire stations store the SCBA tanks in the equipment bays within the fire engine. After the fire engine arrives at the scene of the fire, the fire fighter straps on the SCBA tank before attending to the fire. The time it takes fire fighters to begin fighting a fire can be critical to controlling the fire. Thus, the extra time required of fire fighters to secure the SCBA tanks once they arrive on the scene can have a detrimental effect on bringing the fire under control. Additionally, when fire fighters do not immediate attack the fire upon arrival, some observers at the scene perceive that the fire fighters are not adequately performing their duties and will sometimes attempt to question the fire fighters, thereby interfering with the fire fighting efforts.
In an attempt to overcome these disadvantages, some fire stations place the SCBA tanks behind the seats on the fire engine. This configuration allows the fire fighters to strap the tanks on while in route to the scene of the fire and thus, begin to fight the fire immediately upon arrival at the scene. In order to produce the time saving advantage, however, the tanks must be attached to the fire engine in a fashion that allows the fire fighter to not only easily secure the tank but also easily disengage the tank from the seat.
Many fire stations achieve these results by simply placing the tanks at the back of each seat without securing them or using very minor securing means such as velcro straps. Thus, the fire fighter belted to the seat acts as the primary means of restricting the movement of the tank. Such a configuration, however, can have extremely dangerous consequences.
It is not unusual for at least one of the seats in the fire engine to be unoccupied when the engine is traveling to a fire. In light of the high speeds and driving methods that fire engines are required to engage in to quickly travel to a fire, however, there is a relatively high risk that the driver of the fire engine will need to suddenly apply the brakes or that the fire engine could be involved in a traffic accident. When such a incidence occurs, there is little or nothing preventing the tank from hurtling out of the fire engine and causing damage to the engine and the surrounding area.
Some proposed systems attempt to overcome these problems by placing the tank in a bracket positioned behind the seat and strapping the tank into the bracket though the use of a latch and a locking tab. The tank is released from the bracket by the fire fighter manipulating a trigger arm that unlocks the tab. As mentioned, in order to be effective, the fire fighter must be able to quickly and easily release the lock securing the tank. One disadvantage of these systems is the difficulty in manipulating the trigger to release the locking tab while the fire fighter is dressed in full gear.
A possible solution to this problem is to attach a cord or rope to the trigger arm so that the fire fighter can unlock the tab by grasping and pulling on the cord rather than attempting to maneuver the trigger itself. A problem associated with this procedure, however, is that to unlock the tab, the trigger typically pivots in the direction in which the tab is exiting the latch. Once the latch is secured to the bracket, the tab usually exits the latch in a horizontal direction. The cord attached to the trigger arm, however, will naturally hang down in a vertical direction. Thus, pulling on the cord will exert forces on the trigger arm in a direction perpendicular to the force needed to release the tab. Such action will inhibit the unlocking of the latch.
A need exists, therefore, for a mechanism that will allow a SCBA tank to be properly secured to the back of fire engine seat while also allowing the tank to be quickly and easily released from the seat.

Remote release latching method and device


A time-to-digital converter apparatus including a delay phase-locked loop, a subtracter, a multi-phase detector and a Vernier detector is disclosed. The delay phase-locked loop herein includes digital delay components for producing counting signals. The multi-phase detector includes digital delay components for producing delay outputs according to the counting signals and thereby detecting a pulse input signal. The Vernier detector includes digital delay components for detecting the remainder of the pulse input signal according to the difference between the delay outputs produced by the subtracter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a converter apparatus (TDC apparatus), and more particularly, to a time-to-digital converter apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Thanks for the success and the development of integrated circuit (IC), a number of troublesome jobs to be done in the past can be fulfilled by using ICs today, wherein the job of measuring time is a good example. In the past, in order to accurately measure time length, people worried out to conceive and design few equipments. The time was effectively measured by using the equipments in association with appropriate algorithms. The conventional approach to measure time has the disadvantages of low measurement accuracy and high cost. In particular, the conventional approaches are not competent for measuring time in high speed (for example, an nano-second level measurement is required).
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a conventional TDC apparatus. Referring to FIG. 1, the TDC apparatus is for detecting the pulse-width in low-level of a pulse input signal T1, wherein a transistor BT1 and another transistor BT2 respectively receive and detect the pulse input signal T1 and the inverted signal T2 of the pulse input signal T1. When the pulse input signal T2 takes a low-level, the switch SW is enabled, and meanwhile a capacitor CA1 is pre-charged; when the pulse input signal T2 takes a high-level, the transistor BT2 is turned on and the switch SW is disabled, and meanwhile a current source I1 makes the capacitor CA1 discharged. The discharging voltage is transmitted to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 120 through a buffer 110 to produce a digital signal OUT, so that the digital value corresponding to the low-level pulse-width of the pulse input signal T1 is obtained.
FIG. 2 is a diagram of a conventional bi-slope TDC apparatus. The TDC apparatus in FIG. 2 employs two TDC apparatuses of FIG. 1 and has two input terminals for respectively receiving and detecting the pulse input signal T1 and the opposite pulse input signal T2, wherein the capacitor C2 has a greater capacitance than that of the capacitor C1, and the current source I2 is less than the current source I1. In the prior art, the output voltage V1 has a different discharging slope from that of the output voltage V2, and a comparator COMP1 is used to compare the two discharging slopes. Further, an AND-gate AN1 and a counter 201 are used so as to convert the comparison result into the digital signal OUT in association with a clock signal SCLK.
FIG. 3 is a diagram of a conventional TDC apparatus with a two-level time detect circuit (TDC). The circuit architecture is presented by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) paper "A High-Precision Time-to-Digital Converter Using a Two-level Conversion Scheme", the Nuclear Science Periodic Vol. 51, No. 4 in August 2004.
The conventional circuit architecture herein employs a multi-phase detector 310 and the delay value VBNF produced by the double delay phase-locked loop 330 to detect and determine whether the integer multiple P is the pulse input signal Input over the delay value VBNF. The Vernier detector 320 is used to detect the remainder Input1 of the pulse input signal after dividing the pulse input signal Input by the delay value. The Vernier detector 320 also uses the difference between another delay value VBNS produced by the double delay phase-locked loop 330 and the delay value VBNF to detect the remainder Input1 of the pulse input signal so as to obtain the relation of the integer multiple V of the remainder Input1 of the pulse input signal over the difference between the delay value VBNF and the delay value VBNS.

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A timing generating circuit formed as an LSI of CMOS.FETs is provided which enables correction of the variations of delay amount caused by the heat generated in the CMOS.FETs due to the propagation of pulses through the CMOS.FETs. A sub delay element 22 is connected in series to a main delay element 21 in which a timing is set and placed in the vicinity of the element 21. Both delay elements are connected in the same cell structure and arrangement. The sum of initial values of the delay amounts of respective delay elements is made to be a constant value. An input pulse to the main delay element is also supplied to a reference signal generator part 27 which outputs a reference signal using a reference clock after the lapse of the constant value from the time the input pulse is inputted. A time difference between this reference signal and the output from the sub delay element 22 is detected by a time difference detection part 29. Correcting amounts are calculated by splitting this time difference in accordance with the ratio of the initial values of the delay amounts. The delay amounts of the delay elements 21 and 22 are then corrected with the correcting amounts, respectively, such that the sum comes to the constant value.

Electronic circuits each having a gate array formed by CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) structure FETs (field effect transistors) tend to increase signal transmission delays as the temperature increases. It was thus necessary, when integrating a high precision timing generator formed by CMOS.FETs into an LSI, to incorporate therein a function that would always compensate for the variations in signal transmission delays resulting from the temperature variations. Especially, in the LSI formed by CMOS.FETs, the signal transmission delays not only may vary with the temperature variation in the LSI chip based on the ambient temperature changes but also based on the generation of heat in the LSI chip itself due to the transition between a high level and a low level of a signal that propagates through the CMOS.FETs. Therefore, the more frequently the edge transitions of a digital data occur that propagates through the CMOS.FETs, the higher the temperature in the LSI chip rises.
A timing generating circuit is arranged such that it receives a timing pulse consisting of a series of impulses or pulses inputted thereto, passes it through a delay element or elements the delay times of which are settable, and outputs a timing pulse with the set delay amount (phase). However, if the timing generating circuit is formed into a CMOS.LSI, the temperature of the CMOS cell itself (a basic gate unit formed by CMOS.FETs in the LSI) may vary between immediately before and after the timing generating circuit is activated. For example, when a timing pulse 11 is inputted to the CMOS cell at time t.sub.0 as shown in FIG. 1A, the temperature thereof goes up step by step for each impulse of the input timing pulse 11 and then goes down very slowly, as shown in the curve 12 in FIG. 1B, and repeats such cycle, resulting in an overall increase in the cell temperature. With this temperature increase, the delay amount of the output timing pulse increases from the set value, as shown in the curve 13 in FIG. 1C, in a similar manner to the temperature increase curve 12, resulting in a degradation in the precision of timing. Therefore, in a timing generator for an application requiring a timing with high accuracy, it was required that various timing generating circuits of the timing generator have means for compensating for cell temperature variations independently provided, respectively.
When a timing pulse is received intermittently, i.e., in groups of impulses as shown in FIG. 1D, a deviation or lag of the output timing from the set value is increased for each group of pulses and is decreased between the groups of pulses as shown in FIG. 1E, which results in generation of so-called heat jitters.
To solve such a problem in a conventional high precision timing generator circuits, it was customary to always maintain the consumed electric power constant. That is, this problem was addressed by providing a dummy delay element of the same cell adjacent to a delay element such that the sum of the consumed electric power (generated heat amount) in both delay elements becomes a constant amount by causing the input timing pulse to pass through this dummy delay element when no timing pulse is outputted. This solution, however, could not remove most of the heat jitters caused by temperature variations that could occur faster than the heat propagation time delay from the dummy delay element, since the heat propagation time delay was caused due to distances between the adjacent cells. It was also difficult to perform stable temperature compensation due to potential changes in the heat generating conditions from the surrounding cells (control logic circuit) within the LSI.
Another conventional solution was to keep the entire cell temperature in the LSI constant. In this method, a ring oscillator as means for detecting temperature and a heater cell for temperature compensation are provided in the LSI, the cell temperature is detected in a high precision manner from the oscillation frequency of the ring oscillator, and the consumed electric power in the heater cell is controlled in accordance with the detected temperature to keep the entire cell temperature constant. This method, as in the previous method, does not directly detect the cell temperature of the delay element, and therefore generates heat propagation time delay from the ring oscillator to the delay element. Another problem of this method is that it tends to be affected with the noises generated by the ring oscillator and the heater cell.
Because the prior art system indirectly detects the temperature increase of the delay element to correct the delay amount as described above, it could not follow the dynamic changes of the delay amounts caused by the variations of the heat generated by timing pulses changing in real time.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a high precision timing generating circuit and method that can correct the delay amounts by quickly following the dynamic changes of the delay amounts associated with the changes in the generated heat based on timing pulses that change in real-time.


The present invention provides a method for generating a backup of a database file that is suitable for a hard recovery operation. A snapshot of the database file is generated and the log and/or patch files associated with the database are stored in a backup location. Additionally, the header and/or footer information of the database is stored, thereby enabling a restored snapshot of the database to be converted into a file suitable for a hard recovery operation.

Microsoft® Exchange is a messaging and collaboration software system that provides a variety of applications for group interaction using networked computer systems. Specifically, Microsoft Exchange (by Microsoft Corp. of Redmond, Wash.) provides support for a database server to support remotely connected clients over various networks. An Exchange server can run on a variety of operating systems including, for example, the Microsoft Windows NT® or Microsoft Windows® 2000 operating systems.
The Microsoft Exchange 2000 database server permits up to 20 databases to be utilized, divided into four storage groups of up to five databases each. In a typical configuration, Microsoft Exchange stores data associated with a given database in two files. In the particular example of Microsoft Exchange 2000, these two files are a properties data file (designated by an .edb file extension) and a streaming data file (designated by an .stm file extension). However, it is contemplated that other versions support different database structures. The default storage locations for these databases are on a disk locally connected to the computer on which the Exchange software is running.
In the exemplary Exchange 2000 server configuration, the .edb file is a conventional Exchange database file. The .stm file is a streaming data file that contains raw content that has been received via, for example, the Internet and is stored in its native format. Pointers are created by the Exchange server within the .edb file to point to various messages or data within the .stm file.
FIG. 1 shows an exemplary flow chart of data passing through an Exchange server. In step 105, the data that is generated by a client of the Exchange server is a transaction. This may be, for example, email messages and associated attachments created by an email client, such as Microsoft Outlook. Next, in step 110, the transaction is stored in the memory of the server. The storage of the transaction in memory is often transient in nature until the message is committed to some form on nonvolatile storage. The transaction is then written to a log file in step 115. The log files typically have a pre-allocated size. In one known example, each log file is 5 megabytes (MB) in size. In an illustrative embodiment, Microsoft Exchange requires that the most recent log file be named "e0n.log" where n may be a value in the range of 0-3 representing up to four storage groups. Each preceding log file is named "e0nXXXXX.log." The "XXXXX" is a numerical identifier associated with the particular log file. Thus, an Exchange server may have a variable number of log files at any given point-in-time, depending on how many log files have been incorporated into the database files. As a further step, the transaction that is written to the log file is also written from system memory to the database file (step 120). The writing of the transactions to database occurs in a lazy write fashion. By "lazy write" it is meant a writing process or procedure of the Exchange software that performs the write when central processing unit cycles are available.
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary Exchange server environment 200. An exemplary server 205 executing the Windows® 2000 Advanced Server operating system containing a local disk 210 is shown connected to a backup tape drive 220 and an external disk 215. The external tape drive 220 is connected via either a small computer system interface (SCSI) connection or a switching network, such as a storage area network (SAN). Similarly, the external disks 215 may be connected via a SAN or other suitable networking architectures. The Exchange server 205 may be incorporated into a Microsoft Clustering System (MSCS) environment 225. Such a clustering environment provides for redundant data program access to clients.
In known examples of Exchange servers, the Exchange software provides an application program interface (API) that is accessible by other programs executing on the server for performing backup and restore operations on the various databases. Other applications or processes executing on the server can access these APIs to perform various backup/restore operations. These API's are targeted toward the use of a tape drive as a backup storage device. Such backup operations are normally performed while the Exchange server is operating. As tape drives typically have a slower read/write time than disk drives, the backup of databases with a tape device can consume a significant amount of time. While the Exchange server continues to service requests during a backup operation, performance is degraded during the course of the backup operation. Because of this and because tape devices require significant time to perform a backup, such backups are typically performed at night (or other off-peak time), when few users are utilizing the system. Similarly, a database restore operation using a tape device consumes a substantial amount of time, also causing concurrent system degradation. When performing a backup or restore operation, the database files and any unincorporated log must be saved and/or restored. Thus as the size of the various database files increases, the time required to perform a backup/restore operation to a tape device also increases.
In a further known example, the Exchange server is adapted to have the database and log files preferably written to a local disk. However, by utilizing other software products such as, e.g. SnapManager® for Microsoft Exchange 5.5 available from Network Appliance, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif., the log files and databases may be written to disks that are remotely connected to the Exchange server. In one known implementation, the Exchange server is operatively interconnected with a file server and associated disk arrays, which provides file service for storage and access of the database and log files.
A file server is a computer that provides file service relating to the organization of information on storage devices, such as disks. The file server or filer includes a storage operating system that manages data access and may implement a file system to logically organize the information as a hierarchical structure of directories and files on the disks. By "file system" it is meant generally a structuring of data and metadata on a storage device, such as disks, which permits reading/writing of data on those disks. A file system also includes mechanisms for performing these operations. Each "on-disk" file may be implemented as a set of disk blocks configured to store information, such as text, whereas the directory may be implemented as a specially-formatted file in which information about other files and directories are stored. A filer may be configured to operate according to a client/server model of information delivery to thereby allow many clients to access files stored on a server, e.g., the filer. In this model, the client may comprise an application, such as a file system protocol, executing on a computer that "connects" to the filer over a computer network, such as a point-to-point link, shared local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), Storage Area Network (SAN) or virtual private network (VPN) implemented over a public network such as the Internet. Each client may request the services of the filer by issuing file system protocol messages (in the form of packets) to the filer over the network.
A common type of file system is a "write in-place" file system, an example of which is the conventional Berkeley fast file system. In a write in-place file system, the locations of the data structures, such as inodes and data blocks, on disk are typically fixed. An inode is a data structure used to store information, such as meta-data, about a file, whereas the data blocks are structures used to store the actual data for the file. The information contained in an inode may include, e.g., ownership of the file, access permission for the file, size of the file, file type and references to locations on disk of the data blocks for the file. The references to the locations of the file data are provided by pointers, which may further reference indirect blocks that, in turn, reference the data blocks, depending upon the quantity of data in the file. Changes to the inodes and data blocks are made "in-place" in accordance with the write in-place file system. If an update to a file extends the quantity of data for the file, an additional data block is allocated and the appropriate inode is updated to reference that data block.
Another type of file system is a write-anywhere file system that does not overwrite data on disks. If a data block on disk is retrieved (read) from disk into memory and "dirtied" with new data, the data block is stored (written) to a new location on disk to thereby optimize write performance. A write-anywhere file system may initially assume an optimal layout such that the data is substantially contiguously arranged on disks. The optimal disk layout results in efficient access operations, particularly for sequential read operations, directed to the disks. A particular example of a write-anywhere file system that is configured to operate on a filer is the Write Anywhere File Layout (WAFL™) file system also available from Network Appliance, Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. The WAFL™ file system is implemented within a microkernel as part of the overall protocol stack of the filer and associated disk storage. This microkernel is supplied as part of Network Appliance's Data ONTAP™ storage operating system, residing on the filer, that processes file-service requests from network-attached clients.
As used herein, the term "storage operating system" generally refers to the computer-executable code operable on a storage system that manages data access and may implement file system semantics. In this sense, Data ONTAP™ software is an example of such a storage operating system implemented as a microkernel. The storage operating system can also be implemented as an application program operating over a general-purpose operating system, such as UNIX® or Windows NT®, or as a general-purpose operating system with configurable functionality, which is configured for storage applications as described herein.
Disk storage is typically implemented as one or more storage "volumes" that comprise physical storage disks, defining an overall logical arrangement of storage space. Currently available filer implementations can serve a large number of discrete volumes (150 or more, for example). Each volume is associated with its own file system and, for purposes hereof, volume and file system shall generally be used synonymously. The disks within a volume are typically organized as one or more groups of Redundant Array of Independent (or Inexpensive) Disks (RAID). RAID implementations enhance the reliability/integrity of data storage through the redundant writing of data "stripes" across a given number of physical disks in the RAID group, and the appropriate caching of parity information with respect to the striped data. In the example of a WAFL-based file system, a RAID 4 implementation is advantageously employed. This implementation specifically entails the striping of data across a group of disks, and separate parity caching within a selected disk of the RAID group. As described herein, a volume typically comprises at least one data disk and one associated parity disk (or possibly data/parity) partitions in a single disk) arranged according to a RAID 4, or equivalent high-reliability, implementation.
A file server, as described above may be interconnected by a network to an Exchange or other database server to provide file service operations. In the example of an Exchange database server, the various database files can be stored on a set of disks interconnected with a file server through the use of such software programs as the above-described SnapManager software. As noted, such file servers typically utilize a tape device for backup/restore operations. A substantial amount of time and system resources are required to perform a backup operation to a tape device. Consequently, many system administrators do not frequently perform backup operations, to avoid the concomitant system performance degradation.
When a database or other file becomes corrupted, the administrator may desire to restore the file using a previously generated backup image of the file. Using conventional tape-based restore operations, an administrator would take the database server offline and then copy the restored database files to the active file system. This copying could take a substantial amount of time (on the order of hours) depending upon the size of the restored database file. Depending upon the methodology used in generating a backup of the file, a hard or soft recovery procedure could be utilized.
There are known methods for performing a soft recovery of an Exchange database. A soft recovery is employed when an Exchanger server is taken offline and then reinitialized. Upon restart, the Exchange server replaces transaction logs to bring the database to a current and consistent state. One example of a soft recovery is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/090,963, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CREATING A POINT-IN-TIME RESTORATION OF A DATABASE FILE, by Dennis E. Chapman, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
However, soft recovery is not an appropriate method to restore databases being served by a database server that is handling multiple databases. Significant advantages in reliability, scalability and flexibility are realized by having a single database server manage multiple databases. Specifically, the other databases being managed by a database server will be able to remain online when one database needs to be recovered. In the example of Exchange 2000, which supports multiple storage groups and multiple databases per storage group, a hard recovery is the preferred recovery method.
A hard recovery is the act of restoring the server from an initial or empty state. The database is restored from a backup and all transaction logs are replayed. During a hard recovery, the database server reconstructs the database from a backup data file. However, while the online backup was being created, often there will be transactions that are received by the server between the time the database is written to the backup location and the time that the backup finishes. These additional transactions are stored in patch files. When executing a hard recovery, these patch files are also added to the database so that the recovery is complete. Patch files are no longer utilized with Exchange 2000 servers running Service Pack 2 (SP2) or higher. However, many installations are in service that are not utilizing SP2.
A noted disadvantage of hard recovery operations is that they are typically performed from a backup stored on a tape device. By utilizing a tape device for backup operations, system performance is degraded and the time required for the backup operation is substantially longer than for soft recovery operations utilizing a snapshotting file system. Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for performing a backup and restore operation utilizing a hard recovery procedure for a database.

System and method for snapshot full backup and hard recovery of a database


An electrical actuator for actuating a valve or other device includes an electrical motor rotating a rotary member and centrifugal body. The centrifugal body is mounted to the rotary member and is biased to normally assume an inner position with respect to the rotary axis of the rotary member, and to move to an outer position by centrifugal force when the rotary member rotates. An actuator pin is normally biased to a non-actuating position but is movable to an actuating position, to actuate a valve or other device, when the centrifugal body is moved to its outer position by centrifugal force upon the rotation of the rotary member by the electric motor.

The present invention relates to an electrical actuator for actuating a valve or other like device. The invention is particularly useful to replace the conventional solenoids included in actuators for valves and like devices.
The conventional solenoid-actuated valve usually requires about two watts of electric power and six or twelve volts for actuating the valve, and sometimes may require the use of an insulating tube to enclose the solenoid for protective purposes. Moreover, such solenoid-actuated valves frequently malfunction if used in controlling the flow of water having a high dirt content.

Electrical actuator for valve or other device


Methods of forming a lithium-ion battery on a vehicle component by spinning and vehicle components with a batteries formed thereon are disclosed. The spinning may include electrospinning. A first electrode layer may be spun, followed by a first separator layer, a second electrode layer, and a second separator layer. Each layer may be spun directly onto the previously spun layer to provide a battery that does not include metal current collectors. The anode and/or cathode layers may include polyacrylonitrile (PAN) fibers. To render the anode and cathode layers conductive, they may be carbonized using a heat source (e.g., a laser). The disclosed method may allow for the formation of batteries directly onto a vehicle component, such as a body panel, thereby using otherwise empty space to increase the battery capacity of the vehicle.

Enhancement of battery performance is an important issue in the advancement of portable electronics, power grid regulation, and electrified vehicles. Rechargeable or secondary batteries generally include positive and negative electrodes, a separator, and an electrolyte. Current collectors are attached to each electrode in order to extract current from the battery. Rechargeable batteries, such as lithium-ion batteries, have not yet attained the necessary specifications in energy density and rate capability that are needed to make long-range electric vehicles (EVs) a viable option for many consumers. The relatively limited porosity of the electrodes, low specific capacities of cathode materials, and added weight from battery components are significant factors in these short comings.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A security, tracking and damage control system for use primarily within the commercial transportation industry. The system consists of a line containing a weight sensor within a security pad, and deploys LAN wireless communication between facility traffic control and tractors (trucks), yard tugs and receptor/detector transceivers located in line. A communications terminal, located in the truck, is preprogrammed at trucking company to include driver name, ID, truck number, and trucking company. Shipper will program trailer number and commodity, and any other relevant information pertaining to the shipment. This information will be relayed by shipper to consignee and will be verified automatically along with driver ID and truck number, when truck arrives at facility.

Cargo theft in the United States has reached gigantic proportions. The FBI conservatively estimates annual losses at between $3.5 billion and $10 billion annually, while the Volpe Report from the Department of Transportation estimates indirect costs of those losses at between $20 billion and $60 billion annually. A disturbing number of those thefts (40% by some estimates) involve driver and warehouse personnel complicity.
Trailer theft by deception is not uncommon. Fraudulent authorization papers presented to security by a driver will allow that driver to depart the facility with a stolen trailer.
Many facilities are closed when trucks arrive, and drivers are dependent on prior dispatch information to accurately drop and hook trailers. Information received by a driver from dispatch prior to arrival at facility is rendered inaccurate if changes have been made at the designated facility and the driver is unaware of these changes.
At large busy facilities traffic control generally does not always have an accurate account of the disposition of trailers, dock doors or parking space that is already occupied. It is common practice at facilities for security to instruct an incoming truck to park the trailer in a designated parking area without assigning a parking space number to driver. Security and traffic control are dependent on driver to inform them of parking space location of parked trailers and the parking space location from which a trailer is retrieved for departure from the facility.
It is not uncommon at large facilities for traffic control to dispatch a yard tug driver to go and "find" a particular trailer and report its location back to traffic control.
Crowded, disorganized parking of trailers at parking areas within the facility is commonplace. Equipment and property are damaged by drivers in the process of parking and retrieving trailers at these areas.
Security at some facilities is non existent. At other facilities, security consists of a security guard making rounds of the property at regular intervals. However, a security guard can not be in all places at all times.
Other measures of security presently employed include cameras and seals or locks on trailer doors, but cameras are easily rendered inoperable, and seals and locks can be cut with bolt cutters or a hacksaw.
Satellite communication is employed in specific areas of truck operations and is primarily a tracking system that 'observes' from space. However, satellite tracking, while useful in some areas of the industry, is susceptible to atmospheric and technical interference. It also does not address the continuous multiple tracking, loading/unloading, parking, damage control and security problems presently existing at large busy facilities. In addition, the effectiveness of the satellite tracking system is dependent on an attachment to the trailer to accommodate satellite tracking signal, and any attachment to a trailer is vulnerable to vandalism, theft or deactivation.
While some large facilities do have computerized tracking systems in place, They are simply that—tracking systems for containers within that particular facility. None are integrated into a security line which alerts security and other authorities when a breach of security takes place.
It is an object of the invention to provide a security, tracking and damage control system relevant to cargo containers within the transportation industry.
It is another object of this invention to have a security system in place that instantaneously detects and defines unauthorized activity such as intrusion into a trailer or container, removal of commodity from trailer or container, or movement of trailer or container.
It is another object of this invention to alert facility security and other authorities instantaneously when tampering of a container occurs.
It is another object of this invention to prevent damage to property and vehicles by providing drivers with a visible and audio guidance system when backing up to dock doors or parking spaces.
It is another object of the invention to log and record automatically all vehicles entering and departing a distribution facility, with a security check system in place that detects errors related to driver name and I.D., bills of lading, tampering or incompatible I.D. code numbers, to investigate mistakes, and prevent unauthorized entry into or movement of trailers or containers.
It is another object of the invention to create an automatic vehicle tracking system that instantly records and updates on Traffic Control computers all vehicle movements within distribution facilities at the exact instant the activity takes place.
It is another object of the invention to implement a yard tug system that automatically assigns yard tugs to extract or insert trailers at dock doors and parking spaces. This tug locator system will assign the closest tug to the location of the trailer to be extracted from a dock door, thus saving time and fuel.
It is another object of the invention to implement automatic, reliable communications between Traffic Control and mobile/yard tugs, and record instantaneously and automatically the insertion and extraction of trailers at dock doors and parking spaces, including stationary times of parked trailers at Traffic Control monitoring computers.

Security, tracking, and damage control system for cargo containers


A cross-linked rubber obtained by crosslinking a rubber composition containing a conjugated diene rubber and an inorganic filler, wherein when a loss tangent value of a non-interface component forming, of the cross-linked rubber ingredient, a portion other than an interface with the inorganic filler is represented as L(m) and a loss tangent value of an interface component forming, of the cross-linked rubber ingredient, an interface portion with the inorganic filler is represented as L(i), each loss tangent value being measured using an atomic force microscope in a state in which sinusoidal vibrations of 5 kHz are applied to the cross-linked rubber, the cross-linked rubber has a ratio L(i)/L(m) of 0.85 or less.

In recent years, due to environmental issues and resource issues, strong demands have been placed on automotive tires to have lower heat buildup, and from a safety perspective excellent wet grip has also been sought. Tires obtained by using a rubber composition in which a conjugated diene rubber is mixed with silica as a filler exhibit lower heat buildup compared with tires obtained by using a rubber composition blended with conventionally used carbon black, and hence can be used to make tires that are more fuel efficient.
As a conjugated diene rubber used for providing such a fuel-efficient tire, Patent Document 1 discloses a conjugated diene rubber obtained by reacting a specific halogenated tin compound with a conjugated diene polymer chain having an isoprene block at one end and an active end at the other end.


The present invention relates to compounds represented by the formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 is (1) an optionally substituted alkyl group which may be bonded through a hetero atom, (2) an optionally substituted acyl group, (3) an alkylsulfonyl group, (4) an alkylsulfinyl group, or (5) an optionally substituted sulfamoyl group; A is --N.dbd. or -CH.dbd.; R.sup.2 is a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group which may optionally be substituted with halogen and which may be bonded through a hetero atom;. X.sup.1 is halogen or a lower alkyl group; PA1 X.sup.2 is a hydrogen atom or a fluorine atom; PA1 R.sup.3 is a hydrogen atom, halogen or a lower alkyl group; PA1 and R.sup.4 is a hydrogen atom, an optionally substituted alkyl group or an acyl group, provided that when R.sup.1 is (1) a C.sub.1-4 alkanoyl group, (2) benzoyl, (3) trifluoroacetyl, (4) sulfamoyl which may optionally be substituted with a C.sub.1-4 alkyl group, (5) a C.sub.1-4 alkyl group which may optionally be substituted with hydroxy, halogen or a C.sub.1-3 alkoxy group, (6) amino which is substituted with a C.sub.14 alkyl group, A is --CH.dbd., R.sup.2 is a hydrogen atom, X.sup.1 is a chlorine atom, R.sup.3 is a chlorine atom, and X.sup.2 is a hydrogen atom, then R.sup.4 is an optionally substituted alkyl group or an optionally substituted acyl group; or salts thereof, their production and use thereof. These compounds and salts thereof are useful as anti-protozoal agents.

Parasitic protozoa are ubiquitous in animals such as mammals, fowls, fish, and insects. Parasitizing their internal organs, skin, and eyes in most instances, these organisms inflict serious damages on the hosts, thus playing a great economic havoc with the animal, poultry, and fish industries. Coccidiosis, which is a protozoal disease in domestic fowls, is mostly caused by several species of protozoa belonging to the genus Eimeria, such as E. tenella, E. necatrix, E. acervulina, E. maxima, E. brunetti, and E. mivati. For example, E. tenella, parasitizes the intestinal canal wall, such as the cecal wall, of poultry to do fatal harm to the host. Thus, this infectious disease manifests itself in the form of erosion, inflammation and hemorrhage of the intestinal wall and blood retention in the cecum due to extensive invasion into the bowels, with the accompanying symptoms such as poor appetite and retarded growth. Internal parasitic protozoa are usually transmitted orally. However, in the case of coccidiosis, the oocysts of the parasites cannot be effectively inactivated even by the intensive disinfection with potassium dichromate solution and, moreover, their life span is as short as about 7 days. Therefore, one has to just sit and see the hazard speading.
In the case of fish, protozoa parasitizing their external organs are serious problems of concern. Their parasitization results in injuries of the skin and gills, weakens the resistance of the host to infections and even may directly cause death. In the culture of fish on a large-scale pisciculture farm, parasitic protozoa spread rapidly throughout the whole pond of fish and the consequent economic loss cannot be tolerated.
The same is true of insects. Taking bees as an example, protozoa represented by Nosema apis are playing havocs with apiculturists all over the world. The above protozoa destroy the internal organs of bees to compromise their resistance, thus making the hosts prone to other diseases.
A large number of chemicals are known for the control of parasitic protozoa but most of those chemicals are host-specific or of narrow spectrum and with some of the chemicals, the emergence of resistant protozoa has been reported. Furthermore, because of their weak activity, those chemicals have to be administered in massive doses, thus being not fully satisfactory from economic and ecological points of view. Therefore, development of a chemical substance that can be used for control of parasitic protozoa in vertebrate animals such as mammals, fowls, fish, and insects with a sufficiently broad spectrum as well as potent activity has been demanded.
As such a chemical, a 2-phenyl-6-azauracil derivative was found to have anticoccidial activity (J. Med. Chem., 22, 1483, 1979) and, accordingly, a variety of 6-azauracil derivatives were synthesized and evaluated. However, those compounds were found to be teratogenic and no further development was made. Then, as compounds overcoming the teratogenicity problem, 2-phenyl-1,2,4-triazinedione compounds such as a 2-(4-phenoxyphenyl)-1,2,4-triazine derivative [DE-A-2532363], a 2-[4-(1-cyano-1-phenylmethyl)phenyl]-1,2,4-triazine derivative, etc. were developed and some of them are already in field use as anticoccidial agents in the Europe and other countries including Australia, although they have not been approved for use as yet in the rest of the world including Japan and the United States.

1,2,4-triazine-3, 5-dione derivatives, their production and use thereof


The present invention provides a closed, fluid-modulating receiving system for the conveyance, modulation and collection of fluid matter from its source. The receiving system may be employed under both in vivo and inanimate use conditions for the collection and disposal of fluids which may be infectious, hazardous, or toxic in and of themselves.

In this advanced technological age, the collection and disposal of fluids, particularly waste fluids, has become an ever more complex problem of increased difficulty. In its most general usage, the term "fluid matter" includes not only those substances in a true liquid physical state but also includes substances in solid physical state which are suspended, dispersed, or dissolved in a liquid carrier; as well as those compositions which exist or have been converted into a vaporized or gaseous state. Accordingly, the term "fluid matter" encompasses and denotes any and all of these possible combinations and permutations.
Much of the difficulty and complexity regarding the collection and disposal of fluid matter in general and of waste fluid matter in particular centers and focuses upon what are the proper answers to two different, but directly related, fundamental questions. These are: First, how does one collect and dispose of the fluid matter without himself also coming into effective contact with or being detrimentally affected by the fluid matter during the collection and disposal process? Second, how does one effectively collect and dispose of the fluid matter without concomitantly influencing, contaminating, and/or otherwise altering the source from which the fluid matter originates? Ironically, a satisfactory answer and resolution to one of these questions will typically cause a completely unsatisfactory and often intolerable result with regard to the other of these inquiries. A very few commonplace examples will illustrate the nature and consequences resulting from the longstanding and recurring conflict between the answers to these questions.
Under in vivo conditions, the conflict presented by these fundamental questions is well demonstrated by the persons typically admitted into a hospital ward for: a surgical manipulation or incision; relief from an obstruction or constriction in the urogenital tract; or an ileostomy or colostomy. In the surgical incision instance, a drain is often inserted into the wound area after the surgical procedure in order to collect and drain fluid from the wound subsequently. Conventional practice, however, employs drains having completely open ends in which one open end is inserted into the body of the living subject while the other end lies open and totally exposed to the ambient environment or is superficially covered with a simple bandage. Not surprisingly, infection via the drain at the surgical incision site is commonplace; and is recognized as a frequent hazard and consequence of this procedure. Thus, neither fundamental question is satisfactorily answered, much less mutually resolved, by conventional surgical drains and drainage practices. Not only is the patient (the source) put at risk, but also those persons attending the patient are also unknowingly placed at risk by handling the fluid matter discharged from the drainage tube.
A second in vivo example of a failure to satisfactorily answer and resolve the two fundamental questions is the conventional insertion of a urinary catheter through the genital area into the urinary tract of a patient for relief and release of accumulated urine from the bladder. Typically, a urinary catheter remains inserted internally for several days; and the usual procedure is for a nurse periodically to irrigate the catheter with sterile saline over the duration of its use. However, the catheter, from the time of its insertion internally, must remain completely open and can not prevent backflow of urine from its external end; and unavoidably becomes a pathway for potential infections and other medical complications. Here again, the dangers to both patient and attendant nurse caused by the lack of effective answers to the two fundamental inquiries are apparent. While the collection and disposal of the urinary fluid is physically easy, the nurse or attendant collecting and handling the discharged urine is at serious risk because of unknown bacteria or other microbes which might be in the urine; similarly, the patient is at risk by the continuous exposure of his urinary tract to the presence and possible backflow of urine throughout the entire period of catheter use.
A third in vivo example is the consequence of a (partial or complete) ileostomy or colostomy from which the person must then use a bag for collection of fecal matter. The deficiencies of and problems associated with the conventional ileostomy/colostomy bag are many and attributable to a failure to adequately answer and effectively resolve the two fundamental questions. These deficiencies and problems include: failures of the bag to contain and hold the solid, liquid, and gaseous parts of the fecal matter released from the bowel; severe leakage and drainage both from the resected bowel end and from the retaining bag itself; the frequent infections to the patient at the area of connection between the colostomy bag and the resected end of the bowel; the fecal exposure and general danger to the person attending or helping the patient with attachment and/or replacement of the colostomy bag; and the general inconvenience and cumbersome nature of the conventional colostomy bag, its mode of use, and its mode of attachment and disconnection. Not only is the patient who must use the bag subject to embarassment, discomfort, and potential infection; often another person aiding the patient is also placed at serious risk by the bag.
Similarly, the two fundamental inquiries apply to a number of commonplace situations at home and in the workplace where the collection and disposal of fluid matter can not be achieved without serious consequences or risks to either the person performing the collection of fluid or the source of the fluid. Typical examples are the use of formalin and/or formaldehyde in the mortuary and funeral home; and the use of organic solvents in the dry cleaning industry. Clearly, both of these instances involve the use of hazardous and/or toxic fluids in which direct exposure whether by direct physical contact or by air contamination may lead to serious chemical and biological injury. Thus, the person collecting and disposing of these hazardous and/or toxic fluids risks his health (and sometimes his life) if the means employed for collecting and disposing of these fluids are not safe and assured. Similarly, if the person does not take effective measures to safeguard the source of these hazardous and/or toxic fluids--recognizing that these fluids have beneficial uses and applications--then by haphazard and reckless methods of collection and disposal, the source may unintentionally and inadvertently become contaminated, chemically altered, or otherwise subjected to undesired change.
It will be recognized and appreciated therefore that the two fundamental questions must be answered and resolved without major conflict; and are of primary importance and paramount interest both to the person performing the task of collecting the fluid and to the source of the fluid matter. The need for an effective system for the collection and disposal of fluid matter which protects and preserves both the source of the fluid as well as the person collecting the fluid is long recognized and remains today unsatisfied in the main. The development of a general receiving, collection, and disposal system which adequately answers and properly resolves these two fundamental issues would therefore be recognized by persons ordinarily skilled in this field as being a major advance and providing highly desirable benefits to the user.

Closed, fluid-modulating receiving system for the conveyance, modulation, and collection of fluid matter


A method of determining an orientation of a body. The method includes the steps of measuring an acceleration of the body in a first direction, measuring an acceleration of the body in a second direction different from the first direction, the first direction and the second direction defining a plane. Measuring an acceleration perpendicular to the plane in a coordinate system rotating about an axis perpendicular to the plane, and inferring the orientation of the body from the three measurements.

The present invention relates to direction finding and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for determining the orientation of a body, such as a vehicle or a theodolite, relative to a local geographic coordinate system.
Many methods and devices are known for determining the geographic heading of a body such as a vehicle. Magnetic compasses, which are among the oldest of such devices, find the direction of magnetic north, rather than geographic north, so their readings must be corrected for the local deviation of magnetic north from geographic north. More modern methods and devices include gyrocompasses and methods based on signals received from external transmitters such as the GPS satellite network. Gyrocompassing performance (accuracy and duration) is very sensitive to a gyroscope""s drift. The process is very long, usually lasting between 10 minutes and 40 minutes. For high accuracy, a very expensive gyroscope must be used. The methods based on external signals are, by definition, not autonomous.
The object of the present invention is more general than merely finding local north. The object of the present invention is the determination of the full three-dimensional orientation of a body with respect to local geographic coordinates. The local geographic Cartesian coordinate system is the xe2x80x9clocal level local northxe2x80x9d (LLLN) coordinate system, in which the x-axis points towards local north, the y-axis points towards local east and the z-axis points down. The body itself has its own Cartesian coordinate system, referred to herein as the xe2x80x9cbody coordinate systemxe2x80x9d. For example, a typical Cartesian coordinate system for a vehicle is x-axis=forward, y-axis=right and z-axis=down. The orientation of the body is defined in terms of the Euler angles through which a Cartesian coordinate system, initially aligned with the LLLN coordinate system, must be rotated to align that Cartesian coordinate system with the body coordinate system. These Euler angles are azimuth xcexa8, pitch "THgr" and roll "PHgr". The rotations that bring the coordinate system, that initially is aligned with the LLLN coordinate system, into alignment with the body coordinate system, are:
1. rotation of the x and y axes by azimuth xcexa8 about the z-axis;
2. rotation of the x and z axes by pitch "THgr" about the intermediate y-axis to bring the x-axis into coincidence with the body x-axis; and
3. rotation about the x-axis by roll "PHgr" to bring the y and z axes into coincidence with the body y and z axes.
Note that azimuth xcexa8 also is the angle between geographic north and the projection of the body x-axis in the horizontal (x-y) LLLN plane.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of determining an orientation of a body, including the steps of: (a) measuring an acceleration of the body in a first direction; (b) measuring an acceleration of the body in a second direction different from the first direction, the first direction and the second direction defining a plane; (c) measuring an acceleration perpendicular to the plane in a coordinate system rotating about an axis perpendicular to the plane; and (d) inferring the orientation of the body from the three measurements.
According to the present invention there is provided a method of determining an azimuth of a body, the azimuth being defined in a certain plane, the method including the steps of: (a) measuring an acceleration, perpendicular to the plane, in a coordinate system rotating about an axis perpendicular to the plane; and (b) inferring the orientation of the body from the measured acceleration.
According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for determining an orientation of a body, including: (a) a first accelerometer, fixedly mounted with respect to the body, for measuring an acceleration of the body in a first direction; (b) a second accelerometer, fixedly mounted with respect to the body, for measuring an acceleration of the body in a second direction, the first and second directions defining a plane; (c) a third accelerometer for measuring an acceleration in a direction perpendicular to the plane; and (d) a mechanism for revolving the third accelerometer about an axis of revolution perpendicular to the plane.
According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus for determining an azimuth of a body, the azimuth being defined in a certain plane, including: (a) a first accelerometer, for measuring an acceleration perpendicular to the plane; and (b) a mechanism for revolving the first accelerometer about an axis of revolution perpendicular to the plane.
The present invention exploits the fact that the LLLN coordinate system is rotating. Specifically, the LLLN coordinate system rotates, along with the Earth, around the Earth""s rotational axis, at a uniform (vectorial) angular velocity {right arrow over (xcexa9)}. This fact is exploited to determine the azimuth angle of a body that is stationary with respect to the Earth. The principle of the present invention, in its most general form, is to measure acceleration in the body z-direction, using an accelerometer that is caused to revolve, at a uniform angular speed, around an axis of revolution, that itself points in the body z-direction, at a fixed distance from the axis of revolution. Because this accelerometer is moving with respect to the Earth, the acceleration measured by this accelerometer includes a Coriolis force component. Meanwhile, the components of the gravitational acceleration of the body in the body x- and y- directions are measured by two other accelerometers. Because the body is stationary with respect to the Earth, the accelerations in the x- and y- directions do not include a Coriolis component. The pitch and roll are inferred from the measured x- and y- accelerations. The azimuth is inferred from the pitch, the roll, and the phase of the time-dependent part of the acceleration in the z-direction. In the special case of zero pitch and zero roll, only the acceleration in the z-direction is measured, and the phase of the time-dependent part of the acceleration in the z-direction is identical to the azimuth.
Preferably, to reduce sensitivity to common mode noise sources such as vibration, two accelerometers, on opposite sides of the axis of revolution, are used to measure the acceleration in the z-direction. The signals of the two accelerometers are subtracted.
The method of the present invention for defining the azimuth is relatively insensitive to common accelerometer errors such as constant bias, scale factor error, and misalignment errors.
Unlike magnetic compasses, the present invention is independent of the Earth""s magnetic field. Unlike methods that rely on external transmitters such as GPS satellites, the present invention is fully autonomous. A drawback of the present invention relative to gyrocompasses is that the present invention works only for a stationary body; but bodies oriented using gyrocompasses must themselves be stationary when gyrocompassing is performed.

Method and apparatus for determining the geographic heading of a body

Rafael-Armament Development Authority Ltd.