There is described method and apparatus for processing signals of a telephonic communication, where the signals represent sensitive and non-sensitive information. A described method comprises processing the signals to provide a first version of the signals that is to be recorded and a second version of the signals that is to be output as audio; monitoring at least the first version of the signals to detect, in said at least the first version of the signals, one or more instances of one or more predetermined characteristics that represent the sensitive information conveyed by the signals; and modifying said at least the first version of the signals by removing the identified predetermined characteristics from said at least the first version of the signals.

Call centres are extensively used by service providers in delivering services to, and communicating with, customers. Call centres typically comprise a large group of staff members taking or making telephone calls with customers. Call centres commonly implement two key pieces of technology to aid in staff training, customer complaint management, or record-keeping. These are call recording technologies, where an audio recording of the customer conversation is kept, and screen recording technologies, where a video or static snapshot of the staff member's computer terminal is kept.
Each year, millions of people telephone call centres to make service enquiries or financial transactions, or issue instructions to companies they deal with. In many cases, the customer is either required to confirm his identity by providing the answer to security-based questions, or to provide his credit card details to pay for a transaction. As will be appreciated, the nature of much of this information is highly sensitive. In particular, the information can include passwords, personally-identifiable information such as a date of birth, a PIN, a memorable phrase, bank account numbers, credit card security codes and the like.
Data and identity theft, as well as fraudulent financial transactions, are widespread, and so it is of particular interest to the caller to keep secret as much of the information as possible. Disclosing personally-sensitive financial or other security information to a call centre staff member has the potential to increase personal data loss in a number of ways. Firstly, the call centre staff member can write down the customer's information for later use. Secondly, anybody with access to an audio recording of the customer conversation can listen to the customer information and note it down. Thirdly, anybody with access to a screen recording taken at the time the customer's information appeared on a call centre staff member's computer screen could note it down. Fourthly, technology exists to automatically 'mine' audio and screen recordings for customer information, and data loss through this mode has the potential to be widespread.
As a result of these increasing security concerns, some governments have enshrined data storage security standards in law, and some industry bodies have enacted their own guidelines surrounding the storage of personal data. One example is the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council, which issues guidelines for the processing and storage of credit card data, globally. Their Data Security Standards (DSS), periodically updated, dictates the methods and ways in which companies processing credit card data (including telephone-based credit card transactions) can store card and personal data. Regulations and guidelines such as these have a direct impact on call centres which take customers' sensitive data in telephone conversations. For example, the DSS stipulates that the 3 or 4 digit Card Verification Value (CV2—sometimes also known as CVN, CW2, CVC2 or CID) not be stored in any format, including as encrypted audio recordings.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a prior art call centre operation 100. A call from customer 104 is routed over a network 112 to the call centre 102, where it is switched by private branch exchange (PBX) 108 to a phone 105 of one of a number of call centre agents 120 operating computer terminals 106. The incoming call is also branched off to a call recording device 110, which can be located at the call centre or at a telecom service provider in the network 112.
A known approach to improve the security of a customer's interaction with a call centre is to introduce a pause recording capability that can be invoked while the sensitive information is being spoken to the agent. The pause can be manually or automatically triggered, for example when the agent clicks on the CV2 field on his monitor to enter the caller's credit card security number. Alternatively, the agent can be bypassed by routing the call to an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) application (not shown in FIG. 1) when the sensitive information is required, which ensures that this part of the call is not recorded. However, in this mode, the agent and caller are disconnected from each other and are not able to talk freely throughout the card transaction. Another alternate method, turning off the recording, is not always practical, as most organisations carrying out credit card transactions need to record calls for staff training, investigating customer complaints, and in some circumstances to comply with industry or legal regulation such as those laid down by the Financial Services Authority (FSA).
Another known approach is to have callers use Dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) signalling. DTMF tones are typically produced by pressing the keys on a standard telephone, and are used for 'touch dialing'. In addition to its use for dialing, DTMF tones can communicate several alphanumeric characters clearly through a telephone's audio channel during a phone call. DTMF has the security advantage that it is impractical for a human to determine the alphanumeric equivalent of the DTMF tone simply by hearing the DTMF tone. Furthermore, it allows the call to continue as normal whilst the caller enters their credit card information using their phone keypad. However, the DTMF tones are representative of the sensitive information and so cannot be recorded if the DSS is to be complied with. To address this issue, it is known to introduce a call processor 116 at the call centre 102 that blocks DTMF tones.
For example, International Patent Application WO 2009/136163 (Semafone Limited) describes a telephone call processor with the capability to be switched between two modes: "normal" and "safe". In normal mode both voice and DTMF components are allowed to pass to the PBX. This is important for the operation of call centres, as DTMF tones are used frequently, to allow customers to operate and navigate through IVR menu selections, for example. In the safe mode the voice component of the call is allowed to pass to the agent whilst the DTMF component is blocked or masked. This means both the agent and the call recording do not 'hear' the DTMF data.
The process of switching between a 'normal' and 'safe' mode, however, can require a complex interaction between a call centre's phone system, its credit card payment processes and its agents' desktop computers. A need therefore exists for improved methods and apparatus that do not rely on invoking different operating states at different times during a call.


An object of the present invention is to economically produce a resin composition pellet with the degradation of resin suppressed, by using an ordinary extruder, the resin composition pellet being filled with a desired filling amount of a uniformly compounded fibrous filler, and having a required weight average fiber length, in particular, to produce a resin composition pellet used for a socket of a planar socket pin in which the pitch interval of a lattice area of a semiconductor device is 2.0 mm or less, the thickness of the lattice area is 0.5 mm or less, and the height of the socket is 5.0 mm or less. To achieve the object, in supplying 80 to 55% by weight of resin and 20 to 45% by weight of the fibrous filler with a weight average fiber length of 1 mm or more to an extruder to produce a resin composition pellet in which a weight average fiber length of a fibrous filler is 180 to 360 μm, a part of an amount (x) of the resin is supplied through a main feed port of the extruder, and the fibrous filler and a remaining amount (1−x) of the resin are supplied through a side-feed port so that x/(1−x) becomes 50/50 to 10/90% by weight.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for economically producing a resin composition pellet having a particular weight average fiber length, and furthermore having a particular fiber length distribution, by adding a fibrous filler to resin with an extruder. The resin composition pellet is suitable for molding a socket for a pin of a semiconductor device, in particular, a socket in which a pitch interval of a lattice area provided with a number of pin holes is 2 mm or less.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in the case of kneading glass fibers or the like with a resin using an extruder, when injection molding is performed using a pellet obtained by inputting the resin through a main feed port and side-feeding fibers, under the condition that the melt viscosity of the resin is very low, the following problem arises. In the case of molding, for example, a socket of a semiconductor device with a narrow pitch interval, a completely filled molded product is not obtained since sufficient flowability is not obtained. Alternatively, the deformation amount of warping of a socket obtained due to the high injection pressure caused by forceful filling increases.
JP 06-240114 A (see claim 1, Table 1 of Example 1) describes that a resin composition pellet which is obtained by filling (A) 100 parts by weight of at least one liquid crystalline resin selected from a liquid crystalline polyester resin and/or a liquid crystalline polyester amide resin forming an anisotropic molten phase with (B) 5 to 300 parts by weight of glass fibers with an average fiber diameter of 3 to 15 μm, and in which the weight average fiber length is in a range of 0.02 to 0.55 mm, the proportion of glass fibers with a fiber length exceeding 1 mm is 0 to 15% by weight, and the proportion of glass fibers with a fiber length of 0.1 mm or less is 0 to 50% by weight, is injection-molded, and the flow length during injection molding, the shrinkage ratio of a molded product, surface impact strength, and the like have been obtained.
However, according to this technique, the weight ratio and average fiber length of the glass fibers are not controlled freely in desired glass fiber filling.

Method for producing a pellet from a fiber-filled resin composition and injection-molded products thereof


An apparatus for core repair includes a failure analysis and recovery (“FAR”) probe that accesses a core of a processor and units of the core over a low-level communication bus while the core is operational after a failure notification. The FAR probe compares operational data of the core versus vital product data (“VPD”) while the core is running tests and a thermal, power, functional (“TPF”) workload to determine if the core is in a degraded state and runs tests to identify a failure after determining that the core is in a degraded state. The FAR probe adjusts parameters of the core in response to identifying a failure of the core and re-evaluates the core to determine if the core is functional. The FAR probe returns the core to service after determining that the core is functional. The FAR probe operates independent of other processor cores while the cores are operational.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to core repair and more particularly relates to core repair with a failure analysis and recovery probe.
In multi-core processors with spare cores and error detection mechanisms, defective cores are often categorized as either recoverable or non-recoverable. Cores with recoverable errors are sometimes healed by a recovery process that will reset the core back to a good architectural state. Non-recoverable cores are fenced off, and in some cases, a spare core will be used. In these scenarios, typically steps are taken to reset a core or deploy a spare core. Firmware based diagnostics might take place during operation or on system reboot to report fail signature or impacted cores. It is difficult to recover bad cores during live operation or repair beyond normal conditions, without extensive diagnostics to root cause the issue and repair the defective core.

Core repair with failure analysis and recovery probe

International Business Machines Corporation


A fastener assembly for releaseably fastening a first body to a second body is disclosed. The fastener assembly has a manual rotating mechanism to permit closing of the fastener by hand. Once closed, the manual rotating mechanism is not easily accessible to the user by hand. A separate tool operating rotating mechanism is accessible by a tool when the fastening mechanism is in the closed position. The fastening mechanism can be used to fasten a lid to a box in which case the lid has a recess for receiving the manual rotating mechanism.

A variety of fastener arrangements are known in the prior art for fastening two or more objects together. For example, there are prior art fastener arrangements that require a tool for both fastening and unfastening. One such arrangement is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,925 to Wecke et al., Nov. 8, 1994, which discloses a fastener arrangement for fastening a cover and a base of a terminal box. Locking bolts with slotted heads at one end and blade-like expansions at the other are used to fasten the cover to the base. Each locking bolt is pushed downwards with a suitable tool through aligned bores in the cover and base, and then each locking bolt is turned slightly with the tool so that the blades cannot be withdrawn from the aligned bores. Detachment of the cover from the base is carried out by turning each locking bolt with the suitable tool to bring the blade again in alignment with the bores, allowing the locking bolts to be removed therefrom.
It is also known in the prior art to use manual rotating mechanisms for both fastening and unfastening. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,530,629 to Shyr, Mar. 11, 2003, discloses a cam system for retaining a press strip against a plurality of interface cards on a computer casing. The system uses a cam button that extends through the computer casing and forms an integral body with a female seat located inside the computer casing, such that the female seat and cam button rotate synchronously. By manually rotating the female seat, the cam button can be moved to hold the press strip in place against the interface cards. The cam button can be released with further manual rotation of the female seat.
One difficulty with manually operated mechanisms is that they may become opened or closed unintentionally. In other words, the ease of manual operation can limit security and accidental opening may result. Also, manually operated mechanisms may not be very strong or provide a secure seal, such as when used in a lid.
There is, accordingly, a need in the prior art for a fastener arrangement having a manually operated mechanism that can be operated by hand for ease of use during closing, but is secure after closing.

Fastener assembly and electrical junction box for same


A method for the substantially complete detection of all particles, within a predetermined size range, contained in an injectable solution comprising the steps of: a) pre-positioning particles in the container whereby rotation of the container causes substantially all of the particles in the injectable solution in the container to rotate in a shell volume adjacent the inner walls of the container, with said shell volume having a predetermined thickness; b) illuminating all the particles rotating within the shell volume with light; and c) detecting at least one of light scatter, light reflection and light extinction caused by said particles, with detectors having a depth of focus of detection in opposite volumes of the shell along a cross sectional diameter of the container perpendicular to the sensing array. Wherein the detectors are positioned, relative to the container whereby a focal point of detection which initially coincides with a focused plane through the vertical axis of the container, whereby the size of detected particles in the opposite volumes is accurately adjusted to an actual size by either calculation or by calculated offset of the focused planes; and wherein there are at least two directed lights, spaced 120xc2x0 from each other, with said containers being masked relative to each of said lights whereby each light illuminates different opposite volumes of the shell, with each of said volumes being bounded by a 90xc2x0 arc segment of the container, which is symmetrically disposed around the principal optical plane of the system.

This invention relates to procedures and devices utilized in the visual or optical inspection of transparent containers for the presence of contaminating particulate matter and particularly to inspection of injectable pharmaceutical preparations.
There is an ethical and legal obligation to ensure that pharmaceutical injectable solutions are free of xe2x80x98visiblexe2x80x99 particle contaminants following manufacture and prior to their clinical use. This legal obligation can be satisfied by the use of a labor intensive and costly 100% manual inspection of injectable solutions. Less costly automated particle detection systems have been developed. However, in order to satisfy Good Manufacturing Practice, automated inspection systems must be validated prior to any pharmaceutical use. In the validation demonstration, the functioning of the automated system must be shown to be at least as effective in detecting and rejecting containers with xe2x80x98visiblexe2x80x99 contaminating particles as the preceding manual inspection.
The performance of human xe2x80x98visiblexe2x80x99 particle inspection has been characterized in published reports as a probabilistic process without a sharp particle size accept/reject decision threshold (i.e., a soft decisional process). In the production of an injectable product under good control, the distribution of contaminating particles is approximately hyperbolic, with the concentration of contaminating particles decreasing rapidly as particle size increases. The effect of the xe2x80x98softxe2x80x99 accept/reject decision threshold is that a proportion of particle-contaminated containers that should be rejected are accepted. A false reject rate of good containers also results from the xe2x80x98softxe2x80x99 accept/reject decision process. Due to the increased number of containers with particles well below both clinical and control interest, a disproportionate number of the containers that should be accepted are rejected. This disproportionate false reject rate imposes additional costs on the quality assurance program.
Validation of alternative equipment or methods is a Good Manufacturing Practice requirement. The validation of a contaminating particle inspection system is a demonstration that the automated inspection system rejects those containers identified in a manual inspection to be contaminated with xe2x80x9cvisiblexe2x80x9d particles. It must show that the rejection capability of the automated system is at least equal to or better than that achieved by the preceding human inspection method. This demonstration must be successfully completed prior to any production use of any proposed automated system.
This demonstration is based on an established statistically evaluated human xe2x80x98visibilityxe2x80x99 performance benchmark. To make possible statistical comparisons and evaluations of particle contamination, an inspection model was defined with a statistically described rejection zone boundary. As currently accepted in the pharmaceutical field the Reject Zone includes the group of particle contaminated containers rejected in 70% of a series of manual container inspections. The group of containers with a manual rejection probability equal to or greater than 70% constitute the xe2x80x9cmust rejectxe2x80x9d visible particle contaminated group.
Holographic measurements found that the size of the contaminating particles that resulted in the 70% reject rate was 100 xcexcm. This determination was made with the particle contaminated containers that were rejected in a 17 second, timed single container inspection performed under 225 foot-candles of illumination, the inspection time is equally divided against a black and white background. The holographic data was correlated with the statistically evaluated probability of detection data to define the minimum xe2x80x98visiblexe2x80x99 particle size of 100 xcexcm. Accordingly in present practice all containers with 100 xcexcm or larger contaminating particles are considered to be xe2x80x98must rejectsxe2x80x99.
This Reject Zone definition has become a de-facto world standard in validation demonstrations and any proposed automated inspection device must function with at least the capability of the preceding manual inspection. This equivalent functionality is demonstrated by the achievement of an equal or higher rejection rate for the containers identified in the manual inspection to have xe2x80x98must rejectxe2x80x99 contaminating particles that are 100 xcexcm or greater.
When current commercially available automated inspection systems were evaluated according to this standard, it was determined that none could demonstrate, in a single inspection, results as secure or as selective as that achieved by human beings. The proportion of xe2x80x9cmust-rejectxe2x80x9d containers rejected in a single automated inspection is between half and two thirds that of a skilled human inspector.
As a result, in order to validate these automated inspection systems (to match their inspection security to that of the preceding manual inspection), a two inspection sequence is currently employed. only containers accepted in both inspections are accepted for stock. Containers rejected in either of the two sequential inspections are eliminated.
It has been determined that the limiting particle rejection/detection probability for an inspection system is the proportion of the liquid contents that have been examined for particulate contamination. A complicating factor is that the position of a contaminating particle in a container at the start of each inspection is completely random. This random initial particle position results in random distribution of particle orbits and velocities within the container. The random particle velocity distribution ranges from zero-to some design maximum.
A defined velocity of particle movement is employed to distinguish between contaminating particles and stationary container markings and optical defects. Particles that do not traverse the fractional inspected volume or that move with insufficient velocity are not detected. To improve the inspection security results, the two-inspection xe2x80x98game of chancexe2x80x99 technique to reduce the effect of the random particle position and velocity is employed. Application of classical probability theory shows that particle detection security is enhanced but the discrimination of the accept/reject decision compared to manual inspection is impaired when this inspection technique is employed. The cost for this improvement in detection probability is a four to six fold increase in the false rejection rate of the manual inspection.
Ideally, secure detection, sizing and identification of the contaminating particulates is an essential part of the control of the production of pharmaceutical injectable products. However, secure detection of randomly occurring and randomly positioned particles in sealed transparent containers requires inspection of the full volume of the container. In addition, accurate particle sizing in the present automated inspection systems requires sharp particle images. However, with present art, the sharp image requirement cannot be achieved for the size range of containers used for pharmaceutical injectable products.
In addition, only a portion of the contents of the container volume is normally inspected for contaminating particles and accordingly the security with which xe2x80x98must rejectxe2x80x99 containers are rejected in the partial container volume inspection cannot exceed the proportion of the container volume containing contaminating particles inspected.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,627,423, issued Dec. 14, 1971, to one of the present inventors, discloses an improvement in particle contrast, and thus detectability, that results from the use of narrow aperture lighting of the liquid volume contents of the container. This patent teaches that narrow aperture lighting of the liquid volume contents of the container that transits the glass envelope or the container in a near perpendicular condition minimizes the reduction in particle contrast that occurs when a broad area light source is employed for the inspection. The use of narrow aperture lighting of the liquid volume contents of the container to produce forward scatter lighting also minimizes the reduction of particle signal dynamic range that occurs when glare reflections occur at the meniscus or the container bottom. Glare reflections are produced when a bottom mounted light source parallel to or on the container axis is employed for the inspection. The teachings of this patent are incorporated herein by reference thereto.
At present only one automated inspection method, U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,343 (""343 patent) issued Nov. 15, 1994, by one of the present inventors, can equal or surpass the two important attributes of the human inspection for contaminating particles in sealed containers (the teachings of this patent are also incorporated herein by reference thereto). These attributes are the reliability of detection of these contaminating xe2x80x98visiblexe2x80x99 particles and the selectivity of the human accept/reject inspection characteristic. Both attributes are evaluated with statistical measures derived from the probabilistic analysis of human inspection results.
In the ""343 patent, an imaging lens is used at its maximum energy collecting capability and its maximum resolution to achieve maximum particle detection depth. Two light sources are employed, a forward scatter light source is used for small and low contrast particle detection. A second collimated light source, with intensity at the detection plane ranging from 2 to 10%, is used as a back lighting means. The contaminating particles are sized numerically by the peak change, either positive or negative, in light flux collected from the moving particle. This patent teaches that the light flux collected from an image and its blur surround is essentially constant for a controlled displacement around the plane of best focus. This measurement approach avoids reliance on sharply defined image edges to detect and size particles, and it results in a total light flux particle measurement. It relies, however, on the presence of uniform illumination level for the inspected container and system measurement stability. This reliance results in particle detection variability determined by the variation in the realizable illumination uniformity of the inspected container and variation of the detection capability of the system.
The use of the described light flux sizing makes it possible to inspect the full volume of a container up to 30 mm in diameter with a 75 mm focal length lens at maximum aperture of f stop equal to 1.8. The previous detection volume limit was imposed by detection volumes 1 to 3 millimeters thick centered on the axis of the container and extending through its liquid contents. Since the reliability of detecting particles in a container is proportional to the total container volume inspected, inspection reliability for containers up to 30 mm in diameter approaches 100% with the use of the teachings of this patent. Determination of the size of a detected particle is achieved with a stored transfer curve of particle size versus the light flux peak detected. This methodology requires both light source and measurement system stability to maintain the calibrated particle sizing accuracy.. Particles are detected by the variation of light level received in each element of the photo detector. Any change in the stability of the light source or the measurement system affects the peak value of the detected light flux due to a particle and thus the particle sizing accuracy. This approach sacrifices particle image shapes to achieve secure detection of the particle signal throughout the volume of the container.
It is an object of the present invention to transform the present probabilistic detection of contaminating particles present in a container, even larger than 30 mm in diameter, into a deterministic detection and accurate measurement process.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method that evaluates the blurred image of light flux based particle measurement with a direct, physically based particle size evaluation in a defined area.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a method that transforms the present random array of particles within a container into a positioned array in a defined portion of the container which can be inspected with higher accuracy.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a means for accurate measurement of the blur fringe images of particles within all volumes of the defined portion of the container having the pre-positioned particles.
Generally the present invention comprises a method for the substantially complete detection of all particles, within a predetermined size range, contained in an injectable solution, in a transparent container. In preferred embodiments the container has a circular cross section, though some containers may depart from circular symmetry in less preferred embodiments. The method comprises the steps of:
a) pre-positioning particles in the container whereby rotation of the container causes substantially all of the particles in the injectable solution in the container to rotate, with approximately equal initial velocity, in a shell volume adjacent the inner walls of the container, with said shell volume having a predetermined thickness;
b) illuminating all the particles rotating within the shell volume with lighting means; and
c) detecting at least one of light scatter, light reflection and light extinguishing caused by said particles, with detector means having a depth of focus of detection in which equally blurred images are viewed in opposite volumes of the container with respect to a plane through the axis of the container parallel to a plane through an imaging sensor;
wherein the sensed signal is corrected for the asymmetries of the imaging system by correction means either by computation or by repositioning the detector means relative to the container, whereby a focused imaging plane is formed at the container axis and then mechanically or electro-mechanically offset closer to the imaging sensor than the center of the cross section, whereby the size of detected particles in the opposite volumes is accurately mathematically compensatible to an actual size. The lighting means provides a multiplicity of directed lights, with said detector being masked relative to each of said lights, whereby each light illuminates symmetrical opposite volumes of the shell, with each volume being bounded by two opposing 90xc2x0 arc segments of the container centered on and symmetrically disposed around the principal optical plane, (defined as a plane passing through the axis of the container, the center of the photo detector and normal to its sensing face).
The illumination sources (which also includes a single source with multiple sites of illumination) are symmetrically disposed around the vertical axis of the container, typically at an angle of 120xc2x0 relative to each other and the light or photo detection sensors are disposed orthogonal (90xc2x0) relative to each other.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more evident from the following discussion and drawings in which:

Inspection of liquid injectable products for contaminating particles


A conveyor (10) for transporting products, in particular in dusty environments, especially in tissue paper processing installations, includes one or more conveyor belts (12) in particular of a mobile type, for transporting the product between one or more pickup and/or release points, includes a mounting frame (11) for the respective conveyor belt (12) which includes a respective frame (13) for supporting an endless band (14) which transports the product and which runs on corresponding guide and slide elements. The conveyor includes band sliding elements (15) which can be moved between a normal position where the band (14) is engaged and retained and a position where the selfsame band (14) is disengaged.

Conveyors for transporting rolls of toilet paper, paper towels for personal and/or general household use, packs of paper napkins, tissues and the like are known which comprise one or more conveyor belts, in particular of a mobile type, for transporting the product between one or more pickup and/or release points.
Generally speaking, these prior art conveyors comprise a mounting frame for the respective conveyor belt which comprises a frame for supporting an endless band which transports the product and which runs on corresponding guide and slide means.
Particularly in dusty production environments, such as those where paper rolls or tissues are processed, paper dust and residue tend to accumulate under the endless bands and between the rollers on which the bands run. This leads to problems with belt operation as a result of added friction and loss of conveyor flatness and consequent risks of the products falling off the conveyor.
To overcome these problems in prior art conveyors, the rollers of the conveyor frame must be disassembled using specific keys and screwdrivers and involving time-consuming and painstaking work for the personnel in charge of the operations.
In practice, these cleaning or maintenance operations are postponed as much as possible, with consequent malfunctioning of the conveyors for extended lengths of time.
These problems are felt particularly strongly in the tissue paper field, where the paper processed to make rolls of toilet paper or paper towels, paper napkins and tissues for personal or general household use produces considerable amounts of dust and residues which find their way insidiously into every gap and space in the processing machines and equipment, particularly in the conveying systems.
Replacing worn rollers on which the band runs is another time-consuming and troublesome task.
Indeed, in such cases, too, the roller to be replaced has to be removed using specific tools, in particular, keys and screwdrivers, to disengage the roller from the conveyor and put a new one in its place on the conveyor.


An antenna system including a sub antenna adjacent a main antenna in the direction where a beam width of the main antenna is to be compressed and a beam axis of the sub antenna is coincident with a beam axis of the main antenna. Antenna beams of the antenna system are scanned in the direction of compression of the beam width. Received signals of the main antenna and the sub antenna are subjected to a step of signal processing and multiplication process in a signal processing and multiplying circuit. In that step, only when the received pattern waveform of the main antenna and the received pattern waveform of the sub antenna are both at local maximum levels, the received signal of the sub antenna is output and subjected to the multiplication process for preventing the occurrence of distortion in the received pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a beam compression process for an antenna pattern which eliminates distortions of a received pattern produced during a process of compressing an antenna pattern of antennas, to thereby improve beam compression performance.
Generally, a beam width is one of indices of quality of antenna patterns of receiving antennas and so forth. The smaller the beam width, the higher the performance of the antenna pattern. However, the beam width and the size (length) of an antenna are inversely proportional to each other. Thus, a reduction in the beam width increases the antenna size, while a reduction in the antenna size increases the beam width.
In an attempt to double the power of discriminating an object, i.e., resolution, in a radar antenna, for example, the beam width must be halved, typically in doubling of the antenna size. The doubled antenna size has various drawbacks, including an increase in not only the area occupied by the antenna, but also the weight of the antenna and dimensions of the antenna support structure. Conversely, if the antenna size is halved, the beam width is doubled and the discriminating power deteriorates to half of the original level.
It is well known that the beam width and the antenna size are contradictory to each other, as mentioned above. Since actual antennas are subjected to limitations in the area occupied by the antenna and other factors in most cases, practical compromises must be made to some extent in limiting beam width under such limitations.
For the purpose of improving the above problem, there has been conventionally known a beam compressing process using the principle of a multiplicative array in which the beam width is reduced by multiplying received signals of a plurality of antennas by each other. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an antenna arrangement for carrying out such beam compression. Denoted by reference numeral 101 is a main antenna constituted by, for example, an array antenna comprising a plurality of radiation elements arrayed into the rectilinear form with equal intervals, and 102 is a sub antenna. The sub antenna 102 is arranged at a position spaced from the main antenna 101 in the X direction, i.e., the direction where a beam width is to be compressed. 103 is a multiplying circuit for multiplying a received signal of the main antenna 101 by a received signal of the sub antenna 102. In the antenna device thus arranged, the signals received by the antennas 101, 102 are input in phase to the multiplying circuit 103 and subjected to a multiplication process. As a result, a directional characteristic of the main antenna and a directional characteristic of the sub antenna are multiplied to give a synthetic directional characteristic with the beam width compressed therein.
However, the above-explained conventional beam compression process for an antenna pattern has the problem that although an identical effect to that resulted from beam compression can be obtained, a grating lobe of the sub antenna forms a received pattern indicative of a radio wave source is present, in spite of the absence of any radio wave source, i.e., thereby causing distortions in the received pattern.

Beam compression process for antenna pattern

National Space Development Agency of Japan


The present invention provides systems, methods and devices for sealing and/or curing a leakage at a remote site in a pipe, the system including a multiplicity of polymeric carrier plugs of a deformable material including pores, at least one sealant composition disposed in the pores; and a carrier liquid composition adapted to transport the multiplicity of polymeric carrier plugs to a site of the leakage, wherein at least some of the multiplicity of polymeric carrier plugs polymeric carrier plugs are adapted to transport the at least one sealant composition from a first site in the carrier liquid composition to a remote site and to seal the leakage at the remote site.

Many liquids are transported via subterranean/underwater pipelines. When a leakage crack or hole forms is the pipeline, the liquid leaks therefrom. Often, it takes a long time to detect a leakage and yet longer to locate the leakage site. Oil, gas and water transportation are thus subject to tremendous losses due to pipeline leakage.
There is thus a need to maintain and seal subterranean/underwater pipelines quickly in situ.
Several patent publications in the field include U.S. Pat. No. 3,523,826A, which relates to a process for cleaning a piping system which is characterized by circulating in, and through said system a thixotropic emulsion having a hi.-h volume ratio of internal phase to external phase, the emulsion having an emulsifying agent, an emulsifiable oil and a non-oil, the emulsion being an oil-in-non-oil or a non-oil-in-oil emulsion, the internal phase of said emulsion being present in said emulsion in an amount of at least 80% by volume of the emulsion, said emulsion having the characteristics of a solid when at rest and the characteristics of a liquid when a force is exerted on it, said emulsion tending to be non-adhesive, said emulsion having a critical shear point sufficient to permit pumping at high rates, and said emulsion having an apparent rest viscosity greater than about 1000 cps.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,026 describes a method for removing fluid and/or particulate debris from a pipeline, a Bingham plastic fluid plug is passed through a pipeline and the fluid and/or debris are collected by the plug. The plug is pushed through the pipeline with a scraper which in turn may be pushed by liquid or gas pressure. Where the fluid to be removed is water, the Bingham plastic fluid plug employed preferably is a composition of water and a xanthan gum, and the gum may be cross-linked with a multivalent metal. Where the fluid to be removed is a hydrocarbon, the Bingham plastic fluid plug employed preferably is a composition of a mineral oil and an organo-modified smectite, and may also include a particulate filler such as powdered coal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,465A describes a gel plug, which is employed during construction of an offshore pipeline to separate a gas-filled portion of the pipeline from a water-flooded portion, and to facilitate control and movement of the gas/gel plug/water interface as desired to assist in construction operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,559A relates to an interior surface of a pipeline being dried by sequentially passing through the pipeline (a) an aqueous cross-linked gelled pig, (b) a fluid mobility buffer comprising a non-crosslinked gelled ankanol of from one to three carbon atoms, (c) a dessicating amount of a liquid alkanol from one to three carbon atoms. For example, a pipeline was dried by sequentially passing through it (a) a borate cross-linked hydroxypropyl guar gum pig, (b) a fluid mobility buffer comprising methanol thickened with hydroxypropyl cellulose, and (c) methanol.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,722 discloses a gel plug of mineral oil, organo-modified smectite, and a particulate filler such as powdered coal, or a gel plug of mineral oil and organo-modified smectite is employed during construction of an off-shore pipeline to separate a gas-filled portion of the pipeline from a water-flooded portion, and to facilitate control and movement of a gas/gel plug/water interface as desired to assist in construction operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,703 describes a method to remove particulate debris from a pipeline, a plug train including at least one gel plug having debris entraining characteristics and at least one pseudoplastic plug is passed through a pipeline and the debris is collected by the gel plug. The gel plug is pushed through the pipeline with a scraper which in turn may be pushed by liquid or gas pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,321,968A discloses gelled compositions comprising carboxymethylhydroxyethyl cellulose in aqueous brine solutions, which are gelled by the addition of an alkaline earth metal hydroxide such as calcium hydroxide. The gelled compositions have utility as water diversion agents, pusher fluids, fracturing fluids, drilling muds, work-over fluids, and completion fluids.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,339A provides a method of cleaning a pipeline using a gel pig of a graft copolymer of a hydroxyalkyl cellulose prepared by a redox reaction with vinyl phosphonic acid. The gel pig is formed by hydrating the graft copolymer in an aqueous liquid. The gel pig is crosslinked by the addition of a Lewis base or Bronsted-Lowry base, to the gel in an amount sufficient to initiate crosslinking of the graft copolymer. Contaminants entrained in the crosslinked gel pig during the cleaning process may be separated by the addition of a pH reducing agent to the pig whereby the viscosity of the gel is caused to decrease. The gel may be used for further cleaning after contaminant separation by addition of an additional quantity of the Lewis base or Bronsted-Lowry base.
WO2008081441 describes a method of repairing leakage in pipelines comprising the steps of forming a first and second openings in the pipeline upstream and downstream, respectively, of the leakage location, inserting through the first opening a first body, filling the space arrear of the first body (C1) with a first viscous sealing material (M1), inserting through the first opening a second body (C2) arrear of the first viscous sealing material (M1) compressing the first sealing material by applying a pressure against the first and the second bodies (C1, C2) in opposite directions, causing the first and second bodies (C1, C2) and the compressed first sealing material (M1) to move in unison in the direction of the second opening, and retrieving the first and second bodies (C1, C2). Preferably, the method is performed using three bodies (C1, C2, C3) and two sealing materials (M1, M2).
Prior art systems often have the following drawback, namely that hardening material which is not in the optimal ratio is fed into the pipeline. Additionally, after exposure of the material in the hole in the pipe, it can remain and may also exit pressure pipe. There are thus still many types of pipeline leakages, which cannot be cured using the aforementioned prior art materials and methods. There thus remains an urgent need to develop systems and methods for curing pipeline leakages.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems, compositions and methods for curing leakages in pipes


This invention relates to peptides having antiviral properties. The antiviral peptides comprise membrane transiting peptides, and active fragments and derivatives of such peptides. The antiviral peptides exhibit activity against a broad spectrum of viruses, including enveloped and nonenveloped viruses, and are used in pharmaceutical compositions to prevent and/or treat viral infections.

In recent years, various groups of peptide derivatives having activity against viruses have been disclosed. Examples of these peptides are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,780, issued to Beaulieu et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,854, issued to Schlesinger et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,814,432 issued to Freidinger et al.; Dutia et al., Nature 321:439 (1986); and Cohen et al., Nature 321:441 (1986). However, many of the known antiviral peptides known in the art are extremely hydrophobic, and therefore, not very bioavailable. Moreover, many of these known antiviral peptides show activity against only a few types of viruses, due to their particular mechanisms of action. Additionally, many of these synthetic peptides are not effective in preventing initial viral infection, or are not functional when applied topically.
One of the most successful nucleoside analogs developed as an antiviral agent to-date is acyclovir. Acyclovir is a synthetic purine nucleoside analog with in vitro and in vivo inhibitory activity against herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1), herpes simplex virus type II (HSV-2), and varicella zoster virus (VZV). In cell culture, acyclovir's highest antiviral activity is against HSV-1, followed in decreasing order of potency against HSV-2 and VZV. However, the use of acyclovir may be contraindicated. Moreover, some herpes simplex viruses have become resistant to acyclovir.
Recently, there has been considerable research into antiviral compounds that could be incorporated into topical virucides and condom lubricants to help stem the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). The need for such a product is high; the appropriate antiviral and/or virucidal compound that prevents HIV infection would be of great use in both developed and undeveloped nations.
Therefore, there remains a need for antivirals which exhibit a high activity against a broad spectrum of viruses. There also remains a need for antivirals that can be applied topically, and are effective at preventing viral infection.

Pharmacologically active antiviral peptides


This invention provides a flame retardant for polymeric compositions which is a mixture consisting of high molecular weight brominated epoxides modified with tribromophenol, having a low content of organic solvents. The invention further relates to a method for the preparation of the retardant, and to its use in flame retarded engineering thermoplastics having good chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties.

The high molecular weight (HMW) brominated epoxides (BE) to which the invention refers have the general formula (I)
wherein n is an integer.
They are end-capped by glycidyl groups. This invention is concerned with HMW BEs modified with tribromophenol (TBP). If both of the end glycidyl groups are substituted by tribromophenyl-oxo-2-hydroxypropyl groups, the resulting compounds are phenoxy compounds which have the general formula (II)
wherein n is an integer.
However, it may be that only one of the end groups is substituted, resulting in compounds having the general formula (III)
wherein n is an integer.
Mixtures of compounds of formula (I) and/or (II) and/or (III), wherein at least 80 mol % of the end groups are tribromophenyl-oxo-2-hydroxypropyl groups and at most 20 mol % of the end groups are glycidyl groups, will be called herein "fully modified" or "fully end-capped" (HMW MBEs).
Brominated epoxides, unmodified or partly or fully modified with tribromophenol are known in the art. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication 1-287132 discloses styrene compositions comprising halogenated compounds having epoxy groups at both ends. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication 5-117463 discloses styrene compositions comprising halogenated epoxides. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publications 62-4737 and 63-73749 disclose a fire-retardant mixture comprising more than 60% of halogenated epoxy fully modified with TBP. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication 1-170630 discloses using as fire retardant compound a low molecular weight brominated compound 50% end-capped with TBP. All the above compositions are defective in light resistance, heat stability or other properties. U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,799 proposes as a fire retardant compound a mixture of HMW BE unmodified, modified at one end with tribromophenol, and fully modified (20 to 35 mol % is fully capped with tribromophenol). This mixture however is defective in that it will cause gel formation (by cross-linking) when processed with engineering thermoplastics such as polyamides, thus impairing the processing steps.
Low Molecular Weight (LMW) BEs have low viscosity and therefore it is relatively easy to reduce the volatile content to very low levels by using equipment which is known to those skilled in the art. On the other hand, HMW MBEs are very viscous, even at higher temperatures, and it is therefore very difficult to reduce the volatile content to very low levels. It is therefore advantageous to use LMW BEs with very low volatile content as a starting material for the production of HMW MBEs. Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication 2001-310990 discloses BE which may be fully modified with TBP and discloses a method that requires the use of solvents in the polymerization stage to produce HMW MBEs. The compositions obtained according to its teachings are defective because the flame retardant is prepared in an organic solvent and therefore necessarily contains a significant amount of organic volatiles. These volatiles cause metal corrosion and failure of metallic parts which are near to or in close contact with the flame-retarded engineering thermoplastics.
It is therefore a purpose of this invention to provide flame retardant and flame-retarded compositions, which are free from the defects of the prior art.
It is another purpose to provide flame-retarded engineering thermoplastic compositions which have high impact resistance.
It is a further purpose to provide flame-retarded engineering thermoplastic compositions which have high melt flow index and low melt viscosity and maintain these properties under long residence time at high processing temperatures.
It is a further purpose to provide flame-retarded engineering thermoplastic compositions which minimize corrosion of metallic parts that are near to or in close contact with the thermoplastics.

Flame-retardant for engineering thermoplastic applications


In a dynamic random access memory device, an auto-refresh method comprises receiving a command for the memory device to operate in a half-density mode. This causes a remapping circuit to remap a first memory address bit to an unused memory address location. Using the new addressing scheme, an auto-refresh operation is performed on the memory array operating in the half-density mode without skipping refresh commands.

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including random-access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), and synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM).
DRAMs use one or more arrays of memory cells arranged in rows and columns. Each of the rows of memory cells is activated by a corresponding row line that is selected from a row address. A pair of complementary digit lines are provided for each column of the array and a sense amplifier coupled to the digit lines for each column is enabled responsive to a respective column address. The sense amplifier senses a small voltage differential between the digit lines and amplifies such voltage differential.
The digit lines of each column are typically precharged to one-half the supply voltage VCC prior to being coupled to a memory cell. Coupling the memory cell to the digit line causes the voltage on the digit line to increase slightly above the VCC/2 level or decrease slightly below the VCC/2 level in response to the memory cell status.
The sense amplifier compares this altered voltage to the voltage VCC/2 on the complementary digit line and drives the digit line that is coupled to the memory cell to the full high or low logic level. This restores the voltage on the memory cell to the voltage corresponding to the logic level that is stored in the memory cell. The logic level stored in the memory cell can then be read by determining the differential voltage between the digit lines.
As is well known in the art, DRAM memory cells must be periodically refreshed to avoid loss of data. The memory cells in a row can be refreshed by simply coupling the memory cells in the row to one of the digit lines after enabling the sense amplifiers. The sense amplifiers then restore the voltage level on the memory cell capacitor to a voltage level corresponding to the stored data bit. The permissible time between refresh cycles without losing data depends on various factors such as rate of charge dissipation in the memory capacitor. It is desirable to reduce the number of refresh cycles in a memory device since such a reduction also reduces the number of interruptions required of a system controller to service the refresh.
One way to extend the data retention time while also reducing the required refresh cycles for the memory cells is for a DRAM to operate in a half-density mode. When a DRAM is operated in a half-density mode, two addresses are actually refreshed for every one address that is accessed while reducing the periodicity of the refresh commands.
However, one problem with the half-density mode of operation in a DRAM is that double charge dumping occurs to the sense amplifier during each refresh cycle due to the two memory addresses being accessed. Therefore, the current requirements for the memory device operating in the half-density mode are greater than a memory device having a density comparable to the reduced size of the half-density mode device. Additionally, such an increase in current during these refresh cycles may violate some current specifications for certain memory devices.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a way to implement half-density mode in a memory device without an increase in power requirements.


An energy absorption device absorbs energy that is released upon impact between two objects in relative motion. An exceptional load applied to any of the two objects results in acceleration of one object relative to the other object. The acceleration energy is absorbed by deformation of an element or elements that are put under stress from the objects upon impact. The process of deformation includes a controlled diameter reduction during a forced elongation of a semi-solid or solid deformation bolt made from a cold-formed material in the direction of force generated from the acceleration.

Energy absorption devices are previously known, for example as structural parts of train couplers intended for coupling rail vehicles which are connected in series to move together in common motion and direction, wherein an exceptional load applied to any of the interlinked vehicles, such as a shock load applied in a crash fall e.g., results in acceleration of said vehicle relative to the other vehicle, and wherein for retardation of said acceleration energy is absorbed in the process of deformation of an element or elements included in said train coupler.
In its structurally most simple form an energy absorption device for a train coupler can be realized as a shear out element that provides connection between those parts of the coupler which give away under the exceptional load, and those parts which remain stationary connected to the vehicle chassis. The use of shear out bolts can be found in EP 2 700 556 A1, e.g.
An energy absorption device for train couplers is previously known in the form of a deformation tube which is arranged to absorb energy during a radial collapse of the deformation tube as the same is forced through a conical mouth, the smallest diameter of which is less than the outer diameter of the deformation tube. An example of this approach can be found in EP 0 608 531 A1, e.g.
A variant of the aforesaid solution is the inverted design wherein the deformation tube is radially expanded as a mandrel with a conical end piece and an outer diameter which is larger than the inner diameter of the deformation tube is forced through the deformation tube. An example of that approach can be found in WO 2005 075272 A1, e.g.


A de-curling device de-curls a sheet and includes an endless belt, a de-curling roller, a nip width adjusting mechanism, and a belt tension adjusting mechanism. The endless belt is looped around a pair of supporting rollers. The de-curling roller is provided between the pair of supporting rollers and has a first outer circumferential surface pressed against a second outer circumferential surface of the endless belt to form a nip portion at which the endless belt curves along the first outer circumferential surface, the de-curling roller being configured to de-curl the sheet passing through the nip portion. The nip width adjusting mechanism adjusts the nip width by moving the de-curling roller in a direction intersecting the second outer circumferential surface of the endless belt. The belt tension adjusting mechanism adjusts the tension of the endless belt according to the nip width adjusted by the nip width adjusting mechanism.

The present disclosure relates to a de-curling device that de-curls a sheet on which an image is formed, and an image forming apparatus including the de-curling device.
An image forming apparatus, such as a printer, that includes a de-curling device that de-curls a sheet on which an image is formed is known.
A conventional de-curling device includes an endless belt looped around a pair of supporting rollers, a pushing roller that is pressed against an outer circumferential face of the endless belt, and a pressing force regulator that regulates the pressing force of the pushing roller applied on the endless belt. The de-curling device is configured such that the pressing force regulator moves the pushing roller to regulate the pressing force of the pushing roller applied on the endless belt, thereby changing the de-curling force applied on the sheet.

De-curling device and image forming apparatus including same


A display substrate includes a base substrate and an encapsulation film disposed at a first side of the base substrate. At least one corner of an edge of the encapsulation film is a rounded corner or a substantially rounded corner.

Active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display apparatuses have advantages such as thinness, lightness, a wide viewing angle; active luminescence, emitted light of continuous and adjustable color, low cost, a quick response speed, low energy consumption, a low driving voltage, a wide operating temperature range, a simple manufacturing process, and high luminescence efficiency.
In the AMOLED display apparatus, electrodes (such as a cathode) and organic functional layers (such as a light-emitting layer) of the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) apparatus is prone to be eroded by moisture and oxygen, which leads to a reduction of the service life thereof. Therefore, it is necessary to encapsulate the AMOLED display apparatus, Thin film encapsulation (TFE) is one of the commonly used encapsulation methods.


An air dryer comprises a base member, a main cartridge and an intermediate cartridge. The air dryer is capable of drying and possibly filtering and/or cleaning air passing there through. The intermediate cartridge, capable of drying and possibly filtering and/or cleaning air passing there through, is arranged between the base member and the main cartridge.

An air dryer of the above kind is used, for example on a heavy road vehicle, for drying compressed air delivered from a compressor. The cartridge, here called the main cartridge, may for example contain silica gel with small pores for the drying function, and such a cartridge is available on the market, also as a spare part.
It may, however, be desirable with a more complex treatment of the compressed air for improving its quality, before it is transferred to different consumers, where the air quality is of essence.


There is disclosed a water spray plate having micro-shower-holes formed therein to expand a passage area of liquid. The plurality of the shower hole arrays formed to unit sprayed liquids may be arranged and there may be an effect of enabling the user to feel that sufficient liquid is supplied even if a small amount of liquid is supplied. As a result, the substantial amount of the liquid used by the user may be reduced and there may be a water-saving effect.

In general, a shower is a spraying device having a watering-pot shape to spray cold water or hot water and the shower has been broadly used as a body shower for family in a bath room, a sink and bath tub and a water pool, a water softener and a spa bath for business use.
Such a shower may be categorized into a sit-type shower and a stand-type shower and the shape of the shower may be variable according to the types.
After passing an inner path formed in a body of a shower head, cold water or hot water supplied via a hose may be sprayed outside toward a user via a plurality of shower holes formed in a shower face and the user may take a shower.
Recently, a water-saving shower capable of saving water has been used and the water-saving shower includes a diameter reducing part provided in a shower head to expand a diameter of an outer portion. Because of that, a water saving effect can be acquired. However, such a diameter reducing part requires a special part and the manufacture cost happens to be increasing disadvantageously.
In addition, according to a conventional water-saving shower, the number of shower holes is decreased or a diameter of a shower hole is reduced. In this case, proper water supply might not be performed or the shower time might be lengthened, when the user tries to take a shower. As a result, the water-saving effect happens to be useless disadvantageously.
Especially, if the diameter of the shower hole is decreased, generation of negative-ions may be increased together with the water-saving effect. However, the user cannot feel the shower effect properly and the water-saving effect tends to disappear.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, Korean Paten Registration No. 0867486 filed by the present applicant discloses a shower face including a shower head 100, a thin plate shaped shower face 300 provided in a front portion of the shower head 100, shower holes 310 having small diameters, respectively, with an outer portion having a side of the shower face 300 insertedly coupled thereto.
In the shower face for the shower, water may be sprayed toward a broader area by liquid (W1) sprayed outside via a shower hole 310 after passing an inner path of the shower head 100 and liquid (W2) sprayed outside via a concave rectangular shaped spray hole 300 after passing the inner path of the shower head 100.
Although not shown in the drawings, if a direction of an inwardly recessed portion 331 of the shower hole 300 is located in a reverse direction, the direction of the liquid sprayed via an open part 333 may be changed and the liquid may be sprayed toward a narrow area.
However, such the shower face is formed in a plate shape and the shower hole 310 having a small diameter is provided in the plate-shaped shower face 300 such that a water-saving effect and a negative-ion generation effect and a liquid spraying angle control effect. However, there might be a disadvantage of a relatively small path area of the liquid sprayed outside because of the small diameter of the shower hole 310 and 330. As a result, a user might feel pricked.


Provided are a gesture control method, a gesture control device and a gesture control system. The gesture control method includes: establishing, by a mobile terminal, a wireless communication connection with a display device; displaying, by the mobile terminal, a gesture input interface corresponding to a current application of the display device; detecting, by the mobile terminal, a user gesture; converting, by the mobile terminal, the user gesture into an operation instruction corresponding to the user gesture; and transmitting, by the mobile terminal, the operation instruction to the display device.

At present, after an application software is run in a display device such as a television, operations such as menu selection, game operation input are needed to be performed to the application software.
In the current market, a generally used operation input manner for the application software is using a remote-controller. The remote-controller includes multiple input buttons, such as a confirmation button, an up/down/left/right movement button, a mode selection button. A user controls the movement position of a cursor by using the input buttons, and then operates the input button to perform a confirmation operation. For televisions with a few functions such as channel mode selection, volume control, this input manner using remote-controller may meet the demand. However, with more and more operation instructions for the application software, the manner of inputting instructions through the remote-controller is not convenient, and results in low efficiency.
In order to improve the efficiency of inputting the operation instructions to the television, a gesture input manner is developed currently. For example, a camera and a processor and so on are integrated in the television. The television detects a user gesture of a user standing in front of the television, recognizes the user gesture, and determines an operation instruction corresponding to the user gesture, and then executes the operation instruction to display an operation result. However, with the solution of realizing the gesture input for the television, the cost of the television is greatly increased, and the user needs to operate in front of the television, which does not meet operation habits of the user. Therefore, the solution of realizing the gesture input for the television has technical issues of high cost and inconvenient inputting of gesture instruction.

Gesture control method, gesture control device and gesture control system

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


Method and system for providing selective access to different portions of a database by different subgroups of database users. Where N users are involved, up to 2N−1 distinguishable access subgroups in a group space can be formed, where no two access subgroups have the same members. Two or more members of a given access subgroup can edit, substantially simultaneously, a document accessible to each member.

A complex program having many tasks and sub-tasks, many phases and many workers will often have an associated database with many users, each of which has a limited "need to know" that does not extend to all information in the database. An example is a database that includes information on individual personnel, including confidential evaluations and reports on supervisory interviews. A group of users having access to information in a particular portion of a database may need to edit one or more documents or other collections of information to restate the original information more conveniently or accurately.
What is needed is a database system that provides selective access to different portions of the database for different groups of users, where the different groups may have partly overlapping access group memberships. Preferably, the system should allow substantially simultaneous editing of one or more documents or other collections of information by one, two or all access group members. Preferably, the system should be flexible and should allow for change in definition of the portions of the database accessible by a specified access group.

Selective access and editing in a database

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)


A substantially rectangular mobile platform with a plurality of vertically adjustable supports is provided for transferring passengers between a single corridor passageway of an airport and an aircraft having a plurality of doors on a side of an aircraft. A first room is mounted on the mobile frame and has a first portal for docking with a doorway of the single corridor passageway. A second room and a third room are slidably receivable within and extendable from the first room. The second room has a first vestibule that extends substantially normally from the second room to dock with a first aircraft door via a second portal, and the third room has a second vestibule that extends substantially normally from the third room to dock with a second aircraft.

This invention relates generally to passenger aircraft loading systems.
An ability to rapidly load and unload passengers from commercial aircraft is a growing concern to commercial airlines and airport management. An increase in commercial airline use by the traveling public places more stress on the finite capabilities of airports to handle increasing passenger traffic. To handle this increasing passenger traffic, an increasing number of arriving and departing aircraft are scheduled to operate at airports having a limited number of available jetways. To better move the increasing passenger traffic with more aircraft requires a significant improvement in unloading and loading passengers at the aircraft jetways, thereby reducing the disembarking and embarking times of the aircraft.
The time to unload passengers from an arriving aircraft and then load the same aircraft for its subsequent departing flight is referred to as airplane xe2x80x9cturn time.xe2x80x9d Airlines and airport management are concerned with achieving shorter turn times so that airplanes can depart quickly. Shorter turn times allow more aircraft to be processed by the finite number of jetways at a given airport.
Reduced turn times are particularly desirable with flights having only a short time available at a particular airport. If the turn time cannot be reduced to match the allotted jetway time, then the airline may fly less cycles for a particular airplane in any given day. This change can lead to non-optimum utilization of airplanes. Alternately, additional airplanes may be needed to satisfy airline objectives of optimizing passenger arrival and departure times. Changes in number of cycles per day or the number of airplanes required significantly impacts the amount of revenue that can be generated.
Airlines have explored various ways to reduce turn times. One attempt to reduce airplane turn time is through sectional loading or selective loading by zones. In selective loading by zones, passengers are boarded in seat groupings wherein the passengers sitting in forward or aft sections first. Thereafter, sections of the plane that are aft of the forward sections and forward of the aft sections are loaded, filling seats closer to the entry door.
Although sectional loading helps, to a small degree, in reducing the time to load an airplane with passengers, sectional loading cannot be optimized beyond levels achievable through a single airplane door. All passengers load onto an airplane single file through a single door. Furthermore, zone loading applies only to passengers embarking on a plane. Zone loading has no application in decreasing the time for disembarking passengers. All passengers leave the airplane single file through a single airplane door. Thus, as most airport jetways are designed to direct passengers through a single door, turn times become constrained by the physical limitations of how fast passengers can transit through a single door opening.
Airplane turn times can be reduced if more than one door of the aircraft is used in unloading and loading passengers. Studies involving a Boeing 757-200 aircraft having 236 seats demonstrate that turn times are significantly reduced when both airplane doors were used for loading and unloading. The results show that using doors 1 and 2 to load and unload passengers reduces the turn time by approximately 5 minutes over using door 1 alone. In addition, using doors 1 and 2 with an additional zone loading procedure results in a further reduction in turn time of 17 minutes over the single door 1 loading and unloading. This decrease in turn time substantially cuts the turn time in half over the conventional door 1 procedure.
Since most airports utilize single channel jetways that lead to a single airplane door, there is an unmet need to provide a means for single channel jetways to simultaneously attach to more than one airplane door, thereby reducing airplane turn times.
The present invention allows an existing single corridor jetway to be converted to a multi-corridor jetway. Each corridor leads to a separate aircraft door. This permits passengers to select different entry routes to the plane, thereby reducing the time-consuming loading and unloading procedures of single-file passing through a single airplane door. By simultaneously loading and unloading passengers through two or more doors rather than one, a desired reduction in airplane turn times is achieved.
The present invention is a mobile platform for transferring passengers between a single corridor passageway of an airport and an aircraft having a plurality of doors on a side of the aircraft. The mobile frame is substantially rectangular and has a plurality of vertical adjustable supports. A first room is mounted on the mobile frame. The first room has a first portal for docking with a doorway of the single corridor passageway of the airport. A second room is slidably receivable within and extendable from the first room. The second room has a first vestibule that extends substantially normally from the second room. The first vestibule defines a portal for docking with a first aircraft door. A third room is attached to the first room. The third room has a second vestibule that extends substantially normally from the third room. The second vestibule defines a third portal for docking with a second aircraft door. A positioning assembly is used to slidably extend the second and third rooms from the first room and to slidably retract the second and third rooms into the first room such that the second and third portals align with the first and second aircraft doors.


A heat-transfer label that is well-suited for use on styrene-acrylonitrile surfaces. In one embodiment, the label includes a support portion, the support portion comprising a polyethylene-coated paper carrier web. The label also includes a waxlike skim coat overcoated on the support portion. The label further comprises a transfer portion printed on top of the skim coat, the transfer portion including a protective lacquer layer, an ink layer and an adhesive layer. The protective lacquer layer is printed onto the skim coat and comprises nitrocellulose, a release agent, a low molecular weight methyl/n-butyl methacrylate copolymer and a medium molecular weight methyl methacrylate copolymer. The ink layer, which comprises one or more polyamide inks and/or acrylic inks, is printed onto the protective lacquer layer. The adhesive layer is printed over the ink layer, as well as over any exposed portions of the lacquer layer and a surrounding portion of the skim coat and comprises a high molecular weight isobutyl methacrylate, a chlorinated polypropylene resin and glyceryl tribenzoate.

The present invention relates generally to heat-transfer labels and more specifically to a heat-transfer label possessing particular resistance to pinholing.
Heat-transfer labels are commonly used in the decorating and/or labelling of commercial articles, such as, and without limitation to, containers for beverages, essential oils, detergents, adverse chemicals, and health and beauty aids, as well as flat surfaces. As can readily be appreciated, heat-transfer labels are desirably resistant to abrasion and chemical effects in order to avoid a loss of label information and desirably possess good adhesion to the articles to which they are affixed.
One well-known type of heat-transfer label is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,015, inventor Kingston, which issued October, 1971, and which is incorporated herein by reference. In the aforementioned patent, there is disclosed a heat-transfer label comprising a paper sheet or web, a wax release layer affixed to the paper sheet, and an ink design layer printed on the wax release layer. In the heat-transfer labelling process, the label-carrying web is subjected to heat, and the label is pressed onto an article with the ink design layer making direct contact with the article. As the paper sheet is subjected to heat, the wax layer begins to melt so that the paper sheet can be released from the ink design layer, a portion of the wax layer being transferred with the ink design layer and a portion of the wax layer remaining with the paper sheet. After transfer of the design to the article, the paper sheet is immediately removed, leaving the design firmly affixed to the article and the wax transferred therewith exposed to the environment. The wax layer is thus intended to serve two purposes: (1) to provide release of the ink design from the web upon application of heat to the web and (2) to form a protective layer over the transferred ink design. After transfer of the label to the article, the transferred wax release layer is typically subjected to a post-flaming technique which enhances the optical clarity of the wax protective layer (thereby enabling the ink design layer therebeneath to be better observed) and which enhances the protective properties of the transferred wax release.
In some heat-transfer labels, an adhesive layer (e.g., solvent-soluble polyamide, acrylic or polyester) is deposited over the ink design to facilitate adhesion of the label onto a receiving article. An example of a heat-transfer label having an adhesive layer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,857, inventor Galante, which issued Oct. 22, 1985, and which is incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, in some heat-transfer labels, a protective lacquer layer is interposed between the wax release layer and the ink layer. An example of such a label is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,422, inventor Daniels, which issued Jan. 17, 1984, and which is incorporated herein by reference.
One phenomenon that has been noted with heat-transfer labels of the type described above containing a wax release layer is that, quite often, a degree of hazing or a "halo" is noticeable over the transferred label when the transfer is made onto clear materials. This "halo" effect, which persists despite post-flaming and which may detract from the appearance of the label, is a result of the nature of the wax coating around the outer borders of the transferred ink design layer. Hazing due to the wax release layer may also appear in "open-copy" areas of the label, i.e., areas of the label where no ink is present between the adhesive and protective lacquer layers, and also may detract from the appearance of the label.
In addition to and related to the aforementioned problem of hazing, when heat-transfer labels of the type described above are applied to dark-colored containers, the outer wax layer of the label often appears as a whitish coating on the container, which effect is undesirable in many instances. Furthermore, scratches and similar abrasions to the outer wax layer of the label can occur easily and are readily detectable.
Accordingly, to address the aforementioned issues, considerable effort has been expended in replacing or obviating the need for a wax release layer. One such wax-less, heat-transfer label is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,922,435, inventor Asnes, which issued Nov. 25, 1975. In the aforementioned patent, the layer of wax is replaced with a layer of a non-wax resin. This non-wax resinous layer is referred to in the patent as a dry release since it does not transfer to the article along with the ink design layer. In a preferred embodiment of the patent, the non-wax resinous layer comprises a thermoset polymeric resin, such as cross-linked resins selected from the group consisting of acrylic resins, polyamide resins, polyester resins, vinyl resins and epoxy resins.
Another example of a wax-less, heat-transfer label is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,300, inventors Parker et al., which issued Jun. 19, 1990, and which is incorporated herein by reference. In the aforementioned patent, the label, which is said to be particularly well-suited for use on high density polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinylchloride and polyethylene terephthalate surfaces or containers, comprises a paper carrier web which is overcoated with a layer of polyethylene. A protective lacquer layer comprising a polyester resin and a relatively small amount of a nondrying oil is printed onto the polyethylene layer. An ink design layer comprising a resinous binder base selected from the group consisting of polyvinylchloride, acrylics, polyamides and nitrocellulose is then printed onto the protective lacquer layer. A heat-activatable adhesive layer comprising a thermoplastic polyamide adhesive is then printed onto the ink design layer.
Although the above-described wax-less, heat-transfer label substantially reduces the wax-related effects discussed previously, said label does not quite possess the same release characteristics of heat-transfer labels containing a wax release layer. Accordingly, another type of heat-transfer label differs from the heat-transfer label disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,300, only in that a very thin layer or "skim coat" of a waxlike material is interposed between the polyethylene release layer and the protective lacquer layer to improve the release of the protective lacquer from the polyethylene-coated carrier web. The thickness of the skim coat corresponds to approximately 0.1-0.4 lbs. of the waxlike material spread onto about 3000 square feet of the polyethylene release layer
An example of the aforementioned type of heat-transfer label, which has been manufactured and used by the assignee of the present application to label polypropylene bottle caps, comprises a paper carrier web overcoated with a layer of polyethylene. A skim coat is overcoated on the polyethylene layer. A protective lacquer layer comprising vinyl and polyester resins is printed on the skim coat. An ink design layer comprising vinyl and polyester resins is printed on the protective lacquer layer. A heat-activatable adhesive layer comprising an acrylic resin, a chlorinated polyolefin and a plasticizer is printed over the ink design layer. The acrylic resin of the adhesive layer is a butyl methacrylate resin, such as ELVACITE.RTM. 2045, which is commercially available from ICI Acrylics Inc. (Wilmington, Del.). The chlorinated polyolefin of the adhesive layer is a chlorinated polypropylene commercially available from Eastman Chemical Products, Inc. (Kingsport, Tenn.) as chlorinated polyolefin CP-343-1. The plasticizer is a glyceryl tribenzoate, such as BENZOFLEX.RTM. S-404, which is commercially available from Velsicol Chemical Corporation (Chicago, Ill.).
Another type of heat-transfer label made and used by the assignee of the present application, which label has been used to decorate a polypropylene container, comprises a paper carrier web overcoated with a layer of polyethylene. A protective lacquer layer comprising a methyl methacrylate resin (ELVACITE.RTM. 2041--commercially available from ICI Acrylics Inc.), an ethyl methacrylate resin (ELVACITE.RTM. 2042 - commercially available from ICI Acrylics Inc.), cellulose acetate butyrate and a plasticizer is printed on the polyethylene layer. An ink design layer comprising a polyamide ink is printed on the protective lacquer layer. A heat-activatable adhesive layer comprising an acrylic resin is printed on the ink design layer.
In commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/625,013, there is disclosed a heat-transfer label which was used in the United States prior to one year before the filing of the present application to label styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN) containers. Said heat-transfer label comprises a paper carrier web overcoated with a layer of polyethylene. A waxlike skim coat is overcoated on the polyethylene layer. A protective lacquer layer comprising ELVACITE.RTM. 2013 methyl/n-butyl methacrylate copolymer (ICI Acrylics Inc., Wilmington, Del.) and ELVACITE.RTM. 2014 methyl methacrylate copolymer (ICI Acrylics Inc., Wilmington, Del.) in a 3:2 ratio, respectively, by weight, is printed onto the skim coat. An ink layer comprising a polyamide ink and/or an acrylic ink is printed onto the protective lacquer layer. An adhesive layer comprising about 65%, by weight, of ELVACITE.RTM. 2045 butyl methacrylate resin, about 30%, by weight, of CP-343-1 chlorinated polyolefin (Eastman Chemical Products, Inc., Kingsport, Tenn.), and about 5%, by weight, of BENZOFLEX.RTM. S-404 glyceryl tribenzoate is printed onto the ink layer, as well as being printed onto any exposed portions of the protective lacquer layer and onto a surrounding area of the skim coat.
One shortcoming that the present inventors have noted in connection with the use of the aforementioned heat-transfer label to decorate SAN containers is the common occurrence of "pinholing"--the formation of one or more "pinhole"-sized ruptures in the label. As can readily be appreciated, the occurrence of "pinholing" in a heat-transfer label is highly undesirable because it detracts from the physical integrity and appearance of the label and may lead to further degradation thereto. The present inventors have also detected "pinholing" in other types of heat-transfer labels.


The subject invention is a lid assembly (20) for use on a container (22) presenting an endless top rim (24). A frame (26) includes shell-shaped sidewalls (36) that face one another, and present upper concave central edges (48). The upper concave central edges (48) are connected by lower edges (50) to define opposed L-shaped openings (54) between the central edges (48). A pair of abutting L-shaped flaps (28) each define a top leg (64) and a side leg (68). The flaps (28) are complementary to the L-shaped openings (54) by extending away from each other along the upper central edges (48) of the sidewalls (36) and then downward to the lower edge (50). The top legs (64) may be pushed down into the opening (54) to provide access to the container (22) while the side legs (68) bias the flaps (28) to a closed position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a lid assembly for a container of the type receiving trash.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Lid assemblies for containers of the type for receiving trash typically include a frame that engages the container and which supports one or two flaps that are disposed in an opening and rotate to permit access through an opening to the container. Such frames include a bottom periphery that defines a radial leg to engage the container and a depending leg to surround the rim of the container to keep the frame in position over the container and walls that extend upwardly from the radial leg to support the flaps and define the opening.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,083,859 discloses a lid assembly with a frame that defines an opening and supports a pair of flat closure flaps. The frame includes walls that extend from the bottom periphery up to the flaps on each side in order to enclose the sides of the lid assembly and support the flaps. The flaps include hinge pins that are disposed in hinge holes which are defined by the frame. The frame also includes flap jambs that extend into the opening and prevent the flaps from moving past the closed position as well as past a maximum open position. The flap jambs extend into the opening between the hinge pins where the flaps rotate down into the opening. The flap jambs limit the area available for access into the container when the flaps are in the open position. The center of mass of the flaps is affected by counterweights suspended underneath the flaps. As the flaps rotate from the closed position to the open position, the suspended counterweights rotate out from inside the lid assembly.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,032,037 which discloses a lid assembly including a frame with an opening and a single flap that has one leg for closing the opening in the frame that provides access to the container and a second leg descending down into the opening to counterweight the flap to a closed position. The frame includes frame walls as well as one section that extends out over and encloses the leg that descends into the opening.


A server includes a storage module, a first expander board, a second expander board, a first mother board, and a second mother board. The storage module includes a plurality of storage units. The second mother board includes at least one second central processing unit. The plurality of storage units are coupled with the first expander board and the second expander board. The first expander board and the second expander board are coupled with the first mother board and the second mother board. When at least one of the first and the second mother board operates normally and at least one of the first and the second expander board operates normally, the at least normally-operating one of the first and the second mother board accesses the storage module through the at least normally-operating one of the first and the second expander board.

Technical Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates to a server. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a server with a plurality of expander boards which are pluggable.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, developments of the Internet have accelerated the speeds of information transmissions. Nowadays, Cloud Technology has become a mainstream method for information transmissions; it has changed the ways of information transmissions and makes information become richer.
Generally speaking, the "cloud" of the Cloud Technology means a cluster of servers on the Internet. When a command generated by a client computer is transmitted to the cloud, the cluster of servers having a huge number of computers will process the command remotely, to provide information backward to the client computer. Additionally, all commands are processed by the huge number of computers with the cluster of servers.
However, with the developments of the smart phones, tablet computers and smart TVs, the needs of information demands, processes and transmissions are increased. Accordingly, the needs of the servers with multifunction (such as data saving or data processing) are also increased.
Currently, the servers may comprise a plurality of mother boards. Each mother board is assembled with a central processing unit or other expander elements such as Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) cards, memories or hard disks. Moreover, each mother board may be fixed to an expander board which is assembled with the expander elements, respectively. However, in prior art, each mother board is connected to the expander board respectively and independently. When any mother board or expander board shall be replaced, a user has to disassemble each mother board or expander board at the same time for repair. Additionally, it is inconvenient to assemble and disassemble the mother boards from the servers in prior art.
Furthermore, when the user wants to replace the mother boards or the expander boards, he/she has to shut down the servers. If the servers are shut down too many times, the stabilities and the reliabilities of the servers will be decreased and it wastes too much time.

INVENTEC (PUDONG) TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION