An apparatus for multiplexing and demultiplexing comprises: a substrate having a first surface and a second surface, where the second surface is opposite to the first surface; a first fiber array unit disposed on the first surface of the substrate and a second fiber array unit disposed on the second surface of the substrate, where a plurality of fibers in a fiber array unit are arranged in an array on a chip; a first microlens array disposed on the first surface of the substrate and a second microlens array disposed on the second surface of the substrate; a plurality of thin film filters disposed on the first and second surface of the substrate, where each thin film filter transmits light having a different wavelength band; a fiber collimator disposed on the first surface of the substrate; a turning prism disposed at an edge of the substrate for turning light from the first surface to the second surface of the substrate or also turning light from the second surface to the first surface of the substrate.

Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology may multiplex more than one carrier signals in a single optical fiber. Each carrier signal has different wavelength. Carrier signals may be combined by a multiplexer (Mux). The combined carrier signals may travel in a fiber. The combined carrier signals form a multiplexed signal. After leaving the fiber, the combined carrier signals may be separated into the original carrier signals by a demultiplexer (Demux).
Mux and Demux may be constructed using various approaches, for example, Bragg grating approach, fused fiber coupler approach, and the like. An approach is based on a set of thin film filters (TFFs). A first TFF may transmit a first wavelength, e.g., λ1, and reflect all other wavelengths, e.g., λ2, λ3, and λ4. Thus, a first carrier signal having wavelength λ1 may be selected. A second TFF may transmit a second wavelength, e.g., λ2, and reflect the remaining wavelengths, e.g., λ3, and λ4. Thus, a second carrier signal having wavelength λ2 may be selected. A third TFF may transmit a third wavelength, e.g., λ3, and reflect the remaining wavelength, e.g., λ4. Thus, a third carrier signal having wavelength λ3 may be selected. Finally, the last carrier signal having wavelength λ4 remains and thus it may be selected as well.
A free-space WDM Demux using TFFs is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,683 to Scobey. Scobey teaches that the multiplexed carrier signals containing wavelength λ1-λ8 exit from a common fiber coupled with a fiber collimator. The multiplexed carrier signals are collimated by the fiber collimator and propagate in free space until impinge on a first TFF. The first TFF transmits the first carrier signal having wavelength λ1 and reflects the remaining carrier signals having wavelengths λ2-λ8. The transmitted collimated carrier signal having wavelength λ1 is coupled to a fiber channel 1 by a fiber collimator.
The reflected remaining carrier signals impinge on a second TFF. The second TFF transmits the second carrier signal having wavelength λ2 and reflects the remaining carrier signals having wavelengths λ3-λ8. The transmitted collimated carrier signal having wavelength λ2 is coupled to a fiber channel 2 by a fiber collimator. The process is repeated until the last TFF transmits the carrier signal having wavelength λ8. The device can also function as a Mux when the light path is reversed.
A compact free-space WDM Mux/Demux using TFFs is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,538,210 to Wang et al. Wang et al. teaches that the fibers and their corresponding fiber collimators are disposed on two opposite sides' of a substrate. Both Scobey and Wang et al. use fiber collimators. A fiber collimator typically has a diameter larger than 1 mm. Thus the sizes of Muxs/Demuxs of Scobey and Wang et al. may not be reduced, since the sizes are limited by the size of fiber collimators used. Accordingly, new approaches to further reduce the size of free-space WDM Mux/Demux are required.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings. Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention.

Ultra compact free-space multiplexer/demultiplexer


Molded polymer elevator buckets are reinforced by tapering the thickness of front and sidewalls and integral arcuate corner parts to improve bucket life without significant weight increase or reduced bucket capacity. Front lip wear indicators may be molded into the front wall section delimited by the lip and/or on the arcuate corner parts.

In the art of elevator-type material conveyor systems, containers or so-called "buckets" are supported spaced-apart on an endless belt or chain-like conveyor for moving particulate material substantially vertically at least between a first elevation and a second and higher elevation. A common application for elevator-type conveyor systems and the buckets associated therewith is for grain elevators as well as other applications wherein, granular or particulate solid materials or material mixtures are conveyed by immersing the buckets in the material as the buckets move along the path of the endless belt or chain support structure. Heretofore, suitable materials for use in elevator buckets comprise polymers such as polyethylene, polyurethane and nylon. Material selection is based on cost, environmental factors and the particular type of material being conveyed.
A longstanding problem with elevator buckets relates to excessive wear on the buckets incurred as they enter the flow of material being conveyed to scoop up or fill the buckets while they pass along their path of movement. Premature failure and loss of bucket capacity can, of course, adversely effect material transport operations. Increasing material thickness uniformly throughout the bucket structure is disadvantageous from the standpoint of cost and the added tare weight of the buckets, for example. Accordingly, there has been a need to develop an elevator bucket which has an improved working life, is not subject to premature wear to the extent that the bucket will fail and will not likely undergo measurable, reduced capacity. It is to these ends that the present invention has been developed.


An image including a bright point which is specified in another image on a screen is captured. An image processing apparatus applies threshold processing to the pixel values of the captured image to determine the position of the bright point. The image processing apparatus calculates the logical product of a pixel value in the current frame line and that in the line one frame line before (or after) for binarization in the unit period of the blinking pattern of the bright point having a margin of one frame to detect the blinking pattern of the bright point.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing apparatuses, image processing methods, providing media, and presentation systems, and more particularly, an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, a providing medium, and a presentation system which allow a specified position on a display screen and the state of the specified position to be simultaneously recognized.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic presentations have been widely performed with projectors and personal computers (PCs) having presentation software. In such an electronic presentation, a part of an image projected on a screen may be specified by the use of a pointer or a laser pointer in many cases.
A speaker operates a mouse or a remote commander using electronic waves or infrared light for a PC to execute presentation software installed in the PC. Alternatively, the speaker asks another person to operate the PC. In the presentation software, a predetermined position on the screen is related to an operation of the PC in advance, and appropriate processing is performed.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei-6-308879 discloses that when a speaker specifies a position on a display screen by a pointer, the pointer receives light emitted by a photoelectric conversion device installed on the display screen or in the vicinity of the screen, the axial direction of the pointer is calculated from the light, and a pointer mark is displayed in the axial direction on the screen.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei-8-95707 discloses that when a speaker specifies a position on a display screen by a pointer, the shade of the pointer is captured by an infrared camera, and the tip position of the pointer is detected to obtain the specified position.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei-9-120340 discloses that when a speaker specifies a position on a display screen by a laser beam, the spot diameter of the laser beam on the display screen is changed, and the specified position is detected from differences in timing when devices disposed at three corners of the screen detect the change of the spot diameter.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei-10-39994 discloses that when a speaker specifies a position on a display screen, the position of the speaker, the inclination of the speaker, the position where the speaker views are detected to obtain the specified position.
In these conventional technologies, however, only the position specified by a pointing device is detected, but image information at the position cannot be obtained.
In addition, a complicated apparatus is required to detect the position and the angle of a screen and the position specified by a pointing device.

Image processing apparatus, image processing method, providing medium and presentation system


Methods, systems and apparatuses for operation in long-term evolution (LTE) systems are provided, including a method implemented in a base station. The method may include receiving, from a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU) via a first interface, a first message including radio capability information associated with the WTRU, transmitting, to a mobility management entity (MME) via a second interface, a second message including the radio capability information; receiving, from the MME via the second interface, a paging message requesting the WTRU be paged in idle mode, wherein the paging message includes the radio capability information associated with the WTRU; selecting, based on the radio capability information, a set of subframes to use for paging the WTRU in idle mode; and paging the WTRU in idle mode using the selected set of subframes.

Field
This application is related to wireless communications.
Related Art
3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) long-term evolution (LTE) Release 8 and/or 9 (LTE Rel-8/9) may support up to 100 Mbps in a downlink (DL), and 50 Mbps in an uplink (UL) for a 2×2 configuration. The LTE DL transmission scheme is based on an Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) air interface.
LTE Rel-8/9 and/or release 10 (collectively "LTE Rel-8/9/10") systems support scalable transmission bandwidths (e.g., for purposes of flexible deployment, etc.). Such scalable transmission bandwidths may include, for example, bandwidths of 1.4, 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 megahertz (MHz).
In LTE Rel-8/9 and as applicable to LTE Rel-10, each radio frame has a duration of 10 milliseconds (ms), and consists of 10 sub-frames; each of which is 1 ms. Each sub-frame consists of 2 timeslots of 0.5 ms each. There can be either seven (7) or six (6) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols per timeslot. The seven (7) symbols per timeslot are used with a normal cyclic prefix length, and the six (6) symbols per timeslot are used with an extended cyclic prefix length. Sub-carrier spacing for the LTE Rel-8/9 system is 15 kHz. A reduced sub-carrier spacing mode using 7.5 kHz is also possible.
A resource element (RE) corresponds to one (1) sub-carrier during one (1) OFDM symbol interval. Twelve (12) consecutive sub-carriers during a 0.5 ms timeslot constitute one (1) resource block (RB). Therefore, with seven (7) symbols per timeslot, each RB consists of 1*7=84 REs. In single-carrier configuration, a DL carrier can range from six (6) RBs up to one-hundred ten (110) RBs corresponding to an overall scalable transmission bandwidth of roughly 1 MHz to 20 MHz.
A basic time-domain unit for dynamic scheduling is one sub-frame, which consists of two consecutive timeslots. This is sometimes referred to as a resource-block pair. Certain sub-carriers on some OFDM symbols are allocated to carry pilot signals in the time-frequency grid. A number of sub-carriers at edges of the transmission bandwidth are generally not transmitted so as to comply with spectral mask requirements.
In LTE Rel-8/9, and in Rel-10 in single carrier configuration where the network may assign a user equipment (UE) to only one pair of UL and DL carriers in a frequency division duplexing (FDD) mode or one carrier time shared for UL and DL in a time division duplexing (TDD) mode, for any given subframe there may be a single Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) process active for the UL and a single HARQ process active in the DL.
LTE-Advanced with Carrier Aggregation (LTE CA Rel-10) is an evolution that aims to improve single carrier LTE data rates using, among other solutions, bandwidth extensions also referred to as carrier aggregation (CA). With CA, a UE may transmit and receive simultaneously over a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) and a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) (respectively) of multiple serving cells. For example, up to four secondary serving cells (SCells) may be used in addition to a primary serving cell (PCell), thus supporting flexible bandwidth assignments up to 100 MHz. Uplink control information (UCI), which may include HARQ acknowledgment and/or non-acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) feedback and/or channel state information (CSI), may be transmitted either on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resources of the PCell or on PUSCH resources available for a serving cell configured for UL transmissions.
Control information for scheduling of PDSCH and PUSCH may be sent on one or more physical downlink control channel(s) (PDCCH). In addition to LTE Rel-8/9 scheduling using one PDCCH for a pair of UL and DL carriers, cross-carrier scheduling may also be supported by a given PDCCH; allowing the network to provide PDSCH assignments and/or PUSCH grants for transmissions in one or more other serving cells.
For a FDD LTE Rel-10 UE operating with CA, there may be one HARQ entity for each serving cell. Each HARQ entity may have up to 8 HARQ processes, e.g., one per subframe for one round-trip time (RTT). Further, for the FDD LTE Rel-10 UE operating with CA, there may be more than one HARQ process active for the UL and for the DL in any given subframe, but there may be at most one UL and one DL HARQ process per configured serving cell.

Methods, systems and apparatuses for operation in long-term evolution systems


A method of removing polysilicon in preference to silicon dioxide and/or silicon nitride by chemical mechanical polishing. The method removes polysilicon from a surface at a high removal rate while maintaining a high selectivity of polysilicon to silicon dioxide and/or a polysilicon to silicon nitride. The method is particularly suitable for use in the fabrication of MEMS devices.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to compositions and methods for selectively removing polysilicon in preference to silicon dioxide and/or silicon nitride by chemical-mechanical polishing.
2. Description of Related Art
Chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP) is an enabling technology for the manufacturing of multi-level interconnects in integrated circuit (IC) fabrication. It is also becoming an enabling technology in the development of and manufacturing of micro-electro-mechanical devices (MEMS) and micro-opto-electro-mechanical devices (MOEMS). Like IC devices, multilevel structures have been widely used in MEMS devices (e.g., micro engines, pressure sensors, micro mirrors, micro lenses etc.). These devices contain moving parts within the multi-level structures, and planarity at each level becomes important. As layers of polysilicon and silicon dioxide are deposited and etched during successive steps in the device fabrication process, considerable uneven topography arises which imposes limitations in subsequent processes like patterning, deposition and etching. Specifically, to minimize the processing difficulties related to photoresist step coverage and depth of focus during photolithography, it is desirable to planarize each deposited layer using CMP.
An important feature of a MEMS multilevel structure that differentiates it from a typical IC, from a CMP perspective, is the large step height that needs to be worked with during MEMS fabrication. Structures on a single level in MEMS (polysilicon/silicon dioxide) typically have a step height of ≧5 microns, which is relatively large when compared to the ≦1 micron step height typical in IC fabrication. Thus, due to the large step height associated with the fabrication of MEMS devices, development of a robust CMP process faces several challenges. In addition, in several polishing steps during the device fabrication sequence, selective polishing of the top layer over the underlying layer is required. One such step involves polishing a few microns thick polysilicon film deposited in a silicon dioxide trench with or without silicon nitride. Hence, a slurry that selectively removes polysilicon over underlying silicon dioxide or silicon nitride is critical to prevent erosion of silicon dioxide and/or silicon nitride, which could be detrimental to subsequent fabrication steps.
The composition of the polishing slurry is one of the important factors in a CMP process. A typical CMP slurry includes abrasive particles and chemicals that serve as mechanical and chemical agents, respectively. Two of the important requirements for an acceptable slurry for the CMP of polysilicon in MEMS fabrication are: (1) a high (e.g., ≧200 nm/min) polish and/or planarization rate for the polysilicon film; and (2) a high polish rate selectivity (e.g., ≧50) of polysilicon to the underlying stop layer (e.g., silicon dioxide and/or silicon nitride). High polysilicon polish rates lead to short polishing times, whereas high polish rate selectivity minimize the erosion of the underlying material, thereby protecting the underlying devices. Hence, a CMP slurry and method that provide very high polysilicon polish rates and high polish rate selectivity for polysilicon with respect to underlying materials during MEMS device fabrication is highly desirable.


Musacarinic receptor antagonists, particularly useful in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome, of formula (I), or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, where m is 1 or 2; R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are each independently H or C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl or together represent --(CH.sub.2).sub.p -- where p is an integer of from 2 to 5; R.sup.3 is H or C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl; wherein Z is a direct link; --CH.sub.2 --, --CH.sub.2 O-- or --CH.sub.2 S--; and R.sup.4 is a group of formulae (II), (III), (IV) or Het, where R.sup.5 and R.sup.6 are each independently H, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl, C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkoxy, --(CH.sub.2).sub.n OH, halo, trifluoromethyl, cyano, --(CH.sub.2).sub.n NR.sup.7 R.sup.8, --CO(C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl), --OCO(C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl), --CH(OH)(C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl), --C(OH)(C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl).sub.2, --SO.sub.2 NH.sub.2 , (CH.sub.2).sub.n CONR.sup.7 R.sup.8 or --(CH.sub.2).sub.n COO(C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl); R.sup.7 and R.sup.8 are each independently H or C.sub.1 -C.sub.4 alkyl; n is 0, 1 or 2; X and X.sup.1 are each independently O or CH.sub.2 ; q is 1, 2 or 3; and "Het" is pyridyl, pyrazinyl or thienyl.

This invention relates to certain 3-phenylglutarimide derivatives. The compounds of the invention are muscarinic receptor antagonists which are selective for smooth muscle muscarinic sites over cardiac muscarinic sites and which do not have any significant antihistaminic activity. Thus the compounds are useful in the treatment of diseases associated with altered motility and/or tone of smooth muscle which can, for example, be found in the gut, trachea and bladder. Such diseases include irritable bowel syndrome, diverticular disease, urinary incontinence, oescophageal achalasia and chronic obstructive airways disease.


An apparatus for generating heat and a control method thereof are provided which are capable of reducing the cost and simplifying coupling by using a cheap diode for lowering an applied voltage of a lamp instead of using an expensive capacitor used for the apparatus for generating heat for low temperature compensation. The apparatus includes a door opening/closing sensor for sensing whether a refrigerator door is opened or closed; a temperature sensor for sensing a temperature of outside air; a control unit for outputting a control signal for driving a lamp upon receiving a signal of the door opening/closing sensor and outputting a control signal for low temperature compensation upon receiving a signal of the temperature sensor; a switch controlled to be turned on by the control signal for driving the lamp; a relay controlled to be turned on by the control signal for low temperature compensation; a lamp connected in series with the switch and the relay and performing lighting and heat generation operations; and a diode connected in series with the relay and half-wave rectifying the power applied to the lamp.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly, to an apparatus for generating heat of a refrigerator and a control method thereof capable of reducing the cost and simplifying a structure by using a lamp and a diode for lowering an applied voltage.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, a refrigerator is divided into a freezing chamber for storing frozen food and a chilling chamber for storing chilled food, and a freezing cycle is provided therein to supply cool air to the freezing chamber and the chilling chamber.
Such a refrigerator is classified into a direct cooling type refrigerator employing a way of natural convection in which a cooling operation is performed by making air inside the refrigerator directly contact with an evaporator and an indirect cooling type refrigerator in which the cooling operation is performed by forming a duct, which cool air circulates through, inside the refrigerator and forcibly sending the cool air to the inside of the refrigerator by a blast fan.
The direct cooling type refrigerator is typically used for a small refrigerator having a small volume and the indirect cooling type refrigerator is typically used for a large refrigerator having a large volume.
FIG. 1 is a view showing a freezing cycle of the conventional direct cooling type refrigerator. As shown therein, a main body 15 of a refrigerator 11 is divided into an upper freezing chamber 4 and a lower chilling chamber 7, in which a freezing chamber evaporator 5 and a chilling chamber evaporator 6 are installed, respectively. In addition, a condenser 2 and a radiator 3 are installed at a rear surface of the exterior of the refrigerator 11, and a chamber having a compressor 1 or the like is disposed at a rear surface of a lower portion of the refrigerator.
Both the freezing chamber evaporator 5 installed in the freezing chamber 4 and the chilling chamber evaporator 6 installed in the chilling chamber 7 are direct cooling plate-shaped evaporators. The freezing chamber evaporator 5 has an area covering the surfaces, i. e. upper and lower surfaces and both side surfaces, other than a rear surface of the freezing chamber 4 and a door. Namely, the freezing chamber evaporator 5 is bent in a lattice type to cover the upper and lower surfaces and the both side surfaces of the freezing chamber. The chilling chamber evaporator 6 has a small area compared to the freezing chamber evaporator 5 and is attached to a rear surface of the chilling chamber 7.
Heat from a high temperature high pressure refrigerant discharged from the compressor 1 radiates passing through the condenser 2 and pressure of the refrigerant is reduced passing through a capillary tube 3, whereby the high temperature high pressure refrigerant becomes a low temperature low pressure refrigerant.
The low temperature low pressure refrigerant firstly absorbs heat passing through the evaporator of the freezing chamber 4, absorbs heat again passing through the chilling chamber evaporator 6, and is sucked into the compressor 1.
In the direct cooling type refrigerator, a surface temperature of an inner wall at which the evaporator 6 for chilling of the chilling chamber 7 is mounted is sensed, and according to the sensed temperature, an operation of the compressor 1 is controlled.
Namely, the direct cooling type refrigerator is designed to remain at a temperature of −18° C. and 3° C. for the freezing chamber 4 and the chilling chamber 7, respectively. According to the temperature sensed at the inner wall of the chilling chamber 7, driving of the compressor 1 is on/off, so that the temperature of the freezing chamber 4 and the chilling chamber 7 remains at a set temperature.
However,when outside air is below 10° C., an external load of the chilling chamber 7 is significantly reduced in comparison to that of the freezing chamber 4. Therefore, there is a problem that the compressor 1 is turned off before a temperature inside the freezing chamber 4 reaches −18° C. Namely, because there are not many external loads of the chilling chamber 7, a temperature inside the chilling chamber 7 easily reaches 3° C., which causes the compressor 1 not to operate before the temperature of the chilling chamber 7 reaches a target temperature.
Accordingly, in the conventional direct cooling refrigerator, a temperature which a temperature sensor senses is raised using a lamp 10 mounted in the chilling chamber 7 in case that weak cooling occurs before the temperature of the freezing chamber 4 reaches the target temperature because a temperature around the refrigerator is relatively low.
The lamp 10 is used for lighting when a door of the chilling chamber 7 is opened. It also functions as low temperature compensation for raising a temperature which the temperature sensor senses.
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a construction of a lamp heat generating apparatus of the conventional refrigerator. As shown therein, if the lamp 10 mounted at the chilling chamber 7 consumes the rectified power, the temperature inside the chilling chamber 7 is considerably raised to have a bad effect on controlling a temperature of the refrigerator 11. Accordingly, when the door of the refrigerator is closed, a switch 40 is turned off and a relay 30 is turned on such that a voltage is applied to both a lamp 10 and a capacitor 50. Therefore, the lamp 10 consumes the power lower than the rectification input to raise the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor of the refrigerator 11.
However, since the capacitor 50 which is used to lower the lamp 10 is expensive, economical efficiency is lowered. In addition, since the capacitor is comparatively bulky, a coupling structure is large and complicated.

Apparatus for generating heat of refrigerator and control method thereof


A ratchet-based, torque-enhanced fastener tool for tightening and loosening nuts, bolts, lug nuts and other fasteners includes a main housing and a handle attached to the main housing. A trigger is movably connected so that it can be moved in a reciprocal manner. A drive mechanism in the main housing is connected to the handle such that reciprocal movement of the handle moves the drive mechanism. A ratchet gear is functionally connected to the drive mechanism so as to rotate when the drive mechanism is moved. A drive gear is connected to the ratchet gear so as to rotate when the ratchet gear is so rotated. A socket wrench driver is connected to the drive gear so as to rotate simultaneously with the drive gear. By this arrangement, a user may attach a nut socket to the socket wrench driver, hold the handle and squeeze and release the trigger repeatedly to rotate the nut socket to drive a nut or other fastener.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hand tools, and, more particularly to hand held, hand driven tools for fastening and removing fasteners such as nuts and bolts. The present invention tools convert reciprocal hand motion to rotary motion for fastening and removing the fasteners single-handedly. In some embodiments, the tools include supports and second nut attachment capabilities to provide tool stability. This is especially useful for working with wheel lug nuts, wherein the tool is secured from its own undesired rotation by being affixed both to the nut that is being worked on and a second nut that acts as an anchor.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
The following prior art is representative of the state of the art in the field of fastener tools:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,137 to John H. Bickford et al. describes a torque wrench that is presented having bidirectional operating capability, accurate readout, and preset or load selection capability. The input drives a pair of ring gears, one of which is connected to the output of the wrench and the other of which is part of a reaction arm system which interacts with the readout and preset features.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,475 to Robert L. Perkins describes a lug nut tool for removing lug nuts from vehicle wheels. The tool includes a casing or body which carries a drive shaft which drives a shaft carrying a socket through a gear transmission. The gear transmission has an uneven number of gears and serves to increase or multiply the torque supplied at the drive shaft. Another spindle shaft is also rotatably mounted in the casing and carries a socket for engaging an adjacent lug nut to secure and stabilize the tool during use. The device can be driven by a manual wrench or other drive such as a power tool or impact tool.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,310 to Robert F. Michand discloses a torque multiplication device for use in tightening or loosening a nut, lug, bolt head and the like, employing a planetary transmission of sun, planet and orbit gear means which multiplies the applied torque input to produce an output torque to facilitate and simplify such tightening or loosening. Brake means incorporated with the device prevents rotation of the orbit gear means. A modification of the invention discloses an extensible brake arm which has an anchoring socket for securement with another nut, lug, bolt head and the like to likewise prevent rotation of the orbit gear means. Another modification of the invention discloses two sets of sun, planet, and orbit gear means having one common, drive output to produce uniform and balanced drive output. Another modification of the invention discloses a ring-like brake arm having a plurality of anchoring sockets for locking securement with the lugs of a motor-vehicle wheel.
Notwithstanding the prior art, the present invention is neither taught nor rendered obvious thereby.

Ratchet-based, torqued-enhanced fastener tool


The current invention is an automatic fishing device for setting the hook upon fish strike. It can be used as an adaptive device for existing fishing assembly, or to be integrated into new fishing assembly. It embodies a weight, a weight support and a fish line coupler with a clip for connecting the weight to the fish line. The weight has a groove for engage the fish line, an opening for engage or disengage the weight onto or from the weight support. The weight can be either engaged or dis-engaged, determined by the position and the shape of the opening relative to the position and the shape of the weight support, respectively. When the movement of fish line caused by fish strike rotates the initially engaged weight to be dis-engaged, the falling weight will drag the fish line downward, effectively pulling the line and setting the hook.

Numerous existing automatic fishing and automatic hook setting devices use combination of a spring device and trigger device to either lift the fishing rod upward, or to pull the fish line, upon fish strikes. Many of these inventions are fishing rod holder devices. The spring device used in these rod holder type devices is to store energy for lifting the fishing rod. The trigger device is used to transforming the tug of the line by a fish strike to trigger the release of energy stored in the spring device. U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,413, issued on Jun. 17, 1979 to Robert T. Snider and Jessie G. Zimmerman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,142,315, issued on May 2, 1977 to Gary J. Hoffman, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,205, issued on Aug. 6, 1996 to Lester Updike is among this type of inventions. The spring device and trigger device in such cases mimic the use of energy stored in the human muscle and the reaction of a fisherman to the fish strike.
Combination of a spring device and trigger device usually means that the manufacturing processes of those devices are likely to be complicated, and the cost can be high. Many fishing rod holder devices are also heavy, not practical to carry around, or easy to setup. Not easy to use and high cost limits the practical application and market acceptance of those devices.
Besides using spring as the store of energy in automatic fishing devices, there are a few inventors use weight instead of spring to store energy. U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,355 issued on May 27, 1980 to William C. Almond, describes a simple automatic fish catcher using a weight for pulling the fish line. This fish catcher uses a horizontal support arm to hang a weight, and the fish line is attached to the weight so that the tightening of the fish line by fish strikes will drag the weight out of the horizontal support arm, causing the weight to fall and pulling the fish with it. Although it is a low cost and easy to use device for automatic fishing, this device has certain shortcomings. First, the weight support arm has to be set up horizontally. Out of horizontal position will either cause the weight to fall by itself, or make it harder for fish to move the weight outward to fall. Unless the fish is firmly hooked at the beginning of the strike, the biting fish may give up the bite since it has to apply considerable force to move such weight outward. This may reduce the effectiveness of the device. Second, the objectives of the device is also lifting a hooked fish to the water surface, this means that the weight needs be proportional to the weight of the fish, which is usually unknown before the fish is surfaced. Third, the weight of this device need considerable falling height to lift hooked fish to the water surface, it is not suitable in place of shallow water. Forth, this device combines automatic hook setting and automatic fish catcher in one very simple device; this make it difficult to achieve both goals well. Fifth, this device only works when the direction of the fish bite is away from the fishing device to cause the tightening of the fish line. If fish bites in opposite direction, setting the fish line loose, the weight will stay still, giving opportunity for the fish to escape.
In fact, many automatic fishing devices only work when fish is biting away from the fishing device. They depend on the tightening of fish line to trigger the hook setting devices. They are ineffective when fish is biting toward the fishing device, in such case the fish line is loosening instead of tightening. In general, when movement of the fish cause the fish line to loose, it is much harder for an angler to react, regardless whether an automatic fishing device is used or not. Since it is hard to detect the loosening of the line, and even harder to have a good timing to pull the line.


A pesticidal composition comprising sulphur, a fungicide selected from the group consisting of cymoxanil, fenhexamid, fenamidone, cyazofamid, chlorothalonil, kresoxim methyl, azoxystrobin, trifloxystrobin, pyraclostrobin, iprodione, validamycin, kasugamycin, cyprodinil, pencycuron, hexaconazole, prochloraz, epoxiconazole, prothioconaozole, trifloxystrobin, thiophanate methyl, spiroxamine, metrafenone or their salts thereof and at least one agrochemically acceptable excipient.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pesticidal composition comprising an effective amount of sulphur; an effective amount of at least one fungicide or its salt, and at least one agrochemically acceptable excipient. The invention further relates to a method of application of the pesticidal composition to crops.
Description of the Related Art
The role of elemental sulphur as a pesticide has been known for a long time. The role of sulphur in controlling, inhibiting and eradicating the growth of fungi such as mildews is well known. Sulphur is mostly available in its elemental form and different formulations such as granules, pellets, powders, etc. are known for providing sulphur in a form for use as a fertilizer or pesticide. Sulphur formulations used alone are good to moderately effective against powdery mildew and other fungal diseases. Sulphur not only works as a fungicide, for example on powdery mildew or grey mildew but is also used as a supplementary plant nutrient.
Further demands on fungicidal compounds include reduced phytotoxicity, reduced dosage, substantial broadening of spectrum and increased safety, to name a few.
The biological properties of known compounds are not entirely satisfactory in the areas of plant disease control, environmental and worker exposure, for example in particular, it has been observed that pathogens become, resistant to pesticides which are at times administered in higher dosages to achieve the desired control, thereby leading to soil toxicity and other environmental hazards, besides higher costs.
Hence, there is a need to develop a composition which addresses the problems of resistance and soil toxicity and also is used at reduced dosages, controls environmental damage, offers broader crop protection spectrum, improved and healthy foliage, improved rainfastness, improves crop yield, saves labour, better grain quality and control against various plant pathogens and various classes of fungi, improves plant growth and is yet cost-effective to the end user.

Pesticidal composition comprising sulphur, a fungicide and an agrochemical excipient


A method for re-identifying an image is provided. The method comprises obtaining a plurality of images and generating a correspondence map between the plurality of images. The method further comprises defining a plurality of region signatures for one or more regions comprising the plurality of images and comparing the plurality of images based on the correspondence map and the plurality of region signatures to perform image re-identification.

The invention relates generally to image re-identification and more particularly to a technique for performing person re-identification based on the overall appearance of an individual.
A number of applications require the ability to re-identify an individual across multiple disjointed fields of view. Re-identification is the ability to identify a previously observed individual. In many surveillance applications, there is a need to be able to re-identify an individual based on their appearance during that day. Re-identification techniques may also be used in security applications, forensic applications, for the identification of missing people and for robust site wide tracking in crowded environments such as mass transit and airports.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, person re-identification typically involves establishing correspondences between parts of images and generating invariant signatures for comparing the corresponding parts. Several approaches have been proposed where invariant signatures based on a global appearance of an individual are compared. For example, a color histogram of the region below the face, or clothing color descriptors, may serve as a signature for comparison. Re-identification may then be achieved by comparing adjusted color histograms.
In contrast to global appearance-based methods, a number of object recognition techniques such as interest point operators and model fitting have been developed to establish correspondences between objects. These techniques have demonstrated that comparing multiple local signatures can be effective in exploiting spatial correspondences between individuals and achieving robustness regarding local variation in appearance.
It would be desirable to develop a technique to perform person re-identification using model fitting to establish spatial correspondences between individuals. In addition, it would be desirable to develop a technique to perform person re-identification using signatures that are invariant to the dynamic nature of clothing, and changes in illumination conditions, and pose.

Method and system for performing image re-identification


Access to a container may be controlled by receiving a container identifier provided from a container identification module associated with the container; determining access criteria for the container; receiving a provider authorization signal generated based on user input received via a provider user interface; receiving biosensor signals generated by biosensors associated with a user; receiving historical access data associated with the user, wherein the historical access data indicates one or more objects historically accessed by user; determining whether the provider authorization signal, the one or more biosensor signals, and the historical access data satisfy the access criteria for the container; and upon determining the access criteria for the container are satisfied, generating a signal causing an unlocking mechanism to unlock the container.

As remote healthcare services become more common, a persistent challenge faced by remote healthcare providers is providing medications, medical devices, diagnostic tests, and other medical supplies and treatment related items to patients. Those patients' homes generally lack access to such medical supplies and treatment related items, and therefore patients must still undertake inconvenient processes for obtaining these supplies, such as awaiting delivery of the supplies, visiting a supply location (e.g., a pharmacy), or relying solely on in-home medical care. However, existing supply chains for medical supplies are designed to limit access to medical supplies in certain instances, such as to limit the likelihood of misuse of those medical supplies. To avoid potentially harmful misuse of certain medical supplies (such as prescription medications), care providers (e.g., doctors) first assess the patient to determine medical needs of the patient and then the doctor provides access to only those medical supplies that would be helpful to the patient.
Thus, remote assessment and selective access to medical supplies are two challenges of providing remote healthcare. These challenges are not limited to prescription medications however, as remote patient assessments may be facilitated if specific diagnostic supplies were available to the patient only as allowed by a medical professional.
Accordingly, a need exists for systems and methods facilitating selective remote access to various objects, such as medical supplies.

Systems and methods for conditional remote unlocking of identified containers


Disclosed is an information processing system including a first information processing apparatus having a first communication port for transmitting and receiving data; a second information processing apparatus having a second communication port for transmitting and receiving data; and a communicating portion for executing bi-directional communication between the first communication port and the second communication port, the information processing system comprising a utilizing portion for utilizing the communicating portion, for communication in a direction for which a first application program run on the first information processing apparatus sets the first communication port and the second communication port respectively as the sender and the destination of data; and a utilizing portion for utilizing the communicating portion, for communication in a direction for which a second application program run on the second information processing apparatus sets the second communication port and the first communication port respectively as the sender and the destination of data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing system, a storage system, a storage device controller and a program.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Recently, a technique called remote copying has been developed in order to prevent losing of data stored in a computer system and to enable an immediate recovery of the system even when a disaster such as a great earthquake occurs. The remote copying is a technique with which a duplicate of data is stored in a storage apparatus of a back-up computer system placed on a remote site (see, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (Kokai) Pub. No. 2001-306414).
Thereby, it is possible to carry out tasks using a computer system on the remote site even if the operation of the computer system on the main site is terminated when a disaster occurs.
To realize the remote copying described above, it is necessary to set up a data communication path between the main site and the remote site. In a conventional remote copying, when the two storage apparatuses respectively try to set up a data communication path such that each storage apparatus is the sender of data respectively, it is impossible to form the data communication path of each storage apparatus on a one same communication path physically.
Furthermore, when the computer system on the main site has been recovered, it is necessary to update the data on the main site by duplicating the data updated on the remote site after a failure has occurred on the main site. Therefore, settings need to be made such that the data is transmitted in the direction from the remote site to the main site but much time and labor are necessary to make such settings.

Information processing system, storage system, storage device controller and program that enable facilitating the recovery work of remote copying


A lead frame (10) is connected to an integrated circuit (32) by adhesives. The lead frame (10) includes a mold gate (40) to provide for constant flow of resin (72) into the mold cavity (66) during encapsulation of the integrated circuit (32). The lead frame (10) also has an air vent (50) to direct air and any excess resin (74) from the mold cavity (66) to a dummy cavity (70).

Various techniques have previously been used to package integrated circuits using transfer molding equipment and procedures. Also, various lead frame designs have been used with integrated circuits, such as the flip chip design, the small outline J-lead (SOJ) packaging, and the lead-on-chip (LOC) packaging. These techniques include attaching an integrated circuit to a lead frame and wire bonds connecting the integrated circuit to conductive leads on the lead frame. The integrated circuit and lead frame are then placed into a mold and resin or thermoplastic molding compound injected into the mold cavity. Electrical components of the integrated circuit including portions of the conductive leads are encapsulated in resin or molding compound. The encapsulated package is cured, deflashed and external conductive leads prepared (trimmed, formed, coated, etc.) as required for the specific integrated circuit design. The finished product is an integrated circuit which has been encapsulated in a plastic body with electrically conductive leads extending from the plastic body. The objective of the molding process is to obtain plastic encapsulation which totally surrounds the integrated circuit and associated components with no void spaces or defects in the encapsulation.
While prior molding techniques have worked satisfactorily in packaging many integrated circuits, the advent of more complex and smaller scale integrated circuit designs has increased the importance of obtaining plastic encapsulation without any void spaces, air pockets, or other defects in the finished integrated circuit package. Incomplete filling of the mold cavity with resin or void spaces within the encapsulation will result in a defective product.
Conventional transfer molding techniques use a mold with two sections or halves that are secured to opposite sides of the integrated circuit and its associated lead frame. The mold halves are securely clamped together (sandwiched) about the integrated circuit and lead frame. Conventional molds have an opening (mold flow gate) in either the top half of the mold or the bottom half of the mold for injection of the molding compound. A portion of the mold opposite the injection point (flow gate) usually has one or more small air vents to allow air and other gases to escape from the mold cavity as the resin is injected. The pressure drop which occurs at the mold flow gate and resin flow therethrough frequently cause erosion and wear at the injection opening in the mold. Erosion of the injection opening (bottom gate or top gate) limits the useful life of the mold.
The small openings used for air vents in conventional molds frequently become plugged. Plugging of the air vents will either reduce the life of the mold or require increased maintenance to open any plugged air vents. As integrated circuits are reduced in size (become thinner), more air or other gases must be displaced from the cavity of existing molds which increases the opportunity for plugging. Designing new molds for each new change in dimensions of an integrated circuit is very expensive and time consuming.
A need has arisen for a lead frame with slots to improve resin fluid flow during the molding process, to provide uniform encapsulation of an integrated circuit package and to improve the useful life of the mold.

Lead frame having an outlet with a larger cross sectional area than the inlet


An ultra lightweight golf club shaft which includes a butt section, a tip section, and a tapered section interconnecting the same. The tapered section can be a constant taper, or include a plurality of step portions interconnected by frustoconical transition areas. The shafts are extremely durable and allow a faster club head speed and a better feel than with the previous prior art shafts.

Typical prior art golf club shafts are designed having a butt section, and a tip section interconnected by a tapered section, wherein the butt section has a larger outer diameter than the tip section. The butt and tip sections typically have a constant outer diameters throughout their length. The outer diameter is reduced between the butt section and the tip section by utilizing a step forming operation whereby a series of relatively steep step portions are introduced into the shaft tapered section along the length thereof. The diameter of the step portions become progressively smaller toward the tip end. Adjacent step portions are separated by narrow transitional areas having a stepdown angle of 8° when measured with respect to the longitudinal axis running through the shaft from the tip section to the butt section. However, it has been found that the use of the steep transitional portion angles result in several undesirable disadvantages, including creating a stress concentration area along the circumferential axis of the shaft at the transition area and a discontinuous stiffness along the length of the shaft. Accordingly, the shaft must be made relatively thick and heavy to overcome the stress concentration.
It is generally known that an ideal golf club shaft should be of a minimal weight while concurrently being of a sufficient durability and stiffness to effectively allow all of the kinetic energy developed by the golfer to be transmitted to the golf ball. Heretofore, steel, or other metal, or non-graphite golf club shafts have been produced that are 95 grams or greater at traditional lengths of 40 and 41 inches or on average 2.38 and 2.32 grams/inch, respectively. In the prior art weight range, the average golfer cannot generate enough club head speed to produce much shaft flexing during the swing. Consequently, the average golfer cannot develop a proper feel for his clubs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The invention relates to a method and system for authenticating software. One embodiment of the invention provides a system for authenticating software in a mobile terminal, wherein the system is configured to: receive an execution instruction for software installed in the mobile terminal through an inputting means, generate a first error code for the software, extract a mobile terminal identifier of the mobile terminal, generate a first authentication key by combining the mobile terminal identifier and the first error code, and execute the software when the first authentication key corresponds to a second authentication key stored in the mobile terminal. By authenticating the software for a wireless mobile terminal, one embodiment of the invention can prevent unauthorized duplication and execution of the software at the mobile terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and system for authenticating software, and more particularly, a method and system for using the software on an authenticated mobile terminal through the authentication process when using the software downloaded from a server in a mobile terminal.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Up to now, even an unauthorized mobile terminal can freely download and use a software, which was developed after extensive time and effort, and duplicate the downloaded software to another mobile terminal. Also, since the duplication without permission results in copyright infringement, litigation is quite possible to prevent it from continuing.
Especially, various wireless Internet contents have been developed along with the wide use of mobile terminal; however, the technical solutions for protecting copyrights of software for a mobile terminal are wholly lacking.
Also, the mobile terminal is quite different in performance and capacity compared with a conventional computer such as a PC (personal computer). Namely, the software for a mobile terminal (hereinafter 'mobile software') can be distinguished from the software for a conventional computer with regard to the small data size due to the limited memory capacity and the CPU performance of the mobile terminal.
Thus, an authentication method compatible with the characteristics of the mobile software is possible, however, no authentication method has yet to be developed. Also, the mobile software would be uploaded to a server and then downloaded to a mobile terminal even in the course of development due to the characteristics of the mobile terminal.
Still a high possibility exists that the mobile software under development might be duplicated and exploited by a competitor. Thus, there is a need for an authentication method to protect the mobile software from being duplicated without permission.

Method and system for authenticating software


A system for producing a strip of dough from a strip of raw dough has a bottom pressing device and an upper pressing device with an interposed processing gap for the strip of dough. The pressing devices each have a plurality of planetary rollers that are rotatably driven about their longitudinal axes in each case. In the circumferential direction the planetary rollers are equidistantly distributed about a common central primary axis that extends parallel to the planetary longitudinal axes. The planetary rollers are jointly driveable so as to rotate about the primary axes. Each planetary roller has a middle part coming into contact with the strip of dough, and removably connected to the ends thereof and integral in rotation therewith shaft stubs. The latter are axially and radially supported on frontal head plates of the pressing devices. The dough-strip production system is easy to clean. A set of planetary rollers for use in the system has at least two planetary rollers that may differ in their dimension or material parameters. This increases the versatility of the dough-strip production system.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system for producing a strip of dough from a strip of raw dough having a bottom pressing device and an upper pressing device with an interposed processing gap for the strip of dough, wherein the pressing devices each have a plurality of planetary rollers that are rotatably driven about their longitudinal axes in each case which are equidistantly distributed about a common central primary axis that extends parallel to the planetary longitudinal axes, wherein the planetary rollers are jointly driveable so as to rotate about the primary axes. The invention additionally relates to a set of planetary rollers for use in such a system.
2. Background Art
A system of the type mentioned at the beginning is known from EP 0 809 438 B1. Cleaning such a system is very cumbersome. Especially the planetary rollers and regions adjacent to these clog with residual dough over time, so that regular cleaning is imperative. The cumbersome cleaning procedure leads to extended downtimes.

System for producing a strip of dough from a strip of raw dough and set of planetary rollers for use in such a system

Werner & Pfleiderer Lebensmitteltechnik GmbH


A selection unit switches between a phase θp and a phase θn different from the phase θp substantially by 180 degrees, and outputs one of them in synchronization with a carrier signal. A voltage-command generation unit generates and outputs three-phase voltage command values Vu*, Vv* and Vw* based on the phase outputted by the selection unit. A PWM-signal generation unit generates three-phase voltage command values Vu*′, Vv*′ and Vw*′ by correcting the three-phase voltage command values Vu*, Vv* and Vw* outputted by the voltage-command generation unit according to a predetermined method, and generates six drive signals corresponding to switching elements of the inverter based on the three-phase voltage command values Vu*′, Vv*′ and Vw*′ and the carrier signal. The PWM-signal generation unit outputs the generated drive signals to the corresponding switching elements of the three-phase inverter, to cause the inverter to generate a high-frequency AC voltage.

In Patent Literature 1, there is a description of causing a faint high-frequency open-phase current to flow to a winding of a motor to warm the motor winding when the amount of a liquid refrigerant retained in a compressor reaches a predetermined value or higher. Accordingly, breakage failure of the compressor is prevented by preventing liquid compression due to starting of an operation in a state where a liquid refrigerant is retained in the compressor.
In Patent Literature 2, there is a description of controlling an on/off cycle of a switching element to periodically reverse a direction of a current flowing to a stator coil of a motor. With this technique, not only heat generation due to ohmic loss but also heat generation due to hysteresis loss is performed so that sufficient preheating can be performed with a less consumption current, thereby improving the power efficiency.

Heat pump device, heat pump system, and method for controlling three-phase inverter


A method of adjusting an X-ray emission range includes: displaying an image obtained by capturing X-rays which pass through a subject; receiving a user input with respect to the captured image; and controlling a collimator according to the received user input, to adjust the X-ray emission range according to a size and position of the collimator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for adjusting an X-ray emission range, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for adjusting an X-ray emission range by adjusting a size and position of a collimator.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of radiation transmission capturing apparatuses for the medical industry, capturing apparatuses using X-rays have been developed and used. In such capturing apparatuses using X-rays, when X-rays emitted from an X-ray source pass through an object, such as a subject including a patient, a scintillator included in such capturing apparatuses converts the emitted X-rays to a visible ray depending on the density of the subject, and the visible ray is converted to an electric signal by a photodiode included in the capturing apparatuses. Accordingly, the capturing apparatuses using X-rays display a digital image of the subject through which the X-rays have passed by using the electric signal.
In general, a collimator is a device for changing diverging light emitted from a point light source to parallel light rays. Changing the paths of light rays to be parallel is required for precise measurement in spectroscopy, geometry, and physical optics. In particular, a collimator used in radiology is an absorbing device for adjusting a beam radius size and a beam divergence angle of an X-ray, a gamma ray, or nuclear particles according to a specific purpose. That is, the collimator is generally used to adjust an X-ray or a gamma ray so that a beam radius size of the X-ray or the gamma ray is constant when incident on a subject.

Method and apparatus for adjusting an X-ray emission range


A control system for a work vehicle having a work implement, the control system including: a position measurement unit for measuring a position of a windrow produced by grading work; a work route setting unit for setting a work route based on the position of the windrow that has been measured by the position measurement unit; and a travel control unit for controlling the work vehicle to travel along the work route that has been set by the work route setting unit.

Conventionally, a repair vehicle for repairing a road surface has been known. A common example of such a repair vehicle is a motor grader having a blade.
For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2010-242345 discloses a method for detecting a condition of a road surface using a sensor provided in a dump truck, and repairing the road surface using a repair vehicle based on information of the detected condition of the road surface.

Control system and method for work vehicle


A code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile communication system for controlling power for a traffic signal of one frame includes: a signal generator for simultaneously generating a pilot signal and the traffic signal on a frame basis; a power compensator for compensating the power of the traffic signal according to a punctured length of a punctured frame among the frames; and a signal combiner for combining the power-compensated traffic signal and the pilot signal generated from the signal generator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power control device and method for a mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a power control device and method of controlling a gain of pilot signals and a gain of traffic signals in a different manner, respectively.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is common to employ code division multiple access (CDMA) technology for a mobile communication system. The CDMA mobile communication system employs power control for forward link and reverse link. In the CDMA mobile communication system, a receiver of a mobile station receives pilot signals via a pilot channel, which is among the channels used for receiving frame signals transmitted from a transmitter of a base station, and measures the strength of the received pilot signals. The receiver generates a power control signal based on the strength of the pilot signals and sends the generated power control signal back to the transmitter. Concretely, the receiver compares the strength of the pilot channel signal with a reference value (or threshold) for the power control. If the strength of the pilot channel signal is lower than the reference value, the receiver sends a power-up signal; otherwise, the receiver sends a power-down signal back to the transmitter.
In the case where the channel surroundings are poor during communication with a base station (a first base station) at a first frequency having a specific frequency range, a mobile station searches for another base station (a second base station) with better channel surroundings that uses a second frequency having a different frequency. If the searching result indicates that the signal strength of the second base station is better than that of the first base station, the mobile station performs a hard handoff (an inter-frequency hard handoff) from the first base station to the second base station. The searching process, a preliminary step that the mobile station performs for a hard handoff, will be described in the following. The mobile station changes the first frequency as a communication frequency to the second frequency in order to search the second base station for a predetermined time period. Then the mobile station receives the pilot signals from the second base station at the second frequency before returning to the original first frequency. In some cases, transmission of the traffic signals in the mobile station may be discontinued to the presently connected first base station during an interval where the pilot signals are received from the second base station at the new second frequency.
As stated above, the traffic signals are punctured during an interval where the pilot signals are received at another frequency, resulting in a loss of energy. In order to compensate for the loss of energy, the transmitter increases power of the non-punctured frame signals. This is further detailed below.
Generally, the amplitude of a signal denotes a gain or power. The power is the square of a gain. Hereinafter, it will be given to you uniformly as a gain regarding the amplitude of the signal.
FIG. 1 illustrates a device for controlling gain during transmission of a punctured frame on a reverse link, in accordance with the related art, in which signals are composed of pilot signals and traffic signals. Referring to FIG. 1, a controller 100 controls the entire operation of a receiver. The controller 100 controls a pilot signal generator 110, a traffic signal generator 120, and a first signal controller 180 according to signalling information, e.g., data rate, puncturing start time and puncturing interval, etc., received from an upper layer. Under the control of the controller 100, the pilot signal generator 110 generates pilot signals and outputs the generated pilot signals to a first gain controller 130. Upon receipt of the pilot signals, the first gain controller 130 controls the gain of the pilot signals using a predetermined gain GP and outputs the gain controlled pilot signals to a signal combiner 150. Similarly, the traffic signal generator 120, under the control of the controller 100, generates traffic signals and outputs the generated traffic signals to a second gain controller 140. Upon receipt of the traffic signals, the second gain controller 140 controls the gain of the traffic signals using a predetermined gain GT and outputs the gain controlled traffic signals to the signal combiner 150. A ratio of the pilot gain from the first gain controller 130 to the traffic gain from the second gain controller 140 is set to a predetermined value. The signal combiner 150 combines the traffic signals and the pilot signals received from the first and second gain controllers 130 and 140, respectively.
Also, the controller 100 calculates a compensation gain for a puncturing interval based on information concerning the puncturing start time and puncturing interval received from the upper layer. After completion of the calculation, the controller 100 outputs the puncturing interval and the calculated compensation gain to the first signal controller 180. Then, the first signal controller 180 outputs the received compensation gain to a multiplier 170 during the puncturing interval.
The multiplier 170 multiplies the combined signals of the pilot signals and the traffic signals as, outputted from the signal combiner 150, by the compensation gain, and outputs the result to a second signal controller 160. The second signal controller 160 receives the compensated pilot signals and traffic signals and adjusts power control according to the condition of the transmission channels. If a mobile station searches for another base station having a different frequency, puncturing occurs after signal controlling is performed by the second signal controller 160. Thus, both the pilot signals and the traffic signals are punctured during the same time interval.
FIG. 2 illustrates gain distribution for a punctured frame. When a frame is not punctured, the non-punctured frame will be transmitted with a constant gain GA without a gain loss over the entire frame duration A. However, when the frame is punctured causing a gain loss GA at a punctured duration AP, the non-punctured durations B increase in gain by GB to compensate for the gain loss GA at the punctured duration Ap. In conclusion, the total gain for the punctured frame outputted from the multiplier 170 is GTotal=GA+GB.
In the case where the punctured frame is transmitted in the above gain control method, the transmission gain for the non-punctured portion is increased consequently causing an increase in the transmission gain for the pilot signals, which results in the estimated gain of the pilot channel being higher than a reference value during most time intervals. Thus, the gain control signal is generated as a gain-down signal. This gain control method however cannot provide maintenance of a reception performance at the receiver, since the reception performance for decoding the punctured frame is maintained only with a continuous increase in the gain by that time interval for decoding the punctured traffic frame. To avoid such an impairment, the transmitter performs gain control ignoring the gain-down signal among the gain control signals fed back from the receiver, after having decreased during fading and having then recovered therefrom.
As described above, the transmitter ignores the gain-down signal among the gain control signals fed back from the receiver such that only the gain-up signal is activated with the gain-down signal inactivated after having recovered from a deep fading, resulting in a waste of gain.
Furthermore, another problem arises in that data transmission with high gain causes an increase in interference on the reverse link and reduces the capacity of the reverse link.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a device and method for controlling gain during the transmission of a punctured frame, in which the punctured traffic data frame can be gain controlled under a gain-up/down signal in the same manner as a non-punctured traffic data frame by controlling the gain for the gain of the punctured traffic data frame only, and without compensating the gain for pilot signals.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, a code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile communication system for controlling gain for a traffic signal of one frame is provided, including: a signal generator for generating a pilot signal and the traffic signal on the frame basis; a gain compensator for compensating the gain of the traffic signal according to a punctured length of a punctured frame among the frames; and a signal combiner for combining the gain-compensated traffic signal and the pilot signal generated from the signal generator.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a gain control method in transmission of a punctured frame in a mobile communication system is provided, including the steps of: determining whether an input frame during a hard handoff is punctured or not; when the frame is punctured, determining whether information is received regarding a data rate of the frame and a punctured length; when the information is received, calculating a compensation gain from the data rate and the punctured length; determining whether a frame boundary is detected or not; and when the frame boundary is detected, generating the compensation gain to a multiplier to compensate a loss of gain for traffic signals.

Device and method for controlling transmission power of punctured frame


An image processing apparatus includes a window setting unit which sets a window for input low-resolution information, including a target pixel and pixels surrounding the target pixel. A detection unit detects MAX and MIN values from among the pixels within the window, and a quantization unit quantizes information relating to each pixel, having n values within the window, into a value smaller than n. A LUT (look-up table) determines a distribution ratio of the MAX and MIN values based on quantized values provided by the quantization unit within the window. A transformation unit synthesizes the MAX and MIN values based on the distribution ratio, and a forming unit forms high-resolution output information from the synthesized values. Thus, input low-resolution information is converted into high-resolution output information, at a high speed, to produce a high quality image.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image output apparatus, such as a printer or the like, for magnifying an image represented by input image information and outputting the resultant image, and to an image processing apparatus and method for performing resolution transformation from low-resolution information to high-resolution information in communication between apparatuses having different levels of resolution.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various methods for performing resolution transformation from input low-resolution information into high-resolution information have been proposed. In the proposed conventional methods, transformation processing differs depending on the type of image to be processed (i.e., a multivalue image having gradation information for each pixel, a binary image subjected to binary coding using pseudohalftone, a binary image subjected to binary coding using a fixed threshold, a character image, or the like). For example, a closest interpolation method in which, as shown in FIG. 10, the value of a pixel closest to an interpolated point is allocated to the point, and a coprimary interpolation method in which, as shown in FIG. 11, a pixel value E is determined according to the following calculation using the distances from four points surrounding an interpolated point (the pixel values of the four points are represented by A, B, C and D): EQU E=(1-i)(1-j)A+i.multidot.(1-j)B+j.multidot.(1-i)C+ijD
(i and j are the horizontal direction and vertical direction respectively from a point A when the distance between pixels is assumed to be 1 (i.ltoreq.1, j.ltoreq.1)), and are generally used as conventional interpolation methods.
However, the above-described conventional approaches have the following problems.
That is, the method shown in FIG. 10 has the feature that the configuration is simple. However, when a natural image or the like is used as an object image, since pixel values are determined for each block to be magnified, a difference is observed between respective blocks, thereby degrading the quality of the obtained image.
When a character image, a line image, a CG (computer graphics) image or the like is used as an object image, since the same pixel value continues in each block to be enlarged, an inferior image in which a zigzag line called a called jaggy appears particularly at an oblique line is generated. FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrate how jaggy is generated. FIG. 12 illustrates input information, and FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a resolution transformation in which the number of pixels is doubled both in the vertical and horizontal directions according to the method shown in FIG. 10. In general, as magnification increases, the degree of degradation in picture quality increases (each of numerals "200" and "10" in FIGS. 12 and 13 represents the value of a corresponding pixel).
The method shown in FIG. 11 is generally used when magnifying a natural image. Although this method provides averaged and smoothed pixels, edge portions or portions where a sharp image is required become indistinct. Furthermore, for example, in an image obtained by scanning a map or the like, or a natural image containing character portions, important information is missed, in some cases, an the observer due to indistinctness in the generated image caused by interpolation.
FIG. 14 illustrates image information obtained by performing interpolation processing by doubling the input image information shown in FIG. 12 in the vertical and horizontal directions according to the method shown in FIG. 11.
As is apparent from FIG. 14, pixel values are non-uniform and an indistinct image is generated not only for portions in the vicinity of an oblique line but also for the oblique line itself.
Accordingly, the assignee of the present application has proposed, in Laid-Open Japanese Patent Applications (Kokai) Nos. 7-93531 (1995), 7-107268 (1995) and 7-105359 (1995), methods capable of performing resolution transformation without producing an indistinct image due to interpolation and generating a jaggy when forming high-resolution information from low-resolution information.
The basic concept in these proposals resides in removing resolution-dependent components from input original information, increasing the number of pixels in the resultant information so as to correspond to an output resolution, and inferring and forming information corresponding to a new resolution. The resolution-dependent component is removed by performing smoothing processing using an LPF (low-pass filter), and the number of pixels is increased by linear interpolation. When inferring high-resolution information, information after interpolation is subjected to simple binary coding, and pixel values to be output are calculated by performing different types of processing for pixels classified as "1" and for pixels classified as "0".
However, since the techniques disclosed in the above-described patent applications perform smoothing processing using adaptive digital filters, the number of accumulation and summation operations is large, thereby increasing the processing time.
Usually, resolution transformation processing is executed within application software in a host computer, or a printer driver for providing a printer output, and therefore high-speed processing is an important task.
In addition, since the types of adaptive digital filters are limited, it is not easy to perform optimum conversion for all types of image information.


The electromagnetic clutch comprises a rotor connected to a drive source, an inner hub connected to a device that follows, an outer plate provided on the outside of the inner hub so as to enclose it, an armature coupled to the outer plate and opposing the rotor, an elastic member provided between the inner hub and the outer plate and adhered thereto, and an electromagnetic coil for, when magnetized, attracting the armature together with the outer plate to make them come into contact with the rotor, and when demagnetized, separating the outer plate and the armature from the rotor. Because of the configuration in which the armature and the outer plate are coupled in a heat-transmissible manner, a part of elastic member is formed so that heat is transmitted from at least a part of the armature to the part of the elastic member as if they are one piece.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electromagnetic clutch and, more particularly, to an electromagnetic clutch used for connecting and disconnecting a compressor of an air conditioner in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a vehicle, an engine, which is a drive source, is used not only as a drive source for moving a vehicle but also as a drive source for various devices. There are many vehicles in which the compressor of an air conditioner for a vehicle is driven by an engine via a belt etc. In this case, the load applied to the engine can be reduced and fuel consumption can be improved by separating the compressor from the engine when it is not necessary to drive the air conditioner for a vehicle. It is also preferable, from the standpoint of life of the compressor to stop the compressor when not required. Because of such a need, an electromagnetic clutch is arranged between an engine and a compressor of an air conditioner for a vehicle for connecting and disconnecting the compressor.
However, when the compressor locks or if trouble occurs in the compressor without driver's knowledge, the electromagnetic clutch slips and produces heat and there may arise the possibility that another trouble, such as the breakage of a belt, occurs. Therefore, when an electromagnetic clutch is installed, measures against such problems must be taken.
Some conventional electromagnetic clutches use a temperature fuse or a lock sensor as a function for protecting a belt when the compressor locks. However, a temperature fuse poses a problem that it takes time to shut off power transmission and a lock sensor poses a problem that the cost is raised.
FIG. 10 shows one half of the sectional side elevation of a conventional example of a general electromagnetic clutch. In general, an electromagnetic clutch is substantially symmetrical in the vertical direction, therefore, only the upper half is shown. An electromagnetic clutch 100 in a conventional example shown in FIG. 10 comprises an electromagnetic coil 21 accommodated in a stator 22, a rotor 31 rotatively driven by a vehicle engine, which is not shown, an armature 14 that is attracted to the rotor 31 by the magnetic force of the electromagnetic coil 21, and a hub 6. The hub 6 has an outer plate 13 and an inner hub 12 and the outer plate 13 and the inner hub 12 are connected by welding a cylindrical rubber 11 thereto.
In the electromagnetic clutch 100 in the conventional example shown in FIG. 10, the outer plate 13 and the armature 14 are formed as separate parts and are attached by a plurality of rivets 15. Therefore, the armature 14 and the inner hub 12 rotate as one piece. The inner hub 12 is connected to the rotating shaft of the compressor of an air conditioner for a vehicle (not shown) and transmits the power of the engine to the compressor. The rotor 31 has a pulley 32 on its outer circumferential side. On one hand, a plurality of belts (not shown) are engaged with the pulley 32 and on the other hand, the belts are engaged with a pulley (not shown) on the engine side and, therefore, the drive force of the engine is transmitted to the pulley 32 and the rotor 31 via the belts. The operation of connecting and disconnecting the electromagnetic clutch 100 is performed by magnetizing the electromagnetic coil 21 to attract the armature 14 to the rotor 31 and by demagnetizing the electromagnetic coil 21 to separate the armature 14 from the rotor 31.
In the conventional example shown in FIG. 10, the outer plate 13 and the armature 14 are formed as separate parts and are attached with the rivets 15. In this structure, when the compressor locks, the heat produced at the frictional surface between the rotor 31 and the armature 14 is unlikely to be transmitted to the cylindrical rubber 11 and it takes time for the cylindrical rubber 11 to melt and shut off power and, therefore, there is the possibility that the belt is damaged.
For example, there is a prior art similar to the above-mentioned prior art, in which a cylindrical rubber damper is provided (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Utility Model 53-39822). In this art, as there is a gap between an armature and an outer plate, heat is unlikely to be transmitted and, therefore, it is difficult to shut off power transmission. Another art is proposed (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2000-161389A). In this cited art, an elastic member is melted to shut off power transmission. However, there arises a problem that the damping effect is slight and the performance of absorbing torque variations is poor although the member is readily melted to shut off power transmission.
[Patent document] Japanese Unexamined Utility Model 53-39822
[Patent document] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2000-161389A

Electromagnetic clutch with elastic member easily melted


A telescopic rod antenna apparatus of the present invention includes a mechanism for extending/retracting a telescopic antenna element by operating a smallest-diameter one of rods of the antenna element, and a means for setting the rods in the second state where a tip portion of a largest-diameter rod contacts an O-shaped ring seal means and then extending the antenna element using the mechanism, setting the rods in the second state where the antenna element is retracted using the mechanism, and displacing the second state to the first state where the largest-diameter rod is returned to the initial position of a holding tube to bring a top portion into contact with the O-shaped ring seal means.

The present invention relates to a telescopic rod antenna apparatus mounted on an automobile and the like and, more particularly, to a telescopic rod antenna apparatus having a waterproof means for preventing rainwater or the like from soaking into the antenna apparatus through a gap between an antenna element and an opening of an antenna holding tube.
Generally, in a prior art telescopic rod antenna apparatus, a telescopic antenna element, which is constituted by slidably coupling a plurality of rods of conductive tube members having different diameters, is insertably held in an antenna holding tube. The rod antenna apparatus so constituted has a gap between the antenna element and the opening of the antenna holding tube, a gap in a joint between a small-diameter rod and a large-diameter rod both constituting the telescopic antenna element, etc. It is thus likely that rainwater, washing, muddy water, etc. will soak into the antenna apparatus through such a gap.
Conventionally various measures have been taken against water entering the telescopic rod antenna apparatus. However, at present, there is no telescopic rod antenna apparatus capable of completely preventing water from soaking thereinto.
In arctic weather of winter, there are many cases where water is frozen in a telescopic rod antenna apparatus to make it impossible to extend an antenna by a driving motor.
The prior art telescopic rod antenna apparatus was inspected to find portions through which water such as rainwater soaks into the apparatus and know the reason why the water soaks into the apparatus. The following are results of the inspection.
(1) An antenna element constituted of a plurality of rods having different diameters and coupled slidably to each other is designed as follows. The retraction thereof is completed such that the end portion of a small-diameter rod is protruded a little more than that of a large-diameter rod in order to prevent a large gap from being formed in a joint between the rods. The end portion of the retracted antenna element looks like a roof portion of a multi-stored pagoda and contains the plural rods of different diameters arranged in tiers. A so-called top portion is provided at the tip portion of the smallest-diameter rod which is the top of the antenna element. Generally the top portion is so designed that its outside diameter is equal to that of the largest-diameter rod.
The telescopic rod antenna apparatus capable of insertably holding the above telescopic antenna element in a holding tube, has the following two types. One type is that an antenna element having rods in tiers is held in a holding tube such that its tip portion is projected from the holding tube. The other is that an antenna element is held in a holding tube almost completely such that its tip portion is buried in the holding tube and its top portion is located at the opening of the holding tube. Hereinafter the former is called a top-portion projected type, and the latter is called a top-portion buried type.
In the telescopic rod antenna apparatus of the top-portion projected type, when the antenna element is held in the holding tube, the largest-diameter rod is inserted into the opening of the holding tube with almost no gap therebetween. Thus, it is not so likely that rainwater will enter the holding tube through the opening of the tube. Since, however, the antenna element is held in the holding tube incompletely, the tip portion or the top portion of the antenna element, projected from the holding tube, is likely to contact an obstacle and break.
The telescopic rod antenna apparatus of the top-portion buried type does not cause the drawback of the projected type apparatus since the antenna element is held in the holding tube almost completely. Moreover, the top portion of the antenna element is inserted into the opening of the holding tube with almost no gap therebetween, so that it is not so likely that rainwater will enter the holding tube through the opening of the tube. However, as described below, there is a possibility that rainwater or the like will relatively easily soak into the holding tube when the antenna element is extended or retracted.
If the smallest-diameter rod is projected from the holding tube when the antenna element is extended, a great gap will appear between the inner surface of the opening of the holding tube and the tip portion of the antenna element of rods in tiers during a period of time (which corresponds to about 80% of the time required for extending the antenna element completely) from when the top portion goes out of the opening of the holding tube until the largest-diameter rod is projected from the holding tube.
It is thus likely that rainwater will easily soak into the holding tube through the great gap. Even when the antenna element is retracted, if the largest-diameter rod is held earlier than the small-diameter rod (which will occur in a conventional telescopic rod antenna apparatus), a gap is caused during a period of time from when the largest-diameter rod is held in the holding tube until the smallest-diameter rod is held therein; therefore, rainwater is likely to soak into the tube.
(2) Since it has been thought that the phenomenon of (1) cannot be prevented completely, no specific waterproof means has been provided at the opening of the holding tube. Thus, water soaking into the holding tube is drained out of a drain provided at the lower end of the holding tube.
In the telescopic rod antenna apparatus of the top-portion buried type, even though the antenna element is held completely in the holding tube, rainwater is likely to soak into the tube through a gap between the top portion and the opening, since the holding tube has no specific waterproof means at the opening. In the telescopic rod antenna apparatus of the top-portion projected type, even though the antenna element is held completely in the holding tube, rainwater is likely to soak into the tube through a gap between the largest-diameter rod and the opening for the same reason described above.
(3) Of the rods constituting the antenna element of the telescopic rod antenna apparatus, the smallest-diameter rod has a so-called, slightly roundish top portion at the tip portion. This top portion is attached to the tip portion of the smallest-diameter rod as follows. A columnar portion protruded from the lower end of the top portion is pressed into a hollow of the tip portion of the smallest-diameter rod and then the outer surface of the tip portion of the rod is caulked with a ring at two points. The ring-caulking causes a slight irregularity or distortion on the outer surface of the smallest-diameter rod. If the irregularity or distortion is relatively great, a gap will occur between the outer surface of the smallest-diameter rod and the inner surface of the subsequent rod when the antenna element is retracted, and rainwater is likely to soak into the rods through the gap.
(4) It is likely that a very small amount of rainwater will enter the rods through a gap in a joint between the smallest-diameter rod and the large-diameter rod constituting the telescopic antenna element.
As described above, the conventional telescopic rod antenna apparatus has a problem in which rainwater or the like soaks into the antenna through a gap between the end portion of the antenna element and the opening of the holding tube when the antenna element is extended or retracted in the top-portion buried type antenna apparatus, a gap between the top portion and the opening of the holding tube when the antenna element is held in the tube in the top-portion buried type antenna apparatus, a gap between the largest-diameter rod and the opening of the holding tube when the antenna element is held in the tube in the top-portion projected type antenna apparatus, a gap between the smallest-diameter rod and the subsequent rod constituting the telescopic antenna element, a gap in the joint between the smallest-diameter rod and the largest-diameter rod, etc, thereby to cause various problems.