A method for pre-distorting an input for a device is provided. A partial set of known data pairs is acquired during a closed-loop device calibration period. The partial set of known data pairs is searched for at least one missing data pair, and at least one data value is interpolated for the missing data pair. An augmented set of data pairs, including the known data pairs and the interpolated data value, is stored in a lookup table. During an open-loop operation period subsequent to the closed-loop device calibration period, the device input is pre-distorted based on the augmented set of data pairs stored in the lookup table.

A control system utilizes a device or set of devices to regulate, direct or manage the behavior of systems or other devices. There are various types of control systems, including closed loop systems and open loop systems. Closed loop systems employ feedback, whereas open loop systems use prearranged schemes instead of feedback.
Control systems are used in a multitude of applications in electrical and electronic systems and devices. For example, control systems are used in wireless transmitters and receivers, speaker systems, televisions, computers, and many other applications. One function of control systems in these applications is to ensure that components, such as linear or nonlinear devices, achieve a desired output. For example, a control system may be responsible for controlling the generation of an output signal with a specific power level and waveform quality corresponding to a specific input.
The design of control systems must account for specific requirements and standards that regulate the production, sale, and operation of electrical devices and equipment. For example, wireless standards such as Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), code division multiple access (CDMA), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), and many others include strict spectral requirements. As a result, electrical components must preserve waveform quality at various power levels to meet these strict requirements.
In nonlinear devices, such as power amplifiers as well as other devices, waveform quality typically increases with a more linear output response. However, some nonlinear devices operate more efficiently when the output response is nonlinear—for example, when a power amplifier approaches saturation. As a result, there is often a tradeoff between waveform quality and efficiency. For example, if a nonlinear device is set to operate in linear regions to meet quality standards or requirements, then power consumption and current drain may be degraded because the device is operating at a lower efficiency level. Alternatively, if a nonlinear device approaches saturation or starts to exhibit nonlinear qualities (which may improve efficiency), the waveform quality may be degraded and may not meet the specific requirements and standards.
To improve waveform quality from a nonlinear device operated near saturation, the input to the device may be pre-distorted to account for the nonlinearity of the device. For example, the device may be tested at the time of manufacturing to determine the its nonlinear response. Based on this measurement, an inverse pre-distortion function may be programmed into a lookup table associated with the device. During subsequent operation of the device, the lookup table may be used to pre-distort the device input to achieve a desired linear output. A potential disadvantage of this open-loop control is that the nonlinearities of the device may change over time. As a result, the pre-distortion function may no longer match the actual nonlinearities of the device, and the device may fail to provide the desired linear output.
Closed-loop control also may be used to pre-distort the device input to achieve a desired linear output. For example, a closed-loop approach may include a feedback loop to provide real-time information about the device output. Based on a comparison of actual device output and the desired output, the input signal may be adjusted by calculating a real-time pre-distortion function for the device input to achieve the desired linear output. This type of closed-loop control may continue to provide a desired linear output even if the nonlinearities of the device change over time. A potential disadvantage of this approach, however, is that it may increase power consumption due to the increased logic or circuitry required for the feedback loop and real-time calculation of the pre-distortion function.
Accordingly, there is a need for control systems and methods that provide reliable and efficient input pre-distortion for nonlinear devices. There is a further need for control systems and methods that provide for such reliable and efficient input pre-distortion even when the nonlinearities of a device change over time.

System and method for pre-distorting a device input


In one embodiment of the present invention, a system includes a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader that is configured to obtain identification information from a plurality of RFID tags respectively attached to the plurality of items. A computer is configured to receive the identification information, and use the identification information to identify the items having a RFID tag attached thereto, and determine a percentage of a desired type of item with respect to the plurality of items.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to the field of collecting recyclable materials and, more particularly, to systems and methods for determining the composition and purity of a quantity of recyclable materials.
2. Background Description
To meet the growing problem of post-consumer goods disposal, many recyclable post-consumer goods are collected from the curbside and sent to a material recovery facility (MRF). MRFs are facilities where mixed recyclable materials are sorted and baled for sale, and generally serve as drop-off and gross-sorting (and limited processing) points for recyclable materials, so that sorted recyclable materials can be transported, for example, to a facility for subsequent processing.
Recyclable materials generally enter a MRF either in a single stream or dual stream. A single stream MRF may receive a mixture of commingled containers that may be made of glass, plastics, and/or metals, and fiber material that may include old news print (ONP) (e.g., newspaper and newspaper inserts), old corrugated paper (OCC), old telephone directories (OTD), old magazines (OMG), junk mail and/or office paper. A dual stream MRF generally has separate commingled container and fiber material streams.
Generally, recyclable materials arriving at MRFs can be sorted into individual material categories, such as glass, plastic, steel, aluminum, paper, cardboard, and the like. In addition, clear glass can be separated from colored glass, and plastics can be separated by type and color. Materials such as plastic, steel, aluminum, paper, and cardboard, can then be baled in a standard manner. Bales can be stored at an MRF until a buyer, such as a glass plant or paper recycling facility, purchases them.
While traditional MRFs typically utilize a dual stream configuration, the desire to reduce labor and other operational costs has been an impetus behind the trend toward single stream MRFs. However, sorted recyclable materials produced by single stream MRFs can have a higher contamination level than sorted recyclable materials from dual stream MRFs. Thus, for example, bales of sorted plastic from a single stream MRF may have an average purity of 95% by weight, whereas bales of sorted plastic from a dual stream MRF may have an average purity of 97% by weight.
In known systems, bale-specific information regarding purity is not generally ascertainable until you break open the bale. Accordingly, bales are typically sold based on physical accessibility of the bales within a MRF at the time of shipment. Lack of information pertaining to the purity of the bales can result in bales being rejected by the purchaser and returned to a MRF, or downgraded by the purchaser. This forces MRFs to absorb the cost associated with the returned bale(s), or to refund a portion of the sales price, particularly for bales emanating from single stream MRFs that generally have higher contamination rates than bales emanating from dual stream MRFs.
We have discovered that systems and methods for accurately and efficiently measuring the composition and purity of a bale and providing verifiable bale-specific information are needed. Such systems and methods can be used to ensure the purity of bales, increase customer satisfaction, and generate price premiums for the bales that are determined to have, for example, a higher than average level of purity.

Systems and methods for measuring the purity of bales of recyclable materials


A multilayer ceramic capacitor includes a multilayer body including dielectric ceramic layers and inner electrode layers containing Ni and electrically connected to outer electrodes. The dielectric ceramic layers contain a Ba- and Ti-containing perovskite compound, Ca, Mg, R (at least one rare earth metal selected from La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, and Y), M (at least one selected from Zr, Mn, Co, Fe, Cr, Cu, Al, V, Mo, and W), and Si. The number of parts by mole of each element relative to Ti as 100 parts is as follows:                Ca, approximately 0.10 to 5.00 parts;        Mg, approximately 0.0010 to 0.0098 parts;        R in total, approximately 0.50 to 4.00 parts;        M in total, approximately 0.10 to 2.00 parts; and        Si, approximately 0.5 to 2.0 parts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multilayer ceramic capacitor and a method for producing a multilayer ceramic capacitor.
2. Description of the Related Art
A multilayer ceramic capacitor includes a sintered ceramic body obtained through the firing of alternately stacked dielectric ceramic and inner electrode layers and outer electrodes formed on both end surfaces of the sintered ceramic body.
With their high capacitance in a small size resulting from such a structure, multilayer ceramic capacitors have become widely used in many applications in the wake of the recent increase in the demand for mobile gear and other portable devices.
Smaller and higher-capacitance multilayer ceramic capacitors are in demand. To meet this demand, researchers are trying to reduce the thickness of dielectric ceramic layers in a multilayer ceramic capacitor. Thinning the dielectric ceramic layers, however, leads to making the field strength per layer relatively high. Dielectric ceramic layers are therefore required to be of higher reliability under voltage, in particular, service life characteristics in high-temperature loading tests.
A known dielectric ceramic layer for multilayer ceramic capacitors contains barium titanate as a major ingredient and some other minor ingredients.
For example, International Publication No. 2009/001597 describes a dielectric ceramic including barium-titanate-based crystal grains and a grain boundary layer existing between the crystal grains. Besides barium titanate, the ceramic contains magnesium, yttrium, manganese, and lutetium.
In International Publication No. 2009/001597, a mixed powder compounded of BaCO3, TiO2, MgO, Y2O3, and manganese carbonate powders is fired into a calcined powder. This calcined powder is mixed with a predetermined amount of Lu2O3 powder, and the resulting mixture is fired. In this way, a desired dielectric ceramic is produced.

Multilayer ceramic capacitor and method for producing multilayer ceramic capacitor


An agent for improving the blood circulation, which contains as an effective ingredient glycosyl vitamin P such as glycosyl hesperidin and glycosyl rutin. The agent improves the blood circulation in humans to effectively relieve muscular rigidity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an agent for improving the blood circulation, and more particularly to an agent for improving the blood circulation containing glycosyl vitamin P as an effective ingredient.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As means for communicating information and for drafting documents have become diversified, variety types of Office Automated (OA) instruments are widely spread in work places including offices, as well as homes in general. OA instruments generally require users a posture of detaching the users' upper arms from their bodies during operation to cause STIFF in particular parts of the limbs, arms, backs, waists, etc., as a result of muscular rigidity caused by the users' relatively-long-time operation of the instruments. Generally, STIFF in the muscular may be easily relieved by grasping or massaging the stiff parts. However, in the case of operating OA instruments daily, if STIFF is once occurred, it could not be easily diminished. In addition to the operation of OA instruments, STIFF can be induced by factors such as physical exercise, physical labor, inappropriate posture, and mental stress or may be induced by diseases such as cervical spondylosis, thoracic outlet syndrome, hypertension, asthenopia, autonomic dystonia, and climacteric disturbance. Depending on the symptom of STIFF, particular slow pains and unpleasant feelings will last for a relatively-long period of time, and in some cases STIFF may accompany head ache and/or vomiting.
Although the mechanism of occurrence of STIFF is still not clear, it is deemed that excessive stimulation of nerves, muscular fatigues, and autonomic dystonia will trigger successive contraction of peripheral veins, disorder of the blood circulation in muscular, and congestion, causing a specific STIFF. Therefore, improvement of the blood circulation is effective to diminish muscular STIFF. Treatments such as massage, warm bath therapy, fomentation, electric stimulation, and administration are difficult to attain the desired effect, or some of them would be troublesome because patients should have to go hospitals for receiving professional treatments.

Agent for improving the blood circulation

Kabushiki Kaisha Hayashibara Seibutsu Kagaku Kenkyujo


A process for the production of an open-cell carbon foam from a metallic salt of a lignosulfonate is described. The process includes heating the metallic salt of a lignosulfonate from ambient temperature to a maximum temperature, greater than about 250° C., at a rate sufficiently slow as to provide for essentially uniform heating of the lignin derived material. Heating of the lignin derived material is performed in a non-oxidizing atmosphere having a pressure greater than about 100 psig. The resultant carbon foam can subsequently be optionally subjected to carbonization or graphitization temperatures as desired. The resultant carbon foam has a regular open-cell structure. Densities of the carbon foam products are commonly in the range of about 0.1 g/cm3 to 0.2 g/cm3. The carbon foams may also exhibit compressive strengths of up to about 200 psi. The carbon foam materials potentially have utility as lightweight thermal barriers and in many other of the applications associated with carbon foams.

Carbon foams are materials of very high carbon content that have appreciable void volume. In appearance, excepting color, carbon foams resemble readily available commercial plastic foams. As with plastic foams, the void volume of carbon foams is located within numerous empty cells. The boundaries of these carbon foam cells are defined by the carbon structure. These cells typically approximate ovoids of regular, but not necessarily uniform, size, shape, distribution, and orientation. The void volumes in these cells typically connects to neighboring void volumes. Such an arrangement is referred to as an open-cell foam. The carbon in these foams forms a structure that is continuous in three dimensions across the material. Typically, the cells in carbon foams are of a size that is readily visible to the unaided human eye. Also, the void volume of carbon foams is such that it typically occupies much greater than one-half of the carbon foam volume.
The regular size, shape, distribution, and orientation of the cells within carbon foam readily distinguishes this material from other materials such as metallurgical cokes. The void volumes within cokes are typically of ovoid shape and of random size, distribution, and orientation. That is, in cokes, some readily visible void volumes can be an order of magnitude, or more, larger than others. It is also not uncommon that the over-lapping of void volumes in cokes results in significant distortions in the void volume shape. These distortions and large void volumes can even lead to a product that has limited structural integrity in all except smaller product volumes. That is, it is not uncommon for coke to be friable and larger pieces of coke to readily break into smaller pieces with very minimal handling. Such breakage is not exhibited by carbon foams. Also, a given sample of coke can exhibit both open and closed-cell void volumes.
Carbon foams have potential utility in a variety of applications as a result of their unique properties such as temperature resistance, strength, and low density. For example, carbon foams can exhibit significant strength, even at extreme temperatures, which makes these materials suitable for use as lightweight thermal barriers, wall panels, and as baffles for high intensity flames. These materials can also function as filter media for the removal of gross solid contaminates from molten metals.
Numerous examples of carbon foams have been produced from various pitches, foamed synthetic plastics, coals, and coal extracts. The resulting carbon foams from each type of feed-stock material exhibit individual properties that make the use of such foams particularly advantageous or disadvantageous in certain applications. For example, pitches (whether they are derived from petroleum or coal) have been shown to produce carbon foams with excellent thermal conductivity but poor mechanical integrity. Coal based foams have excellent mechanical strength, but can sometimes lack the highly ordered crystal structure which is usually associated with high thermal conductivity. Pitch based carbon foams are highly pure due to the extensive processing of the starting raw material that is required. This extensive processing also leads to very high raw material costs, which in turn limits the potential market for the end product.
It would be advantageous to produce a carbon foam that exhibits relatively low density coupled with high strength. It would be further advantageous if such a foam exhibited at least partially the highly ordered crystal structure which is usually associated with high thermal conductivity.

Carbon foam from metallic salts of lignosulfonates


This invention generally provides a process and apparatus for the separation of material and more particularly, the separation of material(s) using a separation fluid and based upon the relative buoyancies of the components of the material solution. This invention more particularly provides an apparatus and a process in which the feedstock is first introduced into a separation hopper wherein partial separation occurs by the less buoyant solid particles contained in the feedstock descending to and entering a separation chamber. The separation fluid flowing upwardly in the separation chamber is adaptable to match the settling velocity of the desired solid particle separation. The less buoyant particles settling to the bottom of the separation chamber are discharged as clean or separated material, whereas the more buoyant particles are carried upward by the flow of the separation fluid and discharged from the upper end of the separation chamber to either one or more additional or similar devices or recirculated to one or more early stages in the system process and apparatus.

Printed material discloses a great number of proposals for cleaning contaminated soil; cf., for example, the article "CLEANING EXCAVATED SOIL USING EXTRACTION AGENTS: A STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW" BY R. Raghavan et al., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPA/600/2-89/034 of June 1989, and more specifically the literature references given in the pages 46-50 therein.
A number of operations have been designed for the use on an industrial large scale and may be exemplified by excerpts from the following:
______________________________________ Primary Unit Operations Reference ______________________________________ Extraction, flotation Nunno, Hyman and Pheiffer (1988); Assink (1987) Extraction, hydrocyclones Nunno, Hyman and Pheiffer (1988): Assink (1987) Floatation Nunno, Hyman and low frequency vibration (1988); Sonnen and Klingebiel (1988) Water-jet scrubber Heimhard (1988) Solvent extraction Nunno, Hyman and Pheiffer (1988) Water-Knife Scrubber, Traver and Freestone Extraction (1985) Scholz and Milanowski (1983) Trommel washer, Ayres (1990) jig separator ______________________________________
U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,757, issued on Nov. 15, 1988, to Nelson and McClung, relates to a device for the separation of solids of different specific gravities by means of a substantially laminar upward flow of water, especially for facilitating the recovery of gold from mineral feedstock. The device presented in said U.S. patent specification in particular is distinguished in that the material separation of the mineral feedstock mixtures listed can be achieved at a minimum expenditure of those working elements required to be kept in motion. U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,757 provides for the use of water as separation and transferring liquid, wherein an ascending stream of the water employed as the separation liquid, the larger and/or heavier particles will settle and be discharged from the bottom of the separation zone, while smaller and/or lighter solid particles are carried upward and discharged from the top of the separation zone. It was stated that the effluent in an amount of about 90% of the initial water stream is free from finely divided particulate contaminants and may be returned to the source it was taken from.
The present invention is based on the recognition that the separation procedure outline in said U.S. patent makes a suitable starting point for the development of a highly efficient process in order to attain the objects of this invention. The teaching provided hereinbelow of the invention describes the further developments and the device members and process features by means of which the mixing, cleaning, separation and/or preconditioning of the feedstock can be accomplished, said device members and process features having been clearly improved in various ways over cited references.
Prior attempts at material separation devices and processes have been plagued with a number of different problems, namely: they use and discharge too much separation fluid or water; they have been unable to separate fine and finely differentiated particles with any reasonable degree of efficiency or effectiveness; they have been unable to provide such a process or device which is relatively inexpensive to construct and operate; and they have been unable to provide a system that operates effectively despite wide variations in the composition of the feedstock.
This invention solves the forenamed problems to a degree not heretofore achieved on any scale, let alone for a commercial production unit capable of continuous production.

Material separation process and apparatus


In a method and apparatus for removing data outliers in measured signals in an implanted medical apparatus, such as data outliers produced by GSM disturbance picked up by an implanted cardiac stimulator lead and superimposed on the sensed cardiac activity signal, the signal from the implanted lead is subjected to median filtering. The median filtering minimizes, or eliminates, the effect of highly aberrational data points in the incoming signal, without the necessity of actually removing the components in the signal produced by the disturbance from the incoming signal itself. Since no portion of the actual incoming signal is removed by the median filtering, the data integrity of the sensed cardiac signal is preserved. The signal processed by median filtering, possibly subjected to subsequent post filtering, is then supplied to a detector within the implanted stimulator, which performs the desired detection on the filtered signal, with the result of the detection then being used to control operation of the implanted stimulator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method and an apparatus for removing spurious data ("data outliers") produced by externally-originating electromagnetic interference (EMI) from a sensed signal supplied to an implanted medical device, such as a cardiac stimulator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well-known, implanted medical devices, such as cardiac stimulators (pacemakers, defibrillators, etc.) commonly employ an electrode lead, extending from an implanted electronic unit, in order to sense electrical activity in the subject so as to control the electrotherapy (pacing, defibrillation, antitachycardia routine, etc.) administered by the implanted stimulator to the subject. The electrode lead is typically plugged at one end into the implanted electronic unit, and has an opposite end located adjacent cardiac tissue, or in the bloodstream, or at some other appropriate location depending on the type of electrical activity or physiological parameter being sensed. Since this electrode lead contains one or more conductors extending from the implanted device to the sensor or electrode at the tip of the lead, the lead itself acts as an antenna, and thus is susceptible to receiving signals, such as electromagnetic interference (EMI) originating from external sources. Such interference (noise) corrupts the "true" waveform originating from the sensed electrical activity, and therefore when the corrupted sensed signal is analyzed within the implanted device, in order to produce a control signal for the therapy administration, the analysis may be falsified because the noise may produce spurious data points (data outliers) in the analyzed data.
One such type of external interference which is currently under review to determine its impact on implantable medical devices is that produced by cellular telephones. Cellular telephones transmit voice messages by emitting signals from an antenna using radio waves at frequencies between 824 and 894 MHZ. In the system currently in widespread use in the United States, digital cellular hand-held phones employ a maximum of 0.6 watts of power to transmit messages to a cellular transmitter tower. The power level used by the cellular telephone fluctuates throughout the duration of a call. At a large distance from the tower, the hand-held instrument may use the full 0.6 watts. If the caller is closer to the tower, the hand-held telephone may only require 0.05 watts, for example, to effectively transmit the signal. The number of hand-held telephones being used on a system at any given time also affects the transmission power.
Cellular telephones can transmit either analog or digital voice messages, dependent on the type of hand-held instrument and the type of service available. In analog systems, messages are transmitted by modulating or varying either the amplitude of the signal or the frequency of the signal. In digital systems, messages are transmitted in a series of rapid bursts or pulses. An advantage of digital transmission, which is expected to be increasingly employed, is that it increases channel capacity by allowing several users to transmit messages at the same frequency at the same time.
Two types of digital technology currently in use in the United States are relevant to the issue of implanted stimulator/telephone interaction. These are Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Time Divisional Multiple Access (TDMA). In CDMA, messages are transmitted as various sequences of ones and zeros with a special code attached thereto, so that only the intended receiver is able to decode the message. In TDMA, data are transmitted in bursts by turning the signal on and off fifty times per second, causing the signal to have the appearance of a pulsed signal. This technique is therefore sometimes described as "pulse-modulated" RF radiation.
The current standard for use in Europe is the Global Standard For Mobile Communications (GSM) technology. GSM technology uses TDMA technology, and operates in a frequency range between 890 and 960 MHZ. GSM technology uses a 217 Hz pulse rate. The power generated by a GSM portable telephone ranges from 0.02 watts to 2 watts. Generally, the power generated by an instrument designed for use in Europe is higher than an instrument designed for use in the United States, because of the larger distance which the European instrument must transmit its signal in order to reach a base station. The density of base stations in Europe is lower than in the United States.
Because of the widespread use of cellular telephones, a pacemaker wearer will almost certainly randomly enter into and leave the transmission fields of a number of such cellular telephones during the course of a day. Of course, if the pacemaker wearer himself or herself uses such a cellular telephone, the potential is greatest for the signal from that telephone interfering with sensed signals used to control the operation of the pacemaker. It is, of course, well-known in pacemaker technology to filter internally obtained, sensed signals in order to remove noise therefrom, such as noise produced by respiration and other internal sources. Conventional noise removal techniques generally employ some type of filtering, the intention being to remove the noise contribution as much as possible from the overall signal, thereby leaving a filtered signal which constitutes a "clean" representation of the sensed activity or the sensed parameter.
In the case of interference produced by a cellular telephone, particularly a cellular telephone employing GSM technology, the pulses of the GSM signal produce relatively pronounced spikes which are (or may be) superimposed on the internally sensed signal. The amplitude of these spikes usually significantly exceeds the expected amplitude of any portion of the sensed signal. Moreover, the spikes are of extremely short duration. Attempting to filter out the effects of such cellular telephone interference by conventional filtering (such as low-pass filtering, bandpass filtering or high-pass filtering) would unavoidably also remove a large amount of the sensed signal itself, thereby removing an unacceptably high amount of data. Since the data content of the sensed signal is used to control the implanted device, this means that the control of the device will inherently be much less accurate. A device of this type is described, for example, in European Application 0 713 714, which also teaches identification of a noise threshold which, when exceeded, causes one or more remedial measures to be selected.
Median filtering is generally known in the signal processing field as a type of filter which determines a median signal value for a finite neighborhood around each input data point. Examples of median filters described for general signal processing use are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,568 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,138,567. In the field of medical technology, the use of median filtering is generally known for processing ECG signals, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,870. The use of a median filter for assisting in analyzing an incoming atrial signal to identify the presence of atrial fibrillation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,344.

Method and apparatus to remove data outliers, produced by external disturbance, in internally measured signals in an implantable cardiac stimulator


A running control device of a vehicle includes an engine with a plurality of cylinders, a clutch connecting/disconnecting a power transmission path between the engine and wheels, a fuel pump transferring fuel toward an injector, and a fuel pressure control device controlling a fuel pressure in a transfer path of the fuel. The running control device of a vehicle performs a neutral inertia running mode performed with the power transmission path between the engine and the wheels disconnected, and a cylinder resting inertia running mode performed by resting at least a part of the cylinders of the engine with the power transmission path between the engine and the wheels connected, the fuel pressure during the neutral inertia running mode being made higher than the fuel pressure during the cylinder resting inertia running mode.

With regard to the conventional engine brake running mode performed with engine brake applied by driven rotation of an engine while a power transmission path between the engine and wheels is kept connected, to execute an inertia running mode performed with an engine brake force made lower than that of the engine brake running mode is conceived for extending a running distance and contributing to improvement in fuel consumption. A device described in Patent Document 1 is an example thereof and a control device is described that performs, for example, a neutral inertia running mode performed with a power transmission path disconnected between an engine and wheels, thereby eliminating the engine brake so as to extend a running distance and contribute to improvement in fuel consumption. Although not depicted in Patent Document 1, another known method of reducing an engine brake force to extend a running distance and contribute to improvement in fuel consumption is a cylinder resting inertia running mode performed by resting at least a part of cylinders of the engine while the power transmission path is kept connected between the engine and the wheels. Resting a part of the cylinders in this way reduces a pumping loss generated during driven rotation of pistons, resulting in a reduced engine brake force.


A lightweight, 2-sided storage bin that slips easily in and out of the bed of a pickup truck, using the truck bed to form a complete enclosure. The two sides of the storage bin act as the back wall and as the hinged top of the bin. The storage bin folds upon itself for easy handling and storage.

1. Field of the Invention
1) This invention relates in general to removable cargo bins for storing items (such as groceries, supplies, tools, pets, etc.) in the bed of a pickup truck.
2. Description of the Prior Art
2) Items placed loosely in the bed of a pickup may slide around while the vehicle is being operated. As a result, items may be damaged, lost, or simply scattered about the bed. Loose items in a pickup bed may also present a safety hazard in the event the pickup accelerates or decelerates rapidly or is involved in a collision.
3) Prior inventions remedy this situation by providing a means for the user to restrain items within the pickup bed. However, some prior inventions (such as rigid cargo boxes) have been heavy, bulky, and difficult to install and remove. Other prior inventions (such as elastic cargo net systems) are not suitable for many types of cargo (such as pets and groceries).


Described herein are systems and methods for providing data policy management over application objects in a storage system environment. An application object may comprise non-virtual or virtual objects (e.g., non-virtual-based applications, virtual-based applications, or virtual storage components). An application object manager may represent application objects by producing mapping graphs and/or application object data that represent application objects in a standardized manner. A mapping graph for an application object may describe a mapping between the application object and its underlying storage objects on a storage system. Application object data may describe a mapping graph in a standardized format. Application object data representing application objects may be received by an application policy manager that manages data policies on the application objects (including virtual applications and virtual storage components) based on the received application object data. Data policies may include policies for backup, service level objectives, recovery, monitoring and/or reporting.

A storage system typically comprises one or more storage devices into which information may be entered, and from which information may be obtained, as desired. The storage system includes a storage operating system that functionally organizes the system by, inter alia, invoking storage operations in support of a storage service implemented by the system. The storage system may be implemented in accordance with a variety of storage architectures including, but not limited to, a network-attached storage environment, a storage area network and a disk assembly directly attached to a client or host computer. The storage devices are typically disk drives organized as a disk array, wherein the term "disk" commonly describes a self-contained rotating magnetic media storage device. The term disk in this context is synonymous with hard disk drive (HDD) or direct access storage device (DASD).
The storage operating system of the storage system may implement a high-level module, such as a file system, to logically organize the information stored on volumes as a hierarchical structure of data containers, such as files and logical units (LUs). A known type of file system is a write-anywhere file system that does not overwrite data on disks. An example of a write-anywhere file system that is configured to operate on a storage system is the Write Anywhere File Layout (WAFL®) file system available from NetApp, Inc. Sunnyvale, Calif.
The storage system may be further configured to allow many servers to access data containers stored on the storage system. In this model, the server may execute an application, such as a database application, that "connects" to the storage system over a computer network, such as a point-to-point link, shared local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), or virtual private network (VPN) implemented over a public network such as the Internet. Each server may request the data services of the storage system by issuing access requests (read/write requests) as file-based and block-based protocol messages (in the form of packets) to the system over the network.
A plurality of storage systems may be interconnected to provide a storage system architecture configured to service many server. In some embodiments, the storage system architecture provides one or more aggregates, each aggregate comprising a set of one or more storage devices (e.g., disks). Each aggregate may store one or more storage objects, such as and one or more volumes. The aggregates may be distributed across a plurality of storage systems interconnected as a cluster. The storage objects (e.g., volumes) may be configured to store content of data containers, such as files and logical units, served by the cluster in response to multi-protocol data access requests issued by servers.
Each storage system (node) of the cluster may include (i) a storage server (referred to as a "D-blade") adapted to service a particular aggregate or volume and (ii) a multi-protocol engine (referred to as an "N-blade") adapted to redirect the data access requests to any storage server of the cluster. In the illustrative embodiment, the storage server of each storage system is embodied as a disk element (D-blade) and the multi-protocol engine is embodied as a network element (N-blade). The N-blade receives a multi-protocol data access request from a client, converts that access request into a cluster fabric (CF) message and redirects the message to an appropriate D-blade of the cluster.
The storage systems of the cluster may be configured to communicate with one another to act collectively to increase performance or to offset any single storage system failure within the cluster. The cluster provides data service to servers by providing access to a shared storage (comprising a set of storage devices). Typically, servers will connect with a storage system of the cluster for data-access sessions with the storage system. During a data-access session with a storage system, a server may submit access requests (read/write requests) that are received and performed by the storage system. Each server typically executes numerous applications requiring the data services of the cluster.
A current trend in storage system environments is to virtualize application and storage resources in the cluster. A virtual server environment may typically include multiple physical servers accessing the storage system having multiple storage devices for storing client data. Each server may include multiple virtual machines (VMs) that reside and execute on the server. Each VM (sometimes referred to as a virtual application or virtual server) may comprise a separate encapsulation or instance of a separate operating system and one or more applications that execute on the server. As such, each VM on a server may have its own operating system and set of applications and function as a self-contained package on the server and multiple operating systems may execute simultaneously on the server.
Each VM on a server may be configured to share the hardware resources of the server. Each server may include a VM manager module/engine (e.g., VMware™ ESX, Microsoft™ Hyper-V, Citrix XenServer™, etc. that executes on the server to produce and manage the VMs. The VM manager module/engine may also virtualize the hardware and/or software resources of the servers for use by the VMs. The operating system of each VM may utilize and communicate with the resources of the server via the VM manager engine. The virtual server environment may also include a plurality of clients connected with each server for accessing client data stored on the storage system. Each client may connect and interface/interact with a particular VM of a server to access client data of the storage system. From the viewpoint of a client, the VM may comprise a virtual server that appears and behaves as an actual physical server or behaves as an actual desktop machine. For example, a single server may by "virtualized" into 1, 2, 4, 8, or more virtual servers or virtual desktops, each running their own operating systems, and each able to support one or more applications.
A storage system may be configured to allow servers to access its data, for example, to read or write data to the storage system. A server may execute an application that "connects" to the storage system over a computer network such as a shared local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), or a virtual private network (VPN) implemented over a public network such as the Internet. The application may send an access request (read or write request) to the storage system for accessing particular data stored on the storage system. Each server may also include multiple VMs, each VM being used by and connected with a client through a computer network. Each VM may also execute an application for sending read/write requests (received from the connected client) for accessing data on the storage system. The VM applications executing on the server may service the connected clients by receiving the client access requests and submitting the access requests to the storage system for execution.
There are several advantages in implementing VMs on a server. Having multiple VMs on a single server enables multiple clients to use multiple different operating systems executing simultaneously on the single server. Also, multiple VMs executing their own applications may be logically separated and isolated within a server to avoid conflicts or interference between the applications of the different VMs. As each VM is separated and isolated from other VMs, a security issue or application crash in one VM does not affect the other VMs on the same server. Also, VMs can rapidly and seamlessly be shifted from one physical server to any other server, and optimally utilize the resources without affecting the applications. Such a virtualization of the servers, and/or virtualization of the storage network environment, allows for efficiency and performance gains to be realized.
As discussed above, the VM manager module/engine of a physical server may virtualize the hardware and/or software resources for use by the VMs. For each physical server these resources may include storage resources/objects (e.g., volumes, logical units, etc.) distributed on one or more storage systems. Each storage system may allocate its storage objects to one or more physical servers, each allocated storage object being "mounted" (i.e., made available) to a particular physical server. For example, a storage system may allocate one or more logical units (LUs) to a physical server, each LU being mounted and made available to the physical server. Each physical server may have one or more LUs available for use from one or more storage systems. A mounted storage object may appear to the server as a direct-attached physical storage device, such as a direct-attached Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) or Serial ATA (SATA) disk device.
Some or all storage resources/objects (e.g., LUs) that are made available to a physical server may be virtualized by the VM manager module for use by the VMs. The VM manager module may virtualize the storage objects by producing virtual storage components for use by the VMs and virtual storage information that describes these virtual storage components. For example, a virtual storage component may comprise a virtual hard disk (VHD) or virtual machine disk (VMDK) allocated to a VM. For each VM, the VM manager module may allocate one or more virtual storage components for use by the VM for accessing and storing data. The virtual storage information may be used by a VM to locate and access its virtual storage component(s).
To a VM, each virtual storage component may appear as a directly attached physical storage device (e.g., a drive or disk) that is directly accessed by the VM. But in fact, each virtual storage component is supported by an underlying corresponding storage resource/object residing somewhere on one of the storage systems. As used herein, an "underlying" storage object corresponding to a virtual storage component comprises the storage object on the storage system that stores the actual data for the virtual storage component. As such, data accesses (e.g., read/write accesses) to and from the virtual storage component by the VM ultimately comprises data accesses to and from the underlying storage object corresponding to the virtual storage component.
Another current trend in storage system environments is to provide policy management over storage objects stored on the storage systems. Policy management may provide services such as maintenance, monitoring, backup, etc. of the storage objects. Current policy management programs, however, do not provide policy management at a higher level than the storage objects on the storage systems and do not provide policy management for any virtual entities (such as virtual applications and virtual storage components). As such, there is a need for a system and method for providing a more flexible and efficient higher level policy management for non-virtual as well as virtual applications and storage resources.

System and method for managing data policies on application objects


A telephone for digital cordless telecommunications includes a frame formatter for logical channel formatting of transmitted baseband signals and received baseband signals. The telephone comprises a radio interface connection with the frame formatter, a FIFO/codec interface conductively coupled to the frame formatter, an interrupt interface conductively coupled to the frame formatter, a data control logic interface conductively coupled to the frame formatter, and a microcontroller interface conductively coupled to the frame formatter.

The present invention relates to an interface of a telecommunications device and, more particularly, to an interface of a frame formatter of a baseband integrated circuit employable in a base unit and a hand unit of a digital cordless telephone.
In conventional cordless telephone systems, a basic communication device typically includes a base unit and a hand unit. The base unit typically has a direct wire link to a standard telecommunications network. The hand unit is mobile the base unit and has no wire link with the base unit. The base unit and hand unit communicate via radio frequency (RF), thus allowing for communications by the hand unit through the base unit with the standard telecommunications network.
Those skilled in the technology have sought to group more and more components on a single integrated circuit or "chip" for use in digital cordless telephones. Many benefits are possible through the grouping of components, such as, for example, smaller size, faster operation, and reduced noise interference. However, grouping of multiple components on a single chip is difficult to design, because suitable pathways for signal communications between the components are limited. The pathways are limited because of the time and space restrictions imposed by virtue of the physical constraints of the single chip.
Digital cordless telephones may exhibit various desired characteristics and advantages according to design of the protocol or "format" (sometimes herein, "frame format") of transmitted and received signals. A variety of formats, both between communications units and between components of those units, may be employed, and each impacts design choices. For example, when a particular, desirable format is communicated over radio frequency, communications units must appropriately operate to make communications possible through that format. Also, if varied applications are intended, the formats of the signal communications by the equipment may be preferable in certain designs as compared to other designs.
In conventional cordless telephone systems, the signals which pass between units and components of a system may include certain control sequences, or "channels", according to particular formats. These control sequences pass between pairs of units, typically a base unit and a hand unit, in both directions. The control sequences may include information such as voice data. The control sequences are dictated to some degree by the structure of the format. In addition to signals passing between pairs of cordless telephone units, signals must pass between various parts of a unit. Those signals passing between parts of a unit may or may not, depending upon the particular content and purpose of the signals, be the same as the signals communicated between unit pairs. Nonetheless, a wide variety of control sequences may be possible in most cases.
The various signals that pass between cordless telephone unit pairs and between the various parts of each of those pairs are necessary to control operations of the parts and units and to maintain communications of data and other information between units and parts. In order to communicate both data information, such as, for example, voice data, and also to control operations through communicated information, it is necessary that both control messages and desired data information pass between parts and units.

Apparatus and method for protocol interface


A liquid level control structure and a method for its production. The controller is comprised of a plate having substantially flat top and bottom surfaces and an hourglass-shaped aperture containing a marking fluid. Protruding a known amount and at a known angle from opposite sides of the aperture waist are knife-edged lips that interact with the fluid's surface tension to control the location of an unbounded surface of the fluid.. The method for producing the liquid level control structure uses semiconductor fabrication techniques. The aperture is formed in a semiconductor wafer using several etching steps, some of which act along the crystalline planes of the wafer. The lips are formed from etch stop layers deposited between etching steps, while the knife-edges are formed on the ends of the lips during an etching step. Beneficially, the location of the knife-edges relative to one surface of the wafer is independent of small variations in the thickness of the water.

Because acoustic ink printers (AIP) avoid the clogging and manufacturing problems of conventional drop-on-demand, nozzle-based ink jet printers, they represent a promising direct marking technology. While significant effort has gone into developing acoustic ink printing, see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,751,530; 4,751,534; 5,028,937; and 5,041,849, problems remain.
An acoustic ink printer utilizes acoustic energy to eject droplets from an unbounded surface of a marking fluid onto a recording surface. Typically, this involves focusing acoustic energy from an ultrasonic transducer using either spherical or fresnel (reference U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,849) acoustic lenses into a focal area near the unbounded surface. If the acoustic energy is sufficient, an ink droplet (having a diameter about the size of the wavelength) is ejected. For a more detailed description of the ejection process reference is made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,308,547 and 5,028,937, and the citations therein.
As can be appreciated, acoustic ink printers are sensitive to the spacing between the acoustic energy's focal plane and the unbounded surface of the liquid. Since the focal plane is generally fixed, it is important that the unbounded surface be positioned near the focal plane. Indeed, since current practice dictates that the focal plane be within about one wavelength of the unbounded surface, and since typical wavelengths are about 10 micrometers, the location of the unbounded surface must be very accurately controlled. U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,937 discussed controlling the location of the unbounded surface using a perforated membrane. However, that solution may not be optimum.
It would be beneficial to have a device that accurately controls the location of the unbounded surface of a liquid, that is producible at low cost, and that allows droplets to be ejected onto a recording medium.

Process for manufacturing liquid level control structure


Aspects described herein include a method of conversational machine reading comprehension, as well as an associated system and computer program product. The method comprises receiving a plurality of questions relating to a context, and generating a sequence of context graphs. Each of the context graphs includes encoded representations of: (i) the context, (ii) a respective question of the plurality of questions, and (iii) a respective conversation history reflecting: (a) one or more previous questions relative to the respective question, and (b) one or more previous answers to the one or more previous questions. The method further comprises identifying, using at least one graph neural network, one or more temporal dependencies between adjacent context graphs of the sequence. The method further comprises predicting, based at least on the one or more temporal dependencies, an answer for a first question of the plurality of questions.

The present invention relates to conversational machine reading comprehension (MRC).
Human learning is often conversation-based, and follow-up questions are asked to acquire additional information based on what has already been learned. However, most approaches to conversational MRC do not effectively capture conversation history, and as a result have trouble answering questions involving coreference (where two or more expressions in a text refer to the same entity) or ellipsis (where the questions are syntactically and/or semantically incomplete).

Conversation history within conversational machine reading comprehension

International Business Machines Corporation


A basic transcoder, that decodes an encoded data stream and re-encodes it, may be used for locally modifying data in said stream. Said modification is carried out by defining a predicted data stream on the basis of a given modifying data stream and adding to the decoded streamxe2x80x94between the decoding and re-encoding parts of the transcoderxe2x80x94the difference between the modifying data stream and the predicted one. In an improved implementation, the modifying data stream is preprocessed so that it may be obtained in the decoded data stream a local substitution of said modifying data to the decoded ones.

The present invention relates to a method of modifying data in an encoded data stream corresponding to successive pictures divided into sub-pictures, comprising the steps of:
decoding said encoded data stream;
re-encoding the decoded data stream.
The invention also relates to a video processing device for carrying out said method. This invention, for instance useful when a broadcaster wants to introduce additional data such as its own logo into a sequence of pictures, finds applications not only in the field of MPEG-2 compression (MPEG-2 will be the common standard for TV broadcasting), but more generally in any digital video data compression system.
In such a situation, i.e when additional digital data have to be added before transmission to an existing coded bitstream, the simplest solution is to decode said bitstream before carrying out said addition. The modified bitstream is then re-coded and transmitted. Unfortunately, a full decoding can generally be considered as expensive, as it requires a decoder and an encoder. Moreover, re-encoding with re-estimated modes and vectors may introduce artefacts on the areas left untouched by the logo addition.
It is therefore a first object of the invention to propose a low-cost solution to add data in a previously existing coded bitstream.
To this end, the invention relates to a method such as described in the opening paragraph of the description and which is moreover characterized in that it also comprises the steps of:
defining a predicted data stream on the basis of an input modifying data stream;
adding to the decoded data stream, before re-encoding it, the difference between the modifying data stream and the predicted one.
This method has for effect to convert the additional data, thanks to the mixing step, into a specific correcting signal that can then be added to the residue signal of the transcoder.
Another object of the invention is to propose an improved method for carrying out an insertion of data with an improved quality with respect to said addition of data.
To this end the invention relates to a method characterized in that it also comprises the step of preprocessing the modifying data stream in order to obtain in the decoded bitstream a substitution of said modifying data to the decoded ones.
Another object of the invention is also to propose devices for implementing the above-mentioned methods.
To this end the invention relates, in a first implementation, to a device for adding data to a video coded data stream, characterized in that it comprises:
(1) a transcoder, for decoding said data stream and re-encoding it;
(2) an addition branch, for defining:
(i) on the basis for these additional data and motion vectors defined in the transcoder, a predicted signal;
(ii) the difference between said additional data and said predicted signal, in view of an addition of said difference into said data stream between decoding and re-encoding parts of said transcoder.
The invention also relates, in a second implementation, to a device for inserting data into a video coded data stream, characterized in that it comprises:
(1) a transcoder, for decoding said bitstream and re-encoding it;
(2) an insertion branch, for defining:
(i) on the basis of these additional data a preprocessed signal;
(ii) on the basis of said preprocessed signal and motion vectors defined in the transcoder, a predicted signal;
(iii) the difference between said preprocessed additional data and said predicted signal, in view of an insertion of said difference into said bitstream between decoding and re-encoding parts of said transcoder.
In the U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,986, a method and apparatus for inserting data into an encoded data stream are described. However, in the situation as described, said stream is in fact a multiplex of elementary data streams that have to be demultiplexed in order to extract one of these elementary streams, to perform a data reduction operation on this extracted stream, and to insert said data into the reduced data stream. The present invention has a distinct object, which is either the addition of data in a picture or, in an improved embodiment, the local replacement of a part of a picture by other picture data.

Method and device for modifying data in an encoded data stream


Methods of fabricating integrated active-matrix light emitting pixel array based displays are provided. The methods include: forming an array of light emitting elements on a first side of a substrate, forming an array of active-matrix light emitting pixels using the array of light emitting elements, each pixel including at least one light emitting element and at least one non-volatile memory coupled to the at least one light-emitting element, forming conductive interconnects penetrating through the substrate from a second side of the substrate to the first side, and forming one or more integrated circuits on the second side, the one or more integrated circuits being conductively coupled to the array of active-matrix light-emitting pixels through the conductive interconnects. The methods can further include forming an array of active-matrix multi-color display pixels by using the array of active-matrix light emitting pixels.

Displays utilizing arrays of light emitting pixels are popular in the electronic field and especially in portable electronic and communication devices, because large amounts of data and pictures can be transmitted rapidly and virtually to any location. Light emitting diode (LED) arrays are becoming more popular than liquid crystal displays (LCD) as an image source in both direct view and virtual image displays. One reason for this is that LEDs are capable of generating relatively high luminance, thus displays incorporating LED arrays can be used in a greater variety of ambient conditions.
Although LED arrays offer certain advantages, a major disadvantage is the complexity of their manufacturing process. In some cases, the arrays are manufactured by depositing materials on a supporting substrate and addressing/driver connections to row and column buses are made around the edges. Thus, the supporting substrate size is larger than the array size because of the necessary I/O pads or terminals. Providing very small contact pads in an effort to increase the array size greatly reduces the assembly yield. Another problem is that the driver circuitry for the LED arrays has a relatively high power consumption and adds a further manufacturing complexity.

Fabricating integrated light-emitting pixel arrays for displays


A piezoelectric apparatus comprising a piezoelectric element that is held in static compression is manufactured using moldable materials and a molding process, e.g., injection molding or die casting. The static compression is caused by an intrinsic urge of the moldable material to expand, contract, or deform otherwise, which develops in the material during the hardening phase of the molding process. To enhance the usefulness of the device, a variety of inserts can be connected to the device and various features can be formed by the moldable material at the same time as the molding process takes place. Static preloads may also be caused by mechanically preloaded elements that are introduced during the molding process or by elements that concurrently introduced but that are permanently deformed thereafter.

In a typical piezoelectric apparatus, a piezoelectric element is mechanically connected to another part, such as a mechanical resonator, to transmit vibratory motion into that part when an appropriate electrical signal is applied to the piezoelectric element. Such a piezoelectric apparatus generally falls into one of two categories. In the first category, the piezoelectric element is placed in static compression along the principal axis of piezoelectric action by a mechanical preload in order to prevent potentially damaging tensile forces on the piezoelectric element during operation of the apparatus. In the second category, such a preload is not necessary. An apparatus comprising a multilayer, stack-type piezoelectric element typically falls into the first category, while an apparatus comprising a bending-type or shear-type piezoelectric element typically falls into the second category. This invention relates to an apparatus of the first category and methods for manufacturing the same.
A variety of methods are known in the prior art to place a piezoelectric element in static compression. A first, often-used method comprises placing the piezoelectric element between two rigid surfaces and urging the surfaces together using, for example, one or more bolts that extend through holes in those surfaces. The need for assembling the one or more bolts is a drawback of the method and apparatus as this assembly step and required hardware typically increases manufacturing costs.
In a second method, the part that is to be mechanically connected to the piezoelectric element comprises an opening. The part could, for example, serve as a mechanical resonator. The dimension of the piezoelectric element along the principal axis of piezoelectric action is selected somewhat larger than the corresponding dimension of the opening in the resonator. In order to accommodate the piezoelectric element, some of the resonator material surrounding the opening must extend and deform elastically, or even plastically. U.S. Pat. No. 6,664,714 teaches this method. As a result of the deformation, the piezoelectric element is held in compression within the opening by the resonator material surrounding the opening. The need for maintaining certain mechanical tolerances for all the parts involved is a drawback of this method. Also, the process of inserting the piezoelectric element into the opening can pose difficulties as it may lead to scraping or abrasion on both the piezoelectric element and the inside of the opening. Also, the forces necessary to insert the piezoelectric element may damage it. Furthermore, the resonator is separately manufactured prior to the step of inserting the piezoelectric element.
Metals are typically used to form the part holding a piezoelectric element in compression. In some instances, a non-metallic material such as a polymer is placed on the mechanical contact surface of the piezoelectric element in order to fill in surface asperities and to alleviate dimensional tolerances. Such an interposed polymer does not by itself actively place the piezoelectric element in compression, i.e., it does not have an intrinsic urge to do so. Instead, the polymer is itself compressed by the compressive action of the part that supports the piezoelectric element. The compressive action in turn is caused by external means such as, for example, tensioning bolts. Furthermore, the interposed polymer does not completely separate the piezoelectric element from the part holding the piezoelectric element in compression. It merely serves to enhance the mutual mechanical contact. German Patent DE19928780 discloses such an interposed polymer and its uses. Here as well, interposing the polymeric compound and imprinting a mechanical preload are two separate steps.
There is thus a need for a piezoelectric apparatus and manufacturing methods therefore, wherein a piezoelectric element is held in static compression and wherein the compressive force neither is caused by separate mounting hardware such as a preloading screw, nor is due to a separate assembly process such as the press-fit method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,664,714.

Elliptec Resonant Actuator Aktiengesellschaft


A snap ring which has a substantially radially directed ring section with a support surface and a substantially axially directed ring section with a lateral surface, the two ring sections forming an L-shaped cross-section, and a ring gap. For ease of use, at least one of the two end sections that face each other in the ring gap is turned outward in the radial direction in relation to the rest of the ring profile by bending, and, in the bent region, the axial ring section has a notch.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a snap ring in which an essentially radially oriented ring section with a support surface and an essentially axially oriented ring section with a circumferential surface form an L-shaped cross-section and there is an annular gap.
Discussion of Related Art
When a snap ring of this kind with an L-shaped cross-section, as disclosed in German Patent Reference DE 33 46 661 C2, is used, it offers the possibility of supporting a machine element in the axial direction in a cylindrical cavity of a part of the machine. The axially oriented circumferential surface, with its outside, rests against the inner wall of the cavity and the radially inward oriented support surface constitutes a support for absorbing axially oriented forces. Contrarily, it is also possible for the axially oriented circumference surface to be situated at the inside of the ring and for the radially oriented support surface to point outward in order to mount the snap ring on an axle or shaft and to support a hollow, cylindrical machine element in the axial direction. Difficulties can arise with regard to installing such a snap ring and preventing it from rotating.
Other snap rings with an annular gap and end regions that protrude like tabs inward, outward, or in the axial direction are disclosed in German Patent References DE 60 2004 002 940 T2, DE 848 002 B, DE 1 903 295 U, and DE 830 716 B. In addition to the above-mentioned difficulties, there can also be disadvantages relating to production and adaptation.


A method for determining the type of a digital versatile disc (DVD) so that a DVD+ can be distinguished from a DVD−. The main steps for determining the type of a DVD include setting up related parameters, reading a general wobble signal or a wobble signal within the general wobble signal from a DVD to obtain a peak hold value and a trough hold value. The peak and trough hold values of the general wobble signal are read to derive a peak-to-peak voltage. Finally, if the peak-to-peak voltage is greater than a predetermined threshold value, the DVD is classified as a DVD−, otherwise it is classified as a DVD+. Furthermore, a DVD-ROM disc can be determined.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for determining the type of digital versatile discs (DVD). More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of distinguishing between a DVD− and a DVD+ disc.
2. Description of the Related Art
Digital versatile disc (DVD) is now a very popular optical storage medium. Aside from the read-only DVD-ROM (the "ROM" part refers to a read-only memory), DVD that can be used for recording data is available. DVD that can be used for recording data can be further classified into DVD− and DVD+ according to specifications. At present most DVD players are compatible to a number of specifications. Therefore, the technique of determining the type of a DVD is quite important.
At present, the method of determining the type of a DVD includes using the positional information embedded within a pre-groove wobble signal (wobble signal in short). According to DVD standard specifications, a DVD-ROM does not have a wobble signal. However, both the DVD− and the DVD+ have wobble signals beside ordinary tracks. The source of the wobble signal can be seen with reference to FIG. 1. When the optical disc rotates inside a DVD player, the pick up head 101 will slide away from the track 102 in an outward direction. The relative positions of the four areas A, B, C, D in the photo diode IC (the photosensitive diode integrated circuit) of the pick-up head 101 are set up as shown in FIG. 1. Hence, each area will receive a signal of different magnitudes. The wobble signal is obtained using the following formula:Gx[g1×(A+D)−g2×(B+C)],where G, g1 and g2 are adjustable gain values.
DVD− and DVD+ each has a positioning scheme mixed within the wobble signal that permits the extraction of positional information by decoding using a logic computational circuit. FIG. 2 shows the wobble signal of a DVD+. The wobble signal 201 includes a plurality of phase-changing regions 202. After decoding the wobble signal 201 in a logic computational circuit, positional information is obtained. FIG. 3 shows the wobble signal of a DVD−. The wobble signal 301 includes a plurality of land pre-pits 302. Similarly, positional information can be gathered after the wobble signal is decoded in a logic computational circuit. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, DVD+ and DVD− produce different wobble signals and the decoding function of each logic computational circuit is different. Thus, these differences can be utilized to determine the type of a DVD.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the steps of the prior art method for determining the type of a DVD. First, assuming an optical disc placed inside the DVD player is a DVD+ so that parameters related to DVD+ are set up (step 402). An attempt is made to read data about the current position information (step 404). If the current position information is read successful, the optical disc is determined to be a DVD+ (step 406). Otherwise, the optical disc is assumed to be a DVD− and parameters related to a DVD− are set up (step 408). Thereafter, another attempt is made to read data about the current position information (step 410). If the current position information is read successful, the optical disc is determined to be a DVD− (step 412). Otherwise, the optical disc is determined to be a DVD-ROM (step 414).
One major drawback of the aforementioned method is that the related parameters of the DVD+ and the DVD− must encompass most types of optical discs. For an optical disc that has been used to record data before, the quality of positional information on the disc may deteriorate and lead to errors. Hence, a method capable of reducing errors in distinguishing between a DVD+ and a DVD− is required.

Method for determining the type of digital versatile disc


A grounded insulated electrostatic supply tank comprised of a conductive tank that has several liners to fully insulate a waterborn fluid in the tank from ground. The interior of the tank and a sealed lid are coated with an insulating liner. An intermediate lining is placed in the tank and third interior insulating inner liner is inserted in the tank and has a lip that wraps around the upper rim of the tank and is sealed between the lid and the tank. Electrostatic spray equipment is connected to the tank by a coaxial hose having an inner non-conductive hose and preferably, an outer hose that is conductive. Inner non-conductive hose extends through the lid into an insulating teflon pick-up tube that extends to near the bottom of the tank. Depleted waterborn fluid in the tank is grounded after use by a manual probe or by a piston operated automatic grounding system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fluid supplies for electrostatic spray systems and more particularly, relates to a grounded insulated fluid supply.
2. Background Information
A recent increase in the use of waterborn coatings, sprayed electrostatically, has created interest in providing protection against shock hazards. Previously, when spraying waterborn coating electrostatically, the supply tank for the coating, which is normally quite conductive, is isolated from ground with electrical insulators. This is achieved by supporting the supply tank on electrical insulators of sufficient insulation values to assure high voltage is maintained to the electrostatic spray device. In these systems the support tank, as well as the supporting platform, are carried at high voltage which can create shock hazards.
To provide safety for personnel operating such systems, the supply is then often enclosed in a grounded and fenced area that typically has a gate opening that is interlocked so that the supply is automatically grounded if the gate is open. This arrangement requires substantial additional floor space in the spray area necessitating high initial costs for materials, installation and maintenance. Also, the system must frequently be checked to ensure proper operation.
Operation of electrostatic spraying systems typically range in voltage outputs from 60,000 to 100,000 volts DC depending upon the type, and whether they are manual or automatic. The electrical capacitance of such operating systems can be quite high and undesirable.
These problems have generated substantial interest in making the system more simple and safe by using voltage blocking systems. These voltage blocking systems provide protection from shock hazards which present serious problems because waterborn coatings are such good conductors of electricity. The charge applied to these coatings feeds back through the paint stream and electrifies the paint equipment. The most common safety strategy, as described above, is to place the paint supply equipment on insulated stands and isolate them from ground. Building safety cages around the equipment so no one is able to come into contact while it is charged is another step toward safety.
In recent years, paint equipment and other fluids spray suppliers have developed voltage blockers to cope with this problem. Each use different designs and concepts that vary, but all seem to achieve the same goal which is to create an air gap in the fluid stream to prevent the flow of electricity between electrostatic spray device and the paint supply.
One such voltage blocker called the Side Kick Voltage Blocker, manufactured by Binks Manufacturing, Inc., offers a computer-controlled voltage block. The Position between the spray device and the grounded material supply are isolated to progressively block the electrostatically charged reservoir or supply tank from ground. This system provides protection by moving a fixed volume of waterborn paint from isolator to isolator and finally into the electrostatically charged reservoir. Each isolator tube is scraped and cleaned as it transfers paint, thereby creating a voltage block. The system continuously fills and maintains a fluid level in the reservoir as paint is being sprayed.
Another system, manufactured by Graco Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn. called the H.sub.2 O Pro Voltage Blocker, uses voltage blocking designed around an isolator that supplies paint to an accumulator. The isolator houses a valve that alternately opens to allow paint to fill the accumulator and then closes to provide electrical separation between charged fluid and grounded equipment. The system also features an arc reduction probe on the isolator that protects the wiping rod from arcing and a bleed resistor that drains voltage from the system when the gun is not use. The system also includes a pump that circulates lubricant seals in the isolator, a push-button flushing activator and a grounded metal enclosure that eliminates static discharge.
Another system called the Aqua Block System, available from ITW Ransburg Electrostatic Systems of Toledo, Ohio is comprised of three basic elements. These elements are a rotary four-way purging valve, a cylinder/reservoir and a circulating supply of "blocking media." The fluid supplied to the spraying apparatus enters one port of the four-way valve and is alternately switched from one or the other of the valve to the port at each end of the cylinder/reservoir. The cylinder/reservoir is a double-ended piston assembly that is driven by the flow of fluid through the system to the spraying equipment. The continuous flow of blocking medium purges any conductive fluids that escape as the valve actuates, providing electrical isolation inside the four-way valve.
Another system called the Iso-Flo Voltage Blocker from Nordson Corporation of Amherst, Ohio employs voltage blocking designed to work with nearly all internal and external power supply guns, atomizers and discs. In this system, an electrostatic power unit is located just outside the spray booth to supply the electrostatic charge to the coating material. This charging method eliminates the need for individual power supplies and electrostatic cables from multiple spray devices. The system features single-stage, pneumatically operated reservoirs that alternately fill and spray to ensure a continuous supply of coating material. During operation, shuttle valves alternately connect the reservoirs to the grounded paint supply source and to the charge spray devices. The shuttle valves provide the air gap to provide the voltage blocking or electrical isolation between the charged coating and any grounded material or equipment.
While the above systems may be effective, they are complicated and expensive to fill and use, requiring a great deal of maintenance and many parts. It would be advantageous if a system could be designed and operated effectively in which the supply tank is grounded and insulated for use with a conductive coating contained within the tank. Such a system would void all the disadvantages of electrostatic application of waterborn coatings and those of the present complex isolation systems described above.
It is therefore, one object of the present invention to provide a grounded insulated supply tank for electrostatic application of waterborn coatings.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a grounded insulated supply tank for use in electrostatic application of waterborn coatings that will minimize the amount of floor space required.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a grounded insulated fluid supply that is simple and easy to use, and substantially reduces installation costs.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a grounded insulated supply tank for electrostatic application of waterborn coatings that has a conductive tank with a insulated liner and a non-conductive pick-up tube that is attached to the fluid output of the supply tank cover and extends to the bottom of the inner most insulating liner.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a grounded insulated supply tank for use in electrostatic application of waterborn coatings including a non-conductive fluid hose connected to an insulating fluid pick-up tube in the fluid tank. The non-conductive fluid hose may have a conductive outer cover to ground the system in the event of hose rupture and offers abrasion protection in use.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a grounded insulated supply tank for electrostatic application of waterborn coatings that has multiple insulating liners, an insulated cover on top of the insulating liners in addition to an insulating pick-up tube that isolates the electrically conductive waterborn coatings from the conductive tank, allowing the tank to be grounded.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide grounded insulated supply tank for electrostatic application of waterborn coatings that includes a grounding probe to ground the electrically conductive fluid when fluid in the tank is depleted.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a grounded insulated supply tank for electrostatic application of waterborn coatings that include an automatic grounding system when the tank is empty and tank pressure is released.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a grounded insulated supply tank for electrostatic application of waterborn coatings having a grounding system including a piston that is lifted when the tank is pressurized and is released by removing pressure when the tank is empty to automatically ground the electrically conductive fluid.

Supply tank for electrostatic spraying system


An amusement device for a helical coil spring toy that generates a response such as sound or light whenever the wave of the helical coil spring changes direction. The amusement device includes two end caps affixed to the two free ends of the coil spring. One of the two end caps is an active end cap which houses the mechanism for generating the response. When the helical coil spring is compressed at the active end cap end a trigger switch activates an integrated circuit thereby producing the desired response. When the wave of compressed coils travels to the passive end cap a second response is produced by a time delay circuit so that user selective alternating responses are produced each time the wave of coils travels from one end cap to the other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a helical spring toy and a response device therefor and in particular a device which combines the action of a helical coil spring toy with a response each time the wave of expanded coils changes direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
A helical coil spring toy that produces an action is well known in the art, such type of toys being popular for many years under the trademark SLINKY. The helical coil spring toy comprises a metal or plastic type helical coil, which can be easily compressed or stretched by a small child. The helical coil spring toy can be placed at the top of a stairway so that when correctly propelled the helical coil spring toy travels end over end thereby appearing to "walk" down the stairs. The toy can also be utilized in other ways, for example by holding one end in each hand and then exciting the toy to produce a wavelike motion of the spring.
Several prior art inventions combine the action of a spring type toy with some form of a sound response. U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,591, for example, discloses a hand-held helical coil spring toy having a tone generator at one end. Varying musical tones are generated as the spring is manually compressed and released based upon the amount of pressure with which the tone generator is grasped. Although this device generates a musical tone when the tone generator is stimulated, no sound is produced when the end not having the tone generator is excited.
Another hand-held helical coil spring toy is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,187,635, and has a resonator and diaphragm that amplify the natural frequency of the spring. This device must be manually activated, and as a further disadvantage, does not produce electronically generated sounds. As a further example of the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,222 discloses a response device having a signal generator attached to a flexible spring-like member. When the flexible member is waved, a sound is produced, which varies in relation to the amount of flexure. A first tone is produced with respect to an electronic oscillatory signal and a second tone is generated when the frequency of the oscillatory signal exceeds a predetermined value. This response device does not have a helical coil spring element.

Helical coil spring toy and a response device therefor


The present invention relates to an element (1) that works sliding, of an internal combustion engine and/or a compressor that undergoes friction and receives a coating of chrome nitride having an equiaxial morphology, with low porosity (lower than 1%) and with a crystallographic orientation predominantly (111), maintaining some reticulate in the orientation (200), so as to improve its resistance to wear and its toughness, prolonging the useful life of the element (1) that works sliding.

Internal combustion engine comprise numberless elements that undergo friction and, as a result, undergo wear because they are subjected to severe stresses when the engine is functioning.
One of the ways to guarantee resistance to wear for an element that works sliding so that it can have long/sufficient useful life for the useful-life parameters of the engine is the application of one or more layers of coating on the base metal from which it is built. The coating, developed specifically for resisting wear and abrasion, maintains the performance properties of the element that works sliding, even after millions of explosion cycles of the engine.
Besides cylinders, pistons and rings, an internal combustion engine has a number of additional elements provided with at least one slide surface, which can receive coatings so as to prolong the useful life of the piece. Some of these elements are bronze bushings, cylinder bushings, components of the valve gear, etc.
In this regard, there are numberless techniques using the most varied compositions of coatings and numberless application processes, each trying to optimize the performance and durability properties of the most varied types and configurations of elements for use on an internal combustion engine having a slide surface.
In the spirit of the elements that work sliding and are object of the present invention, films/coatings of chrome nitride (CrN,Cr2N) used, for example, for piston rings applied to internal combustion engine, have typically "columnar" morphology (see FIG. 1) with the orthogonal direction to the substrate or metallic base that will receive the coating.
It should be noted that, since this is a coating applied to a surface that has relative sliding movement, for instance, reciprocating, a stress tangent to the free surface is intrinsic to the coating material because of the friction. In this condition, the stress of the coating due to friction takes place in the direction of less resistance of the coating because of its "columnar" texture.
Another condition that also affects the resistance of the films is the presence of pores (not shown in the figures). Pores are regions present in the coating, which have defect due to the extremely low localized cohesion of the material. Thus, the pores act as tension concentrators in greater or lesser scale, depending on the geometry and number of pores.
Thus, the orientation of the structure of the coating material influences its performance directly. Typically, cross-linking agents with (111) or (200) orientations are produced. The first orientation of the material (111) is known for exhibiting good resistance to wear, while the second orientation (200) contributes to minimizing internal tensions of the coating and, as a result, enables one to obtain a coating with more thickness than that obtained with coatings that nave only the orientation (111).
There are a few prior-art elements that work sliding and exhibit columnar morphology and orientation (111). Examples thereof are shown in documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,536 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,659, which describe piston rings provided with chrome-nitride coatings with columnar morphology and orientation (111) parallel to the coating surface. These documents disclose a coating having thickness that ranges from 1 to 80 micrometers (μm), with hardness ranging from 600 to 1000 Vickers (HV) and porosity ranging from 1.5 to 20%.
Additionally, there are also prior-art documents that present columnar morphology and both orientations (111) and (200). North-American document US 2009/278320A1 discloses a chrome-nitride coating with columnar morphology, provided with both orientations with a view to achieve benefits, mainly with regard to toughness. However, this prior-art document exploits a relatively small range of the (111)/(200) ratio, which ranges from 0.8 to 1.2. In other words, both orientations remain in an almost similar relationship, providing a film with thickness higher than 80 μm, hardness ranging from 1500 to 2500 HV and porosity higher than 10%.
Finally, document U.S. Pat. No. 6,372,369 describes an element that works sliding for use on an internal combustion engine (piston ring), which element is provided with a chrome-nitride coating (CrN) and titanium nitride (TiN) containing oxygen and that also exhibits a columnar morphology. This coating has a thickness ranging from 1 to 100 μm and hardness ranging from 1300 to 2300 HV. Such characteristics are achieved through an orientation of the coating with predominance of orientations (111) or (200). Thus, the chrome-nitride and titanium-nitride crystals have a preferred orientation (200) or (111) parallel to the surface to be coated, its morphology being thus columnar, from the base material to the outer surface of the coating.
In spite of the technological advances evidenced by the prior-art documents, one has not yet found a solution that could enable coatings of elements that work sliding applied to internal combustion engines with an increase of their resistance to wear, while preserving toughness and guaranteeing porosity lower than 1% or virtually zero.
Additionally, besides the fact that the prior art does not achieve coatings that provide extreme resistance to wear for sliding elements, enabling them to perform their functions adequately during long functioning cycles, such documents do not disclose the possibility of using coatings with alternative morphologies. Such morphologies are more capable of resisting the tribological conditions to which the sliding elements are subject, providing more durable conditions of functioning and enabling the internal combustion engines exhibit greater efficiency and lower emission of polluting gases.
Thus, the solutions of the prior art have two great drawbacks, which have not been eliminated so far. On the other hand, the increase in resistance to wear impairs the toughness of the coating and, on the other hand, the coatings exhibit porosity that is harmful to the durability of the coating. In this regard, the variables: resistance to wear, toughness and porosity are limited to an equation that needs the introduction of a new paradigm in order to achieve better results, namely at the level of the morphology of chrome-nitride coatings and the orientation of their structure.

Element provided with at least one slide surface for use on an internal combustion engine


Hard surface cleaning compositions which cause little or no vinyl staining comprise from about 1% to about 60% of an amine oxide detergent surfactant having the formula R.sup.1 R.sup.2 R.sup.3 NO, wherein R.sup.1 has from about 8 to about 30 carbon atoms, and R.sup.2 and R.sup.3 each individually has from about 1 to about 18 carbon atoms; an aqueous carrier liquid; an amine; and no more than about 2% anionic surfactant. At least a portion of the amine is protonated, and the molar ratio of protonated amine to amine oxide is at least 0.1:1.

The use of amine oxide detergent surfactants in cleaning compositions is well known. Amine oxides are most commonly used as cosurfactants to boost and maintain suds formation in laundry, shampoo, and dishwashing detergent compositions. Amine oxides have occasionally been used in hard surface cleaners such as acidic toilet bowl cleaners (pH of 2 or less), dishwashing liquids containing occlusive emollients (pH of 4 to 6.9), and selected non-acidic (neutral to alkaline) hard surface cleaners. In conventional non-acidic hard surface cleaners, amine oxide detergent surfactants are generally non-ionic (pK.sub.a between about 4 and about 6).
Amine oxide detergent surfactants have been used in compositions which also comprise amine buffering agents. Cripe et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,310, and Ofosu-Asante, U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,409, both disclose alkyl ethoxy carboxylate-containing dishwashing compositions which may comprise amine oxide suds boosters and amine buffering agents; both references teach that the pK.sub.a of the buffering agent is about 0.5 to about 1.0 units below the pH of the composition. Fu, WO 92/06157, discloses detergent compositions comprising an alkyl ethoxy carboxylate component and a polyhydroxy fatty acid amide component, which compositions may further comprise amine oxide suds boosters and amine buffering agents. Kokx et al., GB 2,123,847, disclose detergent compositions containing amine oxide which have a reserve alkalinity of greater than about 2.5; Kokx et al. also teach that the compositions preferably contain free monoethanolamine to provide the reserve alkalinity. None of these references teach that the amine is protonated.
These nonionic amine oxides provide good cleaning properties and leave little or no visible residue on hard surfaces when they dry. Unfortunately, non-acidic hard surface cleaners containing amine oxides typically stain or discolor vinyl (e.g., polyvinyl chloride) surfaces. The staining amounts to a light yellow to dark brown discoloration of the vinyl. Staining will also occur on waxed vinyl surfaces where areas of wax are worn thin or are chipped away so that the amine oxide can come in direct contact with the vinyl.
Thus, many prior art non-acidic amine oxide compositions are limited in that the compositions stain vinyl surfaces. Additionally, many prior art amine oxide compositions are limited in that they also contain high levels of anionic compounds or salts thereof, such compositions can leave behind residues and therefore are undesirable for no-rinse applications. Also high level of anionic compounds can cause quaternary disinfectants to precipitate.

Compositions and methods for cleaning hard surfaces using protonated amines and amine oxide surfactants


An imaging system includes an imaging device connected to a first communication network, and a first server device connected to the first communication network, and each of the imaging device and the first server device includes a first logical port that is used to transfer video data, a second logical port that is used to transfer data other than the video data, a measuring unit that measures a data transfer amount of the second logical port, and a band control unit that controls transfer bands of the first logical port and the second logical port according to the data transfer amount measured by the measuring unit.

Conventionally, an imaging system having a configuration in which an imaging device and a sever device are connected to each other via a communication network is used. The imaging device is a device that performs processing such as photographing an image (a video or a still image), and the server device is a device that performs processing such as storing an image photographed by the imaging device. In the imaging system above, various types of data are transferred between the imaging device and the server device.
As an example of the imaging system including the imaging device and the server device, a system that includes an endoscope system including an endoscope and an endoscopic image recording device and a storing server, and the like are known (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2002-34907).