In an exhaust system, exhaust manifolds are connected to two banks provided in a V-type engine of a vehicle, respectively, to which front pipes each having a catalytic converter are connected to the exhaust manifolds, respectively. A muffler is provided at an exhaust downstream side of the exhaust pipes, and a rear pipe is further connected to the exhaust downstream side of the muffler. The front pipe has its rear end portion located near a through hole formed in the rear pipe. A path length of one of the front pipes from the bank to the muffler is made shorter than that of the other front pipe.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally an engine (internal combustion engine) for a vehicle is provided with an exhaust system formed of such components as an exhaust pipe, a catalytic converter and a muffler arranged therein. Especially in the case where the internal combustion engine is of V type, horizontally-opposed type and the like, which has two banks, the exhaust pipe including an exhaust manifold is connected to each of those two banks such that two exhaust pipes are connected to a muffler provided at a downstream side. The structure of the aforementioned exhaust system is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-200854.
In the exhaust system of the internal combustion engine as disclosed in the above-described publication, each base end portion of the exhaust pipes is connected to each of those two banks such that the exhaust gas is fed into the muffler through the respective exhaust pipes. The exhaust gas fed from each of the exhaust pipes joins within the muffler. The length of one of the exhaust pipes from its base end portion to an opening is substantially the same as that of the other exhaust pipe. The thus structured exhaust system prevents generation of noise or deterioration of the output caused by the difference in the length between those exhaust pipes owing to the limitation in the arrangement of the muffler.
Some driver or occupants of the vehicle may prefer powerful engine sound or the resultant exhaust sound, which is generated by the V-type engine or the horizontally-opposed type engine in accordance with the number of cylinders. The engine sound or the exhaust sound, accordingly may become one of key factors which drive the customer to buy the vehicle. It has been generally required, however, to reduce the engine sound or the exhaust sound as minimum as possible so as to reduce the undesired sound and vibration inside and outside the vehicle. Accordingly the above-structured system fails to allow the driver or the occupant to experience the powerful original sound of the engine or the resultant exhaust sound.
The way how the engine sound is transmitted to the muffler may vary to a certain extent depending on the length of the exhaust pipe from the bank to the muffler. In the above-structured system having the two exhaust pipes each of which has the same length, the sound quality with half order is likely to be erased, and accordingly, it is difficult to freely adjust (tune) the tone quality within the muffler.

Exhaust system of internal combustion engine


A cryosurgery apparatus is disclosed. The cryosurgery apparatus an introducer having a hollow and a distal portion, the distal portion being sufficiently sharp so as to penetrate into a body, the hollow of the introducer being designed and constructed for containing a plurality of cryoprobes each of the cryoprobes being for effecting cryoablation, such that each of the plurality of cryoprobes is deployable through the distal portion of the introducer when the distal portion is positioned with respect to a tissue to be cryoablated.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method of cryoablation, and more particularly for cryoablation using multiple probes introduced into the body of a patient through a common introducer, so as to perform cryoablation of a particular volume of tissue while minimizing damage to adjacent healthy tissues.
A variety of medical conditions are preferentially treated by ablation of tissues within the body. Classically, ablation was performed using invasive surgical procedures requiring cutting or destroying tissues between the exterior of the body and the particular site whose ablation is desired. More recently, less invasive procedures have been developed, which bring about the destruction of selected tissues using a probe or probes which penetrate to the area to be operated, and destroy the selected tissue by transferring energy to those tissues; RF energy, light (laser) energy, microwave energy, and high-frequency ultra-sound energy are among the forms which have been used. However all such methods have the common disadvantage that while transferring energy to the tissues whose destruction is intended, they tend also to transfer energy, through conduction, convection, and other natural processes, to nearby healthy tissues as well. All such energy transfer methods ultimately result in heat release, causing complications and adverse effects. Noticeable pain results, the functioning of nearby healthy tissues is impaired, and the healthy tissues are often damaged or destroyed. Moreover, in some cases tissues exposed to thermal energy or other forms of energy that raise their temperatures secrete substances that may be toxic to adjacent healthy tissues.
In contrast, cryoablation provides a number of important advantages over other ablation techniques. Cryoablation provides better control of the ablated volume than is attainable using other procedures. Moreover, real-time imaging during cryoablation, using ultrasound and MRI techniques, is helpful and straightforward, since the frozen tissue is clearly seen under these imaging techniques. Also, cryoablation, unlike heat radiation techniques, allows for repeatable and/or complementary treatment of the affected area. Cryoablation is considered to cause less pain to the patients. Some scientific evidence supports the conclusion that there is less morbidity and less risk of mortality as a result of cryoablation procedure compared to other minimally invasive and traditional techniques. For these and other reasons, cryoablation has recently become a popular method for certain types of minimally invasive ablation procedures. Examples include the treatment of prostate malignant tumors and of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH), and the creation of trans-myocardial channels to effect trans-myocardial revascularization.
Yet, cryoablation procedures also have an inherent disadvantage. Cryoprobes when activated typically form at their tip what is know in the art as an "ice ball", a volume which is frozen by exposure to the low temperatures developed by the cryoprobe. Unfortunately, the radius of the volume in which total destruction of tissues is achieved (such destruction of tissues being the purpose of the operation) is typically only half of the radius of the volume within which tissues are more or less severely damaged. Since the volume of a sphere is proportional to the cube of the radius, the volume of total cell destruction, for a particular ice-ball, will typically be only the order of one-eighth of the volume of the area that is frozen during the operation and more or less severely damaged. The disadvantage is clear: if a single ice-ball is used to destroy a selected volume, and the ice-ball is large enough to ensure the complete destruction of that volume (which complete destruction would be desired in the case of a malignancy, for example), then a surrounding volume approximately seven times larger will be more or less severely damaged. That surrounding volume will typically include much healthy tissue that would preferably be left healthy and intact. In the case of ablation of the prostate, for example, freezing of surrounding tissues using simple cryosurgical techniques will typically damage or destroy, and create temporary or permanent impairment of the function of, the prostatic urethra, the anus, and various bundles of nerves in the prostatic area.
One method of solving this problem is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,991 to Schatzberger, teaching the use of a series of ice-balls of small dimensions, such as can be created by a two-dimensional array of cryoprobes whose depth of penetration can be measured and controlled, so as to achieve accurate three-dimensional placement of a plurality of ice-balls, in a manner that conforms to the dimensions and form and placement of the lesion to be destroyed. In other words, Schatzberger's apparatus defines a volume of controllable form and dimension, for cryoablation. The ice-balls created by the apparatus are each of small dimensions, and they are placed so as to be contiguous to one another or to overlap each other. This arrangement results in a reduction of the amount of tissue that is damaged but not destroyed, and permits more accurate definition of the exact form and dimensions of the ablated tissue.
The mechanism described by Schatzberger is not, however, well adapted to every application of cryoablation. It is relatively complex, and requires penetration of the affected area by a multiplicity of individually introduced and individually handled cryoprobes. It could not be used, for example, in the context of cryoablating benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) through the urethra, a relatively non-invasive treatment method described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/301,576, filed Apr. 29, 1999, and incorporated herein by reference. That procedure requires an apparatus which is both simpler and more compact than that described by Schatzberger, in that the procedure requires the operating portion of the cryogenic apparatus to be introduced to the area of the lesion by means of a cystoscope, in order to reduce reducing trauma to healthy tissue.
Thus there is a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, a method and apparatus for cryoablation that provides for the destruction of a defined volume of tissue, yet which minimizes damage to adjacent tissues. It would be further advantageous to have a method of cryoablation using an apparatus that creates such an extended volume of cryoablation yet is contained within a single introducer. It would be yet further advantageous to have such an introducer which could be introduced through an operating channel of a catheter or cystoscope, enabling it to reach the proximity of the region to be treated with a minimum of trauma to intervening tissues.
Referring now to another aspect of prior art, two-stage heating and cooling has successfully been used in surgical cryoablation systems, particularly in two-stage cooling of a high-pressure gas used to achieve cryogenic temperatures using Joule-Thomson heat exchangers. Two-stage cooling presents the advantages of more rapid and more efficient cooling than would be possible in a single Joule-Thomson cooling stage. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,444 to Ammar a cryogenic probe utilizes two stages of Joule-Thomson cooling to achieve low temperatures at the operating end of the probe. Ammar describes, however, a single probe so cooled.
Schatzberger, in the patent previously cited, describes two-stage cooling in a multi-probe system. In FIG. 6a Schatzberger teaches a plurality of cryosurgical probes connected by flexible connectors to a common housing which includes a pre-cooling element for pre-cooling the high-pressure gas flowing to the probes, this element being preferably a Joule-Thomson heat exchanger used as a cooler. Schatzberger's system thus utilizes two-stage cooling, with pre-cooling taking place extracorporeally in the housing and a second cooling stage taking place in each individual cryoprobe. Furthermore, the mechanism Schatzberger describes has the disadvantage that the pre-cooled gases must be transported a considerable distance between the housing and the probe, and the conduit connecting the probe to the housing, which must remain flexible, must also be thermally insulated.
Consequently, it would be further advantageous to have a cryoablation apparatus and method which enables the pre-cooling of a plurality of cryoprobes within a single introducer, such that the pre-cooling stage of a two-stage Joule-Thomson heat exchange process can take place in close proximity to a second stage of cooling which takes place within the individual cryoprobes.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A texture word map is produced by selecting a plurality of texture words to express the makeup textures; classifying the plurality of selected texture words into two types; producing a texture word map by arranging one characteristic in the ordinate and the other characteristic in the abscissa and arranging positional correlations of the texture words one another in the coordinates of the ordinate and the abscissa. A texture image map is produced by overlapping individual images on the texture word map and makeup with a texture is done based on the texture image map.

Conventionally, facing, so-called makeup, is composed of broadly three important factors, i.e., color, shape, and texture. The makeup with color is based on arrangement and mapping of effects of makeup color of such as a lipstick and an eye shadow applied to the respective parts of a face, and the makeup with shape is based on arrangement and mapping of effects of makeup based on the shape such as the face outline, the positions and shapes of the eyes, the nose, the lips and the hairline. The effects of makeup based on the color and the shape have been previously disclosed by the applicant of the present invention as results of investigations, but, with respect to the texture, comprehensive and collective investigations have not been performed yet. The textures of makeup are images of liveliness, vividness, softness, serenity, and so forth which can not be expressed by the color or shape, and expressed with words such as sweetness, feminine, cool/sharp, and so forth and mainly brought by materials of cosmetics. Particularly, recently bright and shining makeup just like brilliant eyes and glossy lips have drawn attention and thus the texture tends to be regarded to be important. Although the relations between the makeup and textures have been accumulated as practical experiences of individual cosmeticians, they have been neither integrated nor established collectively.

Makeup method based on texture and texture map


To provide a power supply relay controller and an electric power steering apparatus capable of appropriately preventing contact failure of relays. When abnormal conduction between relay contacts occurs, a power supply relay circuit is opened and closed while a predetermined potential difference is applied between the relay contacts. At this time, an operation for turning on the relay contacts is performed while the charge of an electrolytic capacitor by a precharge circuit is limited. In this way, an ice layer between the relay contacts is removed by thermal energy of an arc that is generated between the contacts by a potential difference between the relay contacts.

In an electric power steering apparatus, mechanical relays are generally mounted on a power supply line and a motor line for the purpose of failsafe. Hermetically sealed relays are widely used as these relays in order to prevent the ingress of moisture, which causes the freezing of contacts during time in a low-temperature environment, as much as possible.
Further, since the relays have been also further miniaturized by demands on the miniaturization with high output of a system, the internal volume of the relays tends to be reduced. Meanwhile, a resin is generally used as a material of a case used for the relay. For this reason, if the relay is left under a high-temperature and high-humidity environment for a long time, the resin absorbs moisture in the air even though airtightness of the relay is ensured. Accordingly, relative humidity in the relay significantly increases particularly in the relay having a small internal volume. As a result, dew condensation is likely to occur on relay contacts.
In addition, a method of directly mounting a relay on a metal substrate and soldering the relay by use of a reflow oven is employed for the purpose of the improvement of heat dissipation. Since the cooling rate of the relay is high when the relay is mounted on a metal substrate as described above, moisture present in the relay is frozen under the low-temperature environment. Therefore, contact failure of relay contacts caused by the freezing of the contacts in likely to occur.
Accordingly, a technique for preventing the contact failure of the relay contacts is disclosed in, for example, PTL 1. In this technique, a foreign substance such as ice adhering to the relay contacts is removed by the repetition of an operation of turning on/off the relay. In addition, another technique disclosed in, for example, PTL 2. This technique is to generate vibration at a portion where freezing occurs and to release the freezing by this vibration.

Power supply relay controller and electric power steering apparatus


1-Hydrocarbyloxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine derivatives of s-triazines having functional groups such as hydroxy, amino, carboxy, epoxy, isocyanate or the like present are capable of chemically bonding with polymer substrates having anhydride, epoxide, alkoxymethylmelamine or isocyanate moieties present. This chemical bonding prevents migration or loss of the stabilizer during subsequent processing or end-use application of the stabilized polymer.

Specific 1-hydrocarbyloxy 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine derivatives bearing a reactive functional group have been described in end-use applications other than polymer stabilization. For example, 1-benzyloxy-4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine has been detected during the photolysis of 4-hydroxy-1-oxyl-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine in toluene (J. F. W. Keana, J. Org. Chem., 36, 209 (1971). A salt of 1-[1-(2-cyano-2-propyl)oxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-4-yl]-amino-3-(2-n itro-1-imidazolyl)-2-prop anol has been used in a study of nitroxyl radiosensitizers (B. C. Millar et al., Radiat. Res., 88, 369 (1988).
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,619,956; 4,426,471; 4,426,472; 4,344,876 and 4,234,728 include hindered amine substituted N-(hydroxyalkyl)amino and N-(alkoxymethyl)amino substituted s-triazine derivatives. However, none of these patents teaches the use of 1-hydrocarbyloxy substituted hindered amines as polymer stabilizers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,544 claims, but does not exemplify bisphenol A bridged N-(hydroxyalkyl)amino-N-(1-alkoxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-4-yl)-1,3,5 -triazine compounds as polymer stabilizers. This patent does not teach any advantages of using 1-hydrocarbyloxy substituted hindered amine polymer stabilizers.
The use of reactable stabilizers in certain polymer substrates has been described. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,145,512 and 4,178,279 describe the stabilization of urethanes by molecules which contain combinations of hindered amines and amino, hydroxy or hydrazide groups. The stabilizer molecules are introduced into the prepolymer solution. Aminooxamide hindered amine derivatives have been reacted with acrylic polyols containing anhydride groups (P. A. Callais et al., Proc. Water-Borne High-Solids Coat. Symp., 16, 486 (1989). The use of hydroxy substituted 4-oxamido hindered amine derivatives is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,017. The use of 1-hydrocarbyloxy substituted hindered amines as polymer stabilizers is not disclosed in these patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,238 discloses several s-triazine derivatives containing a bis(2-hydroxyethyl)amino or a 2-hydroxyethylamino substituent. There is no overlap between the instant compounds and those of this patent.
The advantages of the reduced basicity of 1-hydrocarbyloxy substituted hindered amines as polymer stabilizers in acid sensitive polymer substrates is first described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 749,470 abandoned. N-Hydrocarbyloxy derivatives of hindered amine substituted s-triazines are disclosed in copending U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 749,470 and 727,340 abandoned; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,613 U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,736. None of these applications and patent includes compounds with reactive functional groups.
Copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 480,173 U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,893 describes the use of non-migrating 1-hydrocarbyloxy hindered amine derivatives as polymer stabilizers. However, the compounds disclosed in application Ser. No. 480,173 U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,893 differ substantially from the s-triazine derivatives described in the instant invention.

Non-migrating 1-hydrocarbyloxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperdine 1,3,5-triazine derivatives as polymer stabilizers


A semiconductor memory circuit according to the present invention comprises a decode circuit responsive to an internal address for generating a signal of a predetermined level, a drive circuit responsive to a word line activating signal for generating a word line selection signal corresponding to an output level of the decode circuit and a shutdown circuit responsive to a control signal for disconnecting the decode circuit from a ground terminal.. With this construction, since the decode circuit is disconnected from the ground terminal during a time period for which a memory sense amplifier operates, an output level of the word line selection signal is not affected by noise even if the latter is generated on the ground line during that period. Therefore, it is possible to keep the memory cell in a stable selection state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory circuit and, particularly, to a word selection circuit for activating a predetermined word line selection signal according to an address internal signal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a semiconductor memory circuit having a memory cell array including memory cells arranged in array, a word line selection circuit is one of circuit constructions for selecting a memory cell corresponding to an input address. The word line selection circuit receives an internal address corresponding to an address inputted externally and activates one of a plurality of word line selection signals in order to select a predetermined word line.
Generally, the word line selection circuit includes, for each word line selection signal, a decode circuit responsive to an internal address for generating a signal having a predetermined level, a drive circuit responsive to a word line activating signal for outputting a signal corresponding to an output level of the decode circuit as a word line selection signal and a precharge circuit for precharging an input point of the drive circuit to a power source voltage. Therefore, the number of such word line selection circuits corresponds to the number of word line selection signals.
With an internal signal supplied to the respective decode circuits of the word line selection circuits, an output of one of the decode circuits is maintained at high level (power source voltage level) while outputs of the remaining decode circuits are changed to low level (ground voltage level). Then, when the word line activating signal becomes high level, one of the drive circuits generates a high level, activated word line selection signal and the remaining drive circuits generate low level word line selection signals. Thus, the word line signal corresponding to the internal address is activated.
When the word line selection signal is activated in this manner, a word line corresponding thereto is driven and a memory cell connected to the word line is selected. Then, an information read out from the thus selected memory cell is amplified by a sense amplifier and a readout data is outputted.
In this case, when the sense amplifier amplifies the input information, large current flows through the ground line. As a result, a condition where a potential of the ground line rises from 0 V occurs, that is, noise is generated in the ground line.
When such noise is generated, the output levels of the decode circuits which are low are rised. Therefore, output levels of the associated drive circuits are also rised while the level of the activated word line selection signal is lowered, causing a memory cell selection to become unstable.

Noise-free semiconductor memory device capable of disconnecting word line decoder from ground terminal


An input structure applied in a portable electronic device includes a main body and an electric assembly. The main body is detachably fitted to the portable electronic device. The electric assembly includes a sensing module and a communication module. The sensing module triggers electric signals in respond to manipulation of users. The communication module communicates with the sensing module and the portable electronic device to send the electric signals to the portable electronic device.

A conventional key structure of a portable electronic device substantially comprises a spring-type structure and a film-type structure. In the spring-type structure, a pin is disposed on one side of a key body with respect to an electrical switch of the portable electronic device, and a spring is disposed between the key body and the electrical switch. The film-type structure is made of rubber, and the film-type structure is disposed in a pre-designed key area of the electronic device. No matter the spring-type structure using the spring for elastic recovery or the film-type structure made of rubber, after being used for a long time, the elastic fatigue of the material occurs, thereby influencing the sensitivity of the key structure.

Input structure and portable electronic device using the same


A system includes a processor configured to receive a request from a host vehicle for video relating to a location specified in the request. The processor is also configured to determine whether a candidate vehicle receiving the request can provide the request video when the request is received. The processor is further configured to relay the request to a transceiver in wireless communication with the candidate vehicle, if the candidate vehicle cannot provide the requested video, otherwise record and transmit the requested video.

Route planning and mapping has improved greatly over the last many years. Customers often use services that provide images of a particular location to guide them to a destination, or to gain familiarity with an area. Unfortunately, these images are often static, representing points in time when mapping occurred. As autonomous vehicles, ride sharing services, and connected cars become more popular, there is an increased desire to see areas of interest in real time.
Currently, when a traffic back-up occurs some miles up the road, or a construction zone appears on a digital map, a user has almost no available information about the slow-down. Some map data may indicate expected speed limits or delays, but often times the user is completely uninformed about the nature, length and duration of the delay.
A current option is to tune into a local radio station and receive guidance about the nature of the traffic problem. Of course, very few local radio stations provide perpetual traffic updates, so the driver may have to wait close to an hour before receiving useful information. The driver can always try to route around an issue or avoid the issue, but in doing so the driver may waste a large amount of time avoiding what ends up being a fairly minor issue. Since the driver's information may have been limited to a map displaying the presence of a slow-down, the driver had no way of knowing just how severe the issue was.

Method and apparatus for relayed on-demand localized video sharing


In paper based user interfaces to machines, a business machine receives user input from a digital pen and paper system and determines if such input is authorized. In another example, a business machine processes a batch of prewritten user inputs from a digital pen and paper system when the digital pen is collocated operatively connected to the business machine.

The illustrative embodiments described in the present application are useful in systems including those for controlling machines and more particularly are useful in systems including those for providing co-located paper based user interfaces to mailing and shipping systems.
There are several categories of conventional business machines in ubiquitous use today. The typical large office environment may include centralized business machine centers that often include copy machines, facsimile machines, printers, and mailing machines. In a typical small home office environment, business machines are often located in a single office and may include multi-function business machines such as a combined printer/scanner/copier/facsimile unit. Business machines are also found in other environments such as production mail facilities and copy centers.
Systems such as office machines including copiers, facsimile machines and mailing machines often include a user interface that provides a keypad and display. The user interface is utilized to control the functions of the machine and to receive operating parameter input from the operator such as the number of copies to be made or the value of postage desired. Such user interfaces may require the user to navigate through several layers of menus to perform a particular task.
Multi-user settings often utilize business machine usage accounting systems for tracking usage of the business machines according to various criteria. The criteria could include a user identification number, a client identification number and/or a particular matter identification number. Furthermore, a system may require a user to input acceptable account numbers before allowing access to the business machine. The usage accounting systems typically employ a separate accounting processor connected to the business machine having a separate user interface. Several models of mailing machines are available from Pitney Bowes of Stamford, Conn.
Certain business machine systems that utilize operator marked control sheets have been described. For example, a copier with document sensing control is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,528 issued Feb. 3, 1981 to Sahay. Additionally, a document control system and method for digital copiers is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,175,714 B1 issued Jan. 16, 2001 to Crean.
A document processing system utilizing document service cards to provide document processing services is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,975, issued Jul. 9, 1996 to Stefik, et al. The document service cards are fed to the document processing platform. An apparatus and method for processing a machine readable document with embedded machine instructions is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,202 issued Oct. 26, 1999 to Wang, et al.
Many business machines use keypad and display user interfaces and some include accounting processors. Some business machines have been described that read operating instructions from paper. The prior art does not provide a system and method for providing access level capable and/or authenticated paper based user interfaces to machines such as shipping and mailing machines. Additionally, the prior art does not provide for an accounting and/or batching system using a paper based user interface to machines such as shipping and mailing machines.

Paper based mailing and shipping user interface


A method of deriving audio content from visual content can include modifying a visual markup language document requested by a client computer system to specify a control for generating an audio markup language document version of the visual markup language document. The modified visual markup language document can be provided to the client computer system. Responsive to a selection of the control, an audio markup language document version of the visual markup language document can be generated. The audio markup language document can be saved for subsequent presentation through an audio interface.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to the field of accessing information via an audio interface over a communications network, and more particularly, to voice-enabling visual content.
2. Description of the Related Art
A significant amount of the content available over the Internet is visual in nature. For example, text documents, and more significantly, visual markup language documents such as Hypertext Markup language (HTML) documents are accessed through visual browsers. Users desiring access to Internet content when traveling or when away from a stationary computer system typically access content through Internet-enabled portable communications devices having a visual display. The displays on such portable communications devices, however, traditionally are very small. In consequence, viewing and interacting with visual content as displayed on a portable communications device can be troublesome.
Recently, developers have embraced audio interfaces as a viable alternative to visual displays in portable communications devices. An audio interface typically requires less space to implement within a device than a visual display. Additionally, audio interfaces provide a natural interface through which inexperienced computer users as well as physically challenged users can interact.
The shift toward audio interfaces has lead to increased efforts to provide audio content in a format suitable for presentation through an audio interface. Audio content often is generated by content providers and/or service providers either by creating new audio content or by converting existing visual content to a format suitable for use with an audio interface. For example, content providers can generate Voice Extensible Markup Language (VoiceXML) document versions of HTML documents. This process can be performed manually or can be performed automatically using a transcoding tool such as WebSphere® Transcoding Publisher available from International Business Machines Corporation of Armonk, New York.
Although service or content providers may attempt to account for user preferences, users do not have the capability to select with particularity the content that should be available in an audio format. Moreover, determinations as to the type of audio content that will be made available frequently are unilateral on the part of service or content providers. As the user can access only that audio content which the service provider has chosen to make available to its subscribing users, users are limited to a small subset of the visual content that is presently available over the Internet. Thus, if a particular content provider does not offer audio versions of particular Web pages, users may be forced to acquire audio content from a source different from that which the user typically obtains trusted visual content.


An imaging device having a sheet restraint sensing system is disclosed. The system includes a frame having an opening, a linear sensor strip located on the frame having a length, and a media tray having a sheet restraint that presses against the linear sensor strip when the media tray is located in the opening. The sheet restraint is constrained by the media tray to move relative to the media tray no more than a maximum adjustment displacement. The maximum adjustment displacement is less than the length of the linear sensor strip. Other systems are disclosed.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to media trays for imaging devices and more particularly to sensing the position of a sheet restraint in a media tray.
2. Description of the Related Art
Imaging devices, such as laser printers, form images on sheets of media. The media is stacked in media trays. Media is available in multiple widths and lengths, and many media trays have user-adjustable sheet restraints to accommodate this variation.
It is helpful for the imaging device to know the size of the media so that, for example, the print job may be correctly sized to fit on the media. Existing sheet restraint sensing systems use optical sensors or electrical contact sensors that may fail due to accumulated paper dust. What is needed is a sheet restraint sensing system that is robust against contamination by paper dust.

Systems for sensing sheet restraint position


The structure for a motor having a rotor (R) and a stator (S) comprises a support hub (10) with branches (11), a sleeve (12) and if desired a cover (13), a mandrel (20) with a tube (21) and a radially inwardly-extending flange (22), and a connector (30) in the shape of a frustoconical ring (31). Application in automatically manufactured motors for the equipment of motor vehicles.

The present invention relates to dc motors with an electronic commutation and more particularly relates to the structure thereof.
DC motors with an electronic commutation comprise, among other elements, a housing which contains a wound armature from which a shaft extends. The commutation means for this armature, instead of being formed conventionally by an electromechanical device comprising a ring and brushes, are in this case formed by an electronic device with a control module connected to the fixed armature of the stator.
This type of motor usually presents delicate problems of manufacture, construction and assembly.
Indeed, windings must be formed and disposed in slots of the armature, then the ends of the wires of the winding coils of this armature must be connected to the electronic circuit of the control module, and, lastly, it must be possible to dissipate the heat of the power components of the electronic circuit of the control module.
A first source of difficulty is the formation of the winding coils of the armature when it is desired to proceed automatically and directly on the armature.
To ensure the connection of the ends of the wires of the winding coils to the electronic circuit of the control module, the ends of the wires are usually soldered to terminal connectors which are, or are not, directly associated with the electronic circuit Most of the time, bearing in mind the configuration of the structure of the motor, this soldering can only be carried out manually This is all the more delicate because each winding coil on principle requires two solders. Such an operation, which is particularly difficult to automate, is another source of difficulty since it requires very high skill and is time-consuming. Such solders are subject to faulty contacts.
Another source of difficulty is related to the existence of the electronic device which very often comprises power components which must be cooled so as to avoid their heating which would otherwise be destructive. This often leads to dividing up the electronic circuit in such manner that some of its components are no longer on the substrate of the printed circuit itself but are mounted directly on the housing so as to dissipate heat and improve ventilation. It will be easily understood that this also complicates the mounting and assembling operations and is also a source of bad workmanship.
Documents FR 89-11 771, FR 90-03 826 and FR 90-11 702 --(corresponding to French Patent Nos. 2651933, 2660124 and 2667202, respectively) disclose solutions-for overcoming this type of difficulties.
Another source of difficulty is also related to the design of the mechanical structure of this type of motor which is generally such that it is not possible to proceed automatically in its assembly and its mounting by simple operations with non-complex kinematics easy to carry out with the aid of robots or programmable automatons, since the
components are numerous and have complicated configurations.

Structure for a DC motor with an electronic commutation


A method and apparatus for forming compressible material into discrete solid blocks or briquettes in which the material is compressed in a compression chamber by a pre-press ram and a main ram. A control system is provided which includes sensors for generating signals that are a function of the density of the compressed and densified material within the compression chamber, and an arrangement which is responsive to the sensors is provided for varying the operation of the material feeding device to change the volumetric flow of material fed to the compression chamber in response to predetermined changes in the density of the material in the chamber.

The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus by which a compressible and cohesive material may be compressed, densified and formed into a discrete solid block for disposal or other uses.
While the present invention is applicable for use with virtually any material that is compressible and sufficiently cohesive to remain in a compressed state after being pressed into such state, it is particularly applicable in a variety of manufacturing and processing operations which generate a high volume of waste or by-products that must be handled in an environmentally safe manner that is also efficient and cost-effective. For example, in various textile plants, a large quantity of lint and other textile waste is generated which must be disposed of, and because of its open and fluffy characteristics, it occupies a large volume and poses a particularly difficult problem in terms of temporary storage and ultimate disposal.
It is known to compress materials such as textile waste, saw dust, and the like into discrete solid blocks utilizing so-called briquetting machines like those described in Klias U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,372 and German Patent No. DE 33 33 766 C2, whereby a high volume of such material is compressed into a relatively small and dense briquette that is easy to handle, transport, and dispose of or use for varying purposes (e.g. as fuel).
As described in greater detail in the above-described patents, these known machines generally include a compression chamber having a portion in which material to be compressed is fed from a hopper and a pre-press ram is used to initially compress the material after which a main ram is moved into the chamber to complete the densifying and compression of the material so that it is formed into a briquette or discrete solid block and then ejected from the machine, after which the cycle is repeated.
In these known machines, the material is fed to the compression chamber at a generally fixed flow rate by a rotatable auger which is rotated a predetermined number of revolutions during each cycle of operation. It has been found, however, that in some situations, such as for example in dealing with the textile waste materials described above, the waste may come from different parts of a textile mill or plant, and, in many instances, the individual components that make up the waste will vary in density, size and concentration levels so that at any given time during the cycles of operation of the machine it may be compressing material that has a different overall density than at other times during the operation. Since the auger is delivering the material to the compression chamber at a generally constant flow rate, the variations in the make up of the waste can, and often do, cause the machine to operate in either underload or overload conditions, and while there are subsystems within the machine that will enable it to operate despite underload or overload ("upset") conditions, these subsystems nevertheless operate at the expense of the production rate of the machine, and in some cases the machine will shut down if too many "upset" conditions occur within a given period of time.
In accordance with the present invention, the above-described drawbacks of known briquetting machines are alleviated or cured by an automatic feed compensation system that maintains a substantially consistent briquette size, and therefore maintains a substantially constant and efficient production rate for the machine.

Method for forming compressible material into discrete solid blocks


A method of data transfer in a data processing system having at least one source buffer and at least one destination buffer. The source buffer includes a plurality of data blocks, each data block having an address and being for storage of data including an identifier uniquely identifying that data block. The destination buffer includes a plurality of data blocks corresponding to the data blocks of the source buffer, each destination block having an address and being for storage of data. Each source block identifier is a function of a corresponding destination block address. Transferring data from the source buffer to the destination buffer includes: (a) obtaining the address of a data block in the destination buffer to transfer data into; (b) obtaining the address of a corresponding data block in the source buffer to transfer data from; and (c) checking the integrity of said addresses before data transfer, including: (i) retrieving the source block identifier in the source block via the source block address; (ii) generating an expected identifier value for the source block from the address of the destination block via said function relation between the source block identifier and the destination block address; (iii) comparing the expected identifier value with the retrieved identifier value; and (iv) if there is a mismatch, signaling an error condition representing corruption of one or more of the source block and the destination block addresses.

As data is transferred in a data processing system from a source location such as a Random Access Memory (RAM) buffer to a destiny location such as a disk drive disk, several errors can corrupt the addresses used in accessing the source and destiny locations. One such error is corruption of the address for accessing the source. In that case, the wrong data is read from the source. Another such error is corruption of the address of the destination. In that case, the data is written to the wrong location. In either scenario, the transferred data is lost, and a later attempt to retrieve the desired data from the destiny fails.
During a "write" operation, data is transferred from the source to the destiny, and during a "read" that data is read from the destiny back to the source. If during a write operation a corrupt source address remains undetected, then the wrong data is transferred to the destiny. And, when that data is read back, the wrong data is returned, and the intended data is lost. If the destination address is corrupt during the write operation, the data is written to the wrong location and lost. As a result, the desired data will not be found on a "read" back operation. As a side effect of writing the data to the wrong location in the destiny, the data pointed to by the corrupt address is written over, resulting loss of other good data.
Prior methods of solving such problems are directed to protecting the addresses used for accessing the source and the destiny by techniques such as parity checks. However, such methods are inefficient and error prone themselves. There is, therefore, a need for a method of preventing data transfers from using corrupt addresses.
There is also a need for such a method to be efficient and simple to implement.

Method for preventing transfer of data to corrupt addresses


Methods and systems using one or more expert systems to quickly assist (e.g., advise and/or rescue) persons in danger at a location (e.g., buildings, tunnels, bridges, factories, refineries, recreational areas, such as parks, golf courses, ski-slopes, public transportation vehicles, such as buses, subways, trains, planes, ships, and equivalents), to screen and selectively test the location and/or person and assist the person if danger to the person is determined. One embodiment is a method to advise a person in danger, possibly having an impairment, using one or more expert systems. A second embodiment is a method to assist people in danger, possibly having an impairment, such as chemical impairment, physical impairment, medical impairment, or emotional impairment, using one or more expert systems. A third embodiment is a system to assist a person, if the system determines a danger at a location and/or if the system determines if a person has an impairment, such as chemical impairment, physical impairment, medical impairment, or emotional impairment, using one or more expert systems.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to assisting (e.g., advising and/or rescuing) persons in danger at a location, and more specifically to assisting persons (possibly impaired) when their danger is determined by one or more expert systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
People at locations (e.g., buildings, tunnels, bridges, factories, refineries, recreational areas, such as parks, golf courses, ski slopes, public transportation vehicles, such as buses, subways, trains, planes, and ships, and other large structures) in emergency situations needlessly continue to suffer many thousands of deaths and injuries each year around the world. Although devices have been devised that alert people at a location by an alarm to an unsafe condition (e.g., fire, dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide, combustion gases such as carbon dioxide, and so forth), people have generally been forced to rely on their own judgment and trial-and-error efforts in determining what their safest course of action would be in their particular location. Such dangers, particularly in relatively large locations, such as large buildings (e.g., hotels, department stores, large office buildings, and equivalents), tunnels, bridges, factories, refineries, recreational areas (such as parks, golf courses, ski-slopes, and equivalents), or public transportation vehicles (such as buses, subways, trains, airplanes, ships, and equivalents), may require extremely prompt choices by the people in determining their safest course of action in such an emergency situation, such as a fire, explosion, violent attack, dangerous gas release, flooding, avalanche, lightning, hurricane, tornado, tsunami, earthquake, volcanic eruption, medical emergency, or other unexpected emergency. There may not be enough time for trial-and-error attempts by people to move to a safer location if their first choice of action turns out to be a mistake because of their limited knowledge of the relative levels of safety available at various areas of the location. Such mistakes are more likely to be fatal mistakes in relatively large locations, especially for visitors lacking thorough familiarity with the location (e.g., first-time hotel guests, department store shoppers, first-time or casual visitors, recreational visitors, customers, passengers, and so forth), especially when visibility is impaired by darkness, smoke, dust, power failures, structural failures, flooding, avalanche, and other causes, or when the person already has some impairment (acquired during the danger, or pre-existing before the danger arises) that limits their response to their situation.
U.S. Pat. App. No. 2007019422 published by Nathan, et al., on Aug. 23, 2007, discloses a method and system for a building warning system. The building safe warn generally related to warning or otherwise alerting people to hazards or other conditions in the building. The warnings may be generated as a function of the position of the person in the building and/or the location of a hazard so as to facilitate safely evacuating people from the building. The location of the people may be reported to emergency response entities to facilitate person discovery and rescue. The disclosures of this patent application are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. App. No. 20060036366 published by Kelly, et al., on Feb. 16, 2006, discloses a system and method for providing personalized storm warnings precisely tailored automatically for a particular individual or business user's geographic location of interest, which maybe provided automatically to the individual user or business. A detailed and accurate storm track, which includes information describing storm characteristics (severe weather conditions) as well as the current location and predicted track of movement of the storm, is generated. The storm track may be generated automatically from weather radar data, such as NEXRAD data, either alone, or in combination with local live weather radar information, to provide a more accurate storm track. The disclosures of this patent application are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. App. No. 20050125197 published by Duron, et al., on Jun. 9, 2005, discloses a system and method for detecting and monitoring structural damages which are irreversible and which lead to inevitable collapse of a building or location. The system includes at least one accelerometer that is housed in a device that is mounted on an exterior surface outside the burn area, and within the reach of the rescue worker. The device communicates with a remote display that provides visual and/or audible signals to indicate imminent collapse at the location. Additionally, the system includes collapse detecting analysis processes for determining the likelihood of collapse. The disclosures of this patent application are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. App. No. 20030036685 published by Goodman, on Feb. 20, 2003, discloses a physiological signal monitoring system comprising a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor, a processing device, and a Web site server for determining, displaying and analyzing various cardiovascular parameters. The system determines a plurality of cardiovascular indices including mean blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, respiratory rate, and arterial compliance on the basis of signal characteristics of the systolic wave pulse and the systolic reflected wave pulse present within the digital volume pulse derived from the PPG pulse contour. The system also provides for the accurate determination of systolic and diastolic blood pressure by using a non-invasive blood pressure monitor to calibrate the relationships between arterial or digital blood pressure and characteristics of the user's digital volume pulse contour. In this way, a wide variety of cardiovascular and respiratory data can be obtained. The disclosures of this patent application are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. App. No. 20010055544 published by Copp, et al., on Dec. 27, 2001, discloses an electromechanical device, a "detector arm." It is useful for locating humans, either living or dead, who are trapped in a location such as a building that collapsed or was badly damaged in an earthquake, mudslide, bombing, or other disaster. This device includes an extendible mechanical arm that is equipped with a gas inlet device, a miniature video lens and light source, and preferably at least one microphone, all mounted at or near the "distal" end or tip of the detector arm. Various wires, cables, and a gas inlet hose are tied to or otherwise supported by the detector arm, allowing the wires and hose to be coupled to supporting devices, such as a video display, audio amplifier, and multi-component gas detector. The detector arm assembly is lightweight and portable, allowing a human operator to carry and maneuver it during a rescue or recovery operation inside a collapsed building or similar environment. The disclosures of this patent application are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,018,641 issued to Lakshmanan, on Mar. 28, 2006, discloses a human being presence detection system that automatically determines the presence of human beings without directly attaching sensors to the human body and detects human drowsiness. The detection system characterizes the occupancy of a vehicle seat to determine the characteristics of deployment of vehicle airbags and restraints in the event of a crash/accident. The rescue of military personnel or of persons trapped under rubble, behind barriers, within a building, etc., is facilitated. In one embodiment, human beings are detected using data obtained from pressure transducers in the space of interest. The pressure signals are processed by a novel signal processing algorithm to determine the presence or absence of a human being, using information from different types of pressure transducers. The disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,214,939 issued to Wong, et al., on May 8, 2007, discloses a fire detector and method for generating an alarm signal in response to a fire that uses an NDIR carbon dioxide sensor to generate an alarm signal when a signal processor receives the detector signal and a pre-selected criterion is met that is indicative of the onset of a fire based upon an analysis of the detector signal using a detection algorithm that relies upon a trending pattern of the detector signal, such as recognizing a substantial drop in the detector signal strength. The disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,266,455 issued to Kahkoska, on Sep. 4, 2007, discloses a lightning detector system that monitors lightning strikes for a real-time detection and processing system. This invention provides a method of detecting and ranging lightning strikes using an inexpensive eight-bit processor with a single A/D channel and without floating point hardware. The disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,251,515 issued to Cho, et al., on Jul. 31, 2007, discloses an apparatus for the measuring blood sugar levels non-invasively based on temperature measurements. Non-invasively measured blood sugar level values are obtained by a temperature measurement scheme are corrected by blood oxygen saturation and blood flow volume, thereby stabilizing the measurement data. The shape or color of control buttons for controlling the measurement are associated with the function of each button such that the buttons can be identified either visually or by touch. The disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,320,030 issued to Brown on Jan. 15, 2008, discloses a remote health monitoring apparatus using scripted communications, e.g., generating a script program from a set of queries. The script program is executable by a remote apparatus that displays information and/or a set of queries to the individual through a user interface. Responses to the queries that are entered through the user interface together with individual identification information are sent from the remote apparatus to the server system across a communication network. The server system also includes an automated answering service for providing a series of questions from a stored set of questions for an individual at the remote apparatus to respond to, storing responses to each provided question in the series of questions and providing a service based on the individual's response to the questions. The disclosures of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference.
While many of the systems in the prior art cleverly and impressively attempt to alert people to dangers, such systems do not actively advise and rescue the people, depending on the condition at the location and any impairments of the people to be rescued. Furthermore, any one prior art system alone has a significant likelihood of incorrectly detecting danger when there is actually no danger (i.e., a false positive), or incorrectly missing danger when there is a real danger (i.e., a false negative). Furthermore, such prior art systems have not included means to assist (e.g., advise and/or rescue) a person who is impaired or who becomes impaired or trapped (e.g., from structural failure, fire, some type of violence, poisoning, explosions or other environmental compressions or decompressions, avalanche, lightning, hurricane, tornado, tsunami, flooding, earthquake, volcanic eruption, medical emergency, or any other dangerous event). What is needed is a system that overcomes these problems with a screening and selective testing approach to increase the probability of more quickly and correctly assisting people in danger. What is also needed is appropriate assistance when a person is already impaired at a location, either because of a pre-existing condition or as a result of a dangerous event.

Expert system assistance for persons in danger


A spatial information detecting apparatus using an intensity-modulated light has a photoelectric converter for receiving a light provided from a space, into which a light intensity-modulated by a predetermined modulation signal is being irradiated, and generating amounts of electric charges corresponding to an intensity of received light; charge discarding portion having an electrode for removing dispensable charges from the electric charges generated by the photoelectric converter according to a voltage applied to the electrode; charge storage portion for storing signal charges from the electric charges generated by the photoelectric converter; control circuit for controlling the voltage applied to the electrode at a timing synchronized with a period of the modulation signal to change a ratio of the signal charges stored in the charge storage portion to the electric charges generated by the photoelectric converter; charge ejector for outputting the signal charges from the charge storage portion; and an analyzer for determining spatial information from an output of the charge ejector. According to this apparatus, since the dispensable charges are previously removed from the electric charges generated by the photoelectric converter by the charge discarding portion, it is possible to improve S/N ratio and accurately determine the spatial information.

In the past, a technique of detecting spatial information by use of an intensity-modulated light has been utilized. That is, the intensity-modulated light is irradiated from a light source into a space, and a light reflected from an object in the space is received by a photoelectric converter. The spatial information can be determined from a relationship between the intensity-modulated light and the received light. In the present description, the spatial information includes a distance from the object, a change in light receiving amount caused by reflections on the object, and so on. For example, the distance information can be determined from a phase difference between the intensity-modulated light and the received light. In general, this technique is called as "Time-of-Flight (TOF)" method.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,856,667 discloses a distance measuring apparatus using the TOF method. In this apparatus, a light emitted from a light source is intensity-modulated by a sine wave having a required modulation frequency (i.e., emission frequency), and a light sensitive part detects an intensity of received light plural times within a time period shorter than a modulation period that is a reciprocal of the modulation frequency. When detecting the intensity of received light is repeated 4 times within one modulation period, the phase difference is determined from the detected four intensities of received light. For example, when intensity-modulating the light irradiated from the light source to an object by a radio frequency wave of 20 MHz, a wavelength of the intensity-modulated light is 15 m. Therefore, when the intensity-modulated light goes to the object spaced from the apparatus by a distance of 7.5 m and back, a phase delay corresponding to one modulation period occurs.
When the light emitted from the light source is intensity-modulated, as shown by the curve "W" of FIG. 30, and the modulated light reflected from an object is received by the light sensitive part, the intensity of received light changes, for example, as shown by the curve "R" of FIG. 30. In this case, four intensities (A0, A1, A2, A3) of received light can be detected at 4 different phases (0°, 90°, 180°, 270°). However, in the present circumstances, it is impossible to detect the intensity of light received at just the moment of each of the phases (0°, 90°, 180°, 270°). In the fact, each of the intensities of received light corresponds to the intensity of light received within a time width (Tw), as shown in FIG. 30.
On the assumption that the phase difference "ψ" does not change within the time period of sampling the intensity (A0, A1, A2, A3) of received light, and there is no change in light extinction ratio between the emitted light and the received light, a relationship between the intensity (A0, A1, A2, A3) of received light and the phase difference "ψ" can be represented by the following equation:ψ=tan−1{(A3−A1)/(A0−A2)}.
By use of the thus obtained phase difference "ψ" [rad], the modulation period "T" [s], and the speed of light "c" [m/s], a distance "L" [m] between the object and the apparatus can be calculated by the following equation:L≈cT(ψ/4π).
To achieve the technical concept described above, this US patent proposes to use an image sensor shown in FIG. 31, which comprises four memory cells (M0, M1, M2, M3) provided every light sensitive part (PD), and an electrical switch (S0, S1, S2, S3) disposed between each of the memory cells and the light sensitive part. The electrical switches (S0, S1, S2, S3) are respectively turned on within the short time width (Tw), as shown in FIG. 30, to store the intensities (A0, A1, A2, A3) of received light in the memory cells (M0, M1, M2, M3). By repeating this procedure with respect to a plurality of periods, it is possible to reduce influences of dark current noises, shot noises (i.e., noises caused by variations in the occurrence of electron-hole pairs), static noises of an amplifier circuit, and so on, and improve S/N ratio. In the present specification, the operation described above is called as "synchronized integration".
However, when electric charges are generated by the light sensitive part, parts of them may remain in the light sensitive part for a moment without being transferred to the memory cell through the electric switch. Such residual electric charges disappear by recombinations in the light sensitive part. Alternatively, when another electrical switch is turned on within the time width (Tw), the residual electric charges may be accidentally transferred to another memory cell through to the electric switch.
For example, when the modulation frequency is 20 MHz, it is needed that the time width (Tw) is shorter than the modulation period of 50 ns. On the other hand, time required for allowing the residual electric charges to disappear by the recombinations is usually longer than 100 μs. Therefore there is a possibility that the residual electric charges are accidentally transferred to another memory cell. This means that the residual electric charges are mixed as noise components in signal charges to be stored in the memory cell. As a result, when determining the phase difference "ψ" according to the above-described operation, there is a problem of lowering the accuracy of detecting the distance information. In addition, when using the image sensor with a large number of electrical switches, as shown in FIG. 31, there is another problem deteriorating cost/performance of the distance measuring apparatus.

Light receiving device with controllable sensitivity and spatial information detecting apparatus with charge discarding device using the same


A carbon-containing metal matrix composite material and a method for producing the same are described, wherein the graphitized vapor grown carbon fibers (VGCF) on which a metal carbide film is formed via a sintering step, so as to improve the compounding quality and increase the content of the carbon material in the metal matrix, are dispersed uniformly in the metal matrix. The graphitized VGCF used in the present invention can be unidirectional VGCF or the VGCF having a three-dimensional linkage structure.

"Heat" has always been the issue for the electronic elements in operation, and heat dissipation has become the bottleneck for the development of critical technologies. Currently, with regard to the heat dissipation path of an electronic element, the heat is first transmitted to the surface of the electronic element through internal packaging material, and then is conducted to the external portion of heat source by using a larger heat spreader, wherein fins or fans are added thereon to reinforce the heat convection effect.
Recently, the material for forming heat-dissipation elements is quite a popular topic. With the development of electronic products trending towards lightness and thinness, miniaturization, high performance and high frequency, the heat generation per unit volume is increased accordingly, and thus the heat-dissipation material with higher thermal conductivity is needed. Aluminum extrusion material, such as 6063 aluminum extrusion material, is commonly used as heat-dissipation material for fabricating various heat-dissipation elements. Since the thermal-conductivity of the aluminum extrusion heat-dissipation material is not high, which is merely between 160 W/mK and 180 W/mK, it cannot meet the heat-dissipation requirements of modern electronic elements. Although various modified processes have been developed for the aluminum extrusion heat-dissipation material, such as a bonding fins process, a folding fins process, a modified die casting process, a forging process and a skiving process, etc., yet the bottleneck problem of heat dissipation still cannot be resolved.
Since the high temperature in electrical circuits will affect the operation efficiency of electronic elements, a heat-dissipation module has to be installed for keeping the temperature of the electronic elements below the critical safety temperature, thereby preventing the electronic elements from malfunction and instability caused by overheat. However, the thermal-conductivity of heat-dissipation elements is limited, thus resulting in the bottleneck problem of heat dissipation. Because the thermal-conductivity (about 380 W/mK) of copper is greater than that of aluminum, copper-base heat-dissipation material has been developed nowadays.
For improving the heat conductive efficiency of heat-dissipation elements, the conventional technologies use the addition of diamond powder or carbon powder to promote the heat conduction of composite material. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,264,882 disclosed a process for fabricating a composite material having high thermal conductivity and having specific application as a heat sink or heat spreader for high density integrated circuits, and the composite material produced by this process has a thermal conductivity between that of diamond and copper. This process basically consists of sputter coating a metal layer on diamond powder; then compacting them into a porous body; and then infiltrating the porous body with a suitable braze material, thereby producing a dense diamond-copper composite material with a high thermal conductivity. Another conventional technology may first mixing copper powder with carbon powder and a polymer; or mixing copper powder with a carbon-containing polymer uniformly to form a mixture, and then form a copper matrix carbon composite material by removing the polymer in the mixture via multiple high-temperature heat treatments. Still another conventional technology may form a carbon-containing composite material by first coating polyacrylonitrile (PAN) carbon fibers with asphalt, an asphalt derivative or a polymer and then carbonizing and graphitizing.
However, the diamond powder and carbon powder used in the aforementioned conventional technologies are all in particulate form. If only small amount of diamond powder or carbon powder is added in a composite material, the continuity of diamond powder or carbon powder in the composite material is not easy to accomplish, thus having difficulty in improving the heat conduction capability of the composite material. On the other hand, if a large amount of diamond powder or carbon powder is added, then properties of the composite material will be affected. Although PAN carbon fibers may have better continuity, yet the thermal-conductivity of the graphitized PAN carbon fibers is merely between 20 W/mk and 500 W/mk, so that the PAN carbon fibers has limited contribution on promoting the heat conduction capability of the composite material. Further, the conventional technologies often face the poor interfacial problem when the carbon material is compounded with a metal matrix.

Carbon-containing metal matrix composite material having high thermal conductivity and method for producing the same


A method of improving production performance of an additive manufacturing system includes obtaining a first production plan and a second production plan, different from the first production plan, for the manufacture of a plurality of objects using a fleet of additive manufacturing apparatus, automatically generating a first allocation of a first quantity of the plurality of objects to the fleet of additive manufacturing apparatus using the first production plan, automatically generating a second allocation of a second quantity of the plurality of objects to the fleet of additive manufacturing apparatus using the second production plan, comparing a production performance of the first and second quantity of the plurality of objects after being manufactured by the fleet of additive manufacturing apparatus, and based on the comparison of the production performance, automatically regenerating the first and second allocations to change the first and second quantities.

The production of three-dimensional objects from polymerizable resins by stereolithography has been known for some time (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,236,637 to Hull). Unfortunately, such techniques have been generally considered slow, and are typically limited to resins that produce brittle or fragile objects suitable only as prototypes. A more recent technique known as continuous liquid interface production (CLIP) allows both more rapid production of objects by stereolithography (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 9,205,601 to DeSimone et al.), and the production of parts with isotropic mechanical properties (see R. Janusziewcz et al., Layerless fabrication with continuous liquid interface production, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 113, 11703-11708, Oct. 18, 2016). Along with the more recent introduction of a variety of different dual cure resins for stereolithography (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 9,453,142 to Rolland et al.), these developments make possible the production of a much greater variety of functional, useful, objects suitable for real world use.
Current systems for additive manufacturing tend to be tailored towards prototyping—the making of small numbers of models that can be used to decide whether to invest in a high-volume manufacturing technique like injection molding-rather than towards the larger volume of real-world parts themselves. Accordingly, there is a need for new systems which make possible higher volume production of functional parts by additive manufacturing.

Apparatus and methods for controlled validation of additive manufacturing systems


There is disclosed a non-volatile semiconductor memory in which writing and erasing are easily controlled. When electrons are supplied to a floating gate while a memory cell is in a writing condition, a channel is off. Therefore, there is little capacitive coupling between a control gate, a source and a drain. Even when the electric potential of a word line is raised to vary the electric potential of the source and the drain, the electric potential of the control gate hardly varies. Moreover, when electrons are extracted from the floating gate while the memory cell is in an erasing condition, the channel is on. Therefore, a capacitive coupling is generated between the control gate and the source and the drain. When the electric potential of the word line is raised to vary the electric potential of the source and the drain, the electric potential of the control gate varies accordingly. Since the data value is determined by the variation in the electric potential of the control gate, a complicated control heretofore necessary for preventing excess erasing is unnecessary.

(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-volatile semiconductor memory device, particularly to a non-volatile semiconductor memory device which can electrically be rewritten.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the greatly increased prevalence of cellular phones, digital still cameras or other small-size information apparatus, there has been an increasing demand for ferro-electric random access memory, EPROM (Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrical Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory), flash memory or other non-volatile semiconductor memories that can electrically be rewritten. EEPROM, especially, can easily update firmware after products are delivered or repeatedly store photographed images. Flash memory, also termed flash EEPROM, is capable of performing data erasures in all memory storage areas or in selected block storage areas. The flash memory of which each memory cell is constituted of one transistor has an advantage that it can be more easily highly integrated than EEPROM.
FIG. 4 shows an example of a prior art cell transistor 30 constituting a memory cell of a flash memory. The cell transistor 30 is termed a stacked gate type, in which two gate electrodes GP, i.e., a floating gate FG, and a control gate CG are alternately stacked.
When data is written into the cell transistor 30, for example, as shown in FIG. 5A, an electric potential of 5 V is applied to a source S of the cell transistor 30 selected via a bit line BL, while an electric potential of 12 V is applied to the control gate CG via a word line WL. In this condition, the electric potential of the floating gate FG is increased, and hot electrons generated in the vicinity of the source S are supplied to the floating gate FG. Additionally, the bit line BL and the word line WL not connected to the selected cell transistor 30, and the drains D of the cell transistors 30 are set to 0 V via the common drain line DL.
When the electrons are supplied to the floating gate FG, the floating gate FG is negatively charged. Therefore, a channel CH formed between the source S and the drain D is turned off.
When the data is erased from the cell transistors 30, as shown in FIG. 5B, the control gates CG of all cell transistors 30 are set to 0 V via the word lines WL. Additionally, all bit lines BL, i.e., the sources S of all cell transistors 30 are opened. Moreover, an electric potential of 15 V is applied to the drain of each cell transistor 30 via the common drain line DL. In this condition, the electrons in the floating gate FG are extracted toward the drain D by a FN (Fowler-Nordheim) tunnel current. The erasing operation is performed for all cell transistors 30 or for the cell transistors 30 in the selected block.
When the electrons of the floating gate FG are extracted, the floating gate FG is charged positive. Therefore, the channel CH formed between the source S and the drain D is placed in a condition in which it can be turned on, i.e., it is turned on when selected.
When data is read from the cell transistor 30, as shown in FIG. 5C, an electric potential of 2.5 V is applied to the source S of the cell transistor 30 selected via the bit line BL, an electric potential of 5 V is applied to the control gate CG via the word line WL, and an electric potential of 0 V is applied to the drain D via the common drain line DL.
During reading, the electric current flowing between the source S and the drain D of the cell transistor 30 varies in magnitude in accordance with whether the channel CH of the cell transistor 30 is turned on or off. Specifically, in the erasing condition in which the channel CH is on, the electric current more easily flows between the source S and the drain D than the writing condition in which the channel CH is off. Therefore, if the difference of the electric current is detected by a sense amplifier connected to the bit line BL, the value of the data stored in the memory cell can be read.
In an actual memory chip having multiple cell transistors 30, subtle variation may be generated in the erasing/writing characteristics of the cell transistors 30. As a result, for example, even when the same electric potential is applied to the cell transistors 30 to erase the data therefrom, the electric potential necessary for the erasing is reached in some cell transistors 30, but the necessary electric potential may not be reached in other cell transistors 30.
In this case, if the electric potential of the cell transistor 30 in which erasing can easily be performed is raised in accordance with the cell transistor 30 in which erasing cannot be easily performed, the electrons are excessively extracted from the floating gate FG of the cell transistor 30 in which erasing is easily performed, and the channel CH is constantly turned on. This causes a problem that a reading error is generated by the electric current of the cell transistor 30 which is not selected at the time of reading. The problem of so-called excessive erasing is caused.
To solve the problem, following methods have been heretofore performed:
(1) When data is written, the time for supplying electrons to the floating gate FG is adjusted to control the amount of electric charges of the floating gate FG, so that the electrons are prevented from being excessively supplied to that floating gate FG. Moreover, when data is erased, the time for extracting the electrons from the floating gate FG is adjusted to control the amount of electric charges of the floating gate FG, so that the electrons are prevented from being excessively extracted from the floating gate FG.
(2) At the time of writing data, after writing is performed for the predetermined time, a verification reading is performed to confirm whether or not excess electrons are supplied to the floating gate FG. By repeating the writing and the verification reading, the amount of electric charges of the floating gate FG is controlled. Moreover, at the time of erasing data, after erasing is performed for the predetermined time, verification reading is performed to confirm whether or not excess electrons are extracted from the floating gate FG. By repeating the erasing and the verification reading, the amount of electric charges of the floating gate FG is controlled.
(3) At the time of writing data, after writing is performed, verification reading is performed. Subsequently, after the electric potentials of the word line WL and the bit line BL are slightly raised, writing is performed again. Thereafter, a verification reading is performed. By repeating the writing and the verification reading, the electric potentials of the word line WL and the bit line BL are gradually raised to perform writing, so that the amount of electric charges of the floating gate FG is controlled. At the time of erasing data, after erasing is performed, a verification reading is performed. Subsequently, after the electric potential of the common drain line DL is slightly raised, erasing is performed again. Thereafter, a verification reading is performed. By repeating the erasing and the verification reading, the electric potential of the common drain line DL is gradually raised to perform erasing, so that the amount of electric charges of the floating gate FG is controlled.
(4) Before erasing data, data is written to the cell transistor 30 in which data is not yet written. After all cell transistors 30 are placed in the writing condition, an erasure is performed.
Since the above controls (1) to (4) are complicated, there is a problem that control circuit structures are complicated. Another problem is that the operation speed of the memory is lowered to perform the complicated control.
Recently, in order to enhance the integration degree of the flash memory, there has been proposed a multilevel memory in which three or more values are stored, instead of storing two values (one bit), i.e., the erasing and writing conditions in each memory cell.
Even in the multilevel memory, the excess erasing needs to be prevented. For the purpose, the threshold voltage of the cell transistor 30 needs to be controlled in a range of voltages in which excess erasing is not performed. Since the narrow voltage range needs to be divided into plural sections to correspond to each data value, it is disadvantageously difficult to control the threshold voltage.

Non-volatile semiconductor memory device


A process is disclosed for obtaining citrus fiber from citrus peel. Citrus fiber is obtained having a c* close packing concentration value of less than 3.8 wt % anhydrous base. The citrus fiber can be used in food products, feed products, beverages, personal care products, pharmaceutical products or detergent products.

Citrus peel is a waste product from the juice industry or is a by-product from the pectin process. Pectin can be obtained from various raw materials like citrus peels using a specific treatment in hot acid aqueous conditions. Citrus include e.g. lemon, orange, lime, grape fruit of which lemon is the most commonly used. The peels obtained from the juice industry are typically subjected to another treatment to extract juice and oil, and are then dried. These peels are typically used for cattle feed. The peels obtained from the pectin process, after extraction of pectin, are of even lower economical value.
It would thus be desirable to improve the economical value of this product. One approach is to improve the functional properties of the fibers which can be derived from citrus peel. However, the properties of existing citrus peel fibers can still be improved.
Hence, it is an object of the present invention to develop a process for obtaining citrus fiber from citrus peel having improved properties versus the citrus fiber of the prior art. It is further an object of the present invention to obtain a citrus fiber which has good hydration ability and viscosifying properties.

Process for obtaining citrus fiber from citrus peel


A method and a control system for positioning a mine vehicle. Measurement of a distance travelled by the mine vehicle is based on monitoring rotation of a wheel. In the invention, an error caused in the distance measurement by wear of the wheel is compensated for automatically when the distance value obtained from monitoring is corrected by a correction factor. The value of the correction factor is updated at predetermined intervals during use.

Unmanned mine vehicles can be guided in a mine along a desired route as long as the distance travelled by the vehicle and its driving direction can be determined. The vehicle direction can be found out with sufficient accuracy by means of a gyroscope, for example. The distance travelled can be calculated in the vehicle's control system after rotation data has first been measured directly from a vehicle wheel by suitable sensors, or indirectly from the power transmission or engine. The determination of the distance on the basis of the wheel rotation involves the problem that the diameter of tires changes as they wear. Thus the real distance travelled by the vehicle and the distance determined by measuring may clearly differ from each other. Deviations in the distance determination decrease the location accuracy of the mine vehicle and make it more difficult for the vehicle to stay on the planned route.

Method and control system for positioning a mine vehicle


A generally rectangular baby bed comprised of a vertical headboard, a vertical footboard, a pair of vertical side panels connecting from the headboard to the footboard, a flat horizontal supporting surface extending between the headboard and the footboard for supporting a mattress thereon, a pair of vertical side panels extending between the headboard and the footboard, a central vertical partition mounted between the side panels in parallel relation therewith and extending from the headboard to the footboard, the central partition being formed of an upper horizontal rail, a lower horizontal rail and a plurality of vertical rails which extend from the upper rail to the lower rail, a pair of opposed vertical slots located opposite each other on the inboard sides of the headboard and footboard for receiving therein the ends of the upper and lower horizontal rails, whereby the vertical partition is slidable vertically upwardly and downwardly in the vertical slots, rollers mounted at the ends of the horizontal rails for the central partition for allowing rolling movement of the vertical partition in the vertical slots.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a twin baby bed and more particularly to a baby bed having a slidable longitudinal partition which allows the bed to be used for twins.
2. Prior Art
Searches were made in the prior art for beds similar to the present invention and the following listed patents are considered to be the most pertinent uncovered:
PATENTINVENTORDATEU.S. Pat. No. 2,471,691F. M. HurstMay 31, 1949U.S. Pat. No. 2,704,387F. L. LiphartMar. 22, 1955U.K. Patent No. 2,113,987 AM. GrayAug. 17, 1983
The Hurst patent is pertinent in that it shows a bed or crib having a movable longitudinal partition for varying the width of the crib.
Liphart is pertinent in that it shows a bed having a central longitudinal partition for dividing double beds into separate portions.
The British patent is pertinent in that it shows a transverse movable partition.


A method and apparatus identifies and adds information relevant to a user but not requested by the user to information requested by a user to form a message such as an e-mail message and provides the message to the user.

Messages such as E-mail, pager alerts, instant messages, wireless messages and the like may be used to provide information to one or more recipients. When messages are used for marketing purposes, two types of information may be sent.
The first type of information is information that is requested by the intended recipient. For example, a target party may wish to receive a daily roundup of news information related to stocks in his or her portfolio and other stocks of interest. The target may log on to a web site and select the option to receive information related to stocks in the target's portfolio, and may define lists of other securities about which the target wishes to receive information. An automated system may collect this information from various sources and provide it to the target on a daily basis in one or more e-mail messages. People tend to pay particular attention to this type of information because they know it will be relevant to their interests, since they select the types of information they will receive.
Another type of information sent via messages is information that is not requested by the recipient. Such information currently includes information many users do not feel is relevant to their interests: get-rich-quick schemes, advertisements for penny stocks, and advertisements for less-than-tasteful web sites. Recipients of such messages tend to ignore the message because most of the information thus received is not relevant to the user's interests. Even information that the user may find highly relevant is ignored because the user tends to assume that virtually any information that is not requested by the recipient will be similar to other such messages and will not be relevant to the user's interests. Thus, much non-requested information that a party may find relevant to his or her interests is not communicated because the originator of the information knows the information will largely be ignored by the recipients of the information.
Although it would be possible to include non-requested information with requested information, if the non-requested information has so little relevance to the recipient, there is a danger that the recipient finds the sum of the information less relevant and stops viewing all of it or rescinds the request.
What is needed is a system and method that can draw a user's attention to non-requested information that may be relevant to the user's interests as determined by certain characteristics of the user.

System and method for enhanced effectiveness of non-requested information in messages


A console includes a console surface, an interactive touch bar disposed within the console, the touch bar configured to move from a position recessed within the console surface to a position raised above the console surface and the touch bar being configured to receive user touch input, and a proximity sensor disposed on the console surface, the proximity sensor configured to detect a user gesture. The touch bar is configured to rise above the console surface when the proximity sensor detects the user gesture. The interactive surface comprising a capacitive surface zone configured to detect user touch input. The interactive touch surface is configured to receive sliding user input across the interactive touch surface to navigate through content options and is configured to receive pressing user input for selecting the content options.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to display screen control consoles and, more particularly, to a control console, for an in-vehicle display screen, including a concealable touch bar control.
Description of the Background Art
As vehicles become more complex machines, so do their displays. FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional, modern display unit. Modern vehicles display much useful information to the user via a headunit or dash mounted display screen. The capabilities of these screens are ever increasing and there is a need to provide new ways to interact with the content on these screens. Such methods include physical hard keys and even gesture recognition. As well, higher-end vehicle brands prefer that the display screen is not used for certain types of interactions due to the fact that finger oils can cause unsightly smudges and messes on the display screens. Thus, there is a need for new methods of interacting with this new content on the display screen.
Currently, touch-screen technology and other existing input technologies have been adapted to interact with the content being displayed on the in-vehicle infotainment and dashboard display screens. The touch-screen interface is a very commonly used interaction method because it creates a direct correlation between the content on the screen and the ability to alter the content by direct input. Similarly, existing systems also use hard keys placed around the edge of the display, which are assigned to each input function of an icon, as is illustrated in FIG. 1. Specifically, hard keys 102 are provided along the edges of the display screen 104, for controlling functions related to items displayed on the display screen.
Other conventional control consoles do not use touch screens. One such conventional arrangement, illustrated in FIG. 2, interacts with the displayed content through a multimedia interface (MMI) knob device. A plurality of hard keys 202 are arranged around a knob 204. The knob 204 and hard keys 202 are configured to allow a user to interact with content displayed on a vehicle display screen (e.g., a dashboard display screen) without touching the screen.
In both conventional systems illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the interactive elements (e.g., hard keys, knobs, etc.) are always visible. The visible interactive elements often take away from the overall aesthetics of an interior of a premium, higher-end vehicle.
DE 10 2011 010 229 A1 discloses an apparatus for operating a plurality of different functions of a motor vehicle with a touch sensitive display surface. The apparatus includes a display surface arranged in a vehicle console. The display surface has two spaced apart display surface portions with a plurality of symbols displayed on each surface portion. Each symbol represents a different component in the vehicle. Accordingly, a user may control several vehicle components using the single touch sensitive display surface. The display surface, however, is positioned on the vehicle console and is always visible. Thus, similar to the interactive elements in FIGS. 1 and 2, the display surface takes away from the overall aesthetics of the interior of the vehicle.

Interactive sliding touchbar for automotive display