A method for motion compensated interpolation using overlapped block motion estimation and a frame-rate converter using the method, wherein the method includes storing an input image in frame units, dividing the stored image into N1×N2 blocks and M1×M2 blocks that are larger than the N1×N2 blocks based on the same center axis as that of the N1×N2 blocks and overlapped with adjacent blocks and sampling pixels in the M1×M2 blocks, estimating a motion vector by matching the sampled M1×M2 blocks between adjacent frames, and creating a median pixel value between the adjacent frames using the estimated motion vector and pixel values of the matched N1×N2 blocks between the adjacent frames.

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 2004-9021, filed on Feb. 11, 2004 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frame-rate converting system, and more particularly, to a method for motion compensated interpolation using overlapped block motion estimation and a frame-rate converter using the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in personal computers (PC) or high-definition televisions (HDTV), frame rate conversion is performed for compatibility between programs having various broadcasting signal standards such as PAL or NTSC. Frame rate conversion means conversion of the number of frames that are output per second. In particular, when a frame rate is increased, interpolation of a new frame is required. With the recent development of broadcasting techniques, frame rate conversion is performed after video data is compressed according to video compression schemes such as Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) or H.263.
Since video signals between frames mostly have high autocorrelation, they have redundancy. Thus, the efficiency of data compression can be improved by removing such redundancy in data compression. At this time, to efficiently compress video frames that temporally change, it is necessary to remove redundancy in the direction of a time axis. In other words, by replacing a frame having little or no motion with respect to a previous frame, it is possible to largely reduce the amount of data to be transmitted. Motion estimation (ME) is a task of searching for the most similar blocks between a previous frame and a current frame. A motion vector (MV) indicates a magnitude of block's movement in ME.
In general, motion estimation methods use a block matching algorithm (BMA) based on the accuracy, the possibility of real-time processing, and hardware implementation.
The BMA divides a seamless input video into pixel blocks of a predetermined size, searches for the most similar block of each of the divided pixel blocks in a previous or future frame, and determines the found block as an MV. To determine similarity between adjacent blocks, mean absolute differences (MADs) are usually used in the BMA.
Also, video signals that are to be inserted between frames are created using the BMA. FIG. 1 shows motion compensated interpolation between frames using the BMA.
In FIG. 1, when pixel values of blocks B included in frames Fn, Fn−, and Fi are fn, fn−1, and fi and a coordinate value included in the frame Fn is x, a video signal to be motion compensation interpolated can be expressed as follows in Equation 1.f1(x+MV(x)/2)={fn(x)+fn−1(x+MV(x))}+2  (1)
Such BMA is suitable for real-time processing, and thus, is used not only in frame rate conversion but also in compression standards such as MPEG2/4 and H.262/264. The BMA shows excellent performance in motion estimation having horizontal/vertical components, but shows inferior performance in rotation or reduction of videos. Therefore, to improve the accuracy using the BMA, the size of a matching block should be increased. However, as a block size increases, the accuracy is improved, but it is difficult to achieve fine expression. As a block size decreases, the amount of computation is decreased and fine expression is possible, but the accuracy is decreased.

Method for motion compensated interpolation using overlapped block motion estimation and frame-rate converter using the method


In one aspect, the invention provides an article consisting essentially of a paper layer including about 10 Wt % to about 40 Wt % of a thermoplastic polymer and an ePTFE membrane laminated to the paper layer. Preferably, the paper layer includes about 10 Wt % to about 30 Wt % of a thermoplastic polymer. More preferably, the paper layer includes about 18 Wt % to about 25 Wt % of a thermoplastic polymer. A paper layer including about 20 Wt % of a thermoplastic polymer is most preferred. In another aspect, the thermoplastic polymer may comprise poly vinyl acetate. In yet another aspect, the invention provides a filter media consisting essentially of a cellulose paper layer including about 20 Wt % poly vinyl acetate binder; and an ePTFE membrane laminated to said cellulose paper layer. In still another aspect, the invention provides a paper layer in which the paper is cellulose paper. In yet another aspect, the invention provides a method of making a filter media consisting essentially of: providing a cellulose paper layer including about 20 Wt % of poly vinyl acetate, providing an ePTFE membrane to at least one surface of the cellulose paper layer; and laminating the ePTFE membrane to the cellulose paper layer.

The removal of particulates from a gas stream has long been a practice in a variety of industrial fields. Conventional means for filtering particulates and the like from gas streams include, but are not limited to, filter bags, filter tubes and filter cartridges. For convenience herein, the term "filter element" will be used to refer collectively to these types of filtration means.
Filter elements are typically constructed from felts and/or fabrics made from a variety of materials, including polyesters, polypropylenes, aramids, glasses, cellulose and fluoropolymers. Selection of the type of material used is typically based on the gas stream with which the filter element comes in contact, the operating conditions of the system, the type of particulate being filtered and cost.
Depth filtration techniques utilize the filter element to stop particles through the depth of the element. As the particles build up on the element, the filtration efficiency of the element is increased. After an amount of dust has caked on the filter element, the flow rate of gas through the element is reduced to a level where the filter must be replaced or the bulk dust cake removed from the surface of the element. Typically the dust cake is removed by some form of agitation, such as a pulse of compressed air, vibration, shaking or the like.
Nonwoven cellulose paper filters comprise loosely assembled webs or masses of fibers bound together with an adhesive binder. Adequately bonded cellulose paper filters have advantages over other non-woven media and woven fabrics for a large variety of uses. A significant advantage of non-woven cellulose paper media is lower cost. The cost effectiveness makes cellulose paper filter media particularly attractive in consumer products, such as filters for household vacuums. Many such vacuums use low cost filter media comprising cellulose paper. The nonwoven cellulose paper filter may be in the form of a pleated cartridge or a bag.
It is known to form cellulose paper filters by impregnating, printing or otherwise depositing an adhesive bonding composition on a base web of cellulose fibers. The base web of cellulose fibers to which the binder is applied can be produced by carding, garnetting, air-laying, wet-laying or other known operations.
Cellulose paper has traditionally been used as a single ply in which it provides dust filtration and containment, as well as the strength and abrasion resistance required of a vacuum cleaner bag or filter cartridge. This material is rigid enough to enable easy fabrication on standard bag manufacturing or pleating equipment. The paper is predominantly composed of wood pulp, but may have some synthetic fiber reinforcement.
One popular adhesive binder composition for cellulose paper filter products is a poly vinyl acetate. However, other thermoplastic polymers are also commonly used as binders in the manufacture of cellulose paper filters.
The standard cellulose paper filter media typically has a basis weight of about 30–200 g/m2 and commonly about 100 g/m2. This media may have an air permeability in the range of about 20–200 Frazier. These filters do not have the filtration efficiency of higher performance media, such as membrane media. The open structure of cellulose media results in rapid clogging with dust. Moreover, the dust holding capacity is limited by the media thickness. In certain applications, only thin filter media can be used.
A significant development in the area of particle filtration was achieved when expanded PTFE membrane was incorporated as a surface laminate on synthetic depth filter elements. One example is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,812, directed to a filter cartridge for removing particles of dust from a stream of moving gas or air. Preferred filter media for the cartridge are spun bond or non woven composites containing a layer of porous expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membrane. In household vacuums, filter elements constructed of an ePTFE membrane laminated under heat and pressure to a polyester support are commercially available.
Use of expanded PTFE membranes greatly enhanced the performance of such filter elements because the particles collected on the surface of the expanded PTFE, rather than in the depth of the element, as was occurring in the absence of the expanded PTFE layer. Several significant advantages were observed with these filter elements; first, the filtration efficiency of the elements was high immediately from the outset of the filtration process, and it was not necessary to "build up" a cake of particles to achieve high efficiency; second, the elements lasted longer because particles were not getting into the backing fabric of the element and clogging the element; and third, the cleaning energy needed to clean the dust cake off of the elements was lower because dust cake adhesion to the membrane surface is lower.
The membrane is typically laminated directly to a nonwoven thermoplastic polymer backer under heat and pressure. Known means for adhering the membrane filter media to other support structures include adhering by the use of a separate adhesive. Suitable adhesives may include hot melt polyimides, polyamides, silicones, polyesters, epoxies, polyurethanes, and the like.
Filter media manufactured in accordance with the procedures described above is effective, but relatively expensive. Materials such as meltblown or spun bond polyester are known to be suitable for welding or fusing to ePTFE membranes, but are costly. Such materials may amount to more than 25% of the finished filter media cost. Using a separate adhesive also adds process complexity and cost.
What is needed is a filter media that combines membrane filtration media performance with low cost cellulose paper media without the use of a separate adhesive.


A pull-on disposable article has a liquid-absorbent first panel interposed between a liquid-absorbent sheet and liquid-impervious sheets, a waist-hole and a pair of leg-holes. The leg-holes are surrounding by leg-surrounding flaps extending in a leg-surrounding direction outside transversely opposite side edges of the first panel. A transverse dimension between the transversely opposite side edges is minimized in the vicinity of bottoms of the respective leg-holes. The leg-surrounding flaps are formed with first folding lines extending in the leg-surrounding direction and second folding lines extending in a transverse direction. The leg-surrounding flaps are tucked along the first and second folding lines into the respective leg-holes.

This invention relates to a pants-type disposable wearing article for absorption and retainment of bodily discharges.
The pants-type disposable wearing article is well known, which comprises a liquid-pervious topsheet, a liquid-impervious backsheet and a liquid-absorbent panel interposed between these two sheets so as to define front and rear waist regions opposed to each other and a crotch region extending between these waist regions wherein the front and rear waist regions are connected to each other along transversely opposite side edge portions of these waist regions which are overlaid to form a waist-hole and a pair of leg-holes.
The leg-holes are surrounded by associated leg-surrounding flaps extending along outer edges of the associated side edge portions of the panel in a leg-surrounding direction. The leg-surrounding flaps have free side edges curving inwardly in a transverse direction of the article from tops toward bottoms of the respective leg-holes so that a transverse dimension between the free side edges is minimized in the vicinity of the bottoms of the respective leg-holes. In this article of well known art, a transverse dimension of the crotch region is smaller than a transverse dimension each of the front and rear waist regions has. In other words, with the front and rear waist regions disconnected from each other and then developed, the article has a hourglass-like planar shape. Such pants-type wearing article is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Nos. 1999-104177A; 1999-104180A; 1999-155904A; and 1999-169403A.
When the above-cited wearing article of well known art is viewed from above the waist-hole being opened, it is found that the leg-holes are opened in the transverse direction of the article while the waist-hole is opened in the longitudinal direction of the article. With a consequence, the waist-hole is not in alignment with the leg-holes and the leg-surrounding flaps extending in the vicinity of the bottoms of the respective leg-holes lie ahead of the waist-hole. In the case of this article, there is an anxiety that the wearer's toes and/or heels might get stuck with the leg-surrounding flaps lying in the vicinity of the bottoms of the leg-holes as the wearer intends to guide his or her legs through the waist-hole then through the leg-holes. As a result, it is likely that the operation of wearing the article might be inconveniently retarded.
In this article, a transverse dimension of the crotch region in the vicinity of the bottoms of the respective leg-holes is larger than a transverse dimension of the wearer's crotch and the crotch region of the article can not be fitly put in the crotch of the wearer after the article has been put on the wearer's body. Consequently, the crotch region of the article becomes bulky and the wearer experiences an uncomfortable feeling. With the article, the leg-surrounding flaps are irregularly folded or the panel is formed with a plurality of irregular wrinkles as the crotch region of the article is squeezed in the crotch region of the wearer. These folds or wrinkles may sometimes deteriorate an absorbing capacity for bodily discharges in the crotch region and even allow the bodily discharge to leak from the crotch region.
The transverse dimension of the wearer's crotch is generally in a range of 3–8 cm. In many of the articles on the market, the minimum dimension of the panel in the crotch region is generally in a range of 10–20 cm and the minimum dimension between the transversely opposite free outer side edge portions of the leg-surrounding flaps in the crotch region is generally in a range of 15–30 cm. In the articles on the market, therefore, the transverse dimension of the crotch region in the vicinity of the bottoms of the respective leg-holes is larger than the transverse dimension of the wearer's crotch.


This invention relates to a fuel pump, and more particularly to a fuel pump for delivering high pressure fuel to a fuel injection system of an internal combustion engine. A fuel pump is provided comprising coupling means (30) mechanically coupling a first pump plunger (1) to a second drive means (14) and a second pump plunger (11) to a first drive means (4) whereby, when the first pump plunger (1) is driven by the first drive means (4) from bottom dead center to top dead center, the second pump plunger (11) is driven by the coupling means (30) from top dead center to bottom dead center, and as the second pump plunger (11) is driven from bottom dead center to top dead center by the second drive means (14), the first pump plunger (1) is driven from top dead center to bottom dead enter by the coupling means (30). The use of a mechanical coupling means eliminates the problem of stroke limitation and speed limitation inherent in the use of springs as a means of returning the pump plungers to their bottom dead center positions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fuel pump, and more particularly to a fuel pump for delivering high pressure fuel to a fuel injection system of an internal combustion engine. The preferred embodiment of the present invention is particularly suitable for supplying high pressure fuel to an accumulator or directly to the common rail of a common rail fuel injection system, but the invention is not limited to this application.
2. State of the Art
There are various characteristics which are recognised by those skilled in the art as being desirable in fuel pumps for fuel injection systems, particularly high pressure fuel pumps for use in common rail fuel injection systems. One such characteristic is the presence of a low dead (unswept) volume associated with the or each pumping plunger.
In order to minimise the dead volume associated with a pumping plunger it is known to obviate the need for an inlet valve at the discharge end of the plunger cylinder by providing a fill passage which opens into the cylinder immediately above the position of the end of the pump plunger when the pump plunger is at its bottom dead centre (bdc) position. With such an arrangement, as the pump plunger moves away from its bdc position it covers the fill passage and permits pressurization of the fuel trapped between the pump plunger and the discharge end of its associated cylinder. During the return stroke of the pump plunger a discharge valve prevents reverse flow of the fuel and a vacuum is created within the pumping cylinder until the fill passage is again uncovered by the pump plunger whereupon fuel may flow into the cylinder under the combined influences of the feed pressure in the fill passage and the vacuum created by the previous plunger movement. Whilst this design offers the advantage of a very small dead volume, it does suffer from the disadvantage of requiring a substantial force to move the plunger from its top dead centre (tdc) position to its bdc position because of plunger inertia and the vacuum which is created within the pumping cylinder during such movement. In known designs, a spring is used to move the plunger from tdc to bdc. The provision of this spring limits the design of the pump, and in particular, limits the ability of the designer to increase the stroke of the pump plunger to increase the output of the pump. This is because it is not possible to engineer a spring which can provide sufficient force, stroke and velocity characteristics at high engine speeds if the stroke of the pump plunger is too long.


An MPEG decoder system and method for performing video decoding or decompression which includes a unified memory for multiple functions according to the present invention. The video decoding system includes transport logic, a system controller, and MPEG decoder logic. The video decoding system of the present invention includes a single unified memory which stores code and data for the transport, system controller and MPEG decoder functions. The single unified memory is preferably a 16 Mbit memory. The MPEG decoder logic includes a memory controller which couples to the single unified memory, and each of the transport logic, system controller and MPEG decoder logic access the single unified memory through the memory controller. The video decoding system implements various frame memory saving schemes, such as compression or dynamic allocation, to more efficiently use the memory. In one embodiment, the memory is not required to store reconstructed frame data during B-frame reconstruction, thus considerably reducing the required amount of memory for this function. Alternatively, the memory is only required to store a portion of the reconstructed frame data. In addition, these savings in memory allow portions of the memory to also be used for transport and system controller functions. The present invention thus provides a video decoding system with reduced memory requirements.

A compression standard referred to as MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) compression is a set of methods for compression and decompression of full motion video images which uses the interframe and intraframe compression techniques described above. MPEG compression uses both motion compensation and discrete cosine transform (DCT) processes, among others, and can yield compression ratios of more than 30:1.
The two predominant MPEG standards are referred to as MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. The MPEG-1 standard generally concerns frame data reduction using block-based motion compensation prediction (MCP), which generally uses temporal differential pulse code modulation (DPCM). The MPEG-2 standard is similar to the MPEG-1 standard, but includes extensions to cover a wider range of applications, including interlaced digital video such as high definition television (HDTV).
Interframe compression methods such as MPEG are based on the fact that, in most video sequences, the background remains relatively stable while action takes place in the foreground. The background may move, but large portions of successive frames in a video sequence are redundant. MPEG compression uses this inherent redundancy to encode or compress frames in the sequence.
An MPEG stream includes three types of pictures, referred to as the Intra (I) frame, the Predicted (P) frame, and the Bi-directional Interpolated (B) frame. The I or Intraframes contain the video data for the entire frame of video and are typically placed every 10 to 15 frames. Intraframes provide entry points into the file for random access, and are generally only moderately compressed. Predicted frames are encoded with reference to a past frame, i.e., a prior Intraframe or Predicted frame. Thus P frames only include changes relative to prior I or P frames. In general, Predicted frames receive a fairly high amount of compression and are used as references for future Predicted frames. Thus, both I and P frames are used as references for subsequent frames. Bi-directional pictures include the greatest amount of compression and require both a past and a future reference in order to be encoded. Bi-directional frames are never used as references for other frames.
In general, for the frame(s) following a reference frame, i.e., P and B frames that follow a reference I or P frame, only small portions of these frames are different from the corresponding portions of the respective reference frame. Thus, for these frames, only the differences are captured, compressed and stored. The differences between these frames are typically generated using motion vector estimation logic, as discussed below.
When an MPEG encoder receives a video file, the MPEG encoder generally first creates the I frames. The MPEG encoder may compress the I frame using an intraframe compression technique. The MPEG encoder divides respective frames into a grid of 16.times.16 pixel squares called macroblocks in order to perform motion estimation/compensation. Thus, for a respective target picture or frame, i.e., a frame being encoded, the encoder searches for an exact, or near exact, match between the target picture macroblock and a block in a neighboring picture referred to as a search frame. For a target P frame the encoder searches in a prior I or P frame. For a target B frame, the encoder searches in a prior or subsequent I or P frame. When a match is found, the encoder transmits a vector movement code or motion vector. The vector movement code or motion vector only includes information on the difference between the search frame and the respective target picture. The blocks in target pictures that have no change relative to the block in the reference picture or I frame are ignored. Thus the amount of data that is actually stored for these frames is significantly reduced.
After motion vectors have been generated, the encoder then encodes the changes using spatial redundancy. Thus, after finding the changes in location of the macroblocks, the MPEG algorithm further calculates and encodes the difference between corresponding macroblocks. Encoding the difference is accomplished through a math process referred to as the discrete cosine transform or DCT. This process divides the macroblock into four sub blocks, seeking out changes in color and brightness. Human perception is more sensitive to brightness changes than color changes. Thus the MPEG algorithm devotes more effort to reducing color data than brightness.
Therefore, MPEG compression is based on two types of redundancies in video sequences, these being spatial, which is the redundancy in an individual frame, and temporal, which is the redundancy between consecutive frames. Spatial compression is achieved by considering the frequency characteristics of a picture frame. Each frame is divided into non-overlapping blocks, and each block is transformed via the discrete cosine transform (DCT). After the transformed blocks are converted to the "DCT domain", each entry in the transformed block is quantized with respect to a set of quantization tables. The quantization step for each entry can vary, taking into account the sensitivity of the human visual system (HVS)} to the frequency. Since the HVS is more sensitive to low frequencies, most of the high frequency entries are quantized to zero. In this step where the entries are quantized, information is lost and errors are introduced to the reconstructed image. Run length encoding is used to transmit the quantized values. To further enhance compression, the blocks are scanned in a zig-zag ordering that scans the lower frequency entries first, and the non-zero quantized values, along with the zero run lengths, are entropy encoded.
When an MPEG decoder receives an encoded stream, the MPEG decoder reverses the above operations. Thus the MPEG decoder performs inverse scanning to remove the zig zag ordering, inverse quantization to de-quantize the data, and the inverse DCT to convert the data from the frequency domain back to the pixel domain. The MPEG decoder also performs motion compensation using the transmitted motion vectors to recreate the temporally compressed frames.
When frames are received which are used as references for other frames, such as I or P frames, these frames are decoded and stored in memory. When a temporally compressed or encoded frame is received, such as a P or B frame, motion compensation is performed on the frame using the prior decoded I or P reference frames. The temporally compressed or encoded frame, referred to as a target frame, will include motion vectors which reference blocks in prior decoded I or P frames stored in the memory. The MPEG decoder examines the motion vector, determines the respective reference block in the reference frame, and accesses the reference block pointed to by the motion vector from the memory.
A typical MPEG decoder includes motion compensation logic which includes local or on-chip memory. The MPEG decoder also includes an external memory which stores prior decoded reference frames. The MPEG decoder accesses the reference frames or anchor frames stored in the external memory in order to reconstruct temporally compressed frames. The MPEG decoder also typically stores the frame being reconstructed in the external memory.
An MPEG decoder system also typically includes transport logic which operates to demultiplex received data into a plurality of individual multimedia streams. An MPEG decoder system also generally includes a system controller which controls operations in the system and executes programs or applets.
Prior art MPEG video decoder systems have generally used a frame store memory for the MPEG decoder motion compensation logic which stores the reference frames or anchor frames as well as the frame being reconstructed. Prior art MPEG video decoder systems have also generally included a separate memory for the transport and system controller functions. It has generally not been possible to combine these memories, due to size limitations. For example, current memory devices are fabricated on an 4 Mbit granularity. In prior art systems, the memory requirements for the transport and system controller functions as well as the decoder motion compensation logic would exceed 16 Mbits of memory, thus requiring 20 or 24 Mbits of memory. This additional memory adds considerable cost to the system.
The amount of memory is a major cost item in the production of video decoders. Thus, it is desired to reduce the memory requirements of the decoder system as much as possible to reduce its size and cost. Since practical memory devices are implemented using particular convenient discrete sizes, it is important to stay within a particular size if possible for commercial reasons. For example, it is desired to keep the memory requirements below a particular size of memory, such as 16 Mb, since otherwise a memory device of 20 or 24 Mb would have to be used, resulting in greater cost and extraneous storage area. As mentioned above, it has heretofore not been possible to combine the memory required for the transport and system controller functions with the memory required for the MPEG decoder logic due to the memory size requirements.
Therefore, a new video decoder system and method is desired which efficiently uses memory and combines the memory subsystem for reduced memory requirements and hence reduced cost.

MPEG decoder system and method having a unified memory for transport decode and system controller functions


A display device according to the present disclosure includes: a first substrate including a front surface and a rear surface, the front surface defining thereon a first region, a second region, and a third region, the rear surface defining thereon a fourth region, a fifth region, and a sixth region respectively opposing the first region, the second region and the third region; a display element provided on the first region; a wire provided on the second region and electrically connected to the display element; a driving element provided above the third region; and a second substrate provided to be in contact with the fourth region, the fifth region, and the six region, and being composed of a material with higher rigidity than the first substrate, a portion thereof in contact with the sixth region having a smaller thickness than a portion thereof in contact with the fourth region.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to display devices. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a display device provided with a displaying unit at a front surface of a flexible substrate having a rigid substrate at a rear surface thereof, and to a method for manufacturing the display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As portable information terminals and the like are becoming more and more popular in recent years, there are strong demands for thickness reduction, weight reduction, and improved durability in display devices equipped in these terminals. In addition to these demands, there is recently also an increasing demand for display devices with high flexibility. In order to meet such demands, manufacturing methods for display devices have been studied.
For example, in order to achieve thickness reduction, weight reduction, and flexibility of a display device, there has been studied a display-device manufacturing method that involves forming, for example, a display element unit on a glass substrate and subsequently reducing the thickness of the entire glass substrate by grinding the glass substrate. On the other hand, in order to achieve durability and flexibility of a display device, there have been studied a configuration that uses a resin substrate and a thin glass substrate and a configuration that uses a resin substrate alone. PCT International Publication No. 2002/084739 discloses a display-device manufacturing method that involves forming a thin-film transistor on a glass substrate, removing the entire glass substrate, and then transferring the thin-film transistor onto a resin substrate. Japanese Patent No. 4870156 discloses a display-device manufacturing method that involves forming a resin substrate on a glass substrate, forming, for example, a display element unit on the resin substrate, and then separating the resin substrate from the glass substrate.
In general, a display device includes a substrate, a display element unit provided on the substrate, and a driving integrated circuit (IC) electrically connected to the display element unit. The display element unit is provided with, for example, a thin-film transistor therein. With this configuration, when a video signal from an external device is input to the display element unit via the driving IC, the thin-film transistor is driven in correspondence with the video signal, so that the display device displays a video picture.
In order to electrically connect the display element unit and the driving IC to each other, there is a method of directly connecting the driving IC to the wire electrically connected to the display element unit and a method of connecting via a flexible printed circuit (referred to as "FPC" hereinafter). When using the direct connection method, the driving IC is electrically connected to the wire, which extends from the display element unit. When using the via-FPC connection method, an output terminal of the driving IC is mounted in the FPC such that the output terminal of the driving IC is disposed on the FPC and is electrically connected to the wire provided in the FPC. Then, an output terminal of the FPC is electrically connected to the wire, which extends from the display element unit, on the substrate. Either of the two connection methods uses an anisotropic conductive film (referred to as "ACF" hereinafter). By thermo-compression-bonding the two terminals connected to each other via the ACF, the two terminals can be electrically connected to each other.

Display device and method for manufacturing the same


Load balancing across hosts in a computer system is triggered based on pairwise comparisons of resource utilization at different host. A method for load balancing across hosts includes the steps of determining a resource utilization difference between first and second hosts, wherein the first host has a higher resource utilization than the second host, comparing the resource utilization difference against a threshold difference, and upon determining that the resource utilization difference exceeds the threshold difference, selecting a workload executing in the first host for migration to the second host.

Load balancing is used to distribute workloads across hosts in a cluster, based on various metrics, such as processor utilization, system memory (random access memory) utilization, storage activity (e.g., read and write operations performed against persistent storage of a host machine), network activity (e.g., packet transmission/reception rates, network throughput), and so on. A resource scheduler examines these metrics measured at the individual hosts in the cluster to identify load balancing opportunities.
Resource schedulers generally use standard deviation of resource utilization among multiple hosts in the cluster as a trigger for performing load balancing. In some cases, however, the standard deviation approach may not be sufficient to identify all of the load balancing opportunities. For example, where there are a small number of outliers in the cluster (e.g., hosts having a very high resource utilization relative to the average), load balancing opportunities for such outliers may be missed because the standard deviation may still be below the threshold required to trigger load balancing. As a result, the high resource utilization state in the outliers will continue to exist so long as the standard deviation is below the threshold.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A latch system for securing a camper within the bed of a truck is provided. The latch system comprises two main assemblies: the bed-mounted rail-receiver track assembly and the camper rail frame assembly which is adapted to be secured to the bottom of the camper. The camper rail frame assembly includes at least a left camper rail and at least a right camper rail. The bed-mounted rail-receiver track assembly includes at least two and preferably four bed-mounted rail-receiver track members adapted for receiving the rail members carried by the bottom of the camper. Each bed-mounted rail-receiver track member preferably includes a flange flared so as to compensate for slight misalignments, either up or side to side, of the camper as the camper is being mounted within the bed of the truck.

1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to truck-bed mounted campers, sometimes referred to in the art as wheel-less campers. More particularly, this invention relates to a latch system for securing a camper in the bed of a truck in a manner that substantially eliminates the tendency of the camper to bounce within the bed of the truck during transport.
2. Description of the Related Art
Truck bed campers, bed-mounted shell tops, and truck mounted tent campers have long been known in the art. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,833, issued to Margetts et al. on Jun. 28, 1974, discloses a geared system, including gear engageable racks mounted on the bottom of the camper for loading the camper into the bed of the truck and for locking the camper body against sliding off the truck bed after it has been loaded thereon. U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,649, issued to Beal, on Mar. 10, 1987, discloses a rail system having rail members mounted on the top surface of the truck bed walls and cooperating rail members secured to the underside of the camper shell. These cooperating rail members engage one another in dove tail fashion. U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,794, issued to Kelsch et al. on Dec. 2, 1997, discloses a combination pickup shell and carpet kit that can be loaded or unloaded in minutes by one person. U.S. Pat. No. 5,833,302, issued to Kerr on Nov. 10, 1998, discloses an apparatus for mounting a camper on the bed of a vehicle, in which the apparatus includes a pair of laterally spaced and generally opposed stabilizers for engaging the camper and aligning the camper with the bed of the truck. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 7,219,951, issued to Rasmussen on May 22, 2007, discloses a tie-down assembly for securing a truck camper to a truck. U.S. Pat. No. 7,322,637, issued to Smith on Jan. 29, 2008, discloses a vehicle cargo bed tent camper. And, U.S. Pat. No. 8,480,158, issued to McCarthy et al. on Jul. 9, 2013, discloses a wheel-less truck mounted camper having jack stands for supporting the camper and which are disposed within a sidewall of the camper. Typically, bed-mounted campers are secured to the truck-bed by tie-downs, such as the tie-downs disclosed in the '951 patent. However, these tie-downs can apply spreading forces to the frame of the camper that are undesirable.
What is missing from the art is a latch system having rails mounted on the bottom frame of the camper and that cooperate with rails which are removably secured to the bed of the truck, or a truck-like vehicle having a bed; and that are adapted to secure the camper in the bed of the vehicle so as to prevent the camper from bouncing within the bed during transport.

Latch system for truck-bed mounted camper


This invention provides a process for the preparation of water insoluble, bio-release iron-manganese fertilizer which comprises, heating phosphoric acid with a mixture of (i) source of iron oxide such as goethite and hematite, (ii) pyrolusite and (iii) one or more basic compound(s) selected from oxide(s) or carbonate(s) of magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium, (b) neutralisation followed by drying and pulverisation.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a process for the manufacture of bio-release types of slow-release iron-manganese fertilizer compounds wherein these micronutrients are water insoluble but are nevertheless available for plants.
2. Prior Art And Drawbacks
Iron and manganese fertilizers are widely used in many parts of the world particularly in soils of high pH, such as the black soils. They are also widely used in horticultural and cash crops to improve yields and quality of produce. The compounds most popularly used for correcting deficiencies of iron and manganese in crops are ferrous sulphate and manganous sulphate (J. J. Mortvedt, P. M. Giordano & W. L. Lindsay, 1972, Micronutrients in Agriculture, Soil Sci. Soc. Am., Madison). Chelated forms of these micronutrients, e.g., iron-EDTA, and manganese—EDTA compounds are also in use as liquid sprays (V. Saucheli, 1967, Chemistry and technology of fertilizers, Reinhold, N.Y.; G. H. Collins, 1955, Commercial fertilizers, Mc-Graw Hill, N.Y.).
There are, however, several drawbacks in the use of such soluble compounds as fertilizers of iron and manganese, e.g., leaching losses, chemical transformation losses, ground water contamination, etc. This results in excess dosages which are often several times the actual crop uptake, leading to poor fertilize-use efficiency Moreover, such wastages also affect the economics of iron and manganese fertilizer, thereby discouraging their widespread usage.
In an attempt to overcome these shortcomings, slow-release fertilizers incorporating iron and manganese have been prepared. One such type is the fertilizer based on phosphate glasses known as frits. Frits are prepared by fusing sodium, potassium or ammonium dihydrogen phosphates together with micronutrient salts at temperatures between 800° and 1400° C. and then rapidly quenching the melt to produce a glass (G. J. Roberts 1973,Am. Ceram. Soc. Bull. Vol 52, p 383; ibid, idem, Vol 54, p 1069; Austrian Patent No 326160 of 1975; U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,591 of 1971; U.S. Pat. No 2,713,536 of 1974).
The major disadvantage of the phosphate glass frits is that the availability of the nutrients is by slow hydrolysis of the glass and is highly dependent on the soil (pH, moisture content, temperature, etc.,) and on the crop (rate of growth, physiological factors, variety, etc). Consequently, where nutrient release by hydrolysis does not match plant uptake, the fertilizer is not effective. Moreover, the high temperatures involved in the synthesis of frits together with the corrosive conditions make these materials fairly expensive and unsuitable for general use.
Another type of phosphate based water insoluble fertilizer is the metaphosphate. Metaphosphates of calcium and potassium together with micronutrients have been proposed (S I Volfkovich, 1972, J Appl. Chem. (USSR) Vol 45, p 2479). A Russian patent (SU 1270148 of 1986) describes the production of mixed metaphosphates based fertilizers produced at 500°-880° C. Drawbacks in the use of metaphosphates as fertilizers are similar to those with the frits. Metaphosphates may be more insoluble and hydrolyse even slower, producing compounds with very poor nutrient availability. Metaphosphates of the heavy metals are extremely insoluble and of little use as fertilizers.
An additional type of slow-release fertilizer has been produced in which the micronutrient ions are in a chemical form wherein they are insoluble but also plant available. These belong to the bio-release types of slow-release fertilizers. The processes for producing such phosphate based zinc and copper fertilizers are described in two Indian patents (Nos 172800 of 1990 and 177205 of 1991). The chemistry of zinc and copper phosphate polymerisation and the chemical nature of these fertilizers have also been described (S K Ray, C Varadachari & K Ghosh, 1993, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. Vol. 32, p. 1218; S K Ray, C Varadachari & K Ghosh, 1997, J. Agric. Food Chem., vol. 45, p. 1447). A new patent (C. Varadachari, Indian Patent Application No. 10/CAL/99) describes the processes for production of slow-release fertilizers and describes methods for assessing limits of polymerisation.
Objectives of the Invention
An objective of this invention is to propose a process for the manufacture of bio-release iron-manganese fertilizer having all the advantages of slow-release fertilizers together with the added benefit of high nutrient availability.
Another objective of this invention is to provide a combined nutrient source of iron and manganese in a single compound. Since deficiencies of iron and manganese in soils always occur together, therefore, a fertilizer providing both nutrients would be more beneficial for crop growth.
The third objective of this invention is to provide a bio-release source of ammonium, magnesium and phosphorus, all of which are essential plant nutrients.
Still another objective of this invention is to propose a process for the manufacture of bio-release iron-manganese fertilizer, wherein only a single heating stage is required and polymerisation temperatures are lower than all previous processes.
Yet another objective of the invention is to provide a processes for producing slow-releasing, water insoluble, iron-manganese fertilizers that will show good bio-availability of the nutrients and thus provide an effective source of iron and manganese for plants.
A further objective is to provide processes, which offer substantial improvements over earlier processes, in providing a combined micronutrient source and also in terms of energy requirement

Process for the manufacture of bio-release iron-manganese fertilizer

Department of Science & Technology (DST) A Department under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India


The present invention provides an excellent radiation curable aqueous coating composition, which is highly safe and can make the adhesion to a metal surface and the corrosion resistance compatible which have been considered to conflict with each other, particularly adhesion after severe working and solvent resistance, and particularly durability to alcohols having high polarity. The composition of the present invention contains (1) a phosphoric acid ester compound having an ethylenically unsaturated double bond, (2) an aqueous polyurethane resin having both an ethylenically unsaturated double bond and a group capable of forming a salt, and (3) colloidal silica.

To modify the surface of metal materials, for example, a plated steel sheet, a steel sheet is treated with various coating compositions and surface treating chemicals.
The object of the treatment is to improve the prevention of leaving fingerprints, workability, chemical solution resistance, and corrosion resistance, and these properties are improved by mainly applying an organic resin on the surface of a steel sheet.
For the case in which the metal material is worked after being subjected to a surface treatment, a soft organic resin having good workability is often used to impart appropriate workability. When using such a soft organic resin, it frequently becomes difficult to impart properties such as surface hardness, solvent resistance, and wear resistance.
Also, treatments for forming an inorganic coating film, for example, a chromate treatment and zinc phosphating treatment, are commonly conducted. These treatments impart good corrosion resistance and solvent resistance, but the workability is inferior as compared with the case of using an organic resin.
For the case in which the metal material is coated with an organic coating film, the organic coating film layer is often formed after forming an undercoat layer by a chromate treatment so as to enhance the adhesion between the metal surface and the organic coating film layer. However, it is reported that hexad chrome contained in a chromating agent and a coating film is toxic to organisms and is an environmental burden, and thus a treating method is required using a treating agent having low toxicity and a small environmental burden, which replaces the chromate treatment.
However, it is difficult to develop a treating agent, which has low toxicity and a small environmental burden and which can ensure an adhesion equivalent to that for the case of the chromate treatment. A chemical for a coating treatment of the metal surface which is capable of imparting sufficient adhesion could not be obtained. Therefore, a treating chemical and a coating layer, which exhibit good adhesion, are highly safe, and are highly sanitary with or without chromate treatment, are now required.
In the field of the working of metal materials, particularly metal sheets such as aluminum, copper, and iron sheets, or plated steel sheets, the metal sheets have hitherto been worked after applying a lubricating oil to the surface thereof, and are then degreased.
The steps of applying a lubricating oil only for working, followed by working and further degreasing are complicated, so that it is strongly desired to simplify the step of applying a lubricating oil and the step of degreasing. Therefore, development of a coating composition for forming an organic coating film has been strongly desired which has a surface lubricating function and a rust preventing function or a function capable of wet-on-wet coating of another coating composition, and also has high adhesion even without being subjected to a chromate treatment.
To obtain a viscosity of the coating composition which is suitable for coating, such as coating and printing, a solvent type coating composition to be diluted with a solvent has heretofore been widely used in conventional coating compositions, coating agents, and inks. The use of an organic solvent has problems in aspects of safety and health as well as the working environment.
For the case of a solvent-free type coating composition, although a drying step is not required, heating of the coating composition is sometimes required to obtain a viscosity of the coating composition which is suitable for coating because the coating viscosity is too high at normal temperatures. Furthermore, when the viscosity is lowered by adding a monomer, a problem remains in that a diluting monomer to be added is toxic to the skin and has an odor, which is similar to the problem of the solvent type coating composition.
Moreover, when using a high-molecular weight binder resin to improve the physical properties of the coating film, the viscosity of the coating composition becomes too high, thereby making it impossible to use such a high-molecular weight binder resin. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain excellent physical properties of the coating film.
To solve these problems, intensive studies and developments about an aqueous coating composition, in which the viscosity of the coating composition can be easily adjusted using water which is safe and nontoxic, have recently been made.
Dispersion or dissolution of a resin in an aqueous medium is attained by using a dispersant or an emulsifier, or a resin which has a polar group on a main or side chain and also has solubility or self-dispersibility in water.
The latter self-dispersible or water-soluble resin has guaranteed comparatively excellent properties. However, when using a resin having a polar group in a molecule as a binder resin of the coating composition, the resulting coating film tends to be inferior in water resistance and solvent resistance.
As a means which can completely solve these problems, for example, problems about safety and the environment, while maintaining the required physical properties of the coating film, aqueous radiation curable coating compositions, coating agents and inks have been proposed.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 8-259888 proposes an aqueous dispersion comprising water and radiation curable microgel particles dispersed in water.
The microgel particles are gel-like film-forming polyurethane resin particles having a crosslinked structure obtained by crosslinking polyurethane resins through a urethane bond or a urea bond, and the polyurethane resin has a radiation curable ethylenically unsaturated double bond and a salt group.
The above publication describes that the coating film-forming polyurethane resin particles can contain 1 to 50% of another radiation curable compound and an initiator for the radiation curing reaction therein, and that an aqueous coating film having excellent water resistance and excellent solvent resistance can be obtained by using these radiation curable microgel particles regardless of the aqueous coating composition.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 9-31150 discloses, as a composition capable of forming a highly crosslinked coating film, a radiation curable aqueous polyurethane resin composition prepared by reacting a product, which is obtained by the Michael addition of a hydroxyl compound having an active hydrogen to a double bond of a compound having two or more (meth)acryloyl groups, a polyhydroxy compound having an acidic group, and a polyisocyanate as an indispensable component.
Generally, a composition having an acryloyl group, which is superior in curability, has conventionally been used as a radiation curable composition, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 10-251360 discloses that a radiation curable aqueous polyurethane composition having a methacryloyl group is superior in adhesion, chemical resistance, surface hardness, and yellowing resistance, and is used in coating compositions, coating agents, and inks.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 10-251361 describes that excellent adhesion, excellent solvent resistance, excellent workability, and excellent coatability can be obtained by mixing radiation curable microgel particles with a radiation curable aqueous polyurethane resin.
These radiation curable aqueous polyurethane resin compositions are used in coating compositions, coating agents, and inks because of their excellent adhesion to any of organic materials (e.g., plastic films, wood construction materials and decorative papers for construction materials) and inorganic materials (e.g., metal materials and glass) and because of their excellent solvent resistance.
Any of these compositions is a radiation curable aqueous composition containing an aqueous polyurethane resin having both a radiation curable ethylenically unsaturated double bond and a salt group. A coating film thereof is cured by radiation, and the solvent resistance is enhanced as the acryloyl group concentration and crosslinking degree increase.
However, the adhesion and the workability tend to be deteriorated as the crosslinking degree increases. A salt group and a polar group must be introduced to obtain an aqueous resin composition. Therefore, even if the crosslinking degree of the composition is increased, it becomes difficult to obtain sufficient solvent resistance to a polar solvent.
If the crosslinking degree of the binder resin is drastically increased to obtain the desired solvent resistance, the coating film becomes brittle. Therefore, a metal sheet having such a cured coating film cannot be used for purposes that require high workability which can endure drawing, and that require adhesion.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 10-298213 discloses, as a composition having excellent stability of an emulsion and good adhesion to a base material, a radiation curable emulsion containing a radiation curable emulsifier which has a polymerizable double bond and also has an anionic hydrophilic group such as a carboxyl group, phosphoric acid ester group, carboxylic acid salt group, phosphoric acid ester salt group, or the like.
However, it is difficult for the resulting emulsion type composition to be homogenized during the formation of a coating film thus resulting in poor physical properties, such as surface smoothness and gloss of the coating film, as well as poor solvent resistance and poor chemical resistance.
Since the emulsion composition exhibits non-Newtonian flow, the resulting coating composition is inferior in coatability during roll coating as compared to a homogeneous water-soluble type coating composition.
Such a drawback that the emulsion composition is not homogenized during the formation of the coating film arises particularly in a thin cured coating film having a thickness of several microns, thus resulting in poor solvent resistance of the coating film, poor adhesion to a base material, and poor workability.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Sho 61-83262, Japanese Examined Patent Application, Second Publication No. Hei 2-41555 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. Hei 5-320568 disclose a thermosetting composition, the adhesion of which is improved by adding a reaction product of an epoxy resin and phosphoric acid, or an epoxy resin, phosphoric acid ester, and carboxylic acid to an aqueous acrylic resin and an aqueous amino resin.
Although these compositions have excellent adhesion, the thin coating film having a thickness of several microns made from these compositions is inferior in solvent resistance, adhesion, and workability.
As described above, although various attempts have been made, a coating film formed on the metal sheet has not been known which has excellent adhesion to the surface of the metal sheet and maintains coating film adhesion while enduring severe working such as deep drawing, and which has excellent corrosion resistance and exhibits very high durability to a polar solvent and an alkali chemical solution.

Water-based coating composition curable with actinic energy ray, coated metallic material, and process for producing the same


A deck mechanism for a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus comprises a main deck provided with a head drum, a capstan motor, and a sub-deck installed on the main deck to be loaded/unloaded. The sub-deck is provided with a pair of reel discs, onto which tape reels of a tape cassette are seated; a pole base loading unit; a pinch roller unit for compressing the tape against a spindle of the capstan motor when the sub-deck is loaded; a brake unit; a main sliding member mounted on the main deck to be capable of reciprocatingly sliding, the main sliding member controlling the driving of the pinch roller unit; and a main cam gear mounted on the main deck. The main cam gear causes the sub-deck, the pole base loading unit, the brake unit, and the main sliding member to perform linked movements while the main cam gear is rotationally driven.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, and in particular to a deck mechanism for a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, and is particularly concerned with tape cassette loading and tape loading.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus is used to record information on a recording medium such as a magnetic tape and to reproduce recorded information. Such a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus includes, for example, a VCR (video cassette tape recorder), a camcorder and the like.
A deck mechanism employed in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus as mentioned above comprises: cassette loading means for moving a tape cassette into a predetermined position; tape loading means for taking out a magnetic tape from a cassette as being loaded; a tape guide means for supporting and guiding the taken-out magnetic tape with a predetermined tension; two tables, on which the tape reels of the cassette tape are seated; a brake unit for selectively braking the tables; and a pinch roller unit for making the tape sandwiched between a capstan and a pinch roller.
The deck mechanism with above-mentioned construction is typically driven in accordance with a control program and performs various functions such as recording/reproducing of information, fast forward, rewind, high-speed forward and backward search, and so on, by the composite driving of the individual components thereof.
In order to follow the recent tendency that magnetic recording/reproducing apparatuses such as camcorders are light-weighted, thinned, simplified and small-sized, there is a need to improve a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus in such a way that individual components and the connective relationships therebetween are simplified, whereby the entire construction is simplified and the apparatus is capable of performing mechanically stable operation.

Tape deck mechanism with main cam gear moving sub-deck, pole base loading unit, brake unit and main sliding memeber


An industrial caster wheel assembly including a base member, a wheel, side plates, a housing, a pivot axle, a suspension assembly and an adjustment assembly. The suspension assembly includes an adjustable axle, a support member, and a plate. The support member allows one of the wheel and the base member to rotate about the pivot axle as the adjustable axle compresses the support member by contacting the plate. The adjustment assembly adjusts the height of the industrial caster wheel by adjusting the pressure applied by the adjustable axle to the support member. The industrial caster wheel assembly may alternatively include at least one adjustment assembly that can be placed in contact with at least one of the second axle to press the second axle at least indirectly against the elastomeric support member or the first axle to press the first axle toward the center of the housing.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to industrial caster wheels.
2. Description of Related Art
Industrial caster wheels are used, for example, as stabilizer casters on a pallet truck. Such pallet trucks have a single drive wheel and one industrial caster wheel on each side. Usually, the industrial caster wheel has a spring member that absorbs shocks while traveling. The spring member also provides stability as the object to which the industrial caster wheel is attached travels over rough surfaces.

Industrial caster wheel with elastomeric spring/damper member and adjustment member


Examples disclosed herein may relate to identifying up to a specified amount of points of interest nearest to an estimated position of a mobile station on a first map, selecting a second map identified by a first location context identifier associated with a first point of interest of the identified points of interest, and determining a route from the estimated position of the mobile station to a destination point using the first map and the second map.

1. Field
Subject matter disclosed herein relates to mobile station navigation with scalable routing using a location context identifier.
2. Information
A position of a mobile station, such as a cellular telephone, may be estimated based on information gathered from various systems. One such system may comprise a wireless local access network (WLAN) communication system comprising a number of access points to support communications for a number of mobile stations. A satellite positioning system (SPS) may also be utilized to estimate a position of a mobile station. A navigation solution for a mobile station may be based at least in part on a current estimated position of a mobile station and may include routing a path from a current estimated position to a destination point. A routing solution may be displayed on a graphical user interface, for example, on a mobile station to aid a pedestrian or motorist in traversing a path to a destination point. Difficulties may arise, however, if a route from a current estimated position to a destination point includes indoor portions and outdoor portions, for example, or if a route includes multiple floors in an indoor portion, for another example.

Scalable routing for mobile station navigation with location context identifier


A process is disclosed for producing HFC-134a which includes reacting certain tetrahaloethane starting materials (e.g., 2-chloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane) with HF in the gaseous phase at an elevated temperature in the presence of certain supported metal catalysts containing effective amounts of zinc. A catalyst of metal fluoride on a fluorinated alumina support having an atomic ratio of F to Al of at least 2.7:1 and containing .beta.-aluminum fluoride, is employed.

There has been considerable recent interest in halogen-substituted hydrocarbons containing fluorine and hydrogen, particularly halogen-substituted ethanes. Many of these materials can be used as refrigerants, blowing agents, or as chemical starting materials for the production of refrigerants or blowing agents. Some such as CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 F (i.e., HFC-134a) are being considered to replace fully halogenated hydrocarbons containing chlorine which are less environmentally desirable due to their interaction with the ozone layer.
Various processes have been disclosed for the production of halogen-substituted ethanes containing fluorine and hydrogen. For example, British Patent Specification 1,000,485 discloses a process for the preparation of organic fluorinated compounds (e.g., CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 Cl or CF.sub.3 CHCl.sub.2) by fluorination of haloolefins (e.g., CCl.sub.2 .dbd.CHCl or CCl.sub.2 .dbd.CCl.sub.2) in a gaseous phase at an elevated temperature using an activated alumina (e.g., alumina activated by impregnation with a solution of one or more halides of polyvalent metals such as chromium, cobalt, nickel and manganese) which is partially fluorinated. U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,260 discloses a gas-phase process for the manufacture of CF.sub.3 CHCl.sub.2 and CF.sub.3 CHClF by fluorination of a suitable tetrahaloethylene (e.g., CCl.sub.2 .dbd.CCl.sub.2) using a selected metal on a high fluorine content alumina support U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,744 discloses the formation of CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 F and CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 Cl) by the vapor phase fluorination of a suitable trihaloethylene (e.g., CCl.sub.2 .dbd.CHCl) using a catalyst prepared by codepositing a hexavalent chromium oxide and a transition metal compound (e.g., titanium trichloride) on alumina followed by fluorinating the resulting combination. Japanese Patent Application Publication 2-172933 discloses a method for manufacturing CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 F by fluorinating CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 Cl in the presence of a fluorinating catalyst which contains a halide or oxide which contains chromium and at least one element selected from among aluminum, magnesium, calcium, barium, strontium, iron, nickel, cobalt and manganese (e.g., catalyst produced by adding a commercial alumina to a solution of chromium chloride, drying the mixture, and activating the residue using HF).
Aluminum fluoride may be obtained by the fluorination of alumina. Several phases of aluminum fluoride have been reported, each having a characteristic powder X-ray diffraction pattern.
.alpha.-AlF.sub.3 (i.e., alpha-aluminum fluoride) as reported by E. Staritzky and L. B. Asprey, Anal. Chem., 29, 984 (1957) has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern characterized by various "d" spacings and between 3.520 Angstroms and 1.560 Angstroms with the strongest intensity observed at a "d" spacing of 3.520 Angstroms. .beta.-AlF.sub.3 (i.e., beta-aluminum fluoride) as reported by U.S. Pat. No. 3,178,483 has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern characterized by various "d" spacings between 6.000 Angstroms and 1.558 Angstroms with very strong intensities observed at "d" spacings of 6.000 Angstroms and 3.563 Angstroms and strong intensities observed at "d" spacings of 3.465 Angstroms and 3.001 Angstroms. .gamma.-AlF.sub.3 (i.e., gamma-aluminum fluoride) as reported by U.S. Pat. No. 3,178,484 has a powder X-ray diffraction pattern characterized by various "d" spacings between 3.537 Angstroms and 1.623 Angstroms, with very strong intensity observed at a "d" spacing of 3.537 Angstroms and a strong intensity observed at a "d" spacing at 1.768 Angstroms.
Processes using particular phases of AlF.sub.3 have been disclosed. For example, European Patent Publication 0282005 discloses a process for preparing CF.sub.3 CHCl.sub.2 (and CF.sub.3 CHClF) by reacting CCl.sub.2 .dbd.CCl.sub.2 with HF in a gas phase in the presence of catalysts comprising Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3 carried on AlF.sub.3 in the gamma and/or beta form. Japanese Patent Application Publication 53-144509 discloses a process for the manufacture of 3,3,3-trifluoropropene using a catalyst bed comprising .alpha.-aluminum fluoride and a second catalyst comprising other gas phase fluorinating catalysts (e.g., .beta.-aluminum fluoride and/or .gamma.-aluminum fluoride).

Process for the manufacture of 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane


It is known to use a rigid cone to provide stability to a body being towed by an aircraft. However, such cones are useful over a limited range of speeds. The invention provides a drag-producing aerodynamic device in which the cross-sectional area of the structure producing drag is variable. The cross-sectional area of the structure producing drag decreases as the towing speed, and hence the dynamic air pressure acting on the structure producing drag, increases and vice versa.

Such devices are used to provide stability to a body being towed e.g. by an aircraft in flight. It is known to use a rigid cone for such a purpose. However, a cone of small diameter, which is suitable for stabilizing a body being towed at high speed, is not ideally suited to low speed towing as it does not provide sufficient drag to stabilize the towed body against disturbances caused by induced oscillations propagated down the towing cable. Equally, a cone of large diameter which is suitable for the latter situation, can cause too much drag at high speed, which can place excessive strain on the towing cable.


In one embodiment, a method performed by one or more computing devices includes receiving at a host cache, a first request to prepare a volume of the host cache for creating a snapshot of a cached logical unit number (LUN), the request indicating that a snapshot of the cached LUN will be taken, preparing, in response to the first request, the volume of the host cache for creating the snapshot of the cached LUN depending on a mode of the host cache, receiving, at the host cache, a second request to create the snapshot of the cached LUN, and in response to the second request, creating, at the host cache, the snapshot of the cached LUN.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to these users is an information handling system or computing system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may vary with respect to the type of information handled; the methods for handling the information; the methods for processing, storing or communicating the information; the amount of information processed, stored, or communicated; and the speed and efficiency with which the information is processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include or comprise a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
The information handling system may include one or more operating systems. An operating system serves many functions, such as controlling access to hardware resources and controlling the execution of application software. Operating systems also provide resources and services to support application software. These resources and services may include a file system, a centralized configuration database (such as the registry found in Microsoft Windows operating systems), a directory service, a graphical user interface, a networking stack, device drivers, and device management software. In some instances, services may be provided by other application software running on the information handling system, such as a database server.
Some information handling systems are designed to interact with other information handling systems over a network connection. There are continuous efforts to improve data storage and storage administration. Sharing storage, such as with a storage area network (SAN) may simplify storage administration because cables and storage devices do not have to be physically moved for storage to be made accessible to a remote computing system, such as a server. Servers may boot from the SAN itself, which allows for more efficient replacement of faulty servers by transferring the logical unit number (LUN) of the faulty server to another server. SANs also tend to enable more effective disaster recovery processes. A SAN could span storage arrays in multiple, physically distant locations. And SANs may provide storage replication implemented by disk array controllers, by server software, or by specialized SAN devices.


An engraving method is switched from line engraving to dot engraving (or vice versa) at a boundary line at every horizontal scanning by generating and controlling switching signals by means of an engraving discrimination plate. An engraving is performed while a sweeping operation is being performed in a direction (X direction) substantially parallel to a long side of a portion of a card requiring engraving. Since the number of horizontal sweepings are reduced considerably in comparison with the conventional method, the time required for engraving can be shortened. Since the number of vibrations of the engraving table, which are the biggest obstacle for achieving light weight, is reduced in accordance with the reduction in the number of the above-described horizontal sweepings, the engraving table can be produced more light in weight. As a result, a higher speed of the movement of the engraving table can be achieved, thus making it possible to further shorten the time required for engraving.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image engraving method whereby an image of a license, a card holder or the like is engraved on synthetic paper or a card surface. More particularly, the present invention relates to an image engraving method for improving the engraving efficiency of an engraving machine when identification cards or the like for use in public organizations, banks or the like are produced by engraving a photograph of the face of a card holder or other information (image) on synthetic paper or a card surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Engravings made on these kinds of conventional cards are for photographs of the face only. A specific example of the construction of an apparatus used for engraving such cards has already been proposed. An example of such an image engraving method is illustrated as a portion of FIG. 2, which also illustrates the apparatus of the present invention.
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 1 denotes an engraving table which reciprocates a given distance horizontally from side to side by a driving motor (not shown); and reference numeral 2 denotes a card for engraving, e.g., a thin plate of vinyl chloride. Black, blue, or other paint is strongly and fixedly applied beforehand on a surface 11 of card 2 where an engraving of a photograph of a face, characters or the like will be made. Reference numeral 3 denotes an engraving needle (stylus); reference numeral 4 denotes an engraving needle driving device for stylus 3. Components 1,2,3 and 4 are common to known engraving devices. The additional elements of FIG. 2 comprise a portion of the present invention. Reference numeral 5 denotes an engraving method discrimination plate of the present invention which reciprocates from side to side together with the engraving table 1. A photodetector unit consisting of a light source 12 provided on one side of the engraving discrimination plate 5 and a phototransistor 6 or the like located on the opposite side of engraving discrimination plate 5. Reference numeral 7 denotes an electronic changeover switch which performs switching according to the output of the photodetector unit. Reference numeral 8 denotes a video camera which generates its video signal and scans a video image (a face of a person or photograph) in synchronization with the movement of the engraving table 1. Camera 8 can alternatively be replaced with a photoelectric converter consisting of a light source, a lens, slits, photoelectric elements, a card scanning apparatus or the like. Reference numeral 9 denotes a video camera or a photoelectric converter for the nondetailed portion of the engraving (characters, symbols, etc.) which is the remainder of the engraved image with the exception of the part consisting of the video image. Video camera or photoelectric converter 9 also scans in synchronization with the movement of the engraving table 1. The output of the video cameras or photoelectric converters 8 and 9 is switched by a switch 7 and output to driving apparatus 4. Reference numeral 10 denotes a modulating apparatus.
In addition to the side-to-side reciprocative movement, the engraving table 1 must be fed in a back and forth direction at right angles to the reciprocative movement. This may be performed by moving the engraving stylus 3 back and forth. The illustration of those devices is omitted. To make the return of the reciprocative movement of the engraving table fast, time is allocated, for example, in such a manner that 3/4 of one reciprocation is for the forward motion and 1/4 thereof is for the return. The time required for the engraving table 1 to make one reciprocation is about 0.8 seconds.
Forgery and alteration of passports, licenses, and identification certificates have occurred many times in recent years. Thus, engraving characters, symbols, etc. in addition to the photograph of the face has become necessary to prevent problems. A discrimination between suitable engraving methods must be made in each case.
There are two methods for engraving cards: line engraving and dot engraving. The merits and demerits of each are shown below:
______________________________________ Line Dot Engraving Engraving ______________________________________ Strokes of engraving needle Long Short Influence of flatness of card Great Small Visual offensiveness of engraving lines Great Small Power required for engraving Small Large ______________________________________
Generally, line engraving is performed in that part where there are characters, symbols, etc., which can be represented by black and white (two levels), and dot engraving is performed in that part where half tones, such as a photograph of a face or the like, are needed.
One method which has been devised for engraving on a card after a discrimination has been made between these two engraving methods is the conventional engraving sweeping method shown in FIG. 3.
In FIG. 3, the slanted lines 14 and 16 indicates scanning lines of an engraving needle (stylus). Engraving is accomplished when a sweeping operation is performed sequentially from 1 to n, and again from n+1 to m. The solid and broken lines of the scanning lines indicate the difference between the contents to be engraved. The solid lines 14 indicates that portion which can be represented by black and white (two levels), such as characters, symbols, patterns, etc., namely, where line engraving should be performed. The broken line 16 indicates that portion where there are many half tones, such as a photograph of a face or the like, namely, where dot engraving should be performed. As described above, a boundary line 18 for discriminating the engraving contents is generally parallel to the short side of the part requiring engraving in the card. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, if an engraving is performed while sweeping in a direction substantially parallel to the short side and the boundary line 18, it is possible to manage with only one time, between n and n+1, to switch the engraving method. The above-described conventional image engraving apparatus can be used without modifying it too much. However, sweeping parallel to the short side direction requires a greater number of shorter sweeps than sweeping parallel to the long side.
However, in the production of various kinds of engraved cards, the need for shortening the time required for engraving has been high for a long time. To meet this demand, a higher-speed horizontal reciprocative movement of the engraving table must be achieved. One effective means for achieving this is to make the engraving table lighter. But, light weight is limited by the necessity to produce a sturdily constructed engraving table.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art by shortening the time required for engraving without diminishing the engraving quality.

Dual input engraving apparatus for producing engravings by multiple engraving techniques


To provide a warning system that can issue a stall warning taking a flight environment into account. The warning system according to the present invention is a warning system for an aircraft, for issuing a warning in the case where there is a possibility of the aircraft stalling, and includes a selecting section for selecting one of two or more calculation criteria based on an icing state of the aircraft, a calculating section for calculating a stall angle based on the selected calculation criterion, and a warning section for comparing the calculated stall angle with a current angle of attack of the aircraft and issuing a stall warning if the current angle of attack exceeds the stall angle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a warning system that gives a pilot a warning in the case where there is a possibility of an aircraft stalling.
2. Description of the Related Art
When an aircraft substantially turns up its nose thereof during its flight (when an angle of attack becomes larger), the aircraft loses a lift thereof required to keep flying, and eventually stalls. Thus, an aircraft includes a stall warning system, as a safety device for the aircraft, that notifies a pilot of a possibility that the aircraft may slow down to a stall speed and crash.
As means for notifying a pilot of a possibility of stalling, stick shakers are known. The stick shaker is provided to a control stick, and slightly vibrates the control stick to give a pilot a warning in the case where there is a possibility of stalling (Japanese Patent No. 3,252,377).
Japanese Patent No. 3,252,377 discloses a technique for issuing a stall detection signal to a stick shaker to give a pilot a warning when the angle of attack of an aircraft exceeds a given angle, but for safer flight, the given angle being a determination factor of stalling needs to be accurately specified.
Thus, the present invention has an object to provide a warning system for an aircraft for issuing a stall warning, with a flight environment taken into account.

Warning system for aircraft, and aircraft


A keyboard module adapted to be used in an electronic device. The electronic device has a casing. The casing has a containing opening. The keyboard module contained in the containing opening includes a bottom plate, an elastic component, a cover and a key cap disposed on the elastic component. The bottom plate disposed within the casing has a circuit. The elastic component is disposed on the bottom plate or the circuit. The cover movably disposed in the containing opening is located above the bottom plate. The cover has an opening aligned to the elastic component. A portion of the key cap protrudes from the opening. Another portion of the key cap interferes with the opening, such that the key cap resists elasticity of the elastic component and moves to shorten a distance between the key cap and the bottom plate when the cover moves toward the bottom plate.

1. Field of the Application
The invention relates to an input module and an electronic device have the same, and more particularly, to a keyboard module and an electronic device having the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Since notebook computers have same functions as general desktop computers, and are designed to reduce in size and weight for being easy to carry by users, the notebook computers have become an indispensable carry-on tool for some users. As prices of the notebook computers continue to decline, some users even replace the desktop computers with the notebook computers.
In response to a thin and light trending of portable electronic device, many notebook computers are designed to have smaller thicknesses, for instance, the Ultrabooks. However, reductions in the thicknesses of the notebook computers also directly limit pressing strokes of keyboard modules thereof. For example, a pressing stroke of keys of general desktop computers is about 3.5 mm to 4.0 mm, and this pressing stroke may enable the users to type in a more smooth and comfortable manner; and in some Ultrabooks, a pressing stroke of the keys is limited to only 1.5 mm to 2.0 mm due to the reduction in the thicknesses of the bodies, and such a smaller pressing stroke may easily enable the users to type in a less smooth manner and have fatigue, thus increasing a rate of typing error.

Keyboard module and electronic device having the same


A flash-memory-drive card has an integrated slim Universal-Serial-Bus (USB) connector that fits into a standard USB socket. The slim USB connector has 4 metal contacts on a board that is encapsulated by upper and lower plastic cases. Components are mounted onto the board on the side opposite the metal contacts. A thinner portion of the plastic case forms a light window that allows a light-emitting diode on the board to shine through the case. The plastic cases can be bonded together ultrasonically or with adhesive or using snaps and groves. Supporting underside ribs in the lower plastic case opposite the metal contacts allow most of the card to be thinner than the spacing in the standard USB socket. Dividers between the metal contacts are formed between openings in the upper case. The dividers help to fill gaps between the slim USB connector and the standard USB socket.

Flash-memory technologies such as those using electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) have produced chips storing 1 G-Bytes or more. Small flash-memory cards have been designed that have a connector that can plug into a specialized reader, such as for compact-flash, secure-digital, memory stick, or other standardized formats.
More recently, flash memory cards are being sold that contain a USB connector. Such USB-flash memory cards do not require a specialized reader but can be plugged into a USB connector on a personal computer (PC) or other hosting device. These USB-flash memory cards can be used in place of floppy disks. A USB-flash card can have a capacity of more than ten floppy disks in an area not much larger than a large postage stamp.
FIG. 1A shows a prior-art flash-memory card with a USB connector. Flash memory chip 12 may be a 128 Mega-byte non-volatile chip or may have some other capacity. Controller chip 14 contains a flash-memory controller that generates signals to access memory locations within flash memory chip 12. Controller chip 14 also contains a USB interface controller that serially transfers data to and from flash memory chip 12 over a USB connection.
USB connector 20 may be mounted on board 10, which is a small circuit board with chips 12, 14 mounted thereon. Multi-layer printed-circuit board (PCB) technology can be used for board 10. A plastic case (not shown) can surround board 10.
USB connector 20 contains a small connector substrate 16, which is often white ceramic, black rigid plastic, or another sturdy substrate. Connector substrate 16 has four or more metal contacts 18 formed thereon. Metal contacts 18 carry the USB signals generated or received by controller chip 14. USB signals include power, ground, and serial differential data D+, D−.
USB connector 20 contains a metal case that wraps around connector substrate 16. The metal case touches connector substrate 16 on three of the sides of connector substrate 16. The top side of connector substrate 16, holding metal contacts 18, has a large gap to the top of the metal case. On the top and bottom of this metal wrap are formed holes 15. USB connector 20 is a male connector, such as a type-A USB connector.
FIG. 1B shows a female USB connector. Female USB connector 22 can be an integral part of a PC, or can be connected by cable 21. Another connector substrate 26 contains four metal contacts 28 that make electrical contact with the four metal contacts 18 of the male USB connector 20 of FIG. 1A. Connector substrate 26 is wrapped by a metal case, but small gaps are between the metal case and connector substrate 26 on the lower three sides.
Locking is provided by metal springs 24 in the top and bottom of the metal case. When male USB connector 20 of FIG. 1A is flipped over and inserted into Female USB connector 22 of FIG. 1B, metal springs 24 lock into holes 15 of male USB connector 20.
FIGS. 2A, 2B are cross-sections highlighting connections between male and female USB connectors. Female USB connector 22 is on the left while male USB connector 20 is being inserted from the right. Male USB connector 20 is flipped over relative to the view of FIG. 1A. Metal contacts 18 are formed on the lower surface of connector substrate 16 on male USB connector 20, while metal contacts 28 are formed on the upper surface of connector substrate 26 on Female USB connector 22. Thus the metal contacts face one another to allow for electrical contact when male USB connector 20 is inserted into Female USB connector 22 as shown in FIG. 2B.
Metal springs 24 formed on the metal case surrounding connector substrate 26 on Female USB connector 22 fit into holes on the metal case of male USB connector 20. This helps to lock the connectors together.
FIG. 3 shows a prior-art USB flash memory card using a slim USB connector. Male USB connector 20 of FIGS. 1, 2 is relatively large. The metal case in particular is cumbersome and increases manufacturing cost. Costs may be reduced by integrating male USB connector 30 with board 32. Board 32 is a PCB that has flash memory chip 12 and controller chip 14 mounted thereon. Board 32 is extended to include male USB connector 30, which has metal contacts 38 formed on end 36 of board 32.
The width and thickness of board 32 at end 36 containing male USB connector 30 is designed to approximately match that of connector substrate 16 of FIG. 1A. Plastic case 34 can enclose board 32 but have an opening for metal contacts 38. Plastic case 34 can cover the bottom and sides of male USB connector 30 up to end 36 to emulate potions of the metal case of the male USB connector of FIG. 1A.
FIGS. 4A, 4B show cross-sections of the prior-art slim USB connector being inserted into a standard Female USB connector. Board 32 that has male USB connector 30 formed on end 36 is flipped over from the view shown in FIG. 3, and end 36 is inserted into female USB connector 22 from the right side.
Metal contacts 38 are located on the lower surface of male USB connector 30. Plastic case 34 has an opening on the lower surface of male USB connector 30 to expose the metal contacts so they can make electrical connection with metal contacts 28 on the upper surface of connector substrate 26 of Female USB connector 22 when inserted as shown in FIG. 4B.
Plastic case 34 helps to fill the gate between board 32 and the top edge of the metal case of Female USB connector 22. Plastic case 34 is also formed along the thin edges of board 32 and helps to fill in the gaps between connector substrate 26 and the sides of the metal case of Female USB connector 22 that are above and below the plane of FIG. 4B.
While slim USB connector 30 can be less expensive and smaller than the standard USB connector, it fits less securely into a standard Female USB connector. The lack of the metal case removes the mechanical support provided as the male metal case that fit in the gap below connector substrate 26 and the bottom side of the metal case for the female connector. The result is a noticeable wobble in the up and down direction when a USB flash memory card containing male USB connector 30 is inserted into Female USB connector 22. Vertical movement of 3–4 millimeter at the end of a 4-centimeter flash card can occur with slight finger pressure. This vertical play gives the user the feeling that the flash memory card is cheap and unreliable, even when sufficient electrical contact is made.

Manufacturing methods for ultra-slim USB flash-memory card with supporting dividers or underside ribs


The vibration wave motor of the present invention comprises a body to be driven, and a plurality of vibrators each of which is provided with a drive contact part contacting the outer surface of the body to be driven, is connected to a base and is disposed around the body to be driven. The base and the body to be driven are reciprocally driven linearly in a state where the longitudinal direction of the vibrator and the driven direction of the body to be driven are matched.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vibration wave motor for performing linear drive using a ultrasonic wave vibrator, and more particularly, relates to a vibration motor miniaturized by employing a simple structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently the ultrasonic wave motor (vibration wave motor) is observed, as a new motor to be replacing the electromagnetic motor.
Compared with a conventional electromagnetic motor such a ultrasonic wave motor offers the following advantages.    (1) Low-speed high-driving force can be obtained without any gearing.    (2) It has a large holding force.    (3) It has a long stroke and high resolution.    (4) It operates quietly.    (5) It causes no magnetic noise and is also not affected by noise.
As a conventional ultrasonic wave motor having such advantages, a linear ultrasonic wave motor whose moving part is provided with two vibrator plates, in which one guide shaft is inserted between each pair of opposed projected parts formed on the opposed surfaces of each vibrator plate and whose moving part moves along the guide shaft as a result of the vibration of the two vibrator plates is proposed (for example, see Japanese Patent Application No. H09-051687, paragraphs [0011]-[0012] and FIG. 1).