One aspect of the invention relates to a hydrocarbons fluid liquefaction system, having a first heat-exchange module having a pre-cooling exchanger having a pre-cooling circuit and a plurality of pre-cooling refrigerant circuits for pre-cooling the feed stream through the circulation of an expanded first mixed-refrigerant stream, and a second heat-exchange module having a liquefaction exchanger having a liquefaction circuit and a liquefaction refrigerant circuit for liquefying the feed stream through the circulation of an expanded second mixed-refrigerant stream, wherein each heat-exchange module has thermally insulating walls and a framework that allows the module to be transported and secured, and allows the first heat-exchange module to be stacked on top of the second heat-exchange module.

In typical natural gas liquefaction plants using a mixed-refrigerant cycle, refrigerant streams are used to produce the refrigeration at various levels of a main heat exchanger by vaporizing against the stream of hydrocarbons to be liquefied (typically natural gas). The mixed refrigerant is typically a mixture containing hydrocarbons.
It is desirable to liquefy natural gas for a certain number of reasons, By way of example, natural gas can be stored and transported over long distances more easily in the liquid state than in the gas form, since it occupies a smaller volume for a given weight and does not need to be stored at a high pressure. For example, for a natural gas, the volume may be reduced by a factor of eight hundred compared with the natural gas.
A number of methods and systems for liquefying a stream of hydrocarbons, for example natural gas, in order to obtain liquefied natural gas (LNG) are known, particularly mixed-refrigerant liquefaction and also dual mixed-refrigerant liquefaction.
In the case of dual mixed-refrigerant liquefaction, the dual mixed-refrigerant fluid liquefaction system comprises a first mixed-refrigerant stream and a second mixed-refrigerant stream, each circulating in a closed circuit. The system further comprises a first compressor and a second compressor respectively compressing the first and second refrigerant streams, as well as a first cooler and a second cooler respectively cooling the first and second refrigerant streams. The system comprises a main heat exchanger (coiled exchanger or aluminium brazed-plate exchanger) in which the natural gas is completely liquefied and supercooled by, on the one hand, the first refrigerant stream circulating through exchanger casings and comprises at least one inlet following a step of expanding the refrigerant stream to an intermediate temperature (typically of the order of −30° C. to −100° C., for the pre-cooling and partial liquefaction of the mixture of hydrocarbons that is to be liquefied). The supercooling is then continued by the second refrigerant circulating in an exchanger casing following a step of expanding the refrigerant to the coldest temperature of the process (typically below −100° C., for example−185° C. or −165° C.), for complete supercooling and liquefaction of the mixture of hydrocarbons that is to be liquefied.
The refrigerant stream of each closed circuit circulates through at least one refrigerant circuit in which it is vaporized by exchange of energy performed by the exchanger casings between the refrigerant stream contained in the exchanger casing and the natural gas circulating through the main exchanger comprising components thereof which liquefy and cool as they sweep over the exchanger casing.
On leaving each casing of the main heat exchanger, in respect of each of the refrigerant circuits, the refrigerant is expanded, forming a vapour phase, and may contain a liquid phase for which the combination of the two phases is remixed and reintroduced into the main exchanger in order to be vaporized in each exchanger casing against the hydrocarbon-rich fraction, which liquefies.
The hydrocarbon, for example natural gas, cools and contains compounds that have different physical characteristics, some of which are grouped together as compounds referred to as heavy compounds, which liquefy between the entry temperature (ambient temperature, for example around 20° C.) and the intermediate temperature, and others of which are grouped together as light compounds, which liquefy between the intermediate temperature and the coldest temperature. The heaviest compounds will therefore vaporize at a higher temperature than the lighter compounds such as nitrogen or methane for example.
Such dual-mixture liquefaction systems impose problems with installation because of the footprint and volume that the installation within its environment requires, and because the flows of the circuits have to be strictly controlled in order to optimize the gradual change in state of the natural gas and of the refrigerant stream. In particular, for each level of vaporization of the refrigerant in each exchanger casing there will be a corresponding cooling level that allows maximum energy transfer. Installation is therefore constrained by the respective position of the pieces of equipment relative to one another according to the pressure drops associated with the various pipes and the hydraulic pressure heads. Furthermore, in environments such as on ships comprising such systems, the footprint and volume have to be adapted to what is available, because of the high cost per square metre and/or per cubic metre in such environments which necessitate endeavours to optimize cost per unit area/volume available against the costs of installing the system, the need for manufacturing and installation specific to each case implying an increase in the total cost of the installation.
There is therefore a need to propose a dual mixed-refrigerant liquefaction installation that can be adapted to suit the environment in a way that is simple and with the lowest possible cost.

Hydrocarbon fluid liquefaction system installation and system therefor

L'Air Liquide, Société Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procédés Georges Claude


In the analog-to-digital interfacing device, an input selector receives a plurality of analog signals and selectively outputs one of the analog signals based on a plurality of clock signals. An analog-to-digital converter converts the analog signals output from the selector to digital signals.

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Applications No. 2003-46878, filed on Jul. 10, 2003, and No. 2004-01105, filed on Jan. 8, 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 semiconductor integrated circuit, and more particularly, to a multi-port interfacing device and method .
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a semiconductor chip includes analog-to-digital converters to receive an external analog input signal and convert the analog input signal to a digital output signal. In a multi-port interfacing device, each port that is connected to a corresponding external device includes an analog-to-digital converter to amplify and sample an external analog input signal and convert it to a digital output signal. However, since one integrated circuit includes a plurality of analog-to-digital converters, a large area of the integrated circuit is occupied by the analog-to-digital converters. Thus the fabrication cost increases and the yield of chips decreases.

Analog-to-digital interfacing device and method of analog-to-digital interfacing


Methods and compositions for amplification of a target sequence by suppressing amplification of related sequences are provided.

Numerous examples of the need for quick and reliable nucleic acid classification/identification exist, especially in fields such as medicine. For example, many diseases including cancer are the result of rare mutations. Detecting these mutations can assist in determinations of diagnosis and prognosis.
Additionally, quick and reliable means of genotyping can be helpful in determining allele composition within and amongst individuals. For example, reliable classification of particular alleles in an individual can help in genetic counseling in humans and can even help in planning prophylactic treatment in instances when specific alleles are detected. Identification of particular alleles is also extremely useful in performing marker assisted selection, e.g., crop or animal breeding programs, identifying or genotyping pathogens and other organisms.

Suppression of amplification using an oligonucleotide and a polymerase significantly lacking 5′-3′ nuclease activity


A method for distributing broadcast data is disclosed. A first plurality of data relating to a television program is listed on a script. A second plurality of data relating to a web page is listed on the script. The script is formatted into HyperText Markup Language (HTML) format. The script is stored onto a public server.

Television programs follow a time-based script; i.e., an interval of program content followed by an interval of commercial (non-program) content. The program and non-program content are further subdivided into smaller intervals, such as thirty-second commercials and fifteen second commercials, for example. Some program content cannot be pre-arranged, such as live news coverage and live sporting events. However, these are exceptions to most television broadcasts, and even live sporting events use some "triggers" to allow for intervals of non-program content, and within these intervals the relative relationships between national and local content are known by prior agreement.
The vast majority of programming is well structured in that an absolute time for various content intervals are known by prior agreement; for example, a game show has well-known intervals of the game interspersed with commercial intervals. The national network source provides an absolute time reference that is used by the local affiliates to coordinate their local production with the national programming.
Today, local affiliate networks who receive broadcast television material from a national source can insert local advertisements and programming at certain time slots during re-transmission of the broadcast material. The selected time slots were portions in the broadcast material where the national source inserted a "video black" background which is easy to find. Thus, the local affiliates are able to select the time slots where they can insert local advertisement and programming. Further, for pre-recorded programs, the local affiliates can pre-sell time because they know which time slots are apportioned to local content.
Television networks have begun displaying non-television associated information with associated television programs. While associated information might be displayed on a television monitor, it is not television information because it does not represent motion images per a broadcast standard such as the North America Television Standard Committee (NATSC) recommended format.
Transmitting associated information can be achieved through many methods, such as alternate networks (e.g., telephones), alternate broadcast carriers (e.g., radio), or within the television signal itself. One method to send the associated data within the television signal itself is to use the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI), a time interval during which no active video information is being sent. Television networks have begun providing viewers with associated information to augment their television programming through Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) Web pages. Television networks are encoding HTML web pages into open data channels of broadcast media. For example, the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) of television broadcast signals are used by some networks to encode HTML web pages relating to specific programming. This allows the television network to deliver web pages containing relevant information relating to a news report, television show, or advertisements directly with the news report, television show, or advertisement. Intel IntercastTm is an example of such a system.
Viewers receiving the television broadcast from their personal computers demodulate the encoded signals in the VBI and view the HTML web page with an Internet browser. The viewers may connect to hyperlinks on the broadcasted web pages to obtain additional information by using an Internet service provider to access other available links. The HTML web pages broadcasted by the television networks allow viewers to combine the interactivity of a computer, the programming of television, and the worldwide information resources of the Internet.
It should be recognized that with today's methods for determining when local advertising can be inserted to the national content provides an important revenue means to the local affiliate. Local affiliates would like to determine when a national source is broadcasting a web page, how many web pages are being broadcast at a time, and what the content of the web pages are in advance for its own marketing and editing purposes. Without some method to control the associated information, the local affiliate has no incentive to pass the associated information nor to contribute local content to it, thus limiting the acceptance and widespread use of associated information.
Thus, a method and apparatus for scripting broadcast data relating to television programs and web pages is needed.

Method and apparatus for distribution of broadcast data


A flexible touch screen panel includes a polarizing film having an active region and a non-active region, the non-active region being along an outline of the active region, and the polarizing film having a polarizer, a phase difference compensating layer defining a first surface of the polarizing film, and a transparent adhesive between the phase difference compensating layer and the polarizer, the transparent adhesive being configured to support the polarizer, sensing patterns on the first surface of the polarizing film, the sensing patterns being in the active region, and sensing lines on the first surface of the polarizing film, the sensing lines being in the non active region and being coupled to the sensing patterns.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a touch screen panel, and more particularly, to a flexible touch screen panel and a flexible display device including the same.
2. Description of the Related Arts
A touch screen panel is an input device capable of inputting a command of a user by allowing the user to touch a screen with his/her hand or with an object to select or indicate content displayed on the screen. For example, the touch screen panel may be provided on a large surface of an image display device and may convert a contact position of the human hand or object on the screen into an electrical signal. As such, the content corresponding to the contact position is received as an input signal. Since the touch screen panel may eliminate use of an additional input device coupled to the image display device, e.g., a keyboard or a mouse, the use of the touch screen panel is gradually increasing.
Methods of realizing a touch screen panel may include, e.g., a resistance layer method, a photo-sensing method, and an electrostatic capacity method. For example, a touch screen panel realized by the electrostatic capacitive method senses a change in capacity of a conductive sense pattern together with another peripheral sense pattern or a ground electrode when the human hand or object contacts the touch screen panel to convert the contact position into an electric signal.
The touch screen panel may be attached to an external surface of the image display device, e.g., to a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an organic light emitting diode display. Therefore, the touch screen panel requires high transmittance and small thickness. Further, if the touch screen panel is attached to a flexible image display device, the touch screen panel may require flexibility. Also, the touch screen panel may include a polarizer and a pattern, thereby requiring high thermal and chemical resistance

Flexible touch screen panel having a flexible polarizing film including a polarizer, a phase difference compensating layer, and a transparent adhesive, and flexible display device including the same


In some embodiments, a method for supporting multiple devices on a high speed physical link may be described. An embedded device may assert a link request pin to request to transmit data on a multi-point communications link that may serve a plurality of embedded devices. A controlling device may receive the link request signal. When the controlling device finishes sending data on the link, it may address the plurality of embedded devices in a round robin format and may determine which device asserted the link request pin. The embedded device that asserted the link request pin may send an acknowledgement signal to the controlling device when it is addressed.

There are numerous applications for embedded microprocessor devices. These applications may include various technologies for cellular telephones, notebook computers, handheld computers, personal digital assistants, automobiles, appliances and other consumer products. For example, a cellular phone may have an embedded general applications processor and a baseband processor. Typically, the applications processor may manage database applications while the baseband processor may support a communications platform such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA).
The number of microprocessors that are being embedded into devices, particularly handheld devices, is increasing to provide customers with additional features. These new features have increased the types and amounts of data embedded processors exchange with other microprocessors, peripherals and/or external servers. For example, embedded microprocessors now exchange everything from command and control data to large databases and streaming data for voice and video communications.
In the past, if there was a need for inter-processor communications, these communications could be accomplished through a low-speed physical link, such as a serial interface, which may have limited quality of service (QoS) and data reliability management. However, today's designers are integrating new features into handheld devices such as CMOS digital imaging, World Wide Web (WWW) access and multimedia processing. In addition, handheld devices are also supporting more recent communications platforms such as Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth® and the like for next generation wireless applications. This expansion of capabilities has led to the emergence of handheld devices that are structured more like personal computers. For example, these devices might include an applications subsystem for implementing various database and multimedia applications and then separate communications subsystems for implementing wireless communications.
Separate processor subsystems have necessitated an increased focus by circuit designers on high-speed processor to processor communications. Recently, particular attention has been paid to providing a high-speed, reliable standard for a communications interface between an embedded general purpose applications processor and a baseband processor. One example of a high-speed processor to processor communications interface is Intel® Corporation's Mobile Scalable Link® (MSL) technology. Factors considered for an inter-processor communications standard may include high inter-processor data transmission rates, scalability for increasing bandwidth, QoS, security, and the elimination of data exchange bottlenecks. Unlike the typical personal computer, however, these devices have to be designed with severe packaging and power consumption constraints in mind.

Method for supporting multiple devices on a high speed physical link


A power quality analysis system includes a combination of at least one of a power quality parameter value, power quality event properties, non-power quality properties, and time properties. The parameter value and other properties is used to create power quality information that is descriptive of power quality events. The power quality information is easily configured and organized based on the desired options in order to make it more understandable and usable.

Power quality problems cost billions of dollars a year to industry, corporations, government entities, as well as individuals. Manufacturing companies can suffer losses in the millions of dollars each time there is a power quality event. For corporations power quality events can cause computer problems and data loss. Existing power quality analysis tools are typically engineering-centric and are only capable of analyzing a single point of potential failure, thereby limiting the ease of use and value provided by the tool. Accordingly, there is a need for a tool that allows operators to understand relationships between power quality events across an enterprise.

System and method for power quality analytics


According to one embodiment, an electronic device includes processor circuitry configured to control a signal detection module to detect a wireless signal of a wireless communication system, and control a power supply module to supply power to a power reception device with electromagnetic waves. When the wireless signal is not detected during a first period, the power is supplied during a second period. When the wireless signal is not detected during a third period different from the first period, the power is supplied during a fourth period different from the second period. A second ratio of the fourth period to the third period is the same as a first ratio of the second period to the first period.

Recently, a technology capable of transmitting power to power reception devices (i.e., performing power supply to power reception devices) by transmitting electromagnetic waves (for example, microwaves) for power supply from electronic devices called wireless power supply devices has been focused.
Such a technology is expected to dramatically improve convenience since the power supply is freed from physical constraints in supplying power to the electronic devices in a wired manner as in the past.
Incidentally, to supply power to power reception devices with efficiency, wireless power supply devices need to transmit electromagnetic waves of high power level.
However, when electromagnetic waves of a high power level are transmitted from wireless power supply devices, interference may occur with an existing wireless communication system.
In contrast, if the time to supply power by wireless power supply devices is reduced, interference with an existing wireless communication system can be suppressed but the power supply efficiency may be lowered.


Mounting device including a fluid-filled cylindrical elastic mount, and a synthetic resin bracket having a cylindrical bore in which the elastic mount is fixed, wherein the elastic mount includes a shaft member, an intermediate sleeve disposed radially outwardly of the shaft member and having a window, an elastic body connecting the shaft member and the intermediate sleeve and having a pocket open in the outer circumferential surface of the intermediate sleeve through the window, and an outer sleeve fitted on the intermediate sleeve through a sealing rubber layer to fluid-tightly close the window, for forming a fluid chamber filled with a non-compressible fluid, and wherein the sealing rubber layer is compressed by a compressive force generated based on a pressure of injection of the synthetic resin of the bracket into a mold when the bracket is formed in the mold, in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the outer sleeve, and is thereby fitted on the elastic mount upon formation of the bracket in the mold.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a fluid-filled cylindrical elastic mount adapted to provide a vibration damping effect based on flows of a fluid contained therein, and a method of manufacturing such an elastic mount. More particularly, this invention is concerned with a mounting device including such a fluid-filled cylindrical elastic mount and a generally cylindrical bracket made of a synthetic resin, and a method of producing the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
As one type of a vibration damping mounting device interposed between two members of a vibration system, there is known a fluid-filled elastic mounting device including a fluid-filled cylindrical elastic mount, and a generally cylindrical bracket which is made of a synthetic resin and which has a cylindrical bore in which the fluid-filled cylindrical elastic mount is fixed. The fluid-filled cylindrical elastic mount includes: a center shaft member; an intermediate sleeve disposed radially outwardly of the center shaft member and having at least one window; an elastic body interposed between and connecting the center shaft member and the intermediate sleeve and having at least one pocket open in the outer circumferential surface of the intermediate sleeve through the corresponding window; and an outer sleeve which is fitted on the intermediate sleeve through a sealing rubber layer interposed therebetween, such that the above-indicated at least one window is fluid-tightly closed by the outer sleeve, so as to form at least one fluid chamber filled with a non-compressible fluid. The fluid-filled cylindrical elastic mount is fixedly accommodated in the cylindrical bore of the bracket such that the outer circumferential surface of the outer sleeve is in contact with the inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical bore.
Such as fluid-filled elastic mounting device constructed as described above is capable of exhibiting an excellent vibration damping effect and a sufficiently low dynamic spring constant, on the basis of flows of the fluid through the cylindrical elastic mount upon application of a vibrational load between the center shaft member and the outer sleeve. This mounting device is suitably used on automotive vehicles, as an engine mounting device, a body mounting device, a differential mounting device and a suspension bushing device, for example.
The fluid-filled elastic mounting device of the type described above is required to have an improved degree of fluid-tightness of the fluid chamber or chambers while maintaining simple construction and ease of manufacture, to assure increased durability, operating reliability and load resistance.

Elastic mounting device including fluid-filled elastic mount and synthetic resin bracket for fixing the elastic mount, and method of manufacturing the same


The disclosure relates to a system and method for medical imaging. The method may include: move, by a motion controller, a phantom along an axis of a scanner to a plurality of phantom positions; acquire, by a scanner of the imaging device, a first set of PET data relating to the phantom at the plurality of phantom positions; and store the first set of PET data as an electrical file. The length of an axis of the phantom may be shorter than the length of an axis of the scanner, and at least one of the plurality of phantom positions may be inside a bore of the scanner.

Medical imaging systems may include a Positron Emission Tomography (PET) system for medical diagnosis or treatment. An object, such as a phantom, may be scanned to obtain PET data. During a performance test and a correction of the PET system, the phantom may be acquired to irradiate all detector units in the detector. For a PET system with a relatively long axial length (e.g., 2 meters), a plurality of phantoms may be used to perform the PET scan, based on which a PET image may be reconstructed. The inhomogeneity of the plurality of phantoms may introduce noise to the PET image. There is a need for a system and method to solve the problem.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for calibrating an imaging system

SHANGHAI UNITED IMAGING HEALTHCARE CO., LTD.


A method and system for spectral suppression of a noise in a communication signal. The method includes transmitting a communication signal through a plurality of rejection filters to create a plurality of spectral holes over a spectrum of the communication signal. The communication signal with an acquired noise is received. Noise intensities of the acquired noise at the plurality of spectral holes are measured, and the acquired noise over the spectrum of the communication signal is calculated. The acquired noise is subtracted from the communication signal with the acquired noise.

Systems and methods for noise suppression are necessary components and/or applications in many communication systems including those using radio frequency (RF) technologies and/or optical technologies.
In particular, a simple approach for noise suppression in a communication system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,533,133, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. This approach proposed to suppress the noise during pauses and silent periods in a conversation. The approach does not allow for noise subtraction from a received signal and it provides just perceptibly improved quality of communication.
An approach for actual noise suppression of a communication signal in a communication system was proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,865,276, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. This method for noise suppression suppresses a disturbance signal using a priori information about a fundamental frequency of the disturbance signal to generate an estimate of this disturbance signal. This estimated disturbance signal is subtracted from the communication signal. The basic drawback of this method is that it is necessary to have a priori information about the noise to suppress the noise.
Another approach for noise suppression of a communication signal in a communication system was proposed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0052533, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Specifically, referring now to FIG. 1, the approach proposed using a system for noise suppression in optical communication which includes two transmitters operating at two different wavelength. One of the transmitters (Data A in FIG. 1) is used to send an information signal and the other one (1 in FIG. 1) is used to send a stable reference signal. For noise suppression, the approach proposed to extract the noise from the reference signal and than subtract it from the information signal supposing that both signals acquired similar noise during propagation. The basic disadvantage of this approach is that in reality, the spectral density of noise depends on wavelength; therefore, the subtraction of noise measured at one wavelength from a received signal measured at another wavelength can give good result only for some special communication systems. However, in a typical communication system, for example in a broadband communication signal application (using short laser pulses and/or conventional multichannel WDM/DWDM technologies), this approach does not provide for good noise suppression because of the spectral dependences of noise.
It is therefore desirable to provide a system and method for suppression of noise in communication system that overcomes the above-described shortcomings while retaining their advantages. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a system and method that can realize spectral suppression of noise in communication systems.

Method and system for spectral suppression of noise in a communication signal


A fault-tolerant management information system includes three or more data management systems (e.g. data base systems) that replicate data. Data access requests resulting from user requests to application systems are issued by user request processing entities and forwarded by interceptors to all the data management systems. Responses from the data management systems are obtained, and a maximum group of identical responses provides the correct response, even in the case of "soft" errors not flagged by error codes. Errors are reported to an administration system, and correction of the data base containing the errors is handled by a recovery server. Overall system performance is further enhanced by including data base query systems, which replicate the data. Data access requests resulting from data base query requests are issued by query systems to the data base query systems.

The present invention relates to computer-based fault tolerant information systems.
Information systems are finding increased use in applications for which uninterrupted access to reliable data bases is important. For example, one type of computer-based information system common in large companies is the management information system, or MIS. A management information system is a computerized system used by the company's management and personnel to handle purchase and shipping orders and to perform tasks related to accounts payable and receivable, payroll, personnel management, word processing, and other business, managerial and clerical work.
An important goal for management information systems, as well as other information systems, is fault tolerance. When for example an MIS goes down due to a fault, purchase orders from customers cannot be taken and other tasks are suspended, resulting in large financial losses.
Thus, it is desirable to provide an information system that is not brought down by a fault but that stays on line and, moreover, continues to provide correct information. This is particularly important for multinational corporations with offices scattered across different time zones. While some offices are closed, offices in other time zones are open, and the MIS may have to be on line 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to support worldwide operation of such a corporation.

Systems and methods for fault tolerant information processing


Disclosed are dryable stain compositions, such as wiping stains, that include a binder including a mixture of an alkyd resin and a drying and/or semi-drying oil, wherein the stain composition (a) includes no more than 100 grams of volatile organic material per liter of the stain composition, and (b) is substantially free of water. Also disclosed are porous substrates at least partially coated with such stain compositions, methods for staining at least a portion of a porous substrate with such stain compositions, and porous substrates at least partially coated with a multi-layer composite coating system wherein at least one coating layer is deposited from such a stain composition.

Stains are often applied to porous substrates, such as wood, to, for example, provide coloring while allowing some of the substrate's natural color and grain to show through. Historically, there have been two basic types of wood stains: water-based and oil-based.
Water-based stains have been favored from an environmental standpoint, since such compositions contain little or no volatile organic materials that are released into the atmosphere. Such stains, however, have drawbacks. Water-based stains are notorious for causing wood grain-raising. In other words, the water in the stain composition lifts the wood fibers, thereby roughening the wood surface, which often necessitates an additional sanding operation to generate a smooth surface. Also, because they are fast-drying, water-based stains can be difficult to employ as a wiping stain while still obtaining color consistency.
Oil-based stains have also been used and are capable of performing adequately in many cases. They are typically non-grain raising and not quick to dry, i.e., they have a long open time. Such stains, however, have historically required the use of significant amounts of volatile organic material, 250 or more grams of volatile organic material per liter of the stain composition, in order to reduce the viscosity of the composition and/or render the stain dryable. The use of significant amounts of volatile organic materials though, as indicated above, is disfavored from an environmental standpoint.
As a result, it would be desirable to provide stain compositions, such as wiping stains, that are dryable, non grain-raising, have long open time, and which contain little or no volatile organic materials.

Stain compositions and related coated substrates


In a vehicle operating pedal unit, which may include clutch and brake pedals, mounted on a front wall of a vehicle passenger compartment and including a pedal support structure on which the pedals are pivotally supported by bolts, the pedal support structure includes a portion which extends upwardly so as to be disposed on top of a transverse frame member to which it is mounted and which is sufficiently strong to withstand forces to which a brake unit mounted on the opposite side of the front wall may be subjected during a crash. At least the brake pedal has an extension projection to a point adjacent the transverse frame member to prevent the brake pedal from being tilted by a brake operating rod into the leg room of the vehicle if the brake unit and the operating rod are pushed inwardly during a crash.

The invention relates to a pedal unit for operating a vehicle with a clutch and a brake pedal supported in a support structure which can be mounted on a wall, particularly the front wall of the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle.
EP O4 30 600 A1 discloses a pedal unit with at least one pedal and a pedal lever connected hereto. It is the object of the pedal unit to facilitate the mounting which is achieved by the use of various molded plastic parts including the housing and the pedals. The pedals are pre-mounted onto the housing so as to form a unit which can then be mounted to a part of the vehicle.
Furthermore, WO 94/29584 A1 discloses a pedal unit for operating a vehicle with which there is no need for a direct mechanical connection between the pedal and the vehicle drive unit. This is achieved by the combination of simple mechanical parts with a position sensor.
However, the vehicle operating pedal units known from these references have the disadvantage that, during a crash, they can be pushed far into leg room of the passenger compartment since the brake unit and the operating rod associated therewith transmit the forces occurring during a crash to the pedals and the pedals can be tilted, because of their support points and the orientation of the brake operating rod, about the mounting points of the brake pedal unit such that they move far into the leg room of the passenger compartment. This may result in injuries particularly to the legs of the driver.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a vehicle operating pedal unit by which, in case of a crash, the vehicle operator is not subjected to injuries resulting from a movement of the pedals into the legroom of the vehicle.


An injection molding machine has a C-shaped machine frame with stationary die platen mounted on one limb and a closure mechanism mounted on the other for driving a movable die platen. The free ends of the machine frame limbs, whose ends are not connected by spars, deform under the influence of a closure force occurring during a closure process. Disposed between the stationary die platen and/or the closure mechanism, and the machine frame is at least one retaining part which deforms rather than pivoting, when the closure force is applied. The stationary die platen or the closure mechanism is thus tilted relative to the machine frame.

The invention relates to an injection molding machine comprising a substantially C-shaped machine frame, on one limb of which is mounted a stationary mold mounting plate and on the other limb of which is mounted a closing mechanism for driving a movable mold mounting plate, wherein the free ends of the limbs of the machine frame, which are not connected by beam members, deform under the influence of the closing force which occurs during the closing operation.
An injection molding machine of that kind is known for example from DE-U1-92 12 480. The object of the invention is to simplify the construction and nonetheless to provide for good guidance of the mold mounting plates and absolute parallelism of the two mold halves, even when very high mold driving forces are involved.

Injection molding machine with C-shaped frame


The present invention relates to the fields of immunochemistry and pharmacology. Methods and compositions are described for the diagnosis and treatment of SARS CoV infection. More specifically, the application discloses nucleic acids and peptides of the spike glycoprotein of SARS CoV that provide prognostic and therapeutic compositions in treatment of individuals contracting, or in danger of contracting SARS CoV. The peptides of the invention are also useful in producing antibodies against the SARS CoV glycoprotein.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a recently recognized, highly infectious and life-threatening condition. (Lee N, et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 2003 May 15;348(20):1986-94; Poutanen S M, et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 2003 May 15;348(20):1995-2005; Tsang K W, et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 2003 May 15;348(20):1977-85). The World Health Organization issued a global alert on the condition on Mar. 12, 2003. Numerous cases have since been reported in many parts of the world affecting both health care workers and community citizens. Recent data have provided strong evidence that a novel coronavirus is likely to be an etiological agent for SARS. (Ksiazek T G, et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 2003 May 15; 348(20): 1953-66; Peiris J, et al., Lancet 2003;361:1319-25; Drosten C, et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 2003 May 15;348(20):1967-76). Thus far, little is known about the biology of this SARS-coronavirus (SARS CoV).
The SARS-CoV genome contains 11 open reading frames coding for a replicase, four major structural proteins: spike, nucleocapsid, envelope and membrane, and several proteins of unknown function. Spike protein is a membrane-bound glycoprotein located on the surface of the virion. This glycoprotein is reported to be important for viral entry and may define host range and tissue tropism (Gallagher T M and Buchmeier M J. (2001) Virology 279:371-374; Philips J J et al. (2002) Virology 301:109-120). Mutations of the spike glycoprotein gene of other coronaviruses have been correlated with altered pathogenesis and virulence (Bernard S and Laude H. (1995) J Gen Virol 76 (Pt 9):2235-2241; Leparc-Goffart I et al. (1997) Virology 239:1-10; Phillips J J; and Weiss S R. (2001) Adv Exp Med Biol 494:115-119).

Compositions and methods for diagnosing and treating severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)


Disclosed are a power factor correction circuit and a power adapter, and the power factor correction circuit includes a sampler, a controller and a current limiter, and the controller includes an error amplification unit, a peak value adjusting unit, an ON/OFF computing unit and a phase lock unit. The sampler is coupled to the phase lock unit, and the current limiter is coupled to the error amplification unit and the ON/OFF computing unit, so as to achieve the effects of enhancing the power factor property of the power factor correction circuit, lowering the manufacturing cost, and improving the electric power utilization.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of electronic technology, and more particularly to a power factor correction (PFC) control circuit and a power adapter of an electronic device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a television (TV) or a light emitting diode (LED) lamp.
2. Description of the Related Art
To provide an appropriate and stable power to an electronic device, the electronic device is usually equipped with a power adapter. In general, most conventional power adaptors adopt a pulse width modulation (PWM) for controlling the voltage or current value of an output power supply. Power factor (PF) refers to the relation between effective power and total power consumption (or apparent power), or the ratio of the effective power to the total power consumption (or apparent power), which is used for utilizing a constant power effectively, and thus the power factor is an important indicator of the properties of a constant power adapter. To enhance the PF property, the utilization of electric power, a power adapter generally comes with a PFC control circuit.
With reference to FIG. 1 for a conventional PFC control circuit, and the conventional PFC control circuit comprises a rectifier 10, a coupling transformer 11, a current limiting switch 12, a first resistor 13, a second resistor 14, a controller 15 and a current limiter 16, wherein the second resistor 14, the controller 15 and the current limiter 16 are operated at a discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) to output a stable current and prevent an over-current. The coupling transformer 11 comprises a primary coil, a secondary coil and an auxiliary coil NA, and the controller 15 comprise a first comparator 151, a second comparator 152, a logic gate 153, a trigger 154 and an optical coupler (OC) 155, and the current limiter 16 comprises a first multiplier 161 and a second multiplier 162. The current limiting switch 12 is a triode having a collector coupled to the primary coil, and a base coupled to an output terminal of the trigger 154, and an end of the first resistor 13 is grounded and the other end of the first resistor 14 is coupled to an emitter of the current limiting switch 12. The first multiplier 161 and the second multiplier 162 of the current limiter 16 are coupled to output terminals of the trigger respectively. The rectifier 10 converts the utility power (AC) into a primary current Ip (DC), and then input voltage are formed at both ends of the input voltage of the primary coil of the coupling transformer 11, and the secondary coil generates an induced current Is, and the auxiliary coil generates a detect current Ia, and the first resistor 13 senses the primary current Ip to output a sensing signal to the controller 15. The auxiliary coil is serially coupled to the second resistor 14, so that the second resistor 14 can sense the primary current Ip to output a detect signal to the controller 15. After the first multiplier 161 and the second multiplier 162 compute the received PWM signal and reference signal, a compare signal increasing with time is outputted to the controller 15, and the controller 15 processes the sensing signal, the detect signal, the compare signal and the coupling signal outputted from the optical coupler 155 to generate and transmit a setting signal or a clear signal to the current limiting switch 12, and the current limiting switch 12 switches its status according to the received setting signal or clear signal to control the secondary coil, so as to generate a stable induced current Is and overcome the over-current issue caused by the circuit latency effect. Although the aforementioned PFC control circuit provides the over-current protection effect, yet the circuit employs the optical coupler which incurs a larger volume and a higher cost, and the multiplication circuit also causes an input voltage harmonic in the output current of the entire circuit, and results in a greater total harmonic distortion (THD) and a smaller PF property, and thus wasting energy.

Power factor correction control circuit and power adapter thereof


A pin-type, double-acting synchronizer (10) with friction rings (22, 36 and 24, 38), jaw members (30, 26, 28), three circumferentially spaced pins (40)including blocker shoulders for preventing asynchronous engagement of the jaw members, pre-energizer assemblies (42) to ensure initial engagement of the friction rings and blocker shoulders in response to initial engaging movement of a shift flange (32), and self-energizing cams (32f, 32g, 20e, 20f) producing an additive axial force (F.sub.a) in response to either of the cams (32f, 32g) moving a rigid link (48) radially inward against either of the cams (20e, 20f). In a modified embodiment the links (48) are replaced by spring capsules (60) which limit the maximum additive force (F.sub.a).

It is well known that synchronizers may be used in multiple speed ratio transmissions to assist shifting of all or some of the transmission gear ratios. It is also known that the shift effort and/or time to perform a shift may be reduced by use of synchronizers of the self-energizing or boost type. Since required operator shift effort generally increases with vehicle size, synchronizers of the self-energizing type are especially useful in transmissions for heavy duty trucks and/or in transmissions where reduced shift time and/or reduced shift effort are preferred. Prior art examples of synchronizers that may be relevant to the synchronizer herein may be seen by reference to U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,078,245; 5,092,439; Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) 45-27483; and German Patent Publication 1,098,824 which are incorporated herein by reference.

Synchronizer including radially-moveable, resiliently-biased self-energizing member


According to a copy protection method of the present invention, as for a component video signal which is composed of a luminance signal and two color-difference signals, copy inhibition information is superimposed upon a first color-difference signal and information indicating that the copy inhibition information is included in the first color-difference signal is superimposed upon a second color-difference signal. Or copy inhibition information is superimposed upon the luminance signal, a vertical blanking interval, or a horizontal blanking interval.

As VCRs (Video Cassette Recorders) have been coming into wide use, it has become possible to easily view video data of recorded television broadcast or contents of software which can be reproduced by the VCR. In addition, recently, digital VCRs and recording/reproduction apparatus for DVDs (Digital Video Discs) have been progressed, whereby high-quality video data can be recorded and reproduced. Since the high-quality video data can be easily recorded/reproduced because of the recent progress in the VCRs and the DVD recording/reproduction apparatus, the security of copyrights on video data which are recorded on the digital VCRs or DVDs has become important. Therefore, various methods for preventing unauthorized copying have been conventionally carried out.
For example as for analog video signals, there is a method by which copying is protected with utilizing a difference in AGC (Auto Gain Control) methods between the VCR and the TV, or a difference in characteristics of APC (Auto Phase Control).
However, in the conventional copy protection method, only a carrier signal which is obtained by modulation of a color signal can be protected against copying, while a color-difference signal which is not modulated cannot be protected against copying. More specifically, for a color-difference signal which is not modulated as shown in FIG. 15 or a component video signal which is composed of primary-color signals, there is no suitable copy protection method and thus these signals can be easily copied.
The present invention is made in view of the above-mentioned problems and has for its object to provide a copy protection method for a component signal which is composed of a luminance signal and color-difference signals, and a digital broadcast receiver for outputting the copy-protected component signal.

Copy guard method and digital broadcast receiving apparatus

Abstract: Accordingly, it can be judged whether or not the video is capable of copying, without making the viewers conscious, whereby component video signals can be easily copy protected.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A new inflatable soccer goal for allowing for easy transportation and set up. The inventive device includes a contiguous peripheral frame comprised of inflatable tubing. A nylon net extends within the contiguous peripheral frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to adjustable goal frames and more particularly pertains to a new inflatable soccer goal for allowing for easy transportation and set up.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of adjustable goal frames is known in the prior art. More specifically, adjustable goal frames heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art adjustable goal frames include U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,356 to Bigelow; U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,340 to Potvin et al.; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 356,841 to Temple; U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,368 to Pavonetti; U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,128 to Sharpless et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,086 to Heim.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new inflatable soccer goal. The inventive device includes a contiguous peripheral frame comprised of inflatable tubing. A nylon net extends within the contiguous peripheral frame.
In these respects, the inflatable soccer goal according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of allowing for easy transportation and set up.


A material removing apparatus includes a frame including a planar base portion and axially spaced front and rear portions. An elongated axle and a plurality of wheels are attached thereto and a plurality of rigid brackets are secured to the axle adjacent to the wheels. A contoured handle is securely mounted to the frame. The apparatus also includes a lifting plate extending forwardly from the bracket end portions and spaced forwardly from the wheels for lifting shingles upwardly and away from a support surface. The plate includes an inner shaft having opposed end portions for defining a fulcrum axis and an outer shaft journaled about the inner shaft and rotatable about the fulcrum axis in clockwise and counterclockwise directions. A mechanism is included for pivoting the plate about a selected arcuate path so that an operator can position the plate between the support surface and the shingles.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a material removing apparatus and, more particularly, to a material removing apparatus for removing fastened shingles from a support surface.
2. Prior Art
It is a common practice to use hand tools on the order of pry bars and shovels for the removal of shingles. It is noted that numerous patents disclose portable, reciprocating roof shingle removing structures. One example is a gasoline operated structure utilizing reciprocating blade members to be placed underneath the roofing shingles to be removed by utilizing an agitating and generally reciprocating type movement. This method, however, can result in damage caused to the underlying support surface of the shingles and the gasoline used to power it is not cost-effective.
Another patent discloses a rather elaborate structure utilized for a continuous shingle removing process which is rather bulky and complex compared to other devices of similar design, thus making it inconvenient for use at elevated positions. Yet another patent discloses an electrically operated shingle stripping apparatus with blades thereon to remove materials utilizing a reciprocating movement. Such an apparatus possesses the same problem as the reciprocating apparatus mentioned above and poses a new problem by having to cope with an electrical wire while working.
Accordingly, a need remains for a material removing apparatus in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing an apparatus that is relatively light weight, easy to use, structurally strong, results in time savings through its use and is reasonably priced. Such an apparatus advantageously allows both roofing contractors and do-it-yourself homeowners to remove shingles without the need of a flat shovel, as is the current tool of choice.


The present invention relates to a blue photosensitive resin composition for a color filter and an application thereof. The blue photosensitive resin composition includes an organic pigment (A), a dye (B), an alkali-soluble resin (C), a compound having an ethylenically unsaturated group (D), a photo-initiator (E) and a solvent (F). The alkali-soluble resin (C) includes a first alkali-soluble resin (C-1) having a hindered amine structure. The blue photosensitive resin composition of the present invention can improve a voltage holding ratio and a contrast ratio of the color filter.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a blue photosensitive resin composition for a color filter and a color filter formed by the blue photosensitive resin composition of liquid crystal display (LCD) device thereof. More particularly, the present invention relates a blue photosensitive resin composition for a color filter having excellent voltage holding ratio and contrast ratio.
2. Description of Related Art
With the upgrading technology and wider application of the liquid crystal display (LCD), the large LCD (for example, LC television) is under progressively developing. Typically, the National Television System Committee (NTSC) ratio of the color reproducibility of the desktop LCD is approximately 50% to 60%, while the NTSC ratio of the LC television is approximately 60% to 75%. Thus, when the components of the desktop LCD, for example, the LCD components and the backlight components (e.g., cold cathode fluorescent lamp; CCFL) being applied in the LC television, such LC television cannot meet the requirements on the color reproducibility of the LC television.
To make the LC television with a desired specification of the color reproducibility, when the backlight component of the desktop LCD is used, the film thickness or the pigment concentration of the blue filter portion of the color filter in the LC television must be increased. However, such practices will drastically eliminate the transmittance of the blue filter portion.
The Japanese patent publication No. H09-95638 discloses a blue photosensitive resin composition for a color filter, and the composition includes an alpha-copper phthalocyanine blue pigment, an epsilon-copper phthalocyanine, a photosensitive resin, a photo-initiator and a solvent. Besides, the Japanese patent publication No. H09-197663 also discloses a blue photosensitive resin composition for a color filter, and the composition includes a copper phthalocyanine blue pigment, an indanthrone blue pigment, a photosensitive resin, a photo-initiator and a solvent.
In the aforementioned two patents, the transmittance of the blue photosensitive resin composition is improved by using different kinds of blue pigments. However, due to the light scattering generated by the pigment particles having certain diameters, if the concentration of the pigment of the blue photosensitive resin is increased, the color filter having such blue photosensitive resin composition will result in decreased contrast ratio. Thus, the Japanese patent publication No. 2006-079012 discloses the combination of a light-absorbing pyrazole squarylium and a blue pigment (Pigment Blue; P.B.) 15:6, so as to enhance the contrast ratio of the color filter. However, the method easily causes less voltage holding ratio of the photosensitive resin composition, resulting in the defect of the retained image on the LCD screen.
Thus, the research of the invention in the technical field is aimed to enhance the voltage holding ratio and the contrast ratio of the LCD device for meeting the current requirements of the industry field.

Blue photosensitive resin composition for color filter and application thereof


An apparatus for compacting stalk material, having a feeding device for feeding material to be pressed, having at least one pair of press drums which can be driven in opposite directions and which each have circumferential receiving grooves and compression rings in an alternate manner alongside one another in the axial direction, wherein the compression rings of one press drum engage in the receiving grooves of the other press drum, wherein at least one press drum is provided with a cavity and wherein this at least one press drum has a multiplicity of radially extending press channels in a manner distributed over the circumference, said press channels in each case connecting the groove bottom of the receiving grooves to the cavity, provision is made for the compression rings to have a circumferential profile having protrusions formed for example by radially external teeth having tooth tips.

Technical Field
The invention relates to an apparatus for compacting fibrous plant material, in particular for compacting stalk material, having a feeding device for feeding the plant material or stalk material to be compacted, having at least one pair of press drums that are settable into opposite rotational movements, wherein one press drum has receiving grooves on its circumference along its axial longitudinal extent and another press drum has compression rings along its axial longitudinal extent, and having an internal cavity in at least one press drum, said internal cavity being connected to the receiving grooves via a multiplicity of radially oriented press channels that are distributed over the circumference.
Prior Art
The utilization of renewable raw materials, such as fibrous plant material, is increasingly gaining in importance. Thus, renewable raw materials, such as wood, but also harvested stalk material, for example straw, can be utilized further, for example for the purposes of bedding or combustion. In this case, it has proven very advantageous to pelletize such raw materials and to compact them to form pellets.
DE 20 2009 001 697 U1 discloses an apparatus for pressing pellets, which has a pair of press drums arranged downstream of a feeding device, said press drums rotating in opposite directions. One press drum has press channels that are open toward an internal cavity and which each have a receiving groove space in their upper region facing the circumference of the press drum. This receiving groove space is bounded by walls which comprise wall webs that are oriented in each case transversely to the direction of rotation of the press drums. The press drum having the press channels is assigned the other press drum which has compression rings with cylindrical press punches. During rotation of the press drums, each particular press punch passes into the associated press channel, on passing through or passing the connecting plane in which the rotation axes of the press drums are located, in order to plug the material to be pelletized into the press channel and form it into pellets. However, in this arrangement, it is the case that the wall webs, oriented transversely to the direction of rotation, of the walls of the press channel, including the wall regions bounding the groove receiving space, are at a distance from the circumferential surface of the compression ring, the press punches originating from said circumferential surface. As a consequence, the end sides of the wall webs, oriented transversely to the direction of rotation, of the receiving grooves act for their part as press devices and compact material located there against the circumferential surface of the compression ring, such that said material cannot pass into the press channels. In tough day-to-day operation, this results in the spaces between the press punches of the compression rings becoming clogged up, this not only resulting in increased reactive power of the apparatus but also in the risk of downtimes on account of clogging of the apparatus. Such clogging can only be remedied using very time-consuming and exhausting cleaning work.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,613,335 discloses an apparatus, to be towed by a towing vehicle, for pelletizing materials, said apparatus likewise having two press drums that are drivable in opposite directions. In order to gather the material to be pelletized from the ground, provision is made of a pick-up apparatus and a number of rotatable tine rolls which convey the material to be pelletized in the direction of a feeding device. The feeding conveying device consists of a conically configured drum that is drivable about an axis that is inclined with respect to the press drums, and also of a further drum which is arranged coaxially with a first press drum and is firmly connected thereto. This further drum runs in an internal recess of the conical drum that is arranged in an inclined manner. The material to be pelletized is thus moved via the coaxially arranged drum and an end-side face of the conical drum transversely to the direction of travel of the apparatus in the direction of a filling region between the press drums, and in the process is compacted to a small extent. A disadvantage with this apparatus is that, on account of lacking or insufficient counter-pressure, no effective compaction can take place. On account of the lateral feed of the material to be pressed, only very narrow press drums can be used for producing pellets. Thus, only a small throughput is achievable.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,052,449 discloses an apparatus for the continuous production of pellets from meltable starting materials which are intended to be suitable for subsequent consumption by for example animals or humans. To this end, provision is made of rolls having in each case an internal receiving space, into which material can be fed via press channels which are arranged in each case at a spacing apart from one another in the longitudinal direction of the rolls. Protrusions as compression rings are arranged, again in each case at a spacing apart from one another, between the press channels, said protrusions engaging in upper receiving spaces of the opposite roll, the press channels originating from said receiving spaces. However, the upper ends of the protrusions, which are configured in a planar manner, only dip into the receiving spaces to such an extent that a sufficient gap remains between the inlet of each particular press channel into its upper receiving space, in order to be able to allow the material to be compacted to be melted there. The creation of this melt is obligatory for the proper functioning of this machine, and so the latter is of little suitability for processing fibrous stalk material. An enormous amount of energy needs to be provided for melting the starting materials upstream of the respective press channels.
US 2010/0040721 A1 discloses a roller press for briquetting biomass. This press has two rolls that are drivable in opposite directions, said rolls having compression rings with intermediate grooves on their outer circumference. The compression rings of one roll engage in the grooves of the other roll. Distributed over the outer circumference of the compression rings are depressions which, together with the groove bottom of the grooves, form mold cavities for the briquettes to be produced. The pressing of the briquettes in depressions in the compression rings is limited in the known roller press.

Apparatus for compacting fibrous plant material, especially for compacting stalk material


A tool and associated method allows a liner top to be dressed. Then while maintaining a lateral port closed the tool can be used to circulate while being rotated and reciprocated. The tool features discrete j-slot mechanisms. The upper j-slot allows the lateral port to initially open while the lower j-slot keeps the lateral port open despite movement of the tool in opposed directions in the hole due to a barrier to the pin in the lower j-slot. When enough weight is set or the barrier is otherwise removed, the lateral port can be closed and the test packer set by set down weight with the lateral port closed. After the packer is unset the lateral ports can be reopened and circulation and swiveling on a bearing can occur even if the packer is temporarily actuated from the setting down motion that reopened the lateral ports.

In well completions a liner is typically inserted in the drilled wellbore and cemented. Thereafter the integrity of the cementing needs to be tested and that is accomplished with a pressure test using a packer set above the liner top. To avoid damage to tools that may be later set in the liner, the top of the liner needs to have a relatively burr free internal surface. Typically, a mill is used to dress the liner top. It is advantageous to condition the mud above the liner and to do it with relatively high circulation rates. To accomplish that a tool with a lateral port has been used that can open, when needed to allow conditioning.
Typically, these ported tools involve a ported mandrel in a ported housing where the ports can be selectively put into alignment for flow and misalignment to close off flow. In the past the required relative movement to go between the open and closed positions has been accomplished with j-slot mechanisms that involve relative movement between a pin on one part and a slot on the other. Progress of the pin in the slot could be obtained by cycling pressure on and off that forced relative movement between a j-slot sleeve and a lug to advance the lug in a j-slot track or by mechanical movement of the pin or slot with the other held supported. For example a mandrel with a pin extending into a slot on a surrounding housing that is supported in the well could allow the mandrel to take several positions with respect to the surrounding housing. That relative movement could result in aligning or misaligning of ports. The limitations of such j-slot mechanisms are that the pin continues to progress in the slot if there is reciprocating movement of the tool for other purposes. In that case if aligned ports were needed to stay aligned during reciprocating tool movement for another purpose such as conditioning the mud through a lateral port while reciprocating the tool the length of tubulars that can be assembled on a rig floor, for example about 90 feet, the j-slot mechanisms would not assure that the aligned ports would not go to a misaligned position and thus nullify the mud conditioning effort that was in progress. Thus, one advantage of the present invention allows the lateral port to remain open for conditioning by having a barrier to the progress of the lug out of a desired slot in the j-slot while mud is conditioned above a liner top.
Tools in the past have included bearings so that when weight was set down on the bearing the mandrel could rotate with ports in the mandrel selectively aligned with ports in the housing, as long as weight was set down. This rotation of the mandrel feature allowed better agitation of the mud as different outlets around the circumference of the outer housing saw flow in turn as the mandrel rotated. The problem was that if the tool was moved longitudinally back and forth from the position it took to align the ports such as if the span of the conditioning zone was 90 feet, for example, the j-slot device would cycle and the ports may no longer stay aligned.
What was needed in a cleanup and test tool of this type is an ability to open the lateral ports and hold them open while the tool is cycled up and down for a long distance and then later be able to close them. Another desirable feature was to be able to later still open the ports and circulate and swivel before pulling the tool out of the hole. These and other features of the present tool and associated method of the present invention will be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a review of the detailed description and the associated drawings and the claims below that define the full scope of the invention.

Shear type circulation valve and swivel with open port reciprocating feature


The present invention is a simplified process for making succinyl acetone (SA). The most preferred embodiment is a one step process that reacts levulinic acid, ethyl acetate, and a base to form SA. Generally, a levulinic acid group may be reacted with an alkyl ester and a base to form SA. Optionally, the reaction may be acidified after completion to remove byproducts.

There is a continuous search for therapeutics that have immunosuppressive activity, and therefore facilitate organ tissue transplants, as well as being beneficially applied to the treatment of autoimmune or graft versus host disease. The basis of organ tissue rejection is known and resides in the histocompatibility two locus (H-2) in the mouse, and the human leucocyte antigen (HLA) complex in the human. Klein, J., et al. Ann. Rev. Immunol. 1:119 (1983). Both systems code for cell surface molecules that are recognized as foreign in a recipient host. Only in those instances where the donor and recipient are genetically identical, that is when the donor and recipient are identical twins, is there little or no chance of rejection of the transplanted organ. However, since the donor and recipient are rarely genetically identical, some degree of histocompatibility antigenic mismatch is present, and hence the application of immunosuppressive drugs is required. This is true, even where donors and recipients are HLA matched, that is, matched with the antigens of the major histocompatibility complex loci, since rejection of the transplant can still arise as a result of mismatching of minor genetic loci that are also involved in rejection.
Immunosuppressive drugs are also widely used in the area of graft versus host rejection, particularly bone marrow transplants. The graft from a donor contains a significant number of immunocompetent lymphoid cells that can mount an effective destructive reaction against host cells. Bone marrow transplants are often employed to treat various malignant diseases, including leukemia. Generally this involves immunologically crippling the leukemic patient, and then transplanting bone marrow from a donor. Unless the lymphoid cells in the donor marrow are suppressed they can react against recipient tissue antigens, often with dire consequences. A variety of drugs, and antisera to lymphoid cells are used as immunosuppressives. Particularly useful drugs are corticosteroids, othiopirne, and cyclosporine. Various monoclonal antibodies, alone or when coupled to a cytotoxic agent, are available for eliminating lymphoid cells from the donor marrow. P. S. Russell et al., Annual Review Medicine 35:63 (1984). Not only are these immunosuppressive drugs used in the area of organ tissue transplantation and graft versus host disease, they are also widely sought after to treat autoimmune diseases.
Another drug that is useful in the above context is succinyl acetone (4, 6-dioxoheptanoic acid, hereinafter referred to as SA). For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,467 claims SA as an immunosuppressive medicament and Clin. Imm. and Immunopath., 49:63-71 (1988) describes SA in the treatment of experimental autoimmune disease. Also, Hess et al., Jour. of Immunol. 139:2845-2849 (1987), discloses that graft versus host disease may be treated with SA. Against this background, it is evident that SA is a compound that is useful to treat disease. As a consequence, processes for making SA are also important.
In the prior art, SA has been made in a variety of ways. See U.S. patent application Ser. No. 324,360 which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety and Pendarvis et al., J. Org. Chem., 39:2289-2291 (1974). Also, SA can be prepared from simple esters, i.e. methyl (Battersby, et al., J. C. S. Perkin I, 1981:2786-2792) and ethyl (Treibs et al., Chem. Berichte, 87:1163-1166 (1954)). Generally, they can be complicated procedures that involve multiple steps, different reagents, and reaction conditions. Obviously, if a process is complex, then it can be expensive and provide more opportunities for mistakes. Consequently, there is always a need to simplify the process that is used to make a chemical compound such as SA. That need is satisfied by the invention that is described below.


An echo component of a first signal received at an audio input device is removed. A second signal is output from an audio output device. The echo component in the first signal is the result of the second signal traversing an echo path. The characteristics of the first and second signals are compared, and if the first signal only comprises the echo, an estimate of the echo path is determined by comparing the first and second signals. The echo path estimate is applied to the first signal to determine an equalized first signal, which is is compared with the second signal to determine an estimate of the echo component. The echo component from the first signal is removed in dependence on the estimate of the echo component.

In a communication system a communication network is provided, which can link together two communication terminals so that the terminals can send information to each other in a call or other communication event. Information may include audio, text, image or video data.
Modern communication systems are based on the transmission of digital signals. Analogue information such as speech is input into an analogue to digital converter at the transmitter of one terminal, hereinafter referred to as the near end terminal, and converted into a digital signal. The digital signal is then encoded and transmitted in data packets over a channel to the receiver of a destination terminal, hereinafter referred to as the far end terminal.
To transmit audio signals, such as speech, analogue audio data is input from a microphone at the near end terminal. The analogue audio data is then converted into digital data before it is transmitted to the far end terminal via the communication network.
A reply signal which is transmitted from the far end terminal, herein after referred to as the far end signal, is received at the near end terminal and output from a loudspeaker of the near end terminal.
A phenomenon commonly referred to as acoustic echo occurs when the far end signal output from the loudspeaker 20, as shown in FIG. 1, traverses an echo path 22 and is recorded by the microphone 10 of the near end terminal as an acoustic echo component in the near end signal. The echo component in the near end signal may in some cases cause the far end speaker to hear their own voice transmitted back from the near end terminal.
The echo path describes the effects of the acoustic paths travelled by the far end signal from the loudspeaker to the microphone. The far end signal may travel directly from the loudspeaker to the microphone, or it may be reflected from various surfaces in the environment of the near end terminal. The echo path may also describe any other effects that the far end signal has on the near end recording. For example the far end signal may cause mechanical vibration in the near end terminal, or cause electrical induction in the components of the near end terminal.
The echo path traversed by the far end signal output from the loudspeaker may be regarded as a system having a frequency and a phase response which may vary over time. By considering the echo component as the output of the system and the far end signal as the input of the system the frequency response of the echo path is a measure of the gain between the magnitudes of the output and the input of the system as a function of frequency.
In order to remove the acoustic echo from the signal recorded at the near end microphone it is necessary to estimate how the echo path changes the desired far-end loudspeaker output signal to an undesired echo component in the input signal. The effects of the echo path are estimated by calculating a mathematical representation of the relation between the signal output from the loudspeaker and the undesired echo input signal. The mathematical representation of the combined effects of the frequency and phase response which describes the echo path is hereinafter referred to as the echo path transfer function. When the echo path transfer function is accurately determined, the frequency response of the echo path transfer function will be equivalent to the frequency response of the actual echo path.
The echo path transfer function H(s) is the linear mapping of the Laplace transform X(s) of the far end signal to the Laplace transform Y(s) of the echo signal:Y(s)=H(s)X(s)  Equation (1)or
                              H                                (            s            )                          =                                            Y                                            (                s                )                                                    X                                            (                s                )                                              =                                    ℒ                                            {                                  y                                                        (                    t                    )                                                  }                                                    ℒ                                            {                                  x                                                        (                    t                    )                                                  }                                                                        Equation                                                            (          2          )
The echo path transfer function H(s) is calculated by comparing the far end loudspeaker signal with the near end signal recorded by the microphone. When the near-end speaker is silent and the far-end speaker is active, only the echo provided by the far end signal is recorded by the near end microphone. In this case, the echo path transfer function can be adaptively calculated to model the way that the far-end signal changes when traversing the echo path.
In known acoustic echo cancellation (AEC) techniques the adaptively calculated echo transfer function is used to provide filter coefficients that filter the far end signal to generate an estimate of the echo component in the near end signal in accordance with the echo path transfer function. The estimated echo may then be subtracted from the near end signal. Other AEC techniques employ attenuation based filtering methods that attenuate the near end signal according to the calculated echo path transfer function to remove the echo component from the near end signal.
FIG. 2 is a diagram of a known echo canceller according to the prior art. The echo canceller comprises far end and near end Short Time Fourier Transform (STFT) blocks 8 and 9 arranged to transform the far end and near end signals into far end and near end frequency domain signals respectively. Far end and near end energy blocks 10 and 11 are arranged to convert the far end and near end frequency domain signals into far end and near end power spectrums respectively.
A ratio block 1 is arranged to calculate the echo path transfer function by comparing the far end power spectrum and the near end power spectrum when the near end signal only contains the echo component. As shown the calculated echo path transfer function gains are multiplied with the far end power spectrum using a mixer 2, to generate a modified far end power spectrum that represents a power spectrum of the echo component in the near end signal.
By comparing the power spectrum of the echo component and the power spectrum of the near end component, attenuation gains are computed in block 3. The attenuation gains are then applied to the near end signal in block 4 to attenuate the echo component from the near end power spectrum.
In order to calculate the echo path transfer function when the near end signal only contains the echo component, a voice activity detector 5 is arranged to compare the voice activity on the far end and near end signals and to control the update rate of a far end smoothing filter 6 and a near end smoothing filter 7 accordingly. When speech is detected in the far end signal and only echo is detected in the near end signal the update rate of the smoothing filters 6 and 7 is controlled to be high. In all other cases the update rate is controlled to be low. As a result the outputs of the smoothing filters 6 and 7 are determined by the input signals that exist when the near end signal contains only echo.
The voice activity detector 5 is arranged to compare voice activity on the far end and near end signals by comparing calculated Signal to Noise Ratios (SNR) of the modified far end power spectrum and of the near end power spectrum. When the SNR value of the modified far end signal is high and the SNR value of the near end signal is not higher than the SNR value of the modified far end signal it may be determined by the voice activity detector that only echo is present on the near end signal.
The inventors of the present invention have identified that current acoustic echo cancellation methods, such as that described with reference to FIG. 2, do not reliably differentiate between the case where only echo is present on the near end signal and the case where the near end signal comprises both echo and a signal from the near end speaker.
For an AEC to effectively remove echo signals without causing distortions to the near end voice signal transmitted from the terminal, it is important that the smoothing filters are only updated when the near end signal contains only echo. A common problem with AECs is the updating of filters when both the near end speaker 23 and the far end speaker are active, hereinafter referred to as double talk. Updating the smoothing filters during double talk leads to the deterioration of the filter outputs, resulting in poor echo cancellation. Significant efforts have been made in the field to develop reliable double-talk detectors to solve this problem, with limited success. The difficulty is that in both the case where only echo is present on the near end signal and the case where double talk occurs, the far end and near end signals both contain active speech.
It is an aim of the present invention to provide an echo canceller with an improved method for detecting when the near end signal contains only echo and thereby provides more effective echo cancellation than currently known echo cancellation methods.


Using known methods of face recognition, appliances can be automatically initiated and/or adjusted as a user enters an environment, such as a home or a room. The environment is networked such that there is a communication link between a camera monitoring the entrance to the environment, a face recognition system, and the appliances. The method of automatically controlling a networked environment includes capturing a face image of an individual, storing the face image (i.e., in a memory), and associating at least one appliance setup to the face image. The method also includes comparing the face image to stored face images, retrieving the at least one appliance setup for a matched face image, and initiating the at least one appliance setup. An appliance setup controls turning on or off an appliance, such as an illumination source, a television, or a stereo.

Current environments, such as homes, contain many appliances ranging from illumination sources (i.e., lamps) and climate control systems (i.e., air conditioners and heating systems) to entertainment devices (i.e., stereo, television) and message delivery systems (i.e., voicemail, fax, email). When an individual enters an environment, they must affirmatively perform an action to initiate each appliance and adjust each appliance to suit their tastes or deliver their personalized information. For example, to check one's voicemail, a user must dial up their voicemail carrier, enter their mailbox and pin number (for location and identification purposes) and perform a series of keystrokes to finally obtain their messages. Additionally, a user must sort through various messages that may be directed to other individuals before finding and receiving their own, such as with a telephone answering machine.
Face recognition identification technology, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,111,517 and 6,108,437, herein incorporated by reference, has been employed to identify individuals and restrict access to controlled environments. Present face recognition methods used in person identification systems, typically employ a face recognizer which determines the identity of a human face image. In order to identify the image, the system compares the face to other faces, or performs a feature extraction and compares features to those recorded in a database.

Method and system for automatically controlling a personalized networked environment


An interconnected book-package system permitting the circuit boards within book packages to communicate exclusively of the backplane (e.g., 300). This permits a circuit board that would otherwise have to be constructed from a larger than standard size circuit board and housed within a larger than standard size book package to be formed out of two standard size or smaller circuit boards housed within standard size book package assemblies. This is especially useful to customers seeking upgrade flexibility. The book packages of the interconnected system are connected mechanically and electrically exclusively of the backplane by a connection assembly (e.g., 502, 414, 504, 416) that makes it possible to blindly plug the book packages together. Multi-book latch assemblies include a clip (e.g., 702 and/or 704) used to interconnect the latches on a pair of book packages so that the connected books can be plugged into the backplane as a unit. An electrically conducted gasket is positioned between two connected book packages and around the connection assembly to provide ESD and EMI protection for the interconnected circuit boards. A floating backplane connector relieves the build up of tolerance between book packages of the same pitch and permits such book packages that have been connected together to be connected to a backplane having a difference pitch. Resilient clips (e.g., 500) are also used to join adjacent book packages.

Current data processing systems require circuit board packaging systems that are designed to be compact and easy to service and upgrade at the end-user cite. Such compact designs are necessary because they are easily utilized in office environments where the availability of space is limited or special environmental conditions are required by the data processing systems. In addition, data processing systems typically support a number of options, and the end user may wish to add or remove options at any time after an initial installation. It is desirable that the field service representative or an user be able to make these changes in the minimum time possible without the need for special tools.
A common method of achieving the goals of compact design and ease of field service and field upgrades is to employ a modular circuit board design. A common type of modular design provides for a main circuit board, also known as the mother board or backplane. The mother board usually provides, the basic computer circuitry that is essential for operation of the data processing system is located on the mother board. Also, connections to the mother board are provided so that additional circuit boards, known as daughter boards, can be used to provide optional or enhanced functions. An example of a family of computers employing such a modular circuit board design is marketed by the IBM Corporation under the trade name of the AS400 family of computers.
The AS400 family of computers houses daughter boards in packages known as book package assemblies. An example of such a prior art book package is depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2. An expanded view of the book package 100 of FIG. 1 is depicted in FIG. 2. Typically, a single circuit board 102, having connectors 114 and 116 for connection to the backplane, is housed within a structure formed from side coverage 104 and 106 and top and bottom rail assemblies 108 and 110, respectively. Latches 112 are provided to mechanically secure the book package into the chassis associated with the backplane.
The use of book package assemblies confers several benefits. For example, the circuit board housed therein is protected from electrostatic discharge (ESD) during handling by a service person. In addition, the housing structure is usually metallic which confers electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding for the circuit board 102 housed therein. In addition, the book package 100 is more rugged than the circuit board 102 so that it can withstand the rigors of handling, i.e., those other than ESD, better than the naked circuit board 102 can withstand them.
In FIG. 4, a prior art book package 100 is depicted as plugging into a mother board 300 via a chassis 302. As a modular computer system, e.g., the AS400 family, develops, the manufacturer strives to maintain uniform dimensions for key components such as daughter boards and the chassis. One reason for this is that it minimizes some of the difficulties associated with retrofitting older models in the product line with enhancements and/or new options.
The enhancements and/or options might require circuitry that exceeds the space available on a single daughter card. In such a situation, the circuit has to be split into two separate daughter cards. Some prior art systems require the two parts of this oversize circuit to communicate via the backplane. This is a relatively long signal path that can introduce unacceptable signal propagation delays due to the length of the path. Some prior art systems, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,008 to Dimmick, Sobotta (one of the Inventors of the present invention) et al., filed Jun. 30, 1994, and issued Aug. 6, 1996, enclosed two daughter boards within a single book package and connected the daughter boards together by an edge connector in addition to the connection via the backplane.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,008 patent provides a much easier access to the daughter boards than other prior art systems that provided plural boards within a single book package. Consequently, if one of the plural boards failed, the U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,008 patent made it much easier for a service person to open the book package, remove the defective board, replace it, and then re-assembly the book package.
Unfortunately, the U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,008 patent still requires a service person to open the book package, which exposes the non-defective board to the risks of handling by the service person, i.e., ESD damage to the electrical components and mechanical damage from the rigors of handling. Moreover, the U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,008 patent suffers from a relatively long path length connecting the first daughter board to the second daughter board because of the requirement of connecting via the edge connector provided in addition to the backplane connections. In addition, the process according to the U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,008 patent by which a defective board in a book package is replaced remains relatively lengthy because of the need to open the book package, unplug the defective board, plug in the replacement board, and re-close the book package, in addition to the steps of removing the book package from the backplane and then re-attaching it to the chassis backplane.
An example of how a prior art latch 112 is attached to the book package 100 is depicted in FIG. 3. In FIG. 3, a latch retainer 204, for example, made of stainless steel, is attached to the side covers 104 and 106. The latch 112 is retained by inserting latch pins 200 integrally formed on the latch 112, into the holes 202 in the retainer 204. A stud 206 is inserted in a coil spring 208 such that an end 210 of the stud 206 engages a flat surface 212 on the stud 206. The spring-biased stud 106 is inserted in the retainer 204 so that the flat surface 212 addresses the D-shaped hole 214 that will be next to the cover plate 216. A small diameter pin-like extension 218 of the stud 206 is inserted into a hole 220 on the cover plate 104 and a tab 222 on the retainer 204 is inserted into a slot 223 in the cover plate 104. The stud 206 is then rivetted to the base cover 106, securing the assembly. These same parts, using a mirror image coil spring 210, are similarly assembled in the other latch position.
The latch assembly of book package 100 differs from that shown in FIG. 3, for example, because the latch retainer 204 is integrally formed from the rails 108 and 110, respectively, and because the stud 206 has two pin-like extensions 218, i.e., no rivet is used to hold the studs 206 in place.

Inter-book-package mechanical and electrical connection system

International Business Machines Corporation