Article hold up apparatus is provided for use with an elongate lane for transporting a plurality of articles received in a facewise nested condition from a first location at one end of the lane along the lane until a leading end of the articles reaches an opposite end of the lane, for retaining a leading one of the articles in a substantially coaxial facewise nested orientation with respect to the others of the articles for thereby retaining the articles being transported along the lane substantially in a facewise nested condition. The article hold up apparatus comprises air directing structure extending substantially the length of the elongate lane for directing air in a direction generally opposite a direction of travel of the articles along the lane.

This invention is directed generally to the article handling arts and more particularly to a novel and improved article hold up apparatus for maintaining a group of articles in a facewise nested condition as the articles are transported along an elongate lane.
While the apparatus of the invention may find utility in other applications, the disclosure will be facilitated by particular reference to the handling of can ends during their fabrication and/or subsequent use as closures for can bodies. In the manufacture and filling of containers such as beverage cans or the like, a great number of can end parts are required. Modern fabrication and filling operations require that can ends be provided at a high rate of speed in a more or less continuous process. A number of individual processing steps are utilized in fabricating the can ends prior to their eventual use as closures.
In this regard, the can ends are often packaged and shipped to the final end user, although in some instances, the fabricator may also be the end user. The fabrication of can ends requires a number of steps including initial stamping or formation of the ends from suitable aluminum or other material or blanks, the formulation of suitable scoring for a tear away top portion and application of a graspable tab, ring or the like, as well as the adding of suitable liner materials as may be required for various applications. Such liners may be required to effect "repair" or assure the integrity of the end after the scoring and tab applying operation, or may be required as a condition of packaging for various products.
In the can end fabricating operation, can ends are generally fed from one station to the next in a more or less continuous flow in an endwise or facewise stacked or nested condition. Where can ends are to be packaged for shipment to a final user and unpackaged by the final user, the ends are generally provided in stacks or "sticks" as they are called in the art, of a predetermined number or length of ends in facewise nested condition.
However, during the handling of ends between one station and another in a fabricating or filling process, many instances arise in which a leading end of a flow or stream of can ends must be introduced to a portion of the processing apparatus. That is, a discontinuity occurs in the otherwise continuous flow of can ends. When such a discontinuity occurs, some means must be provided to assure that leading ones of the ends in the incoming stream are maintained in an upright coaxial or nested condition with the following ends. In such apparatus, the ends are often fed into an elongate lane which essentially comprises a pair of support rails which are spaced to engage spaced apart points about the bottom part of the circumference of the ends. These support rails are generally below center with respect to the circumferences of the ends. Sometimes it is necessary to provide for access by other handling equipment for gripping or otherwise handling the ends about their peripheries in an over-center fashion. For example, such apparatus, generally referred to as "pick-and-place" devices are used in applications such as are shown for example in prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,979,870 and 5,119,617, both of which are commonly owned with this application.
While the apparatus of the present application may find other uses, reference is particularly directed to the automatic tray loading, unloading and storage system, and to the multi-lane infeed counter/bagger, shown respectively in the above-referenced two U.S. patents. In both of these apparatus, can ends must be introduced into elongate lanes as a preliminary to various handling steps, such that it is necessary to assure that the leading ends of a continuous flow of can ends being introduced into such lanes are maintained in an upright nested condition. Generally speaking, the prior art has utilized hold up means or apparatus in the form of one or more pairs of elongate flexible or resilient strips of rubber or rubber-like material, as shown for example in FIG. 2 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,669, which is also commonly owned herewith. In this regard, the present invention may also find application in the can end counting system, and particularly in the application shown in FIG. 2, of the aforesaid U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,669. In each of the above-referenced three U.S. patents, there occur instances in which the can ends are separated from a more or less continuous incoming flow into individual groups or sticks of a predetermined number or length. Therefore, a discontinuity occurs each time one of these groups or sticks is separated out or removed from the incoming flow and a new group or stick is to be formed from the incoming flow of ends.
Such rubber hold up strips generally run the entire length of the lane, until such point as some further handling equipment or hold up mechanism is encountered by the advancing ends. While this arrangement had found widespread acceptance, there remains room for improvement. For example, the hold up strips are subject to wear over a long period of use and must therefore be periodically inspected and replaced. Also, various coatings, lubricants or other materials which may be present, either in connection with coatings on the ends themselves or otherwise, tend to build up on these elongate strips over a period of time, also necessitating periodic inspection and cleaning or replacement thereof. One aim of the present invention is to eliminate the need for such periodic inspection and replacement of hold up strips, while yet providing a hold up or support function, that is, for maintaining the can ends in a facewise nested condition as they are introduced into an elongate lane.

Air hold up assembly for a stick of can ends


A heat dissipation structure for sealed machine tools includes a motor rotor rotating to drive airflow to perform heat dissipation simultaneously. It includes a machine tool housing with a heat dissipation vent and a chamber inside, a stator in the chamber and a rotor located between the stator and the housing. The rotor and the housing wall form a swirling flow space between them. The rotor and the stator form an axial flow space between them. The swirling flow space and the axial flow space communicate through a radial airflow passage. The rotor has at least one flow directing portion. The rotor rotates relative to the stator. The stator generates thermal airflow which flows from the axial flow space through a radial airflow passage to the swirling flow space. The flow directing portion performs an exchange of cooling air and thermal airflow through the heat dissipation vent.

Since the invention of the electric motor, continuous progress has been made in centuries and results in huge contributions to the welfare of people's lives. Initially, the electric motors were mainly built in larger sizes for industrial purposes. It has since evolved to a smaller size and applied to home appliances and machine tools. With the advance of fabrication materials and technologies, the size of the electric motor has become smaller while applicability has increased significantly.
Nowadays a wide variety of electric motors are available according to structural types. Each type of motor has various application characteristics in terms of size, heat dissipation, torque, rotation speed, material, production cost, control method and the like. As each electric motor is different, it is difficult to assert which one is best. Selecting the optimal one has to take use environments and requirements in account. On the smaller electric motor the most challenging use condition and environment is the one for the machine tools.
The electric motor used on the machine tools has to meet a great demand on all of its characteristics, such as compact size, sufficient torque, high rotation speed and greater durability used for a prolonged period of time. The deficiency of any characteristic mentioned above could cause a dysfunction or damage of the machine tool. Another concern needing to be addressed is accumulated heat generated by the bearing, coil of motor stator and electromagnetism. If not properly done, it could cause the motor to overheat and directly impact operation duration of the machine tool, namely, affect the durability of the machine tool.
The electric motor generally used on the machine tools is a brushed DC motor with a brush and a commutator. It usually is bulky and has a lower efficiency. Sparks are generated between the brush and commutator which results in the wearing of these two elements. They become consumption items and have to be replaced regularly. Therefore the motor for machine tools gradually is displaced by the brushless DC motor of a smaller size and higher efficiency. Its smaller size results in the concentration of heat generated by the motor. The heat tends to accumulate in a sealed housing when it is used, as the brushless DC motor is encased in a machine tool and is difficult to discharge. As a result, overheating could occur to influence machine tool operation. To overcome this problem many heat dissipation structures have been developed. References can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,789,630 and 7,166,939, U.S. publication No. 2008/0233848, and R.O.C. patent No. M263204. The most commonly used brushless DC motor on machine tools is an inner runner motor. It mainly has a shaft to drive a fan or heat sink attached thereon. When the main motor rotates the fan or the heat sink is driven to rotate simultaneously, and an airflow is generated to perform heat dissipation. There is another technique with a cooling motor equipped with a fan. Whether the main motor rotates or not, the cooling motor continuously operates to perform cooling. However, such an approach has a limited effect when the machine tool is in use for a long duration. The size and elements needed also increase, and fabrication costs and electric power consumption also are higher. The brushless DC motor used on the machine tools generally does not adopt the out runner motor. It also has a cooling problem identical to the inner runner motor. There are also prior techniques about the cooling structure of the out runner motor, such as R.O.C. patent No. M269645. It mainly has an out runner with an air inlet formed thereon. The housing has a corresponding aperture. Airflow is sucked in through the rotation of the out runner and discharged through the aperture to achieve cooling effect. However, the cooling structure of the brushless DC motor with the out runner disturbs airflow merely through an inclined tangent surface on the air inlet of the out runner. It has a limited effect in discharging the accumulated heat in a prolonged use condition. Hence there is still a lot of room for improvement on the brushless DC motor used on the machine tools to solve the problem caused by poor heat dissipation.

Heat dissipation structure for sealed machine tools


A plurality of distributed service components and experience clients forming a social networking platform to provide user interfaces for recipe sharing and interaction between users about food and recipes. System and methods provide user interfaces allowing users to save, manage, and share their own recipes and stories about food and other food-related content. Further, user interfaces allow users to view content of other users within shared circles, as well as clip recipes from other digital sources.

Many food and recipe-based apps and websites exist today. Some provide content such as recipes and food preparation instructions. Almost all of these follow the same pattern of a content-provider service, where a user signs up, views various recipes, and saves the recipes to a folder or list. For example, at FOODNETWORK.COM, a user can mindlessly scroll through hundreds of recipes without much context, other than perhaps a celebrity chef's endorsement. Once he has found something he likes, the user can save the recipe to a list for later viewing. However, food and food preparation is much more about the community in which it is shared than the mechanics of the preparation. Existing apps and websites provide no community for sharing, other than a "click to email" link or "post" to TWITTER or FACEBOOK.
Existing social networking platforms provide insufficient architecture for users to interact around food because talking about and sharing food experiences is more than a fleeting post in an activity stream. Platforms like TWITTER and FACEBOOK are not suitable for storing recipes, as they are focused on the day-to-day activity of users. No repository is available for storing and managing desired content, or for sharing within groups.
Further, existing food and recipe-based apps and websites offer little for the aggregation of recipes and food-based content. Existing food-oriented sites such as FOODNWETWORK.COM or ALLRECIPES.COM do not allow a user to add or store his own recipes. The user can view only recipes provided by that particular site and cannot add or save his own recipes.
Therefore, there is a need for systems and methods that can more efficiently integrate recipes and food-related content for sharing between users.

System and method for recipe sharing and management


Braking and motion-arrest apparatus for braking the arrival of a zipline cable rider at a landing platform and arresting the rider's motion to retain the rider at the platform. A frame is mounted on the cable to allow longitudinal rolling movement of the frame along the cable. A self-closing one-way latch is provided at the forward end of the frame. The latch includes a pair of capture plates which are normally inwardly biased toward one another, on opposite sides of the cable. The rider is tethered to a pulley block which rolls along the cable and collides with the latch. The collision force drives the plates laterally away from the cable, allowing the pulley block to roll through the latch. After the pulley block rolls past the latch, the plates' normal biasing closes the latch, preventing the pulley block from rolling back through the latch.

"Ziplines" are gravity-based cable rides generally used to transport people for various purposes including recreational thrill rides, forest canopy tours, challenge courses and rescue operations. A typical zipline includes a stranded steel wire cable or fibre rope suspended between two supports, platforms at each support for launching and landing riders, pulley blocks and harnesses to support and transport riders along the cable.
For example, FIG. 1 depicts a zipline system in which wire rope main cable 4 is suspended between supports 1A, 1B which may be constructed of wood, steel, aluminum or any other structurally suitable material. Trees or boulders may alternatively function as supports 1A, 1B. A launch platform 2A is constructed on or surrounding support 1A, and a landing platform 2B is constructed on or surrounding support 1B. Either or both of platforms 2A, 2B may be (and typically are) fixed or mounted at elevated locations on supports 1A, 1B respectively. Each platform 2A, 2B is equipped with a ramp or steps 3A, 3B respectively to assist in launching and landing of riders as explained below. Although not shown, platforms 2A, 2B are typically also equipped with suitable safety railings and access control gates. Platforms 2A, 2B may be suspended relative to supports 1A, 1B to facilitate raising or lowering of platforms 2A, 2B (e.g. via suitable motorized winches) in order to periodically adjust the tension of cable 4.
Rider 7 begins by donning a harness 6 supplied by the zipline operator. Harness 6 includes a short tether which is securely fastened to a pulley block 5. After donning harness 6, rider 7 ascends to launch platform 2A, where the zipline operator's personnel couple pulley block 5 to cable 4, such that pulley block 5 will roll smoothly along cable 4. Rider 7 descends launch steps 3A and is released under the control of the zipline operator's personnel. More particularly, pulley block 5 rolls along cable 4 toward landing platform 2B (i.e. from right to left as viewed in FIG. 1) with rider 7 suspended beneath cable 4 by harness 6.
Rider 7 must reach and be braked and arrested at landing platform 2B. If rider 7 is not properly braked upon arrival at landing platform 2B, the moving rider may collide with support 1B, with landing platform 2B or with persons or objects on landing platform 2B. If rider 7's motion is not properly arrested upon arrival at landing platform 2B, rider 7 may roll back down to the nadir of cable 4. Similarly, if rider 7 is not carried along cable 4 with sufficient velocity, rider 7 may slow down, stop short of landing platform 2B, and roll back down to the nadir of cable 4. In either case, the zipline operator's personnel must rescue rider 7 from the nadir of cable 4. The rescue technique is well known and straightforward, and need not be described here. But, to avoid potentially time-consuming and somewhat labour intensive rescue operations, the slope of cable 4 (the vertical distance between platforms 2A, 2B), the cable's sag (the vertical distance between cable 4 at mid-span and a chord drawn between supports 1A, 1B) and the cable's tension are preferably adjusted to achieve a reasonable transit time at sufficient velocity along cable 4 to enable rider 7 to reach landing platform 2B.
The prior art has evolved various zipline braking and motion-arrest techniques. In some cases (e.g. if the landing platform is between the supports, at the nadir of the cable) no braking system is needed-the rider is intentionally allowed to roll back down to and stop at the nadir of the cable, and dismounts there. Another brakeless technique requires the zipline operator's personnel to physically catch and hold the rider upon arrival at the landing platform. Some zipline operators attach a second "tag line" cable, separate from the main zipline cable, to the rider's support pulley block, for braking purposes. Other operators provide automatic and/or rider-controlled brakes.
This invention provides a braking system for braking a zipline rider upon arrival at a landing platform, for arresting the rider's motion to retain the rider at the landing platform and for hauling the rider up to the landing platform. Besides enhancing safety, this allows the zipline operator's personnel to deal with other zipline operational aspects.

Zipline braking and motion-arrest system


A high-speed optical transmitter having an optical modulator and a driver circuit while maintaining optical modulator performance. The high-speed optical transmitter comprises the optical modulator which modulates and outputs an input light in accordance with an applied voltage, and a driver circuit which outputs the applied voltage into the optical modulator and has an emitter follower circuit at an output stage thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an optical transmitter used for an optical fiber communication system, and in particular, to a driver circuit suitable for an electroabsorption optical modulator or a Mach-Zehnder optical modulator and an optical transmitter employing the driver circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an optical fiber communication system, due to the large capacity of transmission lines, there is an urgent demand for increasing modulation rates. In direct intensity modulation by a laser diode, a relatively large wavelength chirping limits transmission distance and modulation rate. When light signals with chirping pass through an optical fiber having chromatic dispersion (wavelength dispersion), the waveform thereof is usually distorted.
In order to prevent this problem, there is a rising expectation for the use of an external optical modulator which hardly causes chirping. As a practical external optical modulator, a Mach-Zehnder optical modulator (MZ modulator) was developed. Carrier light having a constant intensity is supplied from a light source into the MZ modulator, and intensity-modulated light signals are obtained by switching operation using light interferences. For example, there have been reported MZ modulators using LiNbO3 crystals or compound semiconductor crystals.
It has also been proposed that electroabsorption type optical modulators (EA type modulator) as external optical modulators, can be driven by lower electric power and are more suitable for size reduction than MZ modulators. The EA type modulator absorbs carrier light according to applied voltages thereby generating intensity-modulated light signals. For example, an EA type modulator using compound semiconductors has been reported.
A practical EA type modulator is provided as a semiconductor chip by semiconductor epitaxial technology. This EA type modulator can easily be integrated with a laser diode used as a carrier light source. Therefore, the reduction of coupling loss between the carrier light source and the modulator enables high-power output or miniaturization. For example, an EA-DFB laser semiconductor chip which is provided by monolithically integrating DFB-LD (distributed feedback-laser diode) with an EA type modulator, has been reported.
An optical transmitter comprising a general optical modulator and its driver circuit is described by referring to FIGS. 14 and 15. FIG. 14 is a view illustrating a circuit configuration of an optical transmitter comprising a modulator and its driver circuit, and FIG. 15 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the optical transmitter of FIG. 14.
As shown in FIG. 14, the optical transmitter X is composed of a driver circuit 100-1 which is surface-mounted in a first package, and an optical modulator (EA type modulator) 100-2 which is surface-mounted in a second package different from the first one.
The driver circuit 100-1 comprises two bipolar transistors 101-1 and 101-2 which are connected to one emitter, and respective load resistors 103-1 and 103-2, which are serially connected to the transistors. The emitter having the common connection is connected to a supply voltage VEE and current source 104-1 is provided between them. The load resistors 103-1 and 103-2 are grounded (GND). Data signals and inverted data signals are inputted into individual base terminals of two bipolar transistors 101-1 and 101-2, which act as differential amplifiers.
The optical modulator 100-2 has a p-n junction diode 102 and a resistor 110 formed by branching from the p-n junction diode 102. The differential amplifier has an output terminal 107-2 connected to an anode of the optical modulator 102, and output voltage (drive voltage) from the differential amplifier is applied to the anode of the optical modulator 102, so that input light is modulated and outputted.
In view of the foregoing, in an optical transmitter X, driver circuit 100-1 and optical modulator 100-2 are generally mounted in separate packages. There is provided a 50Ω connector 108 (Z) or a cable between the packages, and thus the driver circuit is connected to the modulator via a 50Ω line.
As described above, the optical modulator 100-2 and the driver circuit 100-1 for driving the modulator are separately packaged. As an output circuit (output stage) of the driver circuit 100-1 for the optical modulator 100-2, a collector output circuit in FIG. 14, and for example, described in JP Patent Publication (Unexamined Application) No. 11-14951 may be used. When the collector output circuit is used, the impedance matching is set at 50Ω.
As shown in FIG. 15, in the above circuit configuration, a low pass filter having a larger CR time constant is formed by a terminating resistance (R) and a capacitance (C) comprising a capacitance C12 of the EA type optical modulator 100-2 itself and other parasitic capacitances C11 such as wiring capacitance, and the CR time constant limits frequency band so as to interrupt signals of high frequencies.
In FIG. 15, for example, it is supposed that the capacitance C12 of the optical modulator is 0.5 pF and the capacitance C11 on the driver circuit side, including parasitic capacitance is 0.5 pF. Also, if the drive voltage for driving the optical modulator is 2V, and Z1 (103-2) and Z2 (110), both present in parallel, have a resistance of 50 Ω, substantial parasitic resistance is 25 Ω. Therefore, CR time constant is 25 ps. For this case, the maximum operating frequency (fm) has a limit of approximately 10 GHz. In other words, when operation is performed at a high speed (high frequency), the delay time required for signal switching between "0" and "1," that is rising edge/falling edge, becomes large, and thus it becomes unlikely for the optical transmitter to operate normally.
In the above circuit, the R value is fixed because 50 Ω matching is necessary. Therefore, C is required to be smaller to make CR time constant smaller. Although a smaller capacitance C12 of the optical modulator is necessary to make the capacitance C smaller, the drive voltage is made to be larger than 2V when the capacitance C12 of the optical modulator is smaller. Thus, there is a trade-off between the operating frequencies and drive voltage. A larger drive voltage increases the difficulty in the high-speed operation of the driver circuit.
In addition, a smaller capacitance C12 of the optical modulator limits the power of the modulator's output light. In optical communication systems if the power of the output light is small, an optical amplifier is necessary, and thus there are drawbacks, such as that the system as a whole becomes expensive.


A current mirror includes an output stage that responds to a change in mirror output voltage with a change in output stage current, and an output compensation stage that, in response to the change in output stage current, introduces an output compensation current to oppose a change in mirror output current resulting from the change in output stage current.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical circuits and, more particularly, to current mirrors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuits often use current mirrors when it is desired to replicate a current from a first portion of a circuit to a second portion. Two typical problems with such current mirrors include Early effect, resulting in a difference between input and output currents as a result of a difference between input and output voltages, and beta error, the difference between input and output currents when no difference in input and output voltages exists.
One attempt to reduce these errors is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,886. In this patent, a compensation circuit has two compensation stages connected to either side of an output stage of the current mirror to, in response to a change in output voltage, provide a change of current to the output of the output stage to reduce Early effect and beta error. Unfortunately, the compensation circuit requires the addition of three transistors to provide the response to the current mirror.
A need still exists for reducing Early effect and base current errors in current mirrors without adding unnecessary components.

Current mirror apparatus and method for reduced early effect


A frying arrangement includes a planar heating element (5) including a ferromagnetic material and constituting a frying surface. The arrangement includes at least two magnetic field generators (1, 2) each having two free ends, wherein the heating element is arranged in or close to a plane defined by the free ends. The magnetic field generators are controlled by a controller such that they are adapted to generate alternating magnetic fields in the planar heating element, wherein the magnetic fields are converted into heat in the heating element. The magnetic fields being such that the magnetic field through one of the free ends has an opposed direction as compared to the magnetic fields through the other free ends.

It has been known that there are only a few basic mechanisms systems or methods for creating heat in a metallic part. Convection heating can be used which may include direct flame, immersion, radiation, electrical resistance where the heating of the metal is caused by the flow of the electricity and heat may be created by mechanical stresses or friction. Included among these has been induction heating where the heating is caused by use of magnetic fields. As is well known in the induction heating art, a metal workpiece is placed in a coil supplied with alternating current and the workpiece and the coil are linked by a magnetic field so that an induced current is present in the metal. This induced current heats the metal because of resistive losses similar to any electrical resistance heating. The coil normally becomes heated and must be cooled in order to make the heating of the workpiece as effective as possible. The density of the induced current is greatest at the surface of the workpiece and reduces as the distance from the surface increases. This phenomenon is known as the skin effect and is important because it is only within this depth that the majority of the total energy is induced and is available for heating. Typical maximum skin depths are three to four inches (8–10 cm) for low frequency applications. In all induction heating applications, the heating begins at the surface due to the eddy currents and conduction carries heat into the body of the workpiece.
Another method of heating metal parts using magnetic fields is called transfer flux heating. This method is commonly used in heating relatively thin strips of metal and transfers flux heat by a rearrangement of the induction coils so that the magnetic flux passes through the workpiece at right angles to the workpiece rather than around the workpiece as in normal induction heating. Magnetic flux passing through the workpiece induces flux lines to circulate in the plane of the strip and this results in the same eddy current loss and heating of the workpiece.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,124 is disclosed an electromagnetic device for heating metal elements where the heating is accomplished by utilizing a magnetic loop for creating a high density alternating magnetic field in a metal part to be heated. The U.S. patent is based on the knowledge of replacing, in a magnetic loop, a part of the magnetic core by the metal part to be heated. In this known method the metal part is placed between the magnetic poles and may not be used in applications where it is desired to heat the metal parts from one side.
A low-frequency electromagnetic induction heater is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,053,593 that includes a plurality of leg iron cores, a corresponding yoke iron core arranged on the leg iron cores, an induction coil wound around each leg iron core, and an iron plate or metal vessel for producing heat with which the leg iron cores or induction coils are substantially in direct contact. The primary object with this induction heater is that it produces less noise than other such heaters.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,980,858 an exciter for induction heating apparatus is disclosed provided with a number of magnetic poles and excitation windings wound on the magnetic poles. The used excitation currents are applied by a phase difference between the current applied to a central magnetic pole and current applied to peripheral magnetic poles.
The general objects of the present invention are to achieve a frying hob arrangement that enables a more accurate control of the heating, more even heating and also a more power efficient arrangement.

Frying hob arrangement with induction heating


A vehicle power supply includes an electric accumulator pack, an electric motor, first and second switches, an output determiner, and a switch controller. The electric accumulator pack includes first and second electric accumulators. The first and second switches are controlled between on- and off-states. The output determiner determines whether the first electric accumulator is in a first output state or a second output state, and whether the second electric accumulator is in the first output state or the second output state. If at least one of the first electric accumulator or the second electric accumulator is in the first output state, the switch controller controls either one of the first and second switches to the on-state, and the other switch to the off-state. If both the first and second electric accumulators are in the second output state, the switch controller controls both the first and second switches to the on-state.

The disclosure relates to a vehicle power supply that is to be mounted on a vehicle.
Vehicles such as electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles are equipped with a power supply including an electric accumulator such as a battery (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2011-175963, JP-A No. 2012-226895, and JP-A No. 2013-81316). A traction electric motor is coupled, via an inverter or other device, to the battery incorporated into such a power supply.


A transmit power value (PRACH) for a connection request message (RACH) from a mobile user equipment unit (20) to a telecommunications network (18) is determined using a target ratio of received energy to interference value [(Eb/I0)RACHxe2x80x94target] and a modification factor [(Eb/I0)MEANxe2x80x94DELTA]. The modification factor is a sliding mean differential between the target ratio and an actual ratio [(Eb/I0)ACTUAL] of received energy to interference as determined by the telecommunications network. The modification factor allows for the calculation of the transmit power for the connection request message to be adaptive with respect to a changing characteristic of the mobile user equipment unit (e.g., aging of the mobile user equipment unit). In one embodiment, the transmit power value determination is made at the mobile user equipment unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to cellular telecommunications, and particularly to determining broadcast power to be used by a mobile user equipment unit when requesting access to a cellular telecommunications network.
2. Related Art and Other Considerations
Cellular telecommunications systems employ a wireless link (e.g., air interface) between the (mobile) user equipment and a base station (BS). The base station has transmitters and receivers for radio connections with numerous user equipment units. One or more base stations are connected (e.g., by landlines or microwave) and managed by a radio network controller (also known in some networks as a base station controller [BSC]). The radio network controller is, in turn, connected through control nodes to a core communications network. Control nodes can take various forms, depending on the types of services or networks to which the control nodes are connected. For connection to connection-oriented, switched circuit networks such as PSTN and/or ISDN, the control node can be a mobile switching center (MSC). For connecting to packet switching data services such as the Internet (for example), the control node can be a gateway data support node through which connection is made to the wired data networks, and perhaps one or more serving nodes.
When a mobile user equipment unit desires to initiate a connection with a base station, the user equipment unit typically sends a connection request message to the base station on a Random Access Channel (RACH). The RACH is a common channel that is available for all user equipment units within a geographical area or cell covered by the base station. The connection request message carried on the RACH generally includes various types of other information, such as (for example) signal strength of the received broadcast channel (so that the base station can calculate the transmission power to use) and some random number for (with probability) making the connection unique in the cell during the initial communication on the common channels (RACH and FACH). It is anticipated that the RACH may also be used for packet data in new telecommunications systems, such as wideband CDMA (WCDMA).
When a mobile user equipment unit sends its connection request message on the RACH, the user equipment unit must first calculate the transmit power that its transmitter will use for sending the connection request message. Preferably, in calculating the transmit power, the user equipment unit will use a transmission power which (hopefully) will be the lowest possible transmission power possible, thereby reducing interference for other users. But if the base station fails to receive the connection request message, the user equipment unit must repeat the transmission of its connection request until the base station successfully receives the connection request message, else the attempt to send the connection request is terminated as being unsuccessful.
According to a current technique, if the user equipment unit calculates too low a transmission power (thereby making it impossible for the base station to receive the connection request message), the user equipment unit increases its transmit output power for a successive connection requests (e.g., for each new connection request attempt). However, this current technique presents numerous problems.
A first set of problems can occur when the initially calculated transmit power for the connection request is too low. In such case, the power calculation for transmission of the next connection request, although increased, will probably also be too low. Moreover, the first connection request, sent at a transmit power too low to be received by the base station, can exacerbate the situation by increasing the interference for other user equipment units (perhaps causing them to increase their respective transmit powers) and consuming battery power in the requesting user equipment unit. Further, the delay in sending the next connection request message will likely be increased.
A second set of problems can occur when the initially calculated RACH transmit power is higher than necessary. In such case, the connection request message, sent at a greater-than-necessary power, increases interference for other users. In addition, the transmission of the connection request message consumes more power than necessary in the requesting user equipment unit.
A third set of problems involves aging of the user equipment unit. As a user equipment unit ages, under otherwise identical conditions the user equipment unit can require a different transmit power than when it was new due, e.g., to changing characteristics of the transmitter and/or receiver components. As a result, the user equipment unit will likely use too high or too low a transmit power for its first connection request.
Prior art RACH power determination techniques are discussed in the patent literature. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,003 to Jolma et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,180 to Ohtake; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,175 to Ariyavisitakul et al.
What is needed, therefore, and an object of the present invention, is a technique which is adaptive for changing characteristics of the mobile user equipment unit for determining transmit power when making a connection request.
A transmit power value (PRACH) for a connection request message (RACH) from a mobile user equipment unit to a telecommunications network is determined using a target ratio of received energy to interference value [(Eb/I0)RACHxe2x80x94target] and a modification factor [(Eb/I0)MEANxe2x80x94DELTA]. The modification factor is a sliding mean differential between the target ratio and an actual ratio [(Eb/I0)ACTUAL] of received energy to interference as determined by the telecommunications network. The modification factor allows for the calculation of the transmit power for the connection request message to be adaptive with respect to a changing characteristic of the mobile user equipment unit (e.g., aging of the mobile user equipment unit).
The modification factor is obtained by taking a mean of a set of differentials [(Eb/I0)DELTA]. Each differential of the set is a difference between the target ratio and the actual ratio. Plural differentials of the set are compiled with respect to a corresponding plural number of previous connection request messages. Preferably the set of differentials are stored in a FIFO, so that a sliding mean of the plural (n) differential values maintained in the FIFO can be determined and used as the modification factor [(Eb/I0)MEANxe2x80x94DELTA].
Determining the transmit power value for the connection request message comprises evaluating the expression PRACH=CRACH+(Eb/I0)ADAPTED TARGET+IUL+Pperchxe2x80x94sentxe2x88x92Pperchxe2x80x94meas, wherein PRACH is transmit power for the connection request message calculated by the on-board unit; CRACH is a constant depending on rate, channel coding, and carrier bandwidth; IUL is uplink interference determined at the telecommunications network; Pperchxe2x80x94sent is downlink output power used for a broadcast channel; Pperchxe2x80x94meas is received broadcast channel power measured at the user equipment unit; (Eb/I0)ADAPTED TARGET is an adaptive target Eb/I0 for the connection request message.
The value (Eb/I0)ADAPTED TARGET is determined using the target energy to power ratio (Eb/I0)RACHxe2x80x94target as specified by the telecommunications network and the modification factor. The uplink interference (IUL), downlink output power for the broadcast channel (Pperchxe2x80x94sent), and target energy to power ratio [(Eb/I0)RACHxe2x80x94target] are transmitted to the mobile user equipment unit in a broadcast channel message. After the mobile user equipment unit successfully completes the connection request message, the telecommunications network sends a access grant message which includes an actual ratio of received energy to interference [(Eb/I0)ACTUAL] determined by the network for use as a latest differential affecting the modification factor for the next connection request message from the mobile user equipment unit.

Adaptive rach power determination for mobile telecommunications user equipment unit


A control apparatus for an electric vehicle includes a road surface condition detection portion, a slip determination portion, a torque reduction device, and a voltage control device. The electric vehicle includes a motor that generates drive power for the electric vehicle, and a drive device that drives the motor. The road surface condition detection portion detects the condition of a road surface on which the electric vehicle is driven. The slip determination portion determines whether the electric vehicle is slipping. The torque reduction device reduces the torque of the motor when the slip determination portion determines that the electric vehicle is slipping. The voltage control device controls a voltage input to the drive device to reduce the voltage when the road surface condition detection portion determines that the road surface has a friction coefficient lower than a predetermined value.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control apparatus and a control method for an electric vehicle. More particularly, the invention relates to a control technology that avoids an overvoltage which is caused by reducing the torque of a motor when a vehicle slips.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-51850 (JP-A-2005-51850) describes a vehicle in which an overcurrent is prevented from flowing in a motor that outputs power to a drive shaft when the vehicle slips. The vehicle includes a boost converter that boosts a voltage output from a battery; and the motor that receives electric power from the boost converter and outputs the power to the drive shaft of the vehicle. In this vehicle, when it is determined that the vehicle is slipping due to idling of drive wheels, the motor is controlled to limit the torque output to the drive shaft. An initial torque value is set based on the degree of torque limitation. When the vehicle has stopped slipping, the motor is controlled to release the torque limitation and increase the torque to the set initial torque value.
In the vehicle, when the motor is controlled to release the torque limitation, the boost converter stably boosts the voltage, regardless of the degree of torque limitation. Thus, electric power can be stably supplied to the motor when the vehicle slips.
However, if the torque output to the drive shaft is rapidly limited when the vehicle slips, the amount of electric power consumed by the motor is sharply reduced. This may cause an overvoltage. The above-described Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-51850 does not describe a preventative measure for an overvoltage.

Control apparatus and control method for electric vehicle


A processor coupled to memory is configured to receive an identification of a geographical location associated with a target specified by a user remote from a vehicle. A machine learning model is utilized to generate a representation of at least a portion of an environment surrounding the vehicle using sensor data from one or more sensors of the vehicle. At least a portion of a path to a target location corresponding to the received geographical location is calculated using the generated representation of the at least portion of the environment surrounding the vehicle. At least one command is provided to automatically navigate the vehicle based on the determined path and updated sensor data from at least a portion of the one or more sensors of the vehicle.

Human drivers are typically required to operate vehicles and the driving tasks performed by them are often complex and can be exhausting. For example, retrieving or summoning a parked car from a crowded parking lot or garage can be inconvenient and tedious. The maneuver often involves walking towards one's vehicle, three-point turns, edging out of tight spots without touching neighboring vehicles or walls, and driving towards a location that one previously came from. Although some vehicles are capable of being remotely operated, the route driven by the vehicle is typically limited to a single straight-line path in either the forwards or reverse direction with limited steering range and no intelligence in navigating the vehicle along its own path.

Autonomous and user controlled vehicle summon to a target


A handheld computer is provided having a housing, a display and a processor. The processor is configured to detect an input corresponding to a menu request, to active a first menu on the display in response to the menu request, process navigation input that causes a menu bar of the active menu to become selectable, and to process selection input for selecting the menu bar when it is selectable. The processor is configured to cancel activation of the menu in response to the menu bar being selected.

Handheld computers and other portable computing devices require considerable amount of user-interaction. Because such devices are small, user-interface features on a handheld computer are typically incorporated into a compact arrangement of buttons and display features. Display features on the handheld computer are usually contact sensitive. The contact-sensitive nature of the display provides users with a rich and diverse means by which input can be entered and viewed.
One type of graphic user-interface feature on handheld computers is a menu. Menus are favorable because they allow multiple functions to be selectable for a user. Furthermore, the menu items are hidden on the display until the user makes a selection to see the menu. When hidden, the menu occupies a limited amount of space, thereby preserving space on the handheld computer's display.
Typically, a user of a handheld computer can activate a menu by tapping the handheld computer's display. From there, the user may make contact with the display in order to make a menu choice. Once the menu choice is made, the menu typically disappears. If no choice is made, the user has to cancel activation of the menu. Some handheld computers, such as those described below, enable users to navigate menu items using buttons, rather than operating the contact-sensitive display.
Some handheld computers let users cancel activation of menus by letting the user tap the display in a location away from the active menu and its displayed items. This manner of menu cancellation is similar to how desktop computers can deactivate a menu by using a pointer device to click away from a displayed active menu.
One general consideration for handheld computers is to limit the number of times a user is required to tap or make contact with the display. The reason is that contact with the display requires some effort by the user in holding a stylus, and positioning the stylus in the correct position on the display to enter input.
Some handheld computers provide features that substitute for display-tapping when canceling an active menu. For example, the SONY CLIE, manufactured by the SONY CORP., has a jog dial to navigate menu items, and a button dedicated to canceling menus. The BLACKBERRY, manufactured by RESEARCH IN MOTION, displays a cancel feature as a menu item when a menu is activated.
The COMPAQ IPAQ and some other POCKET PC devices allows users to navigate vertically when menus are selected to be active on the display. In order to cancel the active menu, the user has to make contact with the display again.

Menu navigation and operation feature for a handheld computer


Systems and methods for processing user-interface animations are disclosed. The method may include processing a first frame of a user-interface animation with a first processing core, monitoring a processing time of the first frame of the user-interface animation relative to a first synchronization pulse, and processing, if the elapsed processing time exceeds a threshold, a first portion of the user-interface animation with the first processing core and a second portion of the user-interface animation with a second processing core. Processing of a next frame of the user-interface animation may be initiated with the first processing core while the second processing core is processing the second portion of the user-interface animation.

1. Field
The present disclosed embodiments relate generally to computing devices, and more specifically to multithreading on processors of computing devices.
2. Background
Computing devices including devices such as smartphones, tablet computers, gaming devices, and laptop computers are now ubiquitous. These computing devices are now capable of running a variety of applications (also referred to as "apps") and many of these devices include multiple processors to process tasks that are associated with apps. In many instances, multiple processors are integrated as a collection of processor cores within a single functional subsystem. It is known that the processing load on a mobile device may be apportioned to the multiple cores. Some sophisticated devices, for example, have multiple core processors that may be operated asynchronously at different frequencies. On these types of devices, the amount of work that is performed on each processor may be monitored and controlled by a CPU governor to meet workloads.
A user's experience on a computing device is generally dictated by how smooth the user interface ("UI") animation runs on the device. UI animations on Android-based devices, application scrolls (e.g., browser scroll, email scroll, home launcher scrolls etc.), and the visually attractive animations that are displayed in connection with application launches present an important use-case of periodic workload on the CPU that is also sporadic in nature. Usually a performance benchmark places fixed-sized loads on the CPU, which allows the system to latch on the right clock frequency when running the benchmark. If a particular processing core has a heavy load, the frequency of that processing core may be increased. If a processing core has a relatively low load or is idle, the frequency of that core may be decreased (e.g., to reduce power consumption).
The Linux operating system for example, may use an on demand governor, which monitors the workload on each processor and adjusts the corresponding clock frequency based on the workload. The adjustment of the clock frequency may be heuristic based and may provide power benefits when operating properly. This approach to adjusting the CPU clock frequency works well if the workload is overall consistent, which is usually the case for many of the typical benchmarks. But the on demand governor does not scale well when the periodic workload also becomes sporadic because there is no consistent history associated with the sporadic workload.
As a consequence, sporadic workloads are a challenge for the governor, and to finish a periodic workload in a timely manner, a known (and non-optimal system solution) is to run a processor locked at higher clock frequency for user-interface workloads. Similarly, other CPU governors (e.g., the Interactive governor) respond more aggressively and increase processor clock frequencies when servicing sporadic/interactive workloads. These governor-based approaches that increase processor clock frequencies adversely impact power consumption, they are merely "best effort," and these governor-based approaches are not deterministic with respect to changing workloads. In short, existing approaches to handling sporadic workloads either result in "stuttering," undesirable power consumption, and/or poor application performance.

Selective multithreading for sporadic processor workloads


In an image decoding method, a DC image, corresponding to each block mean value per B pixel from encoding data with respect to the HVQ system, is reproduced. A part of the DC image is made a DC nest. Image data of a target block is reproduced by synthesizing, to the DC value of target block, one or more basis vectors selected from DC nests based on the encoding data. The method is improved by setting the lowest n (n−log2 B) bits of the DC pixels in each sample to 0, and down-sampling the selected block from the DC nest and calculating the block mean value using the samples.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image encoding/decoding method, an apparatus thereof, and a recording medium in which a program therefor is recorded, and more particularly, relates to an image encoding/decoding method, an apparatus thereof, and a recording medium in which a program therefor is recorded, according to Hybrid Vector Quantization (HVQ) system.
2. Description of Related Art
According to JPEG (Joint Photographic Expert Group) system, 8 times 8 pixel blocks are converted to DC (direct current) value and each coefficient value of from base to 63 times frequency by two dimensional DCT (discrete cosine transform), and information amount is reduced by quantizing the coefficient value in a different quantization width within no reduction of image quality utilizing frequency components of natural images which are gathered in a low frequency range, and then Huffman encoding is carried out.
According to HVQ system, which is a kind of mean value separation type block encoding same as JPEG, adaptive orthogonal transform (AOT) which is an intermediate system between a vector quantization and orthogonal transform encoding is used as a compression principle. AOT is a system in which the minimum number of non-orthogonal basis is selected from nests of the basis corresponding to a code book of vector quantization and the objective blocks become close to the desired and allowable error "Z". According to the HVQ system, decoding is quickly carried because a decoding operation can be done in the form of integer. Natural images and artificial images (animation images, CG images) can be compressed in high image quality, because there are not mosquito and block noise, which are particularly generated in JPEG, and false contour, which is particularly generated in GIF. The invention relates to a method for further improving the image quality and for carrying out the coding operation at a higher speed in the HVQ system.
The applicants of the invention have proposed an image encoding/decoding method in accordance with the HVQ system utilizing self-similarity of images in Japanese Patent Application No. 189239/98. The contents of such proposal will be explained as follows. In the disclosure, a sign <a> means vector "a" or block "a", a sign ∥a∥ means norm of the vector "a", and a sign <a·b> means inner product of vectors a and b. Further, vectors and blocks in drawings and [numbers] are represented by block letters.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional image encoder. In FIG. 1, 11 is an original image memory for storing an original image data, 12 is a DC value production unit for seeking a block average (DC) value per each pixel block (4 times 4 pixel) of the original image data, 13 is a differential PCM encoding unit (DPCM) for carrying out a differential predict encoding per each DC value, 14 is inverse DPCM encoding unit for decoding each DC value from the differential PCM encoding, 15 is a DC image memory for storing a decoded DC image, 16 is a DC nest production unit for cutting off the DC nest of a desired size from a part of the DC image, and 17 is a DC nest memory for storing the DC nest.
Further, 18 is a subtractor for separating a corresponding decoding DC value "DCJ" from a target image block <RJ> to be encoded, 19 is a differential vector buffer for storing a differential vector <dJ> which is DC separated, 20 is an extracted block buffer for storing a base extraction block <Ui> of 4 times 4 pixels which is down-sampled from the DC nest, 21 is an equilibrator for seeking a block mean value ai of the base extraction block <Ui>, 22 is a subtractor for separating the block means value ai from the base extraction block <Ui>, 23 is an extracted vector buffer for storing the base extraction block <Ui> which is separated by the mean value, 24 is an adaptive orthogonal transform (AOT) processing unit for producing an orthogonal basis αk<uk′> (k=1˜m) to search the DC nest to make the differential vector <dj> closer to the allowable error Z, where a square norm ∥dj∥2 of the differential vector is over the allowable error Z, 25 is a coefficient transform unit for seeking an expanding square coefficient βk which is multiplied by a non-orthogonal basis vector <uk> (k=1˜m) per the produced orthogonal basis αk <uk′> (k=1˜m) to produce an equivalent non-orthogonal basis βk <uk> (k=1˜m), and 26 is an encoding unit by Huff man coding, run length coding or fixed length coding system for the compression encoding of information such as DPCM encoding of the DC value or the non-orthogonal basis βk<uk>.
In the DC value production unit 12, the block mean value of 4 times 4 pixels is provided in which the first decimal place is rounded off or down. In the DPCM 13, where the DC value of row J and column T is shown by the DCJ, I, a predictive value DCJ, I′ of the DCJ,I is provided by the formula, DCJ, I′=(DCJ, I−1+DCJ−1, I)/2, and its predictive error (Δ DCJ, I=DCJ, I−DCJ, I′) is linear-quantized by a quantization coefficient Q(Z) and is output. The quantization coefficient Q(Z) corresponds to the allowable error Z and is variable within the range of 1 to 8 according to the allowable error Z.
In the DC nest production unit 16, the DC nest is prepared by copying the range of vertical 39×horizontal 71 from the DC image. It is preferred that the DC nest includes more alternating current components because it is used as a code book. Therefore, it is prepared by copying such the range that the sum of absolute values of difference between the DC values adjacent to each other in a plurality of the extracted ranges become maximum.
In making down-samples of the base extraction block <Ui>, a vertex per one DC value in vertical and horizontal section is set to (px, py) ∈ [0, 63]×[0, 31] and a distance of its sub-samples is set to 4 kinds of (sx, sy) ∈ {(1, 1), (1, 2), (2, 1), (2, 2)}. Accordingly, the total numbers of the base extraction blocks <Ui> are N(=8192) and are referred by an index counter "i" from the AOT 24. Behavior of conventional adaptive orthogonal transform processing unit 24 will be explained below.
FIG. 2 is a flow chart of conventional adaptive orthogonal transform processing and FIG. 3 is an image drawing of the processing. In FIG. 2, it is input in the processing that the square norm ∥dj∥2 of the differential vector is more than Z. In step S121, the square norm ∥dj∥2 of the differential vector is set in a resister E. A basis number counter is initialized to k=1. In step S122, much value (e.g. 100,000) is set in a minimum value holding resister E′. In step S123, an index counter of the base extraction block<Ui> is initialized to i=0. By these steps, the initial address and distance of sub-samples in the DC nest are set to (px, py)=(0, 0) and (sx, sy)=(1, 1), respectively.
In step S124, the base extraction vector <ui> is produced by separating the block mean value ai from the base extraction blocks <Ui>. Since the operation or calculation is carried out under the accuracy of integer level, any value of first decimal place in the block mean value ai is rounded off or down. In step S125, the base extraction vector <ui> is subjected to orthogonal transform processing to be converted to the orthogonal basis vector <uk′>, if necessary (k>1).
FIGS. 3(A) and (B) are image drawings of the orthogonal transform processing. In FIG. 3(A), the first base extraction vector <u1> can be the first basis vector <u1′> as it is.
Then, the second base extraction vector <u2> is subjected to orthogonal transform processing to be converted to the second basis vector <u2′> in accordance with the following method. That is, a shadow of the second base extraction vector <u2> projected on the first basis vector <u1′> is represented by the formula (1).
                    [                  Numeral                                                              1                ]                                                                                                                      u                    2                                                                                                                    cos                                                                                θ                            =                                                〈                                                            u                      1                      ′                                        ·                                                                                u                      2                                                        〉                                                                                        u                    1                    ′                                                                                                                    ∵                                  〈                                                            u                      1                      ′                                        ·                                                                                u                      2                                                        〉                                            =                                                                                      u                    1                    ′                                                                                                                                            u                    2                                                                                                                    cos                                                                                θ                                                                        (        1        )
Accordingly, the second orthogonal vector <u2′> is obtained by subtracting the vector of the projected shadow from the second base extraction vector <u2>.
                    [                  Numeral                                                              2                ]                                                                      u          2          ′                =                              u            2                    -                                                    〈                                                      u                    1                    ′                                                                                u                    2                                                  〉                                                                              u                  1                  ′                                                                                                                u                1                ′                                                                              u                  1                  ′                                                                                                        (        2        )
In FIG. 3(B), the third base extraction vector <u3> is subjected to orthogonal transform processing to the first basis vector <u1′> and the second basis vector <u2′>.
FIG. 3 is three-dimensionally drawn. The third base extraction vector <u3> is subjected to orthogonal transform processing to the first basis vector <u1′> to obtain an intermediate orthogonal vector <u3″>.
                    [                  Numeral                                                              3                ]                                                                      u          3          ″                =                              u            3                    -                                                    〈                                                      u                    1                    ′                                    ·                                                                                u                    3                                                  〉                                                                                                    u                    1                    ′                                                                    2                                                                u              1              ′                                                          (        3        )
Further, the intermediate orthogonal vector <u3″> is subjected to orthogonal transform processing to the second basis vector <u2′> to obtain the third basis vector <U3′>.
                    [                  Numeral                                                              4                ]                                                                      u          3          ′                =                              u            3            ″                    -                                                    〈                                                      u                    2                    ′                                    ·                                                                                u                    3                    ″                                                  〉                                                                                                    u                    2                    ′                                                                    2                                                                u              2              ′                                                          (        4        )                                                                            =                                    (                                                u                  3                                -                                                                            〈                                                                        u                          1                          ′                                                ·                                                                                u                          3                                                                    〉                                                                                                                                  u                          1                          ′                                                                                            2                                                                                u                    1                    ′                                                              )                        -                                                            〈                                                            (                                                                        u                          3                                                -                                                                                〈                                                                                u                                  1                                  ′                                                                ·                                                                                u                                  3                                                                                〉                                                                                                                                                  u                                  1                                  ′                                                                                                                            2                                                                                u                            1                            ′                                                                                )                                                                                ·                                                                                u                      2                      ′                                                        〉                                                                                                                u                      2                      ′                                                                            2                                                                          u                2                ′                                                                                =                                    u              3                        -                                                            〈                                                            u                      1                      ′                                        ·                                                                                u                      3                                                        〉                                                                                                                u                      1                      ′                                                                            2                                                                          u                1                ′                                      -                                                            〈                                                            u                      2                      ′                                        ·                                                                                u                      3                                                        〉                                                                                                                u                      2                      ′                                                                            2                                                                          u                2                ′
Turning to FIG. 2, in step S126, a scalar coefficient αi is calculated using the orthogonal vector <ui′> so that a distance with the differential vector <dk> (at first<dj>) becomes minimum.
FIG. 3(C) is an image drawing of the orthogonal transform processing. In FIG. 3(C), where a differential vector represented by <dk> is subjected to approximation, a square norm thereof (ei=∥<dk>−αi<ui′>∥2) is minimum when the product of the orthogonal vector <ui′> and the scalar coefficient αi is diagonal with the differential vector {<dk>−αi<ui′>} as shown in FIG. 3(C) (inner product=0). Accordingly, the scalar coefficient αi is obtained by the formula (5).
                    [                  Numeral                                                              5                ]                                                                                〈                                                      α                    i                                                                                u                      i                      ′                                                                                ·                                                                                (                                                                        d                          k                                                -                                                                              α                            i                                                                                u                            i                            ′                                                                                )                                                                      〉                            =              0                                                                                α                    i                                                                          〈                                                                  u                        i                        ′                                                                                ·                                                                                d                        k                                                              〉                                                  -                                                      α                    i                    2                                                                          〈                                                                  u                        i                        ′                                                                                ·                                                                                u                        i                        ′                                                              〉                                                              =              0                                                          (                  5                                -                              1                )                                          α          i                =                              〈                                          d                k                                                                                ·                                                                                u                i                ′                                      〉                                                                            u                i                ′                                                    2                                              (                  5                                -                              2                )
It is shown in the drawing that the differential vector <dk> (k=0) is subjected to approximation to other first base extraction vector <uj′>. The first base extraction vector <uj′> is shown by the image drawing because it can take optional directions.
Turning to FIG. 2, in step S127, a square norm (ei) of error vector is obtained by the formula (6) after the differential vector <dk> (k=0) is subjected to approximation to the base extraction vector αi<uj′>.
                    [                  Numeral                                                              6                ]                                                                      e          i                =                                                                        d                k                            -                                                α                  i                                                                  u                  i                  ′                                                                          2                                    (        6        )                                                                            =                                                                                      d                  k                                                            2                        -                          2                                                                                α                i                                                          〈                                                      d                    k                                    ·                                                                                u                    i                    ′                                                  〉                                      +                                          α                i                2                                                                                                                  u                    i                    ′                                                                    2                                                                                =                                                                                      d                  k                                                            2                        -                          2                                                                                〈                                                                  d                        k                                            ·                                                                                u                        i                        ′                                                              〉                                    2                                                                                                                u                      i                      ′                                                                            2                                                      +                                                                                〈                                                                  d                        k                                            ·                                                                                u                        i                        ′                                                              〉                                    2                                                                                                                u                      i                      ′                                                                            4                                                                                                                      u                    i                    ′                                                                    2                                                                                =                                                                                      d                  k                                                            2                        -                                                            〈                                                            d                      k                                        ·                                                                                u                      i                      ′                                                        〉                                2                                                                                                    u                    i                    ′                                                                    2                                                                                =                      E            -                                                            〈                                                            d                      k                                        ·                                                                                u                      i                      ′                                                        〉                                2                                                                                                    u                    i                    ′                                                                    2
In step S128 of FIG. 2, it is judged whether ei is less than E′ or not. If ei is less than E′, content of E′ is renewal in step S129 and the information regarding αi, <ui′>, <ui>, etc. at the time is held in an arrangement [αk], [uk′], [uk], etc. If ei is not less than E′, the processing in step S129 is skipped.
In step S130, one (1) is added to the counter i, and in step S131, it is judged whether i is not less than N (=8192) or not. If i is less than N, turning to step 124 and the same processing is carried out with respect to next base extraction vector <ui>.
The processing is repeated and when it is judged in step S131 that i is not less than N, all base extraction vectors <ui> have been completely tried. At the time, the register E′ holds the minimum square norm ei.
It is judged in step S132 whether E′ is not more than Z or not. If E′ is more than Z, it is treated as E=E′ in step S133. That is, the square norm of the differential vector is renewal. In step S134, one (1) is added to the counter k, turning to step S122. If E′ is not more than Z, this processing is skipped. Thus, the orthogonal basis αk<uk′>(k=1˜m) to approximate the difference of the first differential vector <dj> to the allowable error Z is obtained.
However, the block mean value ai of the base extraction block <Ui> has been rounded off or down in the conventional methods and therefore, improvement of image quality is limited. Why the conventional methods are inconvenient will be explained according to FIG. 4.
FIG. 4 is an image drawing of mean value separation processing. A relationship of base extraction block <Ui> (vertical axis) with the pixel value of certain row (horizontal axis) is shown in FIG. 4(a). An actual pixel value is a block mean value of 16 pixels, but the block mean value of 4 pixels will be used to simplify the explanation herein. In FIG. 14(a), each pixel value is 5, 2, 4, and 3 and its mean value ai is 3.5. when the first decimal place is round down, the block mean value ai of the base extraction block <ui> is 0.5 as shown in FIG. 4(b). In FIG. 4(c), if the basis vector βk uk< is added to the DC value DCJ of the decoded block, the DC component (ai=0.5) is overlapped on the target block <Rj>. In case that the number of basis is plural, the DC value is overlapped on the DCJ by various values in the range of 0<ai<1, and as a result, certain noise is over lapped per each block in the decoded image, whereby image quality is not improved. This disadvantage also occurs in case that the first decimal place is rounded off or up.
According to the conventional AOT processing, much operations and much time are required, because all of the base extraction vectors <ui> must be subjected to orthogonal processing to the preceding base vectors <uk′>.

Image encoding/decoding method, apparatus thereof and recording medium in which program therefor is recorded


A process for preparing cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone by cyclohexane oxidation, includes steps of: firstly processing uncatalyzed oxidation on cyclohexane by molecular oxygen, in such a manner that an oxidized mixture with cyclohexyl hydrogen peroxide serving as a primary product is generated; then decomposing the cyclohexyl hydrogen peroxide to produce cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone; and then distilling to obtain a cyclohexanol product and a cyclohexanone product, wherein the step decomposing the cyclohexyl hydrogen peroxide utilizes a three-step decomposition process including steps of: (1) performing the homogeneous catalytic decomposition by utilizing the bis(tert-butyl)chromate as a catalyst; (2) performing the heterogeneous catalytic decomposition of the sodium hydroxide alkaline aqueous solution under low alkalinity; and (3) performing the heterogeneous catalytic decomposition of the sodium hydroxide alkaline aqueous solution under high alkalinity.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a process for preparing cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone by cyclohexane oxidation, and more particularly to a process for preparing cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone by cyclohexane oxidation comprising a three-step decomposition process for decomposing the cyclohexyl hydrogen peroxide.
2. Description of Related Arts
The conventional process for the preparation of cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone comprises: non-catalyticly oxidizing cyclohexane with molecular oxygen to obtain an oxidized mixture containing cyclohexyl hydroperoxide (CHHP) as a main product; decomposing the CHHP to obtain cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone; and rectifying to obtain products of the cyclohexanol and the cyclohexanone. Internationally, the art of decomposing the CHHP to obtain the cyclohexanol and the cyclohexanone comprises two manners: the homogeneous catalytic decomposition by bis(tert-butyl) chromate, disclosed by French Rhodia Company; and, the non-homogeneous catalytic decomposition by cobalt acetate in the alkaline aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide, disclosed by Dutch DSM. Both of the two manners are improved low-temperature decomposition techniques based on the conventional homogeneous catalytic oxidation process and the conventional saponification decomposition process by sodium hydroxide aqueous solution developed in the 1950s to 1970s.
Though having a molar yield up to 94% in the decomposition process, the homogeneous catalytic decomposition of CHHP by the bis(tert-butyl)chromate has two serious defects. Firstly, during decomposing, the scale formation, mainly the chromium adipate, blocks equipments and pipelines. Disclosed by Rhodia, the phosphoric acid octyl ester is used as the scale inhibitor, which fails to completely solve the scale formation. The continuous production cycle only lasts for four months; washing and descaling after stalling the production device are executed three times per year. Secondly, the conversion rate is low, wherein the molar conversion rate is only around 92%; and around 5% of the CHHP still remains in the decomposed materials. The remaining CHHP is decomposed under the conditions of a high concentration of cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone, high acidity and a high temperature inside the cyclohexane recycling columns and the cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone product columns, so as to mainly produce acid compounds, like adipic acid, and ester compounds, mainly caprolactone; to speed up the condensation reaction of free radicals of the cyclohexanol and the cyclohexanone, and the esterification reaction of cyclohexanol; and to generate the high-boiling-point substances, and reduce the yield. Conventionally, the total molar yield of the domestic and foreign devices thereof is only around 80%.
The non-homogeneous catalytic decomposition by cobalt acetate in the alkaline aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide also has three defects. Firstly, the decomposition causes the big secondary reaction, and has a low molar yield of only 84%. Secondly, it is difficult to completely separate the cyclohexane oil phase containing cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone from the alkaline aqueous phase containing the alkaline waste. The oil phase always contains a certain amount of the waste alkaline aqueous phase, in such a manner that the scales of the waste alkaline are always formed in the rectification columns subsequently, which blocks the rectification columns and the reboilers thereof, and results in the continuous production cycle of only six months. Thirdly, the decomposition has a high alkali consumption and a large discharge capacity of alkali waste. A concentration of OH− ion in the alkali waste must be controlled around 1 mol/L. If the concentration of OH— ion is over 1 mol/L, difficulty of combustion of alkaline waste is increased; if below 1 mol/L, decomposition conversion rate is low, and part of the cyclohexyl hydrogen peroxide is decomposed continuously in an cyclohexane recycling column and a cyclohexane and cyclohexanone product column in the subsequent process, and caprolactone and organic acids are mainly generated, which decreases the total yield of the device and influences quality of cyclohexanone products. Currently, the conventional industrial devices adopting the process have the total molar yield of only about 80%.
Conventionally, the worldwide companies respectively adopt one of the above two manners to accomplish decomposing the CHHP at one step. The Chinese patents ZL9411039.9 and ZL98112730.4, filed by the inventor of this application, disclose the two-step decomposition art. At the first step thereof, the alkalinity is lowered; the recycling amount of the alkaline aqueous phase is increased; the static mixer is used. Industrial application results indicate that, the total molar yield of the device thereof really increases, but the separation of the cyclohexane oil phase from the waste alkaline aqueous phase becomes more difficult. The several sets of industrial production devices of the whole two-step decomposition art have a molar total yield of around 82%.

Process for preparing cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone by cyclohexane oxidation