To facilitate baking a frozen dough product in an oven, the dough product is formed over an edible film or substrate that may have a plurality of die-cut holes. This film serves as a baking substrate and obviates the need for a baking pan. The film is formed with the dough product that adheres to the dough during pressing. The end user may thus remove the frozen dough product together with the film from a packing preform and place the dough product and film assembly on an oven rack for baking. As the dough thaws, the crust will loose its stiffness. The film however, will prevent the more pliable crust from distending through the oven rack before the dough has become baked and rigid. The film forms a support that restrains flow of the dough, while at the same time the permits the escape of gases from the bottom of the crust and ensures uniform baking. During baking, the film is absorbed into the dough product. The finished baked dough product, such as dinner rolls or a pizza crust, may then be removed from the oven, and the baked dough product may be served directly for consumption.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to baked goods and baking accessories in general, and in particular to preformed dough foodstuffs prepared for cooking and consumption at a later time and to articles for assisting in the baking of such foodstuffs. More particularly, the present invention relates to the use of edible films for supporting dough products.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Freshly baked products have long been enjoyed by home consumers and restaurant patrons. Preparing pastries and bread products such as pizza crusts and rolls, however, requires ready supplies of perishable materials, skill, and most importantly, time. To minimize the impact of these factors and reduce preparation time, home consumers and commercial bakers have a need for dough products that may be placed directly in an oven and baked for immediate consumption and/or sale. Likewise, these preformed dough products may help to reduce labor costs and order preparation times for restaurants and pizzerias. In the past, pizza crusts have been supplied to pizza makers and other users as prebaked, preformed frozen or refrigerated crusts, with the cheese and other toppings being added to the crust at the time of baking or processing for further sale. Pizza crusts of this sort were typically formed by a die-stamping or filming process. In one process, the crusts were baked within a retaining ring or platen, and then packaged. By partially or completely baking the product prior to removal from the baking pan, the desired molded shape was preserved. A drawback of prebaked bread products is that the final article is twice-baked and does not retain the moist rich texture and taste of a freshly-baked product. With these products, at least a semblance of freshness has been made by providing pizza crusts with a central portion which is unbaked and frozen. The unbaked preformed central portion will rise a certain amount when baked, and provides an improved texture and taste. However, this is still short of a freshly baked dough.
Historically, it was known in the prior art to use edible films as barriers primarily to protect various foods and pharmaceuticals from spoilage. For example, peanuts and various encapsulated medicines are protected with plasticized edible films.
Moreover, as is known to those skilled in the art, some foods require additional care and handling at the various stages of their production. For example prior to freezing, frozen food products can be difficult to handle. The same is true for these products when they become thawed. In the past, paper, metal, or plastic containers and supports have been used to package frozen foods. However, such packaging is difficult to reuse and recycle. Thus, it often winds up in garbage piles and landfills across the world. As such materials are not generally easily biodegradable, they cause numerous long-term problems including waste of natural resources and land, as well as, disease. Needless to say, it is desirable to an environmentally friendly package for such frozen food products.
When placed directly in a consumer""s oven, frozen dough products may deform over the parallel bars of the oven rack and be subjected to uneven baking. Nevertheless, baking on a solid tray or pan may restrict the escape of gases from the dough, and inhibit ideal baking conditions.
One previous solution is U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,508 to Donnelly, et al. (hereby incorporated herein by reference). However, one drawback of that invention is that after baking the preferred paperboard substrate must be disposed of, thereby creating unwanted waste.
Thus, what is needed is a dough product assembly that may be formed into a desired shape and delivered in frozen form to an end user for immediate baking and consumption without excess waste or clean-up.
What is also needed therefore is environmentally safe and sufficiently strong packaging material for frozen food products. Further, what is also needed is a package that is easily disposed of after use. Additionally, what is needed is packing material that is edible yet provides sufficient support for food products during freezing and thawing so that the products hold their shape. Until now these requirements have not been fully met by the prior art without incurring various disadvantages.
Moreover, as the food processing business is very competitive, a preferred solution will be seen by the end-user as being cost effective. A solution is cost effective when it is seen by the end-user as compelling when compared with other potential uses that the end-user could make of limited resources.
The below-referenced U.S. patents and other documents disclose embodiments that were at least in-part satisfactory for the purposes for which they were intended. The disclosures of the below-referenced prior United States patents and other documents in their entireties are hereby expressly incorporated by reference into the present application for purposes including, but not limited to, indicating the background of the present invention and illustrating the state of the art.
In the past others, most notably Aristippos Gennadios and Curtis L. Weller in Edible Films and Coatings from Wheat and Corn Proteins, Food Technology, October 1990 at pages 63-69, described the use of fibers, such as wheat and corn, to produce edible packaging materials.
Still others, like U.S. Pat. No. 3,886,112 to Watson, disclose a water-soluble packing material made with an extruder. U.K. Pat. App. No. 2,220,346 A discloses a baking film of greaseproof paper or parchment coated with silicon. U.S. Pat. No. 5,035,907 discloses a marshmallow based edible film. U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,692 discloses an edible film that can be sprayed on food products. U.S. Pat. No. 4,603,051 discloses an edible food container with a moisture resistant barrier coating.
The dough products of the present invention are generally formed of proofed dough that is molded to a desired shape and frozen on a paperboard packing preform without being subjected to baking. This allows the frozen product to be formed in such a manner to prevent the yeast from being killed.
During the forming process, an edible baking film or substrate is positioned between the dough and the preform. Thus, when the dough is pressed and formed onto the preform, the baking substrate is engaged to the dough. The assembly of dough and baking substrate is then packaged with the preform and frozen for delivery. The product consumer removes the assembly (frozen dough product and baking substrate) from the preform and positions the assembly in an oven on the bars of a conventional oven rack. The substrate prevents the dough product from distortion on the oven rack bars, while allowing the escape of gases from the underside of the dough product, and thus enabling proper baking. Additionally, perforations may be added to the substrate to allow preferential radiant heating to particular regions of the baking product, to control relative baking rates, assure even baking of a nonuniform product, to better secure the substrate to the dough product, and to prevent slippage in assembly.
During baking, the edible substrate is absorbed into the underside of the dough product. Upon removable from the oven, the dough product is ready for immediate consumption. Because the substrate dissolves into the crust during baking, there is no additional waste to deal with or pan clean-up required.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a frozen dough product assembly that may be placed directly in an oven for baking without the need for a pan.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a frozen dough product assembly that retains the shape of the dough product when baked on an oven rack.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a dough product assembly that allows gases to escape from all sides of the product when baked in an oven.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide an article for controlling the radiant heat transmitted to a dough product within an oven to thereby control the baking of the product across variant regions.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a frozen dough product assembly which includes an edible baking substrate.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a frozen dough assembly that minimizes clean-up and waste.
Another object of the invention is to reduce labor costs and order preparation times for baked products.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a wheat-based baking substrate that is absorbed upon baking.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus that has one or more of the characteristics discussed above but which is relatively simple to manufacture and assemble using a minimum of equipment.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method that is predictable and reproducible, thereby decreasing variance and operating costs.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method that has one or more of the characteristics discussed above but which is relatively simple to setup and operate using relatively low skilled workers.
In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, these objects are achieved by providing a dough product support assembly comprising a portion of dough and an edible film for supporting the portion of dough. In another embodiment, the invention includes a frozen food support assembly comprising an edible, soluble film including wheat fibers, starch, and gum for binding the wheat fibers.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, these objects are achieved by a method of supporting raw dough comprising the steps of providing a wheat-based edible film, depositing a portion of raw dough on the edible film, heating the raw dough and the film in an oven to a temperature of about 180 degrees Fahrenheit, disintegrating the film through baking to leave a baked, unsupported dough structure, and removing the dough structure from the oven for consumption.
To satisfy the above objectives, the invention may also include a method of facilitating the baking of frozen dough products in an oven comprising the steps of forming a portion of dough, forming a baking substrate, flattening the dough on the substrate, adhering the substrate to the dough, freezing the dough and the substrate in a freezer, placing the frozen dough and the substrate in an oven for baking, supporting the dough while thawing with the substrate, allowing radiant heat to bake the dough, absorbing the substrate into the dough during baking, and removing the baked dough for serving. Alternatively, the invention may also include a process of forming dough comprising the steps of placing a quantity of dough on an edible film, positioning the dough on the film beneath a die, pressing the die over the dough to form the dough into a desired shape, forcing the dough into intimate contact with the edible film, and freezing the formed dough on the edible film.
Further, the invention may include a method of supporting dough comprising the steps of providing a wheat-based dough support member, coating the dough support member with a water-based mixture to provide additional stability, placing a portion of dough on the dough support member, baking the dough and the dough support member in an oven until the dough is rigid, removing the dough from the oven, and serving the dough for human consumption.
Moreover, the invention may include a method of manufacturing an edible dough support film, comprising the steps of laying a pliable film on a conveyor, flattening the film with a rolling drum, drying the film, and preparing the film for transport.
The above methods and processes may contain additional steps, such as, rolling the film into rolls prior to transport, transporting the film, unrolling the film rolls, and cutting the film into shapes appropriate for use with frozen dough products. Additionally, these may include the following steps as well: placing a cardboard preform on a conveyor, spraying the preform with a spray (e.g. food-grade oil) a first time, sprinkling the preform with cornmeal, spraying the preform with a spray a second time, and placing the film on the perform. After the above steps are completed, the following steps may also take place: placing a quantity of dough on the film, positioning the dough on the film beneath a die, pressing the die over the dough to form the dough into a desired shape, and freezing the formed dough on the edible film.
These, and other, aspects and objects of the present invention will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following description, while indicating preferred embodiments of the present invention, is given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the present invention without departing from the spirit thereof, and the invention includes all such modifications.


A device for measuring residual stress in ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic metal objects. The device having four electrically identical induction coils which form a four terminal alternating current bridge circuit. There is a fine wire shield formed of fingers for shielding the coils from stray capacitance. The bridge having four coil terminals. Two diagonally opposite coil terminals are connected to a variable frequency constant voltage generator. The other two diagonally opposite coil terminals are connected to a low noise broad band preamplifier. The preamplifier amplifies any unbalance in the bridge. There is a double pole double throw switch connected to two coil terminals which are diagonally opposite each other. Connected to the preamplifier is an amplifier. The amplifier is connected to a phase detector which is connected to a computer. The phase detector detects in phase and quadrature component signals. The computer has software for determining changes in differential resistivity as a function of frequency, and for converting resistivity differences into residual stress using an algorithm.

In industrial situations some metals, e.g., titanium, aluminum, steel alloys and stainless steel, are shot-peened in order to increase the residual stress in the metal object. As a non-destructive test procedure, eddy current measurements are employed to determine whether the entire surface of the metal object was shot peened and whether the residual stress has the correct distribution with respect to the depth in the metal object. In other instances eddy currents are used to determine surface and sub-surface cracks or flaws in metal objects. Such defects produce relatively large changes in the induced currents and common eddy current equipment easily detects these changes. The SmartEddy.TM. system, manufactured by SES Corporation, Menlo Park, Calif., uses a two resistor, two coil bridge to detect amplitude and phase shifts produced by treated metal objects compared to a test standard. U.S. Pat. No. 5,610,515 modified the SmartEddy.TM. system to improve its sensitivity in determining residual stress in treated non-ferromagnetic metal objects by reducing the sensitivity of the apparatus to vibration and temperature changes.
Current induced into a metal object by an external coil is called eddy current. The use of eddy current technique to characterize the properties of metal objects is based on the relationship between a conductive metal object structure and electromagnetic properties. More specifically, eddy current testing relies on electromagnetic interaction between the coil driven by an alternating electrical current and the metal object under test. In order to measure applied or residual stresses with a conventional eddy current approach, the application of stress must change the electrical conductivity such that a detectable change in the test coil impedance will occur.
Presently, current commercial eddy current equipment is not sensitive enough to detect extremely small changes in conductivity in a treated metal object. Nor is present commercial eddy current equipment sensitive enough to detect changes in conductivity at the near-surface of a treated metal object, i.e., within 0.020 inch.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and equipment to detect very small changes in conductivity between a treated metal object and an untreated metal object sample used as a reference.
It is another object of the present invention to be operated at a wide range of frequencies thereby checking the sample at various depths.
It is another object of the present invention to be operated at high frequency in order to measure conductivity at the near-surface of a treated metal object.
It is a further object of the present invention to determine the residual stress of a metal object that has been subject to machining, shot-peening or other chemical and mechanical treatments.
It is a still further object of the present invention to avoid ambiguous results due to mechanical vibration and lift-off as the test coil is brought close to the sample.
These and further important objects of the present invention will become more apparent upon considering the following detailed description of the present invention.

Residual stress measurements in metal objects using four coils


A rotor for a permanent magnet motor of an outer rotor type having a plurality of permanent magnets and disposed around a stator includes a frame, an annular iron core combined integrally with the frame, and a plurality of insertion holes formed in the core so that the permanent magnets are inserted in the insertion holes respectively. The frame, the core and the permanent magnets are combined integrally with one another by a synthetic resin. Each insertion hole includes a magnet disposing portion in which the permanent magnet is disposed, a space portion located in at least one of circumferential both ends of each permanent magnet disposed in the magnet disposing portion, and a positioning portion positioning each permanent magnet in the magnet disposing portion, and the molten synthetic resin is poured into the space portion.

This is the U.S. National Stage of International Application No. PCT/JP03/07631, filed on Jun. 16, 2003, which relies for priority on Japanese Patent Applications Nos. 2002-179785. filed Jun. 20, 2002 and 2002-310967, filed Oct. 25, 2002, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a rotor for a permanent magnet motor of the outer rotor type which includes a number of annularly arranged permanent magnets for formation of magnetic poles.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 18 and 19 illustrate a part of a rotor for a conventional permanent magnet motor of the outer rotor type in which a rotor is disposed around a stator. As shown, a rotor 10 comprises a frame 1 made from a magnetic material and including a disc-like main plate 1a and an annular circumferential wall 1b located around the main plate 1a, and a plurality of permanent magnets 2 arranged on an inner circumferential face of the wall 1b for the purpose of forming magnetic poles. A ring member 4 made from a magnetic material is disposed along an outer circumference of the wall 1b. The aforesaid frame 1, permanent magnets 2 and ring member 4 are integrally combined with one another by a synthetic resin 5. For example, Japanese Patent No. 3017953 discloses a rotor with the above-described construction.
The above-described rotor 10 is manufactured in the following method. A forming die 6 includes a lower die 6a and an upper die 6b as shown in FIG. 20A. The permanent magnets 2 are inserted into a recess 7 formed in the lower die 6a. The recess 7 is formed into an annular configuration according to a shape and the number of the permanent magnets 2. The frame 1 is then put over the permanent magnets 2 inserted in the recess 7, and the ring member 4 is further disposed along the outer circumference of the frame.
Subsequently, the upper die 6b is put onto the lower die 6a so that the forming die 6 is closed as shown in FIG. 20B. A cavity 8 defined between the upper and lower dies 6b and 6a is filled with a synthetic resin 5 in the molten state. When the synthetic resin 5 has been hardened, the upper die 6b is removed and the rotor 10 is taken from the lower die 6b. Thus, a number of permanent magnets 2 are integrally combined with the frame 1 by the synthetic resin in the annularly arranged state.
In the above-described rotor 10, however, the recess 7 needs to be provided in the lower die 6a in order that the permanent magnets 2 may be prevented from being displaced during filling the interior of the die 6 with the synthetic resin 5. Accordingly, the configuration of the lower die 6a is complicated.

Rotor for permanent magnet motor of outer rotor type


A variable vane assembly includes a variable vane; a trunnion arranged on one end of the variable vane; a bushing mated to the trunnion to define an interface between the trunnion and the bushing; and a surface modification on at least one of the trunnion and the bushing at the interface, whereby frictional heating at the interface during operation of the assembly is reduced.

The disclosure relates to variable vanes and vane bushings and, more particularly, to a low friction, wear resistant interface between these components.
Gas turbine engines such as those that power modern aircraft generally include a compressor section to pressurize an airflow, a combustor section to burn a hydrocarbon fuel in the presence of the pressurized air, and a turbine section to extract energy from the resultant combustion gases.
Some gas turbine engines include variable stator vanes that can be pivoted about their individual axes to change an operational performance characteristic of the engine. Typically, the variable stator vanes are robustly designed to handle the stress loads that are applied to change the position of the vanes.
Variable vanes can be operated at relatively high temperatures ranges, approaching temperatures of 700° F., and under increased vibratory motion as compared to legacy variable vanes. Under these conditions, the variable vanes and bushings with which they interact have experienced significant wear. Variable vanes and bushings can typically have an interaction that exhibits low roughness of the surfaces and variability or fluctuations in the contact pressure between the components. These conditions are not well suited to formation of a transfer film between the components, leading to long break-in periods and consequently high friction and wear.

Low friction, wear resistant variable vane bushing


A snowboard binding for securing a snowboard boot to a snowboard that includes a rigid baseplate, a strap, and an isolation member. The rigid baseplate includes sidewalls and a heel loop extending upwardly therefrom. The baseplate is adapted for attachment to the snowboard and includes a plurality of isolation apertures extending therethrough. A disk aperture is also provided for receiving an attachment disk for fastening the baseplate to the snowboard. The strap is connected to the sidewalls of the baseplate for releasably securing the boot to the binding. The isolation member is formed from a unitary substantially elastic, rubbery material. The isolation member extends beneath the baseplate to substantially isolate the baseplate from the snowboard. The isolation member has a plurality of upward projections extending through the isolation apertures in the baseplate. The upward projections have T-shaped cross sections with head and neck portions. The neck portions extend through the isolation apertures and the head portions extend at least partially above the upper surface of the baseplate.

Improving the interface between a snowboard and a snowboarder raises several construct considerations. Designers address these considerations in the details of the snowboard, the snowboard binding, and the snowboard boots. Desirable characteristics may include limited space between the snowboarder's foot and board, a secure attachment to the board, some medial and lateral ankle mobility while maintaining proper attachment and secure feel, vibration and shock absorption, traction of the boot on the binding, a lightweight system, safety, and adjustability. Keeping the snowboarder's foot close to the board improves the rider's feel for the board and riding surface and increases the board's responsiveness as the snowboarder moves their foot. A secure attachment to the board not only enhances the rider's safety, but also effects an efficient transfer of forces which assists the snowboarder in maintaining proper control. A certain amount of medial and lateral movement of the snowboarder's ankle and foot is desirable for stunts and general maneuvering. Limiting rearward movement of the lower leg and limiting boot movement away from the board are also desirable and, at times, compete with lateral mobility concerns. Vibration absorption becomes important as snowboarders ride on hard-packed terrain with increased speeds. The snowboarder may also require shock absorption, especially with jumps and stunts. Traction between boot and binding improves control and results in an efficient transfer of forces to the board from the snowboarder's foot. A lightweight system decreases fatigue and improves performance. Varied terrain and individual rider preferences necessitate the ability to adjust both the angle of the binding and the space between bindings. Snowboard manufacturers and designers have attempted to address all of the above concerns. A conventional binding is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,170 (Carpenter, et al.). This binding includes a baseplate with sidewalls extending upwardly therefrom and a highback pivotally attached to the sidewalls. Additionally, Carpenter's binding contains straps that extend from one sidewall to the other, with buckles to secure or release the snowboard boot from the binding. Several snowboard companies sell bindings similar to those disclosed in the Carpenter, et al. patent. The adjustability of these bindings is provided by a center disk through which screws extend to engage inserts within the snowboard. The central disk may be rotated to change the angular orientation of the binding relative to the board; it also may be moved fore and aft and into other inserts placed within the snowboard. The binding may be somewhat light in weight if constructed of appropriate plastic or other lightweight yet strong materials. Other concerns are more fully addressed by alternative designs and additions to the basic set-up shown in the Carpenter, et al. patent.
For example, a patent to Young (U.S. Pat. No. 5,409,244) is directed toward a baseless snowboard binding. In this patent, Young eliminates the central disk for attachment to the snowboard, but instead provides flanges extending from the sidewalls to secure the binding to the board. This keeps the user's foot closer to the snowboard and may decrease the weight of the binding. However, the binding lacks the adjustability of conventional bindings that have disks or step-in snowboard bindings with disks. Furthermore, as with the Carpenter et al. binding, the Young binding adds no vibration absorption or shock absorption. In order to address vibration and shock absorption, snowboard designers and, more prominently, ski designers, have used rubber or other viscoelastic layers between the binding and the board or ski. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,406 (Anderson, et al.) uses a gasket (49) between the metal frame of the step-in snowboard binding and the snowboard. The gasket provides some vibration absorption, especially if made of rubber or other elastic material. Other snowboard binding manufacturers have placed rubber, or material softer than the binding frame, on top of the snowboard frame between the binding frame and boot sole. However, all these solutions lift the boot further from the snowboard and do little to absorb shock, while not absorbing as much vibrational energy as would be the case if these materials were thicker. Of course, thicker material would further elevate the rider from the board.
Thick, elastomeric materials have been used with skis, as evidenced by the Mayr patents (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,143,395 and 5,199,734). Mayr uses an elastomer damping material between the binding and ski, with a binding mounting plate on top of the damping material. In this manner, vibrations can be absorbed in the elastomer without transferring them to the boot and, thus, foot of the skier. Vibration absorption was also addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,241 (Knott, et al.). In this ski, the binding mounting plate was allowed to move relative to the rest of the ski through the use of an elastomer layer sandwiched between two cores. Other examples in ski art include U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,895 (Bettosini) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,026,086 (Guers, et al.). Transferring this technology to snowboards would necessitate lifting the user's foot away from the board in order to adequately obtain vibration absorption, shock absorption, and traction, while maintaining adjustability and medial and lateral movement. Whereas elevated bindings may enhance ski maneuvering, snowboard riding requires a closeness between the user's foot and board.
Therefore, a need exists for a snowboard binding that does not elevate the rider's foot much further off the board than a conventional binding yet provides significant vibration and shock absorption. Medial and lateral movement, traction, light weight, and adjustability can also be provided with a secure, safe attachment to the board through the present invention.


A drive unit for an automatic transmission has a hydraulic circuit changing device for changing a hydraulic circuit so that one of the hydraulic control portions (hydraulic gear change portions) is selectively communicated with an oil pressure source, a position detecting device for continuously detecting a position of one of moving members of the hydraulic circuit changing device and for outputting a detection signal corresponding to the position of the moving member, and a pressure regulating device provided between the hydraulic circuit changing device and the hydraulic control portions for regulating a control pressure to be applied to the hydraulic control portions. In the above drive unit, an electronic control unit calculates a rate of changes in the detection signals from the position detecting device and controls the pressure regulating device in accordance with the rate of the changes in the detection signals.

A drive unit for an automatic transmission changes over a hydraulic circuit of the automatic transmission, to implement the gear change. A conventional drive unit of this kind, for example, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, has a hydraulic circuit changing device 101 to be manually operated by a shift lever 104 and to change a hydraulic control portion (gear change portions 111 and 112), to which oil pressure is applied. The drive unit 100 further has a position detecting device 102 for continuously detecting a position of a movable member (a spool 105), which is a part of the hydraulic circuit changing device 101, and outputting a detection signal indicating the position of the movable member (which corresponds to an amount of movement of the spool driven by the shift lever 104). An electronic control unit 103 of the drive unit 100 determines the hydraulic gear change portion to which the oil pressure is applied, based on the detection signal from the position detecting device 102, and controls the oil pressure. (In this specification, the drive unit for mechanically changing over the hydraulic circuit in accordance with a shift lever movement by a vehicle-driver is referred to as a "mechanically operated type drive unit".)
A movable portion of the hydraulic circuit changing device 101 comprises the shift lever 104 operated by the vehicle driver and the spool 105 linearly moved by the shift lever 104. The movable portion of the hydraulic circuit changing device 101 further comprises a control wire 106 connected at its one end to the shift lever 104 and at its other end to a shaft 107, which is rotated in a synchronized manner with the shift lever 104. The movable portion further comprises a valve lever 108, which is swung by the shaft 107. An operational force of the shift lever 104 is mechanically transmitted to the spool 105 through the above movable portion.
The spool 105 is movably held in a body 109 of an automatic transmission device 113, so that the spool 105 is linearly moved back and forth in the body 109 in accordance with the operational force of the shift lever 104. As schematically shown in FIG. 7, the body 109 of the automatic transmission device has an inlet port 109a connected to an oil pressure source 110 and multiple outlet ports 109b and 109c, which are respectively connected to the multiple hydraulic control portions (more specifically, to a gear change portion 111 for a forward drive, and to a gear change portion 112 for a backward drive). The outlet port 109b is referred to as a "D" port connected to the gear change portion 111 for the forward drive, while the outlet port 109c is referred to as a "R" port connected to the gear change portion 112 for the backward drive. When the spool 105 is linearly moved back and forth, the "D" port 109b or "R" port 109c is selectively connected to the oil pressure source 110. FIG. 7 shows a condition, in which the gear change portion 111 is connected to the oil pressure source 110 through the "D" port 109b.
The position detecting device 102, for example as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No.H7-301309, is provided at an outside of the automatic transmission device 113, and comprises a rotating member (not shown) integrally formed with the shaft 107, and a distance sensor (not shown) for outputting an electrical signal corresponding to a distance between the sensor and an outer periphery of the rotating member. The electrical signal corresponding to a rotational angle (the rotational position) of the shaft 107 can be outputted to the electronic control unit (ECU) 103.
As already described above, the electronic control unit 103 determines the hydraulic control portion (the gear change portion 111 or the gear change portion 112), to which the oil pressure is applied, based on the detection signal from the position detecting device 102.
More specifically, the ECU 103 determines that the inlet port 109a is connected to neither "D" port 109b nor "R" port 109c, when the detection signal of the position detecting device 102 is lower than a predetermined level "C", as shown in FIG. 8B. When the detection signal is lower than the predetermined level "C", the ECU 103 determines that the shift lever 104 is positioned at a "N" range (a neutral range). When the detection signal is higher than the predetermined level "C", the ECU 103 determines that the inlet port 109a is connected to the "D" port 109b (which corresponds to a condition that the shift lever 104 is positioned at a "D" range (a drive range)). When the detection signal of the position detecting device 102 is changed from the "N" range to the "D" range, the ECU 103 determines that inlet port 109a is connected to the "D" port 109b. The ECU 103 then controls the oil pressure (also referred to as a control pressure) to be applied to the gear change portion 111 for the forward drive.
The ECU controls the control pressure, in order to alleviate an impact which would be caused by a rapid supply of a working oil to the gear change portion 111. For the purpose, a pressure regulating valve 114 is provided in a hydraulic circuit from the "D" port 109b to the gear change portion 111, as shown in FIG. 7, so that an opening degree of the valve 114 is controlled in accordance with a current supply to a solenoid (not shown) of the valve 114. The ECU 103 changes a command value for controlling the current supply in accordance with a predetermined control program, so that the opening degree of the pressure regulating valve 114 is gradually increased to prevent the oil pressure at an upstream side of the pressure regulating valve 114 from rapidly applied to the gear change portion 111. The oil supply pressure is increased by supplying the working oil from the oil pressure source 110 to the upstream side of the pressure regulating valve 114 through the inlet port 109a and the outlet port 109b (the "D" port 109b).
As seen from FIGS. 8B and 8C, the outlet port ("D" port) 109b is communicated with the inlet port 109a only after the detected position signal from the position detecting device 102 exceeds the predetermined level "C" (i.e. the shift lever 104 is changed from the "N" range to the "D" range. Accordingly, the oil supply pressure to the pressure regulating valve 114 is increased (through the communication between the inlet port 109a and the "D" port 109b), only after the control process for the pressure control valve 114 has started. In a normal operation of the shift lever 104 by the vehicle driver, the shift lever 104 is usually moved quickly. However, if the shift lever 104 is intentionally moved very slowly, the above drive unit for the automatic transmission device has the following problems.
In FIGS. 8A to 8E, a timing point, at which the detected position signal from the position detecting device 102 is changed from the "N" range to the "D" range in the normal shift operation of the shift lever 104, is indicated by "t1a", and a timing point, at which the "D" port 109b is actually communicated with the inlet port 109a in the normal shift operation of the shift lever 104, is indicated by "t2a". A timing point, at which the detected position signal from the position detecting device 102 is changed from the "N" range to the "D" range in the intentional slow shift operation of the shift lever 104, is indicated by "t1b", and a timing point, at which the "D" port 109b is actually communicated with the inlet port 109a in the intentional slow shift operation of the shift lever 104, is indicated by "t2b". In FIGS. 8A to 8E, dotted lines indicate respective operational conditions with respect to time change in the case of the normal shift operation, whereas solid lines indicate the respective operational conditions with respect to the time change in the case of the intentional slow shift operation.
A moving speed of the movable portion, such as the shift lever 104 and the related elements (the spool 105 and so on), becomes extremely slower in the intentional slow shift operation, than that in the normal shift operation.
In FIG. 8A, "X1" is a threshold level of a stroke amount of the shift lever 104, at which the ECU 103 determines that the shift lever 104 is moved from the "N" range to the "D" range based on the detected position signal from the detecting device 102, namely the ECU 103 determines that the "D" port 109b is communicated with the inlet port 109a. "X2" is, on the other hand, a stroke amount of the shift lever 104, at which the "D" port 109b is actually communicated with the inlet port 109a. As indicated in FIG. 8A, the stroke amounts of "X1" and "X2" are the same in both of the normal shift operation and the intentional slow shift operation.
The drive unit has a delay time in its operation, which is a time period from the timing point ("t1a" or "t1b") at which the ECU 103 determines that the shift lever 104 is moved from the "N" range to the "D" range to the timing point ("t2a" or "t2b") at which the "D" port 109b is actually communicated with the inlet port 109a. And the time delay (t2b−t1b) in the case of the intentional slow shift operation becomes much larger than the time delay (t2a−t1a) in the case of the normal shift operation.
As a result, in the case of the intentional slow shift operation, the "D" port 109b is actually communicated with the inlet port 109a, with a considerable time delay, after the ECU 103 has determined that the "D" port 109b is communicated with the inlet port 109a. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 8C, the oil supply pressure is actually increased only at the timing point of "t2b", in spite that the ECU 103 has already determined at the timing point of "t1b" that the "D" port 109b was communicated with the inlet port 109a.
As shown in FIG. 8D, the ECU 103 starts its control program for the command signal, as soon as it determines the "D" port 109b is communicated with the inlet port 109a, namely when the detected position signal is changed from the "N" range to the "D" range, irrespectively whether it is in the normal shift operation or the intentional slow shift operation. Accordingly, the opening degree of the pressure regulating valve 114 has already become large, when "D" port 109b is actually communicated with the inlet port 109a. Then, the control pressure to the gear change portion 111 is rapidly increased, as shown in FIG. 8E, to cause an impact in the automatic transmission device.
FIG. 9 also shows another conventional drive unit 100 for the automatic transmission device, in which an electronically operated type drive unit is used. In the electronically operated type drive unit, a movable portion (such as the spool 105) is operated by an electrical actuator 115 (e.g. an electric motor). The electrical actuator 115 is controlled by the ECU 103 in accordance with the shift lever change.
The above explained impact caused in the mechanically operated type drive unit (FIGS. 6 & 7) may also happen in the electronically operated type drive unit (FIG. 9), as in the similar manner.


A knife gate valve is constructed of two body members bolted together about a resilient gate seat. The two body members and the resilient gate seat include sets of axially aligned bolt holes through which machine bolts extend. Matching flanges on the body members form a recess for receiving the resilient gate seat, thereby constraining its movement and preventing its deformation when the knife gate is closed. The matching flanges also facilitate the uniform tightening of the machine bolts during gate valve assembly.

Knife gate valves have traditionally been used to control the flow of heavy slurries transported through tubular conduits. The knife gate has a blade portion with a beveled edge to cut through the material suspended in the slurry as the knife gate is lowered to seal off the flow through the valve. The knife gate typically closes against the metal valve body, and the slurry assists in sealing the valve.
A problem associated with using a knife gate to control the flow of slurries of light viscosities is that the material accumulating on the surface of the valve seat prevents a tight seal. Therefore, knife gate valves controlling the flow of light viscosity slurries typically employ a resilient gate seat liner that is squeezed between the knife gate and the metal valve body when the valve is in the closed position.
When an adhesive slurry (e.g., paper pulp) is being handled, however, the slurry material that accumulates on the gate seat liner tends to cause the Wife gate to adhere to and pull out the seat liner when the knife gate is retracted to open the valve. The flowing slurry may then carry the seat liner downstream in the conduit system. Although lubricating the gate-contacting surface of the valve seat liner can reduce surface friction and thereby prevent adhesion of the knife gate to the seat, the lubricating fluid may be quickly carried away by moving slurry.
To avoid this problem, a valve has been introduced that comprises two, essentially flat, valve body members bolted together about a resilient gate seat. Each bolt runs through a bolt hole in the resilient gate seat to positively retain it. Two principal problems occur with this design. The first problem arises during operation. The essentially flat valve body members do not constrain the sealing member in the radial dimension (defined relative to the center of the flow opening). As a result, when the valve is closed, the knife gate pushes the resilient gate seat radially outwardly. Although the fasteners running through the sealing member constrain this radial movement, enough deformation is possible between each pair of fasteners that the effectiveness of the seal is reduced.
The second problem arises during manufacturing. If one bolt is fastened more tightly than another, the gate seat will be compressed more in one spot than in another. This reduces the effectiveness of the seal. It is even possible that pressurized slurry could leak around one or more loosely tightened fasteners. Tightening all the bolts equally, which is necessary to ensure a good seal, increases the expense and complicates the manufacturing process.

Split knife gate valve having a uniformly compressed and constrained resilient gate seat and method for producing the same


A drum (1; 1′) of a machine for treating laundry, in particular for washing and/or drying laundry, includes a substantially cylindrical shape and is rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis (X; X′). The drum includes a plurality of compartments (10; 10′) having the shape of a circular crown sector, each compartment (10; 10′) being adapted to contain at least one laundry item to be treated, so that a controlled mechanical action is exerted on the at least one laundry item.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drum of a machine for treating laundry furthermore, the present invention also relates to the associated machine for treating laundry.
2. Present State of the Art
Typically, the machines for treating laundry according to the present invention are washing machines, washing/drying machines and clothes dryers, and are therefore used for carrying out washing and/or drying processes on at least one laundry item.
It is known in the state of the art that such machines are provided with a rotary drum adapted to contain one or more laundry items to be treated.
When the machine is in operation, the drum rotates and the laundry items to be treated not only hits the inner surface of the drum, but also the other items present inside the drum; since the laundry items to be treated are soaked with water, their weight increases considerably and great stress is caused by torsion and compression of the laundry items themselves (textiles, manufactures, etc.) during their treatment. Such shocks and stresses cause damage to said laundry items, especially to those which are particularly delicate or which have a particular construction in terms of materials and dimensions (e.g. mattresses and pillows).
The parts of the laundry items under treatment which are most subject to damage may be rigid elements applied thereto, such as certain buttons and zippers, as well as other parts such as, for example, external embroidery or parts applied after the weaving stage.
Moreover, when the washing machine is in operation the lifters or paddles usually associated with the inner portion of the rotary drum drag the treated laundry, which may cause damage to the fibres of the most delicate textiles, especially when these are soaked with water and are therefore quite heavy.
So far, the manufacturers of household appliances have not paid particular attention to these damages.

Drum of a machine for treating laundry and machine having said drum


The display apparatus is provided. The display apparatus includes a display panel for outputting an image, a panel cover for covering a rear surface of the display panel, a first part fixed to the rear surface of the display unit, a second part rotatably coupled to the first part, the second part being closely attached to the first part or being disposed on an installation surface, a hinge connecting a lower end of the first part to a front end of the second part, a wall-mounting plate separably coupled to a bottom surface of the second part, and a fall-down prevention member separably coupled to a lower end of the display unit.

The present disclosure relates to a display apparatus.
Display apparatuses include display panels for outputting pictures or images.
In recent years, as the trend is larger and compact display panels, a special mounting device for installing display apparatus on a wall is needed.
Typically, standing type stands and wall-mounting type stands are separately provided, and thus one of the stands has to be selected when purchasing a display apparatus. Accordingly, if it is intended to change in mounting type after the purchase, the changing stand has to be separately purchased.


Telephone numbering data comprising an NPA code associated with an NXX code that is associated with a rate center identifier is received at a dial plan instruction writer. Local call data relative to a home rate center is also received. The local call data determine whether a call originating in the home rate center is charged as a local call, a toll call, or a long distance call. Routing rules to be applied to a called telephone number originating from the home rate center are determined based on the telephone numbering data and the local call data. Instructions executable by the telephone switch that implement the routing rules are generated.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to the provision of telephony services. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention are directed to an automated system for generating dial plans for telephone switching equipment.
With the passage of the Telecommunications Act ("the Act") of 1996, an incumbent local exchange carrier (ILEC), the regulated entity that owns and administers an existing access network, must provide to a requesting telecommunications carrier (hereinafter generally referred to as "Competitive Local Exchange Carrier" or "CLEC") nondiscriminatory access to network elements on an unbundled basis and allow CLECs to combine such network elements in order to provide telecommunications services. ILECs also have a duty to provide to CLECs interconnection with their network for the transmission and routing of telephone exchange service and exchange access. The interconnection contemplated by the Act provides nondiscriminatory access or interconnection to such services or information as are necessary to allow the requesting CLEC to implement local dialing parity, including nondiscriminatory access to telephone numbers, operator service, directory assistance, and directory listing, with no unreasonable dialing delays.
The provisions of the Act have demonstrated a need for competing exchange carriers to be interconnected so that customers can seamlessly receive calls that originate on another carrier's network and place calls that terminate on another's carrier's network without performing additional activities, such as dialing extra digits, etc.
The increasing popularity of high speed data (HSD) over cable and the emergence of voice over IP (VoIP) technology as a viable alternative to the public switched network (PSTN) has provided cable operators an opportunity to offer a full range of VoIP-based telephony services, offering custom features and advanced intelligent network services that rival the ILECs.
A cable operator desiring to provide VoIP services directly to customers either acts as a CLEC or partners with a CLEC. In this capacity, the cable operator manages not only the HSD network but a telephone switch (variously referred to as a softswitch, media gateway controller, call agent, or a gatekeeper) that manages calls originating from, and terminating with, subscribers. In addition to managing VoIP calls on the network, the telephone switch manages the routing of calls to and from the PSTN.
FIG. 3 illustrates the network components of a PacketCable-compliant system. Referring to FIG. 3, a managed IP network 325 is shown connected to a Fiber 320A and to the PSTN 350 through a trunking media gateway 340. (VoIP over cable under the PacketCable standard differs from VoIP services provided over the Internet in that the service is not delivered over the public Internet but over a managed IP network.)
The access network 315A connects a subscriber's cable modem (CM) 305A and multimedia (or media) terminal adapter (MTA) 310A to the CMTS 320A at the cable headend. The MTA 310A handles voice compression, packetization, security, and call signaling to support a standard telephone 300A and a fax machine (not shown) through an RJ-11 connector. An MTA 310A may be designed to be either a separate standalone device or to be embedded within the CM 305A (an EMTA). The MTA 310A and the CM 305A are assigned separate media access control (MAC) and IP addresses even if the elements are integrated into a single device.
The CMTS 320A uses the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) 1.1 protocol (also issued by Cable Television Laboratories, Inc.) on the access network 315A to manage access network resources for PacketCable services. Access network 315A resources are first reserved when service is requested, then committed when service is delivered, and finally released when the service has completed. Softswitch 330 manages and maintains a call state for VoIP services and controls the MTA 310A.
The PacketCable Specification specifies various devices for signaling, call control, and connectivity. A signaling gateway (SG) provides SS7 signaling to the PSTN. A media gateway controller (MGC) provides signaling to the media gateways, such as the cable modem termination system (CMTS) and the media gateway (MG). The MG provides connectivity to the PSTN. A call management system (CMS) provides call control within the network, primarily call setup and tear down.
FIG. 3 illustrates a number of these components. By way of illustration, softswitch 330 provides signaling gateway (SG), media gateway control (MGC), and CM functionality. The softswitch functions as the center for call control. It provides call features, maintains call state, and controls every call setup and teardown. Additionally, the softswitch has full control over the residential gateways in the network and routes calls to the appropriate destinations, such as to other MTAs or traditional phones. This functionality is provided by two subsystems, a call agent (CA) 332 and an element management system 336 (EMS).
CA 332 provides call logic and call control functions, maintaining call state for every call in the network, and performs the CMS, MGC, and SG functions specified in the PacketCable Specification. The CA 332 includes service logic for supplementary services, such as, Caller ID, Call Waiting, and also interacts with application servers to supply services that are not directly hosted on the call agent. The CA 332 participates in signaling and device control flows originating, terminating or forwarding messages. There are numerous relevant protocols in use on the call agent, including: SIP, MGCP/NCS, SS7, and AIN. Call agents also produce details of each call to support billing and reconciliation.
The EMS 336 is a mediation device between a network management system (NMS) (not illustrated) and a call agent 332. The EMS 336 facilitates the provisioning, administration, reporting, and billing features of the softswitch 330.
On-net to off-net calls are handled by trunking media gateway 340. The trunking media gateway 340 connects directly to a CLEC switch (class 4 or 5) and provides a gateway between a digital phone network and the PSTN 350.
The CA 332 interacts with the MTA 310A and other functional entities to establish calls by using the device control functions provided by network-based call signaling (NCS) Protocol. A gate controller (GC) (not illustrated) maintains a policy database and interacts with the MTA 310A and the gate function of the CMTS 320A to coordinate the quality-of-service (QoS) authorization, admission control, and related channel attributes configuration.
Several different types of signaling are deployed in a digital phone network. All of the signaling protocols work together to push a call through the network.
Media gateway control protocols are used by the media gateway controller (MGC) to control media gateways in a digital phone network. Media Gateway Control Protocol (MGCP) also known as RFC2705/RFC 3435 is a Network Working Group specification. Megaco, also known as H.248, was co-developed by the ITU and the Megaco Working Group. The Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) was developed to control various SIP-enabled end devices. If a media gateway is SIP-enabled, then SIP becomes a media gateway control protocol. The Common Open Policy Service (COPS) is used between the softswitch and CMTS for gate-control communication.
At the subscriber level, network-based call signaling (NCS) is used. NCS is a simplified version of MGCP developed specifically to control embedded digital phone client devices in a PacketCable environment.
The network services signaling protocols allow the softswitch to communicate with other networks. The primary protocols used for this purpose are Signaling System 7 (SS7) as illustrated in FIG. 3 (345), SIP and/or CMSS. SS7 is the network service signaling protocol that supports softswitch communications with the PSTN. SIP is designed to control SIP enabled endpoints. Any device in the network can be a SIP endpoint, even another softswitch. Various telecommunications service providers are implementing SIP soft switches as an alternative to SS7.
The PacketCable specifications uses SIP with extensions that support local and custom local area signaling services (CLASS) services generally supported in a telephony network. This protocol is referred to as Call Management Server Signaling (CMSS).
IP communications use the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP) and the Real-time Transport Control Protocol (RTCP) to negotiate the connections between IP devices. RTP provides end-to-end network transport functions for applications transmitting real-time data, such as audio, video or simulation data, over multicast or unicast network services. RTP does not address resource reservation and does not guarantee quality-of service for real-time services. The data transport is augmented by the RTCP control protocol that allows monitoring of the data delivery in a manner scalable to large multicast networks while providing minimal control and identification functionality. RTP and RTCP are designed to be independent of the underlying transport and network layers.
Bearer connectivity refers to the connection of the physical interfaces that actually carry the voice traffic. As previously noted, signaling traffic is carried separately from voice traffic. In a true digital phone network, all data (voice and data) traffic would be carried over an IP-based infrastructure. However, since today's telephone network is made up of time division multiplexed (TDM) connections, there must be a mechanism to pass traffic to the TDM network as well as the IP network.
From a cable operator's perspective, there are two types of telephone calls. On-Net Calls are calls that are carried entirely on the digital phone network and do not interface with the PSTN. Off-Net calls are calls that must traverse the PSTN to reach their destination. Off-net calls are carried through the trunking media gateway to the PSTN. The trunking media gateway translates the IP voice packets into the TDM format and sends them out to the PSTN. The connection between the trunking media gateway and the PSTN is through inter-machine trunks or IMTs. IMTs are generally high bandwidth (DS3) connections that connect directly to the CLEC Class 5 switch.
One of the components of the telephone switch is a dial plan. A dial plan provides the basic functionality to meet customer requirements for calling and called number analysis. The rule set used by a switch to determine, for every combination of calling party and dialed digits, how to route the call (e.g. international, long distance, toll, local, on-net, off-net or "vacant code") is called a dial plan. Calls that are determined to be "on-net" are routed according to the "on-net" components of the dial plan.
The dial plan specifies what types of service requests can be accommodated by a telephone switch based on the call setup information, the calling number, the called number, and the routes, trunk groups, and trunks (individual circuits) available to the telephone switch. The dial plan determines how each and every call that comes into telephone switch is processed.
As calls arrive in the call processing system, the originating and terminating telephone numbers along with other data are evaluated to determine what call processing actions will be taken. Various actions can be implemented, such as call acceptance or rejection based on the calling or called number, what call control instructions are used, whether the call is on-net or off-net, and, for off-net calls, which egress trunk (or circuit) is ultimately selected to carry the call.
A typical dial plan is a single file organized as a set of tables, each in a different section. The different sections are linked lists of values to be used after number analysis is completed.
The North American Numbering Plan (NANP), on which all U.S. telephone numbers are currently based, is an integrated telephone numbering plan serving nineteen North American countries that share its resources. The NANP is administered by a North American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA). NANP numbers are ten-digit numbers consisting of a three-digit Numbering Plan Area (NPA) code, commonly called an area code, followed by a three digit central office code, also known as exchanges or prefixes, and a four-digit local, or line, number. The format is usually represented as NPA-NXX-XXXX where N is any digit from 2 through 9 and X is any digit from 0 through 9. Each area code is divided geographically into rate centers, geographic areas that are billed as if they were a single location.
Rate centers are a holdover from the days when a separate switch was needed for almost every community, and so calls between communities—even within a LATA—were "rated" as toll calls. When each rate center corresponded to a discrete switch, every rate center/switch needed its own NXX. Currently, a single Class 5 typically serves multiple rate centers. By way of illustration, in Maine, 133 rate centers are served by 15 host switches and 13 smaller switches.
Despite the technological realities, the rate center concept still determines the numbering scheme of the wired telephone system. Currently, two different rate centers served out of the same Class 5 switch must each have their own NXX, no matter how few lines each represents. The reason is that the prefix designates the local switching equipment. When a call is placed to NPA-NXX-XXXX, the telephone network examines the area code and prefix in order to route the call to the correct switch. The far-end switch then selects the correct line based on the line number. Because carriers do not typically share a local switch, each prefix must designate both the wire center, the location of the switch, and the carrier.
The numbering plan is not static. Area codes are added (either by splitting an existing area into two NPAs or overlaying a second area code on a single NPA) to accommodate number shortages and because of competitive demands. Alternatively, rate centers can be consolidated to make more efficient use of the blocks of numbers that are issued under a single area code or added. Such changes have a significant impact on the way telephone switches are configured. Dial-plans, in particular, are huge tables of routing rules that undergo significant churn in response to these changes to the NANP.
By way of illustration, an 878 NPA was added in Pennsylvania to serve the same area served by the 412 and 724 area codes. With the overlay, a new dial plan was implemented requiring that after a "permissive period" all calls within the 412, 724 and 878 areas were to be dialed as 10-digits, and all calls outside 412, 724, and 878 were to be dialed as 1+10-digits. While the change was made to a region in Pennsylvania, all telephone switching systems were required to be modified to reflect the new NPA in the dial plan and to require 10-digit and 1+ten-digit dialing. Had the 878 NPA been added by splitting one of the other two NPAs, the impact on dial plans would have been more significant.
A telephone switch also generates billing information based on the service types defined in the dial plan. Off-net service types typically fall within one of the following groups:                "Offshore" NPAs—calls terminating at an NPA outside a rate center LATA and outside a single-rate long distance service plan.        Long Distance NPAs—calls terminating at an NPA outside a rate center LATA that are within a single-rate long distance service plan.        Intra-LATA Toll—calls terminating at an NPA within a rate center LATA that are outside the local calling area and are billed at local toll rate.        Intra-LATA Local—calls terminating at an NPA within a rate center LATA that are within the local calling area that are not subject to toll charges.        Inter-LATA Local—calls terminating at an NPA outside a rate center LATA that are within the local calling area that are not subject to toll charges.
The service types are established by industry representatives and reflected in reports issued by the NANPA. LATAs are defined by NANPA. But local calling areas are actually defined by each local service provider's local service tariffs. Typically, service providers mimic the ILEC/RBOC tariffs with regard to local calling areas, since the end users are accustomed to the ILEC's tariffs.
A telephone switch dial plan must be modified to accommodate changes in the NANP as, for example, changes in the NPA and changes in the rate center. Otherwise, a call may not be completed and/or a call may not be properly billed. By way of illustration, assume that the NXX code 995 is established within the 212 NPA within a LATA 132. Since calls from outside LATA 132 are routed based only upon the 3-digit NPA (assuming a ten-digit dialing area), this new NXX does not present connect problems for calls originating from outside LATA 132. However, for a call originating within a LATA, the NPA and the NXX are required to determine whether a call is local or toll. Until the telephone switch is updated to incorporate a rule for routing calls to the new NXX code of 995, a switch serving LATA 132 will not process calls originating within LATA 132 to the 212-995 exchange, and will instead route calls to a "your call cannot be completed as dialed" announcement.
What would be useful is a dial plan generator that would receive data reflecting changes in the NANP and produce instructions in a form executable by a telephone switch to implement those changes.


An image processor accurately executes area separation using small block size image data. The image processor includes a wavelet transforming circuit which converts input image data into a plurality of band-limited image data, and an edge detecting circuit detects edge information in the image data based upon the band-limited image data. A character-area detecting circuit detects character areas in the image data from the distribution of the edge information, and an expansion/contraction circuit unifies the character areas based upon the detected character-area information.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus. More particularly, the invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus, for use in a facsimile machine or copier, through which an input image is separated into a variety of images, as in the manner of a character area and a non-character area, and processing the separated input image as encoding is executed for each area into which the image has been separated.
2. Description of the Related Art
A method that relies upon the distribution of high-frequency components contained in an image often is used as a method of separating the image into character and non-character areas. This method is as follows:
(1) the image is separated into m.times.n blocks; PA1 (2) edge blocks are detected by a Laplacian operation; PA1 (3) the edge blocks are counted; and PA1 (4) based upon the relationship between the number n of edge blocks and a threshold value T, the m.times.n blocks are discriminated in the following manner: a block is a character block if n>T holds, and a block is a non-character image block if n.ltoreq.T holds.
Further, a color facsimile apparatus in which character areas and non-character areas are encoded by an appropriate method has been proposed see Ser. No. 631,145 (filed on Dec. 20, 1990) and Ser. No. 651,030 (Feb. 5, 1991)!.
However, a problem encountered in the prior art described above is that when the size of the m.times.n blocks is small, it is difficult to distinguish between an edge portion of a character area and an edge portion of a non-character area. This means that when an attempt is made to perform precise discrimination, a fairly large block size is required. This is disadvantageous in that large-scale hardware becomes necessary.
Furthermore, when conventional block processing of the kind described above is executed, edge detection is difficult if an edge is present at the boundary between one cell of m.times.n blocks and an adjacent cell of m.times.n blocks. A problem arises that a character area may be judged as being a non-character area.
Another problem in the aforementioned prior art is that the portion underlying a character area (namely a color or pattern underlying the character area) vanishes, resulting in part of the image information being lost.

Image processing method and apparatus which separates an input image into character and non-character areas

c/o Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, 30-2, Shimomaruko 3-chome


A piston for use in a liquid inertia vibration elimination (“LIVE”) system. The piston includes a port that extends from a first end of the piston to an opposite second end of the piston, wherein a length of the port is longer than a length between the first and second ends of the piston.

The present disclosure relates in general to vibration control. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a novel compact design of an apparatus for isolating mechanical vibrations in structures or bodies that are subject to harmonic or oscillating displacements or forces. The apparatus of the present disclosure is well suited for use in the field of aircraft, in particular, helicopters and other rotary wing aircraft.
For many years, effort has been directed toward the design of an apparatus for isolating a vibrating body from transmitting its vibrations to another body. Such apparatuses are useful in a variety of technical fields in which it is desirable to isolate the vibration of an oscillating or vibrating device, such as an engine, from the remainder of the structure. Typical vibration isolation and attenuation devices ("isolators") employ various combinations of the mechanical system elements (springs and mass) to adjust the frequency response characteristics of the overall system to achieve acceptable levels of vibration in the structures of interest in the system. One field in which these isolators find a great deal of use is in aircraft, wherein vibration-isolation systems are utilized to isolate the fuselage or other portions of an aircraft from mechanical vibrations, such as harmonic vibrations, which are associated with the propulsion system, and which arise from the engine, transmission, and propellers or rotors of the aircraft.
Vibration isolators are distinguishable from damping devices in the prior art that are erroneously referred to as "isolators." A simple force equation for vibration is set forth as follows:F=m{umlaut over (x)}+c{umlaut over (x)}+kx
A vibration isolator utilizes inertial forces (m{umlaut over (x)}) to cancel elastic forces (kx). On the other hand, a damping device is concerned with utilizing dissipative effects (c{dot over (x)}) to remove energy from a vibrating system.
One important engineering objective during the design of an aircraft vibration-isolation system is to minimize the length, weight, and overall size including cross-section of the isolation device. This is a primary objective of all engineering efforts relating to aircraft. It is especially important in the design and manufacture of helicopters and other rotary wing aircraft, such as tilt rotor aircraft, which are required to hover against the dead weight of the aircraft, and which are, thus, somewhat constrained in their payload in comparison with fixed-wing aircraft.
Another important engineering objective during the design of vibration-isolation systems is the conservation of the engineering resources that have been expended in the design of other aspects of the aircraft or in the vibration-isolation system. In other words, it is an important industry objective to make incremental improvements in the performance of vibration isolation systems which do not require radical re-engineering or complete redesign of all the components which are present in the existing vibration-isolation systems.
A marked departure in the field of vibration isolation, particularly as applied to aircraft and helicopters is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,236,607, titled "Vibration Suppression System," issued on Dec. 2, 1980, to Halwes, et al. ("Halwes '607"). Halwes '607 is incorporated herein by reference. Halwes '607 discloses a vibration isolator, in which a dense, low-viscosity fluid is used as the "tuning" mass to counterbalance, or cancel, oscillating forces transmitted through the isolator. This isolator employs the principle that the acceleration of an oscillating mass is 180° out of phase with its displacement.
In Halwes '607, it was recognized that the inertial characteristics of a dense, low-viscosity fluid, combined with a hydraulic advantage resulting from a piston arrangement, could harness the out-of-phase acceleration to generate counter-balancing forces to attenuate or cancel vibration. Halwes '607 provided a much more compact, reliable, and efficient isolator than was provided in the prior art. The original dense, low-viscosity fluid contemplated by Halwes '607 was mercury, which is toxic and highly corrosive.
Since Halwes' early invention, much of the effort in this area has been directed toward replacing mercury as a fluid or to varying the dynamic response of a single isolator to attenuate differing vibration modes. An example of the latter is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,439,082, titled "Hydraulic Inertial Vibration Isolator," issued on Aug. 8, 1995, to McKeown, et al. ("McKeown '082"). McKeown '082 is incorporated herein by reference. An example of the former is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,022,600, titled "High-Temperature Fluid Mounting", issued on Feb. 8, 2000, to Schmidt et al. ("Schmidt '600"). Schmidt '600 is incorporated herein by reference.
Several factors affect the performance and characteristics of the Halwes-type isolator, including the density and viscosity of the fluid employed, the relative dimensions of components of the isolator, and the like. One improvement in the design of such isolators is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,983, titled "Method and Apparatus for Improved Vibration Isolation," issued on Jan. 4, 2000, to Stamps et al. ("Stamps '983"). In Stamps '983, a compound radius at each end of the tuning port was employed to provide a marked improvement in the performance of the isolator. Stamps '983 is incorporated herein by reference.
Another area of improvement in the design of the Halwes-type isolator has been in an effort directed toward a means for changing the isolator's frequency in order to increase the isolator's effectiveness during operation. One development in the design of such isolators is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,531, titled "Vibration Isolation System," issued on Jul. 25, 1995, to Smith et al. ("Smith '531"). Smith '531 is incorporated herein by reference. In Smith '531, an axially extendable sleeve is used in the inner wall of the tuning port in order to change the length of the tuning port, thereby changing the isolation frequency. Another development in the design of tunable Halwes-type isolators was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,596, titled "Vibration Isolation System," issued on Jan. 6, 1998, to Smith et al. ("Smith '596"). Smith '596 is incorporated herein by reference. In Smith '596, a sleeve is used in the inner wall of the tuning port in order to change the cross sectional area of the tuning port itself, thereby changing the isolation frequency during operation. Both Smith '531 and Smith '596 were notable attempts to actively tune the isolator.
Another development in the area of vibration isolation is the tunable vibration isolator disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,106, titled "Method and Apparatus for Improved Vibration Isolation," issued on Feb. 24, 2004, to Smith et al ("Smith '106"). Smith '106 is incorporated herein by reference.
An additional development in the area of vibration isolation is the external tuning port disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/240,797, titled "Liquid Inertia Vibration Elimination System," filed on Aug. 18, 2016, which is incorporated herein by reference. Although the foregoing developments represent great strides in the area of vibration isolation, the desire for more compact designs remains.

Compact design of a liquid inertia vibration elimination system


Systems and methods are disclosed for detecting whether a battery in an electronic device is counterfeit or defective. An actual battery characteristic profile is generated by recording the performance of the battery during use of the battery by the device. This profile is then compared to its corresponding expected characteristic profile. If the profiles are not substantially similar (i.e. if the error between the two curves exceeds a given error threshold), the battery is determined to be counterfeit or defective and responsive action is taken.

Counterfeit batteries pose a significant concern to manufacturers or sellers of portable electronic devices. The appeal of counterfeit batteries to a consumer is often their reduced cost and their alleged "improved" performance. Of particular concern, however, are situations in which the reduced cost is the result of the omission of safety features. In some cases, not only may a counterfeit battery pose a risk of damage to the portable electronic device, the counterfeit battery may pose a risk of bodily injury to a user of the portable electronic device.
Batteries that are defective may raise similar concerns. The term "defective" as used herein means "not up to specification," and does not necessarily indicate any potential hazard of bodily injury or property damage. Further, as used herein, "defective" may indicate that a single battery is not up to specification for any reason, including imperfections during manufacturing and imperfections acquired after manufacturing. Also, as used herein, "defective" is not used to connote any sort of fault in the creation of the defect, as the cause of the imperfection may be due to actions by anyone, or by the actions of no one.

System and method for detecting counterfeit and defective batteries using battery characteristic profiles


A service control point (SCP) (140) associated with a public-switched telephone network (PSTN) (110) includes a service logic module (210-N+1) and a network interface (215). The service logic module (210-N+1) enables the service control point (SCP) (140) to establish a connection with an Internet Protocol (IP) application server (120) via a transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP) network (105). The network interface (215) communicates via the connection to integrate telephony services between the PSTN (110) and the TCP/IP network (105).

At present, telephony service applications are partitioned between the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and Internet Protocol (IP) networks. That is, the PSTN, either at a service switching point (SSP) or a service control point (SCP), does not look to an IP-based application server to augment its call processing procedures. Likewise, voice over IP (VoIP) approaches assume that control, or responsibility, for a call has been completely transferred to an IP-based application server. The emphasis in interworking has been in the signaling and control plane, not the application plane. For example, PSTN subscribers are currently offered telephony services, such as Call Waiting and Call Forwarding, through features that are provided by Central Office Switching Systems vendors and their local exchange carriers. In addition, the Advanced Intelligent network (AIN) offers PSTN users an advanced set of enhanced telephony services through the use of AIN Triggers during the originating or terminating points in a call. The SCP conventionally runs service logic based on the AIN triggers and instructs the SSP on call completion.
Furthermore, VoIP may include calls originating or terminating on-IP network and calls originating or terminating off-IP network. In cases where the PSTN is involved, this usually means that a call starts or ends in the PSTN, but is sent to the IP network via a PSTN/IP gateway. Once the call transfers through this gateway, application layer responsibility for the call moves to the IP-based application server. This server works independently of the SCP. This approach, thus, is inherently inefficient for incumbent PSTN carriers and requires the deployment of an IP network capable of meeting the business/service requirements associated with voice traffic and services. Furthermore, considering the disjoint nature of PSTN/VoIP application layer evolution, no attention has been paid toward finding methods and systems to allow the application layer components in each environment (network) to leverage the developments of the other.
Therefore, there exists a need for systems and methods that can implement an integrated telephony service infrastructure that has the capability to leverage and build on the embedded AIN infrastructure and the PSTN customer base with IP application.

Systems and methods for integrating PSTN and IP application platforms to enable advanced telephony services


An ultrasonic sensor includes a cylindrical outer case with a bottom and a piezoelectric element fixed to the inner side of the bottom portion of the outer case. A ring-shaped inner case having a central hole extending in the axial direction in the central portion thereof is disposed inside the sidewall portion of the outer case. A flat or substantially flat portion is provided around the central hole of the inner case, and a viscoelastic filler is arranged so as to extend from the central hole to the flat or substantially flat portion of the inner case. A tabular member is disposed on the flat or substantially flat portion so as to face the flat or substantially flat portion with the filler interposed therebetween. When the inner case vibrates, shear deformation occurs in the filler interposed between the flat or substantially flat portion and the tabular member since the tabular member is not substantially deformed, and the vibration is reduced by the viscoelastic damping effect.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ultrasonic sensors used as, for example, obstacle detection sensors, such as car-mounted rear sonar devices and corner sensors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ultrasonic sensors capable of transmitting and receiving ultrasonic waves have been used as obstacle detection sensors, such as car-mounted rear sonar devices. As shown in FIG. 15, such an ultrasonic sensor includes a cylindrical case 100 with a bottom and a piezoelectric element 101 bonded to the inner side of the bottom portion, such that the bottom portion of the case 100 functions as a vibrating surface. A terminal holder 104 that holds metallic terminals 102 and 103 is fixed inside the case 100, and a viscoelastic filler 105 is disposed in a recessed portion formed by the terminal holder 104 and the sidewall of the case 100. A sound absorber 106 is disposed at the inner side (adjacent to the piezoelectric element) of the terminal holder 104. Spring terminals 107 and 108 are attached to the metallic terminals 102 and 103, respectively. The spring terminal 107 is in contact with an electrode on the rear surface of the piezoelectric element 101, and the spring terminal 107 is in contact with the inner surface of the case 100. When a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 101, the piezoelectric element 101 is induced to vibrate in radial directions or in the thickness direction thereof, and the vibrating surface of the case 100 vibrates so as to emit ultrasonic waves into the air. Once the case 100 resonates, the vibration continues to some extent even when electrical signals to the piezoelectric element 101 are cut off. This phenomenon is referred to as reverberation. When the reverberation continues for a long period of time, sound waves reflected from target objects cannot be accurately detected because the sound waves are hidden in the reverberation signals, and a resolution of minimum distances to detected obstacles cannot be improved.
To reduce the reverberation, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-146879 discloses a method for reducing variations in reverberation characteristics by setting the hardness of a sealing silicone resin disposed inside a case in a predetermined range. However, the physical properties of such a hardened body of silicone resin vary widely, and it is difficult to reduce variations among manufactured products. Therefore, it is very difficult to control the manufacturing process, and the reverberation characteristics may in fact be impaired and the characteristics may vary more widely when the manufacturing process is not closely controlled.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2-36700 discloses an ultrasonic sensor that reduces residual vibration by providing a vibration isolator on a piezoelectric element and the entire inner surface of a cylindrical case and by providing an elastic member inside the cylindrical case so as to prevent resonance of the air inside the case. In this structure, a terminal plate is fixed to an opening of the cylindrical case, and the case and the terminal plate vibrate in an integrated manner. Thus, the vibration of the side surface of the case cannot be sufficiently reduced, and the reverberation cannot be sufficiently reduced.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-343660 discloses an ultrasonic sensor including a cylindrical case with a bottom, the sidewall portion of the case having a double structure including an inner peripheral wall and an outer peripheral wall, and an elastic body enclosed in a hollow portion between the inner peripheral wall and the outer peripheral wall. This ultrasonic sensor has an effect of preventing vibration of the sidewall portion of the case causing reverberation from being amplified by reducing mutual interference between the vibration of a bumper of a vehicle body and the vibration of the sidewall portion of the case causing reverberation using a damping effect of the elastic body enclosed in the hollow portion of the sidewall portion of the case. However, the ultrasonic sensor cannot effectively reduce the vibration transmitted to the sidewall portion of the case and causing reverberation itself.


Methods, systems, and computer program products for composing applications on a mobile device are provided herein. A method includes exposing multiple capabilities from a set of multiple applications installed on an operating system of a user device to a configuration module executing on the operating system of the user device; defining one or more rules associated with using each of the multiple exposed capabilities; and invoking a combination of two or more of the multiple exposed capabilities, based on said one or more defined rules, to execute a user-defined task, wherein said invoking is executed by a super application executing on the operating system of the user device.

Mobile devices such as smart phones have become powerful devices in terms of both hardware and software features. Additionally, mobile devices can commonly incorporate a variety of applications across multiple platforms, facilitating a rapid growth in applications. Within the mobile device context, applications often request privileges from the device such as access to messages and the ability to enable or disable features such as Wi-Fi, global positioning system (GPS), etc. Additionally, applications on mobile devices commonly have limited awareness regarding other applications on the same mobile device. Applications that interact and/or communicate with one or more other applications are often designed by the same developer and/or organization as complementing features. As such, applications commonly do not have the ability to respond to input/output from other applications unless such ability is hardcoded into the application(s) by design.

Composing applications on a mobile device

International Business Machines Corporation


A system, apparatus and method for generating or modifying a display of objects using a “drag and drop” metaphor and coupling that to the processing of data records in a database. This results in a modification of the underlying records as needed to reflect the changes to the arrangement or ordering of content representing a set of objects.

The sorting and classification of data records is a basic operation that has uses in many different types of applications and systems. Sorting and classification can be used to identify trends, order or reorder a list of data, present information in a desired format based on one or more characteristics, assist in identifying trends or events of interest, etc. However, even though of great use, implementing a sorting or classification operation can become quite complicated, as an effective one may depend on one or more of the type of data being operated on, the format(s) of the data, the method in which data is stored or displayed, the forms of display available, a user's understanding of, and facility with, a particular display format or paradigm, etc.
In some situations, the sorting and classification of multiple numbers of data objects based on a single or multiple parameters (such as a category or sort order) is conventionally only possible via inline editing or bulk export and re-import of data to a spreadsheet type program (or other dedicated program) that has native sorting capabilities. However, current conventional sorting mechanisms/processes are often time consuming and laborious, and have to be visually checked, often in a more native and unintuitive view than the data object view in which the sorting is desired to take place. This makes many sorting operations both inefficient and also prone to error or misunderstanding on the part of a user.
Embodiments of the invention are directed toward solving these and other problems individually and collectively.

System and methods for implementing visual interface for use in sorting and organizing records


A side airbag system for a vehicle has a primary airbag and a secondary airbag at least partially surrounding the primary airbag. The primary airbag comprises at least one primary vent venting into the secondary airbag and the secondary airbag comprises at least one secondary vent. The primary airbag is inflated by an inflator and the secondary airbag is inflated by gases leaving the primary airbag through the primary vent. The secondary airbag has a panel overlying the primary vent, and inflation of the primary airbag urges the vent and panel in an outboard direction against outboard vehicle structure to restrict flow through the vent. The inflation rates of the primary and secondary airbags are thereby controlled such that the primary airbag protects a vehicle occupant against impacts with a localized load profile and the primary and secondary airbags together protect the occupant against impacts with a distributed load profile.

FIG. 1 shows two different collision impact scenarios that may occur to the side 10 of a vehicle in which an occupant 40 may be sitting on a seat 50. FIG. 1A depicts a pole event in which the side 10 of the vehicle may impact a pole 20. The vehicle may impact the pole at a high speed and the pole may be directly aligned with the occupant. As denoted by the dashed lines, the pole 20′ may deform the side 10′ of the vehicle during the impact. The deformation of the vehicle side 10′ results in a localized intrusion into a vehicle cabin 30.
By contrast, FIG. 1B depicts a vehicle-to-vehicle type event in which the side 10 of the vehicle may impact another vehicle 60. As denoted by the dashed lines, the other vehicle 60 may deform the side 10″ of the vehicle during the impact. The deformation of the vehicle side 10″ results in an intrusion into the vehicle cabin 30, which is spread over a wider area than the intrusion with the pole event.
As shown in FIG. 2, such intrusions into the vehicle cabin 30 may be mitigated against by a Side Air Bag (SAB) 60. The SAB 60 may be provided in the seat 50 and may be inflated by an inflator 70 when an impact has been detected. However, with a conventional SAB it is difficult to balance the performance requirements for all side impact events. For example, the pole event will require very fast deployment of the SAB between the occupant and the intruding pole and/or vehicle structure. A suitably high and rapid internal bag pressure is desirable to distribute the load across the occupant torso and avoid the intruding structure pressing through the bag and locally point loading the occupant.
By contrast, in the case of a vehicle impacting the side of the vehicle, although the impact speed may be similar the intrusion rate and load profile will be different. As a result, a vehicle-to-vehicle impact may require the working bag pressure later in the collision event.
However, if the SAB is optimized for the pole event the bag may be under pressure for the vehicle impact, as the SAB may have reached its peak pressure and started to deflate. Conversely, if the SAB is optimized for the vehicle impact the bag may be under pressurized for the pole event.