A surge protector module is provided with a housing with an internal space, a separator disposed within the housing which divides the internal space into first and second spaces within the housing, and a surge protection device. The surge protection device has a surge protector mounted within the first space and a disconnect mechanism operable to conductively disconnect one of the terminals of the surge protector from one of the terminals of the surge protection device in the presence of a prolonged overvoltage surge across the terminals of the surge protector. A combustion-retardant material is disposed within the housing of the surge protector module so that it occupies only the first space within the housing, leaving the second space within the housing substantially free of the combustion-retardant material, and the disconnect mechanism is disposed in the second space in which no combustion-retardant material is disposed. Consequently, the presence of the combustion-retardant material does not interfere with the operation of the disconnect mechanism.

The invention is directed to an electrical surge protector having a protective enclosure to inhibit catastrophic failure of the surge protector.
Surge protection devices are used to protect components and power systems from prolonged overvoltage surges, such as those caused by lightning for example. During a prolonged overvoltage surge, a surge protection device provides temporary surge protection of a component by shunting the overvoltage surge to ground or neutral. A prolonged overvoltage surge may cause a surge protection device to overheat, thus presenting a fire hazard.
Very high voltage surges, such as those caused by nearby lightning strikes, can cause violent failure of a surge protection device, raising the temperature of the surge protection device and adjacent areas to levels well above combustion temperature for most materials. This high temperature, combined with integral or adjacent combustible materials, and the oxygen in the air adjacent the device can combine in an exothermic reaction causing burning of the device, and subsequent catastrophic damage to equipment, buildings, and personnel.
One method that has previously been used to overcome this danger is to place an enclosure around the components of the surge protection device, and then fill the cavity surrounding the components with a combustion-retardant substance, such as dry electrical-grade silica. The dry electrical-grade silica displaces the air (which contains oxygen) within the cavity, eliminating a critical component of the exothermic reaction, and also provides thermal capacitance to absorb the heat generated by the transient voltage spike, thus protecting adjacent equipment, even if the surge protection device is destroyed.
Recently, perhaps because of power utility deregulation, more power "swells," events where sustained power line voltages greater than the nominal power voltage plus normal regulation (e.g., 240 VAC +10%), are occurring. When these swells exceed the maximum continuous operating voltage of the surge protection device, the device conducts high currents for sustained periods of time, causing prolonged heating and subsequent failure of the enclosure, even when it is filled with dry electrical-grade silica. After the enclosure fails, air permeates the environment, providing oxygen for combustion, and serious fires may result.
Surge protection devices often contain indicator lights, such as light emitting diodes, which are lit when the surge protection device is intact, but extinguish when the device has failed. Since the indicator light is inside the housing of the surge protection device, a viewing port or hole, either exposing the indicator light, or covered by a clear membrane, is provided so that an observer may view the light. If a surge or swell occurs when the viewer is looking at the light, the hot gas generated by the event will expand rapidly and vent through the viewing port, potentially causing bodily harm to the viewer.

Electrical surge protector with protective enclosure


A printing system which can automatically detect the length of paper fed into the system and control the system based upon the detected length of the paper. The printing system has a paper driver for conveying papers loaded at the initial stage of printing by a preset step unit in response to a conveyance control signal, and a paper feeder for outputting loaded paper size selection information and feeding the loaded papers to the initial stage of the paper driver in response to a paper feed control signal, a paper sensor located on a forefront of the paper driver which detects the leading and trailing ends of the paper, and a controller for outputting the paper feed control signal in response to a printing command, allowing the printing operation, outputting the conveyance control signal, transferring the paper, counting the number of transfer steps in an interval where a paper detection signal is enabled, calculating the counted number as paper length, comparing the value of paper length with a value of a paper length corresponding to the paper size selection information, and completing the printing operation.

The present invention generally relates to a printing system and a method of controlling the printing system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a printing system and method which controls paper conveyance using a step motor and automatically detects the size of paper fed into the system before performing the printing operation.
In a conventional printing system, such as a drum printer or capstan printer, print media is conveyed (e.g., via a step motor) to a print head so that input images can be printed on the paper.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional printing system for controlling the paper conveyance in which the capstan-driving technique is employed. The printing system includes: paper cassette 12 on which sheets of paper are stacked; paper feeding motor 14 which conveys the paper loaded on paper cassette 12; paper driving portion which consists of platen 22, capstan roller 18, and step motor 24; and a paper output portion with paper output motor 26; and central processing unit (CPU) 16 that controls paper feeding motor 14, step motor 24, and paper output motor 26 by analyzing the paper selection information from paper cassette 12. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 20 denotes a pinch roller which rotates with the turning of the capstan roller 18.
The conventional printing system shown in FIG. 1 receives information as to the size of the paper loaded in paper cassette 12. This paper size information is entered by a user through the paper selector switch on paper cassette 12. A sensor installed in the printing system senses the paper size information and transmits it to CPU 16.
CPU 16 stores the paper size information transmitted from the sensor in its internal memory and controls paper feeding by computing the paper conveyance distance from the paper size information in response to a command to start printing. Typical paper sizes include Letter-, A4- and OA4(oversize A4)-sized sheets of paper, and the CPU 16 stores in a memory, information about the paper conveyance distances X, Y and Z according to the paper sizes/types.
When the paper size information is transmitted from the sensor under the present condition, the CPU 16 computes a paper feeding distance during printing according to the paper size, and controls paper feed motor 14 to feed the paper into the system. When the paper selector switch on the paper cassette is adjusted for Letter, A4 or OA4 paper sizes, CPU 16 selects the corresponding paper conveyance distance of "X", "Y" or "Z", and controls the amount of paper to be fed into the system by the selected paper conveyance distance. Accordingly, when the paper feeding is completed, CPU 16 assigns a proper print position to the paper according to the paper size information, and allows the printing operation. The amount of paper fed into the system can be regulated by controlling paper feeding motor 14.
Conventional printing systems, which regulate the amount of paper fed into the system according to paper size information from the paper size selector switch have many problems, as set forth in the examples below. The printing system to which the present invention can be most effectively applied will be described, while reviewing these problems. That is, the following description concerns a sublimation color printer which employs the sublimation printing technique and capstan driving technique and uses typical paper sizes of A4--297.times.210 mm; Letter--279.times.216 mm; and OA4--337.times.243 mm. FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 3B and 3C are views for describing the paper feeding problems of conventional techniques.
FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C show the sizes of paper and the differences in paper conveyance distance. FIG. 2A depicts the length of each paper, and FIG. 2B shows the OA4-sized paper location at the initial stage of printing. FIG. 2C depicts each location of the OA4-sized paper and other print media after the paper feeding.
FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C show image outputs on OA4-, A4- and Letter-sized sheets of paper. FIG. 3A describes printing areas of OA4-, A4- and Letter-sized sheets of paper during the normal printing operation, and FIG. 3B is a view for describing a printing area of paper whose size is smaller than the paper selection information in a sublimation color printer. FIG. 3C illustrates printing areas of paper whose size is larger than the paper selection information.
Some of the paper feeding problems of conventional techniques are now described with reference to FIGS. 2A, 2B, 2C, 3A, 3B and 3C. If the size of paper loaded on the paper cassette 12 does not correspond to the paper size information preset in the paper cassette 12, i.e. if the actual size of paper loaded thereon is either smaller or larger than the paper size information of the paper cassette 12, the following problems may occur.
If the paper loaded in paper cassette 12 is Letter- or A4-sized while the paper selector switch of the paper cassette 12 is adjusted for OA4 paper size, or if the paper loaded on the paper cassette 12 is Letter-sized while the paper selector switch of paper cassette 12 is adjusted for A4 paper size, the capstan roller 18 and the pinch roller 20 are still rotated by the step motor 24 even after the paper is delivered to them. This causes the tail of the paper to slip out of the two rollers, and the printing system cannot operate normally.
For example, when the paper loaded on paper cassette 12 is Letter-sized while the paper selector switch of the paper cassette 12 is adjusted for OA4 paper size, the paper fails to be inserted between the capstan roller 18 and the pinch roller 20 during paper feeding so CPU 16 cannot control the printing operation. This problem may also occur when A4-sized paper is loaded in paper cassette 12. Provided the paper conveyance distances X, Y, Z with respect to letter-, A4- and OA4-sized sheets of paper are 269 mm, 287 mm and 327 mm which are smaller than their actual paper lengths of 279 mm, 297 mm and 337 mm by 10 mm, the differences between "Z" and "X", "Z" and "Y", and "Y" and "Z" are 58 mm, 40 mm, 18 mm. Thus, in the above cases, the paper fails to reach capstan roller 18 and pinch roller 20.
The above description is depicted in FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C. FIG. 2A shows the actual lengths of Letter-, A4- and OA4-sized sheets of paper, and FIG. 2B depicts the initial stage of paper feeding in which the OA4-sized paper is inserted between capstan roller 18 and pinch roller 20. The dimension "Z", of FIG. 2B, denotes a distance by which the paper is moved by capstan roller 18. FIG. 2C illustrates the location of the paper that has been moved by distance "Z". As shown in FIG. 2C, the tail of the OA4-sized paper is interposed between the capstan roller 18 and the pinch roller 20 by about 10 mm, and the A4- and Letter-sized sheets of paper fail to remain inserted between the capstan roller 18 and the pinch roller 20 so the printing operation cannot perform normally.
Under these circumstances, even if printing is carried out by preventing the paper from slipping out of the capstan roller 18 and the pinch roller 20 using some type of control device, each paper may have different printing dimensions, and input images cannot be printed without proper alignment.
FIGS. 3A, 3B and 3C show image outputs on OA4-, A4- and Letter-sized sheets of paper during the printing operation under the above condition. FIG. 3A describes printing areas of OA4-, A4- and Letter-sized sheets of paper during the normal printing operation wherein the paper loaded in paper cassette 12 corresponds to the paper size information of paper cassette 12.
In FIG. 3A, L1 and L2 are the differences in image length between OA4 and A4 sheets and between OA4 and Letter sheets. FIG. 3B shows cases where the paper loaded in paper cassette 12 does not correspond to the paper size information of paper cassette 12. In the cases of FIG. 3B, the paper loaded on the paper cassette 12 is either Letter- or A4-sized where the paper selector switch of paper cassette 12 is adjusted for OA4 paper size, or the paper loaded in the paper cassette 12 is Letter-sized while the paper selector switch of paper cassette 12 is adjusted for A4 paper size. In these cases, since the paper size is smaller than the size of an image to be printed, the print length is only C or D which are shorter than the overall image size S. The printing continues for the distances "L1" or "L2", so that the tail of the paper fails to be inserted between the capstan roller 18 and the pinch roller 20. At this point, because the paper selector switch is adjusted for OA4 paper size, the thermal printing head (TPH) keeps on producing heat. Accordingly, the heat produced by the TPH is directly applied to platen 22, damaging platen 22 which causes printing errors. When using a sublimation color printer, this entails a loss on its color ink ribbon by an amount for one-sheet printing. Moreover, the heat from the TPH may reduce the lives of platen 22 and the TPH.
If the paper loaded in paper cassette 12 is larger than the paper selection information of paper cassette 12, i.e. if the paper selector switch is adjusted for Letter paper size and the paper in paper cassette 12 is OA4-sized one, this results in a waste of paper. FIG. 3C illustrates printing areas of OA4-, A4- and Letter-sized sheets of paper when the printing operation is carried out under the above-mentioned condition. As shown in FIG. 3C, even though input images can be printed on the paper, the paper size is too large for the output images, which causes the waste of paper and prevents the input images from being printed on the middle of the paper. Since print media used for the sublimation color printer is very expensive, and it is not easy for users to pay for its upkeep and repair. The heat produced by the TPH affects the durability of the TPH and capstan roller reducing the reliability of the printing system.

Printing system and method automatically detecting paper length and control method thereof


An apparatus comprises at least one processing device. The at least one processing device is configured to detect a write pressure condition by identifying at least a first set of one or more logical storage devices having a first service level objective for which at least one performance metric has a value that exceeds a specified threshold, and responsive to the detected write pressure condition, to identify at least a second set of one or more logical storage devices, having a second service level objective that is lower than the first service level objective, and that are contributing to the detected write pressure condition. The at least one processing device is further configured, for each of the identified logical storage devices of the second set, to provide a write pressure indication to control throttling of write operations directed to that logical storage device of the second set.

Storage arrays and other types of storage systems are often shared by multiple host devices over a network. Applications running on the host devices each include one or more processes that perform the application functionality. The processes issue input-output (IO) operations directed to particular logical storage volumes or other logical storage devices, for delivery by the host devices over selected paths to storage ports of the storage system. Different ones of the host devices can run different applications with varying workloads and associated IO patterns. Such host devices also generate additional IO operations in performing various data services such as migration and replication. In many situations, the IO operations include bursts of write operations that are generated by one or more host devices and sent to the storage system, potentially overwhelming the limited IO queues and other resources that the storage system can allocate for the use of the individual host devices. For example, such bursts of write operations can occur when host devices run applications in-memory, and subsequently destage cached changes in batches. Write bursts in these and other situations can cause the storage system to frequently signal queue-full conditions back to the host devices, which can adversely impact the performance of the host devices.

Write pressure throttling based on service level objectives


A method, system, and program product for controlling multi-node access to a disk storage system. In accordance with the method of the present invention, an active access authorization is set for a first node. The active access authorization enables read and write access by the first node to user and meta data within the disk storage system. A passive access authorization is set for a second node. The passive access authorization enables read-only access by the second node to logical volume management meta data within the disk storage system.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to data storage systems, and in particular to serialized management of shared data storage resources. More particularly, the present invention relates to a limited concurrent access reservation technique that facilitates efficient switching of host access to resources within a data storage volume group.
2. Description of the Related Art
Logical volume management is a common approach to virtualizing disk storage. The set of operating system commands, library subroutines, and other tools that allow a user to establish and control logical volume storage is called the Logical Volume Manager (LVM). Instead of handling data storage management using physical disk partitions, an LVM divides disk space into logical partitions. LVMs offer advantages in facilitating mass data storage accessibility and management including greater flexibility for disk partitioning, on-the-fly resizing of logical volumes, and disk mirroring spanning multiple drives for greater data backup reliability.
A common LVM application is depicted in FIG. 1, which illustrates a high-level representation of LVM functionality within a data storage subsystem 100. The logical layer (i.e. LVM layer) 104 of data storage subsystem 100 controls and coordinates disk resources by mapping data between a simple and flexible logical view of storage space within a designated volume group 108 and the actual physical disks within disk drives 124 and 126. LVM layer 104 does this by using a layer of device driver code, depicted in FIG. 1 as logical volume device driver (LVDD) 110, that runs above traditional physical device drivers, represented in FIG. 1 as host bus adapter 120. The logical view of the storage resources, represented as logical volumes 112a and 112b, is provided to higher-level applications 114 and 116 within an application layer 102, and is independent of the underlying physical disk structure within physical layer 106.
Disk drives 124 and 126 are each designated within LVM layer 104 as a physical volume. In the depicted example, disk drives 124 and 126, are physically represented in LVM layer 104 as physical volumes 118 and 119, respectively. Strictly speaking, a volume group is a designated collection of physical volumes each divided in physical partitions. A logical volume is a collection of one or more logical partitions, each of which can be mapped to any physical partition in the volume group. If mirroring is used, a mirrored logical partition is mapped to two or more physical partitions.
In LVM data storage subsystems, such as data storage subsystem 100, volume groups operate in either a concurrent access mode in which the object volume group is concurrently accessible from more than one host system simultaneously, or in a non-concurrent access mode. In a non-concurrent access mode, hardware reservations are utilized to ensure that volume groups can be accessed online by only one host system.
The hardware reservations in a non-concurrent access volume group pose problems in situations in which it is necessary to switch access control to the volume group from its currently approved host system to another host system. The circumstances under which volume group control switching generally occurs fall under one of two general categories. First, a so-called "failover" situation occurs when an unforseen failure condition in the host system necessitates switching of access control to data resources within the volume group to another host system. Second, the need to switch control of the volume group to another host system may arise in the natural course of data storage system administration. Normally, such administrative switching is accomplished using a "controlled" switchover.
The first step in a controlled switchover is to terminate the current host's processing on the volume group resource by closing the currently running application (a Web server application, for example), deactivating the volume group, including unmounting the resident file system, and releasing the disk reserves. Next, control access is switched to another host node (typically a standby node) by reading volume group meta data to activate the volume group, mounting the file system, and restarting the application on the new host.
When a forced failover is required and the failed node is inaccessible, it is necessary to "break" the physical disk reservations to permit access to the object volume group from an alternate host system. The need to break the disk reservations contributes significantly to the time required to activate the volume group within the hardware/software operating environment of the new host system for an unexpected failover.
By definition, concurrent access volume groups do not share the aforementioned problems associated with breaking and resetting disk reservations or activating the volume group. However, conventional concurrent access volume groups do not provide the same assurance of serial access to logical volumes within a given volume group. Unlike non-current access volume groups in which I/O commands to the resident logical volumes can only be received by the designated (i.e. reserved) host system, concurrent access volume groups only have a limited lock mechanism that advises applications of the current access status for any given volume group.
From the foregoing, it can be appreciated that a need exists for an LVM mechanism enhanced to facilitate switch over of volume groups between host systems, while preserving the advantages of conventional non-concurrent access mechanisms. The present invention addresses such a need.

Limited concurrent host access in a logical volume management data storage environment

International Business Machines Corporation


A multi-stage process and system for formation of a polyarylene sulfide is described. A first polymerization stage of the formation process can include reaction of a sulfide monomer with a dihaloaromatic monomer to form a prepolymer. A second polymerization stage can include further polymerization of the prepolymer with a sulfur-containing monomer and a dihaloaromatic monomer to form a low halogen content polyarylene sulfide. The amount of sulfur utilized in the second polymerization stage is a low fraction of the total amount of sulfur utilized in the multi-stage process.

Polyarylene sulfides are high-performance polymers that may withstand high thermal, chemical, and mechanical stresses and are beneficially utilized in a wide variety of applications. Polyarylene sulfides are generally formed via polymerization of a dihaloaromatic monomer with an alkali metal sulfide or an alkali metal hydrosulfide in an organic amide solvent, forming polymers that include halogen at the termini.
A desire for low halogen content polymers has developed over the last several years. For instance, sulfur-containing polymers with low organically-bound chlorine content are useful in electrical and computer applications. Moreover, the environmental impact of halogens has prompted many industries to examine raw materials with lower halogen content. Attempts have been made to produce low halogen-content sulfur-containing polymers. For instance, higher molecular weight polymers, which have fewer terminal groups and hence lower halogen content, have been used in low halogen applications. Unfortunately, high molecular weight polymers have high melt viscosity, leading to processability problems. Other attempts have included the use of more costly raw materials and chemically removing halogens following formation by use of reducing/nucleophilic reagents, which adds processing steps and costs to the formation process.
What is needed in the art is a method for formation of low halogen content sulfur containing polymers. For instance, methods for the formation of low halogen content sulfur containing polymers having a low melt viscosity and good processability would be of great benefit.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Process for forming low halogen content polyarylene sulfides


A dielectric resonator has a metallic casing having an opening, a metallic cover which covers the opening, and a dielectric resonance element having a pair of flat surfaces formed opposite from each other, one of the pair of flat surfaces being brought into contact with a bottom portion of the casing. At least one of the cover and the bottom portion has a resilient portion which supports the dielectric resonance element and presses one of the pair of flat surfaces by a biasing force so as to follow expansion or contraction of the dielectric resonance element due to a change in temperature. The biasing force applied from the resilient portion is obtained by warping of a portion of the cover or a portion of the bottom portion that one of the pair of flat surfaces or an edge portion of the flat surface contacts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dielectric resonator and a dielectric filter for use in a base station for mobile communication such as portable telephone, a transmitting station for broadcasting, and the like, and to a method of supporting a dielectric resonance element used in the dielectric resonator and the dielectric filter.
2. Related Art of the Invention
In recent years, high-sensitivity transmission/reception performance and good communication quality have become indispensable to portable telephone systems. It is, therefore, required that a filter for use in a base station should have a low-loss transmission characteristic such as to cause substantially no degradation in signal components and a sharp attenuation characteristic such as to reliably remove unnecessary interfering wave components. Also, there has been an increasing demand for reducing the size as well as improving electrical characteristics. An example of filters capable of meeting such a demand is a TM mode dielectric filter using a TM mode dielectric resonator of a high Q-value.
An example of a conventional dielectric resonator and a dielectric filter using the dielectric resonator will be described with reference to drawings. FIG. 9(a) is a cross-sectional view of a conventional TM mode dielectric resonator, FIG. 9(b) is a cross-sectional view of the conventional TM mode dielectric resonator taken along the line B–B′ in FIG. 9(a) and seen from a position above the resonator, and FIG. 10 shows an electromagnetic field distribution in the conventional dielectric resonator. The dielectric resonator has input/output terminals 701a and 701b, input/output probes 702a and 702b, a dielectric resonance element 703, a metallic casing 704, a metallic cover 705, connecting screws 706, and a frequency adjusting screw 707. Arrow 801 indicates an electric force line and arrow 802 indicates a magnetic force line. Input/output probes 702a and 702b are connected to center conductors of the input/output terminals 701a and 701b by soldering or the like.
The dielectric resonance element 703 has a cylindrical shape, is placed substantially at a center of the casing 704, and is pinched between a bottom surface 710 of the casing 704 and the metallic cover 705, with its upper flat surface 709 placed on the metallic cover 705 and its lower flat surface 712 placed on the bottom surface 710. The casing 704 and the metallic cover 705 are fixed on each other by connecting screws 706 to improve the degree of contact for connection between the lower flat surface 712 of the dielectric resonance element 703 and the bottom surface 710 of the casing 704 and the degree of contact for connection between the upper flat surface 709 of the dielectric resonance element 703 and the metallic cover 705 and to improve the reliability of connection between the casing 704 and the metallic cover 705 so that the discontinuity of current flowing through the connecting portions is reduced.
An inner hole 711 is formed in the cylindrical dielectric resonance element 703. The frequency adjusting screw 707 connected to the casing 704 is inserted in the inner hole 711 in which electric force lines 801 are concentrated to change the resonance frequency of the dielectric resonator. A signal input to the input/output terminal 701a is transferred by electromagnetic coupling between the input/output probe 702a and the dielectric resonance element 703 and electromagnetic coupling between the dielectric resonance element 703 and the input/output probe 702b to be output through the input/output terminal 701b. Thus, this dielectric resonator operates as a TM010 mode dielectric resonator (e.g., see Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-22727, Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-22728, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-22729).
In the above-described arrangement, however, a gap occurs between the dielectric resonance element 703 and the metallic casing 704 because of the difference between the linear expansion coefficients thereof when the ambient temperature changes. Considerable changes are thereby caused in the resonance frequency and the Q-value. It is, therefore, difficult to realize a stable resonator and filter. An arrangement has been proposed in which the casing 704 is formed of the same dielectric material as that of the dielectric resonance element 703 to absorb the difference between the linear expansion coefficients of the dielectric resonance element 703 and the metallic casing 704, and in which an electroconductive film is provided on the inner wall (see the above-mentioned patent documents 1 and 3). However, if the casing 704 and the dielectric resonance element 703 are formed of the same dielectric material, the degree of difficulty in manufacturing and the manufacturing cost are increased.
Further, even if a material of a comparatively high conductivity is used as the electroconductive film provided on the inner wall, the conductance of the electroconductive film is lower than that of the metallic casing 704 and the influence on the performance of the resonator of the loss due to the current flowing through the electroconductive film is considerably large, so that the Q-value representing the performance of the resonator is reduced. For this reason, it is difficult to realize a high-performance dielectric resonator and a high-performance filter.
In view of the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a dielectric filter capable of operating with stability even when a change in temperature occurs, and a method of supporting a dielectric resonance element of the dielectric filter.

Dielectric resonator, dielectric filter, and method of supporting dielectric resonance element

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An improved kazoo includes a cylindrical input pipe in communication with a downstream plenum for conveying air from the plenum and against a diaphragm traversing the air path. An end cap is secured to the downstream pipe with the diaphragm therebetween. Vents in the end cap expose one side of the diaphragm to the ambient air. An outlet pipe with nuance aperture therein presents an outlet aperture for conveying the back air pressure from the plenum to the ambient air. The kazoo is configured to be encompassed by the user""s cupped hands which allows the user to present a mouthpiece in the form of a user""s thumb and index finger encircling the input pipe. The size of the inlet, vent, nuance and outlet apertures is controlled by the user""s palm and fingers. The controlled size of each aperture allows the user to modulate the aural characteristics of the kazoo sound produced by user air forced into the input pipe aperture.

This invention pertains generally to the field of voice amplifier toys and, more particularly, to an improved kazoo having structure for providing improved sound qualities and control thereof.
The basic kazoo is known in the art. Generally, the kazoo sound arises from the user forcing air through a tube and across a membrane with the vibration of the membrane causing the kazoo sound or xe2x80x9ckazxe2x80x9d. The air is produced by the user""s vocal input, e.g., humming, singing, etc., into the input end of the kazoo. The elongated tube of the kazoo affects the tone quality but not the pitch. Typically, the membrane is a thin piece of cellophane, waxed paper or plastic film stretched across an aperture and held in place by a cardboard ring. The user-generated airwaves vibrate this membrane/diaphragm and produce the familiar kazoo sound.
The sound of a kazoo is a direct and unmodulated one, which tends to be aurally displeasing. As the configuration of prior kazoos is not conducive to control by the user""s fingers and/or hands, the output is altered only by variations in pitch and volume of the user""s vocal input resulting in a direct, unmodulated kazoo sound lacking any tonal nuances.
Thus, it is desirable to be able to improve the control/modulation of the kazoo sound and the player""s access thereto.
In response thereto I have invented a kazoo with an input tube, downstream plenum, a downstream output tube with diaphragm presenting an end for receiving an adjustable apertured cap and a supplementary plenum outlet tube with outlet aperture. The overall structure of my kazoo enables the kazoo to fit into the cupped hands of a user which allows the user to regulate the size of the various apertures with the palms and/or fingers of the hands. Thus, my kazoo sound can be modulated by regulating and/or varying the amount of air back pressure within the instrument; by controlling the amount of air entering the instrument and by controlling the vibrations of the diaphragm responsive to the input air.
It is therefore a general object of this invention to provide an improved kazoo.
Another object of this invention is to provide a kazoo, as aforesaid, which enables the user to control/modulate the kazoo sound.
A further object of this invention is to provide a kazoo, as aforesaid, which enables the user to control the proportion of vocal sound entering the kazoo.
Another object of this invention is to provide a kazoo, as aforesaid, which enables the user to control the air pressure buildup in the kazoo.
A particular object of this invention is to provide a kazoo, as aforesaid, which enables the user to control the vibration of the kazoo diaphragm therein.
Another particular object of the invention is to provide a kazoo, as aforesaid, which enables the user to control the output air discharged from the kazoo.
A further particular object of this invention is to provide a kazoo, as aforesaid, which presents at least one aperture in the kazoo body which enables the user to further nuance the produced kazoo sound.
Still a further particular object of this invention is to provide a kazoo, as aforesaid, which is adapted to be controlled by the encompassed hands of the user.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, a now preferred embodiment of this invention.


Provided is a an inspection assistance device. This inspection assistance device is provided with: an image data acquisition unit that acquires image data in which a to-be-inspected object is captured; a display control unit that causes a display unit to display information about inspection results of the to-be-inspected object, recognized on the basis of the acquired image data, in such a manner as to be superimposed on an image that includes the to-be-inspected object; and a recording control unit that records the information being displayed on the display unit and the information about the to-be-inspected object in association with each other.

Methods of assisting inspection work on equipment such as a measuring instrument are disclosed. For example, PTL 1 describes an inspection assistance device recognizing identification information and a measured value of a measuring instrument, based on image information of the measuring instrument captured by a camera, and storing the measured value into a storage unit in association with the identification information of the measuring instrument.
Further, PTL 2 describes a substrate production assistance system displaying, when a plurality of recognition targets exist in a visual field of a worker, production information indicating availability or the like of the plurality of recognition targets in association with identification markers in the visual field of the worker on a one-to-one basis in the proximity of the identification marker.
Further, PTL 3 describes an information presentation system reading identification information uniquely identifying a light emitting type radio frequency identifier (RFID) tag attached to equipment to be maintained and displaying display information related to the equipment to be maintained at a position calculated based on a light emitting position of the RFID tag.
Moreover, PTL 4 describes an example of a device using voice, and PTL 5 describes an example of a method of simplifying data input on a mobile terminal.

Inspection assistance device, inspection assistance method, and recording medium


A rapid GUI refacing system can include one or more display grids, each display grid mapping sections in a legacy application with selected GUI elements in a refaced GUI. The system also can include one or more smart masters, each smart master specifying an arrangement of content and presentation elements in the refaced GUI. The system yet further can include a GUI transformation template generator configured to generate GUI transformation templates from individual combinations of individual ones of the display grids and individual ones of the smart masters. Finally, the system can include a GUI refacing service configured both to select individual matching ones of the generated GUI transformation templates, and also to transform content in the sections in the legacy application into the refaced GUI using the mapped GUI elements according to transformation instructions contained in the selected individual matching ones of the generated GUI transformation templates.

1. Statement of the Technical Field
The present invention relates to the customization of a host application graphical user interface (GUI) and more particularly to the rapid and efficient GUI refacing of a legacy application.
2. Description of the Related Art
Customizing the GUI of a legacy application has proven a tedious task. In most cases, an integrated development environment (IDE) or design studio is required to effectively generate a GUI based upon the original display screens of the legacy application. During the refacing process, each screen of the legacy application must be marked up individually. Even where legacy application screens can be structured into a handful of repeatable layout patterns, the GUI must be redrawn from scratch, screen by screen. Hence, the conventional refacing of a legacy application can be time consuming and can result in interface inconsistencies. Also, the process of conventionally refacing the GUI of a legacy application can be inflexible thus hindering the ability both to extend the GUI with additional functionality and also to migrate the GUI to other platforms.
In an effort to overcome the clear deficiencies of conventional legacy application GUI refacing, some have developed template based customization and component extraction techniques in an effort to improve the screen marking experience. Still, template based customization and component extraction techniques remain tied to screen flows and require screen level drawing. An experienced legacy application IT specialist or architect has not a rapid and efficient method for dynamically and systematically generating GUIs from multiple fixed patterns.
Yet others have proposed template formats configured to manually specify multiple default GUI styles. Examples include the use of pre-scripted extensible stylesheet (XSL) transformations designed to process the presentation layer for legacy hosts. Nevertheless, the stylesheet creation process itself has proven to be a time consuming process. Also, when using XSL transformations, presentation styles, screen patterns, and the meaning of the underlying content are not automatically associated. While global customization can be applied to partially overcome this problem by pre-configuring global changes for all screens, global customization remains merely a partial solution applying only to trivial patterns.
In view of newer technologies such as Java™ server pages (JSP), the extensible markup language (XML) and XSLT, meta-data has become an obvious template technique useful in describing GUI transformations for legacy application screen data. In particular, newer technologies such as JSP, XML and XSLT can be effective in producing transformations for the individual screens of a legacy application. Notwithstanding, these newer technologies alone remain insufficient when systematically transforming a large number of display screens of a legacy application. Specifically, even with the newer transformation technologies, an application designer still must learn the template formats including syntax and semantics, match screen patterns manually, create individual GUI elements, associate the legacy application screen contents with the individual GUI elements, and enforce the look-and-feel consistency of each screen.
Importantly, the template format both old and new itself is not comprehensive enough to be extensible. Even if both the GUI element coordinates and GUI description are included as attributes in a template, the rules for constructing the GUI from the legacy application display screen region can be quite complex and the interpretation of the attributes seldom can be reflected by the template. In consequence, code modifications of the base processing can be required in a purely template driven technique. Therefore, the mere provision of an external template format is not sufficient for systematic GUI transformations of the display screens of a legacy application.

Rapid GUI refacing of a legacy application


The invention relates to a shell for a connector shell, the shell being constituted by two mutually snap-fastenable half-shells, the two half-shells being substantially identical and being made of a castable and electrically-conductive metal alloy. Each half-shell comprises:. a main wall including two mutually parallel side edges; PA1 two mutually parallel ribs parallel to said edges, disposed between said edges, and projecting from said main wall; PA1 a fixing tab extending from the first edge of said main wall parallel to said ribs and terminated by a hook facing towards said ribs; and PA1 a fixing notch formed in the second edge of said main wall and parallel to said ribs, the notch of one half-shell being suitable for co-operating with the hook of the other half-shell; PA1 the rib closer to the first edge having a ridge defined by a sloping surface facing said fixing tab, the other rib having a ridge defined by a sloping surface facing towards the first rib.

The term electrical connector shell is used to mean a box which is fixed to the rear portion of the connector proper, said connector preferably being an electrical connector. The function of the shell is firstly to provide a mechanical link between the cable, in particular an electric cable, and the electrical connector, and secondly to surround and protect the electric cable and its electrical conductors in the region where the electrical (or possibly optical) conductors are connected to the terminals of the connector.
It is often also necessary for the shell to provide continuity of cable shielding when the cable is an electric cable in order to be prevent the electrical signals conveyed by the cable from generating disturbances in the environment and, vice versa, in order to protect the cable and its electrical connector from external electromagnetic disturbances.
In some cases, the shell of the electrical connector must be relatively complex in shape, particularly for the purpose of receiving captive screws for fixing the electrical connector to the appliance to which it is to be connected. This applies, for example, with the electrical connectors used with microcomputers.
Because of the relatively complex shape of the shell, it is advantageous to be able to make the shell out of a material that lends itself easily to molding while still having sufficient electrical conductivity to provide a satisfactory shielding effect.
Such materials include, in particular, Zamak which is an alloy based on zinc, aluminum, copper, and magnesium. The drawback of such castable metal alloys that are good conductors of electricity is that in general their capacity for reversible elastic deformation is very small. Thus, with ordinary methods, it is more or less impossible to make a shell out of two parts that can be mechanically connected together by snap-fastening means. However, the snap-fastening technique is well known for shells or connector elements made out of moldable plastics materials.


A method of forming a structure that includes a removed layer taken from a donor wafer donor wafer that includes a first layer of Si1-xGex and a second layer of Si1-yGey. The method includes implanting atomic species into the donor wafer to form a zone of weakness in the first layer; bonding the donor wafer to a receiver wafer; detaching the second layer and a portion of the first layer from the donor wafer by supplying energy sufficient to cause cleavage and form an intermediate structure thereof conducting a rapid thermal anneal of the intermediate structure at a temperature of about 1000° C. or more for less than 5 minutes; and removing by selective etching any remaining portions of the first layer of the intermediate structure to provide a semiconductor structure that has the second layer on the receiving wafer.

The present invention relates a method of forming a structure comprising a removed layer of semiconductor material taken from a donor wafer, the donor wafer comprising, prior to removal, a first layer formed of Si1-xGex and a layer of Si1-yGey on the first layer, with x and y respectively being in the range of 0 to 1 and x being different from y. This method comprises the following steps in succession:
a) implanting atomic species to form a zone of weakness beneath the second layer;
b) bonding the donor wafer to a receiver wafer;
c) supplying thermal and/or mechanical energy to detach the removed layer from the donor wafer at the zone of weakness;
d) treating the removed layer.
The preferred type of layer removal uses a SMART-CUT® technique, a layer transfer method that is well known to a skilled person. One example of employing such a removal method is described in U.S. patent publication 2004/0053477 in which the crystallographic structure of the second layer is elastically strained by the structure of the first layer.
Step d) for treating the removed layers often has to be carried out to lift off defective zones and to reduce surface roughness principally resulting from carrying out steps a) and c). The thickness of the defective zone is typically about 150 nanometers (nm) for atomic implantation of hydrogen ions. As an example, it is possible to perform mechanical polishing or chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP, chemical-mechanical polishing) in order to eliminate surface roughness, and/or steps of sacrificially oxidizing defective zones.
Since bonding in accordance with step b) is conventionally carried out via a layer of electrically insulating material, a semiconductor-on-insulator structure can thus be produced, such as a Si1-xGex/Si1-yGey on insulator structure. As disclosed in U.S. patent publication 2004/0053477, a step subsequent to step d) can be carried out to lift off the remaining portion of the first layer, hence retaining only the second layer on the receiver wafer. Thus, a Si1-xGex on insulator structure can be produced.
The operation for lifting off the remaining portion of the first layer can be carried out effectively by selective chemical etching using suitable etching agents. Selective chemical etching can in the end produce the desired layer with a good surface quality without too great a risk of damaging it (which could be the case if, e.g., only a single polish was to be carried out). But selective chemical etching necessitates prior preparation of the etching surface, typically carried out using mechanical polishing means. That preparation step remains necessary to reduce the severe roughness which could subsequently cause locally over-inhomogeneous etching, which in turn could create through defects or holes in the second layer. The successive actions of polishing and chemical etching, however, render the post-detachment finishing step (as well as the whole of the removal procedure) long, complex, and expensive.
Furthermore, chemical etching can in some cases result in problems with at least partial unbonding or disbonding of the bonding interface. In particular, it may delaminate an edge or side of the bonding layer, i.e., attack the layer where it crops out from the side of the resulting structure. An example that can be mentioned is hydrofluoric acid ("HF") treatment of a sSOI (strained silicon on insulator) structure comprising SiO2 buried under strained Si, or H2O2:HF:HAc treatment (HAc being the abbreviation for acetic acid) on a sSi/SiGeOI (strained silicon on SiGe on insulator) structure, where the layers of SiGe and buried SiO2 are liable to be etched beneath the layer of strained Si. Thus as regards the quality of the final product, the results obtained are less than satisfactory.
One alternative which could be envisaged to overcome that problem would be to dilute the etching agents further to enable their action to be better controlled, but this requires a longer procedure to etch the surface due to the use of dilute acids. That solution is not satisfactory since by substantially increasing the duration of the procedure, it still does not completely solve the problem of delamination at the edges or sides of the resulting structure.
A further solution which could be envisaged would be to reinforce the bonding interface prior to etching to render that interface more resistant to chemical agents. To this end, a post-detachment stabilizing heat treatment carried out at about 1000° C. or more for several hours could be envisaged, but that solution, which is well known when producing a SOI (silicon on insulator) structure, is not suitable when transferring heterogeneous layers of Si1-xGex and Si1-yGey. In fact, such a heat treatment causes germanium to diffuse from the layer having the highest Ge content towards the layer having the lowest Ge content, thus tending to homogenize the Ge content over the two layers so that the physical and electrical properties of those two layers can no longer be differentiated. If the two layers become essentially identical, then subsequent etching can no longer be selective and it is not possible to remove only the first layer without removing part of the second layer.
Further, it is frequently desirable to avoid any diffusion from one layer to another. This is particularly the case when the second layer is formed of strained Si (i.e., Si1-yGey where y is 0) and when a final sSOI (strained SOI) structure is to be obtained to fully benefit from the electrical properties of the structure (e.g., increased charge mobility). Thus, the treatment temperature is limited by the diffusion of germanium from one layer to the other (with the diffusion typically commencing at about 800° C.), and low temperature reinforcement can thus only be partially effective. Thus, the delamination problem persists even with such reinforcement.
The present invention now seeks to avoid these problems by providing a new process for treating layers to be removed in a manner that does not detrimentally affect the remainder of the structure.

Treatment of a removed layer of silicon-germanium

S.O.I.Tec Silicon on Insulator Technologies


The invention relates to the safe and effective biotreatment of circulating fluids. In one general aspect of the invention, an apparatus (e.g., liver assist system) for circulating and bioprocessing a fluid (e.g., plasma) includes a conduit for circulating the fluid, an oxygenator for supplying oxygen to the fluid, a pump adapted to circulate the fluid through the conduit, a bioreactor unit, connected within the conduit, adapted to process the fluid, and a container connected within the conduit for receiving and releasing a portion of the fluid.

There is a need for apparatuses which safely and effectively bioprocess a circulating a body fluid, such as whole blood or plasma. As an example, the development of liver support apparatuses has progressed from passive or removal systems to bioactive or biochemical systems. The passive systems have included hemodialysis, hemoperfusion, plasma exchanges, etc. for removing the blood toxins which accumulate during liver failure.
The successful reports of orthotopic liver transplantation in prolonging life has led to the conceptual development of biochemical or cell based liver support systems. These systems consist mainly of bioreactors containing cells. For example, a bioartificial liver device may include a hollow fiber cartridge containing primary pig liver cells. The liver cells are seeded in the extracapillary space of the hollow fibers, and blood or plasma is perfused through the lumen of the fibers. Microporous hollow fibers permit passage of plasma proteins but prevent the passage of cells (e.g., blood cells and liver cells), thereby allowing the transport of soluble and protein-bound substances from the plasma across the hollow fiber walls and into the space occupied by the porcine hepatocytes.


Aspects of determining a geographical state of a target through a user device are provided. One method includes identifying at least one target associated with a target device configured to provide position data in a standard reference frame along with corresponding time values, and sending a request for access to geographical state information for at least one target. The method may further include receiving geographical state information associated with the at least one target, and generating a visual identifier of the at least one target based on the geographical state information. The visual identifier may be associated with data captured by an imaging sensor which is functionally coupled to the user device. Systems and apparatuses for determining a geographical state of a target through a user device are further presented.

Mobile stations have evolved in recent years from simple voice communication devices into powerful mobile computing platforms which can simultaneously collect data from a variety of sources. These mobile stations can combine and processes data from different on-board sensors, transducers, and/or receivers to provide valuable information to the user. In some instances, one or more sensors and/or receivers may provide the mobile station with a capability to determine its position. The ability of mobile stations to accurately determine their position can be useful in the areas of personal productivity, communication, social networking, advertising, e-commerce, and/or other forms of data acquisition. Moreover, the high speed networking capability of these mobile stations can be used in conjunction with their data collection capabilities to offer new mobile applications and services.
In conventional digital cellular networks, position location capability can be provided by various time and/or phase measurement techniques. For example, in CDMA networks, one position determination approach used is Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT). Using AFLT, a mobile station may compute its position from phase measurements of pilot signals transmitted from a plurality of base stations. Improvements to AFLT have been realized by utilizing hybrid position location techniques, where the mobile station may employ a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) receiver. The SPS receiver may provide position information independent of the information derived from the signals transmitted by the base stations. Moreover, position accuracy can be improved by combining measurements derived from both SPS and AFLT systems using conventional techniques.
In indoor environments where SPS or cellular signals may not be sufficient for accurate position determination, a mobile station may exploit signals from other types of wireless networks, such as Wi-Fi (e.g., IEEE 802.11x standards) or WiMAX (e.g., IEEE 802.16 standards), to derive position information. Conventional position determination techniques used in these other types of wireless networks may utilize range-based position determination techniques. The range-based position determination techniques may estimate distance information using Round Trip Time (RTT) measurements and/or signal strength measurements (e.g., Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI)) derived from signals utilized within such networks. The range based position determination may be used for any network device within these networks, such as mobile stations and/or access points (APs) which are placed at unknown positions.
In a variety of mobile applications, users may wish to determine the location of one or more designated targets, which may represent other users, pets, and/or objects of interest, within a predefined group. In some situations, a time history (i.e., tracking a trajectory) of a target may also be desirable. Position information may be determined by mobile stations associated with the designated targets, and subsequently share the position information over a network. Accordingly, such locations of the designated targets may not be visible to a user with the naked eye, but are "known" within the context of the network.
However, conventional approaches for providing position and/or tracking information for one or more targets may be challenging given the limited screen size of mobile stations and the complexity of the information being presented. Conventional approaches may simply overlay the position information of the targets on top of a planar map, which may confuse some users when they attempt to orient the map to their real-world surroundings.
Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide target tracking information to users of mobile stations in a format which is intuitive and can easily allow users to correlate the displayed information to their real-world surroundings.

Visual identifier of third party location


A solid-state memory device includes a physical port, an interface controller connected to the physical port, a serial peripheral interface, and a plurality of memory card sticks connected to the serial peripheral interface. Each memory card stick has a plurality of memory cards. The solid-state memory device further includes a controller core connected between the interface controller and the serial peripheral interface. The controller core is configured to present to a host connected at the physical connector a single non-volatile storage unit with a total capacity substantially equal to a sum of capacities of the plurality of memory card sticks.

The demand for computer memory steadily increases. Modern hard disk drives suffer from a number of problems. Moving parts, such as rotating platters, can render hard disk drives unreliable. Heat generation and noise is also a concern. Solid-state drives have been developed, but many of these lack the low-cost capacity to effectively replace hard disk drives. In addition, some known techniques of collating smaller storage devices suffer from inefficiencies or are prone to data loss events.

Solid-state memory device with plurality of memory cards


A machining apparatus is described, of the type that includes a metal cutting insert which is held by an insert holder apparatus, wherein the insert can be installed in a plurality of different positions to use different ones of the cutting edges, which facilitates mounting of the insert. The holder apparatus includes a holder bar (16, FIG. 1) and a pocket member (14) that mounts on the bar and that holds an insert (12) with cutting edges (22). The pocket member has a first precision flat surface (90) that mounts facewise against a flat surface on the bar, and the pocket member has a second precision flat surface (92) that mounts facewise against a surface on the insert. The first and second flat surfaces on the pocket member can be parallel, or can be angled slightly from each other, to control orientation of the insert. The insert has a mount portion (32, FIG. 2 ) with a periphery lying on the sides of an imaginary polygon such as a square, and has a plurality of arms (51-54) projecting radially with respect to the insert axis (30), from a plurality of corners of the imaginary polygon. The mount portion forms locating sides (41-44) at the sides of the imaginary polygon, with a pair of such locating sides bearing against a pair of positioning sides (76, 78) of the pocket member to locate the insert with precision on the pocket member.

Metal machining can be accomplished by mounting a workpiece on a rotating chuck of a lathe, and moving the cutting edge of an insert into the workpiece to thread, groove or otherwise remove metal from the workpiece. The insert is mounted on a holder apparatus that is, in turn, mounted on a tool post and adjustable slides of a carriage of the lathe. The cutting edge of the insert has a limited life, and the life of the insert is increased by constructing it with multiple cutting edges. Different machining operations such as cutting different size threads, grooving, etc. require removal of one insert and replacement with another. It would be desirable if the insert had a maximum number of usable identical cutting edges, with the insert being easily repositioned to locate a new cutting edge precisely in the place of a previous one. Also, it would be desirable if one insert could be rapidly removed and another one precisely mounted in its place.


A method includes receiving, by a client device associated with a particular user, product details for video content including a purchase option identifier (ID) for the video content from a video service provider. The method includes requesting, by the client device based on a single sign on (SSO) protected call, a playback uniform resource locator (URL) for the video content from an orchestration layer associated with the video service provider. The method also includes receiving the playback URL, an entitlement ID associated with the particular user for the video content, and the encrypted content. The method includes obtaining a digital rights management (DRM) license for the encrypted content based on the entitlement ID, and decrypting and playing the video content based on DRM rules associated with the video content.

Video service providers currently provide multiple services and programs, including cable television, network television, and video-on-demand content, to their customers. Video service providers manage relationships with their customers using customer accounts that correspond to the multiple services. Individual customers may receive combinations of these services from video service providers based on particular rights to content associated with the customers.


The present invention is directed to a method and kit for the measurement of LPL. The method comprises several steps that effect a measurement of a level of LPL activity. The kit comprises several elements that effect the measurement of a level of LPL activity.

Lipoprotein lipase (LPL) is the rate-limiting enzyme controlling plasma triglyceride (TG) levels by hydrolyzing TG into free fatty acids and glycerol. This biological process is critical for energy mobilization and utilization and has a variety of clinical implications. LPL is specifically found in endothelial cells lining the capillaries.
Mutations that cause LPL deficiency result in type 1 hyperlipoproteinemia, hypertriglyceridemia or other disorders involving lipoprotein metabolism.
Traditionally, a variety of assays have been employed for measuring LPL activity. Generally, they can be divided into two formats, coupled and uncoupled assays. Coupled assays involve a chain of enzymatic reactions and can be used to indirectly determine LPL activity in relatively simple biological specimens. Uncoupled assays can further be divided to two groups, non-homogeneous and homogeneous assays.
Non-homogeneous assays require quantifying lipolytic products, typically by monitoring fatty acids liberated by LPL. Non-homogeneous assays are tedious and have a low throughput. For example, a radiolabeled triolein substrate is typically used in radiometric assays for measuring LPL activity. The labeled fatty acids released by LPL must be separated from the labeled triolein, before quantification, through a series of organic extraction procedures. Another common non-homogeneous assay used is a titratimetric method, which is not very sensitive.
Homogeneous assays are typically fluorescence-based and rely on changes in the fluorescence properties of a substrate upon hydrolysis. Traditionally, several naturally fluorescent groups including Dansyl, NBD or Pyrene have been incorporated into TG substrates for detecting LPL activity. However, the high background noise created by using these groups limits their wide use. Coumarin derivatives are one fluorescent group which only fluoresce after they are converted to lipolytic products, but these derivatives suffer from many problems such as instability and non-specific hydrolysis by enzymes other than LPL. Further, they do not resemble LPL's native substrate, triglyceride.
What is desired is an easy to use, sensitive, environmentally friendly, real-time LPL assay which does not require purification and will provide accurate results at a high throughput.

The Research Foundation of State University of New York


A novel sawmill carriage knee and dog positioning system using a chain knee drive that allows vertical access to chain tension adjustment screws, provides a chain mounting attachment plate connected to an adequately sized air cylinder attached to a dogs in/out carrier slide increasing structural rigidity and reducing component count, weight and unit cost, and providing a novel method to taper the knees relative to the sawline.

A sawmill carriage is generally made up of movable knees providing a vertical surface against which a log rests may rest against and movable dogs used to clamp and hold the log while the carriage reciprocates back and forth along a track parallel to a saw blade. Before each pass, the log may be moved, or "jogged" toward or away from the saw blades or set. The jogging is generally accomplished by horizontal movement of the knees toward or away from the saw blades, to the desired thickness of the cut board desired to be produced from the log. The board is cut as the log advances through the saw. This process continues until the operator or "sawyer" decides to unload what is left of the log, the left-over piece generally referred to as a "cant" or "dogboard."
One dog, a "tong dog" system, comprises of an upper dog, a lower dog, a mechanism to bring the dogs together and a mechanism to move the dogs horizontally away from or towards the vertical surface of the knee. The knees themselves advance toward or away from the saw line, and is most commonly driven by a chain or rack gear.
The chain drive mechanism has several advantages over the rack gear system, making it the desirable mechanism by which to move the knees. The tong dog systems that use a rack gear to position the knees relative to the sawline are generally difficult to replace, not easy to adjust, and must have slack built-in even when the system is new. Comparatively, a chain drive system is easily adjustable, durable and easy to replace as wear necessitates.
A chain drive system must have a mechanism by which to tension the chain. As the chain drive system components and chain rollers wear, the chain will loosen and must be adjusted to prevent excessive slack. The chain tensioning mechanism adds to the complexity of the sawmill carriage, increasing the number of components necessary and necessitates a carriage structure sufficient for the force transfer from the log though the dogs and dog adjustment mechanism, through the knee components to the chain drive. A need exists for a chain drive system having a fewer components, is simple to service and adjust and provides for an efficient force transfer from the log to the chain drive to reduce number of stressed components in the sawmill carriage.

Chain drive system for tong dog carriers


A cup holder is provided which is suited for attachment to a spout of a conventional beverage preparation machine so as to support a cup in a fluid-receiving orientation adjacent to such spout. The cup holder includes a base which is configured for securement to the spout, and a U-shaped cup-gripping member which includes a pair of space side walls separated by generally horizontal floor. One of the side walls extends from the base to the floor and the second side wall extends upwardly from the floor and terminates arcuately to provide a seat for a cup's lip. The arc of the second side wall is similar in shape to the side edge of a conventional lipped cup, accommodating angular placement of the cup on the second side wall during filling of the cup.

In a conventional espresso brewing machine, beverages are prepared by passing a measured amount of hot water through a filter which carries ground espresso beans. Upon passing through the filter, the water picks up particles, transforming the water into espresso for consumption, either alone or in an espresso drink. Commonly, the final product takes the form of a "latte", a beverage which includes espresso garnished with a quantity of steamed milk.
In known espresso brewing machines, filters are generally removably mounted on the machine by way of filter assemblies which include both the filter and a spout with a channel through which the espresso is to be poured. In some machines, filter assemblies include spouts with plural channels, the espresso being divided substantially equally between the channels as it is brewed. In either case, the espresso falls from the spouts and into a low-profile container (usually a small pitcher) which rests on a platform a short distance therebelow. The espresso is then transferred to a large cup and garnished to achieve the desired look and taste.
Although a seemingly simple procedure, the above-described routine is inadequate in several respects. First, there exists an unnecessary step: the transfer of espresso from the container to the cup where the final beverage is prepared. This step is particularly cumbersome where a high volume of beverages are prepared, as is the case in coffeeshops, restaurants and street vendor stands. Such step adds to the time required to prepare espresso drinks, resulting in a loss of customers and thus in a loss of profits. There is also a loss of heat with each espresso transfer, an event which is particularly undesirable in espresso drinks where the temperature of the beverage greatly impacts on the beverage's taste.
One solution to the problems outlined above would be to simply place the cup below the spout from which espresso is poured, thus eliminating the intermediate step. This solution, however, is obviated by size restrictions of conventional espresso brewing machines, such machines including characteristically limited clearance between the spout and the platform below. Although the clearance provided is generally sufficient for small porcelain cups which have historically been used, it does not accommodate the use of the taller paper cups which have become popularized in the United States. To increase the space between the spout and the platform would involve a substantial increase in the cost of the machine due to the increase in materials, and would lead to problems of fluid spatter when smaller cups were used.
Physically holding cups in position beneath the spouts is also an unacceptable solution inasmuch as such procedure would still limit the operator's ability to perform other tasks. A need has therefore developed for a cup holder which is suited to hold a cup in position relative to the fluid spout of the filter without requiring redesign of conventional espresso brewing machines and speed-up brewing production.
Another problem with conventional espresso brewing machines which use filter assemblies is that such assemblies are commonly removed from the espresso machine to be refilled after each espresso drink is made. The machine operator will often set the filter down so as to grind additional beans or prepare another drink, the filter often being placed directly on a surface which may include contaminants such as bacteria or the like. A need has therefore arisen for a non-obtrusive stand which may be used to keep the filter's sterile surfaces out of contact with contaminants on the surface on which the filter is to be set down.

Cup holder for use in a beverage processing machine


A method and an apparatus for automatic segmentation of an image representing a mass of a tissue region based on dynamic programming that guarantees an accurate and closed contour of the mass is disclosed. The method according to one embodiment accesses digital image data representing an image including the mass of the tissue region, creates a mirror image of the digital image data, extracts a Region of Interest (ROI) which includes a portion of the mirror image containing the mass, transforms the ROI to polar space for obtaining a polar image of the ROI, assigns local cost to sub portions of the polar image, and finds a contour of the mass based on the assigned local cost.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital image processing technique, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for automatic mass segmentation based on dynamic programming.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mass segmentation plays a crucial role in diagnosis of medical problems of breasts or other tissues. Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) systems are well known for classification of suspicious regions as normal, benign, or malignant. An important feature in CAD algorithms is the segmentation of tissue masses and finding an accurate contour of a suspected mass. Currently, there are two algorithms for automatic mass segmentation: region growing and discrete contour model.
An example of a region growing algorithm includes assigning each pixel to a particular region. However, one of the problems of region growing algorithm is that it makes unnecessary small and low-contrast structures as part of the suspected mass. Thus, the region growing algorithm may fail to produce an accurate closed contour of the mass and the resulting segmentation may become too large.
The discrete contour model algorithm attempted to solve the problem of region growing algorithm by building a deformable contour of the suspected mass. The main drawback of using the discrete contour model is that the algorithm requires an initial estimate of the contour that is close to the actual boundary of the mass. As a result, the algorithm may fail to find an actual contour of the suspected mass and may find the contour of other unsuspected masses.
Disclosed embodiments of this application address these and other issues by using a dynamic programming algorithm that provides an accurate and closed contour of a suspected mass.

Mass segmentation using mirror image of region of interest


A pluggable assembly for printed circuit boards includes a mounting rail of generally U-shaped cross-sectional configuration having a base portion mounted on one face of the printed circuit board, and a pair of arm portions extending normal to the base portion for supporting a transversely arranged terminal block, and a conductive pin extending from the terminal block through an opening contained in the mounting rail base portion for connection with a conductive layer on the remote face of the printed circuit via a socket contact that extends through a corresponding opening contained in the printed circuit board. A multi-contact connector may be fastened to the one face of the printed circuit board for connecting a plurality of connector contacts with a plurality of corresponding terminal blocks mounted in side-by-side relation on the mounting rail via separate conductive layers arranged on the remote side of the printed circuit board, and corresponding socket terminal and pin devices that extend through corresponding openings contained in the printed circuit board, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a pluggable connector assembly for printed circuit boards including a mounting rail of generally U-shaped cross-section having a horizontal base portion connected with one face of the printed circuit board, and a pair of vertical arm portions extending upwardly from the base portion, a terminal block mounted transversely across the upper ends of the rail arm portions, and means electrically connecting a contact on the terminal block with a conductive layer arranged on the remote side of the printed circuit board via a conductive pin and socket arrangement that extends downwardly in spaced relation through a opening contained in the rail base portion, and through a corresponding opening contained in the printed circuit board.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the patented prior art to mount an electrical terminal block on a mounting rail, as disclosed by the U.S. patents to Piperato U.S. Pat. No. 3,245,029, Kordt et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,835, Eggert et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,881, and Schmidt et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,172 among others. The Geisler patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,152 discloses an electrical contact that can be mounted on a printed circuit board.
A need has developed in the electrical connector art to provide a connector arrangement for electrically connecting the electrical contacts of various types of terminal blocks in a quick, robust manner with the conductive layer portions of a printed circuit board. The present invention was developed to provide such a connector arrangement that is operable to connect various types of terminal blocks with various types and patterns of printed circuit boards, and with multi-contact connectors mounted thereon.

Pluggable connector assembly for printed circuit boards


A feeder for use with a paintball gun has an inlet through which paintballs enter, and an outlet through which they exit. A feed mechanism disposed inside the feeder frictionally engages the paintballs as they enter and transports them to the outlet. The feed mechanism may include rotatable disks. The space between the rotatable disks may be less than the diameter of the paintballs. At least one of the rotatable disks may include a material that flexes to accommodate a paintball. The paintball feeding system may additionally incorporate a circuit that senses when the gun is fired and controls the rate at which paintballs are fed into the paintball gun.

The present invention generally relates to paintball guns, and more particularly relates to feeder apparatuses used in feeding of paintballs to paintball guns.
The game of paintball is one in which two or more xe2x80x9cmilitaryxe2x80x9d teams try to capture one another""s flags. The players on the teams each typically carry a compressed gas-powered gun that shoots paintballsxe2x80x94gelatin or plastic spherical capsules which usually contain a colored liquid. When a player is hit with a paintball from an adversary""s gun, the paintball ruptures and leaves a colored xe2x80x9csplatxe2x80x9d on the hit player who is then xe2x80x9coutxe2x80x9d and must leave the game.
As the game of paintball has grown in sophistication, semiautomatic paintball gunsxe2x80x94guns that sequentially fire individual paintballs as fast as the trigger can be repeatedly pulledxe2x80x94have become more prevalent. The high firing rate capability of semiautomatic paintball guns has necessitated the use of bulk loader devices in conjunction with such guns.
Generally, a paintball gun assembly includes a storage container, such as a hopper feeder adapted to internally store a relatively large quantity of paintballs (for example 100-200 paintballs) Connected to the storage container is one or more feed tubes connected to the gun""s infeed.
During normal operation of the paintball gun assembly paintball jams intermittently occur in the storage container and/or feeder tube(s). These jams prevent the normal delivery of paintballs, with the result that the paintball stack can be totally depleted by several shots of the gun. Similar jams may occur in the feed tube, thereby preventing delivery of paintballs to the paintball gun""s infeed.
In the past, clearing of such jams has required that the gun be forcibly shaken to dislodge the paintballs causing the jam within the storage containers and/or for the feed tube to be manually cleared. Such solutions are undesirable since it at best interrupts the proper aiming of the paintball gun and, of course, correspondingly interrupts the gun user""s ability to continue the rapid firing of the gun, and may at worse render the gun temporarily unusable.
In accordance with this need, a feeder for a paintball gun is provided According to one embodiment, the feeder includes a housing having an inlet channel for receiving paintballs and an outlet channel for delivering paintballs to a paintball gun. Disposed within the housing is a feed mechanism rotatably mounted within the housing that is used to transport the paintballs from the inlet portion of the housing to the outlet portion of the housing so that paintballs are delivered to the paintball gun as needed. The feeder mechanism may, for example, be rotatably mounted on a spindle on the feeder housing.
The feed mechanism may include one or more flexible or complaint rotating disks which are spaced apart by a distance less than the diameter of the paintball. This allows the feed mechanism to frictionally engage the paintball, and facilitates the process of the moving the paintball from the inlet channel to the outlet channel. A motor, also disposed within the housing, rotates the feed mechanism as needed, typically in response to the firing of the paintball gun. Preferably, the motor is selectively operable by a control circuit connected to a sensor that detects the firing of the gun.
In an embodiment of the invention, the feed mechanism includes a first and second rotating disk which are used to frictionally engage the paintball. The first and second rotating disks are spaced apart by a distance less than the diameter of the paintballs such that feed mechanism can frictionally engage the paintballs thereby facilitating their movement in the feeder. At least one of the two rotating disks is flexible in order to accommodate the frictional engagement without breaking the paintballs. The spacing between the first and second rotating disk can be maintained by a disk spacer which can be constructed of a cylindrical disk interposed between the first and second rotating disks.
The housing can be formed from two shells such that the feed mechanism, motor, a battery and other components that may optionally be included are enclosed thereby protecting the feeder components from dust, dirt and corrosion. The housing may include first and second chambers for holding the feed mechanism and the motor.
The feeder may include a control circuit connected to a sensor. The sensor may be integrally mounted on the paintball feeder. Alternatively, the control circuit can connect to an external device that provides a positive or negative signal when the paintball gun is fired. Generally, the control circuit activates the motor for a predetermined period of time in response to signals received from the sensor or external device. In an aspect of the invention, the period of time that the motor remains active is user adjustable. The sensor may be, for example, an accelerometer, sound detector, vibration detector or air pressure sensor.
The motor which is used to rotate the feed mechanism can either be directly coupled to the feed mechanism in order to achieve rotation, or alternatively, may indirectly drive the feed mechanism. In the latter case, a drive mechanism may include one or more drive components coupled to the to the feeder mechanism. The drive components can either be directly coupled to a shaft on the motor, or alternatively, through a belt which frictionally engages both the motor shaft and one or more of the drive components.
The invention may be better understood with reference to the accompanying drawings and in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.


A memory system is disclosed. The memory system includes first and second memory devices, and a memory controller configured to selectively enable one of the memory devices, the memory controller having a first line coupled to the first and second memory devices and a second line coupled to the first and second memory devices. The first memory device is configured to provide a notification to the memory controller on the first line and the second memory device is configured to provide a notification to the memory controller on the second line. The first memory device is further configured not to load the first line and the second memory device is further configured not to load the second line when the memory controller is writing to the enabled memory device.

Memory systems are used extensively today in processing systems to store data needed by various processing entities. A memory system generally includes a memory controller that manages access to the memory. The memory is typically configured in a matrix structure formed by rows and columns of memory cells, with each memory cell being capable of storing a bit of data. A block of memory cells may be accessed by a processing entity, or other source, by providing the appropriate address to the memory controller. The address from the processing entity may be sent to the memory controller over a bus with the row address occupying the higher-order bits and the starting column address occupying the lower-order bits. The memory controller uses a multiplexing scheme to send the row address to the memory followed by the starting column address.
When a processing entity requires access to a block of memory, it sends a read or write command to the memory controller. Each read and write command includes an address. The manner in which the memory controller executes each command depends on whether the processing entity is attempting to access an open page in the memory. A "page" is normally associated with a row of memory, and an "open page" means that the memory is pointing to a row of memory and requires only the starting column address and a column access strobe (CAS) to access the block of memory. To access an unopened page of memory, the memory controller must present the row address and a row access strobe (RAS) to the memory to move the pointer before presenting the starting column address and the CAS to the memory.
Various memories are used today in memory systems. A Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM) is just one example. When a processing entity is writing to a SDRAM, or other memory device, data is transmitted over a data bus between the memory controller and the memory. A data mask may be used by the memory controller to mask data on the data bus. When the data mask is deasserted, the data on the data bus will be written to the memory. When the data mask is asserted, the data on the data bus will be ignored, and the write operation will not be performed.
The data mask is only used during write operations. When a processing entity is not writing to the SDRAM, or other memory device, the memory controller tri-states the data mask. Thus, there exists an opportunity to use the data mask for other purposes when the processing entity is not performing a write operation. By utilizing the data mask in this way, additional communications can occur between the memory controller and the memory without increasing the number of pins on the memory device.

Method and apparatus to enable the cooperative signaling of a shared bus interrupt in a multi-rank memory subsystem


The present invention provides an apparatus and method for manufacturing a fuel cell membrane-electrode assembly by forming a catalyst layer, which has uniform distribution, excellent porosity, and excellent bondability to a polymer electrolyte membrane, on a metal roll by an electrospray process and transferring the catalyst layer to a polymer electrolyte membrane.

(a) Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for manufacturing a fuel cell membrane-electrode assembly (MEA). More particularly, it relates to an apparatus and method for manufacturing a fuel cell membrane-electrode assembly by forming a catalyst layer, which has uniform distribution, excellent porosity, and excellent bondability to a polymer electrolyte membrane, on a metal roll by an electrospray process and transferring the catalyst layer to a polymer electrolyte membrane.
(b) Background Art
A fuel cell stack, which substantially generates electricity, in a fuel cell system has a structure in which several tens to several hundreds of unit cells, each comprising a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) and a separator, are stacked together.
The MEA comprises a polymer electrolyte membrane, a negative electrode and a positive electrode, which are disposed on each of both sides of the polymer electrolyte membrane. The negative electrode ("hydrogen electrode", "fuel electrode", "anode", or "oxidizing electrode") and the positive electrode ("air electrode", "oxygen electrode", "cathode", or "reducing electrode") are configured in such a manner that a catalyst layer comprising platinum catalyst nanoparticles is formed on an electrode backing layer such as carbon paper or carbon cloth.
Conventional methods for manufacturing membrane-electrode assemblies will be described below. As shown in FIG. 3, a catalyst slurry is coated, sprayed or painted on a gas diffusion layer to form an electrode, and the electrode is bonded to a polymer electrolyte membrane by thermal compression. Otherwise, as shown in FIG. 4, a catalyst slurry is coated, sprayed or painted directly on a polymer membrane and the resulting polymer membrane is bonded to a gas diffusion layer. As another method, as shown in FIG. 5, a catalyst slurry is coated, sprayed or painted on a release paper and transferred to a polymer membrane to form an electrode, and the electrode is bonded to a gas diffusion layer.
However, when the catalyst slurry is applied on the gas diffusion layer as in FIG. 3, it is advantageous to form pores but is inconvenient to manufacture the MEA, and thus it is not used in a commercial process.
Moreover, the method of directly forming the catalyst layer on the polymer membrane as in FIG. 4 can manufacture small area electrodes. However, during manufacturing of large area electrodes, when the catalyst layer is in contact with the polymer membrane, the polymer membrane absorbs the catalyst slurry and is deformed. Therefore, it is difficult to manufacture the large area electrode due to the deformation of the polymer membrane.
Furthermore, in the case of the method of forming the catalyst layer on the release paper and transferring the catalyst layer to the polymer membrane as in FIG. 5, a process of transferring the catalyst layer to the polymer membrane by compression at high temperature and pressure is required after forming the catalyst layer on the release paper. Moreover, the bonding between the catalyst layer and the polymer membrane is incomplete, which causes deterioration of performance and durability.
The method of forming the catalyst layer generally includes a method of spraying a catalyst slurry on a substrate (e.g., membrane, release paper, gas diffusion layer, etc) using a spray and a method of coating a liquefied catalyst slurry on a substrate using a coater.
In the case of forming the catalyst layer by the spray method, pores are formed in the catalyst layer, and thus the supply of fuel and the discharge of produced water are facilitated. However, the amount of catalyst lost is large, it takes a long time to form the catalyst layer, and materials (e.g., catalyst, binder, other additives, etc.) mixed with the catalyst slurry are non-uniformly formed in the catalyst layer.
Moreover, in the case of coating a liquefied catalyst slurry on the substrate, the amount of catalyst lost is small and it takes a short time to form the catalyst layer. However, materials (e.g., catalyst, binder, other additives, etc.) mixed with the catalyst slurry are non-uniformly formed in the catalyst layer, and the catalyst layer is densely formed, which prevents the formation of pores and makes it difficult to supply fuel and discharge produced water.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Manufacturing a fuel cell membrane-electrode assembly