Techniques are presented to display values for a set of icons by controlling their assignment to a set of rows and their placement within these rows. A plurality of icons to be displayed is determined. An abacus attribute taking a finite set of values is associated with the set of icons. Icon groups are formed for each abacus attribute value and optionally ordered based on each of one or more sorting attributes. Inter-group indicators such as display characteristic changes, spacing and the like are determined. The inter-group indicators separate each group of icons within a row. An ordering of the icons is determined based on the abacus attribute value and the one or more optional sorting attribute values. The icons are laid out in the display space ordered by the values of the primary abacus attribute and the secondary optional sorting attributes.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to visualizing information.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional graphical user interface and information visualization systems display data records using a two dimensional display space. Various attributes of the records are then presented by varying the size, shape, color, position and other display features of icons representing the records. The position display feature is useful since it is perceived even by color blind users and makes direct use of spatial memory. Conventional visualization systems display records in grids that allow the user to easily find the relevant information. However, these conventional visualization designs result in significant wasted space.

Systems and methods for displaying meta-data


An improved double block and double bleed stream switching system (modifiable to, for example, a double block, single bleed stream switching system) includes a common stream path for a multitude of gas streams from, for example, a process pipeline. The improved stream switching system includes a heating mechanism and insulation oven to help temperature stabilization, along with a structure to separate temperature sensitive solenoids from the heated area. Pre-heat coils are located between the sample switching system and the sample shut off system to warm the gas sample and to act as a flow restrictor. A first embodiment is suited for the Division 1 environment and a second embodiment is suited for Division 2 uses. The improved stream switching system may also feature membrane or cartridge filters located upstream of the sample wetted portion of the stream switching system.

It is often very important to know what fluids are flowing through a conduit such as a pipeline. For example, a buyer and seller may agree upon a price for the fluid flowing through a process pipeline based upon the content of the fluid stream. Thus, the fluid content must be measured. Where multiple pipelines are positioned near one another, it may be economical to use a single meter or measurement device to monitor all of the fluid flows. The device used to extract and deliver the fluid to the measurement device is traditionally referred to as a sampling system.
FIG. 1 includes a stream sampling system ("sampling system") 100. Although only a single pipeline is shown, it is to be understood that multiple pipelines may be present. Sampling system 100 includes a sample point attached to pipeline 110, an analyzer 130, and tubing 120 from the sample point to the analyzer 130. Analyzer 130 may include a stream switching system 140 and gas chromatograph 150. In operation, fluid flow through a process pipeline 110. The sample point (preferably a probe fluid) obtains a sample of fluid and delivers it to analyzer 130 via tubing 120. Analyzer 130 measures the content of the fluid sample and either returns the sample to the pipeline or vents the sample to the ambient environment.
One problem with such a layout is the large distance from the analyzer 130 to the pipeline 110, which creates a large "dead volume" of fluid. Increased dead volume results in undue mixing of consecutive fluid samples. This mixing of fluid samples results in "carry-over" between samples for gas chromatograph analysis. Carry-over is undesirable because accurate analysis requires that the analysis is representative of the fluid in the process pipeline. Since the volume of transport tubing and stream sampling components must be flushed a minimum of ten times to insure a representative sample, the "dead volume" results in significant lag time between sample analysis. Therefore, upon a sampling of fluid from the pipeline 110, the "dead volume" of fluid must be vented or otherwise disposed of before the new sample can be measured at the analyzer 130. Further, although the magnitude of the "dead volume" could be reduced by placing the analyzer 130 closer to the sample point 110, regulations and safety concerns mandate a minimum 50 feet distance between them. If placed closer than 50 feet from the pipeline 110, the analyzer 130 must be contained in an expensive explosion-proof housing.
FIG. 2 includes a stream switching system 140 attached to an analyzer oven 250 that is part of gas chromatograph 150. Three pipes or tubes 210, 220, 230 attach to switching system 140, and correspond to first, second and third flow paths. The first pipe or tube 210 connects to a first sample point 212 and carries a first gas stream of unknown composition from, for example, a process pipeline. Included along "stream 1" are pressure regulator 214 and pressure gage 215, shut-off valve 216, particulate filter 217, and a first stream switching valve 218. Second pipe or tube 220 connects to a second sample point 222 and carries second gas stream of unknown composition. Included along "stream 2" are pressure regulator 224 and pressure gage 225, shut-off valve 226, particulate filter 227, and a second stream switching valve 228. The third pipe or tube 230 connects to a third sample point 232 and a calibration sample of known composition. Included along the third path are pressure regulator 234 and pressure gage 235, shut-off valve 236, particulate filter 237, and a third switching valve 238. Third switching valve 238 connects not only to filter 237, through one port, but also to first and second switching valves 218, 228 through another. Yet another port of third switching valve 238 attaches to regulator 240 and flow meter 245. Flow meter 245 attaches through a relatively long tube to sample shut-off valve 255 housed in analyzer oven 250. Sample valve 255 connects to a sample valve in the oven, and then connects to the vent 260. As can be appreciated, although only two streams of unknown fluids are shown, additional streams could be added by the use of a greater number of flow paths.
During operation, a gas chromatograph housed in analyzer oven 250 is calibrated using the calibration sample from sample point 232. The pressure and flow rate of this stream are maintained by pressure regulator 234, regulator 240 and flow meter 245. Because the composition of the calibration sample is known, it may be used to calibrate the gas chromatograph. The calibration sample flows through third switching valve 238, through the gas chromatograph 150 and out sample vent 260. If a measurement of the fluid at sample point 222 is desired, the gas along the second pipe is allowed to flow by actuation of second stream switching valve 228, through first stream switching valve 218, and through third stream switching valve 238. The third switching valve 238 is the only valve in the stream switching system that on its own can prevent or block the flow of fluid from all the sample points. Thus, this configuration is referred to as a "single block" stream switching system. One drawback of this design is that the fluid from sample point 222 flows through all of the first, second, and third switching valves prior to arrival at the gas chromatograph, and malfunction of only a single one of these switching valves prevents the measurement of a sample of fluid from stream 2.
If, after the above-described measurement of stream 2, it is desired to measure the fluid from stream 1, the system must be purged of the previous fluid sample. Purging of the old fluid stream from the system prevents contamination between the streams. Thus, the stream switching system of FIG. 2 would switch from stream 2 to stream 1. At that time, adequate accuracy by the gas chromatograph has likely been assured if all the other necessary criteria have been met. Many refer to a configuration having a single sample vent as a "single bleed" stream switching system.
Thus, a "dead volume" of fluid in a stream switching system is a significant problem. Another problem encountered in a stream switching system is the reliability and maintenance of the system. Because an operator may visit a particular stream switching system only infrequently, the system should be accurate, reliable, as immune to breakdown as possible, and simple to repair when problems do occur. This highly sought after combination of features is not available with current stream switching systems.
Another drawback in many prior systems is their difficulty in analyzing a complex fluids because of limitations in the associated gas chromatographs. It would be desirable if a stream switching system could be developed that could quickly transfer fluid sample to the analyzer. This drawback also reduces the usefulness of a stream sampling system.
A stream sampling system is needed that is faster, more reliable, more flexible, and more accurate than previous stream sampling systems. Ideally, such a stream sampling system could reduce the adverse effects of "dead volume." This ideal stream sampling system would also be less prone to breakdown than previous models, while providing much faster and more accurate measurements.


A magnetron including: an anode cylinder in which a plurality of vanes are formed, a filament provided at a center of the anode cylinder, a top hat which supports an upper end of the filament, a top lead for connecting the top hat at an upper end of the top lead, an end hat which supports a lower end of the filament, an end lead for connecting the end hat at an upper end of the end lead, a stem metal hermetically sealed at an open end of the anode cylinder through a pole piece, and a choke disposed inside the stem metal, wherein the choke is disposed approximately in a position of wavelength of a predetermined high frequency from the top hat in a distance along a surface of the top lead. It is possible to suppress generation of undesired high frequency, especially of the fifth high frequency, from the input portion.

The present invention relates to a magnetron for generating microwaves, and more particularly, to a magnetron for suppressing the generation of higher harmonics of microwave.
A structure relating to a conventional magnetron is shown in FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, numeral 21 denotes an anode cylinder. In the radially inward direction of the anode cylinder 21, there are formed a plurality of vanes 22, and a filament 23 is disposed on the central axis. The part 24 is a stem metal, which is hermetically sealed at the open end of the anode cylinder 21. The part 25 is a choke which is press-fitted to the inner surface of the stem metal 24. The filament 23 is subjected to high temperature by the applied voltage to discharge thermion, and renders the surrounding area to a high temperature by radiant heat. The discharged thermion shows circulating movement in the operating space formed between the lateral surface of the vane 22 and the filament 23 to oscillate microwave.
In general, in the magnetron, there are generated fundamental harmonic as oscillating microwaves. Besides the fundamental harmonic component, there are generated higher harmonics having a frequency of multiple of integers thereof, and these higher harmonics are radiated outside from the input portion. Recently, especially needs for preventing leakage of the electric waves from apparatuses, especially those utilizing magnetron have become greater, and above all, suppression of radiation of higher harmonics is demanded. By the way, in the magnetron to be used for the electronic oven, when the higher harmonic component is radiated from the input side, the component is propagated in the electronic oven in the same manner as in the case of the fundamental harmonics. Because of short wavelength, the higher harmonics might provide difficulty to shield the electric waves in various parts of the electronic oven, and cause leakage outside.
In view of the above, in order to suppress generation of the higher harmonics by the magnetron per se, there has been developed a technique to suppress optional higher harmonics by forming a 1/4 wavelength type choke on the input portion (e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 144826/1990).
In such magnetron, there has not been considered what would be the effect of suppression of the higher harmonics when the position of arrangement of choke is changed.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present to provide a magnetron capable of suppressing generation of undesired higher harmonics from the input portion, especially of suppressing generation of the fifth higher harmonic.


A one piece mouthpiece with a mandibular re-positioning extension for reducing snoring, and in particular, to a dental orthosis for easy engagement with the upper dentition of a person and intended to eliminate snoring. The mouthpiece is made from a deformable material with a shape complementary to a person's upper teeth and dental arch. The mouthpiece generally has an arched channel which embraces the upper teeth of a person. The mouthpiece includes an attached downward anterior mandibular extension located at the back of the top of the arch of the mouthpiece.

Snoring is typically caused by partial obstruction of an individual's airway during sleep. Snoring occurs when the pharyngeal airway is partially obstructed, resulting in vibration of the oral tissues during respiration. Snoring tends to become more severe as patients grow older, likely due to progressive loss of muscle tone in the patient's throat and oral tissues.
In these respects, the snore relieving apparatus with mandibular positioning according to the present disclosure substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of reducing snoring, and in particular, to a mouthpiece for easy placement on the upper teeth of a user, comfortable to wear, and which permits the natural movement and positioning of the lower jaw. In addition, the mandibular positioning piece is small enough so as to not position the tongue in an irritating and uncomfortable position.

Snore relief with mandibular positioning device


A new and distinct Weigela cultivar named ‘WFMOBLA’ is disclosed, characterized by a low, mounded plant habit requiring little pruning to maintain shape. Plants are very cold hardy and produce attractive glossy dark foliage. Dark foliage appears in the Spring when overwintered in a poly-house. The new. variety is a Weigela, normally produced as an outdoor garden or container plant.

The new Weigela cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventor, Timothy D. Wood, in Grand Haven, Minn. The objective of the breeding program was to produce new Weigela varieties with low, mounded, dwarf plant habits, and improved production performance. The open pollination resulting in this new variety occured during May of 2009.
The seed parent is the commercial variety, Weigela florida 'Verweig' U.S. Plant Pat. No. 16,824. The pollen parent is unknown as it was an open pollination breeding program. The new variety was identified as a potentially interesting selection in June of 2011, at a greenhouse in Spring Lake, Minn.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar 'WFMOBLA' by softwood cuttings was first performed during June of 2011 at commercial greenhouse in Grand Haven, Minn. Subsequent propagation has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in 4 successive generations.


The present disclosure relates to a polyethylene composition with improved swell ratio and mechanical properties for use in preparing blow-moulded articles and having the following features:    1) a density from 0.945 to less than 0.952 g/cm3;    2) an MIF/MIP ratio from 15 to 30;    3) a Shear-Induced Crystallization Index (SIC) from 2.5 to 5.5.

An additional and important advantage of the polyethylene composition of the present disclosure is that it can be melt-processed at unusually high shear rate values, which mean high processing speeds and/or reduced melt-processing temperatures, without encountering flow-instabilities that generally produce unacceptable defects in the resulting formed articles (e.g. shark skin or melt-fracture aspects), even in the absence of processing aids.
Moreover, the fast crystallization kinetics of the present composition, which provides a critical contribution to its superior processability, also provides an unusually reduced shrinkage in the resulting formed articles, thus allowing for a remarkable dimensional stability.
The composition of the present disclosure provides an unmatched balance of mechanical properties and processability with respect to many known polyethylene compositions for the same use, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,201,078.
In this regard, the polymers disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,201,078 achieve a relatively low balance of swell ratio and environmental stress cracking resistance, as shown in the examples therein.
The problems associated with high impact resistance, reducing the flow-instabilities and improving the dimensional stability (lowering shrinkage) are not overcome in the above referenced patent.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Polyethylene composition having high swell ratio


An apparatus for diagnosing an abnormality in a torque sensor that is connected to a controller of an electric power steering apparatus by two systems includes a steering speed determination unit that determines whether a variation speed of a steering angle equals or exceeds a predetermined speed on the basis of a detection result from a steering angle sensor, an integrated value calculation unit that calculates an integrated value of an input torque detected by the torque sensor within a sampling period extending from a point at which a steering wheel is steered at or above the predetermined speed to a point at which the steering wheel returns to a neutral position, and an abnormality determination unit that determines that an abnormality has occurred in the torque sensor when the integrated value of the input torque is equal to or smaller than a predetermined reference integrated torque.

A conventional electric power steering apparatus assists a steering force applied by a driver to a steering wheel by detecting an input torque applied to a steering shaft using a torque sensor, and controlling driving of an electric motor on the basis of a detection result.
In this type of electric power steering apparatus, two torque sensor systems are provided, and when a difference of at least a predetermined value appears between output values of the two torque sensor systems, it is determined that a breakdown has occurred in the torque sensor.
In an apparatus provided with two torque sensor systems, however, when both systems are disconnected, the output values of the two torque sensor systems both correspond to a neutral point in which no steering torque is input, and therefore, with the above method of determining a breakdown on the basis of the difference between the output values of the two systems, it is impossible to determine that a breakdown has occurred in both torque sensor systems. In this type of situation, the output value of the torque sensor corresponds to the neutral point in which no steering torque is input even when the driver operates the steering wheel such that steering torque is generated in the steering shaft, and therefore assistance is not provided by the electric motor. As a result, the steering wheel becomes heavy.
JP2008-62686A discloses an electric power steering control apparatus that determines that an abnormality has occurred in a torque sensor when a condition in which two output values obtained from a torque sensor are in the vicinity of a reference value and a steering angle of a steering wheel equals or exceeds a predetermined angle remains established for a predetermined time.

Abnormality diagnosis apparatus and abnormality diagnosis method for torque sensor


A method using irradiation with optical light in the presence of a chemical dissolved in a solvent which chemical reacts with the surface in the presence of the irradiation to modify the surface (12A, 104A, 202A, 304A, 402A, 502A) of a substrate (12, 104, 202, 304, 402, 502) is described. The light can be pulsed or continuous. The method is significantly enhanced by the presence of water (14, 124, 204, 308, 410, 508) as the solvent containing the dissolved chemical on the surface. The treated surfaces are more paintable and bondable.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for treating surfaces of substrates coated with a chemical in a solvent using optical energy to produce surfaces with the chemical bonded to it. In particular, the present invention relates to a preferred process for pretreating surfaces of substrates by providing water containing the chemical between the optical energy source and the substrate.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Manufactured surfaces of substrates always contain undesirable compounds or additives that limit or reduce adhesion to an adhesive or paint film. Hence, surface preparation, which includes cleaning and activation of the surfaces, of polymeric, polymer composite or metal substrates is carried out prior to applying protective paint films or adhesive bonding. Surface preparation determines the mechanical and durability characteristics of the composite created. Currently the techniques used for surface preparation are mechanical surface treatments (e.g. abrasion), solvent wash and chemical modification techniques like corona, plasma, flame treatment and acid etching. Each of the existing processes have shortcomings and thus, they are of limited use. Abrasion techniques are found to be time consuming, labor intensive and have the potential to damage the adherent surface. Use of organic solvents results in volatile organic chemical (VOC) emissions. Chemical techniques are costly and are of limited use with regard to treating three dimensional parts, can be a batch process (such as plasma, acid etching) and need tight control.
The use of lasers for surface treatment is known in the art. The focussed beams of the lasers make it difficult to treat a large surface. U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,021 to Werth et al. describes such a method. U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,765 to Woodroffe describes paint removal with surface treatment using a laser.
Plasma treatment of surfaces is known in the art. Relatively expensive equipment is necessary for such treatments and plasmas are difficult to control. The surfaces are treated with vaporized water in the plasma. Illustrative of this art are U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,516 to Isaka et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,210 to Chou et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,357,005 to Buchwalter et al.
A light based process which cleans a substrate surface also creates a beneficial chemistry on the surface for adhesive bonding and paintability is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,123 to Cates et al. The process involves exposing the desired substrate surface to be treated to flashlamp radiation having a wavelength of 160 to 5000 nanometers. Ozone is used with the light to increase the wettability of the surface of the substrate being treated. Surfaces of substrates such as metals, polymers, polymer composites are cleaned by exposure to the flashlamp radiation. The problem with the Cates et al. process is that the surface of the substrate is heated to a relatively high temperature, particularly by radiation above 500 nanometers and relatively long treatment times. Related patents to Cates et al. are U.S. Pat. No. 3,890,176 to Bolon, U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,434 to Caines; U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,796 to Asmus et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,281,798 to Hamm et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,500,459 to Hagemeyer et al. and U.K. Patent No. 723,631 to British Cellophane. Non-patent references are: Bolon et al., "Ultraviolet Depolymerization of Photoresist Polymers", Polymer Engineering and Science, Vol. 12 pages 109–111 (1972). M. J. Walzak et al., "UV and Ozone Treatment of Polypropylene and poly(ethylene terephthalate)", In: Polymer Surface Modification: Relevance to Adhesion, K. L. Mittal (Editor), 253–272 (1995); M. Strobel et al., "A Comparison of gas-phase methods of modifying polymer surfaces", Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology, 365–383 (1995); N. Dontula et al., "A study of polymer surface modification using ultraviolet radiation", Proceedings of 20th Annual Adhesion Society Meeting, Hilton Head, S.C. (1997); C. L. Weitzsacker et al., "Utilizing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to investigate modified polymer surfaces", Proceedings of 20th Annual Adhesion Society Meeting, Hilton Head, S.C. (1997); N. Dontula et al., "Ultraviolet light as an adhesive bonding surface pretreatment for polymers and polymer composites", Proceedings of ACCE'97, Detroit, Mich.; C. L. Weitzsacker et al., "Surface pretreatment of plastics and polymer composites using ultraviolet light", Proceedings of ACT'97, Detroit, Mich.; N. Dontula et al., "Surface activation of polymers using ultraviolet activation", Proceedings of Society of Plastics Engineers ANTEC'97, Toronto, Canada. Haack, L. P., et al., 22nd Adhesion Soc. Meeting (Feb. 22–24, 1999).
Non-pulsed UV lamps have been used by the prior art. These are described in: "Experimental Methods in Photochemistry", Chapter 7, pages 686–705 (1982). U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,618 to Zelez is illustrative of the use of these types of lamps.
A disadvantage of the ultraviolet lamp treatments of the prior art is that they are time consuming and sometimes unreliable. To achieve suitable surface chemistries for adhesive bonding and painting purposes, exposure times for certain materials like polypropylene, thermoplastic olefins (TPO's) tend to be of the order of 5 to 60 minutes. In many cases there is a limit on the length of time to which one may expose the substrates to UV since there is a fear of degrading the substrate. There is a need for development of an environmentally friendly as well as cost effective and robust surface treatment process which can be used over a range of surfaces.

Chemical functionalization of material surfaces using optical energy and chemicals

Board of Trustees of Michigan State University


Seismic data recorded by subsurface seismic sensors placed in a borehole, such as an oil or gas well, are transformed via a process of upward wavefield propagation to pseudo-receivers at the surface of the earth. The seismic data thus transformed can be processed as though the data had been recorded by the pseudo-receivers at the surface rather than in the borehole where the data were actually recorded. This method accurately accounts for seismic source statics, anisotropy, and all velocity effects between the real receivers in the borehole and the pseudo-receivers at the surface of the earth.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of processing of borehole seismic data. More specifically, the present invention discloses a method for processing borehole seismic data into the form of surface seismic data so that conventional surface seismic data processing methods can then be applied to form a subsurface image of the earth.
2. Statement of the Problem
The widely known and widely used art of surface seismology involves placing seismic sources and seismic receivers at the surface of the earth and recording seismic waves that originate at the seismic source point. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a conventional method of collecting seismic data in surface seismic operations is to place seismic sources and seismic receivers at the surface of the earth. Each seismic source is initiated and the seismic wavefield from the individual seismic sources is recorded on multiple receivers. Data recorded by geophones (also known as seismometers) at the surface of the earth can be processed by widely known methods (see, Yilmaz, O., Seismic Data Processing, (Society of Exploration Geophysicists, 1987)) to obtain an image of the interior of the earth.
One of the most commonly used processing methods is called CDP (Common Depth Point) processing. In this method, sources and receivers from different common source gathers (see FIG. 1) are sorted into common midpoint gathers, otherwise known as CDP (Common Depth Point) gathers, as illustrated in FIG. 2.
Reflections in a CDP gather are hyperbolic in the time-offset plane, as shown in FIG. 3, where the word "offset" is used to describe the horizontal distance from the source to the receivers. The trace on the left side of the gather in FIG. 3 has an offset of zero, in other words the source and receiver were coincident in space at the time of recording. The time delay of reflections with increasing offset is due to the increased seismic wave travel path with increased source-receiver separation in the horizontal direction.
A mathematical operation known as Normal Moveout (NMO) can be applied to the reflections in a CDP gather to correct reflection travel times so that the reflection time after application of NMO is equivalent to the travel time at zero-offset, i.e., where the source and receiver were coincident at the surface of the earth at the time of recording. FIG. 4 shows a synthetic common depth point gather in FIG. 3 after correction for NMO.
Having both sources and receivers at the surface of the earth is required for two key aspects of this reflection seismology technique to work properly. The two aspects are: (1) to first order, the spatial point from which a seismic reflection originates can be assumed to be half way between the source and receiver; and (2) the shape of a reflection in the time-offset plane is hyperbolic and can be predicted by the NMO equation. The assumptions of these two key aspects are violated in proportion to the degree that reflecting interfaces in the subsurface dip (or tilt) from flat lying. But even with steep dips, the earth can be imaged with well-developed surface seismic techniques.
A sub-field of reflection seismology is borehole seismology in which seismic receivers are placed in one or more boreholes in the subsurface and source points are at the surface of the earth, as shown in FIG. 5. This type of data is generally known as Offset VSP (Vertical Seismic Profile) data, but is also alternatively known as 2D VSP or 3D VSP data. Alternatively the source can be in the borehole with receivers at the surface of the earth. The borehole seismic source can be of any type, including data derived from using a drilling bit as the seismic source. This technique is commonly known as Reverse VSP.
There are significant advantages to recording seismic data by VSP methods, not the least of which is increased seismic frequency content over that which can be recorded at the surface of the earth. Therefore, the potential exists to obtain greater geologic detail from the data. The significant disadvantage however is that the symmetry of having source and receivers at the same elevation is lost. Thus, the common midpoint reflection point assumption is lost and the NMO equation does not apply. Further, there is not currently an analogous equation for midpoint determination and moveout correction to apply to offset VSP data.

Method for processing borehole seismic data


A printing system sheet feeder apparatus and method is provided. The printing system feeder includes a front nudger roll positioned near the leading edge of the top sheet of a sheet stack and the front nudger roll is capable of advancing the top sheet. In addition, the printing system sheet feeder includes a separation nip aligned with the front nudger roll, the front nudger roll being capable of receiving the top sheet advanced by the front nudger roll and advancing the top sheet in a direction away from the front nudger. A rear nudger roll is positioned near the trailing edge of the top sheet and is capable of advancing the sheet directly below the top sheet while the top sheet is being advanced by the front nudger roll and/or separation nip, thereby increasing the overall sheet feeding rate to the printing system.

The present disclosure relates to a xerographic printing system. More specifically, this disclosure relates to a sheet feeder system and method for feeding sheets to one or more printing modules, the sheets being fed including any kind of media appropriate for use as a substrate for printing within a xerographic printing system.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a conventional printing system includes one or more printing modules 2, 4, 6, 8, a feeder module 10 and a finisher module 12. The printing modules 2, 4, 6, and 8 may employ a variety of configurations that include horizontal alignment, vertical alignment or an integrated vertical/horizontal alignment configuration as illustrated in FIG. 1. In addition, a printing system can include a single printing module. In general, the sheet feeder module 10 feeds a sheet of paper, plastic or other suitable physical print media for images and text to the printing modules 2, 4, 6, and 8 by way of a sheet path which connects the feeder module 10 to the printing modules 2, 4, 6, and 8. The printing modules 2, 4, 6, and 8 include marking apparatuses that are used for applying an image to the sheet which is supplied from the feeder module. After marking has been completed within the printing modules, the sheet travels to a finishing module 12 which includes any post-marking devices, such as a sorter, mailbox, inserter, interposer, folder, stapler, stacker, hole puncher, collator, stitcher, binder, envelope stuffer, postage machine, or the like.
A conventional sheet feeder module can include one or more feeders, as illustrated in FIG. 1. A conventional friction retard feeder design is illustrated in FIG. 2. This conventional design includes a separation nip 20 having a forward driven feed roll 22 and a retard roll 24 that serves as a high drag torque idler. A nudger roll 26 is generally placed a short distance back from the lead edge of the sheet stack 28. The nudger roll 26 serves to advance the top sheet(s) off of the stack 28 and into the separation nip 20. This feeder configuration is well known within the industry. This feeder technology is hampered from operating a high speeds (>100 ppm) in part because of the variable amount of time it can take to nudge the top sheet into the feed nip, i.e. acquire the sheet. Sheet feeder timing is limited by the longest acquisition time possible while still delivering sheets within the pitch time tolerances to the system. Nudging of the top sheet cannot start until the previous sheet's trail edge has cleared the nudger 26 or more generally the separation nip 20 since the feed roll 22 and the nudger roll 26 drive is generally tied together mechanically.
This disclosure provides a system and method of increasing the sheet feed rate by the addition of a rear nudger.

Printing system sheet feeder using rear and front nudger rolls


An aqueous cleansing composition, which comprises:. (a) a short-chain anionic surfactant chosen from C.sub.6 -C.sub.9 alkyl ether sulphates, C.sub.8 -C.sub.11 acyl lactylates, C.sub.6 -C.sub.9 acyl methyl taurates, C.sub.6 -C.sub.9 acyl isethionates, C.sub.6 -C.sub.11 fatty acid soaps, C.sub.6 -C.sub.9 alkyl sulphates, C.sub.6 -C.sub.11 acyl sarcosinates, C.sub.6 -C.sub.9 alkyl sulphosuccinates, C.sub.6 -C.sub.9 alkyl ether sulphosuccinates, or mixtures thereof; PA1 (b) a long-chain anionic surfactant chosen from C.sub.13 -C.sub.18 alkyl ether sulphates, C.sub.13 -C.sub.18 acyl lactylates, C.sub.13 -C.sub.16 acyl methyl taurates, C.sub.13 -C.sub.15 acyl isethionates, C.sub.13 -C.sub.16 alkyl sulphates, C.sub.13 -C.sub.16 acyl sarcosinates, C.sub.13 -C.sub.16 alkyl sulphosuccinates, C.sub.13 -C.sub.16 alkyl ether sulphosuccinates, or mixtures thereof; PA1 (c) optionally, a medium-chain anionic surfactant chosen from C.sub.10 -C.sub.12 alkyl ether sulphates, C.sub.12 acyl lactylates, C.sub.10 -C.sub.12 acyl methyl taurates, C.sub.10 -C.sub.12 acyl isethionates, C.sub.10 -C.sub.12 alkyl sulphates, C.sub.12 acyl sarcosinates, C.sub.10 -C.sub.12 alkyl sulphosuccinates, C.sub.10 -C.sub.12 alkyl ether sulphosuccinates, or mixtures thereof, and PA1 (d) water;. wherein (i) at least one of the surfactants (a) and (b) is selected from the group consisting of the acyl lactylates, the acyl sarcosinates, the acyl methyl taurates, the alkyl ether sulphates and the acyl isethionates, or the short-chain anionic surfactant (a) is a C.sub.6 -C.sub.11 fatty acid soap; PA2 (ii) if surfactant (c) is present, then the surfactants (a), (b) and (c) are present in an amount such that the weight ratio of (c):[(a)+(b)] is less than 1:1.

In the recent past it has become more and more important for consumers that aqueous cleansing compositions are high foaming as well as mild. These combined properties are especially useful if the cleansing compositions are to be topically applied to human skin and hair. Consequently, efforts have been made to provide washing products, such as hair shampoos, shower gels and facial wash foams, showing these two properties. The major problem to provide such products resides in the fact that both properties tend to be mutually incompatible. While high lathering surfactants are generally very harsh, mild surfactants tend to give insufficient lather.
In the past attempts have been made to overcome these problems by combining harsh surfactants generating sufficient lather with very mild co-surfactants.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,728,447 (C J Patterson) discloses hair shampoo compositions containing fatty acid lactylates or glycolates while the cleaning actions of these shampoos is satisfactory the foam remains minimal. In order to achieve higher foaming action it is described to incorporate booster surfactants, such as sodium lauryl sulphate or triethanol amine lauryl sulphate, in the shampoo compositions. However, these booster surfactants are causing a high degree of irritancy when applied on human skin.
WO 91/09923 describes compositions comprising an ultra mild surfactant and a foam enhancer. The ultra mild surfactant is an alkyl glyceryl ether sulfonate (AGS) which has a hydrophobic group containing a linear alkyl chain containing from about 7 to 9 carbon atoms. Conventional foam boosters such as amine oxides and water soluble halide salts are added to improve lather creaminess, volume and stability.
EP-A-224 796 (Kao) describes a detergent composition comprising (a) a phosphate surfactant and (b) an acyl lactylate having an acyl group containing 12 to 18 carbon atoms. Specific examples for such combinations are mixtures of lauryl phosphate and stearoyl lactylate, isostearoyl lactylate and lauroyl lactylate, respectively.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,279 (Eastman Kodak) discloses shaving cream formulations comprising salts of C.sub.14 -C.sub.22 acyl lactylates, saturated monoglycerides, propylene glycol monoesters and humectants.
It has now been discovered that a combination of specific short-chain surfactants with specific long-chain surfactants provides mild cleansing compositions with the added attribute that by using these compositions a high degree of lather is generated. Unexpectedly, these properties have been achieved by combining very mild surfactants, which on application on their own give unsatisfactory lather in terns of foam volume. The synergistic effect obtained by combining the specific short-chain and the specific long-chain surfactant is described later herein.


Interchangeable finger and thumb ringlets are described for improving the comfort and control of scissors and pivoted grasping instruments. Flexible ringlets having various sizes are removably attached to the handle portions of such instruments, thereby providing proper fit to the user's fingers.

The present invention relates generally to pivoted cutting and grasping instruments, and more particularly to the use of interchangeable thumb and index finger ringlets to increase the ease and flexibility of use thereof and to reduce the effort involved and fatigue resulting from prolonged use.
Modifications which would allow for greater comfort for the surgeon or barber in the use of surgical scissors and forceps and hair cutting scissors, respectively, have been few, the most notable being the use of finger and thumb ringlets. However, the advantages deriving from the use of such ringlets, such as better control and reduced fatigue, are significantly decreased if they do not properly fit the user's fingers.
Accordingly it is an object of the present invention to provide pivoted cutting and grasping instruments having interchangeable thumb and finger ringlets having various sizes such that virtually any user may comfortably and precisely utilize instruments fitted with them.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

Interchangeable ringlets for pivoted grasping instruments


A method for matching objects based on spatial layout of regions based on a shape similarity model for detecting similarity between general 2D objects. The method uses the shape similarity model to determine if two objects are similar by logical region generation in which logical regions are automatically derived from information in the objects to be matched, region correspondence, in which a correspondence is established between the regions on the objects, pose computation in which the individual transforms relating corresponding regions are recovered, and pose verification in which the extent of spatial similarity is measured by projecting one document onto the other using the computed pose parameters. The method of the invention can be carried out in a microprocessor-based system capable of being programmed to carry out the method of the invention.

In today's world, increasing numbers of documents are being scanned in large quantities or are being created electronically. To maintain and manage these documents requires new methods that analyze, store and retrieve the documents. Current document management systems can support document database creation from scanned documents and indexing based on text queries. A need for allowing more visual queries has been felt, particularly in retrieving documents when text keywords are unreliably extracted (from scanned documents due to OCR errors), or retrieve too many choices for a user to select from. In such cases the intention of the user is best captured by either allowing more flexible queries making reference to a document genre or type (say, find me a "letter" from "X" regarding "sales" and "support"), or by simply pointing to an icon or example, and asking "find me a document looking similar to it in visual layout." Performing either requires an ability to automatically derive such document genre or type information from similarity in the visual layouts of documents rather than their precise text content, which may be quite different. An example illustrating this can be seen from FIGS. 1A and 1B which are two similar-looking documents with very different text content.
Matching based on spatial layout similarity is a difficult problem, and has not been well-addressed. The above examples also illustrate the outstanding difficulty. The two documents in FIG. 1A and 1B are regarded as similar even though their logically corresponding regions (text segments) shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, respectively, differ in size. Furthermore, some of the corresponding regions have moved up while others have moved down and by different amounts.
While matching based on spatial layout similarity by using a generalized shape model has not been attempted before, previous work exists on several methods of document matching based on image content. Some of these extract a symbolic graph-like description of regions and perform computationally intensive subgraph matching to determine similarity, as seen in the work of Watanabe in "Layout Recognition of Multi-Kinds of Table-Form Documents", IEEE Transactions Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,642,288 to Leung et al. entitled "Intelligent document recognition and handling" describes a method of document image matching by performing some image processing and forming feature vectors from the pixel distributions within the document.
Disclosures of the patent and all references discussed above and in the Detailed Description of the invention are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

Method for matching perceptual shape similarity layouts across multiple 2D objects


A user emulation module is operable to emulate generating a feature by a user by issuing graphical user interface based commands in a computer aided design system associated with either a source technical system or a target technical system. An associated pattern recognition module is operable to analyze a parametric feature definition from the source technical system and identify one or more parametric feature definitions in the target technical system that achieve an equivalent result.

1. Field of the Invention
This application is related to computer data exchange, and more particularly to methods and apparatus for exchanging computer aided design data between distinct computer aided design systems.
2. Background Information
Modern engineers, and in particular engineers who design mechanical devices, utilize computer aided design equipment to assist in the design process. This equipment typically consists of a UNIX-based, or Microsoft Windows NT (TM)-based workstation or computer that includes a keyboard, a display, and a pointing device, such as a mouse. More particularly, the equipment includes computer aided design (hereinafter "CAD") software that allows the engineer to create two- or three-dimensional drawings of the devices the engineer designs.
Occasionally the CAD software does more than simply allow the engineer to create drawings of these devices. The CAD software might also perform various solid modeling and/or engineering manufacturing based analysis on the engineer's CAD model, as well as certain supply chain functionalities—for example by integrating the CAD model into a sophisticated product data management ("PDM"), manufacturing resource planning ("MRP"), or enterprise resource planning ("ERP") database system.
There are two standard paradigms in which engineers enter data into a CAD system. For the sake of simplicity, one paradigm will be referred to as the "explicit geometry" paradigm and the second will be referred to as the "parametric feature-based" paradigm. FIG. 1 shows an explicit geometry system, while FIG. 2 shows a parametric feature-based system.
In legacy CAD systems, explicit geometric specification of parts is performed. For example, images are created, sometimes in different layers, where rectangular or polar coordinates are specified for each point or line. While this method is cumbersome and painstakingly detailed, it is often a preferred data entry paradigm for engineers who design complex free-form surfaces. The strength of this paradigm is also its weakness: namely, the rigid and often unforgiving interdependencies between edges, connections, voids, and spatial geometry. For instance, moving a single line or point can disrupt the entire model.
In the not too distant past, a new approach to CAD design, called parametric feature-based ("PFB") design was introduced. Parametric feature-based design is currently the leading design paradigm in the CAD industry. In this paradigm, which has been pioneered by companies such Parametric Technology Corporation ("PTC"), rather than explicitly reciting geometric points and the like, engineers start with certain shapes and define parameters for those shapes. Subsequent features are added to the shape that, when aggregated, form a complete CAD model. Referring to FIG. 2, it shows an exemplary feature list 4 for an object and the resulting sketch 8 of the object.
For instance, if an engineer were designing a new wheel for a car, she might start with a circle. Next, a feature is added to the circle making it a cylinder (e.g. an extrude operation). A shell could then be subtracted from the cylinder, thereby creating and overall contour for the visible part of the wheel. Finally, an array of small diameter cylinders could also be subtracted from the visible part of the wheel to create openings through which the wheel can be attached to the car. With each of the features added to the design, the engineer specifies a basic geometry and one or more parameters for the geometry (for example, radius, length, width, depth, material, etc.). In a competitive system, however, more complex shapes may be modeled. For instance, rather than starting with a baseline geometric feature, the competitive CAD system may allow cylinders, cones, or other complex three-dimensional features to be specified.
The strength of parametric feature-based design is that the engineer's design intent can be maintained, even though the details (parameters) change. This is to say that the overall design is preserved while giving the engineer the flexibility to simply test different parameters on her design. For instance, small changes to a feature on a PFB CAD model will not necessarily disrupt the stability of the entire design.
As of this writing, there are a number of major vendors of CAD software, and even more smaller vendors. These vendors include: PTC, Dassault Systemes (France), Unigraphics Solutions, SDRC, and Autodesk. Each of these vendors implements their design methodologies in a different manner and most treat their computational and algorithmic methodologies as proprietary. Not only are their methodologies secret, but the data structures that implement their methodologies are secret.
And herein lies a problem. When the users of different CAD systems need to share design data they are currently able to do so only to a limited extent. Typically the extent to which the users are able to share data is limited by the amount of co-operation between the various CAD vendors. Because the CAD vendors are head-to-head competitors, they share information only reluctantly—lest their trade secrets or proprietary methodologies, which are the very core element that distinguishes vendor from vendor (apart from their user interface), become known by their competitors.
Nevertheless, the CAD vendors have implemented certain application programming interfaces ("APIs") that provide at least a partial solution to the problem. Using an API, a user or system integrator can make function calls to a particular CAD system together with the necessary processing information. The particular CAD system will process the function calls and may return either an explicit geometric expression of the desired part or feature, or it may return some sort of standard graphical representation of the desired part or feature.
But the APIs are functionally limited and often have significant problems exchanging complex design features and/or information. And again, every additional function added to a CAD vendor's API provides a window through which the vendor's competitors can view, with an eye to reverse engineering, at least some portion of the vendor's trade secrets.
The problem is getting worse. Consolidation in certain industries, such as the automotive and aircraft industries, creates more CAD data exchange problems. For instance, Boeing Corporation recently acquired McDonnell Douglas Corporation. The formerly separate entities likely use different CAD systems.
Moreover, each formerly separate entity has multiple tiers of suppliers—each supplier using their own CAD system too. When an engineer at Boeing changes a part, that change must be communicated to the particular supplier that manufactures the part. The supplier may require the CAD model for the part. But because of incompatible file types and differing computational and algorithmic methodologies, the CAD model cannot be provided. Even worse, when Boeing decides to create design synergies between the two merged entities, the Boeing engineers and the McDonnell Douglas engineers might be completely unable to exchange complex CAD models. Of course, the same is true of Ford Motor Company, which recently purchased Jaguar and Volvo. FIG. 3 diagrammatically presents the communication problem.
The economies of scale desired by the merger of such entities are victims of the inevitable battles over sharing information and know-how between the CAD vendors. Moreover, the collaboration between engineers from separate entities (i.e., between original equipment manufacturers and first and second tier suppliers), under the current state-of-the-art, will be all but impossible—as engineers waste time and money desperately trying to share design files made from disparate CAD systems. While standards may exist for exchanging raw data images (e.g., TIFF and JPEG) and boundary representations (e.g., IGES and STEP), these standards do not preserve the design intent of the engineer.

Data exchange between computer aided design systems