An endless woven papermaker's fabric of having warp yarns in at least two layers and continuous weft yarns in at least two layers. The warp and weft yarns are interwoven to form a fabric where the first warp yarn layer is adjacent to the second warp layer and the weft yarns define seam loops at two ends of the fabric. Each end of the fabric has at least one warp yarn which is free of interweaving with the weft yarns and is removed to form the seam loops.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a woven fabric which is designed for use in a paper, cellulose or board manufacturing machine, and which along each end, has a plurality of loops to be included in a seam to form an endless woven fabric. The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing such a fabric.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Seamed papermaking fabrics have seams that allow the fabric to be assembled and disassembled on a papermaking machine without the requirement of stitching or weaving. Prior art seamed fabrics can be divided into two basic categories, the first having seams formed outside of the weaving loom and the second having seams formed in the weaving loom.
The first category of fabrics, those having seams formed outside the weaving loom, includes flat woven fabrics with an independent seam structure attached to the ends of the fabric, such as by sewing a woven tape onto the fabric or piercing it with clipper hooks. These structures have provided poor caliper and density profiles in the seam area. Other structures, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,084, are formed with an area free of cross direction yarns near each end of the fabric. Loops are formed by folding each end of the fabric back along itself and then stitching each end to hold the folded ends. This structure again provides poor caliper and density profiles in the seam area due to the fold back thickness, and has a strength and life which is limited to the strength of the stitching holding the folded fabric. These problems have effectively precluded the successful use of any of these types of fabric seams in the wet press section of papermaking machines. Seam loops have also been formed on flat woven fabrics by tying back machine direction yarns at each end of the fabric. However, tying back is generally a time consuming process which must be performed after the fabric is woven.
In the second category, in which a pin seam is formed during the weaving process on the loom, a conventional approach for forming such seam loops is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,645. In that process, pairs of weft yarns are woven around a forming wire to form the loops and then the forming wire is removed. Seam loops formed by this process are often difficult to mesh together because of their inconsistent sizes, shapes and orientations which result from the weaving method. In addition, when the forming wire is removed, the resultant fabric is generally a flat fabric with loop ends at each end thereof. Along the length of the fabric, the warp yarns weave with both layers of weft yarns, thereby joining the two weft yarns together.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a base fabric having seam loops which provide better fabric properties in the seam area while being easier to make and install.

Multi-layered papermaker's seam product with formed loops


A tank venting filter is provided with a housing defining a longitudinal filter axis that is vertically oriented in operation. The housing has a top end and a bottom end and is provided with an air inlet at the bottom end and with an air outlet at the top end. The air outlet is connectable to a tank. The housing is provided with a constriction above the air inlet. A filter element is disposed in the housing and fluidically arranged between the air inlet and the air outlet. The filter element is provided with a first filter. The constriction has an opening cross-section surface area that is less than 40% of an opening cross-section surface area of the air inlet.

The invention concerns a tank venting filter, in particular for a motor vehicle.
Filter systems for filtering media have been known for a long time, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,296 A or DE 1 047 171 A.
In this context, it is also known to provide air filters for tanks, in particular for tanks of motor vehicles, by means of which the tanks can be vented with purified (ambient) air. U.S. Pat. No. 3,546,853 A and EP 1 647 320 B1 disclose, for example, tank venting filters which have at their bottom side a plurality of air inlets.
A similar tank venting filter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,603,308 A wherein the tank venting filter comprises a chamber at its air outlet side which is delimited by two plates with small passage cutouts in order to prevent contamination of a filter element in the tank venting filter by fuel that is "splashing out" of the tank.
Moreover, EP 2 607 136 A1 discloses a tank venting valve that comprises a mechanically actuatable surge guard device in order to avoid contamination of the tank venting filter with fuel.
Finally, WO 2013/066217 A1 discloses a tank venting filter comprising a filter element that is protected by a cover from fuel possibly penetrating into the tank venting filter.
However, tank venting filters may become contaminated not only by the tank contents, for example, fuel or also a urea solution, that penetrates through an air outlet into the tank venting filter but also by water that passes through an air inlet into the tank venting filter. On the one hand, the water must not penetrate into the tank so as not to contaminate the tank contents. At the same time, the filter element of the tank venting filter must also be protected from becoming moist or completely wet so as not to compromise the performance of the filter element or the proper function of the tank venting filter.
The demands put on a tank venting filter with regard to protection of the filter from penetrating water as well as a water retention capability of the tank venting filter are relatively high, in particular because motor vehicles, when driving through rain or also in case of use of a high-pressure cleaner, are exposed to water aerosols which act with partially high pressure on the tank venting filter. Since the tank venting filter is a mass-produced article or disposable part, water protection of the tank venting filter must be simultaneously of a constructively simple design with regard to cost considerations.
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a tank venting filter that provides an effective protection from penetrating water and, at the same time, is of a constructively simple configuration.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Tank venting filter having a constriction in the air inlet area


Sortation conveyor apparatus and methods for selectively diverting articles from a primary conveying surface onto branch lines are provided. In one embodiment, a method comprises assigning memory cells to first and second articles based upon the location of the articles along the primary conveyor, and determining if the second article is to be diverted to the same location as the first article, and if so, assigning the trailing cell assigned to the trailing end of the first article to other than the first article.

In conveyor systems for conveying and distributing articles, a series of conveyed articles are typically transported along moving conveying surfaces. Such conveyor systems will typically include one or more sortation devices which divert selected articles from a primary conveying path onto one or more secondary conveying paths.
Sortation devices often employ pusher elements which are mounted relative to the conveying surface. Often, the pusher elements are mounted such that they may be selectively moved across the conveying surface in order to eject an article from the primary conveying path onto a secondary conveying path or other location. One particular sortation device of this type is referred to as a "shoe sorter," wherein the pusher elements are termed "shoes."
In a typical shoe sorter, the primary conveying surface is provided by a plurality of transverse tubes (rollers) or slats that form the transport surface. A plurality of pusher elements that are part of, or supported by, the transport surface and are guided in a set position along the length of the sorter during normal forward operation. The pusher elements can take on many forms such as belted slats, pins, and molded blocks. Historically the most prevalent design is referred to as a shoe, although other designs are possible. Here after the term shoe and pusher element shall be used to include all conventional shoes, as well as other diverting elements such as but not limited to slats, belts, rollers, etc. When it is necessary to direct an article from the main conveyor run to an adjacent takeaway conveyor, a switch mechanism causes an assigned set of pusher element to be diverted to slide across the conveyor surface in a diagonal direction. The diverted shoes thus engage and divert the article to a secondary conveying path, such as a takeaway conveyor. Such shoe sorters often use guide tracks or guide surfaces which direct the assigned set of shoes laterally across the conveying surface, while shoes which are not assigned continue to travel along the conveying surface in their set position.
In these shoe sorters and other types of sortation devices, the control system ensures that the appropriate set of pusher elements is assigned to each carton, and that the assigned pusher elements are directed across the primary conveying surface at the proper time. Sorter throughput depends on a variety of factors, particularly the speed of the conveying surface and the size of the gap between adjacent articles being sorted. If the size of the gap is small, it can be difficult for the control system to not only assign the proper set of pusher elements, but also ensure that the assigned set of pusher elements are diverted across the conveying surface at the proper time.


A tool for a mechanical surface treatment of an object by friction is disclosed. The tool is cut to a desired shape and size from a processed fleece of fibers. The fleece is produced by exclusively mechanical processes as a flexible random-fiber fleece which permits, during the treatment of the object at a particular treatment pressure, immersion and at least partial envelopment of the object within the fleece. The fleece has a mechanical strength of 150-500 N/50 mm, preferably at least 300 N/50 mm, and a mean elongation at rupture of 50-150%, preferably 80-100%, according to DIN 53 857/2.

The invention relates to a tool to be implemented as a grinding ring or grinding disk for the mechanical surface treatment by friction of an object. For example, the tool may be used for brushing, polishing, shining, cleaning, wetting or drying. The tool includes a cut and processed fleece of fibers.
The mechanical surface treatment is used for working numerous products including metal, wood, stone, glass, leather, synthetic material and the like, such as for example kitchen utensils, flatware, instruments, armatures, notches, grooves, frames of doors, windows, profile rods, industrial parts, jewelry and musical instruments as well as for the maintenance and care of floors, walls, glass panes, tiles and the like.
In polishing, the surface treatment is implemented in several steps with the graduated use of different tools or tool configurations which generate an increasingly finer surface. These tools include polishing rings or disks which are composed of several layers of woven textiles and in general are disposed on a common axis of rotation on a clamping ring. For polishing rings, the textile is cut into strips, folded, and fastened annularly about a core comprising cardboard rings, flanges or a metal clamping ring. For polishing disks, layers of textiles are cut to size, placed one above the other and rotated by an angle of 30.degree., and sewn and held together by cardboard flanges affixed thereon. The textile used for this purpose is in general, but for polishing in particular, a cotton textile. Except in the earlier polishing procedures, a textile having more rigid fibers, for example sisal, can also be used. Specific polishing rings or disks, can also be fabricated from a mixture of cotton and sisal textile. The polishing rings and disks, can be impregnated with a resin serving as a bonding means to increase the strength of the tool.
It has been necessary for many years to bias textiles comprising cotton or other nonmixed or mixed fiber materials before cutting them to size and processing them into folded rings. Biasing aligns the warp and weft threads so that they extend obliquely to the selvedge and thus prevents fraying. For this procedure a special reversing machine is required which sews the edges of the textile together thus forming a tube. Subsequently the textile tube is helically cut open into webs (biased) and rolled up to form bales. The threads form an angle of 45.degree. at the periphery of the folded rings. The problem of fraying of the folded rings is intended to be counteracted by means of the biasing (cf. Journal L'Usine Nouvell, March 1961, "Techniques modernes de Bufflage et de Pollisage").
By folding pleats into the textile strips, the polishing ring is automatically ventilated during rotation and receives the requisite pliability to envelope or wrap the part to be polished and forms honeycombs at the periphery which hold the polishing paste. Polishing pastes due to their grinding and lubricating capability are always required when polishing surfaces.
Conventional polishing tools, however, have economic as well as technical disadvantages. These are in particular the following:
impeded procurement of goods on the world markets due to bureaucratic regulation of import quotas by the European Union with respect to cotton textiles, PA1 strong fluctuations of the quotations on the stock market of world market prices of the raw material cotton, PA1 lacking production capacities in Europe due to high wages, PA1 difficult manufacture of mixed textiles due to the yarn production process, PA1 technical necessity of biasing as an additional work step which cannot be automated which results in disturbing side effects of hard and broad bias seams which impair the production process as well as the quality of the surface treatment, PA1 considerable textile waste, PA1 non-uniform wear of the grinding rings and disks due to fraying of the textile, PA1 frequent tool change due to limited service life of the grinding rings and disks. PA1 high waste component which cannot be utilized due to the bonding means, PA1 low fleece density due to the limited penetration capability of the bonding means (filter effect), PA1 insufficient mechanical strength and lower service life, PA1 limited possibilities of application because of non-uniform distribution of the bonding means and consequent erratic results, PA1 insufficient heat stability leading to undesirable smearing effect, PA1 restricted production capability of fiber mixtures due to differing adhesion and bonding capability of the bonding means on the different types of fiber materials, and PA1 undesirable stiffening of the fibers through the bonding means. PA1 independence from unstable raw material prices since the fleece according to the invention can also be produced by using artificial or synthetic fibers, PA1 reusable waste since neither a textile structure nor bonding means are present, PA1 expanded options for fiber mixing since yarn production is omitted, PA1 omission of the working step of biasing, PA1 better processibility and application capability due to the omission of bias seams, PA1 production processes which are simple to automate, PA1 no fraying and thus uniform radial wear, PA1 consequently greater service and thus tool change times, PA1 increased quiet running due to better true running, PA1 readily removable abraded particles and thereby greater cleanliness and reduced danger of smoldering fire at the work place, and PA1 due to the flexibility of the bonding means-free and therefore not rigid random fiber fleece, good immersion behavior for uneven objects which upon immersion are enveloped by the fleece. The flexibility is preferably such that an immersion depth of up to at least 50 mm can be achieved.
Polishing tools composed of fleece are rarely used. FR 1 426 721 describes in this regard, for example, a polishing or grinding material comprised of fleece which comprises permanently undulated synthetic filaments. In the process, an adhesive substance with or without grinding particles is applied onto the filaments held in tension. When the tension is relaxed the fibers become interlaced and are subsequently thermofixed. The fleece obtained in this way is cut into an annular polishing tool and processed. FR 2 310 838 also discloses polishing rings which comprise several layers of fleece. The nonsystematically arranged fibers of this fleece are connected at their points of intersection by means of a resin.
In spite of some improvements to textile rings and disks, such fleece polishing rings and disks nevertheless still have the following disadvantages:
EP-A-0 178 577 discloses a felt body, in particular a felt ring, provided with grinding or polishing paste for polishing and grinding work. In addition, the body comprises at least 35% wool or similar hair elements to facilitate the integration of the grinding and polishing grains into the felt. Also grinding and polishing grains of a grain size less than 1000 .mu.m are enclosed in hollow spaces of the random-fiber felt. The felt body is treated with a stiffening means with the fraction of stiffening additives to the felt body being at least 40%. As stiffening additives, water-soluble thermoplastic additives with a dry content of 20 to 50% polyvinyl acetate dispersions are used. The resulting stiffness of the felt body makes it unsuitable for many applications.


A display indicator is provided on a set-top appliance to indicate application layer connectivity between a client device and a server belonging to a hosted service. This connectivity optionally reflects synchronization state of a service related database on the appliance and its replica on the server. A second indicator on the appliance displays the completion status of an ongoing download.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates generally to the fields of video on demand (VOD) and set-top appliances. In particular, the invention relates to providing visual indications on a set-top appliance to indicate application layer connectivity and completion status of content download between the set-top appliance and a VOD service.
2. Description of Related Technology
With the recent advances in computing, storage and telecommunications technologies, the ability to download and watch audio/video content over a network connection is opening up new opportunities to deploy VOD services. For example, in a download-and-view VOD service, users can access content over the Internet, download it to a local storage device and view the content at a later time. One architectural element of such a service is a client device with local storage that downloads content from network servers.
Need to Display Download Progress
In co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/928,451 entitled "Method and apparatus for downloading content" filed Aug. 27, 2004, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference, a method is disclosed for downloading content from servers of a download-and-view VOD service to a client device. This method includes a software download manager executed on a client device to prioritize and manage download tasks of multiple download requests.
The download manager described in this reference performs content download by prioritizing such operations from a work list of all download requests. Some work items from this list may be of immediate interest to a user (e.g., the user may want to watch the program as soon as the download is finished and therefore may want a notification of completion of download).
When a VOD client device is connected to a television display, such notification may require either displaying messages on the television screen or a user having to invoke a "status" screen on the client device (via for example a remote control) and check from time to time on the progress of the download. Both these methods are inconvenient or disruptive to a user's viewing of another program. The first method further is limited in that if the television is turned off, a visual indicator of download completion cannot be displayed to the user.
Need to Display Connectivity
In co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/966,403 entitled "Method and apparatus for management of video on demand client device" filed Oct. 14, 2004, assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference, a method is disclosed for the management of content stored on a VOD client device in multiple ways—direct interaction with the client device and/or interaction with a replica dataset of the client device parameters stored on a network server. An implementation of the method includes download manager software running on a client device that is in periodic communication with a corresponding network-side server. This periodic communication is important to maintain synchronization between a client device's local content database and a replica thereof maintained on the VOD service provider's server.
For reasons such as ensuring proper operation of the client device, maintaining user satisfaction with the service, effective customer support and so on, it is important for the user to know that the content management application running on the client device is in communication with the corresponding server side software agent. A visual indication of such connection without the user having to either turn on or tune away his/her television is important.
Conventional solutions have recognized the need to display connectivity of networked devices at a physical layer level. For example, many cable modems have LEDs indicating the presence of a cable signal. Similarly many network devices with an Ethernet jack have a connectivity light that indicates the presence of an Ethernet carrier. Similarly, blinking lights that represent data traffic are provided on many devices to indicate active network communication.
However, the present inventors have recognized that such techniques fall short of the need for a download-and-view VOD client device as discussed above where is the requirement is to show not presence or absence of carrier signal or data traffic (i.e., physical layer connectivity), but an application layer connection with a server-side application ensuring the synchronization of the states of the client-side and the server-side components.
Thus, described herein are methods and apparatus to display such application layer connectivity that includes mechanisms to reflect synchronization of states of the client and server side components and to reflect the current download status of multimedia content. Such techniques preferably provide visual feedback of the status of connectivity and content download without a user having to turn on the television, tune away from a program being viewed, or having to view an overlay on an existing program.

Method and apparatus for indication of application layer connectivity


A cover plate assembly for covering an access opening formed in a boat deck includes a cover plate for covering the access opening and engaging the exposed side of the deck which frames the access opening. A resilient O-ring gasket carried on the underside of the cover plate is compressed by the cover plate against the exposed surface of the deck. The cover plate and resilient seal are held in place by a retainer bar which is inserted through the access opening and engages the hidden side of the deck on opposite sides of the access opening. The cover plate is coupled to the retainer bar by a screw fastener which has a torque shaft and a manually operable handle. The torque shaft has a threaded shank coupled in threaded engagement with the retainer bar, and the torque shaft projects through the cover plate with the handle engaging the exposed side of the cover plate. As the handle is turned, the retainer bar is advanced into engagement with the underside of the deck, and the handle is drawn into engagement against the cover plate. The tension loading produced in the torque shaft is transmitted uniformly through the cover plate and sealing member for obtaining substantially uniform compression of the sealing member against the exposed deck surface.

Hatches and cover plates are known for providing access to below deck storage holds and compartments behind bulkheads, walls and panels. Equipment such as shut-off valves, electrical switches and monitoring gauges are located in protected areas below deck or behind bulkheads to protect such equipment from salt spray, inadvertent contact and unauthorized handling. A security compartment, sometimes referred to as a "cat bag" may be suspended from a deck plate for storage of personal items and valuables such as wallets,, keys, and ship's papers. Some boats provide an emergency compartment for holding first aid equipment, flares, magnetic compass and the like. Such equipment must be kept dry safe and readily accessible.


The invention minimizes openings or cracks near the position at which a solder tail of a lead frame extends through a wall of a case molded about the lead frame and through which wall the solder tail extends, so as to prevent leakage through the wall near the solder tail. To accomplish this, a double-bend is formed in the solder tail before encapsulation of the lead frame. The double-bend comprises a first downward right-angle bend just outside the case wall, and an adjacent distally-spaced opposite bend such that the distal end portion of the solder tail extends substantially parallel to the plane of the lead frame. Subsequently, an anvil is positioned to support the portion of the lead tail between the case wall and the first downward bend in the solder tail, while a forming tool forces the distal end portion of the soldering tail downward to the desired final position. The final bending occurs primarily around the previously-formed opposite bend, rather than at or immediately adjacent to the case wall, thereby substantially eliminating openings in the molded case body where the solder tail passes through the case wall.

Although applicable to other electrical leads, the invention will be described with particular reference to solder tails on lead frames. Lead frames are commonly used to provide connections between electrical components inside the molded case of an electrical component package, and to provide electrically-conducting connectors extending from the interior to the exterior of the molded case. For example, an electric component and its lead frame may be at least partially enclosed in a dielectric case with leads therefrom extending outward through a wall of the case to the exterior. The external leads typically constitute so-called solder tails, which enable connection to an associated printed-circuit board or the like. Also typically, the solder tails initially extend directly outward from the molded case in a straight line, parallel to the plane of the lead frame, and are later bent sharply downwardly at right angles, after the molding operation, so their lower ends can be soldered in position on a printed circuit board, for example, in conventional manner.
It has been found that, in some cases, the interior of the case contains harmful contaminants traceable to contaminants produced during the lead-soldering operations. The present invention greatly reduces or eliminates such contamination of the interior of the case by contaminants generated outside the case.

Method of providing bends in electrical leads, and articles made thereby


A delay-locked loop includes a phase detector configured to detect a phase difference between a first clock and a second clock, a charge pump configured to increase a charge amount at a capacitive load in accordance with a first charge amount and decrease the charge amount at the capacitive load in accordance with a second charge amount based on a phase difference provided by the phase detector, a sample and hold circuit configured to receive the charge amount from the capacitive load and hold the charge amount, and a voltage control delay line configured to select a delay amount based on the charge amount received from the sample and hold circuit. At least one parameter of the delay-locked loop is configured such that a desired pump current ratio of a delay cell is achieved by adjusting a delay amount of the delay cell and/or an amount of current coupled to the delay cell.

Management of chip-level clock skew is typically handled by careful layout of an integrated circuit (IC) device. Clock skew occurs because the clock must be distributed throughout the system using board traces, connectors, backplanes, and chip-level input-clock driver pads and on-chip interconnect, for example. Several techniques are available, including buffered-tree, clock-grid, and clock-tree synthesis approaches. The buffered tree is routinely used on FPGA devices because the register clock multiplexer input pins create a fixed, regular load. Clock-tree synthesis is popular in ASIC designs because it optimizes performance, power, and area. As faster technologies have become available, it has become necessary to use phase-locked loop (PLL) and delay-locked loop (DLL) circuits to minimize skew. Elements that exhibit significant delay may be put inside of a feedback loop, such that the effective delay can be minimized or nulled.
The delay locked loop (DLL) is a commonly used circuit for synchronizing clocks. The DLL works by inserting delay between an input clock and a feedback clock until the two rising edges align, putting the two clocks 360° out of phase (meaning they are in phase but delayed by exactly one clock cycle time). After the edges from the input clock line up with the edges from the feedback clock, the DLL "locks." As long as the circuit is not evaluated until after the DLL locks, the two clocks have no discernible difference in phase. The traditional delay-locked loop (DLL) includes a phase detector (PD), a charge pump (CP), loop filter (LP), and a voltage control delay line. The PD generally detects a phase skew between an input clock and an output clock. The CP and LP generally translate the phase error between the input clock and the output clock to a voltage domain and utilize the voltage domain to select a delay time via a voltage control delay line (VCDL). The VCDL may adjust a delay time from the input clock to the output clock such that the overall delay time is the same as the period of input clock. When the DLL is locked, the overall VCDL delay time from the input clock to the output clock is equal to the period of the input clock. If a desired phase skew Δθ is to be generated, where Δθ is proportional to the input clock having a ratio M, then the overall delay line stages of the VCDL is equal to M. If the ratio M is to be adjusted, a multiplexer may be utilized to select the M stage output for the desired clock output. However, the added circuit hardware, such as the multiplexer, tends to be complex and often introduces additional delay. Thus, a total delay time from the input clock to the output clock may be equal to M×Δθ+Tdmux, where Tdmux is equal to the total delay of the multiplexor. However, it is difficult to characterize the delay time of a multiplexer and how such multiplexer affects the phase skew Δθ accuracy.
Moreover, the ΔT of the voltage controlled delay line occurs at the pico-second level and is difficult to provide accurate measurements. Conventional method utilize a high resolution time domain flash analog to digital converter (ADC) to measure subtle delay time difference. However, if there is a mismatch between one or more VCDLs in this structure, the measurement performance will degrade. Additionally, conventional methods suffer from high power consumption issues.

Voltage controlled delay line gain calibration

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD.


A process for removing epoxides from a process stream over a wide range of temperature and relative humidity, comprising the step of contacting the process stream with a filtration media comprising an acid form of a mesoporous zeolite produced from pentasil zeolite treated with a caustic agent, for a sufficient time to remove the epoxides therefrom.

Among the class of epoxides, ethylene oxide, also known as EO, EtO, ETO, anprolene, dihydrooxirene, 1,2-epoxyethane, oxacyclopropane, oxane, oxidoethane, oxiran, is an industrial chemical used in sterilizing medical items, fumigating spices, and manufacturing other chemicals. Pure ethylene oxide is a colorless gas at room temperature and a mobile, colorless liquid below 54° Fahrenheit. Sold as a mixture with either carbon dioxide or fluorocarbon 12, ethylene oxide has been used as an antimicrobial pesticide since the 1940s. Ethylene oxide kills microorganisms by denaturing their proteins and subsequently modifying their molecular structure. This activity allows ethylene oxide to be effective as a sterilant.
Ethylene oxide is known to be highly toxic. The acute (short-term) effects of ethylene oxide in humans consist mainly of central nervous system (CNS) depression and irritation of the eyes and mucous membranes, and nausea, vomiting, neurological disorders including seizures, convulsions and coma, bronchitis, pulmonary edema, and emphysema at high concentrations. Chronic (long-term) exposure to ethylene oxide in humans can cause irritation of the eyes, skin, and mucous membranes, and problems in the functioning of the brain and nerves. Some human cancer data show an increase in the incidence of leukemia, stomach cancer, cancer of the pancreas, and Hodgkin's disease in workers exposed to ethylene oxide.
The US Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") has set stringent guidelines aimed at protecting workers performing operations in an environment potentially contaminated with ethylene oxide. The Permissible Exposure Limit ("PEL") for ethylene oxide has been established at 1.8 mg/m3 (approximately 1 ppm). As a result, effective, low cost means of removing ethylene oxide from ambient streams of air is needed.
One method of removing ethylene oxide from ambient streams of air is to use impregnated, activated carbon as a filtration media. The impregnated, activated carbon is known to exhibit a strong affinity for a wide variety of organic chemicals in an ambient air stream. However, under conditions of high relative humidity (i.e., greater than about 50% relative humidity), the absorption capacity of impregnated, activated carbon is largely restricted. Under such conditions, the excessive amount of water vapor severely hampers the ability of the activate carbon to effectively absorb organic chemicals including ethylene oxide.
Depending on the environment and environmental conditions, the water content associated with ambient air can vary over a wide range, from less than about 5% to greater than about 95% relative humidity (RH). Although a number of media, such as, for example, activated carbon and resins, are capable of removing ethylene oxide from dry air, these materials fail to effectively filter ethylene oxide under conditions of high relative humidity.
For this reason, there is a need to provide an enhanced process for removing epoxides including ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, and related compounds from process streams (e.g., ambient air streams) over a wide range of temperature and relative humidity, and especially in the presence of high relative humidity. There is a further need for an enhanced process for removing epoxides including ethylene oxide, propylene oxide, and related compounds from process streams (e.g., ambient air streams) that is relatively cost efficient, safe and easy to make, use or implement, and does not require extensive handling, maintenance and care.

The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of the Army


Degradation control management is provided for a plurality of video streams associated with a plurality of user terminals in a communication network, based at least in part on an overall video quality metric, by determining a video quality metric for each video stream based on at least a set of video quality metric input parameters, and calculating an overall video quality metric based on the determined video quality metrics for the video streams, determining, with an objective function, at least one objective parameter based on at least the overall video quality metric, calculating a scheduling parameter for each video stream using a degradation control algorithm based on at least the determined video quality metric for the respective video stream and on the at least one objective parameter, and scheduling network resources for each video stream based on at least the scheduling parameter for the video stream.

The present invention generally relates to the field of video streaming in a communication system, such as a wireless, or a wireline communication network.
In a video streaming system, such as HTTP video streaming, a tension exists between the limited network resources and the resolution and quality of the received video content that can impact the quality of experience (QoE) for the user of a terminal device, such as a mobile phone, receiving the video content via a wireless communication network.
Situations can occur in a wireless communication network in which there are insufficient radio resources to maintain multiple video streaming sessions at the desired QoE level for each of the video streaming sessions, which may result in degradation of the QoE for one or more users of the terminal nodes receiving the video streaming sessions. For example, such QoE degradation in the received video streaming session may result in freezing or skipping of the video being displayed on the terminal device resulting in lost portions of the video session not being displayed or in recurring glitches/freezes in the video display, which significantly degrades the user's QoE for the video session. In other extreme situations, a video session being watched by the user at a terminal node can be unintentionally and randomly terminated because of insufficient resources in the wireless communication network to support the video session.

Video streaming quality of experience degradation control using a video quality metric


An apparatus for compensating LED printbars, and printers which use LED printbars, for aging. Changes in the slopes of the forward voltage drop verses forward current characteristics (the I-V characteristics) of the LEDs of the LED printbar are determined. The drive currents of the LEDs are then changed as a function of the changes in the slopes so as to compensate for changes in the LED light outputs.

The use of printbars comprised of discrete, light-emitting sources in image recording systems is well known. One commonly used printbar is the LED printbar. LED printbars used in imaging systems are typically comprised of a large number of closely spaced light emitting diodes (LEDs), an array of selfoc (self-focusing) lens, an LED current driver for each LED, and control electronics (which may include a shift register). The control electronics receives image signals from an external device and routes signals to the LED current drivers so as to cause the LEDs selected by the image signals to radiate light. The selfoc lenses focus radiated light onto a photoreceptor. By providing relative motion between the LED printbar and a photoreceptor, and by applying image signals at the proper times, a desired latent electrostatic image can be produced on the photoreceptor. Each area of the photoreceptor which can be illuminated by an LED is referred to as a pixel; the sum of all pixels comprise the latent image.
The LEDs of most LED printbars are arranged in a linear array of one or more rows. By making the length of a row as long as the image that is to be formed an LED printbar can produce a desired image line by line. Since it is difficult to produce a row of closely spaced LEDs with the required length (say 8 to 14 inches) LED chips of smaller lengths are usually butted together and interconnected to act as a single row. If more than one row is used, the various rows are usually offset in a staggard fashion.
While imaging systems which use other modulation schemes are possible, the most common way of modulating the LEDs is to turn them either fully ON or fully OFF in accordance with image signals applied to the printbar. The image signals may be from any of a number of sources, such as a raster input scanner (RIS), a computer, a facsimile machine, or a word processor. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,689,694, issued on 25 Aug. 1987 to Yoshida; 4,706,130, issued on 10 Nov. 1987 to Yamakawa; and 5,138,337, issued on 11 Aug. 1992 to Ng are representative of prior art printhead control circuitry. Prior art exposure control systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,729, issued on 25 Jun. 1985 to Agulnek et al., and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,322, issued on 18 Jun. 1991 to Ng. Those prior art references are hereby incorporated by reference.
To create high quality images with an LED printbar, each of the LEDs should have the same light output when ON. To meet current image quality goals the LED light output uniformity must be within 1 or 2%. One known way of achieving such uniformity this to create and store a correction matrix of light output values, one value for each LED, during a calibration phase. The stored correction values can then be downloaded to correction circuitry each time the printer is turned on. The correction circuitry can then compensate for light output differences by controlling an electrical signal, usually the drive current, to the individual LEDs based upon the stored correction values.
While the above scheme of achieving light output uniformity is generally successful, the individual LEDs of an LED printbar may have different aging characteristics which can eventually result in unacceptable pixel-to-pixel exposure uniformity. One solution to this aging problem is to periodically scan the LED printbar with a photosensor as each LED is individually turned on. The light output from each LED is then measured and, if necessary, the stored correction value for the particular LED is updated to reflect changes in light output. While this system compensates for aging, it is rather expensive and uses valuable space near the photoreceptor. Other solutions to the aging problem are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,016,027, issued on 14 May 1991 to Uebbing and 4,982,203, issued on 1 Jan. 1991 to Uebbing et al., and in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/514,033 entitled, "AUTOMATIC LED PRINTBAR UNIFORMITY ADJUSTMENT" which was filed on 11 Aug. 1995. However, those methods may not be optimal. Therefore, a new method of maintaining light output uniformity in an LED printbar, and thus pixel-to-pixel exposure uniformity over time, would be useful.

LED printbar aging compensation using I-V slope characteristics


An apparatus for contacting a fluid stream with microorganisms is provided, the apparatus comprising a housing having a contacting chamber therein defined by a wall of the housing; a first inlet for the fluid stream to be treated; a first outlet for removing a liquid culture medium stream containing microorganisms; a rotor assembly comprising an impeller moveable within the contacting chamber to promote contact between the fluid stream being treated and the liquid culture medium within the contacting chamber; wherein at a least a portion of the wall of the housing defining the contacting chamber is transparent to light. A method of treating a fluid stream with microorganisms is also provided, the method comprising contacting the fluid stream with the microorganisms in a contacting zone, the microorganisms being retained in a liquid phase, wherein contact of the fluid stream with the microorganisms is enhanced by the action of a moving impeller, the contacting zone being within a housing, at least a portion of which is transparent to the passage of light.

The present invention is concerned with an apparatus for the treatment of fluid streams. The apparatus finds general application in the removal and/or conversion of components of fluid streams. In one particular aspect, the present invention is concerned with the treatment of waste streams, for example sequestering carbon dioxide from waste streams such as flue gases and the like. The invention further relates to methods of conducting the same.

Apparatus for treatment of fluid streams and method of conducting same


A power supply device for powering equipment from at least one network supplying AC and at least one battery supplying DC, the power supply device comprising:                a first branch that is connected to the main network and that comprises a transformation member for transforming the AC voltage into an equivalent DC voltage;        a second branch that is connected to the battery and that comprises a voltage booster for raising the DC voltage supplied by the battery to an output voltage close to the DC voltage equivalent to the AC voltage;        the first branch and the second branch being connected by a switch member to a converter arranged to transform the DC voltage equivalent to the AC voltage of the network into at least one DC voltage for powering the equipment.

In order to increase the quality of the work provided by aircraft crews and the comfort of their passengers, airplane builders are tending to implant computer servers in airplanes, e.g. in order to enable the crew to access data relating to the flight and/or to enable passengers to access programs for entertainment or amusement.
In an airplane, the onboard electrical equipment is generally powered by electricity produced by one or more alternators driven by the engine(s) of the airplane.
The operating constraints on the alternators mean there is a risk of the voltage on the power supply network dropping out for periods that may be as long as 200 milliseconds (ms).
Unfortunately, in computer servers such voltage dropouts can lead to a sudden loss of service, possibly accompanied by a loss of data.
In order to obviate that drawback, it is known, when using such networks that present such voltage dropouts, to connect each computer server to the power supply network via a battery associated with special electronics for keeping the battery charged by the network. An inverter is interposed between the battery and the server to reproduce the alternating current (AC) that normally powers the computer server. Computer servers are then no longer affected by any fluctuations in voltage that might occur on the power supply network. Nevertheless, such an architecture presents efficiency that is mediocre under normal operating conditions. In addition, increasing the number of batteries leads to a large increase in weight and in bulk, which is penalizing for use in an airplane.

Device for powering equipment, and an equipment power supply system


To provide a control circuit capable of reliably generating a reference potential while suppressing increase in power consumption and cost. Provided is a control circuit that performs control to separate from a sense amplifier a second reference element set to a predetermined resistance state, which is different from a first reference element set to a predetermined resistance state and connected to the sense amplifier in generating a reference potential used for data read through the sense amplifier from a memory cell.

As a method of generating a reference potential of a sense amplifier in a spin transfer torque magnetoresistive random access memory (STT-MRAM), known is a method of providing a reference cell in which a plurality of memory cells is connected in parallel and in series, and using the reference cell as a reference resistor at the time of reference potential generation. Furthermore, there is also a technology of, in order to set a combined resistance value of a reference cell to a desired value between high resistance (RH) and low resistance (RL), mounting a plurality of RH and RL cells, and making the ratio of each cell variable (Patent Documents 1 and 2 and the like).
In a memory device using a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) element, information stored in the MTJ element may be unintentionally inverted. Therefore, periodic refresh operation (rewrite operation) is required for reliable reading. For example, Patent Document 3 discloses a technology for performing refresh operation on a reference cell in parallel with write operation to a memory cell.

Control circuit, semiconductor memory device, information processing device, and control method

SONY SEMICONDUCTOR SOLUTIONS CORPORATION


A formulation of a spray applied fire-resistive engineered cementitious composite (SFR-ECC) which is made by addition of polymeric fibers, vermiculite, bonding agent and lightweight aggregates to cement and water. The SFR-ECC formulation is made in wet cement and can be spray-applied. The durable SFR-ECC exhibits thermal conductivities sufficient for fire resistance with increased tensile ductility and impact resistance.

This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art. This section also provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.
As it is known, steel structures are vulnerable under fire hazards; external passive fire protection is thus needed to achieve sufficient fire resistance. Spray-applied fire-resistive materials (SFRM) are one of the most commonly used passive fire protection material for steel structures in North America. SFRM are predominately cementitious (many are Portland cement-based) lightweight plaster materials that are sprayed onto the steel surface. They have very low thermal conductivity so that they are highly effective in delaying the temperature rise in the steel and protect the steel structure against fire related failures. Apart from the central function as a fire-protection material, SFRM offer many additional advantages including low self-weight, ease of construction facilitated by sprayability and most importantly, cost effectiveness; therefore, SFRM are widely used to protect steel structures in North America.
Despite all the advantages, the performance of SFRM also naturally depends on their durability characteristics (the ability to stay on the steel surface), which are often called into question. Studies have shown that SFRM could easily delaminate or get damaged during extreme loading events, including earthquakes or impacts. Under normal service life, regular mechanical maintenance work or construction could also disturb and damage the existing SFRM and repair is then required. Failure to restore the fire protection in a timely manner could lead to a reduction in the fire resistance of the steel structures. This problem becomes more prominent under multi-hazards such as post-earthquake/impact fire. The lack of durability is then recognized as the major issue associated with conventional SFRM.
Adhesion and cohesion are two major durability characteristics for SFRM. Adhesion refers to the interfacial bond between SFRM and steel substrate and sometimes could be enhanced through preparation of the steel surface and applying external bonding agent. Cohesion refers to the material's resistance to delamination (often observed as a thin layer of SFRM material still attached to the steel after the two bulk material separated in a shear type failure) and fracture. Cohesion is an intrinsic material property that is largely dependent on the strength and ductility of the material itself. SFRM are inherently brittle material with very low strength, especially tensile strength; therefore conventional SFRM mainly rely on adhesion to maintain the integrity of the fire protection. Recent study demonstrated that even with adhesion enhanced by external interfacial bonding agent, delamination of SFRM due to poor cohesive property was still observed when subject to impact load. The poor cohesive performance represents the major bottleneck for conventional SFRM.
To overcome the inherently brittle and low cohesive property of SFRM, recent effort has been made to adopt Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC) technology into the design of SFRM according to the principles of the present teachings. ECC is a class of High Performance Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites (HPFRCC) that has been developed over the last decade as a ductile alternative to the conventional concrete. Unlike the conventional cement-based material, ECC exhibits metal-like pseudo strain-hardening behavior with strain capacity up to 3-5% under uniaxial tension. Such high tensile ductility is reached by forming multiple fine cracks (typically less than 100 μm wide) along the specimen. The fracture resistance of ECC is considered similar to aluminum. With these desirable characteristics, ECC possesses inherently high cohesive property to conventional SFRM. ECC developed for structural applications, however, do not possess the necessary thermal characteristics required for fire-protection purpose. Adopting the micromechanics-based design methodology underlying ECC technology in combination of microstructural tailoring for macro-thermal property control, spray-applied fire-resistive ECC (SFR-ECC) has been developed as a durable alternative to the conventional SFRM.
The present disclosure is a comprehensive introduction of SFR-ECC. The material composition, durability properties (under both static and high rate load), and functionality properties (thermal conductivity and sprayability) are further presented. The cohesive characteristics of SFR-ECC provide extra durability mechanisms in addition to interfacial adhesion, and its sprayability allows versatile construction applications of SFR-ECC, as will be discussed herein.
An objective of the present teachings is to develop a new class of high-performance fiber reinforced cement-based composites (HPFRCC) that possess very low thermal conductivity and high tensile ductility. Presently there are cement-based materials that separately possess very low thermal conductivity (conventional spray-applied fire-resistive materials) or high tensile ductility (engineered cementitious composites); however, there is no material that possesses both properties. The present teachings provide a newly developed composite material with composition that leads to a combination of low thermal conductivity and high ductility. The material claimed herein presents a unique opportunity of more durable fire protection for steel structures and enhanced safety of steel structures under multi-hazard such as impact/earthquakes followed by fire.
In other words, according to the principles of the present teachings, a cement-based fire-resistive material with high tensile ductility and low thermal conductivity is provided. This invention represents the culmination of two cement-based material, namely those of very low thermal conductivity and those of very high tensile ductility into a single composite system. The combination of such properties are achieved by judicious selection of the lightweight aggregate (of small size and smooth shape) and fibers (type, aspect ratio, volume content) under the guidance of heat transfer theory and micromechanics analysis. In doing so, the new Fire-Resistive Engineered Cementitious Composite (FR-ECC) exhibits greatly enhanced tensile ductility over conventional cement-based Spray-applied Fire-resistive Materials (SFRMs). This makes it a candidate material as durable fireproofing material for steel structures when impact or earthquake loads are of concern or to generally improve the durability of the fire protection. This invention can be used as insulation board system or as sprayed-on fireproofing material.
Due to the high durability of SFR-ECC, it is feasible to spray applied this material onto steel elements prior to on-site assembly, making the factory spray quality control better compared with on-site spraying, and speeding up the steel building construction process as a result. This feature is not feasible with conventional SFRMs since they will crack and delaminate from the steel members during transport to and assembly on site.
Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

Sprayable strain hardening brittle matrix composites with fire-resistance and high ductility

The Regents Of The University Of Michigan


The present invention is a to board riding craft having split tail sections. A central core element may have a tail end, a nose and two sides. A tail portion of the central core element may have one or more slits formed therein that may extend from the tail end approximately parallel to a centerline of the central core element approximately one eighth to one third the distance between the tail end and the nose.

This invention relates to board riding craft, such as, surfboards, body boards, sail boards, kite boards, wake boards, wake skate, and the like. The new board riding craft may have slits in the tail portion that may be approximately parallel to a centerline and that may form tail sections that may move one relative to another. This may change the cross sectional shape or bottom contour of the tail portion during use of the board riding craft to perform turns or other maneuvers in a water environment.
Generally known board riding craft normally have a solid structure tail portion. There may be a slight inward curved rear tail portion, but surfboards, body boards, and the like generally do not have elongated slits in the structure of the craft. Surf boards for example may be designed long and flat, that is, have a relatively flat rocker for faster paddling and for catching waves. However, these boards may not turn well in waves and may be harder to use in steep waves as compared to shorter boards that are more curved in the tail rocker section. Snow skis may be known that have a slit formed in a longitudinal portion of the skis, but the slit does not extend to the tip or tail end of the skis. A board riding craft that may have a variable tail portion profile may perform better in variable surfing conditions.


An edge swing, adapted for hanging a carry bag below a table, includes a retention body for being rested on a top surface of the table, and an supporting arm having a pivot end rotatably coupling with the retention body and a hooking end downwardly extended from the retention body, wherein the supporting arm is adapted to fold between a storage position and a hanging position. At the storage position, the supporting arm is folded to encircle the peripheral edge of the retention body, so as to minimize an overall size of edge swing and to use as a decoration. At the hanging position, the supporting arm is extended at a position that the hooking end of the supporting arm is downwardly extended below a bottom surface of the table for hanging the carrying bag underneath the table.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a bag holder, and more particularly to an edge swing for carry bag, wherein the edge swing is adapted for hanging a personal carry bag underneath the table and for being folded into a compact size for carry and storage.
2. Description of Related Arts
Most of people are annoyed with where to put the personal belongings at the public places. For instance, a lady usually has to put her purse on her lap at the restaurant, which is considered as the most safety way to prevent the purse from being stolen. However, not only is it uncomfortable but also an improper table manner for the lady to put her purse between the table and herself. Alternatively, the lady may put the purse on the floor or hang it at the back of the chair. However, the purse will be dirty and has germs on it, or be kicked when the purse is on the floor; when the purse is hung out at the back of the chair, the purse is out of her observation and is easily to be stolen. Another example is a student studying in the library, usually put their carrying bag on the desktop. Therefore, the surface area of the desk is really limited for other stuff such as books and laptop.
A conventional desk hanger is adapted to solve the above problems to hang the personal items at the table edge. One of the conventional hangers is built-in with the table. However, the table set up at the restaurant may not be incorporated with the built-in type hanger. Another type of table hanger can be detachably coupled with the table surface to hang the personal item. This hanger is relatively large or not easy to fold it, so that the user may be not willing to carry the hanger everywhere.
Therefore, the conventional hangers do not meet the demands of the customer needs. It increases not only in its compact size but also in its easy way to fold and unfold. Furthermore, to make the portable edge swing as a decoration can increase the willing of the user to take the hanger with the user all the time.


An apparatus that searches an input stream having a sequence of N-bit wide data words for a pattern using a plurality of small FSMs is disclosed. The apparatus includes a plurality of sub-word FSMs and a combiner. Each sub-word FSM has an input word size less than N-bits. Each FSM processes a corresponding segment of the N-bit words and generates a match output indicative of a possible match to the pattern when one of the input words to that FSM is received and that FSM moves to a predetermined match state. The combiner receives the match outputs from all of the sub-word FSMs and generates a pattern match output if all of the sub-word FSMs indicate a match to the pattern. The pattern is a variable pattern. In one embodiment, the FSMs are single bit FSMs.

Finite state machines (FSMs) are often used for searching a data string for a specified pattern. An FSM is a machine that has a plurality of states connected by "directed edges". The FSM moves from its current state to a next state each time a new input word is received by the FSM. Hence, each edge has one or more values associated with that edge. When the FSM receives an input word having a value equal to the value on an edge, and the FSM is in the state associated with the input side of the edge, the FSM changes to the state associated with the output side of the edge. The FSM then proceeds to process the next input word. The data string is a sequence of digital values. The digital values can be from any of a number of sources. For example, digital transmission on a communication link. In another example, the data string could be a string of text encoded in ASCII in which each digital value is an 8-bit word. The data string could also be a sequence of measurements such as those produced by a digital oscilloscope, in which each digital value could be some larger word, e.g., 12 or 16 bits. In some cases, the data string could involve much larger words. For example, the data string could be a program in which instructions are 64-bit words.
Typically, the search problem involves searching this sequence for a specified pattern that can be represented as a regular expression. This type of problem is encountered in numerous data processing problems. For example, a long text document may be searched for a specific phrase. Similarly, in instruments such as oscilloscopes, a very long string of measurements may need to be searched for a specific wave pattern. In the case of computer code, searches for malware are common in virus checking programs.
If a single FSM is used for the search, the time to complete the search is a linear function of the length of the data string. In the case of a long string of measurements, e.g., 1012 data points, the search time can be prohibitive. In addition, in applications requiring real time processing, the time to process the data points even when fewer points are involved can be prohibitive. A modern digital oscilloscope can generate 160 GigaSamples per second per channel on up to two channels and 80 GigaSamples per second per channel on up to four channels. The problem of finding a pattern in the data in time to capture the signal that includes that pattern can be too long to use an FSM as the triggering processor.
One method for decreasing the search time utilizes an FSM that processes multiple words at each state update. This is equivalent to building an FSM with a multiple of the original word size. If a two word wide FSM is used, the search time is reduced by a factor of two. Unfortunately, there is a limit to the size of the input word that is set by the amount of memory needed to implement the FSM.
The amount of memory needed to implement an FSM is an exponential function of the word size. In the general case, the FSM is implemented using a table having one row for each possible input value and one column for each state. The table maps the current state and current input to the next state for the FSM. The number of rows in the table is 2N, where N is the number of bits in the input word. Hence, building memory based FSMs for input words that are greater than 16 bits presents significant challenges. In some problems, the amount of memory can be reduced using various compression techniques: however, there are always problems for which these techniques do not lead to a practical implementation.
To improve the processing speed of an FSM beyond that available by using faster circuits, machines in which a number of FSMs that operate in parallel have been suggested. Unfortunately, prior art search engines utilizing parallel FSMs are limited in the types of patterns that can be searched. For the purposes of the present discussion, it is useful to separate the types of patterns that can be represented by regular expressions into two classes. The first class will be referred to as "fixed patterns". For example, a text string could be searched for the pattern "var=x". A fixed pattern has a known fixed length and is satisfied by only one pattern in the input stream. The second class of pattern will be referred to as "variable patterns". These patterns have unknown lengths or are satisfied by a number of different strings. For example, "var=[a-z]+;" is satisfied by any pattern that starts with "var=" followed by any number of characters in the lowercase alphabet followed by ";". This pattern generates strings that cannot be predicted in advance in terms of length, no less exact content. Many search problems of interest, such as those utilized in virus detection, require a search for a variable pattern.
Search engines based on parallel FSMs for fixed patterns are known to the art. Consider a machine in which each of a plurality of FSMs processes data from a particular stream, referred to as a lane. If the search pattern can be divided across L lanes, then a search engine with L processors can be used. In this arrangement, the input data stream is striped across the lanes such that the first FSM processes an input string consisting of words 1, L+1, 2L+1, etc. The second FSM processes an input string consisting of words 2, L+2, 2L+2, . . . , and so on. Each FSM searches for a particular pattern that is 1/N the length of the total pattern. When each FSM finds its assigned match, the search engine outputs the match to a combining circuit that tests to be sure that all of the FSMs found a match simultaneously. Unfortunately, a variable pattern cannot be divided across a fixed number of processors in this manner, and hence, this strategy fails for searches involving variable patterns.

Searching apparatus utilizing sub-word finite state machines


In response to determining that a triggering condition has been satisfied, a plurality of resolution options for a plurality of wagering games may be provided to a gaming device for display. The plurality of resolution options includes a first resolution option that includes resolving a first number of instances of a first subset of the plurality of wagering games, and a second resolution option that includes resolving a second number of instances of a second subset of the plurality of wagering games. The first number of instances is different from the second number of instances, and the first subset is different from the second subset. The plurality of wagering games is then resolved according to one of the plurality of resolution options.

Embodiments relate to providing wagering games, and in particular to providing wagering games with multiple resolution options at gaming devices, and related systems and methods. Gaming devices, such as electronic gaming machines (EGMs), are systems that allow users to place a wager on the outcome of a random event, such as the spinning of mechanical or virtual reels or wheels, the playing of virtual cards, the rolling of mechanical or virtual dice, the random placement of tiles on a screen, etc. Manufacturers of gaming devices have incorporated a number of enhancements to the gaming devices to allow players to interact with the gaming devices in new and more engaging ways. For example, early slot machines allowed player interaction by pulling a lever or arm on the machine. As mechanical slot machines were replaced by electronic slot machines, a range of new player interface devices became available to gaming devices designers and were subsequently incorporated into gaming devices. Examples of such interface devices include electronic buttons, wheels, and, more recently, touchscreens and three-dimensional display screens.

Providing wagering games with multiple resolution options at gaming devices, and related systems and methods


An interface performs power delivery and communication with an external apparatus. A convert device is configured to convert a voltage of input power that is supplied from the external apparatus through the interface. A convert device includes a first convert device having first conversion efficiency and a second convert device having second conversion efficiency different from the first conversion efficiency. A processing device is configured to operate by using power converted by the convert device. A controller is configured to switch a conversion state between: a first conversion state of converting, by the first convert device, the input power supplied from the external apparatus through the interface and supplying the converted input power to the processing device; and a second conversion state of converting, by the second convert device, the input power supplied from the external apparatus through the interface and supplying the converted input power to the processing device.

Conventionally, for example, there is a power receiving apparatus that receives power from a power supply device by a method compatible with a USB PD (USB Power Delivery) standard. A power receiving apparatus includes a DC-DC converter that supplies charging power to a battery, and a DC-DC converter that converts and outputs the voltage of direct-current power supplied from the battery.

Information processing apparatus and storage medium storing program


A lubrication system for a gas turbine engine includes a variable output lubricant pump operable to supply lubricant to an actuator system.

The present disclosure relates to a gas turbine engine, and more particularly to a lubrication driven engine actuation system.
Gas turbine engines operate with a fuel system that typically supplies fuel for engine fuel burn and engine actuation operations. Engine fuel burn is the fuel supplied to the gas turbine engine combustor. Fuel for engine actuation is the fuel used as the working fluid to drive variable engine geometries through fuel powered actuators such as stator vane actuators, bleed valves and other hydromechanical systems. Such fuel powered actuation is often referred to as "fueldraulics."

Lubrication driven gas turbine engine actuation system


A vehicle, engine controller and method for coordinating direct split injection of two or more pulses of fuel during a working cycle of a reactivated cylinder which was deactivated in a previous working cycle is described. By using split injection for the reactivated cylinder, the particulate matter and particulate number (“PM/PN”) generated by the reactivated cylinder is reduced.

The present invention relates generally to operation of an internal combustion engine, and more particularly, to reducing particulate matter and particulate number ("PM/PN") emissions by direct injection of two or more relatively small pulses of fuel, as opposed to one larger pulse of fuel, during a working cycle of a reactivated cylinder that was deactivated during one or more immediately prior working cycles.
Most vehicles in operation today are powered by internal combustion engines. Internal combustion engines have one or more cylinders where combustion occurs. Under normal driving conditions, the torque generated by the internal combustion engine needs to vary over a wide operating range in order to meet the demands of the driver and driving conditions.
The fuel efficiency of many types of internal combustion engines can be substantially improved by dynamically varying the displacement of the engine. With dynamic displacement, the engine can generate full displacement when needed, but also operate at a smaller displacement when full torque is not required, typically resulting in improved fuel efficiency.
The most common method of varying the displacement is deactivating one or more groups of cylinders. For example, with an eight-cylinder engine, groups of two, four, or six cylinders may be selectively deactivated as needed to meet varying torque demands. With this approach, no fuel is delivered to the deactivated cylinders and their associated intake and exhaust valves are closed to prevent pumping losses. The deactivation of cylinders thus results in improved fuel efficiency, while the remaining active cylinders generate the needed output to meet the current torque demand.
Most modern internal combustion engines, particularly those that are used by vehicles such as automobiles and trucks, rely on fuel injection for delivery of fuel to the cylinders. Two types of fuel injection systems are common: indirect injection and direct injection.
With indirect injection, fuel is injected into the intake runner between the intake manifold and the cylinder where it mixes with air to create an air-fuel mixture. The air-fuel mixture is then inducted into the cylinder during the intake stroke when the intake valve is opened and the piston moves from Top Dead Center (TDC) to Bottom Dead Center (BDC), sucking in the air-fuel mixture.
With direct injection, fuel is injected directly into the cylinder. In general, direct injection offers increased fuel efficiency and higher power output because the amount and timing of the delivery of the fuel into the cylinder can be more precisely controlled compared to indirect injection.
Split injection is a known variation of direct injection. With split injection, two, or potentially more, pulses of fuel are directly injected into a cylinder during a given working cycle. Split injection is typically employed to reduce emissions during a cold start and to mitigate knock at high loads. Split injection is currently used with conventional internal combustion engines where all cylinders are fired. To the best knowledge of the Applicants, split injection is not used with internal combustion engines where not all firing opportunities result in a cylinder firing, i.e. the cylinder is skipped or deactivated rather than fired. Such engine types include variable displacement engines where one or more fixed group(s) of cylinders are deactivated or skip fire-controlled engines where at least some of the engine's cylinders may be deactivated or fired on any given firing opportunity in response to the engine torque demand.

Split direct injection for reactivated cylinders of an internal combustion engine


A method for monitoring a secondary air system in combination with the exhaust-gas system of a motor vehicle is described. The method includes the steps of: providing a probe downstream of the junction of a secondary air line into the exhaust-gas channel; obtaining an air/fuel ratio (xcexexhaust gas) utilizing the probe; obtaining a signal for the intake air flow (massintake air); arithmetically determining the secondary air mass (masssecondary air) in dependence upon (a) the ratio of intake air flow to fuel (xcexengine), which is metered per unit of time; (b) the air/fuel ratio (xcexexhaust gas); and, (c) the signal for the intake air flow (massintake air); and, evaluating the operability of the secondary air system in dependence upon the secondary air mass (masssecondary air).

The invention relates to a method for monitoring a secondary air system in combination with the exhaust-gas system of a motor vehicle.
A method of this kind and an arrangement for carrying out the method are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,292. With this known method, the operability of the secondary air system can be checked but it is not possible to determine the secondary air mass actually supplied to the exhaust-gas system. All emission relevant components and systems of controls for internal combustion engines must be able to be diagnosed in the context of the on-board diagnosis (OBD) required by the American authorities and which is intended to also take effect in Europe starting Jan. 1, 2000. Here, the quantitative determination of the actual secondary air mass is also required.
The invention is based on the task of further improving a method for monitoring a secondary air system in combination with the exhaust-gas system of a motor vehicle of the generic type in such a manner that the secondary air mass, which is actually supplied to the exhaust-gas system, can be determined without an additional sensor, for example, an air mass sensor or the like, being required.
In the method according to the invention, the operability of the secondary air mass system is evaluated on the basis of the arithmetically determined secondary air mass flow. An advantage of the invention is that the secondary air mass can be determined without an additional sensor because the signals, which are necessary for the determination of the secondary air mass, are either anyway available or can be formed from signals which are anyway available.
The secondary air mass can be determined with a continuous xcex-probe as well as with a two-point xcex-probe.
A valve tightness check of the secondary air mass cutoff valve and an offset measurement to determine the secondary air mass offset when the secondary air pump is switched off are the subject matter of advantageous additional embodiments of the method.
The diagnosis takes place in a pregiven air mass window and engine temperature window in order to exclude malfunctions during the measurement phases. Transient influences are substantially eliminated by suppression and a lowpass filtering of the measurement results.

Method for monitoring a secondary air system in associated with the exhaust system of a vehicle


‘VOC1’ is a distinctive variety of Viburnum odoratissimum which is characterized by the combination of a smaller overall plant size, a denser plant habit, a smaller leaf size and the strong expression of red anthocyanin pigments in immature foliage growth.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Viburnum odoratissimum, which has been given the variety denomination of 'VOC1'. Viburnum odoratissimum is a well-known evergreen shrub or small tree species that is native to Asia. It is a favorite among many home gardeners and landscape professionals in the southern United States and in other semi-tropical areas for creating ornamental hedges due to its fast growth habit, dense foliage when regularly pruned, and its fragrant clusters of small white flowers that appear in spring. At maturity and when left unpruned, the species can reach upwards of 9 m tall and 6 m wide. The common name of this species is Sweet Viburnum due to its extremely fragrant, small white flowers that virtually cover the entire plant in spring.
Parentage: In March 2003 seed that resulted from an open pollination of Viburnum odoratissimum (unnamed, common form) was sown at a nursery in Dural, New South Wales, Australia and the resulting progeny were grown to a sellable size. In August 2005, the selection now called 'VOC1' was observed to have a more compact and denser growth habit and smaller leaves when compared to the parent and other sibling progeny; said selection was isolated for further observation. It was further grown, and subsequently observed from August 2005 and August 2011 at which time it was determined that the characteristics for which it was originally selected were uniform and stable.
Asexual Reproduction: 'VOC1' was first asexually reproduced by way of softwood stem cuttings in spring 2005 at the applicant's nursery in Dural, New South Wales, Australia to see if it grew true to type. It was found to grow uniform and reproduce in a stable manner and 5 successive cycles of vegetative propagation have also proven to be true to type.


A strong, compact, rugged and inexpensive support system to solidly stabilize a conventional rectangular polyethylene foam archery target. System includes a right support (30) and a left support (20), each manufactured from a single piece of elongated material. Each support includes an upper member (21), a base member (22), a radiused intersection (23) and insertion fingers (24) which are pressed into the target to form the target and supports assembly. The supports system utilizes the target itself for structural rigidity without requiring that the supports (20 and 30) be joined to the ground (or surface upon which the target rests). Additional embodiments include ground anchors (51, 52, 60, 70) for use outdoors and protective bumpers (80) for use indoors. Support system includes means for providing a multiplicity of possible target angles to archer. Supports may be assembled such that they form carrying handles for transportation.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to support systems for projectile targets; specifically, to such devices as are used to present and stabilize conventional rectangular polyethylene foam archery targets for use both indoors and outdoors.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
For many years, archers have used targets of various designs to practice and improve their shooting skills. These targets require stabilization in order to present the target to the archer in an optimal position. Various types of supporting devices are known to provide target stabilization. These supporting devices are generally specific to a given target design as can be seen in the U.S. pat. Nos. of 5,209,492 to Hamilton (1993); 4,940,244 to Batts (1990); 4,813,684 to Bruno (1989); 4,546,984 to Towle and Towle (1985).
U.S. pat. No. 5,209,492 to Hamilton (1993) discloses a target shooting stand which is designed for thin targets such as made from paper. The stand is made from PVC pipe and has features for connecting the target to the stand which are suited only for thin targets and cannot be used with typical archery targets.
U.S. pat. No. 4,940,244 to Batts (1990) discloses an archery target supporting device which is used integrally with a target made of compressed cardboard or equivalent material. This support system is used as a framework with which to provide the structure necessary to form the target itself. The Batts supporting device cannot be readily separated from the target for storage or transport. The target is not compact nor does it set up quickly since the supporting device and connecting rods must be disassembled and removed when replacing target material. The Batts supporting device provides only one angle of target presentation to the archer making archery practice from elevated positions difficult. The tightening bolts disclosed by Batts provide an opportunity for damage to arrows from impact with the bolts across the entire top and bottom edges of the target. The supporting device disclosed by Batts can only be used with the target also disclosed by Batts, and will not accommodate a variety of target sizes and shapes.
U.S. pat. No. 4,813,684 to Bruno (1989) discloses a device which is also used to support a target of compressed layers of cardboard. Like the Batts system, it is time consuming to set up and operate. This device also presents significant opportunity for arrow damage. The complexity of the design renders the Bruno device expensive to manufacture.
U.S. pat. No. 4,546,984 to Towle and Towle (1985) discloses archery target supporting devices which are also specifically designed for and integral to the target also disclosed. The Towle and Towle supporting devices are not compact and require substantial effort to disassemble the pivot pins from the target frame. The target frame encloses the entire target, providing opportunity for damage to arrows and to the frame around the entire perimeter of the target. These supporting devices can only be used with the target system disclosed by the Towle and Towle patent. The multiplicity of components and processes required to manufacture the Towle and Towle target support system makes it relatively expensive to fabricate.
U.S. pat. No. 4,913,389 to McCracken (1990) discloses a device into which a target is wedged for support. The device is elevated from the ground and depends solely upon ground spikes for support. The device cannot be used indoors and it is not compact. The device presents significant frontal area which may be impacted by arrows, thereby damaging them.
A very common type of archery target is made of a polyethylene plastic foam or similar material and is rectangular in shape. This type of target is sold by outdoor retailers such as Cabela's.RTM. and Redhead.RTM., and in sporting goods departments of such general retailers as Wal-Mart.RTM. and K-Mart.RTM.. These targets are very popular due to their utility, low cost and portability. Manufacturers of such targets typically supply simple aluminum supports to hold the target in an upright position.
One embodiment of such supports is shown on page 213 of the 1997 Cabela's.RTM. Fall '97 Annual Catalog. Items H through L have two supports that are longer and are intended to connect the upper half of the target to the ground. The other two supports are shorter and are used to connect the lower half of the target to the ground. Use of these supports requires one end of each support to be pressed into the target. The other end of each support is pressed into the ground to stabilize the target. A similar embodiment is shown on page 67 of Readhead.RTM. 1997 Archery Specialists Catalog. Here, the Arrowstop.RTM. targets are shown with one upper support which supports the upper portion of the target by resting on the ground and with the two lower supports inserting into the ground as already described.
The supporting devices for common rectangular polyethylene foam (and similar material) archery targets heretofore known suffer from a number of disadvantages:
(a) They are time consuming and awkward to setup. PA1 (b) Their utility is highly dependent upon soil conditions. Since they must be pushed into the ground, dry or hard soil causes great difficulty in setup, often resulting in damage to the supports. Wet soil will not hold the supports and will allow the target to move or fall down. PA1 (c) They do not stabilize the target well over time. Whether the soil is dry or wet, the target loosens after successive arrow impacts, resulting in frequent resetting of the target. This is both time-consuming and annoying to the archer. Archers often use bales of hay or other bulky items as backstops to support the target instead of the supports provided by the manufacturer. PA1 (d) The size and number of the supports lend themselves to loss and misplacement. PA1 (e) These supports require that the foam target be secured to the ground; a significant hindrance to the use of foam targets at indoor ranges. This also precludes outdoor use on most surfaces other than the ground. PA1 (f) The aluminum material from which they are made is easily damaged upon impact by a projectile such as an arrow. PA1 (g) The upper and lower supports work independently and do not rigidly support the target. PA1 (a) to provide supporting devices for conventional polyethylene foam archery targets or similar targets. PA1 (b) to provide supporting devices which will rigidly present and hold an archery target at multiple appropriate angles to the archer; PA1 (c) to provide supporting devices which will hold an archery target stable over an extended period of shooting activity; PA1 (d) to provide supporting devices which will minimize potential damage to arrows; PA1 (e) to provide supporting devices which are safe to use; PA1 (f) to provide supporting devices which are readily transportable; PA1 (g) to provide supporting devices which are compact in size; PA1 (h) to provide supporting devices which disassemble easily; PA1 (i) to provide supporting devices which allow the archer to shoot both indoors and outdoors on a variety of surfaces; PA1 (j) to provide supporting devices which are inexpensive. PA1 (k) to provide supporting devices which will function for many years without need for replacement; PA1 (l) to provide supporting devices which, when combined with an archery target, can be set up for use quickly; PA1 (m) to provide supporting devices which require little or no adjustment during extended use; PA1 (n) to provide supporting devices which do not damage the target they are used with; PA1 (o) to provide supporting devices which can be used with a variety of target sizes and types; PA1 (p) to provide supporting devices which are not easily lost or misplaced.

Multi-angle stabilizing support system for conventional foam archery target


An appendage protector for an article of protective gear is provided. The protector includes an upper arm protector portion, a lower arm protector portion, and a protective arm hinge overlying a gap between the upper and lower arm protector portions. The arm hinge includes a forward-facing floater pad, a medial extension, and a lateral extension. The medial and lateral extensions are slidably coupled to at least one of the upper and lower arm protector portions to guide forward movement of the floater pad during rotation of the lower arm protector portion toward the upper arm protector portion, and to guide rearward movement of the floater pad during rotation of the lower arm protector portion away from the upper arm protector portion. The arm protector can form part of a goaltender chest protector to provide an integrated system allowing fluid movement of the wearer's arm with enhanced protection to the elbow region.

The present invention relates to protective athletic equipment, and in particular, upper body protective athletic equipment.
Protective athletic equipment, and in particular chest protectors, generally seek a balance between protection and freedom of movement for the wearer. For example, goaltender chest protectors are generally constructed to protect against high velocity hockey puck impacts, while also allowing rapid arm movement to intercept elevated shots and to allow control of the goalie stick during play. Though commonly referred to as chest protectors, these articles of protective equipment typically include protection for the wearer's abdomen, shoulders and arms, in addition to the wearer's chest.
Many existing chest protectors offer a compromise between protection and freedom of movement. In the elbow region, for example, many existing chest protectors include an oversized rectangular cuff having a fold-line that mirrors the natural bend in the elbow. Sometimes referred to as an arm hinge, the rectangular cuff typically includes impact resistant foam and upper and lower adjustable straps that extend around the back of the wearer's elbow. While providing satisfactory protection, the rectangular cuff can inhibit flexion of the arm, and can move out of position during play. For example, the rectangular cuff can slow elevated movement of the glove hand during catching motions, and can ride up on a wearer's bicep during play, leaving the inner elbow exposed to possible impacts with a puck or another player's stick.
Accordingly, there remains room for improvement to provide a chest protector having satisfactory protection and freedom of movement in the elbow region, and which facilitates movement throughout a range of arm motions while also remaining in position over the wearer's elbow.


A direct memory access (DMA) circuit (200) includes a read port (202) and a write port (204). The DMA circuit (200) is a multithreaded initiator with “m” threads on the read port (202) and “n” threads on the write port (204). The DMA circuit (200) includes a data FIFO (210) which is shared by all of the logical channels and the FIFO depth can be allocated dynamically allowing for the maximum number of channels to be scheduled and concurrently active. The FIFO (210) can also be allocated to a single channel if there is only one logical channel active. The FIFO (210) increases the DMA's transfer performance, pre-fetch capacity and buffering, while maximizing pipelining.

DMA is a technique that allows for hardware in a computer to access system memory independently of the system processor. Because the processor is not involved in the transfer of data, DMA is usually fast. DMA is very useful for example in real-time applications and for making backups. A few illustrative examples of hardware that use DMA circuits include sound cards, hard disk controllers and computer subsystems. Traditional DMA circuits have one or more physical channels where each physical channel is a point-to-point communication link connected from a source to a destination port. Although useful, the point-to-point links make the system inflexible and may limit the performance of the DMA for some applications.
Some traditional DMA circuits with multiple logical channels use several physical channels to perform concurrent transfers with each physical channel being associated to a separate data First-In-First-Out (FIFO) memory. With this type of design, there is a limit in the number of concurrent logical channels available since it is not possible to have more concurrent logical channels active than the number of physical channels that are available. Another problem with some DMA circuits is that their data FIFOs may be under utilized based on the channel transfer context. A need thus exists in the art for a storage circuit that can improve the reuse of the DMA and provide better flexibility and efficiency.