In a measurement sequence and apparatus for three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging, in which an acquisition of measurement data ensues by scanning multiple lines in k-space; and the number of k-space lines is apportioned among a number of partial acquisitions so that scanning of associated k-space lines occurs in each partial acquisition, the k-space lines are associated with the partial acquisitions such that the association corresponds to the following association rule: (a) evaluation of each k-space line with a distance measure that characterizes the distance of the respective k-space line relative to the k-space center, (b) arrangement of the k-space lines to be scanned in an order dependent on the distance measure, (c) grouping of the k-space lines arranged in order into a number of groups with a number of successive k-space lines being combined into a group, and (d) association of the k-space lines with the partial acquisitions by, for each group, the k-space lines combined into this group are apportioned to different partial acquisitions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a measurement (data acquisition) sequence for three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging suitable for use for production of magnetic resonance images that are optimally free of movement artifacts, as well as a magnetic resonance apparatus for this purpose.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic resonance (MR) technology is a known modality with which images of the inside of an examination subject can be obtained. The examination subject is positioned in a strong, static, homogeneous basic magnetic field (field strengths from 0.2 Tesla to 7 Tesla and more) in an MR apparatus such that the nuclear spins of said examination subject become oriented along the basic magnetic field. To excite magnetic resonances, radio-frequency excitation pulses are radiated into the examination subject, and the excited magnetic resonances are measured and MR images are reconstructed based thereon. Rapidly-switched magnetic gradient fields are superimposed on the basic magnetic field for spatial coding of the measurement data. The acquired measurement data are digitized and stored as complex number values in a k-space matrix. By multi-dimensional Fourier transformation, an MR image can be reconstructed from the k-space matrix populated with these measured values.
Due to its relatively long measurement time, MR imaging is movement-sensitive, meaning that movement of the examination subject during the acquisition of the measurement data can lead to somewhat significant limitations in the image quality.
Therefore, various methods and/or measurement sequences exist with the goal to achieve a reduction of the sensitivity to movements of the examination subject so that an improved reconstruction of the image data is enabled.
Relatively complicated methods utilize external markers and superstructures with which movement in three dimensions in space can be detected and evaluated with optical means. However, such methods require additional hardware, and thus incur a high cost expenditure and are uncomfortable due to the necessary markings on the patient, so that such methods are typically used only to a limited extent.
Methods are also known using a special design of the measurement sequence that enables movement detection. For example, by a special design of the measurement sequence, an over sampling of a central region of k-space can ensue and the information obtained in this manner can be used for improved image reconstruction and for reduction of movement artifacts.
For example, in the acquisition of measurement data in the PROPELLER technique (also known as the BLADE technique) a k-space matrix is scanned (sampled) in segments, whereby the individual k-space segments are rotated relative to one another so that a central k-space region is scanned with each k-space segment. The over-sampling of the central k-space region enables a movement that occurs between the scanning of the individual k-space segments to be detected and to be taken into account in the image reconstruction. Other methods utilize spiral or radial k-space trajectories or an averaging of multiple, redundantly acquired measurement data, for example.
A disadvantage in this method is that the additional requirements necessary for over-sampling affect measurement time. Moreover, given non-Cartesian sampling, artifacts may accrue that originate from a non-optimal translation of the acquired measurement data to a Cartesian grid ("regridding").
The methods described herein are typically tailored to the specific design of the employed measurement sequence and therefore allow a modification of the measurement sequence within narrow limits without degrading the implementation capability of the method. Many of the methods cannot be transferred to Cartesian scanning schemes without further measures.
Another method used in many cases for detection and/or for correction of movements occurred during the acquisition of the measurement data is the utilization of navigator signals, also called navigator echoes.
In this type of acquisition additional data (known as navigator signals) are acquired in addition to the actual measurement data with which the k-space matrix corresponding to the image to be produced is populated. These navigator signals allow movement of the examination subject acquired during the acquisition of the measurement data to be detected and, if necessary, to allow this to be taken into account in the reconstruction or the MR image or MR images so that movement artifacts are reduced.
A smaller region of the k-space matrix (for example one k-space row or a small central section of the k-space matrix) is typically scanned with navigator signal. A movement that may have occurred between the scanning of two navigator signals can be detected and/or taken into account in the image reconstruction by a comparison of the k-space values scanned by the navigator signal with regard to their amplitude and phase. Different types of navigator signals are known. Cloverleaf, orbital or spherical navigator signals are examples.
For a measurement sequence in which such navigator signals are acquired, the measurement duration of the measurement sequence and the subsequent image reconstruction sometimes increase significantly depending on the complexity of the navigator signals.
There is therefore a need to further develop measurement sequences that allow improvement of the image quality if and when movement of the examination subject occurs.

Magnetic resonance imaging data acquisition sequence and apparatus


A system including a plurality of processing units for executing tasks in parallel and a communication network. The processing units are organized into clusters of units, each cluster comprising a local memory. The system includes means for statically allocating tasks to each cluster of units, so that a task of an application is processed by the same cluster of units from one execution to another. Each cluster includes cluster management means for allocating tasks to each of its processing units and space in the local memory for executing them, so that a given task of an application may not be processed by the same processing unit from one execution to another. The cluster management means includes means for managing the tasks, means for managing the processing units, means for managing the local memory and means for managing the communications involving its processing units. The management means operate simultaneously and cooperatively.

The semi-conductor industry is facing a disconcerting circumstance: there are no longer any credible routes for significantly increasing the performance of processors, at least not at the individual level. Only systems using several processors operating in parallel still seem to constitute an encouraging route for increasing the computational power of systems. Indeed, studies conducted in the 1960s have shown that the ratio of computational power to efficiency of computational systems is potentially much higher for parallel systems than for sequential systems. The question can then arise of knowing why parallel systems did not become prevalent sooner, especially in the field of embedded systems which are basically highly centered on optimization and efficiency. On the one hand, the technology did not allow the integration of massively parallel structures on one and the same component, with the exception of SIMD ("Single Instruction, Multiple Data") structures which are easily programmable when the application is tailored to this type of parallelism. On the other hand, generally, parallel systems are much more difficult to program and to develop. Such is the case notably for symmetric systems, also called homogeneous systems, based on the replication of the same processing element and possessing identical and homogeneous access and communication interfaces. Such is less the case, however, for asymmetric systems, also called heterogeneous systems, which use several specialized processors for processing operations and particular interfaces. Asymmetric systems have been prevalent for a long time, for example for conventional peripherals of the video or network chip type, but they nevertheless remain limited as regards the number of processors placed in parallel. It should be noted that, generally, this prevalence has occurred in application fields that are not very complex at the processing control level, that is to say in which the heterogeneity of the resources limits not only the complexity of the mapping of the processing operations but also the flexibility of the mapping of the processing operations. However, specialized multiprocessing systems have also appeared in embedded systems. In the field of mobile telephony, "multicores" on a single chip have appeared which can contain DSPs ("Digital Signal Processors") for signal processing, GPUs ("General Purpose Processing Units") for ordinary processing operations, as well as analog input/ouput blocks. In the field of personal stereos or multimedia players, decoding cores dedicated to audio ("MPEG Audio Layer", "Dolby D", "DTS") or to video ("MPEG", "H264") have appeared in addition to the general-purpose processor. Symmetric parallel systems are for their part less developed, notably because of the difficulty in handling the programming and because of the inextricability of the fine tuning of the programs. Generally, these difficulties of programming and fine tuning are exacerbated by the ever increasing complexity of the applications. In embedded systems, these difficulties are also exacerbated by the desire to integrate ever more functionalities and by the continual increase in the volumes of data to be processed. For example, mobile telephones associate telecommunication functions with multimedia functions, positioning functions, or else games. Mobile telephones use video sensors of ever greater capacity and converters of ever higher throughput. Moreover, intensive-computation tasks run alongside tasks dominated by control, with very strong interactions between these various elements of the applications.
The invention relates more particularly to the field of embedded systems offering high computational power. New applications in fields such as multimedia, communication, or real-time processing systems demand ever more computational power for controlled surface areas and levels of power consumed. As already explained previously, short of being able to increase the processing powers of the computational elements in an isolated manner, the only realistic solution is to multiply the computational elements and to operate them in parallel. Within this framework, a new concept is currently making its appearance, that of the parallel system on chip. In theory, parallel systems on chip allow more efficient use to be made of the additional transistors that can be integrated on one and the same chip on account of advances in etching techniques. Even within the fairly specialized framework of processors for embedded systems, this trend to increase the number of execution cores on one and the same chip is very marked. In the medium term, this trend ought to mark the introduction or indeed the making prevalent of systems with several tens or indeed hundreds of execution elements. Among these systems may be cited multiprocessor systems on chip, usually designated by the acronym "MPSoC" standing for "Multi-Processor System on Chip". MPSoCs are complete systems which integrate as a minimum computational elements able to operate in parallel and a complete communication architecture on chip. The communication architecture of the current MPSoCs reproduces a connection system architecture for a system composed of several macroscopic elements. It can comprise communication buses, dedicated networks on chip, usually designated by the acronym "NoC" standing for "Network on Chip", dedicated interconnection switching systems, usually designated by the expression "crossbars", input/ouput interfaces, random access memory, usually designated by the acronym "RAM", local memories, cache memories or "scratchpads". But most of the time, the communication architecture of an MPSoC comprises a combination of all this. The essential problem of the mimicry of communication architectures on chip in relation to macroscopic architectures is that macroscopic architectures are envisaged for very regular processing operations, whether these be massively parallel computational processing operations, stream processing operations or server tasks. Now, applications on embedded systems are increasingly tending toward much less regular and much less predictable processing operations. The communication architecture of MPSoCs must therefore be rethought. Indeed, the implementation of efficient parallel systems on chip with high-level performance such as MPSoCs makes it necessary to operate tens or indeed hundreds of computational cores or processing elements in unison. If this is not the case, then the use of parallelism is not optimal. This implies that several tens or indeed several hundreds of processing elements are not used correctly, that is to say they have a rate of use that is not fairly high. Hereinafter, the processing elements will be designated by the acronym "PE" standing for "Processing Element". But to exploit parallelism in an optimal manner, the difficulties are multifold. At the software level, a difficulty is that of providing the programmer with simple and accessible tools for expressing in code the whole of the potential parallelism of an application. Another difficulty at the software level is the ability to derive the greatest benefit therefrom when compiling this code. But these very complex software problems are not the subject of this patent application.
To efficiently exploit a parallel architecture, it is necessary to tackle the problem under the three-fold aspect of the control of the indeterminism, of the control of the communications and of the control of the checks. Indeed, once a potential parallelism has been extracted from an application and expressed in a program, it must still be possible to actually implement this parallelism in a given hardware architecture. In an MPSoC for example, in order to derive the greatest benefit from the work of extracting the application parallelism done by the programmer, numerous processing sequences must be successfully distributed over all the resources of the chip, these sequences being inter-related by dependencies of data or of execution control. Hereinafter, these sequences will be called execution tasks. An execution task therefore relates to the execution of a processing operation on a PE. It is generally called a "thread" by software specialists. By default in the remainder of the present patent application, the term "task" alone refers to an execution task. Without any consideration pertaining on the one hand to the way of choosing the PEs and on the other hand to the way of operating them together, it is very improbable that the architecture can actually implement the whole of the parallelism expressed in the program. In some sense, in the same way as the program expresses the potential for parallelism of the application, it is necessary to find a means of expressing the potential for parallelism of the architecture through appropriate control of the tasks. The consideration must take into account all the situations which may be detrimental to good use of the potential parallelism of the architecture. This involves firstly the risks of being limited by the access to an essential shared resource such as the central memory, a network, a communication bus or a task manager. It also involves the risks of not being able to manage in a sufficiently precise manner the interdependencies between the tasks, or of not being able to manage them without tailoring to the particularly dynamic character of certain applications. Finally, it involves the risks of not being able to control the indeterminisms of the parallel execution, making it complex and tricky to fine tune the programs. The consideration must culminate in an execution model which defines the way of choosing the PEs and the way of operating them together. Making several tens or indeed several hundreds of PEs operate together in an efficient manner within one and the same chip is currently one of the major challenges which the microelectronic industry has to meet. At the present time, techniques for programming parallel applications are markedly more difficult to implement than techniques for programming sequential applications, both from the standpoint of the design and that of the fine tuning of the programs. In order to progress the parallel programming models toward better accessibility to the programmer, it is necessary for the execution model of the underlying parallel architecture to be properly tailored to this. This must however be done without thereby sacrificing the efficiency of implementation on current silicon technologies. This is one of the technical challenges which the present invention proposes to address.
For historical reasons, the exploitation of parallelism has hitherto endeavored to propose solutions making it possible to profit from parallelism at the application task level. Indeed, despite intense research around the definition of architectures capable of efficiently managing a high degree of parallelism at the instruction level, these approaches have rapidly shown their limits. At the same time, the complexity of embedded systems makes it extremely difficult or inefficient to model them in the form of a single control flow. Thus, users and architecture designers concur in favoring parallelism at the task level. Consequently, a strong trend currently observed in the field of embedded systems is the integration on one and the same silicon substrate of several processor cores allowing the execution of tasks in parallel on one and the same circuit. Several solutions have already been proposed for exploiting the parallelism of such architectures on one and the same silicon substrate. The best known models are the "SMT" model according to the acronym standing for "Simultaneous MultiThreading", the "CMP" model according to the acronym standing for "Chip MultiProcessing" and the "CMT" model according to the acronym standing for "Chip MultiThreading". Hereinafter, the processing units capable of managing the execution of a set of instructions will be distinguished from the computational units capable only of executing one instruction.
But the SMT, CMP and CMT models only partially address the problem of embedded systems. They exhibit notably numerous drawbacks. Indeed, as will be detailed subsequently, these models do not make any distinction between the various processing classes that can coexist within an application. Constructed on non-optimized computational primitives, these systems are often unsuited to the applicational requirements in regard to electrical consumption, cost/performance ratio and operating dependability. These are major drawbacks.
Solutions of CMP type lead to a distinction being made between regular processing operations and irregular processing operations. This involves solutions implemented on architectures which integrate computational units dedicated to intensive processing operations, the irregular processing operations being handled with the system software on a general-purpose processor. But as will be detailed subsequently, the use of system buses gives rise to lower reactivity of the architecture and an inability of the system software to optimize the use of the computational units.
To attempt to minimize these drawbacks, American patent publication US2005/0149937A1, entitled "Accelerator for multiprocessing system and method", proposes that the mechanisms for synchronization between the computational units be handled by way of a dedicated structure. It does not however afford any solutions to the problem of data transfer between the tasks.
American patent publication US2004/0088519A1, entitled "Hyperprocessor", proposes for its part a solution to the management of task parallelism in the context of high performance processors. It does not however apply to embedded systems, notably for determinism and cost reasons.

Statically allocating set of tasks to particular cluster and dynamically allocating each task to different processing units within cluster

COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES


Disclosed herein are phenylalanine derivative compounds of the following formulaW—Y—(AA)n—Zwherein Y is a phenylalanyl radical, AA is an amino acid, n is an integer of 1 to 15, and substituent variables W and Z are as described herein. The compounds can be used to inhibit SH2 binding with phosphoproteins, and to inhibit proliferation of tumor cells.

The pharmaceutical industry is in search for new classes of compounds for the therapy and prophylaxis of proliferative diseases such as cancer, autoimmune diseases, and hyperproliferative skin disorders such as psoriasis. These diseases or disorders affect a large portion of the population, leading to suffering and possibly death.
Some of these diseases or disorders may involve signal transduction. Signal transduction is critical to normal cellular homeostasis and is the process of relaying extracellular messages, e.g., chemical messages in the form of growth factors, hormones and neurotransmitters, via receptors, e.g., cell-surface receptors, to the interior of the cell. Protein-tyrosine kinases play a central role in this biological function. Among others, these enzymes catalyze the phosphorylation of specific tyrosine residues to form tyrosine phosphorylated residues. Examples of this class of enzymes include the PDGF receptor, the FGF receptor, the HGF receptor, members of the EGF receptor family such as the EGF receptor, erb-B2, erb-B3 and erb-B4, the src kinase family, Fak•kinase and the Jak kinase family. The tyrosine-phosphorylated proteins are involved in a range of metabolic processes, from proliferation and growth to differentiation.
Protein-tyrosine phosphorylation is known to be involved in modulating the activity of some target enzymes as well as in generating specific complex networks involved in signal transduction via various proteins containing a specific amino acid sequence called a Src homology region or SH2 domain (see Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 90, 5891 (1990)). A malfunction in this protein-tyrosine phosphorylation through tyrosine kinase overexpression or deregulation is manifested by various oncogenic and (hyper-)proliferative disorders such as cancer, inflammation, autoimmune disease, hyperroliferative skin disorders, such as psoriasis, and allergy/asthma.
SH2- and/or SH3- comprising proteins that play a role in cellular signaling and transformation include, but are not limited to, the following: Src, Lck, Eps, ras GTPase-activating protein (GAP), phospholipase C, phosphoinositol-3 (Pl-3)kinase, Fyn, Lyk, Fgr, Fes, ZAP-70, Sem-5, p85, SHPTP1, SHPTP2, corkscrew, Syk, Lyn, Yes, Hck, Dsrc, Tec, Atk/Bpk, Itk/Tsk, Arg, Csk, tensin, Vav, Emt, Grb2, BCR-Abl, Shc, Nck, Crk, CrkL, Syp, Blk, 113TF, 91TF, Tyk2, especially Src, phospholipase c, phosphoinositol-3 (pl-3) kinase, Grb2, BCR-Abl, Shc, Nck, Crk, CrkL, Syp, Blk, 113TF, 91TF, and Tyk2. A direct link has been established between activated receptor kinases and Ras with the finding that the mammalian Grb2 protein, a 26 kilodalton (kD) protein comprising a single SH2 and two SH3 domains bind to proline-rich sequences present in the Sos exchange factor.
The significance of ras-regulatory proteins in human tumors is also highlighted by the critical role of Grb2 in BCR-Abl mediated oncogenesis (J. Exp. Med., 179, 167–175 (1994)).
Central to the binding of SH2 domains with phosphotyrosine ("ptyr") containing ligands is the interaction of the doubly ionized ptyr phosphate with two invariant arginine residues in a well formed pocket. These arginine-phosphate interactions are particularly critical to the overall binding, such that high affinity binding is usually lost by removal of the phosphate group.
Although the ptyr pharmacophore plays a dominant role in SH2 domain-ligand interactions, ptyr residues are not suitable components of inhibitors intended for in vivo application, due to the enzymatic lability of the phosphate ester bond and the poor cellular penetration of doubly ionized phosphate species.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for molecules that have an ability to mimic the structure of the phosphotyrosine peptide binding site, as well as a need for compounds that have the ability to disrupt the interaction between SH2 domains of proteins (e.g., regulatory proteins) for example that of Grb2, and proteins with phosphorylated moieties. There also exists a need for suitable starting materials or precursors in the synthesis of the molecules that inhibit binding of SH2 domains. There further exists a need for compounds suitable for use in the therapy or prophylaxis of proliferative diseases or conditions, as well as in diagnosis, assays, and testing.
These advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the embodiments of the invention set forth below.

United States of America, represented by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services


A method and system of producing a 3D perspective representation of a hiking trail or the like in two dimensions. Manually-obtained first data indicative of a heading and distance of each approximately linear segment of the course of travel are correlated with second data indicative of a topography of an underlying geographical region. A representation of the course of travel as viewed from perspective may then be selectively produced utilizing the correlated data. Linear segments of the course of travel are shown in this view situated at a relative angle with respect to adjacent linear segments, the angle representative of a direction and slope thereof. As a result, changes in elevation of the course of travel are continuously shown on the perspective two-dimensional representation to facilitate visual appreciation of the difficulty thereof by the traveller.

The present invention relates to trail maps of the type utilized by hikers. More particularly, the present invention relates to improvements in such trail maps, as well as a method and system for producing same.
Avid hikers often purchase trail books which textually describe the terrain of various trails in a given area. Further, these trail books generally include a fold-out topographical map on which the trails are plotted and identified by number. The topographical map shows a plan view of the region, with differences in elevation shown by "topo lines."
Such prior art trail maps have often been of limited utility to many hikers. Particularly, less experienced hikers frequently have difficulty judging the steepness of the various segments of a particular trail when using this type of map. A hiker inadvertently misreading such a map may choose to hike a trail which is not of the desirable level of difficulty for that hiker. As these trails are often several miles in length, a hiker in this situation may find it simply easier to continue on an undesired, more difficult trail than to attempt finding another trail. On the other hand, hikers desiring a challenging hike can easily select a steep, more arduous trail.
Ski trail maps have been produced which show various ski runs as viewed from perspective. Here, an oblique aerial photo of a snow-covered mountain shows a cleared "swath" which is the ski run. Apparently, an artist sketches in the outside perimeters of each run. Since the ski runs are generally defined already by the clearing of such run, it is a relatively easy task to outline the "swath" on the photograph. As will be appreciated, such a technique would not be suitable to produce a map of a hiking trail with numerous turns or switchbacks or other narrow and obscure course of travel. Furthermore, these maps do not purport to show relative elevation along a specific course of travel except as it is perceived by the outline of the mountain itself. Further, such method of oblique aerial photography would not depict such hiking trails in a three dimensional (3D) perspective or virtual reality.

Method and system for producing an improved hiking trail map


A sealing strand for adhesively bonding to a vehicle body, in particular to a body flange protruding from a vehicle body, uses a device for attaching the sealing strand to the vehicle body, in particular to the body flange, prior to the adhesive bonding. In particular, the device for attaching the sealing strand in a starting position is used for the adhesive bonding with the aid of an application device which exerts contact pressure.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a sealing strand for adhesive attachment to a vehicle body, particularly to a body flange projecting away from the vehicle body.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known that seals on vehicle, for example door seals, are formed by means of sealing strands that can be set onto a flange projecting away from the vehicle body, using a U-shaped attachment section. Alternatively, the seal is adhesively attached to the flange or to a body region adjacent to the flange.

Sealing strand for adhesively bonding to a vehicle body


A nail care tool system that includes a rechargeable drive unit, a dual element tool head that includes a sanding belt and a rotary drive socket, at least one rotary shaping tool detachable connectable to the rotary drive socket, and a sanding belt cover that is positionable over a portion of the dual element tool head to cover the sanding belt; the rechargeable drive unit including a drive unit housing having a connector lip that detachably secures the rechargeable drive unit to the dual element tool head, a rechargeable battery housed within the drive unit housing, a drive motor in electrical connection with the rechargeable battery, and a drive gear mounted to an output shaft of the drive motor and positioned exteriorly of the drive unit housing; the dual element tool head including a tool head housing having a component compartment formed therein, a drive unit drive gear receiving aperture formed through the tool head housing, a driven gear rotatably mounted within the component compartment, a sanding belt drive wheel in rigid connection with the driven gear, a rotary drive socket head extending from a sanding belt return guide wheel, a sanding belt tensioning assembly including two spring biased tensioning wheels, and a sanding bell that is looped over the sanding belt drive wheel, the sanding belt return guide wheel and the two spring biased tensioning wheels of the sanding belt tensioning assembly.

Shaping, polishing and otherwise caring for nails can require a considerable amount of cutting, sanding and polishing. It would of course be a benefit to have a nail care system that included at least two electrically powered nail shaping/polishing mechanisms that can be used at the discretion of the nail care professional to accomplish a variety of nail care procedures. Because in some instances, it can be beneficial to have a nail shaping mechanism that can be used to shape relatively large areas, it would be a benefit to have a nail care tool system that included a sanding belt as one of two electrically powered nail shaping mechanisms. Because in other instances, it can be beneficial to have a nail shaping mechanism that can be used to polish or shape relatively small areas, it would be a benefit to have a nail care tool system that included a rotary drive for detachably attaching relatively small rotary polishing elements. It would of course also be a benefit to have a nail care tool system that included both a sanding belt and a rotary drive for rotary polishing elements.


Disclosed herein are a door for drum type washing machines and a method of manufacturing such a door. A front member is attached to the front surface of a door frame. Consequently, the overall strength of the door frame is increased. Especially, a decorative part, which consists of alternating reflective/nonreflective or embossed/depressed patterns, is formed either at the door frame or at the front member. Consequently, the overall appearance of the door is improved, and glare is effectively prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door for drum type washing machines, and, more particularly, to a door for drum type washing machines wherein the door has a decorative part consisting of continuous reflective/nonreflective patterns or embossed/depressed patterns for preventing glare and improving the overall appearance of the door. Also, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a door with such a decorative part.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a washing machine is a machine that is capable of removing pollutants from laundry through mechanical actions carried out by electric power. A drum type washing machine is a kind of washing machine. The drum type washing machine performs a washing operation using friction between a horizontally-mounted drum, which is rotated by a driving force of a motor, and laundry put in the drum under the condition that detergent and wash water are also put in the drum. The drum type washing machine has various effects in that damage to the laundry is minimized, the laundry is not entangled, and the laundry is struck and rubbed.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional drum type washing machine, FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of the conventional drum type washing machine, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the conventional drum type washing machine seen from line A-A of FIG. 2.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional drum type washing machine comprises: a cabinet 2 forming the external appearance of the washing machine; a tub 4 mounted in the cabinet while being suspended by a spring 3; a drum 5 mounted in the tub 4 for receiving laundry; lifters 6 attached to the inner side surface of the drum 5 for lifting the laundry to a predetermined height such that the laundry falls due to gravity from the predetermined height; a motor 7 mounted at the rear of the tub 4 for generating a rotating force; a cabinet cover 17 mounted at the front of the cabinet 2, the cabinet cover 17 having a laundry inlet/outlet hole 18 formed at the center thereof for allowing laundry to be put into or removed from the drum 5 therethrough; and a door 20 hingedly connected to the cabinet cover 17 for closing the laundry inlet/outlet hole 18 to prevent the laundry from being removed from the drum 5 through the laundry inlet/outlet hole 18.
Between the tub 4 and the door 20 is mounted a gasket 8 for diminishing impacts generated when the drum 5 is rotated. Also, the gasket 8 serves as a packing for preventing wash water from leaking from the tub 4.
At the top and bottom parts of the drum type washing machine are mounted a top plate 9, which forms a top surface of the washing machine, and a base 10, which forms a bottom surface of the washing machine, respectively. Under the tub 4 are mounted a draining pump 11 and a draining hose 12, which are used to circulate or drain the wash water. Under the top plate 9 are mounted a water supply hose 13 and a water supply valve 14, which are used to supply wash water into the tub 4, and a detergent box 15, which is used to supply detergent into the tub 4.
Referring to FIG. 3, the door 20 of the conventional drum type washing machine comprises: a ring-shaped door frame 21 hingedly connected to the cabinet cover 17; a door hinge 24, having opposite ends mounted at the door frame 21 and the cabinet cover 17, respectively, for hingedly supporting the door frame 21; and a door glass 25 mounted at an open center hole 21a formed at the door frame 21 for allowing a user to look into the drum 5 therethrough.
The door frame 21 is a common injection-molded plastic member. The door frame 21 comprises: a front door frame 22 forming the front part of the door frame 21, the front door frame 22 having a grip 29 formed at one side thereof; and a rear door frame 23 disposed at the rear of the front door frame 22 for forming the rear part of the door frame 21. One end of the door hinge 24 is mounted at the rear door frame 23. From one side of the rear door frame 23 is protruded a hook 27, and the cabinet cover 17 has a hook hole 28, into which the hook 27 is engaged.
The edge of the door glass 25 is fixed between the front door frame 22 and the rear door frame 23 such that the center hole 21a of the door frame 21 is sealed.
Recently, design of products has been increasingly focused on marketability in addition to performance and durability of the products. For this reason, appearance, color, and texture of new products are carefully considered, when the products are developed, to satisfy aesthetic desires of consumers.
In the conventional drum type washing machine, however, the door frame 21 is the injection-molded plastic member as described above. As a result, the conventional drum type washing machine does not have a luxurious appearance, and therefore, the marketability of the conventional drum type washing machine is lowered.
In addition, drum type washing machines have become increasingly large. In this case, the sizes of the laundry inlet/outlet hole 18 and the door 20 are increased. Consequently, it is necessary that the door frame 21 have sufficient strength to support load of the enlarged door glass 25. However, the door frame 21 is the injection-molded plastic member, and therefore, it is difficult to increase the strength of the door frame 21.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem and to provide the drum type washing machine with a luxurious appearance, the door frame 21 may be made of a metallic material having excellent strength. In this case, however, the material costs are increased, the total weight of the door is increased, and surface treatment for texture improvement is very difficult.

Door for drum type washing machine and method of manufacturing door with decorative part


A certain number of high bits of each sample (12 bits) supplied by an analog-to-digital converter is used as the address of a comparison zone of a RAM associated with the microprocessor of the device. In this comparison zone the result of comparison of this sample with a predetermined number of thresholds has previously been recorded. The sample (12 bits) and associated comparison result (4 bits) are stored in a storage zone of the RAM for subsequent processing by the microprocessor. This simultaneous acquisition of a sample and of the prerecorded result of comparison of this sample with the thresholds minimizes the time devoted by the microprocessor to data acquisition.

The invention relates to a monitoring or protection device comprising a microprocessor, a RAM, an analog-to-digital converter, to whose input analog signals are applied and designed to supply to the microprocessor digital samples representative of the analog input signals, and means for comparing each digital sample with a predetermined number of predetermined thresholds.
In state-of-the art systems, comparison of each sample to a certain number of thresholds is performed by the micro-processor, in a suitably programmed comparison sequence. Each sample supplied by the analog-to-digital converter is read by the microprocessor and may be stored in the RAM. The micro-processor then searches in an appropriate zone of the RAM for the thresholds to which the sample is to be compared and successively performs comparison of the sample with each of these thresholds. The result of this comparison can then be stored and used for subsequent processing purposes. In monitoring or protection devices, notably in built-in medium voltage cubicle protection and monitoring devices, each sample has to be compared to a large number of thresholds, whether they be thresholds intrinsic to the acquisition proper, such as non-saturation checks of physical quantity sample measurements, or thresholds connected with the protective functions to be performed, such as detection of maximum current, voltage, etc. These threshold tests are numerous, systematic and repetitive, and the processing time required for the microprocessor CPU to perform these comparisons increases as the number and complexity of the threshold zones increase.

Microprocessor-based monitoring or protection device comprising an analog data acquisition system


An apparatus for transporting articles of the tobacco-processing industry including a rotationally driven conveying element, a support and, a clamping device. The clamping device has at least one drive element and at least two holding elements. The rotationally driven conveying element is detachably connected by the clamping device to the support so that a movement of the at least one drive element of the clamping device causes the at least two holding elements to change their position relative to each other, in a direction crosswise to the direction of movement the drive element. Depending on the direction of movement of the at least one drive element, the movement causes the at least two holding elements to either hold or release the rotationally driven conveying element and the support.

The invention relates to an apparatus for transporting articles of the tobacco-processing industry, in particular cigarettes; the apparatus comprises a rotationally driven conveying element, preferably a drum, as well as a support, wherein the conveying element is detachably connected to the support by means of a clamping device. In addition, the invention relates to the use of a clamping device with an apparatus of this type, as well as a machine of the tobacco-processing industry, in particular a filter-tipping machine.
Conveying drums are used, for example, in a filter-tipping machine for transporting rod-shaped smoking articles, such as filters, filter rods, tobacco rods and/or cigarettes or filter cigarettes. These conveying drums comprise a locally fixed control member on which a drum body is arranged that is rotationally driven by a drive shaft. During a format change at the filter-tipping machine, operating personnel will pull the drum bodies off the control members by loosening several screws to lift off the drum body and replace it with a new drum body, e.g. for cigarettes with a different diameter or a different length.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,438,774 discloses a conveying drum for cigarettes where the drum body is secured to the rotating shaft by means of a holding screw. To replace the drum body, the holding screw is manually unscrewed, so that the drum body can be removed from the control member.
DE-A-101 16 684 discloses an apparatus with a rotationally driven unit, in particular a drum, for which rotating clamping rings connect an internal hub and an external hub. A pressure exerted in an axial direction deforms the clamping rings to a clamping position, so that a connection between internal hub and external hub is created. On the whole, this mechanical clamping element has a very involved design.
In view of the art, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a drum for which the drum body can be replaced quickly while keeping the costs associated with manufacturing and/or maintaining the same low.


A method, an apparatus, and code in a carrier medium to operate in a first access point of a wireless network in communication with at least one associated client station. The method includes wirelessly broadcasting a management frame including an indication that the first access point will stop being active, such that each associated client station can wirelessly roam to a second access point prior to the first access point ceasing being active. One embodiment further includes reducing the transmit power of wireless communication used to wirelessly transmit information to the associated client stations, such that each associated client station can eventually wirelessly roam to the second access point.

The present invention is related to wireless networks, and in particular to wireless local area networks (WLANs).
Wireless networks, e.g., local area wireless networks conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard have become common. WLANs often are used in infrastructure mode with one wireless station, called an access point (AP), acting as a base station for a set of client wireless stations. A client station associates with an AP, and following such association, all wireless communication between the client station and any other entity is via the AP. In such a WLAN, there may be times when it is necessary or desired to take an AP of a WLAN offline while the AP is operating, e.g., while there are one or more operational client stations that are currently associated with the access point. Furthermore, there may be a need to take the access point offline in an manner that does not interrupt communication between a client of the AP and another part of the network to which the AP is connected. For example, some of the operating client stations of the AP may be using the communication for live voice communication using, e.g., voice over IP (VoIP), and in such a case it would be detrimental to interrupt a live voice communication.
A forced handoff from one base station of a cellular wireless system to another is well known in the art. For example, it is known how to take a base station of a cellular telephone system offline in a cellular system. In a CDMA cellular system, it is also known how to carry out what is called a "soft handoff" that provides for handing off a particular handset in communication from one base station to another in a manner that does not interrupt communication. See for example, Wong, D.; Teng Joon Lim: "Soft handoffs in CDMA mobile systems," IEEE Personal Communications, Vol. 4, No. 6, Pages: 6-17, December 1997. See also Tripathi, N. D.; Reed, J. H.; VanLandinoham, H. F.: "Handoff in cellular systems, IEEE Personal Communications, Vol. 5, No. 6, Pages: 26-37, December 1998, and Seen-Ho Hwang; Seong-Lyun Kim; Hyun-Seo Oh; Chang-Eon Kang; Jung-Young Son: "Soft handoff algorithm with variable thresholds in CDMA cellular systems," Electronics Letters, Vol. 33, No. 19, 11, Pages: 1602-1603, September 1997.
As WLANs originally designed for data communication are oriented more and more to real time applications, such as wireless VoIP and other wireless media services, there are higher requirements being made on wireless network service availability and reliability. For example, there is an expectation of non-interrupted voice service to a similar level to that achieved with a wired phone call. In a widely deployed wireless network environment, there may be a need to pull a wireless AP out of service, temporarily or permanently. Reasons for such action may be a service quality problem, need for a system upgrade, or for administrative purposes. With present technology, the clients attached to the AP may lose ongoing services, especially in the case of real time applications. Thus, with VoIP, a call may be dropped, or service quality may otherwise be degraded.
Thus there is a need in the art for taking an AP offline without dropping service, including communication with one or more client wireless stations. There furthermore is a need to prevent new clients from associating with the AP.
In cellular telephony, each cell has a base station, and the mobile stations communicate via the base station of the cell. When a cell needs to go down, methods are known and used in cellular telephony that force a mobile station to handover to another base station if the mobile station is in an active call state with the base station that's about to be taken offline. This is carried out typically by the base station instructing the mobile station to hand over to a specific cell, e.g., a specific base station. A base station being taken off line instructs its mobile stations to so hand over, one mobile station at a time.

Maintaining uninterrupted service in a wireless access point and client stations thereof


A light guide plate mold is configured for manufacturing a light guide plate having a number of microstructures. The light guide plate mold includes a substrate and a number of heating members. The substrate defines a number of grooves therein. The heating members are respectively received in the grooves. Each heating member has a height less than a depth of the corresponding groove. The grooves and the heating members cooperatively define a number of receiving spaces for forming the microstructures of the light guide plate.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to molds and, particularly, to a light guide plate mold and a method for manufacturing a light guide plate having microstructures.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, light guide plates having microstructures may be manufactured by injection molding. The microstructures are a plurality of light diffusing materials such as titanium oxide and silicon dioxide. The diffusing materials are used to disperse what would otherwise be single internal reflections of incident light in the light guide plates so as to form an uniform luminance for light guide plates. In addition, the substrates of the light guide plates need to be clean, thus the manufacturing method is time-consuming.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a light guide plate mold and a method for manufacturing a light guide plate having microstructures which can overcome or at least alleviate the above-mentioned problem.

Light guide plate mold and method for manufacturing light guide plate using same


It administers a plurality of wireless base stations grouped into a plurality of groups, and performs the processing about the management, control and maintenance of the wireless base stations selectively for each of the groups. This enables the efficient management, control and maintenance processing of the wireless base stations.

The wireless coverage indoors of a mobile communication system is not so high. There are several reasons. For example, wireless electric waves are difficult to reach the inside of a building and it costs much to set and administer an indoor-type wireless base station.
Under this situation, a microminiature wireless base station (BTS: Base Transceiver Station) called "Femtocell" has been proposed recently. This BTS is assumed to be used inside a house or an office and it conforms to, for example, the Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) method, enabling a simultaneous communication for a small number of users (about four users) by forming a small sized cell (femtocell) having a radius of several tens meters. Further, the cost is low.
In order to improve the indoor coverage without raising the management cost, it is conceived that this microminiature BTS (hereinafter, referred to as a femtocell BTS) is arranged inside a tall building or an underground facility (dead zone) that could not be covered by the existing wireless base station.
Further, a technique of remotely setting an Radio Frequency (RF) unit connected with an existing base station via a cable line to the base station, is known as a means for improving the coverage of the mobile communication system.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-40802    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application National Publication (Laid-Open) No. 2002-524989    [Non Patent Document 1] "A follow up article on 3GSM Korea Samsung and NEC exhibit "Femtocell"    [Non Patent Document 2] "Manufacturing Agreement For Zone Gate Low-Cost Residential 3G Access Point".    [Non Patent Document 3] NTT DoCoMo Technical Journal Vol. 15 No. 1, [online], April, 2007.
Since the femtocell BTS is supposed to be set indoors, the number of the femtocell BTSs being set is expected large. However, there is a limit to the capacity (for example, several hundreds BTSs) in a device that accommodates the base stations and controls them (RNC: Radio Network Controller). Therefore, it cannot help but increase the number of large-sized expensive RNCs, in order to accommodate a large number of femtocell BTSs (for example, more than several thousands BTSs).

Wireless communication system, method of management, control and maintenance, and apparatus for the same


A low profile protective helmet having an interior surface that is immediately adjacent the top of the wearer's head when the helmet is being worn. The interior surface defines a distal point which represents the furthest distance between the top of the wearer's head and the interior surface when the helmet is being worn. The height of the low profile helmet is approximately 4.7 inches and the distal point is approximately 1.3 inches to the top of the wearer's head which is at least 1 inch closer to the top of the wearer's head than with prior art hard hats. The close fit minimizes the weight of the helmet itself, and provides stability of the helmet on the head. The helmet includes shock absorbing means integral to the outer shell that defines a first extension and a second extension in perpendicular relationship with the first extension such that the outer shell is of a relatively greater depth along the defined extensions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to protective helmets and more particularly, to a low profile helmet that incorporates safety design for miners.
2. Brief Description of Prior Art
The use of safety helmets (hard hats) in hazardous areas in industry and mines is widespread. Prior art helmets are generally heavy and because the shell of the helmet is spaces an appreciable distance from the wearer's head, they are often unstable on the head. In addition, the bulk of these helmets seriously limit head movement by the wearer in the often confined space within the mine.
As will be seen from the subsequent description, the preferred embodiments of the present invention overcome disadvantages of the prior art.


A door closer includes a housing; an output shaft supported by the housing and rotatable in opposite door opening and closing directions; a cam disc disposed in the housing and mounted on the output shaft; a damping piston disposed in the housing; an opening piston disposed in the housing; first and second force transmission rollers; and two fixing bolts extending in the axial direction of the housing and transversely to the axis of the output shaft. The fixing bolts being disposed on two opposite sides of the output shaft, respectively. Each of the can disc and the first and second force transmission rollers has a circumferential recess or comprises two pieces, the fixing bolts being disposed in the recesses or between the respective two pieces so that each of the damping piston and the opening piston is prevented from rotating with respect to the cam disc.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a door closer, which has an output shaft, which can be actuated in the closing direction by an assembly of springs, and has a damping piston, which is in operable connection with the output shaft, as well as a pivotable actuating arm, which is coupled to the output shaft outside the housing, as well as a cam disc, which is connected to the output shaft inside the housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A door closer of the species mentioned at the beginning is revealed in DE 40 41 824 C1, in which a rotation of the damping piston and of the opening piston about their longitudinal axes in relation to the cam disc is eliminated. Securing means, which prevent the rotation, are provided for this purpose. The proper functioning of the door closer is not at all affected by the incorporation of the securing means. The first choice of securing means are two rods, which, on the one hand, are firmly anchored in the spring support member and, on the other hand, can plunge, without any friction on the opposite side, into pocket bores of the damping piston. In this case, the securing rods extend horizontally to the axis of the closer shaft. The securing rods are disposed on either side close to the closer shaft in the axial direction of the housing. It is thus possible that, in the event of a rotation of the damping piston or of the spring support member, the securing rods either bear against the one or the other side of the closer shaft.


A smoking accessory includes a first member extending between a first end and a second end having an inner surface defining a first passageway extending through the first end and the second end of the first member. A second member extends between a first end and a second end having an inner surface defining a second passageway extending through the first end and the second end of the second member. At least one cooling agent disposed within the first passageway and/or the second passageway.

Water pipes, also known as hookahs or nargiles, have been used for centuries to smoke tobacco, herbs, and other substances. Conventional water pipes include a base assembly and stem assembly. A combustible substance, such as tobacco, is placed on a bowl connected to the stem assembly. The user places a mouthpiece connected to a hose extending from the base assembly and inhales while lighting the combustible substance to create suction, which draws smoke into the base assembly and through the hose, whereby it is inhaled through the mouthpiece. Water is placed in the bottom of the base assembly to cool the smoke and remove certain impurities as the smoke passes from the stem assembly, through the base assembly, and into the hose.
Many people who smoke water pipes desire to reduce the temperature of the smoke prior to inhalation to make the smoke less harsh to inhale and hence make for a more enjoyable experience. While conventional water pipes are somewhat effective for cooling smoke, they do not adequately cool smoke so that it is cool enough to be enjoyed by certain individuals who do not enjoy the sometime harsh effects of inhaling warm smoke. One reason for this is that conventional water pipes, by requiring that water be placed in the base assembly of the pipe, can only cool smoke immediately after it passes from stem assembly, before it enters the hose. Heretofore unknown is a smoking accessory which can be placed on the mouthpiece of a conventional water pipe in order to cool smoke after it passes through the hose, immediately prior to inhalation. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide such a smoking accessory.


A technique for quickly determining the type of liquid in a container externally regardless of the material of the container, preferably contactlessly. A halogen heater 102 and an infrared thermopile 103 are disposed outside an electrically conductive container 101 made of aluminum, for example. The surface temperature of the container 101 is measured when the halogen heater 102 is off, followed by the turning-on of the halogen heater 102 for two seconds, for example. The surface temperature of the container 101 is then measured, and a difference from the previous result of measurement is calculated. If the difference is smaller than a threshold value, the liquid in the container is determined to be a safe liquid consisting primarily of water, and a blue lamp is activated. If the difference is greater than the threshold value, the liquid in the container cannot be determined to be a safe liquid consisting primarily of water, and a red lamp is activated, indicating abnormality.

Passenger transporting institutions, such as airlines, railroads, and bus companies, have the duty to transport passengers safely. In particular, accidents involving aircraft can lead to disasters and a very high level of safety is required. Thus, airplane passengers are subjected to various tests, such as baggage inspection using X-ray imaging devices, body check through frisking or using metal detectors, and, if necessary, interrogation, so as to pick out passengers with malicious intent and prevent them from boarding the airplane. However, in view of the large number of passengers and the convenience for them, it is difficult to subject all the passengers to strict inspections over a long time or to interrogations. Meanwhile, passengers with malicious intent (such as terrorists) try to slip through these inspections and bring dangerous objects on board. While there would be no problem as long as such dangerous objects can be detected by the current baggage inspection and the like, there are some objects that are difficult to detect using metal detectors or X-ray imaging devices, such as gasoline and other combustible liquids. Gasoline and other dangerous liquids are easy to obtain on the market. If such a dangerous liquid is contained in a commercially available beverage container (such as a PET bottle), for example, it becomes more difficult to distinguish it from authentic beverages, and someone with sinister intent could readily adopt such technique. Thus, it is necessary to devise and prepare countermeasures against such dangerous acts.
In order to distinguish a dangerous liquid such as gasoline from a beverage that typically consists primarily of water, the liquid could be subjected to a sensory test, such as smelling, or other various methods. However, in the baggage inspection before boarding an airplane, time is of utmost concern and the inspection should be completed as quickly as possible. In response to such needs, the inventors had developed a method for determining the type of liquid in containers made of insulating (dielectric) material, such as PET bottles, based on the difference in dielectric constant that depends on the type of the liquid. The inventions associated with such technique are described in the specification attached to JP Patent Application No. 2003-198046 or 2003-385627 filed by the same applicants as the present application.
Besides the aforementioned method for determining the type of a liquid based on the difference in dielectric constant that depends on the type of liquid, a method is conceivable that takes advantage of the difference in thermal characteristics that depend on the type of liquid. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique involving a heat supply means and a temperature-change measuring means that are disposed inside the fuel tank such as the gas tank of an automobile. In this technique, the nature of the fuel (such as its boiling point and T50 value) inside the tank is detected based on the behavior of heat transmitted to heat conducting members on the side of the wall surface of the tank and on the side of the fuel. Patent Document 2 discloses a technique whereby, in order to detect the introduction of water and the like into a petroleum tank or oil delivery channels, an indirectly heated flow detector is used as a fluid distinguishing device. It is well-known that an indirectly heated flowmeter is a current meter comprised of a heating element and a flow rate detecting element (temperature sensor) that are disposed within the fluid, and that it utilizes the property that the temperature of the flow rate detecting element varies depending on the rate of the fluid. In the technique disclosed in Patent Document 2, the fact that the initial output at rate zero of the indirectly heated flowmeter varies depending on the thermal characteristics of the fluid that is in contact therewith is used for the identification of the fluid. Furthermore, Patent Document 3 discloses a technique involving a level measuring device that utilizes a measurement module equipped with a heating means for heating the outer surface of a container and a temperature sensor disposed in the vicinity of the heating means. In this level measuring device, a plurality of measurement modules are arranged outside the container in a row in a biased manner, and the device aims to detect between which measurement modules the fluid level is at based on the difference in behavior of the heat in the container outer wall when there is liquid in the container and when there is not. These techniques disclosed by Patent Documents 1 to 3 all attempt to distinguish the type of liquid (or the presence or absence thereof) based on the thermal characteristics of the liquid (including when there is no liquid).
Patent Document 1: JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 10-325815 A (1998)
Patent Document 2: JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2000-186815 A
Patent Document 3: JP Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2002-214020 A

Apparatus for determining type of liquid in a container and method for controlling the apparatus


A pH increasing material is placed in contact with the surface of an initial comminuted meat product. This contact with the pH increasing material increases the pH of the initial meat product to produce an intermediate meat product. The method also includes the step of removing the pH increasing material and applying mechanical action to the intermediate, pH increased meat product. The method may also include placing a pH lowering gas at a neutralizing pressure in contact with the surface of the intermediate meat product to decrease the pH of the meat product.

Almost all foods are processed in some way before reaching the consumer. Meat products, for example, are separated from unusable or undesirable elements or components, ground or chopped, mixed or blended, and often times frozen for distribution. Even lightly processed meats are cut, trimmed, and then packaged for sale or distribution.
Microbes are part of the natural decay process of organic material and invariably appear or grow in foodstuffs as they are processed or handled. Although some microbes may be relatively benign, others contribute to spoilage and some can cause serious illness if consumed. Lactic acid producing bacteria are examples of benign microbes while some strains of E. Coli, Salmonella, Staph, and Listeria bacteria are examples of pathogens and can cause serious illness.
It is desirable to control the growth of pathogen microbes or reduce pathogen microbe count in foodstuffs. Historically, microbe growth has been reduced by chemical preservatives that remain in the product and are ultimately ingested by the consumer. However, a growing population of consumers has expressed a desire for food products that are free of traditional chemical preservatives. Alternatively to traditional chemical preservatives, heat has been used to kill microbes in foodstuffs. However, heat processing or sterilization often has an undesirable effect on the quality or characteristics of the foodstuff and may make the product undesirable to the consumer. Also, heat sterilization in meats can kill all microbes, leaving the meat susceptible to the rapid growth of dangerous microbes or pathogens after sterilization, should the previously sterilized meat be exposed to such microbes.
The prior related application Ser. No. 09/213,190, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,838 B1 discloses an apparatus and method for physically manipulating a pH modified comminuted meat product to reduce the microbe content in the resulting product. The process includes freezing the pH modified meat product and then physically manipulating the frozen material to produce relative movement between points within the material. This process of treating a pH modified meat product, which may be referred to as "freeze/stress processing," has been found to greatly reduce the live microbe count in the resulting product.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for producing a pH enhanced comminuted meat product


A data processing apparatus includes a graphics display device for displaying a display frame comprising a plurality of display frame pixels. A sprite management system composes the display frame from a plurality of graphic sprites. Each graphic sprite comprises a plurality of sprite pixels and corresponding sprite pixel values. Each sprite has a specified depth relative to the other sprites. One of the sprites is designated to be a video sprite. This sprite is loaded with a chroma-key value. The sprite management system includes a data processing device connected to access a display frame composition buffer. The data processing device is programmed to write pixel values of individual sprites to the display frame composition buffer. This writing begins with the pixel values of the sprite having the greatest depth and proceeds with the pixel values of the remaining sprites in order of decreasing sprite depth. The display frame data is then passed to a video overlay board which overlays a video image over those pixels containing the chroma-key value. The result is a display frame in which the plurality of graphic sprites, including the video sprite, appear layered with respect to each other in accordance with their respectively specified depths.

Computer and game systems often include display devices which are capable of displaying both alphanumeric data and graphic images. Such display devices typically comprise cathode ray tubes (CRT) or flat-panel displays. Display devices such as these utilize raster graphics, in which an image is specified in terms of an array of component points called pixels (short for "picture elements"). With raster graphics, an overall image or display frame is formed from a set of horizontal scan lines, each made up of individual pixels. The display frame or image is thus simply a matrix of pixels covering the entire screen area. In a CRT display, the entire surface or raster of the CRT tube is scanned sequentially, one line at a time, top to bottom, by varying only the intensity of the electron beam for each pixel on a line. Although flat-panel displays do not use a scanning electron beam, they operate in an analogous manner, including the display of multiple lines of individual pixels.
In popular personal computers, a display frame is specified by a matrix of pixel values having a one-to-one correspondence to the display frame pixel matrix. Each pixel value specifies the color or brightness which is to be displayed by a corresponding display frame pixel. The pixel value matrix is stored in a frame buffer. A frame buffer is simply a portion of computer memory having individual storage locations which are mapped to individual display frame pixels. A typical computer contains hardware to repetitively access the frame buffer and to update a display frame pixel matrix or raster based on the contents of the frame buffer. To compose a display frame, a computer program simply writes specific values to correct locations in the frame buffer, and the hardware automatically converts the values to corresponding colors or brightness levels on the display frame. An image composed in this manner is often referred to as a bit-mapped image.
FIG. 1 shows an example of this type of computer and display system, generally designated by the reference numeral 20. System 20 includes a desktop unit 22 and an external display device such as a CRT 24. CRT 24 includes a display frame 26 comprising a two-dimensional matrix or array of display frame pixels (not individually shown).
Desktop unit 22 includes a CPU or data processor 28, random access frame buffer memory 30, and a display processor 32. These elements communicate with each other through a control and communications bus 33. Both data processor 28 and display processor 32 have access to frame buffer memory 30. To compose an image or display frame, data processor 28 writes appropriate data to locations in frame buffer memory 30 which are mapped to individual display frame pixels. Display processor 32 reads this data and converts it to appropriate signals for driving CRT 24.
Other types of computer systems and devices, including many computer-controlled game devices, include graphic sprite management hardware, which operates somewhat differently than the bit-mapped system described above. A graphic "sprite" is a graphic image which forms a part or region, usually a rectangle, of an overall computer screen or display frame. The display frame is composed of one or more of such sprites. Each sprite has specified horizontal and vertical display frame coordinates relative to the display frame, as well as a specified depth coordinate or Z-level relative to other sprites. This allows the sprite management hardware to layer the various sprites on the display frame.
As an example, FIG. 2 shows two individual sprites, labeled 34 and 36. Sprite 36 is a tree which is to remain stationary in the display frame. Sprite 34 is a car which is to move across the display frame in front of the tree. To display these sprites using sprite management hardware, sprite 34 is given a Z-level of 1 and sprite 36 is given a Z-level of 2. The sprites are also given appropriate horizontal and vertical display frame coordinates. All horizontal and vertical coordinates remain constant except for the horizontal coordinate of car sprite 34, which increases to move the car across the display frame.
FIG. 3 shows a display frame 38 showing both sprites. Car sprite 34 lies in a layer or plane above that of sprite 36. In the portions of display frame 38 where the sprites overlap, the uppermost sprite, car sprite 34, hides the lowermost sprite, tree sprite 36. To make the car appear to pass behind the tree, it would only be necessary to give the car sprite a greater depth coordinate than the tree sprite.
To improve images such as that shown by FIG. 3, sprite management hardware typically allows a sprite to contain "transparent" pixels--pixels which are not meant to obscure underlying sprites. Transparent pixels greatly simplify animation sequences. This is illustrated by FIG. 4, in which car sprite 34 is shown with transparent pixels surrounding the car. With this provision, the car can be moved across the display frame simply by adjusting its horizontal coordinate. The tree remains visible through those portions of car sprite 34 which do not actually form the car. Without the provision for transparent pixels, it would be necessary to copy information from underlying sprites into the sprite containing the moving image. This would have to be done for every change in sprite location.
FIG. 5 shows an example of a computer and display system which utilizes sprite management hardware, generally designated by the reference numeral 40. System 40 includes a desktop unit 42 and an external display device such as a CRT 44. CRT 44 includes a display frame 46 comprising a plurality or matrix of display frame pixels (not individually shown).
Desktop unit 42 includes a CPU or data processor 48, random access sprite memory 50, and a sprite display processor 52. Both data processor 48 and display processor 52 have access to sprite memory 50 through a control bus 53. It is apparent that the arrangement of FIG. 4 is quite similar to the arrangement of FIG. 5. The primary difference is in the way pixel values are stored in memory. In the frame-buffer or bit-mapped system of FIG. 1, a frame buffer corresponding to the entire display frame was stored in memory. In the sprite system of FIG. 5, however, a plurality of individual bit-maps, corresponding to a plurality of sprites, are stored by data processor 48 in sprite memory 50. Specifically, data processor 48 defines a plurality of sprite buffers 54 within sprite memory 50. Each sprite buffer stores a two-dimensional matrix or array of pixel values corresponding to a pixel matrix of an individual sprite. Thus, to compose an image or display frame, data processor 48 writes appropriate data to each sprite buffer 54. Sprite display processor 52 reads from each sprite buffer, individually, and performs the necessary manipulations to drive CRT 44 in such a way that the various sprites are properly positioned and layered within display frame 46, in accordance with their specified horizontal, vertical, and depth coordinates.
Sprite management hardware assumes a great deal of the overhead which would otherwise be required of application programs in managing overlying images. The sprite management system described above also works well for displaying windowed video images such as television images or digitized motion pictures which are received from an external source such as a non-volatile storage medium or a remote database. The successive frames of a moving or video image such as this are simply written to their own sprite buffer, and the sprite management hardware takes care of proper layering of the sprite relative to other sprites. Hardware can be provided to receive, decode, or decompress such images and to write them directly to sprite memory without CPU intervention.
Unfortunately, the hardware-based sprite management features described above are not readily available for use with popular desktop or personal computers such as IBM/PC-compatible personal computers. Rather, software developers use software-based techniques for displaying sprites. One way of doing this is to maintain sprite buffers as shown in FIG. 5, and to combine such sprite buffers using appropriate logic before writing them to a bit-mapped frame buffer such as shown in FIG. 1. This can be simplified by simply writing the individual sprite buffers, sequentially from back to front, to the bit-mapped frame buffer. In this way, uppermost sprites overwrite previously written lowermost sprites. The result is that the sprites appear layered in accordance with their specified depths.
This overwriting scheme might become somewhat unwieldy if it were utilized to display a video sequence in a sprite. This is because the scheme would require re-writing very significant portions of a frame buffer for every new frame from the video sequence. This could become very slow.
Accordingly, there is a need and desire for a system which can display video sequences as sprites without requiring specialized sprite hardware. It would be very desirable if such features could be efficiently provided by operating system software within the constraints of existing or widely-available hardware devices, so that application programs could use such features at a high level without having to be concerned with particular features or limitations of underlying hardware.
The invention described below provides these capabilities. Specifically, it provides a method of composing a bit-mapped display frame and frame buffer from a plurality of graphic sprites, one or more of which is formed by a video sequence, without requiring specialized sprite management hardware. These features are accomplished within the limitations of hardware which can be readily obtained for use with popular computers at reasonable prices.

System and method for composing a display frame of multiple layered graphic sprites


An image forming apparatus includes an image holding member for forming a toner image, and a transfer roller for transferring the toner image formed on the image holding member onto a recording paper sheet. The absolute value of (.DELTA. log R)/.DELTA.V[(log .OMEGA.)/kV] representing the voltage dependence of resistance R of the transfer roller is set not more than 0.5. The contacting portion of the transfer roller and an intermediate belt can be uniformly discharged, and therefore intermediate belt can be prevented from being changed in its property. As a result, an image forming apparatus having a stable transfer characteristic can be provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to image forming apparatuses, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus permitting a toner image formed on an image holding member to be transferred onto a recording medium by a transfer roller.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an over view of a conventional full-color laser beam printer 5 as seen from its front side, and FIG. 8 is a view showing the structure of the internal mechanism of full-color laser beam printer 5.
Referring to FIG. 8, printer 5 includes a photoreceptor unit 10 having a photoreceptor drum 11 driven to rotate in the direction of arrow a, a laser scanning optical system 20, a full-color developing unit 30, an intermediate transfer unit 40 including an endless intermediate transfer belt 41 driven to rotate in the direction of arrow b, and a paper feed unit 60.
A charging brush 13 and a cleaner 12 are provided around photoreceptor drum 11. Charger brush 13 charges the surface of photoreceptor drum 11 uniformly to a prescribed potential. Cleaner 12 takes away toner remaining on photoreceptor drum 11 by its blade 12a.
Laser scanning optical system 20 is of a known type including a laser diode, a polygon mirror 21, and an f.theta. optical device therein, and image data for each of C (cyan), M (magenta), Y (yellow), and Bk (black) is transferred to the control unit of the system from the host computer. Polygon mirror 21 is driven to rotate by a polygon mirror motor M2. Laser scanning optical system 20 sequentially outputs image data for every color as a laser beam, and exposes photoreceptor drum 11 by scanning. Electrostatic latent images in the colors are sequentially formed on photoreceptor drum 11.
Full-color developing unit 30 is formed by integrally attaching four color developers 31C, 31M, 31Y and 31Bk storing developing agents containing toner of C, M, Y, and Bk, respectively to a developer rack (not shown) which can rotate clockwise around the pivotal axis. Each developer is switched as it rotates every time an electrostatic latent image in each color is formed on photoreceptor drum 11 such that the developing sleeve 32 of a corresponding developer is positioned at a developing position D. Printer 5 uses the rotary type full-color developing unit 30 to make the entire printer compact.
The intermediate transfer belt 41 of intermediate transfer unit 40 is stretched in an endless manner around driving roller 42, support roller 43 and tension rollers 44 and 45, and driven to rotate in the direction of arrow b in synchronization with photoreceptor drum 11. Driving roller 42 and photoreceptor drum 11 are both driven to rotate by a main motor M1. There is provided a single belt mark (not shown) at a side edge of intermediate transfer belt 41 excluding the image region for the purpose of registration of tip ends of color images, and a belt position detection sensor SE1 to detect the position of the belt by detecting the belt mark is provided close to intermediate transfer belt 41.
Intermediate transfer belt 41 is in contact with photoreceptor drum 11 under pressure by a rotatable primary transfer roller 46. Intermediate transfer belt 41 faces a horizontal transport path 65 for recording paper, which will be described, at the portion supported by support roller 43 and is in contact with a rotatable secondary transfer roller 59.
Primary and secondary transfer rollers 46 and 59 are each provided with a known voltage supply unit to supply bias voltage of an opposite polarity to the charging polarity of toner. Primary transfer roller 46 allows a toner image on photoreceptor drum 11 to be transferred onto intermediate transfer belt 41, while secondary transfer roller 59 allows the toner image on intermediate transfer belt 41 to be transferred onto a recording paper sheet.
Cleaner 50 is provided in the space between developing unit 30 and intermediate transfer belt 41. Cleaner 50 has a cleaner blade 51 to remove toner remaining on intermediate transfer belt 1. Blade 51 and secondary transfer roller 59 are provided in the way they can be freely abutted against or detached, in other words in a contactable/separable manner from intermediate transfer belt 41.
Paper feed unit 60 includes a manual feed tray 61 which can be opened/closed on the front side of printer main body 5 (the side on which an operator usually stands), a feed cassette 64 loaded in main body 5 which can be replaced from the front side, a feed roller 62 and a timing roller 63. A stack of recording paper sheets placed on feed tray 61 or recording paper sheets S accommodated in feed cassette 64 in a layered manner are fed to the right in FIG. 8 on a one-sheet basis by the rotation of feed roller 62, synchronized with images formed on intermediate transfer belt 41 by timing roller 63, and sent onto a secondary transfer zone. Horizontal transport path 65 for storing paper sheets S is formed of an air suction belt 66, for example, and there is provided a vertical transport path 71 including transport rollers 72, 73, and 74 from a fixing device 70. Recording paper sheets S are discharged onto the upper surface of printer main body from this vertical transport path 71.
Now, the operation of printer 55 will be described. At the beginning of the printing operation, secondary transfer roller 59 and blade 51 are apart from intermediate transfer belt 41. As the printing operation is initiated, main motor M1 is driven and rotates a photoreceptor drum in the direction of arrow a and intermediate transfer belt 41 in the direction of arrow b at the same circumferential speed. Photoreceptor drum 11 is charged up to a prescribed potential by charging brush 13.
Then, a cyan image is exposed by laser scanning optical system 20, and the electrostatic latent image of the cyan image is formed on photoreceptor drum 11. The electrostatic latent image is immediately developed by developer 31C, and the toner image is transferred onto intermediate transfer belt 41 by a primary transfer zone. Immediately after the primary transfer operation, developer 31M is switched to developing position D, followed by exposure of a magenta image, development thereof and a primary transfer thereof. Similarly, switching to developer 31Y, exposure of a yellow image, development thereof, and a primary transfer thereof follow. Further, switching to developer 31Bk, exposure of a black image, development thereof and a primary transfer thereof are performed to place toner images one after another on intermediate transfer belt 41 for every primary transfer.
After the last primary transfer operation completes, developing unit 30 is switched to developer 31C for the next printing processing, while secondary transfer roller 59 and blade 51 are pressed-contacted to intermediate transfer belt 41. At the time recording paper sheets S are sent into the secondary transfer unit, and a full-color toner image formed on intermediate transfer belt 41 is transferred onto a recording paper sheet S. After the secondary transfer operation, secondary transfer roller 59 and blade 51 are detached from intermediate transfer belt 41.
Recording paper sheet S transferred with the full-color toner image is transported to fixing device 70 by air suction belt 66 for fixation, and discharged onto the upper surface of printer main body 5 by transport rollers 72, 73 and 74.
In such conventional printer 5, a skin-coated roller having a smooth skin layer formed on its surface is used for each of transfer roller 46 and 59. The skin-coated roller which can be reduced to only a limited level in hardness imposes high transfer pressure, which causes void in a solid area of printed characters.
In order to solve the problem of the skin-coated roller, use of a cellular (foamed) roller having a surface formed of a cellular material which can be readily reduced in hardness has been proposed. When used as transfer rollers 46 and 59, however, the cellular roller causes a differential between the transfer efficiencies of the paper passed portion through which a recording paper sheet S of a small width has passed and the non-paper passed portion through which no paper sheet has passed when the width of recording paper sheet S is switched from a small size to a large size, resulting in density variations in images (size memory).

Image forming apparatus capable of obtaining stable transfer using a particular transfer roller


This invention concerns real-time assembly of a compressed audio-visual system data stream (22) so the audio and video data may be subsequently presented in synchronism. Assembly of a system data stream (22) in accordance with present invention interleaves packets of data selected from a compressed audio bitstream (16) with packets of data selected from a compressed video bitstream (18). If frames of video data being assembled into the system data stream (22) advance too far ahead of the audio data being assembled into the system data stream (22), then all the data for a single frame of the video signal is omitted from the system data stream (22). Conversely, if frames of video data being assembled into the system data stream (22) lag too far behind the audio data being assembled into the system data stream (22), then a second copy of all the data for a single frame of the video signal is assembled into the system data stream (22).

Proper reproduction of a recorded and/or transmitted multimedia program, consisting of compressed digitized video data accompanied by associated compressed digitized audio data, requires combining two independent digital data bitstreams into a single, synchronized, serial system data stream that includes both video and audio data. Lack of or an improper synchronization of the video and audio data in assembling the data into the system data stream, or in decoding and presenting an assembled system data stream, frequently causes a visible image to appear out of synchronization with accompanying sound. For example, a presentation of images showing lip movements of an individual speaking words may not be synchronized with the audible sound of those words.
To address the preceding issue, Part 1 of the Moving Pictures Experts Group ("MPEG") standard, International Organization for Standardisation ("ISO") and International Electrotechnical Commission ("IEC") standard ISO/IEC 11172, defines a framework which permits combining-bitstreams of digitized video and audio data into a single, synchronized, serial system data stream. Once combined into a single digital data stream, the data is in a form well suited for digital storage, such as on a hard disk or CD-ROM included in a digital computer, or for transmission, such as over a cable antenna television ("CATV") system or high bit rate digital telephone system, e.g. a T1, ISDN Primary Rate, or ATM digital telecommunications access. A system data stream assembled in accordance with the ISO/IEC 11172 standard may be decoded by an MPEG decoder to obtain decoded pictures and/or decoded audio samples
The ISO/IEC 11172 standard defining MPEG compression specified that packets of data, extracted from the compressed video bitstream and from the compressed audio bitstream, are to be interleaved in assembling the system data stream. Furthermore, in accordance with the ISO/IEC 11172 standard a system data stream may include private, reserved and padding streams in addition to compressed video and compressed audio bitstreams. While properties of the system data stream as defined by the MPEG standard impose functional and performance requirements on MPEG encoders and decoders, the system data stream specified in the MPEG standard does not define an architecture for or an implementation of MPEG encoders or decoders. In fact, considerable degrees of freedom exists for possible designs and implementations of encoders and decoders that operate in accordance with the ISO/IEC 11172 standard.
A system data stream in accordance with Part 1 of the ISO/IEC 11172 standard includes two layers of data; a system data layer which envelopes digital data of a compression layer. The ISO/IEC 11172 system layer is itself divided into two sub-layers, one layer for multiplex-wide operation identified as the "pack layer," and one for stream-specific operations identified as the "packet layer." Packs, belonging to the pack layer of a system data stream in accordance with the ISO/IEC 11172 standard, include headers which specify a system clock reference ("SCR"). The SCR fixes intended times for commencing decompression of digitized video and audio data included in the compression layer in a period of 90 kilohertz ("kHz").
To effect synchronized presentation of digitized video and audio data, the ISO/IEC 11172 standard defining the packet layer provides for "presentation time-stamps" ("PTS") and also optional decoding time-stamps ("DTS"). The PTS and DTS specify synchronization for the video and audio data with respect to the SCR specified in the pack layer. The packet layer, which optionally contains both the PTS and DTS, is independent of the data contained in the compression layer defined by the ISO/IEC 11172 standard. For example, a video packet may start at any byte in the video stream. However, the PTS and optional DTS if encoded into each packet's header apply to the first "access unit" ("AU") that begins within that packet.
The MPEG standard ISO/IEC 11172 defines an AU to be the coded representation of a "presentation unit" ("PU"). The ISO/IEC 11172 standard further defines a PU as a decoded audio AU or a decoded picture. The standard also defines three (3) different methods, called "Layers" in the standard, for compressing and decompressing an audio signal. For two of these methods, the standard defines an audio AU as the smallest part of the encoded audio bitstream which can be decoded by itself. For the third method, the standard defines an audio AU as the smallest part of the encoded audio bitstream that is decodable with the use of previously acquired side and main information.
Part 1 of the ISO/IEC 11172 standard suggests that during synchronized presentation of compressed video and audio data, the reproduction of the video images and audio sounds may be synchronized by adjusting the playback of both compressed digital data streams to a master time base called the system time-clock ("STC") rather than by adjusting the playback of one stream, e.g. the video data stream, to match the playback of another stream, e.g. the audio data stream. The ISO/IEC 11172 standard suggests that an MPEG decoder's STC may be one of the decoder's clocks (e.g. the SCR, the video PTS, or the audio PTS), the digital storage media ("DSM") or channel clock, or it may be some external clock. End-to-end synchronization of a multimedia program encoded into an MPEG system data stream occurs:
a. if an encoder embeds time-stamps during assembly of the system data stream; PA1 b. if video and audio decoders receive the embedded time-stamps together with the compressed data, and PA1 c. if the decoders use the time-stamps in scheduling presentation of the multimedia program.
To inform an MPEG decoder that an encoded bitstream has an exact relationship to the SCR, a "system header" ("SH"), which occurs at the beginning of a system data stream and which may be repeated within the stream, includes a "system.sub.-- audio.sub.-- lock.sub.-- flag" and a "system.sub.-- video.sub.-- lock.sub.-- flag." Setting the system.sub.-- audio.sub.-- lock.sub.-- flag to one (1) indicates that a specified, constant relationship exists between the audio sampling rate and the SCR. Setting the system.sub.-- video.sub.-- lock.sub.-- flag to one (1) indicates that a specified, constant relationship exists between the video picture rate and the SCR. Setting either of these flags to zero (0) indicates that the corresponding relationship does not exist.
As set forth above, the ISO/IEC 11172 standard specifically provides that the system data stream may include a padding stream. Packets assembled into the system data stream from the padding stream may be used to maintain a constant total data rate, to achieve sector alignment, or to prevent decoder buffer underflow. Since the padding stream is not associated with decoding and presentation, padding stream packets lack both PTS and DTS values.
In addition to the padding stream, "stuffing" of up to 16 bytes is allowed within each packet. Stuffing is used for purposes similar to that of the padding stream, and is particularly useful for providing word (16-bit) or long word (32-bit) alignment in applications where byte (8-bit) alignment is insufficient. Stuffing is the only method of filling a packet when the number of bytes required is less than the minimum size of a padding stream packet.
A bitstream of video data compressed in accordance with Part 2 of the ISO/IEC 11172 standard consists of a succession of frames of compressed video data. A succession of frames in an MPEG compressed video data bitstream include intra ("I") frames, predicted ("P") frames, and bidirectional ("B") frames. Decoding the data of an MPEG I frame without reference to any other data reproduces an entire uncompressed frame of video-data. An MPEG P frame may be decoded to obtain an entire uncompressed frame of video data only by reference to a prior decoded frame of video data, either reference to a prior decoded I frame or reference to a prior decoded P frame. An MPEG B frame may be decoded to obtain an entire uncompressed frame of video data only by reference both to a prior and to a successive reference frame, i.e. reference to decoded I or P frames. The ISO/IEC 11172 specification defines as a group of pictures ("GOP") one or more I frames together with all of the P frames and B frames for which the I frame(s) is(are) a reference.
In assembling a system data stream, a real-time MPEG encoder must include a system header at the beginning of each system data stream, and that system header must set the system.sub.-- audio.sub.-- lock.sub.-- flag and the system.sub.-- video.sub.-- lock.sub.-- flag to either zero (0) or one (1). If a real-time MPEG encoder specifies that either or both of these flags are to be set, then it must appropriately insure that throughout the entire system data stream the specified, constant relationship exists respectively between the audio sampling rate and the SCR, and between the video picture rate and the SCR. If a compressed audio bitstream encoder operates independently of the rate at which frames of video occur, there can be no assurance that these constant relationships will exist in the encoded data that is to be interleaved into the system data stream.

Measuring and regulating synchronization of merged video and audio data