A semiconductor memory device capable of measuring a temperature without the influence of noise includes a temperature sensing device for sensing a current temperature in response to a control signal, wherein the semiconductor memory device enters a power save mode for a predetermined time starting from an activation of the control signal and wherein the power save mode has substantially no power consumption. A method for driving a semiconductor memory device in accordance with the present invention includes sensing a current temperature in response to a control signal and entering a power save mode for a predetermined time starting from an activation of the control signal, wherein the power save mode has substantially no power consumption.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor design technology; more particularly, to a semiconductor memory device capable of measuring a temperature without the influence of noise.
Generally, in semiconductor memory devices, a cell includes a transistor, as a switch, and a capacitor storing electric charges (data). Since the data storage is carried out by the charges which are accumulated in the capacitor, power consumption is not caused basically. However, the initially stored charges can be extinguished because there is a leakage current which is caused by the PN junction of MOS transistor. Then, this leakage current causes a loss of the stored data. To prevent this problem, a recharging operation should be carried out before the data loss and this recharging operation is achieved by reading out the data from the memory cell and then recharging the memory cell again based on the read-out data.
The stored data are maintained only when this recharging operation is periodically repeated. The recharging process of the electric charges in the memory cells is called refresh operation and the refresh control is achieved by a DRAM controller. In DRAMs, power consumption is created due to the need of the refresh operation. It is very important to reduce the power consumption in battery operated system, such as portable electronic device which demands the low power consumption and it is a critical issue these days.
One of various attempts to reduce the power consumption required in the refresh is to diversify the refresh cycle according to a temperature. The data retention time in the DRAM is lengthened as a temperature is decreased. Therefore, if the temperature field is divided into the different domain frames and the frequency of the refresh clock is relatively lowered in the low temperature field, the power consumption is decreased. Accordingly, a device is needed to sense the temperature in the DRAM and to output the information on the sensed temperature.
Moreover, with the increase of the integration and working speed in the semiconductor memory devices, heat is generated more and more in the semiconductor memory device itself. This generated heat increases the inner temperature in the semiconductor memory device and the inner temperature disturbs the normal operation. The inner temperature can cause the inferiority of the semiconductor memory device and can function as a reason why the semiconductor memory device itself is damaged. Therefore, the temperature of the semiconductor memory device should be accurately sensed. Accordingly, a device is needed to exactly sense the temperature in the DRAM and to output the information on the sensed temperature.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional temperature sensing device in a semiconductor memory device.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional temperature sensing device includes a temperature sensing unit 10 to sense a temperature in response to a driving signal ODTS_EN, an ADC (Analog to Digital Converter) 20 to convert an analog signal from the temperature sensing unit 10 into a digital signal, and a register 30 to store a digitalized temperature value form the ADC 20.
The operation of the conventional temperature sensing device will now be described.
First, when the driving signal ODTS_EN is activated, the temperature sensing unit 10 senses the current temperature in response to the activated driving signal ODTS_EN and outputs an analog temperature value. Subsequently, the ADC 20 converts the analog temperature value into a digital signal. The register 30 stores the output from the ADC 20 and outputs it as a temperature value TM_VL.
However, the driving of the temperature sensing device as described above is unable to reflect the current temperature. It drops down the reliability of data or it induces the excessive power consumption. This is because the driving of the temperature sensing device can be performed together with the driving of other devices within the semiconductor memory device. As a result, an error can occur in the temperature value due to the noise which is generated by the driving of other circuits.
A voltage unstable situation, such as a voltage drop, a ringing phenomenon or oscillation, is generated by the current and voltage consumption according to the operations of the devices. When the sensed temperature is converted into the digital value, an error is caused by the fluctuation which is generated by the unstable voltage or current.
As to the refresh in which a cycle is determined by the temperature value of a device, the refresh is unable to be performed in an appropriate cycle due to the erroneous temperature value. This inappropriate refresh can cause a loss of the stored data and reduce the reliability of the memory device. Furthermore, the excessive refresh induces the unnecessary power consumption.
A semiconductor memory device is generally manufactured with a RAS timing having a predetermined value according to an initial design of configuration. However, after the semiconductor memory device is manufactured, the refresh operation may be performed differently, compared with the initial design. At this time, the predetermined RAS timing can be too long or short for the semiconductor memory device to perform the refresh operation. If the RAS timing is too long, a refresh operation time also increases and too much current is consumed. On the other hand, if the RAS timing is too short, the refresh operation is not performed sufficiently and the stored data are lost.

Semiconductor memory device with temperature sensing device capable of minimizing power consumption in refresh


A voltage/current verifier computes, for each phase, a phase difference between phase voltage and phase current from the phase of phase voltage and the phase of phase current computed for each phase by a phase acquirer, and determines conformity if all of the computed phase differences are within a preset range. A current/current verifier computes phase differences between phase currents from the phase of phase current computed for each phase by the phase acquirer, and determines conformity if all of the computed phase differences are less than 180°. A reporting device reports that a current transformer is incorrectly placed on a power line unless both the voltage/current verifier and the current/current verifier do not determine conformity.

The connection state detecting device described in Patent Literature 1 is known as a device that measures alternating current (AC) power supplied to a load via a power line from a three-phase AC power source. The connection state detecting device makes a determination as follows to determine whether or not the connection of alligator clips (terminals) connected to a power line for measuring phase voltage, and the placement of a clamp sensor (current transformer) placed on the outer circumference of a power line for measuring phase current, are incorrect.
The connection state detecting device determines, from the phase voltage measured via the terminals, whether or not the effective value of the phase voltage is within a designated range, and whether or not the phase sequence is a predetermined sequence. In addition, the connection state detecting device determines, from the phase voltage measured via the terminals and the phase current measured via the current transformer, whether or not the phase difference between the phase voltage and the phase current for each phase is within a predetermined range, and whether or not the phase voltage or the phase current has no input.
The connection state detecting device determines that the terminal connection or the current transformer placement is incorrect in the case of any of when the effective value of the phase voltage is outside a designated range, when the phase sequence differs from a predetermined sequence, when the phase difference between the phase voltage and the phase current for each phase is outside a predetermined range, and when the phase voltage or the phase current has no input.

Device, method and program for determining misplacement of a current transformer on a power line


A method for dynamic scheduling of data transmission for a large number of data channels under the available bit rate (ABR) service protocols of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) uses a schedule table and ready queue. In this method, at each time slot, data channels referenced in the current entry of the schedule table is removed from the schedule table and appended to the ready queue. At each available transmission time slot, an ATM cell is transmitted from the data channel referenced in the record at the head of the ready queue. The data channel is then rescheduled for in the schedule table for the next transmission. The present invention also accommodates data transmission rates related to fractional time slot intervals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication systems using protocols under the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) standards. In particular, the present invention relates to scheduling ATM cell transmissions for multiple virtual channels under a variable bit rate service, such as available bandwidth rate (ABR) service.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Data communication under ATM is set forth in a standard entitled "The ATM Forum Specification, version 4.0" (the "ATM standard"). Under the ATM standard, data exchange between a source system and a destination system is accomplished using one or more packetized data streams ("virtual channels"). Data and control information in each virtual channel are transported by 53-byte data packets or cells ("ATM cells"). In general, under the ATM standard, a virtual channel is set up by a virtual circuit connection under a fixed or constant bit rate service (CBR), or a variable bit rate service (VBR). In fact, under the ATM standard, many CBR and VBR virtual circuits can coexist between a given pair of source and destination systems. In one type of VBR service, known as the "available bandwidth rate service" ("ABR service"), the source and destination systems periodically negotiate for each virtual channel a bit rate according to the traffic condition in all switches along the path of the virtual channel's virtual circuit.
In an ABR virtual circuit, the virtual circuit, the source and destination systems, and all the switches in between, negotiate a "peak cell rate" (PCR), a "minimum cell rate" (MCR), and an "initial cell rate" (ICR). During the life of the virtual circuit, resource management (RM) cells are sent periodically by the source system. Initially, the ATM cells for the virtual channel are sent at the ICR until the first RM cell is sent by the source. Included in the RM cell is an "explicit rate" (ER) field and a "direction" (DIR) field, which are initialized by the source system to the PCR and the value "forward" respectively. Because of the "forward" value in the DIR field, this RM cell is referred to as the "forward RM" (FRM) cell. As the FRM cell traverses the virtual circuit towards the destination system, each switch along the virtual circuit examines the ER field of the FRM cell and, where appropriate, reduces the cell rate specified in that field to indicate the available bandwidth the switch can provide, given its own local traffic condition. If a congestion condition is experienced at the switch, i.e. the instantaneous or immediate rate at which ATM cells are arriving exceeds the rate at which these ATM cells can be processed and forwarded by the switch, a "congestion" field (CI) of the FRM cell is marked. When the FRM cell reaches the destination system, the destination system (i) makes its own adjustment to the ER field, if necessary, (ii) marks the DIR field of the RM cell to indicate that the RM cell is now a "backward" RM (BRM) cell, and (iii) returns the BRM cell to the source system in the reverse direction on the virtual circuit. When the BRM cell reaches the source system, the value in the ER field is examined against the current cell rate. The current cell rate, which is also known as the "allowable cell rate" (ACR), is increased or decreased according to the value in the ER field of the BRM cell returned.
In some applications, e.g. an ATM server, it is necessary to support a very large number of virtual channels (e.g. a 1000 channels) of various fixed and variable bit rates over a given ATM physical media. In such an application, a scheduler coordinates the shared use of the physical media among the large number of virtual channels, so that the use of the physical bandwidth of the physical media can be maximized. In addition, many schedulers provide a "fairness" scheme so that sharing of the available bandwidth among the multiple variable rate virtual channels can be carried out in a predictable manner, and each variable rate virtual channel is given some opportunity to meet its desired cell rate.
One class of fairness schemes is known as the "min-max" fairness schemes. Under a min-max fairness scheme, a system divides the virtual channels into two classes according to their respective cell rates relative to the average cell rate ##EQU1## of the system. In the first class, i.e. those virtual channels having desired cell rates at or below the average cell rate, these virtual channels are provided the desired cell rate. In the second class, i.e. those virtual channels having desired cell rates above the average cell rate, these virtual channels share the remaining bandwidth. Within the second class, the bandwidth can be shared among the virtual channels equally ("unweighted"), or according to some assigned priorities ("weighted"). To ensure robustness under a min-max fairness scheme, the elements in the virtual circuits servicing the virtual channels must be capable of rapid response. Otherwise, data loss may result. For example, consider the case when one congested virtual circuit decreases its cell rate abruptly, thereby relieving the congestion condition at a previously congested element within the virtual circuit. In response to the bandwidth now available at the previous congested element, several virtual circuits may attempt to increase their respective cell rates at the same time. If the readjustment in cell rates in these virtual circuits do not occur rapidly enough, congestion conditions may then reappear at other elements of the network rapidly. Such congestion conditions, if not corrected rapidly, may lead to data loss.
To schedule a large number of virtual channels each having an independent cell rate, a number of different approaches are possible. In one approach, a large number of counters, each assigned to a separate virtual channel, can be provided. Under that approach, a count representing the number of time slots to the next transmission (i.e. the inverse of the cell rate) of the assigned virtual channel is held in such a counter, which is initialized to a predetermined value and updated once per ATM cell time slot. At the scheduled next transmission time ("time-out"), e.g. the count reaches zero, an ATM cell of the assigned virtual channel is sent and the next transmission is scheduled by resetting the counter to the predetermined value. However, the scheduling of this large number of counters is a Herculean task: at any given time, a large number of counters may time-out, so that the ATM cells of a large number of virtual channels may be delayed or skipped, due to the instantaneous congestions which may arise. Consequently, severe rate jitters can be expected in many virtual channels. Further, a counter system, such as described here, is not amenable to providing "fairness" without additional sophisticated management.
Under another approach, a schedule table is allocated in memory to provide an entry for each ATM cell time slot. Software which executes in a central processing unit (CPU) can be used to associate ATM cell time slots with virtual channels. Typically, "events" (e.g. transmission of an ATM cell) of each virtual channel occur at regular intervals according to its assigned cell rate. Such an approach has the advantages of simplicity and flexibility. Such an approach is simple because the schedule table entries are simply read in order and at regularly intervals. If a schedule table entry references a virtual channel, i.e. the virtual channel is scheduled to transmit for the current ATM cell time slot, an ATM cell is retrieved from the virtual channel and transmitted. Flexibility is achieved, for example, by providing different fairness schemes using different control programs executing in the CPU at different times to accommodate different requirements under different traffic conditions.
However, many disadvantages can be found also in the schedule table approach. For example, since the schedule table must accommodate both the highest and the lowest cell rates, and often, a large number of intermediate cell rates as well, the number of ATM cell time slots required in a schedule table can be very large. In addition, a change in cell rate for a virtual channel may result in the need to reschedule a large number of events. For a server application, for example, where many virtual channels may change cell rates simultaneously, the number of events that need to be rescheduled can become impractically large.

Method for fair dynamic scheduling of available bandwidth rate (ABR) service under asynchronous transfer mode (ATM)


This invention is a device for automatically watering unattended houseplants with ordinary tap water. The device controls the rate of discharge of water from a reservoir by means of a replaceable multilayer sandwich-type flow control wafer, which is made of several layers of deformable gasket material, laboratory filtration paper, and thin flexible plastic. The gasket and plastic layers contain designed patterns of through-holes and passages which force the water to flow over and through the filtration paper to control the rate of release of water from the reservoir. The design also uses the filtration paper to remove particles from the tap water which could clog the system and stop the flow. Over the course of the watering cycle the water gradually loosens the adhesive bonds between the filtration paper and the plastic, which increases the effective flow area of the filtration paper to partially compensate for the reduction in pressure head which occurs as the reservoir empties, thus keeping the water flow rate more constant over the watering cycle than it would be if controlled only by a simple orifice or filter. The watering device includes registration and compression rings which position and seal the flow control wafer, a concave funnel-like reservoir opening for filling the device in situ, and a narrow integral spike which supports the device in the plant soil and creates an open vertical passage which facilitates water penetration deep into the plant's root system.

1. Technical Field
This invention pertains to the field of plant husbandry (Class 047).
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many prior devices have been suggested for irrigating unattended houseplants, and a number of these have received U.S. patents. These devices, however, have not been widely accepted and only one is known to be currently marketed in the U.S.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,544 (Azoulay) describes a complex, relatively expensive device using wicks and water-absorbing sponge to transfer water to the plant. The wicks and sponges in this device appear to be susceptible to clogging from impurities normally present in tap water, and thus would require inconvenient cleaning or replacement. U. S. Pat. No. 4,970,823 (Chen and Parkhurst) describes another wick-type system for dispensing water from a bottle reservoir to the soil. This system also appears to be susceptible to plugging from particulates in the water as the wicks are not readily replaceable, and the rate at which water is released from the unvented reservoir appears to depend on ambient pressure and temperature, water level, and soil conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,897 (Pazar and Petrick) describes a system for dispensing water to a water dish below the plant. This system is complex and appears to be dependent on soil conditions and the skill of the operator. U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,666 (Caso) describes a toroidal-shaped device which requires the operator to punch holes in the "metering nozzles" to obtain the desired flowrate--a scheme which seems impractical, since even very small punched holes will provide too rapid a flowrate for the intended use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,309 (Mincy) uses a "porous soil penetrating member" to dispense water from a semi-toroid shaped reservoir to the soil. This device will be susceptible to plugging from water impurities and would be complex and expensive to manufacture. Similarly, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,089,133 (Duncan), 2,837,869 (Chatten), 2,595,783 (Epstein), and 2,375,860 (Markham) attempt to solve this problem with various wicking, porous ceramic absorption, manually controlled seepage, or multiple aperture devices. All have major disadvantages and, like the other devices described above, are dissimilar in principle to the invention described herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,142(Sax) is superficially similar to the device disclosed herein, however it contains a number of fundamental design differences. The '142 patent employs a simple filter to restrict the flow of water from the bottle. This design will inherently release the water most rapidly when the bottle is full and the static pressure head is highest, and very slowly when the bottle is nearly empty. The '142 device also provides no means of preventing the filter from becoming clogged by impurities in the water, nor means of sealing its filter disk against peripheral leakage. The device also requires disassembly for filling or refilling. All of these problems are avoided in the invention described herein.
Another automatic houseplant watering device has recently appeared on the market. This device, labeled "patent pending", employs a wick system similar to the Azoulay device, combined with a siphon system, to release water intermittently to a plant. The device operates on a principle completely different from the invention described herein, and appears to have serious disadvantages in the areas of complexity of operation, relative size, performance reliability, and cost.

Device for watering unattended houseplants


An ink jet head having a channel damper, and a method of fabricating the same. The ink jet head includes a heat-generating resistor disposed on a substrate to generate pressure for ink ejection, a chamber layer disposed on the substrate to enclose the heat-generating resistor and having a first height from the substrate in order to provide at least one opened portion, and a channel damper disposed at the opened portion to completely enclose the heat-generating resistor together with the chamber layer and having a second height lower than the first height is disposed at the opened portion. A nozzle layer having a nozzle corresponding to the heat-generating resistor is disposed to be in contact with an upper surface of the chamber layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to an ink jet head and a method of fabricating the same and more particularly, to an ink jet head having a channel damper and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ink jet recording device functions to print an image by ejecting fine droplets of print ink to a desired position on a recording medium. Such an ink jet recording device has been widely used since its price is low and numerous color images can be printed at high resolution. The ink jet recording device basically includes an ink jet head for actually ejecting ink, and an ink container in fluid communication with the ink jet head. An ink ejection type of the ink jet recording device is classified into a thermal type using an electro-thermal transducer, and a piezo-electric type using an electromechanical transducer.
The ink jet head used in the thermal type of the ink jet recording device includes a heat-generating resistor provided as the electrothermal transducer, and an ink chamber for temporarily storing the ink to be ejected to the recording medium. The ink chamber is defined to include the heat-generating resistor within its interior using a barrier structure, such as a chamber layer, disposed adjacent to the heat-generating resistor.
A conventional ink jet head having the above barrier structure enclosing three sides of the heat-generating resistor has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,410, entitled "Barrier Structure for Thermal Ink Jet Print Heads" to Howard H. Taub, et al.
FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating the barrier structure 3 of the conventional ink jet head disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,410.
Referring to FIG. 1, the barrier structure 3 is disposed to enclose three sides of a heat-generating resistor 1. The barrier structure 3 is configured so that three walls are interconnected to each other to enclose the three sides of the heat-generating resistor 1 while a remaining one side of the heat-generating resistor 1 is opened. An ink chamber for containing the heat-generating resistor 1 therein is defined by the barrier structure 3. A portion opened by the barrier structure 3 is provided as an ink channel 5 fluidly communicating with the ink chamber and an ink feed channel (not shown). Ink introduced through the ink feed channel is temporarily stored in the ink chamber through the ink channel 5. The ink stored in the ink chamber is instantly heated by the heat-generating resistor 1 to generate bubbles in the ink. The bubbles increase a pressure in the ink chamber to thereby eject the ink from the ink chamber in a shape of a droplet through a nozzle (not shown). At this time, the ink in the ink chamber is ejected to an exterior through the nozzle, and simultaneously subjected to a back-flow to the ink feed channel through the ink channel 5. The reason for this back-flow phenomenon is that the bubbles generated by the heat-generating resistor 1 are expanded toward the ink feed channel through the ink channel 5. The back-flow phenomenon reduces the pressure required for the ink ejection, thereby decreasing a speed and a straightness of ink droplets ejected from the nozzle. In addition, after the ejection of the ink, a speed of the ink recharged into the ink chamber is also reduced to decrease a frequency of the ink ejection.
The back-flow phenomenon may cause problems in the ink jet head having the barrier structure 3 as shown in FIG. 1. That is, the ink channel 5 fully opens the one side of the heat-generating resistor 1, so that a great deal of the ink back-flows toward the ink feed channel through the ink channel 5 when the ink is ejected. As a result, the speed and the straightness of the ink droplet can be lowered, and the frequency of the ink ejection can be reduced.
To solve the above-mentioned problems, there is a proposal for a method of forming restrictors at both ends of the barrier structure in order to decrease a cross-sectional area of the ink channel. For example, an ink jet head having the restrictor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,595. Formation of the restrictor permits the back-flow phenomenon of the ink to be decreased, but a recharging speed of the ink into the ink chamber may be reduced due to a reduction of a cross-sectional area of the ink channel.
In conclusion, research on the ink jet head will be continuously required to maximally restrict the expansion of the ink generated by the heat-generating resistor to the exterior of the ink chamber to increase the ejection speed and the straightness of the ink droplet, and simultaneously increase the recharging speed of the ink, so that the frequency of the ink ejection is increased.

Ink jet head having channel damper and method of fabricating the same


A whisk comprising: a whisk handle, a bushing fixedly attached to the whisk head end of the whisk handle; at least two generally spiral grooves located on the interior surface; a bushing fixedly attached to whisk head end of the whisk handle; an extension member in rotatable and slideable communication with the whisk handle and the bushing, at least two engagement members extending orthogonally from the extension member and slideably engage with one of the grooves; a spring rod, with a whisk head end and a cap end, located within the extension member; an integral cap located on the cap end of the spring rod; a compression spring, in slideable communication with the spring rod, the whisk head end of the compression head pushing against the whisk head base, the cap end of the compression spring pushing against the integral cap.

Conventional mixing and whisking devices are in widespread use in many households, and commercial enterprises. For example, in households, these devices are often used in the kitchen for mixing and whisking foods such as eggs, batter for baked foods, puddings, shakes for drinking, and other wet viscous and/or dry foods. These devices include both hand powered as well as electric and battery powered devices and come in various sizes. Hand powered devices include the traditional whisk that is used by rapidly rotating the device within the food that is placed into a bowl or similar vessel.
The process of manually mixing, beating, or stirring a food substance can be a tiring job. The basic whisk having a handle and a series of looped wires attached thereto requires a substantial amount of rotational energy supplied to the handle in order to achieve a sufficient amount of whipping motion and velocity/energy at the whisk-head. When attempting to mix relatively viscous food items or when required to mix for a given amount of time to achieve a desired consistency, the basic whisk, regardless of the whisk-head configuration, requires a substantial amount of input energy from the user.
Therefore there is a need for a whisk that overcomes the above described and other disadvantages.


A manufacturer and retailer, which supply and sell articles such as business expendables or the like, stock articles in considerable quantities in their warehouses. However, such stocks are not always appropriate due to diversity of articles and difficulty in demand prediction, and articles cannot be delivered in a short term. A main server controls stock reserve of a branch warehouse on the basis of the check result of the urgency level of received order information, which is received from a user's information processing apparatus via a communication line, and the comparison result between the order quantity indicated by the received order information, and a non-reserved stock quantity.

Printers, copying machines, and facsimile apparatuses which use electrophotography are indispensable apparatuses in business. These electrophotography apparatuses require expendables such as toner and the like. If such expendables are used up and cannot be immediately replenished, these apparatuses can no longer be used. In order to avoid such situation, each office maintains and manages an appropriate stock of expendables. Recently, a department called Information Manager of System (IMS) that maintains and manages an appropriate stock of expendables for the entire business establishment is present.
Some electrophotography apparatuses receive toner via a cartridge called a toner cartridge. A toner cartridge corresponding to the model of each apparatus must be mounted on it, and printers of different models normally require different toner cartridges. Hence, in offices or business establishments using many kinds of apparatuses, a large number of types of toner cartridges must be stocked, maintained, and managed. Note that not only toner cartridges but also all business supplies consumed in offices or business establishments require maintenance and management of appropriate stock. In the following description, articles such as toner cartridges are also called "business expendables". The "business expendables" include toners for copying machines, photosensitive drums, inks for ink-jet printers, other service parts, paper sheets, OHP sheets, and the like in addition to toner cartridges.
The following demands have been arisen for the sales form and stock management of business expendables with such characteristics.
[Sales Form]
As the Internet is widespread, the use of the Internet is demanded upon selling and ordering business expendables. Systems which sell articles using the Internet already exist. However, some systems do not immediately reply as to the delivery date, or customers are often not satisfied with the term required until an ordered article is delivered.
[Stock Management]
In conventional stock management, upon receiving an order from a customer via the Internet, e-mail message, phone, or the like, a stock is reserved for the order, and reserve information is managed using a stock database in association with information such as the profile of the customer, order quantity, article type, delivery date, and the like. The stock data base is looked up by an information processing apparatus to check the stock quantity or the like every time a new order is received.
In such stock management that reserves a stock for each received order, and manages the stock quantity using the stock database, upon receiving an order that requires a quantity which exceeds a non-reserved stock quantity managed by the stock database, a stock cannot be reserved. However, since some of the already reserved stocks require urgent delivery but some other do not, stock management including a stock reserve process in consideration of the urgency of delivery is demanded.
On the other hand, orders that require urgent delivery may be frequently placed for toner cartridges which are typical business expendables, and store toners used in copying machines, printers, and the like, since copying machines and printers can no longer be used if toner is used up. If articles cannot be provided for orders that require urgent delivery due to out of stock, non-operating times of the copying machines and printers are prolonged, resulting in poor business efficiency on the side of customers.

Distribution control system and method, and server apparatus and its control method


Provided is a video image converter that generates attitude data of a projector based on motion data in projecting moving picture data, stores the attitude data in a storage unit, corrects the moving picture data based on the attitude data, and stores the corrected moving picture data in the storage unit. The projector plays back the corrected moving picture data stored in the storage unit and projects the corrected moving picture data onto a projection plane. A cradle supports the projector and changes an attitude of the projector based on the attitude data stored in the storage unit.

A projector that projects moving picture data onto a projection plane is commonly known. A technique for correcting trapezoidal distortion depending on the projector's angle in a case where a projection plane is not perpendicular to a projection optical axis is developed for the projector in related art (e.g., see Patent Literature 1).

Projection system, video image converter, projector, cradle, video image conversion method, and video image projection method


In some aspects, a method includes performing optical character recognition (OCR) based on data corresponding to a document to generate text data, detecting one or more bounded regions from the data based on a predetermined boundary rule set, and matching one or more portions of the text data to the one or more bounded regions to generate matched text data. Each bounded region of the one or more bounded regions encloses a corresponding block of text. The method also includes extracting features from the matched text data to generate a plurality of feature vectors and providing the plurality of feature vectors to a trained machine-learning classifier to generate one or more labels associated with the one or more bounded regions. The method further includes outputting metadata indicating a hierarchical layout associated with the document based on the one or more labels and the matched text data.

As digital content has evolved, many document enhancement features have been added to digital documents. One such example is a linked table-of-contents. For example, some digitally-created documents may include a table-of-contents where each chapter, or other level of a document hierarchy, is linked to a respective portion of the digital document. The linked table-of-contents is typically generated based on metadata that indicates which level of a document hierarchy each portion of the document belongs to. The metadata may be generated by an application used to create the digital document. These linked table-of-contents may enable advanced document analysis, as well as increase user-friendliness of the digital documents. However, such creation of digital documents with linked table-of-contents may be time consuming and user input intensive.
Despite the recent evolution of digital content, many documents are still required to be available as in-print publications. Some examples of documents that are required to be available as in-print publications include governance and legal documents. To convert these in-print documents to digital documents, the in-print documents are scanned by a computer to generate text data. However, this text data does not include metadata that indicates document hierarchies of the scanned documents. For this reason, the scanned documents do not include linked table-of-contents.

Representative document hierarchy generation


Among other things, methods, systems and computer program products for providing visual indication of documentation and coding of medical procedures may include providing a choice of medical codes associated with a medical procedure. A user selection of one of the medical codes is detected. Based on the detection, a visual indication of the user selection is generated on one or more anatomical diagrams.

Medical codes can be assigned from standardized code sets representing the clinically relevant aspects of physician documentation or a patient medical record. The coding of certain medical procedures, such as interventional surgical procedures can be complex due to the difficulty in accurately capturing and codifying the multiple aspects of a procedure.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Visualizing the documentation and coding of surgical procedures


A method of synchronizing data elements between devices can include receiving at a first device, from only one of multiple peer devices with which the first device is configured to synchronize, a request to synchronize data between the first device and the only one peer device; identifying data elements stored in the first device that have changed since a previous synchronization operation between the first device and the only one peer device; and transmitting, directly and solely to the only one peer device, for each of the identified data elements, a local data identifier and a corresponding change to be applied to a data element in the only one peer device that corresponds to the local data identifier. In some implementations, each local data identifier is transmitted in a format in which it is maintained in the first device.

People use various devices to manage different kinds of information. For example, a person may use a desktop computer at his or her office to send and receive emails, manage a calendar, maintain personal and business contacts, and process various electronic documents and files. The person may also use a laptop computer while traveling to manage the same kinds of information. The person may also carry a personal digital assistant (PDA) to maintain a portable calendar. The person may also carry a cell phone or a smartphone to send and receive cellular calls. In some cases, the cell phone or smartphone includes PDA functionality and also provides access to office emails, calendar items and contact information. In such cases, the person may also use with the cell phone or smartphone an accessory I/O device that has a larger screen and keypad to more efficiently input data into or display data from the cell phone or smartphone.
To be most useful, each of the information-managing devices a person employs should provide access to the same version of information. To enable access to the same version of information from different devices, information can be synchronized between the different devices. For example, emails on a desktop computer can be synchronized with emails on a smartphone so that a person can read or respond to the same emails from either the desktop computer or the smartphone. As another example, calendar items on a PDA can be synchronized with calendar items on the desktop computer so that a user can determine his or her appointments and meetings by consulting either the desktop computer or the PDA.
Frequently, synchronization is managed with respect to a central repository. For example, the desktop computer at a person's office may connect to an enterprise server that maintains a central copy of emails and calendar items. To synchronize calendar items between the desktop computer and the PDA, the PDA may connect to the enterprise server. Similarly, to synchronize emails between the desktop computer and a smartphone, the smartphone may connect to the enterprise server. In such implementations, synchronization may only be possible when the central repository is accessible to the device whose data is being synchronized.


A photoconductor containing a supporting substrate; an undercoat layer comprised of a mixture of an aminosilane and a halogenated polymer; a photogenerating layer; and at least one charge transport layer.

This disclosure is generally directed to layered imaging members, photoreceptors, photoconductors, and the like. More specifically, the present disclosure is directed to rigid or multilayered flexible, belt imaging members, or devices comprised of an optional supporting medium like a substrate, an undercoat or hole blocking layer usually situated between the substrate and the photogenerating layer, a photogenerating layer, and at least one charge transport layer, wherein at least one is from 1 to about 5, from 1 to about 3, 2, one, and the like, such as a first charge transport layer and a second charge transport layer, an optional adhesive layer, and an optional overcoating layer, and wherein at least one of the charge transport layers contains at least one charge transport component, and a polymer or resin binder, and where the resin binder selected for the undercoat layer is one that is substantially insoluble in a number of solvents like methylene chloride, examples of these binders being illustrated in copending U.S. application Ser. No. 11/593,658, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, and which undercoat layer also includes an aminosilane, especially a hydrolyzed aminosilane, which primarily functions as an electroconducting component or species. In embodiments, there is disclosed a photoconductor where the chlorinated polymers of the undercoat layer are substantially insoluble in an alkylene halide, especially methylene chloride. Insoluble or substantially insoluble refers, for example, to an insolubility percentage for the halogenated, and more specifically, chlorinated polymer in methylene chloride of from about 90 to about 100 percent, and more specifically, from about 95 to about 99 percent.
In embodiments there are disclosed low charge deficient spots (CDS) photoconductors with novel micron thick blocking layers of chlorinated polymeric resins as the binder and a hydrolyzed aminosilane as the electroconducting species since it is believed that the CH2Cl2 insoluble binders prevent or minimize the migration of hole transport molecules from upper charge transport layer into lower layers, and then into the undercoat or ground plane layer. Examples of chlorinated homopolymers include polyvinylidene chloride, chlorinated polyvinyl chloride, and chlorinated polyvinylidene chloride. Examples of chlorinated copolymers include copolymers of vinylidene chloride, chlorinated vinyl chloride, and chlorinated vinylidene chloride with vinylidene fluoride, tetrafluoroethylene, trifluorochloroethylene, hexafluoropropylene, and the like.
A number of advantages are associated with the disclosed photoconductors, such as for example the formation of minimal charge deficient spots (CDS) which result in undesirable printing defects, and where the spots can be generated from the photogenerating layer, and the charge transport layer or layers; minimization or prevention of the migration of hole transport molecules or components from one charge transport layer to another layer in the photoconductor, such as the photogenerating layer and the charge transport layer, and more specifically, from the top or upper charge transport layer into lower layers of the photoconductor, such as lower charge transport layers and the lower photogenerating layer thereby permitting less undesirable charge deficient spots in the developed image generated. Moreover, the chlorinated polymers selected possess a high impermeability to gases and moisture, for example, the oxygen transmission rates (23° C. and 0 percent RH) of the polymers vary from about 5 to about 250 cm3 μm/m2 dbar, and the water vapor transmission rates (38° C. and 90 percent RH) of the polymers vary from about 5 to about 100 grams μm/m2d permitting environmentally stable photoinduced discharge. Furthermore, these polymers have high dielectric constants of usually at least about 5, from about 7 to about 25, or from about 8 to about 18 (throughout "from about" includes all values in between the values recited). The photoreceptors illustrated herein, in embodiments, have extended lifetimes; possess excellent, and in a number of instances low V, (residual potential); and allow the substantial prevention of Vr cycle up when appropriate; high sensitivity; low acceptable image ghosting characteristics; and desirable toner cleanability.
Also included within the scope of the present disclosure are methods of imaging and printing with the photoresponsive devices illustrated herein. These methods generally involve the formation of an electrostatic latent image on the imaging member, followed by developing the image with a toner composition comprised, for example, of thermoplastic resin, colorant, such as pigment, charge additive, and surface additive, reference U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,560,635; 4,298,697 and 4,338,390, the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, subsequently transferring the image to a suitable substrate, and permanently affixing the image thereto. In those environments wherein the device is to be used in a printing mode, the imaging method involves the same operation with the exception that exposure can be accomplished with a laser device or image bar. More specifically, the flexible photoconductor belts disclosed herein can be selected for the Xerox Corporation iGEN® machines that generate with some versions over 100 copies per minute. Processes of imaging, especially xerographic imaging and printing, including digital, and/or color printing, are thus encompassed by the present disclosure.

Photoconductors containing halogenated binders and aminosilanes in hole blocking layer


An exhaust pipe assembly is composed of a circuitous filter route surrounded by a cooling water container for treating the exhaust out of an internal combustion engine, permitting the exhaust to be cooled down, the noise generated to be muffled, and solid particles containing in the exhaust to be removed. The exhaust pipe assembly may be cleaned by the cleaner for exhaust pipe disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,007.

Normally, the prior art exhaust pipe of an internal combustion engine is simply to guide the exhaust of the internal combustion engine into the air without passing through a filtering process. But the exhaust usually carries heat and dirty substances to pollute the air. Even more, the internal combustion engine is widely utilized in all industries so that it brings on a serious problem of air pollution.

Exhaust pipe assembly for treating the exhaust of an internal combustion engine


An adjusting device for positioning an integration rod within an optical engine module is provided. The optical engine module includes a casing having four sidewalls defining an optical path. The integration rod is disposed in the optical path. Each sidewall has a screw hole. The adjusting device includes two adjusting screws extending through the screw holes in two adjacent sidewalls of the casing in order to abut against the integration rod, thereby adjusting the position of the integration rod in the optical path and two positioning screws extending through the screw holes in remaining two adjacent sidewalls of the casing to abut against the integration rod for immobilizing the integration rod within the casing.

FIG. 1 shows a conventional projection apparatus 2, and includes a light source module 6 and an optical engine module 3. In fact, the light source module 6 is an LED light source module connected to the optical engine module 3. The LED light source module generally includes a circuit board 602 and a plurality of LED units (not shown) mounted electrically on the circuit board 602. An integration rod 8 disposed on the LED units is used for uniformly dispersing light emitted from the LED unit prior to entering the optical engine module 3.
The optical engine module 3 includes a casing 12 defining an optical path therein. After providing the integration rod 8 on the circuit board 602, a plurality of fastener screws (not shown) are inserted through the circuit board 602 and the integration rod 8 for coupling the two together such that the integration rod 8 extends into the casing 12. The integration rod 8 within the casing 12 has to be at a precise position with respect to the optical elements (such as a light valve, projection lens or optical lenses) within the optical engine module 3. Then only, the light emitted from the LED units provides the optimum optical effect. However, the optical engine module 3, the integration rod 8 and the light source module 6 have manufacturing tolerances and assembly errors during manufacturing or assembling thereof. According to the prior mounting method, the position of the integration rod 8 and the light source module 6 within the optical engine module 3 is not altered or adjusted. Thus, the integration rod 8 and the light source module 6 are not disposed precisely on the optical engine module 3 because of manufacturing tolerances and assembly errors, and consequently lower the optical effect provided thereby.

Adjusting device for an integration rod in a projection apparatus


Embodiments described herein are generally directed to intelligent management of microservices failover. In an example, responsive to an uncorrectable hardware error associated with a processing resource of a platform on which a task of a service is being performed by a primary microservice, a failover trigger is received by a failover service. A secondary microservice is identified by the failover service that is operating in lockstep mode with the primary microservice. The secondary microservice is caused by the failover service to takeover performance of the task in non-lockstep mode based on failover metadata persisted by the primary microservice. The primary microservice is caused by the failover service to be taken offline.

Datacenters often leverage a microservice architecture to support various service offerings. A microservice architecture can arrange an application as a collection of loosely-coupled microservices. Microservices can refer to processes that communicate over a network to fulfill a goal using technology-agnostic protocols. In some cases, the microservices may be deployed using a container orchestration platform providing containerized workloads and/or services. The container orchestration platforms may utilize a service mesh to manage the high volume of network-based inter-process communication among the microservices. The service mesh is a dedicated software infrastructure layer for the microservices that includes elements to enable the communication among the microservices to be fast, reliable, and secure. The service mesh provides capabilities including service discovery, load balancing, encryption, observability, traceability, and authentication and authorization. The micro services deployment model provided by the service mesh is becoming increasingly elastic, providing flexibility to scale up and scale down microservices.
In a service mesh environment, a typical worker node in a compute cluster can handle hundreds of container workloads at the same time. These worker nodes may also have statically-attached specialized hardware accelerators optimized for compute intensive tasks. For instance, a class of hardware accelerators can be optimized to efficiently run cryptography and compression algorithms, or to run machine-learning acceleration algorithms. Such hardware accelerators may be provided as a form of disaggregated computing, where the workloads are distributed on disaggregated compute resources, such as CPUs, GPUs, and hardware accelerators (including field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)), that are connected via a network instead of being on the same platform and connected via physical links such as peripheral component interconnect express (PCIe). Disaggregated computing enables improved resource utilization and lowers ownership costs by enabling more efficient use of available resources. Disaggregated computing also enables pooling a large number of hardware accelerators for large computation making the computation more efficient and better performing.


A mooring system for a floating vessel such as a drilling unit is provided. The floating vessel has a platform for providing drilling, production or other operations in a marine environment, and a tower for providing ballast and stability below a water line in the marine environment. The mooring system generally includes a plurality of anchors disposed radially around the tower along a seabed, and a plurality of mooring lines. Each mooring line has a first end operatively connected to the tower, and a second end operatively connected to a respective anchor. Each mooring line further comprises at least two substantially rigid links joined together using linkages. Each joint is at least five meters in length. The mooring system is capable of maintaining station-keeping for the vessel greater than about 100 Mega-Newtons such that operations may be conducted when the marine environment is substantially iced over.

This section is intended to introduce various aspects of the art, which may be associated with exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. This discussion is believed to assist in providing a framework to facilitate a better understanding of particular aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that this section should be read in this light, and not necessarily as admissions of prior art.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of offshore drilling technology. More specifically, the present invention relates to a floating marine drilling unit that employs a riser and mooring system suitable for use in icy arctic waters.
2. Discussion Of Technology
As the world's demand for fossil fuels increases, energy companies find themselves pursuing hydrocarbon resources located in more remote and hostile areas of the world, both onshore and offshore. Such areas include Arctic regions where ambient air temperatures reach well below the freezing point of water. Specific onshore examples include Canada, Greenland and northern Alaska.
One of the major problems encountered in offshore arctic regions is the continuous formation of sheets of ice on the water surface. Ice masses formed off of coastlines over water depths greater than 20 or 25 meters are dynamic in that they are almost constantly moving. The ice masses, or ice sheets, move in response to such environmental factors as wind, waves, and currents. Ice sheets may move laterally through the water at rates as high as about a meter/second. Such dynamic masses of ice can exert enormous forces on structural objects in their path. Therefore, offshore structures operating in arctic seas must be able to withstand or overcome the forces created by moving ice.
Another danger encountered in arctic waters is pressure ridges of ice. These are large mounds of ice which usually form within ice sheets and which may consist of overlapping layers of sheet ice and re-frozen rubble caused by the collision of ice sheets. Pressure ridges can be up to 30 meters thick or more and can, therefore, exert proportionately greater forces than ordinary sheet ice.
Bottom supported stationary structures are particularly vulnerable in offshore arctic regions, especially in areas of deep water. The major force of an ice sheet or pressure ridge is directed near the surface of the water. If an offshore structure comprises a drilling platform or deck supported by a long, comparatively slender column which extends well below the surface, the bending moments caused by the laterally moving ice may well be sufficient to topple the platform.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,943, issued in 1977 to Gerwick, proposed a drilling unit having an inverted, conically-shaped structure floating generally above the water line. The inverted structure includes a top surface or deck for supporting drilling equipment and activities. The drilling unit also includes a large, cylindrical caisson floating below the inverted conically-shaped structure. The caisson then includes a radially tapered upper portion, preferably conically shaped, connected to the inverted, conically-shaped structure below the water line. Mooring lines are attached to the caisson and then anchored to the sea floor to secure the drilling unit's position in the water.
The drilling unit of Gerwick includes means for vertically reciprocating the caisson. In this way, the upper portion of the caisson can obliquely contact ice sheets and other ice masses with sufficient dynamic force to pierce and break the ice. The moving ice strikes the slanted wall of the cone-shaped structure, and is uplifted. The uplift of the ice not only tends to break the ice, but also substantially alleviates the horizontal crushing force of the ice on the structure.
Other drilling structures having inverted, conical-shaped hulls are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,874 issued to Helm, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,741 issued to Wright, et al. Such structures employ hulls that are generally frusto-conical in shape to fracture ice impinging on the hull. The hulls are moored to the sea bottom using traditional chains or wire ropes.
In traditional offshore operations, the use of chains, wire ropes or synthetic ropes for mooring lines is desirable. These mooring lines offer flexibility to the floating structure, allowing the structure to move in response to waves, wind, and currents. At the same time, such traditional mooring lines may not provide sufficient strength to withstand the high shear forces presented by moving ice sheets. Current mooring systems on floating vessels have limited capability to resist ice loads and are generally limited to open water and warm-weather seasonal drilling or production operations.
Full development of offshore oil and gas fields requires operations from a given location; for example, the drilling of multiple wells from a given location. This is true even in arctic locations where ice sheets cover the water much of the year. It is desirable to maintain year-round operations to avoid the expense of seasonal relocation and the complexities of multi-year re-entry in partially drilled wells.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved mooring system that is capable of maintaining an offshore floating unit on a given location in an arctic environment.

Mooring system for floating arctic vessel


A vibration driven motor or actuator has a piezoelectric element, arranged in a vibrating member, for generating a vibration in a first direction, and another piezoelectric element, arranged in the vibrating member, for generating a vibration in a second direction different from the first direction. In the motor or actuator, the vibrating member has a recess portion which shaved e.g., by a laser, or a portion added with a mass, so that the natural frequencies of a given vibration mode of the vibrations in the first and second directions coincide or substantially coincide with each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a normal mode adjustment position detection method and adjustment method for a bar-shaped or annular vibration driven motor or actuator.
2. Related Background Art
FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a vibrating member of a bar-shaped vibration driven motor, and FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the bar-shaped vibration driven motor.
In a conventional vibrating member, a driving A-phase piezoelectric element al including a group of two piezoelectric element plates PZT1 and PZT2, a driving B-phase piezoelectric element a2 including a group of two piezoelectric element plates PZT3 and PZT4, and a sensor piezoelectric element s1 including a piezoelectric element plate are stacked, as shown in FIG. 7. Electrode plates A1 and A2 for supplying power to the piezoelectric elements, and a sensor signal output electrode plate S are sandwiched between respective adjacent piezoelectric elements. In addition, GND electrode plates G1, G2, and G3 are arranged for giving a GND potential. Metal blocks b1 and b2 formed of, e.g., brass or stainless steel, which causes relatively small vibration attenuation, are arranged to clamp these piezoelectric element plates and electrode plates. The metal blocks b1 and b2 are fastened by a fastening bolt c to obtain an integrated structure, thereby applying a compression stress to the piezoelectric element plates. In this vibrating member, since an insulating sheet d is inserted between the bolt c and the metal block b2, only one sensor piezoelectric element s1 need be used.
The A- and B-phase piezoelectric elements a1 and a2 have an angular displacement of 90.degree. therebetween. These piezoelectric elements a1 and a2 respectively excite bending vibrations in directions within two orthogonal planes including the axis of the vibrating member, and have a proper temporal phase difference therebetween. Thus, surface portions of the vibrating member are caused to form a circular or elliptic motion, thereby frictionally driving a moving member pressed against the upper portion of the vibrating member.
FIG. 8 shows an example wherein such a vibrating member is used in a bar-shaped vibration driven motor. In this example, the fastening bolt c of the vibrating member has a small-diameter column portion c2 at its distal end portion. A fixing member g fixed to the distal end portion of the column portion c2 can fix the motor itself, and can also rotatably support, e.g., a rotor r. The rotor r contacts the front end face of the front metal block b1, and a pressure is given by pressing a coil spring h in a spring case i inserted in the rotor r through a bearing member e and a gear f.
In order to obtain high efficiency, both a bar-shaped vibration driven motors and annular vibration driven motor are designed, so that the natural frequencies of normal modes of two phases excited in the vibrating member coincide with each other.
However, in practice, each of these natural frequencies is shifted relative to the other due to variations in the material of the metal blocks constituting the vibrating member, pressure variations in the portions for clamping the PZT elements, and the like. Thus, when the two phases are driven at the same frequency, the amplitudes generated by the two phases have a difference therebetween, and a circular motion formed at the mass point of the vibrating member is distorted, resulting in a decrease in motor efficiency.


A refrigerant compressor has a reciprocating piston with a projection extending therefrom is disposed in a cylinder. The cylinder has an end wall with a discharge opening operably closeable by a discharge valve. The projection is disposed on an end face of the piston and extends into the opening of the discharge valve when the piston is in the region of its end position. Extending the projection into the discharge valve enables gas remaining in the region above the piston and in the region of the discharge opening to be displaced out of the discharge valve. The projection has an asymmetrical construction with a circumferential wall has a gradient changing along the circumference of the wall. The discharge valve seat and the flow channel in the region of the discharge valve are operably contoured to prevent turbulent flow from occurring when gas is discharged from the discharge valve.

The invention relates to a refrigerant compressor having a piston, which is movable back and forth in a cylinder, the cylinder having at its end wall a discharge opening closable by a discharge valve, into which opening a projection on the corresponding end face of the piston projects when the piston is located in the region of its end position.
Refrigerant compressors of that kind are widely used in domestic refrigerators and upright and chest freezers. In a situation of increasing environmental awareness, there have for some years been attempts to make such cooling devices of lower and lower energy consumption. Saving of energy can be achieved on the one hand by improved heat insulation, and on the other hand also by increasing the efficiency of the refrigerant compressors.
One method of increasing efficiency is to construct at the end face of the piston a projection which, in the region of the upper dead centre of the piston, that is to say when the end face of the piston is as close as possible to the end wall of the cylinder, projects into the discharge opening. By means of this projection the volume of gas remaining in the discharge opening is displaced. Without that projection, the volume of gas remaining there would merely be compressed and could subsequently expand again, which leads to energy loss because of a non-adiabatic process in the refrigerant. Such a projection is known, for example, from the compressor, type SC, manufactured by Danfoss. A similar arrangement is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,149,254.
The projection has the disadvantage, however, that it affects the flow of the refrigerant through the discharge opening. In particular, in the end region of the movement the cross-section available for the flow can become relatively small, so that the gas flowing through is accelerated. The temperature of the gas rises correspondingly. After flowing through the discharge valve, eddies frequently form in the flow of gas, which lead to an increase in the impedance, causing higher energy consumption.
The invention is based on the problem of increasing the efficiency of a compressor.

Refrigerant compressor having an asymmetrically contoured piston


An exchange system for facilitating the purchase of products is described. The system is coupled, in one embodiment, to a communications link. Potential product purchasers and sellers may access the exchange system via the network, and submit offers and/or pricing requests to such system. In response to the requests, the system processor retrieves the stored data from the respective databases, and causes such data to be transmitted to the local site for display. The exchange systems also executes certain functions in response to commands and data transmitted from buyer sites, seller sites and institution sites.

When purchasing a product, a purchaser must first determine which product, including brand name, model, color and other features, best meets his needs. Once the purchaser has an established interest in purchasing a particular product, the purchaser typically visits, in person or by telephone, a few stores that sell the product to determine the best price. Once the best price is determined, all things being equal, the purchaser usually buys from the store selling this particular product at the best price.
It would be desirable and advantageous to provide a product exchange system which enables a potential product purchaser to easily and quickly review specific product configurations of interest in combination with final pricing information for those same products in a particular geographic region. It also would be desirable and advantageous to enable a potential product purchaser to ascertain the best price for a particular product and to "lock in" to a specific offer via the system without having to actually visit, or make direct contact with particular sellers.
An object of the present invention is to simplify and reduce the time required, for both the buyer and seller, in completing a product sales transaction.
Another object of the present invention is to enable potential purchasers to quickly and easily ascertain offers for the sale of products in a particular geographic region of interest.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a product exchange system which enables a potential product purchaser to easily and quickly review all specific product configurations of interest in combination with final pricing information for products in a particular geographic region.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an exchange system which enables a potential product purchaser to ascertain the best price for a particular product and to "lock in" to a specific offer via the system without having to actually visit, or make direct contact with, the seller.


A method of recycling bonded fibrous materials, the method includes the steps of: providing pieces of bonded fibrous materials, the pieces having sizes that are adapted for suspension in a liquid; suspending the discrete pieces of bonded fibrous materials in a liquid; applying mechanical work to the liquid suspension of discrete pieces to generate hydraulic pressure and mechanical shear stress conditions sufficient to hydraulically fragment the bonded fibrous materials into fibers and fiber-like components; and separating substantially individual fibers and fiber-like components from the liquid. The method is used to produce recycled synthetic fibers and fiber-like materials that have at least one thread element composed of synthetic material having at least one irregular distortion generated by hydraulic fracture of the thread element to separate it from a bonded fibrous material while the bonded fibrous material is suspended in a liquid.

Paper and textile materials made entirely of natural fibers (e.g., animal or vegetable fibers) and/or cellulosic fibers (e.g., pulp fibers) are frequently recycled. Techniques to recycle these materials have been developed to break them down into fibers or fiber-like material and then reform the materials to provide paper and paper-like products. Natural fiber textiles and/or paper are dispersed in water by a pulping operation to create a slurry of individual fibers. The fibers may be cleaned and or treated to remove ink, adhesives or other contaminants. The treated fibers may be further refined and/or fractionated before being formed into a wet-laid web. In conventional recycling operations, synthetic materials are considered contaminants and are typically removed. The synthetic material may be present in the form of synthetic or manufactured fibers and/or filaments or in the form of adhesives, binders or the like.
Woven and nonwoven fabrics composed partially or entirely of synthetic or manufactured fibers have generated problems for conventional processes focused on recycling natural and/or cellulosic fibers. In addition, high-strength natural and/or cellulosic fiber based fabrics that utilize adhesives, binders and/or mechanical entangling, such as hydraulic entangling, also provide problems for conventional recycling processes.
These types of fabrics are generally difficult or impossible to disperse into individual fibers in a wet process such as a pulping operation. This is particularly apparent if the fabric is formed of synthetic fibers joined by thermal or adhesive bonding. In some cases, fiber or filament "ropes" may form. If the synthetic material is thermoplastic, mechanical work from the processes used to break-up or shred the material may generate sufficient heat to cause the material to melt into unusable globs and clumps.
Generally speaking, fabrics composed of synthetic materials or composites containing synthetic and natural materials are recycled utilizing one of two methods. In the first method, fabrics composed entirely of synthetic thermoplastic material are cleaned, melted and then extruded or formed into staple fibers, continuous filaments or films. If the fabric is a composite containing synthetic thermoplastic materials and natural (or non-thermoplastic synthetic material), the natural (or non-thermoplastic synthetic) materials must first be separated from the thermoplastic materials before further processing. This is often impractical because thermal, mechanical and/or adhesive bonding between the components of the composite make separation difficult. Even if separation is possible, the method requires multiple processing steps and energy to melt and reform the material. While the resulting fibers, filaments or films may contain recycled materials, the fibers, filaments or films may be characterized as "manufactured" or "extruded" from recycled polymer feedstock.
The second method involves mechanically breaking up a fabric into smaller pieces such as fiber bundles, threads and/or individual fibers. This is normally accomplished by mechanical tearing and shredding dry material. For example, International Application PCT/SE95/00938 states that it is known to mechanically shred dry nonwoven and textile waste and that dry mixed waste containing both synthetic and natural fibers may be used. According to PCT/SE95/00938, a significant feature of shredding and tearing techniques is that the tearing or shredding operation is often incomplete so that recycled fibers are present partly in the form of discrete bits of the original fabric that may be characterized as "flocks" or fiber bundles. These flocks are described as providing non-uniformities that give webs containing such flocks a textile-like appearance.
Flocks and bits of fabric are difficult to process in subsequent operations such as, for example, a wet-laying process, air-laying process, hydraulic entangling process or other web-forming processes. Presence of these non-uniformities may reduce the value of the recycled fibers as well as degrade the appearance, strength, uniformity and other desirable properties of a web or fabric made with the recycled fibers. Removing the non-uniformities by screening or other techniques reduces the efficiency of the fiber recovery. Additional dry mechanical chopping, shredding, tearing, garnetting or picking operations to reduce the fiber bundles or flocks into fibers or fiber-like material having a length of less than 5 millimeters may be impractical. In addition, the additional mechanical work may transfer so much energy in the form of heat that the dry material may melt into unusable clumps and may diminish or eliminate any environmental or economic advantages initially presented by recycling the material.
While previous techniques may be of interest to those seeking to recycle thermoplastic material into polymer feedstock for reprocessing as well as those seeking to mechanically tear or shred dry waste fabrics into smaller pieces, they fail to address many existing needs. For example, previous techniques fail to address the need for a wet process to substantially isolate or individualize fibers and/or filaments from a textile or nonwoven fabric. As another example, previous techniques fail to address the need for a wet process to produce usable fibers and fiber-like material from thermally bonded, adhesively bonded and/or mechanically entangled fabrics such as textiles and nonwoven webs.
Previous techniques fail to address the need for a wet process to convert fabrics into individualized fibers and/or filaments having dimensions similar to cellulosic pulps and short natural fibers such as, for example, lengths less than five millimeters. For example, previous techniques fail to address the need for a process to convert fabrics into individualized fibers and/or filaments having dimensions similar to conventional cellulosic pulps and short natural fibers such as, for example, lengths less than five millimeters.
There is still a need for an inexpensive recycled fiber or fiber-like material that may be easily processed into a uniform sheet or web. For example, there is a need for an inexpensive recycled fiber or fiber-like material that may be processed into a uniform sheet or web utilizing conventional wet-forming or dry-forming techniques. This is also a need for a uniform sheet or web that may include at least a portion of an inexpensive recycled fiber or fiber-like material.
There is also a need for a high strength sheet or wiper that is able to quickly absorb several times its weight in water, aqueous liquid or oil. A need exists for a sheet or wiper that contains an inexpensive recycled fiber or fiber-like material and which is able to quickly absorb several times its weight in water, aqueous liquid or oil. A need exists for a sheet or wiper that contains an inexpensive recycled fiber or fiber-like material and that can be used as a wiper or as a fluid distribution layer and/or absorbent component of an absorbent product. Meeting this need is important since it is both economically and environmentally desirable to substitute recycled fiber or fiber-like materials for high-quality virgin wood fiber pulp and/or new synthetic fibers or filaments and still provide a product that can be used as a wiper or as a fluid distribution layer and/or absorbent component of an absorbent product.

Method of recycling bonded fibrous materials and synthetic fibers and fiber-like materials produced thereof


A refrigeration apparatus cabinet has an outer shell and an inner liner to define an insulation space therebetween. There is an opening through a wall of the liner and opening into the insulation space. An opening through a wall of the shell opens into the insulation space. A wiring harness is provided in the insulation space. The wiring harness comprises a pair of electrical plug-in connectors and a plurality of conductors extending therebetween, one connector being received in the liner wall opening and the other connector being received in the shell wall opening. Foamed-in-place insulation is provided in the insulation space, the connectors sealing the liner wall opening and the shell wall opening to prevent leakage of the foamed-in-place insulation.

In one conventional method of forming a refrigeration apparatus cabinet, a liner is spaced from a shell and foamed-in-place insulation is formed therebetween. To provide electrical power to electrical apparatus within the refrigeration cabinet, a wiring tunnel is provided between the shell and the liner. The conductors are externally mounted at a rear wall of the shell and pass through the tunnel into the cabinet. The external installation of the conductors is used for merits of serviceability. Exposing the conductors can, however, lead to damage of the same.
In some instances, it is desirable to provide the conductors in the space between the shell and the liner embedded in the foamed-in-place insulation. While such routing of the conductors is relatively straightforward, problems result when it is desired to provide proper and effective termination of the conductors. Particularly, the conductors normally connect electrical components which are not disposed within the body of insulation. Therefore, the conductors must exit the insulation space through suitable openings. A problem arises in the provision of such cabinet structures in that the expanding foam insulation tends to escape through any opening in the shell or liner. To prevent such escape, foam stops are normally provided for stopping the foaming action at the opening. However, the use of such foam stops prevents proper withdrawal of the conductors from the space.
The present invention is directed to solving one or more of the problems discussed above in a novel and simple manner.

Method of molding using an insulated wiring harness for a domestic refrigerator


A radio communication system for preventing transmission and receiving data from colliding with each other in radio relay communication. The radio communication system includes a plurality of radio base stations each having a scheduler for arranging a schedule of assignment of a slot into which data is to be inserted in a radio frame, a terminal for performing communication with at least one of the radio base stations through a connection, and a relay station for performing relay forwarding of the radio frame exchanged through the connection, the relay station including a scheduler control section for giving an instruction of the schedule to the scheduler. The scheduler control section gives the instruction to the scheduler so as not to generate duplicate slot assignment, in which the whole or a part of data is assigned to the same slot in radio frames sent at the same timing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to radio communication systems, and particularly to a radio communication system that performs relay communication by radio.
2. Description of the Related Art
In radio communication systems, communication is generally performed between a terminal and a radio base station connected to an upper network by a wired link. In recent years, systems have attracted attention in which a relay station that performs relay forwarding by radio is introduced between the radio base station and terminal. Since placing the relay station extends a relay possible area, it is possible to extend the communication area and to improve the communication throughput of the terminal.
FIG. 18 shows an outline of radio relay communication. A relay station 1a and a radio base station 2a are connected by radio, and the relay station 1a and a terminal 3 are connected by radio. The relay station 1a serves as a terminal with respect to the radio base station 2a, and the relay station 1a serves as a radio base station with respect to the terminal 3.
The relay station 1a receives a radio signal sent from the radio base station 2a or the terminal 3 temporarily, performs necessary processing, and sends the signal to the terminal 3 or to the radio base station 2a. Radio relay communication standards include, for example, IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX). In WiMAX, it is expected that the relay communication function will be extended as a mobile multihop relay (MMR).
FIG. 19 shows one type of network in radio relay communication. There are three communication areas A1 to A3. The communication area A1 includes a radio base station 2a-1 and a terminal 3-2, the communication area A2 includes a radio base station 2a-2 and a terminal 3-3, and the communication area A3 includes a terminal 3-1.
Since each unit in the communication areas A1 to A3 share a relay station 1a, a radio communication carrier can extend the communication areas in a step-wise manner while suppressing facility cost by the use of a small number of relay stations.
FIG. 20 shows a state in which connections have been established. When the terminal 3-1 wants to communicate with the radio base stations 2a-1 and 2a-2 through the relay station 1a, the terminal 3-1 establishes a connection C1 with the radio base station 2a-1 to perform communication and establishes a connection C2 with the radio base station 2a-2 to perform communication.
FIG. 21 shows a state in which connections have been established in a network in radio relay communication. A communication area A1 includes a radio base station 2a-1, a communication area A2 includes a radio base station 2a-2, and a communication area A3 includes terminals 3-3 and 3-4. Each unit shares a relay station 1a to perform communication.
In this case, the terminal 3-3 establishes a connection C3 with the radio base station 2a-1 to perform communication, and the terminal 3-4 establishes a connection C4 with the radio base station 2a-2 to perform communication. In either case of FIG. 20 and FIG. 21, the relay station 1a intervenes between the radio base stations and terminals to manage data and control messages sent and received through each connection.
In a conventional radio relay technology, only when a notice indicating that a destination terminal station has not received a message is issued, a radio relay station selectively re-generates the message received from a source terminal station (for example, see paragraph Nos. 0018 to 0033 and FIG. 1 in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei-10-215281).
In the above-described conventional networks, where the relay station 1a performs radio relay communication with a plurality of radio base stations, however, the following problems may occur.
When a radio base station sends data to a destination terminal through a connection established, the radio base station performs scheduling to assign a slot (a slot means a position (field) where data or control information is inserted in a frame) in a radio frame, inserts data into the slot, and generates a transmission frame to perform transmission. Each radio base station independently performs such operations for every frame according to a traffic state through a connection managed by the radio base station.
When a plurality of connections are connected to different radio base stations through a single relay station, as shown in FIG. 20 and FIG. 21, data sent from the radio base stations may collide with each other when the relay station receives the data.
FIG. 22 shows a data collision state in the network shown in FIG. 20. When the radio base station 2a-1, which is the destination of the connection C1, and the radio base station 2a-2, which is the destination of the connection C2, assign the whole or a part of transmission data to the same slot in radio frames to be transmitted at the same timing, as a schedule of the transmission data to be sent to the terminal 3-1, the relay station 1a receives both frames, sent from the radio base stations 2a-1 and 2a-2, with the whole or a part of the different transmission data overlapping (with data collision happening), and cannot correctly demodulate the received frames.
The same problem may occur also in the network shown in FIG. 21, where the destinations of the connections C3 and C4 are the different terminals 3-3 and 3-4, because the relay station 1a is shared.
Especially in a WiMAX system, a radio base station performs scheduling to assign a downlink transmission slot sent from the radio base station to a terminal and an uplink transmission slot sent from the terminal to the radio base station.
Therefore, when a relay station, instead of a terminal, performs uplink data transmission to a plurality of radio base stations, scheduling may be performed such that uplink transmission data is assigned to the whole or a part of the same slot in frames to be sent at the same timing from some of the plurality of relay stations. In that case, since the relay station cannot send different data to different radio base stations by using the same slot, the uplink transmission data cannot be sent through each connection at the designated slot.


An approach for simulating a block of a circuit design includes using a row-matching table and a port state vector. The row-matching table includes a plurality of rows, and each row includes encoded input match patterns corresponding to a plurality of input ports of the block and an associated output value. The port state vector includes input state codes associated with the input ports. In response to an update of an input signal value at one of the input ports during simulation, the input state code associated with the one input port is updated according to the updated input signal value. A bit-to-bit pattern match is performed for each bit in the port state vector to a corresponding bit in the encoded input match patterns in one or more rows of the row-matching table. The associated output value of a matching row is selected as a new output value.

Some hardware description languages (HDL), for example Verilog, provide a way of expressing design unit functionality with a single process of a form similar to a logic truth table. The columns of the table represent one or more single-bit input ports plus one single-bit output port, and the rows represent combinations of input port values and value changes (edges) plus the value to place on the output port. Such a design unit is called a User Defined Primitive (UDP), and the truth table-like specification is called a UDP state table. As with a truth table, the inputs of a UDP are compared against the rows of the state table, and whichever row matches the inputs determines the output value.
In an attempt to improve performance in simulating a UDP, prior approaches specified transforming the UDP state table such that every possible combination of different input values was expanded into its own table entry. Computing the output value of the UDP then involved applying a polynomial formula to the input values to calculate a table index and looking up the output value at the indexed location in the table. Although calculating the index value is a constant time operation, the constant value is high, making the computation expensive. Also, a value change history of a net may be used to detect an edge on the signal at the input port of a UDP. Maintaining the value change history for the input signals of each UDP slows the simulation. Further impacting a desired level of efficiency is the size of the UDP state table, which grows exponentially with the number of UDP inputs. The memory devoted to storing the large UDP state table might otherwise be used to store other parts of the simulation model.

Simulation of a circuit design block using pattern matching


Methods and systems for improving communication throughput of a link between SAS/SATA devices. The link, initially established at a first signal rate, is one of a SATA link and a SAS link. A SAS/SATA device increments one of the at least one counter based on an error sensed on the link. Based on the at least one counter, the SAS/SATA device determines whether to maintain the first signal rate. The link is re-established at a second signal rate based on the determination such that the second signal rate is lower than the first signal rate.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to communication between devices in a storage application and more specifically relates to improving communication throughput of Serial Advanced Technology Attachment ("SATA") or Serial Attached SCSI ("SAS") links.
2. Discussion of Related Art
As applications of information technology have become pervasive in our world, the demand for ever faster data transfer speeds has also skyrocketed. For example, the AT Attachment ("ATA") standard was initially introduced at 16 MB/s. Recently, the industry has adopted the Serial ATA ("SATA") standard with an initial signal rate of 1.5 Gbps. A 12 Gbps signal rate is already being planned for Serial Attached SCSI ("SAS").
However, it has become difficult to beneficially achieve even a signal rate of 3 Gbps. Despite the dramatic increase in signal rates, the materials used for conducting data transfers have remained very much the same. For example, FR4, which is a commonly used printed circuit board ("PCB") material, is very lossy at 3 Gbps. Even very slight impedance mismatches on a PCB would result in large variations in received signal quality at 3 Gbps.
Large variations in received signal quality at a higher signal rate can in fact result in lowered communication throughput compared to having high signal quality at a lower signal rate. This is because retransmission of data packets, resynchronization/retraining of signals, and/or resetting the communication link can all lower the overall communication throughput. However, although signal quality can be higher at a lower signal rate, there is not a way to effectively achieve higher communication throughput. For example, manual trial and error for achieving higher communication throughput by varying signal rates is not only tedious but is usually impractical in large scale and field applications.
Thus it is an ongoing challenge to improve communication throughput of SATA and SAS links.

Methods and systems for improving communication throughput of storage links


An antenna comprises a quarter-wavelength skirt antenna adapted to be disposed over an artificial ground and comprising a vertical cylindrical tube closed at the upper end and a coaxial feed inside the tube. The radiation pattern of the skirt antenna is essentially omnidirectional with a low elevation angle. The skirt antenna is combined with a helical antenna disposed vertically above the skirt antenna and coaxially therewith. The surface closing the upper part of the tube of the skirt antenna constitutes a reflective plane for the helical antenna favoring a hybrid radiation mode specific to the latter, partially axial and partially radial, by lowering the receive lobe of the radiation pattern towards an elevation angle suitable for receiving signals transmitted via satellite. A coupling device combines the signals received by each of the two antennas and feeds them to a common coaxial line.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns an antenna for receiving signals transmitted simultaneously via satellite and by terrestrial means.
It applies in particular to receiving digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio signals although it is naturally not limited to this application and may be used to receive other types of signal (digital radio broadcast information other than audio programs, radiotelephony, etc) or even to transmit radio signals, by application of the principle of reciprocity.
The broadcasting of high quality sound nevertheless constitutes a particularly critical application in respect of performance and the quality that the user can justifiably expect, especially when receiving signals on board a moving vehicle in an urban environment, and it will be shown that the various features of an antenna in accordance with the invention make it particularly well suited to such use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To alleviate the presence of lateral obstacles which mask reception, especially in an urban environment, the same program is broadcast simultaneously via satellite and by a plurality of terrestrial broadcasting stations.
The conditions under which signals transmitted by these two means are received are entirely different, both with regard to the radiation pattern required and with regard to the bandwidth and type of polarization.
In the case of signals transmitted by terrestrial broadcasting stations, the radiation pattern needs to have maximum gain (in the direction of the main lobe) for a low elevation angle, in the order of 5.degree. to 20.degree., with a wide bandwidth and using vertical polarization whereas in the case of signals transmitted via satellite the elevation angle must be much greater (typically in the order of 60.degree.) and circular polarization must be used. In either case the radiation pattern must be omnidirectional in azimuth.
An object of the present invention is to propose a composite antenna able to receive both types of signal simultaneously despite their very different receiving conditions, which is of simple and compact construction, in particular to enable it to be mounted on the roof of a vehicle, and which offers excellent radio performance.
The starting point for the invention is a so-called "quarter-wave skirt" type antenna, that is to say an antenna adapted to be mounted above an "artificial ground", comprising a vertical cylindrical tube closed at the upper end and a coaxial feed inside the tube, the radiation pattern of this skirt antenna being essentially omnidirectional with a low elevation angle.
An antenna of this kind is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,531,476, for example. Because of its low elevation angle radiation pattern, an antenna of this kind, which is in any event designed for terrestrial mobile radio communication using vertical polarization, is unable to receive signals from satellites.

Composite antenna for receiving signals transmitted simultaneously via satellite and by terrestrial stations, in particular for receiving digital audio broadcasting radio signals