The invention relates to optically active compounds represented by the general formula I ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, R.sub.4, Q.sub.1, Q.sub.2, Q.sub.3, and M are defined as in the specification, methods and intermediates for their preparation, liquid crystal compositions comprising at least one optically active compound of formula I and their use in electrooptical display, switching and modulation devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optically active compounds and liquid crystal compositions comprising these compounds. The compounds and compositions of the present invention show a ferroelectric liquid crystal phase, and accordingly are useful as electrooptic switching elements such as liquid crystal display devices or the like, and can be used in liquid crystal optical modulators.
2. Related Art Statement
Liquid crystal display devices have various excellent features such as low-voltage operability, low power consumption, being thin and light-weight, being a non-emissive type and easy on the eye, etc. Accordingly, they are in wide use as various display devices.
Liquid crystal display devices using a nematic liquid crystal operating in the so-called twisted nematic mode (TN mode) are in use currently. However, display devices using this kind of nematic liquid crystals have the drawback of being very slow in response as compared to luminescent type display devices such as CRT, EL and the like. Consequently, when such display devices are applied in a display device, particularly a large scale display device capable of displaying a large amount of information, it is impossible to obtain a display of good contrast. Thus the liquid crystal display devices using a nematic liquid crystal have only a very limited applicability. There has recently been developed a liquid crystal display device using a nematic liquid crystal operating in the so-called super twisted nematic mode (STN mode) or SBE and capable of giving a display of improved contrast. Even in this STN mode liquid crystal display device, however, the response is not sufficient, and therefore said device finds also only a very limited application, because it cannot be used for displays capable of displaying a still larger amount of information. Hence, various attempts have been made to develop a new liquid crystal display system giving an excellent response.
Ferroelectric liquid crystals have a memory characteristics and give a high speed response, and accordingly their application to large scale displays is highly expected. As liquid crystals having retroelectric properties, there are known those showing a chiral smectic C phase, a chiral smectic H phase, a chiral smectic J phase, etc. Of these ferroelectric liquid crystals, those showing a chiral smectic C phase are thought to have highest practical utility.
Ferroelectric liquid crystals showing a chiral smectic C phase were first synthesized in 1975 by R. B. Meyer et al.; one typical example thereof is 2-methylbutyl 4-( 4'-n-decyloxybenzylideneamino)cinnamate (hereinafter abbreviated to DOBAMBC) [J. Physique, 36, L69 (197.5)].
A thin film liquid crystal cell was prepared using DOBAMBC and was found to have a high speed response in the order of .mu.s [N. A. Clark et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 36, 89 (1980)]. Since that time, there was started the development of optical modulation devices (e.g. liquid crystal display devices, photo-printer heads) using a ferroelectric liquid crystal showing a chiral smectic C phase (hereinafter may be referred to simply as "ferroelectric liquid crystal").
As a result, a number of ferroelectric liquid crystal compounds showing a chiral smectic C phase have been developed since then, and various ferroelectric liquid crystal compounds are already known. However, no ferroelectric liquid crystal compound is found yet which has satisfactory reliability and capability for use in display devices, particularly large scale displays, etc.
In order for a ferroelectric liquid crystal to be practically used in a liquid crystal display device, etc., the liquid crystal must be superior in high speed response, orientation, memory characteristics, characteristics of threshold voltage, temperature dependences of these properties, etc. Also, the ferroelectric liquid crystal is required to show a chiral smectic C phase over a wide temperature range so that it can operate within a sufficiently wide temperature range including room temperature, and further to have excellent physical and chemical stabilities.
In order for a ferroelectric liquid crystal to have, in particular, excellent physical and chemical stabilities, good high speed response and good memory characteristics, the liquid crystal must have a large spontaneous polarization.
Among the so far developed ferroelectric liquid crystals, no compound is found yet which satisfies all the above requirements. For example, the above mentioned DOBAMBC, being a liquid crystal of Schiff's base type, is insufficient in chemical stability to water, light, etc., and moreover, has a small spontaneous polarization of 4 nC/cm.sup.2 or below.
Ester type liquid crystals are reported as being ferroelectric liquid crystals which are chemically stable. However, these liquid crystals are not satisfactory because they have no sufficiently large spontaneous polarization and no sufficiently wide temperature range of chiral smectic C phase.
In order to obtain a large spontaneous polarization, there were synthesized compounds having two asymmetric carbon atoms as an optically active group essential for the expression of a chiral smectic C phase.
These compounds include, for example, liquid crystal compounds having a dichiral epoxide side chain [David M. Walba et al., Journal of American Chemical Society, 108, 7424 (1986)], and liquid crystal compounds having a halogen atom and a methyl group on two adjacent asymmetric carbon atoms [cf. e.g. JP-A-168780/1985, 18358/1985, 68449/1986, 40/1987, 46/1987, 103043/1987, 111950/1987, 142131/1987, 175443/1987].
A typical example of the above liquid crystal compounds is ( s)-2-chloro-3-methylbutyl 4'-octylcarbonyloxy-4-biphenylcarboxylate [JP-A-68449/1986 ]. This liquid crystal compound has a very large spontaneous polarization of 180 nC/cm.sup.2 but, being an aliphatic chloro compound, has poor chemical stability. Hence, there was synthesized 4'-octylcarbonyloxy-4-[(s)-2-methoxy-(s)-3-methylpentyloxycarbonyl]bipheny l [JP-A-28036/1987]. This compound has excellent chemical stability but has an insufficient spontaneous polarization of 17 nC/cm.sup.2.

Optically active compounds, liquid crystal composition containing said compounds, and liquid crystal optical modulator using said composition


A delay line has at least four delay stages coupled together in a series, two multiplexers, and a phase interpolator. The first multiplexer has a first input coupled to an output of the first delay stage, and a second input coupled to an output of the third delay stage. Similarly, the second multiplexer has a first input coupled to an output of the second delay stage, and a second input coupled to an output of the fourth delay stage. The phase interpolator is coupled to outputs of the first and second multiplexers, and has an output.

In an I/O (input-output) system with a forwarded clock architecture, there is a need for an apparatus at the receive side to measure and adjust the placement of a clock edge in time very precisely relative to other edges under any environmental conditions that a computer system would normally be exposed to. Due to very strict requirements in-particular for high-frequency operation for such an apparatus, the placement of the clock must be very precise relative to an ideal location. The finer the control the apparatus has over the placement of the clock, the higher the data transfer rates that can be achieved. In addition to very fine steps, the apparatus must also be able to have a very wide range of control to account for manufacturing tolerances, device performance, and environmental conditions. Environmental conditions also change while data is being transferred. So, the apparatus should be able to continuously update the clock placement while not interfering with data transfers.
Analog delay locked loops (DLLs) or other analog based clock placement schemes have historically performed the clock placement task by locking on to the cycle time of an incoming clock and providing various choices for clock placement. However, analog DLLs typically consume higher power and may not be suitable for low power applications. Analog DLLs also often suffer from slow start and re-start issues. Delay lines in DLLs also commonly suffer from non-monotonic delay steps that may cause the clock edge to be misaligned relative to data resulting in incorrect sampling of data by the clock edge.

Apparatus for a monotonic delay line, method for fast locking of a digital DLL with clock stop/start tolerance, apparatus and method for robust clock edge placement, and apparatus and method for clock offset tuning


In a storage network including at least a computer system, at least an external storage and at least a network system for communication of input/output data between the computer system and the external storage, a method of collecting the performance data on the network system and the software operated on the network system, in which the range or degree of data collection is automatically adjusted as required based on the performance data collected.

The present invention relates to a method and a system for collecting the performance data of hardware devices constituting a storage network and the software operated in the hardware devices, or in particular a method and a system for collecting the storage network performance data suitable to a case in which the network is increased in scale to such an extent that the component elements for which the performance data are to be collected are vast in number.
A storage network so configured that a centralized storage is accessed from a plurality of host servers through the network is extending widely as an architecture for a data center to improve the utilization rate and reduce the management cost of the storage ever on the increase in scale.
The performance management software meets this situation by being configured of an agent arranged in a network for each hardware device or software for which the performance is to be monitored, and the management software for centrally managing the performance data for the whole network. Each agent acquires the performance data by direct communication with each object to be monitored, while the management software collects and accumulates the performance data acquired by the agents and supplies the performance data in response to a request of a storage network manager or the like.
Apart from the storage network, take a computer network as an example. A method and a system having a similar configuration to the above-mentioned method and system for monitoring the performance of a plurality of server devices in a network environment are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,505,248.
With the extension of the centralized storage based on a storage network, the component elements of the network increased in scale has become vast in number and the correlation between the component elements tends to be complicated more and more.
In order to monitor the performance of an application system and carries out the tuning in this storage network environment, the performance data for various hardware devices and software making up the network are required to be comprehensively collected and the correlation between them and the temporal change thereof are required to be grasped.
A technique for automating the collection of the dispersed performance data is indispensable for the performance management of this kind of the storage network. With a further increase expected in the scale of the network, however, automatic comprehensive collection of the performance data for all the component elements of the network may become considerably difficult in terms of the processing capacity including the storage capacity, computation performance and the communication performance.
In order to monitor and tune the performance of an application system in a large storage network environment, it is necessary to collect the performance data on the various hardware devices and software making up the network comprehensively and to grasp the correlation between them and the temporal change thereof.
This is by reason of the fact that unlike in the conventional architecture in which each application system is independently associated with a corresponding server with a computer processing system and an external storage connected directly to each other, the storage network environment is liable to develop an interference in performance between application systems at a portion shared by the network devices and the storage systems.
In some conventional techniques, the collecting operation for the performance data can be switched on/off for each network component element by manual updating operation of the user. The use of this function could limit the amount of the performance data to be collected. For this purpose, however, elements to be emphasized and elements to be ignored are required to be discriminated from each other in advance.
This is a considerably tough job for a storage network environment in which various applications having different tendencies of the performance load are unified and a vast number of component elements affect each other in complicated way. Also, the manual operation of the user may cause the timing of acquiring crucial information to be lost or a problem, if any, to be detected too late.

Method and program of collecting performance data for storage network


A conveyor system of units that move blocks of wood and while moving align them in single file along one or more paths of travel. First in the system is a conventional vibrating conveyor unit followed by a vibrating type conveyor unit having an undulating upper surface defining parallel flow paths. Next is a combination vibrating and belt conveyor unit having an undulating upper surface followed by deeper spaced apart parallel channels. The upper flight of an endless belt travels along the bottom of each of respective ones of the deeper channels. The last unit is a multi-lane article accumulator, cueing and gated dispensing unit.

This invention relates generally to horizontal conveyors and more particularly to conveyor units and a system of conveyor units for separating, aligning and moving a plurality of articles along one or more paths. One of the conveyor units particularly includes the combination of a vibrating conveyor, having a longitudinally extending trough, and a moving belt flight located in a depressed area, in the bottom of the trough, that extends in a direction longitudinally of the trough.
The conveyor system of the present invention has particularly been designed to receive a random bunch of pieces of wood (finger joint blanks) at the in-feed end of the system, separate that random bunch into the individual pieces of that bunch as they move forwardly and dispense the wood pieces, at suitable spacings, onto the moving belt of an in-feed conveyor of a finger jointer or other wood processing system.
The term xe2x80x98singulatexe2x80x99 will be used herein to describe separating the random bunch into the individual pieces that makes up that random bunch.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the conveyor units and/or conveyor system will have use in other fields and applications.
Short pieces of wood, referred to as blocks of wood, finger joint blanks, planer ends, trim blocks or trim ends, are commonly converted into useful pieces of lumber by a finger jointer. The short wood pieces, or lower value pieces, maybe of any size but the system herein has been designed for wood pieces having a common physical characteristic, namely the thickness dimension, and will be so described herein. The blocks of wood, for example in the present processing system maybe 2xe2x80x3xc3x973xe2x80x3, 2xe2x80x3xc3x974xe2x80x3 or 2xe2x80x3xc3x976xe2x80x3 and in lengths in the range of 10xe2x80x3 to 36xe2x80x3. These blocks, prior to the present invention, were manually singulated resulting in a variable rate of feed and a sustained upper limit of about 120 pieces per minute. Finger jointers however can process blocks fed at a much faster rate, for example 200 pieces per minute or more.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor that singulates a random bunch of articles.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a system of conveyor units that includes a conveyor unit of the foregoing to feed articles, for example wood blocks, at a uniform rate to a downstream processing apparatus or system.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor unit that is a combination vibrating and moving belt conveyor.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a conveyor system for a waste wood recovery system.
A still further object of the invention is to provide improved article alignment channels in a conveyor or conveying system.
In keeping with the foregoing there is provided in accordance with one aspect of the present invention a conveyor unit to separate and guide articles as they are moved forwardly by said conveyor comprising a support frame, a longitudinally extending trough resiliently mounted on said frame, vibration inducing means connected to said trough and operable to vibrate said trough and thereby cause articles thereon to move forwardly, a depression, in the bottom of said trough, that extends in a direction longitudinally there along and an endless moving belt conveyor having an upper flight portion thereof located in said depression.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a conveyor system comprising a conveyor unit that includes a longitudinally extending trough having at least one depression in the bottom thereof with each depression providing an upwardly facing channel extending in a direction lengthwise of said trough, vibration inducing means connected to said trough and operative to vibrate the trough and thereby move articles in the trough in a forward direction, an endless moving belt conveyor having an upper flight of the belt located in said channel to move articles resting thereon in said forward direction, said channel providing means aligning the articles in single file one after the other as they move, an in-feed means upstream of said conveyor unit for feeding articles to said conveyor unit, and guide means downstream of said conveyor unit maintaining alignment of said articles as they move forwardly.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a conveyor with an improved article alignment section comprising parallel channels defining article flow paths and having walls sloping upwardly away from each of the respective channels associated therewith.

Article alignment and singulating conveyors and conveyor system


A screw holder for securing a screw having a longitudinal shank and a central axis, a spindle adjoining the front end of the shank and having a bore therethrough flush with a groove, configured and dimensioned for receiving an elastic component to secure a screw into a steady position while turning the screw in or out.

To lessen the damage to soft parts around bone while surgically implanting a screw inside the body, typically to a bone, joint, or vertebra, the procedure should be carried out without uncovering large areas of the parts to be treated, i.e., smaller incisions and less invasive surgery techniques. The use of clamping tongs to insert bone or pedicle screws is no longer suitable when employing minimally invasive surgery techniques.
European Patent No. 458,449 of Ryder discloses a fastener drive tool for applying a rotational torque to a threaded fastener for driving the fastener into or out of a workpiece. The drive tool has an elongated shaft portion with a free end that is engageable with a recess formed in the fastener. The drive tool has at least one interlobular fastener retention piece attached between two convex partially-cylindrical surfaces that engage a corresponding convex partially-cylindrical surface formed in the fastener recess. The interlobular fastener retention piece retains the fastener on the drive tool when the drive tool is engaged with the fastener recess and prevents wobbling of the fastener when driven by the drive tool, but requires a significant portion of the surface and, therefore, can weaken the cross-section of the shaft, particularly when using smaller screws.
A need exists for a type of screw holder adapted for surgical use. Palliation is a key feature in the design of any surgical tool. A screw holder that might ease the pain typically associated with implantation of a screw into the body, without losing the positive benefits of the surgery, would be beneficial in the art. The present invention aims at solving this need in the art by configuring a screw holder to hold a bone or pedicle screw while being turned in or out.


An integral dual display rack assembly includes a first frame member at front central position having a plurality of base-plate members attached thereto in a vertical column array to support a display of multiple first sample items of carpeting, flooring or the like. A second frame member, at least partially disposed rearward of the base-plate members and extending laterally from the plurality of base-plate members, includes a guide track assembly supporting a rollerable plurality of carriage frames suitable to support a second display item and to laterally move the same between a first storage position and a second display or viewing position. In such a fashion, a selected first display item upon the first frame member can be readily compared and contrasted with a selected second display item of the second frame member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to retail display racks for display items, such as carpet and flooring samples, and more particularly to a integral dual display rack assembly providing a first frontal central display of multiple smaller sample pieces of display items conveniently contrasted with a second rearward and lateral display of selectable larger sample pieces of display items.
2. Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR xc2xa7xc2xa7 1.97-1.99
Heretofore, various methods have been used to assist a customer in the selection of appropriate carpeting or flooring for residential, commercial, or other decor use.
For example, particularly with respect to carpeting, a variety of small rectangular carpet samples may be placed into a book binder designed to display numerous carpet patterns and variations of color which are available. Such samples are secured in the binder as by suitable post or bolt in a book-like arrangement which is usually standardized by providing carpet samples of given sizes to fit within the binder. In this matter, the customer can review a large selection of carpet patterns and colors and can even take selected samples out of the binder and home to determine how they might fit within a particular room and contrast against wall color, paneling, and other decor environments. A disadvantage of such binder-books resides in the fact that the perspective customer can only view one sample or a row of samples at a time rather than desirably viewing a number of samples simultaneously which provide a viewing of different color samples along with a given pattern sample. Hence, attempts have been made to provide carpet sample display racks to display a plurality of carpet samples. Such carpet display racks include a variety of mechanical structures including those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,534,863 to Howard, U.S. Pat. No. 3,965,583 to Price, U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,245 to Schell, U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,974 to Ott, U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,061 to Willcocks et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,697 to Cohen.
With respect to flooring samples, several types of display means have been traditionally used. For example, there is a display device in which samples are hung on rectangular frames which are swingable like hinged doors in a row or the pages of a book held upright. Another display devices is one where the samples are displayed on a stand in a cascading array so that it is necessary to lift one sample up to see another, even though the samples beneath the top one have exposed ends like a sloped deck of cards. In yet another arrangement for displaying floor covering samples, there is provided a display rack in which the samples are arranged one above the other in the rack like a row of books turned on their side, but it is still necessary for the customer to withdraw a sample for a complete view of the design, especially those at a higher level of the rack. Still further, as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,906 to Ovitz. III, proposed flooring samples may be folded in a U-shaped and inserted into a tower of divided stacked slotted compartments formed of heavy gauge wire.
The foregoing prior art points to a need for racks or display assemblies enabling consumers to conveniently select among numerous patterns, designs, and colors of displayed items of carpets, flooring samples, and the like.
According to the present invention there is provided an integral dual display assembly comprising a first frame member having a plurality of base-plate members attached thereto at a forwardly facing surface thereof, the base-plate members each having at least one flange border at a lower portion thereof, the base-plate members being suitable to hold a first display item on an upper facing surface thereof, and a second frame member at least partially disposed behind the plurality of base-plate members and extending laterally from the plurality of base-plate members, the second frame member including a guide track assembly, a plurality of carriage frames suitable to support a second display item, and means for laterally moving the plurality of carriage frames within the guide track assembly between a first storage position and a second display position. The first frame member can present numerous samples of carpet, flooring, or like at a forward or central position of the integral dual display assembly while the second frame member, rearward of the first frame member, presents numerous selectable larger samples of carpet, flooring or the like borne within carriage frames which are outwardly or inwardly laterally slidable upon caster rollers within cooperative track slots of a guide track assembly between a storage position and a display position. In such a fashion, a selected first display item upon the first frame member can be readily conveniently compared and contrasted with a larger second display sample of the second frame member.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an optional third frame member set atop the guide track assembly of the second frame member which serves as a placard sign support and also defines a storage area rearward of the third frame member and above the second frame member. The integral dual display assembly of the present invention advantageously provides a singular viewing of numerous first display items of carpets, flooring samples, and the like at a forward central first frame member while allowing for the same to be compared and contrasted with larger second display items laterally shown by the second frame member. Particularly, the forward first frame member display section may be used for a consumer to select a color or pattern of the first display items found to be of initial interest. The consumer can then compare and contrast the first display item with a larger second display item of the second frame member display section to determine suitability of color and pattern selection, color and pattern coordination, pattern extent and layout, texture, grain, finish and other factors. The integral dual display assembly of the present invention provides flexibility and confidence in point of purchase decision-making when confronted with myriad choices of colors and patterns subject of carpeting, floor samples, or like items.
Additional features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and the accompanying figures illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention, the same being the present best mode for carrying out the invention.


Network device for sending and receiving information is provided. The network device includes a port having a receive segment for receiving information and a transmit segment for transmitting information. The port can be configured to operate as an independent port using a single link operating at 25 gigabits per second.

1. Technical Field
The embodiments disclosed herein are related to networks and network devices.
2. Related Art
Networking systems are commonly used to move network information (which may also be referred to interchangeably, as frames, packets or commands) between computing systems (for example, servers) or between computing systems and network devices (for example, storage systems). Various hardware and software components are used to implement network communication, for example, switches, adapters and other similar devices.
Network devices typically include a multi-port device where each port manages a point-to-point connection between itself and an attached system. Each port can be attached to a server, peripheral, input/output subsystem, bridge, hub, router, or another switch, where each of the aforementioned network devices also has one or more ports. Different network and storage protocols may be used to handle network information and storage information, for example, Fibre Channel, Ethernet and others. Continuous efforts are being made to improve network communication.

Systems and methods for high speed data processing at a network port


A zirconia oxygen sensor for measuring oxygen potential in the molten bath of a metal or alloy having a melting point of 350-550.degree. C., which comprises a reference electrode which is of a substance having a melting point of the same level as or lower than the metal or alloy of which the oxygen potential is to be measured and being liquid at the measurement temperature and is open to the atmosphere, a vessel of a zirconia solid electrolyte containing 5-10% yttria or 10-20% of calcium oxide (CaO) and a lead wire which connects the reference electrode and said molten metal or alloy and its use are disclosed.

Recently varieties of metallic materials have come to be utilized and increasingly severe demands are being made regarding the quality of these materials. Thus control of the concentrations of impurities which have a close relation to the quality of the product is now considered to be of great significance in processing molten metal. Inter alia , the determination of oxygen potential in molten metal is very important in the control of the concentrations of oxygen and impurity elements which are in equilibrium with oxygen. A typical example is the determination of oxygen potential in molten steel and copper.
As a means for determining oxygen potential in molten steel and copper, zirconia oxygen sensor- is known, which utilizes the electromotive force of solid electrolyte. However, such an oxygen sensor can be used only in a rather high temperature range such as 1500-1800.degree. C. for steel and 1000-1300.degree. C. for copper.
It has been commonly accepted that the known zirconia oxygen sensor used for molten steel and copper cannot be used for determination of oxygen potential in a low-melting metal such as zinc, lead, bismuth, indium, gallium and alloys thereof whose melting point is not higher than 550.degree. C. and there are hardly any reports of such measurement being conducted. It has been considered that the measurement of electromotive force itself is difficult at a low temperature such as 450-500.degree. C., in molten zinc for instance, since the oxygen ion conductivity of the zirconia sensor is small at such a low temperature.
As an oxygen sensor for low-melting metals, an oxygen sensor, which utilizes thoria solid electrolyte and can be used in liquid sodium, is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 52-53494. However, thoria used in this sensor is a radioactive substance which is expensive and very difficult to handle and thus this sensor cannot easily be used in industry. That is to say, there has been known no oxygen sensor which can determine oxygen potential in low-melting metals.
As the reference electrode for a zirconia oxygen sensor, solid electrodes of Cr--Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3 system, Mo--MoO.sub.2 system, etc. are used for molten steel and those of Ni--NiO system, Fe--FeO system, etc. for molten copper. These electrodes exhibit rapid response to electromotive force at temperatures of 1000-1800.degree. C. but they require an impracticably long time before the electromotive force stabilizes or otherwise the electromotive force does not stabilize when they are used in a low-melting metal which melts at a temperature of 350-550.degree. C. We have now found that the oxygen potential in a low-melting metallic material can be measured by using a zirconia oxygen sensor comprising a reference electrode of a system consisting of a metal which has a melting point of the same level as or lower than that of the low-melting metal and is liquid at the measurement temperature and an oxide thereof, a zirconia solid electrolyte and a lead wire which connects the reference electrode and the molten low-melting metal.


A method and apparatus for scrambling video signals to obtain the secure transmission of video information. A block of video lines in a television raster is divided into top and bottom sub-block portions. The top and bottom sub-block portions are switched in position. The sequence of video lines within the sub-blocks are shuffled so that the resulting scrambled video signal contains blocks of video lines which have been block portion switched and shuffled from their original block portion position and their original line sequences. The size of the first block of video lines can grow and/or shrink in time so that the video appears to roll down or up the display. A pseudo-random number of sequence controls the shuffling sequence. A descrambler receives the scrambled video signal and a code identifying the shuffling sequence of the scrambled video for descrambling the video signal and returning the block portions and the video lines to their original sequences.

Various systems have been proposed and are in use for scrambling television signals to obtain the secure transmission of video information. One such scrambling technique involves what has been termed "block shuffling". In block shuffling the television field consisting of contiguous video lines is divided into several blocks or groups of video lines, such as for instance eight lines in each block. The video lines within each block are then randomly shuffled or scrambled so that the original line sequence has been changed to a new scrambled line sequence within each block. The scrambled video signals are then transmitted to a receiver along with data relating to a code corresponding to the order of the randomly shuffled lines in each block.
At a receiver having a corresponding decoder, the shuffled video lines in each block are then returned to their original sequence so that the video display of each block in sequence reforms the original field. Of course, if the receiver does not contain a suitable decoder, the displayed video signals will be generally unintelligible and the information masked since the original line sequence of the displayed field has been altered.
Reference may be made for instance to Block, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,405,942 showing a video scrambling system in which the sequence of individual horizontal lines of video information are rearranged in a determinable manner relative to the normal sequence of lines in a raster scan field of video information. In this patent, line shuffling occurs over the entire field. For instance one or more of the original last lines of the field may appear as the first lines of the scrambled field; the original first lines may appear as the last lines of the scrambled field; and an original line can be scrambled to any position within the normal 262 line field.
In the scrambling technique shown in this patent, the video lines are stored in their original sequence in a first storage device. An address generator is encoded to control the sequence of addresses generated so that the video lines are read from the first storage device in a sequence differing from the original sequence and the scrambled sequence is transferred to a second storage device. A coded identification signal is also supplied for transmission with the video lines as they are read from storage. This patent shows a pseudo-random code generator that produces a multiple bit code word at the end of each video line which may be used to clock the video lines out of the first storage device on a line-by-line basis in a pseudo-random fashion. At a decoding station the original line sequence is reconstituted in response to the coded signal and the normal sync and blanking signals.
Reference may also be made to Kupnicki, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,544 which shows a television scrambling system where a block of a given number of video lines in a television field is selected and all of the lines within that block are randomly intermixed or scrambled to change the original line sequence. A block of four video lines are written into storage in accordance with a random four line pattern set by a corresponding code or key. As an example, if the random code consists of four numbers 3-1-2-4 forming the storage address, the sequence of video lines forming this block will be entered into storage with the first video line entered into memory position 3; the second video line entered into memory position i; the third video line entered into memory position 2; and the fourth video line entered into memory position 4.
The memory is then read sequentially so that this block of video lines is transmitted in a scrambled sequence of video lines 2-3-1-4. The random code pattern 3-1-2-4 is also transmitted in a coded data format along with the scrambled sequence of video lines.
At the receiver, the transmitted video lines for this block are read into storage in a sequential manner as the information is received so that video lines 2-3-1-4 are respectively stored in the four consecutive memory positions. The random code pattern 3-1-2-4 is recovered from the transmitted video signal and decoded so that the memory is addressed to read out the video lines from the memory in memory positions 3-1-2-4 in accordance with the random code. Thus, the video information read out of storage will be displayed in the original sequence for this block, i.e. video lines 1-2-3-4.
The shuffling of a group of video lines on a block-by-block basis where each block is less than an entire field is desirable in comparison to shuffling of the entire field in order to use smaller memories and lesser numbers of associated address generators and other required components. However, the probability that a particular line will be displaced an increasing distance from the original position during shuffling significantly depends on the size of the block. Thus for a small block of about eight video lines, the expected displacement during shuffling of any given line is restricted to the original eight positions. For instance, using probability theory, in shuffling a block of eight video lines the expected value of line displacement of the first line ca be calculated to be equal to 3.5 lines. The average expected value of line displacement (AEVD) for all lines in the block can also be computed as a figure of merit. In the instance of a block of eight lines, the AEVD equals 2.625 for normal block shuffling, i.e. random shuffling of a block of eight video lines.
The AEVD value can of course be increased by increasing the size of the block to include more video lines, such as 16 or 32 which is desirable. However, while the AEVD value always increases with block size, eventually a block size is reached which is undesirable as it contains a large number of video lines requiring a larger memory and more associated memory addressing components. In the extreme, of course, the "block" could consist of the entire field, which as indicated before is undesirable.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide a video scrambling technique using line shuffling of video lines within discrete blocks of video lines less than the entire field and wherein the AEVD value can be increased without the need to increase the block size of video lines.

Method and apparatus for television signal scrambling using block shuffling

General Instrument Corporation, Jerrold Communications


The present invention provides improved variants of T7 RNA polymerase by introducing novel mutations which lead to improved thermostability of the enzyme. According to the invention, amino acid substitutions at the positions Val426, Ser633, Val650, Thr654, Ala702, Val795, and combinations thereof are advantageous.

T7 RNA polymerase (E.C. 188.8.131.52.; herein also referred to as "T7 polymerase" or "T7") is a monomeric bacteriophage encoded DNA directed RNA polymerase which catalyzes the formation of RNA in the 5′→3′ direction. In the process of initiation of transcription T7 recognizes a specific promoter sequence, the T7 promoter. T7 consists of 883 amino acids and has a molecular weight of 99 kDa. On the level of amino acid sequence T7 is highly homologous to T3 RNA polymerase and, to a lesser extent, SP6 RNA polymerase. The three-dimensional structure of T7 is very similar to other polymerases with different template and substrate specificities, despite low sequence similarity. T7 consists of different domains, the N-terminal domain, the "thumb", the "palm" and the "fingers" (Sousa, R., and Mukherjee, S., Prog. Nucl. Acid Res. Mol. Biol. 73 (2003) 1-41).
Detailed studies of the transcription reaction showed that the enzyme acts like a molecular machine showing well concerted movements of flexible parts of the enzyme (Steitz, T. A., EMBO J. 25 (2006) 3458-3468; Steitz, T. A., Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 14 (2004) 4-9; Yin, Y. W., and Steitz, T. A., Cell 116 (2004) 393-404).
Several structures of T7 in complex with promoter DNA were solved and are available in the Protein Data Bank (pdb). The structure of the initiation complex of T7 RNA polymerase was solved at high resolution (Cheetham, G. M. T., et al., Nature 399 (1999) 80-83; Cheetham, G. M. T., and Steitz, T. A., Science 286 (1999) 2305-2309). The structure of the elongation complex solved at 2.9 A resolution showed the rearrangement of the N-terminal region (Tahirov, T. H., et al., Nature 420 (2002) 43-50). The structural studies showed that the conformation of the N-terminal domain changes between the initiation and elongation phases. Recently, the structure of transcribing T7 in transition from initiation to elongation phase was described (Durniak, K. J., et al., Science 322 (2008) 553-557).
The cloning and the expression of the gene encoding T7 has been described (Studier et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,496). T7 has been studied intensively by mutagenesis to explore the conformational changes during transcription (Ma, K., et. al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 102 (2005) 17612-17617), to facilitate promoter clearance (Guillerez, J., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 102 (2005) 5958-5963) or to study the abortive cycling phenomenon (He, B., et al., J. Mol. Biol. 265 (1997) 275-288). Bonner, G., et al., J. Biol. Chem. 269 (1994) 25120-25128 described a set of active site mutants with altered elongation rates.
Due to the promoter specificity and high RNA polymerase enzymatic activity, T7 is useful for a variety of applications in molecular biology. In the field of recombinant protein expression T7 is used for the high-level expression of recombinant genes in E. coli (Studier, F. W., and Moffat, B. A., J. Mol. Biol. 189 (1986) 113-130). The synthesis of defined oligoribonucleotides was described by Milligan, J. F., et al., Nucl. Aids Res. 15 (1987) 8783-8798.
In addition, T7 is used in nucleic acid amplification methods for diagnostic purposes. A first example for such use is a technique known as "Nucleic Acid Sequence Based Amplification" (NASBA). This process comprises the steps of (a) adding a RNA template to a reaction mixture, wherein a first primer anneals to a complementary site at the 3′ end of the template; (b) reverse transcribing a DNA strand complementary to the RNA template, wherein a RNA/DNA heteroduplex is formed; (c) degrading the RNA strand of the heteroduplex by way of RNaseH activity; (d) annealing a second primer to the 5′ end of the DNA strand; (e) repeatedly synthesizing a complementary RNA strand with T7 RNA polymerase, wherein the synthesized RNA strand can serve again as a template in step (a). The NASBA technique has been used to develop rapid diagnostic tests for several pathogenic viruses, particularly those with single-stranded RNA genomes.
A further example for a diagnostic isothermal amplification method is "Transcription mediated amplification" (TMA) known to be one of the most sensitive detection assays for hepatitis C virus RNA in patient serum. For amplification of target RNA, two enzymes are used which are reverse transcriptase (RT) and T7 RNA polymerase. Complementary DNA (cDNA) of sample RNA is generated by RT with RNAse H activity and a primer containing a T7-promoter at the 5′-end. The RNA resulting of the RNA-DNA duplex is degradated by RNAse H activity of the RT. Another primer then binds to the cDNA already containing the T7-promoter sequence from the first primer and a double-stranded DNA is synthesized by the DNA polymerase activity of the RT. The T7 RNA polymerase recognizes the T7-promoter sequence within the double-stranded DNA molecule and synthesizes numerous RNA antisense transcripts. Each of the newly produced RNA amplicons re-enters the TMA process and serves as a template for a new round of RT to double-stranded DNA including the T7-promoter and transcription of antisense amplicons. The circulation of antisense transcripts into the amplification process results in exponential amplification of target RNA.
For NASBA, TMA and related methods as well as for other applications it would be advantageous if the reaction temperature could be elevated to improve the reaction kinetics. E.g., higher reaction temperatures of isothermal amplification could allow the amplification of RNA having secondary structures. It has also been shown with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology that high annealing temperatures allow the specific hybridization of a primer to its target resulting in a highly specific amplification. With the same advantage, more thermostable enzymes could in principle also be applied isothermal amplifications.
Therefore, there is a need of a T7 RNA polymerase with improved stability and activity at higher reaction temperatures.
The stability of T7 RNA polymerase has been studied extensively. Thermal and urea-induced unfolding of was studied by Protasevich et al. using calorimetry, circular dichronism and fluorescence (Protasevich, I. I., et al., FEBS Lett 349 (1994) 429-432). Under the conditions used the enzyme unfolded at 48.3° C. Thermal unfolding was also studied by Griko et al. using calorimetric methods (Griko, Y., et al., Prot. Sci. (2001) 845-853). A smaller 22 kDa N-terminal part of the enzyme was shown to increase the thermostability of the C-terminal 77 kDa domain.
By introducing point mutations in the sequence of the wild-type enzyme T7 variants were generated in which the stability of T7 RNA polymerase was enhanced. The U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,828 and EP 1 261 696 describe four distinct amino acid exchanges in the T7 RNA polymerase polypeptide (Ser430Pro, Ser633Pro, Phe849Ile and Phe880Tyr) which stabilize the enzyme. Combinations of two or more of these mutations in a modified T7 polypeptide result in even more stable enzyme variants.
The aim of the present invention was to extend the collection of stabilizing mutations by creating novel mutations in T7 RNA polymerase which lead to improved stability. It is further desired to combine several of these mutations in a single T7 variant (double-, triple-, quadruple-, multiple-mutant), provided the combined mutations lead to an even increased stability, that is to say thermostability. According to the invention, new mutations are found giving rise to T7 variants which exhibit high stability in thermal unfolding assays.

T7 RNA polymerase variants with enhanced thermostability


A thermal conductive roller for use in copying machines, steam-heated and induction-heated applications includes a ceramic heating layer formed by plasma spraying a ceramic material to form an electrically conductive heating layer of preselected and and controlled resistance. Several methods of controlling the resistance of the ceramic heating layer are disclosed. The ceramic heating layer is sealed with a solid, low viscosity sealer such as Carnauba wax to protect the ceramic layer from moisture penetration. Electrical current is applied at or near the core and is conducted radially outward through the heating layer to an outer grounded metallic layer. An outer contact layer of metal, ceramic, or polymeric material can be added.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to heater rollers for use in a variety of industrial machines, as well as methods of making such rollers.
2. Description of the Background Art
Steam-heated and induction-heated rollers are used in the paper making, printing, paper, film, and foil converting industries. Some examples are: web heating rollers, drying rollers and drums, laminating rollers, embossing rollers, and cast film extrusion rollers.
Steam-heated rollers are actually pressure vessels, especially at higher temperatures. The internal construction of both steam-heated and induction-heated cores can be quite complex and expensive in order to provide the temperature uniformity needed. In addition, a considerable amount of auxiliary equipment is needed to power or heat the roller.
Internally heated fuser rollers are used in the copier industry. The fuser roller melts the toner and presses it into the paper. The typical fuser roller consists of an aluminum or non-magnetic metal core with an internal quartz heating lamp. The inner diameter of the core has a special coating to absorb heat from the lamp. The roller is coated with a non-stick elastomeric material (e.g. silicone rubber) to provide a pressure nip with an opposing roller and to release the toner to the paper.
The core construction is quite complex and expensive. The quartz lamp is fragile, has a limited useful life, and does not provide a uniform temperature distribution to the core.
Heating rollers for xerography and other applications are disclosed in the following, Satomura, U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,183; Nagaska, et al., No. 4,743,940; Lee, et al., No. 4,791,275; Kogure, et al., No. 4,813,372; Urban, et al., No. 4,810,858; Urban, No. 4,820,904, Yoshikawa, et al., No. 4,841,154; Landa, et al., No. 5,089,856.
It is typical in such rollers to apply a voltage potential at one end of the heating layer and a ground potential at the the other end of heating layer to produce a current in the heating layer.
For example, in Satomura, U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,183, one side of a voltage supply is applied to one set of conductive fingers in a ceramic heating layer, while the other side of the voltage supply is applied to another set of conductive fingers in the ceramic heating layer. The two sets of fingers are interdigitated and electrical current is produced in the heating layer between the two sets of fingers.
The ceramic material is a baked ceramic material in which the conductive electrodes are sandwiched between two ceramic layers.
The present invention is directed to improved constructions of heater rollers utilizing a ceramic heating layer and to improved methods of making such heater rollers.

Ceramic heater roller and methods of making same


A method for indexing an electronic file is presented. In the method, a first value based upon a time value is generated. An index for the electronic file is generated, with the index including the first value and a second value. The electronic file is associated with the index. In another embodiment, an electronic system includes a memory configured to store an electronic file, and control logic located within an electronic device of the electronic system and coupled with the memory. The control logic is configured to generate a first value comprising a timestamp, and to produce an index associated with the electronic file, wherein the index comprises the first value and a second value.

Some electronic systems, such as computer systems and similar processor-based equipment, may produce or store electronic files on an ongoing basis. Typically, these files are "indexed," such as by way of a file name or other information distinguishing the file from others. Thus, a particular file may then be retrieved by using its unique index, such as a file name, to identify and locate the file. While some computers and similar systems often rely on a user to supply the index or file name for each file generated as a result of the actions of the user, other files may be generated automatically upon normal operation of the system, making the naming of the files by a user unrealistic. In other cases, even if the files are generated as the result of user interaction, the number of files being generated may either be too numerous or be generated too quickly to expect a user to name them all.
Some systems employ a centralized catalog system to index and track electronic files maintained on a data storage medium within an electronic system. As the catalog system typically exercises exclusive control over the files within the system, the catalog system is often able to organize the file data in an efficient and easily accessible manner to allow quick retrieval of each file. However, scenarios exist in which the integrity of a centralized catalog system is difficult to maintain, such as where exclusive control of the file data or the data storage medium cannot be guaranteed. In other situations, maintaining such a catalog system may be overly burdensome or undesirable.

Automated indexing of electronic files and file folders


An inkjet printer includes a conveyance unit, a recording head, a sealing unit, and a carrier unit. The conveyance unit conveys a recording medium in a conveyance direction. The recording head includes plural recording portions. Each recording portion has plural ejection ports for ejecting ink. The recording portions partially overlap each other if viewed in the conveyance direction, when the recording head is located at a recording position where the recording head performs record with respect to the recording medium. The sealing unit is disposed in a region outside the conveyance unit. The sealing unit includes plural sealing portions each of which seals the ejection ports of each recording portion. The sealing portions are arranged in the conveyance direction. The carrier unit carries the recording head in a carrying direction between a sealing position where each sealing portion faces the ejection ports of each recording portion and the recording position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inkjet printer, and particularly relates to an inkjet printer, which can be miniaturized.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet printer having two line-type recording heads obtained by splitting recording heads into a recording head for black ink and a recording head for color inks is known as disclosed in JP-A-2002-59559. The two recording heads of the inkjet printer are formed to be large enough to extend all over the paper width-direction range, and disposed in parallel in the conveyance direction of the paper. Cap members for reducing evaporation of the inks in the recording heads are disposed in parallel to the recording heads in the conveyance direction of a recording medium. The cap members are formed to be large enough to extend all over the paper width-direction range correspondingly to the dimensions of the recording heads, respectively.


A coil carrier (1) comprising of an U shaped plastic profile has material thickness which fulfills dielectric strength requirements between the primary (2)and secondary winding. The outside applied primary ribbon turns (2) are bridging the gap of the U coil carrier. The inside fixed wound ferrite rod (3) is located close to the bottom of the U profile. The internal volumes at the closed side of the coil carrier (5) are already filled with glue. The remaining volume inside the ignition transformer can later easily been filled with encapsulating material through shown remaining penetration interstices between the primary turns (4) and two openings at the beginning and the end of the long rod ignition transformer (T) when finally being potted together with the ignition circuitry (C) in the housing (H) in one common process step.

Existing ignition transformers are manufactured separately as single components and in a separate production process step before they are subsequently applied in igniter devices later.
Such an ignition transformer already has its full dielectric strength before its further production application. Its assembly mostly consists of a simple tube in which an insulated ferrite rod, carrying a secondary coil layer, is telescoped in. Then the primary coil windings subsequently will be applied on the outer surface of the tube.
Since air caverns could remain inside the assembly, especially between the tube and the secondary coil, and could be ionized which results in undesired losses, this interior space must be potted completely. As a side effect this avoids leakage currents and humidity.
Therefore this ignition transformer is sealed on its bottom and then filled up with encapsulating material from its top side.
Always a potting of the ignition transformer is mandatory, before it is assembled in a device.
Commonly ignition transformers have only one cylindrical or rod shaped ferrite core and therefore have an open non captured outer magnetic field. Rod shaped long coils with an open outer magnetic field have an undefined coupling in terms of an ideal transformer where the transmission ratio could be easily calculated.
Therefore at long rod ignition transformers it is advisable to understand the transformer as a sequential connection of small single transformer sections in series. Under this aspect it is mandatory to evenly distribute all primary ribbon turns as well as all secondary turns along the full size of the rod. This is a major difference to short segmented coil bobbin ignition transformers.
Unfortunately, therefore it is also mandatory to insulate the primary from the secondary windings of the transformer over the full length.
Besides adequate insulation it also must be paid attention to avoid any remaining ionizable air regions between the primary and secondary coil. If the ignition transformer is constructed by means of coil formers the space between secondary winding and coil former must be filled with a liquid, which later will gelatinise or harden.
So far known tube similar coil formers had been used for long rod coils with very small space between tube inner diameter and secondary winding outer diameter. The filling with pasty potting material to displace air with subsequently hardening could only be achieved with corresponding difficulty. Correspondingly ignition transformers with small outer diameter could only be produced with difficulty.
Assignment of this invention is the improved method of manufacturing of a long rod shaped ignition transformer with small diameter.
The method is based on a coil former with a primary outer winding of an ignition transformer which is open on one side along its full length or which is also equipped with channel openings at different sides or places. Thus the penetration of the potting material into the inner sections of long ignition transformers is strongly simplified. In contrast to the cylinder form of the ferrite rod, the coil bobbin, or better, the coil carrier must not necessarily be symmetric as at or at the opened sides of the profile, a high voltage proof insulation is not provided by the coil carrier alone, but instead is provided later in interaction with the highly insulating properties of the potting material.
At the open side respectively through the openings of the coil carrier potting mass is penetrating in the inside of the ignition transformer using the interstices of the primary winding coil turns and the open side of the carrier. The ignition transformer obtains its required dielectric strength later after the common potting process inside the igniter unit case.
Without problems the encapsulating mass can penetrate through the interstices of the primary turns, because the primary winding consists of some large turn to turn spaces which are evenly distributed over a relatively large length of the ignition transformer. Even if a substantially wider flat conductive ribbon is used, there is always sufficient interstice to fill the ignition transformer without problems.
As the circuitry to drive the ignition transformer mostly as one unit has to be potted also, a major production step can be saved if the ignition transformer with its at least one open sided coil carrier is potted in combination with the ignition circuitry as a functional unit in one final process step.
By this method when the ignition transformer is potted together with the circuitry as a component within an igniter case, the coil carrier can be used to hold the inner wound ferrite rod and to fix the outer primary winding. The carrier can be kept simple, e.g. may exist just as a simple U profile. Here it does not matter if this is a rounded or a cornered U profile.
At this manufacturing step of the method attention has to be paid, so that the distance between the primary and the secondary windings at the open parts or ends of the profile is kept sufficiently large that the potting material can provide enough insulation and there is no danger of a direct contact or short due to accidental deforming caused by unwanted touching during assembly.
It will be very helpful if the ferrite rod, wound with the secondary spiral winding of the ignition transformer, is fixed inside with glue mass at the bottom side (opposite to the open side) of the U profile coil carrier. By this means getting out of place can be avoided, and in addition potting through the openings oriented to the sides is further improved.

Method of manufacturing a long rod shaped ignition transformer integrated in an igniter unit


The coupling structure of fuel cells according to the present invention comprises a body and a plurality of channels. A first fuel cell is adapted on a first side of the body; a second fuel cell is adapted on a second side of the body. The plurality of channels penetrates through the first and the second sides. Each of the channels connects to a fuel-guiding inlet, a fuel-guiding outlet, an oxidant-gas-guiding inlet, and an oxidant-gas-guiding outlet of the first and the second fuel cells, respectively. The coupling structure has an insulation property with a conductive module embedded used for conducting a negative terminal of the first fuel cell and a positive terminal of the second fuel cell on the first and the second sides. By means of a coupling module, the internal wires can be used for cascading or isolating the positive and the negative terminals of the two fuel cells. The coupling structure has channels for fuel (anode) and oxidant gas (cathode), used for communicating the fuel or oxidant gas while cascading two or more fuel cells. Thereby, convenience of cascading planarly fuel cells can be enhanced.

Owing to the technological developments and trends, portable products tend to be smaller and lighter. For example, mobile phones, notebook computers, camcorders, or personal digital assistants (PDAs) adopt the design concept towards lightness, thinness, shortness, and smallness. Thereby, batteries for the portable products have to be miniaturized. Due to miniaturization of the batteries, the capacity thereof is reduced. Hence, the usage time of the portable products is shortened accordingly. When using notebooks computers, mobile phones, or camcorders, low battery condition happens frequently owing to low capacity of the batteries. Besides, charging takes time, and carrying the charger is troublesome. When going abroad, it is possible that the plug specification of the charger is not compatible with the outlet.
If a portable product can free a user from the charging problems and can make the user use the portable product anytime and anywhere, its convenience will definitely enhance. However, the capacity of current lithium batteries has approached theoretical limits, thus they are difficult to meet the power demand of future portable products. With diversification in functions of portable products, the power demand increases rapidly. Thereby, it is needed urgently a novel battery, which not only can maintain the design concept of miniaturization, but also can sustain long-time usage. A fuel cell has the characteristic of high energy density. Once the fuel (such as hydrogen or methanol) is supplied continuously, power can be generated uninterruptedly. Accordingly, people are interested in the application of fuel cells in power supply and backup power.
Nevertheless, the voltage of a single fuel cell is relatively low. Depending on different characteristics of fuels, the theoretical voltage of the electrochemical cells is around 1 volt, which is not applicable to electronic precuts. Thereby, multiple cells will generally be cascaded to form a battery set with suitable voltage and capacity.
FIG. 1 shows a structural schematic diagram of stacked fuel cells according to the prior art. As shown in the figure, the general cascading method is to stack the cells, and use a bipolar plate 5 as a connector to form a fuel cell stack 10. Adopting the bipolar plate 5 is more efficient, because the bipolar plate 5 itself is like a wire to connect the positive and the negative terminals, thus avoiding possible impedance increase due to wiring, and saving the volume and weight of an electrode plate.
FIGS. 2A and 2B show a side view and top view of planar fuel cells according to the prior art. As shown in the figures, planar arrangement is adopted by the prior art, and wires are used to cascade the independent single cells 15. However, in some application environments, owing to limitation imposed by space and geometry, independent single cells 15 can only be arranged planarly. Take the structure of a notebook computer for example. Because the appearance of the product is flat, stacked batteries cannot be integrated into the machine like lithium-ion batteries, but can only be connected externally and used as a backup power, which does not comply with the usage behavior of normal customers. Thereby, planar fuel cells with cascade connection are obviously an inevitable design direction in notebook computer application. This is also true for other consumer electronic products.
FIG. 3 shows a three-dimensional view of planar fuel cells according to another prior art. As shown in the figure, the current common method of cascading planar fuel cells is to secure a plurality of single cells 25 on a substrate 30. However, because the fuel is inputted from the top of the substrate 30, and the oxidant gas is inputted from the bottom of the substrate 30, thus it is convenient for the connection of the fuel pipes and oxidant gas pipes. That is to say, the negative terminals of all single cells 25 are on the top, while the positive terminals are at the bottom. Hence, when cascading a plurality of single cells 25, the wires have to be connected in the fashion of one end on the top and the other at the bottom, which makes wiring complex. In addition to complex electrical wiring, the supply of the fuel and oxidant gas is also troublesome, especially the connection of the liquid and gas pipes. Without excellent design of joints, leakage tends to occur.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a coupling structure of fuel cells, which cascades the fuel cells planarly, and simplifies wiring problems while cascading the fuel cells. Besides, the fuel and oxidant gas can be supplied conveniently. Thereby, the problems occurred in the prior art as described above can be solved.


Implementations generally relate to data transmission in networks. In some implementations, a method includes receiving a first management protocol message from a first edge device, where the first management protocol message includes first edge device information associated with the first edge device, receiver device information associated with a receiver device, and a request by the receiver device to receive multicast data. The method also includes receiving a second management protocol message from a second edge device, where the second management protocol message includes second edge device information associated with the second edge device and sender device information associated with a sender device. The method also includes enabling unicast communication between the sender device and the receiver device based on the first management protocol message and the second management protocol message.

Communication networks are widely used to provide communication between different computer systems and other electronic devices. Internet protocol (IP) packets can be sent from a device to a single recipient on a network using unicast transmission, or to a group of recipients on a network using multicast transmission. Multicast-based devices use special address assignments for simultaneously broadcasting IP packets to a large number of devices. Protocol-independent multicast (PIM) PIM and Internet group management protocol (IGMP) are a family of multicast routing protocols for IP networks that provide one-to-many and many-to-many data distribution over a local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN) or other networks such as the Internet.

Overlay IP multicast over unicast IP networks


An image editing apparatus includes an input unit configured to input a moving image stream that includes a plurality of frames, an extracting unit configured to extract a specific subject from at least one of frames included in the input moving image stream, and an image processor configured to determine whether or not to perform a mask processing to the specific subject included in the at least one frame of the input moving image stream according to a predetermined output condition which is defined based on at least an output resolution of the moving image stream to be output, and performs the mask processing to the specific subject based on the determination result.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an image editing apparatus which performs predetermined image processing on an image.
2. Related Art
Generally, privately taken still images and moving images have only been available for the person who taken the images and limited people as the family members and friends of the person. As the digital camera and the smart phone are prevailing and the information sharing service via networks such as blogs and Social Networking Service (SNS) have come into general use, individual persons have more chances to exhibit privately taken still images and moving images to unspecified number of people, which has been raising people's awareness about the privacy and the right of portrait.
As an apparatus for protecting privacy and the right of portrait, an image processing apparatus as disclosed in Japanese patent application publication JP 2000-232609 A is known, which identifies a predetermined subject in the taken images and applies a special effect such as blurring to the identified subject.
When a moving image taken by a digital camera or a smart phone is exhibited to unspecified number of people on a network through blogs or SNSs (Social Networking Services), it is desirable to easily perform the minimum necessary amount of image processing without degrading the original image quality and details while protecting the privacy and the right of portrait.
The present disclosure is directed to an image editing apparatus for editing a moving image capable of easily protecting the privacy and the right of portrait without degrading the original image quality and details, in the case where the image is exhibited to unspecified number of people on a network through blogs or the SNSs.

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


Some examples include testing of software able to render a content item on a display of an electronic device. The testing may include capturing images of rendered portions of a content item and comparing the captured images with previously obtained reference images that have been verified to be correctly rendered. The testing techniques can be applied to conversion software that converts digital content items from one format to another and/or testing of the converted content items themselves. Additionally, content presentation software that displays digital content items on an electronic device, such as by interacting with rendering software, may also be tested using a similar technique.

The continued proliferation of digital content items has led to an increase in the number and availability of such content items, as well as an increase in the number and availability of electronic devices and applications used for consuming these content items. For instance, users may consume digital content items, such as electronic books (eBooks) and other types of content items, on a large assortment of different types of electronic devices and platforms. As the number of content items and different types of devices for consuming content items continues to increase, enhancing the user experience while consuming these content items can be beneficial for both the user and the provider of such content items.

Testing conversion and rendering of digital content


A method for detecting operational issues in a beam pump unit includes receiving sensor data representing a position of and a load on the beam pump unit, using a sensor coupled to the beam pump unit, generating a surface dynacard based on the sensor data, predicting a source of inefficiency in the beam pump unit based at least in part on the surface dynacard using a machine learning algorithm, and identifying one or more corrective actions to take to address the source of inefficiency.

Beam pumps are used to provide artificial lift in wells, allowing producing of hydrocarbons from the wells. The method is popular because of its simplicity, reliability, and applicability to a wide range of operating conditions. However, beam pumps are prone to inefficiency from a variety of issues that can be difficult to diagnose. Well shutdowns caused by delayed equipment diagnostics may result in lost production and health, safety, and environmental (HSE) issues. The ability to identify beam pumping operating conditions may thus enhance oil well profitability over the long-term.
Accordingly, beam pump operation is sometimes monitored using sensors. For example, beam pumps include a polished rod that is moved up and down, so as to pressurize the well as part of the downhole system. The load on the polished rod, e.g., at the top, where it extends above the well, may be measured by a load cell between the carrier bar and the polished rod clamp, which form the connection between the polished rod and the surface pumping components. The position of the stroke (e.g., vertical position of the polished rod) is measured by a position indicator. Position can also be checked by a one-point pickup as the crank driven by the prime mover for the pump passes a sensor during the pumping cycle.
A plot of the position of the polished rod versus the load on the polished rod is called a dynamometer card or "dynacard." When the measurements forming the dynacard are taken at the surface, the dynacard is called a "surface dynacard." Surface dynacards have the advantage of being relatively easy to compile, because the data is measured at the surface. However, operators and engineers are often more interested in the conditions downhole.
Accordingly, the "wave equation" was developed to relate the surface dynacard to downhole conditions. By using the wave equation, the dynamic load responses in the rod assembly that connects the surface unit to the downhole unit can be filtered out, thus allowing the downhole conditions to be inferred from the surface conditions. However, there remains a high degree of uncertainty associated with such wave equation calculations, as the surface system is not being evaluated, but rather its dynamic response to the downhole environment during operation is evaluated to infer details of the downhole environment itself. Furthermore, the wave equation generally calls for a detailed knowledge of the structure of the well and the beam pump, which varies between wells. As such, separate calculations are performed for each well, which limits the general applicability of systems that employ the surface dynacard via the wave equation as between different wells.

Automated beam pump diagnostics using surface dynacard


An electrically actuated shifting mechanism includes a reversible rail select electric motor and a reversible in-gear electric motor. Three groups of switches are provided to effect one-at-a-time operation of the motors with a center group of switches being used to effect operation of either the rail select or the in-gear motor and to determine the direction of operation of the motor. In one embodiment of the invention, the motor control circuitry also controls the operation of a main clutch motor. Four groups of switches are used to effect operation of the in-gear, rail select and clutch motors in desired directions. Pulse width modulation is used to effect simultaneous and out-of-phase operation of the in-gear and main clutch motors.

This invention relates to the controlling of the operation of a plurality of electric motors and more specifically to controlling the operation of a plurality of electric motors used in association with a vehicle transmission.
A known shifting mechanism for use in association with a vehicle transmission is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,881 issued Oct. 17, 1989 and entitled "Electrically Actuated X-Y Shifting Mechanism". This shifting mechanism is easily connectable to and is compatible with shift bar housing assemblies of normally manually actuated mechanical transmissions without modification thereto. The shift mechanism provides for automatic or semi-automatic shifting of the otherwise substantially standard, normally manually shifted, transmission. This known shifting mechanism includes a rail select electric motor which is used to select a desired shift rail and an in-gear electric motor which is utilized to effect movement of the shift rail to engage or disengage a jaw clutch associated with the selected shift rail.
The electrical circuitry for controlling the operation of the rail select and the in-gear electric motors has previously included control circuitry having four switches for each electric motor. Two of the control switches associated with an electric motor are used to effect forward operation of the electric motor. The other two switches associated with the electric motor are used to effect reverse operation of the motor. Switches used to control the operation of either motor must be capable of conducting relatively large currents required to energize the motor. The cost of the motor control circuitry can be reduced by reducing the number of switches used to control the operation of the motors.


A golf swing training apparatus to be used exclusively in the short game of golf to provide a first audible clicking sound when the golfer cocks his wrists and a second audible clicking sound when the golfer releases the club head. The training aid includes a base having a clamping mechanism for attaching the apparatus to the end of the grip of a golf club and a click generating mechanism including a spring having a free end which engages an actuator during the cocking of the wrist and flexes to generate the first audible click and again the second audible click when the flex of the spring relaxes during the release of the club head.

It is very important for a golfer to perfect the golf swing in order to produce the proper flight and control of the golf ball. This is particularly true in the short game of golf, that is, the game where a golfer is executing a shot from 100 yards or less into the green. Statistics have indicated that approximately 75% of the game of golf is played as the short game. It is well known in executing a golf swing that the wrist cock of the golfer during the backswing sets the club at the proper position which is then to be held until the club is released at the time of impact of the club head with the golf ball. If the club head is not released at the proper time, then the execution of the golf shot is much less than what is desired by the golfer. It is recognized that there are many golf swing training aids in existence in the prior art, however, it is believed that the predominant number, if not all, of these golf swing training aids are directed to executing a full golf shot. There is, therefore, a need for a golf swing training aid that is exclusively directed to assisting the golfer in the short game.


An electronic device and a method are disclosed. The electronic device includes a sensor, a memory, a processor, and a communication interface. The sensor is configured to detected vibrations of a burner system including any component of a burner system. The memory is configured to store the detected vibrations. The processor is configured to record the detected vibrations caused by the burner system at a predetermined time interval. The processor is also configured to generate a report of the recorded vibrations caused by a burner component to indicate the operational status of the burner, wherein the generated report includes at least two recorded vibrations. The communication interface configured to transmit the generated report.

Industrial process control and automation systems are often used to automate large and complex industrial processes. These types of systems routinely include sensors, actuators, and controllers. The controllers are often arranged hierarchically in a control and automation system. For example, lower-level controllers are often used to receive measurements from the sensors and perform process control operations to generate control signals for the actuators. Higher-level controllers are often used to perform higher-level functions, such as planning, scheduling, and optimization operations. Human operators routinely interact with controllers and other devices in a control and automation system, such as to review warnings, alarms, or other notifications and make adjustments to control or other operations. Various sensors and valves provide control to the automation system, and when a valve or sensor fails various issues can occur to the automation system.
A gas burner is a device that produces a controlled flame by mixing a fuel gas such as acetylene, natural gas or propane with an oxidizer such as the ambient air or supplied oxygen and allowing for ignition and combustion. The flame is generally used for the heat it produces. A gas burner consists of a combination of parts that may include a combustion air blower, burner body, air and fuel intakes, control valves exhaust stack or outlet and safety shut off valves. Other components may be present in gas burners used for different purposes. Faulty operating conditions in any of these parts may cause the burner to malfunction.
A vibration sensor can provide the first clue that there is an issue with operation of a piece of equipment. There are at least two important aspects of vibration that are to be considered. The monitoring of vibrations and the performance of maintenance based on sensor data to avoid future issues. Excessive vibrations often indicate present or imminent hardware failure in moving parts such as pressure regulator diaphragms, motors, control valves, and the like. In non-moving parts, changes in the frequency of vibrations often indicate current or imminent hardware failure, as hardware failure causes changes in part geometry which in turn causes the fluid moving though the part to generate different vibration frequencies.

Burner health monitoring using vibration sensing


Biofeedback training can materially reduce the frequency and/or severity of seizures in sufferers from epilepsy, notably those resistant to treatment by way of therapeutic drugs. By training sufferers to decrease their galvanic skin response, which generally corresponds to an increase in vigilance or awareness, it is found that after such training, the frequency or severity of seizures is reduced, and in particular that by recollecting the training sessions, some patients can reduce the severity of, or avoid, an impending epileptic seizure.

The effects of epilepsy in sufferers vary widely, the only common feature being the occurrence of epileptic seizures, which are characterised by convulsions and, in severe cases, loss of consciousness. The frequency and severity of such occurrences varies very widely, however, as does the ability of sufferers voluntarily to control them, or to detect an impending occurrence.
The potential dangers of such occurrences have led to very substantial efforts being made to find a cure, or if not a cure then palliative or alleviative measures, for treating epilepsy, and there is a very substantial body of research which has been carried out, which has led to an ability to treat epilepsy in many sufferers, though the effectiveness of such treatment tends also to vary widely.
A large range of synthetic therapeutic drugs is available which affect epilepsy sufferers in different ways. In a substantial proportion of cases, improvements in the management of epilepsy for an individual patient can be achieved, but this tends to be accompanied by considerable side effects and accordingly drug-based management of epilepsy is not seen as a universally positive form of treatment. Indeed, around 30% of all epilepsy sufferers have a resistance to the drugs known for such treatment.
It has long been known that the occurrence of epileptic seizures, and their strength and frequency, correlate with mental state, and accordingly treatment programmes for an individual sufferer may well include mental training or conditioning as well as the physical administration of therapeutic drugs. A number of biofeedback approaches have been suggested for the management of epilepsy. These include different electroencephalographic (EEG) frequencies, cortical potentials and peripheral activity such as respiration (Sterman and Friar, 1972, Suppression of seizures in an epileptic following sensorimotor EEG feedback training. Electroenceph Clin Neurophysiology 33, 89-95; Sterman and McDonald, 1974, Biofeedback training of the sensorimotor electroencephalogram rhythm in man: Effects on epilepsy, Epilepsia 15, 395-416, Finley et al 1975 Reduction of seizures and normalisation of the EEG in severe epileptic following sensorimotor biofeedback training: Preliminary study. Biol. Psychol 2, 189-203; Lubar and Bahler, 1976, Behavioural management of epileptic seizures following EEG biofeedback training of the sensory motor rhythm. Biofeedback Self Regul. 1, 77-104, Fried et al, 1984, Behavioural control of intractable idiopathic seizures: 1. Self-regulation of end-tidal carbon dioxide. Psychosom Med 46, 315-31, Tozzo et al, 1988, EEG biofeedback and relaxation training in the control of epileptic seizures, Int J Psychophysiol 6, 185-94, Fried et al, 1990, Effect of diaphragmatic respiration with end-tidal CO2 biofeedback on respiration, EEG, and seizure frequency in idiopathic epilepsy, Ann NY Acad Sci 602, 67-96; Rockstroh et al, 1993, Cortical self-regulation in patients with epilepsy, Epilepsy Res 14, 63-72, Kotchoubey et al, 2001, Modification of slow cortical potentials in patients with refractory epilepsy: a controlled outcome study. Epilepsia 2001; 42: 406-16).
The following details of two investigations will illustrate the invention:
Pilot Clinical Trial
Three epilepsy sufferers were available, all experiencing at least two or three seizures a month, and having a history of no or poor response to anti-epileptic drug therapy, and who were not apparently suffering from mental illness.
Baseline seizure frequency was measured and recorded for three months. At the beginning of the fourth month, the three sufferers took part in biofeedback training sessions three times a week using apparatus as described in WO 93/02622, and with an animation sequence programmed into tho PC showing a fish swimming to left or right against a background scene. All three were asked by being alert to try to make the fish swim to the right, preferably without making physical movements, and without closing their eyes. The thrice-weekly sessions were carried out for four weeks and then discontinued. Throughout the time, and for the following three months, a record of seizure occurrences was kept for all three.
It was found that the seizure frequency was clearly reduced in the case of two of the three sufferers, though no significant change was found in the case of the third.
Wider Clinical Trial
This study sought to investigate the effects demonstrated by the pilot, but on a larger scale to provide same reliability. It was designed as a randomized control trial and carried out using the standard procedures for such trials. To start with, a group of drug refractory epilepsy sufferers was set up. The conditions of entry to the group were that the sufferer had to be between the ages of 16 and 60,to have suffered epileptic seizures for two years or more and at a rate of at least two to three seizures per month, and to have been on stable medication. Eighteen epilepsy sufferers who met these criteria were asked to participate in a seven month experiment to test a new treatment and, on giving informed consent, were randomly assigned to a group which was to receive actual GSR feedback and a group which was to act as a sham control group.
A preliminary analysis following the random allocation of the eighteen sufforers into a group of ten and a group of eight demonstrated that the two groups could be considered essentially identical, i.e. there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups, both showing a spread of age and severity and type of their epileptic condition.
Each of the participants kept a seizure diary for three months to establish baseline seizure frequency and then each was trained in biofeedback techniques (or exposed to sham biofeedback) over twelve sessions spread over a period of one month. The thrice-weekly sessions each lasted 30 minutes and in each case the sufferer was reminded of the task they were set, which was to make the computer-generated animation of a swimming fish move in a particular direction. In the case of ten of the sufferers, they were genuinely able to influence the movement of the fish on the screen by varying their alertness causing a change in GSR, this being achieved using a commercial biofeedback programme and its associated electrodes and sensors available commercially from Ultrasis UK Limited under the designation Inner Tuner.
Those of the other group in the sham control group were given the same instructions as those in the other group, but the screen display shown to each of them was a pre-recorded animation sequence where the movement of the fish was random. None of the sufferers in the sham control group gave any indication of realizing that they were in that group, although none actually experienced any reduction in seizure frequency during the period of the twelve sessions. In contrast, six of the ten sufferers in the group exposed to genuine biofeedback experienced a reduction in seizure frequency before the end of the twelve sessions to 50% or less of their baseline frequency.
Thereafter, all 18 sufferers kept a seizure diary for a further three months and, at the end of that period, the data was collected from the diaries and analysed.
On analysing the data at the end of the seven month trial, there was a substantial difference in seizure reduction between the groups. In the group which received genuine biofeedback, there was a statistically significant decrease in seizure frequency. Of the ten patients in that group, six showed more than a 50% reduction in seizure frequency, the mean percentage change being −49.26%. Two patients even became virtually seizure free.
In contrast, in the sham control group of eight patients, there was no statistically significant reduction in the seizure frequency. These results are shown graphically in FIG. 1.
It is particularly noteworthy that, in the case of six of the individuals, there was a good response to treatment over the seven month period and this is shown in FIGS. 2-7.