A method including providing a connector having a plurality of signal contacts and non-signal contacts. A circuit trace element is provided to be disposed within the connector. The circuit trace element has a ground structure. The circuit trace element has at least two non-signal traces, a first one of the non-signal traces being electrically connected to the ground structure by a connection within the circuit trace element and a second one of the non-signal traces being connectable to the ground structure through a separate electrical component. The second non-signal trace may serve to power an active signal conditioning element within the second connector or, in the absence of the active signal conditioning element, may be connected to the ground structure through the separate electrical component.

It is well known that signals that are transmitted over a cable will degrade with regard to their initial characteristics. This degradation may depend on several factors, such as the length of the cable over which the signals are transmitted or the frequency of the signals being transmitted.
To account for this degradation behavior, signals are manipulated to improve the overall quality of the transmitted signal. In a simple approach, manipulation of the signals is achieved by using passive compensation. In this approach electronic circuits comprising passive components such as resistors, capacitors and inductors are used. These passive components may be applied on e.g. a device board or printed circuit board (PCB's). Alternatively, the passive components can be applied in a connector assembly at the side intended to mate with the device board for transmitting the signals.
However, in many circumstances passive compensation is inadequate to maintain the quality of the transmitted signals at the required level. This may e.g. be the case if the length of the cable that transmits the signals exceeds a certain limit. In such a case, active compensation is required. Active compensation is a known technique for manipulating signals. Electronic circuits, performing active compensation tasks, are conventionally applied at the device board. The power for such an electronic circuit for performing these compensation tasks is acquired from a power source on the device board.
Since it is not known beforehand what type of cable, with respect to e.g. the cable length, is going to be connected to the device board, the prior art approach is to apply an active compensation circuit on the device board to allow any connection of any type of cable. This approach is rather inefficient and expensive.

Connector system for connecting a first part and a second part, connector assembly and device board


An umbrella includes: a central shaft, and a rib assembly respectively pivotally secured to an upper notch formed on a top of the central shaft and to a runner slidably held on a guiding sleeve disposed about the central shaft; with the guiding sleeve integrally formed with a resilient protrusion on the sleeve; and the runner having a socket formed in the runner for engaging the resilient protrusion for opening the umbrella, and a sloping portion inclined upwardly inwardly from the socket for thrusting the resilient protrusion inwardly for disengaging the runner from the resilient protrusion on the guiding sleeve when lowering the runner for closing the umbrella, thereby omitting the lateral depression operation by inwardly depressing a spring catch of a conventional umbrella and thereby enhancing a safe, quick, and ergonomic operation for closing the umbrella.

A prior U.S. patent application entitled "Umbrella Having Safety Runner and Strength-enhanced Shaft Tube" filed on Jul. 22, 2002 with patent application Ser. No. 10/199,171 (which is now allowed) by the same applicant of the present invention provides a safety runner (3) having a shoulder portion (34) engaged with a catch portion (53) of the spring catch (5) secured on the umbrella shaft when opening the umbrella, and upon depression of the push button (4) to disengage the shoulder portion (34) from the catch portion (53), the runner (3) may be lowered for closing the umbrella.
However, when raising the runner (3) for opening the umbrella, the umbrella user (or operator) may always grasp the runner (3) by his or her hand uncarefully to simultaneously depress the push button (4) inwardly, thereby retarding the engagement of the catch portion (53) with the shoulder portion (34) in the runner (3) and thereby being unable to open the umbrella.
The present inventor has found the drawback of the prior art and invented the present umbrella for reliably operating the umbrella.

Umbrella operatively closed by directly pulling runner downwardly along a guiding sleeve


A control system comprising a control input device having a movable magnet, a pole-piece frame arrangement positioned about the magnet and positioned therein at least two magnetic flux sensors for sensing movement of the magnet in a given direction. The control system further comprises a monitoring arrangement for monitoring the output signal of each of the sensors and permits the input device to control the system only when the output of the sensors are within a predefined range. This multiple sensing provides a fail-safe in the event that one of the sensors generates an erroneous signal.

This application claims priority to Great Britain Application No. 0417668.1, filed Aug. 6, 2004. The above-listed application is hereby incorporated in its entirety herein by reference for all purposes.
The present invention relates to a control system and more particularly to a joystick type control system, and particularly to such systems utilizing magnetic positional sensing used in safety critical human/machine control interfaces.
Various uses for joystick control systems, such as the present invention, include wheelchairs, forklift trucks or other man-carrying vehicles, and control of machines such as cranes, robots or other industrial equipment where a dangerous situation could exist in the event of a control system failure. In such a system, dual joystick position sensor channels may be used, and the outputs compared to one another continuously. This ensures that if there is a problem with one of the sensor channels, the error is picked up due to a mismatch in the outputs at the 2 channels. If a discrepant output (differential beyond a predetermined threshold) occurs, the control system rapidly and safely disables the system.
The force with which a user operates the controller and, to a lesser extent, manufacturing tolerances, can result in the joystick shaft shifting in position translationally in the three orthogonal directions (x,y,z). Due to such tolerances and the fact that the primary and back up sensor in each fail-safe pair cannot occupy exactly the same position in space, the outputs from the sensors in the pair will differ slightly and allowance must be made for this when setting the tolerance threshold. The sensors are typically programmable, allowing each pair to be calibrated to provide a zero difference in output from each sensor of the pair, under normal operating conditions. However, if the threshold is too small then the monitoring system may indicate a malfunction, creating false errors referred to as nuisance trips in the art.
Alternatively, the sensors in each pair could be arranged to provide outputs having opposite sense. In such an implementation, the output of one sensor of the pair could be arranged to provide a positive output, and the other sensor of the pair could be arranged to provide a negative output. However, in both arrangements, the sum of the outputs of the sensors in a given pair, or their mean, is required to be a constant to within the tolerance threshold.
For joystick systems of the magnetic sensing type, it is necessary to measure the angular position of the joystick shaft (and therefore the magnet) without introducing errors due to the linear motion of the magnet in the three orthogonal directions. There is thus a need for an improved control system.


A medication management system (MMS) includes a medication management unit (MMU) associated with a medical device. The MMU downloads a medication order to the medical device only if information from a first input matches information from a second input. The medical device receives delivery information only from the MMU. The medication order is performed only after delivery data validation. The MMU also determines drug-drug incompatibility. The MMU can modulate (start, stop, and dynamically adjust) medication order performance. The medical device wirelessly receives a patient ID to automatically associate with the patient. During delivery, the medical device caches an updated drug library to replace an existing one. The medical device displays a patient picture for validation. The MMU evaluates the performance of medical devices and caregivers based medical device feedback. The MMU adjusts the output of medical device information conveyed to a caregiver.

The present invention relates to the field of delivering medication to patients, more particularly to an integrated system for maximizing patient safety and caregiver productivity for medication delivery.
Modern medical care often involves the use of medical pump devices to deliver fluids and/or fluid medicine to patients. Medical pumps permit the controlled delivery of fluids to a patient, and such pumps have largely replaced gravity flow systems, primarily due to the pump's much greater accuracy in delivery rates and dosages, and due to the possibility for flexible yet controlled delivery schedules. However, modern medical devices, including medical pumps, can be complicated and time-consuming for caregivers to program. Medical facilities struggle to provide appropriate caregiver staffing levels and training while holding down the cost of medical care. Human errors in pump programming and other medication errors can have adverse or even deadly consequences for the patient.
Therefore, a principal object of this invention is to provide an integrated medication management system that reduces the risks of medication error and improves patient safety.
A further object of the invention is to provide a medication management system that improves caregiver productivity.
Another object of the invention is to provide a medication management system that improves the accuracy of the medication delivery process by eliminating labor-intensive tasks that can lead to human errors.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a medication management system that relies on an electronically-transmitted medication order and machine readable indicia on the drug container, patient, and medication delivery device to insure the "five rights" of medication management, i.e., that the right medication is delivered to the right patient through the right route in the right dosage at the right time.
Another object of the invention is to provide the caregiver with a pass code or machine-readable indicia to insure that only an authorized individual caregiver can initiate a medication order and that an authorized caregiver must confirm the medication order prior to its administration to the patient.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a medication management system wherein the medical device receives delivery information electronically only through a medication management unit.
Another object of the invention is to provide medication management system wherein the medical device is preprogrammed and executes the medication order only after a user has validated delivery data.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a medication management system wherein the physical location of a medical device can be determined and pinpointed based on the last access node used by the medical device.
Another object of the invention is to provide a medication management system for adjusting a patient-specific rule set based on new patient conditions and/or recent lab results.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a medication management system for determining drug-drug incompatibility between two medication orders for concurrent delivery (to the same patient at the same time) and/or in an unacceptably close time sequence.
Another object of the invention is to provide a medication management system for remotely sending an order or information to the medical device to modulate a planned or ongoing medication order and delivery thereof to the patient.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a medication management system for automatically associating a medical device with a patient based on wireless transmission of a patient ID to the medical device, thereby establishing a patient area network.
Another object of the invention is to provide a medication management system for caching an updated drug library at the medical device to replace an existing drug library, during execution of a medication order.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a medication management system for displaying a picture of the patient on a device within the system, such as at the medical device, for a caregiver to perform a visual validation of the right patient.
Another object of the invention is to provide a medication management system for evaluating the performance of multiple medical devices based on information from the multiple medical devices.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a medication management system for evaluating the performance of one or more caregivers based on information from multiple medical devices.
Another object of the invention is to provide a medication management system for adjusting medical device output conveyed to a caregiver based on multiple factors.
These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.


The present invention is a multi-configuration table comprising a table top of four equal-area leaves capable of forming four top variations, and two base portions each having a top side with two cross members, and four legs distending therefrom, so as to define sides thereof, capable of forming several base variations.

The furniture field remains in need of improvement.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a table which is simple to store and form into numerous and widely varied configurations.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a table which can be stored in a relatively compact configuration which is also functional.
Further it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-configuration table that can be formed into multiple height, width and depth configurations.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a multi-configuration table that can be formed into numerous and widely varied configurations without the use of complex fasteners or tools.
In view of the present disclosure or through use of the present invention, other advantages may become apparent.


A method for diagnosing a fluid includes sensing a property of the fluid and the temperature of the fluid at the time the property is sensed, then determining the status of the fluid from the sensing. The sample volume may be small in comparison to the total fluid volume.

This invention is concerned with determining the condition of a fluid. A wide variety of fluids, such as lubricants, coolants, fuels, hydraulic fluids, paints and coatings, are used in many different types of machines and processes, such as aircraft, ground vehicles, ships, pumps, and manufacturing. The properties of such fluids can have a significant effect on the performance of the machine or process in which the fluid is utilized. Degradation of a fluid property can cause the system to operate at less than optimum efficiency or can even cause catastrophic failure and unscheduled downtime. Degradation of the mechanical and chemical properties of a lubricating fluid, for example, and the cleanliness of the lubricant, are all well known factors in degrading the performance of the machine being lubricated.
Consequently, the ability to accurately characterize such fluid properties can increase the efficiency of the machine or process involved. The increased efficiency can result not only in helping to extend the useful life of the machine and avoiding catastrophic failures from using degraded lubricants, but also in reducing cost through employing a lubricant for substantially all of its useful life, rather than discarding it prematurely. A common maintenance approach, for example, is to estimate the useful life of the lubricant and establish a fixed replacement interval for the lubricant based on the estimate. This practice, however, typically results in replacement of lubricants that have substantial remaining useful life. By contrast, the approach can also occasionally result in considerable damage to a machine or system when a lubricant experiences an unusually short lifetime and degrades before the fixed replacement interval has been reached.
For these reasons, it is desirable to be able to determine the current health and condition of a fluid and to also have the capability to predict the remaining useful life of a fluid.
A variety of techniques are known in the art for monitoring the properties of fluids. Some of these techniques, however, require observations to be made over a relatively long period of time in order to establish a trend in the fluid properties. Other techniques are too qualitative to produce data that can accurately characterize the fluid properties. In addition, some of these approaches, such as extracting a sample from the fluid and transporting the sample to a remote location for chemical analysis, are excessively time consuming and expensive.
Therefore, a need has developed in the art for a fluid diagnostic technique which can be performed locally on a small sample of the fluid, and which imposes minimal or no interference with the operation of the associated machine or process. Moreover, it would be advantageous to provide such a technique capable of fully evaluating the fluid to the point of failure.

Thermomechanical sensor for fluid diagnostics


A communications system is provided for emergency services personnel that includes a plurality of portable devices and a base station. The portable devices are configured to be carried by emergency services personnel while at an emergency site. The portable devices each have a first transceiver configured to communicate over a first network and a second transceiver configured to communicate over a second network, where the first and second networks operate independent of one another. For example, they may have at least one of different first and second carrier frequencies, protocol, channels and the like. The base station has at least one transceiver for communicating with the portable devices over at least one of the first and second networks. Optionally, the first and second networks may have different transmission characteristics, such as different transmit ranges, power levels and the like.

The present invention relates generally to a network and communication system used by emergency personnel and more particularly to a dual mesh network and communication system for use therewith.
Firefighter or other first response personnel systems with combination location/tracking, electronics and sensor monitoring indoors/outdoors are very helpful in emergencies. It is very desirable for an incident commander to be in contact with his/her personnel and to monitor their location, the electronic sensors and electro-mechanical equipment they carry with tracking capabilities at the scene of an emergency. Conventional systems have relied on personnel arriving at the scene of an emergency and deploying temporary stationary transceivers, such as beacons, repeaters and antennas inside and outside a building or structure in order to relay information to a central base station. The deployment of these stationary transceivers is necessary to relay information to/from personnel in the building. Further, the stationary transceivers are sometimes used to triangulate the personnel's location.
However, stationary transceivers are large, heavy and require large amounts of power. Additionally, stationary transceivers, once deployed, are difficult to recover or find after the emergency is over, because stationary transceivers are typically lost or destroyed by the firefighters, emergency, or military personnel on the scene. Further, deployment of such stationary transceivers is time consuming and is often not practical under typical emergency circumstances.

Dual-mesh network and communication system for emergency services personnel


The present disclosure discloses a PCB winding transformer and a coil board thereof. The PCB winding transformer comprises a coil board and a magnetic core. The coil board includes a primary coil and a secondary coil. The primary coil and the secondary coil are wound around a magnetic core column of the magnetic core. At least two via holes which correspond to the primary coil and the secondary coil respectively are disposed in the coil board. In the primary coil and the secondary coil, the via hole corresponding to the coil with less turns is disposed between an inner side of the coil with more turns and the magnetic core column.

Transformer design is always a key point for a switching mode power supply.
In recent years, with the increasing demand for higher power density, high frequency has become a development trend of the switching mode power supply, thus the design of the transformer becomes more important, since the leakage inductance of the transformer has more influence on the efficiency of the switching mode power supply with high frequency.
Compared with conventional winding type transformer, PCB winding transformer can usually achieve smaller size and less leakage inductance. The structure of the PCB winding transformer may still be further optimized to reduce leakage inductance, thus improve the efficiency of the switching mode power supply with high frequency.

PCB winding transformer and coil board thereof


A machine assembly includes a housing in which a shaft element is rotatably supported by a bearing assembly, the bearing assembly including two tapered roller bearings which are preloadable against each other and having at least one bearing outer ring and first and second bearing inner rings. The first bearing inner ring includes, in one of its axial end regions, a sleeve-shaped extension formed directly from the material of the first bearing inner ring, which sleeve-shaped extension directly contacts an end side of the second bearing inner ring.

Such machine assemblies are used, for example, in motor-vehicle rear-axle differentials that have a pinion shaft supported in a housing. In these assemblies, the two tapered roller bearings are held at a defined spacing using spacer sleeves. It is important for the proper functioning of such an assembly that the two tapered roller bearings (usually positioned in an O-arrangement) be adjusted as precisely as practicable to a predefined axial preload. If the axial preload is too low, gear meshing problems can result, and this can lead to an increased noise level and increased gear wear. Too high a preload, on the other hand, leads to greater bearing friction, which manifests itself in, among other things, increased fuel consumption.
During a running-in or breaking in period of a machine or vehicle, various parts of the machine or vehicle may shift or adjust slightly as they settle into their final operating configuration. This may occur, for example, due to smoothening effects of the components involved, and this settling in may be noticeable in various fitted joints in a bearing assembly or machine assembly. After machine or vehicle start-up, (after the break-in period) a not-insignificant portion of an originally-set bearing preload may be lost over time due to this settling.
Since users tend to prefer reduced noise and wear to low friction, bearing preloads are often set to be higher than necessary. Accordingly a bearing preload is set higher than the expected preload decrease (preload loss following an initial period of operation); the consequently higher bearing friction is taken into account until the vehicle is "worn in." However, since the actual settling does not always correspond to the estimated expected amount of settling, the bearing assembly sometimes operates with an excess preload over the entire service life of the bearing. This disadvantageously results in an ongoing high level of friction and a higher-than-necessary fuel consumption.


A device for identifying a line reversal signal and a ringing signal of a telephone set having a built-in ringing detection circuit includes a counter, a comparator and a latch connected with each other in series. The device can determine whether a signal on line is the line reversal signal or the ringing signal of the telephone set without using an installed CPU or a timer thereof, so as to save power and reduce the load of the CPU.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for identifying line reversal/ringing signals of a telephone set, more particularly, to an identifying device for discriminating the line reversal signal and the ringing signal of the telephone set without using a CPU installed in the telephone set.
2. Description of Related Art
Currently, a telephone set or an answering machine usually with a function of discriminating a caller's ID has a built-in CPU to support main and additional functions. The CPU is transferred to a sleep mode to save power when the telephone set is not in use. A conventional method to identify a signal transmitted on line utilizes the CPU of the telephone set in cooperation with a built-in ringing detection circuit thereof to determine if the signal is a line reversal signal or a ringing signal. However, by such a method, the CPU must be transferred from the sleep mode to an operation mode, so that the load of the CPU is increased and excessive power is consumed.
Another conventional method utilizing a timer, which involves use of a clock signal, also consumes a lot of power.

Device for identifying line reversal/ringing signal of a telephone set


A plastic drinking container and holding stand for maintaining a heated beverage at a suitable elevated drinking temperature includes a thin metallic cup-shaped insert having a positive temperature coefficient (PTC) ceramic heater affixed to the bottom wall thereof. An electrically non-conductive plastic sleeve encapsulates the insert and ceramic heater and has a thick outer shell with a thick bottom providing good thermal insulation characteristics and a film-like inner shell permitting rapid heat transfer from the metal insert to the beverage in the container. A pair of electrical contact pins extend into a linear groove on the bottom of the container for mating with spring contacts located between a pair of linear guides at the top of the holding stand and adapted to be received in the linear container groove. An upstanding tab on the stand engages a recess in the container groove to positively restrain the container against movement when mounted on the stand.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrically heated container that accepts and thermally maintains a heated beverage when placed onto its mating holding stand.
2. Background Art
Hot beverages, such as coffee, are often consumed by people who drive to their destinations. Traffic delays and long traveling distances quickly convert an enjoyable warm beverage into a cold distasteful liquid. The heat of the beverage is given up to the ambient surroundings in what amounts to be a short period of time.
Prior art devices include insulated beverage receptacles and hot plates or warmers. Insulated receptacles simply prolong the heat dissipation process. They can elongate the period in which the beverage is considered enjoyable, but cannot maintain the original elevated beverage temperature. Hot plates introduce heat through the external bottom area of an insulated receptacle. This hot plate type of heating, however, is not effective in even heat distribution throughout the beverage.
In addition, they not only warm the bottom portion of the container, but also limit the type of container that can be placed onto them. Certain plastics and other low melting receptacle materials will deform or melt when they come in contact with a hot plate.
Therefore, a necessity exists in the art for an electrically heated beverage container to directly introduce heat to an already hot beverage contained therein.


A food cutting utensil, (e.g., a rotary pizza cutter) includes a disc and a handle that are selectively connectable together. The disc has a first side, a second side and a central through bore that is substantially aligned with an axis of the disc. A rim projects from the first side of the disc about the through bore. The handle has a first portion for being gripped by a hand while being used as a cutting utensil, and a second portion for rotatably supporting the disc. The second portion has a first arm and a second arm. The first arm has an axially projecting hub that is received in the through bore when the handle is connected to the disc.

a. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a food cutting utensil. More specifically, the present invention relates to a food cutting utensil, such as a rotary pizza cutter, that is formed of a handle and a disc that are selectively snapped together.
b. Discussion of the Related Art
A manual rotary pizza cutter is a well known and common household utensil. These utensils have the cutting disc permanently rotatably connected to a handle, for example, by a rivet connection. However, these relatively expensive, non-disposable tools are not always readily available at every residence, office or place where a pizza is being consumed. Thus, there is a need for an inexpensive, disposable rotary pizza cutter that may be included with each pizza that is delivered to a consumer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,031 to Maultasch et al. discloses a combined pizza box lid support and cutter. In Maultasch""s tool, the cutting disc also serves as a xe2x80x9cpizza saverxe2x80x9d, which is used to prevent the lid of the box from contacting a pizza contained within a pizza box. Once the pizza arrives at its destination, the xe2x80x9cpizza saverxe2x80x9d is removed from the box and a handle is snapped about a shaft of the cutting disc. This connection is relatively insecure, flimsy and is inherently unstable. Thus, during use, the device is ineffective as a cutting utensil because the cutting disc may wobble with respect to the shaft. In some instances, the shaft may separate from the cutting disc. Additionally, while this device is disposable, it is relatively expensive to manufacture because the cutting disc is made unitary with the pizza saver. Further, storing the utensil requires a relatively large amount of room because the pizza saver is rather bulky.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an inexpensive, disposable rotary pizza cutter that has a reliable and secure rotatable connection between the handle and the disc.
There is a further need for a rotary pizza cutter that can be stored in minimal amount of space.
Currently, there are no rotary pizza cutters that satisfy these needs. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a food cutting utensil that satisfies these needs.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention that demonstrates various features, objects and advantages thereof, is directed toward a food cutting utensil that includes a disc and a handle that are selectively connectable together. The disc has a first side, a second side and a central through bore that is substantially aligned with an axis of the disc. A rim projects from the first side of the disc about the through bore. The handle has a first portion for being gripped by a hand while being used as a cutting utensil, and a second portion for rotatably supporting the disc. The second portion has a first arm and a second arm. The first arm has an axially projecting hub that is received in the through bore when the handle is connected to the disc.
In accordance with the present invention, the food cutting utensil is assembled by connecting the disc to the handle by sliding the disc between the first arm and the second arm until the hub is received within the central through bore.

100 United Nations Plz., 327 E. 48th St., Apt. 38A


A paper size determination device comprises a paper sensor for detecting paper passing a preset position on a feeding path and generating a detection signal, and a processing circuit for measuring the generation period of the detection signal supplied from the paper sensor and determining the paper size according to the generation period measured. The processing circuit of the determination device includes a step counter for measuring and holding time data on the generation period of the detection signal, in response to the detection signal generated from the paper sensor, a mode counter circuit for detecting that the step counter has completed the measurement and generating a measurement completed mode, and a data processor for detecting that the measurement completed mode has been set and determining the paper size according to the time data held by said step counter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper size determination device for determining the size of a sheet of paper which is actually loaded in a printing operation, for example, and more particularly to a paper size determination device for determining the size of a sheet of paper by measuring the length of time required for the paper to pass a preset position on a paper feeding path.
2. Description of the Related Art
A laser printer or a copying machine are well known examples of an electrophotographic printing device. A typical electrophotographic printing device includes a photosensitive drum serving as an image carrier, and further includes processing sections disposed around the photosensitive drum, for effecting the charging, exposing, developing, charge transferring, cleaning, and discharging operations. The photosensitive drum is rotated during the printing operation and sequentially subjected to the processes performed by the above processing sections. The charging section uniformly charges the surface of the photosensitive drum, the exposing section selectively exposes the surface to create an electrostatic latent image corresponding to image data, the developing section supplies toner to be affixed to that portion of the surface which corresponds to the electrostatic latent image, so as to convert the electrostatic latent image to a visual image, and the charge transferring section charges a sheet of paper from a paper supplying cassette and set in the charge transferring position so as to transfer the toner image on the drum to the paper. Thereafter, the paper is discharged to the exterior via a fixing section for fixing the toner image on the paper. Then, the cleaning section removes toner remaining on the drum and the discharging section removes any charges remaining thereon.
The above electrophotographic printing device is constructed such that it determines the size of a sheet of paper actually loaded on the charge transferring section during a normal printing operation. Specifically, a paper sensor is provided for detecting a sheet of paper passing a preset position on the paper feeding path, and the paper detection period is measured by a microprocessor which is used to control the entire printing operation. In order to measure the paper detection period, the microprocessor repeatedly checks the paper sensor, operates an internal timer after the paper is detected until the absence of the paper is detected by the paper sensor, and determines the paper size based on the length of the paper, which is obtained by multiplying time data derived from the timer by the paper feeding speed. For example, if a printing operation is started without it being known that the loaded paper supplying cassette does not contain sheets of paper of correct size, unwanted paper is supplied to the paper feeding path from the paper supplying cassette, at which time it is determined that the length of the paper does not correspond to the correct paper size. Consequently, it is necessary to replace the paper supplying cassette before the next printing operation is started. The microprocessor sequentially controls the processing sections to create a toner image on the photosensitive drum, for example, in addition to checking the paper sensor. Therefore, the microprocessor must rapidly process various data necessary for each control operation so as to operate the processing sections at the proper timings. However, if the microprocessor has to check the paper sensor frequently in order to determine that the paper length is correct, this may delay the data processing operation. In order to prevent this problem from occurring, time allocation for the respective tasks must be set precisely, thus making it more difficult to create the required microprocessor program.
The conventional device uses a microprocessor having a relatively high processing ability so as to easily cope with future modifications made by software developing engineers. However, the cost of such a microprocessor including the peripheral circuits is quite high, making it difficult to manufacture the conventional device at a relatively low cost.

Device for determining paper size based on time data


An image reading apparatus for reading a document image includes: a document feeding tray for placing the document thereon; a first document reading position for reading the first face of the document ejected and conveyed each from the document feeding tray; a document reverse tray for storing the document so that the document having passed through the first document reading position is reversed and conveyed; a stationary document reading position wherein the document having passed through the document reverse tray and having been reversed and conveyed is conveyed to a platen and the stationary document is read; and an image reading unit for reading the document image. The image reading unit stops at the first document reading position to read the first face of the document, and performs scanning movement at the stationary document reading position to read the second face of the document.

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine and printer, particularly to an image forming apparatus provided with a document reading section permitting automatic reading of a two-sided document, and a method for reading a two-sided document.
In an automatic document reading apparatus, when an image formed on a document is read by the document reading section provided on the image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a plurality of documents are placed on the document feeding tray. For image formation, each document is automatically picked up and is conveyed to the document reading position. Then the documents having been read are ejected sequentially.
According to the conventional art, when reading the document having a two-sided image, the document on the first face is read at one fixed reading position, and the document is then reversed by the reversing path. After that, the document on the second face is read.
A two-sided document can be read in the following two ways: (a) the first face and second face of a document are read continuously; and (b) the first face of the Nth sheet and the second face of the (N−1)th sheet are read alternately using one reversing path.
When the method (a) is used, the first and second faces of the document are read alternately. This will result in a great loss of time in the reversing section. Reading of the first face is carried out for every other page. This requires much time to perform image formation of the copying machine in the final phase. When the method (b) is used, the first face of the Nth sheet and the second face of the (N−1)th sheet are read alternately, and efficient circulation of the documents is ensured. However, to avoid collision between the trailing edge of the previous page and the leading edge of the following page at the reversing section, the document conveyance intervals must be lengthened, and the document reading time cannot be reduced.
The Patent Document 1 describes a technique wherein a platen is provided as one fixed document reading section and the two-sided document is read according to the aforementioned method (b).
The Patent Document 2 discloses the method (a) wherein a plurality of documents are sequentially fed to one fixed reading position. After the document of the first face has been read, the document is reversed through switching back, and the second face document is then read. A reversing path is provided separately from the normal conveyance path, and the confluence between the reversing path and normal path is located upstream of the reading position, with the result that the method (b) can also be utilized.
[Patent Document 1] Official Gazette of Japanese Patent No. 3122156
[Patent Document 2] Official Gazette of Japanese Patent No. 2758811

Image forming apparatus and reading method of two-sided document

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


A light source device, comprising a light guide block that is provided with an inner wall capable of reflecting light and is shaped as a hollow component to form a light guide, and a point light source array that is located opposite one end face of the light guide block and is capable of emitting light into the light guide.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projection-type liquid-crystal display device such as a light source device used in a projector, and particularly to a compact light source device suitable for use in a compact projector.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional practice, projectors in which images on liquid-crystal display elements are magnified, projected, and displayed are configured such that a single liquid-crystal display element is illuminated by a metal halide lamp from behind, and the image displayed by the liquid-crystal display element is magnified and projected by a projection lens.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Applications (Kokai) 62-237485, 3-75737, and 8-111107 describe inventive structures in which a metal halide lamp or a halogen lamp are used as the light source, and light emitted by this light source is transmitted through a hollow light-guide structure and directed toward a liquid-crystal display element.
The above-described prior art, however, involves using a lamp as the light source, and is limited in the degree to which the size of the light source as such can be reduced. It is thus difficult to reduce the size of the projector as a whole. Portable communication terminal devices have appeared in recent years, dispensing with the need to project images to dimensions in excess of 60 inches with such projectors. It is proposed, for example, that the size of a projected image be reduced to about 10 or 20 inches. At this size of a projected image, a light-emitting element (light-emitting diode, semiconductor laser, etc.) or the like can be used as the light source, making it possible to design very small projectors.
Light-emitting elements and other miniature light-emitting devices are substantially point light sources, and it is therefore difficult to uniformly illuminate a liquid-crystal display element having a given surface area. An attempt to line up a plurality of light-emitting diodes and to illuminate a wide surface area ultimately yields an assembly of point light sources, resulting in a nonuniform distribution of light intensity in a two-dimensional plane.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application 10-123512 discloses projector technology in which the light source is made up of a two-dimensional array of light-emitting diodes. Light from the light-emitting diodes is converted to planar light by microlens array (an array of lens elements formed in conformity with the light-emitting diodes) in order to allow light radiated by the light-emitting diodes (point light sources) to be directed toward light-crystal display elements in an efficient manner.
Such microlens arrays are disadvantageous, however, in that the lens action along the border between adjacent lens elements becomes weak as a result of manufacturing errors or the like, making it difficult to create uniform illumination light.
According to another arrangement, which is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application 9-73807, the optical axis can be cured 90° to guide the light, but a technique has yet to be found that would allow the optical axis of a point light source top advance in a straight line, yielding planar light.

Light source device, optical device, and liquid-crystal display device


A signal processor includes: a first adaptive filter that takes a first signal as input and generates a first pseudo signal; a first subtractor that subtracts the first pseudo signal from a second signal to supply a first differential signal as output; a second adaptive filter that takes the first signal as input to generate a second pseudo signal; a second subtractor that subtracts the second pseudo signal from the second signal to supply a second differential signal as output; a first step size control circuit that generates a first step size used in updating the first adaptive filter in accordance with the relation between the second pseudo signal and the second differential signal; and a second step size control circuit that generates a second step size used in updating the second adaptive filter in accordance with the relation between the first signal and the second signal.

Speech signals received from a device such as a microphone or handset are subjected to speech encoding or a speech recognition process. Background noise signals mixed with these speech signals pose a serious problem when implementing speech encoding or speech recognition in a narrow-band speech encoder having a high degree of information compression, a speech recognition device, or the like. Two-input noise cancellers employing adaptive filters are disclosed in References [1] to [9] and [23] as signal processors directed toward eliminating thus acoustically superposed noise components.
A two-input noise canceller operates by using an adaptive filter, which approximates the impulse response of the path (noise path) which is traveled by a noise signal that has been applied as input to the reference input terminal until the signal reaches the speech input terminal, to generate a pseudo noise signal corresponding to the noise signal component which is mixed at the speech input terminal, and then, by subtracting this pseudo noise signal from the received sound signal which is received as input at the speech input terminal, suppresses the noise signal. The received sound signal is a signal in which a speech signal and noise signal are mixed, this received sound signal typically being a signal that is applied as input to the speech input terminal from a microphone or handset. At this time, the filter coefficient of an adaptive filter is corrected by taking the relation between an error signal obtained by subtracting the pseudo noise signal from the received sound signal and the reference signal applied as input to the reference input terminal.
Known coefficient correction algorithms for this adaptive filter include the "LMS algorithm (Least-Mean-Square Algorithm)" described in Reference [23] and the "LIM (Learning Identification Method)" described in Reference [24].
FIG. 1 shows a representative configuration of a two-input noise canceller of the prior art. This noise canceller is provided with two input terminals 101, 102, adaptive filter 107, subtractor 111, and output terminal 113.
A signal which has undergone acousto-electrical conversion by a microphone placed close to the speaker is applied to input terminal 101. Signal XP(k) that has been applied as input is a signal in which background noise signal n(k) is mixed with the speech signal S(k) which is the object signal and can be represented by Equation (1):XP(k)=S(k)+n(k)  (1)
A signal that has undergone acousto-electrical conversion by a microphone placed at a position which is farther from the speaker than for input terminal 101 is applied to input terminal 102. If the microphone connected to input terminal 102 is in a position that is sufficiently remote from the speaker and sufficiently close to the source of noise, signal Xr(k) applied as input to input terminal 102 is equivalent to background noise signal N(k) applied as input to input terminal 101, resulting in Equation (2):Xr(k)=N(k)  (2)
Adaptive filter 107 performs a filtering operation taking as input signal Xr(k) applied to input terminal 102 and supplies pseudo noise signal R(k) as the operation result.
Subtractor 111 subtracts pseudo noise signal R(k) which is supplied by adaptive filter 107 from signal XP(k) which is applied to input terminal 101 to generate differential signal e(k), and both transfers differential signal e(k) to output terminal 113 as the output signal of the noise canceller and supplies the differential signal e(k) to adaptive filter 107 as the error signal for updating the coefficient of adaptive filter 107. Differential signal e(k) is given by the following Equation (3):e(k)=S(k)+n(k)−R(k)  (3)
Based on the error signal received as input, adaptive filter 107 uses the coefficient correction algorithm to update the coefficient of the filter. Assuming here that the LMS algorithm described in Reference [23] is employed as the coefficient update algorithm of the adaptive filter and taking wj(k) as the jth coefficient of adaptive filter 107 at time k, the pseudo noise signal R(k) which is supplied as output by adaptive filter 107 is represented by Equation (4):
                              R                                (            k            )                          =                              ∑                          j              =              0                                      N              -              1                                                                                W                j                                                          (                k                )                                      ·                                          X                r                                                          (                                  k                  -                  j                                )                                                                        (        4        )
Here, N indicates the number of taps of adaptive filter 107. The updating of the coefficient is realized according to Equation (5):wj(k+1)=wj(k)+α·e(k)·Xr(k−j)  (5)
In this case, α is a constant referred to as the "step size" and is a parameter for determining the convergence time of the coefficient and the residual error after the convergence. When step size α is large, the amount of correction of the coefficient increases and the convergence is therefore fast, but fluctuation of the coefficient also increases in the vicinity of the optimum value and the final residual error becomes great. In contrast, when the step size α is small, the time required for convergence increases, but the final residual error becomes small.
As shown in Equation (3), error signal e(k) contains speech signal S(k), and because the coefficient update operation is carried out such that e(k)=0, the coefficient update operation is not carried out such that R(k)=n(k) when S(k)≠0. As a result, speech signal S(k) has a large influence as a disturbance signal for the coefficient update operation of adaptive filter 107. To reduce the influence of speech signal S(k), step size α must be set to an extremely small value. However, as stated above decreasing the step size raises the problem of increase in the convergence time of adaptive filter 107.
As a method that takes this problem into consideration, References [10]-[19] and [25] disclose noise cancellers which implement control of the step size.
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of an adaptive noise canceller of the prior art for implementing control of step size which is described in Reference [25]. As shown in FIG. 2, this prior-art device is provided with two adaptive filters 5, 7 and uses the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio at input terminal 1 which is estimated by using adaptive filter 5 to control the step size of adaptive filter 7. Implementing control such that the step size is small when the speech signal is greater than the noise signal and the step size is large in the opposite state enables a shortening of the convergence time of adaptive filter 7 and a decrease of the distortion in the signal following noise cancellation that is transferred to output terminal 13. This noise canceller is further provided with: two delay circuits 3, 4; two subtractors 9, 11; step size control circuit 19; and S/N estimation circuit 21.
The operation of adaptive filter 5 is equivalent to the operation of adaptive filter 107 in the device shown in the previously described FIG. 1. Accordingly, the estimated value of the speech signal component from which the influence of noise in input terminal 1 has been eliminated and the estimated value of the noise signal component at input terminal 1 are supplied to S/N ratio estimation circuit 21. This input is realized because the input of S/N ratio estimation circuit 21 is the output of subtractor 9 which approximates the speech component at input terminal 1 and the output of adaptive filter 5 which approximates the noise component. The S/N ratio estimation circuit is also referred to as a signal-to-noise power relation estimation circuit.
In S/N ratio estimation circuit 21, the estimated value of the signal-to-noise ratio is found by using the estimated value of the speech signal component and the estimated value of the noise signal component which are supplied thereto. The signal-to-noise ratio found in S/N ratio estimation circuit 21 is supplied to step size control circuit 19, and the thus-obtained step size is supplied to adaptive filter 7.
In contrast to adaptive filter 107 of FIG. 1, the input signal to adaptive filter 7 is the signal supplied to input terminal 2 delayed by delay circuit 4. Similarly, the signal supplied from input terminal 1 to subtractor 11, in contrast to subtractor 111 of the circuit shown in FIG. 1, is a signal that has been delayed by delay circuit 3. Delay circuits 3, 4 produce a delay of the same time interval, and are configured such that the noise cancellation realized by adaptive filter 7 is applied to signals realized by delaying the signals supplied to input terminals 1, 2 by the same time interval. The delay time which is produced by delay circuit 3 and the delay time which is produced by delay circuit 4 are set to a time interval that is at least the delay time resulting from the calculation of estimated values by S/N ratio estimation circuit 21. Subtractor 11 subtracts noise similar to subtractor 111 of the device shown in FIG. 1 and transfers the output to output terminal 13.
The configuration of S/N ratio estimation circuit 21 can be represented as shown in FIG. 3. S/N ratio estimation circuit 21 is composed of averaging circuits 14, 15 and operation circuit 16. Averaging circuit 14 is supplied with the estimated value of the speech signal component, calculates the average value of the estimated value of the speech signal component, and delivers the average value of the estimated speech signal. Similarly, averaging circuit 15 is supplied with the estimated value of the noise signal component, calculates the average value of the noise signal component, and delivers the average value of the estimated noise signal. The outputs of averaging circuits 14, 15 are both supplied to operation circuit 16. Operation circuit 16 uses the average value of the estimated speech signal component and the average value of the estimated noise signal component which are supplied from averaging circuits 14, 15 to find the estimated value of the average signal-to-noise ratio and supplies this value as the first signal-to-noise ratio.
Averaging circuits 14, 15 calculate the average power E(k) from time k-L to time k. If Y(k) is the input signal, the average power E(k) is given by Equation (6):
                              E                                (            k            )                          =                              1            L                                                        ∑                              i                =                0                            L                                                                  Y                2                                                          (                                  k                  -                  i                                )                                                                        (        6        )
Equation (7) may also be used in place of Equation (6):E(k)=γ·E(k−1)+(1−γ)·Y2(k)  (7)where γ is a constant that satisfies the relation 0<γ<1.
Step size control circuit 19 supplies adaptive filter 7 with the step size that has been calculated based on the first signal-to-noise ratio that has been found by S/N ratio estimation circuit 21.
If the first signal-to-noise ratio at time k is SNR1(k), step size control circuit 19 receives SNR1(k) as input and calculates step size α1(k).
α1(k) is found as the value of function f1(x) that implements monotone decrease at SNR1min<SNR1(k)<SNR1max. In this case, SNR1min and SNR1max are constants satisfying the relation SNR1min<SNR1max.
This relation can be represented by Equations (8a) to (8c):α1(k)=α1max (SNR1(k)<SNR1min)  (8a)α1(k)=f1(SNR1(k))(SNR1min≦SNR1(k)≦SNR1max)  (8b)α1(k)=α1min (SNR1(k)>SNR1max)  (8c)In addition, α1min and α1max are constants satisfying the relation α1min<αmax.
The monotone decrease function f1(x) can be represented by, for example, Equations (9a) to (9c).f1(x)=−A·x+B  (9a)A=(α1max−α1min)/(SNR1max−SNR1min)  (9b)B={α1max+α1min+A·(SNR1max+SNR1min)}/2  (9c)
According to the noise canceller described in Reference [25], second adaptive filter 5 can be used to estimate the signal-to-noise ratio at the speech input terminal and thus control the step size of first adaptive filter 7 such that the step size is small when the signal-to-noise ratio is large and the step size is large in the reverse situation. As a result, operation is enabled that mitigates the influence of the disturbance signal.
Nevertheless, when the signal supplied to input terminal 2 has not been collected at a position which is sufficiently remote from the speaker, signal XR(k) which is applied as input to input terminal 2 is a signal in which speech signal s(k) is mixed with background noise signal N(k) as shown in Equation (10), and a component having a correlation with speech signal s(k) appears in the output of the adaptive filter. As a result, not only does distortion occur in the signal which is transferred to output terminal 13, but error also occurs in the speech signal component which is supplied to S/N ratio estimation circuit 21.XR(k)=N(k)+s(k)  (10)
As noise cancellers that take this problem into consideration, References [20], [21] and [26] disclose noise cancellers which employ adaptive filters approximating the impulse response of the path taken by a speech signal until the signal reaches the reference input terminal. FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the noise canceller described in Reference [26].
The noise canceller shown in FIG. 4 is a device in which adaptive filters 6, 8, subtractors 10, 12, step size control circuit 20, and S/N ratio estimation circuit 22 have been added to the noise canceller shown in FIG. 2. In this noise canceller, a signal which corresponds to the speech signal that leaks to input terminal 2 is generated by adaptive filter 8, and the result of subtracting the output of adaptive filter 8 from the signal which is supplied to input terminal 2 is supplied to adaptive filter 7, where the disturbance of the speech signal which leaks to input terminal 2 is reduced. Adaptive filter 6 and S/N ratio estimation circuit 22 controls the step size of adaptive filter 8 in accordance with the same principle of the noise canceller shown in FIG. 2. In the device shown in FIG. 4, in contrast with the device shown in FIG. 2, the input signal to adaptive filter 7 is, an estimated value of the noise signal component from which the influence of speech has been removed. This result is obtained because the input of adaptive filter 7 is the output of subtractor 12 which approximates the noise component at input terminal 2. Similarly, in contrast with the device shown in FIG. 2, the input signal of adaptive filter 5 is the output of subtractor 10 in the device shown in FIG. 4.
The input signal of adaptive filter 8 is an estimated value of the speech signal component from which the influence of noise has been removed. This result is obtained because the input of adaptive filter 8 is the output of subtractor 11 which approximates the speech component at input terminal 1. Adaptive filter 8 performs a filtering operation on the signal supplied from subtractor 11 and supplies first pseudo speech signal as the operation result. Similarly, the input signal of adaptive filter 6 is the output of subtractor 9. Adaptive filter 6 performs a filtering operation on the signal supplied from subtractor 9 and delivers a second pseudo speech signal as the operation result.
Subtractor 12 subtracts the output of adaptive filter 8 from the output of delay circuit 4 and both supplies the result of subtraction to adaptive filter 7 and transmits the result to adaptive filter 8 as an error signal for updating the coefficient. Subtractor 10 subtracts the output of adaptive filter 6 from the signal supplied to input terminal 2 and both supplies the result of subtraction to adaptive filter 5 and transmits the result to adaptive filter 6 as an error signal for updating the coefficient.
An estimated value of the noise signal component from which the influence of speech at input terminal 2 has been removed and an estimated value of the speech signal component at input terminal 2 are supplied to S/N ratio estimation circuit 22. This is because the input of S/N ratio estimation circuit 22 is the output of subtractor 10 which approximates the noise component at input terminal 2 and the output of adaptive filter 6 which approximates the speech component. The configuration of S/N ratio estimation circuit 22 is equivalent to the configuration of S/N ratio estimation circuit 21 which was explained using FIG. 3. Accordingly, S/N ratio estimation circuit 22 uses the estimated value of the speech signal component and the estimated value of the noise signal component that have been supplied to find the estimated value of the signal-to-noise ratio, and supplies the result to step size control circuit 20 as the second signal-to-noise ratio.
Step size control circuit 20 supplies adaptive filter 8 with a step size that has been calculated based on the second signal-to-noise ratio that has been found in S/N ratio estimation circuit 22.
If the estimated value of the second signal-to-noise ratio at time k is SNR2(k), step size control circuit 20 receives SNR2(k) and calculates step size α2(k).
α2(k) is found as the value of function f2(x) that causes monotone increase at SNR2min<SNR2(k)<SNR2max. In this case, SNR2min and SNR2max are constants satisfying the relation SNR2min<SNR2max. This relation can be represented by Equations (11a) to (11c).α2(k)=α2min (SNR2(k)<SNR2min)  (11a)α2(k)=f2(SNR2(k))(SNR2min≦SNR2(k)≦SNR2max)  (11b)α2(k)=α2max (SNR2(k)>SNR2max)  (11c)
α2min and α2max are constants satisfying the relation α2min<α2max.
The monotone increase function f2(x) can be represented by, for example, Equations (12a) to (12c).f2(x)=C·x+D  (12a)C=(α2max−α2min)/(SNR2max−SNR2min)  (12b)D={α2max+α2min−C·(SNR2max+SNR2min)}/2  (12c)
According to the noise canceller described in Reference [26], adaptive filter 8 is used to estimate the speech signal that leaks to the reference input terminal and this estimated value is subtracted in a subtractor to enable a reduction of the disturbance due to the speech signal that leaks to input terminal 2. In addition, the use of adaptive filter 6 to estimate the signal-to-noise ratio at the reference input terminal enables control of the step size of adaptive filter 8 such that a large step size is used when the signal-to-noise ratio is large and a small step size is used in the reverse situation to enable operation that reduces the influence of the disturbance signal.
The reference documents cited in this description are listed below:    [1] JP-A-H09-36763    [2] JP-A-H08-56180    [3] JP-A-H06-284491    [4] JP-A-H06-90493    [5] JP-A-H09-181653    [6] JP-A-H05-75391    [7] JP-A-H05-158494    [8] JP-A-H05-22788    [9] JP-A-S61-194914    [10] JP-A-20004494    [11] JP-A-2000-172299    [12] JP-A-H11-27099    [13] JP-A-H11-345000    [14] JP-A-H10-3298    [15] JP-A-H10-215193    [16] JP-A-H09-18291    [17] JP-A-H08-241086    [18] JP-A-S62-135019    [19] JP-A-S61-194913    [20] JP-A-H10-215194    [21] JP-A-H08-110794    [22] JP-A-H11-502324    [23] Bernard Widrow et. al, "Adaptive Noise Canceling: Principles and Applications," PROCEEDINGS OF IEEE, VOL. 63, NO. 12, 1975, pp. 1692-1716    [24] Jin-ichi Nagumo and Atsuhiko Noda, "A Learning Method for System Identification," IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, VOL. 12, NO. 3, 1967, pp. 282-287    [25] Shigeji Ikeda and Akihiiko Sugiyama, "An Adaptive Noise Canceller with Low Signal Distortion for Speech Codec," IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON SIGNAL PROCESSING, VOL. 47, NO. 3, 1999, pp. 665-674    [26] Shigeji Ikeda and Akihiko Sugiyama, "An Adaptive Noise Canceller with Low Signal Distortion in the Presence of Crosstalk," IEICE TRANSACTIONS ON FUNDAMENTALS, VOL. E82-A, NO. 8, 1999, pp. 1517-1525    [27] David G. Messerschmitt, "Echo Cancellation in Speech and Data Transmission," IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, VOL. SAC-2, NO. 2, 1984, pp. 283-297    [28] John J. Shynk, "Frequency-Domain and Multirate Adaptive Filtering," IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, VOL. 9, NO. 1, pp. 14-37, 1992


An electrical junction box or mounting assembly includes a box having a top wall and a side wall. The side wall extends downwardly away from the top wall and defines a cavity therein. A supplemental fixture support is disposed in the cavity. A dimple is provided in the top wall, and the supplemental fixture support engages the dimple. A threaded hole may be provided on the supplemental fixture support. The supplemental fixture support may be a rivet. Preferably, the supplemental fixture support is sufficiently smooth for preventing wear to plastic-coated electrical wire which engages exposed surfaces of the fixture support.

Consumers, updated National Electrical Codes (NEC), and Underwriter Laboratories (UL) requirements all require that electrical boxes be made stronger than in the prior art.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to overcome the drawbacks of known electrical boxes.
A further object of the invention includes making electrical boxes which use the standard punched-out, stamped electrical boxes in a more intelligent fashion.
Yet another object of the invention is to take out the radius of a standard industry size electrical box so that a support screw for supporting a fixture can be located the proper distance from a second support screw to meet National Electrical Code (NEC) standard.
Another object of the invention is to eliminate the problem of the upper radius of between the top wall and side wall of electrical boxes that prevents support studs for supporting fixtures from being fitted next to the inside face of such side wall.
Another object of the invention is to achieve a strengthened electrical box with a supplemental support within a standard so-called "4.times.4" box, while maintaining the near universal 3.5 inch (8.9 cm) spacing between the fixture supports so that the box is usable with standard light fixtures, ceiling fans, and the like.
It is likewise an object of the invention to provide supplemental metal inserts in the electrical boxes to enhance the carrying strength of the electrical boxes.
A further object of the invention is to provide studs in the electrical boxes that strengthen the electrical boxes.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide studs in the electrical boxes which cover the threads of standard screws so that, no screw threads are present in the interior of such electrical boxes.
A still further object of the invention is to provide an electrical box having a supplemental support with a sufficiently smooth exterior for preventing wear to the plastic coating of plastic-coated electrical wire.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide electrical boxes in which added supports, such as studs, are added during the manufacturing process to eliminate problems in prior art electrical boxes, as well as to strengthen the inventive electrical boxes.
Another object of the invention is to provide a junction box having a supplemental support, yet which requires no welding during assembly thereof.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a electrical box having components which are easily fabricated, added to the electrical box, and assembled in the final form by the operation of screwing or riveting, yet which do not loosen when subjected to static and/or dynamic loading.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a junction box in which the supplemental support for carrying static and dynamic loads automatically engages the side walls of the junction box during assembly and/or in use thanks to the use of cutouts in the top wall thereof and/or thanks to the auxiliary support being configured for engaging the side wall thereof when the auxiliary support is attached and located in its attached, final form ready for use.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a junction box in which the supplemental support for carrying static and dynamic loads automatically engages the side walls of the junction box during assembly thanks to the use of dimpling in the top wall thereof and thanks to the supplemental support being configured for engaging the side wall thereof when the auxiliary support is attached and located in its attached, final form ready for use.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a junction box capable of carrying static and/or dynamic loads having an auxiliary support and that is assembled with fewer parts and with fewer steps than known devices.
It is a yet further object that all the above be carried out with an electrical box which carries the load of supported static and dynamic fixtures better than known electrical boxes.
In summary, the present invention is directed to an electrical junction box or mounting assembly which includes a box having a top wall and a side wall. The side wall extends downwardly away from the top wall and defines a cavity therein. A supplemental fixture support is disposed in the cavity. A dimple is provided in the top wall, and the supplemental fixture support abuts the dimple. A threaded hole may be provided on the supplemental fixture support. The supplemental fixture support may be a rivet. Preferably, the supplemental fixture support is sufficiently smooth for preventing wear to plastic-coated electrical wire which engages exposed surfaces of the fixture support.
These objects and advantages as well as others will be readily apparent from a review of the following description and drawings.
The drawings show a variety of embodiments of the invention, as will be clear from reading the description below.
It is important to note that the use of relative terms such as "up" and "down", and "left" and "right" is for convenience only and is not intended to be limiting.

Electrical box with supplemental support for carrying fixtures


An optical interferometer and an ultrasonic distance measuring subsystem are used to obtain spectra from the surface of a sample. The interferometer uses a broadband electromagnetic radiation source and modulates the radiation at a frequency which is inversely proportional to wavelength. The modulated radiation impinges on the surface of interest where it is absorbed. The absorption of radiation causes the surface of the sample to expand. This change in dimension is then detected by the ultrasonic distance measuring subsystem which employs a single frequency acoustic radiation source to measure the instantaneous distance between the sample surface and the ultrasonic distance measurement subsystem. The detected changes in distance relate to amplitude of absorption at a given wavelength, thereby allowing absorption spectra for surface point to be generated indicating the chemical composition of each point of the surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical spectroscopy and more particularly to the optical spectroscopy of a surface of a sample.
2. Description of Related Art
Absorption and transmission spectra of a sample can be obtained using electromagnetic radiation for the purpose of identifying chemical types. Certain spectral regions are of greater use than others. The spectral regions of greatest use are those in which chemical species contained within the sample absorb radiation at characteristic wavelengths. The absorbed radiation can be detected directly, re-emitted by the sample or cause the sample to fluoresce. Spectroscopic measurements of absorption, emission and fluorescence using infra-red, visible and ultra-violet light are widely used for sample analysis. Unfortunately, many of these techniques are not well suited to applications where the sample has rough surfaces. Radiation is scattered by rough surfaces thereby making measurement of reflection or transmission difficult. Techniques requiring transmission through a sample are difficult or impossible using opaque samples.
One technique which has proved useful for the spectroscopic analysis of rough surfaces is Photo-Acoustic Spectroscopy. With this technique, a monochromatic light source is chopped to create a pulsed light source. The pulsed light is directed to impinge on the surface of the sample. The pulsed light is at a wavelength which is absorbed by the sample, causing a periodic heating of the surface which in turn causes the surface to expand and contract. This movement generates sound waves which propagate through the gas above the surface and are detected by a sensitive microphone. Spectra of the surface are generated by varying the wavelength of the incident radiation. Unfortunately, the detection efficiency of Photo-Acoustic procedures is low with respect to other optical analysis methods, and thus the technique is not easily applied to small samples.
Presently there is a need for an analytical system capable of detecting the optical spectra of selected chemical types for samples having rough surfaces, with high sensitivity.

Spectroscopic imaging system with ultrasonic detection of absorption of modulated electromagnetic radiation


An apparatus for video decoding and de-interlacing contains a video decoder for decoding video data to generate decoded video data of a next picture; a storage device coupled to the video decoder, the storage device having four frame buffers for buffering the decoded video data of the next picture into one of the four frame buffers according to data stored in the frame buffers; an interlace/progressive converter coupled to the storage device, for de-interlacing data stored in the frame buffers to generate corresponding progressive video data; and a controller coupled to the video decoder and the interlace/progressive converter, for controlling data access of the video decoder and the interlace/progressive converter to the frame buffers of the storage device.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method and an apparatus for video decoding and de-interlacing, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for video decoding and de-interlacing utilizing a shared storage device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
MPEG2 is a standard that has been proposed for the digital encoding of video signals. MPEG2 allows for signals to be encoded on either an interlaced or progressive basis.
The term interlaced is used to refer to image data that is represented using, e.g., two alternating image fields. One field of an interlaced video frame normally corresponds to the odd lines of pixels in the frame with the other field corresponding to the even lines of the frame. During display, the lines of one field are scanned, e.g., output to a display device. The lines of the second field are then scanned, so that they are interlaced on the display device with the lines of the first field. In this manner, when interlaced images are displayed, odd and even lines of image data are updated on an alternating basis.
In the case of progressive display, image data is displayed sequentially, e.g., starting at the top left corner of an image proceeding to the bottom right corner. Thus, in the progressive display case, the lines of an image are displayed or updated on a sequential basis without lines being skipped.
In a series of progressive video display, the positioning of the horizontal display lines is consistent from image to image. Accordingly, each newly displayed progressive image normally will completely replace the previous image on a display assuming that the images are the same size. In the case of interlaced video display, each frame includes two fields which correspond to spatially different, e.g., horizontal odd and even lines, of a display device. Accordingly, in the case of interlaced images, each field updates only a portion of the displayed image. Because fields of an interlaced image normally correspond to images at different times, merely combining fields 1 and 2 of an interlaced frame can cause blurring and other image distortions when motion is present. For this reason, conversion of interlaced images to progressive images normally involves some form of motion detection and the application of processing which is a function of detected motion.
Presently video images are usually encoded to be displayed as interlaced video. Unfortunately, most recent display devices such as monitors for computers and projectors are designed to display progressive display images.
The ability to efficiently convert between interlaced and progressive image formats continues to increase in importance due, in part, to the ever increasing use of computers. Notably, when television scenes or other data represented as interlaced images are to be displayed on a progressive display, they normally first have to be converted into progressive image data.
High speed memory is normally used in video processing applications which convert between image formats. This is so that real time, or near real time, processing of video data can be achieved. While the cost of memory has dropped considerably in recent years, memory still remains a significant cost component of many image and video processing systems. This is because a relatively large amount of memory is normally required for video applications. In consumer applications and other applications where cost is a concern, it is desirable to minimize the amount of memory required to implement an image processing system or device.
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a video display system 100 according to the prior art. The video display system 100 comprises an MPEG2 decoder 110 receiving MPEG2 coded video data streams from a video source (not shown), for decoding the video data to generate decoded video data. In order to execute the decoding function with the decoder 110 smoothly and efficiently, a first memory is coupled to the decoder 110 for video frame buffering. The video display system 100 then comprises an interlaced display unit 125 coupled to the first memory 120. The interlaced display unit 125 is capable of processing decoded image data stored in the first memory 120 for further displaying on an interlaced display (not shown). The video display system 100 also comprises an interlaced/progressive converter 130 coupled to the interlaced display unit 125 for de-interlacing interlaced image data from the interlaced display unit 125 to generate corresponding progressive video data and outputting the converted video data to a progressive display (not shown) for further displaying. Again, in order to execute the de-interlacing function with the converter 130, a second memory 140 is also coupled to the converter 130 for video frame buffering.
For the prior art decoder 110 to perform the decoding function towards different types of video frames, such as I picture frames, P picture frames (together called reference picture frames), and B picture frames, the first memory 120 usually contains storage space for buffering at least three video frames (i.e., six fields). For the interlaced/progressive converter 130 to perform motion detection and as a result switch between intra-field and inter-field interpolation, the second memory 140 then requires storage space for buffering two video frames (i.e., four fields). As a whole, to properly execute designed functions of the prior art video display system 100, the system 100 requires a storage capacity of at least five video frames.
The prior art interlaced/progressive converter 130 usually can perform motion-adaptive de-interlacing operations with video information incorporating not more than four video fields due to the limited storage space of the second memory 140. That is, for each presently displaying frame, switching between intra-field and inter-field interpolation is based on video information of at most four video fields. It is not applicable for the prior art video display system 100 to perform motion-adaptive de-interlacing operations based on an even larger number of fields in order to acquire a more precisely predicted display result.
As can be seen in FIG. 1, operations of the prior art video display system 100 involve data exchange between the first memory 120 and the decoder 110, between the first memory 120 and the interlaced display unit 125, and also between the second memory 140 and the interlaced/progressive converter 130. Therefore a total memory bandwidth requirement of the prior art video display system 100 is considerably large. This is conventionally not desirable for video display system design.
In order to reduce the cost as well as memory bandwidth requirement of video systems that perform decoding and conversion operations, there is a need for methods and an apparatus which allow for a reduction in the amount of memory required to implement such systems. In addition, in order to perform more well-referenced motion-adaptive de-interlacing operations, methods and an apparatus capable of such functionality is also desired. It is desirable that any new methods and apparatus be suitable for implementation in computer systems as well as televisions sets, set top boxes, and other video applications.

Method and apparatus for video decoding and de-interlacing


At the time of starting movement as well as at the time when a crawler type tractor, e.g., a bulldozer for performing a dosing operation and a ripping operation is held in a three-point grounding state, an output from an engine (10) is automatically reduced further from a normal cut-off state, whereby an operator is not required to depress a deceleration pedal (13). Consequently, a burden to be borne by him can be reduced substantially.

Generally, a crawler type tractor, e.g., a bulldozer or the like vehicle runs such that an output from an engine installed on the vehicle is transmitted to sprockets via a power line comprising a torque converter, a speed changing unit, bevel gears, a steering clutch, a steering brake and a final speed reduction unit and thereby track shoes extending round the sprocket wheels are driven.
On the other hand, a target engine speed of the engine on the crawler type tractor is set to a predetermined value by a throttle lever. Once the target engine speed is set, an output torque generated by the engine is controlled to reach the target engine speed by controlling a quantity of fuel to be injected. Usually, the crawler type tractor is equipped with a deceleration pedal so that the engine output can be reduced to a value corresponding to an extent of depressing of the deceleration pedal which has been depressed by an operator.
Tractive power generated by the engine during running of the crawler type tractor is related to a shoe slip rate representative of shoe slip appearing between the track shoes and the ground surface. As the shoe slip increases, the tractive power increases correspondingly, until the shoe slip rate reaches a predetermined limit value. However, if the shoe slip rate exceeds the predetermined limit value, the track shoes are uselessly caused to slip with the result that an engine output from the engine on the crawler type tractor fails to be effectively utilized as a tractive power. This leads to not only loss of energy but also wear of the track shoes within a short period of time.
Hitherto, e.g., when shoe slip occurs due to increased load during a soil heaping operation with the use of a blade or during a ripping operation with the use of a ripper unit attached to the bulldozer, an operator senses an occurrence of shoe slip and depresses the deceleration pedal to reduce the engine output. At the same time, he actuates a working unit actuating lever to alleviate the engine load to lower the tractive power. In other words, a problem arising due to an occurrence of shoe slip has been heretofore eliminated by the aforementioned complicated actuations which require a highly trained skill.
However, since a controlling operation for adequately compensating the shoe slip by an operator's actuation has been performed by sensing of the shoe slip, depressing of the deceleration pedal with his foot and actuating of levers for working units with his hand, he feels complicated and moreover he is required to pay close attention to his actuations. In practice, since he reduces an output from the engine after an occurrence of shoe slip, it is unavoidable that the shoe slip lasts for a certain period of time. In addition, some operators often cause useless slip due to careless inattention. In this case, it may be impossible to completely prevent an occurrence of such shoe slip. Particularly, when the bulldozer collides against a hard rock-bed during a ripping operation, the result is that the rear part of a vehicle body is raised up without piercing of a ripper into the rock-bed so that the bulldozer is brought in a three-point grounding state wherein the vehicle body comes in contact with the ground surface at three points, two of them being located at the fore parts of both crawler belts and the other one being located at the foremost end of the ripper. Once the vehicle is held in the three-point grounding state, an apparent load is reduced and a vehicle speed increases in excess of a required one. Consequently, the ripper can be pierced into the rock-bed only with much difficulty or it cannot be pierced into the rock bed any more. In such case, it is impossible to release the bulldozer from the three-point grounding state, unless an operator depresses the deceleration pedal to reduce an output from the engine.
In addition, the vehicle has a low shoe slip rate and receives a small magnitude of load at the time of starting movement thereof. Thus, it is natural that a vehicle speed increases in excess of a required one, whereby the ripper is incorrectly pierced into the rock-bed during a ripping operation. Therefore, there arises a problem that a long period of time is required until the ripper is pierced into the rock bed by a predetermined depth. To eliminate this problem, an operator is required to depress the deceleration pedal to reduce a vehicle speed even at the time of starting movement of the vehicle. However, so as to allow the vehicle speed to be adequately raised up via a very low speed, a low speed and an intermediate speed, he should be trained to a considerably high level. This is because if he is an untrained operator, he will not be able to properly deal with the aforementioned malfunction and inconvenience.
In general, with such a crawler type tractor as described above, while a transmission is held in a neutral state, the engine is fully rotated, unless an operator depresses the deceleration pedal. For this reason, to save fuel cost, he is required to depress the deceleration pedal at every time when the vehicle starts its running, while the transmission is held in the neutral state. In a case where he depresses the deceleration pedal after starting movement of the vehicle or at the same time as the starting movement of the vehicle, the engine speed decreases immediately due to an inertia of the engine, resulting in quick starting movement of the vehicle being achieved. Thus, another problem is that correct actuation of the deceleration pedal is absolutely necessary, e.g., to perform a ripping operation at a certain fixed location.
The present invention has been made with the foregoing background in mind.
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for controlling an output from an engine installed on a crawler type tractor wherein an operator is not required to actuate a deceleration pedal during a ripping operation and a three-point grounding state of the vehicle due to incapability of piercing of a ripper into a hard rock-bed.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for controlling an output from an engine installed on a crawler type tractor wherein while a transmission is held in a neutral state, an engine speed is automatically reduced to a predetermined one to save fuel cost and prevent quick starting movement of the vehicle.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for controlling an output from an engine installed on a crawler type tractor wherein the vehicle can continuously run for a certain operation at an acceptable shoe slip rate without necessity for actuating the deceleration pedal.

Apparatus for controlling output from engine on crawler type tractor

c/o Kabushiki Kaisha Komatsu Seisakusho, Osaka Works, 3-1-1, Ueno


The present disclosure provides a tessellation data processing method, system, medium and vector graphics processing device. The method includes: constructing a data structure including a content table and information tables in memory; when a vector line generated by tessellation intersects an horizontal/vertical line to obtain a new intersection, reading an address and number of Xnodes or Ynodes of an information table in the content table corresponding to a row/column corresponding to the Y/X coordinate of the intersection; according to the address of the information table and the number of X/Ynodes of the information table, reading corresponding X/Ynodes from the memory; comparing information of the intersection with the X/Ynodes, and updating the X/Ynodes in the information table, or adding an X/Ynode to the information table at a position corresponding to the Y/X coordinates. The tessellation data processing method, system, medium and vector graphics processing device of the present disclosure only require recording fill information of effective intersections generated by tessellation, and do not require recording fill information of all pixels, thereby reducing memory footprint and increasing vector graphic rendering performance.

In the field of vector graphics, lines generated by Tessellation intersect a certain line parallel to the y-axis, thereby creating intersections, and data regarding the intersections need to be stored in memory. After a current vector graph is processed by tessellation, the intersection data stored in the memory is retrieved, then a coverage value of each pixel in the vector graph is calculated according to Fill Information and Position Information of the intersections, and then the entire vector graph is redrawn according to filling rules.
In the prior art, the memory used in Tessellation stores Fill Information and statistics of all the pixels of the entire vector graph, and therefore Tessellation usually generates a large amount of memory footprints.
In addition, after the entire vector graph is processed, the data structure in the existing technology requires retrieving all the data in the memory according to their corresponding positions on the vector graph, from top to bottom and from left to right, in order to find all the intersections and make filling decisions. The above memory data retrieving method has the following shortcomings:
(1) the bandwidth of the system is relatively large;
(2) it takes a long time to find the intersections, which means an increased bubble time for vector graphics filling, which seriously affects rendering capacity.

Tessellation data processing method, system, medium and vector graphics processing device

VeriSilicon Microelectronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.

VeriSilicon Microelectronics (Nanjing) Co., Ltd.


A method of manufacturing a thin-film antenna is disclosed. A substrate is provided and coated with an organic material layer. After both of the substrate and organic material layer have been dried, a conductive layer is formed on both the substrate and the organic material layer. The organic material layer and the layer thereon are then removed so that the remaining conductive layer forms a thin-film antenna.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing antenna, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing thin-film antenna.
2. Description of Related Art
An antenna is an electronic component designed to transmit or receive radio waves. Prior types of antennas include wired antenna, etched antenna, and printed antenna. The wired antenna, which is a metallic or conductive wire looped around a core to form a coil, is normally used for low-frequency electromagnetic wave transmission. Etched antenna is manufactured by using acid solution to etch metallic material such as copper or aluminum so that the etched metallic material forms the patterned antenna. The manufacture cost and the use of acid solution, however, are the main concerns that need to be considered. As the printing technique has been improving, a substrate may be printed with conductive material on its surface to form a printed antenna. Precise positioning of the conductive material on the substrate during printing is most important but yet still difficult to achieve satisfactorily.

Method of manufacturing thin-film antenna