Tools for facilitating the acceptance of personal checks and other presentation instruments. The tools, in some aspects, allow for preauthorization of a personal check (or other presentation instrument) prior to the merchant receiving the actual check, allowing a merchant, for example, to accept an order by phone, obtain details about the check that will be used to pay for the order, obtain preauthorization to accept the check, and arrange for delivery of the order. Upon delivering the order, the merchant can receive the check, and then obtain a full authorization to accept the check. The full authorization can be based primarily on the preauthorization, giving the merchant assurance that the check will in fact be authorized. In some cases, the tools of the invention also settle the check; in a particular aspect, the check can be settled without requiring the merchant to deposit the check.

In the past, most transactions for the purchase of goods and/or services were performed face-to-face, and such transactions typically were performed in a store, as opposed to at the customer's location. For example, in a typical transaction, a customer would go to a merchant's place of business (sometimes referred to as the "point of sale"), pay for the goods/services, and then either pick them up or have them delivered, as appropriate. Often, a presentation instrument, such as a personal or business check, is used as the means of payment in such transactions. In recent years, merchants have begun to utilize the services of financial transaction processors, who, inter alia, can provide check acceptance services. In a typical implementation of such a service, when the merchant receives a personal check (or other presentation instrument), the merchant obtains authorization from the transaction processor to accept the check prior to providing the goods/services to the user. The transaction processor typically will evaluate the check against a list of known fraudulent check writers, accounts used to write fraudulent checks, and/or the like. In this way, the transaction processor can provide some assurance (and, in some cases, a guarantee) to the merchant that the check will "clear" (i.e., that the customer's financial institution will honor the check).
In the modern economy, however, an ever-increasing number of transactions are performed at locations other than in the merchant's place of business and, in many cases, without face-to-face interaction (indeed, a typical transaction might take place between a merchant and a customer on different continents). Such transactions include, inter alia, telephone orders, Internet orders, and the like. Typically, such transactions will feature a payment by credit card, since it is relatively easy to provide credit card details over the phone or electronically. Many customers, however, either cannot obtain a credit card or uncomfortable with their use, for a variety of reasons (including interest charges, reluctance to borrow money, privacy and/or security concerns, and the like). For such customers, purchasing items without a face-to-face transaction can be difficult.
One solution to this problem is the traditional "cash on delivery" technique, where the user takes delivery of goods and/or services, and then provides cash to the deliverer of the goods/services. This technique, however, requires the customer to have sufficient cash on hand at the time of delivery, and it raises additional security concerns for the customer, who has to take on faith the deliverer's assurances that the cash will be returned to the merchant. As a result, many "cash on delivery" transactions actually involve the customer providing a personal or business check to the delivery person.
This "check on delivery" type of transaction, however, raises issues as well. In particular, simply by the nature of the transaction, a merchant who accepts a check on delivery typically cannot obtain the assurances of a transaction provider that the check will clear prior to delivering the goods, since the goods are delivered before the merchant obtains the check.
Hence, there is a need for more robust tools for facilitating the acceptance of checks and other presentation instruments. It would be of particular benefit for such tools to allow a merchant some assurance that a check will clear, even if the check is received by the merchant after the goods/services already have been delivered. It would provide additional benefit, in many cases, if the merchant were able to have the presentation instrument settled without having to deposit the instrument at the merchant's bank.

Personal check acceptance systems and methods


Micromechanical semiconductor sensing device comprises a micromechanical sensing structure being configured to yield an electrical sensing signal, and a piezoresistive sensing device provided in the micromechanical sensing structure, said piezoresistive sensing device being arranged to sense a mechanical stress disturbing the electrical sensing signal and being configured to yield an electrical disturbance signal based on the sensed mechanical stress disturbing the electrical sensing signal.

In applications which involve low costs and the smallest possible space requirement, such as pressure sensors, microphones or acceleration sensors, miniaturized micromechanical semiconductor sensing devices are needed.
As to such micromechanical semiconductor sensing devices, the mechanical disturbance stress acting on the device has an important influence on the electrical output characteristic. The tensions within the packaging material (e.g. mold compound) itself may be one possible reason for mechanical disturbance stress. In particular, this problem appears with different temperatures, because the mechanical disturbance stress varies strongly with the temperature.
Appropriate measures for solving this problem are not known so far.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The technical description relates to an expandable intervertebral spacer configured to engage an intervertebral disk. An example expandable intervertebral spacer includes a main body, a first endplate, a second endplate, a driving member, and an actuation member. The expandable intervertebral spacer is transitions from a first configuration to a second configuration by structural interfacing between steps defined on the first endplate, the second endplate, and the driving member. Steps include a surface that lies on a plane disposed at a non-parallel angle to the longitudinal axis of the intervertebral spacer.

Bone degeneration can be caused by trauma, disease, and natural processes, such as aging, which can have a negative impact on the lifestyle of an animal. For example, destabilization of a spine in a vertebrate, such as a human being, may result in alteration of the spacing between the adjacent vertebral bodies. This destabilization can place pressure on the surrounding nerves and tissues between the vertebral bodies causing pain, discomfort, and, eventually, nerve damage.
Implantation of a medical device into the space between adjacent vertebral bodies is a common and well-accepted clinical approach to alleviating the pain and discomfort caused by the destabilization of the spacing between discs. These medical devices, commonly referred to as intervertebral spacers, spacers, and cages, support the structure of the spine by maintaining a desired spacing and proper angular positioning of the spinal column.
Some intervertebral spacers are capable of expanding in situ during initial placement. These expandable intervertebral spacers were originally developed to eliminate the need for multiple trialing associated with placement of static spacers, which could lead to impaction, breakage, and pseudoarthrosis (Frisch R F, Luna I Y, Joshua G., Static versus Expandable Interbody Spacers: Preliminary 1-Year Clinical and Radiographic Results; J. Clin. Neurol. Neurosurg. Spine, 2017; 1(1):113). Expandable intervertebral spacers are inserted in an unexpanded configuration, which has a relatively minimal profile, and are subsequently expanded in situ. While expandable intervertebral spacers have provided benefits as compared to static spacers, known expandable intervertebral spacers have several drawbacks. For example, many known expandable intervertebral spacers have complicated structural configurations that are difficult to manufacture and assemble. Also, the structural elements that enable in situ expansion often occupy valuable space within the body of the spacer itself, which can reduce or even eliminate space needed for placement of bone cement or graft material.
A need exists, therefore, for improved expandable intervertebral spacers.


Data is collected for average units including acquisition of template data and acquisition of imaging data. A frequency difference is calculated between a resonant frequency in a reference average unit and a resonant frequency of an object average unit based on phase variation of the magnetic field between the reference average unit and the object average unit. Corrected phase shift is produced in image data collected in one or more average units based on the frequency difference. An image is reconstructed based on the imaging data collected in the reference average unit and corrected imaging data concerning the object average unit constituted by one or more average units.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and a magnetic resonance imaging method that image a subject based on a magnetic resonance signal generated in the subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus that utilizes an iron shim to perform shimming, a static magnetic field intensity in an imaging region varies with a change in temperature of the iron shim. Such a variation in the static magnetic field intensity is called a B0 shift. Since a resonant frequency also varies when the B0shift occurs, a displacement of a reconstructed image may possibly occur. Such a displacement prominently occurs in an echo planar imaging (EPI) sequence (an echo planar imaging sequence) having a high frequency resolution in a phase encoding (PE) direction.
In EPI type diffusion weighted imaging (DWI), since a load of a gradient coil is large because of application of an motion probing gradient (MPG) pulse, heat generation from the gradient magnetic field coil is large. Therefore, an increase in temperature of the iron shim during scanning is large, and the B0 shift is also increased.
In order to avoid such an increase in the B0 shift involved by heat generation from the gradient coil, a measure for preventing an increase in temperature of the iron shim has been conventionally taken. Since this measure is realized by arranging the iron shim to be apart from the gradient coil or intensively cooling the iron shim, there is a problem in cost.
Thus, for example, JP-A 2005-270285 (KOKAI) proposes a technology of reducing an influence of the B0 shift without greatly modifying hardware, e.g., the iron shim.
However, the technology disclosed in JP-A 2005-270285 (KOKAI) is premised on a case where dynamic imaging using a field echo type EPI sequence (an FE-EPI sequence) is performed. Therefore, the technology disclosed in JP-A 2005-270285 (KOKAI) cannot be applied to a different sequence such as a spin echo type EPI sequence (an SE-EPI sequence).


A low cost spectral camera may include a multiple Fabry-Perot cavity filter with silicon photodetectors distributed one beside another in a two-dimensional matrix fashion. Each cavity may be designed to capture a pixel from an image. The two-dimensional fabry-perot array may function as a sensor to capture an image in spectral form. Spectral information may be obtained to generate spectral displays.

Digital cameras are a fast-growing segment of the digital consumer market, and are used largely for producing photographic images. Each pixel of a subject is captured digitally in terms of RGB (red, green and blue) separations. Currently, low cost, higher mega pixel digital still and video cameras are entering consumer market.
Digital cameras typically use charged-couple-device (CCD) or complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chips as image sensors. Such CCD or CMOS chips record light from a subject when capturing an image of the subject.

Two-dimensional spectral cameras and methods for capturing spectral information using two-dimensional spectral cameras


A dental irrigation system is provided with a laser source for generating a laser beam and an optical delivery system for the laser beam. The laser beam wavelength ranges from 0.4 μm to 11.0 μm. The laser system operates in pulsed operation with pulse sets of 2 to 20 individual pulses of temporally limited pulse length. The pulse sets follow one another with temporal separation. The individual pulses follow one another with pulse repetition rate. The laser system generates at least one vapor bubble within the liquid irradiated with the laser beam. A single pulse causes the vapor bubble to oscillate between a maximal and a minimal volume with a bubble oscillation frequency. The pulse repetition rate within one pulse set is adjusted relative to the bubble oscillation frequency such that synchronization between delivery of the pulses and bubble oscillation is achieved.

The present invention relates to a laser system for irrigation, including debriding, cleaning and decontamination, of anatomical cavities filled with a liquid.
There are many medical treatments, such as in endodontics, periodontics, implantology, or bone surgery where an effective irrigation, including debriding, cleaning and decontamination of the anatomical cavities is desirable.
For example, a goal of endodontic treatment is typically to obtain an effective cleaning and decontamination of the root canal system (e.g., removal of bacteria and other contaminants from the smear layer). Clinically, traditional endodontic techniques use mechanical instruments as well as ultrasound and chemical irrigation, in an attempt to shape, clean and completely decontaminate the endodontic system.
The complexity of the root canal system is well known. Numerous lateral canals (with various dimensions and with multiple morphologies) branch off from the principal canals. The effectiveness of debriding, cleaning and decontaminating effectively all the intra-radicular space is often limited, given the anatomical complexity and given the inability of common irrigants to penetrate into the lateral canals and/or the apical ramifications. A debriding, cleaning and decontaminating effectively of the root system thus represents a challenge.
Similarly, when creating a hole in hard body tissue like bone material, using the mechanical tools such as drill or saw, tissue particles debris is left on the tissue surface leading to a smear layer on the treated surface. This may lead to increased inflammatory response and decelerated tissue regeneration and attachment. This is for example important in implantology where faster attachment of the bone to the inserted implants is crucial for faster patient recovery time. A minimally invasive improved means for the cleaning, debriding and disinfection of the holes created during bone surgery are therefore desirable. Also, in order to stop inflammations that occur after the surgery, and to promote re-attachment, an improved means for the cleaning, debriding and disinfection of the surfaces of the already inserted implants and the surrounding bone surfaces are also desirable.
Use of lasers has been studied in endodontics since the early 1970s, and lasers are now widely used in dental applications. Early attempts at laser use in endodontics typically resulted in occlusion of dentinal tubules, thereby undesirably decreasing their permeability. Some early reports indicated a reduction of bacterial load, although in connection with unwanted generation of heat. More recent investigations have focused on laser-activated irrigation approaches that produce explosive vapor bubbles with acoustic transients effects, facilitating removal of debris from intricate tooth anatomy. These approaches permit fluid interchange and the removal of organic tissue and microbes, resulting in tubular dentin disinfection.
In a prior laser irrigation method (for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,980,854), a laser system contains a source of a laser light beam. An elongate optical fiber is connected to the laser source and is configured to transmit the laser light beam to a tip. The tip is substantially completely immersed into a liquid introduced into the open area of a pulp chamber to provide a liquid reservoir. In this prior laser irrigation method, the laser source is pulsed at a power level from about 0.1 watts to about 1.5 watts, at a pulse duration from about 100 nanoseconds to about 1000 microseconds, at a pulse frequency from about 2 Hertz (Hz) to about 25 Hz, and over a cycle time of from about 10 seconds to about 40 seconds. In this prior system, solid state lasers having a wavelength of from about 700 nanometers (nm) to about 3000 nm are contemplated, such as Nd:YAG (neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet), Er:YAG (erbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet), Ho:YAG (holmium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet), Nd:YLF (neodymium-doped yttrium lithium fluoride), titanium sapphire, or Er,Cr:YSSG (erbium, chromium doped yttrium scandium gallium garnet) lasers. The interaction of the pulsed laser beam with the liquid is contemplated to result in a rinsing, irrigating and disinfecting of the pulp chamber and root canal to provide substantially clean and pulp-free dentin walls lining the chamber and root canal ready for subsequent filling.
In this prior method, laser pulses are delivered into the liquid at a relatively slow repetition rate of 2 to 25 Hz. There is therefore no substantial interaction between the acoustic transients caused by individual pulses, resulting in a limited laser light-to-acoustic (LA) energy conversion efficiency. Even more importantly, in this prior art method, the bacteria within the treated anatomical cavity are submitted to acoustic transients of a relatively short duration. It is well known, however, that when bacteria are submitted to increased temperatures, the kill rate depends not only on the amplitude of the temperature increase, but even more importantly, on the temporal duration of the temperature increase, the exact dependence being described by the standard Arrhenius integral. Similar consideration applies also when bacteria are submitted to acoustic transients. When subjected to acoustic transients, the bacteria's structure is disrupted and the bacteria die, providing that the exposure to the transients is extensive enough to be fatal. Bacteria kill rate will be much higher when bacteria are submitted to acoustic transients for a longer duration of time, preferably longer than 1000 μs. Accordingly, even after disclosure of prior laser irrigation methods, it remains desirable to provide improved laser irrigation devices and/or methods wherein the laser treatment parameters are adjusted and/or optimized to obtain stronger and longer lasting acoustic transients.
Moreover, the prior art method requires that the laser energy is delivered into the liquid reservoir within the pulp chamber and root canal in a "contact" manner, by means of an elongate optical fiber configured to transmit laser light beam from a laser source to a conical fiber tip which is substantially immersed into the liquid reservoir, and the light beam is emitted from the tip generally omnidirectionally. There are at least two shortcomings of this approach: i) Special tip is required to perform the treatment, which adds to the complexity and cost of the treatment. Moreover, the fiber tip is susceptible to damage since it can get at least partially shattered under the strong acoustic transients within the liquid. Undesirable fragmented fiber particles may therefore remain within the cavity after the treatment. This makes the prior art method less safe, and also less effective since the strength of the acoustic transients must be adjusted to be below the damage threshold of the fiber tip; ii) The angular distribution of a laser beam coming out of an elongate fiber is broad and omnidirectional with a lack of collimation, which results in insufficient laser energy conversion.
Accordingly, improved methods, techniques and technologies that can improve irrigation, including cleaning, debriding and disinfection of anatomical cavities (e.g., root canal systems, periodontal pockets, surgical holes and the like) are desirable. In particular, even after disclosure of prior laser irrigation methods, it remains desirable to provide improved, less invasive laser irrigation devices and/or methods wherein the laser treatment parameters are adjusted and/or optimized to obtain stronger and longer lasting acoustic transients without the need to increase the single pulse energy or the cumulative energy delivered to a liquid during a treatment.
The object of the present invention is to provide an improved laser system with a better laser energy conversion for improved irrigation results.

Laser system and method for operating the laser system


A return stop limiting torque, particularly for conveyer systems, including an internal ring, a concentric external ring, and several retaining elements arranged in the annual gap between the rings, which allow a relative rotation between the rings in one direction, and block it in the other direction through form-fitting or frictional engagement. The external ring has friction areas at its radially extending faces, which can axially be clamped against the corresponding friction disks, with the friction disks being supported in a torque-proof fashion but at least partially axially displaceable. Here the external ring is divided into several axially adjacent partial rings, each being axially spaced from one another by an annular gap such that another friction disk is arranged respectively in this annular gap, which is supported in a torque-proof fashion but axially displaceable, and all of the partial rings and friction disks are axially clamped to each other.

The invention relates to a return stop limiting torque, which is embodied as a latch lock, roller free-wheel, clamp body free-wheel, or the like, particularly for conveyer systems, comprising an internal ring arranged on a drive shaft, an external ring embodied concentrically in reference thereto, and several retaining elements arranged in the annular gap between the internal and the external rings, which allow a relative rotation between the internal and the external rings in one direction, and block it in the other direction in a form-fitting fashion or by way of friction, with the external ring comprising friction-areas at its radially extending faces, which can be axially clamped against corresponding friction disks, with the friction disks being supported in a torque-proof fashion, but at least partially displaceable in the axial direction.
Such a return stop is known from DE 32 45 347 of the same applicant; its content is therefore included in the objective of the present application.
In the following discussion of the objective of the invention, for reasons of simplification, reference is made to a conveyer belt, without this being considered a restriction of the range of application of the invention.
In conveyer belts transporting upwards and using more than one drive pulley the load is evenly distributed over the pulleys during operation. However, when the loaded conveyer is stopped an uneven distribution of load develops when stiff return stops are used. The pulleys and the conveyer belt are unloaded during the run-down process. However, when the load is engaged, the drive pulley with the return stop engaging first is stressed to a greater extent, while the return stops of the other drive pulleys, due to the here developing belt strain, are subject to a considerably lower load. This can lead to excess load and destruction of the drives at the first drive pulley. Accordingly there is a need for a return stop which, when excess torque occurs, distributes said excess torque to the other drives by way of controlled slippage.


An electronics instrument 1 includes an instrument body, an operation display unit and a driving mechanism. The driving mechanism moves the operation display unit over the span between a first position where the insertion inlet of the instrument body is covered and a second position where the insertion inlet is opened. The driving mechanism is provided with a helical torsion coil spring 30. At the first position, the helical torsion coil spring 30 urges the operation display unit toward the second position. At the second position, the helical torsion coil spring 30 urges the operation display unit toward the first position. This configuration suppresses the sound generated when the operation display unit of a cover is located at a first position where the one surface of the instrument body is covered and a second position where at least a part of the one surface is opened.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electronic instrument such as an audio instrument which is mounted in e.g. a motor car as a moving body.
2. Description of the Related Art
A CD player as an electronic instrument is attached on e.g. an instrument panel (hereinafter referred to as "inpane") The CD player serves to read out the information recorded on a recording medium such as a compact disk (CD).
The CD player includes a flat box-like instrument body attached to the inpane, and an operation panel which is a cover having a display as a LC display and various kinds of operation buttons, etc. In a surface opposite to a crew of the instrument body, an insertion inlet is made which is used to insert the CD into the instrument body and discharge the CD from the instrument body.
In the CD player described above, in order to reduce the space required when the CD player is mounted in the inpane, the operation panel is made movable to the instrument body between the first position where the insertion inlet is covered and the second position where the insertion inlet is opened.
The CD player described above locates the operation panel at the second position where the insertion inlet is opened in order to load and unload the CD in and out of the instrument body through the insertion inlet. After the CD has been inserted into the instrument body, the operation panel is located at the first position where the insertion inlet is covered and an operation button is operated to read out (reproduce) the information recorded on the CD so that the information is outputted as sound. The information indicative of the reproduced state is displayed on a liquid crystal (LC) display.
The operation panel of the conventional CD player described above is slidably movable between the first position and the second position. The operation panel is provided with an urging means such as a cushion in order to prevent an unusual sound from being generated owing to vibration of the operation panel while a motor vehicle runs. Known means for urging the CD player employed conventionally are to urge the operation panel from the first position toward the second position, or from the second position toward the first position. In this way, the CD player employed conventionally urge either one of from the first position to the second position and from the second position to the first position.
In the CD player in which the urging means urging the operation panel from the first position to the second position, the urging means suppresses sound generated by a driving mechanism when the operation panel has been moved from the first position to the second position. When the operation panel has been moved from the first position to the second position, the urging means does not still urge the operation panel so that that the operation panel generates impactive sound.
On the other hand, in the CD player in which the urging means is urging the operation panel from the second position to the first position, the urging means suppresses sound generated by a driving mechanism when the operation panel is moved from the second position to the first position. When the operation panel has been moved from the second position to the first position, the urging means does not urge the operation panel so that that the operation panel generates impactive sound.
In this way, the CD player employed conventionally generates the impactive sound when the operation panel has located at either one of the first position and the second position. This may give unpleasant feelings to the crew(s) of the motor vehicle.


A computer system and computational method for determining optimal solid-state methods for synthesis of an inorganic material that results in an output of recommended synthetic methods that can be implemented based on the recommendation. The method involves inputting a target inorganic material, querying structural data and thermodynamic data for the target inorganic material and reactant inorganic materials that can be used for its synthesis, enumerating possible synthetic reactions to construct a synthesis reaction database with a viable subset of the possible synthetic methods. The program generates a nucleation barrier metric and a competition metric that are combined to provide a recommendation of the synthetic procedures to the target inorganic material.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it may be described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present technology.
Synthesis design for crystalline inorganic materials of a targeted polymorphic form is extremely challenging, particularly for solid-state synthesis from available reactants (starting materials or precursors). Computational systems for design of organic small molecule synthesis (e.g. drug design) have been realized and implemented (e.g. retrosynthetic analysis) from databases available and/or generated sets of known solution reactions that can be incrementally applied to achieve a target molecule. No such broad and computationally accessible reaction selection and prioritization strategy and method currently exists for crystalline inorganic solid materials.
The number of combinatorial possibilities of crystal structures and compositions that define the space of inorganic materials is enormous, and the resulting number of polymorphic forms for any single material composition further adds to the challenge of designing structures that achieve desired properties and their synthesis from available inorganic materials. Given the massive number of possibilities for materials and synthetic routes that can lead to their formation, the design process is well suited to the ability of computer algorithms to consider from the possibilities in a time frame that is rather inconceivable for strictly human inspection and design. Hence, a system and method to identify viable and efficient synthetic routes that provide access to new inorganic materials or polymorphs or alternative routes for existing/known inorganic materials or polymorphs is desirable. The ability of such a system to input information for targets and starting materials/precursors to these targets from available material structure and thermochemistry databases and output the synthetic methods for use in solid-state laboratory experiments and/or with robotic systems for the synthesis of the products is desirable.

Synthesis route recommendation engine for inorganic materials


In a safety stock control system, safety stock is changed in response to updating of a setting value so as to be continuously maintained as a proper value. The safety stock control system is comprised of a demand prediction means, an actual value calculating means, a predicted remainder calculating means, a parameter calculating means, and a safety stock calculating means for calculating safety stock based upon a parameter calculated by the parameter calculating means. In response to updating of the setting value, data of an area, which is different from such a data read when a plan is made, is temporarily read from a data storage means to the respective means, and then, various sorts of calculating process operations are carried out either one time or plural times.

The present invention generally relates to an inventory (stock)control technique. More specifically, the present invention is directed to an inventory control system, an inventory control method, and an inventory control program, capable of setting safety stock (safety inventory), and also, is directed to a method for collecting a use fee of this inventory control program, and a storage medium for storing thereinto the inventory control program.
Inventory amounts of items such as products and parts are required to be controlled in correspondence with demands for these items, while these items designate a general term with respect to products, parts, components, half-made products, unfinished products (or in-process items), and materials, or designate any one of these products/materials. In general, however, since demands are continuously varied, when inventory amounts are determined, excessive inventory amounts must be secured in order to be capable of accepting these demand variations. Such an inventory capable of establishing safety by securing an excessive inventory amount will be referred to as "safety stock" hereinafter. Generally speaking, a formula of calculating a so-called "safety stock" may be expressed as follows:
safety stock=α×√T×σ, where symbols are defined by: α: safety factor, T: planned range, σ: fluctuation of demands (standard deviation).
In the above-described calculation formula, the planned range is obtained by totalizing a planning cycle, a procurement lead time, and a plan lead time. In this case, a term "lead time" implies such a time period that after an order is issued, a work is carried out until this order is accomplished. FIG. 39 and FIG. 40 represent a relationship among the planned range, the planning cycle, the procurement lead time, and the plan lead time. In the example shown in FIG. 39, the plan lead time corresponds to 2 days; the procurement lead time corresponds to 4 days; the planning cycle corresponds to 7 days; and the planned range corresponds to 13 days obtained by totalizing these days. Also, in the example shown in FIG. 40, the plan lead time corresponds to 2 days; the procurement lead time corresponds to 4 days; the planning cycle corresponds to 1 day; and the planned range corresponds to 7 days obtained by totalizing these days.
To set safety stock, arbitrary values are substituted for "α", "T", and "σ" of the above-explained safety stock calculation formula. Also, there is another method capable of setting arbitrary values as safety stock without employing the above-described safety stock calculating formula.
Next, a description will now be made of a conventional technique as to fee collecting methods of software.
As the conventional fee collecting methods for software, the below-mentioned fee collecting methods have been proposed:
(1) Fee Collecting Method in Product Purchasing Form:
In this fee collecting method, software which has been stored in a recording medium such as a floppy (R) disk and a compact disk is purchased so as to be used.
(2) Service-fixed-sum Fee Collecting Method:
In this fee collecting method, software itself is not purchased. A fixed sum is paid to a software providing company every predetermined time period (for example, every month) as a software lease fee, or a software use fee.
(3) Provided-service-sum Fee Collecting Method:
In this fee collecting method, software itself is not purchased. A fee is paid to a software providing company in response to time and a frequency at which the software is utilized.
In the examples indicated in FIG. 30 and FIG. 40, the plan lead time corresponds to 2 days; the procurement lead time corresponds to 4 days; and the planning cycles are 7 days and 1 day, respectively. Very recently, there is such a trend that since management environments are changed, manufacturing speeds of products are improved, and high-performance information systems have been developed, the above-described planning cycles, procurement lead time, and plan lead time are shortened. Furthermore, such chances for updating these cycles/lead times are increased. In general, when a planning cycle is shortened in unit of a week, or a day, an inventory amount may be reduced. On the other hand, if safety stock is mistakenly set, then product depletion may occur and/or excessive inventory may be increased. As a consequence, the following inventory control operation is necessarily required. That is, in this inventory control operation, while safety stock is changed in response to updating of such setting values as a planning cycle, a procurement lead time, and a plan lead time, the safety stock is continuously maintained as a proper value.
However, the above-described safety stock calculating formula explained in the conventional technique has been established based upon several assumptions, for example, it is so assumed that a remainder distribution of demand data is constant. As a result, there is no guarantee that the above-described safety stock continuously constitutes the proper value, while this safety stock has been acquired by substituting the planning cycle and the various lead times for this safety stock calculating formula. As a consequence, in order to calculate such a proper safety stock to which updating of the planning cycle and the various lead times may be correctly reflected, several pieces of featured calculating process operations must be carried out.
Next, problems as to the conventional software fee collecting methods will now be explained.
Currently, there is a trend that such client enterprises are increased which use various sorts of software, while utilizing outsourcing services provided by application service providers (will be referred to as "ASP" hereinafter) in order to reduce expenses required to purchase and maintain software. In the case that various sorts of software are used by utilizing outsourcing services, fee collecting methods for uses of desirable software are defined by selecting the above-explained (2) service-fixed-sum fee collecting method, or (3) provided-service-sum fee collecting method, or employing both these fee collecting methods (2) and (3) as explained in the conventional technique. In this selection case, generally speaking, there is such a trend that client enterprises may select either the service-fixed-sum fee collecting method or the provided-service-sum fee collecting method combined with this service-fixed-sum fee collecting method due to such a reason that these client enterprises may easily make up budgets for receiving software services.
However, these conventional fee collecting methods own the below-mentioned problems.
First of all, although the service-fixed-sum fee collecting method own such a merit that a service fee is fixed and a budget may be readily made up, this service-fixed-sum fee collecting method never corresponds to such a fee collecting system capable of detrmining a fee by checking as to whether or not software is essentially used. As a consequence, this service-fixed-sum fee collecting method may give advantages to such clients who use software for long time and at higher frequencies. However, this service-fixed-sum fee collecting method cannot give satisfaction to other clients who use software at lower frequencies.
Also, in such a case that the service-fixed-sum fee collecting method is combined with the provided-service-sum fee collecting method, clients necessarily pay use fees of software later after these clients have utilized the software. Accordingly, software providing forms always own some risks of collecting use fees from these clients.
As previously explained, the above-explained conventional fee collecting methods cannot give satisfaction with respect to both the clients who use the software at lower frequencies and also these software providing firms.

Inventory control system, inventory control method, fee collection method utilized in inventory control system, inventory control program, and storage medium


A method in a network controller of a control plane in a software defined network (SDN) coupled to a plurality of network elements (NEs) of a data plane in the SDN is described. The method includes at least sending a first control message to an ingress NE of the plurality of NEs to initiate a first test session; sending a second control message to an egress NE of the plurality of NEs to initiate a second test session; sending the test message to the ingress NE to cause the ingress NE to transmit the outgoing message from the ingress NE; receiving the first reply message from the ingress NE; receiving the second reply message from the egress NE; and calculating an indication of a delay between the ingress NE and the egress NE.

One method of measuring performance in a network is by using Two-Way Active Measurement Protocol (TWAMP; IETF RFC 5357). TWAMP is a protocol that defines a method of performing round trip measurement of performance metrics such as delay and jitter. TWAMP is based on One-Way Active Measurement Protocol (OWAMP; IETF RFC 4656). TWAMP includes a control protocol and a test protocol. The control protocol defines configuration messages to be sent to the TWAMP nodes with different modes and to be sent to initialize test sessions. The test protocol defines the format of test messages to be sent to the TWAMP nodes and the reply messages from the TWAMP nodes. When a sender node sends a TWAMP test message to a recipient node, the recipient node will send a TWAMP reply message to the sender node. The test message and the reply message may include one or more timestamps indicating the time that packets were sent or received in order to measure performance along the round trip path taken by the test and reply messages.

Data path performance measurement using test messages in a software defined network


A process for enriching a liquid with oxygen which includes the steps of: introducing a liquid and oxygen into a liquid and oxygen mixer and mixing the liquid with oxygen therein; introducing the liquid into a sealed enriching vessel containing a plurality of plates or trays, and flowing it gradually downwardly; subjecting the interior of the vessel to an oxygen pressure sufficient to enrich the liquid with oxygen; conducting the introduced liquid in a substantially flowing contact with the oxygen, whereby the liquid is enriched with oxygen; and recovering all of the oxygen-enriched liquid. The present invention also provides an apparatus for enriching a liquid with oxygen, which includes: an oxygen enriching vessel having an interior; a plurality of vertically spaced, substantially horizontal annular trays therein, each of the trays having a substantially central opening and an outer rim spaced from an interior surface; a liquid supply tube which extends through the tray openings; discharge means in the liquid supply tube subdividing liquid entering from the supply tube into discrete water particles and from the supply tube onto a tray; an oxygen supply source in fluid communication with the interior for providing oxygen at a pressure sufficient to enrich the liquid with oxygen; a liquid and oxygen mixer in fluid communication with the inlet of the liquid supply tube and with the oxygen supply source; and a liquid outlet for the removal of oxygen-enriched liquid from the vessel.

It is known to impregnate at super-atmospheric pressure a still (i.e. substantially gas-free) liquid with a gas from an external source. This type of impregnation is usually employed in the prior art to make the liquid effervescent. As described in US. Pat. No. 2,927,028, "such artificial impregnation of a liquid with a gas has hitherto been carried out by bubbling the gas through the liquid, or by spraying the liquid into the gas, or by otherwise violently agitating the liquid in the presence of the gas, so as to increase as much as possible the area of surface contact between the liquid and the gas and hasten the entry of the gas into the liquid, the treatment being continued until the pressure of the gas in the liquid is substantially equalled to the applied pressure. The impregnation of the liquid with gas is usually carried out in large vessels and the impregnated liquid is subsequentially transferred to the bottles or other containers in which it is to be marketed, a counter pressure of gas being maintained in these vessels while they are being filled, in order to prevent so far as possible the escape of gas from the liquid." Such a method has not been found to be successful to produce oxygen enriched liquids to achieve either a high level of dissolved oxygen, or to retain the dissolved oxygen in the liquid for an appreciable length of time.
Our U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,352 did provide a process for overcoming some of these drawbacks of the prior art as it applies to the incorporation of oxygen in water. That patent describes a process for enriching water with oxygen, wherein the liquid is saturated with oxygen at a temperature between 0.degree. C. and 5.degree. C. under pressure, and then bottling and sealing the bottle containing the enriched water. The presence of oxygen does not affect the taste of the water and its consumption has a favorable effect on well being and physical performance. A drawback of this process is that it requires the use of low temperatures, achieves a still relative low level of dissolution of oxygen in the water, and results in a relatively fast loss of the oxygen enrichment when the enriched water is exposed to ambient pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,045 discloses another process for preparing an oxygenated cocktail. None of the oxygenation processes have proved successful for a producing sufficiently high oxygen loading of the liquid. Suggestions were made in the prior art for increasing oxygen available for various aerobic and therapeutic processes by the use of oxygen enriched water and other liquids. However, the lack of ways to obtain a sufficiently high degree of oxygen enrichment of water did not enable any effective follow-up on such suggestions.

Method and apparatus for making oxygen enriched liquids


A side loading, wire torquing device includes a body portion having a channel in which a wire is fitted. In one embodiment, a slider is movable along the channel to secure the wire between the slider and the fixed surface in the channel such that rotation of the torquing device rotates the wire therein. In another embodiment of the invention, the torquing device includes a bottom and top section folded over a wire. In another embodiment, the channels impart a bend to the wire to increase the effective torque that can be applied to the wire by rotating the device. In yet another embodiment, the torquing device has a tapered shape and includes a ring that is slideable over the device to compress a wire in a channel. In all embodiments, the torquing device may include a clip to secure several looped coils of wire when not in use.

Many minimally invasive medical procedures require a guidewire to be inserted into a patient and one or more catheters or other medical devices to be advanced over the guidewire in order to perform a medical procedure, view body tissue or obtain a tissue sample. While performing a procedure, it is not uncommon that the physician wishes to change the orientation of the guidewire. This is particularly true if the guidewire has an angled tip and the physician is trying to direct the tip into a branch in a patient's vasculature. Because guidewires are long, thin wires, it is difficult to maintain an adequate purchase on a guidewire in order to impart torque to its distal end. Therefore, many physicians use a guidewire torquing device that clamps on to the wire in order to allow the physician to twist it.
Most guidewire torquing devices are advanced axially over the proximal end of the guidewire and include a pin vise or sliding locking mechanism that compresses the guidewire in order to secure it. Such torquing devices generally require two hands to operate and require the physician to load the torquing device over the entire proximal length of the guidewire. Other types of guidewire torquing devices are side loading, clip-like devices that grasp a guidewire in a channel. However, most clip-like side loading torquing devices do not maintain an adequate purchase on a wire to allow a user to impart torque to its distal end.
Given these problems, there is a need for a side loading wire torquing device that can be operated with a single hand and that can allow a user to impart torque to it. In addition, the device should be easy and inexpensive to manufacture.


A driving force control device includes a controller. The controller is configured to increase driving force of a vehicle in accordance with a driver's operation to request acceleration. The controller is configured to restrict subsequent increase of the actual driving force when it determines that increase of actual driving force of the vehicle stagnates, relative to required driving force determined according to at least the driver's operation to request acceleration. The controller is configured to restrict the increase of the actual driving force so that a rate of increase of the actual driving force is reduced as a stagnation period for which the increase of the actual driving force stagnates is longer.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a driving force control device that controls driving force of a vehicle, or the like, and also relates to a driving force control method.
2. Description of Related Art
It is known that in an internal combustion engine installed on a vehicle, such as an automobile, there is a delay in response of its output or power to a driver's operation. In the case where the engine is equipped with a turbocharger, in particular, even if the accelerator pedal is depressed in an operating region in which the flow rate of exhaust gas is small, the engine is not sufficiently supercharged until the exhaust flow rate is increased and the rotational speed of a turbine becomes equal to or higher than a given speed. As a result, the output of the internal combustion engine, or the driving force of the vehicle, rises with a delay of several seconds.
If the response of the driving force to the driver's operation to depress the accelerator pedal is delayed, the driver may feel that the driving force does not follow his/her own operation, and stagnates (or remains substantially constant); therefore, the driver may get a sense of strangeness or discomfort when the driving force rapidly rises due to subsequent increase of the boost pressure. Namely, the driving force rises in steps in response to the operation to depress the accelerator pedal, whereby the response delay is emphasized.
In connection with the problem of the delay in response as described above, a driving force control device as described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-24970 (JP 2010-24970 A), for example, determines whether a stagnation period for which the driving force stagnates (i.e., remains substantially constant), due to a delay in response is equal to or longer than a set period, and restricts subsequent increase of the driving force if the stagnation period becomes equal to or longer than the set period, so as to alleviate the driver's sense of strangeness or discomfort. If the stagnation period is less than the set period, on the other hand, the control device does not restrict the driving force, so as to assure high acceleration performance of the vehicle.
In JP 2010-24970 A, when the vehicle is rapidly accelerated with a large amount of operation to request acceleration, it is assumed that the driver is less likely or unlikely to care about a step or sudden rise in the driving force; therefore, the period of time for determining stagnation of the driving force is set to a relatively long period, and the driving force is less likely to be restricted. When the vehicle is slowly accelerated, on the other hand, it is assumed that the driver is likely to get a sense of strangeness or discomfort against a step or sudden rise in the driving force; therefore, the period of time for determining stagnation is set to a relatively short period, and the driving force is more likely to be restricted.

Driving force control device and driving force control method


Methods and apparatus are provided for securing and/or tracking cargo containers. The security unit comprises a positioning receiver configured to provide a position of the cargo container and a memory configured to store a first geocentric zone and a second geocentric zone of the cargo container. The security unit also comprises a controller coupled to the positioning receiver and the memory. The security unit is configured to receive the position of the cargo container from the positioning receiver, determine if the position of the cargo container is within one of the first geocentric zone and the second geocentric zone stored in the memory, operate in a first operating mode associated with the first geocentric zone if the position is within the first geocentric zone, and operate in a second operating mode associated with the second geocentric zone if the position is within the second geocentric zone.

Securing the transportation infrastructure has continued to be a focus of the private and public sectors. Contraband, such as illegal drugs and weapons, is continually smuggled across geopolitical boundaries and such illegal activities have an undesirable impact on society, including decreasing national security. In addition, theft of goods from private or public entities during transit also has an undesirable impact on societies or organizations, including significant economic impacts. Accordingly, reducing such illegal activities has vast benefits and highly desirable.
One component of the transportation infrastructure, which is generally susceptible to a myriad of threats, is the cargo container. There are numerous configurations of cargo containers that are available. For example, crates, boxes, or the like, having any shape and dimensions are available for transportation of goods. Furthermore, cargo compartments of a land, water, space, or air vehicles are also available for transportation of goods (e.g., automobile, truck, van, train, rail car, aircraft, ship, barge, trailer, rocket, or the like) and also available for transportation of passengers and/or goods.
Cargo containers are often unattended for significant periods and the vast number of such containers limits the number of containers that can be inspected at various points during transport. Therefore, there are significant periods in which theft or cargo tampering can occur. Moreover, a significant number of containers are not inspected at any time during transit or upon entering a port or border crossing so that entities have less than desirable control of their borders or facilities.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a security unit for a cargo container. In addition, it is desirable to provide a security method for a cargo container. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.


A jetting device comprises a body, and an interior flow path within the body. The interior flow path comprises a flow section, an expansion section, and a shoulder formed at the intersection of the flow section and the expansion section. The length and diameter of the expansion section are configured to allow a portion of the pressure of the fluid downstream of the expansion section to provide power to a fluid flowing through the nozzle when the fluid is flowing through the nozzle.

Hydrocarbon-producing wells often are stimulated by hydraulic fracturing operations, wherein a fracturing fluid may be introduced into a portion of a subterranean formation penetrated by a wellbore at a hydraulic pressure sufficient to create or enhance at least one fracture therein. Stimulating or treating the wellbore in such ways increases hydrocarbon production from the well. The fracturing equipment may be included in a service assembly used in the overall production process.
In some hydraulic fracturing operations, the fracturing fluid enters the subterranean formation through one or more openings or bores. The openings may be formed using a variety of techniques including jetting, perforating using explosive charges, and using casing valves. Jetting requires that a fluid pass through a nozzle at high pressure, where the fluid is generally supplied through the use of pumps or other pressurization equipment at the surface of the wellbore. The use of numerous openings may require large volumetric flow rates of fluids at high pressure to form the appropriate openings. These high flow rates can result in a large pressure drop due to friction and other internal fluid forces, which is compounded by the increasing flow path lengths associated with wells being drilled to increasing depths. The maximum operating pressures of the pumping equipment therefore limit the flow rates and number of openings that can be formed using jetting in the subterranean formation.


An absorbent article having a main body having a front waist portion, a rear waist portion, a waist hole, two leg holes and a pair of elastic leakage protective members is disclosed. The elastic leakage protective members cooperate with the respective leg holes. The elastic leakage protective members cover at least part of the respective openings of the leg holes. Each of the elastic leakage protective members may have edge portions that form a pocket for holding body exudates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to absorbent articles such as diapers for infants and adults, and sanitary articles, as well as a manufacturing method therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication 3-82467, a conventional absorbent article is composed of a liquid permeable top sheet, a liquid impermeable back, and an absorbent member. The absorbent member is disposed between the liquid permeable top sheet and the liquid impermeable back sheet. The top sheet and the back sheet are heat-bonded. In addition, to prevent body exudates from leaking out, a pair of elastic leg gathers are disposed along the peripheries of the leg holes.
The leakage protective effectiveness of disposable diapers depends, in large part, on the fit between the leg holes and the legs of the wearer. Thus, as the fit improves, the probability of leakage decreases. Consequently, as the elastic force of the gathers disposed along the leg holes or leg gathers increases, the degree of leakage decreases. However, when the elastic force is too large, the leg gathers become too tight around the legs of the wearer. Therefore, when the wearer wears the absorbent article for a long time, the wearer not only feels pain, but also may suffer skin inflammation.
These and other disadvantages of the prior art are sought to be overcome by the absorbent garment of the present invention.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article which has excellent leakage protection while the legs of the wearer are free of excessive pressure from the leg elastics.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing the above-described absorbent article.
The present invention is directed to an absorbent article comprising a main body having a front waist portion, a rear waist portion, a waist hole, and a pair of leg holes disposed between the front waist portion and the rear waist portion, and an elastic leakage protective member corresponding to each leg hole of the main body. The elastic leakage protective member interconnects both the front and rear edge portions so that at least part of the leg holes are closed.
In an alternative embodiment, the leakage protective members interconnect the front and rear side edge portions of the main body, and further include a top edge portion which extends across the front waist portion and the rear waist portion of the main body to form an annularly continuous top edge portion.
In yet another embodiment, the leakage protective members are attached to each respective side edge portion of the front and rear waist portions over substantially the entire length thereof. In such an embodiment, the leakage protective members further include leg hole openings.
As with conventional absorbent articles, the main body includes a liquid impermeable outer sheet, a liquid permeable inner sheet, and an absorbent member disposed therebetween. The front waist portion and a rear waist portion may be integrally formed with one another. Alternatively, the front waist portion and the rear waist portion may be separately prepared and then joined. The rear waist portion and the front waist portion are connected at the crotch portions thereof.
In this specification, the term xe2x80x9cleakage protective memberxe2x80x9d will be understood to include sheet members which are disposed on both sides of the above-described main body and has an elastic sheet forming at least part of the periphery of a leg hole and prevents body exudate from leaking. The elastic leakage protective member may have a variety of forms, such as a standing cuff disposed at each side of the main body or a pocket for holding body exudate.
Experimental results show that due to the elasticity of the elastic leakage protective member, the elastic leakage protective member satisfactorily contains exudates when it closes more than ⅔ of the opening of the leg hole.
The elastic leakage protective member may have a slit which has a predetermined length and which extends from a portion which constitutes part of the periphery of the leg hole. The slit allows the elastic leakage protective member to have a large opening. Urine and excrement are sealed by the elastic leakage protective member which is disposed at a lower crotch portion and follows the motion of the wearer. The elastic leakage protective member is preferably secured to the crotch portion of the main body.
An absorbent article of this type may be manufactured by forming a first series of front waist portions and second series of rear waist portions along an assembly line. Each series of waist portions is formed from continuous strips of top sheet material and back sheet material, with absorbent members deposited between the sheets at predetermined intervals. The elastic leakage protective member or members may be deposited on one of the waist portions either by laying the material on the waist portions in continuous strips or by pre-forming assemblies which are deposited on the waist portions at predetermined intervals. Once the elastic leakage protective members are placed on one waist portion, the other waist portion is laid on top of it, thus sandwiching the elastic leakage protective members between the first and second waist portions. The several components may then be attached to each other by bonding the waist portions at the crotch region and severing the completed article from the continuous strips of material.
An article of this type may also be manufactured by following the above steps, and also interconnecting the side edges of the waist portions by attaching the edges of each waist portion to the elastic assembly or members, in addition to attaching the waist portions to one another at the crotch.
Another process for producing an absorbent article of this type may be to assemble an article body formed from a single continuous top sheet and a single continuous back sheet, between which are sandwiched absorbent members placed at predetermined intervals. The elastic leakage protective members, which may be either continuous strips of material or pre-formed assemblies, are deposited on the article body. The individual article is made by folding the continuous sheets over on itself, thereby sandwiching the elastic member, and bonding the article at predetermined points to affix the elastic member between the waist portions, and severing the article from the continuous sheets. Such a construction does not require attaching the two waist portions to one another at the crotch because they are formed from the same continuous sheets of material.
These and other objects and advantages of the disposable absorbent garment and method of manufacturing will become apparent when the description is read in conjunction with the drawing figures.

Absorbent article and method of manufacture


A method and apparatus is provided for displaying information (e.g., statistical information, status information, video images, etc.) associated with audio/video data in a user interface created in a browser window. A browser may download a markup language file associated with a script, the script being executable to create the user interface in the browser. The user interface includes display components to display the information associated with the audio/video data. The user interface also includes control components to control a source containing the audio/video data, which may include a compact disc (CD) drive, a digital video disc (DVD) drive, or other media.

The invention relates generally to presenting information associated with audio and/or video data, such as statistical and status information and video images.
The ability to present multimedia data (including audio, video, and other related data) is increasingly becoming common in computers and other types of systems. For example, many computers include compact disc (CD) and digital video disc (DVD) players to receive audio and video data stored on CDs and DVDs.
Dedicated programs may be loaded into a computer or other types of systems to control presentation of information from the CD and DVD drives. For example, a CD player program may allow a user to play music tracks on a CD, while a DVD player program may allow a user to play a motion picture on a DVD. Typically, a user interface presented by a CD player program includes a control area for user input and display of statistical information (track number, time remaining, and so forth) and status information (CD player playing, stopped, and so forth). A user interface presented by a DVD program may also include a display area to show video images along with a control area similar to that of the CD player program to control the DVD drive as well as to view statistical and status information relating to the DVD.
However, such conventional CD or DVD programs may not be portable across different platforms (e.g., those with different operating systems). As a result, different versions of such programs may be needed for use with multiple platforms. Also, user interfaces for CD and DVD drives are not easily customizable by a user. Aside from the options that may be presented to a user in a typical CD or DVD program, further changes may be difficult to modify. Changing a user interface may not be possible unless access is made available to a program's source code.
Thus, a need arises for more flexible user interface mechanisms for presentation of information associated with audio and/or video data.

Portable user interface for presentation of information associated with audio/video data


According to an example, a method for room inventory management may include generating inventory records for rooms for a predetermined time period. An inventory record may include an inventory record index representing a physical property of an associated room, and an inventory record attribute representing a modifiable attribute of the associated room. The method may further include generating keys to identify one or more of the inventory records based on attributes associated with the keys. A key may include a key index that matches the inventory record index for one or more of the inventory records. The method may also include receiving selections of the keys from the generated keys, and generating, by a processor, virtual room pools by grouping the selected keys for each of the selections and the inventory records identified by the selected keys for each of the selections.

Management of room inventory in the hotel industry typically includes creating specific pools of rooms based on various attributes. For example, rooms with beds of a specific size, such as, king sized beds, may be pooled in a different pool compared to rooms with queen size beds. Such pools of rooms may be created for a variety of other attributes, such as, for example, combinations based on hotel location, room location by floor, room size, seasonal availability, special features, etc. Once the pools of rooms are created, customers may be booked for a specific room by searching the pools and charging based, for example, on the specific attributes associated with one or more of the pools a room belongs to. If the customer specifies an attribute for which a room is not available (i.e., the room does not exist in one of the pools that includes that attribute), the customer may be provided with other alternative rooms (i.e., rooms from other pools with some of the customer's chosen attributes).
Based on factors, such as, for example, the extensive inventory of rooms for large scale hotels, the extensive array of attributes that can be used to create room pools, etc., creation of room pools requires extensive time and effort. For example, for hotels that may manage thousands of rooms across the world, creation of room pools can require years of effort. Once the room pools are created, changes in factors, such as, for example, business conditions, customer requirements, attributes, etc., can also require changes in room pools and/or creation of new room pools. However, since the room pools are relatively fixed structures, any changes to the pool structures are typically performed for factors that may be relevant in the foreseeable future. This is because for certain factors, such as, for example, availability of a new room feature that may be relevant for a short duration, the time it takes to change a pool structure can exceed the duration of such a new room feature, and/or value associated with the new room feature. The relatively fixed nature of the room pools can limit adaptability of hotels to changes, for example, in business conditions, and customer requirements, and for other aspects, such as, for example, testing of future products.


Systems and methods for supporting more flexible coverage areas and spatial capacity assignments using satellite communications systems are disclosed. A hub-spoke, bent-pipe satellite communications system includes: terminals; gateways; a controller for specifying data for controlling satellite operations in accordance with a frame definition including timeslots for a frame and defining an allocation of capacity between forward and return traffic. The satellite communications system may employ a satellite with a feed array assembly and may use on-board beamforming or ground-based beamforming. Beam hopping within timeslots of the frame may be used to provide coverage to different cells in different time periods. The flexible coverage areas may be provided using changes in satellite position, antenna patterns, or beam resource allocations.

Communications satellites typically include one or more antenna assemblies for communicating with various terrestrial target devices, which may include ground-based access node terminals or user terminals, any of which may be stationary (e.g., installed at a permanent installation site, moved from one fixed installation site to another, etc.) or mobile (e.g., installed at a vehicle, a boat, a plane, etc.). An antenna assembly of a communications satellite may be configured for transmitting downlink signals (e.g., forward link signals to user terminals, return link signals to access nodes) and/or receiving uplink signals (e.g., forward link signals from access nodes, return link signals from user terminals). The antenna assembly may be associated with a service coverage area within which devices may be provided a communications service via the antenna assembly. The satellite may be a geostationary satellite, in which case the satellite's orbit is synchronized with the rotation of the Earth, keeping the service coverage area essentially stationary with respect to the Earth. In other cases, the satellite is in an orbit about the Earth that causes the service coverage area to move over the surface of the Earth as the satellite traverses its orbital path.
Some satellite communication systems employ "bent-pipe" satellites that relay signals among terminals located in the same antenna footprint (e.g., service coverage area), for example, the continental Unites States. In circumstances where transmit and receive coverage areas are overlapping, separate frequency bands and/or polarizations may be used for the uplink (to the satellite) and the downlink (from the satellite). The "bent-pipe" designation refers to the fact that the relayed signals are effectively retransmitted after the signals are received by the satellite, as if redirected through a bent pipe. The data in the relayed signals is not demodulated or remodulated as in a "regenerative" or processing satellite architecture. Rather, signal manipulation on the satellite in a bent-pipe architecture is generally limited to functions such as frequency translation, filtering, amplification, and the like.
Other satellite communication systems were developed around satellites that employ innovations such as digital channelization and routing of signals, demodulation/routing/re-modulation of the data in the relayed signals, narrow antenna footprint spot beams to allow frequency reuse, and phased array antennas to allow dynamic placement of coverage areas.
For example, satellites for Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) typically employ spot beam coverage areas with a greater degree of frequency reuse. Examples of satellites for MSS include the Inmarsat-4 satellites and the Thuraya satellites. These satellites typically feature a large number of narrow spot beams covering a large composite area and allow for flexible and configurable allocation of bandwidth. However, the total system bandwidth is low (such as a 34 MHz allocation at L-band), and service is generally categorized as "narrow band" (e.g., carrier bandwidths of hundreds of kHz), which allows the flexible and configurable bandwidth allocation to be accomplished using digital beamforming techniques. These satellites use a large reflector with an active feed array. The signals associated with each antenna feed element are digitized, and the beamforming and bandwidth flexibility are provided by a digital signal processor. The digital beamforming is performed on narrowband channels, allowing any narrowband channel on the feeder link to be placed at any frequency for any spot beam shape.
The Wideband InterNetworking Engineering Test and Demonstration Satellite (WINDS) is an experimental Ka-band satellite system. The satellite implements both fixed spot beams using a fixed multi-beam antenna (MBA) and steerable beams using an active phased array antenna (APAA). The MBA serves fixed beams, and the communications link can be switched over time in a pattern consisting of combinations of receiving and transmitting beams. The APAA has been developed as a beam-hopping antenna with a potential service area that covers almost the entire visible region of earth from the satellite. The APAA can provision communications between arbitrary users using two independently steerable beams for each of the transmitting and receiving antennas. Beam steering is achieved by updating pointing directions via control of digital phase shifters in switching interval slots as short as 2 ms in Satellite Switched Time Division Multiple Access (SS-TDMA) mode, where the shortest beam dwell time corresponds to the slot time of the SS-TDMA system. Beam switching at high speed is supported for up to eight locations per beam. Switching patterns for both the MBA and APAA are uploaded from a network management center.
Spaceway is a Ka-band satellite system that services 112 uplink beams and nearly 800 downlink beams over the United States. The Spaceway satellite uses a regenerative on-board satellite processor to route data packets from one of 112 uplink beams to one of nearly 800 possible downlink beams. At any time the downlink consists of up to 24 hopping beams. The downlink scheduler determines which beams should be transmitting bursts for each downlink timeslot depending on each beams downlink traffic queue and power and interference constraints.
The Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite, formerly known as the Wideband Gapfiller Satellite, is a U.S. government satellite that employs steerable Ka-band spot beams and X-band beamforming. The Ka-band spot beams are mechanically steered. Up to eight X-band beams are formed by the transmit and receive X-band arrays using programmable amplitude and phase adjustments applied to beamforming modules (BFMs) in each antenna feed element. Bandwidth assignment is flexible and configurable using a broadband digital channelizer, which is not involved in beamforming.
More recent satellite architectures have resulted in further increases in system capacity. For example, ViaSat-1 and the Ka-band spot beam satellite architectures disclosed in Dankberg et al. U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2009-0298416, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, can provide over 150 Gbps of physical layer capacity. This spot beam architecture provides over an order of magnitude capacity increase over prior Ka-band satellites. Other satellites, for example KA-SAT and Jupiter, use similar architectures to achieve similarly high capacities. The architecture used in all of these satellites is a "bent pipe" hub-spoke architecture that includes small spot beams targeted at fixed locations. Each spot beam may use a large amount of spectrum, typically 250-1000 MHz. The resulting large capacity is a product of several characteristics of the satellite system, including, for example, (a) the large number of spot beams, typically 60 to 80 or more, (b) the high antenna directivity associated with the spot beams (resulting in, for example, advantageous link budgets), and (c) the relatively large amount of bandwidth used within each spot beam.
The aforementioned high capacity satellite architectures are valuable, but may still be limited in certain respects. For example, scaling the architecture to support higher capacities while maintaining the same spectrum allocation and power budget is typically accomplished using larger reflectors to create spot beams with smaller diameters. The use of smaller diameter spot beams may increase the directivity (or gain) of the satellite antenna, thus enhancing the link signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and capacity. However, the smaller spot beams necessarily reduce the service coverage area (e.g., the coverage area for which a communications service can be provided). These satellite architectures, therefore, have an inherent tradeoff of capacity versus coverage area.
In addition, these architectures typically place all spot beams, both user beams and gateway (GW) beams, in fixed locations. There is generally no ability to move the spot beams around to accommodate changes in the service coverage area. Moreover, the architectures essentially provide uniformly distributed capacity over the service coverage area. The capacity per spot beam, for example, is strongly related to the allocated bandwidth per spot beam, which is predetermined for every spot beam and allows for little to no flexibility or configurability.
Although these satellite communications architectures are valuable when the desired service coverage area is well-known and the demand for capacity is uniformly distributed over the service coverage area, the inflexibility of the aforementioned architectures can be limiting for certain applications. For example, a communications satellite may be retasked or deployment conditions (e.g., orbital slot, etc.) may change. Additionally, a satellite communications service may see changes in user demands (e.g., fixed vs. mobile users, etc.). Although signal processing techniques such as beamforming may provide some ability to adapt the arrangement of spot beams or service coverage area, additional flexibility in adaptation of service coverage area and spot beam arrangement may be desired. For example, it may be desirable for a satellite communications system architecture to support flexibility in the locations and sizes of spot beam coverage areas, the locations of user terminals and access node terminals, the spatial distribution of the communications service capacity, and the capacity allocation of the communications service. Further, it may be desirable to support such flexibility along with changes in orbital position of a communications satellite or allow moving a communications satellite to another orbital slot during the mission lifetime.

Flexible beamforming for satellite communications


An embodiment of the present invention related to fingerprint sensors is described. The sensor comprises an integrated-circuit chip having a sensitive surface, a substrate provided with electrical connections and wire-bonding wires connecting the chip to the electrical connections. The sensor further includes a molded protective resin at least partly covering the substrate and the chip and completely encapsulating the wire-bonding wires. The resin forms, on at least one side of the chip and at most three sides, a bump rising to at least 500 microns above the sensitive surface, this bump encapsulating the wire-bonding wires and constituting a guide for a finger, the fingerprint of which it is desired to detect.

A fingerprint sensor is produced from an integrated circuit, in principle based on silicon, comprising especially an array of sensitive spots for generating a representation of the fingerprint of a finger placed directly on the surface of the array. Fingerprint detection may be optical or capacitive or thermal or piezoelectric.
Some sensors operate when a finger is placed statically on the surface of a sensor, the rectangular or square active detection array of which has an area corresponding to the fingerprint area to be detected; other sensors operate by the finger sliding over a sensor, the detection array of which, having a much smaller area than the fingerprint to be detected, is a thin elongate strip.
In both cases, but especially in the case of finger-sliding operation, the integrated circuit must be protected by wear-resistant layers. These layers depend on the type of sensor (for example, if it is an optical sensor, it is obvious that the optional protective layers must be protected by transparent layers). It has been proposed to use protective lacquers or else mineral coatings, such as silicon oxide coatings. Moreover, the integrated-circuit chip forming the core of the sensor must be electrically connected to the outside (especially to supply sources, control circuits and circuits for processing the electrical signals representative of the fingerprint). Given that the finger has to be placed on (or has to slide over) the sensitive surface of the sensor, this surface must remain accessible. This is why, for such sensors, a conventional electrical connection solution is adopted, using bonded flexible wires that connect contact pads on the front face (active face) of the integrated-circuit chip to contact pads located on a surface on which the chip is mounted. In integrated-circuit applications other than sensors (for example, microprocessors, memories, etc.), these wires are conventionally protected by a thick protective layer, deposited or overmolded, which encapsulates the chip and its wires.

Method of producing a digital fingerprint sensor and the corresponding sensor


The present invention is directed to an improved support and lock for use in conjunction with a mobile sonar unit or other device. The improved support is rotatably coupled to the sonar unit base by a coupling assembly. A stabilizing member is slideably coupled to the distal end of the support via a locking assembly. Advantageously, the support maintains an object, such as a transducer, in a selected position and is able to resist deflection despite adverse environment conditions. Further, the disclosed locking assembly can be used for a wide variety of other applications.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sonar devices and, more particularly, the invention relates to a sonar device having a sonar transducer submerged in water extending from an arm supporting the transducer.
2. Description of Related Art
Over the last several decades, commercial and recreational fishermen alike have sought more effective tools to find and catch fish. One of the most effective tools to date has been sonar depth finder units. These units provide fishermen with a virtual picture of a local underwater environment. This picture, allows fishermen to determine if fish are actually present in the area, but perhaps more effectively, it allows fishermen to locate underwater structures where fish are known to congregate. As a result, fishermen may selectively fish over such areas thereby increasing their odds of success.
Generally, fish finding units consist of a sonar display, a base for mounting the display, a sonar transducer, and an electrically conductive cable for electrically connecting the transducer to the sonar display. During use, the sonar transducer transmits ultrasonic signals that travel outwardly in a cone-shaped pattern, until striking the bottom of the body of water, submerged structures, or the fish themselves. Upon striking any of these objects, the ultrasonic signals are reflected, thereby creating echo signals that are received by the transducer. These signals are electrically transmitted to the display, which converts the echo signals into electronic signals. The electronic signals are used by the display to generate a visual representation of the local underwater environment.
Conventionally, the fish finding units described above are mounted on fishing boats and are powered by the boat's onboard power source. The unit's transducers are generally mounted to the transom or hull of the boat. In many circumstances, however, the use of a sonar fish finder may be desired in environments that are not conducive to fishing from a boat. For example, fishermen may require use of a sonar depth finder when fishing in shallow channels, along river banks, from piers or when ice fishing. Accordingly, fish finding units operated in these environments cannot rely on a boat for power or structural support. In particular, such units must be mobile, self-contained, and capable of transmitting a directed sonar signal.
In response, mobile fishing depth finder units have been developed according to the known prior art. Specifically, conventional mobile units have developed for use in ice fishing applications. These mobile ice fishing units consist of a sonar display, a base for mounting the display, a sonar transducer, a local energy source and an electrically conductive cable for mechanically supporting and electrically connecting the transducer to the sonar display. During fishing, the display is mounted to the base and positioned on a body of ice adjacent an ice fishing hole. The sonar transducer is placed within the hole such that the transducer is supported by the conductive cable below the ice. Accordingly, a "plumb-bob" configuration is produced wherein gravity acts to straighten the support cable thereby positioning the transducer substantially below the ice fishing hole.
As conventional units are used more frequently, it has become apparent that they possess a number of significant drawbacks. For example, conventional units do not operate effectively in moving water. In particular, when a plumb-bob type transducer is deposited within a rapidly moving stream or provided in a body of water having underwater currents, the transducer is deflected off-line. As described above, it is important for an effective fisherman to know the location and orientation of the sonar transducer. This information allows the fisherman to ensure that the visual information provided by the sonar display, actually represents the targeted local underwater environment. Thus, if a transducer is deflected off-line by an underwater current or other similar body of moving water, the fish finding unit is left to undesirably describe an area that has not been targeted by the fisherman. Also, the fisherman is left largely unaware that the fish finder is not displaying the intended viewing area.
Accordingly, it is desirable then to produce a fish finder unit having a transducer, which is securely supported in a known operating position either in standing or flowing water. Further, it is desirable to produce fish finder unit that is compact, mobile and easy to use. Finally, it is desirable to produce a fish finder unit having a transducer that may be quickly and easily deployed into a preferred viewing area beneath the water.


A method for determining a type of a head in a hard disc drive, the head being a normal head, a weak head, or an ATE (Adjacent Track Erasure) head, and a method for adjusting a write parameter using the head type determining method. The head type determining method includes writing data via the head under multiple tracks per inch (TPI) conditions, in which TPIs are equal to a reference TPI, and wider and narrower than the reference TPI by a respective first and second predetermined ratios, and reproducing the written data, to detect a bit error rate under each TPI condition, and comparing the bit error rate under each condition to the bit error rate of the reference TPI, to determine a type of a head.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hard disc drive, and more particularly, to a method for determining a type of a head, that is, whether a head is a normal head, a weak head, or an ATE (Adjacent Track Erasure) head, and a method for adjusting a write parameter using the head type determining method.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a conventional hard disc drive prevents a write error depending upon a temperature, it optimizes write parameters such as a write current (WC) and an overshoot control (OSC) based upon temperature. That is, write parameters which are dependent upon temperature are applied to the hard disc drive by predicting a decrease in a write performance of a head depending upon a temperature. For example, Korean Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-65356 discloses a technology in which, after a physical characteristic of a storage device, such as a hard disc drive, is estimated in the process of manufacturing the storage device, an optimal parameter is stored in a control device of the storage device. Then, operating parameters of the hard disc drive are dynamically controlled according to a detected environmental condition and the optimal parameter. Further, an apparatus having a temperature sensor, for detecting a temperature in a hard disc drive and varying a write current according to the detected temperature is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Nos. 1998-340412 and 1994-111457 and Korean Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-67794.
Since a coercive force of a disc becomes large at a low temperature, a write parameter is increased, to thereby increase an intensity of a magnetic field. Meanwhile, since a coercive force of a disc becomes small at a high temperature, a write parameter is lowered, to thereby lower an intensity of a magnetic field. Accordingly, a data error can be prevented when data is written.
But since a conventional write parameter optimization method does not consider a specific characteristic of each head in addition to an operating temperature of a hard disc drive, a data error cannot be effectively prevented.
Heads for use in hard disc drives are classified as one of three types: a normal head; an ATE head; and a weak head. The ATE head has a remarkable ATE (Adjacent Track Erasure) effect, and the weak head has a weak write characteristic, that is, a poor write characteristic at a low temperature.
For example, since a coercive force of a disc decreases at a high temperature, an interference between adjacent tracks occurs easily. Thus, in the ATE head, a correction value of a write parameter based upon a temperature needs to be lowered in comparison with the normal head. And since a coercive force of a disc increases at a low temperature, in the weak head, a correction value of a write parameter based upon a temperature needs to be increased in comparison with the normal head.
Since the conventional write parameter optimization method does not consider a specific characteristic of each head, but rather applies the same write parameter correction value to all kinds of heads, problems occur: namely, an interference between adjacent tracks increases in the case of an ATE head at a high temperature, and a weak write phenomenon becomes severe in the case of a weak head at a low temperature.

Method for determining a type of head, and method for optimizing a write parameter using the head type determining method in a hard disc drive


An item is described which renders a pair of eyeglasses more comfortable to the wearer. The item prevents eyeglasses from falling down on the nose of the wearer and thus promotes easier breathing. Glasses feel lighter to the wearer because the item lifts glasses away from the cheeks. Additionally, The item is adjustable to a position opposite the eyes for better vision.

It is particularly annoying when eyeglasses constantly fall down on the nose of a wearer. If the eyeglasses are heavy and pinch the nose, breathing difficulties may be experienced. When eyeglasses fall down on the nose so that they are not directly opposite the eyes, the wearer's vision may be compromised. Also, when glasses rest on the cheeks of a wearer, the wearer often becomes fatigued. The present invention solves all of the above mentioned problems.


Sensors capable of sensing the proximity of a golf club head and of generating a sensor signal in response thereto are provided. The sensors include control sensors used to communicate user commands and club-head data sensors used to analyze a golf club swing. A computer program is provided to direct a computer to analyze signals generated by the control sensors to interpret commands from a training system user. The computer also analyzes signals generated by club-head data sensors to determine the path, height, impact speed, and face impact angle of the golf club head as a function of the user commands. Analyzed club-head data sensor signals are used to calculate and graphically represent the resulting flight path of the struck golf ball with respect to a graphically simulated fairway and green presented on a video display unit. The simulated fairway and green are defined by data stored within the data storage device. The computer determines faults in the club swing, and outputs to the video display unit and a speaker appropriate recorded audio-visual responses that contain appropriate advice and demonstrations by a well-known golf professional for correcting the faults. A user can also play a simulated golf game on a simulated golf course. A calibrator is also provided to compensate for sensor misalignment.

Computers have been coupled with golf simulation devices for some time. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,526, to Yasuda et al., discloses a golf trainer including a plurality of electromagnetic sensors to detect the passage of a golf club head and calculate the head velocity, swing orbit, face angle and ball carry. The golf trainer also includes a device to display specific information calculated from the club swing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,406, to Cromarty, discloses a golf training apparatus including infrared sensors that detect the passage of a golf club head between them and a source of infrared radiation. The apparatus also calculates swing parameters, displaying them alphanumerically on a television display, a graphic representation of the direction of the swing also being displayed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,249,967, to O'Leary et al., discloses a training device using a pair of video cameras to record a student's golf club swing from behind and from the side of the student. A video overlay generator receives the live images and combines them, while in their video signal format, with a corresponding set of self-generated template images that represent, in static outline form, the dynamic technique of a master in the desired situation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,927, to O'Leary et al., discloses a training device including a target screen upon which an image of a golf hole is projected. The device detects club angle and determines therefrom a resulting slice or hook and displays the ball path using a spotlight generated by a tracer.
While the prior techniques function with a certain degree of efficiency, none disclose the advantages of the improved computer-based, interactive sports training system of the present invention as is hereinafter more fully described.

Computer-based, interactive sports training system