A lubricant, fuel or other composition comprising an organo-substituted benzophenone in which the latter compound acts as a lubricant base stock, a blend stock, an additive solubility enhancer and/or a deposit reducing agent, and is defined as having at least one ring carbon atom of its benzophenone moiety bonded to an organo radical which is a hydrocarbyl radical containing 1 to about 60 carbon atoms, or such a hydrocarbyl radical modified to contain additional oxygen, nitrogen and/or sulfur. Compositions containing such an organo-substituted benzophenone as the base fluid possess excellent resistance to deposition under severe conditions as well as outstanding thermal and oxidative stabilities.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the use of certain organo-substituted benzophenones in lubricant and other compositions, e.g., fuels, wherein the organo-substituted benzophenone exerts a stabilizing and other beneficial effects.
2. Background of the Invention Including Description of Related Art
Various ring-substituted, e.g., alkylated aromatics are known to function as effective lubricants and other functional compositions in a variety of applications, particularly those requiring any combination of the properties of good viscosity indices, low pour points, good thermal and oxidative stabilities and additive solubilities. However, certain current applications are close to surpassing the stability limits of these base stocks. Upon decomposition, such base stocks often form deposits which are highly undesirable. Thus, any ring-substituted aromatic newly developed for lubricant and other applications which not only possess all the desirable properties of alkylated aromatics previously known for these applications, but also has improved resistance to deposition of solids under severe conditions, is very desirable.
The following references may be considered pertinent to the field of the invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,829, issued May 12, 1987 to Arakawa et al., discloses a lubricating oil blend comprising a monoalkyldiphenylether or dialkyldiphenylether.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,915, issued Dec. 15, 1992 to Forbus et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,274, issued Oct. 19, 1993 to Ho et al., disclose the catalytic alkylation of any of various aromatic compounds (not including benzophenone), with a mono-olefin which is a dimer or oligomer obtained in the oligomerization of a 1-alkene for the production of high viscosity index polyalpha-olefin (HVI-PAO) lubricants.

Compositions containing an organo-substituted benzophenone


A ledge that incorporates a spill sill as a portion of the ledge is disclosed. The ledge includes one or more ports and the spill sill is shaped in a manner that catches liquid as it overflows and directs the water to the port(s). The port(s) are utilized to drain the liquid from the ledge so that the liquid can be routed away for disposal. In addition to being functional, the ledge includes dimensions and/or configurations that make the ledge aesthetically pleasing.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to ledges for directing the flow of liquid, and more particularly, to spa ledges with spill sill for directing the flow of the liquid and supplying aesthetic appeal.
Description of the Related Art
Water often overflows from a spa when the spa is in use. As such, some spas include a means for catching the overflowing water and routing the water back to the spa for re-use. Though re-using the overflowed water is an efficient use of water, water recycled in this manner is not as hygienic as replenishing the spa with new water to replace the overflowed water. Furthermore, the design for the means for routing the overflow water for re-use is directed more toward functionality, and not toward attractiveness. Therefore, there is a need for a spa ledge with a spill sill that functions to route overflowing water away from the spa, as well as, is appealing to the eye from an aesthetic perspective.


The invention relates to a method for hydrolyzing hydrolyzable metallic salts, the metallic salts being reacted with emulsions of a) water and b) an inert liquid.

The invention relates to a method for hydrolyzing hydrolyzable metallic salts with emulsions of water and inert liquid.
In the reaction of chlorosilanes of metallurgical silicon and HCl gas to give trichlorosilane (TCS) and silicon tetrachloride (STC), which are used, for example, as raw materials for the production of semiconductor-pure silicon, solar silicon and highly disperse silicic acid, metallic salts, mainly metallic chlorides, are formed as by-products. In particular, aluminum chloride and iron chloride deposit as a solid on cooling the reaction mixture. Selective deposition of the solids is important in terms of process technology in order to avoid changes in the distillative work-up of the liquid silanes. Various methods are known for the separation of the solid metallic chlorides from the process.
In DE 2623290 A1, the deposition of AlCl3, mixed with FeCl3 from the gaseous reaction mixture of chlorosilanes in Liebig tubes, is described. The cleaning of the Liebig tubes is not described.
Since the solids are generally mixtures of highly corrosive compounds, the immediately subsequent hydrolysis and optionally neutralization of the resulting aqueous solutions is preferred to a purification of the solids (for utilization). In the hydrolysis of the anhydrous metallic chlorides (in particular of the main constituent aluminum chloride), as is known a very high quantity of heat is released, which in the case of inadequate heat dissipation can lead to the evaporation of the water and as a result to uncontrolled pressure build-up and thus to dangerous plant conditions as far as to explosion.
For safety reasons, apparatus and plant components that are contaminated with these metallic chlorides are therefore dismantled for cleaning by hydrolysis. In addition to the danger of an accident on opening the plant and transport of the contaminated apparatus, this causes a high logistic complexity in order to avoid downtimes. The safety risks associated therewith and the cost are considerable.
As an alternative, for example, a method is described in EP 1174388 A1 in which the metallic chlorides are laboriously filtered off after precipitation in a quencher and thus isolated in utilizable form. Since generally, however, mixtures of metallic chlorides are concerned, here also the hydrolysis and subsequent disposal by means of a waste-water treatment plant is economically more advantageous than a further laborious purification. The hydrolysis can then be controlled by means of the feed rate of the filter cake.
The object was to hydrolyze solid hydrolyzable metallic salts in a simple and hazardless manner.

Method for hydrolyzing metallic salts with emulsions


A lubrication device for a treadmill includes a plurality of dispensing tubes connected between two rails of the frame and a plurality of apertures are defined through a wall of each dispensing tube. The dispensing apertures face an inside of the endless belt located at a lower position. A plurality of input tubes are connected the two ends of the dispensing tubes so that lubricant can be fed into the dispensing tubes via the input tubes such that the inside of the endless belt is lubricated. The customer can easily lubricate the endless belt without removing the endless belt from the frame.

A conventional treadmill is shown in FIG. 7 and generally includes a frame 52 with a deck 54 connected between the two rails of the frame 52 and two rollers (not shown) are connected on two ends of the frame 52. An endless belt 53 reeves through the two rollers and one of the rollers is driven by a motor (not shown) so that the endless belt 53 moves at a desired speed. In order to reduce the friction between the deck 54 and the endless belt 53, a conventional lubrication device as shown in FIG. 8 is provided to feed lubricant between the deck 54 and the endless belt 53. The lubrication device includes a plurality of notches 541 defined in a top surface of the deck 54 and lubricant is filled in the notches 541 so that a layer of lubricant is established between the deck 54 and the endless belt 53. However, when the lubricant in the notches 541 needs to be refilled, the endless belt 53 has to be removed from the deck 54 of the frame 52 and this takes a lot of time and the customers cannot do the job well.
The present invention intends to provide a lubrication device for an endless belt of treadmills and the device includes a plurality of input tubes exposed on the outside of the frame so that the user can easily supply lubricant into the device without removing the endless belt from the frame.

Lubrication device for endless belt of treadmills


A multiple door bulkhead which can be partially opened to accommodate a small discharge or completely opened to accommodate a wide discharge port. In addition, a single standard liner provides multiple discharge ports which can be selectively opened at the user's discretion. Alternative embodiments provide a single standard liner to which multiple liner discharge can be attached. A discharge port is also shown which can be attached directly to the bulkhead. Optional quick attachment methods are provided in which reusable discharge ports can be attached to the standard liner or the multiple door bulkhead. The end of the liner is opened for unloading by cutting the section of the end wall which is encircled by the desired port. The liner and ports are optionally provided in kit form with pre-attached tape on the liner and ports. The ports do not have to be attached to the liner until required.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the loading and unloading of flowable cargo transported in lined bulk cargo containers. In particular, it relates to a method and apparatus for using a multiple door bulkhead for installing multiple discharge ports of varying sizes on a standard container liner or on the container liner bulkhead such that a standard container liner can be used for a variety of cargo types.
2. Background Art
Transportation of containers for bulk commodity products (grains, etc) have been implemented using a variety transport vehicles, such as trucks, railroads, and ships. Depending on the nature of the cargo, liners may have to be installed to protect the cargo from contamination (in the case of foods or other perishables) and/or prevent leakage (in the case of powders, small particles, etc.).
An important economic factor in the transportation of bulk commodities is the speed and ease with which the commodities are loaded and unloaded from the container. One factor which effects the speed, and consequently the cost, of loading and unloading containers used for the transport of bulk commodities is the time and expense required to unload the liners due to the type of discharge port used.
The prior art has developed several methods of discharging container liners. One method is the use of narrow tubular discharge ports attached to the rear of the liner. Alternatively, liners have been used which have wide discharge port extending across substantially the width of the liner. This method provides flexibility in terms of preparing a liner for a particular cargo type, but it also has several drawbacks. In particular, the liners are typically made as separate liner types, requiring inventory tracking for each type used. Likewise, it requires additional components, in the form of the bulkheads which are designed for each liner type. The requirement for multiple bulkhead types and liner types increases the total cost of the liners and the bulkheads, thus increasing the cost of discharging the liner.
Typical prior art methods of attaching discharge ports to liners use heat sealing techniques to secure the discharge port to the liner wall. This is usually done at the manufacturing site, and as a result, the user cannot select type discharge port type as needed for a particular cargo type. The inability to select discharge ports for use with a given liner creates another disadvantage for the user. In particular, since many users ship a variety of cargo types, they are then required to store a number of liner types which in turn increases their inventory and storage costs.
In addition to the construction of the liner itself, there is also the issue of the bulkhead type required to support a given liner type. Typical prior art approaches use disposable bulkheads which are designed to work with a liner that has a discharge port in a specific location. Of course, the same drawbacks associated with inventorying and storing multiple liner types applies equally as well to inventorying and storing multiple bulkhead types. Reusable bulkheads, for example those constructed from metal, have the same problem as the disposable bulkheads discussed above. Namely, their structure prevents them from being flexibly used with a variety of liner types, requiring the to be replaced depending on the particular liner used. A shipper who routinely changes cargo liner types will then have to replace the bulkhead and store it for later reuse.
While addressing various aspects of constructing liners and their associated load, vent, and discharge ports, the prior art has typically provided custom solutions which are directed to a particular liner configuration. As a result, users have increased manufacturing costs, increased storage costs, and increased inventory costs. The prior art has not provided a method of constructing a single standard liner and bulkhead system which allows the user to arbitrarily select the discharge port type most suitable for use with a particular cargo type.

Apparatus for discharging a container liner with dual ports


A device abnormality diagnosis method for a device to be diagnosed constituting a plant includes: obtaining time-series data of a plurality of state amounts of the plant which are correlated to an abnormality of the device to be diagnosed; a step of obtaining abnormality diagnosis data on the plurality of state amounts by performing pre-processing on at least one state amount of the plurality of state amounts to exclude, from the time-series data on the state amounts, data of the at least one state amount obtained in an exclusion period which is at least a part of a transient state period during which the device to be diagnosed is affected by a state change of another constituent device of the plant; and a step of performing abnormality diagnosis on the device to be diagnosed on the basis of the abnormality diagnosis data of the plurality of state amounts.

Generally, to monitor whether at least one device constituting a plant is normally operated, state amounts such as the temperature and the pressure of a device are obtained from the device and monitored. In a specific method, state amounts of a plurality of monitoring items, which are monitoring targets of the device, are measured at a predetermined time interval, and a Mahalanobis distance is calculated by focusing on the correlation between the state amounts of the plurality of monitoring items. Then, it is determined whether there is a sign of abnormality in the plant, on the basis of the Mahalanobis distance.
In the abnormality diagnosis method using the Mahalanobis distance, to improve the abnormal detection accuracy, the Mahalanobis distance is calculated by excluding state amounts which are substantially unnecessary in abnormal diagnosis and state amounts that do not contribute to improvement of the abnormality diagnosis accuracy. Patent Document 1 discloses an abnormality diagnosis method for a device using the Mahalanobis distance calculated on the basis of the above idea. In the abnormality diagnosis method disclosed in Patent Document 1, a frequency distribution of data is obtained for each state amount from data collected in a time-series manner from the device for each of the plurality of state amounts, and abnormality diagnosis is performed by using the Mahalanobis distance calculated by excluding a state amount whose frequency distribution of data does not follow the normal distribution.

Device abnormality diagnosis method and device abnormality diagnosis device


A method for testing multiple language versions of a browser-based application. A host language Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request issued by a host language browser is received. The host language HTTP request is configured to be sent to a host server address. The host language HTTP request comprises parameter strings in a host language. A target language HTTP request is generated by replacing each host parameter string of at least one host parameter string of the parameter strings in the received HTTP request with a respective target parameter string associated with a target language that differs from the host language. The generated target language HTTP request is configured to be sent to a target server address associated with and different from the host server address.

With the development of Web technology currently, many Web applications are implemented based on the browser/server (B/S) architecture. Different from the conventional client/server (C/S) architecture, the B/S architecture only requires a browser and does not need to install specialized software. It is convenient to work on different platforms by interacting with the Web server through the browser. In order to be adapted to the Internet environment, currently many Web applications have different language versions. Currently, there is not a simple and quick method for international testing of Web application products; and if a conventional software testing method is used, with the increase of supported languages, the workload of testing will also increases exponentially. Therefore, there is a need for a method for quickly and efficiently performing international testing of a Web application product.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for testing a browser-based application

International Business Machines Corporation


An assembly for controlling delivery of material from a bin opening includes a movable bin gate for closing the bin opening and providing a high flow rate of material when the movable gate is open, wherein a low flow aperture is formed in the bin gate to provide a low flow rate of material when the bin gate is positioned such that only the low flow aperture is open. A two-stage flow enhancer within the bin includes a first stage for impelling material in the direction of the low flow aperture and a second stage for impelling material to exit through the low flow aperture. A controller controls operation of the bin gate to adjust a flow rate of material from the bin opening.

The production of concrete and other similar composite materials that include components such as sand, aggregate, gravel, cement, fly ash, and/or other granular (including powdered) ingredients may be aided by providing controllable feed bins containing each of the necessary ingredients. The ingredients are distributed from the bins into a receiving bin or onto a conveyor belt that carries the ingredients to a mixing device or chamber. Alternatively, the bins may deliver the various ingredients directly into a mixing device.
Evolving applications for concrete and similar composite materials require increased precision in terms of the amount of various ingredients that are needed to achieve the desired composition and resulting qualities of the final composite material. Hand measuring or adjustment of amounts is possible but inefficient. Thus, there is a need for precise control of the amount of material distributed from a bin in order to achieve the desired composition.
To achieve precise distribution of materials from bins, one approach is to provide a bin having a large opening and a small opening. However, past arrangements having a large and a small opening have created the two openings by equipping the bins with two movable bin gates and therefore require a second, additional control mechanism for the second gate. Such an arrangement is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,290 (Oory et al.). One drawback of such arrangement is the expense of specially equipping each bin with multiple gates and control mechanisms. An additional drawback to such arrangements is that certain types of material tend to get jammed or stuck inside the bin when only a small output opening is provided. This limits the types of material that may be dispensed by the bin.
Thus, there is a need for a bin gate assembly that enables increased precision in the control of the output quantities provided from the bin opening while minimizing the need for additional equipment and mitigating the jamming/sticking issues of past arrangements.

Bin gate for providing variable output flow rates


A system and method is provided that allows an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) controller (or another micro-controller that is not a dedicated I2C controller) to control various Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) slave devices having I2C slave drivers without any modification of the I2C slave drivers on the I2C slave devices. The I2C slave devices can be managed without an external and/or a dedicated I2C master controller. In one embodiment, a translation module is provided to an IPMI micro-controller that can represent I2C interface to I2C device drivers. In another embodiment, the translation module can represent an interface for an IPMI controller to I2C device drivers located in one or more I2C devices and/or I2C controllers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer systems and the like, more particularly, it relates to a system and method for managing and accessing computer devices of a computer server system.
2. Description of Related Art
A computer platform can be designed with a variety of implementations/architectures that are either defined within existing standards (for example the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group, or PICMG, standards), or can be customized architectures. For example, a computer platform can be designed with a Compact Peripheral Component Interconnect (CPCI). The CPCI is a high performance industrial bus based on the standard PCI electrical specification in rugged 3U or 6U Eurocard packaging. CPCI is intended for application in telecommunications, computer telephony, real-time machine control, industrial automation, real-time data acquisition, instrumentation, military systems or any other application requiring high-speed computing, modular and robust packaging design, and long-term manufacturer support. Because of its high speed and bandwidth, the CPCI bus is particularly well suited for many high-speed data communication applications, such as for server applications.
Compared to a standard desktop PCI, a computer system having CPCI supports twice as many PCI slots (typically 8 versus 4) and offers an ideal packaging scheme for industrial applications. A CPCI computer system includes CPCI node cards that are designed for front loading and removal from a card chassis and a plurality of field replaceable units (FRUS)—such as fans, power supplies, etc. The CPCI node cards (or motherboards or front cards) include processing unit(s) for the computer system and are firmly held in position by their connector, card guides on both sides, and a faceplate that solidly screws into the card rack. The CPCI node cards are mounted vertically allowing for natural or forced air convection for cooling. Also, the pin-and-socket connector of the CPCI node card is significantly more reliable and has better shock and vibration characteristics than the card edge connector of the standard PCI node cards.
The CPCI computer system also includes at least one management controller (or micro-controller) for managing and accessing devices on the system. The management controller is coupled with a Central Processing Unit (CPU) of a node card and offloads certain management functions from the CPU of the node card. For example, certain management functions for the temperature, voltage, fans, power supplies, etc. of the system can be offloaded to the management controller. Typically, the management controller can be an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) controller and/or an Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) controller.
The node cards, having IPMI slave drivers, are managed and accessed by a CPU of a node card via the IPMI controller that receives notification of system management events and participates in the overall management infrastructure. The other hardware components (or the FRUs) having I2C slave drivers are managed and accessed by the CPU of the node card using the Inter Integrated Circuit (I2C) controller.
Due to its limited data transfers capabilities, the dedicated I2C controller is limited to applications on hardware components that require infrequent access and a small amount of data transfers. However, because of the low cost, there are advantages in using the I2C protocol and I2C slave drivers to manage and access certain hardware components, such as FRUs. It would also be highly beneficial not to have multiple controllers in a computer system having duplicative roles for managing and accessing devices on the computer systems.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a computer system (e.g., a CPCI computer system) that can reliably support I2C drivers using an IPMI controller and/or without having duplicative and multiple controllers on the computer system. It addition, it would be desirable during upgrading of the computer system that the upgraded computer system has a single controller (e.g., an IPMI controller) to save the cost of not having an extra and duplicative controller (e.g., an I2C controller) but can still use existing FRUs having I2C slave drivers. That is, it would be advantageous to preserve proper compatibility for the I2C slave drivers to minimize the engineering effort required to move over from an existing computer system to an IPMI controller computer system.

Exporting 12C controller interfaces for 12C slave devices using IPMI micro-controller


A computer implemented method indexes duplicate information stored in records having different unique addresses in a database. A fingerprint is generated for each record, the fingerprint is a singular value derived from all of the information of the record. The fingerprint is stored in the index as a unique fingerprint if the fingerprint is different than a previously stored fingerprint of the index. A reference to the unique address of the record is stored with the fingerprint. If the fingerprint is identical to the previously stored fingerprint, then store the reference to the address of the record with the previously stored fingerprint.

In the prior art, it has been well known that computer systems can be used to index records of a database. In recent years, a unique distributed database has emerged in the form of the World-Wide-Web (Web). The database records of the Web are in the form of pages accessible via the Internet. Here, tens of millions of pages are accessible by anyone having a communications link to the Internet.
The pages are dispersed over millions of different computer systems all over the world. Users of the Internet constantly desire to locate specific pages containing information of interest. The pages can be expressed in any number of different character sets such as English, French, German, Spanish, Cyrillic, Kanakata, and Mandarin. In addition, the pages can include specialized components, such as embedded "forms," executable programs, JAVA applets, and hypertext.
Moreover, the pages can be constructed using various formatting conventions, for example, ASCII text, Postscript files, html files, and Acrobat files. The pages can include links to multimedia information content other than text, such as audio, graphics, and moving pictures. As a complexity, the Web can be characterized as an unpredictable random update, insert, and delete database with a constantly changing morphology.
One characteristic of the World-Wide-Web makes it relatively easy to copy Web pages from one site to another. Web users frequently incorporate pages created by others into their own pages to streamline access. It is estimated that as much as 25% of the Web is composed of duplicate pages. If all the duplicate pages are fully indexed, the amount of storage required for the index would greatly increase.
Therefore, it is desired to provide a technique which minimizes the likelihood that duplicate pages are indexed. The technique should also allow for reindexing as duplicate pages are deleted.

Method for indexing duplicate records of information of a database


A distributed hash table is implemented to store routing information on a network. Node IDs exchanged in connection with implementation of a link state routing protocol are used as keys in the distributed hash table, and routes are stored at one or more nodes on the network. When a route is learned, the route is processed against the set of keys to determine which nodes should store the route. When a route is needed, the route is processed against the set of keys to determine which nodes should have the route information. The manner in which the route is processed against the set of keys is the same in both instances, so that the DHT may be used to store and retrieve route information on the network. The DHT may be implemented to store MAC addresses, IP addresses, MPLS labels, or other information of interest to enable routes to be stored and learned by network elements on the network.

Data communication networks may include various computers, servers, nodes, routers, switches, bridges, hubs, proxies, and other network devices coupled together and configured to pass data to one another. These devices will be referred to herein as "network elements." Data is communicated through the data communication network by passing protocol data units, such as data frames, packets, cells, or segments, between the network elements by utilizing one or more communication links. A particular Protocol Data Unit (PDU) may be handled by multiple network elements and cross multiple communication links as it travels between its source and its destination over the network.
When a network element receives a request to transmit data to an unknown network address, the network element may attempt to obtain the routing information required to reach the unknown network address. There are several common ways of determining routing information for a PDU. For example, in an Ethernet network a request may be broadcast onto the network by the network element, to see if any of the other network elements know how to reach the particular address. When the broadcasting network element receives a reply it knows how to forward the Ethernet frame to the intended address. This occurs commonly in connection with a provider edge node that is required to map a particular customer address to a provider MAC Address so that the frame may be forwarded across the provider network. In this instance, the provider edge node may have routing information to reach all of the other provider edge nodes, but may not have routing information for all of the customer routes that are available through all of the other provider edge nodes. The provider edge node will need to determine which of the other provider edge nodes is able to reach the customer route before forwarding the PDU on toward that provider edge node.
Where the address requested is an IP address, a common way to find the network location of the resource associated with the IP address is to pass a request to a Domain Name Service (DNS). The DNS system is a hierarchical system that relies on caching more popular addresses on distributed DNS servers throughout the network, so that the lower level servers are able to handle many of the IP resolution requests without requiring the DNS root server or those servers higher up in the hierarchy to become involved. Specifically, a node with an unknown IP address will pass a request to its local DNS server and, if that server doesn't have the requisite information, it will pass the request further up the hierarchy until a server is reached that has a copy of the required information.
As the number of nodes on a provider network increases, and the number of customer routes available through the network increases, resolving route requests by broadcasting the requests to all nodes becomes increasingly inefficient. Specifically, broadcasting requests requires each node on the network to process each request which becomes inefficient as the number of nodes increases and as the number of requests increases.
Similarly, with the advent of IP telephony, the number of one-time requests for an IP addresses is expected to increase. For example, if the IP addresses being requested are associated with destinations of telephone calls being made on the network, it would be expected that a majority of the requests for routing information associated with these IP addresses would be one time requests since it is unlikely for many people to consistently call a same small set of telephone numbers. As the proportion of one time requests for IP addresses increases, the efficiencies of a the hierarchical nature of the DNS service may be expected to decrease, since multiple requests are increasingly unlikely to be made for the same IP address. Specifically, caching relatively recent requests for IP addresses may be expected to be of less value where it is increasingly unlikely that a second request for the same IP address will be received within a particular period of time. This may be expected to increase demand on the DNS root server and potentially cause the DNS service to become a bottleneck on the network.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a new way of making routing information available on a network.

Distributed storage of routing information in a link state protocol controlled network


A method and apparatus for reducing suspension end-stop collisions is disclosed. The method and apparatus controls the operation of an isolation system having an adjustable damper assembly interconnecting relatively movable members to attenuate the transmission of forces therebetween, in which relative movement of the members is restricted beyond a certain limit by one or more end stops. Sensors monitor the conditions of the system such as the displacement, velocity and acceleration of the members. Damper command signals are provided to the damper assembly to adjust the damping characteristics of the assembly, as determined by the data, in accordance with both a primary control policy and an override control policy. The override control policy alters the damper command signals as necessary to increase the damping characteristics of the damper assembly at times when the isolation system is likely to meet or exceed the end stops in order to minimize the incidence of end-stop collisions.

Isolation systems such as vehicle suspensions or the like serve to reduce the shock and vibratory forces between relatively movable members such as a vehicle body (a sprung mass) and a support or vehicle wheel (an unsprung mass). Forces transmitted between the members are attenuated using dampers that comprise piston and cylinder assemblies having variable volume chambers interconnected by an orifice or passageway through which fluid is displaced, and throttled, according to the size of the orifice.
Prior art isolation systems may be characterized as passive, fully active or semiactive. A passive isolation system, such as the spring-dashpot combination used in most automobiles, typically provides good isolation in a certain frequency range of operation, but is subject to amplified excitation in passing through its resonant or natural frequency such that its damping forces will at times amplify, rather than attenuate, force transmission between the interconnected (sprung and unsprung mass) members. More particularly, a passive isolation system is often incapable of providing damping forces sufficient to appropriately attenuate the excitation of the sprung mass member. Other passive isolation systems provide good control of the sprung mass isolation at the natural frequency of the suspension, while imparting too much damping force between the interconnected members at other frequencies, resulting in a "harsh" ride.
Fully active isolation systems differ from passive systems in that they employ an external power source or force generator for supplying energy in a controlled manner to counteract vibrational forces. As a result, the damping coefficient and hence the effective natural frequency of a suspension employing a fully active damper can be continually adjusted to the desired value to provide isolation superior to that of passive devices. However, fully active systems require a large auxiliary power source and are not sufficiently responsive at high operating frequencies due to inadequacies of such equipment to respond rapidly to control signals.
Semiactive isolation systems are defined as those which require no external energy other than that needed to actuate valves, sensors and controls, yet are capable of providing for rapid changes in the damping coefficient of the damper interconnecting the members so as to optimize the attenuation of forces between the members. A semiactive system can create a force opposing motion, but not in the direction of motion. Thus, the term "semiactive" refers to control systems which are only capable of removing energy from a system. Semiactive systems are nonetheless capable of performance approaching that of a fully active system when operated pursuant to a suitable control policy, and in particular those control policies which emulate a hypothetical "skyhook" damper as described in Karnopp, D. C. et al., "Vibration Control Using Semiactive Force Generators," ASME Paper No. 73-DET-123 (June 1974), incorporated herein by reference. Semiactive dampers and control policies for them, are disclosed in Karnopp, U.S. Pat. No 3,807,678; Miller et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,821,849, 4,838,392 and 4,898,264; Boone, U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,425; and Ivers, U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,699, all owned by the assignee of the present invention. The disclosures of the foregoing patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Semiactive dampers may be either of the "off/on" type, of the "orifice-setting" type, or of the "force-controlled" type. An "off/on" semiactive damper is switched, in accordance with the dictates of a suitable control policy, between alternative "on" and "off" damping states or conditions. In the "on" state, the damping coefficient of the damper is of a preselected, relatively high magnitude. The term damping coefficient as used herein is understood to mean the relationship of the damping force generated by the damper to the relative velocity across the damper, which relationship is not necessarily linear. In its "off" state, the damping coefficient of the damper is approximately zero or of a relatively low magnitude sufficiently greater than zero so as to discourage "wheel hop". An orifice-setting semiactive damper is also switched during operation between an "off" state, where the damping coefficient is approximately zero or of some relatively low magnitude, and an "on" state. However, when a orifice-setting semiactive damper is in its "on" state the damping coefficient thereof may be and normally is changed between a large (theoretically infinite) number of different magnitudes. The magnitude of the damping coefficient is typically determined by the diameter setting of the valve orifice in the damper.
A "force-controlled" damper, in theory, is capable of creating any desired dissipative force in the "on" state independent of the relative velocity across the damper. This is in contrast to the aforementioned "off/on" and "orifice-setting" dampers in which the damping force in the "on" state depends on the relative velocity across the damper. A force-controlled damper can either be realized by use of feedback control or by use of pressure control valves. In the "off" state the force-controlled damper will command the valve to the full-open position in which the damping coefficient is approximately zero or of some relatively low value.
Although the foregoing semiactive isolation systems offer significant performance advantages over other types of isolation systems they have been known to experience difficulties when subjected to large, abrupt input disturbances such as those encountered on rough terrain or upon the landing of an aircraft, for example. Excessive vehicle body motions and suspension travel can often result in damaging or uncomfortable force inputs to the vehicle when the suspension reaches its end of travel in either a retracted or extended condition so as to impact the mechanical end stops of the suspension. The aforesaid suspension end-stop collisions are often referred to as "bottoming out" of the suspension, when such occurs in the retracted condition. End-stop collisions result in degraded isolation of the vehicle body by significantly increasing the root-mean-square (RMS) accelerations thereof and further place undue stress on system components to such an extent as to shorten their useful life.
Semiactive isolation systems employing an above-described "skyhook" control policy or a derivative thereof, tend to increase the average range of suspension deflection to provide "smoother" ride characteristics and therefore can, under certain conditions, actually increase the incidence of suspension end-stop collisions. This tendency is discussed in Miller, "Tuning Passive, Semiactive and Fully Active Suspension Systems," Proceedings of the 27th CDC of IEEE, Vol. 3, 1988 and in Ivers et al., "Experimental Comparison of Passive, On/Off Semiactive and Continuous Semiactive Suspensions" SAE Paper No. 892484, Dec. 7, 1989.
The incidence of suspension end-stop collisions could be reduced or even eliminated by use of a very stiff damper with a high damping coefficient. However, this would defeat the performance advantages of semiactive control by unnecessarily limiting the range of suspension deflection for the given range of motion of the suspension and unacceptably degrade the isolation of the vehicle.
Various types of spring and elastomeric bumpers have been designed to reduce the severity of end-stop collisions. Typically, these bumpers or other means are designed to be internal to the damper cylinder and provide for hydromechanical or pneumatic cushioning after the piston has approached closer to a particular end-stop than a prescribed distance. Examples of such devices are disclosed in Mourray, U.S. Pat. No. 4,527,674 and Kaneko, U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,611. Other arrangements are provided which progressively increase damping as the damper nears its end of travel, such as disclosed in Sorgatz et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,004,662; Wossner, U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,629; and Hauswirth, U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,654.
A limitation of the aforementioned stroke dependent dampers is that they tend to reduce the available range of suspension deflection which adversely affects their ability to provide optimized isolation of the vehicle. Also, the end-stop cushioning or other means is permanently installed in the damper and may not be overridden, rendering the damper unsuitable for the cooperative implementation of semiactive control functions. The aforementioned dampers further are limited in that they do not anticipate and avoid end-stop collisions according to variable quantities external to the damper such as mass, velocity and input displacement. All of the above result in reduced isolation performance.

System for reducing suspension end-stop collisions


Apparatus for transmitting torque between the engine and the transmission of a motor vehicle has a first flywheel which receives torque from the engine, a second flywheel which receives torque from the first flywheel by way of one or more dampers and a disc and is at least partially encapsulated in the first flywheel in the axial direction of the flywheels, and a friction clutch which serves to couple the second flywheel with or to uncouple the second flywheel from the transmission. A substantial part of the clutch is also encapsulated into the first flywheel so that the dimensions of the apparatus in the axial direction of the flywheels are sufficiently small to warrant its use in motor vehicles with transversely extending engines and transmissions.

The invention relates to torque transmitting apparatus in general, and more particularly to improvements in apparatus for transmitting torque between the engines and variable-speed transmissions of motor vehicles. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in torque transmitting apparatus of the type employing composite flywheels with one or more dampers between the flywheels.
Published German patent application No. 37 21 706 of Wolfgang Reik (published Jan. 7, 1988) discloses a torque transmitting apparatus wherein a first rotary flywheel is connectable to the rotary output element of the engine in a motor vehicle and a second flywheel is rotatable relative to and is coaxial with the first flywheel and is connectable by a friction clutch to the rotary input element of a variable-speed transmission in the motor vehicle. A bearing is installed between the two flywheels, and a damper with circumferentially acting coil springs is employed to oppose rotation of the flywheels relative to each other. The coil springs are confined in an annular chamber which is at least partially filled with a viscous fluid and is defined, at least in part, by the first flywheel. The latter is made by suitably shaped metallic sheet material, and the apparatus further comprises a disc-shaped member which is connected for rotation with the second flywheel and cooperates with the coil springs in the annular chamber. The disc-shaped member is made of metallic sheet material and extends into the annular chamber substantially diametrically of the coil springs.
Torque transmitting apparatus of the just described character are popular in motor vehicles wherein the engine and the transmission extend in the direction of forward movement of the vehicle because such vehicles provide ample room for the two flywheels as well as for the friction clutch which is used to engage the second flywheel with, or to disengage the second flywheel from, the input element of the transmission.
The situation is different in motor vehicles with transversely extending engine-transmission aggregates. The numerous advantages of the aforedescribed torque transmitting apparatus render it desirable to employ such apparatus for transmission of torque between a transversely extending engine and a transversely extending transmission; however, the space which is available under the hoods of such motor vehicles does not suffice to provide room for presently known torque transmitting apparatus with composite flywheels and friction clutches between such flywheels and the transmissions.


The present invention involves a compound represented by general formula (I), a derivative thereof and a use thereof:

About 100,000,000 people have the Type II diabetes mellitus all over the world, which is characterized in hyperglycemia caused by excessive hepatic glucose production and peripheral insulin resistance. The hyperglycemia is considered to be a major risk factor for forming the diabetic complication, and be possibly directly relevant to insulin secretion impairment in the later stage of Type II diabetes mellitus. Therefore, it can be expected that the normalization of blood glucose in the patients having the Type II diabetes mellitus can improve the effect of insulin. The currently known anti-diabetic drugs such as sulfonylureas, thiazolidinediones, dimethyl biguanides, and insulins have potential side effects, and therefore there is a need to develop a new and safe anti-diabetic drug that can be orally administrated effectively.
In kidney, glucose can filter freely through renal glomerulus (about 180 g/d) but nearly transport actively at proximal convoluted tubule to be reabsorbed. Among others, two sodium-glucose transporters, i.e. SGLT1 and SGLT2, have an important effect on the glucose reabsorption, in particular SGLT2. SGLT2 specifically expresses the transmembrane protein only at the S1 section of proximal tubule. One of its major physiological functions is to absorb the glucose in the blood flowing through the renal tubule, which comprises 90% of the reabsorption. SGLT2 transports at a ratio of 1:1 sodium-glucose. The SGLT-2 inhibitor can inhibit the absorption of blood glucose in the renal tubule so that a great amount of glucose excretes through the urine. SGLT1 mainly expresses in the distal convoluted tubule, which comprises 10% of the reabsorption. SGLT1 transports at a ratio of 2:1 sodium-glucose. In addition, SGLT1 is also found in the intestinal tract and other tissues. These transporters exert their functions via Na+/ATPase pump and transport to the blood via the glucose transporter-2 (GLUT2). This indicates that the most potential drug target is the SGLT2 transporter, because its absolute re-absorption for glucose in one hand and its merely expression in kidney in the other hand. In the study on the urine glucose from the nephrosis of the familial form, the feasibility of this route has been verified. The urine glucose from the nephrosis of the familial form is mainly manifested as non-quantitative urine glucose (about 10-120 g/d), but the patient has a good general condition and has no chronic negative effect adverse for the health to be found. This benign urine glucose is mainly caused by the genic mutation of the SGLT-2 transporter, which indicates that the selective pharmacological inhibition to SGLT-2 will possibly not produce an adverse effect except for the induction of urine glucose. However, the inhibition SGLT-1 will cause the glucose-galactose malabsorption syndrome, which may result in the dehydration.
By action on SGLT-2 transporter to inhibit the reabsorption of the kidney glucose to treat the high blood glucose, a new route for treating the diabetes mellitus is provided. Although this route cannot directly act on the pathophysiology of Type II diabetes mellitus, however the reduction of blood glucose by increasing the excretion of glucose in kidney can cause the deficiency in the net energy to promote losing the body weight and indirectly improve the obesity conditions. It is found in the study that these drugs can be used in combination of the existing drug for reducing the blood glucose or the insulin, and have a lower risk of the low blood glucose and a potential effect of losing the weight. The safety and effectiveness in the chronic clinical experiment will eventually determine whether the SGLT-2 inhibitor can have a place in the pharmaceutical treatment of the Type II diabetes mellitus.
Among others, the patent literatures such as WO 0127128 and US 2005209166 disclose a series of compounds as SGLT-2 inhibitor.

Abstract: wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5a, R5b, R5c and X are defined as in the description.


Disclosed is a charging apparatus for charging a secondary battery incorporated in a portable electronic device. The charging apparatus includes a contactless IC card reader configured to supply operating power to a contactless IC card unit incorporated in the portable electronic device and have an authentication function of authenticating that an object to be authenticated is a correct one, a charging circuit configured to perform contactless charging of the secondary battery, and a control unit configured to activate the charging circuit if an authentication result is OK after the contactless IC card reader authenticates an object to be authenticated when the object to be authenticated is placed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charging apparatus and a charging system for a portable electronic device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A portable electronic device such as a cellular phone obtains its operating power from a secondary battery and it is necessary to charge the secondary battery periodically.
In current cellular phones, contact charging is mainly performed in which an AC adapter is directly connected to the connector of a cellular phone or the exposed electrode of the phone is brought into contact with a terminal portion provided on a charging stand. In the contact charging, there appears to be a phenomenon of a charging failure due to contamination of a metal portion as an electrical contact or poor contact of a connector portion.
On the other hand, contactless charging, that is, charging without an electrical contact is performed using a mechanism in which power is transferred from a primary side to a secondary side by the magnetic induction of coils. In general, by only putting a device such as a phone as the secondary side on a charging stand as the primary side, it is possible to configure a charging circuit without a metal contact. Such contactless charging is employed in a cordless phone, a watch, an electric toothbrush, and the like.
The problem of the contactless charging is that when a metallic foreign object (e.g., coin) in place of a correct device is put on the charging stand, eddy currents induced by electromagnetic induction may cause the heating of the foreign object. In order to avoid this problem, there is proposed a method, such as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-34169, for changing a charging load in a predetermined pattern by turning on/off a charging control transistor for charging a secondary battery and detecting whether or not the object put on the charging stand is a correct device by detecting at the charging stand side this change.

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Japan, Inc.


The present invention relates to an apparatus for sewing a thread chain into a seam by an overlock sewing machine, particularly an apparatus for providing a specified length of thread chain remaining in a side of the sewing machine. A cutting device cuts a thread chain formed consecutively with a trailing end of a workpiece at the first operation. In a working face in the vicinity of the cutting device in a fabric feeding side, an air suction nozzle is provided for drawing a separated thread chain remaining in a side of the sewing machine after the first operation of the cutting device. An air injection pipe is provided in a position opposite to an internal bore of a tongue. The air injection pipe blows air toward the internal bore so that the separated thread chain is moved into the internal bore. The separated thread chain is cut by the second operation of the cutting device before or when the separated thread chain drawn into the air suction nozzle is moved into the internal bore by the air from the air injection pipe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for cutting off a thread chain formed consecutively with the tail end of a seam on a fabric, and for sewing the cut thread chain connected to the needle into the seam of the initial end of the fabric to be sewn next, thereby preventing looseness (ravel) of the thread at the beginning end of sewing.
2. Description of the Invention
Conventionally, such device as disclosed in Japanese Publication No. Sho 56-50599 of examined application (corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,038,933) is known for retaining a thread chain in an overlock sewing machine. The conventional device for retaining a thread chain manages a thread chain in the following manner. A thread chain formed consecutively with stitches in a margin of fabric is drawn into a suction tube by air suction in a back side of a needle location, and cut by a cutting device provided in an opening of the tube. Thereafter, a free end of the thread chain remaining in a side of a sewing machine after the cutting operation is drawn into an internal bore of tongue by a suction force of air flowing into the tongue. Then, when a sewing operation is restarted, and a next workpiece is fed in the predetermined direction, the thread chain drawn into the internal bore of tongue is pulled out of the tongue, and sewn into seam formed in the fabric. In such manner, ravel of the thread at the commencement of stitching in a workpiece is prevented without a special bar tacking process.
In such conventional device for retaining a thread chain as described above, a length of thread chain remaining in a side of a sewing machine after the cutting operation is uneven, and it is difficult to draw a free end of the thread chain securely into an internal bore of tongue. Even if a free end of thread chain remaining in a side of a sewing machine is drawn into an internal bore of tongue, it has been a problem that a length of thread chain sewn into seam in successive workpieces is varied, resulting in a product of poor appearance.
In addition, because a length of thread chain sewn into seam in a workpiece depends on a cutting point of a cutting device provided in an opening of a suction tube, it has been a problem that a length of thread chain sewn into seam cannot be changed according to products, and some products may have a poorer appearance.

Apparatus for sewing a thread chain into a seam by an overlock sewing machine


Embodiments of the claimed subject matter provide a method of controlling access to resources in a social graph. One embodiment of the method includes receiving information for configuring a query in response to a service being invoked. The service is configured to use the query to request access to resources associated with a node in a portion of a social graph associated with a first user. The method also includes associating the query with the node. The query operates on the resources associated with the node and returns information indicating whether a request to access the resources is granted or denied depending on a current state of the social graph.

This section introduces aspects that may be helpful in facilitating a better understanding of the claimed subject matter. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.
In some known communication schemes, users communicate with each other using social networks. Social networking services can be defined as an online service, platform, or site that provides services to subscribers based upon a representation of social relations among people who may share a common background, interest, or activity. A social network typically consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional elements such as photographs, status reports, web links, or the like. Most social network services are web-based and provide tools/services that allow users to interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks. Exemplary social networks include Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, VKonkatke, Orkut, and RenRen.
Social networks represent individuals and their relations using a social graph. Generally, a social graph describes the relationships between a subscriber's online persona (which may also be referred to as the user's avatar) and other subscribers' online personas. The social graph therefore reflects the real-world relationships between the subscribers, which are generally referred to as the social network. For example, the social graph of a social network can be structured as a series of nodes (e.g., "Subscriber," "FriendsLists," "CloseFriends," etc.) that are associated with each other using edges (which may also be referred to as links or connections) defined by the relationships between the nodes. Leaf nodes are associated with a parent node but they have no child nodes. For example, leaf nodes associated with the "CloseFriends" node may each include a data structure including information for one of the subscriber's friends. The social graph may also include nodes for different types of relationships such as groups associated with a particular interest, as well as nodes for different types of information such as photographs, music, and web links. The nodes, edges, information, and relationships that make up the social graph may be referred to as resources of the social graph.
Resources in the social graph may be associated with users or subscribers that are not explicitly connected in the social graph by an edge representing a relationship. For example, a subscriber may post a group photograph of all of the alumni at a reunion picnic. The group photograph may include images of people who are listed in the FriendsLists or CloseFriends groups of the subscriber and other people who are not linked to the subscriber in the social graph. The subscriber or friends of the subscriber may identify or "tag" people in the group photograph who are not linked to the subscriber. For another example, a subscriber may define groups, such as a "Business_Lunch_Group", that includes other subscribers that are all linked to the subscriber who defined the group but who may not be linked to each other in the social graph. The subscribers who are linked together may not be able to exchange information through the social network such as planning messages for scheduling a business lunch.
Providers of social networks use the information in their social graph to implement services or applications (apps). Developers can create services or apps using an application programming interface (API) developed and supported by the social network provider. The API for a social network usually implements a Representational State Transfer (REST) architecture that consists of clients and servers. Clients initiate requests to servers, which process requests and return appropriate responses to the clients. Requests and responses are built around the transfer of representations of resources. A resource can be virtually any coherent and meaningful concept that may be addressed. A representation of a resource is typically a document that captures the current or intended state of a resource. Generally, a REST-ful architecture must be client-server based, stateless, cacheable, layered, use a uniform interface, and may provide code on demand. For example, an API for a social network such as Facebook includes a defined set of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request messages along with a definition of the structure of response messages, e.g., in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) or JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format.

Method of modifying access control for web services using query languages


A system provides multidimensional tuple Hilbert ordering within a linear storage structure to enable more consistent and efficient access to stored multidimensional tuples. The database system comprises a tuple storage module that receives multidimensional data elements, where each multidimensional data element is defined by a plurality of different object types, and where each object is associated with a different dimension within a multidimensional data space. The tuple storage module further forms a respective tuple for each of the multidimensional data elements by mapping each object to an associated reference and applies a Hilbert function to the references of each of the tuples to determine a respective Hilbert ordering for each of the tuples. The system further comprises a linear data storage structure that includes a B-tree for storing the Hilbert ordering.

Enterprise software systems are typically sophisticated, large-scale systems that support many, e.g., hundreds or thousands, of concurrent users. Examples of enterprise software systems include financial planning systems, budget planning systems, order management systems, inventory management systems, sales force management systems, business intelligent tools, enterprise reporting tools, project and resource management systems and other enterprise software systems.
Many enterprise performance management and business planning applications require a large population of users to enter data that the software then accumulates into higher level areas of responsibility in the organization. Typically, this data comprises multidimensional data where each element is stored as a tuple within the multi-dimensional data space, where the multidimensional tuple comprises a finite sequence of objects, each of a specified type. The system typically stores these multidimensional tuples within a B-tree or other tree data structure for efficient retrieval and maintenance.
Typically, the system stores the tuples to the B-tree or other data storage structure such that the tuples are sorted within the data structure based on one of the component objects of the multidimensional tuple. For example, multidimensional tuples may store objects having dimensions of types "Name," "Store," "Date," and "Product." In this example, multidimensional tuple may be referred to as quadruples as it comprises four objects. Moreover, the quadruples use the same unique reference for the "Name" for each multidimensional data element associated with a customer named "Fred," and may assign the references based on an order in which multidimensional data elements are added to the system. The system may store the tuples in the B-tree or other data structure in a sorted order based on these references for each dimension and in accordance with an order in which the multidimensional data elements were added to the system. As a result, other quadruples associated with multidimensional data elements for the customer Fred tend to be stored within the same portion of the B-tree and in a sorted order.
While sorting according to the "Name" object in the above example may facilitate quick retrieval of the stored quadruples when searching for tuples matching a given "Name," retrieval times of multidimensional tuples when searching along other dimensions, i.e., the "Store," "Date," or "Product" dimensions in the above example, may be considerably increased. In other words, retrieval times when searching along these dimensions may be sacrificed in view of the quick retrieval times when searching along the sorted object, i.e., the "Name" object. For example, searching the tuple storage structure along one of the other dimensions of the multidimensional tuple may require traversal of the entire storage structure in a linear manner. These inconsistencies impose unpredictable delays to locating tuples and subsequently retrieving multidimensional data and, therefore, may significantly affect the performance of enterprise applications that make use of the multidimensional data.

Hilbert ordering of multidimensional tuples within computing systems


The present invention is a black clamp circuit for an electronic imager having black reference pixels. The circuit includes an average value circuit determining an average of a number of the black reference pixels, a correction circuit determining the black level correction from the average, and a modifier circuit modifying image pixels with the black level. The average value is used in a real time feedback loop that removes offset errors in the signal processing chain and establishes a corrected black level in output image data. The feedback can be either digital or analog. The correction circuit can include a comparator that allows a hysteresis in the feedback to avoid hunting as well as multiple levels of feedback based on several thresholds. The corrected black level can also be controlled by a digital transfer function. The black clamp circuit can be used for a series of images, an image frame and an image line.

Typically, a border of an image-sensing array, such as a Charge Coupled Device (CCD) imager or a CMOS imager, is surrounded with a number of rows and columns of light shielded, or black, pixels. These pixels provide black reference information or black pixel data to stabilize downstream image processing and establish the correct value for black in the output image. Charged Coupled Device Imager (CCD) and CMOS Imager signal processing chains have a need to establish and maintain the black reference in the signal processing chain.
The image-sensing array black pixel data contains a dark current signal, 1/f noise, KTC noise, and shot noise. The black pixel data also contain noise artifacts from imager pixel bright points, pixel dim points and column noise. All of these noise sources require filtering to obtain the correct black value for the image. An appropriate way to remove the noise sources from the black pixel values is to average a large quantity of them.
One component of the dark signal, or black pixel value, from an imager is dark current. CMOS Imager dark current typically doubles for every 10 degrees C. of substrate temperature increase. CCD Imager dark current typically doubles for every 6 degrees C. of substrate temperature increase. As the imager is operated, it heats up, due to its' internal power dissipation.
A "Black Clamp" circuit is typically used to establish the value of the black pixels in an image.
Prior art, Kodak Professional Electronic Cameras, such as the DCS-520, have utilized a black clamp that is a combination of hardware and software. The hardware exists as a digital-to-analog converter and a summing junction in the CCD signal-processing path. The software, executing on a microprocessor, calculates a real time average of the black pixels at the top of the image, it then uses a software look up table to determine the correct value to send to the digital-to-analog converter to establish the correct black correction. This solution requires the availability of the microprocessor and the microprocessor memory. This solution also consumes the power to run the microprocessor and the microprocessor machine cycles which are not available for other functions.
What is needed is a black clamp function that can be implemented on a substrate with the imager, one that uses less power and does not require the microprocessor or microprocessor memory.
What is also needed is a black clamp solution that "tracks" the changes in black level (due to noise and dark current) and removes offset errors in the signal processing and does so in real time.
In an electronic still camera that is capturing a series of sequential images (burst capture mode), the black signal from the imager is increasing as the imager continues to capture pictures. The heating of the imager substrate, due to power dissipation, causes the dark current to increase, increasing the black signal. It is appropriate to correct the black level at the beginning of each image in the series. This requires a real time feedback loop.
Typically, an analog black clamp circuit is utilized prior to a programmable gain stage (PGA) of a camera. Typically, the first stage black clamp takes the form of an integrator whose output is fed to a summing junction, prior to the PGA. This first stage black clamp can also take the form of a programmable offset circuit or a true feedback analog black pixel clamp. (Refer to the TDA9965 ((Philips Semiconductor, The Netherlands), XRD98L61 (EXAR Corp., Fremont, Calif.), and MCM20014 (Motorola, Inc., Denver, Colo.) data sheets). The first stage black clamp does not correct for residual errors that can be caused by the PGA and also does not correct for errors that are caused by the analog-to-digital (A/D) converter circuit appearing at a later stage. What is needed is a circuit that will correct for these errors.
The purpose of the first stage black clamp is to adjust the DC value of the black raw video signal to the "0" value of the Programmable Gain Amplifier (PGA) input. This is necessary because any offset error as input into the PGA is multiplied by the gain of the PGA. For example, a 31 db PGA gain setting corresponds to a 35× multiplication of the amplifier input. If there is a 100 milli-volt input signal (offset error, no black clamp) the amplifier output becomes 3.5 volts. A CMOS Imager typically uses 3.3 volts as its' power source. From this example it can be seen that the PGA will saturate, without using the actual imager video signal. Through this explanation it becomes obvious why the first stage black clamp circuit is necessary.
There are usually residual offset errors at the output of the PGA. These can be due to the PGA itself, and the first stage black clamp not performing "perfectly." There may be additional offset errors, which accumulate, introduced by each succeeding stage in the signal processing. For example, the analog-to-digital converter may have offset errors.
What is needed is a way to allow for these offset errors and correct for them at an analog-to-digital converter output with a second stage black feedback loop. What is needed is a system for removing these residual errors.
As discussed above, the first stage clamp is required to clamp at the "0" value of the PGA. This is a very tight requirement. What is needed is a way of relieving this performance requirement on the first stage black clamp. Instead of clamping exactly at "0" of the PGA, what is needed is a way of allowing the first stage clamp to get "close enough to 0."
As discussed above, a software-based solution to the black clamp problem can require unnecessary circuitry, such as memory chips, etc. It also uses valuable processor time. This consumes power and time. What is needed is an electronic circuit solution that is fast, so that it can operate in real time, and compact, so that its will allow for a more compact camera.
What is also needed, and something that is especially valuable when using this invention, is an integrated circuit solution in which the overall design becomes more process variation tolerant, leading to higher device production yield.

Digital black clamp circuit in electronic imaging systems


In a power converter, modules are electrically interconnected by a busbar and joint members. Each joint member has a connecting portion formed on one side and a connecting portion formed on the other side, with respect to a bisector bisecting the width. The busbar has a connecting portion on one side with respect to a bisector bisecting the width. For a 200 V power supply specification, one end of each of two busbars is fixed to one joint member. For a 400 V power supply specification, one end of one busbar is fixed to one joint member.

For an air conditioner for buildings, generally a three-phase AC supply is used as a power supply (commercial power supply). Three-phase AC is converted into DC, and the DC is controlled by an inverter to drive an electric motor of the air conditioner. As the electric motor is driven under control by the inverter, harmonic current is generated. The generated harmonic current is superimposed on AC of the three-phase AC power supply electrically connected to the electric motor, resulting in distortion of current waveform. The ratio of harmonics included in a commercial power supply is legally restricted, and is required to be a prescribed ratio or less.
A power converter is a device for cancelling generated harmonics. In particular, such a power converter is called active filter. The power converter is connected in parallel with three-phase AC interconnections. The power converter generates current of an opposite phase to the phase of harmonic current included in AC current. The opposite-phase current is applied to the three-phase AC supply to thereby cancel harmonics. Examples of patent literature disclosing such a power converter are, for example, PTL 1, PTL 2, and PTL 3.

Power converter and air conditioner equipped with the same


A tape measure is invented that fits in an auxiliary pocket such as a credit card pocket of a wallet. The tape measure consists of a case that fits in the auxiliary pocket, a rectangular card that fits in the case, and a tape measure ribbon with a width at most half the width of the card. When the tape measure is in the retracted mode, the ribbon is wrapped nicely around the card and the wrapped ribbon is inserted in the case. To extend the tape measure, the wrapped card is removed from the case and the ribbon is unwrapped from the card so it functions as an ordinary tape measure ribbon. In an example given in one embodiment, a tape measure is sized to fit in a credit card pocket, has a thickness of less than the thickness of three credit cards, yet extends to 40 inches.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to tape measures, more particularly to tape measures that retract flat and thin so they fit snugly in a pocket such as a credit card or auxiliary pocket of a wallet or in a pocket located on the inside cover of a notebook.
2. Terms
The terms tape measure ribbon, tape measure, extended mode, retracted mode, standard credit card, extensible, tape measure thickness, auxiliary pocket, wrapped nicely and sized used in this application are defined below.
Tape measure ribbon (ribbon for short): Tape measure ribbon refers to a long, thin strip of flexible non-extensible material (102 in all the figures) containing numeric and tick indicia that is used for taking linear measurements.
Tape measure: Tape measure refers to the ribbon and additional components, if present, of a specific product.
Modes: Tape measures have two modes, an extended mode where the ribbon is extended, fully or partially, so the tape measure ribbon can be used for measuring, and a retracted mode when the tape measure is configured for storage.
Standard credit card: A credit card of approximate dimensions 5.5 cm (2.2 inches) by 8.5 cm (3.3 inches) by 35 mil where a mil is 0.0.00254 cm (one thousandth of an inch).
Extensible: stretchable, as in a rubber band.
Tape measure thickness: Tape measure thickness is defined herein as the smaller of the thickness of the tape measure width or height when it is in its retracted mode.
For example, the tape measure thickness in FIG. 1a depends on precisely how it is coiled and flattened in its retracted mode. Its thickness will either be approximately the thickness of the ribbon multiplied by the number of folded ribbon segments or the width of the ribbon, whichever is smaller. The tape measure thickness is FIG. 1b is the thickness of its case. The tape measure thickness shown in FIG. 3b (embodiment one of this invention) is the thickness of the case containing the folded ribbon and card when the tape measure is in the retracted mode.
If the auxiliary pocket is a credit card pocket, it is convenient to relate tape measure thickness to the thickness of a standard credit card. A tape measure thickness of less than three standard credit cards is equivalent to a tape measure thickness of less than 0.27 cm (0.105 inch).
Auxiliary pocket: An auxiliary pocket in this document is a pocket designed to hold thin items such as a credit card, business card, sheets of paper or index cards. Examples of auxiliary pockets to which this invention is directed are credit card or business card pockets found in wallets, activity planners or organizers, or a pocket located on the inside cover of a loose-leaf notebook that can hold several sheets of paper. The size of the auxiliary pocket may range from the size of a credit card or smaller to 8 inches by 11 inches or larger.
Wrapped nicely: A tape measure ribbon is wrapped nicely around a card if the wrapped ribbon covers over 65 percent of the surface area of the card.
Sized: A flat and thin tape measure is sized by specifying the width, height or length, and thickness of each tape measure component (ribbon, card and case) that is chosen to achieve a given objective such as enabling the tape measure to fit snugly in a credit card pocket of a wallet.
3. Description and Related Art
There are basically two kinds of commercially available tape measures, the standalone tape measure as shown in FIG. 1a consisting of the ribbon only, and the retractable tape measure shown in FIG. 1b. The standalone tape measure may optionally come with a case; a case is not show in FIG. 1a.
The retractable tape measure of FIG. 1b has a ribbon similar to the standalone tape measure, but has additional components (case 104, spring mechanism internal to the case (not shown in the figure), locking mechanism 106 and flange 108 and features (concave ribbon that provides rigidity to the ribbon when extended but lies flat when retracted) that make the tape measure easy to use. Other versions of the retractable tape measure have external windup cranks instead of internal springs. These windup tape measures can accommodate ribbons with lengths of 300 feet or more.
In spite of the extensive variability of tape measure products on the market, almost all commercial tape measures fall into one of these two basic categories: the retractable tape measure and the standalone tape measure. Furthermore, all these tape measure products are portable; many will fit in a pocket or purse. Miniature versions of the retractable tape measures are commercially available that are small enough to be attached to a keychain; have a thickness of about a half of an inch or less, and are inexpensive enough to be given out as a free promotional product, usually with advertising indicia on the case or ribbon.
The inventive concept presented in this document introduces a novel third category of tape measures: the flat and thin tape measure. Specifically, the flat and thin tape measure, when in its retracted mode, has width and height that is sized to fit snugly in an auxiliary pocket such as a credit card pocket of a wallet or an auxiliary pocket of a notebook. If it is sized to fit in a credit card pocket, the tape measure thickness may be required to be approximately the thickness of from one or several standard credit cards. Furthermore the flat and thin tape measure is durable and easy to use, and can be designed to accommodate lengths from as little as three feet or less to many yards, depending on its intended use.
There are measuring instruments both in the patent literature and in the marketplace that relates to, but do not achieve, these objectives. US Patent Application Publication 2002/0149198, published Oct. 17, 2002, presents a business card and ruler combination. This publication provides a measurement capability, and when retracted will fit in a wallet credit card pocket. However, the measurement component consists of foldable ruler segments, which by their very nature are semi-rigid and hence is much thicker than the thickness of a typical tape measure ribbon. Furthermore the width of the ruler when extended is slightly less than the width of the business card, which is considerably wider than a typical tape measure ribbon.
The promotional products company FortePromo offers online a business card tape measure with a 5 ft retractable ribbon that will accommodate advertising information. This is a miniature version of the standard retractable tape measure with a case in the shape of a business card. However the width of the case is ⅜ inch, which is too thick to fit in a credit card pocket of a wallet.
In addition to the patent literature, the retail establishment IKEA makes available to their customers a free 40-inch disposable paper tape measure ribbon that is intended to be used in their store while the customer shops. However a customer is free to take the tape measure home, and the ribbon may be folded as shown in FIG. 1a so it fits into a standard credit card-sized wallet pocket or in a notebook pocket. However when used in this way, the tape measure is not durable, and fits awkwardly in the credit card pocket.
In spite of the wide array of tape measure products commercially available, none are durable and capable of being stored snugly in a pocket of a wallet that has been designed to store credit cards and business cards, or in a notebook auxiliary pocket designed to hold several sheets of paper.


A method of transmitting modulation and coding scheme (MCS) feedback (MFB) in a wireless local area network system is provided. The method is performed by a first station and includes receiving, from a second station, a physical layer convergence procedure (PLCP) protocol data unit (PPDU), estimating a MFB based on the PPDU and transmitting, to the second station, feedback information including a MFB field and a MFB type field. The MFB field includes the MFB and the MFB type field indicates whether or not the MFB is in response to a MFB request (MRQ) of the second station.

With the recent development of information communication technology, a variety of wireless communication techniques are being developed. From among them, a WLAN is technology for wirelessly accessing the Internet at homes or companies or in specific service providing areas by using portable terminals, such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, and a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP), based on radio frequency technology.
In order to overcome limitations to the communication speed that was considered as being weakness in a WLAN, an IEEE 802.11n standard has recently been established as a technology standard. An object of the IEEE 802.11n standard is to increase the speed and reliability of a network and to extend the coverage of a wireless network. More particularly, in order to support a High Throughput (HT) having a maximum data processing speed of 540 Mbps or higher, minimize an error in transmission, and optimize the data rate, the IEEE 802.11n standard is based on Multiple Inputs and Multiple Outputs (MIMO) technology using multiple antennas on both sides of a transmitter and a receiver.
As the WLAN is actively propagated and applications employing the WLAN are diversified, a necessity for a new WLAN system for supporting a throughput higher than the data processing speed supported by the IEEE 802.11n standard is on the rise. The next-generation WLAN system supporting a Very High Throughput (VHT) is a next version of the IEEE 802.11n WLAN system and is one of IEEE 802.11 WLAN systems which have recently been newly proposed in order to support a data processing speed of 1 Gbps or higher in a MAC Service Access Point (SAP).
The next-generation WLAN system supports transmission using a Multiple User-Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) scheme in which a plurality of non-Access Point Stations (AP STAs) accesses a radio channel at the same time in order to efficiently use the radio channel. According to the MU-MIMO transmission scheme, an AP can transmit a frame to one or more MIMO-paired STAs at the same time.
When an AP transmits data to a plurality of destination STAs on a plurality of spatial streams according to the MU-MIMO scheme, the plurality of destination STAs may have different capabilities. In other words, a supportable bandwidth, a Modulation Coding Scheme (MCS), Forward Error Correction (FEC), etc. may differ depending on a type, an object, a channel environment, etc. of an STA.
According to the MU-MIMO transmission scheme, an MU-MIMO transmitter (AP) can transmit data to each of a plurality of MU-MIMO-paired receivers through at least one spatial stream. Here, a channel between the transmitter and a first receiver and a channel between the transmitter and a second receiver may have mutual interference. Interference between the channels between the transmitter and the receiver may hinder normal data transmission and reception as described above, which may deteriorate the overall throughput of a WLAN system. In order to improve the throughput in a WLAN system supporting the MU-MIMO transmission scheme, a sequentially optimized and recommended Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) needs to be fed back by taking interference between different channels into consideration when data is transmitted. A method of an AP transmitting control information to an STA that has been requested to transmit a Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) feedback (MFB) so that the STA can calculate an optimized MCS value when calculating and feeding back a recommended MCS value and a method of efficiently transmitting supplementary information according to a type of an MFB when an STA transmits the MFB to an AP need to be taken into consideration.

Method and apparatus of link adaptation in a wireless local area network system


A polyalkylether photoinitiator of the general formula I, R1(A1)r-(R2(A2)m-O)o—(R3(A3)n-O)p—R4(A4)s I wherein R1, R2, R3, R4 and m, n, o, p, r and s are as defined herein and A1, A2, A3 and A4 are identical or different photoinitiator moieties.

Curing of coatings through ultraviolet (UV) radiation requires efficient methods of initiating the chemical reaction responsible for the curing process. Cross-linking of polymeric material through generation of radical species upon irradiation with UV light is widely used to produce hydrogels for medical device coatings. Also, the paint and lacquer industry makes use of UV initiated curing of acrylates, where photoinitiators in many cases are employed. These two examples illustrate the diversity of UV curable coatings, where up until now the UV active component in the coating recipe relies on molecules with comparable low molecular weight. The UV active components are partially free to diffuse to the surface of the cured material thereby rendering these substances exposed to the environment. Higher molecular weight photoinitiators, in particular polymeric photoinitiators, have comparably higher intrinsic viscosities which most likely result in longer diffusion times through a matrix. Migration of the UV active substances to the surface is therefore diminished when polymeric photoinitiators are used as opposed to lower molecular weight photoinitiators. Scarce literature found in scientific and patent publications within the topic of polymeric photoinitiators suggests that development of such polymers could lead to novel applications and present solutions for existing needs, such as provide a material with negligent migration of substances to the surface. Available literature discussed in the following, outlines previous work within the field of polymeric photoinitiators, with focus on work relevant for photoinitiators with a polyalkylether backbone.
Some descriptions of polymeric photoinitiators are found in scientific literature, where for example 4-amino-4′-[4-aminothiophenyl]benzophenone is polymerized with toluene-2,4-diisocyanate (J. Wei, H. Wang, J. Yin J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem., 45 (2007), 576-587; J. Wei, H. Wang, X. Jiang, J. Yin, Macromolecules, 40 (2007), 2344-2351). Examples of the use of this photoinitiator to polymerize acrylates are also given in this work. A similar strategy is also discussed in J. Wei, F. Liu Macromolecules, 42 (2009), 5486-5491, where 4-[(4-maleimido)thiophenyl]benzophenone was synthesized and polymerized into a macromolecular photoinitiator.
A variety of polymeric photoinitiators other than benzophenone based structures are discussed in T. Corrales, F. Catalina, C. Peinado, N. S. Allen J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem., 159 (2003), 103-114. Polymers with thioxanthone, benzil, anthraquionone, camphorquinone, benzoin ether, acylphosphine oxide and silane functionalites in the macromolecules are discussed in terms of efficiency in comparison to low molecular weight analogues. In some examples, the photoinitiation activity of the polymeric photoinitiator was one order of magnitude higher than the mixture of the corresponding low molecular weight analogues. This increase in activity in the particular case was ascribed to efficient excitation energy transfer between different moieties present on the polymer chain. One other explanation could be the prevention of recombination of radicals formed on the photoinitiator sites as the initiators are "tied" onto a polymer chain.
Some patent literature discusses polymeric photoinitiators. One example is found in US 2007/0078246 where different aromatic ketone systems are substituted on a siloxane polymeric chain. Rates of photopolymerization reactions are then used to prove an enhanced performance of the polymeric photoinitiators as opposed to low molecular weight analogues.
As a further example, benzophenone derivatives with pendant alkyl ether substitutents have been described in WO 96/33156, but the primary properties described were related to migration of the photoinitiators to the surface of a coating. The benzophenones are not repeating units in the polymer and the polymers described in WO 96/33156 can be considered end-functionalized with benzophenone moieties.
A related type of photoinitiator class is described in WO 2009/060235, where thioxanthone moieties are attached to an oligomeric backbone. It is particularly specified that the thioxanthone polymeric photoinitiators have molecular weights below 2000 g/mol.
Several photoinitiators (e.g. benzophenone, anthraquinone) with pendant polyalkyl ethers are described in WO 97/49664. Common to these photoinitiators is that the polyethylene glycol moieties attached to the photoinitiators have preferred molecular weights in the range of 150 to 900 Da and furthermore only one photoinitiator moiety is present per polymeric photoinitiator.
Related to the photoinitiators described in WO 96/33156, similar structures are described in WO 98/51759 where benzophenone derivatives with pendant alkyl ether groups are presented. The main focus of the invention described in WO 98/51759 is oxygen inhibition and low migration properties of the photoinitiator.
WO 03/033492 discloses thioxanthone derivatives attached to a polyhydroxy residue. However, these polyhydroxy groups have only up to 6 hydroxy groups present in the chain.
As a final example of polymeric photoinitiators described in the patent literature, U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,097 details an invention related to water soluble photoinitiators where two photoinitiator moieties are bridged together by a polyalkylether of sufficient length to make it water soluble.
Common to all of the inventions described above from the patent literature, is that the active photoinitiator sites are present as end-groups on for example a polyethylene glycol which falls outside the present invention. The present invention details polymeric photoinitiators in which the photoinitiator moiety itself is an integral part of the repeating unit in the polymeric photoinitiator.