A panel crimping apparatus comprises a frame, a first crimping roller supported by the frame, the first crimping roller comprising a first shaft, a plurality of first crimping blades, and a first drive gear attached to the first shaft, and a second crimping roller supported by the frame, the second crimping roller comprising a second shaft, a plurality of second crimping blades, and a second drive gear attached to the second shaft. A distance between the first and second shafts of the first and second crimping rollers is adjustable. The apparatus comprises various links, gears and a control linkage configured to maintain timing between the first and second crimping rollers during driving of the first and second crimping rollers over an adjustable range of distance therebetween.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to crimping systems and methods for forming longitudinally curved building panels of sheet material that can be connected together to form free-standing, self-supporting buildings. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to panel crimping machines and associated methods for crimping (corrugating) such a building panel so as to impart a longitudinal curve to the building panel along its length.
2. Background Information
Methods and machines are known in the art for forming building panels of desired shapes made from sheet material, e.g., galvanized steel sheet metal. Such building panels can be attached side-by-side to form self-supporting building structures by virtue of the strength of the building panels themselves. That is, such interconnected building panels can exhibit a moment of inertia suitable to provide enough strength under applied loads (e.g., snow, wind, etc.) so that supporting beams or columns within the building structure are unnecessary. In other words, the interconnected building panels themselves may form a load-bearing roof portion and a load-bearing wall portions of a self-supporting building without the need for supporting beams, columns, joists and the like. FIGS. 1-3 illustrate exemplary shapes of self-supporting metal buildings. These exemplary building shapes include double-radius (or two-radius) style buildings, an example of which is shown in FIG. 1, gable style buildings, an example of which is shown in FIG. 2, and circular or arch style buildings, an example of which is shown in the example of FIG. 3. In the exemplary buildings illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, building panels that include longitudinally curved building panels are used to form the side and roof sections, and substantially straight building panels or other materials are used to construct the flat end-wall sections.
As is known in the art, building panels of a desired cross-sectional shape may be formed from steel sheet metal using a panel forming apparatus having particular configurations of steel rollers. Flat sheet metal is introduced into the panel forming apparatus, and the rollers contact and deform the sheet metal as it passes through the panel forming apparatus, such that the building panel emerges with a desired cross sectional shape.
The resulting building panel, having been shaped in cross section, can then be curved (arched) in the longitudinal direction (perpendicular to the transverse, cross-sectional direction) using a panel curving apparatus. One type of curving apparatus utilizes rollers having crimping blades that indent the building panel to impart transverse corrugations (or cross corrugations) of suitable depths into the panel as the building panel passes through the apparatus, so as to provide the longitudinal curve to the building panel. Exemplary crimping machines of this type are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,902,288, 4,364,253, 4,505,143, 5,249,445, 6,820,452 and 6,722,087, and 8,033,070, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
An exemplary conventional building panel having such transverse corrugations is shown in FIG. 4 as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,288. The building panel illustrated in FIG. 2 is generally box-shaped and has a base or bottom portion 22, a pair of spaced upright side portions 23 and 24 projecting upwardly from the opposite marginal edges of and in a direction transverse to the flat bottom portion 22, and an upper in-turned flange portion 25 projecting inwardly from the upper marginal edge of and in a direction transverse to the side portion 23. An upper out-turned flange portion 26 projects outwardly from an upper marginal edge of and in a direction transverse to the side portion 24 and has a down-turned terminal portion 26a at the outer marginal edge thereof. The in-turned flange portion 25, has a terminal section 25a bent toward the side portion 23 to provide a reverse bend or fold and a double thickness. The out-turned flange portion 26 is bent downwardly to provide generally U-shaped connecting channel with a bottom opening. The bottom opening formed by the out-turned flange portion 26 is of greater width than the in-turned flange portion 25 so that it will receive the in-turned flange portion of the next adjacent panel directly through the bottom opening in order to connect adjacent panels together.
Such panels can be curved in the longitudinal direction by forming transverse corrugations in the center portion 22 and in the side portions 23 and 24, the corrugations being comprised of a series of alternative grooves and ridges. Grooves and ridges forming transverse corrugations in the side portions 23 and 24 are designated by numerals 31 and 32, respectively. Grooves and ridges forming transverse corrugations in the center portion are designated by numerals 33 and 34, respectively.
The transverse corrugations can be formed in both the center portion and side portions of the building panel using a panel crimping machine with pairs of crimping rollers that have opposing crimping blades to impart the transverse corrugations.
The present inventor has observed a need for an improved drive system for a panel crimping machine that can better maintain proper timing between a pair of crimping rollers if the separation distance between the crimping rollers is changed, and the exemplary systems and approaches described herein may address that need.

Panel crimping machine with control system for controlling timing between crimping rollers with an adjustable separation


The invention provides a cup dispenser for sequentially dispensing a stacked column of disposable cups, including a mounting plate provided with means for attaching the dispenser to a vertical surface, a cup-retaining and dispensing body attachable thereto and suspendable therefrom, the body being provided with an annular opening having a lower edge and with retaining means consisting essentially of at least two wedge-like protrusions extending from the inner walls thereof and positioned within a same imaginary first semi-annular, co-planar segment of the opening, the wedge-like protrusions each having an apex, an inside face and a base, wherein the bases face the lower edge and the protrusions taper into the opening from the respective apexes to the respective bases along the inside face, and wherein at least one inner wall segment of the opening, positioned between the protrusions within the same imaginary semi-annular, co-planar segment of the opening, is provided with a recess to facilitate the local outward expansion of the rim of a downwardly-extending cup to be dispensed during removal thereof from the dispenser; and a third protrusion, positioned in a second imaginary, semi-annular, co-planar segment of the opening, opposite the first semi-annular, co-planar segment of the opening; whereby the retaining means provide rim support for the retention of each sequential cup to be dispensed until removal thereof from the dispenser.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dispenser for disposable cups. More particularly, the invention provides an improved dispenser which is able to dispense tapered, deformable cups of varying capacity, and which holds a stacked column of cups in a convenient position for removal, when required, of the lowest cup.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Users of water coolers, water purifiers and dispensing devices for hot or cold drinks often use disposable, tapered plastic cups. Hot drinks are usually dispensed in thick, foamed-plastic cups, whereas cups made of a thin, solid plastic and having a rim are suitable for cold beverages. Particularly when drinks are provided in offices or in public buildings, the cost of these disposable cups is justified by the saving of cup washing facilities, and in the improved hygiene inherent in providing each user with a new cup.
Tapered cups, of the types described above, can conveniently be stacked in a column to save space, and placed near a water cooler or drink dispenser. The stacked column of cups makes possible the use of a cup dispenser, wherein the cups are protected from dirt and dispersal. Such dispensers may be attached to any vertical surface, and are often directly attached to the water cooler or drink dispenser.
A known cup dispenser comprises a long, tubular housing suspended near its upper opening by a bracket and attached by said bracket to a water cooler or drink dispenser. The lowest cup, which is the first cup to be used, is often inconveniently positioned at a height which requires the user to stoop down in order to remove it from the dispenser.
The dispenser described in Applicant's prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,273, corresponding to Israel Specification 106,374, is suitable for holding a small range of cup sizes, for example, those having rim diameters in the range of between 69-75 mm. Such a dispenser does not retain cups having a rim diameter of about 63 mm. Conversely, a dispenser dimensioned for the smaller size cups will not allow passage of larger sized cups. In order to be able to dispense both smaller and larger cups, it would therefore be necessary to manufacture and market at least two different sized dispensers.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a cup dispenser which is large enough to dispense both the larger cups having a rim diameter of between 69-75 mm, yet also retains and dispenses smaller cups having a rim diameter of between 63-68 mm.


An electrical connector with a flexible printed circuit (FPC) received may carry electrical signals between the FPC and a substrate. Latching mechanisms may serve to position the cap on the body such that the positions facilitate the insertion and retention of the FPC in the cap for a good electrical connection. The FPC may be received loosely in the cap when the cap is in a first position on the body. When the cap is depressed into a second position, the FPC may be compressed between the cap and the body. Mating ends of the contacts may electrically connect to exposed conductive elements of the FPC. Mounting ends of the contacts in the contact housing may electrically connect to the conductive elements on a substrate. If the contacts are compression contacts, the terminals of the contacts may deflect or compress when a force is exerted upon them. The electrical connector may have a sealing surface that is adapted to provide suitable compression against an FPC received by the electrical connector so as to keep out gases or fluids.

AN FPC-to-PCB connector carries electrical signals from a flexible printed circuit ("FPC)" to a rigid substrate, such as a printed circuit board ("PCB"). Typically, an electrical connector that is designed to receive an FPC may be attached or soldered to a rigid PCB or secured in a computer chassis before the FPC is secured to the electrical connector. Then, the FPC may be secured to the electrical connector. The electrical connector may have a mechanism for receiving the FPC, such as a hinged lid, for example, which closes down on the FPC and screws into the PCB or chassis to hold the FPC in place.
It may be desirable to handle an electrical connector with the FPC received prior to attachment to the printed circuit board, during manufacture, for example. The FPC and electrical connector are not usually secured as a standalone unit prior to attachment of the electrical connector to the printed circuit board. Typically, the electrical connector is secured to a rigid structure first before the FPC is attached thereto. Otherwise, the FPC may slip out or uncouple from the electrical connector. Simply holding the FPC and electrical connector together while attaching the assembly to a printed circuit board may not ensure a good electrical or mechanical connection. Without a mechanism in place to secure the components together, the FPC often may become uncoupled from the electrical connector.
Often, the space where electrical connectors are mounted is limited, such as the limited space in a computer chassis. Consequently, coupling the FPC to the electrical connector after the electrical connector has been mounted may be difficult due to the space constraints. A secure electrical and mechanical connection may not be achieved. Furthermore, electrical connectors may be used in spaces that are subject to gases or fluids, where contact of the electrical connector with such substances is undesirable. The electrical connector may include a sealing surface that may seal with another surface, thereby creating a barrier to the undesirable substances. Often, when an FPC is coupled to the electrical connector, the FPC extends from the electrical connector such that a portion of the FPC abuts the sealing surface. The FPC may interfere with the sealing surface such that the seal between the connector and another surface is not uniform.
It would be desirable to have a method of securing an FPC to an electrical connector to create a good electrical and mechanical connection. It would be desirable to have an electrical connector that can receive an FPC that does not uncouple from the electrical connector prior to attachment of the electrical connector to a rigid structure. Such a standalone unit would allow handling of the electrical connector with the FPC secured therein. It would also be desirable to have a better seal between an electrical connector that receives an FPC and another surface, so as to keep out gases or fluids.

Two-sided FPC-to-PCB compression connector


To achieve an improved overview on service charges for a subscriber to a digital cellular communication network it is proposed to provide a mobile station with a charging indicating unit (6) adapted to receive charging information as unstructured supplementary service data messages (USSD) via the unstructured supplementary service data dialog. Therefore, it is possible to provide charging information without any impact on the hardware of the mobile station (MS). Further, as more detailed information on the kind of service and on the amount of data transferred is available a detailed estimate on the actual cost may be displayed to the user of the mobile station.

The present invention relates to the indication of charging information at a mobile station supporting unstructured supplementary service data according to the preamble of claim 1.
Further, the present invention relates to a digital cellular communication network comprising at least one public land mobile network according to the preamble of claim 10.
Finally, the present invention relates to a method to provide charging specific information in a digital cellular communication network supporting unstructured supplementary service data messages according to claim 19.
Digital cellular communication systems meanwhile are in common use. One example for such a digital cellular communication system is the pan-European mobile telecommunication network GSM for which technical specifications have been elaborated by the European Telecommunication Standards Institute ETSI. Digital cellular communication systems allow its users to initiate and receive calls and services, respectively, at any geographical area within the radio coverage of the home public land mobile network HPLMN operated by the network operator selected by the subscriber and also within the radio coverage area of partners of the network operator providing services within the home public land mobile network, HPLMN, i.e. network operators having a roaming agreement with the HPLMN-network operator.
Basic sub-systems for the architecture of a digital cellular communication network are provided to establish services in a public land mobile network PLMN service area of a single network operator. These sub-systems comprise a base station sub-system BSS, a network and switching sub-system NSS and an operational sub-system OSS. The base station sub-system BSS provides and manages transmission paths between mobile stations MS and the network and switching sub-system NSS. The network and switching sub-system NSS manages communications and connections to the mobile stations MS.
FIG. 9 shows further components being related to the network and switching sub-system NSS, the base station sub-system BSS and the mobile station MS, respectively. In particular, FIG. 9 shows a public land mobile network PLMN that may either be the home public land mobile network HPLMN or the visiting public land mobile network VPLMN of a subscriber.
To achieve a link between two different PLMN service areas there is provided a gateway mobile service switching centre GMSC that serves to determine specific locations of a mobile station MS in the digital cellular communication system and to route calls towards a mobile station MS. In addition, an even more important task of the gateway mobile service switching centre GMSC is to connect to other networks.
As shown in FIG. 9, the gateway mobile service switching centre GMSC is connected to a functional unit called home location register HLR where two types of information are stored, i.e. subscriber information and mobile information to allow incoming calls to be routed to the mobile station MS. Any administrative action by the network operator with respect to mobile station data is carried out in the home location register HLR.
To route a call to a mobile station MS the gateway mobile service switching centre GMSC is also connected to a mobile service switching centre MSC through which the mobile station MS can obtain a service. The mobile service switching centre performs the necessary switching functions required for mobile stations MS covered by this mobile service switching centre MSC. Also, the mobile service switching centre MSC monitors the mobility of its mobile stations MS and manages necessary resources required to handle and update the location registration procedures.
As outlined above and shown in FIG. 9 the public land mobile network HPLNM/VPLMN comprises a plurality of mobile service switching centres MSC and respective service areas each covering a predetermined number of basic cells wherein a mobile station can move. To this end each mobile service switching centre MSC is connected to a visitor location register VLR. The visitor location register VLR is a functional unit that dynamically stores mobile station information, such as the location area in case the mobile station is located in the service area covered by the visitor location register VLR. When a roaming mobile station MS enters a service area assigned to a specific mobile service switching centre MSC the mobile service switching centre MSC informs the associated visitor location register VLR about the mobile station MS.
In addition, the base station sub-system BSS corresponds to physical equipment providing radio coverage to the above-mentioned cells which are approximately hexagonal geographical regions in FIG. 9. Each base station sub-system BSS contains equipment required to communicate with the mobile station MS.
In the digital cellular telecommunication network system there are three types of logical channels: traffic channel, control channel, and cell broadcast channel. The traffic channels are used to transmit user information like speech or data. The control channels are used to transmit control and signalling information. Finally, the cell broadcast channels are used to broadcast user information from a mobile services switching centre MSC to the mobile station MS listening in a given basic cell/basic service area.
Using the architecture of the digital cellular telecommunication network system outlined above, there may be provided a group of communication capabilities to the subscribers. The basic telecommunication services provided in the GSM digital cellular telecommunication network system are divided into three main groups: bearer services, teleservices, and supplementary services.
The bearer services give the mobile station MS the capacity required to transmit appropriate signals between certain user network interfaces such as data services, alternate speech/data, speech followed by data, clear 3.1 kHz audio service and support of automatic request for retransmission technique for improved error rates.
The teleservices provide the mobile station MS with necessary capabilities including terminal equipment functions to communicate with other mobile stations, e.g., short message services or message handling and storage services.
Finally, supplementary services modify or supplement basic telecommunication services and are provided with or in association with the basic teleservices. Such supplementary services comprise, e.g., number identification services, call offering services, call completion services, multi party services, or call restriction services.
In order to be able to deliver an incoming call to a mobile station on the basis of these different services it is necessary to know the location of the mobile station MS at any time. This is achieved through continuous data exchange between the mobile station MS and the base station sub-system BSS in the service area where the mobile station is located. Thus, the digital cellular telecommunication network system keeps track of the mobile station MS and stores location information in the respective home location register HLR and visitor location register VLR.
Generally, charges and tariffs for calls in cellular digital communication systems described so far are to a large extent not related to technical specifications but dealt with by system operators.
Usually the calling mobile station or the subscriber mobile station may receive information in real time about call-related costs through the Advice of Charge AoC supplementary service specified in ETSI Advice of Charge AoC supplementary services, GSM Recommendation 02.86, November 1996.
Firstly, this feature may be related to an approximate indication to what will appear on the bill in case a call would be finished at the time of the Advice of Charge. Charges are indicated for the call in progress when originating at the mobile station or for the roaming leg only when the call terminates at the mobile station. Usually, the mobile station MS receives at the beginning of each call a message as Charge of Advice Information defining the rate at which the call will be charged, time dependence, data dependence, and unit increments, see GSM 02.24, ETS 300 918, xe2x80x9cDigital cellular telecommunications system, Phase 2+; General on supplementary servicesxe2x80x9d. The mobile station MS then indicates appropriate charges even when roaming based on HPLMN units. Also where applicable, the volume charge per packet data service is indicated in addition to the normal time dependent and incremental charges.
Secondly, the Advice of Charge supplementary service may be used to indicate the charge that will be made for the use of telecommunication services. This aspect is intended for aspects where the user is generally not the subscriber but is known to the subscriber and pays the subscriber rather than the service provider. Here, the charge is based as closely as possible on the charge that will be levied on the subscriber""s bill in the home puplic land mobile network HPLMN.
However, in both cases accuracy of the Advice of Carge AoC supplementary service is a problem, e.g., in an international multi-operator environment when a user is roaming out of the network which holds his subscription. In particular, the roaming of a mobile station MS means that the PLMN handling a call and issuing the toll ticket is not necessarily the one that bills the subscriber such that the call charge and the bill charge are different, e.g., due to different currencies. Further, any charges for non-call related transactions and for certain supplementary services, e.g., call forwarding are not indicated.
Further, with existing mobile stations MS charging estimates are derived only on the basis on the time elapsed and indicate only the time used for a service but not the actual costs levied on the user of the mobile station MS.
Still further, the functionality being related to the Advice of Charge AoC supplementary service must be implemented to the mobile station MS, thus increasing the complexity and the costs for mobile stations. Therefore, no charge information will be provided to the user in case the mobile station MS does not support the Advice of Charge functionality and in particular in the second case the telecommunication service is prevented at all.
In view of the above, the object of the invention is to provide improved overview on service charges for a subscriber to a digital cellular communication network.
According to the present invention this object is achieved through a mobile station having the features of claim 1.
Therefore, it is possible to provide charging information without any impact on the hardware of the mobile station, i.e. without any extra hardware support required, e.g, for the Advice of Charge AoC supplementary service. The reason for this is that charging information may be provided through a network node of the digital cellular communication network wherein the mobile station is roaming so that charging information related functionality must not be provided at all in the mobile station.
Further, the provision of charging information is not restricted to the actual time used for a certain service. As more detailed information on the kind of service, on the amount of data transferred, on the location of the calling or called party may be transferred, a detailed estimate on the actual costs may be displayed to the user of the mobile station.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention the charging indication information means is adapted to receive charging information at the beginning of a service, and then to terminate the transfer after confirmation of receipt thereof. Only in case charging information changes during a service the transfer charging information is re-established. This embodiment of the present invention is particularity adapted to long duration services where in addition the amount of unstructured supplementary service data messages should be minimized. Further, the dynamic adaptation of charging information allows for improved estimation accuracy, in particular during roaming between different charging areas.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention the charging information is provided continuously from a network node to derive an estimate of service charges on the basis of time-specific, location-specific, or service-specific criteria, respectively. Therefore, the use of unstructured supplementary service data messages allows the provision of charging information without any particular implementation overhead at the mobile station side.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention the charging indication information means is adapted to simultaneously establish the transfer of unstructured supplementary data messages to indicate charging information provided through the local operator and charging information processed offline. This embodiment is particularity well adapted to a case where a user of a mobile station is roaming abroad with respect to the country where his home public land mobile network HPLMN lies. Here, it is possible to indicate to the user of the mobile station that part of the overall costs for a service will be charged to him and also to indicate an exact estimate of the costs for a service during roaming.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention the charging information is received before establishment of a service to derive an estimate of service charges on the basis on time-specific, location-specific, or service-specific criteria, respectively. Therefore, the use of unstructured supplementary service data messages allows the provision and retrieval of charging information also in non-operative states of the mobile station, e.g., out of call.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention the mobile station comprises location information indicating means adapted to identify a location information for a cell where the mobile station is currently roaming. The location information may then be output to a charging application via the unstructured supplementary service data dialogue means. This embodiment, too, takes into account that in case a calling mobile station has its home public land mobile network HPLMN in a different country than the called mobile station an overhead may appear in the routing if the called mobile station is actually roaming in the country of the home public land mobile network HPLMN of the calling mobile station. In such a case the service may be routed back and forth between the two home public land mobile networks HPLMN instead of using a national or even local link. To avoid this undesireable situation it is proposed to incorporate the location of the calling mobile station and the called mobile station into the provision of charging information. Preferably, the related location information is automatically updated during roaming of the calling and called mobile station to enable a call back feature in the mobile station MS.
Further, according to the present invention there is provided a digital cellular communication network having the features of claim 10 and 14, respectively.
The architecture of the inventive digital cellular communication network allows improved charging information without impact on the architecture of the mobile stations roaming therein. Corresponding to user preferences it is possible to select communication times that are cheaper, in particular for services not requiring immediate delivery, e.g., suplementary short message services SMS. Thus, the operator may attract calls by offering lower tariffs in low usage times.
Preferably, charging information is sent at regular intervals using the unstructured supplementary service data messages for automatic display at the mobile station so that the customer is continuously aware of the costs for services provided.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention the mobile station MS roaming in the inventive digital cellular communication network is implemented as outlined above to handle local operator generated charging information and charging information processed offline, e.g., during call forwarding to the called mobile station MS. This embodiment of the present invention takes into account that the forwarding of services to a called mobile station and the charging therefore is usually executed in network nodes which therefore may best estimate related charging costs. Therefore, the mobile stations MS should only be adapted to receive the correct charging information, however, without any overhead to carry out an estimation of the charging costs in the mobile station MS itself. Further, it is possible to minimize the communication necessary for the indication of charging information since related tasks are executed at places where the information is immediately available.
Finally the advantages outlined above are also achieved with a method to provide charging specific information in a digital cellular communication network supporting unstructured supplementary service data messages according to claim 16.

Indication of charging information using the USSD mechanism


A cigarette paper dispenser comprising a structure foldable between a first and second configuration, the first configuration forming a tray; and the second configuration forming a pouch for carriage of a rolled cigarette.

This invention relates to a cigarette paper dispenser. In particular, a cigarette paper dispenser foldable into different configurations.
Cigarette smoking remains a popular pastime. Rather than smoking commercially available pre-rolled varieties of cigarettes, many smokers prefer to fashion their own cigarettes by surrounding tobacco or other substances of their preference in rolled tobacco papers. To this end, there exists pre-packaged rolling or cigarette papers. These generally comprise a rectangular sheet of paper with a bisecting fold along the length of the paper. A filling of tobacco or other substances is placed by the smoker along the fold. The fold is then pinched between the fingers of the smoker and the paper is subsequently rolled about the filling. Once the smoker is satisfied that the filling is adequately distributed within the paper, the paper may be wrapped about the filling and sealed, normally by pressing along the length of the paper over a gummed or otherwise lightly adhesive strip along one side of the paper. A smoker may also place a filter or paper tip at one end of the cigarette to facilitate inhalation from the cigarette.
It should be noted that the satisfactory rolling of a cigarette as described above requires a manner of skill on behalf of the smoker. The construction of the cigarette can be aided by having a suitable surface to procure the tobacco or other filling substance from a larger bulk and to distribute the filling within the paper prior to the subsequent rolling.
A dispenser which further provided assistance for the rolling of a cigarette and provided for carriage of a rolled cigarette would be an improvement on the state of the art.


A rate controlling method for computing a reference quantization parameter is provided, for use in a transcoder having a variable length decoder, an inverse quantizer, a quantizer and a variable length encoder. The rate controlling method comprising: receiving an input quantization parameter and motion information for each of the macroblocks from the variable length decoder; analyzing the similarity of motion information between a current macroblock and its neighboring macroblocks to compute a scaling factor for the current macroblock when allocated within P- and B-pictures; computing a bit difference between a target outputting bit stream and a real outputting bit stream; estimating the fullness of a virtual buffer to encode the current macroblock in view of the scaling factor; and computing the reference parameter based on a target bit rate, the first quantization parameter and the bit difference.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for transcoding a first coded moving picture sequence at a first bit rate into a second coded moving picture sequence at a second bit rate, lower than the first bit rate. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing an accurate estimation of the fullness of the virtual buffer based on motion information of the input moving picture sequence, such that a better rate control can be achieved.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, DVD-Video recording and Digital Video Recorder (DVR) have emerged in the industry. In these applications, a digital video signal associated with a digital audio signal is usually encoded and compressed into a MPEG-2 bit stream. However, the data rate of such digital video signal is varied and may depend on the source, such as HDTV at a bit rate of 19.2M bps and Sony MV at a bit rate of 12M bps. Therefore, a so-called transcoder is desired to convert an input MPEG-2 bit stream at a predetermined input bit rate into another output MPEG-2 bit stream at a predetermined output bit rate, lower than the predetermined input bit rate.
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a typical conventional transcoder. The conventional transcoder 100 has an input terminal a1 electrically connected to a first transmitting path, not shown, and an output terminal a2 electrically connected to a second transmitting path, not shown. The conventional transcoder 100 is designed to input a first bit stream b1 at a predetermined input bit rate through the input terminal a1, to convert the first bit stream b1 into a second bit stream b2 to be output at a predetermined output bit rate, i.e., a target bit rate, lower than the predetermined input bit rate of the first bit stream b1, and to output the second bit stream b2 through the output terminal a2.
The conventional transcoder 100 comprises a variable length decoder 101, referred to as "VLD" in the drawings, a de-quantizer 102, referred to as "IQ" in the drawings, a quantizer 103, referred to as "Q" in the drawings, a variable length encoder 104, referred to as "VLC" in the drawings, and a rate controller 105.
The variable length decoder 101 is electrically connected to the input terminal a1 and designed to decode a coded moving picture sequence signal within the first bit streams b1 inputted through the input terminal a1 to reconstruct an original picture data for each of the pictures, including a matrix of original quantization coefficients, referred to as "level", for each of the macroblocks within each of the pictures and an original quantization parameter, hereinafter referred to as "first quantization parameter Q1".
The de-quantizer 102 is electrically connected to the variable length decoder 101 and designed to input the matrix of original quantization coefficients level from the variable length decoder 101 and the first quantization parameter Q1. The de-quantizer 102 is further designed to inversely quantize the inputted matrix of original quantization coefficients level with the first quantization parameter Q1 to generate a matrix of de-quantization coefficients, referred to as "dequant", i.e., DCT coefficients, for each of the macroblocks as follows:Dequant={2×level+sign(level)}×(Q1×QM)/32  (1)Dequant=level×(Q1×QM)/16  (2)where the equation (1) is used for the inter macroblock, while the equation (2) is used for the intra macroblock. QM is a matrix of quantization parameters stored in a predetermined quantization table. The first quantization parameter Q1 and the matrix of quantization parameters QM are derived from the first bit streams b1 by the variable length decoder 101. Here, the original quantization coefficients level, the de-quantization coefficients dequant, the matrix of quantization parameters QM, and the first quantization parameter Q1 are integers. The de-quantization coefficients dequant calculated by the equations (1) and (2) should be rounded down to the nearest one.
The quantizer 103 is electrically connected to the de-quantizer 102 and designed to input the matrix of de-quantization coefficients dequant from the de-quantizer 102 and then quantize the inputted matrix of de-quantization coefficients dequant for each of the macroblocks with a second quantization parameter, referred to as "Q2" hereinafter, to generate a matrix of re-quantization coefficients, referred to as "tlevel", as follows:tlevel=dequant×16/(Q2×QM)  (3)tlevel=dequant×16/(Q2×QM)+sign(dequant)/2  (4)where the equation (3) is used for the inter macroblock, while the equation (4) is used for the intra macroblock. The second quantization parameter Q2 is obtained by the rate controller 105. Here, the re-quantization coefficients tlevel and the second quantization parameter Q2 are also integers. The re-quantization coefficients tlevel calculated by the equations (3) and (4) should be rounded down to the nearest one. Such rounding operation for the integers will be omitted from the later description for avoiding tedious repetition.
The variable length encoder 104 is electrically connected to the quantizer 103 and designed to input the re-quantization coefficients tlevel from the quantizer 103 and then encode the inputted matrix of the re-quantization coefficients tlevel to generate an objective picture data for each of pictures to sequentially output the objective picture data in the form of the second bit streams b2 through the output terminal a2. The variable length encoder 104 is further electrically connected to the variable length decoder 101 and designed to input a diversity of information included in the first bit streams b1 necessary for the second bit streams b2 from the variable length decoder 101.
The rate controller 105 is electrically connected to the de-quantizer 102 and designed to perform a rate control over the encoding in the conventional transcoder 100, for example, according to the TM5, a typical rate controlling method in MPEG-2 standard referenced to "ISO-IEC/JTC1/SC29/WG11/N0400 Test Model 5", on the basis of the information obtained from the de-quantizer 102 as described below.
Referring to FIG. 2 of the drawings, there is shown a flowchart of the rate controlling process according to TM-5 in the conventional transcoder 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the rate controlling process comprises steps A1 to A14.
In the step A1, "1" is assigned to the picture number variable n representing a serial number of pictures within the first bit streams b1. Hereinlater, the n-th picture in the first bit streams b1 is referred to as "pic(n)".
In the following step A2, a global complexity measure Xi, Xp, or Xb for the corresponding type of pictures, i.e., I, P or B-picture is computed as follows:Xi=Si×Qi  (5)Xp=Sp×Qp  (6)Xb=Sb×Qb  (7)where Si, Sp, or Sb is the number of bits generated by encoding 1, P or B-picture, and Qi, Qp, or Qb is the average quantization parameter computed by averaging the actual quantization values used during the quantization of the all macroblocks within I, P or B-picture. The average quantization parameters Qi, Qp, and Qb are normalized within a range of 1 to 31. The average quantization parameters Qi, Qp, and Qb respectively correspond to the first quantization parameters Q1 obtained from the variable length decoder 101.
The global complexity measure Xi, Xp, or Xb of the corresponding picture is inversely proportional to the compressing ratio of the moving picture, namely, a ratio of the volume of information in the second bit streams b2 to that in the first bit streams b1. Namely, as the volume of information on the first bit streams b1 becomes larger, the compressing ratio is decreased. Therefore, the global complexity measure Xi, Xp, or Xb of the corresponding picture becomes larger, as the compressing ratio is decreased. In contrast, the global complexity measure Xi, Xp, or Xb of the corresponding picture becomes smaller, as the compressing ratio is increased.
The initial value of global complexity measure Xi, Xp, or Xb of the corresponding picture is given as follows:Xi=160×Target_Bitrate/115  (8)Xp=60×Target_Bitrate/115  (9)Xb=42×Target_Bitrate/115  (10)where Target_Bitrate is measured in bits/s and corresponds to the target bit rate of the first conventional transcoder 100.
In the following step A3, the target number of bits for the next picture in the current GROUP OF PICTURES Ti, Tp, or Tb is computed as:Ti=R/(1+NpXp/XiKp+NbXb/XiKb)  (11)Tp=R/(Np+NbKpXb/KbXp)  (12)Tb=R/(Nb+NpKbXp/KpXb)  (13)where Np and Nb are the remaining number of P-pictures and B-pictures, respectively, remaining the current GROUP OF PICTURES in the encoding order. Kp and Kb are universal constants dependent on the quantization matrices. When it is assumed that Kp=1.0 and Kb=1.4, the quality of the image can be always optimized.
In the following step A4, the judgment is made whether the picture number variable n is "1" or not, i.e., the current picture is the first picture pic(1) or not. When the answer is "YES", i.e., the current picture is the first picture pic(1), the step A4 goes to the step A5. When, on the other hand, the answer is "NO", i.e., the current picture is not the first picture, the step A4 goes to the step A6. In the step A5, the remaining number of bits assigned to the GROUP OF PICTURES R is initialized according to the following equation (14). This remaining number of bits assigned to the GROUP OF PICTURES R is computed before encoding the first pictures pic(1) within the GROUP OF PICTURES, i.e., an I-picture, as follows:R=Target_Bitrate×NPIC/picture_rate+R  (14)where NPIC is the total number of pictures in each of the GROUP OF PICTURES, and picture_rate is expressed in the number of decoded pictures per second. At the start of the sequence R=0.
In the step A6, the above remaining number of bits assigned to the GROUP OF PICTURES R is updated before encoding the current picture pic(n) as follows:R=R−Si  (15)R=R−Sp  (16)R=R−Sb  (17)where Si, Sp, or Sb is the number of bits generated in the previous picture pic(n−1) of the corresponding type (I, P or B) just encoded.
The step A5 or A6 goes to the step A7 wherein "1" is assigned to the macroblock number variable j (j>=1) representing a serial number of macroblocks within one of the pictures. Hereinlater the j-th macroblock in the picture is referred to as "MB(j)".
In the following step A8, the fullness of appropriate virtual buffer di(j), dp(j) or db(j) is computed depending on the picture type before encoding macroblock MB(j) as follows:di(j)=di(0)+B(j−1)−Ti×(j−1)/NMB  (18)dp(i)=dp(0)+B(j−1)−Tp×(j−1)/NMB  (19)db(j)=db(0)+B(j−1)−Tb×(j−1)/NMB  (20)where B(j−1) is the number of bits generated by encoding all macroblocks in the picture up to including (j−1)th macroblock MB(j−1). NMB is the total number of macroblocks in the picture. di(j), dp(j), or db(j) is a fullness of virtual buffer at the j-th macroblock MB(j) for I, P or B-picture.
di(0), dp(0), or db(0) is an initial fullness of virtual buffer for I, P or B-picture and given by:di(0)=10×r/31  (21)dp(0)=Kp×di(0)  (22)db(0)=Kb×di(0)  (23)where r is referred to as "reaction parameter" and, used for the control of a reaction rate of the loop of feed back as follows:r=2×Target_Bitrate/picture_rate  (24)
The final fullness of the virtual buffer di(NMB), dp(NMB), or db(NMB) of the NMB-th macroblock MB(NMB) of the current picture pic(n) is used as di(0), dp(0), or db(0) for encoding the first macroblock MB(1) within the next picture pic(n+1) of the same type.
In the following step A9, the reference quantization parameter Q(j) for the j-th macroblock MB(j) in each of pictures is computed on the basis of the above virtual buffer fullness d(j) as follows:Q(j)=d(j)×31/r  (25)
Here, the reference quantization parameter Q(j) is identical with the aforesaid second quantization parameter Q2.
In the following step A10, the j-th macroblock MB(j) is quantized with the reference quantization parameter Q(j) computed in the step A9. In the following step A11, the macroblock number variable j is incremented by 1. The step A11 goes to the step A12 wherein the judgment is made whether the macroblock number variable j is more than the total number of macroblocks NMB within the nth picture pic(n) or not. When the answer is "NO", i.e., the macroblock number variable j is less than the total number of macroblocks NMB, the control is returned from the step A12 to the step A8. When, on the other hand, the answer is "YES", i.e., the macroblock number variable j exceeds the total number of macroblocks NMB, the step A12 goes to the step A13.
The macroblock number variable j thus serves as a loop counter for repeating the steps A8 to A11 to encode all the macroblocks MB(j) in the present picture pic(n). The entire macroblocks, the first macroblock MB(1) up to the NMB-th macroblock MB(NMB), in the nth picture pic(n) can be thus encoded in turn.
In the step A13, the picture number variable n is incremented by 1. Then the step A13 goes to the step A14 wherein the judgment is made whether the picture number variable n is more than the total number of pictures NPIC or not. When the answer is "NO", i.e., the picture number variable n is less than the total number of pictures NPIC, the control is returned from the step A14 to the step A2. When, on the other hand, the answer is "YES", i.e., the picture number variable n exceeds the total number of pictures NPIC, this routine of the rate controlling process is terminated. The picture number variable n thus serves as a loop counter for repeating the steps A2 to A13 to process all the pictures pic(n) in the present GROUP OF PICTURE. The entire pictures, the first pictures pic(1) up to the NPIC-th picture pic(NPIC), in the present GROUP OF PICTURE can be therefore processed in turn.
According to the aforesaid rate controlling process and in view of the equations (18) to (20), it can be seen that the fullness of the virtual buffer di(j), dp(j), or db(j) is estimated under an assumption that the number of bits used to encode each of the macroblocks within the I, P, or B picture is constant and is not related to any motion information for each of the macroblocks. In this case, the reference quantization parameter Q(j) must be tolerant enough such that possible overflows due to the estimation will not occur. However, this also leads to a sacrifice in the quality of the output bit stream b2.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a transcoder, which can more efficiently convert an input MPEG-2 bit stream at a predetermined bit rate into another output MPEG-2 bit stream at a target bit rate, lower than the first bit rate. In particular, the transcoder according to the present invention is implemented to consider, during the estimation of the fullness of the virtual buffers, motion information derived from the variable length decoder, and to improve the estimation using the same.

Rate controlling method and apparatus for use in a transcoder


In the pneumatic pressing of textile strands in a drafting frame the pressure in the pressure line is monitored by a pressure sensor and/or a flowmeter and used to control a value between the pressure source and that pressure line. According to the invention a disturbance signal is outputted when the pressure in the line drops below a threshold, the control signal for the valve exceeds a threshold, the displacement of the value member exceeds a certain level and the flow rate exceeds a value so as to indicate leakage beyond a tolerance level.

In a spinning or other textile machine, it is common to provide a drafting frame which may comprise a set of lower rollers or a combination of such rollers and, for example, a moving belt with pressurizing arms which carry upper rollers and/or belts which can press a textile strand to be drafted in the frame against the lower roller and/or belt so that, depending upon the speeds of the rollers or belts successively engaging the strands, the latter can be drawn out or drafted. Drafting frames can be used between the cans supplying the sliver to the roving flyers or spindles in the winding of the roving on bobbins. They can also be provided in the ring spinning or other spinning frames to draft the roving, yarn or other textile strand.
The arms can be pressed toward the lower rollers and/or belt by pneumatic effectors and it is known to provide a system for pressurizing such effectors, which can be piston and cylinder units or an expandable tube with compressed air from a pressure source such as an air compressor through a valve which controls the pressure via a line delivering the compressed air to the pneumatic effectors. A pressure measuring device or sensor can be connected to the line which can also have a flowmeter and a control means for adjusting the valve in response to the pressure and/or the flow.
A system of this type is described in German Utility Model 296 09 348.3. In this system, the flowmeter is a float which is received in a conical tube and whose height can be detected by a sensor alongside the conical tube. Since the leakage loss which can be tolerated and the flow rate of the apparatus are dependent upon the operating pressure, the setting of the sensor must be matched in case of a change in operating pressure. When this matching is not effected, high leakage losses may prevent the desired operating pressure from being achieved. As a result, the requisite pressure at the drafting rollers may not be sufficient and the quality of the yarn which is produced will deteriorate. The importance of such matching will be clear from the fact that with operating pressure of 1.5 to 4 bar in the line supplying the effectors, a deviation of as little as 0.3 bar will result in a fluctuation in the yarn character.
In the German Patent Document 296 09 348.3, moreover, it has been indicated that other flowmeters can be substituted, but there is no suggestion as to how the flow parameters should be varied for different operating pressures or how it might be possible to avoid detrimental fluctuations in the spinning parameters at least to the extent that the system is not overseen continuously be service personnel.

Pneumatic pressing system for a drafting frame of a spinning machine and method of operating same


Techniques and solutions are described for providing integration objects that can be used to enhance data retrieval, and can be used to provide shared data access for multiple applications, and to allow access to application functionality through an interface. The integration object includes a plurality of integration data objects, at least a portion of which are mapped to data objects stored in one or more data sources. The integration data objects can hold values stored in correspondingly mapped locations of the data objects, such as in a value field. A reference field of the integration data objects can hold reference information regarding a location of a value in a respectively mapped data source. At least a portion of the integration data objects can include a defined sequencing with one or more other integration data objects.

Massive data warehouses storing vast amounts of data are increasingly common. Accessing such data can be difficult or resource-intensive, especially when large amounts of distinct sets of data must be accessed near-simultaneously. This may lead to massive CPU load or low system performance, even with hardware and software optimizations. Further, such data warehousing systems may be well designed for long-term data storage, but not for specific uses of the stored data. Thus, there is room for improvement.

Software integration object linking data structures


An air guiding system for a vehicle, particularly for a passenger car, arranged in a rear area of the vehicle and having at least one central main air guiding element that can be displaced from a moved-in inoperative position into a moved-out operative position. Lateral auxiliary air guiding elements are displaceable together with the, or each, central main air guiding element. The auxiliary air guiding elements can be swiveled with respect to the, or each, main air guiding element about at least two pivots fixed to the main air guiding element and in each case at least two pivots fixed to the auxiliary air guiding elements laterally beside the main air guiding element.

The present invention relates to an air guiding system for a vehicle, particularly a passenger car, which is arranged in a rear area of the vehicle and comprises at least one central main air guiding element, which can be displaced from a moved-in inoperative position into a moved-out operative position, lateral auxiliary air guiding elements being displaceable together with the or each central main air guiding element.
DE 30 19 150 A1 shows a vehicle air guiding system arranged in an upper rear area of the vehicle and having an air guiding element that can be displaced from an inoperative position, in which it is integrated in the shaping of the rear area flush with the surface, into a moved-out operative position. The air guiding element is constructed as an aerofoil which, by way of an operating device, can be displaced or changed from the inoperative position into the operative position and vice-versa.
DE 43 05 090 A1 also discloses a vehicle air guiding system arranged in a rear area of the vehicle and having an air guiding element that can be displaced from an inoperative position into a moved-out operative position. The air guiding element is formed by a rear spoiler arranged in a recessed receiving device of the vehicle body and displaceable by an operating device from the inoperative position to the operative position and vice-versa.
The air guiding systems disclosed in the above-mentioned DE 30 19 150 A1 and DE 43 05 090 A1, increase the rear axle output coefficient (cah-value) of the motor vehicle while the drag coefficient (cw-value) remains the same or is improved, with these known air guiding elements each having the same transverse dimension in the inoperative position and in the operative position.
Yet unpublished German Patent Document DE 10 2005 030 203, discloses a vehicle air guiding system having a central main air guiding element as well as two lateral auxiliary air guiding elements. The auxiliary air guiding elements enlarge the transverse dimension of the air guiding system in the operative position and particularly the rear axle output coefficient can be further increased. The adjusting movement of the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements with respect to the central main air guiding element takes place when the main air guiding element has been displaced from the inoperative position into the operative position. The adjustment of the auxiliary air guiding elements with respect to the main air guiding element therefore takes place after, and uncoupled from, the displacement of the main air guiding element.
An object of the present invention is to provide a novel vehicle air guiding system by allowing the auxiliary air guiding elements to be swiveled with respect to the, or each, main air guiding element about at least two pivots fixed to the main air guiding element and about in each case at least two pivots fixed to the auxiliary air guiding elements laterally beside the main air guiding element, in order to change them from an also moved-in inoperative position into an also moved-out operative position.
According to an advantageous further development of the air guiding system according to the present invention, the adjustment of the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements is coupled to the displacement of the or each central main air guiding element during its change or their change from the inoperative position into the operative position and vice versa. Thereby, the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements can be changed isochronously or simultaneously from the inoperative into the operative position or from the operative position into the inoperative position with the displacement of the, or each, central main air guiding element with respect to the or each main air guiding element. In this case, the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements are swiveled with respect to the, or each, central main air guiding element laterally beside the main air guiding element. Within a very short time and in a simple manner, the transverse dimension of the air guiding system according to the invention can thereby be adapted.
Preferably, each auxiliary air guiding element is swivelable by way of an operating device disposed on the main air guiding element. A coupling device is applied to the operating device of each auxiliary air guiding element, and mechanically couples the swivel-type adjustment of the lateral auxiliary air guiding elements with respect to the central main air guiding element to the displacement of the central main air guiding element.
According to an advantageous further development, the auxiliary air guiding elements enlarge the transverse dimension and the longitudinal dimension of the main air guiding element or the air guiding system. The simultaneous enlargement of the transverse dimension and the longitudinal dimension of the main air guiding element or the air guiding system is particularly advantageous aerodynamically.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Dr. Ing. h.c.F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft


The invention is a system and method for the distribution of recordings of live audio and/or video performances to audience members at a performance. The system comprises means for promptly uploading recordings of performance segments into a database controlled by an order server. An audience member employs a wireless messaging devices such as a cellular telephone to place an order for a recording with a Short Message Service linked to said order server, and, upon arranging for payment of a recording download, said audience member is provided (via a text message to the ordering wireless device) with an internet URL address at which a copy of the recording ordered has been made available for download.

There is a need in the entertainment industry for alternative music and video purchase and distribution models. With respect to music distribution, the field to which the present invention is principally addressed, the traditional big-label, expensively-produced record under the control of rack-jobbers and radio programmers is becoming obsolete. Peer file-sharing networks and a lack of consistency and originality in the offerings of major artists have caused a serious creative and financial recession in music. Meanwhile today's music business erects high barriers in the way of small, innovative acts who seek to have their music heard and to grow an audience for their recordings. A new channel is needed that bypasses the current music industry while protecting the rights and meeting the needs of stakeholders in music.

System and method for distributing recordings of live performances


A thermal management module comprises a housing and a drive shaft located within the housing. The housing is provided with a first internal cavity, a partition and a second internal cavity which are arranged in series along the axial direction of the drive shaft. The first internal cavity and the second internal cavity are separated by the partition. The partition is proved with a through-hole through which the drive shaft passes. One end of the drive shaft extends into the first internal cavity. A second internal cavity is used for receiving a drivetrain for rotating the drive shaft.

An engine cooling system on an existing motor vehicle is provided with a thermal management module mounted on the engine. The thermal management module can control the flow direction of coolant, so as to heat the engine when the engine temperature is low, and cool the engine when the engine temperature is high, so that the engine is kept operating at a suitable temperature at all times.
The thermal management module comprises a housing and a drive shaft located in the housing. The housing has a first internal cavity, a separating part and a second internal cavity arranged in sequence in the axial direction of the drive shaft. The first and second internal cavities are separated by the separating part. The separating part is provided with a through-hole for the drive shaft to pass through. One axial end of the drive shaft extends into the first internal cavity, so as to be connected to a valve body in the first internal cavity in a torsion-resistant manner; another axial end extends into the second internal cavity, so as to be connected to a drive apparatus in the second internal cavity. When the drive apparatus operates, it drives the drive shaft to rotate, and the drive shaft drives the valve body to rotate, to open a flow of coolant, cut off the flow of coolant, and control the flow direction of coolant.
The through-hole has first and second ports, wherein the first port faces toward the first internal cavity, the second port faces toward the second internal cavity, one axial end of the drive shaft extends into the first internal cavity from the first port, and the other axial end extends into the second internal cavity from the second port. The housing is provided with a leakage channel in communication with the atmosphere; an inlet of the leakage channel is disposed in a hole wall of the through-hole, and located between the first and second ports of the through-hole in the axial direction of the drive shaft. When coolant in the first internal cavity leaks out from the first port, the leaked coolant flows to the outside of the housing from the leakage channel, preventing the ingress of leaked coolant into the second internal cavity and consequent damage to the drive apparatus.
To prevent a user from seeing leaked coolant outside the housing, an existing thermal management module is additionally provided with a container, the container being disposed outside the housing and used for collecting leaked coolant. The container has a fixing support leg, which extends into the leakage channel of the housing and fits the leakage channel, to fix the container on the housing.
However, the existing thermal management module described above has the following shortcomings:
1. The container is disposed outside the housing, so the space occupied by the thermal management module is increased.
2. When the container is fixed to the housing, the fixing support leg of the container is easily broken, causing damage to the container.
3. The molding of the housing is already complex, and it is further necessary to provide a structure which fits the fixing support leg of the container, increasing the complexity of molding of the housing, and increasing the machining difficulty.


An article made from a fabric layer permeable to a first liquid such as water, blood or urine. The article has one side that repels the liquid and another side which absorbs the liquid. The article can be disposed of by heating in a selected liquid, which dissolves or disperses the article. The article may also have a plastic layer affixed thereto to provide additional impermeability. Two of the fabric layers may be affixed with the impermeable sides facing each other to provide an article capable of absorbing fluids from both sides, yet preventing fluids from penetrating from one side to the other. An optional plastic layer may be juxtaposed between the facing sides to provide a further fluid barrier. A method of disposing of such articles comprising contacting the articles with a sufficiently hot second liquid for a sufficient period of time to disperse or dissolve substantially the articles.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of fabrics and, particularly, to articles which are absorbent to liquids, yet not completely permeable to liquids.
II. Background of Invention
Hospital patient care generates considerable quantities of infectious medical waste in primary and acute care facilities. Such facilities have a need to provide various textile products to be used by physicians and other professionals, as well as for bedding, draperies, towels, and similar items.
At one time, virtually all textiles used in such environments were reusable. Reusable textiles were primarily made from woven fabrics of yarns and the yarns were composed of cotton or other natural fibers. However, synthetics were later developed which included fibers such as nylon and polyester. These synthetics were primarily spun from staple fibers and very little texturized synthetic filaments were in use at that time.
Approximately thirty years ago, disposable garments, covers, linens and drapes were introduced to the medical environment. When compared to the reusable garments, the disposables offered many cost- and time-saving features. For instance, hospitals were able to reduce or entirely eliminate their laundry facilities and the hospital had, for the first time, garments that exhibited significant barrier protection. Barrier protection is important in hospitals to prevent unwanted contact of the wearer to harmful liquids, infections agents, and other bodily fluids.
Another significant drawback to reusable textiles was that they could not provide liquid barrier capabilities, especially after only a few laundry cycles. However, the average lifetime of a hospital reusable was approximately 18 laundry cycles.
Current disposables are generally non-woven in composition. For instance, carded stock is often chemically bonded into fabrics. Such carded webs are treated with adhesives or bonding agents and are then calendared to form "paper-light" materials. Carded webs have recently been replaced by thermobond materials, which have a softer "hand," but which have reduced cross-directional strength.
Further current disposables are produced from air-entangled and hydroentangled fibers which produce suitable fabrics. Such non-wovens are composed mostly of polypropylene fibers or from a polyester staple with cellulose wood pulp. These hydroentangled webs display the most textile-like hand, as well as a high degree of dimensional or cross-directional strength. Non-wovens of this class, such as SONTARA.RTM. by Du Pont, are widely accepted for use in medical gowns and drapes.
Recently, the medical industry has begun reverting to the use of reusable items. This trend arose because the disposable items produced significant infectious waste products. Originally, disposables were favored because they promoted anti-septic patient contact and decreased the potential for cross-infections between patients, a significant problem with cleanable, reusable textiles. However, various federal and state regulations have subsequently reclassified much of the disposable product as "infectious," thereby making desirable the minimization of their use.
An average hospital patient produces 55 lbs. of medical waste per day. Approximately 20% of that waste is classified as "infectious." The American Hospital Association and the Centers for Disease Control recommend immediate disposal of medical waste. Medical waste is considered an occupational hazard for health care workers, but is not considered an environmental safety problem. The most preferable way to contain infectious medical waste is to disinfect it at the point of generation and dispose of the treated medical waste with minimum handling and storage on premises.
As a result, consumption of medical disposable woven or non-woven products has been growing at a rate of approximately 10% a year. In 1988, sales totaled approximately 1.155 billion dollars. It is projected that as of the end of 1996, sales of medical disposable non-woven products will have exceeded two and a half billion dollars. In the United States, there are at least 30 million surgical procedures performed each year. After each surgical procedure, it is necessary that the operating theater be disinfected before a new procedure is performed to minimize any exposure the patients may bring to other patients or staff. This is particularly important in light of today's increasingly stringent regulations regarding occupational exposure to blood and bodily fluids.
One of the most prevalent items in the surgical theater as well as in the clinical environment is the use of surgical drapes and surgical gowns. These textiles are highly likely to come into contact with infectious materials in the form of spills, splashes, drips or general runoff of potentially hazardous fluids such as blood, bodily liquids and irrigation products presently involved in virtually all operating procedures. Cleaning of soiled gowns and drapes also leads to considerable opportunity for additional hazardous exposure to people that are employed to clean the garments after they are used. Furthermore, conventional gowns and drapes, if disposed of either through landfill or incineration, provide ample opportunity for reinfection.
In addition, traditional medical textiles such as gowns and drapes are constructed of a fluid absorbent fabric. While this fabric permits containment of spilled or splashed liquids, the liquids are quite capable of permeating the textile and thereby recontracting the patient or the medical worker.
The invention herein solves the drawbacks of the prior art by providing a textile suitable for use in the medical environment, such as for use as a gown or a drape, which is capable of absorbing harmful liquids yet preventing contact of the liquids with a patient or worker. Moreover, the invention, in another embodiment, provides such a textile which can be disposed of without additional risk of contamination or reinfection. In addition, the invention provides a textile disposal process that does not require the article to be introduced to a landfill, where it would be environmentally detrimental as well as potentially infectious. The invention also provides an alternative textile in which these desirable capabilities are provided for in a unitary, i.e., one piece, non-laminated article.

Liquid absorbable non-permeable fabrics and methods of making, using, and disposing thereof


This application relates to devices in which magnets are arranged so that an intensity of a magnetic field emitted by the magnets is substantially the same at a position of interest for at least two discrete positions of the magnets. The application describes how this can be achieved even when the discrete positions are different distances from the position of interest by identifying locations at which magnetic material can be added to balance the field intensity for both discrete locations. In some embodiments, this type of configuration can be helpful in accommodating movement of magnets between two common positions. When the magnetic field intensity for the position of interest is set near zero a magnetically sensitive component can be positioned at the point of interest with little or no effect from the magnetic field when the magnets are in any of the discrete positions.

Electromagnetically sensitive sensors within an electronic device can often be affected by other electrical components within the electronic device that emit magnetic fields. Generally the electromagnetically sensitive sensors can be calibrated so that persistent magnetic fields emitted by the device can be largely ignored. Unfortunately, when the magnetic field generating component associated with or built into the electronic device is movable, calibration for the electromagnetically sensitive sensor can be much more challenging. This is particularly true when the magnetic field generating component is a strong magnet as this type of movement can be especially disruptive to the electromagnetically sensitive sensor(s).

Simultaneous magnetic balancing of two points


A system and method for enabling a dual interface smart card reader to be able to determine if data should be read from a smart card using wireless technology or touch technology, even when the data can be accessed through wireless technology.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to touch sensors and near field communication technology such as NFC technology that is found in contactless smart cards. More specifically, the present invention is related to managing the reading of data that is typically stored in memory and which can be read through direct contact and wireless transmission.
2. Description of Related Art
There are several designs for capacitance sensitive touch sensors. It is useful to examine the underlying technology to better understand how a capacitance sensitive touchpad may be modified to work with the present invention.
The CIRQUE® Corporation touchpad is a mutual capacitance-sensing device and an example is illustrated as a block diagram in FIG. 1. In this touchpad 10, a grid of X (12) and Y (14) electrodes and a sense electrode 16 is used to define the touch-sensitive area 18 of the touchpad. Typically, the touchpad 10 is a rectangular grid of approximately 16 by 12 electrodes, or 8 by 6 electrodes when there are space constraints. Interlaced with these X (12) and Y (14) (or row and column) electrodes is a single sense electrode 16. All position measurements are made through the sense electrode 16.
The CIRQUE® Corporation touchpad 10 measures an imbalance in electrical charge on the sense line 16. When no pointing object is on or in proximity to the touchpad 10, the touchpad circuitry 20 is in a balanced state, and there is no charge imbalance on the sense line 16. When a pointing object creates imbalance because of capacitive coupling when the object approaches or touches a touch surface (the sensing area 18 of the touchpad 10), a change in capacitance occurs on the electrodes 12, 14. What is measured is the change in capacitance, but not the absolute capacitance value on the electrodes 12, 14. The touchpad 10 determines the change in capacitance by measuring the amount of charge that must be injected onto the sense line 16 to reestablish or regain balance of charge on the sense line.
The system above is utilized to determine the position of a finger on or in proximity to a touchpad 10 as follows. This example describes row electrodes 12, and is repeated in the same manner for the column electrodes 14. The values obtained from the row and column electrode measurements determine an intersection which is the centroid of the pointing object on or in proximity to the touchpad 10.
In the first step, a first set of row electrodes 12 are driven with a first signal from P, N generator 22, and a different but adjacent second set of row electrodes are driven with a second signal from the P, N generator. The touchpad circuitry 20 obtains a value from the sense line 16 using a mutual capacitance measuring device 26 that indicates which row electrode is closest to the pointing object. However, the touchpad circuitry 20 under the control of some microcontroller 28 cannot yet determine on which side of the row electrode the pointing object is located, nor can the touchpad circuitry 20 determine just how far the pointing object is located away from the electrode. Thus, the system shifts by one electrode the group of electrodes 12 to be driven. In other words, the electrode on one side of the group is added, while the electrode on the opposite side of the group is no longer driven. The new group is then driven by the P, N generator 22 and a second measurement of the sense line 16 is taken.
From these two measurements, it is possible to determine on which side of the row electrode the pointing object is located, and how far away. Using an equation that compares the magnitude of the two signals measured then performs pointing object position determination.
The sensitivity or resolution of the CIRQUE® Corporation touchpad is much higher than the 16 by 12 grid of row and column electrodes implies. The resolution is typically on the order of 960 counts per inch, or greater. The exact resolution is determined by the sensitivity of the components, the spacing between the electrodes 12, 14 on the same rows and columns, and other factors that are not material to the present invention.
The process above is repeated for the Y or column electrodes 14 using a P, N generator 24
Although the CIRQUE® touchpad described above uses a grid of X and Y electrodes 12, 14 and a separate and single sense electrode 16, the sense electrode can actually be the X or Y electrodes 12, 14 by using multiplexing.

Method for preventing unintended contactless interaction when performing contact interaction


A computer readable medium and system for remotely monitoring activity includes generating first server heartbeat information at a first server at a local site, and storing the first server heartbeat information in a first primary site disk at the local site. The method also includes sending the first server heartbeat information from the first primary site disk, to a first secondary site disk at a remote site. The method further includes receiving information from a 10 second secondary site disk at the local site, and determining if the information received from the second secondary site disk includes updated heartbeat information.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to remotely monitoring server activity. More particularly, the invention concerns enabling servers at a site to determine if servers at a remote peer site are operational, even when private and public communication links between the sites are not functioning.
2. Description of Related Art
In high performance computing systems, two or more servers (also called nodes) are often connected to form a cluster. During normal operation, at any given time only one server in a cluster can be in control of the cluster, and the server that is in control of the cluster is referred to as "owning" the cluster at that time. Whichever server gains control of a common resource (for example, a quorum disk) owns the cluster. An undesirable erroneous condition called "split brain" results if two or more servers operate as if they have read or write access to the same data at the same time and believe they each are in control of the cluster at the same time. The split brain condition can result if a first server erroneously concludes that a second server is not operational, when the second server is operational. However, the split brain condition can be avoided by providing communications between the servers in a cluster. For example, server clustering software may use TCP/IP based communications for transmitting communications, referred to as "heartbeat communications", between nodes in a cluster for determining if all of the nodes are operational. The heartbeat communications may be transmitted over a private communications link, which may be a private Ethernet link, between the servers in a cluster. The servers in a cluster may also be connected via a public communications link, which may be an Ethernet link, which is used to connect one or more client computers that may be running application programs, to the servers. The public Ethernet link may be used as a backup communications link for transmitting heartbeat communications between the servers in a cluster. If heartbeat communications are disrupted due to malfunctions of both the private and public Ethernet links, a common disk resource may be used to determine which node owns cluster operations in systems in which the servers are not separated by significant distances. For example, clustering solutions such as Microsoft Cluster Server can use a common disk resource, called a quorum disk, to determine which node owns cluster operations. However, if the servers are separated by significant distances, for example several or tens or hundreds of kilometers, there is no common disk resource, and there is no way to determine which node owns cluster operations if both the private and public Ethernet links fail.
As an example, there is no common disk resource when data is mirrored from a primary site to a remote secondary site. Many computer users, for example businesses and governments, update and store data at a primary site, and maintain a backup copy of the data at a secondary site that is physically remote from the primary site, which can be used for recovery from a disaster at the primary site. Making a backup copy of data at a remote secondary site is referred to as data mirroring, data shadowing, data duplexing, or remote copying. The servers at the primary site may be separated from the servers at the secondary site by significant distances, for example hundreds of kilometers. The International Business Machines (IBM) Peer-to-Peer Remote Copy (PPRC) facility is an example of a widely used synchronous remote data mirroring system.
The significant distance between remote data mirroring sites makes it unlikely that a secondary site will be harmed if there is an equipment failure or other disaster that damages or destroys data at the primary site, thereby permitting data to be recovered from the secondary site in the event of an equipment failure or disaster at the primary site. However, the distance between the primary and secondary sites precludes using a common disk resource for determining which node owns cluster operations, if both the private and public Ethernet links fail. Consequently, if the servers in a cluster are separated by significant distances, such as in a remote data mirroring system, and if both the private and public Ethernet links between the servers are not functioning, undesirable split brain operation can result because there is no way for servers at one site to determine if servers at another site are operational.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Computer readable medium and system for remote activity monitoring

International Business Machines Corporation


A flash memory device includes control gates that are formed to completely surround the top and sides of floating gates. The control gates are located between the floating gates that are adjacent in the word line direction as well as the floating gates that are adjacent in the bit line direction. The present flash memory device reduces a shift in a threshold voltage resulting from interference among floating gates and increases an overlapping area of the floating gate and the control gates. Thus, there is an effect in that the coupling ratio can be increased.

The present invention relates to flash memory devices, and more specifically, to flash memory devices and method of fabricating the same, wherein interference among floating gates can be reduced and the coupling ratio can be enhanced.
The size of flash memory cells preferably needs to be made smaller and smaller. However, the technology innovations and improvements needed to enable such device shrinkage are becoming more and more difficult to achieve in part due to the limits associated with patterning technology and equipment.
As a result, much research has been done on a multi-bit cell technology, in which a plurality of data can be stored in one memory cell. This type of a memory cell is called a "multi-level cell (MLC)".
A MLC generally has two or more threshold voltages, and also has two or more data storage states corresponding to them.
FIG. 1 is a view showing a data storage state of a multi-level cell.
As shown in FIG. 1, a MLC into which data of 2 bits can be programmed has four data storage states, i.e., "11", "10", "01" and "00". Distribution of them corresponds to distribution of threshold voltages of the MLC, respectively. For example, assuming that distribution of threshold voltages of a memory cell is −2.7 V or less, 0.3 to 0.7 V, 1.3 to 1.7 V and 2.3 to 2.7 V, "11" corresponds to −2.7 V or less, "10" corresponds to 0.3 to 0.5 V, "01" corresponds to 1.3 to 1.7 V and "00" corresponds to 2.3 to 2.7 V. That is, if the threshold voltage of the MLC corresponds to one of the four threshold voltages, data information of 2 bits corresponding to one of "11", "10", "01" and "00" is stored in the memory cell.
Therefore, it is necessary to finely control distribution of threshold voltages in each level. For example, the range for one level has to be controlled to about 1 V. To this end, although sensing margin is related to a program pulse step, the range has to be controlled to about 0.2 V.
If the range for one level or sensing margin is too finely controlled, however, the performance of a product can be degraded. If a unique threshold voltage shift of a cell is controlled to about 0.2 V, a threshold voltage that must be controlled is less than 0.4 V.
In order to attain this threshold voltage, a threshold voltage that can be controlled most ideally cannot be controlled to be about less than 0.2 V when considering that it is related to a program pulse step.
In this case, in consideration of block pattern dependency, a shift in a threshold voltage due to the interference effect depending upon a state of a surrounding cell has to be controlled to about 0.05 V or less.
FIG. 2 is a graph showing a threshold voltage shift (dVt) value according to the interference effect depending upon shrinkage of the cell size.
As shown in FIG. 2, a threshold voltage value (dVt) that varies due to neighboring cells in a bit line direction is 0.05 V or less, which is not a significant problem. However, a threshold voltage value (dVt) that varies due to neighboring cells in a word line direction is 0.3 to 0.5 V. This makes it difficult to implement a MLC cell.


A discharge recording medium comprising a substrate and a thin metal layer which is formed on the substrate layer and is made of aluminum containing at least one metal selected from the group consisting of manganese, copper and magnesium, which has good environmental resistance and printing characteristics.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a discharge recording medium with good environmental resistance and capable of good printing performance, on which information is printed by breaking apart a metal thin layer formed on a substrate layer by electric discharge and heat to perforate the thin metal layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, as one printing method which prints information having good environmental resistance, a thermal printing method has been used in which, a part of a thin layer of a low melting point metal is heated until molten to perforate the metal layer and print information.
Since a recording medium printed by the thermal printing method is not rewritable and has good long-time stability, this method is widely used to record money amounts, numbers or dates.
An example of the thermal printing method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 19928/1984. In this patent, a magnetic recording layer is formed on a substrate and then a thin layer of a non-magnetic metal or alloy is formed, as a thermal recording layer, on the magnetic recording layer. Various modifications are also disclosed. For example, a colored layer may be provided between the thermal recording layer and the magnetic recording layer, or a colored layer and a protective layer may be provided on the thermal recording layer, or an adhesive layer may be provided between each pair of adjacent layers.
Since the thermal printing method records information by heating and cooling a thermal head, its printing speed is limited so that the use of this method is very much limited where high speed processing is required, for example in transportation, stations and supermarkets.
Another printing method which uses melting of a thin metal layer is a discharge printing method which is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 30157/1983 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,706. The information printed by this method is not rewritable either as in the case of the thermal printing method, and it has the advantage that high speed printing is possible.
A recording medium used in the discharge recording method, namely a discharge recording medium, has poorer environmental resistance than a recording medium used in the thermal printing method. In addition, by the discharge recording method, it is difficult to print clear images unless a high electric field is applied between a recording stylus and the thin metal layer. This is because the principle of the discharge recording method is based on the perforation of the metal layer by melting and splashing the metal from the part of the metal layer to be perforated, so that thickness of a protective layer cannot be made thin.
In addition, the discharge recording method is unsatisfactory in its recording density and may provide unclearer images than the thermal recording method. This is partly because the discharge breakdown of the thin metal layer is caused only in a part of a printing dot through which an electric current passes so that it is difficult to form a complete printing dot and partly because a condition of electric current from the recording stylus tends to be affected by a delicate change of the thickness of the protective layer on the metal layer.
As is clear from the printing mechanism, a clear image is produced only by the application of high energy such that a high electric field is generated between the recording stylus and the metal layer. To this end, there should be a certain resistance between the recording stylus and the metal layer. However, too high of a resistance will prevent passage of the electric current. The resistance cannot be completely controlled by the change of the thickness of the protective layer. That is, since the thickness of the protective layer is at most 1 .mu.m, the thickness of the protective layer formed by a conventional coating means such as a gravure coater, will fluctuate within .+-.20%. At a part having a larger thickness, the electric resistance increases and passage of the electric current is difficult so that the printing density decreases, thus resulting in dispersion of the printing density.
It may be possible to decrease the dispersion of the printing density by a decrease of the thickness of the protective layer, but this will decrease the environmental resistance of the recording medium. As explained above, the discharge recording medium has a poor environmental resistance and low printing density.
When the discharge recording medium has a poor environmental resistance and is exposed to a harsh atmosphere, for example, a high humidity atmosphere, the thin metal layer will corrode so that its appearance is changed or a part of the metal layer drops off, whereby the printed parts disappear or fade. When the printing density of the discharge recording medium is low, visibility of the printed information is worsened, the printing quality deteriorate and reliability of the recording is lowered.


A device for controlling a pneumatic cylinder device, being of a double cylinder construction comprising an outer cylinder and an inner cylinder sealably fitted in the outer cylinder to slide along the outer cylinder. In the inner cylinder, a piston with a valve at one side thereof or valves at both sides thereof is slidably disposed. To control the valve or valves, an adjusting rod is provided which is slidably and rotatably disposed in the piston and its piston rod and adjusted by an operating lever. Alternatively, the double cylinder construction comprises a pair of cylinders disposed axially in parallel to each other. In the cylinders, pistons are disposed, one of which has a valve at one side thereof or valves at both sides thereof. The cylinders are communicated with each other by a communication construction having a communication adjusting groove and an adjusting lever for adjusting the communication area of communication adjusting groove. In either case, controls of operation load, operation speed and braking are easily achieved during the compressing and stretching operations without requiring a separate device, by controlling the valve or valves and/or the communication adjusting groove.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control device for a pneumatic cylinder using air as its operating medium, and more particularly to a control device for a pneumatic cylinder, capable of controlling the operation speed of the pneumatic cylinder upon reciprocation and braking the reciprocation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In cases of hydraulic cylinders, an accurate controlling of operation speed and a reliable braking can be easily achieved by operating external valves for adjusting the quantity of supplied oil and shutting off the supplying of oil, the oil as operating medium has a high density characteristic. In cases of pneumatic cylinders, however, it is difficult to achieve an accurate controlling of operation speed and a reliable braking, due to a variation in internal volume of compressed air in the cylinder, which variation is caused by a phenomenon that the compressed air as operating medium varies greatly in density depending on a pressure applied thereto, due to its physical characteristic. In particular, since the speed controlling and braking under low pressure and speed condition are considerably unstable, such pneumatic cylinders are hardly applied to automatic installations and other appliances which require highly precise operations other than a simple reciprocation.
For overcoming the above-mentioned problems encountered in the pneumatic cylinders, there have been proposals of providing a separate auxiliary mechanical device such as a brake lining. However, the provision of such an auxiliary mechanical device causes the whole cylinder construction to be bulk and thus the installation work to be difficult. Furthermore, the cylinder becomes expensive, resulting in a difficulty in practical use.