The method delivers a storage system for Big Data usage. The system contains a matrix of unreliable physical data devices and data in this reliable big capacity storage system is protected by the triple protection so the method and system can protect storage system from more than 2 fault data devices. In some cases, the system can still deliver data when system has many failed data devices at the same. Floating Parity technology can also avoid heavily writing data to some device surfaces, due to parity update, which cause data device to be failed before expected device life time.

In current technology, the storage is protected from limited number of faulty devices. In common practice, the majority of storage products can only protect up to 2 faulty devices. In such case, if 3 devices in one row are failed at the same time, loss of data occurs. The scenario of 3 faulty data devices at the same time in the same row is treated as impossible case. However, in the reality, it happens especially after running storage system for more than 5 years when devices in the system are about running out of guaranteed life time. In such cases, multiple faulty data devices can be triggered during recovering 1 faulty device. It is because, when one device is dead, many other data devices in the same shelf are also very weak and easily to run to death. This invention delivers a method to create a reliable storage system that can prevent file system failure due to more than 2 device failures.

Method and system for reliable big capacity storage system protected by triple protection


The invention relates to a treatment plate (10) for a garment treatment appliance (100) for treating garments (30), which plate has a contact surface which is provided with a sol-gel coating (20) that comprises an oxide of titanium, zirconium, hafnium, scandium, yttrium, or a mixture or combination thereof, and wherein the coating comprises a mixed oxide comprising two or more of titanium oxide, zirconium oxide and yttrium oxide. The layer preferably has a thickness of less than 1 μm. Such a layer shows excellent properties. A garment treatment appliance comprising such a treatment plate, as well as processes to produce the coating on the contact surface of the treatment plate are also disclosed.

Low friction coatings allow contacting surfaces to rub against one another with reduced friction, reducing the effort to move garment treatment appliances, like dewrinkling devices, such as an iron, or a steamer. Further, a scratch resistant coating is very important for electrical appliances, and also for non-electrical domestic appliances, such as pans, oven plates and the like, that benefit from low friction. Hence the use of a coating with low friction co-efficient and good scratch resistance, to improve the tribological properties of appliance surfaces is constantly increasing.
An example of a treatment plate for a garment treatment appliance for treating garments is the soleplate of an iron. In general, a separate layer, here referred to as a coating layer, is applied to the surface of the soleplate facing away from the housing of the iron. During ironing, this coating layer directly contacts the clothes to be ironed. A prerequisite for the proper functioning of the iron is that such a coating layer meets a large number of requirements. For example, the coating layer must, inter alia, exhibit satisfactory low friction properties on the clothes to be ironed, it must be corrosion-resistant, scratch-resistant, and durable, and exhibit an optimum hardness and high resistance to wear and to fracture. The material of the coating layer must meet extra high requirements because the coating layer is exposed to substantial variations in temperatures ranging between 10° C. and 300° C., with typical operational temperatures ranging from 70° C. to 230° C. The required gliding behavior is obtained by having a low friction providing coating on the soleplate and this reduces the effective force applied on the garment as well.
Several materials may be used as low friction soleplate coating materials for an iron, such as silicates applied via sol-gel techniques, enamel, metal (e.g. nickel, chromium, stainless steel) that may be applied, for example, as sheet material or by thermal spraying, hard anodized aluminum, and diamond-like carbon coatings. Also an organic polymer may be used as a soleplate coating, for example polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). The PTFE low friction coating shows good gliding and non-stick properties, however the mechanical properties like scratch and wear resistance of PTFE coating is poor.
Another type of low friction coating has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,943,799 A1, the low friction layer consists predominantly of aluminum oxide which is formed in an electrochemical manner, and the low friction coating shows good gliding behavior, as well as good scratch resistance and easy to clean. However, the substrate used for forming of the low friction metal oxide coating has to be the same metal, which is aluminium in this case, and restricts the application of the coating.
A sol-gel coating for use on irons is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,765. The sol-gel coating shows good properties such as good wear and scratch resistance, as well as good stain resistance.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,339,142 discloses an iron having a soleplate covered with a coating consisting of an external layer, comprising at least one oxidation catalyst chosen among oxides of platinoids, and at least one internal layer, located between the metal support and the external layer, comprising at least one oxidation catalyst chosen among the oxides of the transition elements of group 1b. Platinoids are, in this reference, deemed to be elements having properties similar to those of platinum, in particular, in addition to platinum, ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, and iridium, thus elements of groups 8-10 of the periodic table. The coating is claimed to be self-cleaning, at the operating temperature of the device.
An iron having a soleplate with an oxidation catalyst present on the outer surface of the soleplate is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,040,047. The catalytic oxidation agent is, according to this reference, any element, compound or composition capable of oxidizing, at a temperature at least equal to 90° C., any organic substance such as contained in the dirt, or stains, presently encountered in the treatment (including washing and possibly softening) of textile articles or pieces (for example linen). As examples of catalytic active elements, palladium, platinum, vanadium, and copper are mentioned. To increase the catalytic effectiveness, oxides of copper, manganese or cobalt can be present. The catalytically active form of the oxidation agent, for example platinum, can be obtained by calcination. This reference also mentions by way of example, that the catalytic oxidation agent comprises a metal of group IV of the periodic table; the use of these metals has nevertheless not been illustrated.
The teaching of the above references is that "organic dirt" captured by the soleplate during ironing is oxidized so that it will be detached from the soleplate. It is said that even when the soleplate is tarnished in a manner that is hardly visible, it will partially lose its sliding qualities. Imperceptibly, with the soiling, the ironing will become more difficult, while the user will become apprehensive of using a tarnished iron, fearing that it can alter the laundry.
US 2013/0247430 describes a heating appliance including a metal substrate, at least a pail of which is covered with a self-cleaning coating including at least one oxidation catalyst selected from the platinoid oxides, and at least one dopant of said oxidation catalyst selected from the rare-earth oxides. The self-cleaning coating is a bilayer coating including: an inner layer at least partially covering the metal substrate and including the dopant; and an outer layer in contact with the ambient air and including the oxidation catalyst. Also provided is a method for producing such a heating appliance.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,637 describes a fabric pressing device having a composite sole plate with a base component of metal or similar thermally conductive material that is coupled to the heat source of the pressing iron, and a layer of ceramic bonded to the base component. The ceramic layer has a planar fabric pressing surface that preferably has a smoothness of about a nominal two micrometers surface roughness or better. That ceramic surface is highly resistant to wear and to impact, is easy to clean, and has excellent dynamic and static frictional characteristics on textile fabrics.

Treatment plate for a garment treatment appliance


A split sleeve bushing for providing a tight fit between a support post and chair base comprises two hemi-cylindrical components which mount about the support post and are received within the support post receptacle of the chair base. The split sleeve bushing includes external stability rings and vertical ribs extending along the external surface thereof. The vertical ribs are tapered to match the draft angle of the support post receptacle of the chair base. The upper end of the split sleeve bushing includes a circumferential flange which is slotted for snap lock engagement with the chair base.

The present invention relates to adjustable chairs, and more particularly to a molded split sleeve bushing for a gas cylinder chair seat support mechanism securing the chair seat to the chair base.
The chair design industry has heretofore provided a wide variety of chairs for the office environment which are ergonomically designed for the comfort of the user. These chairs include various adjustment mechanisms to accommodate the particular needs of the users. Adjustable chairs may, for example, include seat height adjustment mechanisms for raising and lowering the seat height relative to the base of the chair to accommodate anatomical variations of different users. Some height adjustment mechanisms employ a screw type drive for altering the height of the chair seat, while other adjustment mechanisms include a ratchet type mechanism or gas cylinder to raise and lower the chair seat.
A common problem with available height adjustable chairs is that they tend to wobble or feel loose. Typically, the chair seat support post, which may include a threaded surface for the screw type drive, is mounted to a metal or wooden base. The support post is usually metal and after a period of time the support post receptacle in the wooden base supporting the metal post wears and enlarges. Consequently, the metal post is not firmly secured within the wooden base and wobbles slightly when users sit in the chair or shift positions on the chair seat.
Similarly, metal or molded chair base assemblies develop excessive wear and unwanted movement or play between the support post and the base. Cumulative tolerances on the width and thickness of the metal components, paint coat thickness and tolerances of the molded plastic components all combine to create objectionable rattle and play in the final assembly. It is difficult to maintain a tight fit between a metal-to-metal or metal-to-plastic interface. Metal components typically include rough surfaces and sharp edges which quickly wear at the metal or metal-to-plastic interface resulting in a loose and wobbling support post for the chair seat.
A need exists for a multi-position height adjustable chair, which permits a wide latitude in vertical positioning, which is relatively easily manufactured, which is reliable in operation and which provides a wide variety of adjustable positions for the user.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide a substantially wobble-free, multi-position height adjustable chair.
It is another object of the invention to provide a height adjustable chair in which the height adjustment mechanism utilizes a gas cylinder support post for height adjustment.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a height adjustable chair which minimizes wobble by reducing the tolerances between the gas cylinder support post and the chair base.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a height adjustable chair utilizing a molded split sleeve bushing for eliminating draft angle problems in the support post receptacle by providing a split sleeve bushing which seats in the draft angle of the chair base support post receptacle, providing a tight fit and smooth surface on which the gas cylinder may ride.

Molded split sleeve bushing for chair base


The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer-implemented methods for concise resource addressing. An example method includes receiving a request for an application including a resource identifier, the resource identifier including a textual identifier and a contextual identifier, the textual identifier including a textual description of the requested application, and the contextual identifier including an encoded description of the requested application; determining at least one target application associated with the resource identifier based at least in part on the textual identifier or the contextual identifier; and sending a response to the request include the at least one target application associated with the resource identifier.

The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer-implemented methods for providing concise resource addressing.
Network navigation may be performed using unique resource identifiers, such as uniform resource locators (URLs). In some cases, URLs may be used to address applications within a system. For example, the user may click on a link within a webpage displayed within a browser application to launch a specific application, or to perform a specific action. Such a click may generate a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request for the URL associated with a link. In response, the server receiving the request may invoke an application associated with the URL.


A system (20) of targeted broadcasting in a cellular communication system during an event can include at least one mobile unit (25) having stored therein scheduling information relating to an event, a designated location for the event, and a designated group channel for monitoring such event. The mobile unit can further be programmed to monitor (67) for the event in a designated location and on a designated group channel during a predetermined time window and receive (71) a targeted message during the event on the designated group channel if a current location of the mobile unit matches the designated location stored. The mobile unit can be programmed to transmit at least one group call message response in response to receiving the group call message only when the mobile unit is in the designated location. The system can further include fixed network equipment (26) that transmits data related to the event.

Existing communication systems such as point-to-point and multicast systems that send data over the air to a large group of subscribers at an event generally perform poorly because packet data channels cannot support many closely clustered phones in use simultaneously. In this regard, existing wireless applications that provide content directly to a mobile phone enabling fans to receive live data such as leader board updates for race or competition results, breaking news throughout the day, competitor or team information, scheduling and venue information, weekly updated photos. Note, though, that some of these systems are designed to provide event data anytime, anywhere instead of a system optimized for a targeted audience having a large number of subscribers attending an event.
Some existing wireless applications deliver real-time race information to subscribers on existing wireless networks, but fail to deliver a broadcast that is delivered locally to just the immediate vicinity of an event using group call. Instead, existing wireless applications use a packet data application that is delivered to a wide area including to wherever a user roams. Thus, the performance at the site of an event is hampered in such a system because of the overload in traffic in a particular location. A system in this regard using packet data requires incremental network resources for each user. In practice, at events where many users try to use packet data simultaneously, the packet data channels are so overloaded that the existing wireless application slows to a crawl or stops working all together.

Method and system for targeted broadcasting


An apparatus includes: a cam that has two cam members disposed facing each other and produces thrust in an axis direction; an attracting member that creates friction force by attracting the cam members into contact with the attracting member by magnetic attraction force; an attracted member that is attached to one cam member of the two so as to rotate integrally together with the one cam member and be relatively movable in the axis direction, and that is attracted by the attracting member into contact with the attracting member so that the friction force is produced; a first return spring that exerts elastic force on the attracted member so as to move the attracted member away from the attracting member against the magnetic attractive force; and a second return spring that exerts elastic force on the one cam member.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electromagnetic engagement apparatus that engages by producing a thrust based on attractive force by electromagnetism and on differential rotation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a power transmission system of a vehicle, a clutch apparatus that permits and prevents the transfer of rotation and power of an engine is provided between the engine and a manual transmission. There are various types of clutch apparatuses; for example, a dog clutch, a friction clutch, a fluid clutch, an electromagnetic clutch, etc. are known. Among these, the electromagnetic clutch apparatus permits and prevents the power transfer by using electromagnetic force. Electromagnetic clutch apparatuses can be divided into a pressure engagement type, a dog type, a gap type that uses iron powder as a medium, etc., according to the structure that transmits torque.
For example, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 5-62747 (JP 5-62747 U) describes an electromagnetic brake in which divided armatures that are magnetically attracted by electromagnetic force are employed and each armature is equipped with a braking spring. JP 5-62747 U also describes that the spring force of the braking spring that provides spring force to the first armature to be magnetically attracted or drawn is smaller than the spring force of any other braking springs.
Besides, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-51089 (JP 11-51089 A) describes an electromagnetic clutch that has an armature stack formed by two divided layers, and also has a pressing spring that exerts spring force on the armature, and a buffer member disposed between the layers of the armature stack.
However, in the structures described in JP 5-72747 U and JP 11-51089 A, two armatures that are radially outer and inner armatures are provided, and return springs are provided individually for each armature, and each armature is attracted by electromagnetic force. Therefore, in the construction described in JP 5-62747 U, the electromagnetic force for releasing the clutch needs to be greater than or equal to the elastic force of the aforementioned return springs, and large current must be passed through in order to release the clutch; thus, there is room for betterment in terms of improving energy efficiency.


An inductive cap sealer (10) for sealing an inner seal over an opening (54) in container (52) includes a vented sealing head (12). The sealing head (12) contains an induction coil (24) for producing an electromagnetic field when energized by a power supply. Field focusing elements (26) contain the coil (24) and direct the electromagnetic field to a sealing region beneath the sealing head (12). The housing (20) has a central inlet vent (40) flanked by two outlet vents (42, 44) aligned with a vent plate (46) inside the housing (20) having a plurality of small openings (48) which allow a fan (18) to blow cooling air through the sealing head from only one side of the sealing head (12) in a generally U-shaped flow pattern, preferably from the side opposite the sealing region. The field focusing elements (26) are spaced to allow the cooling air to flow around the field focusing elements (26) and past the coil (24).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of heat sealing caps to containers, and in particular, to air cooled sealing heads for inductive cap sealers.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is known to seal the mouths of bottles and other containers using an inductive sealing process. Inductive sealing requires an electromagnetic-field-producing apparatus and a foil-polymer seal. Typically, the apparatus has at least one coil of wire wound to produce an electromagnetic field when electric current is supplied to the coil. It is well known in the art that electromagnetic fields induce eddy currents within metal which in turn heat the metal. The seal comprises a thin layer of aluminum foil onto which is laminated a polymer layer that is molecularly compatible with the container to be sealed. When the seal is placed onto the container and the container is placed within the electromagnetic field, the foil is heated which melts the layer of polymer. Removing the seal from the electromagnetic field allows the polymer to cool and molecularly fuse with the container to create an air-tight seal.
The strength of the electromagnetic field primarily depends upon the number of turns in the wire coil(s) and the amount of current supplied to the coil(s). To produce an electromagnetic field adequate for commercial inductive sealing, typically the power supply must output power in the order of a few kilowatts, which produces a great deal of heat. Thus, the power supply must be cooled in order to function properly. Similarly, the sealing head having the induction coil must be cooled.
Many methods of cooling the power supply and sealing head are known in the art. In particular, it is known to circulate cool water through the power supply enclosure and the sealing head. Such water cooled cap sealers, however, require complicated piping configurations that increase size and cost. It is also known to vent the power supply and force air past the outside of the sealing head. However, such air cooled cap sealers sometimes provide inadequate cooling of the sealing head which degrades the operating efficiency of the cap sealer. Also, passing cooling air into the area where the containers are being sealed can disrupt the position of the seal and/or introduce contaminants into the container of the seal.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Amine-acryloyl and -methacryloyl derivatives and 1,6-heptadiene-4-ol can be used to provide crosslinked polyacrylamide gels which are useful in protein and nucleic acid separation and detection. The gels crosslinked with the compounds of the present invention exhibit much less background silver staining than previously known acrylamide gels.

The formation of background staining has limited the sensitivity, reproducibility, and quantitative analyses of most polyacrylamide silver staining methods. In the first applications of silver staining as a detection method for proteins separated on polyacrylamide gels, the problem of excessive background was addressed. A photographic "reducer" containing sodium thiosulfate was used to reduce the excessive background staining. However, this procedure not only affected the background, but also the silver densities in the stained protein bands or spots. Furthermore, the "reducer" effect on protein bands or spots is not necessarily proportional. This non-proportional loss of silver grains has limited this use of thiosulfate, particularly in quantitative applications.
It was found that background staining of the ammoniacal silver stain could also be reduced by pretreating the gels with diluted thiosulfate solutions prior to silver reduction or image development. However, such pretreatment often results in the inability to visualize trace proteins. The use of thiosulfate to eliminate background staining also results in another problem, i.e. the loss of image permanence.

Polyacrylamide gels with improved detection of protein

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


Provided is a display device with extremely high resolution, a display device with higher display quality, a display device with improved viewing angle characteristics, or a flexible display device. Same-color subpixels are arranged in a zigzag pattern in a predetermined direction. In other words, when attention is paid to a subpixel, another two subpixels exhibiting the same color as the subpixel are preferably located upper right and lower right or upper left and lower left. Each pixel includes three subpixels arranged in an L shape. In addition, two pixels are combined so that pixel units including subpixel are arranged in matrix of 3×2.

In recent years, high-definition display devices have been required. For example, full high-definition (1920×1080 pixels) has been in the mainstream of home-use television devices (also referred to as televisions or television receivers). From now on, 4K (3840×2160 pixels) and 8K (7680×4320 pixels) will also be spread with the development of high-definition television devices.
High-definition display panels of portable information terminals, such as mobile phones, smartphones, and tablets, have also been developed.
Typical examples of the display device include a liquid crystal display device; a light-emitting device including a light-emitting element such as an organic electroluminescent (EL) element or a light-emitting diode (LED); and electronic paper performing display by an electrophoretic method or the like.
For example, an organic EL element has a basic structure in which a layer containing a light-emitting organic compound is provided between a pair of electrodes. The light-emitting organic compound can emit light by voltage application to the element. A display device including such an organic EL element needs no backlight which is necessary for a liquid crystal display device and the like and thus can have advantages such as thin, lightweight, high contrast, and low power consumption. Patent Document 1, for example, discloses an example of a display device using an organic EL element.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


According to one embodiment, a system, apparatus, and method for receiving high-speed signals using a receiver with a transconductance amplifier is presented. The apparatus comprises a transconductance amplifier to receive input voltage derived from an input signal, a clocked current comparator to receive output current from the transconductance amplifier, and a storage element to receive a binary value from the clocked current comparator.

In many data communication arrangements, separate clock signals are not transmitted with the data. This requires recovering the clock from the data at the receiving end in order to then recover the data itself. With rapidly developing processor technology, demands for high-speed input/output (I/O) communication arrangements are ever increasing.
However, with high-speed input/output (I/O) communication arrangements, design challenges and complexity of the I/O receiver increase significantly. Not only does the receiver have to operate at higher data rates, but also the receiver sensitivity has to be improved as well due to the shorter time length of a received signal.
One type of receiver topology has been demonstrated, and often is considered 'standard' topology. A receiver employing this 'standard' topology would include a front sampler, a variable offset comparator, and one or more flip-flops. The front sampler is used to sample the analog value of input voltages on a pair of capacitors. The variable offset comparator then compares the sampled input voltages and decides the binary value. Then, the binary value is sent or latched to the one or more flip-flops.
Yet, the use of a front sampler does not remedy the potentially adverse effects of charge injection occurring in the sampler. Charge injection refers to the effect of a charge being capacitatively coupled or injected from a digital control line to an analog signal path as an analog switch turns on and off. Such an additional charge from a switch to a capacitor may alter the stored voltage, and ultimately lead to erroneous data detection decisions.
Furthermore, in cases where a receiver uses a half-rate clock, for example, a clock of 5 GHz (gigahertz) may be used for 10 Gb/s (gigabits per second) of data. In such a case, the incoming data needs to be sampled on both clock edges and requires two parallel receivers. Under the 'standard' topology, each receiver would also require its own front sampler, as a single sampler cannot handle the data for both receivers. In such situations, each sampler would also require its own digital-to-analog converter (DAC) to provide for any offset adjustments to the local receiver clock. Such an arrangement may require substantial area and power consumption of the circuit.

Data receiver including a transconductance amplifier


Fuel injectors with boosted needle control providing controlled and rapid needle closure. Boost and drive pistons are provided for hydraulic actuation to controllably close the needle, with the boost piston reaching a mechanical stop before the needle reaches the closed position, with the drive piston alone providing adequate hydraulic force to hold the needle closed. In a preferred embodiment, fuel from the intensifier is coupled to the top of the boost and drive pistons to close the needle, and controllably coupled to the bottom of the boost and drive pistons to allow pressure in the needle chamber to open the needle. Apparatus for control of fuel pressure to the bottom of the boost and drive pistons is disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of fuel injectors.
2. Prior Art
Preferred embodiments of the present invention are directed toward fuel injectors for diesel engines, though the invention is not so limited. The performance of an engine such as a diesel engine, particularly with respect to emissions, is highly dependent on the performance of the fuel injector used. In general, the better atomization of the fuel by the injector nozzle, the lower the emissions will be, both in hydrocarbons and nitrous oxides. For this purpose, smaller injection orifices together with higher injection pressures through intensification are desired. However, it is still desired for the injector needle to rapidly close at the end of injection, as a slow closure as the intensification pressure drops will allow some injection with poor or no atomization, grossly increasing the hydrocarbon emissions. Consequently, techniques for direct needle control have recently been developed wherein closure of the needle is augmented by a fluid under pressure controllably acting on the needle to force the needle closed against substantial fuel pressures, thereby closing the needle before the fuel pressure drops sufficiently for a needle return spring to be able to close the needle.
Injection pressures as high as 3000 bar and even higher are now being considered. To rapidly close the needle at the end of injection at such pressures, a substantial force must be exerted on the needle. While the total needle motion may only be on the order of 0.010 inches, such a force causes the needle to close with a significant impact, which has been found to cause premature injector failure by the breaking off of the nozzle's tip, which in turn can lead to other damage of an engine. Accordingly, it is particularly important that rapid needle closure be achieved in injectors using high pressure injection without degradation of the nozzle, or at least without sufficient degradation of the nozzle during the useful life of the injector so as to provide any substantial likelihood of a nozzle tip breakage during that useful life.

Fuel injector with boosted needle closure


Location information of each participant in a carpool or other event may be automatically collected at a central server. The location information may be collected based on an ascertained location of a mobile computing device carried by a participant. The location of each participant's mobile computing device may be obtained through the use of location based services. Each participant's device may push geographic location, speed, and/or movement type information (such as whether the participant is walking or driving) to a central system. The pushed data may then be pulled from the central system by the devices of other interested participants. Methods, computer readable media, and devices are provided.

Carpool ride matching systems have been used to automatically match carpool drivers and passengers based on various carpool criteria, such as departure time, arrival time, route, availability, and other factors. Once participants have been assigned to a carpool, the system may notify each of the participants of their assigned meeting location and time. Although the carpooling system may automatically assign these times based on the preferences specified by each participant and an estimated time required to reach each participant, there are nonetheless situations in which one or more participants are late due to traffic, work, or other reasons which may delay the entire carpool and result in poor customer satisfaction.
In the past, carpool participants have typically called or texted each other to either inform the other participants that they will be late or check on a status of the other participants. However, having to manually check on the status of other participants by calling or texting is inconvenient and time consuming. Not only that, but repeatedly calling or texting to send or receive status updates has been perceived as disruptive and annoying. Additionally, carpool drivers may be prohibited from texting while driving or talking on the phone without a hands-free communication device.
There is a need for automatically collecting and distributing status information about carpool participants, such as location, speed, and movement information of each carpool participant, to automatically update each carpool participant with the status of the other participants.

Distribution of location and movement information of meeting participants


A system for conducting cables in a vehicle having vehicle parts that are movably connected to one another. The system for conducting cables having a stabilization element and a reception element for receiving a cable and the reception element is movably arranged at the stabilization element.

EP 3 210 803 A1, for example, discloses a passage between two vehicle parts connected to one another in an articulated manner, with a guide device for supply lines extending in the roof region being provided in the roof region of the vehicle parts. The guide device comprises a spring device for conducting the supply lines. The spring device can extend, for example, in a C shape from one vehicle part to the next. Cable carriers are arranged at the spring device by which the cables are defined and are guided along the spring device. The cable carriers are elements in the manner of a cantilever laterally projecting from the spring device. The cables lie on these cable carriers or, when a larger number of cables is present, a plurality of cables can also lie above one another.
DE 10 2010 011 903 B4 discloses a further holding device for cables at an articulated vehicle. In this embodiment, the cables are gripped in a clamping manner by means of a fastening means and are fastened to a flexible restraining strap. The cables extend in a common plane with the restraining strap and the cables are arranged beneath the restraining strap.
DE 10 2016 214 159 A1 further discloses a holder for conducting cables in a rail vehicle. The holder grips the cables in a clamping manner and additionally has a plate-like element by which the cables are at least sectionally supported. The holder is upwardly supported by a part of the passage or of the vehicle.
It has been found that there is the demand in vehicles having vehicle parts movably connected to one another increasingly to conduct a larger number of cables and heavier cables between the vehicle parts in vehicles. Very large power cables in particular have to be conducted between the vehicle parts having an electrical drive. Conventional solutions for conducting cables can no longer satisfy these demands since the capacity present to receive and conduct the cables is exhausted. Wear that arises on the cables with conventional solutions represents a further problem. Excessive wear on the cables can result in their failure so that cables have to be replaced with a large effort and/or expense. This can moreover result in an increased safety risk in operation, e.g. when the insulation of power cables is damaged by wear.

System for conducting cables in a vehicle having vehicle parts movably connected to one another


An application processor includes an application processor including a first processor configured to generate a control signal based on whether user data is changed, wherein the application processor is configured to implement a power manager which dynamically controls power provided to the first processor, in response to the control signal.

Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to an application processor, and more particularly, to an application processor for dynamically controlling power based on a change or no-change of user data that is directly provided for a user and a mobile computing apparatus including the same.
In a system including heterogeneous multi-processors, a scheduler schedules tasks between a high-performance high-power first core and a low-performance low-power second core. The scheduler assigns the first core a task having a large number of given jobs and assigns the second core a task having a small number of given jobs. Accordingly, power consumption of the scheduler is decreased in a system when there are a small number of given jobs and the system can show satisfactory performance due to the scheduler when there are a large number of given jobs. In other words, a conventional scheduler schedules tasks according to the amount of given jobs.

Application processor and system on chip


The present invention provides a data storage method for storing compressed user data and associated information on magnetic tape. User data from a host computer is organized into a plurality of records. The user data is then compressed according to a compression algorithm. The compressed data and information related to the data compression (DC) algorithm are then stored on magnetic tape. The DC algorithm information pertains to at least one stored record of compressed data and is stored in a record header field. The DC algorithm information may provide for example, an algorithm number and/or an indicator for starting a data dictionary used for data compression and decompression. The user data may further be organized into groups having a group index for incorporating the DC algorithm information. The data records may be further organized into entities having at least one record. The DC algorithm information associated with an entity is incorporated into the group index of the group in which the entity of records is contained.

It is known to provide a tape drive having data compression hardware (a DC drive) so that, as data arrives from a host, it is compressed before being written to tape thus increasing the tape storage capacity. A DC drive is also able to read compressed data from a tape and to decompress the data before sending it to a host.
There is more than one type of data compression. For example, removing separating marks such as record marks and file marks from user data and storing information regarding the separation marks in an index compresses the data. However, references to data compression (DC) in this specification will mean removing redundancy from the data (eg. replacing the user data by codewords form which the original data can be recovered). There are various algorithms which are used for data compression and it is envisaged that each of these algorithms will be given a universally recognized number. In practice, the application of a data compression algorithm can sometimes lead to expansion of the data (eg. if the data has previously been compressed).
In a DC drive, data compression and decompression may be carried out by a single DC chip. It is possible for a DC drive to contain more than one type of DC chip so that the drive may be able to perform data compression according to more than one data compression algorithm. An alternative approach is to perform data compression and data decompression in a host using the appropriate software.

Storage of compressed data with algorithm


In an image processing system in which a server, a plurality of image processing apparatuses that execute image quality stabilization processing, and a terminal apparatus are connected to each other via a network, the server calculates, with respect to each image processing apparatus, the time period elapsed since the image quality stabilization processing was last executed, and selects the apparatus having the shortest elapsed time period as the apparatus to execute a job requested by the terminal apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing system, a server, an image processing apparatus, a management method, a computer program, and a storage medium, the system including the server, a plurality of image processing apparatuses, and a terminal apparatus, which are connected to each other via a network.
2. Related Art
In printers and other known image processing apparatuses a reduction in image quality levels occurs when jobs are executed continuously under fixed control conditions. Variations in internal temperature and wear and tear on the photosensitive drum and other structural elements, for example, result in the image density and image positioning relating to an executed jobs failing to meet target control values, and the quality level of processed images (hereafter "image quality level") suffers as a result. In order to counter this deterioration in the image quality level, image quality stabilization processing is conducted in known image processing apparatuses to fine tune the control conditions in accordance with the existing environment of the apparatus.
In the image quality stabilization processing, control variables that affect image quality in the image processing apparatus are determined. If the image processing apparatus is a printer or similar image forming apparatus, for example, tests are conducted to detect the density of a plurality of toner patterns of differing densities formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum as part of the test process, and the optimal adjustment values for control variables such as the developing bias voltage of the developing unit and the grid voltage of the charging unit are determined based on the test results. Other control variables affecting image quality include heater output and the oil supply levels of the heat fixing unit.
If the image processing apparatus is a scanner or similar image reading apparatus, on the other hand, control variables include the exposure voltage applied to the exposure lamp.
Frequent execution of the image quality stabilization processing in a printer, for example, means that the developing bias voltage and other control variables are maintained at or near their optimal performance values, and a high image quality of print output can be achieved as a result. However, one of the disadvantages of frequent execution of the stabilization processing is the fact that jobs cannot be processed while the stabilization processing is being executed. Inconvenience results for the user in terms of waiting time.
In known image processing apparatuses this problem has been tackled, for example, by only executing the image quality stabilization processing after predetermined time periods so as to maintain a certain level image quality without compromising print output efficiency. By conducting the stabilization processing in this way, the achievable image quality of print output gradually deteriorates due to changes in internal temperature and other control variables, until the stabilization processing is once again conducted after the predetermined time period, at which point the image quality is returned to a high level. By repeating this cycle it is thus possible to maintain the image quality at a regular level or better over the long run.
Recent years have seen an increase in the number of business offices employing image processing systems in which printers and other image processing apparatuses capable of executing image quality stabilization processing are connected via a local area network (LAN) or similar network.
However, the fact is that users of such a system are not guaranteed a high image quality of print output despite the inclusion in the system of image forming apparatuses capable of executing the image quality stabilization processing.
For example, in the case of a known image processing system employing printers, each printer controls the execution of its own stabilization processing, which means that the user cannot know which printer has executed the stabilization processing and when. In this system the user has little choice but to choose, for example, the printer positioned closest as the printer to execute a print job. If the chosen printer happens to have just completed executing the stabilization processing, then a comparatively high quality of print output will be achieved. However, if a long time period has elapsed since the stabilization processing was last executed, the image quality of print output will be reduced in comparison to the printer that has just completed the stabilization processing. This known image processing system is thus unable to guarantee that print jobs will be executed by a printer capable of producing print output of a satisfactory image quality.
Of course, this problem relates not only to such image forming apparatuses as printers but also to image reading apparatuses such as scanners or any other image processing apparatuses that executes image quality stabilization processing.

Image processing system, server, image processing apparatus, management method, computer program, and storage medium


A vehicle alternator failure monitoring system and related monitoring method are disclosed wherein an ECU executes operations depending on a power generation status of a vehicle alternator and a vehicle alternator control device has a serial communication transmitter circuit operative to transmit a serial communication signal, indicative of the power generation status of the vehicle alternator, to the ECU. The serial communication transmitter circuit has a first power generation status signal transmission mode in which a first power generation status signal, representing the power generation status, is transmitted together with a failure flag representing the presence of or absence of an operational failure, related to the vehicle alternator, and a second power generation status signal transmission mode in which a second power generation status signal, representing the power generation status, is transmitted together with additional data representing an operational state of the vehicle alternator.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vehicle alternator failure monitoring systems and related monitoring methods and, more particularly, to a vehicle alternator failure monitoring system and related monitoring method for monitoring a power generation status and power generation failure of the vehicle alternator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Among control devices of the related art vehicle alternators, attempt has heretofore been made to provide a control device that, with a view to initiating rapid charging of a battery, performs power regulation control so as to maintain a power output of a vehicle operator at a fixed level (of, for instance, of 14.5V) that is fairly higher than a battery open terminal voltage (of, for instance, of 12.8V). Such a control device is configured to variably regulate a control voltage of the vehicle alternator in an appropriate fashion depending on a running state of a vehicle based on power generation control parameters delivered from an external control device (see for instance Japanese Patent No. 3505882 on pages 5 to 12 and FIGS. 1 to 31).
Further, another attempt has been made to provide a technology in which control parameters are transmitted from an external control device to a vehicle alternator in PWM communication using one communication line through which a power generation status signal is transmitted from the vehicle alternator to the external control device (see for instance Japanese Patent No. 3531771 on pages 5 to 11 and FIGS. 1 to 10). Also, as one of protocols in serial communication, a LIN (Local Area Network)) protocol has been proposed.
By the way, the use of serial communication results in capability of increasing an amount of information for an object to be transmitted and received and monitoring a detailed power generation status. However, if attempt is made to allow the external control device to process power generation information having an increase in a rarely distributed failure status of the vehicle alternator, the external control device has an inordinate processing burden, resulting in the occurrence of an issue with a fear of deterioration on control performance of a whole of a vehicle.
Further, a failure state of the vehicle alternator involves a temporary voltage drop resulting form power-on operation of, for instance, a large electrical load. Under such a condition, even if the temporary drop occurs in an output voltage of the vehicle alternator, the output voltage rises again when the electrical load is turned off or when a power generation rate increases due to traveling of the vehicle. In such a case, it is nothing to get alarmed by turning on a warning lamp to provide a vehicle driver with warning notification. Thus, with no judgment made in taking not only an operational status of the vehicle alternator but also a vehicle status into consideration in an integrated way, undesired warning is provided to the vehicle driver accompanied by promoted uneasy feeling.

Vehicle alternator monitoring system and related failure monitoring method


The disclosure provides a wireless communication device and a method and apparatus for processing voice data. The wireless communication device includes: a radio frequency chip and a computing power chip. The radio frequency chip includes: a first processor and a radio frequency transceiver. The radio frequency chip and the computing power chip are connected via a preset communication interface, so that the first processor communicates with a second processor in the computing power chip, wherein the second processor is configured to: perform a processing of decoding data received by the radio frequency transceiver and encoding data to be sent for the radio frequency transceiver to send. The computing power chip is provided in the wireless communication device, and a codec with a good processing effect is supported by the second processor, thus the effect of the encoding or decoding processing may be improved.

With the development of science and technology, more and more various wireless communication devices come up. A radio frequency (RF) chip is usually provided in the wireless communication device, and the wireless communication device can implement the operations such as sending and reception of wireless communication data through the radio frequency chip.
In the related art, a processor is provided in the radio frequency chip. The processor itself implements the encoding and decoding functions, and the processor controls the corresponding elements and components to implement functions such as data reception and sending functions, analog-to-digital conversion, and digital-to-analog conversion.
However, in the related art, the implementation of multiple functions is controlled by the processor of the radio frequency chip, thus the processor of the radio frequency chip has an increased processing load, bringing problems of poor encoding or decoding processing effect and difficulty in improving the processing effect.

Wireless communication device, and method and apparatus for processing voice data

Yealink (XIAMEN) Network Technology Co., Ltd.


An indoor-outdoor novelty device which simulates moving open flame from the upper end of a standing torch. The device provides a realistic illusion of a bright flame changing its shape and brightness pseudorandomly thru a unique combination of lighting, motion, and airflow under microcontroller control. The device can be viewed from a vantage point in a 360-degree perimeter around the device without compromise to the effect.

Lighted torches burning organic and fossil fuels have existed for a millennium as a way to light dark areas. In the 20th and 21st century however incandescent and light-emitting diode lamp technologies have replaced burning torches as the modern, more efficient light source. Burning torches, for the most part, are still popular today as a novelty attributable to an atmospheric and mood enhancement. With increasing global pressure to reduce our use of fossil fuels and thereby reduce carbon emissions, it is advantageous to find alternative solutions to nature light (open flame) while retaining its atmospheric and mood-enhancing attributes. Incandescent and LED lighting as aforementioned accomplishes this goal but does not provide the warmth, glow, and charm of open flame that we, as humans intrinsic longing for.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,184,625B1 (2019) to Lauer is an artificial candle that is comprised of a delicate glowing shroud or sock that can flutter like a candle flame, and the shroud surrounds a "wick" that can be seen through the shroud to glow. The shroud is actuated by a fan or air pump located in a central body of a chandelier. The wick is lighted by a light-emitting diode (LED).
U.S. Pat. No. 7,322,136B2 (2008) to Chen is an electric fireplace having a fire simulating assembly. The assembly includes a semitransparent light filter screen, a mirror glass wall, and a dynamic light source. The light source includes a fixed light source and aphotic cover composed of many rotating centrifugal blades. The centrifugal blades rotate around the center of the light source thereby causing light to reflect through the centrifugal blades. The device achieves a natural effect of vivid, rising, and leaping simulated flame.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,162,820B2 (2007) to Stinson and Hess is an assembly for providing an image of flames. The device has a light source, a screen, and a simulated interior fireplace wall positioned behind the screen. The screen has a front surface and is positioned in a path of light from the light source. The screen is adapted to transmit the image of flames through the front surface which is adapted to permit observation of part of the simulated interior fireplace wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,111,421B2 (2006) to Corry and Corrffy is a simulated log fireplace apparatus. A blower directs air onto the flame sheet to simulate real flame movement. A colored light source provides the color of real flames. The light source and blower are adjustable from a control panel under a top louver panel. The artificial log may include a translucent base log and an ember bed with a light source beneath the translucent log. A transparent partition has a partially opaque area just above the simulated flame sheet that provides the full depth of a real fireplace.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,799,727B2 (2004) to Webster and Stanley is a Flame-effect heating apparatus. Simulated fuel is supported by the housing and a flame-effect generator is located in the duct. A light source illuminates both the simulated fuel and the flame-effect generator. A mirror is mounted to the flame-effect generator. A wall of the housing provides a viewing screen on which light reflected by the mirror falls. An electric fan causes air to flow through the air duct, so causing the operation of the flame-effect generator.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,440B1 (2004) to Petz, Betz, and Lunscher is a device for artificially simulating a fire, in particular for use in the hearth of an open fireplace, having a housing in which, to simulate a fire, an artificial fuel bed into which moving, in particular strip-shaped, tongue-shaped or tab-shaped flame simulation elements whose image is reflected into the field of vision, and at least one light source for illuminating the fuel bed and/or the flame simulation elements are arranged, the flame simulation elements being arranged on at least one moving, motor-driven carrier element.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,707A (1990) to Butterfield is a device simulating flame effect means, such as suspended ribbons moved by a forced stream of air from a fan, receive light from a source which is then reflected onto a diffusing screen. The screen, which is both transparent and partially reflective, is situated in front of the means for simulating combusting fuel. The light reflected by the flame effect means, which gives the appearance of flames, thereby appears to emanate between the simulated fuel and its image reflected in the screen.
U.S. Pat. No. US20020152655A1 (2002) to Merrill and Lapointe is an apparatus which is comprised of a support member and an air source aimed at a flame strip that simulates real flames in such as a fireplace hearth.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,305,783B2s (2007) to Mix and Lyons is a lenticular fireplace and methods for simulating a fire within a fireplace. In one respect, a fire is simulated with a lenticular screen. The lenticular screen includes a lenticular lens layer and an image layer, wherein the image layer comprises one or more images of fire. A device is coupled to the lenticular screen that moves the lenticular screen to alter a viewed image of the fire. The apparatus is used in a front wall of an enclosure.


A sewing machine with a drive-selection device capable of positioning an upper thread wiper when in a non-drive position, the drive-selection device includes a moving member movably disposed on the pivot, an actuator for moving the moving member, and a pulling member for moving the actuator. The actuator is pivoted to the base and has one end provided with an actuating end, at the actuating end is provided an actuating protrusion which engages with and moves the actuating portion, another end of the actuator is formed with an engaging portion which is pushed against by the pulling member. The pulling member is pivoted to the base and has one side provided with a push portion which protrudes toward the engaging portion, and the pulling member is further provided with a fixing portion. An elastic member is disposed between the fixing portion and the actuating portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sewing machine, and more particularly to a sewing machine with a drive-selection device capable of positioning an upper thread wiper when in a non-drive position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A sewing machine is normally provided with a drive device which is used to move needles and used in combination with a first wiper arm for moving an upper thread wiper, a second wiper arm for moving a lower thread wiper, and a presser foot on a needle plate, to carry out different sewing operations.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sewing machine can be switched between a drive state where the first wiper arm 11 can be driven to move, and a non-drive state where the first wiper arm 11 cannot be driven to move. In the drive state, the upper thread wiper 12 is preferably located below the needle plate 13 so as to prevent the needles 14 from interfering with the upper thread wiper 12. However, the conventional sewing machine as shown is only capable of switching the first wiper arm 11 between the drive and non-drive states, without being able to making the upper thread wiper 12 located below the needle plate 13 when the first wiper arm 11 is in the non-drive state.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages.

Sewing machine with a drive-selection device capable of positioning an upper thread wiper when in a non-drive position


A coupling connects a pressurized flush water vessel held in a toilet tank to a toilet bowl. The coupling has a passageway which provides direct fluid communication between the vessel and the bowl and a chamber for accumulating drainage, which may be exhausted into the toilet tank from inlet devices for the pressure vessel. A swinging door type one way valve substantially seals against leakage from the passageway to the chamber but allows drainage accumulated in the chamber to flow through a port to the passageway. The inlet to the chamber is above the port and at or below the bottom of the toilet tank and the port and the chamber inlet open above the spill level of the toilet. The inlet of the coupling is offset from the outlet and a cradle elevates the pressure vessel above the toilet tank bottom and captures heads of fasteners which secure the toilet tank to the toilet bowl.

Pressurized flush toilets are well known and are of a variety of types. In one type, a valve is installed between a pressurized inlet water line and the inlet to the toilet bowl. Actuation of the valve effects a timed flush of the toilet bowl with water at the inlet line pressure. In another type, a volume of flush water is stored in a pressurized vessel, which may reside in the usual vitreous or plastic toilet tank of the toilet as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,201. In this type, the pressurized contents of the vessel are expelled to the toilet bowl to effect a flush when the outlet of the pressurized vessel is opened.
Particularly in pressurized flush toilets having a pressurized reservoir vessel, the reservoir vessel may have a number of components such as a backflow preventer, a pressure regulator and/or an aspirator which connect the vessel to a pressurized water line. These inlet devices require venting because occasionally they may emit water outside of the pressurized supply. For example, if the pressure limit of the pressure regulator is exceeded, the pressure regulator relief diverts the excess pressure from the reservoir vessel to exhaust through the vent line to atmospheric pressure Exhausting water may also occur by the normal operation of the backflow preventer and aspirator.
In toilets having a pressurized reservoir vessel within an integral tank of the toilet, as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,201, the vent lines of the inlet devices can be communicated with the toilet bowl directly.
However, it is desirable to be able to use a pressurized flush reservoir vessel in two piece toilets, in which the toilet tank is one piece and the toilet bowl is another, separate piece. It is also desirable to be able to easily retrofit a pressurized flush vessel to a toilet, one piece or two piece, in which no special provision is made in the toilet casting process for venting the inlet devices to the toilet bowl. Such toilets present a problem for venting the inlet devices, since there is no direct access from inside the toilet tank to the toilet bowl for venting the inlet devices. In such toilets, drainage has been provided by a check valve in the connection between the pressurized flush vessel and the toilet bowl which opened directly into the toilet tank, but such drainage has resulted in pools of standing water in the toilet tank, which is undesirable.


A shower head assembly includes a housing including a first end portion engaged with a water outlet cap and a second end portion connected to a water source. The water outlet cap defines a plurality of outer nozzles arranged in a circular manner and a plurality of inner nozzles arranged in a circular manner. An adjusting device is mounted on a periphery of the housing for alternatively introducing water in the housing into the outer nozzles or the inner nozzles such that water can be sprayed outwardly via the outer nozzles or via the inner nozzles alternatively.

A conventional shower head includes a cone-shaped head coupled with a water outlet cap defining a plurality of nozzles therein for water to spray out therefrom. By such an arrangement, however, a plurality of jets of water are directly sprayed from the nozzles in a radiating manner and cannot be sprayed from the nozzles intermittently, thereby lacking versatility.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantage of the conventional shower head.


It is provided a method implemented by an electronic device for image mosaicing. The method comprises providing a mosaic and an image, wherein the mosaic and the image each represent at least part of a scene. The method also comprises estimating a motion of blocks of the image, wherein the motion of a given block of a given image represents how the scene content of the given block has moved during a time interval before taking the given image. The method then comprises integrating part of the image to the mosaic according to the estimation. Such a method improves the way of performing image mosaicing.

Image mosaicing is the process of creating an output image, also called "mosaic", from smaller input images. An example of application of image mosaicing is for creating a panoramic image. An example of a way of providing the input images is by capturing a video. Thus, with such examples of image mosaicing, it is possible for a user to sweep a scene with a video camera for capturing a video of the swept scene. The image mosaicing may create a panorama of the swept scene from the successive images of the captured video.
Documents US 2004/057633 A1, WO 9834195 A1, WO 2007/122584 A1 and the publication entitled "Mosaic based representations of video sequences and their applications" (by Irani et al., dated 1995, published in the Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Computer Vision, Cambridge, Mass., Jun. 20-23, 1995) present examples of image mosaicing.
An issue with the prior art image mosaicing solutions known to the Applicant is that they do not deal well with moving objects in the scene being recorded. This can lead to several kinds of defects, the most common ones being "ghosts", where moving objects are partially blended with the background. Other defects that commonly occur due this issue are extended or cut objects/persons. These all result in a low quality of the final mosaic.

Image mosaicing utilizing motion of scene content between successive images


The suction device according to the invention for cryostatic microtomes has a filter for the separation of cutting wastes from the suction air stream, and a device arranged following the filter for sterilization or disinfection of the suction air stream. For this purpose, the air stream is first heated and then exposed to a strong UV irradiation. In the subsequent two-stage cooling arrangement, the air stream is cooled down again to about the cryostat temperature and is conducted back into the cryostat. The filter for the separation of the cutting wastes from the air stream is preferably constructed outside the cryostat as a liquid container with a disinfecting liquid, so that the cutting wastes are disinfected in the disinfecting liquid. A contamination of the surroundings or of the internal space of the cryostat with disease germs is largely prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a suction device for cutting wastes in a cryostatic microtome, and more particularly to an arrangement for disinfecting and sterilizing the air stream of the suction device.
2. Discussion of Relevant Prior Art
A suction device for cryostatic microtomes is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,585, in which at least a first filter is arranged in the internal space of the cryostat. The cutting wastes arising during cutting are trapped by this first filter and are stored in the frozen state, corresponding to the cryostat temperature, at temperatures in the region between -10.degree. C. and -40.degree. C. A bacteriological filter can optionally be connected after this filter, to retain microscopic particles which pass through the first filter, before the exhaust air of the suction device is delivered to the atmosphere. It is a disadvantage in this system that substantially warmer outside air is permanently exchanged for the cooled air in the cryostat. To maintain a stable cryostat temperature, in particular in the low temperature region, a considerable cooling power of the cryostat is therefore required.
It is furthermore disadvantageous that the air delivered from the suction device into the surroundings is in fact filtered and is also partially freed from bacteria by the use of a bacteriological filter, but nevertheless an effective disinfection of the exhaust air cannot be attained by mechanical cleaning.
A further suction device for cryostatic microtomes is offered by Microm Laborgerate GmbH under the name "Vacutome". This suction device has, inside the cryostat, a container with a paper filter to trap the cutting waste. In contrast to U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,585, this suction device works according to the principle of circulation, i.e., after mechanical cleaning by the paper filter, the air stream of the suction device is conducted back into the cryostat. A large introduction of outside air into the cryostat is thereby avoided. However, in this case also, a complete, or nearly complete, sterilization of the air stream does not take place. Thus contamination of the air in the cryostat, and hence an enrichment of the specimen to be cut with disease sources, can take place here. Apart from this, contaminated air is also released to the surroundings on opening the cryostat.

Suction device for cutting wastes in a cryostatic microtome

Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung trading as Carl Zeiss


One form of the invention is directed to an apparatus that comprises step-down circuitry to better match impedance between an input and an output that includes a number of stages each electrically coupled to another and each including a charge storage device. The circuitry further includes a number of switching devices operable in a first electrical connectivity state to connect the charge storage device of each of the stages in series to receive electrical charge from the input and in a second electrical connectivity state opposite the first state to connect the charge storage device of each of the stages in parallel to discharge electricity through the output. This circuitry can be used in connection with a radioisotopic conversion cell.

The present invention relates to electric power devices, and more particularly, but not exclusively, relates to circuitry to provide electric power from radioactive decay and/or other nuclear processes. One nonlimiting embodiment of the present invention is directed to a radioisotope-based battery; however, in other embodiments different applications are envisioned.
Radioisotopic power sources have been used for space exploration for over 40 years, and have played major roles in high profile space missions such as the Apollo Lunar landing and the Cassini-Huygens mission exploring Saturn and Titan. Typically radioisotopic nuclear power is used in two forms: radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTG) and radioisotope heater units (RHU). Both of these applications involve the conversion of nuclear radiation energy first into heat, which typically results in low conversion efficiency if the thermal energy is ultimately intended to be converted into electricity. Specifically, efficiency is limited by the Carnot cycle limit, among other things.
Such limits can be extremely severe for a space-based power system because a high-quality heat-sink is difficult to provide in spacecraft. Under such circumstances, generally the best approach is a large surface-area space radiator for which the heat ejection capacity is constrained by the black body radiation limit. Further compounding the problem is the low Z coefficient of available thermoelectric materials. As a result a typical space-based RTG operates at a very low efficiency of about five percent (˜5%).
The situation is little better for thermionic converters. Under certain conditions, thermionic conversion can achieve about ten percent (˜10% ) efficiency. Unfortunately, such circumstances usually are degraded in space, which results in lower performance. As reported for the Russian TOPAZ-II, about 5.2% efficiency was obtained with this type of device. See, G.L. Kulcinski, "History of Soviet Topaz Reactors", http://fti.neep.wisc.edu/neep602/SPRING00/lecture35.pdf.
Radioisotope power systems continue to be used in space, such as the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) mission. To approach conversion efficiency greater than the thermal-based systems, new techniques are needed. Some attempts to address this need include dynamic (DIPS) systems such as Sterling engines and alkaline metal thermal (AMTEC) converters. U.S. Pat. No. 3,931,564 is directed to yet another type of radioisotope energy converter. However, each of these attempts faces various developmental issues that have yet to be resolved. As a result, further contributions to this area of technology are desired.


There is provided, in a first form, a system and method for the holistic presentation of multiple media queue depths, which allows the customer to decide what media channel they want to use to make a call based on resource availability across multiple media. Further, this embodiment allows the call center to “cost” media channel services based on their business rules, salaries, calculated return on relationship, cost of different services, etc.

Many service centers provide a variety of channels of communication or media so that they might respond to their customers. For instance, many service centers use traditional call centers, web pages, chat rooms, and e-mail. However, such media services are not well integrated. For instance, if a user calls a call center to request real time assistance, they might be furnished with information about how long they must wait before a resource agent will be able to respond. However, they will not be provided with the response time for e-mail requests or other service provider media. Similarly, if a user sends an e-mail request to the service center, the user might receive an immediate automated response e-mail stating that the request will be answered within a predetermined time, for instance, 48 hours. However, the automated response has no awareness of the actual wait time or queue depth for all other serviceable media. What is needed is a system where a user can be provided with the queue depth for multiple media so that the caller may choose which media to use.

System and method for presenting queue lengths of various media used by service centers


A sprayer assembly for connection to a container of liquid chemical to be sprayed has a manually operable rotary valve mounted within the housing of the assembly and has a carrier liquid duct and a product duct opening into the liquid duct, the valve being selectively rotatable to an ON position in which the carrier liquid inlet passage is connected with the liquid product inlet opening, and the valve being selectively rotatable to an OFF position in which the carrier liquid passage is not connected with the liquid product inlet opening, the housing have a vent port, and an external vent control member mounted on the housing for movement by the valve to close the vent port in the OFF position and to open the vent port in the ON position.

This invention relates generally to a sprayer assembly adapted to be connected to a source of pressurized carrier liquid, and is adapted to be mounted to a container of chemical liquid to be siphoned into the stream of carrier liquid in a valve open position.
There are a variety of sprayer assemblies arranged to be mounted on a container of liquid chemical and coupled to the end of a hose for drawing an amount of the liquid chemical into the water path through a venturi effect or by the provision of an air gap. A rotatable valve, manually operable, is designed to turn the sprayer on as the carrier liquid inlet and the product inlet are connected, to turn the sprayer off by disconnecting the product inlet and carrier liquid inlet, and to provide for rinsing in which the carrier liquid passage is connected to discharge.
It is important to vent the container to atmosphere in the ON position of the sprayer while chemical liquid product is being drawn into the liquid carrier stream.
The vent control is on the rotary valve within valve chamber of the sprayer housing in accordance with U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,578,776 and 6,672,520 which, as pointed out in the aforenoted related application 60/515,416, allows for unwanted seepage of carrier liquid into the chemical container during the vent open position which is, of course, most undesirable. If such seepage is allowed to persist the liquid chemical will become so diluted that it could lose its effectiveness when spraying garden shrubs and the lawn with a selected chemical. The invention set forth in the aforenoted related application solves this problem by isolating the carrier liquid/chemical liquid connection from the vent and vent control, thereby avoiding the aforementioned dilution problem.
It would be desirable to provide another solution to venting of simple construction which is easy to use and assemble yet highly effective in providing for reliable vent control. And avoids any possibility of seepage of carrier liquid into the container in a vent open condition.


A forms engine allows data sharing between customizable on-line forms, such as college admissions applications. Before applying, an applicant opens an account with a third party application servicer. After the applicant completes an application for one institution, the data is saved in a data base and automatically populates fields in subsequent application forms. The form for each institution is created from a form description file. Each form is branded for its institution and forms for different institutions differ in appearance and content so that the presence of the third party servicer is transparent to the applicant.

The processing of college admission application forms described below is illustrative of the current state of forms processing. Students applying to colleges and universities typically complete a separate paper application for each institution to which they seek admission. Each application is then mailed to the corresponding institution along with an application fee.
Many institutions would like to simplify the application process by allowing students to apply over the Internet. Although an Internet application allows an institution to process the application information electronically, a student is required to re-enter the same information for each subsequent application to a different institution or to the same institution for a different academic term. Moreover, if the institution wishes to change the application form, the institution must typically revise the source code that creates the application form, thereby making changes to the application form expensive and inconvenient.
One could reduce redundancy in the application process by allowing students to complete a single, generic application provided by a third party who would then transmit the application to any designated institution. Such systems, however, would make it impossible for institutions to customize their applications form. In an environment where schools are competing for top students, the image that a school projects to potential students is important, and a customized application can help project the image that the school wishes to create. The questions that a school asks on its application reflect the values of the institution. Many schools want information different from that which would be on a generic form. Thus, it is unacceptable to many institutions to use a generic application form.
Most institutions continue, therefore, to use primarily paper applications or their own on-line applications, with the disadvantages described above. Moreover, the institution must then process the application fee for on-line applications, which may require that the institution have some expertise in electronic commerce.

Abstract: The system is extensible without programming, allowing new applicant attributes to be readily incorporated into the system and allowing the content and appearance of the application to be readily changed by changing the description file. The use of aliases for applicant attributes permits data to be readily shared between forms even though labeled and arranged differently on different forms. Information stored about each attribute allows the specification of data validation rules and data sharing and grouping rules, as well as dependency rules that permit application page content to depend on applicant's responses on a previous page.


An integrated circuit includes a first and a second amplifier circuit each driven by an input signal. The first and second amplifier circuits generate a first and a second control signal on the output side. The control signals are generated independently of one another and drive a first and second controllable resistor of a third amplifier circuit for generating a third control signal. The third control signal is fed back to the first and second amplifier circuits. Depending on the resistance value of the first and second controllable resistors of the third amplifier circuit, an output signal amplified with respect to the input signal is generated at an output terminal of the integrated circuit. The integrated circuit is an input amplifier of an integrated semiconductor memory and permits the input signal to be amplified with a gain independent of a level of the DC component of the input signal.

In many computer-aided applications, it is necessary to exchange data between two integrated chips situated on the motherboard of a computer. Thus, for example, data have to be transferred bidirectionally between the processor and an integrated semiconductor memory, for example, a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) semiconductor memory. In order to store data signals that are transferred from the processor to the DRAM memory via a databus in memory cells of the integrated semiconductor memory, the incoming data signals have to be amplified by the integrated semiconductor memory prior to further processing.
For this purpose, the integrated semiconductor memory generally has an input amplifier. The input amplifier amplifies incoming data signals to a defined level. The bit lines connected to the memory cells are driven with this amplified level. In the case of an integrated semiconductor memory, a low voltage level of an incoming data signal, for example, a level of 1 V, is attenuated to an output level of 0 V, for example. A high voltage level of a data signal, for example, a voltage level of 1.45 V, is amplified to a high output level of 2.5 V. The bit lines connected to the memory cells in which the data signals are intended to be stored are driven with the low or high voltage level, respectively, by the input amplifier. In the case of an integrated semiconductor memory, a differential amplifier circuit is generally used as input amplifier.
FIG. 5 shows a known circuit of a differential amplifier in CMOS technology, such as is generally used as an input amplifier for an integrated semiconductor memory. Connected between a terminal VA for applying a supply potential VDD and a terminal VB for applying a reference potential VSS are a current mirror circuit 1 as active load, which includes two transistors T1, T2, a transistor T3 for applying an input signal Vin′, a transistor T4 for applying a reference signal Vref′, and a current mirror circuit 2 for generating the source summation current ISS. The current mirror circuit 2 is connected via a resistor R to the terminal VA for applying the supply potential VDD and includes two transistors T5, T6. For generating an output signal Vout′, the input terminal E1′, which represents the control terminal of the transistor T3, is driven with the input signal Vin′. A second input terminal E2′, which forms the control terminal of the transistor T4, is driven with the reference signal Vref′. With correct dimensioning of the transistors T1, . . . , T6, the differential amplifier circuit generates the output signal Vout′ with a high level, if the level of the input signal Vin′ lies above the level of the reference signal Vref′. Conversely, the differential amplifier circuit generates the output signal Vout′ with a low level, if the input signal Vin′ lies below the level of the reference signal Vref′.
Data transfer rates, particularly in CMOS technology, have continually increased in recent years. In order to meet the high speed requirements, the source summation current ISS, which is fed into the two parallel branches of the differential amplifier by the current mirror circuit 2 acts as a current source, to be increased further and further. The present high speed requirements thus cause an extreme rise in the current consumption of the differential amplifier in CMOS technology used as an input amplifier. A low current consumption is generally of interest, however.
A further difficulty in the use of a conventional differential amplifier as an input amplifier of an integrated semiconductor memory arises because the supply voltages available on the motherboard of a computer are decreasing further and further. Consequently, it is becoming more and more difficult to operate the transistors T1 . . . , T6 connected between the supply potential and the reference potential. In addition to the drain-source voltage drops at these transistors, the threshold voltages of the transistors also pose a problem, in particular, since the threshold voltages cannot be scaled with the decreasing supply voltages. The consequence is that three transistors in series, such as the transistors T1, T2 of the active load 1, the input transistors T3, T4, respectively, and the transistors of the current mirror circuit 2, can no longer be driven, or can be driven only with very great difficulty, between the high supply potential VDD and the reference potential VSS.
As described above, the differential amplifier compares a high or low level of the input signal Vin′ with the level of the reference signal Vref′. In this case, the operating point of the differential amplifier circuit is set such that, at a level of the reference signal Vref′ that lies precisely in the middle between a possible high or low level of the input signal Vin′, the differential amplifier circuit generates, on the output side, the output signal Vout′ with an amplified high or low output level matched to the downstream circuit stages. The small supply voltages or the tolerances of resistors of a voltage divider from which the potential of the reference voltage is generally generated have the effect, however, that the level of the reference signal Vref′ cannot be set precisely to the middle level between the high voltage potential and the low voltage potential of the input signal Vin′. Due to this inaccuracy with which the reference level can be set, the differential amplifier circuit very easily drifts from its operating point.
A further problem occurs because not every input signal Vin′ is coupled to a dedicated reference signal Vref′ when a differential amplifier is used as an input amplifier of an integrated semiconductor memory in CMOS technology. As a result, a noise signal superposed on the input signal is not simultaneously superposed on the reference signal. Consequently, high common-mode rejection, as in the case of ECL logic, for instance, is not afforded in the case of a differential amplifier in CMOS technology.
Furthermore, fluctuations of the reference voltage Vref′ entail large deviations in the duty cycle. The duty cycle specifies how an input signal is temporally mapped into an output signal at the output terminal of the differential amplifier. The imprecise setting of the reference voltage ultimately has the effect that the temporal length of an input signal pulse does not correlate with the length of an output signal pulse. Signal distortions at the output terminal of the differential amplifier are the consequence.
The disadvantages described above have the effect that a conventional differential amplifier circuit becomes less and less usable as an input amplifier of an integrated semiconductor memory.
An integrated circuit for amplifying an input signal is independent of fluctuations of the supply voltage and independent of a level of a DC component of the input signal is desirable. Further, a method by which an input signal can be amplified independently of fluctuations of the supply voltage and independently of a level of a DC component of the input signal is also desirable.


A wireless communication base station device, whereby precision of propagation path estimation is improved by making possible determination of the contiguity of precoding strings contiguous in frequency regions. In this device, a pre-coding string contiguity determining portion (120) determines whether or not a plurality of pre-coding strings (?) which are input from a pre-coding string calculating portion (119) are contiguous in a frequency region. The pre-coding string contiguity determining portion (120) outputs smoothing possibility data, which indicate determination results, to a control data generating portion (104). The control data generating portion (104) generates control data indicating smoothing possibility data which is input from the pre-coding string contiguity determining portion (120).

In 3GPP RAN LTE (3rd Generation Partnership Project Radio Access Network Long Term Evolution), OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access) is adopted as a downlink communication scheme. In 3GPP RAN LTE, a radio communication base station apparatus (hereinafter a "base station") transmits a reference signal (RS) using predetermined communication resources, and a radio communication terminal apparatus (hereinafter a "mobile station") estimates channels using a received reference signal to demodulate data (see Non-Patent Document 1).
Further, when a base station has a plurality of antenna ports, the base station can perform diversity transmission. 3GPP RAN LTE defines transmission weight referred to as a "precoding matrix" for achieving transmission diversity effect. A precoding matrix is determined by open loop or closed loop weight control.
Here, closed loop weight control includes dedicated beam forming that uses an eigenmode transmission technique, whereby individual signals can be transmitted and received in the same band at the same time by a plurality of eigenvectors. With dedicated beam forming, the base station multiplies transmission data by a precoding matrix in accordance with downlink channels, to perform beam forming. By this means, reception power of received data in the mobile station can improve. Here, with dedicated beam forming, the mobile station estimates channel conditions using an RS as is added to transmission data subject to beam forming and is able to demodulate data.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a base station having two antenna ports (2-Tx base station) assumed in 3GPP RAN LTE. Upon performing dedicated beam forming, a precoding section in the base station shown in FIG. 1 multiplies transmission data by a precoding matrix. Here, when the transmission data outputted from the mapping section is s and the precoding matrix by which the transmission data is multiplied in the precoding section is Φ, signal y transmitted from the base station is,[1]y=Φs  (Equation 1)where s is n−(n=2) dimensional vector, Φ is a matrix of (the number of antenna ports×n). Further, n is the number of layers in a signal, that is, the number of signals to be subject to space division multiplex (SDM).
Here, assuming that a channel matrix showing channel conditions between the base station and the mobile station is H, in the mobile station, it seems that transmission data s is received through an effective channel HΦ. That is, when transmission data is multiplied by precoding matrix Φ, in the mobile station, an effective channel is changed from channel matrix H (actual channel) to channel matrix HΦ multiplied by precoding matrix Φ. Accordingly, to receive transmission data s without an error, the mobile station needs to identify effective channel matrix HΦ.
In 3GPP RAN LTE, as shown in FIG. 2, common RSs (R0 and R1) determined between the base station and the mobile station in advance are transmitted from all antenna ports in the base station. In FIG. 2, the vertical axis (frequency domain) is subcarrier units, and the horizontal axis (time domain) is OFDM symbol units. One slot is formed with 7 OFDM symbols. R0 and R1 show RSs transmitted from antenna ports 0 and 1 (i.e. a first and a second antenna ports), respectively. A unit of one block surrounded by the bold line (12 subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 OFDM symbols in the time domain) is referred to as a "resource block (RB)."
However, with dedicated beam forming, it is necessary to optimize precoding matrix Φ in accordance with channel conditions changing over time, and therefore it is difficult to define precoding matrix Φ for dedicated beam forming in advance. Accordingly, in 3GPP RAN LTE, precoding matrix Φ for dedicated beam forming is not defined, and precoding matrix Φ cannot be set between the base station and the mobile station in advance. Further, the common RSs shown in FIG. 2 are transmitted without being multiplied by precoding matrix Φ, and therefore the mobile station cannot estimate an effective channel (HΦ) using common RSs. Then, in 3GPP RAN LTE, studies are conducted for a dedicated RS for notifying an effective channel to mobile stations in a dedicated manner.
FIG. 3 shows an RS transmission method in a 2-Tx base station. As shown in FIG. 1, common RSs (R0 and R1) shown in FIG. 3 are transmitted without being multiplied by precoding matrices to the mobile station. Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 1, dedicated RSs shown in FIG. 3 are multiplied by the same precoding matrices Φ as transmission data and transmitted to a mobile station. For example, the dedicated RS mapped in subcarrier number 2 shown in FIG. 3 is multiplied by precoding matrix Φ(2) found by actual channel matrix H(2) in the frequency of subcarrier number 2. By using dedicated RSs, the mobile station can estimate effective channel H(2)Φ(2). Accordingly, precoding matrix Φ is not set between the base station and the mobile station in advance, and, even when the base station sets up a precoding matrix, the mobile station is able to estimate an effective channel matrix to receive data.
As described above, by transmitting dedicated RSs from the base station, the mobile station can estimate effective channel HΦ. Here, precoding matrix Φ can be acquired by performing singular value decomposition of channel matrix H. Specifically, in the base station, matrix V calculated by singular value decomposition shown in the following equation is precoding matrix Φ.[2]H=UΣVH  (Equation 2)U and V are unitary matrices, and Σ is a diagonal matrix. Further, V is a square matrix (of the number of antenna ports×the number of antenna ports) of the base station. When the value of n differs from the number of antenna ports, the first n columns of V are precoding matrix Φ.
Further, transmission data y transmitted from the base station becomes Vs from equation 1, received signal HVs received in the mobile station is shown in the following equation.[3]HVs=UΣVHVs=UΣs  (Equation 3)
Here, by setting up UH for reception weight, a received signal after multiplying reception weight is shown in the following equation.[4]UHHVs=UHUΣs=Σs  (Equation 4)By this means, the mobile station is able to handle that transmission data s is received through channel Σ shown in a diagonal matrix.
Further, there is smoothing processing as processing to improve the accuracy of channel estimation in the mobile station. With smoothing processing, filtering is performed for a channel estimation result of continuous subcarriers in the frequency domain. For example, as the easiest smoothing processing, there is processing to average channel estimation results between neighboring subcarriers in the frequency domain. Smoothing processing is a method of using continuity of a channel in the frequency domain, and therefore it is known that, when smoothing processing is performed between subcarriers where channels of frequencies that are continuous in the frequency domain are not continuous, the accuracy of channel estimation deteriorates (e.g. see Non-Patent Document 2).    Non-Patent Document 1: 3GPP TS 36.211 V8.0.0 "Physical Channels and Modulation (Release 8)," September 2007 (ftp://ftp.3gpp.org/Specs/2007-09/Re1-8/36 series/36211-800.zip) Non-Patent    Document 2: H. Nishimoto, T. Nishimura, T. Ohgane, Y. Ogawa, "Pseudo Eigenbeam-Space Division Multiplexing in Frequency Selective Fading Environments," IEICE Technical Report, RCS2006-56, 2006-6

Wireless communication base station device, wireless communication mobile station device, and propagation path estimation method

Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America