Desmosterol alone, the combination of desmosterol and amyloid beta, the combination of desmosterol and gelsolin and the combination of desmosterol, amyloid beta and gelsolin can be used as in-blood biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment. A method for evaluating the effect of a candidate for a therapeutic agent to treat Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment, a method for aiding the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment, and a method for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment are provided in which the biomarkers are used.

A biomarker is very useful for diagnosing and monitoring the progress of a disease, and is important for screening patients, monitoring side effects, aiding for the selection of an appropriate treatment and discovering a new drug. In Alzheimer's disease, Aβ (amyloid beta) 1-42 and phosphorylated tau protein in the cerebrospinal fluid are currently considered to be the most useful biomarkers (Non Patent Literatures 1 and 2).

Biomarker for alzheimer's disease or mild cognitive impairment


A bottom hold circuit generates a bottom hold signal (BH signal) from an RFDC signal from an RF amplifier, and sends it to a comparator. The comparator compares a reference level and the BH signal, and generates an Rfdet signal having H level if the BH signal was found to be lower than the reference level. The Rfdet signal is a signal having H level when a laser spot falls in a data-recorded area on an optical disk, and having L level when in a non-recorded area. When it was detected that Rfdet signal had H level throughout a single turn of the disk, a servo-processing microcomputer controls an optical pickup so as to apply tracking servo. This makes it possible to precisely detect a boundary position between the data-recorded area and non-recorded area. If the optical disk is decentered, the boundary area corresponded to the amount of decentering can successfully be isolated from the data-recorded area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk reproducing device and an optical disk reproducing method capable of reproducing rewritable or write-once optical disks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Publicly-known rewritable optical disks are typified by DVD-RW, DVD+RW and CD-RW, and write-once optical disks are typified by DVD-R, DVD+R and CD-R. The rewritable optical disks and write-once optical disks will be referred to as a "recordable disk", or simply as a "disk", hereinafter. An optical recording/reproducing device for handling these types of recording disks generally comprises a spindle motor for rotating the disk, a disk chucking mechanism disposed at the end of a rotational shaft of the spindle motor, an optical head for irradiating laser light onto the disk surface in order to record or reproduce signals, an optical head moving mechanism for moving the optical head to desired track position or in the vicinity thereof on the disk, and so forth.
For an exemplary case where recording/reproduction is carried out using recordable DVD-RW or DVD-R, the optical disk recording/reproducing device first moves the optical head to an initial position, and activates focus servo and tracking servo at the initial position. The initial position herein is often set a little more outwardly (outer circumferential side of the disk) than a read-in area considering variations in mechanical accuracy of the device or in dimensional accuracy of the disk, or compatibility to reproduction of disks having different formats. The disk has a groove and a land previously formed thereon. The groove has been wobbled based on modulation signals (referred to as "wobble signals", hereinafter) corresponding to control signals for the spindle motor and gate signals for detecting land pre-pits. The land has pre-pits (the aforementioned land pre-pits) for enabling precise positioning during recording on the disk, and for storing recording address and other information necessary for recording. The optical disk recording/reproducing device can detect an address on the optical disk at the initial position by demodulating an address signal from the wobble signals of the groove and from the land pre-pit signals of the land. The optical disk recording/reproducing device then generates information for moving the optical head (or laser spot position) to a target position where recording or reproduction is to be effected based on thus-detected address, and moves the optical head (or laser spot position) based on the generated information. The optical disk recording/reproducing device then locks the tracking servo and focus servo at the target position, and starts recording or reproduction of data. It is to be noted that the address signal of DVD+RW, CD-R and CD-RW, having no land pre-pit, is demodulated from the wobble signal.
Meanwhile, the optical disk recording/reproducing device for handling disks such as DVD-R and DVD-RW typically comprises a dedicated signal detection circuit for applying the tracking servo to the groove based on so-called radial push-pull system, and a demodulation circuit for demodulating the address signal from the land pre-pit signal.
On the other hand, disk reproducing devices for DVDs, such as DVD-video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R and DVD-RW (referred to as "optical disk reproducing device", hereinafter), adopt the pit-tracking system by which tracking servo is applied to a track comprising a series of signal pits recorded on the disk surface based on so-called differential phase detection method. That is, the disk reproducing device of this type generally does not have any signal detection circuit for applying tracking servo to the groove or any address demodulation circuit. The optical disk reproducing system therefore can apply tracking servo to an area on the recordable disk where data is recorded (referred to as a "data-recorded area", hereinafter), but cannot apply tracking servo to an area where data is not recorded (referred to as a "non-recorded area", hereinafter). In other words, it is to be understood that the optical disk reproducing device cannot reproduce data recorded on the disk when it failed in detecting any data-recorded area at the initial position, that is, when it failed in applying tracking servo due to absence of the pit track at the initial position, even if data-recorded area actually resides on the optical disk.
On the other hand, Japanese Patent Application No. 10-172147 proposes an optical disk reproducing device capable of discriminating the data-recorded area from the non-recorded area (mirror surface) on the recordable disk, based on results of comparison between an amplitude hold level of an RF signal output from the optical head and a predetermined reference level. It is to be noted that the optical head of the optical disk reproducing device dedicated to reproduction of the optical disk is expressed as an optical pickup.
More specifically, the optical disk reproducing device described in Japanese Patent Application No. 10-172147 moves the optical pickup to a predetermined detection point (referred to as a "first detection point", hereinafter), and compares an amplitude hold level of an RF signal output from the optical pickup at the first detection point with a predetermined reference level. If the amplitude hold level is lower than the reference level, that is, if an area on the optical disk corresponded to the first detection point is the non-recorded area, the optical disk reproducing device shifts the optical pickup by a predetermined distance (5 mm, for example) towards the center of the disk, and at that point (referred to as a "second detection point", hereinafter), compares again the amplitude hold level of the RF signal from the optical pickup with the reference level. If the amplitude hold level obtained at the second detection point is found to exceed the reference level, the optical disk reproducing device again pushes the optical pickup back towards the outer circumferential side of the disk by half of the aforementioned predetermined distance (2.5 mm, for example), and, assuming that position as a new first detection point, compares again the amplitude hold level with the reference level. The optical disk reproducing device repeats such shifting of the detection points and level comparison until the amplitude hold level exceeds the reference level. When the amplitude hold level exceeds the reference level at any detection point, that is, when the data-recorded area is detected, the optical disk reproducing device immediately starts data reproduction at that detection point.
The optical disk reproducing device described in Japanese Patent Application No. 10-172147 can discriminate whether the optical pickup falls on the data-recorded area or not, through the aforementioned shifting of the detection points and level comparison, and is designed so that the optical pickup, even if fallen on the non-recorded area, can escape therefrom so as to detect the data-recorded area.
Meanwhile, recent growing demands are directed to an optical disk reproducing device having a more advanced accuracy in detecting a boundary position between the data-recorded area and non-recorded area. If precise detection of the boundary position is realized, it becomes possible for the optical disk reproducing device not only to specify a target position for starting reproduction more rapidly and more accurately, but also to reproduce recorded data even when the amount of recorded data is extremely small and thus the width of the data-recorded area (width in the radial direction of the disk) is extremely narrow.
Referring now to FIG. 1, if a center hole 101 of a disk 100 is decentered from the center of rotation 102 of the disk 100, or if the center position of chucking of the disk is decentered from the center of rotation 102 for example, nonconformity between the center of rotation 102 of the disk 100 and the center of a rotational shaft of a spindle motor consequently occurs. This status will be expressed as "the disk 100 is decentered". It is also to be noted that the amount of nonconformity between the center of rotation 102 of the disk 100 and the center position of the center hole 101 or the amount of nonconformity between the center of rotation 102 and the center position of chucking is expressed as "the amount of decentering of the disk".
When the disk 100 is decentered as described above, a locus of laser spot irradiated on the disk 100 under rotation periodically swings (wobbles) towards the inner and outer circumferential sides of the disk 100 by a distance corresponded to the amount of decentering as shown by a trace pattern TPa in FIG. 2. On the contrary, when the disk 100 is not decentered, the locus of laser spot does not wobble neither inwardly nor outwardly (amount of decentering=0) as shown by a trace pattern TPb in FIG. 2. It is to be noted that the individual disk positions A, B, C and D in FIG. 1 correspond with the disk positions A, B, C and D in FIG. 2, respectively.
When the center hole 101 is placed as being decentered towards the disk position D, the locus of laser spot on the rotating disk 100 will be such that the disk positions A and C show the amount of decentering of 0, the disk position B shows an outward dislocation by an amount of decentering, and the disk position D shows an inward dislocation by an amount of decentering. In the exemplary case of FIGS. 1 and 2, disk positions B and C express dislocation turning points where the locus of laser spot is directed outwardly or inwardly. The dislocation turning points also express points of change where the relative speed between the laser spot and the disk increases or decrease.
Therefore, in the case where the disk 100 is decentered as in the example of FIGS. 1 and 2, if any laser spot resides within an area having a width corresponded to the amount of decentering from the boundary position (referred to as a "boundary area", hereinafter), the laser spot consequently travels through the data-recorded area and non-recorded area in an alternate manner in accordance with the rotation of the disk 100. In particular when the amount of decentering of the disk 100 becomes relatively large, the boundary area is also widened, and this makes the laser spot more likely to travel through the data-recorded area and non-recorded area in an alternate manner.
In this case, it is very difficult for the optical disk reproducing device to detect the boundary position, and in the worst case, tracking servo cannot be activated in the data-recorded area, and this may cause hung-up of the servo control. Therefore, if the boundary area (having a width corresponded to the amount of decentering) can be accurately isolated from the data-recorded area, the optical disk reproducing device can certainly apply the tracking servo in the data-recorded area after being isolated from the boundary area, and can also rapidly detect the boundary position. Accurate isolation of the boundary area from the data-recorded area is also advantageous in that the optical disk reproducing device can certainly apply the tracking servo even when the data-recorded area has a width only slightly larger than that of the boundary area (width corresponded to the amount of decentering), and, as a consequence, in that data recorded in the data-recorded area can successfully be reproduced.

Optical disk reproducing device and optical disk reproducing method


Removable catheter cap, and applications thereof, for delivering medical tubes in bodily passages. Removable catheter cap covers flexible medical tube (e.g., catheter) distal tip during delivery in a body lumen. Catheter cap includes: cap body removably connectable to, for capping, catheter distal tip, and transformable into a predefined constituent part freely passable through catheter lumen; and cap releasing member extending through catheter proximal end when catheter cap is connected to the catheter, and manipulatable for transforming cap body into constituent part or/and for withdrawing constituent part from catheter distal tip through catheter lumen. Exemplary applications are: provision of a catheter assembly including a catheter and the removable catheter cap connected thereto; a medical kit including one or more catheters and one or more correspondingly configured removable catheter caps; and a method for delivering a catheter in a blood vessel of a subject, for example, via an over-the-wire technique.

In common practice, various medical tubes, such as catheters, are introduced into body lumens for performing a treatment, which can be local (e.g., dilatation of a narrowed portion of a vessel wall) or systemic (e.g., drug delivery via the vascular system), temporary or acute (e.g., deployment of a stent), or chronic (e.g., using a chronic hemodialysis catheter).
Catheters are commonly delivered to a target location in a blood vessel using the 'Seldinger technique', which most basically includes placing a guidewire from an entry point to the blood vessel and across the target location, passing an introducer sheath over the guidewire, optionally withdrawing the guidewire, and then delivering the catheter, via the introducer sheath, until reaching the target location. The introducer sheath serves as a closed track or channel in which the catheter and other instrumentation can be delivered.
When performing temporary or short term catheterization procedures, it is customary that the introducer sheath is removed from the body only after removing the catheter and any other relevant instrumentation. However, when the catheter is intended for long-term placement or implantation, the catheter can be introduced via a 'peelable' vascular sheath. This type of introducer sheath can be removed from the blood vessel while the implanted catheter remains in-place, by first splitting, tearing, or/and peeling portions of the sheath around the catheter, for example, along perforated tear lines or other weakened spots. Such technique is known practice for placing different types of catheters and other medical tubes, for example: tunneled dialysis catheters, peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC), port for central venous catheter, or delivery or extraction of pacemaker leads.
Use of a peelable sheath may be accompanied by potential failures, mostly due to anatomy or conditions of the host blood vessel. Vein laceration is an injury to vein walls that may occur during delivery of a peelable sheath, for example, due to buckling of the guidewire and inadvertent advancement of the dilator portion of the sheath through the vein (e.g., the superior vena cava), possibly, when the sheath is advanced through the vein over a relatively lax guidewire.
Structural characteristics of some catheters may also be found disadvantageous in current uses thereof. For example, catheters having a distal tip being fully blunt, substantially soft, or having an inadequate guidewire opening, cannot be used effectively, or at all, in deliveries over a guidewire or/and without a sheath. Blunt and soft catheter distal tips may also increase likelihood of delivery failures associated with peelable sheath applications. Other catheters, such as ones used for transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) surgeries, have relatively sharp or pointed tips, or/and optionally relatively rigid, which may cause injury to surrounding tissue (e.g., puncturing of heart tissue). Catheters may have only side holes, for example the Foley catheter for draining the urine bladder, and it may be advantageous to have their distal tip be blunt shaped, with a forward opening instead or in addition to the side holes. Some other medical tubes designs may limit intubation techniques, for example drainage or chest tubes which are currently inserted while grasping their distal tip with a 'Kelly' clamp, thereby causing discomfort to the patient.
In view of such shortcomings, as well as other limitations, in the field and art of the invention, there is need for developing and practicing new or/and improved devices, and applications thereof, for delivering medical tubes (such as catheters) in bodily passages.

Removable catheter cap and applications thereof


A method of mass producing a micropolarizer including the steps exposing films of predetermined polarization states to electromagnetic radiation through masks of predetermined patterns, etching away exposed parts of each film and aligning and laminating the films to one another to provide a microplolarizer comprising alternating sets of microscopic polarizers with different polarization states.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of polarizers and the high throughput mass manufacturing of a new class of polarizars called micropolarizers. Micropolarizers have been developed for use in spatial multiplexing and demultiplexing image elements in a 3-D stereo imaging and display system.
2. Description of Related Art
This invention is related to my co-pending application Serial No. 07/536,190 entitled "A System For Producing 3-D Stereo Images" filed on even date herewith which introduces a fundamentally new optical element called a micropolarizer. The function of the micropolarizer is to spatially multiplex and spatially demultiplex image elements in the 3-D stereo imaging and displaying system of the aforementioned co-pending application. As shown in FIG. 1, the micropolarizer (.mu.Pol) 1, 2 is a regular array of cells 3 each of which comprises a set of microscopic polarizers with polarization states P1 and P2. The array has a period p which is the cell size and is also the pixel size of the imaging or displaying devices.
It is possible to turn unpolarized light into linearly polarized light by one Of three well known means: 1) Nicol prisms; 2) Brewster Angle (condition of total internal reflection in dielectric materials); and 3) Polaroid film. These are called linear polarizers. The Polaroids are special plastic films which are inexpensive and come in very large sheets. They are made of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) sheets stretched between 3 to 5 times their original length and treated with iodine/potassium iodide mixture to produce the dichroic effect. This effect is responsible for heavily attenuating (absorbing) the electric field components along the stretching direction while transmitting the perpendicular electric field components. Therefore, if P1 is along the stretching direction of the PVA sheets, it is not transmitted, where as only P2 is transmitted, producing polarized light. By simply rotating the PVA sheet 90 degrees, P1 state will now be transmitted and P2 will be absorbed.
The aforementioned three known means for producing polarized light have always been used in situations where the polarizer elements have large areas, in excess of 1 cm.sup.2. However, for 3-D imaging with .mu.Pols using 35 mm film, to preserve the high resolution, the .mu.Pol array period p may be as small as 10 micron. Therefore, there is no prior art anticipating the use of or teaching how to mass produce .mu.Pols having such small dimensions.

Methods for manufacturing micropolarizers


A vehicle body structure for efficiently transmitting and dispersing collision energy is provided. The vehicle body structure includes a floor tunnel provided in the center of the vehicle width and extending longitudinally of a vehicle body. Side portions of the floor tunnel are joined to floor frame members provided on the right and left thereof. A rear portion of the floor tunnel is joined to center frame members provided rearward thereof. Collision energy acting on the front end of the floor tunnel is transmitted and dispersed to the right and left floor frame members and the center frame members. Collision energy acting on the floor frame members is transmitted and dispersed to the floor tunnel and the center frame members. Collision energy transmitted to the center frame members is transmitted and dispersed through a plurality of crossmembers disposed rearward of the floor tunnel to the rear of the vehicle body.

A vehicle body structure of this type is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-108949, for example. This vehicle body structure will be described with reference to FIG. 19 hereof.
A vehicle body 200 shown in FIG. 19 includes a floor tunnel 201 extending longitudinally in the center of the vehicle width, right and left side sills 202 (only one is shown.) provided on the opposite sides of the vehicle body and extending longitudinally, and right and left floor panel portions 203, 203 interposed between the floor tunnel 201 and the side sills 202.
A propeller shaft 211 is extended through the inside of the floor tunnel 201. The propeller shaft 211 is mounted to the inside of the floor tunnel 201 with reinforcing members 212, 212 and a bracket 213.
A crossmember 214 is extended across the floor tunnel 201 between the right and left side sills 202. Right and left brackets 215, 215 for mounting a sheet (not shown) are provided on the right and left floor panel portions 203, 203, respectively. Reference numeral 216 denotes a handbrake device.
In some types of vehicles, an engine is mounted to the front of a vehicle body via a subframe, and a propeller shaft is not extended through a floor tunnel. In such types of vehicles, however, various types of equipment such as a muffler is sometimes disposed below a front half portion of a floor tunnel. Therefore, a floor tunnel protruding upward for various types of equipment cannot be completely eliminated. It is, however, possible to reduce the height of a rear half portion of the floor tunnel. The reduced height of the rear half portion of the floor tunnel results in a larger passenger compartment and improved comfort. It is especially effective for low-floor type vehicles, for which it is desired to reduce the height of a rear half portion of a floor tunnel to make a passenger compartment larger.
When collision energy acts on the front of a vehicle body, plastically deforming the vehicle front, a subframe mounted to the vehicle front and an engine mounted on the subframe are moved rearward. The engine located in a higher level than the subframe strikes a front upper edge of a floor tunnel, producing collision energy acting on the front upper edge. Also, collision energy acts from the retreated low-level subframe on a front lower edge of the floor tunnel. In this manner, collision energy is transmitted from both the retreated high-level engine and low-level subframe to the floor tunnel. It is required to efficiently transmit the collision energy to the front of the vehicle body.
Now, a conventional vehicle body structure in which floor frame members are provided to increase the rigidity of a floor panel and to increase the rigidity of an entire vehicle body will be described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21.
A vehicle body 300 shown in FIG. 20 includes a floor tunnel 301 provided in the center of the vehicle width and extending longitudinally, right and left floor frame members 302, 302 disposed on the right and left of the floor tunnel 301 and extending longitudinally, and right and left side sills 303, 303 provided outside of the right and left floor frame members 302, 302 and extending longitudinally.
Right and left front side members 304, 304 extend forward from the front ends of the right and left floor frame members 302, 302. A floor panel 305 (see FIG. 21) integrally continuous with the floor tunnel 301 is placed on and joined to the right and left floor frame members 302, 302. Reference numerals 306, 306 denote outriggers.
Collision energy acting on the front of the vehicle body 300 is transmitted and dispersed from the front side members 304, 304 through the floor frame members 302, 302 to the floor panel 305 (see FIG. 21), and is further transmitted from the floor panel 305 to the floor tunnel 301. The floor frame members 302, 302 are retreated by the collision energy, causing a force for deforming the floor panel 305 rearward from the floor tunnel 301 of relatively high rigidity.
When the vehicle front is plastically deformed by collision energy acting on the front of the vehicle body 300, a subframe 308 mounted to the front of the vehicle body 300 and an engine 307 mounted on the subframe 308 are moved rearward. As a result, the subframe 308 and the engine 307 strike the front end of the floor tunnel 301, applying the collision energy to the front end of the floor tunnel 301. The collision energy is transmitted and dispersed from the floor tunnel 301 to the floor panel 305, and is further transmitted from the floor panel 305 to the floor frame members 302, 302.
It is difficult to configure the floor tunnel 301 and the floor frame members 302, 302 so that the amount of plastic deformation of the floor tunnel 301 is equal to the amount of retreat and the amount of plastic deformation of the floor frame members 302, 302 when collision energy acts on the floor tunnel 301 as described above. Therefore, the floor panel 305 can deform between the floor tunnel 301 and the floor frame members 302, 302. Large deformation of the floor panel 305 (e.g., development of large creases) affects the joined state of the floor panel 305 to the floor tunnel 301 and the floor frame members 302, 302.
In order to avoid such influence, it may be conceived to reinforce low-rigidity portions with reinforcing members. However, it unfavorably complicates the configuration of the vehicle body 300 and also increases the vehicle weight.
In this context, it is desired to prevent difference in displacement between a floor tunnel and floor frame members even when the front of a vehicle body receives collision energy, avoiding increase in the weight of the vehicle body with a simple configuration.


Color image forming apparatus and method in which a first transfer device transfers color toner images for color images from a latent image carrying body onto an intermediate transfer belt in a primary transfer process, a second transfer device transfers the color toner images from the intermediate transfer belt onto a recording medium, and a cleaning device for removing remaining toner contacts the intermediate transfer belt at specified times during the primary transfer process. The second transfer device also contacts the intermediate transfer belt at specified times during the primary transfer process.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrophotographic color image forming apparatus for use in color coping machines, printers, facsimiles, and other apparatuses.
2. Related Art
A color image forming apparatus such as described below has heretofore been known as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,838,919. The color image forming apparatus includes: a first transfer means that sequentially transfers toner images developed on an image carrying body to an intermediate transfer body; a second transfer means that collectively transfers the toner images superimposed on an intermediate transfer body onto a recording medium; and a cleaning means such as a cleaning blade that removes a toner remaining on the intermediate transfer body. Further, it is known to use as the intermediate transfer body either a beltlike member which has a predetermined electric resistance and which is stretched by a group of rollers including a drive roller from inside, or a hard roller that has an electric resistance layer over the surface of a metal base.
In such image forming apparatus, after the collective transfer of the toner images onto the recording medium from the intermediate transfer body by the second transfer means (hereinafter referred to as the "secondary transfer process"), the cleaning blade comes in contact with the intermediate transfer body, and it is before the formation of the first-color toner image of a next print image that the cleaning blade moves away from the intermediate transfer body. Still further, in order to sequentially transfer the toner images from the image carrying body to the intermediate transfer body by the first transfer means (hereinafter referred to as the "primary transfer process"), a technique disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 7-77880 has been employed. This technique is designed to bring the cleaning blade into contact with the intermediate transfer body after all the color toner images to be superimposed have been transferred thereto.
However, in the above-identified conventional example in which the cleaning blade is not only brought into contact with the intermediate transfer body after the second transfer process has been completed, but also moved away from the intermediate transfer body before the first-color toner image of a next print image is formed, as well as in the conventional example disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei. 7-77880, the primary transfer process must not be performed while the cleaning blade is in contact with the intermediate transfer body. That is, it is necessary to suspend the primary transfer process of the first-color toner image of a next print image while the last-color toner image is moving along the intermediate transfer body by at least a distance two times or more the circumferential length of a maximum print image from the start of the primary transfer process of such last-color toner image of the previous print image in a constant-speed continuous printing operation. This has imposed the problem of reducing the print speed. Also known is a technique of switching the process speed while the primary or the secondary transfer process is not being performed in order to improve the print speed. However, this technique makes the apparatus large in structure and elevates the cost of manufacture. Still further, even if a high speed process is introduced, there have been image defects attributable to fluctuations in loads applied to the intermediate transfer belt, such as displacements caused when one color toner image is superimposed upon another at the time of primary transfer process.

Color image forming apparatus and cleaning method for cleaning intermediate transfer member


A method for automatic checking of the availability of an elevator installation having at least one elevator ascertains at least one first estimated value for a use frequency of the elevator for a first time period and/or a second estimated value for the use frequency for a second time period that begins later than the first time period. A measurement value for the use frequency for the first time period is determined and the measurement value compared with at least one of the estimated values. If the measurement value is smaller by a predetermined amount, at least one predetermined command for carrying out at least one test of the elevator installation is given, wherein in the case of availability of the elevator installation the test leads to a desired reaction. Subsequently, at least one reaction of the elevator installation is registered and compared with the desired reaction.

The present invention relates to a method of automatic checking of the availability of an elevator installation with at least one elevator, and to a device for automatic checking of the availability of an elevator installation with at least one elevator.
It is in the interest of an operator of an elevator installation to keep the elevator installation in a state which ensures for the user of the installation a highest possible degree of availability. Since operational disturbances can prejudice the availability of the elevator installation and, in addition, represent a safety risk for users, it is of interest for the operator of the elevator installation for operating disturbances to be recognized as early as possible and, in a given case, the causes thereof established.
An elevator installation with a communications interface for communication with a remote maintenance center is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,648. A communications connection between a test system and an elevator control of the elevator installation can be produced by the remote maintenance center by way of the communications interface of the elevator installation. The test system is programmable in such a manner that at a predetermined point in time it produces a communications connection with the elevator control and automatically transmits car and/or floor calls in accordance with a predetermined program to the elevator control and analyses the respective reaction of the elevator installation. The analysis of the reactions accordingly supplies information about whether the elevator installation is instantaneously available. The procedure disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,648 has various disadvantages. For example, the availability of the elevator installation can be verified only at points in time which the personnel in the remote maintenance center planned or at points in time which are pre-programmed. The test system shall be used when the elevator installation is not in use, for example at night. Data about the availability of the elevator installation during the times in which persons normally use the elevator installation are not obtained in this way. Operational disturbances during the principal times of use of the elevator installation are accordingly not automatically detected without further measures. A further disadvantage is that the described tests only allow a reliable statement about the availability of the elevator installation when the tests embrace all possible journeys of an elevator installation between any floors. Accordingly, the tests lead to a large number of test travels of the elevator at times in which the elevator is not normally used by persons. In addition, several elevator installations are normally connected with a remote maintenance center. This concept usually excludes communication connections with the individual elevator installations being able to be maintained over a time period of any desired length. An individual elevator installation is accordingly usually not checkable by a remote maintenance installation without interruption.

Method and device for automatic checking of the availability of an elevator installation


Apparatus, and an associated method, for facilitating routing of a data service call background and foreground service delivery modes are defined. A delivery mode type determiner determines the service delivery mode associated with the data service. If the service delivery mode is a background delivery mode, the data service is effectuated with the intended receiving station instead of being redirected pursuant to a call forwarding, or other service interaction indicia, feature.

Telephonic communication is a necessary adjunct of modern society. The ability to effectuate telephonic communications between two, or more, communication stations by way of a telephonic network permits telephonic communications to be effectuated between the communication stations irrespective of their respective positions. Telephonic communication permits the effectuation of both voice services and data services.
Telephonic networks have been installed throughout significant portions of the populated areas of the world. Communication stations connected to the telephonic network are used to effectuate the communication therethrough. A calling party utilizing an originating communication station initiates a communication session to be terminated with a receiving party at a receiving station. In a conventional telephonic network, initiation at the originating station of the communication service is made by the originating party entering dialing digits associated with the intended receiving station pursuant to a call request. The telephonic network interprets the dialing digits and alerts the receiving station of the call request. A receiving party positioned at the receiving station accepts the call request, such as by taking the receiving station "off-hook." The communication service is then effectuated between the originating station and the receiving station by way of the telephonic network.
More recently, cellular, and other radio, communication systems have also been installed to encompass significant portions of the populated areas of the world. The cellular communication systems include network infrastructures which are connected to conventional, wire line telephonic communication systems. A mobile station operable in a cellular, or other radio, communication system communicates by way of radio links with the network infrastructure of the cellular communication system.
A user of a mobile station is able to originate, or to receive, telephonic communications with another communication station. The other communication station can be formed of a conventional wire line station or another mobile station. Because a communication path extending to, and from, the mobile station is formed upon a radio link, wire line connections, conventionally required to connect a conventional wire line station to a telephonic network, are obviated. Increased communication mobility is, therefore, inherent in a cellular, or other radio, communication system. While a mobile station is a radio transceiver, mobile stations are generally constructed to mimic the operation of a conventional, wire line communication station. A user of a mobile station communicates telephonically in manners analogous to the manners by which a user of a conventional wire line communication station is used pursuant to a communication session.
Advancements in communications, and processing technologies, have permitted the implementation of additional features and services associated with communications effectuated by way of a telephonic network. Telephonic switches, and other control devices, are regularly constructed, for instance, to provide for specialized delivery services, such as call forwarding and do-not-disturb services. Such services are provided both in conventional wire line telephonic systems, as well as cellular, and other radio, systems. The additional features and services are generally provided pursuant to a service subscription in which the user, i.e., the subscriber, subscribes to the additional communication services pursuant to a subscription plan.
A do-not-disturb service is a call control service. When a do-not-disturb feature is activated pursuant to a service subscription, a call, intended to be terminated at the communication station associated with the subscription is not delivered to the communication station. Analogously, call forwarding services, such as call forwarding-busy (CFB), call forwarding-default (CFD), call forwarding-no answer (CFNA), and call forwarding-unconditional (CFU) are call redirection services. When a call forwarding feature is activated pursuant to a service subscription, a call, intended to be terminated at the station associated with the subscription is, instead, forwarded to another communication station. That is to say, the call requesting the effectuation of the communication service is redirected to another terminating end point.
The aforementioned services and features were initially implemented with respect to voice services. Increasingly, however, telephonic systems, both wire line systems and cellular, and other radio systems, are used to effectuate data services. While voice services are user-specific, data services are not necessarily so. Data services are, instead, sometimes communication station-specific rather than user-specific. The availability of the subscriber, or other user, of the communication station is not necessarily required for the effectuation of a data service which is communication station-specific. Conventional systems in which the do-not-disturb and call forward services are activated, however, automatically redirect a data-service call and thereby prevent delivery of the data service to the intended receiving communication station.
An improved manner by which to effectuate a data service in a communication system which provides such additional subscription services would, therefore, be advantageous.
It is in light of this background information related to the effectuation of data services in a communication system that the significant improvements of the present invention have evolved.

Apparatus, and associated method, for effectuating a data service designated by a service delivery mode


A dual-chip light splitting and light combining module is provided, which comprises a light splitting prism, a first mirror, a first polarizing TIR prism, a first displaying chip, a second mirror, a second TIR prism, a second displaying chip and a light combining prism. The dual-chip light splitting and light combining module is adapted to split an incident non-polarized light into a first polarized light and a second polarized light and combine the first polarized light and the second polarized light together. Also, a 3D projection optical system comprising the dual-chip light splitting and light combining module is provided.

Currently, the prevailing 3D projection optical systems commercially used are active stereoscopic displaying systems. In an active stereoscopic displaying system, a projector having a refreshing frequency of about 120 Hz is used to output a left-eye frame and a right-eye frame alternately and, meanwhile, a pair of LCD stereoscopic eyeglasses switched on alternately is used for synchronous switching so that separation of the left-eye frame and the right-eye frame from each other is achieved. This delivers a good stereoscopic effect. However, the active stereoscopic eyeglasses have a relatively high cost, frequent switching of the stereoscopic eyeglasses makes the eyes uncomfortable, and propagation of light through the LCD stereoscopic eyeglasses leads to significant loss in brightness. Furthermore, in order to achieve the 3D function, the refreshing frequency of the microelectromechanical system (MEMS) mirror chip must be at least 120 Hz, which represents a high requirement on the refreshing frequency of the chip.

3D projection optical system and dual-chip light splitting and light combining module thereof


A new high-speed digital interface for transmitting video information over various transmission media including terminated copper wires such as twisted-pair wires and fiber optical cable is described. The significance of this new interface is that (1) it only uses a small number of data channels with all timing and control data embedded in data transmission, (2) it uses a transition controlled binary DC balanced coding for reliable, low-power and high-speed data transmission, (3) it uses low-swing differential voltage which minimizes EMI, and (4) it can be implemented in low-cost scaleable CMOS technology as a megacell or standard IC. The high-speed digital interface incorporates a method and apparatus for producing a transition-controlled, DC-balanced sequence of characters from an input sequence of data bytes. The bits in each of the data bytes are selectively complemented in accordance with the number of logical transitions in each data byte in order to produce selectively complemented data blocks. A cumulative disparity is then determined between the logical values of different type included within ones of the selectively complemented data blocks previously encoded into characters. In addition, a current disparity in a candidate character associated with a current one of the selectively complemented data blocks being encoded is also determined. The candidate character is assigned to the current one of the selectively complemented data blocks if the current disparity is of a polarity opposite to a first polarity of the cumulative disparity. Alternately, the complement of the candidate character is assigned to the current one of the selectively complemented data blocks if the current disparity is of the first polarity. In a high-transition mode of operation, the bits within data blocks including less than a minimum number of logical transitions are selectively complemented so that each such selectively complemented data block includes in excess of the minimum number of logical transitions. In a low-transition mode of operation, the bits within data blocks having more than a predefined number of logical transitions are selectively complemented so that each such selectively complemented data block includes less than the maximum number of logical transitions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to coding schemes for digital transmission systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a DC-balanced, transition-controlled coding system in which rapid byte synchronization allows for prompt initiation of decoding.
2. Description of the Related Art
As electronic and computer technology continues to evolve, communication of information among different devices, either situated near by or at a distance becomes increasingly important. For example, it is now more desirable than ever to provide for high speed communications among different chips on a circuit board, different circuit boards in a system, and different systems with each other. It is also increasingly desirable to provide such communications at very high speeds, especially in view of the large amount of data required for data communications in intensive data consuming systems using graphical or video information, multiple input-output channels, local area networks, and the like.
It is particularly desirable to enable individual personal computers, workstations, or other computing devices, within which data is normally internally transferred using parallel data buses, to communicate with each other over relatively simple transmission lines. Such transmission lines typically include only one or two conductors, in contrast with the 64-bit and wider data paths within computing systems now commonly available In the case of video data transmission to computer displays, as well as in the case of high-speed video input from digital cameras to computer systems, existing interconnection interfaces typically employ such parallel data paths. Recently, the requisite bandwidth of such interconnection systems has increased as a consequence of increased display resolution. This has increased electromagnetic interference (EMI) as well as transmission line noise, thereby raising concerns as to safety and reliability. In addition, the large number of signal and data lines required by advanced liquid crystal display panels has increased the potential for mutual interference.
There have been a number of commercially available products which attempt to provide high speed conversion of parallel data to serial form and transmission over a serial link. The Hewlett-Packard G-link chip set is one such product. That chip set includes a transmitter set and is capable of handling 21-bit wide parallel data. To obtain the necessary speed, however, the chip set is fabricated using a bipolar process, and the receiver and transmitter require separate chips. Such a solution is highly power consumptive and expensive.
Another commercial solution has been provided by Bull of France. The Bull technology employs a frequency multiplier for parallel to serial data conversion. Such devices typically introduce noise into the silicon substrate and interfere with other multipliers on the chip. In addition, the Bull technology uses an exclusive OR tree for parallel to serial conversion. The use of exclusive OR trees is well known, together with the difficulty of equalizing the delay through all paths of such devices. Additionally, the Bull technology uses output signals having full logic swings. This results in slower performance.
Various techniques exist for improving the characteristics of transmission over serial links. For example, transmission codes may be employed to alter the frequency spectrum of the transmitted serial data so as to facilitate clock recovery and enable AC coupling. Each transmission code will also typically provide special characters, not included within the data alphabet, to be used in character synchronization, frame delimiting, as well as perhaps for diagnostic purposes. Coding may also be employed to reduce transmission bandwidth as a means of limiting the signal distortion occurring during propagation through the transmission medium. In the case of wire links, it is desirable to utilize codes with no DC and little low frequency content in order to allow for DC isolation of the driver and receiver circuitry from the transmission line, as well as to reduce signal distortion on the line. An efficient coding system should also be disposed to encode clock information with the encoded data in a manner allowing for extraction of the clock information during decoding. This obviates the need for provision of a separate clock signal over a dedicated clock line, since the clock information recovered during decoding may be instead used by the receiver circuitry.
Within local area networks (LANs), transmission coding schemes exist for converting words of various length to characters of greater length. For example, three-bit words may be converted to four-bit characters (3B/4B), four-bit words may be converted to five-bit characters (4B/5B), and so on. Typically, coding and decoding is achieved using a "key" in which each word is mapped to a corresponding character. Unfortunately, the complexity of this type of mapping scheme generally precludes utilization of random logic, and often requires implementations involving look-up tables or the like. This is disadvantageous given that look-up tables realized using ROM consume significant chip area and tend to slow circuit operation.
A particular 8B/10B coding scheme is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,486,739. In particular, a binary DC balanced code and associated encoder circuit are described as being operative to translate an 8 bit byte of information into 10 binary digits for transmission. The 8B/10B coder is partitioned into a 5B/6B plus a 3B/4B coder. Despite ostensibly facilitating DC-balanced encoding, this system tends to require relatively lengthy encoding and decoding intervals.
Although progress has been made in the development of coding techniques disposed to facilitate serial data transmission, there remains a need for a coding scheme capable of efficiently supporting very high speed serial data transmission. Such a coding scheme should also be DC-balanced in order to facilitate AC coupling and clock recovery. In addition, it would be desirable to provide a coding scheme capable of facilitating real-time data transfer by allowing for rapid synchronization during decoding.

System for high speed serial video signal transmission using DC-balanced coding


A method for producing a metal film of a touch panel provided by the present invention has the steps of: preparing a base plate; coating a mask on the surface of the base plate; using a sputtering process to sputter a metal material on the part of the base plate where is not covered by the mask; removing the mask so as to form a metal film and a hollow area; and using a laser engraving process to remove an over coating area that is produced by the metal film or the hollow area so as to produce the metal film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a touch panel, more particularly to a touch panel that is made by a sputtering process and a laser engraving process.
2. Description of the Related Art
The input way of many electronic devices is changed from an early keyboard input mode changed to a touch or touch input mode, hence the touch or touch input operation interface makes operation easier, and the thickness of the electronic device is thinner.
The touch input mode of the touch panel is by capacitive mostly. That is, a user's finger or a sensing pen is used to touch on the surface of the touch panel. The internal touch panel of the touch position generates a capacitance difference so as to detect the touched position of the surface of the touch panel, so as to achieve the purpose of the touch sensing. There are generally two ways to manufacture the sensing circuit, sensing the touch of a user, of a capacitance touch panel. The first is to print a metal material after printing on a base plate, and then exposing, developing, etching, etc. are applied to produce the sensing circuit layer. The second is to use a laser engraving process to produce a needed sensing circuit layer.
Although above touch panels produced by the two processes have no problem on the use of touch-sensitive. Using printing, exposure, developing, etching, laser engraving, etc. to produce touch panel may take more hours and procedures, so that the relative increase of production costs. And using the aforementioned two processes can only make the sensing circuit layer on a plate-shaped substrate, then assembling with the plastic case of the touch panel, and can not directly make the sensing circuit layer of a touch panel on a case which cross-sectional is a stair-shape or an irregular-shaped.

Method for producing metal film of touch panel


The present invention provides an adaptive combustion controller and method for a turbine engine. The adaptive combustion controller and method modulates the fuel flow to the turbine engine combustor to reduce combustion instabilities. In particular, the adaptive combustion controller includes a fuel flow phase controller and a fuel flow magnitude controller. The adaptive combustion controller receives sensor data from the turbine engine. In response to the sensor data the fuel flow phase controller adjusts the phase of the modulated fuel flow to reduce instabilities in the combustor. Likewise, in response to the sensor data the fuel flow magnitude controller adjusts the magnitude of the modulated fuel flow to further reduce the instabilities in the combustor. By modulating the fuel flow to the combustor, and adaptively adjusting the phase and magnitude of the modulated fuel flow, the adaptive combustion controller is able to effectively reduce combustion instabilities.

Turbine engines are widely used for a variety of purposes. For example, turbine engines are commonly used as propulsion engines in aircraft and other large vehicles. Turbine engines are also used in power generation. For example, turbine engines are commonly used as auxiliary power units in aircraft to supply electric power and compressed air. Large turbine engines are also used in power plants for electricity generation. In all applications the reliability and performance of the turbine engine is of critical importance.
One issue in turbine engine performance and reliability is the risk of combustion driven instabilities. In particular, oscillations of pressure in the turbine engine combustor can create control problems and possibly lead to turbine engine damage if allowed to continue. One cause of combustion driven instabilities is the natural resonance of the combustor. Natural pressure ripples in the combustor can feedback into the fuel system. This causes variations in the fuel flow to the combustor, which in turn causes the flame in the combustor to modulate, creating more pressure ripples. In some circumstances the natural resonant frequencies of the system will cause these pressure oscillations to constructively reinforce, leading to a potentially unacceptable level in pressure oscillations. This condition is commonly referred to as combustion instabilities or combustion dynamics. These types of combustion instabilities are particularly problematic in gaseous fuel turbine engines that are operated at high efficiency and low emission levels but can also exist in liquid fueled turbine engines.
Previous methods of compensating for these combustion instabilities have been limited. For example, some techniques have simply changed the power level of the turbine engine to move operation from frequencies that lead to instabilities. Unfortunately this is not an acceptable solution for applications where the power output of the turbine engine must be tightly controlled for efficiency or low emission purposes.

System and method for turbine engine adaptive control for mitigation of instabilities


A fingerprint sensing system for providing data in dependence upon fingerprint information to a computer is disclosed. The system comprises an imaging device for capturing a fingerprint image. The fingerprint image is processed to provide associated data such as a portion of an encryption key. The associated data are secured prior to transmission by encoding into an image frame forming part of a video data signal. The data are encoded at predetermined locations within the image frame instead of image pixel data. The video data signal comprising the associated data are then transmitted to a computer. Upon receipt at the computer the received video data signal is processed to extract the encoded data from the predetermined locations within the image frame.

Computer security is fast becoming an important issue. With the proliferation of computers and computer networks into all aspects of business and daily life--financial, medical, education, government, and communications--the concern over secure file access is growing. One method of providing security from unauthorised access to files is encryption and cipher techniques. These techniques take data and convert it into other corresponding data in a fashion that is reversible. Once encrypted, the data is unintelligible unless first decrypted. RSA, DES, PGP, and CAST are known encryption techniques currently believed to provide sufficient security for computer communications and files.
Each of these encryption techniques uses a key or cipher. Such a key is crucial to the encryption/decryption process. Anyone with a correct key, can access information that has previously been encrypted using that key. The entry of the key from the keyboard is impractical since such a key must be remembered by a user for entry and as such is liable to be discovered by an individual desiring access to existing encrypted files.
Further, there is great concern over communication of keys within commercial and governmental offices. It is common for users to inform others of their keys or to transfer their keys to others for use during holidays, sick days, or even as a reminder of the key should the user forget. Also, keys are often written down at the workstation in case a user should forget. Such written passwords undermine the security of many systems.
In DES encryption, the key is a numerical value, for example, 56 bits in length. Such a key can be used to encrypt and subsequently to decrypt data. The security of the data once encrypted is sufficient that the key is required to access the data in an intelligible form. Thus the security of the data is related to the security of the key.
Some encryption systems use keys stored on the same device as the encrypted files. This is akin to storing a lock and its key in the same location. A knowledgeable user gaining access to the device could locate the key and access the data. Other encryption systems use keys stored on portable cards. Such a key is accessed via a password entered at the keyboard. Such a portable card can be taken by other users and the password can be discovered. The portable card is equally subject to transfer between employees and improper storage--at a user's desk.
It would be advantageous to provide a secure, non-transferable authorisation for encryption and decryption of files.
In a fingerprint input transducer or sensor, the finger under investigation is usually pressed against a flat surface, such as a side of a glass plate, and the ridge and valley pattern of the finger tip is sensed by a sensing means such as an interrogating light beam.
Various optical devices are known which employ prisms upon which a finger whose print is to be identified is placed. The prism has a first surface upon which a finger is placed, a second surface disposed at an acute angle to the first surface through which the fingerprint is viewed and a third illumination surface through which light is directed into the prism. In some cases, the illumination surface is at an acute angle to the first surface, as seen for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,187,482 and 5,187,748. In other cases, the illumination surface is parallel to the first surface, as seen for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,109,427 and 5,233,404. Fingerprint identification devices of this nature are generally used to control the building-access or information-access of individuals to buildings, rooms, and devices such as computer terminals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,056 in the name of Tsikos issued Oct. 5, 1982, discloses an alternative kind of fingerprint sensor that uses a capacitive sensing approach. The described sensor has a two dimensional, row and column, array of capacitors, each comprising a pair of spaced electrodes, carried in a sensing member and covered by an insulating film. The sensors rely upon deformation to the sensing member caused by a finger being placed thereon so as to vary locally the spacing between capacitor electrodes, according to the ridge/trough pattern of the fingerprint, and hence, the capacitance of the capacitors. In one arrangement, the capacitors of each column are connected in series with the columns of capacitors connected in parallel and a voltage is applied across the columns. In another arrangement, a voltage is applied to each individual capacitor in the array. Sensing in the respective two arrangements is accomplished by detecting the change of voltage distribution in the series connected capacitors or by measuring the voltage values of the individual capacitances resulting from local deformation. To achieve this, an individual connection is required from the detection circuit to each capacitor.
Portable fingerprint devices arc known in the art. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,403 and relates to a portable imaging device for capturing fingerprint images and transmitting them to a central location for verification. Such a device is useful in an information gathering and identification process comprising a large central database of fingerprint information. It does not, however, address the current concern for personal privacy with regards to the fingerprint data. Further, such a system can only act to verify identification and thus restrict access from a central location. Communications with the central location are often unsecured.
One problem associated with remote fingerprint sensors concerns transmission of information used for verification. Whereas the fingerprint is unique and cannot be easily duplicated, such is not the case for the electronic representation of the fingerprint. Knowledgeable individuals with incentive to gain access to a system can record such an electronic representation for use at a later time. Further, the signal providing access may be recorded for later use thus circumventing a security system.
It is apparent that a portable-imaging device for providing security and overcoming the aforementioned limitations is desirable.
In the past, optical devices were interfaced with computers through the use of frame grabbers. An optical imaging device such as a video camera or a fingerprint sensor was provided with an opto-electronic component such as a charge coupled device (CCD) capable of transforming optical information in the form of images into electrical signals in the form of analogue output. Often, these signals corresponded to existing standards such as RS170, NTSC or PAL.
One popular use of this technology is in video cameras. A video camera comprises a lens, a CCD, and transformation circuitry. The camera is also provided with recording and playback means. In use, the CCD transforms an image presented to it through the camera lens into an electrical signal. The electrical signal is transformed to correspond with a predetermined analogue video standard and is provided to an output port of the camera. Such an output signal is capable of being displayed on a television or on a security monitor. This output signal is also capable of being displayed or imported into a computer by means of a frame grabber.
Frame grabbers are known and are widely used. A frame grabber is designed to accept an analogue video signal and convert it into a digital representation of a frame or a plurality of frames. Such a device converts a predetermined video signal from an analogue signal to a digital bit map signal through the use of an analogue to digital converter, synchronisation circuitry, grey level recovery circuitry, sequencing and control logic, and an interface to a computer bus. Such frame grabbers are often designed to be coupled with a personal computer and interface with the computer bus in the form of a NUBUS, ISA, PCI, or VLB bus. Typically, these frame grabbers require the opening a PC's protective housing for installation and removal. Further, such frame grabbers are costly.
Electro-optical devices for use as biometric input devices such as fingerprint, retina, or palm scanners are known. In a fingerprint input transducer or sensor, the finger under investigation is usually pressed against a flat surface, such as a side of a glass plate, and the ridge and valley pattern of the finger tip is sensed by a sensing means such as an interrogating light beam.
Various optical devices are known which employ prisms upon which a finger whose print is to be identified is placed. The prism has a first surface upon which a finger is placed, a second surface disposed at an acute angle to the first surface through which the fingerprint is viewed and a third illumination surface through which light is directed into the prism. In some cases, the illumination surface is at an acute angle to the first surface, as seen for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,187,482 and 5,187,748. In other cases, the illumination surface is parallel to the first surface, as seen for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,109,427 and 5,233,404. Fingerprint identification devices of this nature are generally used to control the building-access or information-access of individuals to buildings, rooms, and devices such as computer terminals.
The widespread use of personal computers and advances in processor power make them a suitable choice for many applications. Further, the expandability of some personal computers allows for the design and installation of peripherals enhancing functionality or performance. Further yet, the adoption of standard desktop interfaces for computers such as Apple Desktop Bus, RS232, X.25, Ethernet, Parallel, Universal Serial Bus, SCSI, and Appletalk render the design and implementation of desktop peripherals which are removable from a computer and adaptable across different interfaces desirable.
PCMCIA, an organisation comprised of hundreds of manufacturers of memory cards and related peripheral equipment, has established standards for peripheral and memory cards. Such PCMCIA cards enhance the capabilities of a computer by providing a standard hardware interface and standard software protocols. PCMCIA cards have been designed with memory, fax machines, modems, and disk drives. The standard connector size makes them compatible with many portable computers and the PCMCIA standard allows for easy installation and removal of cards. One such PCMCIA card disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,952 is a bar code scanning device. Such a device provides convenience in portability as well as use.
The PCMCIA has established spatial standards for circuit boards intended to be used in portable computers. PCMCIA has developed a 68-pin memory card standard for three memory card types.
Type I Memory Cards are the same width and length as a common credit card, about 54 mm.times.85.6 mm, but are thicker than a credit card. The thickness of a Type I card is 3.3 mm.
Type II Memory Cards are used by those companies which are utilising memory components that are too high to be housed within a Type I card. Type II Memory Cards are also the same overall length and width as credit cards, but have a raised body cross section in the substrate area which gives them an overall thickness of 5 mm. The raised substrate areas of these cards are 48 mm in width.
Type III Memory Cards are the result of a recent movement sponsored by the Small Form Factor Committee to enable 1.8" Small Form Factor Disk Drives to be plugged into memory card connectors. Type III Memory Cards are the same length and width as Type I Memory Cards; however, Type III Memory Cards have a substrate area thickness of 10.5 mm. Also, Type III Memory Cards require card guide opening width of 51 mm on the header connector to accommodate the slightly wider raised substrate area.


Disclosed herein is a flooring comprising a surface layer made of a synthetic resin, and a wood-based board as a base. Preferably, the surface layer includes a printed layer formed by general gravure, transfer, heat-sublimation, silk screen or digital printing using a printer, a protective made of a synthetic resin, and a UV-curable or heat-curable surface treatment layer. The wood-based board is selected from plywood, medium-density fiberboard (MDF), high-density fiberboard (HDF), particle board, and resin-wood flour composite board. The flooring may further comprise a bottom layer laminated under the wood-based board for protecting the flooring against moisture from the bottom. The flooring is cut into pieces having an appropriate size, and the pieces are processed into a finished product in a tongue and groove (T & G) shape.

A variety of flooring products are widely used. Of these, a plywood flooring for an under-floor heating system having small dimensional deformation is known, which is produced by laminating one or more natural wood veneers to each other to form a waterproof plywood as a base, integrally forming a natural veneer on the base by using an adhesive, and coating a surface treatment agent, such as urethane acrylate, on the natural veneer to form a surface treatment layer.
The conventional plywood flooring for an under-floor heating system is produced simply by laminating a veneer on a plywood and coating the surface of the veneer in order to maximize the natural texture of the plywood flooring. However, in the case where a heavy or sharp object drops onto the surface of the plywood flooring, damage to the surface, such as indentation, is observed due to limited physical properties of the natural veneer.
In addition to the plywood flooring, there is known a laminate flooring product comprising an MDF or HDF layer as a base, a printed layer impregnated with a melamine resin formed on the base, and a surface treatment layer made of melamine formed on the printed layer.
However, since the conventional laminate flooring uses a thermosetting melamine resin as a surface material, the surface is likely to be brittle. Accordingly, when a sharp or heavy object having above specified load drops onto the laminate flooring, the impact site is partly damaged, e.g., broken or indented.
In addition, since the conventional laminate flooring uses a melamine resin as a surface material, the dimensional stability is poor due to ambient atmospheric conditions, e.g., moisture and temperature. To compensate for poor dimensional stability, an additional balance layer must be formed on the bottom surface of the laminate flooring, result in a structural disadvantage.

Flooring having surface layer of synthetic resin and wood-based board


Caching techniques for storing instructions, constant values, and other types of data for multiple software programs are described. A cache provides storage for multiple programs and is partitioned into multiple tiles. Each tile is assignable to one program. Each program may be assigned any number of tiles based on the program's cache usage, the available tiles, and/or other factors. A cache controller identifies the tiles assigned to the programs and generates cache addresses for accessing the cache. The cache may be partitioned into physical tiles. The cache controller may assign logical tiles to the programs and may map the logical tiles to the physical tiles within the cache. The use of logical and physical tiles may simplify assignment and management of the tiles.

I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to electronics, and more specifically to techniques for providing storage for multiple software programs.
II. Background
Many electronics devices are capable of executing multiple software programs in parallel. For example, a graphics processor may execute multiple graphics programs for applications such as video games, graphics, imaging, etc. Each program is a sequence of instructions. A program counter may be maintained for each program and may point to the current instruction to be executed for the program.
The programs being executed may be large and thus stored in a mass storage unit. To improve operating speed, a small portion of each program may be loaded from the mass storage unit onto an instruction cache, which is a fast memory located closer to the processor. The instruction cache may store instructions for all programs being executed. To improve utilization of the instruction cache, the programs may share the same address space within the cache. This would then allow each cache location to store an instruction for any program.
A major issue with storing instructions for multiple programs in one cache is "instruction thrashing" among the programs. Instruction thrashing is a phenomenon in which more than one program contends for the same location of the cache and their instructions continually overwrite one another. Instruction thrashing results in excessive cache misses. A cache miss occurs whenever a desired instruction is not found in the cache. A cache miss causes delays in execution of the instruction since the cache is typically first filled with the instruction, and the instruction is then retrieved and executed. Instruction thrashing may adversely impact performance for all affected programs.

Tiled cache for multiple software programs


In a storage rack comprising a front beam, a back beam, and a crossbar extending therebetween, the front beam having a vertical wall facing backwardly and a horizontal ledge extending backwardly, the back beam having a recess wall facing frontwardly and a recess ledge extending frontwardly, a first slot is provided in one such wall and a second slot is provided in the other wall. The crossbar has a first tang extending from a first end and adapted to be initially inserted into the first slot and a second tang extending from a second end and adapted to be subsequently inserted into the second slot without removing the first tang from the first slot. Each end can sit firmly on a beam ledge with the tangs extending into the slots. The tangs have notches providing clearance for slot margins and end tabs preventing the tangs from being pulled out.

A storage rack of the type noted above is useful for storing pallets. Typically, the storage rack has a rigid framework of upright columns and other members, which define multiple tiers and multiple bays on each tier. Each bay has two similar beams, namely a front beam and a back beam, which are designed to support a load, such as a pallet. Each bay may have one or more crossbars extending between the front and back beams. The crossbars are used to prevent misplaced or undersized pallets from falling between the front and back beams, to support broken pallets, and to support other loads, such as boxes.
Commonly, each beam is cold-rolled from a steel strip into a tubular shape, which is welded along a continuous seam. The welded shape is reshaped so as to have a recess defined by a generally vertical wall and by a generally horizontal ledge extending from a lower edge of the generally vertical wall. If such beam is used as a front beam, such wall faces backwardly, and such ledge extends backwardly. If such beam is used as a back beam, such wall faces frontwardly, and such ledge extends frontwardly.
The crossbars have end portions adapted to be firmly seated in the recesses of the front and back beams. The crossbars may be further mounted by flanges formed on the crossbars, fitted over upper portions of the beams, and secured by separate fasteners or by tabs formed on the crossbars and snapped into slots in the generally horizontal ledges. One disadvantage of such flanges is a need for separate fasteners to secure the crossbars against lateral movement along the beams. One disadvantage of such tabs and such slots, particularly but not exclusively for storage racks used in facilities for storing foods, is that food debris or other debris tends to enter the beams via such slots and cannot be easily removed from the beams.

Storage rack with improved beam-to-crossbar connections


The present application relates to a sealant composition, comprising 80-95 wt % liquid carrier, 0.1-10 wt % gel material derived from a water soluble polymer, 1-10 wt % latex emulsion, 0.1-5 wt % rigid particles, and 0.1-5 wt % surfactant. The sealant composition can further comprise 0.1-1 wt % additives, such as anti-foaming agent, preservative, anti-corrosion additive, coloring agent and odorant, for corresponding functions. The present application also relates to a method of preparing the sealant composition.

Tires are occasionally punctured by hard objects, such as nails, stones and so on, on road. Flattening of the tires is resulted due to air-leaking through the puncture and may cause serious accident and severe physical injure to the drivers. Liquid tire sealant products can be used for sealing punctures temporarily when the tires are in operation. This provides an emergency measure for drivers to continue the journey and seek for help even after the tire is punctured, which is especially important for vehicles on highway.
In general, a liquid tire sealant mainly consists of sealing materials, a tackifier and a solvent with an anti-freezing agent. The common sealing materials include the latex, the butyl rubber and various particulates. Tackifiers are chemicals used for increasing the tackiness. A common tackifier used for the tire sealant is the resin compound. Anti-freezing agent, such as the ethylene glycol and the propylene glycol, is used to lower the freezing point of the tire sealant in order to prevent the sealant from freezing at a low temperature operating environment.
Various types of the liquid tire sealant are developed in past decades. In the early stage of the tire sealant development, the most common type, such as but not limited to the inventions of EP 1382654A1, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,992,119 B2 and 0,142,420 A1, is mainly composed of the butyl rubber and/or the latex emulsion for sealing purpose. The drawbacks of these compositions include their unstable performance (i.e. short shelf-life), odour problem and difficulty to clean up after application.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,337,322 and 4588758 describe the further development of the tire sealant. These patents disclose the use of the asbestos fiber, the ethylene glycol and the detergent as main components in the valve-open type sealant. But it is well known that the asbestos fiber is carcinogenic whereas the ethylene glycol is toxic to the environment.
In light of the environmental concerns, a non-petroleum based tire sealant is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,636, and the formulation of this patent includes the ground rubber, the wheat flour and the sodium nitrite. But the drawback of the patent is that the valve core needed to be removed before applying the sealant and it means that the sealant composition in this invention is a valve-open type sealant.
Then a sealant composition based on a mechanism called "log-jam" has received more attention. The "log-jam" mechanism means that particles in the liquid medium accumulate and block at a puncture when the liquid sealant composition flow through the puncture driven by the pressure difference between the inner and outer side of the punctured tire. Each of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,772,747 and 5,856,376 discloses a sealant composition based on the "log-jam" mechanism, however, the sealant compositions are still valve-open type sealants.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,013,697, the bentonite clay and the mica are used as the main constituents in the disclosed formulation. These particulates fill the puncture voids and form a clog to prevent a further air leak. The sealant composition disclosed by this patent is a valve-through type sealant that the valve core doesn't need to be removed before applying the sealant composition. The sealant composition is convenient to use, environmentally safe and has a quick sealing performance. However, settling and flocculation of clay platelets are the main issues for this sealant composition.
Other sealant compositions, such as but not limited to U.S. Pat. Nos. 0,077,391 A1, 0129464 A1, 2007/0203260, International Patent WO 2008/022402 A1 and PCT/AU2008/001499, are based on the log jam mechanism and have a lot of innovations on formulations. Advantages of this type of tire sealant include the ease of cleaning after application, free of malodor and longer shelf life. However, this type of tire sealant suffers from a relatively poor sealing performance.
In addition to the "log-jam" mechanism, another type of sealant is based on tackified latex suspension. The latex suspension is a highly viscous liquid that could firmly adhere on the puncture wall and eventually block the air leaking channel. However, disadvantages of the latex-based sealant composition are difficulty to clean after usage, problematic sticky nature, irritation to eyes and skins, use of volatile organic compounds and so on.

Sealant composition and method of preparing the same


A computer system and method for processing bills for a plurality of customers of a plurality of node systems within a larger system, each customer bill having a particular billing cycle, comprises a memory for storing a plurality of customer bill records containing raw data to be processed to generate a customer bill. The system also comprises a bill production initiator for waking up periodically and initiating a billing cycle for a plurality of the customer bill records stored in the memory. At least one bill production manager generates a plurality of processing group files containing at least one of the customer bill records stored in the memory such each processing group file has an efficient size and contains customer bill records having at least one common variable. At least one bill production worker processes the customer bill records from at least one of the processing groups.

The present invention relates generally to the field of batch processing and more specifically to bill generation through a batch process. The invention has particular applicability to a billing system for periodically generating bills for cable television subscribers.
Cable television has become immensely popular over the last several decades. Due to the rapid growth and expansion of this industry, many different entities have participated in establishing local cable systems to meet the growing demand. As such, most local cable systems have different requirements, different equipment, different service options and different customer tastes. Almost no two local cable-systems are alike. Because many of the local cable systems are owned by multiple system operators (MSOs), the differences which have resulted from the outgrowth of the cable industry have made centralized control over the operations of the local operators a difficult and burdensome task.
For example, if an MSO owning four local cable systems in four different regions of the country wishes to set pricing information for a particular product, it would have to contact each of the four local cable systems, establish the pricing information, and supervise the local cable systems to ensure that the pricing information for that particular product was properly applied to the customers. Even with these procedures in place, it can be very difficult to maintain consistency in pricing and operations.
Bill production can be an even more daunting task. The reason for this is twofold. First, the sheer volume of data to be processed can be problematic. Secondly, the complexities of the interrelationships between customers, accounts and services can lead to confusion, increased processing time and the potential for errors. With each of the local systems and MSOs establishing individual pricing for products, services, and packages, the process for generating bills for each individual subscriber can become complex, time consuming and error prone. Often, the time required to process a billing cycle can be excessive. This can cause numerous negative effects on the operation of the business including delay in receiving revenue, confused or hostile customers and late bills. Moreover, since many architectures employ the same servers for database requests originating from both OLTP and batch processes, an extended billing batch can have a long term negative impact on system performance from an OLTP standpoint.
Another drawback of currently existing systems with respect to the bills that they generate is the treatment of data in a discrete fashion. For example, account data, service location data and subscriber data are not cohesively related. Various pieces of information, although logically related, are treated as separate abstractions without any relationship between such data represented in the system. Thus, in the case of an individual (e.g. a landlord with multiple rental units) having multiple accounts in different physical locations, multiple billsxe2x80x94one for each rental unitxe2x80x94would generally have to be generated for that single individual. This has obvious drawbacks including increased overall bill processing time, increased postage costs, inconvenience to the subscriber and resource (e.g. paper) waste.
Yet another problem existing in current billing applications relates to error handling. Often, during batch processing of bills, the processing of a particular bill will result in an error. Typically, current systems will respond to this event by discarding the batch, manually processing the bill causing the error or even removing that bill from the batch and then restarting the batch from the beginning. This scenario will often take place even if the batch has been nearly completed at the time that the error occurs. As is apparent to one of skill in the art, such treatment is undesirable in that system resources will be strained to complete the same batch portions multiple times.
Thus a need has arisen for a system which allows for efficient, flexible and accurate bill processing.
It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above and other disadvantages of the present systems.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a batch processing system having minimal impact on the performance of OLTP transactions.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a billing system which allows for centralized control over billing operations.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a billing system which logically reflects relationships among the data to be processed.
It is a yet further object of the present invention to provide a system which can effectively and rapidly process large billing batches.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a system wherein a batch need not be restarted from the beginning in the event a single batch component fails.
According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method is provided for processing bills for a plurality of customers of a plurality of node systems within a larger system, each customer bill having a particular billing cycle. The method comprises monitoring a current time and date. All customer bill records having a billing cycle begin date and time greater than the current time and date are then gathered together and distributed into node groups based upon the node system associated with the customer. The node groups are then divided into one or more sub-node groups, wherein each customer bill distributed into each sub-node group shares at least one common variable. The sub-node groups are further divided into processing group files, wherein the number of customer bills distributed into each processing group file is predetermined. The processing group files are then processed to generate a bill for each customer bill record in the processing group file.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a computer system for processing bills for a plurality of customers of a plurality of node systems within a larger system, each customer bill having a particular billing cycle, comprises a processor which contains a component for monitoring the current time and date. The processor also contains a component for generating a file containing customer bill records having a billing cycle begin date and time greater than the current time and date. The processor also contains one or more components for distributing the customer bills records into node groups based upon the node system associated with the customer, for dividing the node groups into one or more sub-node groups, wherein each customer bill distributed into each sub-node group shares at least one common variable, and for dividing the sub-node groups into processing groups, wherein the number of customer bills records distributed into each processing group is predetermined. The processor then processes the customer bill records from at least one of the processing groups. In one embodiment the sub-node groups are determined by a franchise tax area in which a customer is located. The processor may comprise a plurality of processors operating in parallel.
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a computer system for processing bills for a plurality of customers of a plurality of node systems within a larger system, each customer bill having a particular billing cycle, comprises a memory for storing a plurality of customer bill records containing raw data to be processed to generate a customer bill. The system also comprises a bill production initiator for waking up periodically and initiating a billing cycle for a plurality of the customer bill records stored in the memory. At least one bill production manager generates a plurality of processing group files containing at least one of the customer bill records stored in the memory such each processing group file has an efficient size and contains customer bill records having at least one common variable. At least one bill production worker processes the customer bill records from at least one of the processing groups. In one embodiment, the bill production initiator comprises components for monitoring a current time and date and for generating a file containing customer bill records having a billing cycle begin date and time greater than the current time and date. Also, the bill production manager may comprise components for distributing the customer bill records into processing group files based upon the node system associated with the customer. The bill production manager may also comprise a component for distributing the customer bill records into processing group files based on a geographical location of the customer, a component for distributing a predetermined number of the customer bill records into each processing group file, and a component for distributing a predetermined number of the customer bill records into each processing group file. The component for distributing the predetermined number of customer bill records may determine the predetermined number by evaluating the number of customer bill records which may be processed in a predetermined amount of time, for example, about one hour. The bill production manager may also comprise a component for distributing the customer bill records into processing group files based on a franchise tax area in which the customer is located.

Method and apparatus for processing billing transactions