A sound effect generation device for generating a sound effect corresponding to a physical interaction between objects in a virtual space in which a plurality of virtual objects coexists, includes interaction detection means for detecting an object on which the physical interaction occurs in the virtual space, mechanical quantity calculation means for calculating mechanical quantity acting on the object in accordance with the interaction using a mechanical model for determining, based on physics, behavior between the objects on which the physical interaction acts, and sound effect generation means for generating the sound effect caused in the object by the interaction using the calculated mechanical quantity.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a sound effects generation device, a sound effects generation method, and computer program product for generating sound effects for the case in which an interaction between objects such collision or contact occurs in a three-dimensional virtual space, and in particular to a sound effects generation device, a sound effects generation method, and computer program product for generating sound effects with reality for the case in which an interaction between virtual objects occurs while keeping real-time property required in a VR system.
2. Related Art
In a three-dimensional graphics technology, a three-dimensional body is treated as an aggregate of an infinitely large number of polygons, namely an approximate mathematical model, a texture expressing material quality is mapped onto the surface thereof, and further, a light source calculation is performed to provide the texture with shadings and thickness, thereby making it possible to generate a realistic three-dimensional high-resolution image.
Further, development of computer animation for automatically generating an animation of a three-dimensional body on a computer by applying morphing or other methods is actively conducted. In recent days, according to progress in the rendering technology, the reality of the computer animation has been dramatically improved, and accordingly, the computer animation is applied to various fields utilizing virtual reality (VR) such as a computer game.
The reality of the computer animation in a drawing aspect increases, whereas room is left for enhancement of reality with respect to other aspects such as a motion or a tactile impression of the body, or sound. Further, problems in the VR system are speeding up of the process and a method of applying to the system, and in the problems an important factor is simultaneous pursuit of the real-time property and the high quality image.
The present specification particularly handles a method of artificially composing sound effects for the case in which an interaction such as a collision or a contact between objects occurs to enhance reality and presence of computer animations.
Regarding the computer-aided automatic sound generation, for example, a proposal is presented for a music synthesizer for simulating sound generation structures of various natural instruments to synthesize music waveforms (see, for example, JP-A-9-305177 (Japanese Patent No. 3044375)). In this device, a drive signal for a physical model sound source is generated using an excitation envelope signal generated by an envelope signal generation section, and an amplitude envelope is provided to the music signal using an amplitude envelope signal generated by the envelope signal generation section. Further, it is configured that a constant drive signal is input to the physical model sound source to maintain the excitation without retriggering the excitation envelope even in the case in which retriggering of the amplitude envelope is performed, thereby making it possible for a person like a beginner to easily perform sound generation/performance control, and also making it possible to realize a performance like crescendoing every note without causing any delay in sound generation. However, although this device can automatically generate sound close to that of a natural instrument, it dose not answer the question of what kind of sound should be provided to the interaction such as a collision or a contact between objects on the three-dimensional virtual space.
Still further, a proposal is presented for a three-dimensional object presentation device for feeding back sound generated when scratching or hitting a physical object in response to an interactive command input from the user via a three-dimensional viewer (see, for example, JP-A-2001-256510). However, the present device attaches sound generated when scratching or hitting an original object described as three-dimensional model data to the three-dimensional model data, and only reproduces it in accordance with an instruction of the user, but dose not generate sound corresponding to the mechanical quantity such as the degree of the impact of the collision or the counterpart of the collision. Therefore, if it is applied to a VR system, the sound lacks reality.
Further, a proposal is also presented for a body interference representation device for representing the degree of interference between a plurality of bodies with an impact noise (see, for example, JP-A-2004-252756). However, the present device has previously stored impact noise data in the case in which bodies made of the same materials, for example, collide with each other separated into cases corresponding large impact, middle impact, and small impact of the collision, respectively, and directly reproduces to output either one of the impact noise data in accordance with the degree of the impact resulted in an impact deformation analysis simulation. Therefore, although the user can auditorily recognize the degree of the interference between the bodies, it seems that sufficient reality cannot be provided because the sound lacks elaboration.
A composition method of a sound source currently adopted in a VR system basically depends on a simple method of reproducing previously sampled sound, which cannot compose sound with reality supported by the physical model.
Incidentally, in the system applying the three-dimensional virtual space, real-time processing is important. In anapplicationsuchasa computergame, the case in which a large number of objects cause interactions at the same time can be assumed, and in such a case, an excessively precise physical model makes the real-time processing difficult. In other words, a sound effect generation algorism, which is simple, but has a great advantage in creating reality, is desired.

Sound effects generation device, sound effects generation method, and computer program product


A method of making an article from a lightweight cementitious composition includes molding a castable cementitious mixture including an aqueous slurry of at least perlite and concrete into an article, such as a hollow, decorative article. The castable cementitious mixture can include a fibrous material, for reinforcing the cement and perlite, and an air entraining agent, for facilitating mixability and reducing a density of the cementitious mixture and facilitating casting. The mold can include an external mold form that contains the cementitious mixture and an internal mold form that displaces the cementitious mixture within the external mold form to cast the hollow article in various shapes and with various surface textures. The external and internal mold forms include liners made of a lightweight flexible material that can be removed, unfolded, and prepared and/or cleaned.

Many property owners have sought to conceal unsightly utility installations, such as water well heads, septic vent stacks, telephone junction boxes, and buried gas tank hatches. Existing concealment devices, such as plantings, planters, and well houses have provided only partial or seasonal concealment of the utility installations. Such existing concealment devices are also not sufficiently weatherproof and are susceptible to damage caused by sun, rain, ice, and wind. Other concealment devices, such as well houses, are large heavy structures that are difficult to install and remove and could also present a hazard individuals nearby.
A device is needed that will adequately conceal utility installations in all seasons while providing an aesthetically pleasing appearance that blends with the natural surroundings. A concealment device is also needed that is structurally sound and weather resistant to withstand sun, rain, snow, ice and wind while being sufficiently light weight to be easily installed and moved. Furthermore, a concealment device is needed that can be made with various different shapes and surface ornamentation's. Additionally, there is also a need for lightweight outdoor decorative objects such as posts, birdbaths, etc., that are aesthetically pleasing, yet can be purchased, moved and installed by a typical homeowner, without need for a heavy duty truck or similar delivery vehicle or heavy installation equipment.
Cementitious compositions are commonly used to form structures and articles in the building industry. Although cementitious compositions, such as concrete or cementitious compositions including other aggregates, are desirable in terms of price and weather resistance, the use of cementitious compositions to form a decorative article or a concealment device for covering utility installations presents a number of other problems related to the physical characteristics of the material and the methods of using the material.
Using concrete, for example, to form a generally hollow article for covering utility installations results in an article that is heavy and difficult to install or move. To minimize the weight of a hollow article made from concrete, the thickness of the walls of the article would have to be dangerously thin, thereby sacrificing the structural integrity of the article. Molding structures or articles from concrete is also labor intensive. Concrete is thus difficult to form into a lightweight article having various decorative shapes and does not provide a decorative surface texture or appearance.
Lightweight cementitious compositions including perlite, a siliceous volcanic rock which has been expanded by heating, have been used in the building construction field as a lightweight insulating concrete for roof decks, floor systems, sound/firewalls, and other insulating applications. However, the prior art does not disclose the use of a lightweight cementitious composition to cast a hollow, decorative article with various shapes and surface textures. Typical perlite concrete compositions also do not provide sufficient strength and weatherability.
Accordingly, a need exists for a hollow, decorative article that is made from a cementitious composition and is lightweight, easily installable, weather-resistant, easily molded to a desired shape, for example a shape that conceals a utility installation, and has a decorative shape and surface texture. A need also exists for a method of making such an article from a lightweight cementitious composition by casting the article with various shapes, surface textures and other decorative features.

Method of making an article from a lightweight cementitious composition


A device and method in which the gas specimen to be investigated is exposed to one or more indicators for qualitative or quantitative detection of methylisothiocyanate, characterized in that at least one indicator is palladium sulfate.

The present invention relates to a method for detecting methylisothiocyanate and to a device for performing the method.
It is often necessary for soil used in agriculture to be fumigated before the next sowing or replanting, for instance by treatment with a fungicide or nematicide. For instance, methylisothiocyanate (MITC) is used to prepare soils both in greenhouses and on open land for the cultivation of vegetables.
When Dazomet is used, methylisothiocyanate is released slowly through the moisture of the soil. MITC is the actual biologically effective agent in this case. The use of metam-sodium (sodium-M-methyldithiocarbamate) as a soil fumigant is also known. Metam-sodium likewise releases MITC as the actual active ingredient.
MITC is a solid at room temperature (melting point 32 to 38° C.) and evaporates slowly and in the process destroys animal pests, fungi, and plants in the soil, so that useful plants, especially vegetables, can germinate and grow without competition. MITC is toxic both to humans and to the useful plants. It is therefore important to protect humans; moreover, the soil must be free of MITC before sowing.
After each use of a soil decontaminant, a certain waiting period must be observed until resowing or replanting of useful and cultivated plants, in order to assure that the soil decontaminant has decomposed extensively enough that there is no need to fear adverse effects on the resowing or replanting. For the farmer, it is of decisive importance to obtain a reliable statement about the length of the waiting period.
The detection of isothiocyanates with inorganic reagents is known per se. For instance, former East German Patent Disclosure DD 285 196 describes a test paper for detecting isocyanates and isothiocyanates, which comprises a paper that is saturated with pyridinium salts. For detecting the aforementioned substances, the test paper is put into contact with the substance to be tested, and then, by vapor deposition of ammonia, an intensive yellowish-orange to orange-red/brown coloration develops.
The known detection methods, however, have proved to be insensitive and/or too expensive in practice.

Device and method for detecting methylsothiocyanate


There are provided means for implementing an interface to view and explore socially relevant concepts of an entity graph including, for example, means of a social network system to perform operations including retrieving contextually relevant data for a plurality of concepts within an entity graph of the social network system; retrieving socially relevant data for a user's node within a social graph of the social network system; identifying intersects between the plurality of concepts within the entity graph and the social relevant data for the user's node within the social graph; selecting one of the plurality of concepts within the entity graph based on the intersects identified; and displaying the one of the plurality of concepts within the entity graph at a user interface associated with the user's node.

Within the sciences, a "social network" is a theoretical construct used to study relationships between individuals, groups, organizations, etc., in which such individuals, groups, and organizations are described within a social structure according to their respective interactions. Ties through which any given social unit connects represent the convergence of the various social contacts of that unit.
In modern times, social networks are now available to users of the public Internet as vast repositories of data between users of the social networks according to their respective relationships and interests, as well as providing a virtual on-line meeting place for such users of the social networks.
Users of these social networks can populate data about themselves, such as their interests, preferences, and so forth, and further establish express relationships between themselves and other users of the social network. These users, their preferences, interests, and relationships amongst other users within the social network represent what may be called a "social graph" within the social network.
Other data exists within these social networks which make it easier for users to share their interests and preferences in real-world concepts and places, such as their favorite movies, musicians, celebrities, soft drinks, hobbies, sports teams, activities, vacation destinations, cities visited, cities in which the users live, and so forth. This data about real-world concepts, places, and things represent what may be called an "entity graph" within the social network.

Systems, methods, and apparatuses for implementing an interface to view and explore socially relevant concepts of an entity graph


A simple “hands-free” electric guitar tremolo and tremolo actuator is provided. An actuator is pivotably attached to the guitar body within a rear cavity of the solid body of the instrument. A portion of the actuator bears against an external surface of the instrument's movable “floating” guitar bridge to produce the desired effect. The actuator is controlled by the user during play by moving an elongated lever that is connected to the actuator and protrudes from the guitar body cavity. The lever is preferably curved and oriented to fit against a user's hip or waist when the guitar is held adjacent to the user in the typical mode of operation of an electric guitar. In play, tremolo effect is produced by drawing the guitar toward the user's body such that the lever is forced toward the guitar body. In this manner, the user is allowed unhindered use of both hands for normal play of the guitar.

The present invention pertains to manual tremolos for stringed musical instruments, particularly solid-bodied electric guitars. Tremolos for string musical instruments are generally well known and are typically used to significantly change the tension on the strings of the instrument to produce tone variations.
Tremolos are currently widely used on electric guitars. A typical electric guitar tremolo includes a lever that is connected to, and extends from, a pivotable bridge block of the instrument. The lever is positioned to be operated by a player's hand adjacent the strings and near the tail of the instrument. To produce the desired effect, the performer must first play a note or chord and then move his hand to operate the tremolo lever; he typically cannot do both at the same time. An example of such a typical tremolo is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,741,146 to Fender.
Other devices and methods have been proposed to provide a tremolo function that avoids use of the playing hand for tremolo operation. Various pedal actuated and motor driven devices have been suggested. However, none of these are practical for the majority of guitar uses. They are far too complex or ineffective for modern guitar playing.
Other, simpler, devices have been proposed to enable a tremolo function without encumbering the player's hands. For example, a note bender attachment shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,670 to Borisoff is actuated by a user's body movement through contact with an arm that extends rearwardly from the tail end of the instrument. The actuating arm is located to lie alongside of the player's hip when the instrument is held in playing position. However, the Borisoff device actuating arm is located in an ineffective location relative to the user's body such that operating motions interfere with instrument play. As well, the Borisoff device requires significant permanent alteration of the musical instrument, reducing its value, and cannot be fitted to most conventional guitars.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,814,746 to Stafford, a pitch changer device includes a bell crank lever extending from a rear cavity in a guitar. The lever is connected to a linkage system that alters the guitar string tension. The lever is configured to be pulled by a strap to actuate the tremolo function. However, like the Borisoff device, the user's movements for actuation—pulling on a strap—does not blend smoothly with instrument play. It is not natural nor effective. As well, the device is integrated with the instrument and is not removable nor operable with conventional design instruments.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,693 to Hennessey a guitar utilizes a tremolo operating arm that is rotatably attached to a pivotable bridge block, and is disposed at the rear of the instrument. Operation for tremolo effect is by bearing the operating arm against the user's body and rotating the guitar about the axis of the bridge block fulcrum. The operating arm consists of two relatively large paddle-like elements that are permanently fixed to the bridge block. Such a permanent fixation both reduces the value of the guitar and adds the risk of potential damage due to incidental contact to the operating arm. As well, the guitar must be stored with the operating arm attached, eliminating the use of standard guitar cases. Also, the permanent connection makes the instrument essentially unusable by those not wishing to employ the tremolo.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,448 to Hennessey a tremolo device includes a rear mounted lever and connecting worm gear that alter string tension. Operation is by movement against the user's body. This device is integrated with the guitar and cannot be removed nor applied to guitars having conventional bridge designs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,684 to Duffy, a tremolo bar is secured to, and extends from, a guitar bridge to be operable from the back of the guitar. Tremolo effect is provided when a user moves the user's body against the tremolo bar. However, forces applied to the tremolo bar are directly transmitted to the bridge—and are not limited—such that the bridge attachment devices must restrain these forces, incurring risk of damage. The Duffy device requires a specialized bridge including a permanent stop and a pin secured to the face of the guitar. As discussed above, such permanent alterations of a guitar reduce value and usefulness and the forces transmitted to the bridge with the Duffy device easily alters the tuning of the instrument. As well the bridge design makes the Duffy device unusable with prior instruments.
What is desired is a "hands free" tremolo device that is simple and can be secured to conventional guitars having typical conventional pivoting bridge designs without significant alteration of the guitar and with no alteration of the bridge or other string tension control elements.


A down-the-hole percussive hammer includes a casing, a drill bit attached to a lower end of the casing, and a reciprocable hammer for impacting against the drill bit. A top sub attached to an upper end of the casing includes a central passage for conducting operating air for actuating the piston. A feed tube is attached to the top sub and extends along a center axis thereof. The feed tube includes vertically spaced outlet and re-entry ports sealed from one another by a seal disposed inside of the feed tube. The outlet and re-entry ports communicate with a chamber formed in the central passage. A check valve is disposed at an upper end of the feed tube. The check valve includes an elastic sleeve arranged to overlie the outlet port and to be elastically biased away from the outlet port by pressurized operating air, whereupon the operating air passes out of the feed tube through the outlet port and then back into the feed tube through the re-entry port.

The present invention relates to a percussive down-the-hole hammer for rock drilling, and a one-way valve used therein.
A prior art drill bit for a down-the-hole hammer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,322. The drill bit comprises an extended anvil portion on which a piston impacts repeatedly to advance the down-the-hole hammer through the rock. The piston is actuated by pressurized air that is conducted along a longitudinal central passage of the apparatus. That passage extends within a center of the piston and then is distributed alternately to upper and lower ends of the piston to reciprocate the piston.
It is necessary to provide a check valve in such a hammer in order to prevent the backflow of groundwater or debris during periods when the operating air is shut off. A conventional check valve, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,322, comprises a dart that is disposed within the central longitudinal passage and is biased upwardly against a seat by a metal coil spring. When the operating air is turned on, the air pressure pushes the open by compressing the spring. When the operating air is turned off, the spring pushes the dart closed. One disadvantage of such an arrangement is that the spring is susceptible to fatigue and corrosion and may eventually fail.
In WO 99/64711 a check valve is disclosed which comprises a rubber cylinder mounted on the outer circumference of the top sub (or xe2x80x9cbackheadxe2x80x9d). A shortcoming of such an arrangement is that the top sub is a wear item and occasionally needs to be replaced, requiring that the valve be replaced as well. Also, the air passing through the valve must be displace along the inside wall of the cylinder which complicates the delivery of the air as compared to an apparatus in which the air is conducted through a central passage of the hammer.
It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a down-the-hole percussive hammer wherein a check valve does not have to be replaced along with the top sub, and wherein operating air can be conducted along a central longitudinal passage upon exiting the top sub.
A first aspect of the present invention relates to a down-the-hole percussive hammer for rock drilling. The hammer comprises a generally cylindrical casing, and a drill bit disposed at a front end of the casing. A piston is mounted longitudinally behind the drill bit in the casing for reciprocation in a longitudinal direction for applying impacts to the drill bit during each forward stroke of the piston. A top sub is mounted in a rear portion of the casing and includes a central passage for supplying operating air for reciprocating the piston. The central passage includes a chamber disposed between front and rear ends of the top sub. A hollow feed tube is mounted within the central passage, with a segment of the feed tube disposed within the chamber. The segment includes longitudinally spaced air outlet and re-entry ports communicating with the chamber. The outlet port is disposed rearwardly of the re-entry port. A seal is disposed within the feed tube for sealing an interior of the feed tube between the outlet and re-entry ports. A check valve is provided for permitting a forward flow of operating fluid and preventing a rearward flow of fluid. The valve includes an elastically resilient sleeve extending around an outer circumference of the feed tube for blocking the outlet port from the chamber. The sleeve is elastically expandible away from the outlet port by pressurized operating air to open the outlet port and permit operating air to flow out of the outlet port and into the chamber and then into the re-entry port.
The invention also pertains to the feed tube per se.

Percussive down-the-hole hammer for rock drilling, and a one-way valve used therein


A fishing rod holder and pivoting fishing device that in response to a bite from a fish automatically sets the hook by raising the fishing rod. The device comprises a frame assembly including a generally vertical support member which may be attached to a boat, into the ground or some other appropriate location. A generally horizontal member supports a rod holding bracket. Along the back end of the device a helical spring member under tension allows the device to pivot rapidly in a generally upward direction to set the hook once a fish strikes the line. Further, the amount of axial displacement necessary to spring the device and set the hook may be adjusted to account for various types of fish or fishing conditions. The device further includes an audio and visual strike indicator that is easily removed from the device, and allows rapid removal of the fishing rod from the device in order to initiate the manual manipulation of the fishing rod required to land the fish.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to fishing apparatus, and more specifically to a fishing rod holder and pivoting fishing device that, in response to a strike from a fish, automatically sets the hook by raising the fishing rod.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Devices have been proposed by which a fishing rod may be held and the strike of a fish triggers rapid movement of the fishing rod to set the hook, thereby automatically catching a fish. Such devices are well known in the art as evidenced by the U.S. Patents to Gray, U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,286; Cross, U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,332; Coon et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,001; Gutierrez, U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,802; Zingrone, Pat. No. 5,491,923; Updike, U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,205; and Ford, U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,534.
The patent to Zingrone disclose a fishing rod holder wherein the holder is pivotally mounted to a support. The patent to Cross discloses a fishing rod holder, which swings upward to hook a fish, hingedly mounted to a support member having an adjustable trigger, a coil spring, and a visual indicator flag. The patent to Gray discloses a fish catching device that includes both audio and visual indication of that a fish has been caught. In addition, the trigger mechanism is tripped by tension placed on the fishing line. The patents to Coon et al., Gutierrez, and Updike also show line activated hook setting fishing rod holders. The patent to Ford discloses a motorized fishing jigger and hook setting device which may be coupled to an alarm that indicated activation of the hook setting mechanism.
However none of the prior art fishing devices allow for rapid removal of the fishing rod from the device in order to initiate the manual manipulation of the fishing rod required to land the fish. Nor do any of the prior art fishing devices include a easily removable battery operated sound producer and illumination device activated by a mercury bulb switch as audio and visual indicators that a fish has been hooked.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singularly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a fishing device solving the aforementioned problems is desired.


A cervical collar assembly to immobilize the neck and head of a user. The assembly includes an adjustable and conformable shell member having a pad member secured on its interior to engage the skin of the user. The shell member is comprised of a front member, a back member and means to adjustable join the front and back members. A chin support member is adjustably secured to the front member and an occipital support member is secured to the back member. The front and back members are provided with a plurality of elongated slits which permit the shell member to conform to the neck and head areas of the user. Further, the front member is provided with opposing upwardly extending tab members to engage the mandibula of a user""s jaw to aid in the immobilization of the neck and head of the user.

This invention relates generally to a cervical collar device to partially immobilize the head and neck of a patient while allowing comfortable extended wear. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved cervical collar assembly which allows comfortable extended wear while partially immobilizing the head and neck of a patient.
The cervical collar device or assembly is constructed and arranged to limit movement of the neck and head to treat neck pain and/or instability due to injury. The cervical collar device supports parts of the head and holds the head and neck in a fixed position by limiting flexion, extension, rotation and lateral movement of the head.
The cervical collar is formed of a stiff, semi-rigid plastic material comprising a front and back portion to form a shell collar structure. The front and back portions are joined and secured by hook and loop fasteners. The front portion provides an adjustable chin support that allows the flexion angle to be adjusted to fit a variety of patients or to meet a physician""s requirements. The front portion has side mandible controls included on the main body of the front portion to reduce lateral movement of the patient""s head.
Prior art cervical collar devices have relied primarily on chin support structures to control lateral movement of the head. However, the mandible controls of the present invention aid in reducing the feeling of the chin being constricted or giving the user a trapped feeling when wearing the cervical collar device of the invention. The back portion of the shell structure is of a two piece construction which provides an occipital support, which supports and contours to the patient""s head and neck, and which is attached to the main body of the back portion. The occipital support is constructed of a rigid plastic material and has a predetermined shape which mimics a human hand holding the back of the head using the thumb and forefinger. For example, the occipital support may have a xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d or triangular shape. The upper portion of the back piece xe2x80x9ccradlesxe2x80x9d the occipital region, restricting movement in all three planes. The occipital support is designed to equally distribute the weight of the head thereon. The shell structure of the collar device also has the slot patterns in both the front and back portions. These slots provide a device which allows greater conformity to the patient""s head and neck. These slots also reduce weight and provide air circulation through the device to produce a more breathable collar for extended wear.
The cervical collar device has a structural configuration to disperse and cushion the weight of the device and the resultant head and neck forces of the patient on the device. It has been found that a concentrated pressure over time to the patient""s body can result in skin breakdown, i.e., ulcerated skin. Thus, the bottoms of the front and back portions of the shell structure have a generally flat and rounded configuration to spread the weight across the sternum or chest areas. Further, edges of specified areas of the front and back portions may be provided with soft gasket members to further cushion the device against the patient""s body. The structural configuration of the cervical collar device has a structure to provide a stable device which minimizes pressure points and which is provided with cushioned gasket members.
The collar device is anatomically designed in multiple sizes to accommodate the physiology of various neck and head configurations and sizes. An object of the present invention is to provide a cervical collar assembly that provides conforming support to the head and neck while also providing patient comfort over extended periods of time.
In summary, the invention provides an adjustable structure having a xe2x80x9chook and catchxe2x80x9d chin support system, an occipital support system that contours to the natural shape of the patient""s head, slots and slot patterns allowing for a more adjustable and breathable collar, and mandible control tabs to restrict lateral and rotational movement of a patient""s head.


A private online social networking system and method that provides time released dispersal of pre-recorded digital video and images wherein users record digital content such as videos and images at a first time, select from several system-generated, user specific criterion for future time release of the digital content to pre-selected recipients via the system or other third party services such as social networks.

1. Technical Field
The Disclosure relates generally to the creation and management of a private online social networking system and more specifically to the time released dispersal of pre-recorded social networking content wherein the user creates digital video and images directly from a smartphone, tablet, personal computer, or other capable computing device that is securely uploaded and automatically time released based on system generated future criterion.
2. Background
According to the Go-Gulf.com 2012 worldwide statistics: 80% of humans own a mobile phone, there are 91.4 million smartphones in the United States alone, out of the 5 billion mobile phones in the world, 1.08 billion are smartphones, and 9 out of 10 smartphone users use their phone on a daily basis. In Feb. 16, 2012 The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) reported that consumers who are supplementing their digital photography with devices like smartphones and tablets and consider their smartphone to be their primary device for their photography needs has tripled in two years to 18 percent. Although consumers value the quality of digital cameras and camcorders, they do not want to miss out on great moments that are easily captured by smartphones and tablets and spontaneously shared.
The average user spends 128 minutes on their smartphone every day according to a survey conducted by European telecom 2 Jul. 2012. Checking social networks and camera usage (i.e. taking digital photos and recording digital videos) ranks among the top activities.
With the advancements in infrastructure and Internet coupled with the surge in global smartphone and tablet usage, access to social networks continually grow at a rapid pace spanning global demographics and socio economics.
Current social network systems lack real privacy and do not offer users the ability to securely store digital content. For example, once users upload photos to Facebook, it automatically becomes the property of Facebook and allows the social network to use all of the meta data associated with it, including location, places nearby, the date time and even who's in the photo. Among other things, the data is used to create user-targeted ads and sold to advertising companies. Content that is private to users such as a sentimental video recorded for a child or an image intended for a single end recipient becomes exposed and runs the risk of being leaked or compromised.
Current social network systems simply allow users to upload, disseminate, and share digital content such as video and images to friends/affiliates and the general public in the present state.
Various device vendors (i.e. Apple, Google) and third party providers allow users to automatically store and retrieve digital content directly from smartphone, tablets, and computing devices, however, these vendor and third party systems are limited to simplified storage and retrieval of digital content and do not offer intelligent methods such as time releasing the digital content for future events.
Current social network systems prohibit direct access to another user's social network content. Even in the event of a user's demise, only verified family members or affiliates can preserve and in some cases delete a dead user's social network content; ergo, dispersal of the dead user's digital content is not possible.
Collectively, these advancements in technology and voids in social network systems present a need for a simplified private online social network system and method that provides users the ability to pre-record digital video and images directly from a smartphone, tablet, personal computer, or other capable computing device and automatically time release it based on system generated future criterion.

System and method for private online social networking system and for time releasing pre-recorded digital content


A device for coupling together a copper pipe and a bolt pipe in an air conditioner. The copper pipe has first and second outwardly flared parts, while the bolt pipe has first and second inwardly inclined end surfaces. The end surfaces are brought into contact with the first and second flared parts, respectively, when the copper pipe is to be coupled to the bolt pipe. A nut is fitted over the copper pipe and is threadedly connected to the bolt pipe. The nut has first and second inclined shoulders on its inner surface which are brought into contact with the first and second flared parts, respectively, to push the flared parts against respective ones of the inclined end surfaces.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a device for interconnecting copper and bolt pipes, of an air conditioner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a typical device for coupling the copper and bolt pipes of an air conditioner includes a bolt pipe 10, which is coupled to the outdoor unit (not shown) of the air conditioner and is provided with an outer-threaded part 12, and through which the fluid refrigerant flows. The coupling device also includes a copper pipe 20 with a flared part 21. The copper pipe 20 is coupled to the indoor unit (not shown) of the air conditioner and supplies the fluid refrigerant from the outdoor unit to the indoor unit. The above coupling device further includes a nut 30, which couples the copper pipe 20 to the bolt pipe 10 through a flared-type pipe joint. In the above flared-type pipe joint, one end of the nut 30 is tightly fitted over the flared part 21 of the copper pipe 20 while compressing the flared part 21 onto the end of the bolt pipe 10, thus preventing leakage of the fluid refrigerant from the coupled pipes 10 and 20. The other end of the nut 30 is screwed onto the outer-threaded part 12 of the bolt pipe 10.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the end surface of the bolt pipe 10 is inclined in order to form an inclined surface 11, which is brought into close contact with the flared part 21 of the copper pipe 20. The cylindrical end portion of the bolt pipe 10, which is spaced apart from the inclined surface 11, is externally threaded in order to form the outer-threaded part 12. The outer-threaded part 12 of the bolt pipe 10 is brought into engagement with the inner-threaded part 33 of the nut 30.
As shown in FIG. 1, the flared part 21 of the copper pipe 20, which comes into close contact with the inclined end surface 11 of the bolt pipe 10, is formed by bulging one end of the copper pipe 20 so that the flared part 21 is bent thereby forming the inclined surface corresponding to the inclined end surface 11 of the bolt pipe 10.
Meanwhile, the center of the nut 30 is axially bored in order to form an axial opening 31, through which the copper pipe 20 is tightly fitted into the nut 30 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The upper section of the inner surface of the opening 31 is inclined in order to form an inclined shoulder 32, which is brought into contact with the outer surface of the flared part 21 of the copper pipe 20.
However, the above coupling device has the following problems. That is, the flared part 21 of the copper pipe 20 is formed by bulging the end of the pipe 20 so that the flared part 21 is bent. In addition, both the inclined end surface 11 of the bolt pipe 10 and the inclined shoulder 32 of the nut 30, which are brought into contact with the inner and outer surfaces of the flared part 21 respectively, are inclined in the same manner as the flared part 21. In this regard, the bent portion of the flared part 21 of the copper pipe 20 is hardened during the bulging process forming the flared part 21. Therefore, when the nut 30 has been tightened in order to couple the copper pipe 20 to the bolt pipe 10 for a lengthy period of time and is loosened in order to separate the copper pipe 20 from the bolt pipe 10, the bent portion of the hardened flared part 21 may be easily cracked or cut so that the copper pipe 20 must be replaced by a new one. Another problem of the above coupling device resides in that the bolt pipe 10 may be easily moved relative to the copper pipe 20 or be damaged thereby causing leakage of the fluid refrigerant from the junction around the flared part 21.

Pipe coupling apparatus for use in air conditioners


A headrest for a motor vehicle seat is crash active in that it has a mechanism for automatically bringing the head-engaging member toward the head of the passenger in the case of a crash. This mechanism includes a slide guided on a pair of cylindrical members surrounded by springs and having a tooth-forming part of a return travel lock preventing return of the slide to its starting position. In that position a releasable coupling device has a primary coupling element engaged with a secondary coupling element which may be a hairpin-shaped bent wire.

In EP 0 974 484 B1 a headrest of this type is described. With this kind of headrest there is the advantage that energy stored by mechanical means, for example, in a stressed spring, can be used to move the head-engaging member toward the back of the head of the passenger, thereby avoiding sharp changes in direction of the head by whiplash in the case of an accident.
EP 0 974 484 B1 describes a mechanical force or energy-storing spring system in which the spring is provided between two members telescopingly fitted one into the other and in which an inadvertent inward movement of the head-engaging member is prevented by a lock preventing backward movement of that member. The device preventing the backward movement comprised two levers acting upon the head-engaging member. This system has the advantage of compact and simple construction.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,973,029 describes a headrest whose cushion carrier is affixed to a ram-like support rod. In the case of a load upon the head-engaging member the headrest and this support bar is displaced into a space in the seat back against the force of a coil compression spring. The support bar has a rachet arrangement of teeth engageable by a pawl so that the headrest can be held in its inwardly displaced position.
The device known from this patent cannot be considered to have a crash-active head support.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,278,291 describes a headrest for a vehicle seat with a movable part in the form of a linear lock with a hand-actuatable locking pin or pawl. A coil compression spring biases the head-engaging member continuously outwardly. If the passenger prefers a particular ergonomic head position, he or she must actuate the pawl and the movable part of the head support. This system as well cannot be deemed to be a crash-active headrest, i.e. one which automatically responds to a crash.
DE 101 38 248 C1 describes a crash-active head support in which the outward movement of the head support member is effected by a transmission. The transmission is combined with a linear directional lock functioning as a back-movement preventer.
DE 200 21 127 U1 (compare FIG. 12) describes a headrest in which the spring-supported outward movement is blocked by two racks which are offset from one another.


A pair of support assemblies for an upper rack of a washer. Each of the support assemblies includes an arm, a bracket, a carriage, and a lever. The arms each have a plurality of vertical teeth. The carriages are movably disposed within the tracks. The carriages are respectively joined to the arms and each have a pair of wheels rotatably mounted thereto. The brackets are respectively attached to opposing side structures of the upper rack. The brackets each define a passage through which one of the arms extends. The brackets are movable along the arms so as to permit the upper rack to be movable between a plurality of vertical positions. A pair of levers are respectively joined to the brackets and each have a detent. The detents are engaged with the arms so as to lock the brackets to the arms at a first one of the vertical positions. The levers are resiliently movable to permit the detents to be disengaged from the arms, thereby permitting the upper rack to be moved to a second one of the vertical positions, where the detents can be re-engaged with the arms to lock the brackets to the arms at the second one of the vertical positions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to washers in general and, more particularly, to dishwashers having an adjustable upper dishrack.
2. Description of the Related Art
A front-loading washer, such as a dishwasher, typically includes a tub having an open front. The tub defines a wash chamber wherein wash items, such as dishes, are cleansed with a wash fluid. The washer is usually provided with a horizontally-pivoting door for closing the open front, and upper and lower dishracks for holding wash items. The upper and lower dishracks are separated by a vertical spacing and are usually movable in and out of the wash chamber so as to permit wash items to be loaded into, or unloaded from, the upper and lower dishracks.
Conventionally, the upper dishrack is provided with wheel assemblies to permit the upper dishrack to move in and out of the wash chamber. The wheel assemblies are attached to opposing sides of the upper dishrack and are carried in tracks secured to opposing side walls of the tub. The wheel assemblies roll along the tracks when the upper dishrack is moved into, or out of, the wash chamber.
Since the height and width of a washer is typically limited by industry standards, it has been found advantageous to enable the vertical spacing between the upper and lower dishracks to be changed so as to maximize the use of available space in the wash chamber. Specifically, it has been found advantageous to be able to change the height or vertical level of the upper dishrack so that large items, such as cookie sheets or tall glasses can be placed in the lower dishrack without contacting the bottom of the upper dishrack. Accordingly, prior art front-loading dishwashers have been developed to provide a vertically-adjustable upper dishrack. Examples of such prior art dishwashers include U.S. Pat. No. 5,474,378 to Smith et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,736,037 to Doepke, U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,580 to Guth and U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,581 to Doepke, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Each of the foregoing references shows a front-loading dishwasher with an upper dishrack supported by four vertically-adjustable support assemblies. The support assemblies each have first and second members slidably interconnected with each other. The first member is attached to the upper dishrack, while the second member is interconnected with a wheel received within a track supported on a side wall of a tub. One of the first and second members is resiliently movable to change the height of the support assembly.
In 037 Doepke, Guth and 581 Doepke, the support assemblies are complicated devices. In each of these references, springs are utilized to make the first or second members resiliently movable, and the first members appear to be welded or otherwise permanently joined to the upper dishrack. In addition, in each of these references, two of the support assemblies are located on each side of the upper dishrack, and are connected together by a control linkage. As can be appreciated, such complicated support assemblies are expensive to manufacture and install. Furthermore, in each of these references, the support assemblies can only be accessed from underneath the upper dishrack.
Smith addresses some of the disadvantages of 037 Doepke, Guth and 581 Doepke. For example, the support assemblies in Smith appear to be relatively inexpensive to manufacture and can be accessed from above the upper dishrack. The support assemblies in Smith, however, require greater operator manipulation to change the height of the upper dishrack than 037 Doepke, Guth and 581 Doepke. In Smith, each one of the support assemblies must be individually manipulated, whereas in 037 Doepke, Guth and 581 Doepke, the support assemblies are manipulated in pairs. In addition, the support assemblies in Smith must be manipulated by an operator when the upper dishrack is both raised and lowered, whereas in 037 Doepke, Guth and 581 Doepke, the support assemblies only need to be manipulated by an operator when the upper dishrack is lowered.
In Smith, there are first and second pairs of adjustable support assemblies respectively attached to opposing sides of the upper dishrack. In each of the support assemblies, the first member is a unitary housing that defines a plurality of vertically aligned slots, and the second member is a flex plate slidably interconnected with the housing. The flex plate has a positioning rib that is received within a first one of the slots in the housing so as to secure the housing from vertical movement relative to the flex plate. A wheel is rotatably secured to the flex plate. The wheel is movably secured within the track secured to the side wall of the tub. In order to move the housing upward or downward, the flex plate must be flexed outward to disengage the positioning rib from the first one of the slots. The positioning rib is then moved into alignment with a second one of the slots. The flex plate is then released to allow the positioning rib to engage the second one of the slots. By manipulating all four of the support assemblies in this manner, the dish rack may be moved between a plurality of vertical positions.
With the Smith support assemblies, an operator will not be able to adjust the height of the upper dishrack in one operation because the operator will need to adjust four separate support assemblies. At most, the operator will only be able to adjust two of the support assemblies at one time.
Based upon the foregoing, there is a need in the art for an adjustable support assembly for an upper dishrack wherein the support assembly is inexpensive to manufacture and install, and permits an operator to adjust the height of the upper dishrack without excessive manipulation. The present invention is directed to such an adjustable support assembly.


A motor-driven power steering control apparatus assuring consistently comfortable steering operation of a motor vehicle includes a steering state detector (10), a motor drive command value arithmetic device (20), a trouble detector (40), a motor drive command value corrector (51, 52) for decrementing a motor drive command value outputted from the motor drive command value corrector (51) from a predetermined initial value as a function of time lapse when a trouble detection signal is outputted from the trouble detector (40), and an element (30) for driving an assist motor in conformance with the output of the motor drive command value corrector (51, 52). The motor drive command value corrector (51, 52) includes a low-pass filter (515) for smoothing the motor drive command value. A value acquired through the low-pass filter (515) is employed as the predetermined initial value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a motor-driven power steering control apparatus for controlling a motor-driven power steering system installed on an automobile or motor vehicle or the like. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with an improvement of the motor-driven power steering control apparatus such that steering operation can be performed without bringing about discomfort or offensiveness in the driver of the motor vehicle upon stoppage of a power assist in response to detection of an abnormality or trouble in the control apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
The conventional motor-driven power steering control apparatus known heretofore includes a steering state detecting means composed of a steering torque detecting means for detecting a steering torque, a steering velocity detecting means for detecting a steering velocity and a vehicle speed detecting means for detecting a vehicle seed. Further, the control apparatus includes a motor drive command value arithmetic means for arithmetically determining a motor drive command value on the basis of a detection signal outputted from the steering state detecting means, a motor driving means for driving an assist motor of the steering system on the basis of the motor drive command value, a trouble detecting means for detecting a trouble of the control apparatus to output a trouble detection signal and a motor drive command value correcting means for decrementing as a function of time lapse the above-mentioned motor drive command value on the basis of the detection signal outputted from the trouble detecting means. (For more particulars, reference may have to be made to Japanese Patent Publication No. 94227/1995 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 81590/1995 (JP-A-1995-81590)).
In the conventional motor-driven power steering control apparatus mentioned above, the motor drive command value is not instantaneously set to zero when a trouble of the control apparatus is detected but the motor drive command value having been effective immediately before the occurrence of trouble is set as an initial value which is then gradually decreased or decremented as a function of time lapse to thereby suppress raid change of the steering torque upon occurrence of the trouble so that the driver of the motor vehicle can get free of the feeling of discomfort in his or her steering operation.
The conventional motor-driven power steering control apparatus mentioned above suffers a problem that when occurrence of a trouble is detected in the control apparatus at the moment the driver turns quickly or steeply the steering wheel or the moment a wheel or wheels of the motor vehicle drop into a rut in a road in the course of running, the motor drive command value increased instantaneously is stored as the initial value to be decremented from which gradual decreasing or decrementing of the motor drive command value is started, as a result of which the driver will feel discomfort in the steering operation because it becomes light or heavy as compared with the ordinary steering.
In addition, when the driver reverses the steering direction in the course of decrementing the motor drive command value after detection of trouble in the control apparatus, the motor torque is imposed as a load on the driver, as a result of which the steering operation (i.e., manipulation of the steering wheel) becomes heavier, giving rise to a problem.

Motor-driven power steering control apparatus


A removable cover for a snowboard having an elongated, longitudinally expandable bottom portion of configuration substantially that of a snowboard bottom surface and a C-shaped expandable collar secured to and circumscribing the bottom portion, the collar being configured to receive the circumferential edge of a snowboard.

Snow skiing is one of the fastest growing participation sports in the world as more and more skiing facilities have been constructed. Like waterskiing which started with skiers using a ski on each foot as pulled by means of a rope behind a power boat that evolved into the typical water skier using a single ski or "slalom" ski, in recent years the use of a single ski for snow skiing has also grown in popularity. A single ski for use on snow is commonly known as a "snowboard". Present snowboards bear little resemblance to a typical ski in that they are shorter, wider and of different contour. A good snowboard is designed to incorporate a flat bottom surface, rounded front and tail ends with square, sharp edges extending from the front to the tail. The smoothness and condition of the bottom surface and the sharpness of the side edges are critical in obtaining superior performance by a skilled user of a snowboard. Skilled snowboard users frequently have more than one snowboard, that is, a longer model for mountain skiing and a shorter model for the popular snowboard parks where more acrobatic skills are employed.
Because of the criticality of maintaining a smooth bottom surface and sharp edges on the sides of the snowboard, they are susceptible to damage. Particularly, the critical cutting edges of the sides are easily damaged when a snowboard is transported from one place to another, such as in a trunk of an automobile.
An object of the present invention is to provide a protective cover for a snowboard to protect the board both in transit and storage, and particularly, to protect the smooth bottom surface and the edges of the sides. Further, an important aspect of the invention is the provision of a protective cover having means to adjust to properly fit and envelope the entire base, edges, and sidewalls of various length snowboards.
Others have provided protective covers for various board types of sporting equipment. As an example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,912 entitled "Ski Protector" that issued on Feb. 8, 1977 provides a one-piece ski protector of material that can be stretched sufficiently so as to enable the skier to fit one end of the protector over the toe end of the ski and the other end over the heel end, the resiliency or elasticity permitting use of the device on various sizes of skis. While the ski protector disclosed in this patent teaches the basic concept of a device having elastic qualities to stretch over the opposed ends of a ski it does not provide components to protect the bottom surface of a snowboard nor does it provide sufficient protection for the side edges.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,050 also entitled "Ski Protector" includes a ski-shaped rubber boot that stretches over the ends, longitudinal edges and bottom of a ski but, as has been stated with reference to U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,912, the structure in U.S. Pat. No. 4,012,050 does not provide adequate protection for the bottom surface of a snowboard nor sufficient padding for protection of the cutting edges along the snowboard sides.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,952 entitled "Surfboard Horizontal Control Surface Protection Method and Apparatus" that issued on Jan. 19, 1988 shows an apparatus for protecting a surfboard but in which only the edges of the surfboard are protected from the forward to the rearward end and along both sides but wherein the bottom surface remains unprotected. Applying the principles of this invention to a snowboard would not afford to a user necessary protection of the critical bottom surface. Further, this patent shows a device having relatively thin material along the side edges and in general does not provide the protection required for a snowboard.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,506 entitled "Skateboard Carrier" that issued on Mar. 3, 1992 provides a carrier specifically for a skateboard of the type that has wheels and includes individual right wing and left wing portions with a plurality of inflation chambers and including the use of straps having Velcro attachments. This patent is primarily concerned with a way to encompass a skateboard to facilitate carrying the skateboard and is not specifically concerned with protection of a skateboard bottom surface, since such surface has wheels mounted thereon, nor the side edges since the integrity of the side edges of a skateboard are not relevant to the use of the board.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,550 entitled "Protective Cover For Snowboard or The Like" issued Nov. 17, 1992 illustrates a protective cover having an elastic elongated panel having an elastic cord around its outer peripheral edge that is stretched in order to permit the insertion of a snowboard so that the bottom of the snowboard is covered by the panel and the elastic cord engages the top surface of the panel with reinforcing layers provided along the surrounding edges of the panel to overlap the edges of the snowboard. This device provides for protection of the edges of the snowboard but relies primarily upon Velcro-type straps to hold it in position and does not provide for adequate protection of the board bottom. Particularly, the device as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,163,550 does not show a snowboard cover that provides secure protection for the bottom surface but is nevertheless expandable so that the cover can accept a variety of lengths of snowboards.
These previously issued United States patents are representative of the state of the art to which the present invention is directed and illustrate that, while others have demonstrated an appreciation of the need to protect boards used in sporting activities, none have provided protection for all the critical areas required for a snowboard.
A better understanding of the invention will be obtained from the following description of the preferred embodiments and claims, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings.


A method of validating functional testing of system circuitry on an integrated circuit chip, the system circuitry configured to perform a plurality of functions, the integrated circuit chip further comprising debugging circuitry under the control of a debug controller, the debugging circuitry comprising at least one debug unit. The method comprises: at the system circuitry, performing one of the plurality of functions; applying a debug configuration to the at least one debug unit; and at the at least one debug unit, monitoring for a characteristic in the system circuitry's performance of the one of the plurality of functions according to that debug configuration, and reporting to the debug controller.

This disclosure relates to debugging circuitry on an integrated circuit chip. The disclosure is particularly relevant to functionally testing circuitry on an operational integrated circuit chip.
In the past, an embedded system which had multiple core devices (processors, memories etc.) would have been incorporated onto a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and connected on the PCB via buses. Traffic in the embedded system was conveyed over these buses. This arrangement was convenient for debugging the core devices, because debugging tools such as oscilloscopes and logic analyzers could be attached to the PCB's buses allowing direct access to the core devices.
Market demand for smaller products coupled with advances in semiconductor technology has led to the development of System-on-Chip (SoC) devices. In a SoC, the multiple core devices of an embedded system are integrated onto a single chip. In a SoC, the traffic in the embedded system is conveyed over internal buses, thus connection of debugging tools directly to the system bus is no longer possible. The resulting reduced access coupled with an increasing quantity of data being transported around the chip (due to developments of SoC technology leading to integration of multiple processing cores and higher internal clocking frequencies), has reduced the ability of external debugging tools to find and solve bugs within the system in the timescales demanded by the industry.
These days, two types of testing are commonly performed to identify problems with a SoC device prior to it being placed on the market. The first type of test is known as Design for Test (DfT). DfT is implemented on a chip which is operating in a dedicated test mode. This dedicated test mode is mutually exclusive to the end-use functional mode which the chip operates in in the final application product. The purpose of the DfT is to determine if the chip hardware has been manufactured correctly, and to identify any problems if it has not. DfT does not, and is not capable of, testing the operational functionality of the chip. In other words, DfT does not, and is not capable of, testing the functionality of the chip whilst the chip is operating in its end-use functional mode.
The second type of test is known as functional testing. Due to the problems outlined above, functional testing of an embedded system is generally done in a simulation environment. Typically, a validation plan is generated which itemises the functions of the SoC that are to be tested. Each function is simulated and functional coverage software is used to record the outcome. The outcome is then reviewed, and if as expected, that function is determined to have been successfully validated. A problem with simulation environments for hardware circuits is that they are extremely slow compared to the SoC hardware operating in normal conditions (about 1/10,000,000). Consequently, functional testing of even basic functions takes a very long time to run, often equivalent to several years' time if on a single processor. Chip designs comprise many subassemblies that may be validated independently before being assembled into a complete chip. Thorough validation of a complete SoC design using a simulator is thus impractical. Hardware emulators can be used, which are faster and have a higher capacity than simulators making them more suitable for validating complete chip designs. But hardware emulators are still significantly slower than the SoC hardware operating in normal conditions (about 1/1000). They are also very costly, and thus a scarce resource that is rationed even if available. A further option is to perform the validation on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) device. An application with a single FPGA is significantly quicker than a simulator or emulator, but still slower than the SoC hardware operating in normal conditions (about 1/10). When the design is spread over several FPGA devices the speed drops to those comparable with a hardware emulator (about 1/1000). It is also very time consuming to port a SoC design to a FPGA, and difficult to determine the functional coverage metrics.
These limitations coupled with the cost and time pressures of the industry result in very limited functional testing of complete chip designs, and hence very limited validation being undertaken on the embedded systems prior to them being released to the market. Consequently, once a SoC is released to the market, and being operated at full-speed under normal conditions, bugs surface which were not detected during the validation process. Thus, there is a need for improved functional testing of SoC devices.

Monitoring functional testing of an integrated circuit chip


Inductive position sensors and circuit configurations are disclosed for the measurement of linear, rotary, or curved position along a motion axis. The simplified sensor structures combine one or two parts of a movable core element with a simple planar substrate having first and second inductances connected in series. Movement of the core element in parallel to the planar substrate causing the impedance of at least one of the inductances to change. Simple circuit configurations are taught by which the impedance change is converted into a useful output signal that indicates position along the motion axis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sensors and transducers for the measurement of position. The measured position is typically that of a linear or rotary motion; alternatively, the motion may take the form of a curved path. The position measuring element, also called the primary sensor or the sensing element, is herein called the sensor. The sensor translates the measurand into a usable electrical signal called the sensor output. The present invention teaches a non-contact sensor comprising stationary and movable component parts, the measurement being the position of the movable part, called the movable element, with respect to the stationary part, called the stationary element. A driver circuit drives the sensor, and a signal conditioning circuit converts the sensor output into a standard electrical signal transducer output, such as zero to ten volts DC. An electronics module comprises the driver and signal conditioning circuits. The combination of the sensor, electronics module, housing and other components together form a functional position sensing device, called the transducer.
The present invention relates to a novel configuration of an inductive type of position sensor and associated electronic circuits. The present invention teaches an absolute, non-contact sensor and transducer, but alternatively, relative measurements can be derived from the absolute position data by storing and subtracting data, as is well known in the art.
More particularly, the present invention relates to an inductive position transducer having a sensor that measures the relative position of a conductive or ferromagnetic movable element, comprising one or more parts, with respect to a stationary element that includes at least two inductors. The path over which the position is measured is called the motion axis.
A position change of the movable element results in associated changes in the inductances of the inductors. The inductance changes are indicated through the use of an electronic circuit that responds to the resulting changes in impedance of the inductors.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art inductive linear and rotary position sensors and transducers have disclosed a plurality of planar circuit boards onto which are disposed spiral conductive structures. Brosh, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,079, teaches a displacement sensor in which an array of such planar circuit boards are stacked, approximating the configuration of the well known LVDT (linear variable differential transformer). The spiral conductive structures each manifest a central hole, through which a magnetic core is disposed, whereby motion of the magnetic core results in variation of the coupling between primary and secondary windings of the spiral conductive structures.
Brosh, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,638, teaches a rotary sensor formed of first and second planar circuit boards onto which four flat coils are disposed and arranged at ninety degree intervals. A rotatable plate capable of blocking a magnetic field is positioned between the first and second planar circuit boards and rotates about an eccentric axis. The assembly generates sine and cosine electrical outputs as the plate is rotated.
Fiori, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,436, teaches a rotary sensor having first and second planar metal coils, not connected in series, attached to a first insulating board, and third and fourth planar coils, not connected in series, attached to a second insulating board, and a rotating planar metal member disposed between the first and second insulating boards. A first inductance is formed by series connection of the first and third coils, and a second inductance is formed by series connection of the second and fourth coils.
Each of these prior art methods utilizes a sensing element having coils formed on more than one planar circuit board, and requires complex circuitry in order to develop a useful position output electrical signal. Using multiple planar circuit boards, and the required interconnections, also leads to higher cost and labor than designs according to the present invention.

Simplified inductive position sensor and circuit configuration


The invention relates to equipment for producing cool packs containing an amount of carbon-dioxide snow, which includes: a set of at least two cells, each of which is capable of receiving and supporting a shell to be filled; a feeding tube connected, at the upstream portion thereof, to a liquid CO2 source; a set of at least two injection manifolds, each injection manifold being located opposite a cell in which a casing to be filled is to be positioned, and each manifold being connected, at the upstream portion thereof, to the feeding tube, wherein each manifold comprises an injection port at at least one location along the length thereof, the equipment being characterized in that: i) the end of each manifold opposite the feeding tube is formed as a sealed end provided in the form of a substantially rounded tip; j) each injection port located on a manifold is a provided as a threaded opening having a given diameter D and is capable of receiving an injection nozzle by means of screwing; k) said equipment comprises at least two injection nozzles, each injection nozzle being provided in the form of a part that is cylindrical over at least a portion of the length thereof, said cylinder being a hollow cylinder, the threaded outer diameter of which is equal to the diameter D of at least one of the threaded openings of at least one of the manifolds, and the inner diameter d of which is less than D.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of devices for packaging carbon dioxide snow inside a plastic film.
2. Related Art
It is known that frozen, deep-frozen or even fresh products, notably foodstuffs, which have to be kept at a controlled temperature of +2° C. to −20° C., or even less, with no break in their cold chain from the time that they are cooled, frozen or deep-frozen to the time of their use, require warehouses, means of transport and stores which are fitted with refrigeration installations, which at the present day are generally electric. However, in many cases, it is impossible to transport the products without removing them from the refrigeration installation in which they are being stored, and the risks of a rise in temperature are then great, particularly if the climatic conditions are unfavorable. In order to avoid such a rise in temperature during their transport, it is common practice for such products to be placed in an environment that is kept at a controlled temperature in an isothermal chamber. Temperature regulation is ensured for example by slow sublimation of carbon dioxide snow packaged in bags made of perforated plastic film. Carbon dioxide snow is a relatively inexpensive product which has an attractive refrigeration value: 573 kJ/kg of snow. Its temperature of around −80° C. ensures that the products can be kept cold for relatively lengthy periods.
By way of illustration, reference may be made to document EP-1 186 842 which describes a device for automatically and continuously packaging carbon dioxide snow in a plastic film.
Reference may also be made to documents FR-2 604 243 or EP-823 600, or even to U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,233 which describe cooling blocks containing a mass of carbon dioxide snow.
Reference may also be made to document EP-1 090 259, which describes a method and an installation for obtaining cooling blocks made up of a wrapper made of a porous material (capable of withstanding low temperatures of below 1° C.) containing a mass of carbon dioxide snow enclosed and contained in the wrapper, the wrapper being made of a material which, as this document indicates, has a "porosity to air of between 100 and 500 m3/m2/mn for an air pressure of the order of 196 Pa", for example made of a nonwoven polypropylene.
A manual bagging machine is therefore a piece of equipment which, using a source of liquid CO2, can be used, by expansion, to generate carbon dioxide snow directly in bags made of a porous material (generally woven polypropylene). The amount of snow can be adapted according to the injection time used, and according to the supply pressure of the liquid CO2. The equipment available on the market generally seeks to be able to fill several bags simultaneously.
The injectors installed on the manual bagging machines available are usually formed of perforated tubes.
By way of example, as schematically illustrated in the attached FIG. 1 which relates to the prior art, a feed tube, connected at its upstream part to a source of liquid CO2, feeds a set of injection pipes, each facing a cell in which a bag that is to be filled will be positioned, and each connected at its upstream part to an electrically operated valve (directly or alternatively via primary tubes to which they are welded).
Each injection pipe has an injection orifice machined along its length, and it will therefore be appreciated that, in order to change the injection delivery rate, it was necessary to remove one or more of the injection pipes and modify (remachine) the injection orifice, something which represents a complicated exercise offering little flexibility.
This configuration of the prior art did, on the other hand, ensure perfect rigidity, something which is needed for comfortably introducing the bags and for removing the bags.

Equipment for producing cooling packs consisting of a shell made of a porous material containing an amount of carbon-dioxide snow enclosed and retained inside the casing

L'Air Liquide Société Anonyme Pour L'Étude Et L'Exploitation Des Procedes Georges Claude


A rear entertainment system has a voice synthesis circuit, an OSD unit, a video camera, a DVD playback unit, a rear monitor, a navigation unit, a mixer, an IR circuit, and headphones. The voice synthesis circuit and the OSD unit receive driving information from a handle, a brake, a winker, and so on. The voice synthesis circuit presents the driving condition in an audio form, while the OSD unit presents the driving condition in a video form. The video camera takes a scene in a forward direction. The navigation unit supports the driving of the vehicle. The mixer synthesizes the voice output of the voice synthesis circuit, audio signals from the DVD playback unit and audio signals from the navigation unit. The IR circuit converts the synthesized audio signals into IR signals. The headphones receive the IR signals from the IR circuit and convert the IR signals into audio.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technical field of a rear entertainment system and a control method thereof enabling a fellow passenger other than a driver in a movable body such as a vehicle, for example, a fellow passenger sitting in a rear seat to be entertained with video or music.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, such a rear entertainment system is disposed independently of a navigation screen disposed at a driver's seat or a front seat, and designed so that movies or news can be watched or listened to in a rear seat through a rear seat monitor. Particularly, audio is typically listened to with headphones so as not to be disturbed by noise including the driving noise of the vehicle or music for the front seat.
However, according to this system, when the vehicle turns or slows down, the audience cannot anticipate such an operation so that the audience cannot take a safe posture. Further, this invites motion sickness.
To cope with this problem, for example, technically, a navigation screen similar to that displayed on the driver's seat monitor can be displayed in the rear seat monitor. However, the navigation screen does not match the intended purpose of the rear entertainment.

Rear entertainment system and control method thereof


The present invention provides an antenna in which first and second conductors each having a first width are spirally arranged on first and second planes, respectively, such that a conductor-to-conductor distance is equal to a second width, and an inter ends of spirals of the first and second conductors are connected with a conductor. In this antenna, the direction in which the spiral of the first conductor runs from its outer end to its inter end and the direction in which the spiral of the second conductor runs from its inter end to its outer end correspond to each other, the first width is greater than or equal to the second width, and the first and second conductors are alternately arranged in at least a portion thereof as viewed in a radius direction from an axis of the spiral.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna for transferring power.
Description of the Related Art
With wireless power transfer, in order to achieve an improvement in transfer efficiency or an extension of the transfer distance, the idea of reducing the resistance of an antenna while increasing the inductance value of the antenna has been proposed. The inductance value of the antenna can be increased by increasing the size of the antenna, or increasing the number of turns of its coil. However, the antenna size is limited by a wireless communication apparatus on which the antenna is mounted. There is also a limit to increasing the number of turns of the coil due to the size of the wireless communication apparatus. If the number of turns is increased in a small space, conductors constituting the antenna are closely located to each other, which may increase the resistance due to the stray capacitance or proximity effect generated between the conductors.
Meanwhile, the idea of forming a coil on a multi-layer substrate in which a plurality of substrates are stacked has been proposed. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-145267 discloses a technique for increasing the inductance value by constituting an RFID antenna with a multi-layer structure. However, according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-145267, a spiral conductor is arranged on a front surface and a back surface of a substrate such that the conductor formed on the front surface and the conductor formed on the back surface face each other. Accordingly, the resistance component increases due to the stray capacitance or proximity effect generated between the conductor formed on the front surface and the conductor formed on the back surface.
Here, Q factor of the coil in the antenna is given by the following equation:Q=2πfL/r  (1),
where L represents the inductance of the antenna, and r represents the internal resistance of the antenna. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-145267 relates to an antenna designed for RFID. With RFID antennas, because Q is set to a low value, it is important to increase the internal resistance according to an increase in the inductance. With wireless power transfer, on the other hand, the internal resistance affects the transfer efficiency, and it is therefore important to minimize the internal resistance while increasing the inductance value.
Meanwhile, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2012-120410 and 2011-086890 disclose a multi-layer structure in which a conductor pattern on the front surface and a conductor pattern on the back surface are arranged such that they are offset from each other. According to the techniques disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2012-120410 and 2011-086890, in order to suppress the stray capacitance generated when the front surface pattern and the back surface pattern are formed to be aligned, the conductor-to-conductor gap is set to be greater than the conductor width so as to reduce the stray capacitance.
The methods of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2012-120410 and 2011-086890, however, are problematic in that there is a limit to miniaturization of the antennas because the conductor arranged on a first layer and the conductor arranged on a second layer need to be spaced apart from each other by an appropriate distance in order to reduce the stray capacitance between a plurality of layers.
The present invention has been conceived to address the problems described above, and provides a miniaturized antenna whose resistance is reduced while its inductance value is increased.


A double-aerosol device including: inner containers that separately store a plurality of types of hair treatment compositions used by mixing as hair dye, a decoloring agent, or dye remover; and an outer container in which a plurality of inner containers are stored; in which the hair treatment compositions are discharged to the outside by contracting the inner containers by a pressure of propellant, the outer container is configured such that at least a part of the inside of the outer container is visible so as to confirm remaining amounts of the hair treatment compositions, and the inner containers store the hair treatment compositions in pouches.

A double-aerosol device is known which has a double container structure formed of an inner container storing contents and an outer container storing the inner container, and has a structure to discharge the contents to the outside by a pressure of propellant filled in a space between the outer container and the inner container. As the double-aerosol device of such a type, a duplex can container is widely used, in which two aerosol containers respectively store one inner bag (inner container) in one can (outer container) and are arranged in parallel, a first agent such as hair dye is stored in one inner bag and a second agent is stored in the other inner bag.
Meanwhile, a double-aerosol device that is configured such that two inner containers are stored in one outer container is also proposed (see PTL 1). Specifically, in order to grasp a remaining amount of contents based on a degree of deformation of the inner container, the double-aerosol device configured to store two inner bags (inner containers) formed in a tuck-folded pleat shape in a transparent outer container is disclosed in PTL 1.


There is disclosed a process for efficiently producing 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene used for the production of polyethylene naphthalate which comprises subjecting 2-methyl-1-(p-tolyl)butene and/or 2-methyl-1-(p-tolyl)butane as a starting raw material to cyclization dehydrogenation reaction by the use of a catalyst comprising a platinum component and at least one component selected from the group consisting of alkali metals and alkaline earth metals each being supported on aluminum oxide. The above process enables the production of the objective compound in a high yield at a low cost by using the catalyst having high safety and stability from the widely available starting material, thereby enhancing the industrial significance of the process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for production of 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene. More particularly, it pertains to a process for efficiently producing 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene useful as a starting raw material for 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylic acid by the use of a specific catalyst.
2. Description of Related Art
Polyethylene naphthalate which is obtained by the condensation reaction of 2,6-naphthalene dicarboxylic acid with ethylene glycol is excellent in tensile strength and heat resistance and is widely used for fibers and films.
2,6-Naphthalene dicarboxylic acid which is subjected to condensation reaction in the production of polyethylene naphthalate is generally derived from 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene, which has an industrially important use as a starting raw material for the production of such high-performance polyester.
2,6-Dimethylnaphthalene has heretofore been obtained by isolating it from a coal tar fraction or a fraction of heavy oil subjected to fluid catalytic cracking (FCC). However, the aforementioned isolation process affords the fraction in the form of mixture containing almost all the types of methyl group-position isomers such as 1,2-, 1,3-, 1,4-, 1,5-, 1,6-, 1,7-, 1,8-, 2,3- and 2,7-dimethylnaphthalene in addition to the objective 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene. Thus, the process for isolating and purifying 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene from such fraction mixture suffers the disadvantage of a number of steps and high cost required in the production thereof, making itself unsuitable for inexpensive mass-production of 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene.
There have recently been proposed several processes for producing 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene from a variety of starting raw materials, but there has not yet been established an industrial production process capable of efficiently and selectively synthesizing 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene by the use of inexpensive starting raw material available in a large quantity.
Examples of the above-mentioned process include the process disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 172937/1985, 29536/1987 and 8344/1988 in which naphthalene or monomethylnaphthalene is methylated into dimethylnaphthalene and the process disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 45536/1985 and 14737/1988 in which naphthalene or monomethylnaphthalene is transmethylated into dimethylnaphthalene by using polymethylbenzene.
Nevertheless, the process disclosed in any of the aforesaid Laid-Open Patent Applications suffers from the defects that the conversion of naphthalene and monomethylnaphthalene is low and selective production of 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene is difficult. Consequently, the process necessitates complicated isolating purification steps and intricate isomerization steps, thus causing disadvantageous problem from the industrial point of view.
In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 61647/1973 and 48647/1974 disclose the process for production of 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene by cyclization, dehydrogenation and isomerization of 5-(o-tolyl)pentene-2 to be used as a starting material. Moreover, Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 17983/1975, 17985/1975 and 22550/1975 disclose the process for producing dimethylnaphthalene by cyclization dehydrogenation of 5-(o-tolyl)pentene-2.
In the above-mentioned processes, however, 5-(o-tolyl)pentene-2 to be used as a starting material is usually produced from o-xylene and 1,3-butadiene by the use of an alkali metal such as potassium or sodium as a catalyst, and many problems remain unsolved with regard to the catalyst handling especially in safety. Likewise, as the resultant dimethylnaphthalene is obtained as the mixture of isomers such as 1,5-dimethylnaphthalene, 1,6-dimethylnaphthalene, 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene and the like, the production of 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene therefrom suffers a lot of disadvantages that the steps of isomerization, separation and purification are necessary.
On the other hand, there has been developed a process for selectively producing 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene by cyclization and dehydrogenation of 2-methyl-1-(p-tolyl)butene or 2-methyl-1-(p-tolyl)butane as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5292/1978 wherein a catalyst comprising rhenium oxide, an alkali metal oxide or alkaline earth metal oxide and alumina is used, and in Japanese Patent Publication No. 1701/1976 wherein a catalyst of chromia/alumina series containing an alkali metal oxide is employed.
However, the above-disclosed catalysts are unfavorable, since the use thereof results in a low yield and an insufficient purity of the objective 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene; besides the highly toxic chrominum compound therein will bring about environmental pollution problem.
It has been discovered by the present inventors, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 173834/1991 and 251545/1991, that in the production of 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene by cyclization dehydrogenation of 2-methyl-1-(p-tolyl)butene or 2-methyl-1-(p-tolyl)butane, 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene with high purity is obtained at a relatively high yield by the application of the catalyst comprising lead and alumina, or indium and alumina, as essential components.
Nevertheless, the above-developed catalysts still involve some problems such that the catalyst containing a lead component is industrially unfavorable due to its toxicity and the catalyst containing an indium component sometimes evaporates away during its use owing to the high volatility of a monovalent indium compound formed during the reaction and the like. Under such circumstances, it has been sought for a long time to develop a catalyst capable of producing highly pure 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene at a high yield with stabilized operation without causing any problem relating to sanitation.
In view of the above, intensive research and investigation were concentrated by the present inventors on the process for cyclization dehydrogenation of 2-methyl-1-(p-tolyl) butene, 2-methyl-1-(p-tolyl)butane and mixture thereof. As a result, it has been discovered by the present inventors that highly pure 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene is obtained at a high yield by the use of a catalyst comprising a platinum component and at least one compound selected from alkali metal compounds and alkaline earth metal compounds each being supported on aluminum oxide. The present invention has been accomplished on the basis of the above-mentioned finding and information.

Process for production of 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene


A method for producing a porous body with high porosity is provided.. An adhesive is coated on a synthetic resin foam having three-dimensional network structure, such as urethane foam, serving as a base material, to impart stickiness to the surface of the resin foam, and thereafter a powder such as copper oxide powder is applied thereto, followed by heating to remove the substrate and sinter the powder. Thus, a porous body to which the pattern of the base material has been transferred is produced.. The powder may be appropriately selected to obtain porous bodies having a great strength, without limitations on materials.

Methods for producing porous bodies include metal plating and powder slurry impregnation coating. The metal plating is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 47-10524, and is a method in which a synthetic resin foam having a three-dimensional network structure as exemplified by urethane foam is subjected to conductive treatment with carbon or the like, followed by electrodeposition of a metal layer of nickel or the like in a plating bath and further followed by firing to decompose and burn off the resin, to obtain an electrodeposited-metal porous body to which the pattern of foamed resin has been transferred.
The powder slurry impregnation coating is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 61-53417, and is a method in which a synthetic resin foam having a three-dimensional network structure as exemplified by urethane foam is immersed in a slurry prepared by mixing a metal powder, a thickening polymer and a solvent, to apply the metal powder to the framework of the foam, followed by heating to decompose and burn off the resin and sinter the metal powder, to obtain a metal porous body to which the pattern of foamed resin has been transferred.
According to the powder slurry impregnation coating, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (KOKAI) No. 62-269724, a porous body can also be obtained on a non-conductive material such as ceramics by a similar method.
The metal plating is currently used as a practical method, although it requires complicated steps when the metal is plated on insulating materials such as foamed resins. For example, it requires conducting treatment or seeder treatment as pretreatment. Also, this method can not obtain a porous body formed of non-conductive substances such as ceramics and a porous body formed of alloys of two or more metals, and has the problem that materials for porous bodies are limited to some metals feasible for plating, such as nickel and copper.
The slurry coating is commonly a method in which a powder is suspended in a solution of a polymeric organic material to form a slurry and a base material is impregnated with it, and has the problem that the powder may settle unless the slurry is well stirred, and on the other hand bubbles may be held therein if excessively stirred, making it cumbersome to manage slurries. This method has an advantage that materials having no conductivity as exemplified by ceramics can be formed into the product so long as they are powdery, without limitation to metals. However, because of surface tension of the slurry, the powder tends to gather at joints in the framework of the base material rather than the framework itself, and it is difficult for the powder to be uniformly soaked in and applied to the base material. This phenomenon greatly affects the strength of the resulting porous body. That is, when the powder is applied in a certain quantity, the framework may be thinly formed and have a low strength. Accordingly, in order to make the framework thick, a precaution is taken in which the slurry for impregnation coating is used in a large quantity to ensure the strength.
As an additional problem, the above method has a disadvantage that thin filmy portions (closed portions) that close up the network structure of the base material tend to be produced. This is a phenomenon that may occur because the slurry tend to form a film, and depends on the viscosity of the slurry. Even when polymers in the slurry are removed so that the base material is impregnated with a mixture of powder and solvent, powder particles may agglomerate in the course of drying to cause such closed portions.