A method for controlling a solid-state imaging apparatus, which includes a plurality of pixels, includes selecting a resetting element of one of the pixels, resetting a detecting unit connected to the pixel, transmitting to a detecting unit, an electric charge accumulated after photoelectric conversion performed by a photoelectric converting element of the pixel, and providing control to set a second end of a transmitting control signal line to an open state.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid-state imaging apparatus and a control method of the solid-state imaging apparatus, in which complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor is used.
2) Description of the Related Art
Solid-state imaging apparatuses using an active pixel sensor (APS) type of CMOS image sensor are well known (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-169256). FIG. 1 is a block diagram of pixels and their peripheral parts in a conventional CMOS image sensor. A plurality of pixels P11 through Pmn are arranged in a matrix of m rows and n columns. The internal structure of all the pixels P11 through Pmn is identical. Driver D1 through Dm are connected, one to each row. Correlated double sampling (CDS) circuits C1 through Cn are connected, one to each column.
FIG. 2 is an equalization circuit diagram showing a magnified view of one row (the j-th row) shown in FIG. 1. Each of the pixels Pj1 and Pjn includes a photodiode 1, a transferring transistor 2, an amplifying transistor 3, a selecting transistor 4, and a resetting transistor 5. In the following explanation, the transmitting transistor 2, the amplifying transistor 3, the selecting transistor 4, and the resetting transistor 5 are assumed to be n-channel MOS transistors.
The transmitting transistor 2, the selecting transistor 4, and the resetting transistor 5 in each of the pixels Pj1 and Pjn belonging to a single row are respectively connected to a common transmission control signal line (hereinafter, "TG signal line") 6, selection control signal line (hereinafter, "SEL signal line") 7, and reset control signal line (hereinafter, "RST signal line") 8. A driver Dj provided for the j-th row drives the TG signal line 6, the SEL signal line 7, and the RST signal line 8. The other rows have the same structure.
FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing an electrical change in the TG signal line 6, the SEL signal line 7, and the RST signal line 8 of the circuit structure shown in FIG. 2 during pixel signal reading. The potentials of the SEL signal line 7, the RST signal line 8, and the TG signal line 6 are low (Off) before time t1. At time t1, the potential of only the RST signal line 8 changes to high (On). At time t2, the potential of the RST signal line 8 changes to low (off) and the potential of the SEL signal line 7 changes to high (On). Next, at time t3 the TG signal line 6 changes to high (transmission). At time t4 the TG signal line 6 changes to low (Off). At t5 the SEL signal line 7 changes to low (off) and the circuit returns to the same state as before time t1.
The duration from t1 to t3 is a period for noise reading (noise read period). In the noise read period the voltage is impressed on the CDS circuits C1 through Cn via the resetting transistor 5, the amplifying transistor 3, and the selecting transistor 4. The CDS circuits C1 through Cn are reset when the voltage is impressed. The duration from t3 to t5 is a period for signal reading (signal read period). In the signal read period, the charge accumulated by the photoelectric conversion of the photodiode 1 is transmitted to the CDS circuits C1 through Cn through the transmitting transistor 2, the amplifying transistor 3, and the selecting transistor 4. The period after t5 is a period in which analog signals are converted to digital signals (Analog/Digital Conversion (ADC) period).
However, in the conventional solid-state imaging apparatus, the RST signal line 8, the SEL signal line 7, and the TG signal line 6 run parallel and in close proximity to one another. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 2, the TG signal line 6 changes to a state of capacitance coupling with the RST signal line 8, due to a parasitic capacitance 9 between the TG signal line 6 and the RST signal line 8. Similarly, the SEL signal line 7 also changes to a state of capacitance coupling with the TG signal line 6, due to a parasitic capacitance 10 between the SEL signal line 7 and the TG signal line 6. Consequently, when the potential in the RST signal line 8 and the SEL signal line 7 changes from low to high in the noise read period, the potential of the TG signal line 6 increases slightly, causing the charge accumulated in the photodiode 1 to leak marginally to the output end of the transmitting transistor 2.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an electrical change in the TG signal line 6 due to capacitance coupling. The impedance of the TG signal line 6 increases with the distance of the pixel from the driver Dj. As represented by reference numeral 11, the potential of the TG signal line 6 increases, thereby increasing the charge leak. Consequently, in the image produced by imaging, portions corresponding to the pixels further from the driver Dj tend to appear darker than the portions corresponding to the pixels closer to the driver Dj.
Conventionally, the impedance in the pixels further from the driver Dj in TG signal line 6 does not increase considerably when the number of pixels is around 300,000. Consequently, the amount of electrical change in the TG signal line 6 is also small, and hence, does not pose a problem. However, in recent years, the number of pixels has exceeded 1,000,000, and therefore, a long TG signal line 6 is required. Consequently, in the pixels further from the driver Dj, the impedance of the TG signal line 6 increases considerably, thereby increasing the potential in the TG signal line 6. Therefore, the charge leak from the photodiode 1 in the pixels that are further from the driver Dj, increases considerably. Thus, there is a large difference in the amount of charge leak in the pixels that are closer to the driver Dj and those that are further from the driver Dj, leading to a conspicuous difference in the resulting image.

Solid-state imaging apparatus and control method with transmission control hold circuit


A programming method applied to a memory is provided. The memory includes a number of memory cells. The method includes the following steps. A target cell of the memory cells is programmed in response to a first programming command. The target cell is programmed in response to a second programming command.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a programming method and a memory device using the same, and more particularly to a programming method capable of making a threshold voltage more precise, and a memory device using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Non-volatile memories are widely applied to various products, such as mobile phones, digital cameras or personal digital assistants (PDAs). The non-volatile memories may be classified into many types, one of which is a flash memory that is frequently seen.
A memory array has many memory cells for trapping charges. The trapped charges influence the state of the threshold voltage of each memory cell so that the object of storing data can be achieved. That is, the stored data content can be obtained according to the state of the threshold voltage of the memory cell. Furthermore, in the memory array having many memory cells, the physical properties of the memory cells are not completely the same. So, the threshold voltages of the memory cells are not completely the same even if the same data is stored in the memory cells. Consequently, the state of the memory array is typically represented by the threshold voltage distribution.
FIG. 1 (Prior Art) is a schematic illustration showing an example of the threshold voltage distribution of a memory array. In this example, it is assumed that each memory cell can store one bit of data, and the state of the memory cell may be one of threshold voltage states S1 and S2. Because the threshold voltage distribution influences the operation of reading the memory cell, a read error tends to occur if the margin of the threshold voltage distribution of the threshold voltage represented by the threshold voltage state becomes wider. Therefore, it is an important subject of the industry to narrow the margin of the threshold voltage distribution of the memory array when the memory cells are programmed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Programming method and memory device using the same


A method is provided for controlling an external control type fan clutch. The method controls the On/Off of an electromagnet-activated valve for an oil feed adjusting hole. The method uses a PID control on the basis of radiator cooling liquid temperature, fan speed, transmission oil temperature, vehicle speed, engine speed, compressor pressure of an air conditioner, and an On/Off signal of the air conditioner. Individual gains of the PID control are determined by a gain matrix containing the optimum fan speed demanded by the engine, the actual metered fan speed, and the engine speed. The PID control is made on the basis of the gains to that a control signal is outputted. The control method can improve mileage, raise the cooling efficiency of an air conditioner and suppress fan noise.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a control method for an external control type fan clutch of the type, in which the fan rotations for cooling an internal combustion engine of an automobile or the like are controlled according to a change in the ambient temperature or the rotation.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, there is an external control type fan clutch of this kind (as referred to JP-C-2911623, JP-A-2003-239741 and JP-A-9-119455). A sealed casing, which is composed of a nonmagnetic case borne through a bearing on a rotary shaft having a drive disc fixed at its leading end and a cover attached to the case, has its inside partitioned by a partition into an oil reservoir chamber and a torque transmission chamber having the drive disc fitted therein. The fan clutch is provided with a dam in a portion of the inner circumference wall of the cover opposed to the outer circumference wall of the drive disc, in which the oil collects at a rotating time, and a magnetic valve member leading to the dam and disposed in the oil reservoir chamber for opening/closing an oil circulation passage formed between the torque transmission chamber and the oil reservoir chamber. On the oil reservoir chamber side of the sealed casing, an electromagnet is supported on the rotary shaft through a bearing, and the valve member is activated by the electromagnet to control the On/Off of the oil circulation passage so that the effective contact area of the oil is increased/decreased in the torque transmission clearance formed between the drive side and the driven side thereby to control the rotating torque transmission from the drive side to the driven side. In the external control type fan clutch thus configured, the On/Off of the valve member is controlled by a PID control (i.e., a feedback control method by proportion, differentiation and integration) on the basis of at least one signal of a radiator cooling liquid temperature, a fan speed, a transmission oil temperature, a vehicle speed, an engine speed, the compressor pressure of an air conditioner, and an On/Off signal of the air conditioner. In another similar external control type fan clutch controlling method, a valve member is activated by an electromagnet to control the On/Off of an oil circulation passage and in which the effective contact area of oil in a torque transmission clearance between the drive side and the driven side is increased/decreased to control the rotating torque transmission from the drive side to the driven side. In this external control type fan clutch, moreover, a ring-shaped magnetic element is arranged between the electromagnet and the valve member and is so assembled in the sealed casing that its magnetic flux may be transmitted to the valve member through the magnetic element. In this fan clutch, the fan clutch is controlled by a PID control (i.e., a feedback control method by proportion, differentiation and integration) by setting the upper limit speed for an optimum fan speed demanded by the engine side, by temporarily stopping a fan speed control signal on the basis of a speed difference among the engine speed, the fan speed and the optimum fan speed, by temporarily stopping (or cutting) the fan speed control signal on the basis of the engine acceleration or the accelerator (throttle) position acceleration, or by restricting the change in the optimum fan speed on the basis of the changing rate of the optimum fan speed (as referred to Japanese Patent Application 2004-113606).
According to the method for controlling the external control type fan clutch, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application 2004-113606, the fan rotation can be controlled to be always confined within the satisfactory temperature range of the engine combustion efficiency by controlling the temperature of the radiator cooling liquid as a direct control parameter. The fan rotation for the satisfactory condenser cooling efficiency of the air conditioner can be kept to improve the air conditioner cooling performance by detecting the On/Off situation of the air conditioner and the compressor pressure at all times. By detecting the engine speed and the accelerator opening, moreover, the fan can be prevented from being dragged by the starting acceleration or the passing acceleration from the idling time and the noise of fan can be reduced. By making use of means for setting the upper limit speed for the optimum fan speed demanded by the engine side, for temporarily stopping (or cutting) the fan speed control signal on the basis of the speed difference among the engine speed, the fan speed and the optimum fan speed, for temporarily stopping (or cutting) the fan speed control signal on the basis of the engine acceleration or the accelerator (throttle) position acceleration, or for restricting the change in the optimum fan speed on the basis of the changing rate of the optimum fan speed, moreover, there are obtained many excellent effects not only to reduce the delay in the response to the control instruction of the fan rotation, to reduce the dragging at the time of varying the engine speed or starting the engine, and to stabilize the fan rotation behaviors but also to reduce the horsepower to be consumed by the fan (or to improve the mileage) and to reduce the fan noises.
In case the individual PID gains (or proportional gains) are constant, however, the external control type fan clutch controlling method, as disclosed in Patent Publication 4 adopting the PID control in the fan rotation control method, cannot not properly respond to variations in the demanded fan speed, the engine speed or the state of the fan clutch. Thus, the fan clutch is defective in the degraded mileage, the drop in the cooling efficiency of the air conditioner (A/C), or in that it cannot suppress the generation of fan noises due to the unnecessary dragging of the fan rotation at the acceleration time, so that it cannot optimize the fan rotation control.

Control method for external control type fan clutch


The present invention is a state of the art technological system composed of computers and local area radio network technologies to allow visitors to an amusement park or similar facility to electronically register for positions within a line for those popular rides, attractions and restaurants thereby eliminating the physically tiring wait in the actual lines. The system also allows park visitors to search for the location, distance and direction within the park boundaries of all other members within the same group at any given time. The invention includes a computer system as a main control, a number of specialized communication modules at appropriate locations and a larger number of movable visitor ID devices operating in a custom designed method to provide the above mentioned services. The system is simple to use and can be fully automated thereby reducing the manpower necessary to otherwise run the park.

The present invention relates generally to computerized systems for electronically registering and holding a position in line and for tracking individuals whereabouts in real time. More specifically, the invention enables any group member of a predesignated group to search for the location, distance to, and direction of any other member in the same group; it also provides a means for electronically registering and holding a position in line without requiring the physical presence of the user. It is of particular use in a large amusement park or the like.
What is the most disliked aspect for a customer at a fast food restaurant? The answer is: "waiting in the line"! To the American public waiting in line whether it be for a restaurant, an administrative agency such as a Motor Vehicle Registry or an Unemployment Agency, or even in traffic is considered to be the most bothersome and useless waste of time to which one is subject. This most disliked of problems can at times be even worse in entertainment centers such as large amusement parks. At a typical large scale amusement park, such as Disney World or Busch Gardens, the incredibly long wait in a line at the more popular rides aggravates the park visitor even more. It is not unheard of to have an average wait from 40 minutes in the off-season to greater than 2 hours during peak season. This situation disappoints park guests since typically they have paid for expensive passes to visit the park and expect to enjoy park attractions, only to be subjected to aggravating lines. Often times a greater portion of the guest's time at the park is consumed by waiting in the line than is expended on accessing the park's attractions. For instance at Disney World in Orlando, Fla. the total waiting time for a visitor can easily run from 60 to 80 percent of the total park time.
A typical park guest at any amusement is likely to bring children along. For it is primarily the children that the park seeks to attract. One of the traits of most children is their inherent inability to remain inactive for long periods of time. Because park attractions typically require extensive waits prior to actually getting on the ride, children get fidgety from the inactivity and the parents get frustrated. To combat this, if at all possible, many parents permit their children to run around within their sight. However, this often results in the children running off or at least going out of direct sight of the parent. When this occurs, a parent becomes concerned, possibly even terrified. The stress associated with losing one's child can be intensified many times over since the parks are hundreds of times larger than other places one might lose a child, such as a drugstore. Furthermore, since the park is predominantly designed for children, there exist many more attractions which draw a child's attention away from his parents.
Although the concerns thus far discussed pertain to the park guests, it should be equally apparent that these same concerns exist for the park owners. Since it is often necessary to wait in line for each attraction, sufficient park real estate must be devoted to areas within which park guests can wait. Also, many potential guests who would otherwise enter the park are discouraged by the lines. By minimizing the bottlenecks caused by the lines, park revenues should increase.

Computerized system and method for locating individual members of discrete groups and for electronically registering and holding the ' groups position in waiting lines


A method of processing electrophysiological signals includes: receiving, over a limited time duration, sample electrocardiography (ECG) signals indicative of heart pulsatile activity occurring with a variable heart rate, wherein receiving the sample ECG signals is discontinued at an expiry of the limited time duration; receiving photoplethysmography (PPG) signals indicative of the heart pulsatile activity; determining a correlation between the sample ECG signals and the PPG signals; determining reconstructed ECG signals from the PPG signals as a function of the correlation between the sample ECG signals and the PPG signals; and estimating a heart rate variability of the variable heart rate as a function of the reconstructed ECG signals.

Drowsiness of a vehicle driver (e.g. before and during driving) may adversely affect driving safety. This appears to be particularly the case with long-haul commercial vehicles such as trucks or buses, whose drivers are oftentimes forced to drive for long time spans, even at night, without breaks.
A correlation is known to exist between drowsiness and heart rate variability (HRV), so that estimating HRV of a driver may permit to obtain useful information concerning possible drowsiness.
A conventional way of computing a HRV signal involves processing a robust and effective electrocardiography (ECG) time series.
A basic issue in that respect lies in that such an ECG signal cannot be easily detected on board a vehicle, for example because multiple detection points (at least two) are involved in sampling an ECG signal.
At least in principle, installing ECG detectors on the car steering wheel of a vehicle could be contemplated. Satisfactory operation would however require that both the driver's hands should be steadily placed on the car steering wheel at those positions where the ECG detectors are located. This is however a highly unrealistic scenario.

Method of processing electrophysiological signals and corresponding system, vehicle, and computer program product


A system and method for vector wireless radio communication (multiple modes or signal streams) between a first communication device and a second communication device using radio frequency (RF) communication techniques. At each communication device, signals are received at a plurality of antennas representing a plurality of modes simultaneously transmitted by the other communication device, wherein each mode is a signal stream. A transmit matrix is computed from signals received at the plurality of antennas. The transmit matrix distributes a plurality of modes among a plurality of antenna paths each associated with a corresponding one of the plurality of antennas of the first communication device, and is applied to the plurality of modes to be simultaneously transmitted from the plurality of antennas of one communication device to the other communication device.

The present invention is directed to a system and method to maximize capacity and/or range of a wireless radio communication link between two radio communication devices.
Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radio communication techniques are known to enhance the received SNR for signals transmitted by one device to another. Research in MIMO radio algorithms has been conducted in which multiple signal streams are transmitted simultaneously from multiple antennas at one device to another device, thereby greatly enhancing the data rate of the wireless radio channel between two devices. Such multiple signal stream systems are also referred to as "vector" communication systems, where a vector comprises a plurality of sub-channels that corresponding to the multiple signal streams. Moreover, the term eigenmodes or mode is also used to refer to a sub-channel or signal stream.
The aforementioned U.S. application Ser. No. 10/627,537 discloses a system, method and device for vector transmit beamforming communication of multiple signals (signal streams) between a first device having N plurality of antennas and a second device having M plurality of antennas. Unlike prior approaches, the approach described in that commonly assigned and related application is to impose a power constraint on each transmit antenna path at the transmitting device. The performance of a system in which the communication devices are designed around a power constraint at each antenna is nearly as good as the optimal waterfilling solution, yet provides significant implementation advantages. The radio transmitter can be implemented with power amplifiers that require lower power output capability, and thus less silicon area. Consequently, there is lower DC current drain by the transmitter, and lower on-chip interference caused by the power amplifiers.
In vector radio communication systems that simultaneously transmit multiple signals (modes) between first and second devices using MIMO radio techniques, it is necessary to use appropriate values for transmit weights conditioned to the radio channel between the two devices. While techniques have been developed for this purpose, there is nevertheless room for improvement in this area.

System and method for transmit weight computation for vector beamforming radio communication


Dynamically enable link aggregation control protocol on a per port and per virtual local area network (VLAN) basis.

Computing networks can include multiple network devices such as routers, switches, hubs, servers, desktop PCs, laptops, and workstations, among other peripheral devices, e.g., printers, facsimile devices, and scanners, networked together across a local area network (LAN) and/or wide area network (WAN).
In addition to physical connections, networks often form virtual, e.g., logical connections. A virtual LAN (VLAN) is a logical subgroup within a LAN that is created via software rather than manually moving cables in the wiring closet. It combines user stations and network devices into a single unit regardless of the physical LAN segment to which they are attached and allows traffic to flow more efficiently within populations of mutual interest.
VLANs are implemented in port switching hubs and LAN switches and generally offer proprietary solutions. VLANs reduce the time it takes to implement connection moves, additions and changes. VLANs function at layer 2 of the open system interconnection (OSI) protocol stack. The OSI protocol stack is one example of the set of protocols used in a communications network. A protocol stack is a prescribed hierarchy of software layers, starting from the application layer at the top (the source of the data being sent) to the physical layer at the bottom (transmitting the bits on the wire). The stack resides in each client and server, and the layered approach lets different protocols be swapped in and out to accommodate different network architectures. Layer 2 is the data link layer. Layer 2 is responsible for node to node validity and integrity of the transmission. The transmitted bits are divided into frames; for example, an Ethernet, Token Ring or FDDI frame in local area networks (LANs).
Link aggregation control protocol (LACP) is a standard in IEEE 802.3ad which defines a method of aggregating links together to form a more redundant link with larger bandwidth. An aggregate link, also known as a "trunk", is formed either manually or dynamically. A manual trunk comes into existence when a network administrator physically configures LACP on multiple network devices that are connected together with a set of links, e.g., physical (Layer 1) connections. A dynamic trunk can come into existence when an administrator has previously configured multiple network devices to support "dynamic" LACP, and when two or more links are connected between the switches.
One issue with LACP is that manual trunks are configured on a per port basis, so when a link is moved from one port to another a reconfiguration has to take place. This involves administration action, which may be costly and prone to human error. One issue with dynamic trunks is that the trunk becomes a member of the default VLAN when it is formed and may have no awareness of VLANs on a given device. With previous LACP approaches the dynamic trunks are restricted to the default VLAN which means that ports which were previously either "tagged" or "untagged" members of multiple VLANs may lose this previous membership. This fact becomes a drawback in modern multiple VLAN environments.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A motor vehicle lighting or indicating unit comprises a first part, such as a reflector, and a second part such as a headlamp casing. The first part is mounted to the second part by a mounting device comprising at least one bar carried by one of the two parts of the unit and having a substantially spherical head, together with at least one retaining means which is mounted on the other part of the unit and which has a recess substantially complementary to the head. This recess is open transversely so as to receive the head, while the retaining means is arrange to pivot about an axis passing substantially through the center of the recess, between a position in which the head can be fitted into the corresponding recess and another position in which it is retained in the latter. The arrangement is especially applicable to a three point mounting of a headlamp reflector on the casing of the headlamp.

At the present time it is known to provide a mounting or fastening device for securing a reflector of a headlamp on a casing of the latter, the mounting device being of a kind comprising a bar which is mounted on the headlamp casing and which has a spherical head at one end. This spherical head fits in a non-return recess which is arranged in the rear of the reflector. Such a mounting device is used in particular at each of the mounting points of a three point, or tripod, mounting assembly. Tripod mounting assemblies are well known and are used for assembling a reflector to a headlamp casing, so that both the line of sight and the azimuth of the reflector can be adjusted by longitudinal displacement of two of the three heads. A three point mounting assembly is of course one which defines three mounting points which are disposed respectively at the three apices of a right angled triangle.
One disadvantage of the kind of mounting assembly described above lies in the fact that it is necessary not only to obtain absolute precision in the relative positions of the heads when positioning the heads in surface contact with the recesses, but also to position them all at the same time, in order to ensure their correct engagement in the recesses. When a screw head is not aligned exactly with the corresponding recess, it is not possible to engage it in the recess without there being a danger of the components in which the recess is defined being bent or even broken. In this connection it is very difficult to bring the three screw heads into contact in the three corresponding non-return recesses arranged on a triangle, all at the same time. Thus it often happens that two of the screw heads out of three are engaged at the same time while the third head has to be engaged by bending, thus running the risk mentioned above.

Mounting device for a part of a motor vehicle headlamp


The present invention is directed to a secure electronic registration and voting solution incorporating integrated end-to-end voting system architecture and processes providing secure identification and authentication, voter registration, ballot definition, ballot presentation to the voter, voting, and ballot tabulation via secure transmission over the network. The disclosed embodiments of the present invention describe an integrated solution to voting via a network, such as the Internet. A user logs into the system using through an application on a local computer that presents an electronic ballot to a user and accepts the user's voting selections. The voting selections are then associated with the user's login data and an identifier for the local computer. The local application than encrypts the voting data and forwards a server that authenticates the encrypted voting data using the user login and the computer identifier. The still-encrypted voting data is then stored.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved on-line voting solution, and more particularly, to a secure electronic registration and voting solution incorporating integrated end-to-end voting system architecture and processes providing secure identification and authentication, voter registration, ballot creation, voting, and ballot tabulation.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The elections process has come under increasing scrutiny over the years. In particular, voting machine failures, confusing or incorrect ballots, confusion over voting locations, and mishandled absentee ballots have been held out as focal points in recent elections.
Typically, a person intending to vote must register prior to an election. On an election day a person must then locate their assigned polling location, as well as navigate what can be can be a complex ballot or balloting machine.
Even more problematic is the case of an absentee voter, one who will be out of the voting jurisdiction or unable to travel to the polling location on an election day. For example, registration for absentee balloting must take place well before the election. An absentee ballot is then provided to the absentee voter, generally by mail. The absentee voter must then complete the ballot and return it to the absentee voter's local election office by a specific date, again, generally by mail. Aside from the obvious issues associated with using the mail for timely delivery of the ballot, there exist many additional opportunities for an absentee ballot to be mishandled.
For a voter who is absent from their jurisdiction or a voter living in a foreign country the issues associated with using the mail may be amplified considerably. The need to mail a ballot early enough to arrive at a local election office on or before the scheduled deadline may limit an absentee voter's ability to review information concerning the issues and candidates associated with an election. For example, due to the mailing requirements of an absentee ballot, an absentee voter may not have an opportunity to view or read about candidate debates that may occur after the absentee voter has cast and mailed their ballot but before the day of the actual election.
These and other deficiencies exist in current voting solutions. Therefore, a solution to these problems is needed, providing an improved voting solution, including the ability for an absentee voter to register to vote, receive their ballot and to securely cast his or her ballot so that it is counted in an election.

Secure internet transactions on unsecured computers


A “music mixer”, as described herein, provides a capability for automatically mixing arbitrary pieces of music, regardless of whether the music being mixed is of the same music genre, and regardless of whether that music has strong beat structures. In automatically determining potential mixes of two or more songs, the music mixer first computes a frame-based energy for each song. Using the computed frame-based energies, the music mixer then computes one or more potentially optimal alignments of the digital signals representing each song based on correlating peaks of the computed energies across a range of time scalings and time shifts without the need to ever compute or evaluate a beats-per-minute (BPM) for any of the songs. Then, once one of the potentially optimal time-scalings and time-shifts has been selected, the songs are then simply blended together using those parameters.

1. Technical Field
The invention is related to blending or mixing of two or more songs, and in particular, to a system and process for automatically blending different pieces of music of arbitrary genres, such as, for example, automatically blending a heavily beat oriented song (i.e., a "Techno" type song) with a melodic song, such as a piano tune by Mozart, using automatic time-scaling, resampling and time-shifting without the need to determine beats-per-minute (BPM) of the blended songs.
2. Related Art
Conventional music mixing typically involves the blending of part or all of two or more songs. For example, mixing may involve blending the end of Song A into the beginning of Song B for smoothly transitioning between the two songs. Further, such mixing may also involve actually combining Song A and Song B for simultaneous playback to create a mixed song comprised of both Song A and Song B.
Clearly, simply playing two songs at the same time without any intervention would typically result in a discordant mix of unaligned music. Therefore, successful music mixing typically involves a number of factors that must be considered on a song-by-song basis. For example, these factors often include determining which song to transition into from a current song; when to do the transition in Song A; where in Song B to cut into; any timescale adjustment necessary to align Song A to Song B; and any time offsets required to align Song A and Song B.
There are a number of conventional schemes which are used for automatically mixing or blending two or more songs. Such schemes are frequently used by "DJ's" for mixing two or more songs to provide mixed dance music in real time, and to transition from one song to another as smoothly as possible. These conventional schemes include a variety of software and hardware tools, and combinations of both software and hardware.
In general, these conventional schemes typically operate by first estimating a "beats-per-minute" (BPM) count of music with heavy beats. Simultaneously estimating the BPM of two songs allows one or both of the songs to be time shifted or otherwise scaled to match the BPM of the songs so that they may be smoothly combined and played simultaneously, thereby creating a new mixed song that is a combination of both songs. Similarly, such conventional schemes allow the selection of an appropriate speed change and/or time shift to be applied to one or both songs so as to smoothly transition between two different pieces of music.
Most conventional mixing schemes focus simply on estimating the (BPM) of each song. In the simplest approach, a DJ simply changes the speed of the first and/or second song until the BPM's match, and then manually finds an offset in the songs to match up or align the beats. More sophisticated schemes use the computed BPM for each song to automatically determine an offset for alignment by automatically finding the locations of the beat sounds.
Unfortunately, such schemes tend to perform poorly where the BPM of one or more of the songs is not clearly discernable, or where the BPM varies or shifts over time. In such cases, conventional mixing schemes often fail to provide an alignment or mixing which maintains a reasonable quality across such changing BPM's. Any misalignment of the songs is then typically readily apparent to human listeners.
Some work has been done in estimating a beat structure of a single piece of music, rather than simply computing a BPM for that piece of music. Such schemes can also be used for aligning two or more pieces of music. For example, one such scheme estimates a beat structure via correlations across a number of filter banks. Another scheme provides a probabilistic approach that allows for variation in the beat of a song. Each of these methods are capable of estimating the beat structure of a song, however, if they were to be used to align two pieces of music, each would be susceptible to problems similar to the schemes which operate on simple BPM computations because they consider each song separately, and then estimate or compute time scaling and alignment in the same manner as the BPM schemes described above.
One problem common to all of the above-mentioned mixing schemes is an inability to successfully mix songs of significantly different genres. For example, the above-mentioned schemes are typically capable of mixing techno/dance songs (i.e., songs with significant beats and strong beat structure). However, these schemes will typically produce unacceptable results when attempting to mix songs of widely varying genres, such as, for example a Techno-type song having strong beats or beat-like sounds, with a piece of classical piano music that does not have strong beats.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method for automatically aligning two or more songs for blending or mixing either all or part of those songs for at least partially simultaneous or overlapping playback (i.e., song transitioning or full mixing). However, because not all songs have strong beats, such a system and method should be able to mix in cases where one song has strong beats and the other does not without the need to actually determine the BPM of either song. Further, such a system and method should be computationally efficient so as to operate in at least real-time or faster.

Aligning and mixing songs of arbitrary genres


The system comprises a first conveyor and singularization line for fruit and vegetable products defined within a V-slot made in a body and presenting two first motorised belts installed on opposite walls which define the slot near the bottom of the slot and two motorised belts installed on each of said walls on a higher level than said first belts; said first belts presenting a different speed from that of said second belts.

The systems for conveying fruit and vegetable products comprise a loading station where a predetermined quantity of products is placed on a conveyor belt; a singularization station of the products where by reducing the width of a conveyor belt an attempt to align the products is made; a picking station where the features of the product, such as dimensions and colour, are inspected; and a packaging station of the products selected in the previous station. For certain small sized fruit and vegetable products provided with a footstalk, such as cherries and certain types of tomatoes, the products may not be aligned or one on top of the other along the conveyor belt installed in the singularization station. In such cases, human intervention is required, with inevitable production costs. Furthermore, the presence of the footstalk entails the possibility of the footstalk itself getting caught in clearances existing along the conveyor belt, thus upsetting product singularization.

System for conveying fruit and vegetable products


A Storage Bracket System for storing Weight Distribution System Round Bar is provided. The Storage Bracket System comprises two Round Bar Storage Brackets installed in conveniently reachable locations on either side of a trailer frame and angled such that when Weight Distribution System Round Bars are slid into the Round Bar Storage Brackets, they are held in place for storage when not in use.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to brackets for storing equipment on trailers when not in use. More specifically, the present invention relates to brackets that hold Weight Distribution System Round Bars when not in use.
2. Description of the Related Art
Weight Distribution System Round Bars are frequently used when connecting a trailer to a tow vehicle. With two Weight Distribution System Round Bars installed, the weight of the trailer is more evenly distributed through the tow vehicle and trailer. By evenly distributing the weight, the tow vehicle and trailer maintain a level profile. This ensures the rear chassis of the tow vehicle does not dip downward which could cause damage to the vehicle frame, rear springs and/or shock absorption systems. When disconnecting the trailer from the tow vehicle, however, there is no convenient location for the storage of the Weight Distribution System Round Bars. The present invention provides an easy and convenient storage mechanism and location for the Weight Distribution System Round Bars when not in use.

Weight distribution system round bar storage bracket system


An image forming apparatus includes a development container, a developer bearing member, first and second carrying members that carry developer, a supply device that supplies developer for replenishment, a discharge opening that discharges the developer contained in the development container, a controller that selectively performs one of a first mode and a second mode, a drive device that changes speeds for driving the first and second carrying members, and a counter that measures the number of sheets in the second mode. The controller sets the speed of the drive device in the second mode to be slower than in the first mode, and suspends the second mode and executes a mode for changing the speed of the drive device to a speed faster than in the second mode and driving the first and second carrying members for a predetermined time if a measurement result reaches a reference value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine, a printer and a facsimile machine, having a development device that is configured to develop an electrostatic image formed on an image bearing member using electrophotography, an electrostatic recording method, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In image forming apparatuses that use electrophotography such as a copying machine, an electrostatic latent image formed on an image bearing member such as a photosensitive drum is visualized by depositing developer on the image. In the conventional development devices used for the development, development devices that use two-component developer have been known. The two-component developer is composed of toner and carrier. FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view illustrating an example of a conventional development device.
As illustrated in FIG. 10, a development device 101d that uses the two-component developer generally has two carrying screws arranged in a horizontal direction, that is, a first carrying screw 105 and a second carrying screw 106 that carry the two-component developer while agitating the developer. The first carrying screw 105 supplies the developer to a developer bearing member (hereinafter, referred to as development sleeve) 108 and collects the developer after the developer passes through a development area. The second carrying screw 106 mixes and agitates the developer collected by the development sleeve 108 and newly supplied developer.
Meanwhile, in recent years, in order to achieve space efficiency, a demand for downsizing the apparatus bodies of the image forming apparatuses is increasing. Especially, since full color image forming apparatuses have several development devices, the downsizing of the bodies is highly demanded. For this purpose, as discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-333691, a vertical agitation type development device, for example, have been proposed, as illustrated in FIG. 11.
A development device 111 shown in FIG. 11 has a structure different from the development device 101d illustrated in FIG. 10, that is, carrying screws that function as carrying members for agitating and mixing two-component developer are vertically arranged in the direction of gravitational force. A first carrying screw 115 conveys the developer in a development chamber 113 that is arranged at an upper side of a development container and supplies the developer to a development sleeve 118. A second carrying screw 116 mixes and agitates the developer collected from the development sleeve 118 and newly supplied developer while carrying the developer in an agitation chamber 114 that is arranged at a lower side of the development container.
As described above, in the vertical agitation type development device, the development chamber and the agitation chamber are vertically arranged, and the occupancy space in the horizontal direction is small. Accordingly, for example, it is possible to downsize tandem type color image formation apparatuses that have a plurality of development devices arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction.
In the above development method that uses the two-component developer, an image is formed by applying electric charge to toner with frictional electrification of carrier and toner, and electrostatically attaching the charged toner to an electrostatic image. In the two-component development method, in order to provide highly durable and stable images, it is desirable to stably apply a certain amount of toner charge, that is, triboelectrification (hereinafter, simply referred to as tribo). For that purpose, it is desirable that the charging ability of the carrier is maintained to be stable between before and after prolonged use.
However, in reality, while the toner is constantly consumed in the development, the carrier remains in the development device without being consumed. Accordingly, in long-term use, the carrier is agitated with the toner for a long time, and the surface of the carrier can be contaminated by the toner or an external additive of the toner. As a result, after prolonged use, the ability of the carrier for supplying the tribo may be decreased and the tribo may be degraded. This can cause image deterioration such as fog and toner scatter.
Therefore, for example, as discussed in Japanese Examined Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-21591, a device that can control the deterioration of the charging ability by supplying developer to development devices is proposed. That is, the supply device supplies new developer or carrier, and excessive developer in the development device is discharged from a developer discharging opening disposed on a wall surface of the development device. Then, the discharged developer is collected.
The devices sequentially repeat the supply of the new developer or carrier as well as the discharge of the developer to replace the deteriorated developer in the development devices with the newly supplied toner and carrier. Accordingly, the development characteristic of the developer in the development devices is generally maintained at a constant characteristic, and the image quality deterioration can be reduced. As a result, intervals of the replacement of the developer by serving staffs can be extended or the replacement can be eliminated.
However, if the developer discharge method discussed in Japanese Examined Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-21591 is applied to an image forming apparatus having the above-described vertical-agitation development device, the following problems may occur.
In the case where developer is discharged in the vertical-agitation development device, a discharge opening of the developer can be provided on a wall surface of a container in a development chamber at a downstream side in a developer conveyance direction, and from the discharge opening, overflow developer is discharged and collected. If the discharge opening is provided at a place other than the wall surface, for example, in an agitation chamber, new carrier that has just been supplied may be immediately discharged. Alternatively, the discharge opening can be provided in the development chamber at an upstream side in the developer conveyance direction. However, in the above-described configuration, the position of the discharge opening is right behind a position where the developer is lifted from the agitation chamber to the development chamber, and a height of the developer surface in the development chamber may not be stable. Accordingly, appropriate discharge of the developer may not be performed.
As described above, in the case where the discharge opening of the developer is provided in the agitation chamber at the downstream side in the developer conveyance direction, if the developer surface exceeds the height of the discharge opening, the developer may overflow and be discharged. However, if the developer surface does not exceed the height of the discharge opening, the developer may not be discharged.
Meanwhile, in a case of forming an image on heavy paper or overhead transparency (OHT), some image forming apparatuses slow down the image formation speed as compared with normal image formation. For example, some image forming apparatuses have a deceleration mode that decreases an image formation speed to, for example, a half or one-third of a normal speed. In the deceleration mode in which a rotation speed of a photosensitive drum is decreased, generally, a drive speed of a development device is similarly decreased to, for example, a half or one-third of the normal drive speed.
In a case where a drive speed is decreased in the vertical-agitation development device in the deceleration mode, the number of rotations of the first and second carrying screws are reduced as compared with a normal mode. Accordingly, a developer conveyance speed is decreased. As a result, a development conveyance speed of the second carrying screw is also decreased, so that momentum of the developer to ascend from the agitation chamber to the development chamber is also decreased, and the amount of the developer lifted to the development chamber is decreased, too. Accordingly, in response to the decrease of the developer amount in the development chamber, the developer surface descends lower than in the normal case. Accordingly, the developer is not easily discharged from the developer discharge opening provided at the downstream side of the development chamber. Consequently, if the deceleration mode is continued, the amount of the developer in the development device is gradually increased. Accordingly, the developer accumulates especially at the lift portion in the agitation chamber.
If such a state is maintained, the pressure of the developer is increased at the lift portion, and the developer can leak from a lower part of the development sleeve or torque can be increased, which may cause the carrying screw to lock.
To avoid the problems, the developer discharge opening may be provided at a relatively lower part in consideration of the height of the developer in the development chamber at the time of the deceleration mode. However, in such a configuration, the developer may be excessively discharged in the normal image formation mode and the amount of the developer in the development device may become too small. Then, toner density may show a great variation when the toner is supplied, or the developer may be easily deteriorated.


An apparatus and method are disclosed for controlling fluid flow to a variator which responsive to separate high and low pressure fluids to control an output torque thereof. A first trim valve may be responsive to a first control signal to supply a first fluid at a fluid outlet thereof. A second trim valve may be responsive to a second control signal to supply a second fluid at a fluid outlet thereof. A variator switching sub-system may controllably supply the high pressure fluid and the low pressure fluid to the variator. A multiplex valve may be fluidly coupled to the outlets of the first and second trim valves, and may supply the first fluid as the high pressure fluid to the variator switching sub-system during at least one predefined operating condition and may otherwise supply the second fluid as the high pressure fluid to the variator switching sub-system.

Torroidal traction drive automatic transmissions may typically include a variator and one or more gear sets. Within each gear set, the variator may generally control a direction, e.g., positive or negative, and magnitude of torque transferred by a power plant to one or more loads. Structures and techniques for controlling fluid flow to the variator during various operating conditions of the transmission must therefore be designed and implemented.

Variator multiplex valve scheme for a torroidal traction drive transmission


A transmission device transmitting a polarization-multiplexed optical signal includes: a frame encoder configured to encode an electric signal in accordance with a predetermined frame format; an error correction encoder configured to provide encoded signal data as a result of the encoding by the frame encoder with a predetermined error correction code; and a transmission loss information acquiring part configured to acquire transmission loss information based on a loss that the encoded signal data provided with the error correction code incurs when the encoded signal data is transmitted, from a receiving device as a transmission destination. The error correction encoder adjusts a redundancy of the error correction code given to the encoded signal data, based on the transmission loss information acquired by the transmission loss information acquiring part.

A need for a technique for performing large-volume optical communication at higher speeds has increased as the volume of information transmission has become larger. A technique for performing large-volume optical communication at high speeds is, for example, multi-level modulation, polarization multiplexing, and digital coherent receiving.
When multi-bit information is thus transmitted in one symbol time, characteristics may vary among transmission lanes. In particular, in a case where polarization multiplexing is used, characteristics may vary widely between a transmission lane for an x-polarized wave and a transmission lane for a y-polarized wave because of the PDL (Polarization Dependent Loss) of an optical transmitter, an optical receiver, and a transmission path.
Then, such variation in characteristics among transmission lanes decreases the randomness of received signals, and consequently, deteriorates an error correction performance.
A known optical transmission system which considers variation in characteristics among transmission channels caused by, for example, the PDL of a transmission path and optical devices is one disclosed in Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a transmission system which exchanges bits to be transmitted through a channel where information is transmitted by an x-polarized wave and bits to be transmitted through a channel where information is transmitted by a y-polarized wave at a predetermined ratio and thereby assigns transmission data to the respective transmission channels so that variation in characteristics is averaged in all of the transmission channels.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. JP-A 2009-089194
However, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 cannot sufficiently deal with deterioration of the performance of an error correction code because there is no change in the performance of an error correction code. Thus, there is a problem that it is impossible to sufficiently deal with deterioration of the performance of an error correction code.


A resin-wafer electrodeionization (RW-EDI) apparatus for purifying water for coffee brewing comprises a cathode; an anode; and multiple porous solid resin wafer exchange units arranged in a stack between the cathode and the anode, and an air distributor adapted and arranged to aerate the water to be purified. Each unit comprises a monovalent cation exchange membrane (CEM), an anion exchange membrane (AEM), and an ion exchange resin wafer between the CEM and the AEM, which is in contact with, and in fluid flow connection with the CEM and AEM. Each resin wafer comprises a cation exchange resin and an anion exchange resin. The units are oriented with the CEM facing the cathode and the AEM facing the anode, with space between the units defining ion concentrate chambers. Bipolar ion exchange membranes separate the anode and cathode from their nearest resin wafer exchange units.

Water feed streams for many industrial, commercial, and consumer applications must often be pretreated to remove unwanted ionic contaminants. Typically, the pre-treatment involves use of ion-exchange resins, electrodialysis, or electrodeionization. In ion-exchange processes the ion-exchange resins are exhausted after removal of the target ions, and must be regenerated by acids, bases, or salts, thus producing a significant waste stream. Electrodialysis uses an electrically driven ion-exchange membrane comprising a stack of alternating cation, anion, or bipolar membranes. Ions are removed from a feed stream and purified and concentrated in a product or concentrate stream. Since ion transport in electrodialysis is driven by electric power, such processes do not consume equivalent quantities of acids, bases, or salts and do not produce a salt waste stream. When the ion concentration in the feed stream is low, e.g., below about 1%, electrodialysis processes become unattractive because the low ionic conductivity in the dilute feed stream leads to very low flux and high energy consumption.
Electrodeionization (EDI), also known as "electrochemical ion-exchange", at is an advanced ion-exchange technology that combines the advantages of ion-exchange and electrodialysis. In electrodeionization processes, ion-exchange resins are sequestered in dilute feed compartments to increase the ionic conductivity, so that even with an ionically dilute feed, a stable operation with higher flux and lower energy consumption than electrodialysis, becomes possible. The electric power also splits the water to H+ and OH− ions and the resins are thus regenerated while the ions are removed. A preferred type of electrodeionization is referred to as resin-wafer electrodeionization (RW-EDI). In RW-EDI, the ion-exchange resins are bound together with a polymeric elastomer to form a porous wafer (see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,495,014 to Datta, Lin, Burke and Tsai, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).
Numerous types of water feed sources for industrial, commercial, or consumer applications require some form of purification to obtain optimum performance. Examples of such applications include boiler water, high purity water for analytical analyses, consumer drinking water, and the like. Water quality is also important for coffee brewing.
The ion profile and concentrations in the water are key factors for extracting good flavors from roasted coffee, and for control of brewing time. The balance between CO3−2 and Ca+2 in the water are very important for extraction of coffee (e.g., about 120 ppm of CaCO3 is considered optimal). The current standard operating protocol is to process water in the coffee shop. Reverse osmosis (RO) is frequently used for removal most of the ions in water. Then CaCO3 is added into the treated water to achieve the desired ion profile (e.g., the desired concentration of CaCO3). There are a number of drawbacks to using RO, however, including, e.g., severe fouling issues, a need to readjust the CaCO3 concentration; the need to replace the RO membrane every 6 months and pump for 1200 hours; and the need for uniform water quality from different water sources, which can be difficult using RO. In addition, in coffee water production it is often desirable to reduce specific ions and retain others. RO is not capable of such selectivity.
There is an ongoing need for alternative methods for purifying water for coffee brewing. The methods described herein utilize RW-EDI, which can provide a "tailored" water quality, reduce sodium, chloride, and sulfate from available tap water sources, while retaining and carbonate, and suffers from significantly reduced fouling.

Water production for coffee brewing by electrodeionization


The present invention aims to provide an image combiner and an image display device which can easily have a wide field of view and reduce a thickness of a substrate while reducing loss of light intensity by means of a PBS. An image combiner includes a substrate transparent to visible light; and a polarization beam splitter installed in the substrate to reflect a light flux introduced into the substrate from an image-display element and to make the light flux incident on an exit pupil outside the substrate. An exit angle θ0 at which a principal ray of the light flux emitted from a center of a display surface of the image-display element is emitted from a surface of the substrate toward a center of the exit pupil satisfies a condition of 3°≦θ0.

In recent years, a head-mounted image display device of a so-called see-through type has come into practical use. It allows a user to view an image of an image-display element while viewing the outside (disclosed in Patent Document 1).
An image display device described in Patent Document 1 uses a polarization beam splitter (hereinafter, referred to as a "PBS") as a combiner which reflects the polarizing light flux from an image-display element, so that it reduces a loss of light intensity. To obtain this advantageous effect, the posture of the PBS of the image display device is inclined relative at 45° to an optical path. Accordingly, the posture of the PBS is also inclined at 45° relative to a surface of a substrate.
Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 5,886,822


A method of and system for the 3-D reconstruction of an image from 2-D cone-beam tomography projections is disclosed in which a circle-plus-arc data acquisition geometry is utilized to provide a complete set of data so that an exact 3-D reconstruction is obtained. A volume CT scanner which uses a cone-beam x-ray source and a 2-D detector is utilized in which one set of cone-beam projections is acquired while rotating the x-ray tube and detector on the CT gantry and then another set of projections is acquired while tilting the gantry by a small angle. The projection data is preweighted and the partial derivatives of the preweighted projection data are calculated. Those calculated partial derivatives are rebinned to the first derivative of the Radon transform, for both the circular orbit data and the arc orbit data. The second partial derivative of the Radon transform is then calculated and then the reconstructed 3-D images are obtained by backprojecting using the inverse Radon transform.

The present invention is directed to a method of and system for computed tomography (CT) density image reconstruction. More particularly, the present invention is directed to the three-dimensional reconstruction from two-dimensional projections acquired with x-ray cone-beam CT and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) scanners.
For about the past twenty years, computerized tomography has revolutionized diagnostic imaging systems as well as non-destructive test imaging techniques. Conventional CT scanners use a fan-shaped x-ray beam and one-dimensional detector in order to reconstruct a single slice with a single scan of an object. However, current CT technology is limited by a trade-off between high longitudinal resolution and fast volume scanning. One method which has been utilized to address the shortcomings of CT scanner technology is the use of cone-beam tomography. A cone-beam volume CT scanner uses a cone-beam x-ray source and a two-dimensional detector to reconstruct the whole volume of an object with a single scan of that object. The data obtained from the scan of the object is processed in order to construct an image that presents a two-dimensional slice taken through the object. The current technique for reconstructing an image from 2-D is referred to in the art as the filtered back projection technique. That process converts the attenuation measurements from a scan into integers called "CT numbers" or "Hounsfield H units" which are then used to control the brightness of a corresponding pixel on a cathode ray display.
In a 3-D scan technique, a cone-shaped x-ray beam is used which diverges to form a cone-beam that passes through the object and impinges on a two-dimensional array of detector elements. In that manner, the volume scanning time of a 3-D object can be at least 10 times shorter than a standard CT on a spiral CT. In contrast to existing CT with a through plane resolution of 1.0 lp.mm, the reconstructions of cone beam CT will have isotropic spatial resolution along all three axes (0.5-2.0 lp.mm). Each view is thus a 2-D array of x-ray attenuation measurements and the complete scan produces a 3-D array of attenuation measurements.
At present, either of two methods are commonly used to reconstruct a set of images from the acquired 2-D attenuation measurements. The first technique is that developed by Feldkamp, Davis & Kress, which is described in "Practical Cone-Beam Algorithm", J. Opt. Soc. Am., Vol. I, pp. 612-619 (1984). The Feldkamp, et al. technique, which uses an algorithm which was derived using approximations of a tiered fan beam formula, is a convolution-back projection method which operates directly on the line integrals of the actual attenuation measurements. That method can be easily implemented with currently available hardware and is a good reconstruction for images at the center or "mid-plane" of the cone-beam. While the algorithm of Feldkamp, et al. provides excellent computational efficiency and minimal mechanical complexity in data acquisition, its major shortcoming is that it is based on single circle cone-beam geometry. Single circle cone-beam geometry, in which the source always lies on a circle, cannot provide a complete set of data to exactly reconstruct the object. For that reason, Feldkamp, et al.'s algorithm causes some unavoidable distortion in the non-central transverse planes, as well as resolution degradation in the longitudinal direction.
In order to address the problems of Feldkamp's algorithm, several other approaches have been proposed using different cone-beam geometries including dual orthogonal circles, helical orbit, orthogonal circle-and-line, and Smith's curve. Such geometries can achieve exact reconstructions when using the approach of Tuy, Smith, or Gangreat.
In addition to the Feldkamp, et al. approach for analytic cone-beam reconstruction, a second commonly used method is that disclosed by Pierre Grangeat in, "Mathematical Framework of Cone-Beam 3-D Reconstruction Via the First Derivative of the Radon Transform", Mathematical Methods in Tomography, Herman, Lewis, Natterer (eds.) Lecture Notes in Mathematics, No. 1497, pp. 66-97, Spring Verlag (1991). That algorithm provides an accurate solution to the image reconstruction task based on a fundamental relationship between the derivative of the cone-beam plane integral through the derivative of the parallel beam plane integral. While the Grangeat method is theoretically accurate, it requires mathematical operations that can be solved only using finite numerical calculations that are approximations. Thus, errors can be introduced by the implementation of the Gangreat method that can be greater than those produced using the Feldkamp, et al. method and such errors are not correlated with the cone-beam angle.
A third method has been disclosed by H. K. Tuy in "An Inversion Formula for a Cone-Beam Reconstruction", SAIM J. Appl. Math. 43, pp. 546-552 (1983). Using Tuy's approach, in order to generate a complete or sufficient set of data, every plane which passes through the imaging field of view must also cut through the orbit of the focal point at least once. The single plane or orbit of Feldkamp, et al. does not satisfy this condition.
Still yet another approach that has been proposed is the inversion of the cone-beam data sets if the assumption is made that for any line that contains a vertex point and a reconstruction point, there is an integer M which remains constant for the line such that almost every plane that contains this line intersects the geometry exactly M times. Mathematical improvement to the reconstruction algorithms was described in an article by B. D. Smith entitled "Cone-Beam Tomography: Recent Advances and a Tutorial Review," Opt. Eng., Vol. 29 (5) pp. 524-534 (1990). However, such an integer requirement condition is too restrictive for practical application since the only known source point geometry which meets that condition is a straight line.
Two somewhat recent patents were issued in the United States directed to the cone-beam reconstruction problem. The first, U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,439 to Zeng, et al., was issued on Dec. 8, 1992 and utilizes the above-described cone-beam reconstruction method using combined circle and line orbits. However, that technique requires the removal of redundant and unnecessary data, which necessarily requires more computing time and complexity than the method and system of the present invention.
Another approach to the reconstruction of images from cone-beam data is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,255, which issued to Hu on Mar. 21, 1995. The methodology disclosed in the Hu patent represents a minimal improvement from Feldkamp's algorithm and it is still an approximate method based on a single circle cone beam geometry. It cannot result in exact reconstruction and it is not acceptable in many clinical applications when the cone angle is large.
In contrast to the prior art approaches, the present invention discloses an exact cone-beam reconstruction system and method using a circle-plus-arc data acquisition geometry in which the locus of a source and a detector is a circle plus an orthogonal arc. In that manner, the best image quality of a cone-beam volume CT is achieved without introducing any additional mechanical complexity compared to a regular CT gantry. If the locus of an x-ray source and a detector is a single circle during cone-beam scanning (single circle cone-beam geometry), an incomplete set of projection data will be acquired. The incompleteness of the projection data results in some unavoidable blurring in the planes away from the central z plane and a resolution loss in the z direction (i.e., Feldkamp, et al.'s algorithm). The reconstruction error due to the incompleteness of the projection data could be up to 40 Hounsfield units (HU) when using Feldkamp, et al.'s algorithm with an 11.degree. cone angle. However, using the data acquisition geometry of the present invention, the locus of an x-ray source and a detector is a circle plus an arc perpendicular to the circle. That corresponds to rotating the x-ray tube and detector on the gantry, and then acquiring the arc projections on a perpendicular arc while tilting the gantry at a relatively small angle (.+-.15.degree. to .+-.30.degree.). Such geometry results in a complete set of data for an object with a 25-40 cm diameter, which corresponds to a 37-60 cm field size at the detector with a magnification of 1.5. Using the system and method of the present invention, the 3-D reconstruction is exact and no image blurring or resolution loss occurs.
The method and system of the present invention is based upon the three-dimensional Radon transform. The algorithm used with the present invention first transforms the cone-beam projections acquired from a circle-arc orbit into the first derivative of the 3-D Radon transform of an object using Grangeat's formula. Then, the object function is reconstructed using the inverse Radon transform. In order to reduce the interpolation errors in the re-binning process required by Grangeat's formula, new re-binning equations have been derived exactly, therefore transforming 3-D interpolations into one-dimensional interpolations. The inventive cone-beam acquisition method and system disclosed herein provides a complete set of projection data such that the cone-beam image reconstruction algorithm achieves exact reconstructions. The result is a 3-D cone-beam reconstruction which introduces no obvious artifacts and only a practical acceptable reduction of reconstruction accuracy.

Method of and system for cone-beam tomography reconstruction


A control switch includes a rotary shaft rotatably mounted therein. A switching knob is mounted to the rotary shaft and a surface of the control switch. Also, a stationary shaft is arranged beside the rotary shaft. A driving control disk and a locking control disk are sequentially and rotatably fit onto the stationary shaft so that when the switching knob on the surface is actuated, the rotary shaft is rotated to selectively drive cables through the driving control disk or the locking control disk to thereby effect switching of transmission modes and the function of locking. Thus, the amount of space required for installation is reduced and the chance of malfunctioning is also reduced and further, the costs are reduced.

(a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a control switch, and in particular to a control switch that uses a mechanical structure to effect transmission position switching so as to not only reduce the amount of space required for installation of the control switch, but also reduce malfunctioning rate of the control of switching transmission modes and reduce the costs.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
With the increase of national income due to development of economics, modern people are now capable of participating in various entertainments and leisure activities. Different persons like different activities and among all the currently available leisure activities, riding an all-terrain vehicle to travel on a beach is getting popular for many people. Due to the fact that the loose and soft sandy surface of the beach is apparently different from the rigid concrete or paved road surfaces that are design for the traveling of automobiles and motorcycles, the all-terrain vehicle is provided with a function of switching between transmission modes of two-wheel (2W) driving and four-wheel (4W) driving to allow a rider to switch between different transmission modes in accordance with the road or track condition, thereby preventing the vehicle from being trapped in the loose and soft sandy surface, which may lead to wheel slip and trapping of the wheel in a sand pit. The conventional all-terrain vehicles use electromagnetic control to switch between the 2W driving mode and the 4W driving mode. The known electromagnetic control is effective in carrying out mode switching, yet a step motor is required, which not only needs a large amount of space but is also expensive. Further, the electromagnetic control structure may fail to properly work when electric circuit breaks so that the electromagnetic control has a larger chance of malfunctioning. Thus, it is a challenge to both reduce the chance of malfunctioning and maintain smooth switching between different transmission modes.


An electrical condition monitoring method utilizes measurement of electrical resistivity of an age sensor made of a conductive matrix or composite disposed in a polymeric structure such as an electrical cable. The conductive matrix comprises a base polymer and conductive filler. The method includes communicating the resistivity to a measuring instrument and correlating resistivity of the conductive matrix of the polymeric structure with resistivity of an accelerated-aged conductive composite.

The polymeric materials used in wire and cable insulation and jacketing (and other polymers) degrade with age, especially in severe environmental conditions. The safe operation of existing and future plants such as nuclear power plants requires monitoring of the insulation materials in order to anticipate degradation before performance of the wire and cable is adversely affected.
Age related wire and cable failure is primarily a mechanical mechanism. As the insulation ages, it becomes embrittled and eventually fails mechanically by cracking and exposing bare conductors. The industry has spent considerable time and effort to develop condition monitoring methods which monitor installed wire and cable and ensure that the materials have not degraded excessively. These methods are also used to predict safe operating lifetime of wire and cable insulation materials for anticipated environmental conditions. Presently, cable condition monitoring (CCM) methods are categorized as mechanical methods, chemical methods and electrical methods.
Elongation-at-break (EAB) has traditionally been one of the most common and well-documented CCM methods. This mechanical method measures the elongation of a sample of insulation material just prior to break and is normally expressed as a ratio of the break length divided by the original length of the sample. Since elongation measured in the test is analogous to elongation occurring when bending wire and cable, the results can be easily correlated to actual wire and cable insulation condition. Arrhenius methods described by others are normally used to predict material lifetime at a target ambient temperature from acceleration-aged data.
A serious disadvantage of the EAB method is that a relatively large sample portion is required to perform the test. This makes the test essentially destructive since the cable is rendered inoperative when the sample is removed. Even if a cable is sacrificed in order to run a test, some portions of the cable may be difficult or nearly impossible to access for sample removal, as would be the case if the area of interest is within a cable bundle, wire tray, or internal to a penetration. The equipment needed for measurement is relatively expensive and requires specialized skills.
Indenter modulus test is a relatively new mechanical test that utilizes a machine to press a small anvil at constant velocity against the outer surface of the cable or insulated conductor while measuring the force exerted on the anvil. The indenter modulus is defined as the slope of the force-position curve. A major advantage of the indenter modulus test is that the test itself is non-destructive. However, the test is of limited use on conductor insulation since access to a sufficient length of individual conductors is often restricted. Also, the test is not practical on cable within cable bundles or trays, or in other confined spaces.
Oxidation Induction Time (OIT) is a chemical condition monitoring method that utilizes small (8-10 mg) samples removed from cable insulation materials. The method utilizes a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) to provide an indication of the rapid oxidation of the sample when anti-oxidants, normally present in the insulation material, are exhausted. Short induction times indicate exhaustion of the anti-oxidant and anticipate rapid degradation of the material. Sample collection requires access to the cable which limits testable portions of the cable. Measurement requires expensive laboratory equipment and specialized training.
Electrical condition monitoring methods include insulation resistance, high potential tests, tan-delta tests, and ionized gas medium tests. These tests are essentially "go-no-go" tests (do not predict the remaining life of the sample) since no well-established methods reliably predict insulation lifetime based on the results. Several of these tests require high electrical potentials to be connected to cables, requiring removal of connected equipment and loads in order for the tests to be performed.

Electrical condition monitoring method for polymers


A process for the treatment of a rock formation or cavity, including the step of injecting, into the rock formation or cavity, a water solution of a water-soluble thermo-thickening polymer, the thermo-thickening polymer being able to form a gel at a threshold temperature (Tg), an inner temperature (Tint) of the rock formation or cavity being equal or superior to the threshold temperature (Tg), the process being characterized in that the thermo-thickening polymer is a cellulose chain, partially etherified with C1-C6 alkyl or hydroxyalkyl groups, or a polyacrylamide-based copolymer including N-isopropylacrylamide and/or N-vinylpyrrolidone groups. Such a process is advantageous for water shutoff in gas- or oilfields, or to solve to water channelling problems between injection wells and production wells.

Natural resources such as gas and oil can be recovered from subterranean formations using well-known techniques. In particular, thermo-thickening compounds are known to be incorporated as thickening agents in fracturing fluids, drilling fluids or completion fluids in the gas- and oilfield industry, as illustrated in documents such as EP0583814 and US2010/0206569.
Unwanted water production in association with crude oil is one of the major production difficulties for the petroleum industry, as more reservoirs become mature. Problems due to water production often decrease the economic performance of a well.
In order to reduce excessive water production, it is known to inject, in injection and production wells, a gelling system made of a water-soluble polymer and a cross-linking agent in aqueous solution. After a sufficient time, the solution sets into a semisolid mass and behaves as a water diverting or blocking agent, while remaining permeable to oil.
It is known to use a polyacrylamide/chromium acetate system as a gelling system (Sydansk et. al., Field Testing of a New Conformance improvement Treatment Chromium (III) Gel Technology, Paper SPE 17383 presented at the SPE Enhanced Oil Recovery Symposium, Tulsa, Okla., 1988). However, the gelation time depends on the kinetics of reaction between the polymer and the cross-linking agent, whereas the reaction conditions, inside the wells, are difficult to control. Moreover, the use of chromium salts can lead to environmental pollution problems.
Another problem encountered in the oil or gas industry relates to water channelling problems between injection wells and production wells. When injected into the injection well, water may follow a preferential pathway through high-permeability streaks of the reservoir. Some oil- or gas-rich zones, of lower water permeability, remain unswept by the water flow.
Therefore, the production of such wells could be improved by selectively blocking the "preferential pathway", diverting water to the previously unswept zones.
Known thermo-thickening compounds, such as polyethyleneglycol polymers (POE) described in EP0583814, would however be unsuitable for such a use, due to their low resistance to shearing.

Use of thermo-thickening polymers in the gas- and oilfield industry


A power supply for discharge lamp includes a transformer and a current balance device, wherein the transformer includes a primary winding and a secondary winding and the current balance device is coupled between the secondary winding and a plurality of discharge lamps. The current balance device may include a single inductor wherein at least two windings are connected in series with each other and each serially-connected winding is coupled with a discharge lamp, and the other windings are respectively coupled with a discharge lamp. The current balance device may include two inductors wherein at least one winding of a first inductor is connected in series with at least one winding of a second inductor and each serially-connected winding is coupled with a discharge lamp, and the other windings of the first inductor and the other windings of the second inductor are respectively coupled with a discharge lamp.

Cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) is a discharge lamp served in the backlight module of a LCD display panel as a light-emitting unit for the LCD display panel. Generally, the fluorescent lamp are driven by a high-voltage inverter which provides a high-frequency AC voltage to the fluorescent lamp and includes feedback control loops to regulate lamp currents. In a typical LCD display panel, multiple fluorescent lamps are generally required to provide sufficient backlighting for the LCD display panel.
In the application of multiple discharge lamps, the impedance of each discharge lamp is different with one another. Therefore, the current flowing in each discharge lamp is also different with one another. This would not only cause the brightness of the LCD display to become non-uniform, but also shorten the lifetime of the discharge lamp. Eventually, the entire LCD display panel would be damaged.
In order to solve the problem as a result of the current unbalance between discharge lamps, several current balance technique for discharge lamps have been presented to remove this deficiency. As shown in FIG. 1, a primary winding Np1 of a transformer T1 and a primary winding Np2 of a transformer T2 are connected in series with each other, and a secondary winding Ns1 of a transformer T1 and a secondary winding Ns2 of the transformer T2 are respectively coupled with a discharge lamp LP1, LP2. An input DC voltage is converted into a high-frequency AC voltage Vin by a switch device (not shown) and the generated AC voltage Vin is coupled to the primary windings Np1 and Np2. By the transformers T1 and T2, the AC voltage Vin is boosted to a desired AC voltage to drive discharge lamps LP1 and LP2. Because the primary windings Np1 and Np2 both have the same turn number and are connected in series with each other and the turn ratio between the secondary winding Ns1 and the secondary winding Ns2 is 1:1, the currents flowing through the discharge lamps LP1 and LP2 can be balanced. In this case, each primary winding Np1, Np2 will receive a smaller voltage due to the serial connection between the primary winding Np1 and Np2. In order to enable the secondary windings Ns1 and Ns2 to induce an AC voltage of the same voltage level, the turn number of the secondary winding Ns1 and the turn number of the secondary winding Ns2 have to increase. This would disfavor the miniaturization of the inverter and increase the power loss generated in the inverter.
FIG. 2 shows the topology of another conventional power supply for multiple discharge lamps. As shown in FIG. 2, an input DC voltage is converted into a high-frequency AC voltage Vin by a switch device (not shown). The high-frequency AC voltage Vin is coupled to a primary winding Np of a transformer T1 and thus a high-frequency AC voltage is induced across a secondary winding Ns for driving discharge lamps LP1-LP3. The discharge lamps LP1-LP3 are coupled to the secondary winding Ns of the transformer T1 and each discharge lamp LP1, LP2, Lp3 is respectively connected to a choke coil W1, W2, W3. The first windings of the choke coils W1, W2, W3 are coupled with each other and the second windings of the choke coils W1, W2, W3 are coupled with each other. The turn ratio between the first windings of the choke coils W1-W3 is 1:1:1, and the turn ratio between the second windings of the choke coils W1-W3 is also 1:1:1. In this manner, the currents flowing through the discharge lamps LP1-LP3 can be balanced. However, each discharge lamp of FIG. 2 requires a choke coil to be connected therewith. This would increase the number of magnetic elements for use in the inverter and aggrandize the size and cost of the inverter.
FIG. 3 shows the topology of another conventional power supply for multiple discharge lamps, in which a current balance device using common-mode chokes for balancing the currents flowing through the discharge lamps is provided. In FIG. 3, an input AC voltage Vin is coupled to a primary winding Np of a transformer T1 and a boosted high-frequency AC voltage is induced across a secondary winding Ns of the transformer T1 for driving discharge lamps LP1-LP3. A common-mode choke CC1 is coupled with adjacent discharge lamps LP1 and LP2 and a common-mode choke CC2 is coupled with adjacent discharge lamps LP3 and LP2, in which the second winding of the common-mode choke CC1 is connected in series with the first winding of the common-mode choke CC2. With the connection between the common-mode choke CC1 and the common-mode choke CC2, the currents flowing through the discharge lamps LP1-LP3 can be balanced. However, the circuitry of FIG. 3 needs numerous inductive elements, which would increase the number of magnetic elements for use in the inverter and aggrandize the size and cost of the inverter.
There is a need to design a power supply for multiple discharge lamps and the current balance device used in the power supply which is configured to achieve current balance for multiple discharge lamps with a minimum number of magnetic elements and an optimized driving capability for multiple discharge lamps.

Power supply for multiple discharge lamps and the current balance device thereof


A rearview mirror assembly for a vehicle includes a mirror casing and an electro-optic reflective element assembly disposed at the mirror casing. A second surface of a front substrate of the reflective element assembly has a transparent conductive coating established thereat and a third surface of a rear substrate has a conductive coating established thereat. An electrical connector may be disposed at the fourth surface and in electrically conductive continuity with the transparent conductive coating and/or the conductive coating. The electrical connector may include a connector attaching portion for attaching at the fourth surface and a conductor attaching portion for soldering or welding an electrical conductor or wire to the electrical connector when the electrical connector is attached at the fourth surface. The conductor attaching portion is spaced from the plane of the connector attaching portion and the fourth surface of the rear substrate.

It is known to provide a variable reflectance mirror reflective element for an interior or exterior rearview mirror assembly of a vehicle. The mirror reflective element is electrically powered via electrical leads that are soldered or clipped at an electrical conductor at the mirror reflective element, such as via clipping onto respective edge regions of the front and rear substrates to electrically contact the conductive coating or coatings at the rear of the front substrate and at the front and/or rear of the rear substrate. The mirror reflective element is adjustably mounted to an interior portion of a vehicle, such as via a double ball pivot or joint mounting configuration where the mirror casing and reflective element are adjusted relative to the interior portion of a vehicle by pivotal movement about the double ball pivot configuration. The mirror casing and reflective element are pivotable about either or both of the ball pivot joints by a user that is adjusting a rearward field of view of the reflective element.


An optical wavelength shifter shifts a wavelength of light over a wide range without need for using a large peak pump pulse. A nonlinear optical medium having a nonlinear refractive index is disposed interiorly of a laser resonator. A pump pulse and a light to be modulated are incident on a nonlinear optical medium to phase shift the light. With the provision of a timing delay unit, the timing at which the light to be modulated is incident on the nonlinear optical medium is delayed with respect to the timing at which the pump pulse is incident thereon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical wavelength shifter, and more particularly to an optical wavelength shifter for shifting the wavelength of light by varying timings at which the light and a pump pulse are incident on a nonlinear refractive medium
2. Description of the Prior Art
Intense, ultrafast, and broad-spectral-width pulses close to white-light called continuum or supercontinuum are generated by passing picosecond laser pulses through a nonlinear refractive medium having a nonlinear refractive index.
For spectral broadening, it has been known to utilize a phase modulation wherein the spectral range of the laser is broadened when the laser pulse passes through a nonlinear refractive medium. As the laser pulse passes through the medium, it causes a refractive index change. This in turn induces a phase change which causes a frequency sweep within the pulse envelope. This is called self phase modulation (SPM). Induce phase modulation (IPM) and cross phase modulation (XPM) are also known in the art. In IPM, a phase modulation is performed using an intense laser pulse serving as pump pulse. More specifically, when a weak pulse of a different frequency passes through the medium whose refractive index was changed by the intense laser pulse, the phase of the weak optical field can be modulated by the time variation of the index of refraction originating from the primary intense pulse.
Similarly, in XPM, light is phase shifted when a pump pulse and the light to be modulated are simultaneously incident on the nonlinear refractive medium, wherein the phase shift depends on the peak power of the pump pulse. A differential of the phase shift corresponds to a frequency modulation, hence the phase modulation is equivalent to the frequency modulation. Consequently, the spectrum of light can be broadened or an optical wavelength can be changed through the phase modulation by way of XPM. As disclosed in a paper entitled "Induced-frequency shift of copropagating ultrafast optical pulses" by P. L. Baldeck et al, announced in "American Institute of Phys" published Jun. 6, 1988, it has been known that the central wavelength is shifted caused by the change of a timing at which the pump pulse and the light to be modulated are incident on the nonlinear refractive medium. Since the phase modulation depends on the peak power of the pump pulse in XPM, there is a problem that a large peak power pump pulse is required.

Optical wavelength shifter using nonlinear refractive medium disposed interiorly of laser resonator


The present disclosure relates to a comminution apparatus including a rotational reducing unit that is rotatable about an axis of rotation. The rotational reducing unit includes a plurality of material reducing components that are mounted to a carrier. The material reducing components are rotated by the carrier in a first direction about the axis of rotation. The comminution apparatus also includes a screen at least partially surrounding the rotational reducing unit. The screen defines a plurality of sizing slots that have slot lengths and slot widths. The slots are elongated along the slot lengths such that the slot lengths are longer than the slot widths.

Empty Fruit Bunches are the by-product of processing the fruit or nut of palm trees for the production of palm oil. The characteristics of EFB are known to substantially consist of fibers. Processing technologies and systems for this material have been, and continue to be developed. An example is the process described in patent application US20100068121 including the step of pulverizing the material into 0.5-5 centimeter2 in average surface area or 0.1 to 5 centimeter in average length. EP1990399, another example of a processing method, includes an example of a process that includes the step of shredding, to obtain the EFB fibers as half fabricate. Due to the unique characteristics of this material, the significant fibrous content, the comminution process is difficult. Slow speed shredders are currently used, but the cost and productivity of these machines has resulted in significant cost and processing complexity. There is a need for a device capable of improved processing specifically for comminution of EFB materials. This need is evident by the fact that several patent applications have recently been published, disclosing mechanisms that were developed to process this material or type of material including WO03066296, JP2006122894, JP2000354785, DE102005023567.

Apparatus for comminuting fibrous materials