A method of remediation of a wet buckled pipeline uses a Submersible Vehicle (SV), Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), or Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) and includes the steps of retaining an end of the buckled pipeline; cutting the buckled pipeline underwater below a damaged section of the buckled pipeline; attaching a termination to the cut end of the buckled pipeline; connecting a hydraulic pump to the termination; and running the pump to pull water out of the pipeline.

Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with novel apparatus and methods for service of subsea pipelines.
It is currently estimated that approximately 60% of the world's petroleum production derives from offshore operations. To meet demands, and in an environment of increased values for oil and gas, exploration and subsequent production is being undertaken in deeper and deeper waters. For example, oil and gas is now being produced off the Louisiana coast in 9,000 feet of water. These offshore efforts have required expensive specialized solutions including establishment of extensive networks of subsea pipelines for transport of oil and gas from well heads to gathering structures, hub facilities and to onshore processing refineries.
The cost of laying pipelines subsea is immense and, therefore, the pipelines are carefully managed and serviced to extend their workable lives. Pipelines running from large fields are engineered to have a design life of thirty to fifty years. Occasionally pipelines or "flow lines" are damaged during laying of the pipe, or as a consequence of subsequent physical damage or environmental conditions. Excessive bending of pipe results in structural damage including buckling. Where damage results in a crack in the pipe and fluid inflow this is termed a "wet buckle." Whether occurring during laying or thereafter, sections of buckled pipeline must be removed from the pipeline and repaired.
In one method of recovering wet buckled pipe disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,827 (Gray et al.), a submersible vessel ("SV") is used to inflate lift bags beneath the submerged pipeline followed by cutting out the damaged section of pipe. Finally, the SV inserts a recovery head into an end of the cut pipe to grip the pipe for winching to the surface. In order to lift the damaged sections to the surface, wet buckled pipe must be evacuated of fluid or "dewatered" to reduce its weight. As described by Gray, pipeline sections typically are dewatered using topside pumps to provide compressed gas to drive a dewatering pig from the surface through the pipeline, stopping at the subsea recovery head. Alternatively, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,777,499 (Matthews), one subsea end of the pipeline can be sealed with a cap that includes a gas inlet and gas supplied from the surface can be introduced from one end while liquids are pumped from the other end using a pump lowered and powered from the surface and disposed at the other end of the pipeline.
Compressed gas for driving a dewatering pig must be provided at sufficient pressure to drive the pig considering several dynamic components including: the hydrostatic pressure of the water over the pipe, the friction pressure of the fluid as it moves through the pipe, and the friction of the pig against the pipeline walls (pig differential). Because hydrostatic pressure is by far the most significant dynamic component as water depth increases, topside dewatering has required very large top-side air compression spreads that must remain in position over the damaged pipelines during recovery efforts. What are needed are subsea apparatus and methods able to provide recovery of damaged pipeline that avoid the need for large topside gas compressor spreads and/or topside powered dewatering pumps.
Another required pipeline service relates to chemical sampling and treatment. Sections of pipeline that are waiting to be put into service, or that have been damaged and are awaiting remediation, are typically chemically treated to prevent corrosion. In addition, in-service pipelines may become clogged with contaminants that reduce flow, particularly where the pipelines carry a number of different products in multiphase flow. These include hydrates, asphaltenes, scale, and paraffins. For each of these contaminants and build-ups, specific remediative chemical treatments have been developed and are often combined with pigging to physically clean the pipeline and to load the pipeline with the remediative chemicals. Pigging is typically implemented via surface power wherein power fluid or gas is conveyed to a subsea pipeline manifold via coiled tubing run from the surface. Likewise, chemical injection pumps are typically located topside. Testing for the efficacy of the remediative chemical treatment has traditionally been done by modeling of supposed subsea conditions, including factors of temperature, pressure and the type of product carried in the pipeline. Actual subsea sampling of pipeline sections has not heretofore been possible.
In some cases, service is required on a portion of a subsea product or flow line system that has been in service and contains hydrocarbon products. Removal of the product to the surface without environmental release of the hydrocarbon product has heretofore required connection to the surface via coiled tubing or drill string or has required complete decommissioning and recommissioning. Subsea removal of product has not been heretofore possible and represents an unmet need in the industry.
Another heretofore underserved pipeline service relates to leak detection, where the presence of a wet buckle must be detected, or more generally where the continued ability of a pipeline both to contain its contents, and to protect the contents from in-flow may need to be assessed. In the past, testing for leaks has generally required putting in place a means to monitor changes in pressure, or alternatively the facility to detect noise made by leakage.
What are needed are subsea pipeline service apparatus and methods able to detect leaks in pipelines, to dewater pipelines such that damaged pipelines can be lifted for repair, as well as apparatus and methods able to provide sampling of the in situ chemical milieu of chemically treated pipelines, remove product from flowline system elements, and, if desired, to treat sections of pipeline, all using a completely subsea service skid.

Methods and apparatus for recovery of damaged subsea pipeline sections


An infant stroller with a conventional frame which can be collapsed by releasing a latch mechanism mounted on a central portion of the frame. The handle arms of the frame terminate in a handle assembly which includes a handle bar portion designed for two-handed operation and a handle grip designed for one-handed operation of the stroller. The handle grip is provided at an ergonomically comfortable angle in the range of 60 degrees from horizontal. A console tray is provided in the vicinity of the handle assembly for the operator to conveniently store various sundry items. The console tray supports a back edge of a canopy on the infant stroller. The canopy includes a canopy frame and a sunshade depending therefrom which is supported by a separate sunshade frame.

Modern infant strollers typically include a frame, an infant support or seat, and four sets of wheels. Typically, the rear sets of wheels are fixed in orientation, while the front sets of wheels serve as castors to be able to pivot in any direction. While pivotable wheels are desirable for maneuvering the stroller, they are inherently less stable directionally than fixed wheels. Nevertheless, any instability which may be caused by the pivotable wheels is compensated and adjusted for by the operator via relative movement of the operator's two hands in the normal two-handed push operation. Occasionally, the operator is confronted with a situation where it is desirable to be able to operate the stroller with a single hand.
Single-handed operation of strollers is difficult at best with current stroller designs. Stroller handles are typically horizontal (or nearly horizontal) bars which may be grasped by both hands of the operator. To push such a stroller with a single hand would include placing the hand at the central portion of the horizontal bar. Unfortunately, grasping a horizontal bar with a single hand and attempting to impart forward motion to the stroller while also controlling side-to-side movement is not inherently easy. This is partially because grasping the central portion of a horizontal bar on the stroller in front of the operator is not ergonomically comfortable. Some other stroller designs include a pair of single-handed grip handles at the two extreme positions on the horizontal bar. This approach does not easily provide for single-handed operation either, since grasping either of the two handles at the extreme positions does not place the hand in a central position which is necessary to easily push and control the stroller.
Another characteristic of stroller use is that, on extended trips with the stroller, the operator may have various sundry items to be carried, e.g., a purse, a beverage, shopping purchases, or supplies for the infant such as diapers and bottles. Typically, these items must be carried by the operator, slung over the operator's shoulders in some manner, or placed in the infant seat with the infant. Some modern strollers provide a storage basket under the seat for storage of such items. While such a storage basket is clearly an improvement over the absence of one, the location can be inconvenient if it is necessary to frequently place items into and remove them from the basket. Also, such a storage basket may not hold beverages and baby bottles in the desired upright position.
In addition, it is always desirable to maximize the protection provided for the infant. Most stroller designs include a canopy attached to the frame to at least partially protect the infant from adverse elements such as sun, wind, rain, etc. Typically, such canopies are supported by a canopy frame. Unfortunately, such adverse elements do not always approach the infant from directly thereabove. In order to further increase the protection provided by the canopy, some designs include fabric panels which depend downwardly from the canopy. Such fabric panels may limit the vision of the infant when the panels are not desired. Further, the panels may be rendered ineffective by wind, etc.
It is against this background and the desire to solve the problems of the prior art that the present invention has been developed.


A plurality of transmission lines (3b,3c) are connected to a transistor (1) and have different characteristic impedances. A plurality of open stubs (4a,4b) are connected to the plurality of transmission lines (3b,3c) respectively. A length of each open stub (4a,4b) is shorter than a length of each transmission line (3b,3c).

A high frequency power amplifier is used for a communication device in a microwave band or millimeter wave band, for example, from several MHz to several hundreds of GHz for mobile communication, satellite communication or the like. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the amount of variation in power-added efficiency (PAE) of a transistor in a conventional power amplifier. Here, the impedance of the second harmonic is fixed at Γ=0.8, and the harmonic phase is changed from 0 to 360°. It can be seen that the PAE varies by nearly 20% depending on the phase. Therefore, it is important to control the harmonic impedance of the second harmonic, etc. of the power amplifier.
In a power amplifier, PAE of a transistor is enhanced by using a harmonic circuit for reflecting harmonics. In the harmonic circuit, it is necessary to set odd harmonics such as the third harmonic to open impedance in the case of a class F operation, and also it is necessary to set even harmonics of the second and higher harmonics to open impedance in the case of an inverse class F operation (for example, see PTL 1 to PTL 3). In order to enhance PAE in a broad band, it is necessary to control not only a fundamental wave as an operating frequency of the power amplifier, but also the impedance of harmonics in a broad band. Therefore, a trap circuit or a short circuit has been added (for example, see PTL 4 and PTL 5).


To provide an interaction information processing apparatus capable of easily performing addition and deletion of a scenario, and of suitably executing processing contents, even when a plurality of events are simultaneously input. The interaction information processing apparatus includes: a net status table 10 which stores a net status of each net; a processing item table 12 which stores groups of {a processing item, an input net of the processing item, and an output net of the processing item}; processing item execution modules 4-i each of which is provided in correspondence with each processing item, executes processing contents of the processing item, and updates a net status of the output net according to the execution result; selection execution means 13 which successively selects all the processing items in the processing item table 12, and executes the processing item execution module 4-i corresponding to the selected processing item; and status change determination means 14 which, when one of the net statuses in the net status table 12 is changed, makes the selection execution means 13 execute the each processing item execution module 4-i.

In recent years, a car navigation apparatus and various domestic apparatuses which include an interactive user interface have been investigated and developed. In such interactive user interface, an apparatus which performs information processing of interaction with the user is referred to as an interaction information processing apparatus.
In the interaction information processing apparatus, information is acquired through interaction with the user, and processing based on the information is performed. For example, the processing is performed in such a manner that contents of the user's utterance is recognized by a voice recognition device, that a reply and a question are repeated by a voice synthesis device in correspondence with the recognized contents, and that the apparatus is operated according to the intention of the user. Note that "interaction" here includes not only interaction by voice but also interaction by a switch operation, interaction by an image, and the like.
The interaction information processing apparatus needs to perform natural interaction without giving a feeling of incongruity to the user. That is, it is important to increase the degree of freedom in utterance selection on the user's side.
Accordingly, there has been developed an interaction information processing apparatus in which an application program (execution module and hereinafter referred to as "AP") configured to operate various devices and a program (interaction module) configured to perform interactive processing are independently provided, and which performs interaction processing on the basis of scenarios prepared for the AP (see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2).
In the interaction information processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1, the interaction having a high degree of freedom on the user's side is realized in such a manner that the description of interaction processing itself is made independent of the AP, and the flow of interaction is prevented from being influenced by the processing procedure of the AP.
Further, in the interaction information processing apparatus described in Patent Document 2, there is described a technique by which the scenarios are organized into a hierarchical structure, and thereby a shift to a different AP can be naturally performed on the basis of user's utterance.
FIG. 7 is a figure showing a hierarchical structure of scenarios in the interaction information processing apparatus described in Patent Document 2. As the scenarios, there are prepared an A-AP scenario group, a B-AP scenario group, and a C-AP scenario group in correspondence with three APs. Also, a route scenario on the basis of which an application branching processing is performed is provided separately from the respective AP scenario groups. The application branching processing in the route scenario is to activate the AP in response to input information from the user, and to call the AP scenario group corresponding to the AP. Thus, in the case where while the processing in a certain AP scenario group is performed, the user instructs to shift the processing to the processing of the other AP scenario group, it is only necessary to shift the processing to the route scenario, and hence the shift to the different AP can be naturally performed.
Further, the application branching processing is made independent of the AP scenario groups, and is collected as the route scenario, whereby no matter how the number of APs is increased, the transition processing to the other AP scenario group needs not be described in each AP scenario group. As a result, it is possible to simplify the description of the AP scenario group.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-56694
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-296943
However, in the above described conventional interaction information processing apparatus, when a new application is added, it is necessary to create an AP scenario group relating to the application, and to add the definition of application branching processing between the created AP scenario group and the other AP scenario groups to the route scenario. As a result, work for the addition and deletion of the scenario becomes complicated.
Further, when instructions are simultaneously input to a plurality of the APs by the user's utterance, the plurality of APs cannot be simultaneously controlled. That is, when, while certain processing of the AP scenario group (A) is executed, an instruction about the processing of the other AP scenario group (B) is input by the user, the interaction information processing apparatus is required to interrupt the processing of the AP scenario group (A), and to shift to the processing of AP scenario group (B). Then, when the utterance about the processing content of the AP scenario group (A) is input by the user, the interaction information processing apparatus interrupts the processing of the AP scenario group (B) and shifts to the processing of the AP scenario group (A). In this case, however, the processing of the AP scenario group (A) is performed from the beginning, and hence it is necessary for the user to repeatedly input the instruction contents previously input by the user. Therefore, there is a problem from the viewpoint of convenience for the user.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an interaction information processing technique by which addition and deletion of scenarios can be easily performed, and which, even when a plurality of events are simultaneously input by the user, makes it possible to simultaneously perform the processing contents corresponding to the input events in a suitable manner.

Interaction information processing apparatus and interaction information processing method


A LED matrix display having a variety of enhanced functionalities including: a scheduler which schedules tasks based upon commands correlated with real time; a tracking and accounting procedure which provides a database file which accounts for tasks as a function of the time a task is performed; sports display presentations of various sports information associated with different sports based upon corresponding sports IDs; the use of virtual display images or windows which may vary over time and which overlay template or faceplate images; and an improved error reporting capability in which detected errors are displayed using clear descriptive text information.

1 . Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for the generation of image sequences responsive to the contents of a time schedule file and, in particular, where the time schedule file determines the sequence, duration and initiation time for the generation of the image sequences.
The present invention further relates to a method and apparatus for displaying, on an LED matrix display, a selected one of many template images responsive to the message content of a communications packet received. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for configuring a single LED matrix display to have a plurality of virtual displays. The present invention further relates to a method and apparatus for configuring the LED matrix display as regards the template image to be displayed, the number of virtual displays, the size and location of the individual virtual displays, and the message file to be used within each individual virtual display, such configuring of the LED matrix display being responsive to the contents of a configuration file.
The present invention still further relates to a method and apparatus for providing billing information in response to: the date, time of day, the repetitiveness and the duration of image sequences displayed.
Furthermore, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for displaying, on the LED matrix display, descriptive error messages responsive to varied operating conditions.
2. Description of Prior Art
LED matrix displays have traditionally been used as a message display for various applications such as a marquee for special attractions, time and date, news events, sports events, etc. and is often used to advertise products or services to the general public or a particular market. Generally such products or services are advertised by simple text messages or complex animation sequences which describe the benefits of the products/services and in many cases is a visual message on a specialized display configured only for that purpose.
An LED matrix display, for displaying sophisticated imagery is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 451,976, entitled "METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USE WITH MATRIX DISPLAY PANELS" and is commonly assigned to the assignee of the present application.
In the prior art, the LED matrix sequentially displays image sequences (text and/or animation) in a predetermined order. Therefore, for example, multiple advertisement messages could be sequentially displayed until the last message is displayed at which time the sequence repeats. However, the above described sequencing is not sufficiently flexible to meet many desired applications. In some instances, it is desired to display particular messages only on certain days and/or only during certain times of the day. For example, a message for a lunch special at a restaurant might need to be displayed from 11 AM through 2 PM on Monday through Friday.
To accomplish the above task the prior art matrix displays required that an operator intervene to change the sequence of the messages at 11 AM to include the lunch special message, and again at 2 PM to exclude the same. As a result such desired applications are often avoided due to the required burdensome operator intervention.
Clients often pay to have advertising messages displayed on the LED matrix displays. As in other forms of media, such as radio and TV, it is desired to track and account for the messages displayed as a function of the message's repetitiveness, duration, the time of day in which the message is displayed, and whether any attempted messages were aborted. However, in the prior art matrix displays, such tracking and accounting can not be accomplished automatically since the cyclical sequencing of the messages is not synchronized with the time of day. Furthermore due to the inability to automatically track and account for messages as a function of the time of day, bills can not be generated wherein varied billing rates are applied to messages as a function of the time period displayed (such as prime-time or drive-time billing methods used by many advertising agencies.)
Prior art LED matrix displays, such as game football and baseball score boards, are generally limited to a single sports application. Prior art LED matrix displays use a pre-generated sequence of frames to show images and/or animations. However, using such a method is not cost effective for a sports display because the images cannot be pre-generated while allowing for all possible combinations of the scores and statistics. Therefore, sports score boards generally contain fixed headers (a template) for defining information such as, in the case of baseball, runs per inning, the total number of hits, and the total number of errors. The variable information is provided, by an operator, to the score board as the information is obtained.
Another disadvantage of the prior art LED matrix displays is the inability to segment the display area into various independent virtual display areas. Therefore, for applications that typically require more than one display, such as a gaming progressive jackpot application, multiple independent displays were provided. However, with the variety of game and/or jackpot types available, the number of individual displays and associated faceplates quickly increases. Design and maintenance cost for multiple independent displays and associated faceplates is significantly higher than for a single display unit.
Prior art LED matrix displays suffer from a very crude method of displaying error messages. Upon detection of an error, an encoded message was displayed. A conversion chart provided to the service personnel permitted conversion of the encoded message into a useful descriptive message. However, in real life situations, the conversion chart is often not readily available and therefore, the messages often ignored, or service attempted without the benefit of the error message.
As can be appreciated, in the prior art, when using the displays for a dedicated purpose, or a separate display for each application, it was fairly easy to visually determine whether or not the display was properly operating. However, as the displays are becoming capable of showing many different displays at the same time, it is increasingly difficult to visually determine the existence of a failure condition. Therefore, there is a need for a method of displaying very precisely what error has occurred, and further, for putting such error descriptions into a file that can be retrieved at a later time by service personnel.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an LED matrix display which provides improved capabilities for scheduling message tasks.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an LED matrix display which provides comprehensive tracking and accounting of the message tasks displayed.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide an LED matrix display which can be configured to be used as a score board for various sporting events, the display presenting a selected template as a function of the selected sport.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an LED matrix display which can be configured to have more than one virtual display area.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide an LED matrix display which displays descriptive error messages and produces a file containing the same.


A series of small explosive charges are used to preferentially crack the casing of a warhead to provide for a controlled fragmentation of the warhead. During detonation of the warhead's explosive fill, the casing will break early in the process along predetermined lines resulting in very large fragments that are projected toward the ground and away from innocent civilians. A fragmentation control collar which contacts these charges can be fitted on the outside of existing warheads. An annular liner within the warhead aids in the controlled fragmentation.

Standard explosives, and applications of explosives such as warheads and mining boreholes, are designed to perform a specific task by detonating. Detonation is defined as a supersonic reaction rate which is propagated as a shock through the explosive material. In the case of an explosive warhead, detonation of the explosive is designed to produce a set of lethal effects such as fragmentation of the warhead casing, thermal effects from the heat of detonation and blast effects from the shock that is generated by the detonation.
More specifically, when detonation is initiated in one end of a warhead, typically a cylindrical explosive charge, the detonation travels through the explosive at speeds of over 20,000 feet per second. The detonation results in both a very rapid generation of gas from the explosive and the transfer of momentum to the warhead casing material, which may be made of, for example, steel. The steel casing is rapidly expanded and breaks up into small pieces due to the action of the rapid pressurization and momentum transfer. A steel case will break up into long strips initially and the strips will then break up into short high velocity fragments. Standard warhead is normally initiated at a single point on one end along the axis of the warhead. The detonation propagates down the length of warhead producing roughly equal fragment sizes and energy in all directions perpendicular to the axis of the warhead, albeit with small induced "Taylor" angle in the direction of detonation propagation.
Sometimes the destructive effects from a given warhead design are more lethal than is actually required for a specific target situation. However, it is not feasible to design a warhead for each and every situation on the battlefield, nor is it logistically possible to provide such an array of warheads where they are needed during battle. In many cases it may be impossible to complete a bombing mission with a large bomb that is readily available due to the likelihood of unintended damage, while a smaller bomb is not available at the time. This either limits that use of high value assets such as bomber aircraft or may endanger friendly ground forces from collateral damage. Additionally, more and more wars are being fought in urban areas, as terrorist and guerilla forces locate their headquarters and forces in the midst of civilian populations. Therefore, there is a need for the ability to tune the output of a given warhead design so that it can address multiple situations that occur during battle.
It has been shown that bombs and warheads can be made to have tunable destructive effects by first initiating a deflagration or combustion in the high explosive and then initiating a detonation from an opposite end of the high explosive.
A different and perhaps more useful approach to controlling lethal effects from an explosive warhead is to utilize a carefully designed pattern of detonators within and outside of the casing of the warhead. It has been known for many years that the fragmentation energy from a warhead may be enhanced in a given direction by changing the initiation pattern in the warhead. The initial application for this technology appears to have been for air-to-air missile warheads, where a near-miss was a common occurrence and warhead directionality was thought to be vital to maintaining lethality.
It is most advantageous to have a directed limited concentrated fragmented charge, which provides for a powerful charge in a limited area, thus avoiding collateral damage, thereby limiting harm to civilians, friendly soldiers, and preventing unnecessary damage to infrastructure, while at the same time increasing "targeted" lethality to allow for the destruction of the intended target.
DE 004139373C1 (Held) discloses a fragmentation warhead having a main explosive charge in a fragmentation casing which is closed at both ends by end plates. Deformation charges which extend in the longitudinal direction are arranged partly around the fragmentation casing. The fragmentation casing and the main explosive charge are designed to be deformable in order to force the fragmentation casing inwards before fragmentation formation when the deformation charge is detonated on the side facing the target. In order to achieve a situation in which the fragmentation casing is forced in approximately flat on detonation of the deformation charge which faces the target, the fragmentation casing is designed such that it can tear off in the region of the two end plates on detonation of the deformation charge.
FR2704638 (Broussoux et al.) discloses an explosive fragmentation weapon having a grooved outer shell with its inner surface at least partly surrounding the explosive charge and its outer surface grooved to form the fragments on detonation. At least some of the outer surface grooves contain an electrically-conducting material with a shape memory effect, elongated in shape and with ends connected selectively to a power supply. The grooves containing the material are rectangular in cross section with two grooves to one of the surfaces of the shell, and a base which lies parallel to it and has a slit in it. The material with the shape memory effect is a copper/nickel/aluminum alloy, and the grooves lie along the meridians or parallels of the shell.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,484,642 (Kuhns et al.) discloses a fragmentation body for fragmentation projectiles and warheads, including an integral fragmentation shell structure made of cast metal, and the shell structure having and outer wall surface and an inner wall surface separated by a thickness of the shell, where at least one of the inner or outer surfaces includes recesses formed through part of the thickness of the shell to define a plurality of fragments which remain integrated with the shell structure until an explosive forces is detonated in proximity of the shell, wherein the shell material comprises a steel alloy including carbon, chromium, nickel, molybdenum, cobalt, and the balance essentially being iron. Shell structures of the inventive fragmentation body also have a fragmentation pattern defined via recesses or grooves provided in at least one of the inner or outer wall surfaces thereof to define the size and shapes of the fragment projectiles desired. The steel alloy used is high strength, yet controllably fragmentable into desired and uniform individual projectile shapes and sizes, and in a desired overall dispersion pattern, during case break up.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,461 (Wilhelm et al. discloses a fragment layer for a warhead having a longitudinal axis comprising: a plurality of axially adjacent, annular rings of preformed fragments, each said ring being coaxial with said axis and encompassing the periphery of said warhead; an annular retaining layer covering the outside surface of said rings to secure said fragments in position; and annular explosive layer disposed between said rings and the periphery of said warhead; and means for selectively detonating said explosive layer to generate a low velocity disc pattern of fragments.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,213 (Kempton) discloses a cylindrical warhead having an outer, relatively-thin metal skin member and an inner thicker metal casing, the main explosive charge being disposed in the space between the members with associated boosters or charge initiators. The initiators include a first set of circumferentially-spaced aiming detonation members and a second set of similarly spaced main charge-firing members. Aiming is achieved by first firing a selected aiming initiator to produce a force sufficient to rupture and break open an arcuate section of the outer warhead skin but insufficient to produce a main charge detonation. Next, a main charge-firing initiator disposed substantially diametrically opposite the ruptured arcuate section is fired to produce an inwardly-directed main-charge blast for fragmenting the thicker inner casing and driving the fragments in the desired direction through the ruptured arcuate section.

Controlled fragmentation of a warhead shell


A method and system for retrieving web-site based information by a spider engine at a target bandwidth is described. A target band width is received from the spider engine. A wait time is calculated by a timing module. Data retrieval from a web site is delayed by the calculated wait time so that data is retrieved at the desired target bandwidth.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to spider engines and, in particular, to regulating the rate of data retrieval by a spider engine.
2. Related Art
"Web crawlers", "robots", or "spider engines" are programs used to automatically search the Internet for web pages or documents of interest. The information found by the spider engine may be collected, cataloged, and otherwise used by search engines. For example, a spider engine may be directed to search for and collect particular types of data, such as product catalog information, or may randomly search and catalog all found web pages to create a web index. The spider engine may enter a particular web site, and search one or more web pages of the web site for information of interest. The web site being searched may maintain a large number of web pages. Hence, searching with a spider engine may entail downloading, via the Internet, hundreds, thousands, and even more pages of information in a relatively short amount of time, from a single web site server.
Searching a web site in this manner with a spider engine may cause a web site server to become heavily loaded with web page requests. A web site server may be physically limited to supporting a particular amount of web page requests at any one time. The loading due to requests from a single spider engine may approach this web page request limit, and impair the web server's ability to respond to other requests for information during this period. This overloading may be detrimental to the web site provider's goal of making information available to interested parties, and may discourage interested parties from visiting the web site because they receive denials of service. Hence, what is needed is a method and system for limiting such web site requests of a web server by a spider engine, while still yielding acceptable search results.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for downloading network data at a controlled data transfer rate


The present invention provides a plasma arc torch that can be used for lean combustion. The plasma arc torch includes a cylindrical vessel, an electrode housing connected to the first end of the cylindrical vessel such that a first electrode is (a) aligned with a longitudinal axis of the cylindrical vessel, (b) extends into the cylindrical vessel, and (c) can be moved along the longitudinal axis, a linear actuator connected to the first electrode to adjust a position of the first electrode, a hollow electrode nozzle connected to the second end of the cylindrical vessel such that the center line of the hollow electrode nozzle is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the cylindrical vessel, and wherein the tangential inlet and the tangential outlet create a vortex within the cylindrical vessel, and the first electrode and the hollow electrode nozzle creates a plasma that discharges through the hollow electrode nozzle.

There are many problems associated with lean fuel combustion or low BTU gas combustion in gas turbine engines. With the successful flight of the X-43A, hypersonic flight has achieved several technological goals and entered a new era. With further developments, it will reach Technology Readiness Level. However, FAA and EPA emission regulations in addition to the cost of fossil-based aviation fuels have pushed the aviation community into research and development for highly efficient aircraft engines that work on alternative and/or renewable fuels. In particular, the land based gas turbine community has been conducting research for integrating coal gasification with a combined cycle turbine ("IGCC"). In any case, the combustion of the product from gasification of carbon containing matter—synthesis gas ("syngas")—requires major modifications to current gas turbine engines. Because syngas has a low heating value ("LHV") compared to natural gas, significantly more fuel must be injected in an IGCC turbine than a natural gas turbine. Therefore, the mass-flow—and thus the output power—of the gas turbine is much higher for an IGCC application. For the same reason, the gas turbine's output power is flat-rated to very high temperatures.
Supersonic Combustion and Flame Holding
Problem 1: Gas Turbine to Ramjet or Scramjet Operations
High Bypass Fan Gas Turbines are the primary engines for transportation aircraft. Typical speeds are 893 km/h (482 kt) at altitude on aircraft such as the Boeing 777-300. Military aircraft use augmentors ("afterburners") to achieve and sustain supersonic flight. Only the new F-22 raptor can sustain supersonic flight without the use of an augmentor. Air breathing ramjets or scramjets are required to achieve hypersonic flight using air. However, only one successful Scramjet has been flown since the beginning of aviation. The major problem with ramjets and scramjets can be traced back to the early problem of flame holding or preventing engine flame out. In addition, no matter which configuration is chosen for Hypersonic Flight a problem remains—transition from subsonic to supersonic and finally hypersonic flight will require several different engines.
Problem 2: Lean Combustion or Low BTU Fuel Combustion
Fuel-lean combustion can increase efficiency while lowering emissions. However, current combustors cannot hold a flame during lean combustion conditions. Likewise, low BTU fuel such as syngas is difficult to combust in current gas turbine engines.
Ansaldo Energia (Genoa, Italy) has engineered a new gas turbine V94.2K2 that targets the low-Btu (3.5 MJ/Kg-7 MJ/Kg LHV) market. The K2 gas turbine builds on the design philosophy of Ansaldo Energia's V94.2K that can handle fuels with 8 MJ/Kg-13 MJ/Kg LHV. The K2 is intended for Chinese and Eastern European markets where the company sees a demand for power generation from industrial gases, such as Blast Furnace Gas (BFG) and Coke Oven Gas (COG).
The Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) and Upper Explosive Limit (UEL) for common hydrocarbon based fuels, such as diesel (0.6% to 7.5%), gasoline (1.4% to 7.6%), and natural gas (Methane—5.0% to 15%) is fairly limited in range. On the other hand, syngas a product of natural gas (methane) steam reforming or gasification of hydrocarbons, coal, biomass, etc. is composed of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. The LEL and UEL for hydrogen (4% to 75%) and carbon monoxide (12.5% to 74.0%) are much broader than the parent fuel such as methane. Thus, this allows syngas (hydrogen+carbon monoxide) to be burned in a lean mode. The problem with syngas is that it is not widely available. It must be generated onsite by steam reforming natural gas or gasification of carbonaceous matter such as hydrocarbons or biomass. Typical gasifiers are very large and extremely expensive. However, a small and inexpensive plasma gasifier, such as the ArcWhirl®, U.S. Pat. No. 7,422,695 issued on Sep. 9, 2008 to the present inventor coupled to an IC engine could achieve both lean burn and supersonic combustion by gasifying the fuel first then combusting it in a cyclone combustor that is driven by a turbocharger.
Problem 3: Match Lit in Hurricane
Supersonic combustion has been compared to keeping a match lit in a hurricane or tornado. All gas turbines slow the flow of compressed air to below supersonic velocities in order to maintain a flame. This is due to the inherit design of the flame-holding capabilities of the combustor for a given turbine.
Move Match to Eye of Hurricane
It is well known that speeds within a cyclone can easily attain supersonic velocities. For example, turbochargers and centrifugal compressors easily attain speeds of over 100,000 RPM. Likewise, the air circulating within a turbocharger would far exceed supersonic speeds. Thus, the present invention achieves supersonic combustion by utilizing the centripetal forces within a rotating air column, such as a cyclone or hurricane for energy transfer, while utilizing the void, commonly referred to as the eye or vortex, in order to keep the match lit in order to maintain ignition. Simply put, the match is moved from the whirling column of air known as the shear wall to the eye or center of the hurricane.
Problem 4: Flame is Stretched Due to Whirl Flow & Melts Turbine
Placing the igniter within the center of the combustor is common for many types of gas turbine engines. Allison's C-18 to C-20 series of gas turbine engines utilize a front mounted axial flow compressor that sweeps the compressed air to the combustor via externally mounted air conduits. If the combustor were redesigned such that the air tubes entered tangentially to the combustor housing, thus creating centrifugal flow within the redesigned cyclone or vortex combustor, then the igniter and fuel nozzle would be placed within the central void space or eye of a whirling mass of air. However, this would create a detrimental effect on the compressor turbine if operated at supersonic combustion utilizing an intense igniter such as a plasma torch. The intense heat within the centrally stretched out plasma flame would melt the center of the compressor turbine.
Problem 5: Flame Out
It is well known that lean combustion can achieve high efficiency while producing low emissions. However, attempting to achieve lean combustion within current internal combustion ("IC") engine designs may lead to low reaction rates, flame extinction ("Flame Out"), instabilities, and mild heat release. Likewise, many IC engines are very sensitivity to fuel/air mixing.
With the current push for sequestering carbon or utilizing renewable fuels, a need exists for a relatively inexpensive turbine engine design that can operate in a lean fuel combustion mode in addition to a supersonic combustion mode. If such a turbine could be easily coupled to a motor generator, high bypass fan or propeller, this would allow for rapid transition to renewable fuels for electrical generation, aviation, marine propulsion and thermal oxidation. The ability to transition from subsonic to supersonic then to hypersonic flight with the same engine would solve many problems with reaching space at an affordable payload rate. The ability to use the same air breathing supersonic combustion turbine as a steam plasma thruster in space solves the issues of carrying a large oxidizer payload.

System, method and apparatus for lean combustion with plasma from an electrical arc


A rotary chain jack may include a frame, a dual chain wheel rotatably coupled to the frame, and a stopper assembly mechanically coupled to the frame. The stopper assembly may include latches. The stopper assembly may be positioned to selectively engage a chain passing over the dual chain wheel. The rotary chain jack may be used to moor offshore structures.

Offshore mooring systems are typically used to maintain offshore structures in position (i.e., on station) within specified tolerances. Offshore structures, such as floating production, drilling or construction platforms or spar buoys, generally are moored in a desired location through the use of mooring lines (e.g., chains or cables) secured between the offshore structure and anchors on the ocean floor. Mooring systems operate to provide restoring forces that act against environmental forces (e.g., wind, waves and currents) that move offshore structures out of position (off station). Enhanced control over the positioning of mooring lines may correspondingly enhance control over the positioning of associated offshore structures.

Rotary chain jack that maintains tension in a mooring line/chain


An antenna pane has a transparent sheet in which is imbedded a plurality of conductors at least some of which serve as antennas. It is tested by applying a test signal to one of the conductors and thereby transmitting the test signal from the one conductor, receiving the test signal with the other conductors serving as antennas, and evaluating the test signal received by the other conductors serving as antennas. The conductors serving as antennas of the pane are connected to a diversity processor and therethrough with a receiver. The test signal is produced by a signal generator operated by the diversity processor.

A modern motor-vehicle windshield frequently incorporates at least one AM antenna and one or more radio and TV antennas and even a grid of heating wires. Becoming increasingly widespread are diversity systems, where several antennas for the same frequency range are present on one antenna pane. In diversity operation, a diversity processor selects the antenna which possesses the most favorable reception properties and connects it to the receiver.
With such complex antenna systems, numerous faults can occur. These may result from defects in the antenna conductors forming the antennas, defects in the antenna/amplifier connections, defects of the amplifier, defects of the diversity processor, and defects in the connection with the receiver. To permit clear identification of the exact source of the malfunction, various diagnostic methods are known.
One diagnostic method known in practice, with which defects in the antenna conductors in the antenna pane can be determined, a transmitting antenna is arranged close to the motor vehicle, or is attached to it externally, and a test signal is applied to this transmitting antenna. The resultant antenna signal occurring in the individual antennas of the antenna pane are acquired with the aid of a diagnostic arrangement and are evaluated. Reliable, reproducible diagnosis is only possible however if the transmitting antenna is located at all times at a precise, reproducible position relative to the antenna pane and in addition if parasitic signals can be excluded to a maximum extent. The provision of corresponding facilities and suitable transmitting antennas and diagnostic equipment will generally present problems, particularly for small motor-vehicle repair shops.
In addition it is also known to use an ohmmeter to measure the electrical continuity of an antenna conductor up to the amplifier input. This assumes that the beginning and the end of the antenna conductor are accessible. Another known alternative consists of connecting a signal generator to the antenna connection conductor which has been extended out of the motor-vehicle antenna pane, and to measure the signal emitted by the antenna to be tested with a meter, which is laid on the outside of antenna pane along the antenna conductors as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,509.


The invention resides in winder for automatically winding sections of sheet material to form separate tubes. The winder comprises a base, a supply of sheet material and a material drive means on the base for advancing sheet material from the supply towards a station on the base located remotely thereof. A winding means is located at the station for winding a section of the sheet material about itself and about a rotational axis such that the involved section of sheet material is substantially wound in a tubular condition. A cutting means is provided and is located between the drive means and the second rotational axis for cutting the sheet material transversely of its length at points therealong corresponding to the end one section and the beginning of the next successive section to be advanced to the station. The winder further employs fastening means for applying a means to the tube created on the winding means to hold the sheet material in tubular form after the involved tube is released from its holding engagement with the winding means.

This invention relates to a device for automatically winding sheet material and deals more particularly with a method and an apparatus wherein successive sections of a continuous length of sheet material are automatically wound into coreless tubes and are separated from the remaining sheet material length by cutting the material along regions which separate one section from the next and each tube wound by the apparatus is fastened against unravelling.
The paper winder of the invention, is useful for example in the garment industry for winding into separate tubes discrete sections of a continuous web of material, such as paper, onto which a multiplicity of markers or other graphic indicia have been created. The markers represent pattern pieces to be cut from a length of fabric and are usually rapidly drawn on the sheet material by a computer aided plotter which plots the patterns belonging to a single job in a group along a section of the web. The web material which contains these markers is of great length to accommodate the many markers that may make up a single plotting operation, each marker having a length anywhere from two to forty yards. During a plotting operation, sheet material is moved through the plotter from a supply roll across a support surface where the plot is made by an instrument, usually a pen, and is thereafter rolled onto a take-up roll. The sheet material which extends across the support surface between the supply and the take-up rolls is continuous and is entirely transferred from the supply roll to the take-up roll as a result of the successive plotting operations being conducted by the plotter on it. Thus, on a given take-up roll there may be wound sheet material of great length having a multiplicity of markers plotted on it in succession.
In the case where the plotter creates markers each associated with a separate job drawn on an associated section of the length of the web, it had been the practice of workers to manually cut the sheet material along a line corresponding to the break between one job and the beginning of the next. This was so that individual markers could be used as desired, usually by placing over a lay-up and the operator thereafter hand cutting the fabric plies along pattern lines outlined by the overlaid marker. It has been found that although the sections of the sheet material which comprised each marker could be separated by cutting them in this way, many of the cut marker sections are not necessarily immediately used. Accordingly, it is an important to somehow keep the cut sections of sheet material which may extend several tens of feet in a manageable form until such time that there is cause to use them. Also, the sheet material on the take-up roll may vary in width depending, for example, on the size of machine used to make the plot. In this way, it is further necessary to be able to convert otherwise unmanageable cut sections of sheet material into manageable form regardless of variations in the widths of the sheet material used. Additionally, it is desirable to provide a device for this purpose which is capable of being used in conjunction with a plotter or that is equally capable of functioning independently thereof. Providing a stand alone feature in such a device is desirable since it allows the plotter to be used at full capacity to conduct the next series of plotting operations on a separate roll thereby insuring efficiency of use in both machines.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for winding discrete sections of a continuous length of sheet material in roll form, such that each section is cut at a transition point along its length between it and the section which follows, and is automatically wound upon itself and fastened against an unravelling.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of the aforementioned type wherein means are provided for recognizing the transition point between discrete sections of the sheet material length and for automatically cutting the sheet material transversely of its length generally at this transition point.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of the aforementioned type which is a stand alone type capable of winding and rolling into discrete tubes sections of the sheet material initially placed on it as a continuous roll regardless of differing widths which may make up each roll.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of the aforementioned type wherein the effects of coning of material on a take-up roll is compensated for automatically.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus of the aforementioned type wherein plural winding, cutting and fastening operations are capable of being conducted in succession automatically on sheet material such that the apparatus can be left essentially unattended by a user.
Yet another object is to provide a winder of the aforementioned type wherein it is capable of being used in conjunction with a plotter.
Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following disclosure and the appendant claims.


A multilayer printed circuit board small in interlayer thickness, capable of fine wiring, minimized in IVH and BVH diameters, high in strength and also excellent in wire bonding workability can be produced by a process comprising the steps of coating a thermosetting resin varnish compounded with electrically insulating whiskers on a roughened side of a copper foil, semi-curing the resin by heating to form a thermosetting resin layer, integrally laminating it on an interlayer board in which plated through-holes and conductor circudits have been formed, and roughening the cured thermosetting resin layer on the via hole wall surfaces with a roughening agent.

The present invention relates to a process for producing multilayer printed circuit board suited for wire bonding.
With a steady trend toward smaller size, higher performance and functional diversification of electronic appliances, the necessity for higher wiring density of multilayer printed circuit boards has intensified. In order to answer to this request, various attempts and improvements have been made, such as reduction of interlayer thickness, formation of fine wiring and diminishment of diameter of the interlaminar connecting holes. It has been also proposed and practiced to form interstitial via holes (IVH), which connect the adjoining interlaminar conductors alone, and beried via holes (BVH), and attempts are being made to further reduce the diameter of these IVH and BVH.
There are known two types of multilayer circuit boards: a type in which a plurality of circuit layers and interposed insulating layers are integrally laminated by hot pressing and electrically connected by forming holes at the necessary parts; and a built-up layer type in which circuit layers and insulating layers are formed alternately to constitute a built-up structure with the holes being formed at the necessary locations.
In a typical example of said built-up multilayer circuit board, plated through-holes in the interlayer circuit board having said through-holes and interlayer circuits therein are filled with a thermosetting resin by a proper means such as silk screen printing so that the holes will be perfectly closed, then the resin is cured by heating, and after removing the resin which has run out from the holes by suitable means such as polishing, a thermosetting resin is applied on the board and cured by heating to form an insulating layer, with the pertinent portions of this insulating layer being removed to provide the holes for interlaminar connection. Then the inner walls of these holes are metallized by plating or other means and the circuit conductors are formed on the insulating layers, followed by formation of the circuits thereon. By conducting the above operation on said interlayer cirucit board, it is possible to form another lamination of insulating layer and circuit layer, and by repeating this operation, there can be formed the desired multilayer circuits.
Such a built-up type multilayer circuit board tends to suffer a reduction of strength for the following reason. In the ordinary circuit boards, since a prepreg comprising a glass cloth impregnated with an epoxy resin or the like is used, the strength of the insulating layers can be maintained by incorporating a reinforcing material in the glass cloth, but in the case of the built-up multilayer circuit boards, no such reinforcement is used for facilitaing formation of the insulating layers by silk screen printing or formation of the holes for interlaminar connections. When attention is given only to the essential function of a circuit board, it seems that the above problem of low strength can be easily overcome by such means as adopting the above circuit board structure only at the sections where no high strength is required or providing a separate reinforcing sheet. Actually, however, it is often required to mount semiconductor devices with narrow terminal intervals or to mount the semiconductors themselves on the circuit board which is required to have a high wiring density, so that it is necessary to provide a base that guarantees a good balance of the semiconductors with the mechanical properties of the board and secure wire bonding used for direct mounting of the semiconductor parts.

Process for producing multilayer printed circuit board for wire bonding


A traction cable actuator has a sun gear, with a lever, at least two planetary gears engaged with the sun gear, and a housing with a toothed race engaging the planetary gears. The housing further has a lock spring seat, and a traction cable sleeve seat. A drive shaft operatively engages with the sun gear to turn the sun gear. The shaft has at least one release tab. A pulley is disposed within the housing. The pulley has planetary gear axles disposed to receive driving force from the planetary gears. The pulley also has a traction cable wire seat. A lock spring disposed to engage said lock spring seat in the housing engages the lever on the sun gear when the sun gear is turned. The lock spring holds said pulley in a position selected by turning the drive shaft. A bearing and groove stop assembly may be included.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is in the field of mechanical actuators for traction cables, especially as applied to the control of ergonomic supports in seating, particularly automobile seats.
2. Related Art
Ergonomic supports for seats, such as automobile seats, need to be adjustable. Movement of the internal components of ergonomic supports, such as lumbar supports, is often made by applying traction to a traction cable such as Bowden cable. The ergonomic supports frequently require the application of traction under some tension to overcome a static bias of a component and/or the weight of the seat occupant, in order to bring the moving parts into an ergonomically weight supporting position for the comfort of the passenger.
Traction cables such as Bowden cables are typically comprised of a wire that slides axially through a sleeve. At the lumbar support, the wire will be attached to one portion of a stamped metal or molded plastic pressure surface that is mounted to arch into a supporting position when traction is applied to one or both of its ends. The traction cable sleeve is attached to another portion of the pressure surface, or the mount, to apply the traction. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,187, incorporated by reference herein, for examples, of such components. Other components may slide in and out of a channel in a housing, with the sliding being powered by the application of traction through the Bowden cable wire. In such devices, the wire is attached to the moving portion and the sleeve to a housing or mount. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,619,739, incorporated by reference herein, for an example of these components. The present invention may be applied to any moving parts that may be actuated by a traction cable.
The mounting of the traction cable on the components of the ergonomic device require that the Bowden cable sleeve end be fixed to a portion of the ergonomic support and the end of the wire that slides through the sleeve be attached to another portion of the ergonomic support. An actuation device mounted at the other end of the traction cable must be able to apply traction to pull the wire through and from the sleeve and also must be able to hold the wire at a selected position along its axial travel relative to the sleeve, in order to thereby hold the connected ergonomic support in a position selected by the user.
Power actuators typically achieve these necessary functions by holding the sleeve end in a fixed position and attaching the wire end to a moving part in order to draw it from the sleeve. In some actuators the moving part is an axially translating lead screw, see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/008,896, incorporated by reference herein. In other actuators the moving part is a pulley having a seat for a wire end bullet. Turning the pulley thereby pulls the wire from the sleeve.
In addition to the necessary functions recited above, there is a variety of traits that are desirable in the marketplace for actuators that apply traction manually. Among these are ease of use and a perception by the user that the components move smoothly.
Planetary gears applied to other applications are known. The equilateral symmetry of the drive train is desirable for its mechanical advantage, which promotes ease of use, and for its smooth application of power.
However, the planetary gear itself would not be capable of holding a selected position against the tension applied to the traction cable by use of the ergonomic support it is used to actuate.
There is a need in the art for a smooth, easy to operate planetary gear mechanical actuator that is capable of holding a selected position. As always, there is a continuing need in the art to produce components that are durable and economical.

Planetary gear actuator apparatus and method


A capacitor is provided which comprises: a first structure comprising metal; a second structure comprising metal; and a third structure between the first and second structures, wherein the third structure comprises an improper ferroelectric material. In some embodiments, a field effect transistor (FET) is provided which comprises: a substrate; a source and drain adjacent to the substrate; and a gate stack between the source and drain, wherein the gate stack includes: a dielectric; a first structure comprising improper ferroelectric material, wherein the first structure is adjacent to the dielectric; and a second structure comprising metal, wherein the second structure is adjacent to the first structure.

Devices such as high charge capacity capacitors (e.g., metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors) for backend can be formed as passive circuit elements or transistors (e.g., metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistors) for frontend as active circuit elements. Passive circuit elements can be used to provide charge storage and sharing, while active circuit elements can be used to enable low voltage and high current power supply. However, backend MIM capacitors are limited by Hafnium Oxide (HfO) which may be already scaled to sub 10 nm thickness. Traditional ferroelectric capacitors are low retention durations. New materials are desired to make capacitors with longer retentions. As traditional transistors scale down in size, their drive strength weakens due to short-channel effects. New materials are also desired for increasing the on-current of transistors as they scale down in size.

Improper ferroelectric active and passive devices


A service control processor includes a plurality of service feature processors each corresponding to selected telephone service, and a plurality of call processing records, each corresponding to a customer of a service provider. The customer call processing records specify services subscribed to by the caller. A feature manager processor manages call processing and the implementation and execution of services by managing the individual service feature processors. In an alternative embodiment, multiple feature manager processors are included, and a trigger manager selects between them in response to call processing triggers.

Bellcore has developed the SPACE.RTM. and MSAP (multiservice application platform) applications to permit the development and instantiation of telephone services in the advanced intelligent network ("AIN"). Multiple service providers utilize the SPACE and MSAP languages. In general, call processing records corresponding to each customer are generated by a service provider and stored in a database associated with a service control point ("SCP") in a telephone network. Calls to or from a customer trigger execution of the call processing records to provide the subscribed-to services for each customer. Prior to this invention, the system was oriented toward a single service per trigger execution, using predetermined service components. Adding a new feature to an existing service involved changing the service itself.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to improve call processing applications and to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of call processing procedures.

System and method for managing feature interaction of telephone services


Methods, systems, and apparatus for Synthetic Instrument Landing System (SILS) are disclosed. By optimally integrating new SILS capabilities on existing aircraft systems and equipment, the systems, methods, and apparatus of this disclosure affect primarily one system, the MMR, and certain aircraft wiring reconfiguration and leave most of the other airplane systems as well as pilot (flight crew) training substantially unaffected. Unlike existing solutions that are based on a classical approach of new capability integration by providing associated new landing modes that are uniquely identified, the disclosure provides only a single mode to the pilot by moving all mode-specific functionality to onboard computers such as MMRs.

GNSS-based precision approach has been under development for over fifteen years and has begun to be used operationally. Currently, GNSS-based precision approach capability exists in the form of Ground Based Augmentation System (GBAS) based capability known as the GBAS Landing System (GLS) and also in the form of Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) based precision approach. The latter capability is known as Lateral Performance with Vertical guidance (LPV). The airplane function that uses LPV guidance is also known as the Satellite Landing System (SLS).
At present, some of these systems have been deployed. However, proliferation of the GNSS-based precision approach capability has been hampered by implementation challenges on particularly on older airplane designs. Such implementation challenges include but are not limited to onboard equipment changes, wiring changes, cockpit interface changes, and even pilot training changes. In addition to making GNSS-based precision approach capability extant on a particular aircraft, the ultimate utility of GNSS-based precision approach depends on how much of the aircraft population has the capability. That is, if a sufficient percentage of the aircraft population is equipped with this capability, then such equipage rate can enable airspace reorganization for better efficiency. Therefore, enabling a large population of aircraft to have this capability sooner will make use of the capability to enhance airspace efficiency feasible sooner.
Thus, there is a need for methods, systems, and apparatus that address the aforementioned challenges as well as enable the proliferation of GNSS-based precision approach capabilities on all aircraft.

Methods, systems, and apparatus for synthetic instrument landing system (SILS)


According to one embodiment, an electronic apparatus includes a housing, a pad button section and a switch board. The housing includes a cover member including an opening part. One of a first switch board on which a fingerprint authentication unit is mounted, and a second switch board on which no fingerprint authentication units are mounted is selectively adopted as the switch board. One of a first pad button section including a fingerprint authentication cover between buttons, and a second pad button section in which a pair of buttons are adjacent to each other is selectively adopted as the pad button section. The cover member is identical in shape between a case where the first pad button section is adopted and a case where the second pad button section is adopted.

1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to an electronic apparatus such as a portable computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some electronic apparatuses such as portable computers comprise a fingerprint authentication unit. Such a fingerprint authentication unit is disposed between a pair of touchpad buttons, for example. The fingerprint authentication unit and the touchpad buttons are exposed to the outside of the housing through an opening part of a cover member ("upper cover") forming an upper wall of the housing.
Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 7-263878 discloses an electronic apparatus in which a board bracket and operation buttons are integrally formed. The operation buttons are supported by the board bracket via flexible arms and switch elements can be pressed via the operation buttons.
Recently, users' needs are becoming more and more diverse. Under the circumstances, in the field of electronic apparatuses such as portable computers, one type is sometimes offered in two or more models having different specifications. The present inventors are contemplating offering one type in models with and without a fingerprint authentication unit.
When one type is offered in different models including a model comprising a fingerprint authentication unit and a model not comprising fingerprint authentication unit, different cover members are prepared for the models, since the position in which touchpad buttons are disposed differs according to whether a fingerprint authentication unit is provided or not. Increase in number of kinds of cover members may entail increased manufacturing cost of electronic apparatuses.


In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, each third party system of multiple third party systems can store files including datasets associated with one or more campaigns. A computing system can be in communication with the third party systems and including a first database and a second database. The computing system can be configured to receive the selection of the one or more third-party systems, store metadata associated with the at least one campaign in the first database, calculate at least one discrepant data value between the one or more third party systems, based on the datasets associated with the at least one campaign from each of the one or more third party systems.

Executing and tracking digital media campaigns can be a cumbersome and error-prone process. Multiple vendors can track delivery of digital media campaigns for billing purposes. These vendors can include, for example, ad servers, execution platforms, and measurement platforms. Each of these vendors have their own mechanism for tracking delivery of any given digital media campaign. As a result, discrepancies between systems can be common and a burden to manage. These discrepancies can cause many problems, including for example: 1) uncertainty of campaign pacing and delivery; and 2) dispute over billing records. Existing techniques for managing such discrepancies are, in general, manual, time-consuming, cumbersome, and inaccurate.

Systems and methods for providing real-time discrepancies between disparate execution platforms


This invention protects the data on the hard disk from viruses and hackers by making it possible to turn off any head whether it is a read head or a write head of any arm of the hard disk by providing switches, so when we surf the Internet we turn off the read/write heads of the platter surface which contains the confidential data and we always turn off the write head of the platter surface which contains the Windows programs and other program files so the programs data are always protected and at the same time it is always readable, after we logoff the Internet we turn off the read/write heads of the platter surface used to save Internet data onto it thus we will never have any virus moving from this platter surface to the rest of the hard disk platters surfaces.

This invention is in the field of computer hard disk where the primary parts of a typical hard disk drive consists of controller electronics designed to control the read/write mechanism and the motor that spins the platters.
The arm that holds the read/write heads is controlled by the mechanism in the upper-left corner, and is able to move the heads from the hub to the edge of the drive. To increase the storable amount of information on the drive most hard disks are provided with multiple platters. Some drives have three platters and six read/write heads.
Computer viruses spreading through the Internet have caused tremendous damage to individuals and corporations costing billions of dollars to remedy and overcome. This invention is designed to permanently solve the expanding virus problem by providing a final creative solution to a widening global problem. All known old, new and future viruses will become obsolete freeing computers worldwide from potential hackers and the damage they cause globally.

Hard disk drive with selectable reading and writing to/from different platter surfaces


A desktop communications network connects numerous peripheral devices to a host computer via a single host interface. The host interface and each peripheral device's interface has its own CPU, with software for assigning each peripheral device a unique address. The bus interface associated with each peripheral device typically stores a unique identifier string that is used by the host computer to identify each peripheral device connected to the network. Alternately, the host can distinguish identical peripheral devices by the order in which they are first used. As a result, several peripheral devices of the same type can be connected to the network, each being assigned a distinct network address. Peripherals can be connected and disconnected to the desktop bus while the system is running. The software in the host and peripheral bus interfaces automatically reconfigure the assigned bus addresses. Peripherals with sub-devices are accommodated with a communications protocol that allows up to four sub-devices to be connected to each bus interface. Each peripheral device's bus interface contains a set of capabilities information that is retrieved by the host's interface and is used to determine how the host computer communicates with each peripheral device. For instance, the capabilities information may be used to select a device driver program for use with each peripheral device. In the case of keyboards, the capabilities information may contain a translation table which specifies how the data generated by each keystroke should be interpreted.

Many prior art computers have a separate interface and connector for each peripheral device. Thus the computer will have a keyboard interface and connector, a mouse interface and connector, a printer interface and connector, and so on, each of which is different and incompatible with the others. Providing a separate, additional interface for each peripheral device is expensive. While serial port connections are sometimes used, such ports typically cannot provide power to the peripheral device.
With most such prior art computers, it is impossible to simultaneously use two different pointing devices, or two keyboards, or two of any distinct type of peripheral device, because the computer has only one port and interface for each such type of peripheral device. This limitation can be inconvenient, because some users would benefit from being able to use two or more peripheral devices of the same general type. For instance, a multilingual user could use different keyboards for entering text in each of a number of different languages, or a user could use a different keyboard with each of a number of different applications, each having it's own "window" on the user's screen.
Shortcomings of certain prior art "desktop" networks, such as the "Apple Desktop Bus" on the Macintosh product line, include limitations on the length of the network caused by voltage drops along the network bus, limitations on the number of peripheral devices which may be connected to a host computer, and low data transmission speed. Further, the use of special purpose chips with some of these prior art desktop networks prevents other manufacturers from making peripheral devices that work with the desktop network.
Another shortcoming of the prior art is the inability to work with "hybrid" peripheral devices that contain two or more sub-devices, such as a keyboard with a built-in track ball and/or LED display. Other shortcomings of the prior art which are overcome by the present invention include the need for the host computer to poll all peripheral devices, which imposes a computational burden on the host computer, and the inability of the prior art devices to handle "hot plugging" of peripheral devices onto the network without having to reset the entire network.

Computer peripheral device network with peripheral address resetting capabilities


A suspension arrangement mounted in support of a boom lift assembly and boom supported thereon on a chassis of an agricultural sprayer is provided. The boom lift assembly is configured to move the boom between a raised, inoperative position and a lowered, operative position. The suspension arrangement includes a pivot linkage pivotally coupling the boom lift assembly and the chassis, and a dampener located between the boom lift assembly and the chassis. During operation of the sprayer, the dampener of the suspension arrangement reduces transfer of an impact force or stress force from transferring between the chassis and the boom lift assembly so as to isolate suspension of the boom lift assembly from the chassis of the sprayer.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a suspension arrangement for a boom lift assembly and boom that are mounted on an agricultural sprayer, and more specifically, relates to a suspension arrangement configured to float the boom lift assembly and boom independent of a chassis of the agricultural sprayer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Boom assemblies are commonly used on agricultural vehicles or towed implements (e.g., sprayers or planters, etc.) to dispense seed, fertilizer, insecticide, herbicide, etc. and other miscellaneous agricultural materials. The boom assembly is usually mounted on a chassis moveably supported on a wheel assembly to be motorized or towed across the field. The typical boom assembly is configured to pivot or fold between operative and inoperative positions relative to the boom support vehicle. In its operative position, the boom assembly commonly extends in a laterally outward direction from the boom support vehicles up to a distance of ninety-feet or larger such that the agricultural applicator covers a large surface area with each pass across a field. The weight of the boom assembly generally correlates with its operative length.
Upon completing distribution of the agricultural materials to the field, a conventional boom lift assembly (e.g., manual, hydraulic, pneumatic, etc.) is employed in a known manner to raise each of the booms to a raised, inoperative position. Once raised, manually or automatically operated pivot mechanisms (e.g. hydraulic, pneumatic, etc.) are employed to swing, pivot or fold each of the booms to a folded position for transport. The preferred folded position of the booms is generally parallel to the direction of travel of the support vehicle such that each of the booms and the support vehicle has a narrow profile for ready transport from the field to a roadway.
However, known boom lift assemblies in movable support of a boom on a mobile chassis of an agricultural sprayer have drawbacks. For example, during normal operation of the boom assembly in the field, the boom, the boom lift assembly and the chassis encounter miscellaneous impact or stress forces associated with traveling over rough terrain and/or moving the boom between the raised and lowered positions described above. Although known sprayers have a suspension to generally float the boom in general alignment with the terrain, this suspension does isolate these miscellaneous impact forces from transferring from the boom and/or boom lift assembly to the chassis of the sprayer. These impact forces increase opportunities for failure of the chassis and/or the boom lift assembly.
Therefore, there is a need or desire for a suspension arrangement that is overcomes the foregoing difficulties and drawbacks of the prior art. The suspension arrangement should also be simple and reliable to operate and economical to manufacture. In addition, the suspension arrangement should be configured to be utilized with a wide variety of motorized or towed boom lift implements in addition to those related to agriculture.

Suspension arrangement for a boom lift assembly of an agricultural sprayer


A tapered roller bearing has inner and outer races and tapered rollers organized in at least two rows, with the rollers of the one row being generally aligned with the rollers in the other row. The large ends of the rollers are presented toward each other so that the forces which urge the rollers of either row up their tapered raceways are resisted by the rollers of the other row. The end faces of the aligned rollers in the two rows contact each other or else contact intervening elements such as cylindrical rollers or a separating disks. The geometry of the rollers and the raceways along which they roll are such that, when one race rotates relative to the other race, pure rolling contact exists between the side faces of the rollers and the raceways and pure rolling contact also exists at the end faces of the rollers. Moreover, the lines of contact for the aligned rollers of any set are synchronized and the rollers are stable. Thus, the rollers remain in position within the bearing and the aligned rollers of any set track each other.

This invention relates in general to tapered roller bearings, and more particularly to tapered roller bearings in which true rolling contact exists at all critical surfaces during operation of the bearing.
Antifriction bearings come in several basic configurations, but irrespective of its configuration, an antifriction bearing includes a pair of ring-like races and rolling elements arranged in at least one row between the races. The rolling elements contact raceways on the races, and when the bearing is set in operation, the rolling elements roll along those raceways and around the axis of the bearing.
When the rolling elements take the form of cylindrical rollers, the bearing has the capacity to take heavy radial loads, but is not very satisfactory for transmitting thrust loads. Moreover, cylindrical roller bearings usually have radial clearances, and thus are not suitable in applications requiring stability, rigidity and a good measure of precision. A ball bearing in which the rolling elements are balls may have its raceways oblique to the axis of the bearing so that the bearing takes radial and thrust loads. When arranged in pairs, angular ball bearings may be adjusted against each other to eliminate end play--and radial clearances as well--but the load capacity of an angular ball bearing is relatively low. A tapered roller bearing possesses the advantages of both cylindrical roller bearings and angular ball bearings. It has the capacity to carry heavy radial loads and also thrust loads, all through its tapered rollers and the raceways along which they roll. As a consequence, a tapered roller bearing may be adjusted to eliminate clearances between its rollers and raceways.
Owing to the tapered geometry of a tapered roller bearing, the tapered rollers tend to move up the raceways and unless restrained will be expelled from the bearing. For this reason, the conventional tapered roller bearing has a thrust rib at the large end of one of its raceways, usually on the inner race which is called the cone. As the rollers roll along the raceways, the large end faces of the rollers bear against the thrust rib and the rollers remain in place axially. While generally pure rolling contact exists between the tapered side faces of the rollers and the raceways, the end faces of the rollers slide and spin along the face of the thrust rib. In the absence of adequate lubrication, the bearing may fail at this critical area, for here the friction is highest within the bearing. Moreover, due to the slide and spin motion between the roller ends and the thrust rib, the torque within a tapered roller bearing operating at low speed, is relatively high and, to a measure wear as well.

Tapered roller bearing with true rolling contacts


An electronic device includes a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) including a plurality of regulators. Each of the plurality of regulators has a current meter configured to measure a respective load current. A load device is configured to receive real-time load current information from the PMIC and to perform a performance improvement operation based on the real-time load current information.

At least one example embodiment of inventive concepts relates to a semiconductor device, and more particularly, relate to a power management integrated circuit for supplying load current information and/or an electronic device having the same.
A power circuit is a circuit for driving various electronic devices. Nowadays, as the use of mobile devices increases, the demand for high efficiency DC-DC converters increases. It is desirable to use DC-DC converters in which an effect of a resistor component is minimized to reduce power consumption caused by a voltage drop across the resistor. One way to do so is to employ a switching converter, which uses an inductor for easily obtaining a target level of voltage while minimizing power consumption.
The switching converter includes a buck converter to transform a high direct current (DC) voltage into a lower DC voltage and a boost converter to boost the DC voltage. The switching converter that uses an inductor has a lower power consumption than the DC-DC converter using a resistor, and thus, the switching converter may have a high energy efficiency. Further, the DC-DC converter may include a low drop-out (LDO) regulator composed of a linear regulator.
Recent power management integrated circuits (PMICs) integrate the above mentioned regulators to supply power to load devices. However, the PMIC in a mobile device should provide real-time power information to the load devices to reduce power consumption and improve performance of the load devices.

Power management integrated circuit for supplying load current information and electronic device having the same