A sorting machine for separating substandard items from a continuous stream of products is disclosed wherein the ejector that removes the detected substandard items includes an ejector finger of monolithic structure and homogeneous material and an actuator. The ejector finger includes a base fixedly attached with respect to the product stream, a contactor normally withdrawn from the product stream when standard products are in the stream and for entering the product stream to eject a detected substandard item, and a hinge of reduced dimension connecting the ejector finger base to the ejector finger contactor. The hinge is biased to normally withdraw the ejector finger contactor from the product stream. The actuator flexes the ejector hinge to move the ejector contactor so that it enters the product stream for ejecting each detected substandard item. The monolithic structure and homogeneous material are resistant to wear from environmental conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally pertains to a machine for ejecting selected items from a stream of products. More particularly this invention pertains to sorting machines that separate substandard items from standard items, the items falling through the machine in large volumes at high rates of speed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical machine of the type envisioned for application of the present invention is a high speed sorting machine typically used for sorting fungible products in the food industry or otherwise. For example, individual tomatoes are caused to flow in front of an optical detector in such a machine to separate "substandard" items from standard product. The term "substandard" can apply to a tomato having undesirable characteristics or to unwanted items such as dirt clots, stems, and leaves. For instance, green tomatoes can be removed from a batch of tomatoes that are primarily red in color, or vice versa. The term may apply to product colors or different lengths or other qualities that are perfectly acceptable in the abstract, but are not within the standard limits of quality established for acceptable standard products for particular sorting.
The commonly employed sorting mechanism used in today's sorting machines is the optical sensor. Sensors include one or more photodetectors, such as photo diodes that are sensitive not only to black, white and shades of gray differences, but also to subtle variation in color hues. Also, many such sensors, including the entire sensor combination of parts, are also discriminating against different sizes of products. All of the machines of the general class fitting the above description have in common a protective, light emitting window for the sensor or sensors to protect the sensors from contamination. In some cases, the window may protect only one sensor element, but in many cases, it is common that the housing enclose a plurality of sensors that are spaced about an opening through which the stream of product to be sorted is directed.
In order to pass the product in front of the window, many such systems utilize a dual conveyor belt system. Product enters the system on an incoming belt with the end of the belt positioned above the window such that when the product drops off the end it falls in front of the window on to a lower conveyor belt located beneath the window. The sensor determines whether the product in front of the window is substandard or standard.
Such machines also include an ejector located downstream from each sensor that is actuated by an electrical signal originating from sensor detection. When a substandard product is detected, an electrical actuating signal is produced and the ejector is actuated just as the substandard product and the ejector are in alignment. Therefore, there is a delay between detection and ejection, but it is ever so slight because the further the ejector is from the detector, the more substandard product can escape by being diverted or hit by other product in the product stream. The ejector is normally located as close as possible to the sensor or sensors, ideally being just downstream therefrom and closely adjacent thereto.
The ejector mechanism can be a compressed air ejector when sorting smaller sized fungible product. However, when sorting larger fungible products such as tomatoes or potatoes, mechanical ejector mechanisms are almost universally used. That is, when the substandard product arrives opposite the ejector, the ejector is moved into physical contact with the substandard product forcing it out of the standard product stream. A typical ejector includes an ejector finger which is forced into the product stream to remove detected substandard products by an actuating means, such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,260,062 issued to Lockett and assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The ejector finger is actuated by a pneumatic valve having a pneumatic cylinder mounted to a stationary frame, wherein the finger is pivotally connected to the frame, a connection stationary relative to the product flow, and pivotally connected to the rod of the cylinder, a connection movable relative to the product flow. Upon receipt from the electrical actuating signal from the sensor, the valve is activated, thereby extending the cylinder rod and extending the finger into the product stream. This is done with such speed and accuracy that substandard products can be removed from the product stream, while standard products are allowed to continue undisturbed in the "good" product stream. The ejection cycle can occur in excess of 1/30th a second.
An ejector finger of the type described above includes an elongate contactor pivotally connected to the frame by a pin and bushing. The contactor is also pivotally connected to the cylinder rod by a second pin and bushing. Although this type of ejector finger is presently being used to sort products effectively, the life span of a finger is short relative to the life span expectancy of a sorting machine. This short life span is due to the wear on the pivot points. The wear is primarily caused by a combination of environmental effects, including, mud, dust, dirt and small bits of product, the speed of an ejection cycle, and the number of ejection cycles the finger undergoes during the lifetime of the machine. Typically, an ejector finger may be cycled as many times as three (3) million cycles in a three month period, which represent the approximate time of a harvesting season. In most cases, the ejector finger will not last the duration of a harvesting season and require replacement. Most of the industrial sorters include a plurality of fingers associated with each of a plurality of sensors. Replacing these fingers prior to the end of a harvesting season is a very costly and time consuming process, not to mention, an inconvenience during the most active time of the machine's use.
Therefore, it is a feature of the present invention to provide an improved sorting machine including a mechanical ejecting separation of substandard products, from a stream of products wherein the mechanical ejector mechanism will function at least through the duration of a harvest season.
It is another feature of the present invention to provide an improved mechanical ejector for separating substandard products from a stream of products passing through a sorting machine, wherein the mechanical ejector is less susceptible to the environmental conditions to thereby enhance the life span of the ejector.
It is yet another feature of the present invention to provide an improved less expensive and easily replaceable mechanical ejector for separating substandard products from a stream of products passing through a sorting machine.


A system and method for microseismic fracture mapping using seismic source timing measurements for velocity calibration is disclosed. The system may include a seismic source coupled to a wireline and a seismic source trigger, a sensor capable of detecting a first signal from the seismic source trigger, a transmitter coupled to the sensor, capable of transmitting a time value associated with the first signal, a receiver capable of detecting an event generated by the seismic source; and an analyzer capable of calculating a microseismic velocity of the event. In one embodiment, a first signal is transmitted through a wireline to trigger a seismic source. The first signal is detected, and a first time value associated with the first signal is transmitted. An event associated with the seismic source is detected and a second signal associated with the event is transmitted to an analyzer. A microseismic velocity is calibrated based on the time difference between the first time value and a second time value associated with the second signal.

Seismic data is used in many scientific fields to monitor underground events in subterranean rock formations. In order to investigate these underground events, micro-earthquakes, also known as microseisms, are detected and monitored. Like earthquakes, microseisms emit elastic waves—compressional ("p-waves") and shear ("s-waves"), but they occur at much higher frequencies than those of earthquakes and generally fall within the acoustic frequency range of 200 Hz to more than 2000 Hz. Standard microseismic analysis techniques locate the sources of the microseismic activity by fluid injection or hydraulic fracturing. In many gas fields, permeability is too low to effectively produce gas in economic quantities. Hydraulic fracturing addresses this problem by intentionally creating fractures in the gas fields that provide conduits to enhance gas flow. Fluid is pumped into wells at sufficient pressure to fracture the rock. The fluid also transports a propping agent (also known as "proppant") into the fracture. The proppant, usually sand or ceramic pellets, settles in the fractures and helps keep the fracture open when the fracturing operation ceases. Production of gas is accelerated as a result of improved capability for flow within the reservoir. Similarly, water flooding of largely expended oil fields seeks to push oil to other wells where it is produced. Fractures are often created in this process that direct the oil in a potentially unknown direction. In this process, water, or possibly steam, is used to increase pressure and/or temperature to displace the oil to a more favorable production location.
Microseismic detection is often utilized in conjunction with hydraulic fracturing or water flooding techniques to map created fractures. A hydraulic fracture induces an increase in the formation stress proportional to the net fracturing pressure as well as an increase in pore pressure due to fracturing fluid leak off. Large tensile stresses are formed ahead of the crack tip, which creates large amounts of shear stress. Both mechanisms, pore pressure increase and formation stress increase, affect the stability of planes of weakness (such as natural fractures and bedding planes) surrounding the hydraulic fracture and cause them to undergo shear slippage. It is these shear slippages that are analogous to small earthquakes along faults.
Microseisms are detected with multiple receivers (transducers) deployed on a wireline array in one or more offset well bores. With the receivers deployed in several wells, the microseism locations can be triangulated as is done in earthquake detection. Triangulation is accomplished by determining the arrival times of the various p- and s-waves, and using formation velocities to find the best-fit location of the microseisms. However, multiple offset wells are not usually available. With only a single nearby offset observation well, a multi-level vertical array of receivers is used to locate the microseisms. Data is then transferred to the surface for subsequent processing to yield a map of the hydraulic fracture geometry and azimuth. Once the microseisms are located, the actual fracture is interpreted within the envelope of microseisms mapped. However, the precise length, direction, and height of the created fractures will not be obtainable unless the microseismic events are accurately detected from beginning to end.

Microseismic fracture mapping using seismic source timing measurements for velocity calibration


Certain example embodiments relate to techniques for creating flat laminated mirrors, e.g., for use in concentrating solar power (CSP) applications. In certain example embodiments, the first substrate is a low iron glass substrate. A reflective coating is provided between the first and second substrates. The first and second substrates are laminated together via a radiation curable laminating adhesive with the reflective coating between the substrates. In certain example embodiments the radiation curable laminating adhesive is cured via UV radiation in order to form a laminated reflective article.

The energy needs of society are constantly growing. Techniques to meet this growing energy demand are continually sought after. One area of focus has been in the area of solar power. Solar power technology can take various forms. One technique is to use photovoltaic technology to convert light into electrical current. Another technique is called concentrating solar power or CSP.
Generally speaking, CSP uses mirrors to focus the radiation from the sun into a small area. This small area may be, for instance, a tower in the middle of a field of mirrors. The concentrated heat formed at the focal point (e.g., at the tower) may then be used to as a heat source in a conventional power plant (e.g., to run a turbine that creates electrical current), or for any other thermal application such as, for example, sea water desalination. Concentrated energy from mirrors may also be used to focus on photovoltaic cells to potentially increase their output.
Various types of mirrors may be used in CSP applications. Parabolic mirrors, for instance, are structured to focus a broad beam of light (e.g., light from the sun) into a single point. However, parabolic mirrors can be difficult and/or expensive to produce and maintain. Another type of mirror that may be used in CSP applications is a flat mirror. These mirrors sometimes have an advantage of being cheaper and easier to maintain than their parabolic counterparts.
The overall efficiency of a CSP application may relate to how efficiently the power plant captures the energy from the sun's radiation. One technique to improve the efficiency CSP applications may be to employ tracking technology that facilitates optimal positioning of the CSP mirrors in relation to the position of the sun in the sky (e.g., the mirrors may track the sun as the sun progress across the sky).
Another factor in the efficiency of CSP applications may be the reflective efficiency of the mirrors. Mirrors with higher reflectance rates will increase the overall efficiency of CSP applications. Accordingly, high reflectance mirrors are continually sought after in order to improve the efficiency of CSP applications.
One challenge lies in how to protect these mirrors from the environments in which they are located, which often are quite harsh. Indeed, it will be appreciated that CSP applications may be placed in harsh environments that may be subject to high wind loads and/or other conditions. A large piece of glass exposed to high winds may have a large amount of force directed to the exposed surface area of the glass substrate. The strength of the glass has been found to be generally proportional to the square of its thickness. Accordingly, if the wind force applied to the surface of the glass exceeds the structural strength of the glass the glass (and mirror) may break.
A broken mirror may have several additional negative consequences. First, the broken glass of the mirror may present a safety hazard to people working with the mirror (e.g., because of the shards of glass). Second, a painted backing layer may contain a certain percentage of lead in it. This lead concentration may make disposal of the now-broken mirror a hazardous process. Third, as the structural integrity for the mirror as a whole may be substantially dependent on the structural integrity of the glass substrate, a loss in the glass substrate's structural integrity (e.g., because of breaking) may be substantially carried over to the mirror as a whole. Thus, when a glass substrate breaks, the entire glass surface may be completely destroyed and potentially resulting in a complete loss of the mirror and its reflective functionality.
Thus, it will be appreciated the structural strength of the mirror may need to be sufficient to prevent breakage, especially in high wind environments.
To overcome structural stability issues, some mirrors have sometimes included relatively thick glass substrates. Unfortunately, however, the use of thicker glass substrates can negatively affect the performance of the mirror, e.g., as a result of higher absorption, reduced reflectance from the mirror, etc. Even very high transmission glass likely will not transmit 100% of the light impinging on it. Thus, some light will not reach the mirror coating on the back side of the glass, and some of the light reflected from the mirror coating on the back side of the glass will not be transmitted back out of the glass. Thus, increasing the thickness of the glass used on the mirror may lead to reduced reflectance rates and, ultimately, reduced efficiency in CSP applications. Additionally, the conventional technique of increasing the structural strength in mirrors by increasing the thickness of the glass substrate also increases the cost of entire assembly, e.g., as a result of high material costs because high transmission low iron solar glass types are typically of higher cost than regular glass.
One or more layers of paint may be provided to conventional mirrors, e.g., to help protect the layered coating from the environment. Unfortunately, however, the applied paint may still be susceptible to UV radiation. Accordingly, in order to protect the paint from UV radiation the thickness of the silver coating in the layered coating may be increased in order to provide sufficient protection. As will be appreciated, this extra thickness of silver may further increase the cost of a mirror.
Thus, it will be appreciated that techniques for increasing (or maintaining) the durability of mirrors in CSP application while also maintaining (or increasing) a mirrors reflectance percentage are continuously sought after. It also will be appreciated that there exists a need in the art for improved mirrors and the like that, for example, can be used in CSP applications.
Certain example embodiments of this invention relate to a method of making an article. A first low-iron glass substrate is provided, with the first substrate having a thickness of about 0.5-3 mm. A reflective coating is disposed on a major surface of the first substrate. A radiation curable laminating adhesive is disposed over the reflective coating. A second glass substrate is provided substantially parallel to the first substrate, with the second substrate being oriented over the radiation curable laminating adhesive. The substrates is irradiated such that radiation causes the adhesive to become a solid polymer interlayer to laminate together the first substrate with the reflective coating disposed thereon and the second substrate to form a reflective article. The reflective article has a reflectivity of at least 90 percent.
Certain example embodiments of this invention relate to a method of making an article. A first low-iron glass substrate is provided, with the first substrate having a thickness of about 0.5-3 mm. A multi-layer thin-film reflective coating is disposed on a major surface of the first substrate. The reflective coating comprises, in order moving away from the substrate, a tin-inclusive layer, an Ag-inclusive layer directly contacting the tin-inclusive layer, and a copper-inclusive layer directly contacting the Ag-inclusive layer. A radiation curable laminating adhesive is disposed over the reflective coating. A second glass substrate is substantially parallel to the first substrate, with the second substrate being oriented over the laminating adhesive, and with the second substrate being at least as thick as the first substrate. The second substrate has an iron content higher than an iron content of the first substrate. The first substrate with the reflective coating disposed thereon and the second substrate are laminated together to form a reflective article by irradiating the substrates with UV radiation such that the radiation curable laminating adhesive is cured to form a solid polymer interlayer.
Certain example embodiments of this invention relate to a coated article. A first low-iron glass substrate has a thickness of 0.5-3 mm. A reflective coating comprises a plurality of thin film layers disposed on a major surface of the first substrate. A second substrate is substantially parallel to the first high transmission substrate, with the second substrate having a higher iron content than the first substrate and being at least twice as thick as the first substrate. The first and second substrates are laminated together with a radiation cured polymer interlayer. The polymer interlayer hermetically seals the reflective coating between the first and second substrates. The reflective article has a reflectivity above 90 percent.
The features, aspects, advantages, and example embodiments described herein may be combined in any suitable combination or sub-combination to realize yet further embodiments.

Radiation curable adhesives for reflective laminated solar panels, laminated solar panels including radiation curable adhesives, and/or associated methods


A system for multi-accessing a radio communication data call include a plurality of user equipments controlling allocation of a radio resource according to a desired data transfer rate and a multi-access system for multi-accessing the plurality of user equipments to one or more radio communication terminals according to the allocation control. Because a plurality of user equipments multi-access the data call of the radio communication terminals, a high-speed wireless line can be effectively used. In addition, connecting the plurality of user equipments to one radio communication terminal can be provided with a suitably distributed service from a data service providing network.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio communication system, and more particularly to a system and method for multi-accessing a data call of a radio communication terminal.
2. Background of the Related Art
As electronic technology evolves, radio communication systems including mobile communication systems become more affordable compared to wired communication systems, easier to install compared to cable lines, and more flexible in terms of construction compared with communication networks. Also, radio communication systems are extending service coverage from voice service to data service, and in this regard particular interest is being paid to high-speed radio transmission techniques intended to provide diverse multimedia service.
FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a radio communication system which provides data service to a radio communication terminal in accordance with a related art. This system consists of user equipment 10, a radio communication terminal (or an access terminal) 20, an access network 30, a packet data serving node 40, the internet 50, and a host 60. The user equipment is connected, one-on-one by wire, to the radio communication terminal and requests data service. The access network (AN) provides an air interface with the radio communication terminal and further provides a core network interface. The host provides the packet data communication service through the Internet, and the packet data serving node (PDSN) connects the host and the access network.
The user equipment 10 includes a personal computer (PC), a packet call equipment or the like, and is connected to the radio communication terminal 20 through a universal serial bus (USB). A protocol stack of the user equipment includes a point-to-point protocol (PPP), a protocol between two ends, an Internet protocol (IP), a transmission control protocol (TCP), and a client application layer.
The radio communication terminal 20 and the access network 30 include a radio link protocol (RLP), respectively, in order to ensure a reliability of a radio link.
The PDSN 40 includes the PPP, and the host 60 includes an IP, a transport layer and a server application layer.
Data service operation of the radio communication terminal in the conventional radio communication system will now be explained. Initially, the user equipment 10 transmits data to the radio communication terminal 20 through the USB connection, the radio communication terminal 20 transmits the data to the access network 30 through an air interface, and the access network 30 transmits the data to the host 60 through the PDSN 40. Then, the host 60 provides a requested data service to the user equipment 10.
Communication systems as described above have a number of drawbacks. In particular, since the user equipment 10 uses a PPP, one user equipment 10 and one radio communication terminal 20 are connected and the one radio communication terminal 20 is connected to one PPP of the PDSN 40. Because one user equipment 10 is used by being connected to one radio communication terminal 2, the high speed radio resource, for example, a radio resource of 2.4 Mbps, is occupied by one user. This results in waste of a radio bandwidth.

System and method for multi-accessing radio communication data call


A leveling or plumbing device for indicating a line or a plane on a surface, such as wall or floor. The device includes a light beam generator that emits a light beam exteriorly of a body or housing. Level and/or plumb indicators, such as vials, are mounted to the housing for positioning the device in a predetermined orientation on the surface. The device includes a series of extendible and retractable engagement members, each of which defines an outer end having an adhesive. The adhesive engages the surface to releasably secure the device to the surface. The engagement members are biased inwardly toward a retracted position. The adhesive engagement of the engagement members with the surface maintains the engagement members in the extended position against the inward bias.

This invention relates to leveling and/or plumbing devices, and more particularly to a leveling or plumbing device that can be secured in position on a surface such as a wall.
Leveling and/or plumbing devices are used in construction or other applications for marking or determining the level or plumb orientation of an object or surface. Many devices of this type utilize a laser generator that emits a beam of light, typically in a fan-type planar configuration, to provide the user with a visual representation of level or plumb on a surface. In order to fix the orientation of the device relative to the surface, which may be a floor or wall, it has been known to provide the device with extendable and retractable pins, which penetrate the surface and serve to temporarily secure the device to the surface. While this type of temporary mounting arrangement functions satisfactorily to fix the position of the device relative to the surface, it is disadvantageous in that the pins leave holes in the surface that must be filled after use. In addition, this type of mounting arrangement does not allow slight alterations in the orientation of the device after engagement with the surface, in the event the device is not truly level or plumb when the pins are first inserted into the surface. Furthermore, this type of mounting arrangement can only be employed when the device is used on a surface that is capable of being penetrated by the pins. Accordingly, a temporary mounting arrangement of this type cannot be used on hard surfaces such as concrete, tile or the like.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a leveling and/or plumbing device that can be temporarily mounted to virtually any type of surface, regardless of the nature of the surface material. It is another object of the invention to provide such a device which can be easily and quickly secured in position on a surface. A further object of the invention is to provide such a device in which the orientation of the device can be adjusted slightly when temporarily mounted to the surface, to enable the user to accurately position the device. A still further object of the invention is to provide such a device which operates in a manner similar to prior art devices yet which overcomes the many disadvantages of such prior art devices.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a leveling device for use on a work surface includes a body defining a surface; a light beam emitter contained within the body for emitting a light beam exteriorly of the body in a predetermined orientation relative to the body; and an engagement arrangement associated with the body for selectively maintaining the body in position on the work surface. The engagement arrangement includes at least one extendible and retractable engagement member and an adhesive carried by the engagement member. The extendible and retractable engagement member is movable between a retracted position in which the adhesive is positioned inwardly of the surface of the body, and an extended position in which the adhesive is positioned outwardly of the surface of the body for engagement with the work surface to selectively maintain the body in position on the work surface. The engagement arrangement further includes a biasing arrangement associated with the engagement arrangement for biasing the at least one extendible and retractable engagement member toward the retracted position. The biasing arrangement may be in the form of a spring that is configured and arranged to act on the engagement member to bias the engagement member toward the retracted position. The engagement arrangement may be in the form of a pair of spaced apart engagement members, and may also include a third engagement member at a location spaced from the pair of spaced apart engagement members.
The surface of the body may be in the form of a downwardly facing surface, and the body may include an upwardly facing surface facing in a direction opposite that of the downwardly facing surface. The body may include a passage within which each engagement member is located. Each passage extends between the upwardly facing surface and the downwardly facing surface of the body, and each engagement member includes an upwardly facing actuating surface for manual engagement by a user to enable the user to move the engagement member from the retracted position to the extended position. The engagement member is configured and arranged such that downward movement of the upwardly facing actuating surface by the user causes downward movement of the engagement member within the passage, to move the adhesive outwardly relative to the downwardly facing surface of the body into engagement with the work surface. In one form, the adhesive may be a mass of adhesive material removably contained within a recess in an end defined by the engagement member.
The invention also contemplates a method of maintaining the position of a leveling device on a work surface, substantially in accordance with the foregoing summary.
Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings.

Hand-held laser level with retractable adhesive-type retention feature


A spout supply apparatus including a spout transfer device in which two spout holding devices 43 and 44 are respectively disposed on each end of a reciprocating swing arm 41 that makes a reciprocating swing motion in the horizontal plane through a swing angle of substantially 90 degrees about a supporting shaft 45. Upon the swing motion of the swing arm 41, the spout holding devices 43 and 44 alternatively receive a spout that is at the leading end of a row of lined spouts, at a spout receiving position T and are alternatively moved to spout transfer positions U, thus transferring the spout to the spout clamping member 3 which is at each one of the spout transfer positions U.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a spout supply apparatus that supplies spouts and bags to which spouts are attached to, for instance, a spout sealing machine (that covers supplied spouts with bags and seals such spouts and bags by hot plates, etc.) and to a filling machine (that fills supplied bags to which spouts are attached with contents).
2. Description of the Related Art
Part feeders are widely used in cases where spouts are supplied to a spout sealing machine. In part feeders, spouts (see FIGS. 13A and 13B) are held from both sides thereof by rails (that fit into grooves c between flanges a and b of a spout) and conveyed while lined up in a single row in a vertical state, at least in the vicinity of the terminal end of the part feeder. In the spout S shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, d indicates a sealing portion, and h indicates a head.
When the spout S is conveyed, by way of setting the direction of length (the left-right direction in FIG. 13A and the direction perpendicular to the drawing sheet in the case of FIG. 13B) of the flanges a and b of the spout S to face in the conveying direction of the spouts, it is possible to increase the treatment (conveying) capacity and to obtain a stable conveying state of the spouts. Accordingly, it is desirable that the spouts S be conveyed in this orientation. Similarly, in cases where bags to which spouts are attached are conveyed on rails (the places supported by the rails are the same as in the case of conveying the spouts), the direction of width of the bags W (see the imaginary lines in FIGS. 13A) is set to be parallel to the conveying direction for a better treatment (conveying) capacity and a stable conveying state of the spouts.
Furthermore, inside the spout sealing machines as well, it is desirable that the continuously or intermittently conveyed spouts be held so that the direction of length of the flanges a and b faces in the conveying direction of the spouts. For example, if the spout sealing machine is a rotary type machine, this means that the direction of length of the flanges faces in the tangential direction. In this case, the bag surfaces are oriented parallel to the conveying direction as a result, so that treatments such as the sealing of the bags, printing on the bag surfaces, etc. can easily be performed.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Nos. 2001-353793 and 11-333950, spouts are set, in a spout sealing machine, to be held so that the direction of length of the flanges faces in the conveying direction.
In cases where a part feeder is installed adjacent to a spout sealing machine, it is desirable that the part feeder be disposed so that the conveying direction of the part feeder and the spout conveying direction of the spout sealing machine differ by 90 degrees. The reason for this is as follows: since various types of processing devices are ordinarily installed in succession along the spout conveying direction in a spout sealing machine, spatial interference between the part feeder and such various types of processing devices can be avoided by adopting such a layout; and the space around the spout sealing machine can be effectively utilized.
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) Nos. 2001-353793 and 2001-293798, a layout is adopted so that the conveying direction of a part feeder and the spout conveying direction of a spout sealing machine differ by 90 degrees.
In order to satisfy the above-described three desirable configuration (orientation of the spouts in the part feeder, orientation of the spouts in the spout sealing machine and installation positions of the spout sealing machine and part feeder), it is necessary to alter the orientation of the spouts by 90 degrees when the spouts that are fed out from the part feeder are supplied to the spout sealing machine. In the above-described Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2001-353793, a transfer device is disposed between the part feeder and the spout sealing machine, and the orientation of the spouts is altered by this transfer device.
Meanwhile, there are cases in which a so-called W type (the expression "W type" is used in the sense of treating two spouts at the same time) spout sealing machine is required in order to increase the treatment capacity of the spout sealing machine. Even though the treatment capacity of the spout sealing machine is doubled in the W type machine, the part feeder generally has an even greater capacity. Accordingly, by branching only the terminal end of the part feeder into two rows, it is possible to achieve the simultaneous supply of two spouts to two adjacent spout clamping portions of a W type spout sealing machine by means of a single part feeder. In the above-described Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. 2001-293798, though there are differences between spouts and ports, two ports are simultaneously supplied to a spout sealing machine by causing the terminal end part of a part feeder to branch into two rows.
However, in cases where the orientation of the spouts is altered by 90 degrees, it is necessary to install transfer devices that can alter the orientation of the spouts by 90 degrees at the respective terminal ends of the two rows of spouts. As a result, an increase in cost and an increase in the complexity and size of the spout sealing machine are unavoidable.

Supply apparatus for spouts and bags with spouts


A method includes transmitting a ride-share request to a ride-share server, the ride-share request including information about an accessibility device, determining a present orientation of the accessibility device, and transmitting the present orientation of the accessibility device to the ride-share vehicle. Another method includes transmitting a present orientation of an accessibility device, receiving a target orientation of the accessibility device, illuminating a light projector, determining that the accessibility device is in the target orientation, and turning off the light projector.

Ride-share services allow users to request a ride via a mobile application. A server servicing the mobile application transmits a message, to a nearby driver, with the pickup location of the person requesting the service and the requested destination. The driver proceeds to the pickup location and drives the person requesting the service to the requested destination.


To correct the position of a conveyed item (12) in a conveyance system (10), the deviation of the conveyed item (12) from its target position is detected. If this deviation reveals that a correction is necessary, a suitable correction profile Pi is selected from a plurality of available correction profiles (P1, P2, P3), and the correction is carried out.

The present invention relates to a method for correcting the positional deviation of a conveyed item in a conveyance system, in particular a sheet or a material web, and a device for correcting the positional deviation of a conveyed item.
When conveying objects, in particular sheets, material webs or other goods to be conveyed, it is often necessary to hold the conveyed items in a defined position, to correct their position relative to the conveyance system, or to adjust downstream stations, in particular processing stations, to the current position of the conveyed items. To ensure this, the actual position of the conveyed item is usually detected and compared with a target value. If deviations are identified, correction of the position of the conveyed item is initiated, for example. For example, general conveyance procedures in "in-line" conveyance machines, i.e., in cyclical machines with a recurrent production process, corrections of the position of the conveyed item itself, or corrections of a downstream processing station can be carried out in the machine. After a positional deviation is detected, the conveyance procedure is corrected by superimposing a correcting motion on the synchronous machine operation.
A further example of this can be seen in the register control for printing processes in sheetfed printing. In this process, the position of the sheet on impression cylinder 16 can be adjusted such that it has precise register. By maintaining precise register, it can be guaranteed that the impression zones of the different colors are positioned exactly.
For this purpose, ink or another marking applied separately to the printing stock can be scanned. Based on the sampled value determined in this manner, the current actual position value of the printing stock can be determined using a time or location-based method of evaluating the current actual position value of the printing stock, for example. By making a comparison with a target value, a deviation can be identified which must be corrected in order to process the printing stock with positional accuracy in a downstream processing step. Processing steps of this nature can include an additional application of ink, cutting the printing stock, embossing or folding, for example. To perform the correcting motion, a correcting motion can be superimposed on the synchronous machine operation of the downstream processing unit.
As known from EP 753 407 A2, for example, the lateral alignment of a sheet in a printing press can be corrected. To this end, a positional deviation of the side edge of the sheet from the target value is first determined using a target vs. actual comparison of measured value. The sheet is then brought into the target position using a correcting motion.
In performing corrections of this type, the correction path is the path along which the conveyed item moves in the transport direction while the correcting motion is being carried out. The overall, superimposed travel carried out which therefore corresponds to the duration of the correction action, is referred to as the correction. If, in an x-y diagram, the correction path is plotted on the x-axis and the correction is plotted on the y-axis, a graphic representation results which is referred to as the correction profile. In terms of performing corrections, a defined correction profile is permanently specified in machines used today to convey sheets, such as printing presses, post-printing finishing machines such as folding machines or other machines for transporting conveyed items. These permanently specified correction profiles are therefore not adaptable to different applications or even different machine types.

Method and device for correcting the positional deviation of a conveyed item by adjusting the cylinder's angle rotation relative to the conveyed item


The invention provides an antenna switching method for a wireless communication apparatus. The wireless communication apparatus includes a first antenna, a second antenna, a first modem, a switch, and a second modem. The first modem generates a control signal; the switch is coupled to the first antenna, the second antenna, the first modem, and the second modem. The switch receives the control signal and performs switching according to the control signal to make the first antenna to be coupled to one of the first modem and the second modem, and to make the second antenna to be coupled to the other one of the first modem and the second modem.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus, and more particularly to an antenna switching method for a wireless communication apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
With advancement in electronic technology, it has become a trend to provide a wireless communication apparatus on an electronic device. Nowadays, with the explosive demands for information, in order to satisfy the demands for receiving various kinds of information, prior art equips the wireless communication apparatus with two modems and two antennas to meet the product requirements.
In prior art, the corresponding relation between the two modems and the antenna is fixed; that is to say, the modem transceives information only via a single corresponding antenna. When the information-transceiving capability of the antenna corresponding to the modem reduces, the capability of the electronic device in transceiving the type of information corresponding to the modem inevitably becomes deteriorated.

Wireless communication apparatus and antenna switching method thereof


In a structure of fitting female and male connectors together, the female connector includes a female housing, and a female adapter which is provided on the female housing, and has a guide groove, and is fitted on a fitting portion provided at the male connector. The male connector includes a guide rib which is formed at the fitting portion, and is engageable in the guide groove. The female adapter can be rotated relative to the female housing to be placed at any of a plurality predetermined angular positions arranged with a fixed interval, and can be attached to the female housing. Only when the female adapter is rotated into a preselected one of the plurality predetermined angular positions, and is attached to the female housing of the female connector, the guide rib can be fitted in the guide groove, thereby allowing the female and male connectors to be fitted together.

This invention relates to a structure of fitting female and male connectors together.
Female and male connectors have been used for electrically connecting a wire (or cable) to an electrical equipment or a wire, and in order to prevent the erroneous fitting of the two connectors, there has been used the type of female and male connectors, in which a guide groove is formed in a connector housing of the female connector, and a guide rib for engagement in the guide groove is formed on a connector housing of the male connector (see, for example, JP-A-2002-117947).
As shown in FIGS. 7A, 7B and 8, the male connector 102 and female connector 103, disclosed in Patent Literature 1, are shield connectors which are used for connecting a shielded wire (or cable) 109 to an electrical equipment or the like, and are mounted on an automobile.
The male connector 102 includes an inner housing 121 made of an insulative synthetic resin, and an outer housing 104 which is made of an electrically-conductive non-magnetic material, and is formed integrally with the inner housing 121. The inner housing 121 is formed into a generally hollow cylindrical shape, and a pin-shaped male terminal 143 is received and held at its intermediate portion (in its longitudinal direction) in an internal space of the inner housing 121. The outer housing 104 is formed into a generally hollow cylindrical shape, and covers the inner housing 121 and an electrical contact portion 142 which is formed at a distal end of the male terminal 143 and projects outwardly from the inner housing 121 in surrounding relation thereto. An engagement projection 144 for fixing the female connector 103 is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the outer housing 104, and also a guide rib 174 is formed on this outer peripheral surface, and extends from an open end of the outer housing 104 in a fitting direction in which the male connector 102 and the female connector 103 are fitted together.
The female connector 103 includes an inner housing 114 and an outer housing 115 which are formed integrally with each other, using an insulative synthetic resin. The inner housing 114 is formed into a generally hollow cylindrical shape, and a female terminal 122, electrically connected to a conductor 126 of the shielded wire 109, is received and held in an internal space of the inner housing 114. The outer housing 115 includes a tubular portion 116 placed close to an outer periphery of a rear end portion of the inner housing 114, and a hood portion 117 of a generally hollow cylindrical shape covering a front end portion of the tubular portion 116 and a front end portion of the inner housing 114. A lock arm 139 for fixing the male connector 102 is formed within a rear end portion of the hood portion 117. A guide groove 140 is formed in an inner surface of a front end portion of the hood portion 117, and extends from an open end of the hood portion 117 in the fitting direction.
When the male connector 102 and the female connector 103 are fitted together, with the outer housing 104 of the male connector 102 inserted in the hood portion 117 of the female connector 103, the engagement projection 144 of the male connector 102 is engaged with the lock arm 139 of the female connector 103, thereby fixing the male and female connectors 102 and 103 to each other.
The guide rib 174 of the male connector 102 and the guide groove 140 of the female connector 103 are so placed as to correspond to each other, and with this arrangement the outer housing 104 of the male connector 102 can be inserted into the hood portion 117 of the female connector 103, thus allowing the male connector 102 and the female connector 103 to be fitted together. Namely, the guide rib 174 of the male connector 102 and the guide groove 140 of the female connector 103 prevent the erroneous fitting of the male and female connectors 102 and 103.
Incidentally, in the case where there are a plurality of mating pairs of female and male connectors of the above construction, the positions of the guide rib and guide groove are usually changed from one mating pair of connectors to another mating pair so that the mating pair of female and male connectors can be easily recognized, that is to say, the male connector will not be erroneously fitted into the female connector which is not its mate.
However, in order to change the positions of the guide rib and guide groove from one mating pair of connectors to another mating pair, it has been necessary to exchange molds (for respectively forming the guide rib and the guide groove at different positions) in the injection molding of the female and male connectors. Therefore, in the case where a plurality of pairs of female and male connectors are provided, it has been necessary to prepare the same number of molds as the number of the pairs of female and male connectors. And besides, considerable time and labor have been required for exchanging the mold, and therefore it has been necessary to take measures to reduce the production cost of the female and male connectors.


A capacitive differential pressure sensing device with pressure overrange protection and a method of making the same are described. The device employs a doped polysilicon diaphragm overlying a cavity in a doped single crystal silicon wafer having a port extending into the cavity from the opposite side. The cavity floor serves as an overrange protector.

A number of pressure sensors are known to utilize a silicon diaphragm which deflects in response to pressure. Deflection of the diaphragm is generally detected by electronic sensing elements such as piezoresistive elements placed on the edges of the diaphragm. These sensors are generally designed so that batch fabrication is possible. The range of pressure detection will depend on the size, thickness and span of the diaphragms. One such sensor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,581. The sensor there described includes overpressure protection features. Pressure applied to the sensor is limited by two isolator diaphragms separate from the sensor itself. When a preselected differential pressure limit is exceeded, the deflection of one of the isolator diaphragms (responding to the greater pressure) bottoms against a diaphragm support. Once bottomed against the support, no further increases in pressure are transmitted to the sensor. The pressure limits of these devices are set to protect the sensor diaphragm which has a relatively low pressure limit from pressures which will permanently deform it and thereby degrade the sensor's performance. Characteristics of this system which detract from its performance include both hysteresis and diminished sensitivity as a result of the circuitous pressure paths between the overpressure protecting diaphragms and the separate sensing diaphragms.
An alternate design for a bidirectional pressure sensor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,575 issued to Knecht et al on Mar. 6, 1990. According to the teachings of Knecht et al, a silicon diaphragm is mounted between two glass base plates which have recesses formed therein to receive the diaphragm and provide support across the diaphragm under overpressure conditions. The support plates serve as positive stops when the diaphragm is subject to overpressure and thus prevent overstressing the diaphragm. The pressure sensor disclosed in this patent further includes a diaphragm having grooves formed on opposite surfaces to define a center deflecting portion. The grooves provide a "free edge" effect which reduces bending stress at the diaphragm edge and permit a higher operating pressure without breakage.
Removing material to Provide grooves on opposite surfaces of the diaphragm, however, requires tight control tolerances during manufacture. Precise alignment of the glass base supports during assembly is also critical, especially when the sensor has an array of sensing diaphragms with different sensing ranges. Further, glass and silicon differ in strength and thermal coefficients. When the sensor is intended for applications over wide temperature and pressure ranges, the material property mismatch can create stresses and large sensing errors which may be difficult to overcome.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide a capacitive, differential, low pressure sensor which can be fabricated using semiconductor techniques and which also includes pressure overrange protection.
It is another object of this invention to provide a bidirectional, capacitive, differential low pressure sensor including bidirectional pressure overrange protection.

Overpressure-protected, polysilicon, capacitive differential pressure sensor and method of making the same


A flashing providing directional vanes, ribbing, scoring or etchings on its working surface which is suitable for joining, or providing backing for, sections of roofing materials, sections of exterior wall material, particularly at corners, and sections of the walls of a bathtub or shower stall and causes accumulated moisture flow to be directed inwardly toward a moisture drainage point for the flashing rather than outwardly toward the surrounding building structure.

a. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related generally to the field of flashings used to trim or join two surfaces, for example flashings are used to join the roof tiles of a first story roof to the siding of a second story portion of the same building in order to prevent water and moisture leakage into the structural components of the building and flashings are used to join two sections of roof tiles in order to prevent water and moisture leakage between the tile sections onto the structural components beneath.
More particularly the instant invention is related to apparatus useful in joining sections of liner surrounding a shower stall.
Yet more particularly, the instant invention is related to flashings that prevent water and moisture leakage by controlling the directional flow of water and condensate on the flashing's working surface. Where the flashing's working surface is defined as that surface upon which water and/or moisture accumulates.
Even yet more particularly, the instant invention is related to flashings that provide directional vanes, ribbing or etchings which, together with gravitational effects, provide directional flow of water and condensate on the flashing's working surface.
b. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous flashings in common usage. Such flashings are commonly utilized to join two surfaces and provide a means for avoiding leakage of moisture to the surface support(s) beneath or behind the two surfaces. Such common applications of flashings include joining two sections of roofing tiles whereby the flashing is placed underneath the edges of each of the two sections of roofing tiles and is intended to prevent moisture from leaking onto and causing rotting of the roof tile subsurface in the region between the two sections of roofing tiles. Another common application of flashings includes joining a building's first story section of roofing tiles to such building's second story wall siding section whereby the flashing is placed underneath the edges of the roofing tiles and behind the siding section and acts, again, to prevent water and moisture from leaking onto and causing rotting of the structural portions of the building. A yet further common application of flashings is the placement of a flashing between two sections of shower liner where the shower liner may be covered with tiling or other ornamental surface and the shower liner serves to protect the building structure from the leakage of moisture through the ornamental surface. No such prior art applications of flashings teach the use of directional vanes, ribbing, scoring or etchings to control the direction of flow of the moisture which accumulates on the flashing's working surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,295 teaches use of sections of shower wall (liner) to capture moisture which are interior to the building walls and does not provide for any flashing between sections.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,705,002 teaches a molding used to join the surface of a window pane to the surface of a wall. Vertical scoring may be used on the molding to provide easy tear off and adjustment of molding width.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,021 teaches the use of a single piece, limp, and flimsy, elastic and extensible polyolefin film attached to the back side of the three vertical sections of a shower stall liner in order to keep moisture from leaking into the building structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,640 teaches the use of a profiled strip for joining the tiles of two vertical walls. The profiled strip takes the place of a flashing behind two adjacent vertical walls.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,723 teaches an improved bathtub wall form which provides a secure means of attaching the bathtub to structural wall members, a flashing that eliminates the bulge where drywall and the upper flashing of the bathtub meet, a means of holding the drywall edge away from the planar surface of the bathtub, and a wall tile groove.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,997 teaches a sealing system for sealing the joints formed between the top surface of a tub and two adjoining vertical walls. The sealing system utilizes three L-shaped sealing strips and one corner piece for sealing the corner where the joints meet. Each of the sealing strips, including the corner piece, are adhesively attached to the backs of the three adjoining surfaces formed by the vertical walls and the top surface of the tub.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,064 teaches use of a pair of orthogonally disposed flashings terminating in flared, flexible lips for overlapping adjunct edges of the panels which are the vertical walls of a tub surround. Each of the orthogonally disposed flashings provides a physical join, adhesively or otherwise, to the vertical walls making a corner.
All of the prior art patents disclose and teach the use of a vertically positioned L-shape as either the structure of or backing for a corner made by adjoining vertical walls of a tub or shower stall, but none of the known prior art, including the above-mentioned patents, discloses or teaches the use of directional vanes, ribbing, scoring or etchings to control the direction of flow of the moisture which accumulates on the flashing's working surface.
It is well-known and understood that the accumulation of moisture will cause beads of condensation on a vertical sheet, and that those beads of condensation may even form rivulets tending downwardly. However, it is also commonly observed that such rivulets divert momentarily either to the right or to the left in their downward flow. Such diversion, in the event that it intersects the edge of a protective flashing's working surface, will cause leakage into the building structure surrounding the tub or shower.
Accordingly, it is seen that the flashings and methods of joining the vertical walls of the prior art all suffer from a degree of leakage into the building structure surrounding the tub or shower.


A method of measuring impedance of a pH electrode is provided. A test current is applied to the pH electrode for a time duration that is less than 50 percent of a time constant that is associated with electrical characteristics of the pH electrode. A voltage response of the pH electrode is measured when the test current is applied to the pH electrode. An impedance of the pH electrode is calculated as a function of the voltage response.

pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution and can be determined using a pH-selective electrode (for instance, pH glass electrode, hydrogen electrode, quinhydrone electrode, ion sensitive field effect transistor). pH sensors measure ion content and are often utilized in industrial process control systems to measure the hydrogen (H+) or hydroxyl (OH−) ion content of a solution.
pH sensors commonly employ at least two electrodes, an ion-specific electrode (a pH electrode) and a reference electrode. In one example, a pH electrode utilizes a pH sensitive glass, in contact with a solution, which develops a potential (voltage) proportional to the pH of the solution. A reference electrode provides a known reference potential for the pH electrode. The difference in the potentials of the pH electrode and the reference electrodes provides a millivolt signal proportional to pH.
Over time, pH electrodes can experience aging which can result in changes to the electrical characteristics of the electrode. Electrode aging may be caused and/or accelerated by, for example, use in high temperatures, operation of the pH electrode in process media or solutions that have either high acidity or alkalinity, or incorrect handling of the pH electrode when not in use, e.g. incorrect cleaning and storage procedures. Electrode aging can cause an increase in impedance and response time, a declining slope, especially in the alkaline region, and/or a shift of the asymmetry potential, for example. Further, electrode aging can be indicative of changes in the chemical composition of the membrane glass, steady growth of the internal membrane gel layer, and/or chemically and mechanically induced degradation of the outer gel layer of the membrane during measurement and cleaning. As an electrode deteriorates, the ability of the sensor to accurately measure pH also deteriorates resulting in inaccurate and/or inconsistent pH level measurements.


Systems and methods are provided for producing displays of the accuracy of data mining or statistical models that produce associative predictions. For all cases in a testing data set, the model makes predictions and provides associated probabilities. The cases are sorted by their probability of making accurate predictions and a graph is made of the accuracy of the model over various subsets containing the highest probability cases as evaluated by the model. Where a number of probabilities are presented for the predictions in a basket of predictions, those probabilities are combined to yield a probability score for the entire basket. Additionally, the accuracy of a model over different basket sizes may be graphed. The accuracy graph may also be produced for any models making a prediction, by graphing the probability of making accurate predictions and a graph made of the accuracy of the model over various subsets of the data containing the highest probability cases.

Data mining is the exploration and analysis of large quantities of data, in order to discover correlations, patterns, and trends in the data. Data mining may also be used to create models that can be used to predict future data or classify existing data.
For example, a business may amass a large collection of information about its customers. This information may include purchasing information and any other information available to the business about the customer. The predictions of a model associated with customer data may be used, for example, to control customer attrition, to perform credit-risk management, to detect fraud, or to make decisions on marketing.
To create and test a data mining model, available data may be divided into two parts. One part, the training data set, may be used to create models. The rest of the data, the testing data set, may be used to test the model, and thereby determine the accuracy of the model in making predictions.
Data within data sets is grouped into cases. For example, with customer data, each case corresponds to a different customer. Data in the case describes or is otherwise associated with that customer. One type of data that may be associated with a case (for example, with a given customer) is a categorical variable. A categorical variable categorizes the case into one of several pre-defined states. For example, one such variable may correspond to the educational level of the customer. There are various values for this variable. The possible values are known as states. The states of the educational level variable may be "high school degree," "bachelor's degree," or "graduate degree" and may correspond to the highest degree earned by the customer.
Data available is partitioned into two groups—a training data set and a testing data set. Often 70% of the data is used for training and 30% for testing. A model may be trained using only the training data set, which includes the state information. Once a model is trained, it may be run on the testing data set for evaluation. During this testing, the model will be given all of the testing data except the educational level data, and asked to predict a probability that the educational level variable for that customer is a particular state, such as "bachelor's degree".
Running the model on the testing data set, these results are compared to the actual testing data to see whether the model correctly predicted a high probability of the "bachelor's degree" state for cases that actually have "bachelor's degree" as the state of the educational level variable.
One method of displaying the success of a model graphically is by means of a lift chart, also known as a cumulative gains chart. To create a lift chart, the cases from the testing data set are sorted according to the probability assigned by the model that the variable (e.g. educational level) has the state (e.g. bachelor's degree) that was tested, from highest probability to lowest probability. Once this is done, a lift chart can be created from data points (X, Y) showing for each point what number Y of the total number of true positives (those cases where the variable does have the state being tested for) are included in the X% of the testing data set cases with the highest probability for that state, as assigned by the model.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional lift chart shows that there are 1000 total true positives in the testing set. This is not necessarily the number of cases in the testing data set. Some cases may have a different state for the variable than the one being tested. The number of true positives in the testing data set is the highest number shown on Y axis 10. The X axis 20 correlates with the percentage of cases with the highest probabilities. Lift line 30 depicts the success of the model. For example, it can be seen that lift line 30 includes a point with (X, Y) coordinates are approximately (20, 500). This indicates that, in the 20% of the cases selected by the model as the most probable cases having the tested-for state of the variable, approximately 500 of the cases that are truly positive for the state of the variable are included. This is equivalent to getting 50% of the actual cases with the desired state in only 20% of the cases tested for.
A model that randomly assigns probabilities would be likely to have a chart close to the random lift line 40. In the top 10% of cases, such a model would find 10% of the true positives. Note that the X axis may also be expressed in the number of high probability cases, and the Y axis in percentages. A perfect model may also be considered. In a situation where there are N % true positives among the entire testing data set the lift line would stretch straight from the origin to the point (N, YMAX) (where YMAX is the maximum Y value). This is because all of the true positives would be identified before any false positives are identified. The lift line for the perfect model would then continue horizontally from that point to the right. For example, if 20% of the cases had the tested for state, as shown in FIG. 2, a perfect model would have the perfect lift line 50, extending from (0,0) to (20, 1000) and then from (20, 1000) to (100, 1000). Similarly, the worst case model would identify no true positives until the last N % of the testing population is included, and, as shown in FIG. 3 for the case where there are 20% true positives, the worst case lift line 60 for such a model would extend from (0,0) to (80, 0) and then straight from (80,0) to (100, 1000).
As described above, in the prior art, a lift chart can be used to display and measure the prediction accuracy of a model for a given state of a categorical variable. However, existing lift charts do not have any capability for measuring the effectiveness of a model in predicting an association. Additionally, the prior art lift chart can be used to display the prediction accuracy of a model in terms of the percentage of true positives captured in different size groups of cases with the highest associated probabilities, however, there is no capability for understanding what the size of the number of true positives in the testing data set.
Thus, there is a need for a method and system for generating for display improved charts with which to display the accuracy of models.

System and method for mining model accuracy display


A detection of a broken embroidering thread is repeated several times, and an erroneous detection is prevented by repeatedly detecting an actual breaking. An embroidering operation is re-started from a position a few stitches apart from the thread breaking position, so that a sightly embroidering continuation may be formed. When a first breaking is detected, reading-out of new embroidering data is stopped, and the repeated detections at several times are made by moving a needle vertically at the same position or a slightly displaced position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic embroidering machine, and more particularly to a device for detecting a breaking of a thread while an embroidering machine carries out a stitching operation in accordance with a predetermined program, and repairing of the thread breaking in response to the detection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a known automatic embroidering machine, when the thread is broken, the stitching is instantly stopped on detecting the breaking of the thread, and after repairing it the embroidering is again started from an embroidering data following the data where the thread was broken. Therefore, embroidering continuation was unsightly, or the data of a few stitchings were often missing. Further, due to erroneous detection, the stitching was sometimes stopped notwithstanding the fact that the thread did not break.
To remove such defects, Japanese Patent Publication No. 58,584/86 has proposed that the detection of the thread breaking is performed over several stitchings, and each of them is regarded as a breaking, and the embroidering is again started from a position before a first breaking so as to prevent unsightly embroidering continuation, ravelling or erroneous stopping.
Since the instantaneous stopping on the first detection is made against an inertia of the running mechanism of the sewing machine, the sewing machine is stopped after several stitchings. When the thread is broken, false or empty stitchings are made, and the re-start is begun after the false stitchings.
If the breaking is caused by the thread twisting about a needle, the needle will be destroyed by moving of a fabric frame.
By forming the false stitchings, the fabric is prone to spoil an embroidering finish.

Automatic embroidering machine having thread break detection means


A low power multiple channel receiver mixing architecture for detecting wake-up signals over multiple communication channels in sniff processing performed in an implantable medical device (IMD). The architecture includes a direct conversion real receiver configured to scan a selected center channel and a Weaver receiver configured in parallel to the direct conversion real receiver to simultaneously scan side channels, together simultaneously detecting whether a wake-up signal is being received over the center and side channels with minimal power consumption. The architecture further utilizes a falsing protection algorithm that reduces power consumption during sniff operations by inhibiting the sniffing of channels likely to provide a false indication of a wake-up signal based the presence of unwanted signals on those channels. The falsing protection algorithm restricts those channels from sniff processing likely to provide a false indication of a wake-up signal, such that sniff processing can aborted, prevented, limited or otherwise altered to conserve power consumption.

A wide variety of IMDs have been developed in order to monitor patient conditions and deliver therapy to the patient. An IMD typically includes a hermetically sealed housing coupled to one or more leads that are surgically implanted inside a patient for sensing conditions or for administering therapy. The IMD may provide therapeutic stimulation to the patient or may deliver drugs or agents to the patient. Alternatively or additionally, the IMD may have sensing or monitoring capabilities. For example, the IMD may sense information within a patient and store the sensed information for subsequent analysis. In some cases, the sensed information may be used directly by the IMD to adjust or control the therapy that is delivered to the patent. Telemetry is used to communicate sensed information from the IMD to an external medical device so that analysis of the sensed information can be performed. Telemetry is further used to communicate information or instructions from external medical devices to the IMD. The IMD includes a telemetry module for performing such telemetry.
Special frequency bands have been allocated for implantable medical devices using RF telemetry, such as the MICS (Medical Implantable Communication Service) band ranging from 402-405 MHz and the MEDS (Medical Electronic Data Service) band that extends the range to 401-406 MHz. The limited battery capacity in IMDs presents a challenge in operating a RF transceiver at such frequencies. One manner employed to conserve power in an IMD is to maintain the IMD in an off state and operate in the so-called "sniff" mode. This means that the complete receiver RF portion of the device is turned on for a limited period of time (e.g. 10 milliseconds) during which time the device listens to see if there are any transmitters active in the vicinity wanting to make contact with the IMD. By duty cycling the on (sniff) time heavily with the off time a considerable power saving can be achieved. The signals received during these sniff operations are referred to as wake-up signals that direct the IMD to power on various components to communicate with the external medical device.

Low power multiple channel mixing architecture for detecting wake-up signals and related falsing protection algorithm


In a head position control device having a disturbance suppression function and eccentricity correction function, the interference between the eccentricity correction function and the disturbance suppression function is prevented. An eccentricity correction function and disturbance suppression control function are provided in the head positioning control system, and an interference prevention function, which detects the disturbance suppression frequency and turns OFF the feedback of the eccentricity correction control for the eccentricity correction frequency near the disturbance suppression frequency, or shifts the disturbance suppression frequency from the eccentricity correction frequency, is provided. Therefore the interference between the eccentricity correction and the disturbance suppression can be prevented, and unstable eccentricity correction can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a head position control method for a disk device, a head position control device, and a disk device, and more particularly to a head position control method, head position control device and disk device for suppressing position deviation due to external vibration and eccentricity of the disk.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is extremely important for a disk device, such as a magnetic disk device or optical disk device, to accurately position the head on the target track of the disk in order to improve recording density.
For this positioning control, various factors interrupt positioning accuracy of the head with respect to the disk. The eccentricity of the disk, in particular, causes a deterioration of position accuracy of the head. In order to control follow up of the head to the eccentricity of the disk, an eccentricity correction method using an eccentricity estimation observer has been proposed (e.g. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H7-50075 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-21104).
Such an eccentricity estimation observer calculates a control value of an actuator from an error between an actual position error and an estimated position error, using the state estimation gains A, B, C, F and L, and calculates the state quantities (position, velocity, bias value, eccentricity) of the next sample.
Here the estimated gain L consists of an estimated position gain L1, estimated velocity gain L2 and estimated bias gain L3, and estimated eccentricity gains L4 and L5. And L1, L2 and L3 show the characteristics of the controller itself, and L4 and L5 show the response characteristics to eccentricity, which is a periodic disturbance.

Head position control method, head position control device and disk device


A method of operating chemical sensors (21) uses synchronously pulsed signals to reduce the power consumption of the chemical sensors (21). A first voltage source can be used to control and to heat multiple heating elements of the chemical sensors (21). The first voltage source can also be used to control other sensors which do not require elevated temperature operation. A second voltage source can be used to operate and bias the chemical sensors (21) heated by the multiple heating elements. Power consumption is reduced by turning or pulsing off the heating element (16) when it is not used.

This invention relates, in general, to a method of operating chemical sensors, and more particularly, to a method of operating chemical sensors which reduces power consumption.
Chemical sensors are used to monitor dangerous and other toxic gases including carbon monoxide, methane, hydrogen, automobile exhaust, and biomedical and industrial emissions. Generally using an ac power source, chemical sensors need to have a backup power supply, such as a battery, which should last for several days to ensure reliability of the chemical sensor system Moreover, with the constantly growing need for more portable systems and remotely controlled systems, many chemical sensors need to rely entirely on battery powered operation. However, current methods of operating metal oxide based chemical sensors consume large quantities of power which drastically shorten battery life and, therefore, are not suited for portable applications or battery powered backup operations.
Previous attempts have been made to reduce power consumption by, among other methods, altering the size and composition of chemical sensors, adding heat reflectors and thermal insulators to the chemical sensors, and pulsing a single heater of a single sensor element. However, none of the prior schemes for a low power consumption system have significantly extended battery life to a practical or efficient level Alternative technologies including optically based sensors are currently battery powered but are compatible with neither low cost silicon fabrication nor integration schemes.
Existing gas monitoring schemes do not compensate for varying environmental factors. For instance, temperature and humidity fluctuations can detrimentally affect the accuracy of chemical sensors. Therefore, environmental calibration is a necessary feature for reliable and precise chemical sensors.
Furthermore, redundancy in gas detection is a desirable feature to further improve the reliability and safety of chemical sensors.
Accordingly, a need exists for a method of operating chemical sensors which is compatible with battery powered operation for backup, portable, and remotely controlled applications. The method should increase battery life up to a pragmatic level, should maintain a safe and reliable detection scheme, and should not be expensive. The method should permit environmental calibration and should also incorporate gas sensing redundancy.


Systems and methods are provided for calculating a savings amount for loan refinancing. According to one implementation, a method includes displaying a graphic user interface comprising a widget at a client device and receiving input data from a user regarding a loan. In some embodiments, the input data may include the user's credit level and the current monthly payment, APR, and payoff amount associated with the user's current loan. The method further includes determining a saving amount based on a comparison of the input data with historical savings data accessible to the widget, and displaying the savings amount in the graphic user interface.

As greater numbers of people use the World Wide Web for communication, commerce, and other daily activities, they generate larger and larger volumes of traffic over the Internet. Because the benefits of commercializing the Internet can be tremendous, businesses increasingly take advantage of this traffic by advertising their products or services online. These advertisements may appear in the form of leased advertising space (e.g., "banners") on content websites, pop-ups, etc. One aspect of advertising is targeted advertising towards specific customers. For example, customers accessing websites related to home buying may be provided advertising related to refinancing options for various loans related home buying. Each time one of the advertisements is shown to a viewer of the website is known as an "impression." When shown the advertisement, the user may select, or "click," on the advertisement or take another "action" indicating a response to the advertisement. If the user later refinances a loan, the refinancing is referred to as a "conversion" of the impression. Advertisers may pay owners of content Web sites (i.e., the publishers) based on, for example, the number of impressions, clicks, or conversions made through advertisements on the content Web sites over the course of an advertising campaign.
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Presently, online advertising associated with refinancing is often presented via banner ads that provide a savings claim that customers can save a certain average amount per year. There is large variance, however, in how much distinct customers may save per year. Accordingly, because the savings claim is not accurate for many of the potential applicants, prospective applicants may have a perception that the savings claim is always inaccurate, discouraging additional customers from applying for refinancing based the advertisement.
The present disclosure is directed to improved systems and methods for advertising refinancing options. Moreover, the present disclosure is directed to improved techniques for providing more detailed refinancing information, while solving one or more of the above-mentioned challenges.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for a refinancing savings widget


Enhanced UV blocking is provided to clothing by washing the clothing in a composition including a UV blocking dye and at least one additional water-soluble material which serves as a matrix and/or a dispersant for the dye in the washing machine. The dye is initially in the form of a solid tablet or pellet preferably also containing a disintegrant, or inside a water-soluble envelope. When placed in the washing machine with the clothing and the washing water, the pellet or tablet disintegrates and dissolves releasing the UV protectant dye to the clothing.

The public is becoming increasingly aware of damage to the skin caused by sunlight, and particularly the ultraviolet (UV) components of sunlight, such damage including various types of skin cancers and early "leathering" and aging of the skin. As a result of this knowledge, sunscreen lotions and creams, as well as cosmetics containing sunscreens, are now available and sold to the public in increasing varieties and amounts, and at various protection (SPF) levels.
Although also well known, but less well known than damage caused to uncovered skin by UV, sunlight also passes through clothing, more or less depending on the openness of the fabric from which the clothing is made and the material itself. For example, normal light weight cotton clothing, commonly worn in summer, is relatively poor in blocking UV rays. Cotton is not a strong UV absorber and UV light is only moderately attenuated when it passes through normal cotton clothing. There is accordingly a need for blocking UV rays that pass through normal cotton clothing, especially the lightweight type commonly used in summer time, e.g. T-shirts and the like, as well as clothing made from other fabrics as well, e.g. cotton-polyester blends, nylon, nylon blends, and also regenerated cellulose, flax, linen, etc., and blends thereof with one another or other fibers.
There are UV-blocking clothes on the market that permit air-flow while blocking UV, but these clothes tend to be expensive. Some relatively recent U.S. patents which relate to the industrial treatment of yarns, fibers, fabrics and finished textiles to enhance their UV absorption or attenuation include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,637,348; 6,015,504; 6,610,214 and 6,641,920.
Because factory-UV-treated textiles are quite expensive, it would be desirable to provide means for treating clothing, especially lightweight summer clothing, in the home, i.e. domestically, and there are basically three ways to do this, namely: (1) incorporating the UV attenuation or blocking material in a laundry detergent composition, (2) providing such a material as a separate powder for use with a laundry detergent, or (3) in accordance with the present invention as described below.
Incorporation of the UV blocking material with laundry detergent is inconvenient because the household then needs to have two different kinds of laundry detergents, one including the blocking material and one not including the blocking material; or, alternatively, a single household detergent can be used containing the UV protectant material, but in that case the cost increases substantially because articles such as linens, underwear and bed clothing are also impregnated with UV protectant, which is unnecessary and wasteful.
The second option is one commercially available, noting for example the Rit® Sun Guard™ Laundry Treatment (see www.ritdye.com/sun_guard/faq.asp). The Rit® system, which includes Tinosorb™ FD, a UV protectant produced by CIBA Specialty Products as active ingredient, requires its use with laundry detergent, i.e. it is simply added as a powder to the regular wash load, preferably without the addition of chlorine bleach. While this system is an improvement over incorporating the UV protectant in the laundry detergent, it also is not convenient because separate doses must be pre-packaged for different wash loads, or there is always a measurement problem. In addition, opening the packet of the UV protectant powder and dumping the entire contents or a portion of the powder into the washing machine creates a danger from possible inhalation of some of the powder.

Dye product and method of treating clothing for UV blocking


Systems and methods for providing improved situational awareness for an aircraft while taxiing. An exemplary method generates reflectivity data based on an associated emission at a transceiver located on an aircraft. At a processor, targets are determined if a portion of the generated reflectivity data is greater than a predefined threshold. Then, the analyzed targets are determined as to whether they are within a dynamically defined three-dimensional envelope. The envelope is based on wingtip light module speed and trajectory. On a display device, an indication of the nearest target is presented at the associated range to the nearest target.

The Flight Safety Foundation (FSF) estimates the apron-damage costs to the world's airlines to be $4 billion every year. For corporate fleets, the damage-related cost was estimated to be $1 billion annually.
The presented apron-damage costs include direct costs resulting from material and work related to an accident, and indirect costs resulting from aircraft being not in operation, harming the public image of airlines, incident investigations, etc.
Three main causes of surface accidents were indentified from the NTSB database: the failure to maintain adequate visual lookout, the failure to perceive distance between the wings and obstacles, and the failure to maintain required clearance.

Systems and methods for filtering wingtip sensor information


Techniques of compressing triangular mesh data involve encoding a bitstream that defines a traversal order for vertices in a triangular mesh. The encoded bitstream defining the traversal order is in addition to an encoded bitstream of prediction errors and is an explicit, rather than implicit, traversal. One example of a bitstream that defines a traversal order is an array in which a bit signifies whether a step in an implicit, deterministic scheme such as a depth-first traversal. Upon decoding, the usual deterministic steps are used to find the vertices of the triangular mesh unless specified by the traversal bitstream. Such an encoded bitstream, when occupying less memory than that saved from the compression efficiencies gained in defining the traversal order defined in the bitstream, offers a simple, efficient compression without requiring that the triangular mesh be connected.

Some applications such as video games involve representing three-dimensional objects to a user. In one example, an adventure game played by a user in a virtual reality environment may require the generation of virtual trees, rocks, and people. In another example, a mapping application may require the representation of buildings. In some applications, each such object includes a triangular mesh having a plurality of vertices, i.e., points in space that form triangles. Such a triangular mesh involves a plethora of data that may be stored on disk and transmitted to the user. Practical implementations of storing and transmitting the triangular mesh data representing a virtual object include compressing the triangular mesh data.

Guided traversal in compression of triangular meshes


The invention relates to a terpolymer of tetrafluoroethylene (TFE) monomer, polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) monomer and hexafluoropropylene (HFP) monomer for forming an ultrafiltration or microfiltration membrane, method of forming said membranes, and to the ultrafiltration or microfiltration membranes themselves. The invention also relates to a method of forming a polymeric ultrafiltration or microfiltration membrane including preparing a leachant resistant membrane dope which incorporates a leachable pore forming agent, casting a membrane from the dope and leaching the pore forming agent from the membrane. The invention also relates to a method of preparing a polymeric ultrafiltration or microfiltration membrane of improved structure including the step of adding a nucleating agent to the membrane dope before casting.

The following discussion is not to be construed as an admission with regard to the common general knowledge in Australia.
Synthetic membranes are used for a variety of applications including desalination, gas separation, filtration, and dialysis. The properties of the membranes vary depending on the morphology of the membrane i.e. properties such as symmetry, pore shape and pore size and the polymeric material used to form the membrane.
Different membranes can be used for specific separation processes, including microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and reverse osmosis. Microfiltration and ultrafiltration are pressure driven processes and are distinguished by the size of the particle or molecule that the membrane is capable of retaining or passing. Microfiltration can remove very fine colloidal particles in the micrometer and submicrometer range. As a general rule, microfiltration can filter particles down to 0.1 μm, whereas ultrafiltration can retain particles as small as 0.01 μm and smaller. Reverse Osmosis operates on an even smaller scale.
As the size of the particles to be separated decreases, the pore size of the membrane decreases and the pressure required to carry out the separation increases.
A large surface area is needed when a large filtrate flow is required. One known technique to make filtration apparatus more compact is to form a membrane in the shape of a hollow porous fiber. Modules of such fibers can be made with an extremely large surface area per unit volume.
Microporous synthetic membranes are particularly suitable for use in hollow fibers and are produced by phase inversion. In this process, at least one polymer is dissolved in an appropriate solvent and a suitable viscosity of the solution is achieved. The polymer solution can be cast as a film or hollow fiber, and then immersed in precipitation bath such as water. This causes separation of the homogeneous polymer solution into a solid polymer and liquid solvent phase. The precipitated polymer forms a porous structure containing a network of uniform pores. Production parameters that affect the membrane structure and properties include the polymer concentration, the precipitation media and temperature and the amount of solvent and non-solvent in the polymer solution. These factors can be varied to produce microporous membranes with a large range of pore sizes (from less than 0.1 to 20 μm), and altering chemical, thermal and mechanical properties.
Microporous phase inversion membranes are particularly well suited to the application of removal of viruses and bacteria. Of all types of membranes, the hollow fiber contains the largest membrane area per unit volume.
Flat sheet membranes are prepared by bringing a polymer solution consisting of at least one polymer and solvent into contact with a coagulation bath. The solvent diffuses outwards into the coagulation bath and the precipitating solution will diffuse into the cast film. After a given period of time, the exchange of the non-solvent and solvent has proceeded such that the solution becomes thermodynamically unstable and demixing occurs. Finally, a flat sheet is obtained with an asymmetric or symmetric structure.
Hydrophobic surfaces are defined as "water hating" and hydrophilic surfaces as "water loving". Many of the polymers that porous membranes are made of are hydrophobic polymers. Water can be forced through a hydrophobic membrane by use of sufficient pressure, but the pressure needed is very high (150–300 psi), and a membrane may be damaged at such pressures and generally does not become wetted evenly.
Hydrophobic microporous membranes are characterized by their excellent chemical resistance, biocompatibility, low swelling and good separation performance. Thus, when used in water filtration applications, hydrophobic membranes need to be hydrophilized or "wet out" to allow water permeation. Some hydrophilic materials are not suitable for microfiltration and ultrafiltration membranes that require mechanical strength and thermal stability since water molecules can play the role of plasticizers.
Currently, poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE), Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP) and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) are the most popular and available hydrophobic membrane materials. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) is a semi-crystalline polymer containing a crystalline phase and an amorphous phase. The crystalline phase provides good thermal stability whilst the amorphous phase adds some flexibility to the membrane. PVDF exhibits a number of desirable characteristics for membrane applications, including thermal resistance, reasonable chemical resistance (to a range of corrosive chemicals, including sodium hypochlorite), and weather (UV) resistance.
While PVDF has to date proven to be the most desirable material from a range of materials suitable for microporous membranes, the search continues for membrane materials which will provide better chemical stability and performance while retaining the desired physical properties required to allow the membranes to be formed and worked in an appropriate manner.
In particular, a membrane is required which has a superior resistance (compared to PVDF) to more aggressive chemical species, in particular, oxidizing agents such as sodium hypochlorite and to conditions of high pH i.e. resistance to caustic solutions.