A height of a vertical wire interconnection bonded onto a substrate is measured by first capturing a top view of the vertical wire interconnection and identifying a position of a tip end of the vertical wire interconnection from the top view. A conductive probe is located over the tip end of the vertical wire interconnection, and is lowered towards the vertical wire interconnection until an electrical connection is made between the conductive probe and the tip end of the vertical wire interconnection. A contact height at which the electrical connection is made may thus be determined, wherein the contact height corresponds to the height of the vertical wire interconnection.

Bond Via Array (BVA) or vertically-oriented wire interconnections are formed on semiconductor substrates, such as semiconductor wafers, semiconductor dice or lead frames. BVA or vertically oriented wire interconnections may be used in various applications, for instance, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding or connecting a lower substrate to an upper substrate.
The BVA or vertically oriented wire interconnections may be formed with a wire bonding apparatus. A bonding wire from a wire reel is supplied to a capillary of the wire bonding device, and a free end of the bonding wire moves together with the capillary. A free air ball (FAB) is formed at the free end of the bonding wire that is positionable by the capillary. The capillary bonds the FAB to a bonding position, which may be a bond pad on a semiconductor die or any desired location on a substrate or wafer, thus forming a ball bond. Thereafter, the capillary moves vertically upwards to feed out a length of wire from the capillary. After a certain length of bonding wire is fed out from the capillary, the bonding wire is broken and connected to the ball bond, thus leaving a vertically oriented length of wire extending from the bond pad. In this manner, a vertically-oriented wire interconnection is formed. This process is repeated at other desired locations where vertical wires are required.
Subsequently, the wafer or substrate is visually inspected by an operator using a microscope to detect any defects or irregularities, for example whether any wire interconnection is deformed. However, such manual visual inspection is not precise and human error makes the inspection process inconsistent and highly dependent on the competence of the operator. Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved method of inspecting BVA or vertically oriented wire interconnections formed.
Moreover, it would be advantageous during such inspection to measure the heights of these wire interconnections to ensure that they are within an acceptable range.

Method for measuring the heights of wire interconnections


Systems and methods for searching for information within social networks are described. In some examples embodiments, a search assist system receives a query, such as a partial query, identifies two or more categories of data that include information satisfying the query, ranks the identified categories of data based on various selection criteria, and presents suggested search terms based on the rankings.

For many people, the point of entry to the Internet and other networks is a search engine. A search engine enables users to search for content of interest to them, and quickly navigate to web pages and other networked locations that provide the content. For example, a typical search engine (Google, Bing, and so on), receives query terms from a user, queries an index to identify content that satisfies the received query, and presents the identified content to the user as a result or results of the search. The user selects one or more of the presented results, and is taken to selected content.
Members of social networks often navigate within the pages and content of the social networks via other mechanisms. For example, they may view and select posts within a timeline of a social network, they may peruse a list of friends or other connections, and so on. However, a member of a social network often does not utilize available search tools within the social network in order to identify interesting content, among other things.

Searching for information within social networks


The object of the present invention is to provide a compound having a treatment effect based on a chemokine inhibitory activity, which is satisfactory as a pharmaceutical product for oral administration.

As a chemotactic substance that induces migration and topical infiltration of leukocytes such as neutrophile, monocyte and the like, there exist classic chemotactic factors such as decomposition products of a complement (e.g., C3a and C5a), metabolites of arachidonic acid (e.g., leukotriene B4 and the like), platelet-activating factors, formylated peptides derived from bacteria, and the like. These are secondary products that mainly accompany tissue injury. In contrast, a series of cytokines produced by a new gene expression, which are responsible for induction and activation of specific leukocytes, i.e., chemokines, were proved to exist by interleukin (IL)-8 (CXCL8) purified and genetically cloned by Matsushima et al. in 1987 (e.g., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 84, pp. 9223–9237 (1987), and J. Exp. Med., vol. 167, pp. 1883–1893 (1988).
To date, 45 kinds of chemokines have been identified and classified into four subgroups based on the characteristics of their amino acid sequences (e.g., immunity, vol. 12, pp. 121–127 (2000)). Namely, C chemokine, CC chemokine, CXC chemokine and CX3C chemokine.
XCL1 belonging to C chemokine has a chemotactic activity for T and NK cells. On the other hand, CC chemokine has a chemotactic activity for monocytes other than neutrophile, lymphocytes, Langerhans cells, dendritic cells, eosinophile, mast cells and basocytes. Furthermore, CXC chemokine mainly acts on neutrophiles, as represented by CXCL8, and CX3C chemokine mainly acts on the migration of NK cells. These chemokines exert their actions when bound with a G protein-coupled receptor (chemokine receptor), and 18 kinds of chemokine receptors have been identified to date (e.g., Cell Technology, vol. 17, pp. 1072–1029, 1998 and Immunity, vol. 12, pp. 121–127, 2000).
Therefore, a substance that prevents binding between chemokine and receptor thereof inhibits selective migration and activation of leukocytes, and is considered to be useful as a pharmaceutical product for the prophylaxis or treatment of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases including allergic diseases, and futher, human immunodeficiency syndrome and the like.
In view of the above, a compound having affinity for a chemokine receptor is expected to be useful as a pharmaceutical product for the prophylaxis or treatment of immune and inflammatory diseases. The present invention aims to provide a pharmaceutical product having affinity for a chemokine receptor and used for treatment or prophylaxis of immune and inflammatory diseases.
With regard to the therapeutic agent of immune and inflammatory diseases, which has affinity for a chemokine receptor, for example, the following patent applications have been published. International publication WO97/24325 discloses diphenylmethane derivatives, WO98/25617 discloses compounds having affinity for a chemokine receptor, such as arylpiperazine derivatives and the like, WO98/02151, WO98/04554 and WO00/34278 disclose tricyclic heteroaromatic derivatives having affinity for a chemokine receptor, and the like, international publications WO99/55324 and WO99/55330 disclose phenylalanine derivatives having affinity for a chemokine receptor, and the like and international publication WO00/58305 discloses piperazine derivatives having affinity for a chemokine receptor, and the like. In addition, international publications WO00/31033, WO00/53600 and WO01/14333 disclose piperidine derivatives and the like, which have affinity for a chemokine receptor.
However, there has been no report to date on a compound having efficacy in a model of allergic disease and the like by oral administration. A compound having efficacy in such disease models and the like is expected to suppresse selective migration and activation of leukocytes and be a pharmaceutical product for the treatment or prophylaxis of acute and chronic inflammatory diseases inclusive of allergic diseases, and further, human immunodeficiency syndrome and the like.

Abstract: The present inventors have found that the following benzylpiperidine derivative (the formula (1)) has a chemokine inhibitory activity. Further intensive studies have resulted in successful enhancement of the chemokine inhibitory activity and stability in blood of the present compound, as well as the completion of the present invention.

Abstract: wherein each symbol is as defined in the specification.


A button, knob or control key with an etchable support plate which is engraved on the backside with a fine symbol by laser, erosion or mechanical engraving, which only cuts into the material of the support plate, but not through the support plate. The backside of the support plate is optionally coated. A foil is applied on the laminated layer and affixed thereto. The front side of the support plate is treated with a material-removing substance. The material removal with the material-removing substance is performed until the engraving extending into the support plate is at least partially or completely exposed on the front side. Application of a protective layer to the front side of the support plate from which the material was removed. A function symbol is provided on the button such that it can be backlit. It is engraved in a fine line width providing a sharp optical definition erosion, mechanical engraving.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing buttons, control keys, ornamental and instrument panels with fine symbols and to a component produced with the method. The described buttons are often found in instrument panels of automobiles; however, buttons of this type can generally also be employed as control keys or buttons, for example, with electronic equipment.
The following description describes the production of a button as one exemplary embodiment. However, this is not to be understood as a limitation, because the method can not only be used to process buttons and control keys, but also ornamental and instrument panels. The process of fabricating a button is described only to simplify the explanation, and the term button will hereinafter be used synonymously and interchangeably with control keys or other types of operating buttons, such as control knobs.
2. Description of the Related Art
A large number of devices with buttons are nowadays installed in the interior space of an automobile. These buttons have a plastic surface that is identified with a diagrammatic functional symbol. Until now, such buttons were entirely made of plastic which is coated with a laser-processable varnish. The functional symbols are subsequently transferred by laser engraving to the surface of the buttons. For visually enhancing of the interior of motor vehicles, it was deemed desirable to provide these buttons with a genuine metallic surface with a design that can be coordinated with the surfaces of other employed ornamental parts. It has not been possible until now to produce a button surface with this type of design.
The conventional method has the disadvantage that very fine symbols defined on the button could not be applied to metallic surfaces.
The very narrow line width of the symbol contour affects the thickness of an aluminum sheet metal, for example, that can be employed, because arbitrary thickness-width ratios could not be obtained with conventional processing methods (punching, engraving, etching). In addition, it proved difficult to precisely position the unattached interior symbol portion(s) which becomes even more difficult with narrower line widths. The requirement to coordinate the visual effect with the surfaces of surrounding components also limits the use of alternative metallization methods.
One approach has been to punch the symbols out of an aluminum plate or another metallic support plate. However, a punching process is disadvantageously coarse. When the function symbol is punched in an aluminum sheet, the line widths of the symbol contour have to be commensurate with the sheet metal thickness.
In addition, burrs resulting from the punching process have to be tolerated since they are difficult to remove. Also, residual section can remain on the button after the punching operation, in particular when areas are surrounded by a closed contour line. Therefore, care had to be taken that no unattached areas on the symbols were punched out, because such areas would otherwise fall out. This limits the shape of the punched-out sections.
It is known to cut symbols out of an aluminum support plate using a cutting beam/jet (e.g., laser beam or high-pressure water jet). However, this exhibited the same disadvantages, name a relativity coarse cutting profile with undesirable cutting edges, burrs and support webs.
If the symbol contour is cut out with a laser, then the burr and burned sections appear on the visible side of the decor.
It is also known to remove such symbols from the support plate by chemical etching. This has the disadvantage that the etched line width has to be always twice the material thickness, which prevents the application of fine symbols on a button.
Alternative metallization processes are, for example galvanic coating or coating by physical vapor deposition (PVD). However, the color and the appearance of the decor can only be adapted to the surrounding surfaces in a limited way.
In any case, after the individual inner contours of the function symbol are cut out, an accurate registration to the outer contour is required for further processing (forming operation, molding). However, the required support elements must not produce pressure points or otherwise damage the decor surface, and the position of the interior portion must not move relative to the outer contour due to mold filling during the molding phase or shrinkage during the cooling phase. In order to prevent the inner contour from being completely unattached, support webs have to be provided which can adversely affect the visual appearance of the inner contour and are therefore not acceptable for visual reasons.

Method for producing buttons, ornamental and instrument panels with fine symbols, and a button produced with the method


A rotation shaft seal provided with a rubber sealing portion which contacts a surface of a rotation shaft and an outer case to which the rubber sealing portion is unitedly fixed. The outer case has an inner brim portion on an inner end portion on a sealed fluid side. The inner brim portion is covered by the rubber sealing portion. A sliding portion is disposed on an axis-orthogonal face including the inner brim portion.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a rotation shaft seal, especially, a rotation shaft seal used to seal high-pressure fluid such as gas.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a rotation shaft seal 31 as shown in FIG. 16, having a cross-sectional configuration of a rubber lip 33 touching a surface of a rotation shaft 32 extends from an outer case 34 toward a sealed fluid side C as to be approximately L-shaped, is used (refer to Japanese patent provisional publication No. 2003-97723, for example). That is to say, the rotation shaft seal 31 is provided with the outer case 34 having an inner brim 36 on an end portion of the sealed fluid side C, a rubber member 37 is united with the outer case 34 by adhesive or brazing as to surround the inner brim 36 of the outer case 34 and cover a peripheral face of the outer case 34. And, a supporting metal 38 having an L-shaped cross-sectional configuration supports the rubber lip 33 on a low pressure side E and the inner peripheral face side (on a back), and a lip end portion 33a is on a position on an axis direction greatly apart from an axis-orthogonal face P0 including the inner brim 36 of the outer case 34. That is to say, a sliding portion S0 exists on a position on an axis direction greatly apart from the axis-orthogonal face P0 including the inner brim 36, and the rubber lip 33 is in a configuration having a cylindrical extension 33c supported by a cylinder portion 38a of the supporting metal 38.
And, conventionally, in this kind of rotation shaft seals, efforts have been paid in design and production to make the end portion 33a of the lip 33, namely, the sliding portion S0, uniformly sliding on the rotation shaft 32 in the peripheral direction. Therefore, the cylinder portion 38a of the supporting metal 38 is consequently composed of a smooth cylindrical wall portion to have an accurate circular cross section.
In a high-pressure state in which high pressure works on a sealed fluid chamber 39, as shown in FIG. 3B, the cylindrical extension 33c of the rubber lip 33 is compressed and deformed, rubber flows (moves) in an arrow F direction for the supporting metal 38 stopping the rubber, the lip end portion 33a also receives the pressure from the sealed fluid side C, and the rubber looses flexibility because inner stress of the rubber concentrates right on the sliding portion S0. Large contact pressure (pressure) P as shown in FIG. 3B is generated on the sliding portion S0 because the contact pressure is generated by pressing to the rotation shaft seal 32 through the rubber of the area on which the inner stress concentrates. And, sealed fluid (lubricant oil included in the fluid) hardly intrudes on the surface between the rotation shaft 32 and the sliding portion S0 because of the above-mentioned large contact pressure P, and abrasion on the sliding portion S0 of the lip end portion 33a is promoted thereby. Then, the abrasion proceeds as to bite into the sliding portion S0, tightness (sealability) of the seal is rapidly deteriorated, and outer leak of the fluid is generated.
And, in FIGS. 9C and 10C showing the conventional example, the lip end portion 33a (the sliding portion S0) contacts the whole periphery (360°) of the rotation shaft 32 uniformly with large contact pressure P as shown in FIG. 10C when the high pressure works on the sealed fluid chamber 39. The lubricant oil in the sealed fluid hardly intrudes on (being induced to) the surface between the rotation shaft 32 and the sliding portion S0, abrasion on the sliding portion S0 of the lip end portion 33a is promoted, the abrasion proceeds as to bite into the sliding portion S0, tightness (sealability) of the seal is rapidly deteriorated, and outer leak of the fluid is generated. In other words, under a high-pressure circumstance, adding to the strong pressing of the end portion 33a of the rubber lip 33 to the rotation shaft 32, the end portion 33a is uniformly pressed to the whole periphery of the rotation shaft 32, the lubricant oil in the fluid such as a cooling medium can not intrude on the surface of the sliding portion S0 and the rotation shaft 32, frictional resistance is increased, heat is generated, and the sliding portion S0 is rapidly abraded.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a rotation shaft seal, with which the contact pressure of the rubber sealing portion on the contact portion on the rotation shaft is restricted as not to be excessive, having long life for sealing high-pressure gas.


An engine is supported on a vehicle body frame through an active vibration-isolating device. The vibration of the engine is prevented from being transmitted to the vehicle body frame by controlling the active vibration-isolating device. A speaker is disposed within a vehicle compartment. The noise is reduced by adaptively controlling the speaker based on a rotational speed of the engine and a noise detected by a microphone disposed within the vehicle compartment. Thus, the vibration and noise characteristics of the vehicle can be improved by a synergic effect of reducing both the vibration and the noise. Further, because the microphone is inexpensive and the speaker for an audio set can be used without any modification, the present invention can be achieved with a low cost.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vibration-isolating and sound-isolating system for a vehicle for reducing the vibration provided by an engine of an automobile and noises such as, exhaust sound and intake sound in the engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional active vibration-isolating system used in an engine mount of an automobile is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 9-273589. The active vibration-isolating system is fixed at its upper end to an engine which is a vibration source and at its lower end to a vehicle body frame through a load sensor. A load of vibration transmitted from the engine to the vehicle body frame is detected by the load sensor, and the active vibration-isolating system is controlled so as to eliminate a change in the load, thereby achieving a vibration-isolating effect.
In the conventional active vibration-isolating system, the vibration transmitted from the engine to the vehicle body frame can be reduced, but the intake sound and the exhaust sound which are a vibration and a noise not passing through this transmission path cannot be reduced. In the conventional system, vibration-isolating control corresponding to the dispersion and deterioration of parts can be carried out by adaptive control, but the cost is increased due to the use of the load sensor for carrying out the adaptive control.

Vibration-isolating and sound isolating system for vehicle


The invention refers to a screen for a cleaning device of a harvester-thresher, with a screen frame, on which several screen metal sheets are supported so they can rotate around an axis, and with at least one air conducting surface, which protrudes downward beyond the screen frame, to deflect an air flow present below the screen during operation upward to the screen metal sheets. The air conducting surface may be movable jointly with the screen metal sheets.

In a harvester-thresher, there is still some chaff and short straw mixed with the threshed grain, as a rule, after the threshing and separation. The cleaning device removes these impurities from the grain. With most harvester-threshers, the cleaning device contains three main components: a blower, an upper screen, and a lower screen. The blower has its own housing, whereas the upper screen and the lower screen are located on a screen box.
An adjustable screen is constructed from a number of metal sheets, extending transversely, with rows of teeth. Each of these metal sheets is affixed to a crankshaft, which has a crank arm, which is found engaged with an adjustment rod extending axially. By means of an axial displacement of the adjustment rod, all metal sheets are simultaneously moved—that is, swiveled around their longitudinal axis. The screens are acted on with an air flow by the blower from below, which air flow, jointly with a shaking movement of the screen box, leads to a situation where the lighter impurities are carried away to the back by the air flow, whereas the heavier grain falls between the metal sheets of the screens and the grain passing through the lower screen is conveyed into the grain tank. The mixture of grain and chaff, yielded at the end of the lower screen, is conducted, as tailings, once again, to a threshing process, whereas the mixture yielded on the end of the upper screen is discharged onto the field.
The metal sheets of adjustable screens usually have an upper half, equipped with teeth, which extends from the rotating axis at an incline toward the back and upward, and a half extending from the rotating axis downward. In the state of the art, it is common to shape all metal sheets of a screen in a similar manner. Accordingly, they all have the same shape, length, and width, number of teeth, etc.
Since in many harvester-threshers, a conveying tray, which extends at an incline toward the front and downward, follows on the end of the screen downstream and is used in the case of the lower screen to convey the grain to an auger conveyor for grain, which conducts it to an elevator, which conveys it to the grain tank and which is used to convey the tailings to a tailings auger conveyor in the case of the upper screen, which returns incompletely threshed ear parts back to the threshing process through another elevator, it is possible for an accumulation of air to arise in such cleaning devices at the back end of the screen, which leads there to a higher pressure and a higher air speed of the air flow passing between the metal sheets than in the front area of the screen. The separation of the grain from the chaff and the short straw fractions takes place, accordingly, essentially in the back area of the screen, whose front area on the other hand contributes relatively little to the total throughput performance of the screen. In such cases, the theoretically possible throughput of the cleaning is not attained.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,043,427 A and DE 1 607 633 A propose the placement of several conducting crosslinks, rising transversely and in the direction of flow, against the screen underside below the screens. In this way, partial air flows with the most favorable intensities will be conducted to the individual longitudinal areas of the screen. These conducting crosslinks are affixed rigidly and the screen metal sheets cannot be adjusted. If one were to use such conducting crosslinks on a screen with adjustable metal sheets as proposed in DE 43 25 310 A, that would result in changing the flow ratios on the conducting crosslinks with an adjustment of the screen metal sheets since, with a larger screen opening, more air already flows through in front of the conducting crosslinks upward between the screen metal sheets than with a smaller screen opening. The conducting crosslinks thus would have only a relatively small effect, if the metal sheets are opened, whereas their effect is relatively large with metal sheets that are further closed. An optimal air distribution can, accordingly, be attained only for a certain, prespecified opening of the screen metal sheets, so that a reasonable adaptation possibility of the screen opening to various types of crops or crop characteristics, such as moisture or throughput, is not available
U.S. Pat. No. 3,374,886 A proposes the placement of baffle plates, which can be adjusted below V-shaped screen elements and which deflect the wind upward. Such baffle plates are distributed over the entire length of the screen and are jointly adjusted in their inclination using a single lever. The screen elements themselves do not have adjustable metal sheets. If grain of different grain sizes is to be processed, then a change of the screen proves to be necessary.


A slot ventilator including a housing and a closure member. The housing includes a face with an airflow opening defined in said face. When the closure member is in a first position, the closure member abuts against the face and generally closes the airflow opening. When the closure member is in a second position, the closure member is offset from the face and the airflow opening is generally unobstructed by the closure member. The housing further provides a drive mechanism for displacing the closure member from the housing.

Most commercial, institutional and other types of high occupancy buildings are constructed with sealed windows and use central ventilation systems to meet the minimum indoor air quality requirements of the applicable governing authorities. Typical central ventilation systems do not allow an individual to increase the amount of outside, fresh air provided to a room (e.g., an office) within a building. An individual may prefer to have an amount of outside air provided to a room that exceeds the amount provided by the central ventilation system.
Manually operable ventilators have been installed in rooms to provide individuals with the ability to obtain additional outside air (i.e., secondary ventilation). Examples of such ventilators are the slot ventilators as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,574 to Peak and U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,434 to Stoney et al.
Prior art slot ventilators often require relatively high manufacturing tolerances and can be difficult to assemble. Both of these factors can lead to higher manufacturing costs.
Some prior art designs have less than intuitive operational means, for example by requiring the sealing member of the slot ventilator to translate sideways and outward as it is opened. This can result in confusion for the user and damage to the slot ventilator when the user attempts to force the opening of the ventilator in an incorrect direction.
There is a need in the art for a slot ventilator that offers relatively high open areas with decreased manufacturing costs. Also, there is a need in the art for a slot ventilator that is more intuitively operative for a user.


New varieties of child window controls are provided as system resources that application programs may exploit. The preferred embodiment of the present invention provides a dynamic link library (DLL) for implementing the new child window controls as part of an operating system. The new child window controls include a header bar control for providing header bars in application programs. The new controls also include a hot key control that allows a user to view and edit hot key combinations. The new controls further include a tab control for establishing tabs that differentiate amongst pages in user interfaces provided by application programs. An image list data type is defined and functions are provided for manipulating the image list data type. Image lists include multiple like-sized images that are stored efficiently in a single bitmap.

The "MICROSOFT" WINDOWS, Version 3.1, operating system sold by Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Washington, provides application developers with child window controls that they may integrate into their applications. Unfortunately, the number of controls that are provided by the operating system and the range of functionality provided by the controls are not sufficient for all applications. As a result, application developers have been forced to create their own child window controls.


Latent charge images are provided on a photoconductor element having a photoconductive layer with a conductive stripe. This process is performed by charging the photoconductive layer with a charge having a particular vector to form a uniform charge on the photoconductive layer; and subsequently charging the conductive stripe with a charge having a vector that is opposite the vector of the charge on the photoconductive layer to lower the charge content in the photoconductive layer. The first charge may be provided by a first corona charging device and the subsequent charge may be applied by a second corona discharge device focused on a conductive stripe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of electrophotography, particularly electrophotography methods and apparatus. More particularly the present invention relates to the field of imaging with electrophotographic processes wherein photoconductive substrates are charged, imagewise discharged, toned, imaged (e.g., with fusion or transfer) and recharged, usually with an intermediate charge cleaning or discharge step (intermediate of the imaging and recharge step) that is typically an electromechanical connection
2. Background of the Art
An electrophotographic printing apparatus such as a copy machine or a printer produces electrostatic latent images on a photosensitive drum by converting digital signals corresponding to image data generated from a computer or a copy of an original document into light signals. The signals are sent through an exposure device, and then printed by fixing a toner on paper. A developing cartridge of the electrophotographic printing apparatus is an assembly of charging, exposing, developing, and transferring mechanisms that exposes image data on the photosensitive drum, supplies toner to the exposed portion, and transfers toner images to print media.
Generally, as a unit for charging the surface of the photosensitive drum, a contact-type charging roller as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,779 for Image Forming Apparatus With Dual Voltage Supplies For Selectively Charging And Discharging An Image Bearing Member issued to Araya et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,247,328 for Method And Apparatus For Charging A Photoconductive Surface To A Uniform Potential issued to Daunton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,479,243 for Image Forming Apparatus And Charging Device Thereof issued to Kurokawa, U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,289 for Apparatus for And Method Of Forming Image issued to Ito et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,557,375 for Contact Type Charging Device And Image Forming Apparatus Having The Same issued to Nagayasu et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,232 for Image Forming Apparatus Capable Of Removing Toner Fragments And Shavings From A Contact Charging Device By Supplying A Voltage To An Image Carrier To Which The Fragments And Shavings Are Attracted issued to Kashihara, using a so-called contact (or direct) charging scheme or a corona wire using a corona discharging scheme may be used to produce an uniform electric field in response to application of high voltage for charging the surface of the photosensitive drum to a constant potential to attract toner particles and thereby form the latent image on the photosensitive drum. Typically, a charging unit is charged at the start of a printing operation. The surface of the photosensitive drum is charged and a developing unit is concurrently charged by way of the charging unit as the photosensitive drum rotates in a direction opposite to the rotation of the developing unit. As a result, an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive drum and the latent image is then visualized as a toner image by the developing unit. The charged area of the photosensitive drum is then exposed to a laser beam. Because of the potential difference between the exposed area and the unexposed area of the photosensitive drum, the toner particles are attracted only to the exposed area to form the toner image on the photosensitive drum. The toner image is then transferred to the recording medium. After the toner image is transferred to the recording medium, the photosensitive drum is charged back to an original voltage as the recording medium is being conveyed to a fixing unit. A common problem in contemporary charging units is that toner supplied from the developing unit often sticks on an unexposed area of the photosensitive drum in the vicinity of the edges of the recording medium, so that contamination occurs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,962 describes a charging device of an electrophotography printing apparatus that improves the charging efficiency by preventing the potential difference generated at both ends of a photosensitive drum. An auxiliary charging device includes an auxiliary charging plate to which voltage is applied. The plate is installed to come into contact with both ends of the photosensitive drum in order to compensate for a potential level in a developing cartridge. The electrophotography printing apparatus may include a charging unit, a developing unit and a toner supplying unit provided around the photosensitive drum.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,160,980 describes a method and apparatus for transferring a toner image to a receiver sheet having an endless belt that is mounted for movement in a direction along a lengthwise dimension of the belt and through an endless path. The belt includes a splice seam that occurs transverse to the direction of movement of the belt, the seam having a discontinuity into which toner tends to collect which is free to transfer. The seam includes a bump proximate each end of the splice seam which extends above the seam. A rotatable member rotates while in engagement with a surface of the belt so as to urge a receiving sheet into intimate engagement with the surface between the rotatable member and the belt. The bumps support the rotatable member out of engagement with the splice seam to substantially preclude transfer to the rotatable member of toner accumulating in the splice seam between the bumps. Receiver members are sent to a fusing station (not shown) to fuse or fix the dry toner images to the receiving member. The belt is reconditioned by providing charge to both surfaces using, for example, opposed corona chargers, transport web conditioning chargers, which neutralize charge on the surfaces of the belt.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,028,779 describes a miniature coronode (which is believed to be a corona electrode) charging device comprising a plurality of coronode wires that are slanted with respect to the direction of travel of a charge receptor in order to reduce the effective distance between "hot spots" in the wires and thereby insure uniform charging of the receptor. The length of coronode wires between support points and their conducting contacts is very small, thereby eliminating sagging, singing, tensioning and capacitance problems when providing a corotron charging device of unlimited length. Individual high impedance to the plurality of coronode wires is provided in order to limit the amount of current passing to each of the wires from a high voltage source and thereby reduce the possibility of arcing and damages to the charge receptor. Spacing between coronoa wires and the charge receiving surface is small to provide low corona threshold and self-limiting charging. Invariably, after the copy sheet is separated from photoconductive surface, some residual toner particles remain adhering thereto. Those toner particles are removed from photoconductive surface at the cleaning station. the cleaning station includes a corona generating device (not shown) adapted to neutralize the remaining electrostatic charge on photoconductive surface and that of the residual toner particles. The neutralized toner particles are then cleaned from photoconductive surface by a rotatably mounted fibrous brush (not shown) in contact therewith. Subsequent to cleaning, a discharge lamp (not shown) floods photoconductive surface with light to dissipate any residual electrostatic charge remaining thereon prior to the charging thereof for the next successive imaging cycle.
In the art of electrophotography, it has been found that consistent reproductive quality can only be maintained when a uniform and constant charge potential is applied to the photoconductive surface. In many automatic machines of this type, a single wire generator, generally referred to as a "corotron" is employed. Generally, the efficiency of the corotron is dependent on many factors including the gap distance between the wire and the photosensitive member surface, the nature of the generating wire material, the diameter of the wire and other physical features thereof, whether the system is using a positive or negative charging system, and the amount of energy supplied to the corona emitter. Heretofore, these corona devices required large power supplies to meet high current and voltage requirements, were costly and took up a large area of machine space. Such units are designed for use with thin (90 micrometer) wire or wires located approximately 2 to 10 mm from a grounded photosensitive member or shield. Typically, for charging speeds near 10.1 cm/sec corona wire voltages for charging are near 7 kV (between 2–10 kV) with a bare plate receiver current for a 40 cm long wire (which may be between 10–80 cm). The cross sectional area of such a unit is near 6 cm2. As Neblette's Handbook of Photography and Reprography states in the Seventh Edition published in 1977, page 348, "In practical corotron devices the wires are maintained at a potential above 600 V, usually charging the photoconductor surface to several hundred volts". These units were adequate in the past, but with present need for copiers that emit less ozone, use less energy, are less costly and take up less space, changes in corona generating devices are required. This was thought to be impossible because conventional thinking on corona generators and experience had taught that reducing the cavity partly surrounding the corotron and bringing the corotron closer to a receiver surface would cause arcing to occur and burn out the wire corotron and damage the photoreceptor. Also, it was thought that the use of long thin wires (0.0015″) and small radius cavities would cause singing and sagging in the wires.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,333,755 describes an electrophotographic apparatus includes a photosensitive body and electrostatic image forming device for forming an electrostatic image on the photosensitive body. The electrostatic image forming device includes an exposing device for exposing the photosensitive body by a digital light in accordance with image information. The exposing device exposes a portion that is a background for an image. A developing device develops the electrostatic image using a developer, wherein a rate throughout the developer of the contained particles have a diameter equal to or smaller than 1 millimicron is 5 to 40 number %, and wherein, when A denotes a one-pixel width and Wv denotes a width at half value of a peak in a potential distribution of the electrostatic image formed by exposing the photosensitive drum using the digital light of one pixel is satisfied. A fur brush device was constituted by a support shaft on which a brush was mounted as the charge/discharge contact.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,169,872 describes an electrically biased cleaning belt brush that removes oppositely biased particles from a surface. The belt brush, which is entrained about supporting members, includes a substrate to which is attached a multiplicity of conductive brush fibers. Particles adhering to the conductive fibers are removed from the brush fibers at a detoning station. The cleaning belt brush is biased to alternating regions of positive and negative polarities.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,127,077 describes a photoreceptor having a substrate, including: (a) a charge generating layer; (b) a first charge transport layer having a first charge carrier mobility value; and (c) a second charge transport layer having a second charge carrier mobility value, wherein the first charge transport layer is closer to the charge generating layer than the second charge transport layer and the second charge transport layer is contiguous to the first charge transport layer, wherein the second charge carrier mobility value is higher than the first charge carrier mobility value.
Other layers may also be used such as a conventional electrically conductive ground strip along one edge of the belt or drum in contact with the conductive layer, blocking layer, adhesive layer or charge generating layer to facilitate connection of the electrically conductive layer of the photoreceptor to ground or to an electrical bias. Ground strips are well known and may comprise conductive particles dispersed in a film forming binder. Other ground strips are simply created by an absence of a dielectric or photosensitive material, such as a bare area around the circumference of an aluminum drum, or with a band of conductive substrate exposed on a photoconductor belt. Some photoconductive belts and drums are made by coating the photoconductive material on a conductive substrate, such as PET (polyethylene) that is vapor-coated with aluminum or another conductor, that is seamed to form an endless belt or fixed to a drum.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,771,424 describes a preconditioning process and dual electrostatic brush cleaning apparatus for reducing adhesion of toner particles on the photoreceptor surface such that cleaning of the photoreceptor is enhanced. Preconditioning of the brush and/or the photoreceptor in the cleaning apparatus allows for cleaning of dual polarity toners, CAD toners and DAD toners. The preconditioning of the brush does not need replenishing once the print operation begins due to the electrostatics that maintain a constant predetermined level of toner in the brush. (The process direction is indicated by the arrow 16, photoreceptor edges by 170, and the ground strip by 160.) The preconditioning continues until the predetermined mass of black toner is held in the brush fibers of the first conductive brush. Once the first conductive brush has been preconditioned, the brush does not require further toner replenishing throughout the printing run.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,551 describes an electrostatographic imaging member comprising: (a) a supporting substrate including an electrically conductive surface; (b) at least one electrostatographic imaging layer; and (c) an electrically conductive grounding layer adjacent to the at least one imaging layer. In order to properly image an electrostatographic imaging member, the conductive layer must be brought into electrical contact with a source of fixed potential elsewhere in the imaging device. This electrical contact must be effective over many thousands of imaging cycles in automatic imaging devices. Since the conductive layer is frequently a thin vapor deposited metal, long life cannot be achieved with an ordinary electrical contact that rubs directly against the thin conductive layer. One approach to minimize the wear of the thin conductive layers is to use a grounding brush such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,593. However, such an arrangement is generally not suitable for extended runs in copiers, duplicators and printers. The reference describes background art for improving electrical contact between the thin conductive layer of flexible electrostatographic imaging members and a grounding means by using a relatively thick electrically conductive grounding strip layer in contact with the conductive layer and adjacent to one edge of the photoconductive or dielectric imaging layer. Generally the grounding strip layer comprises opaque conductive particles dispersed in a film forming binder. This approach to grounding the thin conductive layer increases the overall life of the imaging layer because it is more durable than the thin conductive layer. However, such a relatively thick grounding strip layer is still subject to erosion which contributes to the formation of undesirable "dirt" in high volume imaging devices. Erosion is particularly severe in electrographic imaging systems utilizing metallic grounding brushes or sliding metal contacts.
Also described in systems utilizing a timing light in combination with a timing aperture in the grounding strip layer for controlling various functions of imaging devices is the erosion of the grounding strip layer by devices such as stainless steel grounding brushes and sliding metal contacts is frequently so severe that the grounding strip layer is worn away and becomes transparent thereby allowing light to pass through the grounding strip layer and creating false timing signals which in turn can cause the imaging device to prematurely shut down. Moreover, the opaque conductive particles formed during erosion of the grounding strip layer tends to drift and settle on other components of the machine such as the lens system, corotron, other electrical components, and the like to adversely affect machine performance. For example, at a relative humidity of 85 percent, the grounding strip layer life can be as low as 100,000 to 150,000 cycles in high quality electrophotographic imaging members. Also, due to the rapid erosion of the grounding strip layer, the electrical conductivity of the grounding strip layer can decline to unacceptable levels during extended cycling.

Discharge methods and systems in electrophotography


A heating unit having a PTC element, in particular for a motor vehicle, with corrugated fins (6) arranged around the PTC element (2) for improved transfer of heat to air flowing through the heating unit. The heating unit has a plastic frame (7) which is of two-part design.

The invention relates to a heating unit having a PTC element, in particular a heating unit suitable for use in a motor vehicle.
DE 101 44 757 A1 discloses a passenger vehicle heating unit having a PTC element. It comprises a supplemental heating system having a heating element through which hot air flows during operation of the supplemental heating system, and it includes at least one air outlet opening in the foot region of a passenger compartment for dispensing the hot air. In order to be able to produce a vertical temperature stratification in the passenger compartment in a flexible manner, in particular such that the stratification is also perceived as pleasant in the rear seats, the heating element is designed as an electric PTC element arranged directly at the air outlet opening in the foot region. A supplemental heater of this type still leaves something to be desired. According to one disclosed exemplary embodiment, a PTC element in the form of a plurality of heating honeycombs is arranged in a plastic frame (not described in greater detail) which surrounds the air outlet opening.

PTC heating unit suitable for use in motor vehicles


A mobile signal light set is disclosed to include three warning signal bars collapsibly arranged on a base to form a light-emitting warning triangle, which base holding a dry battery and a rechargeable battery on the inside, a lamp bulb at one end, a battery charging/discharging control switch, a warning signal bar on/off switch for controlling on/off status of the LEDs of the warning signal bars, a lamp bulb on/off switch for controlling on/off status of the lamp bulb, a cable with AC adapter connector for converting city power supply into AC power supply for charging the rechargeable battery, a cable with car DC connector connectable to the socket for cigarette lighter of a car for charging the battery of the car with the battery power supply of the rechargeable battery or charging the rechargeable battery with the battery of the car subject to the control of the battery charging/discharging control switch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal light and more particularly, to a mobile signal light set that can be used as a warning triangle to give a warning signal when the car failed as well as a portable electric light for illumination.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional lighting fixtures are numerous. However, these lighting fixtures are used for illumination, not for other purposes, for example, not usable for giving a warning signal when the car failed. Further, regular mobile warning triangles include two types, namely, the reflective warning triangles and the light emitting warning triangles. A light emitting warning triangle uses battery to provide the necessary working voltage to lamp bulbs or light emitting diodes in the triangle. A light emitting warning triangle can only be used as signal means. It cannot be used for other purposes, for example, portable electric light.


A process for producing ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass includes adding at least one of sulfur dioxide and sulfurous acid to the lignocellulosic biomass to provide an equivalent sulfur dioxide loading of at least 10 wt % sulfur dioxide to dry lignocellulosic biomass. The acidified lignocellulosic biomass is pretreated at a temperature above about 185° C. and for a pretreatment time less than about 10 minutes, to provide a pretreated biomass composition wherein the biomass is readily hydrolyzed by enzymes. Advantageously, sulfur dioxide from at least one of the flash stream and a stream derived from the flash is recovered and recycled back into the process.

The production of transportation fuels (e.g., ethanol) from biomass continues to attract interest, due to the low cost and wide availability of biomass, and because biofuels may be used to displace the use of fossil fuels. For example, ethanol may be blended into gasoline at predetermined concentrations (e.g., 10%).
First generation biofuels, also referred to as conventional biofuels, are made from biomass that contains sugar, starch, or vegetable oil. For example, ethanol may be produced by fermenting sugars that are easily extracted from sugar crops (e.g., sugar cane or sugar beets), or may be produced by fermenting sugars derived from starch-based feedstocks (e.g., corn grain, barley, wheat, potatoes, cassava). In fact, the diversion of farmland or crops for first generation biofuel production has led to much debate about increased food prices and/or decreased food supplies associated therewith. In addition, there are concerns related to the energy and environmental impact of these production processes.
Second generation biofuels, also referred to as advanced biofuels, wherein the biomass contains lignocellulosic material and/or is obtained from agricultural residues or waste (e.g., corn cobs, corn stover (e.g., stocks and leaves), bagasse, wood chips, wood waste), may allay some of these concerns. For example, when bioethanol produced using second generation processes (i.e., also referred to as cellulosic ethanol) is derived from agricultural waste or residue, its production should not affect the food supply. In fact, tremendous effort is currently being expended to advance cellulosic ethanol production processes.
Lignocellulosic biomass typically contains cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, each of which is present in plant cell walls. Cellulose (e.g., a type of glucan) is an unbranched chain polysaccharide including hexose (C6) sugar monomers (e.g., glucose). Hemicellulose is a branched chain polysaccharide that may include different pentose (C5) sugar monomers (e.g., xylose and arabinose) in addition to glucose. Lignin is a complex organic polymer, which typically includes cross-linked phenol polymers. Although generally insoluble in water at mild conditions, lignin may be soluble in varying degrees in dilute acid or base alkali. The ratio and/or structure of these components may vary depending on the source of the biomass.
The production of ethanol from lignocellulosic biomass most often involves breaking down the cellulose and/or hemicellulose into the constituent sugars, which may then be fermented. Unfortunately, the cellulose, hemicellulose, and/or lignin found in lignocellulosic biomass is typically structured within the plant walls to resist degradation.
Since lignocellulosic biomass is naturally resistant to breakdown into its constituent sugars, a pretreatment step is often used to open up the structure of the material and/or to make it accessible for enzymes used to hydrolyze the cellulosic component. Some examples of pretreatments include dilute acid pretreatment, alkali pretreatment (e.g., lime), ammonia fiber expansion, autohydrolysis (e.g., hot water extraction that does not require the addition of acid or base), steam explosion, organic solvent, and/or wet oxidation.
One type of pretreatment is sulfur dioxide (SO2)-catalyzed steam pretreatment. Sulfur dioxide is a gas, which when dissolved in water, is referred to as a sulfurous acid solution. Sulfur dioxide and/or sulfurous acid may be a suitable catalyst for acid-catalyzed steam pretreatment since it may produce a more digestible substrate and/or may produce less and/or fewer inhibitors and/or inactivators relative to dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment. In addition, sulfur dioxide catalyzed pretreatment may be effective at relatively low temperatures and/or reaction times (e.g., relative to sulfuric acid (H2SO4) catalyzed pretreatments).
In general, sulfur dioxide pretreatment has been applied to various types of lignocellulosic biomass, including corn stover, bagasse, hardwood, and softwoods. In each case, the sulfur dioxide loading typically has been relatively low. For example, the concentration of sulfur dioxide is typically less than about 10 wt % on dry weight of biomass, and more typically, between about 1 wt % and about 6 wt % on dry weight of biomass. Low acid consumption is often the aim in sulfur dioxide catalyzed steam pretreatments and/or the reason for using sulfur dioxide. For example, one advantage of using sulfur dioxide over sulfuric acid is increased efficiency, which translates to using less acid and thus lower costs, for the same ethanol yield. The combination of using less acid and the fact that sulfur dioxide has a higher pH than sulfuric acid, may provide additional cost savings since less base may be required to adjust the pH of the pretreated material before enzymatic hydrolysis.
Another reason to use a relatively low amount of sulfur dioxide is to design the process such that the severity of the process is within a predetermined range. In general, the severity of pretreatment is dependent on temperature, residence time, and pH, with low severity generally associated with poor improvement of enzymatic hydrolysis and high severity producing a much more digestible cellulose component. The severity of pretreatment reaction may be expressed using a severity factor, log Ro, which is defined as:log(t·e(T-100)/14.75))  (1)where t is the time (in min), and T is the temperature (in ° C.), of the reaction. A combined severity factor (CSF) also takes into account the amount of acid present. For example, the CSF may be calculated from:log(t·e(T-100)/14.75))−pH  (2)Although these severity factors do not provide a complete and/or totally accurate prediction of pretreatment efficiency, they do provide at least a rough idea of the approximate pretreatment conditions. For example, as a rough approximation, a 10° C. increase in temperature may have roughly the same impact as doubling the acid concentration or doubling the reaction time.
In general, as the severity of acid-catalyzed pretreatment increases, so does the formation of a large number/amount of by-products that may be inhibitory to fermentation. For example, as the severity increases, so does the production of sugar degradation products such as furfural, which may be derived from C5 sugars (e.g., xylose and arabinose), hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), which may be derived from C6 sugars (e.g., glucose, mannose, and galactose), and/or acetic acid. Since high severity conditions may degrade sugars (e.g., and thus produce less sugar) and/or produce sugar degradation products that are potential fermentation inhibitors, both of which may reduce ethanol yield, the pretreatment conditions are typically selected to ensure the severity is not too high. In fact, one approach is to design the pretreatment process to maximize the production of xylose during pretreatment (e.g., which may undergo a dehydration to furfural if the combined severity factor is too high). However, since the conventional approach has been to try to achieve the same level of pretreatment with less sulfur dioxide, the sulfur dioxide loading is typically selected to be relatively low while the temperature and/or reaction time are selected accordingly.
Yet another reason for using a relatively low amount of sulfur dioxide is that the sulfur dioxide and/or SO2 recovery may be costly. For example, it has been calculated that dilute sulfuric acid pretreatment is approximately 30% cheaper than sulfur dioxide pretreatment, primarily due to the higher capital cost associated with SO2 recovery (e.g., Schell et al, "A technical and economic analysis of acid-catalyzed steam explosion and dilute sulfuric acid pretreatments using wheat straw or aspen wood chips", Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol. 28/29, 87, 1991).
In WO 2014/106222, there is disclosed a process for fractionating biomass employing sulfur dioxide, wherein a relatively high amount of acid catalyst (e.g., SO2) may be introduced into an organosols type pretreatment (e.g., wherein the solvent is ethanol). The combination of SO2, ethanol, and water, is reported to lead to rapid SO2 impregnation of the biomass and high lignin solubility. However, the use of the ethanol further complicates SO2 recovery (i.e., since ethanol must also be recovered) and requires a relatively long (e.g., between 15 and 720 mins) and low temperature (e.g., between 65° C. and 175° C.) cook. Nevertheless, this type of SO2-ethanol-water (SEW) process has been studied extensively as a fractionation process of lignocellulosic biomass. However, while the SEW process may be useful in the fractionation of lignocellulosic biomass, wherein the primary goal is the clean separation of the different components of lignocellulosic material, it is not ideal for the pretreatment of lignocellulosic material, wherein the primary goal is to open up the cell wall structure and/or to make the cellulose more accessible and/or susceptible to enzymes used to hydrolyze the cellulosic component. In particular, the SEW conditions correspond to a relatively low temperature and long cook times. Moreover, the SEW approach is particularly unsuitable for cellulosic ethanol processes that carry the C5 sugars and/or lignin with the cellulose to enzymatic hydrolysis, as the high ethanol concentration inhibits cellulase.

Sulfur dioxide and/or sulfurous acid pretreatment with sulfur dioxide recovery


The disclosure relates to assemblies, kits and methods for alignment of inkjet print heads. More particularly, the disclosure relates to assemblies, kits and methods facilitating the alignment of inkjet printheads by selectably modulating the printheads' phase, registration, and yaw relative to the printing direction and optionally, with respect to an additional printhead or printheads.

The disclosure is directed to assembly for aligning inkjet printheads. More specifically, the disclosure is directed to inkjet printheads alignment system providing alignment of up to three (3) degrees of freedom.
In various industrial Printhead Module (PMD) applications (e.g., the printing of printed circuit boards, PCBs), drop placement accuracy can be important. There are a variety of causes for inaccuracies in drop placement. These causes may include misalignment between printheads in an array, as well as misalignment of a substrate to be printed upon.
Most of the alignment errors follow from manufacturing tolerances, which can lead to small dimensional and form variations in the printer components. Likewise, vibrations and thermo-mechanical effects in the system can deteriorate the positioning accuracy of the printheads following extensive or intensive use.
For improving printhead alignment, tightening of manufacturing tolerances can be costly and time consuming. While the printers' performance requirements increase, it becomes necessary to provide the ability to align printhead modules with as great flexibility as possible.
There is therefore a need for an alignment assembly capable of providing alignment with as many degrees of freedom as possible.

Inkjet print heads alignment assembly, kits and methods


Use of a smart proxy as a wrapper around a stub in a distributed system. Instead of receiving a stub as a result of a remote procedure call, a caller receives a smart proxy including the stub as an embedded object. The smart proxy performs predefined processing associated with a remote procedure call, the processing possibly occurring before, during, or after a response to the call.

Distributed programs which concentrate on point-to-point data transmission can often be adequately and efficiently handled using special-purpose protocols for remote terminal access and file transfer. Such protocols are tailored specifically to the one program and do not provide a foundation on which to build a variety of distributed programs (e.g., distributed operating systems, electronic mail systems, computer conferencing systems, etc.).
While conventional transport services can be used as the basis for building distributed programs, these services exhibit many organizational problems, such as the use of different data types in different machines, lack of facilities for synchronization, and no provision for a simple programming paradigm.
Distributed systems usually contain a number of different types of machines interconnected by communications networks. Each machine has its own internal data types, its own address alignment rules, and its own operating system. This heterogeneity causes problems when building distributed systems. As a result, program developers must include in programs developed for such heterogeneous distributed systems the capability of ensuring that information is handled and interpreted consistently in different machines.
However, one simplification is afforded by noting that a large proportion of programs use a request and response interaction between processes where the initiator (i.e. program initiating a communication) is blocked out until the response is returned and is thus idle during this time. This can be modeled by a procedure call mechanism between processes. One such mechanism is referred to as the remote procedure call (RPC).
RPC is a mechanism for providing synchronized communication between two processes (e.g., program, applet, etc.) running on the same machine or different machines. In a simple case, one process, e.g., a client program, sends a message to another process, e.g., a server program. In this case, it is not necessary for the processes to be synchronized either when the message is sent or received. It is possible for the client program to transmit the message and then begin a new activity, or for the server program's environment to buffer the incoming message until the server program is ready to process a new message.
RPC, however, imposes constraints on synchronism because it closely models the local procedure call, which requires passing parameters in one direction, blocking the calling process (i.e., the client program) until the called procedure of the server program is complete, and then returning a response. RPC thus involves two message transfers, and the synchronization of the two processes for the duration of the call.
The RPC mechanism is usually implemented in two processing parts using the local procedure call paradigm, one part being on the client side and the other part being on the server side. Both of these parts will be described below with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the flow of call information using an RPC mechanism. As shown in FIG. 1, a client program 100 issues a call (step 102). The RPC mechanism 101 then packs the call as arguments of a call packet (step 103), which the RPC mechanism 101 then transmits to a server program 109 (step 104). The call packet also contains information to identify the client program 100 that first sent the call. After the call packet is transmitted (step 104), the RPC mechanism 101 enters a wait state during which it waits for a response from the server program 109.
The RPC mechanism 108 for the server program 109 (which may be the same RPC mechanism as the RPC mechanism 101 when the server program 109 is on the same platform as the client program 100) receives the call packet (step 110), unpacks the arguments of the call from the call packet (step 111), identifies, using the call information, the server program 109 to which the call was addressed, and provides the call arguments to the server program 109.
The server program receives the call (step 112), processes the call by invoking the appropriate procedure (step 115), and returns a response to the RPC mechanism 108 (step 116). The RPC mechanism 108 then packs the response in a response packet (step 114) and transmits it to the client program 100 (step 113).
Receiving the response packet (step 107) triggers the RPC mechanism 101 to exit the wait state and unpack the response from the response packet (step 106). RPC 101 then provides the response to the client program 100 in response to the call (step 105). This is the process flow of the typical RPC mechanism modeled after the local procedure call paradigm. Since the RPC mechanism uses the local procedure call paradigm, the client program 100 is blocked at the call until a response is received. Thus, the client program 100 does not continue with its own processing after sending the call; rather, it waits for a response from the server program 109.
The Java™ programming language is an object-oriented programming language that is typically compiled into a platform-independent format, using a bytecode instruction set, which can be executed on any platform supporting the Java virtual machine (JVM). This language is described, for example, in a text entitled "The Java Language Specification" by James Gosling, Bill Joy, and Guy Steele, Addison-Wesley, 1996, which is incorporated herein by reference. The JVM is described, for example, in a text entitled "The Java Virtual Machine Specification," by Tim Lindholm and Frank Yellin, Addison Wesley, 1996, which is incorporated herein by reference. Java and Java-based trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.
Because the JVM may be implemented on, any type of platform, implementing distributed programs using the JVM significantly reduces the difficulties associated with developing programs for heterogenous distributed systems. Moreover, the JVM uses a Java remote method invocation system (RMI) that enables communication among programs of the system. RMI is explained in, for example, the following document, which is incorporated herein by reference: Remote Method Invocation Specification, Sun Microsystems, Inc. (1997), which is available via universal resource locator (URL) http://wwwjavasoft.com/products/jdk/1.1/docs/guide/rmi/spec/rmiTOC.doc.html.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the flow of objects in an object-oriented distributed system 200 including machines 201 and 202 for transmitting and receiving method invocations using the JVM. In system 200, machine 201 uses RMI 205 for responding to a call for object 203 by converting the object into a byte stream 207 including an identification of the type of object transmitted and data constituting the object. While machine 201 is responding, to the call for object 203, a process running on the same or another machine in system 200 may continue operation without waiting for a response to its request.
Machine 202 receives the byte stream 207. Using RMI 206, machine 202 automatically converts it into the corresponding object 204, which is a copy of object 203 and which makes the object available for use by a program executing on machine 202. Machine 202 may also transmit the object to another machine by first converting the object into a byte stream and then sending it to the third machine, which also automatically converts the byte stream into the corresponding object.
The communication between these machines sometimes involves, for example, repeated calls for the same information. These calls are made to a local proxy, which acts as a surrogate for the remote object in the address space of the client. Such a proxy will service the call by making a network request to the server object. Repeated calls to the same server object through a proxy can generate considerable network traffic, increasing the time and expense of obtaining the information. Accordingly, a need exists for a technique that reduces the amount of network communication in, for example, such a case.

Downloadable smart proxies for performing processing associated with a remote procedure call in a distributed system


A writing instrument that includes a body extending along a central axis between a front end provided with a writing tip and a rear end, the body presenting a grip zone and comprising at least first and second elements that are assembled together, and a tubular grip sleeve covering the grip zone at least in part. The grip sleeve presents at least one projection extending towards the central axis, and the first and second body elements define a housing adapted to receive the projection of the sleeve, the projection being pinched in the housing by the first and second assembled-together elements.

It is known to cover the grip zone of writing instruments in a sleeve, generally made of a flexible plastics material, in order to improve writing comfort for the user. Nevertheless, certain difficulties arise in fitting and securing such a sleeve on the body of the writing instrument, which is generally made of a material that is different from that of the grip sleeve, such as a hard plastics material or metal, for example.
By way of example, in order to prevent the grip sleeve from moving longitudinally on the body, an annular setback is formed in the grip zone of the body and the tubular sleeve is received therein at least in part. However, it is generally necessary to provide a sleeve of elastic material of diameter that is slightly smaller than that of the annular setback so that the sleeve clamps onto the setback with a certain amount of force and so that the grip sleeve does not become removed in normal use.
This makes it more difficult to put the sleeve into place, in particular when assembly is performed automatically and the sleeve needs to be slid along the body over portions that present an outside diameter that is significantly greater than the diameter of the annular setback.
Furthermore, it is often preferable to prevent the sleeve from turning relative to the body, in particular in order to make the writing instrument feel more comfortable in the hand. For this purpose, provision is generally made to form projecting or indented portions in relief extending longitudinally along the annular setback of the body, with complementary portions in relief on the inside wall of the grip sleeve, so that cooperation between these portions in relief prevents the sleeve from turning. Nevertheless, the presence of such portions in relief complicates fabrication of the body and of the sleeve, and in general it is necessary to make provision for the sleeve to clamp onto the body quite firmly in order to ensure the portions in relief cooperate well. Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,644 describes means of that type for holding a grip sleeve stationary.
Certain grip sleeves are secured to the body during molding of those two parts in a mold using a dual-injection technique. Nevertheless, that molding technique is not easy to implement and generally significantly increases the cost of manufacture.


Embodiments of the present application provide an image retrieval method, device, and electronic device. In the method, a query image is acquired; a target feature of the query image is determined based on a pre-trained deep neural network; wherein the deep neural network is obtained by training according to respective sample images and predetermined features, which can form the target feature, corresponding to the respective sample images; target features of a plurality of images to be retrieved is obtained; a similarity between the target feature of the query image and the target feature of each image to be retrieved is calculated; a retrieval image corresponding to the query image is determined from the plurality of images to be retrieved according to the calculated similarities.

With the continuous development of storage technology, multimedia, compression technology, and network bandwidth, thousands of pictures are generated every day. In the field of image processing and pattern recognition, an important issue to be urgently addressed is how to quickly and accurately find desired images by a user from a huge library of images.
For retrieving desired images by a user, it needs to first analyze the user's requirements, and then find the images desired by the user from an image library. In the current image retrieval methods, a retrieval system receives a query image provided by a user, and then extracts a region of interest from the query image according to the user's instruction, where the region of interest represents a region that is recognizable and can reflect characteristics of the image, wherein the recognition capability represents the capacity to distinguish among different targets; then extracts the features of the region of interest and the features of a region of an image corresponding to the region of interest in the image library; and then compares the features of the region of interest of the query image with the corresponding region of the image in the database, and finally returns a retrieval result sorted according to similarities, and acquires the images that meet the requirements.
It can be seen that in current image retrieval methods, the region of interest extracted according to the user's instructions is too subjective, resulting in a large deviation in the determination of the region of interest, which ultimately makes the image retrieval accuracy low.

Image retrieval method and apparatus, and electronic device

HANGZHOU HIKVISION DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


An animal electric shock guard includes a pair of flexible flat conductors extending side-by-side in slightly spaced apart relation on a flexible support strip which adheres to the outer surface of a trash container lid. The conductors are the sides of an open circuit which is closed by the wet nose or tongue of an animal, such as a dog trying to dislocate the lid from the container.

Various types of dog training and animal repellent apparatuses have been devised to repel animals from garbage containers so that they do not cause spillage of trash or, indeed, ingest contaminated food.
One such apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,188,622 to Miller in which a strap assembly of dielectric material with a conductor threaded in the strap encompasses a metal garbage pail and is part of a signal generating circuit which sounds an alarm to frighten the intrusive animal.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,366,854 to Robinson et al discloses apparatus for electrically repelling birds and which comprise a pair of electric conductors formed within and on opposite sides of a cable with surface portions of both conductors exposed to insure that opposite digits of a birds foot make contact with the conductors to close the circuit and shock the bird.
Other pest repellent devices are seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,191,857 to Boaz, which discloses an open circuit which is closed to give a shock to a squirrel intruding upon a bird feed station; and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,951 to Collins which discloses an open circuit around a tray style bird feeder which circuit is closed when a squirrel tilts the feeder with its weight.


Methods, corresponding apparatuses, and computer program products for signaling radio bearer transmission in a heterogeneous network are provided. The method comprises performing, by a user equipment, as least one of the following: a local area radio resource control connection procedure with a local area base station over a local area specific signaling radio bearer; and a wide area radio resource control connection procedure with a wide area base station over a wide area specific signaling radio bearer via the local area base station. With the claimed inventions, the transmission of the specific signaling radio bearer (e.g., SRBO) in the heterogeneous network can be efficiently managed and implemented.

Various abbreviations that appear in the specification and/or in the drawing figures are defined as below:                AM Acknowledged Mode        AP Access Point        BS Base Station        CN Core Network        CCCH Common Control Channel        DL Downlink        eLAN enhanced Local Area Network        eNB evolved Node B        EPS Enhanced Packet System        EPC Enhanced Packet Core        EUTRAN Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network        GPRS General Packet Radio Service        GW Gateway        HLR Home Location Register        HSS Home Subscriber Server        IP Internet Protocol        LAN Local Area Network        LCP Logical Channel Prioritization        Layer 1 L1        Layer 2 L2        MAC Media Access Control        MME Mobility Management Entity        MSC Mobile Switching Centre        NAS Non Access Stratum        NB Node B        OAM Operations, Administrations and Maintenance        PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol        PDU Protocol Data Unit        PDN Packet Data Network        PHY Physical        PLMNID Public Land Mobile Network Identification        RLC Radio Link Control        RNC Radio Network Controller        RRC Radio Resource Control        RRM Radio Resource Management        SDU Service Data Unit        TM Transparent Mode        UE User Equipment        UL Uplink        UM Unacknowledged Mode        VLR Visitor Location Register        WAN Wide Area Network
The following description of background art may include insights, discoveries, understandings or disclosures, or associations together with disclosures not known to the relevant art prior to the present invention but provided by the present invention. Some such contributions of the present invention may be specifically pointed out below, while other such contributions of the present invention will be apparent from their context.
As the number of persons using wireless communication in their daily life keeps increasing, high-speed data transmissions have become highly expected to meet the requirements of a multitude of wireless services. It is known that a LAN system is generally capable of providing relatively high speed data services. How to provide local access with a high speed data rate using a wireless communication system, e.g., an LTE system or an EPS, has become a hot topic in the 3GPP. This kind of local access may either compete with or complement other wireless local access techniques.

Methods and apparatuses for signaling radio bearer transmission in a heterogenous network


In accordance with the present invention, a method and system of communal purchasing is disclosed. The preferred embodiments describe a community purchase model where a product can be purchased a particular price only if enough buyers are willing to purchase at that price. The preferred embodiments pool together the collective buys for a product to get a better price than if an individual buyer was to purchase the product by himself/herself. Therefore, a fixed “discount” price is used to collect a number of buys, wherein the number of buys is recorded in a specific product record and the transaction to purchase the product is consummated if the number of buys for the product reaches a minimum number of buys. Moreover, further embodiments obtain a pre-payment or a guarantee for payment for the product while collecting buys for the product. In addition, further embodiments set a cutoff date by when the number of buys must reach the number of minimum number of buys or cancel the product purchase if the cutoff date has been reached and the number of buys for the product associated with the product record does not reach the minimum number of buys.

1. Field of the Invention
The method and apparatus of the present invention relate to buying and selling products using electronic networks such as the Internet. In particular, the present invention relates to a novel purchasing model using the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
The standard system of selling and buying requires sellers to sell goods or services based upon projected demand. However, buying on projected demand can be risky and costly to sellers if their projected demand differs from true demand. If sellers overspend on their inventory, the burden of excess supply and price fluctuations can be a huge problem for the seller. These are real world problems that are compounded if the inventory is purchased with credit. On the other hand, if sellers under-spend on inventory, profits on potential sales and ability to get discounts based on larger volume of purchases will be lost.
Similarly, the buyers have limited purchasing powers in the current traditional model of commerce. Buyers are often limited to only purchasing what goods and services that are offered to them by sellers. Moreover, buyers have limited voice in getting better prices from sellers. Since individuals have low purchase volume, they often must pay higher price per good or service set by the sellers. There are always transaction costs when dealing with sellers that are passed on directly to the buyers. Retail outlets such as CostcoSM have allowed consumers to get better pricing per unit by offering larger quantities of the item, but buyers are often forced to buy in large quantities.
The use of the Internet has helped buyers get better pricing due to the increase in competition. Certain auction sites such as eBaySM, has helped fuel a new market of buyers and sellers, where buyers can participate more in the price setting. However, inventory issues and overall buyer empowerment can still be improved since eBaySM is based on buyers competing against one another to raise the price on a limited number of items available for sale.
An example where the present invention can be applied is in the buying and selling of popular arts. Popular works of art such as music, books, software, etc. have been distributed primarily through traditional "brick and mortar" retail outlets. Over the past few years, a variety of retailers have set up websites allowing the purchase of such popular works of art via the Internet, and have given consumers confidence in purchasing products on-line. However, the Internet has yet to provide a better means for the artists to take advantage of the Internet revolution. In fact, although transaction costs have decreased for retailers selling over the Internet, the artists have not benefited. The reason being is that artists still rely on traditional recording labels, publishers, or other establishments to produce their works of art and sell it to their consumers. For example, in the music industry, even in the Internet era, the record labels still organize the promotion and marketing from the top down using traditional methods that are costly and increasingly ineffective. These costs are passed on to artists, (who subsidize, through their own record royalties, a costly, labor-intensive, and non-interactive marketing and promotion infrastructure) and consumers (who pay higher prices without receiving any increase in perceived value). There is a growing dissatisfaction in the artist community with this business model.
Recently, some artists have tried directly producing and selling their products to the consumer by means of the Internet. For example, the artist formerly known as Prince sold his album without the use a recording label by directly selling his album off of his website. However, other artists have been slow to follow his lead. Most artists do not desire to take all the risk without any guarantee of receiving any money. Moreover, most artists lack the sophistication to market and successfully sell their products using the Internet. Given the hurdles of trying to sell their own album off the Internet versus the security of traditional recording contracts, artists have not been able to tap into the Internet revolution. The present invention hopes to overcome the current deficiencies in the prior means of doing business. The present invention based on a new community purchasing model hopes to be able to provide artists an alternative method of distributing music and creating revenue which, thus far, has not existed. This new method of distribution can be more profitable for artist, and more tailored made for the consumers, resulting in an economic model that may change the way popular works of art are produced and sold.

Method of community purchasing through the internet


A method is provided for updating identity data on devices. The method provides for acquiring a device comprising a component associated with a component identifier and having a One Time Programmable Key installed on the component, submitting the component identifier and the One Time Programmable Key to an External Trust Authority, receiving new identity data tied to the component identifier from the External Trust Authority that is encrypted with the One Time Programmable Key, loading the new identity data onto an Update Server, receiving a request at the Update Server from the device that requests new identity data, and providing the new identity data upon receipt of the request, upon which the device decrypts and installs the identity data using the One Time Programmable Key installed on the component within the device.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to the field of digital security, particularly digital security for devices in an online identity data update system using externally acquired identity data.
2. Background
The use and transfer of digital information has become important in many areas of life, including commerce, education, government, entertainment and management. In many of these areas, the ability to ensure the privacy, integrity and authenticity of information can be critical. As a result, several digital security mechanisms have been developed to improve security.
One approach to digital security involves provisioning network-enabled devices, such as PCs, mobile phones, routers, media players, set-top boxes and other devices, with identity data. Identity data provisioned on devices can allow the devices to communicate with other the devices in a secure manner. Identity data can include digital keys and/or digital certificates that can describe the identity of a particular device, and/or allow that particular devices to access a service or network. By way of a non-limiting example, digital keys, such as key pairs of public and private keys, as well as digital certificates can be used to identify, authenticate, and/or communicate with a particular device in a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) system in a secure manner.
Some existing systems allow identity data to be provisioned on devices before and/or after they are deployed in the field. For example, identity data can be incorporated into a device in a factory during or after manufacture of the device, and/or the identity data can be provisioned or updated in a device after the device has left the factory. By way of a non-limiting example, a large scale upgrade of many devices can occur when a network operator desires to replace its Digital Rights Management (DRM) system or when it wants to support other security applications that require the devices to be provisioned with new types of identity data after the devices have been deployed.
However, these existing systems often do not provide for obtaining new identity data for devices from an external trust authority, or do not provide for the external trust authority encrypting the new identity data with keys bound to particular component identifiers tied to individual components within the devices to be upgraded.

Framework for provisioning devices with externally acquired component-based identity data


The invention provides a powdered crosslinkable textile binder composition for producing polymer bonded textile moldings or sheet materials, comprising. a) a powdered copolymer obtainable by emulsion polymerization and subsequent drying of one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of vinyl esters, acrylic esters, methacrylic esters, vinylaromatics and vinyl chloride and of 0.01 to 25% by weight, based on the total weight of the copolymer, of one or more ethylenically unsaturated carboxyl-containing monomers, the copolymer having a glass transition temperature Tg or a melting point of greater than 40.degree. C. and a molecular weight Mw of 60,000 to 300,000, and PA1 b) at least one powdered compound having two or more epoxide or isocyanate groups and a melting point of 40.degree. C. to 150.degree. C.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a powdered crosslinkable textile binder composition and also to processes for producing polymer bound textile moldings or sheet materials using the textile binder composition.
2) Background Art
Textile sheet materials produced by the customary methods for producing nonwovens, for example by the airlay, wetlay or spunlay process, require a binder for durable binding of the fibers and for increasing the resistance to mechanical stress. These binders are customarily based on synthetic macromolecular compounds and, in the prior art, can be applied either in the form of solids, for example as powder, granulate or fiber, or in the form of liquids, for example as aqueous polymer dispersion or solution. The increased strength of the nonwovens is due to the bonding of the fibers by the polymers which adhere to the fiber and so reinforce the fibrous structure.
WO-A 90/14457 discloses a process wherein carded glass fibers are mixed with thermoplastic powder, for example polypropylene, polyester or polyamide, and the fibrous structure is subsequently consolidated at elevated temperature and under pressure. AU-B 36659/89 likewise describes a process for consolidating glass fiber materials by means of thermoplastic powders. The use of powders based on polyester or polystyrene is recommended. The low strength of the thus-bonded fibrous structures on contact with water or solvents is disadvantageous.
Since the glass transition temperatures or the melting temperatures of the binders are frequently exceeded at elevated temperatures, durable chemical crosslinking of the binders is required in order that a high temperature dimensional stability is given to the fibrous structures. Processes are known for consolidating fiber materials composed of polyester, polyamide or cotton fibers using self-crosslinking polymer dispersions (U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,315). True, nonwovens of high strength are obtained, but the use of aqueous binders is prohibitively costly on the drying side. In addition, it is not a straightforward matter to disperse the binder in the fiber matrix.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,224 describes the consolidation of powdered crosslinkable copolymers based on phenol-formaldehyde resins. The disadvantage with this binder system is the high amount of formaldehyde emitted in the course of the production and use of the fiber materials thus consolidated.
WO-A 94/20661 describes self-crosslinking redispersible dispersion powders based on vinyl ester copolymers or (meth)acrylic ester copolymers as fiber bonding agents. The disadvantage with this binder system is that setting requires an appreciable input of water into the fiber matrix, entailing costly drying.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,129,545 describes thermosetting copolymers based on acrylic esters and/or vinyl esters and additionally containing (meth)acrylic esters of mono- or polyfunctional hydroxycarboxylic acids and N-alkoxyalkyl(meth)acrylamide as crosslinking component for use as a powder paint. EP-A 721004 discloses crosslinkable water-dispersible powders including both filming polymers having at least one functional group and reactive components which form covalent bonds on dispersion of the powders in water. Aqueous dispersions of the powder composition are used for producing water resistant coatings.

Powdered crosslinkable textile binder composition

Wacker-Chemie GmbH Hanns- Seidel-Platz 4


A crossed type double-clamp clip made by bending an iron wire into shape, having two clamping portions symmetrically disposed below a middle bend thereof and crossed over each other, each clamping portion being made in the configuration of an open loop, whereby the relative positions of the two clamping portions are adjusted according to the thickness of the stack of paper onto which the two clamping portions are clamped on one side and the middle bend is clamped on an opposite side.

A conventional clip for fastening sheets of paper together is generally made by bending an iron wire into pairs of legs and bends around a circle. FIG. 1 shows a clip of this type. This structure of clip is suitable for fastening few sheets of paper. When several sheets of paper are fastened together, as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, either bend of the clip may project, causing the sheets of paper to escape from the clip, or the clip may be forced to deform, causing a damage to the sheets of paper.


Methods, apparati, and computer-readable media for protecting computer code (1) from malicious retrievers (3). A method embodiment of the present invention comprises the steps of generating (22) retrieval information characteristic of data sent to a retriever (3) by the computer code (1) in response to a retrieval command (5) issued by the retriever (3); accessing at least one rule (6) using at least some of said retrieval information as an input to said at least one rule (6); and, when said at least one rule (6) informs that the retrieval is not acceptable, flagging (28) the retrieval command (5) as suspicious.

The background art includes intrusion thwarting systems where the computer code being attacked is a database. Such systems are called database intrusion detection systems. Some of these systems utilize offline non-real-time training in order to detect suspicious or anomalous activity. Examples of offline non-real-time database intrusion detection systems are described in Lee, et al., "Learning Fingerprints for a Database Intrusion Detection System", ESORICS 2002, pp. 264-279, published in November 2002 by Springer-Verlag, Berlin and Heidelberg, Germany; and C. Chung, et al., "DEMIDS: A Misuse Detection System for Database Systems", Department of Computer Science, University of California at Davis, Davis, Calif., Oct. 1, 1999.
A common flaw in database intrusion detection systems of the prior art is that such systems fail to protect the database against insider attempts to steal large amounts of data using legitimate business processes. For example, such a system may allow a given service representative to access fields and tables within the database containing customer credit card information. Normally, a representative might access 5 to 10 accounts per hour in order to service customers. That is fine until the customer service representative decides to launch an insider attack on the database, procuring large amounts of consumer credit card information, which he then uses for nefarious purposes. The present invention is designed to protect against that and other attacks.

Computer code intrusion detection system based on acceptable retrievals