Embodiments of a heating system maintains the temperature of a fuel additive (e.g., AUS32) at and/or above freezing temperature to avoid crystallization. The heating system can form a fluid circuit with one or more coaxially arranged sleeves disposed about hoses that transport the additives. The fluid circuit can also include a central compartment that encloses a flow meter. A fluid heater couples with the fluid circuit to provide heating fluid, e.g., to the central compartment. The heating fluid disperses throughout the heating compartment and into the sleeves, thereby direction heating fluid in thermal proximity to the hoses and other components that handle the fuel additive.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to fuel dispensing systems and, in particular, to heating systems for use in fuel dispensing systems to prevent fuel additives from crystallizing at low temperatures.
Vehicles that use diesel fuels emit large amounts of nitrogen oxides or, more generally, NOx. These emissions are harmful to the environment. Thus, techniques are in place to reduce these emissions. Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is one technique that converts the NOx into diatomic nitrogen (N2) and water (H2O). SCR utilizes a reductant and a catalyst. Examples of the reductant include anhydrous ammonia, aqueous ammonia, and urea. Various standards and/or government regulations establish the proper solutions for the reductant, which in one form includes an aqueous urea solution, commonly referred to as AUS32 and identified in North America as Diesel Exhaust Fluid and abroad as AdBlue®.
Service stations throughout the world use dispensing systems that store AUS32 to provide regular access for end users that operate diesel-powered vehicles. However, these dispensing systems often encounter problems inherent with the AUS32 fluid. One problem of primary concern is crystallization of the AUS32 fluid. This problem can result in crystal build-up through the components of the dispensing system. The build-up can lead to clogs and other blockages that effectively reduce flow of the AUS32 fluid and, eventually, require maintenance to restore operability of the dispensing system.
Crystallization can occur at low temperatures and, more specifically, at and/or below the freezing point of the AUS32 fluid. The AUS32 fluid will begin to crystallize at about −7° C., forming a slush, and begin to solidify at about −11° C. Unfortunately, many service stations that wish to provide the AUS32 fuel additive are found in locations where temperatures are consistently at or below these critical temperatures for extended periods of time.
Solutions are therefore necessary to prevent crystallization of the AUS32 fluid in these cold environments. One common solution utilizes a large, heated cabinet that encloses the components of the dispensing system. The heated cabinet can maintain the entire dispensing system, or most of the dispensing system, at temperatures that are above the critical temperatures for the AUS32 discussed above. However, use of the heated cabinet, and similar heated compartments, are often considerably larger and/or are sized to heat volumes that are much larger than necessary to maintain the temperature of the AUS32. These features can lead to higher costs of operation (e.g., for the heaters and structure), complicate the refilling process for the end user, and suffer from implementation issues. For example, during a re-filling process, the end user may need to open the cabinet to extract the nozzle and/or to complete the transaction. Once the re-filling process finishes, the end user must then replace the nozzle and close the cabinet. This process relies on the end user to properly close the cabinet door to reestablish the integrity of the cabinet. Unfortunately, situations where the cabinet is not sufficiently closed and/or the cabinet door is left ajar after the re-filling process is complete will defeat the operation of the heated cabinet and can result in freezing of the AUS32 fluid.
Other solutions utilize in-situ heating techniques to elevate and maintain the temperature of the AUS32 fluid. These techniques may utilize a wire, a coil, and/or other element that inserts into the hoses that carry the fuel additive. Energizing these elements injects heat directly into the AUS32 fluid. However, although effective because the elements are in close proximity to the AUS32 fluid, the elements can reduce flow and pressure of the fuel additive in the hoses. Moreover, to afford heating throughout all components that handle the AUS32, and are thus at risk of crystallization, the dispensing system is likely to require different in-situ heating techniques with special designs for the components, e.g., hoses, nozzles, etc. This requirement can add costs and complexity to the design.
Still other solutions attempt to maintain movement of the AUS32 fluid, e.g., when the dispensing system is not in use. These systems deploy intricate fluid systems that allow the AUS32 to circulate continuously, thereby preventing stagnate conditions that can allow crystallization to occur. However, circulating systems also require complicated structure to maintain proper circulation of the AUS32 fluid as well as to avoid leaks and other problems that can lead to effluent from the dispensing system.

Fuel dispensing system with heating method


On the upstream side of a quantum dot optical amplifier, a polarization beam splitter with one input and two outputs is provided. Two optical fibers connected to output sections of the polarization beam splitter are connected to input sections of the quantum dot optical amplifier in a state that both of the optical fibers have an electric field whose direction being adjusted to maximize its gain, and one optical fiber is twisted by 90° to the other optical fiber. On the downstream side of the quantum dot optical amplifier, a polarization beam splitter with two inputs and one output is provided. Between two optical fibers connected to the polarization beam splitter, one is twisted by 90° to the other. This twisting direction is reverse to the twisting direction of the two optical fibers connected to the input sections of the quantum dot optical amplifier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical repeater that is preferable as a 1R repeater of optical communication.
2. Description of the Related Art
For lowering the cost of metro-access optical communication networks, WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) communication having a large wavelength interval between channels (Coarse WDM communication) is expected to be widely used in the coming years. The wavelength interval in the Coarse WDM communication is approximately equal to or less than 20 nm. In this system, it becomes possible to lower costs for such reasons that it is not necessary to precisely control wavelengths of a light source and a filter, and a cooler used for keeping the temperature of a semiconductor laser of a light source is unnecessary because a certain amount of wavelength variation is tolerated.
In optical communication, an optical repeater is used for a purpose such as amplifying an attenuated optical signal. As the optical repeater, there exists a type in which a semiconductor optical amplifier and a gain equalizing filter are used. Regarding the semiconductor optical amplifiers, there exists a type in which a quantum well structure or a distorted quantum well structure is used for its active layer.
In a metro communication network over a long distance, a 1R repeater is indispensable to compensate for loss in each node of the metro communication network. A 1R repeater performs re-amplification of an optical signal and outputs it without converting it to an electrical signal.
Prior art is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-40852 and in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-57455, for example.
However, in the Coarse WDM communication, the wavelength range (band) to be used is so wide as to range from 1.3 μm to 1.6 μm, so that it is impossible to be amplified by a single conventional optical amplifier (having a band of 0.05 μm approximately), which increases the cost of amplifying the whole wavelength range. Consequently, conventional optical repeaters used in the Coarse WDM communication are also high-cost, so a cost reduction thereof has been desired.


A packaging box includes a body part, flaps and a buffer. The body part has a rectangular bottom plate and side plates erected from four sides of the bottom plate, and is provided with an opening at an upper face. The flaps are connected to upper edges of the side plates via fold lines to close the opening by being folded inside. The buffer is interposed between the body part and a packaged article. The buffer has an engaging groove formed so as to grip the side plate and the flap folded up the outside of the side plate by being folded back outside along the fold line.

The present disclosure relates to a packaging box for protecting a packaged article during its conveyance, storage and others.
A type-A packaging box formed of a packaging material, such as a cardboard, is often used in conveying or storing an image forming apparatus, such as a printer, a copying machine, a facsimile or a multifunctional peripheral, or components composing the image forming apparatus. The type-A packaging box is a box formed such that an opening of a box-like body part is opened/closed by a plurality of folding flaps. This type of box is widely used because it is relatively inexpensive.
In such a packaging box, when the flaps are folded outside and the opening is opened in order to take out the packaged article, the flaps are not folded along an outer face of the body part but project in an oblique-downwardly outward direction from an upper edge of the body part. In such a case, during a work taking in/out the packaged article, a worker's leg comes in contact with a tip end of the flap to interfere the work and to make the working posture unstable, and therefore, work efficiency is deteriorated. In a case where the packaging box has a cubic shape, because a length of the flap is lengthened, the tip end of the flap frequently interferes.
Thereupon, as a dedicated member for fixing the flap, a holding assembly may be used to grip and to fix adjacent side plates and the flaps which are opened and folded up the outside of the side plates at a corner of the body part.
However, if such a dedicated holding assembly is used, it costs to manufacture the holding assembly, management of a storage space of the holding assembly is needed and a man-hour increases because a worker goes to the storage space to get the holding assembly when opening the packaging box.


A coulter disc assembly is pulled by a tractor or other motorized vehicle to create a trench in the ground into which seeds are dispensed. This mounting arrangement of the present invention allows a farmer to inject agricultural additives, such as either liquid or dry fertilizer, into the ground so as to come into contact with the seed immediately after the trench is created and before it is covered over. The mounting arrangement consists of an elastomeric mounting block adapted to connect to a coulter disc frame. A rigid guide rod extends from the mounting block downwardly toward the ground. One end of a tube is connected to a supply of agricultural additives and the other end to the lower end of the guide rod. As the coulter disc passes through the ground to create a trench, the lower end of the guide rod is carried in the trench. As the guide rod engages the side walls of the trench, the rubber mounting block allows the guide rod to pivot rearwardly in the direction opposite the travel of the disc. Unlike prior art spring mount arrangements, the rubber mounting block allows the guide rod and connected tube to also move from side to side, eliminating the need for frequent adjustment and/or replacement of the spring mount. Thus, the guide rod can move laterally, vertically or rearwardly with the contour of the trench while at the same time always directing the treating additives into the trench.

This invention relates to a mounting arrangement for an agricultural additive conduit dispensing system which is adapted to be mounted to the rear of a coulter disc assembly, while being in communication with a pressurized source of agricultural additives, for fertilization of the seedbeds in the furrows created by the coulter disc. Prior art devices of this type have failed to provide an easily adjustable, fully flexible agricultural additive conduit that will bend both side to side and front to rear with the contour of the seedbed as the coulter disc and associated agricultural additive dispensing tube are pulled through the soil by a tractor.


A high-efficiency air filtering apparatus for cleaning and circulating air in a closed room is in the shape of a vertical cylinder and includes a semi-cylindrical housing and a semi-cylindrical filtering chamber, both enclosing a centrifugal blower configured to suck filtered air out of the apparatus through the filter and to blow it into the room. The apparatus is characterized by that the filtering chamber contains a closely pleated filter sheet of HEPA-filter which is covered on top and bottom by flat panels and is air-tightly pressed onto the semi-cylindrical housing, thus making the apparatus completely air tight. The filtering chamber is urged onto the contour of the filtering chamber and is releasably fastened to the top and bottom of the housing, permitting replacement of the filter after clogging. A pressure sensor is mounted on the blower housing configured to effect a visible signal to be issued as soon as the pressure inside the housing rises above a predesignated magnitude due to clogging of the filter.

As the quality of indoor air becomes less predictable as far as air pollutants are concerned and as more and more respiratory diseases are caused by airborne particles of a smaller and smaller size the demand increases for domestic air cleaners that are capable of removing particles in the sub micron range at high removal efficiencies.
Filtration media capable of high filtration efficiencies for sub micron particles have been in wide use in "clean-room" applications and other hospital and industrial applications. Media classified as HEPA are characterized by their ability to filter up to 99.97% of all airborne particles of a size of 0.3 micron and larger.
The HEPA media comprises a dense non-woven sheet of glass fibres held together with an organic binder. Due to its dense structure it causes a high pressure-drop in the air passing through it. The high pressure difference between up stream and down stream on the filter will cause a significant amount of unfiltered air to flow through any gap or opening that might exist around the filter or within the air cleaner structure propper.
Since HEPA filters arrest up to 99.97% of all particles, even the smallest amount of unfiltered air mixing with the clean air will bring the filtering efficiency percentage down significantly.
It is for that reason that it is of paramount importance to insure during the design of high efficiency air cleaners that the sealing of the filter Is optimized and that no unfiltered air is permitted to infiltrate into the air cleaner, and bypass the filter.
Owing to the high pressure drop caused by the media and owing to the fact that the filter will build up over time a layer of trapped dust and pollutants which will further increase the pressure drop, it is imperative to provide each air cleaner with a filter of a large through-flow area. This will reduce the face velocity and, accordingly, result in a reduced pressure drop. As an example:- at a face velocity of 10.5 feet per minute the pressure drop across a typical HEPA-filter is 1.25" W. G., while tripling the face or through-flow area the velocity will be reduced to 3.5 Ft/min and the pressure drop to about 0.4" W. G.
A filter area three times as large would naturally last three times as long before necessitating replacement. The necessity to enlarge the filter area without enlarging the overall face area of the filter assembly has led to the solution of folding the woven filter material into relatively small, closely spaced pleats. In order to prevent the pleats from collapsing one against the other the distance between pleats is secured by spacers as e.g strings or strips coated with an adhesive spanned across the entire filter.
Being faced with the problem to incorporate a pleated filter unit in a portable air cleaner leaves the designer with several options as how to incorporate an exchangeable filter unit of large through flow area and a blower unit in an attractive housing.
The most straight forward filter configuration would be that of a pleated HEPA-filter configured into a flat structure. The advantages are simple construction, but with the inherent drawback that the air cleaner unit becomes very large in its frontal dimensions, and that the design imposes serious restrictions on the manner in which air is drawn into the blower inlet or inlets.
A better approach to solving the problem of small face area is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,482 (G. B. Davis) which discloses a portable air purifier having a generally cylindrical air filter mounted to receive incoming air through its peripheral surface sucked in by a vertical single inlet blower and delivered to the outside through circumferential outlet openings. The design is advantageous in that it simplifies sealing of the filter in the cylindrical housing, but has a number of serious drawbacks, eg:- the design does not permit the use of a double-inlet blower which necessitates provision of a blower of larger diameter and consequently a larger housing. And the fact that the air outlets are near the floor prevents proper air circulation through the room.
The present invention has as its main object to accommodate a number of needs associated with the design of a portable air cleaner with high filtering efficiencies by incorporating a pleated HEPA-filter unit.
It is a further object to provide an air cleaner that is compact, effects a good air circulation through out the room and offers ready access to the filter for replacing it by the user.
It is another object of the invention to provide the air cleaner with a double-inlet blower with a view to reducing the inlet velocity into the blower and to obtaining higher blower efficiency.
It is a further object of the invention to provide for a compact air cleaner where the blower housing in partially located inside the filter structure.
It is another object of the invention to provide for perfect sealing between the filter structure and the air cleaner housing.
It is still another object of the invention to provide for simple effective sealing around the blower outlet by molding the blower housing out of a semi pliable material.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide for low cost means to sense and signal that a filter should be replaced.
Additional objects of the invention will become evident from the following figures and as the air cleaner is described in detail.


A Keypad Annunciator Graphical User Interface, (KAGUI), for use by an operator of a process control system for presenting and responding to alarm state data generated by the process control system, is disclosed. The KAGUI provides an interactive display of a keypad annunciator on a monitor display screen. A panel manager display and a dynamic icon enhance operator awareness, in a multi-window display environment, of alarms. The KAGUI synchronizes alarm data presented by the KAGUI with process control system alarm data and informs the operator of the status of interprocess communication.

Modem industrial processes are becoming increasingly automated and complex. Such processes, whether involving the smelting of steel or the generation of nuclear power, are typically overseen from a centralized location by a process engineer or operator, who monitors data from hundreds, or even thousands, of sensors distributed throughout a facility. Sensors measuring voltage, current, power consumption, magnetic or electric field strength, temperature, pressure, humidity--the list is virtually endless--can be part of a modern process control system. Sensor data is used to evaluate the suitability of raw materials, provide feedback data during processing and manufacture, control valves and process flows, ensure the quality of manufactured products, and generate alarms. In particular, sensors can be used to gather data indicative of an alarm state in an process control system.
When an alarm occurs, considerable demands are placed on the process operator, who, confronted with a vast array of data from a vast array of sensors, must respond quickly and effectively to ensure safe and economical operation of the facility. Optimally, when an alarm occurs the operator is immediately alerted. Next, the operator ascertains the location, purpose and significance of the sensor. Typically, there are thousands of pages of documentation describing the operation of the industrial process in question and describing the purpose and significance of the various sensors. After locating and consulting the appropriate portions of the documentation, and perhaps viewing data from other sensors, the operator institutes proper corrective action. The actual scenario, however, is not always optimal, and the operator's job is at times difficult.
In an earlier era, of simpler, less automated industrial processes, an annunciator wall panel often informed operators of alarms. Individual sensors were essentially hard wired, via relays or other simple circuitry, to individual lamps placed at appropriate locations on a wall-sized schematic of the process. Sensor data out of an acceptable range illuminated a light and sounded a horn. However, technological advances, particularly the advent of computers, have greatly increased the complexity of most industrial processes, as well as increased the burden on the operator charged with oversight of the process. In many cases, the old annunciator panel wall is obsolete and relatively inflexible.
Technological advance has also improved the tools used by the process operator. Video displays run application programs that can, for example, graph process data, display a process graphic (a schematic representation of a portion or of all of an industrial process) or perform a keyword search through documentation. However, not all the tools are significantly improved: the hardware annunciator keyboard (HAK) remains. The HAK is composed of a numeric keypad with adjacent rows of illuminable lights, and can be described as essentially a shrunken version of the annunciator wall panel. An occurrence of a sensor alarm causes a horn to sound and illuminates a key associated with that alarm. The operator acknowledges the alarm and silences the horn by pressing the illuminated key.
The present HAK does not optimally address the needs of an operator charged with overseeing a modern and highly automated modern industrial process. The existing HAK is bulky, costly to produce, difficult to reconfigure, and limited to a number of standard key formats. The HAK warns an operator of all alarms, regardless of severity, in the same manner--the same horn sounds, and one of several keys, all typically of the same color, illuminates. Adding alarm states to a process control system can require multiple hardware annunciator keyboards, as keys are not easily added to an existing keyboard, further adding to system costs.
Accordingly, a need exists for a more economical and versatile alarm interface that relatively quickly and effectively communicates alarm states, facilitates timely and proper corrective action, and complements the graphical tools for video display already at the operator's disposal.
It is an object of the invention to provide a more versatile keypad annunciator that allows an operator to manage more effectively and efficiently a modern complex industrial process control system.
It is a another object of the present invention to provide a keypad annunciator that more effectively presents alarm data.
It is a further object of the present invention to reduce the cost of producing a keypad annunciator.
An additional object of the invention is to provide an operator-configurable keypad annunciator that an operator may readily configure to better ensure acknowledgment and appropriate operator response to the occurrence of an alarm state.

Keypad annunciator graphical user interface


A system and method associates a label and description with a search query such that the query, label, and description can be stored in a shared query repository so that queries can be retrieved by multiple users for reuse. The shared query repository can be searched, so that an appropriate query can be located, retrieved, and then submitted for execution over a document database by a search engine. Retrieved queries can be combined with other retrieved queries or modified with new search terms, and the new combined search query can be used for a new search on the database. The database search system and method efficiently permits reuse of search queries and facilitates sharing of search strategies.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to network computer systems and, more particularly, to searching content of network document databases with a search query interface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer systems can store tremendous amounts of data that can be searched to identify and retrieve pertinent information. Data stored in a computer database is very useful when it is shared over a network with many users who can gain access to the data via computer programs known as search engines. A conventional example of a large network database is the collection of data files loosely referred to as the Internet. The Internet includes data files comprising documents that contain text, audio, and video information.
A user typically accesses the Internet database through a graphical user interface (GUI) program called a web browser. An Internet search engine can receive a user search query specifying search terms and can consult a database index to find documents relevant to the search terms. A user accesses an Internet search engine by directing the user""s web browser to a search engine website and providing a search query to the search engine. The query typically comprises a string of relevant terms comprising words and phrases connected by optional Boolean operators. After the user submits the query to the search engine, a computer at the search engine website that receives the query matches it to a collection of indexed Internet documents or files, and returns search results comprising a list of the matched Internet documents. It is not unusual for an Internet search engine to match tens of thousands of documents (or more) to the search query.
Because the many thousands of document matches typically returned can easily overwhelm a user, and because many of the matches returned are usually not especially relevant to the information being sought, a user typically reduces the number of match documents by modifying the search query with additional search terms or more specific terms, or both, thereby refining the query. The process of refining the search query is typically one of trial and error and can be a very laborious task. It may be necessary to formulate many successive search queries, comprising strings of terms and phrases. Time to carry out the searches and receive results may be too high, and interruptions in network access can add to the frustration.
Once a user constructs a useful search query, the user may want to repeat the query at a later time. This need occurs, for example, either because the earlier search results must be reviewed or because the search results must be updated due to database additions and modifications. Repeating a search query may require duplication of a rather complicated string of terms and phrases, which might have been laboriously created and which can be quite difficult to reconstruct. Thus, reuse of search queries is rather limited and inconvenient.
In addition to reuse of search queries, it may be helpful to share search queries with multiple users. Sharing of search queries would maximize group efforts to find information of interest and to develop optimal search strategies. It may be possible to save a search query as a string of alphanumeric text that is saved in user memory. The saved search query could be called up later, to be retrieved into the search user interface program and submitted to the search engine. This technique saves the search query, but not the search results. Moreover, this does nothing to make sharing search queries and search results among multiple users more convenient.
From the discussion above, it should be apparent that there is a need for a database search system and method that can efficiently permit reuse of search queries and facilitate sharing of search strategies. The present invention fulfills this need.
The present invention provides a system and method for associating a label and description with a search query such that the query, label, and description can be stored in a shared query repository such that queries can be retrieved by multiple users for reuse. The shared query repository can be searched, so that an appropriate query can be located, retrieved, and then submitted for execution over a document database to identify relevant documents. Queries retrieved from the repository can be combined with other retrieved queries or modified with new search terms, and the new combined search query can be used for a new search on the database. Thus, search of a document database as well as of a shared search query repository is enabled. In this way, the present invention provides a database search system and method that can efficiently permit reuse of search queries and facilitate sharing of search strategies.
In one aspect of the invention, a convenient graphical user interface provides access to search query submission, search query searching, and document retrieval functions. The search to query submission, search query searching, and document retrieval can occur over a network computer system, such as the Internet, a corporate intranet, or other computer networks that permit multiple users to share data and computer resources. A query repository stores search queries according to query label and description, and also communicates with the network, while a search session management component controls access to the database of searched documents and to the label/query description pairs. The database of searched documents can comprise, for example, the Internet. This permits efficient reuse of search queries and sharing of database search strategies.
Other features and advantages of the present invention should be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention.

Labeling and describing search queries for reuse

International Business Machines Corporation


A device and methods are provided for deep rolling. In one embodiment, a deep rolling tool for applying compressive stress with rolling elements includes a flexible fork having a base section and a plurality of fork arms and a plurality of rolling elements, wherein each rolling element is mounted to a fork arm with eccentric roller bushings, wherein each rolling element is mounted at the distal end of a fork arm, and wherein the rolling elements are configured to apply a compressive stress to articles received by the deep rolling tool.

Peening, burnishing, and deep rolling are techniques that are used to induce stress at the surface of a component. Conventional methods may employ some form of caliper to simultaneously pinch opposing sides of a component. These tools, typically referred to as ball point tools, often use a caliper with ball bearings to pinch the component. FIG. 1 illustrates a graphical representation of a conventional hydraulic tool 100 which uses a pressurized hydraulic fluid to provide a clamping force. Hydraulic tool 100 is a rigid body tool including hydraulic clamping elements 105 and 110 which are hydraulically actuated. Hydraulic tool 100 is supplied with a pressurized fluid by hydraulic input valve 115. The main problem with hydraulic tools is that they are bulky which makes it difficult to process components. In addition, the use of hydraulic ball bearing clamping elements 105 and 110 have a small contact zone which requires many passes in order to process a surface, and thus, conventional hydraulic tools are slow. Further, these tools require a high pressure pump which adds to complexity and cost.
A drawback of conventional machining operations of peening/burnishing/deep rolling is that they are typically slow and expensive to perform. Another drawback is that conventional tools are non-adjustable and may not be usable with certain component geometries/thicknesses.
Thus, there is a need for a machine and tool for applying stress to objects.


A hashing structure including multiple sub-hashes is used to determine whether an input value matches one or more of multiple target values. These values can be of any form, such as security identifiers in an access control system. To make the determination, a hash key is obtained from the input value and multiple sub-hash indexes (one for each of the multiple sub-hashes) are generated based on the key. Values are identified from the multiple sub-hashes by indexing into the sub-hashes using respective ones of the sub-hash indexes. These values are then combined to generate a resultant hash value. Each of the multiple target values corresponds to one of multiple portions of the resultant hash value. If the portion corresponding to one of the target values has a particular value, then that target value is a likely match and is compared to the input value to determine if indeed the two match. This comparison can then be repeated for each target value with a corresponding portion in the resultant hash value that has the particular value.

As computer technology has advanced, so too has the need for security within computers. One popular type of security incorporated into computers, typically through the operating system, is user-based restrictions on the various objects in the computer (e.g., hardware resources, software components, etc.). Each user of a computer system has one or more corresponding identifiers, and each object has one or more rules that define access rights (e.g., which users can access the object and how they can access it).
FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a current access control system. Each object in the computer system has a corresponding access control list (ACL) 100 that is made up of multiple (m) access control elements (ACEs) 102 that each include a security identifier (SID) 104. Additionally, each user has a list of multiple (n) SIDs 106. When the user desires to access the object, the SIDs 106 are compared to the SIDs 104 to determine whether any of the SIDs 106 match any of the SIDs 104. If a match exists then the user can access the object (subject to any other access limitations identified in the ACE). However, if no match exists then the user cannot access the object.
However, in the system illustrated in FIG. 1, to compare the SIDs 106 with the SIDs 104, a linear search through all m SIDs 104 for each of the n SIDs 106 may be needed, requiring a large number of operations (that is, m×n operations). Such a large number of operations can adversely affect the performance of the computer system. This performance drain is only exacerbated by the fact that such comparisons are typically required each time a new object is accessed (which can be quite frequently). Thus, it would be beneficial to provide an improved way to perform such comparisons.
One solution to reduce the number of such comparisons would be to use hashing to determine which comparisons to make. To use hashing, a hash key would be generated from each of the SIDs in the ACL. This hash key would then be used as an index into a hash table to identify a value from the hash table that indicates, based on the hash key, which SIDs corresponding to the user are likely matches. One problem with this solution, however, is the memory storage requirements. The hash table would require 2b locations, where b represents the number of bits in the hash key. The memory storage requirements can thus grow quite large, especially as the size of the hash key increases and the amount of data stored in each location of the hash table increases. Large memory storage requirements can reduce the performance of the comparison process (counteracting the benefits of hashing) due to memory page faults in systems employing virtual memory.
The invention described below addresses these disadvantages, providing an improved hashing structure using multiple sub-hashes.


A website is augmented to indicate the presence of saveable enhanced book memos. A user can save an enhanced book memo to their memobook database, then view their saved book memos, either at the website, or using a downloaded program when not at the website. The enhanced book memos can include text and/or multimedia files that are not present on the website.

The present invention relates to a method of making information easier to use, and more particularly, is directed to a website that has been augmented with information intended to be saved to a user's file of clippings.
Information users and information providers both want the information users to be able to easily save and recall information published on the Internet. For instance, a user wishing to purchase a high quality item typically browses different websites and may go to a nearby store as part of their purchase process.
The need for improved webpage bookmarks has been recognized.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,899,829, "Intelligent bookmarks and information management system based on same", shows a method for an individual browsing a website to generate "intelligent bookmarks" that include metadata for various fields, as shown in FIG. 3 (see fields for screenshot, URL, title, keywords, etc.). The reference discloses extracting information and metadata from website to be bookmarked (column 8, line 35-column 9, line 31). The reference further discloses a visual representation of the bookmark (element 44). When the bookmark is first created, the information and metadata is extracted from the website, but was not provided by the website for specific purpose of creating a bookmark. The reference discloses the online sharing of the intelligent bookmarks between a number of users in communication with an intelligent bookmark database (column 11, lines 24-58). The reference discloses publishing the bookmark as part of a blog posting for others to download (column 12, lines 31-30).
U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,237, "Method and apparatus for improved bookmark and histories entry creation and access", shows a method for generating multimedia bookmarks in which the there is embedded in an HTML document data that describes the location of multimedia bookmark description ("MBD") information (column 4, lines 44-55; column 5, lines 48-57). The user can then save the MBD as a multimedia bookmark that appears in the user's bookmark list (column 4, line 56-column 5, line 3; column 5, line 62-column 6, line 37). The reference further shows displaying the MBD bookmarks graphically in a bookmark list (column 7, lines 9-23, FIG. 6).
U.S. Pat. No. 7,167,901, "Method and apparatus for improved bookmark and histories entry creation and access", shows a method for generating bookmarks as part of a bookmark list with bookmarks that include metadata for various fields, as shown in FIG. 3 (see fields for Name, URL, description, and keywords). The reference discloses populating the description and keywords fields of the bookmarks from the metadata of the websites being bookmarked (column 4, lines 6-49). However, this metadata was not provided by the website for specific purpose of creating a bookmark. The representation of FIG. 3 is used only to manually edit the fields of the bookmark by the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,486,891, "Automated bookmarking of online advertisements", discloses a method of generating bookmarks associated with an online advertisement that has been placed within a webpage. The reference discloses causing a traditional click through advertisement to be displayed within a webpage (FIG. 5), and allowing the user to bookmark the website associated with the advertisement (column 6, lines 11-19) by causing the website to transmit to the client an applet that automatically bookmarks the associated website (column 6, lines 39-60). The reference is limited to standard browser bookmarks.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,041,701, "Enhanced graphical interfaces for displaying visual data", generally discloses enhanced graphical interfaces for various uses of web browsers. Specifically, the reference shows a graphical bookmark manager with a horizontal bookmark toolbar, multiple bookmark lists, and thumbnails (column 11, lines 7-53, FIG. 13).
There is still room to improve a user's ability to collect information while browsing web pages.


A CMOS image sensor (CIS) process is described. A semiconductor substrate is provided, and then a gate dielectric layer, a gate material layer and a thickening layer are sequentially formed on the substrate, wherein the thickening layer includes at least a hard mask layer. The thickening layer is defined to form a transfer-gate pattern, and then the transfer-gate pattern is used as an etching mask to pattern the gate material layer and form a transfer gate. Ion implantation is then conducted to form a PN diode in the substrate with the transfer-gate pattern and the transfer gate as a mask.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to fabrication and structures of a semiconductor device, and more particularly to a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor (CIS) process and a CIS structure.
2. Description of Related Art
The CMOS image sensor is utilized more and more widely in image recording as compared with the charge-coupled device (CCD), for its fabricating process can be easily integrated with a conventional CMOS process lowering the manufacturing cost.
A typical CMOS image sensor includes a PN diode for absorbing incident light to produce charges, and a transfer transistor for transferring the charges. Referring to FIG. 3, in a conventional CIS process, the gate 302 of the transfer transistor is formed on a substrate 300, and a photoresist pattern 304 is formed exposing an area of the substrate 300 predetermined for forming the diode, wherein a portion of the gate 302 is usually exposed to make sure that the area is entirely exposed. Ion implantation 306 is then performed to form the doped region 308 of the diode, wherein the implantation depth is much larger than that in ordinary S/D implantation to reduce the dark current.
However, since the implantation depth is usually larger than the thickness of the gate 302 and a portion of the gate 302 is exposed in the implantation, a shallower doped region 309 is also formed under the gate 302 beside the doped region 308. Thus, the dark current under the gate 302 cannot be decreased effectively.


A tow hook hitch assembly attaches to one or both of the front tow hooks provided on a four wheel drive vehicle for mounting a tow ball, winch, or other accessory to the front end of the vehicle. The tow hook hitch includes an upper member extending above the tow hook, a lower member extending below the tow hook, a shaped insert secured to the upper member or lower member for extending within the tow hook, and a clamp bolt for securing the aforementioned components together.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tow hook hitch assembly and method for securely mounting a hitch assembly to one or both tow hooks provided on the front end of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Four wheel drive vehicles, including pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, are often provided with a pair of front tow hooks extending through, or just below, the front bumper of the vehicle. In some cases, a pair of rear tow hooks are also provided. Such tow hooks are typically used to pull the vehicle out of rough, muddy, or snowy terrain after the vehicle has become stuck. A chain, cable or strap can be coupled to the tow hooks of the disabled vehicle and extended to another towing vehicle to help pull the disabled vehicle out of such terrain.
In the past, owners of four wheel drive vehicles have often desired to mount a motorized winch to the front of their vehicles. However, the front bumpers equipped by the manufacturer of the vehicle often interfered with the attachment of such winches to the vehicle. Accordingly, the vehicle owner would typically need to replace the original front bumper with a replacement that would accommodate a winch, often at significant expense.
Those skilled in the art have also disclosed the use of such tow hooks for other purposes. For example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,457,733 and 4,457,734, both issued to Hansen, a front hitch assembly is disclosed whereby the front left and right tow hooks of a vehicle are used to releasably mount a center trailer hitch type receiver on the front end of the vehicle. This center receiver can then be used to support a winch, a bicycle rack, or a towing hitch ball. The Hansen front hitch assembly includes an elongated frame member having openings at its ends for receiving the left and right tow hooks of the vehicle. A horizontal surface of the frame member rests upon the upper surfaces of the tow hooks. Left and right threaded bolts are engaged with the frame member at its opposing ends. Each bolt is tightened until the end of the bolt directly contacts the underside of its associated tow hook. In this manner, the bolt effectively pulls the horizontal surface of the frame member downwardly against the upper surface of the tow hook.
The Hansen tow hook attachment method described above suffers from several disadvantages. First, because it is only the end portion of each tightening bolt that actually contacts the lower surface of the tow hook, the tow hook can not be reliably wedged between the horizontal surface of the frame member and the end of the tightening bolt. This is particularly true if vertical loading having a twisting moment is applied to the frame member. Secondly, some of the tow hooks that are provided on such vehicles are made of relatively soft aluminum, and the tightening of the end of Hansen's attachment bolt into an aluminum tow hook will wear away the tow hook. Thirdly, while Hansen's attachment method may limit vertical (i.e., upward and downward) movement of the frame member relative to the tow hook, Hansen's attachment method does not limit lateral rotational movement of the frame member relative to the tow hook. This fact may not present a problems when the frame member is attached to both left and right tow hooks in the manner already described, but it does present a problem if it were desired to attach the frame member to only a single tow hook. The tow hitch assembly disclosed by Hansen must be attached to both tow hooks before it can be used.
Certain Y-shaped towing bars are known in the automotive trade for allowing one vehicle to tow a second vehicle. Examples of such towing bars are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,806 to McCoy, at al. and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,095 to Duncan. These towing bars are generally attached to a vehicle to be towed by engaging left and right ends of the towing bar with brackets secured to the frame of the vehicle to be towed. However, such towing bars are not generally adapted to engage tow hooks extending from the front end of a truck.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,212 to Penlerick, et al. discloses a combination tow hook and base plate system for connecting a tow bar to a towed vehicle having closed-loop tow hooks. A pair of base plate members are positioned below a respective pair of closed-loop tow hooks. The base plate members are connected by a telescoping adjustable cross member. A connector plate is positioned above each of the closed-loop tow hooks, and bolts and mating fastening nuts are used to secure the closed-loop tow hooks between their respective base plate members and connector plates. A spacer is inserted inside each closed-loop tow hook between the respective base plate member and connector plate. A tow bar bracket extends forwardly from each base plate member for receiving a leg of a Y-shaped tow bar. No accommodation is made for open J-shaped tow hooks.
None of the foregoing hitch assemblies provides a secure, non-twisting connection between a vehicle tow hook and the mechanism used to make attachment thereto. In addition, none of the foregoing hitch assemblies is flexible enough to allow for the alternative use of a Y-shaped tow bar or a conventional, center-mounted towing hitch ball.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tow hitch assembly and method for mounting a tow hitch to a tow hook in a secure and sturdy manner.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a tow hook hitch assembly and method for mounting a tow hitch to either one or two tow hooks provided on a vehicle.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a tow hook hitch assembly which may be used with different types of hooks, including "U" and "J" shaped hooks, and which is-easy to install, and easy to remove.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a tow hitch assembly that achieves a secure, non-twisting connection between a vehicle tow hook and the mechanism used to make attachment thereto.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a tow hitch assembly that is flexible enough to permit the alternative use of a Y-shaped tow bar or a conventional, center-mounted towing hitch ball.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art as the description of the present invention proceeds.


A browser-based tee time posting system for use by golf courses to post available tee times to a tee time reservations hub for reservation by golfers accessing the hub. The system includes a hub web server adapted to serve web pages and to accept time slot information from a golf course user via a browser. Golf course users each with a web browser at respective network nodes request time slot information from the system, receive web pages served by the hub web server in response, and provide time slot information to the hub web server. Golf course users, such as course pro shop employees, may thus autonomously provide updated tee time availability information to the system hub, and the system hub thus need not be burdened with tee time update tasks. The system may generate a simple check box or radio button interface so that the golf course user may easily select and de-select tee times for that course. The system may enable the course user to generate an input template for subsequent use by that course user. In one embodiment, the system may accept tee time inputs from multiple sources, including multiple software-based tee time management systems installed in golf courses. The system reduces the considerable time and expense that golf courses and hubs may incur in posting and maintaining golf course tee time inventory.

Computers and the Internet have transformed the golf course management business in many ways. Computers are now routinely deployed in management operations at virtually all golf courses in the United States for course management and for back office functions like accounting and inventory control. Computerized tee sheet management systems first appeared in the 1970s and enabled golf courses to automate their core tee time booking functions, though some courses still employ paper-and-pencil "tee sheets." Unfortunately, deploying customized computerized systems has created as many problems for some courses as it has solved.
With the commercial development of the Internet, web-based tee sheet management systems have been introduced and have been adopted by many courses. The advantage of many web-based tee sheet management systems is that they require only that a standard web browser be installed at the course (in contrast to the custom software installation required to deploy first-generation on-site systems). Any golf course with dial-up access to the web is able to manage its tee sheet online and to offer tee times to the golfing public online.
Many courses have been disappointed by the lack of golfer adoption of their online tee time systems. These single-course web-based systems suffer from a lack of the extensive marketing and brand-building that is required to drive golfing customers to their online tee time solutions. "Build it and they will come" has proven to be an empty promise for many courses.
Online tee time "hubs" such as the LMTT hub at www.lmtt.com have emerged to solve the problem of customer traffic generation experienced by standalone golf course tee time web sites. Hubs such as LMTT offer available tee times from multiple courses so that golfers can view, select and reserve tee times from multiple courses at a single destination web site. Courses benefit because the customer traffic to hubs such as LMTT is far greater than the traffic that they can attract to their own standalone sites.
Hubs such as LMTT add particular value to courses and golfers offering and seeking (respectively) "last minute" tee times. Like airline seats, unfilled tee times represent almost 100% marginal revenue loss to courses. And golfers are often frustrated when they attempt to make last-minute or next-day tee times after the golf course pro shop has closed for the evening. The hub business model thus offers considerable value to courses and golfers alike.
In order to take advantage of the benefits of hubs like LMTT, however, courses must be able to update their next-day and last-minute tee time offerings to the hub very frequently (at least once per day). Unfortunately, known hub systems require frequent phone calls and/or exchanges of faxes at the end of each golfing day in order to keep the hub's offering of the course's next-day tee time inventory fresh. Known approaches to hub updating also impose a considerable burden on the hub itself, which must deal with tens or even hundreds of courses each day.
In summary, conventional systems and methods for updating tee time reservations hubs by multiple courses impose considerable time and expense burdens on the courses and the hubs.

System and method for posting available time slots to a network hub


The present invention relates to a parking control apparatus and a parking control method. In particular, the present invention relates to a parking control apparatus and a parking control method in which an initial parking space searched while a vehicle is moved is corrected into a final parking space in a space recognition correction section based on a situation at the time of searching by the vehicle and information for an obstacle which is acquired while the vehicle moves along a first parking route, the position of the vehicle is changed, and then a final parking route is calculated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a parking control apparatus and a parking control method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, traffic congestion and insufficient parking spaces have become serious social problems according to an increase of vehicles.
In particular, due to insufficient parking spaces, parking spaces are narrowed and thus, many drivers suffer from difficulty in parking. In connection with this, parking assistance systems that assist parking of a vehicle are actively developed.
Such a parking assistance system refers to a system configured to search a parking space and set a suitable parking route to perform a parking control when a driver wishes to park a vehicle, thereby assisting in the driver's parking.
However, such a parking assistance system has a problem in that the parking assistance system may not search a parking space correctly depending on a moving situation since the parking assistance system searches a parking space while the vehicle is moving.
The problem encountered due to such a parking space search is that when the parking control is performed using such a parking assistance system, collision of the vehicle, an incomplete parking situation, or the like may be caused, lowering confidence in the parking assistance system and causing an accident.
Accordingly, demands on improvement of confidence in a parking assistance system and a correct parking space search and parking route setting for execution of correct parking are increased.

Parking control apparatus and parking control method


A signage system comprises a plurality of signs adapted to be mounted on a shelf or other such merchandise display device. The signs include a mounting portion, for attaching to the shelf, and a sign portion. The sign portions are provided with a shape corresponding to common shapes of traffic or road signs. The system of the invention may therefore be used to attract or direct customers to certain specific products.

In most commercial establishments where products are sold, the merchandise for sale is often placed on shelves, mounted on a wall or other structure, or otherwise displayed for potential customers. In addition to the products themselves, vendors often use signage to highlight their merchandise to customers and/or to provide such customers with details regarding products. It is often the case that the shelve or other display devices contain numerous products and, therefore, the signage used by the vendors may be not sufficiently highlight a particular item.
Signs commonly referred to as "shelf talkers" are known to be used by vendors to provide enhanced advertisement to certain products. This type of signage comprises a mounting or anchor portion, for fastening to a shelf, and a sign portion wherein the information being conveyed to the customer is displayed. In some cases, the sign portion depends upwardly or downwardly so as to allow customers to read the information when standing in front of the product. In other cases, the sign portion may protrude away from the shelf, sometimes orthogonal thereto, thereby serving to attract an approaching customer before the customer reaches the location of the product. As will be understood, the latter type of "shelf talkers" may be used to draw the attention of customers to a specific product or products.
Traffic, or road signs are ubiquitous in virtually every country. Such signs utilize specific, well known shapes for conveying information to drivers of vehicles. Examples of such shapes include, octagons (to signify "stop"), inverted triangles (to signify "yield"), diamonds (to signify "warning"). Other shapes are also known in the art. In addition, square and rectangle shapes are used to display directional or other such information. It is often only necessary for traffic signs to simply have one of the known shapes in order to provide adequate instructions to drivers, even in the absence of written words. For example, a red octagon would instruct a driver to stop without having the word printed on the sign. In some cases, icons or other symbols may be used with the signs to further clarify the intended message.
The present inventors have developed a unique system of signage for use by vendors that utilizes the well recognized significance of traffic signs for the purpose of directing customers to certain merchandise and/or to highlight particular information concerning such merchandise. The inventors have also developed a system of signage for mounting on shelving, wherein the signage includes a lighting means for further attracting attention to a particular area on display.

Signage system and method for displaying merchandise on shelves


A logical communication path is provided between a target virtual machine (VM) and a host or application communicating with the VM. The target VM runs on a hypervisor host that has a hypervisor and a proxy agent. The hypervisor manages execution of the VM. A mapping is maintained indicating which VMs execute on which hosts. When the host or application is to send a message or packet to the target VM, the mapping is consulted and the hypervisor host hosting the target VM is identified. The message or packet, which may identify the target VM, is transmitted to the hypervisor host. A proxy agent at the hypervisor host selects a communication channel between the hypervisor and the target VM. The hypervisor then passes the message or packet through the selected channel to the target VM.

In the field of machine virtualization, virtual machines (VMs) have network functionality. That is, VMs may implement a network protocol stack to communicate via a network with other VMs or physical machines. For instance, virtualization hosts (e.g., Hyper-V™ hosts) may form part of a virtualization fabric that hosts guest VMs, where a Fabric Controller manages the virtualization fabric (as used in this Background "host" may refer to a Fabric Controller, for example, or any other computer). However, for various reasons, there may be no network connectivity between a host on a network and a VM, even though there is network connectivity between the host and a machine running the VM (to referred to as the "VM host"). For example, the VM might be on a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to which the host does not belong and the VM's network address may not be valid on the host's network. A firewall might block access to the VM from the hosts' network while allowing access on the VM host's network. A VM might simply be on a different network than the host that might need to communicate with the VM.
In some circumstances, it is desirable to communicate with a VM using a standard protocol such as HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol), SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), WMI™ (Windows Management Instrumentation), the WS-Management protocol (transporting WMI calls over a SOAP based protocol via HTTP), and so forth. For example, in some data centers or clouds, VMs might have network agents or services running thereon that perform management functions (such as applying patches to a guest operating system, handling cloud fabric tasks, etc.), perhaps with one or more communication channels for control (e.g., WMI over HTTP) or data (BITS via HTTP). These management services or agents are controlled by a management application (e.g., a Fabric Controller), running on a controller host, for example. The management application sends packets, for example HTTP packets, to the VM's network address and the HTTP packets are delivered to the management agent. The management agents may perform functions in response to information in the payloads of the packets. However, when the management application does not have network connectivity to the VM, it is unable to invoke the management agents on the VM.
Techniques to enable communication with VMs via communication channels between hypervisors and the VMs are discussed below.


A method and a network node (110) for determining an indication of interference mitigation in a receiver comprised in a user equipment (120) are provided. The network node (110) receives, from the user equipment (120), a first set of measures and a second set of measures. The first set of measures relates to a signal received by the user equipment (120) and the second set of measures relates to the same signal. The first set of measures was obtained by the user equipment (120) prior to processing of the signal in the receiver, and the second set of measures was obtained by the user equipment (120) after processing of the signal in the receiver. Next, the network node (110) determines (202) the indication of interference mitigation based on the first and second sets of measures.

Performance of many existing wireless systems, such as telecommunication systems or cellular radio communication systems, may be limited by interference from different radio devices, such as radio base stations. To combat effects of this interference, several so called interference mitigation techniques have been proposed.
According to some interference mitigation techniques, the interference mitigation is achieved though receiver design. Receiver design refers to design of a receiver comprised in a user equipment. Such a receiver uses for example interference rejection combining (IRC), successive interference cancellation (SIC) or the like to mitigate interference in a signal received by the receiver.
According to some other interference mitigation techniques, the interference mitigation is performed though radio resource management (RRM). Known RRM schemes for interference mitigation include for example different inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) scheduling algorithms, employing fractional frequency division and appropriate power control mechanisms.
It should be noted that interference mitigation through receiver design is typically independent whether uplink or downlink is considered. The downlink refers to a signal received by the user equipment and the uplink refers to a signal transmitted by the user equipment. However, the ICIC scheme is different in downlink as compared to uplink, because in the downlink the interference originates from surrounding base stations, whereas in the uplink the interference originates from other surrounding user equipments, i.e. relative locations of user equipments in uplink affects the ICIC scheme resulting in higher other cell interference variance.
A known RRM scheme for interference mitigation, or interference management, is soft frequency reuse. In FIG. 1, a block diagram illustrating soft frequency reuse is shown. According to soft frequency reuse, a base station divides an available scheduling bandwidth, i.e. a certain frequency range, into two or more, not necessarily equal, portions. See portions CB11, CB12, CB21 and CB22 in FIG. 1. For example, a cell-edge portion CB11 of the scheduling bandwidth for a first cell C1 is defined and allocated to cell-edge users and similarly a cell-center portion CB12 of the scheduling bandwidth for the first cell C1 is defined and is allocated to cell-center users. Similarly, a further cell-edge portion CB21 and a further cell-center portion CB22 of the scheduling bandwidth for a second cell C2 are defined. The base station schedules its so called cell-edge users on the cell-edge portion CB11. The cell-edge users are typically located close to, or in the vicinity of, a cell border of the first cell operated by the base station. Thus, the base station transmits at a higher transmit power to ensure proper reception by such cell-edge users, i.e. user equipments at the cell edge. The base station schedules its cell-center users on the cell-center portion CB2. Thus, the base station can transmit at a lower power compared to the higher transmit power for the user equipments at the cell-edge. In order to mitigate interference towards the cell-edge users, the cell-edge portions CB11, CB21 are selected to be non-overlapping in terms of frequency for the first and second cells C1, C2, which typically are neighboring cells. In this manner, interference from transmissions of the second cell C2, towards a cell-edge user, camping on the first cell C1, will be mitigated. The second cell may be operated by the base station or by a neighboring base station. As a result, performance in terms of for example throughput will increase for the cell-edge user of cell C1.
A known Long Term Evolution (LTE) system comprises a base station, such as an eNB, utilizing soft frequency reuse. A first and a second user equipment are served by the base station. The first user equipment comprises an advanced receiver employing IRC or SIC. The second user equipment comprises a receiver without IRC or SIC. Hence, the LTE system comprises user equipments whose receivers are different in terms of interference mitigation. This may cause ambiguity in the network, i.e. in the LTE system.

Method and a network node for determining an indication of interference mitigation


An imaging system apparatus and operating method thereof utilize a volumetric resampling technique with interpolation to determine sample point values on user-defined paths traced through a volumetric image comprising a group of predefined data values, which are themselves samples of a continuous volumetric object. Data values to be displayed are determined from the sample point values using user-selected interpolation and visualization operating modes.

The increase in the amount of data needed to be analyzed in medical imaging applications makes the existing manual, plane by plane image analysis method inefficient and, in certain cases, ineffective. This fact combined with the advances in digital image processing hardware and algorithms such as fast volume rendering and temporal image processing that can ease the analysis task have further increased the demand for medical image processing systems. Because of the short processing time and, in most cases, interactivity requirements of medical image processing applications, such systems must have very high performance levels. On the other hand, since such a system is typically an accessory to a host system, the medical image processing system should cost much less than the host system.
New medical image processing system designs are using parallel processors in an attempt to increase data processing speed. However, such systems are expensive and, because many processors are involved, are generally difficult to program by the user. Consequently, there is a continuing need for adaptable image processing systems which have a reduced price/performance ratio.

Arrangement for determining and displaying volumetric data in an imaging system


An endoscope apparatus includes an elongated tube, a imaging unit in the elongated tube, and a cable structure, including plural signal lines, having first and second ends, the first end being connected to the imaging unit. A cable connector is connected with the second end, and couplable with a socket connector connectively. The cable connector includes a circuit board having a width in a manner passable through the elongated tube in an axial direction. A conductive land is formed on the circuit board, and coupled to the second end. A terminal pattern is formed on the circuit board, for connective coupling by reception in the socket connector. An advancing tip is formed on a front side of the circuit board in the axial direction, for initially advancing upon entry of the circuit board in the elongated tube, to enable the conductive land and the terminal pattern to pass safely.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable connector for an endoscope apparatus and a method of producing an endoscope apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a cable connector for an endoscope apparatus, in which important elements of a circuit board can be safely moved for penetration in an elongated tube of the endoscope apparatus in an assembling operation, and a method of producing an endoscope apparatus.
2. Description Related to the Prior Art
An endoscope apparatus includes an elongated tube, a tip device and a circuit device or electrical device. The elongated tube is entered in a body cavity of a patient's body to be diagnosed. The tip device is disposed at a distal end of the elongated tube. The circuit device is contained in the tip device or disposed behind the tip device. Examples of the circuit device are a camera module, imaging unit or ultrasonic transducer. A cable structure is connected with the circuit device and extends in an axial direction. The cable structure includes numerous signal lines, which are connected to a control unit disposed in the outside of the body. The circuit device is controlled and driven by the control unit.
A flexible tube device is included in the elongated tube, and disposed to extend from the tip device. The tip device is apart originally separate from the flexible tube device. In the assembling operation, the circuit device is contained the tip device at first. The cable structure from the circuit device is passed through the flexible tube device. Then the flexible tube device is connected with the tip device.
The cable structure passes through the flexible tube device on the elongated tube. It is extremely difficult to connect each one of the signal lines in the cable structure to the control unit after passage through the flexible tube device. If the signal lines are connected with a mechanical part with a larger width than an inner diameter of the elongated tube, maintenance of the endoscope apparatus is very hard. This is because the cable structure can be disassembled from the flexible tube device only after cutting the signal lines from the mechanical part.
A cable connector or board connector at an end of the cable structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2005/143,658 (corresponding to JP-A 2005-192640) and U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2005/143,659 (corresponding to JP-A 2005-192639). The cable connector is in a plate shape and includes a land pattern, a terminal pattern and a wiring pattern. Signal lines of the cable structure are electrically coupled to the land pattern. The terminal pattern has plural terminals, and is couplable with a mating connector connectively. The wiring pattern electrically couples the land pattern to the terminals. The cable structure, in combination with the cable connector, is penetrated through the housing of the elongated tube by advancing the cable connector, to facilitate connective coupling and decoupling after the penetration of the cable structure.
However, in the documents, there is no suggestion of coping with collision of the cable connector with an inner surface of the elongated tube in the course of the penetration. A problem arises in possibility of occurrence of damages of the terminal pattern and the land pattern as important elements in the course of penetration in the elongated tube.

Cable connector for endoscope apparatus and method of producing endoscope apparatus


A page turning device positionable on a finger tip of a wearer includes a finger sleeve of elastomeric material configured to be fitted onto the finger. A pad is affixed to the sleeve or incorporated into the sleeve, and includes a tacky outer surface configured to capture and lift a paper for movement thereof.

In the handling of paper the finger tip plays an integral role in the turning pages of books, magazines or coloring books, handling flash cards or playing cards. The paper is moved by a frictional force interacting between the paper the finger tip, where the finger tip applies a compressive force to the paper to engage the paper.
However, where large volumes of papers are to be handled the finger can become easily fatigued. This can be especially true in banking, clerical, and secretarially work. Furthermore, individuals with limitations in the use of fingers, hands or arms frequently encounter problems performing this simple act.
A number of devices have been developed which can aid a wearer in the handling of papers. U.S. Pat. No. 942,003 discloses a finger pad which is worn on the finger tip of a wearer and can be used to create an increased friction between the finger and the paper. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,717,799 discloses a plastic finger pad that is especially designed for use by bank tellers and other. However, these devices still require the application of a compressive force to the paper.


This invention relates to a process for production of middle distillates having biodegradability properties. More particularly, this invention relates to a process for production of middle distillates produced from a mainly paraffinic synthetic crude which is produced by the reaction of CO and H2, typically by the Fischer-Tropsch (FT) process. The middle distillate produced according to the process of the invention may be a diesel fuel, having an aromatics content of less than 9%, as determined by the ASTM D 5186 or IP 391 test method. The paraffinic chains of the middle distillate may be predominantly isoparaffins.

In recent years a trend has developed to produce products which are so called "environmentally friendly", one aspect of which is biodegradability. To this end various bodies, such as ISO and the OECD have developed test methods to quantify biodegradability. One such test is the CO2 evolution test method, also known as the modified Sturm OECD method 301B, which test for ready biodegradability. In terms of this test, compounds can be considered to be readily biodegradable if they reach 60% biodegradation within 28 days.
Currently available middle distillates, typically crude oil derived diesel fuels, such as US 2-D grade (low sulphur No. 2-D grade for diesel fuel oil as specified in ASTM D 975-94) and/or CARB (California Air Resources Board 1993 specification) grade diesel, do not meet the biodegradability requirements of the abovementioned biodegradability test.
The prior art teaches in ZA 96/9890 that high biodegradability of hydrocarbon base oils could be derived from the presence of predominantly mono-methyl branching on the paraffinic carbon backbone. U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,596 discloses a non-toxic, biodegradable well fluid comprising 98% (mass) n-paraffins and less than 1% (mass) monocyclic aromatics as well as other olefinic components. The biodegradability of the well fluid in the US patent can not be related back to the nature of the paraffinic molecules due to the fact that biodegradability is enhanced through branching and not through linear n-paraffinic molecules. Further, WO 92/14804 discloses a low aromatic diesel fuel which comprises mainly a mixture of hydrocarbons containing not more than 1% by volume of aromatic type hydrocarbons and less than 0.05% sulfur or sulfur compounds. The fuel is disclosed as reducing unwanted emissions and improving operational performance. The disclosure however does not address the issue of biodegradeability. Still further, WO 97/14769 discloses diesel fuels having excellent lubricity, oxidative stability and high cetane number produced from the non-shifting Fischer-Tropsch process. Again no mention is made regarding biodegradability and the disclosure of oxidative stability would indicate against biodegradability.
A need thus exists for a middle distillate cut, typically a diesel fuel, which is readily biodegradable as determined by the abovementioned biodegradability test.
Surprisingly, it has now been found, that a low aromatics content and a relatively high iso-paraffins to n-paraffins ratio contribute to ready biodegradability of middle distillates, such as diesel fuel.

Production of biodegradable middle distillates


A carbon nanotube semiconductor device includes at least one carbon nanotube disposed on an insulator portion of a substrate. The at least one carbon nanotube includes a non-doped channel portion interposed between a first doped source/drain portion and a second doped source/drain portion. A first source/drain contact stack is disposed on the first doped source/drain portion and an opposing second source/drain contact stack is disposed on the second doped source/drain portion. A replacement metal gate stack is interposed between the first and second source/drain contact stacks, and on the at least one carbon nanotube. The first and second doped source/drain portions are each vertically aligned with an inner edge of the first and second contact stacks, respectively.

The present invention relates to semiconductor device, and more specifically, to carbon nanotube (CNT) semiconductor devices.
Semiconductor devices having a robust self-aligned device structure are desirable when fabricating carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNTFETs). The robust self-alignment configuration is technologically relevant for highly integrated digital applications. For example, self-aligned devices improve uniformity of key parameters such as parasitic capacitance, thus enabling uniform operation of the transistors across a chip.
Self-aligned CNTFETs are typically fabricated by leveraging a pre-formed gate region as a mask when performing ion implantation to form the source and drain contacts. Since the gate serves as the mask, the source and drain contacts are formed in direct and consistent proximity to the gate, thereby providing a self-aligned CNTFET device. Current trends in self-aligned CNTFET devices have led to the implementation of doped extensions to enhance carrier injection into the channel, which in turn improves on-state performance. Enhanced carrier injection into the channel also suppresses ambipolar conduction, i.e., reduces ambipolar diffusion of carriers from the channel, so as to improve off-state device performance. As the size of CNTFET devices continue to decrease, however, it has become more difficult to maintain the uniformity of smaller doped extensions using conventional fabrication processes.

Self-aligned carbon nanotube transistor including source/drain extensions and top gate

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A refrigerator having a mounting structure to firmly fix an evaporator to the refrigerator. In the refrigerator including an evaporator and a cover to be coupled with the evaporator, the evaporator includes first fixing portions to be coupled with the cover and the cover includes second fixing portions to correspond to the first fixing portions. The evaporator and the cover are coupled with each other by the first and second fixing portions without separate fasteners.

1. Field
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and, more particularly, to a refrigerator having an evaporator mounting structure capable of improving the operation efficiency of the refrigerator.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a refrigerator includes a freezing compartment and a refrigerating compartment for keeping food, etc., cool by cold air that is introduced into the compartments after being heat exchanged by an evaporator. A machine room having a compressor and a condenser therein is provided in a lower position of a rear surface of the freezing or refrigerating compartment.
The refrigerating compartment, included in the above described general refrigerator, keeps food, etc., fresh at a temperature of approximately 3° C.˜5° C., and the freezing compartment freezes food, etc., and keeps the food frozen for a long term at a sub-zero temperature.
The refrigerator includes an evaporator to lower the temperature of the interior air of the freezing compartment and the refrigerating compartment. A drain device is located on the underside of the evaporator and arranged along an inner wall of a refrigerator body.
When fins, pipes, etc. of the evaporator are covered with frost during circulation of a refrigerant, a defrosting heater, mounted adjacent to the evaporator, is operated for a predetermined time to remove the frost. Water caused by defrosting is collected in a drain sump, and discharged to the outside through a drain hole.
In the related art, to fix the evaporator to the refrigerator, holders are provided at both lateral surfaces of the evaporator. The holders have upper ends formed with screw holes to fix the evaporator to the refrigerator body using fasteners such as screws, etc, and lower ends supported by the drain sump.
The above described evaporator mounting structure, however, has problems of a complicated fastening operation and long fastening time due to the use of the fasteners such as the screws, etc.
To solve the above described problems, Korean Utility Model Laid-open Publication No. 1999-0028752 discloses an evaporator mounting structure to seat an evaporator in a refrigerator body, and more particularly, in a drain sump without fasteners.
In the evaporator mounting structure for a refrigerator disclosed in the above Publication, each evaporator holder is formed at an upper end thereof with an inserting piece to be inserted into a refrigerator body, and at an outwardly-bent portion of a lower end thereof with an inserting hole. In a state wherein the inserting piece is inserted into a recess formed in the refrigerator body, the evaporator is moved downward until the inserting hole is caught by a corresponding supporting rib formed in a drain sump, so as to seat the evaporator in the drain sump.
Although the above described evaporator mounting structure does not use fasteners, it has a need for relatively complex mounts at the upper and lower ends of the evaporator holder for the mounting of the evaporator.
Further, the evaporator mounting structure has limited strength with respect to mounting of the evaporator, and may result in unwanted displacement of the evaporator.

Refrigerator and evaporator mounting structure therefor


There is provided a computer-implemented method of optimizing a query. An exemplary method comprises receiving a first request from an optimizer that specifies a table, a first predicate and a first sample size, wherein the optimizer is optimizing a relational query language statement that specifies the table and the first predicate. The exemplary method also comprises generating a sample table, comprising a first subset of rows from the table, based on the request. The exemplary method also comprises selecting a second subset of rows from the sample table based on the predicate. The exemplary method additionally comprises sending a count of rows in the second subset to the optimizer.

When processing a query, database management systems use statistical information in the form of column histograms that describes column data distributions in order to generate a good query plan for execution. While the query specifies what data is to be accessed, the query plan specifies how the data is to be accessed. The process of generating the query plan is referred to as optimization.
A histogram is a collection of non-overlapping intervals of the column values and a summary of the data distribution within each interval. Generally, histograms are adequate for good selectivity estimation of equality (for example, Country='Germany') and range predicates (e.g. Age<21) particularly when the data distribution is relatively uniform within the interval.
On the other hand, histograms may not provide good selectivity estimations of more complex predicates. For example, histograms can be insufficient for obtaining good selectivity estimates of equality and range predicates if the columns involved in the predicates are not independent or the data is not uniform. These histogram limitations may cause the database optimizer to generate a poor query plan, resulting in slow execution.

System and method for optimizing queries

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A portable material delivery apparatus for transporting and depositing a flowable material at a deposit site, including a vehicle and a hopper mounted on the vehicle for holding the material and having a lower opening for releasing the material. First and second circulating conveyors move the material released from the hopper to the deposit site. The first conveyor is fixed beneath the hopper. The second conveyor is vertically tiltable and laterally rotatable relative to the first conveyor. The apparatus includes a control station with an operator platform and controls for controlling the conveyors. The control station is mounted to and is movable with the second conveyor as it tilts and rotates. The control station is positioned such that a single operator standing on the operator platform can operate the controls while directly observing the material moving on the second conveyor and being ejected toward the deposit site.

Explosive blasting in construction and mining operations requires drilling a large number of blast holes into the ground, typically in a grid pattern across the entire blast site, placing explosive charges into the holes and then detonating the charges. The explosion fragments solid rock by sending shock waves through the ground, which makes the process of removing the rock significantly easier.
Before the explosives are detonated, the blast holes are covered with non-volatile matter, such as crushed gravel and water, in a process commonly referred to as stemming. Each of the blast holes is stemmed to prevent high velocity explosive blast gases from escaping through the top of the blast holes. Minimizing or preventing the escape of the blast gases is important for at least two reasons. First, creating the shock wave that fragments rock requires a buildup of pressurized gas. If the blast gases were permitted to escape out of the blast hole, the effectiveness of the blast would be greatly diminished. Second, stemming the blast holes makes the detonation much safer by minimizing the amount of material that is projected from the blast hole.
Often times the stemming process is carried out using front end loaders, track hoes, skid loaders, etc. Other times, due to the blast site conditions, hand carrying buckets of stemming material to each blast hole and pouring the material into the hole is required. An advantage of this method is that the worker can inspect the material as it fills the hole. This is important because material that is too large or foreign materials may cause the blast to become less effective or even dangerous. Given the large number of blast holes that are present at each blast site, the stemming process has historically been very labor intensive and time consuming.
Another method for stemming holes has been to fill a large dump truck. This process involves, for example, filling the truck with stemming material using a front loader, driving the truck to the blast site, pouring the stemming material into a blast hole using a conveyor system mounted to the truck, and then driving to the next blast hole and repeating the filling process. However, using this method does not provide an opportunity for the truck operator to inspect the stemming material as it fills the hole. Also, due to their large size, these types of large trucks are not well suited for sites have restricted or limited space.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus that enables stemming material to be quickly and conveniently poured into a blasting hole in locations having restricted or limited space and that allows a worker to directly inspect the material as it is poured.


Systems and apparatus for cleaning swimming pools or other vessels are disclosed. Exemplary systems may include an automatic swimming pool cleaner adapted not only to filter debris from water mechanically, but to dispense water sanitizing chemicals as well. Fluid drawn into the cleaner in operation contacts or otherwise passes through media containing the chemicals, purifying the fluid at least partially within the cleaner itself.

Multitudes of patents exist for automatic swimming pool cleaners and components of such cleaners. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,642,833 to Stoltz, et al. and 4,742,593 to Kallenbach, for example, illustrate and describe various pool cleaners and valves useful in their operation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,382 to Kallenbach discloses other such pool cleaners, while U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,728 to Atkins illustrates certain components of automatic pool cleaners. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,317,777 to Stoltz and 5,450,645 to Atkins describe yet other exemplary pool cleaners and components.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,809 to Roumagnac details, in some embodiments, an automatic swimming pool cleaner designed to be connected to the "water recycle" or "return" mouth of a swimming pool. This cleaner, generically categorized as a "pressure-side" cleaner, receives pressurized water entering the pool through the return mouth. The pressurized water in turn enters the cleaner, passes through an injection orifice, and is exhausted through a tube or pipe to propel the cleaner about surfaces of a pool. The flow of pressurized water within the cleaner additionally lowers the pressure therein, aspirating debris-laden water into an orifice denoted the "aspiration mouth." From the aspiration mouth the debris-laden water passes through a filter inside the cleaner (thus removing debris from the water), thereafter joining the pressurized water being exhausted through the tube or pipe.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,546,982 to Clark, et al. discloses improved versions of cleaners of the Roumagnac patent. An automatic pool cleaner described in the Clark, et al. patent includes a series of curved wipers protruding from its bottom. The wipers spiral inward toward a central inlet (or "aspiration mouth" in the nomenclature of the Roumagnac patent), causing debris-laden water to flow in the form of a vortex about the inlet when the cleaner operates. As with other existing automatic swimming pool cleaners, those illustrated in the Clark, et al. patent remove the debris from the flowing water mechanically.
None of these automatic pool cleaners thus operates to sanitize or otherwise treat pool water chemically. Instead, pool water is traditionally treated chemically through placing chlorine-containing tablets in the pump assembly of the pool, for example, and by pouring algicide or other liquids (or granulated solids) directly into the pool volume. Positioning chlorine tablets in a pump assembly can be both time consuming and tedious, however, often prompting consumers to forego the process entirely and simply drop the tablets in the skimmer baskets of their pools. Alternatively, commercial versions of purification vessels such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,802 to Archer, et al. may be plumbed externally of the pools, often adjacent swimming pool pumps. While these latter vessels are useful in sanitizing pool water, none contemplates automatically treating water both chemically and mechanically within the pool itself.

Automatic swimming pool cleaners and associated components and systems