A game machine and information storage medium which can change at least one of game termination numbers specified for items including a lap number, life, time limit, player""s vehicles, game points and game stages, for player""s benefit, in comparison with the normal game termination number to be set by reception of a game charge for a normal one play of the game. This game machine comprises: an additional charge processing section for receiving an additional charge before game termination; a game termination number setting section for setting the game termination number for player""s benefit in comparison with the normal game termination number set by reception of a game charge for a normal one play of the game; and a game termination processing section for processing for terminating the game when a specific number of laps or a time limit reaches the changed game termination number.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a game machine and information storage medium.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There is generally known a popular racing game in which a player gets on and controls a mimic mover imitating a racing car or motorcycle to run along a predetermined course.
In such a racing game machine, efforts have been made to provide a more realistically formed mover housing, to make the controllability more complex and difficult and to set a more difficult course, such that the player can more excitingly enjoy the game with an increased reality. However, such a complex, difficult game machine requires the improved skill in the player. Thus, a player may appear who wants to familiarize the operational feel more rapidly by more running a rounding course and longer playing the game.
However, the racing game of the prior art had been preset to limit one play with respect to the maximum number of laps and the acceptable time period. If a given number of laps are attained or the time limit is elapsed, the game will be terminated. If the player wants to play the game more or longer, he or she must re-start the game. In the re-started game, the player will play the game from its initial state.
There is also known a game machine that can be played by a player in a continue manner. In such a continue type game machine, the player can replay the game subsequently from the time point at which the game has been terminated, if another coin is thrown into the machine after the previous termination of game. Even in such a case, however, the player will be put a chill on the game since it has been interrupted.
Speaking again, the prior art game must forcedly be interrupted if the player wants to enjoy the game more or longer. This greatly reduces the pleasure of the game to put the player off the game.
In view of the aforementioned problems in the prior art, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a game machine and information storage medium which can change at least one of game termination numbers specified for items including a lap number, life, time limit, player""s vehicles, game points and game stages, for player""s benefit, in comparison with the normal game termination number to be set by reception of a game charge for a normal one play of the game.
(1) According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game machine for a game which is terminated when at least one of given items including a lap number, life, a play time, player""s vehicles, game points and game stages, reaches a given game termination number specified for each item, the game machine comprising: means for receiving an additional game charge before game termination; means for changing the game termination number for the player""s benefit, in response to reception of an additional game charge before game termination, in comparison with the normal game termination number to be set by reception of a game charge for a normal one play of the game; and means for processing for terminating the game when at least one of the items reaches the changed game termination number.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information storage medium comprising information for implementing above-described means.
In a game which is terminated when a play time reaches a given time limit, for example, this time limit is the game termination number. In a game which is terminated when the number of cleared game stages reaches a given number, this number is the game termination number.
According to the above description, reception of an additional game charge by the player can change the game termination number for player""s benefit in comparison with that in the normal one play of the game. The additional game charge could be inserted before starting the game or during the game.
The additional charge may be received in any form of coin, bill or card, or imitation money.
Then, the game is terminated when any of the items reaches the changed game termination number.
In this way, the player can play the game with increased number of laps, life, time limit, player""s vehicles, game points or game stages in comparison with those in the normal one-play of the game, for example, without interruption of the game as in the replay game or Continue-game.
Therefore, the player can concentrate his or her attention on the game for desired time. Moreover, the player""s skill in operation can be improved by continuously playing the game.
(2) According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game machine for a game which is terminated when at least one of given items including a lap number, life, a play time, player""s vehicles, game points and game stages, reaches a given game termination number specified for each time, the game machine comprising: means for receiving different amount of charges as a game charge for starting the game; means for setting the game termination number in accordance with the amount of received charges; and means for processing for terminating the game when at least one of the items reaches the game termination number set in accordance with the amount of received charges.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information storage medium comprising information for implementing said means.
In a game which is terminated when a play time reaches a given time limit, for example, this time limit is the game termination number. In a game which is terminated when the number of cleared game stages reaches a given number, this number is the game termination number.
According to the above description, different amount of charges can be received as a game charge and the game termination number is set in accordance with the amount of received charges. Therefore, by inserting a game charge for desired game conditions, the player can set the game termination number desirably.
The game charge may be received in any form of coin, bill or card, or imitation money.
Then, the game is terminated when any of the items reaches the game termination number set according to the amount of received charges.
In this way, the player can play the game until any of items including a lap number, life, a play time, player""s vehicles, game points or game stages reaches the game termination number set in accordance with the amount of received charges, for example, without interruption of the game as in the replay game or continuous game.
Therefore, the player can concentrate his or her attention on the game for desired time. Moreover, the player""s skill in operation can be improved by continuously playing the game.
(3) According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game machine for a game which is terminated when a play time reaches a given time limit, the game machine comprising: means for receiving an additional game charge before game termination; means for changing the time limit for the player""s benefit, in response to reception of an additional game charge before game termination, in comparison with the normal time limit to be set by reception of a game charge for a normal one play of the game; and means for processing for terminating the game when the play time reaches the changed time limit.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information storage medium comprising information for implementing said means.
In this way, reception of an additional game charge by the player can change the time limit for player""s benefit in comparison with the normal time limit for a normal one play of the game. The additional game charge may be inserted before starting the game or during the game.
The additional charge may be received in any form of coin, bill, or card, or imitation money.
Then, the game is terminated when the play time reaches the changed time limit.
In this way, the player can play the game for the time limit longer than the normal time limit for one game play, without interruption of the game as in the replay game or continuous game.
Therefore, the player can concentrate his or her attention on the game for desired time. Moreover, the player""s skill in operation can be improved by continuously playing the game.
(4) According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game machine for a game which is terminated when a play time reaches a given time limit, the game machine comprising: means for receiving different amount of charges as a game charge for starting the game; means for setting the time limit in accordance with the amount of received charges; and means for processing for terminating the game when the play time reaches the time limit set in accordance with the amount of received charges.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information storage medium comprising information for implementing said means.
In this way, different amount of charges can be received as a game charge and the time limit is set in accordance with the amount of received charges. Therefore, by inserting a game charge for desired time limit, the player can set the time limit desirably.
The game charge may be received in any form of coin, bill or card, or imitation money.
Then, the game is terminated when the play time reaches the time limit set according to the amount of received charges.
In this way, the player can play the game for the time limit set in accordance with the amount of received charges, without interruption of the game as in the replay game or continuous game.
Therefore, the player can concentrate his or her attention on the game for the time limit set according to the amount of received charges, without being troubled by interruption. Moreover, the player""s skill in operation can be improved by continuously playing the game for desired time.
(5) According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game machine for a game which is terminated when a moving body operated by a player has moved a specific number of laps on a game course, the game machine comprising: means for receiving an additional game charge before game termination; means for changing the specific number of laps for the player""s benefit, in response to reception of an additional game charge before game termination, in comparison with the normal specific number of laps to be set by reception of a game charge for a normal one play of the game; and means for processing for terminating the game when the moving body operated by the player has moved the changed specific number of laps on the game course.
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information storage medium comprising information for implementing said means.
In this case, a specific number of laps is used as the game termination number. The game is terminated when the moving body has moved the changed number of laps on the game course.
In this way, reception of an additional game charge by the player can change the specific number of laps for player""s benefit in comparison with the normal specific number of laps for a normal one play of the game. The additional game charge may be inserted before starting the game or during the game.
The additional charge may be received in any form of coin, bill, or card, or imitation money.
Then, the game is terminated when the moving body operated by the player has moved the changed number of laps on the game course.
In this way, the player can play the game with a larger number of laps than the specific number of laps for the normal one game play, without interruption of the game as in the replay game or continuous game.
Therefore, the player can concentrate his or her attention on the game with a larger number of laps, without being troubled by interruption. Moreover, the player""s skill in operation can be improved by moving the moving body a larger number of laps.
(6) According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a game machine for a game which is terminated when a moving body operated by a player has moved a specific number of laps on a game course, the game machine comprising: means for receiving different amount of charges as a game charge for starting the game; means for setting the specific number of laps in accordance with the amount of received charges; and means for processing for terminating the game when the moving body operated by the player has moved on the game course the specific number of laps set in accordance with the amount of received charges.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information storage medium comprising information for implementing said means.
In this case, a specific number of laps is used as the game termination number. The game is terminated when the moving body has moved the changed number of laps on the game course.
In this way, different amount of charges can be received as a game charge and the specific number of laps is set in accordance with the amount of received charges. Therefore, by inserting a game charge for desired specific number of laps, the player can set the specific number of laps desirably.
The game charge may be received in any form of coin, bill or card, or imitation money.
Then, the game is terminated when the moving body operated by the player has moved the specific number of laps set in accordance with the amount of received charges.
In this way, the player can play the game with a specific number of laps set in accordance with the amount of received charges, without interruption of the game as in the replay game or continuous game.
Therefore, the player can concentrate his or her attention on the game with a specific number of laps set according to the amount of received charges, without being troubled by interruption. Moreover, the player""s skill in operation can be improved by moving the moving body a larger number of laps.

Game machine with extendible play criteria and information storage medium


A frequency control utilizing a reference oscillator and a signal controlled oscillator is disclosed. The frequency control maintains the frequency of an output signal at the same frequency as the reference oscillator if there is no signal present at a frequency control input. A signal at the frequency control input causes the frequency of the output signal to be varied accordingly. The frequency control contains a feedback loop which compares the output of the signal controlled oscillator with the fixed frequency of the output of the reference frequency oscillator. The frequency control of the present invention has particular applicability as a frequency control for parallel-connected AC systems.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to frequency control circuits and methods and, more particularly, to frequency control of alternating current systems having individual reference oscillators. The present invention is applicable for matching the frequencies of parallel connected alternating current generators, and for adjusting the frequency of an AC motor in accordance with a frequency control signal.
The present invention has particular application in the field of variable speed constant frequency generator systems used in any aircraft environment. The present invention allows the generator systems to be connected in parallel so as to generate output signals having a frequency which is the average of all the individual frequencies of the generator systems. The present invention may also be used to control the prime mover speed in conventional generating systems so as to adjust frequency of the output of each machine when the outputs are connected in parallel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The phase lock loop is a commonly used method of frequency control. In such phase lock loop systems, a master oscillator sets the system frequency, and all individual machines are then phase shifted with respect to this master oscillator in order to share the load. In this conventional method, the system maintains the master frequency. Such phase lock loop master oscillator systems work well during normal operation of parallel generator systems.
A major disadvantage of phase lock loop master oscillator systems is that if for any reason the master oscillator malfunctions, the entire system frequency will be lost. If this malfunction should occur in generator systems generating in parallel, such as a variable speed constant frequency (VSCF) system, there must be some backup means for providing a new master oscillator signal. When the master oscillator fails, however, logic circuitry must be provided to decide which of the oscillators of the other parallel systems is to become the new master oscillator for controlling the frequency of the entire parallel connected system.

Frequency control for paralleled AC systems


An evaporated fuel adsorbing apparatus for an engine intake passage includes a layer of activated carbon disposed in the engine intake passage for adsorbing evaporated fuel. The activated carbon includes activated carbon pellets having pores. At least one of an average pellet size and an average pore size of the activated carbon is varied in an intake gas flow direction of the engine intake passage. More particularly, an average pore size of a first portion of the activated carbon located in an atmosphere side portion of the layer is greater than an average pore size of a second portion of the activated carbon located in an engine side of the layer. An average pellet size of the first portion of the activated carbon is smaller than an average pellet size of the second portion of the activated carbon.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an evaporated fuel adsorbing apparatus for an intake passage of an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, a regulation about HC (hydrocarbon) released from a vehicle when it stops has been changed to be severe, and it has become a problem that when a vehicle temporarily stops, a fuel remaining in an engine cylinder and a fuel leaked from a fuel injector are evaporated and are released from the intake passage to an atmosphere.
In order to suppress release of the fuel, Japanese Patent Publication 2003-193917 proposes an evaporated fuel adsorbing apparatus where an evaporated fuel adsorbing apparatus including an activated carbon layer is disposed downstream of an air cleaner filter in an engine intake passage.
However, with the proposed evaporated fuel adsorbing apparatus, there is such a problem that when hydrocarbons of a large C-number (a number of carbon atoms included in an HC molecule is large, for example, greater than eight) contained in the atmosphere reach the activated carbon layer of the evaporated fuel adsorbing apparatus, the evaporated fuel adsorbing apparatus is likely to lose its primary ability of adsorbing the evaporated fuel flowing to the evaporated fuel adsorbing apparatus from an engine side in a relatively short period of time.

Evaporated fuel adsorbing apparatus for an engine intake passage


A mount assembly for a flat mirror or monitor has an outer frame fixed in a motor-vehicle roof and forming an opening, a member forming a side of the opening and pivotal in the frame about a horizontal first axis, and an inner frame fittable in the opening adjacent the member and carrying the flat mirror or monitor. A connector is pivotal in the member about a second axis transverse to the first axis. A slide joint secures the connector to the inner frame for movement of the inner frame parallel to the transverse second axis on the connector. The slide joint includes a slot formed in the connector and a screw seated in the movable frame and extending transversely through the slot.

The present invention relates to a swing-down ceiling mount usable in a motor vehicle. More particularly this invention concerns such a mount used to hold a vanity mirror, flat-screen monitor, or the like.
In order to mount a flat unit such as a vanity mirror or flat-screen monitor in a motor vehicle it is standard to secure it so it can be swung down from the roof, lying flush with the head liner when not in use. As a rule a simple pivot is provided so that the flat unit can be pivoted only about a horizontal axis extending perpendicular to the vehicle travel direction.
The problem with this is that it is often difficult for a person off to the side to use the mirror or get a straight-on view of the monitor, which latter is often mounted centrally. Thus a back-seat passenger is obligated to lean inward to see the monitor, even if there is no-one else viewing it. What is more, a person lying down in the back seat or inclined must deal with a perpendicular monitor, which can detract from viewing pleasure. Retrofitting such a system in a vehicle with a curved roof often requires that it be set offcenter in an inclined portion of the roof, so that when swung down it is not level.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved mount for a flat unit such as a monitor or mirror.
Another object is the provision of such an improved mount for a flat unit such as a monitor or mirror which overcomes the above-given disadvantages, that is which allows the monitor or mirror to be set in any of a multiplicity of different orientations.
A further object is to provide an improved flat-unit mount which can be mounted in nonlevel roof regions and still sit level or at any desired angle.
A mount assembly for a flat mirror or monitor has according to the invention an outer frame fixed in a motor-vehicle roof and forming an opening, a member forming a side of the opening and pivotal in the frame about a horizontal first axis, and an inner frame fittable in the opening adjacent the member and carrying the flat mirror or monitor. A connector is pivotal in the member about a second axis transverse to the first axis. A slide joint secures the connector to the inner frame for movement of the inner frame parallel to the transverse second axis on the connector.
Thus with this system the flat unitxe2x80x94monitor or mirrorxe2x80x94can be pivoted down, then pivoted about an upright axis to point it to either corner, and even slid up or down on the connector for best viewing angle. The orientation of the flat unit can therefore be adjusted for virtually any desired viewing angle or height.
The slide joint according to the invention includes a slot formed in the connector and extending parallel to the first axis and a screw seated in the movable frame and extending transversely through the slot. Edges of the slot are roughened for frictional engagement with a head of the screw. This makes it possible, when the inner frame has been pivoted down into a generally vertical position, to adjust the height of the inner frame and the mirror or monitor it carries.
The member in accordance with the invention is formed with a hole centered on the second axis and receiving a head of the connector. This hole can be a slot elongated parallel to the first axis and slidably receiving the connector so that the inner frame can move parallel to the first axis relative to the member and outer frame. Thus the entire inner frame can be pushed to one side or the other when, for instance, only one back-seat passenger wants to use the monitor or mirror.
The inner frame of the invention is formed with an edge notch through which the connector passes. In addition a pivot joint secures the connector to the inner frame for movement of the inner frame on the connector about a third axis transverse to the second axis and to a plane formed by the first and second axes. Thus, when mounted in an inclined part of the vehicle roof, the monitor can be set level. More particularly the pivot joint includes a transverse hole through the connector and a screw seated in the inner frame and extending along the third axis through the hole. The connector is formed with side edges and the inner mount has formations, e.g. unitary ribs or screwed-in stop bolts, engageable with the side edges for limiting pivoting of the inner frame about the third axis on the connector. In an embodiment the connector has a T-shaped part with arms forming the side edges. The T-shaped part is between the mirror or monitor and the inner frame.

Swing-down ceiling mount for motor-vehicle mirror or monitor


An image printing apparatus can print an image in which graininess is suppressed while using a color material of light blue. To achieve this, the color material of light blue satisfies the following condition.ΔLB≧(ΔLC−ΔLB)>0 andΔLB≧(ΔLM−ΔLB)>0Here, ΔLC represents a difference in lightness between cyan ink and a blank area, ΔLM represents a difference in lightness between magenta ink and the blank area, and ΔLB represents a difference in lightness between light blue ink and the blank area. Further, the color material of light blue satisfies the following condition.hC+(h(C+M)−hC)/2≦hB≦hM−(hM−h(C+M))/2Here, hC represents a hue of the cyan ink, hM represents a hue of the magenta ink, h(C+M) represents a hue of the image printed with the cyan ink and the magenta ink in the same amount, and hB represents a hue of the light blue ink.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image printing apparatus using color materials and an image printing method. In particular, the present invention relates to a color material for obtaining a smooth color image with reduced graininess.
Description of the Related Art
A printing apparatus for printing an image through a subtractive process by a pseudo halftoning method uses color materials of three primary colors for printing: cyan, magenta, and yellow. By adjusting the numbers of dots of the three primary colors and a balance among the three primary colors, various densities and colors are represented on a paper surface. Further, many color printing apparatuses use a black color material in addition to the above-mentioned three primary colors to improve contrast and color stability in an achromatic color image.
In an image printing apparatus using the pseudo halftoning method, graininess has been one of the problems to be solved. Recently, graininess has been made less visible, for example, by using a print head capable of ejecting a small droplet ink to reduce the size of a dot on the paper surface or by using ink having a higher lightness than cyan and magenta, such as light cyan ink and light magenta ink. However, preparing additional ink such as light cyan and light magenta may lead to upsizing of the apparatus and an increase in running costs.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-154240 discloses a method for preparing light blue instead of light cyan and light magenta by taking into consideration the fact that graininess caused by overlaying cyan ink and magenta ink, in particular, tends to be a problem associated with an image. Using light blue as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-154240 can effectively reduce graininess in an image while limiting the types of additional color materials to one.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-154240 discloses setting the lightness of light blue ink higher than that of cyan ink and magenta ink, but it does not particularly explain other features. Accordingly, even if graininess in, for example, a highlight in a blue image is reduced, graininess sometimes becomes conspicuous in other areas depending on gradations and hues. In particular, in a case where there is a great difference in lightness between light blue ink and cyan ink or magenta ink, graininess may be worse in an area in which cyan dots and magenta dots or blue dots formed by overlaying the cyan dots and the magenta dots are sparsely printed in a light blue image area.

Image printing apparatus and image printing method


Technologies are generally described to establish a hardware interconnect based communication between SSD controllers. According to some examples, a first solid state drive (SSD) controller and a second SSD controller are detected. The hardware interconnect is detected between the first SSD controller and the second SSD controller. Next, a communication connection between the first SSD controller and the second SSD controller is established through the hardware interconnect. The first SSD controller may be allowed to manage a flash controller of the second SSD controller for tasks that include a deduplication task and a low level redundant array of independent disks (RAID) task.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Solid state drive (SSD) technology is rapidly replacing hard disk drive (HDD) as non-volatile memory of choice in data centers and other environments. SSD based storage options may provide advantages over legacy storage solutions ranging from faster data access to increased data throughput. The scalability of SSDs to petabytes and above demands dedicated hardware and software to address various challenges associated with legacy architectures. For example, scalability may be limited due to a communication bottleneck arising from housekeeping tasks associated with flash memory. Storage tasks such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), backup, deduplication, defragmentation, garbage collection, and others may utilize substantial processing and networking resources available to an SSD.
Scalability of SSDs may also be limited by the need to maintain association between metadata and data. Maintaining a coherent and updated description of the data may be challenging or non-practical while scaling legacy SSD implementations. Yet another limitation on scaling of SSDs may include scaling of input and output (I/O) bandwidth with flash memory associated with an SSD controller.

Hardware interconnect based communication between solid state drive controllers


The present invention relates to an improved method for the preparation of iodonium salts. More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved method for the production of symmetric or asymmetric diaryliodonium triflate (trifluoromethane sulfonate) salts. The diaryliodonium salts of the present invention are useful as photoacid catalysts for use in acid-sensitive polymerization and in curing systems such as radiation curable release coating compositions.

The present invention relates to an improved method for the preparation of iodonium salts. More specifically, the present invention relates to an improved method for the production of symmetric or asymmetric diaryliodonium triflate (trifluoromethane sulfonate) salts. The diaryliodonium salts of the present invention are useful as photoacid catalysts for use in acid-sensitive polymerization and in curing systems such as radiation curable release coating compositions.
Iodonium salts and methods for their preparation have been described in the art. For example, Crivello, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,747 discloses cationically polymerizable compositions containing an organic material such as epoxides, vinyl ethers, and N-vinyl compounds and an effective amount of aryl onium trifluoromethane sulfonate salts such as triphenyl sulfonium trifluoromethane sulfonate and diphenyliodonium trifluoromethane sulfonate. These curable compositions are disclosed as being polymerizable under ultraviolet radiation.
Reineke, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,125,555, discloses trifluoromethanesulfonate esters which promote char formation in polymer compositions containing a monovinylidene aromatic monomer such as styrene and an ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic anhydride such as maleic anhydride. A method for the preparation of these trifluoromethanesulfonate esters is also described.
Crivello, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,469, teaches that epoxy monomers or prepolymers can be cationically polymerized by the use of certain radiationssensitive aromatic halonium salts. The radiation sensitive aromatic salts are disclosed as being diaryliodonium salts, and the radiation curable compositions are taught as being useful as sealants, coating compounds, and encapsulants.
Crivello, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,071 discloses a method for making diaryliodonium salts which are useful as photoinitiators for a variety of cationic polymerizable organic materials. In this method an aromatic iodo compound is reacted with an aryl organic aromatic compound in the presence of a peroxy organic acid and an organic sulfonic acid.
Miller, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,441 discloses a method for the preparation of iodonium and sulfonium triflates. In this method it is taught that the iodonium or sulfonium triflate is prepared by dissolving or slurring an iodonium or sulfonium halide in an organic solvent such as methylene chloride and reacting it with a trimethylsilyl triflate.
Dektar and Hacker, Journal of Organic Chemistry, 55, 639-647 (1990) discuss the photochemistry of diaryliodonium salts. Specifically, the photochemistry of diphenyl- and bis(4-methylphenyl)iodonium salts was investigated by product analysis, measurement of acid, and determination of the consumption of the iodonium salts. The similarities and differences between diaryliodonium and triarylsulfonium photochemistry is also described.
Umemoto et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,795 discloses (perfluoroalkyl)dibenzonium salts and a method for their preparation. These compounds are described as being useful as reagents for introducing perfluoroalkyl groups into various organic compounds.
Kitamura et al., Synthesis, 945-946, (1992), discloses a reagent prepared from iodosylbenzene and trifluoromethanesulfonic acid which reacts with aromatic compounds to give diaryliodonium triflates in good yields. The high reactivity of the reagent prepared is also disclosed. In this method a mixture of iodosobenzene and trifluoromethane sulfonic acid is made at 0.degree. C. and is then further contacted with the desired aromatic substrate. However, iodosobenzene can only be prepared by hydrolysis of iodobenzenediacetate. In contrast, the method of the instant invention is easier to practice and employs more available starting materials. Furthermore, the method of the instant invention treats iodoarenedicarboxylates with strong acids such as trifluoromethanesulfonic acid which leads to the formation of bonded dimers however, unexpectedly, these dimers react to form desired monomeric products.
Herzig, in German Patent Publication No. DE 4142327 teaches silane containing iodonium salts and a process for their preparation. These iodonium salts are disclosed as being suitable as photoinitiators for polymerizing cationically polymerizable organic substances such as epoxides, vinyl ethers, epoxy group containing organopolysiloxanes, alkenyloxy group (such as vinyloxy or propenyloxy) containing organopolysiloxanes, and olefins. However, none of the references described hereinabove disclose the unique method of preparing diaryliodonium salts of the instant invention.

Method for the preparation of iodonium salts


The lower end nozzle (1) comprises an adaptor plate (2), supporting feet (3) and a particle retention device (6) consisting of a filter plate pierced with holes and attached to the bottom face of the adaptor plate (2) over a substantial portion of its surface.

Pressurized-water nuclear reactors comprise a core consisting of prism-shaped assemblies arranged side by side in vertical position. The assemblies comprise a framework which is closed by means of end nozzles and in which are arranged the fuel rods held by spacer grids spaced apart from one another in the longitudinal direction of the assembly.
The spacer grids constitute a regular network, some locations of which are occupied by guide tubes intended for receiving the absorbent rods of control clusters ensuring the control of the power released by the core of the nuclear reactor. At least some of the guide tubes are attached to the two end nozzles of the assembly by means of their end parts and ensure the junction between the components of the framework and the rigidity of this framework.
One of the end nozzles of the assemblies, called the lower end nozzle, comes to rest on the lower core plate which is pierced with holes in the region of each of the assemblies, to allow the coolant water of the reactor to pass through the core in the vertical direction from the bottom upwards.
The coolant flow for the fuel rods passes through the adaptor plate of the lower end nozzle via apertures called water passages, which are either circular (of a diameter approximately 7 to 10 mm) or of oblong (apertures approximately 10 mm wide by 15 to 50 mm long). Debris which may be present in the primary circuit of the reactor is liable to be carried along by the circulating pressurized water, and if it is of small size (for example, less than 10 mm), this debris can pass through the adaptor plate of the lower end nozzle, the water passages of which have a large cross-section. This debris can become jammed between the fuel rods and the cells of the first grid, i.e., of the lowermost spacer grid holding the rods in a regular array. This debris, subjected to the axial and transverse hydraulic stresses which are high in this zone, can produce wear on the jacket of the fuel rod resulting in a loss of sealing of this jacket and an increase in the rate of activity of the primary circuit of the reactor.
Devices for filtering the coolant flow of the reactor, either during hot-running tests or during the operation of the reactor, are known in the art.
In the case of hot-running tests, the filter elements can be attached to the lower core plate and arranged thereon in the position of the fuel assemblies, before fuelling of the core, as described, for example, in FR-A-2,577,345.
In filtering during reactor operation, the filter elements are associated with the fuel assemblies and are generally arranged in their lower end nozzle. The filter elements fastened in the lower end nozzles of the fuel assemblies usually consist of sheet-metal or metal-wire structures making it possible to stop debris of a size smaller than the largest dimension of the cross-section of the passage between a fuel rod and a grid cell.
Such filter elements are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,664,880, U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,496 and EP-A-0,196,611.
Such devices can be complex and introduce a relatively high head loss into the circulation of the coolant flow through the fuel assembly.
Furthermore, these devices placed in the lower end nozzle of the assembly can be bulky and obstructive during loading and unloading of the core assemblies and during the dismounting and refitting of the guide tubes and lower end nozzle.
Some fuel assemblies of recent design comprise a set of guide tubes (for example 16 out of 24) which are attached both to the upper end nozzle and to the lower end nozzle of the assembly, the rigidity of which they ensure, and a set of guide tubes which are attached to the upper connector only, of the assembly. The guide tubes of the second set which are freely engaged in the adaptor plate of the lower end nozzle perform only a guide function, and the lower end nozzle has, in the extension of these tubes, apertures which remain free.

Lower end nozzle of a fuel assembly having a particle retention device and fuel assembly having such an end nozzle


A dual roll fabric welding or seaming machine is configured to seam pieces of sheet material to one another as the pieces move downstream. The machine includes modular gantries and various actor devices which may be readily mounted on any of the gantries to interact with the moving sheet material to achieve various functions, such as seaming pieces of sheet material together, forming hems, applying grommets to the sheet material, printing on the sheet material, connecting reinforcement strips or ropes to the sheet material and cutting the sheet material.

1. Technical Field
The technical field relates generally to seaming machines. More particularly, the technical field relates to a seaming machine or fabric welding machine and method of seaming two or more sheet segments together and performing other functions to manipulate the seamed sheet of material. Specifically, the technical field relates to a dual roll fabric welding machine with a modular configuration.
2. Background Information
Dual roll fabric welding machines are well known in the art. Typically, first and second rolls of sheet material are controlled to unwind and move downstream through the machine so that the two sheets of unwound material are seamed or welded together to form a single wider sheet. The machine then performs other functions to further manipulate or alter the seamed sheet material. One problem with such machines is the difficulty in setting them up for operation especially when there is a requirement to meet one specification and then reconfiguring the machine to meet a different specification.

Dual roll fabric welding machine and method of operation


A wiper arm for transmitting moment from drive to a wiping element for wiping a vehicle window has a hub member connected with a drive, a U-shaped body member pivotally connected with the hub member and having two lugs connected with one another by a web so as to form a space closed at its three sides, a wiper rod accommodated in this space of the body member and arranged to support the wiping element and to move in direction of elongation of the body member, a structural member accommodated in the space of the body member and connectable with the wiper rod, a prestressed spring member accommodated in the space of the body member and mounted on the hub member and the structural member so as to urge the wiper rod, and a cover member which is arranged pivotally relative to the body member so as to pivot to a closed position in which the cover member closes the space of the body member at its fourth side and arrests the wiper rod.

The present invention relates to a wiper arm of an arrangement for wiping a vehicle window. More particularly, it relates to a wiper arm for transmission movement from drive means to a wiping element for cleaning a vehicle window. Wiper arms of wiping arrangements of the above-mentioned general type are known in the art. A known wiper arm has a cover which is secured to a structural member for holding a tension spring in longitudinal direction and is undetachably connected with the same by bent tongues of an arm body member. In order to arrest a wiper rod, the cover is provided with an adjusting screw which is screwed against the wiper rod and requires a tool for its adjustment. A safety screw is further required which prevents unintentional loss of the adjustment screw and thereby prevents unintentional changes of the length of the wiper arm. The cover must also have such a thickness in the region of the threaded bore for the adjustment screw that the pressure force of the screw will be taken up from the cover without damaging the thread of a nut.

Wiper arm of an arrangement for wiping a vehicle window


A device and magazine are set for dispensing articles of value such as pre-paid telephone calling cards. The closed magazine has a gate moveable between a closed to an open position to permit articles to be dispensed therefrom by a dispensing mechanism. A one cycle gate operating mechanism is included which has an actuator moveable from a first position to a second position to secure the magazine to the dispensing mechanism and open the gate. Should the actuator be moved to close the gate, the gate is locked in the closed position and cannot be re-opened. Surreptitious opening of the gate to remove cards and then closing the gate prevents the gate from re-opening and prevents securing the magazine to the dispensing mechanism.

Devices for dispensing articles of value are generally known. Articles of value can be cash, value script, value credit cards, prepaid telephone calling cards and the like. One such device for dispensing credit and telephone cards is described in Abe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,587, disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. These devices include a dispensing mechanism adapted to move a card from a receptacle containing a plurality of cards retained in a stacked relationship. When the individual has paid for the card, or otherwise activated the mechanism, the dispensing mechanism removes a card from the receptacle and dispenses it. The dispensing mechanism is adapted to dispense one card at a time.
It is also known to provide such devices where they can receive and mount a magazine pre-loaded by the vendor with the value cards or other articles of value. A route operator mounts the magazine in the dispensing device and the articles are dispensed. One such magazine is as described in Kasper, U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,507. The pre-loaded magazine is loaded with cards and the magazine is locked closed. The locked and loaded magazine is mounted and secured to the dispensing mechanism. A catch is operated to latch the mechanism to the device. In response to operation of the catch, a gate on the magazine is opened to permit the cards to be dispensed.
A drawback of using pre-loaded magazines is that the route operator may surreptitiously remove cards or the other articles of value stored therein by either opening the gate, removing cards from the magazine and closing the gate prior to mounting the magazine at the dispensing mechanism or removing a magazine from the mechanism still loaded with cards, opening the gate to remove cards and closing the gate. The thief then sells or uses the stolen cards, thus depriving the route owner of the revenues. There is, accordingly, a need for a device and magazine which overcomes the drawbacks of prior devices by preventing such theft or by providing an indication of when such theft has occurred.

Device for dispensing articles of value and magazine therefor


A method for improving the conversion of isobutylene in the MTBE reaction process while simultaneously producing a substantially methanol-free MTBE utilizes an increased methanol to isobutylene molar ratio in the reaction process and methanol-free C4 hydrocarbons as reflux. The use of a methanol-free C4 hydrocarbon stream as reflux eliminates the excess methanol generated by increasing the methanol to isobutylene molar ratio without requiring a higher reflux ratio or changing operating conditions. The method permits isobutylene conversion of more than 98% while producing a purified MTBE with less than 0.5% methanol content.

Methyl ter-butyl ether (MTBE) is well recognized as a gasoline blending component. MTBE is desirable because it has a high octane and the oxygen in its molecule structure facilitates effective combustion of gasoline and suppresses CO formation. The use of MTBE in the production of gasoline for the protection of the environment and octane improvement has made it the fastest growing large volume chemical in the world.
MTBE is produced through the reaction of isobutylene with methanol over a catalyst. The isobutylene necessary for producing MTBE can be obtained from various sources. A common source for the isobutylene is through the dehydrogenation of isobutane. The reaction of isobutylene and methanol produces an effluent stream containing MTBE, excess methanol and miscellaneous C4 hydrocarbons. Generally, the effluent stream is fed to a debutanizer, distillation column where the MTBE product is recovered from the bottom and the remaining methanol forms an azeotrope with the C4's and is lifted overhead. Because the only method for removing methanol is by forming an azeotrope with the C4's, any excess methanol beyond that which will form an azeotrope with the C4's will be deposited in the MTBE product recovered from the bottom of the debutanizer. However, in order to meet certain purity standards, MTBE producers strive to eliminate excess methanol from the MTBE bottom product.
The technologies for producing MTBE from isobutylene are offered by several licensors. Each licensor has its own unique reaction step but utilizes a similar process for the purification of the effluent from the reactors. A conventional method for the purification of MTBE utilizes a portion of the overhead condensate as reflux to the debutanizer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,665,237 issued to Arakawa et al. on May 12, 1987, illustrates another process for producing purified MTBE through the reaction of isobutylene and methanol. In this patent, a purified MTBE is obtained by controlling the amount of methanol fed to the reaction process to an amount which will allow most of the unreacted methanol to be distilled as an azeotropic mixture with the C4 hydrocarbons.
While it is desirable to produce a substantially methanol-free MTBE, a main objective in the MTBE reaction process is to convert, as far as is possible, all isobutylene. A higher isobutylene conversion will result in the production of more MTBE. Any isobutylene which is not converted in the reaction process is typically recycled to the dehydrogenation process. The use of recycled unreacted isobutylene in the feedstock to the dehydrogenation process may cause unfavorable coke formation. Thus, in addition to producing more product, a higher isobutylene conversion would decrease the amount of unreacted isobutylene to be recycled and serve to protect the dehydrogenation process from unfavorable formations. Also, because the operating conditions of the dehydrogenation plant have been set to obtain optimum conversion while utilizing isobutane as feedstock, the introduction of recycled unreacted isobutylene into the dehydrogenation process may shift the equilibrium of the reaction and reduce the conversion rate. For these reasons, isobutylene conversion of 99% or more in the MTBE reaction process is extremely desirable.
It is well known that a large excess of methanol at the reaction stage will increase the conversion of isobutylene. With respect to the MTBE reaction process, the temperature and methanol to isobutylene molar ratio affect the conversion of isobutylene. While a lower temperature slightly favors isobutylene conversion, a high methanol to isobutylene molar ratio greatly increases the conversion of isobutylene. Therefore, increasing the methanol to isobutylene molar ratio is the most effective way to increase conversion. However, increasing the feed of methanol in the reaction process results in methanol over the amount which can form an azeotrope with the C4 hydrocarbons and the excess methanol is deposited in the MTBE product. Thus, the MTBE process cannot be operated effectively at a higher molar ratio if the increased ratio results in excess methanol content in the MTBE product.
The methanol to C4 hydrocarbon ratio at which all unreacted methanol can form an azeotrope with the C4 hydrocarbons is 0.065 at 95 psig. It has been found that utilizing a methanol to isobutylene molar ratio greater than 1.03 in the MTBE reaction will increase the unreacted methanol to C4 hydrocarbon ratio beyond the azeotropic ratio of 0.065 and will result in excess methanol in the bottom product. However, the use of a molar ratio of 1.03, even at optimized conditions, will result in an isobutylene conversion rate of less than 97%. Further, although the azeotropic concentration ratio can be increased above 0.065 by increasing the operating pressure, the increased molar ratio which can be used as a result of utilizing a higher operating pressure is not sufficient to achieve a 98% or 99% conversion of isobutylene.
An isobutylene conversion rate of more than 98% can be obtained by using a methanol to isobutylene molar ratio greater than 1.06 in the MTBE reaction process. However, increasing the methanol to isobutylene molar ratio to improve the conversion of isobutylene to more than 98% yields MTBE product with an undesirable methanol content. Conversely, utilizing a lower molar ratio, in order to maintain the methanol content at a level which can form azeotropes with the C4's, results in the decreased conversion of isobutylene.
While there are several methods for producing MTBE, the prior art MTBE production techniques do not address the problem of achieving higher conversion of isobutylene while maintaining production of MTBE with a favorable product purity. The conventional method for purifying MTBE does not effectively remove large amounts of excess methanol produced at higher isobutylene conversion rates since the overhead condensate used as reflux is already at its azeotropic concentration. Therefore, there is a need for a method which produces a substantially methanol-free MTBE while simultaneously achieving higher isobutylene conversion.

Method for improving conversion of isobutylene in MTBE process


A waterproof connector includes tabs (22) extending forward from terminal bodies (21) of male terminal fittings (20) with their centers higher than centers (21C) of the terminal bodies (21) in a height direction. A housing (10) has terminal accommodation chambers (12) for accommodating the terminal bodies (21) and connecting portions (23). A one-piece rubber plug (40) is in a rear part of the housing (10) and has seal holes (41). A rear holder (60) is behind the rubber plug (40) and has through holes (61) communicating with the seal holes (41). Inner peripheral lips (43F, 43R) on an inner periphery of each seal hole (41) closely contact an outer periphery of a wire (30) in a liquid-tight manner with the terminal body (21) and a front part (30F) of the wire (30) accommodated in the terminal accommodation chamber (12). The axes of through holes (61are lower than the axes of terminal accommodation chambers (12).

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a waterproof connector.
Related Art
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2015-065039 discloses a waterproof connector with male terminal fittings fixed to end parts of coated wires and a one-piece rubber plug mounted in a rear of a housing. The rubber plug has seal holes and each male terminal fitting is mounted into a terminal accommodation chamber of the housing by being inserted through the seal hole. With the male terminal fittings mounted in the housing, the coated wires pass through the seal holes and lips formed on the inner peripheries of the seal holes closely contact the outer peripheries of the coated wires in a liquid-tight manner.
The male terminal fitting is long and narrow in a front-rear direction and has a terminal body between front and rear ends. A long narrow tab extends forward from the terminal body, and the coated wire is fixed to a wire connecting portion at the rear of the terminal body. Axial heights of the coated wire and the seal hole substantially match to ensure sealing. However, the tab is deviated vertically from the axes of the coated wire and the seal hole due to machining reasons or the like. Thus, the lips of the seal hole may deform improperly deformed due interference of the tab when the male terminal fitting is inserted through the seal hole.
The invention was completed on the basis of the above situation and aims to prevent improper deformation of lips of a seal hole due to the interference of a tab.

Waterproof connector with tabs extending forward from terminal bodies with their centers at higher positions than those of the terminal bodies


A novel ergonomic keyboard provides improved user comfort while maintaining a configuration sufficiently close to conventional keyboards to minimize the need for retraining of experienced keyboard users. The novel keyboard is arcuate, with central keys situated closer to the user, and sloped in two directions, with keys sloping up toward the center and sloping up away from the user's position.

A problem associated with conventional keyboards, Repetitive Stress Injury (also known as Repetitive Motion Injury or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome) ("RSI") has received considerable attention. A discussion of the problem is set forth in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,384 (Ergonomic-interface keyboard system) issued Aug. 11, 1992 to Spencer and Albert, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Attempts to address the RSI problem include a number of issued United States Patents, each of which are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,384 (Ergonomic-Interface Keyboard System), issued Aug. 11, 1992 to Spencer and Albert, discloses a keyboard which is split into two laterally spaced, vertically oriented halves, coupled with visual-reference mirrors that allow the user to visually reference the keyboard surface. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,533 (Data Input System Using A Split Keyboard), issued Mar. 29, 1983 to McCall, discloses a divided keyboard set upon a common transverse platen which enable the user to space and orient horizontal keypads at a comfortable interval. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,573 (Alpha-Numeric Keyboard), issued Apr. 3, 1990 to Retter, discloses a keyboard arranged into two separate horizontal keypads which feature portions wherein the keys are set on a vertical plane. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,196 (Keyboard Accessor) issued Apr. 2, 1991 to Gross, discloses dual laterally adjustable horizontal hand-palm rests relative to a substantially conventional horizontal keyboard. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,005 (Splitable-Keyboard For Word-processing Typing And Other Information-input Systems), issued Apr. 28, 1987 to Lahr, discloses a keyboard in which two keypads may be moved apart and pivotally adjusted toward 45 degrees of slope. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,747 (Keyboard), issued Jul. 14, 1992 to Hutchinson, discloses a keyboard in which the rows of keys are arranged in a chevron shape. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,086 (Adjustable Word Processor Work Station), issued May 7, 1985 to Kwiecinski and Yauger, discloses a work station for a word processing system, the keyboard of which may be adjusted to limited heights and limited angular adjustment. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,073,050 (Ergonomic Keyboard Apparatus), issued Dec. 17, 1991 to Andrews, discloses another split keyboard which provides means for tilting the two halves. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,030 (Ergonomically Designed Keyboard), issued May 21, 1991 to Crews, discloses a keyboard inclined at an angle substantially equal to the inclination of the forearm of the user. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,124 (Keyboard Having Variable Inclination Of The Key Plant), issued Apr. 14, 1987 to Bertina, disclosed another keyboard which may be tilted. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,402,624 (Device For Adjusting The Slope Of A Keyboard), issued Sep. 6, 1983 to Stahl, discloses a device for changing the angle of inclination of the working face of a keyboard. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,634 (Keyboard Arrangement), issued Nov. 20, 1984 to Frey, discloses a keyboard subdivided into two keyfields which rise from the operator side of the keyboard and which enclose an angle open towards the operator but which are mounted on a substantially rectangular support. Frey notes that other arrays of keys are possible, including arc-like rows with the concave side of the arcs facing the user. While Frey states that this would result in a better adaptation to the different lengths of the fingers, he also notes that "a consistent realization of this principle . . . would result in different distances of the keys in the different rows" and provides no solution for this drawback. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,945,482 (Orthogonal Input Keyboards), issued Mar. 23, 1976 to Einbinder, discloses an orthogonal ten-finger keyboard (a plurality of vertically oriented keys adjacent to horizontal home keys). While Einbinder also suggests differences in key top heights to compensate for differences in finger lengths, the height of keys operated by the little finger are tallest, followed by keys operated by the fourth finger, precisely the opposite arrangement of the present invention. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,681 (Adjustable Keyboard), issued Jul. 1, 1986 to Hodges, discloses a divided keyboard in which each key is separately adjustable angularly, laterally and in height. The Hodges invention could, of course, be employed to create the variation in heights taught by the present invention, but Hodges does not disclose or motivate any deviation from the rectangular arrangement of keys. In fact, Hodges specifically calls for a keyboard "mounted upon a rigid, flat, rectangular support". PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,343 (Compressible/Expandable Keyboard With Adjustable Key Spacing), issued Aug. 25, 1992 to Roylance, discloses a keyboard with adjustable spacing between the keys for the purpose of allowing a full-size keyboard to be compressed for storage. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,520 (Key Holding Structure Of Keyboard With Curved Operating Surface Of Keys), issued Apr. 5, 1988 to Suzuki and Takagi, discloses a keyboard having a downwardly curved keyboard surface which parallels a downwardly curved key holder plate. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,528,428 (Key-Holding Structure Of Keyboard With Curved Operating Surface Of Keys), issued Jul. 9, 1985 to Gotoh and reissued Jul. 4, 1989 (RE 32,974), discloses a keyboard with a curved operating surface wherein the top faces of its keys define a downwardly convex profile in cross-section.
In addition, the following United States Patents provide keyboards designed for comfort of the user. Again, these are incorporated herein by reference.
Each of these disclosures provide for tilting the entire keyboard while maintaining the essentially planar and rectangular nature of the keyboard itself.
A number of the individual features of the present invention may be found, although not in the combination disclosed and claimed herein, in the following United States Patents, each of which is incorporated herein by reference.


Provided is a semiconductor device which can generate a new test pattern even after design and have a reduced footprint of a circuit not used in normal operation. The semiconductor device includes a first integrated circuit and a second integrated circuit. The first integrated circuit includes a memory circuit that stores data and a plurality of circuits that make a signal for an operation test of the second integrated circuit. The signal is made when the continuity between the plurality of circuits is controlled by the memory circuit according to the data. In the second integrated circuit, the memory circuit is used as a buffer memory device after the operation test is conducted according to the signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an object, a method, or a manufacturing method. In addition, the present invention relates to a process, a machine, manufacture, or a composition of matter. In particular, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a semiconductor device, a display device, a light-emitting device, a power storage device, a memory device, a driving method thereof, or a manufacturing method thereof. In particular, one embodiment of the present invention relates to a semiconductor device into which a test circuit is incorporated.
2. Description of the Related Art
A built-in self-test (BIST) is a test mechanism incorporating a function of a circuit tester, which is a semiconductor-testing device, into an integrated circuit. BIST is known to reduce cost for the operation test of a semiconductor device and to achieve a high-speed operation test. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) is used for a self-testing (BIST) circuit.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


The apparatus for converting an information signal from a time to a variable spectral representation includes a means for windowing the information signal, a means for converting the windowed information signal to a spectral representation, and a means for weighting a set of information signal spectral coefficients with several sets of complex base function coefficients provided from a means for providing the sets of base function coefficients. The sets of base function coefficients are derived from base functions of various frequencies by windowing and transform, wherein several sets of base function coefficients are provided for one and the same base function for base functions of higher frequencies, wherein the windows for providing these sets are related to various time portions of the base function. The variable spectral representation exhibits variable bandwidth of the variable spectral coefficients, which are efficient and accurate to calculate and especially suited for music analysis purposes.

The variety of musical presentations and the number of tastes in music of the audience have grown equally in the last few years. In particular, the interest in music is growing in the population due to the rapid advances in storing and further distributing pieces of music. Thus, the digital storage has made it possible to copy pieces of music as often as one likes without loss in quality. The most prominent example for this is the CD, which has almost completely superseded records. Recently, DVDs are also becoming increasingly popular, since they do not only enable the presentation of stereo music, but also multi-channel music, i.e. the known 5.1 surround format, for example.
Previously, the main focus was on the improvement of the sound quality and in the improvement of the distribution methods. But the increasing expansion of the Internet and digital broadcasting has been accompanied by new demands for a pre-filtering of the large amounts of music data available for the individual people. In this connection, the metadata concept, i.e. providing data via music data, reaches a new dimension. While descriptive data previously have been generated manually and added to the corresponding piece of music, automatic means to objectively analyze the content of a piece of music are being developed. Standardization methods in this field are known by the keyword "MPEG-7".
Thus, achievements of this music analysis are to be seen in an efficient music summary or in a format-independent association of metadata with pieces of music. An objective of the automatic generation of metadata also consists in the ability to extract features from the original content, which are related to the taste in music of the user. For example, it is known to use extracted features of pieces of music to train a music provision system in that it categorizes incoming music into different musical genres.
In order to specify the musical content in manageable and yet searchable manner, i.e. in order to provide data that can be read and interpreted both by humans and by machines, reference has to be made to semantically meaningful properties of the audio signal. Such properties are the tone of instruments, the melody contained in a piece, the tempo, the rhythm, or the harmony of a piece, for example. In this connection, particularly the harmony feature is of special significance, since its importance is meaningful as an indicator for a mood of a musical passage. A piece is perceived differently in terms of feeling by a listener, depending on whether it is dissonant or harmonic, or whether it is written in a major key or in a minor key. At the same time, the harmony gives hints to the structural diversity of the available music material, for example whether there are quick and unusual chord changes, or whether there are repetitive properties in the chord structure.
The automatic expansion of polyphonic notes to full chords is known from musical tone synthesis. Modern synthesizers and keyboards are capable of automatically accompanying a player by analyzing their playing in real time and by generating a bass accompaniment, for example. The rules employed by such synthesizers or keyboards may also be applied to notes recovered from polyphonic music, even if not all notes can be recovered yet due to technical imperfections, in order to finally find dominant chords in an examined piece of music.
Thus, it is one object to analyze pieces of music not already present in musical notation or as a MIDI file, but present in form or their acoustic/electric waveforms, in order to extract individual notes from the examined piece of music due to waveform present in the time domain. The objective hereof lies in the melodic transcription of polyphonic music, i.e. ultimately the generation of a complete musical notation from a time domain representation of the music, which ultimately is a series of samples, as it is stored on a CD, for example, or is present in an mp3 file in compressed/encoded manner, for example.
A musical notation of a piece of music may in a way be considered a frequency domain representation, since the piece of music is not given by a waveform in the time domain but by a series of notes or chords, i.e. several concurrent notes, which is written in the frequency domain, with the note lines here being the frequency range scale.
At the same time, a musical notation also includes, however, time information in that a note is to be played either longer or shorter due to its symbol. The musical notation does therefore not place too much importance on a pure frequency domain representation, i.e. the representation of an amplitude at a special frequency, even though amplitude information is also given. This information is, however, not specified, but generally as information, whether a portion of the piece of music, i.e. some bars or notes of a musical notation, for example, are to be played loudly (forte) or quietly (piano).
In classical music, in particular, but also in modern music, it can be assumed that—apart from percussive portions—all notes/tones lie in a predefined note raster. Thus, in a correctly played piece of music not all frequencies can be present, but only the frequencies permitted by the musical notation. In the western note scale, one octave is divided into twelve halftones. These twelve halftones are, however, not arranged at a constant spacing—with reference to the frequency. Instead, in the tempered mood, as it is known due to the "Well-Tempered Clavier" by Johann Sebastian Bach, for example, a sequence of tones is employed, which is such that the "quality" or the "Q factor" is constant for each tone. This means that a frequency value divided by the bandwidth associated with this frequency value is constant for every tone. Tones with low frequencies have small bandwidths, whereas tones with high frequencies have great bandwidths.
This "geometric" notes classification is exemplarily illustrated in FIG. 2 in the left column. The calculation rule starting from a certain minimum frequency, which has arbitrarily been assumed as 46 Hz in the example shown in FIG. 2, is shown in the left upper field of FIG. 2. It can be seen that the spacing between the tone with 46.0 Hz and the tone with 48.74 Hz, which is 2.74 Hz, is smaller than the spacing between the tone at 92.0 Hz and the tone at 86.84 Hz, which is 5.16 Hz.
These spectral coefficients also referred to as variable spectral coefficients in the classification shown in the left half of FIG. 2 thus are different from so-called constant spectral coefficients, as they are illustrated in the right half of FIG. 2.
In the constant spectral coefficients, the spacing between two spectral coefficients at the lower end of the spectrum to the upper end of the spectrum is always the same. For illustration purposes, the twelve tones in FIG. 2 are illustrated in the tempered arrangement on the left in FIG. 2 on the one hand, and in a constant arrangement with a frequency spacing of 2.74 Hz in the right column on the other hand. While the frequency spacing becomes greater and greater in the left column so that the quality of each variable spectral coefficient is equal, the quality of each constant spectral coefficient in the right column increases more and more with increasing frequency due to the growing frequency value, because the frequency spacing is identical.
From the above discussion, it becomes obvious that constant spectral coefficients, as they are provided by a Fourier transform, for example, are in contrast at least with the western sense of music.
But since a transcription is to be created from a piece of music, as a first step to a harmony analysis, often no Fourier transform but a so-called constant Q transform is employed, i.e. a transform taking into account that the quality of each variable spectral coefficient is identical. This leads to the fact that the transform is supposed to provide a frequency raster, which is no constant frequency raster, as it is shown on the right in FIG. 2, but that this transform provides a variable frequency raster, as it is shown on the left in FIG. 2. In other words, a variable transform is supposed to adapt the frequency raster, as it is shown on the left in FIG. 2, to the well-tempered note scale, for example, as forms the basis of an overwhelming number of classical and popular pieces of music.
In the technical publication "Calculation of a Constant Q Spectral Transform", Judith, C. Brown, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 89 (1), pages 425-432, January 1991, a time-frequency conversion is shown, which takes into account that the scale of western music is based on a geometric spectral coefficient spacing. Such a constant Q transform may be derived from a Fourier transform, in which the logarithm is taken of the frequency axis. This "pattern" in the frequency domain is the same for all music signals with harmonic frequency components. But differences manifest themselves in the amplitudes of the components in spite of their relatively fixed positions. These amplitude differences give the tone its tone color, for example.
When the frequency axis is illustrated logarithmically, it turns out that the mapping of constant spectral coefficients to variable spectral coefficients provides too little information at low frequencies and too much information at high frequencies. The discrete short-time Fourier transform gives a constant resolution for every frequency bin, which is inversely proportional to the temporal window size. This means that a window with 1,024 samples at a sampling rate of 32,000 samples per second has a resolution of 31.3 Hz. At the lower end of a violin, for example, i.e. at the frequency G3 of 196 Hz, this resolution is 16% of the frequency. This is much greater than a 6% frequency separation for two adjacent notes, which are tuned to the same mood. At the upper end of a piano, the frequency of C8 is 4186 Hz, wherein the FFT resolution of 31.3 Hz leads to a resolution value of 0.7% of the center frequency. Thus, much too great a number of frequency coefficients is calculated by the FFT at this point in the frequency range. Mathematically, the constant Q transform is represented as follows:
      X              [      k      ]        =            ∑              n        =        o                    N        -        1                                                  W                          [                      k            ,            n                    ]                                  x                          [          n          ]                          exp                              {                                    -              j                                                                                2                                                                          π                                                                                Qn              /                              N                                                  [                  k                  ]                                                              }                .
In this equation x[n] is the n-th sample of a digitized time function to be analyzed. The digital frequency is 2 πk/N. The period in samples is N/k, and the number of analyzed cycles is equal to k. Here, W[n] indicates the window shape. The window function has the same shape for each component. Its length is, however, determined by N[k], so that it is a function of k and n.
In the technical publication "An Efficient Algorithm for the Calculation of a Constant Q Transform", Judith C. Brown et al., Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 92 (5), pages 2698-2701, November 1992, an efficient algorithm for calculating the previously described transform is given. At first a discrete Fourier transform is determined, which is then converted to a constant Q transform, wherein Q is the ratio of center frequency to the bandwidth. To this end, so-called kernels are calculated, which then are applied to each consecutive DFT. Thus, each component of the constant Q transform can be calculated with a few multiplications. A spectral kernel is the discrete Fourier transform of a temporal kernel, wherein a temporal kernel is given as follows:
            w                    [                  n          ,                      k            cq                          ]                        ⅇ                        -          j                                                                    ω                      k            ?                    n                      =            K      *                        [                      n            ,                          k              cq                                ]                .                                                                x            cq                                          [                          k              cq                        ]                                =                  ∑                  n          =          o                          N          -          1                                            x                                [            n            ]                                  K        *                  [                      n            ,                          k              cq                                ]
As window w[n,k], a Hamming window according to the following definition is used:w└n,kcq┘=a−(1−a)cos(2πn/N└kcq┘),In this equation, α equals 25/46.
In F. J. Harris, "High-Resolution Spectral Analysis with Arbitrary Spectral Centers and Arbitrary Spectral Resolutions", "Comput. Electr. Eng. 3", pages 171-191, 1976, a transform with bounded Q value is used, which may also serve for music analysis. Here, at first a fast transform is calculated, in order to then again discard the frequency values with the exception of the topmost octave. Then, it is filtered, downsampled by a factor of 2, in order to finally calculate a further FFT with the same amount of points as before, which leads to twice the previous resolution. Of this result, again only the second-highest octave is retained. Then, this procedure is repeated until the lowest octave is reached. The advantage of this method is that the efficiency of the FFT is maintained, and that at the same time a variable frequency and a variable time resolution are obtained, so that one is capable of optimizing the obtained information both with respect to the frequency and with respect to the time.
It is disadvantageous in this concept that, when a larger tone space is to be calculated, nevertheless a large amount of Fourier transforms is to be calculated, wherein between each Fourier transform windowing (filtering) has to be performed anew and at the same time downsampling has to be done. This in turn means that for the lowest octave very many temporal samples are needed, whereas very few temporal samples are needed for the topmost octave. Thus, if one wishes to calculate a complete analysis, for every (small) number of samples for the topmost octave the entire pyramid, so to speak, has to be calculated through. Since most results of each FFT are further "thrown away" in this method, and since a rather significant number of overlaps with respect to the lower octaves is required in the temporal "pyramid", this method is extremely intensive, in spite of using the indeed efficient FFT. In other words, for each octave an FFT of its own has to be calculated to obtain a complete spectrum. If one wishes to analyze a time signal completely, i.e. for example every 8 milliseconds or every 16 milliseconds, in case for example 6 octaves are to be calculated, as many as 96 (!) FFTs will be required for an excerpt of a piece of 128 milliseconds.

Apparatus and method for converting an information signal to a spectral representation with variable resolution

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der Angewandten Forschung E.V.


The perceptible resolution and the number of gradations are both guaranteed, and an image is encoded at a high efficiency. An apparatus of the present invention is provided with a blocking circuit for dividing an input image into blocks, a quantization LUT for quantizing the image in a block, a quantization representative value LUT for obtaining a quantization representative value of the quantized image, a differential calculation circuit for obtaining the average value in the block of the differential between the pixel value in the block and the quantization representative value obtained by the quantization representative value LUT, an average value obtaining unit having an adding circuit and a dividing circuit, a first hierarchy encoder for encoding the image quantized by the quantization LUT, and a second hierarchy encoder for encoding the average value obtained by the average value obtaining unit.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image encoding apparatus for compressing the image data to reduce the data quantity.
2. Description of the Related Art
The larger number of gradation and higher resolution are required to obtain the higher quality digital image. The capacity of an image is represented by "number of pixel×number of gradation bits" and is very huge. To reduce the image storage cost, or to reduce the image transmission time, the image compression has been employed.
Heretofore, the image compression method that utilizes the human visual characteristic has been employed. As the visual characteristic, a reference 1 (Peter G. J. Barten, "Evaluation of subjective image quality with the square-root integral method", J. Opt. Soc. Am. A/Vol. 7, No. 10/October 1990, pp. 2024-2031) is exemplified.
In this reference, an approximate expression of the visual frequency characteristic is shown. FIG. 27 is a graph that represents the approximate expression described in the reference. The axis of abscissa of this graph represents the cycle for every degree angle of visibility and the axis of ordinate represents the contrast sensitivity. According to the graph, the contrast sensitivity decreases in the high frequency region. In other words, the perception is poor in the high frequency region even though the number of gradation is reduced. A compression method that utilizes this nature has been employed heretofore.
Examples of the compression method that utilizes the visual characteristic is shown hereunder. Two categories are described hereunder. In the first category, the compression is realized by reducing the number of pixels of the image or by reducing the number of gradations directly (conventional example 1-1 and conventional example 1-2). In the second category, the compression is implemented by a method in which the input image is subjected to orthogonal transformation and quantization of the transformation coefficient is matched with the visual characteristic (conventional example 2).
At first, the first category example will be described. Because the capacity of an image is represented by (number of pixels×number of gradation bits)the image compression is realized by reducing the number of pixels or by reducing the number of gradation bits. In the region of characters or line drawing in the image, the large number of gradation is not necessary because high frequency component is predominant in the region. It is possible to compress the image by reducing the number of gradation bits in such a region.
In the case where the frequency component of the input image is low, the number of gradations cannot be reduced. However, because the frequency band of the image is small, it is possible to compress the image without aliasing. In detail, because there are some portions where the high frequency component is not predominant on the natural image portion such as a photograph on the image, it is possible to compress the image by reducing the number of pixels on such a region.
In summary, the low frequency region can be compressed by reducing the number of pixels. On the other hand, the high frequency region can be compressed by reducing the number of gradations.
Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. Hei 6-40661 is exemplified as an example of compression method described hereinabove. Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. Hei 6-40661 is referred to as the conventional example 1-1 hereinafter. In the conventional example 1-1, an input image having 6 bits per pixel is divided into 3×3 pixel blocks. Next, whether this pixel block is to be binary-encoded or multi-level encoded is checked.
As shown in FIG. 25, the average value of 9 pixels in 3×3 block is calculated in the case of multi-level encoding to be 1-pixel information having 6 bits. On the other hand, 9 pixels in 3×3 block are binarized respectively to form 9 pixel information having 1 bit in the case of binary encoding. 3×3 block information is converted to 1-pixel information having 6 bits or 9-pixel information having 1 bit. 1-bit information for indicating whether it is a multi-level block or binary block is added to every block in encoding. In summary, 1 block of 3×3 pixel is encoded into 10 bits at worst.
Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 8-317220 is exemplified as another example. Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Hei 8-317220 is referred to as the conventional example 1-2 hereinafter. In the conventional example 1-2, for example, an input image is divided into 2×2 pixel blocks. Next, whether this pixel block is to be binary-encoded or multi-level encoded is checked. In the case of multi-level encoding, the average value of 4 pixels in 2×2 block is encoded. On the other hand, in the case of binary encoding, the number of black pixels in 2×2 pixel block is encoded.
As an example, in the case of multi-level encoding, the number of average levels is quantized into 12 levels ranging from 0 to 11. On the other hand, in the case of binary encoding, the number of black pixels is any one of 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4. When the number of black pixels is 0, the same state as that of the multi-level 0 is represented. When the number of black pixels is 4, the same state as that of the multi-level 11 is represented. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 26, it is possible to encode at 15 levels in the total cases of multi-level encoding and binary encoding.
The conventional example 1-2 is different from the conventional example 1-1 in that the multi-level encoding and binary encoding are involved in the same encoding space and the multi-level/binary determination bit is thereby unnecessary. However, the conventional example 1-2 is similar to the conventional example 1-1 in that it is necessary to check to see for every block whether multi-level encoding is to be employed or binary encoding is to be employed for encoding.
As described hereinabove, in the conventional example 1-1 and the conventional example 1-2, whether an input image block is the low frequency information that requires the number of gradations or the high frequency information that does not require the number of gradations is checked. Next, in the case of the low frequency information that requires the number of gradations, the average value of the pixel value in the block is encoded. On the other hand, in the case of the high frequency information that does not require the number of gradations, the number of gradation of the pixel value in the block is reduced (in the abovementioned example, the number of gradations is binary) to thereby increase the compression rate.
Next, the second compression method example that utilizes the visual characteristic (conventional example 2) will be described. Currently, still image encoding international standard JPEG (ITU-T recommendation T-81) system has been most widely used as the still image encoding system. "International Standard of Multi-Media Coding" (edited by H. Yasuda, Maruzen Co., Ltd., 1991, pp. 16-47) is exemplified as a reference for describing the outline of JPEG system. JPEG system is referred to as the conventional example 2 hereinafter.
In JPEG system, an input image is divided into 8×8 pixel blocks, and each block is subjected to DCT (discrete cosine transformation) to obtain 8×8 DCT coefficients. Furthermore, 8×8 DCT coefficients are quantized for compression. 8×8 quantized step widths (quantization table) are not specified in the standard, and can be set without restriction. Therefore, the quantization table may be designed with consideration of the visual characteristic to thereby implement encoding with a higher compression rate.
For example, a reference (Saito et. al. "Optimal Quantization for DCT Coefficients in Variable Length Coding Considering the Human Perception" Technical Report of IEICE, IE 90-101, 1990, pp. 39-46) is exemplified as an exemplary design of the quantization table. This reference describes a method for designing a quantization table with consideration of the visual characteristic in the encoding system in which DCT (discrete cosine transformation) is used.
Because DCT is used in JPEG system, the system described in this reference can be used when a quantization table according to JPEG system is designed. Each quantization step width (quantization table) of 8×8 DCT coefficients is designed so that the visual strain is minimized for the given code quantity with consideration of the visual characteristic. The visual characteristic to be addressed is the visual frequency characteristic that is similar to that shown in the reference 1.
Herein, the visual frequency characteristic is calculated under the assumption H(f)=2.46 (0.1+0.25 f) exp(−0.25 f). Wherein, f in the abovementioned equation denotes the number of cycles per unit angle of visibility (cycle/degree).
However, the abovementioned examples are involved in the problem as described hereunder.
(Problem 1) the case where the portion that requires the resolution and the portion that requires the number of gradations are mixed in a block cannot be processed.
(Problem 2) the case where the gradation level represents the edge position results in the image strain.
The problem 1 and the problem 2 will be described in detail hereinafter. At first, the problem 1 will be described. A block having a character or line drawing that is overwritten on a picture background as shown in FIG. 28 is addressed. The picture is the data that requires the number of gradations and the character or line drawing is the data that requires the resolution. In the case of the block as described hereinabove, if the block is determined as the multi-level information and the average value of the block is encoded, then the resolution information of the character line drawing is lost.
On the other hand, if the block is determined as the binary (or a small number) block and the pixel value in the block is quantized, then the number of gradations of the picture is lost. To avoid the loss, the block size of the determination unit should be minimized. At worst, 1 pixel per block is necessary. The small block size results in reduced compression rate. In other words, the conventional example 1-1 and the conventional example 1-2 cannot deal with the case in which the portion that requires the resolution and the portion that requires the number of gradations are mixed in a block.
Next, the problem 2 will be described. Gray font is exemplified as an example in which the gradation level represents the edge position. Usually, an imager that is the software for generating a printing image generates the character line drawing with binary image. In this case, the character cannot be represented with the resolution equal to or higher than the pixel resolution.
An image generated with binary is shown in FIG. 29. A rectangle in FIG. 29 corresponds to one pixel. As shown in FIG. 29, jaggies are caused on the slant line. Otherwise, the line width and the edge position are limited to the integral multiple of the resolution of the pixel. The limitation is the problem. To solve the problem, in the case of the gray font, the character image quality is improved without increase of the pixel resolution by generating the character image with multi-level.
As shown in FIG. 30, the pixel is expressed with multi-level. The pixel expressed with multi-level is complemented with the visual characteristic (or by controlling the marking position correspondingly to the pixel value), and a slant line or a line of the width and position other than the pixel resolution integral multiple can be expressed as shown in the lower diagram of FIG. 30.
As described hereinabove, in the gray font, the pixel value provides the information for controlling the edge position. The gray font is an example that generates artificially the multi-gradation image so that the gradation level represents the edge position. The image as described hereinabove exists in the natural image. The case where a character image is scanned in with multi-level likely provides the same effect as the artificially generated gray font. The case where an input image has an edge likely provides the same effect that the gradation level represents the edge position as in the abovementioned case though the magnitude of the effect on the visual sensation is different each other.
In the case of the image that the number of gradation represents the edge position, if the number of gradation is changed, then the edge position is resultantly shifted, and the shifted position is conceived as the image strain. A reference (edited by Oyama et. al. "New Edition, Sensation/Perception Psychology Handbook" Seishin Shobo, 1994, pp. 557-558) describes the perception threshold value of the edge position that is referred to as vernier acuity. According to this reference, the minimum deviation that is the perceivable deviation between two lines as shown in FIG. 31, namely the threshold value of the vernier acuity, corresponds to 2″ angle of visibility. The deviation of the edge position should be suppressed within 2″ angle of visibility.
In the case of the conventional example 1-1 and the conventional example 1-2, if the block is determined to be multi-level, then the resolution is changed to the resolution lower than the pixel resolution. At that time, the edge position information higher than the pixel resolution as described hereinabove is lost. If the block is determined to be binary (diminished level)then the pixel is quantized to cause the edge position error. Therefore, the image strain is caused anyway.
In the case of the conventional example 2, because the quantization is performed in the orthogonal transformation region, it is difficult to guarantee the error magnitude of individual pixel values. Though the quantization table designing method with consideration of the visual frequency characteristic has been known, the quantization table designing method that can guarantee the edge position with consideration of the vernier acuity has not been known.
Therefore, the conventional example 2 cannot guarantee the edge position. The conventional example 2 could guarantee the edge position by sufficiently minimizing the quantization step width only when the compression rate is suppressed low.
The present invention has been accomplished to solve the abovementioned problem, and provides an image encoding apparatus that is capable of guaranteeing the edge position specified by perceptible resolution, namely vernier acuity, and also guaranteeing the perceptible number of gradations, and capable of high efficiency encoding, and provides an image decoding apparatus that is capable of decoding the encoded code.

Image encoding apparatus and image decoding apparatus