A computer implemented method provides a web service to a client. A document request identifying a web service on a web service server is sent from the client to an application server. The document request is stored at a first location. The application server then sends a proxy document request back to the client, wherein the proxy document request identifies the first location. The client then forwards the proxy document request to a web service. The web service generates a web service response, by resolving the proxy document request to the first location. The web service response is stored at a second location. A proxy web service response can then sent from the web service back to the client, wherein the proxy web service response identifies the second location. The client then forwards the proxy web service response to the application server. The application server generates a document response, by resolving the proxy web service response to the second location. The application server then forwards the document response to the client.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally computer implemented methods. More specifically, the present invention relates to computer implemented methods for submitting web service data within a user's security context by using proxy content.
2. Description of the Related Art
Web services have become increasingly popular with application developers. Using web services to implement a distributed computing model allows application-to-application communication. For example, one purchase-and-ordering application could communicate to an inventory application that specific items need to be reordered. Because of this level of application integration, Web services have grown in popularity and are beginning to improve business processes.
However, because web services are based on application-to-application communication, security of the application-to-application communication has become increasingly important. The application-to-application interactions enabled by web services create a situation where web service security to address topics, such as access control, authentication, data integrity, and privacy, is increasingly important.
Problems often arise when web services request information or services that require a security authorization from a client. Because the web service request was not received by the web service directly from the client, the web service must trust the assertions made by the forwarding application server that the application server is entitled to act on behalf of the client. Thus, retrieval of information from the web service is not made using the client's own security context. The security context is the client's stored passwords and security settings contained locally on the client's data processing system. Thus, any secured information required to access the requested web services must be originally included in the request from the client to application server which then makes the request for the web service.

Proxy content for submitting web service data in the user's security context

International Business Machines Corporation


An information processing apparatus performs switching between an exception handler and normal processing. The information processing apparatus includes a processor; a data processing unit that performs particular processing upon receiving a processing request from the processor; an interrupt controller that issues an interrupt request to the processor; and an exception control unit that controls the interrupt controller, wherein the data processing unit is connected with the exception control unit via a dedicated line. The data processing unit includes a notification unit that notifies, via the dedicated line, the exception control unit of status information indicating current status of the data processing unit, and based on the notified status information and setup information set by the processor, the exception control unit judges whether to cause the interrupt controller to issue an interrupt request to execute an exception handler to the processor.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus including therein a data processing unit that performs particular processing upon receiving a processing request from a processor, and especially relates to control of exceptions occurred in the data processing unit.
2. Background Art
Generally, an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer and a mobile apparatus includes therein a data processing unit, e.g. a graphics accelerator, a coprocessor, which performs predetermined processing requested by a built-in processor so as to reduce loads on the processor to increase processing efficiency thereof.
An exception might occur in processing performed by the data processing unit.
The exception indicates an abnormal situation out of a flow of a normal operation in the information processing apparatus, and includes the following situations for example: a situation where even if a processor requests the data processing unit to perform processing at a time when the data processing unit should be able to perform the processing in accordance with a program, the data processing unit cannot perform the processing; a situation where even if the processor tries to read a result of processing performed by the data processing unit at a time when the data processing unit should be able to read the result in accordance with the program, the result has not been output yet in the data processing unit; and a situation where an error occurs in the data processing unit.
In order to handle such an exception, the information processing apparatus generates an interrupt to the processor, and transfers control from a normal processing sequence to a predetermined starting address of an exception handler.
However, while the processor executes the exception handler due to the occurrence of the exception in the data processing unit, the normal processing sequence stops. Therefore, there is a demand for a technique for promptly performing switching between an exception handler and normal processing by early detecting an exception occurred in the data processing unit and a return from the exception, in order to increase processing efficiency of the processor.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Information processing apparatus and exception control circuit


Disclosed is a detector for monitoring a UV false positive from genuine X-ray positive of color developing radiation sensitive devices. A layer which can be scratched off and is opaque to undesired radiation but transparent to X-ray is printed on the sensor. If the sensor displays a signal (i.e., develops color), whether it is genuine or false positive can be confirmed by scratching off the opaque layer. If the signal is a genuine positive, the whole sensor will be uniformly exposed/colored including the area under the opaque layer. If it is a false positive, the area under the scratched off layer will be of lighter color than the rest of the sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for detecting a false positive in color developing radiation sensitive devices for use in monitoring high energy radiation, such as X-ray.
2. Brief Description of Prior Art
Radiation sensitive materials, such as diacetylenes (R—C═C—C═C—R, where R is a monovalent group) and processes that can be used for, making radiation sensitive coatings or strips for self-indicating instant radiation alert dosimeter (referred herein to as SIRAD) are described in patent application numbers WO 2004/077097 and WO 2004/017095 and references cited therein both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Coatings, films or plaques of radiation sensitive materials used to make SIRAD are individually or collectively, referred herein to as "radiation sensitive coating", "radiation sensitive strip" or "sensing strip" or "sensor". The radiation sensitive dosimeter (SIRAD) is typically made by sandwiching a sensitive strip between two plastic layers, one being completely opaque with the other being transparent. The dosimeter is used for monitoring low dose (1-1,000 rads) of high energy radiation, such as X-ray, gamma ray, electrons and neutrons.
Diacetylenes are the preferred sensing materials used in sensing strips for monitoring X-ray irradiation. Unfortunately, diacetylenes are also sensitive to UV light which creates a potential false signal. In order to make the sensing strip less sensitive to UV light, UV absorbers may be added in the coating formulation and the sensing strip may be further protected with a UV absorbing film. However, the sensing strip of SIRAD is still sensitive to prolonged exposure to UV and/or sunlight, e.g., a day of sunlight. Due to the sensitivity the sensing strip can be accidentally or unintentionally over exposed to sunlight thereby provide a positive reading. The observer is unable to distinguish if the positive reading is due to UV exposure or high energy radiation. At the same time, someone can tamper with the strips by exposing the sensing strip to sunlight and claiming that he/she has been exposed to ionizing radiation. Hence, there is a need for detecting a false positive due to the likelihood of unintentional or intentional exposure to UV/sunlight.
Due to the propensity for false positive signals it has been a long felt desire to provide a method and system of detecting false positive signals with a simple technique which can be done with minimal or no training.

Detector for a UV false positive of radiation sensitive devices


In a seam welding process for overlapping sheets, in particular for welding can bodies, the welding force is momentarily reduced upon each insertion of a can body between the welding rollers. This keeps the welding pressure constant even at the start of a can body. In this way the power input to the sheet can be kept constant even at the start of a can body, and the weld quality even at the start of a can body satisfies requirements.

The invention relates to a process for seam welding an overlapping sheet-metal seam with a predetermined welding pressure. The invention also relates to a resistance seam welding machine for carrying out the process.
It is known that when a sheet-metal seam is welded by the roller seam welding process the initial weld spot is often incompletely welded. This is particularly disadvantageous in the production of can bodies, as the affected body has to be removed from the production line.
The problem of the initially unwelded or poorly welded seam has a number of causes. First of all, the leading end of the can does not benefit from any transfer of heat from a length of seam which has already been welded, and second, the insertion of the can body between the two roller electrodes, which forces these electrodes apart, causes a force to be exerted on the seam which is additional to the welding force which has been set, owing to the inertia of the electrodes. Furthermore, excessive welding pressure is applied at the edge of the can body, as, with welding force constant, less surface area is acted on than along the seam.
The increased welding force and/or increased welding pressure at the start causes a marked reduction in the electrical resistance in the sheet between the roller electrodes. Since the welding current is constant, the power input to the weld seam at the start of the can body changes in proportion to the said reduction in resistance. The measure adopted hitherto to counteract this has been to increase the welding current at the commencement of welding. The power input P to the sheet-metal is equal to the square of the welding current multiplied by the sheet resistance. Hence the reduction in sheet resistance at the commencement of welding can be compensated by a corresponding boost in current. However, the number of can bodies welded per minute is continually being increased. The can bodies are being fed into the welding plane more and more rapidly, and ever-increasing peak forces are occurring which in many cases can no longer be satisfactorily compensated by increasing the current.
A further problem is mechanical vibration of the welding electrodes which is set off by the peak forces at the starting edge of a can body. Efforts have been made to keep this vibration as small as possible by reducing the mass of one of the electrodes.

Process for seam welding an overlapping sheet-metal seam


A electrostatic powder feeder includes a body having a cavity. The cavity is shaped and sized to hold a supply of powder particles and is defined by a cavity wall. A diverter is disposed in the cavity and positioned away from the cavity wall so as to create a powder flow space between the diverter and cavity wall. The feeder includes an electrode and a powder landing surface connected to a power supply. The electrode is positioned remotely from the powder landing surface at a distance at which it can act upon powder resting upon the powder landing surface. An aperture through which powder particles may fall is disposed in or proximate to the powder landing surface. An insulator is positioned between the electrode and the powder landing surface. The power supply produces an alternating electric potential that creates an alternating electric field between the electrode and powder landing surface that causes powder particles to oscillate and eventually fall through the aperture. In an alternative embodiment, the powder landing surface is on a diaphragm connected to the body and disposed below the powder flow space. The diaphragm is sized and shaped to hold a quantity of powder falling from the powder flow space. The diaphragm includes an aperture. A vibration actuator is affixed to the diaphragm, which provides a vibratory force to the powder particles.

In metal additive manufacturing, welding, and cladding applications, the quality of the powder stream is an important factor in build quality. It is important that the powder be consistently and accurately metered into the process at a wide range of powder feed rates.
The prior art discloses a variety of apparatuses for mechanically metering powder. For example, auger-type powder feeders are used commonly in industry. These feeders use a rotating screw or turbine wheel to move powder from a hopper into the process destination. With these feeders, often the rotation of the screw results in periodic pulsations of powder as the screw turns. Additionally, due to the abrasive nature of metallic powders, high wear typically occurs on the screw and drive components.
One solution to the problems associated with auger-type powder feeder is the vibratory feeder. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,187,717 (Weyandt) describes a vibratory electrical apparatus for conveying or handling difficult to move or handle materials, such as pastes, powders, sand, gravel, packages, articles and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 3,788,449 (Baberowski, et al) discloses a vibratory conveyor capable of periodic rotational and vertical vibrations.
Using vibrating tables to effect forward movement of powder particles is known in the additive manufacturing industry. With these devices vibration forces are imparted to powder particles situated on a table. The vibrating particles then fall off the edge of the vibrating table and into the process destination. This is a very inexpensive, simple, and robust method. However, the pulsations generated by the vibration results in perturbations in the powder flow, which is unacceptable for many additive manufacturing applications.
The prior art also discloses a variety of apparatuses that meter powder via a combination of mechanical moving elements and a motive gas. U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,068 (Coucher) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,861 (De La Vega) disclose examples of such devices. U.S. Pat. No. 4,227,835 (Nussbaum) discloses an apparatus that feeds powder using a continuous annular groove on a rotating metering plate and then sucks the powder out of the groove after the plate has rotated through a certain angle. Powder metering devices like those of Nussbaum can give smooth and accurate powder flow, even at relatively low flow rates. However, the technique of Nussbaum requires significant gas flow alongside the powder in order to effect the suction force required to evacuate the groove. This can be a problem for applications that require low gas flow or zero gas flow. Moreover, rotary disc feeders involve many moving parts and seals, which parts and seals increase the complexity and ultimately the cost of the powder feeder.
The aforementioned prior art devices for mechanically metering powder generally work well at high mass flow rates. However, these techniques become inconsistent at lower flow rates (under 1 gram per minute). Additionally, prior art devices that meter powder mechanically are often physically large and bulky and take up valuable space in the equipment or facility into which they are integrated. Existing mechanical metering powder feeders also involve significant complexity in their design and construction, which ultimately leads to high manufacturing and production costs.
Another deficit in the mechanical powder feeder of the prior art is that it must be expensively adapted in order to operate under conditions of high pressure, vacuum or high temperature. Such adaptations are exemplarily shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,843 (Kowalsky, et al), which describes a method of adapting a disc powder feeder for high-pressure applications by enclosing the entire device in a pressure vessel to reduce the strain on the dynamic seals of the device.
Devices for metering powder without use of moving mechanical parts have also been suggested. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,169 (Dunn) describes a powder metering device that achieves very low flow rates utilizing electrostatically induced oscillation. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/994,973 also describes an electrostatic powder feeder. The entirety of that application is incorporated herein by reference. With the device of this application, a DC voltage supply creates an electric potential between first and second electrodes, which in a preferred embodiment are spaced 5-10 mm apart. A preferable potential for this spacing will be between one thousand and ten thousand volts between the first and second electrodes. The hopper gravity feeds (drops) an amount of powder on the first electrode. The powder upon the first electrode, being somewhat conductive, develops an electric charge on its surface due to the potential difference between the electrodes. However, by virtue of the electric potential and the positioning of the second electrode relative to the first electrode, the powder particles with the surface charge on the first electrode are caused to move (jump) initially off the first electrode toward the second electrode. The second electrode is preferably above the first electrode, wholly or partially to the side of the first electrode or both. In a direct mode feeder, the powder particles are caused to move toward the second electrode drop away from the second electrode due to the force of gravity. Preferably, the drawn particles will drop away before reaching the second electrode. Though even if they do reach the second electrode, they will eventually drop out of the feeder due to the force of gravity without ever re-contacting the first electrode or the powder pile upon it. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/994,973 also discloses a stochastic mode electrostatic feeder. With this type of feeder the particles oscillate between the electrodes in a manner that imbues the particles with two or three dimensions of motion (as opposed to just one dimension of travel to and from electrodes) such that a percentage of the oscillating particles will eventually move to a space in the feeder wherein the particles are no longer constrained between the electrodes and the force of gravity will allow them to escape the electrode space and be dispensed by the feeder.
The prior art electrostatic powder metering devices do, indeed, result in consistent powder flow at low flow rates. However, they require the presence of open, uninsulated, high-voltage electrodes in the presence of fine metallic powders. This situation can result in electrical arcing between the electrodes. When it occurs, this arcing causes powder feeding to stop until the arc is extinguished. The arcing can even result in the dangerous igniting of the powders.
In view of the deficits of the prior art powder metering devices, an improved powder metering device is desirable. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a device and method of metering powder particles that operate well at low mass flow rates (under 1 gram per minute) as well as higher feed rates. It is further desirable that metering devices and methods be able to quickly change between flow rates and be less complex and expensive to produce than prior art devices and methods. In addition, the devices and methods should provide these benefits while also providing highly consistent powder flow for additive manufacturing, welding, and cladding.


Disclosed are compositions of nonionic siloxane alkoxylates with aminopolyalkyleneoxide surfactants which are useful in treating plants, for instance as adjuvants for pesticides including in particular herbicides. These compositions overcome the antagonism associated with nonionic trisiloxane alkoxylates on pesticide uptake in plants.

Many pesticides require the addition of an adjuvant to the spray mixture to provide wetting and spreading on foliar surfaces. Often that adjuvant is a surfactant, which can perform a variety of functions, such as increasing spray droplet retention on difficult to wet leaf surfaces, or to provide penetration of the herbicide into the plant cuticle. These adjuvants are either provided as a component in an adjuvant formulation or used as an additive in herbicide formulations.
Trisiloxane alkoxylates are well known for their ability to provide enhanced spreading and wetting properties to pesticide spray solutions, relative to more commonly used organic based (nonsilicone) surfactants. At times it is necessary to include other surfactants in the spray mixture along with the trisiloxane alkoxylate. Unfortunately, the presence of many classes of cosurfactants interfere with the performance of the trisiloxane alkoxylate.

Siloxane nonionic blends useful in agriculture


A short axial-mode helical antenna (10) includes a winding (12) including a conductor (20) helically wound about an axis (8). A first portion (22) of the winding is wound with a first pitch (.alpha.) on a segment of a cone (41) having a smaller diameter (D1) at a plane (31) adjacent a ground plane (14), and a larger diameter (D2) at a second plane (32) parallel with the ground plane and remote therefrom. A second portion (24) of the winding (12) is wound with a second pitch (.beta.) on a segment of a second cone (42) coaxial with the first cone, and having its smaller diameter (D3) at a third plane (33) parallel with the first and second planes. The antenna provides higher gain than a straight uniform, tapered-end, continuous taped, or nonuniform-diameter helical antenna of equal length, and consequently has less mutual coupling when mounted in an array.

High gain antennas are widely used for communication purposes and for radar or other sensing use. In general, high antenna gains are associated with high directivity, which in turn arises from a large radiating aperture. A common method for achieving a large radiating aperture is by the use of parabolic reflectors fed by a feed arrangement located at the focus of the parabolic reflector. Parabolic reflector type antennas can be very effective, but for certain purposes may present too much of a wind load, and for scanning use may have too much inertia to achieve the desired scanning acceleration. Also, reflector antennas in general suffer from the problem of aperture blockage attributable to the support structure required to support the feed antenna, and the feed antenna itself, which may adversely affect the field distribution over the surface of the reflector, and thereby perturb the far-field radiation pattern.
Those skilled in the art know that antennas are reciprocal transducers, which exhibit similar properties in both transmission and reception modes of operation. For example, the antenna patterns for both transmission and reception are identical, and exhibit the same gain. For convenience of explanation, explanations and descriptions of antenna performance are often couched in terms of either transmission or reception, with the other mode of operation being understood therefrom. Thus, the terms "aperture illumination," "beam" or "radiation pattern" may pertain to either a transmission or reception mode of operation. For historical reasons, the antenna port or electrical connections are known as "feed" port or connections, even though the same port is used for both transmission and reception, and the term "beam" may apply to the entire radiation pattern or to a single lobe thereof.
Modern communication and sensing systems find increasing use for antenna arrays for high-gain use. An antenna array includes an array or battery of usually-identical antennas or elements, each of which ordinarily has lower gain than the array antenna as a whole. The arrayed antenna elements are fed with an amplitude and phase distribution which establishes the far-field "radiation" pattern or beam. Since the phase and power applied to each antenna element of an array antenna can be individually controlled, the direction and characteristics of the beam can be controlled by control of the distribution of power (signal amplitude or gain) and phase over the antenna aperture. A salient advantage of an array antenna is the ability to scan the beam or beams electronically, without physically moving the mass of a reflector, or for that matter any mass whatever.
Many problems attend the use of array antennas. While a reflector is not necessary (although one may be used, if desired), achieving high gain still requires a large effective radiating aperture. The far-field radiation pattern of an array antenna is the product of the radiation pattern of one of the antenna elements, multiplied by the radiation pattern of a corresponding array of isotropic sources (sources which radiate uniformly in all directions), or in other words the product of the radiation pattern of an individual antenna element multiplied by the array factor. Thus, achieving high gain in an array antenna may require an array factor giving high gain, an individual antenna element having high gain, or both. The array factor can be increased to a certain extent by increasing the distance between individual element, but when the inter-element spacing becomes large, grating lobes may degrade the desired radiation pattern. Thus, achieving high gain in an array antenna may depend upon use of high-gain antenna elements.
Those skilled in the art also know that one of the salient characteristics of an antenna is its field polarization. There are two general classes of field polarization, one of which is linear, and the other of which is circular. In the case of linear polarization, the electric field vector of the radiated beam appears, at a given location far from the antenna, as a line, which may be oriented in any desired direction, as for example vertically or horizontally. In the case of circular polarization, on the other hand, the electric field vector rotates in a plane orthogonal to the direction of propagation at a rate related to the frequency of the propagating wave. It should be noted that the term "circular" polarization refers to a theoretical condition which is approached only on rare occasions, and the term "circular" is often applied to imperfect circular polarization which would more properly be termed "elliptical".
When circular polarization is desired in the context of an array antenna, a circularly polarized antenna element is often used. U.S. Pat. No. 5,258,771, issued Nov. 2, 1993 in the name of Praba, describes an array antenna in which circular polarization is achieved by the use of axial-mode helical antennas. In the Praba arrangement, the axial mode helical antenna elements themselves have relatively high gain. In order to reduce mutual coupling between some of the antenna elements, which tends to reduce the effective gain of the antenna elements and makes analysis difficult, the spacing between elements is maximized. For one of the arrays described in the Praba patent, the interelement spacing is one wavelength (.lambda.) or more. The grating lobes which result from this situation are suppressed by adjusting the individual antenna elements to null the grating lobes.
In many applications, such as for spacecraft or aircraft, small volume and light weight of an antenna array are extremely important.

Ultra-short helical antenna and array thereof


A postage dispensing device that prints a postage indicia using a two step process. A thermal ribbon is provided which has pre-formed images on a major portion of the thermal ribbon that is applied with a hot melt ink jet printer. Inked areas are provided on the thermal ribbon where an image is generated by a dot matrix thermal printer. The pre-formed images represent non-variable portion of a postage indicia whereas the images formed by the thermal printer represent variable data of the postage indicia. The use of a hot melt ink jet printer allows one to alter the pre-formed image as required and allows a variety of colors to be used.

With the rapid advancements in the field of printing, consideration of newly developed printing techniques are being considered for use in the field of postage dispensing. Heretofore, postage dispensing apparatus, for the most part, have used mechanical components for the purpose of printing postage indicia upon mail pieces. In the recent past, electronic postage dispensing apparatus have been developed, but even these electronic devices relied upon mechanical printing components that were in communication with electronic accounting units. Needless to say, such postage dispensing devices are relatively expensive.
Many publications have discussed and suggested the use of dot matrix printers in postage dispensing apparatus. In fact, recent changes in postal regulations allow mailers to use ink jet printers for the printing of certain non-critical data on mail pieces. As a result, it appears to be a matter of time before postal regulations are changed to allow more extensive use of dot matrix printers. Of the contemporary printing techniques, the use of thermal printing for a postage dispensing device appears attractive and has been disclosed in a number of articles and patents. The advantages offered by thermal printing is that of low cost and reliability. In concurrently filed patent applications entitled "Postage Dispensing Apparatus Having a thermal Printer and Method of Using the same (E-157) and Postage Dispensing Device with Asynchronous Indicia Printing Operation (E-156)", both assigned to the assignee of the instant patent application, schemes are described for using thermal ribbons with pre-formed images thereon. Although these represent advanced concepts in the field of postage dispensing, they do not teach ways of customizing and readily altering the pre-formed images that are applied to a thermal ribbon.

Apparatus and method of creating pre-formed images on a thermal ribbon used in a postage dispensing device


An onboard detector includes a cable including an insulated wire including a center conductor and an insulation covering the center conductor and a sheath covering the insulated wire, a sensor including a sensor main body including a detecting element and a lead wire extending from the sensor main body and connected to the center conductor, and a fixing member to fix the sensor to the cable. The fixing member is configured to fix the insulated wire exposed from the sheath while being bent between the sheath and the lead wire. The insulated wire fixed while being bent allows the cable to be arranged such that an axial direction of the sheath inside the fixing member intersects with a direction parallel to a longitudinal direction of the lead wire.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an onboard detector which is mounted on a vehicle so as to detect physical quantities of the vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicle detectors are known that include a torque detector for detecting torque applied to a vehicle steering and a rotation detector for detecting a rotational state of a wheel (see e.g. JP-A-2003-329523 at paragraph 0009 and FIG. 5, and JP-A-2006-322875 at paragraphs 0006 and 0042).
A torque detector disclosed in JP-A-2003-329523 is provided with an input shaft linked to a steering, an output shaft linked to a steered wheel, a torsion bar coupling the input shaft to the output shaft, a multipole magnet, a pair of multipolar yokes and a magnetic sensor, and is configured that the multipole magnet and the pair of multipolar yokes are relatively rotated by twist of the torsion bar caused by torque applied to the steering. A pair of magnetism collecting rings having an annular shape is arranged on the outer peripheral side of the pair of multipolar yokes and a magnetism collecting portion is provided on each magnetism collecting ring at a circumferential position so as to radially protrude. The magnetic sensor is sandwiched between the magnetism collecting portion of one of the magnetism collecting rings and the magnetism collecting portion of the other magnetism collecting ring.
In the torque detector, when the multipole magnet and the pair of multipolar yokes are relatively rotated, magnetic field strength to be detected by the magnetic sensor varies according to the relative rotation angle. This variation in magnetic field strength allows torque applied to the steering to be detected. The magnetic sensor, together with the pair of magnetism collecting rings and a lead wire (cable), is molded with resin and outputs signals of the magnet sensor are output to the outside through the lead wire.
A vehicle rotation detector disclosed in JP-A-2006-322875 is provided with a Hall IC for detecting magnetic field strength, a wire (cable) of which core is connected to an IC lead extending from the Hall IC, and a resin member formed to cover such portions and to fix the Hall IC and the wire to each other. The Hall IC is arranged in the vicinity of an axle to detect magnetic field strength which varies with rotation of a wheel.
In the vehicle rotation detector, in light of the problem that the wire when arranged to extend out of the resin member along the axial direction of the Hall IC comes into contact with a vehicle body or other components mounted on a vehicle (vehicle members such as suspension arm or brake dust cover), the wire extends out of the resin member so as to be perpendicular to the axis of the Hall IC. In other words, the wire is curved with an arc angle of 90° inside the resin member.


An apparatus includes an interface and a processor. The interface may be configured to receive data readings generated by a plurality of sensors. The processor may be configured to perform a fusion operation on the data readings to detect an event, determine a location of the event with respect to a vehicle based on the data readings, convert the location to spatial audio data and generate an audio warning signal based on the spatial audio data. The sensors may generate video data as one of the data readings. The processor may perform video analysis on the video data to calculate measurements using a number of pixels to the event to calculate the location. The spatial audio data may be in a format compatible with a surround sound speaker system of the vehicle. The audio warning signal may indicate the location of the event using the surround sound speaker system.

Vehicles have many different types of audio warnings. It is often unclear what an audio warning refers to without a corresponding warning light (i.e., an icon displayed on the dashboard). Using warning lights can cause the eyes and attention of the driver to be distracted from the road in order to interpret the warning. Taking driver attention away from the road can reduce reaction times.
It would be desirable to implement a surround sound based warning system that increases the amount of time a driver has to react.


Novel siloxane copolymers are described having an average of at least two alkenyloxy groups of the formula EQU --OCR.sup.2 .dbd.CH.sup.2 CH.sub.3,. in which R.sup.2 represents hydrogen or a methyl radical.. These siloxane copolymers are prepared by reacting in a first stage, an organic compound (1) containing more than two aliphatic double bonds of the formula OCHR.sup.2 CR.sup.2 =CH.sub.2 where R.sup.2 is the same as above, with an organopolysiloxane (2) having at least one Si-bonded hydrogen atom per molecule in the presence of a catalyst (3) which promotes addition of the Si-bonded hydrogen to an aliphatic double bond and in a second stage heating the siloxane copolymer in the presence of a catalyst (4) which promotes shifting of the terminal double bond to form copolymers having an internal double bond.

Organopolysiloxanes which contain at least one Si-bonded vinyloxy-functional group per molecule of the formula EQU H.sub.2 C.dbd.CH--O--G--
which G is an alkylene radical or represents an alkylene radical which is interrupted by a divalent hetero atom or a combination of hetero atoms, are known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,238 (published Oct. 14, 1986, J.V. Crivello et al., General Electric Company). Compositions which can be cross-linked by means of light and which contain the organopolysiloxanes mentioned above, and onium salts which catalyze the cationic polymerization of these organopolysiloxanes are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,238.
The reaction of an organic compound containing four aliphatic double bonds, such as, for example, tetraallyloxyethane, with a silane containing Si-bonded hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst which promotes the addition of the Si-bonded hydrogen atom to an aliphatic double bond is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,319 (published Jun. 18, 1980, P. August et al, Wacker-Chemie GmbH). Yields of organosilane containing 3 aliphatic double bonds of practically 100% of theory are obtained in this reaction. The organosilanes thus obtained are used as reinforcing additives in compositions which are based on organic polymers and fillers and can be crosslinked by means of sulfur or free radicals.
It is an object of the present invention to provide siloxane copolymers which contain alkenyloxy groups. Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for preparing siloxane copolymers containing alkenyloxy groups which allows for the introduction of more than one alkenyloxy group to a silicon atom. A further object of the present invention is to provide siloxane copolymers containing alkenyloxy groups which crosslink rapidly in the presence of light, especially ultraviolet light, to undergo cationic polymerization.

Siloxane copolymers containing alkenyloxy groups, a process for preparing the same and their use


In an apparatus for forming a groove which is modulated to present an information track in a signal record carrier having a copper surface portion by cutting such groove into the copper surface portion by means of a cutting stylus, the stylus is formed to present, during cutting, a rake angle of between 10.degree. and 20.degree., and the copper constituting the surface portion into which the groove is cut has a Vickers hardness of between 110 and 300, and preferably between 120-220.

The present invention relates to a method for mechanically cutting a groove modulated with information in a master disc having a copper surface. The cutting of audio signal recordings into metal surfaces is already well-known in the art, typical techniques being disclosed in German Pat. No. 66,942 and French Pat. No. 76 21636.
It is also already known to cut video signal recordings into record carriers by electromechanically cutting a groove modulated with video information into metal matrices, or masters, an individual groove being cut to a quiescent depth of less than one micron, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,379 to Halter. Such a method requires the formation of a special surface on the metal master. According to the known method, an electrochemically deposited copper layer is smoothed in a subsequent special process step in order to make the surface to be recorded relatively flat.


A composite material (20) has electrically conducting, elongated particles (22) dispersed in a liquid crystal (24). The index of refraction to microwaves is controllable by the application of a transverse electric field that aligns the liquid crystal material (24) and the particles (22). A phase modulating cell (31) is formed by placing the composite material (20) inside a microwave wave guide (32), with transverse electrodes (36) built into the sides of the wave guide (32). Another set of transverse electrodes or magnet pole pieces (30) can be provided to align the liquid crystal material (24) and the particles (22) in another direction, thereby switching the index of refraction of the cell (31). The particles (22) may be made of a ferromagnetic material, to permit magentic as well as electrical switching.

This invention relates to microwave (including millimeter wave) devices, and, more particularly, to microwave phase modulation with a liquid crystal-based composite material.
The index of refraction of many media is fixed and essentially constant, but there are "birefringent" media where the index of refraction of the material varies with relative orientation of a polarized wave and the medium. The birefringence of a uniaxial crystal is manifested by double angular displacements of a wave that passes through the medium. For example, in many viewing angles calcite crystals are birefringent to visible light, so that two differently positioned images are often seen when an object is viewed through a calcite crystal.
The index of refraction of some birefringent materials and of Kerr-effect isotropic materials can be controllably varied directionally by the application of a magnetic or electrical field to the medium. For example, liquid crystals are known to be birefringent for visible light, and variable under the application of an electric field. This property has been used in liquid crystal light valves for use in color projection displays.
Although birefringent materials have been known and used for controlling visible light, there are many potential applications for such materials in other portions of the electromagnetic spectrum such as the microwave range. Although viable birefringent and Kerr-effect materials are known for use in the visible-light frequency range, until recent years there have been known few if any practical Kerr-effect materials for microwave radiation. The most promising reported Kerr-effect materials for use in the microwave range are suspensions of highly asymmetric metallic particles in organic liquids. The birefringence of these suspensions is typically about 0.08 or less.
Although such media having controllable indices of refraction to microwaves are known, there is a need for media with increased birefringence to control beams of microwave energy, in applications such as scanning array antennas. The greater the birefringence, the more readily a device can be made to achieve a preselected degree of beam control. Moreover, the cost of the medium and the control mechanism for many existing microwave modulators is so high that they cannot be used in applications that require large arrays or must be low cost to be commercially feasible. The present invention fulfills the need for an improved microwave-birefringent material which can be controlled with applied electric and magnetic fields, and further provides related advantages.

Liquid crystal-based composite material including electrically conducting elongated particles and having enhanced microwave birefringence


A photo-cathode electron source suitable for use in flat panel displays has an extractor grid means (104) maintained, in use, at a positive potential with respect to the photo-cathode surface. The extractor grid may be used as a carrier for unfired photoemissive material which forms the emission surface of the photo-cathode. The material is deposited on the surface (103) of the photo-cathode means (102) by means of evaporation from the extractor grid (104).

Electron sources are particularly although not exclusively useful in display applications, especially flat panel display applications. Such applications include television receivers and visual display units for computers, especially although not exclusively portable computers, personal organisers, communications equipment, and the like. Flat panel display devices based on a magnetic matrix electron source of the present invention will hereinafter by referred to as Magnetic Matrix Displays.
UK Patent Application 2304981 discloses a magnetic matrix display having a cathode for emitting electrons, a permanent magnet with a two dimensional array of channels extending between opposite poles of the magnet, the direction of magnetisation being from the surface facing the cathode to the opposing surface. The magnet generates, in each channel, a magnetic field for forming electrons from the cathode means into an electron beam. The display also has a screen for receiving an electron beam from each channel. The screen has a phosphor coating facing the side of the magnet remote from the cathode, the phosphor coating comprising a plurality of stripes per column, each stripe corresponding to a different channel. Flat panel display devices based on a magnetic matrix will hereinafter by referred to as Magnetic Matrix Displays.
The permanent magnet in a magnetic matrix display cannot be operated at the normal thermionic cathode temperature (993K) because this is beyond the Curie temperature--the point at which the magnet loses its magnetism properties. Methods for reflecting the majority of the thermionic cathode heat from the magnet have been previously disclosed, as have methods of heatsinking the magnet. However, it would be desirable if the cathode did not produce heat that needs to be either reflected and dissipated or dissipated by heatsinking.
Non-thermionic cathodes (i.e. so-called "cold" cathodes) are available. Examples are Metal-Insulator-Metal (MIM) cathodes, microtips and many others. However, these cathodes are all field emission types, characterised by the need for a strong electric field in the vicinity of the cathode material to pull electrons free from the cathode surface into the vacuum above the cathode. Two important characteristics of these cathodes make their use in a magnetic matrix display difficult:
1. The released electrons have a high eV. High electron energies will lead to the need for high Grid 1 voltages to ensure adequate differentiation between the "cut-off" and "non-select" levels. To obtain this, high voltage Gl drivers will be required, which are more costly than their low voltage counterparts. PA0 2. A very good vacuum is needed to prolong cathode life.
A third type of cathode--the photo-cathode--is known and can be used in this application. Electron emission from these is based on the photoelectric effect, that is, photons with sufficiently short wavelength (sufficiently high energy) can "knock" electrons free from the cathode material. Photo-cathodes are well known, being used for many decades in devices such as image intensifiers, film audio processing and the like.
Photo-cathodes fall into two categories--those lit from the front, and those lit from the rear. For magnetic matrix displays applications, a backlit photocathode is preferred. A preferred light source is the fluorescent tubes used in LCD backlights, with the lamp colour set to the point of maximum cathode efficiency. In order to obtain high (quantum) efficiency, at least one of the photo-cathode materials is picked to have a low work function e.g. Caesium (Cs) @ 1.4 V. Whilst this increases the quantum yield, the cathode surface is highly reactive and this makes fabrication of the cathode difficult for cases where it is fabricated in other than its place of use. For example, in a photomultiplier tube (PMT), the cathode materials are deposited on a wire filament. Once the PMT has been fabricated and evacuated, only then is the filament "fired" to deposit the cathode material on the inside of the top glass face of the tube. Typically the distance between the filament and working face of the tube is of the order of a few tens of mm.
Conventional methods of vapour deposition of a photo-cathode have relied on a small coil or coils disposed around the periphery of the active cathode area. The cathode material is deposited by heating these coils to evaporate off the photo-cathode materials placed on them during manufacture. In a magnetic matrix display, these coils cannot be in the active display area and thus they need to be placed around the periphery of the display area. This means that there is a substantial difference in distance between the coil to backplate distance at the edge of the display when compared with the coil to backplate distance at the centre of the display. Thus evaporation of the photo-cathode material across the desired cathode area will be highly nonuniform.
In the cathode region of a magnetic matrix display, space between the back plate of the display and the magnet assembly is limited. This means that conventional photo-cathode deposition techniques using a plurality of heater filaments cannot be applied whilst retaining a uniform layer of photoemissive materials. In view of the manufacturing difficulties associated with storing extremely reactive photo-cathodes, less reactive cathode materials may be used, but with lower quantum efficiency or reduced spectral response. An example of such a cathode system was described in Information Display magazine, August 1997--Vol. 13, No. 8. The energy of electrons emitted from a photo-cathode is nominally the difference between the photon's energy which causes the emission and the work function of the cathode material i.e. the energy the electron loses in escaping from the lattice. This is usually quite low, limited to a few eVs at most, and typically a few tenths of an eV. This makes the photo-cathode a preferred choice because of the low Grid 1 voltage which needs to be employed to hold inactive pixels at the "non-select" level when compared to active pixels at the "cut-off" level.
At least two of the problems which must be addressed for use of a photo-cathode in a magnetic matrix display are that it must be sufficiently efficient so as to reduce the overall power consumed by the display and that it must provide the required uniformity of emission.

Photo-cathode electron source having an extractor grid

International Business Machines Corporation


A recording device at a calling party premises is configured for recording a message for a messaging subscriber by the calling party, and sending the recorded message, via a data network, to a destination message store serving the messaging subscriber. The recording device sends the recorded message based on messaging subscriber attributes retrieved via the data network. Hence, a calling party can utilize a recording device at the calling party premises for recording a message for a messaging subscriber, and sending the message via the data network to a destination message store, eliminating the necessity of establishing any voice-grade connection or a media connection between the calling party and any server (e.g., messaging server, media gateway server, etc.).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to local messaging devices enabling recorded messages by calling parties to be sent to a destination messaging system via a data network.
2. Description of the Related Art
The evolution of the public switched telephone network has resulted in a variety of voice applications and services that can be provided to individual subscribers and business subscribers. Such services include voice messaging systems that enable landline or telephony subscribers to record, playback, and forward voice mail messages. However, the ability to provide enhanced services to subscribers of the public switched telephone network is directly affected by the limitations of the public switched telephone network. In particular, the public switched telephone network operates according to a protocol that is specifically designed for the transport of voice signals; hence any modifications necessary to provide enhanced services can only be done by switch vendors that have sufficient know-how of the existing public switched telephone network infrastructure.
One particular problem related to voice messaging systems is the cost associated with a calling party leaving a voice message for a called party based on a no answer/busy condition at the called party premises. In particular, a calling party attempting to reach a called party will be connected to the called party's voice messaging system if the called party is not available, and begin a voice messaging session with the called party's voice messaging system which includes listening to a messaging prompt menu, recording a message, possibly reviewing/editing the message, and submitting the message for storage by the called party's voice messaging system. Such an arrangement uses a costly trunk line connection between the calling party and the called party's voice messaging system, resulting in increased costs for the messaging session, especially for use of long distance trunk line connections between interexchange carriers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,432, to Wallace et al. discloses a voice mail system having SS7 signaling capabilities to obtain routing information, for sending a recorded message to a destination mail system, via the SS7 network. The disclosed voice mail system includes an SS7 signaling interface for sending Transactions Capabilities Applications Part (TCAP) query messages and receiving TCAP response messages via the SS7 signaling network in order to obtain voice mail capabilities information and routing information accessed from a subscriber profile record corresponding to a called party, bypassing existing Advanced Intelligent Network components, such as a standalone service control point.
However, transfer of messages via the SS7 network imposes a burden on the SS7 signaling network, and may create congestion conditions for SS7 signaling nodes and SS7 links configured for transferring SS7 call setup messages (e.g., ISDN User Part (ISUP) messages).
Voice over IP technology has been deployed as an alternative to conventional PSTN-based telephony systems relying on frame relay. Use of the open standards-based Internet Protocol (IP) network eliminates the reliance on existing PSTN-based telephony systems for telephony services or voice messaging services. An example of an IP-based messaging service is disclosed in commonly-assigned, copending application Ser. No. 09/608,187, filed Jun. 30, 2000, entitled IP Web Based Messaging System for Localized Management of Wireless Messaging, the disclosure of which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference. The copending application Ser. No. 09/608,187 discloses an application server configured for providing messaging services to a calling party for a remote subscriber based on retrieval of subscriber attribute information obtained from a remote information database server (such as LDAP) via an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The application server also is configured for sending and retrieving messages from a standardized remote messaging server (such as IMAP) via the IP network based on a destination address specified in the subscriber attribute information. The access of the remote information database server and the standardized remote messaging server via the IP network enables the application server to provide portable application services for roaming subscribers or calling parties. Hence, application infrastructure can be shared among multiple servers to provide portable application servers, eliminating the necessity of routing telephone calls across interexchange carrier facilities or international facilities.

Arrangement for local recording of a voice message for delivery to destination messaging system via an IP network


Aspects of the present disclosure include an activation, consolidation, and transformation system (ACT) for a telecommunications network. A request is received to provision one or more devices in a network and includes a key and key value. The request is routed to a data source associated with the key or key value of the request. Data is queried from the data source and validated by the ACT. At least one template is identified from a plurality of digital templates based upon attributes of the data that is applied to the at least one template and the template transforms the data to an output. The output comprises instructions for configuring a device for a telecommunications service based on the request.

A service provider in the telecommunications industry faces unique challenges with respect to providing the required technical infrastructure to fulfill services for its customers. The service provider must process orders from clients for various possible services, where each order and each possible service may require unique configurations of numerous devices needed to fulfill the service.
However, conventional order provisioning systems often lack for the ability to validate data associated with incoming orders or manage data from multiple input sources. Specifically, when devices are being prepared to provide services to customers, it may be determined that the data associated with activating the devices is missing, inaccurate, or incomplete. When such incomplete data is encountered, many conventional systems generate errors and/or require new orders to be submitted. Further, conventional order provisioning systems may not address compatibility issues. For example, a service provider may receive orders from different types of order entry systems which may require collection of different types of data to fulfill the orders. Further still, different devices may need to be configured to provide a service which may require different types or forms of configuration information. A conventional system may often require manual intervention to configure different types of devices or otherwise access information needed for different device configurations.
It is with these observations in mind, among others, that various aspects of the present disclosure were conceived and developed.


A shift-assisting device for a transmission that is equipped with an electric motor for operating a shifting mechanism in the same direction as the direction in which a speed-change lever is shifted, the shifting mechanism being coupled to the speed-change lever and actuating the synchronizing mechanism of the transmission. The shift-assisting device includes a controller for controlling the electric motor. The controller judges whether the gear is to be disengaged or engaged based on the shifting direction of the speed-change lever and on the shift stroke position of the shifting mechanism, detects the shifting operation speed, obtains an average shifting operation speed in the gear-disengaging operation or the gear-engaging operation, and determines the electric power for driving the electric motor based on the average shifting operation speed.

The present invention relates to a shift-assisting device for reducing the shifting operation force in changing the speed of a transmission mounted on a vehicle.
Large trucks and buses that require a large shifting force for changing the speed have been equipped with a shift-assisting device for executing the shifting operation with a decreased force. The shift-assisting device with which large vehicles are furnished generally uses compressed air as a source of operation. The shift-assisting device that uses compressed air as the source of operation is equipped with a shift actuator comprising a pneumatic pressure cylinder that operates the speed-change operation mechanism coupled to a speed-change lever in the same direction as the direction in which the speed-change lever is shifted. Large vehicles generally use compressed air as a source for operating the brake and are, hence, able to use the compressed air for the shift-assisting device. However, small- and medium-sized vehicles that are not equipped with a compressor as a source of compressed air, cannot be provided with a shift-assisting device that uses a shift actuator which comprises a pneumatic pressure cylinder. In recent years, however, it has been desired to provide even small- and medium-sized vehicles with the shift-assisting device, and there have been proposed shift-assisting devices using an electric motor, as taught in, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 87237/1993 (JP-A 5-87237) and Japanese Patent No. 2987121. In a shift-assisting device using an electric motor, it is desired that the driving force of the electric motor be controlled depending upon the manner of operating the speed-change lever by the driver so that a smooth shifting operation can be conducted. According to the shift-assisting devices disclosed in the above Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 87237/1993 and Japanese Patent No. 2987121, the force for operation of the speed-change lever toward the direction of shift is detected, and the driving force of the electric motor is controlled according to this force of operation. Further, Japanese Patent No. 2987121 discloses a technology in which the speed of the shifting operation is detected and the rate of the driving force of the electric motor is increased with an increase in the speed of the shifting operation.
In shifting a transmission equipped with a synchronizing mechanism, the largest operation force is required for bringing the gears into engagement in a synchronizing operation in the gear-engaging operation, and then, a second largest force is required for engaging the chamfer of dog teeth with the chamfer of the spline of the clutch sleeve. And, in an gear-disengaging operation, an operation force is required during from the start of the gear-disengaging operation until the dog teeth are disengaged from the spline of the clutch sleeve. In a shift-assisting device for controlling the driving force of an electric motor according to the operation force, however, the electric motor is driven after the operation force has reached a predetermined value, and, hence, there exists a time lag until the assisting force is produced after the operation force has increased. In shifting the transmission, therefore, the driver feels a large force just before the assisting force is produced by the electric motor. In order to solve this problem, the present applicant has proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 46173/2000 a shift-assisting device for a transmission, equipped with a shift stroke sensor that detects the shift stroke position of the shifting mechanism and controls an electric motor for assisting the shifting operation correspondingly to the shift stroke position based on a detection signal from the shift stroke sensor.
Drivers have their peculiar habits of conducting the speed-change operation and, hence, it is also desired to control the shift-assisting force by taking into consideration the habits of the drivers. As for habits of the drivers for conducting the speed-change operation, the shifting operation speed may appear as the greatest element in determining the shift-assisting force. Namely, it is desired to increase the shift-assisting force with an increase in the shifting operation speed. However, the shifting operation speed greatly varies depending upon the shift stroke position of the shifting mechanism. That is, the shifting operation speed varies depending upon the gear-disengaging operation and the gear-engaging operation. Further, even in the gear-engaging operation, the operation speed in the synchronizing operation greatly differs from that in other shift stroke regions. It is therefore desired to detect the operation speed in a shift stroke region reflecting the peculiar habit of the driver and to determine the shift-assisting force based on t his operation speed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a shift-assisting device for a transmission, which determine s the shift-assisting force based on an average value of the speeds of operation in a predetermined shift strok e section where the habit of a driver is greatly reflected.
In order to accomplish the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a shift-assisting device for a transmission, equipped with an electric motor for operating a shifting mechanism in the same direction as the direction in which a speed-change lever is shifted, the shifting mechanism being coupled to the speed-change lever and actuating a synchronizing mechanism of the transmission, the shift-assisting device for a transmission comprising:
a shift stroke sensor for detecting a shift stroke position of the shifting mechanism;
a shifting direction detection means that produces signals corresponding to the operation of the speed-change lever in a first shifting direction and in a second shifting direction; and
a controller for producing a drive signal to the electric motor based on signals detected by the shift stroke sensor and by the shifting direction detection means;
wherein the controller judges whether the gear is to be disengaged or engaged based on the shifting direction of the speed-change lever and on the shift stroke position of the shifting mechanism, detects the shifting operation speed and obtains an average shifting operation speed in the gear-disengaging operation or in the gear-engaging operation, determines the electric power for driving the electric motor based on the average shifting operation speed, and drives the electric motor with a drive electric power that has been determined.
It is desired that the shifting operation speed in the gear-disengaging operation be an operation speed in a predetermined section from a shift stroke position where the clutch sleeve of the synchronizing mechanism is disengaged from the dog teeth to a neutral position. It is further desired that the shifting operation speed in the gear-engaging operation be an operation speed in a predetermined section from a position where the synchronization of the synchronizing mechanism ends to a final shift stroke position.
The electric power for driving the electric motor is obtained by adding up an initial set-point electric power that is set correspondingly to the shift stroke position and a corrected electric power calculated based on the average shifting operation speed in the gear-disengaging operation.

Shift-assisting device for a transmission


A threaded, dual needle system is securely attached to a modified subcutaneous venous access port having an internal reservoir, used for intravenous drug therapy particularly in human cancer treatment. A hollow outer needle is paired with a removable, male-threaded solid inner point and inserted through the patient's tissue and through the port's protective, self-sealing silicon septum, and the solid inner needle is then removed, while the outer needle is left in place. Next, a hollow inner needle is threaded through the outer needle to a depth sufficient to interlock with a female-threaded port receptacle at the base of the port's fluid reservoir and rotated to install. Optional additional threading can permit securing the outer needle to the two inner needles. A breakaway system prevents displacement from unintended pulling of the flow-line. The system thus provides additional protection against needle displacement from venous access ports, the resulting leakage, and the problems caused thereby.

In existing medical practice, percutaneous catheters are used for intravenous drug therapy. Problems associated with such systems, which multiply when used on a repetitive basis, include substantial sterile dressing care requirements for patients, increased rate of transcutaneous infection, and venous thrombosis. Without a venous access device, there exists significant risk of the development of thrombosis, venous sclerosis, or destruction of smaller peripheral vessels from repeated vein punctures.
Known subcutaneous venous access devices or ports provide numerous advantages for repeated or sustained injection therapy, in comparison to percutaneous catheters. Such ports are surgically installed under the patient's skin for intermittent or continuous intravenous injections, and are often the method of choice for sustained intravenous treatments. However, known needle-port systems have limitations when a treatment regimen includes the use of toxic chemotherapeutic agents, because of the significant potential for needle displacement from the port's protective, self-sealing silicon septum.
Port-needle displacement is hazardous and typically results in subcutaneous diffusion of injected toxic chemicals, causing necrosis of nearby tissues. Needle displacement may also result in poor deployment of the chemical treatment, in addition to causing physical and emotional discomfort to the patient. Necrosis of tissue typically requires corrective surgery, including debridement of the necrotic tissue, removal of the port, and often skin grafting to facilitate healing. Existing subcutaneous venous access ports thus may increase the potential for infections due to needle displacement and toxic chemical infusions, which is particularly hazardous for malnourished or neutropenic patients or patients with suppressed immune systems.
Another potential problem associated with presently available drug infusion devices is associated with the occurrence of thrombosis, which may require a chemical cleaning treatment, or even premature surgical removal for remedial purposes.
A variety of known ports are described in references, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,341, to address needle displacement, however, none adequately controls the problem. For instance, one configuration disclosed in that patent shows a needle core, or stylet, that creates an expansion section that expands upon removal of the stylet. A second embodiment employs a balloon segment of the needle that is manually inflated after placing the needle in the fluid reservoir chamber of the port. Other embodiments provide permanent, multi-ridged surfaces that cooperate with the septum to secure the needle. None of those or other known techniques for securing the needle in the port operate satisfactorily to secure the needle well, and thus are presently not widely used in medical practice.

System for preventing needle displacement in subcutaneous venous access ports


The method disclosure provides methods, systems and computer programs for identification of candidate video insertion object types using machine learning. Machine learning is used for at least part of the processing of the image contents of a plurality of frames of a scene of a source video. The processing includes identification of a candidate insertion zone for the insertion of an object into the image content of at least some of the plurality of frames and determination of an insertion zone descriptor for the identified candidate insertion zone, the insertion zone descriptor comprising a candidate object type indicative of a type of object that is suitable for insertion into the candidate insertion zone.

With the advent of digital file processing, it is possible to digitally insert objects (also referred to herein as "embed") into a video. Digitally inserting objects in a video may have many benefits, for example enhancing the visual effects of the video, or improving the realism of a video, or allowing more flexibility for the video after it is shot, meaning that fewer decisions need to be made regarding objects to include in a scene at the stage of filming the scene. Consequently, digital object insertion is becoming increasingly common and utilised by video makers for all manner of purposes.
Currently, digital object insertion typically requires a number of processing stages. Although described further below, these can broadly be broken down into:
1. the detection of cuts;
2. the fusion and grouping of similar shots;
3. the detection of insertion opportunities (referred to interchangeably throughout as insertion zones);
4. the contextual characterisation of insertion zones; and
5. the matching between insertion zones and objects for insertion.
Detection of Cuts
A programme may typically be a half hour or hour-long show, and programme material is decomposed into shots. Shots are a consecutive sequence of frames which do not comprise any edit points, i.e., they usually maintain a coherence which indicates that they were recorded by a single camera.
They are delineated by cuts, where the camera usually stops recording, or the material is edited to give this impression. Broadly speaking, there are two types of cuts: "hard" cuts and "soft" cuts. A hard cut is detected when the visual similarity between consecutive frames abruptly breaks down, indicating an edit point or a change in camera angle, for example. A soft cut corresponds to the beginning or end of a soft transition, for example a wipe or a fade transition, characterised by a significant but gradual change in the visual appearance of the video across several frames.
First, it may be necessary to analyse the source video material (for example, the programme material), and locate suitable scenes for object insertion. This is usually referred to as a pre-analysis pass, and is best done by dividing the source video into scenes, and particularly into scenes shot from the same camera position. Segmentation of video material into scenes may typically be performed automatically, using shot change detection. A video analysis module may automatically detect hard and soft cuts between different shots, which correspond to hard and soft transitions respectively.
Fusion and Grouping of Similar Shots
Once a shot or shots have been detected, continuity detection may also be applied in a further processing step to identify similar shots that have been detected in the source video. In this way, when an insertion opportunity is identified in one shot, a shot similarity algorithm can identify further shots in which the same opportunity is likely to be present.
Detection of Insertion Zones
Image regions in the source video content that are suitable for insertion of additional material are referred to as insertion zones, and these can broadly be categorised into surfaces and objects. In general, a surface may be suitable for the insertion of material. In the case of a wall, for example, a poster might be added. In the case of a table, an object such as a drink may be inserted. When an object is identified as an insertion zone, the opportunity for insertion material may relate to rebranding any brand insignia identified on the product, replacement of the object with another object belonging to the same class of objects, or the addition of a further similar object in close proximity with the object.
Detecting insertion zones can be pursued and refined through the tracking of coherently moving pixels throughout the source video material. Image-based tracking techniques include but are not limited to planar tracking algorithms to compute and model 2D transformations of each image in the source video.
Contextual Characterization of Insertion Zones
An operator may be required to assess the identified insertion zone and provide context for the possible additional material which may be inserted therein. With the rapid rise in the amount of digital video content which is being broadcast or streamed via the internet, the fact that a human operator is not able to process insertion opportunities to identify context much faster than in real time may be a problem.
Matching Between Insertion Zones and Product Categories
It is not enough to merely identify the insertion opportunities through pattern recognition processes, there may also need to be some intelligence applied when selecting the material which is to be inserted into the video content.
For an instance of object insertion not to detract from the viewing experience, it should make sense within the context of the source video content into which it is placed. If a scene takes place in a kitchen, for example, additional content to be placed in that scene should be relevant to the objects that the viewer would expect to see in that location. For example, one would perhaps not expect to see a perfume bottle located on a kitchen side board next to a kettle. Much more suitable in the context described might be a jar of coffee. Likewise a bathroom scene is suitable for the placement of bathroom or hygiene related items, rather than groceries. Consequently, an operator may be required to assess the scene to select a particular object or category of objects that would be suitable for insertion in any identified insertion zone. Again, the fact that a human operator is not able to process insertion opportunities to identify context much faster than in real time may be a problem.
It may be appreciated from the above that the identification of insertion zone opportunities and suitable objects for insertion may typically be a time consuming, multi-stage process that may limit the volume of video material that can be analysed.

Machine learning for identification of candidate video insertion object types


The shearbar of a forage chopper, positioned in such a way that direct access thereto for adjustment purposes is obstructed by other adjacent structures and mechanisms, is provided with an adjuster which may be manipulated at a point remote from the shearbar itself under conditions providing free, uninhibited access to the adjuster. A cam in the nature of a wedge is shifted infinitely along a path of travel that causes responsive shifting of the shearbar assembly along a path of travel extending toward and away from the chopper when a setscrew is released to permit such shifting on the part of the assembly.

Forage choppers typically employ chopping "cylinders" which rotate at high speeds and cooperate with stationary shearbars to chop incoming crop stalks and the like into small segments. The relationship of the shearbar to the knives of the cylinder is critical to achieving proper severance and uniform length of chopped segments. Thus, it is essential that the position of the shearbar be adjustable with respect to the chopper so that accommodations can be made as may be necessary or desirable for wear on the part of the knives and the shearbar tending to militate against the quality of chop obtained. In some situations, however, the shearbar is located in an area in which direct access thereto is obstructed by adjacent equipment and structures, making adjustment difficult and tending to discourage proper periodic adjustment. Furthermore, the degree of accuracy and precision involved in prior adjustments has not been all together optimum.

Chopping mechanism with remote shearbar adjuster


A reference voltage circuit used for determining the polarization state of a ferroelectric capacitor. The circuit includes a pair of ferroelectric capacitors, each polarized to an opposite polarization state. The charge stored in each ferroelectric capacitor is discharged into respective sense capacitors, thereby generating different voltages, each representative of the different polarization states. The sense capacitors are then short circuited together to thereby average the representative voltages and provide a reference voltage that is of intermediate value. The reference voltage can then the used to compare memory cell signals generated by other ferroelectric capacitors to determine the respective polarization states.

The unique characteristics of ferroelectric materials have been known for many years. The development of ferroelectric components, especially capacitors, has experienced a renewed interest because its ability to store in a nonvolatile manner polarization states corresponding to binary values. With this capability, ferroelectric capacitors have been developed for use in digital integrated circuits. Indeed, the hysteresis characteristic of a ferroelectric capacitor lends itself well as the storage mechanism in nonvolatile memory cells.
In order to fully utilize the properties of ferroelectric components, it is necessary to determine the polarization state previously stored in the component. When the ferroelectric material is utilized as a dielectric in fabricating a capacitor, the effective capacitance is different, depending on whether the capacitor is polarized in one direction or the other. With this inherent characteristic, a ferroelectric capacitor can be discharged so that a voltage of one magnitude is developed if the ferroelectric capacitor were polarized in one direction, and a voltage of a different magnitude is developed if the ferroelectric capacitor were polarized in the opposite direction. The voltage developed as a result of the discharge of the ferroelectric capacitor can then be compared with a reference to determine the polarization state of the capacitor. When employed in connection with single-transistor, single-capacitor ferroelectric memory cells, such type of polarization state determination is known as single-ended sensing.
The traditional problem with single-ended sensing of the polarization state of ferroelectric capacitors is that the electrical charge discharged or read from a ferroelectric capacitor incurs short-term and long-term changes. Short-term changes in the characteristics of a ferroelectric capacitor occur when a cell is written a first time, and then immediately thereafter before the polarization state has settled back to a quiescent magnitude. As a result, an electrical charge discharged from the capacitor during both write operations is different, even when the polarization state remains the same. Long-term changes in the ferroelectric capacitor characteristics occur due to aging and fatigue phenomena. According to the aging characteristic, the polarization state magnitude of a ferroelectric capacitor gradually degrades over time. The magnitude also degrades by the fatigue phenomena as the number of polarization state changes increase as a result of writing the memory cell with different data.
In order to circumvent these problems with single-ended sensing of ferroelectric memory cells, complementary-type cell architectures have been developed which include a pair of ferroelectric capacitors and select transistors, where each ferroelectric capacitor is polarized to opposite states. A pair of bit lines is also employed with this type of cell architecture. When such a memory cell is read, the electrical charge discharged from the respective ferroelectric capacitors generates a different voltage on each bit line. The inputs of a differential sense amplifier can be connected to the pair of bit lines and differentially sense whether one bit line voltage is greater than the other, or vice versa, and thereby determine the polarization state of the pair of ferroelectric capacitors. With this scheme, each memory cell includes twice the number of components of a single-transistor, single-capacitor cell, and thus the density of the memory cells per chip is compromised.
From the foregoing, it can be seen that a need exists for a high density memory architecture utilizing single-transistor, single-capacitor ferroelectric cells and single-ended sensing, but where the reference voltage for the sensing circuits changes dynamically with the characteristics of the ferroelectric capacitors. An associated need exists for an improved reference circuit which generates a voltage corresponding to the instantaneous ferroelectric capacitor characteristics. Yet another associated need exists for a reference voltage generator that generates a voltage that tracks short-term and long-term changes in ferroelectric capacitor characteristics.

Dynamic adjusting reference voltage for ferroelectric circuits


A surface platform for a conveyor belt includes a platform member having an upper surface and a rail member at one side of the upper surface. The upper surface has a first portion adjacent the rail member, a second portion adjacent the first portion, and a third portion adjacent the second portion. The second portion extends upward at a distance and in a direction such that when an article is placed on the platform member in contact with the rail the article extends to, and no further than, the second portion. The first portion may extend at least to a center of the platform member and may be horizontal. The second portion may extend upwardly less than a height of the rail member.

Conveying systems are well known in the art and have any number of useful applications, such as the transportation of objects in various stages of manufacturing, storage, and shipping. Typical conveying systems utilize a flat conveying belt, generally formed of interconnected links, driven by motors that engage with the conveyor belt. Sometimes belts made of such links are also called chains. Such conveying systems are commonly employed in the transportation of manufactured goods and articles. With these typical systems, the motor drives a toothed drive sprocket that engages with complimenting driving recesses or "dogs" formed on the conveyor belt.
Link type conveyor belts are sometimes designed in a knuckle/socket joint arrangement wherein one end of the link is a rounded knuckle and the opposite end is a socket formed by two extending edges. The knuckle of one link fits into the socket of a neighboring link. The knuckle is able to move in various directions within the socket, which allows for the conveyor system as a whole to curve and move.
The interconnected links typically have a platform member connected to or formed at the link's upper surface. The platform member is generally shaped to match the neighboring platform members on other links such that the links can turn while moving around curved sections of the conveying system, yet are also shaped such that the cracks and spaces formed between the links are minimized. The platform members can be connected to the links in several different ways. For instance, the platforms may have pegs extending therefrom which match corresponding slots on the links. Alternatively or additionally, the platforms can have snap springs which lock into place on corresponding sections of the links. Such a knuckle link with a snap-on platform surface member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,209,716.
The platform surface member on the conveyor links of that patent has a substantially flat upper surface with no substantially vertical end walls. Such structure works well for most conveyances. U.S. Pat. No. 6,601,697 discloses an alternate platform with vertical walls in the form of a rail member. Such end walls can be useful in preventing articles from shifting laterally, especially due to tangential or centrifugal forces when going around bends and/or travelling non-horizontally.
Some conventional "drink boxes" are made of sheets of material that are folded and welded or glued together to form a box shape. U.S. Pat. No. 7,032,810, entitled "Sealed Package for Pourable Food Products," shows such a drink box in FIG. 4. Such drink boxes have been successfully introduced and are in great use in many countries worldwide. The description of such drink box ("package 15") of that patent is incorporated herein. As shown therein, the bottom of the box includes a widthwise seal and triangular side edges folded inward. The boxes are often slightly concave on the bottom side, with the four corners of the bottom comprising points that extend the furthest downward. It can be sometimes more difficult to handle and convey such slightly irregular drink boxes than it would be, for example, to handle and convey a flat bottomed box with no seals, edges, or concavities on the bottom side. Such difficulties can manifest themselves in particular when conveying at high speeds and/or around bends.

Conveyor belt and platform for conveyor belt


A nested fiber optic gyro system includes at least a first fiber optic coil having a predetermined shape and size and at least a second fiber optic coil having the same shape and size as the first coil and nested within and transversely to the first coil.

In a conventional construction of fiber optic gyros for sensing angular rate in three axes, each fiber optic coil is mounted on one of three orthogonal surfaces. This allows each coil to be wound on a circular bobbin with the same dimensions so the coils for each axis are common and interchangeable. Each coil is typically individually packaged in a container that provides the necessary magnetic shielding and thermal isolation provisions. However, the separate mounting of each makes for a relatively large, heavy and costly gyro system.


This invention relates to a drill guide particularly useful for drilling an accurately located and oriented bore of limited depth into an orbital implant for purposes of fixating an orbital prosthesis. The drill guide comprises a cylindrical housing, the distal end of the housing defines a plurality of fixation pegs which are engagable with the orbital implant. An adaptor insert is placed on the nonrotating nose of a surgical drill which defines an outer diameter which is closely received by the drill guide housing. Features are provided to limit the depth of insertion of the adaptor insert. After placement of the drill guide on the orbital implant the surgical drill can be advanced until the physical stop is reached providing a limited depth bore which can be accurately located and oriented.

This invention relates to a surgeons tool for drilling a hole into an orbital implant for purposes of fixing an artificial eye.
When patients have an eye removed (enucleation or evisceration), an implant is placed into the socket to provide a base for extraocular muscle reattachment. In addition to cosmetic considerations, in younger patients an implant is also essential for appropriate socket growth. At a later date, a prosthesis painted to match the fellow eye is situated in the socket overriding the previously placed implant. It is important that the prosthetic movement match that of the fellow eye to minimize awareness by others that an artificial eye is present. Motility of the prosthesis is usually accomplished by reattaching the eye muscles to the buried implant that is placed first. This allows the socket tissues to move somewhat and the socket movement is partially translated to the prosthesis to move it as well.
Translation of motion between the socket and prosthesis is inefficient unless the system is integrated by some sort of connecting system between the prosthesis and the implant. Unfortunately, most of the early integrated implants were deemed unsatisfactory over the years because many of them became infected or extruded, necessitating removal. The hydroxyapatite implant is an integrated implant but because of its biocompatibility and biointegratability should have a lower rate of infection or extrusion than previous integrated implants. The hydroxyapatite implant is a microporous, corraline sphere which is covered by cadaver donor Eye Bank sclera to which the extraocular muscles are attached. The implant later becomes vascularized from the ingrowth of the host body tissues through its microporous structure. In several months when the implant is completely vascularized, it is drilled for placement of a peg that will later drive an overlying prosthesis.
Drilling the implant correctly can be difficult. It is imperative that the hole be properly positioned to maximize the even distribution of motility in all directions. The prosthesis will be contoured on its posterior aspect to accept the ball-shaped peg head, therefore, the peg must be so positioned to allow the prosthesis to be contoured in an area of sufficient bulk to accommodate the peg. The angulation of the hole is also important in that the peg should be presented perpendicular to the facial frontal plane. This also enhances motility and prevents peg slippage, since the ball is fitting perfectly into the posterior cavity of the prosthesis. Prior to this invention, the hole has been drilled free-handedly. There have been difficulties with maintaining orientation and depth of the drilling. When the drill touches the implant, it bobs within the socket as there is no fixation of the prosthesis to the socket tissue, except for the attached extraocular muscles. The drill may also slip off the hydroxyapatite implant during the drilling procedure and damage the surrounding socket tissue.
This invention is a drill guide that fixates the implant for drilling and also regulates the drilling depth. The drill guide incorporates contoured inserts which enable a variety of different drill designs to be employed. The drill guide is located over the implant and includes fixation features for supporting the implant during the drilling procedure. The device further allows consistent drilling to a predetermined depth and establishes a proper angular positioning of the drilled hole. The use of the device reduces conjunctival trauma, eliminates a need for a surgical assistant, and by encasing the drill, provides protection to the patient as compared with free-handed methods. Moreover, overall surgical time using the drill guide of this invention is decreased.
Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiments and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The Regents Of The University Of Michigan


A method and device for applying a load to a reel in a reel-up of a paper web in which a reel spool and the reel wound around it from the paper web are is loaded against a reeling cylinder with a predetermined loading force supported by a supporting point. The supporting point of the loading force is located in a construction movable at least in the machine direction along with the reel spool. The construction is positioned with respect to a fixed supporting point in accordance with the growth of the reel by a transfer device located between the construction and the supporting point and operating by mechanical power transmission, and/or a carriage at least partly bearing the weight of the reel is used as the construction. The supporting point of the reel is transferred at least in the machine direction by the carriage. The loading force is produced by a force device acting between the supporting point in the moving construction and the reel spool. The loading force generated by the force device is adjusted during the reeling process. With the carriage, the reel can also be completely moved away from the reel-up.

In the final section of a paper machine or a corresponding machine which produces a continuous paper or fibrous web, the paper web passed from the preceding sections is accumulated into a machine reel in the reel-up. Such a reel is formed around a reel spool, which is loaded against a reeling cylinder by means of which the paper web is guided onto the reel. At least the reeling cylinder is driven, wherein it can simultaneously rotate a freely rotating reel, or the reel can be center-driven, i.e., the reel spool is driven during the reeling.
In a normal work cycle of a continuous reeling of a paper web, the reel is changed by cutting the paper web and arranging its end around a new, empty reel spool, the old full reel is removed from the reel-up and transferred to further processing, and the paper web is reeled around the new reel spool into a full-size machine reel. This process is repeated as often as necessary.
One factor that affects the quality of the thus-produced machine reel is the force which is used to load the reel against the reeling cylinder during the reeling process, and during the loading this force is changed on the basis of certain parameters or by using a suitable program. The loading force is produced by means of a force device, typically a hydraulic cylinder, coupled to the reel spool via a suitable mechanism. This hydraulic cylinder can be coupled for example to pivotal arms connected pivotally to the frame of the reel-up. This coupling method is described for example in Finnish Patent Nos. 71107 and 98506 and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,835, in all of which the reel spool is at the same time supported by horizontal reeling rails. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,835, the full reel is transferred along the reeling rails into a discharge position, and a new reel spool is simultaneously brought onto the reeling rails.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,979, the load is effected by means of a carriage which moves in the frame of a reel-up along linear guides, to which carriage a loading hydraulic cylinder is coupled. The reel spool is arranged on a pivotal arm connected pivotally to the carriage. The arm is used only when removing the full reel by turning the pivotal arms into the unloading direction with special unloading cylinders.
In all the above-described known reel-ups, the aforementioned force device is used to take care of both the desired loading force and the transfer of the reel spool further from the reeling cylinder when the size of the reel is increased.
The aforementioned solutions require a substantial motion length of the force device effecting the motion and the force. The actual loading force is affected by a number of factors, such as the friction produced by the motion of the force device, and in addition to that the dynamic friction of the structure supporting the reel spool, during the movement of the reel spool.
European Patent No. 0 604 558, corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,008, describes carriages arranged to move linearly on guides disposed parallel to the reeling rails, the position of the carriages being determined by means of hydraulic cylinders coupled between the frame of the reel-up and the carriages. The carriages are provided with press devices, which press the bearing housings located at the ends of the reel spool and resting on the reeling rails, towards the reeling cylinder by an adjustable force. On the other side of the bearing housing, the carriages are also provided with positioning devices by means of which it is possible to adjust the position of the reel spool in the carriages more precisely.

Method and device for applying a load to a reel in a reel-up of a paper web