The present disclosure relates to a hub apparatus and associated charging systems. In some embodiments, the hub apparatus includes (1) a housing assembly defining an internal space; (2) a shaft positioned to extend through the housing assembly; (3) a stator assembly fixedly coupled to the shaft; (4) a side cover fixedly coupled to the shaft and rotatably coupled to the housing assembly, the side cover having a base portion and a mating portion extending from the base portion; and (5) a pair of first connectors positioned through the mating portion. Each of the first connectors comprising a terminal end and a contact portion. The terminal end is electrically coupled to a battery assembly via a wire bundle fixedly coupled to the side cover. The contact portion is configured to electrically couple to an external power source so as to charge the battery assembly through a wired connection.

A charging process is important for electric vehicles. Some conventional charging systems require users to charge their electric vehicles at designated charging stations. Sometimes it can be troublesome for users to locate available charging stations. In addition, conventional charging systems can be interrupted when the connection between the electric vehicle and the charging station is accidentally "broken" (e.g., a power cord between the electric vehicle and the charging station becomes disconnected if a person accidentally trips on the power cord). Therefore, there is a need for improved systems and methods for charging electric vehicles.
The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be expanded or reduced to help improve the understanding of various embodiments. Similarly, some components and/or operations may be separated into different blocks or combined into a single block for the purposes of discussion of some of the embodiments. Moreover, although specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and described in detail below, one skilled in the art will recognize that modifications, equivalents, and alternatives will fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Hub apparatus and associated charging apparatus and systems


There is disclosed an electronic device comprising a receiver, a display, an application processor and a sensor hub. The receiver is configured to receive notifications from a remote device. The display is configured to provide information including notifications. The application processor and the sensor hub are in communication with the display. The application processor is configured to provide instructions for displaying full screen information at the display during a non-sleep mode of the electronic device. The full screen information includes a first notification associated with information received by the electronic device during the non-sleep mode. The sensor hub is configured to provide instructions for displaying partial screen information at the display during a sleep mode of the electronic device. The partial screen information includes a second notification associated with information received by the electronic device during the sleep mode.

The traditional "Notification LED" has lost its usefulness for anyone who gets a constant stream of notifications. For such users, such LED's are constantly blinking and become incessant "noise" that provide little in the way of useful information and, indeed, an always-blinking LED drowns out important notifications. Additionally, devices employing such LEDs foster an operational paradigm of "fidgeting" in which the user must constantly wake the device simply to view the time or weed through such notifications. Such operation is both time consuming and cognitively draining.
In view of such concerns, and others, it would be advantageous if one or more improved methods of providing notifications to users of electronic devices, and improved electronic devices configured to perform such methods, could be developed.

Electronic device with enhanced method of displaying notifications


The present invention relates generally to telecommunication services and, in particular, to a system and method of managing a call, particularly with regard to a modification to bearer characteristics. In one aspect the invention provides a method and system of managing a call in a telecommunication system, the telecommunication system including a network having at least one call controller effecting a call control function and at least one bearer controller effecting a bearer control function, the call controller and the bearer controller separated by a vertical control protocol interface, including providing in at least one message, communicated within the telecommunication system, an indication of the capability of the at least one bearer controller to modify a characteristic of a bearer; and receiving and storing said indication in the at least one call controller. In another aspect the invention provides a media gateway controller being operable to request indications and to receive indications from at least one media gateway of the capability of the at least one media gateway to modify a characteristic of a bearer established by the at least media gateway. In a preferred embodiment the invention provides a media gateway controller operable to receive requests for an indication of the capability of the at least one media gateway to modify a characteristic of a bearer established by the media gateway.

There has been a recent trend toward telecommunication network architectures having switching nodes decomposed into call control functionality and bearer control functionality. It will be recognised by those skilled in the art that various call control functions and bearer control functions are known, and those functions may be effected by computer software programs residing within one or more telecommunication network nodes. With the decomposition of switching nodes into the call control functionality and the bearer control functionality, a vertical control protocol is required for communication between the respective call control and bearer control functions. An example vertical control protocol is the Media Gateway Control Protocol which enables external control and management of Media Gateways by Media Gateway Controllers. Media Gateway Control Protocol messages convey the control and management information between the MGC and the MG. MGs typically operate at the edge of multi-service packet networks and examples of MG devices include voice over IP Gateways, voice over ATM Gateways, modem banks, cable modems and set top boxes. The call control and bearer control functions are equally applicable to a situation where call control function resides within a Media Gateway Controller (MGC) or a Call Serving Function such as CSF, CSM, or CSN, and bearer control function resides within a Media Gateway (MG) or a Bearer Interworking Function such as BIWF, BCF, or BCU.
It will also be recognised by those skilled in the art that a bearer is a connection that carries the user plane information of a call. For example, a bearer may be an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) connection carrying a voice call or an IP (Internet Protocol) connection carrying a data call. In the instance of a decomposed switching node, the bearer control function manages the establishment, modification and release of physical bearers for a call. At the time of call establishment, the call control function requests the bearer control function to establish a call using bearers with characteristics that satisfy the requirements of the call. Bearer characteristics relate to the physical characteristics of the bearer, for example, bandwidth, packetisation, packet size, coding type, or framing.
At various times, a modification to the characteristics of the bearers in an established call connection may be required or requested. However, the bearer control function does not generally support bearer modification signalling and in the event that bearer modification signalling is supported, the call control function is generally unaware of this capability. In this respect, the capability of the bearer control function refers to the capability of the bearer control protocol associated with a bearer. For example, whether the bearer may have its characteristics modified or whether it has release procedures depends upon the capabilities of the associated bearer control function. For whatever reason, if a request to modify the characteristics of a bearer cannot be accommodated by the associated bearer control function, an error message is typically sent from that entity effecting the bearer control function to the entity effecting the call control function indicating that the request cannot be satisfied.
In existing systems, an error message in response to a request from a call control function to modify the characteristics of a bearer typically does not indicate the precise reason for the error. In some instances, the bearer control function may support a modification signalling protocol but the error message may be sent for another reason such as congestion.
Upon receiving an error message from an entity effecting a bearer control function, the call control function may attempt to satisfy a modification request by seeking to establish an alternative bearer connection with alternate bearers having appropriate characteristics.
However, the time delay associated with the process described above in attempting to satisfy a request to modify the characteristics of the bearers in an established call connection is significant and substantially increases the risk of a timeout, which causes the existing call connection to be dropped, as a result of the modification request not being satisfied within time constraints. Further examples of this problem are dropped or delayed packets, producing silences or clicking that may be perceived in a call. All these effects contribute to an unsatisfactory performance of the network.
As a result, it will be recognised by those skilled in the art that the call control function cannot manage a smooth and efficient modification to bearer characteristics for an established call connection with a reasonable probability of achieving the modification within required time constraints.
It is an object of the present invention to ameliorate or overcome one or more disadvantages of the prior art.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improvided system and method of responding to requests for a modification to bearer characteristics such that the improvement enables a determination as to the ability to satisfy the request to be ascertained and/or effected with greater efficiency as compared with existing systems and methods.

Method and system of managing a call in a telecommunication system


A circuit for canceling a direct current (DC) offset in a communication system includes a digital-to-analog (D/A) converter assembly (30), a summing circuit (40), an inphase-to-quadrature (I/Q) modulator (50), a detecting module (70), and a microcontroller (80). The D/A converter assembly converts digital DC offset regulation signals to analog DC offset regulation signals. The summing circuit sums up the DC offset regulation signals and corresponding vectors of a received base band signal. The I/Q modulator converts the summed base band signal to a radio frequency (RF) signal. The detecting module detects an energy variation due to DC offset contained in the radio frequency (RF) signal. The microcontroller regulates the DC offset regulation signals output from the D/A converter assembly to minimize the energy variation detected by the detecting module. In the invention, the circuit saves energy and enhances qualities of communication signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to circuits for canceling direct current (DC) offsets, and particularly to a circuit for canceling DC offset in a wireless communication system.
2. Description of Related Art
In wireless communication systems, a base band signal is modulated to a radio frequency (RF) signal via a modulator, and then coupled to an antenna and subsequently transmitted. During the process, DC offset can be generated in the modulator, which leads to energy consumption when the RF signal is transmitted. The DC offset is harmful for the communication systems. For example, in a mobile phone, lifetime of a battery is shortened by power loss due to the DC offset, thereby reducing standby time of the mobile phone.

Circuit for canceling DC offset in a communication system


A Tapered Slot Antenna EC Method (NC #098517). The method comprising coupling a first antenna element to a second antenna element to for a tapered slot antenna pair; electrically coupling a first end cap to the first antenna element; electrically couples a second end cap to the second antenna element; and configuring the first and second end caps to provide induction-canceling, capacitive coupling when operating at frequencies below a theoretical cutoff frequency.

The present invention is generally in the field of antennas.
Typical tapered slot antennas suffer from a greatly decreased gain and sensitivity when operating at frequencies below the theoretical cutoff frequency.
A need exists for a tapered slot antenna that does not suffer from a greatly decreased gain and sensitivity when operating at frequencies below the theoretical cutoff frequency.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A watercraft includes a lower hull, a deck having an opening provided therein, a storage plate, and a storage space defined by a portion of the lower hull, a portion of the deck, and the storage plate. The storage plate has at least one folding line such that the storage plate can be inserted through the opening in the deck when the storage plate is folded along the at least one folding line, and such that the storage plate can be unfolded and installed inside of the hull to define the storage space.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage space for watercraft. More specifically, the present invention relates to a storage space in a watercraft defined by a surface of the hull of the watercraft and a storage plate.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 6, a conventional watercraft 100 includes a known storage space which is defined by the combination of a hatch cover 170 provided in front of a steering mast 130 that extends above the bow portion of the deck 160 and a removable storage box 320. The hatch cover 170 is able to open and close freely, thereby exposing the forward section of the interior of the hull 120. The hatch cover 170 defines a generally smooth outer surface and is shaped to cooperate with the remainder of the deck 160 so that the bow of the watercraft has an aerodynamic design. A latch 280 is provided to secure the hatch cover 170 in its closed position during the operation of the watercraft 100. The hatch cover 170 is attached to the deck 160 by a hinge 300. The storage box 320 is removably provided in the deck 160 below the hatch cover 170. This storage box 320 is covered by the hatch cover 170 in a watertight manner.
However, the prior art storage box 320 suffers from several problems. Only a portion of the space defined by an area between the lower hull 140 and the deck 160 of the hull 120 is available for storage space. The size of storage box 320 is limited by the size of the opening 150. Thus, the storage space is unnecessarily small in size.
In addition, the storage box 320 must be completely removed from and later re-installed in the watercraft 100 in order to allow access to other components, such as a fuel tank capacity sensor, a pump module, a fuel tank or other components, that are located inside of the hull 120 of the watercraft 100 in an area that is rearward of the storage box 150 and below the steering mast 130.

Yamaha Motor Manufacturing Corporation of America


Existing systems use interprocedural data flow to analyze the source code of an entire program thereby requiring significant resources. Instead forward and backward chase components reference data structures (e.g., state machines) that identify instructions within a intraprocedural data flow graph. Based on how states of the state machine correspond to instructions in the data flow, the state machines direct the data flow chase to other procedures in a call graph, to instructions indicated in a global reference list, to instructions indicated in a field reference list, to instructions indicated by a pointer dereference, or to another instruction in the present procedure. Then, the chase continues in the data flow graph of the procedure containing the instruction.

Existing data flow analysis systems use data flow to analyze the source code of an entire program. Typically, an entire program is analyzed to determine where all data is used and where it originates. These methods are called interprocedural data flow analysis, and they utilize significant resources such as memory and execution time.
Additionally these prior methods limit data analysis to the abstract syntax trees derived from the source of a program. They do not analyze the data flow after the program has been transformed into binary code.


A sanitary device 210 is provided. The sanitary device 210 includes a body and mounting means on the body for mounting the body on a toiletry actuation device 312 of a toilet 310. A stack of leaves of material is provided on the body, the leaves of material being selectively removable so as to enable a user to actuate the toiletry actuation device 312 by removing an uppermost leaf of material from the stack, to reveal a lower leaf of material, and then pressing on the lower leaf of material to actuate the toiletry actuation device 312. In this way, a user can actuate the actuation device 312 without having to touch the toiletry actuation device 312 in a manner in which the user touches a surface which has been touched previously.

Many people are conscious of hygiene. Such people often dread using public toilet facilities because of the inherent risk of cross-contamination when touching toiletry actuation devices of such public toilet facilities.
For the purposes of this specification, the term "toiletry actuation device" is to be interpreted to include any actuation device of a type commonly found in, for example, a public toilet facility, a washroom, or the like. Such actuation devices include flushing actuators, such as buttons, and levers, and the like, for example, for actuating flushing systems of toilets, and urinals, and the like, for example, taps, or faucets, door handles, actuators of automatic hand drying mechanisms, and the like, for example.
It has been found that un-hygienic substances, such as types of pathogens, and the like, for example, often reside on different surfaces in public service areas. In the case of certain organizations in particular, such as businesses concerned with food preparation, food production, the provision of health care, and the like, as well as research institutions, hospitals, laboratories, clinics, and the like, cross-contamination of such substances should be inhibited. Methods currently employed to inhibit such cross-contamination include vigilant cleaning schedules, the addition of active substances (such as Phenol™, or Virkon™, for example) and/or passive substances (such as ethanol, for example) in cleaning agents, such as soaps, for example, the provision of operable taps which open and close without requiring the taps to be operated manually (either automatically activated or non-hand operated), and the like.
It is an object of the invention to provide a relatively simple sanitary device which can be used to inhibit cross-contamination in public toilet facilities, for example.


The present invention relates to a method of producing a transversely aligned web comprising the steps of extruding melted resin from a spinning nozzle to direct the metal resin downward, blowing off a primary airflow at a high temperature and at high velocity from an annular primary airflow nozzle, blowing off a pair of secondary airflows at a high temperature from a pair of secondary airflow nozzles, colliding with the pair of airflow blown off from the pair of secondary airflow nozzles each other below the spinning nozzle, spreading the colliding secondary airflow at least partly in the width direction of the conveyor, and piling on the conveyor the spun filaments so that transversely aligned web is formed of the filaments which are aligned in the width direction of the conveyor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of producing a transversely aligned web in which filaments spun at a high rate are aligned in the transverse direction and an apparatus for implementing the method of the same. The transversely aligned web is utilized as a raw material web of a transversely stretched nonwoven fabric. Further, the transversely aligned web is utilized as a raw material web for producing a cross laminated nonwoven fabric in which a transversely stretched nonwoven fabric is laid on a longitudinally aligned nonwoven fabric or the like so that the aligning directions thereof cross to each other.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most of the conventional nonwoven fabric is a random nonwoven fabric in which alignment of filaments composing the nonwoven fabric is random. Therefore, the tensile strength thereof is weak and the dimension of the product is unstable. As an invention made for improving such drawback which the conventional nonwoven fabric encounters, there can be introduced Japanese Patent Publication No. 36948/91, Japanese Patent No. 2612203, Japanese Patent Publication No. 6126/95 or the like filed by the present applicant. According to the above publications, there is introduced a lamination type nonwoven fabric in which at least two sheets of nonwoven fabric as a raw material are stretched and the sheets of nonwoven fabric are laid on and bonded to one another so that the directions of stretching thereof cross to each other. Also, a method of producing such a nonwoven fabric is introduced in the above publications.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 36948/91 discloses a method of producing nonwoven fabric in which un-oriented filaments are spun to produce a long-fiber nonwoven fabric, and the resulting nonwoven fabric is stretched in one direction under a proper temperature so that the fabric tends to contain a larger rate of filament components aligned in one direction. Also in the patent publication, there is disclosed a method in which sheets of nonwoven fabric stretched by the above method are laid on each other so that the stretching directions of the nonwoven fabrics cross to each other.
Further, Japanese Patent Publication No. 36948/91 discloses a method of producing a long fiber nonwoven fabric in which the nonwoven fabric is produced by using un-oriented filaments aligned in one direction. According to the method of producing the long fiber nonwoven fabric, initially, filaments are produced by extrusion through a nozzle which is provided above a screen mesh running in one direction. Then, the filaments are dispersed by a heated airflow which flows spirally. Further, a pair of airflows are created below the nozzle so that the airflows collide with each other. The rotated spun filaments are further dispersed by the spreading airflow resulting from the collision of the airflows. In this case, if the moving direction of the airflows colliding with each other is in parallel with the running direction of the screen mesh, then the spun filaments are dispersed in a direction perpendicular to the running direction of the screen mesh. Thus, dispersed filaments are piled on the screen mesh and a piece of nonwoven fabric can be created on the screen mesh so that a majority of filaments are aligned in the transverse direction of the fabric. In this way, nonwoven fabric mainly containing filaments aligned in the transverse direction is produced. Conversely, if the moving direction of the airflows colliding with each other is substantially perpendicular to the running direction of the screen mesh, then the spun filaments are dispersed in a direction in parallel with the running direction of the screen mesh. Thus, when dispersed filaments are piled on the screen mesh, a piece of nonwoven fabric can be created on the screen mesh so that a majority of filaments are aligned in the longitudinal direction of the fabric. In this way, nonwoven fabric mainly containing filaments aligned in the longitudinal direction is produced.
Japanese Patent No. 2612203 discloses a method of producing a nonwoven fabric in which fibers are blown off together with a fluid from a blowoff nozzle toward an upper surface of a running belt-conveyor, and the fibers are piled so that the fibers can be aligned in one direction on the upper surface of the belt conveyor, thus a web having fiber aligned therein can be produced. According to one example of the method of producing fabric, at least a part of the belt conveyor is bent downwardly in a direction perpendicular to the running direction thereof, and the fluid and fibers are blown off toward the bottom portion of the bent groove portion of the conveyor belt. Then, the fluid blown off from a blowoff nozzle is dispersed in the direction in which the groove of the conveyor belt extends, whereby fibers are aligned in the dispersing direction.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 6126/95 discloses a method of producing a nonwoven fabric in which a spray spinning is employed so that a plurality of filaments are aligned in substantially one direction to form a one-direction aligned nonwoven fabric. According to the method of producing fabric, when a high molecular compound is blown off through a nozzle to spin filaments, the spun filaments are rotated or vibrated in the width direction. Then, at least a pair of air-flows substantially bilaterally symmetrical with respect to the side of the filaments are applied to filaments from the side of the filaments at the center of one filament rotated or vibrated, under condition that the rotated or vibrated filament has a draft property of two times or more. Thus, at least a pair of airflows are applied to filaments so that the filaments are dispersed in a direction perpendicular to the spinning direction of the filament while the filament is applied with draft. In this way, filaments are aligned in the direction in which the filaments are dispersed, and the filaments are piled in stratum, and the one-direction aligned nonwoven fabric can be produced.
The nonwoven fabric produced by the above methods has a high tensile strength. Moreover, since the filament composing the nonwoven fabric has a small diameter of 5 xcexcm to 15 xcexcm after subjecting it to the stretching process, its feeling of touch is smooth and the texture is flexible and soft. Furthermore, the nonwoven fabric is glossy and suitable for printing. In other words, owing to the minute filament diameter, the nonwoven fabric is proper texture. In addition, owing to high tensile strength, the nonwoven fabric provides desirable practical utility in spite of the fact that the thickness thereof is small.
Although the nonwoven fabric produced by the above-described methods disclosed in respective publications has a high tensile strength and proper texture, the productivity of the nonwoven fabric according to the above methods is still unsatisfactory. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the productivity for reducing the cost of the nonwoven fabric. For this reason, in order that the productivity of the producing apparatus disclosed in the above publications and the cost is reduced, it is necessary to develop a spinning means for spinning filaments of a transversely aligned web in which filaments are aligned in the transverse direction. Further, in addition to the improvement of productivity in spinning the filaments, it is necessary to enlarge the tensile strength of the transversely aligned web formed of the obtained filaments while the high productivity is maintained.
If the diameter of the filament of the product at the final stage is predetermined, to improve the productivity of the filaments by a single cone restrictively requires to increase the spinning rate of filaments by the single cone. According to a conventional method of spinning filaments at a high rate, as is disclosed in a reference entitled xe2x80x9cThe Newest Spinning Technologyxe2x80x9d (edited by Japanese Conference of Fiber Industry) published by High Molecular Publication Union, the limit rate of spinning is 10000 m/min. on an industrial base. When a transversely aligned web having a large width in which filaments are aligned in the transverse direction is produced, it is requested that the filaments are spun at a rate, e.g., 30000 m/min. to 100000 m/min. or more, far exceeding that rate which has been regarded as a limit so far.
However, to produce the nonwoven fabric only at a high productivity is meaningless, i.e., the produced nonwoven fabric shall have a proper characteristic. That is, it is necessary that the diameter of the filaments is small enough to make the fabric have a proper texture as a transversely aligned web. More concretely, it is necessary that the diameter of the filament soon after spinning falls within a range of from 10 xcexcm to 30 xcexcm, more desirably, to 25 xcexcm. Further, if the transversely aligned web formed of filaments is stretched in the transverse direction to produce a transversely stretched web, it is ideal that the transversely stretched web has a tensile strength in the stretching direction of 132.5 mN/tex (1.5 g/d) or more. Desirably, the transversely stretched web is requested to have a tensile strength of 158.9 mN/tex (1.8 g/d) or more. More desirably, the transversely stretched web is requested to have a tensile strength of 176.6 mN/tex (2.0 g/d) or more. Further, since the transversely aligned web or the transversely stretched web is utilized as a nonwoven fabric, the spinning means is requested to produce the web which is free from a defect portion such as pilling due to breaking of filament.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a transversely aligned web in which spun filaments are aligned in the transverse direction and which makes it possible to have a high productivity rate, and hence a low production cost.
Another object of the present invention is to propose a method of producing such a transversely aligned web, an apparatus to produce the same, and a spinning head utilized in the apparatus for producing such a web.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a transversely aligned web in which the tensile strength in the transverse direction of the transversely aligned web is high and proper texture as a fabric is maintained in spite of the fact that the productivity rate for the web is high.
Still another object of the present invention is to propose a method of producing such a transversely aligned web and an apparatus for producing the same in spite of the fact that productivity for producing the web is high.
In order to attain the above object, there is provided a transversely aligned web having filaments aligned in a transverse direction, wherein the filaments are spun at a rate of 30000 m/min. or more, the filaments extend continuously from one edge to the other edge in the width direction of the transversely aligned web, and the width thereof is 300 mm or more.
According to the transversely aligned web of the present invention, the filaments forming the transversely aligned web are spun at a rate of 30000 m/min. or more, which is remarkably larger than the rate of a conventional high-rate multi-filament spinning machine, for example. Therefore, there can be obtained a transversely aligned web which makes it possible to produce at a high productivity and with a low cost. Further, according to the transversely aligned web of the present invention, the filaments composing the transversely aligned web extend continuously from one edge to the other edge in the width direction of the transversely aligned web, and the width thereof is 300 mm or more. Therefore, the transversely aligned web is suitable for use as a transversely aligned nonwoven fabric, unlike a web having a defect portion such as pilling due to breaking of filament. Moreover, since the filaments extend continuously from one edge to the other edge in the width direction of the transversely aligned web, the transversely aligned web becomes wide and has a large tensile strength and elongation in the transverse direction of the transversely aligned web in spite of the fact that the productivity rate for the web is high. Furthermore, the above transversely aligned web is suitable as an original web when the original web is stretched in the transverse direction to produce a transversely stretched nonwoven fabric.
According to the present invention, it is preferable for the filament to have a diameter of a range of from 10 xcexcm to 30 xcexcm, and for the transversely aligned web to have an elongation of 70% or more in the transverse direction.
With the above property, when the transversely aligned web is utilized as an original web for forming a transversely stretched nonwoven fabric, it is possible to produce a transversely stretched nonwoven fabric which has a sufficiently large width, a desired texture and flexible and soft nature.
According to the present invention, the transversely aligned web may be stretched in the transverse direction, and further, it is preferable for the filaments composing the stretched transversely aligned web to have a diameter of a range of from 5 xcexcm to 15 xcexcm, and the tensile strength of the stretched transversely aligned web in the stretching direction is preferably 132.5 mN/tex (1.5 g/d) or more.
As described above, the transversely aligned web stretched in the transverse direction is formed of filaments of which diameter falls in the range of from 5 xcexcm to 15 xcexcm, and the tensile strength of the stretched transversely aligned web in the stretching direction is 132.5 mN/tex or more. Therefore, the transversely stretched nonwoven fabric according to the present invention provides a soft feeling of touch and has a high tensile strength in the transverse direction. The transversely stretched nonwoven fabric is suitable as an original web for producing a cross laminated nonwoven fabric in which the transversely stretched nonwoven fabric is laid on a longitudinally aligned nonwoven fabric or the like so that the aligning directions of filaments of respective nonwoven fabrics cross to each other.
According to the method of producing a transversely aligned web and apparatus for producing a transversely aligned web, initially, a melted resin is extruded from a spinning nozzle having an inner diameter of 0.6 mm or more downwardly. At the open end of the spinning nozzle, there is formed a annular primary airflow nozzle having a diameter of 2.5 mm or more so as to be concentric with the opening end of the spinning nozzle, and a primary airflow is blown off at a high temperature and at a high velocity in the gravitational direction, whereby a melted filament extruded from the opening end of the spinning nozzle is vibrated. Thereafter, secondary airflows at a high temperature are blown off from secondary airflow nozzles, which are disposed on the upstream side and the downstream side of the running direction of the conveyor with respect to the melted filament, toward the extruded melted filament vibrated by the primary airflow. Thus, the secondary airflows collide with each other below the spinning nozzle.
In this way, the extruded melted filament vibrated by the primary airflow can be flowed together with the secondary airflows which collide with each other and are spread in the width direction of the conveyor. Thus, the extruded melted filament vibrated by the primary airflow can be spread by the secondary airflows, with the result that it becomes possible to spin the filaments deriving from solidifying of the extruded melted filament, at a high rate of 30000 m/min. or more.
Then, the extruded melted filament is spread in the width direction of the conveyor, whereby the spun filaments are aligned in the width direction of the conveyor and piled on the conveyor. Thus, production is carried out for producing a transversely aligned web having filaments aligned in the width direction of the conveyor and extending in one direction along the running direction of the conveyor.
According to the process of producing the transversely aligned web, since filaments can be spun at a high rate of 30000 m/min. or more, the productivity of the transversely aligned web can be improved and hence the cost of the transversely aligned web can be decreased. Moreover, it becomes possible to produce the transversely aligned web in which filaments extend from one edge to the other edge of the transversely aligned web in the width direction thereof, and it becomes possible to widen its width up to 300 mm or more.
In order to improve the productivity of the transversely aligned web, it is necessary to array a number of spinning heads above the conveyor. According to the present invention, filaments can be spun at a high rate by a single spinning head. Therefore, the necessary number of spinning heads to be arrayed above the conveyor can be reduced. Thus, with the method of and apparatus for producing a transversely aligned web according to the present invention, it becomes possible to reduce the cost of facility and floor area to be prepared for the facility. Moreover, since the necessary number of spinning heads to be arrayed above the conveyor can be reduced, it is expected that the number of heads subjected to adjustment can also be reduced. Therefore, the method of and apparatus for producing a transversely aligned web according to the present invention are advantageous in terms of adjustment and maintenance of facility. Furthermore, the method of and apparatus for producing a transversely aligned web according to the present invention can provide high productivity in producing the transversely aligned web but also a merit that a transversely aligned web acquires a large width.
In the description of the present invention above and below provided for explaining the aligning direction of the filaments of the nonwoven fabric or stretching direction of the nonwoven fabric, the term xe2x80x9clongitudinal directionxe2x80x9d means a direction in which the nonwoven fabric is conveyed upon producing the nonwoven fabric, and the term xe2x80x9ctransverse directionxe2x80x9d means a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, i.e., the width direction of the nonwoven fabric.
In the description of the present invention above and below, the term xe2x80x9celongationxe2x80x9d is in conformity with JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard)-L1095. That is, a web of a width of 5 cm is held so as to extend over a distance of 10 cm in the longitudinal direction and stretched at a tensile velocity of 10 cm/min. Then, the rate of stretching length to its original length upon breaking the web is expressed in a manner of %.
Further, it is a custom that the tensile strength of the web or the nonwoven fabric is expressed as a breaking strength, or a breaking load per 5 cm which is determined by a long fiber filament nonwoven fabric testing method based on JIS-L1096. However, in the description of the present invention above and below, since the mass per area of the nonwoven fabric under test is variously selected, the mass of the nonwoven fabric is converted into denier (tex) and the tensile strength is expressed by a strength per unit tex (mN/tex). A strength per unit denier (d) is denoted as a reference in addition to the strength per unit tex (mN/tex).
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate examples of the present invention.

Transversely aligned web in which filaments spun at high rate aligned in the transverse direction

Polymer Processing Research Institute, Ltd.


An apparatus is provided for conditioning a polishing pad used for chemical-mechanical polishing. The apparatus comprises the retainer ring used to retain the semiconductor wafer against the polishing pad. Accordingly, the retainer ring serves a dual purpose: to retain the wafer in proper CMP position as well as condition the polishing surface while polishing of the wafer. The retainer ring includes an inner surface defining an opening to receive the semiconductor wafer. Dimensioned radially outside the inner surface is an outer surface. Placed on the distal ends between the inner and outer surfaces is an abrasive surface. The abrasive surface extends along a plane parallel to the retained frontside surface of the wafer. Both the wafer and the abrasive surface contact the polishing surface either in a rotation about a stationary axis or orbital movement about that axis. The wafer surface can be pressed to a greater or lesser extent against the polishing pad independent of the pressure exerted by the abrasive surface on that pad radially outside the wafer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to chemical-mechanical polishing ("CMP") and, more particularly, to an apparatus for conditioning a polishing pad during CMP.
2. Description of Related Art
The concept of applying chemical and mechanical abrasion to a substrate is generally well known in the industry as CMP. A typical CMP process involves placing a substrate or, according to one specific application, semiconductor wafer face-down on a polishing pad which is fixedly attached to a rotatable table or platen. Elevationally extending portions of the downward-directed wafer surface contact with the rotating pad. A fluid-based chemical, often referred to as a "slurry" is deposited upon the pad possibly through a nozzle, whose distal opening is placed proximate the pad laterally offset from the wafer. The slurry extends at the interface between the pad and the wafer surface to initiate the polishing process by chemically reacting with the surface material being polished. The polishing pad is facilitated by the rotational movement of the pad relative to the wafer (or vice versa) to remove material catalyzed by the slurry.
The slurry can be made of numerous chemical species depending on the material being removed from the wafer surface. For example, the slurry can comprise silica, alumina or ceria particles entrained within, e.g., a potassium-based solvent. The solvent may include, for example, potassium hydroxide, potassium ferracyanide, potassium acetate or potassium fluoride diluted with deionized water. The amount of particulate in the solvent can be selected and sold under various trade names, a suitable source being Semi-Spurse.RTM. or Cab-O-Sperse.RTM., manufactured by Cabot, Inc. Merely as an example, a preferred slurry composition for CMP of a tungsten film is a solution comprising approximately 0.1 molar potassium ferracyanide, approximately 5% by weight silica, with trace amounts of potassium acetate diluted with deionized water. A small amount of concentrated acetic acid is further included to adjust the pH of the tungsten slurry to a range between, e.g., 3.0 to 4.0. The above-referenced composition proves beneficial in removing tungsten from interlevel silicon dioxide layers.
The polishing pad can be made of various substances which can be both resilient and, to a lesser extend, conformal. The weight, density and hardness of the pad will vary depending on the material being removed from the wafer surface. A popular polishing pad comprises polyurethane which, in most instances, does not include an overlying fabric material. A somewhat hard polishing pad can be obtained as an IC-60 pad manufactured by Rodel Corporation, for example. A relatively soft pad can be obtained as a Polytech Supreme pad, also manufactured by Rodel Corp.
Use of both chemical and mechanical abrasion in a CMP environment is popular in most modern semiconductor wafer fabrication processes. For example, CMP is used to planarize tungsten-based interconnect plugs commensurate with the upper surface of the interlevel dielectric. The remaining tungsten is bounded exclusively within the interconnect regions which extend between levels of interconnect. As another example, CMP may be used to planarize fill dielectric placed in shallow trenches, the planarized fill dielectric is thereby used as a field dielectric. Accordingly, CMP is principally popular as a planarization tool.
CMP may be used several times throughout a modern semiconductor wafer fabrication process. Unfortunately, each time CMP is used, various items are "consumed". These items include the slurry and, more importantly, wear upon the polishing pad. The polishing pad is relatively expensive and after several CMP runs, must either be replaced or "conditioned".
Pad conditioning is typically performed by mechanically abraiding the pad surface in order to renew that surface. Most conditioning devices can renew the surface during wafer polish. Current conditioning processes involve placing a conditioning head with an abrasive surface over the polish pad in a region laterally displaced from the semiconductor wafer. As the polishing pad rotates, the conditioning head displaces the abrasive surface upon and within the polishing pad in the track through which the wafer extends. The abrasive surface contacting the polishing pad renews the surface by removing depleted slurry particles or polishing by-product embedded in the pores of the polishing pad. Opening the pores allow new slurry to enter the pores to enhance polishing therein. Additionally, the open pores provide more surface area for polishing.
If the pores remain blocked over a substantial period of time, a condition known as "glazing" occurs. Glazing is the result of enough particle build-up on the polishing pad surface that the wafer surface begins to hydroplane over the surface of the pad. Hydroplaning eventually result in substantially lower removal rates in the glazed areas.
An example in which a polishing pad is conditioned concurrent with wafer polishing is shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 1 provides a perspective view of a polishing pad 10 mounted on a rotatable platen 12. Platen 12 rotates about a central axis 14 along the direction shown by arrow 16. Platen 12, including pad 10, can be directed upward against wafer 18 (or vice versa). Wafer 18 is secured in a rotatable position about axis 20 by an arm 22. Wafer 18 is mounted such that the frontside surface extends against pad 10, the frontside surface embodying numerous topological features used in producing an integrated circuit. Wafer 18 rotates about axis 20 along arrow 24 within a plane parallel to the plane formed by the polishing surface of pad 10.
Wafer 18 occupies a portion of the polishing surface, denoted as a circular track 26 defined by the rotational movement of pad 10. Track 26 is conditioned during wafer polish by a conditioning head 28. Conditioning head 28 is mounted on a movable arm 30 which can swing in position along track 26 commensurate with arm 22. Arm 30 presses an abrasive surface of conditioning head 28 against the polishing surface of pad 10 predominantly within track 26 as pad 10 rotates about axis 14. During this process, protrusions on the abrasive, downward-facing surface of head 28 extend to the surface of polishing pad 10. This causes particles embedded in the pores of pad 10 to be removed from the pad and flushed with the slurry across the pad surface. As the slurry is introduced, the removed particles are rinsed over the edges of the polishing pad into a drain (not shown). Removing the particles from the polishing pad enables the depleted pad surface to be recharged with new slurry. FIG. 1 illustrates conditioning concurrent with wafer polishing. However, it is recognized that conventional conditioning can occur either before or after wafer polishing.
FIG. 2 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the CMP and conditioning process illustrated in FIG. 1. More specifically, FIG. 2 illustrates the abrasive surface 32 formed at the lower surface of conditioning head 28. Abrasive surface 32 extends as a plurality of protrusions interspersed with recesses. The protrusions and recesses can be spaced close together or farther apart depending on the porosity of pad 10. Surface 32 preferably contacts pad 10 surface commensurate with wafer 18. More particularly, abrasive surface 32 extends below the upper surface of slurry film 34 to dislodge depleted slurry particles and/or wafer polish by-product from pores of pad 10.
Concurrent pad conditioning with wafer polishing enhances the throughput of the CMP process. Little if any downtime is therefore associated with pad conditioning. Unfortunately, however, conditioning head 28 occupies area upon pad 10 which might better be used by additional semiconductor wafers. In other words, it would be desirable to further enhance CMP throughput by configuring multiple wafers across the polishing surface. Introduction of multiple wafers, however, would forgo the space needed for conventional conditioning. Yet further, it would be desirable to eliminate the conditioning head and the relatively costly mechanism for moving and aligning the head to the polishing track 26 upon the polishing surface. The additional mechanical components and abrasive surfaces afforded by conventional conditioning heads should be eliminated if cost minimization and throughput is to be enhanced.

Dual purpose retaining ring and polishing pad conditioner


A new and distinct cultivar of New Guinea Impatiens plant named xe2x80x98Duesweetfirexe2x80x99, characterized by its compact, upright, rounded and uniform plant habit; freely branching and freely flowering habit; red-colored flowers that are positioned above and beyond the leaves; and dark green-colored leaves.

Impatiens hawkeri cultivar Duesweetfire.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of New Guinea Impatiens plant, botanically known as Impatiens hawkeri, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Duesweetfirexe2x80x99.
The new Impatiens is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Rheinberg, Germany. The objective of the breeding program is to develop freely branching New Guinea Impatiens cultivars that flower early and have large flowers.
The new Impatiens originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 1996 of a proprietary selection of Impatiens hawkeri identified as code number K-1, not patented, as the female, or seed parent, with a proprietary selection of Impatiens hawkeri identified as code number 94-15-1, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The cultivar Duesweetfire was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Rheinberg, Germany in 1997.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in Rheinberg, Germany since 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Impatiens are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Duesweetfirexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Duesweetfirexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Impatiens cultivar:
1. Compact, upright, rounded and uniform plant habit.
2. Freely branching and freely flowering habit.
3. Red-colored flowers that are positioned above and beyond the leaves.
4. Dark green-colored leaves.
Plants of the new Impatiens can be compared to plants of the female parent, the selection K-1. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Rheinberg, Germany, plants of the New Impatiens differed from plants of the selection K-1 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the New Impatiens were more compact than plants of the selection K-1.
2. Plants of the New Impatiens were more freely flowering than plants of the selection K-1.
Plants of the New Impatiens can be compared to plants of the male parent, the selection 94-15-1. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Rheinberg, Germany, plants of the New Impatiens differed from plants of the selection 94-15-1 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the New Impatiens were more compact than plants of the selection 94-15 -1.
2. Plants of the New Impatiens were more freely flowering than plants of the selection 94-15-1.
Plants of the New Impatiens can also be compared to plants of the cultivar Lanai, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,397. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Rheinberg, Germany, plants of the New Impatiens differed from plants of the cultivar Lanai in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the New Impatiens were more compact than plants of the cultivar Lanai.
2. Plants of the New Impatiens had shorter internodes than plants of the cultivar Lanai.
3. Plants of the New Impatiens had smaller leaves than plants of the cultivar Lanai.
4. Plants of the New Impatiens had shorter peduncles than plants of the cultivar Lanai.

New Guinea impatiens plant named xe2x80x98Duesweetfirexe2x80x99


A method is provided for connecting a 110 V genset to a transfer switch feeding a 220 V service entrance such that all 220 V loads are automatically blocked out and all 110 V circuits are accessed. The method includes wiring of the genset to the transfer switch such that the two hot 220 V terminals on the genset entrance side of the transfer switch are connected together and wired to the hot 110 V side of the genset. The neutral lead of the transfer switch is connected to the neutral side of the genset, as per normal practice.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of electrical power generator sets (gensets), and more particularly to a method of wiring a small stand-by generator set (genset) to a residential home transfer switch.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A transfer switch is used to switch an electric load back and forth between a primary source, such as a utility, and a secondary source, such as a generator (genset). Transferring power from the primary source to the secondary source is necessary when the utility experiences a blackout. The transfer switch is also used to switch the power source back to utility power when the power outage is over.
If a modest size genset of 3-8 kW is connected to a residential house by means of a transfer switch at the distribution panel entrance, some method must be used to block the application of large loads that could overload the genset and cause the genset mounted circuit breaker to open. A genset of 5 kW can often power a typical profile of 110 V household loads, but cannot handle larger 220 V loads such as an electric stove, dryer, or central air conditioner.
Further, a three-wire 220 V service poses a problem unless a 220 V genset is used because typical distribution panels utilize two separate buses of 110 V power distributed to various loads. If a 110 V genset is used in association with such a three-wire 220 V service panel, then the distribution panel must be rewired so that all critical 110 V loads can be powered off one of the two buses; and then that bus must be attached to the load side of the transfer switch. The cost to connect a genset to an existing house is significantly less if the distribution panel does not have to be rewired, and if load management is not required.
Accordingly, it would be both beneficial and advantageous if a method could be provided to connect a 110 V genset to a transfer switch feeding a 220 V service entrance such that all 220 V loads are automatically blocked out and all 110 V circuits are accessed.

Method of providing generator set standby power


Disclosed is a cargo container having an audio system, which is capable of broadcasting music and safety regulations for workers when they load or unload freight in or from the cargo container. An audio system is fixed to an inner surface of a corrugated wall of the cargo container. The audio system becomes operated so as to broadcast a radio station when a door of the cargo container is opened. The audio system has a sensor which detects the opening of the door, an automatic power supply switch which automatically supplies electric power from the battery to a printed circuit board when the opening of the door is detected by the sensor, a voice chip which reproduces voice data stored in it when the electric power is supplies through the automatic power supply switch, an a radio signal receiving section which is turned on and receives a radio broadcast signal when data reproductions by the voice chip is completed.

As generally known in the art, a cargo container is a standardized container used in protecting transported freight from the surroundings, preventing the freight from being damaged, and containing various freight, thereby facilitating the transportation of the freight. The cargo container as described above is inevitably used in the transportation of import and export freight and the inland cargo transportation by such companies as Intermodal Service in America and Swapbody in Europe.
Further, the cargo containers used in transporting freight as described are standardized so that they can be easily shipped on and transported by container ships, vehicles, etc. In order to ship the standardized cargo containers on a container ship, many workers have to do the job of loading and unloading freight in and out of the cargo container for long time.
However, when workers do the job of loading and unloading a large quantity of freight in and out of the cargo container, the workers may become very tired due to long continuous work, so that they may get injured or the loaded or unloaded freight may be damaged.
Further, the workers usually do the job of loading and unloading the freight without preliminary knowledge about damage or defect in the container itself, they are apt to load freight in a damaged or defective container, for example, in a cargo container having cracks in its ceiling, walls, or bottom. As a result, it is not an unusual case that the load being transported in a cargo container gets damaged.


The present invention provides the method of predicting an non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prognosis.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for nearly 80% of those cases (Greenlee R T, et al. (2001) CA Cancer J Clin 51(1):15-36.). Many genetic alterations associated with the development and progression of lung cancer have been reported. Nevertheless, the precise molecular mechanisms remain unclear (Sozzi G. (2001) Eur J Cancer 37 Suppl 7:S63-73.). Within the last decade, several newly-developed cytotoxic agents, such as paclitaxel, docetaxel, gemcitabine, and vinorelbine, have begun to offer multiple choices for treatment of patients with advanced lung cancer; however, each of these regimens confers only a modest survival benefit as compared with cisplatin-based therapies (Schiller J H, et al. (2002) N Engl J Med 346(2):92-8.; Kelly K, et al (2001) J Clin Oncol 19(13):3210-8.). Alternatively, by the genome wide cDNA microarray analysis, 642 up-regulated genes and 806 down-regulated genes have been identified as potential diagnostic markers and/or therapeutic targets for NSCLC (WO 2004/31413).


SOFC cell comprising a metallic support 1 ending in a substantially pure electron conducting oxide, an active anode layer 2 consisting of doped ceria, ScYSZ, Ni—Fe alloy, an electrolyte layer 3 consisting of co-doped zirconia based on oxygen ionic conductor, an active cathode layer 5 and a layer of a mixture of LSM and a ferrite as a transition layer 6 to a cathode current collector 7 of single phase LSM. The use of a metallic support instead of a Ni—YSZ anode support increases the mechanical strength of the support and secures redox stability of the support. The porous ferrite stainless steel ends in a pure electron conducting oxide so as to prevent reactivity between the metals in the active anode which tends to dissolve into the ferrite stainless steel causing a detrimental phase shift from ferrite to austenite structure.

US 2002/0048 699 concerns a solid oxide fuel cell comprising a ferritic stainless steel substrate including a porous region and a non-porous region bounding the porous region. A ferritic stainless steel bipolar plate is located under one surface of the porous region of the substrate and is sealingly attached to the non-porous region of the substrate above the porous region thereof. A first electrode layer is located over the other surface of the porous region of the substrate and an electrolyte layer is located over the first electrode layer and a second electrode layer is located over the electrolyte layer. Such a solid oxide fuel cell is relatively cheap. However it is not sufficiently robust.


A system and method to efficiently deliver multimedia interactive and linear programming on a large-scale network is disclosed. The system is designed to be hierarchical in nature in order to avoid the huge processing and storage requirements of a system utilizing centralized storage and system control. The stored program material is segmented into portions and each program segment is transmitted to the receiving system component in less than real-time on an as-needed basis. Methods for efficiently using system resources such as bandwidth, storage and processing time to maintain an optimally-performing system that results in minimal latency for the end-user's interaction with the system are disclosed.

Video Compression.
Video/audio compression techniques for motion video are becoming more prevalent in computer networks and in video-related services such as those provided by cable companies, telephone companies and satellite or fiber-optic-based service companies. To illustrate, consider the cable television companies' announcements of new cable TV networks that will provide over 500 channels due to the use of video/audio compression. As another example, in the computer industry the current buzzword is multimedia, which combines text, still-frame pictures, audio and motion video. Such systems usually employ some type of video/audio compression to reduce the data storage requirements associated with digital motion video. Standards groups are even attempting to create standards for compression techniques, such as MPEG (Moving Picture Expert Group).
ITVS definition.
To date, it is primarily the computer industry that has been the first to adopt use of multimedia. However, the advent of fiber optics and even new digital data transmission techniques over cable have prompted the cable companies and cable/telephone consortiums to begin publicly discussing new networks that will incorporate multimedia data. To further enhance today's cable TV networks, the industry has also been proposing that the user have the ability to interact with the multimedia data on these new networks. Thus, the term being used for one of these new networks is Interactive Television System ("ITVS"). It is commonly understood that an ITVS will incorporate multimedia data, however, to be precise, such a network might be termed an Interactive Multimedia Television System. In fact perhaps it is even more appropriate to delete the "Television" portion of that term making it simply "Interactive Multimedia System" since these networks will deviate substantially from the conventional medium of television. For consistency, this document will use the term ITVS although it should be clear that this term refers to an interactive multimedia network that uses multimedia data.
Some features that will be available from such an ITVS include, without limitation:
Video-On-Demand, home shopping, electronic data services, games, banking, educational programs and more. Video-On-Demand may be best compared to electronic movie rental, wherein the user may order any program at any time for viewing at their leisure with full VCR-like control. In home shopping on an ITVS the user is not subjected to the broadcaster's schedule of real-time viewing such as current systems. Instead, most likely through a graphically-oriented software interface on the TV screen, the user is guided to the merchandise of interest wherein photographs and motion videos of the item may be viewed and the merchandise may be ordered. Games such as those compatible with the popular Nintendo and Sega models will also be offered electronically and interactively, possibly including interacting with other remotely-located players. Electronic banking, database services and interactive educational programs are also envisioned.
Burst transmission.
As can be seen from the previously-discussed features of such a system, motion video and audio is a major component of the multimedia data. Even in today's compressed formats, the quantity of data for digital compressed video is substantial. This is further complicated by the other types of multimedia data (text, pictures and so forth) as well as the interactivity. Research has shown that all of this precludes a practical system that would deliver such data to the user in real-time. For example, it is costly and inefficient to develop a system that processes and delivers to hundreds or thousands of users just enough data for a digital compressed movie from a library of thousands of stored programs in a Video-On-Demand application, in realtime, as Users watch the program. Instead, the multimedia data should be segmented into portions of the entire program and burst-transmitted to a buffer at or near the user for use at their leisure. The advantages of such a burst-transmission delivery over a real-time system are numerous and will become clear as the description of the present invention progresses.
Difference between a data network and an ITVS.
The design of an ITVS and it's data-handling processes are significantly different from conventional data networks. The present invention addresses the special 5 requirements of a system that incorporates interaction with multimedia data. Of paramount importance is the time element associated with the use of such data. Due to the users' interacting with the system and the time-dependent data such as video and audio, the timing for servicing user-based requests becomes critical to the satisfactory performance of the system. This is in contrast to current data networks. In a conventional data network for example, it is of little consequence if a file transfer requires 2 seconds or 2.5 seconds. However, that 0.5-second difference in an ITVS could very well result in the interruption of playback of a motion video, thus interrupting the playback for 0.5 seconds with a frozen frame on the screen or even worse, random noise. Thus, the present invention describes a system where such time-critical operations are efficiently addressed.
Lang patents.
The Lang patents (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,963,995, 5,057,932, and 5,164,939) have taught the use of video/audio data compression to deliver video programming in less time than that required to view the program. In other words, Lang has taught that rather than using compression to achieve more real-time channels in a given bandwidth, that compression and bandwidth may be used to burst-transmit the material for viewing and playback control at the user's convenience. Lang does not address the inherent difficulties in an interactive multimedia system, especially one that is designed for a large user base.
Yurt patent.
Yurt (U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,992) has taught a general method for accessing multimedia data from a central library, specifically by using a unique ID imbedded in the stored, compressed, multimedia data of the library. Yurt has taught one method of ordering, accessing and transmitting the requested multimedia data without addressing the unique problems of managing a multi-user network for ongoing interactivity with a multimedia library of data.
The present invention is a system architecture and its related suite of data handling processes.
Thus, prior art teaches a new utilization of video/audio data compression for burst transmission and a method for identifying and retrieving selected programs. The present invention defines a total system architecture and a set of data handling processes which address the unique problems of large-scale interactive multimedia networks. Using a distributed control architecture, predictive software based on stochastic models, segmentation and burst-transmission of said program segments, and dynamic coupling between subsystems, the present invention describes a full-featured, efficiently-functioning ITVS.
Dialog Segmentation and Segmented Bursting
A key aspect of the present invention is a new ITVS data handling method that includes segmented burst transmissions. Bursting of a block of data to a `black box` is said to occur when it takes less time to receive and store the bits than it takes to `consume` (use) them in or via the black box. For example if all the bits representing a 120-minute movie are received by the Client set-top box (the Client represents the end-user component) in a ten-minute burst then we say that bursting has taken place with a Burst Factor (`BF`) of 120/10=12. BF is a measure of such resulting temporal compression and benefits multiplicatively from the transmitted bits first being spatially compressed by any one the many existing algorithms, such as MPEG. Therefore if the movie were spatially compressed at 100:1 prior to transmission, it would take 1/100th of the time for the Client box to receive them thus resulting in a Burst Factor of 1200. The same arguments hold for audio data and in extension, data representing any multimedia program. As another example consider the case of an interactive program, such as a video game. If it takes 30 seconds to download into the Client and the User averages 10 minutes to play the game, then bursting has occurred with BF=(10 minutes.times.60 seconds/minute)/30 seconds=20. This new and generalized concept of bursting can be applied to all types of receivers of transmitted materials for which the time to receive and the time to consume can be defined. Such receivers, of course, must have the ability to store the bursted transmission.
The alternative data handling method, which is well-known and over which the present invention claims distinct advantages, is transmission via bit-streaming wherein the incoming bits to a `black box` are received and immediately consumed at the same speed at which they are received. Such a method has Burst Factor of 1, i.e. there is no burst transmission. Bit-streaming is the mode of operation for the existing class of massively-parallel video servers such as the Oracle Media Server from Oracle Corp. Such devices are being designed into some of the currently-discussed 500-channel cable TV systems. Such bit-streaming systems may be seen as simply digital versions of the analog transmission systems which are currently employed by cable TV distributors.
Bursting an entire linear program (e.g. movie) or interactive application is termed `comprehensive bursting`. In the previously-discussed example, the spatially-compressed 120-minute movie would be comprehensively bursted in a six-second transmission. If such a movie is represented by one GigaByte (1 GB) of data, then the Client system must provide for that amount of storage. Depending upon the design of such a comprehensive-burst system, the entire movie may need to be stored before playback (consumption) may begin. For a number of reasons it can be shown that dividing a large program or interactive application into smaller, logically or semantically compact segments yields economic benefits and improvements in quality of service to the User. Therefore, the present invention teaches the pre-segmenting of program materials and interactive applications, and the transmission of such data in a `segmented burst` mode.
The benefits to ITVS operation from segmented burst data handling are many. Primarily it permits the reduction in redundant storage costs at all store/forward nodes in the ITVS. A Hub connected to many Client systems can store the initial segments of many more movies and applications more economically than having to maintain a comprehensive inventory of all available interactive products. For example, when a User requests a particular movie its initial segment can be quickly downloaded with minimum start-session latency. This is due to the minimized Hub transmit cycle time, which is the time required to cycle through the request for all waiting online Clients. This cycle time is minimized due to the smaller segments that are quickly burst-transmitted to the Clients. After initiating the User session the Hub will then place a timely order or sequence of orders to the Bunker for additional segments based on current Hub memory availability and operating policy. Thus, segmented bursting supports `just in time` ordering, inventorying and transmission to provide similar benefits that `just in time` ordering, inventorying and servicing provides in established commercial operations.
Segmented bursting is seen to maximally unload the upstream nodes from incremental User demands while the `program bits` are being consumed at the Client system. This is another fundamental concept of the present invention namely the ability to maximize the autonomous operating periods at every store/forward level in the system. This is achieved by every store/forward node locally assessing upstream availabilities in concert with the predicted needs of its downstream nodes. For example, in home shopping a User may wish to see sweaters from Sears. The `Knitwear` portion (termed here as a `web fragment`) of the Sears interactive catalog would be segment-bursted to the Client in a few seconds and then consumed by the User in perhaps fifteen minutes. Based on knowledge of User demand and intra-application branching the Hub could prepare for the most-likely User demands by pre-ordering from the Bunker and Sears online services the presentation assets (which are the video, audio and data components of the interactive multimedia program) for pants and shirts, for example.
This illustrates another important aspect of the present invention, namely the ability to order and assemble the dialog segments or web fragments `just in time` at the lowest possible downstream store/forward level in the ITVS. this permits the efficient storage and fast transmission of only the dialog components needed that respond to thousands of individual and concurrent User demands. Such a data-handling method also provides for maximal reusability of all dialog components, especially the costly video and audio presentation assets. These benefits are obtained without having to store all materials at the Hub (or any other) level and then remain online with a dedicated channel responding to every User interaction during an interactive session.
Thus it is seen that the invention will allow the assembly and integration of a very large scale ITVS consisting of several layers of store/forward nodes that can be operated by different commercial enterprises specializing in their own interactive product or service. Furthermore the entire ITVS can be made to operate without requiring the storage of all user-available inventory at any one node at any given time and the further requirement for all knowledge about the state of the system to be contained at any one central location. This ability to effect distributed control with only local knowledge will reduce ITVS's complexity and cost, and increase the ability to provide large inventories of interactive products and services at high quality of service levels to the end User.

System for distribution of interactive multimedia and linear programs by enabling program webs which include control scripts to define presentation by client transceiver


A sheet finisher includes a sheet stacker for stacking sheets conveyed from an image forming apparatus to form a sheet bundle and a binding device for binding the sheet bundle with a staple, further includes a center folding device for center folding sheets conveyed from the image forming apparatus, a first conveying device for conveying sheets conveyed from the image forming apparatus to the sheet stacker without passing through the center folding device, and a second conveying device for conveying the sheets to the sheet stacker via the center folding device.

The present invention relates to a sheet finisher which center folds and binds sheets that have been outputted from an image forming apparatus such as a copier, printer, or the like.
A sheet finisher makes a sheet bundle by using a stacking means to stack sheets on which images have been formed by an image forming apparatus, and binds the sheet bundle, thereby creating a book or a document. It is commonly used as a peripheral equipment connected to an image forming apparatus.
There are commonly used means for binding a sheet bundle, one is a means that uses an apparatus, called stapler, which uses staples to bind one edge of the sheet bundle, and another is a means that uses binding tape with hot-melt glue applied thereon and aligns and binds a prescribed side edge of the sheet bundle while heating the tape (for example, see patent document 1).
It is preferable that sheet bundles to be bound as stated above be the same size in terms of convenience of processing, and, for example, when A3-size sheets are to be bound, the sheets are first Z-folded and then the resulting A4-size sheets are bundled and bound (for example, see patent document 2).
However, in case of binding by using the above-mentioned binding tape, when a sheet bundle having Z-folded sheets only or a sheet bundle including Z-folded sheets is bound, binding is not ensured and sheets may fall out occasionally.
Furthermore, in order to make binding more secure, in some cases, a sheet bundle which has been bounded by staples, is further bound by binding tape.
In order to conduct such procedures, a sheet finisher is required to have a folding means for Z-folding or center-folding sheets, and a binding means for binding a sheet bundle by using staples or binding tape, so that users can properly select those means and conduct prescribed procedures. Accordingly, the apparatus is usually of considerable size or is connected to two or more pieces of other apparatus which includes the above-mentioned means.
Patent document 1 represents Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. Tokkaihei 7-89259 (pages 1 and 2), and Patent document represents Published Unexamined Japanese Patent Application No. Tokkaihei 10-194586 (page 1).

Konica Minolta Business Technologies Inc.


A method, a detection device and a server device for evaluation of a communication arriving via a connecting line at the communication device are provided. Communication information which can be read or determined from the incoming communication is detected by the detection device which is coupled between the connecting line and the communication device, and is associated solely with the communication device. Furthermore, the detection device checks whether the detected communication information matches predeterminable data pattern information, and/or whether a response message to be initiated by the incoming communication from the communication device via the connecting line is absent. If the check result is positive, the detected communication information is stored, and is read out during the course of a central evaluation process carried out by the server device.

Voice communication systems within companies and organizations are increasingly using packet-oriented methods for voice communication. Frequently a reason for doing so is to allow shared use of the cabling of an IP-based data network (IP: Internet Protocol) for coupling of data computers, as well as for coupling IP-based communication devices of the voice communication system—for example IP telephones, gatekeepers, gateways.
The use of IP-based principles gives rise, in the voice communication system, to problems which were previously only known in computer networks. Thus for example an IP telephone can be attacked by a computer virus, a computer worm or a denial-of-service attack and thus caused to malfunction. A firewall in the data network which can block unwanted data traffic usually provides protection against these types of attack. A firewall is however frequently not optimized for protection against attacks on IP telephones. Furthermore a firewall may not be configured too restrictively since the desired communication exchange should not be impeded.

Method, detection device and server device for evaluation of an incoming communication to a communication device

Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co.


A method of operating a flash memory device wherein the width of threshold voltage distribution of memory cells is adjusted by setting different conditions of a program operation in accordance with levels of threshold voltages of the memory cells. As a result, width of the threshold voltage distribution of memory cells may be narrowed.

The present invention relates to a method of operating a flash memory device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of operating a flash memory device for narrowing threshold voltage distribution of memory cells.
A flash memory device is a representative non-volatile memory device in which data are not erased though supply of a power source is stopped.
A flash memory device is divided into an NOR flash memory device and an NAND flash memory device in accordance with structure of a memory cell array.
The NAND flash memory device has been widely used because the NAND flash memory device has high integration density characteristics compared to the NOR flash memory device.
Recently, a technique for storing at least two bit data in one memory cell in the NAND flash memory device has been developed.
In case that a memory cell stores one bit data, the memory cell has two threshold voltage levels, i.e., a level smaller than 0V and a level higher than 0V.
However, in case that a memory cell stores 2 bit data, the memory cell has four threshold voltage levels, i.e., one level smaller than 0V and three levels higher than 0V. Here, since the memory cell has three threshold voltage levels higher than 0V, the margins for separating the threshold voltage levels may not be adequate when threshold voltage distribution width is wide. Hence, the threshold voltage distributions having different levels may be overlapped.
In this case, since data stored in the memory cell are not separated, an error may occur in the memory cell. Accordingly, the memory cell should have narrow threshold voltage distributions. Here, since three threshold voltage distributions exist in a given range, the threshold voltage distributions should be configured to have considerable small widths. However, due to characteristics of a program operation of the flash memory device, the potential for narrowing the width of the threshold voltage distributions is limited.

Method of operating a flash memory device


A circuit for minimizing energy provided to a ground fault includes a source, a multiple switches, an output filter, and a controller. The switches include a first side pair of switches and a second side pair of switches configured to provide an output signal based on the source. The output filter includes one or more energy storage elements coupled to the first side pair of switches or the second side pair of switches. The controller is configured to receive a ground fault signal that indicates a fault has occurred and configured to generate a switch signal for the switches for a minimum energy state of the output filter and in response to the ground fault signal.

An inverter device may convert direct-current electrical power into alternating current electrical power. An inverter may be uni-directional, converting direct current (DC) power from a source to alternating current (AC) power out, or bi-directional, converting DC power from a source to AC power out as well as converting AC power from a source to DC power out to a load or storage device.
A grid-tie or grid-tied inverter is an inverter that is specifically designed to have the AC portion of the inverter connected to the power grid. A grid-tied inverter may be designed to operate within a window of operation for the utility voltage. A grid-tied inverter may be uni-directional or bi-directional. A uni-directional inverter may be used to convert a direct current input from a source, like a solar array, fuel cell or battery, to alternating current at the appropriate frequency and voltage to be received by the power grid. A bi-directional inverter may be used to convert alternating current from the power grid to a direct current to be received by a DC load or an energy storage device, such as an electrochemical element like a fuel cell or battery or an electromagnetic storage element, such as an ultracapacitor.
A ground fault occurs when a current carrying electrical path in a circuit comes into electrical contact with a ground path. The ground path may be a wire (e.g., ground wire) or a portion of a grounded part of an appliance or device. Example grounded parts may include a chassis or frame of the appliance or device.
Ground faults may occur in a variety of scenarios. Damage to the appliance or device may result in the ground fault. In other examples, a human or animal may become the electrical path between the current carrying path and the grounded parts.
The response time in the detection of a ground fault and isolating the ground fault from additional electrical current is vital in preventing damage. Especially in the case of a ground fault caused by a human or animal, the risk of electrical shock is reduced when the ground fault is quickly detected and/or current is prevented from traveling to the ground fault.


A device and method for contouring and sharpening an ice skate blade. The device uses a fixture for holding the ice skate. The fixture employs retractable depending cam rollers to be guided by cam templates recessed into the top surface of the table of the machine. The cam templates are coverable when not in use, thus increasing the usefulness of the top surface of the table. The grinding wheel is movable into and away from the fixture. One of the cam rollers is mounted to an eccentric wheel for pitching the ice skate blade in relation to the grinding wheel. The method comprises the steps of clamping a skate into the fixture, retractably depending or lowering the cam rollers to engage the cam templates in the table of the machine, adjusting the cam roller by operating the eccentric to achieve the desired pitch, moving the grinding wheel to the fixture holding the ice skate and contouring or sharpening the ice skate.

The field of the invention pertains to ice skates. In particular, the invention pertains to a device and method for contouring and sharpening the blade of an ice skate. In the past, the fixture to hold the ice skate had an irregular bottom surface to accommodate cam rollers fixedly mounted thereunder. The cam rollers were engaged with cam templates mounted on the top surface of the table of the grinding machine. A machine of this type is described in my earlier U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,332
The fixture held an ice skate first for contouring the curvature of the ice skate blade and thereafter for grinding the edges of the blade "or sharpening the skates". However, the fixture lacked stability because less than the entirety of the fixture's base plate contacted the top surface of the table. Thus, rocking of the fixture and hence inconsistent grinding or other undesirable results could be observed.
Another disadvantage was that the device for pitching was not a simple device. The device for pitching was employed for changing the curvature of the blade towards the toe of the blade.
Additionally, the fixture was used with cam templates either mounted on the top of the table or were required to be moved into place on the top of the table. Either way, the table was not available or was difficult to use when the device was not being used for the contouring step. Moreover, the cam templates took up usable space wherever they were stored. The permanently positioned top mounted cam templates allowed the build up of grinding dust in between the cam templates, thereby potentially reducing the accuracy of the grind made with the templates and necessitating frequent grinding dust removal.

Device for contouring and sharpening ice skate blades


A method for monitoring and emulating privileged instructions of a program that is being executed at a privilege level in a virtual machine is disclosed. A privilege level associated with a received instruction is determined. The instruction privilege level is compared to the program execution privilege level. If the instruction privilege level is valid with respect to the program execution privilege level, the instruction is executed. If the instruction privilege level is invalid with respect to the program execution privilege level: the instruction result is emulated; the number of times the instruction has been received from the program is checked; and if the instruction has been received more than a specified number of times, the instruction is overwritten with one or more instructions with a valid privilege level with respect to the program execution privilege level.

Computers include general purpose central processing units (CPUs) that are designed to execute a specific set of system instructions. A group of processors that have similar architecture or design specifications may be considered to be members of the same processor family. Examples of current processor families include the Motorola 680X0 processor family, manufactured by Motorola, Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz.; the Intel 80X86 processor family, manufactured by Intel Corporation of Sunnyvale, Calif.; and the PowerPC processor family, which is manufactured by Motorola, Inc. and used in computers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Although a group of processors may be in the same family because of their similar architecture and design considerations, processors may vary widely within a family according to their clock speed and other performance parameters.
Each family of microprocessors executes instructions that are unique to the processor family. The collective set of instructions that a processor or family of processors can execute is known as the processors instruction set. As an example, the instruction set used by the Intel 80X86 processor family is incompatible with the instruction set used by the PowerPC processor family. The Intel 80X86 instruction set is based on the Complex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) format. The Motorola PowerPC instruction set is based on the Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) format. CISC processors use a large number of instructions, some of which can perform rather complicated functions, but which require generally many clock cycles to execute. RISC processors use a smaller number of available instructions to perform a simpler set of functions that are executed at a higher rate.
The uniqueness of the processor family among computer systems also typically results in incompatibility among the other elements of hardware architecture of the computer systems. A computer system manufactured with a processor from the Intel 80X86 processor family will have a hardware architecture that is different from the hardware architecture of a computer system manufactured with a processor from the PowerPC processor family. Because of the uniqueness of the processor instruction set and a computer system's hardware architecture, application software programs are typically written to run on a particular computer system running a particular operating system.
A computer manufacturer will want to maximize its functionality by having more rather than fewer applications run on the microprocessor family associated with the computer manufacturer's product line. To expand the number of operating systems and application programs that can run on a computer system, a field of technology has developed in which a given computer having one type of CPU, called a host, will run an emulator program that allows the host computer to emulate receiving and executing the instructions of an unrelated type of CPU, called a guest. Thus, the host computer will execute an application that will cause one or more host instructions to be called in response to a given guest instruction. In some cases, the host computer can both run software designed for its own hardware architecture, other than the emulation program, and software written for computers having an unrelated hardware architecture. As a more specific example, a computer system manufactured by Apple Computer, for example, may run operating systems and programs written for PC-based computer systems. It may also be possible to use an emulator program to concurrently operate multiple incompatible operating systems on a single CPU. In this arrangement, although each operating system is incompatible with the other, an emulator program can host one of the two operating systems, allowing the otherwise incompatible operating systems to run concurrently on the same computer system.
When a guest computer system is emulated on a host computer system, the guest computer system is said to be a virtual machine, as the guest computer system exists only as a software representation of the operation of the hardware architecture of the guest computer system. The terms emulator and virtual machine are sometimes used interchangeably to denote the ability to mimic or emulate the hardware architecture of an entire computer system. As an example, the Virtual PC software created by Connectix Corporation of San Mateo, Calif. emulates an entire computer that includes an Intel 80X86 Pentium processor and various motherboard components and cards. The operation of these components is emulated in the virtual machine that is being run on the host machine. An emulator program executing on the operating system software and hardware architecture of the host computer, such as a computer system having a PowerPC processor, mimics the operation of the entire guest computer system. The emulator program acts as the interchange between the hardware architecture of the host machine and the instructions transmitted by the software running within the emulated environment.
Virtual machines are sometimes used to support software programs that expect to control the entire computer system. For example, two virtual machine instances can each support an independent instance of the same operating system (OS). The operating system running within a virtual machine can be referred to as a "guest operating system". Some operating systems are written assuming that only one OS is operating on a computer system at a time, allowing the OS to act as a final arbiter of all resources that make up that system (including memory, processor cycles, and access to I/O devices). Because of these built-in assumptions, OS-level code includes instructions that are meant to affect the entire computer system that the OS is controlling. In some virtual machine environments, however, it is necessary to isolate different guest OS instances from each other. Each such OS, therefore, cannot be allowed to directly execute instructions that will affect the entire host system. The virtual machine program can be designed to handle such instructions in a way that is transparent to the guest OS (meeting that OS's original assumptions) while preventing any guest OS from obtaining complete control over a particular host system resource. For example, if a guest operating system errantly executes an "infinite loop" (i.e. a loop of code that fails to terminate), the virtual machine program can prevent that guest operating system from consuming all of the processor cycles on the host machine, and hence "locking out" all other guest OS instances.
Some conventional virtual machines accomplish this task through the use of a multi-level privilege mechanism incorporated into most modern microprocessors. This privilege mechanism allows code to run in one of two (or more) privilege levels. Instructions that affect the state of the entire computer system are often considered "more privileged" than generic computational instructions. The former class of instructions is allowed only in the "more privileged" state, whereas the latter class of instructions is allowed at all privilege levels. Typically, an operating system runs at the "more privileged" mode, and user-level (application) code runs in the "less privileged" mode. A virtual machine can run guest OS code (which was originally written to assume more privilege access) within a lesser privileged mode. When the processor encounters an instruction within the guest OS code that is only allowed at a more privileged level, it will report the "privilege violation" in the form of a processor trap. This trap invokes an exception handler within the virtual machine program that is able to emulate the effects of the privileged instruction without affecting the entire host system.
For example, a guest OS can temporarily disable processor interrupts using the processor's "interrupt mask" feature. If the guest OS were allowed to disable all interrupts on the host system, it could prevent input and output from all devices to the host and all other virtual machines. This would not be consistent with "isolation" between guest environments and the host environment. However, access to the interrupt mask feature is considered "privileged", so any attempt by the guest OS to modify the interrupt mask setting would result in a trap, which would invoke the virtual machine program's exception handler. The exception handler could emulate the modification of the interrupt mask, for example, by modifying some state that is private to the virtual machine, allowing the host system's interrupt mask to remain unmodified.
This method of relying on the processor to trap attempts to execute privileged instructions can slow performance. The OS may execute such privileged instructions often, because it was designed to function on a system that would allow such instructions with minimal overhead. By contrast, the trap mechanism in most processors is much slower. Consequently, the code may run significantly slower within a virtual machine because of the overhead imposed by the trap mechanism and the execution of the exception handler.

Method for monitoring and emulating privileged instructions of programs in a virtual machine