In providing an information assistance service in a call by a user, the context of the call is ascertained. Context information is derived from information exchanges during the call. Inferences as to types of advertisement pertinent to the user location, event, etc. are drawn based on the context information. Pertinent advertisements, which may be further individualized based on personal preferences, are provided to the user at the conclusion of the call, or otherwise transmitted to the user via voicemail, SMS, email, WAP, paging, facsimile, instant messaging, text messaging, picture phone, video phone, etc.

It is a common experience to use a wireline or wireless telephone to call an operator for information assistance. In a typical information assistance call, a caller identifies to the operator the name and address (sometimes city or area code) of a party whose telephone number is desired. In response, the operator locates the desired destination number using a computer database, for example. The destination number is then provided to the caller. The number may be provided by a voice server which provides automated voicing of the number. The caller may be afforded an option to be connected to the destination number without the need of first terminating the information assistance call.
In addition to connecting a caller to a destination number, an information assistance provider (e.g., an operator and/or a voice server) may furnish "concierge" services such as a restaurant guide and reservation service, event information, ticketing and reservation service, hotel reservation and availability service, travel or flight reservation and ticketing services, ordering specific items such as flowers or food delivery, arranging transportation, and accessing entertainment guides. The use of information assistance to provide such concierge services is disclosed, e.g., in copending, commonly-assigned application Ser. No. 10/201,211, filed Jul. 22, 2002, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Thus, a telephone service, coupled with a proficient information assistance service, allows a user to conduct day-to-day business effectively. However, a user of the same telephone service may also be inconvenienced from time to time by incoming calls which are unsolicited and/or from unwanted parties, e.g., telemarketers. For example, unsolicited calls from telemarketers may contain false advertisements and high pressure sales pitches. In general, telemarketing connotes fraud and illegitimacy. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission in the United States recently instituted a National Do-Not-Call Registry where people can register their telephone numbers to stop telemarketers from calling such numbers.

Technique for call context based advertising through an information assistance service


Carbon/carbon composites including those structures formed from a fibrous reinforcement itself formed principally from carbon in a carbon matrix are protected against oxidation by multi-layer sealant system preferably including a multi-layer paint including in its carbonized binder refactory granules and inhibitor particles that form a moisture resistant, viscosity-stabilized borate glass when exposed to a high-temperature, oxidizing environment, and an outer ceramic shell formed by CVI/CVD in situ formation of boron carbide followed by silicon carbide. The paint is prepared by mixing finely divided powders of borate precursor compounds or borate glass frit and refractory granules with a carbon char yielding precursor binder such as phenolic resin or pitch which preferably produces a highly porous structure upon carbonization.

Carbon/carbon composites include those structures formed from a fibrous reinforcement which itself consists principally of carbon and are densified for enhanced strength employing principally carbon. Such carbon/carbon composites typically are characterized by high strength, low density, and high modulus. Carbon/carbon composite materials are eminently useful in applications where high temperature strength and high strength-to-weight ratio are important. Such carbon/carbon composites may be formed, for example, by impregnating graphite fiber cloth with resinous material, layering plies of the resin impregnated graphite cloth, curing the resin under pressure and thereafter carbonizing the resin impregnated layer plies with application of heat and pressure. Densification may also be accomplished by CVD (chemical vapor deposition) or CVI (chemical vapor infiltration) of carbon or by impregnation with a resin or pitch followed by carbonization.
An important limitation to the use of carbon/carbon composites is their susceptability to oxidation in high temperature oxidizing environments. Oxidation not only attacks the surface of the carbon/carbon composite, but also enters pores that invariably are present in such structures oxidizing the carbon fibers adjacent to the pores and surfaces of the pores, and thereby weakening the composite. Such oxidative degradation is of particular concern when operating temperatures will exceed about 500.degree. C. (932.degree. F.).
Much effort has been and continues to be directed toward identification of methods and mechanisms for reducing or eliminating oxidative weight loss and accompanying loss of strength associated with operation of carbon/carbon composites at elevated temperatures.
One approach has been to reduce opportunities for intimate or permeating contact between the carbon/carbon composite and any oxidizing environment in which such structure exists or is operated. One mechanism for reducing such contact has focused upon sealing of the exterior surfaces of a carbon/carbon composite thereby forestalling or foreclosing entry of oxidizing agents thereinto.
It has been proposed that exterior surfaces of a carbon/carbon composite be coated with a ceramic material such as silicon carbide to prohibit entry of oxidizing agents, typically molecular or ionic oxygen from the atmosphere, into such a carbon/carbon composite. Such ceramic coatings have provided only limited success as they have been characterized by a tendency to crack as a result of thermal cycling of the coated structure. Such cracking is believed to be due to differences in coefficients of thermal expansion of the carbon/carbon composite and the ceramic coating.
It has also been proposed that exterior surfaces of carbon/carbon composites be coated with a single or multi-component glass forming seal coat such as boron or boron plus zirconium-containing substance tending to form a glass or glass-ceramic material which is to a degree flowable and amorphous in character at temperatures (e.g. 649.degree.-1316.degree. C. or 1200.degree.-2400.degree. F.) associated with the environment in which it is desired to protect the carbon/carbon composite from an oxidizing environment. Such glass forming substances have been observed to inadequately protect the carbon/carbon composites when the temperature is cycled between ambient and about 649.degree.760.degree. C. (1200.degree.-1400.degree. F.), a temperature range in which carbon/carbon composites are particularly susceptible to oxidation. A possible explanation for the somewhat disappointing performance of such glass forming materials at these temperatures lies in t he tendency for the formed glasses at those temperatures to be more solid than flowable. At such temperatures, these glasses are more susceptible to cracks due to a significant differential between the coefficient of thermal expansion for such glasses and the coefficient of thermal expansion for the underlying carbon/carbon composite.
Borate glasses have been proposed for protection of carbon/carbon composites. A serious drawback for many B.sub.2 O.sub.3 glasses is degradation by hydrolysis and leaching or evaporation under proposed operating conditions which include humid weather. The viscosity of such glasses may change widely with increasing temperature. Viscosity stabilized boron oxide glasses suitable for protection of carbon/carbon composites from oxidation are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,677 to Gray, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. These glasses have proven effective in protecting carbon/carbon composites from oxidation in dry environments. Efforts to improve resistance to hydration and subsequent volatilization and/or leaching have not been entirely successful. Modified borate glass compositions, have exhibited carbon wetting and viscosity characteristics that represent significant compromises compared to borate glasses not modified in such a manner.
Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide carbon/carbon composites that have improved resistance to oxidation even when exposed to a moisture-containing environment.

Moisture and oxidation resistant carbon/carbon composites


A revolving deck for an earthmoving machinery, which is shaped to be kept away from contact with an obstacle due to being within the tail swing radius of the counter weight and which can be made light in weight.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a revolving deck for an earthmoving machinery such as a minimal rear-swing radius hydraulic excavator.
2. Related Art
In the related art, there has been widely employed the so-called xe2x80x9cminimal rear-swing radius hydraulic excavatorxe2x80x9d in which the swinging locus of the rear end portion of a revolving unit having vertically swinging equipment at its front portion is confined, as seen in a top plan view, within the width of left and right crawlers of a travel unit. This minimal rear-swing radius hydraulic excavator 30 will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. FIG. 12 is a side view of the minimal rear-swing radius hydraulic excavator of the related art, and FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing a revolving deck 33 of FIG. 12.
Over a travel unit 31, as shown in FIG. 12, there is revolvably mounted a revolving unit 32. On the upper face of the revolving deck 33 or the base of the revolving unit 32, there are mounted a cab 34, a machine cab including an engine 35a and a hydraulic unit 35b, a counter weight 36 and so on. To the central front portion of the revolving deck 33, on the other hand, there are swingably attached equipment 40 including a boom 41, an arm 42 and a bucket 43. These components of the equipment 40 are driven by a boom cylinder 44, an arm cylinder 45 and a bucket cylinder 46, respectively.
As shown in FIG. 13, the revolving deck 33 is constructed by forming a frame body 33a of a single circular plate and by welding a center bracket 33b for mounting the boom 41 and the boom cylinder 44 to the central front portion on the frame body 33a, and a rear bracket 33c for mounting the engine 35a and the counterweight 36 to the central rear portion, respectively. On the other hand, the frame body 33a is equipped at its left portion with a bracket 33d for mounting the cab 34 and at its right portion with a bracket 33e for mounting the hydraulic unit 35b and so on. To suitable portions of the frame body 33a, there are additionally welded a variety of brackets and reinforcing members. To the outer periphery of the frame body 33a, moreover, there are attached left and right revolving guards 37 and 38 by means of bolts 39.
If the frame body 33a of the revolving deck 33 is made of the single plate, however, the plate thickness has to be increased to retain the rigidity thereby to invite a problem that the increased weight raises the cost. Since the left and right revolving guards 37 and 38 are attached by the bolts 39, on the other hand, there is the problem that they fail to contribute to the strength of the frame body 33a.
In order to solve these problems, there have been proposed several techniques in the related art.
As a first related art of the revolving deck for the hydraulic excavator, there is a technique of the revolving frame of a hydraulic excavator, as disclosed in Unexamined Published Japanese Utility Model Application No. 87455/1994, for example. FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing the revolving frame of the Utility Model Application. In this Application, a frame body 51, a fender 52, a counter weight 53, an oil tank 54 and so on are integrally cast.
As a second related art, on the other hand, there is a technique of a revolving frame of an earthmoving machinery, as disclosed in Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application No. 88617/1998, for example. According to this Japanese Patent Application, as shown in FIG. 15, of a left side frame 62 forming part of the structure of a revolving frame 61, a sectional shape of a rear frame portion 62B for supporting a machine room 71 and so on from the lower side is made larger in the vertical (or height) direction than a front frame portion 62A for supporting a cab 72 and so on from the lower side. Of individual overhanging beams 63, 64, 65, 66 and 67 overhanging leftward and rightward from the central portion of the revolving frame 61 to the front frame portion 62A and the rear frame portion 62B, on the other hand, the front side overhanging beam 64 having its leading end side jointed to the rear frame portion 62B is made to have a larger sectional shape.
However, the following problems are left unsolved in the related art described above.
The technique, as disclosed in Unexamined Published Japanese Utility Model Application No. 87455/1994, can have effects of a high rigidity and an improved assemblability for a small-sized machinery, because the frame body 51, the fender 52, the counter weight 53 and the oil tank 54 are integrally cast. For a medium- or large-sized machinery, however, the weight is drastically increased and also strength is required. As a result, difficulty is encountered in its manufacture, and the drive power required for the entire machinery is increased. Thus, problems arise in the fuel consumption, the performance of the machinery and the cost for its manufacture.
In the revolving frame disclosed in Unexamined Published Japanese Patent Application No. 188617/1998, on the other hand, the front portions of the front frame portion 62A and a right side frame 68, as seen in a top plan view, are located outside of the tail swing radius of the counter weight 73 so that they fail to conform with the so-called xe2x80x9cminimal rear-swing radius typexe2x80x9d. As a result, this failure may allow the revolving frame to contact with an obstacle at those overhanging portions.
In view of the aforementioned problems of the related art, the invention has an object to provide a revolving deck for an earthmoving machinery, which is shaped to have no contact with an obstacle within the tail swing radius of a counter weight and which has a structure of a high rigidity but not a large weight.
In order to achieve the object, according to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a revolving deck for an earthmoving machinery, comprising: a main frame including a revolving unit mount portion and mounting a counter weight on its rear end portion; side decks arranged on the left and right sides of the main frame; and side frames disposed at the outer ends of the side decks, wherein the swinging locus to be drawn by the rear end portion of the counter weight is confined, as seen in a top plan view, substantially within the swing arc of the revolving deck. The revolving deck is formed, as seen in the top plan view, to be substantially within the width of a crawler, and the side decks are made of an integral skeleton structure including a plurality of overhanging beams jointing the main frame and the side frames.
According to the first aspect of the invention, the revolving deck is formed within the tail swing radius substantially equal to the counter weight so that it does not contact with an obstacle within this radius. Further, the revolving deck is given an integral skeleton structure in which the main frame and the side frames are jointed by a plurality of overhanging beams (or side decks), so that the weight can be made less than that of a single plate structure or a cast structure. On the other hand, even a medium- or large-sized hydraulic excavator can be easily manufactured with this simple structure so that its cost can be lowered. Because of the integral skeleton structure, moreover, many openings can be formed in the lower face of the revolving deck to improve the maintenance from the bottom of the deck.
According to a second aspect of the invention, the side frames of the first aspect are made to act as guards for protecting the overhanging beams and the main frame from an external force.
According to the second aspect, the side frames are made to act as the guards (or revolving frame guards) for protecting the overhanging beams and the main frame from external forces. As a result, these guards can provide reinforcing members for the frames to lighten the weight and reduce the number of parts so that the parts can be easily serviced, lowering the cost.

Revolving deck for earthmoving machinery

Abstract: A revolving deck is formed, as seen in the top plan view, to have a swing radius R substantially equal to that of the counter weight, and is made of an integral skeleton structure in which a main frame and side frames are jointed by overhanging beams. The side frames are made to act as revolving frame guards.


A computer processor receives a plurality of execution items corresponding to a computer process. The computer processor allocates a first memory portion corresponding to a first stack, wherein the first stack corresponds to a first class of execution items. The computer processor allocates a second memory portion corresponding to a second stack, wherein the second stack corresponds to a second class of execution items. The computer processor identifies a first execution item of the plurality of execution items and determining a class corresponding to the first execution item.

Many programming languages employ a stack to manage data during program execution time. Such languages include languages like C, C++, and Java® (note: the term(s) "Java" and the like may be subject to trademark rights in various jurisdictions throughout the world and are used here only in reference to the products or services properly denominated by the marks to the extent that such trademark rights may exist). A stack is used to store and manage data associated with subroutine calls, which may also be called procedures, functions, or methods, depending on the programming language. In response to such a call, the stack stores information. For example, the stack can store a return address, which is a memory address at which to resume program execution in response to completion of the call. The stack can store data which is extendable or non-extendable in length.
A stack overflow is a computer security attack which occurs when a program writes to a memory address on the program's stack outside of the intended data structure. A stack overflow attack can involve writing data beyond the portion of the stack in which an extendable length data value is stored, thus overwriting adjacent data. Such an attack can function to overwrite the function return address with a pointer to attacker-controlled data or code.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

International Business Machines Corporation


A method for reproducing contents of an information recording medium, having at least one data zone, is disclosed, wherein a determination is made as to whether the entirety of a requested reproduction zone included in the data zone of the information recording medium contains data, or at least a part thereof belongs to a non-recorded zone at a predetermined timing on or after a point in time when the reproduction request is made. Then, when a reproduction request is made for a reproduction zone including such non-recorded zone, it is subsequently determined at the predetermined timing that the non-recorded zone is present in the reproduction zone, and an error process starts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a reproduction method, a program, a recording medium, and a drive apparatus, and especially relates to a reproduction method for reproducing information recorded on an information recording medium, a computer-executable program and the information recording medium for storing the program, and a drive apparatus for carrying out at least reproduction of contents of the information recording medium, which drive apparatus does not have to be, but may also be capable of recording and erasing contents of the information recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
With advancements of personal computers (PCs), it has become possible to deal with AV (Audio-Visual) information, such as music and images. Since the amount of the AV information is very large, optical disks, such as a CD (compact disk), and a DVD (digital versatile disk) capable of recording data of about 7 times as much as the CD on a disk of the same diameter as the CD, come to attract attention as an information recording medium. With the prices of CDs and DVDs having dropped, optical disk apparatuses capable of handling CDs and DVDs have come to spread. Here, as an optical disk of the CD system, CD-ROM, CD-R (CD-recordable), CD-RW (CD-rewritable), etc., are marketed; and as for the DVD system, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-R (DVD-recordable), DVD-RW (DVD-rewritable), DVD+R (DVD+recordable), DVD+RW (DVD+rewritable), etc., are marketed.
As for the recordable disks, such as CD-R, DVD+R, etc., a recording zone, in which data are recorded, is divided into tracks ("fragments" in the case of DVD+R) such that the data are recorded on each track. This method is called multi-track recording. In the following, for convenience, both tracks and fragments are generically called tracks.
For example, in a DVD+R, up to 16 tracks can be set up as a session. In a zone called the lead-in zone (LIZ), a block called the session disk control block (SDCB) is provided that stores information about the tracks included in a session, such as track numbers, starting addresses of the tracks, ending addresses of the tracks, etc., the information being called track information. Usually, the track information recorded on the SDCB is read when the DVD+R is loaded (mounted) to a predetermined position of an optical disk apparatus, and the track information is held in a memory such that the track information can be referred to when required. In the case of DVD+R, up to 191 sessions can be present on the disk. When there are two or more sessions, the track information of the second session and all the subsequent sessions is recorded in SDCBs that are provided in a zone called "intro" of each of the sessions other than the first session.
Further, in DVD+R, multiple pieces of data can be recorded in a track one by one at different times so that files having a comparatively small amount of data can be recorded on the track. Accordingly, a state of the track is generally one of being fully recorded, being totally vacant, and having a recorded zone where data are recorded and a non-recorded zone where there are no data recorded. A track having a recorded zone and a non-recorded zone is called a partially recorded track. Generally, data have to be continuously recorded in a track from the starting address of the track. For this reason, it is necessary to determine the boundary position between the recorded zone and the non-recorded zone of the track, when adding data to a partially recorded track. The address that represents the boundary position is called the next writable address (NWA). Although the starting address and the ending address of a track are recorded in the SDCB as described above, the information about the boundary position between a recorded zone and a non-recorded zone, for example, NWA, is not recorded anywhere. Therefore, when adding data to a partially recorded track, NWA has to be detected each time recording is to be carried out.
In the case of CD-R, although the greatest number of sessions is not prescribed, the greatest number of tracks on a disk is limited to 99. The track information of each track is recorded in a zone called the program memory area (PMA) that is provided in the innermost circumference zone of the CD-R. Like the SDCB in DVD+R as mentioned above, the information recorded on PMA is usually read when the CD-R is loaded or mounted, is held in a memory, and is referred to as required.
According to a recording method called "packet-writing" for CD-R, it is possible that multiple pieces of data are recorded in a track one by one at different times. Accordingly, a partially recorded track can be present in CD-R. In the packet-writing recording method, data also have to be continuously recorded in a track from the starting address of the track. For this reason, it is necessary to determine the boundary position (for example, NWA) between a recorded zone and a non-recorded zone of the track, when adding data to the partially recorded track. Again, here in CD-R, the information about the boundary position between the recorded zone and the non-recorded zone is not provided in the disk, and NWA has to be detected each time data are to be added to the partially recorded track.
Conventionally, NWA of a track concerned (target track) of DVD+R and CD-R is detected by searching for the boundary position that divides the recorded zone and the non-recorded zone by sequentially scanning from the starting address toward the ending address of the target track, or by the so-called binary search by which a zone where NWA is expectedly to be contained is sequentially narrowed down. However, according to these detection methods, a problem is that detection time becomes long as the capacity of the target track is increased.
To cope with the problem, various apparatuses for shortening the detection time of NWA have been proposed (for example, patent reference 1 and patent reference 2).
[Patent reference 1]
JP,11-120573, A
[Patent reference 2]
JP,7-326158, A

Reproduction method, a program, a recording medium, and a drive apparatus


A method for exchanging information between computers from different computer networks without any direct connection is disclosed. The two networks include corresponding bridge computers that which share a file system residing on a common storage device. Any computer of a network needing to transmit information to a computer on the other network can map the file system of the corresponding bridge computer. The computer authenticates itself on the bridge computer, and it is then allowed to write the information into a file residing on the shared memory device. Likewise, any computer on the other network can map the same file system of the corresponding bridge computer. The computer authenticates itself on the bridge computer, and it is then allowed to read the information from a mirror copy of the file on the shared memory device. As a result, any network that is isolated from the outside can send and receive information. Such operation is possible even in the presence of virus infections without any security exposure.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to computer networks in general, and in particular to a method for providing communications between computer networks. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a method for exchanging information between computer systems from different computer networks.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, communications among computers within a computer network can be freely performed, but communications among computers from different computer networks are routinely restricted in some way for security reasons. A typical example is the protection of a private computer network from intruders attempting to gain unauthorized accesses to the private computer network.
The most straightforward solution for protecting a computer network with heavy access restrictions (for example, in military environments) is to isolate the computer network completely from other computer networks. However, such solution is very rigid, and it prevents any exchange of information with computers from other computer networks.
Besides, a complete isolation of a computer network is usually untenable in most practical situations, and typical examples include the use of a private computer network for implementing Internet-based applications, or the interconnection of different sub-networks in the same organization. In those cases, security concerns arise whenever a relatively secure computer network is exposed to a substantially uncontrolled external environment.
A prior art solution for providing computer security when interconnecting a secure computer network to other computer networks is to use a firewall on the secure computer network. The firewall checks all the information entering or leaving the secure computer network, and only allows certain information to transit as specified by corresponding security policies. Particularly, the security policies define which computer of an external computer network is allowed to access which computer of the secure computer network. However, each computer of the secure computer network must individually implement the control of the authorizations to read and/or write the corresponding information (by any user of the computers of the external computer network). Thus, the configuration of the computers within the secure computer network is very tedious. Moreover, the maintenance of the secure computer network is very difficult (especially in highly dynamic environments). All of the above-mentioned drawbacks make the firewall approach very undesirable, especially when the two computer networks have a minimum degree of complexity. In addition, the transit of all the information exchanged between the computer networks through the firewall adversely affects their performances.
Alternatively, it is possible to open a tunnel between selected computers of the two computer networks. The tunnel includes a communication channel that crosses the firewall with one or more point-to-point connections establishing a transparent pipe between each pair of computers. However, the tunnel solution can also impair the security of the computer systems.
Consequently, it would be desirable to provide an improved method for exchanging information between computer systems from different computer networks.

Method and apparatus for exchanging information between computer systems from different computer networks


A flexible strip brush element is constructed from multiple monofiliments arranged in a parallel fashion and attached at one end to a flexible base. The monofiliments are attached to the base by intermingling material from the base with material from the monofiliments. The free ends of the monofiliments collectively form a bristle end zone. A plurality of flexible strip brush elements may be bonded side-by-side so the free ends of the monofiliments form a common bristle end zone. The bonded flexible strip brush elements may take the form of a linear section or may be fashioned into an endless loop or jointless spiral.

FIGS. 1 through 3 show a stapleset brush 900 in accordance with the prior art.
As can be seen in the perspective view of the stapleset brush 900 in FIG. 1, brush bristles 905, represented in FIGS. 1 through 3 as a bundle of individual bristles, extend from drilled or molded holes 901 in a solid block of material such as rubber, leather, metal, or wood serving as base 902. As can be seen from the side sectional view of FIG. 2, the side shown at FIG. 2 being the same side as faces the reader in FIG. 1, brush bristles 905 contain tufts or bundles of strands that are folded over, the folded portion being held against the surface at the bottom of the hole 901 by a wire staple 907 or other rigid fastener. This is shown in the end sectional view of FIG. 3, the end shown at FIG. 3 being, for example, the end at the right in FIG. 1. At FIG. 3, it is possible to see the profile of the staple 907, this being such that the ends of the staple 907 are embedded and held firmly within the bulk material of the base 902.
Several difficulties arise when one attempts to employ the stapleset structure 900 of the prior art shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 as a belt brush or in another such application where flexibility is required.
For example, a belt brush employed in a conveyor or cleaning application might be made to undergo flexible deformation as it is driven within the transport mechanism of which it forms a part. For example, a belt-driven conveyor brush or cleaning brush in such an application might be driven by pulleys or made to wrap around idlers that cause the brush to bend around the radius of curvature of the pulley or idler. However, where the base 902 is fashioned from a rigid material such as metal or wood, the stapleset brush 900 will, needless to say, be inflexible and thus unsuitable for use as a belt brush in such an application.
Furthermore, even where the base 902 is fashioned from a less rigid material such as rubber, the fact that the staple 907 is typically stiffer than the material of the base 902, which is to say that the staple 907 and the base 902 in such case would have dissimilar moduli of elasticity, can cause localized stresses to occur in the vicinity of the staple 907, such stresses being made all the more severe to the extent that the staple 907, which is typically fashioned from a cut piece of wire, has sharp ends, corners, or edges. Such stresses can cause increased wear, shortened life, and failure of the stapleset brush 900. Of course, any stresses arising due to presence of the staple 907 will only be aggravated and made more intense by flexible deformation of the sort that such a belt brush will typically be made to undergo, further contributing to increased wear, shortened life, and failure of the stapleset brush 900.
Moreover, to properly embed the staple 907 within the base 902, the base 902 must have a certain minimum height, the height direction here being the direction in which the bristles 905 extend from the base 902 in FIGS. 1 through 3. However, thickness of the base 902 in this height direction contributes to the second moment of inertia about an axis perpendicular to a plane formed by the face of the base 902 indicated in, for example, FIG. 2. Specifically, the thickness of the base 902 in the height direction causes the base 902 to resist bending such as would cause the ends of the base 902 to flex so as to conform to a radius of curvature centered on an axis emerging from the plane of the base 902 at a point above or below the stapleset brush 900 as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2. Forcing the base 902 of the stapleset brush 900 to conform to such a radius of curvature despite this stiffness or resistance to bending due to the large second moment of inertia, as might be done were the stapleset brush 900 to be employed as a belt brush driven by pulleys in a transport mechanism, for example, would create high stresses in the base 902, both in the vicinity of the staple 907 as well as in the vicinities of the top and bottom of the base 902. Such stresses can also cause increased wear, shortened life, and failure of the stapleset brush 900.
In addition, in a structure in which the bristles 905 contain tufts that are folded over and attached by stapling to the base 902, there will of necessity be gaps between adjacent tufts due to presence of the wall containing base material 902 serving as partition between adjacent holes 901. In the structure shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, bristle density will be discontinuous along the length direction (i.e., the direction extending from left to right in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2), bristle density being high where bunched bristles 905 emerge from a hole 901, and being low between holes 901 where no bristles 905 emerge. This effect can to some extent be mitigated by employing a design in which bristles 905 fan out from their proximal regions, where they emerge from the holes 901, to their distal regions, where the bristles 905 collectively form a bristle end zone. Depending on the application in question, this bristle end zone might serve as conveyor drive face for transport of small objects including, but not limited to, nuts, bolts, pills, and/or other such objects to be conveyed, might serve as cleaning brush for cleaning parts or surfaces, or might serve as sealing surface for sealing a shuttle canister within a pneumatic tube transport system for use at a bank drive-up window, for example. Nonuniformity in bristle density within the bristle end zone can cause poor conveyor drive characteristics in an application in which the bristle end zone serves as conveyor drive face, poor cleaning performance in an application in which the bristle end zone serves to sweep or scour a floor or other surface, poor sealing in an application in which the bristle end zone serves as sealing surface, and other performance problems. In addition, the gaps that exist between adjacent tufts impose a limit on the maximum bristle density that can be achieved, and this limit on maximum achievable bristle density can also adversely impact achievable bristle end zone characteristics.
In such a design according to the prior art, there are practical limits to the width (i.e., the direction extending from left to right in FIG. 3) of the bristle end zone formed by the bristles 905 that can be achieved. For example, beyond a certain width, it may be difficult for the staple 907 to retain the bristles 905 at all points along the bottom of the hole 901. Furthermore, as can be seen in FIG. 3, proper embedding of the staple 907 within the base 902, such as will prevent the cut ends of the staple 907 from protruding from the sides of the base 902, necessitates that there be a certain minimum wall thickness to either side of the hole 901 in the width direction (i.e., the direction extending from left to right in FIG. 3). This being the case, even if one were to, for example, laminate multiple flexible strip brush elements together in side-by-side fashion in an attempt to extend the effective width of the brush, a stapleset brush 900 having design as shown in FIG. 3 would be limited with respect to the density of bristles 905 that is achievable in the width dimension due to presence of this minimum wall thickness to either side of the hole 901 in the width direction, in similar fashion as the limitation presented by the thickness of the wall serving as partition between adjacent holes 901 in the length direction which was described above.
The physical properties of the material employed as bristles 905 will in general impose constraints on overall tuft height, width, and length. For example, if the bristles 905 contain polypropylene or other such thermoplastic substance or other material having similar modulus of elasticity, mechanical properties of the material employed for the bristles 905 will limit the dimensions of the bristles 905 to certain practical ranges from the standpoints of manufacturing and performance.
For example, to achieve a brush 900 having bristles 905 with the requisite physical characteristics for the application in question, and in particular to achieve a brush 900 having such desired physical characteristics at the ends of the bristles 905 forming the bristle end zone, it will in general be necessary to impose limits on the ranges that can be employed for bristle length and diameter, and such ranges will be further limited upon considering the requisite average bristle density (e.g., number of bristles per square inch) and allowable nonuniformity in that bristle density.
For these and other reasons, a stapleset brush 900 manufactured in accordance with the prior art as shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 will often be inadequate except when employed in a comparatively narrow assortment of limited configurations. For example, as explained above, the stapleset brush 900 of the prior art may be inadequate where width is desired at the bristle end zone formed by the ends of the bristles 905, where high bristle density is desired at the bristle end zone formed by the ends of the bristles 905, where good uniformity in bristle density is desired at the bristle end zone formed by the ends of the bristles 905, or where it is desired that the stapleset brush 900 exhibit good flexibility with respect to flexure about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the bristles 905, such as would be the case were the stapleset brush 900 to be fashioned in an endless loop for driving by pulleys and idlers.
Although the difficulties mentioned above by way of example are described as applying to the stapleset structure 900 of the prior art shown in FIGS. 1 through 3, one or more of the foregoing difficulties may apply to structures from the prior art other than those shown in FIGS. 1 through 3. Furthermore, while various aspects and embodiments of the present invention may overcome one or more of the difficulties described above, not every difficulty mentioned above is necessarily overcome by all aspects and embodiments of the present invention, and in fact there may be aspects and embodiments of the present invention that overcome difficulties in the prior art other than those mentioned by way of example above.
Whether such difficulties exist in the prior art shown in FIGS. 1 through 3 or in other structures from the prior art that are not shown, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address such deficiencies and inadequacies.

Flexible strip brush, flexible belt brush, and method for manufacturing the same


Method and apparatus for non-contact temperature, emissivity and area estimation for gray and non-gray (uniform and non-uniform surface emissivity) are disclosed. Optical power measurements are obtained for radiation from a surface of interest in multiple wavelength bands. These power measurements are used to generate an expression for surface emissivity as a function of unknown temperature and surface projected area. At each of series of trial temperatures and areas within a predetermined range of physically plausible values, a value for emissivity at each measured wavelength is obtained. A best fit between these emissivity data points and a selected model emissivity function is obtained by least-squares minimization. The trial temperature and area which yield both the smallest minimum sum of squares and an emissivity value within predetermined physical constraints are concluded to be the temperature and projected surface area. An expression for the emissivity of the surface as a function of wavelength is also thus obtained. The invention applies as well for the case when the surface of interest has a known area. The invention includes a means of correcting for reflected background radiation by modeling it as part of the measured optical power at each measurement wavelength. Optical power measurements are taken in the environment of the surface from a calibration source having a known temperature and known emissivity characteristics, thus allowing the background radiation source effects to be characterized and excluded from the temperature estimation.

The ability to measure surface temperature quickly and efficiently for both near and distant surfaces without making contact with the surface is key to many scientific, engineering and industrial applications. In industries as diverse as steel, aluminum and integrated circuit manufacturing, it is necessary to control and monitor surface temperatures to absolute accuracies of a few degrees. Contact techniques, though most accurate in principle, are often limited by geometry, physical constraints, and the time it takes for the thermal sensors to equilibrate with the surface of interest, as well as errors due to conductive heat flow.
Other engineering and scientific applications may, in addition, require a simultaneous estimate of the surface emissivity and of the size (projected area) of a distant unresolved point target.
Methods that rely on measuring the optical radiation from a surface and relating it to the surface temperature have been used for many years. Generally known as pyrometric techniques, these methods are based on Planck's law of radiation. The main problem with traditional pyrometric techniques is that they need information about the surface spectral emissivity to ultimately relate the measured optical radiation to the actual surface temperature. This is the case whether the measurements are made in only one or in many optical wavelength passbands. Spectral emissivity data is generally difficult to measure and, even when known to some extent, is likely to deviate from the original measurements due to the processes that the material in question is undergoing, as well as oxidation, aging, etc. In addition, most materials are non-gray, that is, the spectral emissivity of the material varies with wavelength, and it may also vary with time.
Another problem with pyrometric techniques has to do with the necessity for compensating for other background radiation sources in the area of the surface of interest. For the case when one is dealing with surfaces which are highly reflective, that is, having low emissivity, the radiation emitted by background sources will combine with the self-emitted surface radiation. Since only the self-emitted radiation contains information related to the surface temperature, it is necessary to compensate for reflected background radiation.
Techniques based on measuring the optical radiation in a single wavelength band are conceptually the simplest of all. However, in relating the measurements to temperature they lack the well-known leverage gained by measuring radiation at several wavelengths. Techniques that employ two or more bands are further subject to spectral variation in the emissivity.
Those techniques that employ many bands, known as multi-wavelength pyrometry, are of two types. One type approximates the Planck distribution by Wien's law to reduce the problem of determining temperature to a linear estimation problem. By using Wien's approximation, however, the technique is limited in the range of wavelengths where the measurements may be carried out for a given range of surface temperatures.
The second type uses the Planck distribution itself, thus posing the problem of estimating temperature as the non-linear estimation problem it actually is. Here, as in the linear technique above, it is necessary to assume a model functional dependence between the spectral emissivity and wavelength. The surface temperature and the coefficients that ultimately determine the emissivity are determined simultaneously by non-linear least squares estimation procedures that perform a fit to the optical data using the specific model. Earlier methods suffer from several disadvantages. They do not account and compensate for background reflected radiation, and they generally require optical measurements in a large number of sensor bands. It is claimed that the statistics involved with fitting a large number of data points using a model with a relatively small number of degrees of freedom will compensate for measurement error. While this might indeed be the case, the practical problem of measuring at a large number of wavelength bands, along with the complexity of non-linear search techniques, makes these procedures too complicated and too slow for many industrial requirements where speed and simplicity are of the essence. An implementation of one such technique also appears to be very sensitive to the presence of noise in the measurements.

Non-contact surface temperature, emissivity, and area estimation


A postage meter that is contained in a kiosk may be used to produce verifiable receipts for commercial transactions. The imbedded digital metering cryptographic technology that is contained in a postage meter may be used to produce a verifiable receipt. Several of the collected "commercial" transaction data elements are presented to the existing meter encryption module for processing as the meter was processing an envelope. The output encrypted data string is used as a new field in the receipt. Assuring that the receipt is authentic. Verification can be performed as follows: using the printed receipt as a source of data (at some later time) periodically on the archived records stored in the kiosk during the day on the uploaded "order" files before actual processing.

A kiosk is a small structure or pavilion. It is often open on one or more sides and it is often used as a newsstand or booth. There are five different types of kiosks i.e., informational; promotional; experiential; transactional; and vending. Informational kiosks are used in cities, companies and buildings. They tend to be small because the offered information is specific.
Promotional kiosks are essentially electronic advertising displays to present the goods and services of one or more companies. Experiential kiosks are used to simulate a desired user situation. For instance, simulating a museum tour or a tour of a historical site. An experiential kiosk would show visitors the museum displays and events and also map a plan of time and route for viewing the displays and events. Transactional kiosks allow the users, via a credit card or other payment method, to make purchases which are fulfilled elsewhere and shipped to a designated location. Vending kiosks are employed to process and then deliver the "product" or fund. Typically, cash or electronic transactions are used for payment.
Postal kiosks are a type of vending kiosk, whereby one is able to frank and then post mail in a convenient fashion. Such kiosks are designed to receive the mail, weigh the mail, inform the user as to the amount of postage due and upon user acceptance and payment dispense the postage. Most kiosks have convenience items such as currency and coin acceptors and coin changes. Recently, credit card slots and credit card charging mechanisms have been added to kiosks.
Heretofore, kiosks only dispensed goods or services that were supplied by one entity, i.e. the owner of the kiosk. The goods or services dispensed by the kiosks were dispensed by people or machines. The machine controlled kiosk produced receipts that were printed by printers that could be easily copied or varied. Hence, the prior art did not produce verifiable receipts.

System for producing verifiable kiosk receipts and records


A method for producing hydrocarbons includes the steps of a) providing a source of liquefied natural gas (LNG), b) regasifying the LNG at the well, c) pressurizing the regasified LNG above the formation pressure, d) injecting the pressurized LNG into the well, e) allowing the injection stream to flow into the producing formation, and f) recovering and transporting the regasified LNG and produced gas from the formation. The injection stream may include at least 85% methane and no more than 5 PPM water. Step f) may be carried out without separating the recovered gases. Step d) may continue for at least 24 hours. Step b) may comprise passing the LNG through a vaporizer. Step c) may be carried out before step b). An apparatus for injecting regasified LNG into a hydrocarbon formation may comprise an LNG tank, a vaporizer, a compressor, and a fluid connection to the producing formation.

Oil and gas are produced from wells that penetrate subsurface hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs. Such reservoirs are pressurized by the weight of the formations above the reservoir. When a well penetrates a formation, hydrocarbons and other fluids in the formation will tend to flow into the well because of the formation pressure. Formation fluids flow into the well as long as the pressure in the wellbore is less than the formation pressure. The flow of fluids out of the formation reduces formation pressure, however, and production eventually slows or ceases. Gas and oil fields may experience reduced production over time due to a drop in formation pressure and/or accumulation of liquids in the well(s). Liquids flowing into the well, which can include water and/or hydrocarbons, may clog the fissures, lower field pressure and increase viscosity, which in turn may degrade the flow of gas, oil and other products to wells in that field.
To extract more hydrocarbons from a well, various production-enhancing techniques can be used. Secondary recovery methods generally include injecting water or gas to displace oil and driving the hydrocarbon mixture to a production wellbore, which results in the enhanced recovery of 20 to 40 percent of the original oil in place. After a reservoir has been flooded with water or other secondary recovery methods, tertiary recovery methods may be used to increase the fluid recovery from the reservoir. In some cases, tertiary recovery methods may be used immediately after the primary recovery method.
Tertiary recovery methods often include the injection of steam, gas, and/or chemicals. Gas injection tertiary methods may use gases such as natural gas, nitrogen, or carbon dioxide that expand in a reservoir to push additional hydrocarbons to a production wellbore. In gas injection, the injected fluids are traditionally at temperatures greater than −100° F. Commonly-used gases are those that dissolve in the reservoir hydrocarbons, thereby lowering the viscosity and improving the flow rate of the reservoir hydrocarbons to the production well.


Systems and methods using network interface card-based (NIC-based) prefetching for host TCP context lookup are disclosed. The process generally includes hashing, by the NIC, a packet received over the network, computing a host hash table cache line in a host memory using the hash value and using a hash table pages table containing host memory physical page addresses of a host hash table, and computing a host context table cache line in a host memory using the hash value and using a context table pages table containing host memory physical page addresses of a host context table. The NIC may be initialized with the hash table pages table and the context table pages table as well as with the a set number of hash node entries in the hash table of the host memory.

A network generally refers to computers and/or other device interconnected for data communication. A network interface controller (NIC) is a hardware device that connects a host computer system to a computer network such as a local area network (LAN). The NIC communicates with the host bus and is controlled by the host CPU in a manner similar to the way the host CPU controls an I/O device. Thus, the NIC appears as an I/O device to the host computer. To the network, the NIC can send and receive packets and appears as an attached computer.
NICs typically use descriptor rings for processing packets both in the receive direction and in the transmit direction. For example, when the NIC receives a packet or frame, the NIC reads a receive descriptor from the host system memory to determine where to place the data in the host system. After the data is moved to the host system main memory, the receive descriptor is written back out to the host system memory with status information about the received frame. In the transmit direction, the NIC operates in a similar fashion to the receive direction. In particular, the NIC is first notified by the host CPU of a new transmit. The NIC then reads the descriptor to locate the data, reads the data, and then writes the descriptor back with status about the transmit. On transmits, the NIC typically reads the next expected descriptor to see if any more data needs to be sent. As is evident, each receive or transmit frame results in at least three peripheral component interconnect (PCI) or peripheral bus reads or writes in addition to a status register read.
After the NIC receives and transfers the packet to the host computer, the host computer processes the packet through a protocol stack. During the host packet processing, the protocol header (e.g., transmission control protocol (TCP), Internet protocol (IP), Ethernet) is removed. The data portion is thus recovered and can be made available to a user, an application program, etc.
A non-insignificant amount of processing time is required for the host system to identify a TCP context due in part to memory access times. While the TCP context lookup may be offloaded to the NIC, such a mechanism requires significantly more NIC memory as well as elaborate communications between the NIC and the host to manage "statefull" memory on the NIC.

Systems and methods using NIC-based prefetching for host TCP context lookup


A process and a device for determining the cerebral blood flow, and the intracerebral blood volume are described.. After injection into the bloodstream of a predefined quantity of a double indicator, arterial and venous measurements of the indicator dilution curves resulting in the blood stream are carried out. A dye solution differing in its temperature from the body temperature serves as a double indicator, in which heat or cold constitute a highly diffusible indicator component, and dye, preferably indo cyanine green ICG, constitute an intravascular indicator component. The cerebral blood flow CBF is calculated from the ratio of a distribution coefficient .lambda..sub.therm of the highly diffusible indicator component therm between blood and cerebral tissue and the mean transit time mtt.sub.therm of the highly diffusible indicator component therm through the brain. The intracerebral blood volume ICBV is calculated from the product of cerebral blood flow CBF and the mean transit time mtt.sub.ICG of the intravascular indicator component ICG.

Adequate blood flow through the brain at all times is not only an unalterable prerequisite for normal cerebral function, but also an essential necessity for the survival of the individual in situations of impaired cardiocirculatory function. Even short-term interruptions of the cerebral blood flow can cause irreversible damage which either leads to loss of life or is followed by the most serious defective healing.
In medicine, monitoring of cerebral blood flow poses a particular problem in the case of unconscious patients, for example during general anaesthesia or with intensive-care patients on a respirator. In these patients, cerebral function must also be suppressed for reasons of pain avoidance, and thus there is no possibility of indirectly judging to what extent cerebral blood flow is adequate. The problem is particularly severe with patients suffering from cerebral diseases, such as for example the most severe cerebral concussion and cerebral tumour.
On the one hand in these cases, the brain tends to swell, whereby blood flow can be impeded. On the other hand, decoupling of cerebral blood flow from the metabolic requirements of the brain may occur whereby the accompanying expansion of blood vessels can cause cerebral swelling in itself. While in the one case therapeutic measures aiming at promoting cerebral blood flow would have to be undertaken, in the other case a reduction in cerebral blood flow would have to be aimed at.
It is therefore desirable to find not only a simple method, especially one that can be applied at the bedside, for measuring cerebral blood flow and intracerebral blood volume, but also one that offers simple monitoring for effectiveness and dosage rate when testing newly developed medicaments for promoting or reducing cerebral blood flow.
So far, only relatively expensive processes have been available for measuring cerebral blood flow in patients. As a rule, these are indicator dilution processes in which foreign gases are used as indicators. In a technique that has been used for a long time (Kety-Schmid technique) saturation of the blood and the brain with laughing gas or argon takes place, whereby the respective gas is enriched in the respiratory air. The analysis process takes place concurrently by means of several blood samples in the arterial and in the cerebrovenous blood for which firstly an arterial catheter and secondly a catheter in the "bulbus venae jugularis" is required. The latter is inserted retrogradely by way of a jugular vein (vena jugularis interna), to the level of the base of the skull.
With a different method, radioactively marked xenon is used which is injected as a bolus in aqueous solution. With this technique, gas indication is by means of extra cranial detectors. Due to their associated costs as well as due to the equipment required, both these methods are feasible during operations or with intensive-care patients only for scientific purposes; they are unsuitable for the demands of clinical routine. In the Kety-Schmid process, the blood samples must be processed through extensive laboratory analysis, so that the result is usually available only hours later. Apart from the high cost, the main disadvantage of the xenon technique is the associated radiation exposure for both patient and personnel.
From Journal of Applied Physiology, vol. 64, nr. 3, March 1988, pages 1210-1216, Bock et al.: "Thermal recovery after passage of pulmonary circulation assessed by deconvolution" it is known to determine the cardiac stroke volume and the extravascular thermal lung volume. To this effect, a double indicator of heat/cold on the one hand, and dye on the other hand, the quantity of which must be precisely known, is injected into the bloodstream. Thereafter, the indicator dilution curves are measured and subsequently the areas below the curves are determined. The ratio of indicator quantity to area below the curves subsequently reveals the blood flow in absolute units, e.g. in milliliters per minute.
The indicator heat/cold serves to determine the blood flow "cardiac stroke volume". The extravascular thermal lung volume is determined from the product of cardiac stroke volume and mean transit time, whereby the intravascular lung volume is deducted, in which the difference between mean transit time of the indicator heat/cold and the indicator dye is constituted.

Process and a device for determining the cerebral blood flow CBF, and the intracerebral blood volume ICBV


A construction laser system includes a rotation laser and a laser receiver. To determine a direction in which the laser receiver lies in sight of the rotation laser, a digital code respectively assigned uniquely to the respective rotation angle ranges includes a state value sequence based on a defined sequence of states relating to the laser beam. In the respective rotation angle ranges, the corresponding sequence of states is respectively generated by successively occurring crossings of the respective rotation angle range. On the receiver side, an output signal is generated as a function of incidence of the laser beam. With the aid of an output signal sequence of successively generated output signals, which is acquired by the evaluation unit, the state value sequence corresponding to the acquired output signal sequence is identified, permitting final determination of the corresponding rotation angle range in which the laser receiver lies.

It is known to use rotation lasers on building sites, for example of buildings or in road building and/or earthworks. Particularly used are rotation lasers in which a laser beam (in the visible or infrared wavelength range) emitted by a laser unit generates a reference surface by deflection using a rotating deflection prism, this then providing a precise plane reference (in particular a height reference in the case of a horizontal plane).
Many of the currently existing rotation lasers in this context have a beam self-horizontalizing functionality (also known as self-leveling). Various technical solutions are known for fulfilling such a beam self-horizontalizing functionality, which, although they may be of purely mechanical nature, are nowadays nevertheless mostly based on sensors of an optical type. For example, the central component of the rotation laser (i.e. the laser core module), in particular comprising the laser unit and the rotatable deflection prism, may be suspended in a pendular fashion so that horizontalization accuracy can be achieved by employing gravity. The laser core module may, however, in this case advantageously be suspended precisely inclinably in a motorized fashion about two axes (at least slightly in a range of, for example, ±5° on an external housing of the device, and equipped with an inclination sensor or a horizontalization sensor, the display or signal of which can be read out and used as a starting value for active modification of the inclination position of the laser core module.
Depending on the level of development, known rotation sensors nowadays in this case also have a function (with a corresponding mechanism, sensors and control) for controlled desired inclination of the laser plane relative to the horizontal in one or two directions. To this end, the central component of the rotation laser, in particular comprising the laser unit and the rotatable deflection prism, may be inclined in a controlled motorized fashion about one axis or two axes and brought into desired inclination positions, so that the rotation axis and consequently also the spanned plane are thereby also inclined in the desired way. Corresponding mechanisms, sensors and controls for this are well known in the prior art and are described, for example, in the patent literature publications U.S. Pat. No. 5,485,266 A, US 2004/0125356 A1, EP 1 790 940 A2, EP 1 901 034 A2, EP 2 327 958 A1 and EP 2 522 954 A1.
If the rotating laser beam emitted by the rotation laser is in this case emitted in the visible spectrum and it strikes a surface, for example, a wall, a floor or a ceiling of a building, a reference line as a basis of further measures is visible there.
For precise transmission of the reference plane or reference height defined by the rotating laser beam, for example onto a wall or into terrain, handheld laser receivers are known which can highly accurately determine and indicate a position relative to a reference surface spanned by the rotation laser.
Handheld laser receivers known from the prior art for the determination of a position relative to the reference surface may in this case have a laser beam detector comprising a multiplicity of photosensitive elements, which is formed in order to generate an output signal when the laser beam strikes the laser beam detector. In detail, the laser beam detector is usually configured in this case so that an incidence position of the laser beam on the laser beam detector surface can additionally be derived, to which end the photosensitive elements—as considered in an upright operating position of the device—may be sequenced with one another in a vertically oriented sensor row, so that the laser beam detector thus extends at least over a one-dimensional region on the laser receiver. Furthermore, an evaluation unit for determining the position of the laser receiver relative to the reference height defined by the rotating laser beam with the aid of the output of the laser beam detector, as well as an indicator for the position determined (for instance a visual display), in particular formed in order to indicate whether the laser receiver coincides exactly with the reference surface, are usually integrated into the laser receiver device. The position may, for example, in this case be determined with the aid of a ratio of a plurality of output signals (for example as the midpoint of that subregion on the laser beam detector row which is illuminated by the laser beam).
Handheld laser receivers of this kind may, in particular, be used when the line imaged by the rotating laser beam is visible to the eye only with difficulty or not precisely enough. This is the case, for example, in the event of sizeable distances from the rotation laser (for example due to divergence of the laser beam [→ the imaged line becomes too wide] or a low light power (which is subject to certain limits for eye safety reasons) [→ the imaged line becomes too weakly visible] and/or high ambient brightness) or when using laser light in the nonvisible wavelength range.
In such cases, with the aid of such laser receivers it now becomes possible to find the laser beam and indicate or read the laser plane (or reference height) defined by a rotating laser beam, and to transmit the height information into the terrain or onto a wall (etc.). For example, a corresponding marking—indicated by the laser receiver—may be applied at the reference height.
To this end, on the user side, the laser receiver is for example moved up and down in a search pattern in the vertical direction and finally brought into the position in which the indicator displays coincidence with the reference surface. As the indicator, for example, a visual display may be provided which gives information (for example by luminous arrows or different-colored LEDs) about whether a defined zero point of the laser receiver (for example a surface midpoint of the detector surface):                lies exactly at the height of the reference surface,        lies above the reference surface or        lies below the reference surface.
Examples of such laser receivers are disclosed in documents EP 2 199 739 A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,208.
In order to provide the user with simple transmission of the reference height determined and indicated by the laser receiver, a height mark may be provided on the housing of the laser receiver at the height of the defined zero point (for example a notch or a printed line laterally on the housing).
U.S. Pat. No. 7,394,527 discloses a system consisting of a laser emitter and a laser receiver, the intention being to determine a distance of the laser receiver from the laser emitter. To this end, it is proposed to emit two mutually parallel laser beams in a rotating fashion and to determine the distance as a function of the rotation speed and time offset of the laser pulses of the two laser beams, which are received directly after one another. In a similar way to this—when there are a plurality of detector strips offset parallel to one another on the receiver (with an accurately known parallel offset of the detector strips from one another)—as an alternative, a single laser beam may also be emitted in a rotating fashion, in which case the distance from the receiver to the laser emitter is determined as a function of the time offset of the laser pulses received successively by the respective detector strips.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,108 discloses a system consisting of a rotation laser and a laser receiver, the laser beam rotating with a first speed when no information is being transmitted to the laser receiver, and with a second speed different to the first rotation speed so as thereby to transmit predefined information concerning a status of the rotation laser (for example "low battery").
For a range of known functions and applications of a system consisting of a rotation laser (in particular a dual-grade rotation laser) and a laser receiver, knowledge (sometimes approximate) about a laser receiver direction may additionally be necessary or at least helpful, that is to say knowledge about a direction in which the laser receiver lies in sight of the rotation laser (for example with respect to a coordinate system internal to the rotation laser).
Examples of such functions and applications may in this case be:
a) Grade catch (also known as plane or slope catch), for example when the receiver is lost from the locked-in state (see b)):
A search of the receiver is carried out by varying inclination of the reference plane spanned by the rotating laser beam and finding as a function of a hit signal emitted from the receiver to the rotator.
Contact Point of the Function with Laser Receiver Direction:
If an azimuthal direction to the receiver is known (for example from a previous locked-in state), then the search process can be accelerated with the aid of this laser receiver direction (less uncertainties existing for the conduct of the search process). If it is furthermore known whether the laser receiver has left the plane from the locked-in state upward or downward, then—in turn with the aid of the laser receiver direction—the search process can again be carried out more expediently.
b) Grade lock (also known as plane lock or slope lock, optionally with tracking), which can only be carried out when the reference plane has already (at least somewhat) impinged on the detector region of the receiver, i.e. in particular directly following a grade catch (that is to say after "finding" the receiver):
The reference plane is locked in at the zero point of the receiver (that is to say controlled inclination of the reference plane so that it intersects the zero point of the receiver) and this state is optionally continuously held (for example, even if the receiver moves, which is then known as tracking), it being ensured continuously by controlled readjustment of the reference plane inclination that the zero point of the receiver is touched by the reference plane, or cuts the reference plane).
Contact Point of the Function with Laser Receiver Direction:
In the event of dynamic movement of the receiver, the tracking (that is to say the following of the reference plane by controlled inclination thereof) can only be carried out sufficiently rapidly with direct knowledge of which deviation, measured on the receiver side, between the current reference plane incidence point and the zero point of the laser receiver, needs to be reacted to with which inclination adjustment. To this end, knowledge about the laser receiver direction can be very helpful for stabilizing this tracking process and making it more direct, and therefore permitting faster and more dynamic tracking.
c) Axis alignment/axis finding:
Fictitious x′ and y′ axes (that is to say fictitious axes which do not correspond with the orientation, dictated by setup and design, of the actual x inclination and y inclination axes of the core module), about which the laser plane is intended to be inclined as input by the user, may be defined on the user side. This user-side input of the desired orientation of the fictitious x′ and y′ axes may be carried out with the aid of a current direction to the receiver, which is to be determined (so that, for example, the fictitious x′ axis can be placed in this azimuthal direction to the receiver).
Furthermore, for the purpose of the axis alignment, an assistance functionality may also be implemented in such a way that signaling in relation to the quality of the orientation of the inclination axis is carried out, for instance by a display which assists the orientation of the laser core module, effected on the user side (for example a value indication or left/right/middle information). This is advantageous in particular when, owing to design, the inclination system does not permit provision of fictitious x′ and y′ axes, as for instance in rotation laser systems of low development levels with exclusive horizontalization function (self leveling), which do not have means for mechanical rotation of the inclination axis/axes.
Contact Point of this Function with Laser Receiver Direction:
For this function (at least when defining the fictitious x′ and y′ axes by means of a current direction to the receiver), knowledge about the laser receiver direction is necessary.
Special aspects and embodiments relating to these functions are described, for example, in the patent literature publications U.S. Pat. No. 6,055,046 A, U.S. Pat. No. 6,314,650 B1 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,693,706 B2.
Inter alia, the following methods are in this case known in the prior art (inter alia from the publications mentioned in the section immediately above) for the determination of a laser receiver direction in a system consisting of a rotation laser and a laser receiver:
1) Evaluation of a signal generated directly (in real time) after detection of a beam on the receiver side, this signal being transmitted from the receiver to the rotator (for example by radio), and derivation of an emission angle which the rotating laser beam was probably at the time of incidence.2) Defined inclination of the reference plane by a known inclination angle and reading, on the laser receiver side, of a thereby caused height offset of the beam strike on the detector of the laser receiver (with these steps being carried out for both inclination axes) and derivation of a direction to the receiver with the aid of the given relation of the respective inclination angle difference to the respective height offset on the receiver.3) Attachment to a beam parameter of the laser radiation of continuously angle-dependently varying information which can be read on the part of the receiver with the aid of the incident beam and furthermore makes it possible to determine the direction to the receiver.4) Iteratively halving windowing as a function of a hit or non-hit of the laser receiver in the respective current angle range window (for example emission of the beam only in the angle range of 0-180° if the receiver has displayed a hit: emission of the beam only in the angle range of 0-90° if the receiver has not displayed a hit for 0-180°: emission of the beam only in the angle range of 180°-270°, etc.).
The topic relating to determination of the laser receiver direction is in this case dealt with, inter alia, in the patent literature publication WO 2006/070009 A2.
In practice, however, the known methods for determining the direction have been found to be slow, not very stable, not very reliable and/or elaborate or difficult to practically implement.
Methods as described under point 1) above, which are based on the transmission from the laser receiver to the rotation laser of a signal which depends on the time of the strike on the laser receiver, and derivation of the direction information carried out directly therefrom (that is to say a real-time observation), are not very accurate (since the signal transmission time depends on the respective distance between the receiver and the rotator) and are not reliable.
The methods as described under points 2) and 4) above are relatively laborious to carry out and require various different steps and/or decisions, so that they therefore also lead to a relatively high error susceptibility. Furthermore, the method as described under point 2) functions only with a receiver held upright (oblique holding of the receiver leads to a vitiated result).
The method as described under point 3) is very elaborate to carry out, since it is necessary to attach continuously varying information to the laser radiation and, furthermore, on the receiver side special acquisition of the incident laser beam is also required (that is to say so that the attached information is not lost) and evaluation with respect to the information has to be carried out. In addition, during the evaluation of a signal generated upon detection of the laser radiation, a continuously angle-dependently varied beam parameter of the laser radiation can lead to inaccuracies in the final angle determination (for example when a global shift of the parameter in its value, which is varied angle-dependently, occurs (for instance owing to shock or ageing of the device)).

Construction laser system having a rotation laser and a laser receiver, with functionality for automatic determination of the laser receiver direction


Method and system embody a valve timing strategy to control the autoignition timing of a four stroke internal combustion engine (10) operated in an HCCI mode at different engine operating conditions such as different engine speed and torque. A particular valve timing strategy varies lift timing of the intake valve (20) relative to the exhaust valve (28), or vice versa, and relative to top dead center in response to a change in engine torque, for example, to vary amount of trapped residual burned gas in the combustion chamber (12) flowing to an intake or exhaust port (16,18) and back to the combustion chamber during which the residual gas is cooled. Control of the flow of residual gas between the combustion chamber and intake or exhaust port and thus its temperature by the valve timing strategy, in turn, is used to control the temperature of the fresh air/residual gas/fuel mixture in the combustion chamber (12) and thus autoignition timing in response to a change in engine torque.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods and systems for controlling autoignition timing of an internal combustion engine operated in a homogeneous-charge compression-ignition mode.
2. Background Information
A conventional gasoline-fueled internal combustion engine employs spark ignition where the fuel and air are premixed and a spark initiates a flame that propagates through the fuel/air mixture in the combustion chamber. The other common type of internal combustion engine employs compression ignition where the fuel and air are purposely kept separate until shortly before top dead center in the engine when the temperature of the air in the combustion chamber is high due to the compression. The fuel then is quickly injected into the combustion chamber as a very fine mist, which partially mixes with the air and autoignites in the combustion chamber. The timing of the fuel injection timing thus controls the autoignition timing. Diesel engines are illustrative of this type of compression ignition engine.
Homogeneous-charge compression-ignition (HCCI) internal combustion engines are known and offer the potential to reduce fuel consumption and NOx emissions. An HCCI engine employs a premixed fuel/air charge to the combustion chamber as in a spark ignition engine, while the charge is ignited by compression ignition as in a diesel engine when the temperature of the air-fuel charge reaches an autoignition temperature in the combustion chamber. HCCI engines typically are provided with a conventional spark plug for each cylinder and relatively low compression ratios, typically close to those of spark ignition (SI) engines, to permit switching of operation of the engine from the HCCI mode at lower engine torques to the SI mode at higher engine torques without engine knocking.
Control of autoignition timing in an HCCI engine is more difficult than in a diesel engine, which controls fuel injection timing to control autoignition timing. In an HCCI engine, the composition and temperature of the fuel/gas mixture in the combustion chamber must be controlled to control autoignition timing.
It has been proposed to control HCCI autoignition timing using what has been called a negative valve overlap strategy that provides internal exhaust gas recirculation in the combustion chamber. Negative valve overlap control strategy involves trapping hot residual burned gas in the cylinder to subsequently mix with fresh air inducted into the combustion chamber. The trapped burned gas raises the temperature of the air-burned gas mixture to promote autoignition. Autoignition timing (delay) is represented by the equation: t=A exp(E/RT), where t is the time it takes for the mixture in the combustion chamber to autoignite, often called the ignition delay, A is an empirical constant, E is an activation energy and is a function of the composition of the mixture, such as type of fuel, fuel/air mixture, amount of residuals, etc., and R is the universal gas constant. Because the equation expresses an exponential relationship, it is evident that temperature of the mixture plays a key role in determining if and importantly when autoignition will occur.
Pursuant to negative valve overlap control strategy, the exhaust valve closes before top dead center (TDC) and the intake valve opens after TDC such that both valves are closed at TDC of the exhaust stroke. Such strategy controls trapping of hot residual burned gas in the combustion chamber to, in turn, control the autoignition timing. FIG. 5 shows a plurality of intake and exhaust valve lift curves versus crank angle for an HCCI engine for purposes of illustrating the negative valve overlap strategy where different negative valve overlaps are shown for use at different engine torques. In particular, for different engine torques, different pairs of intake and exhaust valve lift curves (e.g., curves 1I, 1E; 2I, 2E; 3I, 3E; and so on) are employed in coordination with one another to provide the desired negative overlap for a particular engine torque. That is, intake and exhaust valve lift curves 1I, 1E would be used in coordination for a particular engine torque, different intake and exhaust valve lift curves 2I, 2E would be used in coordination for a different particular engine torque, and so on. The negative valve overlap control strategy is described by Willard et al. in "The knocking syndrome—its cure and its potential", SAE 982483, 1998.
When engine speed or torque changes, the autoignition timing of the HCCI engine tends to change. For example, at higher torque, autoignition timing tends to advance, resulting in the increase in heat transfer losses, NOx emissions, and combustion noise. Therefore, the engine control system should adjust to move the autoignition timing back to the optimum crank angle. At lower engine torque, autoignition timing tends to be retarded, resulting in an increase of CO emissions and lower combustion efficiency. The engine control system should adjust to move the autoignition timing back to the optimum crank angle.
Moreover, it is desirable to operate the engine with a stoichiometric air-fuel mixture and with a conventional three-way catalyst for after-treatment of exhaust gases. Control of the mass of trapped hot residual burned gas in the cylinder can provide control of autoignition timing during HCCI engine operation. There is a need to also control air-fuel ratio to provide a stoichiometric mixture for engine operation over a wide range of climate and weather conditions without altering the autoignition timing.
However, use of negative valve overlap as a single control variable in HCCI engine control strategy to control both the autoignition timing and the air-fuel ratio at different operating conditions is problematic in that use of a single negative valve overlap variable in the control strategy offers insufficient degrees of freedom to control the air-fuel ratio, in-cylinder gas temperature, and residual fraction of burned gas in the in-cylinder gas in a manner to provide favorable values for all of these parameters at different operating conditions.

Control of autoignition timing in a HCCI engine


An image capturing system includes a photoelectric conversion unit, a charge holding unit, a multiple sampling information setting unit, a multiple sampling unit, a conversion unit, and an image reconstruction unit. The photoelectric conversion unit converts optical signals received by a plurality of pixels to electric signals. The charge holding unit stores the electric signals and holds the electric signals as charge signals. The multiple sampling information setting unit sets multiple sampling information used for a multiple sampling process. The multiple sampling information includes first multiple sampling information and second multiple sampling information. The multiple sampling unit performs the multiple sampling process using the multiple sampling information and the charge signals so as to output signals. The conversion unit converts the output signals to digital signals. The image reconstruction unit generates reconstructed images using the digital signals and the multiple sampling information, and outputs the reconstructed images.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an image capturing apparatus that uses compressed sensing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a technique called "compressed sensing" has been developed. Compressed sensing is a technique of compressing image information by adding pixel values (charge signals) of a plurality of pixels at the time of capturing an image, and reconstructing the image using the sparsity (described below) of the image (see, for example, J. Ma, "Improved Iterative Curvelet Thresholding for Compressed Sensing and Measurement", IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, vol. 60, no. 1, pp 126-136, 2011). Image capturing based on the above-described method is called multiple sampling image capturing.

Image capturing system, image capturing apparatus, decoding apparatus, image capturing method, and display control system

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


The present invention provides materials, methods, and kits for reducing nonspecific binding of molecules to a surface, particularly in a solid phase material, and more specifically a solid phase material that includes a hydrophobic portion, by contacting the solid phase material with a fluorinated nonionic surfactant comprising two or more fluorinated hydrophobic segments and one or more hydrophilic segments.

In many biological assays, target molecules, such as polypeptides, need to be purified. This can be accomplished, for example, using affinity separations.
An affinity separation can be defined as any separation achieved by employing the specific binding of one molecule or a group of molecules by another molecule or a group of molecules. Affinity separation is used to capture an analyte (e.g., typically a macromolecule, such as a protein or nucleic acid) from a complex mixture such as serum or plasma. After capturing the analyte, the contaminants are washed away and the analyte (i.e., target molecule) is detected using well known assay protocols and/or removed from the solid phase material for further processing.
These separations can be carried out as batch processes or chromatographic processes and generally include a solid support material. Solid support materials (i.e., solid phase materials) generally suitable for affinity chromatography are well known and typically include the attachment of a ligand or binder to the carrier. Many solid support materials, however, demonstrate nonspecific binding of unwanted components such as proteins that do not have specific interactions with the ligand.
Attempts to improve on affinity supports have involved the use of an inert perfluorocarbon polymer carrier with ligands or binders attached to its surface through a highly fluorinated isocyanate anchor group (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,444 (Eveleigh et al.)). Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,897 (Hato et al.) discloses the immobilization of enzymes onto a fluorine resin membrane which is made hydrophilic on one side by the penetration of a perfluoroalkyl surface active agent to a prescribed depth. The asymmetrically functional membrane thus obtained is then treated with an enzyme and a crosslinking agent such as glutaraldehyde to achieve enzyme immobilization.
Because affinity separation as well as other separations involving solid supports are such powerful techniques and because currently available supports suffer from various disadvantages, there is a need for improved methods and materials, which may or may not actually function as an affinity support.
The discussion of prior publications and other prior knowledge does not constitute an admission that such material was published, known, or part of the common general knowledge.

Materials, methods, and kits for reducing nonspecific binding of molecules to a surface


A coating composition is produced by forming an aqueous dispersion of a crosslinking agent and a resin that comprises the reaction product of an alkyd polymer, an optional surfalkyd, diacetone acrylamide, another acrylate monomer and optionally aromatic monomers wherein the reaction product is neutralized with either ammonia or an amine. A coating of the aqueous dispersion on wood exhibits at least some of the following desired properties: rapid dry time, good tannin blocking, good resistance to picking up dirt, good hot box stability and good exterior durability. Additionally, the inventive coatings appear to provide improved crosslinking compared to coatings comprising resins not neutralized with an amine or ammonia and/or not containing a surfalkyd.

This invention relates generally to alkyd polymer coatings and more specifically to modified alkyd resins useful in coatings and methods for making such resins.
Coatings for wood surfaces desirably have rapid dry times, good tannin blocking, good resistance to picking up dirt, good hot box stability and good exterior durability. While coatings having these properties to some extent are known, improvements in such properties, especially tannin blocking, are still needed.
Tannin is a group of soluble compounds that occur naturally in wood and plant material. The solubility of tannin allows tannin compounds to leach through the wood and the coating thereby forming stains on the surface of the wood or coating. Removal of the tannin from the wood substrate is not practical so the tannin leachate must be blocked from reaching the surface in order to avoid staining. Control of tannin leaching by adding chemical compounds with active ions to the coating prior to application is well known in the art. However, such additives typically have adverse impacts on other properties of the coating, such as viscosity, stability or longevity and/or are not environmentally friendly.