An image forming apparatus comprises: a detection unit which detects a light amount of reflected light from a measurement image, and includes an irradiation unit which irradiates the measurement image with light, a first unit which receives specular light from the measurement image, and a second unit which receives diffused light from the measurement image; a controller which controls an image forming condition based on a detection result; and a determination unit which determines a first emission intensity based on a light amount of the specular light, and determines a second emission intensity based on the first emission intensity, the light amount of the specular light, and a light amount of the diffused light, wherein the emission intensity of light with which the irradiation unit irradiates the measurement image is controlled based on the second emission intensity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which comprises a detection unit which detects a reflected light amount from a measurement image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in image forming apparatuses that use an electrophotographic image formation process, variation easily occurs in the image density due to various conditions such as the usage environment and number of printed sheets. In particular, in color image forming apparatuses that perform color printing by overlaying toner images of multiple colors, variation occurs in the color balance (so-called color tone) if variation occurs in the image densities of the various colors, and therefore the suppression of density variation has been an important issue.
In recent years, in image forming apparatuses, a measurement image is formed on a transfer member carrier, the measurement image is measured by an optical sensor, and image formation conditions such as the exposure amount and developing bias are controlled based on the results of the measurement. In the case of measuring toner, measurement is performed using the amount of change in the amounts of specular light and diffused light between when toner is present and not present. For example, in the case of measuring a measurement image formed using yellow, cyan, and magenta toner, the attached toner amount of the measurement image is detected based on the amount of diffused light from the measurement image. Also, in the case of measuring a measurement image formed using black toner, for example, the attached toner amount of the measurement image is detected based on specular light from the measurement image. In this case, if the optical sensor has a blot due to scattered toner in the image forming apparatus, the amount of emitted light and the amount of received light will decrease. The measurement precision of the optical sensor therefore decreases significantly.
The optical sensor is subjected to light emission amount adjustment before the measurement image is measured by the optical sensor. In the light emission amount adjustment performed on the optical sensor, reflected light from a region of the image carrier not having toner attached thereto (base region) is measured by the optical sensor, and the light emission amount is adjusted such that the measured value matches a predetermined value. Also, in the case of an optical sensor that measures both the amount of specular light and the amount of diffused light, the light emission amount is set such that the amount of specular light from the base region is lower than a threshold value, and furthermore the amount of diffused light from the measurement image is lower than a threshold value (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-338730).
The specular light from the base region and the diffused light from the measurement image change depending on the apparatus configuration, the wear of the image carrier, and the like. For this reason, if the light emission amount is determined based on either the amount of specular light from the base region or the amount of diffused light from the measurement image, and then the amount of received light based on the other one exceeds the threshold value, re-adjustment needs to be performed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-117807).
However, conventional techniques have the problem that a long amount of time is required for adjusting the light emission amount. Furthermore, since a measurement image is formed in order to carry out light emission amount adjustment, there is the problem that toner is consumed. Also, if the change in the amount of specular light is caused by scratching or blotting on the base region in addition to blotting on the optical sensor, it is possible for a change to occur in the characteristics of the light emission amount and the amount of diffused light, and the characteristics of the toner density and the light emission amount. For this reason, there is also the possibility of not being able to set an appropriate light emission amount according to which the amount of specular light and the amount of diffused light do not exceed the threshold values.
In light of the above circumstances, according to an aspect of the present invention, downtime is suppressed when executing light emission amount adjustment on the optical sensor, and the amount of toner consumed due to the light emission amount adjustment is reduced.


A disposable wound measuring device for making simultaneous three-dimensional (length, width and depth) measurements of a wound or ulcer to facilitate wound care assessment and healing that includes a flexible, clear plastic planar card or member superposed on the wound and having a centrally located aperture and concentric circles radially arranged about the aperture, and an elongated depth gauge insertable through the aperture and incrementally adjustable either vertically or obliquely through the aperture and relative to the wound surface and the plastic member for making a wound depth measurement with the depth gauge being retained in position by a plurality of beads equidistantly spaced along the gauge and slightly larger in diameter than the aperture thereby self-retaining the depth gauge in a particular position for making the wound depth measurement.

The primary and foremost step in wound care is the assessment and documentation of the wound to ascertain its characteristics and features so that a medically informed decision can be made regarding the treatment of the wound. Wounds vary greatly in size, type and location. Some wounds are superficial and occur only in the first few layers of the skin. On the other hand, puncture wounds involve the perforation or penetration of an object through several tissue layers. Moreover wounds classified as ulcers are missing tissue substance, are usually cavernous or concave in shape, and can be found on all areas of the body. The etiology of a particular ulcer can vary greatly, and thus such wounds have a different nomenclature that is related to their specific diagnosis. For example, decubitis ulcers (commonly known as bedsores) are generally found on the sacrum, while neurotrophic ulcers have a predisposition for forming on the feet of diabetics. As the cause of a wound or ulcer is determined, a treatment regimen and wound care of the various ulcers will differ accordingly.
Thus, in treating wounds and ulcers, a paramount aspect of their care, both for determining healing and the effectiveness of wound management products, is an objective assessment of the characteristics and features of each wound. This assessment includes the evaluation of such characteristics and features that include the color, odor, temperature, and condition of the tissue (macerated, dry or presence of exudates). In addition, assessment must be made of the wound dimension that includes measurement of the size, depth, and shape of the wound. Moreover, features and characteristics such as wound location, presence of eschar, erythema, drainage, and undermining of site must also be assessed and evaluated. Thus, a timely and accurately recorded assessment provides the treating medical practitioner with a history and progress report of the wound features and wound healing; and such recorded assessment directly guides the chosen treatment regimen.
The prior art discloses a wide range of methods and devices for wound measurement and assessment. For example, methods and devices that measure surface area and depth include the Lockwood patent application publication (U.S. patent 2004/0243073 A1) and the Kundin patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,075).
Devices and methods for measuring or outlining a wound, ulcer, blemish or tumor include the Spears patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,131,998), the Webster patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,389,782), the Ward patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,172), the Afflerbach patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,605), the Cartmell et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,737), the Sessions et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,165), the Kadash et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,516), and the Rusin patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,728).
Devices and methods that incorporate an elongated member having depth measuring indicia thereon include the Powell et al. patent (U.S. Design Pat. No. 401,326), the Montgomery patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,465), the Davis patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,280), and the Hardin-Naser patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,167).
General devices and methods for wound evaluation and measurement include the Wendelken et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,658 B1), the Herskovitz patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,429 B1) and the Eichbaum patent (U.S. Design Pat. No. 318,244).


The present invention is directed toward a vent assembly having a vent structure defining at least one vent aperture. The vent assembly includes a vent cap covering the vent aperture or apertures and a vent cover assembly extending around the vent cap and the vent.

This invention relates generally to a structural member that encompasses a cover or a shroud for a vent. More particularly, this invention relates to a vent cover assembly that provides an additional cover or shroud for intake and/or outake vents that already include a vent cap.
Exterior intake and/or exhaust vents are generally known for use in buildings and other such structures. Such vents can be used for a broad variety of venting purposes, for example, to vent fireplaces, furnaces, water heaters, boilers, dryers, exhaust fans, and a broad variety of other such appliances and devices. Some such vents are primarily exhaust vents, others are primarily intake vents, and still others include structure that allows them to function as both intake and exhaust vents.
For example, chimneyless gas fireplaces often include intake/exhaust venting units that are mounted on the outside of an exterior wall for providing a through-the-wall connection to a double walled collinear ducting of the gas fireplace. The double walled collinear ducting includes an inner duct that serves as an outake port for exhaust fumes, and an outer duct that serves as an intake port for providing ambient combustion air. The venting units generally include an inner and an outer duct. Further, the double walled ducting is connected to a series of bases that have deflectors and heat shields. The venting unit has a series of venting apertures with a vent cap attached thereto. The vent cap is utilized to cover both the air intake and the combustion product exhaust.
Regardless of the specific structure or use of the vent, most venting systems generally include a functional vent cap that covers the intake and exhaust portions of the vent. However, many of the existing vent caps are not aesthetically pleasing, may get hot due to high temperature exhaust gases, and are exposed to the ambient atmosphere and therefore may be damaged.
One aspect of the present invention is a vent assembly having a vent structure defining at least one vent aperture. The vent assembly includes a vent cap covering the vent aperture or apertures and a vent cover assembly extending around the vent cap and the vent.
Another aspect of the present invention is a vent cover assembly for use with a vent including a vent cap that covers the vent. The vent cover assembly includes a protective structural member extending around the vent cap. The protective structural member allows for proper air flow into and out of the vent cap.
A further aspect of the present invention is a vent cover assembly that has an attachment base and a plurality of semi-cylindrical members connected to the attachment base.
Another aspect of the present invention is a vent cover assembly that has an attachment base being positioned over a vent cap. A first semi-cylindrical member is connected to the attachment base, and a second semi-cylindrical member is connected to the attachment base. The second semi-cylindrical member has a lesser diameter than the first semi-cylindrical member and is positioned below the first semi-cylindrical member and is connected to the attachment base. A third semi-cylindrical member is connected to the attachment base and has a lesser diameter than the second semi-cylindrical member. The third semi-cylindrical member is positioned below the second semi-cylindrical member and is connected to the attachment base. A top screen is positioned within the upper edge of the first semi-cylindrical member and is connected to the first semi-cylindrical member. A bottom screen is positioned within the lower edge of the third semi-cylindrical member and is connected to the third semi-cylindrical member. Further, an opening is located within the top screen.

Abstract: In one embodiment, the invention is directed toward a vent cover assembly for use with a vent including a vent cap that covers the vent. The vent cover assembly includes a protective structural member extending around the vent cap. The protective structural member allows for proper air flow into and out of the vent cap.

Abstract: In another embodiment, the invention is directed toward a vent cover assembly that has an attachment base and a plurality of semi-cylindrical members connected to the attachment base.


There is provided an optical apparatus which has excellent assembly performance, can suppress an increase in cost, and attain a decrease in thickness. The optical apparatus includes a board (1) having a photographing optical system and a mechanical system mounted on its surface. A plurality of opening portions (1a, 1b, 1c) are formed in the board (1). The opening portion (1a) is sealed with a sealing member such as a glass member to allow a light beam to pass and prevent dust and the like from entering the storage space for parts between the board (1) and a shield case (49). The photographing optical system mounted on the board (1) includes a stop unit (30) for adjusting the light amount of an object image guided through the opening portion (1a), and prism-like optical members (G1, G2, G3, G4), each consisting of, e.g., a glass or plastic material and having a sculptured surface as a reflecting surface. Light emerging from the optical member (G4) is received by a solid-state image sensing element (2) mounted on the lower surface of the board (1) through the opening portion (1c).

The present invention relates to an optical apparatus and image sensing apparatus which form an object image on a solid-state image sensing element through a photographing optical member and, more particularly, to an optical apparatus and image sensing apparatus which sense an object image by using a solid-state image sensing element.
A solid-state image sensing element such as a CCD is used for an image sensing apparatus such as an electronic still camera or video camera. This solid-state image sensing element is sealed in a bare chip, a ceramic package, or the like. The image sensing surface of the solid-state image sensing element is exposed on the upper surface of this package, and a plurality of terminals such as an output terminal for outputting signals accumulated in the solid-state image sensing element and an input terminal for inputting a timing pulse or the like are arranged on the lower surface of the package. These terminals are soldered to corresponding electrical connection portions formed on a board. By soldering the terminals to the board, the solid-state image sensing element is mounted on the board.
Generally, an optical apparatus using a solid-state image sensing element has a zoom lens mechanism to obtain a desired photographing range.
A method of mounting this solid-state image sensing element will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 30. FIG. 30 is a perspective view showing a method of mounting a conventional solid-state image sensing element.
When a solid-state image sensing element sealed in a package is to be mounted on a board, the solid-state image sensing element is mounted with its lower surface opposing the upper surface of the board, and the terminals arranged on the lower surface of the solid-state image sensing element are soldered to the corresponding lands on the upper surface of the board, as shown in FIG. 30. The board on which this solid-state image sensing element is mounted is connected, through a wiring means such as lead wires or a flexible board, to a board on which a signal processing IC and the like are mounted.
The image sensing apparatus using the above solid-state image sensing element will be described next with reference to FIG. 31. FIG. 31 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the arrangement of the image sensing apparatus using the solid-state image sensing element.
As shown in FIG. 31, the image sensing apparatus includes a plurality of lens groups constituted by a first lens group 101a, a second lens group 101b, a third lens group 101c, and a fourth lens group 101d. The second and fourth lens groups 101b and 101d are moved along the optical axis within predetermined ranges. The second lens group 101b is moved to perform a zooming operation. The fourth lens group 101d is moved to perform focus adjustment.
An optical low-pass filter 102 and a solid-state image sensing element 103 such as a CCD are sequentially arranged on the optical axis behind the fourth lens group 101d.
The first lens group 101a, the third lens group 101c, the optical low-pass filter 102, the solid-state image sensing element 103, and the like are held in a housing 104.
The second lens group 101b is held in an optical holding member 105. The optical holding member 105 is supported to be movable along the optical axis on a guide pin 106 and a threaded member 107 which extend parallel along the optical axis. Each end portion of the guide pin 106 is supported on the housing 104.
The threaded member 107 has a threaded portion to be engaged with the optical holding member 105. Each end portion of the threaded member 107 is rotatably supported on the housing 104. A driving force from a stepping motor 110 is transferred to the threaded member 107 through a gear group 101. When the threaded member 107 is rotated by the driving force from the stepping motor 110, the optical holding member 105 is guided by the guide pin 106 and moved along the optical axis upon rotation of the threaded member 107. By moving the optical holding member 105, a zooming operation using the second lens group 101b is performed. The play between the threaded member 107 and the optical holding member 105 is removed by a biasing spring 108 and a biasing member 109.
Similar to the second lens group 101b, the fourth lens group 101d is supported in an optical holding member 116. The optical holding member 116 is supported to be movable along the optical axis on a guide pin 117 and a threaded member 113 which extend parallel along the optical axis. Each end portion of the guide pin 117 is supported on the housing 104.
The threaded member 113 has a threaded portion to be engaged with the optical holding member 116. One end portion of the threaded member 113 is rotatably supported on the housing 104. The other end portion of the threaded member 113 is rotatably supported on the housing 104 and directly connected to the output shaft of a stepping motor 112. When the threaded member 113 is rotated by a driving force from the stepping motor 112, the optical holding member 116 is guided by the guide pin 117 and moved along the optical axis upon rotation of the threaded member 113. By moving the optical holding member 116, focus adjustment using the fourth lens group 101d is performed. The play between the threaded member 113 and the optical holding member 116 is removed by the biasing spring 108 and the biasing member 109.
The moving positions of the second and fourth lens groups 101b and 101d, i.e., the moving positions of the optical holding members 105 and 116, are detected by position detection means (not shown). The detection amounts are used to control a zooming operation and a focus adjusting operation.
A stop 114 is disposed between the second lens group 101b and the third lens group 101c. The aperture of the stop 114 is adjusted by a driving force from a motor 115. The exposure amount is adjusted by this adjustment of the aperture of the stop 114.
The housing 104 serves both as a means for shielding each lens group and the solid-state image sensing element 103 against light and as a means for shielding them against electromagnetism.
With the recent advances in semiconductor chips such as memories and microcomputers, portable information devices have spread. Efforts have been made to further miniaturize such devices and improve their performance. Portability is a requirement for such portable information devices. Regarding the forms of the devices, a low profile is especially required.
These portable information devices include an optical apparatus for photographing an object image, information equipment including this optical apparatus, and the like. In order to obtain a low-profile optical apparatus, the overall thickness of the apparatus including a photographing optical system (a system constituted by, e.g., the lens groups, the stop, and the solid-state image sensing element in FIG. 31) and a mechanical system (a system constituted by, e.g., the gears and the motors which drive the lens groups, the motor which drives the stop, and the like in FIG. 31) must be decreased.
In general, in the conventional optical apparatus, however, since the optical holding member 105 included in the mechanical system is axially supported to be symmetrical with the optical axis, the outer size of the housing 104 becomes large as compared with the lens system. In addition, since the motor and the like are disposed outside the housing 104, the overall outer size of the apparatus further increases. It is therefore very difficult to decrease the size of the apparatus in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis, i.e., to attain a decrease in thickness in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis.
The first to fourth lens groups 101a to 101d, the optical low-pass filter 102, the solid-state image sensing element 103, and the like are held in the housing 104, and the motor 115 for driving the stop 114, the stepping motor 110 for driving the second lens group 101b, the stepping motor 112 for driving the fourth lens group 101d, and the like are held outside the housing 104. For this reason, the housing 104 has a three-dimensionally complicated shape. In addition, a light-shielding means for shielding each lens group and the solid-state image sensing element 103 against light or a shielding means for shielding each lens group and the solid-state image sensing element 103 against electromagnetism must be formed by using this housing 104 having the complicated shape. With the light-shielding means or the shielding means, a decrease in the thickness of the apparatus is more difficult to attain.
As described above, in the method of mounting a conventional solid-state image sensing element on a signal processing board on which a signal processing IC and the like are mounted, the solid-state image sensing element is mounted on the board, and the board is then connected to the signal processing board, on which the signal processing IC and the like are mounted, through lead wires or a flexible board. Such a mounting method requires many steps, resulting in a complicated assembly operation.
Since the board on which the solid-state image sensing element is mounted is interposed between the solid-state image sensing element and the signal processing board, the signal processing board, on which the solid-state image sensing element is mounted, increases in size in the direction of thickness. It is therefore difficult to decrease the thickness of the photographing optical system, and hence it is very difficult to obtain a low-profile image sensing apparatus.
In addition, in the conventional optical apparatus, for example, since the optical holding member 105 is supported on the guide pin 106 and the threaded member 107 to be symmetrical about the optical axis, the outer diameter of the housing 104 becomes larger as compared with the outer diameter of the second lens group 101b. In addition, the motor 115 for driving the stop 114, the stepping motor 110 for driving the second lens group 101b, the stepping motor 112 for driving the fourth lens group 101d, and the like are held outside the housing 104. For this reason, it is very difficult to decrease the dimension in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis, i.e., the thickness in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis. That is, it is very difficult to obtain a low-profile apparatus.
Furthermore, in the conventional optical apparatus, the first to fourth lens groups 101a to 101d, the optical low-pass filter 102, the solid-state image sensing element 103, and the like are held in the housing 104, and the motor 115 for driving the stop 114, the stepping motor 110 for driving the second lens group 101b, the stepping motor 112 for driving the fourth lens group 101d, and the like are held outside the housing 104. That is, the housing 104 has a three-dimensionally complicated shape. For this reason, the cost in manufacturing a housing mold generally using a plastic mold increases. In addition, sink marks, warpage, and the like are caused by partial heat shrinkage of the housing 104, and hence it is difficult to manufacture the housing 104 with high dimensional precision. Consequently, it is difficult to perform positioning of each lens group with respect to the solid-state image sensing element 103. Deterioration in image quality such as blurring of photographed images is caused by a slight offset between each lens group and the solid-state image sensing element 103.
Generally, the optical holding members 105 included in the mechanical system is axially supported to be symmetrical about the optical axis. For this reason, the outer size of the housing 104 is large as compared with the lens system. In addition, since the motor and the like are disposed outside the housing 104, the overall outer size of the apparatus further increases. It is therefore very difficult to decrease the size of the apparatus in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis, i.e., the thickness of the apparatus in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis.
In the conventional optical apparatus, the first to fourth lens groups 101a to 101d, the optical low-pass filter 102, the solid-state image sensing element 103, and the like are held in the housing 104, and the motor 115 for driving the stop 114, the stepping motor 110 for driving the second lens group 101b, the stepping motor 112 for driving the fourth lens group 101d, and the like are held outside the housing 104. That is, the housing 104 has a three-dimensionally complicated shape. For this reason, the cost in manufacturing a housing mold generally using a plastic mold increases. In addition, sink marks, warpage, and the like are caused by partial heat shrinkage of the housing 104, and hence it is difficult to manufacture the housing 104 with high dimensional precision. Consequently, it is difficult to perform positioning of each lens group with respect to the solid-state image sensing element 103, positioning of each holding member, and the like. For this reason, each lens group may tilts or lenses may swing during movement of each lens group. This may cause blurring or fluctuations of photographed images.
An electric circuit board on which an image sensing element drive circuit for driving the solid-state image sensing element included in the photographing optical system and actuator drive circuits for driving the motors included in the mechanical system are mounted must be connected to the solid-state image sensing element and the motor through lead wires, a flexible board, or the like. Such a mounting method requires many steps, resulting in a complicated assembly operation.
Since the optical holding member 105 included in the mechanical system is generally supported to be symmetrical about the optical axis, the outer size of the housing 104 is large as compared with the lens system. Since the motors and the like are disposed outside the housing 104, the overall outer size of the apparatus further increases. It is, therefore, very difficult to decrease the dimension of the apparatus in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis, i.e., the thickness in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis.
In addition, since mechanical and electric parts must be mounted in various directions in assembling the apparatus, a cumbersome assembly operation is required, resulting in an increase in cost.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical apparatus which has good assembly performance, can suppress an increase in cost, and can decrease the thickness.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an optical apparatus which can decrease the overall thickness of the apparatus, and prevents a light-shielding means from interfering with a decrease in the thickness of the apparatus.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an optical apparatus which can decrease the overall thickness of the apparatus, and prevents a shielding means from interfering with a decrease in the thickness of the apparatus.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an optical apparatus which can decrease the overall thickness of the apparatus, and prevents light-shielding and shielding means from interfering with a decrease in the thickness of the apparatus.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an image sensing apparatus which can facilitate an assembly process, and can decrease the thickness.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an optical apparatus which can easily decrease the overall thickness of the apparatus.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an optical apparatus which can prevent image quality from being deteriorated by inaccuracy of relative positioning between each optical member and a solid-state image sensing element included in a photographing optical system, and can decrease the overall thickness of the apparatus.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.

Optical apparatus and image sensing apparatus mounted on the same surface of a board


A comprehensive degree of relevance of other moving picture contents with respect to a moving-picture content to be processed is calculated by using any one of or all of content information, frame information, and image characteristics, to display a virtual space in which a visualized content corresponding to a moving picture content to be displayed, which is selected based on the degree of relevance, is located at a position away from a layout position of the visualized content corresponding to the moving picture content to be processed, according to the degree of relevance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention-relates to an image display apparatus and a computer program product for displaying moving picture contents.
2. Description of the Related Art
Usage of a search function is a method generally utilized in daily work with an information processing apparatus such as a PC. For example, Web search for searching information relating to a specific keyword from a website on the Internet has been used by many people. For the search function by the information processing apparatus, a search method in which a user actively inputs a keyword is generally used, such that the user inputs a keyword relating to a search item, to obtain a search result. In this specification, this search method is referred to as an active search method. Further, in the field of AV apparatuses such as a TV, a DVD recorder, and a HDD recorder, IT deployment has been advanced, so that AV apparatuses can be connected to the Internet. Accompanying this trend, a search function that is similar to the active search method of PCs has been employed also for AV apparatuses.
However, the number of contents accessible by the user is rapidly becoming much larger due to increase of content retention capacity of AV apparatuses, popularization of content providing services such as VOD, and seamless accesses between AV apparatuses or to contents present on the Internet.
With the popularization of the HDD recorder, user's manner of obtaining contents or user's viewing manner is also changing. That is, user's viewing manner is changing from a manner in which only a content which the user wishes to watch is recorded to a passive manner in which contents of interested contents are temporarily recorded and the user chooses one therefrom, or contents are automatically recorded by using a recommendation service or an automatic recording service. In the latter case, the contents accessible by the user can include what the user himself is not aware of.
On the other hand, it has been an important issue as to how to efficiently arrive at a desired content among a huge amount of content groups. Due to the change of the user's content-obtaining or viewing manner, the user is not always aware of all the recorded contents. Therefore, even if the user tries to search a content by the active search function, he may not be able to know what keyword to use for the search, and therefore it can be difficult to arrive at a desired content. Further, the active search function installed in AV apparatuses is used only by a part of users, and it is not a convenient search method for many users.
As a solution to the above problem, usage of a passive search method instead of the active search method can be considered. The passive search method is such that certain content is used as a base, and relevance between the content and other contents is presented to the user, so that the user can perform content search suggestively. That is, according to this search method, the user can arrive at a content of interest by selecting displayed contents without explicitly searching the content using the keyword. Therefore, in the passive search method, visualization of contents that share relevance with each other is an important feature for improving a search rate.
Meanwhile, various methods for visualizing the relevance between images have been proposed. For example, International Publication No. WO00/33572 discloses a method for sequentially enlarging images in an order of time series for expressing a time-series relationship between a plurality of images, to helically display the enlarged images in the order of time series.
However, in moving pictures such as a TV image and a video image, which are intended by AV apparatuses, the image in a reproduced frame sequentially changes with reproduction of the moving picture. Therefore, the relevance between images changes with a lapse of time. Accordingly, in the method described in International Publication No. WO00/33572 that intends still pictures, the relevance between moving pictures cannot be visualized.

Image display apparatus and computer program product


An approach is provided to use social media content to verify the identity of a user using aliases established by the user in a social media environment. In the approach, a user authentication request pertaining to a user is received. Aliases corresponding to the user's social media contacts are retrieved from a social media data store. User questions and expected answers are prepared based on the user's social media contacts and the corresponding aliases. The user is prompted to provide one or more user answers responsive to the user questions. In response to receiving answers that match the expected answers, the user authentication request is confirmed. Conversely, in response to receiving user answers that fail to match the expected answers, the user authentication request is invalidated.

Unauthorized use of credit cards costs credit companies billions of dollars per year. Most security measures currently in place provide inadequate security. A primary security measure used is the signature on the card which can easily be forged. Secondary measures include requesting the cardholder's postal code, however postal code information can often be easily obtained from other items in the cardholder's wallet (in the case of a stolen wallet), or by retrieving address information from public telephone directories. Furthermore, the use of postal codes to verify a transaction is actually illegal in some states and jurisdictions. Some credit card companies attempt to monitor a cardholder's normal usage patterns and call the user to verify a transaction that falls outside such patterns. However, such monitoring is time consuming, error prone, and obtrusive to the user as the user's current transaction is often denied while the credit card company attempts to telephone the user and obtain verification.
In addition, using a user's credit card without authorization for on-line transactions is often quite difficult to detect. The measures used in authenticating on-line users has led credit card companies to enact question-based verification. For example, the credit card company may store questions and answers provided by the user. Challenges with this approach are that the answers to the questions can often be found on-line with little research as well as the fact that the questions are static in nature.
Additional countermeasures to credit card fraud have been developed by credit card companies, but each of these also has limitations. For example, one measure is use of a username/password prompt, however this can easily be cracked by a computer given enough time and based on the strength of the password. Another measure used is called "CAPTCHA" which presents distorted letter/number images that the user has to type at a keyboard. While CAPTCHA has the advantage of defeating computers, the measure requires no special knowledge in that any person capable of seeing the CAPTCHA can enter the answer. Another measure uses knowledge based authentication (KBA)—This is the question answer prompts that are often used as an extra layer of security or to recover a forgotten password, however the questions and answers are static in nature and are provided by the user long before the verification is requested. For example, a question might be "What is your hometown?", but the answer to such question can often be found through online resources, or in the case of a stolen wallet, such information is often on identification cards and such found in the user's wallet. In addition, the question/answer combination in KBA systems is static in nature (e.g., the name of the user's hometown does not change over time, etc.).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Alias-based social media identity verification

International Business Machines Corporation


A process is described for preparing aqueous polymeric dispersions of a dispersion of an interpenetrated polymer of a hydrophobic polyurethane and a polymer prepared from ethylenically unsaturated monomers, and optionally a dispersion of another monomer that will enhance the performance of the interpenetrated polymer.

Aqueous-based polyurethanes historically have not approached the performance of solvent-based polyurethanes. In attempts to overcome this deficiency, the chemical industry has formulated two-component dispersions intended to capture through the properties of the individual polymers more of the properties of the solvent-based dispersions.
One formulating technique for making two component dispersions consists in blending a dispersion of a polyurethane with a dispersion of a second polymer. If the polyurethane is hydrophobic it will be difficult to disperse; therefore, it is first dissolved in a water-miscible solvent, which acts as a dispersing aid. The polyurethane in solvent is then dispersed with water through a phase inversion utilizing high shear forces and surfactants. The problem with this method is that the solvent eventually must be distilled off, raising costs and environmental considerations. Moreover, when this polyurethane dispersion is blended with another polymeric dispersion, the blending itself is subject to chemical, thermodynamic and kinetic limitations. When more than two different polymeric species are formulated, the blending process becomes more difficult and complex, and can result in phase separation, large particle size, the use of high levels of dispersing aids, high viscosity and non-homogeneous dispersions or gelation/coagulation.
Another technique, which avoids the use of organic solvents and blending processes, consists of making a dispersion of an interpenetrated polymer of a polyurethane and a polymer formed by vinyl addition polymerization. A polyurethane prepolymer is dissolved in the monomers for the vinyl addition, and this mix is then dispersed with water. The resulting aqueous dispersion is subjected to vinyl-addition polymerization conditions to polymerize the monomer and form the interpenetrated polymer. This technique, however, relies on the use of a hydrophilic polyurethane. Polyurethanes can be made hydrophilic and self-dispersing by the incorporation into the polymer of ionic or amphoteric moieties, or of nonionic moieties derived from polyethylene glycol. The use of anionic or cationic moieties on the polyurethane causes pH instability. For anionic polyurethanes, the pH should be above 6.5, and for cationic polyurethanes, the pH should be below 7.5. Moreover, hydrophilic polyurethanes have reduced water and solvent resistance and are undesirable for some applications.
Thus, each of these methods has limitations. If the polyurethane is hydrophobic, accomplishing the dispersion requires the use of a water miscible organic solvent and surfactants to accomplish the dispersion. This, consequently, means the subsequent removal of the organic solvent. In the case where monomer is used as a reactive diluent and later polymerized to form the interpenetrated polymer, the art has taught that the polyurethane needs to be hydrophilic. When hydrophilic moieties are incorporated into the polymer, both solvent resistance and water resistance in the final product are inferior to those properties in solvent-borne polyurethanes.
These problems create a need for dispersions of hydrophobic polyurethanes, and particularly for interpenetrated polymers prepared from hydrophobic polyurethanes and polymers prepared from ethylenically unsaturated monomers. There also exists a need to provide dispersions having a broader range of performance properties than can be achieved by dispersions made from current processes, particularly through dispersions that can incorporate polymeric performance enhancers. These needs are met by the instant invention.

Processes for making nonionic aqueous polyurethane dispersions

National Starch and Chemical Investment Holding Corporation


A new and distinct variety of apple tree ‘Malus Pumila Mil’ named ‘Emmons’ and which is characterized as to novelty by a uniqueness of shape, color, flavor and texture of the fruit, and a date of maturity for commercial harvesting and shipment of about September 29th under the ecological conditions prevailing in Central Washington.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of apple tree 'Malus Pumila Mil' and which has been denominated varietally as 'Emmons' and more particularly to an apple tree which bears a distinctively colored round apple which has a dense sweet flesh, and which further is noteworthy because it retains its firmness after harvesting and can be stored for long periods of time with little deterioration in the overall quality of the fruit.


A storage battery is provided in which an expand grid is improved with respect to the widths of grid wires 1b, the sectional areas of nodes 1e, and the shapes of meshes 1c, whereby the productivity of the expand grid can be enhanced and the life performance can be improved. As means for attaining the object, a storage battery in which an expand grid is used as a battery plate, the expand grid being a grid member which is formed by expanding a side portion of a collector frame portion 1a of a metal sheet 1 to connect a large number of grid wires 1b to one another in a net-like shape, is configured so that widths of grid wires 1b of a row which is directly connected to the collector frame portion 1a of the expand grid, and a lateral end row are larger than widths of grid wires 1b of at least one of intermediate rows.

The present invention relates to a storage battery in which an expand grid is used as a battery plate.
A grid which is to be used as a battery plate for a lead storage battery is sometimes produced by the expansion process. Methods of producing an expand grid by the expansion process are roughly classified into two kinds or the rotary method and the reciprocal method.
In the reciprocal method, an expand grid is produced in the following manner. Dice cutters which are arranged in a stepwise manner are vertically moved on a metal sheet that is intermittently moved, to sequentially form slits in the metal sheet, and the metal sheet is then stretched to be formed into a net-like shape. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 11, a metal sheet 1 made of lead or a lead alloy is intermittently transported on a flat upper face of a lower table 2 in the direction of the arrow F. Step-like side faces 2a are formed on the side faces of the lower table 2, respectively. In the step-like side faces 2a, a large number of steps (in the figure, only four steps are shown for the sake of simplicity) are formed in such a manner that the distance between the side faces is stepwise reduced toward the center by a constant step difference as advancing in the direction of the arrow F. An upper table 4 to which dice cutters 3 are attached is placed above the lower table 2. In practice, the upper table 4 is placed in a position which is lower in level than the illustrated position, or which is slightly above the metal sheet 1 transported on the lower table 2, and conducts vertical motions in the position. Step-like side faces 4a which are similar to the step-like side faces 2a of the lower table 2 are formed on the side faces of the upper table 4, respectively. The dice cutters 3 are fixed to the step-like side faces 4a of the upper table 4, respectively, with the result that the dice cutters are arranged in a substantially V-like shape as a whole. In each of the dice cutters 3, an edge 3a is downward projected from the lower face of the upper table 4.
Each time when the intermittent motion is stopped, the upper table 4 is lowered to conduct one cycle of the vertical motion, whereby the end portions of the metal sheet 1 are cut and downward stretched by the edges 3a of the dice cutters 3, resulting in that an expand grid such as shown in FIG. 12 is formed. Namely, the metal sheet 1 is processed into an expand grid in which the both side portions of a collector frame portion 1a in a center area in the width direction are sequentially stretched into grid wires 1b that are connected to one another in a net-like shape. The expand grid has a large number of meshes 1c in the form of meshes each surrounded by four grid wires 1b. The collector frame portion 1a is an area of the metal sheet 1 in which the meshes 1c are not formed in order to enable current collection in a battery plate, and a plate lug for future connection to a terminal is formed. The expand grid shown in FIG. 12 is produced by an apparatus in which, unlike that shown in FIG. 11, twelve dice cutters 3 are attached to each of the side faces of the upper table 4.
In the reciprocal production method, the operations of cutting the metal sheet 1 by the dice cutters 3, and stretching and expanding the grid wires 1b to form the meshes 1c are completed by one cycle of vertical motions of the upper table 4. Therefore, the reciprocal production method is conducted so that each of the meshes 1c is formed into a rhombic shape and the four grid wires 1b surrounding the mesh have the same length, thereby allowing stress in the process of stretching the grid wires 1b to be uniformly applied to the wires. As in the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. SH057-90873, another reciprocal production method is known in which each of the meshes 1c is formed into a substantial parallelogram shape so as to have long and short edges of different lengths. In the reciprocal production method, the grid wires 1b are stretched straight downward by the edges 3a of the dice cutters 3, and hence the grid wires 1b are not twisted during the expansion process. Therefore, the method has the advantage that the grid used as a battery plate of a storage battery exhibits an excellent life performance.
In the expand grid, the meshes 1c on an oblique line indicated by, for example, the one-dot chain line L1 are formed at one stroke by the dice cutters 3 which are arranged in a substantially V-like shape. When the metal sheet 1 is transported by a predetermined distance as a result of intermittent motion and the upper table 4 conducts the next vertical motions, the meshes 1c on the oblique line indicated by the one-dot chain line L2 are formed at one stroke. In the metal sheet 1, therefore, the meshes 1c in the lateral end portions in the width direction are first formed, and, each time when the intermittent motion is further advanced, inner meshes 1c are sequentially formed. The edges 3a of the dice cutters 3 press down two grid wires 1b which are arranged in a substantially V-like shape below the respective meshes 1c. The grid wires 1b which are pressed down by the same dice cutter 3 are arranged in one row along the advancing direction F while being alternately inclined in a zigzag manner.
In the thus produced expand grid, as shown in FIG. 12, the grid wires 1b are connected to one another in a net-like shape on both the sides of the collector frame portion 1a which is formed in the center area in the width direction of the metal sheet 1. When the expand grid is to be used as a battery plate, the collector frame portion 1a is divided into two portions along a cutting line which elongates in the direction of the arrow F. In the resulting expand grid which will be used as a battery plate, therefore, the grid wires 1b in a net-like shape are connected to one side of the collector frame portion 1a. In the reciprocal method of producing an expand grid, since the metal sheet 1 is intermittently transported, the rate of production is somewhat low.
In the rotary method, an expand grid is produced in the following manner. In a slit forming step, first, a large number of zigzag slits are formed in a metal sheet by using a disk cutter. In an expanding step, then, the metal sheet is expanded in the width direction to stretch the slits into a net-like shape. Namely, in the rotary production method, an expand grid is produced in the following manner. In the slit forming step shown in FIG. 13, first, the metal sheet 1 is passed between upper and lower disk cutter rolls 6 each of which is configured by a stack of a large number of disk cutters 5, thereby forming slits 1d. As shown in FIG. 14, each of the disk cutters 5 is a metal disk in which many ridges 5a and valleys 5b are alternately formed in the peripheral face. In peripheral edge portions of the front and rear faces of the disk cutter 5, grooves 5c are formed respectively for the valleys 5b so as to be opened in the corresponding valleys 5b. In each of the valleys 5b, however, the groove 5c is formed in only one of the front and rear faces, and, in the adjacent valleys 5b, the grooves 5c are formed in opposite ones of the front and rear faces, respectively. As shown in FIG. 15, each of the disk cutter rolls 6 is configured by stacking a large number of such disk cutters 5 on the same shaft via spacers 7. The upper and lower disk cutter rolls 6 are placed in positions where the disk cutters 5 are shifted in the axial direction by a half pitch, and the upper and lower peripheral edges are alternately engaged with each other. The upper and lower disk cutter rolls 6 are rotated in synchronization, in opposite directions, and in a phase relationship in which the ridges 5a and the valleys 5b of the upper and lower disk cutters 5 are overlapped and engaged with each other.
When the metal sheet 1 is passed between the disk cutter rolls 6, as shown in FIG. 13, a large number of slits 1d are formed by the disk cutters 5. In the valleys 5b of the upper and lower disk cutters 5 where the grooves 5c face each other, the slits 1d are intermitted, and hence are not continuous along the advancing direction F of the metal sheet 1 but formed with being intermitted at regular intervals. Moreover, the slits 1d which are formed adjacently in the width direction of the metal sheet 1 are shifted by a half pitch in the advancing direction F, and the slits are formed in a zigzag manner as a whole. The thin metal wire-like portions between the adjacent slits 1d are formed as grid wires 1b, and the intermittent portions of the slits 1d along the advancing direction F are formed as nodes 1e.
Since the grid wires 1b are pressed in the upward and downward directions when the slits 1d are formed by the ridges 5a of the upper and lower disk cutters 5, the grid wires 1b are elastically deformed so as to protrude in the upward and downward directions from the front and rear faces of the metal sheet 1 as shown in FIG. 16(a). All of a series of the grid wires 1b which are arranged via the nodes 1e along the advancing direction F are upward pressed by the ridges 5a of, for example, the lower disk cutter 5 as shown in FIG. 16(b), whereby the center areas are formed as upward protrusions P. All of the series of the grid wires 1b which are adjacent to the grid wires in the advancing direction F of the metal sheet 1 are downward pressed by the ridges 5a of the upper disk cutter 5, whereby the center areas are formed as downward protrusions P.
In the above-described rotary production method, the slits 1d are formed by passing the metal sheet 1 between the two upper and lower disk cutter rolls 6 which are vertically arranged. Alternatively, the slits 1d may be formed by passing the metal sheet 1 between three or more disk cutter rolls 6.
The metal sheet 1 in which the slits 1d are formed as described above is stretched to both the sides in the width direction to be expanded in an expanding step shown in FIG. 17, to be formed into an expand grid. In a usual expand grid which is produced by the rotary method, as shown in FIG. 18, the collector frame portion 1a is disposed in the center area in the width direction of the metal sheet 1, lower frame portions 1f are disposed in the lateral end portions, respectively, and the large number of meshes 1c in a net-like shape are formed between the collector frame portion 1a and the lower frame portions. In the collector frame portion 1a and the lower frame portions 1f, the meshes 1c of the metal sheet 1 are not formed. A plate lug which will be connected to a terminal for the purpose of current collection is formed on the collector frame portion 1a. Each of the lower frame portions 1f is a portion which will function as the lower end of a battery plate when the plate is placed in a battery case. As shown in FIG. 17, the metal sheet 1 is expanded by further laterally pulling the lower frame portions 1f in the lateral end portions by expanding apparatuses 8. The expanding apparatuses 8 are endless chain apparatuses which are placed so as to form a fan-like shape on respective sides of the transportation path of the metal sheet 1. Engagement portions attached to chain rollers are engaged with the lower frame portions if of the transported metal sheet 1, so that the metal sheet is stretched obliquely outward. Therefore, the metal sheet 1 is pulled toward the lateral end portions in the width direction, so that the gaps between the slits 1d are widened to be formed into the meshes 1c of a substantially rhombic shape and the four grid wires 1b which surround each of the meshes 1c and which have a substantially same length are connected to one another in a net-like shape, thereby producing an expand grid. The grid wires 1b which are formed by the series of adjacent slits 1d are in the same row, and arranged in a row along the advancing direction F while being alternately inclined in a zigzag manner.
When the thus produced expand grid is to be used as a battery plate, the collector frame portion 1a which is in the center area in the width direction is divided into two portions along a cutting line which elongates in the direction of the arrow F. In the resulting expand grid which will be used as a battery plate, therefore, the grid wires 1b in a net-like shape are connected to one lateral side of the collector frame portion 1a, and the lower frame portion if is in the lateral end portion of the grid.
In the rotary production method, the slit formation and the expansion are conducted while the metal sheet 1 is continuously transported. Therefore, the method has an advantage that the speed of producing an expand grid can be made larger than that in the reciprocal method. Unlike the case of the reciprocal method in which the cutting and expansion of the grid wires 1b are completed at one stroke, however, the grid wires 1b of the metal sheet 1 suffer two times high stress due to the slit forming step and the expanding step, because, in the slit forming step, the grid wires 1b are deformed in either of the upward and downward directions by the ridges 5a of the disk cutters 5, and, in the expanding step, are stretched in order to form the meshes 1c. In the expanding step, moreover, unlike the case of the reciprocal method in which the grid wires 1b are pressed only in the downward direction by the dice cutters 3, the grid wires 1b are stretched via the nodes 1e while being twisted. Therefore, also stress due to the twisting is applied to the expand grid. Consequently, an expand grid produced by the rotary method has a further disadvantage that the grid wires 1b are easily ruptured or cracked during the production process to lower the production yield and impair the life performance.
In both expand grids which are produced respectively by the reciprocal method and the rotary method, usually, the grid wires 1b have a uniform width in every portion. In the case where such an expand grid is used as a positive plate of a lead storage battery, however, an oxidation reaction of lead or a lead alloy occurs during a charging process, and the reaction proceeds to sometimes cause the grid wires 1b to be cracked by oxidation corrosion. When the grid wires 1b are cracked, an active material held in meshes 1c which are remoter from the collector frame portion 1a than the cracked portion is electrically isolated to be hardly charged and discharged. When the grid wires 1b in the vicinity of the collector frame portion 1a are cracked, therefore, a larger quantity of the active material are electrically isolated, with the result that the capacity of the battery plate is greatly reduced. To comply with this, conventionally, a countermeasure is sometimes taken in which the grid wires 1b of rows that are closer to the collector frame portion 1a are made larger in width. As described above, the influence due to a crack of corrosion is larger as the cracked row is closer to the collector frame portion. Namely, techniques such as described below have been proposed. In the invention disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication (Kokai) No. SHO61-66864, thicker grid wires are formed in a part of an expand grid. In the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. HEI1-204364, the widths of grid wires of an expand grid are gradually reduced as proceeding from the upper side to the lower side. In the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. HEI9-223502, the thickness of grid wires is defined.
In a positive plate of a lead storage battery for a communication field or the like in which a long life period is particularly requested, an expand grid is sometimes used in which the metal sheet 1 of a large thickness is used so as to thicken all the grid wires 1b, whereby the corrosion resistance is enhanced in order to prevent the grid wires 1b from being cracked by corrosion.

Storage battery having expanded grid member


A metal surface is processed with dipping by a first zinc phosphating solution in which a fluoride complex and a simple fluoride are contained and a concentration of this simple fluoride is 200 to 300 mg/l on a basis converted into the HF concentration and that of the fluoride complex is in a mole ratio with the simple fluoride converted into the HF as shown as, [fluoride complex]/[simple fluoride].gtoreq.0.01, and then the surface is processed with spraying by a second zinc phosphating solution in which a simple fluoride concentration is 500 mg/l or less and higher than that in said first zinc phosphating solution.. Thus, on a metal surface is formed a zinc phosphate coating film which is suitable for electrodeposition coating, particular for cationic electrodeposition coating, and superior in coating film adhesion, corrosion-resistance, particularly resistance for warm brine, and prevention of scab-corrosion.

The present invention relates to a process for phosphating a metal surface to make thereon a zinc phosphate film for coating use. More particularly, it relates to a process for phosphating the surface of a metallic matter to make thereon a zinc phosphate film suitable for electrodeposition coating, particularly for cationic electrodeposition coating, excellent in adhesion and corrosion-resistance, particularly in resistance for warm brine and scab corrosion (hereinafter, the term "resistance for scab corrosion" is referred to as "anti-scab property"), wherein the metal surface is intend to mean an iron-based surface, a zinc-based surface, an aluminum-based surface, or a metal surface having two or more kinds of these surfaces together and simultaneously, in particular, a metal surface having an aluminum-based surface, which comprises a part processed with an abrasive, and an iron-based and/or zinc-based surfaces together and simultaneously.
There have been used metallic materials in various kinds of articles such as car bodies and other automobile parts, building materials, and furniture, etc. The metallic materials are processed as pre-treatment to make a zinc phosphate coating film in order to avoid corrosion due to oxygen and sulfur oxides in the atmosphere and to rain and sea water. The zinc phosphate coating film thus-formed is desired to be excellent in adhesion with a metal surface, that is a substrate, and with a film being thereon formed and also, desired to have sufficient rust-resistance under the corrosive environment. Especially, because the car bodies are repeatedly exposed to brine and a change of dry and wet weather conditions through scratches of the outer plate parts, anti-scab property and high order of resistance for warm brine, etc. are strongly desired. In the present invention, the term "a phosphating process" used herein is employed to mean "a process for phosphating a metal surface to make thereon a zinc phosphate coating film".
Recently, there are increasing cases where metallic materials having two or more kinds of metal surfaces are phosphated with zinc phosphate to make a phosphate film. For example, in order to further elevate the corrosion-resistance of car bodies, there has been employed a material which is plated with zinc or alloyed zinc at only one side of steel material. If a hitherto-known zinc phosphating process is carried out for a metal surface, as mentioned above, which has an iron-based and a zinc-based surfaces together and simultaneously, there takes place a problem that the corrosion-resistance and secondary adhesion of a zinc-based surface are inferior compared to those of an iron-based surface. Because of this, for example, there has been proposed, in Japanese Official Patent Provisional Publication, showa 57-152472 etc., a process for making a zinc phosphate film suitable for electrodeposition coating on a metal surface having an iron-based and a zinc-based surfaces together and simultaneously. In a phosphating bath of this process, wherein concentrations of a zinc and phosphate ions as well as that of an accelerator for forming a coating film with conversion are controlled, a manganese and/or nickel ions are contained in concentrations of 0.6 to 3 g/l and/or 0.1 to 4 g/l, respectively. Also, there is proposed, in Japanese Official Patent Gazette, showa 61-36588, an art in which 0.05 g/l or more of a fluoride ion are added together with a manganese ion in order to lower a processing temperature.
Moreover, a material made of combining an aluminum material with an iron material or a zinc material has been practically used in various kinds of articles such as automobiles and building materials. If a material of this kind is processed with an acidic solution for making a zinc phosphate film which has so-far been employed for an iron or zinc material, an aluminum ion dissolving into the phosphating solution accumulates and, when the accumulated amount becomes higher more than a certain extent, a problem of converting inferiority on an iron-based surface takes place. That is, if the aluminum ion becomes 5 ppm or more in a phosphating solution which does not contain a fluoride ion, 100 ppm or more in a phosphating solution which contains HBF.sub.4, or 300 ppm or more in a phosphating solution which contains H.sub.2 SiF.sub.6, converting inferiority occurrence has been found on an iron-based surface.
Thus, to prevent an increase of the aluminum ion in a phosphating solution, there has been proposed, in Japanese Official Patent Provisional Publication, showa 57-70281, a process which comprises precipitating the aluminum ion as K.sub.2 NaAlF.sub.6 or Na.sub.3 AlF.sub.6 by adding potassium acid fluoride and sodium acid fluoride into a phosphating solution. Also, there has been proposed, in Japanese Official Patent Provisional Publication, showa 61-104089, a process which comprises controlling a proportion in area of an aluminum-based surface to an iron-based surface in 3/7 or less and maintaining concentration of the aluminum ion in 70 ppm or less.
The zinc phosphating process disclosed in the Japanese Official Patent Provisional Publication, showa 61-104089, has a disadvantage by which a matter for making a coating film with a phosphating process (hereinafter, simply referred to as "phosphating object") is very limited and, in addition, it is difficult to maintain the aluminum ion concentration at 70 ppm or less by means of only controlling the forementioned area proportion. On the other hand, the phosphating process disclosed in the Japanese Official Patent Provisional Publication, showa 57-70281, is superior in points of that the processing objects is not limited and an idea of removing the aluminum ion in a phosphating solution with precipitating has been adopted. However, a precipitate formed herein shows a tendency of floating with suspending and makes non-uniform a zinc phosphate coating film by attaching to it. Because of this, in a case where electrodeposition coating is carried out on a zinc phosphate coating film, inferior electrodeposition coating takes place and, as a result, it becomes a factor for lack of coating film uniformity and inferior secondary adhesion in the coating film. Accordingly, there is a necessity to remove the floating and suspending precipitate, but this removing works is very complicate.
The present inventors undertook researches to solve the problems in previous arts as described above and, as a result, invented a process, in which a simple fluoride is added into a phosphating solution taken out from a phosphating bath in order to remove the aluminum ion with precipitating and then, the solution is again returned to the phosphating bath and, as a result, the aluminum ion concentration in the bath is maintained at a definite value or less, and which was applied for a patent, Japanese Patent Application, heisei 2-36432. According to this process, because the aluminum ion concentration is always maintained within a proper range, inferior conversion on a metal surface does not take place. Besides, since any precipitate is not formed in a phosphating bath, any bad influence by the precipitate upon a coating film does not take place.
However, even by a phosphating process in the forementioned previous arts, in a case where a part or a whole of the aluminum-based metal surface has been processed with an abrasive, it was found that in this part processed with an abrasive any zinc phosphate coating film is not formed or a non-uniform coating film is only formed, so that there is a problem by that corrosion-resistance in the part becomes very inferior. This is, in an aluminum-based metal, because an inactive film is formed on a surface by being processed with an abrasive and, by this inactive film, formation of a coating film is disturbed.
Even in the previous arts, if the active fluorine concentration in a phosphating solution is enhanced, the converting is improved by removing with dissolving the inactive film in the part processed with an abrasive, but when the active fluorine concentration is high, an amount of the dissolving aluminum ion increases in a part other than the part processed with an abrasive, that is an abrasive-nonprocessed part, and thus, an aluminum ion precipitation in the phosphating bath occurs in a great extent, a concentration of sludge floating and suspending in a phosphating solution in a phosphating bath, that is the precipitate concentration, becomes high and, as a result, there takes place inferior electrodeposition coating by attaching of the precipitate to a processing object.

Process for phosphating metal surface to make thereon a zinc phosphate coating film


An aircraft includes the aircraft component. The aircraft component includes an outer skin portion, a plurality of major stiffeners, and a plurality of minor stiffeners. The outer skin portion has an interior side and an exterior side configured to define an exterior boundary of the aircraft. The major stiffeners are integral with the outer skin portion and extend out from the interior side. The major stiffeners are configured to resist global deflection of the aircraft component in response to a bird strike on the aircraft component. The minor stiffeners are disposed between the major stiffeners, are integral with the outer skin portion, and extend out from the interior side. The minor stiffeners are configured to resist perforation of the aircraft component in response to the bird strike on the aircraft component.

A conventional passenger aircraft includes a canopy assembly disposed near the front of the aircraft above a flight deck of the aircraft. The canopy assembly typically includes a window, window surrounds, and a crown above the window. A conventional canopy assembly further includes a skin membrane fastened to a frame. The frame resists global deformation of the canopy and the skin membrane has a thickness that resists perforation of the canopy assembly when a bird strikes the skin membrane. These conventional assemblies are typically labor intensive and expensive to install and are typically quite heavy.
As such, it is desirable to provide aircraft and aircraft canopies that require less labor to produce and that weigh less than conventional aircraft and canopy assemblies. In addition, other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.


A floor seat providing a pair of sitting-bone supports, a pelvic-floor support extending between the sitting-bone supports at substantially the same level, a coccyx indent behind the pelvic-floor support, a heel indent in front of the pelvic-floor support, and a forward incline, which provide positioning, cushioning, insulation, and the proper amount of supporting pressure or absence of pressure appropriate to the sitting bones, the pelvic floor, and the coccyx, and room for proper placement of the feet, for persons sitting on a floor, particularly though not exclusively in the practice of yoga, and optionally a pubic-bone positioner to aid in positioning and posture, and thigh supports.

Lotus and butterfly yoga positions are essentially sitting positions on the floor with the legs crossed, often on a thin seat, which may be referred to as a block or support or cushion.
The presently available floor seats, blocks, supports, or cushions fail to adequately conform to and provide proper separate support for the separate areas of the coccyx or tailbone, the pelvic floor or pelvic diaphragm, and the sitting bones or ischial tuberosities.
Many people practice yoga in a yoga studio located outside of their homes or offices. Yoga studios often have large groups of people practicing simultaneously. A person's practice of yoga is most likely to involve both sitting and non-sitting positions. Therefore, easy transportability and movability of any yoga seat, to and from the studio, and within the studio, are desirable features. For yoga studios, the ability to easily and conveniently store several yoga seats away and then access them again throughout the day is an additional desirable feature.
Apart from the practice of yoga, there are other circumstances where people regularly sit on the floor, such as in certain schools, institutions, and cultural traditions. The performance of certain vocational or avocational manufacturing, repair, or artistic procedures requires persons sitting on the floor. The performance of some observances of faith require persons sitting on the floor. Proper support, encouragement of proper posture, and convenient transport and storage of floor seats is desirable for those uses as well.
Ordinarily, many people sit with more or less slouched postures. Sitting in this way causes the lower spine to curve convexly with the consequence of causing an increase in the convex curve of the middle part of the back, and the head to jut forwards causing potential injury along the length of the spine, especially in the lower back and neck areas. Yoga sitting positions encourage the spine to adopt an upright posture, so that the head is balanced directly above the pelvis and the spine curved normally, that is concavely in the lower back, convexly in the middle back, and concavely in the neck. The pelvis should be in neutral alignment which promotes the ability to sit with the correct concavity of the lower spine.
Much of an individual's weight in sitting is transferred to the seat supporting him/her via the sitting bones of the pelvis. These are the lowermost extensions of the pelvis. Muscle surrounding the pelvis also transfers weight to the seat.
Pubic bones extend up and forwards from the sitting bones. Support from the seat to the pubic bones can aid good/correct posture/postural-alignment.
Depending on the shape of the seat, more or less weight is transferred by muscle and possibly fat to the coccyx, which is joined with the lower part of the sacrum. The upper part of the sacrum is joined with the lower spine. The sacrum is also joined with the pelvis by sacroiliac joints. Pressure from below on the coccyx and sacrum can disturb posture, causing undesirable torsional loading of the spine.
In yoga positions, and it other circumstances of sitting on the floor, the ability to place the heels of one's feet sufficiently close to the area of the sitting bones, pelvic floor, and pubic bone, is important, and even determinative of achieving a proper, comfortable, sustainable posture. Therefore, any seat structure impeding proper and optimal placement of one's feet works against achievement of an optimal floor-sitting position, and removal of such impediment is a beneficial element allowing achievement of a proper posture.
In most individuals, sitting on a flat surface encourages posterior pelvic tilt and an undesirable flattening of the natural lumbar lordosis or even a reversal of this curve. Sitting on a flat surface generally promotes posterior pelvic tilt forcing the lumbar spine into a flattened position as opposed to the desirable flexion, convex position. But sitting on a somewhat forward-inclined surface promotes a neutral alignment of the pelvis, that is neither tilted anteriorly nor posteriorly. As a consequence, this neutral alignment of the pelvis promotes optimal length and alignment of the spine where the three primary curves of the spine are in place—that is the backward facing curves in the lumbar (low back) and cervical (neck) areas and forward facing curve in the thoracic (mid back).
There is a need for a floor seat that will properly support both the sitting bones and the pelvic floor, while avoiding pressure on the coccyx, allowing for proper placement of the feet, and encouraging proper posture. Presently known seats fail in one or more of these areas.
US patent application No 2012/0124749 teaches "A meditation seating cushion. The seating cushion may comprise a first cushion portion, a second cushion portion separate from the first cushion portion, and a strap connecting the first and second cushion portions together. A single seating cushion portion has a substantially planar bottom surface and a substantially semi-cylindrical top surface. The cushion portions are used for disposition on a support surface such as a floor or mat, each cushion portion being underneath one of the user's buttocks, for seating the user so as to avoid imposing stress on that region of the user's bottom including the anus, perineum, and vagina or scrotum." There is no pelvic-floor support in this device.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,216 teaches "A seat for persons using the cross-legged "lotus" sitting position, characterized by a substantially horseshoe-shaped support with top and bottom surfaces and with a broad central portion for supporting the buttocks, and comprised of a pair of bilaterally symmetrical and divergent sections with piers extending forwardly establishing a space therebetween to lower and to position both feet and folded lower legs with the buttocks raised for comfort; a unit to be used at floor level or raised by and/or incorporated in a chair or the like." Whilst this seat provides pelvic-floor support, it can be expected to exert pressure on the coccyx. Further, I believe that uniform thickness of the piers discourages upright posture, at least without undesirable spine curvature.
In some circumstances, such as in cold or hot environments, strongly vibrating environments, or where separate insulating floor mats are not available, it is also desirable to provide thermal or vibrational insulation in a floor seat, to block or attenuate any effects on the seated person.


An electric cigarette lighter includes a housing which has finger grips and a case for storing extra batteries. The lighter includes a resistive element that becomes heated when the lighter is activated and attains a temperature sufficient to light a cigarette or other such element, even if exposed to wind, rain or other environmental factors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general art of electric heating devices, and to the particular field of resistive element igniter type electric heating devices.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Many people require the use of a lighter while out of doors. The lighter can be used to light cigarettes, campfires or the like. The lighter is ignited and is then used to ignite the item of interest.
In the past, people have used matches as well as cigarette lighters for this purpose. When out of doors, these igniters are susceptible to being blown out by wind, rain or like environmental factors. This can be extremely frustrating, especially if the person has a limited time or a limited supply of igniter material.
Therefore, there is a need for an igniter device that is not susceptible to environmental factors such as wind, rain or the like.
Still further, using a cigarette lighter out of doors may require the user to maintain a firm grasp on the lighter, such as when the lighter is being used by a fisherman whose hands may be damp and slippery. Dropping a cigarette lighter overboard is obviously an undesirable situation.
Therefore, there is a need for an igniter device that is not susceptible to environmental factors such as wind, rain or the like, and which can be firmly gripped.
Another source of frustration is a lighter device that is out of fuel. If one is using matches, the eminent exhaustion of match supply will be apparent; however, if one is using a hand-held lighter device, such loss of fuel will not be so apparent. A user is therefore required to remember to fuel his lighter periodically.
Therefore, there is a need for an igniter device that is not susceptible to environmental factors such as wind, rain or the like, and which can be firmly gripped and which is less likely to run out of power than prior art devices.

Battery powered electric cigarette lighter with extra battery storage case


Methods and apparatus to control voltage output of a write assist circuit are disclosed. An example method includes regulating pull down voltage from a write assist circuit having a write assist capacitor coupled to a discharge node coupled to a bit line. The write assist circuit further includes a transistor to receive an enable signal to couple the bit line to a low voltage rail. A voltage source is provided to charge the capacitor. The voltage produced by the voltage source is limited to limit the pull down voltage at the discharge node from the write assist capacitor.

Static random access memory (SRAM) is a common memory device that does not require constant refresh to retain stored data. An example SRAM has multiple cells that are made of six transistors, such as metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors. The example cell has two cross-coupled inverters that form a latch circuit. The latch is coupled between high and low voltage rails. The inverters are coupled to corresponding access transistors. The latch is connected between a high storage node and a low storage node. Each of the storage nodes is coupled to a bit line or a complementary bit line via an access transistor. The gate terminals of the access transistors are connected to a word line. The storage nodes are insulated when the access terminals are deactivated by applying a low voltage to the wordline thus allowing the cell to hold the data without refresh.
In order to write data into the cell, the access terminals are coupled to a write driver which discharges the bit line. A high voltage is applied to the wordline of the desired cell to be written. The write occurs when a low voltage is applied to the access terminal of one of the access transistors. As a result of discharging the bit line, the latch flips to a different state and holds the opposite high or low storage node.
As integrated circuits have increased in gate density and complexity, lower power requirements for the circuits are desirable. As a result, designers have sought to lower the high voltage required on integrated circuit designs. The lowering of the voltage requirements in circuit designs has made it more difficult to operate SRAM circuits due to the need to ensure a stable cell while at the same time allowing the cell to be writeable. In order to ensure operation of SRAM circuits using lower operating voltages, designers employ a write assist circuit. A write assist circuit uses a capacitor to pull the voltage on the access terminals below the low voltage to a level which is lower than the point at which the cell changes state. This level can be negative, but is not required to be so. By giving a larger range to the discharge level, the circuit thus allows an SRAM cell to be developed with good stability while retaining a robust ability to be written.
However, due to the wide range of operating conditions of SRAM circuits such as usage, voltages, temperatures, etc., write assist circuits produce a wide range of voltages. The range of voltages can result in adverse performance. For example, if the voltage is too negative, latch up may occur and other unintended bit lines may be discharged (bit cell disturbs). On the other hand, if the voltage is too close to the trip point of the cell, the bit cell will not write over all operating conditions. The problems of the wide range of voltages provided by write assist circuits are increased with the use of circuits such as the SmartReflex device by Texas Instruments, which adapts the voltage of a circuit based on operating conditions. The wide range of voltages results in difficulties in controlling the voltages output by write assist circuits.

Methods and apparatus to provide voltage control for SRAM write assist circuits


An engine apparatus for an internal combustion engine which includes a first rotary valve having an indentation adapted to open an intake passage to allow air to be introduced into a combustion chamber, and a second rotary valve having an indentation to allow exhaust gas to flow from an exhaust chamber to an exhaust passageway. A first mode changer can be utilized to vary the open position of the first rotary valve, and a second mode changer can be utilized to vary the open position of the second rotary valve. A seal member can be used in lieu of either mode changer or two seal members can be used in lieu of both of the mode changers.

Internal combustion engines generally comprise at least one piston movable within a cylinder by a crank shaft. When an intake passage is opened, the piston moves downwardly to draw a fuel-air mixture into the cylinder for combustion. As the piston reaches the bottom of the cylinder, the intake passage will close and the piston will rise compressing the fuel/air mixture. After combustion, the exhaust gases escape from the cylinder through an exhaust passage.
Typically, engines are generally designed with the opening of the intake valve and the closing of the exhaust valve occurring at a fixed time. The timing and duration of the valves in these engines are usually designed based upon the particular application of the engine and may not be changed to increase engine horsepower.
Rotary valves may be used to manage the flow of the gases into and out of the cylinder of the engine. Rotary valves have been developed to adjust the timing and duration of the valves of an engine. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,036 shows a rotary valve having a spring loaded sleeve at the trailing edge of the rotary valve. Although the sleeve may retard the closing of the valve, the sleeve does not allow for adjustment of the opening of the valve. Further, the sleeve may only retard the closing of the valve at high revolutions per minute (r.p.m.) of the engine. The complexity of the valve may also increase the manufacturing and repair costs, and the timing and duration of the valve may not be controlled upon command during engine operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,163,438 shows rotary valves that may be axially displaced in a cylinder head to change the timing of the valves. However, the air flow through the valves may be restricted when the timing of the valves is changed. Further, as the r.p.m. of the engine increases, it may be desirable to provide greater air flow into the combustion chamber. It may also be difficult to keep the valves cool because the axial movement of the valves. As a result, the valves may overheat. Additionally, the complexity of the valve assembly may increase manufacturing and repair costs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,077 shows flappers positioned near the leading and trailing edges of an intake rotary valve. The flappers may increase the length of the port of the intake rotary valve, allowing the timing of the valve to change. However, the opening of the flappers depends upon the pressure across the opening of the intake valve, and the flappers will usually only open at high r.p.m. Further, the timing of valves may not be controlled upon command during engine operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,251 discloses a rotary valve disposed within a rotatable sleeve. The sleeve has openings on opposing sides in order to change the timing of the valve. However, when changing the timing of the valves, the closing of the intake valve and the opening of the exhaust valve will usually be changed. Further, the air flow through the valve may be restricted when the timing of the valves is changed. The complexity of the valve assembly may also increase manufacturing costs and the costs of repair.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,743 discloses a single rotary valve positioned on a shaft that is axially displaced by a cam to varying an open duration of the valve. However, when changing the duration of the valve, the exhaust may contaminate the intake charge by diluting the intake mixture and thereby reducing engine efficiency. Further, the complexity of the valve assembly may increase manufacturing and repair costs.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an engine with improved valve timing control that can adjust the opening of the intake valve and closing of the exhaust valve. It is desirable to change the timing of the valves without restricting the air flow through the valves at higher r.p.m. It would also be beneficial to change the timing of the valves upon command.

Rotary valve assembly for an internal combustion engine


A system and method are disclosed to track aircraft or other vehicles using techniques including multilateration and elliptical surveillance. Unlike conventional approaches that use time difference of arrival for multilateration at a fixed set of reception points, this technique allows targets to be tracked from a number of dynamic or moving reception points. This allows for triangulation/multilateration and elliptical surveillance of targets from combinations of fixed, fixed and moving or only moving ground-based receivers, sea-based receivers, airborne receivers and space-based receivers. Additionally this technique allows for ADS-B validation through data derived from only two receivers to assess the validity and integrity of the aircraft self-reported position by comparing the time of arrival of the emitted message at the second receiver to the predicted time of message arrival at the second receiver based on the self-reported position of the aircraft and the time of arrival at the first receiver. The benefits of using less than three receivers for validation include greater validation coverage areas using a smaller set of ground stations at a lower infrastructure cost.

Global implementation of Automatic Dependent Surveillance (ADS) is underway and promises to replace conventional radar surveillance (e.g., Secondary Surveillance Radar, or SSR) within the next 10 to 20 years. Switching to ADS from radar techniques represents a fundamental shift in the techniques and philosophy of aircraft tracking.
Aircraft tracking relying on multilateration techniques are well established in the air traffic control industry with several companies supplying systems including Rannoch Corporation (www.rannoch.com), Sensis Corporation (www.sensis.com), and ERA (www.era.cz). These systems rely on the time stamping of transponder replies, either at remote sensor locations, or at a central time reference. The aircraft or vehicle location is then computed from the time difference of arrival of the transponder signal, as the transponder signal is received at multiple sensor locations. For a description of time difference of arrival multilateration, please refer to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilateration.
A system for elliptical surveillance uses one or more receiving elements, one or more transmitting elements, and a central workstation. The transmitting elements and receiving elements are time-synchronized to a common precision time reference. The antennas for the transmitting elements are separated in distance from the antennas from the receiving elements and are located at known positions. At a given time, one of the transmitting elements transmits an interrogation signal to one or more targets. The target(s) respond to the interrogation with a reply transmission. The reply transmission is received by one or more receiving elements and each target's ellipse of position with respect to each receiving element is calculated by the central workstation using the interrogator element time of interrogation measurement and each receiving element's time of arrival measurement for the corresponding reply transmission. The central workstation fuses the elliptical lines of position for each receiving element to compute target positions or augment passive surveillance position. At a scheduled time, the one or more transmitting elements transmit a reference signal to the receiving elements(s). The central workstation uses each of the receiving elements time stamped signals to perform integrity monitoring.
There are a variety of systems that emit pulses and other radio signals on board most aircraft including transponders, DME, TACAN, ADS-B, UAT, and various data link systems. Systems exist today, to multilaterate position using a combination of fixed ground based receiver systems, such as the PSS VERA E (http://www.era.cz/en/pss-vera-e.shtml).
Other systems that embrace the ADS-B concept of position self-reporting include Iridium, FANS (Future Air Navigation System), ACARS and CPDLC, as described below:                Iridium satellite is used for voice and data, including aircraft position self-reports. (http://www.iridium.com/corp/iri_corp-news.asp?newsid=111).        The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), and other air traffic service providers developed the concept of FANS to transition the current air traffic control system to an advanced air traffic management system utilizing satellite based communications, navigation and surveillance for all regions of the world for the twenty-first century. For more information on FANS refer to: www.simlabs.arc.nasa.gov/library/technical_papers/aiaa96.html and http://www.icao.int/icao/en/ro/apac/2003/cnsatmgmtf/CnsAtmGM_TFReport.pdf#search='FANS %20ICAO        The Aircraft Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) is a widely used commercial service that includes aircraft self-position reports. A good description of ACARS is available from: www.ARINC.com.        Controller Pilot Data Link (CPDLC) and VDLM2 offer higher data rates for aircraft messaging that include self position reports. An excellent description and comparison of ACARS, CPDLC, and VDLM2 was presented by John Burke of ARINC at the ICNS conference in Annapolis in May, 2003. (http://spacecom.grc.nasa.gov/icnsconf/docs/2003/04_B1/B1-04-Burks.pdf#search='cpdlc').
In addition to aircraft, vehicles and ships also carry systems that provide self-reporting over a data link, for example the IBM VTS/2000 system (http://www-304.ibm.com/jct09002c/gsdod/solutiondetails.do ?solution=938&expand=true&lc=en).
As the transportation industry moves toward real-time global tracking and identification of all forms of transport, there is recognition that relying on self-reporting is vulnerable to errors, or intentional spoofing, and other security issues. This is probably most acute in aviation following the events of 9/11 and the potential damage that can result from aircraft accidents. In aviation, the need for a potential back up or validation is the subject of debate at the FAA (www.faa.gov), the Next Generation of Air Traffic Systems (NGATS) and the Joint Planning and Development Office (JPDO). For more information on these organizations and aviation initiatives please visit (www.jpdo.aero).
Although, as of early 2006, there is no overall plan for a particular back-up or validation technology, the use of combinations of sensor systems has been discussed by FAA, NGATS, and JPDO. Sensor systems discussed include mixes of conventional radar systems, multilateration, passive tracking, and other techniques.
A discussion of various potential back-up methods is presented in U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration Safe Flight 21—Future Surveillance Broadcast Services Ground Station (BSGS) Specification Using the Universal Access Transceiver (UAT) and 1090 MHz Extended Squitter (1090ES) ADS-B Data Links, Draft, Version 2.0, 12 Dec. 2005.
There are many issues involved in selecting an appropriate back up technology including:                Practicality        Performance        Independence        Cost        Business case
The business case for ADS-B is to forgo the use of older more expensive radar technologies, in favor of a more flexible ADS self-reporting technology. It is has been difficult thus far to achieve general consensus on an optimal approach using ADS and some form of back-up. The use of encryption or secure transponders to prevent spoofing has been discussed, but there are many cost equipage issues, avionics standardization, and the ability to spoof may be reduced but will not be eliminated. (See, e.g., Viggiano, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/285,070, Publication No. 20040086121, entitled "Secure Automatic Dependent Surveillance," incorporated herein by reference).
Other possible methods to confirm the authenticity of ADS-B include comparison and correlation between ADS-B and TCAS, such as that described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/923,433, Publication No. 20050231422, entitle "Systems and Methods for Correlation in an Air Traffic Control System of Interrogation-Based Target Positional Data and GPS-Based Intruder Positional Data," incorporated herein by reference. However, although probably a good approach for aircraft to aircraft surveillance and target verification, it is not practical for an ATC-wide application, and would still rely on some form of self-reporting. Also, TCAS is not designed to provide sufficient lateral accuracy for ATC surveillance.

Method and apparatus for ADS-B validation, active and passive multilateration, and elliptical surveillance