A force measuring device, especially a weighing device, has at least one force-measuring module that includes a force-measuring cell, a communication means, a terminal and at least one communication line, through which communication signals are transmitted between the terminal and the communication means. In a method for determining the condition of such a device, at least one voltage present at the communication line or at the communication means is measured. The measured value, or a processed result therefrom, are transmitted through the communication line to the terminal. A parameter representing the condition of the force-measuring device is determined from the measurement value, or the processed result, in an accurate and simple manner.

Under the definition used herein, a force-measuring device includes a force-measuring module and an indicator device. The force-measuring module, in turn, includes an electromechanical force-measuring cell serving to determine a force, which functions as a measurement converter in that it converts the input quantity, which is a mechanical force, into an electrical output signal. A special type of multiple force-measuring device exists in the form of a weighing scale with one or more weighing devices, so-called weighing modules. The force-measuring cell is configured in this case as a weighing cell and serves for the mechanical-to-electrical conversion whereby the weight force exerted by a weighing object is converted into an electrical signal. In particular, the weighing cell of a weighing scale serves for the mechanical-to-electrical conversion whereby the weight force exerted by a weighing object is converted into an electrical signal. A force-measuring module or a weighing module as the term is understood here means, respectively, a force-measuring device or a weighing scale without an indicator device.
Larger force-measuring devices often consist of a plurality of force-measuring modules. The force to be measured is in this case distributed by a mechanical device, in particular a measuring plate, over a plurality of force-measuring modules. Each force-measuring module in this arrangement includes a force-measuring cell, by means of which the portion of the force that is imparted to the respective module can be individually determined. The results from the individual force-measuring cells are then passed on to a common output device, where they are combined into an overall result.
Multiple force-measuring devices of this type are used for example in industrial installations for the weighing of the contents of basins, tanks, reactor vessels and the like. Typically in these kinds of applications the weighing modules are configured as high-capacity weighing modules, as so-called tank weighing cells or reactor vessel weighing cells. For each container to be weighed, a plurality of weighing modules are arranged between the feet of the container and the foundation. Thus, each foot of the container rests on a force-measuring module. In order to determine the weight of the container and/or of its contents, the measurement values determined by the force-measuring modules need to be added up, as each measurement value represents a part of the mass. This calculation is in most cases performed in a processor device and/or controller device set up in an adjacent location.
High-capacity force-measuring cells also find application as weighing modules in weighing scales for trucks. Truck scales typically have several measuring plates or weighing plates, each of which rests on a plurality of force-measuring modules. Accordingly, each force-measuring module measures a partial weight of the truck and/or of one or more trailers. The measuring results of the individual force-measuring modules are transmitted to the terminal where they are processed further. The terminal is typically located at some distance from the force-measuring modules, for example in a controller device located as much as several hundred meters away.
According to published application US 2004/0245026 to Brighenti, the terminal, referred to as weighing terminal, is equipped with a display through which the results of the force-measuring device can be released to the outside. In addition, the terminal supplies the force-measuring device with electrical power, with all force-measuring modules being served with electric current from this central power supply. For the transmission of the measurement results and to transmit the electric current, the force-measuring modules are connected to the terminal through various cables. In this connection, the delivery of electrical current and the transmission of the measurement results are channeled through the same cables.
As a cabling arrangement, the individual force-measuring modules are connected by shorter distributor lines to a distribution device, and only the latter has a direct connection through an individual cable, the so-called "home-run" cable, directly to the terminal. The power supply and the transmission of the measurement values are thus merged in the distribution device in order to avoid multiple parallel cables.
The electrical connection of the force-measuring modules through distributor lines and distribution devices increases the risk of installation errors in the setup and in case of repairs leads to a difficult and lengthy process of pinpointing the location of an error. Thus, the requirement exists in particular in larger installations for a simple and efficient way of monitoring the condition of the force-measuring device during operation and installation.
A distribution device is presented in published application DE 101 50 641, in which the condition of the voltage supply, current loops, polarity, and breaks in cables are indicated by means of light-emitting diodes. This device allows a failure diagnosis of the most important malfunctions, but has the disadvantage that this mode of indication does not provide exact quantifiable data about possible functional failures. For example, it is possible for the indication to signal a correct voltage of the power supply, even if the housing or the plug connection of the cables has already been penetrated by moisture. It is therefore possible that corrosion sets in, which in time can lead to the complete destruction of the force-measuring module, although no change can be noticed in the conditions of the voltage supply, loop current, polarity and breakage of a cable.
As a further disadvantage, the monitoring of the optical indication has to take place at the location of the measuring plates. This involves relatively large expenditures for personnel, particularly for large installations and/or in case of inaccessible distribution devices.
It is an objective, therefore, to propose a method for determining the condition of a force-measuring device, a suitable force-measuring device, and a suitable force-measuring module, in particular a weighing device and a weighing module, which allow the condition of the force-measuring device to be determined in a more precise and simple way.

Method for determining a condition of a weighing device by monitoring the voltage of a communications line


The present invention provides methods of extraction of at least one cannabinoid from an initial cannabis biomass in “one-pot” step using toluene to form a toluene extract and using the toluene extract for producing high concentrations of Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9THC) and/or cannabinol (CBN) of a purity of at least 75% and at a yield of at least 75% by weight of the at least one cannabinoid from the initial cannabis biomass in the toluene extract.

Phytocannabinoids are lipophilic compounds biosynthesized in Cannabis sativa. There are many different phytocannabinoids, including Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol ("Δ9THC") and cannabidiol ("CBD"), which are initially synthesized in C. sativa as Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid ("Δ9THCa") and cannabidiolic acid ("CBDa"). Phytocannabinoids have a variety of applications, including potential anti-cancer, pain-killing, anti-inflammatory, anti-spastic and other properties. Hemp varieties of C. sativa that can be cultivated generally include less than 0.3% Δ9THC in dry flowers and about 1.0-2.0% CBD. Drug-type varieties of C. sativa have higher concentrations of Δ9THCa and some varieties have higher concentrations of CBDa.
Hemp varieties of C. sativa with higher CBDa biosynthesis are expected to come to market and will improve availability of CBDa and CBD, but not Δ9THCa and Δ9THC. Regulatory restrictions in most jurisdictions that allow commercial cultivation and commercial sale of drug-type varieties of C. sativa for medical purposes generally prevent large scale outdoor cultivation of drug-type cultivars, which will keep the Δ9THCa percentages low in hemp varieties of C. sativa.
Many different medicinal properties are due to the effect of Δ9THC and Δ9THCa. Application of Δ9THC is complicated by the psycho-activity associated with this phytocannabinoid. The psycho-activity complicates achievement of a therapeutic dose because of an emphasis on avoiding psychoactive effects.
Cannabinol ("CBN") is a known degradation product of Δ9THC and is considered to be a phytocannabinoid. CBN has very low psychoactive property, but retains other biological properties. In particular, there is interest in application of CBN to products that are intended to assist users in falling asleep. CBN may also substitute Δ9THC for cancer therapy; numerous reports demonstrated anti-cancer properties of both compounds. CBN can be obtained by long-term exposure of Δ9THC to air. Degradation Δ9THC to CBN is generally slow and inefficient but can be enhanced by heating.
In one previous study, degradation of Δ9THC when heated for approximately 75 to 90 min was 2.8% w/w at 120° C., 5.1% w/w at 160° C., and 5.7% w/w at 200° C., respectively. Not all product of degradation of Δ9THC is CBN. At 120° C., only 9.0% w/w of the Δ9THC that was degraded resulted in CBN. At 160° C., only 7.8% w/w of the Δ9THC that was degraded resulted in CBN. However, when the temperature increased to 200° C., 29.1% w/w of all Δ9THC that was degraded resulted in CBN (Repka et al., 2006).
In a more recent study, conversion of various cannabinoids, including CBD and cannabidivarin ("CBDV"), demonstrated that one of the products of conversion was CBN. The conversion rate of pure CBD was reported at 72%. Direct conversion from CBDV-rich extract resulted in a very small fraction of CBN. Specifically, 25 mg of CBN and 150 mg of cannabivarin ("CBNV" or "CBV") was obtained from 2 g of CBDV rich extract (the concentration of CBDV was not mentioned) (Pollastro et al., 2018).
In the method applied by Pollastro et al., 2018, the major contributing to this reaction include CBD, CBDa, Δ9THC and THCa. Aromatization of the saturated ring in these compounds is catalyzed by the presence of I2. This process produces the HI, which catalyzes the ring closure of CBD and CBDa to produce Δ9THC and THCa respectively. Elevated temperatures cause decarboxylation of both CBDa and THCa, to CBD and Δ9THC, respectively. Formation of Δ9THC from CBD and from THCa follows, and formation of CBN from Δ9THC. This previous art method includes multiple steps of adding solvent and iodine (FIG. 1).
In one previous study, cannabinoids are purified with the use of ethanol through multi-step reactions including heating, wash in polar solvent, extracting in ethanol or ethyl acetate, purifying it with chromatography and measuring the extract concentration with mass spectrometry (Marshall, Campbell WO 2019/100172 A1).
There thus remains an unmet need to provide fully compatible improved methods for extracting, synthesizing and isolating phytocannabinoid compounds and compounds derived from phytocannabinoids.

Method for synthesis of cannabis products


Centroids are used for improving machine learning classification and information retrieval. A plurality of files are classified as malicious or not malicious based on a function dividing a coordinate space into at least a first portion and a second portion such that the first portion includes a first subset of the plurality of files classified as malicious. One or more first centroids are defined in the first portion that classify files from the first subset as not malicious. A file is determined to be malicious based on whether the file is located within the one or more first centroids.

In order to detect malicious software (e.g., viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware, and/or programming that gathers information about a computer/user without permission), computer systems may utilize file classification systems to identify files with certain characteristics which make it likely that the files are malicious. Although simple file classification systems may be computationally conservative, they may be over-inclusive and improperly classify clean files as malicious. Similarly, simple file classification systems may be under-inclusive, and improperly classify malicious files as clean. Thus, systems with a greater ability to detect and classify malicious and/or clean files can be desirable.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Centroid for improving machine learning classification and info retrieval


Ethylene oligomerization catalysts include a solid support having surface hydroxyl groups on a surface of the solid support. Functional groups attached to the solid support through at least one covalent bond and coordinated with at least one catalytically active transition metal. Individual functional groups are attached to the solid support as products of condensation reactions of at least one hydrolysable group of precursor ligands with a corresponding surface group of the solid support. The precursor ligands have a general formula (Ph2P)2N—R1-A, where R1 is C1-C40 hydrocarbylene or C1-C40 heterohydrocarbylene; and A is a hydrolysable group selected from trialkoxysilyl, halosilyl, carboxylates, esters, phosphonates, amines, imines, thiols, thiocarboxylates, or halides.

Alpha-olefins are widely used in the petrochemical industries. On-demand production of alpha-olefins, such as 1-octene, is a highly sought process for converting ethylene feedstock selectively into various products. Alpha-olefins, including 1-octene, are crucial co-monomers for making valuable products such as linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE).
There are various catalytic pathways to obtain alpha-olefins from ethylene. However, existing processes lead to a distribution of oligomers of varying molar masses, ranging from low molar mass, such as 1-butene, to higher oligomers, such as 1-decene, and low molecular weight polymer, such as polymer with a molecular weight less than 1000 grams per mole. Selective oligomerization of ethylene can be achieved using early transition-metal containing single-site catalysts, and a majority of such processes have predominantly been able to selectively produce 1-hexene via ethylene trimerization. Selective tetramerization has been more challenging. The most successful tetramerization catalysts have included ligands containing an amino-biphosphine functional group, such as (Ph)2P—N(R)—P(Ph)2, where R=alkyl, aryl (or PNP) backbone.
The PNP moiety can coordinate with a chromium-complex, such CrCl3, Cr(acetylacetonate)3 etc. to afford an active catalyst. The catalytic pathway of PNP—Cr complexes proceeds via the formation of metallocycle intermediate, which finally affords the alpha-olefin after concerted beta-hydride elimination and reductive elimination. Even so, homogeneous catalyst systems such as PNP—Cr complexes have persistent drawbacks such as producing polymeric side-products that cause reactor fouling.

Solid-supported amino-diphosphine ligand catalysts for selective oligomerization of ethylene to form linear alpha-olefins


A retroreflective button includes: a front mirror surface formed on a front surface of the button, a plurality of micro prisms each being polygonal shape and capable of transmitting and reflecting light from the polyhedral facets of each micro prism for retroreflecting an incoming light as emitted from a light or illuminating source for warning and optical decorative purposes, and a fastening device formed on a rear portion of each button to be secured on a wearer's garment or the like.

A conventional button attached to a garment is provided for fastening two surfaces together by passing it through a button hole or loop. However, a conventional button is not retroreflective and thereby lacking of optical warning effect on a traffic safety viewpoint.
The present inventor has found the drawbacks of a conventional button and invented the present retroreflective button.


The present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for decomposing systolic array circuitry to provide a plurality of N×N systolic sub-array circuits, apportioning a first tensor or array into a plurality of N×M first input arrays, and apportioning a second tensor or array into a plurality of M×N second input arrays. Systolic array control circuitry transfers corresponding ones of the first input arrays and second input arrays to a respective one of the plurality of N×N systolic sub-array circuits. As the elements included in the first input array and the elements included in the second input array are transferred to the systolic sub-array, the systolic sub-array performs one or more mathematical operations using the first and the second input arrays. The systems and methods beneficially improve the usage of the systolic array circuitry thereby advantageously reducing the number of clock cycles needed to perform a given number of calculations.

A systolic array includes a network of processing elements (PEs) or cells, each connected to a small number of nearest neighbors to form a mesh type topology. Each of the cells performs a sequence of operation on data that flows between the cells. Typically, the operations performed by each cell are similar or identical, with each cell performing a one or more operations on a data input to generate a data output that is passed to a neighboring cell. Systolic array accelerators provide a high throughput when the tensors used in the mathematical operations are uniform (e.g., N×N) and provide increased computational efficiency when handling relatively large tensors. The efficiency of systolic arrays is compromised when tensors used in the mathematical operations are not uniform (e.g., N×M and M×N).

Systolic array accelerator systems and methods


A periodic pulse discrimination system particularly suitable for use with electronic article surveillance systems is capable of detecting valid tag pulses while discriminating against periodic pulses caused by resonances and interfering carriers as well as random noise. Circuitry that determines the periodicity of a pulse signal and is responsive to amplitude differences between successive detected pulses controls an adaptive threshold and sampling window to discriminate against signals having an incorrect periodicity and an inadequate envelope rise time. A notch circuit notches out pulse trains that have the correct or substantially correct periodicity but persist for a longer time period than the time period required for a tag to pass through the detection zone.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic article surveillance systems and, more particularly, to electronic article surveillance systems of the type that detect a resonant marker or tag that is placed in a swept frequency electromagnetic field near the exit to a protected area. The system detects perturbations or tag signals that are generated when the frequency of the swept field passes through the resonant frequency of the tag to provide an alarm signal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Swept frequency electronic article surveillance systems are known. One such system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,822. One of the problems that is encountered by electronic article surveillance systems, including the one described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,822, is that the signal produced by the marker or tag is generally quite small and the systems must work in noisy environments and be able to discriminate a valid tag signal from spurious radiations. Such spurious radiations may take the form of interfering carriers and resonances that have the same characteristics as a tag signal but are caused by building structures or other metallic structures in the vicinity that have resonance characteristics similar to those of a tag.
In order to provide the required discrimination between a tag signal and a spurious signal, the systems according to the prior art utilize relatively elaborate signal processing techniques including autocorrelation and various filtering techniques including synchronous integration, as described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,822, to discriminate between a valid tag signal and spurious signals or to filter out spurious signals. Other examples of attempts to eliminate spurious signals are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,117,466 and 4,168,496. U.S. Pat. No. 4,117,466 addresses the problem of filtering out an interfering carrier by detecting the beat frequency produced by the interfering carrier and the swept carrier of the system and inhibiting the alarm. The system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,496 addresses the problem of spurious signals produced by resonant structures in the area that generate a signal that looks like a tag signal. In the aforementioned system, the spurious tag-like signal is sampled and stored, and the stored signal is subsequently subtracted from the received signal to thereby cancel out the spurious signal from the received signal so that it is not detected as a valid tag signal. While the aforementioned systems do provide a way to distinguish between spurious and valid tag signals, they are relatively complex and different approaches must be taken to discriminate against different types of interfering signals, such as interfering carriers and resonances.

Swept frequency electronic article surveillance system having enhanced facility for tag signal detection


In preferred embodiments, a vacuum sealed clothing and diaper change kit is provided which may comprise a clothing article, a diaper, and optionally a changing aid together utilizing a folding and vacuum sealing processes as to reduce the total size of the contents and provide hygienic storage and transportation of contents. In further preferred embodiments, a kit may comprise an outer casing.

Caregivers of infant and toddler children often experience the need to carry supplies such as clothes, diapers, and related diaper changing accessories with them wherever they go. Time and effort are associated with preparing and gathering all of these items and often times a caregiver may forget to pack all or some of these items prior to leaving their residence. In addition to the time and effort of preparing and gathering these supplies, the amount of space required to store and travel with these items can be inconvenient. Furthermore, a risk exists for these items to become lost, soiled, or damaged when stored within a diaper bag, purse, pocket, or other container.
In daily child rearing life, where time and space efficiency is generally at a premium, a solution is needed that offers time savings and convenience while providing childcare needs such as a clean change of clothes, fresh diapers, and the means for cleaning the child's diaper area. Such a solution would make it easier and thus more likely for a caregiver to have ready access to the necessary supplies of clothing, diaper, and care accessories. Therefore, a need exists for a new type of diaper changing kit that provides a small space saving footprint while providing all of the necessary supplies to change a child's diaper and soiled clothing.

Vacuum sealed clothing and diaper change kit and methods of manufacturing the same


A selective call transceiver (122) includes a receiver (303) and a transmitter (301) coupled to a processor (308) serving as a decoder and an encoder. The processor is programmed to receive an input requiring the selective call receiver to request a reserved time assignment from a system controller (11) for a transmission of unscheduled information, the request to be sent on a reverse or inbound channel. The processor further determines whether a scheduled transmission is pending for transmission on the reverse channel during a scheduled time slot and sends the unscheduled information and an indicia of the scheduled transmission during the scheduled time slot if there is a scheduled transmission pending.

Contemporary selective call systems, e.g., paging systems, employ messaging schemes that can typically deliver voice, numeric, or alphanumeric messages to subscribers. Recently, Motorola's FLEX.TM. protocol is becoming accepted as a world-wide standard protocol for selective call communication. Additionally, Motorola provides a ReFleX.TM. protocol that allows selective call systems to handle two-way communication, e.g., acknowledge-back (Ack-Back) messaging, with portable transceivers, such as the Motorola Personal Messaging Unit (PMU) named Tango.RTM.. In a ReFlex.TM. communication system, a central system can send wireless messages to a portable transceiver unit such as a PMU, and the PMU can send both scheduled and unscheduled wireless messages to the central system.
A two-way communication system such as Motorola's ReFlex.TM. communication system, allows a central system to verify that a portable transceiver unit (portable unit) received a wireless message transmitted by the central system to the portable unit. A confirmation message, e.g., an Ack-Back response message, sent from the portable unit back to the central system in response to having received a wireless message therefrom provides an affirmative confirmation back to the central system that the wireless message was reliably delivered and received by the portable unit. This handshake messaging, i.e., sending a confirmation response message back to a central system for each wireless message received by a portable unit, can significantly enhance the reliability of communication in a selective call system. However, the increased number of transmitted messages due to the handshake messaging increases the message communication and message processing time delays in the selective call system. This added delay tends to reduce the message communication efficiency of the selective call system, which may not be acceptable under certain operational conditions of the selective call system, as will be discussed below.
Under certain operational conditions in the selective call system, for example, messaging traffic may be high for an available message communication throughput capacity for the selective call system. Any significant additional message traffic can detrimentally affect the operational efficiency of system resources, such as limited by a messaging throughput capacity of a wireless communication channel, or limited by messaging throughput capacity of communication links, or limited by an operational efficiency of central system resources such as near-full memory queues or overloading of tasks for devices that handle messaging operations, or a combination of all of the above communication phenomena.
Generally, the number of messages that a selective call system can handle during peak communication traffic periods constrains the number of total customers that can be serviced by the selective call system. The total number of customers handled by the selective call system typically determines the commercial viability of the selective call system.
Furthermore, although conventional Ack-Back messaging can maintain a high level of reliability in message communication by sending an immediate Ack-Back message in response to every wireless message received by a portable unit, under certain messaging conditions transmitting an immediate Ack-Back message response for every wireless message received by a portable unit may not be commercially practicable.
Specifically, to enhance the likelihood of commercial viability of a selective call system the messaging throughput capacity of the selective call system should be as high as possible. Normally, a selective call system has a one-way messaging throughput capacity that is constrained by the maximum number of wireless messages that the central system can transmit to the portable units over a unit of time. The selective call system also has a two-way messaging throughput capacity that is constrained by the maximum number of wireless messages that the central system can transmit to portable units while the portable units send Ack-Back messages back to the central system in response to receiving the wireless messages therefrom over a unit of time. For a particular selective call system, the one-way messaging throughput capacity is normally higher than the two-way messaging throughput capacity. Therefore, to enhance the likelihood of commercial viability of a selective call system the messaging throughput capacity of the selective call system should be as high as possible, preferably approaching the one-way messaging throughput capacity that is higher than the two-way messaging throughput capacity.
As an example, under high communication traffic conditions the selective call system's total messaging throughput capacity can be significantly constrained by the messaging throughput capacity consumed by the portable units sending Ack-Back response messages to the central system. The additional communication traffic and processing time delays due to the Ack-Back response messages may reduce the total number of wireless messages that can be delivered by the selective call system during the high communication traffic conditions.
Furthermore, acknowledgement messages as currently delivered in two-way messaging systems are unduly lengthy for the information they are conveying. Additionally, in current two-way synchronous paging protocols, all messages need to be scheduled on the reverse or inbound channel, even "unscheduled information" initiated by a user. The scheduling of "unscheduled information" creates additional traffic on both inbound and outbound channels that effectively reduced channel capacity.
Thus, what is needed is a method and apparatus in an acknowledge-back selective call system for providing the efficient use of the reverse channel that will take advantage of the minimal information required in acknowledgements and further reduce the inefficiencies involved with unscheduled information.

Method and apparatus for efficient reverse channel utilization in a two-way messaging system


Methods for cleaning and/or drying objects that may have been wetted or contaminated in a manufacturing process. The objects are submerged in a rinse liquid in an enclosed chamber, and aerosol particles from a selected liquid are introduced into the chamber above the rinse liquid surface, forming a thin film on this surface. As the rinse liquid is slowly drained, some aerosol particles settle onto the exposed surfaces of the objects, and displace and remove rinse liquid residues from the exposed surfaces, possibly by a "chemical squeegeeing" effect. Surface contaminants are also removed by this process which may be performed at about room temperature. Chamber pressure is maintained at or near the external environment pressure as the rinse liquid is drained from the chamber. Inert gas flow is employed to provide aerosol particles of smaller size and/or with greater dispersion within the chamber. Continuous filtering and shunt filtering are employed to remove most contaminants from the selected liquid. A flow deflector redirects initial flow of the selected liquid to a supplementary filter, to remove most of the contaminant particle "spike" that appears when a system is first (re)activated. An improved surface for aerosol particle production is provided.

Objects that are being manufactured using processes involving application of liquids and other fluids often require that the parts be thoroughly dried before the manufacturing process can continue. For example, in fabrication of integrated circuits, doping, photomasking, etching and passivation processes often require application of particular liquids at one stage and removal of liquid residues before the next stage proceeds. Drying and removal of these liquid residues must be complete, but the drying process should, ideally, occur in a relatively short time interval and with expenditure of a minimum of energy and chemicals to implement the drying process.
Several workers have disclosed methods for drying parts, including integrated circuits, by use of heated or superheated gases. These approaches heated or superheated gases or direct beam irradiation to dry an object surface; or they use cooperative action by an ultrasonic beam and an active chemical bath to remove contaminants from, or to apply a desired material to, an object surface. These approaches are complex, usually require operation at high temperatures, often require processing times of several minutes, and often require use of specially resistant chamber walls for the processing chamber.
What is needed is a method and associated apparatus for drying and cleaning objects in a manufacturing process that works well at room temperature and is simple, that is demonstrably complete, with no significant residues, that can be accomplished in times as short as one minute, that can be performed in a chamber with chamber walls made of almost any material, and that requires use of only a very small amount of a drying agent, with minimal expenditure of energy, particularly thermal energy. Preferably, the process should be performable over a wide range of temperatures, and should be easily scalable to any size surface.

Methods for drying and cleaning of objects using aerosols and inert gases


An error counter including receive logic to compare transmitted bits with received bits and output a vector with a logic 1 for every bit that does not match and a logic 0 for every bit that matches. A plurality of stages are sequentially arranged. Each stage includes a plurality of carry save adders inputting three inputs and outputting a sum bit and a carry bit, the carry save adders of a first stage each receiving corresponding three bits of the vector as input, the carry save adders of stages subsequent to the first stage each receiving corresponding three bits representing sum bits and carry bits from the previous stage and each carry save adder outputting a carry bit and a sum bit to a next stage for use as inputs to the carry save adders of the next stage. A synchronizer converts an output of the stages into an N-bit sum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bit error testing, and more particularly, to an integrated high speed packet bit error test circuit.
2. Related Art
Communicating information via the Internet and other digital communications systems has become common in the United States and elsewhere. As the number of people using these communications systems has increased so has the need for transmitting digital data at ever increasing rates.
As will be understood by persons skilled in the relevant arts, digital communications systems are designed, for example, using look-ahead, pipelining, and parallelism techniques. These known techniques have enabled engineers to build digital communications systems, using available manufacturing technologies, which operate at data rates in excess of 1 Gb/s.
There is a current need for new design techniques and digital logic circuits that can be used to build high-speed digital communication systems. In particular, design techniques and digital logic circuits are needed which can be used to build digital communications circuits that operate at 10 Gb/s and higher.
Testing of the integrity of the communications channel is an important part of any communications system. As transmission speeds increase, the potential for errors generated to channel imperfections, noise, and other factors becomes greater. Currently commercially available systems transmit data at multiple Gigabits per second. For example, the 10 G SERDES (10 Gigabit serializer-deserializer) transmits data on four 2.5 Gigabit channels, for a total of 10 Gigabits/second. Normally, in order to test the error rate of the system, a stand-alone piece of equipment needs to be hooked up to the transmission channel. Test packets are generated by the stand-alone piece of equipment and transmitted through the channel, and are then received back by the stand-alone piece of equipment. The received data is compared to the transmitted data, and the error rate is calculated.
A disadvantage of this approach is the need for a separate piece of equipment that a technician needs to carry around, and the need to "plug it in" into the transmission system in order to test the packet bit error rate. Accordingly, it is desirable to have a packet bit error test capability built into the transmission chip, such as a 10 G SERDES (or higher) chip, that would enable on-the-fly testing of the packet bit error rate of the communications channel.
Furthermore, one of the problems of testing error rate on-the-fly is the high data rate and high clock speeds of a 10 G SERDES communications channel. A 6.4 nanosecond clock, commonly used in the test equipment, translates to 156 megacycles per second. Within the 6.4 nanoseconds available for testing, 80 bits of received data need to be compared to 80 bits of previously transmitted data. Additionally, a 20% margin is required to account for a process variation, therefore, the window for performing the error rate calculation is only 80% of 6.4 nanoseconds. This presents challenges to the designer of a circuit that compares received data with transmitted data, and calculates the bit error rate.


A single mode optical transmission fiber comprises a depressed core having at least 0.41 weight percent fluorine and an index difference (|Δn1|) with pure silica greater than 1.5×10−3, a depressed cladding having at least 1.2 weight percent fluorine and an index difference (|Δn2|) with pure silica greater than 4.5×10−3 and an index difference (|Δn2|−|Δn1|) with the depressed core greater than or equal to 3×10−3.

The refractive index profile of optical fibers is generally qualified in relation to the plotting of a graph that shows the function associating the refractive index of the fiber with the radius of the fiber. Conventionally, the distance, r, to the center of the fiber is shown along the abscissa axis, and the difference between the refractive index of the fiber core and the refractive index of the fiber cladding is shown along the ordinate axis. The index profile is therefore described as "step," "trapezoid," or "triangular" for graphs, showing, respectively, step, trapezoid, or triangular shapes. These curves are generally representative of the theoretical profile (or set profile) of the fiber. The manufacturing of the fiber may lead to a slightly different profile.
An optical fiber conventionally consists of an optical core whose function is to transmit and optionally amplify an optical signal and an optical cladding whose function is to confine the optical signal within the core. For this purpose, the refractive indexes of the core, nc, and the cladding, ng, are such that nc>ng. As is well known, the propagation of an optical signal in a single-mode optical fiber breaks down into a fundamental mode guided in the core and secondary modes guided over a certain distance in the core-cladding assembly (i.e., cladding modes).
The signal transmitted in the fiber undergoes optical losses that accumulate over the distance traveled. These transmission losses increase when the fiber is subjected to ionizing radiation, such as beta, alpha, gamma and X radiation. In this regard, the fiber may be subjected to radiation when it is used for an optical communications system in an environment having ionizing radiation (e.g., in a nuclear plant, a particle acceleration laboratory, or a satellite sent into space). In such environments, radiation may reach dose levels of 100 gray (Gy) or more (i.e., 10,000 rad or more).
Conventionally, Standard Single Mode Fibers (SSMF) are used as line fibers in optical fiber transmission systems. The step index is generally obtained by doping with phosphorus or germanium, which can increase the refractive index. The step index may also be obtained by doping with fluorine, which can reduce the refractive index. These optical fibers (SSMF) have low transmission losses, generally less than 0.4 dB/km over a broad spectral range (at least 1300-1650 nanometers) but are sensitive to ionizing radiation. A SSMF fiber placed in an environment radiating 30 kGy will have its transmission losses increased by 10 to 10,000 dB/km at a wavelength of 1310 nanometers. This increase strongly depends on radiation conditions, particularly dose rate. A conventional SSMF fiber, therefore, is not suitable for use in an optical communications system installed in an environment having high doses of ionizing radiation (e.g., higher than 100 to 1,000 Gy).
Some known fibers are specifically designed for use in an environment where there is ionizing radiation. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,504 discloses a single-mode optical fiber with a germanium-free core. The absence of germanium in the core makes it possible to obtain better resistance to ionizing radiation. The optical cladding is doped with a dopant, such as fluorine, that reduces the refractive index. This patent also discloses an embodiment in which the core of a fiber is slightly fluorine-doped to offset excess oxygen in the core.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,101 discloses an optical fiber resisting X and gamma radiation. This fiber has a core and a cladding doped with fluorine. This patent describes several embodiments with different concentrations of fluorine and germanium. This patent indicates that transmission losses are reduced when the core of the fiber also includes germanium.
International Publication No. WO 2005/109055 discloses an optical fiber with a core of pure silica and a fluorine-doped cladding. This publication indicates that a high ratio (e.g., 9-10) between the diameter of the cladding and the diameter of the core improves the fiber's resistance to ionizing radiation.
The prior art fibers show some resistance to ionizing radiation but nevertheless have high losses under strong radiation, particularly over and above 400 Gy. As noted, standard single mode fibers (SSMFs) are typically used as line fibers in optical fiber transmission systems. Such fibers have a chromatic dispersion and a chromatic dispersion slope meeting specific telecommunications standards. To promote compatibility between the optical systems of different manufacturers, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has established a standard referenced ITU-T G.652, which must be met by a Standard Single Mode Fiber (SSMF). This standard is sub-divided into four sub-standards (A, B, C, and D) of greater or lesser severity.
For example, the G.652B standard for transmission fibers, recommends inter alia: a range of between 8.6 and 9.5 microns for the Mode Field Diameter (MFD) at a wavelength of 1310 nanometers; a maximum of 1260 nanometers for the cabled cut-off wavelength; a range of between 1300 and 1324 nanometers for the zero dispersion wavelength (λ0); and a maximum of 0.093 ps/nm2-km for the chromatic dispersion slope value.
The cabled cut-off wavelength is conventionally measured as the wavelength at which the optical signal is no longer single-mode after propagation over 22 meters of fiber, such as defined by sub-committee 86A of the International Electrotechnical Commission under standard IEC 60793-1-44.
Despite prior efforts, there remains a need for a transmission fiber that shows an improved resistance to high-dose radiation.


A relatively low drag, completely free-flying, tubular vehicle comprises a body that defines a leading edge and a trailing edge and includes an external surface and an internal surface each extending from the leading to the trailing edge. The internal surface has an axially converging upstream section extending from the leading edge to a discontinuity that constitutes a throat in the vehicle. The internal surface also has an axially diverging downstream section extending from the throat to the trailing edge. The internal surface is configured to enable introduction and mixing of fuel into an airstream flowing therethrough, and to generate a shock wave when in flight. The shock wave is of such magnitude and direction as to create a hot spot that subsequently causes ignition and combustion of the fuel-air mixture. The combustion causes formation of a detonation bubble and migration of the associated wave front upstream to stabilize slightly downstream of the throat. The combustion of the fuel results in rapid expansion of combustion products, generating forward thrust against the internal surface of the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to free-flying power plants of use as aerial targets, projectiles or aircraft engines More particularly, this invention pertains to a relatively low drag, completely free-flying, tubular vehicle operable to achieve supersonic combustion in hypersonic flow at atmospheric pressure.
2. Description of Related Prior Art
To propel a free-flying vehicle has generally involved producing a fuel-air mixture and combusting the fuel-air mixture to produce thrust against the vehicle. The flight speed of such a vehicle is proportional to the flow speed of the fuel and air relative to the vehicle and to the speed of combustion of the fuel-air mixture.
Prior art free-flying vehicles have included conventional ramjets, supersonic combustion ramjets, ram accelerators and external propulsion accelerators.
Ramjets comprise a cylindrical cowling around, and spaced apart from, an elongate centrebody. Flow enters a conventional ramjet between the cowling and the centrebody and does so supersonically. However, that flow is made to pass through a shock wave. Three drawbacks result from such passage: (i) combustion of fuel-air mixture takes place at subsonic conditions, (ii) there is significant time for mixing to take place between the fuel and the air and (iii) flame holders are required to stabilize the combustion zone. As a result, conventional ramjets have achieved maximum flight speeds of approximately only Mach 6.
To overcome those drawbacks, and to reach higher flight speeds, supersonic combustion ramjets were developed. In such ramjets the following occurs: (i) rapid shock heating of fuel-air mixture to a temperature greater than its ignition temperature and (ii) subsequent rapid combustion leading to a standing detonation wave downstream from where the fuel is introduced, the standing detonation wave being stabilized over the operational range of flight speeds. As a result, with such ramjets the fuel-air mixture combusts supersonically producing flight speeds up to approximately Mach 8.
Still higher flight speeds are desired, so ram accelerators have been developed. A ram accelerator is basically a ramjet-in-tube device comprising a projectile in a tube. The projectile resembles the centrebody of a ramjet and is accelerated by the release of combustion energy in a stationary tube filled with a combustible gas mixture at approximately 16 to 31 atmospheres. The tube acts like the cowling of a conventional ramjet and the energy release process moves along with the projectile. The projectile can reach speeds greater than Mach 8.
However, ram accelerator combustion requires specific relative shapes and sizes for the projectile and tube. Passage of the front portion of the projectile through the ga must not only compress the gas, without igniting it, but also result in a shock wave being reflected off of the tube. The reflected shock wave then produces a standing detonation wave, outside and behind the projectile, which propels the projectile. As well, it is not clear whether a ram accelerator would work if the reactive gases were not initially at elevated pressure. The use of the tube and of the pressurized gases in the tube therefore means that the projectile cannot be completely free-flying.
External propulsion accelerators are an improvement on ram accelerators. External propulsion accelerators are like ram accelerators in two ways. First, a projectile resembling the centrebody of a ramjet is accelerated by the release of combustion energy in a stationary tube filled with a pressurized combustible gas mixture further compressed by the passage therethrough of the front portion of the projectile. Second, the energy release process moves along with the projectile. However, unlike a ram accelerator, the tube is not used to produce a reflected shock wave and thence to produce a standing detonation wave to propel the projectile. Instead, a standing detonation wave is produced by a blunt step or notch on the outside of the middle of the projectile. The blunt step or notch ignites the gas already compressed by the forward portion of the projectile. It has therefore been theorized that if on-board fuel could be effectively introduced into combustion zones external to the projectile then the projectile could be completely free-flying and reach speeds greater than Mach 8. However, a disadvantage is that the blunt step or notch of the projectile presents a large cross sectional area to the oncoming flow, resulting in very significant levels of aerodynamic drag and hence in reduced flight speed and high specific fuel consumption.

Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of National Defence of Her Majesty's Canadian Government


In a CW radar system for detecting motion behind a wall involving modulation of the radar transmission, means are provided to interrupt the CW wave when motion is detected and to use the same radar transmitter to transmit a serial digital message to a remote monitoring receiver. The encoding can include a receiver wakeup message to turn on the receiver only when motion has been detected. In one embodiment, a microprocessor is used to detect when motion exists behind a wall and to provide a tailorable message to modulate the radar's transmitter in the period when the CW signal from the radar is turned off after motion detection.

As described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,633,254 issued to Eldon Sutphin, assigned to the assignee hereof and incorporated herein by reference, in the past, low-powered radar systems have been employed for use in intrusion alarms, vehicle sensing, surveillance and through-wall detection.
In one application, a CW radar is utilized to project energy through a wall and into a room where it is returned by moving objects such as an individual. The reflected energy from the moving object is indicated by a phase variation between the incident radiation and the reflected radiation such that, by measuring the phase difference of signals transmitted by the antenna and signals received by the same antenna, one can detect the presence of an individual in a room.
Systems employing such radars can also be adapted to provide an indication of not only the existence of a moving individual, but also the range of the individual to the particular radar involved. Moreover, such CW radars can be used with antennas at differing positions to be able to more accurately locate an individual and, for instance, to discriminate between individuals who move and stationary articles within a room.
The ability of small lightweight radars to penetrate walls is useful, for instance, in detecting individuals in a burning building or to conduct surveillance on individuals, both for police work and for military purposes.
In such applications, it is oftentimes necessary to have the individual manning the radar equipment to be removed from the radar itself for a number of reasons. One reason is that heat or other radiation from a building may be such as to preclude the presence of an individual manning the radar at the site.
Secondly, it may be desirable to have the individual manning the radar removed from the site due to, for instance, hostile actions taken when the individual is at the building. Also, covert operations require that the individual manning the radar be remote from the sensing location so as to remain undetected. Also, for motion detection-type radars, having an individual adjacent the radar may result in false alarms due to the individual being in the back lobe of the radar antenna. In such a case the radar may detect the movement of the individual manning the radar as opposed to movement of an individual within a building or within the main lobe of the radar beam.
For intrusion alarms, vehicle sensing and other surveillance applications, it is thus important to have an unmanned radar and to be able to monitor the results of the radar surveillance at a central location removed from the point at which the radar measurements are taken. Thus, for instance, if one wants to use multiple radars to surveille a given area, it is important to be able to have the radars communicate with a central location so that the individual radars need not be manned. Additionally, when radars are moved by robotic systems to be able to accurately pinpoint individuals within a building, oftentimes it is a requirement that the individual control the robot from a distance. This being the case, the radar returns must be displayed and/or analyzed at some distant point.
The aforementioned patent performs the communications functions but does so by continuously projecting the CW wave. The remote signaling is accomplished by modulating the frequency of the continuous wave. The result is that remote receivers used to monitor the radar returns must remain on continuously. This results in unnecessary power drain for these battery-powered receivers. Moreover, receivers oftentimes receive garbled transmissions if more than one radar is used, for instance, to improve on range measurements or to triangulate on a moving individual. Thus in the past there was no convenient way to separate out signals from multiple radars, much less specifically code returns from a given radar, either to address only a particular receiver or to provide a serial digital message.
Also, when attempting to monitor movement, it would be convenient if the multiple radars could communicate on a single communication channel. Since the radars would normally be operating on different frequencies or channels, it would be advantageous to be able to switch these radars to a single frequency for communications.
There is therefore a need to be able to address different remote receivers, like pagers, and to be able to convey information about detected movement without having to use a separate transmitter at the radar.

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.


A passenger seat includes a seat bottom and a seat back operably coupled to the seat bottom. The passenger seat is translatable fore-and-aft and side-to-side in a horizontal direction, and is rotatable about a vertical axis so as to be oriented in any desired horizontal direction. The passenger seat is movable between an upright seating position and a reclined sleeping position. A passenger seating arrangement consists of a plurality of passenger seats arranged in a column with adjacent passenger seats separated by a privacy divider. A tray table carried by the privacy divider is mounted so as to be selectively raised and lowered and to be rotatable about a horizontal axis. Each passenger seat may include a leg rest operably coupled to the seat bottom and movable between a lowered position and a raised position for use in the upright seating position and the reclined sleeping position, respectively.

The invention relates to passenger seating. More particularly, the invention relates to a passenger seat that is both translatable and rotatable between an upright seating position and a reclined sleeping position within a minimal amount of space.
Long-haul aircraft regularly fly non-stop flights to destinations 12-18 hours or more from the origination point. At present, first class cabins provide various forms of "sleeper seats" in which a movable seat back reclines to the point where the passenger is able to attain a prone or nearly-prone position. In some cases the seat forms a substantially horizontal sleeping surface, while in other cases the seat back of the seat is raised somewhat above the remainder of the seat with the seat back fully reclined. The seat is also typically separated from an adjacent seat by a privacy divider.
Although such sleeper seats provide acceptable passenger comfort, certain disadvantages remain. Because aircraft operating costs are directly linked to the physical size and attendant aerodynamic drag of the fuselage, it is desirable to make the aircraft cabin as small as possible. Existing sleeper seats consume a large amount of space within the aircraft cabin, thereby increasing the size of the aircraft required to accommodate a desired number of sleeper seats in a predetermined configuration. In addition, the accompanying privacy dividers oftentimes leave the passenger with an undesirable "confined" sensation when the seat is not being used for sleeping.
Accordingly, there is a need for a passenger seat that provides both a comfortable upright sitting position and a comfortable reclined sleeping position, while minimizing the amount of space consumed by the seat within an aircraft cabin.

Translatable and rotatable passenger seat


A method is provided for output validation of data processing systems, performed by one or more processors. The method comprises aggregating at least a portion of a first data table, which is an output of a data pipeline of a first data processing system, into a first aggregated data table; aggregating at least a portion of a second data table, which is an output of a data pipeline of a second data processing system, into a second aggregated data table; the second data processing system being designed to perform essentially a same functionality as the first data processing system; performing a data comparison between the first aggregated data table and the second aggregated data table to obtain a data differentiating table; performing a schema comparison between the first aggregated data table and the second aggregated data table to obtain a schema differentiating table; generating a summary from the data differentiating table and the schema differentiating table; and deriving a value from the summary that indicates a similarity between the output of the data pipeline of the first data processing system and the output of the data pipeline of the second data processing system.

Cross-validation of outputs of computing systems, for example data analysis systems or data analytics systems, involves many hardware and software issues. Cross-validation is required, for example, when two systems run side by side or when a second system is obtained from a first system by migration. The idea is that a legacy system is (gradually) abandoned and a successor system replaces it and takes over its functionality but performs it more efficiently, for example faster. Although computing devices are able to work with mathematical precision, many technical problems may arise and it cannot be assumed that the successor system is able to perform the functions of the legacy system identically. In a migration from one data analysis system to another, for example from a legacy system to a target system, which involves the processing of large data tables (in the order of gigabytes or more) by using different technology, languages, formats and algorithms to transfer the data to its outputs, it cannot be avoided that data items mismatch, get corrupted, lose accuracy or get lost or that the data schema do not fit. Reasons can be for example incompatibilities relating to hardware (e.g. different architecture, processors, memory) or to the compiler differences between the legacy system and the successor system or also incompatibilities in the data schemas used by the two different systems or different assumptions, specifications or prioritization done in the two different systems.
The question whether a migration has been successful/accurate or not is partly subjective and depends on many factors, last but not least on the individual situation, i.e. the specific use case. While in some cases, a migration may be considered to be successful because less accuracy of migration is required, a same migration accuracy could be considered to be unacceptable in another case. Although migration validation could be performed by direct comparison of a source output table and the migrated output table, this is not always practical, for instance because it would require transmitting a very large source output table over a network, and sometimes is not possible at all. While technical reasons for not being able to transmit the data may rely on network, bandwidth and security issues, there may also regulatory restrictions that prohibit the transmission of data from one system to another. It would also be desirable to have an automatic system that is able to indicate quantitatively whether a migration has been successful or not in the given circumstances, avoiding the need for manual checking and validation, which is often very expensive in time and resources for large datasets.

Output validation of data processing systems


When any component equipment of a draining pump plant is failed, the present necessity of drainage and a failure level of a drain pump involved with the failure are evaluated to determine conditions of continuing or stopping operation of the drain pump involved with the failure on the basis of the evaluated values. When the necessity of continuing the drainage operation is high, the operation is continued as far as possible, taking into account the pump failure level. The possibility of the drainage preference operation is thus maximized in the case of not only a minor failure but also a major failure of the pump, for preventing damage from a flood.

The present invention relates to a drainage preference operating method which can prevent stop of drain pumps as far as possible and enables a draining pump plant to fulfill its function maximally even when any component equipment of the draining pump plant breaks down, and a draining pump system which implements the operating method.
A draining pump system such as for use in draining pump plants serves to collect water drained off from urban districts, introduce the water into an influent tank, and pump out the water, flowing into the influent tank, to rivers or other watercourses by using a plurality of drain pumps. The draining pump system is comprised of prime movers for driving respective drain pumps, and a group of auxiliaries for supplying fuel, lubricating oil, cooling water, air, etc. to the drain pumps and the prime movers. Because this type draining pump system is generally intended to prevent drainage areas from being flooded, there is a demand to continuously operate the drain pumps as far as possible under a condition of large influent amount even if the pumps are found failed.
As a step to be taken in the even of such a failure, conventional draining pump plants has been designed to divide failures into two categories, i.e., minor and m for failures, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-294992, for example. More specifically, failures of the type that can be judged as not leading to damages of the equipment for some time to come are grouped as minor ones. In this case, only an buzzer alarm is effected and operation of the relevant drain pump is continued. On the other hand, failures of the type that can be judged as leading to damages of the equipment in a short time are grouped as major ones. In this case, not only an buzzer alarm is effected, but also operation of the relevant drain pump is brought into emergent stop.
For the purpose of earlier restoration from failures, it has also been practiced to install a failure diagnosis device for pursuing the failure cause, or a failure adaptive guidance device for expediting the restoration from failures. One of this type devices is described in, by way of example, "Pump Plant Failure Diagnosis System", Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Technical Report, Vol. 26, No. 2 (March 1989).
In practice, however, judgment on a degree of necessity for operating individual drain pumps and the presence or absence of past operation record under a failed condition is still made only relying upon experiences and perception of an operator. This means that emergent operation of failed drain pumps is performed without definite judgment standards.
Further, the technique of checking the interior of equipment by fiber scopes or judging a normality level of equipment based on analysis of vibrations during the operation has been improved recently. This type technique is however employed just in judging the need of repair.
In the prior art stated above, a degree of failure is evaluated using reference values for failure judgment which are fixedly determined and whether to continue or stop operation of a drain pump is judged on the basis of the evaluation result, taking into account neither the operating state of the drain pump nor a tendency in changes of the failed condition until reaching the reference values for failure judgment. Accordingly, there has suffered from the problem that the drain pump may be stopped even in no need of stopping it in its actual state, thus disabling of cover the amount of water required to be pumped out, or that any equipment may be damaged with undue continuation of the operation.

Draining pump system and drainage preference operating method therefor


A device has first and second units that lights an object at first or second incident angles; a unit that generates image signals according to the intensity of the received light; units that guides diffusely and specularly reflected light from the object to the image-input unit; units that generates glossiness information, and texture information for the object, and image data based on image signals generated; a unit that generates and outputs the image data from glossiness information, texture information, and image data.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to obtaining information on appearance of an object.
2. Related Art
Objects have many different appearances. For example, a surface of polished metal has a smooth and glossy appearance, whereas a surface of fabric has a unique uneven appearance caused by a textured structure generated by warp and woof of the fabric.
There are techniques of generating glossiness information using an image-reading device such as a scanner or an input unit of a photocopier.
However the appearance of an object depends not only on its glossiness, but also on its texture caused by its unevenness, as explained above. Thus, information on glossiness of an object is not sufficient to enable realistic reproduction of an image of the object.
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides device and method for obtaining appearance information.

Device and method for obtaining appearance information


The present invention discloses a liquid crystal display device, comprising: a first upper substrate including: a) a switching element on the first upper substrate; b) a passivation film formed over the whole surface of the first upper substrate while covering the switching element; c) a pixel electrode on the passivation film; d) a black matrix formed on the passivation film and over the switching element; e) a color filter formed over the pixel electrode; and f) a first orientation film formed on the black matrix and the color filter and above the pixel electrode; a lower second substrate having a common electrode and a second orientation film, the orientation film formed on the common electrode; sealing the first and second substrates with a sealant and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the first upper and second lower substrates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, a liquid crystal display device adopts a structure wherein a color filter and a black matrix are formed over a thin film transistor array substrate to obtain a higher aperture ratio. The liquid crystal display device having such a structure (hereinafter, referred to simply as "the C/F and BM on array structure") includes a top substrate, a bottom substrate, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two opposite substrates. The bottom substrate has an array of thin film transistors formed over the top surface of the bottom substrate, and both a black matrix and a color filter are formed over the thin film transistor array.
As described above, the liquid crystal display device having the C/F and BM on array structure has the advantage of a high aperture ratio. However, most of the liquid crystal display devices having the C/F and BM on array structure have an additional black matrix formed over the bottom surface of the top substrate in order to prevent a diffused reflection, or a reflection or dispersion of light.
FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating arrangement of the thin film transistors and the pixels of the conventional liquid crystal display device having the C/F and BM on array substrate.
Referring to the FIG. 1, on a first substrate 10 of the liquid crystal display device, a plurality of gate lines 32 are arranged in a transverse direction and spaced apart from each other, and a plurality of data lines 36 are arranged in a longitudinal direction perpendicular to the gate lines 32 and spaced apart from each other. Pixel electrodes A1 to A9 are respectively formed over an area defined by the two adjacent gate lines 32 and two adjacent data lines 36, and thin film transistors 20 are respectively formed near cross points of the gate lines 32 and the data lines 36.
Each of the thin film transistors 20 has a gate, a source, and a drain electrode. The gate electrode, the source electrode and the drain electrode are electrically connected with the gate line 32, the data line 36, and the pixel electrode, respectively.
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view showing the typical transmissive liquid crystal display device having the C/F and BM on array structure. Referring to FIG. 2, in the conventional liquid crystal display device, a second substrate 50 (as an upper substrate) is aligned with the first substrate 10 (as a lower substrate), a liquid crystal layer 60 is interposed between the two opposite substrates 10 and 50, and a back light device 80 is positioned under the first substrate 10.
On the first substrate 10, a gate electrode 22 of the thin film transistor 20 is formed, and a gate insulating layer 42 is formed on the exposed surface of the substrate 10 while covering the gate electrode 22.
On the gate insulating layer 42, a semiconductor island 24 of the thin film transistor 20 is formed over the gate electrode 22, and an ohmic contact layer 26 of the thin film transistor 20 is formed on the semiconductor island 24.
Further, the source and the drain electrodes 28a and 29b (spaced apart from each other) are formed covering the ohmic contact layer 26 over the semiconductor island 24, and a passivation film 48 is formed covering the thin film transistors 20, and has a contact hole 30 on a predetermined portion of the drain electrode 28b. The pixel electrode 102 is formed on the passivation film 48 and is electrically connected with the corresponding drain electrode 28b through the corresponding contact hole 30. A first black matrix 46 is formed on a portion of the passivation film 48 over the TFT.
Color filter 104 of red (R), green (G) and blue (B) are formed on the corresponding pixel electrode 102, respectively. FIG. 2 shows only the color filter layers G and R.
On the color filter 104 and the black matrix 46, a first orientation film 44 is formed and faced with liquid crystal layer 60.
On the bottom surface of the second substrate 50, a second black matrix 56 is formed. The second black matrix 56 has the almost same shape as the black matrix 46 of the first substrate 10. A common electrode 52 is formed to cover the second black matrix 56.
On the bottom surface of the common electrode 52, a second orientation film 54 is formed and faced with the liquid crystal 60.
At this point, the first black matrix 46 of the first substrate 10 serves to prevent light from passing through the gap between the gate line 32 and the pixel electrode 102 and the data line 36 and the pixel electrode 102, and shield the thin film transistors 20 from incident light. In other words, the first black matrix and the color filter are usually formed at the substrate having the thin film transistors in order to improve the aperture ratio by minimizing an alignment margin which is employed when the first and second substrates 10 and 50 are aligned with and fixed to each other.
However, the second black matrix 56 of the second substrate 50 is adopted to prevent a degradation of a contrast ratio, or a variation of the colors. The variation of colors may occur when elements of dispersed light passing through the respective color filter layers are mixed in a region of the adjacent color filter layer. It is preferred that the width of the second black matrix 56 is narrower than that of the first black matrix 46 in order not to affect the alignment margin.
Though the width of the second black matrix 56 is narrower than that of the first black matrix 46, since both the first and the second substrates have the first and second black matrices, respectively, the substrate-aligning process is complicated, leading to increase in alignment error. That is to say, the addition of the second black matrix results in an addition of an inferiority factor to the substrate-aligning process.
Further, the number of processes for forming the second black matrix 56 at the second substrate is increased due to the addition of the additional black matrices 56.
For the foregoing reason, there is a need for a liquid crystal display device that is free from the effect of the dispersion reflection, and has a high aperture ratio and a simplified substrate-aligning process.

Liquid crystal display device with light absorbing layers


The disclosure provides a computer system and a boot method thereof performing steps of: establishing an order of interrupt vectors for an interruption according to an order of BBS tables of hardware peripherals; preserving empty spaces in a first address space of a memory when the hardware peripherals are being initialized; inserting the BBS tables into the empty spaces if the initialized hardware peripherals are first hardware peripherals, or inserting the BBS tables into the first address space except the empty spaces if the initialized hardware peripherals are not the first hardware peripherals; disabling the hardware peripherals except a second hardware peripheral; and rebooting the computer system to activate the remote operating system under a preboot execution environment via one of the first hardware peripherals after the second hardware peripheral boots the preboot execution environment to install a remote operating system into the one of the first hardware peripherals.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The disclosure relates to a computer system and a boot method thereof, and more particularly to a computer system, supporting a preboot execution environment (PXE), and a boot method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Because the network transmission speed nowadays is getting higher, networks are employed to support the installation of operating systems of computer systems (e.g. desktop computers, notebooks and network computers) and support acquiring data, which is required by computer systems, from remote servers.
Generally, connecting to remote servers through networks is based on a preboot execution environment (PXE) technology. The PXE technology not only can acquire data from a remote server to support the booting of a computer system but also can install an operating system and application programs into the computer system via the remote server. More particularly, in order to carry out the above remote operation, the preboot execution environment is written into a flash memory in a network card (or called as network interface card or network interface controller.
Before the computer system installs its operating system via the network card supporting the preboot execution environment, users have to set the network card supporting the preboot execution environment to be the first boot option (Boot Option #1) having the first priority in a boot menu 20 shown in FIG. 1A. FIG. 1A is a schematic view of a boot menu before a conventional host device is installed with an operating system. The priorities of the first boot option (Boot Option #1), a second boot option (Boot Option #2) and a third boot option (Boot Option #3) are sorted from high to low. In FIG. 1A, the boot menu 20 is in an interface of a basic input output system (BIOS) and shows the model of the network card as "IBA XE Slot 0400 v2196" and a block 30 which provides users with footnotes of function keys.
In order to prevent the computer system from repeating the installation of its operation, after the operating system is installed into the network card supporting the preboot execution environment, the users still have to set a hard disk drive (HDD), which the operating system is installed into, to be a new first boot option in the boot menu 20 so that the computer system can enter into this installed operating system, as shown in FIG. 1B. FIG. 1B is a schematic view of the boot menu after the conventional host device is installed with an operating system.
However, during the installation of the operating system of the conventional computer system, the priority of every boot option in the boot menu 20 has to be edited many times, and when the boot of the network card supporting the preboot execution environment fails, other hardware peripheral (e.g. the HDD indicated by the second boot option or the USB indicated by the third boot option) listed in the boot menu 20 in FIG. 1A will be booted. Moreover, if there are many remote servers and the computer system attempts to install its operating system via the network card supporting the preboot execution environment, information about all of the hardware peripherals in the computer system will not be known accurately in real time because the network card randomly chooses one of the remote servers to install the operating system.

System and method for installing an OS via a network card supporting PXE

INVENTEC (PUDONG) TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION


A package contains conductive inks or slurries adapted for attachment to a screen printer for applying the inks to a substrate for firing into printed circuit boards. The bag interior containing the ink is formed between a liquid and gaseous impermeable top wall connected along its periphery to a bottom wall formed with openings through which the ink is adapted to migrate towards the print screen under vacuum. A seal member extends around the entire periphery of the bag and is adapted to sealingly mate with a corresponding fastening element attached to the print frame to form an air seal between the bag and print frame in operative position. A removable, peel-away cover normally covers the screen bottom wall to allow the bag to have a long shelf life.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a screen printer disclosed in my above-identified co-pending application. The printer uses a vacuum pull-down method for deflecting a printing screen 502 which is coated with viscous ink, into contact with a substrate 100. In the preferred embodiment the substrate is a printed circuit board substrate and the ink comprises conductive metal particles suspended in a viscous carrier or screening agent. It should be understood, however, that other types of substrates and inks may be used with this printer (all such materials are collectively referred to hereafter as "ink").
Printing screen 502, in which a desired printing pattern has been formed by conventional means, is supported in a screen holder 504. Holder 504 is mounted at either side to frame mount arms 506 and 508 by support members 510 and 512 and bolts 737 and 738. Frame mount arms 506 and 508 are fixably mounted at one end to pivot bar 518. Pivot bar 518 extends through a pair of positioning devices 520 and 522, described hereinafter, which are used to adjust the position of pivot bar 518 along the Y-axis and around the Z-axis (commonly referred to as the "theta axis"). Positioning devices 520 and 522 are manually controlled, respectively, by knobs 534 and 536. Adjusting knob 772 is used to adjust the position of screen holder 504 along the X-axis. Thus, by turning knobs 534, 536 and 772, the operator can adjust the position of screen holder 504 until screen 502 is precisely registered above substrate 100.
A pair of counterweights 524 and 526 are rigidly attached to pivot bar 518, allowing the operator to easily rotate screen holder 504 about pivot bar 518. Alternatively, air springs may be used for this purpose. The operator does so by grasping handle 528 and either lifting it until the screen holder is in the fully opened position or pushing it downward until the bottom edges of the screen holder contact vacuum seal 678 inserted into the upper surface of support frame 530. Support frame 530 has a central recess therein, in which substrate 100 is positioned on top of printing platen 556. Platen 556 is bonded to a product carrier 550 (illustrated in FIG. 2). Product carrier 550 and, hence, platen 556 may be adjusted along the Z axis by rotating knobs 708A and 708B, to thereby space substrate 100 from screen 502 to the desired degree. Platen 556 has regularly spaced apertures 558 therein used for substrate hold-down, as described below. Non-porous tape 557 (FIG. 2) is used to cover the apertures in platen 556 not covered by the substrate.
When screen holder 504 is rotated to the fully down position, the rear section thereof depresses a micro-switch 529, which causes a vacuum to draw substrate 100 into firm contact with platen 556, thereby preventing relative movement between them during the printing operation. In the down position the surface of screen 502 is essentially parallel to the surface of substrate 100. After ink has been applied to the upper surface of screen 502, filling all of the unmasked screen openings, a vacuum print system is energized. This system evacuates the region between substrate 100 and screen 502, causing screen 502 to deflect downward into contact with substrate 100 and ink to be transferred through the screen openings onto the substrate.
After ink transfer, the vacuum is released and the operator rotates screen holder 504 away from substrate 100, removes the substrate from the printer and inserts the next substrate for printing. Concurrent with release of the print vacuum, a pilot actuated valve is operated to vent the print chamber to atmospheric pressure, thereby avoiding a double strike of ink onto the substrate. Upon rotating screen holder 504 away from substrate 100, micro-switch 529 is opened, shutting off the hold-down vacuum and returning the pneumatic hold-down system 900 to the standby mode. Screen 502 may be removed from holder 504 whenever the operator desires to do so, such as at the end of a production run.
FIG. 2 depicts a sectional view of screen holder 504, support frame 530 and the hold-down mechanism for a substrate 100. A product carrier 550 is positioned in a recess of the support frame. The recess periphery is defined by the vertical portions of side members 705 and 707, a front member and a rear member (not shown in detail), while the recess bottom is defined by support member 531. The lateral dimensions of product carrier 550 are slightly less than the corresponding dimensions of the recess, thereby defining an evacuation channel 552 between product carrier 550 and recess.
Screen holder 504 employs an extruded channel 660 having a U-shaped cross-section. In the preferred embodiment, channel 660 is made of aluminum. Four sections of such channel stock are welded together into a rectangular frame, as shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, screen holder 504 is in a partially open position, while in FIG. 2 it is in the fully down position.
A tensioning bar 662, shown in cross-section in FIG. 2, runs the length of channel 660 and is secured to the top portion 664 of U-shaped channel 660 by a plurality of securing bolts 666. Securing bolts 666 are fed through a plurality of bores spaced symmetrically about channel 660. A plurality of tension adjusting bolts 668 are secured to tensioning bar 662 through outside leg 675 of U-shaped channel 660. Again, bolts 668 are spaced symmetrically along the length of channel 660. Tensioning bar 662 has an offset portion 670 which has two legs 672 forming a U-shaped recess 673 that accepts a tensioning rod 674 therein. The inner sides of legs 672 are tapered inwardly so that the entrance to recess 673 is slightly wider than the diameter of rod 674 combined with a single wrap of screen 502, while the bottom of recess 673 is slightly narrower than the rod 674/screen 502 combination, so that when rod 674 is inserted therein it is held snugly. In the preferred embodiment tensioning rod 674 is made of stainless steel and may be inserted along the entire length of channel 660.
Printing screen 502 passes over the inside leg 676 of channel 660, over leg 672 and is secured in recess 673 by tensioning rod 674. Inside leg 676 has a rounded bottom 677 and is slightly longer than outside leg 675. Screen 502 is stretched taut by adjusting bolts 666 around the periphery of channel 660. Inside leg 676 is rounded to reduce the likelihood of tearing screen 502 where the two come in contact. Support frame 530 has a channel 680 spaced around the periphery of the recess, as shown more clearly in FIG. 7a of my aforesaid copending application.
Referring again to FIG. 2, the seal 678 (in Figure) is inserted into channel 680, so that when U-shaped channel 660 is in the fully down position, rounded bottom 677 of inner leg 676 rests on the seal. In the preferred embodiment seal 680 is made of very low durometer rubber (e.g., 50-60 DUR). Since rounded bottom 677 is pulled downward into the seal by vacuum pressure during the printing operation, slightly shorter outside leg 675 rests against the top surface of support frame 530 when screen holder 504 is in the fully-down position.
As indicated above, screen 502 has been treated in conventional manner before insertion into holder 504 so that the openings therein define the desired pattern to be printed on substrate 100. When ink of sufficient viscosity is applied to the upper surface of screen 502, these openings remain covered prior to printing. In the preferred embodiment, the ink has a minimum viscosity of approximately 200,000 centipoise. Thus, when screen 502 is tautly mounted in screen holder 504, as described above, and holder 504 is in the fully-down position, two parallel air-tight paths are defined, one for screen hold-down and the other for substrate hold-down during the printing operation.
Referring again to FIG. 2, the screen hold-down path begins with the region 555 between screen 502 and platen 556, and continues along evacuation channel 552 to evacuation port 604, through fitting 606, hose 608, and a fitting (at 613 in my aforesaid copending '049 application at FIG. 8) to vacuum hold-down system (at 900, shown in FIG. 12 of my aforesaid copending '049 application). When a vacuum is drawn along this path, screen 502 is deflected downward into contact with substrate 100, and ink on the upper surface of screen 502 is drawn through the openings therein into contact with substrate 100. When the vacuum is released, screen 502 returns to its normal unstretched position, but a quantity of ink is transferred to the surface of substrate 100 through a combination of vacuum and meniscus forces, thereby defining the desired pattern on substrate 100.
The substrate hold-down path begins with apertures 558 in platen 556, and runs through channels 554 and manifold grooves in product carrier 550, hollow shafts 584 and 586 in vertical adjusting bolt 564, bore 588 in vertical adjustment mount bracket 567, fitting 578 and hose 591 to vacuum system 900. The vacuum drawn through this path holds substrate 100 firmly in contact with platen 556 during the printing operation so that it does not move in response to meniscus forces when screen 502 returns to its unstretched rest position.
It is important to maintain the viscosity of the conductive ink at predetermined levels to ensure adequate flow through the screen 502 during printing. If, however, suitable conductive inks or slurries are improperly stored prior to use, solvents or binders within the inks may be subjected to evaporation which dries the ink and changes the viscosity to possibly unacceptable levels. Additionally, if the inks are stored in an oxygen containing environment, oxidation of the conductive metals in the ink is likely to occur which may disadvantageously prevent complete fusing of the ink to the substrate at controlled temperature.
It is accordingly one object of the present invention to provide packaging for conductive slurries or inks which allow for long shelf life of the inks prior to use.
Another object is to maintain the viscosity of the ink at predetermined levels to ensure adequate flow through a screen during printing by preventing evaporation of volatiles and other components in the ink.
Still another object is to store the ink out of contact with oxygen to prevent oxidation of conductive metals in the ink.
A further object is to store ink in packaging which is easily attachable to a screen print frame for easy and immediate use.

Conductive ink packaging for printed circuit board screen printing operations


A cementitious fiberboard sprayed with an acrylic sand composition and enamel spray paint which is then tooled to a brick-looking face. Variations in the brick-like color and texture are provided by varying the acrylic paint color and sand particle size and density.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fabricated panels and, more specifically, to a cementitious fiberboard sprayed with an acrylic sand composition and enamel spray paint which is then tooled to a brick-looking face. Variations in the brick-like color and texture are provided by varying the acrylic paint color and sand particle size and density.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other fabricated panels' designed as building materials. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 2,178,535 issued to Willson on Oct. 31, 1939.
Another patent was issued to Bilodeau on Apr. 6, 1965 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,177,279. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,218 was issued to Bixel, Jr. on May 6, 1975 and still yet another was issued on Aug. 14, 1979 to Wilhelm as U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,598.
Another patent was issued to Schiffer on Sep. 14, 1982 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,588. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 4,510,729 was issued to Syring on 4,510,729. Another was issued to McKinnon on Dec. 4, 1990 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,303 and still yet another was issued on Apr. 2, 1996 to Zember et al. as U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,941.
Another patent was issued to Sherry on Aug. 4, 1998 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,666. Yet another Japan Patent No. JP2000120248 was issued to Nakama on Apr. 25, 2000. Another was issued to Moore et al. on Jul. 21, 1971 as U.K. Patent No. GB 1240041.


An electronic device including a housing, a connector port and a switching device is provided. The connector port is embedded in the housing for a peripheral device inserted therein to electrically connect thereto. The processor is electrically connected to the connector port and comprises a detection pin and a 1-wire pin. The switching device is coupled between the connector port and the processor to selectively connect the connector port to one of the detection pin or the 1-wire pin. When the peripheral device is inserted into the connector port, the processor controls the switching device to connect the connector port to the detection pin to determine whether the connected peripheral device is a 1-wire device. When the processor determines that the connected peripheral device is a 1-wire device, the processor controls the switching device to connect the connector port to the 1-wire pin and the processor executes 1-wire communication with the peripheral device via the 1-wire pin.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a communication method between an electronic device and a peripheral device, and more particularly to a communication method between an electronic device and a 1-wire peripheral device.
Description of the Related Art
Portable devices, such as smart phones, tablets or personal digital assistants, have become necessities in business or for personal usage. To increase the functionality of portable devices, lots of peripheral devices have been developed for the portable devices. Furthermore, to decrease the number of types of connectors of the portable devices and the complexity of the bus, a 1-wire bus has therefore been adopted. The 1-wire bus is a simple bus having only one transmission line, where control and communication can be implemented. The number of Input/output ports can be saved and the system design of portable devices can be made simpler, thus, reducing hardware costs for manufacturing. However, even if portable devices do not connect to a 1-wire device, the portable device still must poll the 1-wire bus. Thus, power consumption is increased, affecting limited battery power, thereby decreasing the usage time of the portable device.

Portable device and peripheral extension dock


An automatic transmission includes a case; a speed change mechanism; a torque converter having a lock-up clutch axially arranged and freely slidably toward and away from the input shaft; a thrust bearing interposed between the flange unit and the side face of the sleeve unit on the input shaft side; a ball bearing that includes an outer race, a side face of which contacts the first step portion toward the input shaft side, and a propeller shaft connecting member capable of connecting with a propeller shaft, spline-engaging with the outer periphery of the output shaft, and contacting a side face of an inner race of the ball bearing upon being pressed axially toward the input shaft side by the propeller shaft.

The present invention relates to an automatic transmission.
There exists an automatic transmission that is mounted in a vehicle such as a front engine rear drive (FR) type. A torque converter is coaxially arranged between an output shaft (a crankshaft) of the engine and a propeller shaft transmitting a rotation to the rear wheels in the vehicle. The torque converter is connected to the output shaft of the engine, and to a speed change mechanism that shifts a rotation of the torque converter and transmits the rotation to the propeller shaft.
In the speed change mechanism, the input shaft and the output shaft are rotatably fitted directly or via an intermediate shaft. A single-shaft aligned center axis is structured by the shaft in a both-end support state by a case, a gear mechanism including rotary members such as each gear of the planetary gears, a hub member connecting these gears, a sleeve member, a (clutch) drum member, and the like. In addition, among these rotary members, rotary members, except for what are fixed on the center axis (the input shaft, the intermediate shaft, and the output shaft), are rotatably supported on the center axis by a sleeve or a needle bearing and the like and are also supported in the axial direction by a thrust bearing and the like interposed among each rotary member.
By the way, the propeller shaft generates torsion because a rotational torque acts when it transmits a driving rotation. The changes of torsion magnitude by torque variation cause expansion and contraction. Therefore, for example, a pressing force and a tensile force are applied to the output shaft fixed in the propeller shaft via a flange yoke and the like from the axially rear side. In particular, when the output shaft is pressed from the rear side and moves to the front side, there is a possibility that the input shaft moves via a thrust bearing and the like interposed among the rotary members. The torque converter provided with a lock-up clutch is affected on the axial position of the lock-up clutch. Therefore, it is possible for a slip to occur at the time of non-engagement, and controllability in an engagement control (a slip control) is adversely affected.
Therefore, there has been proposed a ball bearing that rotatably supports the output shaft in the axial direction (see, for example, German Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10230861 (DE10230861A1)). This positions and fixes an outer race of the ball bearing for the case, pinches an inner race of the ball bearing by a flange yoke for the output shaft by fastening a backward nut, and also positions and supports the axial position of the output shaft by the ball bearing.