Polycarbonates (PC) can be blended over all compositions with block copolymers containing polyaromatic(alkyl)methacrylates (PAAM) to form modified but transparent polycarbonates for a number of applications. Furthermore, additional homopolymers corresponding to those in the block copolymer may also be added to further modify the properties of the polycarbonate while still retaining transparency. Polycarbonate plus PAAM block copolymers containing from 1 to 99% by weight PC behave as transparent materials with the PC and the PAAM block forming a continuous, single phase material.

1. Field of the Invention:
Polymer blends containing a polycarbonate (PC) and one or more block copolymers having the general structures: A-b-B (diblock); A-b-B-b-A (triblock); B-b-A-b-B (triblock); or (A-B).sub.n (multiblock) as examples, where the A block is a polymer of an aromatic(alkyl)methacrylate (PAAM) such as polyphenyl methacrylate, polybenzyl methacrylate or polyphenylethyl methacrylate; the B block is a rubbery polymer such as polyisoprene (PiP), polybutadiene (PBD), polylauryl methacrylate (PLM), siloxane rubber or polybutyl acrylate (PBA); and "b" indicates a block structure. When thoroughly mixed with polycarbonate the block copolymers enhance thick section toughness and low temperature impact strength without impairing transparency.
2. Discussion of the Background:
The present invention pertains to PC/PAAM-b-B binary blends, as well as ternary blends containing up to 15% of additional PAAM and/or B homopolymers. These compositions contain a thermodynamically miscible, single phase of PC and PAAM, plus very finely dispersed particles of the B block in a separate phase, which are usually on the order of 40 to 2,000 angstroms and thus much smaller than the wavelength of light. The combined effects of the single phase nature of the PC/PAAM mixture plus the very small size of the dispersed second block leads to an optically transparent material. Furthermore, the chemical attachment of the B block to the PAAM block assures perfect adhesion and translation of physical properties from the B block to the PC/PAAM phase. Thus, one can obtain a mixture which combines the advantageous properties of two dissimilar materials and still maintain transparency. A fine and stable dispersion that retains transparency can only be obtained through the use of block copolymers which have one block that is thermodynamically miscible with the polycarbonate. Thus, the basis of this invention is two-fold: 1) the synthesis of block copolymers having one block that is thermodynamically miscible with PC and another block capable of improving some deficiency of polycarbonate; and 2) preparation of blends of such block copolymers with PC (and optionally, additional corresponding homopolymers) which exhibit improved properties over polycarbonate alone, yet retain the benefit of its clarity.
Aromatic polycarbonates exhibit good thermal stability, good dimensional stability, good impact strength in thin sections, relatively good stiffness and most notably good transparency. For these reasons, PC is used in a variety of applications including glass replacement, housings, medical devices and containers. Nevertheless, PC does have drawbacks such as poor scratch resistance, poor long term U.V. stability and poor stress birefringence which must be dealt with, especially in demanding optical applications. Moreover, it is often desirable to improve the processability, thick section toughness and low temperature impact strength of PC without sacrificing its transparency.
Block copolymers are a general class of materials that exhibit a wide range of properties and are unique in their ability to "microphase separate" which refers to a fine separation of the two dissimilar polymer blocks into distinct phases.
Methacrylic ester based polymers suffer from poor dimensional stability and poor heat distortion yet have good clarity, surface hardness, U.V. resistance and processability. For this reason they are commonly used in applications such as window glazings, aircraft windows and automotive lenses and lightcovers. Thus, blends of PC and methacrylic polymers should have a good balance of properties and, if they formed a single phase, would also be clear. Unfortunately such blends, even if transparent, would still suffer from poor low temperature impact strength and poor thick section toughness. The simple addition of a rubber impact modifier would greatly improve such deficiencies but at the certain impairment of transparency because rubbery impact modifiers are notoriously incompatible with both PC and methacrylates. Thus the task existed of finding a methacrylic ester-based polymer which is thermodynamically miscible with polycarbonate and which can be block copolymerized with an impact modifier, such as polyisoprene, to prepare a blend of the two which exhibits not only the improvements gained from the blending of PC and the methacrylate polymer but also has improved thick section toughness and low temperature impact strength, all while retaining the inherent transparency of polycarbonate.
The term "thermodynamically miscible" is known in the art to define a polymer blend that mixes on the molecular level so as to form a single, homogeneous phase which exhibits only one glass transition (Tg). The term is used in comparison to the term "mechanically compatible" which is taken to mean that mixing of the polymers is on a small scale but larger than the molecular level. Furthermore, mechanical compatibility implies that the multiple phases exhibit good adhesion to one another providing good mechanical properties. Although both thermodynamically miscible and mechanically compatible blends exhibit good mechanical properties, only thermodynamically miscible blends are transparent owing to their single phase nature.
Although blends of PC with methacrylic polymers are often compatible resulting in improvements over their respective components, most are not miscible and their opacity makes them unacceptable in optical applications. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,003 teaches that blends of PC and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) are opaque and often do not possess, the advantageous properties expected of such mixtures. Among other references that report the immiscibility of PMMA with PC are JP 7216063 and EP 0297285.
Ways to overcome the immiscibility of typical PC/PMMA mixtures have, however, been disclosed. The most commonly employed method is the addition of comonomers to the PMMA (DE 2264268; DE 3632946; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,696). Recently a number of patents and publications have appeared which demonstrate the miscibility of PC with random copolymers containing methylmethacrylate and either cyclohexyl methacrylate or phenyl methacrylate. The thermodynamic miscibility of PC with pure polyphenyl methacrylate was also reported. EP 0297285; U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,696; J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 44, 2233-2237, 1991; and Polymer 32(7) , 1274-1283 (1991). This miscibility property Was used to increase the adhesion between a rubbery impact modifier, ethylene-propylene-diene (EPDM), and polycarbonate. In that case, phenyl methacrylate was grafted onto EPDM. However, the resulting graft copolymer was mechanically compatible with PC but not thermodynamically miscible, as might have been hoped.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,883 and EP 0326938 both teach the art of grafting aromatic(meth)acrylate/methylmethacrylaterandom copolymers onto a preexisting EPDM polymer to prepare an elastomeric graft copolymer which, when added to PC, shows improvement in impact strength. Unfortunately, all of these materials are also opaque. Thus, the task still existed to develop a means of blending PC with impact modifiers without simultaneous loss of clarity. I have discovered that this goal can be achieved with a block copolymer containing a polyaromatic(alkyl)methacrylate block and a second block consisting of the impact modifier. When thoroughly blended with PC, the mixtures produce transparent, modified PC-based materials, in contrast to the opaque mixtures of the prior art based on EPDM graft copolymers. Thus, the present invention represents a distinct improvement over the technique where PC-miscible polymers are grafted onto an impact modifier.
In addition, I have found that polybenzyl methacrylate and polyphenylethyl methacrylate are completely miscible in all proportions with polycarbonate, and that copolymers containing blocks of these polymers have the same property.
A general synthesis of well defined methacrylic ester-containing block copolymers has only recently been accomplished (See for example: "Recent Advances in Mechanistic and Synthetic Aspects of Polymerization", Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, Mass., 1987; and "Recent Advances in Anionic Polymerizations", Elsevier Publishing Co., New York, N.Y., 1987). These reports have focused primarily on polymers containing blocks of polymethyl methacrylate or polybutyl methacrylate made by an anionic mechanism. Typically, anionic polymerization is used for the synthesis of well defined block copolymers because the reaction has no naturally occurring termination step. However, the presence of carbonyl groups initially caused problems with the polymerization of methacrylate monomers until methods were developed to prevent attack on the carbonyl groups. The most commonly accepted method is the combined use of low temperature polymerization (-78.degree. C.) and modification of the initial anion, either by prereaction with 1,1-diphenylethylene or by variation of its reactivity by reaction/chelation with pyridine and/or LiCl. Within the above cited references, no method for the anionic polymerization of polyaromatic(alkyl)methacrylates (PAAM) is given nor a synthesis of well defined block copolymers containing PAAM blocks. Thus the task still existed of developing a method for synthesizing methyl methacrylate/PAAM block copolymers.

Block copolymers containing polyaromatic(alkyl)methacrylates and their blends with polycarbonates


The presentation of audio information, particularly audio information generated by a voice synthesizer from text using a text or screen reader, is controlled using a style sheet. The style sheet permits default presentation styles, such as voice-family, voice-pitch, voice-variant, voice speed and volume to be set, and then varied based on embedded text presentation commands such as those found in hypertext markup language and in desktop publishing.

Stylesheets are known in the art for controlling the presentation of textual information. These can be found, for example, in word processors and desk top publishers.
A proposed recommendation for implementing stylesheets of this nature for use in the World Wide Web is found in a W3C recommendation dated Dec. 17, 1996. This recommendation is titled "Cascading Style Sheets, Level 1" can be found at http: //www.w3.org/pub/WWW/TR/REC-CSS1 and was authored by Hakon Wium Lie and Bert Bos. A copy of this recommendation is attached hereto as Appendix 1 and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Text and screen readers are also known in the art which have been used to provide auditory presentations of textual information through speech synthesis.

Style sheets for speech-based presentation of web pages


A system and method for allocating contact resources provides a platform for communicating contact resource availability from contract resource sources to contact resource users and for procurement of the available contact resources by contact resource users. Procurement of contact resources is supported by quality control that trains, certifies and monitors contact agents to provide assurance to contact resource users of a defined standard of contact quality. Routing of contacts is coordinated through physical medium to support a schedule of procured resources. Speech-to-text resources aid contact communications and quality.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of electronic communications, and more particularly to a system and method for allocating contact resources for use by contact resource users.
2. Description of the Related Art
Telephone contact centers have grown in number over the past several years with greater reliance by businesses on contact centers for sales, marketing and customer service. In fact, worldwide the call center market is predicted to grow at a 16% annual compound rate, with some estimates of as high as 3.7 million contact center agents employed in the United States by 2004. Even greater growth rates are expected in less mature markets, such as the European Union, Latin America and Asia. Contact centers generally use electronic communications, such as the telephone, to initiate outbound contacts or respond to inbound contacts with customers or potential customers.
In telephone contact centers, contact agents typically establish voice communications with contacted individuals by using automated contact devices. For instance, predictive dialers dial outbound contact attempts and forward successful contacts to agents at a rate designed to keep agents occupied talking with contacts. Automated Call Distributor (ACD) and interactive voice response units (IVR) accept inbound contact attempts by callers and forward the inbound attempts to agents as the agents become available. However, automatic contact devices are expensive to purchase and maintain. Further, hiring, training and retaining agents to respond to contacts represent a substantial investment in labor, with labor representing the majority of the cost of running a call center operation.
Typical business needs for contact resources are often better served by outsourcing the contact resource needs to third parties. For instance, businesses may prefer to allocate capital to core competencies rather than for the purchase of contact devices. However, in purchasing contact resources businesses typically show a great deal of caution since customer attrition or lost sales from poor service by contact agents typically costs more than servicing costs themselves. When purchasing contact resources, buyers tend to err towards higher cost services either by accepting the much higher costs of direct support of contact resources or purchasing contact resources from more expensive recognized brand companies with whom they have a positive work experience. Even more expensive service is no guarantee of good quality contact service. Conversely, sellers of outsourced contact resources have difficultly making inroads with contact resource users. Thus, sellers of contact resources face slow growth and substantial investments in brand and image building until buyers of contact resources recognize the sellers and associate quality service with them.

System and method for allocating contact resources to contact resource users


An active agent containing adhesive composition suitable for transdermal drug delivery having excellent water absorbability which comprises an effective amount of an active agent, an acrylate adhesive, a polyvinylpyrrolidone having a molecular weight of 1,000,000-5,000,000; a polyvinylpyrrolidone having a molecular weight of 2,000-50,000; a non-ionic surfactant; a terpene; and a dissolution assistant.

Adhesives used for the transdermal drug delivery system include three categories: rubber adhesives (polyisobutylene rubber, styrene-isoprene copolymer etc.), silicon adhesives and acrylic adhesives.
Rubber adhesives have the advantage in that it is easy to control their physical properties by using various molecular weights of polymers and additives. However, rubber adhesives are highly hydrophobic and have poor adhesive properties in moisture rich environments, i.e. they adhere poorly to skin which is wet with perspiration.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, rubber adhesive compositions comprising a rubber polymer as a main component and a water-soluble hydrocolloid such as pectin, gelatin, and carboxymethylcellulose have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,339,549, and 4,551,490 and European Patent 591 898. U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,490 also discloses a hydrocolloid adhesive composition comprising a base mainly composed of a hydrophobic polymer, water and a hydrophilic polymer. This adhesive, reportedly, has satisfactory water absorbability. However, the properties of the adhesive compositions mentioned above are merely suitable for plaster formulations that have a relatively large size, e.g. surface area, and thickness. When the adhesive layer absorbs water, the adhesive strength is significantly reduced and the plasters fail to remain attached. In addition, conventional plasters containing water-soluble polymers have poor adhesion when applied onto curved body parts for functional periods of time due to the thickness of the adhesive layer. Furthermore, conventional water-soluble plasters cannot be loaded with sufficient amounts of active ingredients because most drugs are poorly soluble in water. Therefore, plaster formulations are generally not suitable to be used as transdermal drug delivery devices.
Use of cross-linked polymers with hydrocolloids has been tried in order to maintain adhesive strength when the skin is wet. However, the results were not satisfactory in maintaining the adhesive strength. EP 0 343 807 A2 discloses a wound dressing comprising 30-65 wt. % of polyisoprene, 10-30 wt. % of a polyvinylpyrrolidone, 2-20 wt. % of a modified starch, 2-20 wt. % of pectin, 0.1-10 wt. % of an acrylic polymer, and 0-1 wt. % of fiber to control the absorption of water. In addition, EP 0 591 898 A1 discloses adhesive compositions for wound dressings comprising at least one hydrocolloid, hydrophobic unsaturated aliphatic polymers, and adhesive enhancers. However, the adhesive compositions mentioned above are comprised mainly of a rubber adhesive, as the adhesive component, which has high hydrophobicity. Therefore, they cannot be used for efficiently delivering active ingredients in their salt forms. In addition, they fail to maintain adhesive strength on skin that is wet.
Acrylic adhesives offer a number of advantages. For example, most drugs are more readily soluble in acrylic adhesives than in silicones and rubbers. Acrylic adhesives are highly compatible with or soluble in the commonly used skin penetration enhancers. In addition, the chemical properties of acrylic adhesives are easily manipulated to permit the preparation of both polar and non-polar adhesives. However, despite these advantages, acrylic adhesives are poorly soluble in water and have poor adhesion to skin which is wet with perspiration. Therefore, there is need for devices with improved adhesion properties, especially for delivering highly hydrophilic drugs.

Transdermal delivery system of diclofenac with improved water absorbability and adhesion properties


A dispenser is adapted to be used in unwinding a roll of elongated flexible material. The dispenser includes a support bracket, a central member rotatably mounted to the support bracket and a plurality of hinged support arm assemblies attached to the central support member and movable between an extended position and a retracted position.

In the installation of electrical wire, an electrician manually pulls a length of wire as desired from a spool or coil which normally rests on the ground or other support surface. In the unwinding of wire from the coil, problems arise as the unwound wire becomes spiraled and/or twisted. In some cases, this causes the entire spool to be dragged across the ground. Twisting or spiraling of the wire and movement of the coil are frustrating to the electrician and cause delays and complications in the electrical wiring of the structure.
There remains a need to address the problems experienced in the dispensing of electrical wire, and to maintain the electrical wire manageable for installation.

Apparatus and method for unwinding rolls of elongated flexible material, such as electrical wire


A photoelectrographic element for electrostatic imaging, containing a conductive layer and a photosensitive layer, is produced using photosensitive layer materials which form a barrier to charge injection where exposed to ultraviolet radiation. As a result, exposed areas can be charged, while unexposed portions cannot. The photosensitive layer contains an organic photoconductor, an ultraviolet radiation sensitizer, and, optionally, an organic binder. A method of forming images with this photoelectrographic element is also disclosed.

Electrophotographic compositions and imaging processes are well known. In these processes an electrophotographic element having a layer containing a photoconductor is electrostatically charged and then imagewise exposed to form a latent electrostatic image. The latent electrostatic image is subsequently developed with a toner composition. Electrophotographic elements and processes are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,141,770 to Davis et al., 3,554,745 to Van Allen, 3,577,235 to Contois, 3,615,414 to Light et al., 4,442,193 to Chen et al., 4,421,837 to Hiroshi et al., and 4,468,444 to Contois. Unfortunately, with any electrophotographic element, it is always necessary to charge electrostatically and imagewise expose the charged element for each copy being made.
Multiple copies have been made from a single exposure using photoelectrographic elements in which a persistent differential conductivity pattern is created between exposed and unexposed portions. This allows for subsequent use of the element in printing multiple copies from a single exposure with only multiple charging, developing, transferring, and cleaning steps. This is different from electrophotographic imaging techniques where the electrophotographic element must generally be charged electrostatically followed by imagewise exposure for each copy produced.
Photoelectrographic masters are ideal for use in xeroprinting or multiple color proofing, because multiple high-quality prints can be produced rapidly in view of the need for only a single exposure. This is especially useful in making color images.
One type of master, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,660 to Blauchet-Fincher et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,551 to Kempf, is prepared by coating a photohardenable layer on an electrically conductive substrate and exposing the layer imagewise to light. Exposed portions of the photohardenable layer harden and become nonconductive, while the unexposed parts of the layer remain unhardened and conductive. When the master is electrostatically charged and developed by applying a toner of opposite charge, the toner adheres to exposed areas. Such films, however, are difficult to handle due to the tackiness of unhardened polymer.
Photoelectrographic master elements generally have a conductive layer in electrical contact with a film layer. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation, photochemically-generated charges form in the film, making the film conductive, while unexposed areas of the film remain insulating. When the element is charged, charges at the surface of the element and at the interface between the film and the conductive layers are neutralized where exposure has occurred. Unexposed areas, however, are charged and then developed with toner. The toned image is transferred to a receptor sheet.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,429 to Molaire et al., the film layer includes an aromatic onium salt or a 6-substituted-2,4-bis (trichloromethyl)-5-triazine acid photogenerator, an insulating binder, and, optionally, a sensitizer. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,879,197 and 3,982,935 to Bartlett et al. describe a photoelectrographic element with a layer containing a binder and organic halogen compounds, capable of forming hydrohalide acids upon illumination with light, in combination with certain organic compounds. U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,636 to Van den Houte, et al. describes an electrostatic printing master in which the recording layer comprises a mixture of an organic polyhalogen compound, a vinylcarbazole copolymer, and an anilide sensitizer which increases the conductivity of the layer on exposure. Research Disclosure 12846 (December 1974) to Peter M. Stacy et al. utilizes a photoconductive composition containing triarylamine type photoconductors, polyester binders, and sensitizers. The photoelectrographic element of U.S. Pat. No. 3,451,811 to Brynko utilizes the photochromic properties (i.e., photo-isomerization) of spirobenzopyrans. U.S. Pat. No. 3,748,128 to McNally describes a layer containing heterocyclic nuclei which, when exposed, form a latent image with changed triboelectric properties suitable for development with a toner. Such films are, however sensitive to humidity, which causes unexposed areas to become more conductive as humidity decreases.


An intrusion detecting apparatus for a vehicle comprises: a doppler shift signal outputting unit for outputting a doppler shift signal in response to a reflected and received ultrasonic signal from an ultrasonic receiver and a transmitted ultrasonic signal from a transmitter, an envelope detecting circuit for detecting the level of the received ultrasonic signal, and a detecting means for detecting an illegal intrusion by a person only when it is determined that the doppler shift signal is within a predetermined amount corresponding to the movement of a person intruding into the passenger compartment and it is also determined that the detected level of the received ultrasonic signal is out of a range of a disturbance, whereby an erroneous detection due to a disturbance caused by some reason other than an intrusion can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an intrusion detecting apparatus for a vehicle, and more particularly to an intrusion detecting apparatus for a vehicle which is suitable to detect an illegal intrusion of a person by utilizing an ultrasonic doppler shift signal which is generated when a person intrudes into the passenger compartment of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an intrusion detecting apparatus for a vehicle of this type is known as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication (Kokoku) No. 7-5062.
In this publication, when an ultrasonic transmitter provided in a passenger compartment of the vehicle receives an output pulse signal from a pulse oscillator and transmits an ultrasonic signal into the passenger compartment of the vehicle, an ultrasonic receiver provided in the passenger compartment of the vehicle receives the ultrasonic signal which has been reflected by a person or the like in the passenger compartment of the vehicle. Then the received ultrasonic signal is mixed with the output pulse signal from the pulse oscillator, and the mixed signal is filtered by a low pass filter so that a doppler signal is output.
Then, the envelope of the doppler signal is detected by a detector. When the detected envelope signal is higher than a reference voltage, a comparator outputs a signal which is then integrated by an integrating circuit. Then, when the integrated output from the integrating circuit, that is an integration level of the compared signal with respect to time, reaches a predetermined level, it is detected that a person has illegally intruded.
By this construction, in order to detect an illegal intrusion of a person based on a doppler signal, the detecting circuit, the comparator and the integrating circuit are employed as mentioned above. Therefore, as long as the comparator outputs a signal as mentioned above, the integrating circuit integrates the compared signal even when the doppler signal is generated due to any other disturbance.
In other words, as long as the comparator outputs a compared signal due to, for example, air turbulence in the passenger compartment of the vehicle because a door of the passenger compartment of the vehicle is slightly open, the integrating circuit continues to integrate the compared signal. The air turbulence, i.e., disturbance, may be generated by air fluctuations in the passenger compartment or by movements of material bodies such as a figurine stuck on a window glass. Therefore, even when the integration level reaches the predetermined level, it may erroneously be detected that a person has illegally intruded.
Because of this, the user of this vehicle may make the intrusion detecting apparatus inoperative or may ignore an alarm generated by the erroneous detection.

Intrusion detecting apparatus for a vehicle


A frame has a first frame portion configured to sit on a base of a vehicle seat and demountably receive a machine. A second portion of frame is coupled with and extends substantially upright from the first portion. The second portion is adjacent and bears against a back of the seat. Extending across the second portion from side to side is a lateral frame element. The lateral frame element enables the frame to be secured on and to the seat by way of a conventional seat belt. The frame also includes a pivoting support shown in this embodiment as a tray for supporting a box of capsules which are dispensed by the machine.

The present inventor has developed a capsule belt and a machine arranged to separate capsules from the belt and dispense them from a moving vehicle including but not limited to an aircraft. The capsules in a belt can contain a range of products. In one example the capsules contain one part of a two part incendiary mixture. A number of these belts and a capsule dispensing machine are placed in an aircraft together with a supply of the second part of the mixture. The machine is coupled to the supply and a leading end of a capsule belt fed into the machine. In the case of the aircraft being a helicopter, prior to take off, the machine is fastened in a door frame by a belly strap. When the helicopter is airborne and over a target area the machine operates to inject the second part of the mixture into a capsule, cut the injected capsule from the belt and allow the capsule to drop to the ground.
It is critical for safety purposes that the machine be held securely in the aircraft. This requires constant monitoring of the belly strap which may loosen in-flight.

Method of and frame for restraining a machine on a vehicle seat


A cache control program that reduces cache control load. The cache control programs functions as a multi-bind cache (MBC) manager of a file server. The MBC manager manages a cache memory as a plurality of extents. The MBC manager generates cache IDs including object identifications for identifying the objects of each hierarchical level. Further, the MBC manager generates a cache header table indicating the relation of the cache IDs and the cache extents for each hierarchical level.

The present invention relates to a cache control program.
A plurality of client machines are connected to a network system. A file server is connected to the network system to share files. A client machine accesses the file server to use programs and data generated by other client machines. Due to progress in the client machine capability, there is a demand for increasing the speed for accessing files, or increasing the file server capability.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the concept of file recording by a file server 1.
The file server 1 includes a disk device 2. A plurality of files 3 are stored in the disk device 2. The disk device 2 manages the recorded data in a predetermined number of blocks. The file server 1 divides a file 3 into a plurality of blocks 4, each including a predetermined amount of data, and manages the position of each block 4 with recording position information. In response to a request from a client machine, the file server 1 sends a file 3, which includes plural blocks 4, to the client machine. The file server 1 then divides the file received from the client machine into a plurality of blocks and stores the blocks in the disk device 2.
The file server 1 is provided with a cache manager for responding to data access at high speed. The cache manager copies files accessed by the client machine into a memory having an input/output speed that is higher than that of the disk device 2. Subsequently, when the file 3 stored in the disk device 2 is accessed, the cache manager reads the copy of the file 3 stored in its memory and provides the copy to the client machine.
FIG. 2 schematically shows the file server 1. The file server 1 includes a communication control manager 11, a page cache manager 12, a file system 13, a buffer cache manager 14, and a block device 15. The communication control manager 11 includes a communication buffer 16, which is required for data transfer with the client machine 5. The page cache manager 12 and the buffer cache manager 14 include cache memories 17 and 18, respectively.
The page cache manager 12 improves the input/output efficiency of the file 3 by the client machine 5. The buffer cache manager 14 improves the input/output efficiency of the blocks 4 by the disk device 2.
The file 3 transferred from the client machine 5 is stored in the disk device 2 via the communication buffer 16 and the two cache memories 17 and 18. More specifically, the communication control manager 11 receives the file 3 transmitted from the client machine 5 and stores the file 3 in the communication buffer 16. The file system 13 manages the file 3 with information such as a file ID. The page cache manager 12 stores the blocks 4 configuring the file 3 in the cache memory 17. Each block 4 is associated with its file ID and an offset, which indicates its stored position.
The file system 13 has a section for storing files in the disk device 2. The block device 15 accesses the designated disk device 2 in blocks. The buffer cache manager 14 stores the blocks that are to be stored in the disk device 2 in the cache memory 18. Each block 4 is associated with the device ID of the disk device 2 and an offset, which indicates the position of the block in the disk device 2.
The position for accessing the file server 1 will now be discussed with reference to FIG. 3. In response to an access request for a file 3, the file server 1 accesses a block 4 configuring the file 3 stored in the cache memory 17 in accordance with the file ID and the offset.
When the block is not stored in the cache memory 17, the file server 1 accesses the disk device 2, reads the block 4 from the disk device 2, and stores the block 4 in the cache memory 18 of the buffer cache manager 14 and the cache memory 17 of the page cache manager 12. The file server 1 provides the read block 4 to the client machine 5. Then, the buffer cache manager 14 associates the read block 4 with the stored cache memory 18 and the stored section of the disk device 2. The page cache manager 12 associates the block 4 stored in the cache memory 17 with a section of a file.
The file server 1 of the prior art requires the two cache memories 17 and 18 that store substantially the same blocks 4. Thus, the file server 1 requires a cache memory having a cache memory capacity that is greater than (by two times) the cache memory capacity indicated in a specification.
Further, the information stored in the two cache memories 17 and 18 must be substantially the same. Thus, data must be copied for the cache memories 17 and 18. Further, data must be copied in the same manner in the cache memory 17, which is managed by the page cache manager 12, and the communication buffer 16. The copying of cache data results in load that delays the input/output characteristics (response speed) of the file server 1.


A rotatable plate cylinder (10) for supporting a printing plate (150) has an open passage (34) and a locking member (26) supported for movement in the passage (34). The locking member (26) is movable inward of the passage (34) to a closed position, and is movable outward of the passage (34) to an open position. The locking member (26) is subjected to a first centrifugal force which urges it to move outward from the closed position toward the open position when the plate cylinder (10) rotates. A balance member (28) is subjected to a second centrifugal force when the plate cylinder (10) rotates. Connecting pins (100) direct the second centrifugal force against the locking member (26) oppositely to the first centrifugal force.

A plate cylinder supports a printing plate in a printing unit. The plate cylinder is supported in the printing unit to rotate about its axis. The printing plate has a surface which defines the image to be printed. Ink is applied to the printing plate on the plate cylinder, and the inked image is printed on paper or other material when the cylinder rotates.
The printing plate is formed as a thin sheet of metal, and is mounted on the plate cylinder by wrapping the sheet around the cylindrical outer surface of the cylinder. When the plate is thus mounted on the cylinder, opposite edges of the plate extend along the length of the cylinder. A locking mechanism within the cylinder engages the opposite edges of the plate to hold the plate on the cylinder when the cylinder rotates.

Plate cylinder with semi-automatic plate lock up


Semiconductor fuses with epitaxial fuse link regions and fabrication methods thereof are presented. The methods include: fabricating a semiconductor fuse including an anode region and a cathode region electrically linked by a fuse link region, and the fabricating including: forming, epitaxially, the fuse link region between the anode region and the cathode region, wherein the fuse link region facilitates the semiconductor fuse open circuiting from applying a programming current between the anode region and the cathode region thereof. The semiconductor fuses include: an anode region and a cathode region electrically linked by a fuse link region, wherein the fuse link region includes an epitaxial structure and facilitates the semiconductor fuse open circuiting from applying a programming current between the anode region and the cathode region, wherein the epitaxial structure is in at least partial crystallographic alignment with the anode region and the cathode region of the semiconductor fuse.

Semiconductor fuse technology, sometimes called "e-fuse" technology, allows for post-fabrication hardware programming of integrated circuits. By analogy with a standard household fuse, a semiconductor fuse can be designed to permanently open circuit upon application of a programming current. By including one or more semiconductor fuses in an integrated circuit, on-chip modifications, one time programmable (OTP) memory, and/or circuit tuning functions can be provided. For example, using appropriate sensing circuits, a semiconductor fuse can represent a binary "1" when close circuited, and a binary "0" when open circuited.
Integrated circuit fabrication processes include numerous process steps, such photolithographic patterning, material deposition and material removal steps. Each step requires a wafer to be exposed to a variety of chemical and/or mechanical steps, and incurs production costs and time. Therefore, a need exists for semiconductor fuses and fabrication methods that reduce or eliminate process steps.

Semiconductor fuses and fabrication methods thereof


The presentation of stereoscopic display content for viewing with passive glasses and full resolution is provided. In use, (a) a frame of stereoscopic display content intended for viewing by one eye of a user is scanned, using a display layer of a display device; (b) the scanned frame is polarized utilizing a polarizing layer of the display device, according to a polarization associated with a lens of stereoscopic glasses worn over the same one eye of the user; (c) a backlight is activated to illuminate the polarized frame, in response to an entirety of the polarized frame being scanned; (d) the display device is held for a predetermined period of time in response to activation of the backlight, and then the backlight is de-activated; and (a)-(d) are then repeated for the other eye of the user, with another frame of stereoscopic display content intended for viewing by the other eye.

Various display devices are equipped for both mono and stereo viewing. Unlike mono viewing, stereo viewing involves the display of separate content for the right and left human eye. Specifically, such stereo viewing requires the presentation of a left image to the left human eye and a right image to the right human eye. Numerous technologies are capable of providing such stereo viewing.
For example, in some display systems a polarizing layer is included as a component of a display screen for polarizing even scan lines of the display screen in a first direction specific to a lens of passive glasses worn over an eye of a viewer, such that the eye of the viewer is capable of viewing the even scan lines and not the odd scan lines. Similarly, the polarizing layer polarizes odd scan lines of the display screen in a second direction opposite the first direction which is specific to a lens of the passive glasses worn over the other eye of the viewer, such that the other eye of the viewer is capable of viewing the odd scan lines and not the even scan lines. However, as a result of dedicating odd scan lines to one image and even scan lines to another image, the images are provided in half the resolution of the display screen. Additional limitations of this technique includes some textual elements being visible only for one eye and some being visible only for the other eye, making text hard to read, a limited vertical viewing angle (i.e. mid-screen) for the viewer in order to avoid ghosting, and high cost due to the required precision of alignment of the polarizing layer with the pixel structure of the display screen (i.e. to ensure that the correct scan lines are polarized as intended).
In the alternative, other display systems may implement time sequential display of stereo content, such that left and right images are presented in an alternating manner. With respect to such display systems, the viewer wears active shutter glasses in which a shutter of each lens of the glasses may be independently controlled. In particular, when an image intended for viewing by a left eye of the viewer is displayed, the active shutter glasses are controlled to open a shutter of a left lens of the glasses and to close a shutter of a right lens of the glasses, such that the left eye is capable of viewing the image and the right eye is prevented from viewing the image. Similarly, when an image intended for viewing by a right eye of the viewer is displayed, the active shutter glasses are controlled to open a shutter of a right lens of the glasses and to close a shutter of a left lens of the glasses, such that the right eye is capable of viewing the image and the left eye is prevented from viewing the image.
While the display systems involving active shutter glasses provide full resolution images, and thus do not have the half resolution problem of the polarization techniques mentioned above, the active shutter glasses themselves have conventionally been expensive, require a battery, are heavier than passive glasses, and have been limited style-wise. There is thus a need for addressing these and/or other issues associated with the prior art.

System, method, and computer program product for presenting stereoscopic display content for viewing with passive stereoscopic glasses


A hydrodynamic machine, and especially a hydrodynamic coupling, for a turbine compound system includes (a) a bladed primary wheel and a bladed secondary wheel which together form an operating space which is filled or can be filled with operating medium, and (b) a housing which encloses the primary wheel and the secondary wheel and which is manufactured from sheet metal. The housing is manufactured from at least two separate sheet metal components which are placed on the primary wheel and/or the secondary wheel, are aligned with each other at a joint abutment location, and are welded together. In the area of the welded joint abutment, a relief which is open toward the joint abutment is provided and which extends along the joint abutment in the surface of the primary wheel and/or the secondary wheel.

1. Field of the Invention
The current invention relates in general to a hydrodynamic machine and especially a hydrodynamic coupling in a turbine compound system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is generally known, hydrodynamic machines, such as hydrodynamic couplings, include hydrodynamic retarders, and also hydrodynamic converters include a primary wheel and a secondary wheel which together form a work space which is filled or can be filled with operating medium and in which through driving the primary wheel an operating medium circulation is caused which transfers torque or respectively power to the secondary wheel. In a hydrodynamic coupling the primary wheel is also referred to as pump wheel and the secondary wheel as turbine wheel.
Such hydrodynamic machines include a housing which can be connected to one of the two blade wheels—primary wheel or secondary wheel—and which then together with the blade wheel to which it is connected envelopes the respective other blade wheel in axial direction. Alternatively a housing can be provided which envelopes both blade wheels in circumferential and/or axial direction, whereby it is connected rotationally fixed or whereby it is stationary or whereby it circulates at a different speed than both blade wheels.
A housing which is connected to one of the two blade wheels is conventionally connected with the respective blade wheel through screw connections or by welding on. The German patent application DE 10 2004 011 521 A1 for example describes a hydrodynamic coupling in a turbine compound system in which a single component deep-drawn housing is slid over the pump wheel onto a drive gear which is connected to the pump wheel and is welded to it. This solution is however only possible without additional shaping of the housing after this is slid over the pump wheel if the point of tie-in of the housing on the drive gear has a diameter which is at least of the same dimension or larger than the outside diameter of the pump wheel. In addition, an undesirable heat input into the pump wheel could occur during the process of welding the housing to the drive gear due to the selected design which can lead to distortion of the pump wheel or to material changes in the pump wheel.
What is needed in the art is a hydrodynamic machine, especially a hydrodynamic coupling, in a turbine compound system in which a sheet metal housing can be mounted cost effectively, securely and without the mentioned disadvantages. In addition, a method for the production of a hydrodynamic machine or respectively, for the installation of an appropriate sheet metal housing, is to be cited.

Hydrodynamic machine, especially hydrodynamic coupling, of a turbine compound system


The system includes a remotely controlled medical system having a controller in communication with a command device incorporating a microphone. The system further includes a medical device operable by the controller and a sound generator coupled to the controller. The command device incorporating a microphone is paired to the controller for operating the medical device by detecting the sound. The command device incorporating a microphone transmits a signal in response to the sound to the controller to verify the pairing of the command device incorporating a microphone to the controller such that the controller will only operate the medical device in response to a command issued near the sound generator.

Modern operating rooms for performing surgery have seen several advancements over the past two decades. In the late 20th century, state-of-the-art operating rooms included several electronic surgical instruments (i.e. electrosurgical units, insufflators, endoscopes etc.). These instruments were separately operated by the surgeon and members of the surgical team. The industry improved upon this type of operating room by integrating the various instruments into a unified system. With this setup, the surgeon and/or members of the team use a central controller (or surgical control unit) to control all of the instruments through a single interface (preferably a graphical-user interface). Generally speaking, these central control units were built using modified personal computers and the operating rooms that use them are commonly referred to as "digital operating rooms".
The establishment of the digital operating room paved the way for the voice controlled operating room. With this system, a member of the surgical team (usually the surgeon) wears a headset with a microphone. The surgeon issues spoken commands into the headset, these commands are sent to the central controller which controls the various instruments to perform desired tasks or make on-the-fly adjustments to operating parameters. The central controller operates software including a speech-to-text converter to interpret and execute the voice commands. Since computers often have difficulty understanding spoken language, typical systems include audible confirmation feedback to the surgical team, notifying them that a command has been understood and executed by the controller. Since sterility is critically important in all surgical procedures, this touch-free control system represented a significant advancement.
The voice-controlled digital operating room was further improved by the introduction of the wireless voice-control headset. This gave the surgeon greater mobility and eliminated the microphone cable as a possible source of contamination or nuisance for the surgeon. The wireless revolution also ushered in the use of wireless input devices such as smart phones and tablets in digital operating rooms. Using one of these systems, a member of the surgical team can remotely control the digital operating room by manually entering commands into the wireless input device (i.e. a tablet) which the wireless input device then transmits to the central control unit. Voice controlled digital operating rooms with wireless headsets and wireless input devices represent the modern state-of-the-art in the field.
Although this type of system has worked well for the convenience and efficacy of the surgical team and the maintenance of sterility, it has introduced certain heretofore unknown safety issues. One such safety issue is the problem of surgeons issuing commands into wireless headsets and input devices that are mated with a nearby room's surgical control unit. In that situation, a surgeon may attempt to control a surgical control unit present in the room they are occupying, only to inadvertently control another surgical control unit in a nearby room where an unrelated procedure is being performed. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that a surgeon may repeat commands in a vain attempt to operate the surgical control unit in the room they are occupying. This can result in injury to the patient and surgical team and/or damage to the equipment in the nearby room.
There remains a need in the art for a safety system that prevents the inadvertent control of surgical control units with wireless voice-control headsets and wireless input devices.

System and method for pairing a command device incorporating a microphone to a remotely controlled medical system


Solved is a problem of difficulty in operating, with an operation unit casing held by one hand, both of a touch panel and a key operation unit without changing the hand which holds the unit.

Current portable terminal device such as a cellular phone has its structure and operating method more and more diversified due to diversification of service and multi-function of terminals. Proposed are, for example, a portable terminal having a structure to execute screen operation or character input only through a touch panel or a touch sensor provided on a display screen without the provision of a hard key and a portable terminal device having a structure to enable switching of a state of no operation key which enables simple operation by a touch panel or a touch sensor, a vertically long screen state suitable for telephone communication and mail operation and a horizontally long screen state suitable for one-segment broadcasting viewing and full-browser operation according to a purpose of use.
Examples of portable terminal devices of this kind are disclosed in, for example, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2.
The portable information terminal recited in the Patent Literature 1 has a structure comprising a first connecting shaft which connects an operation unit casing and a display unit casing so as to open and close and a second connecting shaft which allows the display unit casing in an open state to rotate laterally, which structure enables the display unit casing to open to have the vertically long screen state and further enables the display unit casing in the open state to be laterally positioned to switch to the horizontally long screen state.
Also disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is a structure in which with a third rotation shaft that allows the display unit casing in the open state to rotate inside out, the display unit casing is superposed on the operation unit casing with its display surface as the upper side to have the no-operation key state by closing the display unit casing inside out.
Furthermore, the portable terminal recited in Patent Literature 2 has a structure in which the display unit casing is superposed on the operation unit casing to have the no-operation key state, the display unit casing is slid upwardly on the operation unit casing to have a vertically long screen and the display unit casing in the vertically long screen state is further rotated to have a horizontally long screen.    Patent Literature 1: WO 2006-038554A    Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2008-92264.
A portable terminal structured to execute screen operation and character input only by a touch panel or a touch sensor provided on a display screen with no hard key provided has a shortcoming that while such operation as selection of an input item on the screen or screen scrolling can be realized with relative ease by using a touch panel, operability of character input is considerably reduced as compared with hardware key switching.
The portable terminal recited in Patent Literature 1 structured to open a display unit casing to have the vertically long screen state, laterally position the display casing being opened to switch to the horizontally long screen state and further close the display unit casing inside out to have the no-operation key state has a shortcoming that switching from the vertically long screen state to the horizontally long screen state and further switching to the no-operation key state cannot be realized with ease only by one hand holding the terminal.
Furthermore, while the portable terminal recited in Patent Literature 1 enables one hand holding the terminal to realize key operation using the key input unit in the vertically long screen state or the horizontally long screen state, with respect to operation by the touch panel on the screen, it requires a hand holding the terminal to be switched in order to make a thumb of the hand holding the terminal reach the whole area of the touch panel or requires operation by using the other free hand. It therefore has a problem that both of the operations using the key input unit and the touch panel cannot be executed comfortably only by one hand holding the terminal.
When both a touch panel and a hard key are mounted on a cellular phone or the like, it has been difficult to operate both the touch panel and the hard key while holding the operation unit by one hand without switching the hand holding the device because of a structure of the casing. When a touch panel is added as an input device to a portable terminal comprising a key operation unit as a hard key, a casing should be designed to allow comfortable operation of both the key operation unit and the touch panel.
The portable terminal recited in Patent Literature 2 has a problem that because the display unit fails to have a touch panel, character inputting and screen operation should be executed only by key operation using a key input unit of the operation unit casing, resulting in having considerably inferior operability in screen operation as compared with a portable terminal having a touch panel.
In addition, to be brought into the horizontally long screen state, the portable terminal recited in Patent Literature 2 needs to be once put into the vertically long screen state from the no-operation key state by the sliding of the display unit casing along the operation unit casing upwardly and also to be brought into the no-operation state from the horizontally long screen state, needs to be once put into the vertically long screen state from the horizontally long screen state. It is therefore impossible to directly switch from the no-operation key state to the horizontally long screen state and from the horizontally long screen state to the no-operation key state. In other words, switching from the no-operation key state to the horizontally long screen state and from the horizontally long screen state to the no-operation key state is impossible unless passing through the vertically long screen state, so that state switching operation costs labor.

Portable terminal device and state switching structure of portable terminal device

Abstract: A portable terminal device comprising an operation unit casing 10 having a key operation unit 15 formed of a key switch and a display unit casing 20 having a display unit and a touch panel 30, in which the display unit casing is laterally positioned with respect to the operation unit casing such that both of the key operation unit 15 and the touch panel 30 are operable by one-handed operation by a hand which holds the operation unit casing 10.


A sheet feeder comprises a feed deck for supporting a stack of sheets (65) to be fed. The feed deck may be formed by a bed of freely spinning rollers. A feed block (62) comprises a friction pad (66) that projects from the bottom of the feed block (62) towards a drive belt (42) to define a gate therebetween. The drive belt (42) frictionally engages the underside of a bottom sheet of the stack (65) and urges the sheet towards the gate. The feed block (62) comprises a front face (72) immediately upstream from the gate, which is inclined at a sharp angle to the feed direction. The friction pad (66) comprises a lower face that is substantially parallel to the feed direction and does not intersect the plane of the feed block front face (72).

Sheet feeders are known that use a drive means such as a belt or roller to remove a single sheet laterally from the bottom of a stack of sheets that rests on a feed deck. The bottom sheet resists separation from the stack owing to friction with the next sheet in the stack above it and with the non-moving parts of the feed deck below it. In order for the sheet to slide away from the stack, the grip between the sheet and the drive means must exceed those frictional forces. Ideally, that should be true whether the bottom sheet is weighed on by a full stack or by only a few sheets.
Friction between the moving sheet and the stationary parts of the feed deck has a tendency to cause scuff marks on the surface of the paper. That is a particular problem with the increasing use of digital printing on paper with a smooth surface.
Some sheet feeders have used suction drums to improve the grip between the drive means and the paper. The surface of a suction drum is perforated by holes and an air pump is provided to suck air from the interior of the drum so that the paper clings to the drum's surface. The air pump may also be used to direct a jet of air towards the edge of the stack in order to assist with separating the sheets of the stack. However, such air pumps add to the bulk and complexity of the sheet feeder as well as its running costs and noise levels.
A sheet feeder should be able to deliver the sheets as fast as possible, up to the maximum operating speed of any downstream processing apparatus. It should reliably deliver only a single sheet at a time because a misfeed in which two sheets are delivered together will at best not be processed properly downstream and may at worst jam the apparatus, causing a costly delay in workflow.


A method of programming parameters of a power driven wheelchair for a plurality of drive modes comprises: displaying a menu image on an interactive display screen, the menu image including settings of a plurality of wheelchair parameters for a plurality of drive modes of the wheelchair; selecting a wheelchair parameter for a drive mode from the displayed menu image; and programming the setting of the selected wheelchair parameter to a desired setting.

The present invention is directed to power driven wheelchairs, in general, and, more particularly, a method and apparatus for programming parameters of a power driven wheelchair for a plurality of drive settings using a common menu image of an interactive display screen.
Power driven wheelchairs, which may be of the type manufactured by Invacare Corporation of Elyria, Ohio, for example, are generally controlled by an electronic control system. An exemplary control system for power or motor driven wheelchairs is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,819,981, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Setting Speed/Response Performance Parameters of a Power Driven Wheelchair", issued Nov. 16, 2004, and assigned to the same assignee as the instant application, which patent being incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Typically, power driven wheelchairs have a plurality of drive settings for operation of the wheelchair by the user. An exemplary wheelchair may include four drive settings which may be Drive 1 (D1) for indoor operation, Drive 2 (D2) for moderate outdoor operation, Drive 3 (D3) for special operation, and Drive 4 (D4) for ramps and curbs. For each drive setting, there are numerous performance and power seating parameters which are programmed into the control system to satisfy the operational capabilities of the individual user of the wheelchair. The programming task is normally conducted through a hand held programmer unit having an interactive display and coupled to the control system much as described in the above-referenced U.S. Pat. No. 6,819,981, for example.
Currently, a set of parameters may be programmed into the control system through the interactive display of the programmer unit for only one drive setting at a time which renders the task of programming rather time consuming and onerous. It is desired to improve this parameter programming task to permit parameter programming through the interactive display for any drive setting without having to change display screens.

Method and apparatus for programming parameters of a power driven wheelchair for a plurality of drive settings


The rotor of a vertical shaft impact rock crusher is balanced by placing steel balls in a hollow ring attached around the top of the rotor. The vanes within the impeller are constructed to form rock shields on the forward or impact side of the vanes. Rocks are fed into the impeller upon a free floating table. The top of the free floating table is protected by a tungsten carbide disc. Therefore the rocks are moved from the table at reduced rotational velocity less than that of the rotor and are struck by the rapidly rotating rock faces of the rock shield. Ports are placed close to the trailing or back side of the vanes. The top, bottom, and trailing lip of the ports are protected by tungsten carbide pins which are adhered within steel pipes by epoxy. The pins are mounted upon a door by welding to the door which covers the ports. The door may be replaced for ease and rapidity in replacing the pins. The pin along the trailing lip of each port is supported by a seat of weld metal. The rotor is made from a single steel casting. The exterior of the rotor is cylindrical and has nothing attached to it. Therefore the rotor has nothing to be knocked loose or damaged by bouncing rocks.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention is related to vertical shaft impact rock crushers. Rock crusher operators have ordinary skill in this art.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Impact rock crushers have been known for over thirty years. See Miller U.S. Pat. No. 3,174,698 and Bridgewater U.S. Pat. No. 3,174,697. However before this invention the crushers had two major problems. The first was vibration. By adding a large mass of rocks to be crushed the rocks would flow into a impeller rotating at high speed in uneven amounts. With the changing flow of the rocks within the impeller the impeller would almost always be imbalanced and vibrate accordingly.
Another problem was the abrasion. The rocks moved over metal parts within the rotors or impellers and their movement would quickly abrade the parts. Also, larger rocks impacting the impellers required them to be of rather heavy material.
The abrasion problem was at least in part alleviated by forming rock packs or packed material in pockets to provide the surface that the rocks abraded. Such structure is shown for example in Bridgewater U.S. Pat. No. 3,174,697 as well as Canada 5,145,118, Bartley 4,921,173, Terrenzio 4,513,919, Szalanski 4,560,113 and Watajima 4,844,354. The Szalanski rock pack of FIG. 5 is of particular interest.
The maintenance costs of a rock crushers is a considerable amount. Before this invention, the cost of replacing worn parts of the rock crusher could be as high as the 10% of the value of the rock crushed.
It is has been known for over a hundred years that a fluid or fluidlike material could be placed within the rings on spinning structure such as Withee 229,787. However, generally these have been used only upon structures which do not have the magnitude of unbalance such as the rotors of rock crushers. For example, Withee was concerned with balancing a millstone which would have basically been symmetrical in any event. He suggested that the fluidlike material could be shot, sand or water.


Methods and systems for automated testing of extremely-high frequency devices are disclosed. A device under test (DUT) is set in a simultaneous transmit and receive mode. The DUT receives a lower frequency radio frequency (RF) signal from a test unit and up-converts the lower frequency RF signal to a higher frequency RF signal. The DUT transmits the higher frequency RF signal using a first antenna, and receives the higher frequency RF signal using a second antenna. The DUT down-converts the received higher frequency RF signal to a received test RF signal and provides the received test RF signal to the test unit for comparing measurements derived from the received test signal to a design specification for the DUT.

Wireless communication systems have developed through various generations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service (1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-capable wireless service and a fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are presently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including Cellular and Personal Communications Service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile access (GSM) variation of TDMA, etc.
A fifth generation (5G) mobile standard, referred to as New Radio (NR), calls for higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5G standard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, is designed to provide data rates of several tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, with 1 gigabit per second to tens of workers on an office floor. Several hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported in order to support large sensor deployments. Consequently, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiencies should be enhanced and latency should be substantially reduced compared to current standards.
Some wireless communication networks, such as 5G, support operation at very high and even extremely-high frequency (EHF) bands, such as millimeter wave (mmW) frequency bands (generally, wavelengths of 1 mm to 10 mm, or 10 to 300 GHz). These extremely-high frequencies may support very high throughput such as up to six gigabits per second (Gbps). One of the challenges for wireless communication at very high or extremely-high frequencies, however, is that a significant propagation loss may occur due to the high frequency. As the frequency increases, the wavelength may decrease, and the propagation loss may increase as well. At mmW frequency bands, the propagation loss may be severe. For example, the propagation loss may be on the order of 22 to 27 dB, relative to that observed in either the 2.4 GHz, or 5 GHz bands.
Transmitting at these extremely-high frequencies places high demands on the antenna designs and also on testing these devices to ensure that the transmission and receiving circuitry is operating correctly. The characterization and high volume manufacturing for mmW patch and dipole antenna modules is extremely challenging. Test solutions are often bulky as well as expensive due complex equipment and setup traditionally needed for testing, such as anechoic chambers for antenna testing. Common challenges include module calibration and multi-site production on expensive automatic testing equipment (ATE) to support mmW frequencies. Drawbacks of conventional testing systems include longer test times and large physical size of test systems, thereby requiring large floor areas in production environments. It is therefore desired to have a viable and cost effective solution for testing mmW devices in high volumes.

Self-radiated loopback test procedure for millimeter wave antennas


Techniques for broadcasting notifications with low latency are provided. A set of recipients for a notification of a content item is determined. The notification is stored in a second notifications storage that is separate from a first notifications storage. A request for one or more notifications is received over a computer network from a client device that is associated with a particular recipient in the set of recipients. In response to receiving the request, first notification data is retrieved from the first notifications storage, second notification data that includes the notification is retrieved from the second notifications storage. The first notification data is combined with the second notification data to generate combined notification data. The combined notification data is transmitted over the computer network to the client device and is stored in the first notifications storage. The notification may be removed from the first notifications storage.

Online networks are forming at a fast pace. Each day entities (e.g., people and organizations) register with online network providers in order to make virtual connections with others, send messages, share content, and view relevant content. Some entities have many connections or followers. A follower of a particular entity is a person or entity that has signaled an intention to receive content from the particular entity. An entity might be very popular, which means that notifications about content that the entity generates and uploads to an online network provider should be broadcast to a large audience and delivered in a timely fashion, such as a notification of live streaming video from the entity. However, current approaches for delivering notifications are slow and suffer from unacceptable latency.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

Broadcasting notifications with low latency


A method and apparatus for electrochemically machine lapping a matched set of fixed and orbiting scroll members for use in a scroll compressor. The orbiting scroll member is orbited in a short stroke relative to the fixed scroll member while an electrolyte is pumped between the scroll wraps. An electric current is passed through the fixed and orbiting scroll wraps to thereby electrochemically machine away high profile areas on corresponding metal wear surfaces. During the machining process, the clearance spacing between the scrolls is tightly controlled to prevent contact between the scrolls.

The present invention relates generally to scroll compressors and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for electrochemically machining a matched set of scroll members for use in such compressors, thereby ensuring proper sealing between respective wrap surfaces of the scroll members during compressor operation.
A typical scroll compressor comprises two scroll members, each having an involute wrap, wherein the respective wraps interfit to define a plurality of closed compression pockets. When one of the scroll members is orbited relative to the other, the pockets decrease in volume as they travel between a radially outer suction port and a radially inner discharge port, thereby conveying and compressing the refrigerant fluid
It is generally believed that the scroll-type compressor potentially offers quiet, efficient and low maintenance operation in a variety of refrigeration system applications. However, several design and manufacturing problems persist. For instance, the operating efficiency of a compressor depends upon the integrity of axial and radial sealing between the scroll members. One type of leakage that can occur is between compression pockets of the scroll compressor at those locations where the wrap walls sealingly contact each other to define the boundaries of the moving compression pockets. Leakage between the wraps themselves or between the tips of the wraps and the opposing scroll base plates reduce the efficiency and capacity of the compressor.
Conventional scroll machine practice has been to use a numerically controlled profiling machine, or NC machine, to cause a milling tool and workpiece to undergo relative movement according to mathematical equations descriptive of an intended or desired involute curve. However, deviations of the milling cutter from the desired involute path occur due to errors in the movement of the machine caused by constantly changing forces against the two cartesian axes and time lags in the servo response of the drive motor. Further, this type of milling machine uses rotating end mills that potentially cause a swirl finish on the scroll wraps and wrap tips. This swirl finish, caused by an incorrectly ground or worn milling head, creates an uneven finish that causes a distinctive leak path over the scroll wrap tip, thereby reducing compressor efficiency. High tooling costs are also associated with using such complex milling machinery.
A previous solution to the leakage problem was to "wear in" the scroll wraps one to another. In this system, the compressor would operate until the scroll wrap surfaces wear to the point where they are in constant contact and mate perfectly. A drawback to this solution is that it may take literally days of wear in time per compressor to achieve the needed leakproof seal between the matched scroll wraps. It is undesirable to require compressor purchasers to wear in the compressors they purchase. Further, there is no feasible way of constructing and operating a production factory to contain thousands of operating scroll compressors just to wear in the scrolls.
Various types of wrap finishing have also been utilized to prevent and reduce the leak paths between the scrolls. Conventional thought has been to increase the smoothness of the scroll wear surfaces to that of almost a mirror like finish. Electroplating, deburring, and ultrasonic leveling systems have been utilized to construct smooth wrap surfaces and edges. These current wrap finishing processes are expensive and require a long cycle time to produce.
The present invention is directed to overcoming the aforementioned problems associated with prior methods of manufacturing scroll members for use in scroll compressors, wherein it is desired to create a matched set of fixed and orbiting scroll members without requiring an extended run-in time for the compressor by the use of electrochemical machining (ECM).
Electrochemical machining is a process of shaping and removal of metal from a work piece by an electrochemical process utilizing an external current source and a flow of electrolyte between a work tool and a work piece to be shaped. Metal removal from the scroll members is effected by the process of ionizing a conductive electrolyte between the scrolls thereby dissolving metal atoms from high profile points on wear surfaces.

Electrochemical machining of scroll wraps


Disclosed herein is a system including a wellsite controller. The wellsite controller receives workflow inputs such as wellsite details and communications settings, generates a local configuration entry including the workflow inputs, sensor configuration information about wellsite sensors connected to the controller, and a unique identifier for the controller. The unique identifier is based upon the workflow inputs, the sensor configuration information, and location information for the wellsite. The controller generates a registration message from the local configuration entry. A server receives the registration message, and compares the unique identifier to a store of known identifiers. If the unique identifier does not match one of the known identifiers, the server recognizes the controller as being newly added, adds the wellsite to a monitoring system of the server by creating an entry for the wellsite from the registration message, and attempts to map the wellsite sensors to the entry for the wellsite.

It is common for controllers employed at a wellsite to communicate with remote centralized servers to enable remote monitoring of the wellsite. In particular, many such known controllers employ Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA) protocols, such as the "Modbus" communications protocol, for communications with their respective remote centralized servers. While this does enable remote monitoring of the wellsite, the nature of these protocols involves a lengthy manual configuration and provisioning process, utilizing a team of operators and administrators when new equipment (e.g., a wellsite controller) is added or modified at the wellsite or when changes to the well site are made (e.g., control set points moved).
As an example, a typical process for configuration and provisioning of new equipment at a wellsite is now described with reference to the chart 5 of FIG. 1. In general, this process involves the installation of the equipment at the wellsite (10) by a field technician, the configuration of the SCADA system (20) by a SCADA administrator to enable remote collection of data and communications with the equipment at the wellsite, and then system integration by a server administrator to integrate the SCADA system with other systems (30).
The installation of the equipment (10) involves the manual installation of a communications interface for the new equipment at the wellsite (11), and the manual performance of communications tests between the new equipment at the wellsite and the SCADA system (12). These communications tests involve cooperation between the field technician installing the equipment at the wellsite and an administrator of the SCADA system. Then, peripherals such as sensors are manually installed (if not yet installed), set up, and tested, with the settings used being recorded manually (13). At this point, manual reports are generated that capture location and equipment installation data (14).
The SCADA configuration (20) performed by the SCADA administrator includes the location and/or identification of the IP address of the communications interface of the new equipment at the wellsite (21), and then the cooperation with the field technician to perform communications tests between the communications interface and the SCADA system (22). Then, from the settings and installation data recorded by the field technician, the types of the peripherals are established and mapped into the SCADA system (23) by the SCADA administrator. Then, tests are performed by the SCADA administrator to verify that the SCADA system is in fact receiving data from the peripherals at the wellsite via the communications interface (24).
The system integration (30) performed by the server administrator involves the configuration and mapping of the SCADA data (e.g., data received from the equipment at the wellsite via the SCADA system, such as information from the peripherals) to other enterprise systems (31), such as historian applications that track the SCADA data, software interfaces permitting interface between the SCADA data and Windows computers, and/or custom databases. In addition, the server administrator may manually integrate the SCADA data with inventory and reliability tracking systems, as well as analytics platforms (32).
As can be appreciated, the above described conventional new equipment configuration and provisioning process is time consuming and prone to human error due to the various different tasks that are manually performed due to inefficient and insufficient data sharing between the various hardware and software systems used. As the configuration at the wellsite increases in complexity (e.g., by the addition of new peripherals), the complexity of this configuration and provisioning process only increases, becoming even more prone to human error. As can also be appreciated, due to the manual performance of these tasks, when changes are to be made to the configuration of the equipment, a field technician is required to visit the wellsite, driving up labor costs. Still further, the conventional SCADA systems typically used may not provide adequate data security, and may have a data throughput speed that is less than desired for real time remote monitoring and/or control of the equipment at the wellsite.
For these reasons, further development in the area of wellsite controllers and workflows for provisioning and configuring such wellsite controllers is needed.

Workflow for self provisioning smart well controller


A process for the recovery of arsenic trioxide from acid solutions, particularly the aqueous acid effluent produced by a gas-washing process in the pyrometallurgy of copper sulfide ores is provided. Generally, the process comprises concentrating the acid solution in one or more evaporators in series; crystallizing arsenic contained in the concentrated solution as arsenic trioxide crystals; filtering the crystallized solution to obtain a solid phase comprising impure arsenic trioxide crystals; and purifying the solid phase to obtain a purified crystal product comprising arsenic trioxide. The process produces a commercially salable arsenic trioxide product without producing any solid or liquid residues subject to special handling or treatment regulations.

In a typical metallurgical process for the recovery of copper, arsenic present in the copper ore often remains in the refined products and/or in the process wastewater. Such arsenic-containing residues present significant cost and operational challenges to the copper recovery process as the residues must be treated or disposed of as hazardous materials to avoid negatively impacting the environment. Therefore, plants and/or refineries producing copper concentrates and products containing more than 5% arsenic must generally pre-treat these concentrates to remove arsenic.
A conventional process for pre-treating an arsenic-containing copper concentrate or product comprises heating the concentrate or product under reducing conditions to volatilize the arsenic as a sulfide. The arsenic sulfide is then combusted with air to produce arsenic trioxide and sulphur dioxide as follows:
The resulting calcinated material typically has an arsenic content ranging within commercial standards.
In an alternative process, arsenic-containing copper concentrates are smelted and reduced in converters or flash-type ovens to volatilize arsenic and produce an arsenic-containing off-gas. The arsenic-containing off-gas is further treated in a gas washing plant to recover the arsenic. The arsenic-containing off-gas is contacted with an acid to generate an effluent in the form of an acid solution. Conventionally, the acidic gas wash effluent is then neutralized with lime, filtered and dried to produce a calcium arsenate sludge. However, the handling and disposal of such arsenic-containing sludge are still governed by stringent environmental regulations. Therefore, a need exists for a more cost effective process wherein arsenic can be recovered from an acidic aqueous solution and reused as a salable commercial product while minimizing the risk of direct and indirect environmental pollution.
Many prior art processes are known for treating and/or recovering arsenic from wastewater and other sources. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,231, Hedenas et al. describe a procedure for wet-cleaning gases containing sulfur dioxide, arsenic and halogens produced in the pyrometallurgy of sulfidic materials. The gases are washed with diluted sulfuric acid in a closed loop and arsenic is recovered as an arsenic trioxide product by precipitating arsenic trioxide with sulfides or by alkalinizing the solution. However, the process requires that the washing liquid be pregnated with at least 50 g/L of solid arsenic trioxide in order to promote arsenic recovery from the roaster gas.
Kohno et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,564, describe a process for removing arsenic from the exhaust gas of a sulfide ore smelter. The process discloses scrubbing the exhaust gas with water at a predetermined concentration and temperature to provide an effluent solution having an arsenic concentration of at least 80% of its saturation concentration. The solution is then filtered and arsenic trioxide is crystallized under vacuum or by cooling at a pH less than 2. Finally, the arsenic trioxide crystals are contacted with hydrochloric acid to produce an arsenic trioxide product.
Tomita, et al., in J. Metal, Vol. 35, No. 12 (1983), describe a process for recovering arsenic trioxide from copper cement. The process requires the steps of leaching copper cement to form CuSO4 in acid solution; dissolving arsenious sulfide in the CuSO4 solution; oxidizing As(III) to As(V); reducing As(V) to an As2O3 crystal with SO2 gas; and drying the arsenic trioxide crystals.
Madsen et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,632, describe treating gases from smelter flue dusts by forming an aqueous slurry of the dust, treating the slurry with sulfur dioxide gas to solubilize arsenic and precipitating arsenic as an arsenic trioxide product by means of sulfuric acid.
Yen, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,460, describes the removal of dissolved heavy metals, including arsenic, from aqueous solutions, particularly industrial and mining waters. The procedure discloses reacting the dissolved heavy metal with an inorganic sulfide or hydrosulfide at high temperature between 0° and 100° C. and controlling the pH between 2 and 3.5.
Allgulin, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,975, describes treating aqueous solutions containing impure heavy metals such as arsenic, phosphorus and mercury. The reference describes precipitating impure heavy metals from solution in two stages, using sodium hydroxide and ferric sulfate as precipitating agents. Arsenic impurities are then recovered as a sludge of iron-arsenic oxide, which can be stabilized and disposed.
Reynolds et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,977, describe the recovery of arsenic from ferric arsenate produced in the processing of materials containing high arsenic values, such as smelting powders. The procedure requires treating ferric arsenate compounds with sodium hydroxide, extracting pentavalent arsenic in a sodium arsenate solution and recovering an arsenic product.
Chen, et al., in Env. Sci. of China, 19(4):310–12 (1999) describe the removal of arsenic sulphuret from acidic metallurgical wastewater. The sulphuret is treated with acid to recover arsenic trioxide with a purity of 99.4%, along with a sulphur by-product.
Therefore a need continues to exist for recovering arsenic from aqueous acid solutions wherein a commercial arsenic trioxide product can be obtained, together with other by-products, which can be used directly in other processes and wherein the process does not produce any liquid or solid residues requiring special handling or disposal.

Process for recovering arsenic from acidic aqueous solution


An electronic storage box, an electronic storage box opening and closing method, and computer program product, comprising: safety, portability, convenience, economical efficiency and presentation effects are provided. In case a cryptograph setting request signal is received from a PC 21, the electronic storage box 1 stores cryptograph information included in the cryptograph setting request signal. In case an opening and closing request signal is received from a PC 21, the electronic storage box 1 determines whether or not the cryptograph information included in the opening and closing request signal and the cryptograph information stored in a key storage portion 103 match with each other. In case it is determined that these pieces of the cryptograph information match with each other, the electronic storage box 1 allows a lid 12 to shift either to an opened state or a closed state according to the opening and closing state of the lid 12.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic storage box whose lid is opened and closed by input of cryptograph information, an opening and closing method of the electronic storage box, and the computer program product thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a storage box capable of locking a lid so as not to be opened by using a key has been used. As such storage box, for example, a piggy bank, a safe, and a suitcase can be cited. Such storage box is high in safety since a lid is not opened unless a key is used, and has been used widely.
Meantime, techniques of unlocking and locking without using a physical key have been disclosed, for example, in JP5-287944A (abstract), JP2002-342421A (abstract) and JP2003-41822A (abstract).
JP5-287944A discloses a technique which releases the locking of a box attached to electronic equipment by inputting a secrete code to electronic equipment such as a word processor. Further, JP2002-342421A discloses a technique which releases the locking of a private mail box by inputting information indicating an electronic key from a communication interface attached to the private mail box. Further, JP2003-41822A discloses a technique, which transmits a release signal from a mobile phone and releases the locking of appliances.
By utilizing the techniques disclosed in the patent documents, without using a physical key, but using cryptograph information such as a password and the like, the locking of the lid of the storage box can be electrically released.
Incidentally, in case a storage box with a key is given more security, portability, convenience, beauty of external appearance, and some dramatic presentation effects on occasions when the lid is opened, there is a possibility of the storage box being used for a wider variety of applications in addition to the application used for storing one's possessions in security. By developing such storage box, it is possible to cultivate a new market.
For example, such storage box has a possibility of being used as a box to be delivered from a giver to a recipient by putting a gift inside the box. In this case, when the lid of the storage box is constituted in such a manner as to be opened and closed through insertion of a physical key into the hole of a lock, though there is every possibility and danger of the recipient losing the key or the lid being opened through thievery of both the storage box and key by strangers, if the lock of the lid is electrically released by using the techniques disclosed in the patent documents, it is possible to enhance security.
Further, when the lock of the lid of the storage box is released, if the lid is not manually opened, but is controlled to slowly open in an opening direction, then it is convenient, and dramatic presentation effects can be enhanced. However, in case the structure for opening and closing the lid is made complicated, the cost thereof becomes expensive, and this makes it necessary to realize the box by a simple structure.
An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic storage box, an opening and closing method of the electronic storage box, and the computer program product thereof, which can solve the problems.

Electronic storage box, opening and closing method of electronic storage box, and computer program product thereof


Mechanisms are provided to automatically identify source code relevant to a task among a set of disparate source code. The mechanisms search a plurality of working sets based on a given keyword associated with the task in order to identify a subset of working sets from a working set store that comprises the given keyword. The mechanisms identify source code files associated with the identified working sets. The mechanisms determine a score that depends on the occurrences of matched working sets for the given keyword within each identified source code file. For each directory or repository, the mechanisms determine an aggregated score for all the source code files comprised therein. The mechanisms present a listing of all identified source code files by directory and repository, where the listing illustrates a relevancy of repositories, directories, and source code files that comprise the given keyword associated with the task.

The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically to mechanisms for automatically identifying source code relevant to a task among a set of disparate source code.
In computing, source code is any collection of code, possibly with comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the work of computer programmers, who specify the actions to be performed by a computer mostly by writing source code. Source code may often be comprised of a number of modules, each module emphasizing a separate functionality of the larger program. That is, the program comprises independent, interchangeable modules, such that each module comprises everything necessary to execute only one aspect of the desired functionality of the program. The resulting source code is then often transformed by an assembler or compiler into binary machine code understood by the computer. The machine code might then be stored for execution at a later time. Alternatively, source code may be interpreted and thus immediately executed.

Automatically identifying source code relevant to a task

International Business Machines Corporation


It is an object of the present invention to provide a lever switch capable of reliably preventing intrusion of water or the like into a casing and maintaining smooth operation of a switch mechanism for a long period of time. A lever switch provided with a switch mechanism whereby an operation lever rotates from a neutral position on a base against a spring force of a coil spring to change the position of the switch, a gap between the operation lever and base is filled with a casing, the switch mechanism is accommodated in the casing and a waterproof/dustproof mechanism is provided to seal a sliding surface between the operation lever and casing and a contact surface between the base and casing with an upper lip packing and lower lip packing respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lever switch required to have water proofing property and dust proofing property in an operating environment in particular such as a switch for detecting an opening/closed state of a power window of a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-331567 which discloses a waterproof lever switch has been applied by the applicant of the present invention.
This conventional switch has a structure in which a movable contact spring strip is disposed below a disk, from the perimeter of which a lever protrudes and a fixed contact is disposed below this movable contact spring strip. When an external force acts on the lever, a protrusion on the underside of the disk which rotates against a spring force presses the movable contact spring strip, the movable contact spring strip deflects and contacts the fixed contact to thereby turn on the switch. On the other hand, when the external force is released, the lever is restored to a neutral position through an elastic force of the spring, the movable contact spring strip separates from the fixed contact to thereby turn off the switch. A waterproof ring is inserted into a groove between the disk and a recess to provide water-proofing property.
In the conventional switch, the spring which biases the lever to the neutral position is disposed outside the disk and exposed without being covered. For this reason, this exposed spring may rust due to contact with water or the gap of the spring may be clogged with dust. This causes the spring to lose its elasticity, makes it difficult to restore the lever to the neutral position or the like, thus interfering with the operation of the lever and preventing the switch from functioning smoothly.
The present invention has been implemented in view of the above described problem and it is an object of the present invention to provide a lever switch which is perfectly and reliably preventable from water-intrusion or dust-intrusion through the casing of the switch, keeping smooth operation of a switch mechanism for a long period of time.