A method of tracing execution of a computer program of a data processing system with print messages is disclosed. The method includes providing a trace definition file containing a plurality of trace definitions, each trace definition is an encoded identification of each print message to be used with the tracing of execution of the computer program of the data processing system and a format display specification of an output for providing a trace of the execution of the computer program; providing information from the trace definition file to the data processing system which is executed with the computer program; providing information from the trace definition file to a host processor; the host processor communicating with the data processing system to identify selected parts of the computer program to be traced; in response to execution of the computer program transmitting trace information from the data processor to the host processor associated with the selected parts of the application program being traced; and the host processor, in response to transmission of the trace information from the data processor and in response to the information provided from the trace definition file causing the output for enabling tracing of the execution of the selected parts of the computer program.

The GSM communication system (global system for mobile communications) is a TDMA telecommunications system providing time multiplexed communications between mobile units and base stations contained in the GSM communication system. The GSM communication system, including transceiver units, is defined by published specifications which have been adopted over the years. The totality of the GSM published specifications are expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
The functionality of a GSM transceiver in the GSM communication system is defined by the aforementioned GSM specifications and includes a multilayer protocol stack containing software executed with a microprocessor. A first layer of the protocol stack interfaces with the hardware and controls communications to and from the second and third protocol layers. The second and third protocol layers control communications to and from the first layer and utilize services provided by the first protocol layer to communicate between the GSM network. The communications between the GSM network and GSM transceivers are time multiplexed into GSM frames. Each GSM frame has a fixed time duration and is divided into multiple segments each containing a plurality of bits all in accordance with the aforementioned published GSM specifications.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a prior art transceiving unit which is disclosed in a catalog entitled "ICs for Communications" published by Siemens AG and identified as Product Overview 09.95. Standard functional notations are utilized to identify the functional elements in the block diagram of FIG. 1. Only a brief overview description of FIG. 1 will be given to describe the overall design of a GSM transceiver in which the present invention may be practiced and its relationship to a GSM network.
The GSM transceiver 10 is a double conversion heterodyne PM receiver with phase shifting circuitry for I/Q demodulation. Antenna 12 is connected through filter 14 to low noise amplifier 16 which is in turn connected to filter 18. The output of filter 18 is connected to mixer 20 which shifts the received signal down to an intermediate frequency. The output of mixer 20 is connected to filter 22 and the output of filter 22 is connected to amplifier 24. The output of amplifier 24 is connected to mixer 26 which shifts the signal to the baseband. The output of mixer 26 is connected to amplifiers 28 whose I and Q outputs are respectively connected to filters 30 having outputs applied to A to D converters 32. The outputs of the A to D converters 32 are connected to a digital signal processor 34 which includes filters 36 which are connected to the outputs of the A to D converters 32, a soft equalizer 38 which is connected to the output of the filters 36 and a speech and channel decoder 40. The output of the speech and channel decoder 40 is connected to filter 42 whose output is connected to D to A converter 44 whose output is applied to amplifier 46 which drives speaker 48 to provide audio to a user. Speech of the user is detected by microphone 50 which is connected to amplifier 52 having an output connected to A to D converter 54. The output of A to D converter 54 is connected to filter 56 having an output connected to speech and channel encoder 58. The outputs of speech and channel encoder 58 are connected to a GMSK encoder 60 having a pair of outputs which are applied to D to A converters 62 with the outputs thereof being connected to filters 64 which respectively output I and Q signals. The I and Q signals are connected to mixers 66 which are driven by RFVCO 68 to convert the signal from the baseband to the RF band. The output of mixers 66 is connected to output stage 68'. The output of output state 68 is connected to filter 70. The output of filter 70 is connected to output amplifier 72 which is controlled by a power amplifier control 74 in the form of a D to A converter. Microprocessor 76 controls the overall system including the power amplifier control 74 and provides a system interface 77. The system interface 77 generates chip select signals, internal clock signals, GSM specific control and timing signals via programmable timers for programmable interrupts on timer values and provides a chip card interface to a SIM card 78. The interface 77 also provides connectivity to a keypad 80. The microprocessor 76 is connected to a E.sup.2 PROM 82, a flash memory 85, and RAM 86.
As illustrated, a GSM network 84, which is in accordance with GSM specifications including base stations and related switching architecture, transmits and receives communications between individual transceiver units 10 via RF transmission 87. The communications are time multiplexed into GSM frames each containing 8 time slots each containing multiple bits. Base stations (not illustrated) of the GSM network 84 each have an antenna 88 which transmits and receives the aforementioned time multiplexed GSM frames.
Each GSM transceiver, such as the unit 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 in accordance with the published GSM specifications, has a multilayer protocol stack including first, second and third layers. Instructions must be issued to the hardware to allow the hardware to perform in accordance with the published GSM specifications in the GSM frames with either a frame advance or a frame delay which is required to be an integer multiple of the time duration of a GSM frame. This permits designers of hardware for implementing GSM transceivers to provide for pipeline frame delays or frame advances in terms of an integer multiple of the time duration of a GSM frame between the protocol stack and the hardware which suit the design requirements of the hardware. The first three layers of the GSM protocol stack conforms to the overall OSI network model for providing a universal multi-layer protocol stack.
FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a GSM prior art multiple layer protocol stack 100 of the type utilized with a transceiver unit 10 of FIG. 1. The overall protocol stack 100, as illustrated, may be associated with hardware 102 which is represented by the hardware 10 of FIG. 1. Layers 2 and 3 identified by reference numeral 104 are well known and comply with the published GSM specifications including timing requirements. Layer 2 implements the LAPDm protocol specified in GSM specifications 04.05 and 04.06 which specify the transceiver protocol. Layer 3 conforms to GSM specifications 04.07, 04.08 and 04.8x and is described in more detail below in conjunction with FIG. 3. Layer 1, which is identified by reference numeral 106, is comprised of multiple software modules which exist in diverse implementations for performing the overall functions contained in the layer 1 block diagram.
Cyclic scheduler 108 takes a GSM channel configuration description from layer 3 and arranges for appropriate instructions to be given to the GSM encoding and decoding subsystem 102 at the required times in order for the required channel structure to be implemented. The channel configurations are described in GSM specifications 05.02, section 6.4.
Non-cyclic scheduler 110 performs the task of scheduling instructions to be carried by out by layer 1 which do not occur on a cyclical basis. The scheduled instructions typically are requests from the layer 3 to deliver information about base stations other than the base station currently camped onto by the transceiver unit 10 which is controlled by the cyclical scheduler 108. The non-cyclical scheduler 110 finds idle GSM frames into which requests from the layer 3 can be placed without interfering with the ongoing work of the cyclic scheduler 108.
Downlinked statistics and control 112 performs the task of monitoring the absolute radio frequency channel control number to determine the absolute power and reception quality as measured in accordance with GSM published specifications 05.08, chapter 8. The result is reported to the layer 3. Synchronization and MS carrier frequency are maintained as specified in GSM specifications 05.10, section 6.
Uplink control 114 functions to control the uplinked transmitted power of the transceiver on a frame by frame basis as ordered by the base station in accordance with published GSM specifications 05.08, section 4.7.
FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of the three layer protocol stack 200 associated with the hardware 202 of a GSM transceiver which may be as illustrated in FIG. 1 and a user interface 204 which is implemented to conform to GSM specifications 0.2.30 permitting different product configurations. Layer 1 is identified by the legend "L1" and reference numeral 106 and layer 2 is identified by the legend "L2" and reference numeral 206. Layer 1 conforms to the description of FIG. 2. Layer 3 is identified by reference numeral 208 and performs a plurality of functions as described below. Speech 210 is transmitted between the hardware 202 and the user interface 204. Data 212 is transmitted between hardware 202 and the user interface 204.
The purpose of the User Interface layer 204 is to provide an entity which allows the user to interact with the transceiver in a controlled way. The User Interface 204 guides the user through any interaction that may occur between the user and the other layers within the protocol stack 200. The user interface 204 is an application specific part of a transceiver, and as such, does not form a part of the protocol stack.
Specifically, the user interface 204 is required by the GSM specifications to provide the user with the means to perform the following functions:
(1) To Authenticate the user with the SIM card 78 via the personal identification number (PIN) procedures. In order to do this, the user interface 204 must make use of the services provided thereto by the interface between the SIM entity 224 described below and the user interface.
(2) To allow the user to switch the transceiver into manual or automatic network selection mode. In order to do this, the user interface 204 must make use of the services provided to the UI by the UI-MM interface.
(3) To allow the user to select a network from a list of available networks. In order to do this, the user interface 204 must make use of the services provided to the user interface by the interface between the mobility management entity 216 described below and the user interface.
(4) To provide the user with a service indicator which indicates whether the user has GSM service available or not, making use of information provided via the interface between the mobility management entity 216 described below and the user interface 204.
(5) To provide the user with an indication of the Network (PLMN) into which the user is currently booked. This is done using information provided to the user interface 214 by the mobility management entity 216 via the interface therebetween.
(6) To provide the capability of making an emergency call by entering the number `112`. In order to do this, the user interface 204 must make use of the services provided to the user interface by the mobile network entity 220 described below via the interface therebetween.
(7) To allow the user to control the supplementary services entity 226 described below via a set of instructions defined in the GSM specifications. This is performed using the services provided by the supplemental services entity via the interface therebetween.
In addition, any normal user interface 204 will provide a large number of additional features such as Call Establishment, Abbreviated Dialling numbers, entering, sending and reading short messages, etc.
Radio resources entity 214 performs a plurality of functions specified by GSM specifications 04.07 and 04.08. The radio resources entity 214 is that part of layer 3 of the protocol stack 200 which performs the signalling protocols necessary to control layer 1 and layer 2 to establish and maintain a wireless link between the transceiver and the GSM network. The radio resources entity 214 configures and controls layer 1 so that passive and active connections can be maintained between the transceiver and a base station. The responsibilities of the radio resources entity 214 are divided into a number of subtasks as follows:
The first subtask of the radio resources entity 214 is cell selection which involves searching for all base stations. This is performed by determining the signal strengths for the candidate channels, and then, in decreasing signal strength order, determining whether these channels are indeed base station broadcast channels (BCCh). The BCCh broadcast information for base stations must be decoded to determine the suitability of the base station. It must be determined whether the base station belongs to the network requested by the mobility management entity 216. If unsuccessful, details of all available networks are passed up to the mobility management entity 216 where the decision is made to select a particular network. The decision to select a particular network is passed down to radio resources entity 214 where the best base station for this network is then selected as a server base station. It should be noted that while the radio resources entity 214 has the responsibility for selecting a particular base station, the mobility management entity 216 is responsible for selecting the network. This includes handling automatic and manual network selection.
The next subtask is idle mode monitoring. After the transceiver has camped on a particular base station, radio resources idle mode monitoring must then monitor the base station and the neighboring base stations to determine whether the current serving base station remains suitable. Once the radio resources entity 214 determines that the current base station is not the most suitable, a message is passed to the mobility management entity 216 when then orders the radio resources entity to perform a further cell selection on the basis of its stored information. The paging channel must be continuously monitored in order to see if the mobile is being called. The radio resources entity 214 has a stored TMSI and IMSI and if these correspond to an identity found on the paging channel, then the mobility management entity 216 is informed that the transceiver may be being paged. In fact, only the mobility management entity 216 knows whether the TMSI and IMSI are valid. CB-SHORT message services are sent on the cell broadcast channel. The radio resources entity 214 must piece these messages together and pass complete messages to the short messages services entity to support this service.
The next task is dedicated connection establishment. The radio resources entity 214 is responsible for establishing a dedicated connection when requested to do so by the mobility management entity 216. It uses its knowledge of the base station to control the layer 1 identified by reference numeral 106 in order to establish a channel in the current serving base station using the random access procedures. The radio resources entity 214 instructs the first layer 106 to send an access burst on the random access channel. It then monitors the access grant channel for a response corresponding to the access burst. If such a response occurs, the radio resources 214 then instructs the first Layer 1 to seize the channel indicated in the response. If no such response occurs, the process is repeated a maximum number of times before a failure is indicated to the mobility management entity 216. Seizing the channel consists of informing Layer 1 of the channel to use and requesting Layer 2 identified by reference 206 to establish multiple frame operation on the channel.
The next task is modifying the channel. When a dedicated channel has been established, the radio resources must respond to instructions from the base station in the form of messages from Layer 3 identified by reference numeral 208 messages to control the dedicated channel. These instructions include changes in the physical channel used (intra-cell handovers), changes between base stations (inter-cell handovers), or minor modifications to existing channels. These channels involve correct sequencing of the operations of both the second layer and the first layer (second layer suspends/resumes operations of the protocol stack). These changes are largely transparent to the higher layers of the protocol stack.
There are three possible ways in which a dedicated channel may be released. These are, on command of the base station, on command of the mobility management entity 216, or when the radio resources entity 214 detects specific error on the link. Once again, this requires correct sequencing of the activity of Layer 1 and Layer 2. Having released the channel, the radio resources entity 214 waits for instructions from mobility management entity 216 to select an appropriate base station.
The next task is dedicated mode monitoring. While a dedicated channel is active, the radio resources entity 214 must control Layer 1 to perform appropriate monitoring of the neighboring cells in order to present measurements reports to the base station. This is done so that the base station can make suitable decisions about controlling power levels and when an inter-cell handover should be performed.
The last task is Layer 3 message transfer. Layer 3 messages from higher level entities in the protocol stack are relayed through the radio resources entity on their way to layer 2.
The mobility management entity 216 follows the GSM specifications 02.11, 04.07 and 04.08. The mobility management entity 216 is that part of layer 3 of the protocol stack which performs the signalling protocols necessary to establish and authenticate services provided by the GSM network.
The mobility management entity 216 performs three major activities. These are network selection, as specified in GSM specifications 02.11, registration and authentication functions as specified in GSM specification 04.08 4 and connection management functions.
The mobility management entity 216 performs network selection. On the basis of information stored on the SIM card 78 of FIG. 1, the mobility management entity 216 is responsible for indicating to the radio resources 214 which network should be sought by the radio resources entity 214 when selecting cells upon which to camp. If the radio resources entity 214 is unsuccessful in this activity, the mobility management entity 216 is then responsible for choosing an alternative network on the basis of information returned by the radio resources entity 214. This may be on the basis of the network selection field on the SIM card 78 or user intervention, whereby the user selects a network from a list of networks presented in the user interface.
A second responsibility of the mobility management entity 216 is to control the period for re-attempts of cell selection in the absence of any useful signals.
The network selection responsibilities of the mobility management entity 216 also involve the storage of the neighboring cell information on the SIM card 78, so that the radio resources entity 214 can perform stored-information cell selection. It should be noted that the radio resources entity 214 does not automatically reselect other cells even when they belong to the chosen network.
The mobility management entity 216 performs registration and authentication. The mobility management entity 216 is responsible for recognizing the conditions where location updating should be performed, and for responding to mobility management messages from the base station pertaining to both registration and authentication. Both registration and authentication involve interactions with the SIM manager either to perform the authentication, or to insure that the SIM card 78 contents reflect the location update status of the transceiver. It should be noted that the majority of the activities are under the control of the base station, and having recognized the requirements to perform a location update, the mobility management entity 216 simply follows the instructions of the base station as specified as mobility management comment procedures in GSM specifications 04.08 4.3. The exception to this general principal is when errors occur, when the mobility management entity 216 performs the actions for abnormal cases as specified in GSM specifications 04.08, 188.8.131.52.
The mobility management entity 216 also performs connection management. The mobility management entity 216 is responsible for recognizing the requirement for a dedicated connection with a base station. This is a result of either a legitimate request for the connection management layer, or the result of a valid paging message from the base station. A further function of the mobility management is that it keeps track of open connection management layer transactions of the third layer so that it can automatically disconnect the connection once all transactions are completed, and also inform interested parties should the connection be interrupted.
The call control entity 218 follows the mandatory recommendations of GSM specifications regarding call management and the call control aspects of GSM specification 04.07 and 04.08. The call control entity 218 conforms closely to GSM specification 04.08 5 regarding elementary procedures for circuit switch call control. The call control entity 218 communicates with the mobile network entity 220 as described below and the mobility management entity 216 as described above. More than one mobility management entity 216 connection may be established at the same time to allow parallel transactions. Since more than one call control entity is defined in the call management sublayer, parallel calls can be handled on different mobility management connections. Every call has a unique transaction identifier (TI), composed of the TI-value 0-6, and a TI flag which indicates whether the call is transceiver originated or transceiver terminated. By using the TI as a call identifier, up to seven outgoing and seven incoming call control calls can be handled in parallel. The call identifier is distinguished at the mobility management entity 216 level by having a different protocol descriptor (PD) to the same call identifier which could, for example, be used simultaneously by the supplementary services entity 226.
The call control entity 218 is wholly concerned with the stepwise progress through the different call control states for the call, as defined in GSM specifications 04.08, Chapter 5. The call control entity 218 contains the necessary error handling and management of timers to insure the correct progress through the states. In most states, not including the idle and active states, a timer insures that the call control entity 218 remains in that state for a maximum period of time. These timers are described in GSM specifications 04.08. When a timer expires, the actions described in GSM specification 04.08 are carried out. Any call specific information, for example, bearer capabilities is handled and stored in the mobile network entity 220 described below.
Call establishment is controlled as follows. Before call establishment can be initiated, the peer-to-peer connection between the mobility management entity 216 sublayers in the transceiver and in the GSM network (mobile network connection) must be established. Call establishment is initiated on the receipt of the SETUP REQ PRIMITIVE from the mobile network entity 220 for a mobile originated call, or the Est Ind primitive for the mobility management entity 216 for a mobile terminated call. The Est Ind primitive contains the SETUP message for the network. Each call is then handled using a state machine approach, with independent states stored for each call in an array of CCSTATES. The call establishment procedures are documented thoroughly in GSM specifications 04.08 7.3.2 (MOCE) and 7.3.3 (MTCE).
Call information is processed as follows. Call information messages are either call modification messages or user modification messages. Call modification is used to request a change in bearer capability during a call, for example, to switch between speech and facsimile during a call. Note that this must have been previously indicated during the setup of a call in question. A successful modification is indicated by the receipt of MODIFY COMPLETE, and a failure by the receipt of MODIFY REJECT primitive. The call control state changes accordingly and the message is relayed to the mobile network entity 220. For this case, when the MODIFY has been sent by the network, the call control 218 entity decides whether the modification is acceptable with respect to the current state. If it is allowed, then the MODIFY IND is passed up to the mobile network entity 220 where a decision on whether the contents of the new bearer capability are acceptable. User information messages are simply relayed by the call control entity 218. Received messages are passed up to the user interface 204 via the mobile network entity 220 and messages from the mobile network entity are sent onto the network via the mobility management entity 216.
Call clearing is performed as follows. The call clearing process is different depending on whether it is transceiver initiated or transceiver terminated. The network initiates call clearing by sending a disconnect message to the transceiver. The transceiver answers by sending a release message and the network concludes the procedure by sending a RELEASE COMPLETE message. In the event of a disconnect message containing a PROGRESS INDICATOR saying that in-band information is available, then instead of sending a RELEASE, the transceiver enters a state which waits for the user to terminate the call with a Release Request. In practice, this can be used, for example, to allow the network to clear a call, and pass information to the transceiver explaining why the call was cleared (e.g. SIM cash limit exceeded). If the call was the last active call in the traffic channel, then the traffic channel was no longer needed and the mobility management entity 216 will perform a channel release. A tranceiver initiated disconnect occurs as a result of a Disconnect Request primitive, originally sent by the user interface. A disconnect message is sent to the network, which then responds by sending a release message to which the mobile answers by sending a Release Complete and returning this call to the idle state. When the Release or Release Complete message is received from the network, depending upon whether the call is released from the mobile or the network, a release indication is passed onto the mobile network entity 220, which then frees the corresponding transaction identifier and releases any memory or state information which relates to the call.
The call control entity 218 performs handling of miscellaneous messages. The miscellaneous messages are DTMF, Status, Notify, Congestion and Control Messages. The DTMF messages are used by the mobility management DTMF state machine for the purposes of handling DTMF for a particular call. All of the information regarding the DTMF control and timing is handled by the mobile network entity 220. The status and status inquiry messages provide a mechanism whereby the peer control entities in the transceiver and the network and inquire of each other the current status at any time. The status information contains the cause and call state for the particular call. This is used to allow the network to check for test purposes that the call control entity of the transceiver is in the expected state. The call control entity 218 responds to the Status Inquire by sending the Status message to the network. The Notify message is used to send information from the network to the transceiver or vice versa to indicate the information pertaining to the call, such as user suspended. A received Notify message is simply passed on to the mobile network entity 220.
The mobile network entity 220 follows the requirements of the GSM specifications and, in particular, the call management aspects of GSM specifications 04.07 and 04.08 as well as the supplementary services recommendations in 04.8x. The mobile network entity 220 lies between the user interface 204 and the call control entity 218. The mobile network entity provides services to the user interface 204 in a more easily usable form than if the user interface were to communicate directly with the call control entity 218. In addition, it takes over the management of the call control entity 218 in many cases where the user interface 204 would otherwise be responsible. There are some facilities, such as tone generation, which must be accessed by the GSM protocol stack, as well as by the user interface 204. To provide a common interface to these, the mobile network entity 220 includes managers for such features. The call control entity 218 is completely shielded from the hardware capabilities. Only the mobile network entity 220 interacts with the hardware. In summary, the mobile network entity reduces the GSM responsibilities of the user interface to a minimum, and many facilities which need to be accessed by both the GSM protocol stack and the user interface can be accessed through the common procedures in the mobile network entity 220.
The mobile network entity 220 contains a tone generation manager, a transaction identifier manager, a traffic channel manager, a service manager, a special information element manager and a DTMF manager, which are described as follows.
The tone generation manager provides the capability of driving up to sixteen speakers simultaneously with each speaker being capable of being individually controlled. The tone characteristics can be modified at run time for each tone on each speaker. Crescendo levels can also be set for each tone.
The transaction identifier manager performs the following functions. A transaction corresponds to a single call. Since the protocol stack must manage multiple calls, for example, during multi-party calls, it is necessary to manage multiple transaction identifiers. Up to seven originated calls can be managed simultaneously.
The traffic channel manager handles the communications with a device driver for a CODEC in the hardware.
The graphic channel manager maintains information about the current status of the traffic channel, for example, whether only signalling is allowed, or full or half-speech is being used. It informs the driver when it can switch to or from the traffic channel, when it should start sending traffic, and in which mode it should start.
The service manager handles the unique identification of bearer capabilities for the transceiver. The user interface must register the full set of bearer capabilities which are supported by the transceiver. The service manager will return a service identifier for each registered service. The user interface 204 then can uniquely identify the required service for outgoing calls. Similarly, for outgoing calls, the mobile network entity 220 can decide if the service is supported, and if so, it then informs the user interface 204 giving only the service identifier, instead of the complex bearer capability information sent from the network. Should the network request a call with an unsupported bearer capability, then the mobile network entity 220 will either refuse the call, or negotiate the call. Negotiation might involve saying that the service can be supported but at a lower baud rate. Bearer capabilities can be registered and de-registered during run-time, which would be necessary if, for example, an external facsimile machine were to be connected or disconnected while the mobile is switched on.
The special information element manager performs the following functions. Some information elements which would otherwise have to be serviced by the user interface 204, are evaluated within the mobile network entity 220 and the essential information is then passed to the user interface 204 in an easy to use form. Information elements, such as progress indications, facility information and calling party number are handled here.
The DTMF manager performs the following functions. The DTMF manager handles any signalling and timing required in order to implement the DTMF functionality in the transceiver.
In addition, the mobile network entity 220 contains a unit for handling mobile network specific timers, and interfaces the test entity 222 as described below to the corresponding device driver functions (speech decoder/encoder, DSP functions).
The test entity 222 implements the GSM type approval test functions specified in GSM specification 11.10. The TCH-LOOP test and the Digital Audio Interface Tests are fully supported. The test features are only available when a test SIM is being used as described below. The test entity 222 contains diverse data structures. The test entity is initialized by setting all variables to the off state a number of variables are static to the entity.
There are three entity state variables within the test entity 222. These variables indicate the TCH state, the EMMI state and the mode of operation of the digital signal processor of the hardware 202 (i.e. loop back or not). The TCH state has three stable states, Tch None Tch Open and Tch Close, which are part of the data structures. The TCH state is stored in the TETch State variable. When the state is changing between open and closed, intermediate states are used to prevent any actions occurring until the changeover is complete. Messages which arrive during a changeover are delayed until the changeover is complete. The loop back proceeds as follows. First, the mobile network entity 220 switches out uplink traffic then the DSP is switched into loop back mode. Opening of the loop back requires that the procedure is performed in reverse. First, the DSP loop back is removed, then the mobile network accepts uplink traffic again.
The SIM entity 224 follows GSM specifications 11.11. The SIM entity 224 can be on or off.
The supplemental services entity 226 provides all aspects of the protocol required for the user to control call forwarding. The supported operations are a registration of call forwarding, erasure of call forwarding and interrogation of call forwarding. The supplementary services entity 226 also provides all of the aspects of the protocol required for the user to control call barring. The supported operations are activation of call barring, deactivation of call barring, interrogation of call barring and password registration.
The SMS entity 228 controls the sending, receiving and storage of Short Messages for Point to Point short message exchange. It also controls the reception and temporary storage of the Cell Broadcast SMS. These two services can be defined as follows:
Point To Point SMS: This service allows a user to send a short text (max length 160 characters) from a transceiver to another transceiver. The message is sent in store and forward mode. That is to say that no connection is established between the two transceivers, but rather the message is sent from the originating transceiver to a service center. The service center then attempts to forward the message to the destination. If it is successful, then the message is deleted in the service center. If the destination transceiver cannot be reached, then the service center stores the message and continues to attempt to forward the message at periodic intervals. The originating transceiver can specify the length of time for which the message should be stored in the service center before deleting the message.
Cell Broadcast: This service is used by the network to broadcast short messages to transceivers. The transceiver cannot reply. This service is typically used in order to broadcast advertising, weather reports and such like. It is very similar in operation to the teletext services found on most television channels today.
The SMS entity 228 conforms to mandatory aspects of GSM Recommendations 03.40 v. 4.9.1, 04.11 v. 4.7.0 for Point-to-Point, and 03.41 v. 4.9.0 and 04.12 v. 4.4.0 for Cell Broadcast.
Additionally, interfaces exist between the various entities which perform overall functions consistent with the functionality of the multilayer protocol stack 200 specified by the GSM specifications.
The operation of a GSM transceiver requires channel establishment between the transceiver and the network in accordance with the GSM protocol. The radio resources 214 entity and the mobility management entity 216 of the prior art of FIG. 3 interact to control channel establishment. GSM specifications 04.07 suggest an overall organization of the GSM protocol stack 200 in which entities are responsible for performing parts of the signalling protocol between the transceivers and base stations of the GSM communication system. These entities communicate internally by passing messages or "primitives" between themselves. Each entity is assumed to sequentially pass only one primitive at a time. All entities are assumed to operate independently of and parallel to each other. The precedents of relationships between the entities specified by GSM specifications 04.07 is important because it corresponds to the priority of messages which are exchanged between a transceiver and a base station. GSM specifications 04.08 specify in detail the signalling protocol used between the transceivers and the base stations of the GSM network.
A traditional method of monitoring and debugging of software involves the programmer inserting print statements into the code that at appropriate times allows monitoring of critical values manipulated by the software and to observe the flow of control within the program.
This method is probably the oldest method for monitoring and debugging of software. With careful choices of what is monitored, it can be as effective as state of the art source code debugging systems. This arises from the fact that printed messages and values can be made meaningful to the observer. A source code debugger shows anonymous positions in a program and allows arbitrary variables to be inspected, without any indication of what is important. As a result, source code debuggers are inadequate for monitoring and debugging complex applications programs such as the protocol stack of a GSM transceiver.
Although state of the art in-circuit emulators allow source code debugging in prototypes of embedded systems, such as GSM transceivers, it is rare to have this luxury in a final product, especially where weight and size are a premium. Unfortunately, the complexity of some state of the art communication and data processing systems is such that it is impossible to fully debug the software until it is well past the prototype stage, and under conditions that it is impossible to subject a prototype to an in-circuit emulator. A good example of such a system is a digital telephone such as the GSM transceiver described above. As can be seen from the description of the protocol stack of a prior art GSM transceiver, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 and described above, a high degree of complexity is involved in the execution of the modules of the protocol stack which make it difficult to debug and trace operation of the application programs therein.
Most modern microcontrollers used for embedded systems, such as state of the art communication devices, such as GSM transceivers as illustrated in FIG. 1 and described above, have serial communications ports which allow the programmer to insert print statements into the code and monitoring of the activity of the software over the serial port. There are several problems with this approach for monitoring and debugging application programs:
1. The text components of the messages must be stored within the embedded system, requiring large amounts of additional memory.
2. The formatting activity associated with the conversion of stored values to text that is easily understood by humans presents a considerable processing load on the microcontroller.
3. The data rate that is possible with inexpensive serial communications ports severely limits the number of points within a program that can be reasonably monitored and debugged.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,274 discloses concurrently running, thread generating breakpoint interrupts to an active tracing monitor. A trace function is used to insert a running thread program into the selected application which continuously generates breakpoint interrupts on a periodic basis. Stored indications of the application's state are then used to generate a report.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,707,725 describes improvements in tracing the execution of a program. A tracing program copies into a traced program instructions to be executed and traced that are kept subservient to the tracing program. The tracing program controls the computer of the traced program. The tracing program is quiescent when not tracing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,165 discloses a method and apparatus for debugging computer programs. Macros are used that can be called on to expand into operable code and are inserted into the program at various locations. The macros are programmer-selectable. Symbol table code 14 allows the expanded macros to determine whether tracing has been enabled for a particular symbol. The symbol table code 14 also allows for statistics to be kept for each symbol.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,649 describes a system for dynamically generating, correlating, and reading multiprocessing trace data in a shared memory. In the operation of a multi-processing system a problem in one data processing function may be caused by a problem in a different data processing function. Simultaneously tracing the two functions and time correlating trace data allow problem identification.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,489 discloses a tracing method for identifying program execution paths using a trace points bit map with one-to-one correspondence with embedded trace points. In this system bit maps are initialized to a known state at the beginning of execution and transferred at the end of execution such that tracing is continuous. Tracing capability is embedded in a target program by inputting the instructions for the steps of the tracing method into the target program.
The software system debugger of U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,544 uses distinct interrupt vector maps for debugging and application programs. A separate OS-free debugging unit includes a communication channel 14 and a target processor unit. Communication channel 14 is serial such as an RS232 link.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,103, discloses a real-time tracing of dynamic local data in high level languages in the presence of process context switches. The system includes a host processor 103, a debugger control processor 111, and a global tag table memory 113.

Data processing system having monitoring of software activity


The present invention provides a device and method for improved toilet hygiene. One aspect of the present invention provides an improved toilet seat cover having an affinity for a toilet seat. Another aspect of the present invention provides a method for rendering a toilet seat cover in a state wherein the cover possesses an affinity for a toilet seat. Such affinity can be established in a variety of ways, including by way of disparate surface charges (e.g., by triboelectric charging).

The present invention relates to hygienic articles, in particular, toilet seat covers.
xe2x80x9cTriboelectric Charging of Common Objectsxe2x80x9d, Thomas B. Jones, University of Rochester, http://www.ee.rochester.edu:8080/xcx9cjones/demos/charging.htm1, December, 1999.
xe2x80x9cTRIBOELECTRIC SERIESxe2x80x9d, William Beaty, http://www.eskimo.com/xcx9cbillb/emotor/tribo.txt, 1995.
The problems associated with toilet seat sanitation have long been recognized. Toilet seats contaminated with human waste, bacteria, and/or viruses create various health risks. It has been reported that by touching a toilet seat just one time, it takes at least five consecutive hand washings to get rid of most of the germs and bacteria. Thus, it is not unusual that one might catch a cold or influenza as a result of touching a toilet. Elderly persons, immunocompromised people, chemotherapy patients, pregnant women, young children, and people with diabetes are particularly susceptible to toilet germs and bacteria.
Public places, such as bus stations, airports, restaurants, movie-houses, and office buildings generally provide facilities used by large numbers of people. It is often not practicable, nor is it practiced, to adequately clean the toilet seat between uses. Consequently, such facilities, on the whole, are not clean and not esthetic.
The problem of toilet seat sanitation has been addressed several ways. One approach has been to provide a toilet seat cover that minimizes contact between the toilet seat and a user. Such a cover can take the form of a layer of protective material between the user and the toilet seat. Usually, such covers define an eliptical ring which have an outer dimension like that of the toilet seat and an inner dimension which permits uninterrupted bowel movement and urination.
Known toilet seat covers of the above-mentioned type suffer from the considerable disadvantage that they tend to slide off the toilet seat; e.g., either into the toilet bowl itself, or onto the floor area near the toilet. Obviously, this creates waste of raw materials, as a user must utilize a fresh cover, and potentially contributes to further filth in cases where the cover falls on the floor and is left there.
Clearly, further advancements in the art of toilet hygiene are needed.
An aspect of the present invention provides a method for improved toilet hygiene. In an embodiment of the invention, the method comprises: (i) treating a toilet seat cover to provide the cover with a non-neutral surface charge; and (ii) overlaying the cover on a toilet seat, such that the cover clings to the seat due to the non-neutral surface charge.
The method further comprises, in one embodiment, treating the toilet seat to provide a surface of the seat with a non-neutral surface charge. In one embodiment, the seat charge is formed by way of induced polarization.
According to an embodiment of the invention, at least 20%, at least 30%, at least 40%, at least 50%, at least 60%, at least 70%, at least 80%, at least 90%, and/or at least 95% of the surface area of one side of the cover is in intimate clinging contact with the seat. Such surface-area percentages are considered herein to comprise a substantial portion of the cover. In some embodiments, about 25%, or about 50%, or about 75% of the surface area of one side of the cover can be caused to cling to the surface of the seat for a period of time (e.g., greater than 20 seconds).
In one embodiment, the treating of the toilet seat cover comprises tribocharging (also known as xe2x80x9ctriboelectric charging,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9ccontact chargingxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9celectrification by contactxe2x80x9d). In another embodiment, the treating includes passing the cover through an electric field.
Another aspect of the present invention provides a method for improved toilet hygiene, comprising: (i) establishing a charge differential between a toilet seat cover and a toilet seat; and (ii) overlaying the cover on the toilet seat, such that the cover clings to the seat (due to the charge differential).
The establishing step can be selected from the group consisting of triboelectric charging, inducing polarization, and passage through an electric field, among others.
In various embodiments, the charge differential is at least 50V, at least 75V, at least 100V, at least 150V, at least 200V, at least 250V, at least 300V, at least 500V, at least 750V, at least 1,000V, at least 2,500V, at least 5,000V, and/or at least 10,000V, or higher. In an embodiment of the invention, the charge differential is maximized.
In another of its aspects, the present invention provides a device for use with a toilet seat, comprising a laminar (multi-layer) sheet-like material configured to fit upon a toilet seat, and having a first outer layer on one side and a second outer layer on an opposite side. In one embodiment, the first and second layers are comprised of first and second materials, with the first and second materials having unlike triboelectric properties such that when surfaces of the first and second materials are brought into intimate contact with one another and then separated each acquires a non-neutral surface charge.
In its operative condition, the cover can be utilized in a sheet-like configuration, or it can be configured into a sleeve-like arrangement adapted to slidably fit over a toilet seat.
In one embodiment, the toilet seat cover is comprised, at least in part, of an insulating (substantially non-conducting) material.
In one embodiment, a plurality of such sheet-like materials are releasably connected to one another end-to-end, and are wound so as to define a roll configuration.
In another embodiment, a plurality of such sheet-like materials are arranged in a stack, with each sheet-like material of the stack disposed in intimate contact with its nearest neighbors (or neighbor, in the case of the first and last sheets). Further in this embodiment, the first layer of each sheet-like material of the stack is disposed facing in a first direction and the second layer of each sheet-like material of the stack is disposed facing in a second direction, wherein the second direction is opposite of the first direction.
One of the layers can be comprised, for example, of a paper material (e.g., tissue). The other of the layers can optionally be provided with adhesive properties (e.g., a slight degree of stickiness or tackiness).
In one embodiment, one of the layers comprises an electret.
A further aspect of the present invention provides a dispensing device for dispensing toilet seat covers. In an embodiment of the invention, the dispensing device comprises: a compartment adapted to hold a plurality of toilet seat covers; an orifice defined by a wall of the compartment permitting one of the covers to be pulled therethrough for removal from the compartment; and a charge-imparting member positioned such that a cover pulled through the orifice must pass closely by (e.g., rub against) the charge-imparting member. In use, a cover removed from the dispenser via the orifice gains a non-neutral surface charge.
In one embodiment, the charge-imparting member and the covers have unlike triboelectric properties. For example, the covers can be a paper material and the charge-imparting member can comprise a vinyl surface.
In another embodiment, the charge-imparting member is an electrostatic generator.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, drawings, and appended claims.


In some embodiments, the present disclosure provides for accelerating cross-sited resources in an accelerated document. In some embodiments, a set of rules is created to determine which cross-site resources will be accelerated. Using the rules, a first cross-site resource is selected for acceleration. The cross-site resource is cached on a CDN edge server. A link for a first cross-site resource is wrapped so that a client will be directed to retrieve the cross-site resource from the CDN edge server. The client receives the cross-site resource directly from the CDN edge server.

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to network servers, more particular aspects relate to content delivery networks.
A content delivery network or content distribution network (CDN) is a geographically distributed network of servers and their data centers. The goal is to distribute service relative to the location of end-users to provide content faster than is normally available from the data center. CDNs serve a significant percentage of the Internet content today, including web objects (text, graphics, and scripts), downloadable objects (media files, software, documents), applications (e-commerce, portals), live streaming media, on-demand streaming media, and social media sites.

Content acceleration for cross-site resources by CDN

International Business Machines Corporation


A universal arm has a proximal end, a distal end and a middle portion therebetween. The middle portion has a plurality of interconnected ball and socket pieces. A plurality of clamps are selectively fixedly connected to the distal end of the universal arm by a connection that permits the selective rotation of each one of the plurality of clamps by 360° with respect to the distal end of the universal arm.

During surgery, retractors, such as those found in the BOOKWALTER™ refractor kit, which is commercially available from Codman & Shurtleff, Inc. of Raynham, Mass., are often used to assist the surgeon and other operating room personnel to provide exposure to the surgical site for a broad range of surgical procedures. In surgical operations of the chest or abdomen, for example, it is often necessary to use a retraction apparatus to retain tissue away from the operative site. Typically, the retraction apparatus includes a housing member configured to lock onto a circumferential ring 10 located above the operative site (see FIGS. 1A and 1B). A retraction blade can usually be found for grabbing the tissue around the surgical incision. The housing member can also include a ratcheting mechanism and/or a tilting mechanism to draw the retraction blade away from the incision, thereby effecting the pulling away and/or lifting of the tissue around the incision to expose the desired surgical area. Examples of such retractor systems are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,254,763, 4,424,724, 5,375,481 and 6,808,493, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. During open surgical operations, such as, for example, open bariatric, ALIF procedures, hepatic resections, transplant procedures, abdominal aortic aneurysms, hernia repair, appendectomy and others, many different instruments are used, such as, for example, a retractor blade with ring attachment systems are used. In some medical procedures, other instruments, such as, for example, cameras, laparoscopic instruments, fiber optic cables, are also used in the surgical area. These instruments typically are used so that their distal end is located in the surgical site. The instrument has a clamp on its proximal end. The instrument is connected to a post adjacent to the surgical area. However, in many instances, the location of the post is not in a convenient location for the surgeon at the operating site. Thus, there is a need for a system that can securely hold a number of different instruments at a convenient location for the surgeon at the operating site. The system should be adjustable and sufficiently strong to carry the load from the instrument. The system includes an adjustable arm that bend with one curve or a double curve.


The present invention relates to a colored, preferably natural porous material comprising in its pores an effectively coloring amount of an organic pigment which is obtained by fragmenting a meltable or solvent-soluble pigment precursor in the presence of a thermally activated acid precursor, and to a low to medium temperature process for its preparation.

The present application relates to porous materials given coloured pigmentation with organic pigments localized in their pores and to a process for their preparation, which is characterized by the use of particular thermally activated latent catalysts.
Porous materials are commonly coloured with dyes that are applied, for example, as stains. In order to achieve satisfactory colouring results with this method a requirement is that the porous material to be coloured has a high and uniform affinity for the dye; this requirement, however, is seldom met. Porous materials coloured with dyes possess, moreover, an undesirably low light stability, and in contact with water or organic liquids (beverages, for example) marks may be formed on articles that are in contact with the materials, since the dyes are in some cases leached out again.
Another method of imparting a coloured appearance to some porous materials is to provide them with a pigmented coating. This method, however, has the disadvantage that the pores become sealed by the pigmented coating material, with the result that it becomes difficult if not impossible to perceive visually the nature of the porous material. This is a great disadvantage, especially with natural porous materials, since it is their properties, especially their natural appearance and their permeability, that are the most prized. The properties of the porous material, however, are impaired by a pigmented coating.
EP 648 770 and EP 648 817 disclose carbamate-functional, soluble chromophors which can be converted to the corresponding pigments by heating them to relatively high temperatures, with the ensuing elimination of the carbamate radicals. These compounds are suitable for the mass colouring of polymers and, according to EP 654 711, for the colouring of resists and of polymer coats to which they are applied. Compounds of the same type but with improved properties are known from EP 742 556 and WO 98/32802.
EP 654 711 also discloses the use of acids, bases and compounds capable of forming acids or bases under actinic irradiation, preferably some sulfonium salts, as catalysts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,052 discloses carbonates of quinophthalones, which are of limited solubility and can be used in heat-sensitive recording systems. The leuco dye is embedded within a polymer, preferably in polyethyloxazoline.
Soluble derivatives of triphenylmethane dyes are known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,828,976. They are likewise used in heat-sensitive recording systems, together with a binder such as cellulose acetate-butyrate, polyvinylpyrrolidone or copolymerized ethylene/maleic anhydride.
EP 742 556, furthermore, describes textured pigmentary coatings which are prepared from soluble or meltable precursors and which cover all or part of a substrate surface such as fibres and fabrics. It has been found, however, that these pigmentary coatings fail to meet high requirements in terms, in particular, of their rub fastness.
Also known, finally, are numerous heat-sensitive recording systems in which colourless precursors of colorantsxe2x80x94as solids, in the form, for example, of aqueous suspensions, together with binders and with or without fillersxe2x80x94are incorporated as the recording layer. For example, JP 04/123,175 describes leucoindigoid derivatives. Colorants in solid form, however, like conventional pigments, for example, make hardly any entry into the pores but for the most part remain, undesirably, on the surface.
It has now surprisingly been found that porous materials can be coloured without impairing their properties, and especially without clogging the pores, if fragmentable pigment precursors in melted or dissolved form are introduced into the pores and then converted to their insoluble pigmentary form.
Depending on the solvent, pressure, temperature and treatment time it is possible to influence to some extend the depth of penetration of the pigment precursor and so to obtain colorations wherein the pigment is more or less close to the surface. Since in this case the entirety of the pigment contributes to colouring, it is possible to reduce its amount to the minimum necessary for coloration, and the colour of the material core remains unaltered.
For other materials, it is conversely desirable to increase the penetration depth. This is especially the case with organic materials, in particular with natural organic materials wherein at least some of the pores are constituted by cells which are hardly accessible to a solution from the surface. There is a strong wish for a penetration deeper than 2 cells, for example at least 8 cells, preferably for example 20 cells or even more. However, increasing the penetration depth into many materials requires high temperatures. Consequently, porous materials which are themselves altered by heat cannot satisfactory be pigmented in depth. Adding a catalyst such as those described in the prior art in order to decrease the latent pigment""s decomposition temperature moreover leads to an even lower penetration depth. This is particularly a disadvantage with naturally occurring organic porous materials such as wood, leather and hair, for example alder, amazakoe, aniegre (Aningria altissima), ash, balsa, beech, birch, birds eye maple, cedar, cherry, coralwood, cypress, dibaja (Triplochiton scleroxylon), ebony, efok (koto, tay, Pterygota macrocarpa), elm, eucalyptus, fir, iroko, izingana (zebrano, Microberlinia brazzavillensis), larch, madrona burl, mahogany, maple, movongui, myrtle, oak, obeche (Obece scuro), palisander (rosewood, black wood), pear, pine, poplar, sap gum, satinwood, spruce, sugar maple, sycamore, tulip, vavona, walnut or yew wood, similar wood from trees growing on other continents, lace wood, veal or pig leather, wool or camel or human hair, to mention only few natural substrates to which the invention is of course not limited.
It has now surprisingly been found, that the use of particular catalysts under appropriate conditions enables to get porous materials with uniform pigmentation right through, hence allowing them with little or no change in colour to be processed, for example cut, bent or joinedxe2x80x94by gluing, for instance. Consequently, either finished articles or raw material, as desired, can be coloured prior to its processing or shaping.
A particularly advantageous result of the invention is an increase in production flexibility, and possibilities for making savings, when producing articles from coloured porous materials. A further great advantage is that following the colouring of the porous material its nature is, surprisingly, still apparent to the eye.
The resulting colorations are also surprisingly strong in colour, fast to weathering, light and heat, rubbing, water and solvent, and are also highly uniform optically provided the material itself is uniform in its porosity. With particular advantage this permits the use of materials whose quality would not enable any satisfactory results to be obtained on conventional colouring, a feature which, especially in the case of naturally occurring organic porous materials of complex structure, such as wood, leather or hair, for example, paves the way for ecologically significant, improved utilization of natural resources.
The present invention accordingly provides a coloured porous material comprising in its pores an effectively colouring amount of an organic pigment which is obtained by fragmenting a meltable or solvent-soluble pigment precursor, characterized in said fragmentation takes place in the presence of an effective amount of a strong acid obtained from a catalyst precursor at a temperature of from 40 to 160xc2x0 C.
Said temperature is preferably from 60 to 140xc2x0 C., more preferably from 80 to 120xc2x0 C. The strong acid resulting from the catalyst precursor""s thermal reaction has preferably a pKa, of 2 or lower, most preferably a pKa of 1 or lower. No lower limit can be given for the pKa, as very strong acids having largely negative or not even measurable values are well suitable. In general, an amount of from about 1 to about 100% by weight of the catalyst precursor, relative to the pigment precursor, has been found to be most adequate in the case of known pigment precursors. The amount of the catalyst precursor is most preferably from 2 to 10% by weight, relative to the pigment precursor.
Porous materials can be mineral or organic, natural, refined or synthetic. The material may, for example, be chalk, pumice, fired clay, unglazed porcelain, gypsum, concrete, kieselguhr, silica gel, zeolites, alumina, anodized aluminium, wood, paper, leather, imitation leather or hair, in whatever form, or products derived from these. It is preferably a material composed of refined or unrefined organic components of natural origin or, with particular preference, is a refined or unrefined natural organic material. In particular, it can be either hard or soft wood, leather or hair, preferably wood.
A feature of porous materials is the presence of pores, by which are meant cavities within the physical shell of the material, which may be partly or totally filled with a gas, for example air, or with a liquid, for example water. In natural organic materials, the pores are mainly constituted by cells, as well as by channels such as vascular bundles and eventually resin channels in plants or vessels and exocrine glands in leather. Materials wherein the pores extend at least in part to the surface are preferred.
The volume of the pores is preferably at least 5% relative to the volume of the geometric shell of the material. With particular preference the volume of the pores is from 20 to 90% relative to the volume of the geometric shell of the material. Preferably, the cross-section of the pores is so fine that by virtue of capillary force an aqueous liquid does not flow out under gravity. With particular preference the average cross-section of the pores is from 1xc2x710xe2x88x9216 to 10xe2x88x926 m2, determined at a transverse section through the material, by dividing the total pore area by the number of pores.
Introducing the pigment precursor into the pores of the porous material is effected by applying a solution or melt of the pigment precursor to the porous material using any desired, known method, for example by spraying, brushing or impregnation in a bath. The methods of and conditions for treatment of certain materials are known in the technical literature, to which express reference is hereby made. For example, the methods of and conditions for treating wood and wood products with solutions are described in detail in Ullmann""s Encyclopaedia of Industrial Chemistry, Vol. A28, 305-393 (5th Edition 1996), or Kirk-Othmer Encyclopaedia of Chemical Technology, Vol. 24, 579-611 (3rd Edition 1978). Known pretreatments such as ponding (CAB Abstracts 97:143252) or treating wood chemically (Holzforschung 50/5, 449-456 (1996)) and the like may of course be applied, for example in order to increase the penetrability (A. P. Singh and B. S. Dawson, xe2x80x9cThe relationship of wood structure to coating penetrabilityxe2x80x9d) or the light stability (CA abstract 94:62278).
The application temperature is judiciously kept low enough for the dissolved or melted pigment precursor not to undergo any, or any significant, decomposition during the minimum time required for the application, and also lower than the temperature at which the catalyst precursor reacts to a strong acid. If desired, the solution or melt of the pigment precursor may be augmented with further substances known for treating the material, examples being fungicides, antibiotics, flame retardants or moisture repellents.
Suitable solvents are water or, preferably, any desired protic or aprotic solvents, examples being hydrocarbons, alcohols, amides, nitrites, nitro compounds, N-heterocycles, ethers, ketones and esters which may also be either mono- or polyunsaturated or chlorinated: examples are methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, diethyl ether, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, 1,2-dimethoxyethane, 1,2-diethoxyethane, 2-methoxyethanol, ethyl acetate, tetrahydrofuran, dioxane, acetonitrile, benzonitrile, nitrobenzene, N,N-dimethylformamide, N,N-dimethylacetamide, dimethyl sulfoxide, N-methylpyrrolidone, pyridine, picoline, quinoline, trichloroethane, benzene, toluene, xylene, anisole and chlorobenzene. Further examples of solvents are described in numerous tabular and reference works. Instead of a single solvent it is also possible to employ mixtures of two or more solvents.
Preference is given to those solvents which do neither corrode, nor extract significant amounts of any essential substance from the substrate that is to be coloured, or do so only very slowly, and which have a boiling point of from 40 to 160xc2x0 C., especially to aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers, ketones and esters. Particular preference is given to toluene, methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, 1,2-dimethoxyethane, 1,2-diethoxyethane, 1-methoxy-2-propanol, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, ethyl acetate, tetrahydrofuran and dioxane, and mixtures thereof. The solvent may also be chosen in order to simultaneously provide a preservative treatment (Holz als Roh- und Werkstoff 56/4, 247-251 (1998)).
The concentration of the pigment precursor in water or a solvent is usually from 0.01% by weight, based on the weight of the solution, to approximately 99% by weight of the saturation concentration, it also being possible in certain cases to employ supersaturated solutions without premature precipitation of the solvate. For many pigment precursors the optimum concentration is around xcx9c0.05-10% by weight, often around 0.1-5% by weight, based on the weight of the solution.
Conversion of the pigment precursor into the pigmentary form takes place by thermal fragmentation in the presence of a strong acid thermally produced by the instant catalyst precursor. The pigment precursor""s fragmentation temperature is in the same range as the catalyst precursor""s reaction to a strong acid, adequately from 40 to 160xc2x0 C., preferably from 60 to 140xc2x0 C., most preferably from 80 to 120xc2x0 C. Fragmentation can be carried out individually, or simultaneously with any further known, subsequent treatment; for example, in the course of curing an additional transparent coating film.
The catalyst precursor is adequately not a strong acid itself. Preferably, the catalyst precursor has a pKa greater than 2, most preferably a PKaxe2x89xa75.
Preferred catalyst precursors are of formula
wherein
R1, R2 and R3 are independently from one another C1-C24alkyl, C6-C24aryl or C7-C24aralkyl,
R4 is C1-C24alkyl,
R5, R6, R7 and R8 are independently from one another C1-C24alkyl, C6-C24aryl or C7-C24aralkyl,
or R5 and R6 together or R7 and R8 together are C4-C24alkylen, C4-C24aralkylen, 3-oxa-pentylen or Nxe2x80x94C1-C24alkyl-3-aza-pentylen,
A is PX6, AsX6, SbX6, BX4, R9xe2x80x94SO3, R9xe2x80x94OSO3 or R10xe2x80x94PO3R11, wherein R9, R10 and R11 are independently from one another C1-C24alkyl, C6-C24aryl or C7-C24aralkyl. R10 and R11 are preferably C1-C24alkyl, most preferably C1-C4alkyl, particularly methyl, and X is halogen.
Further substituents may be present in the compounds of formulae (I), (II) and (III), for example halogen atoms or nitro or C1-C24alkoxy groups.
Most preferred catalyst precursors are of formula
It is believed that at least part of the catalyst precursor penetrates into the pores in substantially unchanged form. The strong acid is then obtained thermally within the pores and is immediately available to catalyse the pigment""s regeneration from the pigment precursor, so that it does not need to be stable.
Surprisingly, the presence of the strong acid or its subsequent products does not lead to any negative side effects such as impairing the porous material""s properties, although such effects would have been expected. It is however nevertheless preferred to keep the amount of the acid precursor at optimal level, so that the pigment precursor is converted back to the pigment at a tame rate. There is a correlation between the acid precursor concentration, the acid strength and the optimal conversion""s temperature and duration: the higher the acid precursor concentration and/or the acid""s pKa, the lower the temperature and/or the shorter the reaction time, and conversely.
By an effectively colouring amount is meant that amount which is sufficient to bring about a colour difference xcex94E* (CIE-L*a*b*) of xe2x89xa72: when the coloured material is compared with the uncoloured material under the standard illuminant D65 and at a viewing angle of 10xc2x0. This amount is preferably from 0.01 to 30% by weight, most preferably from 0.1 to 15% by weight, based on the weight of the coloured material.
Judicious fragmentable pigment precursors are those whose structure includes a complete pigment framework substituted on at least one heteroatom N, O or S. The substituent involved is preferably an oxycarbonyl radical. Where the heteroatom is part of the chromophor or bonded directly to the chromophor, in the course of fragmentation the oxycarbonyl radical is generally eliminated and replaced by a hydrogen atom, so that the structure of the resulting pigment corresponds to that of the unsubstituted pigment framework. Where, on the other hand, the heteroatom is bonded to a substituent of the chromophor, then the fragmentation process is sometimes more complex, and the precise structure of the resulting pigment cannot always be clearly ascertained.
The pigment precursors can be employed individually or else in mixtures with other pigment precursors or with colorantsxe2x80x94for example, dyes customary for the corresponding application. Where the pigment precursors are employed in mixtures, the components of the mixture are preferably those whose colour in the pigmentary form is red, violet, yellow, blue, brown or black. From these it is possible to produce brown shades having a particularly natural occurrence. Any dyes added are likewise preferably red, violet, yellow, blue, brown or black.
For obtaining brown shades, it is particularly preferred to use either a single brown disazo condensation pigment precursor or more particularly preferred mixtures of a yellow disazo condensation pigment precursor, a bluish red Naphthol AS pigment precursor and a blue copper phthalocyanine pigment precursor which is substituted with 1 to 4 sulfonamido groups at peripheric positions of the phthalocyanine""s phenyl rings. Bluish red is a wide colour range comprising also colours for which sometimes other designations are used, such as for example magenta, ruby, claret, cabernet, maroon and violet.
In general, brown is a colour of C* value from 5 to 35, preferably from 10 to 30, and H* value of from 0 to 90, preferably from 20 to 70, especially from 45 to 60 (CIE 1976 color space).
Hence, the application also relates to a coloured porous material comprising in its pores an effectively colouring amount of an organic pigment or a combination of organic pigments each obtained by fragmenting a meltable or solvent-soluble pigment precursor, characterized in said porous material has a brown pigmentation which consists essentially of a brown disazo condensation pigment or a mixture of a yellow disazo condensation pigment, a bluish red Naphthol AS pigment and a blue copper phthalocyanine pigment which is substituted with 1 to 4 sulfonamido groups at peripheric positions of its phenyl rings.
Preferred pigment precursors are, for example, compounds of the formula (IV)
A(B)xxe2x80x83xe2x80x83(IV),
in which
x is an integer from 1 to 8,
A is the radical of a chromophor of the quinacridone, anthraquinone, perylene, indigo, quinophthalone, indanthrone, isoindolinone, isoindoline, dioxazine, azo, phthalocyanine or diketopyrrolopyrrole series which is attached to x groups B via one or more heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O and S and forming part of the radical A,
B is hydrogen or a group of the formula
xe2x80x83where at least one group B is not hydrogen and, if x is from 2 to 8, the groups B can be identical or different, and
L is any suitable solubilizing group, for example tert.-butyl or tert.-amyl. Many other groups suitable for solubilizing pigments are known, for example, from the publications referred to above.
Except in the case of phthalocyanines, A preferably contains at least one directly adjacent or conjugated carbonyl group at each heteroatom attached to x groups B.
A is the radical of known chromophores having the basic structure A(H)x. Examples of compounds of formula (IV) are known for example from WO 98/32802, WO 98/45756, WO 98/45757, WO 98/58027, WO 99101511 and from the application PCT/EP-99/06653 (partially yet unpublished at the instant application""s date), as well as from many other publications cited therein, the contents of all are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Preferred compounds of formula (IV) are those disclosed as preferred in WO 98/32802 and WO 98/58027. Particularly noteworthy soluble chromophores of formula (IV) are those which can be prepared from Colour Index Pigment Yellow 13, Pigment Yellow 73, Pigment Yellow 74, Pigment Yellow 83, Pigment Yellow 93, Pigment Yellow 94, Pigment Yellow 95, Pigment Yellow 109, Pigment Yellow 110, Pigment Yellow 120, Pigment Yellow 128, Pigment Yellow 139, Pigment Yellow 151, Pigment Yellow 154, Pigment Yellow 175, Pigment Yellow 180, Pigment Yellow 181, Pigment Yellow 185, Pigment Yellow 194, Pigment Orange 31, Pigment Orange 71, Pigment Orange 73, Pigment Red 122, Pigment Red 144, Pigment Red 166, Pigment Red 184, Pigment Red 185, Pigment Red 202, Pigment Red 214, Pigment Red 220, Pigment Red 221, Pigment Red 222, Pigment Red 242, Pigment Red 248, Pigment Red 254, Pigment Red 255, Pigment Red 262, Pigment Red 264, Pigment Brown 23, Pigment Brown 41, Pigment Brown 42, Pigment Blue 25, Pigment Blue 26, Pigment Blue 60, Pigment Blue 64, Pigment Violet 19, Pigment Violet 29, Pigment Violet 32, Pigment Violet 37, 3,6-di(4xe2x80x2-cyano-phenyl)-2,5-dihydro-pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-dione and 3-phenyl-6-(4xe2x80x2-tert-butyl-phenyl)-2,5-dihydro-pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-dione.
The compounds of the formula (IV) are known or can be prepared in analogy to methods known per se, as described, for example, in EP 648 770, EP 648 817 and EP 742 556.
Preferably xe2x80x94L is a group of the formula
in which
R12, R14 and R13 independently of one another are C1-C6alkyl,
R15 and R16 independently of one another are C1-C6alkyl, O, S or N(R23)2-interrupted C1-C6alkyl, unsubstituted or C1-C6alkyl-, C1-C6alkoxy-, halo-, cyano- or nitro-substituted phenyl or biphenylyl,
R17, R18 and R19 independently of one another are hydrogen or C1-C6alkyl,
R20 is hydrogen, C1-C6alkyl or a group of the formula
R21 and R22 independently of one another are hydrogen, C1-C6alkyl, C1-C6alkoxy, halogen, cyano, nitro, N(R23)2, unsubstituted or halo-, cyano-, nitro-, C1-C6alkyl- or C1-C6alkoxy-substituted phenyl,
R23 and R24 are C1-C6alkyl, R25 is hydrogen or C1-C6alkyl and R26 is hydrogen, C1-C6alkyl, unsubstituted or C1-C6alkyl-substituted phenyl,
Q is p,q-C2-C6alkylene which is unsubstituted or substituted one or more times by C1-C6alkoxy, C1-C6alkylthio or C2-C12dialkylamino, p and q being different numeric locants,
X is a heteroatom selected from the group consisting of N, O and S, where m is 0 if X is O or S and is 1 if X is N, and
L1 and L2 independently of one another are unsubstituted or mono- or poly-C1-C12alkoxy-, xe2x80x94C1-C12alkylthio-, xe2x80x94C2-C24dialkylamino-, xe2x80x94C6-C12aryloxy-, xe2x80x94C6-C12arylthio-, xe2x80x94C7-C24alkylarylamino- or xe2x80x94C12-C24diarylamino-substituted C1-C6alkyl or [-(pxe2x80x2,qxe2x80x2xe2x80x94C2-C6alkylene)xe2x80x94Zxe2x80x94]nxe2x80x94C1-C6alkyl, where n is a number from 1 to 1000, pxe2x80x2 and qxe2x80x2 are different numeric locants, each Z independently of the others is a heteroatom O, S or C1-C12alkyl-substituted N, and C2-C6alkylene in the repeating units [xe2x80x94C2-C6alkylene-Zxe2x80x94] can be identical or different,
and L1 and L2 can be saturated or mono- to deca-unsaturated, uninterrupted or interrupted in any desired points by from 1 to 10 groups selected from the group consisting of xe2x80x94(Cxe2x95x90O)xe2x80x94 and xe2x80x94C6H4xe2x80x94, and may carry no or 1 to 10 further substituents selected from the group consisting of halogen, cyano and nitro.
Of particular interest are compounds of the formula (IV) in which L is C1-C6alkyl or
in which Q is C2-C4alkylene and L1 and L2 are [xe2x80x94C2-C12alkylene-Zxe2x80x94]nxe2x80x94C1-C12alkyl or are C1-C12alkyl which is substituted one or more times by C1-C12alkoxy, C1-C12alkylthio or C2-C24dialkylamino, and m and n are as defined above.
Of very particular interest are compounds of the formula (IV) in which L is C4-C5alkyl (especially tert.-butyl or tert.-amyl) or
in which Q is C2-C4alkylene, X is O and m is zero, and L2 is [xe2x80x94C2-C12alkylene-Oxe2x80x94]nxe2x80x94C1-C12alkyl or is C1-C12alkyl which is substituted one or more times by C1-C12alkoxy, especially those in which xe2x80x94Qxe2x80x94Xxe2x80x94 is a group of the formula xe2x80x94C(CH3)2xe2x80x94CH2xe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94.
Alkyl or alkylene can be straight-chain, branched, monocyclic or polycyclic.
Thus C1-C12alkyl is, for example, methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, isopropyl, n-butyl, sec-butyl, isobutyl, tert-butyl, cyclobutyl, n-pentyl, 2-pentyl, 3-pentyl, 2,2-dimethylpropyl, cyclopentyl, cyclohexyl, n-hexyl, n-octyl, 1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl, 2-ethylhexyl, nonyl, trimethylcyclohexyl, decyl, menthyl, thujyl, bornyl, 1-adamantyl, 2-adamantyl or dodecyl.
If C2-C12alkyl is mono- or polyunsaturated it is C2-C12alkenyl, C2-C12alkynyl, C2-C12alkapolyenyl or C2-C12alkapolyynyl in which two or more double bonds may if appropriate be isolated or conjugated, examples being vinyl, allyl, 2-propen-2-yl, 2-buten-1-yl, 3-buten-1-yl, 1,3-butadien-2-yl, 2-cyclobuten-1-yl, 2-penten-1-yl, 3-penten-2-yl, 2-methyl-1-buten-3-yl, 2-methyl-3-buten-2-yl, 3-methyl-2-buten-1-yl, 1,4-pentadien-3-yl, 2-cyclopenten-1-yl, 2-cyclohexen-1-yl, 3-cyclohexen-1-yl, 2,4-cyclohexadien-1-yl, 1-p-menthen-8-yl, 4(10)-thujen-10-yl, 2-norbornen-1-yl, 2,5-norbornadien-1-yl, 7,7-dimethyl-2,4-norcaradien-3-yl or the various isomers of hexenyl, octenyl, nonenyl, decenyl or dodecenyl.
C2-C4alkylene is, for example, 1,2-ethylene, 1,2-propylene, 1,3-propylene, 1,2-butylene, 1,3-butylene, 2,3-butylene, 1,4-butylene or 2-methyl-1,2-propylene. C5-C12alkylene is, for example, an isomer of pentylene, hexylene, octylene, decylene or dodecylene.
C1-C12alkoxy is Oxe2x80x94C1-C12alkyl, preferably Oxe2x80x94C1-C4alkyl.
C6-C12aryloxy is Oxe2x80x94C8-C12aryl, for example phenoxy or naphthoxy, preferably phenoxy.
C1-C12alkylthio is Sxe2x80x94C1-C12alkyl, preferably Sxe2x80x94C1-C4alkyl.
C6-C12arylthio is Sxe2x80x94C6-C12aryl, for example phenylthio or naphthylthio, preferably phenylthio.
C2-C24dialkylamino is N(alkyl1)(alkyl2), where the sum of the carbon atoms in the two groups alkyl1 and alkyl2 is from 2 to 24, preferably N(C1-C4alkyl)xe2x80x94C1-C4alkyl.
C7-C24alkylarylamino is N(alkyl1)(aryl2), where the sum of the carbon atoms in the two groups alkyl1 and aryl2 is from 7 to 24, for example methylphenylamino, ethylnaphthylamino or butylphenanthrylamino, preferably methylphenylamino or ethylphenylamino.
C12-C24diarylamino is N(aryl1)(aryl2), where the sum of the carbon atoms in the two groups aryl1 and aryl2 is from 12 to 24, for example diphenylamino or phenyinaphthylamino, preferably diphenylamino.
C6-C16aryl ist for example phenyl, naphthyl, anthracenyl, pyrenyl or naphthacenyl.
C7-C24aralkyl ist any group comprising at least each an alkyl and an aryl part, for example benzyl, phenethyl, tolyl, dodecylphenyl, indanyl or acenaphtenyl.
Halogen is chlorine, bromine, fluorine or iodine, preferably fluorine or chlorine, most preferably fluorine.
n is preferably a number from 1 to 100, with particular preference a number from 2 to 12.
In addition to the pigment, the porous material may also contain other compounds in its pores, for example binders or surfactants known in the art to improve the pigment""s dispersibility or compounds known in the art to improve the material""s properties such as UV absorbers or water-repellent compounds.
The invention also provides a process for preparing a coloured porous material whose pores comprise an effectively colouring amount of an organic pigment, comprising
(a) the treatment of a porous material with a solution or melt of a pigment precursor also comprising an effective amount of a strong acid obtained from a catalyst precursor at a temperature of from 40 to 160xc2x0 C., at a temperature lower than the temperature at which said catalyst precursor reacts thermally to produce said strong acid, such that at least part of the pigment precursor enters the pores of the material, and
(b) the fragmentation of the pigment precursor that has entered the pores of the material in accordance with treatment (a), to form a pigment, by means of heating or irradiation to a temperature of from 40 to 160xc2x0 C. at which said catalyst precursor reacts thermally to produce said strong acid.
Heating or irradiation step can be carried out by any desired thermal means; for example, by treatment in a thermal oven or by electromagnetic radiation, for example IR or NIR radiation, or microwaves.
Of course, it is judicial to choose a temperature which is lower than the decomposition or alteration point of the porous material to be pigmented, so that fragmentation can be accomplished without altering the material""s properties. Thus, step (b) is usually adequately accomplished by heating to a temperature of from 40 to 160xc2x0 C., preferably from 60 to 140xc2x0 C., most preferably from 80 to 120xc2x0 C., or by irradiating with an amount of energy sufficient for said pigment precursor to be heated to said temperature.
The heating time is not critical, as long as care is taken that it is sufficiently long for the fragmentation of the pigment precursor to be completed. Typically, it ranges from several seconds to several hours, preferably from about 1 to about 30 minutes. The required heating time is suitably increased if a temperature below 100xc2x0 C. is intended to be used.
In addition to the steps (a) and (b), the process may of course comprise additional steps which are known per se, for example a prior ponding or bleaching and/or a subsequent impregnating or overcoating with, for example, a colourless nitrocellulose lacquer.
When the porous material also contains other compounds in its pores, it is preferred to add the latter at the latest before step (b), most preferred before step (a).
The examples which follow illustrate the invention, without limiting its scope.
Structures of Pigment Precursors
Preparation of compound A4: The first step is analogous to example 1 of WO 98/45756; by using less chlorosulfonic acid, it is easy to obtain similarly compounds, respectively mixtures thereof, having from 1 to 4 sulfonic groups; these homologues can be transformed into equally useful pigment precursors in close analogy to the following procedure. Chlorosulfonic acid (105 ml) is added dropwise to copper phthalocyanine (25.0 g) under ice cooling keeping the temperature below 50xc2x0 C. The mixture is heated gradually to 145xc2x0 C. over 45 minutes, at which temperature it is stirred for 3xc2xd hours. After cooling to 80xc2x0 C., thionyl chloride (32.5 ml) is added in portions over 25 minutes, whilst the temperature is kept at 70-80xc2x0 C. After stirring for 3xc2xd hours at 80-85xc2x0 C. and 16 hours at 23xc2x0 C., the mixture is poured onto ice-water (4 l) and the precipitate filtered under reduced pressure and washed with water (4 l).
The thus obtained blue paste is dried for 30 minutes prior to use in the next step, then dissolved in tetrahydrofuran (800 ml). A solution of ethanolamine (60 ml) in tetrahydrofuran (200 ml) is added dropwise over 45 min while maintaining the temperature below 30xc2x0 C. The reaction mixture is then heated up to 64xc2x0 C., refluxed for 16 hours and concentrated under reduced pressure after cooling to 23xc2x0 C. After addition of dilute hydrochloric acid (0.5 M, 1.5 l), the precipitated product is filtered off, washed with dilute hydrochloric acid (0.5 M, 0.5 l) and dried at 95xc2x0 C./130 mbar to yield the pigment (42.0 g, 90.6% of th.).
Analysis [%]: (C40H36N12O12S4Cu.2.45 H2O) calc. C, 43.18; H, 3.70; N, 15.11; S, 11.53; Cu, 5.71; H2O, 3.97. found C, 43.38; H, 3.64; N, 14.65; S, 10.99; Cu, 5.65; H2O, 3.96.
To a suspension of this pigment (5.0 g) in tetrahydrofuran (140 ml) is added 4-dimethylaminopyridine (0.66 g) and di-t-butyl-pyrocarbonate (11.4 g); the resulting mixture is stirred 16 hours at 23xc2x0 C. After filtration on Hyflo Super-Cel(copyright) (40 g), then on silica (140 g) (eluent tetrahydrofuran; 600 ml), the solution is concentrated under reduced pressure. Precipitation by addition of n-hexane (500 ml), followed by filtration and washing with n-hexane affords the compound of formula (A4) as a blue powder which is dried at 20xc2x0 C. and 130 mbar (7.4 g, 84.2% of th.).
Analysis [%]: (C80H100N12O28S4Cu.0.5 H2O) calc. C, 51.15; H, 5.42; N, 8.95; S, 6.83; Cu, 3.38; H2O, 0.48. found C, 50.92; H, 5.04; N, 9.66; S, 7.00; Cu, 3.59; H2O, 0.48.
UV/VIS (CH2Cl2): xcexmax=672.3 nm (xcex5=140xe2x80x2500).
Thermogravimetric analysis (0-400xc2x0 C., 10xc2x0 C./min): calc. weight loss 42.8% found weight loss 42.08% (peak at 177.0xc2x0 C.)
Structures of Catalyst Precursors
Nacure(copyright) 5225 (King Industries, amine-blocked dodecylbenzene sulphonate) (B5);
Nacure(copyright) 5925 (King Industries, amine-blocked dodecylbenzene sulphonate) (B6);
Nacure(copyright) 2530 (King Industries, amine-blocked p-toluene sulphonate) (B7).


A hand positional travel pillow that includes a medial protuberance disposed upon a first side of a pillow member, said medial protuberance disposed to accommodate a user's thumb and thenar when each of a respective first soft surface and a second soft surface are contacted to either of a user's hands, whereby a strap member, disposed to secure the pillow member to the user's respective hand, is reversible by transition over the medial protuberance and thereby positional tensioned across each of the first and alternately the second soft surfaces, as desired, for use with the pillow member engaged against each side of a user's head as comfort dictates.

Various types of travel pillows are known in the prior art. However, what is needed is a hand positional travel pillow that includes a medial protuberance disposed upon a first side of a pillow member, said medial protuberance disposed to accommodate a user's thumb and thenar when each of a respective first soft surface and a second soft surface are contacted to either of a user's hands, whereby a strap member, disposed to secure the pillow member to each of the user's respective hands, is reversible by transition over the medial protuberance and positional tensioned across each of the first and alternately the second soft surfaces, as desired, for use with the pillow member engaged against each side of a user's head.


An embroidery frame holding workpiece cloth for embroidery sewing includes a lower frame receiving a lower side of the workpiece cloth and having a cloth clamping side, an upper frame holding the workpiece cloth in cooperation with the lower frame between the frames and having a cloth holding side, a clamp mechanism pressing the upper frame against the lower frame and retaining the upper frame in a pressing state, and a hold assisting member enhancing hold of the workpiece cloth and detachably attached to the cloth holding side of at least one of the upper and lower frames.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to embroidery frames for use with embroidery sewing machines, and more particularly to such an embroidery frame including upper and lower frames between which workpiece cloth is held and a clamp mechanism pressing the upper frame against the lower frame and retaining the upper frame in the pressing state.
2. Description of the Related Art
In conventional sewing machines capable of performing embroidery sewing, workpiece cloth to be embroidered is held in a tightly stretched state by an embroidery frame detachably attached thereto. Conventional embroidery frames include a type in which outer and inner frames are connected together and disconnected from each other by tightening or loosening an adjusting screw. On the other hand, a clamp type cloth holding frame has recently been proposed as disclosed by JP-H08-238391A published in 1996. The clamp type cloth holding frame comprises lower and upper frames holding workpiece cloth therebetween and clamp mechanisms which press the upper frame against the lower frame thereby to hold the workpiece cloth between the frames.
The aforesaid clamp type cloth holding frame comprises a base frame (lower frame), a pressing frame (upper frame) holding workpiece cloth in cooperation with the base frame therebetween, a pair of clamp mechanisms pressing the pressing frame against the base frame thereby to separably fix the pressing frame to the base frame, a connecting mechanism which connects the pressing frame to the base frame so that the pressing frame is swingable up and down, and a pair of air cylinders driving the pressing frame via the connecting mechanism. In this embroidery frame, the air cylinders are actuated so that an input section of the clamp mechanism is lowered. As a result, the pressing frame assumes a pressing position where the pressing frame is pressed against the base frame, and the clamp mechanism assumes a clamping state thereby to reliably hold the workpiece cloth.
In the above-described clamp type cloth holding frame, however, the air cylinders are provided as a drive source for swinging the pressing frame up and down. Thus, the provision of the air cylinders results in a complicated construction, increased size and increased production cost of the clamp mechanism.
In view of the aforesaid problems, a spring member has been proposed to be used in the above-described clamp mechanism to press the upper frame against the lower frame by a spring force thereof, instead of the air cylinders. This construction can simplify the structure of the clamp mechanism and accordingly can decrease the production cost.
However, in the case where the spring force is used to press the upper frame against the lower frame, an amount of flexure is increased when workpiece cloth has a large thickness, whereupon a sufficient spring force can be obtained. On the other hand, the spring force is small when workpiece cloth has a small thickness, whereupon a sufficient holding force cannot be obtained. In particular, when workpiece cloth is made from a slippery material, there is a possibility that the workpiece cloth may be displaced within the embroidery frame and accordingly, cannot be embroidered desirably.

Embroidery frame for use with embroidery sewing machine


A method for allowing an alternative action in a virtual world may include permitting a user to request an original action for an avatar of the user in the virtual world. The method may also include receiving the request for the original action and storing the request in a queue in response to the original action being unavailable to the user's avatar. The method may additionally include determining if an alternative action is available for the user's avatar in response to the original action being unavailable to the user's avatar and presenting an interface to the user to permit the user to accept the alternative action in response to the alternative action being available. The method may yet further include allowing the user's avatar to perform the alternative action in response to the user accepting the alternative action and permitting the user's avatar to perform the alternative action while the request for the original action is still in the queue.

The present invention relates to simulations, virtual world simulations of the real-world or real-life or a virtual world and the like, and more particularly to a system and method for allowing an alternative action in a virtual world in response to an original requested action being unavailable.
Computer based simulations are becoming more ubiquitous. Simulations may be used for training purposes, for entertainment or for other purposes. Computer simulations such as Second Life™ or similar simulations present a virtual world which allows users or players to be represented by characters known as avatars. Second Life is a trademark of Linden Research, Inc. in the United States, other countries or both. Second Life is an Internet-based virtual world launched in 2003 by Linden Research, Inc. A downloadable client program called the Second Life Viewer enables users, called "Residents", to interact with others in the virtual world through motional avatars. The virtual world basically simulates the real world or environment. The users or residents via their avatar can explore the virtual world, meet other users or residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items (virtual property) and services from one another.
Occasionally, services and locations in the virtual world can become overloaded due to excess usage and as a result, may not be available at the specific time it is requested. An avatar requesting an overloaded service or location transfer may have to wait for that service or location to become available. In the meantime, due to the fact that a service or location is not available, the avatar may choose to navigate to other locations or pick deferent services. In doing so, the avatar currently has to withdraw his request for the original requested service or location transfer to do this. Accordingly, the avatar's window of opportunity for the original requested service or access to a location can close. Thus, the challenge is to allow an avatar to continue to wait for their original unavailable requested service or location while providing relevant and valuable alternative services until the original service or location becomes available. This will not only provide greater value to the end user, but a mechanism for service providers to better manage server loads so that the services or locations do not become overloaded.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Allowing an alternative action in a virtual world