A new and distinct Heuchera plant characterized by leaves which are colored rose to light plum, strongly veiled, and medium large, warm pink flowers on dark peduncles, great winter foliage color, a medium, mounding habit, excellent tolerance to heat and humidity, and excellent vigor.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Heuchera and given the cultivar name of 'Grape Soda'. Heuchera is in the family Saxifragaceae. Heuchera 'Grape Soda' originated as a controlled cross using Heuchera K494-7, a proprietary, unnamed plant as the seed parent, and Heuchera 'Georgia Plum' U.S. Plant Pat. No. 24,507, as the pollen parent.
Compared to the pollen parent and only similar cultivar, Heuchera 'Georgia Plum', the new cultivar is slightly larger, faster growing, with more crowns and shorter petioles. The foliage is slightly less purple and the flowers are pinker.
Compared to the seed parent K494-7, the new cultivar has rose to plum leaves rather than silver.
Compared to Heuchera 'Plum Royal', U.S. Plant Pat. No. 20,935, the new cultivar has rose to plum colored leaves rather than plum to silver and warm pink flowers rather than pink to white flowers.
This new Heuchera is uniquely distinguished by:                1. leaves which are colored rose to light plum, strongly veiled, and medium large,        2. warm pink flowers on dark peduncles,        3. great winter foliage color,        4. a high crown count and fast growth that fill the pots quickly,        5. a medium, mounding habit,        6. excellent tolerance to heat and humidity,        7. and excellent vigor.
This new cultivar has been reproduced only by asexual propagation (tip cuttings and tissue culture). Each of the progeny exhibits identical characteristics to the original plant. Asexual propagation by cuttings and tissue culture using standard micropropagation techniques with terminal and lateral shoots, as done in Canby, Oreg., shows that the foregoing characteristics and distinctions come true to form and are established and transmitted through succeeding propagations. The present invention has not been evaluated under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may change with variations in environment without a change in the genotype of the plant.


A method and apparatus for storing a compressed video stream or an uncompressed video stream is disclosed. The uncompressed video stream may be ZOOM VIDEO data. The compressed video stream may be a TRANSPORT STREAM data from a High Definition Television (HDTV) broadcast. A video graphics adapter is configured to properly receive one of the two types of video data. The received data and control signals are monitored to provide a second set of control of data signal which are used by a packer and an window control to provide data of a predetermined width and control to an address generator. The data is buffered within a graphics memory such as a frame buffer. The graphics memory can be written to system memory when full, or accessed by the system memory controller during the fill operation if a multi-ported memory is used.

Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) transmission standards have been developed in order to support the emergence of digital television. As illustrated in prior art FIG. 1, the DVB signal is sent via an analog carrier and received by a tuner. The tuner receives the transmitted analog signal and provides an analog representation of the signal to a demodulator portion. The demodulator portion converts the analog signal into its digital format. The digital signal provided by the demodulator is in a compressed MPEG 2 format. The compressed MPEG 2 format is referred to as a transport stream. The transport stream from the demodulator comprises a plurality of packets. Each of the transport stream packets comprises one synchronization byte, followed by one of 187 data bytes or 187 data bytes plus 16 extra bytes depending on the format. The resulting transmission stream packets have a total byte size of one of 188 bytes, or 204 bytes.
The data contained within each packet of the transmission stream can represent video data, audio data, system data, and other user data such as programming information. In other words, more than just video data is provided within the transmission stream. For example, user guides indicating channel selection information or stock market information could be included within a transmission stream packet. Because the transport stream data is contained in a compressed format, when video is being transmitted, there is not a one-to-one correspondence between the actual bytes being transmitted in the transport stream and the pixels which the data represents. Because the data is compressed, one packet of transmission stream data can represent varying numbers of pixels in a video system.
A transport demultiplexor receives the digital transport stream as illustrated in prior art FIG. 1. The transport demultiplexor is capable of routing the individual components represented within the transport stream to the respective clients. In other words, audio data could be provided to an audio client while video data would be provided to a video client. For example, the transport demultiplexor can route data by providing address information to the PCI bridge of FIG. 1.
Also illustrated in the prior art of FIG. 1 is a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus supporting conventional computer-type peripherals. Connected to the PCI bus of FIG. 1 are a memory, a Central Processor Unit (CPU), and a video adapter. In order to support the reception and subsequent transmission of the transport stream to one of the system components, such as to the memory or the video adapter, a converter/PCI bridge has been used. The converter portion is necessary in order to change the transport stream into data packets capable of being transmitted across a system bus, such as through the PCI bridge. Such a conversion would require converting the 188-byte packet of the transport stream into 32-bit or 64-bit wide words of information and transporting the words to memory or the video adapter across the PCI bus.
In order to provide data to the video adapter of the prior art, it is necessary for separate printed circuit boards to be used to implement the transport stream converter and video adapter. Separate boards allow a PCI interface to the video memory associated with the video adapter. Separate board increase overall system costs. In addition to increasing overall system costs, the data stream requires approximately 5 Mbytes of PCI bandwidth, thereby limiting the bandwidth available to other system resources. In addition, when analog video is received and digitized (not illustrated), by the prior art system the PCI band data bandwidth is approximately 25 Mbytes.
Another proposed method for receiving DVB data was to use the side port of a video graphics adapter in order to receive the transport stream information. However, the video side port is designed to only receive uncompressed digital video instead of compressed MPEG transport stream. A format conversion chip is needed between the DVB demodulator output and video side port to convert a transport stream into a compatible ITU-656 ancillary stream (digital video or data format) like format. This will add cost to system implementation. Another problem is that the data in the transport stream is not fully compliant with ITU-656 data. (Values such as 00 and FF are not allowed in an ITU-656 stream but allowed in a transport stream. So this implementation cannot work if the video side port is strictly designed for ITU-656 data streams.)
Therefore, a method and apparatus, which overcome the problems of the prior art, would be advantageous.

Method and apparatus for receiving digital video signals


An information processing apparatus that determines a position of a touch input received at a display of the information processing apparatus, controls the display to display a string of candidate characters for input at a position on the display corresponding to the position of the touch input, detects selection of a desired character from the string of candidate characters, and controls the display to display the desired character in a character input field on the display.

Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a character input device that is suitably applied to electronic apparatuses such as cellular phones, PITS (personal handyphone system) phones, PDA (personal digital assistant) devices, digital camera devices, digital video camera devices, portable game machines, and notebook or desktop personal computers.
Description of Related Art
A character input system described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-053853 displays, on a television receiver, a first-layer character display screen displaying typical character input buttons of character groups and a second-layer character display screen displaying character input buttons of each character group.
The character input system detects the selection of the first-layer character display screen and the second-layer character display screen in accordance with the track of a finger which traces the touch pad disposed in the remote control device.
The character input system inputs a selected character at the timing when the user detaches the finger from the touch pad.


A movable arm assembly for a circuit breaker includes a unitary structure having two blade portions being connected by a bend location. The bend location forms a gapless surface region. A contact is connected to the unitary structure wherein the gapless surface region and a contact surface of the contact are connected to form a joint therebetween. A method for forming a movable arm assembly includes forming a blank from a conductive sheet, the blank including a unitary structure having two blade portions, bending the blade portion at a bend location to form a gapless surface region at the bend location and joining a contact to the unitary structure on the gapless surface region at the bend location to form a movable arm assembly.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to circuit breakers, and more particularly, to a device and method for improving performance of a main contact in a short circuit condition.
2. Description of the Related Art
A circuit breaker is an important part of an electrical power system. The breaker ensures maximum current limiting without increasing damage to the breaker itself. Loss of union between contacts and blades of a breaker is a common problem when an arc occurs. This can occur due to heat and/or high current through the breaker. Heat and high current may result in damage to the breaker.
In one instance, heat is caused due to the bad placement of a weldment between the blade and the contact. This problem may be caused by the lack of filler metal at the surface where the contact is welded. When brazing or soldering, flux can be eliminated by using a phosphorus bearing filler metal, e.g., Sil-Fos® or solder. This filler metal typically flows during the joining process.
Referring to FIG. 1, two blades 12 and 14 are separately fabricated. The blades 12 and 14 are joined by a weld 22 formed using a welding process 20, e.g., an ultrasonic welding process. After welding, features such as a protrusion 16 and a corresponding locating hole 18 are aligned. Protrusion 16 and locating hole 18 provide a feature that is used to attach an operating spring.
Referring to FIG. 2, the two blades 12 and 14 are simultaneously joined to a contact 22 by soldering or brazing. The blades 12 and 14 include a gap 26 between them. Solder or filler metals 24 wick into the gap 26 and rob the joint between contact 22 and blades 12 and 14 of the filler metal. This prevents a good union between the blades 12 and 14 and the surface contact 22. Since the joint between the contact 22 and the blades 12 and 14 is very active during the operation of a circuit breaker, a poor joint here results in poor performance of the circuit breaker. Resistive heat can be generated and even arcing may occur in particularly bad joints.

Moveable arm for a circuit breaker and method for making the same


Interlocking modular elements are each formed by two side panels spaced apart in parallel face-to-face alignment sandwiching two protruding elongated elements spaced apart in planar alignment forming a slot therebetween. A series of interlocking modular elements stacked vertically in an alternating orthogonal array interlock with slots intersecting adjacent slots and panels to form an vertical structural support. In a preferred embodiment, the space between elongated elements is equal to the width of one elongated element. Each protrusion of each elongated element creates a tenon insertable in each mortice between elongated elements to form a coplanar vertical structural support. Alternately, second modular elements are formed with two spaced parallel side panels sandwiching a single elongated element protruding above and below the side panels. Horizontal slots are formed between side panels. First horizontal elements formed of a single rigid member slide into the horizontal slots and edge slots engage the side panels to lock them in. Second horizontal elements are each formed by two spaced apart planar aligned planks interconnected by a shorter plank leaving a slot at each end to engage orthogonally stacked modular elements. Sliding drawer-like storage elements may also be supported in the slots. Tie members interconnect vertical structural supports. A series of paired vertical structural supports with horizontal elements therebetween may be stretched out in one plane and in orthogonal planes. An adjustable brace element having at least one diagonal component connects between the top and bottom of the structure.

1. Technical field
The present invention relates to structural support systems, and in particular, to an adjustable expansible modular support system which requires no fasteners or tools for assembly and which is easily fabricated from uniform straight-cut stock and the method for making and using the modular support system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Assembling structures generally requires fasteners applied in the assembly process to hold the structures together. Installing the fasteners requires considerable cost, time, and effort in addition to handling the structural elements themselves, and tools are normally required to install the fasteners.
Structural elements for any given structure are usually fabricated from a wide variety of sizes and shapes of stock necessitating the planning, ordering, handling, and stocking of such a variety with the inherent time and costs involved.
Many structures are designed and built in a single configuration without the flexibility afforded by being able to adjust the structure according to need. Some structures, such as shelving, which provide for adjustable shelves normally require hardware connectors for supporting each shelf.
Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,776 provides an expansible support system with modular elements which are easily assembled without the need for tools or fasteners, but the modular elements require considerable time and expense in cutting to form the interlocking slots on each piece. The many exposed slots in the final structure also present a maintenance problem in terms of keeping the slots free of dust. The orthogonal interlocking vertical structural support elements occupy a portion of the shelf space in that system, thereby wasting some of the shelf space.

Adjustable expansible interlocking modular structural system and method


The present invention relates to a method for controlling an electronic device (10), to an electronic device (10) as such as well as to an electronic assembly (100). A key idea of the present invention is to provide a standby state in which no operation power is consumed with respect to processes of monitoring and terminating said standby state. The standby state can at most be terminated upon receipt of a remote wakeup radio signal (WS) from which also the operation power for terminating said standby state is extracted.

In many electronic consumer devices besides the active states or operational states of the devices certain standby states are usually realized in order to allow the user to remotely control switching on and off the respective devices. However, such standby states suffer from the respective amount of idle power consumption, i.e. respective parts of the equipment contained in the electronic device, i.e. certain electric circuits consume power in order to keep the standby operation of the equipment.

Method for operating an electronic device, electronic device, and electronic assembly


A component-based framework includes system services and component integration interfaces that provide a run-time environment which automatically provides transactions to encompass work of component-based server applications according to the transactional expectations of individual server application components. A transaction attribute is associated with each server application component that represents whether the component requires execution in a transaction. When a client requests creation of a server application component without having first initiated a transaction and the component's transaction attribute indicates a transaction is required, the framework automatically initiates a transaction in which to run the server application component. The framework also completes the automatically initiated transaction upon receiving an indication from the server application component that its transactional work is complete.

In many information processing applications, a server application running on a host or server computer in a distributed network provides processing services or functions for client applications running on terminal or workstation computers of the network which are operated by a multitude of users. Common examples of such server applications include software for processing class registrations at a university, travel reservations, money transfers and other services at a bank, and sales at a business. In these examples, the processing services provided by the server application may update databases of class schedules, hotel reservations, account balances, order shipments, payments, or inventory for actions initiated by the individual users at their respective stations.
Often, server applications require coordinating activities on multiple computers, by separate processes on one computer, and even within a single process. For example, a money transfer operation in a banking application may involve updates to account information held in separate databases that reside on separate computers that may be geographically remote. Desirably, groups of activities that form parts of an operation are coordinated so as to take effect as a single indivisible unit of work, commonly referred to as a transaction. In many applications, performing sets of activities as a transaction becomes a business necessity. For example, if only one account is updated in a money transfer operation due to a system failure, the bank in effect creates or loses money for a customer.
A transaction is a collection of actions that conform to a set of properties (referred to as the "ACID" properties) which include atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability. Atomicity means that all activities in a transaction either take effect together as a unit, or all fail. Consistency means that after a transaction executes, the system is left in a stable or correct state (i.e., if giving effect to the activities in a transaction would not result in a correct stable state, the system is returned to its initial pre-transaction state). Isolation means the transaction is not affected by any other concurrently executing transactions (accesses by transactions to shared resources are serialized, and changes to shared resources are not visible outside the transaction until the transaction completes). Durability means that the effects of a transaction are permanent and survive system failures. For additional background information on transaction processing, see, inter alia, Jim Gray and Andreas Reuter, Transaction Processing Concepts and Techniques, Morgan Kaufmann, 1993.
In many current systems, services or extensions of an operating system referred to as a transaction manager or transaction processing (TP) monitor implement transactions. A transaction is initiated by a client program, such as in a call to a "begin.sub.-- transaction" application programming interface (API) of the transaction monitor. Thereafter, the client initiates activities of a server application or applications, which are performed under control of the TP monitor. The client ends the transaction by calling either a "commit.sub.-- transaction" or "abort.sub.-- transaction" API of the TP monitor. On receiving the "commit.sub.-- transaction" API call, the TP monitor commits the work accomplished by the various server application activities in the transaction, such as by effecting updates to databases and other shared resources. Otherwise, a call to the "abort.sub.-- transaction" API causes the TP monitor to "roll back" all work in the transaction, returning the system to its pre-transaction state.
In systems where transactions involve activities of server applications on multiple computers, a two-phase commit protocol often is used. In general, the two-phase commit protocol centralizes the decision to commit, but gives a right of veto to each participant in the transaction. In a typical implementation, a commit manager node (also known as a root node or transaction coordinator) has centralized control of the decision to commit, which may for example be the TP monitor on the client's computer. Other participants in the transaction, such as TP monitors on computers where a server application performs part of the work in a transaction, are referred to as subordinate nodes. In a first phase of commit, the commit manager node sends "prepare.sub.-- to.sub.-- commit" commands to all subordinate nodes. In response, the subordinate nodes perform their portion of the work in a transaction and return "ready.sub.-- to.sub.-- commit" messages to the commit manager node. When all subordinate nodes return ready.sub.-- to.sub.-- commit messages to the commit manager node, the commit manager node starts the second phase of commit. In this second phase, the commit manager node logs or records the decision to commit in durable storage, and then orders all the subordinate nodes to commit their work making the results of their work durable. On committing their individual portions of the work, the subordinate nodes send confirmation messages to the commit manager node. When all subordinate nodes confirm committing their work, the commit manager node reports to the client that the transaction was completed successfully. On the other hand, if any subordinate node returns a refusal to commit during the first phase, the commit manager node orders all other subordinate nodes to roll back their work, aborting the transaction. Also, if any subordinate node fails in the second phase, the uncommitted work is maintained in durable storage and finally committed during failure recovery.
In the prior transaction processing systems discussed above, transactions are initiated and completed by explicit programming in the client program, such as by calls to the begin.sub.-- transaction, commit.sub.-- transaction and abort.sub.-- transaction APIs of the transaction monitor. This adds to complexity and increases the burden of programming the server application and client program. Specifically, the client program must be programmed to properly initiate and complete a transaction whenever it uses a server application to perform work that requires a transaction (e.g., work which involves multiple database updates that must be completed together as an atomic unit of work). The server application, on the other hand, relies on its clients to properly manage transactions, and cannot guarantee that all client programs properly initiate and complete transactions when using the server application. The server application therefore must be programmed to handle the special case where the client fails to initiate a needed transaction when using the server application.
The requirement of a client program to explicitly initiate and complete transactions can pose further difficulties in programming models in which the server application is implemented as separate software components, such as in object-oriented programming ("OOP" ). In object-oriented programming, programs are written as a collection of object classes which each model real world or abstract items by combining data to represent the item's properties with functions to represent the item's functionality. More specifically, an object is an instance of a programmer-defined type referred to as a class, which exhibits the characteristics of data encapsulation, polymorphism and inheritance. Data encapsulation refers to the combining of data (also referred to as properties of an object) with methods that operate on the data (also referred to as member functions of an object) into a unitary software component (i.e., the object), such that the object hides its internal composition, structure and operation and exposes its functionality to client programs that utilize the object only through one or more interfaces. An interface of the object is a group of semantically related member functions of the object. In other words, the client programs do not access the object's data directly, but must instead call functions on the object's interfaces to operate on the data.
Polymorphism refers to the ability to view (i.e., interact with) two similar objects through a common interface, thereby eliminating the need to differentiate between two objects. Inheritance refers to the derivation of different classes of objects from a base class, where the derived classes inherit the properties and characteristics of the base class.
Object-oriented programming generally has advantages in ease of programming, extensibility, reuse of code, and integration of software from different vendors and (in some object-oriented programming models) across programming languages. However, object-oriented programming models can increase the complexity and thus programming difficulty of the server application where transaction processing requires explicit initiation and completion by client programs. In particular, by encouraging integration of software components from different vendors, an object-oriented programming model makes it more difficult for programmers to ensure that the client program properly initiates and completes transactions involving the server application's work. Components that are integrated to form the server application and client programs may be supplied by programmers and vendors who do not directly collaborate, such that it is no longer possible to enforce proper behavior of other components by knocking on a colleague's door down the hall. In the absence of direct collaboration, the programmers often must carefully program the components to handle cases where transactions are not properly initiated and completed by the components' clients.
The present invention frees component-based server applications from reliance on explicit programming of their clients to properly manage transaction processing by automatically providing a transaction to encompass a server application component's work according to a server application component's transactional expectations. This simplifies programming of server applications, since the server application components need not be programmed to handle special cases where a client program that uses the component fails to initiate a transaction. The task of programming client also is simplified since the client program need not explicitly initiate and complete transactions even for server application components that require transactions.
According to one aspect of the invention, server application components are run in an execution environment under control of a system-provided service. In this execution environment, a transactional attribute is associated with the server application component to indicate its transactional expectations. For example, the transactional attribute of a server application component that performs multiple database updates can be set to indicate a transaction is required. Then, if a client program fails to provide a transaction when using the component, the system service automatically initiates a transaction to encompass the component's work. The system service also automatically ends the transaction after the work in the transaction is complete.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following detailed description of an illustrated embodiment which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Automatic transaction processing of component-based server applications


An information distribution system for distributing information, containing: a first station for transmitting a first signal carrying information to at least one second station; the at least one second station for receiving the first signal, and transmitting a second signal carrying the information to an area around a place at which the second station is located; and at least one terminal for receiving the second signal, and displaying the information. The second signal is a wireless signal. The at least one terminal contains, a wireless receiver unit for receiving the second signal, a storage unit for storing the information, a display unit for displaying the information stored in the storage unit, a display control unit for controlling the storage unit and the display unit in accordance with a display command, and a unit for inputting the display command for commanding the display control unit how the information stored in the storage unit is to be displayed.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information distribution system for distributing information such as news in various fields (genres), stock prices, exchange rates, and the like.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there are various means for distributing information to persons: for example, information printed on paper such as a newspaper, a magazine, books, and the like; broadcasted information, for example, by a television and a radio network; and information supply service through a telephone network such as a database service. The information in a newspaper or a magazine is distributed to people after being printed on paper. However, a large amount of paper is used for printing the information, resulting in consumption of a large amount of wood resources on the earth, and a heavy load on traffic and transportation systems. In addition, a delay is inevitable due to the operations of printing, transporting, and the like. Further, people must go to newspaper stands or book shops to obtain the information in a newspaper, a magazine. As an advantage, the information in a newspaper or a magazine can be read many times and at any time. On the other hand, broadcasted information can be heard and/or seen at any place only as long as a receiver is available. However, the broadcasted information is transitory, and therefore, must be recorded by a tape recorder, a video tape recorder, or the like, for hearing and/or seeing repeatedly after the time the information is broadcasted. Further, to obtain information from the information supply service through a telephone network such as a database service, a person must have an expensive terminal, connect the terminal to a telephone network, and access a supplier of the information. Thus, bothersome operations are required for a person to obtain the information from the supplier of the information through the telephone network.

Information distributing system with sub-stations transmitting broadcast information by wireless and terminals receiving the information


The present invention, generally speaking, provides a mechanism for use in conjunction with Electronic Software Distribution (ESD) that provides purchase documentation and that allows for convenient re-download and relicensing of soft-ware, including old software versions. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, a relicensing manager software utility installed on an end user's machine interacts with one or more of a remote publisher site, a license clearing house and a merchant site to relicense, transfer, or obtain a refund for a software product. The term "software product" is used to refer to both executable software programs and to electronic content (e.g, pictures, recordings, etc.) The role of the publisher site is to archive both current and old versions of software products. The role of the license clearinghouse is to keep a count of licensed installations and to grant or deny permission to relicense based on the count. The role of the product server is to effect a credit transaction and, according to the terms of the end-user license, to refund the purchase price of a recently purchased software product for which the customer has requested license revocation. The relicensing manager refers to a license certificate stored on the end user's machine during installation and, preferably, backed-up on floppy disk or some other permanent storage medium. The license certificate describes license policies and server locations which are then followed by the relicensing manager.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic software distribution (ESD) and licensing.
2. State of the Art
Conventionally, software has been distributed in shrinkwrap form. That is, disk copies of a piece of software have been packaged and shrinkwrapped, usually together with user's manuals. Boxes of shrinkwrapped software are then moved through distribution channels, with payment being made in the usual commercial fashion.
With the widespread use of CD ROMs, expensive manuals are increasingly being dispensed with in favor of on-line manuals, i.e., manuals stored on CD ROM. The software and its documentation have been merged together. Furthermore, with the proliferation of inexpensive, high capacity hard drives, either on a stand-alone computer or a network server, and widespread Internet access (through increasingly high speed "pipes"), it is now possible to distribute software electronically by pre-loading software on a hard drive or allowing customers to download the software from a server such as an "electronic storefront."
Software publishers, however, often do not wish to open and maintain a "storefront" for electronic software distribution, and often do not have sufficient market reach or presence to effectively distribute the software that they have produced. A software publisher may therefore wish to "team up" with one or more "channel partners" (such as on-line stores) in order to effectively carry out electronic software distribution. In such an arrangement, the software publisher puts a software product within the possession and control of one or more (and possibly hundreds of) channel partners.
To facilitate electronic software distribution, clearinghouses have emerged. A clearinghouse functions as a kind of escrow agent for the software publisher and channel partners. Software products for electronic distribution are locked (using encryption). The clearinghouse holds unlock keys for software products and reports to the other parties whenever an unlock key is requested by and released to a customer. The clearinghouse typically also receives payment from the customer and credits the account of the appropriate channel partner. (Although presently clearinghouses and software publishers are typically separate entities, the clearinghouse function of electronic purchase and payment may be performed by any entity, including the software publisher itself. The term "clearinghouse" as used herein therefore refers to the entity performing the clearinghouse function.)
Electronic software distribution may follow a buy-before-you-try (Buy/Try) model or a try-before-you-buy (Try/Buy) model. Buy/Try is the conventional model used in packaged software distribution: the customer must first buy the package before the customer is able to use it. In the Try/Buy model, the customer is allowed to try the software for a period of time before being required to either buy the software or discontinue use of the software. Try/Buy can operate to the advantage of both the customer (allowing the customer to become acquainted with the product before deciding whether to buy it) and the software publisher (affording more customers an opportunity to try and ultimately buy the product). Try/Buy, however, does introduce further complexity into electronic software distribution, both with respect to security and payment processing. The Software Publishers Association has issued guidelines for Try/Buy electronic software distribution, available at the Web page http://www.spa.org.
Wrapper technology providers are responsible for providing secure encryption technology for Buy/Try and Try/Buy purchases. In the case of Try/Buy, the user downloads and installs the product The product is altered in such a way that the potential customer can use the product a limited number of times, a limited amount of time, or is functionally "crippled" in some way. At the end of the software period, the user either purchases the product or deletes the "wrapped" version. If the product is purchased, the clearinghouse provides the customer a key that "breaks the Try/Buy guard" and permanently installs the product.
Despite growing commercial interest in ESD, various impediments to ESD exist. The purchaser is not provided with any ready proof of purchase as might be required to obtain reimbursement (in the case of software purchased for company use). Furthermore, the software is not provided in permanent form. If a need arises to reinstall the software (e.g., because of hardware or software failure or hardware upgrade), no convenient, reliable mechanism is provided to accomplish the same. Archiving a setup file set, for example, is both inconvenient and unavailing, since reinstallation results only in a trial version of the software, not a paid-up version. Even if the software is programmed to, upon purchase, create a paid-up program archive, a high-capacity storage medium is required, and the medium may be easily mislaid, damaged or lost. The possibility exists of re-downloading the software. However, the typical consumer will have no record of where to software was obtained from and hence where to find the software again. Furthermore, typically only the current version of the software will be available for download. If a consumer has had a older version, an upgrade fee may be charged for upgrading to the current version. The consumer may not want to upgrade at all, since there often exist compatibility problems between versions, let alone pay an upgrade fee.
Other problems arise in moving the software from one machine to another, for example when the consumer gets a new computer. To avoid software theft, electronically distributed software is often bound to a particular machine by computing a quantity known as a "machine ID," either from a serial number of one of the machine's components that is known to be unique or from a sufficient number of machine characteristics such that the ID is statistically unique. If the software is moved to another machine, the software recognizes the change in machines and will not run. Although machine binding provides protection against illegitimate copying of software, it also in many instances prevents legitimate use of the software.
What is needed, then, is a mechanism that overcomes the foregoing problems and preferably one that make software purchase using ESD more attractive than the purchase of shrink-wrapped software.

Relicensing of electronically purchased software


Polythiophenes of the formula

The present invention is generally directed to polythiophenes and uses thereof. More specifically, the present invention in embodiments is directed to a class of polythiophenes wherein certain repeating thienylene units possess side chains, such as alkyl, which are arranged in a regioregular manner on the polythiophene backbone, and which polythiophenes are, for example, useful as active semiconductive materials for thin film field-effect transistors (FETs).
Semiconductive polymers like certain polythiophenes, which are useful as active semiconductor materials in thin film transistors (TFTs), have been reported. A number of these polymers have some solubility in organic solvents and are thus able to be fabricated as semiconductor channel layers in TFTs by solution processes, such as spin coating, solution casting, dip coating, screen printing, stamp printing, jet printing and the like. Their ability to be fabricated via common solution processes would render their manufacturing simpler and cost effective as compared to the costly conventional photolithographic processes typical of silicon-based devices such as hydrogenated amorphous silicon TFTs. Moreover, desired are transistors fabricated with polymer materials, such as polythiophenes, referred to as polymer TFTs, with excellent mechanical durability and structural flexibility, which may be highly desirable for fabricating flexible TFTs on plastic substrates. Flexible TFTs would enable the design of electronic devices which usually require structural flexibility and mechanical durability characteristics. The use of plastic substrates together with organic or polymer transistor components can transform the traditionally rigid silicon TFT into a mechanically more durable and structurally flexible polymer TFT design. The latter is of particular value to large area devices such as large-area image sensors, electronic paper and other display media. Also, the selection of polymer TFTs for integrated circuit logic elements for low end microelectronics, such as smart cards, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, and memory/storage devices, may also greatly enhance their mechanical durability, and thus their useful life span. Nonetheless, many of the semiconductor polythiophenes are not, it is believed, stable when exposed to air as they become oxidatively doped by ambient oxygen, resulting in increased conductivity. The result is larger off-current and thus lower current on/off ratio for the devices fabricated from these materials. Accordingly, with many of these materials, rigorous precautions have to be undertaken during materials processing and device fabrication to exclude environmental oxygen to avoid or minimize oxidative doping. These precautionary measures add to the cost of manufacturing therefore offsetting the appeal of certain polymer TFTs as an economical alternative to amorphous silicon technology, particularly for large area devices. These and other disadvantages are avoided or minimized in embodiments of the present invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Abstract: Polythiophenes of the formula

Abstract: wherein R is a side chain; m is the number of substituents; A is a divalent linkage; x, y and z represent, respectively, the numbers of R substituted thienylene, unsubstituted thienylene, and divalent linkages A in the monomer segment with z being either 0 or 1; and n represents the number of the repeating monomer segments in the polymer chain or the degree of polymerization.


In a GPS-equipped device such as a smart phone or a tablet computer with a compatible operating system, a useful dynamic display of directional and timing information is provided based on GPS data obtained through conventional means processed according to computational modules or applications stored on the device. These displays include a solar timer, a compass dial and other date, time and location-based information. Underlying the displayable information is a database of information that is processed with input from an accurate compass employing a calculated reference line based on two time-separated GPS readings and a direction parameter.

This invention relates to uses of GPS data applied to direction and timing, and in particular to a presentation or display of such information.
As used herein a solar timer is a term referring to a package of functions incorporated in an application program comprising the present invention. It may be used in the form of a trademark SolarTimer to refer to a consumer entertainment tool made up of the package of these functions. Thus SolarTimer is a trademark of the assignee or licensee of the present invention identifying the source of the solar timer computer application package.
By way of background, the following information is provided as a tutorial on magnetic compass technology. Also following is a tutorial on GPS technology and a brief explanation of atmospheric considerations.
Magnetic Compass Basics and Earth's Magnetic Field
A conventional magnetic compass is used to set a constant direction for navigation. It is very cheap, lightweight and simple, and it can be made very small and it consumes no power. However, it has shortcomings related to its simplicity and the terrestrial environment. To understand the shortcoming issues of the magnetic compass it is useful to start from the basics of Earth's magnetic field [10, referring to cited references herein].
Earth has a magnetic field like a bar magnet which its north pole pointing towards to the Earth's magnetic north pole, a point on the northern hemisphere at which Earth's magnetic field points vertically downwards. Although it is in the northern hemisphere, by the direction of the magnetic field lines it is a "Magnetic South" pole. To be precise the "North Magnetic Pole" is in northern Canada near Ellesmere Island at 81.3° N and 110.8° W. This coordinate of the magnetic north pole is obtained from the geological survey of Canada done in 2001. The location of the Earth's magnetic north and south poles does not remain stationary; they change location over time by a small amount. It was estimated to be at 82.7° N and 114.4° W in 2005. In 2009 it was moving towards Russia at 55-60 km per year. As can be seen in FIG. 1, which is a graph of the movement of the Earth's rotational poles for the years 2001 to 2006, and showing the mean pole location for the years 1900 to 2000, the yearly change is relatively small when observed from a great distance, but it is large enough to cause navigation-related problems when traveling or surveying close or above latitudes close to the magnetic poles. (Units are milliarcseconds. This image is courtesy IERS Earth Orientation Center.) Therefore for centuries magnetic north was used successfully as a reference direction for magnetic compass usage.
There is also a "South Magnetic Pole" and due to the unsymmetrical nature of the Earth's magnetic field, it is not at the symmetrical position of North Magnetic Pole relative to the center of the Earth. So a line drawn between the North and South magnetic poles misses the center of the Earth by approximately 530 km. Both of the magnetic poles are also known as "Magnetic Dip Poles" due to the "dip" of the magnetic field lines at these points, which is also observed visually as the dip of the compass needle at these poles. South Magnetic Pole also changes with time. As an example it was at 64.6° 5 and 138.5° E in 1998 and it was estimated to be at 64.4° 5 and 137.3° E in 2010.
In addition, Earth's magnetic field strength and direction varies with location, meaning that a compass needle does not point exactly at Magnetic North everywhere on Earth. This has many reasons, but one of the main reasons is the non-uniform magnetic material composition of the Earths crust combined with the non-uniformity of the molten circulation currents in magma flow in the Earth's outer core, which is the basic source of Earth's magnetism.
Consider the effects of the non-uniform magnetic material composition in the Earth's outer crust which is solid. If there is a large iron or nickel ore deposit with magnetic properties in a localized area in the Earth's crust, one should expect some inaccuracies in the magnetic compass readings at those locations. Basalt is an iron-rich volcanic rock that covers the ocean floor and contains a strongly magnetic material called magnetite. It locally distorts the magnetic field lines of the Earth, which results in wrong heading and direction information to nearby compasses. This was discovered in the late 18th century by Icelandic mariners. Presence of the Earth's magnetic field gives the basalt measurable magnetic properties, which these magnetic data provided as another means to study the deep ocean floor. The changes in the Earth's magnetic field are recorded in the lava flow when it cools.
The recorded basalt magnetic data shows that Earth's magnetic field not only changed by a small amount, but actually reversed with an average period of 200,000 to 300,000 years in the past! However the last magnetic pole reversal event, which is also called Brunhes-Matuyama reversal, is calculated that it occurred approximately 780,000 years ago.
All these observable effects causing the compass needle not to point always towards the Magnetic North Pole everywhere on Earth is known as Magnetic Declination, and it is a very important piece of information in navigation [7-9]. The data is given in form of maps with contour lines of zero and equal declination that are called agonic and isogonic lines respectively. The magnetic field of Earth is measured at a very large number of sampling points on Earth by government organizations over time, because it varies considerably with time as well. Unfortunately variation does not have as long a period of time as the pole reversal. Therefore, updates are published at least twice a year. For example as of March 2010 in the San Francisco area, the magnetic north is about 14.3 degrees east of the true north, which is the geographical north, with the difference decreasing by about 6 minutes of arc per year.
Another good example to illustrate the importance of the Magnetic Declination can be found along the eastern seaboard of United States. The declination varies from 20 degrees west in Maine to zero degrees in Florida and 10 degrees east in Texas! This range of variation cannot be explained by the geographical location difference between the magnetic and true north. Thus a magnetic compass with a map without an updated Magnetic Declination map is insufficient for accurate navigation.
The magnetic field strength of the Earth was initially measured by Gauss in 1835 and has been measured periodically ever since by many means, including satellites such as Magsat and Orsted using very accurate 3-axis vector magnetometers [16]. The strength of the flux density at the Earth's surface ranges from less than 30 microteslas (0.3 gauss) in an area including most of South America and South Africa to over 60 microteslas (0.6 gauss) around the magnetic poles. The average flux density in the Earth's outer core is calculated to be 25 gauss, about 50 times stronger than the magnetic field at the surface. The flux density at the surface of the Earth is relatively small compared to any man-made permanent magnet in the close proximity of a magnetic compass. Therefore presence of a magnet or a magnetic material which has high magnetic permeability, μr, in close proximity to the magnetic compass will perturb the Earth's magnetic field locally resulting in incorrect direction finding [21,22]. As an example, silicon steel, which is used for transformers and electrical machinery such as electric motors, generators and relays, has magnetic permeability in the order of 40,000, iron and nickel have magnetic permeabilities in the order of 5,000 and 600 respectively. Presence of materials with such high permeabilities in large quantities will change the Earth's magnetic field locally as a function of their shape and their orientation with Earth's magnetic field. This property was used in submerged submarine detection and in magnetic mines since World War II. Even low flying aircraft with suitable instruments can detect the anomalies in the Earths magnetic field caused by submerged submarines. Therefore to have a compass that works correctly in the proximity of magnetic or ferro-magnetic material requires complex and costly calibration. This is done for all the navigation-grade compasses, making the compass large and heavy.
Other sources of spurious magnetic fields that disrupt a compass include any permanent magnet close to a magnetic compass and electric currents in general: Electric current produces a magnetic field [21,22]. Electric currents can be man made due to electric currents in electronic equipment nearby, due to power distribution networks or they can be natural, originating from space. Presence of a small electric current in the proximity of a compass is enough to perturb the Earth's magnetic field resulting in wrong reference direction finding. So, for accurate direction finding with a magnetic compass, all the electronic equipment should be kept away.
When a charged particle with a velocity enters an electromagnetic field a force called Lorentz force will be generated and which will act on the particle, resulting change its trajectory [21,22]. The magnetic component of the Lorentz force is determined by the sign of the charge of the charged particle and its vector product (curl) of the velocity vector v and the magnetic field flux density vector B. The presence of the Earth's magnetic field protects the Earth by deflecting most of the high energy bombardment of charged particles mainly originating from the sun due to this Lorentz force. Some of the charged particles are trapped in the Van Allen radiation belt that encircles the Earth. A smaller number of high energy charged particles manage to escape and interact with the gases in the upper atmosphere and ionosphere in the auroral zones creating beautiful bright auroras visible from the Earth's surface. These naturally occurring currents mainly generated in the upper atmosphere near the magnetic poles will perturb the compass reading as well.
For all these reasons there was a historic need for another method of reference direction setting in navigation. Gyro-compass based instruments historically answered this void in navigation very successfully. However, gyro-compasses are heavy, bulky and require very precise mechanics to manufacture, and they consume a large amount of power due to high rotational speeds required to operate accurately. They also have issues when used at very high latitudes like the magnetic compass. A recent design modification to the conventional gyro-compass is very accurate three axes accelerometers and laser gyros. However, these are expensive, require settings beforehand and are not available to everyone.
GPS Basics, Present Capabilities and Brief History
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a navigation system that provides very accurate position, navigation and timing information any time and any place on Earth. By updating the position over time the system can also provide speed and directional information. Using information gathered from man-made satellites orbiting the Earth providing timing information with onboard extremely accurate atomic clocks, position can be determined to varying degrees of accuracy through calculations. Those calculations also show that if an observer on Earth can have a minimum of four satellites electronically visible, then by knowing their distances to the observer, location and altitude can be calculated anywhere on Earth. Excellent reading materials exist on the subject [1, 2], but it is useful to review some of the highlights of the GPS technology. Understanding requires expertise in very wide and seemingly unrelated areas, from surveying to satellite technology, from electronics to propagation and communication theory, from motion of objects in orbits to relativity theory and atomic clocks, and all are combined with complex calculations.
The accuracy of predicting the observer's location depends on many variables but most important is the knowledge of the distance to a minimum of four satellites as accurate as possible. This is achieved with very precise time information obtained from the atomic clocks in the GPS satellites that is sent along with the radio signal.
I. Smith's patent filed in 1964 describes a satellite system that would emit time codes and radio waves that would be received on Earth as time delayed transmissions creating hyperbolic lines of position. Several years later another patent filed by R. Easton refined the concept of comparing the phase from two or more satellites. In 1972 C. Counselman along with his colleagues in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reported on the first use of interferometry to track the Apollo 16 Lunar Rover Module. The technique was applied in the development of the first geodetic GPS receiver and corresponding to differencing pseudo-ranges measured from two receivers to one satellite. The present use of the GPS carrier phase to make millimeter vector measurements dates to Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) work performed between 1976 and 1978. In 1986, B. Remondi first demonstrated that sub-centimeter vector accuracies could be obtained between a pair of GPS survey instruments with as little as a few seconds of data collection. B. Remondi later developed another survey technique which is called pseudo-kinematics, also known as intermittent static, snapshot static or reoccupation, which yields similar sub-centimeter accuracies. In this technique a pair of receivers occupies a pair of points for two brief periods that are separated in time. An Interferometric technology for codeless pseudo-ranging was developed by P. Mac Doran in Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). With the Interferometric and VLBI techniques yielded the first portable codeless GPS receiver that could measure short baselines to millimeter accuracy and long baselines to one part per million. The codeless portable receiver development, trade-named Macrometer Interferometric Surveyor was demonstrated by the U.S. Federal Geodetic Control Committee. In 1981 U.S. National Geodetic Survey (NGS) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed specifications for portable dual frequency code correlating receivers that could be used for precise surveying and post processing. Texas Instruments was awarded the contract and produced the TI-4100 receiver. NGS geodesists C. Goad and B. Remondi developed the software to process its carrier phase data interferometrically as previously used by the MIT group.
In 1985 C/A code receivers started to output the carrier phase, and the first of these receivers was trade-named Trimble 400S and used vector computation software. Goad set the standard of the future software developers. At that time it required the processing power of a laptop computer to do the required computations.
For positioning any where on Earth, any time, more than four satellites are needed. The current GPS system consists of 24 evenly placed satellites in circular 12 hour orbits inclined 55 degrees to the equatorial plane forming a constellation. Currently there are more than 31 GPS satellites, with some used for back-up. They are referred to as NAVSTAR (Navigation Satellite Timing and Ranging) satellites. This near-circular orbit gives 20,200 km of altitude above the Earth. This configuration of satellites provides electronic visibility for minimum of 4 to 8 satellites with higher than 15 degrees of elevation from the horizon anywhere, anytime on Earth. For elevation angle of 10 degrees, or occasionally 10 degrees and 5 degrees of elevation, there will be 12 satellites electronically visible. In brief periods of time with an elevation angle of 10 degrees there can be up to 10 GPS satellites from which the most accurate positioning information can be obtained. Having more satellites electronically visible at higher elevation angles provides a means of making corrections in the calculations for much more accurate positioning.
Satellites basically provide a platform for radio transceivers, atomic clocks, computers and auxiliary equipment. There are six classes of satellites which are named Block 1, II etc., ranging from 845 kg to 2,000 kg, 5 meters across with two rubidium and two cesium atomic clocks with long-term frequency stability of a few parts in 10−13 and 10−14 per day. These atomic clocks almost synchronize everything, including the fundamental L-band frequency of 10.23 MHz. Coherently derived from this fundamental L-band signal are the L1 and L2 carriers which are at 1575.42 MHz and 1227.60 MHz respectively. The center frequencies of both bands are integer multiples of the L-band frequency of 10.23 MHz. The transmitter RF output power is 50 Watts or less.
Each satellite broadcasts two different direct-sequence spread spectrum signals with many lobes having a total bandwidth of 20 MHz. Having two signals is essential for eliminating the major source of error, which comes from the ionospheric refraction. The pseudoranges that are derived from measured travel times of the signal from each satellite to the receiver use two pseudorandom noise (PRN) codes that are modulated onto the two base carriers. PRN sequences are often called chips, and they do not carry data.
The first code is C/A-code, designated as the Standard Positioning Service (SPS) or known as coarse code is in the L1 band. The C/A-code uses 10.23 MHz chip rate. The main lobe of the C/A-code has a bandwidth of 2 MHz and occupies the entire 20 MHz bandwidth. The second code is the P-code (Precision-code), which is reserved for military and other authorized users, is broadcast in both L1 and L2 bands. The P-code is much more difficult to detect and uses a spreading code that only repeats at 1 week intervals and is encrypted. Its main lobe occupies the entire 20 MHz bandwidth due to a different chip rate, which is 10 times higher compared to the C/A-code. The signal strength in the L2 bands is half the strength compared to the L1 band. The outlying lobes of the P-code are truncated so that the entire GPS broadcast fits into its 20 MHz allocated bandwidth. While the P-code provide precise navigation information, by use of computational techniques, the C/A-code can be used to calculate reasonably accurate positioning information as explained below.
In addition to these codes a data message is modulated on the carriers consisting of status information, satellite clock bias, ephemerides and almanac data. The ephemerides data contains satellite ID number, current GPS week, ephemerides reference epoch, square root of semi-major axis, eccentricity, mean anomaly at reference epoch, argument of perigee, inclination, longitude of the node at weekly epoch, mean motion difference, rate of inclination angle, rate of node's right ascension correction coefficients, satellite clock reference epoch, satellite clock offset, satellite clock drift and satellite clock frequency drift. As can be seen the data is very comprehensive and using the data one can determine the satellite orbits and more.
Having a 50 Watts of RF transmit power and a distance of 20,200 km from the Earth surface going through the full thickness of ionosphere and troposphere results in a very low levels of received power on the surface of the Earth. The received power varies, but typically is around −130 dBm at the antenna of the receiver. For the primary lobe of the C/A-code which has a bandwidth of 2 MHz and for an antenna temperature of 290K the noise power is −111 dBm, approximately 20 dB lower than the noise floor, giving signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the antenna to be about −19 dB. Once the signal from a given satellite is correlated with the PRBS code, the bandwidth is reduced to only 100 Hz! So with a noiseless ideal receiver, the post-correlation SNR would be 24 dB.
To extract information from this level of very low power RF signals requires very high quality RF front ends and antenna designs in addition to sophisticated DSP and circuit techniques.
In commercial grade GPS, the accuracy in determining the location using only the C/A code is in the order of 10 meters. This accuracy can vary due to many factors such as terrain, loss of radio visibility to some satellites due to blocking objects such as buildings, multi-path effects and the like. More accurate GPS systems are available for civilian services by several means. Very precise location information is also provided by the introduction of WAAS or Wide Area Augmented System in 2004. GPS systems that utilize WAAS usually have accuracy of (1 to 3) meters. GPS systems can be even made more accurate by using subscription-based satellite correction or Real Time Kinematic local correction base stations to provide corrections to within 20 cm or about 9 inches for civilian use. (Military grade accuracy is better than these numbers.)
In a dedicated navigation or military grade receiver the designer has the luxury of design flexibility in a robust GPS reception system. The design of GPS system on a cell phone platform in an add-on application brings several limitations on basically everything from the antenna to the low noise amplifier (LNA). In addition to weight and size constraints there is also a radio frequency (RF) amplifier to perform its main function, which is communication, with an output power in the order of 900 mW, a frequency right next to the GPS receiver in frequency ranges of 800 MHz to 2.4 GHz, and thus a source of potential interference or desensing. Despite all of these disadvantages the resulting GPS capability provided in a smart phone today is surprisingly accurate. A typical smart phone or tablet computer can provide position information with an accuracy of 20 meters most of the time, anywhere on Earth and. Pushing it further probably is not needed for nonmilitary use.
As explained GPS is basically is a very sophisticated radio navigation tool. The earlier work on radio navigation goes back to at least the 1930's. Pioneered by German engineers in 1930's with the development of "Beams" or known as "Lorentz" system to guide the pilots for landings at night or poor visibility conditions, two highly directional radio transmitters are set side by side and transmit parallel radio signals. One signal consists of series of pulses in the form of a beep or dot. The other signal consists of a dash or a longer pulse. This distinct difference between the left and right signals gives the pilot a capability to fly the beam. In World War II both parties developed more advanced techniques to fly and navigate at night or under poor weather conditions with later work resulting in a system called HIRAN (High RAnge Navigation) using arcs of trilateration to position aircraft.
In 1946 in Finland an optical method based in principal on the stellar triangulation method was put in use very successfully. This required clear sky with a minimum of 4,000 km of separation between two observing sites. The equipment was large and expensive but it was successfully used for defining the European base line from Tromso in Norway to Catania in Sicily.
In the 1950's Dr. Ivan Getting made a breakthrough in radio navigation by developing the first "three dimensional position finding system based on the time of arrival" of radio signals that became the basis of GPS navigation. Conceptual catalyst for the satellite component of GPS was made by the launch of the first-man made satellite Sputnik in 1957 by the Soviet Union. Researchers in MIT realized that they could track Sputnik's orbit with the use of Doppler shift. This knowledge coupled with the ability to compute satellite ephemerides according to Kepler's laws led to the present capability of instantaneously determining precise position anywhere in the world.
The immediate predecessor of today's GPS system is the US Navy Satellite System (NNSS), also called as the TRANSIT system. The system had 6 satellites orbiting at altitudes of 1,100 km with nearly circular polar orbits.
Dr. Ivan Getting and Bradford Parkinson and MIT began development of the GPS in use today as a project for the US Department of Defense in 1973. Transmission was tested in 1977 and the first satellite launch was in 1978. The GPS satellite network and navigation system is owned by the US Government funded by the US Department of Defense developed maintained and operated by the US Air Force. It was declassified and made public in 1983 by President Ronald Reagan. It is free and a great service for all, provided by the US Government and it has had a great impact in navigation and the improvement of the air and sea travel safety since its implementation.
Computing Capabilities and Accuracy
There are many sites on the Earth's surface where the sun's elevation and azimuth angle calculations are done and published with accurate results, but mostly in the range of 60 degrees north latitude to 60 degrees south latitude. The general concepts qualitatively are explained very clearly in reference [19]. The reason for this is not because of lack of interest, or small population densities at higher or lower latitudes close to the poles, it is due to the mathematical difficulties in the calculations.
Calculation of the sun's elevation and azimuth angles as a function of time and date at higher and lower latitudes close to the poles becomes very complex. The basic reason of the complexity comes from the day and night at those higher latitudes can last more than 24 hours, even several months, depending on the date. The boundary for these regions is given by the Arctic Circle's definition. Arctic Circle is defined as the latitude which at least for one day a year the sun will be visible for 24 hour period [14]. The majority of the sun tracking algorithms and formulas take the day as 24 hours. However above the Arctic Circle in northern hemisphere and below the Antarctic Circle in the southern hemisphere, this assumption is invalid, and so the sun tracking algorithms and formulas with that assumption fail [2]. The position of the Arctic Circle changes with time by small amounts. For Epoch 2011 it is at latitude 66 Degree 33′44″ (66.5622 Degree) North. The Antarctic Circle is at the symmetric position of the Arctic Circle with respect to the Equator which is at 66 Degrees 33′44″ (66.5622 Degree) South.
As of Aug. 26, 2011 the sun elevation and azimuth angle calculation results of the present invention as hereinafter explained matches the NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) results "exactly" below 68 Degree North or above 68 Degree South latitudes [11]. In the NREL Solar Positioning Algorithm (SPA) report [12] the claim is ±0.0003 degrees accuracy "where ever they can give results." As of Aug. 26, 2011 NREL did not produce any data above 68 Degree North or below 68 Degree South latitudes. It is inferred that the program crashes for day lengths exceeding the 24 hours. Since the accuracy related claim given in the SPA report is ±0.0003 degrees accuracy "where ever they can give results", this does not violate their claim, although it is incomplete.
Again, as of Aug. 26, 2011 the sunrise and sunset results produced by the present invention are within a second of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) results below 78 Degree North or above 78 Degree South latitudes [13]. For below 78 Degree South or above 78 Degree North latitudes NOAA gives the sunrise and sunset dates but with different results compared to observed and recorded dates as given in [15].
The present invention matches the historic data as published almost exactly at those extreme latitudes. The technical challenge is to predict the sun's elevation angle above the Arctic Circle over a period of a year, not merely on a selected convenient day. US Naval Observatory [15] and current invention results match extremely well in any latitude at any date, and both are all in line with historical measured data. This type of correlation with official USNO numbers over an entire year period, especially in the extreme latitude is considered remarkable. Finding this type of correlation with USNO numbers over an entire year period, especially in the extreme latitudes was very encouraging for us! It wasn't very surprising for us to find very accurate sun's elevation angle computing capability in US Naval Observatory internet site. After all navigation science is their "traditional" expertise more than any one in the US! In addition to that USNO also maintains the UTC (Universal Time Coordinated) which is the time reference of the GPS [1].
FIG. 6 shows the sun's yearly elevation angle variation from the horizon for extreme Arctic latitudes like the North Pole, the Magnetic North Pole, Barrow, Ak. and Narvik, Norway. Their GPS coordinates are given as in FIG. 6 are (90° N, 0° W), (81.3° N, 109.2° W), (71.2° N, 156.6° W) and (68.4° N, 17.4° E) respectively. As can be seen the USNO and SolarTimer results are indistinguishable over a period of a year. Another excellent source of reference and correlation is also found to be with the Australian Government Geoscience Australia, especially in the elevation angle calculations of the moon [15,16] which is also displayed in the SolarTimer compass dial.
Altitude can have fairly important effect on the sunrise, sunset times and twilight times. The magnitude of the altitude effects on the sunrise, sunset times and twilight times depend on the latitude and the date. Noon does not change as expected but the altitude effects on the twilight, sunrise and sunset times are fairly significant.
Atmospheric Effects
When talking about the sunrise and sunset issues in the extreme latitudes one has to consider the atmospheric effects as well. Atmospheric pressure and temperature are included as input variables in the software package "OEA Astronomic and Navigational Computing Utilities" which takes care of the atmospheric refraction effects on the sun's elevation angle calculations up to a certain extent for normal conditions. Since the smart phone or computer tablet does not have the temperature and atmospheric pressure information, these variables are set to some reasonable values internally. In extreme latitudes there are more dominant effects caused by Mirage's which are not taken into consideration
There is a well known phenomenon called mirage which can change the apparent sunset and sunrise under certain conditions. In certain mirage conditions it has been recorded that when the evening sun has gone down for over 20 minutes it is still clearly visible [20]. These extreme conditions generally happen when there is very high temperature gradient, higher than 2° C. per meter and generally higher than 4-5° C. per meter over the ground. These conditions occur when there is strong heating at the ground level, and an "inferior" image is commonly generated as a result of this. It is called an inferior image because the resultant image seen is under the real object, in this case the sun. Inferior images are not stable. This type of inferior mirage is very often seen on highways, deserts, airport runways and it looks like water on the surface. Hot air rises and cooler air descends. In the process, the layers mix, and turbulence will cause distortion of the image. The image might look as if it is distorted, vibrating; it might seem as if vertically extended. If there are several layers there can be multiple images. In any case, inferior images are not larger than one degree in height.
A "superior" image occurs when the air below the line of sight is colder than that above. This is called temperature inversion, since it does not represent the normal temperature gradient of the atmosphere. In this case, light rays are bent down so the image appears above the true object. Therefore they are called superior mirages. Superior mirages are in general less common than the inferior mirages, but when they occur, they tend to be more stable. This is due to the fact that the cold air has no tendency to move up or warm air to move down. Superior mirages are more common in Polar Regions, especially over large sheets of ice with a uniform low temperature, but they have been recorded in lower latitudes such as in San Francisco.
One of the most historic and striking events related to superior mirage happened to William Barents during his search for the Northeast Passage in 1596. When stuck in the ice at Novaya Zemlya, the crew saw the midwinter night come to an end with a distorted sun about two weeks earlier than expected!! The real sun was still below the horizon, but its light rays followed the curvature of the Earth. This effect is often called Novaya Zemlya. For every 111.12 km that light rays can travel parallel to the Earth's surface, the sun will appear 1° higher on the horizon. If the vertical temperature gradient is +11° C./100 m than the horizontal light rays will just follow the curvature of the Earth.
Hereafter are references that are for further reading or that are cited in this document.


Steel bit bodies are manufactured in a production process that employs polystyrene patterns in a lost foam casting process. The patterns are machined to permit the formation of complex shapes that cannot be reproduced in simple patterns that are extractable from reusable, two-piece pattern molds or dies. The patterns are machined from a billet material according to a basic, programmed, five-axis machining process to form multiple copies of a reproducible complex pattern body. The process is modified to produce multiple copies of a modified design. Machining the complex patterns and producing variations by changing the machine program permit multiple bit patterns of variable forms to be produced without need for building an intermediate, reusable pattern mold that would require multiple mold pieces, thus eliminating the associated time and expense required in the creation of a new pattern mold for each variation of the bit design. The pattern is machined in a single chucking operation in a machine tool adapted for machining plastics in a three-dimensional global process. The plastic has a composition and a density that permit it to be machined into a pattern having relatively small, unsupported structural projections and smooth surface features. Bit patterns formed in the process have forward canted blades that are machined from mating planar surfaces to simplify the machining process. The edges of the forward canted blades form a spiral surface for mounting cutter elements. The forward canting makes the blades stronger and thus permits the blades to be thinner than non-canted blades to increase the clearance between blades, which improves the movement of cuttings past the bit. Recesses are machined into the gauge face of the patterns to produce a recess in the casting for receiving hardfacing. The hardfacing in the recess forms a layer that cooperates with the surrounding blade material to form a smooth transition area as the bit wears during usage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the manufacture of steel-bodied bits used in the drilling of oil and gas wells. More specifically, the present invention relates to bit designs and to processes for casting bits having complex configurations, in different sizes and with modified configurations, without the use of complex, reusable pattern molds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A basic process for manufacturing a steel bit is to machine the bit from a solid billet of steel into the desired final bit form. The basic process is improved upon by using a steel casting that has already been cast into a form approximating the final bit form, permitting a substantial reduction in machining. The procedure is complicated by the addition of the metal casting step, but the overall savings in time and cost are more than offset by the use of castings.
It is common to cast the bit body with excessive material to permit the machining of alternative design features in a particular bit. In these situations, the superfluous material that is left on the casting to provide the option of including a particular feature is machined off if the bit is to be manufactured without the additional feature. The inherent trade-off is that the more universal a casting becomes, the greater the additional machining required to remove the extra material in the casting when a bit not employing the additional feature or features is to be manufactured. This problem may be overcome to a degree by employing a specialized casting that closely resembles the final form of only a specific model bit. However, a trade-off is again necessary because the specific casting cannot be machined to include features that would be created in material not present in the casting. In normal production, a compromise is made between the flexibility allowed by machining a casting into several different end forms and the cost of having a special casting made for each of the different design forms.
In the field of bit manufacture, it is common to require relatively specialized bit sizes, shapes, and designs to meet a particular application. Frequently, the bit is built to a customer's specific requirement. The greater the diversity of design and size requirements of the particular bit, the more closely the universal casting resembles a basic steel billet. In the past, there has been a constant need to compromise between increasing efficiency and reducing the cost of production runs of a specific bit design and maintaining the capability of providing a variation in the bit size or bit design for a relatively small production run or even a single custom-made bit design.
It is known in the field of metal casting that a relatively complex physical configuration may be cast in a process in which the mold is sacrificed with each casting. One such process, referred to generally as a "lost foam" process, employs an expendable plastic pattern in an expendable mold. In a variation of this process, foam patterns are produced in a reusable metal mold or die where large numbers of identical objects are to be cast using a lost foam process. Each of the patterns produced in the die may be used in a process in which the plastic pattern is covered with a hardenable fluid material to form a shell mold. The materials and steps used in a specific process of this type are more fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,660,623. Once the shell mold has hardened, the foam pattern is removed through a chemical or heating process. The hardened shell is then filled with molten steel to produce the casting. Once cooled, the shell mold is broken away from the casting. The step of sacrificing a plastic pattern and an expendable shell mold is repeated for each of the metal castings.
The described lost foam procedure typically follows a multistep process, the first of which is to fabricate a positive model of the object to be cast. This model is then employed to form a reusable metal negative pattern mold or die. Depending on the complexity of the pattern to be produced by the pattern mold, the pattern mold may require multiple separable components to provide a mold that can be released from the pattern. Once the pattern mold is completed, large numbers of patterns may be produced using the mold. Any change in the design of the object to be cast requires a change in the pattern mold.
The construction of a metal pattern mold for a complex shape, such as a drill bit having a complex form that cannot be removed from a two-piece mold is time-consuming and expensive. In a typical situation that requires the building of a pattern mold for a steel-bodied bit design, fabrication of a suitable metal mold for the foam pattern may require several weeks and may cost as much as $50,000 or more. Any variation in the bit design requires a modification or fabrication of a new pattern mold with an associated time loss and expense. Accordingly, the usual procedure of employing an intermediate metal pattern mold to provide the foam patterns used in the lost foam casting process is undesirable for use in the fabrication of complex steel-bodied bits.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,527 describes a process in which a foam block workpiece is machined into a lost foam pattern for use in a full mold casting. The system is directed toward a process in which multiple machining stations are employed so that optimum efficiency is realized in a process where a large number of identical patterns are being fabricated. The patented procedure describes a rectilinear, three-axis machine that is positioned below the workpiece to shape the surface of the workpiece in machine movements along the three standard, mutually perpendicular axes. While the workpieces are being machined, it may be appreciated that the system could be improved with the use of cast patterns since the patterns produced in the described machining process are also appropriate for use in an intermediate pattern molding process. This observation results from the fact that patterns formed using only three-axis movement have non-complex configurations that allow them to be extracted from relatively simple two-piece molds. Variations in simple, non-complex designs of the type illustrated in the prior art process can also be easily achieved by simple modifications to the pattern mold. The described patented system is also well suited for a process in which a large number of identical items are to be cast.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,646 describes a process for producing a rotary drill bit in which a casting technique using a plastic foam is used to produce steel bit bodies. Foam is molded in a shape substantially identical to that of the drill bit body, and cutting members are mounted on the foam form. The foam form may be machined to produce additional bit features. The assembly is then coated with a hardenable mold material to form a mold body. The foam is burned out of the hardened mold to leave a mold cavity, and molten steel is poured into the mold cavity. After the steel has cooled, the mold is removed from the completed bit by a chemical treatment. Production of the desired foam pattern is thus seen to require a two-step process, including molding and machining.
While it is recognized that a complex pattern that may not be easily molded may be machined from a block of pattern material, the limitations of a machining process are brought to each pattern made in the process. Machining a pattern, rather than molding it in a complex die or mold, does not eliminate the problems of cost and time expenditures.
The machining of patterns permits any desired number of identical patterns to be fabricated by a properly programmed numerically controlled machine. However, as with any machining program, the greater the complexity of the machined part, the greater the time and expense required to fabricate the part. Curved parts are particularly time-consuming since they typically require a large number of machining passes to create a smooth curvature.
Conventional spiral blade drill bits have a continuously curving blade end that is used to mount cutting elements in a spiral configuration. Machining the curved, spiral blades into a steel casting is very difficult and time-consuming. Machining plastic into the curved shapes is also time-consuming and, because each pattern must be separately fabricated, the time loss for a production run is multiplied by the number of patterns being machined. Accordingly, any design change that reduces the machining complexity can provide significant time and cost savings, whether it be for steel or plastic.
The machining of plastic patterns also makes possible the creation of bit designs that would not be practical if the design were to be machined from steel castings. Thus, a surface that might require an hour to form on a steel bit body may require only a few minutes to machine onto a plastic pattern. This capability can make practical the creation of cast bit features that would be impractical if they were to be machined directly on the steel bit.
One problem encountered in the typical fabrication of a steel-bodied bit derives from the welded-on application of hardfacing to the gauge faces of the bit. If the material is not properly applied, it may make the bit over- or undersized, or it may create rough edges that grab the face of the wellbore. In either case, the bit must be reworked to correct the defect.
Conventional steel bits also employ a layer of hardfacing that extends from blade edge to blade edge across the face of the blade. If the hardfacing is not properly applied, the hardfacing layer may form a sharp edge as the bit body wears away from its contact with the harder hardfacing material. The resulting edge of hardfacing material can gauge the wellbore wall and create bit vibration and other undesired drilling actions. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the proper application of hardfacing to the correct area of the bit can be critically important to proper bit operation.

Production process for casting steel-bodied bits


An air circuit breaker ratcheting mechanism includes a ratchet and pawl whereby the closing springs charging gear is prevented from reverse rotation during the closing springs charging operation. Upon completion of the charging operation, the ratchet and pawl become disengaged from the charging gear when the charged closing springs are released in response to a manual closing button depression. An interlock arrangement prevents release of the holding prop to discharge the charged circuit breaker closing springs unless the circuit breaker operating handle is completely in the home position.

Air circuit breakers as described within U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,095,489 entitled "Manual Charging Means for Stored Energy Closing Mechanisms of Electric Circuit Breakers" and 3,084,238 entitled "Ratchet Mechanism for Charging a Closing Spring in an Electric Circuit Breaker" include operating mechanisms that are mainly exposed to the environment. Since the air circuit breakers are rated to carry several thousand amperes of current continuously, the exposure to convection cooling air assists in keeping the operating components within reasonable temperature limits.
Such air circuit breakers are usually provided with a motor operator such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,988 entitled "Ratcheting Mechanism for Circuit Breaker Motor Operator" or a manual handle as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,729,065 entitled "Means for Charging A Stored Energy Circuit Breaker Closing Device" for charging the powerful closing springs contained within the air circuit breaker operating mechanism.
As described within the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,988, the ratchet mechanism includes a driving pawl coupled with the motor operator for incrementally advancing a ratchet wheel coupled with the circuit breaker operating mechanism. Each incremental advance of the ratchet wheel is sustained by a holding pawl. Ultimately, the ratchet wheel is advanced to an angular position where the circuit breaker closing springs are fully charged and therefore empowered to forcibly close the circuit breaker contacts. Typically, the discharge of the closing springs rapidly drives the ratchet wheel in the same direction as did the driving pawl in charging the closing springs. In the process, the teeth on the ratchet wheel impact with the driving and holding pawls, producing undue pawl and ratchet wear, as well as unnecessary stress on the pawl springs and mountings. Moreover, when the breaker contacts close, there is an inevitable rebound which tends to rotate the holding pawl. Under these circumstances, the straight sides of the ratchet teeth impact against the straight edges of the pawl tips, causing potentially damaging stresses in the ratcheting mechanism. The patent further suggests the use of a holding prop to hold the pawls out of engagement with the ratchet wheel until the closing springs have fully discharged to protect the pawls and the ratchet wheel from potential damage. When the contacts have become closed, the circuit breaker operating mechanism components are exposed to allow an operator to manually release the holding prop in order for the holding pawl to again become operative in recharging the circuit breaker closing spring.
When the circuit breaker closing springs are brought to their fully-charged conditions, it is important that the springs do not become inadvertently discharged while an operator has hold of the charging handle in order to avoid damage to the ratchet mechanism and the associated air circuit breaker contacts. An early arrangement of a latching means to prevent rotation of a closing springs charging handle is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,021 entitled "Air Circuit Breaker".
When the circuit breaker closing springs are completely charged, the holding pawl is removed from the charging gear to allow the charging shaft to rotate when the circuit breaker closing button is activated, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/863,649 entitled "Ratcheting Mechanism for an Industrial-Rated Circuit Breaker", filed 27 May 1997. With the holding pawl removed from the charging gear, the closing springs exert a force of rotation on the charging shaft and some means must be employed to assure that the charging shaft remains in a closing springs "charged condition" until and unless the circuit breaker closing button is activated, as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/865,165 entitled "Closing Springs Release Mechanism for Industrial-Rated Circuit Breaker", filed 28 May 1997.
When the circuit breaker closing springs are fully-charged, they are ordinarily released by means of a closing button arranged on the circuit breaker cover next to the circuit breaker operating handle. Should an operator attempt to depress the closing button while lifting the operating handle, the force exerted on the handle by means of the released closing springs could cause damage to the circuit breaker internal operating components.
One purpose of the invention is to interlock the circuit breaker operating handle with the circuit breaker closing button to prevent the circuit breaker closing springs from becoming closed unless the operating handle is completely in the home position.

Circuit breaker closing springs button interlock mechanism


A bicycle gear changing control apparatus includes a controller that is programmed to control a gear changing state of a bicycle transmission according to an operation of a gear changing operating device upon determining a bicycle traveling speed is greater than a first speed. The controller controls the transmission automatically to be in a first prescribed gear changing state upon determining the bicycle traveling speed becomes less than or equal to the first speed and upon determining a gear ratio of a current gear changing state of the transmission is larger than a preset gear ratio of the first prescribed gear changing state. The controller controls the transmission automatically, after controlling the transmission to be in the first prescribed gear changing state, to a larger gear ratio than the gear ratio of the first prescribed gear changing state, upon determining the bicycle traveling speed becomes greater than a second speed.

Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to changing gears of a bicycle. More specifically, the present invention relates to a gear changing control apparatus that controls the gear changing state of a bicycle transmission, an electrically assisted system, and a bicycle gear changing control method.
Background Information
Generally, when a rider starts to pedal a bicycle that has been stopped, the manual drive force when starting to pedal can be made to be lighter when the gear ratio is smaller. For this reason, the bicycle gear changing control apparatus of Japanese Patent No. 2,617,059 changes to a gear ratio that is suitable for starting to pedal a bicycle from a stopped state.

Bicycle gear changing control apparatus, electrically assisted system, and bicycle gear changing control method


A cleaning method uses a cleaning agent in which microcapsules are dispersed therein. Each of the microcapsules encapsulates a gas precursor, which is capable of undergoing a phase transition to a gas phase by application of ultrasonic wave energy. In the cleaning method, clothing to be cleaned is wetted with the cleaning agent, and then an ultrasonic wave is applied to the clothing to cause the microcapsules to expand and explode, releasing gas. Explosion energy of the microcapsules contribute to remove dirt stains from the clothing. In order to facilitate absorption of the cleaning agent, a smaller ultrasonic wave may be applied to the article before applying the ultrasonic wave for explosion.

Washing clothing in general requires sufficiently penetrating the water in which a laundry detergent is dissolved into the structure of fabric in order to remove dirt and stains on the fabric. In order to increase the penetration of water, a conventional washing machine typically agitates water containing a detergent as well as clothing in a laundry tub using an agitator or impeller, or tumbles the clothing submerged in water in a laundry drum.
Further, some attempts have been made to adapt an ultrasonic cleaning technique for washing clothing. A washing machine utilizing an ultrasonic cleaning technique generates an ultrasonic wave in the water containing a detergent in a laundry tub to induce ultrasonic cavitation. The ultrasonic cavitation is known to create in a moment vacuum bubbles in a liquid which immediately and violently implode to produce millions of microscopic jets of fluid. Fabric of clothing submerged in water in a laundry tub is attacked by the implosions, thereby allowing dirt and stains to be removed from the fabric. The ultrasonic cavitation is generated at anti-nodes of an ultrasonic wave in the form of a standing wave. Since the implosion energy of the ultrasonic cavitation is too high for the fabric, the ultrasonic cavitation not only causes the dirt and stains on the fabric to be removed therefrom but also causes the fabric to be eroded, which is referred to as the cavitation erosion. In order to protect the fabric against the cavitation erosion, the ultrasonic standing wave may be swept so that the ultrasonic cavitation does not continuously occur at the same points.
In addition, in a circumstance where a bunch of clothing is jumbled up in a laundry tub, a standing wave field is difficult to be created, and thus the ultrasonic cavitation cannot be stably generated within the structure of the fabric, resulting in insufficient cleaning action.

Cleaning method and system utilizing microcapsules