A liquid jetting device includes a plurality of nozzles provided in a liquid jetting head, a charge-discharge actuator provided in correspondence with each nozzle, and a driving section for applying a driving signal to the charge-discharge actuator to jet liquid from the corresponding nozzle. The liquid jetting device includes a driving wave-form signal generating section configured to generate a driving wave-form signal as a basis of a signal for controlling a drive state of the actuator. A driving signal generating section is configured to amplify the driving wave-form signal generated by the driving wave-form signal generating section using a charge-use transistor and a discharge-use transistor connected in a push-pull configuration, and output a driving signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid jetting device that jets, for instance, a plurality of fine colored-liquid droplets from a plurality of nozzles to form dots on a print medium for drawing predetermined characters and images.
2. Description of the Related Art
One example of such a liquid jetting device, the inkjet printer, has with the popularization of personal computers digital cameras and the like become popular not only in offices but among private users as a result of its ability to produce high quality color prints of a high quality at low cost.
Such inkjet printers are generally constructed to produce the desired printed matter by drawing predetermined characters and images on the print medium through jet of liquid ink droplets from print head nozzles and formation of fine ink dots on the print medium as a movable body, which is integrally equipped with ink cartridges and print heads and known as a carriage, moves back and forth over the print medium in the direction which intersects with the conveyed direction of the print medium. By including of ink cartridges of four colors including black (and yellow, magenta, and cyan) and a print head corresponding to each color, the inkjet printers are configured to allow both monochrome and, through combination of the colors, full color printing (inkjet printers further including arrangements for additional colors, such as light cyan and light magenta, to give six, seven or eight colors are also in use).
The inkjet printers of the type which execute printing by passing the inkjet head on the carriage back and forth in the intersecting direction with the conveyed direction of the print medium must make from around ten passes to several tens of passes to make a good print of an entire. Contrastingly, in inkjet printers of the type which avoid use of a carriage by providing long inkjet heads (which need not be integrated with the cartridges) of substantially the same width as the print medium, there is no need to move inkjet head in the width direction of the print medium and the printing can be completed in a single pass. The inkjet printers using the former method are generally called "multipass (serial) inkjet printers", and inkjet printers using the latter type are generally called "line-head inkjet printers".
At present, further improvements in "gradation" are being demanded in these types of inkjet printer. Gradation refers to states of concentration of each color in a so-called pixel expressed as an ink dot. A size of the ink dot, which dependent on the concentrations of the colors in the pixel, is called a degree of gradation, and a number for the degree of gradation possible using ink dots is called a gradation number. High gradation is used to mean a large gradation number. To change the degree of gradation, it is for instance necessary to change a driving pulse to an actuator provided in the inkjet head. If the actuator is a piezoelectric device, an amount of displacement (deformation) of the piezoelectric device (more accurately, a diaphragm) will increase as the applied voltage to the piezoelectric device is increased, and it is therefore possible to change the degree of gradation.
In JP-A-10-81013, for instance, a driving signal is generated by combining and linking a plurality of driving pulses having differing peak values. The generated driving signal is outputted to all piezoelectric devices corresponding to nozzles of a given same color provided on the inkjet head. The desired degree of gradation in the ink dot is then achieved by selecting, for each nozzle, a driving pulse corresponding to the degree of gradation in the ink dot to be formed and supplying the selected driving pulses to the corresponding piezoelectric devices to jet ink droplets.
A method for generating the driving signals (or driving pulses) is recorded, for instance, in FIG. 2 of JP-A-2004-306434 which is described below. In this method, the inkjet printer reads data from a memory storing the driving signal data, converts the read data to analog data using a D/A converter, and supplies the resulting driving signal to the inkjet heads via a current amplifier. Since the piezoelectric device is a charge-discharge actuator, the driving signal causes the charge-discharge actuator to charge and discharge. The current amplifier circuit is, as shown in FIG. 3 of the same application, constructed using a charge-use transistor and a discharge-use transistor connected in a push-pull configuration. Further, the current amplifier configuration makes use of a high power source potential, and amplifies the driving signal using so-called linear drive. However, in current amplifiers with this type of configuration, a potential difference between the power source potential and the driving signal for charging the charge-discharge actuator and a potential difference between the ground potential and the driving signal for discharging the actuator are both large, and such amplifiers therefore consume a great deal of power. The majority of the consumed power is dissipated as heat, and large transistors and heat sinks are therefore required. The large size of the heat sinks, in particular, is a serious hindrance with regards to layout.
To overcome this disadvantage, in the inkjet printer disclosed in JP-A-2006-272907 a source potential adjusting transistor is provided between a power source and the charge-use transistor, and a charging source potential adjusted using the source potential adjusting transistor is supplied to a collector of the charge-use transistor via a ripple filter. Further an earth connection (discharging connection) potential adjusting transistor is provided between an earth connection (discharging connection) and the discharge-use transistor, and an earth connection (discharging connection) potential adjusted by the earth connection (discharging connection) potential adjusting transistor is supplied to a collector of the discharge-use transistor via a ripple filter. Such an arrangement reduces the potential difference between the charging source potential and the driving signal for charging the actuator and the potential difference between the earth connection (discharging connection) potential and the driving signal from the discharging actuator, thereby reducing power consumption.
However, in the inkjet printer disclosed in JP-A-2006-272907, since only a single charging source potential adjusting transistor is provided between the power source and the charge-use transistor and only a single earth connection (discharging connection) potential adjusting transistor is provided between the earth connection (discharging connection) and the discharge-use transistor, it is not possible to sufficiently close the gap between a charging source potential preliminary adjusted signal supplied to the charge-use transistor and the charging potential of the charge-discharge actuator, or to close the gap between an earth connection (discharging connection) potential preliminary adjusted signal and the discharge potential. Since, the potential differences represented by the gaps cannot be reduced, the disclosed arrangement is incapable of sufficiently reducing power consumption.
The present invention provides a liquid jetting device capable of reducing both the potential difference between the charging source potential preliminary adjusted signal and the driving signal for charging the charge-discharge actuator and the potential difference between the discharging connection potential preliminary adjusted signal and the driving signal from the charge-discharge actuator when discharging, and thereby allows a reduction in power consumption.


A liquid discharge apparatus in which controllability of liquid discharge speed is improved is provided. A pair of electrodes is arranged so as to divide a partition into a movable region to which an electric field for shear-deforming the partition at a portion on a nozzle side is applied and an immovable region to which the electric field is not applied at a portion on a common liquid chamber side. It is assumed that a cross-section area of a cross section along a face perpendicular to a longitudinal direction at a second end of an individual liquid chamber is S2, and a cross-section area along a face perpendicular to the longitudinal direction at a first boundary point closest to a first end on a boundary between the movable region and the immovable region is S1. The cross-section area S2 is made wider than the cross-section area S1.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid discharge apparatus in which individual liquid chambers partitioned by partitions made by a piezoelectric material are formed, and a manufacturing method of the liquid discharge apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a liquid discharge apparatus, a liquid discharge head which emits droplets by changing pressure of ink in an individual liquid chamber to generate a flow of the ink, and thus discharging the ink from a nozzle has been popularized. In particular, a drop-on-demand head has been most popularized. Here, there are roughly two methods of applying the pressure to the ink, that is, one is the method of changing the pressure to the ink by changing the pressure in the individual liquid chamber in response to a driving signal supplied to a piezoelectric element, and the other is the method of applying the pressure to the ink by generating bubbles in the individual liquid chamber in response to a driving signal supplied to a resistor.
The liquid discharge head in which the piezoelectric element is used can be manufactured with comparative ease by machine-processing a bulk piezoelectric material. Moreover, the liquid discharge head of this type has an advantage that restriction of ink is comparatively small and thus inks of wide-range materials can be selectively applied to a recording medium. Based on this point of view, in recent years, an attempt to utilize the liquid discharge head for industrial applications such as manufacture of color filters, formation of wirings and the like is often made.
In this context, in the piezoelectrically-actuated liquid discharge heads to be industrially utilized, a shear mode method is often adopted. In the shear mode method, a phenomenon that a polarized piezoelectric material is shear-deformed when an electric field is applied thereto in its orthogonal direction is utilized. Here, the piezoelectric material to be deformed corresponds to a partition which is formed by processing and making an ink groove or the like on the polarized bulk piezoelectric material with use of a dicing blade. A pair of electrodes is formed on both the side faces of the partition to drive the piezoelectric material, and the liquid discharge head is finally constituted by forming a nozzle plate having nozzles thereon and an ink supply system (Japanese Patent Publication No. H06-006375).
The liquid discharge head which adopts the shear mode method can be manufactured with comparative ease. However, to obtain desired discharge speed, it is necessary to control the pressure to be applied to the liquid in the individual liquid chamber by shear-deforming the piezoelectric material with voltage (a potential difference) to be applied to both the sides of the partition constituted by the piezoelectric material.
In general, discharge performance of the piezoelectrically-actuated liquid discharge head is indicated by a relation between the voltage and the discharge speed, and it has been known that the discharge speed is proportionate to the voltage. To obtain the liquid discharge head which can achieve low power consumption and superior controllability for discharge speed, it is necessary to enable to discharge a droplet with low voltage and reduce a percentage of a change of the discharge speed to the voltage (hereinafter, called a voltage sensitivity).
Since the discharge speed is proportionate to the pressure to be applied to the liquid in the individual liquid chamber, it is possible to control the discharge speed by adjusting the pressure to be applied to the liquid based on kinds of piezoelectric material, and widths and heights of the partition and the individual liquid chamber. For example, to increase the pressure to be applied to the liquid, it is effective to enlarge a displacement volume of the individual liquid chamber by narrowing the width of the individual liquid chamber and/or heightening the height of the individual liquid chamber.
Incidentally, a relation between the displacement volume and the constitutions of the partition and the individual liquid chamber is expressed as follows. That is, if it is assumed that the displacement volume is ΔVol, a piezoelectric constant is d15, the height of the individual liquid chamber is H, the width of the partition is T, the voltage is V, and the length of the individual liquid chamber is z, then a relational expression ΔVol=(d15×H×z×V)÷(4×T) is given.
However, if it intends to enlarge the displacement volume over the entire longitudinal direction by changing the width of the partition and the height of the individual liquid chamber, a percentage of a change of the displacement volume to the voltage becomes large according to the above relational expression. Since the displacement volume and the pressure to be applied to the liquid are in a proportional relation, a percentage of a change of the voltage to the pressure to be applied to the liquid becomes large resultingly. That is, if it intends to increase the pressure to be applied to the liquid in the individual liquid chamber by simply adjusting the width and the height of the individual liquid chamber in order to discharge the droplet with low voltage, the voltage sensitivity of the discharge speed increases, and controllability of the discharge speed of the droplet deteriorates.
In particular, if the diameter of the nozzle is made small up to, e.g., 5 μm to 15 μm to discharge minute droplets, since the distance between the wall face of the nozzle and the center of the nozzle becomes close to each other, influences of viscosity resistance and surface tension become large, and flow speed of the liquid tends to concentrate on the center of the nozzle. Thus, it becomes difficult to cut off a liquid column formed from the nozzle to the discharge direction. Therefore, when the liquid column is cut off and thus the droplet is formed, since motion energy stored at the central portion of the nozzle is large, the discharge speed of the droplet is high. That is, by making the diameter of the nozzle small, the pressure to be applied to the liquid in the individual liquid chamber, i.e., the percentage of the change of the discharge speed of the droplet to the voltage to be applied to the pair of electrodes (the voltage sensitivity), becomes steep much more, and thus the controllability of the discharge speed of the droplets further deteriorates.
In line with this, the present invention aims to provide a liquid discharge apparatus which has improved controllability of the liquid discharge speed of the droplets.

Liquid discharge apparatus and manufacturing method thereof


A system and method are provided for enabling telephone users to place information on a network that is accessible by a variety of devices from disparate communication protocols are provided. A telecommunications network provides access to one or more servers to one or more customers. A customer that is provided access to the server is enabled to create a basis of operations called a phonesite. The phonesite is constructed and arranged to allow read, write, and execute privileges to the customer and to those designated by the customer. Files and other information on the phonesite can be accessed and edited from, for example, a standard telephone, a personal computer, a personal digital assistant, a web cam, an instant message client, and the like. Customers are given a single number with which to access the phonesite, or to allow others to access the phonesite. Other organizations or individuals with phonesites can exchange information in an automated fashion once connection between the two phonesites is authorized and established.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to telephone communications. More specifically, the present invention is related to enhance communication capabilities for telephonic client devices with software processes or other devices that are connected to wide area networks, telephone networks, and/or other software processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Handheld cellular telephones have been in use for many years. However, handheld telephones, because of their limited computing capacity and limited battery power capabilities, have had several limitations. One of the more notable limitations of handheld cellular units is their lack of memory capacity. While handheld cellular units are able to utilize a menu system, the menus can contain a very limited amount of information. One very useful feature, however, of handheld units is their ability to establish communications from remote locations. In the past, the first remote services tended to be a connection to a human being at a place and time, such as a secretary who can relay pertinent information to an executive, for example. Unfortunately, this extra capability for the handheld unit comes at a price, mainly the productivity impact of having a person at the other end to retrieve and transmit pertinent information.
It would be helpful if the process of exchanging information with handheld units could be automated. It is also desirable that current telephones be able to interact with more processes and devices than are presently connected to the current telephone network.
What is needed is a telephone device that can communicate context-sensitive information to the user and to other similar processes. Moreover, there is a need for the telephone to enable the user to communicate with software processes and client devices that operate on other telephone and non-telephone networks.

System and method for applying network protocols to telephony


A chemical stick launcher includes a stack of vertically mounted low voltage electrically operated valves providing spaces between the valves for chemical sticks. The valves are manipulated by a controller to drop sticks from the compartments between the valves after suitable time delays so the launcher can supply chemicals to a hydrocarbon well over a period of time. The stack is insulated to reduce the operating temperature of the launcher and thereby allow a wider variety of chemical compositions to be used. The low voltage electrically operated valves include a front panel providing a visual indicator of whether the valves are open or closed. The valves are mounted on the stack so the front panels face in the same direction so a standing person can see all the indicators from a single position.

This invention relates to an improved system for delivering chemical sticks into an oil or gas well. The sticks are usually soap sticks but other chemicals, such as corrosion inhibitors, may be delivered into hydrocarbon wells or other vertically lower compartments where the sticks fall by gravity.
Gas wells have a typical and recognized life cycle. At the outset, a gas well is almost always capable of flowing a sufficient gas volume to keep any liquid in the production string moving upwardly to the surface. As the well ages, the produced gas volume becomes insufficient to keep liquids moving upwardly so liquids accumulate in the production string and at the bottom of the well. Very soon, accumulated liquids at the bottom of the well are sufficient to slow production. Ultimately, sufficient liquids accumulate in the bottom of the well to kill the well, which is industry terminology describing when the well quits producing.
There are a variety of approaches that oil operators use to maintain production in a gas well as it ages. One of the first approaches is to drop a stick into the production string that contains a soap, surfactant or foaming agent. These sticks are universally called soap sticks. At the outset, a gauger may drop a single stick into the well, open and close a valve on the Christmas tree to start and stop flow and thereby agitate liquid in the well to entrain liquid in the well into a foam. The well may then be opened into a tank to discharge a quantity of foam and thereby remove a quantity of water from the well. The gauger then puts the well back on production by opening a valve directing produced gas toward a surface installation and ultimately a sales meter.
This process continues until a soap stick dropped once in a while is ineffective to keep the well producing so soap sticks are dropped daily or as often as the gauger arrives at the well. Sooner-or-later, it becomes desirable to deliver soap sticks at various spaced times in a single twenty four hour period. It accordingly becomes desirable to automate this process by attaching a soap stick launcher to the Christmas tree so soap sticks can be dropped periodically and reloaded by the gauger during a daily visit. Soap stick launchers have been proposed for many years of which U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,040,401 and 7,234,525 are exemplary.

Electrically operated chemical stick launcher


A double-sided measuring scoop is provided. The double-sided measuring scoop includes a cylindrical member having a cylindrical sidewall and a substantially planar disc-shaped member positioned within the cylindrical member. The disc-shaped member divides the cylindrical member into a first scoop portion having a first volume, and a second scoop portion having a second volume, where the first volume is larger than the second volume. The double-sided measuring scoop also includes a handle coupled to the cylindrical sidewall at a location directly opposite the disc-shaped member.

There are a variety of powdered products that are sold in a canister or other container. Examples of powdered products include powdered beverages and nutritional powders. Inside of the container there is typically a scoop to measure out a portion of the powdered product. The scoop is generally sized for a single serving of the powdered product.


A method, system, and device for securely and deterministically selecting a winner for a raffle taking into account content from the raffle tickets of the raffle. Each raffle ticket comprises entry data for obtaining an entry number such that the entry data is strongly encrypted by the client computer for communication over the computer network to the server computer. Decrypting, at the server computer, the entry data. Obtaining a first output related to the raffle by computing a first deterministic mathematical function taking a first plurality of inputs, wherein the first plurality of inputs comprise the entry numbers. Selecting a winning raffle ticket by obtaining a second output related to the raffle by computing a second deterministic mathematical mapping function taking as a second input the first output of the first mathematical function, wherein the second output corresponds to the winning raffle ticket.

Traditional raffle systems use mechanical devices such as a spinning wheel or tombola to select the winner of the raffle. Other traditional raffle systems use a computer's random number generator to select the winner of the raffle. Both of these traditional raffle systems have disadvantages, particularly in the context of online raffles held on the Internet.
The present invention aims at providing an improved solution for a raffle system.

Method, system, and device for selecting a winner of a raffle based on content from raffle tickets


A screw pump and pumping arrangement including a screw pump having a chamber and externally threaded rotors mounted on shafts for counter-rotation and flow paths with fluid inlets located at a common low pressure side of the chamber.

A screw pump comprising two externally threaded rotors mounted in a pump body and adapted for counter-rotation in the body with intermeshing of the rotor threads is well known. Close tolerances between the rotor threads at the points of intermeshing and with the internal surfaces of the pump body cause volumes of gas being pumped between an inlet and an outlet to be trapped between the threads of the rotors and the internal surface of the pump body and thereby urged through the pump as the rotors rotate.
Such screw pumps are potentially attractive because they can be manufactured with few working components and they have an ability to pump from a high vacuum environment at the pump inlet down to atmospheric pressure at the pump outlet. As a result, a screw pump may be employed as a backing pump for a secondary pump, such as a turbomolecular pump, for evacuating a process tool.
If a screw pump has a sufficiently high capacity, two turbomolecular pumps could be simultaneously backed by a single screw pump by connecting the exhausts of the turbomolecular pumps to the inlet of the screw pump via a common backing line. However, in such an arrangement, any variation in the flow rate of pumped gas exhaust from one of the turbomolecular pumps could change the fluid pressure within the common backing line, which in turn would affect the performance of the other turbomolecular pump exhausting into the common backing line. In view of this, typically each secondary pump is backed by a respective pump.
It is an aim of at least the preferred embodiment of the present invention to provide an improved screw pump which can simultaneously back two pumps whilst substantially avoiding the aforementioned problem.


A secondary display system on a mobile device to allow a user to check the status of mobile device services without having to turn on or otherwise rely upon the primary display of the mobile device. The secondary display presents a count of messages that are waiting to be accessed by the mobile device user. When a new message is received for the user, a summary of the message is displayed to the mobile device user. When a user accesses one of the waiting messages, the count of unopened messages is decremented. The secondary display system may perform queue management to ensure that only counts of recently received messages are displayed. The secondary display system may offer different status modes to highlight the status of different mobile device services or states. The secondary display system may also allow a user to respond to a received message in a limited manner.

Users of mobile devices, such as cell phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants, portable media players, and portable gaming devices, have an increasing number of options to communicate with other users. For example, users may communicate with other users via email, instant messaging, SMS and MMS messaging, and via voice and/or video. Moreover, users increasingly have a number of social networking services that they may use to communicate with other users, such as by sending messages to other users via Facebook, mySpace, Orkut, and Twitter. The vast number of channels that users now have to communicate with other users has greatly expanded the use and enjoyment of mobile devices to stay in touch with friends, families, and colleagues.
While the proliferation of communication channels has provided great benefits to mobile device users, the number of channels has come at a price. Users are now inundated with messages from other users. For example, a user may receive voicemails from families, emails from work colleagues, instant messaging requests from friends, pokes on their Facebook profile, and the like. Learning of and accessing each of these messages requires a user to utilize different applications or different capabilities on their mobile device. For example, the user may be required to call a voicemail system in order to determine the number and identity of voicemails that were left for the user, use a browser application to log-on to a Facebook profile and see what messages are waiting to be read, and access an SMS or MMS messaging application to see what messages are waiting for review. Accessing other communication channels may involve even more onerous steps. Checking the status of each of these communication channels can be time consuming and extremely frustrating to users. The need therefore exists for a system that overcomes these problems, progresses the state of the art, and provides additional benefits.

Secondary status display for mobile device


A minute convexo-concave pattern forming method includes: transferring a minute convexo-concave pattern of a mold to a resist layer of a transfer substrate where a resist layer is formed on a substrate and curing the transferred minute convexo-concave pattern; and after curing the transferred minute convexo-concave pattern, peeling the transfer substrate and the mold, the peeling step including: pressurizing a substrate back surface side of the transfer substrate with a peripheral part of the transfer substrate being fixed to bend the transfer substrate in a curved shape and starting peeling of the transfer substrate and the mold with a bending of the transfer substrate; and peeling a part of the minute convexo-concave pattern of the transfer substrate not peeled in the first peeling step by gradually decreasing a pressure for a pressurization so as to undo the bending of the transfer substrate.

In recent years, in a lithography process in semiconductor manufacture, to achieve a high speed and high integration of an integrated circuit, a technology using ultraviolet rays (KrF, ArF, or F2 laser) in an exposure process has been developed. In recent years, a technology using EUV light (extreme ultraviolet light) with a shorter wavelength has been developed, but an apparatus using EUV light has a problem of high apparatus cost and others.
Moreover, in the conventional electron beam exposure technology used for micro-patterning so far, long-time exposure is required. For this reason, under the present circumstances, the electron beam exposure technology is used only for prototyping a small number of semiconductors for a special use purpose, posing a problem such that this technology cannot be applied to mass production of semiconductors.
As a method of solving both of these problems (apparatus cost and throughput), a nano imprint technology has attracted attention, in which a minute convexo-concave pattern in a nano size is formed on a substrate by using a polymer as a material to manufacture a high-functionality device such as a semiconductor, a recording medium, or an optical element.
A nano imprint scheme is a method of pressing a substrate coated with a resist (a resin material) onto a mold (a form) having a minute convexo-concave pattern formed thereon by electron beam exposure to transfer the minute convexo-concave pattern of the mold to a resist layer.
The nano imprint technology has features such that apparatus cost by microfabrication is inexpensive compared with the EUV scheme or the like and minute convexo-concave pattern shape in a size of several tens of nanometers can be transferred.
However, the nano imprint technology has a faulty peel problem in which when the resist layer and the mold are peeled after a minute convexo-concave pattern is transferred to the resist layer on the substrate, the minute convexo-concave pattern transferred to the resist layer tends to be damaged. This is because the nano imprint technology includes a transferring process of bringing the mold and the resist layer into contact with each other to form a minute convexo-concave pattern, and the faulty peel problem is a fundamental problem unavoidable due to the transferring process mentioned above.
Several measures have been suggested so far to mitigate this faulty peel problem. For example, PTL 1 discloses a pattern forming method in which an angle formed between a direction of a line of a convexo-concave pattern and a mold peeling direction is adjusted to prevent the convexo-concave pattern from being damaged at the time of peeling.
Also, PTL 2 describes a method of forming a sufficient deformation adjacently to the mold so as to produce a resilient force larger than a bonding force between an imprinting material and the mold. This is thought to improve an imprinting method for use in a contact lithography process.
Furthermore, PTL 3 discloses a device manufacturing method in which, with the mold and the resin being in contact with each other, a state from the time when the mold starts moving in a direction of going away from the resin to the time of peeling is divided into a first state and a second state and a load change ratio acted between the mold and resin in the second state is set smaller than that in the first state. With this, it is thought to be able to achieve a high-speed releasing process and an excellent throughput.

Minute convexo-concave pattern forming method and forming device, and transfer substrate producing method and transfer substrate


A ceiling anchor point and anchor point system for a concrete deck. The anchor point includes a receiver box attached to the form used to construct a concrete deck that becomes embedded the concrete deck. The receiver box is a partially enclosed structure with a lower slot opening that communicates with an interior cavity. The receiver box includes flange surfaces that attached to the inside surface of a form used to construct the concrete deck. Extending transversely through the interior cavity is a rod with its opposite ends that extend laterally from the sides of the receiver box and become covered with concrete. Attached to the portion of the rod located inside the interior cavity is an elongated connector plate. The connector plate is assembled on the rod and is configured to rotate around the rod and nests entirely inside the receive box or extend downward through the slot opening. Formed on the lower end of the connector plate is a second hole that connects to a suitable snap hook or clip used by a construction worker when working near a leading edge fall hazard.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to apparatus, systems and methods for constructing fall prevention anchor points in a concrete ceiling.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many buildings have floors made of concrete slabs or decks manufactured by pouring wet concrete into wood forms. After the concrete has dried and cured, the wood forms are removed exposing the exterior surfaces of the concrete deck. When the bottom surface of the concrete deck acts as the ceiling for a lower floor, HVAC duct work, plumbing and electrical conduits, and insulation materials are sometimes attached to the bottom surface.
Federal, state and local regulations require workers use or wear fall restraining or fall arresting equipment when working at elevations greater than 6 feet above a floor or when working near the open leading edge of a building. Such equipment typically includes lanyards attached at one end to a harness or vest worn by the worker. The opposite end of the lanyard is attached to a rigid anchor point.
When working on the floor of a building with open leading edges, workers must wear fall arresting equipment at all times. Because the workers must move on the floor, the fall arresting equipment must allow the worker to move freely over the floor.
What is needed is an inexpensive, easy to install anchor point that attaches to a fall resistant lanyard worn by a worker that is embedded into a concrete deck which forms the ceiling for a lower floor. What is also needed is an anchor point that is partially exposed and readily visible to workers working on the lower floor.
What is also needed is an anchor point system that allows a worker to move over the floor which includes at least two anchor points identified above that can be easily attached to a cable that extends below and parallel to the ceiling, and a slide connector selectively attaches to the cable that is attached to the end of the lanyard thereby enabling the worker to move freely on the floor.

Concrete deck tie-off anchor point and system


The invention relates to a vertical field-effect transistor in source-down structure, in which the active zones (10, 7, 11) are introduced from trenches (5, 8, 9) into a semiconductor body (1), a source electrode (18) being connected via the filling (6) of a body trench (5) to a highly doped substrate (2) via a conductive connection (15).

A high packing density has long been the aim in very general terms in semiconductor technology and therefore also for vertical FETs. Furthermore, there are applications in which it is desirable for the source terminal of an FET to be located on the underside of a semiconductor body. This applies, for example, to semiconductor components, the source terminal of which is at reference potential and which require good cooling. One possible application area is FETs for the automotive industry.

Vertical field-effect transistor in source-down structure


An ink-jet recording apparatus comprising an ink-discharging opening coupled to an ink chamber for discharging ink therefrom toward a recording sheet. The ink-discharging opening is formed at a center and bottom of a concave portion formed in a thin plate made of an insulating material. A first electrode is provided on one surface of the thin plate and around the concave portion and a second electrode is provided on the other surface of the thin plate and at the vicinity of the ink-discharging opening, the first and second electrodes being electrically coupled to an ink-discharging control signal source. This arrangement can omit an air supply system to simplify the structure of the recording apparatus.

The present invention relates to an arrangement of an ink-jet recording apparatus (printer) for discharging ink from a microscopic opening to record a character or picture on a recording sheet.
As exemplified by the Japanese Patent provisional Publication No. 57-120452 or 59-146860, there are known ink-jet recording apparatus which is arranged to discharge ink from a microscopic opening with the aid of an air stream and an electrostatic force, the arrangement of such a prior art ink-jet recording apparatus will be described hereinafter in detail. However, there is a problem which arises with the conventional ink-jet recording apparatus in that the apparatus cost increases because of the requirement of an air supply system and a high accuracy is required for the assembling of an air discharge opening and an ink discharge opening.
In addition, in a conventional electrostatic suction type ink-jet recording system as exemplified by the Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 58-208062, since the cross-sectional area of the portion between the ink discharge opening and the electrode opening is arranged to be spatially wider than the areas of the openings thereof, an extreme disadvantage occurs in the case of arranging nozzles with a high density for formation of multi-nozzles. Further, in cases where fine dust, ink and the like are inserted into the spatial area, the state of the electric field varies so that the discharge state becomes unstable to lower the reliability. Moreover, in view of the stability of the recording characteristic, difficulty is encountered in positioning between the ink discharge opening and the electrode opening, insuring of the degree of parallelization and assembling.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method of classifying a multimodal test object described according to at least one first and one second modality is provided, including offline construction by classification of a multimedia dictionary, defined by a plurality of multimedia words, based on a recoding matrix of representatives of the first modality forming a dictionary of the first modality including a plurality of words of the first modality, the recoding matrix constructed to express the frequency of each word of the second modality of a dictionary of the second modality including a plurality of words of the second modality, for each word of the first modality, classification of a multimodal test object performed online by recoding each representative of the first modality relating to the multimedia object considered on the multimedia dictionary base, followed by aggregating representatives of the first modality coded in the recoding in a single vector representative of the multimodal object.

A 'multimedia' document or object essentially comprises a plurality of modalities. For example, a multimedia object may consist of an image accompanied by textual information, which may be designated as 'tags'. A multimedia object may also consist of a web page comprising one or more images and textual content. A multimedia object may also consist, e.g. of a scanned document divided into a plurality of channels, e.g. one channel including textual information from an optical character recognition process, commonly referred to by the initials OCR, one channel including illustrations and photographs identified in the document. A multimedia object may also consist, e.g. of a video sequence separated into a plurality of channels, e.g. a visual channel including the images of the video sequence, a sound channel including the soundtrack of the sequence, a textual channel including e.g. subtitles, or textual information originating from a process of transcription of speech into text, a channel including metadata relating to the video sequence, e.g. relating to the date, author, title, format of the sequence, etc.
It is understood that the present invention applies to any type of multimedia object, and is not necessarily limited to the aforementioned types of multimedia objects.
In practice, it may be desirable to be able to establish a description of multimedia objects, e.g. for classification or multimedia object search applications in one or more databases, by means of queries in the form of multimedia documents in the form sought, or limited to one of the modalities of the multimedia object sought; e.g. in the case where the multimedia object sought is an image associated with textual tags, a query may include only visual information, or only textual information. The search then consists in finding the multimedia documents in the database best matching the query, e.g. for then presenting them in order of relevance.
The description of a multimedia document is tricky, due to the heterogeneous nature of the modalities defining same. For example, as part of the classification of images associated with textual content, the visual modality may be transformed into feature vectors forming a low level visual description; the textual mode itself may be mapped in a dictionary reflecting a language or a particular subdomain thereof. For the purposes of classifying a visual document or a textual document, use may be made of known supervised classification techniques described below with reference to FIG. 1, more particularly 'bags of words' classification techniques. According to one supervised classification technique, features are extracted from a plurality of objects, for the purpose of feeding a learning system, together with labels, for producing a model, this processing being carried out offline. In a 'test' phase, a 'test' object also undergoes features extraction in a similar way, the extracted features being compared with the model produced offline for enabling a prediction, the aforementioned steps being performed online.
In order to remedy the problem related to the heterogeneity of modalities, it is possible, according to a first technique known as late fusion, to proceed to the description and classification of multimedia objects separately for the different modalities according to which the latter is defined, then belatedly merge the results obtained for the different modalities. The late fusion technique is described in detail below with reference to FIG. 2.
According to an alternative method, known as early fusion, the modalities are merged at the feature extraction level. The early fusion technique is described in detail below with reference to FIG. 3.

Method of classifying a multimodal object

COMMISSARIAT A L'ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES


An improved method for configuring an audio reproduction device for detecting sound and providing different output audio signals in a plurality of rooms where at least two wireless microphones connect via a local network to an audio streaming server. Each of the wireless microphones detects room information indicating the room in which it is located, and transmits it to the server, together with an input audio signal. The server compiles at least two different output audio signals according to the respective room information from the input audio signals, and assigns each to a room. The output audio signals are provided via the local network in the rooms such that each of the output audio signals may be received in all rooms, and may be replayed only in the room to which it has been assigned. Each wireless microphone may be used in each of the rooms.

Audio reproduction systems for sound detection by means of a microphone and for providing output audio signals via loudspeakers have been known for long and are used in lectures, presentations, conferences etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,232,307 B2 discloses a wireless transmission system in which users may use their mobile device, e.g. a smartphone or PDA (Personalized Digital Assistant), at a convention or conference as a personal microphone for speaking via an existing amplifier system. They may also use the mobile device for listening via headphones to the signal reproduced via the amplifier system. For this purpose, the mobile device is connected to the amplifier system via a mobile network or a wireless local network. However, the user must first call a phone number to use the service, whether in the conference room or anywhere else. A moderator or a corresponding automated function assigns a caller a place on a speaker waiting list. However, one central microphone intended for the speaker is wired and is connected to the amplifier system independently from the mobile devices. It is therefore firmly tied to the room. Different rooms use separate transmission systems and each room needs a separate central microphone.

Audio reproduction system, method for configuring an audio reproduction system and server for an audio reproduction system


The present invention may provide a rotor comprising: a rotating shaft; a yoke surrounding the rotating shaft; and a magnet coupling to the outer side of the yoke, wherein the yoke comprises a flange part, wherein the flange part comprises a groove, and the magnet comprises a protrusion that is inserted in the groove.

An actuator is a device for moving an object. The actuator may include a motor. The motor includes a rotor which rotates. The rotor may be connected to a rotating shaft, and a screw thread may be formed on the rotating shaft. A moving portion connected to the object is combined with the rotating shaft by using a screw. When the rotating shaft rotates, the moving portion linearly reciprocates along the rotating shaft and the object moves in connection therewith.
Here, since the screw thread is formed on the rotating shaft, it is impossible to directly combine the rotor with the rotating shaft. Accordingly, the rotor may include a yoke which surrounds an area of the rotating shaft where the screw thread is formed, with a certain distance therefrom.
However, aluminum is used for the yoke due to a light weight and processability, and problems as below are present.
First, there is a problem that manufacturing costs are increased. This is because aluminum is more expensive than a general metal material. Also, it is difficult to use press working, which has high productivity, in a method of manufacturing a yoke formed of aluminum.
Second, when an anaerobic adhesive is used, a problem that a combinational force is significantly decreased due to properties of material is present. Accordingly, a problem that an additional member for preventing a slip with a magnet combined with an outer circumferential surface of the yoke should be added is present.

Motor that includes a yoke having a flange portion


An ice bar tray for making various lengths of ice bars for use in different types and sizes of water bags. Each ice bar has a round cross section for ease in inserting into circular water fill openings in a water bag. The ice bar tray includes at least one elongated bar cylinder with a tray handle on each end. The bar cylinder has an elongated cylinder opening in a top of the cylinder for receiving water into a water channel. The water channel has a circular cross section. The water channel is disposed along a length of the elongated cylinder. When the water channel is filled with water and the water frozen, a round ice bar is formed therein. By flexing the ice bar tray, which is made of a flexible PVC plastic material and the like, the frozen ice bar is released outwardly from the water channel and through the cylinder opening. The ice bar is then inserted into the water fill opening in the water bag. The ice bar tray also includes a tray slide with at least one cylinder divider. By sliding the tray slide along the length of the water channel, the cylinder divider allows the user of the ice bar tray to make various lengths of ice bars. While an ice bar has a round cross section, it may also be formed having a half-round cross section or three-quarter round cross section.

(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to trays for making ice and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a ice bar tray for making various lengths, sizes and cross sections of ice bars.
(b) Discussion of Prior Art
Heretofore, there have been a variety of different types of metal and plastic ice trays for making different sizes and shapes of ice cubes.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,434,803 to Johnson et al., an ice tray is illustrated. The ice tray is used to mold narrow ice sticks for inserting into a thermos and the like. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,796,742 to Platt, a plastic ice tray is described for making ice blocks. The ice blocks are elongated half-cylinders. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,214,128 to Beck et al., an improved plastic ice tray is described and used for improving the freezing rate of a liquid. U.S. Pat. Des. No. 202,529 to Rosebrook illustrates a new design of an ice tray for making elongated ice sticks.
None of the above mentioned patents and prior art ice trays provide the unique combination of structure and function of the subject ice bar tray used for making circular ice bars for a water bag, a water bottle and water holding devices with the objects and advantages as described herein.


This invention relates to reactive systems for the production of cavity filling polyurethane foams for NVH (noise vibration and harshness) application areas in which the system exhibits reduced isocyanate emissions. These foams comprises a polyisocyanate comprising a polymethylene poly(phenylisocyanate).

This invention relates to reactive systems for the production of cavity filling polyurethane foams for NVH (noise vibration and harshness) application areas in which the system exhibits reduced isocyanate emissions. These foams comprises a polyisocyanate comprising a polymethylene poly(phenylisocyanate).
Polyurethane cavity filling foams, particularly those having low densities, are suitable replacements for inserted baffles to inhibit noise transmission through automotive body structures as they offer advantages in terms of cost and performance. There is, however, a perceived exposure concern relative to isocyanate (MDI) emissions from the foam reactions for workers in the automotive assembly area where there foams are applied. MDI emissions are typically measured by the "5 gallon can test". This test is documented in the paper titled "New Low MDI. Polyurethane Foam System for Acoustical Barrier Applications in the Automotive Industry" by Brad A. Pearson. This paper was presented at the May 1999 SAE International Meeting—Proceedings of the 1999 Noise and Vibration Conference.
Most earlier attempts to reduce isocyanate emissions in MDI based polymers have aimed to reduce the monomer content by forming a NCO-terminated prepolymer of MDI with an isocyanate-reactive component.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,423,755 and 6,541,534 disclose a polyurethane foam and a reactive system for forming a polyurethane foam. The system comprises (1) an isocyanate-reactive component including at least one polyol, a blowing agent and at least one thixotropic agent, and (2) a polyisocyanate component including at least one polyisocyanate compound (preferably an isocyanate prepolymer or quasi-prepolymer of polymeric MDI) and at least one thixotropic agent. At least one of the isocyanate-reactive component and the polyisocyanate component additionally contains hollow microspheres, and both have a Brookfield viscosity of at least about 50,000 cps. It is disclosed in these patents that the prepolymer approach to reduce the level of free MDI can substantially reduce or eliminate the need for engineering controls such as downdraft ventilation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,803,390 discloses a method of making rigid polyurethane foams from a reactive system comprising (a) a polyisocyanate containing a prepolymer which is the reaction product of an excess of an isocyanate with at least one polyol and at least one hydroxyl-functional acrylate or methacrylate, and (b) a polyol component containing an effective amount of a blowing agent and isocyanate-reactive materials that have an average functionality of at least about 2.3 and include at least one polyol. These systems are also characterized by (c) a volume ratio of isocyanate to polyol of no greater than 10:1, and (d) a ratio of NCO to NCO-reactive groups of from about 0.8:1 to 1.5:1. It also requires that a catalyst be present in at least one of the polyisocyanate component or the polyol component. The presence of primary or secondary amine groups in the catalysts allows them to react into the resultant polymer structure and thereby decreases the level of volative components.
Rigid hybrid polyurethane foams are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,699,916. These foams require volume ratios of less than 4:1 and are prepared from an NCO-terminated prepolymer in which the prepolymer is the reaction product of an isocyanate component, a polyol component and a hydroxyl-functional acrylate or methacrylate. This prepolymer preferably contains less than 25% of monomeric diisocyanates which substantially reduces the risks of polyisocyanate inhalation exposure.
Polyisocyanate prepolymers are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,817,860 and 5,968,995. These prepolymers comprise the reaction product of (a) a polyisocyanate having a functionality of at least 2, and contain at least about 20% by wt. of a diisocyanate monomer, (b) a monohydric alcohol and (c) a polyol having an average hydroxyl functionality of at least about 1.8 to at most about 3.2. The prepolymer is characterized by (i) a sufficient quantity of isocyanate groups to react with water in the absence of a supplemental blowing agent to make a foam, (ii) at most about 10% by wt. of diisocyanate monomer, and (iii) a sufficient amount of polyisocyanate capped by monohydric alcohol to prevent gelling of the prepolymer.
Advantages of the present invention include the ability to control and/or reduce the emissions of free MDI in cavity filling foams. The present invention does not require prepolymers of polyisocyanates or other conventional approaches to this problem, but achieves significant reductions in the emission of free MDI.

Reduction of MDI emissions in cavity filling NVH polyurethane foams


An adaptive equalizer comprises a trellis decoder; a mapper coupled to the output of the trellis decoder; and a decision feedback equalizer coupled to the output of the mapper. Each of the taps receives as input via the mapper output from a different one of the stages of the trellis decoder.

Equalizers are an important element in many diverse digital information applications, such as voice, data, and video communications. These applications employ a variety of transmission media. Although the various media have differing transmission characteristics, none of them is perfect. That is, every medium induces variation into the transmitted signal, such as frequency-dependent phase and amplitude distortion, multi-path reception, other kinds of ghosting, such as voice echoes, and Rayleigh fading. In addition to channel distortion, virtually every sort of transmission also suffers from noise, such as additive white gausian noise ("AWGN"). Equalizers are therefore used as acoustic echo cancelers (for example in full-duplex speakerphones), video deghosters (for example in digital television or digital cable transmissions), signal conditioners for wireless modems and telephony, and other such applications.
One important source of error is intersymbol interference ("ISI"). ISI occurs when pulsed information, such as an amplitude modulated digital transmission, is transmitted over an analog channel, such as, for example, a phone line or an aerial broadcast. The original signal begins as a reasonable approximation of a discrete time sequence, but the received signal is a continuous time signal. The shape of the impulse train is smeared or spread by the transmission into a differentiable signal whose peaks relate to the amplitudes of the original pulses. This signal is read by digital hardware, which periodically samples the received signal.
Each pulse produces a signal that typically approximates a sinc wave. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that a sinc wave is characterized by a series of peaks centered about a central peak, with the amplitude of the peaks monotonically decreasing as the distance from the central peak increases. Similarly, the sinc wave has a series of troughs having a monotonically decreasing amplitude with increasing distance from the central peak. Typically, the period of these peaks is on the order of the sampling rate of the receiving hardware. Therefore, the amplitude at one sampling point in the signal is affected not only by the amplitude of a pulse corresponding to that point in the transmitted signal, but by contributions from pulses corresponding to other bits in the transmission stream. In other words, the portion of a signal created to correspond to one symbol in the transmission stream tends to make unwanted contributions to the portion of the received signal corresponding to other symbols in the transmission stream.
This effect can theoretically be eliminated by proper shaping of the pulses, for example by generating pulses that have zero values at regular intervals corresponding to the sampling rate. However, this pulse shaping will be defeated by the channel distortion, which will smear or spread the pulses during transmission. Consequently, another means of error control is necessary. Most digital applications therefore employ equalization in order to filter out ISI and channel distortion.
Generally, two types of equalization are employed to achieve this goal: automatic synthesis and adaptation. In automatic synthesis methods, the equalizer typically compares a received time-domain reference signal to a stored copy of the undistorted training signal. By comparing the two, a time-domain error signal is determined that may be used to calculate the coefficient of an inverse function (filter). The formulation of this inverse function may be accomplished strictly in the time domain, as is done in Zero Forcing Equalization ("ZFE") and Least Mean Square ("LMS") systems. Other methods involve conversion of the received training signal to a spectral representation. A spectral inverse response can then be calculated to compensate for the channel distortion. This inverse spectrum is then converted back to a time-domain representation so that filter tap weights can be extracted.
In adaptive equalization the equalizer attempts to minimize an error signal based on the difference between the output of the equalizer and the estimate of the transmitted signal, which is generated by a "decision device." In other words, the equalizer filter outputs a sample, and the decision device determines what value was most likely transmitted. The adaptation logic attempts to keep the difference between the two small. The main idea is that the receiver takes advantage of the knowledge of the discrete levels possible in the transmitted pulses. When the decision device quantizes the equalizer output, it is essentially discarding received noise. A crucial distinction between adaptive and automatic synthesis equalization is that adaptive equalization does not require a training signal.
Error control coding generally falls into one of two major categories: convolutional coding and block coding (such as Reed-Solomon and Golay coding). At least one purpose of equalization is to permit the generation of a mathematical "filter" that is the inverse function of the channel distortion, so that the received signal can be converted back to something more closely approximating the transmitted signal. By encoding the data into additional symbols, additional information can be included in the transmitted signal that the decoder can use to improve the accuracy of the interpretation of the received signal. Of course, this additional accuracy is achieved either at the cost of the additional bandwidth necessary to transmit the additional characters, or of the additional energy necessary to transmit at a higher frequency.
A convolutional encoder comprises a K-stage shift register into which data is clocked. The value K is called the "constraint length" of the code. The shift register is tapped at various points according to the code polynomials chosen. Several tap sets are chosen according to the code rate. The code rate is expressed as a fraction. For example, a ½ rate convolutional encoder produces an output having exactly twice as many symbols as the input. Typically, the set of tapped data is summed modulo-2 (i.e., the XOR operation is applied) to create one of the encoded output symbols. For example, a simple K=3,½ rate convolutional encoder might form one bit of the output by modulo-2-summing the first and third bits in the 3-stage shift register, and form another bit by modulo-2-summing all three bits.
A convolutional decoder typically works by generating hypotheses about the originally transmitted data, running those hypotheses through a copy of the appropriate convolutional encoder, and comparing the encoded results with the encoded signal (including noise) that was received. The decoder generates a "metric" for each hypothesis it considers. The "metric" is a numerical value corresponding to the degree of confidence the decoder has in the corresponding hypothesis. A decoder can be either serial or parallel—that is, it can pursue either one hypothesis at a time, or several.
One important advantage of convolutional encoding over block encoding is that convolutional decoders can easily use "soft decision" information. "Soft decision" information essentially means producing output that retains information about the metrics, rather than simply selecting one hypothesis as the "correct" answer. For an overly-simplistic example, if a single symbol is determined by the decoder to have an 80% likelihood of having been a "1" in the transmission signal, and only a 20% chance of having been a "0", a "hard decision" would simply return a value of 1 for that symbol. However, a "soft decision" would return a value of 0.8, or perhaps some other value corresponding to that distribution of probabilities, in order to permit other hardware downstream to make further decisions based on that degree of confidence.
Block coding, on the other hand, has a greater ability to handle larger data blocks, and a greater ability to handle burst errors.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a typical digital communication receiver, including channel coding and equalization, indicated generally at 100. The receiver 100 comprises a demodulation and sync component 110, which converts the received analog signal back into a digital format. The receiver 100 further comprises an equalizer 120, an inner decoder 130, a de-interleaver 140, and an outer decoder 150. The inner coding is typically convolutional coding, while the outer coding is typically block coding, most often Reed-Solomon coding. The convolutional and block coding are generally combined in order to exploit the complementary advantages of each.
FIG. 2 is a diagram of an equalizer 120 such as is commonly used in the digital receiver 100 shown in FIG. 1. Typically, the equalizer 120 includes a controller 228, a finite impulse response ("FIR") filter 222, a decision device 226, and a decision feedback equalizer ("DFE") 224. The FIR filter 222 receives the input signal 221. The FIR filter 222 is used to cancel pre-ghosts—that is, ghost signals that arrive before the main transmission signal. The decision device 226 examines its inputs and makes a decision as to which one of the received signals at its input is the signal to be transmitted to the output 229. The input to the decision device 226 is modified by a decision feedback equalizer 224, which is used to cancel post-ghosts—that is, ghost signals that arrive after the main transmission signal—and the residual signal generated from the FIR filter 222.
The decision device 226 is typically a hard decision device, such as a slicer. For example, in an 8VSB system, the slicer can be a decision device based upon the received signal magnitude, with decision values of 0, ±2, ±4, and ±6, in order to sort the input into symbols corresponding to the normalized signal values of ±1, ±3, ±5, and ±7. For another example, the slicer can be multi-dimensional, such as those used in quadrature amplitude modulation ("QAM") systems.
The controller 228 receives the input data and the output data and generates filter coefficients for both the FIR filter 222 and the decision feedback filter 224. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous methods suitable for generating these coefficients, including LMS and RLS algorithms.
FIG. 3 illustrates further details of one embodiment of the equalizer 120 shown in FIG. 2. The input to the decision feedback equalizer 224 is output from the decision device 226, such as a slicer. The input data is delayed (F+M) stages, where F equals the number of stages in the FIR filter 222 and M equals the number of stages in the decision feedback equalizer 224. At each delay, the data is multiplied by the tap coefficients generated by the controller 228, and each of the results is summed with the output of the FIR filter 222. The equalizer 120 then passes the equalized data to a trellis decoder 350. An error signal 310 is generated by subtracting the input to the slicer 226 from its output. The error signal 310 is multiplied by a step size 320 before it is used to update the tap coefficients. Typically, the step size 320 is less than one, in order to permit the error signal to iteratively adjust the coefficient taps over multiple cycles, so that variations in channel response and noise are averaged out. Generally, the smaller the step size, the more severe the transient conditions under which the equalizer 120 can converge, though at the cost of slower convergence.
FIG. 4 shows the further details of one embodiment of a trellis encoder, shown generally at 400, suitable for use with the decision feedback equalizer 224 shown in FIG. 3. The trellis encoder 400 is the 8VSB trellis encoder, precoder, and symbol mapper. As will be known by those skilled in the art, the 8VSB trellis encoder 400 uses an 8-level, 3-bit, one dimensional constellation. As can be seen from FIG. 4, the 8VSB trellis encoder 400 uses a ⅔ rate trellis code.
Typically, the trellis decoder 350 uses a Viterbi algorithm to decode the signal encoded by the 8VSB trellis encoder 400. Typically, the trellis decoder 350 has a large number of stages-most often 16 or 24. The decoded output 229 is deinterleaved by the de-interleaver 140, and then sent to the outer decoder 150.
FIG. 5 shows a typical trellis diagram for an 8VSB trellis code with n stages, shown generally at 500. The heavier line illustrates a current survive path. At each decoding clock cycle a new symbol is sent to the trellis decoder and the survive path is renewed. It will be appreciated that in a VSB system each sample contains one symbol, while in QAM or offset-QAM systems, each sample contains two symbols—one in the I channel, the other in the Q channel. However, regardless of the sample size, the coding and decoding is always performed symbol by symbol. At each stage a decision is made about which state is the most likely (i.e., which symbol was most likely transmitted), based on the survive path. For example, stage 1 gives the first estimation to the input, and stage 2 gives the second estimation to the input, etc. It will be appreciated that the survive path may change based on the decoding process as each new input symbol is received, so that the survive path may not be the same (though shifted one symbol) from one input sample time to another.
FIG. 6 shows the decoding error rate using a typical trellis decoder with the Viterbi decoding algorithm. As can be seen from the graph, when the system is running below the threshold, and even slightly above it, the error rate is lower after decoding, and the greater the decoding stage, the lower the error rate. The graph also shows that the early decoding stages have a higher gain than the later ones.
FIG. 7 shows additional details of the equalizer 120. The error signal 310 is taken simply by subtracting a slicer output from a slicer input, then multiplying by the step size 320. The stepped error signal is then multiplied by the input to the FIR filter 222 and DFE 224, and the results sent to accumulators 710 to update the equalizer taps. This error signal only captures the variation between the input signal and the sliced data level. Whenever the sliced data level does not correspond to the originally transmitted data level, the error signal will incorrectly exclude the difference. For example, if a transmitted value of 3 is received as 4.2, the slicer will read the 4.2 as 5, with an error of −0.8. The correct error in this case is actually +1.2. The FIR filter 222 and DFE 224, which use the error signal to correct for channel distortion such as multipathing, will propagate that error.
As can be seen in FIG. 3, in the prior art the DFE 224 is running independently from the trellis decoder 350. That is, the slicer 226 is in front of the trellis decoder 350 (with the DFE 224 between them). This arrangement has numerous disadvantages. In particular, the decision feedback equalizer 224 works with the un-decoded signal, which has a higher error rate. The higher error rate in the input signal to the slicer 226 makes it slower to converge, and may actually cause divergence if the error rate is sufficiently high. Furthermore, it will cause the slicer to make incorrect decisions about the transmitted symbols, which it will pass on to the trellis decoder 350, where that error will be propagated. The gain of the equalizer will thereby be harmed even further.
What is needed is an equalizer in which the gain of the trellis decoder 350 is superior to what is produced when the data is sliced before decoding. In addition, an equalizer is needed in which the DFE does not rely on undecoded data. The present invention is directed towards meeting these needs, as well as providing other advantages over prior equalizers.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Combined trellis decoder and decision feedback equalizer


A gas detection circuit for use in selectively detecting a predetermined gas has a plurality of gas sensors coupled to a sensor measuring circuit. Each gas sensor has a different response to the predetermined gas at a predetermined concentration. The sensor measuring circuit measures a conditioned state of each gas sensor and transmits the measurements to a cross checking circuit which determines whether the conditioned state of each gas sensor is within a corresponding window of upper and lower limit values thereby indicating the possible presence of the predetermined gas by the corresponding gas sensor. Following the testing of the conditioned state of each gas sensor, the cross checking circuit transmits a signal indicating which of the gas sensors indicates the possible presence of the predetermined gas and if all sensors are within corresponding windows, representing detection of the gas, another signal is transmitted to trigger an alarm or other warning system.

Gas sensors and gas detection systems are well known in the art. Conventional gas detection systems, however, typically detect the presence or absence of a gas based on information from a single gas sensor. A problem which arises with such conventional systems is that the gas sensor may be sensitive to more than one type of gas molecule. Thus, where the gas detection system is configured to detect a predetermined gas molecule, such as natural gas, methane, carbon dioxide, or carbon monoxide, the presence of other gas molecules to which the sensor is sensitive can result in the false detection of the predetermined gas. Furthermore, where two or more gases to which a gas sensor is sensitive substantially co-exist, it can be difficult to determine the extent to which the predetermined gas is present. For instance, certain industries make use of gas sensors to detect hydrazine. Existing sensors, however, are sensitive to both hydrogen and hydrazine molecules and there is a long-felt need in these industries for a gas detection system capable of distinguishing between these two molecules.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved apparatus for detecting a predetermined gas which fulfills the above needs in the art. It is a further object of the invention to provide an apparatus for detecting a predetermined gas with two or more gas sensors so as to accurately detect the presence of a predetermined gas. It is yet a further object of this invention to provide a simple, low cost apparatus for detecting a predetermined gas. It is a further object of the invention to provide a gas detection system which is readily applicable for the detection of many different gases and which can be easily configured to detect a selected gas.

Apparatus and method for detecting gas and vapor


Methods and apparatus are provided for making a rotor blade spar from composite material wherein a multi-component mandrel is used to form the composite spar. The mandrel is made using a number of components that are assembled and held in place using a roller assembly. The roller assembly is removed after pre-cure lay up and compaction of the composite material. Once the roller assembly is removed, the remaining mandrel components can be separated from each other and easily removed from the spar. The mandrel components, including the roller assembly, can then be re-assembled and re-used to form additional composite spars.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to helicopter rotor blades that are made from composite materials. More particularly, the present invention is directed to the processes and apparatus that are used in the manufacture of such composite rotor blades.
2. Description of Related Art
Rotor blades are a critical component of every helicopter. The rotor blades are subjected to a complex set of rather extreme aerodynamic forces that vary continually during flight. The rotor blades function as rotating airfoils or wings that are shaped to provide the aerodynamic lift required for a given aircraft. Rotor blades typically include a spar that extends from the root of the rotor blade to its tip. The spar is a major structural element of the rotor blade that provides the blade with the structural strength needed to carry high operational loads.
The typical rotor blade spar is a long tubular structure around which the rest of the blade is formed. The spar tube has an elliptical cross-section that is formed to provide a forward or leading edge and rearward or trailing edge. In order to provide optimum aerodynamic performance, many spar tubes include a slight twist about the longitudinal axis. Typical twists in the spar provide rotations of the elliptical cross-section of up to 10 degrees and more as one moves from the root of the rotor blade to its tip. In addition, the elliptical shape of the spar cross-section may be varied from the spar root to the spar tip to meet a variety of aerodynamic and structural loading parameters.
High strength materials, such as titanium and aluminum alloys, have typically been used to make rotor blades. These high strength metal materials are particularly well suited for forming the rotor blade spar. Titanium has been routinely formed into the relatively long, tubular spar structure and machined or otherwise fabricated to provide a complex variety of twists and varying cross-sectional shapes.
Composite materials have also been used to form rotor blade spars. The combination of light weight and structural strength have made composites a popular choice for making not only the rotor blade spar, but the entire rotor blade. Exemplary composite rotor blades and the processes for making them are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,892,462; 5,346,367; 5,755,558; and 5,939,007.
The typical composite spar is fabricated by applying the uncured composite material to the surface of a long cylindrical mold or mandrel that is shaped to provide the interior surface of the spar tube. After the composite material is applied to the mold or mandrel, it is compacted and cured at an elevated temperature to provide the final spar structure. A problem associated with making composite spars revolves around what to do with the mold or mandrel once the spar has been formed. The length of the mold and the variations in elliptical cross-section of the spar, as well as any twist in the spar, make it very difficult to remove the mold or mandrel after the spar has cured.
One approach to solving the mold/mandrel removal problem has been to make a mold out of a material that is strong enough to maintain its shape during pre-cure fabrication of the composite spar, but which disintegrates or otherwise shrinks during the cure cycle so that it can be removed from the spar cavity or simply left in place. For example, a variety of foams have been used alone or in combination with an underlying hard mandrel structure to provide a suitable spar mold. The foam melts or otherwise shrinks to a fraction of its initial size during curing at elevated temperatures. The resulting shrunken mold is sufficiently small so that it can be removed from the spar cavity or left in place.
Although foam molds have been used successfully in fabricating composite spars for rotor blades, it is many times difficult to find a foam or other material that has the needed structural strength to maintain critical spar dimensions during formation of the spar, while at the same time being able to deteriorate relatively rapidly during cure. In addition, the mold can only be used once, which adds considerably to the cost of spar fabrication.

Helicopter blade mandrel with roller assembly


An improved interferometric modulator permits the reduction in size of optical transmitters. In one embodiment, the optical modulator includes amplifiers or attentuators as phase modulators. In another embodiment, two outputs from a combiner are fed to the modulator, thus avoiding the requirement for an input splitter in the modulator. Light passing through the modulator may be both phase-shifted and amplified or attenuated by optical regulator sections located in the modulator. In another embodiment, the transmitter is included as a multiple-wavelength optical communications source, where individual current sources are provided to actuate a number of light sources feeding into the combiner, a processor controls the operation of each light source, and a modulator driver receives a data input signal to be encoded on the output of the source. By combining a number of modulators, a gray scale modulator may be fabricated for producing a gray scale output, rather than a conventional binary level output.

The present invention is directed generally to optical communications, and particularly to a modulated optical transmitter.
Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) is gaining widespread use in optical communications because, unlike conventional communications systems where a higher transmission capacity usually requires faster components, the transmission capacity of a single optical fiber may be increased simply by making more effective use of the available bandwidth, without requiring the use of faster components. Also, WDM permits signals at different wavelengths to be routed to different destinations.
WDM transmitters commonly use a number of independently controllable, fixed single frequency sources whose outputs are combined into a single transmitter output. WDM transmitters typically fall into two categories, namely those in which all optical channels are capable of being modulated simultaneously and independently, and those where a single modulator is used to modulate the output of one or more lasers. Transmitters in the latter category are described as being wavelength selectable. Wavelength selectable WDM transmitters advantageously require only a single RF modulator connection, pose less stringent requirements on the quality of the optical output from the light sources, and may be used with conventional packaging. Consequently, the wavelength selectable transmitter is one of the more commonly used optical communications sources.
An example of a wavelength selectable transmitter is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,489, issued to an inventor of the present application. In an embodiment of the disclosed invention, the output from an array of individually actuable semiconductor lasers is combined in a combiner integrated on the same substrate as the lasers. An amplifier amplifies the single output taken from the combiner, and the amplified output is subsequently modulated in a modulator.
Interferometric modulators, such as the Mach-Zehnder modulator, demonstrate several favorable characteristics such as low or zero chirp, high power handling capabilities and low insertion loss. However, interferometric modulators conventionally suffer from the disadvantage of taking up a significant amount of space. This problem is compounded when an amplifier is added to the transmitter. Other types of modulator, for example the electro-absorption filter, take up less space, although they do not offer the same favorable chirp, power handling and insertion loss characteristics.
Factors such as component size and system complexity are important considerations in the development of optical communications systems. In addition, optical losses are generally reduced along with the number of components, i.e. when the system complexity is reduced. There is therefore a need to develop an improved WDM transmitter where the transmitter is smaller, the overall transmitter complexity is reduced, and where transmitter has fewer optical losses.

Optimized interferometrically modulated array source


A flexible hood structure is arranged for securement about a bow portion of a boat, wherein the hood includes a top wall including a top wall slot extending from the rear edge of the hood, with a side wall slot directed into the side wall below the top wall slot. The top wall slot and the side wall slot accommodate boats of various sizes, wherein elastomeric tether lines extend from a rear edge of the hood for securement to an associated trailer of the boat structure. An opening directed through the side wall in adjacency to the top wall nose portion is arranged to receive the boat securement loop therethrough, as well as permitting imposing of the cradle block structure of the trailer against the associated bow of the boat.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to protective boat cover structure, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved protective boat hood wherein the same is arranged for securement in a surrounding relationship relative to a bow portion of a boat during a trailering procedure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Boat cover structure of various types are utilized in the prior art and exemplified by the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,960,066; 5,076,195; 3,898,947; 4,233,414; and 4,815,412.
The instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art that have heretofore failed to provide for a covering structure to cover the bow portion of a boat to provide and afford protection to the bow portion of the boat during a trailering procedure preventing marring of the bow of the boat by debris generated by the trailering of the boat and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


Method and apparatus for qualifying fax numbers for a select network, such as a store-and-forward network, which includes a distributed database stored in or accessible by each of a plurality of access nodes in the select network, and a local database in each autodialer connected to an associated fax machine and at least one access node. Methods are provided for updating the distributed and local databases to avoid each autodialer of a given customer group having to validate a number already validated by another member of the group.

As a mechanism to carry information over long distances, store-and-forward (S&F) networks offer an efficient, low-cost alternative to the existing public switched telephone network (PSTN). In general, S&F networks operate parallel to, and are accessed by, the PSTN.
FIG. 1 shows schematically PSTN 30 and S&F network 80 connected in parallel between a source fax machine 10 and a destination fax machine 70. An autodialer 12, positioned between the source fax machine and PSTN 30, designates incoming faxes for transmission over either the PSTN 30 or S&F network 80. If for example the destination of the incoming fax is not one serviced by the S&F network, then the autodialer dials the destination fax number directly to the local exchange 32; the call is then carried in a normal fashion by the PSTN 30 to the destination local exchange 36 and the destination fax machine 70. In contrast, if the number is one serviced by the S&F network, the autodialer dials the telephone number corresponding to that of the source network node 20. The local exchange 32 then routes the call through the PSTN to the source node. (Note that, depending upon their proximity, the source fax machine 10 and the source network node 20 may be served by the same or different local exchanges.) Once it has completely received the document, the source node 20 transfers it to the destination network node 40 over dedicated circuit 60. At this point, the destination node 40 dials the destination fax number to its local exchange which in turn transfers the call via the PSTN to the destination fax machine 70. (Note again that, depending upon their proximity, the destination fax machine 70 and the destination network node 40 may be served by the same or different local exchanges.)
In summary, transport of information from the source fax machine to the destination fax machine using the S&F network requires three distinct steps:
(1) transport from the source fax machine to the source network node via the PSTN; PA1 (2) transport from the source node to the destination node via dedicated circuits; and PA1 (3) transport from the destination node to the destination fax machine, again via the PSTN.
Store-and-forward networks offer a number of significant advantages over standard telephone networks for transport of facsimile. For example, a fax document can be carried 16 times more efficiently using technology employed by S&F networks. A common annoyance in telephony is the inability to complete a call, usually because the destination device is busy or does not answer. Although sophisticated voice mail systems have been designed to overcome this problem in voice telephony, similar practical and cost effective solutions do not exist for fax. S&F networks offer a viable solution. A properly implemented S&F network will employ a sufficiently large number of telephone circuits such that a customer fax machine never encounters a busy signal when attempting to send a fax via the network. At the destination end, it is a common practice to design into S&F networks the ability to automatically redial those call attempts which encounter "busy" or "no-answer" signals. Normally, the calls are redialed periodically over a fixed interval of time, every ten minutes for a half hour, for example.
Since multiple messages are typically coursing through an S&F network at any point in time, it is important to have some mechanism to monitor the location and status of each. For example, in one known S&F network, a small data file called an envelope is created to track each fax document as it moves through the network. The source node creates the envelope after it receives an incoming fax document. As the fax document moves through the network, the envelope moves between the network devices and receives continuous updates regarding the status of the fax. This enables substantially real-time monitoring of the fax delivery process.
In the known S&F network, upon concluding the delivery attempt process, the destination network node declares the fax document either "delivered" or "not delivered"; it records the status in the corresponding envelope which is then returned to the source node. If the delivery was successful, the envelope is forwarded to a historical database (HD) which provides a basis for constructing customer bills. If the delivery was not successful, the envelope is forwarded to a delivery assist system (DAS) for further processing. DAS is a database management system which provides a human operator, the document delivery analyst, with the delivery history and options for resubmission to the network of the document in question. One of the possible actions the analyst may take is to assign the fax document to an alternate destination number, i.e., one provided by either the sender or the receiver.
Wrong numbers, i.e., destination numbers that do not terminate on the fax machine, add enormously to the cost of delivery on a store-and-forward network. For example, it has been determined that up to 40% of delivery problems have been associated with mis-dialed fax numbers. Wrong numbers may be significantly reduced by requiring the customer to provide a list of commonly used fax numbers which is then entered into the autodialer memory or database. Upon receiving a dialed number from the attached fax machine, the autodialer compares it to its database; if a match is found, the call is transferred to the S&F network. However, this method places a considerable burden on the customer to provide a complete list of validated fax numbers, which may change over time. In addition, there is the problem of entering the numbers in each autodialer, which for a customer with a large number of fax machines, is expensive and time-consuming.
Another method of determining valid fax numbers is for the autodialer itself to qualify numbers. In this method, when the autodialer receives a fax number which is not part of its database, it routes the fax number to the PSTN, and monitors the call to determine if the destination is a fax machine; if so, it adds the number to its database. Thus, the next time this autodialer receives a call for that destination, the number is found in its database and the call consequently routed to the S&F network. There is no need to burden the customer with providing endless lists of valid numbers.
The above methodology has a deficiency, however. It is common for organizations to utilize more than one fax machine; indeed, in some cases the machines number in the hundreds. Often, fax documents are sent to the same destinations from many or all of the machines. Because each fax machine is served by its own autodialer, a destination telephone number could theoretically require requalification as many times as the number of fax machines in the organization. Clearly this is disadvantageous to both the customer and the network operator. The customer is deprived of the savings and higher quality service each time a call is unnecessarily requalified. The network operator is not only deprived of the additional revenue but, more importantly, appears inefficient as a service provider.

Method and apparatus for distributed number qualification