A signal processing method and apparatus wherein digital image data is compressed, recorded, and edited and where multiple playback/record cycles do not degrade the quality of the image. Digital image signals are compressed and recorded by a digital VTR. The recorded signals are then played back and the resulting signal is decompressed along one data path or inserted into a standard video interface format signal along a second data path. The compressed image signal in the standard video format may then be edited as if it were a standard video signal. The compressed video signal is then extracted from the standard interface signal and rerecorded. The compressed signal can be edited without decompression and recompression, thus maintaining the quality of the image data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for transmitting and processing a video image signal and in particular, to a method and apparatus for transmitting and, processing compressed video image signals.
2. Description of Related Art
Systems for recording video signals for high definition television (HDTV) are known. High definition television video signals are made up of either an R/G/B signal, wherein each component has a bandwidth of 30 MHz, or an Y/Pb/Pr signal, wherein the luminance signal Y has a bandwidth of 30 MHz and the chrominance signals Pb and Pr have bandwidths of 15 MHz each. To digitize such signals without aliasing, a VTR sample frequency must be at least twice the signal bandwidth. Typically, digital VTRs for HDTV sample the luminance signal Y at 74.25 MHz and each of the chrominance signals Pb and Pr at 37.125 MHz. If these signals are quantized with an eight-bit resolution, the full data rate for a digitalized HDTV signal is 1.188 Gbps. This is a significant data rate.
There are commercial VTRs that can record at this rate, however, this equipment is expensive, consumes a significant amount of electrical power, and requires a large amount of magnetic tape to hold this data. Thus, recording uncompressed HDTV video images is impractical for compact video/camera combinations.
Data compression methods are known that can reduce the volume of data required to record a digital HDTV video signal. It is possible, therefore, to construct an HDTV-compatible VTR using compression methods at an acceptable cost and power consumption rate.
To effectively reduce the data set required to reconstruct an HDTV video image, data compression methods typically involve some loss of image data. Image quality loss is generally confined to features of the image that are not readily distinguishable by human vision. The image resulting after decompression is visually acceptable as an HDTV image.
A problem arises when compressed video images are edited. The compressed video signal must be decompressed or expanded before it can be edited. The edited signal must then be compressed again for storage. Each compression/decompression cycle results in additional loss of signal information. As a result, the video image is degraded.
Signal formats for compressed and uncompressed video signals are not generally compatible. For a compressed video signal to be transferred from one VTR to another it must first be decompressed and then converted to a standard format. For HDTV, the BTA S-002 (bit parallel digital interface standard) or the BTA S-004 (bit serial digital interface standard) standards are typically used to transfer uncompressed video signals. The uncompressed signal is then transferred to the second VTR where it is compressed and recorded onto a recording medium. Again, additional compression/decompression cycles reduce the quality of the image and limit the utility of the editing system.
The system shown in FIG. 11 illustrates the operation of a conventional video recording system. When a digital image signal according to a standard format, for example, the BTA S-004 standard, is applied to a terminal 1, this digital image signal is converted into a parallel signal by a serial-to-parallel conversion circuit 2 and then applied to an encoder 3 that compresses the image data. The compressed image data are recorded by a recording/playing apparatus, such as a digital VTR 5.
To play back the image, a decoder 6 expands the digital compressed image signal from the VTR 5 and a parallel-to-serial conversion circuit 7 converts the expanded signal to a serial digital image signal that satisfies the interface standard.
If a signal process operation such as a copy operation is repeated by this digital signal process system, the image quality is degraded because of the repeated encoding and decoding processes.
Directly copying compressed image signals from one VTR to another would add to the complexity of the system. The compressed image data do not comply with the interface standards used for uncompressed images so that the compressed and uncompressed digital image signals must be treated differently. Handling two kinds of data signals adds complexity to the construction of a digital editing system.

HDTV digital recorder with compressed image data inserted in a video signal that corresponds to a video interface standard


A synchronous motor having a rotor, a magnet positioned on the rotor and a clamping element that fixes the magnet on the rotor, wherein the clamping element includes a strip arranged between the magnet and the rotor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a synchronous motor that employs magnets.
2. Description of the Related Art
Synchronous motors in the form of linear or rotary direct drive mechanisms play an increasingly important role in technology. Such direct drive mechanisms do not require any mechanical transmissions, they themselves move the useful load.
An example of such a direct drive mechanism is described in EP 0 793 870 B1. A stator supports teeth wound with coils, a rotor supports evenly arranged permanent magnets. These magnets are customarily glued onto a magnetic flux conductor. For certain applications, for example in connection with a turntable of a machine tool, very high numbers of revolutions are demanded of such a direct drive. Because of centrifugal forces, it is possible that the adherence of such a magnet to its substrate becomes detached at high numbers of revolutions. Waste heat occurring at high numbers of revolutions heats the motor excessively and in this way further contributes to the fact that it is no longer sufficient to glue the magnets on when encountering high numbers of revolutions.
Eddy currents are also responsible for heating the motor. Therefore the coils of the stator are wound on a laminated core, whose individual laminations are insulated against each other. The flux conductor of the rotor is occasionally designed in the form of a laminated core. For stopping eddy currents in the magnets themselves, JP04079741A has already proposed segmented magnets for motors, which are put together from several layers or segments which are insulated against each other. However, at high numbers of revolutions these steps alone do no result in a sufficiently stable connection between the magnet and rotor.
It has also already been proposed to clamp the magnets in addition to gluing. DE 100 53 694 A1 describes such a synchronous motor. Clamping of the magnets in place is achieved by clamping elements alt ached to the front of the rotor, which initially have individual clamping claws, and clamping the magnets in place on the rotor is achieved by bending the clamping claws in an axial orientation. However, additional components are required for this solution, moreover, the magnets are only clamped in place at the ends of the rotor.


A dual-purpose male/female connector is disclosed. A push button for controlling a terminal base, which is mounted in a USB female socket and includes a connection terminal, to enable the terminal base to extend from or draw back in the female socket is mounted on the USB female socket. When the push button is in an unpushing position the connector forms the USB female socket, and when the push button is pushed the terminal base extends from the insulating frame so as to form a USB male plug.

The present invention relates to a dual-purpose male/female connector that can be randomly changed into a male plug or a female socket, and this connector can be applied to various wires, terminals, conversion terminals, conversion wires, terminals of the related apparatus, or the likes.
Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector nowadays is commonly utilized for data transmission. There are many computers and peripheral apparatuses, such as scanner, digital camera, removable hard disk, etc, apply this kind of specification to an interface of a transmission terminal. The USB connector provides with the advantage of unifying connectors that have various specifications so as to overcome the conventional drawback of providing a specific connector for a specific apparatus. The USB connector integrates functions of various connectors with one another. Therefore, the transmission speed, installation, and maintenance of the USB connector are better than that of the conventional singular connector that includes a connection interface, for example, COM 1, COM 2, LPT, or the like.
Most of the general computer hosts provide two USB female sockets. The signal input end of the peripheral apparatus, for example, the scanner, connects to the computer host via a connection wire that has connectors mounted on two sides thereof. The end of the connection wire that couples with the computer host is a USB male plug for plugging into the USB female socket so as to transmit signal.
Nevertheless, the USB connectors must be subdivided into the female socket and the male plug, which are mounted respectively on the computer host and various peripheral apparatuses or two ends of the connection wire, even though the utility rate of the USB connector is very high.
A dual-purpose male/female connector that can be randomly changed into a female socket or a male plug is disclosed in view of the aforementioned circumstances so as to unify the specifications of the connectors that mount on various peripheral apparatuses and connection wires. It is not necessary to subdivide the connector into a female socket or a male plug. Accordingly, the present inventor has been made diligent studies with a quiet mind to design and fabricate a dual-purpose male/female connector. This connector is provided for the consumer in accordance with motivations of the present invention.


A magnet system has a U-shaped core yoke whose yoke leg and core leg form a magnetic flux circuit together with an armature. A constriction section with reduced cross-section is provided at a location of the magnetic flux circuit, preferably at the core leg; a ferromagnetic bridge element with a flat permanent magnet is coupled to the magnetic flux circuit parallel thereto. Since the constriction section enters into saturation when the armature is attracted, the armature is held fast opposite a restoring spring. As a result of the inventive arrangement, a geometry for a magnetic circuit arrangement that is fast and inexpensive to manufacture is provided.

The present invention is directed to electric relays and, more specifically, to bistable electromagnetic systems for relays.
A bistable electromagnetic system for relays is disclosed, for example, by EP 0 686 989 A1. In the bistable switch mechanism therein, a part cross-section of the magnetic circuit is formed by the permanent magnet. This is realized such that the permanent magnet is inserted between the two parts of a two-part yoke and is correspondingly polarized in longitudinal yoke direction, whereby the rest of the cross-section is fashioned either as air gap or is filled to a greater or lesser extent by a ferromagnetic section. As a result of the two yoke parts joined to one another in longitudinal direction together with the additional permanent magnet, a tolerance summing derives for the length of the yoke, and additional fabrication outlay is required in order to bring one pole face at the end of the yoke into a common plane with a pole face at the end of the core. Said publication, however, also proposes an embodiment wherein a one-piece yoke with a lateral incision or slot is to be provided for the acceptance of the permanent magnet. In this case, the overall length of the yoke is not subject to any tolerance summing. However, the fitting of the permanent magnet into such an incision requires substantial outlay if a reproduceable coupling between the permanent magnet and the adjoining yoke parts is to be assured.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved bistable electromagnetic system for relays which is easier and therefore less costly to manufacture.

Bistable electromagnet system for a relay


The present application provides an electrode and an electrochemical device comprising the electrode. The electrode comprises a current collector; and an inorganic layer arranged on a surface of the current collector, wherein the inorganic layer comprises a metal oxide and does not comprise a polymer. The electrode of the lithium ion battery provided by the present application has little influence on the volume energy density of the lithium ion battery while improving the safety performance of the lithium ion battery.

Due to its own characteristics, electrochemical devices (such as lithium ion batteries) are prone to internal short-circuits and cause thermal runaway when subjected to abnormal conditions such as nail penetration, impact, and high temperature, resulting in fire or even explosion of lithium ion batteries.
In order to improve the safety performance of lithium ion batteries, currently, the surfaces of the positive electrode, the negative electrode or the separator of the lithium ion battery are mainly coated with an inorganic insulating coating composed of aluminum oxide, magnesium hydroxide, boehmite and a binder polymer to increase the surface resistance of the electrode for reducing the short circuit between the current collector and the active material layer. However, these techniques have largely reduced the rate performance or volume energy density of lithium ion batteries. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a solution that not only improves the safety performance of a lithium ion battery, but also does not significantly reduce the rate performance or volume energy density of a lithium ion battery.


A vascular closure device configured to seal a puncture site in the vessel wall in a more efficient manner is disclosed. The vascular closure device includes a guide member that extends through a portion of the sealing device and that is removable from the portion the sealing device.

Percutaneous access of the vascular system for vascular device delivery is a common medical procedure. Typically this involves using a hollow needle to puncture a vessel, then introducing an introducer sheath to open the puncture site for the introduction of catheters and wire guides for navigation through the vascular system to facilitate delivery. For example, in many cases, vascular access requires introduction of catheters and guide wires through the femoral artery. Once the procedure is completed, the devices are removed from the patient and pressure is applied to the puncture site to stop the bleeding. Thereafter, the puncture may be sealed using a closure device. Closure devices generally consist of three basic sealing components: a toggle (or anchor) member, a sealing member (or plug), and a filament (or suture). To lock the components together within the puncture, a locking member may be used.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Vascular closure device with removable guide member


An inspection system for inspecting the interior of a steam generator includes, in one aspect, a first boom and a second, telescoping boom having a proximal end pivotally attached to the first boom and a distal end bearing a delivery capsule, the delivery capsule defining a storage bay. The inspection system includes a first robotic inspection vehicle dimensioned to fit in the delivery capsule storage bay and itself defines a storage bay. The first robotic inspection vehicle includes at least one inspection camera and at least one lighting system. The first robotic inspection vehicle further includes cabling connecting the first robotic inspection vehicle to the delivery capsule. The inspection system also includes a second robotic inspection vehicle dimensioned to fit in the first robotic inspection vehicle storage bay. The second robotic inspection vehicle includes at least one inspection camera and at least one lighting system and further includes cabling connecting the second robotic inspection vehicle to the first robotic inspection vehicle.

In a nuclear reactor power plant, a nuclear reactor vessel is used to generate heat for the production of steam and electricity. The reactor vessel is typically a pressurized vessel enclosing a core of nuclear fuel and cooling water. Such nuclear power plants typically contain three major components: a reactor vessel containing fuel which produces superheated water for transport to one or more steam generators, which output steam to drive a multi-stage steam turbine to generate electric power.
The superheated water is transported to the steam generator by pipes. These pipes feed the water into numerous tubes within the steam generator. These tubes are U-shaped, feeding the water back to the pipes at the outlet of the steam generator to be re-circulated back to the reactor. The tubes in a nuclear steam generator typically form an inverted "U" separated by a lane, and held together by a plurality of support plates, separated at periodic vertical intervals. The height of each tube row may exceed thirty-two feet. Six to eight or more support plates are used, each separated vertically at three to six foot intervals. In the steam generator, the tube carrying the superheated water are quenched with cool water, which generates the steam which drives the turbine to produce electricity.
This procedure for generating steam presents several problems. The water used to quench the tubes often has impurities and chemicals which may corrode both the steam generator tubes and the support plates and lead to other damage. Even though periodic inspections of nuclear steam generators are required for compliance with safety regulations, monitoring steam generator cleanliness remains a problem. The highly corrosive environment of the steam generator is particularly problematic for many of the older nuclear reactors in service throughout the world.
In the past, steam generator tubes and support plates were inaccessible for visual inspection. Information was gathered by complicated systems which could not adequately inspect all sections of tubes and support plates. Because of the highly radioactive environment and the heat of the pipes, direct visual human inspection has typically been restricted to between three and five minutes per man per six month period. This time period does not provide ample opportunity for the careful inspection for corrosion, holes and leaks. It is therefore difficult to inspect within the narrow lanes and tube separation gaps at the support plates, because of the heat, radioactivity and narrowness of the lanes separating the tubes.
Tubes typically extend through support plates at quatrefoil holes. These openings provide flow through features to improve water flow in the generator and to reduce the build-up of sediment at the support plates. Nevertheless, the small areas where the quatrefoil opening must contact the tube results in areas of material build-up on the tubes, or even adherence of material being "plated out" on the tubes. This material will contribute to premature corrosion of the tubes. With known inspection devices, this condition will go undetected on all but the tubes bordering the lane.
Further, the orientation of component parts within steam generators provides extreme challenges to designing workable devices for inspecting such areas. Insertion holes (also known as hand holes) at the bottom of the steam generators are often as small as a five or six inch diameter. For the purpose of this application such portals will be referred to inclusively as access ports. Flow distribution baffles within the generator often obstruct any room to maneuver equipment within the generator. Inspection within steam generators at elevations as high as thirty feet or more provide significant engineering challenges. In addition, the flow slots between tube rows are often less than two inches wide and tube separation gap dimensions are often less than one inch (down to about 0.30 inches).

Steam generator upper bundle inspection tools


An inductive power systems transfers energy by inductively coupling a source coil on a power source to a receiver coil on a power portion of a power adapter. The source current is received in the power adapter and converted to direct current for transmission to a computer system. Wireless communication between a power source and the power adapter is provided. A wireless communication arrangement provides for authentication of devices that are allowed by a source to be powered.

Computer systems have become increasingly popular in modern society. Conventional computer systems, especially computer systems using graphical user interface (GUI) systems, accept user input from a conventional input device, such as a keyboard for entering text, and a pointing device, such as a mouse for operating the graphical user interface. The processing capabilities of computers have increased the efficiency and productivity of workers in a wide range of professions. Marketing staff, corporate executives, professionals and others use mobile computers to easily transport their data and work with computers out of the office or on travel.
The popularity of portable electronic devices allow users to work and play free of restrictive power cords and chargers for a limited period of time. As people work outside of their traditional office, they often find themselves using their notebook computers, cellular phones, digital assistants and tablet computers. Similarly, people enjoying themselves away from the home take advantage of portable music players, digital cameras, electronic game systems and the like while on travel or doing outdoors activities.
Rechargeable batteries are used for portable electronic devices, such as portable computing systems, video cameras, and mobile phones. While users attempt to operate with the freedom of mobile computing, there are still basically tethered to the power cable. The users must think about how much power is available for mobile use. This time period is limited to the type of battery and other factors. Users often carry power cables and AC power adapters with them so they can physically connect to electronic power for recharging when the battery power gets too low. These users must search for electrical plug locations that may be in inconvenient places and potentially create risk hazards for other people who might walk into the power cords. Still at other times, the user may fumble with various types of power connectors for the specific electronic device. Additionally, users often carry supplemental power adapters to replace the depleted energy of the battery. Besides the general inconvenience of carrying additional power adapters, these actions create additional problems, including wasting space in cases and increasing the weight load a user must carry. Thus, the mobile computing user still does not receive the freedom of portable computing.
To replace rechargeable batteries, a contactless power supply may be used in commercial aircraft. In one example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,489,745 to Kories describes a contactless power supply for a laptop computer with a seatback tray of a commercial aircraft. This patent is incorporated by reference. The power supply of Kories has several drawbacks. There is no active communication between the power supply and the seatback. Unwanted flux could be sent to metallic objects. Further, the system of Kories would damage current mobile device designs and does not allow for device independence for powering.
In view of the foregoing, what is needed is an apparatus and method to support user interaction for an untethered environment for the new media technologies and productivity activities for mobile electronic devices.


A system and method of assessing the delivery of information technology (IT) service delivery from a providing organization to a customer. The system and method include techniques for assessing the maturity of the information technology services and for identifying factors which cause or contribute to a customer's perception of poor service. The present invention focuses on the customer and what he sees, rather than on the internal processes used by the IT organization to develop and deliver services to the customer. That is, the present invention is a system which focuses on the “delivery” aspect of IT services rather than on the “production” aspects of the IT activities within the IT shop.

1.Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a methodology that may be embodied in engagement templates for assessing delivery of information technology (IT) services to customers. More particularly, the present invention includes an improved system and method for evaluating the maturity of the IT service delivery system and for identifying factors which cause or contribute to a customer's perception of poor service. One embodiment of an engagement template includes an IT service matrix which rates the service in several key attributes according to a level of maturity and increasing customer satisfaction.
2. Background Art
The description of the present invention which follows is based on a presupposition that the reader has a basic knowledge of information technology (sometimes referred to as data processing) and the delivery of IT services to customers, whether the customers are members of the same corporate organization as the IT organization (in a captive IT facility) or in an outsourcing organization which is hired to provide IT services to a corporate organization (sometimes the IT function is partially outsourced and partially performed in-house). Such IT organizations frequently involve a significant cost to the corporation. This significant cost sometimes raises the question of whether the IT organization is worth the expense and whether it can be improved, which often entails a consulting engagement by an outside organization to review the IT services, identify weaknesses and propose changes which will deliver better IT services or reduce IT costs or some combination of the two.
One approach to evaluating the effectiveness of an IT operation is to focus on the processes and procedures which are employed by the IT operation itself. This is sometimes referred to as a production method, since it focuses on the production of IT deliverables in assessing the effectiveness and the adequacy of the IT operation. This is also an inwardly aligned evaluation does assist in evaluating the efficiency of the IT infrastructure by aligning the goals and initiatives across the enterprise's processes. It allows an emphasis on repeatability, consistency and robust process execution across the enterprise.
However, process assessment (looking at the processes used in the IT organization) may be a useful indicator of IT effectiveness but it is not as good an indicator of the satisfaction and value as perceived by the users of the IT services (the external customers who are using the IT services being provided by the IT organization).
Thus, the prior art systems for assessing information technology delivery systems have undesirable disadvantages and limitations which impact the effectiveness of the assessments and limit the scope of recommendations for improvements.

Method and system for assessing information technology service delivery

International Business Machines Corporation


A method of bonding a rubber substrate to an epoxy resin based substrate which is particularly suitable for constructing selected components of rocket motors such as motor cases. The subject method includes disposing an acrylate between the substrates to be bonded together. The interfacial layer preferably has at least one rubber constituent and at least one acrylate therein. The disclosed method is particularly suitable for, but not limited to, bonding an unvulcanized EPDM rubber substrate to an aliphatic-type epoxy resin based composite substrate containing fibrous reinforcement elements such as graphite or carbon fibers. Upon disposing the disclosed interfacial layer between the substrates to be bonded, the substrates are preferably co-cured at an elevated temperature to complete the bonding thereof. A preferred bonding compound including at least one rubber constituent, an acrylate constituent, and an optional hydrocarbon solvent for facilitating mixing and applying the compound to form an interfacial layer between the rubber substrate and the epoxy based substrate to be bonded together is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the bonding of rubber to epoxy resin materials and composite matrices thereof. The present invention is particularly suitable for the bonding of rubber, whether vulcanized or unvulcanized, to curable epoxy resin materials or composite matrices including curable epoxy resins therein. The present invention is especially suitable for, but not limited to, the bonding of unvulcanized synthetic rubber material to an epoxy resin based composite matrix including fibrous material to form certain components of rocket motors constructed by the aerospace industry.
2. State of the Art
Certain components of rocket motors are often constructed by laying down a composite material, or matrix of materials, usually having strength-enhancing fibers embedded in a curable epoxy resin, onto a flame-resistant and, to a certain extents thermally insulative rubber substrate. The rubber substrate and the composite matrix substrate being co-cured at an elevated temperature at a preselected pressure ideally provide a final component consisting of the rubber substrate being securely bonded to the composite matrix substrate.
An exemplary component of a rocket motor constructed in such manner is the motor case assembly which forms the main portion of the rocket motor. Typically, motor cases are constructed to have an epoxy composite exterior and a flame-resistant rubber material lining the interior of the case. In many rocket motor designs, the motor case itself is the primary portion of the rocket motor wherein the epoxy composite exterior forms a rigid skin and propellant fuel is bonded or cast onto the rubber material lining installed within the interior of the rigid skin. In addition to having suitable flame-resistant properties, motor cases must be made as lightweight and as structurally rigid as is feasible because the cases can be quite large in larger motors. Thus, constructing rocket motor cases from epoxy composite materials lined with a flame-resistant rubber material is a common practice within the art due to composite materials being able to provide all of the requisite characteristics needed for rocket motor cases while the rubber material lining provides the needed flame resistance as well as provides a suitable surface to which propellant fuel can be bonded.
In constructing thermally insulated rocket motor cases, an unvulcanized synthetic rubber material such as ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber compound, available from a number of commercial rubber mixing facilities, including the Burke Rubber Company for example, islinitially formed about a generally cylindrically-shaped mandrel, or tooling form, in order to provide the inner size and configuration which the motor case is to have. The use of EPDM rubber material is desired for its flame resistance and thermally insulative properties as well as its low specific gravity. In other words, EPDM rubber material is very lightweight when compared to other commercially available rubber materials. Usually EPDM rubber material is first formed about the mandrel to a desired thickness. Then, typically a composite epoxy resin matrix containing carbon, graphite, boron, aramids, or other high-strength fibrous material, in the form of fibers, tows, strands, or tapes for example, immersed in, or prepregnated with, epoxy resin is hand-laid on or wound about the outer surface of the EPDM rubber by specially designed machines to provide a motor case assembly having an inner layer or lining of rubber material and a composite outer shell. Epoxy resins particularly suitable for forming the base material of the motor case""s composite outer shell are typically aromatic diglycidyl ethers of bisphenol A or F variety and include exemplary widely used epoxy resins such as: EPON 828 and 826 from Shell Chemical Company; DER 332, 383, and 661 from Dow Chemical Company; and LY 9703 from Ciba-Geigy Corporation.
European Patent Application 0 486 044 A2 filed Nov. 15, 1991, entitled Damage Tolerant Composites Containing Infusible Particles, listing Hercules Incorporated as the Assignee thereof and which reference is incorporated herein, discloses such a damage-tolerant epoxy resin matrix having high-strength filaments therein.
The epoxy resin matrix, usually containing strength-enhancing fibers therein, is laid upon the outer surface of the EPDM rubber material to form an outer shell of a desired thickness, thereby creating a motor case assembly. The motor case assembly, usually including the tooling mandrel to provide support to the motor assembly, which comprises the uncured EPDM rubber material layer and the uncured fiber reinforced epoxy resin matrix layer, is typically placed in an oven or an autoclave and co-cured at an elevated temperature and at a preselected pressure which is usually the ambient, or atmospheric, pressure. As a result of co-curing the rubber material layer and the epoxy resin layer together or, more accurately, vulcanizing the rubber layer and curing the epoxy resin layer simultaneously while the rubber substrate and the epoxy substrate are in contact with each other, a generally suitable high-strength bonding of the two substrates occurs. Upon the assembly being co-cured and thus becoming bonded together, the assembly is removed from the oven, autoclave or other curing apparatus, and the removable mandrel is removed from within the now-bonded rocket motor case assembly.
The previously described rubber materials and aromatic cured epoxy resin based composite materials generally performed adequately together in forming a suitably strong and uniform bond between the rubber substrate and the epoxy resin composite substrate. However, it was discovered when bonding EPDM rubber materials, or compounds, to aliphatic type epoxy resins that the rubber-to-aliphatic epoxy bonds did not have the same bond qualities as did the rubber-to-aromatic epoxy bonds. Aliphatic epoxies are often designed to have enhanced, or at least differing, room temperature handling characteristics when compared with aromatic epoxies. Furthermore, aliphatic epoxies are generally designed to have particularly modified viscosity-related characteristics affecting the ability of fibers to be impregnated with the aliphatic epoxy resin and to have longer shelf lives in which the prepreg material could be stored prior to being used. In order to provide such desirable qualities, aliphatic epoxies have a different chemical composition which appears to significantly negatively affect their ability to be bonded to certain rubber substrates, at least when compared to the bonding of aromatic epoxy based substrates to EPDM rubber substrates. A prepreg fiber composition including such an aliphatic epoxy that is anhydride cured is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,770, issued to Mumford et al. and entitled Chemorheologically Tailored Matrix Resin Formulations Containing Anhydride Curing Agents. The ""770 patent is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,499, issued to Decker et al. and entitled Method For Increasing Fiber Strength Translation In Composite Pressure Vessels Using Matrix Resin Formulations Containing Surface Acting Agents, directed to a method for improving the strength of composite pressure vessels incorporating chemorheologically viscosity tailored epoxy resin formulations having certain viscosity characteristics. Both of these patents are incorporated by reference herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,703, issued to Costin et al. and entitled Coating Composition of Epoxy Resin, Metal Di(Meth)Acrylate and Poly(Meth)Acrylate, discloses a curable coating composition containing an epoxy resin, a polymethacrylate, and a metal salt to improve adhesive characteristics: of a coating on a substrate, but does not offer any teachings, or suggestions, directed to bonding substrates of differing materials together, such as rubber being bonded to an epoxy resin based substrate.
U.S. Pat. 5,763,629, issued to Fan et al. and entitled Alkoxylated Glycidyl (Meth)Acrylates and Method of Preparation, is directed to a class of monomers containing epoxide functionalities wherein epoxidation of the monomers makes use of an organic solvent such as a hydrocarbon-based solvent, but does not offer any teachings, or suggestions, directed to bonding substrates of differing materials together such as rubber being bonded to an epoxy resin based substrate.
During testing, the bonds between EPDM rubber and aliphatic epoxies in particular seemed to lack sufficient adhesive strength when compared to bonds between the previously mentioned aromatic epoxies and EPDM rubber. For example, upon tensile testing of a test sample, the bond between an EPDM rubber substrate and an aliphatic anhydride-cured epoxy based composite material (which had been co-cured as discussed previously) would suffer an adhesive failure. That is, the test sample would pull apart at the bond line, or at the interface the rubber material and the aliphatic epoxy based composite material instead of preferably cohesively failing wherein either the rubber material or the composite material would be pulled apart from itself. In this particular case, it would be expected that the rubber material, having relatively lower tensile and shear strength ratings, would cohesively fail before the composite matrix material, having relatively higher tensile and shear, strength ratings, if an adhesive failure at the bond line did not occur first.
For a variety of reasons and notwithstanding the above-discussed test results, the use of aliphatic or cylcoaliphatic epoxy resins, generally referred to as aliphatic epoxy resins such as the epoxy resin disclosed in previously referenced U.S. Pat. No. 5,593,770xe2x80x94Mumford et al., offers certain advantages in certain applications over aromatic epoxy resins. Furthermore, the use of aliphatic epoxy resins, or aromatic epoxies having poor bonding characteristics, may be required by the product specifications issued in connection with a contract, thus leaving few choices for the contracting party making a given product other than to perhaps seek approval or recertification for bond-enhancing additives to be included in the specified rubber material and/or be included in the specified aliphatic epoxy resin based matrix, or both, to enhance the bond therebetween. However, as a practical matter it would be time consuming and costly for the contracting party to identify and then seek approval and re-certification of either or both substrates to be formulated to include such bond-enhancing additives to achieve acceptable bond strengths.
One alternative considered by the inventor of the present invention included cold bonding the vulcanized rubber material to the cured aliphatic epoxy resin matrix. However, this particular alternative introduces several additional processing steps leading to increased complexity and manufacturing costs. Moreover, when cold bonding it is often difficult to reliably obtain a sufficiently strong bond when bonding substrates having low surface energies. This problem is partly due to it not always being possible to ensure full-contact interfaces, wherein an adhesive can fully and uniformly be applied between the rubber material and the epoxy resin matrix.
Another alternative considered by the inventor of the present invention was the use of commercially available adhesives such as Chemlock 234 and Chemlock 236 available from the Lord Corporation. But these adhesives, as with most, high-strength, high-temperature resistant adhesives in general, usually contain certain solvents or blends of solvents requiring special handling techniques and precautions to ensure safety and compliance with environmental restrictions.
Another problem identified with using known adhesives is that such adhesives are often formulated to bond a number of different types of substrates together and hence may have a number of active ingredients. For example, a candidate adhesive might be formulated for bonding metals, ceramics, glass, and plastics, etc., and thus have a plurality of active ingredients, wherein each active ingredient is particularly suitable for bonding a particular material. However, when using such adhesives having multiple active ingredients, there is a concern as to what effect each of the active ingredients will have on the bond strength. That is, one or more of the extraneous active ingredients may actually decrease the bond strength of the bond provided by the particularly suitable active ingredient with respect to the base materials being bonded. Furthermore, when using adhesives having multiple active ingredients, there is always a concern as to potential or actual adverse effects each of the multiple active ingredients, whether acting individually or in combination with one or more of the other ingredients, could have on the structural, durability, longevity, performance, and compatibility properties of the base materials to be bonded.
Upon investigations, and in some cases tests, the preceding alternatives were deemed unattractive or not acceptable. For example, inferior bond strengths were evidenced by test samples failing adhesively instead of cohesively, i.e., at the bond interface between two substrates instead of one of the substrates being pulled apart from itself. Other factors making the above alternatives unattractive or unacceptable included associated increased material costs and/or manufacturing costs, potential adverse environmental impacts, and concerns as to whether a readily available adhesive being applied between the two materials would significantly alter the properties of one or both of the materials. If a significant property change of either substrate were at all suspected, substantial product testing would have to be conducted to ensure that product durability, performance and life expectancies were not negatively affected.
Thus, it can be appreciated that there is a need within the art for a method of bonding rubber materials to epoxy resin materials wherein the resulting bond is consistently durable, reliable, of a suitable quality, and in which manufacturing costs and potentially adverse environmental factors associated with such a method are kept to a minimum.
It can be further appreciated that there is a need within the art for a method of bonding rubber materials to epoxy resin materials in which there are no substantial changes resulting to the properties of the two materials to be bonded together.
Another need within the Art is for a method of bonding rubber materials to epoxy resin materials to form selected components of rocket motors without unduly adding to the cost of manufacturing such motors by having to have certain solvents on hand which typically require special handling techniques when using such solvents and which typically require certain precautions be taken when storing and disposing such solvents.
A yet further need within the art is the ability to bond an unvulcanized synthetic rubber substrate to an aliphatic epoxy resin based composite substrate reliably and consistently, which is known to be particularly difficult to achieve.
A still yet further need within the art is the ability to bond rubber materials to epoxy resin based composite materials having reinforcing fibrous elements therein, such as carbon fibers, graphite fibers, and boron fibers, aramid fibers, typically provided in the form of tapes, woven fabrics, mats, tows, and windable filaments, for example.
The present invention includes a method of constructing certain components of rocket motors such as thermally insulated composite motor cases. Preferably, the case is constructed of an outer, or exterior, shell formed of an aliphatic epoxy resin based, carbon fiber reinforced composite material in which a heat resistant EPDM rubber based material, or compound, is bonded to an inner surface of the outer composite shell via an interfacial layer. Preferably, the bonding is achieved by vulcanizing the rubber material and curing the epoxy resin based material simultaneously at an elevated temperature and at a preselected pressure. The present invention further provides a bonding compound preferably including at least one rhono-functional or poly-functional acrylate such as glycidyl methacrylate, trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate, and pentaerythritol triacrylate, mixed with a selected amount of EPDM rubber material, or compound. Such EPDM rubber material, or compound, could be taken from the same batch used in forming the rubber substrate to be bonded, or the EPDM rubber material could be formulated to the same specifications as the rubber substrate to be bonded. Alternatively, the rubber constituent of the bonding compound could merely be a rubber material or rubber compound that is the same or similar to the rubber or rubber compound used in forming the substrate to be bonded. An optional solvent, preferably comprising at least one hydrocarbon such as a terpene, to facilitate mixing the bonding compound and for disposing the compound on one or more of the substrates to be bonded to form an interfacial layer therebetween, may be added to the compound. The optional solvent evaporates after application, thereby providing an interfacial layer of dry residual material. Preferably, the percentage of rubber and percentage of acrylate on a weight basis ranges from approximately 95% rubber and 5% acrylate to approximately 5% rubber and 95% acrylate, with a percentage of approximately 40% rubber and a percentage of approximately 60% acrylate, producing a bonding compound which yields very favorable results. However, higher and lower concentrations of rubber and acrylate, each ranging from 0% to 100% respectively, with a trace of acrylate, with or without the use of a solvent, may be used in Accordance with the present invention.
Although the present invention is particularly suitable for bonding an unvulcanized EPDM rubber substrate to an aliphatic anhydride-cured, epoxy resin based composite substrate having carbon fibers therein to form a rocket motor case, it is not limited to such. The introduction of an interfacial layer containing at least one acrylate can be used in the bonding of a wide variety of rubber substrates to a wide variety of epoxy resin based substrates to form a wide variety of products, articles, or assemblies. For example, the rubber substrate to be bonded may be a natural rubber, a synthetic rubber, or it may be unvulcanized, or it may have been previously vulcanized. Likewise, the epoxy resin based substrate can be an aromatic epoxy resin and need not be an aliphatic epoxy resin.

Rubber-epoxy bonding via an interfacial layer containing acrylates


A computer network for a retail store. The computer network collects coupon redemption information from a plurality of cash registers and periodically sends the redemption information to a market research center, allowing the correlation of coupon redemptions with customer demographic data. Each cash register includes a special computer for coupon redemption compilation. The special computer interfaces to conventional cash register computer hardware without requiring a substantial change to cash register computer software.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a retail system and, more particularly, to a computer network for compiling information in a retail system.
2. Description of Related Art
Discount coupons are a popular means to stimulate sales of products such as grocery store items. In 1992, approximately 310 billion coupons were distributed and 7.7 billion coupons were redeemed. It has been difficult, however, to monitor conventional coupon distribution and redemption schemes to provide information on program effectiveness and customer demographics.

Retail store and method employing multiple network interfaces at each cash register, and receiving signals from portable cards at each cash register


An electric power interrupter with an internal contactor that is suitable for use as a line and load switch constructed from light weight materials including a fiberglass or composite insulator and aluminum flanges. The light weight design feature allows the power interrupter to be supported above a standard disconnect switch insulator without having to replace or reinforce the insulator. The power interrupter also includes a latch mechanism with a low-force trip action, such as a spring-driven toggle mechanism that accelerates the internal contactor to break the electric power circuit on the opening stroke. This low-force trip action allows the power interrupter to be actuated by a standard disconnect switch operating mechanism without having to upgrade or augment the standard operating mechanism. For these reasons, the power interrupter may be installed as a retrofit upgrade to an existing standard disconnect switch without having to modify the underlying disconnect switch.

Circuit breakers, line switches, disconnect switches and capacitor switches are well known components of electric transmission and distribution systems. Within these devices, spring-driven acceleration mechanisms have been used to accelerate penetrating contactors to sufficient velocity to extinguish an arcing contact occurring across a contactor gap within the switch without experiencing an undesirable restrike, which could otherwise cause disturbances on the electric power system. This typically requires extinguishing the arc after one-half cycle, which prevents a restrike from occurring after the initial arc break that occurs at the first half-cycle zero voltage crossing after initial separation of the contacts. For this type of device, it is helpful to house the penetrating contactor within a sealed container filled with a dielectric gas such as sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), which is directed into the contactor gap by a nozzle to help extinguish the arc. Extinguishing the arc in this manner, which is specifically designed to effectively absorb the arc energy, reduces the contactor gap separation required to extinguish the arc from what would be required to extinguish the arc in another environment such as air.
The basic design challenge for this type of device involves engineering an acceleration mechanism that obtains the desired contractor velocity quickly enough to extinguish the arc without experiencing an undesired restrike within acceptable weight, size and cost constraints. An example of this type of device employing a bidirectional spring-driven toggle mechanism is shown in Rostron et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,583,978 entitled "Limited Restrike Electric Power Circuit Interrupter Suitable For Use as a Line Capacitor and Load Switch," which is incorporated herein by reference. Other types of spring-driven acceleration mechanism have been used to accelerate penetrating contactors for many years. For example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,483,679; 6,316,742; and 6,236,010, which are also incorporated herein by reference. In general, spring-driven acceleration and toggle mechanisms for accelerating penetrating contactors for single- and three-phase electric power switch configurations are well known.
Although the power interrupter employing a bidirectional spring-driven toggle mechanism shown in Rostron et al. is an effective and commercially successful device, it has the drawback of requiring a relatively large enclosure to house relatively robust internal components of the device. The weight of this type of power interrupter requires that the insulator supporting the stationary contact of the underlying disconnect switch, on top of which the power interrupter is mounted, be upgraded to carry the additional weight of the power interrupter. In addition, the additional force required to move the actuator arm of the power interrupter, and thereby charge the main spring of the device, with the moving arm of the disconnect switch also typically requires an upgrade to the disconnect switch operating mechanism. As a result, this type of power interrupter is only suitable for new installations and those justifying an upgrade to the disconnect switch insulator and operating mechanism.
Moreover, in many electric power applications, such as standard line and load switch applications, internal switching is very important when opening the switch but of less importance when closing or resetting the switch. Therefore, a bidirectional toggle mechanism may not be necessary, whereas a single break device that internally breaks the power circuit only on the opening stroke may be better suited for these applications. In particular, a bidirectional toggle switch requiring an upgrade to the underlying disconnect switch might be too expensive in many instances in which a single break device installed as a retrofit without having to alter the existing disconnect switch might be a cost effective option. As a result, the ability to install the power interrupter as a retrofit without having to alter the existing disconnect switch would make the device a cost effective option for a large number of disconnect switches operating at distribution, sub-transmission and transmission voltages.
Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for cost effective electric power interrupters suitable for use as line and load switches at distribution, sub-transmission and transmission voltages. There is a further need for a power interrupter that can be installed as a retrofit without having to alter the existing disconnect switch.

Internally switched electric power interrupter


Decoding apparatus and method set interpolation flags in units smaller than an ECC block. The PI1 flag indicating an error on a row-by-row basis is generated for the first error correction result, while the PI2 flag also indicating an error on a row-by-row basis is generated for the second error correction result in the ECC block. The PO flag indicating an error on a column-by-column basis is further generated for the error correction result in the ECC block. Following these processing operations, the PI1, PI2 and PO flags are used for generating the interpolation flags.

The present invention relates to decoding apparatus and method and, more particularly, to decoding apparatus and method for performing error correction processing on data that is subject to decoding in a direction of data rows and columns, such that error flags are generated to indicate decoding errors in data rows and columns based on the error correction processing.
Information reproduced via a light beam in an optical disc reproducing apparatus may have a read error caused by a scratch on the disc, for example. Error correction processing thus should be performed on the reproduced information.
FIG. 33 shows a representative optical disc reproducing apparatus. An optical disc 1 stores data, such as images and sounds, for example. An optical pickup 2 reads the information stored on the optical disc 1 using a laser beam. The reproduced signal outputted from the pickup 2 is demodulated by a demodulating circuit 3 and is supplied to a sector detecting circuit 4 for detecting a sector based on the reproduced signal. If a sector number assigned to a sector on the optical disc 1 is not detected, a sector number error signal is generated by the sector detecting circuit 4 for input to a track jump discriminating circuit 18.
An ECC (Error Correction Code) circuit 5 performs error detection and error correction on the reproduced signal received from the sector detecting circuit 4. If an unrecoverable error occurs, the ECC circuit 5 outputs an unrecoverable error signal to the track jump discriminating circuit 18. Otherwise, error-corrected data is then transmitted from the ECC circuit 5 to a ring buffer memory 7 to be stored therein.
Based on the output of the sector detecting circuit 4, a ring buffer controlling circuit 6 reads an address for each sector and designates a write address (via a write pointer WP) corresponding to the read address in the ring buffer memory 7. If a code request signal from a multiplexed data separating circuit 8 is received, the ring buffer controlling circuit 6 specifies the read address (via a read pointer RP) of the data previously written to the ring buffer memory 7, reads the data based on the read pointer RP, and supplies the read data to the multiplexed data separating circuit 8.
A header separating circuit 9 separates a pack header and a packet header from the data and supplies the separated pack header and packet header to a separator control circuit 11. According to a stream ID (stream identifier) of the packet header, the separator control circuit 11 separates time-division-multiplexed video code data from audio code data by sequentially switching an input terminal G between output terminals H1 and H2 in a switching circuit 10. The separated data is then supplied to a corresponding code buffer 13 or 15.
The video code buffer 13 generates a code request to the multiplexed data separating circuit 8 based on the data remaining in the buffer. Also, the video code buffer 13 stores the data supplied from the multiplexed data separating circuit 8 and receives a code request from a video decoding apparatus 14. The video decoding apparatus 14 decodes the video data for reproducing a video signal, such that the decoded video signal can be output from an output terminal 91.
Similarly, the audio code buffer 15 supplies a code request to the multiplexed data separating circuit 8, and stores the data supplied from separating circuit 8. In addition, the audio code buffer 15 receives a code request from an audio decoding apparatus 16. The audio decoding apparatus decodes the audio data for reproducing an audio signal and outputs the decoded audio signal from an output terminal 92.
Thus, the video and audio data are appropriately supplied from the corresponding circuits of the preceding stage via a transfer request from the corresponding circuits of the subsequent stage. For example, the video decoding apparatus 14 requests the video code buffer 13 for the data transfer, and the multiplexed data separating circuit 8 requests the ring buffer control circuit 6 for the data transfer. The requested data is transferred from the ring buffer memory 7 to the video decoding apparatus 14 in the direction reverse to the direction in which the transfer requests have been made.
Next, the recorded data format will be described. In the following example, data is recorded in units of a cluster (32K bytes). A representative cluster configuration is described below in detail.
Data of 2K bytes (2048 bytes) is extracted for one cluster, to which an overhead consisting of 16 bytes is added for a total of 2064 bytes, as shown in FIG. 34. Among other things, the overhead includes a sector address and an error detection code (EDC).
The sector data of 2064 bytes is arranged as 12 by 172 bytes. As shown in FIG. 35, sixteen sectors are accumulated to provide 192 by 172 bytes in a row by column configuration. Then, an outer parity (PO) of 16 bytes in the vertical direction is added to every column, and an inner parity (PI) of 10 bytes in the horizontal direction is added to every row. This results in a block of data 208 (that is, 192+16) by 182 (that is, 172+10) bytes, as shown in FIG. 35.
The outer parity section of 16 by 182 bytes is divided into 16 rows of 1 by 182 bytes each. The 16 rows are then interleaved among the 16 sectors (0 through 15) of 12 by 182 bytes each, as shown in FIG. 36. The data arranged as 13 (that is, 12+1) by 182 bytes comprises one sector.
The data of 208 by 182 bytes (as shown in FIG. 36) is split into two frames resulting in a 91-byte frame, as shown in FIG. 37. At the beginning of the frame, a frame sync signal (FS) of 2 bytes is added. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 37, one frame contains 93 bytes in the horizontal direction, resulting in a data block of 208 by (93.times.2) bytes which is one cluster (that is, one ECC block). The size of the actual data that is obtained by removing the overhead part is 32K bytes (that is, 2048.times.16/1024K bytes). The entire data is recorded on the optical disc 1 on a cluster-by-cluster basis.
Next is described the operation for generating an interpolation flag for interpolating error data following the data error correction in the example of FIG. 33.
FIG. 38 is a flowchart illustrating the processing operation when the ECC circuit 5 performs a first correction along the row (horizontal) direction using the inner parity PI (this correction operation is hereinafter referred to as PI1 correction), then performs another correction along the column (vertical) direction using the outer parity PO (this correction operation is hereinafter referred to as PO correction), and finally performs a third correction using the inner parity PI (this correction operation is hereinafter referred to as PI2 correction).
According to this processing, an ECC block is checked for an unrecoverable error following the PI1 correction in step S1. If no unrecoverable error is found, the process goes to step S4; if an unrecoverable error is found, the process goes to step S2.
In step S2, it is determined whether the optical disc has to be re-read (data reproduced again). Namely, it is determined whether:
(1) the ECC block having the unrecoverable error is to be read again from the optical disc 1; or PA1 (2) an interpolation flag is to be added to the ECC data block, and the resultant data is to be outputted. PA1 (1) the failed sector is to be read again from the optical disc 1; or PA1 (2) an interpolation flag is to be added to the failed data sector, and the resultant data is to be outputted.
If option (1) is selected, the process goes to step S3, where the optical disc 1 is read again. The process then returns to step S1. In option (2), the interpolation flag (that is, the flag indicating that interpolation is required) is added to the data of that block, and step S4 is carried out next.
In step S4, it is determined whether the result of the sector EDC check (the check using the error detection code inserted in each sector as described with reference to FIG. 34) is normal or not. Namely, each sector is checked for an error. If the result is found normal (that is, the sector has no error), the process continues with step S7, and the data is outputted without any change. If the result of the sector EDC check is found abnormal (that is, the sector has an error), step S5 is performed.
In step S5, it is determined whether the optical disc 1 is to be read again or not. Namely, it is determined whether:
If option (1) is selected, the process goes to step S6, in which case the failed sector is read again from the optical disc 1. Then, the process returns to step S1. In option (2), an interpolation flag is added to the data of that sector, and the process continues with step S7. In step S7, the processed data (in this case, the data with the interpolation flag) is outputted, upon which the processing is ended.
In the above-mentioned example, if the ECC circuit 5 detects data having an unrecoverable error, the interpolation flag is added to all of the data in that block. Each unit of data constituting the ECC block is 8 bits (1 byte) long, and the interpolation flag is 1 bit long. Therefore, the length of the data combined with the interpolation flag is 9 bits. Storing the 9-bit data requires a memory device that stores data on a 9-bit basis. Such a memory device, however, is not generally available and is, therefore, costlier than generally available memory devices, thereby posing a problem of increased fabrication cost for the decoding apparatus.
Further, if the ECC decoding is performed using a preselected length data serving as a processing unit (such as one ECC block, for example), the interpolation flag generating operation is applied to this entire processing unit. Therefore, the problem exists that the interpolation flag generating operation cannot be changed in units smaller than the processing unit, such as one ECC block. The interpolation flag generating operation cannot be changed in units of one sector, for example.

Apparatus and method for decoding data using flags to indicate decoding errors in data rows and columns


Each adsorber (1, 2) is dimensioned in such a way that it operates in substantially adiabatic mode and its production dead volume (27), which is the free volume in permanent communication with the outlet side end of the mass of adsorbent (6), is between about 10% and 60% of the volume of the mass of adsorbent. Oxygen may thus be produced from atmospheric air.

It is known that the performance of a PSA method can be assessed through a number of factors, which in the aforementioned example are as follows:
the yield, which is the ratio of the volume of gas (for example oxygen) produced to the volume of said gas contained in the gas mixture which is treated (volumes measured under standard temperature and pressure conditions); PA1 the productivity, which is the quantity of gas produced per unit time and unit volume of adsorbent (unit: m.sup.3 (stp)/h.m.sup.3); PA1 the specific energy, which is the energy consumed per unit volume of product gas, measured under standard temperature and pressure conditions (unit: kWh/m.sup.3 (stp)); and PA1 the investment, which is the cost of a standard plant carrying out the method (unit: FF). PA1 ES represents the specific energy PA1 p.sub.e represents the price of the energy PA1 cc represents a capital charge which covers not only the amortization, but also the maintenance, taxes, etc. PA1 I is the investment, and PA1 PA is the annual production. PA1 the ratio S/V, where S denotes the external heat exchange surface area for the assembly consisting of the mass of adsorbent and the two dead volumes, and where V is the volume of the same assembly, is selected, at a value of less than 6 m.sup.-1 ; and PA1 the production dead volume is selected at a value of between substantially 10% and substantially 60% of the volume of the mass of adsorbent. PA1 the ratio S/V, where S denotes the external heat exchange surface area for the assembly consisting of the mass of adsorbent and the two dead volumes, and where V is the volume of the same assembly, is less than 6 m.sup.-1 ; and PA1 the production dead volume has a value of between substantially 10% and substantially 60% of the volume of the mass of adsorbent.
When the parameters of a PSA plant are altered, the four factors mentioned above are generally affected in different ways. It is therefore particularly difficult to predict what the final cost of the product gas (in particular oxygen) will be, and especially since a number of relatively poorly understood physical phenomena, such as the adsorption/desorption kinetics, are affected.
The cost C of the product gas can be defined by the following formula: EQU C=((ES'p.sub.e)+(cc'I))/PA, where
C thus represents the unit cost of the product gas.

Method and plant for the treatment of a gas mixture by pressure-swing adsorption

L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme Pour L'Etude et L'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude


There is provided a polyester coating composition having excellent action of preventing deposition of outdoor stain and stain caused by rainfall, being capable of extending a period of time (pot life) from the mixing to the coating, and comprising (A) a polyester resin, (B) one or more of fluorine-containing organosilicon compounds having a fluorine content of 5 to 30% by mass, (C) one or more of aliphatic hydrocarbon compounds having hydroxyl group and 1 to 10 carbon atoms, in which a part of hydrogen atoms bonded to carbon atom may be substituted by fluorine atoms and/or one or more of alkoxy compounds having 2 to 10 carbon atoms, in which a part of hydrogen atoms bonded to carbon atom may be substituted by fluorine atoms, and (D) an organic solvent.

So far, polyester coatings are used in many cases for outdoor coating of roofs and walls, especially for coating of a metal plate called pre-coat metal (PCM) which is processed after the coating. This is because polyester coatings are excellent in processability, transparency, curability and coloring property.
However, recently as environmental changes such as air pollution advance, a lot of oil droplets and dusts have come to be contained in the air, and as a result, there are problems that coating films on building materials and automobiles are easily stained more than before and such stains are difficult to remove.
Accordingly, coating films formed are demanded to have property of inhibiting deposition of outdoor stains for a long period of time from an initial stage of coating.
For improving such property of inhibiting deposition of stains, there have been developed techniques of blending a silane compound to a coating composition to make a coating film surface hydrophilic, thus making hydrophobic stains to be hardly deposited, and further removing deposited stains with flowing raindrop or the like (WO 94/06870, JP4-275379A, U.S. Pat. No. 6,486,239 and JP7-82520A).
However, a degree of hydrophilization of a coating film surface and repeatability thereof are still insufficient, long-term property of inhibiting deposition of stains is not always secured, and a large amount of silane compound is required for making a coating film surface hydrophilic. As a result, coatings are not satisfactory from the viewpoint of curability, compatibility, re-coatability, storage stability, a life (pot life) from mixing to coating, anti-floating property, defoaming property, workability in coating and processability of a coating film.
Also, there are known techniques of using an additive prepared by modifying a silicate compound with fluorine for the purpose of exhibiting hydrophilic property from an initial stage of coating (WO 96/26254, JP2001-151970A and JP11-333992A).
However, any of the mentioned techniques are not satisfactory from the viewpoint of re-coatability, storage stability, pot life, defoaming property, workability in coating and processability of a coating film. Especially, hydrophilic property and property of inhibiting deposition of stain of an obtained coating film are greatly lowered because a pot life is short and hydrolysis occurs in the coating composition before coating and gelling starts due to condensation unless coating is initiated soon after blending of a coating.


An evaporator device for active substances is designed for using active substances established in a paper tablet or the like, or in a tray with a semipermeable membrane, in gel form, comprising a base body with a U-shaped profile inside coupled by insertion to a support provided with two housings and, the former adapted in size and shape to receive within it a tray and the second to receive a tablet, so that both the tray and tablet can be placed in the same support opposite the heating surface of the device. This allows using the device equally with either format of the active substance. The device also includes a safety mechanism comprising teeth that lock in the closed position, preventing or making it difficult for children to displace or extract the support from the casing, that requires pressing inwards on two lateral opposing areas of the casing to open.

The present invention relates to a device for evaporating active substances, with the special characteristic of allowing a dual use, specifically use with two different types of containers of active substances, in tablets or in trays.
Evaporator devices for active substances are already known, specifically electrical evaporators for insecticides, which are based on the use of a PTC electrical resistance that acts on a heating surface next to which is placed the insecticide product, such as those described, for example, in Spanish Patent Nos. 9600482 and 9601197.
In addition, the insecticide product is generally commercialized in at least two different types of containers: tablets of paper or the like, duly soaked for a one-day protection; or trays with insecticide gel, closed by a semi-permeable membrane for a longer-lasting protection.
According to each type of container for the insecticide product, there are currently two different versions of electrical evaporator, within each specific solution, adapted to one or the other container.
As another feature, conventional evaporators have an intermittent operation and incorporate an indicator lamp connected in parallel to the PTC, which has the obvious purpose of indicating to the user whether or not the evaporator is operating.
This solution presents a two-fold drawback: on one hand, it actually does not indicate whether the PTC is warm, but instead indicates whether it is connected, thus, the evaporator could be very hot at the end of an operational cycle of the PTC resistor, yet the lamp will be off. Furthermore, the lamp requires electrical cables for its connection to the power supply, hindering the assembly of the various parts making up the device and therefore increasing the cost of production.
Moreover, when the evaporator is disconnected from the power supply by the user to replace the cartridge the device may remain warm due to its heat capacity, yet obviously any indicator lamp will cease to function.


A method produces an object using thermal-forming by positioning a die representative of the object in a chamber; positioning a sheet of material over the die; pressurizing the chamber; and delivering a beam of energy over the sheet and the die to form the object.

This invention relates to systems and methods for forming an object.
Mass customization is the application of mass production techniques to the production of parts that are different from each other and produced in rapid sequence. Mass-producing items that are generically similar to each other using production equipment that is rapidly modifiable or reprogrammable allows differences between there items.
One way to perform mass customization is to apply pressure forming to plastic materials. Current pressure forming technology uses convection, conduction and insulation to heat plastic for thermoforming. These methods are either 'bulk' heating with a homogeneous heating of the entire sheet, or are tailored for repeating the same process on one form; neither method is adaptable to custom heating control with different parts with mass production throughput. Current technology does not differentiate zones of different temperatures on the formed sheet in order to optimize the shape and thickness profile of the formed part, individually. Homogeneous heating allows the forming of material to draw (stretch) more on surfaces that are more parallel to the general direction of the forming draw, thus creating parts with widely varying thickness throughout. This result is often undesirable, as in the case of Orthodontic Aligners where 'bite' surfaces are thicker than other surfaces as a result. Current methods for controlling the heating profile are mechanically built-in and static, so they do not lend themselves to rapid process improvements, nor do they allow rapid re-programming for new shapes of thermoformed parts.
Thermoforming is a process of heating plastic sheet materials to their glass-transition temperature range, deforming them to a desired shape, then cooling them in order to set the new shape. A die, or solid form is used to define the 3D shape that the sheet will acquire as it transforms from a two-dimensional sheet when it is heated and forced to conform to the three-dimensional surface of the die. Transformation of the 2D sheet depends on its stretching around the die contours, thinning as it stretches. This stretching, in terms of where and how much, is dependent on localized stresses and localized flexural modulus in the plastic; this action is interdependent between areas of the forming sheet so that stress distribution and modulus distribution define the final stretching and thickness distribution. If stress and modulus distribution are controlled, then stretching distribution can be controlled. The major determinant of forming stress is final shape and is controlled by the form of the die, so control of the modulus through temperature control will yield control of the thickness. Such control must account for the die shape and is admittedly complex, but is within the computational power of current computers and programs.
Flexural modulus is highly dependent on temperature. Control over localized temperature variation will result in control of stretching and thickness. As the sheet material is forming over the die, hotter areas will stretch more than cooler areas when all of these areas are within the glass-transition temperature range. This temperature/modulus control of areas will enable management of stretching within the distributed pattern of stresses, resulting in the control of thickness throughout the formed part.

Systems and methods for forming an object


Edge devices utilizing personalized machine learning and methods of operating the same are disclosed. An example edge device includes a model accessor to access a first machine learning model from a cloud service provider. A local data interface is to collect local user data. A model trainer is to train the first machine learning model to create a second machine learning model using the local user data. A local permissions data store is to store permissions indicating constraints on the local user data with respect to sharing outside of the edge device. A permissions enforcer is to apply permissions to the local user data to create a sub-set of the local user data to be shared outside of the edge device. A transmitter is to provide the sub-set of the local user data to a public data repository.

In recent years, personalized artificial intelligence (AI) systems that operate within the home have become readily available. These AI systems perform tasks such as answering questions using voice recognition, performing searches, placing online orders, etc. However, there are also widespread concerns with privacy implications of these AI systems. For example, these AI systems remain on continuously, and can either deliberately and/or inadvertently record spoken conversation within the home and upload such recordings to online systems. Such recordings and/or other data are effectively out of the control of the user.
The figures are not to scale. In general, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts.


Image data is encoded into sync blocks of fixed length and maximum data volume by dividing a vertical interval of image data samples, such as a field or frame of samples, into a plurality of blocks and deriving the orthogonal transform of the image data samples in each block. A block of conversion coefficients that are produced by the orthogonal transform are quantized with the same quantizing step to produce weighted, quantized conversion coefficients having a weighting factor that is a function of the visual activity of that block. Then, the weighted, quantized conversion coefficients of a block are variable length coded and the variable length codes of a predetermined number of blocks are combined into a sync block of fixed length.

This invention relates to image encoding and, more particularly, to high efficiency image encoding using an orthogonal transform, such as the discrete cosine transform, to produce a sync block of encoded image data, wherein the sync block is of a fixed length and exhibits maximum data volume.
Various encoding techniques have been developed for compressing image information, such as video information, for the purpose of transmitting image data or recording image data, such as by magnetic recording. Among these compression techniques are predictive coding, transform coding and vector quantization.
In transform coding, two perpendicular axes are used to transform image data samples, and the amount of data needed to represent the original image information, referred to as "data volume", is reduced by relying on uncorrelated data. For orthogonal transform coding, the basic vectors are, of course, perpendicular to each other and the mean power of the conversion coefficients that are produced by orthogonal transform is substantially equal to the mean signal power of the image data that is presented prior to transform.
The conversion coefficients produced by orthogonal transform are known to have a DC component and several AC components, and the low frequency AC components generally exhibit a higher power concentration than the high frequency AC components. This permits the higher frequency components of the conversion coefficients to be ignored, thus reducing the data volume needed to represent the original image, without serious degradation in the image that is reproduced from these conversion coefficients. Examples of orthogonal transform techniques include the Hadamard transform, Karhunen-Loeve transform, slant transform, discrete sine transform and discrete cosine transform. The use of discrete cosine transform has become quite advantageous, and one example of the use thereof is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,931, assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
In discrete cosine transformation (sometimes referred to as DCT), an image, or more properly samples representing an image, is divided into several image blocks with each block consisting of n samples arrayed in the horizontal direction and n samples arrayed in the vertical direction. That is, each block is formed of a spatial array consisting of n.times.n samples. The image data samples in each image block are processed by an orthogonal transform using the cosine function. The development of fast processing algorithms implemented on a single chip LSI circuit has enabled real time discrete cosine transformation of image data; and it now is not uncommon for DCT to be used for the transmission and/or recording of image data. Indeed, the discrete cosine transform yields an encoding efficiency that is practically equal to that of the Karhunen-Loeve transform which, in theory, is most favorable. The power concentration of the lower frequency components of the conversion coefficients produced by the discrete cosine transform is practically the same as that of the Karhunen-Loeve transform which, as is known, directly affects coding efficiency. By encoding only those components of the conversion coefficients having concentrated power, the amount of information, or data (i.e. the data volume) which need be transmitted or recorded for accurate representation of the original image is significantly reduced.
As an example of discrete cosine transformation, let it be assumed that an 8.times.8 block of image data samples is represented as follows:
______________________________________ 139 144 149 153 155 155 155 155 144 151 153 156 159 156 156 156 150 155 160 163 158 156 156 156 159 161 161 162 162 155 155 155 161 161 161 161 160 157 157 157 162 162 161 163 162 157 157 157 162 162 161 161 163 158 158 158 ______________________________________
in which each number in this block represents the magnitude or signal level of the image data sample. When the discrete cosine transform of the 8.times.8 block of image data samples is derived, conversion coefficients C.sub.ij (i represents row number and j represents column number) are produced as follows:
______________________________________ 314.91 -0.26 -3.02 -1.30 0.53 -0.42 -0.68 0.33 -5.65 -4.37 -1.56 -0.79 -0.71 -0.02 0.11 -0.33 -2.74 -2.32 -0.39 0.38 0.05 -0.24 -0.14 -0.02 -1.77 -0.48 0.06 0.36 0.22 -0.02 -0.01 0.08 -0.16 -0.21 0.37 0.39 -0.03 -0.17 0.15 0.32 0.44 -0.05 0.41 -0.09 -0.19 0.37 0.26 -0.25 -0.32 -0.09 -0.08 -0.37 -0.12 0.43 0.27 -0.19 -0.65 0.39 -0.94 -0.46 0.47 0.30 -0.14 -0.11 ______________________________________
in which the number representing each conversion coefficient represents the relative power of that conversion coefficient. The conversion coefficient C.sub.00 is referred to as the DC component and represents the mean luminance value of the image block. It is seen that the electric power of the DC component is significantly higher than that of the other components which are known as AC components. As i increases, the frequency of the AC components in the vertical direction increases and as j increases, the frequency of the AC components in the horizontal direction increases. As both i and j increase, the frequency of the AC components in the diagonal direction increases.
The DC component of the conversion coefficients exhibits the largest value and, thus, contains the most information. If the DC component is quantized with a large quantizing step, that is, if it is subjected to coarse quantization, block distortions are produced which appear as noise that is visually detected most readily in the video picture ultimately reproduced from the conversion coefficients, thereby deteriorating the quality of that picture. Consequently, to minimize such visual noise, the DC component of the conversion coefficients, namely C.sub.00, is quantized with a small quantizing step and is represented by a larger number of bits, such as eight or more bits. A lesser number of bits may be used to represent the higher frequency AC components of the conversion coefficients C.sub.ij (where i, j.noteq.0) because higher frequency AC components represent changes in the video information of the n.times.n block and the human eye does not readily detect detail in a rapidly changing image. Consequently, an observer will not sense a loss of detail in that portion of an image which changes from point to point. Therefore, it is not necessary to represent the higher frequency AC components of the conversion coefficients with a large number of bits. This means that a larger quantizing step can be used to quantize the higher frequency AC components of the conversion coefficients. An example of quantizing the conversion coefficients set out above is as follows:
______________________________________ 315.00 0.00 -3.00 -1.00 1.00 0.00 -1.00 0.00 -6.00 -4.00 -2.00 -1.00 -1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -3.00 -2.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -2.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -1.00 0.00 -1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 ______________________________________
in which the quantizing is analogous to "rounding off" the conversion coefficients.
In a practical transmission or recording scheme, the quantized conversion coefficients are encoded by variable length coding, such as Huffman coding or run-length coding which provides further data compression For proper transmission or recording, additional signals, such as synchronizing signals, parity codes, and the like, are added to the variable length coded conversion coefficients.
In digital recording, such as a digital video tape recorder (DVTR), the amount of data which is recorded to represent a vertical interval, such as a field interval or a frame interval, preferably is of a fixed length. That is, although the data representing a particular block of image data samples may be variable, the total amount of data used to represent a predetermined number of those blocks is fixed. If a predetermined number of image blocks is included in a sync block, then although the amount of data (or data volume) of one image block may be less than that of another, the data volume of all sync blocks is substantially constant Since the data volume of a particular image block is determined by the conversion coefficients produced for that block, the conversion coefficients of some image blocks included in a sync block may be quantized with a higher quantizing step than the conversion coefficients of other image blocks. Of course, when a larger quantizing step is used, less data is produced; and as mentioned above, it is not uncommon to quantize the higher frequency AC components of the conversion coefficients with larger quantizing steps than are used to quantize the lower frequency AC components Accordingly, if several different quantizers are connected in common, each exhibiting a different quantizing step, one quantizer may be used to quantize the conversion coefficients of one image block and another may be used to quantize the conversion coefficients of another image block As a result, the overall data volume of the sync block can be optimized without exceeding the data volume capacity, or preset length, of the sync block. However, when different quantizers are selected for different image blocks, the identity of the quantizer which is used for a particular block must be transmitted or recorded This identifying data does not represent useful image information and, thus, tends to increase the "overhead" in a sync block. This is an undesirable byproduct of selecting different quantizers in order to optimize data volume.
To avoid the aforementioned "overhead", it is preferred to use the same quantizer having the same quantizing step for all of the n.times.n image blocks which are included in a sync block. It is expected that some image blocks will contain more changes in the image therein than others. Thus, the higher frequency AC components of the conversion coefficients in some image blocks will have a higher power concentration than in other image blocks. If these changes in the image data are referred to as the "visual activity" of the image block, then those image blocks having a higher visual activity will have a smaller concentration of lower frequency AC components of the conversion coefficients. Since, as mentioned above, the detail in that portion of an image containing rapid changes, that is, exhibiting a high visual activity, is not readily perceived, an image block having high activity can be quantized with a larger quantizing step without producing notable picture degradation. However, if an image block in the same sync block has low visual activity, that is, if the image block represents a monotonic picture pattern with a small dynamic range, the conversion coefficients are concentrated in the lower frequency AC components. If these conversion coefficients are quantized with a large quantizing step, that is, if they are subjected to the same coarse quantization that can be used for the high activity image blocks in that sync block, block distortions resulting in perceptible deterioration in the reproduced image is produced. Thus, although it is desirable to select a quantizing step that is uniform for all of the image blocks included in a sync block, if this quantizing step is too large, that portion of the image which does not contain high visual activity, that is, those image blocks which do not contain many changes, will be quantized into a number of bits that is not sufficient to represent that portion of the image properly. On the other hand, if a quantizer is selected with a relatively small quantizing step, then an image block which contains high visual activity, that is, a large number of changes therein, will be represented by an unnecessarily large number of bits which is inefficient and which may exceed the overall limit on the data volume in the sync block.

High efficiency data compressed image encoding


A mobile communication system is provided which serves as an information infrastructure capable of providing intelligent information transmission and services. A mobile station on each vehicle traveling on a road includes first and second transceivers for carrying out radio communications with a third transceiver of a base station installed on a roadside. The first transceiver of a first mobile station is linked not only with the third transceiver of the base station through a first communication channel, but is also linked with the second transceiver of a second mobile station via a second communication channel. The first mobile station carries out information communications with the base station using the first communication channel, and at the same time with the second mobile station via the second communication channel. The first, second and third transceivers each have the function of measuring the incoming direction of the radio wave from the party, and calculating the distance to the party so that the location of each mobile station is identified in each station.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile communication system which carries out information transmission between vehicles traveling on a road, or between vehicles and a roadside communication network, and particularly to a mobile communication system capable of offering sophisticated services applicable in common to expressways or the like in future.
2. Description of the Background Art
The Road/Automobile Communication System, which is administered by the Public Works Research Institute of the Ministry of Construction of Japan, is known as one of the conventional mobile communication systems which provide channels between vehicles and a roadside communication network. Such a system is provided with a plurality of on-road stations installed at intervals for projecting spotlight-like beacons onto a road like a street or expressway, to carry out intermittent communications between the mobile station of a vehicle and the roadside communication network when the vehicle passes through a small zone (radio zone) intermittently formed on the road.
Thus, the vehicle obtains its own position information by the intermittent communications which are carried out at the radio zone interval between the mobile station and the on-road station that forms the spotlight-like radio zone and that receives radio waves from the mobile station. Accordingly, the position information obtained by the conventional system is rather inaccurate. As a result, the conventional system cannot offer intelligent information about driving if precise position information about vehicles is required. For example, it is impossible to carry out automatic driving in which the vehicles drive themselves automatically in response to their position information, or platooning driving in which a plurality of vehicles drive themselves in a group, because of the lack of precise position information for controlling the driving.
As another communication system, a method is proposed which provides an uninterrupted message channel between an automobile and a leakage coaxial cable laid along a roadside. Even in this case, a problem still remains in that the position information of the automobile cannot be obtained.