A disposable swimsuit includes a lower piece having a front covering piece and a back covering piece to define two leg openings at two outer edges of the lower piece and a waist opening at two upper edges of the front and back covering pieces. The disposable swimsuit is made of swimwear garment including an outer stretchable layer and a lining layer overlappedly attached to the outer stretchable layer in an edge to edge manner, wherein the outer stretchable layer is made of water resistant material having air ventilating ability and flexibility, wherein the lining layer is made of non-irritant and air ventilating material.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a swimsuit, and more particularly to a disposable swimsuit which can be adjusted to fit the body size of the wearer and is well suited for disposable one-time use for hygiene purpose while being cost effective.
2. Description of Related Arts
Various kinds of swimsuits, such as one-piece swimsuits or bikini swimsuits, are provided in the market not only for outdoor sports, such as swimming, but also for sun bathing, pool party, or enjoying spa. Therefore, it is desirable to have different types of swimsuits for a specific purpose and occasion.
In addition, the user needs a swimsuit for the occasion such as enjoying the spa at friend's house or going to swim in the fitness center after work. Therefore, the user may merely either wear no clothing or purchase another new swimsuit for such occasion. It is worth to mention that the user should wear his or her own swimsuit not only for hygiene purpose but also for fitting his or her body. Even though the swimsuit is washed every time after use, especially for common swimming or bathing area, the swimsuit is not absolutely clean that any germs may still exist on the swimsuit.
Furthermore, swimsuits are made of expandable or elastic material so that the user is able to fittingly wear the swimsuit. If the user wears an unsuited swimsuit, especially for the bikini that the bikini cups should be retained in position to cover the wearer's breasts, the swimsuit may be taken off accidentally during swimming. It is worth to mention that a suitable swimsuit can provide support and shaping to the body of the user for enhancing the aesthetically pleasing appearance.


An outboard engine comprises: a power unit including a body structure, an engine (10) disposed in an upper portion of the body structure, a propeller shaft (25) supported for rotation on a lower portion of the body structure so as to be driven by the engine (10), and a cowling (5) detachably attached to the body structure so as to cover the engine (10) from above and to defining a part of an engine room (6). A tilt bracket (35) connected to the body structure of the power unit is connected pivotally to a stern bracket (36) clamped to a boat by a tilt shaft (37). The cowling (5) is provided integrally with a tilt handle (80) to be gripped by hand when tilting the power unit, and an air inlet structure (70) through which air is introduced into the engine room (6).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an outboard engine detachably clamped to the transom of a boat to propel the boat.
2. Description of the Related Art
An outboard engine has a cowling defining an engine room or space and provided with a tilt handle that is used for tilting a power unit of the outboard engine on a tilt shaft. Generally, the tilt handle is formed so that the fingers of a hand gripping the tilt handle extend through an opening formed in the cowling into the engine room. This opening is used as an air inlet opening.
An outboard engine disclosed in JP-U No. Sho 59-75398 has a cowling provided with a tilt handle and an air inlet opening. In this prior art outboard engine, either the tilt handle or an air inlet duct is formed integrally with the cowling and the other of the tilt handle or the air inlet duct is fastened to the cowling with screws. Thus either the tilt handle or the air inlet duct, is formed separately from the cowling and must be fastened to the cowling with screws. Therefore, the manufacture of the outboard engine needs many man-hours for making its component parts and assembling the same, which increases the manufacturing cost of the outboard engine.
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem and it is there for an object of the present invention, to provide an outboard engine including a cowling integrally provided with a tilt handle and an air inlet structure, which is not require many man-hours for making separate component parts and assembling the same, and which is capable of being manufactured at a low manufacturing cost.
According to a one aspect of the present invention, an outboard engine comprises: a power unit including a body structure, an engine disposed on an upper portion of the body structure, a propeller shaft supported for rotation on a lower portion of the body structure so as to be driven by the engine, and a cowling detachably joined to the body structure so as to cover the engine from above and to define a part of an engine room; a tilt bracket connected to the body structure of the power unit; a stern bracket to be clamped to a boat; and a tilt shaft pivotally connecting the tilt bracket to the stern bracket; wherein the cowling is provided integrally with a tilt handle to be gripped by hand when tilting the power unit, and an air inlet structure.
Formation of the tilt handle and the air inlet structure integrally with the cowling reduces man-hours for making the component parts and assembling the same, and thus also reduces the manufacturing cost.
Preferably, the cowling of the outboard engine according to the present invention has the shape of an inverted bowl having a substantially horizontal top wall and a side wall, an outer opening of the air inlet structure is formed in an upper rear portion of the side wall, a wall is extended substantially horizontally from an upper brim of the opening into a space defined by the cowling to form a horizontal handgrip, and the tilt handle includes a rear end portion of the substantially horizontal top wall, an upper rear end portion of the side wall, extending over the outer opening, and the horizontal handgrip. The tilt handle thus formed has a sufficiently high rigidity.
Preferably, the air inlet structure includes a horizontal tube having walls substantially horizontally extending from a lower brim and opposite side brims of the outer opening formed in the side wall of the cowling into the engine room defined by the cowling, and the horizontal handgrip that serves as an upper wall of the horizontal tube. An inner end portion of the lower wall of horizontal tube is bent upward in a vertical wall having an upper edge on a level lower than that of the horizontal handgrip to define an inner opening of the air inlet structure together with the horizontal handgrip.
Air flows through the outer opening formed in the rear portion of the cowling through the horizontal tube into the engine room. Since the inner end portion of the lower wall of the horizontal tube is bent upward to form the vertical wall, water that enters the horizontal tube together with air is stopped by the vertical wall so that the water can be-separated from the air to some extent.
Preferably, a vertical tube is extended substantially vertically downward from the inner end of the horizontal tube, the air inlet structure includes the horizontal tube and the vertical tube, the upper surface of the engine is covered with a covering member having a bottom wall and a side wall and defining a cavity opening upward, and the lower end of the vertical tube opens into the cavity defined by the covering member.
Even if water which has entered the horizontal tube through the outer opening formed in the cowl flows beyond the vertical wall into the vertical tube, the water flows through the lower open end of the vertical tube into the cavity of the covering member and does not spread in the engine room.
Preferably, the covering member is provided in its bottom wall with drain holes to drain water collected in the cavity of the covering member outside the engine room.
Preferably, the covering member serves also as a belt cover for covering a timing belt, and the drain holes are formed in portions of the covering member near the tilt shaft and drain pipes extending outside from the engine room are connected to the drain holes. The use of the covering member also as a belt cover reduces the number of component parts, and the water collected in the covering member can be surely drained outside the engine room when the outboard engine is in either a tilted-up state or a steering state because the drain holes are formed at positions facing toward the tilt shaft.


Embodiments of processors, methods, and systems for a processor core supporting a heterogenous system instruction set architecture are described. In an embodiment, a processor includes an instruction decoder and an exception generation circuit. The exception generation circuit is to, in response to the instruction decoder receiving an unsupported instruction, generate an exception and report an instruction classification value of the unsupported instruction.

A computer system may include multiple processors and/or processor cores, each having an instruction set architecture (ISA) according to which it executes instructions issued or provided to it and/or the system by software, including application and/or user-level software, system software (e.g., an operating system (OS), virtual machine monitor (VMM), hypervisor, etc.), and/or any other software, program, code, etc.
A processor and/or processor core may generate an exception, sometimes referred to as an undefined operation code (opcode) exception, invalid opcode fault, and/or #UD, in response to a core decoding, attempting to decode, or otherwise receiving an instruction that is not in its ISA.

Processor core supporting a heterogeneous system instruction set architecture


An automated employee selection system can use a variety of techniques to provide information for assisting in selection of employees. For example, pre-hire and post-hire information can be collected electronically and used to build an artificial-intelligence based model. The model can then be used to predict a desired job performance criterion (e.g., tenure, number of accidents, sales level, or the like) for new applicants. A wide variety of features can be supported, such as electronic reporting. Pre-hire information identified as ineffective can be removed from a collected pre-hire information. For example, ineffective questions can be identified and removed from a job application. New items can be added and their effectiveness tested. As a result, a system can exhibit adaptive learning and maintain or increase effectiveness even under changing conditions.

Organizations can spend considerable time and effort identifying and hiring suitable employees. Good help is hard to find. Despite their best efforts, organizations still often meet with failure and simply accept high turnover and poor employee performance.
A variety of approaches to finding and hiring employees have been tried. A well-known tool for employee selection is the job application. Job applications help identify a job applicant's qualifications, such as educational background, job history, skills, and experience.
An employer typically collects a set of job applications from applicants who drop by an employer work site or appear at a job fair. Someone in the organization then reviews the applications to determine which applicants merit further investigation. Then, a job interview, a test, or some other review process is sometimes used to further limit the applicant pool.
With the advent of the electronic age, job applications can be completed electronically. In this way, the delays associated with processing paper can be minimized. However, even electronically-completed job applications can be of questionable merit and still require considerable effort on the part of the hiring organization to review them. A better way of selecting employees is still needed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Electronic employee selection systems and methods


A roller for office automation equipment which does not suffer from impairment of a cross-linking reaction or occurrence of a delay therein, is excellent in permanent set resistance and low-temperature bleedability, and permits achievement of a low hardness. A preferred roller for office automation equipment comprises a base rubber layer, an intermediate layer and a surface layer formed in this sequence on an outer peripheral surface of a shaft, wherein the base rubber layer is formed of a liquid rubber composition containing the following constituents (A) to (D):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a roller for office automation equipment, and, more particularly, to a developing roller, a charging roller, a transfer roller, a paper feed roller, a de-electricity roller, or a fixing roller used in office automation equipment such as a copying machine, a printer, or a facsimile machine.
2. Description of the Art
A roller for office automation equipment having, for example, a base rubber layer formed on an outer periphery of a shaft thereof, and further, an intermediate layer or a surface layer formed on an outer periphery thereof, has long been used. Conventional materials for forming the above-mentioned base rubber layer have included rubber compositions mainly comprising general-purpose kinds of rubber such as ethylene-propylene-diene terpolymer rubber (EPDM), butadiene rubber, isoprene rubber, acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber, and styrene-butadiene rubber.
However, the aforementioned rubber compositions mainly comprising general-purpose kinds of rubber such as EPDM, while being excellent in terms of material cost, have a defect of being inferior in formability because of a large molecular weight and a low fluidity. Attempts have been made to improve formability by mixing oil in a larger quantity so as to achieve a lower viscosity. Sufficient formability has not as yet been achieved, however, and also there is a defect of a deteriorated compressive permanent strain, one of the properties a roller is required to have. To solve these problems, a liquid rubber composition mainly comprising urethane elastomer or a liquid silicone rubber was proposed and has already been industrialized.
The above-mentioned liquid rubber composition mainly comprising silicone rubber is excellent in formability and provides a high compressive permanent strain property. In contrast, it has a disadvantage in material cost in that liquid silicone rubber is very expensive, and also has a low wear resistance. On the other hand, the above-mentioned liquid rubber composition mainly comprising urethane elastomer, while having the advantages of excellent wear resistance, and a lower material cost as compared with the liquid silicone rubber, has the defect of an insufficient compressive permanent strain property when the hardness of the urethane elastomer is reduced.
In view of these problems, the present applicant has proposed a liquid rubber composition which is derived from at least one of butadiene and isoprene, and mainly comprises a liquid rubber having a structural unit (xcex1) having an alkenyl group on a side chain thereof, and contains a hydrosilyl cross-linking agent and a hydrosilylation catalyst, and suggested use of this liquid rubber composition for various components of office automation equipment (Japanese Patent Application No. 11-74487).
However, in order to use the aforementioned liquid rubber composition as a base rubber layer for a roller in office automation equipment, there is a limit in the degree of freedom in material design by a combination of the molecular weight of the liquid rubber and the cross-linking agent, and the selection of additives is also problematic. Therefore, it is difficult to design a material so as to satisfy hardness, permanent set resistance and reaction stability requirements. Particularly, when adding a softening agent to obtain an appropriate softness, selection of a softening agent may impair a cross-linking reaction or may cause a delay. Mutual solubility and saturation property with a polymer may cause premature separation before the cross-linking reaction, or may cause bleeding (soaking) after the cross-linking reaction.
The present invention was developed in view of the above circumstances, and has an object to provide a roller for office automation equipment which does not impair the cross-linking reaction or does not cause a delay, is excellent in permanent set resistance and low-temperature bleedability, and achieves a lower hardness.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, the roller for office automation equipment according to the present invention comprises a shaft and a base rubber layer formed on an outer periphery of the shaft, wherein the base rubber layer is formed of a liquid rubber composition containing the following constituents (A) to (D):
(A) a liquid rubber, derived from at least one of butadiene and isoprene, and having a structural unit (xcex1) having an alkenyl group on the side chain thereof;
(B) a hydrosilyl cross-linking agent;
(C) a hydrosilylation catalyst; and
(D) a mineral oil containing not more than 0.31 wt. % sulfur.
The present inventors carried out extensive studies so as to satisfy requirements of the base rubber layer of the roller for office automation equipment for the liquid rubber composition proposed by the present applicant. In this process, experiments and studies were conducted to prevent occurrence of bleed in the base rubber layer. As a result, findings were obtained to the effect that a mineral oil was preferable to a synthetic oil. In the process of experiments and studies carried out to improve reaction stability and permanent set resistance, attention was given to the fact that, in the cross-linking reaction of the above-mentioned liquid rubber composition, the alkenyl group present in a molecule in the so-called pendant manner, from among structural units of a specific liquid rubber, serves as a cross-linking site and the hydrosilyl cross-linking agent and the hydrosilylation catalyst exert action on this alkenyl group. That is, attention was directed toward the reaction in which the hydrosilylation catalyst (platinum-based catalyst or the like) is coordinated with the alkenyl group of the liquid rubber, and combines with the hydrosilyl group. Since restriction of the alkenyl group is associated with impairment and delay of the cross-linking reaction, experiments were carried out on materials in the mineral oil which restrict the alkenyl group, bringing about the following findings. The presence of sulfur in the mineral oil in an amount of over 0.31 wt. % impairs the cross-linking reaction, leading to deterioration of material preservation, reaction stability and permanent set resistance. On the basis of these findings, the present inventors found it possible to achieve the desired object by using a liquid rubber composition containing a specific liquid rubber (constituent A), a hydrosilyl cross-linking agent (constituent B), a hydrosilylation catalyst (constituent C), and a specific mineral oil (constituent D), as a material for forming the base layer of the roller for office automation equipment and developed the present invention.
Particularly, when using a naphthene-based oil or a paraffin-based oil as the mineral oil (constituent D), there are a compositions available excellent in photosensitive drum contamination.

Abstract: (B) a hydrosilyl cross-linking agent;

Abstract: (C) a hydrosilylation catalyst; and


A method for simultaneously processing a workpiece using a plasma and cleaning the reactor in which processing takes place is disclosed. The plasma generated in the reactor performs simultaneous workpiece processing and reactor cleaning. Reactor cleaning may be accomplished by directing a portion of the plasma at an inner surface of the reactor such as by a power source auxiliary to that used to produce the processing plasma. An apparatus for carrying out a method for simultaneously processing a workpiece with a plasma and cleaning a reactor of etch residues generated from processing is disclosed.

Field of the Invention
Solid state devices and integrated circuits are now routinely fabricated with sub-micron or even nanometer scale components. These reductions in scale have led to great improvements in the operating characteristics of solid state devices. However, the small size of the device components has also led to new problems in device fabrication.
Traditionally, liquid etching techniques were used in device manufacture. However, since these techniques are limited to the fabrication of components with lateral dimensions of a micron or greater, they cannot be used for the production of nano-scale devices. Instead, dry etching techniques are now extensively used in the manufacture of solid state devices.
Of these dry etching techniques, plasma enhanced etching ("plasma etching") is very well suited to the fabrication of metal and semiconductor components on the nanometer scale. For this reason, plasma etching has become a commercially valuable technique. Any improvement in the productivity of this process would be a significant breakthrough.
A conventional plasma etching reactor includes a reactor vessel and a means for producing a plasma within the reactor vessel. The plasma may be produced either inductively, e.g., using an inductive RF coil, or capacitively, e.g., using a parallel plate glow discharge reactor.
The conventional steps involved in plasma etching are as follows. A mask is overlaid on an exposed surface of a wafer to be etched, and the wafer, or a batch of wafers, is then placed in the reactor vessel. Etching gases are then introduced into the reactor vessel and a plasma is ignited. During processing, the reactive species in the plasma etch the exposed surface of the metal or dielectric material.
At the molecular level, the etch process is a reaction between the reactive species in the plasma and exposed surface layers of the wafer. This reaction yields etch byproducts: small volatile molecules that desorb from the substrate surface and subsequently diffuse away into the reactor vessel. Most of these volatile byproducts are then pumped out of the reactor vessel. Unfortunately, these volatile byproducts can react with water vapor, oxygen, and organic contaminants that may be present in the reactor vessel and thereby form heavier, less volatile byproducts. In addition, some non-volatile species generated as a result of ion bombardment or sputtering can deposit on the vessel walls.
These heavier byproducts, together with excess coating polymer and various contaminants, can deposit on the inner surfaces of the reactor vessel. Each time a batch of wafers is processed, a fresh layer of byproducts and contaminants deposits on the inner surfaces of the reactor vessel. Eventually, these deposits become thick enough to flake off and detach from the reactor walls. This is a major source of particulate contaminants. These contaminants are very harmful to the fabrication process because they lodge in the mask or on the wafer and produce defects. As the size of the etched features becomes smaller, the effects of the particulate contaminants becomes more pronounced, and the need to eliminate these contaminants becomes more important.
Currently, two cleaning methods are used to remove the deposit buildup on the inner surfaces of the reactor walls: the wet cleaning method and the dry cleaning method.
In the wet cleaning method, the reactor is taken off line, dismantled, and the deposit buildup is physically or chemically removed. This cleaning method has at least two major drawbacks. First, the cleaning may take up to 24 hours in which time no processing can take place. Second, the dismantling, mechanical or chemical cleaning, and reassembling of the reactor are labor-intensive and complicated procedures, and can themselves lead to additional sources of contamination.
In the dry cleaning method, the processing of the wafers is alternated with a "dry clean" run. In the dry clean run, a dummy wafer is placed in the reactor vessel, the reactor is then charged with a mixture of cleaning gasses, and a plasma is ignited. The deposits on the inner surface of the reactor vessel are then chemically removed by reaction with reactive species and ion bombardment in the cleaning gas plasma. The dry clean method also has several major drawbacks. First, to maintain a high level of cleanliness in the reactor, it is preferable to carry out a cleaning run after each batch of wafers is processed. This results in considerable down time in which no productive processing can take place. Second, the gasses used in the cleaning run can be corrosive to some of the reactor vessel components. Third, dry clean species remaining in the chamber after a dry clean run can adversely impact subsequent wafer processing.
For these reasons, there is a real need for a reactor cleaning method that neither interrupts plasma processing nor involves potentially damaging mechanical or chemical processes. The present invention fills both of these needs and greatly improves the productivity of plasma processing reactors.


First threshold corresponding to a large electric current capable of breaking a MOS-FET even if the electric current flows even in a short period is provided for a difference amplifying circuit and second threshold lower than the first threshold is stored in a memory. If a detected electric current value is higher than the first threshold or if a CPU determines that an electric current higher than the second threshold has flowed continuously for a period longer than a predetermined period, the semiconductor switch is switched off.

The present invention relates to an intelligent power switch and a switching apparatus, and more particularly to an intelligent power switch and a switching apparatus for use in an automobile and arranged to selectively supply electric power from a battery to each load.
Hitherto, a multiplicity of switching circuits have been mounted on a vehicle to selectively supply electric power from a battery to each electric units (hereinafter called as "loads") in response to operation of operation switches, such as an ignition key, a light switch, an audio switch and so forth.
FIG. 8 schematically shows the foregoing structure in which a battery 1 is connected to a junction block (J/B) 2. Operation switches SW1, SW2, . . . , disposed on an operation panel 3 are connected to the junction block 2. The junction block 2 has switching circuits corresponding to the number of the operation switches SW1, SW2, . . . . Each switching circuit switches on/off the connection between a power supply line from the battery 1 and each electric wire connected to each load in response to the operation of the operation switches SW1, SW2, . . . .
As a result, the battery power is, through the junction block 2, selectively supplied to each load in response to the operation of the operation switches SW1, SW2, . . . . When, for example, a head light switch is switched on, the junction block 2 turns on a power supply line from the battery 1 and electric wires connected to the head lights 4A and 4B. Thus, electric power is supplied to the head lights 4A and 4B so that the head lights 4A and 4B are turned on.
In addition to the head lights 4A and 4B which are loads to which electric power is directly supplied through the junction block 2, loads, such as motors 5A and 5B for operating the power windows, are supplied with electric power output from the junction block 2 through switching circuits 6A and 6B. The switching operations of the motors 5A and 5B are controlled by operation switches 7A and 7B.
In actuality, the junction block 2 is structured as shown in FIG. 9. The junction block 2 is provided with a plurality of relays L1, L2, L3, . . . . The foregoing relays L1, L2, L3, . . . , are classified into relays, such as the relays L1 and L2, to which the head lights 4A and 4B correspond and the switching operations of which are directly controlled by the operation switches SW1 and SW2 so as to directly supply electric currents to the loads; and the relay L3, the switching operation of which is controlled in accordance with the state of the ignition switch 8.
Among the above-mentioned relays, the relays L1 and L2 are supplied with electric power from the battery through a fusible link (FL) 9 and fuses F1 and F2. As a result, if a high electric current higher than an allowable level flows through a power supply line for establishing the connection between the battery 1 and the junction block 2, the fusible link 9 is fused. If an excess current higher than an allowable level flows in an electric wire (a harness) for establishing the junction block 2 and each load, the fuses F1 and F2 are fused. Thus, the overall body of the power supply line can be protected from smoking or firing, and flow of an excess current to a load can be prevented. Similarly, the relay L3 is supplied with battery power from the battery 1 through the fusible link FL9. Moreover, an output terminal of the relay L3 is connected to each of the loads 5A and 5B through the fuses F3 and F4 and the relays L4 and L5.
Since semiconductor switches having improved performance and low cost can easily be obtained because the technology for manufacturing semiconductors has been developed in recent years, a switching circuit using a semiconductor switch has been suggested to be employed in place of the relays L1, L2, L3, . . . , arranged to be operated by the mechanical contacts.
A switching circuit of the foregoing type is generally provided with a protective function for protecting the semiconductor switch from an excess current and overheat. In a case where an electric current higher than a predetermined level flows in the semiconductor switch or in a case where the semiconductor switch has been heated to a level higher than a predetermined temperature, the semiconductor switch is forcibly switched off so that the semiconductor switch is protected.
FIG. 10 shows an example of a switching circuit using the semiconductor switch of the foregoing type. A switching circuit 11 is connected to the positions of each of the relays L1, L2, . . . , in place of each of the relays L1, L2, . . . . In an example case where the switching circuit 11 is connected in place of the relay L1, a fuse F1 (see FIG. 9) is connected to a power supply terminal 12. A load 4A is connected to an output terminal 13. Moreover, an operation switch SW1 is connected to a control signal input terminal 14. In the case of the switching circuit 11, a control voltage generating portion (not shown) arranged to supply control voltage of, for example 5 V!, supplied from the operation switch SW1 to the control signal input terminal 14 as a switch-on control signal when the operation switch SW1 is switched on and to inhibit supply of the control voltage when the operation switch SW1 is switched off, is actually disposed between the operation switch SW1 and the control signal input terminal 14.
The switching circuit 11 is composed of an n-channel power MOS-FET 15 (hereinafter simply called as a "MOS-FET 15") serving as a main semiconductor switch and a protective circuit 16 for protecting the MOS-FET 15 from an excess current and overheat. The protective circuit 6 forcibly turns the MOS-FET 15 off when the level of the electric current which flows in the MOS-FET 15 or heat generated from the MOS-FET 15 exceeds a predetermined value so as to protect the MOS-FET 15. Note that the switching circuit 11 is structured by one chip.
When a control signal for instructing to switch the switching circuit 11 on is actually supplied from the control signal input terminal 14 (that is, when, for example, voltage of 5 V! is applied to the control signal input terminal 14 as control voltage V.sub.IN), input S of the RS flip-flop 17 is made to be "High" and output Q is made to be "High". Thus, the FET 18 is turned on. As a result, voltage sufficiently high to turn on the MOS-FET 15 is applied to the gate of the MOS-FET 15 so that the MOS-FET 15 is turned on.
Since an excess current flows in the MOS-FET 15 in a case where a load (not shown) connected to the output terminal 13 through an electric wire is short-circuited due to a failure or the like in the above-mentioned on-condition, or in a case where the power supply voltage VB is raised to an excess level, there arises a risk that the MOS-FET 15 may be damaged. Also in a case where the MOS-FET 15 is heated excessively, there arises a risk that the MOS-FET 15 may be broken owning to heat.
Therefore, the switching circuit 11 is structured such that comparators 20 and 21 monitor whether or not the level of the electric current which flows in the MOS-FET 15 and the temperature of the MOS-FET 15 are higher than predetermined levels to forcibly turn the MOS-FET 15 off if the levels are higher than the predetermined levels so as to prevent damage of the MOS-FET 15.
Specifically, source voltage (a voltage level converted by resistor R1 to be in proportion to a source electric current) of the MOS-FET 15 is supplied to a non-inverted input terminal of the comparator 20, while reference voltage Vref generated by a bias generating circuit 22 is supplied to an inversion input terminal. If the source voltage is higher than the reference voltage Vref, positive logic is output.
Voltage level V.sub.T in proportion to the temperature is supplied from a temperature sensor (not shown), disposed adjacent to the MOS-FET 15, to a non-inverted input terminal of the comparator 21, while the reference voltage Vref is supplied to the inverted input terminal of the same. If the temperature voltage V.sub.T is higher than the reference voltage Vref, positive logic is output. Thus, if an excess current flows in the MOS-FET 15 or if the MOS-FET 15 is overheated, a logical summation circuit 23 outputs a logical value of positive logic.
At this time, since the flip-flop 17 is supplied with the positive logic signal from the logical summation circuit 23 to the input R thereof, it outputs negative logic as output Q and positive logic as inverted output Q. As a result, the FET 18 is turned off and the FET 19 is turned on so that the gate of the MOS-FET 15 is not supplied with the control voltage V.sub.IN. Thus, the MOS-FET 15 is turned off. If excess voltage is supplied, the level of power supply voltage V.sub.B is lowered through a zener diode 24A and a diode 24B, and then the power supply voltage V.sub.B is applied to the gate of the MOS-FET 15. Thus, the electric current is allowed to pass through the gate of the MOS-FET 15, and then allowed to flow into the source.
A zener diode 15A provided for the MOS-FET 15 is a parasitic diode of the MOS-FET 15, and a zener diode 25 disposed between the control signal input terminal 14 and the output terminal 13 is arranged to bypass the control signal voltage V.sub.IN if it has been raised to a level higher than a predetermined level.
As a switching circuit using a semiconductor switch, a switching circuit called as "IPS (Intelligent Power Switch)" formed as shown in FIG. 11 has been suggested. The switching circuit 30 has an abnormal-signal output portion 41 for indicating abnormality of the switching circuit 30 in accordance with the output voltage level VOUT from the semiconductor switch.
The abnormal-signal output portion 41 is, as shown in FIG. 8, connected to the abnormal display portion 43 through a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 42 so as to detect forcible switching off of the semiconductor switch 32 because of the protective function of the switching circuit 30, which is operated if excessively high voltage is applied to the semiconductor switch 32 of the switching circuit 30, an excess current flows through the same or the same is overheated, so as to transmit an abnormal signal to the CPU 42. In accordance with the abnormal signal, the CPU 42 detects the switching circuit 30 which has encountered the abnormality, and then causes an abnormal display portion 43 to display a result of the detection.
The structure of the switching circuit 30 having the structure composed of the intelligent power switch will now be described. The switching circuit 30 has a structure similar to that of the switching circuit 11 shown in FIG. 10 except that the switching circuit 30 has the abnormal-signal output portion 41. The switching circuit 30 supplies the power supply voltage VB to the .pi.MOS-FET 32 through the power supply terminal 12 connected to the fusible link 9 (see FIG. 9) and turns on/off the .pi.MOS-FET 32 by a driver 33 thereof.
The switching circuit 30 is provided with an excess voltage detection circuit 34 for detecting a fact that the power supply voltage VB has an excessive voltage level, an electric current detection circuit 35 for detecting an excess current by subjecting the voltage level obtained in accordance with the level of an electric current which flows between the drain and the source of the .pi.MOS-FET 32 and reference voltage Vref supplied from the reference-voltage generating circuit 33A to a comparison so as to detect an excess current, and a temperature detection circuit 36 for detecting overheat of the .pi.MOS-FET 32 by subjecting temperature voltage level V.sub.T obtained from a temperature sensor (not shown) disposed adjacent to the .pi.MOS-FET 32 and the reference voltage Vref to a comparison. Results of detection performed by the detection circuits 34, 35 and 36 are supplied to a negative OR circuit 37. The negative OR circuit 37 is supplied with the control voltage V.sub.IN through an inverter 38.
An output from the negative OR circuit 37 is supplied to the driver 33 and a charge pump 39. The charge pump 39 is operated only when the output from the negative OR circuit 37 is positive logic so as to raise the level of power supply voltage V.sub.DD stabilized by a regulator 40 so as to supply the power supply voltage V.sub.DD to the driver 33. In a case where the output from the negative OR circuit 37 is positive logic, the driver 33 supplies, to the gate of the .pi.MOS-FET 32, control voltage, the level of which turns the .pi.MOS-FET 32 on, and in a case where the output from the negative OR circuit 37 is negative logic, the driver 33 supplies, to the gate of the .pi.MOS-FET 32, control voltage, the level of which turns the .pi.MOS-FET 32 off.
Thus, in the switching circuit 30, similarly to the foregoing switching circuit 11, in a case where excessively high voltage is applied to the .pi.MOS-FET 32, an excess current flows in the .pi.MOS-FET 32 or the .pi.MOS-FET 22 is overheated in a state where the control voltage V.sub.IN is positive logic, the switching operation of the .pi.MOS-FET 32 can be controlled to be switched off. As a result, damage of the .pi.MOS-FET 32 can be prevented.
The switching circuit 30 supplies output voltage V.sub.OUT to the abnormal-signal output portion 41 through an inverter 44. The abnormal-signal output portion 41 has an n-channel MOS-FET 41A. The MOS-FET 41A is turned off when the .pi.MOS-FET 32 has been turned on and thus the level of the output voltage VOUT has been raised. On the other hand, the MOS-FET 41A is turned on when the .pi.MOS-FET 32 has been turned off and thus the level of the output voltage V.sub.OUT has been lowered. A drain terminal 41B of the MOS-FET 41A is pulled up.
Therefore, the CPU 42 (see FIG. 8) is able to determine that the protective function is not operated (that is, no abnormality) in the switching circuit 30 when no potential difference takes place between the drain terminal 41B of the MOS-FET 41A and the source terminal 41C of the same. If a potential difference takes place between the drain terminal 41B and the source terminal 41C, the CPU 42 is able to determine that the protective function is operated (that is, abnormality takes place) in the switching circuit 30.
In each of the foregoing conventional switching circuits 11 and 30 having the protective function, even if a rush current flows when electric power has been supplied to the load, the excess current protective function for protecting the semiconductor switches 15 and 32 is operated. Therefore, there arises a problem in that electric power cannot be supplied to the load when the electric power is supplied.
The foregoing problem will now be described with reference to FIG. 12. FIG. 12 shows change in the electric current level in a semiconductor switch having a rated electric current level of about 10 A!. In a case where a semiconductor switch of the foregoing type is employed, excess current detection threshold Th is, in general, set to about 20 A! (that is, the reference voltage Vref of each of the comparator 20 and the electric current detection circuit 35 is set to a value corresponding to the electric current value of 20 A!). If an electric current, the level of which is higher than the excess current detection threshold Th, flows, the semiconductor switch is switched off.
As a result, the semiconductor switch can be protected from an excess current generated owing to falling of a load, rare short or the like. However, as can be understood from the drawing, at times the rush current will be higher than the excess current detection threshold Th. Therefore, the semiconductor switch is unintentionally switched off when rush current flows.
The semiconductor switch having the rated current level of about 10 A! has a risk that the semiconductor switch is damaged if an electric current of about 20 A! or higher flows continuously attributable to falling of a load or rare short. In general, no damage will occur if the flow takes place in a very short time or if an electric current lower than 80 A! flows. The rush current generally flows for only a short period of time of about one second. Moreover, the level usually is not higher than 80 A!. Therefore, it is unlikely that the semiconductor switch will be damaged by the rush current. As a result, it can be considered that the structure in which the semiconductor switch is switched off by the rush current is not necessary in view of protecting the semiconductor switch.

Intelligent power switch and switching apparatus


A method of decoding encoded information is presented where one or more sensors are controlled to periodically check for motion of a movable component of a drug delivery device having encoded information thereon. If motion of the movable component is detected, preventing a first encoded information reading and decoding process from being performed, when motion of the movable component is not detected, performing the first encoded information reading and decoding process.

Pen type drug delivery devices have application where regular injection by persons without formal medical training occurs. This is increasingly common among patients having diabetes where self-treatment enables such patients to conduct effective management of their diabetes.
For good or perfect glycemic control, the dose of insulin or insulin glargine has to be adjusted for each individual in accordance with a blood glucose level to be achieved. The present invention relates to decoding systems for injectors, for example hand-held injectors, especially pen-type injectors, that is to injectors of the kind that provide for administration by injection of medicinal products from a multidose cartridge.
A user undertaking self-administration of insulin will commonly need to administer between 1 and 80 International Units. A user is also required to record their dosage history. The dosage history is an important factor in calculating future doses. The dose dialled into or dispensed from the injection device may be recorded electronically. Since such devices are generally portable and have a limited power source, power conservation is an important concern.

Pen-type drug injection device with optical dose encoding and decoding system


A molecular arrangement magnetic treatment apparatus and method includes an apparatus including a material passageway configured for having material flow therethrough. At least one pair of magnets are provided oriented such that material in the material passageway passes through a magnetic field effect produced by the at least one pair of magnets, where the at least one pair of magnets is oriented such that a north pole of a first magnet of the at least one pair of magnets is adjacent a south pole of a second magnet of the at least one pair of magnets and a south pole of the first magnet is adjacent a north pole of the second magnet, where the poles of the first magnet provide a first resultant magnetic field and the poles of the second magnet provide a second resultant magnetic field, where the first and second resultant magnetic fields jointly define the magnetic field effect and where the first and second magnets are each movable such that relative alignment of the first magnet with respect to the second magnet is dictated by interaction of the first and second resultant magnetic fields.

The disposal of waste is a vexing problem involving the tension between disposing of one type of waste and creating an even more toxic waste in its place. By way of example only and not by limitation, the prior art techniques for disposing of household and industrial wastes include a wide variety of prior art "solutions" ranging from simply burying the waste to attempts to change the waste from one form to another as by incineration. Burying the waste may get it out of sight and out of mind for a time but it does not actually dispose of the waste and results most often in long term health hazards caused by the leaching of waste residue and by products into underground water systems, for one example only.
Incineration of waste material has long been a preferred waste material treatment since it greatly reduces the mass of waste material to be handled thereafter. Unfortunately, the end product of the prior art incineration systems is often the most toxic materials known to man, including, for example only, dioxin. This is a particularly vexing problem for incineration systems where the waste is diverse in makeup and ranges from apple cores to mattresses to baby diapers.
Thus, there is a need in the art for an apparatus and method for treating waste materials such that the disposal of waste reduces the waste itself as well as prevents the creation of even more toxic waste as an end product. It, therefore, is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus and method for employing a non reactive molecular arrangement in treating material that is easy to use and inexpensive in comparison to the benefit derived from its use and that effectively reduces the treated material from a potentially toxic nightmare to a harmless and easily controlled residue.

Molecular arrangement magnetic treatment apparatus and method


Conductive ink compositions which can be cured to highly conductive metal traces by means of “chemical welding” include additives which reduce the curing temperatures for use with low-temperature substrates. Conductive ink compositions can be deposited on a substrate coated with a cure temperature reducing agent to reduce the curing temperatures.

Materials for printing electrical circuits on electrical conductor substrates are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,882,722, 6,036,889, 6,143,356 and 6,379,745, the entire disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference, and are known as PARMOD® materials. PARMOD® materials have been developed for printing conductive circuits on polymer or paper substrates such as those used for printed wiring boards, flexible circuits and RFID antennae. Using PARMOD® materials and a simple print-and-heat process for "chemical welding" of pure metals, electrical conductors made of a single-phase continuous well-bonded metal trace are produced, rather than conductors made of individual particles that may be in adventitious contact with each other, as are found in polymer thick film containing materials. PARMOD® materials provide a desirable alternative to the conventional polymer thick film compositions that are cured at high temperatures onto ceramic or glass based substrates. PARMOD® materials are cured at temperatures which polymer and paper based substrates can withstand, and provide electrical conductivity comparable to the pure metal and at least a factor of five greater than most known polymer thick films.
PARMOD® compositions have been printed on polyimide films coated with various adhesive layers and thermally cured to create flexible printed circuits. Suitable substrates are: KAPTON® type FN with a FEP TEFLON® coating; KAPTON types KJ and LJ with low melting polyimide coatings; and polyimide substrates with a polyamic acid coating. PARMOD® compositions have been printed directly on certain grades of FR-4 epoxy-glass laminates and thermally cured to produce well-bonded rigid printed circuits.
However, a significant problem in the manufacture of PARMOD® products is that thermal treatment of PARMOD® materials can damage low-temperature substrates such as polymer or paper, and cause mechanical and dimensional instability to the printed circuits. For example, the cure temperature for "chemically welding" PARMOD® silver into circuit traces is 200° C. This curing temperature limits the choice of substrates to those with high thermal resistance, such as polyimides and epoxies. Many polymer and paper substrates cannot be processed at these temperatures.
Although low temperature sintering of metal toners has been observed on certain substrates, see, e.g., WO 01/45935, specific temperature lowering additives to promote low temperature sintering have not heretofor been defined or shown to be advantageous in the manufacture of conductive ink compositions.
Thus, there is a need for PARMOD® methods and compositions such as inks which have a minimum cure temperature that is compatible with substrates of commercial interest and which still retain the highly conductive properties of the PARMOD® materials.

High conductivity inks with low minimum curing temperatures


A bill acceptor includes a main body attached with a bill box at the back side, a transmission mechanism for carrying a bill or license into a passage in the main body for examination by a recognition unit inside the main body and returning the rejected bill or examined license and carrying the examined bill to the bill box, and a face panel, which is fastened to the front side of the main body and has an insertion slot for the insertion of a bill/license into the passage and a finger guide portion disposed at one lateral side of the insertion slot for the insertion of a finger to bias a jammed license out of the insertion slot.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a bill acceptor for use in an automatic vending machine and more specifically, to a design of face panel for bill acceptor that has a finger guide portion for the insertion of a finger to bias a jammed license out of the insertion slot.
2. Description of the Related Art
Following fast development of technology, our mode of living has been changed, and everything requires efficiency, time saving and quickness. In consequence, different automatic vending machines are used everywhere to sell different products without serviceman. These automatic vending machines are highly invited for the advantage of saving much labor and bringing convenience to people. Nowadays, Q-shops are seen in many places to provide different services to consumers. A Q-shop has the advantages of scientific intelligence, quick service and quick finish of payment. A Q-shop may provide automatic vending machines for vending drinks, cigarettes, tickets, ice creams, memorial coins, key rings, or even hamburgers and noodles. Further, many virtual shops are established to make online shopping, allowing shoppers to shop across millions of products.
However, regular vending machines do not limit the sales to any person of any age. Therefore, regular vending machines commonly sell popular goods such as fruit juice, beverages, carbonated beverages, food, etc. These vending machines cannot sell age-controlled merchandises, such as cigarettes or alcohol drinks, or other controlled merchandises, such as drugs, strong acid/alkaline detergent or other hazardous items. To prohibit young children from buying age-controlled merchandises or unqualified people from buying controlled items, a vending machine for vending age-controlled or controlled merchandises must be equipped with a license recognition device to recognize the age and identity of the user. Before insertion of a bill into the insertion slot on the face panel of the machine, the user must insert a license (driver's license, ID card, insurance card, etc.) into the same insertion slot for enabling the license recognition device to recognize the age and identity of the user. After the age (for example, over 18 years old) and identity of the user has been checked, the user is allowed to insert a bill into the insertion slot to make a trade.
When inserting a bill or license into the insertion slot of the machine, the bill or license must be kept a smooth condition. When inserting a wrinkled bill or license, the bill or license will be rejected by the vending machine. Further, because there are differences in length, if the power supply or vending machine fails upon insertion of a bill or license into the insertion slot of a vending machine, the inserted bill or license may be jammed inside the insertion slot and cannot be retrieved directly, complicating the maintenance work. A push-push mechanism may be installed in the insertion slot to eliminate this problem. When a bill or license is jammed in the insertion slot or the front side of the transmission mechanism, the push-push mechanism can be operated to return the inserted bill or license. However, because the width of the insertion slot is simply slightly greater than the width of the acceptable bill, there is no room for the push-push mechanism, and therefore the push-push mechanism must be installed in the bill passage. In order to accommodate the push-push mechanism, the bill passage must be widened. However, widening the bill passage may complicate the alignment of the inserted bill or license and relatively lower the security level of the machine. Further, because the push-push mechanism has a complicated structure comprised of a number of component parts, the installation of the push-push mechanism greatly increases the cost of the vending machine.
Further, when inserting a bill or license into the insertion slot of a vending machine, the user must aim the bill or license at the insertion slot accurately. During the daylight or under a bright environment, it is easy to aim a bill or license at the insertion slot of a vending machine and then to insert the bill or license into the insertion slot accurately. However, it is inconvenient to smoothen a wrinkled bill or license and then to insert the bill or license into the insertion slot of a vending machine during the night or under a dim environment.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an automatic vending machine that eliminates the aforesaid problems.

International Currency Technologies Corporation


The claimed subject matter provides a system and/or method that facilitates expanding upon an existing universal serial bus (USB). A base component can include a USB host to provide connectivity to at least one device. An expansion module can physically connect in a vertical position to a backside of the base component to provide a replication of the USB host which can allow a device to connect therewith.

Due to advances in computing technology, businesses today are able to operate more efficiently when compared to substantially similar businesses only a few years ago. For example, internal networking enables employees of a company to communicate instantaneously by email, quickly transfer data files to disparate employees, manipulate data files, share data relevant to a project to reduce duplications in work product, etc. Furthermore, advancements in technology have enabled factory applications to become partially or completely automated. For instance, operations that once required workers to put themselves proximate to heavy machinery and other various hazardous conditions can now be completed at a safe distance therefrom.
Further, imperfections associated with human action have been minimized through employment of highly precise machines. Many of these factory devices supply data related to manufacturing to databases or web services referencing databases that are accessible by system/process/project managers on a factory floor. For instance, sensors and associated software can detect a number of instances that a particular machine has completed an operation given a defined amount of time. Further, data from sensors can be delivered to a processing unit related to system alarms. Thus, a factory automation system can review collected data and automatically and/or semi-automatically schedule maintenance of a device, replacement of a device, and other various procedures that relate to automating a process.
To quickly and easily effectuate control of a system or process within industrial automation environments, equipment manufacturers typically create specialized human-machine interfaces (HMIs) and/or panels that are employed by operators to deliver commands to industrial systems/processes and/or receive data from industrial systems/processes. In other words, HMIs and/or panels provide an essential communication link between operators and automation devices, wherein such HMIs and/or panels enable operators to, among other things, implement and control devices and receive feedback by monitoring device status and health during operation. Without these interfaces, high-level industrial automation would be difficult if not impossible to achieve.
Over time, HMIs and/or panels have undergone several and drastic changes. For instance, a push-button that commissions and de-commissions a machine is a simplest form of a HMI, and these interfaces have been existent for several years. Terminals were later designed that displayed text messages to end users, wherein such messages are indicative of a process performed by a server or processor associated with an automation device. Typically, HMIs and/or panels utilize various expansion models/techniques that utilize some disparate and/or unique connection, wherein such connections can be costly, and inefficient. Moreover, such expansion models/techniques can be oversized, large, and cumbersome.


The present invention relates to a charging member. The charging member comprises an electro-conductive substrate and an electro-conductive surface layer, wherein the surface layer includes a binder resin, an electro-conductive particle dispersed in the binder resin, and a resin particle that roughens the surface of the surface layer; the surface layer has a plurality of protrusions each derived from the resin particle in the surface thereof; the resin particle that forms the protrusion has a pore inside thereof; has a porosity Vt of porosity is 2.5% by volume or less as a whole; and has a region whose porosity V11 is from 5% by volume to 20% by volume, wherein the region is farthest away from the electro-conductive substrate in the resin particle, and assuming that the resin particle is a solid particle having no pores, the region corresponds to a 11% by volume-occupying region of the solid particle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charging member for charging the surface of an electrophotographic photosensitive member as a member to be charged up to a predetermined potential by applying voltage to the charging member, and a process cartridge and electrophotographic image forming apparatus (hereinafter referred to as an "electrophotographic apparatus") using the charging member.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrophotographic apparatus using electrophotography mainly includes an electrophotographic photosensitive member, a charging apparatus, an exposure apparatus, a developing apparatus, a transfer apparatus, a cleaning apparatus, and a fixing apparatus. For the charging apparatus, contact charging apparatuses are often used which apply voltage (voltage of only DC voltage or voltage of AC voltage superimposed onto DC voltage) to the charging member disposed in contact with or in the vicinity of the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member to charge the surface of the electrophotographic photosensitive member.
For more stable charging of the electrophotographic photosensitive member by contact charging, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-316112 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-175427 disclose charging members for contact charging including a surface layer having a protrusion derived from a resin particle or the like in the surface of the surface layer. Use of such a charging member leads to more stable charging of the electrophotographic photosensitive member. As a result, unevenness in an electrophotographic image, that is, horizontal streaks, which may be produced due to ununiform charging of the electrophotographic photosensitive member, can be suppressed.
The reason of stable charging of the electrophotographic photosensitive member by using the charging member having the protrusions formed in the surface thereof leads is presumed that protrusions form slight gaps in a nip between the charging member and the electrophotographic photosensitive member, and discharge occurs in the gaps (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-276026).

Charging member, process cartridge and electrophotographic apparatus


A method for obtaining a residual electric quantity of a battery in an electronic device includes: obtaining a present electric quantity variation of a battery within a present detection period; obtaining a maximum discharge electric quantity of the battery corresponding to a number of charging and discharging within the present detection period; and obtaining a present residual electric quantity of the battery based on the maximum discharge electric quantity and the present electric quantity variation.

As the size of an electronic device increases, electric quantity consumption of the electronic device also increases. Therefore, a residual electric quantity of a battery for most electronic devices at a present moment is generally displayed for convenience of a user. At present, the methods for calculating the residual electric quantity of the battery in the related art may include a Coulombmeter method and an impedance track method.
In the Coulombmeter method, a charging and discharging current is detected by a sensing resistor, and an electric quantity flowing into the battery is determined as a battery capacity. Then the residual electric quantity of the battery is obtained by subtracting a discharge electric quantity battery from the battery capacity.
In the impedance track method, an impedance of the battery is represented by Ra=(Uocv−U)/I when the battery discharges, where Uocv may be found from an OCV curve, and U represents a voltage of the battery in a normal circuit under load. Then, an attenuation rate of a Qmax (maximum discharge capacity) is determined by an average change rate of Ra in an SOC (State of Charge) with a same current between a current discharging and a previous discharging.
However, the above methods for calculating the residual electric quantity of the battery do not take into account that the Qmax in the battery may decrease continuously due to the increase of dead lithium and consumption of electrolyte, thereby causing an inaccurate calculation of the residual electric quantity and reducing user experiences.

Method and apparatus for obtaining residual electric quantity, electronic device, and storage medium

BEIJING XIAOMI MOBILE SOFTWARE CO., LTD.


A method for removing a weld crown from a weld joint between first and second work pieces includes steps of positioning a rotary milling tool proximate to the joint and at an offset angle to set a cutting arc relative to the joint. The milling tool is positioned so the cutting arc intersects the weld crown, weld toes, and parent metal on each side of the weld joint. As the milling tool traverses the joint to cut away the weld crown, the milling tool may tilt from side to side to compensate for misalignment between the work pieces along the weld joint. An apparatus for weld crown removal holds a milling tool at an offset angle, and provides a tracking mechanism to permit the milling tool to track misalignment between the work pieces, maintaining the cutting arc in intersection with the weld toes and parent metal along the weld joint.

It is well known in the art to join adjacent metallic work pieces by welding the adjacent work pieces together along a weld seam. For example, pipe lines or pipe systems are fabricated by welding the ends of lengths of pipe together. Typically, the ends of the pipe lengths are beveled, or otherwise prepared ("prepped"), brought into contact or close proximity with each other, and welded together by running a weld bead around the prepped end portions. The finished weld bead generally has a crown portion or profile that extends outward from the peripheral surfaces of the ends of the pipes. It is often desirable, and in some cases necessary, to remove this weld crown so that the welded joint is finished to a smooth outer surface.
Various tools have been employed for the removal of a weld crown from a welded work piece or product. A weld crown is often removed from a weld seam by grinding, typically performed manually using a grinding tool. In processes of pipe fabrication, weld removal may be performed by a specialized tool, such as a portable lathe.
A portable lathe typically employed in pipe fabrication comprises a stationary "clamshell" power unit adapted for fitting about a pipe, the portable lathe having a rotatable cutting ring and a tool holder to attach a cutting tool to the cutting ring. The portable lathe is attached about one of the pipes adjacent to the weld joint, and the cutting tool is rotated about the pipe to remove the weld crown. Generally, the cutting tool is a single point cutting tool that cuts the weld crown in a narrow circumferential path around the pipe, the cutting tool circling about the pipe axis while it is advanced axially to remove the weld crown.
While a portable lathe is effective in removing a weld crown, the portable lathe may create stress risers that run circumferentially around the pipe in the cutting direction of the cutting tool. While the smoothed surface of the weld joint, due to the removal of the weld crown, generally results in a weld joint of greater strength or fatigue life than a weld joint with the weld crown left intact, the circumferential stress risers are considered to limit the strength or fatigue life of the weld joint and limit optimal strength or fatigue life from being reached in such a finished weld joint.
Other techniques have been used, in other environments, for removing a weld bead. For example, Japanese patent application disclosure Hei 6-39431 published Feb. 15, 1994 describes a method of manufacturing spiral steel pipe wherein, during the course of manufacturing the spiral steel pipe, a weld bead crown is cut away using a milling cutter.
It has been discovered that the fatigue life of a welded joint between pipe sections is significantly increased if the weld crown is removed along with a small amount of the parent metal along each side of the weld joint.
In an evaluation of a weld test coupon, using 32 inch diameter, 70-90,000 PSI tensile strength pipe, the grinding of the weld crown to remove the weld crown along with a small amount of the parent metal along each side of the weld joint, followed by polishing the surface of the weld joint, resulted in a three to four times improvement in the fatigue life of the weld joint by comparison to a weld test coupon on which the weld crown was not removed.
Thus, the formation of a contoured, profiled surface along the weld joint (a weld profile) that includes the removal of a small amount of the parent metal along each side of the weld joint, rather than simply removing the weld crown, is desirable to achieve an increase in the quality of the weld joint, and in particular to improve the fatigue life of the weld joint.
However, a manual process of grinding the weld crown, along with subsequent polishing, is tedious, time consuming, and costly. Moreover, such a manual process may lack precision, resulting in non-uniformity of a completed weld profile, characterized by insufficient or excessive removal of material.
An insufficient removal of material may fail to produce the desired weld joint quality, by inadequately extending the weld profile contour into the parent metal alongside the weld joint. An excessive removal of material may result in damage to the work product, by reducing the thickness of the pipe wall below a critical or minimum value. Also, heat generated by the grinder may itself contribute to strength degradation of the work product, based on metallurgical considerations.
A further difficulty in the task of creating a finished weld profile is introduced by any misalignment between adjoining work pieces, including a misalignment caused by dissimilar, ovoid or out-of-round pipe segments.


The connector includes a body, a resilient locking arm provided on the body and with a locking projection at its free end which engages in a connection hole in a panel to lock the connector to the panel, and a lock-up detector. The lock-up detector is provided in a preliminarily engaged state between the locking arm and the body prior to the fitting of the connector to the panel with a length thereof protruded more than the locking projection. When the connector is completely locked to the panel, the lock-up detector is released from the preliminarily engaged state and becomes insertable by a push from the opposite side of the panel to the connector. This enables confirmation of whether a connector attached to the end of a wire harness is completely fitted to a panel, e.g., at a door portion of an automobile from outside the panel and improves the reliability of a connector as a product.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to connectors for use in vehicles for interconnecting wire harnesses disposed at door portions, etc. of an automobile and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIGS. 9 and 10 show a conventional structure for interconnecting wire harnesses at automotive door portions by using connectors.
More specifically, at the area where a door b is hingedly fitted to a vehicle body a, connectors cl are attached to the end of a wire harness W on the side of the vehicle body a and fitted in and supported by a connector holder h fixed to a vehicle body side panel P. Extended from inside the door b through a grommetted hole G formed in a door panel P' is a wire harness W' to the end of which are attached connectors c2. The connectors c2 are introduced inside the panel P through a connection hole s formed in the panel P and a grommet i covering the hole so as to be coupled to the connectors c1.
With the above conventional structure, however, it is difficult to confirm from outside, at the time of coupling the connectors c1 and c2, whether or not the connectors c1 are completely fixed to the panel P. In addition, the coupling between the connectors c1 and c2 is apt to get loosened under external forces such as vibrations, lowering the reliability of the product.
Shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 is another example of conventional connector used for interconnecting wire harnesses at automotive door portions. A connector d attached to the end of a door side wire harness k as shown in FIG. 15 is coupled with a vehicle body side connector e to connect the wire hareness k with that on the vehicle body side.
The connector d includes a resilient locking arm f formed with a locking projection f1 which serves to lock together the connector d and its mating connector. Inside the space under the locking arm f is arranged a lock-up detector h for confirming whether or not the locking projection f1 completely engages an associated engagement portion g on the mating connector. The lock-up detector h is forwardly movable on completion of the locking by the resilient locking arm f.
The connector d is covered with a waterproof protecting grommet j from its rear side. Consequently, it is required, on completion of the coupling of the connector d with the vehicle body side connector e, that the lock-up detector h be operated from outside the grommet j. As a result, it cannot be directly ascertained by eyes whether or not the lock-up detector h is completely operated.


The locking arrangement consists of key a and lock cylinder with a guide cross section provided on the rear of the key shank and with profiled longitudinal ribs arranged on the broad face for entry into associated grooves of the lock cylinder key channel. Transversely to the profiled longitudinal ribs, there are provided wards which issue from one narrow edge of the key shank and, in their depth, follow the unit or multiple of the step jump (x) of the lock cylinder core pins. At least the lower rib flank facing the narrow edge of the key shank is perpendicular to the longitudinal center plane of the key shank and the distance of the lower rib flanks from one another is equal. The lower rib flanks are arranged at a distance from one another corresponding to the unit or integral multiple of the step jump (x) and in such a way that the deepest points of the wards are at the level of the lower rib flanks which externally pass tangentially into convexly shaped curved end faces which run tangentially into the upper rib flanks.

The present invention relates to a locking arrangement consisting of key and lock cylinder with a guide cross section provided on the rear of the key shank and with profiled longitudinal ribs arranged on the broad face for entry into associated grooves of the lock cylinder key channel. Transversely to the profiled longitudinal ribs, there are provided wards which issue from one key shank narrow edge and, in their depth, follow the unit or multiple of the step jump of the lock cylinder core pins, wherein the lower rib flank facing the key shank narrow edge is perpendicular to the key shank longitudinal center plane and the distance of the lower rib flanks from one another is equal.
DE-AS 1 030 727 discloses a key for lock cylinders wherein the key profile is designed to allow a maximum number of profile variations. The profiled longitudinal ribs have different cross sections. They can be in the form of rectangles or saw teeth. The lower rib flank facing the key shank narrow edge extends perpendicularly to the key shank longitudinal center plane both with a rectangular and a sawtooth-type profile cross section of the longitudinal ribs. The profiled longitudinal ribs may be of interest in locking mechanisms. However, it has been found disadvantageous when machining the notch-like wards on the key shank narrow side that, because of the variable profiled longitudinal ribs and profiled longitudinal grooves, very sharp residual profiles generally remain on the broad sides of the key, on which the key user can injure himself. This can also cause these keys to become caught in jacket and trouser pockets and to tear them when the key is removed.

Locking arrangement consisting of key and lock cylinder


A pack with a variety of panels which can be deployed. A mid-panel is defined on the fabric housing. A head panel is attached to the mid-panel adapted to be folded and contained over the mid-panel. A leg panel is attached to the mid-panel adapted to be folded and contained over the mid-panel. The top finger loop is attached to the head panel and extends from the top. A bottom finger loop is attached to the leg panel extending from the bottom. Upon pulling the top finger loop and the bottom finger loop, the head panel and the leg panel, respectively, can be deployed from the fabric housing. A chest strap is deployable using an upper side finger loop. A waist strap is deployable using a lower side finger loop. The instant pack includes semi-rigid body boards contained over the mid-panel to add rigidity and enhance safety.

Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to back packs. Particularly, described is a pack device which is configurable into a variety of transport uses including an evacuation device to address and handle casualty events.
Description of the Related Art
Convertible back packs are known in the art. A convertible pack is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 4,331,272 to Ward wherein a back pack is formed from a folded sheet of fabric with the sheet constituting the floor of a tent. U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,621 to Casull shows a portable, inflatable floatation device for use as a back pack frame to maintain a standard backpack for hiking, with the frame being convertible into a floatation device and outrigger pontoon. U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,088 to Maclean teaches a combination back pack and chair.
The prior art teaches a variety of dual-function packs. U.S. Pat. No. 8,789,730 shows a backpack deployable as a stretcher. U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,812 is a combination backpack and cot. U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,121 is a game towing device/hoist.
Drawbacks in prior pack systems exist in as much as their functions are limited strictly to the traditional pack function and perhaps one or two other uses. They are not multi-functional. Moreover, most systems are not specifically suitable to be deployed as a safe, back and neck-supporting stretcher so although the fabric can be deployed and lengthened to support a lying individual, the positioning and mobility of the injured can be dangerous, especially while in motion, and even more so when it is critical the injured or fallen be moved rapidly as in the case of a hostile environment. Thus, the instant invention satisfies this and various other needs by employing various means for releasing components from the pack, with some of the components being semi-rigid but still concealable when not in use.


A method may include generating a user interface (UI) to facilitate interaction with a risk management system. The UI may include a first element indicating a rule used by the risk management system to manage risk for a client, a second element indicating effectiveness of the rule, and a third element invocable to modify the rule. The method may also include monitoring activity of the client to determine whether the activity of the client shifts the client into a different category of client; determining that the client is shifted into the different category; based on the shift, modifying the second element to include a recommended modification to the rule; and in response to receiving an interaction with the second element, applying the recommended modification to the rule.

Some systems provide functionality and expertise that is desirable to other systems. However, access to such systems may be limited.
The subject matter claimed in the present disclosure is not limited to embodiments that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some embodiments described in the present disclosure may be practiced.


A method, system, and computer program product are provided for selectively discarding packets in a network device. The method includes receiving an upstream bandwidth saturation indicator for a queue in the network device, and identifying one or more codecs employed in packets in the queue when the upstream bandwidth saturation indicator indicates saturation. The method further includes determining a packet discarding policy based on the one or more codecs, and discarding packets in accordance with the packet discarding policy.

The present disclosure relates generally to communication networks, and, in particular, to methods, systems, and computer program products for selectively discarding packets.
In many streaming-content applications through a network, such as streaming audio and/or video, the most important aspect of performance is real-time delivery. Timely delivery of streaming content is particularly vital in interactive communications, e.g., voice over Internet protocol (VoIP). Attempting to support streaming content often leads to congested, unresponsive networks, particularly when a large volume of network traffic is present. In heavy use networks, such as converged data and streaming-content networks, greater congestion typically results in greater latency. As latency increases, data packets can be discarded and streaming content can appear choppy as the streaming content is delayed.
One approach to handling mixed priority network traffic, such as streaming content (real time) and bulk data movement (non-real time), is through Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees. A network device, such as a router or switch, supporting QoS typically employs seven levels of priority and a bulk level of priority, queuing up traffic into different queues based on priority. As packets of network traffic arrive, the packets are prioritized and placed in corresponding priority queues. Time-sensitive data packets, such as streaming content, are typically placed into one or more higher priority queues, while general data and file transfer packets are placed into one or more lower priority queues. The queues are serviced in descending priority based on the available upstream bandwidth. The highest priority packets are placed into the upstream first, followed by packets from successively lower priority queues until all of the upstream bandwidth is utilized. However, during periods of heavy network traffic, there may be more high priority (e.g., VoIP) packets queued than can be transmitted, resulting in a saturated condition.
When a saturated condition impedes servicing a queue in a network device, which holds streaming-content packets, the network device may randomly discard packets even though they are of high priority (e.g., contain real-time content). This may result in very unpredictable call quality for VoIP, as some calls can lose several packets, while other calls lose none. Moreover, each packet may include differing amounts of content, resulting in more substantial losses for some callers, e.g., a loss of audio for a 30-millisecond duration packet is more problematic than the loss of a 10-millisecond duration packet. One example of when a saturation condition could occur is during an emergency situation, where many people attempt to use their VoIP phones at approximately the same time. The resulting unpredictable packet losses from the saturation condition can cause many VoIP calls to be dropped due to delays and interrupted service.
Another option to mitigate a saturation condition is to lower the priority of some of the higher priority traffic, through shifting higher priority packets into a lower priority queue, allowing the remaining higher priority traffic to use the available upstream bandwidth. Shifting packets to a lower priority queue may work well in a situation where the demand on higher priority queues is relatively consistent, but in an emergency situation, with a large volume of VoIP callers flooding the highest priority queue, random failures and a large drop in perceived call quality may result. Additionally, lowering the priority of some higher priority packets in a random fashion can produce the same effective result as randomly discarding packets, as lower priority queues may be infrequently serviced while the network device is saturated.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method to selectively discard packets in a network device during a saturation condition so as to minimize the net effect on streaming content.

Methods, systems, and computer program products for selectively discarding packets

International Business Machines Corporation


A functional-level instruction-set computing (FLIC) architecture executes higher-level functional instructions such as lookups and bit-compares of variable-length operands. Each FLIC processing-engine slice has specialized processing units including a lookup unit that searches for a matching entry in a lookup cache. Variable-length operands are stored in execution buffers. The operand length and location in the execution buffer are stored in fixed-length general-purpose registers (GPRs) that also store fixed-length operands. A copy/move unit moves data between input and output buffers and one or more FLIC processing-engine slices. Multiple contexts can each have a set of GPRs and execution buffers. An expansion buffer in a FLIC slice can be allocated to a context to expand that context's execution buffer for storing longer operands. The FLIC engine is optimized to parse, lookup, and process long strings common in content-service requests and can offload file-server requests by looking up meta-data and pointers.

This invention relates to computer architecture, and more particularly to an instruction-set architecture using high-level or function-level instructions.
Computers are used in a variety of applications. Networks have interconnected varied computing devices, allowing users to locate and move data across large networks such as the Internet. The data accessed is even more varied and includes multi-media, audio, video, and text in a dizzying range of content formats.
Standard protocols have been developed to access this data across a network. Protocols used to access content include Common Internet File System (CIFS) Internet Small-Computer System Interface (iSCSI), Direct Access File System (DAFS) that sequence through states, and stateless protocols such as the widely-used network file system (NFS). Accessing a file on a server is one example of a content service.
When accessing a data file on a remote server, a client application can generate a request message using one of the file-access protocols and send this message to the server in a lower-level packet such as a Transport-Control-Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) packet. The server extracts the message, determines which file-access protocol is being used, and processes the message. A reply message is generated, perhaps containing the requested data file or a pointer to the file. The reply message can then be encapsulated in one or more lower-level packets and transmitted back to the client.
FIG. 1 shows a typical NFS request message. When a file server receives a message embedded in a packet from a client, it processes the message by examining various fields in the message. A NFS_CMD field may have to be read and decoded to determine what kind of request is being made, such as a request to read or write a file. The file server may parse the message to locate a user identifier field.
Other fields in the message can include a file handle or a file name, and other file information such as a generation number and an offset to data within the file. Different commands may require different fields in a message, and the message itself can vary substantially in length.
Several of the message fields can contain variable-length strings. The parent file handle may vary in length. Other fields such as the local file name, offset and generation number may or may not be present in some messages. Some NFS commands may simply request a pointer to the data rather than the data itself, and messages using other protocols may also be received by the file server. Thus a wide variety of request-message formats may have to be processed by a file server.
FIG. 2 shows processing of a message by a file server. A request message such as the request of FIG. 1 is received by a file server and placed in an input buffer. The file server parses the request message to locate the command and user identifier fields. From the command field, the server determines what protocol and command the message contains. The message's syntax can then be checked. The user identifier can be looked up in a user database to determine if the message is from a valid user. Other authentication information may be included in the message such as a password.
Fields in the request message that contain keys to a lookup table are extracted, and these keys are sent to one or more lookup tables to search for an entry containing the extracted key. Keys can include the file handle field, the generation number field, file-name fields, and LINUX identification-node (i-node) fields.
Once a matching entry is found in the look-up table, the results stored in the matching entry are read and the entry verified. A reply message is generated from the results and loaded into an output buffer for transmission to the client. Sometimes further processing is required, and another lookup can be performed. Data pointed to by the results can be read at the offset from the offset field. When the data is located somewhere else, a new request can be generated and sent to another server. The data may also need to be re-formatted.
Since the request message itself can contain many fields, and the fields can contain variable-length strings that must be copied and processed, the file server may require a long, complex routine of instructions to parse and process such messages.
FIG. 3A shows a file server using a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU). CPU 10 receives request messages from a network such as the Internet, and accesses data in files 12, which can be stored on a disk array. CPU 10 is often a computer that uses one or more microprocessors that execute a general-purpose instruction set. CPU 10 is designed for a wide variety of applications, and thus is not optimized for file-access processing.
FIG. 3B highlights a long routine of general-purpose instructions executed to process file-access requests. A simple file-access request such as a NFS lookup command requires execution of a long routine of general-purpose instructions.
An approximate example of a pseudo-C-code routine to perform the NFS lookup instruction is shown in FIG. 3B. Each of the C-code instructions may require several native or assembly-level instructions. For example, the instruction                fhp=&nfh.fh_generic;        requires 2 assembly-code instructions, while the function call:        nfsm_srvmtofh(fhp);        requires about 45 assembly-language instructions.
The final line in the pseudo C-code, the error function call, could require hundreds of static instructions. Since loops may cause static instructions to be re-executed, the dynamic instruction count can be much higher.
General-purpose instructions to input data, move data, test data are needed to process the NFS lookup command. For example, the message must be parsed to locate fields containing the parent file handle and the file name. The parent file handle and/or the parent file handle combined with the file name are then used during the lookup to locate the proper entry. Look-ups in particular may require execution of many instructions. Loops may need to be repeated, so a routine of 50 instructions may require many hundreds or more instructions to be executed.
While fewer complex instruction set computer (CISC) instructions need to be executed than reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instructions, the number of instructions executed is still quite large, perhaps being hundreds of instructions executed. General-purpose instruction sets include the x86 CISC instruction set by Intel and the PowerPC™ RISC instruction set by Motorola. Very-long instruction word (VLIW) instructions are support parallel processing, but still basically use simple instructions in parallel.
Since many CISC or RISC instructions need to be executed to process even a simple file-access command, a high instruction-fetch bandwidth is needed to fetch the many instructions in the routines. As these instructions are executed, they read and write registers in the processor core. A high bandwidth to these registers is thus also needed. Reading fields in the request message, searching the look-up table, reading data, and outputting the reply message are all I/O-intensive tasks. Most general-purpose processors are inefficient at such I/O tasks.
Parsing the message for variable-length strings such as the parent file handle or the file name may require execution of many instructions. Instructions usually move or process fixed formats of data, such as 8, 16, or 32-bit words. Long, variable-length strings may not fit inside the fixed-width general-purpose registers (GPR's) in the processor core, requiring repeated access of external memory or I/O. Locating a variable-length field in a longer message may require repeated reads and compares.
What is desired is an instruction set that is optimized for processing content-service requests including file-system requests containing variable-length strings. An instruction-set architecture that processes higher-level instructions is desired to reduce instruction-fetch and register-access bandwidth. A higher, functional-level instruction set architecture is desirable.

Functional-level instruction-set computer architecture for processing application-layer content-service requests such as file-access requests