A set of mobile devices are designated as a related set of mobile devices for loss indication purposes. Machine logic rules are developed to indicate loss of a mobile device. Under these rules, a determination of probable loss (for example, theft, inadvertent leaving behind) of one of the mobile devices depends, at least in part, upon the activities and/or status of other mobile devices in the set. For example, if a first mobile device in the set is expected, under the machine logic rules, to always be near a second mobile device in the set, then a determination that the second mobile device is located far away from the first mobile device may trigger a warning, or other mitigating action, that the first mobile device has probably been lost.

The present invention relates generally to the field of mobile electronic device security, and more particularly to automatic detection of lost or stolen status of a mobile electronic device and automatic responses thereto.
Mobile devices, such as smartphones, table computers, etc., are subject to being lost or stolen. Mobile devices are attractive targets for potential thieves, particularly in crowded locations such as mass transit trains, busses and stations. Some users become unwitting targets for mobile device theft when they appear to be unlikely to resist an attempted theft of their device. Worse, the potential victim's attention is often focused more on the mobile device and less on their surroundings. A thief, after identifying a potential victim, waits for an opportune moment to snatch the mobile device and then quickly escape the vicinity before the victim can respond. Apart from the loss of a mobile device itself, the device often contains personal data that may be leveraged in various ways by an unauthorized user, to the detriment of the owner and/or the owner's personal contacts.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,911,507 ("Gilbert") discloses as follows: " . . . systems and methods for mitigating mobile device loss by using historical data describing past locations of a mobile device to determine where the mobile device is expected to be and by automatically taking security measures if the mobile device is in an unexpected location . . . "

Inferring device theft based on historical location data

International Business Machines Corporation


A blockchain may be used as a stochastic timer. The posting of a blockchain solution for verification may be a trigger that determines an event schedule. Because the only entity that knows when the solution will be posted is the solving entity, the solving entity may be rewarded with the ability to potentially exploit this knowledge. However, because the solving of a blockchain is a competitive process, there is a risk that if the solving entity retains the solution for greater exploitation, then another entity will post the solution and therefore gain the benefit. A blockchain stochastic timer can thus provide the necessary incentive for entities to invest computational resources into blockchain solutions.

A ledger is commonly defined as an account book of entry, in which transactions are recorded. A distributed ledger is a ledger that is replicated in whole or in part to multiple computers. A Cryptographic Distributed Ledger (CDL) can have at least some of these properties: irreversibility (once a transaction is recorded, it cannot be reversed), accessibility (any party can access the CDL in whole or in part), chronological and time-stamped (all parties know when a transaction was added to the ledger), consensus based (a transaction is added only if it is approved, typically unanimously, by parties on the network), verifiability (all transactions can be cryptographically verified). A blockchain is an example of a CDL. While the description and figures herein are described in terms of a blockchain, the instant application applies equally to any CDL.
A distributed ledger is a continuously growing list of records that typically apply cryptographic techniques such as storing cryptographic hashes relating to other blocks. A blockchain is one common instance of a distributed ledger and may be used as a public ledger to store information. Although, primarily used for financial transactions, a blockchain can store various information related to goods and services (i.e., products, packages, status, etc.). A decentralized scheme provides authority and trust to a decentralized network and enables its nodes to continuously and sequentially record their transactions on a public "block", creating a unique "chain" referred to as a blockchain. Cryptography, via hash codes, is used to secure an authentication of a transaction source and removes a central intermediary. Blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a continuously-growing list of records in the blockchain blocks, which are secured from tampering and revision due to their immutable properties. Each block contains a timestamp and a link to a previous block. Blockchain can be used to hold, track, transfer and verify information. Since blockchain is a distributed system, before adding a transaction to the blockchain ledger, all peers need to reach a consensus status.
Blockchains typically operate on a Proof-of-Work principle or some similar principle in which the creation of the hash code that "solves" a particular block in the block chain is computationally difficult to generate, but relatively easy to verify by network peers. Many cryptocurrencies operate using blockchains. In a cryptocurrency network, the generation of a block solution rewards the first solver with an issue of the cryptocurrency, with the quest for a solution being a competitive process across all nodes of the network. Thus, there is a direct financial incentive to invest computational resources to solving blocks within a cryptocurrency network.
Solving the work function requires compute cycles and electricity which are not free. For non-cryptocurrency implementations of blockchain technology there is little incentive to solve the work function. Nodes therefore need an incentive to solve blocks other than wanting a robust transaction record.
A further problem is blockchain networks with small numbers of nodes are vulnerable to attack. Large numbers of nodes in distributed clusters are more desirable for robust performance.
What is needed is an improved system and method for operating a blockchain that overcomes these limitations.

Blockchain stochastic timer transaction synchronization


An engine operating region in which two ignition plugs ignite at different ignition timings is restricted to a region (phase-difference ignition region) where the effect of different ignition timings is remarkably achieved. In the operating region other than the above region, simultaneous ignition is performed. A basic ignition timing IGMAPIN of the intake ignition plugs 8I is calculated by searching a map (S11). In the phase-difference ignition region, a basic ignition timing IGMAPEX of exhaust ignition plugs 8E is calculated by searching a map (S13). By contrast, in the operating region where simultaneous ignition is to be performed, the basic exhaust ignition timing IGMAPEX is set as the basic intake ignition timing IGMAPIN (S14).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ignition timing control device for an internal combustion engine in which two ignition plugs are disposed for each cylinder.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an ignition timing control system, for example, as shown in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Hei. 6-323230, in which a plurality of ignition plugs are disposed for each cylinder of an internal combustion engine, and the ignition timings of the ignition plugs are made different from each other to improve exhaust emission characteristics is known. In this system, in order to reduce the load on a calculation unit in the case where the ignition timings of the plural ignition plugs are determined in accordance with the operation state of the engine. On the other hand, a calculation for determining normal ignition timing with respect to specific ignition plug(s) is performed, and, with respect to the other ignition plug(s), the ignition timing is determined by a relatively simple calculation expression in accordance with the ignition timing of the specific ignition plug(s).
In an internal combustion engine in which each cylinder has a plurality of ignition plugs, however, it is not always necessary to make ignition timings of the ignition plugs different from one another in all of operation states of the engine. From the viewpoint of reduction of the calculation load on the calculation unit, therefore, there is room for further improvement.
The invention has been conducted in view of the problem. It is an object of the invention to provide an ignition timing control device for an internal combustion engine in which two ignition plugs are disposed for each cylinder, can control more adequately ignition timings of the ignition plugs to reduce the load on a calculation unit, and effectively realize suppression of knocking and vibration noises.
In order to attain the object, according to a first aspect of the invention, an ignition timing control device for an internal combustion engine controls ignition timing of an internal combustion engine. Here, in the internal combustion engine, two ignition plugs that perform at least one igniting operation in one cycle are disposed on an diagonal line of a combustion chamber of each cylinder. The two ignition plugs ignite at different ignition timings in predetermined operating region which is determined on the basis of a rotational speed and load of the engine, and ignite at a same ignition timing in an operating region other than the predetermined operating region.
According to this configuration, in the predetermined operating region which is determined on the basis of the rotational speed and load of the engine, the two ignition plugs ignite at different ignition timings. While, in the operating region other than the predetermined operating region, the ignition plugs ignite at the same ignition timing. In this case, the predetermined operating region is restricted to a region where the effect of the setting of different ignition timings is remarkably achieved. Therefore, the load on a calculation unit and the memory capacity can be reduced. In the predetermined operating region, an excellent effect of suppressing knocking and vibration noises can be attained by the setting of different ignition timings.
The predetermined operating region is preferably set to an operating region where the engine rotational speed is in a region between predetermined upper and lower limits and the engine load is equal to or larger than a predetermined load. By the way, each of the cylinders of the engine can be divided into an intake side and an exhaust side by a plane that is substantially perpendicular to a direction along which an intake port connected to the combustion chamber of the cylinder elongates. Here, the plane contains a center line of the cylinder, preferably, the two ignition plugs are placed in the intake side and the exhaust side, respectively.

Ignition timing control device for internal combustion engine


A decoding and regenerating device for frame coded data comprises a decoding unit which decodes frame coded data which is obtained by coding time series signals of a plurality of channels by entering on a frame-by-frame basis at every channel; a regenerative data buffer memory which places memory blocks to form a square matrix of rows and columns in number corresponding to the number of channels and selects alternately in every frame period a first data arrangement that regenerative data for one frame of the respective channels is stored in every row of the square matrix and a second data arrangement that regenerative data for one frame of the respective channels is stored in every column, to store the regenerative data as a stored state of the regenerative data; and a data regenerating unit for reading to regenerate the regenerative data which is stored in the regenerative data buffer memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a decoding and regenerating device which decodes and regenerates frame coded data which is frame-coded on a channel-by-channel basis by sampling time series signals of a plurality of parallel channels and a decoding and regenerating method, and more particularly to a decoding and regenerating device for frame coded data which is characterized by a regenerative data buffer means for giving regenerative data to a data regenerating means at the appropriate times, and to a decoding and regenerating method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the case of time series signals such as voice signals and music signals, the time series signals of a plurality of parallel channels are sampled, and with a predetermined time interval determined as one frame period, the signals are frame-coded on a frame-by-frame basis consisting of a plurality of samples contained in a single frame period with respect to the respective channels and stored in a medium, and desired frame coded data may be decoded and regenerated by a decoding and regenerating device.
Conventionally, such a decoding and regenerating device as shown in FIG. 7 is provided with two groups of regenerative data buffer memories 60, 70 which contain frame memories for storing regenerative data for the number of samples of one frame, for all channels. And, regenerative data decoded by a decoding unit 20 is stored into the regenerative data buffer memories 60, 70 and alternately outputted in every frame period from the memories 60, 70 to a data regenerating unit 50.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of a conventional decoding and regenerating device for frame coded data.
Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 8, the decoding unit 20 reads to decode frame coded data for one frame of the respective channels in the first frame period and stores the obtained regenerative data into the regenerative data buffer memory 60 (steps 801, 802).
Then, it is judged whether the frame in question is a final frame by the decoding unit 20 (steps 803, 804) and when it is a final frame, the data regenerating unit 50 completes its processing after regenerating the regenerative data which is stored in the regenerative data buffer memory 60 (step 805). When it is not a final frame, the data regenerating unit 50 regenerates the regenerative data which is stored in the regenerative data buffer memory 60 (step 806), and the decoding unit 20 reads to decode the frame coded data for the next one frame at every channel and stores the obtained regenerative data into another regenerative data buffer memory 70 (step 807).
And, the frame in question is judged whether it is a final frame (steps 808, 809), and when it is a final frame, the data regenerating unit 50 completes the processing after regenerating the regenerative data which is stored in the regenerative data buffer memory 60 (step 810). When it is not a final frame, the data regenerating unit 50 regenerates the regenerative data which is stored in the regenerative data buffer memory 70 (step 811), reads to decode the frame coded data for the next single frame at every channel, and stores again the obtained regenerative data into the regenerative data buffer memory 60 (step 812).
As described above, the regenerative data alternately decoded in every frame period is stored by the two groups of regenerative data buffer memories 60, 70. The regenerative data is given to the data regenerating unit 50. Thus, the frame coded data of the plurality of parallel channels are decoded and regenerated.
As described above, the conventional decoding and regenerating device for frame coded data has disadvantages that it needs two groups of regenerative data buffer memories to store regenerative data, resulting in hindering the device from being made compact and raising the cost.

Decoding and regenerating device for decoding and regenerating frame coded data and method therefor


Disclosed is a method and a system for identifying nascent topic related to a subject matter. The method comprises receiving a request associated with a context related to subject matter from a user, analyzing the request to determine at least one topic related to the context, determining an activity factor related to each of the context and the topic from at least one data record related therein, normalizing the activity factor related to each of the topic, analyzing the normalized scores of each of the topic to determine a short-term average and a long-term average normalized score for each of the topic and calculating a difference therein, determining a change in the differences over a specific time period, and identifying the topic associated with a sustained increase in the difference over a predefined time duration within the specific time period as the nascent topic related to the subject matter.

The World Wide Web (Web) is fundamentally a massive databank that contains records of information covering countless topics. With the development of technology, there has been an exponential growth in data connectivity within the online users. Furthermore, with the development of data connectivity, the online users have accelerated distribution of newsworthy and popular topics or events throughout the population of online users. And currently, businesses are being increasingly interested in identifying and acting upon these popular topics or events.
However, identifying these topics or events includes a number of problems. Typically, the distribution of data related to such topics or events throughout the population of online users is done via various online channels, such as online blogs, social media sites, and the likes. Therefore, the aggregation of data related to such popular topics or events is a tedious process and is generated in an unprecedented amount. Usually, extracting knowledge from such aggregated data related to such topics or events is done manually by implementing various statistical measures. Such process of extracting data is inefficient and cumbersome. In recent times few algorithms were generated to extract knowledge from the data related to such popular topics or events, but such algorithm was not capable of identifying topics that were gaining popularity (such as nascent topic) within the topics or events disseminated throughout the population of online users.
Therefore, in light of the foregoing discussion, there exists a need to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks associated with the conventional methods of identifying nascent topic that is gaining popularity.

Method and system for identifying at least one nascent topic related to a subject matter


A re-enterable enclosure for a cable splice includes a first cover member and a second cover member configured for engagement with each other, and movable between an open position and a closed position. The first and second cover members form a cavity for enclosing the cable splice when the cover members are in the closed position. Internal walls in at least one of the first and second cover members are configured to define a sealant containment space that at least partially surrounds the cavity. At least one latch is configured to maintain the first and second cover members in the closed position, the at least one latch configured to exert a compression force along a line extending through the sealant containment space.

The present invention relates to an enclosure for a splice between cables. In particular, the present invention relates to an enclosure that can be re-opened to permit access to the cable splice when required and then re-sealed. Such an enclosure may be referred to as a re-enterable enclosure. The cable may, for example, be a telecommunications cable, a power cable, an optical fiber cable, coaxial cable, or any other type of cable. The cable splice enclosed by the enclosure may, for example, be a longitudinally-extending splice (i.e., a splice between cables that extend generally from opposite directions) or a so-called "pig-tail", or butt, splice (i.e., a splice between cables that extend generally from the same direction) or a distribution splice having at least one cable on one enclosure side and more than one cable on another side of the closure.
A cable splice generally requires protection from the effects of the environment in which it is located and, more particularly, requires protection against mechanical impact and the entry of moisture. Many different enclosures providing different levels of protection for cable splices are already available, including so-called re-enterable enclosures that can be re-opened to permit access to the splice whenever required.
Known re-enterable splice enclosures often take the form of a two-part re-openable housing that defines a cavity around the splice and contains a sealant material. The housing provides protection for the splice against mechanical impact and, in combination with the sealant material, protects the cavity against the entry of moisture while permitting access to the splice when the housing is re-opened. In some cases, the cavity is completely filled with sealant material, and, in other cases, the sealant material is provided only at points where moisture entry is likely, such as at cable entry points into the cavity and at joints of the housing.


In an aspect, a self-balancing two-wheeled vehicle is provided, having a body, and first and second wheels rotatably coupled to the body. The second wheel has at least one lateral roller rotatable about an axis that is one of oblique and orthogonal to a rotation axis of the second wheel. At least one motor is coupled to the second wheel to control rotation of the second wheel and the at least one lateral roller. At least one sensor is coupled to the body to generate orientation data therefor. A control module is coupled to the at least one motor to control operation thereof at least partially based on the orientation data generated by the at least one sensor.

Toy vehicles are constructed to entertain both young and old children. The toy vehicles are intended to simulate the motion of actual real-world vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, etc. In the case of traditionally two-wheeled vehicles, such as motorcycles, however, additional "training" wheels are generally provided to enable the two-wheeled vehicles to maintain their balance in an upright position. In some cases, these toy vehicles are remotely controlled via either a remote controller or an application executing on a mobile device that communicates with the toy vehicle either tethered or wirelessly to enable a person to modify the behavior of the toy vehicle. While such toy vehicles simulate basic movements of their real world counterparts, the expectations of users have been heightened as a result of the effects in modern movies and simulation games, such as auto racing games.


A toy vehicle includes a supporting chassis having a plurality of rolling wheels secured thereto. The chassis supports an audio circuit, a battery and an audio transducer together with a pair of switch contacts configured to provide a growling sound when the switch contacts touch. The chassis further supports an articulated body having a cab portion and rear portion resembling a standard truck joined in a pivotal attachment. A shaft and cam mechanism is coupled to a movable arm in a cooperative arrangement in which pivotal motion of the movable arm closes the switch contacts activating the audio circuit and raising the cab and rear portion of the truck body to bear sets of hidden teeth at the front of the toy vehicle.

Miniature toy vehicles which replicate actual full-sized vehicles with some level of authenticity have been well known in the art for many years. Another type of toy vehicle emerging more recently provides a fanciful or exaggerated appearance rather than an accurate or closely accurate appearance. Within this type of fanciful toy vehicle have been found vehicles which assume animal-like appearance, robotic or futuristic appearances, as well as vehicles which are formed of a plurality of interconnected components which facilitate the configuration of the toy vehicle into two or more dramatically different appearances.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,727 issued to Swisher et al sets forth a TOY VEHICLE in which a base portion, a top portion and a mechanical arrangement linking the base and top portions is provided. The mechanical linkage permits the top portion to move between several different positions with respect to the base portion thereby providing different appearance characteristics for the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,568,307 issued to Gabler et al sets forth a PUSH TOY VEHICLE WITH OPERABLE MOUTH in which a toy vehicle includes a plurality of rolling wheels and an articulated jaw portion supported in a pivotal attachment to the forward portion of the vehicle. Operable means are provided which rotate in response to the rotational motion of the vehicle supporting wheels to provide operation of the pivotally mounted mouth or jaw portion. Thus, as the toy vehicle is rolled across a play surface, the mouth portion is operated.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,006 issued to Jones et al sets forth a RECONFIGURABLE MOVING ANIMAL SIMULATING TOY in which an upper body section and lower body section are operatively attachable in a plurality of configurations. A compressible bellows and a nozzle are operatively connected to a liquid container within the upper body section. The bellows may be depressed to expel liquid from the upper body portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,978 issued to Kassai sets forth a VEHICLE FOR CHILDREN in which a chassis and body are configured to receive a child in a sitting position straddling the toy vehicle. A simulated steering wheel and fanciful hood portion are secured to the toy vehicle. A latch release mechanism extends forwardly from the vehicle front bumper and provides release of the hood portion causing it to spring open upon impact with another object.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,016 issued to Stern et al sets forth a TOY VEHICLE WITH ELECTRONIC SOUNDER AND DIRECTION SENSOR in which a truck-like toy vehicle is configured to be manually pushed or rolled across a play surface. Sound producing means are supported within the truck together with a direction sensor. The sound producing means provide different sounds in response to the directional motion of the toy vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,837 issued to Collier sets forth a RADIO CONTROLLED MODEL VEHICLE HAVING COORDINATED SOUND EFFECTS SYSTEM in which a radio controlled toy vehicle supports conventional propulsion and control apparatus together with a radio controller receiver. In addition, sound producing means are provided within the vehicle to output predetermined sound effects in response to certain control input conditions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,427 issued to Wu sets forth a CONVERTIBLE TOY CAR HAVING A TWO-LEVEL CAM in which a toy vehicle includes a two-level cam, sound assembly, projection assembly, signal light, and a signal light activation arm. The two-level cam includes an upper and a lower cam and is driven indirectly by a battery powered electric motor and series of gears. The upper cam drives the projection assembly to project toy figures out of the car doors while spring members cause the toy figures to return to their original positions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,404 issued to May sets forth a TOY VEHICLE SOUND SYSTEM incorporating a sound effect generator similar to an acoustical phonograph and having a machined turntable with mutually exclusive sound tracks. Each of the sound tracks creates a different sound effect through a tone arm and speaker arrangement. The turntable is driven by a gear train operable in response to rotation of the vehicle wheels.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,626 issued to Robbins et al sets forth a SOUND PRODUCING REMOTE CONTROL TOY VEHICLE in which a remote control toy vehicle includes a motor for selectively driving the toy vehicle as well as a manually actuatable first control switch. The remote control also includes a sound producing circuit for selectively producing sounds related to the toy vehicle.
While the foregoing described prior art devices have provided some measure of amusement and enjoyment, there remains nonetheless a continuing need in the art for evermore interesting and amusing toy vehicles.


A lower capacitive electrode and a capacitive electrode of an opposite substrate are provided to mutually facing surfaces of a TFT substrate and the opposite substrate, respectively; and a seal member is provided to the peripheral part of both substrates. The seal member creates a predetermined gap between the substrates, and the surrounded space is sealed by the seal member. A pressure sensor measures pressure applied to the substrates based on variations in capacitance between the lower capacitive electrode and the facing-substrate capacitive electrode. An acceleration sensor is incorporated into the TFT substrate within the pressure sensor. The presence of the acceleration sensor inside the pressure sensor thereby eliminates the need for a separate pressure sensor and acceleration sensor, and allows a pressure sensor that improves the moisture resistance of the acceleration sensor to be provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pressure sensor that has an internally disposed acceleration sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pressure sensor devices have come into use in conjunction with recent technological developments. An example of a known conventional pressure sensor is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 56-27630. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a pressure-sensing element disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 56-27630. As shown in FIG. 1, this conventional pressure sensor is formed so that a spacer 101 is disposed between a peripheral part of a pair of facing diaphragms 100, and the diaphragms 100 face each other across a gap of suitable length. The diaphragms 100 are composed of glass, a ceramic material, a metal, or the like. When the diaphragms 100 are not electrically conductive, electrodes (not shown) are provided to the facing inner surfaces. When an external pressure is applied to the diaphragms 100 in such conventional pressure sensors, the diaphragms 100 bend, and the capacitance between the diaphragms 100 gradually increases. The applied pressure can be measured by determining this capacitance. In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 56-27630, temperature variation in the capacitance itself is suppressed by using a spacer 101 composed of materials having as low a linear expansion coefficient as possible; and temperature variation in the bending amount is suppressed by selecting a suitable material for the diaphragm. A pressure sensor that is minimally susceptible to temperature variation can thereby be obtained.
Additionally, a liquid crystal display device in which a capacitance value-detecting sensor is provided as a pressure-detecting sensor is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 11-259234. In this liquid crystal display device, a display area is configured by placing a liquid crystal layer between a first substrate and a second substrate that are disposed facing each other. This area is provided with a pressure-detecting sensor for detecting pressure applied to pixels and outputting the detection data to the surface of the pixels on the liquid crystal layer side of the first substrate.
However, in the above-described prior art, a separate type of sensor is not incorporated into the pressure sensor. In other words, a pressure sensor and, e.g., an acceleration sensor are provided as separate devices. Examples of such devices include conventional TPMSs (tire pressure monitoring systems). In order to conserve energy in a TPMS, a tire pressure sensing circuit and a data transceiving circuit operate from the time the tires rotate. To measure the pressure, an acceleration sensor for detecting the rotation of the tires must be provided separately.


A wrap around package for a video cassette or the like having a box-like portion to contain the video cassette and a covering flap to wrap around the box-like portion. At least one wall of the box-like portion has perforated edges thereon and an opening or tab to grasp the one wall to facilitate opening of the one wall while maintaining the integrity of the box-like portion to permit automatic and easy insertion of the cassette therein. Access to the one wall, and the contents of the package, is prevented until the covering flap is unfolded from over the one wall. Space is provided on the surfaces of the covering flap and on the walls of the box-like portion for printing of advertising thereon. The package requires unwrapping of the covering flap to remove the contents of the package. Preferably, the package is formed from a single piece of material. An individualized addressed written message may be inserted in the package in a collapsed position. A window is provided in the covering flap to expose the address on the message. A simple inexpensive package is provided for using video cassettes in the direct mail media.

Video cassettes and similar types of audio and video tapes are usually packaged in a paperboard sleeve which is open at one end. The cassette is slid into the sleeve to provide a degree of protection during handling. The sleeve also serves to identify the contents of the cassette listing the performing artists (if any) and other information.
More recently, video cassettes have been considered as a powerful medium for direct mail advertising as well as other promotional programs. In this role, the package for the cassette must provide adequate protection during shipping and particularly for mass mailings through the U.S. Postal System. Further, it is most desirable for the package to provide sufficient space for a printed advertising message as well as what is deliverable on the cassette. The printed advertising message greatly enhances the overall communication and persuasion capabilities of the unit. Also, a cover must be included in the package to insure that the recipient is exposed to the advertising on the package before having access to the cassette. Since the recipient of these units are usually not charged any fees, a low unit cost is a key factor in the expansion of direct mail video as a marketing tool. In addition to direct mail advertising, video cassettes may be used for catalog information, directions, promotions, video magazines, greeting cards and other commercial ventures. Such packaging could also be useful in marketing of the cassette as a letter on which a consumer could tape an individual, personal message and could mail to family, friends and others.
The currently available sleeve-type pack is not very satisfactory for mailing and provides only limited space on the two broad panels for advertising. On the infrequent occasions when this sleeve is used for mailings it is shrink wrapped. However, for most mailings the sleeve is further protected by an overpack such as a carton, bubble bag or jiffy bag. Since these outer wraps are not very suitable for advertising, additional advertising literature is often inserted into the pack. The additional costs of the overwrap, advertising literature and manual labor to provide a reliable mailing unit and a more persuasive advertising vehicle greatly diminishes the marketers' ability to use this vehicle broadly and in large quantities.
Accordingly, for video cassette promotional programs and direct mail efforts in particular, there remains a need to provide a package that gives proper protection to the cassette, expands the print space and the general capability to deliver effective advertising, while lowering the unit cost by eliminating additional materials and manual labor.


A battery-operated screwdriver has a housing with a handle, a rechargeable battery, charge contacts for charging the battery on a charger shell having at least one detachably mounted bit holder for storing tool inserts of the battery-operated screwdriver in captive fashion, so that the battery-operated screwdriver is placeable on the charger shell and a charging mode is produced automatically, and a charger shell for a battery-operated screwdriver has at least one detachable mountable bit holder configured to receive a plurality of bits which in operation are insertable in communication with the battery-operated screwdriver.

The present invention relates to a battery-operated screwdriver, and also to a charger shell for a battery-operated screwdriver.
Battery-operated screwdrivers are already available in the 2.4V to 3.6V power class, as known for instance from European Patent Disclosure EP 1 066 930. They usually have NiCd cells as energy-storing means, an ON/OFF switch with a short switch button, and without continuously variable speed governing they have both a switch for switchover from counterclockwise to clockwise operation, a gear, in particular a planetary gear, that steps the motor rpm down, and a motor with a standard diameter of 27.5 mm. There are rodlike and pistol-shaped versions as well as versions with a grip whose angle can be adjusted. For charging, these devices are either connected to a charger via a plug—in the manner of a cell phone or electric shaver—or are connected to contacts via a mount into which the device is placed. The mounts can be secured to a wall, for instance, to make handling for charging simpler.
For that purpose, the charging mode must be brought about for both the charger and the electrical connection, but this does not happen automatically after every use. As a result, the device is often not ready for use precisely when it is needed, and the familiar memory effect for conventional NiCd batteries is another disadvantage. After a certain amount of time of not outputting power, NiCd batteries discharge, and so battery-operated screwdrivers equipped with them discharge partially after a short time even when not used. If they are put in the charging mode when they are partially discharged, then after charging, because of the memory effect, only the difference from the newly charged quantity—and hence reduced power—is available.
Another disadvantage of the known battery-operated screwdrivers is the limited availability of screwdriver bits and various tool inserts.

Battery-operated screwdriver and charger shell therefor


A portable analytical device is provided for analysis of a component of a body fluid. A measuring facility within the device may carry out the analysis on a test element inserted therein. The test element may contain a reagent that reacts with a liquid sample of the body fluid when the test element is contacted thereby to produce a change that is characteristic of the analysis. A processor may process measuring values determined by the measuring facility to yield analytical measuring data taking into account calibration values. A standardized, wire-based computer interface may be provided on the analytical device via which the analytical device can be operated by a computer, the analytical measuring data can be transmitted from the analytical device to the computer, the analytical device can be supplied with electrical power by the computer, and the analytical device can provide software to be read-out by the computer.

For qualitative and quantitative analysis of components of a liquid sample, in particular of a body fluid from humans or animals, test methods working with test elements are used extensively. The test elements generally contain reagents. In order to perform a reaction, the test element is contacted with the liquid sample. The reaction between the liquid sample and the reagent leads to a change in the test element that is characteristic of the analysis, and this change is analyzed using a suitable analytical device. Typically, the analytical device is suitable for analysis of a specific type of test element from a specific manufacturer.
The test elements and the analytical device are mutually adapted components and, in combination, are called an analytical system.
Numerous different types of test elements are known which differ from each other by their measuring principle and the reagents that are used as well as by their structure.
With regard to the measuring principle, calorimetric analytical systems are particularly common. In these systems, the sample reacting with the reagents contained in the test element leads to a color change that can be measured visually or by means of a photometric measuring facility. Moreover, electrochemical analytical systems have gained great significance, in which the sample reacting with the reagents of the test element leads to an electrically detectable change (of an electrical voltage or an electrical current) that is measured with appropriate measuring electronics. Analytical systems of this type are also called amperometric systems.
In many cases, there is a need for regular monitoring of certain analytic blood values. This applies in particular to diabetics who should self-monitor their blood glucose levels frequently in order to maintain these levels within certain nominal limits (ideally, at all times) by suitably adapting their insulin intake via injections or other means to the strongly varying needs. Accordingly, the testing of blood coagulation parameters by patient blood coagulation self-monitoring is also quite common, as is self-monitoring of blood cholesterol levels.
A blood glucose measuring device is a measuring device that can be used for qualitative or quantitative determination of the blood glucose content. For this purpose, it is customary to generate a puncture wound in a body, draw a drop of blood, apply the drop of blood to a test element, and use the test element and the blood glucose measuring device to determine the blood glucose content or concentration of the drop. However, it is also conceivable to measure the blood glucose by means of a continuous measurement, for example with sensors introduced into the body or by a measurement through the skin.
Blood analysis systems should be easy to operate, compact and slim in design, and easy and cheap to manufacture. These practical requirements have led and are leading to the development of blood analysis devices that satisfy these, to some extent contradictory, requirements to the extent possible.
Especially in the area of so-called "home monitoring", i.e. where medical laymen perform simple blood analyses, and, in particular, in the periodical drawing of blood several times daily by diabetics for monitoring of their blood glucose concentration, it is important to have a blood glucose measuring device that is easy and reliable to operate and to have an informative and reliable determination and display of the measuring results.
Conventional analytical devices are so-called stand-alone measuring devices. These devices operate autonomously, self-supporting, and independently. Accordingly, they comprise a display, a measuring facility, a power supply, and a complete user interface that can, for example, comprise a keyboard, a display, a triggering facility or a user guidance. The application purpose and properties of devices of this type are fixed with the exception of occasional adaptation of their firmware.
Approaches to modular concepts aiming to design the application range of these devices more versatile and to make them smaller and cheaper are available.
From document, WO 89/00024, a modular physiological measuring system is known, in which various specific measuring modules, for example an oxygen-measuring module or a blood pressure-measuring module, can be connected to a central unit. Recently, a comparable system for the determination of blood glucose has been developed, in which a blood glucose-measuring module is connected to a PDA.
However, these known systems have been found to be disadvantageous in that the technology of the central unit or PDA is subject to continual technical change by the manufacturers such that, due to non-standardized interfaces between the device and the connected measuring module being used and because of the ongoing changes of the hardware platforms, i.e. the further development of processors and protocols, each and every change made in the device requires that a new application for approval/registration of the measuring module for the medical application at hand had to be filed and be accompanied by proof of the operability of the device in combination with the central unit or PDA.
It is therefore desirable to create an analytical device that is very compact and can be used by an operator in particularly simple fashion.


Disclosed are robust Resync patterns for insertion into a run length limited (d,k) encoded channel bit stream, which Resync pattern may be recovered from the RLL (d,k) encoded bit stream without being confused with data. The Resync pattern includes at least one string of consecutive "0"s which exceeds the RLL (k) constraint, and is inserted into the channel bit stream RLL data codewords. The RLL code excludes certain patterns representing a bit shift from the Resync pattern of one or both "1" bits adjacent to the string of "0" bits, shifted to shorten the Resync pattern to within the (k) constraint. Additionally, the Resync pattern may have two different aspects, one of which is the string of "0"s violating the constraints of the RLL code, and another which is specifically excluded from the RLL code, such as an excluded concatenated sequence of a VFO bit pattern of predetermined length or greater.

The use of run length limited (RLL) binary codes is prevalent in the data transmission and data recording arts for encoding an unconstrained set of binary data into a constrained set of codewords having a minimum distance (d) of "0"s between "1"s (or recording transitions) and a maximum distance (k) of "0"s between "1"s. Run length limited (d,k) codes of various types are utilized for data transmission and for magnetic and optical data recording. One example is a set of variable length codes described in coassigned U.S. Pat. No. 3,689,899, Franaszek, issued Sep. 5, 1972. Another example is described in coassigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,251, Adler et al., issued Nov. 1, 1983, of an encoder for generating a noiseless sliding block RLL (1,7) code, with a 2:3 rate. The 2:3 rate means that for each 2 input (source) binary bits, a codeword of 3 output (channel) binary bits is generated, each "1" binary bit of the codeword representing a bit clock time with a transition, and each "0" binary bit representing a bit clock time without a transition.
A data set will include a VFO pattern at a specific location (typically a header) and of a particular known transition frequency to synchronize the read clock (typically a phase locked loop or PLL) to the codeword bit frequency. The VFO pattern is typically a repetitive codeword pattern, but which is identifiable because of its location in a header.
A known sync pattern is typically also provided between the VFO pattern and any encoded data to allow the RLL decoder to align to the codeword boundaries and to the start location of the incoming encoded data.
If the PLL does not acheive complete phase lock, or if the RLL decoder does not align to the codeword boundaries on the incoming data (either of which may happen if a media defect is present), the RLL decoder will not be able to successfully decode incoming encoded data. But the PLL may complete phase lock in encoded data (if it begins close enough), and the RLL decoder can be aligned if a second RLL synchronization pattern occurs. A second or subsequent RLL synchronization pattern is typically called a resync pattern, or simply a resync. A resync is typically inserted within the data, for example, as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,943, Satomura, issued Sep. 15, 1995. The resync pattern allows the PLL to regain proper phase synchronization with the codewords without substantial loss of data. As pointed out by Satomura, the resync pattern must not be confused with data since the appearance of the data codewords having the same pattern as the resync are likely to be detected instead as a resync pattern and not decoded as data, resulting in the loss of data. Thus, Satomura proposed a Resync pattern for a variable length RLL (1,7) code inserted at specific locations in the code (e.g., at every 20 bytes of input data), which reduces the digital sum value of the encoded data and can be detected. One of the patterns is an "X01000000001" pattern, which exceeds the (k) constraint of the RLL code and cannot be confused with data.
When a sync pattern is not detected (missed) or detected erroneously in the wrong position (e.g., due to a defect), the exact bit position and alignment to RLL codeword boundaries is not known. Accordingly, there is also uncertainty as to the exact location where a resync may be positioned. If this uncertainty in position is as large as the resync, a typical situation which exists in most tape drives, a resync detector will necessarily have to look for the resync in encoded data. For this reason, it is important that the resync be distinct from data, so it should be outside the codeword space of the RLL code used to encode data. To put the resync outside the codeword space of the RLL code, many resyncs are designed to have either a single long string of "0"s which violates the (k) constraint of the code, or a sequence of long strings of "0"s which cannot be encoded naturally, either of which is known as an RLL violation. Resync detectors look for this RLL violation, which should not occur in normally encoded data (in the absence of noise or defects). A difficulty in peak detection channels is that the intersymbol interference of high frequency signals tends to shift the detection of any transition away from an adjacent transition and towards the no transition zone ("0"s). Thus, some detected transistions tend to be shifted into positions such that the detected bit stream may not be detected as a Resync pattern.

Run length limited encoding/decoding with robust resync

International Business Machines Corporation


A cooling apparatus includes a cooling passage provided in an internal combustion engine, a water pump, a radiator, a first passage through which the water pump and the cooling passage are connected to each other, a second passage through which the cooling passage and the radiator are connected to each other, a third passage through which the radiator and the water pump are connected to each other, and an oil cooler passage provided with an oil cooler. An in-line type thermostat is provided at any position in a portion of a cooling water circuit which leads from a first end portion to a second end portion via the second passage, the radiator, and the third passage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to cooling apparatuses for internal combustion engines and motorcycles including the cooling apparatuses.
The present application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2013-108639 filed in Japan on May 23, 2013, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
A water-cooling cooling apparatus is conventionally known as an apparatus for cooling an internal combustion engine of a motorcycle. A cooling apparatus of this type includes a radiator, water piping through which the radiator and an internal combustion engine are connected to each other, a water pump that conveys cooling water, and a thermostat that adjusts a temperature of the cooling water. The cooling water flows through the internal combustion engine and the radiator in sequence. The cooling water increases in temperature by cooling the internal combustion engine, and decreases in temperature by radiating heat through the radiator. The thermostat is operated to reduce a flow rate of the cooling water when the temperature of the cooling water is low, and increase the flow rate of the cooling water when the temperature of the cooling water is high. The flow rate of the cooling water to be supplied to the internal combustion engine is adjusted in this manner, thus keeping the temperature of the cooling water within an appropriate range.
When the internal combustion engine is started up, it is desirable to warm the internal combustion engine promptly from the standpoint of fuel efficiency improvement, for example. In order to warm the internal combustion engine promptly, the flow rate of the cooling water flowing through the radiator is preferably reduced so that the amount of heat radiated from the cooling water is decreased. For example, in a conventionally known cooling apparatus for an internal combustion engine, a flow rate of cooling water flowing through a radiator is reduced during a warming up operation.
FIG. 3-2 of JP 2007-2678 A discloses a cooling apparatus in which a flow rate of cooling water flowing through a radiator is reduced during a warming up operation of a motorcycle. As illustrated in FIG. 16A, a cooling apparatus 300 disclosed in JP 2007-2678 A includes a radiator 301, a water pump 302, a thermostat 303 connected to a suction port of the water pump 302, and an oil cooler 304. The cooling apparatus 300 further includes a main passage made up of a passage 306 through which a discharge port of the water pump 302 and an internal combustion engine 305 are connected to each other, a passage 307 through which the internal combustion engine 305 and the radiator 301 are connected to each other, and a passage 308 through which the radiator 301 and the thermostat 303 are connected to each other. The cooling apparatus 300 further includes an oil cooler passage 309 made up of a passage 309a through which the passage 306 and the oil cooler 304 are connected to each other, and a passage 309b through which the oil cooler 304 and the radiator 301 are connected to each other. The cooling apparatus 300 further includes a bypass passage 310 through which the passage 307 and the thermostat 303 are connected to each other.
At the time of startup of the internal combustion engine 305, the internal combustion engine 305 has a low temperature, and therefore, the cooling water has a low temperature. When the temperature of the cooling water is low, the thermostat 303 operates to shut off communication between the passage 308 and the passage 306 so as to block circulation of the cooling water through the main passage. As a result, the cooling water flows as indicated by arrows in FIG. 16A. Specifically, the cooling water discharged from the water pump 302 is distributed so that some of the cooling water passes through the internal combustion engine 305 and the remainder of the cooling water passes through the oil cooler 304. The cooling water that has passed through the internal combustion engine 305 and the cooling water that has passed through the oil cooler 304 then merge with each other, and the merged cooling water flows through the bypass passage 310 and subsequently returns to the water pump 302 via the thermostat 303.
Upon lapse of a certain period of time from the startup, the temperature of the internal combustion engine 305 increases, and therefore, the temperature of the cooling water increases. When the temperature of the cooling water is high, the thermostat 303 operates to shut off communication between the bypass passage 310 and the passage 306 and allow communication between the passage 308 and the passage 306. As a result, the cooling water flows as indicated by arrows in FIG. 16B, and the cooling water circulates through the main passage. Specifically, the cooling water discharged from the water pump 302 is distributed so that some of the cooling water flows through the internal combustion engine 305 and the remainder of the cooling water passes through the oil cooler 304. The cooling water that has passed through the internal combustion engine 305 and the cooling water that has passed through the oil cooler 304 then merge with each other, and the merged cooling water flows through the radiator 301 and subsequently returns to the water pump 302 via the thermostat 303.
However, the cooling apparatus 300 requires the bypass passage 310 through which the cooling water flows only during a warming up operation, in addition to the main passage through which the cooling water is supplied to the radiator 301 and the oil cooler passage 309 through which the cooling water is supplied to the oil cooler 304. Hence, the number of components of the cooling apparatus 300 is increased, which contributes to an increase in cost. For motorcycles, there is a strong demand for weight reduction of vehicle-mounted components. However, the cooling apparatus 300 has difficulty in achieving weight reduction because the bypass passage 310 cannot be removed therefrom. Moreover, motorcycles are subject to considerable constraints in terms of piping layout. The cooling apparatus 300 is likely to complicate piping layout because the bypass passage 310 has to be additionally disposed.

Cooling apparatus for internal combustion engine and motorcycle including the same


The purpose of the present invention is to provide a thermosensitive recording medium with an increased gloss in the blank and printed portions, excellent color developing sensitivity and excellent printing run-ability, particularly excellent printing run-ability at high-speed printing.

Thermosensitive recording media are ordinarily prepared by mixing together a colorless or pale-colored electron donating leuco dye and an electron accepting color developing agent, such as a phenolic compound and the like, after grinding them into fine particles, preparing a coating solution by adding a binder, a filler, a sensitivity enhancing agent, a slipping agent and other aids to the mixture and applying the coating solution onto a substrate such as paper, synthetic paper, film, plastic and the like. Thermosensitive recording medium develops color through an instantaneous chemical reaction when heated using a thermal head, hot stamp, hot pen, laser light and the like and yields a recorded image. Thermosensitive recording media are used extensively in recording media such as facsimile devices, computer terminal printers, automatic ticket dispensers, recorders for meters, receipts at super markets and convenience stores and the like.
In recent years, the use of thermosensitive recording media is expanding, such as its use for various ticket, receipts, labels, ATM of Bank, meter reading of gas and electricity, cash vouchers, such as car racing or horseracing betting. Among these applications, for example, in such as ticket and cash vouchers, it is preferred that the thermosensitive recording medium has a high gloss surface to produce a feeling of luxury. Furthermore, among these applications, especially in meter reading of gas and electricity, the demand for high speed printing is increasing.
It has been practiced to form the outermost layer of a thermosensitive recording medium by cast coating method in order to increase the gloss of the surface of the thermosensitive recording medium (Reference 1, etc.). However, when improving the smoothness of the outermost layer of the thermosensitive recording medium in order to increase the gloss of its surface, the thermosensitive material in the thermosensitive recording medium melts to stick to the thermal head when printing, which deteriorates the printing run-ability. This is called as stick problem. To solve this problem, it has been practiced to contain a slipping agent, such as zinc laurate, in the outermost layer of the thermosensitive recording medium (Reference 2, etc.). It is also practiced to form a gloss layer as the outermost layer containing a slipping agent and a polysiloxane-grafted acrylic resin to improve the gloss and the anti-sticking property (Reference 3, etc.).
Meanwhile, it is known to contain a carboxyl group-containing resin in the outermost layer of the thermosensitive recording medium to improve water resistance etc. (Reference 4, etc.).
Reference 1: Japanese Patent Application Public Disclosure H10-217609
Reference 2: Japanese Patent Application Public Disclosure 2010-214728
Reference 3: Japanese Patent Application Public Disclosure H5-246140
Reference 4: International Publication WO2011/145545

Abstract: Provided is a thermosensitive recording medium having a thermosensitive recording layer comprising a colorless or pale colored basic leuco dye and an electron accepting color developing agent, an intermediate layer and a gloss layer as an outermost layer in this order on a substrate, wherein the intermediate layer is formed by containing a carboxyl group-containing resin and the gloss layer is formed by containing a long chain alkyl group-containing resin and an emulsion type silicone copolymer resin. The long chain alkyl group-containing resin is preferably an acrylic resin containing long-chain alkyl group(s) and the silicone copolymer resin is preferably a silicone-acryl copolymer resin and/or a silicone-urethane copolymer resin.


A second control circuit is configured to switch a pulse signal to a level which turns off a second switching transistor when a coil current that flows through a primary winding reaches a predetermined threshold current. The second control circuit is configured to start a switching operation when a power supply for an electronic device is turned on, to set the threshold current to a first value when an intermediate voltage is higher than a predetermined level, and to set the threshold current to a second value that is lower than the first value when the intermediate voltage is lower than a predetermined level. A first control circuit is configured to start a switching operation upon receiving an instruction from a microcontroller to start operating.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various kinds of consumer electronics devices such as TVs, refrigerators, etc., or otherwise electronic devices such as laptop computers, cellular phone terminals, and PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants), are each configured to operate receiving electric power from an external circuit, and to be capable of charging a built-in battery using electric power received from an external power supply. Such consumer electronics devices and electronic devices (which will collectively be referred to as "electronic devices" hereafter) each include a built-in power supply apparatus configured to perform AC/DC conversion of commercial AC voltage. Alternatively, such a power supply apparatus is configured as a built-in component included within an external power supply adapter (AC adapter) for such an electronic device.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram which shows a configuration of an electronic device 1r including a power supply apparatus 2r according to a comparison technique investigated by the present inventors. The electronic device 1r includes the power supply apparatus 2r and various kinds of function circuits (loads) 4a and 4b such as a microcontroller 3 etc. Examples of the loads 4a and 4b include a display panel, a driver for such a display panel, an audio processing circuit, an image processing circuit, and so forth.
The power supply apparatus 2r includes a fuse 6, a filter 8 configured to remove noise from commercial AC voltage Vac, a rectifier circuit (diode bridge circuit) 10 configured to rectify the commercial AC voltage Vac, a power factor correction circuit (PFC circuit) 20r, a first insulation type DC/DC converter 30r, and a second insulation type DC/DC converter 40r.
The PFC circuit 20r is configured to monitor the AC input voltage Vac and the input current Iac, and to control the phases of the input voltage Vac and the input current Iac such that they match each other, thereby maintaining the power factor in the vicinity of 100%.
The electronic device 1r such as a TV or the like has three states, i.e., a shutdown state in which all the functions are disabled, a standby state in which only minimal operations are enabled, and a normal operating state. For example, with an electronic device including two kinds of switches, i.e., a main power supply switch and a standby switch, the shutdown state corresponds to the state in which the main power switch is off, and the standby state corresponds to the state in which the main power supply switch is on and the standby switch is off. The normal operating state corresponds to the state in which both the main power supply switch and the standby switch are turned on.
The first insulation type DC/DC converter 30r is configured to supply the power supply voltage Vdd1 to the load 4a which is configured to operate only in the normal operating state. The first insulation type DC/DC converter 30r is configured to operate only in the normal operating state, and stops operating in the standby state.
However, there is a need to supply the power supply voltage to the microcontroller 3 configured to control the overall operation of the power supply apparatus 2r not only in the normal operating state but also in the standby state. In order to meet this need, the second insulation type DC/DC converter 40r is arranged in order to supply the power supply voltage Vdd2 to the microcontroller 3 (and other loads 4b as necessary), in addition to the first insulation type DC/DC converter 30r. The second insulation type DC/DC converter 40r is configured to always operate in the state in which the main power supply switch is on. A sub-converter using an auxiliary winding is provided to the primary side of a transformer included in the second insulation type DC/DC converter 40r. The output voltage Vcc of the sub-converter is supplied as the power supply voltage for the control circuits (controllers) of the PFC circuit 20r, the first insulation type DC/DC converter 30r, and the second insulation type DC/DC converter 40r.
The power supply apparatus 2r shown in FIG. 1 requires the installation of such insulation type DC/DC converters as two separate circuits, leading to an increased number of components, resulting in an problem of increased costs. In particular, a transformer is costly.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

PFC DC/AC/DC power converter with reduced power loss


A web defect inspection system includes line scan cameras positioned across the width of a web and a dual-level out-of-focus light source for illuminating the web. An illumination surface of the dual-level light source has a bright portion adjacent a dark portion. One such dual-level light source is provided by covering a portion of a diffused light surface with an opaque material having a sharp edge. The pixels of each line scan camera are aligned with the dark to light transition of the light source so that each pixel has a no-defect brightness level equal to half of a relative brightness level of the bright portion of the dual-level light source. An image of a defect-free portion of the web consists of pixels having relative brightness levels within a pre-determined range of the no-defect brightness level. Images of defects on the web surface appear three-dimensional as bright and dark areas. The nature of the defect, that is, whether the defect is concave or convex, is determined based upon the orientation of the dual-level light source and the direction of movement of the web.

Manufacturing systems often require surface inspection to detect flaws and contamination that render a product unsuitable for sale. For example, surface inspection systems are utilized to inspect moving webs of materials. A "web" is a flat material produced continuously in large quantities and at very high rates. Typical web material includes fabrics, sheet metal, paper, and non-woven plastic, etc. Inspection of the web material surface is required during production to find flaws and defects. Failure to detect these flaws and defects may result in thousands of feet of unusable web material.
Automated inspection systems of surfaces for defects typically utilize cameras which capture images of the surface under inspection. The images are then evaluated using hardware and/or software to detect defects. Proper illumination of the surface under inspection is essential for acceptable imaging by the cameras. A basic illumination system consists of a bright light source that is distributes uniform light across the surface under inspection. However, this basic illumination results in "flat" or two-dimensional images which may not reveal the presence of defects on the surface. Flat images often highlight dust on the inspected surface resulting in false identification of defects.
The use of multiple light sources which are directed at the surface enhances the visual appearance of materials that are under inspection. For example, multiple light sources may be positioned to illuminate the surface from various angles. The light sources may utilized varying wavelengths of light to enhance surface features. Some systems strobe or sequentially switch lights to enhance camera images. Defects which cannot be seen with uniform illumination become visible when utilizing these types of illumination schemes.
The above-described illumination systems present disadvantages of use in a surface inspection system. Flat illumination does not provide sufficient lighting for a camera to detect small defects. Because flat illumination highlights dust on the surface, this type of illumination may not be suitable for harsh environments. The use of multiple light sources increases the cost of a defect detection system as well as the cost for operation of the system. Strobe or switched lights require switching and control hardware which increases cost and complexity of the system. In addition, the existing illumination systems limit the resolution of the defect detection. Therefore, a need continues to exist for an illumination source for use in a defect detection system that allows a camera to produce images of easily-identifiable defects.

Dual level out-of-focus light source for amplification of defects on a surface


A new and distinct Anemone plant named ‘Pretty Lady Diana’ having a compact growth habit and large deep rose pink and light pink-colored flowers.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Anemone plant known by the varietal name 'Pretty Lady Diana'. The new variety was discovered in August of 2005 in a selected breeding program in Fukushima, Japan. The purpose of the breeding program was to produce a selection of Anemone varieties in a range of flower colors with compact growth habits that are freely flowering. The new variety was selected from a cross of Anemone hupehensis varieties 'Japonica' (female parent, unpatented) and 'Diana' (male parent, unpatented). The single flowers of the new variety are similar to its parents, but the new variety differs from its parents in increased flower size, improved flower color, a compact growth habit, and increased flower production. Further, 'Pretty Lady Diana' has a similar flower color to Anemone hupehensis variety 'Japonica Splendens' (unpatented), but differs in flower height and the number of flowers produced. Additionally, 'Pretty Lady Diana' has bi-colored flowers with deep rose pink and light pink, whereas Anemone hupehensis variety 'Pretty Lady Susan' (U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 12/800,749) has deep pink colored flowers that are uniform in color. The new variety was first asexually reproduced in October of 2005 by root cuttings in Fukushima, Japan. The new variety has been trial and field tested and has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics and remain true to type through successive propagations.
The following traits also distinguish 'Pretty Lady Diana' as a new and distinct cultivar from other Anemone varieties known to the breeder:                1. Compact growth habit;        2. Flower height;        3. Quantity of flowers produced;        4. Flower size; and        5. Flower color.


There is disclosed an apparatus for providing an ionized analyte for mass analysis by photon desorption comprising at least one layer for contacting an analyte, and a substrate on which said layer is deposited. Upon irradiation of said apparatus, said analyte desorbs and ionizes for analysis by mass spectrometry. The layer or layers of said apparatus comprise a continuous film, a discontinuous film or any combinations thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tailored-morphology material systems and their use in molecular mass analysis by electromagnetic energy desorption-ionization mass spectrometry. Areas of interest for this technology include, but are not limited to, chemical research and manufacturing, pharmaceutical research and manufacturing, bio-medical research and screening, head-space and environmental monitoring, and other applications involving molecular analysis.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Light desorption-ionization mass spectrometry is a very common and powerful technique for mass analysis of molecules. It is a technique which can be broadened to include the whole spectrum of electromagnetic energy for the desorption-ionization step. However, with recent demands in throughput and small molecule screening, the most popular and widely used laser-based technique, known as MALDI (matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionization), has limitations. MALDI was developed in the mid-eighties and is still being refined today for the analysis of a wide range of compounds with emphasis on proteins, peptides and other molecules in the range of 500–200,000 amu. In MALDI, the analyte (the molecules or compounds to be analyzed) is mixed in with an organic UV absorbent "matrix". This matrix provides a "soft" method of desorbing large molecules by allowing excess energy in the analyte to be transferred to the matrix molecules during the desorption process. The matrix also provides an environment suitable for the protonation of the analyte molecules, giving them a single, positively charged state. However, for small molecules (approximately 500 amu and below, such as drug molecules), the matrix molecules themselves provide background in the signal and complicate spectrum analysis. Furthermore, with modern demands in automation, throughput and reproducibility, the addition of the matrix to the analyte and its preparation become issues particularly in the case of throughput. These limitations were recognized during the onset of MALDI, leading to the study of non-matrix methods.
The first studies in matrix-less light desorption from a surface used metals and glasses as a media to immobilize the analyte molecules. These materials had non-textured morphologies, i.e., essentially they were non-porous and had a flat (continuous) surface. In a study using this approach, two incident light beams were used, one to desorb and one to ionize the molecules. Zhan, Q. et al., Amer. Soc. Mass Spectrom. 8, 525–531 (1997). This approach is termed two-photon ionization. Other similar methods used ion beams and thermal sources for these tasks. Problems with all these matrix-less light desorption techniques reported in the literature include a high degree of molecular fragmentation and a very limited mass range. These studies, and recent comments, maintain that smooth (non-porous) surfaces do not work effectively for matrix-less laser mass desorption. (See for example, Wei, J., et al., Nature. 399, 243–246 (1999). A recent report supports the understanding that smooth surfaces do not function effectively for matrix-less laser mass desorption. Kruse, R., et al., Anal. Chem. 73, 3639–3645, 2001.
It has been shown that matrix-less laser mass desoroption could be effective if done on a textured surface created with the use of electrochemically etched porous silicon. Wei, J., et al., Nature. 399, 243–246 (1999). With this material as a substrate for laser desorption ionization, significant improvement in non-matrix techniques for molecular analysis has been reported. Also, it was reported that electrochemically etched porous silicon provided mass detection in the range of 0–8000 amu with little fragmentation and little low mass noise. However, other results using this material raised concerns about the low mass collection of hydrocarbons and other contaminants leading to "dirty" low mass signals. Shen, Z., et al., Anal. Chem. 73, 612–619 (2001). The use of HOME-HF electrochemically etched Si, GaAs and GaN, which requires metallic patterning and a wet etching step leading to a porous microstructure, has also been reported for matrix-less laser mass desorption. Kruse, R., et al., Anal. Chem. 73, 3639–3645, 2001.
Further limitations of the electrochemically etched materials are their limited useful lifetimes for mass desorption-ionization applications (<3 weeks) which occur for these materials because of etchants trapped in the material during its manufacturing process. The processing of these etching approaches involves the galvanic etching of a crystal conductive substrate in a hydrofluoric acid based solution. Although the fundamental theory of the mechanism of desorption-ionization of molecules using these techniques is currently under investigation, research groups using these materials reported the importance of the porous structure to the success of mass desoprtion-ionization and reported that solid, smooth (i.e., non-textured) silicon and silicon dioxide coated silicon did not generate ion signals; i.e., were not useful for light desorbed mass spectroscopy.
In other work, liquid matrix materials combined with UV light adsorbing particles have been used in recent laser desorbtion/ionization experiments as an alternative to traditional MALDI matrix materials. Dale et al, Anal Chem, 68, 3321–3329 (1996) used a glycerol/graphite slurry to desorb detect proteins and peptides. This methodology proved less efficient in ionization than traditional MALDI and provided a very noisy spectrum from the glycerol contamination.
The use of a new material, deposited column/void network silicon, for laser desorption-ionization has eliminated several disadvantages associated with electrochemically etched material approaches. Cuiffi, J., et al., Anal. Chem. 73, 1293–1295 (2001). This reported technique of using deposited column/void network materials for mass desorption-ionization produced similar mass ranges and sensitivity to electrochemically etched material, but the film itself did not degrade over time. Furthermore the manufacturability of a deposited film system offers several advantages in cost, production throughput, contamination control, uniformity, and signal reproducibility. This deposited material also offers the further unique feature of having the capability to be deposited on a number of inexpensive substrates, including bio-degradable materials, plastics, and glass. On the other hand, electrochemically etched material always must be on a conducting substrate. In addition, Cuiffi et al. reported, for the first time, that solid (continuous) films of crystalline silicon and thermal silicon dioxide coated crystal silicon did give effective mass desorption-ionization spectroscopy signals. Cuiffi, J., et al., Anal. Chem. 73, 1293–1295 (2001).
The material systems of the present invention consist of one or more deposited film layers and a substrate on which they are deposited. The material system could also be grown (e.g., Si, SiGe alloy, Ge wafer materials) or casted (Si, SiGe, Ge sheet materials) and also function as the substrate. Unlike the previously reported techniques, our deposited material systems offer the flexibility of a number of deposition methods and encompass a broad range of material and morphological choices. These material systems can be uniquely tailored for mass spectrometry applications through choice of the substrate, deposition techniques and materials, deposition parameters and pre- or post deposition physical and chemical modification, which are unavailable in the techniques of electrochemically etched porous silicon whether used with one or two-photon ionization. Specifically, the substrate materials available with our technique are chosen from a group consisting of polymers, plastics, bio-degradable materials, semiconductors, metals, ceramics, insulators, glasses or combinations thereof. Electrochemically or HOME-HF etched porous materials require a conducting semiconductor substrate, and are fundamentally based on a subtractive electric current-driven etching process.
The materials of the present invention can be deposited. This can be done by one or a combination of the additive process comprising physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, molecular beam epitaxy, plasma assisted physical vapor deposition, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, sol-gel, molecular self-assembly, electroplating, tape casting, spin casting, casting, liquid deposition, or assembly from liquid chemical precursors. The morphology of these materials, which is determined by the production technique and parameters, are application-specific and can range from a continuous (void free) solid with no surface texturing to high surface area to volume ratio (i.e., the deposited column-void nanotextured silicon film), or any intermediate morphologies.
The material systems of the present invention can also be altered by pre or post deposition physical or chemical modifications, which affect the morphology, surface chemistries and bulk material chemistries of the films.
Given these advantages, our material systems are easily integrated, when compared to other matrix-less light desorption/ionization techniques, with microelectronics, micro-fluidics and other micro and nanofabricated sensing devices.
Matrix free desorption/ionization mass spectrometry available using the tailorable morphology of our materials, has a variety of applications. The flexible nature of the substrate material composition, film composition, or both, permitted in our approach allows this technology to be used in atmospheric and reduced pressure desorption and ionization systems as a disposable consumable or reusable target. The composition and methods of production utilized in this technique allow for easy integration with microfabrication processes and microelectronic devices, such as microfluidics, microarrays, CMOS technology and thin film transistors. The matrix less desorption and ionization makes automated, high throughput sample analysis an attractive use of this technique.
The present invention presents a variety of structures that further expand the possibilities of molecular detection using light desorption-ionization, by providing low-cost, easily manufactured, tailorable material systems and techniques.

Matrix-free desorption ionization mass spectrometry using tailored morphology layer devices


A transmitter and a method are described herein that generate a reduced peak-to-rms ratio multicode radio signal which helps to conserve battery life and increase the communication range and average data throughput rate.

The following abbreviations are herewith defined, at least some of which are referred to within the following description of the prior art and the present invention.    CDMA Code-Division Multiple Access    FIR Finite Impulse Response    HSPA High-Speed Packet Access    QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation    UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service    WCDMA Wideband Code-Division Multiple Access
In the 3rd Generation cellular system known as WCDMA or UMTS, there is currently a HSPA method under specification for transmitting higher data rates from a mobile phone to a network (or base station). The HSPA transmission uses an approach called "Multi-code CDMA". In this Multi-code CDMA system, each data symbol is spread out in time and spectrum by combining it with a spreading code. On the downlink (base station to mobile phone), the codes used to transmit signals from the base station are coordinated at the base station so that they are mutually orthogonal. In contrast, in the uplink (mobile phone to base station), the coordination needed between different mobile phones to achieve orthogonality is considered too difficult to implement, so each mobile phone uses a different random code sequence.
However, at each mobile phone, it is still possible to generate several random code sequences that are coordinated among themselves to be mutually orthogonal. Each of these orthogonal codes may then carry a symbol sub-stream so that the combined symbol stream rate is enhanced. But, in this situation, the mobile phone's available transmitter power is going to be divided between the different codes which means that the range over which each sub-stream may be successfully received and decoded error free is going to be reduced. In fact, the reduction of power per each sub-stream in a multi-code modulation signal transmitted from a mobile phone is worse than would be expected by merely dividing the transmitter power by the total number of sub-streams. This is because it is not so much the average power that is constrained by battery voltage, but rather the peak signal amplitude, which happens to be limited by the battery voltage.
Thus, in the 3rd Generation cellular system there is a desire for a modulation scheme which develops the greatest mean power per sub-stream within a constraint of the composite peak signal amplitude of all sub-streams. For example, if the mobile phone used a three-code multicode scheme with three length=4 codes where each code carries a sub-stream of 16 QAM symbols at similar amplitude, then the total mean power that is transmitted within a given peak amplitude constraint is 7.32 dB below the peak before filtering to contain the spectrum, and the mean power per sub-stream is 12.1 dB below the peak. Filtering generally increases the peak-to-rms ratio further. The HSPA standard describes an improvement over the three length=4 spreading code scheme since it specifies a length=2 code of twice the power (√2times the amplitude) which carries two symbols in the same time period that a superimposed and orthogonal length=4 code carries a third symbol, which effectively achieves the same symbol rate as three length=4 codes. This 4+(2,2) configuration is able to develop a total mean power which is 5.44 dB below the peak, and is 1.88 dB more effective than the 4+4+4 configuration associated with the three length=4 spreading code scheme. Although the 4+(2,2) configuration works well, it is still desirable for the mobile phone to be able to further reduce the ratio of the peak to mean power when transmitting multi-code modulation signals. This need and other needs are addressed by a transmitter and a method of the present invention.

Reduced peak-to-RMS ratio multicode signal


A rechargeable battery pack includes a case with first and second openings, the first and second openings facing each other, a plurality of unit cells in the case, each unit cell including a rechargeable battery and having a longitudinal direction extending from the first opening of the case toward the second opening of the case, a first cover coupled to the first opening of the case, the first cover selectively connecting via elastic members terminals of the unit cells facing the first opening, and a second cover coupled to the second opening of the case, the second cover connecting via elastic members terminals of the unit cells facing the second opening in correspondence to terminals connected through the first cover.

1. Field
The described technology relates generally to a rechargeable battery pack that outputs power by electrically connecting a plurality of unit cells.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rechargeable battery may be used as a unit cell or may be used by electrically connecting unit cells depending on the type of device using the rechargeable battery. For example, the rechargeable battery pack may include a plurality of unit cells, a protection circuit module (PCM) protecting the unit cells, and a case electrically connecting and installing, e.g., accommodating, the unit cells and the protection circuit module.
Such a rechargeable battery pack outputs power of a utilization voltage determined depending on the number of unit cells and a case corresponding thereto. For example, the rechargeable battery pack electrically connects the unit cells using tabs.


An apparatus and a method for driving the light source of a projector are provided. The apparatus includes an adjustment unit, a lamp driver, a phase lock loop (PLL) and a mercury lamp. The adjustment unit provides an enabling signal and regulates the frequency of the enabling signal according to an indication signal. The lamp driver provides a driving signal according to the enabling signal and an input voltage, wherein the frequency of the driving signal is varied with the frequency of the enabling signal. The PLL provides a synchronized driving signal according to the driving signal and a vertical synchronization signal, wherein the synchronized driving signal is phase-synchronous with the frame field of the projector. The mercury lamp serves as the light source of the projector according to the synchronized driving signal.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for driving the light source of a projector, and particularly to an apparatus and a method for driving the light source of a projector capable of avoiding flicker.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, a projector is equipped with a mercury lamp as the light source thereof. FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a conventional apparatus for driving a mercury lamp. The driving apparatus includes a lamp driver 101 and a mercury lamp 102. The driving mode of the mercury lamp 102 can be seen in FIG. 2. The lamp driver 101 receives an input voltage 111 and an enabling signal 112, then produces an alternative driving signal 113 for driving the mercury lamp 102. If the frequency of the driving signal 113 does not match the frame rate of a projector, or there is no phase-synchronization between them but with matched frequencies, a flicker displaying occurs.
A frequency match means the frequency of a driving signal 113 is the same as the frame rate, or the frame rate is an integer multiple of the frequency of a driving signal 113. A phase-synchronization means every pulse of a driving signal 113 locates always between two adjacent frame fields. FIG. 3 shows that the frequency of a driving signal 113 matches the frame rate, but with a phase discord, wherein 301-305 are five consecutive frame fields.

Apparatus and method for driving light source of projector


Component apparatuses with inter-component communication capabilities, and system having such component apparatuses are disclosed herein. In embodiments, such a component may include a number of control pins including a clock pin, a number of data pins, and a logic unit. The logic unit may be configured to receive a clock signal from another component through the clock pin, to provide an alert signal to the other component through a selected one of the control and data pins to initiate a transaction with the other component, to receive in response to the alert signal from the other component through the data pins a status request to determine nature of the transaction, and to provide in response to the status request to the other component through the data pins a status to indicate the nature of the transaction. The provision of the alert signal, the receipt of the status request and the provision of the status may be in reference to the clock signal. Other embodiments may be disclosed or claimed.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
In the early days of personal computing systems, peripherals were relatively simple in their functionalities. Peripherals were often coupled to the host central processing unit (CPU) via simple 2-wire serial buses, such as the Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) bus, or its later variant, the System Management bus (SMBUS). As peripheral functionalities increase, many peripherals began to be coupled to the host CPU using the Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus. Depending on the version, an ISA bus could include 62 or more pins.
In today's computing systems, notwithstanding the continuing increase in functionalities, embedded controller (EC), baseboard management controller (BMC) and super input/output (SIO) are often coupled to the host CPU through a more pin efficient Low Pin Count (LPC) bus. However, the LPC bus still requires at least 7 pins, and often, another 6 "optional" pins, a total of 13 pins. Further, on top of the still relatively high pin count, the LPC bus is still based on the old 3.3v I/O signaling technology, with the frequency of the bus clock fixed at 33 MHz. Accordingly, the LPC bus has a relatively low bandwidth of 133 Mbps. With recent advances, the LPC bus has been deemed insufficient to handle the demand of a new generation of peripheral devices, which require low cost and medium bandwidth connection.
On some platforms, peripherals may be coupled to the host CPU using the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) bus. The SPI bus is a 4-wire serial bus, 5-wires in some embodiments. However, the SPI bus lacks a defined protocol. At the other end, peripherals may be coupled to the host CPU through a high speed bus, such as PCI Express [PCI=Peripheral Component Interconnect]. Such solution is often considered to be too costly. Further, there exist a significant number of sideband signals used for communication between the bridging chipset and peripheral controllers, such as an EC, a BMC or a SIO, that consume significant pin cost.

Inter-component communication including slave component initiated transaction


A retaining wall with a series of differently sized, pre-formed blocks. Each block includes a projection and a recess, with the projection and recess arranged and configured so that each projection effectively engages a recess in an adjacent course to connect and align adjacent courses in registry. Retaining walls made of horizontal blocks may be stacked in columnar fashion or running bond fashion. The location of the indexing surface on a projection relative to the viewable surface of the block may be varied to enable adjacent courses to be coplanar or tiered in a variety of predetermined offset distances.

Retaining walls are widely used in a variety of landscaping applications. Typically, they are used to maximize or create level areas and also to reduce erosion and slumping. They may also be used in a purely decorative manner. In the past, retaining wall construction was labor intensive and often required the skills of trained tradespeople such as masons and carpenters. More recently, retaining wall construction has become significantly simplified with the introduction of self-aligning, modular, molded blocks of concrete that may be stacked in courses without the use of mortar or extensive training. With these types of blocks, it is possible to erect a retaining wall quickly and economically, and the finished product creates the impression and appearance of a conventional block and mortar retaining wall. The feature that allows such blocks to be so easily and precisely assembled is the interconnection between adjacent courses of blocks. Typically, each block will include a projection and a recess located at oppositely facing surfaces, such as a top surface and a bottom surface, for example. The projection and recess are complimentarily shaped, with the projection protruding beyond the bottom surface of the block and with the recess extending inwardly from the top surface of the block. In use, a projection of a first block is received within the recess of a second block to interconnect and position the blocks adjacent each other in a predetermined relation. With a plurality of blocks, such interconnections make it possible to lay courses of blocks in an accurate and expedient manner. Moreover, such an assembled retaining wall is able to resist lateral forces exerted by the material being retained and reduce bowing. Blocks having these interconnections are usually the same size and may be assembled in a coplanar arrangement in only a simple, running bond pattern. In a variation of the aforementioned blocks, the projection and recess may be arranged so that adjacent courses are offset a predetermined amount. With this type of block, each successive course may be offset from the preceding course by the same amount so that the assembled wall is skewed at a predetermined angle from the vertical. These blocks also have the same dimensions to enable them to set in only a simple, running bond pattern.
A recent development in mortarless retaining walls has been the advent of blended pattern retaining walls. These walls differ from the aforementioned walls in that the preformed blocks used to construct a retaining wall are differently sized. This feature allows retaining walls to be assembled in a variety of patterns and bonds. Usually, these types of preformed blocks are horizontally and vertically oriented and have dimensions that are based upon an incremental unit such as the thickness of a horizontal, preformed block. For example, the thickness of a horizontal block is one increment and the height of a vertical block is two increments. With these types of preformed blocks, it is possible to construct a retaining wall with no discernable courses. A drawback with such a retaining wall is that setbacks are not possible and the assembled retaining wall must be substantially vertical. Alternatively, a retaining wall may be arranged in thick courses, and the blocks within these thick courses may be randomly arranged. For example, a course may be two incremental units high within which the differently dimensioned preformed blocks are arranged. Or, the course may be three incremental units high within which the differently dimensioned preformed blocks are arranged. There are several drawbacks with this type of wall. One drawback is that the vertical blocks dictate the height of the course. Thus, if vertical blocks are used, each entire course must be coplanar and all of the blocks must lie in the same plane. Otherwise, the projections of blocks in one course would not be able to be received within the recesses in blocks of another course, and the interconnection would be defeated. Another drawback with such this type of wall is that the number of arrangements available within each course is limited, and a truly random arrangement is not possible.