A variable bit-rate encoding device is provided that can perform a variable bit-rate encoding process at high rate. The subtracter 103 calculates a predictive error between compressed frame data and motion-compensated reference frame data and then outputs it to the code-amount allocator 107. The code-amount allocator 107 calculates and stores the power for each unit section of a predictive error. Thus, at the time the image data has been completely processed, a target code amount allocated to each unit section in a second pass encoding is decided based on the power of a predictive error of the whole image data and based on the power of a predictive error for each unit section. The motion vector memory 114 stores a motion vector for each macroblock. Upon an actual second pass encoding, the motion compensator 115 motion-compensates the reference frame input from the frame memory 116 according to the motion vector value and then outputs the motion-compensated reference frame to the subtracter 113.

The present invention relates to a variable bit-rate encoding device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a two-pass-system encoding device that encodes moving picture (image) data at a variable bit-rate.
The moving image data encoding technique has a constant bit-rate encoding method and a variable bit-rate encoding method.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between time and encoded bit-rate in the case where a certain set of moving image data is subjected to the constant bit-rate encoding and the variable bit-rate encoding.
In the constant bit rate encoding shown in FIG. 3, the bit rate is always constant. On the other hand, in the variable bit-rate encoding, the bit rate varies due to the complexity of image data. Since the duration (a) is for image data relatively difficult to be handled, encoding is performed at a high bit rate. Since the duration (b1) and the duration (b2) are for image data relatively easy to be handled, encoding is performed at a low bit rate.
In the variable bit-rate encoding, a large quantity of codes is allocated to complicated images while a small quantity of codes is allocated to simple images. Consequently, moving image data can be encoded with the image quality maintained uniformly.
In the constant bit-rate encoding, information may not be sufficient in the duration (a) in which much information are produced as shown in the area A shown in FIG. 3. Information may be encoded redundantly in the duration (b1) or (b2) in which less information are produced, as shown in the area B shown in FIG. 3.
Accordingly, it may be generally said that the variable bit-rate encoding method is effective, in regard to the image quality.
The so-called two-pass system variable bit rate encoding scheme is known as one of variable bit-rate encoding schemes.
In the two-pass system variable bit-rate encoding method, an information amount generated per unit section of all sequences of moving images is analyzed in the first pass and a target code amount for each unit section is allocated based on the analyzed result. Thereafter, while the generated code amount for each unit section in the second pass is controlled to bring close to a target code amount, an actual encoding is performed.
As described above, the two-path system variable bit-rate encoding method is characterized in that an ideal variable bit rate control is performed because a target code amount for each unit section is allocated by analyzing the information generation amount of all sequences for a moving image, prior to an actual encoding.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional two-pass variable bit-rate encoding device.
As shown in FIG. 11, the conventional variable bit rate encoding device consists of an input buffer 202 with an input terminal 201, a subtracter 203, a DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) unit 204, a quantizer 205, a variable length encoder 206, an inverse quantizer 207, an inverse DCT unit 208, an adder 209, a frame memory 210, a motion compensator 211, a motion vector searcher 212, a code amount allocator 213, a code amount controller 214, and an output terminal 215.
Image data input from the input terminal 201 is supplied in line units to the input buffer 202.
As shown in FIG. 4, input image data to encoded as one of an I (Intra) frame, a P (Prediction) frame, or a B (Bi-directional) frame.
I frame is a frame encoded in an inter frame process only and does not undergo an inter motion compensation frame predictive encoding. I frame also is used as a reference frame for the successive P and B frames.
P frame is a reference frame an I or P frame in the forward direction on the time axis and is used to perform an inter motion compensation frame predictive encoding in one direction. P frame is used as a reference frame for the other successive P and B frames.
B frame is a reference frame for the I or P frame in the forward direction and backward direction on the time axis and is used to perform an inter motion compensation predictive encoding in two directions. The B frame is not used in the reference frame of other frame.
The input buffer 202 rearranges input image data in an encoding order and outputs the output signal to the subtracter 203 and the motion vector searcher 212 in encoded block units or in macroblock units.
In FIG. 4 as previously described, the third P frame, for example, is encoded earlier than the first and second B frames to use the third P frame as a reference frame. Hence, the input buffer 202 rearranges images.
FIG. 5 shows the rearrangement operation. The image data input shown with input order in FIG. 5 are supplied in the order shown with encoding order in FIG. 5.
The macroblock is a minimum unit for a motion compensation prediction and corresponds to image data of 16xc3x9716 pixels. The macroblock data is configured of the brightness block Y of 8xc3x973 pixels and the color-difference blocks Cr and Cb. The total block number depends on a color-difference data thinned-out type.
When the thinned-out type is 4:2:0, as shown in FIG. 6A, there are 6 blocks including 4 brightness blocks Y, one color-difference block Cr, and one color-difference block Cb. When the thinned-out type is 4:2:2. as shown in FIG. 6B, there are 8 blocks including 4 brightness blocks Y, 2 color-difference blocks Cr, and 2 color-difference blocks Cb. When the thinned-out type is 4:4:4. as shown in FIG. 6C. there are 12 blocks including 4 brightness blocks Y, 4xe2x80x2 color-difference blocks Cr and 4 color-difference blocks Cb.
The subtracter 203 receives compressed block data output from the input buffer 202 and reference macroblock data motion-compensated with the motion compensator 211 and then outputs these interframe predictive error signals to the DCT unit 204.
The DCT unit 204 subjects each interframe predictive error signal to a DCT process to separate it into horizontal and vertical frequency components. Thus, the DCT unit 204 outputs the horizontal and vertical frequency components to the quantizer 205.
The quantizer 205 quantizes the output from the DCT unit 204 to reduce the code amount. Thus, the quantizer 205 outputs the result to the variable length encoder 206 and the inverse quantizer 207. The quantizer 205 performs a fixed quantization with the quantization step size of a fixed value in the first pass tentative encoding. The quantizer 205 also performs a fixed quantization with the quantization step size set by the code amount controller 214 in an actual second pass encoding.
The inverse quantizer 207 inverse-quantizes the output of the quantizer 205 and then outputs the result to the inverse DCT unit 208.
The inverse DCT unit 208 subjects the output of the inverse quantizer 207 to an inverse DCT process and then outputs the result to the adder 209.
The adder 209 adds the reference macroblock data motion-compensated by the motion compensator 211 and the output of the inverse DCT unit 208. Then, the adder 209 outputs the resultant sum to the frame memory 210.
The frame memory 210 outputs macroblock data acting as new reference frames data to the motion compensator 211 and the motion vector searcher 212.
The motion vector searcher 212 receives the macroblock data of a compressed frame from the input buffer 202 as well as the macroblock data of a reference frame from the frame memory 210. The motion vector seacher 212 implements the block matching between the input macroblock data sets to obtain a motion vector between the reference frame and the compressed frames and then outputs it to the motion compensator 211.
The frame memory 210 provides reference frame data to the motion compensator 211. The motion compensator 211 motion-compensates the reference frame data with the motion vector from the motion vector searcher 212 to create reference macro block data. Thus, the motion compensator 211 supplies it to the subtracter 203.
The variable length encoder 206 subjects the output of the quantizer 205 to a variable length encoding. The result is supplied to the code amount allocator 213 in the first pass tentative encoding and to the code amount controller 213 in the second pass tentative encoding. At the same time, the result is output via the output terminal 215.
The variable length encoder 206 inputs codes generated in the first pass tentative encoding to the code amount allocator 213. The code amount allocator 213 stores the code amount generated in the first pass tentative encoding for each unit section and determines a target code amount, allocated in each unit section in an actual second pass encoding at the time when the first pass tentative encoding has been ended.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing generated code amounts for each unit section in the first pass tentative encoding. As shown in FIG. 7, the B section representing a relatively simple scene corresponds to a small generation code amount. The A section representing a relatively difficult scene corresponds to a large generation code amount. Consequently, in an actual second pass encoding, a larger target code amount is allocated to the A section while a smaller target code amount is allocated to the B section.
The code amount controller 214 adjusts the quantized step size to bring the code amount generated in an actual second pass encoding close to the target code amount set in the first pass encoding and then outputs the result to the quantizer 205. That is, the code amount controller 214 determine a suitable quantized step size based on the difference between a target code amount for each unit section input from the code amount allocator 213 and an actually generated code amount input from the variable length encoder 206.
A typical example of the above-mentioned two-pass system variable bit rate encoding device is disclosed in JP-A No. 141298/1994 and JP-A No. 93537/1997.
However, in such a two-pass system variable bit rate encoding device, a sequence of encoding steps including the first pass tentative encoding and the second pass actual encoding have to be repeated twice. Accordingly, the problem is that encoding moving images at a constant bit rate requires the processing time twofold.
The present invention is made to solve the above-mentioned problems.
The objective of the invention is to provide a novel two-pass system variable bit rate encoding device that can solve the problems occurring in the prior art.
The objective of the present invention is achieved by a two-pass system variable bit-rate encoding device, wherein moving picture data is encoded at a variable bit rate, comprising first encoding means for calculating a power for each unit section of a predictive error, using correlation between the power of a predictive error in inter motion compensation frame prediction and a generated code amount in a first pass, and for determining a target code amount allocated to each unit section in a second pass encoding, according to the magnitude of the predictive error power of the whole image data and the magnitude of the predictive error power for each unit section; and second encoding means for performing an encoding process while controlling a generated code amount to adjust the target code amount for each unit section in the second pass.
In the variable bit-rate encoding device according to the present invention, a target code amount is allocated in proportional distribution based on a predictive error power in each unit section and based on a predictive error power of the whole image data.
Moreover, in the variable bit-rate encoding device according to the present invention, a target code amount is compensated to set a coded rate within a predetermined range based on a predictive error power in each unit section and based on a predictive error power of the whole image data.
A motion vector value, which is obtained by searching a, motion vector for inter motion compensation frame prediction in the first pass by means of the first encoding means, is used without any change during a second pass encoding by the second encoding means. Thus, the motion vector searching process in the second pass is omitted.
The first encoding means comprises a first subtracter for receiving compressed macroblock image data rearranged in an encoding frame order by an input buffer and reference macroblock image data motion-compensated by a first motion compensator (to be defined later) and then calculating an inter frame predictive error signal of the two sets of image data; a first frame memory for storing macroblock image data output from the input buffer; a motion vector searcher for receiving the reference macroblock image data from the first frame memory and compressed macroblock image data from the input buffer, and then performing a block matching process to macroblock data within a research range of the reference macroblock image data, thus obtaining a motion vector; a first motion compensator for receiving the motion vector from the motion vector searcher and then creating the reference macroblock image data motion-compensated; and a code-amount allocator for obtaining a power of each GOP (Group of Pictures), the GOP being configured of a plurality of frames of the inter frame predictive error signal supplied from the first subtracter, and then determining a target code amount allocated to each GOP in an actual encoding process by the second encoding means according to the power of a predictive error signal for each GOP.
The second encoding means comprises a second subtracter for receiving compressed macroblock image data rearranged in an encoding frame order by an input buffer and reference macroblock image data motion-compensated by a second motion compensator (to be defined later) and then calculating an inter frame predictive error signal of the two sets of image data; a DCT unit for performing a DCT process of an inter frame predictive error signal output from the second subtracter: a quantizer for quantizing a DCT output from the DCT unit; an inverse quantizer for inverse quantizing a quantized output from the quantizer; an inverse DCT unit for performing an inverse DCT unit of an output from the inverse quantizer; an adder for adding an output from the inverse DCT unit and reference macroblock image data motion-compensated by a second motion compensator (to be defined later); a motion vector memory for storing the motion vector output from the motion vector searcher; a second frame memory for storing an output from the adder; a second motion compensator for motion-compensating reference frame data supplied from the second frame memory with a motion vector from the motion vector memory and then supplying the result to the second subtracter and the adder; a variable length encoder for variable-length-encoding a quantized output from the quantizer; and a code-amount allocator for controlling a code amount based on a code amount actually generated from the variable-length encoder and based on a target code amount for each unit section output from the code amount allocater in the first encoding means.
The first encoding means further comprises a motion vector decision unit for supplying an output from the motion vector searcher to the code-amount allocator. The motion vector decision unit decides a motion vector movement output from the motion vector searcher and adjusts a target code amount to be allocated according to the motion vector movement.
Moreover, in the variable bit rate encoding device according to the present invention, the first and second subtracters may be integrated as one piece. The first and second motion compensators may be integrated as one piece. The first and second frame memories may be integrated as one piece. Thus, each one-piece component can be shared in time divisional mode, using the first encoding means and the second encoding means.


A frame structure includes a first end wall having first and second ends in a top edge. A second end wall is spaced apart from the first end wall and generally parallel orientation relative to the first end wall. The second end wall has first and second ends in a top edge. A pair of side walls extend between the first and second end walls. The first side wall of the pair of side walls is connected at a first end to the first end wall first end and at a second end to the second end wall first end. A second side wall of the pair of side walls is connected at a first end to the first end wall second wall and at a second end to the second end wall second end. The end walls and the side walls define a base cavity. The pair of sidewalls have upper portions that extend a selected distance beyond the top edges of the first and second end walls. A first pair of slide mechanisms is mounted on the upper portions of the pair of side walls. A first slide mechanism of the first pair of slide mechanisms is mounted on the first side wall and a second corresponding slide mechanism of the first pair of slide mechanisms is mounted on the second side wall. A first support is connected to the first pair of slide mechanisms. The first pair of slide mechanisms is capable of slidably moving the first support between a first position wherein anything carried on the first support is positioned over the base cavity obstructing viewing into the base cavity and second position wherein the first support passes over one of the top edges of the first and second end walls thereby not obstructing viewing into the base cavity.

The present invention relates to display systems and structures. More particularly, the present invention relates to a frame structure for holding a plurality of display cases or trays. However, it will be appreciated that the present invention is also amendable to other like applications.
Merchants, particularly those that at trade shows, jewelry shows, coin collector shows, baseball and general sports memorabilia shows, flea markets and the like, are often required to provide their own display cases, structures, trays or the like for presenting their wares to potential customers. Merchants employ all varieties of display cases, structures, trays and the like in showing their goods. For example, some merchants use conventional display cases such as those manufactured by Arizona Case and Allstate Display Case. These types of display cases (FIG. 2) are substantially flat, rectangular boxes having a glass door as an upper side permitting viewing of the contents contained within the display case and openable to provide access to said contents.
One of the problems that is often common to all these merchants at these types of shows is the limited amount of table space provided for showing their goods. That is, a particular merchant is only given a specific amount of table space upon which to place his/her goods. Without more table top surface area, the merchant is limited in the amount of merchandise he/she can display and, therefore, sell. Accordingly, there is a need for a display system that enables more goods to be viewed on a limited amount of table top surface area.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An electronic module includes a board unit having a handle and a module housing. The handle includes a grip portion and a pair of leg portions. The leg portions have engagement convex portions extending from portions serving as rotary pivots, of the leg portions. The module housing includes an engagement concave portion provided to correspond to the engagement convex portions. When the board unit is inserted into the module housing, by rotating the handle around the rotary pivots in a direction along which the grip portion approaches the panel portion, the engagement convex portions are brought into contact with a part of the engagement concave portion to produce a force in a direction, along which the board unit is pressed into the module housing.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to an electronic module and an electronic device.
2. Related Art
Generally, an electronic device is mounted with plural electronic modules. The respective electronic modules implement various functions by individual independent operations or an operation in cooperation with each other. Of the electronic modules, there is an electronic module having a board unit. The board unit is a unit having a circuit board mounted with various electronic parts. As this type of electronic module, there has been known a module in which attachment/detachment of the board unit to/from a module housing is performed by extracting/inserting the board unit.
In such an electronic module, when the board unit is inserted into the module housing, for example, a strong pressing force is required in order to fit a connector of a circuit board into a connector of another board. Also, when the board unit is extracted from the module housing, a strong drawing-in force is required in order to extract the connector of the circuit board from the connector of another board.


Method of rapidly producing a contoured part, comprising: designing a computer graphic model of the part, sectioning the graphic model into graphic members which are at least one of blocks or slabs, carving a solid member (14-150 mm in thickness) for each of the graphic members, the solid member being proportion to and enveloping such graphic members, the carving being carried out by accessing two or more sides (opposite sides) of such solid member to at least essentially duplicate the corresponding graphic member, and securing the carved solid members together to replicate the graphic model as a usable unitary part.. The method can be modified to make castings by carving wax or foam solid members which are assembled to form an investment pattern, the was pattern being used in a shell mold casting steps and the foam pattern being used in evaporative casting steps.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to manufacturing and shaping of parts constituted of reasonably rigid material, and more particularly to rapid prototyping of such parts by sectioned object machining which facilitates free-form fabrication.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is becoming paramount that prototype parts and their associated tools be fabricated faster in free-form, at lower cost, particularly in metal shapes, have superior surface finish and require little or no remachining. Technology attempting to meet these objectives fall into generally four categories: extruding, spraying, curing and laminate forming. Each has significant disadvantages that fail to meet all of the objectives.
Extrusion uses a heated nozzle to extrude hot wax or other polymer filaments, such as nylon, into a shape. It cannot be used to make metal parts; it is fragile, subject to delamination, and is expensive.
Spraying can be either (i) an emulsion type where a binder is sprayed onto a metal powder which is subsequently laser sintered, or (ii) thermally sprayed at high temperature using a metal powder to produce a shape. Spraying is expensive, slow and produces a mediocre surface finish which is porous.
Curing, often times referred to as stereolithography, involves subjecting photo-sensitive polymer resins in thin layers to a laser beam for curing and thence repeating these steps to build up a part. It is generally slow, useful only for nonmetals and tooling, and requires expensive emission control measures because of the odorous materials. It also demands post machining because the surface is not stable during storage, is somewhat brittle, and is size limited.
Prior art laminate forming involves cutting of metal plys, paper, plastic sheets or foam, by use of a laser beam, hot wire or mechanical cutter to make sheet-like cutouts; the cutouts are subsequently assembled to form a unit. Laminate forming first was carried out without a computer graphic guide, the cutter following a mechanical guide. More recently, the prior art has programmed the cutter to follow a computer model or graphic such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,675,825 patented on Jun. 23, 1987 to DeMenthan. The latter type of laminate forming has been used to shape metal, but fails to eliminate post-machining of the unit, lacks high structural integrity because of the need to use very thin laminates, is incapable of making complex parts such as intricate engine cylinder heads, manifolds or engine blocks, and is slow due to the high number of handling and finishing operations resulting from the number of laminates.
The requirement of post-machining for state of the art laminate forming is a significant drawback. Machining used for this process works only to cut edges of the thin sheet metal (up to 12 mm) inhibiting full contour machining. When the sheets are assembled, the total surface will be somewhat ragged or stepped, requiring post-machining to obtain acceptable surface finishing. If the laminates are foam, paper or plastic, the same problem remains because of the inability to fully free-form the edges of the material; moreover, foam materials can produce a high degree of porosity in the final surface when assembled.


A thiol terminated ethylene oxide oligomer and the method of substituting the oligomer onto a gold nanocluster surface using a thiol-exchange reaction to form a charge-neutral, non-ionizable, water soluble, ethylene oxide protected gold nanocluster. The thiol terminated ethylene oxide oligomer has the formula CH3(OCH2CH2)xSH where x varies from one to ten. Also disclosed is the related method of making the thiol terminated ethylene oxide oligomer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to thiol terminated compounds and, more specifically, to gold nanoclusters capped with a thiol terminated compound.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of thiol terminated molecules for the formation of self-assembled monolayers on gold surfaces is finding increasing use in nanoscale device fabrication. The majority of these uses have focused on long (twelve to eighteen carbon) alkanethiols, which are commercially available and can be used to passivate the gold surface or define lines and patterns on the micro- to nanoscale. While suitable for these basic applications, the lack of reactivity of the alkane chain limits the use of such structures for further assembly or structure fabrication. This has led to the synthesis of new thiols containing functional groups that are at opposite ends of the alkane chain, e.g., α, ω-thiol carboxylic acids. These molecules use the thiol for attachment to the gold surface, exposing the second reactive group for further assembly. Complementary to this approach of chemically altering the ends of the molecule is the possibility of altering the structure of the carbon chain itself from one that is hydrophobic to one that is hydrophilic. The syntheses of such nonionic hydrophilic alkylthiol surfactants could provide very important source materials to use in these self-assembled films and also find application in biotechnology and chemical sensing.
Another useful material configuration of the alkanethiol monolayer-gold combination is the monolayer deposited on a gold nanoparticle. This is referred to as a stabilized nanocluster, and metal nanoclusters of this nature are currently of interest as building blocks for applications in nanoelectronics. The monolayer encapsulated metal nanocluster is a unique material composed of a metal core and an insulating organic shell. As such, it possesses properties of both metals and insulators. These properties are strongly dependent on the dimensions of the core diameter and the shell thickness. Electrical and optical properties are derived from the metal core of the cluster. The larger the core, the higher the electrical conductivity and optical absorbance. The organic shell is composed of a monolayer of ligand molecules bonded to the surface of the metal core. The shell stabilizes the cluster against irreversible aggregation, promotes solubility/processability in a wide variety of solvents, modulates the electrical conductivity by its relative thickness and dielectric constant, and is the region where chemistries of ligand exchange and self-assembly occur. Procedures for the preparation of these clusters from gold salts and both charged and neutral ligand molecules have been described in the following references: U.S. Pat. No. 6,221,673; U.S. Pat. No. 6,025,202; COLLOIDAL GOLD: PRINCIPLES, METHODS, AND APPLICATIONS 1, 13-32 (M. A. Hayat ed., 1989); and Andrew N. Shipway, Eugenii Katz & Itamar Willner, Nanoparticle Arrays on Surfaces for Electronic, Optical, and Sensor Applications, CHEMPHYSCHEM 1, 18-52 (2000). In addition to modulation of properties, the design of the ligand molecule determines the processability, hence the utility of the cluster material. Currently, well-known ligand molecules used to stabilize gold clusters include alkanethiols of various chain lengths (Mathias Brust, Merryl Walker, Donald Bethell, David J. Schiffrin & Robin Whyman, Synthesis of Thiol-derivatised Gold Nanoparticles in a Two-phase Liquid-Liquid System, J. CHEM. SOC., CHEM. COMMUN. 1994, 801-02), alkylamines of various chain lengths (Daniel V. Leff, Lutz Brandt & James R. Heath, Synthesis and Characterization of Hydrophobic, Organically-Soluble Gold Nanocrystals Functionalized with Primary Amines, LANGMUIR 12, 4723-30 (1996)), phosphines (Gunter Schmid, Metal Clusters and Cluster Metals, POLYHEDRON 7, 2321-29 (1988); Walter W. Weare, Scott M. Reed, Marvin G. Warner & James E. Hutchison, Improved Synthesis of Small (dCORE≈1.5 nm) Phosphine-Stabilized Gold Nanoparticles, J. AM. CHEM. Soc. 122, 12890-91 (2000)), citrates (Katherine C. Grabar, R. Griffith Freeman, Michael B. Hommer & Michael J. Natan, Preparation and Characterization of Au Colloid Monolayers, ANAL. CHEM. 67, 735-43 (1995)), and alkanethiols terminated by ionic or ionizable groups (e.g. sodium sulfonate, carboxylate, etc.) (Marvin G. Warner, Scott M. Reed & James E. Hutchison, Small, Water-Soluble, Ligand-Stabilized Gold Nanoparticles Synthesized by Interfacial Ligand Exchange Reactions, CHEM. MATER. 12, 3316-20 (2000); Sihai Chen & Keisaku Kimura, Synthesis and Characterization of Carboxylate-Modified Gold Nanoparticle Powders Dispersible in Water, LANGMUIR 15, 1075-82 (1999)).
One area where an opportunity is seen for these nanoclusters to make an impact is chemical sensors owing to the ease of fabrication of such devices, and several examples of nanocluster-based sensors have already been reported. Hank Wohltjen & Arthur W. Snow, Colloidal Metal-Insulator-Metal Ensemble Chemiresistor Sensor, ANAL. CHEM. 70, 2856-59 (1998); N. Cioffi, I. Losito, L. Torsi, I. Farella, A. Valentini, L. Sabbatini, P. G. Zambonin & T. Bleve-Zacheo, Analysis of the Surface Chemical Composition and Morphological Structure of Vapor-Sensing Gold-Fluoropolymer Nanocomposites, CHEM. MATER. 14, 804-11 (2002); Li Han, David R. Daniel, Mathew M. Maye & Chuan-Jian Zhong, Core-Shell Nanostructured Nanoparticle Films as Chemically Sensitive Interfaces, ANAL. CHEM. 73, 4441-49 (2001); Andrew N. Shipway, Michal Lahav, Ron Blonder & Itamar Willner, Bis-Bipyridinium Cyclophane Receptor—Au Nanoparticle Superstructures for Electrochemical Sensing Applications, CHEM. MATER. 11, 13-15 (1999); Andrei B. Kharitonov, Andrew N. Shipway & Itamar Willner, An Au Nanoparticle/Bisbipyridinium Cyclophane-Functionalized Ion-Sensitive Field-Effect Transistorfor the Sensing of Adrenaline, ANAL. CHEM. 71, 5441-43 (1999); Michal Lahav, Rachel Gabai, Andrew N. Shipway & Itamar Willner, Au-colloid-'molecular square' superstructures: novel electrochemical sensing interfaces, CHEM. COMMUN. 1999, 1937-38; Michal Lahav, Andrew N. Shipway & Itamar Willner, Au-nanoparticle-bis-bipyridinium cyclophane superstructures: assembly, characterization and sensoric applications, J. CHEM. Soc., PERKIN TRANS. 2, 1925-31 (1999); Michal Lahav, Andrew N. Shipway, Itamar Willner, Mogens B. Nielsen & J. Fraser Stoddart, An enlarged bis-bipyridinium cyclophane-Au nanoparticle superstructure for selective electrochemical sensing applications, J. ELECTROANAL. CHEM. 482, 217-21 (2000); Agnes Labande & Didier Astruc, Colloids as redox sensors: recognition of H2PO4− and HSO4− by amidoferrocenylalkylthiol-gold nanoparticles, CHEM. COMMUN. 2000, 1007-08; So-Jung Park, T. Andrew Taton & Chad A. Mirkin, Array-Based Electrical Detection of DNA with Nanoparticle Probes, SCIENCE 295, 1503-06 (2002); Stephen D. Evans, Simon R. Johnson, Yaling L. Cheng & Tiehan Shen, Vapour sensing using hybrid organic-inorganic nanostructured materials, J. MATER. CHEM. 10, 183-88 (2000); Qing-Yun Cai & Edward T. Zellers, Dual-Chemiresistor GC Detector Employing Monolayer-Protected Metal Nanocluster Interfaces, ANAL. CHEM. 74, 3533-39 (2002). Many of these studies utilize alkanethiol-stabilized clusters, which are readily synthesized in a variety of core and shell sizes, are stable, charge neutral, and able to undergo thiol substitution reactions which facilitate their self-assembly into nanostructures. Despite these advantages, the solubility of such clusters is limited to organic solvents, and it is not difficult to envision situations where aqueous solubility is required, e.g., in DNA based assembly of nanostructures.
Most work involving the use of aqueous gold clusters uses the well-known citrate stabilized gold colloids. These clusters utilize ionic interactions on the cluster surface to obtain solubility, and as a result agglomerate irreversibly on removal of the solvent. They are also larger in size (˜12 nm) than the typical alkanethiol stabilized cluster (<2 nm). Reports of water-soluble thiol-coated gold nanoparticles are limited, and most of these clusters are stabilized by an alkanethiol terminating in either an ionic species or a carboxylic acid group. As a result, the aqueous solubility of these clusters is often dependent on the pH of the solution, and the presence of functional groups which can participate in hydrogen bonding between clusters can lead to particle agglomeration. Additionally, the presence of ions in the system leads to interference during conductivity measurements and electron transport studies. Ionic effects are of particular concern in nanoelectronics applications where they can accentuate threshold nonuniformities associated with background charges.
One interesting example of a charge-neutral, non-ionizable water-soluble cluster has been reported where a poly(ethylene glycol) chain was attached to the surface of a gold nanocluster. W. Peter Wuelfing, Stephen M. Gross, Deon T. Miles & Royce W. Murray, Nanometer Gold Clusters Protected by Surface-Bound Monolayers of Thiolated Poly(ethylene glycol) Polymer Electrolyte, J. AM. CHEM. Soc. 120, 12696-97 (1998). While this cluster possesses aqueous solubility, the extreme size of the ligand (a polymer of MW=5000) results in an inability for the cluster to undergo thiol-exchange reactions. This is a serious drawback that limits the utility of this material since such reactions are required to perform the self-assembly of clusters onto devices, a necessary step in the further study of these materials as nanoscale building blocks. A second drawback to this material is that it lacks appreciable conductivity without ion doping, limiting its role in a sensor or nanoscale electronic device.

Thiol terminated monodisperse ethylene oxide oligomer capped gold nanoclusters

The United States of America as represented by the secretary of the Navy


A method and apparatus for instructing a processing system to present information. In one embodiment of the invention a server processing system on a network uses the DHCP protocol to provide network configuration information for a client processing system. The server processing system uses DHCP option code 56 to include presentation information with the configuration information sent to the client. Option code 56 allows for text messages to be presented by the client processing system and also allows URL-formatted text that may cause web pages or other internet resources to be presented by the client processing system. Because the presentation information is included with the network configuration information, information is presented when the client processing system uses the configuration information (e.g., upon network initialization).

Over the past decade access to the Internet has become more and more important. For many, the Internet is now indispensable for business and personal communication, education, commerce, entertainment, recreation, and other uses. Today, many commercial establishments provide their patrons access to the Internet. This access may be through a wired Internet access port that users plug their computers into or may be through a wireless system. Due to recent advances in Internet access technology, the day is rapidly approaching when every public facility, every coffeehouse, mall, or airport, will provide access to the Internet, much as they currently provide chairs for patrons to sit on, electric lighting to see by, and heating for the patron's comfort.
Commercial establishments that provide Internet access may wish to present a user with information related to their product at the time the user accesses the Internet. If a commercial establishment is providing Internet access for free, they may wish to notify their patrons of this generosity. If they wish to charge for providing access, they may wish to provide the user with payment terms. The user might then be asked to accept the payment terms and perhaps provide payment information before access to the Internet would be granted.
One method used by some hotels, and other Internet access providers, to ensure that such information is provided to the user and to ensure the user accepts the payment conditions, is to wait for the user to attempt to access a web page, and then "hijack" that connection and display a different page, of the provider's choosing, instead.
FIG. 1 is a process flow diagram depicting how this is done. Process 100 shown in FIG. 1 begins at operation 105 in which a user connects to the Internet. This may be accomplished by plugging a computer into a wired Internet connection port such as an Ethernet jack, or without wires by accessing a wireless network gateway such as an IEEE 802.11 wireless access point.
At operation 110 the user runs their web browser and attempts to access a World Wide Web (web) address (e.g., http://www.uspto.gov). That the user will run a web browser is an assumption that providers make based upon their presumption that anyone who accesses the Internet wishes to access the World Wide Web (web).
At operation 115 the access provider intercepts the user's request for a specific web page and gives the user the wrong page (e.g., the provider's sign-on page). The system basically shunts the user from the address they requested, to a display of the provider's choosing. At operation 120 the user receives the information directed by the access provider and acts upon it if necessary. Only now is the user provided Internet access. At operation 125 the user must now reenter their request for a specific web address.
This method is problematic for both the provider and the user for several reasons. First, not everyone who accesses the Internet uses a web browser or accesses the web. Though the web is popular, there are many other reasons to access the Internet (e.g., e-mail, file sharing, encrypted telnet). Therefore, a system that relies on the user's accessing the web will miss the opportunity to contact and charge many users who have no need to use a web browser.
Second, this type of hijacking of the user's connection violates the end-to-end principle. The end-to-end principle is a fundamental concept of network development with the purpose of ensuring the reliability and integrity of the developing Internet. Basically stated, the principle holds that the job of any reliable network infrastructure is simply to deliver network packets to the destination address specified in the packet header, not to look inside the packets, try to understand what the contents mean, alter the contents, deliberately divert packets to a different destination, or to forge reply packets that purport to originate from the intended destination. Though in this case a user will be quite aware that they have been shunted to a billing information and authorization page, every time the end-to-end principle is ignored the reliability and flexibility of the Internet is diminished.
Third, this method involves the added and frustrating burden of attempting to access information only to be shunted to a billing page after which you must reaccess the desired information.

Presentation during network address acquisition


A fuel injection system for an internal combustion engine, such as a dual fuel diesel/gas engine of the type requiring an overall system turn-down ratio capability, from maximum fuel flow rate to minimum flow rate, on the order of 100 to 1, employs a conventional variable displacement primary pump having a turn-down ratio substantially less than the overall system ratio. The output of the primary pump branches to supply two parallel fuel conduit paths. Each path includes a pressure actuated shut-off valve means. The primary shut off valve means path opens to permit flow through the path to the engine at pressures in excess of a relatively high value. The secondary valve means opens to permit flow through the secondary path in response to a relatively lower pressure at the pump outlet. And, a fixed quantity fluid dispenser in the secondary flow path operates in response to opening of the secondary valve means, to displace a fixed quantity of fuel through the secondary path and into the engine.

This invention relates generally to fuel supply systems for internal combustion engines of the type that are capable of operating on either liquid fuel oil or natural gas. More specifically, it relates to a fuel injection system that is capable of selectively delivering precisely controlled quantities of fuel, varying between a minimum and a maximum that may be one hundred (100) times greater than the minimum, or more. The relationship between the maximum and minimum quantities of fuel within the range of such a fuel system is generally identified as the "turn-down ratio".
Combustion engines capable of operating, selectively, using either liquid fuel oil or natural gas, are generally well known. It is also known that when such engines are operated using natural gas as the primary fuel, it is necessary to supply the engine with minimum quantities of liquid fuel oil in addition to the natural gas. The fuel oil injected into the engine under these circumstances is generally identified as "pilot fuel". In this context, compression and consequent combustion of the pilot fuel acts as an ignition mechanism for the natural gas, to sustain operation of the engine without an electrically powered ignition system; this is the primary function of pilot fuel injection.
Engines of this type commonly produce undesirable by-products of fuel oil combustion in the form of oxides of nitrogen. The various oxides that are produced, including Nitrous Oxide and Nitric Oxide, have come to be identified by the all-inclusive coined symbol, NOx.
It has been generally known, for ten years or more, that an effective way to reduce the quantities of NOx produced by a dual-fuel engine when it is operating in the natural gas mode, is to reduce the quantities of pilot fuel supplied to the engine. The quantities of pilot fuel used by a dual-fuel engine may be expressed conveniently as a percentage of the fuel oil consumed by the engine when it is operating in the full diesel mode, at one hundred percent (100%) of its rated load. In the past, pilot quantities commonly averaged about five percent (5%) of full diesel mode fuel consumption. It has been determined that dual-fuel engines can be operated successfully using pilot fuel quantities that are as low as one percent (1%), or less, of the full diesel/full load fuel consumption, provided that the reduced fuel quantities are delivered to the engine consistently, accurately and reliably. Prior art fuel injection systems for these applications generally were not capable of meeting these requirements for supply of fuel quantities that were less than about five percent (5%) of full load consumption.
Although the relationship between reduction in pilot fuel quantities and corresponding reductions in NOx output has been known for many years, interest in exploitation of this knowledge has been limited. In general, the limitations have been a result of restrictions imposed by the economics and existing technology of available fuel oil supply systems for dual-fuel engines. Specifically, the pumps or pumping devices used in diesel fuel systems are dominated by positive/variable-displacement piston pumps of the type known as a "jerk-pump", which is characterized by a rack-adjustment mechanism. The "rack" mechanism varies the quantity of fuel delivered by the pump, by varying the length of the portion of each piston stroke during which pumping takes place. Despite many years of existence, evolution and improvements in design, rack adjustment pumps generally are not capable of delivering, reliably, minimum fuel quantities that are less than approximately five percent (5%) of the rated maximum of the pump. For this reason, dual-fuel engines in the past customarily have been operated using no less than approximately "five percent (5%) pilot fuel".
As mentioned previously, the relationship between the maximum quantity and the minimum fuel quantity that can be delivered reliably by a given pump is referred to as the turn-down ratio. It can be recognized, accordingly, that a conventional pump that is capable of delivering, reliably, minimum quantities that are not substantially less than five percent (5%) of the maximum quantity, has a turn-down ratio of twenty to one (20:1). By significant contrast, a pump, or fuel-supply system, capable of delivering precisely controlled minimum quantities of pilot fuel that represent one percent (1%) (or less) of the maximum capacity of the pump, can be seen to represent a turn-down ratio of one hundred to one (100:1). It is highly significant that the turn-down ratio of such a system is five times greater than the turn-down ratio capability of pumps and injection systems that are considered to be the best available in the prior art.
The alternative of providing a dual-fuel engine with two independent fuel injection systems, one for injecting pilot fuel quantities, and another for injecting full-diesel fuel quantities, has been considered in the past. However, this approach generally has been rejected on the basis of the excessive costs of original equipment as well as the substantial increase in prospective maintenance.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a fuel supply system, for dual-fuel engines, that is capable of delivering reliably, pilot fuel quantities that are equal to one percent (1%) or less of the maximum fuel pumping capacity of the pump, using a common supply pump.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a unified fuel injection system for use with dual-fuel engines, that is capable of delivering pilot fuel quantities, reliably, that represent a turndown ratio on the order of one hundred to one (100:1).

Fuel supply system with high turn down ratio


The HMI system is provided with a mobile control and monitoring device for automation components of a technical system. It comprises means for contactless data transmission between the mobile control and monitoring device and the automation components, a manual device for triggering or blocking security relevant operations of the technical system and means for locating the mobile control and monitoring device. Evaluation means are provided for managing an active operational area and which activate the automation components for security-relevant operations of the technical system via the mobile control and monitoring device solely when the manual device is released and the locating means detect that the mobile control and monitoring device is located inside the active operational area, the advantage thereof being that manual triggering of security-relevant operations by an operator is the condition upon which they can be activated via the mobile control and monitoring device. If the manual device is placed directly on the housing of the technical system, for example, an operator has to approach in such a way that he/she enters the active operation are in a secure manner.

Technical units are all types of technical devices and systems both arranged individually and networked for data purposes, e.g. via a field bus. In the case of industrial applications these include individual operating means, e.g. drives, processing machines. However a technical unit can also be a production unit, in which an overall technical process is operated using locally distributed operating means, e.g. a chemical unit or production line. Technical units are controlled and operated using specific digital data processing systems, also referred to as automation components. In such a system on the one hand there are components used for direct control of the technical unit, i.e. programmable logic controllers PLC. To reduce the load on these controllers, automation systems have further specific devices, which form an interface for operating personnel. These are referred to as control and monitoring devices or HMI or Human Machine Interface devices.
The term HMI device is a generic term covering all components associated with this group of devices. One example is operator panels or OPs. These can be stationary or mobile. HMI devices are used in networked automation as aids for operating personnel so that they can display and control process data of the technical unit to be controlled. This function is referred to as Supervisor Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA). To this end the HMI device generally has specific hardware. In other words it has a touchscreen for example and is specifically screened from environmental influences. Specific software is also operated therein. This provides functions, which enhance user-friendliness, quality and safety of operation by an operator. Thus HMI devices can be used to visualize, control, configure and generate interactive process maps of the technical unit to be operated. On the one hand this allows the selective display of responses of the technical unit, generally in the form of measured values and messages. On the other hand the customized predefinition of control operations and data inputs allows the technical unit to be switched to required states.


A cap for a container that stores and dispenses fluids or gels that includes a shroud having a shroud wall surrounding an opening and a collar connected on the shroud so that the collar selectively rotates relative to the shroud, is provided. The collar is rotatable between a closed position and an open position. The actuator is connected to the shroud, and has a contact portion. The contact portion is in the opening of the shroud. The actuator is movable in the closed position and the open position by a force that is applied to the contact portion only after removal of a tab.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an assembly for storing and dispensing liquids or gels. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a cap for dispensing liquids or gels.
2. Description of Related Art
Containers that store and dispense liquids or gels include aerosol containers as are known in the art. Aerosol containers hold a product, for example, a liquid or gel, and a propellant, for example, liquefied-gas propellant under pressure. The propellant urges the product out of the container through an aperture in a cap connected to the container upon a user activating the actuator, such as by a pushbutton located in the cap, to open a valve. Conventional caps undesirably accumulate build-up of the product around the aperture after use. This build-up can lead to clogging of the aperture which is detrimental to operation of the aerosol container and, thus, raises sanitation concerns.
Conventional aerosol containers allow access to the actuator, such as the pushbutton located in the cap, in both open and closed positions. Such containers require a device that prevents movement of the pushbutton even if a force is applied to the pushbutton by the user in the closed position. In addition, these containers do not indicate to a user whether the container has been tampered with prior to use.
Therefore, it has been determined by the present disclosure that there is a need for a cap, which minimizes build-up. There is a further need for a cap that minimizes or prevents a user from accessing the actuator in the closed position. There is a still further need for a dispenser cap with a tamper indicator that minimizes or prevents a user from accessing the actuator prior to use.


A new log siding for installing on a structure to simulate an appearance of a log cabin. The inventive device includes a plurality of longitudinal sections adapted for coupling together in a side by side orientation and an end to end orientation on a wall of a structure. Each of the longitudinal sections has an arcuate central portion. The arcuate central portion has an upper edge extending upwardly therefrom. The upper edge has a downturned end portion forming a receiving slot. The arcuate central portion has a lower edge extending downwardly therefrom. The lower edge has an upturned portion on an intermediate portion thereof. The upturned portion has a slot formed therein. The lower edge has a plurality of apertures therethrough disposed below the upturned portion. The arcuate central portion has indicia thereon resembling a log. A plurality of corner posts are adapted for coupling with the longitudinal sections at corners of the structure. The corner posts each have a central section with receiving slots formed on opposing ends thereof. The receiving slots are dimensioned for receiving the lower edges of the longitudinal sections therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to simulated log cabins and more particularly pertains to a new log siding for installing on a structure to simulate an appearance of a log cabin.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of simulated log cabins is known in the prior art. More specifically, simulated log cabins heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art simulated log cabins include U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,358 to Mead; U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,954 to O'Donnell; U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,519 to Jenkins; U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,878 to Mizia et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,153 to Woolems et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,665 to Katz.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new log siding. The inventive device includes a plurality of longitudinal sections adapted for coupling together in a side by side orientation and an end to end orientation on a wall of a structure. Each of the longitudinal sections has an arcuate central portion. The arcuate central portion has an upper edge extending upwardly therefrom. The upper edge has a downturned end portion forming a receiving slot. The arcuate central portion has a lower edge extending downwardly therefrom. The lower edge has an upturned portion on an intermediate portion thereof. The upturned portion has a slot formed therein. The lower edge has a plurality of apertures therethrough disposed below the upturned portion. The arcuate central portion has indicia thereon resembling a log. A plurality of corner posts are adapted for coupling with the longitudinal sections at corners of the structure. The corner posts each have a central section with receiving slots formed on opposing ends thereof. The receiving slots are dimensioned for receiving the lower edges of the longitudinal sections therein.
In these respects, the log siding according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the installing on a structure to simulate an appearance of a log cabin.


A noise filter, used for a digital signal, configuring an [N−1]-stage filter by connecting the N-number of flip flops in series comprises a selection unit for outputting a filter output signal by selecting one of signals filtered by one to (N−1) stages based on a selection signals; and a wave form check unit for making the selection unit change a selection thereby by changing a value of the selection signal based on a pulse width on the filter output signal which is output from the selection unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a noise filter used for a digital signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently used widely in various fields are microprocessors which receive an input signal through a filter as a digital signal input according to a specification, environment, et cetera.
For instance, a patent document 1 (a laid-open Japanese patent application publication No. 2003-247453) comprises a filter, which is constituted by a capacitor and a resistor, equipped in a digital input terminal of an on-vehicle controller for inputting a signal through the filter.
And a patent document 2 (a laid-open Japanese patent application publication No. 11-41298 has disclosed a configuration to equip a noise filter of a digital circuit in a telecommunication circuit for removing a noise on a pulse overlapped with serial data input thereto.
When processing an analog signal by a digital circuit, the analog signal is converted into a digital signal by an A/D (analog to digital) conversion.
In a circuit using a processor, a rise/fall transition time (Tr/Tf) of an analog signal input to a microprocessor is not allowed to become steep in order to reduce noise.
Because of this, the duration of an input signal staying in the neighborhood of an input threshold value of the processor becomes long, during which time the input signal transmitted to the processor repeats changes between low and high levels.
Therefore, if the above described signal is used as a GPIO (general purpose input/output) input signal or other input signal for detecting an edge, a malfunction may result.
FIG. 1 illustrates the point.
FIG. 1A shows an input analog signal, while FIG. 1B shows the result of an A/D conversion of the analog signal shown by FIG. 1A by an A/D converter.
As shown by FIG. 1B, if a gradually changing signal is A/D converted, a transistor repeats on/off transitions near the threshold value thereof constituting the A/D converter, resulting in noise 2a and 2b occurring in the neighborhood of rise/fall edges of an internal detection signal 1.
A countermeasure to the above described noise uses an analog or digital noise filter.
Generally a digital noise filter determines a unique time for a signal to pass through the filter.
An occurrence of noise, however, depends on environmental factors such as a temperature of a deployed processor, a state of a printed circuit board, an operating speed, etc., and therefore it is not possible to determine the noise removal time uniquely.


A educational card game for teaching phonetic pronunciation of words and letters. The educational card game includes a plurality of cards, each of the plurality of cards includes a face side and represents a different letter of the alphabet. The letter of the alphabet represented by each card is printed in a central portion of the face side and a point value assigned to each card is printed in a corner of the face side. A device for storing data representing an oral pronunciation of each letter printed on each of the plurality of cards is included to provide a correct oral pronunciation of each letter on each card. The data representing the phonetic pronunciation of each letter is assigned a respective location within the data storage device. A key is also included to match each of the plurality of cards with the location at which its respective data is stored whereby each of the plurality of cards represents a phonetic pronunciation of its respective letter, the point value assigned to each card is representative of a difficulty level of the phonetic pronunciation and a user may readily hear an oral pronunciation of the letter printed on each card by determining the position at which the appropriate data is stored on the data storage device using the key and retrieving the appropriate data from the data storage device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to card games and learning tools and, more specifically, to an educational card game and learning tool for teaching children how to correctly pronounce letters and words.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous card games and learning tools have been provided in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,192,513; 5,108,113; 5,310,347; 5,368,305 and 5,524,899 all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.
Playing cards are disclosed having a unique diamond shape that facilitates the handling and display of the cards. A three-letter sequence is imprinted centrally on the front face of each card, the letters forming a natural alphabetic sequence. The second letter in the sequence is also imprinted near the upper and lower corners of each card in mutually inverted orientations so as to be readily visible and recognizable from either end of the card. The cards are divided into four suits such as diamonds, hearts, spades and clubs. Each of the cards has a corresponding suit symbol imprinted near the upper and lower corners thereof again in mutually inverted orientations so as to be recognizable from either end of the card. There are preferably twenty-six cards in each suit with each suit having cards with a second letter in the three-letter sequence corresponding to the letters of the alphabet from "A" to "Z". The cards can be used for playing word games as well as conventional card games.
The present invention, designed especially for preschoolers, is a phonics card game comprising in combination eight decks of letter cards, word cards and short- and long-vowel sound cards. This phonics card game is comprehensive and fun. As the players play with this card game, they see and name all the letters of the alphabet; they show the sequence of the alphabet; they separate vowel from consonant letters and have a special vowel and consonant category for W's and Y's; and they match lower-case letters with capital letters having the same name. As the players play with this card game they hear and say the short-and long-vowel words; and they see, clap, and say words with one or more syllables. The players can win this card game without using up all the cards in a deck. They merely have to have the most stars, which are exchanged for points earned when players say a letter or word correctly on the first try. As the players play with the present invention, they have fun, show what they know, and gain the rudiments of phonics.
A card game to facilitate the learning of spelling words. The card game is comprised of a number deck and a word deck. Players play the numbered cards and are then commanded to spell a word from a card from the word deck having a length equal to the additive sum of the numbered playing cards played.
A card game utilizes one or more modified decks of standard playing cards by eliminating the eights, nines and tens. The remaining spot cards (ace through seven) are valued at face value, while the face or court cards (kings, queens and jacks) are valued at one half point each. The object of the game is to draw a hand totaling seven and one half points, without exceeding that total. Various options are provided, including "splitting pairs," in which two equal value cards may be split into two hands at the beginning of play where the point values for the first card and the subsequent card are each less than four; "doubling down," in which a player may double the wager and receive one further card; or "surrendering," where a player may give up a portion of the wager at the beginning of play. Wagers are returned to the player in case of ties, rather than going to the dealer. The game is adaptable to casino play, electronic or computer play, and also to private play by individuals. A playing surface adapted specifically for the play of the present game is also provided.
A youth oriented alphabet learning card game is set forth in several generic-variants, the preferred embodiment featuring a special corner oriented arrangement of alphabetic indicia, in combination with a related key visual picture-pairing object illustration arranged centrally within the card format. Thus, on each individual card a different alphabet character is represented in both upper and lower case ("A" and "a" for example), preferably positioned upper-case immediately above lower-case. Additionally, the particular arrangement of card face graphics is such that it is essentially impossible for a youngster to hold the preferably rectangular cards in a manner in which some cards appear confusingly up-side down. An optional diamond card configuration offers the human-engineering advantage of the player's ability to now easily fan cards out at their upward ends to observe each individual alphabet letter, while the lower diamond-tip ends of the cards virtually converge into a V-formation, found more easily held in a small hand. Each alphabet-set or suit of cards is preferably identified via a colored-frame around the central object illustrations, there preferably being two suits to a game. The redeeming quality of this game residing in it's teaching of the alphabet, matching of objects, counting, phonics, spelling, and training of memory all without the learner experiencing boredom common in learning concentration disciplines.

Educational phonetic card game using tape recorded pronunciation


Exemplary embodiments of the invention provide a circuit that includes a plurality of projector units to modulate and project light from a light source based on image information, a transmissive screen to which projection images from the plurality of projector units are projected, an image-capturing device disposed in a housing to capture predetermined regions of the projection images projected onto the transmissive screen, a unit image information generating unit to generate image information to be inputted to each of the plurality of projector units, and a unit image information correcting unit to correct the unit image information based on a result captured by the image-capturing device. Therefore, it is possible to perform easily the adjustment process and to further reduce the adjustment time.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a rear projection type multi-projection display.
2. Description of Related Art
Related art documents Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-82854, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-94974, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-339672, International Publication Pamphlet No. 99/31877, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-326981, Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-251651, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-178327, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-211386, U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,000, disclose a rear projection type multi-projection display in which a plurality of projector units (projection optical unit) are arranged in a horizontal direction and in a vertical direction and projection images from the plurality of projector units are projected onto a screen in a magnified scale to display one large screen image. Such a multi-projection display can display images with high definition and high brightness, as compared to other related art projectors. Thus, it is expected that the multi-projection display will have wide commercial applications in future in business fields, such as cinemas, art galleries, museums, seminar halls, assembly halls, mini-theaters, public institutes, and companies or for domestic uses, such as an amusement and a home theater.
But, in such a multi-projection display, if the projection images from the respective projector units are not connected smoothly to each other, it is impossible to match the projection images from the respective projector units to each other. Further, a boundary is remarkable, and then image quality is lowered.
For this reason, in the multi-projection display disclosed in related art documents Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-82854, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 8-94974, in order to address and/or solve the above discussed and/or other problems, the projection images from the respective projector units are made not to overlap each other and the joint portions thereof become small.
However, in such a multi-projection display, there is a problem in that at the time of setting up, it is not easy to remove joint portions of the projection images from the respective projector units or connect the projection images without inconsistency.
For this reason, in the multi-projection display disclosed in related art documents Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-339672, International Publication Pamphlet No. 99/31877, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-326981, Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-251651, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-178327, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-211386, U.S. Pat. No. 5,956,000, in order to address and/or solve the above discussed and/or other problems, the projection images from adjacent projector units are made to overlap partially on the screen such that the projection images are smoothly connected to each other in the overlapped region.
However, in such a multi-projection display, if how the projection images from the respective projector units are displayed on the screen are not known accurately, it is impossible to connect smoothly the projection images on the screen. Thus, in the multi-projection display disclosed in related art documents Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-339672, International Publication Pamphlet No. 99/31877, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-326981, Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-251651, an image-capturing device such as a monitoring camera or a digital camera is provided at a viewer's side and the projection images (adjusting images) from the respective projector units which are displayed on the screen are captured, such that how the projection images are displayed on the screen can be accurately measured.

Rear projection type multi-projection display


A method of processing a non-magnetic alloy workpiece comprises heating the workpiece to a warm working temperature, open die press forging the workpiece to impart a desired strain in a central region of the workpiece, and radial forging the workpiece to impart a desired strain in a surface region of the workpiece. In a non-limiting embodiment, after the steps of open die press forging and radial forging, the strain imparted in the surface region is substantially equivalent to the strain imparted in the central region. In another non-limiting embodiment, the strain imparted in the central and surface regions are in a range from 0.3 inch/inch to 1 inch/inch, and there exists no more than a 0.5 inch/inch difference in strain of the central region compared with the strain of the surface region of the workpiece. An alloy forging processed according to methods described herein also is disclosed.

1. Field of the Technology
The present disclosure relates to methods of processing high strength, non-magnetic corrosion resistant alloys. The present methods may find application in, for example, and without limitation, the processing of alloys for use in the chemical, mining, oil, and gas industries. The present invention also relates to alloys made by methods including the processing discussed herein.
2. Description of the Background of the Technology
Metal alloy parts used in chemical processing facilities may be in contact with highly corrosive and/or erosive compounds under demanding conditions. These conditions may subject metal alloy parts to high stresses and aggressively promote corrosion and erosion, for example. If it is necessary to replace damaged, worn, or corroded metallic parts of chemical processing equipment, it may be necessary to suspend facility operations for a period of time. Therefore, extending the useful service life of metal alloy parts used in chemical processing facilities can reduce product cost. Service life may be extended, for example, by improving mechanical properties and/or corrosion resistance of the alloys.
Similarly, in oil and gas drilling operations, drill string components may degrade due to mechanical, chemical, and/or environmental conditions. The drill string components may be subject to impact, abrasion, friction, heat, wear, erosion, corrosion, and/or deposits. Conventional alloys may suffer from one or more limitations that negatively impact their performance as drill string components. For example, conventional materials may lack sufficient mechanical properties (for example, yield strength, tensile strength, and/or fatigue strength), possess insufficient corrosion resistance (for example, pitting resistance and/or stress corrosion cracking), or lack necessary non-magnetic properties to operate for extended periods in the down-hole environment. Also, the properties of conventional alloys may limit the possible size and shape of the drill string components made from the alloys. These limitations may reduce the service life of the components, complicating and increasing the cost of oil and gas drilling.
It has been discovered that during warm working radial forging of some high strength, non-magnetic materials to develop a preferred strength, there may be an uneven deformation or an uneven amount of strain in the cross-section of the workpiece. The uneven deformation may be manifest, for example, as a difference in hardness and/or tensile properties between the surface and the center of the forging. For example, observed hardness, yield strength, and tensile strength may be greater at the surface than at the center of the forging. These differences are believed to be consistent with differences in the amount of strain developed in different regions of the cross-section of the workpiece during radial forging.
One method for promoting consistent hardness through the cross-section of a forged bar is to use an age hardenable material such as, for example, the nickel-base superalloy Alloy 718 (UNS N07718) in the direct aged or solution treated and aged condition. Other techniques have involved using cold or warm working to impart hardness to the alloy. This particular technique has been used to harden ATI Datalloy 2® alloy (UNS unassigned), which is a high strength, non-magnetic austenitic stainless steel available from Allegheny Technologies Incorporated, Pittsburgh, Pa. USA. The final thermomechanical processing step used to harden ATI Datalloy 2® alloy involves warm working the material at 1075° F. to an approximately 30 percent reduction in cross-sectional area on a radial forge. Another process, which utilizes a high grade alloy steel referred to as "P-750 alloy" (UNS unassigned), sourced from Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Technology, Houston, Tex., is generally disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,764,647, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The P-750 alloy is cold worked to about a 6-19 percent reduction in cross-sectional area at temperatures of 680-1094° F. to obtain relatively even hardness through the cross-section of a final 8-inch billet.
Another method for producing a consistent hardness across the cross-section of a worked workpiece is to increase the amount of cold or warm work used to produce a bar from the workpiece. This, however, becomes impractical with bars having finished diameters equal to or greater than 10 inches because the starting size can exceed the practical limits of ingots that can be melted without imparting problematic melt-related defects. It is noted that if the diameter of the starting workpiece is sufficiently small, then the strain gradient can be eliminated, resulting in consistent mechanical properties and hardness profiles across the cross-section of the finished bar.
It would be desirable to develop a thermomechanical process that could be used on high strength, non-magnetic alloy ingots or workpiece of any starting size that produces a relatively consistent amount of strain through the cross-section of a bar or other mill product produced by the process. Producing a relatively constant strain profile across the cross-section of the worked bar also may result in generally consistent mechanical properties across the bar's cross-section.

Thermomechanical processing of high strength non-magnetic corrosion resistant material


An improved electric device utilizing a superconducting material. In order to avoid undesirable oxidation during firing of a ceramic to be superconducting material formed on the substrate, the superconducting material is provided only on the position in which the superconducting material does not contact the operational region of said semiconductor substrate.

This invention relates to superconducting devices and manufacturing methods for same.
Along with efforts to make integrated circuits more dense, high operational speeds are required. The fine structures of electric circuits give rise to problems of decrease in operational speed and in reliability at exothermic parts of integrated circuits. Because of this, if semiconductor devices are driven at the liquid nitrogen temperature, the mobilities of electron and hole become 3-4 times as faster as those at room temperature and as a result the frequency characteristics can be improved.
An attempt to make use of superconductors for semiconductor devices is described in Japanese Patent Application No.sho62-053724 filed on Mar. 9, 1987 in the name of the assignee of this application. In that application, it has been proposed to make lead lines utilizing superconducting ceramic materials. The superconducting ceramics have to be fired for a long time period in an oxidizing atmosphere after applied on the semiconductor substrate in place. Because of this, some surface portion of the semiconductor tends to be oxidized and form insulating oxide films. For example, in case of silicon semiconductor devices, silicon oxide is formed adjacent to their superconducting electrodes.

Superconducting lead on integrated circuit

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A surge suppressor for a high frequency transmission line contains a microstrip architecture comprising a dielectric sheet on a first side of which a signal conductor stripe layer is formed and on a second side of which a ground plane conductor layer is formed. The strip layer is disposed along a generally central linear region of the first surface, so as to facilitate direct connection to the center conductor of a pair of end connectors, such as type F coaxial connectors. The ground plane conductor layer is attached to the shield layer of the coaxial connectors. A gas discharge tube is coupled between a first location of the stripe layer and the ground plane layer. The discharge device may be mounted on the first side of the microstrip structure and is connected to the ground plane layer on the opposite surface by way of a plated through hole. The ground plane layer has an aperture of a prescribed area in mutual alignment with the stripe layer so as to effectively remove the distributed capacitance between the stripe layer and the ground plane along a defined length of the stripe. This decrease in the distributed microstrip capacitance coupled with the fact that the removal of ground plane metal leaves the overlying section of the center conductor as a length of inductance compensate for the alteration of the characteristic impedance by the connection of the discharge device between the stripe conductor layer and the ground plane layer.

The proliferation of high data rate communication equipment in diverse user environments such as local area networks and VSAT systems, has increased the demand for electromagnetic impulse protection devices in a variety of system applications. As such, a particular requirement of such devices is that they appear invisible to signalling traffic; namely, they do not degrade the quality of the communication signal, for example, by way of insertion loss and unwanted signal reflections on the transmission line. An example of a conventional electromagnetic impulse device that is intended to be installed in a high frequency communication link without effectively creating a mismatch with the characteristic impedance of the line is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,409,637. According to the patented scheme, the increased capacitive reactance imparted by the coupling of a surge-suppressing (gas) discharge device between the center conductor and shield conductor of the transmission line is compensated by increasing the inductive reactance of the device, via control of the dimensions of the shield (ground plane) conductor and inductor segments that are coupled in circuit with the shield conductor structure. Unfortunately, although the patented device functionally serves its intended purpose, its diverse, multicomponent hardware configuration makes it expensive to manufacture.

Printed circuit-mounted surge suppressor matched to characteristic impedance of high frequency transmission line


A system for enhancing speech intelligibility using wireless communication is provided. The system has a number of talker units, each having a microphone and a transmitter so that an audio input received at the microphone is transmitted via the transmitter as an output. The system includes a receiver unit having a receiver to receive the outputs of the talker units, and a mixer to mix the outputs to form a mixed output signal, and a transmitter to transmit the mixed output signal on a preselected frequency. The system also has a listener unit tunable to receive the mixed output signal transmitted on the preselected frequency. The system can be embodied in a serial daisy chain arrangement or in a parallel repeater arrangement. A method for enhancing speech intelligibility using wireless communication is provided. The method has the steps of: providing a listener unit to at least one listener and a talker unit to each of a plurality of talkers, each talker unit being capable of transmitting an audio signal; receiving the audio signals from the plurality of talker units; mixing the audio signals to form a mixed output signal; transmitting the mixed output signal on a preselected frequency; and receiving the mixed output signal at the listener unit on the preselected frequency.

The present invention relates generally to instrumentation commonly referred to as "assistive listening devices" and more particularly relates to a method and system for the enhancement of speech intelligibility utilizing wireless communication in which a group of talkers has a microphone and a transmitter operating in combination with a receiver arranged to accept each of the transmitted signals and pass the combined signal on to hearing aids or earphones. The listener is thereby provided with a relatively noise free signal from each of the desired talkers.
Hearing-impaired people often have difficulty comprehending speech in noisy and/or reverberant environments such as encountered at parties or in a restaurant. The hearing-impaired person may have difficulty comprehending the speech of the talkers due to: 1) a hearing aid that may not adequately correct for the loss of hearing sensitivity to quiet sounds, or 2) a residual hearing acuity that is inadequate to permit that person to understand speech in the presence of noise levels that normal-hearing individuals find acceptable for carrying on a conversation. The first problem--lack of adequate audibility at some frequencies--can often be corrected with readjustment or change in the hearing aid circuit. The second problem--lack of adequate acuity--cannot be corrected with any known circuit. To explain: those with normal hearing can carry on a conversation at a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 0 to -5 dB, meaning the noise may be as much as 5 dB more intense than the desired speech signal. Individuals with moderate-to-severe hearing loss, on the other hand, may often require an SNR of +5 to +10 dB, 10 dB greater than those with normal hearing. The impossibility of a circuit solution to the problem is seen, for example, by the fact that no circuit can know which of many voices at a party is noise and which is considered signal. (It is well known that a listener can switch his or her attention at will from one talker to another at a noisy party, often while continuing to look at the original uninteresting talker.) These and other considerations are discussed in more detail by Mead C. Killion in an editorial "Hearing Aids: Past, Present, and Future" scheduled to appear in the May 1997 issue of the British Journal of Audiology.
The SNR problem has been most obvious with children having severe-to-profound hearing loss. Such children find it impossible to properly understand the teacher when they wear even the best conventional hearing aids in a typical classroom. The use of FM systems (such as are currently available from manufacturers such as Telex of Minnesota and others) have provided a substantially improved SNR for such children, permitting them to learn and understand speech in classroom settings.
In FM systems, the teacher's voice (or other audio signal, perhaps from a video tape or audio recording) is used to frequency modulate a radio frequency carrier which is transmitted within the classroom. The students are then equipped with FM receivers. The FM receivers pick up the transmitted signal, demodulate it, and present received audio either to the students' hearing aids or to their ears via headphones or earphones. In this particular example, there is one audio signal which is transmitted, that being the teacher's voice.
A severely hearing-impaired adult at a restaurant may face a similar difficulty with respect to noise, but now at least three talkers (assuming the case where two couples go out to eat) need to be heard. Passing a single microphone around is sometimes done as an effective, but inconvenient, solution. Similarly, head-worn hearing aids including FM receivers used with single-microphone FM transmitters are increasingly being used. One such effective system is manufactured by AVR Communications in Israel.
What is clearly needed, however, is a convenient multiple-microphone pickup system where each microphone operates in a wireless mode. Such a system would serve both those with hearing impairment and normally-hearing individuals, allowing both to communicate in difficult situations and environments. Such systems can be made small enough to also be used by individuals who wish to communicate discreetly with their undercover teammates.

System and method for enhancing speech intelligibility utilizing wireless communication


Disclosed is a side gate nozzle assembly (108) having a nozzle body (210) and at least one side gate nozzle tip assembly (112) wherein the nozzle body (210) and the at least one side gate nozzle tip assembly (112) are slidably engaged to each other.

Side gate nozzle assemblies are generally known in the prior art. In these prior art assemblies, the side gate nozzle tip assemblies are mostly fixed to the nozzle body of the side gate nozzle assemblies. During thermal heat up, the nozzle body expands in at least the longitudinal direction thereby relocating the side gate nozzle tip assemblies along the longitudinal axis. In addition, a manifold also expands forcing the nozzle body along the longitudinal direction. One disadvantage with the prior art systems is gate alignment during and after thermal heat up. A slight offset between the side gate nozzle tip assemblies and orifices of the cavity negatively impacts quality and potentially increases downtime.


There is disclosed a monolithic semiconductor laser which is provided with an AlGaAs based semiconductor laser element (10a) and an InGaAlP based semiconductor laser element (10b) formed on a semiconductor substrate (1). The AlGaAs based semiconductor laser element (10a) is composed of an infrared light emitting layer forming portion (9a), which has an n-type cladding layer (2a), an active layer (3a) and a p-type cladding layer (4a) formed so as to have a ridge portion, and a current constriction layer (5a) provided on sides of the ridge portion, while the InGaP based semiconductor laser element (10b) is composed of a red light emitting layer forming portion (9a), which has an n-type cladding layer (2b), an active layer (3b) and a p-type cladding layer (4b) formed so as to have a ridge portion, and a current constriction layer (5b) provided on sides of the ridge portion. The current constriction layers of the both elements are made of the same material having a larger band gap than that of the active layer (3b) of the red light emitting layer forming portion. Consequently, there can be obtained a monolithic semiconductor laser capable of high temperature and high output operation without increasing the number of processes of the growth.

In recent years, accompanied with popularization of an optical disk device which has compatibility between a DVD and a CD, a monolithic semiconductor laser is used as a light source, which emits laser light having two wavelengths from places apart from each other with a determined interval by forming an InGaAlP based semiconductor laser element for red light and an AlGaAs based semiconductor laser element for infrared light on the same semiconductor substrate (cf. for example PATENT DOCUMENT 1).
As shown in FIG. 3, the AlGaAs based semiconductor laser element 50a is provided, on a semiconductor substrate 51 made of, for example, n-type GaAs, with, for example, an infrared light emitting layer forming portion 59a, which is composed of an n-type cladding layer 52a made of n-type AlGaAs based semiconductor, an active layer 53a made of AlGaAs based semiconductor and a p-type cladding layer 54a made of p-type AlGaAs based semiconductor and having a ridge shape, and a current constriction layer 55a for an infrared element made of n-type GaAs, which is formed on sides of the ridge portion, and a contact layer 56a made of, for example, p-type GaAs is provided thereon. On the other hand, the InGaAlP based semiconductor laser element 50b is provided, on the same semiconductor substrate 51 where the AlGaAs based semiconductor laser element 50a is formed, with, for example, an red light emitting layer forming portion 59b, which is composed of an n-type cladding layer 52b made of n-type InGaAlP based semiconductor, an active layer 53b made of InGaAlP based semiconductor and a p-type cladding layer 54b made of p-type InGaAlP based semiconductor, and a current constriction layer 55b for the red element made of n-type GaAs which is the same material as that of the current constriction layer 55a, which is formed on sides of the ridge portion, and a contact layer 56b made of, for example, p-type GaAs is provided thereon. Further, p-side electrodes 57a and 57b are formed on the contact layers 56a and 56b, and a common n-side electrode 58 is formed at a back surface side of the semiconductor substrate 51, thereby a monolithic semiconductor laser is formed in which both elements are electrically separated. PATENT DOCUMENT 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-11417 (FIG. 9)