A diagram recognizing system is capable of automatically recognizing a diagram prepared, for example, through a manual operation or through drawing software, independently from a CASE tool or the like, and delivering a recognized logic to the CASE tool or the like without the aid of any manual operation. A recognizing rule for recognizing the diagram as the object of recognition is entered and stored. A symbol, a connecting line, a character string, and a relationship of connection between the symbols, each structuring the diagram, are recognized on the basis of the recognizing rule by a diagram recognizing means. Logical data, indicative of the kind of each of the symbols, the character string, and the relationship of connection between the symbols, are generated, and the logical data are converted into and generated as a predetermined file type so as to be delivered directly to the CASE tool or the like.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diagram recognizing system and, more particularly, to a diagram recognizing system so adapted as to recognize a diagram to be employed for describing a specification for data processing, such as flowcharts, data flow diagrams, and the like, of documents for developing and maintaining a data processing system, to convert the recognized diagram into logical data indicative of its logical meaning, and to generate the logical data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, there have been proposed and employed techniques for analyzing and designing a system, having both accuracy in the specification for data processing and ease in understanding it, by representing a procedure of the data processing for a data processing system or the like.
For instance, such techniques may include a structured analysis technique proposed by T. DeMarco (DeMarco, T.; Structured Analysis And System Specification; Prentice-Hall, 1978) and a technique for information engineering, systematized by J. Martin (Martin, J.; Information Engineering, Book I: Introduction, Prentice-Hall, 1989).
As a specific example of these techniques, there is commercially employed a reverse engineering system for forming an entity relationship diagram from definition data of DB2, IDMS, VSAM, and IMS, which are IBM's database and files, as a tool for forming a logical structure of data from the database definition data of text file data such as a source program of a developed information system, database definition data, job control statement, linkage parameter, input-output map, and the like, as indicated by Data Analyst of Buchman, Inc. (Sato, M.; CASE Tool; Explanation of Its Functions and Know How of Its Application, page 219, Nov. 1, 1989).
On the other hand, as CASE (Computer Aided Software Engineering) tools for aiding operations for forming a source program on the basis of these techniques, there have been commercialized Excelerator (Index Technology, Inc.) and IEW (Information Engineering Workbench: KnowledgeWare, Inc.), which are employed mainly in the U.S. and Europe (Nakamura, M.: Evolving CASE; Exploding "Walls" Among Steps & Providing Smooth Development Environments: Nikkei Computer; pages 78-101, Nov. 5, 1990).
It can be noted, however, that the CASE tools, which set fourth the formation of a diagram as a premise, are thought to spread even in the U.S. at a rate as high as 10%, so that the situation is not yet ripe in which system analysts and system engineers can always utilize the CASE tools. Hence, system analysts and system engineers are usually employing techniques for manually drawing diagrams with rulers, templates and the like and allowing operators to enter the diagrams into the CASE tools or for forming diagrams by making use of drawing software, which is far less expensive than the CASE tools, and entering the formed diagrams into the CASE tools.
The diagrams formed manually or through the drawing software in the manner as described hereinabove, however, are independent from the CASE tools, so that the delivery to downstream steps, such as the verification of matching with the specification as the CASE tool, the editing to be done with the logical meaning of the diagrams taken into account, and the automated formation of engineering data or a source program, should be conducted by manual operations. Hence, these techniques present the problems that the verification of accuracy of conversion operations, compliance of the specification with the program, maintenance of the diagrams, and the like are rendered very difficult.
To this end, demands have been made to develop and realize a system that can automatically recognize a diagram formed manually or through drawing software and deliver the diagram to the CASE tool without any manual assistance.
It can be noted herein that, as a similar technique, for instance, Hitachi, Ltd. has commercialized an intelligent system for recognizing account books and vouchers (BELIEVE) (Tsuchiya, M.; Jimu to Keiei: An Intelligent System for Recognizing Account Books & Vouchers As An Instant Power Potential; pages 8-10, September, 1990). This system, enters accounting vouchers and slips as data of an image, allows a recognition of a voucher style and a recognition of fields, and automatically forms programs for implementing operations for issuing the vouchers and printing the books.
Further, Japanese Patent Publication Laid-open (kokai) No. 71,366/1990 discloses a system for forming an E-R model, which is so adapted as to enter an entity relationship diagram (an E-R model diagram) for forming a model of data within an information system, as data of an image, and to allow a graphic recognition to thereby form the E-R model in an automatic way.
In addition, as indicated by M. Hirata (An Input System for Automatically Entering Drawings of Logical Circuits: Demonstrating Its Effect by Restricted Uses; Nikkei Computer Graphics; page 18, February, 1988), a system for automatically recognizing a drawing of a logical circuit, developed by Matsushita Electric Industries, Co., Ltd., is so adapted as to read the drawing of the logical circuit of hardware as data of an image, to recognize symbols, characters, and relationships of connection between the symbols, and to store them in a database.
The system for automatically recognizing the drawing of the logical circuit, however, is so adapted as to enter the drawing of the logical circuit of the hardware, so that it cannot be applied to the recognition of a diagram describing a data system. The diagram describing the data system offers the characteristics that it is important to distinguish the directivity of the relationship of connection between the symbols, that the number of connecting lines to be connectible to each of the symbols is optional, that there is regularity among the connectible symbols, that the shape and the meaning of each of the symbols can be modified or added for each user, and the like. Hence, the problem resides in the fact that the automated system cannot be applied to the recognition of diagrams such as data flow diagrams, entity relationship diagrams, flowcharts, and the like.
Further, the intelligent system for recognizing the account books and vouchers, as described hereinabove, is so designed as to recognize formats, such as account books and vouchers composed of spreadsheets which are delimited and surrounded by straight lines only, to detect positions of the characters within the format, and to recognize the data. This system, however, cannot recognize diagram data unless the positions of symbols, connecting lines or a sequence of characters have been defined in advance.
Furthermore, the system for forming the E-R model as described hereinabove is designed exclusively for forming the entity relationship diagram in which the number of symbols to be employed is limited to several kinds; hence, it has the problem that, although it can be applied only to the recognition of the shape and the meaning of a predetermined diagram, it cannot be applied to the recognition of a diagram that should be defined by each user in a manner as have conventionally been conducted.

Method for diagram recognition by using recognizing rules and system for implementing the method


The invention relates to a process for the manufacture of a thermoplastic composition comprising a polyphenylene ether resin and a styrenic resin wherein the processes comprises a concentrate of polyphenylene ether resin with an organic phosphate compound. The concentrate allows for ease of handling of polyphenylene ether resin without the risk of dust ignition while obtaining substantially the same physical properties as obtained with polyphenylene ether resin powder. The invention also relates to articles formed out of the compositions made by the process of the invention.

Not applicable.
Not applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for the manufacture of thermoplastic composition. In particular, the invention relates to a process for the manufacture of a thermoplastic composition comprising polyphenylene ether resin.
The invention also relates to articles formed out of the compositions made by the process of the invention.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Poly(phenylene ether) resins (referred to hereafter as xe2x80x9cPPExe2x80x9d) are commercially attractive materials because of their unique combination of physical, chemical, and electrical properties. Commercially, most PPE are sold as blends with predominantly high impact polystyrene resins. PPE are miscible with polystyrene resins in all proportions and because of the very high glass transition temperatures of PPE, the blends of PPE with polystyrene resins possess higher heat resistance than that of the polystyrene resins alone. Moreover, the combination of PPE with high impact polystyrene resins results in additional overall properties such as high flow and ductility. Examples of such blends can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,383,435; 4,097,550; 4,113,800; 4,101,503; 4,101,504; 4,101,505; 4,128,602; 4,139,574; and 4,154,712 among others. The properties of these blends can be further enhanced by the addition of various additives such as impact modifiers, flame retardants, light stabilizers, processing stabilizers, heat stabilizers, antioxidants and fillers.
Commercial PPE are produced as a relatively fine powder form typically having at least 10% by weight, often at least 20% by weight fine particles of less than about 75 microns in size. Particles less than about 75 microns in size are believed to lead to dust explosion hazards. Consequently these powders require special handling procedures to control dust and potential spark ignition hazards associated with such powders. Such handling procedures include grounding of equipment and use of inert gas blankets to exclude oxygen. It would be commercially advantageous to be able to ship PPE to various locations around the world for compounding into resin compositions to serve local market needs. However, the handling procedures as described above require significant investment for equipment modifications and consequently limit the commercial feasibility for such compounding flexibility. Conversion of PPE powder using standard compounding extruders followed by pelletization of the extrudate to obtain pellets having dimensions of about 3 mm by 3 mm has been attempted as a solution to the problems associated by PPE powder. Unfortunately, the physical properties of many resin compositions made using the pellets are inferior as compared to control compositions made with PPE powder and the pellets must be ground to a smaller size in order to obtain physical properties that closely approximate those of control compositions. Consequently, the utility of the PPE pellet approach has been limited.
It is therefore apparent there continues to be a need for improved processes to manufacture resin compositions containing PPE.
The needs discussed above have been generally satisfied by the discovery of a process for the manufacture of a thermoplastic composition containing:
a) at least one polyphenylene ether resin, and
b) optionally, at least one polystyrene resin;
wherein the process comprises preparing a concentrate of polyphenylene ether resin with an organic phosphate compound. The composition may further comprise at least one of the following optional components: thermoplastic resins such as, for example, polyolefins, polyetherimides, polyethersulfones, polysulfones, polyamides, polyesters, and polyarylene sulfides, compatibilizers, impact modifiers, anti-oxidants, flame retardants, drip suppressers, crystallization nucleators, dyes, pigments, colorants, reinforcing agents, fillers, stabilizers, and antistatic agents.
The description which follows provides further details regarding this invention.
Not applicable.

Polyphenylene ether resin concentrates containing organic phosphates


A method for triggering message queue applications, comprising performing a first trigger process, the first trigger process including: a first application evaluating a queue for a trigger message; the first application determining whether a second trigger process is already being performed for the queue; and the first application invoking a second application where the invoking is in response to the trigger message.

The need for communications among computer systems is spurring advancement in several key technology areas including networking and messaging. As technology industries grow, the number and type of available computer systems grows in proportion. Parallel development of a multitude of computer system standards, platforms, and operating systems poses challenges to inter-system communications. Until recently, sophisticated and often expensive conversion programs were needed to achieve inter-communicability. However, the advent of messaging and queueing systems has made communications across distributed and often disparate systems a viable and economical reality.
Messaging software provides an interface between applications, allowing them to send data back and forth to each other asynchronously. Data sent by one is stored in a queue and then retrieved by a receiving program when the receiving program becomes available to process the message. In accordance with message queueing implementations such as IBM Websphere MQseries®, a messaging application known as a queue manager interprets certain events or conditions as indicating that an action or response is warranted. Such an event or condition is known as a trigger event. When a trigger event occurs, the queue manager sends a trigger message to a second queue referred to as an initiation queue indicating that a trigger event has occurred. A trigger message can be generated for a queue every time a message arrives on the queue, when the first message arrives on the queue, or when the number of messages on the queue reaches a predefined number. A first application can request that the placement of any message on a local queue associated with the first application be interpreted as a trigger event. Generally, a trigger message indicates that a trigger event occurred and may also include additional information related to the trigger event. A second messaging application known as a trigger manager monitors the initiation queue, retrieves trigger messages placed on the initiation queue, creates a task (invokes a second application), and passes the trigger messages to the second application.
A consequence of such an architecture is that where the trigger manager is not executing, the second application is not invoked and trigger messages are not received by the second application. In addition, the time required to complete the entire trigger process for multiple triggers is extended where trigger messages are placed on the initiation queue faster than the trigger manager is able to retrieve them and pass them to the second application. Such is the case in high performance systems and high transaction-rate systems. An embodiment of the present invention provides for an efficient system and method for message queue triggering.

System and method for triggering message queue applications

International Business Machines Corporation


A cylinder repair bracket which is designed to apply a selected degree of telescoping tension on the pistons of fluid-operated cylinders which connect closures such as hoods, deck lids, tailgates and like vehicle body members for movement between the open and closed positions. In a preferred embodiment the cylinder repair bracket includes a pair of hose clamps, one of which is tightly secured to the cylinder housing and the other to the piston of the cylinder. The hose clamps are connected by a band connector to facilitate adjusting the degree of telescoping tension in the piston by tightening or loosening the hose clamp attached to the piston. In this manner, compensation for wear in the telescoping piston-cylinder housing connection can be effected.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to telescoping cylinders attached to closure members in vehicles, and more particularly, to a cylinder repair bracket which compensates for wear in the telescoping piston and cylinder housing elements of a fluid cylinder over a period of time. In a preferred embodiment the cylinder repair bracket is characterized by a pair of hose clamps, one of which is tightly attached to the cylinder housing and the other to the cylinder piston with a desired degree of tension and the hose clamps are connected by a band connector. A desired degree of reciprocating tension can be applied to the piston of the fluid cylinder by adjusting the piston hose clamp to facilitate extension and retraction of the piston with respect to the cylinder in a controlled manner regardless of the weight applied to the piston.
Modern vehicles are frequently fitted with controlled closure devices such as fluid-operated cylinders attached to the vehicle body and to the hood, deck lid or tailgate of the vehicle to facilitate controlled opening and closure of the hoods, deck lid or tailgate with respect to the vehicle body. Sealed fluid- operated or fluid-controlled cylinders are ideal devices for achieving this controlled opening and closure of the vehicle hood, deck lid or tailgate, since extension and retraction of the respective cylinder pistons into and from the cylinder housing against sealed fluid pressure such as air, serves to dampen rapid movement of the hood, deck lid or tailgate, thereby facilitating easier and safer opening and closure of these hoods, deck lids or tailgates. Furthermore, fluid-operated cylinders are also efficient to maintain the hood, deck lid or tailgate of a vehicle in an open configuration to facilitate loading and unloading the vehicle without requiring the assistance of the operator or using a prop or other safety device. However, with the passage of time, these fluid-operated cylinders tend to leak and wear and sometimes allow the hood, deck lid or tailgate of the vehicle to drop suddenly, with resulting injury, or at best, inconvenience, to the operator. At this point, the fluid-operated cylinders must normally be replaced, usually in pairs, at considerable expense, inconvenience and loss of time to the vehicle owner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various closure devices for operating doors, hoods, deck lids, tailgates and like closures, are well known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,311, dated May 10, 1983, to John R. Watts, details a "Door-Closure Apparatus" which includes an elongated, cylindrical housing which receives a sliding piston. The piston has a free end that extends outwardly and includes multiple grooves to receive an adjustable retainer clamp and regulate the inward longitudinal movement of the piston in the housing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,100, dated Mar. 21, 1989, to Daniel P. King, details a "Closure Check" for temporarily bracing a conventional cylinder/piston mechanism in the "open" configuration. The closure check includes a longitudinal brace, a positioning device, an engagement device and a disengagement device. The closure check can automatically engage with the cylinder/piston mechanism or may be engaged manually by the user. A "Storm Door Lock Apparatus" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,163, dated Mar. 28, 1989, to William O. Simmons. The apparatus includes a clamp secured to an associated screen door-type closure member that further secures a slidable rod mounted with an abutment surface for actuation by a user. A pivoted lever is provided at the other end of the rod for canting about a piston rod associated with the door closure. An L-shaped link may be secured to the abutment member for allowing engagement and access by a user. U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,230, dated May 15, 1990, to Alan J. Shelton, details a "Hold Open Device For Compartment Lid". The device includes a pair of telescoping members pivotally connected to the compartment lid and body of a vehicle and a releasable latching mechanism for automatically holding the telescoping members in an extended position, with the closure in its open position. The latching mechanism is constructed such that it may be automatically released by exerting a downward force in excess of a predetermined magnitude on the closure to move the latter to its closed position. U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,150, dated Sep. 17, 1991, to Philip Guerin, details a "Door Holder" which includes a holding member adapted to be secured between the door and the frame of the door. The holding member includes a lever that may be clamped in either a first release position, in which the door is free to be opened and closed, or a second holding position, in which the door is held open. A foot-operated actuating device operated by a user controls the lever to move it into a clamping position to hold the door open.
It is an object of this invention to provide a cylinder repair bracket for mounting on a cylinder housing and piston and controlling the degree of pressure required to retract and extend the piston into and from the cylinder housing.
Another object of the invention is to provide a cylinder repair bracket which is mounted on the cylinder housing and piston of a fluid cylinder for regulating the retracting and extension tension of the piston with respect to the cylinder housing.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved cylinder repair bracket which is simple in design, easy to install and operative to mount on a cylinder housing and piston of a fluid cylinder to regulate the telescoping action of the piston.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a cylinder repair bracket which is characterized by a first hose clamp tightly secured to the cylinder housing of fluid cylinder, a second hose clamp attached to the piston of the fluid cylinder with a desired degree of tension and a connecting member connecting the first hose clamp to the second hose clamp, wherein the gripping tension between the second hose clamp and the cylinder piston is adjusted to regulate the telescoping action of the piston into and from the cylinder housing.


A bar clamp/spreading tool having a first clamp member with a curved arm that ends in a pad. The first bar clamp is fastened to an elongated beam that extends into and is attached to a beam housing. The beam housing includes a cavity. A variable length external member extends from the cavity into an assembly cavity of a primary housing. The primary housing includes a channel that receives a ratcheting rod. The bar clamp/spreading tool further includes a second clamp member that receives the ratcheting rod. The second clamp member has a ratcheting actuator for causing the second clamp member to ratchet down the ratcheting rod. This configuration results in a clamp. The first clamp member can be removed, flipped around and attached to the ratcheting member to form a spreading tool.

One very common task in construction, welding, woodworking, plastic fabrication, ship building, and in general any material fabrication process is joining different elements together. Sometimes, such as when gluing wood elements together, long term pressure is required. At other times large, complex, and expensive fabrication facilities are required to properly align elements before joining. In certain cases various elements must be spread apart before elements can be properly fabricated. In almost all cases whenever discrete elements are being joined some type of spatial fixing is required.
Because of the wide variety of elements that must be joined or separated, a variety of devices are available to assist those processes. For example, the common "C" clamp is readily available in a wide range of sizes, from sub-inch maximum openings to well over 12″. "C" clamps are available and suitable for wood-working, welding, and general assembly use and they can be used in a remarkable number of ways. While "C" clamps are very useful, they have practical limitations on their throat size maximum openings, depth of clamp, weight in larger sizes, and cost. Furthermore, "C" clamps can be difficult and time-consuming for one person to use, and cannot be used for spreading elements. However, their most common drawback is that they take two hands to use. Properly spatially locating and holding multiple elements while requiring two hands to clamp the multiple elements together can be a major challenge.
Because of the limitations of the "C" clamp other clamps are available. For example, bar clamps. A bar clamp is a clamping device consisting of a long rod, tube, bar, or other elongated member (generically referred to hereinafter for convenience and reading clarity simply as a rod), a fixed jaw on the rod, and a moving adjustable clamping jaw. In different configurations the moving jaw can be moved toward or away from the fixed jaw or the rod can be moved relative to the moving jaw. Some bar clamps can be used with only one hand, which greatly facilities their use. Bar clamps are available in configurations in which a jaw is reversible. This facilities their use as spreaders.
Examples of bar clamps include those taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,382,608 to Mitchell, entitled, "Adjustable Clamping and Spreading Bar Clamp or Bench Vice," issued on May 7, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,475 to Ping, entitled, "Bar Clamp," issued on Feb. 12, 2001; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,159,858, to Ben-Gigi, entitled "Bar Clamp," issued on Jan. 9, 2007. Examples of currently available bar clamps in different lengths are from Larin™, Craftsman™, Sears™, Pro-Grade™ and many others. Thus bar clamps and their ratcheting mechanisms are well known and commonly used.
While bar-clamps are widely used and have proven to be very useful, in some cases the maximum distance between the materials being joined is simply greater than the bar clamp can reach. Furthermore, as the distance between materials being joined increases the torques and other mechanical forces required to hold the materials rigid increase. Another major problem is that to span a wide range of distances either different bar clamps are required or a very long bar clamp that may be unwieldy for shorter applications is required.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a rigid, strong extended bar clamp/spreader that is suitable for one hand use over a wide span without being unwieldy. Beneficially such a bar clamp/spreader is suitable for low cost fabrication using efficient fabrication techniques.


A multi-component door frame assembly, including a door jamb having a length and contact surface. A plurality of ribs along the length of the door jamb and extending distally from the contact surface. A door stop detachably fixed to the door jamb and adapted to receive a door when the door is in a closed position.

Door assemblies are typically made up of a door frame cut out of a wall, a door jamb, a door stop, the door, and hinges and other fixtures (i.e. screws) to assemble the assembly. Door jambs and door stops are made of a variety of materials such as woods and metals. There are many disadvantages to the typical wood and metal constructions in the prior art. One-piece jamb and stop wood assemblies are costly to manufacture due to the time that must be spent machining the wood and due to the material wasted when machining wood. Both one piece and multi-piece jamb and stop assemblies are more difficult for the end user. With multiple piece wood assemblies, wood jambs must be fixed to the door frame, and then the stop must be fixed to the jamb and/or the door frame using many fasteners such as nails or staples. Furthermore, wood pieces are expensive and must be painted or stained. Metal door jambs and stops also provide similar disadvantages, especially with respect to cost. Therefore, there is a need for an inexpensive door jamb and stop assembly that can be installed easily and efficiently.

Multi-component door jamb and stop assembly


According to a semiconductor device herein, the device includes a substrate. An active device is formed in the substrate. The active device includes a collector region, a base region formed on the collector region, and an emitter region formed on the base region. An isolation structure is formed in the substrate around the active device. A trench filled with a compressive material is formed in the substrate and positioned laterally adjacent to the emitter region and base region. The trench extends at least partially into the base region.

The present disclosure relates generally to integrated circuit device structures, and more specifically, to device structures having stress material in trenches for improved mobility.
Silicon Germanium (SiGe) heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) have been widely used in high speed and high frequency applications. For a typical bipolar junction transistor (BJT), the collector junction that is located at the bottom of the sandwich layers has more current flow compared with the base in the center layer and the emitter in the top layer.
Power amplifiers (PAs), low-noise amplifiers (LNAs), and switches, such as those used in radio frequency (RF) applications, typically incorporate bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and, particularly, high performance heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). Design modifications to increase the unity short circuit current gain frequency (ƒT) (i.e., the switching speed) of such transistors can result in corresponding increases in the linearity and gain of the amplifiers. Those skilled in the art will recognize that ƒT is a function of the device parasitics, including parasitic resistances and parasitic capacitances. For example, the ƒT of a BJT or HBT can be increased by decreasing the base-emitter capacitance (Cbe) and/or decreasing the emitter resistance (Re) and, as a result, the linearity and gain of amplifiers that incorporate such BJTs or HBTs can be increased. Cbe is often decreased by increasing the separation distance between the base and emitter. Unfortunately, this technique results in a corresponding increase in emitter resistance (Re), which decreases the ƒT. If the size and, particularly, the width of the BJT or HBT is then increased to lower Re and increase the ƒT, a corresponding increase in Cbe will occur. Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a method of forming a transistor structure (e.g., a BJT or HBT structure), which allows for a higher gain frequency (ƒT/ƒmax) with lower parasitics, such as base-emitter capacitance (Cbe), collector-base capacitance (Ccb), and base resistance (Rb).

Heterojunction bipolar transistors with stress material for improved mobility


A parallel computer system and a block transfer method and computer program for use with the parallel computer system which includes at least one processing unit divided into a plurality of logical processing units and a connecting device which exchanges commands and acknowledgements with the processing unit. The connecting device edits into a single command or acknowledgement individual commands or acknowledgements to be sent to the logical processing units and sends the single command or acknowledgement to the processing unit. The single command or acknowledgement includes a header, a command or acknowledgement code, logical processing unit numbers and pieces of command or acknowledge information corresponding to the logical processing units. The processing unit divides the single command or acknowledge into the individual commands or acknowledgements for the logical processing units and notifies the latter of these commands or acknowledgements. The invention operates in a similar manner when sending commands or acknowledgements from the logical processing units to the connecting device.

The present invention relates to a parallel computer system and a method and computer program for use in the parallel computer system which includes one processing unit divisible into a plurality of logical processing units and a connecting device shared by these logical processing units. More particularly, the present invention relates to a parallel computer system and a block transfer method and computer program for use with the parallel computer system, whereby a plurality of commands or acknowledgements to be sent from a connecting device to logical processing units included in the parallel computer system and vice versa are edited into a single command or a single acknowledgement to be transferred therebetween.
In a typical parallel computer system described illustratively in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-4490, "Data Processing System," (corresponding to European Patent application No. EP0563623A2) a plurality of processing units (called the "central processing complex" in the cited reference) are connected to a connecting device via dedicated a channel (called the "IS channel" in the cited reference). Data shared between the processing units are retained in a memory arrangement called a cache or list structure inside the connecting device, whereby the processing units are operated in parallel.
When one of the processing units updates the cache in the connecting device, the connecting device transmits a mutual invalidation command to the processing unit in question. When a processing unit updates the list in the connecting device so that a transition takes place from blank to filled state or vice versa in the list, the connecting device transmits a list notification command to the processing unit in question.
There is a specific case in which, as depicted in FIG. 26 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-83781, "Method for Managing Data Objects Used by a Local Processing Complex to Retain Shared Data Status Information," (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,266) the processing unit is divided into a plurality of logical processing units (called "images" in the cited reference) connected by a connecting device. In that case, the connecting device transmits a mutual invalidation (XI) command to each of the local processing units as needed.
In the parallel computer system in which the processing unit is divided into a plurality of logical processing units connected by the connecting unit, the connecting unit transmits commands or acknowledgements to these logical processing units and vice versa. In such transmitting operations, all commands or acknowledgements pass through the same channel. One disadvantage of this setup is that the channel is so often occupied by the transmitted commands or acknowledgements that other processing may be adversely affected thereby.

Block transfer method for use with parallel computer system


A method and an apparatus provide intelligent monitoring and maintenance of a system. The method according to one embodiment accesses data relating to functional components of the system; extracts parameter information for functional components of the system, the step of extracting parameter information including performing inferential processing and trend recognition of the data using previous knowledge about the system, and simulating performance of the system using models of the system and previous knowledge about the system; identifies new information about the system present in extracted parameter information; and provides the new information to the step of extracting parameter information, to be used as previous knowledge.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to diagnostics and maintenance of complex systems, especially applicable to vehicle systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus providing intelligent systems monitoring and maintenance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Complex systems such as industrial facilities, or airborne, terrestrial and marine vehicles, are monitored for maintenance purposes and operated by complex control systems. Such control systems are responsible for the operational health, correct maintenance, and general functions of the vehicle or industrial facility. Examples of control systems that also support maintenance and monitoring are an environmental control system (ECS) located on an aircraft, a central computer that controls a flight, a power generation and management system, etc. Control systems of vehicles and system integration laboratory (SIL) facilities monitor performance of individual functional parts commonly known in the industry as Line Replaceable Components or LRCs. Control systems of vehicles and laboratory facilities also monitor the performance of systems that contain the LRCs. Examples of LRCs are sensors, effectors (e.g. valves, pumps, etc.), filters, controllers, etc.
Existing techniques to monitor and maintain vehicle systems or SIL facilities suffer from a host of technical problems that limit the effectiveness of such techniques. Diagnosing of faults without clearly identifiable causes, also known as ambiguous faults, pose a significant challenge to monitoring and maintenance systems. Examples of ambiguous faults are: complex faults that can be caused by failures of multiple LRCs (e.g., excessive cabin temperature fault); No Fault Found reports; and Can Not Duplicate faults. Existing monitoring and maintenance systems have difficulty in correctly isolating the failed LRC in a complex fault with apparent fault symptoms that can be caused by an improper operation, and/or by failures of multiple LRCs. Faced with such a fault scenario, existing monitoring and maintenance systems will simply report multiple failed LRCs.
No Fault Found reports are another type of ambiguous faults. No Fault Found reports cast a doubt on the reliability of the vehicle's subsystems and lead to maintenance personnel's loss of faith in onboard diagnostic results. Subsystem-level Can Not Duplicate faults are especially troublesome and require an in-depth understanding of the performance of the subsystem and its master system. Can Not Duplicate faults also cast a doubt on the reliability of the vehicle's subsystems. Even when No Fault Found and Can Not Duplicate faults are resolved, it is often difficult to verify during systems operation that the faults were correctly resolved.
Monitoring and maintenance systems also provide interpretation of operational test results of vehicle system or SIL facility. However, the tests performed during system operation can produce highly correlated and complex data that requires a thorough understanding of the system performance in order to decipher anomalies hidden in apparently healthy data.
Personnel maintaining or operating a complex vehicle system or lab facility are often not trained to comprehensively understand the intricacies of the embedded diagnostic logic and system performance data, particularly for a newer system where experience based know-how is not yet present. Such training deficiencies cause delay in resolution of system operational issues and present an opportunity for healthy Line Replaceable Components being wrongly identified as failed and then replaced.
Due to the above drawbacks, existing techniques for monitoring and maintaining complex systems present significant commercial challenges. Incorrect or incomplete resolution of system problems and failures add considerable expense to the life cycle costs (LCC) to maintain and operate aircrafts, ships, and lab facilities. Dollar by the hour for maintenance work is a key metric entering costs to diagnose, solve and repair issues on the airplanes, for example. Currently available technology for monitoring and maintaining aircraft systems increase dollar by the hour amounts due to incidences of incorrect or incomplete servicing of the aircraft.
A few publications have studied techniques for monitoring and maintaining complex vehicle and lab systems. In one such technique, a relational database containing fault models and symptom data is used to maintain and diagnose problems aboard an aircraft. However, the technique relies on a clear correspondence between each fault mode and its functional cause. No Fault Found and Can Not Duplicate reports cannot therefore be addressed effectively enough, as there is no clear information as to what fault model and component might have caused them.
According to another technique, the systems that host failed components are isolated, while individual Line Replaceable Components that caused the faults are not isolated.
A disclosed embodiment of the application addresses these and other issues by utilizing an intelligent systems maintenance/monitor system. The system can eliminate identification errors of failed Line Replaceable Components, provide resolution of No Fault Found and Can Not Duplicate reports, learn new fault modes, and train maintenance and engineering personnel.

Method and apparatus for system monitoring and maintenance


A tunable or tuned boring tool having a dynamic vibration absorber is provided herein. The boring tool includes a boring bar having a distal portion configured to support a tool, a proximal portion configured for attachment to a support structure of a metalworking machine, and a cylindrical body extending between the proximal portion and the distal portion, having an elongated cavity therein. The boring tool further includes a tuned or tunable absorber inserted in the cavity of the boring bar. The absorber includes an absorber mass, an annular or partially annular support circumscribing each end of the absorber mass for holding the absorber mass within the cavity, and a layer of fluid restricting material surrounding at least a central portion of the absorber mass for dampening vibration of the absorber mass. A method of forming a boring tool with a dynamic vibration absorber is also provided herein.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tuned or tunable boring tool for suppressing vibrations caused in machining processes and, more particularly, to a tuned or tunable boring tool that utilizes a dynamic vibration absorber.
Description of Related Art
During a metalworking operation, there is relative motion between a workpiece and a cutting tool being urged against the workpiece. Specifically, the surface finish left on the workpiece by a previous pass of the cutting tool creates variation in chip thickness that, in turn, creates fluctuation of the cutting force magnitude. The relative motion between the workpiece and the tool is magnified by this fluctuation of the cutting force and may lead to an unstable condition known as chatter. Chatter is an example of self-excited vibration. As a result of this vibration, a poor quality surface finish and an out-of-tolerance finished workpiece may be produced.
Chatter may be especially problematic when the cutting tool is coupled to an elongated boring bar. A boring bar is essentially a cantilevered member that is anchored at one end and attached to the cutting tool at the other end. Boring bars are conventionally formed from a metal, such as carbon steel. To reduce vibrations of the boring bars, cutting parameters such as speed and depth of cut may be reduced, decreasing the metal removal rate. However, this approach interferes with production output, leading to low productivity.
Numerous attempts to eliminate boring bar vibration are known. One method for reducing vibration is using a boring bar fabricated from a stiffer material, such as carbide (e.g., tungsten carbide). However, carbide boring bars are more expensive than conventional steel bars. Furthermore, with carbide boring bars, although chatter and vibration are reduced by the inherently high stiffness of the carbide bar, vibration may still build to an unacceptable level. Additionally, carbide is fairly brittle and a minor impact upon the boring bar during use or setup may inadvertently damage the bar. A carbide boring bar extending between a steel adapter and steel tip portion is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,935,816 to Lee et al.
Another attempt to reduce vibration in boring bars involves attaching a dynamic vibration absorber mechanism to or within the boring bar. The dynamic vibration absorber may be designed to vibrate at a particular predetermined frequency to cancel vibration of the cantilevered bar. The dynamic vibration absorber may also include various mechanisms for tuning the bar, for particular applications.
A dynamic vibration absorber for use in a tunable boring bar, comprised of a cylindrical mass of a high-density material supported on resilient bushings, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,774,730. When optimally tuned, the mass oscillates in response to vibration produced in the boring bar to cancel out vibration. The absorber may be tuned to accommodate the boring bar for the changes in the length of the boring bar and the weight of the cutting tool connected at the end of the bar. Such an adjustment is made by longitudinally urging pressure plates at opposing ends of the cylindrical mass, thereby compressing the rubber bushings against the mass, which alters the fore of the rubber supports against the mass to change the vibration frequency of the cylindrical mass. Generally, the process of tuning the boring bar is easier for boring bars having higher natural frequencies, where smaller tuning masses can be applied. Therefore, shorter and stiffer bars are typically easier to tune than longer more flexible bars.
Tunable boring bars are typically formed from materials that can be machined, such as carbon steel, so that the bar can be fitted to accommodate the vibration absorption mechanism. Therefore, tunable boring bars generally are not made from stiffer materials, such as carbide, which cannot be machined through conventional means. In addition to tunable boring bars, some boring bars are designed with internal vibration absorber mechanisms that are not tunable. These anti-vibration bars will be referred to as AVB bars.
However, even tunable boring bars and AVB bars may not produce satisfactory performance for boring bars with narrower diameters and longer lengths. This limitation is problematic since, for certain cutting applications, narrow long length boring bars are particularly desirable. Therefore, there is a need for a tuned or tunable boring bar with improved vibration absorption.

Vibration absorber with high viscous dampening


Method and Apparatus of the present invention provides innovative real-time system power management with respect to user presence by using an image-capturing device and computer vision technology. The image-capturing device is to capture an image that includes an area in front of a computer system. The image is to be analyzed to determine the user presence. When it is determined that the user is not present, one or more components of the computer system is placed in a power saving mode.

Computer systems are becoming increasingly pervasive in our society, including everything from small handheld electronic devices, such as personal digital data assistants and cellular phones, to application-specific electronic components, such as set-top boxes and other consumer electronics, to medium-sized mobile and desktop systems to large workstations and servers. With deployment of wireless technology, the battery life became very critical characteristic of mobile systems.
To provide more powerful computer systems for consumers, designers strive to continually increase the operating speed of the processor. A by-product of increasing processor speed is an increase in the amount of power consumed by the processor. The increased system power consumption result in need for bigger thermal/cooling system, bigger power delivery system and reducing battery life.
One approach to reducing power consumption of a computer system is based on a Display Power Management System (DPMS) protocol. DPMS is used to selectively shut down parts of the computer system's video display circuitry after a period of inactivity. With a motherboard and a display that support DPMS, power consumption by the computer system, especially by the display may be greatly reduced. The motherboards that support DPMS often have a BIOS (basic input/output system) setting to enable the power consumption option. The BIOS setting controls a length of time the system must be idle (i.e., no activity detected from the user) for the display to be powered off.
The length of the idle time may be specified in minutes or hours, or it may be set to "Disabled" or "Never". The computer system then tries to detect user's activity during the idle time. User's activities may include, for example, pressing of a key on a keyboard, movement of a mouse, etc. After no activity is detected during the idle time and at expiration of the idle time, the computer system sends appropriate control signals to the display to power off the display. When the display is powered off and the system detects user's activity, the system sends appropriate control signals to power on the display.
Another approach to power management is by setting user's preference using the operating system or application software. For example, power to the display can be managed by setting a power off option in a power management properties menu to a certain fixed expiration value. The expiration value may be set to any value provided in a pop-up window ranging from 1 minute to "never". The expiration value is static and remains the same until another value is selected. FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art example of a pop-up window used to specify power management preferences. As illustrated in FIG. 1, power can be managed by setting user's preference to turn off monitor, hard disks and to put the system in standby mode.

Method and apparatus for adaptive realtime system power state control


A plasma CVD apparatus includes a showerhead comprised of a body having a hollow structure. The shower plate is detachably integrated with the body at a peripheral surface of the body and a peripheral surface of the shower plate, and at least one of the peripheral surface of the body or the peripheral surface of the shower plate is surface-treated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a thin-film forming apparatus using plasma CVD method and a method for forming thin films; and particularly to a thin-film forming apparatus and method which form thin films using a surface-treated shower plate.
2. Description of the Related Art
The plasma CVD method has been typically used as a method for forming a thin film on a semiconductor substrate. FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional plasma CVD deposition apparatus 1. The plasma CVD apparatus 1 comprises a reaction chamber 6, a susceptor 3 for placing a semiconductor substrate 4 inside the reaction chamber, a showerhead 9 provided over against and practically parallel to the susceptor 3 inside the reaction chamber, and an exhaust port 10 provided at the bottom of the reaction chamber. The susceptor 3 is supported by a heater 2 which heats the substrate 4 to a given temperature (150-450° C.) and is electrically grounded 12 so as to form one side of electrodes for plasma discharge. The showerhead 9 has a hollow structure in which a circular shower plate 11 having a number of fine pores is installed in a cylindrical body 13; a gas inlet port 5 for introducing a reaction gas is provided at the top of the showerhead 9. The showerhead 9 and the gas inlet port 5 are insulated from the reaction chamber 6, are connected with radio-frequency sources 7, 8 and form the other side of the electrodes. Such conventional plasma CVD apparatuses have been universally known, for example, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 1986-260623, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 1999-251094, and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-240973.
A film type and film characteristics to be formed on a surface of the semiconductor substrate 4 change depending on the type and the flow rate of a reaction gas, the substrate temperature, the shower plate temperature, the type of RF frequency, and the spatial distribution and electric potential distribution of plasma. In order to remove a film formed on places other than the substrate, a cleaning process is executed in the conventional plasma CVD apparatus after a consecutive deposition process for a given number of substrates has been completed. According to circumstances, a cleaning process may be executed whenever a deposition process for one piece of substrate is completed.
As described above, the conventional showerhead 9 has a hollow structure and a jet of reaction gas is emitted uniformly from the fine pores (not shown) in the shower plate 11. In order to facilitate maintenance and to reduce component costs, the showerhead 9 has a structure where the shower plate 11 is replaceable. Metal (aluminum or aluminum alloy) surfaces to be connected are exposed on both the shower plate 11 side and the body 13 side, and the two sides are then attached firmly and fixed by bolts, etc.
Conventionally, the surfaces of the body and the shower plate are in metal-to-metal contact in order to prevent interference with passage of electric current and propagation of radio-frequency waves. Further, no special protection is believed to be required because the surfaces are not fully exposed to fluorinated radicals. This is true even when a surface of the shower plate is anodized. FIG. 1(B) is an enlarged view of an integrated portion 21 of the body 13 and the shower plate 11. A surface of the conventional shower plate including pores 17 is coated with an anodic oxide layer 30, except for a peripheral surface 15 which is in metal-to-metal contact with a peripheral surface 14 of the body. It is commonly known in the art that it is needless to say that the peripheral surface 15 is exposed.

Apparatus and method for forming thin film using surface-treated shower plate


A method of forming a menu on a display of an electronic device is shown with at least two function elements (1) for selecting functions.                At least three display areas (A, B, C) are defined substantially adjacent to each other in a first direction.        At least a first identification part (2) and a second identification part (3) are defined as contained in the function elements (1)        The first identification part (2) of a function element (1) in the first direction is displayed on the outermost display areas (A, C), and        the second identification part (3) of the function elements (1) on at least one display area (B) between the outermost display areas (A, C) is displayed in such a manner that the second identification part of the first function element and the second identification part of the second function element are positioned at least substantially next to each other in a second direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction.Also shown are a graphical user interface (GUI), a device, a system, a software program and to a storage medium.

At present, mobile phones provide various types of functions in addition to the basic call making/receiving function. Typical examples of the functions include telephone number directories, message manager, electronic organizer, phone manager, image manager and many more. In order to use any of such functions, many mobile phones also comprise a graphical user interface (GUI).
Typically a display of a graphical user interface comprises different kinds of visual elements like menus, icons and other elements. The term 'menu' will be used hereinbelow to refer to of a list from which the user may select an operation to be performed. Usually the menu is a graphical component containing at least one functional element and it is capable of indicating the selected functional element and activating it. For the navigation between these visual elements there is typically some kind of a control device, such as a navigation key, soft keys, a joystick or a touch screen.
The present graphical user interfaces rely on presenting information in pictorial form. In one of the most common type of a graphical user interface visual elements form a list, which may be used for several purposes. For example, in imaging phones (such as Nokia 3650) the contents of the phone's photo gallery (or "images") can be presented by means of the list. Usually each item of the list consists of a thumbnail image and a label of the item for identification purposes. In a typical list these images and labels are positioned on top of each other and the user scrolls the list up and down by using a 2-way input device. In these solutions the list may consist of only a few larger images and labels or a larger number of small thumbnail images and labels. Consequently, if the user wants to use larger images he or she is able to see only a little section of the list on the display. If the user wants to see longer section of the list, he or she sees very small images and it is usually very difficult to recognize items from these small thumbnails. The possibility to see an image often enables faster recognition, when compared to reading, wherein the size of the image becomes more important since larger images can provide richer details.
To solve these problems a graphical user interface with a grid-like array has been developed, where many items are shown on top of each other and next to each other. Thus the user can see a larger section of the list, and labels and images of items have quite practical sizes. Because the grid consists of many columns and rows a multiway input device, at least a 4-way input device, is required. Further-more the use of this kind of list is in many solutions quite slow, because the user must navigate in many different directions. Another problem in the matrix presentation is that the item labels are often short because the area for displaying them is very limited. Therefore, labels are often presented with small-sized font, which may render the reading of their content difficult.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a user-friendly menu forming method in an electronic device that substantially eliminates one or more problems resulting from the limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
The primary aim of the present invention is to present a method in which a user friendly navigation function is integrated in a well-defined menu structure.
To attain this purpose, a method of forming a menu on a display of an electronic device is provided, which menu comprises at least two function elements for selecting functions, wherein the method comprises defining at least three display areas that are substantially adjacent to each other in a first direction, defining at least a first identification part and a second identification part that are contained in the function element, displaying the first identification part of the function element in said first direction on outermost display areas, displaying the second identification part of the function element on at least one display area between said outermost display areas in such a manner that the second identification part of the first function element and the second identification part of the second function element are positioned at least substantially next to each other in a second direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction.
The invention further relates to a graphical user interface (GUI) of an electronic device, the function of the GUI being to present various menus, which menus comprise at least two function elements for selecting functions, wherein at least three display areas that are substantially adjacent to each other in a first direction are formed for at least two function elements, the first identification part of the function element is displayed in said first direction on outermost display areas, the second identification part of the function element is displayed on at least one display area between said outermost display areas in such a manner that the second identification part of the first function element and the second identification part of the second function element are positioned at least substantially next to each other in a second direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction.
A device is provided, which device comprises a display with a graphic user interface, the function of the GUI being to present various menus, which menus comprise at least two function elements for selecting functions, wherein at least three display areas that are substantially adjacent to each other in a first direction are formed for at least two function elements, the first identification part of the function element is displayed in said first direction on outermost display areas, the second identification part of the function element is displayed on at least one display area between said outermost display areas in such a manner that the second identification part of the first function element and the second identification part of the second function element are positioned at least substantially next to each other in a second direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction.
A system is provided, which system comprises a display unit with a graphic user interface, the function of the GUI being to present various menus, which menus comprise at least two function elements for selecting functions, wherein at least three display areas that are substantially adjacent to each other in a first direction are formed for at least two function elements, the first identification part of the function element is displayed in said first direction on outermost display areas, the second identification part of the function element is displayed on at least one display area between said outermost display areas in such a manner that the second identification part of the first function element and the second identification part of the second function element are positioned at least substantially next to each other in a second direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction.
A software program of displaying a menu on a display of an electronic device is provided, the program comprising a number of instructions, wherein the instructions, when executed by a processor, prompt the processor to perform defining at least three display areas that are substantially adjacent to each other in a first direction, defining at least a first identification part and a second identification part that are contained in the function element, displaying the first identification part of the function element in said first direction on outermost display areas, displaying the second identification part of the function element on at least one display area between said outermost display areas in such a manner that the second identification part of the first function element and the second identification part of the second function element are positioned at least substantially next to each other in a second direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction.
A storage medium readable by a computer is provided, said medium containing information stored therein, wherein the information, when executed by a processor, prompts the processor to perform defining at least three display areas that are substantially adjacent to each other in a first direction, defining at least a first identification part and a second identification part that are contained in the function element, displaying the first identification part of the function element in said first direction on outermost display areas, displaying the second identification part of the function element on at least one display area between said outermost display areas in such a manner that the second identification part of the first function element and the second identification part of the second function element are positioned at least substantially next to each other in a second direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction.
The dependent claims will present some preferred embodiments of the invention.
Additional advantages, objects and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description hereinbelow and in part they will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as in the appended drawings.
To attain the objectives and advantages mentioned above, the menu forming method according to the invention is characterized in that at least three display areas that are substantially adjacent to each other in a first direction are formed for at least two function elements. Each function element consists of information in text format and in some kind of visual format (for example images, photos, pictures, drawings etc., for which the term "image" will be used hereinbelow). The image information is displayed in said first direction on the outermost display areas. The identifying information (for example textual string, a number, a graph, etc., for which the term "label" will be used hereinbelow) is displayed on at least one display area between said outermost display areas in such a manner that the label contained in the first function element and the label contained in the second function element are positioned at least substantially next to each other in a second direction substantially perpendicular to said first direction. Usually the first direction is the horizontal direction and the second direction is the vertical direction in the display on the screen of the device.
One main idea of the invention is to display as large images as possible while leaving a reasonable space available for the item label. Although the area for the item label is reduced, often seeing the image and its details enables faster recognition than reading its name, which makes the image size more important.
One embodiment of the present invention enables displaying twice as many large thumbnail images in the same space as in a similar list where the list items do not "overlap". In addition, the invention preserves interaction with a 2-way input device. This may make the list suitable for mobile use, since the interaction is less complex and error-prone than the interaction with multiway input devices, e.g., a 4-way device.
Another embodiment of the present invention makes it possible to display twice as many list items with large images in the same screen space when compared to "traditional" list. This may reduce the need of scrolling and it may help the user to anticipate the forthcoming items. Irrespective of the overlapped layout, the interaction may be handled with a 2-way input device (up and down), which makes the use of the list easier than the use of a grid (which use benefits of 4-way interaction) in many mobile situations.
One embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description well-known functions and/or constructions will not be described in detail since they would obscure the invention.
FIG. 1 shows a view on the display of a user interface according to one embodiment. The display could be a screen of a mobile phone or a personal digital assistant (PDA) or some other device. Said view comprises at least a list of function elements 1. Function element 1 shows information in visual format (image, picture, etc.) and in text format (letters, numbers, etc.). The visual information is shown in an "image cell" 2 of the function element 1 and the label is shown in a "label cell" 3 of the function element. This information helps the user to identify each function element as easily as possible by looking only at the image or label or both. In this embodiment there are also navigation aids 4 (arrows) on the display, showing the possible navigation directions.
The user can control the function (or functions) which is (are) connected to one function element 1 by selecting and activating the function element by a control device. The act of scrolling the menu will be explained hereinbelow. Functions of the function elements can vary depending on the solution, for example the functions can include actions such as showing a picture, running a program or calling to someone. Thus the solutions which are controlled by these function elements 1 can include for example a phone number directory, an image manager, a phone manager, a message manager and an electronic organizer.
The list is composed of function elements 1, which "overlap" each other partially although they do not hide each other. More specifically, the display is divided into three display areas (in other words three columns). In FIG. 1 columns are named A, B and C. The outermost columns A and C are for presenting large images (the "image cells" 2), and the column B between the outermost columns is reserved for the labels of the items (the "label cells" 3). The label may be, for example, the image name or creation date. Each of the function elements 1 uses space either from column A or C and from the column B. Because the function element 1 in the column A or C is higher than the element in column B, the list of function elements "overlap" in column B.
Scrolling of the list starts from the left-hand function element 1, which is positioned in columns A and B, proceeding to the right-hand function element (columns B and C) and then to the next row as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, and naturally vice versa upward. In FIG. 2 the highlighted function element 1 is the first item, and in FIG. 3 the highlighted function element is the second item, and in FIG. 4 the highlighted function element is the third item.
In the foregoing embodiment the scrolling is carried out in the vertical direction. That kind of two-way movement is very advantageous in mobile devices, because displays and control devices are usually very small. Therefore, it is convenient if there are as few navigation directions as possible. In many cases 2 (or 3)-way control devices are also more reliable than multiway control devices.
As stated hereinabove the "image cell" 2 of the function element 1 is higher than the "label cell" 3 of the function element. The label of the function element 1 is also arranged close to said image information of the function element, and thus it is very easy to see the context of the image and the label. If the label is so long in size that it cannot fit between the images, it will be cut. This cutting operation can be advantageously indicated somehow, for example by three dots after the text.
The form of the function element 1 can vary a great deal. In one embodiment (shown in FIG. 5) perspective distortion is used for making the images narrower in order to save space for a longer text in the item label.
In one other embodiment, shown in FIG. 6, the screen of the device has a round shape and the menu of the user interface also has the same rounded layout (not a rectangular format as in the foregoing embodiments). Consequently, in the scope of this invention it is possible to use many different shapes, such as rectangular and/or rounded shapes to form the different identification parts 2, 3.
In the foregoing embodiments image information was shown in the "image cells" 2 of the function elements 1, and information in text format was shown in the "label cells" 3 of the selection elements 1. Within the scope of this invention it is also possible to use whichever of these identification parts 2, 3 to display image and/or text information. Thus the identification part 2, 3 can be an image, a picture, an icon, a symbol, a photo, a graph, text, etc. or a combination of some of the foregoing.
By combining the modes and structures presented in connection with the different embodiments of the invention presented above, it is possible to provide various embodiments of the invention in accordance with the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the above-presented examples must not be interpreted as restrictive to the invention, but the embodiments of the invention can be freely varied within the scope of the inventive features presented in the claims hereinbelow.


A method of creating simulated agglutinate particles by applying a heat source sufficient to partially melt a raw material is provided. The raw material is preferably any lunar soil simulant, crushed mineral, mixture of crushed minerals, or similar material, and the heat source creates localized heating of the raw material.

1. Field of the Art
The present invention relates to a process of creating simulated agglutinates. Agglutinates are individual particles that are aggregates of smaller lunar soil particles (mineral grains, glasses, and even older agglutinates) bonded together by vesicular, flow-banded glass. The simulated agglutinates can have many of the properties that are unique to real agglutinates found in the lunar soil, including: (1) a highly irregular shape, (2) heterogeneous composition (due to the presence of individual soil particles), (3) presence of trapped bubbles of solar wind gases (primarily hydrogen) that are released when the agglutinates are crushed, and (4) the presence of very small iron metal droplets or globules (including "nanophase" iron) that often exists in trails or trains on and within the agglutinitic glass.
2. Description of Prior Art
Dr. Paul Weiblen (University of Minnesota) attempted to create simulated agglutinate particles by dropping Minnesota Lunar Simulant (MLS) through a 6000 C plasma torch within an in-flight sustained shockwave plasma reactor. This was a viable method for producing simulants of some glassy components of the lunar soil, but it failed to produce accurate analogs of lunar agglutinates. (Weiblen, Paul, Marian Murawa, and Kenneth Reid. 1990. "Preparation of Simulants for Lunar Surface Materials," Engineering, Construction and Operations in Space II, ASCE Space 1990, pp. 98-106.) Researchers at the University of Indiana have reported the formation of iron globules (200 nm to 1 mm in diameter) in a glass matrix that was heated to 1277 C in a hydrogen gas atmosphere for 20 hours. (Buono, Antonio, James Brophy, Juergen Schieber, Abhijit Basu. 2005 "Experimental Production of Pure Iron Globules from Melts of Lunar Soil-Compositions," in Lunar and Planetary Science XXXVI, Abstract No. 2066, Lunar and Planetary Institute.) Researchers at the University of Tennessee have reported a similar method to create an agglutinitic glass simulant that contains "nanophase" iron particles (defined as metallic iron particles with a diameter of less than 50 nanometers). (Lui, Yang, Larry Taylor, James Thompson, Eddy Hill, and James Day. 2005. "Simulation of Nanophase Fe0 in Lunar Soil for Use in ISRU Studies," in Meteoritical & Planetary Science, 40 suppl. A 94.) (Y. Liu, L. A. Taylor, J. R. Thompson, A. Patchen, E. Hill, J. Park. 2005. "Lunar Agglutinitic Glass Simulants with Nanophase Iron," Abstract #2077 and Poster Presentation at Space Resources Roundtable VII: LEAG Conference, Lunar & Planetary Institute, LPI Contribution No. 1318.) Other researchers at the Laurentian University have reported the use of a vapor deposition technique to create nanophase iron surface deposits. (Mercier, Louis, Luc Beaudet, and Roger Pitre. 2006. "Formation of Nanophase Iron Inside Mesoporous Silica Frameworks: Novel Preparation Strategies for Optimized Synthetic Lunar Regolith Formulations," Technical Paper 5-5 at the Planetary & Terrestrial Mining Sciences Symposium, Sudbury, Ontario.) All of these researchers succeeded in creating simulated agglutinitic glass with some degree of fidelity, but none of them created simulated agglutinate particles that have the same size, highly irregular shape, heterogeneous composition, and vesicular glass exhibited in lunar agglutinates.

Process to create simulated lunar agglutinate particles


An apparatus for diagnosing and controlling an ignition system of an internal combustion engine includes an ignition coil controllable by an ignition control circuit, a spark voltage sensor electrically connected to the high tension side of the ignition coil secondary and an ion voltage sensor electrically connected to the low tension side of the ignition coil secondary. A computer processes the spark voltage signal by comparing the signal to a number of predefined spark voltage waveforms in memory. If the spark voltage signal matches any of the spark voltage waveforms in memory that correspond to a predefined ignition system failure mode, a corresponding error code is stored in memory. The computer is further operable to process a voltage peak of the spark voltage, wherein the voltage peak corresponds to the breakdown voltage in the spark gap of a spark plug connected to the secondary coil. If the voltage peak exceeds a peak threshold, or if a slope of the spark voltage waveform about the voltage peak is less than a slope threshold, the computer is operable to store a corresponding error code in memory. The computer is also operable to process the ion voltage signal to determine a combustion quality value and a roughness value therefrom. If the combustion quality factor is outside a predefined range or if the roughness value exceeds a roughness threshold, the computer is operable to adjust engine fueling, spark timing and/or spark energy.

In electronic controls for internal combustion engines, it is known to electronically determine and control timing events associated with the engine ignition system in order to properly ignite air-fuel mixtures supplied to the engine. Typically, an engine control computer is responsive to crankshaft angle, engine coolant temperature, commanded engine fueling, intake air temperature and other engine operating conditions to produce appropriate firing command signals for generating high voltage sparks at a number of spark plugs, thereby resulting in combustion of the air-fuel mixture.
In the operation of a typical internal combustion engine ignition system, the engine control computer determines in a conventional manner an appropriate time to energize the primary side of an ignition coil associated with the engine (hereinafter referred to as a "firing command"). At that time, current begins to flow from a voltage source, such as a vehicle battery through the coil primary, thereby storing energy therein as is known in the art. Eventually, the current flowing through the coil primary reaches a peak level, and the engine control computer is thereafter operable to limit current flow therethrough to some desired level. After some period of current limiting, often referred to as a dwell time, the engine control computer deactivates the firing command, thereby open circuiting the coil primary.
The coil primary is typically magnetically coupled to a coil secondary, and when the primary is open circuited, a rapidly increasing voltage is induced in the coil secondary. The coil secondary is electrically connected to one or more spark plugs, and the rapidly increasing voltage induced therein is used to generate the required spark ignition voltage thereat.
Ignition systems of the type just described are typically constructed as an amalgamation of electrical and mechanical components, some of which are inherently subject to failure. Any of a number of ignition system failure modes are possible, most of which result in a degradation in combustion quality and/or misfiring of the engine. Heretofore, systems have been developed which are operable to distinguish between normal ignition system operation and misfire conditions so that appropriate adjustments can be made in the ignition strategy to thereby minimize subsequent misfire occurrences. One example of such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,118 to Muth et al.
Muth et al. disclose a misfire detection system wherein the primary coil voltage is monitored and compared with predefined threshold values. After a spark igniting voltage peak has occurred, the primary coil voltage waveform is repeatedly sampled. An average voltage as well as a peak voltage are calculated from the samples and a misfire indicating factor is calculated as a ratio thereof. If this ratio exceeds a predefined ratio threshold, then a misfire is indicated.
While the Muth et al. system is operable to distinguish between a normally operating ignition system and a misfire condition, it has several drawbacks associated therewith. For example, while it may effectively detect one or more misfire conditions, the Muth et al. system does not distinguish between any of the various possible ignition system failures. Thus, the Muth et al. system is incapable of providing any information relating to a particular cause of the misfire condition. Moreover, since the Muth et al. system is not operable to determine the cause of the misfire condition, it cannot properly use the misfire information to alter ignition and/or fuel strategies in real time to thereby minimize the effect of a particular cause of the misfire condition.
What is therefore needed is a system for diagnosing and controlling an ignition system of an internal combustion engine, wherein such a system is operable to detect, and distinguish between, a number of possible ignition system failure modes. Such a system should include at least the capability to store information relating to the types and number of occurrences of all ignition system failure modes which have occurred for later analysis, and should ideally be further capable of utilizing the information relating to any presently occurring ignition system failure mode to alter engine fueling, spark timing and/or spark energy during a subsequent firing command to thereby at least minimize the effect of the failure condition on proper engine operation.

Apparatus and method for diagnosing and controlling an ignition system of an internal combustion engine


A computerized system method for displaying a predicted length of stay and actual length of stay in an inpatient healthcare facility for a patient is provided. A predicted length of stay and an actual length of inpatient stay in a healthcare facility for a patient are accessed. The predicted length of stay and the actual length of inpatient stay for the patient are displayed concurrently.

Oftentimes, an inpatient healthcare facility is reimbursed for treatment of patients based on a prospective payment system. As healthcare costs began to escalate, in 1983, the retrospective payment system for the Medicare program was replaced a prospective payment system. The prospective payment system pays for acute hospital care based on the expected costs, rather than accrued charges.
Each patient discharged from a hospital setting is categorized into a billing group called a Diagnosis Related Group (DRG). The International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, and Clinical Modifications (ICD-9-CM) is used to implement the DRG prospective payment system. ICD-9-CM is a diagnostic dictionary allowing diseases, symptoms, health problems and procedures to be classified and coded. The coded data elements are utilized to determine the DRG for a patient. The inpatient facility is reimbursed a predetermined amount for all services, no matter the length of stay or amount of resources used by the patient. Thus, a given inpatient facility may be paid the same for a patient with congestive heart failure who has had an inpatient stay of three days and a patient with congestive heart failure who has stayed for five days consuming more resources.
Current systems do not determine the predicted length of stay for a patient when the patient is admitted or during the patient's stay. The systems also do not display the current length of stay for the patient along with a predicted length of stay. As such, caregivers and administrators cannot easily view which patients are nearing discharge or determine which patients may require an extended stay for which utilization review is needed based on a predicted length of stay.

Displaying clinical predicted length of stay of patients for workload balancing in a healthcare environment


A floating barrier wall includes a number of individual barrier units each comprising a housing formed in the general shape of a highway barrier having a top wall, a bottom wall, opposed end walls, and, opposed side walls interconnected to form a hollow interior which is preferably partially or completely filled with a foam material. A ballast weight is secured to each barrier unit, either along or beneath the bottom wall, to maintain them in an upright position in the water. Cables, couplers and/or other connectors are employed to mount adjacent barrier units end-to-end to form a barrier wall which can encircle a vessel or otherwise isolate an area within a seaport to provide security.

The security of vessels, both military and commercial, as well as other assets located in and around seaports, has been of increasing concern in the wake of activities by terrorists and others. Most security efforts have focused on potential land-based attacks, and little attention has been devoted to the provision of an effective deterrent to assaults from floating objects, vessels or other water-based threats.
A vessel anchored at port to take on fuel or supplies is particularly vulnerable to attack. Although radar, sonar and other sensors can remain active and manned during these periods, no evasive action could be taken in a short period of time to avoid a water-born attack. One option for military vessels is to remain on alert while anchored, with guns manned, but in busy seaports it may be difficult to discern between harmless commercial traffic and a potential attacker. At present, there is no system which is visible in the water for effectively defining an area of restricted access and to warn other vessels to stay away from a military or commercial ship at anchor. Buoys, channel markers and the like which are commonly found in the water at seaports are not suitable for use as a warning device because they have not historically been used for such purpose and would not be perceived in that way by vessel operators. As a consequence, it is conceivable that an innocent commercial vessel could be fired upon by an anchored military ship for entering restricted space defined by buoys or other markers because the vessel operator did not realize the buoys or markers were being used for that purpose.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A fastener or routing clip for use in a vehicle is configured to reduce the surface area of that is in contact with the tube, wire, or cord to which it is mounted. The fastener clip simultaneously reduces vibration noise. The fastener clip may include two ends which may be connected to each other by a swivel hinge, which allows the two ends of the clip to close and snap-fit together. When in the closed position, the two ends, which further define corresponding semi-circular sections, will capture the tube, wire, cord, etc. thereby mounting them to the clip. The clip may then be mounted to the vehicle. The fastener clip may include at least one flex arm having a bulbous-like end that contacts and pushes on the tube, wire, cord, etc. to reduce the amount of surface contact between the tube, wire, cord, etc. and the clip, and functions as a dampener to reduce vibration noise.

It is known that fasteners are used in various applications to perform various functions. It is further known that numerous types of fasteners are used in various automotive applications. A common fastener that is widely used throughout a vehicle is known as a routing clip. Routing clips are used to secure and hold together tubes, wires, cords, cable bundles, rods, springs, or bolts to a vehicle. In the automotive industry, these routing clips may be used under the hood or inside panels of the vehicle.
Many routing clips exist in various shapes and sizes. Many clips are made using multiple materials and are formed using various molding techniques, such as a two-shot mold process or transfer molding where one material (e.g., thermoplastic elastomer) is over-molded onto a plastic substrate, for example. It is also known that routing clips may be made of a single material. It is further known that routing clips may include expandable openings for mounting tubes, wires, cords, cable bundles, rods, springs or bolts, for example, to the vehicle. The expandable openings will permit the tube, wire, cord, etc. to snap fit to the routing clip.
There are however known drawbacks with existing routing clips. For instance, the known routing clips require a large surface area of the clip to be in contact with the tube, wire, cord, etc. in order to function properly and to reduce undesirable vibration noise. Other known drawbacks also exist.
The present invention is directed at overcoming these and other known drawbacks and in particular the need for the clip to have a large surface area to be in contact with the tube, wire, cord, etc. The clip of the invention also reduces undesirable vibration noise, while still providing a cost savings by using a single material to form the clip.


A display panel and a method of manufacturing the same in which a storage electrode is formed on a first base substrate, and an insulating layer is formed on the first base substrate to cover the storage electrode. The insulating layer is recessed directly above the storage electrode. A pixel electrode faces the storage electrode and is formed on the insulating layer. A protruding portion is formed on a second base substrate facing the first base substrate. The protruding portion protrudes toward a concaved portion of the insulating layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display panel and a method of manufacturing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a display panel having a reduced manufacturing cost and a method of manufacturing the display panel.
2. Discussion of the Background
Generally, a liquid crystal display includes an array substrate, a color filter substrate facing the array substrate, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the array substrate and the color filter substrate.
The array substrate includes a plurality of pixels to display an image therethrough. Each pixel includes a gate line, a data line, a thin film transistor, a storage line, and a pixel electrode. The gate and data lines receive gate and data signals, respectively, and are coupled to gate and source electrodes of the thin film transistor, respectively. The pixel electrode is coupled to a drain electrode of the thin film transistor.
The color filter substrate includes a color filter layer and a common electrode. The color filter layer includes red, green, and blue color filters. The common electrode is arranged on the color filter layer and faces the pixel electrode with the liquid crystal layer being interposed between the common electrode and the pixel electrode.
The array substrate may be manufactured through a process using five masks or a process using four masks. In the five mask process, an active layer and an ohmic contact layer of the thin film transistor are patterned using a different mask from that used to pattern the transistor's source and drain electrodes. However, in the four mask process, the active layer, the ohmic contact layer, and the source and drain electrodes of the thin film transistor are sequentially patterned using only one mask. As a result, the four mask process is simpler than the five mask process.
The array substrate completed through the process using four masks includes a storage capacitor that is defined by a storage electrode, a pixel electrode, and an insulating layer interposed between the storage electrode and the pixel electrode as the capacitor's dielectric. In order to increase the storage capacitor's capacitance, the insulating layer may be partially recessed toward the storage electrode. However, when the insulating layer is recessed, an amount of liquid crystal filled in the recessed portion of the insulating layer increases.

Display panel and method of manufacturing the same