A low-voltage circuit breaker has a contact arrangement, a drive mechanism for actuating the contact arrangement , and an actuating shaft, which is used for transmitting a drive force from the drive mechanism to the contact arrangement. A bearing device for the actuating shaft has at least one bearing body, which is connected to a pole component accommodating the contact arrangement. Thus a unit is formed, which can be tested independently of the other components of the circuit breaker. In the case of multipole circuit breakers, a common actuating shaft is used for all contact arrangements and pole components, which is mounted approximately in the center of the main bearing body and near the ends of the auxiliary bearing bodies.

This application is a 371 of PCT/DE98/02693 filed Sep. 04, 1998.
The present invention relates to a low voltage circuit breaker having a contact arrangement, a drive mechanism for actuating the contact arrangement, an actuating shaft for transmitting a drive force from the drive mechanism to the contact arrangement, and a bearing arrangement accommodating the actuating shaft.
Low voltage circuit breakers have a plurality of components that are adapted to different partial functions and are connected to one another during the manufacture of the circuit breaker. The largest components or units are the switching poles, i.e., contact systems that include stationary and movable switching contacts, with their support insulation and components for connecting to a drive mechanism common to a plurality of such switching poles. The movement provided by the drive mechanism is transmitted to all existing contact systems via an actuating shaft supported at a fixed point. Formerly the actuating shaft was considered as a component of the drive mechanism from the design point of view.
An example of this design is described in German Patent No. 44 16 088, which shows a lever arrangement having a conventional design for transmitting a drive force. It has parallel support plates and limiting parts attached thereto, which reduce the distance between the support plates to an appropriate value for guiding the articulated levers. The hinge pins of the levers are slidingly guided on the limiting parts.
German Patent Patent 44 16 090 shows a bearing arrangement for an actuating shaft of a multipole electrical switchgear having a bearing mechanism formed by parallel walls and having shaft bearings with half-shells. In German Patent No. 42 27 352 there is illustrated an actuating shaft common to the pole units formed from the switching chambers, which is formed from shaft segments corresponding to the pole units. The pole units rest on a support, which is dimensioned according to the largest width of the pole units. Further illustrations of force transmission systems for actuating switching contacts are described in German Patent No. 28 35 879 and German Patent No. 27 26 489. All these described designs have proven to facilitate the manufacture of the individual components, but they have the disadvantage that their function cannot be tested until the circuit breaker is fully assembled.
This means that, from the mechanical point of view, if a defect is found in a fully assembled circuit breaker, it is difficult to determine which component is defective. Ultimately the fully assembled components must be disassembled in order to replace the defective component.
An object of the present invention is to facilitate testing and reduce the time needed for troubleshooting. In particular, a test of whether the path provided by the drive yields the contact force needed for regular closing of the contact arrangements is to be performed.
This object is achieved according to the present invention by the fact that the bearing arrangement for the actuating shaft has at least one bearing body connected to a pole component accommodating the contact arrangement.
The xe2x80x9cswitching polexe2x80x9d component thus becomes fully operational by itself and can be tested in a simple manner before the circuit breaker is fully assembled. Furthermore, there are no disadvantages to the standalone testability of the drive mechanism.
According to one example embodiment of the present invention, the actuating shaft is integrated in the xe2x80x9cswitching polexe2x80x9d component by using at least three bearing bodies, the central main bearing body having conventional elements, in particular springs for providing a retaining force, end stops, a chatter limiter and elements for absorbing residual energy. This central main bearing body is advantageously connected to one wall of the pole component via a combination of positive and non-positive attachment elements. These may advantageously be two or more plug-in bases in conjunction with the respective pocket holes in the wall of the pole component, and centering journals with internal threads that align the central main bearing body with respect to the pole component wall and the drive mechanism. Near its ends, the actuating shaft is supported by two auxiliary bearing bodies, which are fastened in the same manner or in similar manners, but which have only part or none of the above-mentioned additional functions. The manufacture and assembly of the actuating shaft can be facilitated by dividing the actuating shaft into two symmetric segments. These segments are driven synchronously via a coupling pin traversing the lever mounted on both segments of the actuating shaft. The advantage of the two-part actuating shaft is that each of the segments is supported at two bearing points. The type of support is thus statically determined and can therefore be implemented with little play. Any possible alignment error is compensated via the coupling without affecting the friction characteristics.
The main bearing body with an abutment for retaining springs, which maybe molded onto the main bearing body to form a single piece. The retaining springs can be mounted on the main bearing body prior to the assembly of the bearing arrangement. The retaining springs are thus arranged in a compact manner and advantageously engage the actuating shaft lever as a dead center or super-dead center system. This reduces the reaction on the main energy storage device of the switching drive.

Power circuit breaker with an actuating shaft


A bidirectional scanning circuit for a peripheral driving circuit for a liquid crystal display, a contact-type image sensor, a liquid crystal shutter, a vacuum fluorescent display or the like is improved in operation speed and yield in production. In the scanning circuit, a data signal is successively delayed and transferred to produce scanning pulse signals to be outputted. The scanning circuit comprises a plurality of switching transistors connected in cascade connection such that each switching transistor receives a data signal outputted from a preceding switching transistor and passes the data signal so as to be applied to a following switching transistor in response to a pair of clock signals, a plurality of feedback circuits each for receiving a signal outputted from a corresponding switching transistor in response to a further pair of clock signals and compensating for a drop of the signal level of the thus received signal, and a plurality of buffer circuits for individually receiving signals successively outputted from the feedback circuits and individually outputting the received signals as scanning pulse signals.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a scanning circuit for an image device and a driving method for the scanning circuit, and more particularly to a scanning circuit used as a peripheral circuit for a liquid crystal display, a contact-type image sensor, a liquid crystal shutter and so forth, and a driving method for driving the scanning circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in order to minimize, reduce in cost and achieve a high reliability of a liquid crystal display, a contact-type image sensor, a liquid crystal shutter and so forth, a thin film transistor driving circuit which is used as a peripheral circuit for those apparatus is integrated on them. The manufacturing method is adopted based on the concept that, where a peripheral driving circuit is provided on the same substrate on which picture element electrodes of a liquid crystal display, a contact-type image sensor, a liquid crystal shutter or the like are provided, the number of connection terminals and the number of external driver integrated circuits (ICs) are decreased remarkably and the problem in reliability which arises from a limitation in the large area and high density bonding step can be solved.
Usually, a scanning circuit which is used as a peripheral circuit for a liquid crystal display, a contact-type image sensor, a liquid crystal shutter or the like consists of a shift register and an output buffer. For example, in an active matrix liquid crystal display, the scanning circuit serves as a vertical driving circuit or a circuit for scanning sample and hold switches in a horizontal driving circuit and makes an important component which forms a thin film transistor driving circuit described above.
In a liquid crystal projector which is being spread as a large screen projection type display in recent years, an image for one of three liquid crystal light valves corresponding to the three primary colors of red, green and blue must be reversed by a mirror due to a difference among the number of reflections of light passing though the liquid crystal light valves. In order to achieve such mirror reversal, either the scanning direction of a vertical scanning circuit is reversed or the liquid crystal light valve is rotated by 180 degrees and the scanning direction of a horizontal scanning circuit is reversed. To this end, a bidirectional scanning circuit in which data can be switchably transferred leftwardly or rightwardly is required.
FIG. 4 shows the schematic diagram of a conventional bidirectional scanning circuit. Referring to FIG. 4, the conventional bidirectional scanning circuit has an input terminal STR to which a right shift start pulse signal is inputted and another input terminal STL to which a left shift start pulse signal is inputted. The conventional bidirectional scanning circuit includes N (N is a positive integral number) selection circuits 401-1 to 401-N, N shift registers 405-1 to 405-N of the half-bit configuration corresponding to the N selection circuits 401-1 to 401-N and having a function of delaying and transferring a pulse signal, and N output buffer circuits 406-1 to 406-N for outputting the outputs of the shift registers 405-1 to 405-N as outputs OUT1 to OUT(N), respectively. Each selection circuit, 401-1 to 401-N, consists of a pair of AND circuits 402 and 403 and an OR circuit 404. Meanwhile, each output buffer circuit, 406-1 to 406-N, consists of a pair of invertors 407 and 408.
FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate operation timings of the conventional bidirectional scanning circuit shown in FIG. 4. The curves (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i) and (j) of FIG. 5 show waveforms of different signals in the bidirectional scanning circuit of FIG. 4, when a pulse signal is transferred in the rightward direction from the left end of the bidirectional scanning circuit in FIG. 4, while the curves (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i) and (J) of FIG. 6 show waveforms of such signals, when a pulse signal is transferred in the leftward direction from the right end of the bidirectional scanning circuit in FIG. 4. Operation of the conventional bidirectional scanning circuit will be described below with reference to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6.
In rightward shifting wherein a right shift start pulse is inputted to the input terminal STR and transferred in the rightward direction from the left end of the bidirectional scanning circuit in FIG. 4, the other input terminal STL is set to an open state. The right shift start pulse from the input terminal STR is inputted to the AND circuit 403 included in the selection circuit 401-1. Meanwhile, an input signal A to be inputted to the other input terminal of the AND circuit 403 is set to a high level and another input signal B to be inputted to an input terminal of the AND circuit 402 is set to a low level. Due to the input level settings to the AND circuit 402 and the AND circuit 403 Just described, the AND circuit 403 to which the input signal A of the high level is inputted is selected. This similarly applies to the AND circuits 402 and 403 included in the selection circuits 401-2 to 401-N, and the AND circuits 403 are selected in response to the input signal A of the high level, thereby forming a rightwardly shifting scanning circuit.
The right shift start pulse inputted from the input terminal STR is inputted to the shift register 405-1 by way of the AND circuit 403 and the OR circuit 404, and a pair of clock signals .phi.1 and .phi.2 (which is inverted clock signal of .phi.1 are inputted also to the shift register 405-1. Thus, the timing of a signal to be outputted from the shift register 405-1 is controlled by the clock signals .phi.1 and .phi.2, and a scanning pulse signal is outputted as an output signal OUT1 by way of the output buffer circuit 406-1. The signal outputted from the shift register 405-1 is inputted to the AND circuit 403 included in the selection circuit 401-2 at the next stage so that it is inputted to the shift register 405-2 by way of the AND circuit 403 and the OR circuit 404. The operation of the shift register 405-2 then is quite similar to the operation of the shift register 405-1 described above in that the timing of a signal to be outputted from the shift register 405-2 is controlled by the clock signals .phi.1 and .phi.2 and a scanning pulse signal is outputted as an output signal OUT2 from the shift register 405-2 by way of the output buffer circuit 406-2. The scanning pulse signal is simultaneously inputted also to the AND circuit 403 included in the selection circuit 401-3 at the next stage. Thereafter, a scanning pulse signal is outputted as an output signal OUT(N-1) from the N-1th output buffer circuit 406-(N-1) in a similar manner as described above, and a scanning pulse signal is outputted as an output signal OUT(N) from the Nth output buffer circuit 406-N. In this manner, successively shifted scanning pulse signals are outputted as output signals OUT1, . . . , OUT(N-1) and OUT(N) in this order (refer to FIG. 5).
On the other hand, in leftward shifting wherein a left shift start pulse is inputted to the input terminal STL and transferred in the leftward direction from the right end of the bidirectional scanning circuit in FIG. 4, the other input terminal STR is set to an open state. The left shift start pulse from the input terminal STL is inputted to the AND circuit 402 included in the selection circuit 401-N. Meanwhile, the input signal B to be inputted to the other input terminal of the AND circuit 402 is set to the high level and the input signal A to be inputted to an input terminal of the AND circuit 403 is set to the low level. Consequently, the AND circuit 402 to which the input signal B of the high level is inputted is selected. This similarly applies to the AND circuits 402 and 403 included in the selection circuits 401-1 to 401-(N-1), and the AND circuits 402 are selected in response to the input signal B of the high level so that a leftwardly shifting scanning circuit is formed.
The left shift start pulse signal inputted from the input terminal STL is inputted to the shift register 405-N by way of the AND circuit 402 and the OR circuit 404 included in the selection circuit 401-N, and the pair of clock signals .phi.1 and .phi.2 (which is inverted clock signal of .phi.1) are inputted to the shift register 405-N, and the timing of a signal to be outputted from the shift register 405-N is controlled by the clock signals .phi.1 and .phi.2. A scanning pulse signal is outputted as an output signal OUT(N) by way of the output buffer circuit 406-N. The signal outputted from the shift register 405-N is inputted to the AND circuit 402 included in the selection circuit 401-(N-1) at the next stage so that it is inputted to the shift register 405-(N-1) by way of the AND circuit 402 and the OR circuit 404. The operation of the shift register 405-(N-1) then is quite similar to the operation of the shift register 405-N described above in that the timing of a signal to be outputted from the shift register 405-(N-1) is controlled by the clock signals .phi.1 and .phi.2 and a scanning pulse signal is outputted as an output signal OUT(N-1) from the shift register 405-(N-1) by way of the output buffer circuit 406-(N-1). Thereafter, a scanning pulse signal is outputted as an output signal OUT3 from the output buffer circuit 406-3 in a similar manner as described above, and scanning pulse signals are outputted as output signals OUT2 and OUT1 from the output buffer circuits 406-2 and 406-1, respectively. In this manner, successively shifted scanning pulse signals are outputted as output signals OUT(N), OUT(N-1), . . . and OUT1 in this order (refer to FIG. 6).
In the conventional bidirectional scanning circuit described above, since N stages of selection circuits are provided, corresponding additional lines must be provided. Such additional lines require a corresponding large circuit occupation area and provide a corresponding large capacitance, and consequently, it is difficult to minimize the bidirectional scanning circuit and increase the operation speed of the bidirectional scanning circuit. Accordingly, the conventional bidirectional scanning circuit is disadvantageous in that it cannot be applied to a liquid crystal display, a contact-type image sensor or a like apparatus which requires a high speed operation and a high resolution.
Further, since the conventional bidirectional scanning circuit has a large circuit occupation area, the yield in manufacture of scanning circuits is low. Furthermore, since the scanning circuit consists of shift registers connected in series, if only one of the shift registers fails, a scanning signal cannot be transferred regularly to circuits connected to those shift registers following the failed shift register. In a two-dimensional image apparatus such as a liquid crystal display, such incomplete transfer of a scanning signal causes a fatal image defect. Since the defect appears even where a picture element array section has no defect, there is a drawback in that the defect itself of the scanning circuit makes a factor which deteriorates the yield of devices.

Scanning circuit for image device and driving method for scanning circuit


A device for applying fasteners having one almost flat head having a central pass through hole, two opposed sides having protrusions approximately perpendicular to the head forming shoulders, has a first nail magazine for locking a fastener. A shooting device shoots a nail through the fastener central hole. A second magazine has a slide guide housing a set of fasteners, with tongues oriented in a forward sliding direction, the shoulders oriented towards an outlet. The outlet has jaws hinged to rotation pins, perpendicular to the sliding direction. Front portions of the jaws fully protrude from the second magazine, each jaw having teeth having a shoulder shape to match a shoulder shape of a fastener interposed between the jaws. The teeth elastically and detachably hold the fasteners in an aligned position with the pass through hole and with the shooting direction of the shooting device.

There are known fastening means consisting of metal clips with a sort of plate head, roughly flat and approximately rectangular shaped in plan. Two opposite sides of the head have respective thin and elongated protrusions, bent perpendicularly, or nearly so, to the plane of the head and facing forming a pair of parallel legs. The remaining two opposite sides of the head form respective tongues with distal edges approximately straight or concave or convex; each of these tongues can be coplanar with the central portion of the head or slightly inclined and its edge can be provided with optional small nails, protruding in the same direction of the legs.
The central portion of the head has a circular shaped through-hole.
The clips are assigned to fix to a structure, constituted for example by joists or rafters of wood or of other material suitable to be nailed, a set of parallel boards or slats made of wood, of a wood derivative or substitute or any substitute materials. Each of the minor lateral longitudinal faces, namely the longitudinal edges, of the slats is provided with a respective longitudinal groove, whose cross section has dimensions complementary to, or bigger than, those of the tongues of the fasteners to house these tongues.
Operationally, a tongue of a clip must be inserted in a longitudinal slot of a slat for example, already partially placed in the work. Such a clip, with a tongue inserted into the groove, is placed above one of the rafters or other element of the support structure. The legs of the clip directed to or in contact with such a rafter to which the clip is fixed by means of a nail inserted into the central hole of the head of the same clip and fixed into the rafter until the head of the nail and the head of the clip are in mutual abutment and until the distal ends of the legs of the clip are in contact with the rafter.
When the fastening of the slat is done, each cross between the groove and the rafters of the support structure has a nailed clip. The free tongues of such clips are aligned and ready to be inserted into a groove of a further slat to be assembled and which will be in turn completely locked by the application of other clips in its remaining groove. At the end of the operations, the slats are fixed parallel to the support structure and mutually spaced apart by a distance which approximately corresponds to the longitudinal dimension of the central portion of the fastener's head.
The clips can be joined together to carry out rows of clips by means of thin and short breakable union joints of the distal ends of the tongues of the adjacent slat clips.
U.S. Patent Publication no. US2001/054635 A1 discloses a device having a fastening magazine, a nail magazine and nail shooting means to shoot a nail from the respective magazine through a hole of a round fastening, from a respective magazine, fixing it onto a support.
The device comprises a seat means provided with a couple of resilient longitudinally scored arms assigned to hold a round fastening before and during nailing and to release the nailed fastening through an opening of the seat after nailing. One of the two arms and the round fastening are almost completely housed inside the seat means whose size, shape and lower side opening position render it not fit for inserting the edge of the fastening inside slots or a narrow cavity. Furthermore the scored arms are fit only to avoid the unwanted falling down of the fastening through the opening.


Process accounting information is recorded, together with service request logs written by e-service applications. These two sets of information are aggregated and correlated, to generate usage metrics relating to resource usage for individual service requests. Such per-request information can be used as a basis for charging users making such requests. Services requests often simultaneously consume computing resources, in which case resource usage is proportionally divided between such simultaneous service requests.

Network-accessible software services (referred to as "e-services" or "network services") are increasingly used to deliver software functionality, and to provide software interfaces to remote resources. Examples of such services include web services and grid services.
Requests for e-services arriving from different client systems may be served at the same time. In a typical scenario, a client application makes requests for a service. While fulfilling such requests, the service consumes resources in its local environment. These resources may be distributed across the service provider's infrastructure. While consumption of these system resources by the services may be monitored as a matter of course, the usage of resources by individual users of those services is not monitored.
Existing systems, such as mainframes and UNIX servers, perform limited resource usage metering and accounting for processes. Resource usage metering is currently performed on a "per-process" basis. Since the same process (implementing a service) typically serves multiple clients, such information is not able to be used as a basis to charge clients for their use. Web services platforms, such as the WebSphere™ platform produced by the International Business Machines Corporation, maintain logs of service requests.
A need exists in view of these and other observations for an improved manner of actively monitoring the consumption of resources for each request across a distributed environment.

Resource usage metering of network services


The invention relates to a cycle test method for at least one rechargeable battery (1) having, in particular, a single-battery emergency lamp (2) as a load, wherein the battery (1) is connected to a supply device (3) for charging/discharging at the location of use, comprising the following steps:                i) charging the battery (1) by means of the supply device (3);        ii) interrupting the charging for a time, in particular a specified time, in order to lower the temperature of the battery (1);        iii) discharging the battery (1) to a specified remaining voltage value; and        iv) performing steps i) to iii) multiple times.

Such a battery may be, for example, a NiCD battery, a NiMH or lithium ion battery. Other batteries are likewise possible. Such batteries are used, for example, for single-battery emergency lamps which may be part of a corresponding emergency lighting system. The respective lamp has as light fixture one or more fluorescent tubes, LEDs or similar, where appropriate also in a modular design.
At the location of use, i.e. close to the corresponding load, the battery is connected to a supply device in order to charge the battery.


The invention relates to a system for fastening the bridge (30) or the hinge elements (10, 20) connecting the temples (A) to the lenses (L) of eyeglasses, where the ends of the bridge (30), as well as each of the ends (12, 22) of the temple connecting hinge elements (10, 20) which is directed towards the respective lens is furnished with a respective fork-shaped structure, with at least one pair of prongs (33-34, 36-37, 13-14, 23-24) lying in the plane at right angles to the plane of the lenses and where each lens is provided with holes (61-62, 63-64) located at the points of connection with the ends of the bridge (30) and/or of the temple connecting hinge elements (10, 20). The holes are equal in number to the number of prongs on the respective fork-shaped structures and comprise, inside them, respective tubular sleeves (53, 54). The prongs of each fork-shaped structure are pressed into the tubular sleeves, are flat, and have lateral walls (13a-13b, 14a-14b, 23a-23b, 24a-24b, 33a-33b, 34a-34b, 36a-36b, 37a-38a) which are flat and smooth and other walls which are knurled.

The traditional eyeglass frame consisting of a front rim, or central element, for fastening and supporting the lenses and whose ends are furnished with hinge elements for fastening and moving the temples, has been substantially revolutionized by the introduction of eyeglasses known as "ultralight" or "three-piece" eyeglasses where the lenses are joined directly to each other and to the temples solely by an interposed central bridge and a pair of lateral fastening hinge elements.
According to the prior art, the main feature of the method for forming a pair of "ultralight" eyeglasses is that of providing the ends of the central bridge and one of the two ends of the two lateral hinge elements connecting the eyeglass temples with a special fork-like structure at right angles to the plane of the lenses, the two prongs of each fork being designed to be inserted into corresponding pairs of holes made near the central and lateral edges of one lens.
All the prior art solutions of "ultralight" eyeglasses have had to overcome, for eyeglass solidity and durability, at least two structural problems connected with the firmness of the join between the edge of the lens and the central bridge element and with lens rattling relative to its fastening points.
More specifically, to eliminate rattling at the lens fastening points, most prior art solutions contemplate the presence, on each side of the lens edge, of a pair of through holes, or one through hole associated with one or more blind holes, or even with a lateral open hole, in which there is a fastener acting in conjunction with the retaining wire to prevent any form of lens rattling.
One prior art system for fastening the lenses to the mounting structure of ultralight eyeglasses is described in WO 03/083553. According to the system described in that document, the ends of the structural parts of the eyeglasses, namely, the central bridge and the lateral hinge elements, are furnished with two pairs of cylindrical pins made of amorphous plastic material, with annular enlargements, while a corresponding pair of holes in the lens is provided with and covered by a pair of sleeves which are joined to each other by a stop plate and to which are made of crystalline plastic material, to house in their cavities the cylindrical pins of the structural parts of the eyeglasses, in such a way that the annular enlargements of the pins push the outside surface of the respective sleeves to solidly engage the lateral surface of the lens holes, thus fixedly joining the lenses to the central bridge and to the lateral hinge elements of the eyeglass temples.
That solution, in turn derived from a similar lens fastening system proposed by patent EP 0561763 of Mar. 12, 1993, substantially meets the need to join the lenses of ultralight eyeglasses without using fastening screws to join the lenses to the other eyeglass parts, and thereby overcoming the frequent problem of lens cracking.
Use of that solution, however, has revealed a first drawback in the fact that the pins made of plastic material, besides having low mechanical strength—for example, low shock resistance—must nevertheless be made and specifically fixed to, or incorporated in, the ends of the bridges and of the lateral hinge elements, since they are made of different materials at different times and in different moulds from the parts they must be joined to, thus influencing the working times and conditions, as well as the costs of the eyeglasses.
Another drawback of that solution is due to the fact that, in the case of lenses which are thicker than average, the uniform and limited height of the fastening pins provides a relatively insecure fastening because the relative penetration of the pins into the lenses makes the free ends of the securing sleeves excessively flexible.
A yet further drawback of the stated prior art system is due to the impossibility of applying the fastening pins to the bridges and hinge elements made, for example, by die forming or punching out of metal sheets not only because of the relatively reduced thickness of their structure but also because of the impossibility of solidly joining them to those parts of the eyeglasses. This drawback has become more critical with the increase in the use of this method for the forming of high-quality sheeting made, for example, from titanium alloys for the manufacture of hinge elements, temples and even fronts for eyeglasses of all kinds and designs.
Another prior art example of a method for fastening the bridge and temples to the lenses without using threaded parts is described in US 2005/034287. As described in that document, the bridge and the hinge elements connecting the temples to the lenses are punched out from a thin metal plate. At the ends of them, they are provided with protruding members, each having ratchet-like teeth whose side walls are furnished with downwardly inclined barb-like projections. When fitting the lenses, the ratchet-like teeth are inserted directly into matching holes made in the lenses and the ends of them are left to protrude from the outside surface of the lenses.
The protruding ends are covered by a capping piece with hollowed-out holes into which they are inserted.
This further system of making ultralight eyeglasses without using threaded parts, although it allows the use of connecting elements punched out from thin metal sheeting, nevertheless has the disadvantage of having to insert the barbed, ratchet-like teeth into the holes in the lenses, with a high risk of damaging and cracking the lenses.
Moreover, forming the barbed surfaces on the side walls of the ratchet-like teeth requires the use of complex shaped dies which are expensive and quick to deteriorate.
A system for producing ultralight eyeglasses whose lens mounting structure consists of a bridge and two lateral hinge elements or end pieces made by punching out from quality sheeting is described in Italian patent application IT-BL2004A000011 dated Apr. 29, 2004.
In the system described in that application, each end of the lens mounting structure is furnished with a pair of teeth. The eye of a lens retaining wire is positioned between the teeth. The wire is fed through a hole made in the lens, while the teeth are inserted into corresponding sockets made in the lens radially relative to the holes through which the retaining wire is fed, thus holding the lens firmly in place when the retaining wire is fastened by a suitable lock nut.
The practical application of this solution has, in effect, allowed use of the new and advantageous technique of making bridges and end pieces by die forming from sheets made of quality material but has not entirely eliminated the problems of cracking caused by excessive tension applied by the retaining wire on the lens or the problems of looseness resulting from insufficient tightness of the retaining wire.
Patent document US 2005/275793 discloses eyeglasses where the temples and bridge are fixed to the lenses by means of pin-like teeth with rectangular cross section which are pressed into notches formed inside holes made in the lenses.
To anchor the teeth in the respective notches, the tooth surfaces have saw-tooth indentations on them.
The disadvantage of this solution is that the relative difficulty of engaging the teeth in the respective notches is not compensated by a particularly effective and secure hold of the bridge and temples on the lenses.
Thus, that system for fastening the bridge and temples is relatively unreliable and insecure.

System for fastening bridge and temples in the manufacture of eyeglasses


An evaporator cuff for use with a pipe freezer apparatus. The evaporator cuff includes a hose connector attached to an evaporator body. The evaporator body has an inner wall configured to engage the outer surface of a pipe, an outer wall spaced apart from the inner wall. A chamber is defined between the inner and outer walls, first and second side walls, and first and second end walls. A plurality of baffles are located in the chamber and arranged to define a series of conduits for creating a flow path through the chamber for refrigerant to flow along. The walls are arranged so as to form a serpentine flow path from the evaporator inlet to the evaporator outlet.

Pipe freezers are used in the repair or replacement of pipe sections or for repairing or adding fittings to existing pipe installations. Such systems are primarily used in fluid systems where it is not convenient or not readily possible to drain fluid in the pipe installation. By freezing the fluid in the pipe, it is possible to block the fluid in the section of pipe of interest by creating an ice plug.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,548,965 and 6,598,412, which are assigned to the assignee of the current invention, use a refrigeration system with evaporator heads or adapters that are sized to fit various standard pipe diameters. The evaporator heads are connected to a portable condenser/compressor unit by flexible coaxial tubes that cycles refrigerant to and from the evaporation chambers. The refrigerant causes the evaporator heads to freeze the pipe where they are in contact.
Although the above patents provide different size openings in the evaporator head to fit different size standard pipes, the systems disclosed therein were not capable of handling pipe diameters of four inches or larger (i.e., large diameter pipes) since the volume of water in such large diameter pipes did not allow for a sufficient removal of heat energy to cause freezing of the liquid.
For example, it has been determined that in order to freeze a four inch diameter pipe sufficiently to create and maintain an ice plug, a temperature of −55 degrees F. must be applied to the pipe. Conventional portable condensers are not capable of creating such a low temperature consistently. So instead, prior systems had to revert to two stage cooling systems, where a first cooling system is used to cool the system fluid, and a second cooling system is used to cool the first system. Because of the high costs of such systems, conventional systems generally rely on the use of liquid nitrogen, compressed air with vortex tubes, or CO2. However, those systems are difficult to use and costly.
A need therefore exists for an improved system for cooling large diameter pipes having a diameter of about four inches or more.


A hybrid computing system for solving a computational problem includes a digital processor, a quantum processor having qubits and coupling devices that together define a working graph of the quantum processor, and at least one nontransitory processor-readable medium communicatively coupleable to the digital processor which stores at least one of processor-executable instructions or data. The digital processor receives a computational problem, and programs the quantum processor with a first set of bias fields and a first set of coupling strengths. The quantum processor generates samples as potential solutions to an approximation of the problem. The digital processor updates the approximation by determining a second set of bias fields based at least in part on the first set of bias fields and a first set of mean fields that are based at least in part on the first set of samples and coupling strengths of one or more virtual coupling devices.

At least some analog processors (e.g., quantum processors) provide a plurality of analog computation devices (e.g., qubits) which are controllably coupled to each other by couplers (also referred to in the present application as coupling devices). Problems may be "embedded" on the processor for computation (e.g., by representing the problems as problem graphs where vertices and edges correspond to computation devices and couplers, respectively). The number of physical computation devices and couplers provided by the processor is often limited, which constrains the size (in terms of vertices) and connectivity (in terms of edges) of problem graphs which may be conveniently embedded on the analog processor.
This constraint is a significant driver in the ongoing effort to develop ever-larger (in terms of computing devices) and more connected (in terms of couplers) analog processors. Such analog processors are generally capable of having larger and/or more connected problem graphs embedded on them and thus may be capable of solving a greater scope of problems. However, obtaining larger and/or more connected analog processors may involve substantial costs and/or may not even be possible at a particular time (e.g., because such a processor has yet to be designed or manufactured).
Other approaches can involve finding embeddings which more efficiently represent problems on the analog processor. For many combinations of problems and not-fully-connected processors, the process of embedding the problems on the processor involves some overhead in the form of requiring the use of additional computation devices and/or couplers. Some embedding algorithms may require less overhead than other embedding algorithms for a given processor/problem pair, and so finding appropriate embedding algorithms may expand the scope of problems which are representable on a given processor. However, such techniques are still bounded by the size and/or connectivity of the processor.
There is thus a general desire for systems and methods for expanding the set of problems which may be solved by a particular analog processor.
Some approaches employ interactions between an analog processor and a digital computing system. These approaches are described herein as hybrid approaches. For example, in an iterative method, an analog processor, such as a quantum computing system, may be designed, operated, and/or adapted to provide a rate of convergence that is greater than the rate of convergence of a digital computing system.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related thereto are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.
Solvers
A solver is a mathematical-based set of instructions executed via hardware circuitry that is designed to solve mathematical problems.
There are numerous solvers available, most of which are designed to execute on classical computing hardware, that is computing hardware that employs digital processors and/or digital processor-readable nontransitory storage media (e.g., volatile memory, non-volatile memory, disk-based media). More recently, solvers designed to execute on non-classical computing hardware are becoming available, for example solvers designed to execute on analog computers, for instance an analog computer including a quantum processor.
Adiabatic Quantum Computation
Adiabatic quantum computation typically involves evolving a system from a known initial Hamiltonian (the Hamiltonian being an operator whose eigenvalues are the allowed energies of the system) to a final Hamiltonian by gradually changing the Hamiltonian. A simple example of an adiabatic evolution is given by:He=(1−s)Hi+sHf where Hi is the initial Hamiltonian, Hf is the final Hamiltonian, He is the evolution or instantaneous Hamiltonian, and s is an evolution coefficient which controls the rate of evolution. Before the evolution begins, the system is typically initialized in a ground state of the initial Hamiltonian Hi and the goal is to evolve the system in such a way that the system ends up in a ground state of the final Hamiltonian Hf at the end of the evolution. If the evolution is too fast, then the system can transition to a higher energy state, such as the first excited state. Generally, an "adiabatic" evolution is considered to be an evolution that satisfies the adiabatic condition:{dot over (s)}1(|dHe/ds|0|=δg2(s)where {dot over (s)} is the time derivative of s, g(s) is the difference in energy between the ground state and first excited state of the system (also referred to herein as the "gap size") as a function of s, and δ is a coefficient much less than 1. Generally, the initial Hamiltonian Hi and the final Hamiltonian Hf do not commute. That is, [Hi,Hf]≠0.
The process of changing the Hamiltonian in adiabatic quantum computing may be referred to as evolution. The rate of change, for example, change of s, is slow enough that the system is always in the instantaneous ground state of the evolution Hamiltonian during the evolution, and transitions at anti-crossings (i.e., when the gap size is smallest) are avoided.
Quantum Annealing
Quantum annealing is a computation method that may be used to find a low-energy state, typically preferably the ground state, of a system. The method relies on the underlying principle that natural systems tend towards lower energy states because lower energy states are more stable. Quantum annealing may use quantum effects, such as quantum tunneling, to reach a low-energy state; however, the final low-energy state may not be the global energy minimum. Adiabatic quantum computation, therefore, may be considered a special case of quantum annealing for which the system, ideally, begins and remains in its ground state throughout an adiabatic evolution. Thus, those of skill in the art will appreciate that quantum annealing systems and methods may generally be implemented on an adiabatic quantum computer. Throughout this specification and the appended claims, any reference to quantum annealing is intended to encompass adiabatic quantum computation unless the context requires otherwise.
Quantum annealing uses quantum mechanics as a source of disorder during the annealing process. The optimization problem is encoded in a Hamiltonian Hp, and the algorithm introduces quantum effects by adding a disordering Hamiltonian HD that does not commute with Hp. An example case is:HE∝A(t)HD+B(t)HP where A(t) and B(t) are time dependent envelope functions. The Hamiltonian HE may be thought of as an evolution Hamiltonian similar to He described in the context of adiabatic quantum computation above. The delocalization may be removed by removing HD (i.e., reducing A(t)). The delocalization may be added and then removed. Thus, quantum annealing is similar to adiabatic quantum computation in that the system starts with an initial Hamiltonian and evolves through an evolution Hamiltonian to a final "problem" Hamiltonian HP whose ground state encodes a solution to the problem. If the evolution is slow enough, the system will typically settle in the global minimum (i.e., the exact solution), or in a local minimum close in energy to the exact solution. In quantum annealing, HP may encode an optimization problem but the system does not necessarily stay in the ground state at all times. The energy landscape of HP may be crafted so that its global minimum is the answer to the problem to be solved, and low-lying local minima are good approximations.Quantum Processor
A quantum processor may take the form of a superconducting quantum processor. A superconducting quantum processor may include a number of qubits and associated local bias devices. A superconducting quantum processor may also employ couplers to provide tunable communicative connections between qubits. A qubit often will have more devices associated with it. Further details and embodiments of exemplary quantum processors that may be used in conjunction with the present systems and devices are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,533,068; 8,008,942; 8,195,596; 8,190,548; and 8,421,053.
Many techniques for using quantum annealing to solve computational problems involve finding ways to directly map/embed a representation of a problem to the quantum processor. Generally, a problem is solved by first casting the problem in a contrived formulation (e.g., Ising spin glass, QUBO, etc.) because that particular formulation maps directly to the particular embodiment of the quantum processor being employed. An Ising spin glass with N variables, or spins s∈[−1, +1], may be written as a cost function of the form:
      E              (      s      )        =                    ∑        i        N                                    h          i                                  s          i                      +                  ∑                  i          <          j                                            J          ij                                  s          i                                  s          j                    where hi and Jij are dimensionless quantities that specify a desired Ising spin glass instance. Solving this problem involves finding the spin configuration si that minimizes E for the particular set of hi and Jij provided.Hybrid Computing System Comprising a Quantum Processor
A hybrid computing system can include a digital computer communicatively coupled to an analog computer. In some implementations, the analog computer is a quantum computer and the digital computer is a classical computer.
The digital computer can include a digital processor that can be used to perform classical digital processing tasks described in the present systems and methods. The digital computer can include at least one system memory which can be used to store various sets of computer- or processor-readable instructions, application programs and/or data.
The quantum computer can include a quantum processor that includes programmable elements such as qubits, couplers, and other devices. The qubits can be read out via a readout system, and the results communicated to the digital computer. The qubits and the couplers can be controlled by a qubit control system and a coupler control system, respectively. In some implementations, the qubit and the coupler control systems can be used to implement quantum annealing on the analog computer.
Sampling
Throughout this specification and the appended claims, the terms "sample", "sampling", "sampling device", and "sample generator" are used. These terms are used herein in like manner to their corresponding uses in the arts of statistics and statistical analysis, and electrical engineering.
In statistics, a sample is a subset of a population, i.e., a selection of data taken from a statistical population. Sampling is the process of taking the sample, and typically follows a defined procedure. For example, in a population, database, or collection of objects, a sample may refer to an individual datum, data point, object, or subset of data, data points, and/or objects.
In electrical engineering and related disciplines, sampling relates to taking a set of measurements of an analog signal or some other physical system. Sampling may include conversion of a continuous signal to a discrete signal.
In many fields, including simulations of physical systems, and computing, especially analog computing, the foregoing meanings may merge. For example, a hybrid computer can draw samples from an analog computer. The analog computer, as a provider of samples, is an example of a sample generator. The analog computer can be operated to provide samples from a selected probability distribution, the probability distribution assigning a respective probability of being sampled to each data point in the population.

Systems and methods for hybrid analog and digital processing of a computational problem using mean fields


A semiconductor doping profiler provides a Schottky contact at one surface and an ohmic contact at the other. While the two contacts are coupled to a power source, thereby establishing an electrical bias in the semiconductor, a localized light source illuminates the semiconductor to induce a photocurrent. The photocurrent changes in accordance with the doping characteristics of the semiconductor in the illuminated region. By changing the voltage of the power source the depth of the depletion layer can be varied to provide a three dimensional view of the local properties of the semiconductor.

The present invention relates generally to the field of measuring and testing, and more specifically, to a three-dimensional semiconductor doping profiler. A restricted illumination source, such as a near-field scanning optical microscope, directs light at a small region of an electrically biased semiconductor surface. The bias on the semiconductor creates a space-charge region in the body of the semiconductor to a depth controlled by an external applied bias, and electrical current changes in the semiconductor are recorded during scanning at each bias level to provide a series of data related to local internal doping profiles. Scanning the illumination source laterally with respect to the semiconductor surface can then be used to generate a three dimensional doping profile.

High resolution three-dimensional doping profiler

Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation


A fluid applicator system includes a container member that has a bottom wall and a perimeter wall that extend upwardly from the bottom wall. The bottom wall and the perimeter wall define an interior space. The container member has top portion coupled to the perimeter wall. The top portion has an aperture that extends therethrough. The container member is for storing a fluid to be applied. An extension member is substantially hollow and elongate. The extension member has an interior in environmental communication with the interior space of the container member. An applicator assembly is operationally coupled to the extension member such that fluid stored in the container member is flowable through the extension member to an exterior surface of the applicator assembly, the applicator assembly is for applying the fluid to skin of a user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fluid applicator systems and more particularly pertains to a new fluid applicator system for providing a convenient means of applying suntan oil, lotions, body wash, medicinal rubs, or sunscreen.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of fluid applicator systems is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,908,256 describes a bottle with built-in telescoping applicator head and valve for applying a liquid. Another type of fluid applicator system is U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,661 describes a extendable fluid applicator. U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,819 describes a lotion wand for dispensing suntan lotion. U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,574 describes an extendable applicator having and extendable handle. U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,591 describes a lotion applicator for applying lotion to the skin and particularly to the back and legs of a user. U.S. Pat. No. Des. 374,741 describes a design for a hair dye applicator.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that includes a design that allows the user to adjust level of fluid that reaches the applicator pad and the air flow return to the bottle.
The present invention meets the needs presented above by incorporating a fluid and air control adjustment assembly.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new fluid applicator system that would reduce the mess associated with applying liquids and prevent waste while applying liquids, thus saving the user money.
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a new fluid applicator system that would eliminate the user form asking for assistance when applying a liquid, especially when applying to their back and other hard to reach areas.
To this end, the present invention generally comprises a container member that has a bottom wall and a perimeter wall that extend upwardly from the bottom wall. The bottom wall and the perimeter wall define an interior space. The container member has top portion coupled to the perimeter wall. The top portion has an aperture that extends therethrough. The container member is for storing a fluid to be applied. An extension member is substantially hollow and elongate. The extension member has an interior in environmental communication with the interior space of the container member. An applicator assembly is operationally coupled to the extension member such that fluid stored in the container member is flowable through the extension member to an exterior surface of the applicator assembly, the applicator assembly is for applying the fluid to skin of a user.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.


In a method and system for filtering an input signal with a filter included in a phase locked loop (PLL), a unidirectional feedback path is configured from an output of the filter to an input of the filter. The unidirectional feedback path includes a feedback resistor that is configured to adjust a bandwidth of the PLL. A zero path is configured from the output to a voltage reference, such as ground. The zero path includes a capacitor coupled in series with a bias resistor. The bias resistor, which along with the capacitor determines a zero frequency of the filter, is configured to reduce a value of the capacitor without a substantial increase in a phase noise of the PLL due to the unidirectional nature of the feedback. A reduction in the value of the capacitor enables a corresponding reduction in a silicon area to form the capacitor.

The present invention is related in general to the field of electronic circuits, and more specifically to an apparatus and method for reducing silicon area of a loop filter included in a phase locked loop (PLL) without increasing noise.
A PLL is a well-known electronic circuit used in many semiconductor devices. A PLL is a closed loop feedback control circuit which provides an output signal that is locked in phase and frequency of an input signal used as a reference. FIG. 1A is a simplified block diagram of a type II phase locked loop 100, according to prior art. The PLL 100 includes a phase frequency detector (PFD) 110, a charge pump (CP) 120, a loop filter 130, a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) 140, and an optional divider 150. The PFD 110 compares a feedback signal 112 received from the divider 150 with a reference signal 102 and generates an error signal 104 which is proportional to the magnitude of the phase/frequency difference between them. The error signal 104 is provided to the CP 120. The CP 120 provides a current output to control a magnitude of the charge stored in the loop filter 130, thus converting the output of the PFD 110 to a control voltage input 106 recognizable by the VCO 140. The VCO 140 generates an output frequency signal 108 proportional to the control voltage input 106. The output frequency signal 108 may be optionally further divided down by the divider 150 before being fed back to the PFD 110. When the PLL 100 is "locked", there is a constant phase difference (usually zero) between the feedback signal 112 and a reference signal 102 and their frequencies are matched.
It is well known that the loop filter 130 may be implemented using passive components such as a passive resistor capacitor (RC) circuit or may be implemented using an active component such as an operational amplifier (OA or opamp) used in combination with an RC circuit. A large value of a capacitor may be required to provide a lower zero frequency of the loop filter 130. In addition, the large value of the capacitor may also be used to help reduce the value of the resistor and hence the phase noise. However, a capacitor having a large value consumes a significant portion of silicon chip area. In some conventional filters, the capacitor having the large value may be fabricated off-chip, e.g., as an externally mounted device.
FIG. 1B illustrates a traditional loop filter 160 having an input 162 and an output 164, according to prior art. The loop filter 130 described with reference to FIG. 1A may be implemented as the traditional loop filter 160. The traditional loop filter 160 is implemented with an OA 166 and a RC circuit. The RC circuit includes a resistor R 152 coupled in series with a capacitor 154, the resistor R 152 being coupled to the input 162 and the capacitor 154 being coupled to the output 164. A capacitor C 156 is connected between the output 164 and the input 162 to filter high frequencies. Active filters such as the traditional loop filter 160 may be used in processes having high device leakage or in cases where voltage at the CP 120 output needs to be substantially constant.
FIG. 1C illustrates a prior art loop filter 170 having multiple active components, according to prior art. The loop filter 130 described with reference to FIG. 1A may be implemented as the prior art loop filter 170. The loop filter 170 is substantially similar to the traditional loop filter 160 except for an additional transconductance amplifier 172. The loop filter 170 includes the resistor 152 coupled in series with the capacitor 154, the resistor R 152 being coupled to the output 164 and the capacitor 154 being coupled to the input 162. Inputs of the transconductance amplifier 172 are coupled across the resistor R 152 and the output of the transconductance amplifier 172 is coupled to the input 162. The loop filter 170 increases a value of the resistor R 152, thereby reducing a value of the capacitor C 154, by adjusting the transconductance amplifier 172. However, traditional and prior art loop filters such as the loop filters 160 and 170 which use active components are susceptible to phase noise generated by the resistor R 152, especially phase noise generated within a bandwidth of the filter. The phase noise is typically dependent on a selected value of the resistor R 152, which affects the value of the capacitor C 154. Thus, traditional and prior art loop filters are often not able to control introduction of phase noise, while attempting to reduce the value, and hence the size, of the capacitor C 154.

Method and apparatus for reducing silicon area of a phase lock loop (PLL) filter without a noise penalty


Techniques for improving a customer experience include presenting a selectable component to a user through a graphical user interface of a computing device that is communicably coupled to a server system through a network, the selectable component particularly associated with the user, the server system associated with a vendor and including a plurality of vendor product descriptions; receiving an activation of the selectable component from the user; based on the activation, identifying a plurality of profile data associated with the user; culling the plurality of vendor product descriptions to generate, based on the plurality of profile data, a subset of vendor product descriptions from the plurality of vendor product descriptions; and presenting the subset of vendor product descriptions to the user through the graphical user interface.

Shopping online provides customers many choices for a variety of products and services. Online retailers often use different techniques for helping potential customers find the products and services that best fit the customers' specific needs or desires. In some cases, an online vendor requires a potential customer to specifically enter certain information (e.g., personal information, product or service choice criteria) prior to presenting the potential customer with product or service choices.


Configuration settings are described which may be utilized to indicate a configuration of an application. In an exemplary implementation, a method includes validating a configuration setting of a first application for use with a second application. The configuration setting includes a first field and a first description of a first condition for the first field. The second application is composed of computer instructions that include an attribute. The attribute provides a second description of a second condition for a second field. If the first field corresponds to the second field, then the first description of the first condition is compared with the second description of the second condition to determine whether the first condition is met by the second condition. If the first condition is met, the configuration setting is determined to be valid for use with the second application.

Users have access to an increasing variety of content providers that provide an ever increasing array of content. Television services, for instance, are widely used for delivering content. Subscribers of television services are offered a broad assortment of content, including traditional broadcast programs and movies. Newer, interactive television (ITV) systems expand the assortment of content that may be provided from a content provider. ITV systems offer the same traditional services of familiar cable television as well as a variety of new additional interactive services, such as the use of applications. Examples of applications include video-on-demand (VOD) which permits a user to order videos and watch the videos whenever desired, home shopping applications which enable a user to browse various stores and catalogs on TV and order products from home, and financial applications which allow a user to conduct banking and other financial transactions using the television. Additionally, users may also access service applications and functionality from the content provider, such as games, Internet browsers, email applications, and so on.
The applications, when written by a developer, may have a plurality of configuration settings that specify fields and conditions for the fields that are utilized by the applications to provide desired content. A configuration document may be written to describe the configuration settings of the application so that developers writing other applications that interact with the application may be made aware of the relevant configuration settings. For example, a developer writing a browser application may utilize the configuration document to specify settings of the browser so that it is compatible with an application that provides web pages. Therefore, when a user executes the browser application utilizing a client, such as a set-top box, the browser is able to retrieve web pages from the applications that provide web pages.
The configuration document, however, may not reflect the current state of the application when it is being written and/or even after the application has been completed. For example, changes may be made to the configuration settings when writing the application that are not reflected in the configuration document. Therefore, other developers that are writing portions of the application may not be aware of the changes that were made, which may affect the interoperability of the application. For example, a first developer may write a portion of the application that specifies a configuration setting of a request format that may be received by the application. When writing the portion of the application, the first developer may change the request format. If a second developer is not aware of the format change, a portion of the application that is written by the second developer that processes the requests may not be compatible with the changed format. Additionally, a developer that wrote the configuration document may not be the same developer that wrote the application. Therefore, information and nuances that are known by the developer that wrote the application may be omitted from the configuration document. Further, human error may be encountered when writing the configuration document. The application, for instance, may contain thousands of lines of computer instructions that include configuration settings for the application. A developer may therefore miss configuration settings when writing the configuration document that are included in the lines of computer instructions, which may affect the interoperability with other applications.
Therefore, there is a continuing need to provide improved configuration settings that are locatable and from which a configuration document can be generated that accurately describes the current state thereof.


A data management method comprises: receiving, at a first node of a plurality of nodes for collaboratively data processing, a request to perform a target operation at the first node from a second node of the plurality of nodes; obtaining a privilege of the second node from a third node of the plurality of nodes; determining a threshold privilege for performing the target operation based on a type of the target operation; and performing the target operation in accordance with a determination that the privilege of the second node is higher than the threshold privilege. In this manner, the security of data may be improved.

In recent years, with the development of computer technologies, a decentralized multi-node architecture has been increasingly used in various fields, for example, the Internet of Things. The pressure on cloud computing and storage resources may be reduced by processing data at a plurality of nodes, e.g., an edge server, thereby improving the efficiency of the system. However, such a multi-node architecture lacks an effective privilege management mechanism, such that there is a large risk in data management, which is unexpected by people.

Method, electronic device and computer program product for data management


An electromagnetic thrust bearing having reduced windage losses, improved structural integrity, and enhanced electromagnetic flux density. The present invention provides an electromagnetic thrust bearing having a first annular stator segment and a second annular stator segment joined thereto to define an annular electromagnetic coil chamber having an L-shaped cross-section. By employing first and second stator segments, the electromagnetic coil can be precision wound onto one segment without interference from the other segment, and then the two segments can be joined after the precision winding has been performed. The first segment is joined to the second segment at a location remote from the stator poles to thereby provide a more structurally sound assembly able to better withstand loads imposed thereon. The stator segment pole faces include axially extending lips to maximize electromagnetic flux density and thus load carrying capacity.

Rotating shafts, such as those employed in motors, engines, compressors, generators, and the like, are often subjected to axial thrust loads. The thrust loads are axial in that they are directed parallel to the longitudinal axis of the rotating shaft.
Thrust bearings have therefore typically been employed to address such thrust loads and maintain proper axial positioning of the shaft. Thrust bearings are available in different forms including electromagnetic and conventional mechanical thrust bearings. With an electromagnetic thrust bearing a metal rotor is attached to the shaft subjected to the thrust loads. One or more stators, depending on the number of potential directions in which the axial thrust loads may be directed, are then disposed adjacent the rotor to generate magnetic flux. The magnetic flux acts against the metal rotor attached to the shaft and counteracts against the axial thrust loads to thereby maintain proper axial positioning of the shaft. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,101,130 and 5,315,197 are indicative of typical electromagnetic thrust bearings of this type.
Jayawant et al '130 discloses an axial magnetic bearing suitable for use where high loads and high rotational speeds are found together. The bearings comprise an assembly where, for thrusts along the shaft in one direction, the shaft has in relation thereto, two axially spaced, and radially extending, thrust accepting faces, a generally channel-shaped, annular electromagnet surrounding the shaft, with a radially extending face of each pole of the electromagnet adjacent to an individually associated thrust face.
Meeks et al '197 discloses an electromagnetic thrust bearing which couples a rotatable member relative to a stationary member utilizing a combination of controllable electromagnets and a radially polarized permanent magnet, each physically associated with the stationary member. In one embodiment, the rotatable member comprises a shaft having a pair of axially spaced apart thrust discs fixed thereto. A pair of solenoids are disposed about the rotatable member between the spaced apart thrust discs on oppositely facing sides of the thrust discs. The solenoids are capable of generating a controllable electromagnetic field. An arcuate, radially polarized, permanent magnet is disposed between the solenoids to generate a constant flux, high density magnetic field between a solenoid housing and the thrust discs. In a second embodiment, a pair of solenoids are disposed about the rotatable member on opposite sides of a single thrust disc. A radially polarized permanent magnet is disposed between the solenoids radially outwardly from the thrust disc for generating a constant flux high density magnetic field between solenoid housings and the thrust disc. A sensor determines the axial positioning of the rotatable member relative to the stationary member and provides input for controlling the positioning of the thrust discs by varying the magnetic flux generated by the solenoids.
At high rotational shaft speeds, an electromagnetic bearing rotor may experience structural fatigue and failure. It would therefore be desirable to reduce the diameter of the bearing rotor in such high speed applications. However, the degree to which the diameter can be lessened is, in part, limited by axial thrust loads to which the shaft is subjected. If the axial thrust load is relatively high, the flux path area and the magnetic flux generated by the bearing will necessarily need to be relatively high. This in turn requires a larger electromagnetic coil. Since the poles of the electromagnetic bearing are ideally located at the innermost and outermost radii of the rotor, the larger electromagnetic coil requires a higher diameter rotor, which as indicated above is prone to structural fatigue and failure at high rotational speeds.
Systems have therefore been developed which provide a sufficiently sized electromagnetic coil to counterbalance axial thrust loads, but which also decrease the physical gap between the stator poles, and thereby allow for a decreased diameter rotor. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,157 discloses an electromagnetic bearing arrangement wherein the stator includes radially inner and outer segments with a groove therebetween for receipt of the electromagnetic coil. The open ends of the radially inner and outer segments define the poles of the electromagnetic bearing, with the open end of the radially outer segment being tapered radially inward to decrease the distance between the poles and thereby allow for a decrease in the outer diameter of the rotor.
While such a system does allow for a reduced diameter rotor, a need exists for a more structurally rigid stator which is able to withstand greater loads and "oil-canning". In addition, a need exists for an electromagnetic coil which maximizes the density of the individual turns of the electromagnetic coil within the stator, and thereby maximizes the electromagnetic flux generated by the bearing. Moreover, a need exists for an electromagnetic bearing which maximizes the electromagnetic flux density of the bearing directly at the inner and outer peripheries of the rotor attached to the shaft. Furthermore, such needs must be addressed while decreasing the distance between the stator poles to thereby decrease windage losses and increase the efficiency of the bearing.


The present invention relates to a method for treatment of mammalian skin conditions where stimulated connective tissue synthesis is beneficial, comprising treating skin in need of such treatment with a safe and effective amount of 17-xcex1-estradiol.

The present invention relates to a method of treating mammalian skin conditions to stimulate connective tissue synthesis in situations in which such connective tissue synthesis is beneficial. Specifically, the invention relates to novel compositions and methods of using the composition for treatment of aged skin, sun-damaged skin, acne, skin atrophy and for healing of wounds.
Estrogens are hormonal compounds that exert wide-ranging biological effects on target tissues. The major organs affected by estrogens are the reproductive tract, genitals, bone, blood vessels and skin.
The most important natural estrogen is 17-xcex2-estradiol, considered the hormone responsible for most, if not all the normal physiologic processes of this class of compounds. Two other natural estrogens are estrone, a precursor of 17-xcex2-estradiol and estriol, a metabolic product of 17-xcex2-estradiol.
Another estrogen, 17-xcex1-estradiol, is the isomer or epimer of 17-xcex2-estradiol and is biologically much weaker than its xcex2-isomer when given systemically. In animal studies, 17-xcex1-estradiol is reported to possess only 0.4 to 2% of the potency of 17-xcex2-estradiol on reproductive function in rodents. When administered to humans subcutaneously, 17-xcex1-estradiol lacked biological activity on a number of markers of reproductive function. For these reasons, 17-xcex1-estradiol is thought to be a physiologically unimportant estrogen and, accordingly, to have minimal therapeutic value or medicinal use.
The skin is known to respond to some estrogens including 17-xcex2-estradiol. Estrogens stimulate fibroblasts within the dermis and increase the levels of connective tissue matrix molecules. The synthesis of collagen, elastin and non-protein molecules such as hyaluronic acid are elevated when estrogens are administered by systemic or topical routes. Consequently, skin maintains or has an enhanced thickness and integrity. Such skin has a better appearance and is functionally able to resist environmental stresses. Topical treatment of the skin of estrogen-deficient women also showed effacement of wrinkles, increase in water content and improved skin elasticity when treated topically with 17-xcex2-estradiol. In addition, when wounded, skin would be expected to heal more rapidly in the presence of estrogens because fibroblasts would be in an activated state.
Because 17-xcex2-estradiol affects multiple organ systems, it is not desirable to use this chemical in treatment solely of topical skin-related conditions. Rather, it would be more desirable to use an estrogen that is more selective in its action on skin. Although 17-xcex2-estradiol can be administered topically and have local effects on skin, it has the potential to be absorbed into the bloodstream where it can cause undesirable biological responses in non-cutaneous tissues. For example, the delivery of 17-xcex2-estradiol for estrogen replacement therapy is commonly accomplished through sustained release from a device that is applied topically to skin. This method of delivery demonstrates that 17-xcex2-estradiol is ideally suited as a compound to cross the skin barrier and accumulate in the bloodstream. Thus by this route, sufficient blood levels of 17-xcex2-estradiol can be achieved to exert biological activity on all organ systems. Thus, topical administration of 17-xcex2-estradiol is undesirable, although its effects may be beneficial to the skin.
Surprisingly, we have discovered that a relatively unimportant entity which has low potency in biological systems, 17-xcex1-estradiol, may be used as a topical treatment that is more selective in its effects on skin. Our studies show that topical 17-xcex1-estradiol is just as effective as 17-xcex2-estradiol at inducing the synthesis of new connective tissue molecules in the dermis of mouse skin, yet, because of its weak activity as a systemically administered estrogen, 17-xcex1-estradiol is expected to exert insignificant biological responses on non-cutaneous tissues such as the reproductive tract if it is absorbed into the bloodstream after topical application. While the use of 17-xcex1-estradiol has been reported in connection with alopecia, hair loss or hair growth, there has been no data showing that it was effective in the treatment of other skin conditions.
Thus it is an object of our invention to provide a method for treatment of skin conditions where stimulated connective tissue synthesis is beneficial.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a method for treatment of skin conditions including aged, sun-damaged skin, skin atrophy and for healing of wounds, without undue side effects.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide a novel composition containing a pharmaceutically effective agent and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier for use in treating skin in which synthesis of connective tissue is beneficial.
We have found, surprisingly, that a composition containing a connective tissue synthesizing-effective amount of 17-xcex1-estradiol and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier can be used in a method of treating the skin which would benefit from connective tissue synthesis by topical application. Unexpectedly, the compositions of this invention are capable of generating connective tissue synthesis when applied topically, but do not engender other biological or physiological effects systemically. Furthermore, we have also found that an epidermal proliferation enhancing-effective amount of 17-xcex1-estradiol and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier can be used in a method of treating the skin which would benefit from enhanced epidermal proliferation, such as in the treatment of acne and other such skin conditions.
The compositions and methods of this invention relate to the use of 17-xcex1-estradiol as a topical treatment of skin which requires the stimulation of connective tissue synthesis, such as skin which is aged or sun-damaged and/or enhancement of epidermal proliferation, such as skin which is affected by acne or other conditions.
More particularly, this invention relates to novel compositions and methods of using the composition for treatment of aged, sun-damaged skin, skin atrophy, acne and for healing of wounds and possibly for prevention of scarring due to trauma to the skin, inter alia. The estrogen 17-xcex1-estradiol is a compound of the following structure:
Compositions of the present invention preferably contain 17-xcex1-estradiol in an effective amount to stimulate connective tissue synthesis and/or enhance epidermal proliferation and/or generally affect skin-related growth processes. Preferably, the compositions of this invention contain from about 0.001% to about 5%, more preferably from about 0.01% to about 2% and most preferably from about 0.1% to about 1% by weight of the active ingredient, 17-xcex1-estradiol.
The compounds which are active in the compositions and methods of this invention may be delivered topically by any means known to those of skill in the art. If the delivery parameters of the topically active pharmaceutical or cosmetic agent so require, the topically active composition of this invention may preferably be further composed of a pharmaceutically or cosmetically acceptable vehicle capable of functioning as a delivery system to enable the penetration of the topically active agent into the skin. Thus, the topically active composition of this invention may be formulated in the form of a liquid, gel or cream or any other conventional pharmaceutically or cosmetically acceptable vehicle.
Preferably, the compositions of this invention are applied to the skin over a period of time sufficient to affect skin-related processes, e.g., stimulate connective tissue synthesis or enhance epidermal proliferation. Generally, the effects of the application and use of the compositions of this invention become visible after approximately four to about twenty-four weeks of treatment. It is preferable to apply the compositions of this invention in an effective amount once or twice per day. The compositions of this invention may also be administered orally
The compositions of this invention may contain, in addition to 17-xcex1-estradiol, other dermatologically active compounds and materials. For example, sunscreen ingredients, alpha hydroxy acids, retinoids, beta hydroxy acids, antiinflammatories, antibacterials, antifungals, antioxidants and other active ingredients may be combined with 17-xcex1-estradiol to treat and/or prevent particular dermatological conditions such as erythema, acne, photodamage, psoriasis and others known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
The compositions of this invention may be formulated as creams, oils, gels, emulsions, ointments or other forms known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
The stimulatory activity of 17-xcex1-estradiol on connective tissue synthesis in the dermis may be demonstrated by the following two methods. In one method, a deficit in connective tissue synthesis is induced by long-term exposure of mouse skin to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. This model has been used to demonstrate the reparative effects of retinoids on connective tissue synthesis after cessation of UV exposure. The repair can be visualized as a region of new connective tissue which forms as a subepidermal band in the papillary dermis after topical retinoid treatment (Kligman L H, Chapter 10: Animal Models of Photodamage and Its Treatment, pp. 136-156, In: Photodamage, edited by B. A. Gilchrest, 1995, Blackwell Science, Cambridge, Mass.). The old malformed elastotic tissue, produced during UV exposure, is compressed by the retinoid-induced new connective tissue zone.
In the second method, topical estrogens increase the thickness of the entire skin by enhancing its water content. This is due to estrogen-stimulated increases in hyaluronic acid, which is a biomolecule that has an avid water binding capacity (Grosman et al. Acta Pharmacol. Toxicol., 1971, Vol. 30, pp. 458-464).
Connective tissue photodamage was induced in albino hairless mice (Skh-1) (six to eight weeks old) by exposure of dorsal trunk skin to UV from FS40 fluorescent tubes, three days per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) for ten weeks. The UV dose started with one minimal erythemal dose (MED) and was increased gradually to 4.5 MEDs by week 5 and then continued at 4.5 MEDs for five more weeks. At the beginning of week 11, mice were treated topically with 0.1 mL test material on the dorsal trunk skin, three times per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) for 6 to 10 weeks. At the end of treatment, dorsal skin was excised and placed in 10% buffered formalin. The specimens were embedded, sectioned and stained with Luna""s aldehyde fuchsin for elastic fibers. The dermal repair zone, defined as the area from the epidermal-dermal junction to the top of the compressed elastotic material, was quantified by measuring the depth of the zones with an image analyzer.
Estrogen-induced thickening of the skin was assessed in albino hairless mice (Skh-1). The skin is topically treated for 3 days with 0.1 mL test material. The next day after the last dose, double skin-fold thickness is measured with an engineer""s vernier calipers.

Use of 17-xcex1-estradiol for the treatment of aged or sundamaged skin and/or skin atrophy

Johnson and Johnson Consumer Companies, Inc.


Techniques for calibrating measuring devices are provided. A universal serial bus (USB) drive is inserted into a USB port on a device of a checkout system. A key in the USB drive initiates a calibration sequence on one or more weighing devices (measuring devices) of the checkout system. Audit information is captured during the calibration and usage of the weighing devices. When a command is recognized to communicate the audit information, the audit information is audibly communicated from speakers associated with the checkout system.

Consumers are increasingly using kiosks to conduct business with enterprises. The kiosks come in a variety of sizes and are used for a variety of purposes. Some kiosks are drive through, such as fast food establishments, pharmacies, banks, and the like. Other kiosks are stationary located in gas stations, airlines, grocery stores, department stores, and the like.
In addition, what is considered a kiosk is evolving with today's technology. For example, digital signs now provide advertisements and mechanisms for users to interact with the displays to perform transactions. Such mechanisms include blue tooth communication, Near Field Communication (NFC), Quick Response (QR) code scanning, WiFi communication, and the like.
Many kiosk stations at grocery stores include devices that weigh produce. Such devices also exist at cashier-manned stations. Governments impose strict regulations about how these weight devices are calibrated and audited. Consequently, these devices often have to have a separate switch that turns on calibration functions and this switch is often sealed when delivered to the grocery stores. Once the seal is broken and the switch is tripped, the device permits calibration and records audit details for the calibration.
Retrieval of audit details is often achieved via a separate stand alone monitor that is often activated by some particular keying sequence and permits the audit data to be displayed on the extra monitor. It is believed that the customer monitor could corrupt retrieval of calibration and audit data; therefore, a separate stand alone monitor is used.
It can be seen that a lot of additional expense goes into complying with government regulations with respect to calibrating weight or other consumer measuring devices. These regulations add to the cost of manufacture of the devices (sealing with stand alone switch) and add to the cost of the enterprise that deploys the devices because of the need to buy and maintain dual monitors with one reserved for retrieval of audit details.


A method for controlling a ring spinning frame that has a drafting unit, a spindle, and a ring rail is provided. The method involves providing a clamping device for yarn in a position below a cop on the spindle. The method further involves the driving of the drafting unit, the spindle, and the ring rail in coordinated operation. Also included is changing the twisting of the yarn in order to obtain a matched strength during formation of the reverse winding at the end of the winding cop before reaching the cop bottom port within the last phase of the downward movement of the ring rail. Additionally, the yarn is brought into a section of the clamping device, and the spinning frame is slowed to a standstill. A spinning frame is also provided.

A spinning frame of this type is known from the European patent EP 0 462 467. The clamping device below the cop at the spindle enables it to operate with a comparatively short length of yarn for the underwinding. It is the aim to operate with an underwinding yarn length (clamping length) corresponding with a partial loop of the spindle at the height of the underwinding crown or the clamping device respectively. In order to reach this target it is necessary to determine the wound yarn length as exactly as possible. The supply quantity of yarn from the drafting unit is measured starting from the point of time at which the ring rail with the traveler has laid the yarn at a height below the upper edge of the underwinding crown. Such a device is described in detail in the European patent EP 0 528 752. The objects of the two mentioned European patents are thus considered as an integrated part of the invention being described hereafter.
From the European patent 0 480 357 it is known to control the number of revolutions of the spindles or of the drafting unit respectively individually, during the spinning out process, where however the particular problem of the underwinding with a clamping device is not being considered.
In ring spinning frames according to the known art, which are provided with electromotive drives for a fast lowering of the ring rail, the ring rail is basically moved downward at constant speed for the formation of the reverse winding. In a ring spinning frame of the present type, with a clamping device for the yarn in the underwinding position, the individual operating parameters have to be adapted to one another more exactly than in today""s conventional spinning frames. It may be necessary to specifically influence the yarn characteristics, especially during the last phase of the spin out, in order to assure an operation without disturbances. These are requirements to be met with the present invention.
Objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following description, or may be obvious from the description, or may be learned from practice of the invention.
According to the invention, a spinning frame with a drafting unit, a spindle and a ring rail are provided. The drafting unit, the spindle and the ring rail are kept in coordinated operation via the respective drives, and with a clamping device for the yarn in a position below the cop on the spindle. During the formation of the reverse winding, when the yarn is led from the uppermost position on the cop into the position below the cop to the clamping device, the individual components of the drafting unit drive and of the spindle drive are being driven. They are driven in such a way that before the lower part of the cop is reached, within the second phase of the downward movement of the ring rail, the twist of the yarn is specifically being altered in order to achieve a higher strength. This occurs before the yarn is brought into the section of the clamping device and the spinning frame is decelerated to a standstill. The ring rail remains only during approximately two revolutions of the spindle in the lowest position at the clamping device, preferably however only as long until the yarn has been laid over half, up to three quarters of the circumferential length within the winding zone.
During the downward movement of the ring rail, the supply speed in the drafting unit and the number of revolutions of the spindle are being reduced in such a coordinated way that the desired yarn twist and the yarn count is at first maintained and the yarn course on the cops becomes rather steep. However, a change in yarn count can also be advantageous. After depositing the underwinding the ring rail is again lifted up from the lowest position into the position above the clamping device, whereafter first the drafting unit and then the spindle drive or both at the same time are brought to a standstill. After formation of the underwinding, the drafting unit can still be kept in operation for a short period of time in order to further supply a yam length which is additionally required because of a deflection of the yarn below the drafting unit due to the upward tilting of the yarn guide. On the other hand, during a fast downward movement of the ring rail and when at the same time the reverse winding is being laid, no yarn curlings may form due to low yarn tensions within the yam section between the drafting unit and the traveller. Here, yarn tensions may not exceed a permissible value.
The spindle drive, the ring rail drive and the drafting unit drive are linked with a control unit. The control unit comprises besides the power section a memory, an input unit and a data processor. In the data processor, operating programs for the different drives are stored. Program modules for the single drives may be provided in the control unit. Further, an input device pertains to the control unit and a memory for the entered textile technological data.
Above the clamping device, shiftable along the spindle, an underwinding crown or a cutting ring respectively, is fixedly attached to the spindle. The arrangement is made in such a way that in the clamping position for the yarn, the clamping device rests on the underwinding crown. The clamping device is pressed upwards by a spring from the lower part of the spindle and by means of a separate actuating device. Alternatively, it is pressed directly by the ring rail. During its movement, the clamping device can be shifted into the lowest downward position, that is into the opening position.
The indications for direction relate to the schematic illustration in FIG. 2. The indications for directions are not absolute but are chosen from the viewpoint of the observer. Textile technological data is entered into the input unit, such as the twist of the yarn, the mass of the cop, the cop diameter, the length of the sleeve and the ring diameter. Furthermore, maximum deceleration values for the spindle and maximal values for the ring rail speed during the downward movement within the last phase can be defined. With the help of the data processor, the operating programs for the drafting unit drive, the spindle drive and the ring rail drive are then calculated or stored in the memory respectively. Advantageously, also stored is the desired altered yarn characteristics during the last phase of the spin out.
Depending on the yarn to be produced, different parameters result for the calculation of the operating programs which can be stored as data sets in the memory. The control unit calculates the data of the operating program in a way that due to the observation of the textile technological boundary values, during the last phase of cop formation, as few thread breaks as possible occur. This happens during doffing or cop exchange respectively, and during the start of newly spinning of a cop.
Due to the clamping of the yarn below the cop, when an additional need of thread length arises, the traveller on the ring of the ring rail cannot be turned backward. Therefore, it is important that the drafting unit still supplies an additional yarn length after the yarn is already blocked in the clamping device. With this arrangement, an unthreading of the yarn from the traveller is practically impossible. While the reverse winding is performed on the cop, the deceleration of the number of revolutions of the spindle occurs with a delay value of preferably between 15 and 25 1/S2. If the yarn count is also to be maintained during this last phase of cop formation, then due to the yarn count and the yarn twist, the drafting unit deceleration has to be calculated depending on the delay in the spindle drive. The ring rail speed in consequence is to be adapted to the supply speed of the yarn, so that the yarn supply during winding of the reverse winding is just sufficient.
Besides a calculation of the operating program for the drafting unit and the ring rail, single values for the supply quantity of the yarn from the drafting unit and the lifting height of the ring rail in dependence on the numbers of revolutions on the spindle can be determined experimentally. Depending on yarn count, a ring rail speed of between 30 and 120 mm/sec is preferred. The first value stands for a fine yarn count and the second for course yarns. It is also advantageous to alter the yarn count starting at least from the point of time of performing the reverse winding in a way that a favourable condition results for inserting the yarn into the clamping device.

Ring spinning frame with clamping device at the spindle