A method for operating an access node includes sending a configuration of one or more first channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resources and a configuration of one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources, generating first control information including an identifier of a SRS resource set that includes the one or more SRS resources precoded by one or more precoders, generating second control information including an identifier of the one or more first CSI-RS resources, wherein the one or more first CSI-RS resources are associated with the identified SRS resource set, wherein the one or more first CSI-RS resources convey a downlink reference signal (RS) used for making measurements, and wherein the one or more precoders are determined in accordance with measurements of the downlink RS, sending the first control information and the second control information, and sending the downlink RS.

Modern communications systems, especially those with high path loss (such as those operating at millimeter wavelength frequencies and above), use beamforming to improve communications system performance. Beamformed communications use precoding to shape transmit or receive beams to increase signal gain. However, beamformed communications may increase the complexity of communications by requiring additional communications overhead to determine which precoders to use at the transmitting device or the receiving device to maximize performance.


Waterproof engineered floor and wall planks have a wear layer and an underlayer about an extruded dust and plastic composite core.

In the flooring industry, there is a significant need for waterproof flooring that presents the appearance of a wooden floor. In particular, this flooring needs to be not only resistant to moisture, but also economical, easy to install, easy to maintain, and comfortable to walk on.
In the flooring industry, laminate flooring using fiberboard or particle board as the core layer has gained a tremendous market share. Such laminate flooring is manufactured with numerous desirable properties such as reasonable cost, stain resistance, wear resistance, easy maintenance, and fire resistance. In addition, laminate flooring is able to carry many types of printed designs, including wood grain designs.
Natural wood floors, particularly of oak and other hardwoods have been employed as flooring materials for centuries. While not as economical as laminate flooring, the appearance and comfort of wooden flooring is highly desirable. One of the most significant drawbacks to both laminate and wooden flooring is their performance when subjected to sustained exposure to moisture. In the case of wooden floors, moisture will cause swelling and warping of the flooring leading to an uneven surface and even gaps between the planks. In the case of laminate flooring, sustained exposure to moisture will frequently destabilize the integrity of the fiberboard or particle board material causing permanent and irreparable damage to the laminate boards. This leads many flooring installers to avoid the use of laminate flooring in areas that are subject to repeated or sustained moisture such as in the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room and basement areas of a house or in the commercial settings of restaurants and some retail stores.
As a result of the shortcomings of wood and laminate flooring, the choices for flooring in wet areas have traditionally been limited to ceramic tile, stone, and rubber or vinyl flooring. With ceramic tile and stone, the visual choices are limited, the cost of materials and installation is relatively high, and the resulting floors are cold in the absence of subsurface radiant heating and hard to stand on for extended periods of time. Rubber and vinyl floors can be relatively inexpensive, however, because these flooring materials are not rigid, imperfections from the subfloor transfers through the rubber or vinyl and appears on the floor surface which can be aesthetically jarring. In addition, the strength of adhesives used with rubber and vinyl floors can be compromised by moisture that can result in curling damage since the floors lack rigidity.
To address these issues, laminate flooring has been manufactured with improved moisture resistance through the selection of melamine, isocyanate or phenolic binders and through application of waterproofing materials and silicone caulking to seal voids. These steps remain inadequate however, both due to added time of installation and cost of manufacture, and because these waterproofing attempts are not 100% effective. One attempt to produce a suitable laminate plank is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,763,345, and its related applications, where a thermoplastic material core is created and a print layer and a protective overlay are applied to the top side. The thermoplastic material core is typically a rigid polyvinylchloride compound and the core is extruded with cavities to provide cushioning. Extruded planks have a tendency to cup, however, and even with cavities, the PVC thermoplastic core is not inexpensive.
In modern construction it is also desirable to utilize green or recycled materials to minimize the environmental cost of construction. As a result, it is desirable to maximize the use of recycled or waste materials whenever possible. Therefore, a need exists for improved waterproof engineered flooring and wall covering material.

Engineered waterproof flooring and wall covering planks


The present invention provides a yellow-colored golf ball which can be manufactured without polluting the production line with a yellow pigment, exhibits a glossy appearance, and has superior visibility in a cloudy weather, even in a rainy weather where the golf balls become less visible. The golf ball of the invention consists of a golf ball body containing a yellow pigment and a clear paint film which is coating the surface of the golf ball body, and has the color tone which satisfies the following relation ship: L≧85.0 and 75≦b<90 specified by Lab color specification.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a yellow-colored golf ball which can be manufactured without polluting the production line with a yellow pigment, which also has good appearance, offers superior visibility in cloudy or rainy weather, and makes such surface defects (i.e., flaw; peeling of the paint film) inconspicuous which are likely to occur due to shots.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many golf balls used in a golf practice range are white. In some golf practice ranges, use of colored golf balls, for example, yellow-colored golf balls, has begun to increase recently taking notice of their striking appearances. The golf practice range is utilized day and night and many of them are designed such that golfers hit balls from a roofed and shaded space toward a brighter field. For this reason, it is desirable that the yellow-colored golf balls is bright and clearly perceptible.
Japanese unexamined patent application No. H05-261166 discloses a yellow-colored golf ball having a golf ball body containing a yellow pigment and coated with a yellow enamel paint, wherein the difference in "b" value between before and after coating the enamel paint is not larger than 15.
The yellow-colored golf ball disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent application No. H05-261166 has a slight difference in color tone between the ball body and the enamel paint film, and hence such a color tone difference becomes apparent in a flawed or peeled portion when the golf ball is flawed or the paint film is peeled due to shots. Further, as the color tone difference between the underlying body and the paint film becomes larger with time, such a flawed or peeled portion of the golf ball becomes more conspicuous.
In an attempt to overcome the above problems, the inventor of the present invention has previously filed a Japanese application for the invention which is directed to a golf ball having a golf ball body containing a yellow pigment and coated with a clear paint. This golf ball has a color tone satisfying the following relationships: L≧85.0 and b=90 to 110, and hence has superior visibility.
Although the golf ball whose b value is adjusted so as to fall within the range between 90 and 110 is excellent in visibility, it requires a large amount of a yellow pigment. For this reason, the golf ball body production line, particularly the mold used therein, is likely to be polluted with the yellow pigment. This raises a problem that golf balls with a different color from yellow cannot be manufactured continuously on the same production line after the yellow-colored golf ball bodies are manufactured. It would be possible to prevent the mold from being polluted by reducing the content of the yellow pigment to decrease the b value. In this case, however, the primary object of the colored golf ball, namely to improve the visibility of the ball in cloudy or rainy weather, cannot be attained.
The present invention has been accomplished in view of the foregoing problems. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a golf ball which can be manufactured without polluting the production line with the yellow pigment, has a good appearance, satisfies the required visibility in cloudy weather, even in rainy weather where the golf ball becomes less visible, and makes defects such as peeling and flaws in the paint film inconspicuous, which are likely to occur due to shots.


A multiple-frequency antenna includes a circuit board of dielectric material having a first surface and a second surface which is spaced apart from and is substantially parallel to the first surface, a ground plane layer of electrically conductive material covering a portion of the first surface of the circuit board, and a feed-line of electrically conductive material disposed on the second surface of the circuit board so as to extend over the ground plane layer. A first radiating element of electrically conductive material is disposed on the circuit board and electrically connected to the feed-line. A second radiating element of electrically conductive material is disposed on the circuit board in close proximity to the first radiating element for coupling with the first radiating element, the coupling providing an electromagnetic feed to the second radiating element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless network communications, and more specifically, to a multiple-frequency antenna structure for use in wireless local area network (WLAN) application.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The rapid development of the personal computer coupled with users' desires to transmit data between personal computers has resulted in the rapid expansion of local area networks. Today, the local area network has been widely implemented in many places such as in the home, public access areas, and the work place. However, the implementation of the local area network has been limited by its own nature. The most visible example of the limitation is the cabling. One solution to this problem is to provide personal computer with a wireless network interface card to enable the personal computer to establish a wireless data communication link. Using a wireless network interface card, a personal computer, such as a notebook computer, can provide wireless data transmission with other personal computers, or with a host computing device, such as a server connected to a conventional wired-line network.
The growth in wireless network interface cards, particularly in notebook computers, has made it desirable to enable personal computers to exchange data with other computing devices and has provided many conveniences to personal computer users. As a key component of a wireless network interface card, the antenna has received much attention and many improvements, especially in function and size. FIG. 1 shows a PCMCIA wireless network interface card 8 used in a notebook computer. The card can be used with a PCMCIA slot built in a notebook computer. As shown, the wireless network interface card 8 comprises a main body 23, and an extension portion 12. The main body 23 further comprises driving circuitries, connectors, etc. The extension portion 12 comprises a printed antenna 10 for transmitting and receiving wireless signals. Presently, the antennas being used widely in a wireless network interface card include the printed monopole antenna, chip antenna, inverted-F antenna, and helical antenna.
Among them, the printed monopole antenna is simple and inexpensive. As shown in FIG. 2, a printed monopole antenna 20 comprises a feed-line 21 a primary radiating element 22, a ground plane 24, and a dielectric material 25. The current on the printed monopole antenna is similar to current on a printed dipole antenna, so the electric field created will be the same. The difference is that the ground plane 24 of the printed monopole antenna 20 will create mirror current, so the total length of the printed monopole antenna 20 is only λg/4, which is half of the length of a printed dipole antenna. The improvement on the length of an antenna is significant in application for wireless network interface cards. The definition of the wavelength λg described above is
      λ    g    =            1                        ɛ          re                      *          c              f        0
Wherein c is the speed of light, f0 is the center frequency of electromagnetic waves, and εre is the equivalent dielectric constant and is between the nominal dielectric constant (around 4.4) of circuit board and the dielectric constant (around 1) of air. For example, if the center frequency is 2.45 GHz and the dielectric constant is 4.4, the length of the printed monopole antenna will be 2.32 cm. Since the space in a wireless network interface card reserved for an antenna is limited, an antenna with such length will not fit properly into a card, therefore, some modification for the antenna is required. In the U.S. Pat. No. 6,008,774 "Printed Antenna Structure for Wireless Data Communications", whose contents are incorporated herein by reference, modification for such antenna is disclosed. As shown in FIG. 3, the shape of a printed monopole antenna 30 has been changed in order to reduce the size thereof. The concept of U.S. Pat. No. 6,008,774 is to bend the primary radiating element 22 of FIG. 2 into the form of a V-shaped primary radiating element 32 as shown in FIG. 3. Although the overall length of the primary radiating element 32 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,008,774 is still λg/4, however, the space needed for furnishing this modified primary radiating element 32 is reduced. The antenna 30 shown in FIG. 3 also comprises a feed-line 31, the primary radiating element 32, a ground plane 34, and a dielectric material.


An engine coupler and adapter for installing an automobile engine into a vehicle in which a rear mounted engine was originally installed. The coupler comprises a body which is an elongated hollow cylinder, a mounting flange at one end of the cylinder for mounting the coupling device to the flywheel of a transaxle, and a mounting flange mounted at the opposing end of the cylinder shaft for mounting the coupler to an automobile engine crankshaft gear. The flanges, each of which is positioned at a right angle to the cylinder axis, consist of cylindrical disks. Each of the flanges contain properly positioned and shaped apertures to enable the flanges to be attached to the transaxle flywheel and the automobile engine crankshaft gear respectively. Threading is provided interior of the hollow cylinder for threadable connection of the coupler to a transaxle gland nut. An adapter is provided to connect differently-configured flywheel housing components.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to coupling of engines to unrelated automobiles and more particularly to a coupler and adapter for mounting an automobile engine to a vehicle in which a rear-mounted engine was originally installed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is frequently desirable to replace an originally installed automobile engine with an automobile engine manufactured by an unrelated company. Reasons for replacing an automobile engine with an engine manufactured by others include enhancement of motive power and compliance with increasingly stringent emission control regulations.
Various approaches have been utilized to connect an internal combustion engine to an unrelated vehicle. Such approaches include insertion of an engine and a related transmission into a vehicle with the connection between the unrelated parts to be made at or near the drive shaft and connection of a flywheel associated with the engine to a flywheel associated with a transmission.
For many years models of VOLKSWAGEN.sup.1 automobiles were sold within the United States which were powered by horizontally-opposed air-cooled four-cylinder engines. The engines have been characterized as possessing comparatively low horse power ratings, relatively short engine life and relatively high pollution emissions. FNT Various manufacturers of automobile engines or parts are identified herein by capitalizing the name and/or mark associated with such manufacturers.
When emission controls were instituted, the United States Government restricted sale and import of VOLKSWAGEN automobiles containing air-cooled engines into the United States. At the present time there are a number of VOLKSWAGEN automobiles within the United States containing such air-cooled engines. There is a relatively high cost to install new VOLKSWAGEN engines or rebuild the existing engines. While it is desirable to replace the VOLKSWAGEN engines, the limited space available in the VOLKSWAGEN engine compartment and the necessity of connection to a transaxle has prohibited successful development of a suitable replacement. (It is noted that transaxle is a combination of the terms transmission and axle referring to the combination of the transmission with rear axle members.)
A number of patents are representative of the prior art of features permitting adaptation of different engine components to engines and of connecting aligned shafts:
Brown U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,593 describes a connector plate disposed between a powered flywheel related to an engine and a transmission flywheel related to a transmission assembly. The Brown invention is useful in connecting a PERKINS 4-154 diesel engine to a FORD MUSTANG transmission, the engine and the transmission each having a flywheel, the flywheels being of similar size, the original and replacement engines being constructed in contemplation of insertion in a front-mounted engine with rear wheel drive and then-conventional drive train. The Brown disclosure, while useful for the type of application disclosed, is not adaptable for use in installing a replacement engine in a vehicle having a rear-mounted engine as disclosed in the present invention. A flywheel-to-flywheel connection as disclosed in Brown would not be practicable in the limited space available in VOLKSWAGEN BEETLES and like applications. Brown further does not disclose a means of connecting an engine to an unrelated transaxle without use of a flywheel related to the engine.
Wiseman U.S. Pat. No. 2,899,042 describes a coupling means for a screw conveyor, the said coupling means being used to couple adjoining flights of a screw conveyor. The Wiseman coupling means includes a spool flange placed between the adjoining flights and flanged cylindrical elements placed on each of the adjoining flights for connection with the spool flange. The Wiseman concept, although useful for screw conveyors, is not applicable for connection of an engine to a flywheel as described in the present invention. The Wiseman disclosure, like others identified, has application, with limitations, to aligned shafts.
Stich U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,547 describes a method and apparatus for installing a replacement automatic transmission in place of an original automatic transmission in a four-wheel drive vehicle. The adapter kit described in this invention enables the removal of an original General Motors automobile transmission and the replacement with another type and style General Motors transmission.
Shook U.S. Pat. No. 3,122,029 describes an adapter which enables a transmission overdrive kit to be installed on a four-wheel drive vehicle. Such an adapter is merely an attachment to the existing transmission and drive-train of the four-wheel drive vehicle which enables another gear to be placed in the path for power to be transferred from the engine to the wheels of the vehicle, thus enabling it to travel at higher speeds on the highway.
Baratti U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,065 discloses a replacement starting motor assembly for automobiles.
Bradley U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,266 discloses a support housing for adapting automobile starter motors to aircraft engines.
Johnson U.S. Pat. No. 3,772,938 discloses a deflector plate and bell housing for installation on vehicles having different starter motor positions.
Rasset U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,478 discloses a modular engine construction permitting adaptation to different types of engine configurations.
Buckley et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,012 discloses a rotational energy absorbing coupling for shaft to shaft and shaft to crank applications using a plurality of shear pins.
Hargrove U.S. Pat. No. 2,879,092 discloses a friction shaft coupling assembly for coupling rotors of an elastic fluid turbine.
Dossier U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,333 discloses an elastic coupling adapted to first and second bodies moveable in rotation around substantially aligned axes.
Corona U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,802 describes an electric motor having a removable shaft assembly.
Gredell U.S. Pat. No. 2,585,113 discloses a shear pin coupling for aligned shafts for use on a propeller shaft of a marine engine, the coupling including flanged cylindrical elements placed over each of the aligned shafts and bolted together at the flanges.
This prior art does not solve the problem of adapting automobile engines to be mounted in automobiles containing rear-mounted engines.


A folding wing comprises a fixed section, a folding section, and a latch system for latching the folding section to the fixed section. The latch system includes a plurality of latch pins, and a corresponding plurality of non-backdriveable mechanical actuators for extending the latch pins to engage the folding section.

Folding wings are commonly used in naval aircraft. Folding wings enable naval aircraft to occupy less space in confined aircraft carrier hangars.
Folding wings are desirable for commercial aircraft. Folding wings may be stowed to fit within airport parking areas and taxiways, and they may be deployed prior to takeoff to increase wing span. Longer span wings are more aerodynamically efficient than shorter wings.

System for latching and locking a folding wing


Disclosed is a system for rapid digitization of an article that provides a 3d image of an object, such as a clothing article, wherein the object can be virtually viewed from all sides to be viewed by the user. The system for rapid digitization is configured with two microprocessors for rapidly digitizing the clothing apparel into its equivalent 3d model. The system for rapid digitization is provided with a communication device that displays the status of the system and occurring defects are notified through the same. The system for rapid digitization provides a 3d .obj (object) file of the apparel thereby making it portable in nature.

In the era of advancing technology, a customer has to interpret how apparel would look like on his/her body, without having to stand in the long queues of changing rooms. An upcoming technology called as Virtual Mirror makes use of augmented Reality (AR) to help overcome this. It helps the customers accurately see any clothing article at-scale whereby enabling them to purchase with more certainty and satisfaction. The virtual mirror uses the 3D model of the clothing article and projects it into the real world. The object detection is another key mechanism that is presently utilized to detect a specific object from an image. The object detection technique uses learning algorithm to identify objects. The use of computer algorithms to perform alterations on an image to obtain the desired image is termed as Image processing. The Image processing is widely known technique for detecting an object from an image.
However in order to convert a clothing article into a 3D model, the software artisans have to sit for at least 2 to 3 hours to build an identical 3D model. At present there is no software/system that can rapidly and automatically convert the clothing article into its equivalent digital form of 3D model. Currently the use of proximity sensors in combination with object detection techniques is not renowned.
Accordingly, there is a need of a system that can speed up the process of converting a packed article or object into its digitized 3d format. Moreover there is a need for system that can intensify accuracy of automatic digitization technique using image processing techniques and computer graphics techniques. Additionally, there is a need for system that improvises accuracy of the automatic digitization technique for the object, such as a clothing article.

System for rapid digitization of an article


Semiconductor devices, and more particularly semiconductor devices with improved edge termination structures are disclosed. A semiconductor device includes a drift region that forms part of an active region. An edge termination region is arranged along a perimeter of the active region and also includes a portion of the drift region. The edge termination region includes one or more sub-regions of an opposite doping type than the drift region and one or more electrodes may be capacitively coupled to the drift region by way of the one or more sub-regions. During a forward blocking mode for the semiconductor device, the one or more electrodes may provide a path that draws ions away from passivation layers that are on the edge termination region and away from the active region. In this manner, the semiconductor device may exhibit reduced leakage, particularly at higher operating voltages and higher associated operating temperatures.

Semiconductor devices such as transistors and diodes are ubiquitous in modern electronic devices. Wide bandgap semiconductor material systems such as gallium arsenide (GaAs), gallium nitride (GaN), and silicon carbide (SiC) are being increasingly utilized in semiconductor devices to push the boundaries of device performance in areas such as switching speed, power handling capability, and thermal conductivity. Examples include individual devices such as metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs), insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), Schottky barrier diodes, PiN diodes, high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs), and integrated circuits such as monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) that include one or more individual devices.
Semiconductor devices are typically formed in an active region of a semiconductor die. In semiconductor die manufactured to support high voltages and currents, concentration of electric fields can interfere with the proper operation thereof. Concentration of electric fields is especially problematic at edges of the semiconductor die. Accordingly, an edge termination region surrounds the active region about a perimeter of the semiconductor die to reduce electric fields at the edges of the die. Without an edge termination region, electric fields would concentrate at the edges of the die and cause the performance of the die to suffer. For example, the breakdown voltage, leakage current, and/or reliability of the die may be significantly reduced. Specifically, the die may suffer from leakage current under reverse bias when subject to thermal stress (e.g., temperatures greater than 150° C.) that may be associated with higher operating voltages. While several edge termination structures have been proposed for reducing the concentration of electric fields at the edges of a die, many of the proposed structures are unable to reduce the concentration of electric fields to a desired level, particularly in higher temperature and higher voltage operating conditions.
The art continues to seek improved edge termination structures for semiconductor devices capable of overcoming challenges associated with conventional semiconductor devices.

Edge termination structures for semiconductor devices


In a process for operating a vehicle having an outside mirror on which a camera is arranged and which is swivelable by a swiveling device between a first end position and a second end position, first picture data and second picture data of a first picture and of a second picture captured by the camera are provided. As a function of the first and second picture data, it is determined whether an object is imaged in both pictures. If an object is imaged in both pictures, as a function of the first and second picture data, a distance from the object relative to a reference point with respect to the camera is determined. As a function of the determined distance, the swiveling device is triggered such that it contributes to the fact that the distance is greater than or equal to a predefined minimum distance value.

The invention relates to a process and an arrangement for operating a vehicle having an outside mirror on which a camera is arranged and which can be swiveled by way of a swiveling device between a first end position and a second end position.
Vehicles are increasingly equipped with several cameras which are arranged on the outside, thus at the periphery of the vehicle. Such a camera may, for example, be arranged on an outside mirror of the vehicle. Such cameras can, for example, help the vehicle driver discern the exterior area of the vehicle.
It is an object of the invention to provide a process and an arrangement which respectively contribute to preventing a collision of an outside mirror of a vehicle with an object.
This and other objects are achieved by providing a process, and an arrangement, for operating a vehicle having an outside mirror on which a camera is arranged and which can be swiveled by a swiveling device between a first end position and a second end position. The first end position represents a retracted condition and the second end position represents an extended condition of the outside mirror. First picture data of a first picture captured by the camera are provided. In addition, second picture data of a second picture captured by the camera are provided. As a function of the first and the second picture data, it is determined whether an object is pictured in both pictures. If it was determined that an object is pictured in both pictures, a distance from the object is determined relative to a reference point with respect to the camera, as a function of the first and second picture data. The swiveling device is triggered as a function of the determined distance such that the distance is greater or equal to a predefined minimum distance value.
In that at least two pictures of the camera are detected, which are pictured in the at least two pictures, it becomes possible to determine the distance from a reference point to the respective object. This can, for example, take place by use of trigonometry in that a triangle is set up between the two pictures of the respective object and the reference point and, by means of trigonometric functions, the lateral lengths of the triangle are determined which represent the distance from the object. In addition to the camera, no sensors may be necessary for detecting the distance. Since the position of the camera and the geometry of the mirror are known, this may contribute to preventing an imminent collision of the outside mirror with an object.
For the detection of the object, distinctive points, for example, are determined in the first picture and are compared with distinctive points in the second picture, for example, corners and/or edges. When several objects are detected, the respective distance can, for example, be determined for each object.
The reference point is, for example, a reference point in the camera and/or predefined point on the surface of the outside mirror.
According to an advantageous embodiment, the first and the second picture are captured during a swiveling of the outside mirror. As a result, during an extending or retracting operation of the outside mirror, this may, for example, contribute to preventing a collision of the outside mirror with an object.
According to a further advantageous embodiment, the distance from the object is determined as a function of a first position of the camera which correlates with a point-in-time at which the first picture is captured, and, as a function of a second position of the camera which correlates with a point-in-time at which the second picture is captured. Specifically, during a swiveling operation of the outside mirror, it may be advantageous to use the respective position of the camera for determining the distance from the object.
According to a further advantageous development, the swiveling device is triggered as a function of the determined distance in such a manner that it contributes to the fact that the distance is greater than or equal to a predefined minimum distance value in that the swiveling is stopped when a minimum distance value has been reached. This may, for example, in a simple manner, contribute to preventing a collision when the outside mirror is extended or retracted.
According to a further advantageous embodiment, the first and the second picture are captured at points-in-time at which the outside mirror is positioned in the second end position. For example, when driving through a narrow area, this may contribute in a simple manner to preventing a collision.
According to a further advantageous development, the camera has a fisheye lens. A large environment, for example, can thereby be captured by the camera.
According to a further advantageous development, the swiveling device is triggered as a function of the determined distance such that it contributes to the fact that the distance is greater than or equal to a predefined minimum distance value. The outside mirror is swiveled into the first end position when the minimum distance value has been reached. By retracting the outside mirror, a collision with the object may be effectively prevented.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Process and arrangement for operating a vehicle having a camera arranged on an outside mirror

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


The present invention relates to a carrier apparatus for clamping a work by a two-dimensional rectangular motion of a pair of feed bars to automatically carry the work linearly. The carrier apparatus has at least three cams for feed and clamp rotated by an input shaft. Each of the rotational motions of these cams is transmitted to a pair of bars in parallel through the paired turrets and paired motion conversion mechanisms in the form of rectangular motions. These rectangular motions in the both feed bars are applied to the clamping motion and the feed motion for carrying the work.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a carrier apparatus for clamping a work by a two-dimensional rectangular motion of a pair of feed bars to automatically carry the work linearly.
2. Related Art
In a transfer press, there is used a transfer apparatus adapted to automatically carry out the carrying of a work for achieving the labor saving. In this transfer apparatus, a series of operations are carried out which comprising gripping and feeding a work, and releasing it at a position as required by a two-dimensional rectangular motion performed by a pair of feed bars arranged in parallel. In the above-described carrier apparatus, a mechanism for causing the feed bars to effect the rectangular motion is classified into a mechanical system comprising a planet gear, a link, a cam or the like and driven from a driving source of the press, and an independent driving system for independently carrying out each linear motion making use of a servo motor, a cylinder or the like.
However, in the conventional carrier apparatuses described above, in the independent driving system, the apparatus is driven by a driving source such as a servo motor, a cylinder or the like completely independent of a driving source of the press. Therefore, it requires a difficult control such that the servomotor or the cylinder is operated in synchronism with processes of the press. For this reason, in the case where the press is operated at high speeds, it is necessary to operate the carrier apparatus at high speeds to speed up the carrying speed accordingly. However, technical means of high degree is necessary to eliminate even a slight deviation in synchronizing them, and adjustments with high accuracy are necessary, making it very difficult to effect the continuous operation smoothly for a long period of time.
On the other hand, in the mechanical type carrier apparatus, since it is driven by a driving source of the press, the operation of the press can be positively synchronized with the carrier operation of a work. As a typical transfer driving mechanism of the mechanical system, a mechanism using a planet gear has been known, in which the rotation of the driving shaft of the press body is transmitted to a planet gear inscribed with a sun gear through the sun gear within a transfer unit. The planet gear is provided with an eccentric pin, and the locus of the pin is used as a transfer feed amount. In the clamp and unclamp motion of a work, an opening and closing mechanism of feed bars is driven in a manner such that a rack and pinion is rotated by a plate cam mounted on the side of the slide through a link in contact with the cam.
However, the above-described mechanical system has various problems in that the construction is materially complicated in which a turning force input from the press is converted into a series of operations of gripping, feeding and releasing the work; the number of constituent parts considerably increases so that the entire apparatus increases in size and the cost of apparatus increases; and since the construction is complicated, it is difficult to secure the operation at high speeds.


An integral metal structural post is provided for the erection of two pairs of interior walls. Each such pair of walls includes interior walls which are disposed at right angles to one another. The structural post includes a first elongate metal angle bar having an "L"-shaped cross-section, the two arms having a particularly recited structure, a second identical elongate metal angle bar, arranged in mirror-image relationship to the first elongate metal angle bar, and an elongate web interconnecting the two elongate metal angle bars in a particular manner. Because of the particulary recited structures of the arms of the elongate metal angle bars, an interior wallboard or interior sheathing is secured directly to respective ones of the four interior faces of the two elongate metal angle bars. When such securing is effected, two interior comers are created.

(i). Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to building construction. More particularly it relates to a composite corner post for providing at least two interior walls.
(ii). Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, more and more effort has been expended by builders and the building trades to improve construction and reduce the costs of construction. Many new construction methods have been devised but these, contrary to the present invention, have been restricted almost exclusively to large building construction. In the prior art heretofore the improvements in home construction have been restricted to the introduction of new materials. For example, corner post construction, whether it be for an outside corner, i.e., a corner in the outside wall of a house, or an intersecting corner, has been the same for a very long time. The ordinary way to assemble corner posts in the past has been to secure studs together to make a solid post. Sometimes blocks were used as spacers, particularly in the case of intersecting corner posts. These posts were normally assembled on the construction site by using a sufficient amount of studding material to make a solid post. The studs were normally 2.times.3's, 2.times.4's or 2.times.6's and at least three pieces were generally needed to construct a corner post. Outside corner posts were made of three pieces and intersecting corner posts were made of three or four pieces and often included filler blocks.
The wall finish material, e.g., wallboard, gypsum board, or lath and plaster, were secured at the corner of the three studs. In setting a new partition in an old building, difficulty was found to be encountered in properly securing the new studs in the old wall while preventing damage to the cut ends of the old wall finish material.
This type of construction is not desirable, since the creating of the corner posts used a considerable amount of lumber and nails and, more importantly it was time consuming and labour intensive. These factors were especially significant because they directly affected the cost of building.
Steel structural members or studs in the form of c-beams and box 2.times.3's, 2.times.4's or 2.times.6's have been used for a number of years in construction work as framing for interior walls and for exterior walls which support, for example, plaster board and exterior sheathing. Such steel studs, when used as structural members for exterior walls, had a primary drawback in that they readily conducted exterior heat into the air-conditioned building in the summer, and did the reverse in winter when the heat loss in cold weather was found to be so serious that the walls were discoloured (called "shadowing"), as moisture, including greasy dirt, was deposited on the colder parts of the wall in direct contact with the steel beams supporting the wall.
Combination wood/steel beams and/or studs have also been suggested, and patented, in an effort to improve the above-identified building construction. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,075,845, patented Oct. 14, 1913, by J. H. Mills, provided a structural material which included parallel wooden strips spaced apart, and two strips of sheet metal extending across and covering two opposite edges of the wooden strips, leaving two opposite sides thereof exposed for nailing purposes. Both the wooden and metal strips constituted an integral structure and an article of commerce. The metallic strip had tongues stamped out therefrom and embedded into the wood for securing the wooden and metallic strips together.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,658,407, patented Feb. 7, 1928, by P. Gustaveson, provided a nailing block for composite walls. The patented block was provided as the combination with a flanged metal wall member, having one of its faces formed so as to fit between the flanges of the wall-forming member. Vertically-disposed shoulders were formed on the side faces of the block for engagement with the edges of the flanges of the wall-forming member. An open loop of resilient metal was provided for securing the nailing block to the wall member.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,005,146, patented Jun. 18, 1935, by G. F. Kotrbaty, provided a self-supporting building member and joint. Such building member was provided in a wall construction including a plurality of juxtaposed building units having spaced wall sections and end sections joining the wall sections. The end sections were provided with centrally-disposed, tongue-receiving slots and channel sections on either side of the slot sections. A tongue keying member having resilient clip members thereon, extending from opposite sides and substantially-parallel to the member, was disposed between abutted building units, and was in locking relation with the tongue receiving slots.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,010,848, patented Aug. 13, 1935, by H. W. Dix, provided a structural unit building member, which included, in combination, parallel wall sections and end sections bridging the wall sections. The end sections included a central portion and lateral channel portions, one of the central portions having vertical tongue-receiving slots, another of the central portions having outwardly extending tongues insertable in the slots. Transverse vertical slots were provided in lateral alignment with the first slots.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,226,906, patented Jan. 4, 1966, by C. W. Koerner, provided a building corner post and bracket, which included a plurality of vertically-spaced brackets, each of the brackets comprising a body member having two offset sections, a first section and a second section. These sections were connected together at adjacent corners forming two opposed rectangular recesses on opposite sides of the bracket. Each of the sections had a pair of flanges secured thereto in a perpendicular relationship to the body member, the flanges being secured to the edges of the sections adjacent the recesses. A first upright member was secured in one recess to one of the flanges from the first section and one of the flanges from the second section. A second upright was secured in the other recess to the remaining flange of the first section. A third upright was secured in the last mentioned recess to the remaining flange of the second section. Adjacent surfaces of said second and third upright members were in abutting perpendicular relationship, thereby to form an inside corner therebetween.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,429, patented Nov. 22, 1966, by G. D. Ratliff Jr., provided a composite wood-metal structural member, which included a top chord member, a bottom chord member spaced therefrom and a panel extending between and secured to the members. The top chord member was a flanged metal member disposed with its flange parallel to the panel and in abutting relation therewith. The flange had flexible spurs extending therefrom. The panel was impaled on the spurs, whereby, on initial loading of the beam, the resulting stress in the panel was only partially transferred to the top chore member.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,194, patented Apr. 15, 1975, by R. W. Matuschek et al., provided a structural corner post.
The patented corner post, which included a verticallyextending elongated column, the top and bottom surfaces of the column being flat and parallel, each of the top and bottom surfaces being divided into first and second zones. Upper and lower generally-flat end caps overlay and were secured to the first zones of the top and bottom surfaces respectively in parallel relation and extending in the same direction. End caps were provided which included vertically-aligned overhanging edge portions which formed a female receptacle with an adjacent and intermediate vertical surface on said column. The female receptacle was adapted to receive therebetween a vertical structural member. The second zones of the top and bottom surfaces overlay a laterally-extending vertical edge portion of the column which formed a male connector which was adapted for engagement with the end portions of upper and lower horizontally-extending structural members. The vertical edge portion and the intermediate vertical surface were located 90.degree. apart. The column comprised a pair of longitudinally-extending structural elements arranged in parallel relation having the opposing longitudinal surfaces spaced slightly apart and a third longitudinally-extending structural element abutting and arranged perpendicular to the pair of structural elements. The pair and the third structural elements were of substantially-equal length. The third structural element formed the laterally-extending vertical edge portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,302, patented Apr. 26, 1977, by L. J. Meyer, provided a metal flange web connection, which included two coextensive spaced-apart parallel channel portions facing the same direction and extending the length of the member. Each of the channel portions defined a slot having parallel walls for engaging and clamping to the opposite faces of an edge portion of a plywood sheet. The walls had a large number of sharp projections extending inwardly for penetration into the plywood, thereby to form a friction bond with both faces of the plywood along the length of the channel portion. The adjacent walls of the channel portions also defined a third channel portion which was parallel to, and faced in a direction opposite from the first two channel portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,225, patented Aug. 21, 1984, by J. K. Hovind, provided a stud extender, which consisted solely of a first wide flat side, a second side, which was substantially-parallel and spaced from the first wide flat side, and a flat front, free of any elements frontward thereof. The flat front was perpendicular to, and adjoined, the two sides at substantially-square corners, all formed solely of sheet metal. At least one wide flat side had means for locating the stud extender against a wood stud with the front of the extender in a uniform-spaced parallel relationship to the front of the wood stud when the wide flat side was disposed against and extending across a minor extent of the side of the wood stud.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,098, patented Oct. 28, 1986, by L. H. Taylor, provided a metallic structural member, which included a hollow, generally-quadrangular in transverse cross-section stud consisting of at least three contiguous walls with the middle of the at least three walls being provided with a multiplicity of parallel, spaced, longitudinal rows of longitudinally-spaced slits, to reduce transmission of heat and sound there across and to prevent convection of air currents therethrough. Alternate rows of slits were staggered such that the longitudinal spaces of one row were positioned substantially-midway of the length of the slits of adjacent rows, thereby further reducing sound and heat transmission across at least three walls.
Canadian Patent No. 130, 742, patented Jan. 23, 1911, by S. Whitehall, provided joints for cleats, which included two members, each member having its abutting ends mitred to provide an inclined face and also a reduced end portion and a shoulder. The shoulder was diagonally opposite the reduced end portion. The latter and the shoulder of one member lay adjacent opposite edges of the inclined face of the other member.
Canadian Patent No. 266,651, patented Dec. 14, 1926, by E. A. Isaac, provided a corner lock, which included planks meeting at a desired angle. Inner and outer metal plates were bent at a corresponding angle and were provided with registering bolt holes. Bolts and nuts were provided. Kerfs were provided in the outer surfaces of the planks. Flanges on the outer plate fitted into the kerfs.
Canadian Patent No. 324,361, patented Jul. 19, 1932, by I. R. Wilson, provided a fastening means for corner frame members, which included an integral plate having substantially-right angularly extending leg portions which engaged the sides of the frame members to be braced and an integral connecting portion connecting the leg portions. Flanges were struck out from the leg portions and engaged the frame members within the plane of their joint. One flange extended from the connecting portion of the plate to lie within the plane and across the joint of the frame member. That flange was substantially-rectangular in shape and was reinforced by the connecting portion, with the free edges of the flange contacting with the sides of the frame members.
Canadian Patent No. 695,368, patented Oct. 6, 1964, by J. Conville, provided a wall partition fitting, which included a one-piece fitting having a body, with first, second, and third channels on the body. The first and second channels had outer edges and opened away from each other and lay in the plane of the second wall. Wallforming material was provided for the second wall and was in part positioned in the first and second channels. The third channel opened transversely to the direction of opening of the first and second channels. A partition wall stud was positioned in the third channel, the third channel being defined by opposed flanges, one of the flanges being secured to the first channel outer edge and the other of the flanges being secured to the second channel outer edge. Both flanges were secured to the stud. Parts of the wall-forming material for the partition wall overlay both of the flanges and was secured to the stud. The partition wall-forming material extended to the wall-forming material of the second wall completely to enclose the fitting.
Canadian Patent No. 697,320, patented Nov. 10, 1964, by H. G. Kewley, provided a joint between two members which was constructed using a retaining strip, where one or both of the parts to be joined was formed with a groove extending along the member adjacent its edge to receive a flange of the retaining strip or was provided with a shoulder or block over which the flange can engage. The joint so constructed included two members or parts which were retained in position in contact with each other by the engagement in, or with, grooves or shoulders formed in, or on, one or both of the two parts to be joined.
Canadian Patent No. 857,130, patented Dec. 1, 1970, by S. Mollinger, provided a corner connection, which included an initially-flat metal bar which was deformed so as to obtain two exterior legs, a series of main flaps with counter flaps and a series of penetrating prongs. The penetrating prongs were struck out and bent from the metal bar at a substantially-right angle thereto. The metal bar was bent at a substantially-right angle to form two exterior legs. The main flaps were struck out and bent at a substantially-right angle to one of the exterior legs at such a distance from the juncture of the legs as to allow for the thickness of one of the members to be connected. The counter flap was struck out of the main flap and was bent at an acute angle thereto at such a distance from the base of the main flap as to allow for the thickness of one of the members to be connected and to allow insertion of both members to be connected without interference with the penetrating prongs. The exterior legs and the main flaps were bent away from the projected faces of members to be connected at an angle governed by the length of the penetrating prongs.
Canadian Patent No. 858,168, patented Dec. 15, 1970, by J. M. van Ryn, provided a corner bend, which included a unitary sheet metal member having a pair of longitudinal flanges normally forming an angle therebetween of less than 90.degree. and resiliently joined together along the apex of the angle by an integrally-formed bead portion having an arcuate surface intersected by each flange. Each flange was provided with a roughened external surface to enable a filler compound to adhere thereto. They were also provided with toothed means formed integrally of each flange and directed towards the opposite flange. The toothed means was adapted to penetrate the surface of a dry wall structural element and to engage therewith when the corner bead was applied thereto.
Canadian Patent No. 1,073,182, patented Mar. 11, 1980, by Nisbet, provided a moulded plastic corner connector, which was adapted to be removably secured by friction fit to elongated frame members for effecting a removable resilient connection therebetween. The joining member included a plurality of interconnected webs of resilient material. The webs formed a deep channel of substantially-U-shaped cross-section having spaced opposed sides joined by a relatively narrow web. The channel comprised two channel sections disposed at right angles to each other, the spaced opposed sides of the channel comprising two substantially-flat congruent L-shaped webs, the relatively narrow web joining the sides of the channel extending between the outside edges of the L-shaped webs. The sides of the channel were additionally joined by a diagonally-disposed reinforcing rib extending from the inside corners of the L-shaped webs to the outside corners thereof.

Integral metal structural post for the erection of two pairs of interior walls


An information processing apparatus and method adapted to automatically convert contents edited by a user into a description language that is independent of platforms. Personal computers execute authoring software, convert the contents edited by the user into a markup language document, and transmit it to a server via the Internet. The server stores the markup language document supplied from the personal computer into a HDD and executes a markup language processing processor to develop the markup language document into a markup language document tree structure, which is stored in the HDD.

Conventionally, in the software development in built-in system, there exists a variety of program codes dependent on platforms and program languages.
Recently, information sites in which contents such as music data and image data can personally be received without restriction exist on networks including the Internet.
However, the related-art technologies present a problem that the software developed on built-in systems can be re-used no more if devices or operation systems of these built-in systems are changed.
In the case where image data is received from information sites that manage contents, platform-dependent data conversion is required, thereby presenting a problem of complicating the contents delivery between users.

Information processing apparatus and method


One embodiment of the present application discloses an POI displaying method for displaying information of at least one POI (point of interest) stored in a database on an electronic apparatus. The method comprises: (a) obtaining at least one POI according to a desired POI type; (b) obtaining at least one corresponding path according to the position of each obtained POI; (c) generating a POI gathering information of each corresponding path according to the at least one obtained POI; and (d) displaying the at least one corresponding path and the corresponding POI gathering information.

FIG. 1 is a related art POI searching method utilized on a navigator. The searching window displayed on the navigator can include a plurality of icons indicating different searching methods. In this example, the type searching icon 101, the name searching icon 103, and the neighbor searching icon 105 are displayed on a displaying unit 107, and the type searching icon 101 is activated (ex. via a touch screen), as shown in FIG. 1(a). After the type searching icon 101 is activated, icons 109˜123 for different POI types is displayed on the displaying screen 107, as shown in FIG. 1(b). In this case, the icon 113, which is for car service, is activated.
After the icon 113 is activated, the POI information will be displayed on the displaying unit 107, as shown in FIG. 2. However, such POI information only discloses the location and the distance of the POI, but can not indicate the gathering situation of the POI. If the user can go to a path which has many POIs of the type he is searching for, not only the user will feel more convenient, but also the user can compare the product quality and cost of many POIs. Therefore, a method or a system for displaying the gathering information of POI is needed.

POI displaying method and electronic apparatus utilizing the method


The present disclosure includes apparatuses and methods for sequence power control. A number of embodiments include executing a number of sequences associated with a number of commands, wherein a number of logical unit (LUN) controllers execute the number of sequences by locating power consumption information and a starting address of the number of sequences stored in a data structure on the number of LUN controllers.

Memory devices are typically provided as internal, semiconductor, integrated circuits in computers or other electronic devices. There are many different types of memory including volatile and non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can require power to maintain its information, e.g., data, and includes random-access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and static random access memory (SRAM) among others. Non-volatile memory can provide persistent information by retaining stored information when not powered and can include NAND flash memory, NOR flash memory, read only memory (ROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), resistive random access memory (RRAM), and phase change random access memory (PCRAM), among others.
Memory devices can be combined together to form a solid state drive (SSD). A solid state drive can include non-volatile memory, e.g., NAND flash memory and NOR flash memory, and/or can include volatile memory, e.g., DRAM and SRAM, among various other types of non-volatile and volatile memory. Flash memory devices, such as floating gate flash devices and charge trap flash (CTF) devices may be utilized as non-volatile memory for a wide range of electronic applications. Flash memory devices typically use a one-transistor memory cell that allows for high memory densities, high reliability, and low power consumption.
An SSD can be used to replace hard disk drives as the main storage device for a computing system, as the solid state drive can have advantages over hard drives in terms of performance, size, weight, ruggedness, operating temperature range, and power consumption. For example, SSDs can have superior performance when compared to magnetic disk drives due to their lack of moving parts, which may avoid seek time, latency, and other electro-mechanical delays associated with magnetic disk drives. SSD manufacturers can use non-volatile flash memory to create flash SSDs that may not use an internal battery supply, thus allowing the drive to be more versatile and compact.
An SSD can include a number of memory devices, e.g., a number of memory chips. As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, a memory chip can include a number of dies and/or logical units (LUNs), e.g., where a LUN can be one or more die. Each die can include a number of memory arrays and peripheral circuitry thereon. The memory arrays can include a number of memory cells organized into a number of physical pages, and the physical pages can be organized into a number of blocks. An array of flash memory cells can be programmed a page at a time and erased a block at a time. Managing and/or controlling the power consumed by SSDs using sequence power control can be useful in order to control battery life, for instance.


A large round baler includes a net wrapping device mounted to the rear and bottom of the discharge gate of the baler. A spare roll of net material is stored above an active roll of net material which rests upon and is caused to be rotated by the upper roll of a pair of net material feed rolls. The rolls of material are wider than the baling chamber of the baler and net spreader rolls, including both raised spirals and spiral grooves, are provided along the net feed path so that the net is at its full width when it arrives at the inlet to the bale chamber which is located at a lower bale-forming belt support roll extending between opposite sidewalls of the gate at the lower front of the gate. A pair of guide plates are mounted to the insides of the bale chamber sidewalls and extend about an upper portion of the circumference of a net spreader rolls located at the opposite ends of the belt support roll. These guide plates are shaped and positioned such that they perform the functions of creating a space between the bale end and the side wall for receiving marginal portions of the net, defining together with the side walls, a channel which leads from the net spreader rolls to the space created for receiving the net, rounding the end edges of the bale for better reception of the marginal portions of the net and deflecting crop material away from the spirals of the net spreader rolls so as to prevent them from wrapping with crop which would interfere with the feeding of the marginal portions of the net to be placed over the edges or corners at the opposite ends of the bale. First and second alternate embodiments respectively have only the recess or the entire shape of inner surfaces of the guide plates formed into the sidewalls. In the latter case, openings are provided in the sidewalls adjacent the trailing part of the formed shape, as considered relative to the direction of rotation of a bale engaging the formed shape.

The present invention relates to mechanisms for wrapping large cylindrical bales while in the bale-forming chamber of a large round baler, and more specifically relates to such mechanisms for placing net over the edges of such bales.
In popular use today are large round balers equipped with net wrapping mechanisms which place a web of plastic net about the circumference of a bale prior to the bale being discharged onto the ground. U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,315, granted to Ardueser et al. on Nov. 13, 1990, discloses such a device mounted to the discharge gate of a large round baler having an expansible baling chamber. Most of these mechanisms do not consistently place net up to the edges at the ends of the bales and this results in spoilage occurring at the ends of the bale and also in the bales having a somewhat poor appearance.
It has been recognized that the above-mentioned drawbacks associated with current net wrapping mechanisms could be avoided by also wrapping the corners and outer end portions of the bale (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,008 granted to Wildenberg et al. on Apr. 17, 1990). In order for the edge zones of the material to fold about the end edges of the bale and cover and extend a short distance on the end faces of the bale, this patent teaches that outer borders of the net should be made with elastic filaments. The making of net with different longitudinal elasticity across its width is somewhat inefficient and the usage of such net in some delivery systems is not entirely satisfactory since it is desirable to maintain a certain tension in the net as it is being wrapped around a bale in order to obtain a tight wrap without rupturing the material, and the control of tension in net having different elasticity across its width poses design difficulties.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,714, granted to Leiber et al. on Apr. 14, 1992 discloses a net wrap material constructed from thin ribbons of thermoplastic material, developed for wrapping pallet loads or agricultural bales, which exhibits a uniform, high degree of elasticity across its width when stretched in the longitudinal direction. The preferred characteristics of the knitted net material is to have an elongation at break of more than about 60%, an elastic limit of more than about 6% and an elasticity of more than 15% when elongated more than 40%.

Large round baler having wrapping mechanism for placing net over edges of bale


An assembly for releasably attaching a junction housing to a ceiling panel for a recessed lighting fixture. The assembly is in the form of a spring clamp and includes an outer section located over and movable along an outer surface of the housing when the housing is received within an opening in the panel, and an inner section movable along an inner surface of the housing when the housing is received within the opening in the panel. The inner section includes a finger-engageable element spring-biased to a locking position for locking the housing onto the panel, engageable by a user's finger to move the spring clamp to a releasing position releasing the housing for movement within the panel to a locking or releasing position with respect to the housing.

The present invention relations to housing attaching devices and assemblies. The invention is particularly useful for attaching junction housings for recessed lighting fixtures to ceiling panels, and is therefore described below with respect to such an application, but it will be appreciated the invention could be used in other applications as well.
Junction boxes for recessed lighting fixtures are frequently attached to ceiling panels using screws, bolts, or other fastening devices, but are generally characterized by one or more of the following drawbacks: They require time, skill and experience for properly aligning the lighting fixture to the junction box and for properly aligning the fasteners with respect to the junction box and the ceiling panel. They generally also require significant time to remove the junction box from the ceiling panel for purposes of inspection, cleaning, repair or replacement. In addition, they severely limit the design and configuration of the junction box and/or lighting fixture, in order to accommodate them for application to the ceiling panel. Still further, the appearance of fasteners, when used, also detracts from the appearance of the lighting fixture particularly when it is a recessed lighting fixture in a ceiling panel.
Various constructions have been developed for overcoming or reducing these drawbacks, as shown for example in US Patent application 2011/0110106, and U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,331,555, 6,554,458, 6,827,471 and 7,456,357. However, none of these known constructions has been found entirely satisfactory in one or more of the above respects.

Housing attaching devices and assemblies


An electrochemical cell including a folded electrode layer and a folded separator, a battery including the electrochemical cell, and methods of forming the electrochemical cell and battery are disclosed. The electrode layer is folded in a first direction and the separator is folded in a second direction, such that the first direction and second direction are orthogonal each other.

A typical battery includes one or more electrochemical cells to store electrical energy. Each electrochemical cell includes an anode (negatively charged electrode during discharge of the cell), a cathode (positively charged electrode during discharge of the cell), an electrolyte between the anode and the cathode, and also typically includes a separator between the anode and cathode to, among other things, keep the anode and cathode from contacting each other.
An amount of electrical charge an electrochemical cell can store is related to the electrochemical system, which is a combination of reactive and nonreactive materials, an amount of electrode material and/or electrolyte material available for an electrochemical reaction. Generally, the greater the amount of available electrode and/or electrolyte material, the greater the charge capacity. In addition, larger electrode surface area decreases the internal resistance of the battery and can improve diffusion processes, which enables discharging and charging the battery at relatively large currents and improves other charge and discharge properties of the cell. Techniques to provide electrochemical cells with additional electrode surface and thereby improve cell performance include winding layers of the cell into a cylindrical shape to form a wound cell and stacking multiple layers of cells on top of one another to form a stacked cell.
Wound electrochemical cells are typically formed by layering anode, separator, and cathode layers adjacent each other, e.g., from continuous rolls of the respective layers, and then winding the layers to form a cylindrical structure. The cylindrical structure can be flattened to form a flat pack structure, which may better conform to design configurations of devices that use the batteries including the cells. Because the wound cells can be formed from continuous rolls of materials, manufacturing wound electrochemical cells is a relatively inexpensive way to form electrochemical cells having relatively high charge capacity and other desired properties. However, wound electrochemical cells and batteries including the cells may experience an inhomogeneous distribution of pressure and force caused by a volume change of portions of the cell during charge and discharge of the cell; this is especially true when a wound cell is compressed into a flat pack. This change in pressure may reduce the performance of the battery, the safety of the battery, and/or the lifetime of the battery.
Stacked cells are formed by placing multiple structures, each including an anode, separator, and cathode layer, in a vertical stack. Compared to would cells, stacked cells are relatively expensive to manufacture, because pre-cut or formed sheets of the anode, separator, and cathode layers must be separately formed and then stacked upon one another, which requires time-consuming, precise alignment of the layers. In addition, the equipment required to precisely place each layer is relatively expensive. However, cells and batteries formed using this technique exhibit relatively homogeneous force distribution caused by any volume change of the cell during charge and discharge of the cell. Thus, such cells may exhibit increased performance, lifetime, and safety compared to similar cells formed using wound cell technology.
Another technique used to form electrochemical cells includes using a z-fold or accordion fold of one or more layers of the electrochemical cell. Using a z-fold technique may be advantageous compared to winding layers of a cell, because folding techniques may allow for more homogeneous pressure and force distribution within the cells; however, the equipment and time required for folding cell layers is generally greater than for winding the cell layers. Folding techniques may be advantageous over stacking methods, because at least some of the layers of cells can be derived from continuous or semi-continuous sheets of materials, whereas all layers of a stacked cell are pre-cut; however, the pressure distribution within a cell including folded layers may not be as uniform as within stacked cells.
U.S. Publication No. 2012/0208066 A1, published Aug. 16, 2012, in the name of Schaefer et al., discloses a z-fold technique used in forming an electrode stack of an electrochemical cell. The disclosed method includes a continuous layer of z-folded separator material and cathode and anode electrode plates that are interposed between z-folded layers of the separator material. Although the electrochemical cells disclosed in Schaefer et al. have some advantages over purely stacked electrochemical cells, the cells of Schaefer et al. still require precise formation and alignment of both anode and cathode plates of the cells.
PCT Publication No. WO 2009/078632 A2, published Jun. 25, 2009, in the name of LG CHEM., LTD., discloses a battery that includes a plurality of overlapping electrochemical cells, wherein each cell includes a cathode, an anode, and a separator, and a continuous separator sheet is disposed between the overlapping electrochemical cells. While the disclosed cells have the advantage of being surrounded by a continuous sheet of separator material, the cells still require precise formation and alignment of the cathode, separator, and anode plates on top of the continuous sheet of separator material.
JP Publication No. 09017441 A, published Jan. 17, 1997, in the name of Kazuhiro, discloses a square battery having a z-folded anode layer and a z-folded cathode layer, wherein the cathode layer is directly coated with a continuous coating of separator material. The battery also includes a current collector that extends vertically and horizontally to prevent the polar sheets from shifting. The current collector is purported to have an advantage of not requiring tabs on electrodes. However, the current collector disclosed in Kazuhiro adds considerable weight and volume to the battery. In addition, the coated cathode and cells including such cathodes are thought to be relatively difficult to manufacture.
Although z-fold or accordion fold techniques for various layers within an electrochemical have been developed, the techniques still include additional steps, alignment of multiple plates, relatively difficult manufacturing steps, and/or add additional volume and weight to the cell. Accordingly, improved electrochemical cells and batteries and methods of forming the cells and batteries are desired.

Electrochemical cell having a folded electrode and separator, battery including the same, and method of forming same


A weapon system incorporating a cannon mounted in a cradle and intended to be carried on a vehicle wherein the cradle is integral with a plate able to be positioned on the ground by the vehicle using a maneuvering arm, the cannon being able to fire from the plate positioned on the ground.

1. Field of the Invention
The technical scope of the invention is that of weapon systems and namely weapon systems mounted on a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known for a weapon system to be associated with a vehicle. However, specific vehicles are generally implemented which have been designed to be able to carry the weapon system in question and which are namely able to withstand the firing stresses.
Thus, heavy or light armored vehicles, wheeled or tracked, and provided with a turret fitted with a cannon whose calibre may be between 75 mm and 155 mm are known.
155 mm artillery systems are also known which are mounted onto strengthened trucks from which they are able to fire thanks to the implementation of stabilizers or spades able to take up the firing stresses. These pieces of artillery have the advantage of being very mobile but the vehicle used has been modified and strengthened to enable the weapon to be fired.
Known systems are also relatively heavy (at least 18 tons) and their sheer bulk limits the possibilities of air transportation into theatres of operations.
It is also known, by patent WO02/061362 to transport classical artillery on a truck, then to unload it in the field. However, the deployment and withdrawal of such artillery takes a relatively long time and it is not possible to do this from the vehicle itself.

Weapon system that can be carried by a truck


A new and distinct cultivar of Nemesia plant named ‘PENPUR’ that is characterized by a compact habit and dense upright spikes of pure white flowers which do not exhibit a yellow palate on the lower petals. In combination, these characteristics set ‘PENPUR’ apart from all other existing varieties of Nemesia known to the inventor.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Nemesia plant that will be referred to hereinafter by the cultivar name 'PENPUR'. 'PENPUR' was discovered by the inventor in 2000 at the inventor's nursery in Netherwent, Wales, United Kingdom.
In the summer of 2000, the inventor observed that a single plant of the inventor's blue flowered Nemesia variety named 'PENSKY' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 16,902) was bearing a naturally occurring branch sport which carried pure white flowers. The inventor had previously observed white flowered Nemesias in his breeding program, and was also aware of white flowered Nemesia varieties in commerce. However all of these white flowered varieties known or observed by the inventor shared the common characteristic of a distinct yellow palate at the base of the lower petals. Such a yellow palate to generally present in Nemesias and appears as a raised area on each of the pair of lower petal lips, giving the appearance of a yellow throat.
The inventor was able to take several cuttings from the branch sport of 'PENSKY' and to observe each of the resulting plants as they came into flower. Each of the plants bore an identical pure white flower with no apparent yellow palate. The inventor determined that he had developed a new and distinct variety of Nemesia, named 'PENPUR' which remained true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The inventor has observed that if the upper and lower petals are prized apart then a small yellow palate is visible on the lower petal surfaces. However, when the petals are returned to their natural aspect, no yellow palate is visible to the observer.
When compared with the sport parent Nemesia 'PENSKY', 'PENPUR' differs only in respect of the color of its flowers and flower parts. In overall appearance, 'PENPUR' exhibits pure white flowers whereas 'PENSKY' exhibits soft pale lavender blue flowers.
The closest variety of white flowered Nemesia known to the inventor is Nemesia plant named 'Tiktoc' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,977) sold as Nemesia 'Compact Innocence', which exhibits a prominent yellow palate on its lower petals.
'PENPUR' was first asexually propagated by the inventor at the inventor's nursery in Netherwent, Wales, United Kingdom in 2000 using internodal cuttings. 'PENPUR' has subsequently be asexually propagated, using tip and branch cuttings, and has been determined to reproduce true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.


A suspension package includes a frame having two sides and two ends positioned around a central opening. Two end panels are hinged at respective ends of the frame, and two side panels are hinged at respective sides of the frame. A product restraining hammock is mounted to extend between the end panels over the opening. In use the end panels are pivoted downwardly to tension the hammock and to suspend a product in the opening. The side panels are pivoted upwardly to space the frame array away from an outer container into which the suspension package is placed. The end panels may be shaped as tubular beams to provide increased bending resistance. Additionally, a brace panel can be formed as an integral extension of an end panel. Further, an extension flap can be positioned within the central opening to reduce the prospect that a package held in the product restraint will strike the end beam or an outside wall of a container housing the suspension package.

This invention relates to a suspension package that suspends a product within a container.
A variety of suspension packages have been proposed in the past, including those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,606,459, 5,056,665, 5,226,542, and 5,579,917, all assigned to the assignee of the present invention. Other suspension packages of the prior art are described for example in Ridgeway, U.S. Pat. No. 4,923,065.
In spite of this previous work, a need presently exists for an improved suspension package that is simpler and less expensive than the prior art packages described above.


A user equipment (UE) and a base station (BS) for a mobile communication system are provided. The UE receives, from the BS, a first downlink control information (DCI) indicating a first uplink resource for transmitting a first uplink signal, and then receives, from the BS, a second DCI indicating a second uplink resource for transmitting a second uplink signal. The BS configures the second uplink resource to be advanced to the first uplink resource in the time domain based on the uplink out-of-order configuration. The UE decides the transmission of the first uplink signal according to the condition of resource configuration.

With the rapid development of wireless communication technologies, wireless communication has found wide application in people's life, and people's demand for wireless communication is increasing. The next generation of mobile communication system (which is generally referred to as the 5G mobile communication system currently) has proposed new service types, e.g., Ultra-reliable and Low Latency Communication (URLLC), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) communication, and Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC).
The current planning of the 5G mobile communication system allows the base station (BS) to configure different uplink radio resources for a UE to perform the uplink transmission in response to the requirements of the different service types, but regardless what the service type each of the uplink radio resources corresponds to. Thus, the BS always configures the uplink radio resources in order and transmits the DCIs to indicate the uplink radio resources for the UE to transmit the uplink signals. However, since the URLLC service is mainly designed for the vehicle communication, the industrial control and any applications having high reliable and low latency transmission requirement, the UE may have the need of instantaneous transmission due to some urgent conditions. Under such circumstances, the BS in the prior art inevitably could not meet the high reliable and low latency transmission requirement of the URLLC service since the uplink radio resources can only be configured in order. Moreover, even the BS would like to break the in-order configuration restriction to satisfy the need of instantaneous transmission for urgency, there is no relevant solution for such transmission between the BS and the UE in the prior art so as to have difficulty in the implementation.
Accordingly, an urgent need exists in the art to provide an uplink transmission mechanism to schedule the uplink radio resources in response to the need of instantaneous transmission for urgency and make the BS and the UE able to deal with such instantaneous transmission for urgency.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

User equipment and base station for mobile communication system


The present invention provides an active/standby data center that avoids the delay associated with a cached DNS entry to switch from the active data center to the standby data center. When the active data center becomes unavailable, the standby data center advertises the same address as the primary data center so the change over occurs quickly. When the IP address of the primary data center is no longer visible to the standby data center, the standby data center begins to advertise.

The present invention relates to a data center topology that can recover from a disaster and more particularly to an improved disaster recovery method in the event the active data center malfunctions.
A data center stores information related to a particular business, provides global access to the information and application software through a plurality of computer resources and may include automated systems to monitor server activity, network traffic and performance. A data center may be known by a variety of names such as, by way of example, a server farm, hosting facility, data farm, data warehouse, co-location facility, co-located server hosting facility, corporate data center, managed data centers, internet hotel, internet service provider, application service provider, full service provider, wireless application service provider, site or other data network facility. Regardless of the name used, a typical data center houses computer resources such as mainframe computers; web, application, file and printer servers executing various operating systems and application software, storage subsystems and network infrastructure. A data center may be either a centralized data center or a distributed data center interconnected by either a public or private network.
A centralized data center provides a single data center where the computer resources are located. Because there is only one location, there is a saving in terms of the number of computer resources required to provide services to the user. Because there is only one location, management of the computer resources is much easier and capital and operating costs are reduced. Unfortunately, centralized data centers are rarely capable of providing the necessary reliability required under common service level agreements for a geographically diverse organization and the service is susceptible to interruption in the event of a disaster, such as a fire or earthquake, equipment malfunction or denial of service attack. For these reasons, centralized data centers are rarely relied upon for critical applications.
A distributed data center is one that locates computer resources at geographically diverse data centers. The use of multiple data centers provides critical redundancy, albeit at higher capitol and operating costs, business continuity, disaster recovery, and load-sharing solutions. Some distributed data centers use Domain Name System (DNS) for managing business continuance and load sharing between multiple data centers. However, Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) and exterior Border Gateway Protocol (E-BGP) are more often used to route traffic between multiple data centers. IGP refers to the Interior Gateway Protocol, which is an internet protocol used to exchange routing information within an autonomous system. BGP refers to the Border Gateway Protocol that is an interautonomous system routing protocol. BGP is used to exchange routing information for the Internet and is the protocol used between Internet service providers (ISP). An autonomous system is a network or group of networks under a common administration and with common routing policies. BGP is used to exchange routing information for the Internet and is the protocol used between Internet service providers. When BGP is used between autonomous systems (AS), the protocol is referred to as External BGP (E-BGP). If BGP is used to exchange routes within an AS, then the protocol is referred to as Interior BGP (I-BGP).
One type of distributed data center topology comprises a pair of data centers, one of which is active and one of which is a standby data center. In an active/standby topology, applications are hosted on both data centers but only one data center is active at any give time. All traffic goes to the active data center until it fails after which traffic is routed to the standby data center. With DNS routing, there could be a significant delay as DNS record caches are updated to redirect the traffic to the now-active data center. During this period, the data center would be inaccessible to any users. A preferable method to implement an active/standby data center topology is to use the same IP address for both data centers and advertise the IP address with different metrics from each data center location. A metric is a standard of measurement, such as path bandwidth, that is used by routing algorithms to determine the optimal path to a destination. This may be preferable to a DNS solution because it avoids the vulnerabilities of DNS record caching.
Although advertising IP addresses is relatively straight forward, there is a risk that both data centers can be active simultaneously, which is undesirable. Accordingly, there is a great need to enable the standby data center to accurately monitor the health of the active data center such that the standby data center will advertise its IP address only if the active data center is actually down. Further, since routing protocols use various metrics to evaluate what path will be best for traffic to travel, route information will vary depending on the routing algorithm. To aid the process of path determination, it is necessary that the IP address be advertised in a manner that minimizes or eliminates the ambiguity in taking different paths and also minimizes the time it takes to update adjacent routers with the new route information.
What is needed is way to make sure that two data centers are not simultaneously active in an active-standby topology. What is also needed is standby data center that will advertise its IP address only if service by the active data center is interrupted due to a disaster, equipment malfunction or other reason.

Disaster recovery for active-standby data center using route health and BGP


A system for downloading different versions of software or data modules into a plurality of terminals having different compatibility interfaces includes an authoring component for generating the different module versions, a downloading source including a descriptor table which associates each module version with a list of compatibility requirements needed to download the module, and a plurality of terminals coupled to the downloading source. The downloading source transmits the descriptor table to each terminal and also continuously transmits the modules over the network. Each terminal extracts the descriptor table and, based on a match between an entry in the descriptor table and an internally stored table, determines which version of a particular module should be downloaded. The system avoids the need for two-way communication between each terminal and the downloading source.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to systems for downloading software and data modules into terminals over a network, such as home communication terminals (HCTs) in a cable television network. More specifically, the invention provides an apparatus and method for selectively downloading different versions of software modules and data modules to a variety of potentially different terminal types, where the differences may be due to variations in hardware, operating system versions, or other parameters.
2. Related Information
Systems capable of downloading computer software into terminals such as HCTs in a subscription television system are well known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,632, entitled xe2x80x9cReprogrammable Subscriber Terminalxe2x80x9d, describes a system including means for reprogramming subscriber terminals by downloading code in a series of transactions. Such systems can be used to add new applications, or to replace outdated or faulty software. Difficulties and inefficiencies may arise, however, in networks having different types of terminals which require different versions of software.
For example, in a cable television network, some subscribers may have the newest HCT model with fast processors, special peripherals and extra memory, while other subscribers may have older HCTs which do not have such interfaces or capabilities. Additionally, some HCTs may be loaded with the latest version of an operating system, while others may be compatible only with older versions of the operating system. Similarly, HCTs from different suppliers with different designs generally require different versions of software. In such systems, multiple versions of software and data must be downloaded. Thus arises a problem in determining which versions of particular modules should be downloaded into each terminal, and providing an efficient scheme for doing so.
One possible method for solving the aforementioned problem is to provide each terminal with means for requesting only a particular version of a module from the headend. Unfortunately, such a scheme requires two-way communication between the terminals and the headend, which may be expensive and inefficient to provide, particularly since each terminal would require, at least temporarily, a dedicated channel for transmitting the requested version of the software or data.
Other downloading schemes involving client-server paradigms in a network environment are also known. For example, in a network comprising a server and a plurality of clients, any particular client on the network requiring a new or updated software module can download such software by making a request to the server, which provides the requested version over the network. However, as noted above, in networks such as subscription television systems, such two-way communication may be expensive and difficult to provide, and may result in increased complexity and reduced download performance. Furthermore, it may be difficult to coordinate version numbers among different software applications, complicating the task of determining which versions of complementary software should be downloaded into a particular terminal.
Finally, systems which require communication between the downloading source and each terminal impose additional processing requirements upon the downloading source and on the terminal. In a network comprising hundreds of thousands of terminals and a single downloading source, such added processing can slow down the system unacceptably.
The above-described problems will likely worsen as the variety of HCTs expands to provide consumers with a wider range of terminals of varying capabilities and prices, and from multiple suppliers with different designs.
Accordingly, in order to overcome the above and other difficulties, a means of selectively downloading software and data modules without requiring two-way client-server communication is desirable. To date, no such suitable approach has been developed.
The present invention solves the aforementioned problems by providing a system and method for selectively downloading software and data modules to terminals in a network without requiring communication between the terminal and the downloading source. The term xe2x80x9cmodulesxe2x80x9d as used herein includes application programs, subparts of programs, operating systems, xe2x80x9cpatchesxe2x80x9d, data tables, groups of interpretable instructions, and the like.
According to various aspects of the invention, an authoring source generates a plurality of module versions according to different terminal configurations, operating system versions, or other hardware parameters such as memory size. Each different module version has accompanying descriptor information which identifies the compatibility requirements and/or interfaces needed to support the module. A transmitting (downloading) source such as a headend facility transmits, to a plurality of terminals, descriptors which correlate each module version with its required interfaces. Each terminal receives the transmitted descriptors and, by comparing the descriptors with an internal configuration table, selects the xe2x80x9cbestxe2x80x9d module version for that terminal. The actual module may be downloaded in a xe2x80x9ccarouselxe2x80x9d channel which continuously broadcasts all the various versions of modules in a loop, or it may be downloaded by other means such as an in-band channel.
According to another aspect of the invention, each terminal may automatically extract the descriptors upon boot-up to automatically find the most recent version of the operating system to be downloaded for the terminal.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, each terminal may extract the descriptors after a user selects an application program.
Other features and advantages will become apparent through the following detailed description, the drawings, and the appended claims.

Multicast downloading of software and data modules and their compatibility requirements