The invention relates to an assembly for a differential unit of a vehicle, the assembly comprising: —a first housing portion (20a) designed to be assembled with a second housing portion for forming a differential carrier housing; —a first and a second supporting devices (30, 301, 302), each comprising a main portion (33) having substantially the shape of a ring and a base portion (31) attached to the first housing portion (20a) so that the main portions (33) of the first and second supporting devices (30) are substantially coaxial along a longitudinal direction (X), the first and second supporting devices being configured to support, in use, a system comprising a crown wheel (22) and a differential housing (24) containing a differential, the system having two end portions each including a bearing which has an inner ring (51) mounted on the differential housing (24), an outer ring configured to be mounted in the main portion (33) of one of the supporting devices (30), and rolling elements. The first housing portion (20a), the first supporting device (301) and the second supporting device (302) are made as a single piece. Moreover, the main portion (33) of at least one supporting device (30) comprises a notch (40) for inserting at least part of a corresponding end portion of the system (100), the notch (40) opening: —in a radial direction (Y), which is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction (X); —and in the longitudinal direction (X), towards the opposite supporting device (30).

A vehicle such as a truck is generally equipped with one or several differential units on its driven axles.
A differential unit typically comprises a differential carrier housing which is made of a first housing portion assembled with a second housing portion, and which contains the differential mechanism, i.e.: a crown wheel driven by an input shaft, a differential arranged inside the crown wheel and comprising pinions and gears, and a differential housing containing the differential and part of drive shafts connected to a wheel of the vehicle.
The differential housing is rotatably mounted in the differential carrier housing. To that end, the first housing portion comprises a first and a second supporting devices each comprising a main portion having substantially the shape of a ring, for receiving a bearing mounted around the differential housing surrounding the drive shaft.
According to a known implementation, a supporting device is made of a first half ring which is made as a single piece with the first housing portion, and a second half ring which is manufactured as a separate piece and subsequently secured to the first half ring.
This implementation has several drawbacks. In particular, it requires manufacturing and assembling several parts, which is unfavourable in terms of time and cost. Besides, the half rings needs to be paired after they have been machined together in the assembled position, to ensure proper operation of the differential unit. Moreover, having a supporting device made of two separate parts may lead to the ring being less resistance to mechanical fatigue and becoming oval over time, which would result in a malfunctioning of the differential unit.
According to another known implementation, the supporting devices are made of as a single piece with the first housing portion. With such an implementation, mounting the differential mechanism between the supporting devices with the end portions of the differential housing engaged in the supporting devices is fairly complicated. Indeed, this requires to first engage one end portion of the differential housing in one supporting device, with the differential mechanism being arranged obliquely, and then to move the differential mechanism towards a straight position in order to engage the other end portion of the differential housing in the other supporting device. In other words, the mounting process requires a combination of successive movements of the differential mechanism, which are not easy to perform, all the more as the differential mechanism can be heavy. Thus, this implementation proves difficult to mount by an operator. Another drawback of this implementation is that the successive movements of the differential mechanism require a great space to be performed, resulting in a differential unit having a large size.

Assembly for a differential unit of a vehicle


A no-impact keyboard for decreasing the risk of a repetitive stress injury to the user. The keyboard comprises a plurality of keys having a key cap and a stem, an impact absorbing mechanism which prevents any part of a key from striking a hard surface during a keystroke, and a sensor for sending an actuation signal from each key when the key passes a defined point in the keystroke. The impact absorbing mechanism may be a spring, a magnetic mechanism, or a hydraulic-pneumatic mechanism.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer input devices, and more particularly, to a keyboard which produces little or no impact on a user""s fingers, thereby decreasing the risk of a repetitive stress injury such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
2. Description of Related Art
Along with the rapid growth of machine automation and the widespread personal and professional use of computers, there has been an increase in repetitive stress injuries. Commonly occurring in the workplace, these injuries include upper limb disorders such as xe2x80x9cCarpal Tunnel Syndromexe2x80x9d, cumulative trauma disorder, and occupational overuse syndrome.
Frequent users of personal computers, such as shown in FIG. 1, are at risk for a repetitive stress injury when interacting with the device through a standard electronic keyboard. Stress injuries arise from accumulative strain on the limbs over a period of time. In contrast to using a traditional manual typewriter, the computer keyboard user no longer takes breaks from data input for carriage returns, error corrections, and paper insertions. Instead, the user achieves the equivalent of these functions with additional keystrokes, never removing the hands from the keyboard or repositioning the arms to reach for items such as correction fluid, paper, or an adding machine.
This uninterrupted use places a continuous strain on the fingers and upper limbs, especially due to the stress of the constant impact from the keyboard. When each key reaches the bottom of a keystroke, it xe2x80x9cbottoms out,xe2x80x9d causing a small impact to the fingers as the key hits onto a hard plastic surface or non-resilient material. The vibration of impact travels up the hand and arm, stressing the soft tissues such as the muscles, tendons, and ligaments. This is similar to the vibration of impact traveling up the leg of a runner when his foot hits the ground, causing his muscles and joints to become sore. Typing on a keyboard without any cushion for the impact of the keys is similar to a person running without cushioning in his shoes, quickly leading to soreness and pain if done continuously, and contributing to the development of a repetitive stress injury.
For example, with reference to FIG. 1, a personal computer system typically includes a computer 12, a display device 14, a keyboard 15 and a mouse 16. The standard keyboard 16 includes an alphanumeric keypad 18, a row of function keys 20, a numeric keypad 22 and a command keypad 24. While seated at the computer system 10, facing the display 14, the user""s upper torso, arms, wrists, and hands rarely change position while the user""s fingers are operating the keyboard 15. This uninterrupted, repetitive impact of the fingers over a standard keyboard may cause excessive use and chronic fatigue of the muscles and tendons, causing the tendons to swell, and at the same time, squeezing the median nerve as it passes through the wrist ligament. This leads to pain and discomfort, and it is commonly associated with symptoms such as numbness, burning, and tingling sensations in the hands and arms. These symptoms are commonly associated with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, a syndrome of median nerve compression with symptoms in the hands and arm where the nerve runs. Medical treatments for this condition include physical therapy and surgery to relieve the pressure on the median nerve.
FIGS. 2-4 illustrate the tissue and nerves affected by carpal tunnel syndrome, depicting the human wrist 30 in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the arm 40 in FIG. 4. With reference to FIGS. 2-4, carpal tunnel syndrome is caused by compression of the median nerve 31, which travels from the neck to the fingers, through the upper arm 22, forearm 24, wrist 25, and hand 28. The palmar carpal ligament 32, shown reflected in FIG. 2, wraps around the bones 27, 29, of the wrist 25, otherwise known as the carpals, to form the carpal tunnel 35. The muscles 23 of the forearm 24 are attached by the tendons 26 to the fingers and travel underneath the carpal ligament 32, as does the median nerve 31.
Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when the tissues in the carpal tunnel 35 become irritated and as a result, swell and eventually compress the median nerve 31, causing the symptoms noted above. Traditional writings on carpal tunnel syndrome have identified the cause of the irritation and swelling variously as chronic fatigue of the muscles, overuse of the tendons, and rubbing of the tendons, muscles and bones due to repetitive use of the hands and fingers. In particular, holding the wrists in xe2x80x9cunnaturalxe2x80x9d positions enhance the rubbing of tendons and contribute to muscle fatigue. For example, the position of the wrist while typing on a conventional, straight keyboard has been cited as a major contributor to carpal tunnel syndrome.
As a result of the above diagnosis of the cause of carpal tunnel syndrome, the prior art approaches to preventing these injuries include adjusting the work environment to better fit the user""s body. These ergonomic adjustments include the use of wrist pads, split keyboards, keyboard replacements, and keyboards and drawers with wrist supports unitarily formed within. Devices such as the split keyboard create a xe2x80x9cnaturalxe2x80x9d position of the user""s wrists while typing. These devices, however, have not significantly reduced the incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome.
The Applicant""s research suggests that the traditional view of the cause of carpal tunnel syndrome is limited, and as a result, the prior art solutions to the problem have been largely ineffective. Carpal tunnel syndrome does not occur merely from repetitively using the fingers and hands. For thousands of years, people have worked at repetitive upper limb tasks which have not led to the large numbers of persons experiencing the symptoms described above. Even with the advent of the manual typewriter, there were not reported cases of symptoms similar to carpal tunnel syndrome.
Instead, the cause of the tissue irritation is from the loading placed on the muscles and tendons of the arm, and the repetitive impact stress caused by typing on keyboards on which the keys strike a hard surface at the bottom of the keystroke. The use of the non-giving design of a traditional keyboard is similar to repetitively striking the fingers against a hard desk top, or like a person running on hard concrete without cushioned shoes. The harder the fingers are struck, the more evident the xe2x80x9cbone jarringxe2x80x9d impact becomes. Each impact causes tension in the tendons to spike to high levels, and sets up a vibration which must be absorbed by the surrounding tissues. Although the impact of fingers on a keyboard may not appear injurious, research shows that the loading on the muscles is much higher than expected, and the repetitive impact and resultant vibrations from thousands of keystrokes that end on a hard solid surface causes the tissues in the carpal tunnel 35 to become irritated, and as a result, to swell and eventually compress the median nerve 31.
The prior art neither teaches nor suggests a means to lessen the strain placed on the upper limbs through repetitive absorption of vibrations from the impact of each keystroke. In order to decrease the risk of a repetitive stress injury, it would be advantageous to have a no-impact keyboard which reduces or eliminates the vibrations and tissue irritations associated with the repetitive impact of the fingers. The present invention provides such a solution.
The present invention provides an improved keyboard for decreasing the risk of repetitive stress injuries. The no-impact keyboard of the invention incorporates a means for cushioning each keystroke to decrease or eliminate the vibrational impact traditionally absorbed into the body when the key reaches the hard bottom of the keystroke.
According to a preferred embodiment, the no-impact keyboard includes a plurality of keys, each of the keys comprising a key cap and a stem; an impact absorbing mechanism which prevents any part of a key from striking a hard surface during a keystroke by a typist""s finger; and means for sending an actuation signal from each key when the key passes a defined point in the keystroke.
In another aspect, the present invention is an impact absorbing keyboard comprising a plurality of keys, each of the keys having a cap and a stem with a bottom end; a circuit board mounted under the plurality of keys; means for each key to make electrical contact with the circuit board; and an impact absorbing spring having a spring tension sufficient to prevent the bottom end of the stem from striking the circuit board when the key cap is struck.


A wheel has a tire, two wheel disks disposed in a center of the tire, and a gasket disposed between the two wheel disks. Each of the wheel disks has an axle hole, a plurality of threaded holes, and a plurality of lock holes. The gasket has a center hole, a plurality of threaded apertures, and a plurality of lock apertures. An axle passes through the center hole and the axle holes.

The present invention relates to a wheel. More particularly, the present invention relates to a wheel for a heavy vehicle.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a wheel 1 comprises a tire 3, an inner tube 31 disposed in the tire 3, an air valve 311 disposed on the inner tube 31, and two wheel disks 11 disposed in a center of the tire 3. Each of the wheel disks 11 has an axle hole 111, a plurality of threaded holes 112, and a plurality of lock holes 113. An axle 12 passes through the center hole 121 and the axle holes 111. The threaded holes 112 are passed through with bolts 100. The lock holes 113 are passed through with bolts 100. Each bolt 100 is engaged with a nut 110. An inflation hole 114 is formed on one of the wheel disks 11 to receive the air valve 311. When the tire 3 is inflated, a carcass 32 of the tire 3 is pressed by the wheel disks 11. The gap between the wheel disks 11 may be formed if the wheel disks 11 are not fastened tightly.

1, Nong 7, Lane 211, Hui Ming St., Yuan Lin


A goggle based light-weight VOG system includes at least one digital camera connected to and powered by a laptop computer through a firewire connection. The digital camera may digitally center the pupil in both the X and Y directions. A calibration mechanism may be incorporated onto the goggle base. An EOG system may also be incorporated directly into the goggle. The VOG system may track and record 3-D movement of the eye, track pupil dilation, head position and goggle slippage. An animated eye display provides data in a more meaningful fashion. The VOG system is a modular design whereby the same goggle frame or base is used to build a variety of digital camera VOG systems.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to clinical eye tracking systems, and more particularly to a self-contained, portable video-oculography goggle system.
2. Background Information
Accurate eye position recording and monitoring in three dimensions (3D-yaw, pitch and torsion rotation about line of sight) is a significant clinical diagnostic tool in the field of vestibular disorders such as vertigo and other neurological disorders. A non-invasive technique for recording eye position relative to the head is to use a camera to record eye position relative to the head, known as videoculography or VOG. VOG systems are used by Vestibular Researchers, Ophthalmologist, Otolaryngologists, Physical Therapists, Neurologists, Audiologists, Balance Clinicians, Neurophysiologists, Physiologists, Neuroscientists, Occupational Therapists, and others. Image processing software is utilized to interpret the images to provide objective data of eye position. This is described in "A GEOMETRIC BASIS FOR MEASUREMENT OF THREE-DIMENSIONAL EYE POSITION USING IMAGE PROCESSING" Vision Res. Volume 36. No. 3, Moore et al., pp 445-459, 1996, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The existing VOG systems can be categorized as either earth mounted or head mounted systems. The oldest method uses earth fixed cameras and attempt to limit movement of the head. The relative movement of the head and the camera would be interpreted as eye movement. These systems attempt to stabilize or immobilize the head with head holders, head rests, chin rests, or bite bars. Although archaic, this type of system is still used extensively in some laboratories and many clinical environments. The biggest disadvantage of these systems is the inability to remove all head movement. Even the smallest head movements (e.g. resulting from breathing, talking, involuntary postural modification, and from fatigue etc.) cause significant inaccuracy in the measured eye movement. These systems are particularly unsuitable when inertial stimuli (e.g. a rotational chair) are delivered to a subject in order to produce vestibular responses, since these stimuli also tend to generate head movement. This equipment is often heavy and bulky since it must be strong enough to support and attempt to restrain the head of a subject.
Another classification of earth mounted VOG systems are systems that attempt to measure eye movement using a space fixed (earth mounted) camera without a head holder mechanism. In general, these systems attempt to deal with head movement by first tracking the head and then the eye within the head. In practice, a subject must actively suppress their head movements to within a small range of translations in order to stay within view of the camera. Further, rotations of the head are quite difficult to detect using image processing and so these systems suffer from an inability to distinguish between a change of eye position in the head or a change of head position during maintained gaze. These systems must also use a wide-angle lens in order to digitize an image that includes the head movements. Consequently, little picture resolution is available for the analysis of the eye position. As a result of these limitations, these systems are generally only able to measure horizontal and vertical changes in relative eye/head position.
Another earth mounted VOG system attempts to measure the eye position by first tracking the position of the head and then moving a camera or mirrors to get an image of the eye with higher magnification and resolution. These systems also share many of the disadvantages of the other VOG earth fixed camera systems including the inability to accurately distinguish between head translation and rotation. Further, the mechanisms used can be complicated expensive noisy and distracting.
A second classification of VOG systems is the head mounted system. In one type of head mounted VOG system, head mounted cameras are supported by an adjustable headband often modified from the insert from a mining or welding helmet. The cameras may be mounted above the eyes and are directed down towards hot mirrors that reflect an infrared image of the eye. Head mounted eye movement recording systems are less prone to the errors from head movement, because the cameras move with head. Further this method for attaching the cameras to the head is particularly popular because the headsets can be easily fitted to any subject without modification. The camera mounting position above the eyes also seems fairly natural because hardware tends to stick up into the air. This placement keeps the centre of gravity closer to the head and reduces the inertial lag on yaw head movements. Despite these advantages, all head mounted video eye movement measurement systems obviously suffer from the need to wear equipment and be connected, via leads, to the analysis hardware. Further, the headband can be painful if it is tightened enough to effectively suppress slippage of the headset during head movement.
The camera may also be mounted to the side of the headband head mounted VOG systems. The main advantage of mounting cameras to the side rather than above the eyes is that the centre of mass of the headset tend to be further back towards the head and so these headsets don't tends to pitch the subject's head forward as much as some other arrangements. This camera position also can provide better power supply and data output access (i.e. the electrical and control feeds). The main disadvantage of this mounting position is that the headsets tend to become quite wide. These headsets tend to move relative to the head during the yaw head movements that are common during vestibular testing.
The camera may also be mounted in front of headband in the headband head mounted VOG systems. The main advantage from mounting cameras towards the front of the subject is that no hot mirrors are required to reflect an image of the eye into the cameras. This lack of hot mirrors simplifies the construction and adjustment of the headsets and may improve the quality of video images. However, while front mounted cameras might suit light occluded systems where darkness prevents the subject from seeing them, they don't suit most video headsets that use headbands because these may not have an open field of view. Apart from the obstruction to vision, cameras in front of the subject can provide visual suppression and orientation cues that may affect their eye movement responses. The headsets with front mounted cameras also tend to have a centre of gravity that is further away from the head.
In place of the headband, some head mounted VOG systems utilize goggles, similar to those on diving masks, in order to attach cameras to the subjects face. These headsets benefit from a silicon skirt that conforms to the face and stabilizes the cameras. Goggles also leave the head clear for the use of other devices that may be utilized in various clinical applications. Another advantage of goggles is that they are well suited for the construction of light occluding headsets as well as those with an open field of view, or those that are convertible between the two. The disadvantage of goggles style head mounted VOG systems is that they can be uncomfortable if the cameras and other hardware is to heavy and ways down on the subjects face.
Some research head mounted VOG systems use video cameras mounted on the headset with individually molded plastic or fiberglass masks. These masks are particularly stable and good at suppressing relative camera and head movement. Molded masks also tend to spread the weight of the video headset over a large surface area and do not produce the pressure points characteristic of some other methods. However, individually molded masks can be time-consuming and costly to make and are therefore not convenient for the clinical testing of large numbers of patients. Hybrid masks that combine a headband and standard molded mask section do not have these disadvantages but do not seem to benefit from the advantages either.
Another head mounted VOG system utilizes a helmet for camera mounting. The helmet style video headset benefits from a more even distribution of weight over the top of the head and from the balance provided by more weight towards the back. Helmet style video headsets are heavier than many other systems and so they tend to shift around during vigorous head movement. They are also quite bulky and prevent the application of head holders.
Another head mounted VOG system utilizes standard glasses construction (i.e. spectacle) for camera mounting. The advantages of spectacle type video headsets are that they can be very small and light, and are easily transportable. The disadvantages of this method include the discomfort from heavy equipment resting on the bridge of the nose. With very small contact area, spectacles can also be prone to movement relative to the head in response to inertial forces.
There remains a need for truly portable VOG systems. Further, there continues to be a need for accurate meaningful output for the clinicians in VOG systems without significant discomfort to the patients.
The above discussion concentrates on the deficiencies in the mechanical design of existing VOG systems. In addition to those issues, existing VOG systems are designed as one-of-a kind testing structures. This approach leads to expensive end products. Existing VOG systems also suffer from poor camera design, camera power supply issues, data transfer problems.
Analog cameras in existing VOG systems provide data regarding eye position for analysis as is known in the art. During testing the visual image of the eye(s) is often displayed in real time as a method for the clinician to follow and interpret the data. In other words a real video image of the patient is displayed with a graphed display of the data (e.g. a chart of eye vertical and horizontal position change over time). These may also be recorded for later review. The realistic eye image of the video does not always easily illustrate movement.
Clinicians have stated that existing VOG systems on the market suffer from the following drawbacks: the excessive weight of goggles, they can't be used with droopy eyelids; difficulty with set-up; torsional measurements not available; lack of the sensor for head positioning; difficulty in viewing eyes; limited in the number of targets presentable to the patient; low sampling rates; software limitations and inflexibility; no ability to focus the camera; and concerns over resolution.
There is a need to address at least some of these problems as well and still provide a portable, affordable VOG system providing accurate meaningful output for the clinicians in VOG systems.


A claw-pole motor having a rotor assembly orientated about a longitudinal axis, a stator assembly having a first plurality of stator teeth and a second plurality of stator teeth orientated radially about the longitudinal axis and extending axially in opposite directions to each other and alternating about the longitudinal axis, a first gap in the stator assembly orientated about the longitudinal axis, a second gap orientated about the longitudinal axis and extending both axially and radially between the first plurality of stator teeth and the second plurality of stator teeth, first electromagnetic windings disposed in the first gap and second electromagnetic windings disposed in the second gap, the first and second windings configured to be selectively energized to exert a torque on the rotor assembly.

Claw-pole type motors generally comprise a stator having a plurality of circumferentially spaced axially overlapping claw poles, and a rotor having a plurality of permanent magnets arranged along its circumference, wherein the motor rotates the rotor using electromagnetic forces generated between the stator and the rotor.
For example, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2009/0001843 entitled "Rotating Electrical Machine" is directed to a motor having a claw-pole stator with a stator core that includes a plurality of claw poles and a stator coil wound inside the stator core, and a rotor rotatably disposed at a position facing opposite the claw poles.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,714,475 entitled "Multiple Phase Claw Pole Type Motor" is directed to a multiple phase claw-pole type motor having a plurality of claw poles with claw portions extending in an axial direction and having a magnetic pole surface facing a rotor and being separated from the rotor by a small gap. A radial yoke portion extends radially outwardly from the claw portion, and an outer peripheral yoke extends from the radial yoke portion in the same direction as the direction of extension of the claw portion. The claw poles may be alternately placed so that a distal end of each claw portion faces the radial yoke of an adjacent one of the claw poles to form a stator core. An annular coil may be interposed between each adjacent pair of the claw poles in the stator core to form a stator.

Claw pole motor with a ring coil and a meandering coil


A security device includes a secure processor, a mail box, a cryptographic intellectual property (IP), a secure direct memory access (DMA) circuit, and an internal memory. The secure processor provides an isolated execution environment. The mail box transfers a request from a CPU to the secure processor. The cryptographic IP performs one or more secure operations, including a signature certification operation, an encryption/decryption operation, and an integrity verification operation, on secure data within the isolated execution environment and without intervention of the CPU. The secure DMA circuit controls the one or more secure operations within the isolated execution environment, wherein only the secure processor is configured to control the secure DMA circuit. The internal memory stores the secure data on which the one or more secure operations are performed. The cryptographic IP includes a DMA circuit configured to control data access to an external storage.

The present disclosure relates to data security, and more particularly to security devices, electronic devices including the same, and methods of operating electronic devices.
Recently, an electronic device, such as a mobile device, performs various types of operations using sensitive data, such as personal information, a cryptographic key, etc.
The electronic device may operate in a low power mode, including a stand-by mode, a sleep mode, and a power-down mode, which reduces power consumption. When entering and exiting the low power mode, it is very important (and/or desirable) to back-up and to restore the sensitive data, respectively. However, known techniques for backing up and restoring sensitive data may take a considerable amount of time to perform, which may substantially reduce performance (especially for an electronic device which frequently enters and leaves the low power mode, such as a resource-constrained mobile device with limited processing and/or memory resources). In addition, such known techniques for backing up and restoring sensitive data may be inherently insecure, which may risk corruption of the sensitive data and/or compromise of the electronic device itself (especially for an electronic device which requires intervention of a central processing unit (CPU) to perform one or more secure operations). Therefore, improved techniques for performing secure back-up operations and secure restoring operations in connection with sensitive data used by an electronic device are needed (and/or desired) for providing enhanced performance, efficiency, and/or security.

Security devices, electronic devices and methods of operating electronic devices


A torsional vibration damper includes a primary element with at least one primary driver, a secondary element with at least one secondary driver, at least one spring device between the primary and secondary drivers for resiliently elastic coupling of the primary and secondary elements, and at least one end block arranged on an end side of the spring device. The primary element is rotatable relative to the secondary element from a neutral position into a first position, in which the primary driver is supported only on the spring device, and from the first position onward into a second position, in which the primary driver is supported on the spring device and on the end block. In the first and second positions of the primary element, torque of the torsional vibration damper can be transmitted exclusively directly between the primary driver and spring device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a torsional vibration damper having a primary element with at least one primary driver, having a secondary element with at least one secondary driver, having at least one spring device between the primary driver and the secondary driver for the resiliently elastic coupling of the primary element and secondary element, and having at least one end block which is arranged on the end side of the spring device, with the primary element being rotatable relative to the secondary element from a neutral position into a first position, in which the primary driver is supported only on the spring device, and from the first position onward into a second position, in which the primary driver is supported on the spring device and on the end block. The present invention also relates to a drive train having a torsional vibration damper of said type.
2. Description of the Related Art
The prior art discloses various torsional vibration dampers which are also referred to as rotary vibration dampers or dual-mass flywheels. The known torsional vibration dampers are used in particular in automobile manufacture for elastically coupling the internal combustion engine and the drive train. In this way, it is intended to prevent torsional vibrations from being transmitted from the internal combustion engine to the drive train or to the transmission. Such a transmission occurs in particular in the case of internal combustion engines with a comparatively small number of cylinders and at low engine speeds. With effective damping of such vibrations, the internal combustion engine can be operated at low rotational speeds, which generally results in reduced fuel consumption.
For example, DE 199 58 814 A1 describes a rotary vibration damper in the form of a dual-mass flywheel. The known rotary vibration damper has a central disk element with a plurality of support arms arranged on the periphery, and a further disk element which is composed of two covering disk elements on which support projections are provided. Spring devices for resiliently elastically coupling the central disk element and the further disk element are provided between the support projections. The spring devices are composed of a plurality of spring elements which are arranged in succession in the tangential direction.
Support elements are arranged on the end sides of the spring devices known from DE 199 58 814 A1, which support elements are in practice also referred to as end blocks and adjoin an end-side spring element of the respective spring device. The end block also has a leadthrough opening which faces toward the support arm, while the support arm comprises a projection which faces toward the leadthrough opening. If the central disk element is rotated from a neutral position into a first position relative to the further disk element, then the projection of the support arm extends through the passage opening and is supported on the end-side spring element even before the support arm is supported on the end block. If the central disk element is rotated beyond the first position into a second position, then the spring element is already acted on directly with pressure by the projection. When the second position is reached, the support arm is also supported on the end block, such that the spring element is additionally acted on with pressure via the end block.
The known rotary vibration damper, by means of its spring device in which the spring element is acted on with pressure firstly directly by the support arm and subsequently indirectly via the end block, ensures that the damping function has a smooth onset. It is also possible for the transition noises in the event of a change from traction to overrun, which transition noises are generated as the support arm impacts against the end block, to be reduced in this way. A disadvantage is however that the initial damping effect is not sufficiently intense if the support arm is acted on with a particularly large torque. In said case, when the support arm impacts against the end block, transition noises still occur. Furthermore, severe wear or abrasion occurs on the end block, which wear or abrasion leads inter cilia to a contamination of the oil within the torsional vibration damper.
To prevent the abovementioned transition noises during changes from traction to overrun, EP 1584839 A1 proposes a torsional vibration damper in which the end block is designed such that the torque is transmitted exclusively directly from a primary driver or support arm to the spring element of the spring device. The primary driver is no longer supported at all on the end block. In this way, although the transition noises are reliably reduced, problems can occur here with regard to the guidance of the end block in the tangential direction.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to create a torsional vibration damper which firstly ensures low transition noises in the event of changes from traction to overrun and low wear or abrasion to the end block, and secondly ensures reliable guidance and functioning of the end block. The invention is also based on the object of creating a drive train having a torsional vibration damper of said type.

Torsional vibration damper comprising end blocks and drive train comprising said torsional vibration damper


A dielectric filter with integral electromagnetic shielding comprises a dielectric block having an outer surface including first and second end surfaces and a side surface extending between the first and second end surfaces; an external conductor disposed on the outer surface of the dielectric block and providing integral electromagnetic shielding of the dielectric filter; at least one hole extending through the dielectric body between the first and second end surfaces, having a respective inner surface with a substantially constant cross-sectional shape; a respective pair of internal conductors provided in the at least one hole and conductively connected to the external conductor at respective ends of the hole, a respective non-conductive portion in the hole being spaced from both ends and thereby separating the pair of internal conductors and defining a respective capacitance between the pair of internal conductors, a surface of the respective non-conductive portion being substantially flush with the rest of the inner surface of the hole; and signal input and output electrodes provided on the outer surface of the dielectric body and electrically isolated from the external conductor. Conductive and possibly dielectric material is removed from an end surface of the dielectric block to adjust the resonance frequency and/or the coupling degree of the dielectric filter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to dielectric filters having at least one dielectric resonator, the dielectric resonator having an internal conductor which is formed within a dielectric block and an external conductor which is formed on the outside of the dielectric block.
2. Description of Related Art
Filters for use in, for example, the microwave band, include a dielectric filter, in which a resonator electrode is formed within a dielectric block and an earth electrode is formed on the outside face of the dielectric block, and a so-called Triplate (TM) type of dielectric resonator with strip lines located opposite to each other on respective main faces of a dielectric substrate, the strip lines serving respectively as a signal strip line on one main face and an earth electrode on the other main face.
FIG. 39 shows an exploded perspective view of the construction of the conventional general dielectric resonator using a dielectric block. In FIG. 39, reference numeral 40 is a six-sided dielectric block with three internal conductor holes 46, 47, 48 each having an internal conductor provided therein and coupling holes 49, 50 which are provided between the internal conductor holes 46, 47, 48. The internal conductors are formed on the inside surfaces of the internal conductor holes 46, 47, 48, and an external conductor 51 is formed on five faces of the dielectric block 40 except for an open face 52. Reference numerals 53, 54 are so-called resin pins, each being composed of resin portions 53a, 54a and signal input, output terminals 53b, 54b. Two resin pins 53, 54 are inserted into the internal conductor holes 46, 48 from the open face side of the dielectric block 40 so that the terminals 53b, 54b are coupled capacitively to the corresponding internal conductors within the internal conductor holes 46, 48. Reference numeral 55 is a case for retaining the dielectric block 40 and the resin pins 53, 54 and also, for covering the open face portion of the dielectric block 40. The resin pins 53, 54 are respectively inserted into the dielectric block 40 so as to be covered by the case 55, and also, the whole arrangement is integrated by soldering the case 55 to the external conductor 51. For mounting the dielectric resonator on a circuit substrate, the projecting portions 55a, 55b of the case 55 function as an earth terminal.
As shown in FIG. 39, many components such as input, output terminals 53b, 54b, case 55 and so on, are necessary if a plurality of resonators are to be formed in a single dielectric block. The assembly steps therefore become complicated. Moreover, it is necessary to attach a lead wire to the component when mounting the completed product on a circuit substrate. Therefore, surface mounting cannot be effected, as it can with other electronic components, so as to mount a plurality of these completed products on the same circuit substrate. Thus, it is difficult to provide an assembly which is low in height.
Further, if the case 55 is not used, the external conductor 51 of the dielectric block 40 is directly connected to the earth electrode on the circuit substrate, so that the open face 52 is exposed, and thus, electromagnetic field leakage occurs at this location. Thus, when a metallic object approaches the open face 52, the metallic object influences this electromagnetic field. Further, since the resonator is coupled with this electromagnetic field, the desired characteristics of the dielectric resonator cannot be obtained.

Dielectric filter having non-conductive adjusting regions


A method and system for manipulating object using a three dimensional optical trap configuration. By use of selected hologram on optical strap can be configured as a preselected three dimensional configuration for a variety of complex uses. The system can include various optical train components, such as partially transmissive mirrors and Keplerian telescope components to provide advantageously three dimensional optical traps.

There is, a well developed technology of using single light beams to form an optical trap which applies optical forces from the focused beam flight to confine an object to a particular location in space. These optical traps, or optical tweezers, have enabled fine scale manipulation of objects for a variety of commercial purposes. In addition, line traps, or extended optical tweezers, have been created which act as a one dimensional potential energy landscape for manipulating mesoscopic objects. Such line traps can be used to rapidly screen interactions between colloidal aid biological particles which find uses in biological research, medical diagnostics and drug discovery. However, these applications require methods of manipulation diagnostics and drug discovery. However, these applications require methods of manipulation for projecting line traps with precisely defined characteristics which prevent their use in situations with high performance demands. Further, the low degrees of freedom and facility of use for such line traps reduces the ease of use and limits the types of uses available.

Volumetric imaging of holographic optical traps


The present invention provides an air conditioned headgear and clothing. The headgear includes a thermoelectric cooling module and a control chip. The control chip includes a power supply circuit to supply driving current to the thermoelectric cooling module. The inner temperature of the headgear, the temperature of a heat sink, and the environmental temperature are sensed. A microcontroller of the control chip controls the power supply circuit to provide the driving current to the thermoelectric cooling module via processing the inner temperature of the headgear, a preset temperature, the temperature of the heat sink, and the environmental temperature using the PID control. In the present invention, the temperature is controlled using the PID control, thus wide fluctuations of the temperature is avoided, energy can be used effectively, and thermal cycle can be avoided.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to special working gears, and particularly, to an air conditioned headgear and an air conditioned clothing.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional cooling headgear having a thermoelectric cooling module usually employs a thermo sensitive switch to control the temperature of the headgear, which may result in wide fluctuations of temperature, and easily result in energy loss and uncomfort. And the fluctuations also make the thermoelectric cooling module having frequent reverse currents, hence reduces the lifespan of thermoelectric cooling module.
Another problem when using the thermoelectric cooling module, is that the heat have to be dissipated in time. Otherwise the thermoelectric cooling module would not function. To resolve this, a huge heat sink or even fan would be used to maintain a "more than required" heat dissipation efficiency, which increases the weight of the headgear, and cause uncomfort to user wearing the headgear.
Therefore, there is a perspective for improvement in the art.

Air conditioned headgear and air conditioned clothing


A cleaning device is provided with a cleaning unit (35) disposed downstream from a position at which a toner image is transferred to a paper. The cleaning unit (35) is provided with a cleaning blade (35c) for scraping off residual toner attached to an image bearing member and a toner catching sheet (35e) for preventing the residual toner or paper dust which have been scraped off from falling outside the cleaning unit. The free length in the toner catching sheet (35e) between affixed positions of a first end portion which is affixed to the cleaning unit (35) and a second end portion which abuts an outer circumferential portion of the image bearing member is determined by an amount of paper dust buildup on the outer circumferential portion of the image bearing member.

Conventional methods for transporting paper (including recording media such as OHP, etc.) to an image forming portion when forming images in an image forming apparatus include a first paper feeding method for feeding paper to the image forming portion from a paper feeding cassette disposed in the interior of the device body and a second paper feeding method for feeding paper to the image forming portion from a manual paper feeding tray disposed in the exterior of the device body.
During image formation, paper that is stored in the above-mentioned paper feeding cassette and manual paper feeding tray is selectively fed one sheet at a time, and images are formed as the paper is transported to the image forming portion via a paper transporting route. Here, the paper is separated one sheet at a time by a separating member, as the paper is fed one sheet at a time. Talc material (bleaching agents, extending agents, and so on; it seems that the main component is SiO2), which is paper dust contained in the paper, therefore separate from the paper, for example, through friction between the paper and the separating member. This paper dust attaches to and accumulates on transporting rollers, which are disposed along a paper transporting route, as well as an outer circumferential portion of a photosensitive body (an image bearing member) which is provided in the image forming portion, as being charged due to friction with the transporting rollers and so on, thereby inviting a drop in image quality.
For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the paper dust P, which attaches to the outer circumferential portion of a photosensitive body 31, is eliminated by a cleaning unit 35 together with residual toner which remains on the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body 31 after transfer to the paper of a toner image formed on the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body 31. The cleaning unit 35 is disposed on the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body 31 further downstream in a rotating direction of the photosensitive body 31 indicated by the arrow Y in FIG. 6 than the position at which the toner image, which is formed on the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body 31, is transferred to the paper, and is provided, in the main unit body in which is formed an open portion 35a, with a cleaning blade 35c and a toner catching sheet 35e whose rigidity is set sufficiently high that an apical portion does not separate from an image bearing member 31 due to vibration.
The open portion 35a collects into the cleaning unit 35 residual toner and so on which has been scraped off. The cleaning blade 35c partially touches the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body 31 and scrapes off the residual toner and the paper dust P attached to the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body 31. The toner catching sheet 35e prevents the scraped-off residual toner and so on from falling onto the paper transporting route and elsewhere, without being collected from the open portion 35a.
At this time, toner with high fluidity is collected from the open portion 35a after separating from members such as the cleaning blade 35c which touches the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body 31, but the paper dust P has low fluidity and therefore separates with difficulty and accumulates on members such as the cleaning blade 35c which touches the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body 31.
The paper dust P separates from members on which it has accumulated after a certain amount has accumulated, and is partially collected from the open portion 35a, but the majority reattaches to the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body 31 and mixes into the developer tank and so on disposed in the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body 31. When the paper dust P mixes into the developer tank, it interferes with proper charging of the toner due to differences in charge characteristics between toner and paper dust (SiO2), thereby encouraging generation of uncharged toner, which creates a drop in image quality and blurred images. In particular, as shown in FIG. 6, the paper dust P which separates from the cleaning blade 35c readily accumulates on the toner catching sheet 35e after falling, the aperture area of the open portion 35a is narrowed by the accumulated paper dust P, and the ability to collect the residual toner and the paper dust P drops. Since the toner catching sheet 35e is located further upstream in a rotating direction of the photosensitive body 31 than the cleaning blade 35c, the paper dust P easily accumulates at portions in contact with the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body 31 and the vicinity thereof, so the paper dust P which has accumulated thereby separates and falls onto the paper transporting route or paper onto which the toner image has been transferred, causing a drop in image quality.
Accordingly, recent image forming apparatuses abut a cleaning roller, which has a larger coefficient of kinetic friction than the coefficient of kinetic friction of a feed roller and a surface of a separating member abutting the feed roller, against the outer circumferential portion of the feed roller and the surface of the separating member, thereby eliminating paper dust and so on which attaches to the outer circumferential portion of the feed roller and the surface of the separating member by the difference in the coefficients of kinetic friction. (See, for example, Patent document 1.) With the configuration of in Patent document 1, the paper dust and so on which attaches to the outer circumferential portion of the cleaning roller is eliminated by the cleaning blade which abuts the outer circumferential portion of the cleaning roller.
Furthermore, there are also examples of image forming apparatuses which eliminate paper dust attached to the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body by providing a capturing brush to a cleaning device, which collects residual toner disposed on the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body, such that it touches the outer circumferential portion of the photosensitive body, and applying a voltage to the capturing brush. (See, for example, Patent document 2.)    Patent document 1: JP H11-106073A    Patent document 2: JP 2000-81819A

Cleaning device for an image forming apparatus


The subject invention provides a unique system and method that facilitates a viewer's viewing experience of a presentation as shown on the viewer's own machine. The system and method provide the viewer with navigation and annotation control of the viewer's view of the presentation without affecting the presenter's presentation and/or the presenter's display of the presentation. When viewing a presentation, the viewer can annotate at least a portion of the presentation with text, audio, ink markings, as well as insert URL or other web-based information. Searches can be conducted during the viewing of the presentation to further supplement content in the presentation. The search results including the pertinent URLs can be added in whole or in part to the relevant portions of the presentation. Furthermore, the viewer can view the presentation in a variety of perspectives and zoom levels to gain context over the presentation or parts thereof.

Conventional systems and/or applications for computer-based presentations such as slide shows typically offer two modes: an authoring mode and a display mode. The authoring mode allows for the presentation to be created. In particular, the author can generate multiple slides for a later showing to an audience, for example. Members of the audience can view the presentation via the display mode of such system or application on their personal machine. However, the display mode on conventional systems can be rather restrictive for the viewer because this mode only permits a user to click through each slide. No other interaction is available aside from the author mode—which may not be appropriate for the viewer since the viewer may have no desire to make changes or otherwise alter the presentation. Thus, there remains a need for a system that can improve or enhance the viewing experience.

Presentation viewing tool designed for the viewer


A network environment including a provider network coupled to a first customer network site via a first access link and to a second customer network site via a second access link. The provider network is operable with the IEEE 802.1ag standard for propagating a remote link fault condition via an Ethernet Alarm Indication and Suppression (AIS) frame or a Continuity Check (CC) frame, which is translated into a locally compliant non-IEEE 802.1ag error delivery condition so that a management entity associated with the first customer network site is appropriately alerted.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to communication networks. More particularly, and not by way of any limitation, the present invention is directed to a remote access link fault indication mechanism operable with an Ethernet OAM network.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to adapt the well known Ethernet technology in a carrier-grade service environment, various standards are being developed that aim to provide advanced operations, administration and maintenance (OAM) capabilities (also referred to as Ethernet Connectivity and Fault Management or Ethernet CFM) across the entire network from one end to the other end. Since the end-to-end service network environment is typically comprised of a patchwork of diverse component networks (e.g., metro access networks and core networks using a variety of technologies) that may belong to different organizations, network operators and service providers, the Ethernet OAM plane is envisioned as a hierarchically layered domain space wherein specific OAM domains are defined corresponding to the constituent network infrastructure and provisioning. In particular, two standards, IEEE 802.1ag and ITU-T (Question 3, Study Group 13), incorporated by reference herein, that are specifically concerned with end-to-end Ethernet OAM define a customer-level domain at the highest level of hierarchy, which comprises one or more provider domains (occupying an intermediate level), each of which in turn includes one or more operator domains disposed at a lower hierarchical level. By way of standardization, the OAM domain space may be partitioned into up to a number of levels, e.g., 8 levels, each domain corresponding to a particular level, wherein a domain is defined in terms of what are referred to as flow points. In the context of the IEEE 802 specification suite, the flow points are new entities contained in Media Access Control (MAC) "interfaces" and "ports" as defined in related standards documentation. A flow point at the edge of an OAM domain is called a "Maintenance End Point" or MEP. A flow point inside a domain and visible to a MEP is called a "Maintenance Intermediate Point" or MIP. Whereas MEP nodes are used by system administrators to initiate and monitor OAM activity (by issuing appropriate OAM frames), MIP nodes passively receive and respond to OAM flows initiated by MEP nodes. An OAM domain having one or more MIP nodes is bounded by two or more MEP nodes, wherein a "Maintenance Entity" (ME) is defined to include a set of MIP nodes disposed between one MEP node and another MEP node. Thus it is possible to have more than one ME in a particular OAM domain.
Although the Ethernet OAM architecture as currently being standardized provides an impressive framework for addressing end-to-end Ethernet Connectivity and Fault Management at any level of the OAM hierarchy, a number of issues remain to be solved. Of particular concern is the scenario where customers are reluctant to implement the IEEE 802.1ag OAM technology due to cost considerations. Since the access links that couple customer network sites to a metro provider network typically belong to the customer, customer networks as well as the access link technology used may operate in a non-802.1ag environment whereas the metro provider network may comprise an 802.1ag-compliant network. One example of a non-802.1ag environment is a network environment operating according to the IEEE 802.3ah standard. In such a situation, accordingly, a need arises with respect to providing a remote access link fault indication mechanism based on interworking functionality so that a local customer site may be alerted appropriately.

Remote access link fault indication mechanism


A visual field support image generation device for generating a visual field support image of a vehicle has a camera that captures an image from the vehicle and a processing section. The processing section covers the image captured by the camera to generate the visual filed support image. The image is covered by compressing the captured image so that a compression ratio of the captured image in a horizontal direction becomes higher than a compression ratio of the captured image in a vertical direction by using a depth vanishing point included in the captured image as the center.

For a certain type of door mirror of a vehicle, an aspherical mirror serving as an optical mirror is used to reduce blind spots in the horizontal direction (in the left-right direction as viewed from the driver of the vehicle, that is, in the direction away from the own vehicle). FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an optical aspherical mirror according to a conventional technology, wherein a door mirror M is equipped with an ordinary mirror section M1 and an aspherical section M2. The curvature of the aspherical section M2 is changed so that an image is reflected in a wider range in the horizontal direction.
Also, in the case of a CMS (camera monitoring system) in which the door mirror M is further equipped with a photographing camera, the field angle is extended in the horizontal direction by using a principle similar to that of the aspherical mirror serving as the above-mentioned optical mirror. More specifically, the region corresponding to the aspherical section M2 of the door mirror M in the image captured by the camera is compressed in the horizontal direction, and the image obtained after the compression is displayed on a display device.
Patent document 1 discloses that, in the case that an image obtained by magnifying or compressing a rear side image of a vehicle at a magnification changing in the horizontal direction is displayed on a display device, horizontal scale correction processing for scale-correcting the various portions of the captured image at a preset horizontal expansion/compression ratio is performed in order to prevent a traveling region dividing line, such as a white line, to be extended in the front-rear direction of the own vehicle from being displayed in a curved shape in the image displayed on the display device, and vertical scale correction processing for further scale-correcting the captured image partially in the vertical direction at a preset vertical expansion/compression ratio is performed in order that the image of the traveling region dividing line being displayed in a curved shape in the image whose horizontal scale has been corrected is extended linearly.

Visual field support image generation device and image conversion method

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A tire for running on rough terrain comprises a tread portion 2 bound with an intended tire rotational direction. The tread portion 2 comprises a row of crown blocks 10 and rows of middle blocks 11. The crown blocks 10 and the middle blocks 11 each has an axially-elongated shape. A crown front edge 15 of each of the crown block 10 comprises a most concave portion 18 positioned at the most toe-side thereof in the tire rotational direction and a pair of inclined edges 20 extending from the most concave portion 18 toward axially both sides thereof and toward the heel-side in the tire rotational direction. The inclined edges 20 are each inclined at an angle from 10 to 45 degrees with respect to the tire axial direction. A middle front edge 21 of each of the middle blocks 11 extends axially outwardly and is inclined to the heel-side.

For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2016-60347 (Patent Literature 1) has proposed a tire for running on rough terrain provided with axially-long crown blocks and middle blocks in order to obtain large traction.
However, in the tire disclosed in Patent Literature 1, mud scraped by crown blocks when they contact the ground easily moves in lateral directions during running on muddy roads, therefore, there is room for further improvement of traction.


Disclosed is an error tolerant binary encoded synchronization mark concatenated with a known pattern, such as a VFO pattern, comprising an encoded pattern of a fixed plurality of bits, the encoded synchronization pattern being at maximum Hamming distance from the concatenated known pattern for the number of bits in the fixed plurality of bits. The error tolerant synchronization mark may also be concatenated with the VFO pattern seen in reverse, and the synchronization pattern additionally is at maximum Hamming distance from the concatenated known VFO pattern seen in reverse.

A typical recording media records data in the form of transitions between two opposite states. In magnetic recording media, such as magnetic tape, the transitions are between opposite magnetic polarities. Data to be provided to a recording channel is typically a sequential string of bits, to be recorded on the recording media as transitions. A typical example of encoded data is run length limited (RLL) encoded data. In RLL encoding, transitions typically represent "1" bits and are separated by spaces which represent "0" bits. The distance between transitions therefore represents the number of "0" bits, and are detected by counting the number of clocks between the transitions. The clocks are not recorded with the data and must be determined from the data itself.
Thus, a data set will include a VFO ("VFO" stands for variable frequency oscillator) pattern at a specific location (typically a header) and of a particular known transition frequency to synchronize the read clock (typically a phase locked loop or PLL) to the codeword bit frequency. The VFO pattern is typically a repetitive codeword pattern, such as a sequence of "10" or 2T bits, but which is identifiable because of its location in a header. A known sync pattern is typically also provided between the VFO pattern and any encoded data to allow the decoder to align to the codeword boundaries and to the start location of the incoming data.
If the PLL does not achieve complete phase lock, or if the decoder does not align to the codeword boundaries on the incoming data (either of which may happen if a media defect is present), the decoder will not be able to successfully decode incoming encoded data, until the next Sync or Resync pattern is encountered, usually in the header of the next data set or in a header for a grouping of codeword groups. When a Sync pattern is not detected (missed) or detected erroneously in the wrong position (e.g., due to a defect), the exact bit position and alignment to codeword boundaries is not known. Accordingly, the decoder will not be able to successfully decode the encoded data unless or until some further synchronization field is encountered, such as the next Sync or Resync. This is known as infinite error propagation, and this type of failure can be catastrophic.
Even though the location of the VFO pattern and the synchronization pattern are known, a difficulty is that misdetection of one or more bits in the synchronization pattern may prevent recognition of the synchronization pattern. Without proper recognition of the synchronization pattern, the data detector will not be in sync with the recorded data and may be unable to recognize the data.
Errors in the data are typically handled by using well-known error correcting codes. Such codes allow detection and correction of many data recording errors. However, errors in the VFO or synchronizing patterns may result in missing detection of the synchronization pattern or detecting it in the wrong place. Therefore, the data detection may begin with reading data before or after the data really starts. If the start of data is not determined via detection of the synchronization mark, all data between it and any subsequent synchronization mark which is detected successfully will be lost. This may have a catastrophic effect, rendering useless the error correcting codes protecting the data.

Defect tolerant binary synchronization mark

International Business Machines Corporation


The method and arrangement is for controlling a radio receiver. The arrangement has a central processor (DECT-C), a device (RSSI-C) for measuring the field strength of received signals, a threshold value generator (TH-C) and two antennas (A1, A2). The central processor (DECT-C) carries out method steps configured in such a way that different procedures (P1, P2) are realized to activate one of a plurality of antennas (A1, A2) of the radio receiver as a function of measured field strength values (RSSI1) of received signals and as a function of overshooting or undershooting of a threshold value (TH0).

The invention relates to a method for antenna selection control in a radio receiver and to an arrangement for antenna selection control in a radio receiver.
In the case of radio-frequency telecommunication in the gigahertz region, because of the propagation characteristics the transmission conditions are frequently very different within a small spatial region (centimeter region). The consequence of this is that in the case of moving systems the transmission conditions fluctuate strongly in time even at low speeds of, for example, approximately 1 m/s. In order to be able to achieve transmission which is as good as possible during movement even in regions with poor transmission conditions, a second, spatially offset antenna is installed at the base station, which second antenna, because of the spatial separation, provides other transmission conditions and to which it is possible to switch in this case (antenna diversity). Such an antenna control is provided in essence in the "Digital European Cordless Telecommunications System" (DECT) Standard (draft prETS 300 175-3: 1991, page 183/184). An antenna switch-over is provided in this standard on the basis of the quality of reception in the following cases:
a) result of the A- and X-CRC; PA1 b) conditions of the S- and Z-fields; PA1 c) radio signal strength; and PA1 d) other suitable parameters.
The "burst-mode two-way communications system" has already been disclosed in European Patent Application EP 0 213 780 A2 (Application No.: 86306015.8). By contrast with the arrangement according to the invention, the known system has a plurality of transceiver devices having one threshold value arrangement each, which are connected to a switching element for switching over to one of two antennas. The threshold value arrangements realize a prescribed absolute threshold value (page 3, column 3, lines 55/56). The threshold value is, however, also to be adjustable from outside by means of software, and thus to be optimizable, it remaining open in the published European Patent Application how such an adjustment and optimization would have to be performed (column 3, lines 57/58; column 4, line 41). In particular, it also remains open whether such an optimization is performed by a single adjustment of the threshold value, for example during manufacture or upon commissioning of the apparatus, or is also performed in continuous operation. Obviously, only a single adjustment of the threshold value is provided, since it is stated in the European Patent Application that in practice the threshold value corresponds to that value at which reception is still just adequate ("worst-case service"), generally 15 dB below an average field strength at maximum range (column 4, lines 41-46).
In the known system, signal fades (drops in field strength) are detected by means of a rapid rate of change in the received field strength, this parameter being compared with values averaged over a plurality of time periods (column 4, lines 47-56). However, the averaging, provided for in this case, requires substantial computational outlay and a corresponding computing time. There is no provision in the known system to change the threshold value with rising field strength values.
Specifically, if appropriate systems contain two antennas, but only one receiver, there is the substantial problem for the control of the antenna switch-over that the quality of the signals received at both antennas cannot be measured simultaneously. The measurements have to be carried out one after the other in order to decide at which antenna signals of better quality of reception can be received. In this case, there is the difficulty, on the one hand, that a measurement at one antenna is bound up with the reception of a burst at this antenna, and that the measurement result "poor quality of reception" can lead to a loss of data. On the other hand, a further problem consists in that, depending on the speed of movement of the actual device or of a corresponding device to which there is a radio connection; and on the burst rate, the measurement result is valid only for a few bursts. A further difficulty consists in that the receiving conditions are not correlated with regard to the two antennas, with the result that the selection of the switch-over instant is made more difficult.
Disclosed in the printed publication: Proceedings of Globecom. '90, Dec. 2-5, 1990, New York (US), pages 1013 to 1017; L. B. Lopes: "On the radio link performance of the digital European cordless telecommunications (DECT) system" is a structure of a simulated DECT receiver in the case of which an antenna diversity controlled by field strength measurement improves the coverage (range) and the capacity of DECT cordless telephones.
The printed publication: Patent Abstracts of Japan, Volume 011, No. 231, Jul. 28, 1987 in conjunction with JP-A-62047222 discloses an antenna diversity receiver in the case of which the antenna diversity effect is improved by changing a diversity switching threshold as a function of changes in the field strength of the received signal. The first step for this is to compare a first field strength value measured at a first antenna with a stored threshold value. If in the case of this comparison the measured field strength value is lower than stored threshold value, a second antenna is activated. If, however, the measured field strength value is higher than equal to the stored threshold value, the first antenna remains activated as before. In the case of the antenna switch-over, the previously stored threshold value is replaced at the same time by the measured field strength value. The result of this is that the threshold value is also continuously reduced in the case of a gradual lowering of the field strength value. The antenna diversity receiver continues to be constructed in such a way that whenever the measured field strength value exceeds the stored threshold value by a certain value, the threshold value stored up to that point is updated.

Method and arrangement for antenna selection control in a radio receiver


A sunshade holding structure comprises a flexible frame, a sunshade cloth and at least one positioning member. The flexible frame has at least one notch on the circumference thereof. The sunshade cloth covers the flexible frame to form a sunshade. The positioning member has two flanges extended towards the sunshade, a latch groove formed between the flanges to latch on the notch of the flexible frame, and a housing compartment opposite to the latch groove to hold a magnetic element. The positioning member is latched on one side of the notch of the flexible frame and turned to align with the circumference of the flexible frame so that the positioning member can be held securely on the flexible frame. Moreover, the magnetic element of the positioning member also attracts the inner side of a vehicle window frame to form secure positioning. Installation and disassembly also can be done quickly.

A wide variety of vehicle sunshades are now available on the market. They generally can be divided in 1: Attaching to the vehicle window via a plurality of suckers; 2: Attaching to the vehicle window via static electricity; and 3: Latching flanges extended from the circumference of the sunshade on corresponding notch components of the vehicle window. They all aim to facilitate fast and easy installation and disassembly of the sunshade when in use.
Applicant has proposed a novel shade assembly granted in U.S. Pat. No. 7,131,683 which includes a plurality of fastening blocks 2 each has an adhering layer 21 on the backside to attach to the top edge and bottom edge of a vehicle window frame 1, please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2. Each fastening block 2 has a holding zone 22 in the middle with a wider inner side and a narrower outer side to allow a flexible sunshade 3 to be wedged in flexibly for anchoring, thereby achieve the purpose of blocking sunshine projection. When in use the vehicle window can be opened without removing the sunshade 3. The sunshade 3 can be easily removed because of its flexibility. However, the flexible sunshade 3 has to be removed from the holding zone 22 of the fastening block 2. When used for a prolonged period of time the adhesive layer 21 bonded between the fastening block 2 and vehicle window frame 1 tends to loosen off, and adhesive residues are easily generated. Moreover, installation and disassembly of the sunshade 3 also take substantial time and labor.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,365,799 discloses another type of window covering for vehicles. Its window covering 4 includes a casing 41, a panel 42, a first magnet 43 and a second magnet 44. The casing 41 includes a ferromagnetic material, and includes a first member 411 and a second member 412. The first and the second members 411 and 412 have respectively a hole 413. The first magnet 43 and second magnet 44 are magnetically attached to the respective hole 413 of the first member 411 and second member 412, and the panel 42 is attached to the first and second members 411 and 412, and covers the holes 413. The window covering 4, through the first magnet 43 and second magnet 44, is configured to be magnetically attached to the window frame 1a. During installation of the window covering 4, the first magnet 43 and second magnet 44 are attached respectively to the holes 413 of the first and second members 411 and 412; next, the panel 42 covers the casing 41 and the first magnet 43 and second magnet 44, and then is trimmed and sewed. But the first magnet 43 and second magnet 44 held in the holes 413 easily loosen off after used for a period of time and result in dropping from the panel 42 and sliding in position. This creates difficulty of positioning on the window frame 1. Moreover, fabrication process of the window covering 4 is more complex and the cost is higher.
In view of the drawbacks occurring to the aforesaid conventional techniques, there is still room for improvement on positioning of the sunshade.

CREATIVE & COOPERATIVE INTERNATIONAL, INC.


Embodiments of a system and method for detecting a leading stroke risk indicator using low-cost, non-contact visual computing methods are generally described herein. In some embodiments, a video camera is arranged to capture a video of a face of a subject to be evaluated for having a stroke risk indicator. A memory is provided for storing data. A processor is coupled to the memory and is arranged to analyze processed image data associated with the video of the face of the subject captured by the video camera. The processor is further arranged to determine whether the processed image data exhibits a leading indicator for carotid artery stenosis.

From the heart, there are two carotid arteries that split off after leaving the heart and form symmetric arrangements through the neck to feed the left and right sides of the face and brain. One risk factor for stroke in adult patients is the presence of a condition called carotid artery stenosis, which is a blockage or narrowing of the blood vessels that feed the brain. Buildup commonly occurs where the internal and external carotid arteries diverge in the neck, prior to the blood's arrival to the face.
The blockage or narrowing of the blood vessels that feed the brain tends to build up over time and can lead to strokes in two ways. First, an ischemic stroke may occur, wherein plaque in the artery causes a clot to accumulate over time until the clot fully blocks normal blood flow and deprives the brain of oxygenated blood. In contrast, an embolic stroke involves an accumulated clot becoming dislodged and traveling along with the blood further into the brain until it becomes lodged in a smaller vessel and blocks the blood flow.
Preventative screening for asymptomatic stenosis is currently not a recommendation. However, this leaves patients at risk until the first event occurs.

Detection of a leading stroke risk indicator


A vacuum operated object lifting system is disclosed that can use air pressure differentials to anchor the lifting system to the floor or other structure. The vacuum lifting system includes a main structure having a space defined in the bottom thereof and a lifting arm system extending from the main structure for grasping and moving a load. The vacuum lifting system includes a vacuum pumping system including an air pump and a conduit system extending from the air pump to the space in the bottom of the main structure. Use of the air pump to draw air out of the conduit system creates pressure differential between ambient air pressure and air pressure in the space of the main structure to anchor the vacuum lifting system to the ground. The vacuum pumping system may also grasp the load by suction.

Material lifting systems are commonly used in commercial applications to move objects, such as, but not limited to, small parts, various size packages, and larger objects off of surfaces such as floors, tables, conveyor belts, etc. and reposition them to another location or temporarily hold them aloft above a moving surface. These systems typically have a main structure secured to the ground or other surface and a lifting arm system terminating in a head, clamp, claw or other type of applicable instrument capable of grasping or holding the object or load. The arm system generally extends from the main structure.
When the arm system is grasping, and supporting, the object or load, the arm system and/or object exert an angular moment force or pull on the main structure which tends to pull or tip the lifting system over. Thus, the main structure needs to have sufficient weight to overcome the angular moment force or be sufficiently anchored to a solid stationary surface to prevent tipping over. This is typically accomplished by bolting or otherwise securing the main structure to the floor or ground rendering these types of material lifting systems relatively permanent structures and difficult or cumbersome to move or reposition when desired.
Some examples of lifting systems, commonly referred to as vacuum lifting systems, incorporate suction or a vacuum to grasp, hold or otherwise secure the desired object to the vacuum lifting arm. These machines typically include a pump system for creating a negative pressure differential resulting in a suction or vacuum force between the lifting arm and the object to be held. Once the pump system has created the vacuum force securing the object, the lifting arm lifts the load which remains attached to the lifting arm as long as the pump system continues to create the negative pressure differential. In some cases, the lifting arm may be movable in order to lift and move the held object and reposition it about the workplace. The lifting arm may utilize the vacuum to move as well as lift the object.
Conventional vacuum lifting machines are also usually quite heavy, which is another reason why these machines are typically secured to the ground by fasteners, such as bolts, or other applicable fasteners or even by welding. Even where the lifting machines are relatively light, these machines still need to be firmly secured to a surface to prevent tipping over under load. This renders it harder to install the lifting machines at a particular location and reduces the possibility of the lifting machines being easily portable resulting in the need to purchase and install multiple expensive machines.
Accordingly, there is an established need for a solution to at least one of the aforementioned problems. For example, there remains a need for a load or material lifting system that is more easily securable to, and disconnectable from, a surface, in order to enhance portability of the system.


A laser irradiation apparatus of the embodiment includes: a laser light transmission mechanism to guide laser light from a laser light source and emit the laser light from a laser light emission part; a condensing mechanism to condense the laser light; a pipe state casing to house and hold the condensing mechanism inside thereof and have an opening part to irradiate the laser light; a fluid supply mechanism to supply a fluid into the casing to emit the fluid from the opening part; a positioning mechanism provided at the casing to keep a distance from the condensing mechanism to the processing object constant by being brought into contact with the processing object; and a fluid guide mechanism to guide the fluid emitted from the opening part to flow between the casing and the processing object along an axial direction of the casing.

For example, an apparatus is known in which an irradiation apparatus having an optical fiber housing pipe housing an optical fiber guiding laser light from a pulse laser light source to emit from a laser light emission part and a mirror housing pipe provided at a tip portion of the optical fiber housing pipe housing a reflection mirror having an aspherical shaped reflection surface disposed with a predetermined distance from the laser light emission part inside thereof and provided with a laser irradiation window to irradiate reflected laser light to an irradiation point at a circumferential surface thereof; a liquid feed means feeding cleaning liquid to the irradiation point of the laser light; and a moving apparatus moving the irradiation apparatus in an axial direction are included.
According to this apparatus, the laser light emitted from the optical fiber is reflected by the aspherical reflection mirror to be condensed and irradiated to an application surface, and therefore, it is not necessary to house a condenser lens to condense the laser light in the irradiation apparatus, and an outside diameter of the irradiation apparatus can be made thin for the extent. Besides, the aspherical mirror housing pipe and the optical fiber housing pipe are disposed concentrically with respect to the irradiation apparatus, and the mirror housing pipe is spirally rotated by a rotation driving device, and thereby, it becomes possible to perform a laser process on an inner surface of a pipe.

Laser irradiation apparatus and laser irradiation method


The present disclosure, in one implementation, is directed to a method of estimating composition of fuel in the fuel tank of a vehicle. A refuel event is detected. A determination is made whether a volume of fuel added to the fuel tank satisfies a first threshold. A fuel composition estimation is suspended if the refuel event satisfies the first threshold. A total volume of fuel is accumulated based on a plurality of refuel events satisfying the first threshold. A new fuel composition is estimated based on the accumulated total volume of fuel satisfying a second threshold.

Closed loop fuel control systems are commonly used in gasoline-powered vehicles to maintain an operating air-fuel (A/F) ratio at stoichiometry. Stoichiometric values, however, can vary with fuel composition. For example, when fuel is added to a vehicle fuel tank, it mixes with fuel already in the tank. For example, ethanol or gasohol in varying mixtures can be added to gasoline already in the tank. If the added fuel has a different composition from that of the fuel already in the tank, the engine of the vehicle may need to operate at a different stoichiometric value after the refueling. Currently manufactured vehicles may include a hardware sensor that senses and communicates ethanol content in fuel to other systems in the vehicle.

Weak refuel detection system and method for virtual flex fuel sensor system


The purpose of the present invention is to provide a technique to duplicate and translocate any large region in a chromosome of a fungus belonging to Aspergillus across a wide range, so that it will possible to stably and systematically acquire an Aspergillus strain having a novel trait, which was un-acquirable by conventional techniques.

Aspergillus strains such as Aspergillus sojae and Aspergillus oryzae have been industrially used in the production of brewed food such as soy sauce, sake (rice wine), soybean paste, etc. With a recent determination of the whole genomic sequence of Aspergillus oryzae and development of an exhaustive analysis of gene expression using a micro-array, it has been expected that genetic modification of their genes, especially their chromosomal modification would increase the productivity of an enzyme and improve a growth rate of these filamentous fungi.
Unlike Aspergillus nidulans, niger, fumigatus and awamori that have a mononuclear generation, koji molds such as Aspergillus sojae and Aspergillus oryzae are always kept in a multinuclear state in their whole life cycle including in a conidium condition, and their sexual generation has not yet been observed. Their nuclear-distribution mechanism from a parent cell to a daughter cell has not yet been revealed, either. Accordingly, a mutant cannot be produced by means of mating between strains or RIP (Repeat Induced Mutation), which makes it difficult to study their genetics. As a result, the genetic analysis of Aspergillus sojae and Aspergillus oryzae has fallen behind in spite of their industrially very high utility.
As it is therefore very important from an industrial point of view to breed Aspergillus strains of high utility such as those having high productivity of various enzymes, methods for breeding have been vigorously developed for the above purpose. There are two prominent types of such breeding methods, i.e., mutation and genetic recombination (genetic modification) methods.
The mutation method uses various mutation treatments such as X-ray, ultraviolet ray, and heavy ion beam. Useful characteristics have been used as an index for screening strains having various enzyme activities and excellent fermentation properties. Recently, the strains having such useful characteristics have been analyzed by means of genomic information to reveal that the duplication of chromosome is important for providing the Aspergillus strains with such useful characteristics. An Aspergillus strain having duplication of such a large scale as 900 kb or more was obtained by means of mutation treatment method (Patent Literature 1). It was already reported that repeated sequences were found with a high frequency at a boundary region of the duplicated region on the chromosome by analysis of a yeast obtained by means of γ-ray radiation (Non Patent Literature 1).
However, the mechanism of such duplication of the chromosome has not yet been revealed. Accordingly, It has been just possible to accidentally obtain a strain having duplication of a region relating to an enzyme by means of conventional mutation treatments and screening based on activity of said enzyme. However, since mutation will actually occur on various sites at random on the chromosome, it has been impossible to duplicate a particular region on the chromosome of the Aspergillus strains. Furthermore, it is well known that back mutation or revertant (elimination of the duplicated chromosome) will occur with a high frequency due to recombination between the homologous sequences in said strain having the duplication obtained by means of the conventional mutation treatments.
On the other hand, with respect to the genetic recombination method, a method for producing a large region duplication in the Aspergillus chromosome has been developed (Patent Literature 2) for the duplication of an optional region in tandem in the Aspergillus chromosome in a wide range. According to this method, it has been possible to duplicate any large region of several tens to several hundreds kb (for example, about 200 kb˜about 700 kb) in the chromosome of Aspergillus strains.

Method for the production of duplication and translocation of any region in the chromosome of aspergillus

Abstract: The present invention relates to a transformant of the fungus belonging to Aspergillus wherein a transformation marker gene with deficiency of a terminal part at the 5′ or 3′ end of its coding region is integrated into an outside of a target region in a chromosome of the fungus subject to duplicated translocation, and a transformation marker gene with deficiency of a terminal part at the 3′ or 5′ end of its coding region is integrated into an outside of a region in another chromosome of the fungus to be replaced with the target region.


A system forwards congestion management messages to a source host updating the source address in the management message. The system may determine that the congestion management message was triggered responsive to an initial communication that was previously forwarded by the system. The system may use header translation within a single addressing scheme and/or may translate the congestion management message into a different type to support forwarding to the source of the initial communication. The system may use portions of the payload of the congestion management message to determine the source of the initial communication and to derive a different header for the translated congestion management message.

High speed data networks form part of the backbone of what has become indispensable worldwide data connectivity. Within the data networks, network devices such as switching devices direct data packets from source ports to destination ports, helping to eventually guide the data packets from a source to a destination. Improvements in packet handling, including improvements in path resolution, will further enhance performance of data networks.

Congestion management in overlay networks


An image processing apparatus for applying video effects to input image signals. The apparatus comprises a first signal processor consisting of first and second multipliers for multiplying first and second input image signals by coefficients K and 1-K (where 0.ltoreq.K.ltoreq.1) respectively, and a first adder for adding the output signals of the first and second multipliers to each other; a second signal processor consisting of third and fourth multipliers for multiplying the output signal of the first adder and a third input image signal by coefficients K' and 1-K' (where 0.ltoreq.K'.ltoreq.1) respectively, and a second adder for adding the output signals of the third and fourth multipliers to each other; a memory having a plurality of areas to store first and second key frame data; a controller for controlling the first and second signal processors on the basis of the first and second key frame data stored in the memory; and an input circuit for inputting the first and second frame data to the memory.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus for applying video special effects to input image signals and, more particularly, to an apparatus having a key frame function.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have been known heretofore a variety of special effect apparatus adapted to process an input image signal in a wipe, fade or other video special effect mode, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,788 for example. Also known is a special effect apparatus having a key frame function wherein, if a round pattern is specified at points A and B as illustrated in FIG. 1, there is attainable an effect of shifting the round pattern automatically from the point A to the point B in a predetermined time. The key frame is a function for producing, by automatic interpolation, data between the states in a special effect process such as a pattern shift, wipe or fade mode.
There is further known another type that executes video special effect processes to input image signals in a plurality of signal processors. However, since merely one key frame list is applied to the plural signal processors in such conventional special effect apparatus, it is impossible to perform the key frame functions independently of one another in the individual signal processors, hence causing difficulties in preparation of key frame lists for complicated shifts of patterns.

Image processing apparatus for applying special effects to image signals