A phase detector is adapted to receive first and second signals and generate third and fourth signals representative of the difference between the phases of the first and second signals. The phase detector assert the third signal in response to the assertion of the first signal and unasserts the third signal in response to the assertion of the second signal. The phase detector asserts the fourth signal in response to the assertion of the third signal and unasserts the fourth signal in response to unassertion of the first signal. The phase detector may include combinatorial logic gates, thereby to generate the third and fourth signals in response to logic levels of the first and second signals. The phase detector may include sequential logic gates, thereby to generate the third and fourth signals in response to transitions of the first and second signals.

The increasing speed with which multiple types of data, such as text, audio and video, are transported over existing communication networks has brought to the fore the reliability with which such data transportation is carried out. In accordance with one conventional method, to ensure reliable data transfer, the data is first encoded with a reference clock signal at the transmitting end of the network to generate a composite signal. Thereafter, the composite signal is transmitted over the network to the receiving end. At the receiving end, the data and clock signals are recovered from the composite signal to ensure that the data and clock signals remain synchronous with respect to each other.
The clock and data recovery (CDR) is typically carried out, for example, by a phase locked loop (PLL). In operation, a phase locked loop maintains a fixed relationship between the phase and frequency of the signal it receives and those of the signal it generates. A phase-locked loop often includes a phase detector (PD) that receives a pair of signals, and in response, generates a pair of output signals representative of the difference between the phases of the two received signals.
One widely known phase detector, referred to as Hogge phase detector, and which can only rely on the non-return to zero (NRZ) or pulse width modulation (PWM) property of data to re-time the input data at the optimal sampling point is shown in FIG. 1. Phase detector (PD) 50 requires that the duty cycle distortion of the recovered clock be kept at minimum. The operation of PD 50 is described further below.
A timing diagram with the clock aligned nearly perfectly aligned to the input data transitions is shown in FIG. 2 for a NRZ or PWM data stream. The input NRZ data stream signal is provided to PD 50 on data signal line labeled Rdata, which is applied to the input terminal D of flip-flop 12. The output QN1 of flip-flop 12 is supplied to the input terminal D of flip-flop 14.
Clock signal Rclk is applied to the input clock terminal CP of flip-flop 12, and the inverse of clock signal Rclk is applied to the input clock terminal of flip-flop 14. The input and output of the flip-flop 12 are provided to an exclusive-OR gate 24 to provide signal P_UP signal. The input and output of the flip-flop 14 are provided to a second exclusive-OR gate 26, to provide signal P_DN. Signals P_UP and P_DN are provided to a charge pump (not shown).
As can be seen from the block diagram of FIG. 1 and the timing diagram of FIG. 2, the P_UP pulses are generated during the time interval between data transitions and the next rising edge of the clock. Every P_UP pulse generates a P_DN pulse with a fixed width of half of the clock period. Ideally the width of the P_UP and P_DN pulses should be equal to half of the clock period. When the clock leads or lags from this ideal position, the P_UP pulse becomes smaller or larger than the P_DN pulse, respectively. The P_UP and P_DN pulses are fed to the charge pump and loop-filter which are part of a phase-locked loop (PLL) (not shown). The difference between the pulse width of the signals P_UP and P_DN is processed and delivered as a feedback signal to control the frequency of the oscillator in the PLL
When the clock is aligned nearly perfectly to the input data transitions, the difference between the pulse widths of P_UP and P_DN is equal to nearly zero, and the PLL is in a phase-locked condition. It is seen that the sampling point of the data is optimal since the sampling (rising) edge of the clock is located near the center of the data windows, thus providing the maximum noise margin. Referring to FIG. 2, it is seen that each NRZ of data RDATA pulse provides two P_UP signals and two P_DN signals, resulting in two ramp-up and ramp-down transitions of the loop filter voltage, as shown at the bottom of FIG. 2.
FIG. 3 illustrates what happens if RZ or PPM type data (the pulse width of the signal could be much smaller or much bigger than one period of the clock) is used for the input RDATA signal shown at the top of FIG. 3. As can be seen, since the clock rising edge 32 is aligned with the falling edge 34 of the RZ data, a misalignment may result in the one pulse not being sampled. Accordingly, PD 50 is very susceptible to noise for RZ data and is also not suitable for RZ or Pulse Position Modulation (PPM) data format used in the magnetic recording technology or the communication technology.
FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram of a tri-wave phase detector 100, as known in the prior art. Tri-wave phase detector 100 is shown as including three flip-flops and three XOR gates. Tri-wave detector 100 provides a reduced sensitivity to data transition density. However, tri-wave detector 100 is more sensitive to duty cycle distortion in the clock signal than is Hogge's phase detector and it is also more complex than Hogge's PD.
FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram of a modified tri-wave phase detector 150, as known in the prior art. Modified tri-wave phase detector 150 uses two distinct down-integration intervals clocked on opposite edges of the clock, rather than a single down-integration of twice the strength clocked on a single edge. This enables tri-wave phase detector 150 to have a relatively improved duty cycle performance compared to tri-wave phase detector 100. However, phase detectors that are based on Hogge (both tri-wave phase detector 100 as well as modified tri-wave phase detector 150) do not function properly with RZ data stream. Moreover, the center offsets of both these detectors are dependent on the duty cycle of the clock signal CLK.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,236 also describe examples of different circuits adapted to detect the phase of a RZ data signal. However, the circuits disclosed in this patent utilize the pulse width of the clock and hence their performance suffers from the clock duty cycle distortion. Moreover, they cannot function properly if the pulse width of the RDATA is greater than one period of the clock.


To realize a multi-eye image pickup apparatus which can perform proper exposure for each of a plurality of image pickup devices, the multi-eye image pickup apparatus having a plurality of image pickup devices is arranged to have an exposure amount controlling device provided for each of the image pickup devices, for controlling an exposure amount, and a control unit for determining an exposure amount of each exposure amount controlling device, based on photometric values of pickup images obtained by the plurality of image pickup devices or based on photometric values of split images obtained by splitting each of the pickup images into a plurality of zones.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-eye image pickup apparatus having two or more image pickup devices, and more particularly to a photometric system in a camera for picking up image data for stereoscopic vision with binocular parallax between the left and right eyes or in a camera apparatus for picking up image data, which is for combining images obtained by a plurality of respective pickup portions with each other, changing a width-to-length ratio of image plane (or changing the aspect ratio), and displaying a reconstructed image.
2. Related Background Art
FIG. 7 is a block diagram to show structure of a conventional multi-eye image pickup apparatus of this type.
In FIG. 7, reference numeral 71 designates a control unit for controlling the overall operation, 72 a switch for changeover between a photography mode and an adjustment mode, 73 a switch for giving an instruction of either photography start or photography stop, and 77R, 77L right and left pickup portions, respectively. Although not shown, there are a pickup lens, an aperture stop, a shutter, and an image sensor included in each pickup portion, which is thus equivalent to those for movie cameras or for still cameras.
Further, each block 78R, 78L denotes a signal processing unit for performing color processing for signals obtained by the associated image pickup portion 77R, 77L, and 79 further denotes a recording portion for storing the signals obtained by the image pickup portions 77R, 77L in a magnetic tape or in a magnetic disk.
Supposing the above arrangement is used to take images of point P, the images obtained by the left and right image pickup portions have a binocular parallax of angle .theta.. When reconstructed images are observed through the left and right corresponding eyes, a stereoscopic image can be attained.
Incidentally, the angle .theta. is called as a convergence angle and a distance L between the two image pickup portions as a base length.
There is also proposed a system for obtaining a panorama image by controlling the convergence angle, the zoom ratio, etc. of such a multi-eye camera and combining the images obtained by the two image pickup portions.
In the conventional cameras, a control of exposure amount for the image pickup system having two image pickup portions as described is performed in such a manner that photometry is first carried out with one image pickup portion (say R), similarly as with an ordinary single-eye video camera, and that an exposure amount of the other image pickup portion (say L) is controlled so as to become equal to that of R.


A pixelated image sensor having comprising a partially pinned photodiode which is formed a semiconductor of a first conductivity type formed on a surface of the sensor with at least one photodiode formed, within the semiconductor near the surface, the photodiode being formed from a second conductivity type opposite the first conductivity type; a pinning layer formed on the surface over at least a portion of the photodiode creating a pinned photodiode region, the pinning layer being formed from the first conductivity type; and an unpinned region formed near the surface in an area outside the portion used to form the pinning layer, the unpinned region is formed as a floating region that is employed as a capacitor. The partially pinned photodiode is useful in expanding the fill factor of photodetectors employing photodiode technology.

Active Pixel Sensors (APS) are solid state imagers wherein each pixel contains a photo-sensing means and some other active devices that perform control functions on the pixel. Passive pixel sensors (PPS) are imagers having photosensing means and address transistor, but no active components. Recent and prior art devices have focused on using commercially available CMOS foundry processes to manufacture APS and PPS devices. The use of CMOS to manufacture APS and PPS devices has a resulting advantage of easily integrating signal processing and control circuits on the same chip as the imager. Thus, making it easier to fabricate a camera on a single semiconductor device, and providing a low cost integrated digital imaging device.
In APS and PPS devices typically fabricated using standard CMOS processes, the photodetector within the pixel has been either a photocapacitor, (also referred to as a photogate), or a photodiode. Photogate detectors have poor blue quantum efficiency due to the absorption of short wavelength light in the gate material, typically polysilicon, that covers the photo-sensing area. Additionally, photogate detectors require a double level polysilicon process to provide reasonable fill factor, (fill factor being defined as the percentage of the entire pixel area that is the photodetector). Double poly processes are not typically available, and are more complex and costly when compared to single level polysilicon processes. Photodiode detectors have high dark current, reduced blue quantum efficiency, and image lag. High dark current is attributable to the use of heavily doped n-type regions, that are typically used as NMOS sources and drains, as the photodiode. In those devices with heavily doped implants, the implant damage is not easily annealed since the goal of CMOS processes is to achieve very shallow sources and drains, having low resistivity. Therefore, the transistor gate length can be minimized and transistor speed maximized. It is not critical for CMOS sources and drains to have low dark current. Additionally, the silicon-silicon/dioxide interface states can contribute to dark current and recombination of shallow photo-electrons in the photodiode, further increasing dark current and degrading blue quantum efficiency.
Image lag is a phenomenon that exists within many conventional CMOS imagers that can result in ghost image artifacts. Image lag results from the inability to completely reset a photodiode in the short amount of time due to the large capacitance associated within the photodiode and reset by sub-threshold current. This causes photoelectrons to be left within the photodiode and inadvertently be read as signal electrons corresponding to the next frame in the image sequence, causing ghost images. These deficiencies described above lead to image quality that is not suitable for many digital imaging applications.
A pinned photodiode APS and PPS was disclosed by P. Lee et al. in allowed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/421,173. This disclosure illustrates an active pixel sensor that overcomes the limitations of the photodetectors previously discussed. However the pinned photodiode APS and PPS device has a smaller fill factor than a photodiode based APS and PPS device, which results in lower overall sensitivity.
From the foregoing discussion it is apparent that there remains a need within the art to provide an APS and PPS pixel structure that provides low dark current, high blue quantum efficiency, low image lag, and high fill factor.

Partially pinned photodiode for solid state image sensors


From a sequence of answers, a last remaining answer is selected. A set of answers in the sequence of answers are responsive to a set of questions resolved during an analysis of a reported problem in a data processing environment. An answer pair is formed using the last remaining answer and another answer which immediately precedes the last remaining answer in the sequence of answers. A probability is determined of the last remaining answer being caused by the other answer in the answer pair. When the probability is below a threshold value, a review workflow is triggered corresponding to a portion of the analysis. The portion includes a question corresponding to an answer in the answer pair.

A problem is a report of an issue in a data processing environment. The issue can take the form of an error, a malfunction, a missed action, a failure of an operation, an unacceptable performance or operation, and the like.
When a problem is reported in a data processing environment, an analyst analyzes a reason for the occurrence of the problem. Generally, but not necessarily, the analysis begins with a question that takes the form of "why" or "what" type of questions. For example, the analysis may begin with the question—"why did <the problem> occur," which receives an answer from a system or an analyst. The answer leads to another question—"why did/what caused <the issue in the answer> to occur." This question again receives an answer, which leads to another why or what type of question. This sequence of progressive questions and answers attempts to drill down into the basis cause—known as the root cause—that caused the problem.
Generally, an answer in this sequence of questions and answers is accepted as the root cause when the answer is either (i) sufficiently detailed such that the reported problem can be solved, (ii) such that further why or what questions would lead to nonsensical, mundane, trivial, or argumentative answer, or (iii) the analyst is satisfied that the answer has identified an element of the data processing environment where some occurrence directly or indirectly resulted in the problem. Once the root cause is determined, the sequence of progressively drilling-down questions and answers stops, and the identified root cause is remedied in the data processing environment with the expectation that the problem is either remedied or that the problem has been prevented from reoccurring.
A question and answer system (Q and A system) is an artificial intelligence application executing on data processing hardware. A Q and A system answers questions pertaining to a given subject-matter domain presented in natural language.
Typically, a Q and A system is provided access to a collection of domain specific information based on which the Q and A system answers questions pertaining to that domain. For example, a Q and A system accesses a body of knowledge about the domain, where the body of knowledge (knowledgebase) can be organized in a variety of configurations. For example, a knowledgebase of a domain can include structured repository of domain-specific information, such as ontologies, or unstructured data related to the domain, or a collection of natural language documents about the domain.

Root cause analysis validation through inverse causation

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A scope cover and warming assembly includes a tubular covering that includes an open first end, an open second end and a peripheral wall extending between the first and second ends. The covering has an elongated slot therein generally extending from the first end to the second ends. A heating apparatus is attached to the covering and is adapted for heating an area adjacent to the first and second ends. Each of a pair of heat emitters is positioned adjacent to one of the first and second ends. A power supply is electrically coupled to each of the heat emitters. The covering may be removably positioned on a gun scope so that each of the heat emitters abuts an opposite end of the gun scope.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to scope cover devices and more particularly pertains to a new scope cover device for protecting the surface of a gun scope and for heating the lenses of the gun scope to prevent fogging of the lenses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of scope cover devices is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,850,706 describes a device for positioning on a gun scope for protecting the scope from scratches and other damage. Another type of scope cover device is U.S. Pat. No. 3,208,146 having a substantially rigid material and which may be selectively lifted or lowered over a scope to protect the scope from damage. Yet another such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,953 which includes a flexible covering that may be positioned on a scope.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that is not only used for protecting a surface of a scope, but which utilizes such a covering as a mounting for holding heat emitters on scope to prevent the fogging up of the lenses of the scope.


A web infeed device for rotary printing presses, including a flexible, finite infeed element having a length greater than a spacing between adjacent drive elements for the infeed element includes a guide wherein the flexible infeed element is received, a plurality of rotationally symmetrical bodies inserted into the flexible infeed element for guiding the flexible infeed element and for reducing friction thereof within the guide, the flexible infeed element having a coating for reducing friction with the guide.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a web infeed device for rotary printing presses and, more particularly, to such a device for guiding one or more webs through all the components of the rotary printing press.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,830 discloses a web infeed device for rotary printing presses. In this device, many guide rails are mutually aligned in rows along the various web paths. A linear element guidable along a previously defined web path is disposed in the guide rails. A lever is mounted on the linear element and, on a side thereof facing towards the web, is provided with a snap closure, from which a new web which is to be inwardly threaded can be suspended and thereby pulled through the press. The linear element is moved by a plurality of drive stations disposed along the guide rails. The length of the linear element is selected so that it just exceeds the spaced distance between any two adjacent drive stations.
The published Japanese patent document JP Hei 2-265 848 relates to a device for infeeding paper for a rotary printing press. In this construction, the web to be infed is guided from a paper-roll support through the printing units of the press to a folding apparatus. Along the web path defined by the components of the press, a guide path is provided. An infeed or insertion element for inserting the paper web has a strip or band-shaped construction and is provided with regularly arranged openings or bumps on at least one side thereof. The openings may also extend all the way through the strip or band-shaped infeed element. A take-up or receiving section for the starting end of the material to be fastened and in-threaded is also provided on the strip or band-shaped infeed or insertion element. A drive system made up of a plurality of drive stations engages in the openings or with the bumps on the strip or band-shaped infeed or insertion element in order to guide the infeed or insertion element by rotation.
Moreover, a device for infeeding or inserting webs of material in rotary printing presses has previously become known from German Patent 2 402 768. In this embodiment, a flexible, finite infeed or insertion element is provided having a length which is somewhat greater than the spacing between adjacent drive elements, a plurality of which are provided for moving the infeed or insertion element in guides and shunts along an infeed or insertion path. Along the infeed or insertion path, scanners or sensors are provided for turning on whichever drive element is needed and simultaneously turning off whichever drive element is no longer needed, the scanners or sensors being actuatable by the infeed or insertion element.

Web infeed device for rotary printing presses


A load applied to the constituent member of a toroidal type continuously variable transmission is mitigated to thereby improve the durability thereof. During low speed running, a clutch for low speed is connected and a clutch for high speed and a clutch for backward movement are disconnected. During high speed running, the clutch for high speed is connected and the clutch for low speed and the clutch for backward movement are disconnected. During the high speed running, a torque is applied to the output side disc of the toroidal type continuously variable transmission. This torque becomes smaller as the transmission ratio as a whole is displaced to the high speed side. Correspondingly thereto, the load applied to the constituent member of the toroidal type continuously variable transmission can be mitigated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in a continuously variable transmission incorporating therein a toroidal type continuously variable transmission utilized, for example, as a transmission for an automobile, and particularly to a continuously variable transmission in which the durability of the constituent members of a toroidal type continuously variable transmission can be secured.
2. Related Background Art
It has been studied to use a toroidal type continuously variable transmission as schematically shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 of the accompanying drawings, for example, as a transmission for an automobile. This toroidal type continuously variable transmission is such that as disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application No. 62-71465, an input side disc 2 which is a first disc is supported concentrically with an input shaft 1 and an output side disc 4 which is a second disc is fixed to the end portion of an output shaft 3 disposed concentrically with the input shaft 1. Inside a casing containing the toroidal type continuously variable transmission therein, there are provided trunnions 6 pivotally movable about pivots 5 lying at twisted positions relative to the input shaft 1 and the output shaft 3.
The pivots 5 are provided on the outer sides of the opposite end portions of each of these trunnions 6. Also, the base end portions of displacement shafts 7 are supported on the central portions of the trunnions 6, and the trunnions 6 are pivotally moved about the pivots 5, whereby the angle of inclination of each displacement shaft 7 is made adjustable. Power rollers 8 are rotatably supported about the displacement shafts 7 supported by the trunnions 6. These power rollers 8 are sandwiched between the input side disc 2 and the output side disc 4. The inner sides 2a and 4a of the input side and output side discs 2 and 4 which are opposed to each other have their cross-sections forming concave surfaces obtained by an arc centering about the pivot 5 being rotated. The peripheral surfaces 8a of the power rollers 8 formed into spherical convex surfaces are made to bear against the above-mentioned inner sides 2a and 4a.
A loading cam type pressing device 9 is provided between the input shaft 1 and the input side disc 2, and by this pressing device 9, the input side disc 2 is resiliently pressed toward the output side disc 4. This pressing device 9 is comprised of a cam plate 10 rotatable with the input shaft 1, and a plurality of (e.g. four) rollers 12 held by a holder 11. A cam surface 13 which is an uneven surface extending in the circumferential direction is formed on one side (the left side as viewed in FIGS. 6 and 7) of the cam plate 10, and a similar cam surface 14 is also formed on the outer side (the right side as viewed in FIGS. 6 and 7) of the input side disc 2. The plurality of rollers 12 are supported for rotation about radial axes relative to the center of the input shaft 1.
When during the use of the toroidal type continuously variable transmission constructed as described above, the cam plate 10 is rotated with the rotation of the input shaft 1, the plurality of rollers 12 are pressed against the cam surface 14 on the outer side of the input side disc 2 by the cam surface 13. As a result, the input side disc 2 is pressed against the plurality of power rollers 8 and at the same time, the plurality of rollers 12 come into meshing engagement with the pair of cam surfaces 13 and 14, whereby the input side disc 2 is rotated. The rotation of this input side disc 2 is transmitted to the output side disc 4 through the plurality of power rollers 8, and the output shaft 3 fixed to this output side disc 4 is rotated.
When the rotational speed of the input shaft 1 and the output shaft 3 is to be changed and a speed reduction is to be effected between the input shaft 1 and the output shaft 3, the trunnions 6 are pivotally moved about the pivots 5 and the displacement shafts 7 are inclined so that as shown in FIG. 6, the peripheral surfaces of the power rollers may bear against that portion of the inner side 2a of the input side disc 2 which is toward the center and that portion of the inner side 4a of the output side disc 4 which is toward the outer periphery. When conversely, a speed increase is to be effected, the trunnions 6 are pivotally moved and the displacement shafts 7 are inclined so that as shown in FIG. 7, the peripheral surfaces 8a of the power rollers 8 may bear against that portion of the inner side 2a of the input side disc 2 which is toward the outer periphery and that portion of the inner side 4a of the output side disc 4 which is toward the center. If the angle of inclination of the displacement shafts 7 is made medium between FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, there will be obtained a medium transmission ratio between the input shaft 1 and the output shaft 3.
It is described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Nos. 1-169169 and 1-312266 that when the toroidal type continuously variable transmission constructed and acting as described above is to be incorporated into a continuously variable transmission for an actual automobile, it is combined with a planetary gear mechanism. That is, during low speed running, the drive force of an engine is transmitted by only the toroidal type continuously variable transmission and during high speed running, the drive force is transmitted by the planetary gear mechanism, whereby a reduction in the torque applied to the toroidal type continuously variable transmission during high speed running may be achieved. With such a construction, the durability of each constituent member of the toroidal type continuously variable transmission can be improved.
In the case of the structure described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Nos. 1-169169 and 1-312266, two sets of planetary gear mechanisms are incorporated and therefore, not only the structure becomes complicated and the cost runs up, but the installation space increases. Therefore, this structure is unsuitable as a continuously variable transmission for a small automobile or an FF vehicle which requires a transmission to be installed in a limited space near an engine room.


The invention relates to a piece of furniture and to a device for moving a first furniture part relative to a second furniture part using a drive unit by means of which the first furniture part can be moved, in the driven manner, relative to the second furniture part via a monitoring unit for movement monitoring of the first furniture part. In order to adopt a position better between the furniture parts, the monitoring unit is designed to preset a movement of the first furniture part through a predefined movement distance away from a mechanical stop after a movement of the first furniture part to a position which is defined by the mechanical stop, with the first furniture part being locked in the position that is reached, as a final position.

An arrangement having a movable furniture part in the form of a drawer is known from European Patent Application 1 323 363 A1. The arrangement comprises a drive unit for the drawer and a control device for controlling the drive unit. The arrangement also has a force measurement device. The force measurement device produces a force signal which is characteristic of forces applied to the movable furniture part from the outside, and can be supplied to the control device.

Device for moving a first furniture part relative to a second furniture part


An implant insertion instrument, and an implant are provided. The instrument includes a handle, a sleeve mounted to a distal end of the handle, and an implant rod disposed within the sleeve. The implant rod includes a gripper disposed on a distal end of the implant rod. The gripper has a first prong spaced apart from a second prong, the second prong being longer than the first prong. The implant includes an implant body, the implant body having a convex surface opposite a concave surface wherein an outer surface of the implant is continuous so as to prevent bone growth within the implant. Accordingly, the instrument facilitates the engagement of the implant by a simple push of the sleeve. Further, the implant has a continuous surface so as to inhibit bone growth and facilitate removal of the implant from the surgical site.

Implant insertion instruments for gripping an implant and inserting the implant to perform a surgical procedure are known. Currently such implant instruments include a gripping mechanism configured to tighten the instrument's hold on the implant. Current gripping mechanisms are actuated by the user engaging the instrument with a pair of his/her fingers. Further, current implant instruments secure the implant by pinching the distal edges of the implant and threadingly engaging the implant.
Current grippers include a stub threadably engaged to an opening of the implant and a pair of grippers having a notched edge engaged to a notch adjacent the opening configured. The notched adjacent the opening is configured to receive the notched edge of the gripper. However, such openings in the implant may provide an opportunity for bone growth wherein extraction of the implant may be made difficult by the interwoven bone growth. Accordingly, it remains desirable to have an implant and an implant inserting instrument configured to grip the implant without the use of an opening for providing a snap fit engagement and accommodating a threaded stud.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Techniques are provided for generating and using automated production and performance dashboards. For example, an automated production dashboard is generated and used that includes, but is not limited to, defining production performance metrics, job stats, trends, red/green/yellow with health check, and risks. As well, an automated upkeep dashboard is generated and used that includes, but is not limited to, defining supplies, maintenance, trends, next service appointments, red/green/yellow with health check, and risks. Such techniques may include a remote view of such dashboards, e.g. via native mobile applications in addition to web/client, etc.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to the field of automated online dashboards. More specifically, this invention relates to generating and using automated dashboards for the management of a large group of devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Technology has advanced so rapidly and by such vast leaps and bounds that ownership of many devices, including but not limited to, very large printing devices, is becoming more and more common for enterprises, government organizations, and other similar types of organizations. Thus, as such organizations acquire larger and larger number of such devices, current techniques for the management of such plethora of devices is either void or seriously lacking.
A system and method for remote monitoring of a print system is discussed in N. Johnson, D. Schroeder, P. Sylvester, P. Donigain, J. Dreyer, M. Condon, and J. M. Lafleur, U.S. Pat. No. 7,528,981, System and method for remote monitoring of print systems (May 5, 2009). Johnson et al teach techniques that are focused on the diagnosis of the error.
A system and method for print system monitoring is discussed in A. L. Raney, U.S. Pat. No. 7,265,819, System and method for print system monitoring (Sep. 4, 2007). Raney teaches techniques that are focused on the whole for purposes of rectifying and avoiding printing problems.
However, such prior art techniques are limited and fail to address the automated management of entire fleets of devices.


Disclosed is a method to image events with a camera having a focal plane ay of sensors on a charge coupled device whose parallel vertical registers clock signal charges to a horizontal register. The method includes sending a first clock signal to first gates on vertical register zones proximal to the sensors, and sending a second clock signal to second gates on distal vertical register zones remote from the sensors. A first transfer pulse on the first clock signal causes first signal charges in the sensors to transfer to the proximal zones, and then the first signal charges dissipate into the substrate of the charge coupled device. A second transfer pulse of the first clock signal occurs at a predetermined interval after the first transfer pulse and second signal charges transfer to the proximal zone. The second signal charges are clocked off the charge coupled device to become part of a video signal.

In conventional video systems for imaging phenomena in the infrared range, image quality constraints typically limit camera speed to a frame rate in the range of 30 to 45 Hertz. However, it is often desired to capture images of such phenomena occurring faster than these frame rates. In order to capture infrared images of high speed phenomena, we have developed a technique to reduce effective exposure time of a conventional staring mode camera by modifying clock signals that control sensors on the camera's focal plane array. With modified clock signals, the camera can operate with an effective frame rate of 100 kiloHertz. Additionally, our technique uses camera control hardware which creates the option of initializing clock signals in response to a trigger signal sent in response to a flagging, or precursor, signal generated before the event of interest at the target to be imaged. In addition, the camera can be programmed to create a series of images showing progressive stages of a high speed event .

Accelerated imaging technique using platinum silicide camera

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A method and apparatus for applying coded data to a substrate and decoding the data in which the data are encoded in cells having a determined number of pixels. The pixels are coded, preferably by binary printing, in accordance with the number of coded pixels and not their position. In decoding of the cells, the gray scale levels of the pixels are sensed, and converted to digital signals. The digital signals are summed, for all of the pixels of the cell, and compared with multiple threshold levels in order to recover the data.

Plain paper is a favored recording medium for storing and transferring human readable information, and the emergence of electronic document processing systems has enhanced the functional utility of plain paper and other types of hardcopy documents by enabling the application of machine readable digital data thereon. This machine readable data enables the hardcopy document to actively interact with such a document processing system in a variety of different ways when the document is scanned into the system by an ordinary input scanner. See, for example, the copending and commonly assigned U.S. patent applications of Frank Zdybel, Jr. et al. and Walter A. L. Johnson et al., which were filed May 30, 1990 on "Hardcopy Lossless Data Storage and Communications for Electronic Document Processing Systems" (D/89190) and on "Form and System Utilizing Encoded Indications for Form Field Processing" (D/90003), respectively.
As a general rule, digital data is recorded by writing two dimensional marks on a recording medium in accordance with a pattern which encodes the data either by the presence or absence of marks at a sequence of spatial locations or by the presence or absence of mark related transitions at such locations. Ordinary magnetic and optical digital data recording conform to this style of encoding.
In a prior method and apparatus for encoding machine readable information on a paper document, as disclosed for example in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/560,514 filed July 31, 1990 "Self-clocking Glyph Shape Codes", Bloomberg et al, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein, an encoded pattern is scanned by a CCD input scanner, digitized, and binary thresholded. In binary thresholding methods, all printed pixels with a digitized value greater than the threshold are interpreted as being 0's, and all printed pixels with a digitized value equal to or less than the threshold value are interpreted as 1's. In the above system, the encoding methods thus use binary thresholding of the signal read from the encoded pattern. For example, if a pattern consists of 16 printed pixels for each encoded bit, the digitized CCD output of the scanner is binary thresholded, and then the interpreting algorithm determines whether the 16 pixel cell has an 8 pixel black slash in it. If there is no slash, the pattern is interpreted as encoding a 0. The above system also suggests an encoding scheme wherein slashes of different directions are used to differentiate between a 0 and a 1. In such arrangements, the analog output is digitized and then binary thresholded.
An example of the encoding system of the above system is shown in FIG. 6 wherein each cell of the image is a 4.times.4 matrix of pixels. The encoding of each cell consists in defining a diagonal marking in the cell, in the form of black image of 8 pixels, in a rotationally dependent manner. Accordingly, a cell having such a properly oriented marking corresponds to a 1, whereas a cell with no darkened pixels corresponds to a 0. With this encoding, it is apparent that the illustrated 8 cells (128 pixels) of FIG. 6 corresponds to binary 01111001, or decimal 121.
While the provision of a hardcopy in which pixels of an image may intentionally have more than two gray levels is known, for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,788,598 and 4,790,566, such techniques are not employed in a manner to reduce the area of the hard copy that must be employed for encoding functions.

Multiple threshold encoding of machine readable code


An antenna module includes a main antenna and a parasitic resonator. The main antenna includes a feed arm, a ground arm, a first radiating body connected to one end of the feed arm, a second radiating body, and a third radiating body connected to one end of the ground arm. The first radiating body and the third radiating body are connected to the second radiating body and positioned at two sides of the second radiating body. The parasitic resonator is resonated with the main antenna and configured for widening a high frequency bandwidth of the main antenna.

Typical wireless communication devices generally include a single band antenna to transmit and receive electromagnetic waves. The single band antenna only allows transmission and reception of only one frequency band for communication and does not provide the flexibility of using multiple frequency bands suitable for different communication systems. Theoretically, using a different antenna for each frequency band can solve this problem. However, multiple antennas will inevitably increase cost of manufacturing the portable wireless communication devices, and occupy a large space within the portable wireless communication devices.

Antenna module and wireless communication device employing the same


A method for processing semiconductor wafers, e.g., silicon. The method includes providing a monitor wafer, which is made of a crystalline material. The method includes introducing a plurality of particles within a depth of the material, whereupon the plurality of particles cause the crystalline material to be in an amorphous state. The method also includes introducing a plurality of dopant particles into a selected depth of the crystalline material in the amorphous state using an implantation tool. The amorphous state traps the dopant particles. The method includes subjecting the monitor wafer including the plurality of particles and dopant particles into thermal anneal process to activate the dopant. The sheet resistivity is measured. The method operates the implantation tool using one or more production wafers if the dose of the dopant particles in the monitor water is within a tolerance of a specification limit.

The present invention is directed integrated circuits and their processing for the manufacture of semiconductor devices. More particularly, the invention provides a method for monitoring a low energy dose implantation process for the manufacture of integrated circuits. But it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability. For example, the invention can be applied to a variety of devices such as dynamic random access memory devices, static random access memory devices (SRAM), application specific integrated circuit devices (ASIC), microprocessors and microcontrollers, Flash memory devices, and others.
Integrated circuits or "ICs" have evolved from a handful of interconnected devices fabricated on a single chip of silicon to millions of devices. Current ICs provide performance and complexity far beyond what was originally imagined. In order to achieve improvements in complexity and circuit density (i.e., the number of devices capable of being packed onto a given chip area), the size of the smallest device feature, also known as the device "geometry", has become smaller with each generation of ICs. Semiconductor devices are now being fabricated with features less than a quarter of a micron across.
Increasing circuit density has not only improved the complexity and performance of ICs but has also provided lower cost parts to the consumer. An IC fabrication facility can cost hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars. Each fabrication facility will have a certain throughput of wafers, and each wafer will have a certain number of ICs on it. Therefore, by making the individual devices of an IC smaller, more devices may be fabricated on each wafer, thus increasing the output of the fabrication facility. Making devices smaller is very challenging, as each process used in IC fabrication has a limit. That is to say, a given process typically only works down to a certain feature size, and then either the process or the device layout needs to be changed.
An example of a semiconductor process that is important to make smaller and smaller devices is ion implantation for shallow junction MOS devices. Shallow junction MOS devices often require low energies but high impurity doses. Certain types of implantation such as boron use implant energies of 2 keV and possibly less. Such implant energies and doses are often difficult to monitor accurately. Here, measurement of implant depth and other parameters are often difficult or impossible using conventional techniques. In certain conventional techniques, screen oxides are formed on wafers before implantation. Low energy impurities often become trapped in the oxide layer and do not even reach the underlying silicon material. Resistance measurements of such oxide coated waters cannot be made accurately. Alternatively, bare silicon wafers are also implanted with impurities. These wafers often out diffuse the implanted impurities, which cannot be measured to any degree of accuracy. Accordingly, it is difficult to accurately monitor low energy implants for the manufacture of semiconductor devices.
From the above, it is seen that an improved technique for processing semiconductor devices is desired.

Low energy dose monitoring of implanter using implanted wafers

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation


The present invention relates to an wireless communication device and method for identifying a container. The device includes a wireless communication device for transmitting information regarding the container. The container includes an outer wall forming an enclosed interior chamber for containing contents, such as solid, liquid, and/or gaseous materials. The container also includes an opening through which the container contents are distributed. A valve assembly is positioned over the opening for controlling the flow of contents from the container. The wireless communication device is mounted within the valve assembly, and preferably within the ball. The wireless communication device communicates information regarding the container and/or its contents to an interrogation reader. The temperature associated with the container and/or its contents may be determined by various techniques including thermal contact between the temperature sensor and the container, measuring the discharge rate in a discharge capacitor associated with the wireless communication device, and determining the maximum energy absorption frequency of the wireless communication device to correlate it to temperature. The liquid level of the container may be determined by employing liquid level sensor techniques.

It is often necessary to monitor the location and movement of materials within a distribution center or manufacturing facility. One method of tracking the materials is to attach a wireless communication device, such as a radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder or other wireless communication device, to containers that are housing the materials. By way of example, a liquid container, such as a barrel or keg, may include a wireless communication device indicative of the liquid contained inside. A transmission device, such as an interrogation reader or transmitter, having an antenna device, is able to send information wirelessly through electronic signals. Such transmission device is placed throughout the distribution or manufacturing facility to receive signals transmitted from wireless communication devices. The signals are then passed to a central control system that monitors and records the applicable information. The central control system can also send information to its interrogation readers to send to the transponders for response and/or to be stored in the transponder's memory.
The information communicated by the containers in the system to the interrogation readers may be used for a number of reasons. For example, a statistical analysis may be made of the materials to maintain accurate inventories, production flow rates, and other production standards. Additionally, the wireless communication devices may include specific information about the materials housed within the containers, including, but not limited to, date of manufacture, place of manufacture, type of product within the container, "born on" date, temperature of the container and ambient air, temperature of the contents of the container, and pressure of the container.
The wireless communication device includes an antenna arrangement to communicate information about the containers to the interrogation readers. It is generally known for wireless communication devices to include an antenna. It is often a problem for many wireless communication devices to provide an effective antenna arrangement, especially if the wireless communication device is small or is required to be placed in a contained area. The length of the antenna must be tailored to the specific frequency at which the wireless communication device is designed to operate. For low frequencies in the MHz range or lower, an antenna may have to be several inches long to several feet long. The antenna may have to be several inches long for higher frequencies, to allow successful communication at the desired operating frequency.
Additionally, the antenna must either be packaged inside the wireless communication packaging that houses the wireless communication device, or located external to the wireless communication device. External positioning of the antenna to the wireless communication device provides several other challenges when placing the wireless communication device in a confined area, such as in a container. The antenna may have additional problems radiating energy effectively if the antenna is contained internal to a device, such as a container.
Another problem occurs when a wireless communication device cannot be easily mounted to a container. One example of such a container is a beer keg. A beer keg has a substantially cylindrical shape with smooth, uniform outer walls. There are no extensions or areas for effectively attaching a wireless communication device on the outside of the container. Additionally, containers may be heavy and cumbersome to handle. During the filling and distribution process, containers may bang against other containers, storage racks, conveyor equipment, etc. A wireless communication device attached to an exterior portion of the container may easily be damaged or destroyed during this process.
A container, such as a beer keg, may include a valve assembly for dispensing the contents. In many containers, the valve assembly includes a neck extending from an upper container surface. A ball is positioned within the neck and is movable between an open orientation that permits the contents to exit the container and a closed orientation that prevents the exit of the contents. A gasket may be positioned around the ball to prevent the leaking of the liquid contents from the container when the ball is in the closed orientation. A tap is mounted on the neck and ball to bias the ball in the open position and add air pressure to force the contents from the container.
To address the problems described above, it is advantageous to use the valve assembly of a container to mount a wireless communication device.

Device and method for identifying a container


Telephone communication apparatus permits an individual, while using a telephone, to select the language which both will be utilized in all messages given to the individual by the telephone and will be utilized by an operator, reservation clerk, or other individual that the individual contacts for assistance while using the telephone apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to telecommunication apparatus.
More particularly, the invention relates to telephone communication apparatus which permits an individual, while using a telephone, to select the language which both will be utilized in all messages given to the individual by the telephone and will be utilized by an operator, reservation clerk, or other individual that the individual contacts for assistance while using the telephone apparatus.
In a further respect, the invention relates to telephone communication apparatus which, without requiring that the telephone contact a host computer, will designate on site the language in which all messages will be provided a user, will contact an operator conversant in the designated language, and will display messages to the user in the language selected by the user.
2. Description of the Related Art
Businessmen from foreign countries who are traveling in the United States often are not conversant in the English language and have occasion to make telephone calls which require the businessmen to converse with an operator, reservation clerk, etc. Such telephone calls often are awkward, or impossible, for the businessmen because of inability of such businessmen to speak the English language.
Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved telephone system which would enable a businessman or other traveler to instantly select a foreign language in which the telephone system would display messages to the businessman and which would be spoken by an operator, reservation clerk or other individual contacted by the businessman while using the telephone system.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the invention to provide an improved telephone system.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved telephone system which is readily utilized by a person not fluent in the English language.
A further object of the invention is to provide an improved telephone system which can select the language preferred by a user and connect the user to an individual fluent in the selected language without requiring that the telephone system first communicate with a host computer to obtain the telephone number or other information necessary to place a call to contact the individual who is fluent in the language.

Enhanced terminal telecommunications system


Rigging methods to calibrate control surfaces, and related systems are disclosed. A rotatable control body may steer a vehicle. Deviations of the control body shape may distort a relationship between vehicle controls and the control body. Calibration restores the relationship by establishing an alignment surface as part of the control body which may be aligned to a rigging point on the vehicle associated with a known control setting. A metrology device and/or computer software may be used for calibration. The metrology device may define a positional relationship between a reference surface, a rotational axis, and a target location of the alignment surface. By manipulating a surface of the control body to a target relationship relative to the reference surface, the location of the alignment surface may be achieved relative to the control body. In this manner, a rigging feature with the alignment surface may be formed to improve vehicle performance.

Field of Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to calibrating steering devices to vehicle operator controls, and more specifically, to rigging fluid control bodies to vehicle operator controls.
Technical Background
Fluid dynamics includes the disciplines of aerodynamics and hydrodynamics to optimize fluid flow across control surfaces of a vehicle. The control surfaces are precisely moved by the operator during vehicle movement to create steering forces to direct the vehicle in a designated path and provide stability during travel. For example, a rudder may be adjusted to steer a watercraft or an elevator of a wing may be positioned to stabilize lift forces. Complex three-dimensional shapes are often used as control surfaces to optimize fuel consumption and provide effective operation. These shapes in combination with the other surfaces determine vehicle performance characteristics.

Rigging methods to calibrate control bodies of vehicles, and related systems


An interactive web site summary system builds an overview browsing system for the entire Web. Overview browsing represents an alternative to the search-based view of information work by providing a consistent set of summary views that can be browsed interactively. The views presented by the present system partition and linearize a corpus for ready understanding and exploration. These views show features of a web site such as, for example, the relation of a web site to other web sites, the broad nature of the information contained in the web site, how the web site is structured, how the web site has changed over time. The interactive web site summary system maintains such summary information in a process that is fast enough to be updated daily.

The World Wide Web (WWW) is comprised of an expansive network of interconnected computers upon which businesses, governments, groups, and individuals throughout the world maintain inter-linked computer files known as web pages. Users navigate these web pages by means of computer software programs commonly known as Internet browsers. Due to the vast number of WWW web sites, many web pages have a redundancy of information or share a strong likeness in either function or title. The vastness of the unstructured WWW causes users to rely primarily on Internet search engines to retrieve information or to locate businesses. These search engines use various means to determine the relevance of a user-defined search to the information retrieved.
The authors of web pages provide information known as metadata within the body of the document that defines the web pages. This document is typically written in, for example, hypertext markup language (HTML). A computer software product known as a web crawler systematically accesses web pages by sequentially following hypertext links (hyperlinks) from web page to web page. The crawler indexes the web pages for use by the search engines using information about a web page as provided by its address or Universal Resource Locator (URL), metadata, and other criteria found within the web page. The crawler is run periodically to update previously stored data and to append information about newly created web pages. The information compiled by the crawler is stored in a metadata repository or database. The search engines search this repository to identify matches for the user-defined search rather than attempt to find matches in real time.
A typical search engine has an interface with a search window where the user enters an alphanumeric search expression or keywords. The search engine sifts through available web sites for the search terms, and returns the search of results in the form of web pages in, for example, HTML. Each search result comprises a list of individual entries that have been identified by the search engine as satisfying the search expression. Each entry or "hit" comprises a hyperlink that points to a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) location or web page.
As new information access technologies became available, the nature of information work has changed. Search engines have transformed most Web tasks into reference tasks: the current expectation is that tasks begin with a search query and end with a suitable result web page. This mode of operation is simple, but it is being overwhelmed with the volume of web pages competing for attention. Ranked results lists have difficulty in scaling to the size of the current Web.
Previous systems that provide summaries of web sites fall into two classes: broad and narrow-coverage. Alexa®, a subsidiary of Amazon®, exemplifies the broad coverage approach. Alexa® monitors browsing traffic and computes a "Traffic Rank" for all web sites. Alexa® also displays information about ownership from the "whois" database and user reviews. Alexa® further displays in an unstructured list web sites linking to a summarized web site. Although this technology has proven to be useful, it would be desirable to present additional improvements. To avoid the computational expense, Alexa® makes no attempt to summarize the contents or structures within a web site.
A variety of Web monitoring tools exist that address narrow coverage of web site summarization. These web-monitoring tools are primarily concerned with detecting changes in a web site. As an example, ChangeDetector®, applies machine-learning techniques to detect subtle changes in web sites. Clustering is used to visualize comparisons between web sites [reference is made to L. Y. Bing Liu, et. al, "Visualizing web site comparisons", In Proceedings of the 11th International World Wide Web Conference (WWW 2002), web pages 693-703, 2002.] Although this technology has proven to be useful, it would be desirable to present additional improvements. Typically, Web monitoring tools monitor only a specific and targeted set of web sites (or URLs) rather than all web sites crawled on the WWW.
What is needed is a method for providing as much useful information as possible for a web site, while keeping the data volumes and processing requirements feasible. WebTOC illustrates what richness can be added to the directory structure display, by displaying not only web page counts but breakdowns by types of media files and file sizes reference is made to D. Nation, et. al., "Visualizing web sites using a hierarchical table of contents browser: WebTOC", In Designing for the Web: Practices and Reflections, 1997. Mappucino is another web site mapping tool that can display topic-customized maps, using graph layout algorithms [reference is made to Y. Maarek, et. al, "A system for dynamic and tailorable web site mapping", In Proceedings of the 6th International World Wide Web Conference, 1997].
The Relation Browser provides an interactive table of contents for a web site reference is made to G. Marchionini, et. al, "Toward a general relation browser: A GUI for information architects", In Journal of Digital Information, volume 4, 2003. The Relation Browser allows a user to "slice" the available content on a web site by various topic categories and displays the number of matching documents of various types for the specified topic. Although this technology has proven to be useful, it would be desirable to present additional improvements. These systems only crawl web sites on an as-needed basis and do not allow users to browse interactively from web site to web site.
Web site summaries have previously been provided on a web site-by-web site basis to track changes on web sites or to view specialized information. Large-scale summarization has been provided only for web traffic summaries. No method currently exists for providing a rapid overview or summary of a web site or collection of web pages that allows a user to browse interactively from web site to web site. What is therefore needed is a system, a service, a computer program product, and an associated method for interactively presenting a summary of a web site. The need for such a solution has heretofore remained unsatisfied.

System, method, and service for interactively presenting a summary of a web site

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention provides mitochondrially targeted antioxidant compounds. A compound of the invention comprises a lipophilic cation covalently coupled to an antioxidant moiety. In preferred embodiments, the lipophilic cation is the triphenyl phosphonium cation, and the compound is of the formula P(Ph3)+XR.Z− where X is a linking group, Z is an anion and R is an antioxidant moiety. Also provided are pharmaceutical compositions containing the mitochondrially targeted antioxidant compounds, and methods of therapy or prophylaxis of patients who would benefit from reduced oxidative stress, which comprise the step of administering the compounds of the invention.

Oxidative stress contributes to a number of human degenerative diseases associated with ageing, such as Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease, as well as to Huntington's Chorea, diabetes and Friedreich's Ataxia, and to non-specific damage that accumulates with aging. It also contributes to inflammation and ischaemic-reperfusion tissue injury in stroke and heart attack, and also during organ transplantation and surgery. To prevent the damage caused by oxidative stress a number of antioxidant therapies have been developed. However, most of these are not targeted within cells and are therefore less than optimally effective.
Mitochondria are intracellular organelles responsible for energy metabolism. Consequently, mitochondrial defects are damaging, particularly to neural and muscle tissues which have high energy demands. They are also the major source of the free radicals and reactive oxygen species that cause oxidative stress inside most cells. Therefore, the applicants believe delivering antioxidants selectively to mitochondria will be more effective than using non-targeted antioxidants. Accordingly, it is towards the provision of antioxidants which may be targeted to mitochondria that the present invention is directed.
Lipophilic cations may be accumulated in the mitochondrial matrix because of their positive charge (Rottenberg, (1979) Methods Enzymol, 55, 547–560; Chen, (1988) Annu Rev Cell Biol 4, 155–181). Such ions are accumulated provided they are sufficiently lipophilic to screen the positive charge or delocalise it over a large surface area, also provided that there is no active efflux pathway and the cation is not metabolised or immediately toxic to a cell.
The focus of the invention is therefore on an approach by which it is possible to use the ability of mitochondria to concentrate specific lipophilic cations to take up linked antioxidants so as to target the antioxidant to the major source of free radicals and reactive oxygen species causing the oxidative stress.


A mobile handset including a light-alert feature that overcomes some of the problems of cell phone ringers and vibration mechanisms. A mobile handset includes a phone housing, a display carried by the phone housing, one or more illumination devices other than the display carried by the housing that illuminate upon one or more events, and at least one of electronics and software to cause the one or more illumination devices to illuminate upon one or more events.

In the past, mobile handset users have been alerted of incoming phone calls by a ringer or a vibration mechanism in the mobile handset. A distinct audible ring is emitted from the mobile handset when the ringer detects the one or more signals representative of an incoming phone call. A problem with a ringer is that the audible ring emitted can be distracting to others in the vicinity of the mobile handset and a source of embarrassment for the mobile handset user, especially if the user forgets to turn the ringer off and ringer goes off in quiet locations and situations such as office meetings, libraries, churches, etc. Ringers can also be difficult to hear in loud environments (e.g., bars, concerts). Vibration mechanisms have been added to mobile handsets in an effort to reduce the distraction caused by the ringers of mobile handsets and to alert users when the phone is used in a loud environment. A vibration mechanism alerts the mobile handset user of an incoming call by vibrating, which the user senses. A problem with vibration mechanisms is that in certain situations, such as if the mobile handset is on a hard surface (e.g., table, desk), the vibration mechanism can emit an even more distracting noise than the ringer. Further, if the mobile handset is located across the room from the user or is not located against the user's body, the user may never sense or hear the vibration of an incoming call, causing the user to miss the call.

Mobile handset including alert mechanism


An engine exhaust system has an exhaust gas passage and a coolant passage. The coolant passage surrounds at least a portion of the exhaust passage. The system is also equipped with an exhaust conduit, which mixes exhaust gases and coolant and then releases the mixture outside of a watercraft. A perforated plate has an array of holes. A central portion of the perforated plate is curved and projects downstream within the exhaust conduit. This curved central portion enables the exhaust gas and the coolant to mix after passing through the perforated plate. A guide tube is positioned downstream of the perforated plate, so that the exhaust gases pass through the guide tube after passing through the holes of the perforated plate. The coolant passes through outer holes of the perforated plate and then passes around the circumference of the guide tube and is ultimately mixed with the exhaust gases.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to exhaust systems and more particularly relates to exhaust systems that are used with engines.
2. Description of the Related Art
Water vehicles often have an exhaust system that includes an exhaust gas passage for the gas discharged from an engine and a coolant passage for coolant that has been used to cool the engine. The exhaust gas passage and the coolant passage mix the exhaust gas and the coolant and then discharge the mixture outside of the vehicle.
Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 7-156883 discloses water jet propelled boats equipped with this type of engine exhaust system. The exhaust system has an upstream section (on the engine side) that includes an inner pipe and an outer pipe. The inner pipe is positioned within the outer pipe. Exhaust gases pass inside the inner pipe, while coolant passes in a space defined between the inner pipe and the outer pipe. The length of the inner pipe is less than the length of the outer pipe. In a downstream section of the exhaust system, the exhaust gases and the coolant mix with each other and the mixture flows downstream and is ultimately discharged out of the water jet propelled boat. The inner pipe has a restriction having a reduced diameter. The restriction is formed at a downstream end of the inner pipe.
In the exhaust system, pulsations may occur when negative pressure waves propagate inside of the engine during its exhaust stroke. The restriction can suppress the reflection of such negative pressure pulses. Even if the pressure downstream of the restricted portion in the exhaust system becomes higher than that of the pressure upstream of the restriction, the restriction can suppress propagation of such negative pressure waves. The restriction can thus inhibit coolant from flowing upstream to the engine. Hence, the exhaust system can prevent water damage to the spark plugs and other parts of the engine, as well as ignition failure.
Unfortunately, the restriction described in the Japanese document may not sufficiently suppress the propagation of negative pressure waves. As such, negative pressure waves may often adversely affect engine performance and assist the movement of water upstream through the inner pipe and eventually to the engine.


A fuel injection valve having a variable stroke mechanism is constructed. A valve body provided to be slidable; a first movable element for cooperating with the valve body; an inner fixed iron core provided at a position to oppose a second movable element; an outer fixed iron core; and a coil are included. A lift amount of the second movable element is set larger than a lift amount of the first movable element, and a portion of the second movable element is projected into the first movable element. In this way, large and small lifts are constituted by using a difference between magnetic attractive forces that are generated in the first movable element and the second movable element by a current supplied to the coil.

In recent years, regulations related to automotive fuel consumption have become strict, and low fuel consumption has been desired for automotive internal combustion engines. Meanwhile, high output has also been desired for the internal combustion engines. In order to achieve the low fuel consumption and the high output simultaneously, an injection amount control range needs to be expanded so as to conform to a wide operation region of the engine. In order to do so, it is desired that a lift amount (a stroke) of a valve body that determines a cross sectional area of a flow passage in a fuel injection section is variable.
As a fuel injection valve for realizing this, a configuration having two movable elements is disclosed in PTL1.


Disclosed is a micro particle analyzing device illuminating light to fluid including micro particles, reading the lights emitted from the micro particles at a signal processing reading section and thus analyzing the micro particles. The device comprises a light source section emitting light which will be illuminated to the fluid; a lens regulating an amount and a focal distance of the light emitted from the light source; and a concave mirror condensing light emitted from the micro particle to reflect it to the reading section wherein the concave mirror is formed with a hole so that the light of the light source section having passed through the lens can pass through the concave mirror. When analyzing the micro particles using the analyzing device according to the invention, the amounts of lights emitted from the micro particles according to up-and-down positions of the micro particles are not different.

A micro particle analyzing device according to the prior art, for example, a flow cytometry analyzing a blood cell such as erythrocyte or leukocyte in blood uses a flow cell having a rectangular cross section and makes a sample solution, which includes micro particles to be analyzed, flow to a central part thereof. FIG. 1 shows an optical part for analyzing the sample flowing in the flow cell having the rectangular cross section. This structure has a characteristic of transverse illumination. That is, an incident path of a laser light source intersects an emission path of fluorescence generated by a micro particle excited due to the illumination from the light source.
The transverse illumination device for analyzing micro particles comprises a light source section 10 emitting light which will be illuminated to a sample; a cylindrical lens 20 regulating an amount and a focal distance of the light emitted from the light source 10; an object lens 40 adjacent to the sample to condense light emitted from the sample; a reflecting mirror 50 for reflecting the light having passed through the object lens to a reading section 80; and a reading section 80 sensing and reading the light emitted from the sample.
To analyze the erythrocyte or leukocyte in fluid, fluid is made to flow in a flow cell 90 mounted to the micro particle analyzing device.
FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the flow cell. The fluid flows to a sample injecting inlet 91, and a buffer solution 94 is injected to a buffer solution injecting inlet 92 to flow around the sample. The sample responds to light of the light source 10 and emits light when passing through an observation point 93.
Preferably, the flow cell 90 or the sample is treated with fluorescent material in advance. When the micro particle (for example, erythrocyte) in the sample is illuminated with light of the light source 10, it responds the light together with the fluorescent material and emits light having a specific wavelength band. The light is selectively passed through a filter 70 and then can be signal-processed at a signal processing reading section 80 (for example, photo multiplier tube (PMT) or CCD camera).
The above micro particle analyzing device may further comprise an aperture 60 and the filter 70 so that only light having a specific wavelength band of the emission lights can be passed through.
In recent years, a microchip based flow cytometry using a microchip including a micro channel as a flow cell to analyze a micro amount of sample has been researched and developed. When using a microchip 540 as shown in FIG. 6, since the microchip has a flat horizontal structure, it is adopted an optical structure such that laser light is incident through an object lens and fluorescence emitted from a micro particle is focused at the same time (i.e., axial illumination).
The transverse illumination shown in FIG. 1 can mount different standards of optical devices at the incident path of the light source and the emission path of the fluorescence. However, in the axial illumination as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, characteristics of the incident light and the emission fluorescence are determined depending on the standard of the object lens.
The above characteristic of the axial illumination causes a disadvantage that it is impossible to independently regulate a light spot form of an incident light and a focused form of emission fluorescence each other.
To secure a uniformity of scattered light or fluorescence signal emitted from a sample particle in the microchip based flow cytometry, a magnitude of the light spot of the incident laser light should be large enough to include the sample particle. In addition, it should emit regular lights without regard to upper and lower positions of the particles to the light spot. Accordingly, it is preferred to use a lens having a small numerical aperture. However, when the emission light of the micro particle is again focused with the lens having the small numerical aperture, there is a problem of decreasing a focusing efficiency of emission light. The reason is because a lens having a large numerical aperture is preferred to focus the emission light of the micro particle.
Accordingly, ideal conditions of the optical part applied to the flow cytometry are as follows. An incident light is made to pass through a lens having a small numerical aperture and then to illuminate the sample particle. An emission light is made to pass through a lens having a large numerical aperture and then to be detected at a sensing section.

Device having an optical part for analyzing micro particles

Seoul National University Industry Foundation


Disclosed is a process for the flotation of a mineral concentrate comprising the steps of forming an aqueous slurry of a milled mineral ore containing particles of a desired mineral species and adding a flotation reagent which causes a desired variation in the flotation tendency of the desired mineral species present within the slurry so as to increase the efficiency of separation of that mineral species from the slurry relative to a situation where said flotation reagent is absent from the slurry. A stabilising agent is introduced to the slurry in an amount which creates electrochemical conditions conductive to separation of the desired mineral from the slurry and causes the destruction of a deleterious component from the slurry which consumes the flotation reagent thereby maintaining or improving the efficiency of separation of the desired mineral species from the slurry of milled ore.

Flotation is a widely utilised unit operation in mineral processing and is based upon the principle that different mineral species have different wetting characteristics. This difference in wetting characteristic can be used as a basis for separating the different mineral species of a milled ore because relatively unwetted or hydrophobic milled mineral particles adhere more strongly to a stream of gas bubbles, generally air, passing through a slurry of the milled mineral than those particles which are relatively wetted or hydrophilic.
The process is generally assisted by the addition of reagents, for example, depressants which reduce the flotation tendency of certain minerals such as pyrite and activators such as copper sulphate which activate, that is, assist minerals to float which do not have a tendency to do so even in the presence of collectors. Organic collectors such as sodium ethyl xanthate which enhance the tendency of mineral particles to adhere to bubbles of gas are also widely utilised.
The flotation operation is conducted in flotation cells and columns which contain a slurry of the milled ore to be separated into the constituent streams of concentrate and gangue. A gas, usually air, is sparged through the cell or column causing hydrophobic particles to selectively attach to air bubbles, generally with the aid of agents such as those described above. The hydrophobic particles collect in a froth layer at the top of the cell and are removed. The unfloated material is removed from the bottom of the cell from where it may be transferred to a further flotation stage in which the flotation conditions may be altered to selectively float the same or another desired mineral concentrate. Alternatively, the unfloated materials may be removed as a tails or gangue stream which may be used to fill desired mine shafts or for other forms of land reclamation.
A typical flotation process involves the separation of the constituents of a mixed ore such as an ore containing the minerals galena (lead sulphide), sphalerite (ZnS) and pyrite (FeS.sub.2). In a first stage, galena is floated by adding a xanthate collector (0.05-0.15 kg t.sup.-1 ore) to promote the flotation of galena. Sodium cyanide and zinc sulphate (0.05-0.15 kg t.sup.-1 ore and 0.5-1 kg t.sup.-1 ore respectively) are added to depress the pyrite and sphalerite. In a second stage, sphalerite is activated with copper sulfate to form a copper sulfide layer on the sphalerite grains which allows adsorption of the xanthate activator and flotation of a predominately zinc concentrate. Pyrite is recovered as a tailing.
Where the ore is more complex or the proportion of coarse particles is too high, regrinding and further flotation circuits may be required. Cleaner and scavenger flotation cells may also be required to maximise recovery of desirable mineral constituents. It is also to be noted that effective flotation requires careful control over chemical conditions such as pH which require an acid or lime to be added in conditioning stages prior to each flotation step.
In spite of the above precautions, the tails stream from a flotation circuit often contains appreciable amounts of valuable minerals and therefore, if the flotation operation is to be optimised in terms of economic efficiency, these minerals must be reclaimed to the maximum extent possible. Such an objective requires careful control over the flotation process both through judicious use of the above described agent, control over pH, Eh, and, consequently, the process chemistry. It will be appreciated, in this regard, that the above described agent are expensive and over use is to be discouraged.
A problem arises with certain minerals of economic importance, for example sphalerite (zinc sulphide), pyrite (iron (III) sulphide), arsenopyrite (iron arsenosulphide) and stibnite (Sb.sub.2 S.sub.3) in that such minerals have a poor tendency to float even in the presence of collectors. In these instances, it has been necessary to employ an activator such as copper sulphate to encourage flotation. The copper sulphate achieves this objective by encouraging the formation of a surface layer(s) of copper sulfide, a mineral which does have a tendency to float. In the case of sphalerite, the formation of this surface layer follows the chemical reaction. EQU ZnS+Cu.sup.2+ .fwdarw.CuS+Sn.sup.2+ (I)
Unfortunately, it has been found that copper sulphate must often be used in excess of the theoretical quantity required to enable the formation of sufficient coverage of the zinc sulfide with copper sulfide. As the operation is conducted at alkaline pH there is a tendency for hydroxylated copper species to form which may also react with other species such as cyanide and complex sulphated anions causing the activation process to become less efficient. Similar behaviour may be observed with other milled ones.


Disclosed is a preparation method of a foamed aluminum special-shaped part. The preparation method comprises the following steps: S1, pressing wax molds; S2, making a shell; S3, carrying out smelting; S4, carrying out casting; and S5, vibrating the shell. Finally, the foamed aluminum special-shaped part is obtained for a preparation process of a foamed aluminum compound casting.

A foamed aluminum material is a novel light multifunctional material in which a large number of communicating or non-communicating holes are uniformly distributed in an aluminum or aluminum alloy matrix, and has the characteristics of a continuous metal phase and a dispersed air phase. As a structural material, foamed metal has the characteristics of small density, high porosity, large specific surface area and the like; as a functional material, the foamed metal has multiple properties of porosity, vibration reduction, damping, sound absorption, sound insulation, heat dissipation, impact energy absorption, electromagnetic shielding and the like. The foamed metal material has the dual functions of the structural material and the functional material, is beneficial to realizing light weight of products and improving collision safety and buffering performance, can also comply with the industrial green manufacturing concept, can obviously improve the NVH performance of the whole machine/whole vehicle, and therefore is widely applied to the fields of automobile industry, rail transit, aerospace, electronic military industry and the like.
At present, research and application of foamed aluminum at home and abroad mainly focus on research on foamed aluminum plates or sandwich plates taking foamed aluminum as a core material, foamed aluminum special-shaped parts are rarely reported, but foamed aluminum products in regular shapes such as a plate shape, a rod shape and a column shape cannot meet the requirements for integration and complication of parts. The current preparation process for a foamed aluminum special-shaped part mainly comprises machining+bonding, a melt foaming method and a powder metallurgy method.
The foamed aluminum special-shaped part is prepared through a machining+bonding process, the process is simple, easy to operate and low in investment, but has miscellaneous working procedures, involves multiple machining procedures, and is low in product yield, and due to the fact that the surface of the foamed aluminum special-shaped part is of a hole structure, high failure risk exists when the foamed aluminum special-shaped part is connected with an mating part, and automation is hardly achieved. The melt foaming method is simple and mature in process and low in cost, but if the melt foaming method is used for a special-shaped part, a corresponding metal mold is needed, and the service life of the mold may be greatly shortened under the working conditions of repeated heating and chilling, so that the manufacturing cost of the product is remarkably increased. The powder metallurgy method has the characteristics of short process and near-net forming, has incomparable advantages compared with other processes when used for preparing special-shaped parts with complex shapes, but also has some prominent problems such as high raw material cost, complex preform preparation process, too short service life of a metal cavity for foaming, and thus, the powder metallurgy method has great limitation when applied to industrial production.

Preparation method of foamed aluminum special-shaped part


A vacuum vessel for continuous or semi-continuous treatment of oils in connection with deodorization comprises spaces (12, 121, 122) through which oil to be treated is brought to pass and means to heat or cool the oil in the form of U-tubes. There are perforated pipes (26) arranged at the bottom of said spaces to lead stripping gas into said oil. The vessel has a connection to a vacuum source (7). The spaces in the vessel are arranged such that the oil to be treated in the vessel flows through the same by gravity. The heating or cooling medium passing the U-tubes is arranged to be pumped therethrough. The U-tubes for heating or cooling medium are arranged in such a way in said spaces that the flow of oil is counter-current to the flow of heating or cooling medium all through the vessel and a number of U-tubes are arranged in groups (13), parallel and in rows above each other in said spaces.

Such a vacuum vessel for treatment of fatty oils is described for example in EP 0 763 082 B1. When producing consumer products as edible oils out of different vegetable or animal oils deodorization is a part of the refining process. During the deodorization the oil is heated to a high temperature 180-275° C. in order to remove contaminants and unwanted substances from the oil. These substances have a lower boiling point than the different triglycerides, which constitute the edible oil. The deodorization is carried through under vacuum 1-20 mbar and the removal of the volatiles is facilitated by adding stripping gas to the oil. The stripping gas may consist of an inert gas or steam. The stripping gas ensures agitation of the oil and promotes heat transfer and makes the removal of the unwanted substances easier.
Vacuum vessels may be used for treatment of many kinds of oils and fats including mineral oil.
For many types of oils it is useful to heat the oil under vacuum with addition of stripping gas during a pretreatment step prior to the deodorization in order to remove the dissolved air and that hinder an oxidation of the oil.
The deodorized oil is also in many cases subjected to a further treatment with injection of stripping gas during a simultaneous cooling after the deodorization step.
The vessel is specially adapted for exchanging heat between incoming and outgoing edible oils in deodorizing and physical refining plants. The incoming oil to the deodorizing column is heated by outgoing oil under vacuum and sparging conditions
The aim of the invention is to increase the efficiency of the heat exchange between the oil and the heating or cooling medium while limiting the size of the vacuum vessel. This is achieved in that the U-tubes for heating or cooling medium are arranged in such a way in said spaces that the flow of oil is counter-current to the flow of heating or cooling medium all through the vessel and that a number of U-tubes are arranged in groups, parallel and in rows above each other.


Described herein is a technology for facilitating watermark detection. Spread-spectrum watermarking is a commonly employed technique for hiding data in digital goods (e.g., multimedia signals). Such watermarks may be potentially vulnerable to so-called “watermark estimation-based attacks.” At least one implementation, described herein, is an advancement over the traditional spread-spectrum watermark detector. At least one implementation, described herein, greatly discourages an estimation-based attack by an adversary. At least one implementation, described herein, determines whether a digital good has likely been subjected to an estimation-based attack and, at least, approximately reverses such attack. The scope of the present invention is pointed out in the appending claims.

Digital goods are often distributed to consumers over private and public networks—such as Intranets and the Internet. In addition, these goods are distributed to consumers via fixed computer readable media, such as a compact disc (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc (DVD), soft magnetic diskette, or hard magnetic disk (e.g., a preloaded hard drive).
Unfortunately, it is relatively easy for a person to pirate the pristine digital content of a digital good at the expense and harm of the content owners—which includes the content author, publisher, developer, distributor, etc. The content-based industries (e.g., entertainment, music, film, etc.) that produce and distribute content are plagued by lost revenues due to digital piracy.
Modern digital pirates effectively rob content owners of their lawful compensation. Unless technology provides a mechanism to protect the rights of content owners, the creative community and culture will be impoverished.
"Digital goods" is a generic label for electronically stored or transmitted content. Examples of digital goods include images, audio clips, video, multimedia, software, and data. Digital goods may also be called a "digital signal," "content signal," "digital bitstream," "media signal," "digital object," "object," and the like.
Watermarking
Watermarking is one of the most promising techniques for protecting the content owner's rights of a digital good. Generally, watermarking is a process of altering the digital good such that its perceptual characteristics are preserved. More specifically, a "watermark" is a pattern of bits inserted into a digital good that may be used to identify the content owners and/or the protected rights.
Generally, watermarks are designed to be invisible or, more precisely, to be imperceptible to humans and statistical analysis tools.
A watermark embedder (i.e., encoder) is used to embed a watermark into a digital good. A watermark detector is used to detect (or extract) the watermark in the watermarked digital good. Watermark detection is often performed in real-time even on small devices.
Conventional Watermarking Technology
Conventional technologies for watermarking media signals rely on the imperfections of human perceptions (e.g., the human auditory system (HAS) or the human visual system (HVS)). For example, in the realm of audio signals, several conventional secret hiding techniques explore the fact that the HAS is insensitive to small amplitude changes—either in the time or frequency domains—as well as insertion of low-amplitude time-domain echoes.
The watermark can be regarded as an additive signal w, which contains the encoded and modulated watermark message b under constraints on the introduced perceptible distortions given by a mask M so that:y=x+w(M).
Commonly-used conventional watermark embedding techniques can be classified into spread-spectrum (SS) (which is often implemented using additive or multiplicative techniques) and quantization-based (e.g., quantization index modulation (QIM)) schemes.
Those of ordinary skill in the art are familiar with conventional techniques and technology associated with watermarks, watermark embedding, and watermark detecting.
Robustness
In most watermarking applications, the marked goods are likely to be processed in some way before it reaches the watermark receiver. The processing could be lossy compression, signal enhancement, or digital-to-analog (D/A) and analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion. An embedded watermark may unintentionally or inadvertently be impaired by such processing. Other types of processing may be applied with the explicit goal of hindering watermark reception. This is an attack on the watermark (or the watermarked good) by a so-called adversary.
In watermarking terminology, an attack may be thought of as any processing that may impair detection of the watermark or communication of the information conveyed by the watermark or intends to do so. The processed watermarked goods may be then called attacked goods.
Of course, key aspect of a watermarking technology is its robustness against attacks. The notion of robustness is intuitively clear to those of ordinary skill in the art: A watermark is robust if it cannot be impaired without also rendering the attacked goods less useful.
Watermark impairment can be measured by several criteria, for example: miss probability, probability of bit error, or channel capacity. For multimedia, the usefulness of the attacked data can be gauged by considering its perceptual quality or distortion. Hence, robustness may be evaluated by simultaneously considering watermark impairment and the distortion of the attacked good.
Estimation-based Attack
To accomplish an estimation-based attack, the adversary is able estimate—at least partially—the original good or the watermark from the watermarked good using some knowledge of the goods' statistics. An estimation-based attack does not need any knowledge of the secret key used for watermark embedding. Furthermore, knowledge of the embedding rule is not required; however, the attack may be more successful with it.
Depending on the final purpose of the attack, the adversary may obtain an estimate of the original good or of the watermark based on some stochastic criteria such as maximum likelihood (ML), maximum a posteriori probability (MAP), or minimum mean square error (MMSE). Depending on the way the estimate is used, these attacks may be classified as one of various forms of attacks, such as a removal attack, a protocol attack, or a desynchronization attack.
Framework to Thwart Estimation-based Attacks
Accordingly, it is a challenge to create a framework to thwart estimation-based attacks. It is desirable for such a framework to increase watermark robustness with respect to estimation-based attacks. Furthermore, it desirable for such a framework to do so when the adversary knows all the details how the watermark is embedded except the hidden secret.

Countermeasure against estimation-based attacks of spread-spectrum watermarks