Provided is a lithium secondary cell having a positive pole and a negative pole separated by a separator in an electrolyte in a cell case, which has the negative pole comprising a substance which can contain lithium and/or the positive pole comprising a substance to which lithium can be inserted, thus being excellent in excessive discharge characteristics, high in energy density, and long in cycle life even in applications where a plurality of cells are connected in series or in parallel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithium secondary cell, and more particularly to a lithium secondary cell using lithium for the negative pole whereby a reduction in cell life due to excessive discharge can be improved.
2. Related Background Art
The amount of CO.sub.2 gas contained in the air has been increasing over the past years, and a possibility is presented that the greenhouse effect will cause global warming. Thermal power plants convert thermal energy obtained by burning fossil fuels, etc. into electric power. It is, however, becoming difficult to construct new thermal power plants which could emit large amounts of CO.sub.2 gas or NO.sub.x, hydrocarbons, CO, etc. with burning of fuels. Thus, as an effective utilization method of electric power generated by generators in the thermal power plants, it is proposed that so-called load leveling be used, wherein nighttime power is stored in secondary cells installed in ordinary households and the stored electric power is consumed in the daytime when power consumption is high. For applications to electric vehicles considered not to emit air pollutants including CO.sub.x, NO.sub.x, hydrocarbons, etc., there are demands to develop secondary cells of higher energy density. Further, for applications to light sources for portable equipment such as book-type personal computers, word processors, video cameras, and portable telephones, it is of urgent necessity to develop more compact, lighter, and higher-performance secondary cells.
Such more compact, lighter, and higher-performance secondary cells are under development, for example, like a rocking chair type lithium ion cell using an anode activator of a material obtained by introducing lithium ions into an intercalation compound and a cathode activator of carbon, which is partly being used in practice. Further, development is under way for a lithium secondary cell using a cathode activator of metallic lithium, which can attain higher energy density than the lithium ion secondary cell.
Also used in practice is a lithium secondary cell using a negative-pole material of a metal oxide such as niobium pentoxide (Nb.sub.2 O.sub.5). (The cell of this type has a feature of long cycle life, because metallic lithium is not separated out upon charge. However, it has the disadvantage of lower energy density than that of other lithium secondary cells.)
When these higher-energy-density lithium ion secondary cells and lithium secondary cells are used in the electric vehicles or portable equipment as described above, they are often used as a combinational cell increased in current and voltage by connecting a plurality of cell elements in series or in parallel. In applications as a combinational cell, a cell element with the smallest discharge capacity is always first to be discharged up, because of variations in capacity or variations in cycle life characteristics between the cell elements connected. Therefore, this cell element with the smallest discharge capacity is always excessively discharged before completion of discharge of the other cells. Then this cell element becomes a rate-determining factor and decreases the cycle life. As a result, the life of the combinational cell is also decreased.
Meanwhile, examples of secondary cells already commercially available and used in practice are nickel-cadmium secondary cells and nickel-zinc secondary cells. These are called "aqueous cells", because they use alkali dissolved in water as a solvent of an electrolyte solution. In order to prevent the over discharge or excessive discharge, which is a problem for the lithium ion secondary cell etc., the aqueous cells use a technique of preliminarily adding an activator in a charged state (called a discharge reserve), such as metallic cadmium or metallic zinc, into the cathode activator, thereby suppressing decomposition or the like of the electrolyte solution (electrolysis of water occurs after using up the dischargeable activator in the electrode, thereby generating hydrogen gas from the negative pole) by discharging this activator in the charged state upon excessive discharge.
However, reactions upon charge and discharge, of the cathode activator in the above aqueous cells are repeated between hydroxide and metal (for example, in the case of nickel-cadmium cell, the reactions are as follows: Cd+2OH.sup.- .revreaction.Cd(OH).sub.2 +2e.sup.-), whereas in the case of the lithium secondary cell, lithium ions are transferred through the electrolyte solution between the positive pole (anode) and the negative pole (cathode). Namely, the reaction modes upon charge and discharge are different, and thus, the concept of discharge reserve as in the above aqueous secondary cells cannot be applied to the lithium secondary cell as it is.
When the lithium secondary cell is excessively discharged, excessive lithium ions are inserted into a crystal lattice of the anode activator in the positive pole, which deforms or breaks the lattice. After that, the anode activator results in decreasing its amounts of inclusion and detachment of lithium ions, which could be a cause to decrease the cell life.
In the case of the lithium secondary cell using lithium metal, the negative pole reacts with anions in the electrolyte solution to form a film on the surface of lithium metal, upon excessive discharging which lowers reversibility of inclusion and detachment of lithium. This could be a cause of shortening the cell life. The electrolyte solution is also decomposed to form hydrocarbons and carbonic acid gas, which increases the concentration of the electrolyte solution so as to cause a decrease in conductivity. This could be another cause to decrease the cell life. In the case of the lithium ion secondary cell using carbon for the negative pole, a film formed by a reaction with anions in the electrolyte solution on the carbon surface obstructs insertion and detachment of lithium ions between carbon layers, which could be a cause of shortening the cell life.
Accordingly, there is a need to devise some means against excessive discharge for the lithium secondary cell and the lithium ion secondary cell. It is, however, a present status that, in applications to combinational cells, which are likely to cause excessive discharge in practical use, the countermeasures listed below are employed in order to decrease excessive discharge as much as possible, but neither of them can present a substantial improvement.
(a) To make capacities of cell elements used in a combinational cell even. PA1 (b) To set a high final discharge voltage. PA1 (c) To monitor and control voltages of the respective cell elements.
Therefore, there are demands to develop a lithium secondary cell having a higher energy density, which is free of any decrease in the cell life even if the cell is subjected to excessive discharge.


A low cost jet engine for ground based application which is constructed with a conventional automotive turbocharger including a compressor and a turbine. An independent small combustor unit is mounted on the turbocharger between the compressor and the turbine and adapted for taking in air from the compressor and combusting fuel with the compressed air to provide an exhaust for driving the turbine. Controls are provided for starting and controlling the operation of the engine. The jet engine is readily adaptable to many land based applications, such as for educational purposes and snow blowing applications.

The present invention pertains to jet engines and more particularly to jet engines adapted for ground-based applications, such as in industry and education, wherein conventional jet engines have proven wanting.
While it is not a new idea to use jet engines in industry, rarely are the full benefits realized. Because aircraft jet engines are designed to optimize their flight related functions, many of the features emphasized in the design make them unsuited for most other applications. Two serious obstacles to their use in industry are; high initial cost and low application efficiency.
Application efficiency takes into account all the economic factors related to the use to which the engine is put, the effectiveness in doing the work desired and innumerable other considerations. While jet engines are outstanding in reliability when used in aircraft with precise maintenance sheduling, they generally have proven unreliable when operated in an environment for which they were not designed, and when operation and maintenance are by personnel not properly trained. Maintenance costs are much higher than with reciprocating engines.
Aircraft turbojet engines are engineered, for example, with these goals: frontal area is kept minimum, ratio of power output to pounds weight in emphasized, fuel consumption for pound thrust is minimized, self-containment of ancillary drives and components is demanded, reliability and safety must be at maximum. These most rigid requirements result in high cost design. Many of these features may be compromised in designing for ground based operation.
They are almost always too powerful and fuel consumption is excessive. It can be assumed that a simple jet engine, even with a somewhat higher specific fuel consumption, will have a higher application efficiency when designed to the specific industrial use. The poor application efficiency of aircraft jet engines when adapted to industrial use is illustrated by the high operating costs and low reliability of the jet powered snow blowers used by railroads.
In spite of complexity and cost, turbojet engines have been adapted to a limited extent to ground based power generation. For example: where high temperature and high velocity exhaust gas can be used for blowing or moving gasses, thawing, melting and drying; where enormous shaft power is required; and where suitable fuel is plentiful.
As fundamental principals of design and operation of the engine of this invention are the same as used in the design of the more complex airplane turbojet engine, it is inherently more suitable for training engineering students in the fundamentals of turbojet engine design.
The low cost jet engine of the present invention is intended for ground based application and is simply constructed of a conventional automotive turbocharger, which includes a compressor and a turbine, and an independent combustor mounted on the turbocharger between the compressor and the turbine. The combustor is adapted for taking in air from the turbocharger compressor and combusting fuel with the compressed air to provide an exhaust for driving the turbocharger turbine. Appropriate controls are provided for starting and controlling the operation of the engine.
This invention is a turbojet engine which is both simple and low cost with the proven automotive turbocharger as the its core. With its proper design of; combustor, ancillary components and systems, and controls, is inexpensive and highly reliable. Much of its construction is from mass produced components. Also, with its simplicity of design and only one rotating part, repairs are easily accomplished and the mass produced commercial parts are inexpensive. The ability to tailor engine design to specific industrial uses results in an application efficiency not achievable by adaptation of aircraft jet engines.
Reducing the complexity brings with it a loss in specific fuel consumption in comparison to conventional turbojet engines. This efficiency loss is relatively unimportant in applications of supplying emergency power, replacing manual labor, blowing snow, thawing materials, propelling granular materials, training engineering students and many other uses.
The principal components of a typical turbojet aircraft engine are the compressor, turbine, and a fuel combustor. Ancillaries are; lubricating system, fuel management system, staring system, controls and instrumentation.
As aircraft engines must be self-sustaining, these ancillaries are driven by shaft output from the jet engine, through a gearing mechanism. This feature is a major and often unnecessary cost and complication in ground based applications.
Examples of application efficiency in design are important features gained by using outside power to drive the ancillaries. Oil under pressure is supplied at the bearings before a start is attempted; pressure is maintained at the bearings during spinning down after a shutoff. This both assures lubrication after shutoff and cools the bearings and turbocharger housing to prevent coking of oil (forming carbon) which eventually destroys the turbocharger. Also, fuel pressure is available prior to the start attempt.
The forced lubrication system for pumping lubrication oil through the turbocharger is provided with a means for heating the oil at selected times, such as at start-up when the oil is cold. In addition, the lubrication system preferably includes a fuel heat exchanger that is adapted for heating fuel for the combustor with the lubrication oil. The lubrication oil may also be cooled with a heat exchanger that includes a cooling core that is adapted for cooling the lubrication oil flowing through the core. The cooling core is normally positioned at the intake of the turbocharger compressor for cooling the core with compressor intake air.
The oil heat exchanger further preferably includes a thermostatic bypass valve adapted for bypassing flow quantities of lubricating oil around this cooling core when temperature of the lubricating oil attains a predetermined minimum, in order to prevent the lubrication oil from becoming undesirably low.
The fuel supply system for supplying fuel under pressure to the combustor for combustion includes a throttle valve that is adapted for bypassing flow of fuel to the combustor for thereby regulating fuel supply to the combustor. Accordingly, the fuel supply is continuously circulated and when fed to the combustor nozzle, the quantity of fuel through the throttle is regulated by bypassing quantities of the fuel that is being recirculated to the nozzle. The fuel is also preferably heated by the use of a heat exchanger from the lubrication oil. An additional heating element is also provided for initially heating fuel supplied to the combustor during start-up.
An air nozzle adapted for directing compressed air from an independent source into the compressor of the turbocharger is provided for inducing start-up rotation of the turbine. A pressure sensor in the combustor is provided and adapted for discontinuing the flow of air from the nozzle and for discontinuing an externally supported fuel ignitor in the combustor when a predetermined minimum pressure for self-sustaining operation of the engine is attained.
This invention is a low cost turbojet engine manufactured around the automotive type turbocharger. The combustor, turbine and rotating components are of design and construction well known to the industry. The invention is in having designed in solutions to engineering and manufacturing problems for achieving a simple, reliable, low cost engine.
Product developers who attempt to adapt aircraft design jet engines to their needs will find the versatility of this invention to be the solution to their problems. For applications which require high temperature high velocity gas movement as a means of doing work at specific jobs can design their product around this engine.
Designers of jet engines or their components find it extremely costly and inefficient to test their design ideas on giant multi-burner aircraft type engines. My inventions allow these tests to be set up and run quickly and inexpensively, yet yielding the test data necessary for checking the design.
During heavy snow falls, railroads are faced with need for removing snow from track switches to assure their movement as directed. With the many products which are used for this purpose, still the largest number of switches cleared are by hand with broom and shovel. This problem is particularly critical in marshalling yards with thousands of switches to be cleared quickly.
Of many possible embodiments of this invention, the three preferred embodiments descriptions follow: 1) BASIC MULTI-USE JET ENGINE, 2) EDUCATIONAL and EXPERIMENTAL JET ENGINE PACKAGE, and, 3) SNOW BLOWER FOR RAILROADS.


A method for solids removal in heat exchanger systems includes a first water flow path from a heat exchanger to a cooling tower and back to the heat exchanger, including: forming an additional path in parallel with the first path, wherein water flows from the heat exchanger to a UET reactor and back to the heat exchanger, and wherein the UET reactor including means for solids removal from the water using a partial electrolysis process. Optionally, the volumetric flow rate in the additional path is about 5% of the volumetric flow rate in the first water flow path.

In heat exchangers and other equipment that act as water conduits, solids and minerals tend to precipitate and settle therein. These solids may interfere with the water passage through the system and may deteriorate the heat transfer performance in equipment which is designed to transfer heat from one medium to another.
The present invention addresses the problem of removing solids and minerals from heat exchangers in various types of water systems, and for keeping such other equipment and/or its water conduits free of sedimentation of solids and minerals; if not completely free of sedimentation, then a significant reduction thereof may be achieved.
i. For example, in a cooling tower application:
FIG. 1 details a prior art heat exchanger system. A heat exchanger 11 is used to cool down a high temperature fluid; the system may also include a temperature control valve 12.
Water is used to cool the fluid; in the process, the water itself becomes hot and it is required to cool the water down. The water is cooled in a cooling tower 2. In the cooling tower 2, ambient air 21 is used to cool the water, through forced flow using a ventilation system; as part of the water evaporates, the water temperature decreases.
A problem in this method is that ambient air may contain dirt and dust;
The cooling tower 2 acts like a vacuum cleaner and sucks into it dirt from all around the tower. During the water cooling process, the air comes into contact with the water, as illustrated with cold water 22 and suspended dust 23.
The cooling tower 2 may include a cooling water plastic net 24.
Due to the water evaporation process, there are vapors out 25.
FIG. 2 illustrates the problem during the operation of the prior art heat exchanger system, including:
1. The control valve is fully opened 41, dust is suspended
2. The control valve is partially closed 42, sedimentation starts
3. The control valve is fully closed 43, solid parts will drop
4. Scale will be formed between the solid parts, lumps of solids will block the pipe.
In prior art, during normal operation, suspended solids are usually carried by the velocity of the water and may pass without any significant interference and without settling or depositing scale. However, when the flow is reduced by control valves or other control means such as a variable speed drive to the pump, the water velocity is not powerful enough to carry those suspended solids, and a sedimentation process takes place. When the water velocity returns to a full shut-off there is no force to carry those particles and the particles do settle. In these cases, those particles stick to the tubes or pipe lines and turn to be solid lumps where mineral scale starts to form between those solids.
ii. In some cases this problem is considerable, due to the fact that a machine room may be situated below the cooling tower and dirt will arrive to the circulation pipes by gravitation. The cooling system is controlled by a pump velocity controller which can create a situation of stagnant water in the heat exchanger.

Method for solids removal in heat exchangers


A repository stores a metric catalog. The metric catalog represents a slice of multidimensional data source. The metric catalog includes a selected measure, at least one analysis dimension, and at least one fixed dimension. A metric catalog system exposes the metric catalog as a web service. A web service client requests to consume the metric catalog. In response to the request, the metric catalog system parses the metric catalog. Based on the parsed metric catalog, one or more queries are generated and executed. Based on the execution of the queries, values of the selected measure for the at least one analysis dimension are determined. The determined values of the selected measure for the at least one analysis dimension is returned to the web service client.

Online analytical processing (OLAP) is a computer-based technique for analyzing business data in the search for business intelligence. OLAP tools provide fast analysis of multidimensional data interactively from multiple perspectives. OLAP systems are used for report generation and are suited to ad hoc analyses. There are a number of commercially available OLAP tools including Business Objects OLAP Intelligence™ which is available from Business Objects Americas of San Jose, Calif. The data in an OLAP data source is multi-dimensional and it may be partially or fully pre-aggregated. OLAP data sources, also called cubes or hyper-cubes, provide a multi-dimensional conceptual view of data, including support for hierarchies and multiple hierarchies. The core of an OLAP system is the OLAP cube. It consists of numeric facts called measures, which are categorized by dimensions. Dimensions may be organized in hierarchies. A hierarchy consists of set of dimension members and their parent-child relation to one another. The results of an OLAP query are often displayed in a cross tabulation, or cross-tab. In a cross-tab the dimensions form the rows and columns of the matrix while the measures are the values.
The querying process for OLAP can involve, depending on the specific implementation, writing and executing a query. Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) is a query language for OLAP databases, such as Structured Query Language (SQL) is a query language for relational databases. Thus, an MDX statement can be used to query an OLAP data source for a result. The MDX statement can resemble SQL statements where one can ask for data on a row and columns from a cube. As with an SQL query, each MDX query requires a data request (e.g., the "SELECT" clause), a starting point (e.g., the "FROM" clause), and a filter (e.g., the "WHERE" clause). These and other keywords provide the tools used to extract specific portions of data from a cube for analysis.
OLAP data sources consist of numerous dimensions and measures. Due to the nature of OLAP data sources, there is a lot of redundant data and a lot of columns and rows are selected in queries of even moderate complexity. In addition, users typically include many members in their queries. Usually, instead of constructing MDX queries, complex business data is explored via an interface to a multidimensional data source that communicates with the multidimensional data source and maintains sets of members that will be queried. For example, standard interface for manipulation of OLAP cubes may be a matrix interface such as a pivot table. Even without the need to construct MDX queries, manipulation of OLAP cubes via such interfaces requires knowledge of the structure and organization of the OLAP cubes. Analysis via pivot tables involves population of row, column, and slice axes with dimensions selected from the OLAP cube. The process of identifying corresponding dimensions, dimension members, and measures and populating those to axes of pivot tables is complex and requires technical knowledge. Users may need to create connection to an OLAP cube by manually browsing dimension hierarchies to select dimensions and measures of interest, and typically OLAP knowledge is required to carry out the analysis.


An insulating glazed element including at least two glass sheets, separated from each other by a space and joined at their periphery by a seal, and at least one section. The glazed element has at least one heating border on at least one face of at least one glass sheet, and the border is covered by the section and joined to the section by a heat-conducting seal.

1. Field of the Invention
2. Discussion of the Background
The invention relates to an insulating glazed element comprising at least two glass sheets separated from each other by a space and at least one support element, especially for a refrigerated enclosure.
Glazing panels are generally placed in a frame making it possible to support them for the purpose of their use in fields where their thermal insulation properties are sought (building, refrigeration, etc.).
It is well known that when a cold wall is in contact with hot and moist air, the wall becomes covered with water from the condensation of the ambient water vapor, it being possible for this water even to become transformed into frost if the temperature is low enough. More specifically, it is when the temperature of the wall is less than the dew point of the ambient air that condensation is produced. In the case of glazing panels, the condensation may appear on the glass and also on the frame which supports the glazing panel, particularly if it is metallic and therefore capable of forming a thermal bridge.
The main feature of the means which have been proposed to overcome the drawbacks associated with the appearance of condensation and with the formation of frost relates to limiting heat exchanges between the walls of the glazing panel. It has thus been proposed to use insulating glazing panels, formed by the superposition of glass sheets separated from each other by a layer of air or by a space kept under vacuum, and to heat them over the entire surface of the glass by means of an electrically conductive layer (EP-A-0 314 477, U.S. Pat. No. 3,655,939 and FR-A-2 769 337) or of metal wires supplied with electric current (CA-A-885052).
The problem of condensation and of frost mentioned above appears more specifically in the field of refrigeration at relatively low temperature used especially for the preservation of frozen food items.
It is usual for frozen food items to be offered for sale by displaying them in freezers which are open at the top (or chest freezers), the front face and/or at least one side face of which is(are) glazed. This method of displaying the food items has two advantages:    the first advantage is that it is possible, even at a distance, to quickly select the type of food sought because of the transparency of the front face,    and the second advantage is that it is easy to grab hold of the article which is finally chosen since the freezer is permanently open in its upper part.
With chest freezers, and in spite of the use of insulated glazing, there is still the problem of condensation or of frost at the periphery of the glazed surface. Because of their exposure to cold, the outside of the perimeter of the glazing, which is less insulated than the rest of the glazed surface, and of the elements supporting the glazing are at a lower temperature than that of the ambient air, which generates condensation both on the glass and on the support.
The presence of condensation water or of frost has drawbacks: reduction in the field of vision through the glazed element, appearance of mold, formation of puddles on the ground, transfer of moisture to the skin, the presence of stains on the clothing, the risk of the skin "sticking" to the frosted parts, etc.
To overcome these drawbacks, it is known to heat the glazed element by means of a peripheral metal bead concealed in the frame supporting the glazed wall. However, this bead is not entirely satisfactory:    it is minimally adjustable because its length depends entirely on the dimension of the glazing,    it is tricky and expensive to implement because it is necessary to make a perfectly gaged groove in the thickness of the seal of the glass sheets,    since the contact area between the bead and the frame is small, the heating efficiency is low, and    given that it is fed by an electric current of high voltage (about 220 volts), a safety device, which breaks the circuit in the case of accidental breakage of the glass, must absolutely be combined therewith.

Insulating glass element, especially for a refrigerated enclosure


Certain example embodiments relate to a computer system for performing a map reduce sequence. Nodes therein include at least one processor and memory and are divided into at least mapper and reducer nodes. Each mapper node executes a map function on input to generate intermediate output elements. Each said intermediate output element includes a first key-value pair. Each element key includes associated map and reduce task identifiers. Each element value includes substantive data, organized as another key-value pair. The intermediate output elements are stored to memory. Each reducer node: retrieves at least intermediate output element values from the memory of a given mapper node, using specified map and reduce task identifiers; stores the retrieved element values to its memory; executes a reduce function on the retrieved element values, in order; and outputs a result from the reduce function for the map reduce sequence. Disk operations advantageously are reduced or eliminated.

There are a number of tools that have recently emerged for storage and large-scale processing of data sets, e.g., on clusters of commodity hardware. The Apache Hadoop framework, for example, seems to have become the de facto standard for processing big data sets. One element of the Hadoop Framework is the Hadoop Distributed File System (HDFS), which is a distributed file system that stores data on commodity machines, providing very high aggregate bandwidth across the cluster. Another element of the Hadoop Framework is the YARN (Yet Another Resource Negotiator) platform, which is a resource-management platform responsible for managing computer resources in clusters and using them for scheduling of users' applications. The YARN programming paradigm, in turn, supports several different programming models.
One popular programming model for large scale data processing that works with the HDFS and YARN in the context of the Hadoop Framework is MapReduce, which has been used extensively since Hadoop's first release and currently is very popular. MapReduce enables the processing of vast amounts of data (e.g., multi-terabyte data sets) in-parallel on large clusters (e.g., thousands of nodes) of commodity hardware in a reliable, fault-tolerant manner. As shown schematically in the FIG. 1 block diagram, MapReduce can be broken down into three high-level phases, namely, map, shuffle, and reduce.
The map phase applies the map function to all input. Mappers, whose task it is to process the blocks in the input file that are stored locally on the computer, are launched on all computers in the cluster. In other words, computations take place where the data is stored, providing a sort of data locality. Because no dependencies exist between the various mappers, they can work in parallel and independently of one another. If a computer in the cluster fails, the last or not yet computed map results can be re-calculated on another computer that possesses a replica of the corresponding block.
A mapper may process the contents of a block line-by-line, interpreting each line as a key-value pair. The actual map function is called individually for each of these pairs and creates an arbitrarily large list of new key-value pairs from it. In general, this map be represented as: map (key, value)→List (key′, value′).
As will be appreciated from FIG. 1, MapReduce uses a shuffle-and-sort process to make the output from the mappers ready for consumption by the reducers. The shuffle phase sorts the resulting pairs from the map phase locally by using their keys, after which MapReduce assigns them to a reducer according to their keys. The framework helps ensure that all pairs with the same key are assigned to the same reducer.
Because the output from the map phase can be distributed arbitrarily across the cluster, the output from the map phase needs to be transferred across the network to the correct reducers in the shuffle phase. And because of the large volumes of data oftentimes handled by a typical system implementing the Hadoop framework, it is normal for correspondingly large volumes of data to cross the network in such operations, e.g., to ensure that the output from the map phase is processed and organized for the reducers.
The output from the map phase therefore triggers data processing in the shuffle phase that ends up using memory buffers, which are limited by the available RAM. If the buffers run out of memory, the shuffle phase starts using disk for "spills." The more spill files created, the more effort is required later to merge them into a single file for consumption by their respective reducers. In this regard, FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the creation, sorting, and merging on disk of multiple spill files, as associated with the operation of a typical shuffle phase.
In the reduce phase, the reducer collates all the pairs with the same key and creates a sorted list from the values. The key and the sorted list of values provides the input for the reduce function.
The reduce function typically compresses the list of values to create a shorter list, for example, by aggregating the values. The reduce function oftentimes returns a single value as its output. Generally speaking, the reduce function creates an arbitrarily large list of key-value pairs, just like the map function: reduce (key, List (values))→List(key′, value′).
The output from the reduce phase can, if needed, be used as the input for another map-reduce iteration. Alternatively, this data might be considered "final," and processing may proceed accordingly.
Based on the description above, it will be appreciated that the shuffle phase could be improved, at least from a performance perspective. For instance, the inventors have recognized that it would be desirable to address the need for the shuffle-and-sort process to go to multiple nodes to process multiple spill files and organize the data for the reducers, e.g., when large data volumes are processed and create these multiple spill files.
Some attempts to improve MapReduce performance have focused on changing all of its phases so that they use a shared in-memory instance. However, because the focus has been on sharing data between jobs to make them run faster, they have not focused on tuning the oftentimes problematic shuffle phase, in particular. This generally unfocused approach implies that depending on the data needs of a specific job, the deployment may or may not see a significant improvement in the processing speed. In fact, some such in-memory approaches have relied on the heap available within the Java Virtual Machine (JVM), thereby increasing the possibility of being negatively impacted by frequent garbage collection pauses.
Other approaches have tried in the same generally unfocused manner to use memory instead of disk to leverage benefits based on input/output (I/O) speed differences between these storage tiers. Unfortunately, however, network latency can have a significant impact, as the shared memory cluster may be susceptible to network traffic and network congestion issues.
Thus, it will be appreciated that it would be desirable to enhance the performance of MapReduce, e.g., in a manner that focuses on realizing improvements in the most expensive phase thereof.
Certain example embodiments help overcome the challenges posed by the creation of multiple spill files and the need for the shuffle-and-sort process to go to multiple nodes to process the spill files. In this regard, certain example embodiments help organize the data for the reducers by moving the processing to memory, thereby advantageously resulting in almost real-time shuffle-and-sort in some cases. For instance, certain example embodiments focus on making the shuffle phase faster by reducing the number of spill files written to disk by making available to the shuffle phase terabytes of memory. For instance, certain example embodiments seek to generate as few spill files as possible which, in some instances, will amount to zero or only one spill file(s). The in-memory solution of certain example embodiments may leverage off-heap memory, e.g., that advantageously is not impacted by the known issues with the Java garbage collector. It will be appreciated that off-heap memory in this context refers to low-latency volatile storage that exists outside of the Java heap and thus is not subject to garbage collection.
One aspect of certain example embodiments relates to techniques for using a large amount of in-memory storage during the shuffle phase of MapReduce. An in-memory data grid (IMDG), which is a data structure that resides entirely in RAM and may be distributed among multiple nodes or servers, may be used for this purpose in certain example embodiments.
Another aspect of certain example embodiments relates to the creation of fewer spill files (and possibly zero or only one spill file) during the shuffle phase of MapReduce, thereby reducing (and possibly even eliminating) the need to merge partitions.
Another aspect of certain example embodiments relates to the use of a descriptor similar to the descriptor structures already provided by MapReduce to speed up the in-memory shuffle phase. For instance, in certain example embodiments, mapper functions that ordinarily generate key-value pairs as substantive output may generate composite structures in which this substantive key-value pair output is treated as the value in a larger key-value pair. The key to the larger key-value pair itself may be a composite, identifying both a specific map task and a reduce task.
In certain example embodiments, a method of performing a map reduce sequence in connection with a plurality of computer nodes in a distributed network system is provided. Each said node includes at least one processor and a transitory computer readable storage medium. The nodes are divided into at least mapper nodes and reducer nodes. At each said mapper node, a map function is executed on input using the at least one processor of the respective mapper node to generate intermediate output elements. Each said intermediate output element includes a first key-value pair. Each intermediate output element key includes an associated map task identifier and an associated reduce task identifier. Each intermediate output element value includes substantive data generated from the input by the map function. The intermediate output elements are stored to the transitory computer readable storage medium of the respective mapper node. Each said reducer node is configured to, upon receipt of electronic instructions: retrieve at least intermediate output element values from the transitory computer readable storage media of a given mapper node, based on map task and reduce task identifiers specified by the electronic instructions, store the retrieved intermediate output element values to the transitory computer readable storage medium of the respective reducer node, execute a reduce function, using the at least one processor of the respective reducer node, on the retrieved intermediate output element values, in order, and output a result from the reduce function for the map reduce sequence.
In certain example embodiments, a method of performing a map reduce sequence in connection with a plurality of computer nodes in a distributed network system is provided. Each said node includes at least one processor and both transitory and non-transitory computer readable storage media. The nodes are divided into at least mapper nodes and reducer nodes. The method includes, at each said mapper node: executing, using the at least one processor of the respective mapper node, a map function on input to generate intermediate output elements, each said intermediate output element including a first key-value pair, each intermediate output element key including an associated map task identifier and an associated reduce task identifier, and each intermediate output element value including substantive data generated from the input by the map function, wherein the substantive data of each intermediate output element is organized as a second key-value pair; storing the intermediate output elements to the transitory computer readable storage medium of the respective mapper node; holding the intermediate output elements in memory of the respective mapper node; and preventing the intermediate output elements from spilling to the non-transitory computer readable storage media of the respective mapper node (e.g., to the maximum extent possible).
In certain example embodiments, a method of performing a map reduce sequence in connection with a plurality of computer nodes in a distributed network system is provided. Each said node includes at least one processor and both transitory and non-transitory computer readable storage media. The nodes are divided into at least mapper nodes and reducer nodes. The method comprises, at each said reducer node: retrieving at least intermediate output element values from the transitory computer readable storage media of a given mapper node, based on map task and reduce task identifiers specified by electronic instructions received at the respective reducer node; storing the retrieved intermediate output element values to the transitory computer readable storage medium of the respective reducer node; ordering the retrieved intermediate output element values; executing a reduce function, using the at least one processor of the respective reducer node, on the retrieved and ordered intermediate output element values; and outputting a result from the reduce function as part of the map reduce sequence. Each said intermediate output element includes a first key-value pair, each intermediate output element key includes an associated map task identifier and an associated reduce task identifier, and each intermediate output element value includes substantive data that is generated by a map reduce function and organized as a second key-value pair.
In certain example embodiments, a computer system configured to perform a map reduce sequence is provided. The system includes a plurality of computer nodes, with each said node including at least one processor and a transitory computer readable storage medium. The nodes are divided into at least mapper nodes and reducer nodes. Each said mapper node is configured to: execute, using the at least one processor of the respective mapper node, a map function on input to generate intermediate output elements, each said intermediate output element including a first key-value pair, each intermediate output element key including an associated map task identifier and an associated reduce task identifier, and each intermediate output element value including substantive data generated from the input by the map function; and store the intermediate output elements to the transitory computer readable storage medium of the respective mapper node. Each said reducer node is configured to, upon receipt of electronic instructions: retrieve at least intermediate output element values from the transitory computer readable storage media of a given mapper node, based on map task and reduce task identifiers specified by the electronic instructions; store the retrieved intermediate output element values to the transitory computer readable storage medium of the respective reducer node; execute a reduce function, using the at least one processor of the respective reducer node, on the retrieved intermediate output element values, in order, and output a result from the reduce function for the map reduce sequence.
Non-transitory computer readable storage mediums tangibly storing instructions for performing the above-summarized and/or other approaches also are provided by certain example embodiments, as well as corresponding computer programs.
These features, aspects, advantages, and example embodiments may be used separately and/or applied in various combinations to achieve yet further embodiments of this invention.

Systems and/or methods for leveraging in-memory storage in connection with the shuffle phase of MapReduce


A reward item providing method of an online game includes: generating at least one reward item table corresponding to one mode that can be provided in a game and storing at least one reward item available in the other modes; setting each win probability of at least one reward item of at least one reward item table; drawing a won item among at least one item according to the win probability in the reward item table corresponding to the executed mode if the character of the user wins the match in the one mode; displaying a reward item providing screen providing the won item to the character and including a mode entry button to enter an item display mode as a mode using the won item; and entering the item display mode when receiving a selection input for the mode entry button.

On-line gaming is a field which is becoming more popular in an on-line cultural industry in recent years by the development of networks and computer technology. As online games are developed, the user requires online games in various genres, and currently, online games of many various genres are serviced.
Game modes of the online games are diversified, as are genres of the online games. A mode of an online game may be provided as a single play mode in which the user and the game environment (here, the game environment is one in which a virtual enemy is generally provided in the game service and means one artificial intelligence provided in the game server) perform a match, and a multi-play mode in which a plurality of users perform a mutual match. Also, several mode matches are again provided in the single play mode and the multi-play mode.
Among the matches of the several modes, there is a game achieving a purpose by executing a single match that is performed for a short time, and a game executing a duty that is continuously provided regardless of the match in the game. Also, there is also a game in which a plurality of matches are continuously provided and achieve the purpose by synthesizing a plurality of match results. Among the games achieving the purpose by synthesizing a plurality of match results, there is a tournament type of game or a league type of game. In the tournament type of game as a game performing method of a type that the next match is continuously provided in only a case that each match is won, the character or the team that wins to the end among the characters or the teams joined in the tournament wins overall. Also, in the league type of game, after performing all of a plurality of predetermined matches, the character or the team that obtains a highest winning rate among the joined characters or teams wins overall. In general, in the league game, all the joined characters or teams perform at least one match.
However, as the online game provides the games of the various modes, the cases that the users repeatedly only perform the certain mode suitable to them are increased. For example, a user enjoying the tournament mode has a high tendency to again execute a tournament match after executing one tournament match, and a user enjoying the league mode has a high tendency to again execute a league match. The mode preference of the user is also generated in a case that the users are only concentrated in the particular mode among a plurality of modes and the users do not activate the rest of the modes. Like this, when the users only enjoy matches of the particular modes, the users do not have interest in the other modes, and if the users perceive tediousness in the match in the preferred mode, the users may lose interest in the corresponding game itself.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Method for providing reward item of online game and apparatus for the same


A cold plate includes an outer housing, and a fluid circuit within the outer housing. The fluid circuit includes a fluid inlet located on a first sidewall of the outer housing, a fluid outlet located on the first sidewall of the outer housing, and a primary channel disposed between and fluidly connecting the fluid inlet and the fluid outlet. The primary channel includes an inlet leg downstream of the fluid inlet, an outlet leg upstream of the fluid outlet, and a connecting portion fluidly connecting the inlet leg and the outlet leg. The fluid circuit further includes a first secondary channel branching from the inlet leg of the primary channel, and a second secondary channel branching from the outlet leg of the primary channel.

The present disclosure relates generally to cold plates, and more particularly, to a cold plate fluid circuit with branching channels.
Many thermal management systems use cold plates to cool heat-generating electronics. Most cold plates are designed to pass a single fluid across the plate to absorb waste heat from associated electronics. Various standard designs include u-turns or other circuitous internal fluid channels that may also include fins. Current design processes and manufacturing methods limit the complexity of cold plate designs, thus limiting thermal transfer capabilities. New fluid channel designs are desirable for improving thermal transfer and flow performance across the cold plate.


The present invention relates to a method for detecting a mark that is invisible in the visible light region. Here, the invisible mark is displayed on a card using a characteristic according to which the color of light is changed by means of a refractive index difference according to media in the visible light region. According to the method for detecting the invisible mark, it may be quickly determined whether the card is a counterfeit card in an investigation. In addition, since it is unnecessary to repeatedly inspect the card to be checked using various wavelengths, the time required for determining whether the card is a counterfeit card may be reduced.

A method now being widely used, from among several techniques used in fraudulent gambling using a card, such as trump or Korean playing cards (hereinafter referred to as a 'card'), is a method in which a criminal indicates an invisible substance, such as ultraviolet or infrared ink, on the back of a card and then checks the contents of the card using a special lens, an infrared camera, or an ultraviolet camera, etc.
In general, if an accusation is brought for fraudulent gambling or a gambling scene is arrested, an investigative agency has to often check whether or not a card used is a fraudulent card.
In this case, an appraisal institution is requested to determine whether or not the card is a fraudulent card. In general, appraisers or criminal investigators could know whether or not a mark is present on the back of the card through experiments using a special device on which light of an invisible ray region, such as ultraviolet or infrared, or a bandpass filter of an invisible ray region is mounted.
However, this special device is problematic in that it is expensive and a lot of time is taken to examine whether or not the card is a fraudulent card because a light source having several wavelengths needs to be repeatedly radiated.

Method for detecting an invisible mark on a card

Republic of Korea (National Forensic Service Director Ministry of Public Administration and Security)


A recliner arrangement for a vehicle seat is provided which, in a preferred embodiment, includes a seat cushion unit, a seat backrest unit pivotally connected to the seat cushion unit, a linear recliner for selectively adjusting the pivotal location of the backrest unit, and an energy absorber interposed between the linear recliner and the seat backrest unit, the energy absorber being operative upon a predetermined magnitude of force exerted thereon.

The present invention generally pertains to a backrest for a vehicle seat and, more particularly, to an adjustable backrest having an energy-absorbing recliner arrangement.
When a vehicle experiences the very rapid accelerations of decelerations of a collision, large forces are imparted to all its components. To protect the occupants of such a vehicle, energy management means are incorporated at appropriate locations throughout the vehicle. To this end, a multitude of seats have been introduced that propose to offer some measure of occupant protection during an impact. Of the various types of crash seats, the most widely accepted are those that absorb energy by plastic deformation of their components. Any deformable features, however, must be balanced with the strength requirements necessary for normal operating conditions and reliability needs. Therefore, a seat should be rigid enough for everyday use, but when an impact load on the seat becomes so great as to exceed a predetermined magnitude, energy management means within the seat should become operative. Such means should dissipate energy by offering a controlled yielding of appropriate seat components.
A vehicle seat arrangement typically comprises a cushion unit and a backrest unit wherein the backrest unit is pivotally mounted to the cushion unit. The pivoting backrest offers several fundamental features, including the ability to be adjustably reclined rearward from an upright position to accommodate occupant comfort. Any number of arrangements are available by which the reclination can be selectively controlled, but the present invention is broadly directed to a class of seats with reclining devices known as linear adjusters.
Linear adjuster are well known and include pneumatic or hydraulic springs, rods with friction clutches or teeth engagingly held, jackscrews or the like. They generally comprise adjustable elongate means having a first end usually mounted on the frame of the cushion unit or seat hardware and a second end usually mounted on the backrest at a selected distance away from the backrest pivot axis. They are further characterized as those arrangements that can accommodate an increase or decrease of the distance between the two selected mounting points that result when the second mounting location rotates with the backrest unit. The adjuster is normally locked to prevent undesired movement of the backrest, but when the adjuster is released, the backrest can be pivoted to a desired position and the adjuster can then again be relocked. During rotation, the adjuster means accommodates the resulting change in the distance between the adjuster's two mounting locations.
The present invention is novel in that it comprises a dedicated energy management device incorporated into a linear adjuster arrangement. The arrangement, unlike most other seat backrest energy management means, is such that it is effective in both front and rear impact modes. In the preferred embodiment, a pneumatic strut has a first end pivotally secured to the seat cushion frame or seat hardware. An energy-absorbing corrugated tube cooperatively couples a second end of the strut and the seat backrest at the second mounting location. During normal operation, the tube acts as a stable extension of the strut, thereby accommodating rotation of the backrest about the pivot axis. However, when forward or rearward impact forces exceed a predetermined magnitude, the tube will stretch or compress accordingly, thereby absorbing energy.
Other seats have shown energy management means for a seat backrest, but each has disadvantages as noted below. For example, the seat in U.S. Pat. No. 3,501,200 presents a deformable support bracket but is applicable only for a fixed backrest. U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,033 has dedicated energy management means that are only applicable for frontal impacts, the means comprising an elastomeric block that stores backrest energy but later returns most of that energy to the backrest upon rebound. The seat shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,068 uses rotational energy management devices that are not applicable for a reclinable seat. Finally, FIG. 6 shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,562 teaches of an energy management system designed only for forward impacts, and that is not applicable for a reclinable seat.


A display device is provided, comprising: a time sequence control board (300); and a back plate (100), comprising one main body and a plurality of edges, the time sequence control board (300) being attached to one of the edges of the back plate (100) with a connection member (200), the connection member (200) comprising a buckling part (210) and a connection part (220) connected with the buckling part, the buckling part (210) being used to buckle the time sequence control board (300), and the connection part (220) being connected with the edge of the back plate (100).

From a display plane side, a display device usually sequentially comprises a front frame, a display screen, a backlight module, a time sequence control board, a back plate and a rear cover.
For a usual display device, the time sequence control board is mounted on an upper edge of the back plate, and at present, the time sequence control board and the back plate are connected through a glue and then are connected with the display screen. As a fixing manner with the glue is not firm, during transporting and failing experiment, the time sequence control board easily detaches, a winding displacement for chip on film (COF) may be scratched and thus which renders defects such as blurred screen.
To solve the above problem, the front frame of a current display device comprises a plastic frame and an iron frame, after the time sequence control board and the back plate are glued, the display screen, the backlight module and the back plate need to be fixed on the iron frame with screws after they are assembled and then integrally disposed into the front frame, and are finally covered with the rear cover, thus, mounting holes of the screws need to be prearranged in upper, lower, left and right edges of the iron frame, and therefore, widths of and upper and lower rims of the front frame and the display screen are increased, which narrows display region of the display screen.

BEIJING BOE VISION-ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A dual dosimeter system with (1) a stick-on, self-indicating, instant radiation dosimeter applied onto (2) a conventional radiation dosimeter and/or detector for monitoring high energy radiations, such as X-ray, electrons and neutrons. Radiation dosimeters, such as X-ray film and TLD (Thermoluminescence Dosimeters), are highly sensitive but are not instant. Radiation detectors, such Geiger counter, ionization chamber and silicon diode type electronic detectors, are highly sensitive and instant but have several other drawbacks, e.g., they are fragile, bulky, dose rate dependent or require electrical power. In the event of a dirty bomb, nuclear detonation or a radiological accident, one needs to know the harmful high dose (e.g., higher than 0.1 rad) instantly so proper precautions can be taken and medical treatment, if required, can be given to the victim. If a self-indicating instant dosimeter is applied to the conventional dosimeters and detectors, one would know high dose instantly.

This invention relates to radiation sensitive devices for instantly monitoring a high dose of high-energy radiations, such as electrons, X-rays, protons, alpha particles and neutrons using color-changing materials. More particularly, the present invention is related to a radiation dosimeter which provides instant exposure results and which can be easily adhered to a second radiation detector and dosimeter.
We are exposed to a wide variety of toxic chemicals and biological agents—through our air, water and food—that are hazardous to our health and can potentially induce cancer. At low levels of exposure, these agents either cause little harm to us or the harm is within the acceptable risks. Hence, they are not monitored. However, when the exposure level is expected to be high, e.g., at work places, toxic chemicals and biological agents are monitored.
There are selective detectors/monitors for monitoring exposure to some individual hazardous chemicals and biological agents. As we are exposed to many hazardous chemicals and biological agents, it is not possible to monitor all of them individually or jointly. However, it is possible to monitor radiation selectively. Typically, we monitor exposure to radiation at levels way below the acceptable risks. There is a need for a dosimeter which instantly monitors hazardous dose of ionizing radiation so preventive measures can be taken. Color changing/developing instant radiation dosimeters for monitoring low dose, e.g., 0.1 to 1,000 rads, have been reported recently in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,000; PCT publication number WO2004/017095 and PCT Application No. PCT/US2004005860 each of which is incorporated herein by reference thereto.
If a person is exposed to radiation, especially a high dose (e.g., 50 rads), there are predictable changes in the body that can be measured. The number of blood cells and the frequency of chromosome aberrations in the blood cells are examples of biomarkers used to indicate radiation exposure. Rapidly dividing cells are more susceptible to radiation damage. Examples of radiosensitive cells are blood forming cells (bone marrow), intestinal lining, hair follicles and fetuses. Hence, these develop cancer more readily. The risk for radiation exposure has been very widely studied.
It is well established that a high dose of ionizing radiation can cause cancer and other problems. At 0 to 25 rads there is no easily detectable clinical effect in humans. However, at about 15 rads there could be temporary sterility particularly in the case of testicular radiation. At about 25 to 100 rads a slight short-term reduction in blood cells is observed but disabling sickness is not common. At 100 to 200 rads nausea and fatigue is observed, vomiting occurs at doses greater than 125 rads and longer-term a reduction in the number of some types of blood cells is observed. At 200 to 300 rads nausea and vomiting typically occur on the first day of exposure. There may be up to a two-week latent period followed by appetite loss, general malaise, sore throat, pallor, diarrhea, and moderate emaciation. Recovery usually occurs in about three months unless complicated by infection or injury. At 300 to 600 rads nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea occur in the first few hours. There may be up to a one-week latent period followed by a loss of appetite, fever, and general malaise in the second week followed by bleeding, inflammation of mouth and throat, diarrhea, and emaciation. Some deaths occur in two to six weeks. Eventual death of 50% of victims is expected if exposure is above 450 rems. Recovery time is about six months. Over 600 rads nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea occurs in the first few hours followed by rapid emaciation and death in the 2nd week. Eventual death of nearly 100% of victims is expected.
There is no doubt that radiation can cause cancer. The question is what level of radiation it takes to cause cancer. Some believe that this low level is about 20 rads. Below this dose it is not possible to detect adverse health effects. The Health Physics Society has issued a position statement indicating that there are no observable health effects below 10 rems but that health risks, if they exist below 10 rems, are too small to be observed. (Note: 1 rem is almost equivalent to 1 rad for tissue equivalent materials). No one knows whether there is any risk or not. All we can say now is that no one has detected any statistically significant effect at doses below about 100 mSv (10 rems). Some epidemiological studies suggest an increased risk of cancer in the 15-20 rads dose range. However, the data suggest that risks in the 15-20 rem dose range are very small and difficult to measure. Above 10 rems there appears to be a significant risk of thyroid cancer due to radioiodine exposure in children 15 years of age and younger. The general consensus of opinion for the radiation induction of cancer is a 10% increase in cancer rate/100 rem when the dose is given over a short time with a decrease to 5% when the dose is protracted over an extended time period. This raises an interesting question; what dose range is more important to monitor, 10 mrem-25 rems, 1-1,000 rems, or 10 mrem-1,000 rems?
A large number of radiation detectors, monitors and dosimeters are used for detecting and monitoring radiation. The most popular being ionization chambers, proportional counters, Geiger-Mueller counters, scintillation detectors, semiconductor diode detectors, and dosimeters such as TLD, X-ray film and track etch. Track etch type dosimeters are usually used for monitoring high LET (linear energy transfer) particles, such as alpha particles.
Ionizing radiations, such as X-ray and neutrons, need to be monitored because they have high penetration power and can cause cancer. TLDs (Thermoluminescence dosimeters) and X-ray film dosimeters are widely used for monitoring personal exposure to X-ray radiation. TLD and X-ray film can monitor radiation over a very wide dose range, e.g., 10 mrem −1,000 rems. However, they are not instant and self-reading. They need to be sent to a laboratory for determination of the dose, which may take several days. Electroscope ionization chamber dosimeters, often called quartz or carbon fiber dosimeters, are instant and self-reading but they are the most fragile dosimeters. There are small electronic dosimeters but they are expensive, need batteries and are not resistant to severe conditions, such as very high or low temperatures and water (e.g., laundry cycle). Radiation counters, such as proportional and Geiger-Mueller counters, are not dosimeters. In an event of nuclear detonation, these counters will be overwhelmed and may not monitor total dose exposure.
Tens of millions of radiation dosimeters, such as TLD and X-ray film, are used for monitoring low dose every year. The monitoring period for these dosimeters is typically one to three months. If a person is exposed to high dose, e.g., between 1 and 25 rads, it would take days to months before it is known. Additionally, what we need to monitor are two major exposures (1) high dose instantly and (2) legally allowed dose, e.g., 5 rads/year for nuclear/radiation workers or 25 rads for a lifetime. It is required that we monitor harmful high dose instantly and total dose per year and/or lifetime.
There is also a need for an area dosimeter for areas around radioactive materials, radiation sources, nuclear power plants, nuclear submarine and shipment of radioactive material to monitor radiation dose instantly. A sticker type self-indicating instant radiation dosimeter would be very convenient to use as an area dosimeter.
Hence, there is an ongoing and critical need for a dosimeter, either individually or attached to other dosimeters and detectors, especially when the threat of radiological terrorism is high, which is (1) instant, (2) simple and self-indicating, (3) lightweight so it may be carried on a person at all times or applied to other dosimeters and detectors, (4) inexpensive and disposable, (5) practically non-destructible, (6) can withstand severe ambient and environmental conditions, such as laundry cycle, (7) tamperproof or tamper evident, (8) does not need any external power, such as a battery, (9) integrates the dose for at least one year, (10) tissue equivalent so that no dose correction is required, (11) retains the dose value and the results/dose can be archived, (12) monitors wide dose range (0.1-1,000 rads), (13) monitors all kinds of harmful radiations, such as X-ray, neutrons and high energy electrons over a very wide temperature range (e.g., −20° C. to 60° C.) and (14) independent of energy and dose rate. The dosimeters described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/545,796 filed Sep. 6, 2005 and that described herein meet these requirements.

Stick-on self-indicating instant radiation dosimeter


An apparatus for actuating valves of an engine is disclosed. A cam shaft is supported by the engine and has at least one set of cams, e.g., two axially spaced low speed cams and a high speed cam between the low speed cams. A rocker shaft is supported by the engine. The rocker shaft supports a rocker arm for the valves. The rocker arm is driven by the low speed cams. The rocker arm has a sub-rocker shaft and a pin. A free cam follower is supported by the sub-rocker shaft and driven by the high speed cam. The apparatus comprises a mechanism including a lever supported by the pin of the rocker arm. The lever has a first position wherein the lever and the free cam follower are joined for attaining unitary motion of the free cam follower with the rocker arm. The lever has a second position wherein the lever and the free cam follower are separated for allowing relative motion of the free cam follower with respect to the rocker arm. The mechanism includes a hydraulic piston for urging the lever to the first position.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for actuating valves of an engine.
Japanese Patent Application First (unexamined) Publications Nos. 63-57806 and 63-167016 disclose a valve actuating apparatus. The known valve actuating apparatus comprises a mechanism to releasably interconnect the adjacent two cam operated rocker arms. The rocker arms are formed with mating bores receiving a plunger. The plunger is movable between a first position in which the plunger is disposed in one of the mating bores and a second position in which the plunger is inserted into the other plunger and thus disposed in both of the mating bores. When the plunger is in the first position, the two rocker arms move separately, while when the plunger is in the second position, they move as a unit.
This mechanism using the plunger and mating bores, however, requires high degree of precision in forming the mating bores and the plunger.
An object of the present invention is to provide a valve actuating apparatus which does not use a plunger nor bores which demand high degree of precision to form.


A light emitting tunnel diode oscillator comprising a body of single crystalline material having a first portion n-doped and a second portion p-doped in such a way that the resulting p-n junction has the low voltage conductance characteristics of a tunnel diode as well as characteristics of light emission.. The light emitting tunnel diode oscillator comprises a plurality of alternately layered n-doped portions and p-doped portions.. a light emitting tunnel diode oscillator wherein said first n-doped portion and said second p-doped portion are formed to have a thickness corresponding to an integral number of desired wave lengths.

Light emitting diodes operate to release light photons as electrons transition between excited and resting states. In order to conventionally initiate the release of light photons, a sufficient voltage must be applied to the light emitting diodes, e.g. 1.2 volts. The present invention is directed to a construction for enabling light emitting diodes to emit light photons with a reduced applied voltage, using the characteristics of a tunnel diode.
Tunnel diodes are well known and are commonly utilized as a self-excited frequency down converter. One characteristic of a tunnel diode is its ability to be biased to a self-oscillating operating point. By proper sizing of the tunnel diode junction cross-section, a tunnel diode may be biased to self-oscillation, outputting a high frequency signal. Prior publications have disclosed constructing and biasing a tunnel diode circuit to output signals in the tunable FM frequency range, e.g. GE Tunnel Diode Manual, G.E., Syracuse, N.Y. (1961) and ABC's of Tunnel Diodes, Gallan, P., SAMS Catalog #TDK-1.
The present invention is directed to a modification of prior uses of a tunnel diode circuit to bias a tunnel diode to tunably self-oscillate in the visual frequency range. The tunnel diode output signal is then used to drive a light emitting diode. As a consequence of the frequency of the tunnel diode output signal the light emitting diode can be excited to emit photons, i.e. to emit light, by resonant pumping, without the need to apply conventional voltage levels to activate the light emitting diode, e.g. approximately 1.2 volts.


A powered rotary drive unit for dressing electrodes that has two handles. The operator places the cutters between the electrodes and applies clamping pressure. The operator then activates the motor to dress the electrodes. The cutter is designed to cut the electrodes to the proper shape so that the tips cannot be over-dressed. Moreover, the two handles insure that the cutters remain level during the entire dressing operation. Finally, the cutters are ground to a specific angle that improves the performance of the welder by flattening the tips to an optimum angle.

Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to spot welder tip sharpening and dressing tools and particularly to spot welder tip sharpening and dressing tools that are hand held.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Spot welding machines have been used for years to make simple, fast welds in metals. These machines range from small welders typically handled by one or two people to huge robotic machines that can weld large workpieces. Despite the differences in size, all electric spot welders work on the same basic principal: a pair of electrodes positioned to allow a workpiece to be positioned between them. A mechanism causes the electrodes to be brought together. Electric current then flows between the electrodes and the workpiece causing the metal at that point to be fused. The electrodes are released and the workpiece can be removed.
The electrodes used in spot welding are typically copper. They are formed into a point that has a slightly rounded tip. After a certain number of welds, the tips of the electrodes become worn and flattened. When this happens, the electrodes are no longer able to xe2x80x9cspotxe2x80x9d the electric current in a small enough space to form a good weld. Although electrodes can be replaced once this happens, replacement becomes costly, especially when the electrodes last for only 50 or 60 welds. To prolong the use of the electrodes, the tips can be sharpened and dressed. In small shops, this process involves using a file to hand-shape the electrode tips. This not only takes time; it also takes a degree of skill. The electrodes must be sharpened to the right angle and symmetrically for optimum performance. If the job is done poorly, the electrodes may be ruined and have to be discarded.
For larger machines, hand dressing is impractical. These machines often run 24 hours a day and require several dressings. Several machines have been developed to address this need. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,993,125, 6,195,860, 6,106,203, 5,332,342, 5,288,185, 4,610,153 and 4,966,506, teach complex devices for dressing electrode tips. These machines have a cutting element that is secured in a drive mechanism. This cutting element is then used to dress the tips in large and robotic spot welding machines. These devices are not intended for use on small welders, such as those found in small sheet metal shops.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,966,504, 4,921,377, and 4,856,949, teach tools that can be used to dress electrode tips. These tools are typically a set of cutters placed in a holder that is then turned by some mechanical means. The shape of the cutters is designed to permit both electrodes to be dressed simultaneously. These cutters are typically designed to be used in the machines discussed above. However, they could be used in smaller devices provided a proper drive system was used.
One U.S. Patent appears to be directed to small welding machines. U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,005 teaches a manual type tool. This tool has a long handle, like a wrench. It has a head that contains the cutting tools. The head is ratcheted within the handle. The cutters have edges on both top and bottom so that both electrodes can be dressed simultaneously. The tool is used by placing it between the electrodes, clamping the electrodes together and then turning the handle. Because of the ratchet, the head turns in one direction only. The tool is thus manipulated until the desired degree of dressing is established.
There are some problems with this tool. First, the tool must be held level to obtain a proper tip formation. Because a single handle is used to hold the cutters, it is very difficult to ensure the cutter head remains truly level with respect to the electrodes. Moreover, the use of the manual drive not only increases the time involved, but also increases the risk that the electrodes will be either over dressed or underdressed.
Thus, a small serviceable tool for dressing electrode tips on small welders is needed.
The instant invention overcomes all of the difficulties mentioned above. It is a powered rotary drive unit that has two handles. The operator places the cutters between the electrodes and applies clamping pressure. The operator then activates the motor to dress the electrodes. The cutter is designed to cut the electrodes to the proper shape so that the tips cannot be over-dressed. Moreover, the two handles insure that the cutters remain level during the entire dressing operation. Finally, the cutters are ground to a specific angle that improves the performance of the welder by flattening the tips to an optimum angle.

Spot welder tip sharpening and dressing tool


Methods and apparatus for content delivery and managing and conserving network bandwidth in a content delivery system are described. In accordance with one aspect of some embodiments, when the number content playback devices, e.g., IP set top boxes, iPADs, etc., in a region or service group receiving the same program content via individual unicast streams over a first network, e.g., cable network, exceeds a threshold number large, the IP capable playback devices are instructed to switch to receive the same programming content from a local device, e.g., a gateway device, via a home network. The local device receives the programming content via the cable network over a broadcast or SDV or VOD channel established by the cable service provider's headend/hubsite.

Unicast IP (Internet Protocol) content delivery is preferred in many cases for content delivery to IP capable devices such as computers, tablets and/or other devices coupled to a home network. This is because unicast IP supports acknowledgements allowing the IP devices to signal the failure to properly receive a packet and also allows the transmitting device to send a content stream, e.g., a video content stream, which has been encoded in a manner that is particularly well suited for the receiving device and at a rate which can be supported.
For example, the same content but encoded using different coding schemes may be sent to IP devices with differing capabilities. The content may be transmitted at a high data rate to a first device with a powerful processor being able to receive, process and decode the high data rate version of the content. At the same time a low data rate version may be sent to another device, e.g., a handheld device with a small display, limited processing power and a low data rate connection, e.g., a WiFi connection to a cable modem where the WiFi connection has limited or poor signal quality and thus constrained bandwidth capability.
In order to support a wide range of data rates and devices, the content provider may code the same content multiple times using different encoding schemes and for different data rates. The coder used to code the content supplied from the network headend or another content server maybe a relatively powerful and expensive device which does high quality encoding. This is commercially possible given that the content coded for delivery from the network headend or content server is likely to be provided to numerous devices with the cost of the coder being a cost that is effectively shared over multiple devices.
While unicast IP content delivery is desirable for many reasons, it has the potential to place a large burden on the delivery network extending from the content server or network headend from which the content is streamed to various household which may share one or more links to the content server providing the content. This is particularly common where a cable network is used to stream content to one or more households but also occurs in the case of delivery via a fiber network.
As networks move towards increased unicast IP content delivery the potential loading on the networks links between a content server and one or more households is likely to increase. While demand for unicast IP content delivery is likely to increase, the demand for content delivery via Switched Digital Video, analog broadcasts and/or other non-unicast delivery methods is likely to decrease over time as more and more devices switch to unicast content delivery with the content normally being expected to be supplied via a server.
Thus, over time, the demand on a cable network's non-unicast content delivery capability is likely to decrease as the demand for unicast IP content delivery increases.
In many households, gateway devices capable of receiving content via conventional cable services such as Switched Digital Video, Video on Demand, Analog broadcast and/or types of content channels used to deliver the same content stream to multiple households are being deployed. Such gateway devices normally support recording, transcoding and/or transrating capabilities and can receive content via a cable network channel and generate an IP unicast stream therefrom which can be delivered over a home network or another network coupled to the gateway device.
While gateway devices often support transcoding and/or transrating capability, the quality of the coders in home gateway devices is often relatively poor compared to those used to encode content placed on content servers which will supply content to numerous households. In addition, while a content server may support a large number of different encoding formats and data rates allowing the best match with a particular end device's capabilities, home gateway devices often support fewer encoding schemes and/or data rates. As a result of a home gateway's limited ability to encode and support a wide variety of encoding schemes, the quality of video received from a home gateway often appears inferior to that streamed from a content server that serves multiple households.
While some content may be broadcast over a cable network according to a transmission schedule, in many cases content being supplied via unicast IP streams may not be delivered via a broadcast or other non-IP unicast content delivery method at the time it is being supplied via unicast IP to one or more devices.
As the number of devices requesting content via unicast IP content delivery streams increases the chance that congestion will occur on a shared link also increases. At the same time the probability that multiple devices in a household, region, or service group supplied via a common network link will be requesting the same content at a particular point in time also increases. This is particularly the case where a hometown or regional sporting event may be the cause of the high demand on a particular link.
In view of the above discussion, it should be appreciated that there is a need for developing methods and/or apparatus which would help in alleviating congestion over the service provider's delivery network by reducing and/or avoiding the number of devices to which unicast content streams need to be delivered via a shared or common network link. As noted above, cable and fiber network are particularly likely to encounter such a congestion situation since a shared link may service many households.

Methods and apparatus for dynamic management and bandwidth allocation for content delivery


A liquid crystal display device includes pixel electrodes, a common electrode placed in such a manner that at least part thereof overlaps the pixel electrodes via an inter-transparent-electrode-film insulating film, at least two source lines, placed in such a manner that the pixel electrodes are interposed therebetween, that supply the pixel electrodes with image signals, and a common electrode wire, placed in such a manner that the pixel electrodes that are adjacent to the two source lines between which the pixel electrodes are interposed between the common electrode wire and the source lines, that extends parallel to the source lines and supplies the common electrode with at least a reference potential signal.

A liquid crystal display device described in PTL 1 listed below has been known as an example of a conventional liquid crystal display device. In this liquid crystal display device described in PTL 1, three gate lines are provided for every two adjacent pixel rows. A first gate line is connected to only pixels included in either of the two pixel rows. A second gate line is connected to both pixels included in each pixel row. A third gate line is connected to only pixels included in the other of the two pixel rows. Preferably, a gate-on voltage is applied to every one of the three gate lines at a time for ⅔ times as long as a horizontal period in the order of the first gate line, the second gate line, and then the third gate line. As a result, a period in which a gate-on voltage is simultaneously applied to the pixels included in each pixel row is provided between a period in which a gate-on voltage is applied to only either of the two adjacent pixel rows and a period in which a gate-on voltage is applied to only the other of the two adjacent pixel rows.


A composition comprising a blend of: from 1 to 99 weight percent of a polycarbonate comprising from 10 to 90 mole percent of one or more arylate carbonate units of the formula

This disclosure relates to blends of polycarbonates and polyesters, and in particular to transparent blends of these polymers, their methods of manufacture, and uses thereof.
Blends of polycarbonate and polyesters have a number of advantageous properties, including toughness and chemical resistance. Such blends can also have high optical transparency. These properties make polycarbonate-polyester blends particularly useful in applications as diverse as medical containers and hot tub covers. However, these and other applications require that the blends retain their advantageous properties after aging particularly after exposure to heat. In other applications, such as automotive parts, it is desirable to use blends that have improved toughness at low temperatures.
There accordingly remains a need in the art for polycarbonate-polyester blends having improved toughness, particularly impact strength. It would further be advantageous if such improvements were retained after heat aging or at low temperatures, and were obtained without having a detrimental effect on other desirable properties such as transparency.

Polycarbonate-polyester blends, methods of manufacture, and methods of use

Abstract: wherein each Rf is independently a C1-12 hydrocarbon, halogen, or halogen-substituted C1-12 hydrocarbon, and u is 0 to 4; and from 10 to 90 mole percent of different carbonate units of the formula

Abstract: wherein at least 60% of the R1 groups are C6-30 aromatic groups, and from 1 to 99 weight percent of a polyester comprising units of the formula

Abstract: wherein T is a residue derived from a C5-C7 cycloaliphatic or C7-C12 aromatic dicarboxylic acid or a chemical equivalent thereof, and D is a residue derived from a C6-C12 aromatic or C2-C12 aliphatic diol or a chemical equivalent thereof, provided that at least 50 mole percent of D is derived from 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol or a chemical equivalent thereof; and wherein the weight percent of the polycarbonate and the polyester are each based on the total weight of the polycarbonate and the polyester.