A biometric information presentation system that enables efficient training by obtaining biometric information without giving a subject a sense of discomfort. The biometric information presentation system uses a garment-type biometric information measuring apparatus including at least fabric having a 20% elongation stress of 20 N or less. A garment pressure of the garment-type biometric information measuring apparatus is 0.1 kPa or more and 1.5 kPa or less. A skin contact-type electrode is provided at a portion of the garment-type biometric information measuring apparatus at which a garment pressure is 0.3 kPa or more. The garment-type biometric information measuring apparatus is worn by the subject. From obtained electrocardiographic information is calculated an RRI, an indicator of parasympathetic activity and indicator of sympathetic activity. The biometric information presentation system presents this calculated result on a terminal device and presents an action based upon the result to achieve the efficient training.

In training for an athlete, a martial artist, and the like, in various work training, and in self-development, an attempt to grasp a mental state and utilize it for training has been made.
Patent Document 1 discloses that satisfaction of a worker who is working on a machine is measured with brain waves and that a state of the satisfaction is fed back to the worker and further to the machine. This method is to evaluate satisfaction from physiological data, such as brain waves. However, a sense, such as the satisfaction, is a complex sense, and thus a specific mental state cannot be evaluated. For example, it is impossible to grasp a specific mental state such as whether the satisfaction has been generated by relaxation, sleepiness or awakening.
Although important physiological information can be obtained from brain waves, it is difficult to sufficiently evaluate a specific mental state with the brain waves only. Also, a system disclosed in Patent Document 1 can give the worker feedback of a satisfaction state, but the system is not a training system with which the worker who has become aware of the satisfaction state can change his/her own state by his/her own intention, grasp an effect of the change and control his/her own mental state.
Patent Document 2 discloses a system for determining a psychological state by grasping a correspondence between an operation speed (reaction speed) of a game, a psychological state, and physiological data of an adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). In general, a stress is evaluated with ACTH. However, in Patent Document 2, it is not clear and not specific what psychological state is to be grasped. In addition, Patent Document 2 discloses a system for notifying a user of a determination result of a psychological state, but the system is not a training system with which a user, upon receiving the determination result, can control his/her own mental state himself/herself to change the psychological state and can then confirm a result of the change. Such a training system is considered to be technically difficult to achieve because ACTH is not an indicator that represents the result in real time. In addition, evaluating a specific mental state such as relaxation, awakening, sleepiness or tension with ACTH is difficult.
Patent Document 3 discloses a system that detects brain waves, evaluates comfort from the brain wave information and controls a device on a basis of a determination result. Patent Document 3 discloses that relaxation and awakening can be evaluated with brain waves only but accuracy of the evaluation is further increased by adding electrocardiographic data thereto. In addition, Patent Document 3 discloses a system that receives a comfort evaluation result and controls a device accordingly, but the system is not a training system with which a user changes his/her own mental state himself/herself and grasps an effect of the change.
Patent Document 4 discloses a device that records a movement of a line of vision of a driver with a CCD camera and outputs a warning when a distraction degree of the vehicle occupant is high. The distraction degree is determined from an image analysis result of the recording. The mental state is a specific content such as "distraction degree". The mental state, however, is not physiological data but one obtained from evaluation of recorded facial expression. In addition, a determination result is fed back to a machine but does not prompt a human to attempt to control his/her own mental state himself/herself upon receipt of the result.
Patent Document 5 discloses a system that measures physiological information of an infant and estimates his/her psychological state. The system thus can send a report via its emergency reporting unit in a case where the system judges that an abnormality has happened to the infant. A physiological value is obtained by measuring a pulse, and enables judgement such as that an infant is crying owing to sleepiness or whether an infant is in a dangerous state of lying prone. The system can notify a human of a judgement result but does not prompt the human to attempt to control himself/herself upon receipt of the result.
As disclosed in the above Patent Documents, the related arts have conventionally indicated a configuration of a system that measures physiological information, estimates a psychological state, displays an evaluation result and, possibly, further gives feedback to a machine. However, the system does not continuously chronologically present a mental state to a subject in real time. Therefore, a subject cannot perform training of controlling his/her own mental state himself/herself upon receipt of a presented mental state obtained from evaluation of a physiological measurement value.
In addition, the physiological measurement value is often evaluated by a single measurement value, which is only a brain wave, saliva (ACTH) or a pulse. The single measurement value can certainly estimate a psychological state to some degree. However, for a more accurate estimation of a specific mental state, a plurality of indicators are preferably used. The pulse represents an autonomic nerve activity, and the brain wave represents a central nerve activity. They enable evaluation of a specific mental state but cause difficulty in evaluation of a complex and specific mental state. In addition, the system is not intended for training and thus is terminated at a stage at which the result has been displayed. Therefore, the system is not a system with which a subject performs training upon receipt of the result and learns an effect of the training himself/herself. Also, many documents disclose a system that gives feedback to a machine, but such a system does not instruct a subject to subsequently take a specific action.
Patent Document 6 discloses a mental training system that grasps a mental state by using both brain wave information and electrocardiographic information, and performs mental training by giving feedback to a subject. Use of both the brain wave information and the electrocardiographic information enables accurate grasp of a mental state. However, brain wave information is a weak signal of approximately μV, whereas an electrocardiographic signal is an mV level. Even though the brain wave information signal can be obtained in a laboratory, it is extremely difficult to be measured outdoors, particularly in a noisy environment such as an intense exercise site or an actual working site.
In addition, even in electrocardiographic measurement, a subject has difficulty in playing an intense sport or performing actual work with an electrocardiograph being mounted on him/her, which is used in a medical examination. Furthermore, wearing such a measuring apparatus on his/her own body may be stressful itself. Therefore, even though mental information is grasped in a state that such an apparatus is being mounted, the grasped mental information deviates from its actual state. As a result, the mental training system is difficult to be used for appropriate training.

Biometric information presentation system and training method


A rotary engine configured to use compressed air or high pressure steam to produce power. It has a casing with two peripheral exhaust ports each adjacent to a flattened area, a rotor having three slotted pistons, and a center valve with two opposed inlet ports that provide high pressure steam or compressed air to the pistons. Each rotor revolution produces three power strokes. Furthermore, the volume of air used for a single cycle is reduced, as a result of the air traveling through its pistons. Also, the engine stops when the vehicle it powers is at rest, and a spring inside each piston causes its angled tip to contact the rotary chamber upon start up. In addition, it is inexpensive to manufacture, as there is not much tooling needed to make the rotary engine, and it has only four moving parts, its rotor and the three pistons attached to it.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to rotary engines powered by compressed air or steam, specifically to a rotary engine using compressed air or steam that produces power more advantageously than a combustion engine. The most preferred embodiment of the present invention rotary engine has a two-part casing that houses a rotor having three equally spaced-apart vanes/pistons (hereinafter referred to as pistons without intent of limitation) secured to the rotor via slots. During use of the present invention, the rotor and its three vanes are its only moving parts. Also, the casing fits closely around the rotor and pistons, which are centered within the casing. In addition, the free ends of the pistons are angled to form a tip, and each piston further contains an internally positioned spring that biases the angled piston tip against the interior surface of the casing to create a reactionary force upon start up. The pistons divide the interior space within the casing into three working chambers, and each revolution of the rotor within the casing produces three power strokes. The pistons are hollow and receive high pressure steam or compressed air from a center fixed valve having two inlet ports in opposed positions from one another. Thus, as the pistons rotate within the casing, injection of high pressure steam or compressed air into each piston occurs twice during one revolution of the rotor. Each piston also contains an opening adjacent to its angled free end through which the high pressure steam or compressed air used to produce power is delivered into the working chamber behind it. The delivery/end openings in all pistons are identically oriented away from the direction of rotor rotation.
The interior surface of the present invention casing has two arcuate lobes separated by two opposed flattened areas across which the pistons also move during their rotation. Furthermore, two exhaust ports are formed through the casing in opposed positions, each adjacent to a different one of the flattened areas and in a location that allows each piston to move across it prior to reaching the adjacent flattened area. Shortly after a piston passes one of the flattened areas and before the piston ahead of its has moved across the next approaching exhaust port to open it, the piston passing the flattened area will advance into a position where it is in fluid communication with the center valve through inlet ports, wherein it will begin to receive high pressure steam or compressed air from the center valve and release it into the working chamber behind it. However, as the piston continues to rotate, pressure continues to build in the working chamber in front of it, as the piston ahead of it will not yet have uncovered the exhaust port associated with the second flattened area (that is in an opposed location from the first flattened area). Once the exhaust port becomes uncovered, the advancing piston begins to move the steam or air from the previous power cycle through the exhaust port, giving a power boost to the piston ahead of it. Shortly thereafter, the piston ahead of it will come into fluid communication with the center valve via the opposing inlet port, and begin to release high pressure steam or compressed air into the working chamber ahead of it causing pressure to build in that working chamber until the piston ahead of it uncovers the next approaching exhaust port. When the present invention is used to power a motor vehicle, it will stop when the vehicle it powers is at rest, such as during a temporary stop at a traffic light. In addition, the present invention rotary engine has many advantages over a combustion engine, including but not limited to, the present invention is inexpensive to manufacture as there is not much tooling needed to make it; increasing horsepower simply involves increasing the width dimensions of the casing, rotor, and pistons; no crankshaft or connecting rods are needed when it is used to power a vehicle; it runs silently; compressed air adds no fuel weight/load to the vehicles it powers; it uses a small volume of air per cycle because the air is able to travel through its pistons; no wasteful energy is needed to cool it; no flammable fuel is used; it has breathable exhaust; no starter is required; and it instantly starts in cold weather. Also, air compressors associated with the present invention rotary engine can be electrically and/or mechanically driven. Applications are varied and many, including providing more reliable and economical power for motorized vehicles than is possible with a combustion engine. A small and compact present invention rotary engine has sufficient power to run a four passenger vehicle at 80-mph, with added horsepower easily achieved for larger vehicles by widening working chambers, piston, and rotor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior art rotary engines are known to comprise triangular-shaped rotors and vaned rotors, and many have their rotors mounted on eccentric shafts. Also, the rotor housings used in prior art rotary engines are known to comprise circular interior surfaces and two-lobed epitrochoidal interior surfaces. The rotary mechanism disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,357 to Davis (1975) includes an interior surface having two arcuate lobes separated by two opposed flattened areas, as is found in the present invention. However, it also has differing structure to include an eccentric shaft/rotor relation, cooling nozzles 92 in ends walls 22 and 24 that provide a stream of cooling liquid to cool the rotor, exhaust ports 102 also through the end walls 22 and 24, and a gas inlet 100 through each of the opposed flattened areas. Furthermore, the Davis invention has structure configured to overcome oil sealing problems encountered with Wankel-type engines. The fixed center valve with opposing inlet ports, the peripheral exhaust ports, and the three-vane structure of the present invention are not disclosed as a part of the Davis invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,856 to Hoffman (1977) discloses a rotary steam engine having a triangular-shaped hollow rotor, an eccentric shaft/rotor relation, radial grooves 72a-c and 73a-c in fluid communication with inlet ports 82 and 83 that help to conduct pressure fluid from the hollow rotor to the cavity lobes 20 and 21, and exhaust passages 80 and 81 through the housing wall. The present invention has no similar grooves and no eccentric shaft/rotor relation, and the Hoffman invention has no fixed center valve with opposing inlet ports, the peripheral exhaust ports, and the three-vane structure critical to the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,115,045 to Wyman (1978) further discloses a rotary motor with spring-biased seals on the outer circular periphery of its rotor 12. Its rotor 12 has a hub 10, twenty-four radial spokes, and a circular rim 26. Multiple working chambers are defined by the seals, and a series of steam inlet and exhaust steam outlet pairs communicated with the chamber as the rotor is rotated by expansion of live steam against the radial spokes 24. Although both have vaned rotors, many differences exist between the Wyman motor and that of the present invention including the number of vanes and the number and positioning of inlet ports and exhaust ports.
Although important differences exist between it and the present invention, the rotary motor thought to be the closest to the present invention is the rotary motor disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,953,378 to Vias (1934). The Vias invention comprises two adjacently positioned rotor housings having back-pressure eliminating ports that are able to move trapped fluid from one paired housing into the other according to need. Each housing also has one rotor with two vanes, and each vane having an expansion spring that constantly maintains it in engagement with the periphery of the housings working chamber (see page 1, lines 75-77). Thus, although the Vias motor has vanes with spring biasing similar to that used in the present invention, it does not teach the remainder of the present invention. Important differences in structure between the present invention and the Vias invention is that the present invention does not teach a paired housing structure with back-pressure eliminating ports, and the present invention rotor is centered within its casing, not eccentrically disposed therein. Also, the Vias motor has a cylindrical working chamber 17 with a circular periphery (see page 1, line 50 and FIGS. 3-4), while the present invention has an interior surface with two semi-circles separated by two opposed flattened areas, and in addition, its inlet ports and exhaust ports have different locations from that in the Vias motor. Also in the Vias invention, each rotor is formed with a centrally located circular exhaust chamber 23 (see page 1, lines 81-82). In the Vias invention, its intake ports 26/27 are formed through cylindrical members 16 and 16a (see FIGS. 2-4), its outlet ports 24/25 are formed through end head members 10 (see FIG. 2), and its exhaust chamber 23 is centrally located (see FIG. 4). In the present invention the opposite occurs, and a fixed valve having two opposed inlet ports is centrally located and two exhaust ports each located adjacent to a different one of the two opposed flattened area across which the free angled end of the pistons collectively move before they reach the adjacent flattened area. No other rotary engine is known to have the same structure, function in the same manner, or provide all of the advantages of the present invention.


An electron beam drift detection device and a method for detecting electron beam drift are provided in which the method includes placing a predetermined characteristic identification pattern on a surface of a workpiece; emitting an electron beam, and focusing and deflecting the electron beam such that the focused and deflected electron beam scans the surface of the workpiece and the characteristic identification pattern; detecting backscattered electrons and secondary electrons; and receiving detection signals and performing an image process on the detection signals to obtain an electronic image of the characteristic identification pattern, and measuring a drift degree by comparing the electronic image with the predetermined shape of the characteristic identification pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electron beam lithography technology, and, more specifically, to the use of an electron beam drift detection device and a suitable detection method.
2. Description of Related Art
With advancement in semiconductor technology, the downscaling of semiconductor devices, for example, devices assembled in personal computers and mobile communication devices becomes overwhelming. In addition, the wiring and the transistor size of semiconductor devices are scaled down to further enhance the integration of semiconductor devices. Therefore, lithography technology became very important. The known lithography technology mentioned previously includes the following steps: scanning a beam of electrons in a patterned fashion across a substrate surface covered with a film called the resist, exposing the resist and selectively removing exposed regions of the resist. The purpose of this is to create very small structures in the resist that can subsequently be transferred to the substrate material, often by etching.
It can be seen that an accurate and reliable lithography technology is needed because of a high demand for enhancing the integration of integrated circuits. Therefore, an electron beam lithography technology (such as e-beam) using the charged-particle beam has been developed because a conventional lithography technology cannot achieve more precise patterning.
However, it is well known that electron beam direct-write lithography has a common problem due to the electron beam position varying over time. This often affects the accuracy of lithography patterning, and thus affecting the image resolution of the entire semiconductor patterning. Additionally, when the electron beam is fixed at one point, the beam drift cannot be detected easily because of the charging effect. As a result, the signal of the backscattered electron detector or the secondary electron detector is inaccurate and the position of the signal cannot be measured completely.
Therefore, the desire to develop a low-cost, high-precision detection device for electron beam direct-write lithography system and a method for detecting the electron beam drift have become very important in order to overcome the problems encountered in known lithography technology

Electron beam drift detection device and method for detecting electron beam drift


A carbonate-modified silane or siloxane is combined with a non-aqueous solvent and an electrolyte salt to form a non-aqueous electrolytic solution, which is used to construct a secondary battery having improved charge/discharge characteristics.

Because of their high energy density, lithium ion secondary batteries are increasingly used in recent years as portable rechargeable power sources for laptop computers, mobile phones, digital cameras, digital video cameras, and the like. Also great efforts are devoted to the development of lithium ion secondary batteries and electric double-layer capacitors using non-aqueous electrolytic solution, as auxiliary power sources for electric and hybrid automobiles which are desired to reach a practically acceptable level as environment-friendly automobiles.
The lithium ion secondary batteries, albeit their high performance, are not satisfactory with respect to discharge characteristics in a rigorous environment, especially low-temperature environment, and discharge characteristics at high output levels requiring a large quantity of electricity within a short duration of time. On the other hand, the electric double-layer capacitors suffer from problems including insufficient withstand voltages and a decline with time of their electric capacity. Most batteries use non-aqueous electrolytic solutions based on low-flash-point solvents, typically dimethyl carbonate and diethyl carbonate. In case of thermal runaway in the battery, the electrolytic solution will vaporize and be decomposed, imposing the risk of battery rupture and ignition. Then, IC circuits are generally incorporated in the batteries as means for breaking currents under abnormal conditions, and safety valves are also incorporated for avoiding any rise of the battery internal pressure by the evolution of hydrocarbon gases. It is thus desired to further elaborate the electrolytic solutions for the purposes of safety improvement, weight reduction, and cost reduction.
Under the circumstances, polyether-modified siloxanes are of great interest because they are chemically stable and compatible with electrolytic solutions. Due to their ability to dissolve electrolytes such as LiPF6 therein thoroughly and their inherent surface activity, the polyether-modified siloxanes are effective in improving the wetting of electrodes or separators. It is also known that adding only a few percents of polyether-modified siloxane to electrolytic solutions improves the charge/discharge cycle performance. However, these effects are yet insufficient. Besides, the polyether-modified siloxanes lack thermal stability and additionally, have a relatively high melting point so that they encounter some problems during low-temperature service. It would be desirable to have additives which are more stable and more compatible with electrolytic solutions.
Reference should be made to JP-A 11-214032 and JP-A 2000-58123 both corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,062, JP-A 2001-110455, and JP-A 2003-142157.

Non-aqueous electrolytic solution, secondary battery, and electrochemical capacitor


A method and apparatus are provided for processing calls in an automatic call distributor. The method includes the steps of learning a set of desired resource relationships for servicing a plurality of call processing load conditions in the automatic call distributor and, afterwards, distributing resources of the automatic call distributor based upon call processor loading and the learned desired set of resource relationships.

Automatic call distribution systems are known. Such systems are typically used in an organizational context as a means of distributing telephone calls among a group of agents of the organization.
Often the organization disseminates a single telephone number to its customers and to the public in general as a means of contacting the organization. As calls are directed to the organization from the public switch telephone network (PSTN), the automatic call distribution system directs the calls to its agents based upon some algorithm, typically based upon availability. For example, where all agents are consider equal, the automatic call distributor (ACD) may distribute the calls based upon which agent position (telephone) has been idle the longest.
In order to distribute incoming calls from the PSTN to the available agents, the interaction of a controlling computer with a switching fabric of the ACD becomes essential. Often a connection of the ACD to a local PSTN is in the form of a number of trunk connections. Each of the trunk connections is monitored by the controller for incoming calls. Where a call is detected, the controller searches for and selects an idle agent. Upon selecting an agent, the controller instructs the switch to form a connection between the incoming trunk and selected agent.
In more complicated systems, the organization may use a number of telephone numbers to identify different individuals and functions within the organization. Each telephone number may be assigned to a particular incoming trunk or group of incoming trunk lines. As such, the controller may be required to recognize a call target based upon an identity of an incoming trunk line and route the call accordingly.
In other systems, the ACD of an organization may receive calls directed to different call targets over the same trunk lines. In such a case, the call target may be identified to the ACD by a pulse code modulated (PCM) signal transferred from the PSTN to the controller of the ACD by a dialed number identification service (DNIS) operating from within the PSTN.
In systems associated with service organizations, where many calls are received and handled by many agents, it may be important for an agent to have ready access to customer files. In such a situation, a database is maintained of existing customers. Customer records may be displayed on agent terminals as the agents converse with specific customers. In some cases, the customer may be identified to the database for display of records on the terminal by the agent entering a customer identifier into a keyboard associated with the terminal. Alternatively, the controller of the ACD may transfer an identifier of the customer to the database based upon an automatic number identification (ANI) facility, operating from within the PSTN.
Where ANI is used, the controller of the ACD receives the ANI digits (identifying the caller via the caller's telephone number) at the same time the call arrives from the PSTN. Upon selecting an agent, the controller may transfer a call to a queue of the selected agent (or group of agents) or directly to the selected agent. At the same time that the call is delivered to the agent, the controller sends an identifier of the selected agent and ANI number of the customer to a controller of the database (the host). The host, in turn, displays the customer records on a computer monitor of the terminal of the selected agent at the same time the call is delivered.
While the existing method of ACD operation is relatively satisfactory, the relative loading of agent groups varies widely. Often sales campaigns are launched involving some agents of a selected number of agent groups. Other times, agents may be drafted for outbound call campaigns based upon availability. However, the varying levels of call processing may intermittently leave agents handling incoming calls idle. Other times, incoming calls may overwhelm agents designated for accepting such calls. Accordingly, a need exists for a means of dynamically adapting operating resources of automatic call distributors to changing circumstances, such that the dynamic nature of call processing may be accommodated without difficulty.

Neural network for controlling calls in a telephone switch

Rockwell Electronic Commerce Technologies, LLC


A lifting device which includes a frame and an elongated boom having a lower end pivotally connected to the frame along a pivot axis. The lower end of the boom has a counterweight connected thereto offset from the pivot axis. The counterweight has a center of gravity which is movable with respect to the pivot axis of the boom. The counterweight can be freely pivotal, fixed, or partially fixed with respect to the boom. When linkage is provided between the counterweight and the boom, the counterweight can be rolled or tilted so as to move the counterweight center of gravity with respect to the pivot axis of the boom.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of lifting devices having a boom which can be moved with respect to a frame and pivoted to various angles with respect to a horizontal plane. More particularly, this invention relates to a counterweight system wherein the counterweight has a center of gravity generates an anti-tipping moment to help prevent the lifting device from tipping over even when the boom is extended, articulated, angled and/or loaded.
2. Problems in the Art
It is well known in the art of boom operated lifting devices that such devices are prone to tip over when the boom is extended, articulated, angled and/or loaded. Often the size and weight of the machine is selected to enhance its stability. Unfortunately, such an approach lacks flexibility and promotes inefficiency in the design. Therefore, there is a need for a simple, flexible and cost efficient solution to the overturning problem.


Compounds for controlling aquatic breeding insects including an ethoxylated alcohol with a carbon chain length of about 10 to about 24 carbon atoms and about 0 to about 16 moles of ethylene oxide per mole of alcohol, where the carbon chain is linear or branched with an alkyl group are provided. Methods for making branched alcohol ethoxylated compounds and linear secondary alcohol ethoxylated compounds are also provided. Methods for controlling insects with the compounds are also provided.

Mosquito control is required in many areas of the world. The presence of mosquitoes is not only a nuisance (the biting of humans and other animals), but certain diseases, including, but not limited to, malaria, West Nile virus, certain types of encephalitis, and Dengue Fever, are spread by the mosquito. Many mosquito control agents, including, but not limited to, insecticides or pesticides, however, consist of chemicals toxic to humans and other animals and invertebrates.
Aquatic breeding sites for mosquitoes and other insects include, but are not limited to, salt marshes; ponds; storm water, retention, and detention basins; roadside ditches; grassy swales; fields; pastures; potable water containers; reservoirs; irrigated croplands; woodland pools; tidal waters; sewage and animal waste lagoons; septic ditches; lakes; swamps; and floodwater areas.
Mosquitoes require, as part of their life cycle, standing water in which to develop. The larvae and pupae spend a major part of their life cycle in water. During these aquatic stages of development, mosquitoes are more susceptible to control.
A need remains for insect control agents and methods for controlling the breeding of insects, particularly mosquitoes that are effective over the entire life stage of the insect (larvae, pupae and resting adult) and are biodegradable so that accumulation in the environment is minimal.

Linear and branched alcohol ethoxylates for controlling insects


Belief probabilities for ontological concepts within a preference model representing a belief of user preferences are determined. The belief probabilities are based on user feedback. A convolution of the belief probabilities and ontology co-occurrence probabilities is performed. A prioritized list from a plurality of documents based on the convolution is generated. In one aspect, the ontology co-occurrence probabilities for ontological concepts within a co-occurrence model are calculated. The ontology co-occurrence probabilities represent a probability of two ontological concepts being associated with a single document of the plurality of documents. In another aspect, the documents describe multimedia content.

As the proliferation of television content increases, viewers have a wide variety of programming available for viewing. With so much available programming, viewers may require assistance identifying programming which is of interest to them. One tool to assist viewers in finding programming of interest to them is an electronic programming guide (EPG). An EPG provides the ability for a viewer to query the EPG by program title, key words, or by channel. However, these queries assume that the viewer has prior knowledge of the programming available, and consequently, the returned results will be often limited based on the viewer's specific query. Additionally, in the context of personal video recording (PVR) devices, programs which may be of interest to viewers may be automatically recorded. The recommendations or suggestions made by the device are often based on perceived interests of the viewer. This is often referred to as "personalization". The efficacy of the personalization is closely tied to the specific algorithms used by the system to recommend programming.


A method of operating an engine includes determining at least one characteristic of rough road performance based on at least one driveline characteristic and receiving crankshaft acceleration data. The method further includes comparing the received crankshaft acceleration data and determined characteristic, inhibiting the misfire counter based on the comparison, and operating the engine based on the disabled misfire detection.

Engine misfires occur in internal combustion engines when the fuel fails to entirely combust. Misfires are undesirable because misfires reduce fuel efficiency and engine power output. In addition, misfires can also contribute to emission levels, as uncombusted fuel released to the atmosphere contains higher levels of particulate matter and Volatile Organic Compounds ("VOC") than combusted fuel. As a result, regulatory agencies may seek to reduce emissions by controlling engines to reduce misfires.
Methods for detecting misfires are known, but false positives can result in undesired effects, such as reduced accuracy for detecting true positives and increased warranty expenses. These problems are aggravated by operating engines in environments known to create torsional vibrations that can deceptively appear to result from misfires. For example, vehicle operation in a 'rough road' environment can produce the apparently random torsional vibrations in a driveline that many misfire detection algorithms analyze. Furthermore, these rough road torsional vibrations of the driveline are characteristically low frequency, and therefore further mimic misfire effects on the driveline, further confounding many misfire detection algorithms.
False positive detection of misfire events can result in unnecessary warranty repair services as the false positive is recorded in an onboard log, and can illuminate a "check engine" light. Each of these outcomes can result in unnecessary services since the trigger (i.e. the misfire) did not occur.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a method and system of operating an engine that would overcome the aforementioned and other disadvantages.

Method and system for rough road indications for misfire detection


A speech coding apparatus includes driving excitation coding units, a comparator and a selecting unit. The driving excitation coding units encode in respective excitation modes a target signal to be encoded that is obtained from the input speech, and output coding distortions involved in the encoding. The comparator compares at least one of the coding distortions involved in the encoding with a fixed threshold value or with a threshold value that is determined in response to signal power of the input speech or with a threshold value that is determined in response to signal power of the target signal to be encoded. The selecting unit selects the excitation mode in response to the coding distortions and a compared result of the comparator. The speech coding apparatus can select a more favorable excitation that will provide better speech quality, thereby being able to improve the subjective quality of the speech it outputs by decoding resultant speech code.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a speech coding method and a speech coding apparatus for compressing a digital speech signal to a smaller quantity of information, and more particularly to the encoding of the excitation in the speech coding method and speech coding apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional speech coding methods and speech coding apparatuses generally generate speech codes by dividing an input speech into spectrum envelope information and excitation, and by coding them separately on a frame by frame basis. As for the coding of the excitation, to maintain the coding quality of the input speech with various types of behavior including background noise, the so-called multi-mode coding has been studied which prepares a plurality of excitation modes with different expressions, and selects one of them frame by frame. Speech coding methods and speech coding apparatus for carrying out the conventional multi-mode coding are disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open No. 3-156498/1991 or international publication No. WO98/40877.
FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional speech coding apparatus disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open No. 3-156498/1991. In this figure, the reference numeral 1 designates an input speech, 2 designates a linear prediction analyzing unit, 3 designates a linear prediction coefficient coding unit, 7 designates a multiplexer, 8 designates a speech code, and 47 designates an excitation coding section. In the excitation coding section 47, 48 designates a classifying unit, 49 and 50 each designate a switch, 51 designates a multi-pulse excitation coding unit, and 52 designates a vowel segment excitation coding unit.
Next, the operation of the conventional speech coding apparatus disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open No. 3-156498 will be described.
The conventional speech coding apparatus with the configuration as shown in FIG. 8 carries out its processing for each frame with a fixed length, a 10 ms long frame, for example.
First, the input speech 1 is supplied to the linear prediction analyzing unit 2, the classifying unit 48 and the switch 49. The linear prediction analyzing unit 2 analyzes the input speech 1, and extracts the linear prediction coefficients constituting the spectrum envelope information of the speech. The linear prediction coefficient coding unit 3 encodes the extracted linear prediction coefficients, and supplies the code to the multiplexer 7. In addition, it outputs linear prediction coefficients which are quantized for the encoding of the excitation.
The classifying unit 48 analyzes the acoustic characteristic of the input speech 1, classifies it into a vowel signal and the other signal, and supplies the classified result to the switches 49 and 50. The switch 49 connects the input speech 1 to the vowel segment excitation coding unit 52 when the classified result by the classifying unit 48 is the vowel signal, and connects the input speech 1 to the multi-pulse excitation coding unit 51 when the classified result by the classifying unit 48 is other than the vowel signal.
The multi-pulse excitation coding unit 51 encodes the excitation by combining a plurality of pulse trains, and supplies the encoded result to the switch 50. The vowel segment excitation coding unit 52 calculates segment lengths with variable duration, encodes the excitation of the segments using a multi-pulse excitation model with improved pitch interpolation, and supplies the encoded result to the switch 50.
The switch 50 connects the encoded result fed from the vowel segment excitation coding unit 52 to the multiplexer 7 when the classified result by the classifying unit 48 is a vowel signal, and the encoded result fed from the multi-pulse excitation coding unit 51 to the multiplexer 7 when the classified result is not the vowel signal. The multiplexer 7 multiplexes the code supplied from the linear prediction coefficient coding unit 3 and the encoded result fed from the switch 50, and outputs a resultant speech code 8.
It is reported that the conventional speech coding apparatus disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open No. 3-156498/1991 can represent the speech signal in a smaller quantity of information by selecting one of the previously prepared excitation models in accordance with the acoustic characteristics of the input speech 1, and by carrying out encoding using the selected excitation model.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a configuration of another conventional speech coding apparatus disclosed in international publication No. WO98/40877. In this figure, the reference numeral 1 designates an input speech, 2 designates a linear prediction analyzing unit, 3 designates a linear prediction coefficient coding unit, 4 designates an adaptive excitation coding unit, 7 designates a multiplexer, 8 designates a speech code, 53 and 54 each designate a driving excitation coding unit, 55 and 56 each designate a gain coding unit, and 57 designates a minimum distortion selecting unit.
Next, the operation of the conventional speech coding apparatus disclosed in the international publication No. WO98/40877 will be described.
The conventional speech coding apparatus with the configuration as shown in FIG. 9 carries out its processing on a frame by frame basis, the frame consisting of a speech segment with the duration of about 5–50 ms. As for the encoding of the excitation, it carries out its processing for each sub-frame with the duration of half the frame. For the sake of simplicity, the two terms "frame" and "sub-frame" are not distinguished, and are called "frame" from now on.
First, the input speech 1 is supplied to the linear prediction analyzing unit 2, adaptive excitation coding unit 4 and driving excitation coding unit 53. The linear prediction analyzing unit 2 analyzes the input speech 1, and extracts the linear prediction coefficients constituting the spectrum envelope information of the speech. The linear prediction coefficient coding unit 3 encodes the linear prediction coefficients, supplies its code to the multiplexer 7, and outputs the linear prediction coefficients that are quantized for the coding of the excitation.
The adaptive excitation coding unit 4 stores previous excitation with a predetermined length as an adaptive excitation code book. Receiving an adaptive excitation code represented by a binary number of a few bits, the adaptive excitation codebook calculates a repetition period from the adaptive excitation code, and generates time-series vectors that cyclically repeats the previous excitation by using the repetition period. The adaptive excitation coding unit 4 produces a temporary synthesized signal by passing the individual time-series vectors, which are obtained by inputting the individual adaptive excitation codes into the adaptive excitation codebook, through the synthesis filter that uses the quantized linear prediction coefficients fed from the linear prediction coefficient coding unit 3. Then, the distortion is detected between the input speech 1 and the signal obtained by multiplying the temporary synthesized signal by a gain. The processing is carried out for all the adaptive excitation codes, and the adaptive excitation code that gives the minimum distortion is selected so that the time-series vector corresponding to the selected adaptive excitation code is output as the adaptive excitation. In addition, the signal obtained by subtracting from the input speech 1 a signal that is produced by multiplying the synthesized signal based on the adaptive excitation by an appropriate gain is output as a target signal to be encoded.
The driving excitation coding unit 54 stores a plurality of time-series vectors as a driving excitation codebook. The driving excitation codebook, receiving the driving excitation code represented by a binary number of a few bits, reads the time-series vector stored in the position corresponding to the driving excitation code and outputs it. The driving excitation coding unit 54 obtains the individual time-series vectors by supplying the driving excitation codebook with the individual adaptive excitation codes, and obtains the temporary synthesized signal by passing them through the synthesis filter using the quantized linear prediction coefficients fed from the linear prediction coefficient coding unit 3. Then, the driving excitation coding unit 54 detects the distortion between the signal, which is obtained by multiplying the temporary synthesized signal by the appropriate gain, and the target signal to be encoded supplied from the adaptive excitation coding unit 4. It carries out the processing for all the driving excitation codes, and selects the driving excitation code that gives the minimum distortion, and outputs the time-series vector corresponding to the selected driving excitation code as the driving excitation.
The gain coding unit 56 stores a plurality of gain vectors representing two gain values corresponding to the adaptive excitation and driving excitation as the gain codebook. The gain codebook, receiving the gain code represented by a binary number of a few bits, reads the gain vector stored in the position corresponding to the gain code, and outputs it. The gain coding unit 56 obtains the gain vectors by supplying the gain codebook with the individual gain codes, multiplies the adaptive excitation fed from the adaptive excitation coding unit 4 by the first element of the gain vector, multiplies the driving excitation fed from the driving excitation coding unit 54 by the second element of the gain vector, and generates the temporary excitation by adding the two signals. Then, it obtains the temporary synthesized signal bypassing the temporary excitation through the synthesis filter using the quantized linear prediction coefficients fed from the linear prediction coefficient coding unit 3, and detects the distortion between the temporary synthesized signal and the input speech 1 fed via the driving excitation coding unit 54. It carries out the processing for all the gain codes, and selects the gain code that gives the minimum distortion. The gain coding unit 56 supplies the minimum distortion selecting unit 57 with the selected gain code, the adaptive excitation code fed from the adaptive excitation coding unit 4 via the driving excitation coding unit 54, the driving excitation code fed from the driving excitation coding unit 54, the minimum distortion, and the temporary excitation corresponding to the selected gain code.
On the other hand, the driving excitation coding unit 53 stores a plurality of time-series vectors as a driving excitation codebook. The driving excitation codebook, receiving the driving excitation code represented by a binary number of a few bits, reads the time-series vector stored in the position corresponding to the driving excitation code, and outputs it. The driving excitation coding unit 53 obtains the individual time-series vectors by supplying the driving excitation codebook with the individual adaptive excitation codes, and obtains the temporary synthesized signal by passing them through the synthesis filter using the quantized linear prediction coefficients fed from the linear prediction coefficient coding unit 3. Then, the driving excitation coding unit 53 detects the distortion between the signal which is obtained by multiplying the temporary synthesized signal by the appropriate gain and the input speech signal 1. It carries out the processing for all the driving excitation codes, and selects the driving excitation code that gives the minimum distortion, and outputs the time-series vector corresponding to the selected driving excitation code as the driving excitation.
The gain coding unit 55 stores a plurality of gain values for the driving excitation as a first gain codebook. The gain codebook, receiving the gain code represented by a binary number of a few bits, reads the gain value stored in the position corresponding to the gain code, and outputs it. The gain coding unit 55 obtains the gain values by supplying the gain codebook with the individual gain codes, multiplies the gain value by the driving excitation fed from the driving excitation coding unit 53, and produces the resultant signal as the temporary excitation. Then, it obtains the temporary synthesized signal by passing the temporary excitation through the synthesis filter using the quantized linear prediction coefficients fed from the linear prediction coefficient coding unit 3, and detects the distortion between the temporary synthesized signal and the input speech 1 fed via the driving excitation coding unit 53. It carries out the processing for all the gain codes, and selects the gain code that gives the minimum distortion. The gain coding unit 55 supplies the minimum distortion selecting unit 57 with the excitation code that includes the selected gain code and the driving excitation code fed from the driving excitation coding unit 53, and with the minimum distortion, and the temporary excitation corresponding to the gain code selected.
The minimum distortion selecting unit 57 compares the minimum distortion supplied from the gain coding unit 55 with the minimum distortion supplied from the gain coding unit 56, selects the gain coding unit 55 or 56 that outputs the lesser distortion, and supplies the multiplexer 7 with the excitation code fed from the selected gain coding unit 55 or 56. The minimum distortion selecting unit 57 supplies the adaptive excitation coding unit 4 with the temporary excitation fed from the selected gain coding unit 55 or 56 as the final excitation. The adaptive excitation coding unit 4 updates the internal adaptive excitation codebook using the excitation fed from the minimum distortion selecting unit 57.
After that, the multiplexer 7 multiplexes the code of the linear prediction coefficients supplied from the linear prediction coefficient coding unit 3 and the excitation code output from the minimum distortion selecting unit 57, and outputs the resultant speech code 8.
Thus, it is reported that the conventional speech coding apparatus disclosed in the international publication No. WO98/40877 carries out encoding in both the two excitation modes, and selects the excitation mode that gives a smaller distortion, thereby making it possible to select the mode that provides the best encoding characteristics, and to improve the coding quality.
As documents relevant to such a speech coding apparatus, there are Japanese patent application laid-open Nos. 9-319396 and 2000-175598, for example. The former generates target speech vectors with a length corresponding to a delay parameter from the input speech, and carries out adaptive excitation search and driving excitation search. The latter selects a gain quantization table corresponding to the driving excitation from a plurality of gain quantization tables in accordance with the power information of the adaptive excitation signal.
With the foregoing configuration, the conventional speech coding apparatuses have the following problems
As for the conventional speech coding apparatus disclosed in Japanese patent application laid-open No. 3-156498, since it selects one of the plurality of excitation models which are prepared in advance in accordance with the acoustic characteristics of the input speech 1, it has a problem in that the subjective quality, that is, quality of the decoded speech produced by decoding resultant speech code by the speech decoding apparatus is not always optimum. In other words, since the classification in accordance with the acoustic characteristics of the input speech 1 always involves classifying error, an excitation model inappropriate for the input speech may be selected. In addition, although the classification of the input speech 1 is correct, it is not unlikely that an unselected excitation model could produce higher quality decoded speech rather than the selected excitation model when the speech decoding apparatus performs decoding. For example, when a vowel segment includes a lot of waveform distortion such as in transitions, it is probable that using multi-pulses can handle the variations better and produce more satisfactory encoded result than the vowel segment excitation coding unit 52.
As for the conventional speech coding apparatus disclosed in the international publication No. WO98/40877, it carries out encoding in the two excitation modes, and selects the excitation mode that provides the smaller distortion. Accordingly, although it can achieve the minimum coding distortion, it has a problem in that the subjective quality (speech quality) of the decoded speech is not always best which is obtained by decoding the resultant speech code by the speech decoding apparatus. The problem will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 7.
FIG. 7(a) shows an input speech; FIG. 7(b) shows a decoded speech (a result of decoding the speech code by the speech decoding apparatus) when an excitation mode prepared to express noisy speech is selected; and FIG. 7(c) shows a decoded speech when an excitation mode prepared to express vowel-like speech is selected. Here, the input speech as shown in FIG. 7(a) is associated with a segment with a noisy characteristic, in which large and small amplitudes are mixed often in a frame.
In the example of FIG. 7, the distortion value between the signals of FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b), which is obtained as the power of the difference signal thereof, is greater than that between FIGS. 7(a) and 7(c). This is because a portion of the input speech that has large amplitude (see, FIG. 7(a) ) has a smaller difference from the corresponding portion of FIG. 7(c). However, the sound of FIG. 7(b) sounds better than that of FIG. 7(c) for human ear, because the latter provides a pulse-like corrupt sound. Thus, the conventional speech coding apparatus that selects the excitation mode with the minimum distortion can select the mode in which the subjective quality (speech quality) of the decoded speech is not optimum which is obtained by decoding the resultant speech code by the speech decoding apparatus.

Voice encoding method and apparatus of selecting an excitation mode from a plurality of excitation modes and encoding an input speech using the excitation mode selected


A paper holding device includes a paper tray, a sliding plate, and a driving mechanism. The paper tray is configured for receiving printed paper. A shaft is secured to the paper tray. The sliding plate is slidably attached to the paper tray. A main gear member is disposed on the sliding plate. The driving mechanism is secured to the sliding plate and capable of sliding the main gear member along the shaft to slide the sliding plate on the paper tray.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a paper holding device for receiving printed paper and a printer with the paper holding device.
2. Description of Related Art
Many printers print documents and output the documents to a paper tray. However, the size of the paper tray cannot automatically change to receive different size paper, particular larger paper.

Paper holding device and printer with the paper holding device


There is provided a valve device for a fuel tank. A housing is provided with a valve chamber and a vent chamber defined via a partition wall. The partition wall is provided with an opening. A float valve is received in the valve chamber to be movable up and down. The float valve includes a lower member and an upper member. The upper member includes a top portion, an outside wall extending from the top portion, and an elastic engaging piece configured to engage with an engaged portion of the lower member. The elastic engaging piece extends from a location on the back surface of the top portion, which is located inward from the outside wall, and is configured to elastically return after being bent in an outward radial direction of the upper member and thus to engage with the engaged portion of the lower member.

On an automobile fuel tank, a full tank regulation valve for preventing overfeeding of fuel into the fuel tank in order to prevent a liquid surface in the fuel tank from being raised above a preset full tank liquid line, a fuel overflow prevention valve for preventing a leakage of fuel to the outside of the fuel tank when an automobile turns or tilts, and the like are attached.
In general, such valve devices have a structure, which includes a housing having a partition wall, which is provided with an opening, and a valve chamber, and a float valve for opening and closing the opening, arranged to be moveable up and down in the valve chamber. Also, a structure, in which a swingable upper member is provided above the float, is employed for the reason that a seal property against the opening is decreased when the float valve obliquely moves up.
For example, in Patent Document 1 as described below, a fuel shut-off valve is described, which includes a casing main body having a valve chamber and a top wall provided with a connection hole; a lid body fixed on top of the casing main body; and a float for opening and closing the connection hole, arranged in the valve chamber. An upper valve body is swingably mounted on top of the float via a valve support portion. Also, the upper valve body is constituted of a first valve portion, which is formed by a first valve body having a generally cylindrical shape and a rubber seat member attached on top thereof, and a second valve portion attached on the inside of the first valve portion and mounted on the outside of the valve support portion on top of the float. Further, a plurality of engaging pieces configured to be bendable via slits are suspended from a lower end of the first cylindrical valve portion, and an engaging hole is formed in each of the engaging pieces. In addition, a plurality of separation preventing claws configured to engage into the engaging holes is formed on an outer circumference of a lower portion of the second valve portion. Then, when the first valve portion is pushed onto the second valve portion while aligning the engaging pieces and engaging holes of the first valve portion with the plurality of separation preventing claws of the second valve portion, the engaging pieces are pressed by the separation preventing claws and thus elastically deformed in an outward radial direction. Then, if the separation preventing claws reach the engaging holes, the engaging pieces elastically return and thus the separation preventing claws engage with the engaging holes, so that the first valve portion and the second valve portion are attached to each other in a state where separation from each other is prevented.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-068678 A
In the case of the fuel shut-off valve of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to elastically deform the engaging pieces of the first valve portion when attaching the first valve portion and the second valve portion to each other. Therefore, the engaging pieces need to have a certain length. However, if the engaging pieces have an increased length, a height of the first valve portion is also increased. Therefore, there is a problem that it is difficult to raise a position of a so-called lock point, which defines a full tank position of fuel supplied to the fuel tank (i.e., a height of fuel when the opening is closed).


A universal peripheral extender architecture, system, and method is disclosed that addresses the need of communicatively connecting peripheral I/O devices and the smart host devices in legacy, medical, and industrial applications. As disclosed, a universal peripheral extender includes an I/O device translation & management module that has a device-side utility, a host-side I/O device translation & management utility, and a host/device translation & management scheduler utility.

There are many interfaces and peripheral Input/Output (I/O) devices introduced since the PC first became available more than forty years ago. These interfaces, including USB-A, PCIe, SATA, Ethernet, WiFi, Bluetooth, USB-C, Lightning, Thunderbolt, HDMI, and others, survived and grew during the PC evolution. The corresponding legacy peripheral I/O devices include USB storage, SSD, keyboard, mouse, track pad, display panel, headset, speaker, sports bracelet, IP camera, printer, scanner, media card reader, Blu-ray/DVD burner, smart card reader and other smart peripherals. The peripheral I/O devices in medical or industrial applications include endoscope, ultrasonic instrument, X-Ray, Electrocardiography (ECG) instrument, non-invasive blood glucose meter, Point-of-sale system, Contactless infrared thermometer, sphygmomanometer, AI co-processor, and others.
When a smart host such as a smart phone and tablet became more ubiquitous than the PC or notebook in average people's daily life, there is a great need for a layman to be able to access the existing peripheral I/O devices from the smart phone in the pocket or the tablet at hand, instead of having to wait until reaching a bulky notebook at home or in office.
An example of a general-purpose smart host is composed of: sufficient computing power, real-time OS and device drivers, battery system to make it portable, display panel for user interface I/O, a plurality of interface channels for network and media connections and the ability to connect to the web/AI for data collection, analysis and optimization
One example usage is for a user to access the Europay, Mastercard, Visa (EMV) chip card through a smart card reader. Currently, there is no problem in accessing the USB-based smart card reader on the notebook or PC platforms, as the USB interface is available as well as the required device driver and the corresponding application utility. But when it comes to the smart host platform, neither the interface, nor the application utility, let alone the device driver is available. Therefore, the average user has to rely heavily on the legacy notebook or PC, whenever access to the traditional peripheral I/O device is required, such as the case with the smart card reader cited above, even if the smart host is more readily at hand. This type of frustration can be exemplified by the fact that even the standard type of USB storage had just started being supported on the iOS platform, ten years after the iPhone/iPad was introduced. Similarly, while an off-the-shelf Bluetooth mouse is full-functioned and easy to use in today's Windows Office environment, its right-click, scroll-wheel and mouse-pointer functions are still yet to be supported in the Remote Desktop application on today's iOS environment.
Compared with the fast-evolving nature of the smart hosts, the medical and industrial platforms, are even relatively more conservative in adopting new technology standards, particularly in the interface areas. The peripheral I/O devices in medical and industrial applications are therefore less likely to be natively supported on the smart host platforms. But with the ubiquity, omnipresent nature of the smart host, combined with its high performance in computing power and affordable price, it is very beneficial to employ and deploy the smart host as the intuitive user interface between the user and many peripheral I/O devices, including the legacy, medical, and industrial peripheral I/O devices.
Accordingly, what is needed is a universal peripheral extender architecture and system that addresses the above identified issues of connecting the general-purpose peripheral I/O devices and the general-purpose smart host in legacy, medical, and industrial applications. The present application addresses such a need.

Universal peripheral extender for communicatively connecting peripheral I/O devices and smart host devices


A communication system for extending range of USB communications that may include a host computer system having a USB host controller, a USB hub, and transmitter circuitry. The USB host controller may be configured to operate using a split transaction for the USB communications. The communication system may also include receiver circuitry that receives a non-USB format of USB communication signals as the signals appear between split start and split complete transaction operations at the host computer system. The transmitter circuitry may be configured to forward the non-USB formatted USB communication signals across an extension between the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry. At least one USB user interface device may be communicatively coupled to the receiver circuitry and receives USB communication signals from a receiver hub in the receiver circuitry. The USB communication signals correspond to the non-USB formatted communication signals that appear between the split start and split complete transaction operations at the host computer system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to increasing the functionality of a computer USB port and, more specifically, to extending a USB port in conjunction with KVM extension products.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, a standard computer interface, or a keyboard, video display and a mouse (KVM), must be located close to the computer to which it is attached. A keyboard/video/mouse (KVM) extender enables a computer interface to be located at a greater distance from the computer than is typically possible with a standard interface. For example, a company can place all its employees' computers in a rack-mounted system in a locked room and yet still provide a standard KVM interface at each employee's desk. To the employee, it appears as though the computer is still located at the employee's desk. This centralization of computers enables companies to maintain tighter security over their computers and also simplifies the computers' maintenance by locating them in a single place.
In addition, a KVM switch can enable multiple computers to be accessed by means of a single set of keyboard, video display and mouse. This is convenient in the situation in which a user accesses multiple computers such as an application server, a web or email server and a game box. With a KVM switch, the user can access multiple computers with a single interface, thus reducing the cost of both components and maintenance.
Although, the KVM extension mode of operation typically supports some standard user I/O protocols, or "legacy" protocols, such as PS/2, analog video, and serial communications, a universal serial bus (USB) connection presents several problems. Most interface extensions such as KVM use simple, low frequency data rates and protocols, whether using either analog or digital signal types. However, USB has a very complex signaling protocol, data packet structure and electrical specification, as well as short latency requirements. The USB standard requires strict adherence to these transaction latency and electrical requirements, which limits the USB extension distance, rather than allow the several hundred meters of a typical KVM mode. In addition, the USB requirements prevent the use of a KVM switch because a switch may degrade the USB signaling and further reduce the overall extension distance. One method of providing USB connectivity over a KVM connection is to switch the native USB signals into KVM extension media and then simply "tune" the transmission to try and achieve 100–200 meters of extension distance. However, there is no guarantee that this type of tuning will achieve the desired result. Another method of extending USB connectivity over a KVM connections is to extend an entire peripheral component interconnect (PCI) bus with a PCI-PCI bridge.
KVM interfaces also enable multiple users to simultaneously access a single computer system. Old methods of accomplishing this include switching PS/2 keyboard and mouse interfaces or physically passing a keyboard and mouse from user to user. One obvious disadvantage of the these old methods is that all but one user is blocked while another user controls the computer.
Many other problems and disadvantages of the prior art will become apparent to one skilled in the art after comparing such prior art with the present invention as described herein.
The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. In the figures, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views.

USB interface extension through split transaction protocol

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Counter pressure methods and apparatus for protecting roofs are described, which ensure that indoor air pressure remains negative, that is lower than ambient outdoor pressure during severe windstorms, thus counteracting and thereby reducing the uplift force on the roof surface of a building. In accordance with different embodiments of the invention, one-way valves are provided in openings in the building envelope, such as window openings, or installed over the vents into the roof space so that indoor air flows freely out of the building to a lee zone through the one-way valves while the high air pressure on the windward sides can cause little inward flow because the one-way valves quickly blow closed under wind pressure. According to a further embodiment a Venturi-tube is mounted vertically through or alongside the roof so that its open top forms its own low pressure suction area to draw air from either or both the indoors or the roof space to the same effect. The one-way valves are made from storm shutters or flaps incorporated into storm shutters, which are simple to fabricate. The invention advantageously provides a simple, low cost but efficient solution to make roofs more resistant to hurricanes.

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for protecting buildings against windstorms, moire particularly to a counter-pressure method and apparatus for counteracting uplift pressures of hurricane-force winds.
The vast number of buildings now built in highly exposed regions and the apparently increasing frequency of category 4 and 5 hurricanes all portend more widespread destruction of houses and other buildings. Much of the destruction is needless. The loss of roofs in particular, with collateral damage to life and property can be preventable.
Many houses and other small buildings in the Caribbean and Central American xe2x80x9cHurricane Beltxe2x80x9d can lose their roofs to category 3 and 4 storms; much of such stock in the U.S. part of that Belt might be little better built. Several regions now require resistance to category 5 storms for new construction, and indeed it need not be unduly costly to incorporate such resistance during construction.
Engineers have established the efficacy of solidly shuttering windows and other weak openings in reducing wind uplift forces on roofs, and the limited but significant effect is quantified in today""s building codes (in stating worst-case uplift values for fully enclosed as against normally windowed small buildings). At least in the U.S.A., covering house windows with nailed on plywood sheets appears to be the favoured preparation in the face of an approaching hurricane, primarily to prevent glass breakage and wind and rain entry, but also to help thereby in keeping the roof from flying off. Such hurricane shutters are also described in more than a dozen U.S. patents, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,315 which is entitled HURRICANE SHUTTER REINFORCEMENT AND METHOD, issued to Birs on Jan. 24, 1995, and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,874 which is entitled SHUTTER CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD OF ASSEMBLY, issued to Sipos et al on Apr. 14, 1998.
Such storm-shuttering measures may be less commonly applied where most needed, such as on more modest houses, for elderly households or others lacking means and skills, and in much of the Caribbean or Central American parts of the Hurricane Belt where there are widespread inadequacies of the existing houses and small buildings. Plywood and its modern competitor OSB (Oriented Stand Board) are as close to ideal shuttering materials as any, but are still costly when used for the single job of protecting the glazing against missiles, to prevent breakage. In some cases the roof constructions are readily amenable to retro-reinforcing but often they are not. Both new construction and existing buildings are begging for lower cost means of xe2x80x9cadding strength just where neededxe2x80x9d.
Therefore, there is a need for providing a more efficient and less expensive method and apparatus for protecting buildings, particularly existing buildings, against hurricane force winds.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for protecting roof structures against windstorms.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus to maintain indoor air pressure lower than the average outdoor pressure around a building to reduce a net uplift force on the roof of the building.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a windstorm shutter functioning as a one-way valve to ensure a lower indoor air pressure of a building to counter the uplift forces on the roof.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a relatively inexpensive method and apparatus for protecting buildings against hurricanes.
In general terms there is a counter-pressure method for roof reinforcement against windstorms which comprises steps of providing a plurality of one-way venting valves over openings in a building envelope, respectively to ensure that at least one of the one-way venting valves is located on a lee side of the building envelope regardless of wind direction, the one-way venting valves closing under wind pressure to prevent inward air flow and being free to open to permit outward air flow when on the lee side; closing openings in the building envelope not covered by the one-way venting valves during windstorms; and whereby indoor air flows freely out of the building envelope through the at least one of the one-way venting valves to a lee zone on the lee side to depressurize the inside of the building envelope to counteract an uplifting force on a roof of the building envelope induced by winds over the roof.
The at least one venting passage is preferably sized to have a venting capacity larger than the total inward air leakage when the windows and other openings of the house are closed during windstorms. It is preferred that the venting passage comprises a one-way valve permitting outward air flow while preventing inward air flow so that the venting passage is closed only when the indoor air pressure is not higher that the pressure of the immediate outdoor area bounding the passage. And it is still preferred that the one-way valve venting passage is provided in a structure of the house at each side so that the venting passage toward a leeward area outdoors is open during windstorms.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention a counter-pressure method for protecting roofs against windstorms comprises a step of equipping storm shutters as the one-way valves placed over open windows to permit air flowing outwardly through or around the shutters while prevent air flowing inwardly so that the shutters on lee walls of the house are open while the windward shutters are closed during windstorms to maintain the indoor air pressure close to the lowest outdoor air pressure bounding the shutters. At least one such shutter is mounted on each face of the house so that at least one is subjected to a low pressure lee regardless of wind direction. In approaching storm conditions the shutters are mounted and the windows inboard of the one-way valve shutters are left open so that the indoor pressure will equalise quickly with the lee suction conditions during windstorms. Further, the glazing itself can be subjected to little or no load since air can pass freely through the open windows. The entire shutter can be used as a one-way valve, or one-way valves can be placed in the body of each shutter panel that is over an operable window, or the one-way valves can be placed around the perimeter of the shutter panel. Flexible polymeric materials make the design of the one-way valves clearly practical at low costs, in simple flap valve forms that can be retrofitted to existing storm shutters or incorporated in fabricating new shutters.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention a counter-pressure method for protecting a roof against windstorms comprises a step of providing a plurality of the one-way valve passages on roof vents of the house which are in air communication with a space under the roof, to permit air flow from the space under the roof through one or more of the one-way valve passages to a leeward area outdoors while the remainder of the one-way valve passages are closed to prevent air from flowing inwardly therethrough into the space under the roof during windstorms.
In accordance with a further embodiment of the invention a counter-pressure method and apparatus for protecting a roof against windstorms are provided. A Venturi-tube is adapted to be installed in or on the house, vertically penetrating through the roof or positioned close alongside the roof, in such a manner that an open top of the Venturi-tube above the roof is subjected to winds blowing thereacross regardless of wind direction, and is in air communication with space under the roof so that a Venturi-action induced by winds blowing over the roof decrease air pressure in the space under the roof by xe2x80x9csuckingxe2x80x9d air out of the space through the Venturi-tube.
With respect to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a storm shutter having a panel adapted to be mounted over an opening in a structure of a house; and a valving mechanism attached to the panel for permitting outward air flow from an indoor area of the house through or around the panel to outdoors while preventing inward air flow so that the shutter works as a one-way valve to decrease air pressure of the indoor area to compensate for an uplift force on a roof of the house induced by windstorms when windows and other openings of the house are securely closed and an outdoor area bounding the shutter is in a lee zone of winds. The valving mechanism may include means for pivotally attaching one side of the panel to an outer surface of the structure and a stop member adapted to be associated between the panel and the structure to make the panel pivotable between a closed position for inhibiting inward air flow and an open position limited by the stop member for outward air flow. The valving mechanism may also be implemented with a flap member attached to an outer surface of the panel for selectively closing a porthole defined in the panel, or strip flap members around a perimeter of the panel for selectively closing a gap formed between an inner surface of the panel and an outer surface of the structure surrounding the opening so that inward air flow through the porthole or the gap is inhibited while outward air flow is permitted.
The methods and apparatus according to the invention ensure that indoor air pressure remains relatively negative during windstorms, that is, lower than the average outdoor pressure around a building, thus markedly reducing the net uplift force on the building""s roof. While the solid shuttering of windows and other glazed openings is itself known to help limit such uplift by limiting the amount of indoor over-pressure that winds can induce, this one-way valve-action and Venturi-action go radically further, inducing indoor xe2x80x9csuctionxe2x80x9d, relative to the ambient pressure outdoors.
Interpolating, for example from the xe2x80x9cworst casexe2x80x9d values given in ANSI-ASCE 7-95, the basis of leading building codes, one can infer that an un-shuttered example house may face peak uplifts across portions of its roof-ceiling of approximately 70 psf or more (in 130 mph hurricane winds), which would be reduced to about 50 psf or so with solid shuttering (a building with no openings) to prevent indoor over-pressure. The simple counter-pressure methods here presented can ensure negative indoor pressure, and negative pressure in the roof space where desirable, to keep the resultant uplift force down to perhaps 25 psf or less under the same conditions.

Counter-pressure method and apparatus for protecting roofs against hurricanes


A coated abrasive having an abrasive surface comprising a plurality of individual abrasive structures can be modified to convey information by changing the appearance, for example by changing the size, shape or spacing of the structures to create patterns conveying the information.

This invention relates to coated abrasives and more particularly to coated abrasives in which the abrasive surface comprises a plurality of generally regular composite structures each of which comprises abrasive grain dispersed within a cured binder. The shape, spacing, size and composition of the composites can be manipulated to achieve a wide range of abrasive properties and for this reason the products are frequently referred to as "engineered abrasives" and this convention is adopted herein.
Engineered abrasives share a drawback, or more accurately an inconvenience, with all coated abrasives. Once they have been placed in position on a backup pad in the case of an abrasive disc, or on a machine in the case of a belt, it is difficult to identify the nature or source of the product being used without taking the abrasive off the device to which it is attached.
Various options have been identified to overcome this problem. These include most notably the use of different colors to indicate different grit sizes or types of surface treatment. This technique has been used commercially with some success but the approach depends on the operator knowing the "code" used by the manufacturer. With the advent of engineered abrasives a further technique becomes available for communicating information to the user in a convenient and very direct manner and this approach is at the heart of the present invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Saint-Gobain Abrasives Technology Company


An improved chemical mixing micro-device with features on the micro- and nano-scale. The micro-device is comprised of at least one chemical inlet port and one chemical outlet port, a micro-evaporator, a micro-chamber and a micro-initiator. Also, a method of mixing at least one chemical in an evaporative mixing and/or reacting chamber is disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to micro-scale chemical mixing devices and, more particularly, to a micro-scale device including a mixing reactor that uses non-pressurized liquid chemical with no moving parts.
2. General Background and State of the Art
Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) is the integration of mechanical elements, sensors, actuators, and electronics on a common silicon substrate through the utilization of microfabrication technology. While the electronics are fabricated using integrated circuit (IC) process sequences, the micromechanical components are fabricated using compatible "micromachining" processes that selectively etch away parts of the silicon wafer or add new structural layers to form the mechanical and electromechanical devices.
MEMS brings together silicon-based microelectronics with micro-machining technology, thereby, making possible the realization of complete systems-on-a-chip. MEMS also uses silicon-based materials because silicon possesses excellent materials properties. For example, silicon has greater strength-to-weight ratio than other engineering materials. Hence, silicon can be used in high-performance mechanical applications. However, MEMS may also encompass any other micro-machining materials.
A typical MEMS includes: 1) microsensors; 2) microactuators; 3) microelectronics; and 4) microstructures. For example, in its most basic form, micro-sensors gather physical information from the environment through measuring mechanical, thermal, biological, chemical, optical, and magnetic phenomena. The microelectronics process the information derived from the micro-sensors and through some decision making capability direct the micro-actuators to respond by moving, positioning, regulating, pumping, and filtering. Hence, controlling the environment for some desired outcome or purpose. Since MEMS devices maybe manufactured using batch fabrication techniques, many levels of functionality, reliability, and sophistication can be placed on a small silicon chip at a relatively low cost.
In short, MEMS is an enabling technology allowing a new way of making complex electromechanical systems using batch fabrication techniques; similar to the way integrated circuits are made.
MEMS manufacturing technology has at least two distinct advantages. First, MEMS is an extremely diverse technology that potentially could significantly impact many categories of commercial and military products. Already, MEMS is used for many products and methods ranging, for instance, from in-dwelling blood pressure monitoring to active suspension systems for automobiles. The nature of MEMS technology and its diversity of useful applications makes it potentially a far more pervasive technology than even integrated circuit microchips. Secondly, MEMS blurs the distinction between complex mechanical systems and integrated circuit electronics. Typically, sensors and actuators are the most costly and unreliable part of a macro-scale sensory-actuator-electronics system. In contrast, MEMS technology allows complex electromechanical systems to be manufactured using batch fabrication techniques, which reduces the cost and increases the reliability of the sensors and actuators.
MEMS is based on a manufacturing technology that has roots in microelectronics, however MEMS is now intimately integrated into macro devices and systems. Thus, MEMS can be applied where size, weight and power must decrease while functionality increases, and at the same time be cost effective.
For example, MEMS accelerometers are quickly replacing conventional accelerometers for crash air-bag deployment systems in automobiles. The conventional approach uses several bulky accelerometers made of discrete components mounted in the front of the car with separate electronics near the air-bag. MEMS has made it possible to integrate onto a single silicon chip the accelerometer and electronics at a reduced cost when compared to the conventional accelerometers. Also, the MEMS accelerometers are much smaller, more functional, lighter, more reliable.
Another application of MEMS technologies is in the area of integrated micro-power generation systems, or MPG. For example, chemicals typically used in MPG systems are high in energy density in comparison with batteries (i.e. rechargeable battery, ˜150 Whr/kg whereas diesel chemical, ˜12,000 Whr/kg). Also, as discussed above, advantages of using MEMS to fabricate MPG include integration of micro-sensors and micro-actuators, complex fluidic system designs using etching and material deposition, and enhance heat transport.
Typically, thermal power generation systems consist of a chemicals injected into the combustor to create heat energy, and a converter that converts the heat energy into electrical energy, or via kinetic energy. Power generation on the micro and nano-scale level is being developed as a means to optimize chemical usage (increase functionality), while minimizing the size of such power producing devices. Standard mechanical combustion devices contain many other large moving parts in addition to a combustion chamber including valves, pressure tanks and/or pumps and devices to mix and ignite the chemical and oxidize it. Thus, with traditional components, standard combustion devices can be large (i.e. on the order of centimeter to meter scale) and heavy, and consequently are not useful as portable, high energy power sources. Thus, smaller and simpler devices are desirable as compact and efficient power sources.
Another problem with traditional combustion devices is that chemical needs to be converted from a liquid state to gaseous state. However, direct injection of liquid chemicals are disadvantageous because they may clog or plug up the internal volume of the combustion device and its components. Alternatively, gaseous chemical injections do not clog or plug up the combustion device. Thus, the liquid chemicals that are used in traditional combustion devices may ultimately impair the longevity and efficiency of MPGs. Therefore, different methods of chemical injection must be devised for the MPGs.
However, one persistent problem in MGPs is the fact that mixing of fluids in the micro-domains is not as effective as in macro-domains. Furthermore, gases mix at orders of magnitudes faster than liquids. So, ideally mixing should be performed at gaseous phase whenever possible.
Therefore, now more than ever, there is a need for research development of useful, efficient and portable nano- and micro-scale chemical mixing devices. Ideally, such devices will employ chemical combustion, heat transfer, fluid dynamics and acoustics.

Control devices for evaporative chemical mixing/reaction


A grout delivery system includes a grout storage hopper connected to a motor-operated pump to pump flowable grout or mortar through a flexible hose into a nozzle structure for application to a work surface. A nozzle handle contains a pushbutton actuator for a pump motor speed control circuit. An operator can observe grout flow from the nozzle while operating the pushbutton to adjust the grout flow rate. The pump motor speed control allows the operator to apply grout at a relatively high rate and with a high degree of accuracy, because the grout flow rate can be increased or decreased, as necessary to fill cracks or crevices of different size.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to grout-delivery systems for supplying flowable grout from a storage hopper through a flexible hose to a hand-held nozzle structure for application to a work surface, which may comprise areas bordering bricks, floor tiles, metal doors or metal windows, etc.
2. Prior Art
Systems for delivering grout or wet plaster to work areas are already known. U.S. Pat. No. 3,140,801 to Delligatti discloses a plaster delivery system including a cylindrical supply hopper having vertical axis agitator means driven by an overhead motor. A horizontal gate valve controls downflow of wet plaster from the hopper into the pumping chamber of a piston-operated pump. The pumping piston has a ball check valve to allow the plaster to flow through the piston in the pumping direction.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,227,426 to Williams discloses a grout-delivery system wherein a single electric motor drives a grout-delivery pump and a vertical axis agitator in a grout supply hopper. The power connection includes a power take-off unit having a vertical shaft connected to the agitator, and a horizontal shaft connected to the pump. A clutch is disposed between the horizontal shaft and the pump, whereby the agitator can continue operating while the pump is stopped. The agitation action prevents grout in the hopper from prematurely hardening.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,768,939 to Gramling discloses a mortar delivery system wherein a known Moyno pump is located below a mortar-supply hopper for delivering mortar through a flexible hose and into a specially constructed nozzle which has a projecting guide means and mortar-striking protuberance to facilitate the flow of mortar into the spaces between rows of bricks. The pump motor is turned on or off by means of a pushbutton switch on the nozzle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,122,038 to Malkoski discloses a grout pumping system that includes a vertical axis agitator means disposed in an upright cylindrical hopper. The pumping unit includes a horizontal axis auger located below the hopper, said auger having an array of rod-like shear blades which recirculate some of the grout back into the hopper, thus to more thoroughly mix the grout ingredients. The pumping unit is formed in separable sections that can be taken apart for cleaning purposes.
There is no provision in the above-noted patented systems for controlling or varying the flow rate of the grout (or plaster) through the nozzle structure. The operator of the nozzle cannot control the amount of mortar or grout discharged onto the work surface. There thus can be spills or smearing of the grout onto unwanted surfaces. At the other extreme, the grout flow rate may be so slow as to interfere with worker productivity.


A method of adjusting the transmission torque characteristics of a dry clutch may include carrying out adjustment based on learning using a T-S curve that indicates the relationship of the transmission torque to the actuator stroke of the dry clutch, a section of the T-S curve in which inclinations change discontinuously is removed, so that the controllability over the dry clutch is reliable and the feeling of shifting can be improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a method of adjusting the characteristics of a dry clutch used in an automated manual transmission (AMT) or a double clutch transmission (DCT), and more particularly, to a method of adjusting the transmission torque characteristics of a dry clutch with respect to the stroke of an actuator which actuates the dry clutch.
2. Description of Related Art
Semi-automatic transmissions, such as automated manual transmissions (AMTs) and double clutch transmissions (DCTs), are systems which automatically control a manual transmission mechanism. Unlike typical automatic transmissions (ATs) which use a torque converter and a wet multi-plate clutch, semi-automatic transmissions frequently use a dry clutch to transmit engine torque to a transmission mechanism.
The dry clutch is controlled by an actuator, which is generally controlled based on a T-S curve that presents variations in the transmission torque of the dry clutch with respect to the stroke of the actuator.
The dry clutch is characterized in that the transmission torque thereof significantly varies depending on a variety of factors, such as a single part tolerance of each element, a degree of wear due to the duration of use, thermal deformation at high temperature and a variation in the coefficient of friction of a disk. It is difficult to convert the transmission torque of the dry clutch into a preset form of data.
However, the dry clutch fails to properly reflect variations in the characteristics of the transmission torque when controlling the actuator. When the actuator is controlled insufficiently or excessively, the dry clutch may slip excessively or be subjected to impact. There is required a technique for accurately finding transmission torque characteristics of the dry clutch depending on the actuator stroke so as to be used for control over the actuator.
Therefore, in the vehicle, a T-S curve presenting the characteristics of transmission torque with respect to the stroke of the actuator of the dry clutch is adjusted by learning such that the present state of the dry clutch can be reflected as accurately as possible. FIG. 1 is graph illustrating a conventional method of adjusting a T-S curve by learning.
In FIG. 1, P02 to P11 are characteristic points that reflect the characteristics of the T-S curve. The characteristic points P02 to P11 can be changed by learning. For instance, when a learning point P is newly learned, the existing T-S curved is adjusted based on the new learning point. As shown in the figure, the characteristics points P08 and P09 that are most close to the learning point P are moved in the direction toward the learning point. At this time, the characteristics points P10 and P11 are also moved by applying the same amount of change thereto, such that the inclination of the section of the T-S curve to which these points belong can stay unchanged.
With respect to the learning point P, a uniform amount of change is given for upper torque components, and no amount of change is given for lower torque components. This is intended to maintain transmission characteristics defined by the spring stiffness of the dry clutch system.
When the T-S curve is adjusted by learning as above, the inclination of the section of the T-S curve including the characteristic points P06 and P07 and newly-moved point P08NEW is significantly changed. This shape of the T-S curve indicates that the required change of the stroke must be discontinuous along the section in the case in which the transmission torque is changed by a uniform amount. This discontinuous change of the stroke makes the control difficult and inaccurate. This consequently leads to uncomfortable feel when shifting.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Method of adjusting characteristics of dry clutch