The invention relates to a method for manufacturing thin-walled pipes, which are made of a heat-resistant and wear-resistant aluminum-based material. The method comprises the spray-compacting of a thick-walled pipe made of a hypereutectic aluminum-silicon AlSi material, possibly a subsequent overaging annealing, and the hot deformation to a thin-walled pipe. Such a method is in particular suited for the production of cylinder liners of internal combustion engines, since the produced liners exhibit the required properties in regard to wear resistance, heat resistance and reduction of pollutant emission.

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing thin-walled pipes, which pipes are made of a heat-resistant and wear-resistant aluminum-based material, in particular for use as cylinder liners for internal combustion engines.
Cylinder liners are components subject to wear, which are inserted, pressed or cast into the cylinder openings of the crankcase of the internal combustion engine.
The cylinder faces of an internal combustion engine are subjected to high frictional loads from the pistons or, respectively, from the piston rings and to locally occurring high temperatures. It is therefore necessary that these faces be made of wear-resistant and heat-resistant materials.
In order to achieve this goal, there are numerous processes amongst others to provide the face of the cylinder bore with wear-resistant coatings. Another possibility is to dispose a cylinder liner made of a wear-resistant material in the cylinder. Thus, gray-cast-iron cylinder liners were used, amongst others, which liners however exhibit a low heat conductivity as compared to aluminum-based materials and exhibit other disadvantages.
The problem was first solved with a cast cylinder block made of a hypereutectic aluminum-silicon AlSi alloy. The silicon content is limited to a maximum of 20 weight-percent for reasons associated with casting technology. As a further disadvantage of the casting method it is to be mentioned that primary silicon particles of relatively large dimensions (about 30-80 xcexcm.) are precipitated during the solidification of the melt. Based on the size and their angular and sharp-edged form, the primary silicon Si particles lead to wear at the piston and piston rings. One is therefore forced to protect the pistons and the piston rings with corresponding protective layers/coatings. The contact face of the silicon Si particles to the piston/piston ring is flat-smoothed through mechanical machining treatment. An electrochemical treatment then follows to such a mechanical treatment, whereby the aluminum matrix is slightly reset between the silicon Si grains such that the silicon Si grains protrude insignificantly as support structure from the cylinder face. The disadvantage of thus manufactured cylinder barrels lies, on the one hand, in a substantial manufacturing expenditure (costly alloy, expensive mechanical machining treatment, iron-coated pistons, armored and reinforced piston rings) and, on the other hand, in the defective distribution of the primary silicon Si particles. Thus, there are large areas in the microstructure which are free of silicon Si particles and thus are subject to an increased wear. In order to prevent this wear, a relatively thick oil film is required as separation medium between barrel and friction partner. The clearing depth of the silicon Si particles is amongst others decisive for the setting of the oil-film thickness. A relatively thick oil film leads to higher friction losses in the machine and to a larger increase of the pollutant emission.
In comparison, a cylinder block according to the DE 42 30 228, which is cast of an below-eutectic aluminum-silicon AlSi alloy and is provided with liners of a hypereutectic aluminum-silicon AlSi alloy material is more cost advantageous. However, the aforementioned problems are also not solved in this case.
In order to employ the advantages of the hypereutectic aluminum-silicon AlSi alloys as a liner material, the microstructure in regard to the silicon grains is to be changed. As is known, aluminum alloys, which cannot be realized using casting technology, can be custom-produced by powder-metallurgic processes or spray compacting.
Thus, in this way hypereutectic aluminum silicon AlSi alloys are produceable which have a very good wear resistance and receive the required heat resistance through alloying elements such, as for example iron Fe, nickel Ni, or manganese Mn, based on the high silicon content, the fineness of the silicon particles, and the homogeneous distribution. The primary silicon particles present in these alloys have a size of about 0.5 to 20 xcexcm. Therefore, the alloys produced in this way are suited for a liner material.
Even though aluminum alloys are in general easy to be processed, the deformation of these hypereutectic alloys is more problematic. A method for producing liners from a hypereutectic aluminum-silicon alloy is known from the German printed patent document EP 0 635 318. According to this reference, the liner is produced by extrusion presses at very high pressures and extrusion rates of 0.5 to 12 m/min. Very high extrusion rates are required in order to produce cost-effectively the liners to a final dimension with extruders. It has been shown that the high extrusion rates lead to a tearing of the profile during extrusion in case of such difficultly extrudable alloys and of the small wall thicknesses of the liners to be achieved.
The spray-compacting of hollow cylinders, the so-called tube blanks, is known from the WO 87/03012. For example, the manufacture of tube blanks having wall thicknesses of 25 to 40 mm is described. The same above-described problems occur upon deformation of such tube blanks to thin-walled pipes, for example, by extrusion.
The object of the invention is therefore to provide for an improved and much more cost-advantageous method for manufacturing thin-walled pipes, in particular for cylinder liners of internal combustion engines, wherein the finished liners are to exhibit the required property improvements in regard to wear resistance, heat resistance, and reduction of the pollutant emission.
The invention relates to a method for manufacturing thin-walled pipes, which are made of a heat-resistant and wear-resistant aluminum-based material.
The method comprises the spray-compacting of a thick-walled pipe made of a hypereutectic aluminum-silicon AlSi material, possibly a subsequent overaging annealing, and the hot deformation to a thin-walled pipe.
Such a method is in particular suited for the production of cylinder liners of internal combustion engines, since the produced liners exhibit the required properties in regard to wear resistance, heat resistance and reduction of pollutant emission.
Additional embodiments of the invention are given in the sub-claims.
The required tribological properties are in particular achieved in that silicon particles are present in the material as primary precipitates in a size range of from 0.5 to 20 xcexcm, or as added and admixed particles in a size range of up to 80 xcexcm. Methods have to be employed for the manufacture of such aluminum Al alloys which allow a substantially higher solidification rate of a high-alloy melt than it is possible with conventional casting processes.
On the one hand, the spray compacting method (in the following referred to as xe2x80x9cspray compactingxe2x80x9d) belongs to this. An aluminum alloy melt, highly alloyed with silicon, is atomized and cooled in the nitrogen stream at a cooling rate of 1000xc2x0 C./s. The in part still liquid powder particles are sprayed onto a support pipe, rotating horizontally around the longitudinal axis and made of the same type of material or a conventional aluminum material (for example, AlMgSi0.5). The support pipe, which has preferably wall thicknesses of from 2 to 3 mm, is linearly shifted under the spray beam during the process. By superpositioning the rotation motion and the translation motion of the support pipe, there is generated a cylindrical pipe having a fixed predetermined inner diameter. The outer diameter results from the charging speed and from the effective compacting rate. Pipes having wall thicknesses of from 6 to 20 mm can be manufactured in this way. A quasi continuous production operation can be achieved with suitable feed and guiding systems for the support pipes.
Primary silicon Si precipitates having a size of up to 20 xcexcm are generated in this spray-compacting process based on the high cooling speeds. An adaptation of the silicon Si precipitate size is achieved with the xe2x80x9cgas to metal ratioxe2x80x9d (standard cubic meter of gas per kilogram of melt), with which the solidification speed can be set in the process. Silicon Si contents of the alloys of up to 40 weight-% can be realized based on the high solidification speeds and the supersaturation of the melt. The supersaturation state in the resulting billet is quasi xe2x80x9cfrozenxe2x80x9d based on the fast quenching of the aluminum melt in the gas stream.
The spray compacting process in addition offers the possibility to enter particles with a particle injector into the billets or into the tube blanks, which particles were not present in the melt. There exists a plurality of adjustment possibilities for a microstructure since these particles can exhibit any desired geometry and any desired size between 2 xcexcm and 400 xcexcm. These particles can be, for example, silicon Si particles in the range of from 2 xcexcm to 400 xcexcm or oxide-ceramic particles (for example, Al2O3) or non-oxide-ceramic particles (for example, SiC, B4C, etc.) in the aforementioned particle-size spectrum, as they are commercially available and sensible for the tribological aspect.
The microstructural condition of the spray-compacted pipe can be changed with subsequent averaging annealing processes. The microstructure can be set with an annealing to a silicon grain size of from 2 to 30 xcexcm as it is desired for the required tribological properties. The growing of larger silicon Si particles during the annealing process is effected by diffusion in the solid at the expense of smaller silicon particles. This diffusion is dependent on the overaging and annealing temperature and the duration of the annealing treatment. The higher the temperature is chosen, the faster the silicon Si grains grow. Suitable temperatures are at about 500xc2x0 C., wherein an annealing duration of 3 to 5 hours is sufficient.
The thereby resulting and therefore custom-made microstructure no longer changes in the subsequent processing steps or it changes in the sense of the required tribological properties.
A reduction of the wall thickness to the required final dimensions is achieved by hot deformation by means of various processes dependent on the starting wall thickness of the such manufactured pipes. The process temperatures are between 300xc2x0 C. and 550xc2x0 C. In this case, the hot deformation serves not only for the forming, but also to the closing of the process-caused residual porosity (1-5%) in the spray-compacted starting material.
The pipe, formed to the final wall thickness, is subsequently cut into pipe sections of the required length.
The invention method has the advantage that the material for the liner can be custom-made. At the same time, the high expenditure in the case of one-step extruding of thin-walled pipes, both in regard to extrusion pressure and extrusion rate, as well as product quality and production economy, is successfully avoided based on the described method of production.


An apparatus and system for recording, playing, handling, and storing a plurality of media disks in a plurality of configurations and a device for moving any disk into and out of a media disk storage mechanism and into or out of a selected media player/recorder on demand, and a controller for directing operation of the device for moving the disks and controlling selection of operation of the media disk storage mechanism.

The high tech arena of today's video security, government security applications, home theater market, medical video and diagnostic imaging and records, and large and small data storage applications is ever growing and becoming more lucrative with each product placed in the marketplace. Any new emerging technology in this area offers opportunity for successful market entry. It is estimated that approximately 80% of the consumer electronics business are under $30 million dollars a year in sales. What is remarkable, however, is that in the current market no true TV/PC/DVD integrated, image capture terabyte and multi terabyte storage solution exists that meets the plethora of current and future government, medical, industrial and consumer needs.
The goal of HD-DVD is to present at least two hour long films in high definition video format at 1080p. Currently, DVD technology is limited to resolution of 480p. As a part of these limitations, the current DVD red laser technology is limited to 4.7 Gb of storage or 9.4 Gb using double sided or dual layer DVD. However, emerging blue laser systems will have the capability of storing capacities of 25 GB to 300 GB or greater per disk in the near future. Systems will be able to achieve 36 Mbps of transfer speed which equates to approximately 2 hours at 1080p resolution or 13 hours of 480p resolution for the 25 Gb disks. It is contemplated that 200 Gb dual layer disks and 300 Gb holographic optical storage will soon follow which will allow for even greater storage of recorded media.
Today, there exists a variety of audio compact disk (CD) and digital video disk (DVD) storage and handling apparatuses. Each apparatus configuration varies in shape and size and can range in shape from toroidal configurations to linear type cartridge stacks. Many typical digital media handling libraries seen today usually function as read only type devices. Sometimes these devices may include a number of areas for containing data cartridges positioned relative to a manipulating arm capable of maneuvering in front of a particular area which contains the desired cartridge to read. In the handling of digital data, especially where the recording and viewing of stored data is involved, data-access speed is sometimes very important to the user. The ability to specifically view recorded media content within a library and then to selectively retrieve and simultaneously play the selection would offer the user a tremendous benefit not currently available.
Optical information storage technologies have provided increasing storage densities over the years. The demand for larger volume optical storage devices has been persistent, and various approaches to increased optical storage have been considered. In addition, the retrieval of stored disk media has become a significant factor for consideration in view of the proliferation of various uses of these disks for data storage in association with various information that must be readily available. While individual disks are capable of accepting relatively large amounts of data, the amount of data stored for many applications is immense and therefore requires a significant number of disks. In addition to requiring large data storage capacity, rapid retrieval of disks is also desired so that data from the disks can be accessed more quickly.
There are various devices which store numerous recordable media, magnetically or optically, containing information therein in a magazine or magazines. The devices position the recordable media at a given location or locations inside the magazines and remove the same therefrom. An example of such a device is a disk changing apparatus. A disk changing apparatus typically stores a large number of disk-shaped recordable media such as CDs or DVDs in low density magazines and is provided with a drive read write unit for magnetically or optically recording onto and playing information stored on the disks. The disk changing apparatus is further adapted to set a disk from a magazine into the drive unit and insert a disk from the drive unit into a magazine. Many of these magazines have drawer supports for each disk.
One major factor in determining the efficiency of disk retrieval and delivery is found in the capabilities of the disk retrieval/loader apparatus to accomplish disk movement from and to storage libraries and drive mechanisms. Specifically, if the disk retrieval/loader apparatus is able to quickly retrieve, carry and deliver a disk, the data from that disk can be made available faster to the user. Thus, it is apparent that a need is present for a disk retrieval/loader apparatus that can retrieve and load disks in a timely and efficient manner. However, before the user can retrieve a disk he/she must be able to determine which disk a desired file is on. This is typically done through some form of manual searching within the stored files.
Specifically, for example in digital video recorder security systems, there are several methods of searching for programs recorded by a user or system. First, one method is to search while actually looking at a video by fast forwarding or rewinding a recorded program. Recent developments in digital video recorder software has allowed for faster searching by using camera number, time and date, or other metadata. These devices facilitate searching for a recorded segment of surveillance video or a TV program while listening to sound by doubling the image speed and maintaining the sound speed at a normal level.
Specifically, by way of example only, there are devices that facilitate searching for a TV program while listening to sound by doubling the image speed and maintaining the sound speed at a normal level. To increase the efficiency of retrieval, great efforts have recently been made to increase the fast forward speed and the rewind speed.
In prior methods, a user must look at the screen until he/she finds his/her desired program. Furthermore, fast forwarding and rewinding operations are complicated and troublesome. Such methods depend on user's intuition and memory. Particularly when a program is automatically recorded, user's intuition and memory cannot be relied upon any longer. As more and more video images are stored, the user's burden increases.
Other methods index video segments or recorded programs at the time of recording and searching for a desired program by displaying a list of the indices on the screen. Generally speaking, recording date and time are used as indices. It is considered that information which can be acquired as the attributes of a program by a video recorder are currently only recording date and time. In the video recorder, a list of the recording times and dates of TV programs is displayed on the screen so that a user can search for his/her desired program from the list while recollecting his/her recording date and time. However, in this method a video program must be searched utilizing an index and the user's burden is slightly lightened. But, since index information is only recording date and time, it can be said that this method also depends on the intuition and memory of a user. Particularly, when a program is automatically recorded, it is difficult to recall the contents of the recorded program from its recording date and time.
Along with the digitization of TV broadcasting, electronic information on TV programs is multiplexed in broadcasting and aired. This electronic program information is generally called EPG ("Electronic Program Guide"). EPG includes key words such as the title, category and performers of each program. Current digital satellite broadcasting enables a user to select his/her desired channel by displaying this EPG on the screen.
Another method is contained in the EPG and is used as retrieval indices. In this case, when a program is recorded, EPG is also stored. To see a recorded program, the titles of recorded programs are listed on the screen ad a user selects his/her desired program from this list. However, since EPG indicative of the contents of a program such as the title of a program is used as an index in the previous method, the burden of user's intuition and memory is greatly lightened. That is, the user searches for his/her desired program while looking at the titles of programs. However, when a large number of recorded programs can be stored, the titles of all the recorded programs cannot be displayed on the screen and the retrieval of indices becomes complicated. Further, it is difficult to recall the contents of automatically recorded programs from program information alone.
Along with the spread of digital broadcasting, various apparatuses for recording digital video will continue to come into existence. Since the high compression of digital video from digital video recorders is possible, a large number of video programs can be recorded. The connection of multiple video cameras used for capturing video images to this storage mechanism is possible.
Further, the program recording function will be improved by using the above mentioned EPG. For example, it will be possible to record a program by directly specifying the title of the program or to automatically record a program having a keyword by specifying the keyword included in program information such as the category or performer of the program. Particularly, the user's history of viewing is analyzed to automatically record a program which seems to be the favorite of the user.
The present invention, having an automatic recording function and the ability to store a large number of video, audio, and/or data files, is particularly effective as a media player, recorder, and library.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system, apparatus, and method for playing, recording, storing, and/or cataloging a large-volume library of media files recorded on a digital media storage disk.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system, apparatus, and method for providing versatile video and/or program recording scheduling functions to programmably record from a plurality of selected video, multiple input cameras, and/or audio input sources.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system, apparatus, and method for capturing, recording, storing, retrieving, and manipulating digital media image files on storage disks into and out of a disk drive and/or a disk storage mechanism for recording and/or playback.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a system, apparatus, and method for retrieving and manipulating digital media storage disks into and out of a disk drive and/or multiple disk drives and/or a disk storage mechanism for recording and/or playback.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a system, apparatus, and method for searching for a user's specific desired file from a large number of previously recorded audio, video, or data files and then providing playback quickly and efficiently.

Scalable integrated high density optical data/media storage delivery system


A voltage generation circuit that includes: a voltage generator integrated in a semiconductor chip and structured to generate an output voltage in accordance with a calibration parameter; a heater operable to heat the voltage generator; a control device configured to receive the output voltage, activate the heater and provide the calibration parameter to the voltage generator.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to the field of voltage reference generators and, particularly, to the band-gap voltage reference circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
As it is known, many electrical circuits employ a voltage reference circuit, which should exhibit little dependence on supply and process parameters and a well defined temperature behavior. A known reference generator technique is the band-gap reference which balances a negative temperature coefficient of a pn junction with a positive temperature coefficient of the thermal voltage, Vth=kBT/q, where kB is the Boltzmann's constant and q the electron's charge. Typically, the two terms having opposite temperature behaviors are the voltage base-emitter Vbe of a BJT (bipolar junction transistor) and the difference ΔVbe between two bipolar transistors. The generated voltage Vbg can be expressed as:Vbg=K1Vbe+K2ΔVbe wherein factors K1 and K2 represent ratio of resistors included in the voltage reference circuit, having the same temperature behavior.
It has been observed that many second order effects cause variation of the derivatives of Vbe and ΔVbe. Consequently, the temperature variations of the two terms indicated in the expression above are still linear, but their second order derivatives have a variable temperature behavior. This situation produces a voltage versus temperature curve (volts/° C.) showing a parabolic behavior as the one exemplary depicted in FIG. 8.
Moreover, the statistical dispersion of silicon parameters during the manufacturing process causes a dependence of the temperature which can be different for each manufactured circuit. Therefore, it is necessary to calibrate a voltage reference circuit. In accordance with known techniques, the calibration occurs during a particular manufacturing step or, after the manufacturing process, in a testing step. The calibration consists in modifying both or one of the factors K1 and K2. The Applicants note that this type of calibration increases the costs of the manufacturing process and does not take into account the performance losses occurring during the circuit life.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 7,433,790 describes a circuit provided with a logic block performing a test algorithm to control trimming of a reference value generating circuit and a temperature measurement system.
Document U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,305 discloses an apparatus for calibration of errors in a monolithic reference including a band-gap voltage reference. Moreover, this document describes a calibration operation in which a temperature measuring system and a burn-in oven are employed and a calculation to determine compensation factors is performed.

Electrical system, voltage reference generation circuit, and calibration method of the circuit


A filer converts a traditional volume to a flexible volume by: creating an aggregate on storage devices other than the storage devices of the traditional volume; on the aggregate, creating a flexible volume large enough to store metadata describing files residing on the traditional volume; on the flexible volume, creating metadata structures that describe the files of the traditional volume, except that the metadata indicates that data blocks and indirect blocks are absent and must be fetched from another location. As the filer handles I/O requests directed to the flexible volume, the filer calculates physical volume block number (PVBN) addresses where the requested blocks would be located in the aggregate and replaces the absent pointers with the calculated addresses. After the absent pointers have been replaced, the filer adds the storage devices of the traditional volume.

The present invention relates to network storage systems and, more particularly, to systems and methods for converting existing traditional storage volumes in network storage systems into flexible storage volumes, without disrupting the network storage systems.
A network storage system typically includes one or more specialized computers (variously referred to as file servers, storage servers, storage appliances or the like, and collectively hereinafter referred to as "filers"). Each filer is connected to one or more storage devices, such as via a storage network or fabric. Exemplary storage devices include individual disk drives, groups of such disks and redundant arrays of independent (or inexpensive) disks (RAID groups). The filer is also connected via a computer network to one or more clients, such as computer workstations, application servers or other computers. Software in the filers and other software in the clients cooperate to make the storage devices, or groups thereof, appear to users of the workstations and to application programs being executed by the application servers, etc., as though the storage devices were locally connected to the clients.
Centralized data storage (such as network storage) enables data stored on the storage devices to be shared by many clients scattered remotely throughout an organization. Network storage also enables information systems (IS) departments to store data on highly reliable and sometimes redundant equipment, so the data remain available, especially in the event of a catastrophic failure of one or more of the storage devices. Network storage also facilitates making frequent backup copies of the data and providing access to backed-up data, when necessary.
Filers can also perform other services that are not visible to the clients. For example, a filer can treat all the storage space in a group of storage devices as an "aggregate." The filer can then treat a subset of the storage space in the aggregate as a "volume." Each data block of a storage device has an associated block number (a "disk block number" (DBN)), which serves as an address of the block on the storage device. Thus, each storage device can be thought of as providing an address space of blocks extending from DBN 0 (zero) to DBN (N−1), where the disk has N blocks. The address space of a volume consists of a concatenation of the address spaces of the portions of the aggregate that make up the volume. The blocks of this concatenated address space are consecutively numbered 0 (zero) to (M−1), and these numbers are referred to as "volume block numbers" (VBNs).
Filers include software that enables clients to treat each volume as though it were a single disk. The clients issue input/output (I/O) commands to read data from or write data to the volume. The filer accepts these I/O commands; ascertains which storage device(s) are involved; calculates appropriate DBNs; issues I/O commands to the appropriate storage device(s) of the volume to fetch or store the data; and returns status information (and, in the case of a read command, data) to the clients.
Some filers also implement "flexible volumes." In contrast with traditional volumes (described above), a flexible volume is implemented as a file (a "container file") on a volume or in an aggregate. Flexible volumes provide several advantages over traditional volumes. For example, storage space on the set of storage devices need not be pre-allocated to the container file. Although each flexible volume is created with a specified size, this size merely indicates a potential storage capacity of the flexible volume. Actual physical blocks on the storage devices are not allocated to the flexible volume until they are needed. For example, when the filer flushes its cache of modified ("dirty") blocks, actual disk blocks are allocated to the flexible volume, up to the specified size of the flexible volume.
Another advantage of flexible volumes lies in the fact that the size of a flexible volume can be increased. Again, storage space on the storage devices is not necessarily allocated to the flexible volume to support the increased container file size until the storage space is actually needed. Furthermore, additional storage devices can be added to the set of storage device on which the container file is stored, thus increasing the potential maximum size to which the container file can be extended. Thus, flexible volumes provide greater flexibility and scalability than traditional volumes.
Filers enable clients to treat flexible volumes in the same way the clients treat traditional volumes, i.e., the clients can treat each flexible volume as though it were a single disk and issue I/O commands to the flexible volume, and each flexible volume presents an address space of numbered (addressed) blocks. Because physical storage space is not necessarily allocated to all the blocks of a flexible volume, the flexible volume is a virtual entity. That is, from the perspective of the clients, a flexible volume exists as a single disk drive. However, the filer creates this illusion, thus the block numbers of a flexible volume are referred to as "virtual volume block numbers" (VVBNs).
When a client issues an I/O command to read data from or write data to a flexible volume, the filer accepts the I/O command. The filer then issues one or more I/O commands to the appropriate block(s) of the container file to fetch or store the data. That is, the filer calculates the "physical volume block numbers" (PVBNs) on the storage devices that correspond to the VVBNs of the flexible volume that were referenced by the I/O command. The filer issues one or more I/O commands to the underlying storage devices and then returns status information (and, in the case of a read command, the requested data) to the client.
Due to the way a container file is typically distributed across its underlying storage devices, I/O performance when accessing data on a flexible volume can be better than if the data access requests were directed to a traditional volume.
The recognized advantages of flexible volumes over traditional volumes have sparked interest in converting existing traditional volumes into flexible volumes. However, existing methods of converting traditional volumes to flexible volumes have attendant problems. For example, a "snapshot" is a read-only, space-conservative version of an active file system at a given instant, i.e., when the snapshot is created as a persistent point-in-time image. A "brute force" conversion method copies all data from a single traditional volume snapshot into a flexible volume in a new aggregate having at least the same size as the traditional volume. However, this technique has several shortcomings. First, only a single snapshot of data is preserved. Second, because the new aggregate must be the same size as, or larger than, the traditional volume, this technique doubles the number of disks required during the conversion. Finally, the copying process is disruptive, because no modifications to the data can be made while the copying operation is taking place.
A second method of converting traditional volumes to flexible volumes involves copying traditional volume snapshots on a per Qtree basis. A Qtree is an entire volume or a subset of a volume that can be treated somewhat like a volume. Once each snapshot has been copied, a snapshot is taken in each new flexible volume. The advantages of such a method include preserving all snapshots. In addition, each Qtree in the traditional volume becomes an independent flexible volume in the new aggregate. However, this method also requires twice the number of disks, and the process is disruptive, because no modifications to the data can be made while the copying operation is taking place.
A third method of converting traditional volumes to flexible volumes involves an inode-by-inode copying of a traditional volume into dual volume block number (VBN) buffer trees in the flexible volume. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,292 to Hitz, et al., which is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference, describes various embodiments of the operational association between inodes (index nodes), buffer trees, indirect buffers, direct buffers, data blocks, and the like.) Once the dual VBN buffer trees have been created in the flexible volume, the data in the traditional volume are converted into the flexible volume in the aggregate. The third method requires fewer additional storage disks than the first two approaches, thereby reducing cost. However, the conversion is more complex and no modifications to the data can be made during the copying operation.
Therefore, methods of converting existing traditional volumes into flexible volumes, while preserving snapshots, and without requiring a large number of additional disk, would be desirable.

Methods of converting traditional volumes into flexible volumes


The invention relates to a process for compressing digital data of a sequence of synthesis images describing a scene which is the subject of a script, comprising a processing step for modelling the scene on the basis of mathematical data, a step of image rendering for creating a synthesis image from this modelling and a partitioning of this synthesis image into image blocks, differential coding of the current image block on the basis of a block of at least one synthesis image, this block being defined on the basis of at least one motion vector, so as to provide a residual block, characterized in that the motion vector is calculated from mathematical data emanating from the synthesis script and defining the apparent motion of the various objects constituting the scene which is the subject of the sequence. Applications are image synthesis in production. For video games, these are for example interactivity or virtual reality applications.

The synthesis of images makes it possible to create, with the aid of computer tools, so-called virtual images. They emanate from an abstract description and from digital calculations. This involves using a collection of methods via 2D and 3D graphics libraries, which are possibly accelerated by specific hardware circuits of the accelerator graphics cards type and via suitable interfaces of the API type (standing for xe2x80x9cApplication Program Interfacexe2x80x9d).
The process for creating these images can be split up into various steps.
It comprises firstly a phase of modelling, that is to say of computing or acquiring objects using a description model, the aim of which is to describe the constituent objects and assemble them so as to construct a viewable scene therefrom.
Let us cite for example the model of polygonal type in which the objects are split up into multitudes of elementary polygons or facets. Graphical primitives are utilized for defining, assembling or modifying these elementary geometrical entities.
These models are interpretable: they may be associated with kinds of graphics engines, for example colouring (or xe2x80x9cshadingxe2x80x9d) of triangles, anti-aliasing of texture, etc. They have capacities, that is to say properties or capabilities, which are both behavioural, such as motion, explosion, . . . , and also visual, such as texture, colour, mirror effects, etc. They will be able to interact with their environment when constructing a scenario, for example with lights, with the other objects. There is therefore, secondarily, a construction of a moving scene which governs the global organization of these models over time (here taken in the sense of the time to effect a given application), that is to say the definition of a scenario or animation.
Lastly, depending on the applications (CAD, production of images, simulation, etc.), the final step consists in creating digital images from this scenario. This last step is called rendering or the method of image xe2x80x9crenditionxe2x80x9d, the purpose of which is to render the scene as realistically as possible. It may be very expensive in terms of calculation time, and require large memory capacities both in respect of the models used and in respect of the data related to the programs involved. For example, rendition methods such as radiosity or ray tracing make it possible to obtain quality images, but at an even higher cost, the calculation algorithms implemented being very complex.
The volume of information represented by digital images has given rise to the development of various compression standards such as JPEG, H.263, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, and soon MPEG-4 making it possible to manipulate, whether for storage or transmission, volumes of information which are compatible with the present technology. The MPEG-2 standard, nowadays the more generic, makes it possible to compress all existing formats of images with the aid of various profiles and levels defined in the MPEG standard, the best known of which is MP@ML (xe2x80x9cMain Profile at Main Levelxe2x80x9d), for images in the conventional television format. The structure of the coders which carry out such video image compressions, according to the prior art, rely on various types of images: Intra, Predicted or Bidirectional (I, P and B, respectively), the main difference being the temporal mode of prediction. The coding kernel is conventional with a frequency splitting based on the DCT (xe2x80x9cDiscrete Cosine Transformxe2x80x9d), followed by quantization and entropy coding, so as to obtain, at the output of the coder, a binary train which must comply with the standard, that is to say a specific syntax.
Temporal prediction is performed by estimating the motion between images separated in time, on the basis of image blocks of size 16xc3x9716 pixels for example. The motion is deduced from a correlation between the block of the current image and a block of a search window of a previous or following image. Next, each block of size 8xc3x978 pixels of the image is predicted with the calculated displacement vector, and only the error between the estimate and the original is coded.
The compression of data, whether of conventional images or synthesis images, therefore utilizes the conventional processes such as motion estimation. The circuits which carry out such calculations and the associated circuits are complex and the cost of such a setup is high. For example, the motion estimation and motion-compensated interpolation circuits account for perhaps half the complexity of an MPEG-2 type coder.
The motion information, still according to conventional processes, does not always correspond to the actual motion. It simply involves correlations generally with regard to luminance information. The fact that the field of vectors consisting of the motion vectors of an image does not reflect the actual motion precludes optimal compression of data, in particular in the case of differential coding of vectors. This is because, for macroblocks corresponding to zones of uniform motion, the cost of transmitting identical or slightly different vectors, in differential coding, is smaller than the cost of transmitting random vectors.
Moreover, the fact that the motion vectors obtained according to the conventional xe2x80x9cblock matchingxe2x80x9d process do not necessarily reflect the actual motion precludes utilization of the vector field to carry out interpolations or extrapolations of images of good quality during for example conversions of frequency, of digital video recorder slow motion modes, etc.
An incorrect motion vector field also precludes the utilization of new techniques of coding using the contour information for an image rather than the macroblocks. This is because the compression of data according to these new techniques is based on image segmentation and the actual displacement of these xe2x80x9csegmentsxe2x80x9d defining the uniform zones.
Thus, the lack of reliability of the motion estimation precludes optimization of the performance of the coder in terms of degree of compression or of image quality for a given bit rate or the effective utilization of this motion information at the decoder.
The purpose of the invention is to alleviate the aforesaid drawbacks during coding of synthesis images.
To this end, its subject is a process for compressing digital data of a sequence of synthesis images describing a scene which is the subject of a script, comprising a processing step for modelling the scene on the basis of mathematical data, a step of image rendering for creating a synthesis image from this modelling and a partitioning of this synthesis image into image blocks, a differential coding of the current image block on the basis of a block of at least one synthesis image, this block being defined on the basis of at least one motion vector, so as to provide a residual block, characterized in that the motion vector is calculated from mathematical data emanating from the synthesis script and defining the apparent motion of the various objects constituting the scene which is the subject of the sequence.
Its subject is also a device for compressing digital data of a sequence of synthesis images describing a scene which is the subject of a script, comprising a processing circuit for modelling the scene, the images of which are to be synthesized on the basis of mathematical data, a circuit for image rendering and for partitioning the image into blocks which receives the cues from the processing circuit for effecting a synthesis image and partitioning the image obtained into image blocks, an image blocks motion compensation circuit receiving the cues from the processing circuit so as to provide predicted blocks, a subtractor for taking the difference between the current block originating from the circuit for image rendering and for partitioning into image blocks and the predicted block originating from the motion compensation circuit so as to provide a residual block, a discrete cosine transformation circuit for the image blocks originating from the circuit for image rendering and for partitioning into image blocks or residual blocks originating from the subtractor, the choice being made by a mode selection circuit as a function of energy criteria, a circuit for quantizing the transformed coefficients, characterized in that the motion compensation circuit utilizes the mathematical data provided by the processing circuit and representing the displacement of the modelled objects constituting the scene so as to calculate the motion vectors associated with the current block and defining the predicted block.
According to another embodiment, its subject is a device for compressing digital data of a sequence of synthesis images describing a scene which is the subject of a script, comprising a processing circuit for modelling the scene, the images of which are to be synthesized on the basis of mathematical data, a circuit for image rendering and for partitioning the image into blocks which receives the cues from the processing circuit, for effecting a synthesis image and partitioning the image obtained into image blocks, an image blocks motion compensation circuit receiving the cues from the processing circuit, characterized in that it transmits in intra mode one image from among N images of the sequence, N being a predetermined number, this image N being that which is the subject of the rendition calculation by the circuit for rendition calculation and for partitioning into image blocks, in that the other images are transmitted in inter mode by way of residual blocks representing the difference between a current block and a predicted block and in that residual blocks are null and defined by the single motion vector calculated from the mathematical data.
In general, the techniques of image rendering amount to representing an xe2x80x9cobjectxe2x80x9d-oriented scenario as images. Now, the script, that is to say the scenario, comprises all the possible information with regard to the objects in the scene and also their various properties. In the case of image synthesis, a 2D or 3D script gives the exact displacement of the objects over time. This script then serves to generate the final digital video images (rendering). Thus, instead of using the information consisting of the pixels making up a visual image, that is to say one which is not modelled, to estimate the motion, modelling tools are used to calculate the actual motion in the image sequence.
Apart from the reduction in complexity, by using the actual motion rather than the estimated motion it is possible to improve the quality of the prediction and the global performance of the coder.


A screening plant having a feed plate located between a grizzly grate and a conveyor driven by a hydraulic motor. A first source of fluid supplies hydraulic fluid to a first cylinder to open the feed plate and to a second hydraulic cylinder to swing the grizzly grate. A second source of fluid provides hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic motor driving the conveyor and to a sequence valve at a pressure determined by the load on the motor. The sequence valve stops the flow of fluid to the second cylinder stopping the feed plate when the pressure of fluid from the second source of fluid reaches a predetermined value so that the conveyor will not be overloaded. The feed plate has to open at a preset speed and is started and stopped by the discharging conveyor, as the conveyor meets its capacity. When the feed plate reaches full open position, it activates a control that lifts the grizzly grate and dumps off large pieces of material. The grizzly grate is also controlled by the discharge conveyor. The grizzly grate completes its cycle by returning to the start position automatically.

This invention relates to an aggregate screening apparatus and more particularly to a portable screening apparatus which can be readily transported and deployed at a remote site for providing gravel or other screened particulate material.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,190,526 to Bachand; 4,197,194 to Read and 4,256,572 to Read all show examples of efforts to solve certain existing problems in the art of screening plants.


A chain filter system established generally across a slope such as an agricultural field, residential area, reclamation site, industrial area, or municipal park, etc. The system comprises a series of basins oriented such that their upstream borders are aligned to capture variously directed stormwater runoff from the drainage area. Along each basin border opposite to the upstream border is extended a generally continuous berm to direct and contain stormwater movement, so as to avoid loss of runoff from and around the basins. The berm may include gates or scuppers for controlled release of captured stormwater runoff. This chain filter system serves to capture runoff for purposes of reducing pollution movement into state waters, flood control, creating wildlife habitats, enhancing aquifer levels in rural and urban settings, and avoiding downstream pollution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates generally to addressing problems posed by runoff from rainfall, snowmelt and other sources (collectively referred to herein as "runoff" or "stormwater runoff") particularly where unmitigated runoff can pose multiple threats. Specifically, if unabated, runoff can carry harmful pollutants to rivers, streams and bays, as well as bypass the natural process of groundwater or aquifer replenishment. This disclosure proposes a novel solution to unabated runoff embodied as a system and method that apply equally as well to runoff from urban, industrial, agricultural and residential slopes so as to avoid property destruction, erosion, environmental pollution and the like, as well as enhance diminishing aquifer levels.
2. Description of the Related Art
Melted snow and rain water, when not evaporated or directly channeled to tributaries, lakes, bays and oceans, can be expected to deliver seriously deleterious impact on properties and systems ranging from residential housing tracts to industrial and recreational parks, water reservoirs and wastewater treatment facilities. This melted snow or rainwater, or runoff, carries with it the potential for landscape erosion and property destruction and the unwelcome transport of a variety of pollutants with considerable risk to human health and environment. Another serious problem is that rapid "off-flow" moves so quickly across terrain that depleted aquifers are rarely sufficiently recharged. Still worse, unabated runoff can take its toll on human lives as it overwhelms seawalls, undermines foundations, sweeps motor vehicles from highways and collapses bridges and dams.
Runoff can prove damaging in other ways apart from its persistent force. Even low volume or infrequent runoff can bring irreparable erosion to parkland and coastlines. Runoff issues most often discussed are in the context of rural and agricultural venues, yet the economic and environmental impacts are at least as great or even greater in urban, industrial and residential settings. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (see epa.gov) documents that stormwater from streets, parking lots, and other paved surfaces carries a considerable quantity of pollution directly into tributaries and waters there beyond. EPA reports that impervious surfaces of a city block generate five times more runoff than a wooded area of the same size. More specifically, EPA studies reveal the runoff/absorbed ratio for urban settings at 55%/15%. Contrastingly, for natural settings, the ratio is reversed. For both, the balance of approximately 30% of stormwater is evapotranspired, meaning that the remaining stormwater is transferred from the land to the atmosphere by evaporation from the soil and other surfaces.
Toxic materials in cityscape runoff can include dirty sediment, heating oil, automobile grease, antifreeze and brake fluid, rodent poisons, herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers from lawns and golf courses, parks and highways, pathogens and bacteria from pet waste and leaking septic systems, road salts and heavy metals—all naturally flushed from city streets and dispatched untreated into rivers, lakes, and bays. Worse still, are countless fatalities wrought by unexpected flash floods—the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the United States, approximately two hundred per year. See Floodsmart.gov.
Over the years, many stormwater capture and control concepts have been proposed and explored in both urban and rural settings but have enjoyed limited success for a number of reasons. Typically these control concepts focus on varied applications of (1) filter strips, (2) grass waterways and (3) wetlands (natural and constructed); each of which delivers unique advantages. In a manner of speaking, these concepts "hold water" only to a certain extent.
"Filter strips" generally are embodied as narrow, vegetative bands (grass or trees) strategically planted along edges of streams, rivers, and bays. Typically these narrow vegetative bands are planted in various widths—as narrow as twenty feet or as wide as several hundred feet. As stormwater runoff races across a landscape and subsequently passes through the filter bands, sediment and nutrients are captured within the strips thus preventing pollutants from migrating to streams, reservoirs and tidal waters. The problem with filter strip practice is that an unusually heavy rain event brings such a high flow rate of stormwater runoff that only a relatively small portion of the flowing pollutants can be captured. Moreover, since runoff may travel a considerable distance, perhaps miles, before encountering filter strips residing only along stream or bay edges, the significant baggage of accumulated pollutants simply cannot be effectively filtered.
"Grass waterways" (in some environs referred to as "floodways") consist of relatively low grassy areas along which stormwater flows as it runs off city parks, sports stadium areas, shopping center parking lots and agricultural fields. Waterways are configured and strategically located to follow a declining grade ultimately leading to a stream/river/bay. This runoff control practice can be effective in preventing gullies or washout ditches from forming, thereby avoiding property damage and discouraging eroded sediment from being swept into stream/river/bay waters. Enhanced by plantings, "waterway vegetation" is judged somewhat effective as a natural filtering system accomplishing objectives essentially the same as filter strips. Unfortunately, both approaches generally fail in their filtering role in the face of heavy stormwater accumulations and the consequential acceleration of long distance runoffs.
"Wetlands" is the general name for natural or excavated land areas where water covers the soil or is present near the soil surface or within the root zone—at least for varying time periods. Recurrent or prolonged presence of water (hydrology) at the soil surface is the dominant factor determining the soil nature and types of plants living in the soil. Wetlands are characteristically defined by the presence of plants (hydrophytes) adapted to life in hydric soils subjected to flooded or saturated conditions. See Mitsch, W. J. and J. G. Gosselink, 1993; Wetlands, 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons; New York; 722 pp. Wetlands may be natural or human-made and more contemporaneously are valued for naturally handling high volumes of runoff, particularly near large cityscapes.
New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection recently noted that wetlands were "previously misunderstood and typically destroyed as wastelands." Regardless of name, they are now widely recognized for their vital ecological and socioeconomic contributions—such as enhanced and relatively inexpensive protection of drinking water by filtering out chemicals, pollutants, and sediments, and soaking up runoff from heavy rains and snow melts. See the 2015 Report, State of New Jersey's Division of Land Use Regulation.
Besides, wetlands often serve as buffers by slowing the flow of pollutants into tributaries and onward to larger bodies of water such as the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. As polluted stormwater runs off the agricultural land and passes through wetlands, the hydrophytes, e.g. trees and grasses native to the wetland soil, serve to filter and absorb nutrients, suspended sediments and chemical contaminants. See the Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed Project, Annapolis, Md. website at chesapeakebay.net/wetlds1.htm. On the other hand, wetlands do have their shortcomings. In their natural occurrence they are reasonably effective only when they happen to be strategically located with respect to flows of city and/or agricultural runoff. Constructed (or manmade) wetlands are extremely expensive to create, particularly considering the plantings involved. Similar to filter strips and waterways, a heavy rain event can deliver such heavy volumes of runoff that the resultant flow through the wetlands overrides its capacity to effectively address sediment and nutrients.
These widely popular "solutions" have fallen short of their good intentions, leading to the development of still other approaches. The patent literature reflects ongoing interest in developing commercializable systems to address the challenge of stormwater runoff pollution and contamination treatments as well as bolstering diminishing aquifers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,711 granted to Herd et al. presents a system for trapping and recycling surface water containing treatment chemicals, particularly on golf courses and possibly farms. This patented drainage and collection system includes a graded channel in which is secured a water impervious liner covering the channel bottom and wall surfaces. Scrap automobile tire components are positioned within the channel and on top of the liner. The surface water percolates through and around the scrap tire components, runs down the grades of the liner, and collects within the reservoir. A pumping station cooperates with an irrigation system to recycle the water and chemicals back to the surface of the golf course or the like. The objective of the Herd system is the collection, storage, and recirculation of water and chemicals used to maintain the field area. Repeatedly recycled fertilizer-laden runoff, of course, has its own natural limitations in terms of continued effectiveness and scale of application.
Wengrzynek's U.S. Pat. No. 5,174,897 describes a staged construct comprising (in hydraulic order) a sediment basin, level-lip spreader, grassy filter, wetland, and deep pond. The combination of these elements acts to remove pollutants from nonpoint source runoff. Wetlands are planted with vegetation that encourages growth of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria helpful in removing and detoxifying contaminants. This would appear to be a grand scale approach, and essentially un-scalable.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,651 entitled "Treatment of Contaminated Agricultural Runoff," Canadian inventors Robertson, Blowers and Ptacek present a system of land drains to convey nitrate-polluted run-off water from a field to a reservoir. This reservoir would be large enough to contain excess quantities of stormwater run-off. From the reservoir, the water enters a collection tank containing submerged wood or other organic carbon material. The wood is kept under water, i.e., under anaerobic conditions, whereby nitrates are broken down by biochemical action. Sufficient wood is added and flow rate is adjusted such that the nitrate-polluted water spends many hours in contact with the wood. The objective is to provide a treatment for breaking down the nitrate in water washed off an agricultural field so that run-off water eventually passing away from the field is substantially nitrate-free. The Robertson et al. invention is mainly concerned with treating water that enters drainage ditches, land-drains. This system may or may not sufficiently treat the nitrate-laden water and does little or nothing with respect to accompanying pollutants, all of which then depart for the estuaries and coast.
Published Patent Application 2003/0019150 presents a "Reclamation System for Agricultural Runoff." This patent application filed by St Onge and Smith relates to systems for collecting excess water applied to crops, treating the collected water and reusing the treated water for agricultural purposes, or delivering the treated water to ground water streams. The inventors' objective is to achieve cost savings, healthier plants, and reduce the environmental burden. The disclosed systems are said to significantly reduce costs incurred in providing water, nitrogen fertilizer, herbicides and/or pesticides to crops by capturing as much as possible of the water provided to the planting area which is not taken up by the planted crops, treating that captured water with ozone, and reapplying the ozone treated water to the crops. According to the patent applicants, the quality and quantity of food stuffs produced are increased by the process. This is another scheme for continuously recycling pollutants.
Harrison and Turnbull received U.S. Pat. No. 8,640,387 for a water harvesting system adapted to a sports arena where a playing surface operates as a part of a water catchment arrangement and reservoir beneath the playing surface. Water may be discharged from the reservoir for consumption or other uses. Stadium seating area is impervious so as to direct water toward the playing field for capture thereunder.
Nuzman received U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,831 for his method and apparatus for restoring and/or maintaining an underground aquifer water supply system plagued with decreased water flow attributable to accumulation of undesirable flow impeding agents in the aquifer. He presented a plurality of injection wells drilled in the ground in surrounding relationship to the production well and a part of the water from the discharge thereof is treated with an additive capable of altering the nature of the plugging agents and returned to the aquifer via the satellite injection wells on a continuous basis.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,152,997 was granted to Olson, Johnson and Langford related to stormwater control including conveyance, filtration and discharge systems. The conveyance system includes a set of conduits and connections providing a flow path through a compacted soil embankment from an upper inlet to a lower discharge area of an underlying soil infiltration zone. The control system has configurations for transferring stormwater from pervious and impervious surfaces to the soil infiltration zone. This control system optionally includes a media filter device that may be installed within the conveyance system to intercept sediment and other contaminants prior to discharge within the underlying soil infiltration zone.
In his U.S. Pat. No. 8,877,048, inventor Samuel Owings describes a series of cascading basins excavated along a sloped floodway typically established between adjoining agricultural fields. These basins address problems of stormwater runoff from agricultural lands and certain urban areas where runoff carries sediment, nitrogen, phosphorous and other pollutants into nearby streams, rivers and tidal waters. The cascading basin series begins with basin placement at a higher topographical elevation, then positioning additional basins downwardly along a natural or excavated floodway slope demonstrating a terraced effect. As an upper basin is filled it overflows into a second basin terraced therebelow. Overflow of the second and sequential basins continues down-slope. Thoughtfully configured, angular features of basin exit grade and escape slopes retard egress of stormwater. A lowermost terminal basin selectively includes sand berm, boulders, rip rap (loose stones) and other barriers to retain the polluted runoff. Basins may include vegetation, slag stone layers, and other pollutant treatment elements.
In U.S. Pat. No. 8,333,895, patentee Albers and Amell describe a runoff capturing pond with a tangential entry point and central outlet. The capturing pond initially contains a volume of clarified water. Contaminated runoff is directed through the entry point and proceeds to displace the clarified water in an inward spiral toward the outlet where it is discharged. This results in an increased residence time for the contaminated water to become treated and settled.
Inventors Carter and Wiser received U.S. Pat. No. 3,429,806 depicting a series of recycling stabilization treatment ponds positioned on a downhill slope, ultimately leading to a final aeration pond from which overflow is discharged to a stream.
Published US Patent Application 20130299403 filed by Susannah Drake discloses a system for reducing runoff from an urban area into a body of water. In one embodiment, water flows from a sedimentation basin and into plurality of bio-retention cells, each extended at an angle relative to the sedimentation basin. Overflow water flows from the plurality of bio-retention cells into an elongated filter. In another embodiment, a system for reducing run off from an elevated road is disclosed. The system includes an enclosure with a sedimentation basin and a bio-filtration basin.
In his U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,026 Houston describes a farming method to conserve available rainfall comprising the forming of a plurality of elongated, spaced-apart, open-top slots in the soil surface and the construction of laterally extending, moisture transfer retarding barriers adjacent the slots to force rainfall from the adjacent field area into the slots. The slots are mulched to the top to minimize moisture loss through evaporation. The moisture transfer retarding barriers are formed by working the soil surface to enhance crusting, treating the soil with chemicals which congeal the soil, or by placement of water impervious sheet material.
Madrid received U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,969 for a method of phosphorous reduction in stormwater runoff using iron humate, such as in the form of a filter, a layered filter bed, a stacked wall or a liner. The stormwater (fluid) runoff is sent to a fluid retention area such as a retention pond, wetland reservoir or the like where the runoff is filtered through iron humate. While the runoff is filtered, the iron humate absorbs or chemically retains the phosphorous in the runoff to produce filtered runoff with a reduced level of phosphorous. In an alternate embodiment, the runoff can be pumped from a retention pond into a iron humate filter where the runoff is filtered. In another alternate embodiment, the iron humate filter may be placed in a trench below ground to intercept and filter groundwater flows.
McPhillips filed US Published Patent Application 20050161407 disclosing various compositions, devices and methods for use in a variety of environmental remediation barriers such as fiber rolls, mats, blankets and berms. He proposes applications for use including remediation of runoff water, livestock waste, eutrophication waterways and revetment of banks.
Each of the aforementioned patent grants and published applications is purposed to capture and treat run-off pollutants, and in some instances to recycle run-off water. For the record, each of the above discussed patent documents, in its entirety, is incorporated herein by reference.

Chain filter system of micro wetland cells and method of forming same


A printing system including a plurality of different kinds of printers and a printer selecting device therefore are disclosed. The printer selecting device includes an accepting section for accepting information representative of a desired number of printings input, and selecting means for selecting one of the printers matching with the desired number of printings. Image data to be printed are sent from the printer selecting device to the printer selected. In this configuration, one printer adequate for the desired number of printings, which is an important factor for the selection of a printer, is automatically selected.

The present invention relates to a printing system including a plurality of different kinds of printers connected to each other, and a printer selecting device therefor.
It has been customary to arrange a printer and a scanner or similar image data supply device in a pair. In a digital copier, for example, while a scanner or image data supply device reads a document image, a printer electrophotographically prints out image data representative of the document image and output from the scanner. A facsimile apparatus with a data sending and transmitting capability is constructed in substantially the same manner as the digital copier. Also, a stencil printer is similar to the digital copier except that the printer uses a stencil. A laser printer or similar electrophotographic printer may be connected to a word processor, personal computer or similar image data supply device which outputs image data in the form of an electronic document. An image scanner may be connected to such a printer via, e.g., a personal computer.
There has recently been proposed and put to practical use a printing system including the above image data supply devices and printers distributed on a network, e.g., LAN. This printing system allows the image data supply devices to share the printers and is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 4-153814, 7-214872 and 9-330190. In a specific printing system, a plurality of image data supply devices share a single printer or a plurality of printers of the same kind, e.g., laser printers. In another specific printing system, a plurality of image data supply devices share a plural ity of printers different in kind or performance, e.g., a laser printer, a digital copier, and a stencil printer. The system including different kinds of printers allows the operator to select desired one of the printers and thereby makes the most of the advantage of the individual printer. A laser printer, for example, enhances image quality while a stencil printer reduces the printing cost when a great number of printings are desired.
However, the problem with the conventional printing systems is that although the printers are selectable, it is difficult and troublesome for the operator to determine which printer is adequate at the time of printing. More specifically, although the printers in the network environment are selectable, the reference for selection depends merely on the operator's knowledge and experience. This prevents a person lacking the knowledge of printers from selecting an adequate printer and thereby prevents the advantage of the individual printer from being made most of.
Technologies relating to the present invention are also disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication Nos. 6-274292, 7-261953 and 10-55255.

Printing system including different kinds of printers and a printer selecting device therefor


A unitary, rotational, and collapsible luring dredge capable is rapid and convenient assembly for use and collapse for storage is provided, as are methods and kits for use.

For centuries, fishermen have sought to attract and lure large marine animals to aquatic vessels so that the animals could be more easily caught from the vessel. Carnivorous aquatic animals eat smaller animals, and are therefore attracted to blood or artificial lures simulating live bait. Methods to attract such large fish include large fishing rods attached to lures and bait, and placing "chum", i.e. blood and animal pieces, into the water near the vessel.
Luring dredges are devices with multiple bait or lures that are dragged through the water by the moving vessels, simulating a school of fish, and thereby attracting the larger animals. Presently available luring dredges present a number of difficulties both in storage and in use. Many are difficult to store because they often are necessarily bulky, with thin, metallic arms extending out in many directions from a centralized hub, in order to avoid entanglements among the lures and bait on the arms. A luring dredge designed so that the arms cannot collapse takes up a great deal of space and remains vulnerable to breaking. Alternatively, the arms of some luring dredges collapse by folding together like an umbrella, or the arms are reversibly screwed to the centrally located hub. A drawback of these luring dredges is insufficient strength in the arms, since the arms of one current model are not permanently attached to the hub, and the arms of another current model are collapsible and have reduced strength at the joints.
During use, the arms of a luring dredge are subject to great and often varied forces of the vessel dragging the lure, and the water's natural current. As a result of these forces, the arms of current collapsible luring designs often break free from the hub, or they break internally. Further, as many current luring dredges require assembly from multiple components, use in an open vessel at sea is not convenient, and component parts are easily lost, such as the rivets used for assembly, wasting valuable resources. Assembling the various components of the dredges can take 15 to 20 minutes or more, wasting the time of the commercial or sports personnel.
Improved designs for luring dredges and methods of use are desirable.

Collapsible dredge and methods of use therefor


Method, server, network node and multimedia User Equipment, UE, for controlling communication session establishment (10) in a multimedia over Internet Protocol, IP, based communications network with a plurality of multimedia UEs registered in the communications network with a same subscriber. In a communications handling server of the network, in reply to the receipt (12) of a request (11) for establishing a communication session with at least one UE of the plurality of UEs, an adapted request (13) is provided, based on which provisional response(s) and which final response(s) the UE of the plurality of UEs may provide, in response to the request (11) for establishing the communication session. The adapted request is forwarded (14) in the communications network, and a receiving UE processes the adapted request for establishing or not establishing the communication session (15).

Users may avail themselves of multiple multimedia communication devices to satisfy their communication needs. An incoming call or communication session or other form of communication, that is destined for a user, may be offered to one or more of the communication devices, or generally called User Equipment, UE, available to that user. However, the call or communication session is typically accepted on a single device.
Examples of such multimedia communication devices are a mobile phone or smart phone, a tablet Personal Computer, PC, and a laptop PC or desktop PC. Each such device may be used for communication in the broadest sense of the word, however the manner of communication differs, in practice, per device. A mobile phone is typically used for voice calls, messaging and chat. A laptop PC or desktop PC is typically used for chat and for video calls but less likely for voice calls, especially when the user is not behind his/her desk/table etc. A tablet PC may be used for chat, video calls and voice calls. In practice, however, people may rather prefer to use their mobile phone for voice calls.
A related development is that people may be 'reachable' on a shared device, such as a television, TV, screen. While watching TV, an incoming call may be presented in the corner of the TV screen, for example. The TV screen is in this case a 'shared medium'. Whereas the called person is 'reachable', (s)he may not be able or may not be willing to answer the call on the TV. That is, at least not while other persons are watching the TV too. The call is 'presented' on the TV screen, but the called person will prefer to answer the call on his/her mobile phone, for example.
That is, while a person may be 'reachable' on a plurality of devices, i.e. mobile phone, laptop PC, tablet, TV screen, a glasses type device such as Google Glass™, etc. the person may only answer or take the incoming call or communication session on a single one or a subset of the set of communication devices he has availed him/herself of.
The set of devices on which a person may answer an incoming call or other communication session, may depend on the circumstances during which the call is established. For example, generally, an incoming call may be answered on a PC client or on a mobile phone. However, while in a meeting, a call may be permitted to be answered on the mobile phone only, in that a person temporarily leaves the meeting room. However, the alerting of the call or communication session for a user in the meeting may be both on the user's mobile phone, laptop PC, tablet or a central presentation screen or display in the meeting room, for example.
Thus, scenario's that will apply are that a call may in some circumstances be answered only on a particular communication device, such as a dedicated mobile phone, a headset device or other communication device functionally associated with a particular user or subscriber.
Accordingly, with the aforementioned increase in the number of communication devices a person may actually have or may make use of, the landscape of communication devices available to a user at a certain point in time and/or at a certain location, for example, is becoming increasingly heterogeneous and complex. In addition, these different devices will have distinctively different capability. For example, a soft Session Initiation Protocol, SIP, phone installed on a PC for operation in an Internet Protocol, IP, Multimedia Subsystem, IMS, communications network may have different capability than a mobile phone or smart phone.
Certain communication devices may receive an incoming call and alert the user of the device, but the call can't be answered on that device. An example is the common implementation of 'incoming call notification' on a TV screen.
However, from the above it will be appreciated that certain devices do have the intrinsic capability to answer an incoming call/communication session, but circumstances may prohibit a call/communication session to be answered on such device.
When a call or communication session should not be answered on a particular device that does have the capability to answer the call, provided that all conditions for the device and the user for answering the call are satisfied, then the practical solution is to not offer the call to that device. Not offering the call or communication session may, however, pose a problem to both the calling and called subscriber or user, for example in particular in the case of urgent or otherwise important calls.
Offering a call to a device, besides allowing the receiver of that call to answer the call or communication session, may include alerting or notifying the user that a call is arriving and/or inclusion in a device local log, for example. This 'alerting' or 'notifying' may comprise information such as calling party identification, for example calling party name and/or number, call urgency such as low′, 'Normal', 'Urgent', call information such as a 'subject', for example 'Meeting invitation', 'Business', 'Private', and so on.

Method of and communications handling equipment for controlling communication session establishment in a multimedia communications network


A wire crimping machine automatically adjusts the crimping means to the proper crimp depth for a selected size of wire and the size of the contact to be crimped onto the wire. The size of wire to be crimped is selected by the operator. As a wire is inserted into the machine for crimping, an arrangement of light emitting diodes, photo diodes, and associated circuits determine the wire's size and whether the wire is stripped. The crimping means is allowed to actuate only if the wire is stripped and the wire's size is the same as that selected by the operator.

The present invention relates to machines for crimping electrical contacts onto wires. Crimping machines are commonly used when a large number of contacts and wires must be crimped, for example, when manufacturing an aircraft wiring harness.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a prior art crimping machine 1, the Porta-Tac manufactured by Tri-Star Electronics, Inc., of Venice, Calif. In operation, the crimping machine automatically obtains a contact (not shown) from a magazine 3 and positions the contact adjacent to an opening 5. The magazine 3 contains a number of electrical contacts of a single type and size. The magazine 3 is removable, allowing the size and/or type of contact to be changed by changing the magazine. An operator (not shown) inserts a stripped end 7 of a wire 9 through the opening 5 and into the contact. When the stripped end 7 is properly positioned, the crimping machine 1 automatically crimps the contact onto the stripped end 7.
A contact of a given size may be satisfactorily crimped to a wire which is as much as two sizes smaller than the contact. For example, an 18 gauge contact may be used for an 18, 20, or 22 gauge wire. However, the crimping depth varies for the various combinations of contact and wire sizes. Thus, the machine 1 has an adjustment knob 11 which allows the operator (not shown) to set the appropriate crimping depth. In this particular machine, there are six settings. To minimize changing the magazine 3 and the adjusting knob 11, the operator will generally group the wires to be crimped by size.
Several crimping errors are possible when using the type of prior art machine described. An improper crimping depth setting will result in a defective crimp. If the crimping depth is too great, the contact may be crushed. If the crimping depth is not sufficient, a loose crimp will occur. In addition, it is possible to insert an unstripped wire into a contact. Each of the mentioned defects can be hazardous, expensive to correct, and, if not detected, cause major problems in use.


A receiver apparatus includes a first receiver portion and an acoustic filter network. The first receiver portion has a housing and is configured to convert at least one electrical signal into first sound energy having a first frequency range. The acoustic filter network communicates with the first receiver portion and is configured to receive the first sound energy. The acoustic filter network includes at least one sound channel and at least one chamber that communicates with the at least one sound channel. The least one sound channel includes a main branch and a first side branch and the at least one chamber comprises a first chamber. The first side branch communicates with the main branch and the first chamber, and the main branch is configured to receive the first sound energy.

Various types of microphones and receivers have been used through the years. In these devices, different electrical components are housed together within a housing or assembly. For example, a receiver typically includes a coil, bobbin, stack, among other components and these components are housed within the receiver housing. Other types of acoustic devices may include other types of components. A twin receiver design can be used, one receiver providing for the outputs in the "tweeter" sound range and the other for providing outputs in the "woofer" sound range.
Various two-way receivers are used in earphones and these utilize a single capacitor to shape the high frequency driver (i.e., tweeter) response and no filtering on the low frequency driver (i.e., woofer) response. Sometimes, the natural low-pass shape of the woofer is effective to keep it from overlapping the response of the tweeter receiver. However, this performance limits the cross-over frequency to be a high frequency, which is typically between 2 and 3 kHz. This produces undesirable results in many systems.
Previous attempts at solving this problem have changed the mass and/or stiffness of the motor/diaphragm of the receivers. However, adding mass to the system can have undesirable side effects. For instance, the high mass may cause an uneven acoustic response and make the unit easily damaged when dropped. The uneven response leads to poor sound quality for the listener.
An electric low pass filter can also be added to the system. Inductors can be used to create the low pass filter. However, one problem of this attempted solution is that if inductors are used, they must be large—in some cases larger than the receiver itself. Since the inductors are so large, the resulting device is too large or cumbersome for practical use in many applications. An acoustic low pass filter can be created by adding a long thin tube to the output of the receiver, or by using one or more very small openings in the receiver outlet. Such a filter will reduce the high frequencies, but will still have an undesirable resonance in the 3-5 kHz region. The volume of air trapped between the diaphragm and the receiver outlet forms a compliance, which interacts with the mass of the moving parts in the receiver to form a resonance.
Because of these shortcomings, previous approaches have not adequately addressed the above-mentioned problems and user dissatisfaction with these previous approaches has increased.
Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity. It will be appreciated further that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. It will also be understood that the terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions with respect to their corresponding respective areas of inquiry and study except where specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.


In order to prevent the performance of a motor from deteriorating due to a change in which the rotation rate of its rotor is to be increased suddenly, in a brushless motor in which a drive pulse whose pulse width is modulated in correspondence to a rotation rate setting signal input from the outside is formed and switching control is performed on the current supplied to the exciting coils by using output signals from the Hall elements that detect the position of the rotor and the drive pulse, the pulse width of the drive pulse is changed gradually and greatly until it reaches the pulse width that corresponds to the rotation rate setting signal when the upward change in the rotation rate of the rotor is to be large.

The present invention relates to a drive control apparatus for a brushless motor that performs duty ratio control of the brushless motor by modulating the pulse width of a drive pulse in correspondence to the setting for the rotation rate.
Methods for controlling the speed of a brushless motor include the one disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H 5-34781, which implements speed control by changing the pulse width of a drive pulse supplied to the exciting coils in order to apply a rotating magnetic field to the rotor through pulse-width modulation (PWM), for instance. In this pulse-width modulation, a triangular wave having a specific frequency is compared with a threshold value corresponding to the rotation rate that has been set, and if the rotation rate setting is smaller, the pulse width (duty ratio) of the drive pulse is reduced to lower the rotating speed of the rotor, whereas if the rotation rate setting is larger, the pulse width (duty ratio) of the drive pulse is increased to raise the rotating speed of the rotor.
However, it has been confirmed that a rush current Ia, as indicated with the one-point chain line in FIG. 7(c), is generated at the time of a rise of the source if the source is cut off for a short period of time for any reason in a motor that is rotating. This phenomenon occurs because, when the source is cut off for a short time, the voltage (the voltage at the threshold value and the like) in the signal systems that form the drive pulse does not fall off immediately due to the influence of the capacitative elements in the circuit, and when the source rises again, the motor tries to start rotating abruptly at a duty ratio level as high as that before the cut-off. If the source is cut off for a long time, on the other hand, the individual signal systems enter states similar to their initial states and when the source rises again it will be similar to a regular startup. The generation of such a rush current greatly affects the setting of the maximum rated current for the switching elements (FETs) that switch on / off the power supply to the exciting coils.
In addition, at a startup of the motor, i.e., when the motor that has been in a stopped state is to be started up, if the triangular wave and the threshold value corresponding to the rotation rate setting are simply compared, as in the prior art, to form a drive pulse, the motor will try to start rotating abruptly at a pulse width that corresponds to the rotation rate setting at the time of power up. Consequently, power is supplied to the exciting coils wound around the stator suddenly, which causes immediate repulsion from, and attraction to the permanent magnets of the rotor, to distort various portions of the motor, resulting in magnetic noise being generated.
Furthermore, it has been confirmed that when the value of the setting for the rotation rate is suddenly increased, a strong magnetic field is generated at the exciting coils, resulting in an increase in motor noise.
The common problem in the phenomena described above is that when there is a demand for a sudden upward change in the rotation rate of the rotor, the performance of the motor deteriorates due to the generation of a rush current, with abnormal noise and the like.

Drive control apparatus for brushless motor