A variable delay cell with a self-biasing load suitable for the implementation of a voltage controlled oscillator and other functions. Because the invention employs current steering between symmetric loads and fully differential voltage control, it is very fast relative to conventional methods and has reduced jitter and improved power supply noise rejection. Additionally, since the load is self-biasing, the need to externally generate a bias current for the load is eliminated. This significantly simplifies design. Also as the load readily self biases in response to changes in the bias current of the biasing transistor, desirable functionalities can be achieved merely by appropriately changing the bias current into the biasing transistor. Notably, the slew rate of both the rising and falling edge can be controlled in this way. Because the load provides a fully differential output, noise immunity as well as a 50% duty cycle is readily achieved.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electronic circuit design. More specifically, the invention relates to a variable delay cell with self-biasing load for use in obtaining a differential output signal.
(2) Related Art
For purposes of noise reduction it is often desirable to use differential rather than a single-ended signaling. For a gain device such as an op amp using a differential pair since high gain is desired, a high impedance load is necessary. Additionally, the load must be chosen such that the voltage drop across the load transistors of the differential pair is not so high that the differential pair goes into the triode region of operation. This has typically been accomplished using current sources as the loads on each leg of the differential pair. For example, a transistor with a suitable externally generated bias current applied to its gate so that the transistor remains in saturation acts as an approximately constant current source. Thus, two transistors with their gates appropriately biased, source current and provide a high impedance load. However, the generation of the bias current applied to the gates must be very accurate to keep the load transistors and differential pair transistors in saturation.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art variable delay cell. A differential pair 1 receives a differential input voltage at its gates. A second differential pair 2 receives a differential control signal at its gates. One of the transistors of differential pair 2 has its drain coupled to the sources of the first differential pair. The second transistor of differential pair 2 has its drain coupled to the sources of a pair of cross-coupled transistors which in turn are coupled to the drains of the first differential pair 1. Biasing transistor 4 is driven by an externally supplied NBIAS voltage and controls the amount of current drawn through the second differential pair 2. A second biasing transistor 3 is coupled to the sources of the first differential pair 1 and ensures that the transistors of the first differential pair 1 remain in the saturation region. The first differential pair 1 is loaded by a pair of diode-connected transistors 6 and a variable resistance created by the cross-coupled transistors 5. This embodiment varies the effective resistance seen by the first differential pair 1 through the use of positive feedback. Thus, current is varied between the amplifier and the cross-coupled transistors 5 to maintain a constant output swing. Unfortunately, using this approach, the differential control voltages are not symmetrical. Specifically, an increase in voltage on one control node will not adjust the frequency the same as a decrease in voltage on the other control node. This results in a non-linear gain curve for a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) using these cells. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that linearity of the gain curve is very important in VCOs. Particularly, the linearity of the gain curve is directly related to jitter in the output signal of the VCO.
FIG. 2 is a schematic and block diagram of another prior art delay cell. A voltage to current converter 30 is used to create a control bias current (IBIAS) from an applied control voltage. This bias current is mirrored into the VCO stages through the use of the control voltage CTLBIAS. Voltage to current converter 30 employs a differential pair 31 biased by a biasing transistor 33 with an external NBIAS current applied to its gate. The differential pair 31 has differential control signal applied to its gates. Mirroring transistor 35 mirrors the current drawn through diode connected transistor 37. Transistor 36 is coupled to complete the configuration. This mirrored current IBIAS provides the biasing current for a delay stage 140. Unfortunately, the converter 30 introduces delay into the phase lock loop feedback loop from when the voltage changes to when the frequency changes. This has a negative effect on jitter and decreases the stability of the phase lock loop.
In delay stage 140 a differential pair 12 receives a differential input, IN and INZ. The differential pair 12 is coupled to a biasing transistor 13 which is governed by the bias voltage, CTLBIAS. The biasing transistor 13 acts as a current source pulling a current I through the differential pair to ground. Four transistors form the load 10. One diode connected transistor 21 and one non-diode connected transistor 11 is coupled along each leg of the differential pair 12. The impedance of load 10 dictates the amount of gain present at output nodes 14. The bias voltage LOADBIAS must be provided to the gate of non-diode connected transistors 11 such that transistors 11 remain in saturation at the switching point. The sum of the currents sourced through load 10 must equal I or at least one of the transistors will leave the saturation region. Because CTLBIAS is set so that transistor 13 is in saturation and delivering a current I, the two sides of the load must deliver I/2 at the switching point. If LOADBIAS is not precisely set, the two sides may source too much or too little current. As a result one or more of the transistors of the load or the differential pair will be forced out of saturation.
To ensure that the transistors of the delay stage remain in saturation a special circuit is required to insure that the load is correctly biased. In FIG. 2, to generate LOADBIAS, a bias generating circuit 150 is coupled to the gates of transistors 11 of the load 10. Bias generating circuit 150 is a differential amplifier with all transistors except the current source diode connected. The transistors are selected so that LOADBIAS will maintain the load in saturation for expected values of CTLBIAS. Higher speed signaling in the range of one to two gigahertz coupled with the tight jitter requirements of existing serial protocols makes it extraordinarily difficult to properly control CTLBIAS and LOADBIAS to satisfy these requirements. Specifically, this implementation is slow settling due to the delay in the voltage to current stage 30 and the delay in the biasing stage 150.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to have a variable delay cell with symmetrical control voltage response and good jitter characteristics. It would also be desirable to be able to accomplish this with a highly flexible design that minimizes the delay in the PLL feedback loop by reacting quickly to a change in the control voltage (CTL and CTLZ) and is easily and cost-effectively implemented.

Variable delay cell with a self-biasing load


A memory arrangement includes an interface configured to transmit data in the form of data packets according to a predefined protocol. The memory arrangement includes at least two memory banks. Each memory bank includes at least one memory cell. The memory arrangement includes at least two memory bank access devices configured to facilitate accessing the data of the at least one memory cell of each of the at least two memory banks. The memory arrangement includes at least two data packet processing devices configured to encode and/or decode the data packets. The at least two data packet processing devices are assigned to different memory bank access devices.

In many modern memory arrangements for computer systems and other electronic data processing systems the memory arrangement is not controlled as in typical traditional memory arrangements via parallel application of data, address and control signals, but via data packets which are transmitted at high speed and high frequency according to a predefined protocol between, for instance, a computer system and an interface of the memory arrangement. These data packets can contain write data, read data, addressing data, and command data.
Data packets which are sent, for instance, from a computer system to the memory arrangement can be structured in such a way that a data packet consists of a specified number of bits, which are transmitted via multiple parallel lines. The number of parallel lines can be less than the number of bits of a data packet. This is possible in that multiple successive bit groups are transmitted via parallel lines and then combined into a data packet. Thus, for example, data packets with a length of 54 bits can be transmitted via six lines, in nine successive six-bit groups.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Memory arrangement having efficient arrangement of devices


An engine for harvesting energy stored in water vapor includes a vortex chamber coupled to an extraction unit and also to a vortex induction unit, the vortex induction unit configured to induce a vortex of water vapor in the chamber and the extraction unit configured to harvest energy from the flow of water provided by the chamber. A method of operation is provided. Additionally, and electrical generation system is disclosed.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to harvesting energy using a turbine driven by a renewable energy resource.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
With the continuing growth in demand for energy as well as increases in its cost, there is a constant need for new energy supplies, and in particular for low cost and non-polluting alternatives. Many have recognized the value in harvesting energy from renewable resources. Aside from intrinsic variations, many forms of renewable energy are continually available and abundant. For example, it has long been recognized that solar and wind energy possess considerable energy. A variety of techniques have been developed to take advantage of these resources and they make substantial contributions to energy production today.
A variety of other renewable resources are available. Some of these are yet to be tapped, or the technology remains in its infancy. Consider the harvesting of energy that is stored in water vapor.
Water vapor in the atmosphere is primarily the result of the sun converting water on the surface of the Earth from the liquid phase to the gaseous phase. In this process, solar energy is absorbed by water molecules which are heated to the point of vaporization. Water vapor is also the result of many other sources of heat, both industrial and natural. Whatever the source is, any technique which is able to extract thermal energy transferred to water vapor will benefit from a virtually inexhaustible source of energy. This has not gone unnoticed, and some attempts have been made to provide viable solutions.
One solution for extracting energy stored in water vapor is that of a atmospheric vortex engine. Generally, a conventional atmospheric vortex engine makes use of a tornado-like convective vortex. The convective vortex may be accomplished with a device having a cylindrical wall in which air carrying water vapor is tangentially admitted to the base of the wall. The convective vortex is started by heating the air within the wall with fuel. The convective vortex is sustained using the naturally occurring heat of the ambient air or by a peripheral heat exchanger. Unfortunately, such conventional atmospheric vortex engines, have a cylindrical wall open on the upper end that acts as a chimney. This open end can allow the convective vortex to escape. Furthermore, turbines used in conventional atmospheric vortex engines are typically located at the input and low pressure side of the engine. This does not provide for harvesting energy which may be developed from humid air. Given the requirement to maintain a chimney of substantial height, such devices require substantial space and apparatus and are not easily deployed.
Some other devices that make use of a tornado-like convective vortex admit air to the base of a cylindrical wall via tangential ducts. Despite the atmospheric vortex engine having a cylindrical wall with an opening at the upper end, the heat required to sustain the vortex is provided by, for example, a peripheral heat exchanger.
There is a need for improved techniques to harvest the latent heat of vaporization of the water vapor in addition to, or as an alternative to the Chimney effect. Preferably, the technique should use the vortex to lower the temperature of the water vapor at the center of the vortex to the dew point, so that the water vapor condenses, and so releases it's latent heat of condensation which goes to augment the kinetic energy of the vortex. Once this is achieved, the chimney effect is no longer necessary, allowing the vortex chamber to be oriented horizontally.


A heat exchanger is made of a metal such as aluminum and for use in the air conditioning apparatuses such as the car coolers and the room air conditioners. A coolant inlet pipe (6) has an end which is forced into a pipe insertion bore (10) of a pipe joint (8) for connection to an external piping, with a cylindrical brazing agent piece (15) being interposed between the outer periphery of the inlet pipe end and the inner peripheral wall of the bore, such that the pipe (6) is brazed integral to the joint (8) by means of the cylindrical piece (15). This cylindrical brazing agent piece (15) is composed of a core layer which has an outer and inner surfaces clad with a brazing agent layer. The pipe (6) and the joint (8) can be preassembled without failing to interpose between them the brazing agent piece (15), so that said pipe and said joint can be brazed one to another surely and at a lowered cost.

The heat exchangers for use in the air conditioning system generally comprise coolant pipes which extend from a heat exchanger body, wherein each coolant pipe has at its end a pipe joint to be connected to an external pipings.
Usually, the coolant pipes are seam-welded pipes which are made from an aluminum brazing sheet having its outer surface clad with a brazing agent layer. In such a case, the pipe joint has heretofore been adjoined to the coolant pipe in such a manner that the end thereof is forcibly inserted into a pipe receiving hole of the joint so as to be self-retained therein. In the subsequent brazing process, the brazing agent layer clad on the pipe outer surface is utilized to make the coolant pipe integral with the pipe joint.
It has however been a problem that the coolant pipe adjoined to the pipe joint is expensive if it is a clad pipe such as the seam welded pipe made of the brazing sheet, thus raising the manufacture cost of the heat exchanger. This problem would be serious where the coolant pipe has to be excessively long due to a certain arrangement of the external pipings.
Recently, a bare pipe 51 which is not clad with any brazing agent was therefore proposed for use as the coolant pipe in an improved junction as shown in FIG. 10. The bare pipe is for example an inexpensive extruded aluminum pipe having a beaded portion 52. An end of the pipe 51 is put into a pipe receiving bore 55 formed in a pipe joint 53, with a brazing agent ring 54 being sandwiched between the beaded portion 52 and the joint 53, before brazed one to another in this state.
Since the end of the pipe 51 is tightly forced into the bore 55 of the joint 53, they can stand immovable relative to each other in a temporary assembly even if the brazing agent ring 54 would be missed. Consequently, the temporary assemblies devoid of the brazing agent ring 54 have occasionally been subjected to the brazing process within an oven, causing an incompletely brazed product. In addition, a flux covering the adjoined portion of the product taken out of the oven makes it difficult to judge whether the brazing is complete or not. Further, since the flux per se does behave as a poor agent to braze the adjacent members, there is a possibility that an incompletely brazed product erroneously passes the following leak test.
In view of the problems inherent in the prior art heat exchangers, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat exchanger which comprises a heat exchanger body, connection pipes each extending therefrom for flowing a heat exchanging medium, and a pipe joint attached to at least one of external pipings, wherein the pipe joint is affixed securely and inexpensively to one of the connection pipes.


A vault apparatus for wireless power transfer includes a vault comprising an opening for a wireless power transfer (“WPT”) pad. The opening is located on a top of the vault. The vault apparatus includes a junction box formed into the vault. The junction box includes an opening oriented toward the top of the vault. The vault apparatus includes a sealing ring that maintains a WPT pad fixed in the vault where a portion of the sealing ring covers the junction box.

Fossil fuel vehicles produce pollutants and use natural resources that are typically not renewable. To reduce pollution, electric powered vehicles are becoming increasingly popular. For example, many cities are moving toward electric mass transit vehicles to reduce pollution. Mass transit vehicles powered by overhead power lines have disadvantages, such as high cost and unsightly overhead power lines. Battery powered mass transit vehicles have many advantages. However, most battery powered mass transit vehicles have batteries sized to run for an extended period between charging. A better solution is to incrementally charge mass transit vehicles at various stops along a route. Other types of vehicles may also benefit from road-mounted charging locations.
The charging locations include a wireless power transfer ("WPT") pad that transfers power wirelessly to a secondary pad located on a vehicle. Typically, in some cases the WPT pad is ground mounted and is flush to a roadway. Replacing the WPT pad can be troublesome. In addition, connecting to the WPT can also be troublesome.

Vault for wireless power transfer pad with integrated junction box

Wireless Advanced Vehicle Electrification, Inc.


A motion converting drive mechanism converting a rotary motion into a linear reciprocating motion includes a motor having an output shaft, a housing case to which the output shaft of the motor is fixed, a reduction gear mechanism including a first pinion and a second pinion meshing with the first pinion, and a screw mechanism having an internal threaded portion and an external threaded portion, one of which is integrally and coaxially formed with the second pinion. The first pinion serving as a helical gear wheel having two to four teeth is rotatably supported by the housing case therein. The first pinion has a rotation axis rotatably and coaxially connected to the output shaft of the motor. The second pinion having a rotation axis arranged in parallel and close to the rotation axis of the first pinion is rotatably supported by the housing case therein.

In a conventional seat adjusting unit for a vehicle disclosed in JP6071868B (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1), one end of a drive shaft protruding from one end of a housing is connected to an output shaft of a motor. One end of a hub located at the outer side of the housing is joined to one end face of a spindle nut and the other end of the hub is located within the housing. A threaded spindle is fitted into the spindle nut so as to mesh therewith. The threaded spindle is connected to a seat, thereby being prevented from rotating. A worm wheel is formed at the other end of the hub. The worm wheel meshes with a worm arranged at the other end of the drive shaft. Such drive shaft is arranged so as to intersect with the hub so as to be perpendicular to a longitudinal axial line of the hub. According to the above configuration of the seat adjusting unit, when the motor is driven, the drive shaft and the worm gear integrally rotate with each other, thereby rotating the worm wheel and the spindle nut. Consequently, the threaded spindle axially moves, thereafter moving the seat in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle.
In a front vertical mechanism of a power seat for a vehicle described in JP2005028955A (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 2), an axially unmovable nut member is provided in a gearbox so as to be rotatable therewithin. A worm wheel is formed around an outer circumference of the nut member. A worm provided on an output shaft of a motor meshes with the worm. A threaded bar is screwed with an inner circumferential surface of the nut member. One end of the threaded bar is attached to a link with a pin so as to be rotatable. Such threaded bar is arranged to intersect with the motor so as to be perpendicular thereto. According to the above configuration of the front vertical mechanism, when the motor is driven, the worm rotates, thereby rotating the worm wheel. Accordingly, the nut member rotates along with the rotation of the worm wheel, thereby axially moving the threaded bar. Thus, the link rotates and a front portion of a seat cushion is moved upward and downward while rotating about the pin.
In a seat lifter of a power unit adapted to be mounted on a seat for a vehicle, described in JP6011227Y (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 3), a worm wheel and a first screw wheel are supported within a gearbox so as to rotate concentrically with each other. A second screw wheel is also supported within the gearbox. The second screw wheel is located perpendicular to the first screw wheel so as to mesh therewith. A worm provided on an output shaft of a motor meshes with the worm wheel. A screw shaft is axially attached to the second screw wheel. Nut blocks are screwed with the screw shaft. A lever and a link are connected to each of the nut blocks. Such screw shaft is arranged in parallel to the motor. According to the above configuration of the seat lifter, when the motor is driven, the worm rotates and the worm wheel integrally rotates with the first screw wheel, integrally rotating the second screw wheel with the screw shaft. Accordingly, the nut blocks axially move, thereby rotating the lever and tilting the link. Consequently, the seat lifter is moved upward and downward.
In the mechanism described in Patent Document 1, the motor and the threaded spindle are arranged in an L-shape or a T-shape. When such mechanism is arranged toward the center of a seat back from a lateral side of the seat back, for example, in order to apply the mechanism to an angle adjusting unit used for an upper seat back portion of the seat back, an occupant may contact the mechanism. Accordingly, the mechanism is required to be arranged at the lateral side of the seat back so as to extend along a rearward direction of the seat back in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle in order to prevent the occupant from contacting the mechanism. However, when the mechanism is arranged at the lateral side, the following issues may occur in designing the seat layout. In this case, the thickness of the seat back is increased, thereby resulting in a reduction of an internal space of the vehicle. Furthermore, in the mechanism described in Patent Document 2, the motor and the threaded bar are arranged in an L-shape or a T-shape. Accordingly, when the mechanism is applied to the angle adjusting unit used for the upper seat back portion, the above-mentioned issues may occur in the same way as described in Patent document 1. In the mechanism described in Patent Document 3, although the motor and the screw shaft are arranged in parallel to each other, a projected area of the mechanism seen from the axial direction is large. Accordingly, the above-mentioned issues may occur. In addition, the worm, the worm wheel, and a pair of the first and second screw wheels are required for the mechanism, so that the number of applied components increases, thereby resulting in cost increase.
A need thus exists for a motion converting drive mechanism and a seat apparatus for a vehicle including the motion converting drive mechanism, which are not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.

Motion converting drive mechanism and vehicle seat apparatus including the same


A method of reducing sulfur concentration in fly ash, flue gas desulfurization (FGD) ash, and mixtures thereof by contacting the fly ash, FGD ash, or mixtures thereof with an aqueous acidic solution, for a time, at a temperature, and at a liquid-to-solid ratio wherein the sulfur concentration within the fly ash, FGD ash, or mixture thereof is reduced to no more than 5 wt % SO3 based on the total weight of dry fly ash, FGD ash, or mixture thereof so treated.

The presence of sulfur in fly ash mixed with residues from dry and semi-dry flue gas desulfurization (FGD) units is a significant impediment to using fly ash as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM).
The volume of flue gas desulfurization (FGD) ashes produced by dry and semi-dry scrubbing systems increased substantially in the United States after implementation of the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (40 CFR Part 63) in 2015 (DeVilbiss and Ray, 2017). See FIG. 1. Production year is shown on the X-axis. The left-hand Y-axis records FGD ash product in millions of tonnes (grey field). The right-hand Y-axis records percent utilization of fly ash (solid circles) and FGD ash (open diamonds). Dry and semi-dry scrubbing systems are preferred, especially in retrofitted power plants, owing to their lower installation cost and lower water consumption as compared to wet systems (Carpenter, 2012; Hoff and DeVilbiss, 2016). Production volume of the resulting dry-scrubbed FGD ash currently far exceeds commercial demand. As of early 2020, only about 20 wt % of FGD ash is used in a downstream product. The remaining approximately 80 wt % ends up in ash ponds and landfills. Again, see FIG. 1. Contamination of surface waters due to leaking ash ponds is a major concern (Harkness et al., 2016), along with the sheer cost of landfilling the FGD ash. Catastrophic failures of older coal ash impoundments, such as what happened in late 2008 at the Kingston Fossil Plant, also remain a concern. (On Monday Dec. 22, 2008, a dike ruptured at a coal ash pond at the Tennessee Valley Authority's Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, Tennessee, releasing 4.2 million cubic meters (1.1 billion U.S. gallons) of coal fly ash slurry. While no lives were immediately lost, the clean up effort took seven years and cost well in excess of $1 billion.)
Among dry and semi-dry FGD units in the United States, the most common ones are based on spray dryer absorber (SDA) technology. The spray-drying units are deployed upstream from particulate matter collection filters. As such, these power plants produce a mixed residue of FGD products and conventional fly ash (Carpenter, 2012; Sharifi et al., 2019). The high sulfur content in these residues is the primary reason for their poor utilization as compared to fly ash collected upstream to (i.e., prior to) FGD. Conventional coal fly ash is widely used as supplementary cementitious material (SCM) in the manufacture of concrete.
The primary sulfur-rich phase in the SDA/FGD ash is calcium sulfite hemihydrate (CaSO3.0.5 H2O). A small percentage of this sulfite-rich ash is currently used in mine reclamation and in soil conditioning. See Butalia et al., 2017. To decrease the amount of FGD ash going into landfills, there remains a long-felt and unmet need to render this high-sulfur content ash suitable for additional commercial uses. There remains an acute and unmet need to valorize FGD ash.
There are recent reports of using calcium sulfite hemihydrate-containing ashes as a replacement for Portland cement in concrete (Atadero et al., 2011; Sharifi et al., 2019). The results, though, are not encouraging: concrete made with high-sulfite fly ash has poor durability as compared to concrete made with Portland cement (Rios et al., 2020). In oxygenated aqueous environment sulfite ions gradually oxidize to sulfate (Fuller and Crist, 1941), which can react with calcium aluminates to form expansive sulfoaluminate. When used in concrete, these reactions are expected to occur over time, and long-term durability issues due to the slow-releasing sulfate remain a strong concern. In short, to date there has been little or no success in replacing Portland cement (in part or in full) with cements formulated using high-sulfur ashes.
There remains, however, a need to produce low-sulfur ash that complies with the ASTM C618 SCM standard (ASTM, 2010) at a cost that is not economically prohibitive.

Method for sulfur removal from coal fly ash


A novel gasket is provided for filling the space between two mating surfaces on components in an automotive transmission. The gasket includes one or more patches of silicone integrated into a portion of the gasket for providing one or more channels through the gasket, having leak proof seals at the ends of the channel. Bolt passage holes are spaced in the gasket to register with corresponding bolt holes in the mating surfaces. A channel aperture passes through the portion of the gasket augmented with the silicone patch, providing a channel between the mating surfaces. The ends of the channel define leak proof seals between the gasket and the mating surfaces for providing a leak proof fluid flow channel between the mating surfaces.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gaskets for inserting between two mating surfaces for padding and/or filling spaces such as manufacturing tolerances in the surfaces and/or preventing intimate contact between the two mating surfaces. The present invention more particularly relates to gaskets for inserting between two mating surfaces wherein the gasket has integrated therein a channel which permits communication between the two mating surfaces.
2. Prior Art
Gaskets are often used for filling in space and/or for padding between two mating surfaces. It is normal that the spaces between two mating surfaces are products of manufacturing tolerances and/or acceptable defects in the mating surfaces of the components fitted together and/or the potential space between the two mating surfaces where there is a different coefficient of thermal expansion between the materials fabricating the surfaces on the two components that are mated. In addition, some gaskets are used to form seals between two mating surfaces for preventing leakage between the mating surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,733 to Hartz, issued in April 1984, teaches a spacer which forms a gasket between two surfaces where the spacer is fabricated from a special, elastomeric material, having a coefficient of thermal expansion exceeding the coefficient of thermal expansion of the material forming the components separated by the spacer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,794 to Gibbons, issued in April 1986 teaches a joining and sealing gasket fabricated from special, heat cured silicone rubber with specific rubber composition, for filling a space between two surfaces. U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,539 to Anderson et al, issued in October 1992 teaches a gasket defined as a floating seal specifically for a scroll machine, for hermetically sealing the exterior shell of the scroll machine to prevent leakage of fluid under pressure. The Hartz '733 patent and the Gibbons '794 patent each teach a spacer that provides a full seal between two mating surfaces. The spacer taught in both of these patents are fabricated, from specific, expensive materials and are expensive to manufacture. The Anderson et al teaching in the '539 patent provides a complex, speciality floating seal, designed specifically for use in a particular machine, a scroll machine.

Gasket with integral channel and port seal


An apparatus, comprising a housing; a first connector coupled to the housing and having a first plurality of contacts; a second connector coupled to the housing and having a second plurality of contacts; and a circuit electrically connected to at least one of the first contacts and at least one of the second contacts. The circuit is encapsulated within the housing. The circuit is configured to generate an output signal in response to a resistance sensed at the at least one of the first contacts.

Embodiments relate to sensor systems and, in particular, interfaces for sensor systems.
Some sensors can use resistivity to indicate sensed information. For example, a thermistor can indicate a sensed temperature through its resistance. A circuit can be used to measure the resistance. A vehicle can include multiple such sensors, such as temperature sensors for intake air, exhaust, coolant, or the like.


A character pattern forming apparatus has a ROM, a RAM, and a CPU. The ROM includes a first memory area for storing a plurality of segment data respectively designating different segments of a character each segment having one or more dots arranged in a row and column of a pattern. The first memory also stores predetermined arrangement forms for forming line patterns. A second memory area of the ROM stores a plurality of character fonts each having a plurality of line pattern data which respectively specify a type segment forming a basis for each line pattern, and a dimension and an arrangement of said line patterns. The RAM includes a third memory area in which line patterns for at least one character are stored. The CPU reads from the second memory area a character font of a character to be formed, reads from the first memory area segment data specified by each of the line pattern data for the character font. The CPU determines the number of segments of said segment data needed for determining a size of the specified line patterns. The CPU forms the specified line patterns by arranging a needed number of the segments in said third memory area that correspond to the specified pattern arrangement, thereby forming a character pattern in combination with the line patterns arranged in the third memory area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a character pattern forming apparatus which forms large character patterns for printing or display.
2. Description of the Related Art
A general label printer incorporates a font memory for storing a plurality of character fonts, a processor which reads character fonts from the font memory in correspondence with characters to be printed converts them into character patterns of a desired format, a buffer memory which stores the character patterns generated by this conversion, and a printing unit which is driven in accordance with the character patterns stored in the buffer memory. Normally, the character font is classified into the dot-matrix form and the outline form.
The dot-matrix form character font is represented by dots composing a character, whose distribution is in arrays of "1" or "0" in the matrix as shown in FIG. 1. On the other hand, the outline-form character font is represented by points which are sequentially connected to each other by straight lines in a frame as shown in FIG. 2 for making up outlines of a character, and a point which is located within the inner region of the outlines and given for coating the inner region. Each point is designated by a set of a point number, X-coordinate, Y-coordinate, and attribute which are expressed in numerical values. Table 1 shows an example of such an outline-form character font.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ Point No. X-coordinate Y-coordinate Attribute ______________________________________ P1 25 20 1 P2 25 110 2 P3 50 110 2 P4 50 80 2 P5 65 70 2 P6 80 110 2 P7 100 110 2 P8 70 55 2 P9 105 20 2 P10 75 20 2 P11 50 50 2 P12 50 20 2 P13 25 20 3 P14 30 60 0 ______________________________________
In the attribute column in Table 1, "1" designates an original point, "2" an intermediate point, "3" a terminal point, of the outline, and "0" designates a point in the inner region of the outline, respectively.
For example, when issuing a cargo label for executing a door-to-door cargo delivery service, it is required that the destination or addressee be printed on the label in very large characters for quick visual identification. This demand can be materialized by setting a desired magnification rate on the printing format and magnifying character fonts read from the font memory according to the magnification rate. Nevertheless, when the available character fonts are in the dot-matrix form, the magnification brings about emphasizes on the steps formed in stairway oblique portions of the outline as shown in FIG. 1, thus visually degrading character quality. Although the outline-form character font is free from degradation of character quality, compared to the dot-matrix form, the outline-form character font requires much time for preparing the printing operation.
When establishing a condition in which extremely large characters must be printed out in a very short preparatory period without causing the character quality to be degraded, there is an idea to satisfy this condition by newly providing dot-matrix form character fonts solely for printing large characters in order that the new character fonts can be stored in a font memory together with ordinary character fonts prepared for printing normal characters. However, storage of large character fonts by itself requires a large memory. Furthermore, if these large character fonts are to be prepared for a variety of characters such as alphabet letters and numerals, the font memory needs to significantly expand storage capacity.

Apparatus for forming character patterns with line segments


An integrated balun includes a low pass filter and a high pass filter that are formed on a semiconductor chip using tunable reactive elements. The outputs of the low pass filter and the high pass filter are tied together to form the single ended output of the balun. The inputs of the low pass filter and the high pass filter form the differential inputs of the balun. The low pass filter and the high pass filter each include a number of tunable networks for achieving the tunable reactive elements. Each tunable network includes at least one switching transistor and at least one fixed value reactive elements. In at least one embodiment, dynamic biasing circuitry may be provided to improve the linearity and reduce the insertion loss of the balun.

A balun is a transformer for transitioning between a balanced transmission line and an unbalanced (single ended) transmission line. Baluns are typically narrow band devices. For this reason, in multi-band radio applications, a separate balun is usually provided for each different band that is supported. Baluns are also commonly implemented "off chip" as large passive components. For these reasons, baluns will usually increase the size and cost of multi-band radio implementations. Techniques are required for reducing the size and cost of baluns within multi-band radio applications.

Digitally tuned, integrated baluns with enhanced linearity for multi-band radio applications


A carpet removal tool (10) comprising a base skid (12) to sit upon a carpet (14) glued upon a substrate (16). An elongate handle (18) has a handgrip (20) on a top end. A facility (22) is for pivoting a bottom end of the elongate handle (18) in the base skid (12). A mechanism (24) is for gripping an edge of the carpet (14). A structure (26) is for attaching the gripping mechanism (24) in a height adjustable manner to the elongate handle (18). A person (28) can stand with one foot (30) upon the base skid (12), grasp the handgrip (20) with both hands (32) to pivot the elongate handle (18) on the base skid (12) and pull the carpet (14) with the gripping mechanism (24) away from the substrate (16).

1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates generally to carpet implements and more specifically it relates to a carpet removal tool. The carpet removal tool is used for the purpose of ripping up carpeting which has been glued to a substrate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous carpet implements have been provided in prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 177,977 to Young; 329,136 to Camp; 644,323 to Greenawalt and 3,790,976 to Stencil all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.


An emulsified cosmetic offering superior sensation of use and r stability comprises 0.1 to 25 wt % of aqueous moisturizing components, 2 to 80 wt % of oil solution components, and 0.1 to 30 wt % of spherical resin particles having hydrophilic groups on their surfaces and an average volume particle size of 2.0 μm to 20.0 μm. The spherical resin particles are made by applying alkali cleaning or acid cleaning to aggregation particles after resin polymerization, and the volume particle size distribution GSDv of the spherical resin particles is 1.3 or less, and the shape factor SF1 thereof is 100 to 140.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to emulsified cosmetics comprising blended therein resin particles which have a spherical, flat, and smooth surface and a uniform particle size, and which create a smooth and uniform spread and an "unsticky" feeling.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a cosmetic in which oil phase components such as oils or waxes are emulsified with aqueous phase components using an surfactant (emulsifier) is referred to as an emulsified cosmetic. An emulsified cosmetic has higher durability on a skin surface than does a fine particle cosmetics, provides a moist feel, and has superior dispersibility of fine particles, thus enabling wide-ranged applications including, for example, creams or foundations.
Because a typical emulsified cosmetic is constituted by emulsifying the aqueous phase components with the oil phase components as described above, it is necessary that these components retain a stable emulsification state. Recently, it has become common for spherical resin particles to blended in to improve the tactile feel of the cosmetic. Many of these spherical resin particles are easily uniformly dispersed into the oil phase, but lack an affinity for the aqueous phase, therefore, it is essential to prevent detachment, aggregation, alteration, and the like from occurring. For this problem, it is common to apply methods of blending an emulsion stabilizer, the surfactant, and the like.
A disadvantage of such emulsified cosmetics is their sticky sensation, giving a feeling of thick spread because of poor spreadability during application. Especially when the spreadability during application is poor, an applied cosmetic layer becomes thick or uneven, which is likely to create an unnatural impression. Further, in a recent trend, there has been an increasing desire for cosmetics that provide a natural finish. A natural finish is commonly accomplished by forming a thin and uniform cosmetic-applied layer on the skin. Lately, methods of blending talc powder or spherical polyalkylene resins (Japanese Patent Publication Laid-open No. 11-130617) into the cosmetics are adopted to remove stickiness and improve smooth spread during application.
The spherical resin is typically subjected to surface treatment such as oil solution treatment, silicone compound treatment, fluorine compound treatment, metallic soap treatment, surfactant treatment, amino acid compound treatment or water-soluble polymer treatment, generally in order to add functional characteristics such as water repellency or oil repellency. However, these treatments effect the sensation after application, and not to improving dispersibility. Recent studies have resulted in particles having a strong affinity for the oil phase and aqueous phase because of presence of an organic group bonded directly to part of silicon in silica fine particles and through having a hydroxyl group in part of silicon (Japanese Patent Publication Laid-open No. 2001-151640). However, further improvement in tactile feelings such as an adhesive feeling and smoothness during application, and in reducing the high manufacturing costs of seed polymerization, remain an unfulfilled desire.
According to available studies, the spreadability of cosmetics depends upon physico-chemical properties such as particle shape, particle size distribution, surface conditions, and hardness of these blended spherical particles, and the characteristics of the cosmetics are greatly dependent upon physico-chemical properties such as a glass transition point and average molecular weight, and upon monomers constituting the resin and a weight ratio. Further, cosmetic durability required in the cosmetics is greatly affected by a resin acid value, percentage of moisture content of compounds, water resistance based on the content of impurities and oil resistance.
The conventional spherical particles blended into the emulsified cosmetics were most commonly spherical resin particles prepared by an emulsification polymerization method, a general purpose suspension polymerization method or a precipitation polymerization method, or talc powder. However, because the particle size distribution of the spherical particles prepared using these methods is wide and the surface conditions of the particles are not controlled, there has been a desire for development of cosmetics superior in spreadability of cosmetics when applied and in forming a uniform cosmetic layer.
There has been an especially strong desire for development of emulsified cosmetics in which the spherical resin particles have an affinity not only for the oil phase but also for the aqueous phase, and which demonstrate superior stability.


An optical spread spectrum communication system includes a tunable laser which sequentially outputs optical signals having different wavelengths. The laser produces a frequency spectrum having a plurality of closely spaced modes relative to optical frequencies. The system further includes an optical modulator and a frequency synthesizer. The frequency synthesizer controls the optical modulator to allow specific modes from the frequency spectrum to pass through. Additionally, the system includes a tunable filter and a phase locked loop (PLL) control circuit. The PLL control circuit controls the filter to select specific channels. The selection of the specific modes by the modulator and the selection of channels by the tunable filter are performed independent of each other and are based on randomly assigned codes generated in accordance with one or more algorithms.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to optical spread spectrum communication systems using frequency hopping techniques.
2. Background Information
In modern fiber optic communication systems, available bandwidth is not a pressing issue because thousands of GHz of spectrum are potentially exploitable in the optical domain. However, utilizing this vast spectrum in an optimal manner that provides both maximum capacity and maximum economic benefit is difficult to achieve. Furthermore, it is particularly expensive to transform an existing network infrastructure so that it can easily accommodate any anticipated future increases in data flow over the vast spectrum.
Wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) has emerged as the primary method by which to exploit the vast optical spectrum available in a fiber optic network. WDM is a classical method for providing multiple access by dividing the optical spectrum into fixed standardized channels centered on specific wavelengths. As additional network capacity is required, more channels must be added which increases the number and complexity of the components in the network.
To further enhance the capacity of the WDM channels, a time-division multiple access (TDMA) scheme has been employed. TDMA allows multiple users to share the same channel by assigning users with a time slot within a larger time frame. When all of the time slots for a particular channel are assigned, the absolute maximum capacity has been reached and there is no means to support additional users on that channel.
Thus, WDM and WDM/TDMA hybrid systems have a hard limit on data handling capacity which, when exceeded, corrupts the systems and disrupts the communications of all users on an overloaded channel.
In this application, an erbium doped fiber ring laser (EDFRL) is a multimode optical source used as a specific illustrative example of a tunable laser that is modified in accordance with the present invention. Alternatively, a tunable laser such as a semiconductor optical amplifier ring laser (SOARL), an external fiber cavity semiconductor laser (EFCSL) or the like may be used.
In the ring configuration of a conventional EDFRL, the allowed longitudinal modes of the laser satisfy the boundary condition:
                              cos                                (                                                            2                  ·                  π                  ·                  f                  ·                  n                                c                            ·              x                        )                          =                  cos                                (                                                            2                  ·                  π                  ·                  f                  ·                  n                                c                            ·                              (                                  x                  +                                      N                    ·                    L                                                  )                                      )                                              (        1        )
where f is the optical frequency, n is the index of refraction in the fiber, c is the speed of light in vacuum, x is the positional coordinate along the circumference of the ring relative to a coordinate system, L is the effective circumference of the ring which includes the actual physical length of the fiber ring plus any additional effective lengths due to the various components inserted into the ring which cause additional delays, and N is an integer (N=0, 1, 2, 3 . . . ). Equation (1) is equivalent to writing:
                                          (                                          2                ·                π                ·                f                ·                n                            c                        )                    ·                      (                          N              ·              L                        )                          =                  2          ·          M          ·          π                                    (        2        )            where M is also an integer (M=0, 1, 2, 3 . . . ).
Letting f·N=fm where fm are the mode frequencies, then Equation (2) immediately reveals the allowed mode frequencies of the fiber laser based solely upon its physical layout:
                              f          m                =                  M          ·                      c            n                    ·                      1            L                                              (        3        )
and the mode spacing is therefore given by:
                                          ∂                          f              m                                            ∂            M                          =                                            c              n                        ·                          1              L                                =                      f            1                                              (        4        )            The modes are equally spaced and are all harmonics of the fundamental frequency f1.
A solution based solely upon geometrical considerations allows an infinite number of longitudinal modes. The gain spectrum of the erbium fiber places finite limits on the lower and upper frequencies that can exist in the ring laser. Erbium fiber (amplifiers) can typically supply enough gain to overcome the losses in the ring within a band of wavelengths ranging from about 1520 nm through 1580 nm with the optimal band being between 1530 nm through 1560 nm. The wavelength band from 1520 nm to 1580 nm corresponds to a frequency band of 7.495 THz while the reduced band from 1530 nm through 1560 nm corresponds to a frequency range of 3.771 THz. The total number of modes that exist is given by the ratio of the amplifier bandwidth divided by f1, or more generally:
                              M          max                =                                            (                                                c                                      λ                    MIN                                                  -                                  c                                      λ                    MAX                                                              )                        ·                                          n                ·                L                            c                                =                                    (                                                1                                      λ                    MIN                                                  -                                  1                                      λ                    MAX                                                              )                        ·            L            ·                          n              .                                                          (        5        )            Accounting for the M=0 term, the total number of modes which can exist is 1+Mmax.
For a typical EDFRL with an effective circumference L of about 25 meters, the total number of modes is quite large as the mode spacing is only about 8.17 MHz (n=1.47 in fiber). Mmax=918,000 for the full erbium band and 462,000 for the reduced more optimal band. If a band restricting optical filter is inserted into the EDFRL, then the number of allowed modes is given by the reduced EDFRL bandwidth divided by f1. For a 3 GHz band pass filter in an EDFRL with an effective circumference L of about 25 meters, the number of allowed modes which can exist is thus reduced to no more than 367 with the actual number being much smaller due to the roll-off characteristics of the filter attenuating the modes that are found closest to its skirts.
When a multimode optical signal is detected by a photoreceiver with an appropriate bandwidth, the optical modes "beat" with one another producing a radio frequency (RF) comb spectrum with lines spaced f1 apart from one another starting at zero frequency and moving up in steps of f1. Either the bandwidth of the EDFRL or the photoreceiver determines the maximum observable (usable) beat frequency.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional unfiltered EDFRL configuration 100 including an erbium doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) 105, an optical isolator 110 and an optical directional coupler 115A (e.g., a fusion spliced fiber tap coupler). An optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) 120 is in communication with the coupled port of the optical directional coupler 115A via the direct port of a second optical directional coupler 115B. The OSA 120 is used to view the multimode amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) spectrum generated by the EDFRL configuration 100. A radio frequency spectrum analyzer (RF-SA) 125 is in communication with the coupled port of second optical directional coupler 115B via a photoreceiver 130. The RF-SA 125 is used to view the resulting RF comb spectrum, due to the modes beating in the photoreceiver 130.
FIG. 2 shows a conventional filtered EDFRL configuration similar to FIG. 1 with the addition of a tunable filter 205. The OSA 120 is used to view the multimode ASE spectrum and a laser line at the passband wavelength of tunable filter 205. The RF-SA 125 is used to view the resulting band limited RF comb spectrum, due to the modes beating in the photoreceiver 130.

Method and apparatus for controlling a frequency hopping laser


A photoconductive element comprising: an electrically conductive base; at least one active layer comprising an organic material, said at least one active layer being capable of charge generation and charge transport; and an outermost multilayer protective overcoat comprising at least one sol-gel layer and at least one outermost diamond-like carbon layer comprising fluorine.

Electrophotographic imaging processes and techniques have been extensively described in patents and other literature. The initial image forming step in the electrophotographic process cycle is the creation of an electrostatic latent image on the surface of a photoconductive element. This can be accomplished by charging the photoconductive element in the dark, such as through use of a corona or biased roller charging element. An electrostatic latent image is then formed by image-wise exposing the photoconductive element either optically or by electronic means, such as a laser or an array of light-emitting diodes. The image exposure creates free electron-hole pairs which migrate through the photoconductive element under the influence of the electric field. In such a manner, the surface charge is dissipated in the exposed regions, thus creating an electrostatic charge pattern. A visible image is then formed by depositing electrophotographic toner, comprised of electrically charged marking particles, onto the electrostatic latent image during a development step.
Two methods of development are used in electrophotography: discharged area development (DAD) and charged area development (CAD). The former uses toner of the same polarity as the surface charge on the photoconductive element. The latter utilizes toner of polarity opposite to the polarity of the charge on the element. CAD is widely used in optical copiers, while DAD is more desirable for digital applications.
The image formed in the development step is transferred to a suitable receiver, such as transparency stock or paper. It can be transferred to a receiver directly, with the assistance of, for example, an electric field or through the application of heat, pressure, or heat and pressure. Alternatively, the image can be first transferred to an intermediate member and, subsequently, transferred to the receiver. Color images can be made by transferring images comprised of the primary colors, (e.g. cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) in register, to either the receiver or the intermediate member.
After transfer, the image is permanently fused to the receiver via a suitable fusing process. In preparation for the next electrophotographic cycle, the photoconductive element is typically cleaned of residual toner because the transfer step is not 100% efficient. Cleaning efficiency is increased by electrostatically conditioning the photoconductive element and residual toner with a charging element known as a pre-clean charger. Cleaning by any of a number of methods known to one skilled in the art is then performed.
Photoconductive elements, also called photoreceptors, are composed of an electrically conductive base and at least one active layer which is insulating in the dark but which becomes conductive upon exposure to light. The base may be in one of many forms, for example, a drum, a web or belt, or a plate. The photoreceptor can comprise one or multiple active layers. The active layer(s) typically contains one or more materials capable of the photogeneration of charge carriers (electrons or holes) and one or more materials capable of transport of the generated charge carriers.
Numerous materials have been described as being useful components of the photoconductive element. These include inorganic substances, such as selenium and zinc oxide, and organic compounds, both monomeric and polymeric, such as arylamines, arylmethanes, carbazoles, pyrroles, phthalocyanines, dye-polymer aggregates, and the like. Organic compounds are particularly useful for several reasons. They can be prepared as flexible layers; as such, the copier or printer architecture is not limited to a particular configuration. Organic compounds have spectral sensitivities that can extend throughout the visible and into the near infrared regions of the spectrum. Organic compounds are amenable to low cost large area manufacturing processes. Elements prepared from organic materials are known as organic photoconductors (OPCs).
OPCs can be prepared with single or multiple active layers. In most OPCs, charge transport occurs through movement of a single type of charge carrier, electrons or holes, but not both. When only one carrier is mobile, trapped carriers of opposite sign can be created, resulting in a change in sensitometry of the active layer and in a phenomenon known as latent image hysteresis. One solution to the problem of latent image hysteresis is to separate the charge generation and transport functions into separate layers, referred to as the charge generation (CGL) and charge transport (CTL) layers, to form a dual or multi-layer photoconductive element.
A problem associated with OPCs is that the lifetime of these elements is less than desired. Physical damage to the photoconductive element incurred during the electrophotographic process, from installation or other service procedures, or from foreign objects falling into the electrophotographic engine during normal use, can significantly reduce the lifetime of the element and will impart defects in the images produced. Such defects occur at random time intervals and cannot be treated at normal service intervals.
In order to address the issue of damage to the photoconductive element, protective layers such as sol-gel overcoats are often coated onto the photoconductive element. However, in order to be effective, the charge transport properties of such overcoats must be strictly controlled. If the material is too electrically insulating, it will not permit the photoconductive element to photodischarge. This will result in poor electrostatic latent image formation. Alternatively, if the layer is too conducting, the electrical charges forming the electrostatic latent image will spread prior to development. This effect, referred to as latent image spread (LIS), will result in a loss of resolution and blurring of the image. It is particularly problematic with high quality electrophotographic engines producing latent images requiring a resolution of 600 dpi or greater. For commonly used materials such as sol-gels, the electrical conductivity is generally controlled by the addition of ionic charge conducting agents to the sol-gel formulation. However, the resistivity of such materials is highly sensitive to the humidity and can be too resistive under some conditions and too conductive under others.
A further challenge in the design of protective layers is to maintain their flexibility when used on flexible substrates, such as photoconductor elements in a belt configuration. Belts are frequently used in high speed electrophotographic processes. The belts must frequently be bent around rollers or other elements that have a small radius. Thus, the photoconductive element must be able to withstand bending repeatedly over a small bending radius. A thick protective layer will crack or peel away from the photoconductive layers under these circumstances.
Further, sol-gel overcoats are limited in the amount of protection from physical damage that they can impart to a photoconductive element. The use of sol-gel layers on flexible substrates, such as photoconductive elements in a belt configuration, puts a particular limitation on the amount of abrasion resistance that a sol-gel coating can impart. The belts must frequently be bent around rollers or other elements that have a small radius. Thus, the photoconductive element must be able to withstand bending repeatedly over a small bending radius. A thick protective layer will crack or peel away from the photoconductive layers under these circumstances so that increasing the thickness of the sol-gel to increase its protective abilities is not a solution. Increasing the hardness of the sol-gel might improve abrasion resistance, but then the coating would not be flexible and would be subject to cracking and flaking from the layers it is designed to protect. Thus, it is not clear how the abrasion resistance of these materials could be improved or how the LIS problem could be eliminated.
Another type of protective overcoat used with OPCs is diamond-like carbon (DLC). Hotomi et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,156, discloses the use of two protective layers on an organic photoconductive element. The first layer is an amorphous carbon layer which includes more than 5 atomic percent fluorine. The second, outermost layer is a similar material except that the fluorine content must be lower than 5 atomic percent. Layer thicknesses disclosed are 0.01 to 4.0 .mu.m for the first layer and 10 to about 400 angstroms (0.001 to about 0.04 .mu.m) for the second layer. Hotomi et al. teach that if the fluorine content is above 5 atomic percent in the outermost layer, it causes image fogging. Fogging can be detected by measurements of latent image spread.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,525,447 to Ikuno et al. discloses an electrophotographic photoconductor with a surface protective layer formed on the photoconductive layer. The surface protective layer is a multi-layer or graduated layer structure having at least one additive element selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, fluorine, boron, phosphorous, chlorine, bromine, and iodine. The additive element is at a higher concentration near the surface of the protective layer than at the interface between the protective layer and the photoconductive layer. When the additive element is fluorine, the fluorine to carbon atomic ratio (F/C) of 0.001 or less in the vicinity of the photoconductive layer adjacent to the protective layer and of 0.005 or more in the vicinity of the top surface of the protective layer. The layer structure is used to improve adhesion of the protective layer to the photoconductive layer. It is disclosed that adhesion is poor if the multilayer or graduated layer structure is not used. Only single layer and dual layer photoconductive elements are disclosed. Thicknesses of the protective layers in the range of 0.5 to 5 .mu.m are disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,882,256 to Osawa et al. discloses the use of a hydrogen-containing amorphous carbon overcoat layer containing one or more atoms selected from the group consisting of halogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. Oxygen concentrations in the overcoat layer of 0.1-3% are disclosed. Fluorine concentrations in the overcoat layer of 0.1-23% are disclosed. Single and dual layer photoconductive elements are disclosed.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/639,374 to Visser et al. discloses the use of fluorinated diamond-like carbon outermost layers on organic photoconductive elements comprising charge transport layers containing arylamine. Fluorine concentrations of 25-65 atomic percent are claimed. Outermost layers of 0.05 to 0.5 .mu.m thickness are claimed.
Each of the inventions discussed above has a limitation in the amount of protection that it can impart to an OPC. Thicker DLC layers cannot be used because the thicker coatings tend to flake off from the active layer of the OPC. Harder DLC layers cannot be used because the method by which increased hardness is achieved also results in increased stress in the layers; the increased stress results in flaking of the DLC layer from the active layer. Further, as taught by Hotomi et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,156, there are limitations in the type of DLC layers that may be used with OPCs to avoid getting LIS. Thus, it is not clear how to increase the protective ability of DLC layers. For long process lifetimes that are becoming a necessity for photoconductive elements in modern electrophotographic processes, however, increasing the level of protection for the active layers of an OPC is crucial.
Thus, there is a need to provide a protective overcoat which has improved protective properties and which reduces the amount of LIS seen with other protective coatings, such as sol-gels.

Photoconductive elements having multilayer protective overcoats


A size-adjustable in-line skate having a base carrying a plurality of wheels thereon. An upper is secured to a top surface of the base and defines a heel portion, a toe portion, and diametrically opposed side wall portions. The upper is supported by a support structure that includes a heel cup and a toe cup. The toe cup is secured to the toe portion of the upper and slideably coupled to the base so that the toe cup can slide longitudinally with respect to the base. An actuator is coupled to the toe cup and travels therewith. When the actuator is translated, engagement members on the actuator disengage with detents on the base to allow the toe cup to freely slide between longitudinal positions to adjust the shoe size of the skate.

In recent years, the sport of roller skating, and in particular in-line roller skating, has enjoyed a tremendous growth in popularity. Generally described, conventional in-line roller skates include an upper boot secured to or integrally formed with a rigid or semi rigid base. The base, in turn, is secured along its length, including at heel and toe ends, to a rigid frame. A plurality of wheels are journaled transversely along a longitudinal axis between the side walls of the frame.
One segment of the population that has enjoyed the sport of roller skating is children. The costs associated with the sport can be limiting for parents. With the new developments in features and the advancements in materials, high quality in-line skates can be expensive. This expense is compounded when buying in-line skates for children because as a child grows, their foot size expands necessitating frequent replacement of the in-line skates.
To address this problem, several skates have been proposed that are size adjustable to accommodate the feet of growing users. One such skate is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,526. The in-line skate includes a skate boot secured to a frame and contains a liner. The frame carries a plurality of wheels. The skate boot includes a heel portion, a cuff, a tongue, and a toe portion. The toe portion is selectively connected to the frame via a bolt, which is received by a nut. The bottom wall of the toe portion includes an elongate slot extending in the longitudinal dimension of the skate through which the bolt passes. When assembled with the heel portion, the toe portion may move along a line of travel which is generally parallel to the longitudinal dimension of the skate by loosening the nut. This configuration requires a tool, inserted upwardly between the wheels, to adjust the size of the skate, which is inconvenient. Repeated adjustment may lead to stripping of the nut, thus limiting the skate's ability to adjust. During adjustment, the bolt and/or nut may be lost.


Embodiments of the present application provide a video recording method and device. The method includes: receiving, by an application of a mobile terminal, a video recording instruction of a user; generating, according to a photographing scene, a video stream that can be edited according to segments, the video stream including at least one frame sequence segment; and uploading the edited video stream to a server. According to the present application, by generating a video stream consisting of at least one frame sequence segment during video recording, where the generated video stream can be edited according to segments, the error tolerance of video capture is improved, and the costs of later video editing are reduced.

At present, a mobile terminal (for example, a mobile phone) is generally provided with a video recording function. When a user uses a mobile terminal to record videos, if the recording time is too long, then the user easily feels tired. Under this condition, the user may relieve fatigue through switching hands to operate, and may click by mistake various buttons or controls due to fatigue, thereby leading to jitter and mistake or other problems of the recorded videos.
In order that the recorded video presents a better audio-visual experience, the user needs to perform post processing on the recorded video, to remove such problems as jitter and mistake. While for the videos which are recorded for a long time, since many problems such as jitter and mistake exist in the video, the costs of later editing are high.

Beijing Dajia Internet Information Technology Co., Ltd.


In one aspect of the present description, in response to detection of a failure of a root server of a storage controller, a switch for input/output adapters may be reconfigured to report errors to a successor root server without reinitializing the input/output adapters. Other features and aspects may be realized, depending upon the particular application.

1. Field
The present description relates to a method, system, and computer program product for error routing in a multi-root communication fabric.
2. Description of Related Art
There are various communication protocols for interconnecting peripheral devices such as input/output (I/O) adapters to a computing device such as a server. For example, the PCI Express (PCIe) is a protocol which is widely used in computer systems to interconnect servers to adapters or other components, often by means of a PCIe switch or a cascade of PCEe switches.
A storage controller may have multiple servers often referred to as a cluster of servers, which receive input/output requests from one or more hosts, to perform input/output operations in which data is read from or written to storage through various I/O adapters. Each cluster may have one or more central processing units (CPUs) in which the processing and memory resources of the cluster may be apportioned into logical partitions, each of which is capable of running an operating system and performing the functions of a "server". Thus, as used herein, the term "server" may be used to refer to a physical server or a logical partition performing a server function.
A server may have multiple I/O adapters including host and device adapters which are accessed through a switch such as a PCIe switch. In one known design, the switch has one "upstream port" connected to the server, and several downstream ports connected to the various I/O adapters. These are referred to as transparent ports.
To increase efficiency, it is often desirable to share I/O adapters amongst the servers of the cluster. Thus, a device adapter, for example, may be shared as a "virtual" device adapter. The servers typically communicate with the device adapters and other I/O adapters over a "fabric" which may comprise one or more interfaces providing communication paths between the servers and adapters.
However, each I/O adapter typically is assigned a particular server which is designated the "root server" or "root node" for that I/O adapter. A group of I/O adapters may share a root server. One function of the root server is to control the associated I/O adapters including handling error messages from I/O adapters controlled by the root server. Error messages, in the form of packets in the PCIe protocol, provide notice of errors occurring in the shared I/O adapter or in the fabric, and are typically handled with special requirements. More particularly, such error messages often need to be routed to the root server to which the I/O adapter is assigned and by which the adapter is controlled.
The fabric may include one or more switches which permit the I/O adapters to be shared by the servers. Each switch typically includes routing logic which logically couples a selected upstream port of the switch to a selected downstream port of the switch. In this manner, a particular server coupled to an upstream port, may be logically coupled to a particular device adapter coupled to a downstream port, for the purpose of conducting I/O operations between that server and storage via the device adapter. Similarly, a particular server coupled to an upstream port, may be logically coupled to a particular host coupled to a downstream port, for the purpose of conducting I/O operations between that server and host via the host adapter. Thus, each server may be logically coupled to each I/O adapter of the shared adapters via the switch.
Each switch typically further includes error reporting logic. In the course of an I/O operation, an error may be detected by the switch or one or more of the shared I/O or host adapters. The switch is configured or programmed to report the occurrence of an error via the "transparent" upstream port which is the upstream port connected to the root server for the switch and the shared I/O adapters coupled to the switch.
It is believed that the upstream port connected to the root server is typically configured as a transparent port by the root server when the switch and the I/O adapters connected to the switch are initialized. Thus, the switch and the shared I/O adapters connected to the switch may be connected to the fabric and powered on to initial hardware and software startup states following power on. The server designated to be the root server for the switch and its associated I/O adapters detects the presence of the switch and the I/O adapters in the fabric and initializes the switch and the I/O adapters using appropriate driver software in the server.
Thus, at startup, the driver software of the root server stores configuration data in the switch to configure a port as the transparent upstream port if it was not already so configured as a transparent upstream port by default. In addition, the root server configures additional ports as "non-transparent" ports if not already configured as non-transparent upstream ports by default. In some PCIe switch designs, a downstream port may be connected to a server and configured as non-transparent port. The server connected to the non-transparent port sees that port as an endpoint. In this manner, the non-transparent port connected to a server logically functions as a non-transparent upstream port.
Hence, each of the servers may access each of the initialized I/O adapters via the initialized switch to conduct I/O operations. Conversely, each of the I/O and host adapters may access each of the servers to conduct I/O operations such as direct memory access (DMA) operations. However, the I/O adapters are controlled by the root server which initialized the switch and the I/O adapters at startup.
In the event that the root server fails, the I/O adapter hardware and software may be reset. During such a reset, the I/O adapter hardware and software may be returned to an initial startup state. The reset I/O adapters may be reinitialized by another server so that the reinitialized I/O adapters are controlled by a different server which becomes a new or successor root server for those I/O and host adapters. In connection with the reinitialization, the switch may be reinitialized so that the switch port connected to the successor root server and functioning as an upstream port is configured to be the transparent upstream port.
Various types of errors may occur in an I/O adapter such as a device adapter. For example, many communication systems employ a periodic cyclic redundancy check (CRC) to detect alteration of data being communicated. Thus, I/O transactions to a device adapter may have CRC errors, may be malformed, poisoned, timed out, aborted, unexpected, unsupported, etc. In a PCI Express fabric, in response to a detected error, details of the PCI transaction in which the error arose may be logged in one or more PCI standard advanced error reporting (AER) registers. In some applications, a generic error message may be sent to the root server by the switch via the transparent upstream port.

Error routing in a multi-root communication fabric

International Business Machines Corporation


A projection device includes a correction unit that corrects a trapezoidal distortion of a projection image projected onto a projection medium in accordance with a projection angle derived by a projection angle deriving unit, and the correction unit sets a correction amount for the trapezoidal distortion of a case where the derived projection angle is changed within a range larger than a first predetermined angle determined based on the projection direction toward a boundary between a first projection face and a second projection face and smaller than a second predetermined angle determined based on the projection direction toward the boundary to be the correction amount for the trapezoidal distortion at one of the first predetermined angle and the second predetermined angle or less.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projection device and an image correction method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A projection device such as a projector device is known which drives display elements based on an input image signal and projects an image relating to the image signal on a projection face of a projection medium such as a screen or a wall face. In such a projection device, in a case where a projection image is projected not in a state in which an optical axis of a projection lens is perpendicular to the projection face but in a state in which the optical axis of the projection lens is inclined with respect to the projection face, a problem of a so-called trapezoidal distortion in which a projection image projected in an originally approximate rectangular shape is displayed to be distorted in a trapezoidal shape on the projection face occurs.
Accordingly, conventionally, by performing a trapezoidal correction (keystone correction) for converting an image that is a projection target into a trapezoidal shape formed in a direction opposite to the trapezoidal distortion occurring in the projection image displayed on the projection face, a projection image having an approximately rectangular shape without any distortion is displayed on the projection face.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-77545, a technology for projecting an excellent video for which a trapezoidal distortion correction has been appropriately performed onto a projection face in a projector also in a case where the projection face is either a wall face or a ceiling is disclosed.
More specifically, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-77545, a technology is disclosed in which, in a case where a video is projected while moving the video in the vertical direction, when an inclined angle from a reference position, which relates to the vertical direction, of an inclining mechanism unit supporting a video projection mechanism unit projecting the video to be rotatable in the vertical direction becomes a predetermined inclined angle set in advance, the degree of correction at the time of performing a trapezoidal correction for video data corresponding to a video is changed by reversing the upper side and the lower side of the trapezoid.
In addition, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-77545, a technology is disclosed in which, in a case where a video is projected while being moved in the horizontal direction, when a displacement angle displaced from the reference position, which relates to the horizontal direction, of a rotation mechanism unit that supports the video projection mechanism unit projecting a video to be rotatable in the horizontal direction becomes a predetermined displacement angle set in advance, the degree of correction at the time of performing a trapezoidal correction of video data corresponding to a video is changed by reverting the left side and the right side of the trapezoid.
Meanwhile, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-77545 described above, in a case where the projection position on a projection medium is moved while the video is continued to be projected, the kind of the trapezoidal correction performed on each corner of the projection medium and the kind of video to be projected are not disclosed.
In other words, for example, when a video is continuously projected while the projection position is changed from the front wall portion of the projection medium to the ceiling portion, in a case where a corner of the front wall portion and the ceiling portion is included in the projection range of the projected video, the kind of the trapezoidal correction to be performed and the like are not disclosed. The same is true of the case of a corner of the front wall portion and the side wall portion. Only it is disclosed that the degree of a correction for the projected video is switched between before and after a predetermined displacement angle set in advance in a non-continuous manner.
Thus, in a case where the projection position on the projection medium is changed while the projection of the video is continued, according to the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-77545 described above, in a case where the projected video is positioned at the corner (for example, a corner of the front wall portion and the side wall portion or a corner of the front wall portion and the ceiling portion) of the projection medium, a problem in that the shape of the projected video changes in a non-continuous manner before and after the above-described predetermined displacement angle set in advance is supposed to occur.
For example, in a case where the projection position of the video is changed from the front wall portion to the ceiling portion, the video positioned at the corner is projected for up to the predetermined displacement angle such that a portion projected to the front wall portion has a rectangular shape, and a portion projected to the ceiling portion with the corner formed as the boundary has a trapezoidal shape. Then, after the predetermined displacement angle, a video is projected such that a portion projected to the front wall portion has a trapezoidal shape, and a portion projected to the ceiling portion with the corner formed as the boundary has a rectangular shape. In other words, between before and after the predetermined displacement angle, the shape of the projected video changes in a non-continuous manner.
In addition, in a case where the projection image reciprocates over the corner of the projection medium or in a case where the movement of the projection image is stopped at the corner limit, the forward/backward conversion of the trapezoidal correction is repeatedly performed, and the shape of the projected video repeatedly changes in a non-continuous manner in accordance with the repeated conversion, and accordingly, the occurrence of a problem in that the projection image becomes unstable may be supposed.
As above, according to the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-77545 described above, at the corner of two projection faces of the projection medium such as a wall face and a ceiling face lined up to have a predetermined angle therebetween, that is, at the boundary between two projection faces, the occurrence of a problem in that it is difficult to project a smooth and stable projection image that is easily viewable for an observer is supposed.

Projection device and image correction method


Various technologies and techniques are disclosed for transacting accesses via unmanaged pointers in a transactional memory system. A transactional memory system is provided. Source code is analyzed to identify operations that create unmanaged pointers. Information is tracked about the targets of unmanaged pointer values in pointer variables. The target information is used to determine how accesses through an unmanaged pointer argument are to be transacted. When an unmanaged pointer is created, a descriptor of the target with the resulting pointer value is associated with the location. Within the method that creates the unmanaged pointer, the target can be identified using the descriptor, thereby enabling accesses to be transacted. When an unmanaged pointer is being passed as an argument, a descriptor is also passed as an argument to allow the unmanaged pointer target to be identified.

Software transactional memory (STM) is a concurrency control mechanism analogous to database transactions for controlling access to shared memory in concurrent computing. A transaction in the context of transactional memory is a piece of code that executes a series of reads and writes to shared memory. STM is used as an alternative to traditional locking mechanisms. STM allows concurrent programs to be written more simply. A transaction specifies a sequence of code that is supposed to execute as if it were executing in isolation. This illusion of isolation is achieved by fine-grained locking of objects, and by executing in a mode that allows the side-effects of the transaction to be rolled back if the transaction is discovered to be in conflict with some other transaction. We say that a data access is "transacted" if the code generated for that access has been modified to include support for these locking and rollback mechanisms.
Different data accesses are transacted in different ways. For example, the lock that is acquired to synchronize access to a field is found in different ways depending on whether the field is a static (global) field or an instance field of some object. Rollback is enabled differently for local variables of methods than it is for object instance fields.
Some languages have a "safe subset" that omits features that allow type-safety to be violated. The full language will contain some unsafe features, whose improper use may allow type-safety violations. One example of an unsafe feature is pointer arithmetic: the ability to add an integer value to a pointer value, and dereference the resulting pointer value. If the pointer is of a type that points to type T, then whether the result is actually of type T depends on the correctness of the program, not on built-in guarantees of the language compiler and runtime. In the MICROSOFT® Common Language Runtime (CLR), for example, pointers may be "managed" or "unmanaged." A managed pointer (also called a "byref") is constant after initialization, and cannot participate in pointer arithmetic, or be cast to/from other types. Unsafe code may create unmanaged pointers, which allow all these operations.
This impacts transactional memory because a program may have a local variable, an instance field of some object o, and a static field, all of type "int," and create three unmanaged pointers to these three data locations. The type of the resulting pointer is the same in all cases, "int*" (pointer to int). If the code accesses memory via this pointer, we've lost the information necessary to transact this access in the appropriate way, which depends on the target of the pointer value.

Transacting accesses via unmanaged pointers


In one exemplary embodiment, a computer-implemented method of a providing a captive portal with a router includes implementing a hotspot managed by a router. The hotspot comprises an Internet-access over a WLAN through a router communicatively coupled to an Internet service provider. The WLAN is identified with a service set identifier (SSID). A connection with a client device is initiated. An HTTP request to a web server from the client device is detected. An internet communication is restricted, with a firewall rule, to a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) port used by a HTTP or a TCP port used by an alternative HTTP Secure port. The HTTP request is transparently routed to an internal HTTP proxy server running on an alternative HTTP TCP port in the router. The internal HTTP proxy server determines a requested web site's uniform resource locator (URL) and determines whether the requested web site's URL is allowed into a walled garden maintained by the router.

1. Field
This application relates generally to computer networking, and more particularly to a method and system of managing a captive portal with a router.
2. Related Art
A captive portal technique can cause a client on a network (e.g. a public hot spot) to view a special web page (e.g. for user-authentication purposes, for user-identification purposes, etc.) before accessing the Internet. Captive portals can be implemented in a variety of contexts. For example, a proprietor of a public space (e.g. an airport, a restaurant, a café, etc.) may desire to provide Internet services to the public. The proprietor can utilize a captive portal to ensure proper use of the Internet by the public. The proprietor can utilize a captive portal to maintain a record of users that have utilized the captive portal for statistical and/or legal purposes. Consequently, captive portal techniques have increased in popularity. Thus, additional methods and systems are desired for improving current captive portal techniques.

Method and system of managing a captive portal with a router


A method for associating at least a link to an information resource with a multimedia content element. The method comprises identifying at least one multimedia content element in a web-page, wherein a uniform resource locator (URL) of the web-page is received from any one of a user device and a web server hosting the web-page; generating a signature for at least a portion of the at least one identified multimedia content element; determining at least a link to the at least a portion of the content respective of the generated signature; and providing the web-page with the at least a link respective of the signature of the at least a portion of the at least one multimedia content element to the user device.

The Internet, also referred to as the worldwide web (WWW), has become a mass media where the content presentation is largely supported by paid advertisements that are added to the web-page content. Typically, advertisements are displayed using portions of code written in, for example, hyper-text mark-up language (HTML) or JavaScript that is inserted into, or otherwise called up by documents also written in HTML and which are sent to a user node for display. A web-page typically contains text and multimedia elements that are intended for display on the user's display device.
One of the most common types of advertisements on the Internet is in a form of a banner advertisement. Banner advertisements are generally images or animations that are displayed within a web-page. Other advertisements are simply inserted at various locations within the display area of the document. A typical web-page displayed today is cluttered with many advertisements, which frequently are irrelevant to the content being displayed, and as a result the user's attention is not given to them. Consequently, the advertising price of potentially valuable display area is low because its respective effectiveness is low.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a solution that would overcome the deficiencies of the prior art by matching an advertisement to an already existing image.

System and method thereof for dynamically associating a link to an information resource with a multimedia content displayed in a web-page