In some examples, a computing device refines feature information of query text. The device repeatedly determines attention information based at least in part on feature information of the image and the feature information of the query text, and modifies the feature information of the query text based at least in part on the attention information. The device selects at least one of a predetermined plurality of outputs based at least in part on the refined feature information of the query text. In some examples, the device operates a convolutional computational model to determine feature information of the image. The device network computational models (NCMs) to determine feature information of the query and to determine attention information based at least in part on the feature information of the image and the feature information of the query. Examples include a microphone to detect audio corresponding to the query text.

Images can express many types of information. For example, images can describe or represent objects or entities in the image, as well as various aspects of a scene in an image such as any actions occurring in the image, the relation of objects within the image to each other, and the like. However, access to images remains an unaddressed challenge for people with disabilities. In particular, images are often inaccessible to people who are blind or low vision due to the inherently visual nature of those images.


A tensioning device for an elevator air cord that forms a loop has: a support having a relatively accessible first surface and a relatively inaccessible second surface; a holder on the second surface for fixedly holding a first end of the air cord; a tensioning device on said second surface for holding a second end of said air cord such that the tension of the loop of air cord may be adjusted; and key communicating between the first and second surfaces for manipulating the tensioning device to adjust the tension of the air cord loop.

Elevator doors are suspended by rollers which ride on tracks. The doors are driven back and forth along the tracks and are connected by an air cord. The air cord forms a loop and is stretched between a pair of pulleys.
Since air cords tend to lose tension during use, it is important to be able to retension them. If the tension is too low, the doors could separate thereby breaking the safety chain of the elevator and causing the elevator car to stop.
To adjust the tension of the air cord, a device shown in FIG. 1 is used. This device has a vertical, rectangular support plate 12 having edges 14, 16 bent at a right angle through which the ends of air cord 18 pass. The air cord forms a loop around pulleys 20, 22. Springs 24, 26 are slipped over the two ends of the air cord. Sleeves 28, 30 are crimped over the ends of the air cord.
The springs 24, 26 are compressed between the edges and the sleeves to act as continuous tensioners. If the air cord stretches, the springs act to absorb the stretching, thus bringing the tension back to its nominal value.
The tension mechanism is attached to the rear surface of the support plate, a surface which is not visible by a mechanic working at a landing. The support plate itself is attached by means of bolts and nuts to the rear surface of a track for suspension of the doors (not shown).
Such an adjustment device has several disadvantages: the springs make noise because they rub on the sleeves and the edges of the support plate; if an exterior force greater than that exerted by the springs is applied to the air cord, it compresses the springs and therefore loosens the air cord, thus allowing separation of the doors; since the springs are short, they can only accommodate a slight lengthening of the air cord, and they therefore quickly become ineffective; and, once the lengthening has become too extensive, it is difficult to fix because the air cord is relatively inaccessible because it is mounted to the rear of the track.


In an embodiment of the invention, there is disclosed a tubing expansion tool (300) comprising a body (302) adapted for rotation within tubing to be expanded, and three expansion member modules (306) each comprising an expansion member (310) rotatably mounted with respect to the body (302), each expansion member module (306) being releasably coupled to the body (302) as a unit.

A recent significant development in the oil and gas exploration and production industry has been the widespread introduction of expandable bore-lining tubing. The tubing is run into a bore and then expanded to a larger diameter in sit. Expansion may be achieved by a number of techniques, including the use of cones which may be pushed or pulled through the tubing, and rotary expansion tools, such as described in applicant's WO 00\37766 and U.S. Ser. No. 09\469,690, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
It is among the objectives of embodiments of the present invention to provide an alternative tubing expansion tool.


A concealed gun holster, primarily to be worn by off duty law enforcement personnel, is modeled after the popular sports fanny packs. The modified pack, held in place with an integral belt, is designed to conceal a hand gun holster for either left or right hand use. A snap release secures the weapon snugly in the holster, yet releases with the same feel and pressure as commonly used police holster releases. A hidden pocket, interior to the pack, may be used to hold a clip of ammunition. The integral belt used to wear the pack comprises zippered pockets which are suitable for storing ammunition, hand cuffs, or other equipment.

The present invention relates to handgun holsters, and particularly ones which are disguised to appear as popular sports sacks. The external appearance of the present invention is virtually identical to commonly worn hip packs.
Off duty law enforcement officers and security personnel, or persons in those fields working incognito frequently have reason to carry a concealed weapon. The present invention is a belt pack, commonly called a "fanny pack", which contains a pistol holster, spare magazine pocket, and equipment storage pockets. The gun, not visible when the pack is worn closed, may be quickly accessed by opening the pack's main pouch.
The present invention offers several advantages over preceding methods of gun concealment. No jacket or heavy outer garment need be worn by the individual wearing a concealed gun. The invention, despite its visible evidence, does not attract undue attention because it is identical in shape and styling (including manufacture identification) to currently available sport bags. The bag's padded backing and wide belt offer wearing comfort while one engages in sporting activities. The present gun carrier is ideal for those individuals who must be armed while jogging, cycling or walking. This is particularly important to law enforcement and security professionals who frequently exercise.
An internal stiffener maintains the generally rectangular shape of the pouch to further disguise the contents. Lateral and exterior pockets, along with tie straps, are integrated into the belt and provide additional storage space
Gun holsters and hip packs are referred to in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,258,871, 4,260,087, 4,377,249, 4,466,537, 4,480,776, 4,515,300, 4,579,265, 4,750,655, 5,054,671 and Swiss patent number 624,295, all of which are incorporated herein by this reference.
The above referenced patents, however, do not use a holster, having a snap releasable gun restraint, incorporated into a sport pack of common appearance. None of the referenced patents teach of accessory pockets forming part of a gun pouch's belt, nor an interior pocket for storing extra cartridges or the like.
The problem of providing an inconspicuous externally worn gun carrier has presented a challenge to designers. The development of a belt pouch which, while appearing similiar to commonly worn sport bags, conceals a gun, cartridges, handcuffs, and other law enforcement or security paraphernalia, would represent a major advance in weapon concealment technology and would satisfy a long felt need in the field of carrying arms while out of uniform or under cover.


A bottle carrier for supporting a plurality of bottles in spaced apart relationship to permit the bottles to be carried and transported in a unitary manner. The bottle carrier includes a plate having a plurality of notches formed therein that each open to a periphery of the plate. Each of the notches are configured to retain a neck, handle, or other portion of a bottle therein. A handle is defined on the plate to facilitate grasping and carrying.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for carrying containers, and more specifically to an apparatus for carrying a plurality of liquid filled bottles or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Often liquids, such as water and other beverages, are sold at the retail level prepackaged in bottles, jugs, or other containers. When the containers are large, such as two liter or gallon sized, the containers can be difficult to carry. Placing the containers in bags is unwieldily, and further, conventional bags are likely to break under the load from large liquid filled containers. Also, the use of bags is environmentally unsound because of the energy and materials required to manufacture the bag and the need for disposing of the bag after use.
It is known to prepackage bottles or the like in a unitary package containing more than one bottle. However, conventional methods of such prepackaging have used a disposable member such as thin plastic bands or tape. Of course, these methods have the same drawbacks as using bags. Attempts have been made to provide reusable bottle carriers as exemplified by the disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,815,947, 3,784,246, 3,860,112, and 3,711,143. However, known reusable bottle carriers are formed of a plurality of interlocking sheets or plates that are complex to manufacture and assemble.


A power controller is positioned within a current path between the line side and the load side of an electrical circuit. The power controller closes the current path in the presence of a control supply and opens the current path in the absence of the control supply. A power supply electrically connected to the current path provides the control supply. A sensor system receives power from the power supply, monitors the current in the current path and outputs a sensor signal indicative of a current condition within the current path. A logic controller also receives power from the power supply, receives the sensor signal and removes the control supply from the power controller when the sensor signal does not satisfy an established criteria. The sensor system may include one or both of an imbalance sensor for monitoring the current balance among two or more electrical lines and over-current sensors for monitoring current in individual lines.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electrical control systems, and more specifically to an aircraft electrical control system that monitors the current condition in a current path and interrupts the current path upon detection of a current fault.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the electromechanical arts, current imbalances are indicative of serious problems that can lead to disastrous results, such as arcing within fuel pumps. Since fuel pumps are often housed within a fuel vessel to directly pump fuel out of the vessel, arcing within a fuel pump can lead to an explosion of fuel-air mixture and a subsequent breach of the fuel vessel, which can be catastrophic. In light of the seriousness of such an event, a device or methodology is needed which can suppress this type of arcing, as well as other associated problems. Presently, a common type of circuit protection device being utilized in aircraft is a thermal circuit breaker. However, arcing typically does not cause thermal circuit breakers to activate. Thus, there has been a long-felt need for the function of current imbalance detection in an aircraft. One very important form of current imbalance is a ground fault in which current is flowing between a circuit or electrical device to ground, when such current flow is not desired. In the prior art, ground fault detection has been addressed by a separate ground fault interruption unit. However, such prior art systems have had limitations, including the necessity of rewiring the aircraft In addition to the requirement to rewire the aircraft, additional space had to be found to accommodate the ground fault interruption system.
One currently available ground fault interruption unit made by Autronics (model 2326-1) has been used in large commercial aircraft for the purpose of ground fault protection for fuel pumps. The Autronics unit detects a ground fault and outputs a signal indicative of a fault by use of a current transformer and acts by removing power to the fuel pump control relay.
There exists a need for an improved circuit protection device for aircraft. It would further be desirable for the circuit protection device to be included within an existing device in the aircraft, or to be packaged with an existing device, sharing the same connections to existing electrical circuits, since space for avionics is limited in any aircraft and adding wiring to accommodate a new device is very difficult. The present invention addresses these and other concerns.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Current fault detector and circuit interrupter and packaging thereof


Methods and apparatus to schedule applications in heterogeneous multiprocessor computing platforms are described. In one embodiment, information regarding performance (e.g., execution performance and/or power consumption performance) of a plurality of processor cores of a processor is stored (and tracked) in counters and/or tables. Logic in the processor determines which processor core should execute an application based on the stored information. Other embodiments are also claimed and disclosed.

To improve performance, some computing systems include multiple processors. However, scaling of multi-processor computing systems is restricted by power constraints. Namely, as more processors are added to a system, power consumption increases. Also, the additional power consumption generates more heat. Hence, heat and power requirements may restrict scaling of multi-processor computing systems.

Application scheduling in heterogeneous multiprocessor computing platform based on a ratio of predicted performance of processor cores


An apparatus and method provides for protecting a downspout elbow or extension of a rain gutter from suffering and inflicting harm. The apparatus has a protective outer surface to guard against one or more sharp edges or surfaces of the downspout elbow or extension from suffering or inflicting harm. Methods of protecting the downspout elbow or extension include at least elastically deforming, sliding, rolling, or inverting a portion or all of the apparatus onto the opening and adjacent portions of the downspout elbow or extension.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for the downspout of a gutter system, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for both protecting and preserving the structural integrity of a downspout of a gutter system and preventing injury to those who may come in contact with one or more sharp edges associated with a downspout of a gutter system.
2. Description of Prior Art
Gutter systems for transferring runoff water from a roof to the surrounding landscaping or sewer system are well known. Generally, sections of gutter are connected together and secured to a roof generally at the fascia to collect and move runoff water to dispersement points at or near a ground location. The runoff water collected in each run of the gutter system is fed to a downspout which allows the runoff water to be moved from the elevation of the roof to a position at or near ground level. Downspouts or downspout leaders are critical in dispersing the runoff water away from the dwelling. Given that the downspout or downspout leader may extend several feet away from the dwelling, the outlet of the downspout or downspout leader often is positioned in an area of high traffic to children and adults alike. Given the proximity of the outlet of the downspout leader or downspout to an area trafficked by children and adults, ample opportunities arise where, for example, children at play may unintentionally come into contact with the opening of the downspout leader. Given that the edges of the downspout leader present generally sharp and possibly jagged surfaces, that when contacted, can cause harm, there has been a need identified in the art to provide an apparatus and method for protecting adults and children alike, who may come in contact with the opening or other sharp edges associated with a downspout leader, from suffering any harm.
Downspout leaders are also often subject to impact from various objects and individuals working or playing about the dwelling. Any damage imparted to the downspout leader may in turn cause the gutter system or downspout leader to drain improperly or collect debris and thereby backup runoff water back into the gutter system or the dwelling. The damage suffered by a downspout leader ranges from brunt impacts causing bending and other harm to the opening of the downspout leader to tearing or ripping of the material of the downspout leader at or near the opening; each incident is likely to cause the downspout leader to function improperly and thereby cause the drainage system to function improperly as well. Therefore, a need has been identified in the art to provide an apparatus and method for protecting a downspout leader, and particularly the opening in of a downspout leader, from brunt impacts or suffering damage which would in turn cause the downspout leader or gutter system to function improperly.
The present invention addresses these problems and provides an apparatus and method for protecting and maintaining the structural integrity of the opening of a downspout leader.
In addition, the present invention provides an apparatus and method for protecting those who may accidentally come into contact with a downspout leader or the opening of the downspout leader from suffering harm.

Apparatus and method for protecting a downspout of a gutter


A modular refrigeration unit (12) for use in an accessible compartment (37) of a cooler. The modular refrigeration unit (12) includes a wire-frame support (50), a dividing wall (42) mounted to the wire-frame support (50), a condenser assembly (48) mounted to the wireframe support (50) on one side of the dividing wall (42), and an evaporator assembly (46) mounted to the opposite side of the dividing wall (42).

Typically, merchandising coolers have a vertical display area which is visible to the consumer through glass doors which may be hinged or which may slide for easy access to the display shelves positioned within the refrigerated compartment. The refrigerated compartment is cooled by a refrigeration unit that includes an evaporator assembly and a condenser assembly arranged in a closed circuit such that coolant (typically Freon) is pumped to the evaporator assembly by a compressor. The fan of the evaporator assembly distributes incoming return air from the refrigerated compartment to distribute the cooled air into the interior of the refrigerated compartment. The coolant is withdrawn from the evaporator coil in a gaseous state and pumped through a compressor to the condenser assembly to be condensed. After the coolant moves through the condenser assembly, it flows back to the evaporator to repeat the cycle.
Commonly, the condenser and evaporator assemblies are positioned separately and remotely from each other within the walls of the cooler. Most commonly the condenser assembly is located in the base of the cabinet and the evaporator assembly is located in the top of the cabinet. The origins of this arrangement are partly historical in that condensers and evaporators were often provided by respective suppliers who did not design their units to cooperate with each other. It thus became convenient to locate them separately and to complete the assembly after installation in the cabinet by providing appropriate electrical connecting means and tubular conduits for coolant flow between the condenser assembly and the evaporator assembly.
The "split. system" has inherent disadvantages which are apparent during assembly and servicing of the cooler cabinet. It will be appreciated that the assemblies cannot be tested until fully installed in the cabinet and that, if any problems are discovered, the entire cabinet must be accommodated so that it can at least be partially disassembled and retested. Similarly, when a cooler which has been in use is found to be defective, the entire cooler must be put out of service in order to carry out the appropriate repairs.
In order to overcome the previously-stated problems, the present invention provides a modular refrigeration unit that includes a condenser assembly and an evaporator assembly mounted on a common frame that is easily removable from the cooler for more efficient repair or replacement.


A fastening arrangement between a riding ring and a casing of a rotary cylinder, whereby the riding ring encircles the casing of the rotary cylinder with clearance, including support elements affixed to the casing of the rotary cylinder and projecting radially outwardly. The riding ring has at least one circular groove on a surface thereof. A plurality of clamping elements are distributed around a perimeter of the riding ring, the distributed clamping elements engaging in a force-fit manner with the circular groove of the riding ring. The clamping elements are connected with the support elements, whereby the riding ring is immobilized in both the axial and circumferential directions relative to the casing of the rotary cylinder. The support elements affixed to the rotary cylinder casing have spring guides oriented axially relative to the rotary cylinder, between each of which is positioned a clamping element tensioned in a force-fit manner on the riding ring.

The invention relates to a fastening of a riding ring on the casing of a rotary cylinder, in particular a rotary furnace for the heat treatment of free-flowing materials, in particular bulk solids such as raw cement mix, whereby the riding ring, which encircles the rotary casing with clearance, is locked in the axial direction and in the circumferential direction relative to the rotary cylinder via support elements affixed to the casing of the rotary cylinder.
There are mainly two different fastening types used to fasten riding rings to the casing of a rotary cylinder e.g. of a rotary furnace:
1. The so-called loose riding ring fastening (floating tire), known e.g. from DE-A-32 03 241. The riding ring is thereby not rigidly connected with the casing of the rotary cylinder but rather encircles the casing with radial play. On the riding ring station, the radial loads or forces from the furnace cylinder must be fed to the track rollers via the riding ring and to the baseplate via the bearing blocks. The riding ring is smooth on all sides and its axial movement is restricted by the retaining element fastened to the casing of the rotary cylinder. In the circumferential direction, the riding ring can move freely relative to the casing of the furnace and namely on washer plates, which are loosely inserted into the ring gap between the riding ring and the casing of the furnace, whereby any necessary corrections to the play of the riding ring can be made by switching out the washer plates. Ovalizations and other deformations of the casing of the rotary cylinder can be compensated for to a certain extent with this type of riding ring. However, the play of the riding ring and the relative movement of the riding ring must be constantly monitored using a measuring device for the safe and secure operation of this type of riding ring station.
2. The so-called fixed riding ring fastening (fixed tire), known e.g. from DE-A-38 01 231 as well as EP-B-0 765 459. The interior surface of the riding ring fastening known from the first document is provided with cogs like an inner toothed rim, and the riding ring is supported in the axial direction as well as in the circumferential direction on retaining elements welded to the casing of the rotary cylinder via these cogs as well as wedges and washer plates. The riding ring fastening known from the second document has through holes distributed around the perimeter, through which through bolts can be fed, the ends of which are affixed to retaining elements of the casing of the rotary cylinder so that, in this manner, the riding ring is fixed not only in the axial direction but also in the circumferential direction. It is understood that both the planing and shaping of the internal teeth of a riding ring as well as the boring of holes in the riding ring are very costly production steps. Add to this the fact that material sectional weakenings are caused by both the inner teeth as well as by the through holes of the known riding rings, which is why these known riding rings must be constructed to be relatively thick-walled, which in turn leads to higher costs.

Fastening of a riding ring to the casing of a rotary cylinder


A holographic recording medium is treated to reduce or eliminate unwanted extraneous diffraction in a volume transmission hologram. Surface regions of the medium are desensitized either before or after a holographic recording to reduce the contrast of the holographic fringe pattern along the surfaces, and thereby to eliminate planar phase grating effects. Treatments include applying a burst of gas or vapor to the surface, irradiating the surfaces with highly absorbed incoherent light, thermally treating the recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to holograms and hologram recording techniques, and more particularly has reference to reducing the noise and improving the angular sensitivity of a transmission type holographic optical element.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In modern aircraft, both military and commercial, it is important that certain information be clearly and unobtrusively presented to the pilot while he is viewing the outside world. The head-up display (HUD) has been developed for this purpose. It provides a display of alphanumerics, symbology, gun sight reticle (for fighter aircraft) and other information superimposed on the pilot's forward field of view.
In a conventional HUD, the information display is generated on a high-brightness cathode ray tube and then projected through a relay lens system onto a transparent combiner screen. Typically, the combiner is a partially silvered mirror, located between the pilot and the aircraft windscreen. The combiner directs the projected images to the pilot's eyes, while at the same time affording him an unobstructed view of the outside world as seen through the transparent combiner and the windscreen.
More recently, the combiner for a head-up display has included a holographic film. Such a film consists of one or more layers of photoreactive gelatin that have been exposed by a holographic process so as to record a directionally sensitive, reflective-type volume holographic fringe pattern. The holographic film has better reflection and see-through capability than a partially silvered mirror.
There are certain disadvantages, however, to using a reflection hologram in a HUD combiner. Significantly, a reflection hologram combiner often must be positioned very close to the windscreen and very far from the pilot's eyes to achieve the desired field of view. This not only limits the freedom of design choices, but also results in design trade-offs in terms of field of view, since the available space to accommodate a combiner decreases as one moves closer to the aircraft windscreen.
One of the advantages of using a transmission hologram in the optical design would be the ability to move the combiner further from the windscreen and closer to the pilot's eyes. In this location, a combiner of a given size would represent a wider field of view. The results would be increased latitude of HUD design and the ability to produce a HUD with a larger field of view than in comparable instrument with a reflection hologram combiner.
Unfortunately, transmission holograms have not proved successful for use in a head-up display because of the noise produced by diffracted sunlight. When a bright source of diffuse light such as the direct rays of the sun strike a transmission hologram, unwanted light (noise) of high intensity is diffracted and transmitted through the hologram in all direction, reducing image contrast and obscuring the desired informational display.
It would be highly desirable to overcome this problem and remove the restriction on the use of transmission holograms in a head-up display.

Low noise transmission holographic optical element


A cylinder member holder is used to subject the outer circumferential surface of a cylinder member to cutting machining by non-rotatably supporting left and right ends of a tubular cylinder member by left and right holders and feeding a cutting tool longitudinally of the cylinder member while causing the cutting tool to rotate about the outer circumferential surface of the cylinder member. A plurality of discontinuous solid bodies which fill the inner diameter portion of the cylinder body so as to lie along the longitudinal direction thereof are inserted via a resilient body, thereby reducing or eliminating chatter vibration produced at cutting.

This invention relates to a cylinder member holder, a machining apparatus equipped with the holder and a machining method using the holder. More particularly, the invention relates to art for machining the outer circumferential surface of a cylinder member such as a developing sleeve and photosensitive drum used in an image forming apparatus such as a copier or laser printer, wherein the outer circumferential surface of the cylinder member has a small thickness and a comparatively large length in the axial direction.
Conventionally, lathe machining is carried out when the outer circumferential surface of a cylinder member serving as a workpiece is subjected to cutting or grinding. More specifically, a cylinder member is held immovably in the rotating chuck of a lathe and, while the chuck is being rotated at the same time as the cylinder member by a rotating force from a lathe driving source, a cutting tool such as a cutter held on the apron of the lathe in a freely movable manner is fed toward the surface of the cylinder member to be machined, whereby the cylinder member is subjected to lathe machining. In accordance with such a lathe machining configuration in which the cylinder member is rotated and the cutter is fixed, cutting is carried out by stopping the rotary chuck after a lathe machining operation, removing the machining cylinder member from the chuck, setting a cylinder member in the chuck anew and then rotating the chuck again to perform cutting. This means that an operation for changing the cylinder member is always required when one lathe machining operation ends. A problem that arises is a decline in productivity since extra time is needed to change the cylinder member.
A machining method has been disclosed in the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-328303 in order to improve productivity. According to this disclosed machining method, a cylinder member serving as a workpiece is held in a non-rotatable state by a chuck and a cutting tool is made to rotate about the outer circumferential surface of the cylinder member.
In accordance with this proposal, the operation for changing the cylinder member can proceed without stopping the operation for rotating the tool even after the machining of the outer circumferential surface of the cylinder member is finished. The improvement in productivity is thus achieved.
A cylinder member such as the developing sleeve used in the image forming apparatus described above is incorporated in a developing device in order for an image forming operation to be carried out. The finishing precision of the machined surface of the cylinder member is extremely important. However, when the productivity of the cylinder member is taken into account, the correlation between machining time and finishing precision takes on considerable importance.
Specifically, when the rotational speed of the tool and the feed rate of the tool are raised to improve productivity, chatter on the side of the cylinder member being held fast at both ends is produced, the accuracy of the cut surface declines and this in turn leads to production of defective articles.
As examples of methods for suppressing the occurrence of such chatter, the specifications of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 6-198501 and 6-304803 disclose methods of inserting a vibration damper consisting of a resilient body into the inner diameter portion of a cylinder member and cutting the outer circumferential surface of the cylinder member.
Though suppression of chatter vibration that arises in the cylinder member is performed effectively when such vibration is suppressed in this manner, suppression of chatter that develops on the side of the holder supporting the cylinder member is not always satisfactory. If the outer circumferential surface of the cylinder member is cut under these conditions, a decline in surface accuracy caused by chatter vibration occurs in the vicinity of the supported portions at both ends of the cylinder member held by the holder.
The applicant is aware of the technical documents concerning chatter which happens when cutting cylinder member such as mentioned above, which is titled as "Vibration of machining tools", published by CORONA-sha in 1968, translated by Sakae YONEZU et al., originally published by S. A. TOBIAS.
As shown in FIG. 41, the developing device of an image forming apparatus includes aphotosensitive drum 200 on which a latent image is exposed as image information. A developer G is moved to the drum 200 and is made to adhere thereto via a developing sleeve comprising a cylinder member W. The accuracy at which the developer G can be made to adhere to the photosensitive drum 200 from the developer storage location depends upon the precision to which the surface of the developing sleeve has been machined and the flatness of the sleeve.
Further, the precision to which the photosensitive drum 200 has been machined also has a major influence upon the accuracy (resolution) of the image as a matter of course.
FIG. 42 is a diagram illustrating the units necessary to construct a copier. In FIG. 42, information from an original (not shown) placed on a platen is formed on the photosensitive drum 200 in the form of a latent image, the latent image is then transferred to and fixed on a sheet of copy paper P, and the copy paper P bearing the fixed image is discharged from the apparatus to complete the copying operation.
In the process for fixing the image from the photosensitive drum 200, cylinder members W such as fixing rollers are used. If the precision to which the surfaces of the cylinder members are machined is low, the drum 200 and the photosensitive film develop unevenness. It is known that this has a major adverse influence upon image accuracy.
Good image clarity cannot be obtained unless a high surface accuracy, particularly a high degree of surface roughness precision, is achieved for the cylinder member W, such as the photosensitive drum, developing sleeve and fixing rollers, used in such an image forming apparatus as the copier or laser printer.
In accordance with a conventional method of machining a cylinder member, first a tube material is fabricated by extruding and drawing a metal material such as an aluminum alloy and then applying highly accurate correction of curvature. The tube material is then cut off to a desired length and the outer circumferential surface of the cut length is subjected to cutting by a lathe. However, since the cylinder member W used in the above-described image forming apparatus has a very small wall thickness in comparison with its length, chatter and other vibration easily occurs at cutting and has a deleterious effect upon the precision of surface roughness.
It is known that chatter and vibration which occur when the outer circumferential surface of a cylinder member is cut are produced owing to the relationship among the vibration characteristic of the cylinder member, the vibration characteristic of the holder and the machining frequency. This relationship will now be described.
When use is made of a special-purpose machining apparatus for holding both ends of a cylinder member immovably by left and right holders and cutting the cylinder member at a prescribed feed rate by a cutting tool while the cutting tool is rotated (this apparatus differs from the above-described lathe in that cutting is performed while rotating the cutter about the outer circumferential surface of the cylinder member), it is required that either the left or right holder have a total length through which a unit equipped with a rotary shaft to which the cutter is attached can be passed in order that the entire outer circumferential surface of the cylinder member may be cut. Specifications used in a test were as follows: maximum rotating speed of the unit: 20,000 rpm; actual rotating speed for machining: 9000.about.11,000 rpm; output power: 500W; inner diameter of rotating portion: 35 mm. As for the specifications of the left holder (of open-collet chuck type), through which the unit is passed: total length: 250 mm; maximum outer diameter of portion passed through rotary shaft: 30 mm; material: quenched steel. Since the right holder (of open-collet chuck type) is such that the unit need not be passed through rotary shaft, total length can be shortened. Accordingly, total length of right holder: 80 mm; maximum outer diameter: 30 mm; material: quenched steel.
The cylinder member used in cutting was aluminum alloy (JIS A-6063), had an outer diameter of 16 mm, a wall thickness of 0.8 mm and a total length of 250 mm.
The vibration characteristic, namely the relationship between compliance and frequency, was measured by the impulse excitation method in a state in which only the holders were attached to the cutting apparatus prior to machining and in a state in which the above-mentioned workpiece was supported on the cutting apparatus by the holders. The results are as shown in FIG. 43.
The value of compliance is the reciprocal of dynamic rigidity. The larger the value, the lower the dynamic rigidity and the greater the tendency of excitation.
As shown in FIG. 43, the compliance value gradually increases with an increase in frequency, with the value of compliance (dB) rising sharply at a point A (at which the frequency is about 380 Hz) in both the state in which only the holders were attached to the machining apparatus and the state in which the cylinder member was supported on the apparatus by the holders.
Since the compliance value rises sharply at the same frequency even in the state in which only the left holder is attached, this may be considered the primary characteristic frequency on the side of the special-purpose machining apparatus in the state in which the holders are attached to the apparatus.
Further, since the axial dimension of one holder is required to be of full length so that the unit having the rotary shaft with the attached cutter can be passed through the holder, the characteristic frequency is extremely low.
Though the compliance value decreases in a region of frequencies greater than the frequency at point A, the compliance value for the state in which the cylinder member is supported on the machining apparatus by the holders increases sharply in the vicinity of point B (at which the frequency is about 1000 Hz). This can be regarded as the primary characteristic frequency possessed by the cylinder member W.
Furthermore, the compliance value, which can be regarded as the primary characteristic frequency of the right holder and as the secondary characteristic frequency of the left holder, peaks in the vicinity of point C (at which the frequency is about 1800 Hz).
In a situation where the special-purpose machining apparatus and cylinder member have mutually different characteristic frequencies and a cutting force is applied though the cylinder member by the cutting operation, the cylinder member and special-purpose machining apparatus will resonate if the external force matches these characteristic frequencies. As a result, violent vibration develops even if the cutting force is very small.
FIG. 44 is a diagram drawn to emphasize the state of the cut surface of a workpiece under chatter vibration. It will be appreciated that cutting tracks are left on the surface along the path traversed by the cutting tool.
Accordingly, when the cutting conditions are set, it is necessary that the above-mentioned characteristic frequency and cutting frequency be separated to the utmost degree. The main factors which decide cutting frequency, which is one of the cutting conditions, are tool rpm and number of tools deployed in case of a special-purpose machining apparatus of tool rotating type. Though setting tool rpm high is effective in raising productivity since it contributes to shortening cutting time, vibration (chatter) is produced for the above said reasons when the characteristic frequency is approached.
The table of FIG. 27 illustrates the relationship between absence or presence of chatter vibration and surface roughness of a cylinder member when two cutting tools for coarse and finishing machining were attached to the rotary shaft and the cylinder member was cut while changing tool rpm.
It is obvious from the experimental results that chatter vibration is produced even in a region in which the frequency of the cutting force produced by tool rotation is remote from the above-mentioned characteristic frequency.
In other words, chatter vibration is produced even in a region in which compliance which is less than that at point A in FIG. 43 is increasing.
The specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-58453 proposes use of a viscous damper to prevent chatter vibration. According to this proposal, a resilient body such as rubber is inserted into a hollow cylinder member in a case where lathe machining is performed by rotating the hollow cylinder member and holding the tool fast against rotation. By adopting this arrangement, a centrifugal force is produced in the resilient body by rotating the cylinder member, thereby suppressing chatter vibration. With this turning apparatus such as a lathe, the overall length of the holder can be made small, unlike the case with the special-purpose machining apparatus of tool-rotating type. Consequently, the characteristic frequency of the holder can be set high. Further, since the cylinder member is rotated, the rotating speed for cutting is 5000 rpm (83 Hz in case of two cutting tools) at most owing to the problem of dynamic balance. Since even a vibration damper having a comparatively small vibration damping effect is satisfactory, the above-mentioned proposal seems to be practical.
On the other hand, in accordance with the present invention, the above-described special-purpose machining apparatus is used, the cylinder member is held fixed against rotation and cutting is performed while rotating the cutting tool about the outer circumference of the cylinder member. Since the cylinder member subjected to lathe machining does not rotate, a stable dynamic balance is achieved. This means that tool rpm can be set high and that cutting can be performed in a frequency region closer to the characteristic frequency. However, since more comprehensive vibration damping measures are required, it is necessary to use a vibration damping body having a much larger vibration damping effect.
Though an auxiliary mechanism such as pressure means may also be provided to prevent chatter vibration, setting the pressure value of the pressure means and adjusting the mounting position are troublesome operations and therefore this arrangement does not necessarily excel in terms of operability.

Cylinder member holder, machining apparatus having said holder, and machining method using same


Encoded data storage devices with stored data corresponding to: (a) information for coaching a user in accomplishing one or more steps of a specified task in a learn-then-perform way, and (b) an instruction set which enables the user access to access the information on a user-selected step of the task. Methods of providing and employing encoded data storage devices of the character just described.

U.S. Pat. No. application Ser. No. 08/569,310 filed Dec. 8, 1995 discloses one of a class of new and novel appliances having a COACH mode of operation in which the user is coached through the performance of a user-selected task. Major elements of those appliances are: (a) a player for a laser readable data storage device such as a video compact disc, an audio compact disc, a laser disc, or one of the soon to be available digital video discs; (b) a CRT, flat screen, or other visual display device for information retrieved from the data storage device; and (c) an audio output device; e.g., a conventional loudspeaker. Video discs are preferred over audio discs because a visual/audio presentation of a subject (or even a visual presentation alone as in the case of an ingredients or parts list, for example) will typically be superior to sound alone in conveying information to the user.
Stored on the preferred video compact disc are an introductory video which coaches the user in the operation of the appliance; a hierarchy of user-retrievable, multiple choice menus; and, for each of the choices in a bottom level menu, a video demonstration or static display (text, graphics, or text-graphics) for coaching the user through a task or a step of a task.
The introductory video allows a new user to easily use the system to access selected information on the very first try without training or guidance from another person and without consulting written instructions. For many, the elimination of the need to refer to written instructions is of paramount importance as they consider any more than the most rudimentary written instructions distasteful, if not something to be avoided at all costs.
In its COACH mode of operation, the appliance disclosed in the '310 application defaults to the playing of the introductory instructional video. The user can recycle to the beginning of the video after it has finished playing or at any time while the video is playing. This is particularly advantageous to the new user who can thereby easily play the introductory video as many times as is perceived to be necessary to assimilate information which the video presents.
The user can skip at any point in the introductory video to the highest level menu in the menu hierarchy. Otherwise, the advance to the top level menu will automatically occur when the introductory video ends.
Once the highest level menu is reached, the user is coached through the menu hierarchy. Beginning with the top level menu, the user can select one of the menus available on each successively lower level and can make a choice of the items of information available from the lowest level menu in a particular hierarchy.
If the choice from the selected lowest level menu results in a video or audio clip being played, the user is automatically returned to the menu (lower level) from which the selection is made upon completion of the presentation.
If a static display of information is present on the integrated unit screen, that display will stay on the screen until taken off by the user. That returns the user to the menu from which the information was selected.
The user can also back up stepwise through the hierarchy of menus to the top level menu and from the latter to the introductory video.
If operation of the appliance in the COACH mode is interrupted, operation of the appliance will resume from the point of interruption when operation in the COACH mode is restored. The user is thereby relieved of the task of navigating through the introductory video and perhaps an entire hierarchy of menus to the point previously reached if he or she wishes to: (a) interrupt a search for, or the display of, information; and (b) then return to the search for or viewing of displayed information.
There are occasions on which a user may wish to review all or part of the introductory video or the top level menu in the hierarchy after having navigated part or all of the way through the hierarchy of menus. The user can return in one step to the beginning of the introductory video or the top level menu from any level of operation.

Methods of producing data storage devices for appliances which can be used to coach users in the performance of user-selected tasks


A data transmission method and an apparatus used in a virtual switch technology are provided. An IO request of a virtual machine VM for accessing a file or a disk is received. When the IO request is to be sent to a physical NIC by using a user mode Open vSwitch (OVS), the IO request is converted into an Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI) command in a user mode The iSCSI command is then sent to the user mode OVS. The user mode OVS sends the iSCSI command to the physical NIC.

A virtual switch is mainly applied to a server virtualization scenario, and mainly implements two functions: Function 1: transferring network traffic between virtual machines (VM); and Function 2: implementing communication between a VM and an external network.
In a Linux implementation, operation space is divided into two parts: user mode operation space and kernel mode operation space. A user mode Open vSwitch (OVS) is a switch whose data plane forwarding function is implemented in the Linux user mode operation space, and the user mode OVS is connected to a physical network interface controller (NIC) by using a Data Plane Development Kit (DPDK) as a data channel. In addition, the user mode OVS shares a management platform with a kernel mode OVS. A rate limiting function is set for the user mode OVS to implement network adapter rate limiting, so as to provide a solution of a high-performance virtual switch for a virtualization scenario.
The DPDK is a set of libraries and drivers for fast packet processing. A Linux kernel interrupt mechanism that operates in Linux user space cannot meet a performance requirement of a network adapter with a high throughput (for example, 40 Gigabits Ethernet (GE)). Intel puts forward the DPDK to resolve this problem, and network adapter rate limiting may be achieved by using the DPDK.
In an existing user mode OVS solution, a path of processing an IO request by a virtual machine is shown in FIG. 1. A virtual disk service process receives an IO request sent by the virtual machine, and places the IO request in a storage stack. The storage stack converts the IO request into an IO packet and submits the IO packet to an IO protocol stack. Then the IO protocol stack transfers the IO packet to the user mode OVS by using a socket mechanism. Finally, the user mode OVS sends the packet by using the DPDK and the physical NIC.
In a process of forwarding the IO packet by using the user mode OVS, the IO packet needs to be switched from the user mode OVS to a kernel mode, and then be switched from the kernel mode to the user mode. Therefore, context switching is required. In addition, to forward the IO packet from the user mode to the storage stack of the kernel mode, the IO packet needs to be copied. Consequently, in the prior art, performance of a virtual machine of the user mode OVS for processing the IO request is relatively low.

Data transmission method and apparatus used in virtual switch technology


This invention relates to a rubber plug for a waterproof connector used in a wire harness for an automobile, and an object thereof is to make the movement of the plug smooth when feeding the plug by a part feeder to an assembling line where the plug is connected to a metal terminal. According to the present invention, the rubber plug comprises a contact portion of a synthetic resin formed to extend axially from a seal portion of a rubber plug which extends continuously from a metal terminal-connection tubular portion having a wire passage internal bore, the seal portion being adapted to be in intimate contact with an inner wall of a connector housing. The rubber plug is moved with the sliding contact portion held in contact with a feed guide rail of a part feeder.

This invention relates to a rubber plug for a waterproof connector used mainly in a wire harness of an automobile.
In FIG. 14, a waterproof plug a of soft rubber for a waterproof connector has a seal portion a.sub.2 of an oval shape extending continuously from a metal terminal-connection tubular portion a.sub.1, and this plug has a central wire passage bore a.sub.3.
A reinforcement member b of a synthetic resin includes a base plate portion b.sub.1 of an oval shape having a wire passage hole b.sub.2 formed through a central portion thereof. Support posts b.sub.3 are formed respectively on opposite side portions of the base plate portion b.sub.1. The reinforcement member b is integrally connected to the waterproof plug a, with the support posts b.sub.3 embedded in the seal portion a.sub.3 (see FIG. 15).
In use, the connection tubular portion a.sub.1 through which an electric wire w is passed is compressively clamped by a wire connection portion c.sub.1 of a metal terminal c, and when the metal terminal c is inserted into a connector housing d, the seal portion a.sub.2 is held in intimate contact with an inner wall of the connector housing d (Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application No. 1-121276).
When the waterproof plug a is to be automatically fed by a (component) part feeder, the oval seal portion a.sub.2 of the waterproof plug a moves in contact with wall surfaces e.sub.1 of a feed guide rail e of the part feeder, and at this time since the angle .alpha. of deflection of the waterproof plug a relative to the direction of movement is large, there is a drawback that the waterproof plug can not be smoothly moved.


A SAN management system including the ability to generate perspectives of a SAN topology is provided. The SAN management system includes a SAN manager program to monitor a SAN. The SAN management system further includes a SAN management database linked with the SAN manager program, wherein the SAN management database maintains information identifying devices included within the SAN and connections between the devices. In addition, the SAN management system includes a plurality of sensor agents positioned within the devices included within the SAN, wherein the sensor agents gather information pertaining to the connections between the devices and provide the gathered information to the SAN manager program for inclusion within the SAN management database. Moreover, the SAN management system includes a topology viewer linked to the SAN manager to generate a user requested topology perspective according to data included within the SAN management database and data associated with a previously requested topology perspective.

Industry needs storage management today in open environments for the same reasons that storage management was needed in the mainframe environment in the early and mid-1980s. Businesses are generating data so fast that data storage and data management capabilities are being overwhelmed. If these capabilities cannot handle the growth, then at some point, there is a risk that the next transaction will not be captured, and the business will stop. There are two problems which impact this situation: Storage costs and storage management costs. Storage Area Networks (SANs) are becoming the preferred storage architecture model for block storage systems in comparison to direct attached storage models. This preference for SANs over direct attached storage models is as a result of SANs allowing multiple servers to directly share block storage devices, SAN users not having to purchase servers just to increase the storage capacity and the ability to separate server and storage management.
In order to leverage the benefits of a SAN, it is necessary to be able to easily manage the SAN. SAN management is the set of tools, policies and processes, that provide information about and monitor the devices in a Storage Area Network (SAN). SAN management tools are typically deployed along with every SAN installation.
To manage a SAN it is helpful to have a SAN management tool which can generate topology perspectives, where such perspectives identify hosts, storage devices, switches and any other necessary devices included within the SAN. It is of further benefit to have a SAN management tool which provides a topology perspective of all storage devices that are connected to a particular host (e.g., host centric perspective), a topology perspective of all hosts that are accessing a particular storage device (e.g., device centric perspective). Moreover, it is of further benefit to have a perspective which identifies all nodes (e.g., hosts, storage devices, switches, interconnection devices, etc.) within a SAN which are accessible by a particular node within the SAN (e.g., SAN node perspective).
Currently, every time a system administrator requests a particular type of SAN perspective the SAN management tool retrieves data necessary to satisfy the request by invoking multiple queries from a database associated with the SAN management tool and organizing the retrieved data into the particular type of SAN perspective (e.g., host perspective, storage device perspective, etc.).

System and method for generating perspectives of a SAN topology

International Business Machines Corporation


A mounting structure for mounting an air conditioning unit to a vehicle body and an method of mounting the unit are provided. The structure includes an instrument panel, a steering member and brackets. In assembling, the air conditioning unit and a heater control unit are fixed to the steering member through the brackets, at first. After control cables of the heater control unit has been connected to the air conditioning unit, the instrument panel is assembled to a vehicle body while allowing the heater control unit through the opening of the instrument panel. Therefore, it is possible for a worker to carry out both assembling of the air conditioning unit and the heater control unit and electrical connecting of the control cables in a free space without being restricted in terms of operative directions and posture, so that the workability can be improved remarkably.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting structure for mounting an automotive installation, such as an air conditioning unit, an audio unit or the like, and a method of mounting the same to a vehicle body.
In Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication (kokai) Nos. 57-10945 and 57-39829 etc., there is known a structure for mounting the automotive installation where an air conditioning unit is fixed on a top section and an under section of a dash panel of an automobile, while a heater control unit to control the temperature and operational modes of the air conditioning unit is secured on an instrument panel of the automobile.
In the above-mentioned structure, since the air conditioning unit has been secured to the dash panel and after that, the instrument panel has been fitted to the vehicle body, the heater control unit is assembled in the instrument panel. Therefore, in connecting control cables of the heater control unit to operated parts of the air conditioning unit, a worker has to crouch to get into the underside of the instrument panel for connecting work, thereby getting worse in workability.
Alternatively, since it is necessary to make sure of long surpluses for the control cables in view of the workability, such a countermeasure accompanies an additional process to adjust the lengths of the control cables after connecting, increasing a number of manufacturing processes disadvantageously.
Such a problem also arises in wiring an automotive harness for supplying electricity for electrical installations.
In Japanese Patent Publication (kokai) No. 58-218451 and Japanese Utility Model Publication (kokai) No. 60-171768 etc., there is known a structure for wiring the automotive harness where the automotive harness is fixed to the back of an instrument panel or the back of a cowl box on the top of a dash panel by means of hooking members, such as clamps, clips or the like, while connectors at the end of the harness are secured on a dash side panel and engaged with both connectors at the end of a harness extending from an engine room and connectors at the end of another harness extending from a vehicle body. Note, the former harness extending from the engine room will be referred to "engine-room side harness" while the latter harness extending from the vehicle body will be referred to "vehicle side harness", hereinafter.
In the wiring structure mentioned above, the connectors, which are arranged at the end of the harness on the back of the instrument panel or the cowl box, are fixed on the dash side panel and adapted so as to engage with the other connectors at the ends of the engine-room side harness and the vehicle side harness after assembling the instrument panel to the vehicle body. Therefore, in order to connect the former connectors to the latter connectors, the worker has to crouch to get into the underside of the instrument panel for connecting work, thereby getting worse in workability.
Moreover, since the instrument panel is apt to hide the connection area among the connectors from view, it is difficult to make an inspection of electrical connection among the connectors.

Structure for mounting automotive installation and mounting method thereof


A multibeam Radio Frequency (RF) lens antenna is designed as a receiver for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) applications, such as GPS (Global Positioning System), Galileo, GLONASS, COMPASS, and others. The RF lens and plurality of associated feed elements and receiver circuits combine to form a plurality of resulting high-gain relatively narrow beams that, taken together, allow reception of signals from GNSS satellites over the entire upper hemisphere. Any kind of RF lens can be used, where the lens can be of homogeneous or inhomogeneous, dielectric or metamaterial metasurface construction. The benefit of this approach to build a GNSS receiver over existing alternatives is increased gain and decreased noise at each receiver, which improves the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and improves the accuracy and reliability of the position and time measurements, while also reducing the impact of, and sensitivity to, interference, jamming, and spoofing signals. The approaches described in this patent can be combined with existing signal processing and accuracy improvement methods (such as Real-Time Kinematic (RTK), Precise-Point Positioning (PPP), and Differential GPS (DEPS)) for further benefits. This system has applications within the surveying, maritime, land mobility, aerospace, and government positioning market areas.

Achieving higher levels of position and time accuracy in less time has benefits in many industries and applications. Many of these approaches rely on new and improved signal processing techniques that extract the maximum possible amount of information from the weak and noisy signal. However, even better would be improving the quality of the signal itself, since the signal processing methods would all continue to add additional value.
The antenna is an important part of a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, as the antenna determines how much of the signal is picked up and forwarded to the signal processing system. Many antennas are used for GNSS reception, but the vast majority are static, with a fixed radiation pattern. Improvements to the antennas focus on optimizing the radiation pattern to cover as much of the upper hemisphere as possible while minimizing the radiation pattern directed towards the ground or terrestrial sources of interference.
The Global Positioning System (GPS), as the first of the satellite-based positioning systems, has had many antenna designs created to fit one niche or another. Currently, antennas for GNSS fall into one of three general categories: Low-cost Fixed Radiation Pattern Antennas (FRPA); High-performance FRPA; and Controlled Radiation Pattern Antennas (CRPA).
Low-cost FRPA focus on optimizing the radiation pattern of a single radiating element, and will generally be low-cost and physically compact, but with low to moderate gain and angular performance. The largest concern with these antennas is mitigating interference from terrestrial sources near the horizon and backlobes, so balancing the gain in the upper hemisphere with sufficient rejection in the lower hemisphere on a small ground plane is often a challenge. These are the most common form of GNSS receiver antennas. Some of these antennas are integrated directly into the integrated circuit packaging or printed circuit board for more convenience but poorer performance.
High-performance FRPA use higher-quality materials and construction or additional structures and geometry to improve the patterns and phase center stability and reduce the sensitivity to interference of the basic single-element antennas. Often using the same patch or helix base, the high-performance antennas can improve performance with amplifiers, larger ground planes, structured ground planes (such as multilevel choke rings), or absorbing structures to control the backlobes, sidelobes, and boresight radiation patterns. These antennas are less common and are used primarily in high-precision applications such as surveying and precision timekeeping. The key benefit of this class of antenna is reduced sensitivity to reflected and multipath signals from the environment.
CRPA use multiple methods to allow dynamic changes to the hardware and signal processing system to alter the radiation patterns in response to real-time conditions. The purpose of changing the radiation pattern is to increase resilience to intentional or unintentional jamming or spoofing by placing a null in the radiation pattern at or near the angular source of the interference. Some CRPA systems use explicit phased array approaches with multiple receivers that combine the signals from number of feed elements (each of which might be similar to one of the ordinary FRPA mentioned above), and others use a single antenna but change the state of switches or excitation points to tilt, rotate, or otherwise alter the radiation pattern. These systems are almost exclusively used for military applications where jamming, spoofing, and interference is of strong concern.
The CRPA described to date have a number of benefits over more conventional FRPA, but are still limited in their achievable performance. Phased array implementations are typically limited to a small number of elements, and are typically used to perform null placement to isolate interferers rather than improve signal reception in general. The processing required to combine the signals from the different elements also drives the cost and complexity of the antenna.
This present system and method describes a new form of GNSS antenna that improves the signal strength and reduces the noise levels at the receiver by passively segmenting the sky into separate regions, reducing the error contribution and measurement uncertainty, and reducing the time required to a position measurement of a desired accuracy.


A system for detecting voids or imperfections such as holidays in a coating having fluorescent material therein comprises a camera having a digital image output for inspecting the coating wherein said camera's digital image output may include only the image produced by light in a color spectrum corresponding to a portion of the spectrum of light produced by fluorescent emission of the coating, thereby revealing the presence of any imperfections. Furthermore, an ultraviolet light source is provided to illuminate the coating and excite fluorescent emission therein. In one embodiment, the system is capable of distinguishing between an imperfection and the complete absence of a substrate surface. The system is also capable of revealing coating defects or imperfections in irregular surfaces. A microcontroller is also provided, having an associated memory, an input for accepting the digital image output from the camera, and an output representative of an analyzed digital image wherein said analyzed digital image includes visible indicia of any voids or imperfections detected in the coating.

It is a known phenomenon that certain fluorescent materials are capable of absorbing radiated electromagnetic energy in the near ultraviolet spectrum and emitting it at a longer wavelength in the visible spectrum of light. This phenomenon enables various inspection and detection techniques using fluorescent dyes or pigments illuminated by an ultraviolet radiation source that then re-radiate with luminescence in the visible spectrum. For example, a refrigerant soluble fluorescent dye is often used in air conditioning systems to detect slow leaks therein. The fluorescent dye glows at a leak site when bathed in UV light.
Similarly, many paints and coatings may employ fluorescent agents therein to permit the coatings to be inspected once applied to a surface or substrate simply by exposing the coated surface to a UV light source and carefully examining the light pattern emitted therefrom. This technique is often employed where maximal coating integrity over a surface is necessary. For example in naval applications wherein coated components are routinely subjected to salt water and its corrosive effects, it is typically useful to conduct a thorough inspection of all coated components to detect the presence of any voids, imperfections or "holidays" in the applied coating, thereby permitting corrective action prior to placing the component in service.
However, since fluorescence is a fairly weak effect, high intensity UV light sources are required for accurate and reliable holiday detection. Additionally, many areas that must be coated, such as ballast tanks on ships, are not readily accessible or visible and thus are not amenable to a simple process of UV light irradiation and attendant visual inspection. Furthermore, many coated areas requiring inspection have irregular surfaces that require more thorough scrutiny to determine the absence or presence of holidays in the coating. This problem is particularly acute in welded areas that are coated, since the surfaces of weld beads tend to be highly irregular and thus prove difficult to thoroughly coat and inspect. Discontinuities in coatings are often quite small and as such, are not readily visible to the naked eye.
Prior art coating inspection techniques have proven to be unwieldy and inefficient. For example, a wet sponge/conductivity test is often employed wherein a voltage is applied to a wet sponge which is them slowly moved over the entire surface. This test may only be employed where a non-conductive coating is applied to a conductive surface. Where a void or holiday is present, an electrical current will flow through the sponge as electricity is conducted from the void area through the wet sponge. Many wet-sponge testing systems employ other visual or audible indicators to alert an inspector to a coating discontinuity. This holiday detection technique is both time and labor intensive, since the sponge must be moved over the entire coated surface in order to detect any holidays. Furthermore, this inspection technique can only be used be when the coating being inspected is completely cured, thereby delaying inspection of freshly applied coatings.
Some camera-based inspection systems do exist, but these systems suffer from an inability to operate in low-light conditions and often prove slow to operate. Furthermore, prior art systems are costly, bulky and unwieldy, and are unable to discriminate between an absence of fluorescence caused by a void and the complete absence of a surface. Another particular difficulty with prior art inspection systems is the inability to inspect portions of surfaces due to the effects of glare and shadows caused by illumination or incident light.

Fluorescent coating void detection system and method


The present invention relates to a novel cyclohexapeptide, to a method for the preparation of said cyclohexapeptide and to the use of said cyclohexapeptide.

Cyclopeptides are polypeptides in which the terminal amine and carboxyl groups form an internal peptide bond. Several cyclopeptides are known for their advantageous medicinal properties. An excellent example of this is the class of echinocandins which are potent antifungals. Echinocandins inhibit the synthesis of glucan in the cell wall through noncompetitive inhibition of the enzyme 1,3-β-glucan synthase. Echinocandins are used in candidiasis and aspergillosis, they are fungicidal against some yeasts (most species of Candida), fungistatic against some molds and modestly or minimally active against dimorphic fungi (Blastomyces and Histoplasma). Also they have activity against the spores of the fungus Pneumocystis carinii.
Echinocandins can be naturally occurring compounds but may also be obtained by total synthesis or by synthetic or genetic modification of naturally occurring or naturally produced precursors; the latter class is referred to as semi synthetic echinocandins. One of the first echinocandins of the pneumocandin type, echinocandin B, could not be used clinically due to risk of high degree of hemolysis. However, preparation and screening of semi synthetic analogs of the echinocandins resulted in to cilofungin, the first echinocandin analog to enter clinical trials. Later semi synthetic pneumocandin analogs of echinocandins were found to have similar or improved antifungal activity with lower toxicity. The first approved of these newer echinocandins was caspofungin, and later micafungin and anidulafungin were also approved. Anidulafungin, caspofungin and micafungin are all semi synthetic echinocandins derivable from naturally occurring echinocandins such as echinocandin B, pneumocandin A0, or pneumocandin B0. One drawback of the compounds currently available to the market is low oral bioavailability, and hence they must be administered intravenously. Nevertheless, echinocandins have now become one of the first line treatments for Candida, but also for treating fungal infections caused by Aspergillus, Blastomyces, Coccidioides and Histoplasma.
Although nature can provide a substantive part of the complex chemical structure of semi synthetic cyclopeptides, and in many cases having all chiral centers in the required configuration, a major disadvantage nevertheless is that during fermentation often side products are formed that carry through the process and eventually end up as impurities. Only in few cases can fermentation processes be tuned in such a way as to prevent formation of impurities. Particularly when these impurities are structurally closely related to the main product, their removal is usually tedious and often requires unprecedented purification approaches as the main products in question are chemically unstable and/or prone to racemization.

More specifically, the preparation of caspofungin ((1), R═H) from fermentatively obtained pneumocandin B0 is a process wherein control of impurities is an important issue and indeed control of impurities has been the subject of several earlier studies such as, for example, US 2009/0291996 and US 2009/0324635 and references cited therein. Further improvement of impurity control in caspofungin production is one of the foundations of the invention as herein described. Upon preparation of caspofungin registration batches it was observed in certain HPLC traces that a shoulder is present on the descending side of the main caspofungin peak; this shoulder has hitherto not been described in literature. Although the cause of this phenomenon, i.e. the formation of an unwanted by-product, is at present unknown, the problem underlying the present invention is the determination of the chemical structure of the compound in question and the design of analytical methodology to establish presence or absence of this impurity in caspofungin batches.
In addition, another objective is to provide new pharmaceutically active compounds with the goal to further improve the spectrum of antifungal drugs available for treatment of fungal infections. The latter is of relevance in view of the problem of continuously developing resistance against existing drugs.

DSM SINOCHEM PHARMACEUTICALS NETHERLANDS B.V.


The telescopic hydrokinetic turbine system is a device meant for lifting the burden of manufacturing, installing, and maintaining hydrokinetic systems in the water. The device attempts to overcome the issues faced by present day hydrokinetic systems. To accomplish this, the device includes a light weight and easy to carry and install design, a telescopic pillar to align itself with the tide direction or even to leave the body of water for maintenance. Electrical parts are not submerged but instead remain onshore in a small cabin or housing. Further, by adding the use of multiple diffusers, the water flowing into the turbine is made smoother and the overload of water is able to be evacuated and swiped by the fins. The diffusers increase the blades working capacity while homogenizing the water flow and avoiding the phenomena of vibrations and cavitation, thereby increasing efficiency.

The technological hurdles met by tidal turbines are largely linked to vibrations of blades and consequently of hubs. Indeed, water currents are most of the time turbulent and do not reach the same speed or the same strength on the various areas of the blades. The density of water being eight-hundred times greater than that of air can cause different parts of the blades to be under very high stress. This phenomenon is aggravated by the length of the blades on a tidal turbine. The longer the blades are, the more important it is to keep this phenomenon in mind. It has the potential to cause intense vibrations and strong cavitation on the turbine structures since the blades of the same turbine may rotate at different speeds and intensities. It is therefore necessary to control the heterogeneous forces induced by the speed of the flow and density of water to limit deterioration of the turbine and prevent the system from breaking and stopping.
Other hurdles on hydrokinetic devices include difficulties of installation and maintenance. Those devices are often quite heavy and large since most of them bear long blades. Any required maintenance is difficult and expansive since the devices lay on the seabed or riverbed and need to be brought back to the shore. Installation is also rather heavy-duty work with excavation on the seabed or riverbed and includes the use of large barges and cranes. Therefore, it is also necessary to be able to install devices easily and to have easy access to the device for eventual maintenance.
It is an objective of the present invention to overcome the aforementioned problems. To accomplish this, the present invention comprises a light weight and easy to carry and install design, wherein installation includes drilling or using a dead weight at the base of the pillar. Preferably, the present invention is capable of rising automatically to align itself with the tide direction or even to leave the body of water for maintenance. Despite this ability, the device remains invisible in the water to avoid any visual pollution. Electrical parts are not submerged but instead remain onshore in a small cabin or housing. In other words, according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, maintenance is made simple due to the telescopic pillar being capable of bringing the device above the surface of the water and all electronic equipment being installed in a small cabin onshore. Further, the present invention provides a relevant response to the above-mentioned problems using the specific shape of its short and strong blades. Furthermore, by adding the use of multiple diffusers, the water flowing into the turbine is made smoother and the overload of water is able to be evacuated and swiped by the fins. The diffusers increase the blades working capacity by around 100% while homogenizing the water flow and avoiding the phenomena of vibrations and cavitation. The turbines, surrounded by the diffusers, multiply the amount of harvested water. Accordingly, there are no vibrations and resolution of the blades pitch, which avoids the damaging phenomenon as mentioned earlier. Thus, the design dramatically increases the amount of work of the turbine and therefore increases the efficiency.


A velocity calculating apparatus includes an acceleration sensor for detecting acceleration in the direction in which a motor vehicle travels. The acceleration sensor is connected to a CPU through an A/D converter. The CPU is connected to a GPS-signal receiver through a digital converter, and is also connected to a memory. The apparatus carries out a program for compensating for an error in the output signal of the acceleration sensor, wherein the program compensates the output signal of the acceleration sensor according to a GPS signal received from the GPS-signal receiver.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to velocity calculating apparatuses, and more particularly, to a velocity calculating apparatus for calculating a velocity from a signal output from an acceleration sensor, for use in a navigation system for a motor vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional navigation system for a motor vehicle, the positional information of the motor vehicle is obtained from a GPS signal.
Therefore, at places where a GPS signal cannot be received, such as a tunnel, a location behind a building, and a location under an elevated railroad, the positional information of the motor vehicle cannot be obtained.
To obtain the positional information of a motor vehicle even at a place where a GPS signal cannot be received, a velocity calculating apparatus has been developed in which a signal output from an acceleration sensor detecting the acceleration of a motor vehicle is integrated in the time domain to calculate the velocity of the motor vehicle. With the use of such a velocity calculating apparatus, the velocity of a motor vehicle can be calculated even at a place where a GPS signal cannot be received, and the mileage of the motor vehicle can be obtained by integrating the calculated velocity in the time domain. Therefore, a distance traveled by a motor vehicle after a GPS signal can no longer be received, and thereby, the positional information of the motor vehicle, can be obtained with the use of the velocity calculating apparatus.
However, the velocity calculating apparatus may have a large error caused by temperature drift and the sensitivity-temperature characteristic of the acceleration sensor, and by the acceleration of gravity at a slope when a signal output from the acceleration sensor is integrated to calculate the velocity.


The present invention relates to a motor-less automatic retraction device that can insert a vision tube capable of monitoring the inside of a furnace to mange the internal state of the furnace and control the temperature of the furnace into the furnace and retract the vision tube from the furnace in a motor-less manner. A conventional retraction device is disadvantageous in that it is expensive, voluminous, difficult to install, thus requiring expert's help to install, and difficult to repair at the time of breakdown, and requires expensive repairing costs.

In general, industrial furnaces are classified into various types according to products produced by the furnaces.
For example, the furnace types include an industrial incinerator for incinerating wastes, a melting furnace for iron mills for melting metal, a gas furnace for melting glass, a cement furnace, a pottery furnace and a calcining furnace.
One of operators' common demands relating to various furnaces is to frequently observe the inside of a furnace during the operation of the furnace using clear images.
Once a furnace is operated, the furnace is continuously operated for a certain period of time as long as a particular breakdown does not occur. Accordingly, the inside of the furnace should be inspected by frequently observing the inside of the furnace during the operation of the furnace.
A conventional method of observing the inside of an industrial furnace is generally implemented by forming a hole having a certain size through the wall of the furnace, placing a door in front of the hole to be selectively opened and closed, and observing the inside of the furnace through the hole using the naked eye with the door being opened.
Such a conventional method is used in about 70% of furnaces. In order to protect the eye and intercept strong visible rays when observing the inside of a furnace by the above-described method, a user should use an additional face protector to which an infrared glass is attached.
However, the conventional method is disadvantageous in that the thermal efficiency of a furnace is reduced due to the forming of a hole through the wall of the furnace, combustion mixture ratio can be changed due to the inflow of outside air, a viewing angle for observing the inside of the furnace with the naked eye is restricted due to a small-sized and long hole in the wall of the furnace, and an operator may be burned.
In order to solve the above problems, there was proposed another conventional method of monitoring the inside of a furnace by forming a hole through the wall of the furnace, forming a window using quartz or heat-resistant glass, placing a camera and a camera protective housing outside the window, and photographing images formed on the window using the camera and lenses.
However, this conventional method has a limitation in the monitoring of the inside of a furnace because only limited images obtained through the hole formed through the wall of the furnace can be observed.
Additionally, the glass is strongly resistant to heat, but weak to impact, abrasion and corrosion. As time passes, dirt, such as soot generated by combustion in the inside of a furnace, adheres to the inside surface of the window, so the transparency of the window is deteriorated and clear images cannot be obtained, thus the window requiring continuous maintenance.
This conventional method is more advantageous than the first conventional method, but is not appropriate for a large-sized furnace, and a furnace's temperature must be controlled precisely.
There was proposed still another conventional method of inserting an image device called a lens tube into the inside of the furnace and observing the inside of a furnace through a monitor.
In accordance with this conventional method, lenses are arranged in a conventional lens tube 1 in a row, a camera protective housing 3 is connected to the back of the lens tube 1, and a general camera is disposed in the camera protective housing.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the housing 4 is mounted on a cylinder rail 7 with a housing support 6 attached to the cylinder rail 8. The lens tube 1 is inserted into a furnace by supplying compressed air through the compressed air supply valve 25 to the cylinder rail and therefore moving the housing support 6 so as to photograph and monitor the inside of the furnace. In the case of an abnormal situation, such as a checkup, a power failure or the interruption of compressed air, the lens tube 1 is retracted from the furnace by supplying compressed air to the compressed air supply valve 25 disposed on the front portion of the cylinder rail so as to protect the lens tube 1 from high temperature heat inside the furnace.
The image of the inside of the furnace is passed through lenses arranged in the lens tube 1 in a row, and transmitted in and formed in the image sensor disposed in the camera protective housing 3. Thereafter, the image is passed through the electric control box 30 and displayed on a control center monitor 100, so the monitoring of the inside of the furnace is enabled.
In this case, since the inside of the furnace has a high temperature, specially fabricated camera protective housing 3 and the lens tube 1 are cooled by compressed air supplied from the air control box 31 to protect them. Thereafter, the supplied compressed air is discharged to the outside along a certain path.
However, since the system for monitoring the inside of the furnace described above employs the cylinder type retraction device and the camera protective housing 4, and therefore additional structures are required to fixedly attach them to the system, the system becomes large, power is required and so causes breakdown, and maintaining and purchasing costs are high.

Motor-less automatic extraction device surveiling inside of furnaces

Abstract: In order to overcome the above-described disadvantages, an object of the present invention is to develop a motor-less automatic retraction device that can insert the vision tube into the furnace and retract the vision tube from the furnace using a spring, so the device is easily to install due to its small size and lightweight, is easy to repair, and allows repairing costs to be reduced.