An apparatus, a method and a computer program product for correcting image data for the presence of a ghost image. The image data is for acceptance by a device that includes a partially-silvered finite-thickness reflector or similar element to provide a reflection of an image for display. The ghost image is a shifted, attenuated version of the image data. The method includes subtracting a first correction term from the image data, the first correction term being a shifted and attenuated version of the image data, the shift being the same as that between the image data and the ghost image, and the attenuation matching the attenuation of the ghost image caused by the device. The processed image data is input to the device. For a small enough attenuation of the ghost image, substantially no ghost image of the image data is displayed by the device.

This invention is related to image processing, and in particular to a method to correct for artifacts related to having a beam-splitter in the image path, and to a method to correct for multiple images—so called ghost images—that may appear as a result of the beam-splitter.
Electronic image display devices that use a beam splitter are known and commonly used. For example, common LCD projection displays use one or more beam splitters, as do projection displays that provide a viewer with a 3D image that has depth, typically aimed at three-dimensional (3D) telepresence systems.
Beam splitters typically use a partially-silvered glass element so that one image is transmitted through the glass, and another is reflected by the partially-silvered surface, typically the front surface.
With such a device, there is a chance that there is also reflection by the back surface of the glass. Coatings are commonly used to minimize such reflections. However, such multiple image artifacts, also called "ghost image" artifacts still may appear.
Thus, in beam-splitting applications, or in any application using a device that has a partially-silvered finite-thickness reflector to provide a reflection of an image for a display image, there is a chance that a secondary incidental reflection appears in the output.
FIG. 1 shows an example of how multiple image artifacts are introduced by secondary reflection in beam splitting applications that use a beam splitter or any other partially-silvered element to project a reflection of an image. FIG. 1 shows, in schematic form, an exemplary display 100 that includes a partially-silvered glass reflector 101 with a front surface 103 and a back surface 105. A digital image is converted to light in the display. For simplicity, this is shown as light image generator 107. A beam 111 of the image from light generator 107 is shown incident on the front surface. The principal intended reflection 113 in this application appears to a viewer 121 and comes from the front surface 103 of the glass. However, a secondary reflection 115 can come from the rear surface 105 side of the glass, adding a "ghost" of the displayed image on top of itself, spatially offset from the intended image. This secondary ghost image distorts the observed projected image from what was originally displayed, thereby interfering with the accuracy of the reflected image.
The following models the process. Assuming the digital content prior to the display is represented by X(i, j) as shown in FIG. 1, where i is the vertical dimension on the drawing sheet, and also the direction of the offset in the ghost reflection, and j the horizontal dimension perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. The coordinates i and j are expressed herein scaled to be in the same scale as an image appearing to the viewer 121. That is, any and all scaling, inversions, attenuation, etc., are incorporated into the representation X(i, j), so that if no ghost artifact was present, an image X(i, j) appears to the viewer 121. How to so incorporate all the scaling, inversions, attenuation, and so forth that occurs in the physical display would be clear to those in the art. As a result of the two surfaces in the reflector 101, the observer 121 sees an image that is the intended reflected image X(i, j) together with the ghost image, made fainter by a factor denoted α, and shifted by an amount denoted Δ in the i direction—what we call the "vertical" direction. Thus, the observer 121 sees an image denoted Xobserved(i, j), withXobserved(i,j)=X(i,j)+αX(i+Δ,j),
where α X(i+Δ, j) represents the "ghost" image generated by the secondary reflection, Δ represents the content shift introduced by the thickness of the glass used by the reflector, and a represents the attenuation of the secondary reflection relative to the primary reflection.
There is a need in the art for a method and for a computer program product to remove the ghost image—the α X(i+Δ, j)—so that the observer can see an intended image denoted by X(i, j).

Multiple image artifact correction of images for a display having a partially-silvered surface


Since JFFS, which is used as an existing method of storing data in a flash memory, stores all data sequentially according to a generated order, pure data of a file system and metadata for managing the pure data must be sequentially stored. Thus, when a PC is turned on and mounts the file system, since all metadata must be read to RAM, the entire space of the flash memory must be read, and thus a long time is taken to mount the file system. An increase in the capacity of the flash memory causes an increase in the mounting time. Thus, a booting time taken to turn on and use an embedded system significantly increases. Accordingly, JFFS is not suitable for embedded systems requiring quick access. A data storage space is secured by dividing a free list of segments that are used as a data storage space of a flash memory into a front journaling free list and a rear journaling free list by setting a central point of the segment free list, determining whether enough free segments are secured in the front journaling free list, and if it is determined that not enough free segments are guarantied, collecting garbage data from among stored data with reference to a wear-leveling threshold and a valid data threshold which are set in segments in which data is stored.

Recently, accompanying the development of information and communication technology and mobile computing technology, embedded systems, such as Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), Hand-held Personal Computers (HPCs), mobile phones, e-books, and the like, have been developed. Embedded systems mainly use a flash memory as a storage medium.
In general, a flash memory has characteristics similar to Read Only Memory (ROM) and has different characteristics to hard disks. A flash memory is similar to ROM or a hard disk in that stored data is maintained even if power is turned off, since it is a nonvolatile memory, and is more reliable than a hard disk. A flash memory can operate with low power, and has an access time as quick as Random Access Memory (RAM). A flash memory is rewritable and is suitable for portable devices due to its small size.
However, a flash memory is much more expensive than a hard disk, and if a user wishes to write new data in a space occupied by an old data, an erasing the old data is necessary before the new data is written. There is a problem in that the time taken to perform the erasing is 100 times longer than a time to read a data.
Based on a 28F640J3A model flash memory developed by Intel Co., a time to read data is 100-150 nsec, which is similar to RAM, however, a time to write and erase data is relatively slow. A time to write data using a 32-byte buffer is around 218 μsec, and a data write time of an erase block unit is around 0.8 sec per block. In addition, the size of an erase block, in which all data can be erased at once is fixed to 128 Kbytes, and the number of times the erase block can be used at a normal temperature is fixed to around 100,000 times. The erase block indicates a space of a flash memory in which all data can be erased at once and is called a segment.
Conventional technologies for building a file system using a flash memory are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,404,485 entitled "Flash File System" and a paper, pages 155-164, entitled "A Flash Memory Based File System," USENIX Technical Conference, 1995. In addition, Journaling Flash File System (JFFS) in which a log-structured file system is applied to a flash memory was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,630 entitled "Journal Space Release for Log-structured Storage Systems" and U.S. Pat. No. 5,530,850   entitled "Data Storage Library Array with Log-structured File System Which Allows Simultaneous Write and Garbage Collection".
A log-structured file system allows a file system to be constituted in a hard disk, allows versions of previous data and newly updated data to be maintained in a log format using a method of sequentially storing generated data, and allows data in which a problem has occurred to be recovered by going back to previous data.
JFFS allows a file system to be constituted in a flash memory using a log-structured file system and allows generated data to be sequentially stored. JFFS was developed by Axis Communications in the United States, and JFFS2 corresponding to version 2 thereof was developed by RedHat in the United States based on GNU Public Licenses (GPL) of Free Software Foundation (FSF).
One important reason why a journaling method is used when a file system is constituted in a flash memory by JFFS is that the integrity of data can be guaranteed. According to a characteristic of embedded systems commonly using a flash memory, the possibility that the supply of power is suddenly cut off is very high. In general, when a computer system reads or writes data, for storage efficiency, the computer system uses a method of storing the data in a buffer, performing a predetermined operation related to the data, and storing the data in a storage medium without directly storing the data in the storage medium.
In this case, if power is suddenly turned off, intermediate data disappears, and it is difficult to detect a proceeding state of data remaining in the storage medium. In addition, most additional meta data for creating a storage structure or a file system is temporarily stored in RAM. If this meta data disappears, it is difficult to guarantee the integrity of data or the file system.
Thus, the journaling method is used, and if data is logged and stored using the journaling method, the integrity of data can be easily guaranteed, and the amount of metadata decreases, and thus the metadata can be easily managed.
However, the biggest problem of JFFS is that since all data is stored in the order it was generated, files of a file system and metadata for managing the files must be sequentially stored. According to JFFS, when a personal computer (PC) is turned on and a file system is mounted, since all metadata must be read and transferred to RAM, the entire space of a flash memory must be read, and thus a very long time is required for the mounting process.
As the capacity of a flash memory increases, the time required for the mounting process increases significantly, and thus a booting time taken to turn on and use an embedded system increases proportionally. Due to this, JFFS is not suitable for embedded systems to which quick access is required.
Besides the simplicity of storing and the integrity, another reason for sequentially storing data using the journaling method is that wear-leveling must be considered. A flash memory cannot be used indefinitely. Although the lifespan of a flash memory varies from product to product, a flash memory can be reused around 100,000 to 1,000,000 times.
Since this lifespan is applied to each segment that is an erase block unit, if a lifespan of a specific segment of a flash memory ends since an erase and write operation is concentrated in the specific segment, the flash memory cannot be used or the useless segment must be separately managed. In order to prevent this problem, wear-leveling, whereby an erase operation is evenly for all segments, must be achieved. Since the journaling method sequentially performs the erase operation, wear-leveling is naturally achieved.
However, a sequential erasing method to achieve the wear-leveling causes a decrease in the data input/output rate of the entire system. In a journaling storing method, a location of a store operation will be referred to as a "head", and a location of an erase operation will be referred to as a "tail". Before the store operation is performed from a first free space of a flash memory to the end and the head reaches the end of the flash memory, only if a segment indicated by the tail is erased in a state where there exist some free spaces, data can be continuously stored in the flash memory.
While the head is used to store data toward the end of the flash memory, useless data and newly updated data may exist. In this case, the useless data of the flash memory is not erased but represented in an invalid state. For the updated data, data before the updating is performed is represented in the invalid state, and the updated data is stored in a segment indicated by the head. By doing this, when a problem occurs, recovery is easily performed, and the integrity can be maintained. During this process, when a segment indicated by the tail must be erased, if all data in the segment is invalid, the segment can be immediately erased, but if valid data exists in the segment, the segment can be erased only after the valid data is moved to a segment indicated by the head. However, if almost all data in the segment indicated by the tail is valid, a long time is required to move the valid data to the segment indicated by the head. This phenomenon occurs since the erase operation is sequentially performed even if a segment in which most data is invalid exists in an intermediate portion of journaling.
A reason why a segment indicated by the tail is erased is because a storage space of the flash memory is insufficient, and if all of the segment indicated by the head is used to move the valid data, even if the segment of the tail part is erased, a storage space is still insufficient, and thus this process must be repeated. If such data is fixed data continuously remaining in a system, the above process must be performed every time journaling is performed. This significantly decreases the performance of the system.
In order to prevent the above problems, if valid data occupies most of a segment, the segment is skipped without being erased. However, if the segment is simply not erased, it violates the wear-leveling, and thus a compromising scheme must be found between the skipping and wear-leveling. In addition, users desire a fast booting time regardless of what internal storage medium is used, and conventional journaling storing methods cannot satisfy these requirements.

Method for guarantying data storing space using dual journaling

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A genus of integrated valves having an integrated actuator with a thin, flexible membrane formed of silicon driven by pressure of a fluid trapped in a cavity formed by bonding a first and second die. The cavity has a resistor formed therein through which current is driven to cause the pressure to rise and the flexible membrane to flex. Movement of membrane is used to drive a valve element to a position where it unblocks a port to open the valve. This genus includes species such as ultra clean embodiments where a containment barrier keeps ultra clean processing gases confined to a wetted area having materials and bonding agents selected so as to be chemically compatible with the materials and conditions in the wetted area. Low leak species include a compliant material for a valve seat which is deformed by a ridge surrounding a port in the closed position. It is this port which is blocked and unblocked by movement of the valve element to close and open the valve.

The invention pertains to the field of micromachined integrated valves and, more particularly, to the field of low leak rate, normally closed valves for industrial and ultra clean applications. Semiconductor processing applications are examples of ultra clean applications.
Normally open, micromachined integrated valves are known in the prior art. Examples of various embodiments of such valves are given in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,821,997 and 4,824,073 and 4,943,032 and 4,966,646 by Mark Zdeblick, assigned to Stanford University, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Such valves generally include a three die structure which uses the top two dies to form a sealed cavity having a fluid with a boiling point selected for the application to which the valve will be put, said fluid trapped therein and having one wall formed as a thin, flexible silicon membrane. A resistive element is also in the cavity on the top die and has electrical connections to the outside world by which current may be passed through the resistor. The bottom die has a valve seat formed therein and input and output flow channels which are coupled across the valve seat. When current is passed through the resistor, the trapped fluid is heated and expands thereby causing the flexible membrane to flex far enough to come into contact with the valve seat and cut off fluid flow from the input channel to the output channel.
Normally open valves are suitable for some applications, but in other applications normally closed valves are needed wherein the deenergized state (trapped fluid not heated) results in no flow from the input channel to the output channel. Normally closed valves can be micromachined on substrates having similar structures and using similar manufacturing techniques as the normally open integrated electric-to-fluidic valves. An example of such a normally closed valve is the Fluistor.TM. Microvalve (NC-105) manufactured by Redwood Microsystems, Inc. of Menlo Park, Calif. In this valve, the flexible membrane is coupled at one point by a pedestal to the bottom die in which the output channel is formed (the "bottom die" refers to the lowermost layer in which the input or output channel is formed, but the general term "die", as that term is used herein, both with reference to the prior art structures and the invention, refers to the separate layers of the structures shown in the figures regardless of the material of which they are made). The middle die in which the flexible membrane is formed also has formed into the silicon thereof a flat valve seat. Under this valve seat there is formed an output (or input) channel through the bottom die. When the valve is de-energized, the flat valve seat sits on top of the channel through the bottom die and cuts off flow therethrough. When the flexible membrane flexes as the trapped fluid is heated, the flexing movement is constrained at the position of the pedestal and is converted into a torque which causes the middle and top dies (the top die seals the fluid in the cavity) to pivot upward around the pedestal as pivot point. This raises the valve seat off the channel formed through the bottom die thereby opening the valve. The fluid flow is typically over the top of the upper two dies, through a separation between the second and third die and out a channel formed in the third die. The reverse flow pattern is less preferred, but acceptable.
The current Fluister.TM. (trademark of Redwood Microsystems, Inc.) valve works well for noncorrosive or nonflammable fluids to be controlled and where leak rates on the order of approximately 1.times.10.sup.-4 cc-Atm/sec or more of Helium are good enough. However, in ultra clean processing and some industrial and medical applications, corrosive gases or fluids need to be controlled, and in some of these applications leak rates of less than 1.times.10.sup.-6 cc-Atm/sec of Helium or better must be obtained. Further, in many applications, it is important that the integrated valve be constructed so as to not add any undesirable materials (contaminants) to the fluid stream being controlled. These contaminants may derive from or originate from the material of the valve or its attachment material. These contaminants would interfere with or degrade the semiconductor processing or add undesired material to the semiconductor devices being manufactured. Examples of such undesired materials include things such as metals, more specifically, alkali metals, or other substances such as organics. Further, because many of the fluids that must be handled in a manufacturing processing environment are corrosive and would eventually destroy most containment materials, very careful selection of materials in the wetted area of the fluid stream of an integrated silicon valve must be used to prevent contamination of the fluid stream and to minimize any corrosive effects.
A prior art integrated valve which is not chemically compatible with most processing environments is the NC105 manufactured by Redwood MicroSystems, Inc. of Menlo Park, Calif. This valve does not have a sealing ring around a chemically compatible wetted area to prevent fabrication fluids from reaching parts of the valve which are not "chemically compatible" as that term is defined herein and typically used.
Accordingly, a need has arisen for a normally closed integrated, microminiature valve which can control corrosive fluids for long periods of time without failing, and which, in some embodiments, has a low leak rate across the valve seat and to the outside world.

Integrated electrically operable normally closed valve


A direct mail article that is produced from an integral web or sheet of card stock that can be transmitted through the mails without an outer wrapper or envelope comprises a large or oversized card approximately the size of a book or magazine cover, a preformed reply envelope that is separably joined to the card directly or through an intermediate reply device panel that is separably joined to the envelope flap. The preformed reply envelope and reply device panel are folded to a superposed position on the card and secured to the card for mailing by releasable adhesive means. Alternatively, the direct mail article comprises a large card and a reply device panel, the reply device panel comprising at least one business reply card and at least one advertising panel, all of which are separably joined along transverse parting lines to each other and to the card and folded to a superposed position on the card where they are secured for mailing by releasable adhesive means.

Direct mail articles requiring no outer wrapper or envelope must be produced on card stock of a weight that is sufficient to meet postal service requirements. For example, postal cards of various sizes, including picture postcards and cards containing printed advertising and solicitations have been produced on card stock meeting postal service requirements for mailing without an outer wrapper or envelope.
Magazine covers prepared from such card stock have been printed and perforated with separable return cards or other forms of reply devices for use by the recipient of the magazine. Of course, removal of the reply device damages the cover and reduces the archival value and utility of the publication. Solicitations and printed promotional literature has been printed on conventional paper, and double or extra thickness panels produced by folding and gluing two or more layers into superposed position, and thereafter cutting and/or perforating appropriate margins to provide a separable reply device in the nature of a postcard. The sheet or web containing the extra thickness panel must then be inserted, or itself formed into an envelope for mailing to the recipient.
In order to improve the favorable response rate from direct mail advertising and commercial solicitations, it is desirable to include a personalized reply device containing the original addressee's name and address, as well as encoded information, on a form that permits selection and confirmation of merchandise or services to be ordered, or for identification of contributors in the case of charitable solicitations. The reply device can take the form of a prepaid business reply postcard. Where a check or other payment order is to be returned with the reply device, it is desirable to also provide a postage prepaid and addressed return envelope that can be sealed by the original recipient.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a direct mail article in the form of a large or oversized card that is adapted to receive printed fields on one or both sides and an integral preformed reply envelope and reply device, all of which can be self-mailed without a separate outer wrapper or envelope.
It is another object of this invention to provide a direct mail article produced on heavy card stock that can be mailed without an outer wrapper or envelope, and that is in the form of a large card approximating the size and appearance of a magazine cover, along with an integral preformed business reply envelope and integral reply device, all of which can be easily separated by the recipient into three individual pieces.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a direct mail article that can be pre-printed and personalized in a plurality of positions while in the form of a continuous web or sheet and thereafter die-cut and folded into a resultant self-mailable card and readily separable preformed envelope and separable reply device that are temporarily secured in a superposed relation on the card for transmission through the mails to the recipient.
Another object of the invention is to provide a large printable card, approximating the size of a book or magazine cover, to which are separably attached one or more reply devices and one or more printable panels or sections for receiving advertising or informational copy, folded and assembled into a unit that can be mailed without an outer wrapper or cover.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide methods for economically producing a self-mailer in the form of a large or oversized card and integral therewith, one or more reply devices, and optionally, a reply envelope for use by the recipient, from a preprinted web or sheet that can be personalized in one or more fields on the self-mailer.

Method of manufacturing a direct mail article


A convenient ticket scraper is comfortable for use in scraping various surfaces and consists of a main body with a guitar pick shape and an arcuate protruding blade. The main body has a banana shaped key ring hole in one end and the arcuate protruding blade with the thickness of a coin in the other end. There is an even beveled area covered by rubber on each side of the main body for a thumb and a forefinger. An appealing version of this scraper is also disclosed.

Scratch tickets are very well known and are widely used by lottery organization and also for drawing all kinds of prizes. These "scratch tickets" are so called because they are covered with a layer, or layers, of opaque materials that hide text printed on the surface of the ticket that tells the buyer or player whether or not he or she has won. In these types of tickets one or more winning numbers or combinations are covered with a waxy like material. It is then merely necessary to scratch these covered portions to discover if the number or combination is a lucky one. The buyer or player in a variety of ways, including fingernails, knives, coins or the like, scratches off the surface.
In practice, a coin or a knife is used to remove the waxy like substance. This is not always practical and is certainly not convenient. On one hand, if the buyer cannot find the coin or the knife immediately, this means that the person buying it have to wait to arrive at home before scratching it. On the other hand, if a device would readily be available to scratch the covered number or combination, the distributor of the tickets would face the possibility of selling many more tickets or coupons to unlucky buyers. Moreover, gripping a coin to scratch is awkward, and may cause certain parts of the hand to become fatigued, especially since the pressure must be channeled through the limited area used to grasp the coin. If the pressure could be more evenly distributed over a larger and soft surface, and throughout the hand, this discomfort could be avoided.
A number of devices of varying effectiveness have been developed to aid in removing the surface or coating. These range from simple manual scrapers in which a scraping edge is manually brought into contact with the coating while the ticket is pulled past the edge, as typically described by Rizzo in U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,061 to large, complex electrically powered devices, using a rotating brush or the like to scrape away the coating as typically described by Forrest in U.S. Pat. No. 5,402,549. With the simple device of Rizzo, the plastic scraper blade will wear rapidly and great care must be used in scraping to remove only the coating and not damage the underlying symbols. On the other hand, the Forrest device is large and expensive, must be carefully aligned to remove only the coating, and is likely to damage the symbols if the ticket should jam in contact with the rotating brush.
Other manual scrapers are described by Fox in U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,004 and Diba et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,693. These also require careful application of just the correct amount of pressure on a scraping blade assembly to fully remove the coating while avoiding damage to the symbols.
Other motor driven scrapers are described by Clark in U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,383 and Sanders et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,765,842. These also are relatively expensive, require the provision of batteries or connection to mains and require the ticket to be carefully fed past a rotating cleaning brush so as to completely remove the coating to fully remove the coating without damaging the symbols.
Such previous scraping utensils have not been shown in a shape or size that would serve the purpose required by the scraper. In most cases, scraping or scratching off the coating by the above devices is inconvenient. This invention describes a simple and convenient ticket scraper, specifically in a size and shape, to be used to scrape the coating off of the "scratch off" type of lottery game ticket.


A system, method and computer program product are provided for enhancing participation in an educational environment using networked devices. In one embodiment, feedback is received from a plurality of individual group members regarding material being presented by a group leader utilizing a plurality of networked devices operated by the individual group members. Subsequently, such feedback is processed. The processed feedback is then transmitted to the networked devices operated by the individual group members. Such processed feedback includes the feedback received from each of the individual group members thus allowing each individual group member to view the feedback of other group members. The present invention thus creates an inobtrusive, anonymous means for group members to recognize when their individual perception of the class discussion is actually a shared perception, thereby motivating group members to participate.

In classroom situations, students are often reluctant to ask a question if they feel they are the only student who does not understand. Some of this reluctance derives from basic shyness, or fear of seeming different, or fear of seeming more or less intelligent. In reality, however, many other students have the same difficulty.
There have been numerous electronic-based techniques devised for enabling a teacher more easily to convey information and understanding to a class, and improving class participation. Such electronic classroom teaching aids assist a teacher in breaking through the reluctance that students have to participating actively in class. Enabling students to respond individually and confidentially by electronic means to questions posed by the teacher can help to break through some of the shyness or reluctance a student otherwise may exhibit.
One example of a conventional student response system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,120. This system is intended to collect data of a limited nature (e.g. responses to multiple-choice questions) from a number of classrooms. Specifically, a student response system is provided which centrally processes student response data received from a plurality of classrooms. The system includes a main controller coupled to an instructor's terminal in each of the classrooms. The system also includes a plurality of student response keypads in each of the classrooms as well as a plurality of student data controllers associated with each of the classrooms wherein each student data controller is coupled to a group of keypads to accumulate data therefrom. The main controller is responsive to commands from an instructor's terminal to control each of the student data controllers in the instructor's classroom to accumulate data from the keypads in a particular manner for transmission to the main controller which then processes the data.
Despite such electronic-based techniques, however, students are often hesitant to participate due to their lack of knowledge regarding the learning difficulties of other students. If students knew, however, that other students were similarly confused, they would be more likely to ask questions, and the learning process would be improved.

System, method and computer program product for enhancing awareness of fellow students' state of comprehension in an educational environment using networked thin client devices


An antenna includes: a grounding element extending along a first plane; a radiating element having a first side and extending along a second plane substantially parallel to the first plane, the radiating element being aligned with the grounding element in a normal direction transverse to the first and second planes; a bridging element interconnecting the grounding and radiating elements; and a feeding element extending and tapered from the first side of the radiating element toward the grounding element.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an antenna, more particularly to an antenna including a feeding element extending and reducing in length from a radiating element for increasing the operating frequency bandwidth of the antenna.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, devices, such as notebook PC and Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC), are required to incorporate an antenna that can be operate at frequency bands, such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX, bandwidth: 2300 MHz to 2700 MHz and 3300 MHz to 3800 MHz), Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN, bandwidth: 2412 MHz to 2462 MHz (802.11b/g) and 4900 MHz to 5875 MHz (802.11a)), and Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN, bandwidth: 2402 MHz to 2480 MHz (Bluetooth) and 3168 MHz to 4752 MHz (UWB Band I)). Hence, there is a need to increase the bandwidth of the antenna, which can cover the aforementioned frequency bands. In addition, there is further a need for the antenna to have a small size for miniaturization purpose.


A power supply device includes first and second power factor correctors, and first and second resonant circuits. The first and second power factor correctors are for receiving an alternating current (AC) input voltage, and are driven by first and second driving signals for rectifying the AC input voltage to generate first and second driving voltages, respectively. The first and second resonant circuits are coupled to the first and second power factor correctors for receiving the first and second driving voltages, respectively, and have output sides that are coupled in parallel for outputting an output voltage. The first power factor corrector and the first resonant circuit in combination is parallel-connected to the second power factor corrector and the second resonant circuit in combination.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a power supply device, more particularly to a power supply device that employs resonant converting circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
Resonant converters are known to have advantages such as high conversion efficiency and low cost, and are hence commonly used in high-power isolated DC/DC conversion. Nevertheless, because resonant converters operate on sinusoidal current waveforms, output current after rectifier always has high ripple factor. Especially for applications that require high output power, a plurality of parallel-connected capacitors are required to meet requirements of ripple factor and voltage stress. Conventional technique for reducing ripple factor of LLC converters is to realize phase-shifting output currents of parallel-connected resonant converters. However, resonant converters are controlled through frequency modulation and cannot be controlled through control technique of pulse-width-modulation (PWM) type DC/DC converters. Therefore, control of parallel-connected resonant converters to achieve low ripple and uniform current output has been a difficulty.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional power supply device 900 includes a first resonant circuit 91 and a second resonant circuit 92 that are coupled in parallel and that provide an output voltage VO. The conventional power supply device 900 has a current control loop and a voltage control loop.
The current control loop is for determining an optimal operating frequency at which the first and second resonant circuits 91, 92 operate. The current control loop includes a subtractor 96 and a load-balancing controller 97. The subtractor 96 generates a signal corresponding to a difference between output currents IOA, IOB of the first and second resonant circuits 91, 92. The load-balancing controller 97 generates a driving signal, according to the signal generated by the subtractor 96, for controlling switching frequency of power switches (not shown) in the first and second resonant circuits 91, 92, thereby controlling the output currents IOA, IOB.
The voltage control loop is for stabilizing the output voltage VO of the first and second resonant circuits 91, 92. The voltage control loop includes a voltage controller 93 that samples the output voltage VO, that generates a control signal (D) corresponding to the output voltage VO, and that provides the control signal (D) to a buck converter 94 so as to control switching frequency of a power switch unit (not shown) therein. The power switch unit in the buck converter 94 is controlled in a manner that the buck converter 94 converts the output voltage from a power factor corrector 95 into an input voltage, which is provided to the first and second resonant circuits 91, 92, such that the first and second resonant circuits 91, 92 provide a required output voltage VO.
Nonetheless, the conventional control method requires sampling of the output currents IOA, IOB of the first and second resonant circuits 91, 92, and is therefore difficult to implement. Furthermore, the buck converter 94 reduces power conversion efficiency of the power supply device 900. Moreover, the conventional control method requires that an optimal operating frequency (frequency at which gains of the first and second resonant circuits 91, 92 are substantially identical) be determined such that the output currents IOA, IOB are balanced, which can be difficult to achieve and is unfavorable in optimizing efficiency of the first and second resonant circuits 91, 92.

Silitek Electronic (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd.


A control system for an electric motor is arranged to determine the position of the motor from at least one electrical parameter by means of a position determining algorithm which is reliant on movement of the motor to determine the motor position, and to start up the motor from rest by applying voltages to the motor that are independent of the position of the motor.

This invention relates to electric motors, and in particular to the position sensorless control of electric motors.
It is known to use motor control methods that use an algorithm to estimate the motor position rather than using a position sensor. However, many of these sensorless algorithms do not operate well at low motor speeds. Those that can operate at low or zero speeds are significantly more complex than those that only operate at higher speeds. However in some applications, such as fans and pumps, including hydraulic pumps for power steering systems, there is a need to produce relatively low cost systems that avoid the cost of a position sensor and the complication of known zero speed position determining algorithms.


An oil separator is provided for removing oil from crankcase ventilation gases of an internal combustion engine. The oil separator includes a housing and a spiral shaped wall. The housing includes an inlet and an outlet. The spiral wall defines a spiral path for guiding the ventilation gases between the inlet and outlet of the housing. The spiral path has a width that decreases at a predetermined constant rate between the inlet and outlet of the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an oil separator for an internal combustion engine. More particularly, the invention relates to an oil separator for removing oil from PCV gases of an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
An internal combustion engine typically includes a combustion chamber, where a fuel air mixture is burned to cause movement of a set of reciprocating pistons, and a crankcase, which contains the crankshaft driven by the pistons. During operation, it is normal for the engine to experience "blowby," wherein combustion gases leak past the pistons from the combustion chamber and into the crankshaft. These combustion or blowby gases contain moisture, acids and other undesired by-products of the combustion process.
An engine typically includes a Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) system for removing harmful gases from the engine and prevents those gases from being expelled into the atmosphere. The PCV system does this by using manifold vacuum to draw vapors from the crankcase into the intake manifold. Vapor is then carried with the fuel/air mixture into an intake manifold of the combustion chambers where it is burned. Generally, the flow or circulation within the system is controlled by the PCV valve, which acts as both a crankcase ventilation system and as a pollution control device.
It is normal for blowby gases to also include a very fine oil mist. The oil mist is carried by the PCV system to the manifold. The oil mist is then burned in the combustion chamber along with the fuel/air mixture. This results in an increase in oil consumption. A known method of removing oil from the blowby gases is to use a labyrinth or cyclone-type separator design. A path is provided through which small oil droplets pass and coalesces into larger droplets. The droplets are then re-introduced back to a sump, which generally holds excess oil in the system. Conventional cyclone separators, however, have a fixed radius and convergent nozzle and, as a result, require a high velocity to generate a sufficient centrifugal force to promote a formation of oil film from smaller droplets. Conventional cyclone separators are also known to generate a high pressure loss. Examples of cyclone separators are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,279,556 B1 and 6,626,163 B1 to Busen et al., both of which are assigned Walter Hengst GmbH & Co. KG.
Thus, it remains desirable to provide a cyclone oil separator that provides improved oil separation performance, lower pressure loss and greater system flexibility over conventional cyclone designs.


A connection assembly for formwork elements includes a counterplate, a bolt, and a bolt block. The counterplate can include a plurality of surfaces having differing heights that selectively engage with a waler during engagement or disengagement of the bolt from the formwork element. The formwork element can include a J-shaped waler that allows for easy climbing and/or hanging of objects on a site. The connection assembly can include a bolt block that removably engages a formwork element.

Certain formwork systems of the prior art use bolts to engage formwork elements with one another. During assembly and disassembly of the formwork system, the bolt may need to be removing or replaced depending on the circumstances. This can be a difficult process or can require the use of additional tools and thus be inconvenient. Such formwork systems may also have a fixed connection assembly that is specific to particular types of bolts. This can be inconvenient where various types of bolts are used on a site, thus requiring specific formwork assemblies to match.


A molded article (10) made predominantly of pulp and comprising a bottom portion (13) and a body portion (12), wherein the angle θ between the outer surface of a side wall of the body portion (12) and the ground contact plane (B) of the bottom portion (13) is 85° or greater, and the height of the body portion (12) is 50 mm or more.

Plastics are used as common materials of hollow containers, such as containers with a lid and bottles, for their excellent molding properties and productivity. However, because plastic hollow containers involve various problems associated with waste disposal, hollow containers made of pulp are conceivable substitutes for plastic containers. Pulp-made hollow containers are not only easy to dispose of but economical because they can be manufactured from used paper.
Known techniques pertaining to pulp-made hollow containers include the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-279998. The container disclosed has an angle of 45° or more at which the side walls rise and a depth of 15 mm or more. Because this container is produced by pressing a pulp layer deposited on a papermaking net with a pressing mold and then hot pressed in a metal mold, it is virtually impossible to make the side walls stand at an angle approximately 90° or more and to make the bottom deeper.
A bottle having an annular rib-like projection on its periphery is also known as another technique relating to pulp molded containers. Since the bottle is made by separately forming a pulp layer on each of a pair of splits and then closing the splits to join the two pulp layers, it unavoidably has seams at the joint. Such seams reduce the bottle strength and also impair the appearance.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a molded article made mainly of pulp the side walls of which have a large angle to the ground and which has a large depth.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a molded article made mainly of pulp which involves no reduction in bottle strength has a satisfactory appearance, and has a depression or a projection of prescribed shape around the opening or the body thereof.


This device, in which the tubular element (1) is fixed to the spigot (2) by maintaining and sealing means (4), is characterized in that the maintaining and sealing means comprise two sleeves (5,6) coaxial with the spigot, one of the sleeves being an outer sleeve (5) connected to the component (3) and comprising resiliently deformable branches (10,11) biased in the direction toward the spigot, there being provided at the end of each branch a hooking portion projecting inwardly of the outer sleeve, and the other sleeve being an inner sleeve (6) comprising an abutment surface (7) and mounted to be axially movable between the outer sleeve (5) and the spigot (2) by the bearing of the tubular element (1) against the abutment surface (7), between a mounting position in which the inner sleeve (6) maintains the branches (10,11) of the outer sleeve (5) spaced away from the spigot (2), and a hooking position in which the inner sleeve releases the branches (10,11) of the outer sleeve (5), so that the hooking portions of the branches cooperate with the tubular element (1) and maintain it in position on the spigot (2).

The present invention relates to a device for fixing a tubular element on a tubular connecting spigot of a component, of use in particular in the automobile industry.
The device according to the invention may thus be employed for example for connecting a cooling radiator to an engine of an automobile vehicle.
Modern automobile vehicles comprise a bonnet or hood which is becoming increasingly streamlined to improve the coefficient of penetration of the vehicle in the air.
Space available under the bonnet for the radiator is consequently reduced relative to older vehicles.
The water of the cooling circuit is consequently relatively less cooled on modern vehicles and this water is during the operation of the vehicle at a pressure and temperature which are substantially higher than the pressure and temperature of the water in cooling circuits of older vehicles.
This increase in pressure results in risk of leakage in the region of the joints between the flexible connecting pipes and the rigid connecting spigots, for example connecting the radiator to the engine.
In the art, the flexible connecting pipe or connector is engaged on the corresponding rigid spigot and fixed in a sealed manner on the latter by a clamping collar placed around the flexible connector.
The clamping collars employed may be of different types.
Resilient collars are for example employed, but these collars do not ensure a very good seal when the pressure in the cooling circuit is substantially higher than atmospheric pressure.
Moreover, these resilient collars require the use of specific tools for mounting and dismounting the collars.
Clamping collars including a rack system may also be employed, but these collars also require the use of a specific tooling for mounting and dismounting the collars.
Further, dismounting such collars is a very difficult operation.
It is also possible to employ collars having a screw disposed tangentially, but these collars are very difficult to place correctly in position on the connector and the spigot. Moreover, the correct clamping of these collars cannot be visually checked.
Consequently, the joint devices of cooling circuits, in which the flexible connectors are fitted on the rigid spigots of the circuit and clamped by collars, are unsatisfactory under present conditions, that is, in the case of cooling circuits operating at high pressure. Further, these devices cannot be mounted in an automatic manner.

Device for fixing a tubular element on a tubular connecting spigot of a component of in particular an automobile vehicle


Process for the preparation of foamed thermoplastic polyurethanes characterised in that the foaming of the thermoplastic polyurethane is carried out in the presence of thermally expandable microspheres.

Thermoplastic polyurethanes, herein after referred to as TPUs, are well-known thermoplastic elastomers. In particular, they exhibit very high tensile and tear strength, high flexibility at low temperatures, extremely good abrasion and scratch resistance. They also have a high stability against oil, fats and many solvents, as well as stability against UV radiation and are being employed in a number of end use applications such as the automotive and the footwear industry.
As a result of the increased demand for lighter materials, a low density TPU needs to be developed which, in turn, represents a big technical challenge to provide, at minimum, equal physical properties to conventional low density PU.
It is already known to produce soles and other parts of polyurethane by a polyaddition reaction of liquid reactants resulting in an elastic solid moulded body. Up till now the reactants used were polyisocyanates and polyesters or polyethers containing OH-groups. Foaming was effected by adding a liquid of low boiling point or by means of CO2, thereby obtaining a foam at least partially comprising open cells.
Reducing the weight of the materials by foaming the TPU has not given satisfactory results up to now. Attempts to foam TPU using well-known blowing agents as azodicarbonamides (exothermic) or sodiumhydrocarbonate (endothermic) based products were not successful for mouldings with reduced densities below 800 kg/m3.
With endothermic blowing agents, a good surface finish can be obtained but the lowest density achievable is about 800 kg/m3. Also, the processing is not very consistent and results in long demoulding times. Very little or no foaming is obtained at the mould surface due to a relatively low mould temperature, resulting in a compact, rather thick skin and a coarse cell core.
By using exothermic blowing agents, a lower density foam (down to 750 kg/m3) with very fine cell structure can be achieved but the surface finish is not acceptable for most applications and demould time is even longer.
From the above it is clear that there is a continuous demand for low density TPUs having improved skin quality which can be produced with reduced demould times.
It has now been surprisingly found that foaming TPUs in the presence of thermally expandable microspheres, allows to meet the above objectives. Demould times are significantly reduced and the process can be carried out at lower temperatures, resulting in a better barrel stability. In addition, the use of microspheres even allows to further reduce the density while maintaining or improving the skin quality and demould time.
The present invention thus concerns a process for the preparation of foamed thermoplastic polyurethanes whereby the foaming of the thermoplastic polyurethane is carried out in the presence of thermally expandable microspheres and in the presence of an additional blowing agent, said microspheres containing a hydrocarbon.
The low density thermoplastic polyurethanes thus obtained (density not more than 800 kg/m3) have a fine cell structure, very good surface appearance, a relatively thin skin and show comparable physical properties to conventional PU which renders them suitable for a wide variety of applications.
The invention provides TPU products having outstanding low temperature dynamic flex properties and green strength at the time of demould, at density 800 kg/m3 and below.
The term "green strength", as is known in the art, denotes the basic integrity and strength of the TPU at demould. The polymer skin of a moulded item, for example, a shoe sole and other moulded articles, should possess sufficient tensile strength and elongation and tear strength to survive a 90 to 180 degree bend without exhibiting surface cracks. The prior art processes often require 5 minutes minimum demould time to attain this characteristic.
In addition, the present invention therefore provides a significant improvement in minimum demould time. That is to say, a demould time of 2 to 3 minutes is achievable.
The use of microspheres in a polyurethane foam has been described in EP-A 29021 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,257.
Adding blowing agents during the processing of TPUs is widely known, see e.g. WO-A 94/20568, which discloses the production of foamed TPUs, in particular expandable, particulate TPUs, EP-A 516024, which describes the production of foamed sheets from TPU by mixing with a blowing agent and heat-processing in an extruder, and DE-A 4015714, which concerns glass-fibre reinforced TPUs made by injection moulding TPU mixed with a blowing agent.
Nevertheless, none of the prior art documents discloses the use of thermally expandable microspheres to improve the skin quality of foamed low density TPU (density 800 kg/m3 and even below) nor do these documents suggest the benefits associated with the present invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An improved lid and pail combination provides a child resistant connection for use with pails.

Pails have been utilized in many industries as containers for products and/or other uses. The applicant has sold cylindrical shaped pails, rectangular shaped pails and other pail configurations over the years. D706,509 is a recent design patent for a rectangularly shaped pail having a hinged lid opening. U.S. Pat. No. 9,446,890 is another one of the applicant's patents relating to rectangular pails having safety features.
Nevertheless, the applicant's customers have requested the applicant provide a child safe hinged lid construction pail to the market. The applicant believes a need exists for an improved child resistant pail for various uses.


Contextual information is received, and a chosen event is identified based at least upon an analysis of the contextual information. A set of media assets is then identified based at least upon an analysis of the identified event. At least some of the contextual information is associated in a processor-accessible memory system with the chosen event, at least one asset in the set of media assets, or both the chosen event and at least one asset in the set of media assets. By using an event to identify media assets to which contextual information is associated, fewer and more relevant media assets may be retrieved and annotated as compared to conventional techniques.

As consumer collections of media assets, such as still images or videos, continue to grow, access and retrieval becomes increasingly daunting. The problem is compounded by the ease at which digital content may be captured and stored, enabling people to capture far more content than they would have with prior, film-based means of capture. Such content accumulates in the electronic equivalent of a picture "shoebox"—unused and unlooked at for years, due to the difficulty of retrieving content from specific events from such, generally unorganized, collections. Digital imaging is still a relatively new technology and most individual collections cover less than a decade; the problem will only worsen as digital imaging is used to record a lifetime of memories.
Such content may be manually annotated with text labels and stored in a database to be retrieved by keyword. However, manual annotation is a tedious task seldom performed by most consumers. With current interfaces, most people cannot be expected to invest a large amount of upfront effort to annotate their images in the hope of facilitating future retrieval. Research continues in algorithms to automatically extract semantic information from assets, including scene classifiers, activity recognizers and people recognizers. A high degree of accuracy in such algorithms remains elusive, particularly for algorithms attempting to extract higher-level conceptual information. The best source for such conceptual semantic information remains the users themselves; the challenge is to obtain such information in an unobtrusive manner and in a way that minimizes the amount of effort required by the user.
Earlier work described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,028,253 B1 to Lieberman et al. attempted to do just that—to obtain semantic information from the user by providing the user with a tool for automatic annotation and retrieval. While the '253 patent provides beneficial solutions, a continuing need in the art exists for improved solutions to retrieving and annotating media assets.

Identifying media assets from contextual information


A semiconductor device includes a transmission and reception circuit and a control circuit. The transmission and reception circuit transmits and receives a signal to and from a semiconductor memory device. The control circuit acquires threshold voltage distribution information of a memory element connected to a word line for read disturb detection to which a second voltage higher than a first voltage applied to an adjacent word line adjacent to a read target word line during a read operation is applied and determines an influence of read disturb based on the threshold voltage distribution information.

In a nonvolatile memory, a phenomenon called read disturb occurs in which a memory cell stores an unintended charge by repeating a read operation and a voltage of a word line in the same block rises. If detection of the influence of read disturb is delayed, data restoration fails or processing time for data restoration increases.

Semiconductor device, memory system and semiconductor memory device


A thermodynamic system includes a cyclical heat exchange system and a heat transfer system coupled to the cyclical heat exchange system to cool a portion of the cyclical heat exchange system. The heat transfer system includes an evaporator including a wall configured to be coupled to a portion of the cyclical heat exchange system and a primary wick coupled to the wall and a condenser coupled to the evaporator to form a closed loop that houses a working fluid.

Heat transfer systems are used to transport heat from one location (the heat source) to another location (the heat sink). Heat transfer systems can be used in terrestrial or extraterrestrial applications. For example, heat transfer systems may be integrated by satellite equipment that operates within zero- or low-gravity environments. As another example, heat transfer systems can be used in electronic equipment, which often requires cooling during operation.
Loop Heat Pipes (LHPs) and Capillary Pumped Loops (CPLs) are passive two-phase heat transfer systems. Each includes an evaporator thermally coupled to the heat source, a condenser thermally coupled to the heat sink, fluid that flows between the evaporator and the condenser, and a fluid reservoir for expansion of the fluid. The fluid within the heat transfer system can be referred to as the working fluid. The evaporator includes a primary wick and a core that includes a fluid flow passage. Heat acquired by the evaporator is transported to and discharged by the condenser. These systems utilize capillary pressure developed in a fine-pored wick within the evaporator to promote circulation of working fluid from the evaporator to the condenser and back to the evaporator. The primary distinguishing characteristic between an LHP and a CPL is the location of the loop's reservoir, which is used to store excess fluid displaced from the loop during operation. In general, the reservoir of a CPL is located remotely from the evaporator, while the reservoir of an LHP is co-located with the evaporator.


A mechanical safe and arm device for rotating munitions reduces arming scatter so that the “no arm” and “all arm” distance are substantially the same. A first spring holds a flywheel, a pinion gear, and a drive gear against rotation until centrifugal forces cause the spring to release them. The drive gear then rotates, causing rotation of the pinion gear and the flywheel. A post depending from the flywheel strikes and unlocks a second spring that unlocks a pivotally-mounted rotor that carries a detonator. The rotor then pivots and brings the detonator into alignment with a firing pin.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to munitions. More particularly, it relates to a command to arm fuze that requires no electrical or electronic components.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Modern exploding munitions or rounds are required to carry insensitive explosives that have been specially formulated to prevent explosion resulting from exposure of the munitions or rounds to fire or mechanical abuse during transportation, storage, carrying in the field or any other environment they may encounter up until the moment they are fired from a weapon. Since a round must be "sensitive" if it is to explode upon impact with a target, a safe and arm device (SAD) is required to make the round "sensitive" once it has been fired from the weapon. The SAD does this by controlling the alignment of one or two additional explosive components with the main insensitive explosive which forms an explosive "train," usually located along the centerline of the round.
The first component of an explosive train is a highly sensitive detonator; the second component is a less sensitive lead explosive, and it is not always required. The third component is an even less sensitive main charge. If all of the explosive components are in axial alignment with one another when the projectile hits a target, a firing pin detonates the detonator and the explosion of the detonator causes explosion of the lead charge and the explosion of the lead charge causes explosion of the main charge. The explosive train is interrupted and the round will not explode if the detonator or lead explosive is not in alignment with the main explosive.
It is conventional to align the lead explosive and the main charge on the centerline of the projectile and to position the detonator off center until after the round is fired. Movement of the detonator by the SAD from the off-center, or safe, position to the centerline is called "arming." The round and its fuze are armed when the detonator is in alignment with the other explosive components.
A SAD and fuze are usually designed to arm at a specific distance (range) from the weapon that fires the round. The arming range must be sufficiently far from the weapon to ensure the safety of the operator should the round hit a target and explode at the exact instant the fuze arms. Due to inherent variations from fuze to fuze, the range at which they arm can vary greatly. After testing multiple rounds, a "no-arm" range and "all-arm" range can be determined for a given type of fuze. Based on the test data, the "no-arm" range is defined statistically as the range from the weapon at which no fuze will ever be armed. The "all-arm" range is defined as that at which all fuzes will be armed. The spread between the no-arm and all-arm ranges can vary greatly. For example, a M549 fuze may vary from sixty feet (60 ft) (no-arm) to two hundred feet (200 ft) (all-arm).
A fuze that has little or no spread between the no-arm and all-arm ranges is defined in the industry as a "command to arm" fuze. There is a great need for a command to arm fuze due to the close engagement distances of urban warfare. Many times an intended target may be beyond the no-arm range, but well within the all-arm range of a fuze. In this case, the gunner cannot rely on the effectiveness of fired ammunition because some of the rounds will not have armed when they hit the intended target. If the all-arm range can be brought closer to the no-arm range, the weapon will be more reliable and useful over its operating distances.
Conventional mechanical fuzes such as the M550, M549 and M549A use a "spinning" rotor as the primary component of the SAD. The rotor spins about a pivot shaft that is offset from the centerline of the round. Centrifugal forces move the rotor radially away from the centerline as the round spins during flight. The CG of the rotor is typically offset from the centerline of the round when the fuze is unarmed in a location that will maximize the centrifugal force on the rotor.
The detonator is mounted within the rotor. The rotor and its pivot location are designed such that the detonator is spaced apart from the centerline when the fuze is unarmed. As the rotor spins about the pivot, the detonator moves to the centerline of the round so that it is aligned with the lead and main explosives. The rotor hits a mechanical stop when it is so aligned. The rotor is locked in the unarmed position by at least two independent safety devices that prevent it from rotating until the round has exited the weapon. A minimum of two safety devices are required by military specifications governing fuzes.
If not restrained, the rotor moves from the unarmed to the armed position in a small fraction of a second on the order of one-thousandth of a second (0.001 s). This unrestrained arming time is due to the centrifugal force resulting from the mass of the rotor and detonator. Given the velocity of a 40 mm high velocity grenade when it exits the weapon, the goal of an SAF is to arm the round in one-tenth of a second (0.1 s) to ensure an arming distance of approximately eighty feet (80 ft). Therefore, unless the rotor is somehow slowed down, the SAD will arm much too quickly.
The speed of the rotor is slowed down by mechanisms that absorb the kinetic energy of the rotor. A classic version of this mechanical absorber is known as a verge and pinion/starwheel. The starwheel is a small rotating disk that is coupled to the rotor via a pinion mounted upon the shaft of the disk. Gear teeth on the rotor spin the starwheel as the rotor moves from the unarmed to the armed position. The spinning starwheel repeatedly strikes a cam, called a verge, causing it to oscillate about a pivot shaft. The starwheel/verge system converts potential energy stored by the rotor to kinetic energy in discrete increments, acting as a brake to slow down the spinning (pivoting) of the rotor. Friction between the various mechanical components of the SAD also absorbs much of the energy of the rotor. Sources of friction include the pivot shafts about which the rotor, starwheel and verge rotate. These shafts are usually positioned radially outwardly from the centerline of the round.
Due to centrifugal forces on the respective CG's of the rotor, starwheel and verge, the loads on these shafts can be as much as fifteen hundred (1,500) times the force of gravity. Unfortunately, friction is not easy to characterize due to its variability in different environments; the coefficient of friction between two materials can vary by as much as 100% over a small temperature range. Moreover, the tolerances of the respective components can dictate how tightly they rub together. Accordingly, small variations in tolerances can result in large variations in the amount of friction. This friction problem cannot be easily addressed by adding lubrication to the system. In fact, adding conventional lubrications such as oil can actually cause the SAD to bind and stop functioning. The only practical means of lubricating the SAD is by the use of small, precise amounts of dry Teflon® powder; however, the powder application method must be tightly controlled or the treated SAD's may bind and not function.
Electronic SAD's have been developed, but they are not yet used in mass quantity production. An electronic timer could be used to initiate the arming very precisely and assure a Command to Arm fuze; however, some actuation system is still required to actually move the detonator from the unarmed to the armed position. Battery shelf life has also been a concern that has yet to be adequately addressed. The largest impediment for electronic fuze acceptance remains the cost of production in large quantities.
However, in view of the prior art taken as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill how the identified needs could be fulfilled.


A disc harrow composed of one or more disc gangs has a subframe coupled to the disc gangs to move the disc gangs in response to variations in farmland terrain to limit the impact of obstructions when encountered during the harrowing process. When the obstruction is cleared, the subframe automatically returns the disc gangs to their pre-obstruction position. In addition to reducing the potentially-damaging impact of obstructions, the subframe also maintains a more consistent reel depth during undulations or changes in the farmland terrain, such as during harrowing of slopes or unleveled fields such as valleys, near waterways, and along fence rows.

Once a crop has been harvested, residual crop materials frequently remain on the farmland surface. Typically, these residual crop materials are incorporated within the soil profile of the farmland in an effort to maintain soil nutrient integrity. For example, management of corn cropped fields commonly includes the incorporation of the residual corn stalks with field soil once the corn, and occasionally a portion of the stalk, has been harvested. Whereas some growers harvest a majority of the kernel, cob, and stalk material, others harvest only the kernel and discharge a majority of the chaff or cob and stalk materials onto the farmland. Regardless of the quantity of stalk material that is harvested, the subsequent preparation of the farmland requires incorporation of the stalk or crop residue with the field soil. It is generally understood that the size of the crop residue particles as well as the surface area of the crop residue exposed to the soil affects crop residue decomposition. Specifically, reduced crop residue particle size and increased surface contact of the crop residue with adjoining soil improves crop residue decomposition.
Frequently, a crop residue conditioner, such as a stalk chopper, is pulled across the harvested field during autumn. The stalk chopper cuts the remaining stalks into smaller, more easily workable and degradable sized pieces. Thereafter, a disc harrow is used to smooth and level the farmland or seedbed and till a portion of the crop residue with the soil. The disc harrow not only mixes the crop residue with the underlying soil to return nutrients to the soil but also can be used to establish a residue layer over the farmland to protect against erosion and provide moisture control during the winter months before replanting in the spring.
Disc harrows include one or more disc gangs, each including a series of steel discs or reels with tapered or beveled peripheral edges. The discs, although tending to roll or rotate as they are pulled forward, penetrate into and break up the soil and stalks and other crop residue. The soil and crop residue then ride along and across the concave surfaces so as to be turned or inverted. A portion of the residue is buried with this turning, with the percentage of buried residue increasing with the amount of soil turning. The amount of crop residue that is retained on the seedbed surface may also be controlled by setting the angle of attack or "gang angle", such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,612,381, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
During harrowing of the farmland the disc harrow may encounter various obstructions, such as rocks, stumps, and roots. To reduce the impact of such obstructions and thereby potential damage to the disc harrow, the disc gangs are often resiliently supported on the harrow mainframe so that each gang can independently yield to the obstructions. Conventionally, the reels are mounted to a shaft or axle which is then mounted to the harrow mainframe via U-shaped or C-shaped spring members, also referred to as shanks or cushions. These spring members are designed to absorb the blunt forced placed on the disc gangs when the reels meet with an obstruction. However, these spring members are typically coupled to the mainframe and the gang shaft in a fixed connection, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,132 to Rehn, U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,372 to Rozeboom, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,131,501 to Svendsen et al. As a result, when an obstruction is encountered during harrowing the springs will deflect to absorb some the impact of the obstruction, but the obstruction remains in the path of the harrow until forcibly cleared by the rotating reels or forcibly pulled over the obstruction by the tractor or other towing means. Moreover, once the spring has fully deflected, it cannot absorb any additional force placed on the disc gangs. As such, while such cushions have reduced wear to the disc gangs, their effectiveness is limited when larger farmland obstructions are encountered.
Thus, there remains a need for a farm implement having a shock absorbing assembly that not only absorbs the impact of an obstruction during the harrowing process, but also places less stress on the farm implement during clearing of the obstruction.

Crop residue and soil conditioning agricultural implement


Methods and apparatus to utilize route parameter sets for exchanging routes in a communication network are disclosed. An example method to exchange routes in a communication network disclosed herein comprises receiving a route comprising a route identifier identifying the route and a plurality of route parameter values characterizing the route, and sending the route identifier and a pointer to forward the route to a recipient in the communication network, the pointer being associated with a route parameter set comprising the plurality of route parameter values.

Many service provider networks employ a set of provider edge (PE) routers that define the provider side edge of the network. Each PE router interfaces with customer premises equipment (CPE) located at one or more customer sites served by the PE router. Service provider networks often provide virtual private network (VPN) services to interconnect different customer sites in a secure and private manner. To implement one or more VPNs between these customer sites, the PE routers communicatively coupled with the CPE at the different customer sites exchange routing information (also referred to as routes). Because each PE router can be connected to many CPE at many different customer sites, and each of these CPE can be part of a different VPN interconnecting with other CPE(s) at some other customer site(s), each PE router may support multiple VPNs and potentially need to communicate routes to any of the other PE routers in the service provider network. In smaller networks, a full mesh of PE routers is implemented to enable any PE router to exchange routes with any other PE router in the network. However, because full mesh implementations may not scale well, larger networks often employ route reflectors to exchange routes between PE routers.
In at least some service provider networks, a route reflector connects to the PE routers in the service provider network using interior border gateway protocol (iBGP) sessions. Each PE router uses iBGP to send routes to the route reflector for each VPN supported by the PE router. Additionally, each PE router uses iBGP to receive via the route reflector the routes from other PE routers in the network for each VPN the PE router supports. In an iBGP implementation, a route is a collection of objects, including a prefix and a set of route parameters, and a typical route reflector can maintain hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of routes.


An optical touch panel 10 includes: a coordinate input region 11; a light-emitting element 12 which emits light in a near-infrared region; a light-receiving element 13 which receives light in visible and near-infrared regions; a light-emitting sided-optical waveguide 14 connected to the light-emitting element 12 and having an output end; and a light-receiving sided-optical waveguide 15 connected to the light-receiving element 13 and having an input end. The output end 14a of the light-emitting sided-optical waveguide 14 and the input end 15a of the light-receiving sided-optical waveguide 15 are located on opposite sides of the coordinate input region. The light-receiving sided-optical waveguide 15 has an organic colored layer 16 provided on at least part of a surface thereof. The organic colored layer 16 has a lower light transmittance in a visible light region than in a near-infrared region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical touch panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical touch panels are widely used in, for example, bank ATM systems and railway ticket-vending machines because their reliability is high and their coordinate input region has a high transmittance and therefore can display sharp images. However, a conventional optical touch panel has a problem in that it cannot detect touches in environments where ambient light such as sunlight and light from lamps is strong because input to its light-receiving element becomes excessive.
In order to solve such a problem, there has been proposed an optical touch panel in which a light blocking member for preventing the entry of ambient light is provided above a light-emitting element line and a light-receiving element line arranged around a coordinate input region (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-86698). However, the blockage of ambient light by the light blocking member is not yet sufficient, and therefore it remains difficult to use such an optical touch panel in environments with higher light levels such as outdoors.


A method of handling waste is disclosed. The invention includes providing a transport vehicle or the like having a material-receiving cavity and a waste-receiving bladder carried within a portion of the cavity. A flowable waste material is loaded into the bladder at a waste collection site and delivered to a treatment facility located remotely of the collection site. A portion of the material-receiving cavity of the transport vehicle is filled with a non-waste material and is transported to a drop-off site located remotely of the treatment facility. In one embodiment, the drop-off site is located relatively closely to the waste collection site. The bladder may also be collapsed into a generally flat shape for use as a tarpaulin for covering the non-waste material.

Researchers are continually searching for new methods to treat and dispose of waste materials. Finding a cost-effective, environmentally safe method of dealing with waste has always been problematic, and the problem is particularly acute in large cities and other areas with high population densities in such areas, the value of land tends to be rather high, adding significantly to the capital costs of providing a proper waste disposal site. Operational costs associated with transporting the waste, however, may offset the capital cost savings gained by moving the waste to a remote location where land values are lower. This is particularly true in the case of waste water, primarily because the cost of building and maintaining a waste water pipeline between the city and a distant location often vastly outweighs the cost savings associated with the land itself. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a reliable, cost efficient method for transporting waste water from one location, such as a city, to another location, such as a rurally located treatment facility.
Waste materials, including both solid wastes and waste water, represent significant potential sources of energy. Some municipalities have attempted to recove this energy and reduce the amount of solid waste deposited in landfills by incinerating solid waste. However, such garbage incinerators are meeting increased resistance due to their high cost and the risks they impose to the environment.
As an alternative to incineration, others have used anaerobic decomposition, i.e., decomposition in a low oxygen or oxygen-free environment, as a means of treating organic waste on a small scale. The main products of anaerobic decomposition include carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2), methane (CH.sub.4), hydrogen sulfide (H.sub.2 S), and nitrogen-rich solids. As methane is a primary component of natural gas and is readily combustible, methane produced by anaerobic decomposition of waste can be burned to produce energy without posing any significant environmental hazard such as those presented by common incinerators. Furthermore, the nitrogen rich solids which are produced in this type of decomposition tend to be dispersible in water and may be used as a fertilizer or soil conditioner. Because anaerobic decomposition is an environmentally safe method for utilizing the energy stored in waste materials and because this process can provide a valuable fertilizer source, it would be desirable to have a method of utilizing this natural biochemical process on a large scale.
It has long been known that the growth rate of plants generally bears a proportional relationship to the concentration of carbon dioxide in the ambient atmosphere--a low carbon dioxide concentration tends to stunt the growth of the plant while an elevated carbon dioxide concentration can significantly increase the rate at which the plants grow. Although enhanced carbon dioxide concentration has been used in enclosed environments, such as greenhouses, utility of this technique in growing plants under field conditions is rather limited because the carbon dioxide becomes diluted by the ambient atmosphere and is blown away by the wind. Accordingly, it would he desirable to provide a means of utilizing enhanced carbon dioxide concentration to grow plants, such as trees, under field conditions.


An elastic sheath and a retaining ring is provided for a stethoscope having a head, a sound tube and an earpiece. The sheath has an open end for admittance of the head and a portion of the sound tube and a closed end. The sheath is sized such that the head of the stethoscope and at least a portion of the sound tube is enveloped by the sheath. The retaining ring is mounted to the sound tube and extends radially outwardly therefrom. The retaining ring is sized such that the sheath plastically deforms to envelop the retaining ring. The retaining ring thus releasably retains the sheath on the stethoscope.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a sheathing system for a medical stethoscope and, more particularly, to a disposable sheath for the head and a portion of the tubing of a stethoscope and a retaining ring to secure the sheath to the stethoscope in order to maintain hygienic conditions and to prevent both the contamination of the patient's skin by the stethoscope and the contamination of the stethoscope by the patient's skin.
2. Statement of the Art
The stethoscope is a clinical, diagnostic instrument for performing mediate auscultation. The stethoscope is used during examination of patients in a doctor's office, in hospital clinics, emergency rooms or while conducting hospital rounds. By means of this instrument the respiratory, cardiac, plural, arterial and other sounds are conveyed to the ear of the user by applying the head of the stethoscope to the patient's chest, abdomen, and other areas. These areas may be secreting bodily fluids contaminated with infectious agents, including viruses such as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) resulting in the contamination of the stethoscope head and portion of the tubing in contact with the skin. Obviously, the stethoscope will contaminate the next patient's skin unless the stethoscope is sterilized between each examination.
In practice, however, medical personnel do not sterilize the stethoscope between examinations of different patients, especially during hospital rounds or busy situations. Physicians and nurses generally use their own stethoscopes without specific preventative measures. For example, it is common, after examining a patient, merely to wipe the stethoscope with a paper towel alone or with alcohol. Even if sterilization is practiced, it is very hard to clean crevices and surfaces of the stethoscope with alcohol or other conventional liquid disinfectants.
The prior art teaches the use of sheaths for covering stethoscopes to prevent cross-contamination. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,659 discloses a stethoscope protection device for protecting the stethoscope from contamination during a stethoscopic examination. It teaches the use of a decreased or stepped-down portions in the interior of the sleeve to receive the head of the stethoscope and thereby secure the sleeve on the stethoscope.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,898 is directed to a stethoscope isolation system for preventing nosocomial infection. The system includes a stethoscope sleeve having an adhesive strip on one side. The sleeve is adapted to envelop the entire tube and the adhesive strip is used to secure the sleeve around the tube separation area.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,162 discloses a cover for a stethoscope to cover the portion of tubing that will contact the carrier's neck as carried about the neck. The sleeve is retained on the stethoscope through drawstrings to allow a knot to gather the material at each end of the sound tube. Alternatively, this patent discloses the use of hook and loop material on the inside of the sleeve to fasten the sleeve between the diverging ear tubes.
The prior art contemplates sheathing the stethoscope for prevention of transmission of invective infective disease via contact with the head. However, a need exists for a system of sheathing the stethoscope that incorporates a retaining system that easily, economically and releasably retains the sheath on the stethoscope, without the need to specially fabricate standard sheaths for this purpose.


A flexible header for an agricultural vehicle including a frame, at least one cutter bar movably coupled to the frame, and an adjustment system coupled to the frame and the at least one cutter bar. The adjustment system is configured to adjust a position of the at least one cutter bar. The adjustment system includes at least one linkage assembly. The linkage assembly includes a first link member and a second link member. Each of the first and second link members are rotationally coupled to the frame. The adjustment system also includes at least one fluid spring coupled to the first link member and the second link member such that the at least one linkage assembly translates a substantially linear movement of the at least one fluid spring to adjust the at least one cutter bar.

An agricultural harvester known as a "combine" is historically termed such because it combines multiple harvesting functions with a single harvesting unit, such as picking, threshing, separating and cleaning. A combine includes a header which removes the crop from a field, and a feeder housing which transports the crop matter into a threshing rotor. The threshing rotor rotates within a perforated housing, which may be in the form of adjustable concaves, and performs a threshing operation on the crop to remove the grain. Once the grain is threshed it falls through perforations in the concaves and is transported to a grain pan. From the grain pan the grain is cleaned using a cleaning system, and is then transported to a grain tank onboard the combine. The cleaning system includes a cleaning fan which blows air through oscillating sieves to discharge chaff and other debris toward the rear of the combine. Non-grain crop material such as straw from the threshing section proceeds through a straw chopper and out the rear of the combine. When the grain tank becomes full, the combine is positioned adjacent a vehicle into which the grain is to be unloaded, and an unloading system, e.g., an unloading auger, on the combine is actuated to transfer the grain into the vehicle.
A typical header for an agricultural vehicle includes one or more cutters, e.g., cutter bars with reciprocating knives, which cut the crop material that is harvested from the field. Once the crop material is cut, a conveyor system, which is positioned rearwardly of the cutter(s), transports the crop material to the feeder housing. Modern headers generally have cutters and attachments which are specifically optimized to harvest a particular kind of crop material. For instance, a draper header is typically used to harvest fluffy or bushy crop material such as soy beans or canola. A draper header generally includes a conveyor that is in the form of one or more flat belts, known as draper belts, to convey the crop material to the feeder housing. Some draper headers are moveably mounted such that the elevation, roll, and/or pitch of the header may be adjusted, allowing the header to more aggressively harvest crop material. Specifically in regards to a flexible cutter bar, a draper header may raise and/or lower the position of the cutter bar, thereby moving the cutter bar up and down at various points along the length of the cutter bar. For example, in the case of an undulating field, a header may continually alter the angle of its cutter bar(s) at various points in order to harvest crop material which otherwise would have been left on the field.
Some headers with flexible cutter bars incorporate a torsion block system in order to control the tension on the cutter bars. A torsion block system may include one or more rubber torsion block(s) and torsion arms. Such systems may provide sufficient tension throughout the range of motion of the cutter bars. However, since a torsion block generally has a sloped spring rate, it will unwind and loose some of its force as the arm travels upward. Due to disparate loadings on various sections of the cutter bar(s), a torsion block system may inadequately lift the cutter bar. For example, if the flexible header is equipped with a center knife drive, which increases the weight acting on the center of the cutter bar, a torsion block system may sufficiently lift the outer sections of the cutter bar but fail to sufficiently lift the center. Thus, instead of having a cutter bar which properly floats up and over the undulations in the terrain, the inadequate lifting of the center may cause the crop or dirt to build up in front of the cutter bar.
What is needed in the art is a flexible header which provides a consistent and sufficient lift force to adjust the cutter bar.


An auto-reversible folding door includes a sliding rail, a first door panel and a second door panel. The first door panel and the second door panel are pivotally connected, the top of the outer flange of the first door panel is pivotally coupled within the sliding rail, a clamping device located inside a sliding rail can clamp an inserting clasp of the guide pulley at the upper portion of the second door panel, a swivel spring having a first end attached to the sliding rail, a second end linked to the guide pulley of the second door panel. When pulling the second door panel toward the first door panel, the inserting clasp and the clamping device are positioned by the interlock relationship. When pressing the second door panel, the clamping device will release the inserting clasp and the second door panel is pulled back to its original position.

In the daily life, folding sliding doors are installed in quite many places, for example, in wardrobes, storage trunk, shoes cabinet and so on. It is mainly because the structure of such sliding doors is simple, the weight of the door is light and it is less space occupational when the door is opened and closed. Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2, which show the structure of a conventional sliding door, it is mainly comprised of a track 1, a first door panel 2 and a second door panel 3 which are both equipped underneath the track 1. The first door panel 2 is adjacently hinged to the second door panel 3. The top of the outer flank of the first door panel 2 is pivotally linked to the track 1. A pulley 4 is located at the top of the outer flank of the second door panel 3, such pulley 4 can be rolled along the track 1 towards the direction of the first door panel 2. Users may push the second door panel 3 towards the first door panel 2, the pivotal portion between the first door panel 2 and the second door panel 3 is then folded causing the second door panel 3 to lean against the first door panel 2, thus the first door panel 2 and the second door panel 3 will form a superposition at one side to allow the door opened. When closing the door, users have to pull the second door panel 3 back to its original position, so that the first door panel 2 and the second door panel 3 can be horizontally adjacent to each other. It is not ideal for users to always have to manually push the second door panel 3 to open the door and to pull back the second door panel 3 when closing. And users will eventually forget to pull back the second door panel 3 to its original position, causing the chance of door closure is not frequent even the folding sliding door is installed, gradually formed nominally.


A process for removing heavy metal contaminants from groundwater without injecting anion contaminants thereinto and without providing surface sludge for disposal is described. The process consists of withdrawing a flow of groundwater containing the contaminants and passing the flow of groundwater through an electrochemical cell having at least an anion of iron or an iron containing alloy wherein the cell consists of an anode, a cathode, and a plurality of closely spaced additional electrodes disposed therebetween. The cell then generates ferrous ion and hydroxyl ions into the solution which is then reinjected upstream of the flow. In-situ then hexavalent chromium will be reduced to nontoxic trivalent chromium and will form an insoluble iron containing compound or complex with the hydroxide to immobilize the chromium in-situ. Other heavy metal contaminants similarly will be immobilized by reacting with the iron, or through the absorbent properties of a ferrous iron hydroxide generated.

This invention relates to a process for treating groundwater to remove heavy metal contaminants therefrom by immobilizing the same in-situ. The process of this invention then eliminates the need for conventional pump and treat type schemes wherein contaminants are removed in settling ponds or the like, which in turn, then, require sludge handling techniques to dispose of the toxic sludge.

In-situ chromate reduction and heavy metal immobilization