A computer system and method according to the present invention can receive multi-modal inputs such as natural language, gesture, text, sketch and other inputs in order to simplify and improve locative question answering in virtual worlds, among other tasks. The components of an agent as provided in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention can include one or more sensors, actuators, and cognition elements, such as interpreters, executive function elements, working memory, long term memory and reasoners for responses to locative queries, for example. Further, the present invention provides, in part, a locative question answering algorithm, along with the command structure, vocabulary, and the dialog that an agent is designed to support in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

Semi-autonomous agents or bots can perform various actions in the physical and virtual worlds. For example, in the physical world, robots assemble cars and clean swimming pools, and unmanned arial vehicles (UAVs) perform complex missions such as urban surveillance and fuel resupply missions. Likewise, in the virtual world, such as first person shooter games, or real-time strategy games, and military training simulators, for example, bots may perform some actions based on scripted rules and low level user inputs.
The state-of-the-art autonomous agents in physical and virtual worlds have limited conversational abilities. Moreover, none are capable of answering locative queries, i.e., "where is . . . " questions. Further, an agent's autonomy, i.e., its ability to operate with little or no human supervision or operation, is very limited. For example, UAVs require six operators to fly a mission and the virtual bots require complex and unnatural controller inputs. Additionally, natural language communication with bots is limited to simple commands. For example, a driver can turn on the radio in a car using voice commands, but cannot ask any questions and receive answers. These challenges inherently and substantially limit the practical uses for autonomous agents.
In one aspect, the present invention provides physical and virtual bots with a vastly superior level of autonomy than the current state-of-the-art. Specifically, virtual bots ("communicative bots") in accordance with the present invention are capable of acting based on natural language commands, having a task-based conversation, and answering locative questions. The practical applications of such bots are endless.
With regard to locative question answering, one can imagine a common household scenario, where a farsighted elderly person asks his/her spouse "Where are my reading glasses?", to which the spouse responds, "They are directly behind you on the dresser". There are two main components of such a response. First, the landmarks such as you and the dresser, and second, the terms such as behind and on that describe the spatial relations of the target object, that is, reading glasses, with the landmarks and possibly between the landmark objects.
To create a response to such locative questions, an agent must decide which and how many landmarks to use and what spatial relations go with them. Past efforts describing landmark selection in the spatial reasoning field outline a set of selection criteria for landmarks, such as, it is bigger and more complex in shape than the target object, immediately perceivable, and less mobile. Past efforts also describe an influence model for landmark selection, which include search space optimization, listener location, and brevity of communication. However, these efforts fall short of operationalizing their approach and do not present a model that provides a clear description of how many landmarks to select. In contrast, the present invention provides a computational model for landmark selection and location description generation which minimizes the listener's mental cost in locating the target object.
One of the key insights employed by the present invention is that, in asking the locative question, the requester is trying to reach or find the target object, and the best response description is the one that minimizes the amount of search or looking around that the listener must do to locate the target object.
For example, imagine a force protection unit asking a scout bot, "where are the insurgents?" The scout bot in accordance with the present invention can respond, for example, "on the roof top of the building two blocks ahead of you." As another example, a worried parent of a lost child in a museum who was previously tagged with a location sensor may ask a locator bot in accordance with the present invention, "where is Johnny′?" using her cell phone. The locator bot in accordance with the present invention can respond, for example "in front of the drinking fountain next to the dinosaur exhibit to your right." As another example, in a multiplayer video game such as Call of Duty Black Ops™ (Call Of Duty™, 2011) a player could ask his virtual team mate "where are you" and it would provide a suitable answer.
The same approach can be used to help shoppers locate products in a retail store and the retailer can cross-sell and up-sell products to the shopper based on the questions they ask. No currently available system or methods provide such abilities. While there are many commercial systems for outdoor wide area navigation, there is little in the way of indoor navigation support such as shopping malls, large ships, and public parks.
The present invention thus provides a computational approach for representing and reasoning about the locations of objects in the world to construct a response to locative queries. The present invention can be implemented in an embodied software bot (a bot that can sense the world around it, reason about what it senses, and act) that answers locative (e.g., "Where is . . . ?") questions.
The present invention further provides, in part, an approach for implementing a Communicative Agent for Spatio-Temporal Reasoning (called CoASTeR™, in one embodiment) that responds to multi-modal inputs (speech, gesture, and sketch) to dramatically simplify and improve locative question answering in virtual worlds, among other tasks. In one aspect, the present invention provides a software system architecture workbench that includes CoASTeR. The components of an agent as provided in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention can include one or more sensors, actuators, and cognition elements, such as interpreters, executive function elements, working memory, long term memory and reasoners for responses to locative queries. Further, the present invention provides, in part, a locative question answering algorithm, along with the command structure, vocabulary, and the dialog that an agent is designed to support in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

System and method for enhancing locative response abilities of autonomous and semi-autonomous agents


Systems, apparatus and methods in a mobile device to multiplex two global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals on a single hardware receiver chain are presented. The GNSS signals may come from a common GNSS system on two bands of two different GNSS systems overlapping on a common band. A duty cycle of the GNSS signals may be based on a harmonic being within one of the first band and the second band. The duty cycle may be based on signal quality, such as indicating a jammed or non jammed signal. The duty cycle may be of unequal proportions and less than 100% such that the receiver chain is idle for a percentage of time.

I. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates generally to systems, apparatus and methods for receiving both L1 and L2 Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals and more particularly L1 and L2 Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) signals and L1 and L2 GLONASS signals in a time-multiplexed fashion using a single hardware receiver chain.
II. Background
Typically, GPS and other GNSS receivers operate with two hardware receiver chains: a first chain for the L1 band signal and a second for the L2 band signal. Each receiver chain requires and consumes power. To save hardware cost and battery power, what is needed is a receiver that requires less power than a two-chain receiver.

Method and apparatus for receiving navigation satellite signals from two bands


A method for operating an engine is provided. The method comprises adjusting an oil pressure in an oil circuit, the oil circuit including a pump in fluidic communication with a hydraulically adjustable cam follower and switching the hydraulically adjustable cam follower into a connected state to a disconnected in response to the oil pressure adjustment.

Internal combustion engines may be used to provide motive power to a vehicle. During operation of an engine exhaust gases are removed from one or more cylinders after combustion. Subsequently fresh air and gas are flowed into the one or more cylinders for another combustion cycle.
Intake and exhaust ports may be included in the cylinder and provide fluidic communication between the intake and exhaust systems and the cylinder. Thus, the intake port provides intake air to the cylinder and the exhaust port enables exhaust gases to be expelled from the cylinder. It will be appreciated that the intake and exhaust ports may be referred to as ports.
To control combustion, lift-valves (e.g., intake valve, exhaust valve) may be used to provide an oscillatory lifting movement and in this way open and close the intake and exhaust ports. It will be appreciated that the engine may perform a four-stroke combustion cycle. Furthermore, valve actuating mechanisms are used to adjust or move the lift-valves. The valves and valve actuating mechanism may be referred to as a valve train. The valve train functions to open and close the intake and exhaust ports at desired time intervals. One of the objectives of the valve train may be to open the intake and exhaust ports quickly to reduce throttles losses in the intake and exhaust gas flows to provide efficient charging of the cylinder with intake air and completely expel exhaust gasses from the cylinder. Some engines are equipped with two or more intake and exhaust ports. Tappets may be included in the valve actuating mechanisms. In some engines, electrically controlled solenoid valves are used to connect the tappets to the oil circuit or to isolate the tappets from the oil circuit. In this way, valve operation may be enabled or inhibited via the electronically controlled solenoid valves. Specifically, an electromagnet, which when energized opens the solenoid valve, is activated by an engine control.
The Inventors have recognized several drawbacks with using electronically controlled solenoid valves to adjust the tappets. Firstly, electronically controlled solenoid valves may be expensive and therefore increase the engine's cost. The high costs of these electrically controlled and actuated valves represent an obstacle to their use in large scale production. Furthermore, the complex design of the solenoid valves may be prone to failure and/or malfunctioning. A further disadvantage lies in the complex control of the valve and in the event of solenoid valve failure or malfunction the valve may fail to open.
As such in one approach, a method for operating an engine is provided. The method comprises adjusting an oil pressure in an oil circuit, the oil circuit including a pump in fluidic communication with a hydraulically adjustable cam follower and switching the hydraulically adjustable cam follower into a connected state to a disconnected in response to the oil pressure adjustment.
In this way, the state of the hydraulically adjustable cam follower may be switched based on the oil pressure in the oil circuit. Thus, the cam follower can be passively switched via internal components in the cam follower. As a result, the cost of the engine is reduced when compared to engines that may utilize solenoid valves to control cam followers. Moreover, the likelihood of cam follower malfunctioning may be decreased when the cam followers are passively switched.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.
The Invention is described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 1-4.

Internal combustion engine having an oil circuit and method for operating such an internal combustion engine


The developing device includes a development container, a developer carrier, and a cover member. The development container has an opening. The developer carrier has a development area. The cover member, including a front face portion, an upper face portion, a lower face portion, a side face portion, and reinforcing ribs, is removably fitted to the development container such that the developer carrier is covered with at least the front face portion and the upper face portion. With the cover member fitted to the development container, a gap is formed between each reinforcing rib and the development container.

The present disclosure relates to a developing device and an image forming apparatus including the developing device.
Image forming apparatuses, such as copiers, printers, facsimiles, and multifunction peripherals in combination of those devices, with use of the electrophotographic system, are equipped with a developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on an outer circumferential surface of an image carrier, i.e., for forming a toner image (visible image) elicited from an electrostatic latent image
Among such developing devices as described above is one which includes a development container and a developer carrier. The development container contains developer including toner. The developer carrier is placed in contact with or proximity to an image carrier. The developer carrier carries, on its outer circumferential surface, developer (toner) contained in the development container.
The development container has a container opening formed therein. The container opening is opened downstream of the development container as viewed in a moving direction (a direction in which the developing device is moved inside an image forming apparatus under a condition that the developing device has been fitted to the image forming apparatus). The developer carrier is placed so as to overlap with the container opening. Part of the developer carrier is exposed outside the developing device through the container opening. The part of the developer carrier exposed from the container opening is opposed to the image carrier, and there is formed a development area where toner within the development container is fed to the image carrier.
In the image forming apparatus including such a developing device as described above, a body opening is formed in upper portion of a main body (apparatus body) of the image forming apparatus. The body opening leads from inside to outside of the apparatus body. Guide rails are provided inside the apparatus body. The guide rails guide the developing device from the body opening to a fitting position of the developing device. The developing device is moved along these guide rails from the body opening to the fitting position within the apparatus body.
Among such developing devices as described above is one which includes a cover member. In order to protect the developer carrier during transport or storage of the developing device, the cover member is removably fitted to the development container so as to cover the developer carrier. The cover member has been fitted to the development container at a stage of shipping of the developing device, and is removed from the development container when the developing device is fitted to the image forming apparatus.
Such a cover member as described above is, in general, formed into a shape composed of a plurality of relatively thin planes for weight reduction. In such a cover, reinforcement-dedicated ribs are formed on an inner-side (fitting-side to the container opening) surface. These ribs serve to suppress any deformation due to shocks during transport or, in a case of resinous make, suppress thermal contraction during molding. The ribs are so configured as to come into contact with specified spots of the development container under a condition that the cover member has been fitted to the container opening. Thus, the cover member can also be fitted to the container opening while having been positioned at a proper place.

Developing device, and image forming apparatus including the same


Disclosed herein is a printing device connected to a client, the printing device including: a reception unit which receives plural types of logic packets from the client; a hardware packet processing unit which processes the logic packets by hardware; a software packet processing unit which includes a microprocessor and processes the logic packets by software; and a sorting unit which sorts the plural types of logic packets into a logic packet to be processed by the hardware packet processing unit and a logic packet to be processed by the software packet processing unit, wherein the sorting unit sorts a reply requiring logic packet including contents replying to the client as the logic packet to be processed by the hardware packet processing unit when sorting the plural types of logic packets.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a technology for suppressing a microprocessor used in a printing process from becoming a high load status in a printing device.
2. Related Art
In a printing system in which a client (a personal computer or the like) is connected to a printing device, data communication between the client and the printing device has been performed by transmitting/receiving a logic packet. For example, a printing system in which a client is connected to a printer through a universal serial bus (USB), print data or a control command is transmitted/received by means of a logic packet defined by a D4 protocol (hereinafter, referred to as a "D4 packet"). The D4 protocol is a communication protocol defined by the IEEE 1284.4. Examples of a system for transmitting/receiving print data or a control command by means of the D4 packet include a network system disclosed in JP-A-2006-139585.
In general, a printing device includes a microprocessor which executes predetermined software (firmware) so as to drive a printing mechanism (printer engine), thereby performing a printing process. In a printing device for performing data communication with a client by transmitting/receiving a logic packet, the microprocessor analyzes the logic packet to perform a predetermined process in addition to a printing process. In such a configuration, if a processing load of the logic packet is increased due to the frequent reception of the logic packet from the client, the microprocessor is in a high load status and thus the printing process becomes stagnant. Thus, it is take much time to perform the printing process.

Printing device and logic packet processing method


Systems, methods, and apparatuses may involve a burner configured to burn gas to produce burned gas and output radiant heat. A gas valve controlled by the system can regulate the flow of gas to the burner. A heat exchanger associated with a thermal cycle can be used to heat a working fluid of the thermal cycle. The heat exchanger positioned out of a convective heat flow from the burner. A heat valve between the burner and the heat exchanger can be selectively adjustable to adjust heat transfer to the heat exchanger.

During the production of oil and gas, either in the field or at processing plants, natural gas and/or other flammable process gases are often consumed using a flare, burner or incinerator. Heat may be dissipated as a result of combustion through hot gases in the stack vented out to the environment. Flares, burners and incinerators are used in other applications, as well.


A vehicle management system has an operation controller for controlling an operation of a vehicle by receiving a signal in a vehicle side mobile communication terminal provided at the vehicle, and an operating side mobile communication terminal capable of transmitting a signal to the operation controller via a mobile communication network. The operating side mobile communication terminal and the vehicle side mobile communication terminal have weak radio transceivers, and a transmission/reception of the signal can be conducted with the weak radio transceiver. The operating side mobile communication terminal includes a human body information inputting section for inputting fingerprint information, the operating side mobile communication terminal or the operation controller conducts authenticating of an operator with the input fingerprint information, and the operation controller conducts the controlling on the basis of an authentication of the operator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle management system.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional system of this type, there is, for example, such a system as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-311220. In this conventional system, an IC card on which a memory chip or the like is mounted is employed as a driving license, while a terminal to which the driving license having the IC card or a similar function is inserted is provided in a vehicle. Further, human body authentication information detection means for detecting human body authentication information such as a fingerprint, iris, and the like of a driver is provided in the vehicle, while information which represents human body authentication information of an owner of the driving license is stored in the memory of the driving license having the IC card or the similar function. When the human body authentication information of the driver and the human body authentication information described or stored in the driving license do not coincide with each other and the contents of the driving license do not correspond to the vehicle to be driven, the operation cannot be conducted.
Therefore, there is no one who can drive the vehicle other than a specified person such as the owner of the vehicle or the like, which enables to prevent theft of the vehicle and the like.
However, since the IC card or the like is employed in the above system, a person who wishes to drive the vehicle needs to get in and conduct operation of the vehicle. Since the person who wishes to drive the vehicle is different from the person who permits the drive enabling state of the vehicle according to the operation, there has been a problem that the above system cannot be applied in a case where an operator is far from the vehicle.
Further, in the conventional system, when the operator is far from the vehicle, he/she cannot be aware of the status of the vehicle. For example, when the vehicle is stolen, the operator cannot immediately be aware of the status.
It is a first object of the present invention to provide a vehicle management system which enables an operation of a vehicle even when an operator is far from the vehicle, and can determine the status of the vehicle even when the operator is far from the vehicle.


A test stand has a base supporting standards on which are mounted a crossbar and an adjustably locatable header. The header supports an actuator for raising and lowering the crossbar which holds V-blocks for engaging the handles of an impact or impact-rotary tool and which applies downward pressure to the tool. The tool chuck is fitted to the top of a guide rod whose lower end passes with a sliding fit through a disc to which it is keyed and bears against a piston in an hydraulically pressurized cylinder. Sensors detect rotation of the disc and movement of the piston to provide information to a computer as to impact energy and rotary speed. A manifold fitted with sensors for temperature, pressure, and flow rate supplies operating air to the tool. The computer includes a database with stored information as to past history of the tool and the manufacturer's recommended operating specifications to which the measured data is compared.

The present invention relates to a system for overseeing the performance and history of impact and impact-rotary tools.
Pneumatically-powered impact and impact-rotary tools are employed for a variety of purposes. Examples are the use of rotary rock drills and demolition tools in mining and quarrying and the removal of asphalt and concrete surfaces to gain access to underground utilities such as gas, electric and water lines. In particular, hand operated pneumatic tools are employed extensively by the distribution utility industry in the installation repair and maintenace of underground or buried lines and mains.
Unless the tools are adequately lubricated and maintained their operating efficiency can fall off significantly from manufactured specifications. Lowered kinetic impact energy or impact rate extends the time required to open any given section of pavement. By accumulating data from numerous crews as to the time taken to break out a 2'.times.4' asphalt pavement and separately determining the operating efficiency of the tools as a percentage of the efficiency for an as-manufactured tool, it has been determined that a tool operating at 52% efficiency takes over twice as long to break out the 2'.times.4' section as a tool operating at close to peak efficiency (95%). Consequently, if the tools can be maintained at a close to top efficiency it will result in considerable saving of labor time and, therefore, money.
Various attempts have been made heretofore by others to measure the operating parameters of rotary and impact tools. Various United States patents describe test rigs for testing pneumatic impact tools in which the impact force generated by the tool is compared with the energy input to the tool. U.S. Pat. No. 842,136 describes a method of testing pneumatic tools in which tool efficiency is determined by measuring and comparing the work done with the energy consumed. The apparatus described in Pat. No. 1,375,604 compares the tool being tested against the performance of a standard tool by comparing the quantity of air consumed by each in a given time. Pat. No. 1,576,465 describes apparatus that measures the rotating speed of the tool when operating under a constant impact loading force as well as against a constantly loaded rotary means.
A chart recorder is used to produce a graphic record of the tool operation in Pat. No. 1,790,971. Pat. No. 2,047,193 shows a device in which a piston compresses an oil/air column to indicate the integrated impact force. The apparatus in Pat. No. 2,761,307 functions to test both the output pressure of a pneumatic jack and the rotation of the plunger. In Pat. No. 4,901,587 each test drill is compared to a standard. The parameters compared are number of pecks per cycle time, the drill travel per cycle time, and the rpm of the drill. However, none of the devices heretofore known is capable of providing a complete evaluation of any of a number of impact and rotary-impact tools, and none provides the total history of the selected tool.

Impact and impact-rotary tool testing apparatus using rotary speed and impact energy

Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc.


The present system provides novel methods and compositions for selecting a particular strand of RNA and/or producing a cDNA library that results in an unbiased representation of RNA in a sample.

The present invention relates generally to methods for generated stranded cDNA libraries.
As the complexities of gene regulation become better understood, a need for capturing additional data has emerged. Stranded information identifies from which of the two DNA strands a given RNA transcript was derived. This information can provide, for example, increased confidence in transcript annotation, transcript discovery and expression profiling. Additionally, identifying strand origin can increase the percentage of alignable reads, thereby reducing sequencing cost per sample. Maintaining strand orientation also allows identification of antisense expression, which is an important mediator of gene regulation. The ability to capture the reactive abundance of sense and antisense expression provides visibility to regulator interactions that might otherwise be missed.
Methods for determining mRNA sequences can involve analyzing the DNA sequence of single clones of a cDNA library, which can be derived by enzymatic production of double-stranded cDNA from the mRNA isolated from a target cell or population of cells. Methods for determining the relative abundance of mRNA species typically involve quantifying the hybridization of a defined nucleic acid sequence to a complementary sequence in the mRNA population. Analysis of samples containing a relatively low quantity of mRNA can involve amplification prior to the application of methods for determining the sequence or relative abundance, of particular mRNA species. One of ordinary skill also recognizes that amplification methods that proceed exponentially are more likely to introduce bias in the relative levels of different mRNAs.
Existing methods developed for amplification of nucleic acid molecules have their shortcomings. Some methods suffer from, for example, sequence bias during exponential amplification and inefficiency of single-stranded ligation, the narrow applicability to a few forms of RNA and DNA, and the requirement of a 5′-terminal CAP. Accordingly, there exists a need for methods that are capable of unbiased selection of stranded RNA sequences from an RNA sample. The present invention satisfies this need and provides related advantages.

Methods for producing stranded cDNA libraries


A LCD device includes a plurality of pillar spacers disposed within liquid crystal for achieving a uniform cell gap between the color filter panel and the TFT panel of the LCD device. The pillar spacers are formed on the color filter panel and abut the TFT panel at a portion of the gate electrode exposed from an opening of an organic overcoat.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device having a uniform cell gap, and more particularly, to an improvement in the structure of pillar spacers being disposed in the liquid crystal of the LCD device.
(b) Description of the Related Art
LCD devices have been increasingly used in a variety of applications. The LCD device has a pair of opposing panels which define therebetween a cell gap for receiving therein liquid crystal. A pair of electrodes are disposed sandwiching therebetween the liquid crystal to apply a voltage across the liquid crystal, whereby orientations of the liquid crystal (LC) molecules are controlled to display an image on the front panel of the LCD device. A large number of spacers such as ball spacers or pillar spacers are disposed between both the panels to maintain a uniform cell gap irrespective of an external force being applied between the panels.
FIG. 9 shows a conventional LCD device, which includes a color filter panel including a color filter substrate 11, a TFT panel including a TFT substrate 12, and LC layer 13 encapsulated within the cell gap 13 formed between the color filter panel and the TFT panel 12. A plurality of pixels are defined on the TFT panel by electrode lines extending in the column and row directions. Each pixel includes a pixel electrode, a common electrode and a thin film transistor (TFT) for driving the pixel electrode.
A black matrix film 15, a color film 16, and an overcoat film 17 are consecutively formed on the color filter substrate 11. A gate electrode line 25 disposed for a row of TFTs is shown on the TFT substrate 12. In the region for the black matrix film 15 of the color filter substrate 11, i.e., other than the region of the effective pixel area, a pillar spacer 20A extends from the overcoat film 17 toward the TFT panel to abut the gate electrode 25 formed on the TFT substrate 12.
FIG. 10 shows another conventional LCD device, which is similar to the conventional LCD device of FIG. 9, except for the configuration of the pillar spacer 20A which extends from the gate electrode 25 toward the color filter panel to abut the overcoat film 17 on the color filter substrate 11 in the another conventional LCD device.
In both the conventional LCD devices of FIGS. 9 and 10, the cell gap 13 is maintained at a specified distance due to the balance between the compressive stress of the elastic pillar spacers 20A and the compressive load applied between the color filter substrate 11 and the TFT substrate 12.
There is a common problem in both the conventional LCD devices that a relatively small height of the pillar spacers 20A limited by the narrow cell gap 13 has an insufficient elastic force even though an elastic resin material is used for the pillar spacers 20A. In such a case, the pillar spacers 20A may have a larger strain for a minor deformation thereof, and may be subjected to a plastic deformation out of the elastic deformation range if the strain exceeds a specified deformation rate.
In addition, it is difficult for the pillar spacers 20A to expand and contract while following the changing distance of the cell gap 13, which changes due to the expansion and contraction of the liquid crystal 14 caused by a temperature change of the LCD device. More specifically, a higher ambient temperature of the LCD device expands the liquid crystal 14 and increases the distance of the cell gap 13 with an insufficient expansion of some pillar spacers 20A, thereby causing distortion of the display screen. On the other hand, a lower ambient temperature of the LCD device contracts the liquid crystal 14 while less contracting the pillar spacers 20A, thereby causing vacuum state of the LC layer 14 causing vacuum bubbles.
Further, an external force applied between both the substrates 11 and 12 may sometimes cause a plastic deformation of the black matrix film 15, color film 16 or overcoat film 17 due to the abutment of the pillar spacers 20A, thereby causing a local color change of the LCD device.

LCD device having pillar spacers in a cell gap receiving liquid crystal


A retainer member uses a simply curved surface to engage the yoke-receiver handset juncture. The retainer member includes a top portion which matches the handset receiver circuitry and includes end portions that engage the substantially circular receiver portion of the handset to provide a further distribution of applied forces. The top portion of the retainer member is provided with an end plug bore or opening having a top surface to prevent the end plug from becoming dislocated within the receiver portion. Also, a separate telephone wire channel is provided to keep separate the telephone wires from the flexible stranded cable thus insuring that no damage will occur to the telephone signal wires when the handset is subsequently stressed.

Anchoring systems are generally known in which a stranded flexible cable having a tensile strength exceeding 800 lbs. is used to mechanically connect the handset to the housing. The stranded cable together with the telephone signal wires are sheathed in a flexible telephone cord armor between the handset and the housing. The stranded cable extends through the yoke of the handset past the junction of the yoke and handset receiver portion. The end of the stranded cable is provided with an end plug or stop. The known prior retainer members have been either wedge-shaped to engage the yoke receiver junction or of a curved compound surface which matches the shape of the yoke-receiver junction. In each of these retainers, there is provided a pocket in which the end plug seats when the stranded cable is stressed.
The prior art retainer members suffer from numerous disadvantages. The wedge-shaped retainer member exerts forces against the interior of the handset which are greater than the force in the stranded cable in accordance with the principle of the inclined plane. The forces are applied where the handset is weak and are not aligned with the applied force. Therefore, while a wedge-shaped surface is simple and relatively inexpensive to produce, it allows the handset to rupture and perhaps injure the user. Alternatively, the compound curved surface retainer members are formed so as to closely match the interior surface of the yoke-receiver portion of the handset so as to distribute the forces over a large surface area when the handset is pulled away from the housing. These devices thus require the machining of a compound convex/concave tool surface which is expensive.
Still further, a problem with the known prior art retainer members is that the end plug, which under stress rests within the pocket provided in the retainer member, can be displaced from the pocket when the handset is not under stress or alternately is compressed toward the housing. In this case, the end plug interferes with the handset receiver and can cause damage to the receiver and telephone wires. This is especially true when a displaced end plug is subsequently placed under stress and entangles the telephone wires or the receiver terminals. In this case, the wires can be crimped, shorted or otherwise damaged.
There is therefore needed a retainer member which provides sufficient tensile strength for anchoring the handset to the housing and yet is economical to produce and avoids the known problems with the prior art devices.

Retainer member for anchoring a telephone handset to a telephone housing


A crew rest berth support system includes a crew berth assembly having first and second berths. Hook assemblies suspend the first berth from mobile platform structure. Pin assemblies suspend the second berth from the structure. Cam assemblies connect the first and second berths. The hook assemblies permit first berth rotation in a first path and the pin assemblies permit second berth rotation in a second path substantially perpendicular to the first path. When the first and second berths are connected using the cam assemblies the crew berth assembly is restrained from motion in either the first or the second paths. An entrance cap rotatably mounted to the platform structure prior to the first and second berths is also provided.

Mobile vehicles including aircraft, trains, ships, etc. often provide rest areas for crew or passengers when the vehicle is intended for operation over lengthy time periods. Commercial aircraft in particular are required to provide crew rest spaces for aircraft which operate over extended periods of time. Common crew rest areas include bunks or berths, seats, and lavatories for crew use. Aircraft crew rests are often separately provided for flight crew members and for flight attendants. Requirements for both crew rests vary. Some aircraft locate flight attendant rest areas at the aft end of the aircraft, rearward of the aft passenger seating area and above the ceiling of the aft passenger seating area. In these areas, crew rest berths are supported from aircraft frames or frame connecting structure. Some aircraft position crew rest areas adjacent to or in a lower level baggage stowage area. Crew rest berths in these areas are supported by the baggage support structure or platforms. Crew rest areas for flight crew personnel have been positioned forward of the flight attendant crew rest areas in the aircraft, and can also be supported from aircraft frames or overhead structure or positioned in lower levels of the aircraft. Each of these rest area locations are accessible using staircases and doorways or hatches, but the space is often co-occupied by additional items.
Crew rest berths are enclosures generally provided for an individual to rest or sleep in private, often having curtains or doors, electrical supply outlets, etc. It is often difficult to install crew rest berths on mobile platforms such as aircraft due to the weight of the berths, which can approach 300 pounds, which necessitates use of special lifting/handling equipment. Access for installation of crew rest berths is also limited by items such as piping, structure, environmental control system ducting, flight control cabling, fire detection systems, stow-bin support structure and center stow-bins, and electrical cabling positioned adjacent to or passing through the crew rest areas. Aircraft also commonly position passageways on the longitudinal centerline of the aircraft to maximize the usable space. Installation of all these items needs to be coordinated during construction of the aircraft.
Assembly sequencing of the above items are predetermined and therefore installation of crew rest berthing effects the overall construction schedule of the platform or aircraft. The additional structure commonly required to support each berth also adds weight, complexity, and cost. Installing multiple crew rest berths as a single unit is often impractical for many passenger platform designs because the installation sequence can require crew berth installation via fixed geometry doorways and partially assembled walkways. Access space for the installing mechanics and any equipment is also required. A crew rest berth design which offers faster and simpler installation is therefore desirable.


Two curved arch rib supports are provided with a pre-shaped flexible membrane cover attached to the ribs; the ends of the ribs are hinged on a common locus at base supports. When erected, a saddle shaped roof is formed to which contoured end walls may be added. Additional modules may be joined to the structure so formed, by applying a pre-shaped and independent fabric membrane or cable net attached by rings to only each of the two structure base pivot axles. A catenary cable and web belt stress concentrator connect each ring to its opposite on each separate structure. The cable and web are of pre-set length and are shorter than the perimeter of the outer chord of the beam. Alternatively, for joining a plurality of the saddle shaped structures, geodetic stress concentrators may be added to enhance and maintain the shape and performance of the cable net, thus stabilizing and drawing pre-stress or wind reactions from the membrane and facilitating their efficient flow to the ground anchors in purely tensile forces.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in relocatable shelters, particularly tents for special events as stage covers and assembly halls which utilize a multiple arched rib support type configuration having a cover secured thereto and which can be erected and removed readily and easily, as well as expanded in a plurality of configurations suitable for outdoor special events.
Stage covers and the like are of two varieties. One typical stage cover is a pole and fabric tensile type cover consisting of posts holding pre-shaped fabric out to provide a roof and sides with clearances for performers and equipment below, and open on one side for visibility to the crowd. Fabric is held stable against weather by virtue of its pre-tensioned anticlastic shape. A second known stage cover consists of fabric attached to parallel interspaced beams. Fabric is held stable by virtue of the strength and number of beams.
The disadvantages of the pole-type cover include difficulty of installation because of the required accuracy of anchor placement as well as erection procedures. In addition, the pole type structure cannot be readily expanded or changed for alternate uses. Sight lines are less than optimal because of the requirement for poles to hold up the fabric roof. The poles also interfere with the audience's visibility.
The disadvantages of the parallel beam type cover include high cost because of the number of beams required, the expense of the beams both in capital and cost of installation, the cost of erection procedure requiring use of a crane to place the beams, and the cost of installing the individualized fabric panels.


A furnace for reflowing solder on a wafer having a heating chamber with an entrance, an exit, and top, bottom, side, and end walls formed of sheets of porous insulation. The furnace has a first belt, with first and second ends, extending from a loading position into the heating chamber. The furnace has a second belt, with first and second ends; the first end of the second belt is coupled to the second end of the first belt, the second belt extending through the heating chamber. The furnace has a third belt with first and second ends; the first end of the third belt is coupled to the second end of the second belt, the third belt extending through the exit of the heating chamber to an unloading position. The heating chamber also has infrared lamps positioned below the second belt, the infrared lamps heat the second belt, such that the second belt heats the wafer situated on the second belt.

xe2x80x9cWafer bumpingxe2x80x9d refers to a semiconductor packaging technology that prepares microchips for flip chip attachment onto an integrated circuit package or other electronic assembly. There are numerous different methods of wafer bumping, but the process typically involves placing tiny amounts of electrically conductive material onto the input/output pads of a wafer and then subjecting the wafer assembly with the electrically conductive material to a thermal process known as mass solder reflow. Controlling the wafer temperature is critically important to allow the solder to reflow while at the same time preventing damage to the wafer.
One prior art method of performing a solder reflow process is known in the industry as hot-plate technology. Hot-plate technology utilizes conduction, where the wafer is placed on a flat thermal mass precisely maintained at a given temperature. Conduction heating of the type employed in hot-plate technology is beneficial because the temperature of the wafer will not go higher than the temperature of the thermal mass (hot-plate) on which the wafer is sitting. Traditionally, hot-plate technology requires a system having multiple isolated hot plate stages and a means of moving the wafer to be reflowed from stage to stage to achieve proper heating.
There are several disadvantages to the prior art hot-plate type reflow system. First, because of their thermal mass, hot plates are slow to heat up and to cool down. Therefore, a lot of production time is lost when it is necessary to change set point temperature for a high temperature solder alloy to a lower temperature for a low temperature solder. Second, a pusher bar is typically used to push wafers from stage to stage. Spacing between pusher bars are established for a particular sized wafer, for example, eight-inch and twelve-inch wafers, etc. If the equipment is used with smaller wafers than it was designed for, production capacity is lost. Third, fluxes residues are formed from the wafers as they are heated, and the fluxes residues accumulate on plate surfaces. One source of flux is an organic acid that is put on a wafer to provide viscosity and to remove oxides on metal surface that inhibit good electrical connections. When passing through the various hot plates, the wafers get dirty from being pushed through the condensed fluxes, and have to be cleaned in an additional, costly step.
Fourth, commercially available hot plate equipment does not provide a controlled atmosphere surrounding the reflow and cooling areas that is capable of maintaining an inert atmosphere or reactive gas atmosphere that contains less than five parts per million oxygen molecules, and so allowing oxidation to occur. Fifth, the gas that is used in the prior art systems to control atmosphere causes wafer movement which makes in line processing using cassette to cassette loading equipment more difficult to use. Sixth, the condensed fluxes must frequently be manually removed from numerous parts of the hot-plate equipment causing significant lost production time and considerable expense.
The present invention is directed to a furnace for reflowing solder on a microchip. The furnace has a heating chamber with top, bottom, side, and end walls formed of sheets of porous insulation. The heating chamber has an entrance and an exit.
A first belt with a first end and a second end extends from a loading position into the heating chamber. A second belt having a first end and a second end, the first end of the second belt being coupled to the second end of the first belt, extends through the heating chamber. A third belt having a first end and a second end, the first end of the third belt being coupled to the second end of the second belt, the third belt extending through the exit of the heating chamber to an unloading position.
Within the heating chamber, below the second belt, infrared lamps are positioned. The infrared lamps heat the second belt, such that the second belt heats a microchip situated on the second belt.
In another embodiment the furnace has a housing with walls defining a heating chamber disposed between an entrance and an exit. Each wall of the housing includes a porous insulative inner panel and a non-porous outer panel.
A first conveyor moves an object from a loading position through the entrance of the heating chamber. A second conveyor moves the object from an end of the first conveyor through the heating chamber between the entrance and the exit. A third conveyor moves the object from an end of the second conveyor through the exit to an unloading position.
The furnace has a pressurized gas inlet between the inner and outer panels to induce gas flow through the inner panel to the heating chamber. Wherein an area below the second conveyor is divided into stages transverse to the second conveyor. Each stage has at least one infrared lamp to heat the second conveyor.

Continuous-conduction wafer bump reflow system


A cover for an electronic device with a stand function is provided. The cover is detachable from the electronic device. The cover includes a frame that is detachably coupled to the electronic device at least one of a side surface and a rear surface of the electronic device, a cover member that is rotatably connected to one side of the frame and bendable on at least one bending line included therein, and a protrusion portion that protrudes from the frame, wherein the cover member supports the electronic device at an incline, when the cover member is bent along the at least one bending line and the protrusion portion rests on an edge of the cover member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cover for an electronic device, and more particularly, to an electronic device cover that is capable of standing the electronic device.
2. Description of Related Art
Although electronic devices, such as smart phones, tablet personal computers (PCs), etc, are designed to be used while held in a user's hand, there are times when it is more convenient for the electronic device to stand on end, without being held by the user, e.g., when watching movies or cooking from a displayed recipe.
Normally, to stand an electronic device, a stand unit that supports the electronic device is necessary, because the electronic device does not stand by itself. For example, by using a stand unit capable of standing the electronic device, the electronic device may be supported so as to make a predetermined tilt angle relative to a surface on which the electronic device stands.
However, conventional stand units for supporting electronic devices are generally heavy and/or bulky, often making them inconvenient to carry separately.


Moisture can be detected in a refrigerant background such as HFC (Hydrofluorocarbon) HFC-134A and HFC-152A and exampled by HFC-23, HFC-32, HFC-143A, HFC-125, HFC-245FA, HFC-227EA, and the like. The system can include a light source operating at any one of several wavelengths within the water absorption bands at wavelengths such as 1.4, 1.9 and 2.7 μm and a detector that measures the transmitted light intensity through the HFC samples. In one variation, the light source is a tunable diode laser and the moisture level is determined by direct absorption and harmonic spectroscopy. Related techniques, apparatus, systems, and articles are also described.

There are approximately 336 refrigerants used in a myriad of applications worldwide. Most are variations of the CNFMHIClJ molecule with a small number having trailing Br and O atoms attached. Of these, the most common and widely used are hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) as represented by HFC-134A, HFC-152A, HFC-23, HFC-32, HFC-143A, HFC-125, HFC-245FA, HFC-227EA as their contribution to atmospheric ozone depletion is much smaller than most others.
Common HFCs such as HFC 134A, 407C, 410A and 152A are finding an increasing variety of applications related to comfort cooling chillers (residential, industrial or automotive), commercial refrigeration, and industrial process refrigeration where such refrigerants are required. This increased adoption is due to the fact that the more commonly used freons until recently contain chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) or hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) which are being phased out in the United States and internationally due to their adverse effect (ozone depletion) on the earth's atmospheric environment. Therefore, HFCs have become much more prevalent in the applications mentioned above. Under section 608 of the Clean Air Act, it has been illegal since Nov. 15, 1995, to knowingly vent substitutes for CFC and HCFC refrigerants during the maintenance, service, repair and disposal of air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment. Therefore, though the HFCs are allowed as refrigerants, they cannot be vented to atmosphere either so their careful treatment is important.
The moisture content of these refrigerants is often critical to their application in such chiller applications as levels of frost and/or ice can form in expander valves and chambers should the moisture content be too high. Such freezing can seriously degrade or even destroy the process or the product in which they are employed and cause problems for maintenance or perhaps even unwanted venting prohibited by the above statutes. As a result, both producers and users have a strong need to determine the amount of moisture in the HFC they use or sell. Gas producers need to understand the trace moisture content of their gases so that they can assure themselves that products contain only the miniscule amounts of moisture they claim. Users need to measure moisture in these same gases to assure themselves that the stock gases being used do not adversely affect the product into which they are introduced.
Conventional techniques for measuring moisture in HFCs have significant disadvantages such as maintenance and calibration issues in the field that can be costly and time consuming to address.
Some conventional sensors for detecting moisture in refrigerants employ chilled sensors. With such devices, when gas flows over a chilled surface (such as a mirror) the moisture will condense on it—the exact temperature at which this condensation begins is the dew point. The temperature of the mirror is reduced from high to low (so that it passes through the dew point temperature), and the temperature is read exactly when the dew is observed. By obtaining the dew point temperature, one can calculate the moisture content in the gas. The mirror temperature is controlled by the flow of a refrigerant over the mirror or by using a thermoelectric cooler. The detection of condensation on the mirror can be done by eye or by optical means. For example, a light source can be reflected off the mirror into a detector and condensation detected by changes in light reflected from the mirror. The observation can also be done by eye; however the exact point at which condensation begins is not visible to the eye. Also, because the temperature is passing through the dew point rather than stopping exactly at the dew point, the measurement tends to be high and will have a high standard deviation. Additionally, the condensation of moisture can be confused with condensation of other condensable gases such as heavy hydrocarbons, alcohol, glycol or the refrigerant itself. Automated on-line systems are not able to make these distinctions and manual systems must be used only by highly skilled operators.
Other conventional sensors for detecting moisture in natural gas utilize an electrolytic sensor that includes two closely spaced, parallel windings coated with a thin film of Phosphorous Pentoxide (P2O5). As this coating absorbs incoming water vapor, an electrical potential is applied to the windings that electrolyzes the water to hydrogen and oxygen. The current consumed by the electrolysis determines the mass of water vapor entering the sensor. The flow rate and pressure of the incoming sample must be controlled precisely to maintain a standard sample mass flow rate into the sensor. With such a sensor, contamination from oils, liquids, glycols or the refrigerant itself on the windings will cause drift in the readings and damage to the sensor. The sensor cannot react to sudden changes in moisture, i.e. the reaction on the windings' surfaces takes some time to equalize. Large amounts of or large upward changes to the amount of water in the sample gas (called slugs) will wet the surface and can require tens of minutes or hours to "dry-down".
Instruments utilizing a piezoelectric adsorption sensor that operate by comparing changes in frequency of hydroscopically coated quartz oscillators can also be used to detect moisture in refrigerants. As the mass of the crystal changes due to adsorption of water vapor, the resonant frequency of the quartz crystal changes. The sensor is a relative measurement so an integrated calibration system with desiccant dryers, permeation tubes and sample line switching is used to correlate the system on a frequent basis. Interference from glycol, methanol, and damage from hydrogen sulfide or other sulfides or other contaminants result in readings that cannot be relied on. Such a sensor requires a calibration system which is often imprecise and adds to the cost and mechanical complexity of a system. In addition, the labor for frequent replacement of desiccant dryers, permeation components, and the sensor heads greatly increase the operational costs. Moreover, slugs of water render the system nonfunctional for long periods of time as the sensor head has to "dry-down".
An oxide sensor that is made up of an inert substrate material and two conductive layers. The sandwiched inert material is sensitive to humidity and may be used to detect moisture in refrigerants as its dielectric properties change with increased absorbance of moisture. With such a sensor, moisture molecules pass thru the pores on the surface layer and cause a change to a physical property of the layer beneath it. An example is an aluminum oxide sensor which has two metal layers forming the electrodes of a capacitor. The number of water molecules adsorbed will cause a change in the dielectric constant of the sensor. The sensor capacitance is correlated to the water concentration. Another similar sensor concept is a silicon oxide sensor. It is an optical device that changes it refractive index as water is absorbed into the sensitive layer. When light is reflected through the substrate, a wavelength shift can be detected on the output which can be precisely correlated to the moisture concentration. Fiber optic connector may be used to separate the sensor bead and the electronics.
With such a sensor, water molecules take time to enter and exit the pores so some wet-up and dry down delays will be observed, especially after a slug. Contaminants and corrosives may damage and clog the pores causing a "drift" in the calibration, but the sensor heads can be refurbished or replaced and will perform better in very clean gas streams. As with the piezoelectric and electrolytic sensors, the sensor is susceptible to interference from glycol and methanol, the calibration will drift as the sensor's surface becomes inactive due to damage or blockage, so the calibration is reliable only at the beginning of the sensor's life.
Optical sensors have also been developed for use in measuring gases within HFCs. Some implementations measure gases in refrigerants by determining the broadband spectrum of the refrigerant in the absence of a sensing reagent using a broadband detector and a monochrometer or some such selectable monochromatic light source and comparing the spectrum into that of various types of refrigerants. The refrigerant spectrum that matches the measured spectrum is the refrigerant present. With such a sensor, concentration of the refrigerant or the included trace gases can be determined, however, the lower detection limit of this type of device is greater than is needed in many applications.
Other optical sensors measure a continuous spectrum using broadband light that is directed to a series of detectors sensitive to a variety of pre-selected infrared light frequencies. Such frequencies are selected such that when a certain combination of relative absorption is seen, the refrigerant or included trace gas can be identified. Such an arrangement also has a higher detection limit than is desired for many applications. Moreover, only small segments of the broadband spectrum can be used for measurement, thereby leading to false readings and considerable measurement complexity if there is more than one gas type present, particularly when the absorption bands fall in the same place (i.e.—interferences).


In a V6 engine that can switch between a first running state and a second running state which differ in the number of cylinders that are permitted to operate, when switching from L3 selective cylinder operation to V4 selective cylinder operation is determined to be required, control of an active vibration isolation support system corresponding to L3 selective cylinder operation is normally continued for one cycle. However, in this case of switching from L3 selective cylinder operation to V4 selective cylinder operation, a vibration pattern of L3 selective cylinder operation continues for longer than usual, that is, for a period greater than one cycle. Therefore, control of the active vibration isolation support system corresponding to the vibration pattern of L3 selective cylinder operation is continued for two cycles of the vibration pattern, thereby further effectively improve a vibrational state when switching between running states from L3 selective cylinder operation to V4 selective cylinder operation.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a control system for an active vibration isolation support system which supports, on a vehicle body, an engine that can selectively switch between a first running state and a second running state which differ in the number of cylinders that are permitted to operate. The control system includes a control device for controlling an actuator of the active vibration isolation support system according to a vibrational state of the engine so as to suppress transmission of vibration from the engine to the vehicle body.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-113892 discloses a device in which a vibrational state of an engine is estimated from an angular acceleration of a crankshaft of an engine, and operation of an actuator of an active vibration isolation support system is controlled based on the vibrational state. In this device, if the engine vibration is large and it is easy to estimate the phase (for example, during selective cylinder operation in which only a subset of all cylinders is permitted to operate), the operation of the actuator is controlled based on the estimated phase for the engine vibration, whereas if the engine vibration is small and it is difficult to estimate the phase (for example, during all-cylinder operation), the operation of the actuator is controlled based on a preset phase for the engine vibration.
In some V6 engines, the operation can be switched between a selective cylinder operation state in which the engine runs as an in-line three cylinder engine with a bank on one side made non-operational, and a selective cylinder operation state in which the engine runs as a V4 engine with one cylinder in each of the two banks made non-operational. In this case, there are three running states, that is, V6 all-cylinder operation, L3 selective cylinder operation, and V4 selective cylinder operation. When switching among these three running states, the vibrational state prior to the switch continues due to the inertia of the engine for approximately one cycle of vibration after the switch. If the control of the active vibration isolation support system for the vibrational state prior to switching between running states is continued, after the switch, for a period corresponding to only one vibration cycle, the vibrational state during the switch can be improved.
However, depending on the combination of a running state prior to switching between running states of the engine and a running state subsequent to the switch, there is a case where the vibrational state prior to the switch may continue for a longer period of time after the switch. In this case, it is desirable that control of the active vibration isolation support system corresponding to the vibrational state prior to the switching between running states is continued after the switch for a longer period than the period corresponding to one vibration cycle.

Control system for active vibration isolation support system and method of use


Apparatus, and a concomitant method of operation for the apparatus, for responding to an interrogation signal transmitted by a remotely located interrogator comprising: a demodulator for demodulating the interrogation signal; a signal processor, coupled to the demodulator, for interpreting a set up instruction contained in the interrogation signal and for initiating a counter to count cycles of a carrier wave signal contained in the interrogation signal; and a modulator, coupled to the signal processor, for transmitting a pulse when the signal processor indicates that the counter has attained a count value that matches a codeword stored in the signal processor.

Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,445, issued Mar. 26, 1996 and 5,491,482, issued Feb. 13, 1996 disclose a system and method for remotely identifying electronically coded articles (e.g., tags, badges and the like). Each of these patents is herein incorporated by reference. The interrogation and identification (I/I) system is comprised of an interrogator/reader (I/R) unit (also referred to as simply an interrogator) and a plurality of badges. The interrogator sends a microwave signal to the badges within a defined area near the interrogator, i.e., the interrogation area. Circuitry within each of the badges processes the interrogation signal and, in response to the interrogation signal, the badges transmit a signal back to the interrogator. From the responsive signal, the interrogator identifies each of the badges by analyzing certain modulation encoded onto the return signal.
More specifically, each of the badges contains a plurality of ID registers (e.g., an A-register, a B-register, and so on) that store unique identification values, i.e., although a particular value in a particular register is not unique, the values in a plurality of registers taken together uniquely identify the badge. The interrogator causes each badge to retrieve the identification values and send the values to the interrogator. To accomplish badge identification, the system performs a "two pass" process. During the first pass, the system generates an interrogation beam to activate the badges within the interrogation area. The system repeatedly sends an interrogation signal that causes the badges to transmit values from their ID registers. This pass causes all the values from each register to be sent, i.e., request the data in all the A-registers of all the badges within the interrogation area, then request data from all the B-registers, then all the C-registers, and so on. The identification values are stored in a computer coupled to the interrogator. The computer then categorizes the values into groups defined by the specific register within the badge from which the value was retrieved, i.e., each returned value is stored in an array that correlates the various values with the various registers. During a "second pass", the categorized groups are sorted by sending particular coding combination to the badges where the coding combination is derived from an analysis of the categorized values. The specific coding combinations uniquely identify the badge that responds to the second interrogation signal.
To accumulate the data from the ID registers, the present system repeatedly polls the badges that are within in the interrogation area to retrieve the register data one register at a time, i.e., all the A-registers are polled, then all the B-registers, and so on. This one-value at a time process is relatively slow.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a system and method for rapidly identifying a plurality of electronically coded badges.

Method and apparatus for remotely identifying an electronically coded article


A plurality of programs are recorded on a storage medium, selection information for selecting whether or not to permit starting for each program are registered as management information, and, when a program on the storage medium is to be started by a computer, a program only that is permitted for selection is displayed on a display unit with reference to the management information, for selection by a user. A selection-not-permitted sign is set in the portion of the management information involving a program not selected by the user so as to delete a selection-not-permitted program from the storage medium.

As methods for distributing an application program for use on a computer such as a personal computer, a method using a communications network and a method using a storage medium are generally used. As a method for distributing a relatively large program at once, the latter method, in which the program is sold at a shop in a medium such as a CD-ROM or attached to a magazine, is widely used.
When a user obtained such a CD-ROM on which a program was recorded, the user referenced a piece of software (a menu), or a booklet-type guidebook, which had been prepared with the CD-ROM for making a selection, and the user selected and started a necessary program among a plurality of programs.
At this time, it was possible to duplicate all of the programs from the CD-ROM in a hard disk. However, in order to save a hard disk area, it was effective to start the programs from the CD-ROM. When this kind of operation was performed, since user data generated by the program could not be recorded onto the CD-ROM, it was necessary to register the user data only on the hard disk.
On the other hand, in order to promote software sales, it is conceivable to register a plurality of pieces of software (programs) in advance onto a rewritable medium such as an magnetic optical disk and sell them in this state. When software is unnecessary, the software may be deleted on the user side and the storage medium may be returned to an initial state, and the user may use the storage medium.
However, in the above method of operating the storage medium, in a case where, for example, the user wanted to choose any one of the software programs to try out, the other software programs which were not selected occupied an area on the storage medium. In a case where the user wanted to delete such unselected programs, it was difficult to know which file composed the unselected program, and there was a possibility that the file of the program selected for trial might also be deleted.
Further, there were many cases where data corresponding to such a program was stored in a hard disk drive on the computer side, and management of the program and the data was not easy.
The present invention has been made in light of such points, and has a technical object to raise selective operating effectiveness of the plurality of programs recorded on the storage medium.

Program management method for computer to which storage medium is attached, computer and storage medium


Disclosed are polyester blends that provide improved stress whitening behavior. The blends may be prepared from a polyester having crystallization half-time of at least 5 minutes and a polyester elastomer. The polyesters blends may be extruded or, in the presence of a release additive, calendered to produce film or sheet. Also disclosed are processes for making a film or sheet by extrusion or calendering the above blends and the film or sheet produced therefrom. The polyester blend and the film or sheet produced therefrom also may include plasticizers and/or flame retardants to increase their flexibility and enable their use in commercial applications requiring flame resistance. The film and sheet have excellent appearance and can be used in a wide range of decorative and packaging applications.

Film and sheet products are often stressed and cold formed during the assembly process in many applications. For example, in some appliance applications, opaque and colored films are often laminated to metal in place of paint. In this case, the polymer film is laminated to the metal in a flat form. The metal with the polymer film lamination is then bent or pressed into shape to form appliance housings for washers, dryers, refrigerators, and the like. During this cold forming process, some polymer film formulations tend to whiten as they are bent and stretched into shape and cause unattractive white streaks to appear in the finish of the appliance. This problem is more pronounced with darker colors. Stress whitening behavior is usually determined visually. A film is usually stretched to 50% or 100% elongation and examined for color changes. Flexible film and sheet products that do not exhibit stress whitening properties are therefore highly desirable for many applications.
Calendering is an economic and highly efficient method to produce film and sheet from plastics such as plasticized and rigid poly(vinyl chloride), abbreviated herein as "PVC", and polypropylene compositions. The film and sheet usually have a thickness ranging from about 1 mil (0.025 mm) to about 80 mils (2.0 mm). Calendered PVC films or sheets are readily thermoformed into various shapes, which can be used in a wide range of applications including packaging, pool liners, graphic arts, transaction cards, security cards, veneers, wall coverings, book bindings, folders, floor tiles, and products that are printed, decorated, or laminated in a secondary operation. Additional discussion on polypropylene resin compositions used in calendering processes may be found in Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 9-40823 and European Patent Application No. 0 744 439 A1.
By contrast, conventional processing of polyesters into film or sheet involves extruding a polyester melt through a manifold of a flat die. Manual or automatic die lip adjustment is used to control thickness across a web of material. Water-cooled chill rolls are used to quench the molten web and impart a smooth surface finish.
PVC compositions are, by far, the largest segment of the calendered film and sheet business. Small amounts of other thermoplastic polymers such as, for example, thermoplastic rubbers, certain polyurethanes, talc-filled polypropylene, acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene terpolymers (ABS resins), and chlorinated polyethylene, are sometimes processed by calendering methods. By contrast, polyester polymers such as, for example, poly(ethylene terephthalate), abbreviated herein as "PET", or poly(1,4-butylene terephthalate), abbreviated herein as "PBT", are difficult to calender successfully. For example, PET polymers with inherent viscosity values of about 0.6 deciliters/gram (abbreviated herein as "dL/g"), typically have insufficient melt strength to perform properly on the calendering rolls. Melt strength is defined as the ability of a polymer to support its weight in the molten state. In calendering, melt strength is related to the ability to remove the film from the roll process without deformation. For example, when calendered, a polymer with low melt strength will quickly sag and hit the floor; whereas, a polymer with high melt strength will maintain its shape for a much longer amount of time and can be further processed. Melt strength is thus important to minimize the amount of "drawdown" and gravity-induced sagging the polymer experiences during the calendering process. Drawdown is defined in calendering as the amount of thickness reduction between the calendering rolls and the take-up system and is expressed as the ratio of the nominal thickness or width dimension as the film exits the calendering rolls with the same dimension at the take-up roles.
PET and other polyester polymers also are prone to crystallize at typical processing temperatures of 160° C. to 180° C., resulting in a non-homogeneous mass which also causes high forces on the calender bearings. Increasing processing temperatures will reduce melt viscosity and improve processability. Higher temperatures, however, can cause degradation of the polyester such as, for example, by thermal degradation, hydrolysis of polymer by exposure to atmospheric moisture, and the formation of color bodies. Typical PET polymers also have a tendency to stick to the calendering rolls at higher processing temperatures. The calendering of various polyester compositions and several approaches to these problems has been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,998,005; 6,068,910; 6,551,688; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/086,905; Japanese Patent Application Nos. 8-283547; 7-278418; 2002-53740; 10-363-908; 2002-121362; 2003-128894; 11-158358; and WO 02/28967. Although some of these difficulties can be avoided by the careful selection of polymer properties, additives, and processing conditions, calendering of polyesters at high rates of production is difficult.
The above shortcomings of the art illustrate the need for film or sheet products that may be produced by extrusion or by calendering and that do not exhibit stress whitening. These products would have applications as wood and metal laminates, graphic arts, transaction cards, security cards, veneers, wall coverings, book bindings, folders and the like.

Polyeste blends with improved stress whitening for film and sheet applications


The present invention relates to methods for identifying compounds capable of modulating a cellular response. The methods involve attaching living cells to solid supports comprising a library of test compounds. The test compounds are linked to the solid support via cleavable linkers and may thus be released from the solid supports. Solid supports comprising cells, wherein the cellular response of interest has been modulated are selected and the test compound of the solid support can then be identified. The cellular response may for example be changes in complex formation between proteins.

Combinatorial synthesis of peptide as well as small-molecule libraries has proven very useful as a method for generating vast numbers of highly diverse compounds (see for example Comprehensive Survey of Combinatorial Library Synthesis: 2002 Roland E. Dolle J. Comb. Chem., 2003, pp. 693-753). To fully exploit this high capacity of combinatorial chemistry to produce huge numbers of compounds several technologies have been developed that allow screening directly on the solid support (M. Meldal, 1994, METHODS: A companion to methods of enzymology 6:417-424). In the field of drug discovery such methods have successfully been applied for example for the identification of enzyme modulators. The library can be synthesized on resin beads that each carry one specific compound, and these "one-bead-one compound" libraries are then screened against the purified biological component of interest (e.g. cellular proteins or peptides),
Before progressing active compounds, identified though such procedure, further in the drug discovery process, the compound will have to be re-synthesized and tested for efficacy in a cell-based or in-vivo test system.
Novel ways to screen combinatorial libraries in a physiological more correct way are assumed to greatly accelerate the drug discovery process, and show importance in areas like chemo-genomics and chemo-proteomics.
Screening of combinatorial libraries in intact cells have been done by capturing mammalian or yeast cells together with a limited number of resin-beads in a "nanodroplet" (Borchart et al. Chem Biol 1997 4:961). Compounds immobilized on the resin are released through disruption of a photo-cleavable linker and the compound-associated effects on the intact cells are monitored.
In an alternative method the compounds are released through acidolysis resin-beads carrying the library members area are spread out on a lawn of mammalian cells, and the spatial localization of a cellular response is monitored and beads in that region is isolated, and the remaining compound is structure elucidated Jayawickreme et al, 1998,
Combinatorial peptide Library Protocols, Ed. Shmuel Cabilly, Humana Press, p. 107-128). WO03/038431 describes methods for screening combinatorial bead libraries by capturing cells from body fluids. Beads comprising a compound enabling cells to adhere to said bead may be selected.
US2003/0059764 describes multiplexed cell analysis systems using non-positional or positional arrays of coded carriers.

Identification of compounds modifying a cellular response


A lockout device that can be used independently and/or through a connected system that provides information and warnings of conventional lockout tag, while also able to actively provide information to a user and any other individual or device through a network in the system. The lockout device is paired with a user and enables audible and/or visual warnings to ensure notice of the lockout device as well as warnings to the user through the network of possible tampering.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to lockout and tagout safety systems for electrical and mechanical equipment.
When working on a dangerous equipment, a best practice is to lockout power or mechanical motion to that equipment and place a lockout tag on the equipment. This prevents another user from energizing or enabling the machine while repair personnel may be in, on, or about the equipment. Most often, when an accident occurs, it is due to the lockout tag missing (fallen off) or being ignored. Since lockout tags are sometimes left in place for days or weeks, it is common for operators or workers to become desensitized to their significance and ignored.
Conventional lockout devices may include keyed locks, hasps or tags which are tied to the equipment by cable ties. Conventional lockout systems are required to provide the name of the user and the date the lockout tag was placed. Additional information may be provided, such as a picture of the user and a telephone number or comments by the user. The conventional lockout tag is attached to the equipment and includes a warning label and vibrant visible markings. However, such conventional lockout devices only provide static information as it is written on the lockout tag. This information may not be reliably up to date or legible. Also, the conventional lockout tag is not able to communicate with a user and/or other monitoring individuals and/or devices to provide the status of the lockout device. Further, the conventional lockout device is unable to provide an immediate alarm to any individual in proximity to the lockout device upon tampering or unauthorized removal.


In an identification system for electronic commerce, an end terminal transmits a transaction request message containing biometrics data of a user to a communications network, At least one electronic commerce service provider unit is provided which receives the transaction request message via the network and transmits an authentication request message containing the biometrics data to the network. An authentication server having a database for storing registered biometrics data receives the authentication request message and determines whether the received biometrics data has corresponding biometrics data in the database and returns a reply to the ECSP unit via the network indicating that the transaction request message is authenticated if the received biometrics data coincides with one of the registered biometrics data of the database.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electronic commerce over communications networks and more specifically to an identification system and method for identification of end-terminal consumers using their biometric features for authorization of transactions.
2. Description of the Related Art
As electronic commerce expands, transactions over communications networks became a target for fraudulent and criminal conducts which are becoming more organized and more technically adept. In order to combat the illegal attempts, customers' biometrics data such as fingerprints are becoming used as a reliable means for personal identification. Pat. No. 5,613,012, when a customer requests a transaction over a network to an electronic commerce service provider, he sends a biometrics feature such as his fingerprint to the service provider, where it is compared with the registered fingerprint. If they match, the service provider authenticates the transaction and proceeds to provide an electronic commerce service to the customer and enters a settlement process with an associated banking facility. However, if the customer wishes to receive service from more than one electronic commerce service provider, there is a need to register the customer's biometrics data in as many service providers as there are necessary to meet the customer's desire. In addition, if the EC service providers are equipped with a technically low-level system or manned by people who are poorly trained in biometrics data security matters, fraudulent leakage of important personal data will occur at a high rate.

Identification system and method for authenticating user transaction requests from end terminals


A rotatable optical beamsplitter comprises an optically-transparent material and a partially-reflective layer. The optically-transparent material has a unitary spherical exterior surface. The partially-reflective layer is located at least partially within the optically transparent material. The spherically shaped optical beamsplitter demonstrates reduced optical distortion.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The invention relates to optical systems and elements. More specifically, the invention relates to an optical beamsplitter that can be used to propagate optical signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
A beamsplitter is an optical device that receives an incident light beam and divides it into two components. The first component is propagated from the beamsplitter as a transmitted beam. The second component is propagated as a reflected beam, angularly displaced with respect to the transmitted beam.
A conventional beamsplitter comprises a cube of optically-transparent material that encases a thin layer of semi-reflecting material oriented diagonally across its interior. Approximately one-half of the light entering one face of the beamsplitter is reflected by the semi-reflecting material through an adjacent face as a reflected light beam. The remaining portion of the light from the incident light is transmitted by the layer of semi-reflecting material through the opposite face as a transmitted light beam.
Beamsplitters are used in optical devices such as in scanners, interferometers and back-scattering detectors for measuring back-scatter from a particle system. One problem associated with conventional cubic beamsplitters is distortion caused by light striking beamsplitter faces at oblique, i.e. non-perpendicular, angles. The transmission through the beamsplitter is refracted according to Fresnel's Equations. The resulting light beam is parallel to the incident beam but displaced from it. The amount of displacement depends on the angle of incidence and the index of refraction of the optical materials used in the beamsplitter. This distortion can be compensated for, to some extent, by repositioning system components.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,414,797 to Gorden Videen discloses a Beamsplitter Prism with Spherical Faces for Transmitting or Reflecting Spherical Waves Without Magnification.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


The present invention relates to a curable thermoplastic elastomeric composition based on a polytrimethylene ether ester elastomer and a crosslinkable poly(meth)acrylate rubber system; and a melt processible thermoplastic elastomeric compositions based on a continuous phase comprising of a polytrimethylene ether ester elastomer and a disperse phase of a crosslinked poly(meth)acrylate rubber. A process for manufacturing such a melt processible thermoplastic elastomeric composition, and a shaped article (e.g. an extruded or molded article) made thereform, are also disclosed.

For many applications in the petroleum and automotive industries there is a need for elastomeric materials with good oil resistance at elevated temperatures. There is a particular need for materials that are flexible and soft (low in hardness) with good resistance to heat and compression set.
It is generally known in the art to employ curable polyacrylate elastomers to manufacture high performance rubber parts having excellent resistance to lubricating oils and greases which are therefore useful in selected automotive applications and the like. The gum rubber vulcanizates are either polyacrylate elastomers derived from copolymerization of acrylic acid ester monomers (e.g., ethyl, butyl, and methoxyethyl acrylate and can include some vinyl acetate), polyethylene/acrylate elastomer derived from copolymerization of ethylene monomer and acrylic acid ester monomers (e.g. ethylene and methyl acrylate and can include other comonomers and grafts, see for example U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0004568 A1 incorporated herein by reference), or polyperfluoroalkyl acrylate elastomer derived from polymerization of fluorinated acrylic ester monomer (e.g., 1,1 dihydroperfluoro-n-butyl acrylate). The polyacrylate elastomers also can be functionalized by incorporating a relatively small amount of an additional comonomer such as an acrylate glycidyl ester, maleic acid or other comonomer having a reactive group including acid, hydroxyl, epoxy, isocyanate, amine, oxazoline, chloroacetate or diene. These functionalized polyacrylate elastomers can then be cured using a curative co-agent containing functional groups that covalently bond to the functionalized reactive sites of the polyacrylate elastomer.
One problem associated with the prior art curable polyacrylate elastomers is the inherent rheological limitations of high viscosity and low melt flow of their cured or partially cured state. Consequently, physical blending followed by compression molding and subsequent curing is usually necessary to achieve acceptable properties rather than extrusion or injection molding directly to a finished part (as discussed above). However, in European Patent 0 337 976 B1 and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,908 thermoplastic elastomer compositions are disclosed comprising blends of polyester resin (including segmented polyether ester elastomers commercially available under the trademark HYTREL® (E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington, Del. ("DuPont")) and dynamically vulcanized, covalently cross-linked acrylate rubber (including ethylene/methyl acrylate terpolymer containing about one mole percent of a carboxylic acid containing comonomer, commercially available under the trademark VAMAC®. (DuPont). The covalent cross-linking in these disclosures is achieved by employing a functionalized polyacrylate elastomer in combination with reactive difunctional cross-linking agent. However, almost all of these difunctional cross-linking agents can also react with the ester units in the polyalkylene phthalates (i.e., an amine, hydroxyl or carboxylic acid group will exchange with the ester groups and epoxy or acid groups will add to the hydroxyl end groups), which leads to high viscosity and lack of reproducibility.
In U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0115450 there is disclosed a curable thermoplastic elastomeric blend comprising a polyalkylene phthalate polyester polymer or copolymer and a crosslinkable poly(meth)acrylate or ethylene/(meth)acrylate copolymer vulcanizate rubber in combination with a peroxide free-radical initiator and an organic multiolefinic coagent to crosslink the rubber during extrusion or injection molding of the blend. It is taught there that the polyester hard segment blocks in the copolymer should have high melt temperatures to obtain useful elastomeric blends for high temperature service. However, it is generally found that hard segment high melt temperatures increase polymer hardness and reduce flexibility.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide softer and more flexible thermoplastic elastomeric blends which provide excellent resistance to heat and compression set, to a process for making such elastomeric blends, and to shaped or molded articles made from such blends.

Thermoplastic elastomer blend, method of manufacture and use thereof


A trigger manager and related processes and systems for managing triggers for a plurality of subscribing set-top boxes in an interactive television environment are provided. In response to receipt of a configuration update request originating from a specific set-top box, the trigger manager accesses a database of subscribing set-top box profiles associating subscribing set-top boxes with respective sets of triggers. The database is processed based on the configuration update request to identify a profile associated with the specific set-top box from which the configuration update request originated. Trigger update information associated with the identified profile is transmitted over a network to the specific set-top box from which the configuration update request originated. In response to receipt at the specific set-top box of the trigger update information, the set of current triggers in the memory unit is updated at least in part based on the information received.

IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) is an emerging system where digital television and multimedia services are delivered to set-top boxes present in a home environment using IP over a network infrastructure. Already today, IPTV enables a more customized and interactive user experience amongst other by providing viewers with greater control over their television viewing. Today, IPTV is most often associated with Video on Demand (VoD) and live TV services. However, IPTV can also provide Internet services, such as web access and Voice over IP (VoIP). Another feature of IPTV is the opportunity for integration and convergence with other multimedia services for example chats and different messaging services allowing IPTV users to communicate with each other.
The enhanced functionality and customized/interactive user experience are provided by IPTV-related applications through set-top boxes. Some examples of IPTV-related applications are audio player, Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and Local Personal Recorder (IPVR) applications. Such IPTV-related applications may be pre-loaded on the set-top box, may be downloaded to the set-top box after installation or, alternatively may be stored on a remote server remote in communication with the set-top box over a network.
Generally, specific IPTV-related applications are invoked and events are instantiated at the set-top box when certain conditions are met. The certain condition to be met may take many different forms. For example, the certain condition for a specific IPTV-related application may be based on a button on a remote control being pressed, on a selection being made by the user in a menu displayed by the set-top box on the display (television) screen, on a date and/or time of day, on a channel selection made by the user and/or on information provided as part of the television content (or video stream). Generally, the set-top box will store information specifying the IPTV-related applications available at the set-top box in association with the condition to be met for launching each IPTV-related application.
In recent years, in light of the increase in interest in IPTV and the potential that it represents, different tools have been designed in order to facilitate the developments of customized IPTV-related applications. One such tool is the Microsoft Media Room™ infrastructure (available from Microsoft Corporation), which allows network operators and application providers to create additional interactions with the viewer. Although the purpose of such additional interactions is to enhance the viewer's experience, the increase in the number of interactions sometimes causes issues such as conflicting conditions for launching an applications and/or resource overload, and thus increasing the number of additional interactions can ultimately end up degrading the viewer's experience rather than enhancing such experience. Existing techniques fail to provide suitable solutions for addressing such issues.
In light of the above, there is a need to provide an improved technology-based solution for allowing additional viewer interactions to be introduced as part of an IPTV service offering that alleviates at least in part the deficiencies of the existing systems.

Method and system for trigger management in an interactive television environment