A network node has an interface which has different modes of operation, including at least a power saving mode and a normal operating mode. The node has a power saving mode management module for maintaining information about whether the interface is in the power saving mode of operation. The power saving mode management module is able to make available to one or more layers higher than the physical layer of the interface information about whether the interface is in the power saving mode of operation.

There is an increasing desire to reduce power consumption of network devices. One known way of reducing power consumption is to put a device into a mode in which it has lower power consumption than when it is in its normal operating mode. For example an interface of a network node may adopt a power saving mode when if it detects that the traffic level over the link(s) from the interface has fallen to a threshold level, or has been below a threshold level for a predefined time period. In a power saving operating mode the interface may perform operations at a lower speed than in its normal operating mode, or may even enter a "sleep mode" in which the interface becomes dormant. For example the IEEE 802.3 az standard defines a low power mode for an Ethernet interface, in which:                For 100 Mbit/s and gigabit links, an Ethernet interface that does not have data to send would put the physical layer of the system into a sleep mode. The node may signal to other nodes of the network that its interface is entering the sleep node, and other nodes may also out their interface into a sleep mode once they learn that no data will be coming from the node that has entered the sleep mode.        For 10 Gbit/s links, the operating speed is stepped down to slower speeds saving 10-20 W per link. Running at lower speed may not save as much power as putting the node into a sleep mode, but for a link operating at this speed it might take too long to wake up a sleeping interface if it was put all the way to sleep.
An Ethernet node that operates according to the IEEE 802.3 az standard is often referred to as an "Energy Efficient Ethernet" node.
The IEEE 802.3 az standard has defined number of parameters, that are periodically transmitted over a link during the low-power state to allow the peering node or neighbour node (that is the node at the other end of the link) to refresh timing and equalization parameters during low power idle modes. The low power idle (LPI) mode in the IEEE 802.3 az standard allows for transmission of (currently) three types of frames: sleep, refresh, awake (for example, see http://www.ieee802.org/3/az/public/may08/taich_02_0508.pdf). These are very simple control words transmitted on the network and processed by the LPI circuit. A "sleep" message indicates that the interface sending the message is entering a sleep mode or other low power mode, an "awake" message indicates that the interface sending the message is leaving the sleep or other low power mode and has returned to its normal operation mode, and a "refresh" message is sent periodically by the interface while it is in the sleep or other low power mode to indicate that it is still active and to allow the partner node to refresh timing and equalization parameters.
One problem encountered when an interface of a node is put into a low power mode is that nodes communicate at different layers. One example of communication at different layers is shown in FIG. 1, which shows the 7 layers of the well-known OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model. In ascending order, the layers are: a physical layer 1; a data link layer 2; a network layer 3; a transport layer 4; a session layer 5; a presentation layer 6; and an application layer 7. In most cases a network node will periodically exchange "check messages" with neighbouring nodes to tell the neighbouring nodes that the node is still operating correctly. Thus, routers will exchange "hello messages", switches will send frames etc. These messages are sent at regular intervals for multiple protocols at layers 2-4 and above of the OSI model—but the sending of a check message by one layer is not co-ordinated with the sending of a check message by another layer. As noted above, the low power mode of the IEEE 802.3 az standard puts the interface into a low power mode at the level of the physical layer 1, but every time that a node is required to send a check message by a higher layer, for example by the data link layer 2, the network layer 3 or the transport layer 4, the interface must be taken out of the low power mode in order to send the check message. The lack of co-ordination between different layers in sending their check messages means that the interface is brought out of the low power mode every time that one of the layers above the physical layer wished to exchange check messages with other nodes, and this limits the power saving that can be achieved.
Furthermore, if a check message is not sent when expected because the interface of a node is in a low power mode, this could be taken as an indication that the node was faulty so that the Network Management System (NMS) would be informed of the failure of the node. This can lead to the NMS receiving false indications that a node has failed, when the node is in fact still operational but is in a low power mode.
Indeed, some protocols might consider that a "link down event" had occurred if they noted an interface in the low power mode. For example the VDSL2/GPON mechanism (see—http://www.ieee802.org/3/10GEPON_study/email/pdfV3kikUObAl.pdf) is based on longer timeouts than the IEEE 802.3 az standard and does not send refresh messages. With a VDSL2/GPON mechanism, it is possible that the OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) layer would consider an interface in the low power mode as a "link down event".


A ceramics composites prepared by dispersing any one of the following materials (i) to (viii) in Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 which as a matrix-containing crystalline grains having a grain size of 0.5 to 100 .mu.m. (i) 3 to 40% by volume of fine TiN particles having a particle size of not more than 2 .mu.m and 3 to 40% by volume of fine SiC particles having a particle size of not more than 2 .mu.m. (ii) 3 to 40% by volume of fine TiN particles having a particle size of not more than 2 .mu.m and 3 to 40% by volume of fine Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 particles having a particle size of not more than 2 .mu.m. (iii) 2 to 35% by volume of fine TiC particles having a particle size of not more than 2 .mu.m and 5 to 40% by volume of SiC whiskers having a diameter of 0.05 to 2 .mu.m. (iv) 2 to 35% by volume of fine TiC particles having a particle size of not more than 2 .mu.m and 5 to 40% by volume of Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 whiskers having a diameter of 0.1 to 2 .mu.m. (v) 3 to 40% by volume of fine TiN particles having a particle size of not more than 2 .mu.m and 3 to 30% by volume of SiC whiskers having a diameter of 0.05 to 2 .mu.m. (vi) 3 to 40% by volume of fine TiN particles having a particle size of not more than 2 .mu.m and 3 to 30% by volume of Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 whiskers having a diameter of 0.1 to 2 .mu.m. (vii) 2 to 35% by volume of fine TiC particles having a particle size of not more than 2 .mu.m and 5 to 40% by volume of fine SiC particles having a particle size of not more than 2 .mu.m. (viii) 2 to 35% by volume of fine TiC particles having a particle size of not more than 2 .mu.m and 5 to 40% by volume of fine Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 particles having a particle size of not more than 2 .mu.m.

The present invention relates to ceramic composites having a special organizational structure and a process for manufacturing the same. More specifically it relates to ceramic composites having high toughness, high strength, thermal resistance and wear resistance. The present invention relates also to a process for manufacturing the same.
Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 can be easily sintered and has excellent properties such as thermal resistance, corrosion resistance and electric insulation, and has long been used widely as an industrial material. However, it has defects of possessing low strength, low fracture toughness and low thermal shock resistance. Accordingly, attempts have been made to improve these disadvantages by making composites. The R & D on manufacturing composites, however were mostly concerned with how to achieve complexing in the micron level with particles (such as TiC) or whiskers (such as SiC whisker) dispersed as a second phase. Accordingly, there is a limit to the improvement of these mechanical properties. By making composite formations using these dispersed particles or whiskers, the fracture toughness is improved by crack deflection developed because of the maldistribution of the dispersed particles in the grain boundary of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, or the pulling of the whiskers. However, it is well known that in a grain dispersed composite, the cracks are deflected by the dispersed grains which are localized at the Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 grain boundaries, and that the fracture toughess of the resulting sintered Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 is thereby increased.
In a ceramic such as sintered Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, the matrix thereof consists of anisotropic grains. Accordingly, the localized stresses generate at the grain boundaries by the thermal expansion mismatch between the matrix and dispersion, and the localized compressive stress is accumulated during cooling down from the sintering temperature. Then, this grain boundary becomes a fracture source which decreases the strength of the whole sintering. When fine particles are dispersed in a matrix it is expected that the toughness is improved, because those particles avoid propagation of the cracks. However a prior art technology that comprises dispersing those fine particles in the matrix was by no means effective in significantly increasing the strength, because there was no change in the grain boundaries which function as the source for fractures. Thus, the strength cannot be greatly increased.

Ceramic composites and process for its production


A housing cover for sealing a crankshaft housing includes a metal body having an end face adapted to face the flange surface on the crankshaft housing, with the metal body being provided with a plurality of holes for receiving attachment screws for attaching the housing cover to the crankshaft housing. A sealing strip is attached to the end face of the metal body. The sealing strip possesses an end face that is adapted to face the flange surface on the crankshaft housing. The end face of the sealing strip is configured to define at least one recess in the sealing strip, and a sealant is provided in the recess.

Such seals are used for the releasable, fluid-tight attachment of housings, such as oil pans or valve covers, on the engine block, or for covers of crankshaft and gear housings. When sealing a crankshaft housing, the housing cover consists of a dynamic seal for the crankshaft extending through the cover, whereby the dynamic seal consists of at least one, possibly spring-loaded, elastic sealing lip that has been attached by vulcanization, as well as two flange surfaces that meet each other at an angle of usually 90 degrees and that must be statically sealed, and of which one extends radially to the crankshaft housing and is used for the tight connection with the crankshaft housing, and the other extends in the crankshaft axial direction and is provided for the tight connection with the oil pan, whereby sealing strips that project from the flange surfaces are provided for the static sealing of both flange surfaces in the crankshaft axial direction or radially in relation to it.
DE-PS 36 34 735 introduces a housing cover consisting of a sheet metal body drawn in bowl shape which, for the purpose of sealing the crankshaft, is provided with a dynamically loaded sealing ring of an elastomer material, as well as statically acting sealing strips, also made from an elastomer material, which merge with each other to form one piece. A sealing strip exiting from the axial flange surface is used for sealing the oil pan which can be screwed in from the bottom against the crankshaft housing. Two nuts are welded into the housing cover so that during the unscrewing of the oil pan the sealing strip between the housing cover and the oil pan can be pressed together with an adequate superficial pressure in order to create the seal.
A flawless seal requires that the surfaces of the housing surfaces opposite from the sealing strip are highly accurate, which has a great effect on manufacturing and processing costs. Special requirements for a perfect seal are hereby posed not only by the macro-irregularities of the surfaces, but also by micro-roughnesses, pores, step transitions, etc. In addition, heat fissures and furrows may occur over time on the sealing strips during operation, which may result in a long-term deterioration of the sealing effect.

Static seal for internal combustion engines, in particular closure cover for crankshaft and gearbox housings


A mobile robot is provided to follow a trajectory and adopt a behavior which can be defined by movements of articulated limbs of the robot. The mobile robot is equipped with a processor which is configured, based on instructions defining a motion of the mobile robot and instructions defining a behavior of the mobile robot, to calculate a target trajectory of a center of mass of the mobile robot; calculate, based on the target trajectory of the center of mass of the mobile robot and dynamic constraints of the mobile robot, a predicted trajectory of the center of mass of the mobile robot over a time horizon, and calculate, based on the predicted trajectory of the center of mass of the mobile robot and the instructions defining a behavior of the mobile robot, predicted movements of articulated limbs.

A robot can be qualified as humanoid from the moment when it has certain human appearance attributes: a head, a trunk, two arms, two hands, etc. A humanoid robot may, however, be more or less sophisticated. Its limbs may have a greater or lesser number of articulations. It may control its own balance statically and/or dynamically and walk on two limbs, possibly in three dimensions, or roll over a base. It may pick up signals from the environment ("hear", "see", "touch", "sense", etc.) and react according to more or less sophisticated behaviors, and interact with other robots or humans, either by speech or by gesture. Even if the issues of balance and displacement arise more specifically for humanoid robots, they more generally arise for mobile robots which may have a semi-humanoid appearance, pet robots, or mobile industrial robots.
The movement of a mobile robot is managed by sending commands to actuators of the articulations of the robot. It is possible to assign to the robot a desired behavior while maintaining the balance of the robot, using inverse dynamics. Kajita, Shuuji, et al. "Biped walking pattern generation by using preview control of zero-moment point." Robotics and Automation, 2003. Proceedings. ICRA′03. IEEE International Conference on. Vol. 2. IEEE, 2003 discloses a method to make a biped humanoid robot follow a trajectory without falling, by controlling the Zero-Moment Point. The Zero-Moment Point (ZMP) is a virtual point whose position depends on the acceleration and gravity of the robot, and corresponds to the point where the total of horizontal inertia and gravity forces equals 0. In order for a robot to remain balanced, this ZMP should remain in a stability region. The dynamics model of the biped robot disclosed by Kajita makes the ZMP as well as the Center Of Mass (CoM) of the robot remain in stability regions, thus permitting the robot to walk along a trajectory without a risk of falling.
In Kajita, all commands sent to the robot are aimed at making the robot walk while keeping its equilibrium. Thus, natural balance of the CoM or ZMP due to the walk of the robot can be compensated by movements of other articulated limbs of the robot. For example, the positions and accelerations of the arms of the robot can be used to compensate an excessive movement of the ZMP or the CoM of the robot.
Meanwhile, in a number of applications, it is desirable to cause the robot to execute movements of articulated limbs, for example to define an interaction. Such movements of articulated limbs may define for example a dance or choreography, or may correspond to a human behavior, such as shaking a hand. The combination of such movements of the articulations with the displacement of the feet of the robot can cause the ZMP or CoM of the robot to leave its safety region, and thus the robot to fall.
It is possible to determine commands of all the articulations of a robot to perform movements as close as possible to dance movements, while following a trajectory. It is notably possible to use inverse dynamics to assign to each articulation of a robot the commands to perform movements as close as possible to target movements. However, when the robot has a high number of articulations, the inverse dynamics has a high number of degrees of freedom, and this solution becomes very computationally intensive. This is the case of most modern robots, with lots of articulations in the legs, arms, etc. . . . . In this case, the inverse dynamics are too complex to calculate in real time on the limited computing resources onboard a robot.
Ramos, O., et al. "Dynamic whole body motion generation for the dance of a humanoid robot." IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine (RAM) (2015) discloses a method for making a robot reproduce dance movements. In order to have a faster computation of the trajectories, Ramos discloses a separate calculation of the commands to generate the motion of the robot, using Inverse Dynamics, and the commands for dance movements, using Inverse Kinematics, the generation of these commands running in parallel in tasks on a Stack of Tasks.
In Ramos, the Inverse Dynamics are used to dynamically calculate commands to be sent to track the trajectory of the human performer, as well as the resulting predicted trajectory of the CoM of the robot. In parallel, the Inverse Kinematics are used to calculate commands to be used to make the robot perform dance movements as close as possible to the dance movements of the dancer, while maintaining the balance of the robot. This method has the advantage of allowing the robot, at the same time, to follow a trajectory and perform dance movement. Indeed, the Inverse Dynamics are performed on a limited number of degrees of freedom, and thus are not too computationally intensive.
However, once the trajectory of the CoM of the robot has been calculated by the inverse dynamics, the method of Ramos is limited for following the dance movements. Indeed, when calculating the movements of the other limbs using inverse dynamics, the method disclosed by Ramos must maintain the balance of the robot, especially the position of the CoM and ZMP. Thus, many movements of the articulated limbs of the robot are impossible to perform, because they would unbalance the robot, and make it fall. Thus, the method of Ramos allows only a limited imitation of the dance movements of the dancer.
There is therefore the need of a robot which is able to compute in real time the commands which allow it at the same time to follow a trajectory, and perform expressive movements of the articulated limbs which are part of a behavior. This issue is not restricted to dance performance, but also arises when trying to perform movements such as shaking a hand or managing an unexpected event, for example for avoiding an obstacle with an arm or the torso, while following a trajectory with the base of the robot.

Mobile robot with enhanced balanced motion and behavior capabilities


The present invention relates to recombinant Yersinia and the use thereof for delivery of proteins into eukaryotic cells, including related compositions and methods of treatment and related assays.

Bacteria of the genus Yersinia cause diseases in humans and rodents ranging from enteritis and lymphadenitis to plague. The genus Yersinia encompasses three species: Yersinia enterocolitica, which is the most prevalent Yersinia species in humans and causes a broad range of gastrointestinal syndromes; Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, which causes adenitis and septicaemia; and Yersinia pestis, which is the causative agent of plague.
In spite of the differences in the infection routes, these three species of Yersinia share a common capacity to resist the non-specific immune response of the human or rodent host and to proliferate in the host lymphatic tissues. Anatomo-pathological examinations revealed that Yersinia are not detected inside the inflammatory or parenchymal cells of the infected animals (Simonet et al. (1990) Infect. Immun. 58: 841-845). Consistent with these in vivo observations, Yersinia are resistant to phagocytosis in vitro by macrophages and polymorphonuclear leukocytes. See review by Cornelis et al. (1997) Mol. Microbiol. 23(5): 861-867. Yersinia enterocolitica also has the capacity to enter certain cultured epithelial cells, a process generally referred to as invasion (Miller et al. (1988) Infect. Immun. 56: 1242-1248).
Genetic studies revealed that the virulence of Yersinia is determined by a 70 kb plasmid (pYV), which encodes and governs the production of a set of proteins called Yops (for Yersinia outer proteins). These Yops form an integrated anti-host system that allows the extracellular adhesion of Yersinia to the surface of host cells and the subsequent injection of a set of toxic effector proteins into the host cell's cytosol. Recent studies further revealed that such an anti-host system, also called "Yersinia virulon", is composed of the following four elements: (i) a contact or type III secretion system called Ysc, which is devoted to the secretion of Yop proteins out of the bacterial cells; (ii) a set of "translocators" for translocating the effector proteins into the eukaryotic host cells, which consist of YopB, YopD and possible other proteins such as LcrV; (iii) a control element and recognition system (YopN and LcrG); and (iv) a set of "effector proteins" including YopE, YopH, YopO/YpkA, YopM and YopP/YopJ, which are injected (or translocated) into the eukaryotic host cells and disrupt the functions of such host cells. Transcription of these genes is controlled both by temperature and by contact with a eukaryotic cell. See review by Cornelis et al. (1997).
The effector proteins disrupt the function of host cells in a number of ways. The 23 kd YopE is a cytotoxin that disrupts the actin-microfilament structure of cultured Hela cells (Rosqvist et al. (1990) Mol. Microbiol. 4: 657-667; Rosqvist et al. (1991) Infect. Immun. 59: 4562-4569). The 51 kd YopH is a protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTPase) related to eukaryotic PTPases, which acts on tyrosinephosphorylated proteins of infected macrophages (Hartland et al. (1994) Infect. Immun. 62: 4445-4453). Presumably as a result of this action, YopH inhibits bacterial uptake and oxidative burst by cultured macrophages (Rosquvist et al. (1988) Infect. Immun. 56: 2139-2143; Bliska et al. (1995) Infect. Immun. 63: 681-685). YopO (or YpkA) is an 81 kd serine/threonine kinase, which is targeted to the inner surface of the plasma membrane of the eukaryotic cell and might function to interfere with the signal transduction pathway of the eukaryotic cell (Hakansson et al. (1996) Mol. Microbiol. 20: 593-603). YopM is an acidic 41 kd protein having 12 leucine-rich repeats, which suggests that YopM might bind thrombin and interfere with platelet-mediated events of the inflammatory response (Leung et al. (1989) J. Bacterial. 171: 4623-4632). YopP is involved in the induction of apoptosis in macrophages (Mills et al. (1997) Proc. Acad. Natl. Sci. USA 94: 12638-12643).
The molecular structures of these effector proteins have been investigated to determine the elements in each effector protein that are required for their secretion and translocation. For this purpose, hybrid proteins have been engineered by fusing truncated Yop effector proteins of different length with certain reporter enzymes such as the calmodulin-activated adenylate cyclase domain (or Cya) of the Bordetella pertussis cyclolysin. Successful secretion and/or translocation events could be detected by assays based on the enzymatic activity of the reporter protein. Sory et al. disclose, by applying this approach, that YopE and YopH of Y. enterocolitica are modular proteins composed of three domains, i.e.,an N-terminal domain required for secretion, a translocation domain required for translocation into cells, and a C-terminal catalytic domain responsible for the toxic effector activity. Sory et al. (1995) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92: 11998-12002. The same domain organization has been demonstrated for YopM of Y. enterocolitca (Boland et al. (1996) EMBO J. 15: 5191-5201).
The present invention provides recombinant Yersinia for safe delivery of proteins into eukaryotic cells. Such Yersinia are deficient in the production of functional effector proteins, but are endowed with a functional secretion and translocation system. The present invention further provides expression vectors for use in combination with such mutant Yersinia for safe and efficient delivery of desired proteins into eukaryotic cells. This approach is useful not only for studying the function of a given protein, but also for designing therapeutic approaches. For example, a protein of a pathogenic origin, e.g., a tumor associated protein, a parasite antigen, or a viral antigen, can be delivered using the recombinant Yersinia of the present invention into antigen presenting cells for inducing an immune response specific for such a protein.
Most progressively growing neoplastic cells express potentially immunogenic tumor-associated antigens (TAAs), also called tumor rejection antigens (TRAs). TRAs, like other antigenic epitopes, are presented at the surface of tumor cells by MHC molecules and have been shown to induce a CTL response in vivo and in vitro. See, for example, van der Bruggen et al. (1991) Science 254: 1643-1647. However, such TRA-expressing tumor cells do not provoke reliable anti-tumor immune responses in vivo that are capable of controlling the growth of malignant cells. Boon et al. (1992) Cancer Surveys 13: 23-37; T. Boon (1993) Int. J. Cancer 54: 177-180; T. Boon (1992) Advances Cancer Res. 58: 177-209.
A number of genes have been identified that encode tumor rejection antigen precursors (or TRAPs), which are processed into TRAs in tumor cells. Such TRAP-encoding genes include members of the MAGE family, the BAGE family, the DAGE/Prame family, the GAGE family, the RAGE family, the SMAGE family, NAG, Tyrosinase, Melan-A/MART-1, gp100, MUC-1, TAG-72, CA125, mutated proto-oncogenes such as p2lras, mutated tumor suppressor genes such as p53, tumor associated viral antigens such as HPV16 E7. See, e.g., review by Van den Eynde and van der Bruggen (1997) in Curr. Opin. Immunol. 9:684-693, Sahin et al. (1997) in Curr. Opin. Immunol. 9:709-716, and Shawler et al. (1997) Advances in Pharmacology 40: 309-337 Academic Press, Inc.: San Diego, Calif. The identification of these genes has allowed recombinant production of TRAs or TRAPs which may be subsequently used as vaccines to treat various cancerous conditions.
The present invention contemplates the use of recombinant Yersinia for delivery of desired proteins into eukaryotic cells. Particularly, the recombinant Yersinia of the present invention are useful for delivery of proteins or derivatives thereof to antigen presenting cells. In accordance with the present invention, antigen presenting cells upon receiving the delivery, present antigenic epitopes which can be recognized by T cells. Thus, the recombinant Yersinia of the present invention can be employed in a number of immune diagnostic or therapeutic approaches.
The present invention is further elaborated upon the following disclosure.

Delivery of proteins into eukaryotic cells with recombinant yersinia


The present invention variably controls the packet size that is used within a storage device in accordance with the communication environment outside the storage device. The storage device comprises a CHA that controls data transfers with a host and a DKA that controls data transfers with a disk drive. The upper level I/F judgment unit of the CHA judges the type and communication band of the communication protocol used by the host and the packet size setting unit sets the optimum packet size on the basis of the type of communication protocol thus identified, and so forth. Likewise, the DKA sets the optimum packet size on the basis of the type and data processing speed of the disk drive that is used. As a result, data can be shifted rapidly to a packet in exchanges between the host and cache memory and between the disk drive and cache memory, whereby the data transfer efficiency can be improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage device and a method for controlling the packet size of the storage device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Storage devices have disk drives such as hard disk drives arranged in the form of an array and provide storage regions on the basis of RAID (Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks), for example. A host computer ('host', hereinbelow) accesses a logical storage region provided by a storage device that performs data reading/writing. A data transfer between a host and a storage device is executed in packet units. The packet size can be established as an integer multiple of a unit that can be read/written by means of a single access operation with respect to an access target volume (Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. H5-242006).
Although the technology described in this document establishes the packet size between the storage device and host, the packet size within the storage device is in no way considered. For example, write data that is inputted from the host to the storage device, for example, is transmitted internally from a host interface to a disk drive interface and is then written from the disk drive interface to each disk drive. Conversely, read data that is read from each disk drive is transmitted internally from the disk drive interface to the host interface and then transferred from the host interface to the host.
Therefore, although a data transfer can also be made by using packets within the storage device, the packet size within the storage device is fixed in the same way. That is, the packet size in the storage device is fixed to suit the fastest communication environment irrespective of the communication environment (communication band or the like) between the storage device and the host.
Therefore, because packet sizes are different outside and inside the storage device, efficiency in cases where data switching is performed between these external packets is reduced and there is therefore a drop in the data transfer efficiency of the storage device.
In the case of a storage device, a variety of types of hosts known as so-called mainframe system hosts, open system hosts, and the like, for example, can be connected. Each of these hosts performs a data transfer with a storage device in accordance with the respective communication protocol of each host. Therefore, the communication environment between each of these types of hosts and the storage device differs from one type of host to the next. In cases where the packet size that is used in exchanges between the host and the storage device matches or is substantially equal to the packet size within the storage device, the data can be moved rapidly between internal and external packets. However, in cases where the internal and external packet sizes differ greatly, the data transfer efficiency drops.
Therefore, in the case of a storage device to which a variety of types of hosts can be connected at the same time, there is the possibility of a large discrepancy in the communication environment depending on the types of hosts. However, in the prior art, no consideration was paid to the diversity of the communication environments between such hosts and storage devices and the packet size within the storage device was set as fixed without variation.
Similar problems can arise between storage devices and memory drives. The data processing speed and so forth of memory drives differs according to the type. However, because a packet size that is fixed without variation has been used conventionally irrespective of the type of memory drive, there is a margin for improving the data transfer efficiency between memory drives and storage devices.

Storage device and method for controlling storage device packet size


A liquid ejecting device is provided. The liquid ejecting device includes: a liquid ejecting head configured to eject a liquid; a liquid supply channel configured to supply the liquid to the liquid ejecting head; a discharge channel communicating with the liquid supply channel through a communicating portion; a suction unit connected to the discharge channel so as to perform a suction operation of suctioning gas from the discharge channel; a gas permeable film disposed in the communicating portion between the liquid supply channel and the discharge channel; a vibration driving unit configured to vibrate the gas permeable film; and a controller configured to control the suction unit and the vibration driving unit.

An ink-jet printing device has been known as a liquid ejecting device ejecting a liquid. In such ink-jet printing device, ink supplied from an ink cartridge is temporarily stored in a sub-tank and then is supplied to a print head. At this time, if bubbles mixed into the sub-tank are supplied to the print head along with the ink, the printing failure occurs. Therefore, the sub-tank is connected to a deaeration pump through a gas permeable film passing gas but not passing ink or solid other than the gas, and the inside of the sub-tank is depressurized by actuating the deaeration pump to discharge the bubbles in the sub-tank (For example, see JP-A-2005-288770).
The gas permeable film is made of a porous member having plural minute pores through which only gas not destructing a meniscus of ink can pass. In the ink-jet printing device described in JP-A-2005-288770, at the time of suctioning bubbles, the ink in the sub-tank enters the pores of the gas permeable film and is dried and thickened. Then, the pores to which the thickened ink is attached cannot pass the bubbles to cause the clogging, whereby a gas permeable area thereof is reduced. In this state, when the bubbles are repeatedly suctioned through the gas permeable film, the clogging is further enhanced and the gas permeable area is further reduced. Finally, the gas permeable film cannot pass the gas.


Implementations relate to configuration of networks using client device access of a remote server. In some implementations, a method includes requesting a management server from an end device for shortest path bridging (SPB) configuration information for the end device to communicate on an SPB network, where the end device communicates with the management server over a non-SPB connection. The SPB configuration information is received from the management server, and the SPB configuration information is sent to an edge configuration device connected to the end device, where the SPB configuration information causes configuration of the edge configuration device to allow communication of the end device on the SPB network.

Communication networks are widely used to provide communication between different computer systems and other electronic devices. Wireless communication networks offer increased convenient access to client devices, such as computers, phones, tablets, wearable devices, and other devices, by allowing network communications between these devices without the need for wired connections. Some network devices such as servers can perform configuration in a network system provide connected devices access to one or more virtual local area networks (VLANs) and other network functionality. Conventionally, an authentication process and configuration process for connected devices is extensive and typically requires much time and expertise from a network administrator.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Configuration of networks using client device access of remote server


A compact assembly for retaining keys or other domestic articles permits retention, rapid identification, and selection of an appropriate object by single-hand operation without the necessity of visual observation. The assembly comprises a tubular housing which can be grasped by the hand of the user, and a key retaining mechanism, a key advancing mechanism and a driving mechanism mounted within the housing. The key retaining mechanism can carry a plurality of keys, disposed in a plurality of storing stations provided with key receiving grooves. A selected key can be driven along the groove by the key advancing mechanism after the storing station corresponding to the particular key is brought into alignment with a key exit opening of the housing. The assembly can be provided with a remote control mechanism and/or alarm mechanism.

Key retainers or cases are very widely used in everyday life, and there are numerous such devices described in many patent specifications; for example, in Hughes' U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,983, McDonald's U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,984, and Youd's U.S. Pat. No. 4,037,439.
Construction of these known devices in most cases is relatively unsophisticated in the sense that it ensures only one function; namely, the storing of keys, held in a bunch.
In known key retaining devices selection of the demanded key and its movement from stored position to use position is manually allowed only after the user has made direct observation of the whole plurality of keys stored in the retainer and has visually identified and selected the proper key. In darkness, or in insufficient lighting conditions, manipulation of such retainers can be difficult and rather inconvenient, especially for weak sighted persons, since it is impossible to identify and select one of a plurality of keys without previous visual contact.
The other disadvantage of known key retaining devices is associated with the fact that their construction does not allow for fixation of the key by the holder after it is moved to a use position. In order to effect the key, for example, when it is inserted in the key way, it should be firmly grasped by the fingers. Due to this limitation, the ultimate rotational force which can be applied to the key becomes dependent on the physical ability of the person using the key and on the dimensions of the key. This might cause additional inconvenience, especially for small children or disabled persons.
Another common drawback inherent to known key retainers is that their external size is dependent on the dimensions of the keys to be stored, and in particular, on the width of the key handle. When keys with wide handles are stored, the holder becomes rather bulky, cannot be put in a pocket, and might even require manipulation by both hands.
In conclusion, it should be pointed out that, despite the existence of numerous key retaining devices, there is still a need for a new, improved, simple and convenient-to-use key retainer.

Assembly for retaining of keys or similar objects


A storage-stable, curable film-forming composition is provided comprising: (i) a crosslinking agent selected from an aminoplast, a blocked polyisocyanate, and mixtures thereof; and (ii) a hydroxyl functional acrylic polymer further containing a plurality of alkoxysilane groups of the structure: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 is hydrogen or methyl, and R.sub.2 is a divalent group. The acrylic polymer is prepared in a solvent medium comprising an alcohol. The curable film-forming composition is suitable for use in color-plus-clear composite coating compositions.

In the coatings industry, resistance to etching by atmospheric acid precipitation ("acid etch resistance") has become a desirable property for coatings, particularly automotive original equipment coatings. Original equipment manufacturers are requiring that coating systems demonstrate acid etch resistance. Several chemistries have been developed that demonstrate acid etch resistance. An example is alkoxysilane chemistry, in which alkoxysilane functional polymers (typically acrylics) self-condense (or additionally react with crosslinking agents) to form crosslinked coatings.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,532,027, to Nordstrom et al. discloses clear film-forming compositions comprising methoxysilane or ethoxysilane functional acrylic polymers. Although such compositions exhibit acid etch resistance, the compositions may not exhibit acceptable storage stability in that the viscosity of the compositions may increase over time.

Color-plus-clear composite coating compositions containing alkoxysilane functional polymers


An inkjet recording apparatus may include a conveyor belt, suction unit, linear recording heads, and head frame shaped like a plate. The conveyor belt has a placement face on which a recording medium is placed and may be configured to cause the placement face to move in a conveyance direction. The suction unit disposed below the placement face applies a suction force exerted by a downward airflow to the recording medium placed on the placement face. The linear recording heads may be disposed upward opposite to the suction unit across the conveyor belt, have a nozzle face where an ink ejection nozzle is formed, and extend in a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction. Linear recording heads may be arranged in the conveyance direction. The linear recording heads may be attached to the head frame. The head frame may have a ventilation opening penetrating in a thickness direction.

The present disclosure relates to an inkjet recording apparatus that records information on a recording medium such as paper by ejection of ink from a nozzle.
An inkjet recording apparatus is generally provided with: a conveyor belt that has a placement face on which a recording medium is placed and conveyed, and that causes the placement face to move in a horizontal direction; a suction unit that is disposed below the placement face of the conveyor belt and that applies a suction force by a downward airflow to the recording medium, such that the recording medium is sucked onto the placement face; a plurality of linear recording heads that is disposed upward opposite to the suction unit across the conveyor belt, has a nozzle face on which an ink ejection nozzle is formed, and extends in an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction; and a plate-like head frame to which the plurality of linear recording heads is attached in an array in the conveyance direction.
In the conventional inkjet recording apparatus, the plate-like head frame has a size substantially covering the placement face (face onto which the recording medium is sucked) and is provided with attachment openings through which the plurality of linear recording heads is attached onto the head frame. A plate-like part of the head frame other than the attachment openings is not provided with a vertical through-hole or opening.


A contrast improving sheet includes a first optical functional element and a second optical functional element on the viewing side thereof. The first optical functional element has a plurality of protrusions, each having a pair of opposite total-reflection facets for totally reflecting image light rays substantially perpendicularly incident on the entrance surface and a flat facet extending between the front edges, on the side of the exit surface, of the pair of opposite total-reflection facets. Light absorbing layers are formed between the adjacent protrusions. The second optical functional element has a light path correcting layer for correcting light paths followed by the image light rays totally reflected by the total-reflection facets such that the image light rays are emitted through the exit surface substantially perpendicularly to the exit surface. The light path correcting layer has a plurality of alternately inclined planes inclined in opposite directions.

There have been proposed various techniques for optimizing viewing angle of a display, such as a rear projection display or a liquid crystal display, and improving contrast in images displayed by the display so that the viewers are able to recognize images clearly.
More concretely, a previously proposed first optical element is provided with lenticular lenses, namely, light diffusing elements, on its back surface (a surface facing an image light source) on which image light falls, and with light absorbing elements on light intercepting parts, which do not transmit image light, in its front surface on the viewing side to absorb external light incident on the front surface.
A second optical element proposed in JP 50-121753 U and JP 60159733 A is provided on its front surface on the viewing side, as light diffusing elements, with many ribs each having inclined reflecting facets and an exit facet formed between the inclined reflecting facets, and a light absorbing material filling up V-grooves between the adjacent inclined facets to absorb external light incident on the front surface from the viewing side.
Although the first optical element is effective to some extent in improving contrast, the first optical element cannot be used as a directional optical element because parallel light rays perpendicularly incident on the first optical element are diffused by the lenticular lens elements. In the first optical element, the lenticular lens elements on the back surface and the light absorbing parts on the front surface need to correspond to each other in one-to-one correspondence. Therefore, it is very difficult to manufacture the first optical element when the lenticular lenses are arranged at short pitches.
The second optical element divides incident light rays into outgoing light rays that are emitted through the front surface respectively in three directions, namely, light rays not reflected by the inclined facets of the ribs and emitted through the exit facets in a direction normal to the exit facets, light rays totally reflected by the opposite inclined facets of each rib and emitted through the exit facet in two directions at specific angles to the exit facet. Therefore, the ribs through which light rays travel must contain a large amount of light diffusing particles to display uniform images. The large amount of light diffusing particles spoils the clearness of images and hence the second optical element cannot be used as a directional optical element.

Contrast improving sheet and rear projection screen provided with the same


A reflector element intended to locate each light emitting diode of an array of light emitting diodes between outwardly angled, reflective surfaces in order to manage the distribution of light within an enclosure of an exit sign or other illuminated sign thereby illuminating a legend-bearing sign panel of the sign, the invention allows compact sign enclosure formation and provides even illumination of sign panels on all legend-bearing face walls of the exit sign even though multiple point light sources such as light emitting diodes comprise the illumination source. The reflector element of the invention is preferably embodied in a U-shaped dual wall configuration with each wall being formed substantially with a plurality of triangular tooth-like projections interspersed with substantially triangular openings, the projections angling outwardly from a reflector base, a series of apertures being formed in the reflector base for receiving the light emitting diodes of the array. The preferred reflector element of the invention is elongated in conformation and used with a linear array of light emitting diodes, each diode lying between projections forming opposing walls of the reflector element and being shaded thereby. The light emitting diode array is preferably located along at least one interior wall of the sign enclosure adjacent at least one of the legend-bearing face walls. The reflector element is particularly useful with relatively diffuse, medium-viewing angle light emitting diodes, the projections of the walls shading each diode acting to reflect light emanating from the diodes upwardly and outwardly of the reflector element and into interior portions of the sign enclosure to illuminate portions of one or more sign panels having at least edge portions disposed adjacent the LED array.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to illuminated signs having multiple point light sources such as light emitting diode arrays as the illumination source for legend-bearing face panels and particularly to reflector structure mountable in relation to such an array for facilitating an even distribution of light within such a sign to improve illumination of the typically translucent legend disposed on such a face panel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Illuminated signs and particularly exit signs are commonly employed in commercial and industrial situations as well as in multi-unit residential buildings primarily for exit identification. Such signage takes many forms with interior illumination being provided through the use of a variety of illumination sources, an illumination source of particular utility in these energy conscious times being light emitting diodes which require greatly reduced power expenditures for operation. Although light emitting diodes have been used as the illumination source in exit signs and the like for well over twenty years, the use of light emitting diodes as the illumination source in an exit sign or the like continues to have negative aspects due primarily to the low level of illumination provided by a single diode. While developments in the production of light emitting diodes have continued over the years toward greater light-producing levels for these devices, it must still be recognized that LED technology has not improved to the present time to a point where only a few diodes could be employed with the lighting efficiency of, for example, only one or two incandescent or fluorescent lamps such as are also presently used in exit signage and the like. In order to overcome the low light generating capability of presently available light emitting diodes, various approaches have evolved including the use of a relatively large number of spaced apart light emitting diodes in various arrangements or arrays for providing the necessary candle power for satisfactory illumination of the interior of an exit sign such that the legends on face walls of such signs are evenly illuminated according to code requirements or any other reasonable standard of acceptability. In many such signs, light emitting diodes have been arranged in rows corresponding to the configuration of letters or numbers which comprise the legend of the sign. Such arrangements typically produce alternating bright spots and dark spots in the illuminated legend of the sign even when a diffuser material is placed between the light emitting diodes and the legend sheet or plate. The use of diffusing structure and of reflecting structure has also come into practice in efforts to more evenly distribute light within an exit enclosure so that a legend sheet or plate is more evenly illuminated and illuminated with sufficient candle power to provide an illuminated sign of satisfactory utility. As examples, Grondal, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,109, and Malita, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,357 describe the use of light emitting diodes in exit signs with reflective surfaces being employed to improve light levels within the signs in efforts to more efficiently utilize the candle power available from the light emitting diodes used in these signs. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,469,347, Duve et al provides a retro-fit unit formed of a plurality of linear LED arrays and provided with a reflector panel mounted in opposition to the light emitting diodes in an effort to scatter light within the interior of an exit sign to improve illumination of a translucent legend carried by the exit sign. As an example of similar technology, Sjobom, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,253, locates a refractive lens above an array of light emitting diodes in an effort to more efficiently utilize light emitted from an array of light emitting diodes.
The history of light emitting diode usage in exit signs has therefore been and continues to be an attempt to engineer the use of as few diodes as possible combined with diode mounting arrangements, reflector arrangements and diffuser arrangements inter alia which will provide an acceptable illumination level coupled with a desired even illumination within an acceptably compact sign enclosure structure. Recent trends toward placement of linear LED arrays along one or more interior perimetric walls of a sign enclosure has typically been accompanied by objectionable bands of differing brightness levels horizontally across the illuminated legend of such a sign, such signs so lit often failing to meet code requirements for visibility in addition to being aesthetically objectionable. Prior attempts to correct this particular problem have typically involved positioning of the LED array at greater distances outside of the extents of the translucent legend portions of the sign panel, thereby increasing size and cost of the sign enclosure.
The present invention intends improvement upon the prior art by provision of a volumetrically compact sign enclosure evenly illuminated throughout the interior of the enclosure by an array of light emitting diodes preferably disposed along one interior wall of the sign enclosure. Preferably, a linear array of a minimum number of light emitting diodes is disposed along the horizontal "floor" of the exit sign with the light emitting diodes being mounted to a substrate such as a printed circuit board and extending upwardly from the printed circuit board, which board is positioned immediately below the location of the translucent portions of the legend disposed in or on a sign panel or sheet of the exit sign. The invention particularly contemplates use of a reflector element mounted in association with the LED array and being configured to reflect light emanating from the light emitting diodes into the interior of the sign enclosure to maximize efficiency of the light produced by the light emitting diodes and to provide a more even distribution of light within the exit sign enclosure in all interior portions of the sign enclosure. A desirable illumination level and evenness of illumination is therefore provided within the sign enclosure to evenly illuminate the sign legend at an acceptable level of brightness. The advances in the art afforded by the present invention are accompanied by a reduction in the number of light emitting diodes necessary to produce a given illumination level coupled with an ability to provide a compact sign enclosure, manufacturing costs of the exit enabled by the features of the invention thus being held to acceptable levels.

Light distribution reflector for exit signs and the illuminated by LED arrays


Application programs for mobile communication devices are stored in a data store. The applications may be collected from any number of different sources such as through an application programming interface (API), from web crawling, from users, or combinations of these. The applications are analyzed and the analysis results reported. The applications may be “continuously” analyzed so that any changes in assessments can be reported. If an application for which an analysis is sought is not in the data store, information about a different, but related application may be provided.

This disclosure relates generally to application programs for mobile communication devices, and specifically, to analyzing and providing information about the application programs.
Mobile app stores are experiencing astronomical growth. Analysts estimate that the total global mobile applications market is expected to be worth upwards of $25 billion in the next several years. Factors contributing to the growth include advancements in network technologies, the lowering of mobile data usage cost, and the growing adoption of smartphones. Application marketplaces such as the Android Market and Apple Apps Store have provided a new business model for developers, brands, device manufactures, advertisers, and many others.
With so many different applications coming to the market, it is becoming very difficult for marketplace owners to categorize the applications, identify which applications they would like to distribute, identify which applications they would like to not distribute, and generally, keep abreast of changes. While there are a great number of good applications, there is also a great number of bad or undesirable applications. It can be difficult to tell which is which.
Therefore, there is a need for systems and techniques to provide timely and up-to-date information on mobile application programs.


In one or more embodiments, a system for calibration between a camera and a ranging sensor comprises a ranging sensor to obtain ranging measurements for a target located at N number of locations with an emitter at M number of rotation positions. The system further comprises a camera to image the target to generate imaging measurements corresponding to the ranging measurements. Further, the system comprises a processor(s) to determine replacement ranging measurements that all lie in the same plane; to sample the replacement ranging measurements to produce sampled replacement ranging measurements; to determine sampled replacement imaging measurements corresponding to the sampled replacement ranging measurements; and to calculate calibration parameters by using some of the sampled replacement ranging measurements and the sampled replacement imaging measurements corresponding to the sampled replacement ranging measurements that are used, where the calibration parameters estimate the relationship of the camera to the ranging sensor.

Establishing accurate extrinsic calibration between a camera and a ranging sensor is a challenging problem, particularly for systems designed to scan objects further away than one meter. The current literature boasts state-of-the-art results achieving centimeter to millimeter order accuracy. However, this is insufficient for high precision metrology at large standoff distances (e.g., six (6) meters), where submillimeter accuracy is often desired for the final results.
In light of the foregoing, there is a need for an improved technology for achieving submillimeter extrinsic calibration accuracy between a camera and a ranging sensor capable of repeatable position measurements.

High accuracy extrinsic calibration procedure for cameras and range sensors


The invention provides a novel assay for NS2/3 cleavage detection, particularly, a novel assay for the detection of the NS3 cleavage product in the presence of uncleaved NS2/3 based on discrimination of the activity of the resulting NS3 protease product from the NS3 protease activity of the NS2/3 uncleaved protein. Certain reaction conditions allow this discrimination in situ without having to resort to physical separation of both proteases by decreasing the NS3 protease activity of the NS2/3 protein and increasing the NS3 protease activity of the resulting NS3 protease product, thereby producing a “signal window” upon which it is feasible to distinguish and measure NS3 protease activity produced from the cleavage of NS2/3.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the major etiological agent of post-transfusion and community-acquired non-A non-B hepatitis worldwide. A high percentage of carriers become chronically infected and many progress to chronic liver disease, so called chronic hepatitis C. This group is in turn at high risk for serious liver disease such as liver cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and terminal liver disease leading to death.
HCV is an enveloped positive strand RNA virus in the Flaviviridae family. The single strand HCV RNA genome is of positive polarity and comprises one open reading frame (ORF) of approximately 9600 nucleotides in length, which encodes a linear polyprotein of approx. 3010 amino acids. In infected cells, this polyprotein is cleaved at multiple sites by cellular and viral proteases to produce structural and non-structural (NS) proteins. The structural proteins (C, E1, E2 and p7) comprise polypeptides that constitute the virus particle. Processing of the structural proteins is catalyzed by host cell proteases. The non-structural proteins (NS2, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, NS5A, NS5B) encode for enzymes or accessory factors that catalyze and regulate the replication of the HCV RNA genome. The generation of the mature non-structural proteins is catalyzed by two virally encoded proteases. The first is the NS2/3 protease which auto-catalyses the cleavage between NS2 and NS3. The NS3 contains a N-terminal serine protease domain and catalyzes the remaining cleavages from the polyprotein. The released NS4A protein has at least two roles. The first role is forming a stable complex with NS3 protein and assisting in the membrane localization of the NS3/NS4A complex; the second is acting as a cofactor for NS3 protease activity. This membrane-associated complex, in turn catalyzes the cleavage of the remaining sites on the polyprotein, thus effecting the release of NS4B, NS5A and NS5B.
The cleavage of the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) polyprotein between the nonstructural proteins NS2 and NS3 is mediated by the NS2/3 protease, a protease activity that is encoded by the NS2 region and the minimal NS3 protease domain which flank the cleavage site. NS2/3 protease is expressed in virally infected hepatocytes and experimental data are consistent with its essential role in viral propagation and disease. Indeed, no productive infection was observed in chimpanzees upon inoculation of HCV clones containing mutations abolishing NS2/3 protease activity, suggesting that this HCV-encoded enzyme is essential for productive replication in vivo (1).
A minimal catalytic region of NS2/3 protease has been defined and includes the C-terminus of NS2 and the N-terminal NS3 protease domain (2-5). The NS2/3 (904-1206) variant from HCV genotype 1b was purified from E. coli inclusion bodies and refolded by gel filtration chromatography as previously described (2, 3). The purified inactive form of NS2/3 (904-1206) can be activated by the addition of glycerol and detergent to induce autocleavage at the predicted site between the residues leucine 1026 and alanine 1027 (2, 3). In vitro, the isolated form of NS2/3 protein possesses both protease activities i.e. the NS2/3 protease auto-cleavage activity and the NS3 protease activity. Separation of the products resulting from the cleavage of the NS2/3 precursor, or at least discrimination between the two forms of NS3 protease activity is required to assess the amount of NS3 protease produced by auto-cleavage of NS2/3 in the same reaction mixture.
NS2/3 protease cleavage detection assays based on the separation of the NS2 and NS3 products from the NS2/3 precursor by SDS-PAGE and by HPLC have been reported, as well as an assay based on the NS3 protease activity of the NS2/3 protein which also requires separation of the NS2/3 uncleaved precursor from the NS3 protease product (2-5). Such methods can be time-consuming and are not adapted for rapid screening. Moreover, no assay has yet been developed having the selectivity to detect NS2/3 cleavage products in the presence of uncleaved NS2/3.
It would, thus, be desirable to develop an efficient NS2/3 cleavage assay which overcomes one or more disadvantages of existing assays. Particularly, it is desirable to develop an efficient NS2/3 cleavage assay which discriminates between the NS3 protease activities of the NS2/3 protein and the NS3 protease cleavage product.
A novel NS3-selective assay method is provided comprising cleavage of NS2/3 protease in a sample and treatment of the cleaved sample which enables detection of cleavage product NS3 therein. The method is useful to detect NS3 cleavage product without having to separate NS2/3 precursor therefrom.


A machine for printing on or otherwise decorating hollow bodies. It comprises a rotationally driven decoration application drum, which peripherally is provided with decoration faces, which are able to be moved along a first orbit. On an adjacent capstan plate receiving capstans are arranged for capstan units for carrying hollow bodies. On rotation of the capstan plate the radially inwardly facing sections of the hollow bodies proceed along a second orbit. Pitman units serve to so correct the second orbit on passage through a decoration zone that it coincides with the first orbit.

The invention relates to a machine for printing or otherwise decorating hollow bodies such as sleeves, collapsible tubes, cans or the like comprising
a rotationally driven decoration application drum, which is peripherally provided with one or more decoration applying faces, which on rotation of the decoration application drum proceed along a first circular orbit,
a rotationally driven capstan plate whose axis of rotation is arranged athwart that of the decoration application drum, said capstan plate bearing capstan units arranged in sequence at a distance apart in its direction of rotation, said units being respectively provided with a receiving capstan, onto which capstan a hollow body to be decorated may be respectively slipped, the radially outwardly directed sections of the slipped on hollow body proceeding along a second orbit on rotation of the capstan plate,
and orbit correction means, which ensure that during a passage, occurring with a simultaneous decoration operation, of a decoration zone associated with the peripheral region of the decoration application drum, the capstan units are so shifted by performing a follow-up movement directed athwart the axis of rotation of the capstan plate that the second orbit coincides with the first orbit, the capstan units being moved respectively on guide means provided on the capstan plate in the direction of the follow-up movement and being connected with cam following means which on rotation of the capstan plate run along a cam responsible for the follow-up movement.
Machines of this type, as for instance disclosed in the patent publication WO 97/07979, serve for printing or otherwise decorating hollow bodies having a round shape such as sleeves collapsible tubes, cans or the like. The term xe2x80x9cdecorationxe2x80x9d is in the present context to mean for instance measures for lacquering, labeling, foil embossing or screen printing as well. The respective machines possess a capstan plate driven for rotation, which is provided with capstan units arranged in sequence in the direction of rotation and which possess receiving capstans, on which the hollow bodies are held. Adjacent to the capstan plate there is also a rotationally driven decoration application drum, also driven to rotate, which is provided peripherally with one or more normally segmented decoration facesxe2x80x94in the case of printing machines it will be a question of printing facesxe2x80x94which on the rotation of the decoration application drum are moved along a first circular orbit, which extends between the decoration application drum and the capstan plate.
The hollow bodies held on the receiving capstans are also moved through the decoration zone on rotation of the capstan plate. Then the radially outwardly facing sections of the so mounted hollow bodies proceed along a second orbit and in the decoration zone are brought into contact with the decoration face there at the same time. It is in this manner that it is possible for example for colored ink to be applied to the hollow bodies.
Since the two above mentioned orbits are oppositely curved, in continuous decoration methods, which are more particularly employed at high rates of production, correction of the second orbit is required in order to match its form, on its rapid passage through the decoration application zone, to the first orbit there of the first orbit. For this purpose the system of the said patent publication WO 97/07979 causes the capstan units to be guided by several guide rails so that they are able to be radially moved on the capstan plate. Simultaneously roller-like cam following means, which are pivotally mounted on a capstan support of the capstan units, engage a cam of such a shape that the capstan units perform a follow-up movement, which is athwart the axis of rotation of the spindle plate, on passage through the decoration zone, such movement matching the shape of the second orbit to that of the first orbit.
One problem occurring with the known machines of the type initially mentioned resides in the relatively high wear rate of the means provided for orbit correction of the capstan units. The forces coming into play during a decoration operation and acting on the receiving capstan give rise to a tilting moment which thrusts the cam follower rollers, arranged directly on the capstan supports, more strongly against the cam. Furthermore, heavy bending moments act on the guide rails of the capstan support. All in all this means that the accuracy of mechanical control and guidance is reduced with time and accordingly the quality of the decoration operation suffers therewith.
One object of the invention is to create a machine of the type initially mentioned in the case of which the components partaking in orbit correction are less prone to wear.
In order to achieve these and/or other objects appearing from the present specification, claims and drawings, in the present invention its inner side facing the axis of rotation of the capstan plate, of each capstan unit at a distance from the same a pivot shaft is provided which is parallel to the associated receiving capstan and is mounted for rotation as regards its longitudinal axis, said pivot shaft bearing the cam follower means at a radial distance from its longitudinal axis and on which, also at a radial distance from its longitudinal axis, has a pitman means pivoted on it, said pitman means at its other end engaging the capstan unit, so that a rotary movement caused by the cam follower means of the pivot shaft is responsible for the follow-up motion of the respective capstan unit with the aid of the pitman means.
The correction of the second orbit on motion through the decoration zone is now caused because the pivot shaft is turned through a certain angle, the torque or moment exerted being dependent on the distance between the longitudinal axis of the pivot shaft and the cam following means engaging same. The rotary movement of the pivot shaft leads to a pivotal movement of the pivot point of the pitman means so that the latter, dependent on the direction of rotation, is drawn inward or thrust outward in order to shift the associated capstan unit and to maintain the follow-up movement. In addition to the high precision thus achieved of the orbit correction there is simultaneously an effect such that the forces applied during the decoration operation do not act directly on the cam following means and the cam associated with same, but at least for a major extent are taken up by the pivot shaft and its bearing means. To the extent that a moment is exerted by the decoration forces by way of the pitman means on the pivot shaft, it is possible, by suitable matching of the working lever arms, to ensure that the resulting forces, thrusting the cam following means against the cam, are at a low level. All in all it is accordingly possible for the wear occurring on moving parts to be substantially reduced, something rendering possible high quality performance decoration even after a long working life.
Further advantageous developments of the invention are defined in the claims.
It is convenient for each capstan unit to possess an associated capstan plate bearing the associated receiving capstan by way of which the unit is rotatably supported on the capstan plate. In this case the receiving capstans may be mounted for rotation on the associated capstan plate, something which during the application of decoration allows rotation about the respective axis and accordingly free rotary movement of the hollow bodies on the capstan even if there is substantial friction between such bodies and the receiving capstans. Preferably, in this case each receiving capstan is provided with rotary drive means, with which during the decoration operation enables rotary movement to be caused, something which for example renders possible an extremely accurate development of the printed image during a printing operation.
The pitman means cooperating in the production of the follow-up movement best comprises at least two, and more particularly just two, pitman arms extending between the capstan unit and the pivot shaft, which are spaced apart in the axial direction of the pivot shaft and more especially engage the front and rear terminal parts of any capstan support present. Having such a parallel arrangement of the two pitman arms leads to a support means which is extremely dimensionally stable and capable for ensuring an accurate guiding action. The pitman arms may be respectively a component of a independent pitman unit.
In accordance with a preferred development of the invention the pitman means articulate, or have a pivotal connection, with the respectively associated capstan unit, the pivot axis extending in parallelism to the longitudinal axis of the capstan unit or coinciding with it. In the latter case it is more particularly possible to arrange for the pitman means to pivotally surround the associated capstan unit, this leading to a particularly compact overall size.
An other preferred feature of the invention is such that the bearing and guiding measures provided for rendering possible the follow-up movement of the capstan units are provided generally at the same level as the longitudinal axis of the respective receiving capstan, it being possible for each capstan unit to be secured in the direction of rotation of the capstan plate by means of support means secured to the capstan plate. Since in this case the guidance means are practically at the same level as the point of application of the decorating forces, an extremely accurate guidance is possible while substantially eliminating tilting forces. Furthermore, such measures effectively suppress vibrations.
In the case of a design whose performance quality is even further improved it is possible for the machine to be additionally provided with temporary offsetting means, by which the receiving capstans may be temporarily shifted out of their normally assumed home position in a radially inward direction into offset position so that the second orbit is spaced from the first orbit on moving through the decoration zone. This renders possible an individual offsetting or temporary shifting of the receiving capstans from the decoration application drum, if owing to some trouble condition or another cause the respective receiving capstan does not bear a correctly mounted hollow body or any body at all. Without offsetting there would be a danger of the decoration operation being performed on a naked receiving capstan. Owing to such temporary offsetting it is possible for a sufficiently large distance to be ensured in order to prevent contact between the decoration application drum and a receiving capstan.
It is convenient for the offsetting movement produced by the offsetting means to be performed by the capstan units bodily. Whereas in the case of the said patent publication WO 97/07979 a brief rotary movement of the eccentrically mounted receiving capstans meant that only such receiving capstans alone were offset, something which necessitated a separate offsetting drive, in the present invention components of the orbit correction means may also be utilized for offsetting of the receiving capstans.
In the present case the offsetting movement of the receiving capstans is preferably caused by a radial displacement of the pivot shaft. The offsetting means may, for each capstan unit, comprise an offsetting part mounted on the capstan plate for rotation about an axis parallel to the longitudinal axis of the associated receiving capstan, on which offsetting part the associated pivot shaft is eccentrically mounted for rotation with a parallel axis of rotation. Additionally provided actuating means may here cause a turning of the offsetting part in relation to the capstan plate and to the associated pivot shaft in order to position the offsetting part in two different -angular positions, in which the pivot shaft is at different distances from the axis of rotation of the capstan plate.
A particularly compact design and with a small mass to be moved is produced if the offsetting part is in each case in the form of a hollow shaft which at least partially surrounds the pivot shaft.
The angular settings of the offsetting part may be set by spring means, it being possible to employ a snap-action mechanism which ensures that one and the same spring means may set both angular positions.
In order to move the offsetting part into an angular position producing the offset position of the associated receiving capstan, an actuator may be present, which is activated by a sensor means, which is responsive to the state of the receiving capstans prior to reaching the decoration zone.

Machine for printing or otherwise decorating hollow bodies


A method for preparing porous silicon in which an oxidized single crystal silicon wafer is first bonded to a polycrystalline wafer. The oxidized high quality wafer is then thinned to the desired thickness by grinding and polishing. An oxide may then be deposited on the wafer and patterned to expose regions were the porous silicon will be formed. The single crystal silicon wafer may then etched in the unmasked areas of the pattern to thin the single crystal silicon wafer to the desired thickness in the range of 0.1 microns to 1.0 microns. Next, the porous silicon may be formed using standard techniques. Once the porous silicon is formed the polycrystalline silicon wafer may be ground away and the oxide layer may be undercut to expose the porous silicon. Finally, an appropriate liner material may be applied to the porous silicon.

Electro-osmotic pumps operate on the principle that the application of an electric field across a pumping medium, in the presence of a liquid may cause the bulk of the liquid to flow through the pumping medium. This is based on the principle electro-osmotic flow. For the case of water in contact with silicon dioxide or glass, the solid surface may acquire a finite charge density known as an electrical double layer when in contact with the aqueous solution through the deprotonation of silanol groups. As a charge is applied across the pumping medium, the ions will flow from the anode to the cathode and drag the bulk of the aqueous solution with it, creating a positive flow.
Recently, electro-osmotic pumps have been proposed for use with microelectronic devices. For instance, published U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/053,859 to Goodson, et al., Publication No. 2003/0062149, published on Apr. 3, 2003 describes using electro-osmotic pumps for thermal regulators for microelectronics devices. The electro-osmotic pump that may be used with microelectronic devices that are capable of generating high pressure and flow without moving mechanical parts and the associated generation of unacceptable electrical and acoustical noise.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0147225 to Thomas William Kenny, Jr. et al., describes a method for integrating thermal management of microelectronic devices within the microelectronic device. Therefore, instead of being an "add-on" device, the electro-osmotic pump may be integrated within the microelectronic device.
Published U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/272,048 to Juan G. Santiago et al., Publication No. 2003/0085024, published on May 8, 2003 describes a method for removing excess gases from closed loop electro-osmotic pumps. The method includes using a gas permeable membrane, which removes and vents electrolytic gases generated by the fluid chamber within the electro-osmotic pump. A catalyst may be used to recombine the electrolytic gases to form a vapor product that may be vented or condensed back to a liquid. The condensed electrolytic vapors may then be passed through an osmotic membrane back to the fluid chamber.
Published U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/384,000 to Thomas William Kenny Jr. et al., Publication No. 2003/0173942, published on describes an apparatus that integrates the power management module and a thermal management module, such as an electro-osmotic pump, may then be affixed directly to a power consuming microelectronic device.
Published U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/385,086 to Kenneth E. Goodson et al., Publication No. 2003/0164231, published on Sep. 4, 2003, describes an apparatus for controlling the thermal management of a microelectronic device through electrically controlling the flow of cooling liquid through the pump to minimize the spatial and temporal temperature variations that may occur on the microelectronic device.
However, high-flow electro-osmotic pumps currently for use in microelectronic devices may be constructed using sintered packed-particle porous glass frits as the pumping medium. These glass frits may have a thickness of approximately one to four millimeters, a pore diameter of approximately 1 micrometer, a porosity of approximately 0.2 and a tortuosity of about 1.4. Unfortunately, these pumping medium characteristics may not be ideal for optimizing the pumping action of a high-flow, high-pressure electro-osmotic pump. For example, it may be desirable for the pumping medium to have a pore diameter significantly smaller than 1 micron, and the tortuosity values approximately unity to achieve increased flow rates and pressure per unit area for a given applied voltage. Furthermore, the fabrication of the packed porous oxide frits currently used for electro-osmotic pumps may not be compatible with standard microfabrication processes. These drawbacks may hinder the use of electro-osmotic pumps as effective cooling systems for current and future microprocessors and Microsystems.


A method and controller circuitry for coupling a variable access time serial memory device to a microprocessor is disclosed. The controller circuitry includes an input for receiving address signal lines and control signal lines generated by the microprocessor, control signal lines generated by the device, and control signal lines and data signal lines for sending signals to the microprocessor and to the device. The controller circuitry further includes a decoder, responsive to the received address signal lines and control signal lines, for determining if the device can immediately respond to the microprocessor-generated request. If the device can respond to the request immediately the controller circuitry signals the device to respond to the request; otherwise, the controller circuitry responds to the request, and sends signals to the device to prepare the device to respond to future microprocessor-generated requests. The controller circuitry further includes memory to allow it to alter its responses to the microprocessor and its signals to the device dependent upon prior signals it has sent and received.

Most computers available today employ an architecture in which their instructions are stored in memory. A processor fetches each instruction from a memory location at an address which is stored in a register which is incremented after each fetch cycle. Some instructions often referred to as "jump" instructions alter the contents of this address register and thereby cause the next instruction to be fetched from the new address. When power is first applied instructions are fetched beginning at a fixed address known as the "reset vector." Non-volatile memory is commonly used to store program code for use when power is turned on. For a device to be suitable for this purpose it must be capable of decoding an address input and responding with the selected memory contents within the time constraints of the processor. A desirable feature of a non-volatile memory device is its ability to be erased and re-programmed within the system in which it resides.
Many non-volatile memory devices have been developed to serve as program code storage for use when power is turned on. As computer systems have become more complex the demand for faster, more compact and higher capacity non-volatile memory devices has increased. Typically as the capacities of the devices has increased the numbers of pins on the device packages has increased to accomodate the additional addressing requirement.
More recently non-volatile memory devices have been introduced which have high density, a reduced number of pins, and are electrically erasable and re-programmable; however, in order to function with fewer pins these devices use internal address registers, and the address and data inputs share a set of pins. To use these devices the system must issue command and address inputs to the device, wait for the device to signal that it is "ready", and then write or read the memory contents serially in small blocks. A memory element cannot be accessed randomly in a single bus cycle. The reduced pin count and greater density makes these devices less expensive to manufacture than random access non-volatile memory devices with the same capacity. The variable nature of the amount of time required to access the device as well as the device's requirement of receiving initialization commands has caused it to be considered unsuitable for program code storage for use directly by a microprocessor.

Bus interface controller for serially-accessed variable-access-time memory device


An optical device includes a transmitter, which emits a beam of optical radiation, and a receiver, which includes a detector configured to output a signal in response to the optical radiation. An active area of the detector has a first dimension along a first axis and a second dimension, which is less than the first dimension, along a second axis perpendicular to the first axis. An anamorphic lens, which collects and focuses the optical radiation onto the active area of the detector, has a first focal length in a first plane containing the first axis and a second focal length, greater than the first focal length, in a second plane containing the second axis. A scanner scans the beam across a target scene in a scan direction that is aligned with the first axis, and directs the optical radiation that is reflected from the target scene toward the receiver.

LiDAR systems measure distance to a target by illuminating a target with pulsed laser radiation and then sensing the times of flight (ToF) of the pulses reflected from the target. A three-dimensional (3D) map of a target scene can be produced by scanning the laser pulses across the scene and measuring ToF as a function of angle. In a typical LiDAR scanner, a transmitter sends out a beam of light; the beam is scanned across the target scene by a scanner, such as a scanning mirror; and then the light returned from the object is collected by collection optics and is directed to a sensor, which emits a signal to a controller for further analysis.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 9,651,417 describes a scanning depth engine, which includes a transmitter, which emits a beam comprising pulses of light, and a scanner, which is configured to scan the beam, within a predefined scan range, over a scene. A receiver receives the light reflected from the scene and generates an output indicative of a time of flight of the pulses to and from points in the scene. A processor is coupled to control the scanner so as to cause the beam to scan over a selected window within the scan range and to process the output of the receiver so as to generate a 3D map of a part of the scene that is within the selected window.

LIDAR system with anamorphic objective lens


A target analyte which may be found in a substance, such as a biological or environmental substance, is assayed by inoculating a media with a sample of the substance. The target analyte is a unique nucleotide sequence of the RNA or DNA of a suspect organism, or any nucleotide target, or a combination of nucleotide sequences thereof, which organism may be found in the substance. The media contains selected target analyte amplifiers which will result in the amplification of any target analytes which are present in the substance. The media may also contain one or more labeled analyte-specific materials (LASMs) which can migrate through the media. The nature of the media is such that it will support target analyte-copying but will not allow the target analyte to migrate extensively within the media. After the substance to be assayed is added to the media and any target analytes are amplified, the LASMs will migrate by diffusion to resultant target analyte units or colonies in the media, thereby creating intensely labeled localized areas in the media which can be visually or mechanically detected. Each of the intensely labeled areas in the media will be surrounded by low intensity label halos. The number of high intensity labeled sites in the media will be proportional to the concentration of target analytes in the substance.

The analysis of specimens for the presence or absence of target bacterial analytes, wherein the specimen is placed on a sterile growth media, is well known. Various bacteria can be detected in this manner in water, food stuffs; and in sample biological specimens, such as urine, cerebrospinal fluid, pleural fluid, ascites, joint fluid, stool, and the like. This testing procedure relies on the ability of the target analytes to replicate in the growth media to the extent that visible colonies of the target analytes can be observed. The various types of bacteria can be differentially labeled so as to aid in the differentiation between different bacterial colonies which grow in the media. When this analytic procedure is employed, the time necessary to form detectable colonies can be as short as one day, and as long as several weeks.
J. L. Burg et al describe a real time fluorescence detection procedure of RNA amplified by Q.beta. replicase, in Vol. 230 of Analytical Biochemistry (pp 263-272) 1995, Academic Press, Inc. The aforesaid detection procedure is non-specific and requires a considerable amount of sample preparation in order to function properly. Additionally, the Burg et al procedure cannot be used to detect DNA in a sample, and cannot detect more than one RNA target at a time. Quantification of any amplified RNA is a function of the time delay between the beginning of the procedure and the presence of detectable fluorescence in the sample container.
It would be highly desirable to be able to detect the presence or absence of one or more replicable target nucleotide sequence analytes in a single test, and quantify the target analytes in a short period of time. It would likewise be desirable to be able to detect organisms which cannot replicate in acellular systems, and to detect DNA genomes thought to be present in most life forms.

Detection and quantification of one or more nucleotide sequence target analytes in a sample using spatially localized target analyte replication


A positioning device combining mark point positioning and intelligent reverse positioning and method thereof, comprising a binocular camera, a third camera, and a laser; the laser is used for emitting laser projection, the binocular camera is used for acquiring images with laser lines and reflective mark points on the surface of the scanned object, and the third camera is used for acquiring images with coding points and mark points in the peripheral environment; the method comprises the following steps of: S1. calibrating parameters of each camera under different scanning modes, and enabling the parameters of each camera to synchronously and correspondingly transform when the scanning modes are switched; S2. judging and switching the scanning mode into a mark point mode or an intelligent reverse tracking mode through the scanning scene. The two positioning modes are flexibly switched, and the use of a user is facilitated.

With the development of high-end intelligent manufacturing, various high-end intelligent manufacturing technologies are emerging. Traditional industrial measurement and detection technologies are difficult to meet the needs of intelligent manufacturing, so three-dimensional laser scanners have been developed. With the development of Industry 4.0 and high-end manufacturing, there is a higher demand for product quality, so there is also a higher demand for the measurement and testing of industrial products, that is, a new demand for three-dimensional laser scanners. The light weight, portability, real-time intelligent processing, good man-machine interaction and automation of the three-dimensional laser scanner need to be considered.
At present, the types of high-precision three-dimensional laser scanners in the market are mainly divided into several types: mark point tracking type three-dimensional scanning, optical tracking instrument combined with 3-D spherical scanner. The former mark point tracking scanning has high measurement precision, and the existing problems are as follows: a mark point needs to be pasted on the surface of an object, so that the flexibility is not high; the latter optical tracking instrument combines with the 3D spherical scanner to solve the problem that no mark point need to be pasted on the object surface, but the precision is reduced, meanwhile, the optical tracking instrument is needed, and the laser scanner is designed to be spherical, so that the tracker can track conveniently, the use complexity is high, and the precision is low compared with the stick point.

Positioning method and system combining mark point positioning and intelligent reverse positioning


There is disclosed a transportable device and associated method for impeding the motion of a land vehicle travelling along a pathway on a terrain surface. First and second supports are positioned at first and second sides of the pathway, respectively, each capable of being actuated from a compressed condition to an extended condition. A propulsion system is effective to actuate the supports. A barrier extends between the supports at a mean first height that is effective to permit passage of a vehicle when the supports are compressed and supported by each support at a mean second height effective to impede passage of the vehicle when the supports are extended. When the supports are compressed, vehicles pass over the barrier unimpeded. When the supports are extended, the barrier impedes the motion of a vehicle travelling along the pathway. At least one deceleration cable mechanically couples the barrier to a brake system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for impeding the motion of a land vehicle. More particularly, a barrier is rapidly deployed through the rapid extension of telescoping supports.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The military and police officials are at times required to stop a moving land vehicle. For example, the military may be called on to stop a truck laden with explosives. The police may be called on to stop a speeding car containing suspected criminals. It is desirable that the occupants of these vehicles, that may include hostages, not be injured by immobilization of the vehicle. Therefore, immobilization by conventional methods such as road blocks using other vehicles and tire puncturing is not acceptable.
Devices to stop a moving land vehicle without injury to the occupants are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,576,507 to Terio et al. and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,282 to Waldecker, both of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties herein.
The Terio et al. patent discloses a pair of I-beams disposed on opposing sides of a roadway supported in an underground enclosure. Cables supported by shock absorbers extend between the I-beams. When the barrier is actuated, the I-beams rise from the underground enclosure, extending the cables across the roadway.
The Waldecker patent discloses a plurality of fabric cylinders disposed in a trench extending across a roadway. A net is supported on one side of these cylinders. When actuated, gas generators fill the cylinders causing them to rise and form a barrier across the roadway. Impact with the gas-filled cylinders serves as a primary braking means to impede the land vehicle. The net forms a secondary braking means.
While the above vehicle immobilization systems are useful, they have the disadvantage of being complex, heavy and immobile. They are useful for protection of a fixed target, but are less useful for protecting temporary targets, such as an arena being visited by a head of state. They are also not useful for rapid deployment in a remote site, such as encountered by police seeking to stop the escape of criminals.
There exists, therefore, a need for a transportable, rapidly deployed, vehicle immobilization system that does not suffer from the disadvantages of the prior art.

Non-lethal, rapidly deployed, vehicle immobilizer system