A hunting tool for facilitating dragging an animal carcass to a field dressing location or from the field, and for spreading open the rib cage of an animal carcass during field dressing, is comprised by a generally parallelepiped body terminating in two bifurcated ends. The body may be provided with a contoured or conformal grip to assist with manipulation, and is preferably fabricated from a high density alkane hydrocarbon polymer, such as high density or UHMW polyethylene. Adjacent each of the bifurcated ends is a rope anchor, and a rope may be anchored thereon. The rope is used to engage the carcass during transport, using the hand grip to hold and pull the animal from a convenient height. The bifurcated ends are used during dressing to spread the rib cage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a butchering device used in the treatment of carcasses, and more particularly to compact and portable devices that assist with the spreading, suspending, and transporting of carcasses such as are desired for field dressing after a successful hunt.
2. Description of the Related Art
At the conclusion of a successful hunt, it is highly desirable to dress the carcass as soon as possible after killing the animal. When one waits to dress the carcass, undesirable decomposition products accumulate and taint the meat, and the dressing process is more difficult and undesirable. Instead, at least preliminary dressing is preferably done in the field while the carcass is still warm and flexible, and rigor mortis has not yet set in.
One part of the dressing process is the removal of the viscera, including internal organs. In order to do so, the carcass will most preferably be stabilized with the rib cage held open. Holding the rib cage open increases view and access, so that a person can safely remove the appropriate contents. Suspending the animal carcass decreases the amount of interfering blood, and, with the ribs spread, improves access and decreases the likelihood of acquiring diseases from the animal. Additionally, propping the carcass with the ribs open expedites the cooling process and slows the growth and spread of bacteria on the inside of the carcass. To such an end, the carcass is often suspended by two limbs from a convenient tree branch, post or the like, and the rib cage is propped open.
There are numerous pre-existing approaches to spreading ribs. Several of the existing approaches involve pneumatically, hydraulically, and/or electrically driven devices, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,682,412 to Hendrix, entitled "Apparatus for Holding, Supporting, and Maneuvering an Animal Carcass While Holding Open the Rib Cage of the Carcass" and 6,199,828 to Komperud, entitled "Linear Spreader", the contents of each which are incorporated herein by reference for their teachings. Both patents illustrate a means for suspending a carcass and spreading the rib cage. However, both are undesirably large for transport during a hunt. Consequently, the carcass must first be transported to the equipment, resulting in undesirable decay and contamination. These devices provide no mechanism for moving the animal carcass either before or after the field dressing is complete, and dragging an animal carcass is awkward and can consume a great deal of time.
Another approach to dressing an animal carcass is found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 12,222 to F. Tesh, entitled "Beef Spreader"; 6,059,649 to Ballard, entitled "Rib Spreading Device and Method of Utilization"; 1,172,489 to G. M. Schellinger, entitled "Gambrel"; and 5,707,281 to Hicks, entitled "Game Carcass Spreader", the contents of each which are incorporated herein by reference for their teachings. These patents mechanically spread the carcass and have ratchet devices and the like which require manual releases, thereby holding the carcass apart as long as may be desirable. These patents do not address the need for transporting the carcass, and several have prongs or hooks which may be dangerous to a hunter, either during the hunt or during transportation or use.
More transportable mechanisms are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,270,857 to L. De Moss, entitled "Carcass Spreader"; 5,087,019 to Peabody et al., entitled "Spreader Apparatus"; 6,186,882 to Adams et al, entitled "Animal Field Dressing Hanger"; 4,901,397 to Pursell et al., entitled "Carcass Spreader Device"; 5,360,368 to Hajek, entitled "Wild Game Dressing Tool"; 370,615 to J. Folger, entitled "Meat Spreader", the contents of each which are incorporated herein by reference for their teachings. These patents generally provide collapsible and/or more compact rib spreaders. However, these rib spreaders still lack any features to facilitate transporting the carcass.
Accordingly, there is a need for a compact and readily transportable apparatus that will allow one to spread the ribs of an animal carcass for field dressing or cooling that can additionally function as an aid for transporting an animal carcass to or from a field-dressing location. Such an apparatus in provided by the present invention.
In addition to the aforementioned patents, Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition copyright 1983, is also incorporated herein by reference in entirety for the definitions of words and terms used herein.


There is provided a bedrail mount (10) for detachably attaching an object (30) to a bed rail (40) of a bed. The bedrail mount comprises a U shaped bracket for positioning over a bedrail. One leg (70) of the U shaped bracket comprises a U shaped recess (20) which, when the bedrail mount rotates, receives the bed rail and prevents the bedrail mount from further rotating and getting detached from the bed rail. The object is attached to the other leg (60) of the U shaped bracket.

In a hospital objects such as a patient monitor may be attached to the hospital bed to enable a continuing monitoring of a vital sign during transport of the patient. Hence there is a need for a bedrail mount that can be used to detachably attach objects to the bed. An example of a patient monitor having a bedrail mount is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,674. WO2008/050308 discloses a suspension device for holding or carrying equipment. The device has legs which can flex to engage with bars of multiple geometric profiles.
It is desirable that an object such as a patient monitor can easily and reliably be attached with a bed rail mount to a bedrail and when needed again easily be detached from the bedrail without the need to clamp the bed rail mount with force (e.g. for flexing the legs of the bedrail mount) to the bedrail.


Nanoparticles comprising tungsten, methods of manufacturing nanoparticles comprising tungsten, and applications of nanoparticles comprising tungsten, such as electronics, optical devices, photonics, reagents for fine chemical synthesis, pigments, and catalysts are provided.

Nanopowders in particular and sub-micron powders in general are a novel family of materials whose distinguishing feature is that their domain size is so small that size confinement effects become a significant determinant of the materials' performance. Such confinement effects can, therefore, lead to a wide range of commercially important properties. Nanopowders, therefore, are an extraordinary opportunity for design, development, and commercialization of a wide range of devices and products for various applications. Furthermore, since they represent a whole new family of material precursors where conventional coarse-grain physiochemical mechanisms are not applicable, these materials offer unique combinations of properties that can enable novel and multifunctional components of unmatched performance. Yadav et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 6,344,271 and in co-pending and commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/638,977, 10/004,387, 10/071,027, 10/113,315, and 10/292,263, all of which along with the references contained therein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety, teach some applications of sub-micron and nanoscale powders.

Tungsten comprising nanomaterials and related nanotechnology


A parking assistance device includes: a route information storage unit storing in advance route information indicating a travel route at the time of parking, the route information being stored according to the forward start position; an inclination calculation unit configured to calculate a current inclination of a vehicle length direction of the vehicle with respect to the target parking position; an offset amount setting unit configured to set an offset amount in the interval direction of the forward route between the current vehicle position and the position at which the vehicle length direction is parallel with the forward route; and a guiding unit configured to guide the vehicle to the target parking position based on a travel route adjacent to the position at which the vehicle length direction is parallel with the forward route.

Conventionally, parking assistance devices that assist a parking operation of a driver performing parking of a vehicle have been used. JP 2010-269707A discloses an example of this type of technique.
With the driving assistance system for a vehicle disclosed in JP 2010-269707A, when the vehicle is stopped for parking, multiple parking route candidates are read out from a parking route table based on the width of the parking space and width of the road facing the parking space. Then, one of the candidates is selected according to the position at which the vehicle is stopped, and the vehicle steering is driven such that the vehicle is maneuvered in accordance with the selected parking route.


A hydraulic magnetic control valve includes a base with an inlet and an outlet. A plug provided with a second magnetic member formed thereon is arranged above the outlet of the base for controlling the hydraulic flow, and the top surface of the base is mounted a driving motor. One of the side walls of the base is in a form of a slanted side wall, on which a first magnetic member is slidable upward or downward along the slanted side wall under control of the driving motor. When the first magnetic member slides downward along the slanted side wall, the control valve is in open situation permitting hydraulic material flow from the inlet to the outlet, while the first magnetic member slides upward along the slanted side wall, the control valve is in closed situation thereby stopping up the flow.

The present invention relates to an improved hydraulic magnetic control valve, and more particularly to a electromagnetic type control valve having a slanted side wall for controlling hydraulic material with advantages of low power consumption and good reliability during operation.
Hydraulic magnetic control valves are widely used in applications of hydraulic control system for controlling the flow of the hydraulic material, such as water. Typically, the conventional hydraulic magnetic control valve is provided with an electromagnetic coil and a plug received in the inner space of the control valve. The plug, positioned on the outlet of the valve, is adapted to close the outlet of the control valve, so as to stop up the water flow from the inlet to the outlet of the control valve. In addition, a magnetic member is attached to the top surface of the plug, which is magnetically associated with the electromagnetic coil during actuation of the coil. In such an arrangement, the control valve may be operated under control of magnetic force generated by the electromagnetic coil thereby controlling the water flow.
However, it is found that the prior art hydraulic magnetic control valve has disadvantage of poor reliability during stand-by condition of the electromagnetic coil of the control valve. One of the important reasons is that the position of the electromagnetic coil is unchangeable and is normally arranged near in space to the magnetic member. For example, in case that the intrinsic magnetic force of the electromagnetic coil is strong, the magnetic member is occasionally influenced by the electromagnetic coil, no matter whether the electromagnetic coil is energized or not.


The present invention is to provide a light emitting device capable of obtaining a certain luminance without influence by the temperature change, and a driving method thereof. A current mirror circuit formed by using a transistor is provided for each pixel. The first transistor and the second transistor of the current mirror circuit are connected such that the drain currents thereof are maintained at proportional values regardless of the load resistance value. Thereby, a light emitting device capable of controlling the OLED driving current and the luminance of the OLED by controlling the drain current of the first transistor at a value corresponding to a video signal in a driving circuit, and supplying the drain current of the second transistor to the OLED, is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an OLED panel having an organic OLED (OLED: organic light emitting device) formed on a substrate, sealed between the substrate and a cover material. Moreover, it relates to an OLED module having an IC, or the like including a controller packaged on the OLED panel. In this specification, both the OLED panel and the OLED module are referred to as the light emitting device. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an electronic appliance using the light emitting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
The OLED itself emits a light so as to provide a high visibility so that backlighting necessary for a liquid crystal display device (LCD) is not required, and thus it is suitable for providing a thin shape as well as the view angle is not limited. Therefore, recently, a light emitting device using an OLED attracts the attention as the display device for replacing the CRT and the LCD.
The OLED has a layer including an organic compound (organic light emitting material) for obtaining a luminescence (electroluminescence) to be generated by the application of the electric field (hereinafter referred to as an organic light emitting layer), an anode layer, and a cathode layer. The luminescence in an organic compound include the light emission (fluorescence) at the time of returning from the singlet excitation state to the ground state, and the light emission (phosphorescence) at the time of returning from the triplet excitation state to the ground state. In the light emitting device of the present invention, either one of the above-mentioned light emissions may be used, or both of the light emissions may be used as well.
In this specification, all the layers provided between the anode and the cathode of the OLED are defined to be an organic light emitting layer. Specifically, the organic light emitting layers include a light emitting layer, a positive hole injecting layer, an electron injecting layer, a positive hole transporting layer, an electron transporting layer, or the like. Basically, the OLED has a structure with the anode, the light emitting layer, and the cathode successively. In addition to the structure, it may have a structure with the anode, the positive hole injecting layer, the light emitting layer, and the cathode, or a structure with the anode, the positive hole injecting layer, the light emitting layer, the electron transporting layer, the cathode, or the like in this order.
It has been problematic at the time of putting the light emitting device into practice that the luminance of the OLED is lowered according to deterioration of the organic light emitting material.
The organic light emitting material is weak with respect to the moisture content, the oxygen, the light, and the heat so that deterioration is promoted thereby. Specifically, the deterioration rate depends on the structure of the device for driving the light emitting device, the characteristics of the organic light emitting material, the material of the electrode, the condition in the production step, the driving method for the light emitting device, or the like.
Even in the case the voltage applied on the organic light emitting layer is constant, if the organic light emitting layer is deteriorated, the luminance of the OLED is lowered so that the displayed image is not sharp. In this specification, a voltage applied to the organic light emitting layer from a pair of electrodes is defined to be an OLED driving voltage (Vel).
Moreover, in a color display method using three kinds of the OLEDs corresponding to R (red), G (green), and B (blue), the organic light emitting material comprising the organic light emitting layer differs depending on the color corresponding to the OLED. Therefore, the organic light emitting layers may deteriorate by different rates according to the corresponding color. In this case, the luminance of the OLED differs per each color so that an image having a desired color cannot be displayed on the light emitting device.
Furthermore, the temperature of the organic light emitting layer depends on the heat of the external atmosphere, temperature of the heat generated by the OLED panel itself, or the like. In general, the OLED has the flowing current value changed according to the temperature. FIG. 26 shows the change of the voltage current characteristics of the OLED with the temperature of the organic light emitting layer changed. In the case the voltage is constant, if the temperature of the organic light emitting layer is raised, the OLED driving current is enlarged. Since the OLED driving current and the luminance of the OLED have a proportional relationship, the higher the OLED driving current is, the higher the luminance of the OLED is. Accordingly, since the luminance of the OLED is changed depending on the temperature of the organic light emitting layer, it is difficult to display a desired gradient so that the current consumption of the light emitting device is enlarged according to the temperature rise.
Moreover, in general, since the degree of the change of the OLED driving current by the temperature change differs depending on the kind of the organic light emitting material, the luminance of the OLEDs of each color may change independently by the temperature in the color display. In the case the luminance of each color is not balanced, desired color cannot be displayed.

Light emitting device and electronic appliance

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


An information handling system housing is provided with a base portion, a head portion and a chin portion all coupled via a hinge such that the chin portion are separately articulable. By providing the hinge so that the chin portion can articulate separately from the rest of the head portion, the chin portion can articulate towards the rear of the system. This articulation reduces the table height of the hinge pivot point, and therefore reduces the slope of the base and keyboard assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information handling systems. More specifically, embodiments of the invention relate to portable information handling systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
It is known to provide portable information handling systems with a clamshell housing design (i.e., a housing in which two parts are attached by a hinge and that open and close like a clamshell).
To achieve a desired thin clamshell design, it is desirable to move much of the information handling system electronics out from within the critical housing stacks. For example, in certain designs, the critical stack for the base of the clamshell housing includes only a keyboard and a battery as well as the necessary housing base. The critical stack for the head assembly includes only a display assembly (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD) assembly) as well as the necessary housing. One known possibility for addressing this issue is to move the hinge up from the bottom of the head (hinge-up) assembly and have the base fold up into the head in closed mode. (FIG. 1, labeled Prior Art, shows an example of such an assembly.) The total system thickness is just the minimum head stack with LCD, plus the minimum base stack with keyboard and battery. The main electronics assembly (motherboard, etc.) are then located within a portion of the head that is below the hinge (referred to as the "chin" here). However, such a design can result in having to raise the hinge pivot point high enough that the slope of the base in open mode is too great. (See e.g., FIG. 1, labeled Prior Art.)

Information handling system having separately articulating tail piece


A converter unit connected to a monitor apparatus for monitoring and controlling a plurality of air conditioners, including: PAC transmission software for transmitting a setting data from the monitor apparatus regarding a running start/stop state, a running node, an air quality and a temperature, respectively of the air conditioners, to a transmission path, and for receiving running data regarding a temperature and a pressure of a component during the refrigerating cycle from the transmission path; transmission software for receiving the setting data from the monitor apparatus and transmitting the running data to the monitor apparatus; and a converter to convert the running data for the PAC transmission software to a running data for the transmission software, and to convert the setting data for the transmission software to a setting data for the PAC transmission software, respectively, wherein the running data is collected from the control message at a predetermined interval, and the collected running data is transmitted to the monitor apparatus; and wherein the setting data is transmitted to the transmission path if the setting data is changed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a management system for the maintenance, management, control, service and the like of an air conditioner used in a composite facility such as a building and shop, and to a converter unit used for the management system. The converter unit is particularly suitable for Ethernet (registered trademark of Xerox Corporation in USA, network medium whose specifications are stipulated by IEEE) of the BACnet specification which is standardizing a communication protocol for a building management system (A Data Communication Protocol for Building Automation and Control Networks: ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 135-1995).
For multi air conditioners in building and the like, large system requirements, energy savings, management cost savings, new services, new needs and the like are highly concerned. Control information and the like of an air conditioner are now used in an open network system. For example, as described in JP-A-9-79654, running data of an air conditioner is transmitted via a gateway to a network to perform diagnosis of a running state, control and the like of the air conditioner at a centralized controller. For example, as described in JP-A-11-230602, information on a running state of an air conditioner is collected and allowed to be browsed via the Internet.
According to the above-described conventional techniques, since control information and the like of an air conditioner are used in an open network, there is a close affinity with standardization and building facilities. However, it is still not satisfactory in terms of changing a small management system to a large system with expected investment effects, system configuration, satisfying various user needs, system sharing, feasibility of system expansion and the like.

Air conditioner management system and converter unit therefor

Hitachi, Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, as Trustee for the Benefit of Hitachi Air Conditioning Systems Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan, Beneficiary


Hardening of an integrated circuit such as a GPU processor to soft errors caused by particle strikes is applied selectively to the set of devices according to the magnitude of error resulting from this soft error for the particular device. This approach differs from approaches that protect all devices, all devices likely to produce an output error, or all devices that are vulnerable.

The present invention relates to computer architectures and in particular to circuits for mitigation of soft errors in computer architectures such as graphic processing units.
The increasing complexity and decreasing scale of integrated circuits used for electronic computers make such electronic computers increasingly susceptible to "soft errors". Soft errors are generally those which do not reflect a fundamental failure in the circuit but rather an episodic error, for example, caused by a particle strike or random electrical noise which switches the state of a logical gate or memory cell. In this regard, soft errors can affect both the execution circuit of the computer (e.g. the ALU) by changing the state of logical gates and the memory circuit of the computer (e.g. the registers or other memory structures) by changing the state of a memory cell.
Known techniques for preventing soft errors include selecting packaging materials with low radioactivity and increasing the size of the circuit structures (so they are less susceptible to the small energy contributions of particle strikes). Known techniques for detecting and correcting soft errors include the addition of error detection and correction bits to memory and the use of redundant execution circuits (e.g. triple redundancy) to detect errors in the execution circuits and correct those errors through a majority vote or subsequent execution.
Graphic processor units (GPUs) are specialized electronic computers typically used for high-speed processing of graphical data. Such GPUs employ a large number of execution units and distributed memory registers. Historically soft errors have not been a significant concern in GPUs because occasional errors in graphic images are localized and easily ignored by the viewer.
GPUs are increasingly being applied to tasks previously assigned to general-purpose computing in which soft errors can significantly affect the validity of the results. The large number of execution units and registers of the GPU, however, can make it impractical to use conventional hardening techniques that increase the area of the devices or add redundant circuits for error detection.
It has been recognized that not all soft errors affecting a gate or memory cell will necessarily produce an error in the results of the computation. For example, errors in NOP instructions, logically masked bits, and dynamically dead code will not affect the computational output. Accordingly, efforts have been made to identify generally how susceptible a given architecture is to soft errors. Such information can generally guide the designer, for example, in where and how much hardening circuitry to employ.

Method and apparatus for soft error mitigation in computers


An ink jet recording apparatus includes datum portions for positioning of each of a plurality of recording heads. The carriage has a cover member to protect the ink jet recording heads and to press them against the datum portions. Another cover member includes an electrical connecting member for making electrical connection to the recording head. With this structure, operating the cover members protects the ink jet recording heads, while they are positioned and electrical connection thereto is made.

1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus, and particularly, to an ink jet recording apparatus used as an information recording apparatus for an electronic typewriter, a word processor, a facsimile, a copying machine and so on.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
There have been proposed recording apparatuses which use various types of recording heads depending on their respective recording methods, and record information on a recording medium such as paper, OHP sheet and so on; the recording medium is hereinafter called simply a recording paper or a paper. These recording methods include a wire-dot recording method, thermal-sensitive paper recording method, thermal transcription recording method and ink jet recording method and so on.
Among these methods, the ink jet recording method, in which ink droplets are ejected to the recording paper, has attracted a great deal of attention with its advantageous aspects such as low fabricating and operating costs and low noises recording.
In addition, in recent ink jet recording apparatus, especially with respect to the recording head used in the ink jet recording apparatus, the recording head can be fabricated using the semiconductor device technologies such as thin film growth technology and microscepic device process technology, and recording heads fabricated in much smaller dimension and with lower costs are realized. In response to this technical progress in fabricating recording heads, a recording apparatus is realized which is capable of color recording or halftone recording by using a plurality of such recording heads. Accordingly, it is required that the structure of the recording apparatus become smaller and more simplified.
The ink jet recording apparatus having the above described advantageous features is used as a recording apparatus in electronic typewriters, word processors, facsimiles and copy machines and so on. In every application, the ink jet recording apparatus is formed so as to be suited to the required functions and the usage specific to the application apparatus.
There has been a recent trend in electronic typewriters and word processors towards being fabricated as small-sized, lightweight and portable device. This trend also requires a compact and much simplified ink jet recording apparatus.
Under the above described trend, that is, toward a compact and simplified ink jet recording apparatus, it is required to simplify units forming the ink jet recording apparatus and furthermore to simplify mechanisms connecting these units to each other.

Ink jet recording head mounting and positioning arrangement


Vehicle seat with a cushion body and a cover attached thereto that includes at least one medallion cover piece and at least one side cushion cover piece, which are attached to one another at the attachment points. At the attachment points a groove is provided in the cushion body. Vehicle seat of this type that makes it possible not only for a manufacturer but also for a consumer, namely an automobile owner or driver, to individually configure a seat. The medallion cover piece and the side cushion cover piece are attached to one another by use of a slide fastener that is integrated into the attachment. The side cushion cover piece can be separably hooked into the structure of the vehicle seat at its end that is opposite the slide fastener.

A vehicle seat of this type is known from DE 101 31 718 C1. Here the cushion body may refer to the cushion support pad for either a seat or a backrest. Prior to its attachment to the cushion body, the cover is made up of separate cover sections, usually a cover section for the front surface of the backrest or the surface of the seat, the so-called medallion, and cover sections for the padded side sections that border the backrest and seat surfaces. In order to allow the cover to be fastened to the cushion body, the above-named cover sections are sewn together at the points where they meet, wherein a first fastening element is integrated by being sewn in. A second fastening element is arranged, in a tight connection, at the base of a groove provided at the fastening points in the cushion body. The first and second fastening elements comprise complementary profiled elements, which, in order to fasten the cover to the cushion body, are pressed into one another, which causes them to become hooked together. The cover is thereby fastened to the cushion body.
In EP 0 103 679 B1 a backrest for a vehicle seat is described, in which a support element made of rigid foam, the front of which is covered with a cushion body, is arranged between the longitudinal crossbars of the seat. In order to be able to adjust the longitudinal profile of the backrest at the level of the lumbar support and of the upper pelvic rim, a molded body made of rigid foam is provided, which can be inserted into a recessed area in this region of the support element. To adjust the longitudinal profile, this molded body is inserted in a rotated position, or is replaced by a different molded body. To gain access to the molded body, the cushion body can be folded forward and upward. For this purpose it has a fold line in its upper region that is formed by a transverse seam, and in its lower area it is separably attached by means of an adhesive fastening element or some other type of fastening element, for example a slide fastener, to the support element. Along its two side edges, the cushion body is not attached to the support element.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,283,552 B1 and DE 201 09 719 vehicle seats are disclosed in which cushion sections, for example padded side sections, can be clipped to the structure of the seat.


A computerized-method using a cloud-based computing environment for improving client service, in a contact center is provided herein. The computerized-method includes: retrieving a context of a query and a time-limit from a CTI event and attempting to retrieve data to evaluate average resolution time for the received context. When the data is found, comparing the evaluated average resolution time with the received time-limit and when the received time-limit is below the evaluated average resolution time, sending a delay notice and providing the client a menu of options for querying through other channels. When the data is not found, or when the received time-limit is above the evaluated average resolution time, presenting on an agent dashboard, the time-limit of the client and accordingly updating parameters in the agent dashboard during the inbound call, thus, improving client service, by considering the time-limit of the client before the agent addresses a query.

Organizations constantly strive to improve the quality of service that they provide to their clients via a related contact center on one hand and reduce the contact center expenses on the other hand. However, as much as these two goals seem to be contradicting each other, they might go hand in hand when each inbound interaction in the contact center results in a quick and meaningful query resolution that prevents clients' dissatisfaction.
For example, extra expenses which are paid to clients which are dissatisfied due to long waiting time in an inbound calling queue might be saved to the organization. Sometimes, clients may be dissatisfied because on top of a long waiting time for an available agent, they don't receive resolution by the agent dining a time constraint they had. Therefore, organizations may endeavor to have their clients satisfied.
Moreover, satisfied clients may contribute to a high client retention rate. When clients are not satisfied, clients' base may shrink and leaving clients may also spread bad word-of-mouth, which eventually leads to low client retention rate and later plummet the organization's profits.
Moreover, clients' satisfaction doesn't just impact the business' bottom line, it also impacts the morale of the agents' team in the contact center which also may impact the retention rate. While business may survive with angry, single-purchase customers, only businesses which focus on customer satisfaction will thrive. Therefore, for an organization that considers or cares about customer satisfaction, it may be the key for its thriving instead of its surviving.
Some market researches show, that an increased customer satisfaction, is a key in creating a long-term relationship with customers. Accordingly, an organization has to constantly keep delivering value to its clients. For example, one market research has showed that 81% of satisfied customers are more likely to do business again with an organization, if they had a positive experience. 95% of customers will act after a negative experience by sharing concerns with friends and family, or churning.
Another aspect of customers' satisfaction is that an ongoing satisfaction of customers may lead to customers loyalty. Once customers have placed trust in an organization or a company and are assured that the company will continue to deliver value for them then they will continue to do business with the organization. Also, satisfied customers are most likely to recommend the organization's service to their network of friends. Customer advocacy is known to be a very efficient form of marketing. For example, small businesses estimate that 85% of their new clients come from word of mouth. Therefore, it may be cheaper to keep clients satisfied than trying to acquire a new customer. It's six times more expensive to woo a new customer than it is to retain an existing one.
A high First-Call resolution (FCR) i.e., a high ability of a contact center to resolve customer problems, questions or needs the first time the customers call, with no follow-up required, is almost always associated with high levels of customer satisfaction. FCR is considered as a measure of how effectively the contact center conducts its business and is a function of many factors, including the complexity and types of transactions handled, the experience of the agents, the quality of agent training, and implemented tools such as knowledge management and remote control.
There are times when customers themselves are time bound and have only limited amount of time for an interaction with an agent in the contact center agent at a particular instance. In such a case, currently neither the contact center nor the agent that will be associated with the call are aware of this time bound customer. As a result, the agent may address the customer call in no different way from a regular call. As a result, there may be a possibility that when the agent is not aware of the customer time constraints and the interaction takes longer than the customer's time constraints: (a) customer abruptly drops the call in-between while talking to agent; (b) the agent repeatedly may hold the call to look into knowledge base, transfer the call, etc. As a result, the customer may get dissatisfied.
To achieve a high level of FCR and for an agent to be more efficient the time constraint of the client has to be taken into consideration when the agent attends the interaction and the agent may work towards a call resolution accordingly. For example, when the agent is aware of the time constraint of the client the agent won't put the client on hold during the interaction or won't transfer the client to another agent. Moreover, no interaction between a client and an agent will end abruptly without agreeing on the next steps for resolution of the query if call couldn't be completed within client time constrained limit.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and a method for improving client service by empowering agents with greater clarity of customer time constraint i.e., time limit for the call, thus elevating client's satisfaction as call will be handled by the agent in the best possible way.
In other words, there is a need for a system and method that will improve client service by making sure that the contact center takes into account customer's time constraint while answering a customer query.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Upfront customer time consideration along with optimized agent desktop in a contact center


An instrument panel mounting structure for an automobile, characterized in that lower end portions of a pair of front pillar trims are forcibly flexed inwardly of a cabin of the automobile to come into contact with laterally opposite end portions of an instrument panel, respectively, thereby securely eliminating a gap between the lower end portion of each front pillar trim and the corresponding laterally opposite end portion of the instrument panel to improve an appearance. A pair of leaf springs are mounted to the laterally opposite end portions of the instrument panel, respectively. The lower end portions of the front pillar trims are biased inwardly of the cabin by the leaf springs so as to be urged against the laterally opposite end portions of the instrument panel, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an instrument panel mounting structure for an automobile, and more particularly to an improvement in joint portion between an instrument panel and a front pillar trim.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An instrument panel provided on a front side of a driver's seat in an automobile is mounted to a vehicle body of the automobile at a suitable position. A pair of front pillar trims are located at laterally opposite end portions of the instrument panel in such a manner that lower end portions of the front pillar trims are in contact with the laterally opposite end portions of the instrument panel, respectively. The front pillar trims are mounted to a pair of front pillar panels constituting the vehicle body, respectively.
However, there is a case that a lateral dimension of the vehicle body is fluctuated because of a manufacturing error. If the manufacturing error of the vehicle body becomes plus, that is, the lateral dimension of the vehicle body is enlarged, there is generated a gap between each laterally opposite end portion of the instrument panel and the lower end portion of the corresponding front pillar trim, thus deteriorating an appearance.

Instrument panel mounting structure for automobile


An intelligent sheet metal bending system is disclosed, having a cooperative generative planning system. A planning module interacts with several expert modules to develop a bending plan. The planning module utilizes a state-space search algorithm. Computerized methods are provided for selecting a robot gripper and a repo gripper, and for determining the optimal placement of such grippers as they are holding a workpiece being formed by the bending apparatus. Computerized methods are provided for selecting tooling to be used by the bending apparatus, and for determining a tooling stage layout. An operations planning method is provided which allows the bending apparatus to be set up concurrently while time-consuming calculations, such as motion planning, are performed. An additional method or system is provided for positioning tooling stages by using a backgage guide member which guides placement of a tooling stage along the die rail of the bending apparatus. A method is provided for learning motion control offset values, and for eliminating the need for superfluous sensor-based control operations once the motion control offset values are known. The planning system may be used for facilitating functions such as design and assembly system, which may perform designing, costing, scheduling and/or manufacture and assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to methods and subsystems which may be provided in an intelligent bent sheet metal designing, planning and manufacturing system and the like.
2. Discussion of Background Information
FIGS. 1-3 illustrate, in a simplified view, an example of a conventional bending workstation 10 for bending a sheet metal part (workpiece) 16 under the control of a manually created program downloaded to various control devices provided within the workstation. The illustrated bending workstation 10 is a BM100 Amada workstation.
(a) The Hardware and Its Operation
FIG. 1 shows an overall simplified view of bending workstation 10. FIG. 2 shows a partial view of a press brake 29, positioned to perform a bend an a workpiece 16. The elements shown in FIG. 2 include a robot arm 12 having a robot arm gripper 14 grasping a workpiece 16, a punch 18 being held by a punch holder 20, and a die 19 which is placed on a die rail 22. A backgage mechanism 24 is illustrated to the left of punch 18 and die 19.
As shown in FIG. 1, bending workstation 10 includes four significant mechanical components: a press brake 29 for bending workpiece 16; a five degree-of-freedom (5 DOF) robotic manipulator (robot) 12 for handling and positioning workpiece 16 within press brake 29; a material loader/unloader (L/UL) 30 for loading and positioning a blank workpiece at a location for robot 12 to grab, and for unloading finished workpieces; and a repositioning gripper 32 for holding workpiece 16 while robot 12 changes its grasp.
Press brake 29 includes several components as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3. Viewing FIG. 3, press brake 29 includes at least one die 19 which is placed on a die rail 22, and at least one corresponding punch tool 18 which is held by a punch tool holder 20. Press brake 29 further includes a backgage mechanism 24.
As shown in FIG. 2, robot arm 12 includes a robot arm gripper 14 which is used to grasp workpiece 16. As shown in FIG. 1, material loader/unloader 30 includes several suction cups 31 which create an upwardly directed suction force for lifting a sheet metal workpiece 16, thereby allowing L/UL 30 to pass workpiece 16 to gripper 14 of robot 12, and to subsequently retrieve a finished workpiece 16 from gripper 14 and unload the finished workpiece.
In operation, loader/unloader (L/UL) 30 will lift a blank workpiece 16 from a receptacle (not shown), and will raise and move workpiece 16 to a position to be grabbed by gripper 14 of robot 12. Robot 12 then maneuvers itself to a position corresponding to a particular bending stage located within bending workstation 10. Referring to each of FIGS. 1 and 3, stage 1 comprises the stage at the leftmost portion of press brake 29, and stage 2 is located to the right of stage 1 along die rail 22.
If the first bend is to be made at stage 1, robot 12 will move workpiece 16 to stage 1, and as shown in FIG. 2, will maneuver workpiece 16 within press brake 29, at a location between punch tool 18 and die 19, until it reaches and touches a backstop portion of backgage mechanism 24. With the aid of backgage mechanism 24, the position of workpiece 16 is adjusted by robot arm 12. Then, a bend operation is performed on workpiece 16 at stage 1. In performing the bend operation, die rail 22 moves up (along a D axis), as indicated by the directional arrow A in FIG. 2. As punch tool 18 and die 19 simultaneously contact workpiece 16, so that workpiece 16 assumes a relatively stable position within press brake 29, gripper 14 will release its grasp on workpiece 16, and robot 12 will move gripper 14 away from workpiece 16. Press brake 29 will then complete its bending of workpiece 16, by completing the upward movement of die 19 until the proper bend has been formed.
Once die 19 is engaged against punch tool 18, holding workpiece 16 in its bent state, before disengaging die 19 by lowering press brake 29, robot arm 12 will reposition its robot arm gripper 14 to hold workpiece 16. Once gripper 14 is holding workpiece 16, die 19 will be disengaged by releasing press brake 29. Robot 12 then maneuvers and repositions workpiece 16 in order to perform the next bend in the particular bend sequence that has been programmed for workpiece 16. The next bend within the bend sequence may be performed either at the same stage, or at a different stage, such as stage 2, depending upon the type of bends to be performed, and the tooling provided within press brake 29.
Depending upon the next bend to be performed, and the configuration of workpiece 16, the gripping position of gripper 14 may need to be repositioned. Repositioning gripper 32, shown in FIG. 1, is provided for this purpose. Before performing the next bend, for which repositioning of robot gripper 14 is needed, workpiece 16 will be moved by robot 12 to repositioning gripper 32. Repositioning gripper 32 will then grasp workpiece 16 so that robot gripper 14 can regrip workpiece 16 at a location appropriate for the next bend or sequence of bends.
(b) The Control System
The bending workstation 10 illustrated in FIG. 1 is controlled by several control devices which are housed separately, including an MM20-CAPS interface 40, a press brake controller 42, a robot controller 44, and a load/unload unit controller 46. Press brake controller 42 comprises an NC9R press brake controller, and robot controller 44 comprises a 25B robot controller, which are each supplied by Amada. Each of press brake controller 42 and robot controller 44 have their own CPU and programming environments. Load/unload unit controller 46 comprises a stand alone Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), and is wired to respective consoles provided for press brake controller 42 and robot controller 44.
Each of controllers 42, 44, and 46 has a different style bus, architecture, and manufacturer. They are coordinated primarily by parallel I/O signals. Serial interfaces are provided for transporting bending and robot programs to the controllers, each of which is programmed in a different manner. For example, logic diagrams are used to program the PLC of the load/unload controller 46, and RML is used to program robot controller 44.
(c) The Design/Manufacture Process
The overall design/manufacture process for bending sheet metal includes several steps. First, a part to be produced is typically designed using an appropriate CAD system. Then, a plan is generated which defines the tooling to be used and a sequence of bends to be performed. Once the needed tooling is determined, an operator will begin to set up the bending workstation. After the workstation is set up, the plan is executed, i.e., a workpiece is loaded and operation of the bending workstation is controlled to execute the complete sequence of bends on a blank sheet metal workpiece. The results of the initial runs of the bending workstation are then fed back to the design step, where appropriate modifications may be made in the design of the part in view of the actual operation of the system.
In the planning step, a plan is developed for bending workstation 10 in order to configure the system to perform a sequence of bending operations. Needed hardware must be selected, including appropriate dies, punch tools, grippers, and so on. In addition, the bending sequence must be determined, which includes the ordering and selection of bends to be performed by bending workstation 10. In selecting the hardware, and in determining the bending sequence, along with other parameters, software will be generated to operate bending workstation 10, so that bending workstation 10 can automatically perform various operations of the bending process.
A plan for a BM100 bending workstation includes generated software such as an NC9R press brake program and a 25B RML robot program. Each of these programs may be created with the use of an initial part design created from a CAD system. Both the robot program and the bending program must be developed manually, and are quite labor-intensive. Previously developed programs are classified by the of bends and/or by the directions of the bends. Engineers examine each part style to determine if previously developed and classified programs may be used or whether a new program must be written. However, since each classified program typically supports only a narrow range of acceptable part dimensions, new programs must frequently be written by the engineers. The final RML robot program, when complete, is compiled and downloaded by the MM20-CAPS system 40 to robot controller 44. The bending program is entered and debugged an a control pendant provided on press brake controller 42. After entering the robot and bending programs into the system, an operator performs several manual operations to walk the system through the several operations to be performed. For example, an operator will manually operate a hand-held pendant of the robot controller to manually move the robot to the loading and unloading positions, after which the interface console 40 will store the appropriate locations into the final RML program to be compiled and downloaded to robot controller 44. In addition, in producing the bending program, the operator may control the system to follow the planned bend sequence, in order to determine the values for the backgage position (L axis) and the die rail position (D axis).
(d) Intelligent Manufacturing Workstations
Various proposals have been made in order to overcome many of the drawbacks with prior systems such as the BM100 Amada bending workstation, and research has been conducted in the area of intelligent manufacturing workstations. Some proposed features of intelligent sheet metal bending workstations included features such as open architecture, including open system configurations and distributed decision making, and enhanced computer aided design and geometric modeling systems.
A paper entitled "Intelligent Manufacturing Workstations" was presented at the 1992 ASME Winter Annual Meeting regarding Knowledge-Based Automation of Processes on Nov. 13, 1992 by David Alan Bourne; the content of the Paper is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In the Paper, an intelligent manufacturing workstation is defined as a self-contained system that takes a new design for a part and manufactures it automatically. The process is stated to include automated setup, part programming, control, and feedback to design.
The Paper discusses several components of an overall intelligent manufacturing workstation, including features such as open architecture, the use of software modules that communicate via a query-based language, part design, operations planning, workstation control, and geometric modeling.
(1) Open Architecture
It has been recognized that an effective intelligent manufacturing workstation should have open software, open controller and open mechanism architecture. That is, a machine tool user operating such a workstation should be able to add onto the software, the controller, and the mechanism architectures of the workstation in order to improve their functions.
(2) Software Modules Using Query-Based Language
Software modules have been suggested, in the above-noted paper by David Bourne, for use in an intelligent manufacturing workstation. Such modules would be split along knowledge boundaries which have been defined in industrial practice, including, e.g., tooling, operations, programming, planning and design. The software modules would be responsible for understanding commands and data specifications, and for answering questions in their own area of specialty. A particular module might be configured to request information from other modules so that it has adequate information to solve its designated problems, to communicate in a standard language, and to work an several problems at once. In addition, each module would know which other module to ask for information and provide assistance in formulating a question for the receiving module. The general software architecture proposed in the above-noted Paper is illustrated in FIG. 4. The proposed architecture includes a designer 50, a bend sequence planner 52, a module 54 for sequence planning, execution and error handling, a modeler 56, a module 58 for sensor interpretation, and modules 60, 62 for process control and holding, and fixturing. Each of the modules for sensor interpretation 58, process control 60, and holding and fixturing 62 are coupled to external machine and sensor drives 64. A control subsystem 68 is formed by several of the modules, including sequence planning, execution and error handling module 54, modeler 56, and the modules for sensor interpretation 58, process control 60 and holding and fixturing 62. Control subsystem 68 is shown as being implemented within a Chimera operating system. All of the modules may be connected to other factory systems 66, including, e.g., systems for scheduling, operations, and process planning.
(3) Design Tools
Experimentation has been conducted with design tools that constantly manage the relationship between a stock part and a final part as it is applied to sheet metal bending, as noted in the above-referenced Paper, and as disclosed by C. Wang in "A Parallel Designer for Sheet Metal Parts," Mechanical Engineering Master's Report, Carnegie Mellon (1992), the content of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The design information, which may be described in 3D, or as a 2D flat pattern, is automatically maintained (in parallel) with another representation of the developing part. In this way, a connection between each of the features of the initial stock part and the final part is maintained.
(4) The Planning System
Once the design is complete, a planner typically then produces a plan which will later be used to execute the manufacturing process. The plan includes several instructions regarding the sequencing of machine operations to produce the desired part. An optimal plan will result in a reduction of setup time, a reduction in the existence of scrap after production of the parts, an increase in part quality, and an increase in production rate. To promulgate such advantages, the above-noted Paper recommends that as much specific knowledge as possible be separated from the planner so that the planner can be easily adapted to different machines and processes. A "query-based" planning system is thus proposed which shifts the emphasis of the planner to asking expert questions, rather than attempting to act as a self-contained expert.
(5) Workstation Control
The above-noted Paper proposes that the controller use an off-the-shelf engineering UNIX workstation as the core computing resource. The workstation may include in its back-plane an extension rack of special-purpose boards and an additional CPU that runs with a real-time version of the UNIX operating system, called CHIMERA-II. See, e.g., STEWART et al., Robotics Institute Technical Report, entitled "CHIMERA II: A Real-Time UNIX-Compatible Multiprocessor Operating System for Sensor Based Control Applications," Carnegie Mellon, CMU-RI-TR-89-24 (1989), the content of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
(6) Geometric Modeling
Geometric modeling is an important component in intelligent machining workstations. Several modelers have been experimented with during a project in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. A geometric modeler called "NOODLES" has been proposed for use as a modeler in an intelligent manufacturing workstation. The NOODLES modeler is discussed by GURSOZ et al., in "Boolean Set operations on non-manifold boundary representation objects," in Computer Aided Design, Butterworth-Heinenmann LTD., Vol. 23, No. 1, January, 1991, the content of which expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The NOODLES system makes far fewer assumptions about what constitutes valid edge topologies, and thus overcomes problems with other modeling systems, which would enter into infinite loops when the edge topology of a geometric model would violate system assumptions.

Intelligent system for generating and executing a sheet metal bending plan


An apparatus and method for removing heat from a heat generating component located within a thin-profile consumer electronic or computer system enclosure is disclosed. In one embodiment the cooling system of the present invention includes an air duct comprising a thermally conductive housing having internal fins dispersed along the internal walls of the duct. An air flow generator produces an air flow that is directed from an inlet port located at or near the center of the air duct to first and second exit ports located at opposite ends of the duct. A low resistance thermal path, such as a heat pipe, transfers heat from the heat generating component to the air duct housing.

Integrated circuits (ICs) are typically housed within a plastic or ceramic package. The packages have leads or surface pads that are soldered to a printed circuit board. The circuit board and package are often located within an enclosed computer chassis that contains other circuitry associated with the computer system such as peripherals, memory cards, video cards, power supplies, etc..
It is desirable to have a high rate of heat transfer from the IC package in order to maintain the junction temperatures of the IC within safe operating limits. Modern microprocessors typically employ millions of transistors in internal circuitry that require some type of cooling mechanism, otherwise, excessive junction temperatures may affect the performance of the circuit and cause permanent degradation of the device. Hence, as the performance of integrated circuits continue to expand, the need to provide more efficient, reliable and cost effective heat removal methods has become increasingly important in the design of computer system enclosures and particularly in small general purpose computer systems, such as laptop and notebook computers. There also exists a need to remove heat from high-power profile components located within other small form factor or thin profile electronic devices.
High heat dissipating components located within the small confines of some consumer electronic devices may create "hot spots" at certain locations along the external casing of the device. These hot spots may be uncomfortable to the touch and, in some cases, may cause injury. Therefore, it is desirable to dissipate heat away from high heat generating components located within the enclosure of small form factor devices in such a way as to keep the internal components within their specified operating temperature range and to preclude the creation of hot spots along the exterior of the enclosure.
A number of prior art methods have been used to remove heat from heat generating components located within the confines of a computer system enclosure. For example, the method of cooling integrated circuit devices within notebook computers has evolved from the simple attachment of a finned heat sink to the top surface of the device, to the development of finned heat sinks having integral fans. More recent developments have include the use of large, flat heat spreading plates. In such applications, the integrated circuit (generally, the CPU) is directly or indirectly attached to a metal plate having a large thermal mass and a large heat transfer surface area. In some instances, the integrated circuit is thermally coupled to the heat spreading plate by a heat pipe or other low resistance thermal path. More recently, forced cooling air has been used to cool one side of a heat spreading plate having an integrated circuit attached to the other side. Although these heat transfer methods have proved sufficient in the past, they do not provide the heat removal capacity and/or efficiency needed to cool current and future high-performance microprocessors in portable general-purpose computers and other thin profile electronic devices.
What is needed then is an apparatus and method which solves the aforementioned problems associated with cooling internal electronic circuits located within portable consumer electronic and computer devices. Particularly, what is needed is a highly efficient cooling system that is conformable to the size and power consumption restrictions imposed by small form factor and thin profile electronic devices, such as, for example, notebook computers.

Cooling system for thin profile electronic and computer devices


There is disclosed a honeycomb ceramics filter, wherein an average pore diameter X (μm) and partition wall thickness W (μm) of the filter satisfy a relation of 10≧W/X. According to this filter, while a predetermined trapping efficiency is maintained, a pressure loss can be prevented from increasing to be not less than a predetermined pressure loss even with use for a long period.

In recent years, a porous honeycomb ceramics filter has been used as an apparatus for removing particulates in exhaust gas, including a structure in which a plurality of through holes opened in end surfaces on exhaust gas inflow and outflow sides are alternately closed in the opposite end surfaces. The exhaust gas which has flown in from the end surface on the exhaust gas inflow side is forcibly passed through partition walls (including a plurality of fine pores) among the respective through holes to trap/remove the particulates in the exhaust gas.
For the ceramics filter, a pore diameter of the fine pore formed in the partition wall between the respective through holes is determined by a relation with a particulate diameter of the particulate in the exhaust gas, and capabilities such as trapping efficiency and pressure loss differ with a degree of the pore diameter. In view of this, development has heretofore been advanced so as to obtain the ceramics filter having a high trapping efficiency of particulates (such as soot).
However, for the filter having the raised trapping efficiency, since the pore diameter of the filter is small, there is a problem that an ash content generated by oil combustion of a diesel engine is accumulated in the pores of the filter and the pressure loss is raised to be not less than a predetermined loss by the use for a long period. For the filter having a small pore diameter, the pressure loss is high in sampling the particulates (such as the soot), and there has been a demand for reduction of the loss.
Additionally, in recent years, by improvement of the diesel engine, the particulates such as the soot generated from the engine have been reduced by a considerable amount than before. Then, as a result of the present inventor's intensive studies, in order to clear a regulated value of a future exhaust gas standard, it is not necessary to achieve an extremely high trapping efficiency. Conversely, it has been found that in order to prevent a rise of the pressure loss caused by the accumulation of the ash content into the pores, it is important to increase the pore diameter to such an extent that the exhaust gas can pass through the partition wall, and the present invention has been attained.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a honeycomb ceramics filter in which a predetermined trapping efficiency is maintained, an ash content generated by oil combustion of a diesel engine is extracted from pores, and pressure loss is accordingly prevented from increasing to be not less than a predetermined loss even with long-period use.


An optically readable media (10) has an information-encoding layer (16) and at least one color-forming layer (12) that embodies an optical readout-limiting mechanism. In a first embodiment the at least one color-forming layer contains an additive that does not interfere with the optical readability of the media for a duration of a readout period. The additive, upon exposure to a source of optical radiation that is suitable for reversing the color-forming layer from an optical readout inhibiting state to an optical readout enabling state, undergoes a transformation that maintains the color-forming layer in the optical readout inhibiting state. More specifically, exposure to the source causes the color-forming layer to photobleach and the additive to oxidize, where the oxidation of the additive permanently inhibits the optical readability of the media. The additive may be a leuco dye. In one embodiment the color-forming layer is comprised of 3-[2,2-bis(4-diethylaminophenyl)vinyl]-6-dimethylaminophthalide and the additive is comprised of benzoyl leucomethylene blue. In a further embodiment the additive is placed into a protective layer (18) that overlies the color-forming layer.

It has become commonplace to distribute software or other information, such as music and films, on optically readable media, such as CDs and DVDs. Successful readout of an optical disk by current disk readers heavily relies on a number of parameters that characterize the readout laser beam on its path from the laser to the reflective data layer of the disk and back to the optical pickup system of the reader. The electromagnetic wave structure of the readout beam is described by intensity, phase, polarization, and wave vectors of the wave components that constitute the readout beam. The wave structure of the beam determines geometrical and propagation parameters of the beam, such as beam size, angle of incidence, and angle of convergence.
In addition to reading the data layer of a disk, the reader performs other functions, which are as critical for playability as the data readout itself. These functions include auto-focusing, auto-tracking and error correction. The first two functions allow the reader device to actively control motion of the laser head and spindle motor in order to maintain the required position of the beam relative to the disk. Therefore, maintaining the integrity of the wave structure of the beam throughout its path inside the disk material is a key not only to the successful detection and decoding of the information carried by the beam, but also for the continuity of the readout process.
It is desirable in many applications to limit the duration of time during which the optical disk can be read. For example, one could rent an optical disk containing a film or a musical composition that, after some period of time, would become unreadable. In this case there would be no need to return the optical disk to place where it was rented.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,484 discloses an optical disk having a reflective metallic layer with a plurality of data structures (provided in the form of pits and lands) and a compound that reacts with oxygen that is superimposed over at least some of the data structures for inhibiting reading of the information.
Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,772 discloses a read inhibit mechanism that may also use a barrier layer. For example, the removal of a barrier layer enhances the action of a reading-inhibit agent to prevent machine reading of information encoding features on the optical disk. The reading-inhibit agent may also be activated by exposure to optical radiation, or by rotation of the disk.
A disadvantage of some chemical moieties used in or proposed for use in a reading inhibit layer is that they exhibit poor lightfastness, which could allow the limited play optical disk to be photobleached and subsequently converted back, possibly permanently, to a readable optical disk.

Method for rendering surface layer of limited play disk lightfast


A method for forming self-assembled patterns on a substrate surface is provided. First, a block copolymer layer, which comprises a block copolymer having two or more immiscible polymeric block components, is applied onto a substrate that comprises a substrate surface with a trench therein. The trench specifically includes at least one narrow region flanked by two wide regions, and wherein the trench has a width variation of more than 50%. Annealing is subsequently carried out to effectuate phase separation between the two or more immiscible polymeric block components in the block copolymer layer, thereby forming periodic patterns that are defined by repeating structural units. Specifically, the periodic patterns at the narrow region of the trench are aligned in a predetermined direction and are essentially free of defects. Block copolymer films formed by the above-described method as well as semiconductor structures comprising such block copolymer films are also described.

Self-assembly of materials can be defined as the spontaneous organization of materials into ordered patterns without the need for human interference. Examples of material self-assembly range from snowflakes to seashells to sand dunes, all of which form some type of regular or ordered patterns in response to the external conditions.
Among various self-assembling materials, self-assembling block copolymers have attracted attention. Each self-assembling block copolymer typically contains two or more different polymeric block components that are immiscible with one another. Under suitable conditions, the two or more immiscible polymeric block components separate into two or more different phases on a nanometer scale and thereby form ordered patterns of isolated nano-sized structural units.
Such ordered patterns of isolated nano-sized structural units formed by the self-assembling block copolymers may potentially be used for fabricating periodic nano-scale structural units and therefore have promising applications in semiconductor, optical, and magnetic devices. Specifically, dimensions of the structural units so formed are typically in the range of 10 nm, which are extremely difficult to define using the conventional lithographic techniques. Further, the block copolymers are compatible with conventional semiconductor, optical, and magnetic processes, and structural units formed by the block copolymers can therefore be readily integrated into semiconductor, optical, and magnetic devices.
Most potential applications of the self-assembled block copolymer patterns require such patterns to be aligned in a predetermined direction and to be essentially free of defects. There is therefore a continuing need for improving the alignment of the self-assembled patterns of block copolymers and for reducing defects in such patterns.

Methods for forming improved self-assembled patterns of block copolymers

International Business Machines Corporation


An image pickup apparatus captures an image of an object through an image pickup lens by an image pickup element according to an image pickup operation, generates image data, and records the image data in a recording section. The apparatus includes a microphone that collects speech of a person who takes images, a speech recognition section that recognizes speech output from the microphone and outputs a character code, and an image signal processing section that decides whether a folder having a name code corresponding to the character string code exists in the recording section or not based on the character string code output from the speech recognition section and performs processing of recording the image data in the folder when the character string code matches the name code.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus which records image data generated according to an image pickup operation in a recording section.
2. Description of the Related Art
For a portable image pickup apparatus such as a hand-held document scanner or digital camera, it is a conventionally known technique to operate such an apparatus by receiving a speech command (e.g., see Patent Document 1).
Furthermore, for a conventional electronic camera, there is also a technique using different folders which exist in a recording section for different purposes (e.g., see Patent Document 2).
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-215021 (paragraph number 0021, FIG. 1)
[Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-169222 (summary, FIG. 1)
Using different folders for different purposes requires not only image capturing through an image pickup operation but also an operation of specifying a folder to record an image in a recording section such as a recording medium. As pointed out in Patent Document 2, all such operations are conventionally performed through key operations and the problem is that performing this operation every time an image is recorded is complicated and takes much time.


A running board for railway car features a plank and a support where the support is constructed of a steel that is thicker than the steel of the plank. The support features flanges with mounting holes by which it is mounted to the railway car. As a result, the lives of the mounting areas of the support match the life of the plank so that the life of the running board is extended. The plank features side vertical and horizontal lip portions that extend from opposite side edges of the plank's anti-slip walkway. The horizontal lip portions are engaged by tabs formed in the support so that the plank is securely held to the support.

The present invention relates generally to running boards for railway cars and, more specifically, to running boards that feature an improved construction and mounting arrangement.
Railway freight cars, such as box cars and hopper cars, typically feature a network of running boards mounted thereto that form walkways for navigation by workers. The running boards typically are constructed of steel and are formed with a grid portion so as to provide an anti-slip walking surface. The grid portions of the running boards also provide draft vents for the deflection of snow and discharge openings for the drainage of water.
The running boards may be mounted to the tops of the freight cars or along the fronts, backs and/or sides of the cars. Mounting is typically accomplished via brackets which are secured to the freight cars. The running boards are then typically secured to the brackets via bolts that pass through mounting holes formed in the running boards and nuts. The openings may be formed in the grid portion of the running board, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 1,889,605 to Jones, or in the side portions or grid portion borders of the running boards, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 9,374,15 to Cairns. The openings may also be formed in both the grid portions and the sides or borders, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 1,085,196 to Downing.
Prior art running boards, however, are usually replaced due to cracks or the wearing out of a small amount of material around the mounting holes. When this occurs, the running boards are removed and scrapped. As a result, the lifespan of prior art running boards is severely limited by their mounting areas, that is, the material around the mounting holes. The thickness of the steel around the mounting areas may be increased by increasing the thickness of the running board steel panels overall. This solution, however, is impractical as it results in running boards that are heavy and costly.
A need therefore exists for running boards featuring a construction and design where the mounting area is better matched to the life of the remaining portion of the running board.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a running board for railway cars having mounting areas with thicker material so that they are better matched to the life of the remaining portion of the running board.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a running board that is economical to produce.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a running board that may be securely fastened to a railway car.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a running board that is easy to install.
These and other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following specification.


Range measurements useful for determining a device""s position are screened to eliminate unacceptable measurements. A two-stage range measurement screening technique involves a coarse screening stage that includes comparing the range measurement to an estimated expected range and a fine screening stage that includes comparing the range measurement to the computed fading-average range. Range measurements that fall within both coarse and fine screening windows are deemed acceptable and are supplied to a position tracking filter together with their estimated measurement accuracies. Range measurements that do not fall within either the coarse or fine screening window are discarded and do not corrupt the position solution. The accuracies of acceptable range measurements are determined from multiple factors including the measurement offset from a fading-average of previous range measurements and the standard deviation of the previous range measurements.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for estimating the accuracy of measurement signals and, more particularly, to techniques for preventing use of spurious or low-quality range measurement signals in determining an object""s position and for estimating the accuracy of acceptable range measurement signals based on measurement history information and operational parameters.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tracking filters are commonly used in a variety of contexts to estimate the present state of an entity by processing raw measurements relating to the entity. For example, the relative or absolute position of an object can be determined by taking measurements, such as series of range measurements, that indicate position. Typically, such measurements have some degree of inaccuracy due to the presence of noise or interference which introduces errors in the measurement values. By tracking the position of the object over time, a tracking filter essentially reduces the uncertainty caused by measurement noise and develops a more accurate estimate of the object""s position than would be possible from simply assuming that each measurement accurately reflects the object""s true position.
Minimal means-square-error (MSE) filters, such as the well-known Kalman filter, attempt to minimize errors in the tracked position of an object by appropriately weighting the impact of each measurement as a function of the reported accuracy of the measurement. When a new measurement is received, the filter predicts the position of the object at the present time by extrapolating from the previously estimated state of the object. The filter also estimates the accuracy of the predicted current position. The accuracy of the measured position is conventionally determined as a function of the received signal-to-noise ratio (or the signal-to-interference ratio where significant interference is present in addition to noise), with a higher signal-to-noise ratio translating into a higher measurement accuracy. To update the state of the object (e.g., the estimated position and velocity in three dimensions) with the new measurement, the filter must decide the relative extent to which it trusts the predicted current position and the new measurement. If the accuracy of the measurement is high relative to the accuracy of the predicted position, the filter will incorporate the measurement into the position solution using a high filter gain, meaning that the updated position estimate will rely more heavily on the measurement than on the predicted position. Conversely, if the accuracy of the measurement is low relative to the accuracy of the predicted position, the filter will incorporate the measurement into the position solution using a low filter gain, meaning that the updated position estimate will rely more heavily on the predicted position than on the measurement, such that the measurement will have less impact on the position estimate generated by the tracking filter.
Although the signal-to-noise ratio is conventionally relied upon to gauge the accuracy of position measurements in the filter updating process, there are circumstances in which the signal-to-noise ratio alone may not fully reflect the accuracy of the measurement or the extent to which the tracking filter should rely on the measurement. In the case of measuring the range to an object or another device, a precise determination of the signal propagation time between the devices must be made. The signal propagation time can be derived by knowing the transmission and reception times of one or more ranging signals traveling along a direct path between the devices.
For example, the well-known global positioning system (GPS) relies on measurement of the one-way propagation time of signals sent from each of a set of satellites to a receiving device in order to determine the range to each satellite and the position of the receiving device. Position location systems that relies on a two-way, round-trip ranging signal scheme are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/365,702, filed Aug. 2, 1999, entitled xe2x80x9cMethod and Apparatus for Determining the Position of a Mobile Communication Device Using Low Accuracy Clocksxe2x80x9d and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/777,625 filed Feb. 6, 2001, entitled xe2x80x9cMethods and Apparatus for Determining the Position of a Mobile Communication Devicexe2x80x9d, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. In the ranging schemes described in these applications, a master mobile communication device transmits outbound ranging signals to plural reference communication devices which respond by transmitting reply ranging signals that indicate the location of the reference radio and the signal turn around time (i.e., the time between reception of the outbound ranging signal and transmission of the reply ranging signal). Upon reception of the reply ranging pulse, the master radio determines the signal propagation time, and hence range, by subtracting the turn around time and internal processing delays from the elapsed time between transmission of the outbound ranging pulse and the time of arrival of the reply ranging pulse. The accuracy of the position determined by these systems depends largely on the accuracy with which the receiving devices can determine the time of arrival of the ranging signals traveling along a direct path between the devices.
In an environment where multipath interference is significant, it is possible to mistakenly identify a strong multipath signal as the direct path signal. Since a multipath signal travels along an indirect path between the transmitter and receiver, the signal propagation time and, hence, the observed range differ from that of the direct path. In a position determining system relying on precise measurements of direct-path signal propagation time to determine range, erroneously interpreting a multipath signal as the direct path signal can drastically degrade performance. In particular, a multipath signal may result in a severely erroneous range measurement; nevertheless, if the multipath signal has a relatively high signal-to-noise ratio, the erroneous range measurement will be reported to the tracking filter as being highly accurate. Consequently, the filter will be misled into placing a high degree of reliance on a severely erroneous range measurement, thereby degrading the accuracy of the position estimate without the degraded accuracy being immediately known or reported.
As described in the aforementioned patent applications, one approach to avoiding the problem of accuracy degradation caused by multipath signals is to use frequency diversity to find a transmission frequency and phase that minimize multipath interference. A rake filter or equalizer can also be employed to separately identify the direct path signal and prominent multipath signals in order to separate or constructively combine these signals. Nevertheless, even with technique such as these, it is possible to measure range with a significant error that is not correctly represented by the signal-to-noise ratio of the ranging signal from which the range measurement is derived.
Even where the signal-to-noise ratio can be trusted as a indicator of measurement accuracy, there may be other measurement information available to supplement the signal-to-noise ratio in estimating the measurement accuracy. For example, the receiving device may have knowledge of the severity of multipath interference and the precision with which the signal arrival time is determined, and the history of recent measurements may suggest the extent to which the latest measurement should be relied upon. Failure to account for such factors in reporting the accuracy of the measurement to a tracking filter may result in a less accurate estimate of position. Accordingly, there remains a need to identify and prevent the use of spurious or unacceptably low accuracy measurements in systems that perform position estimation from measurement signals as well as a need for a better approach to estimating the accuracy of measurement signals supplied to a tracking filter that determines position.
The improved accuracy in position determination that would result from elimination of erroneous measurements would be of great benefit in a variety of applications. In a military context, it is desirable to know the location of military personnel and/or equipment during coordination of field operations and rescue missions. More generally, appropriately equipped mobile communication devices could be used to more accurately track the position of personnel and resources located both indoors or outdoors, including but not limited to: police engaged in tactical operations; firefighters located near or within a burning building or forest fire; medical personnel and equipment in a medical facility or en route to an emergency scene, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and ambulances; and personnel involved in search and rescue operations. A more accurate position location system would enhance capabilities to track and locate high-value items, including such items as personal computers, laptop computers, portable electronic devices, luggage, briefcases, valuable inventory, and automobiles. In urban environments, where conventional position determining systems have more difficulty operating, it would be desirable to more reliably track fleets of commercial or industrial vehicles, including trucks, buses and rental vehicles. Tracking of people carrying a mobile communication device is also desirable in a number of contexts, including, but not limited to: children in a crowded environment such as a mall, amusement park or tourist attraction; location of personnel within a building; and location of prisoners in a detention facility. The capability to accurately determine the position of a mobile communication device also has application in locating the position of next-generation cellular telephones. The capability to determine the position of cellular telephones could be used to pinpoint the position from which an emergency call has been made. Such information could also be used to assist in cell network management (for example, by factoring each mobile communication device""s position into message routing algorithms).
Therefore, in light of the above, and for other reasons that become apparent when the invention is fully described, an object of the present invention is to improve the accuracy of the estimated state of a tracked entity, such as the estimated position of an object or a mobile communication device.
More particularly, it is object of the present invention to accurately determine the three-dimensional position of a mobile communication device in a variety of environments, including urban areas and inside buildings where multipath interference can be great.
Another object of the present invention is to identify and prevent the use of spurious or low-accuracy measurement signals in updating the state of an entity being tracked, such as the position of an object, even when the signal-to-noise ratio of the measurement signals erroneously suggests an acceptable degree of measurement accuracy.
A further object of the present invention is to minimize the effects of interference caused by multipath signal propagation in a position location system, thereby providing highly accurate three-dimensional position estimates even under severe multipath conditions.
Yet another object of the present invention is to account for a variety of measurement and operational information, in addition to or in place of signal-to-noise ratio, in order to report a more refined estimate the accuracy of measurement signals to a tracking filter.
The aforesaid objects are achieved individually and in combination, and it is not intended that the present invention be construed as requiring two or more of the objects to be combined unless expressly required by the claims attached hereto.
In accordance with the present invention, range measurements useful for determining an object""s position are screened and evaluated so that only acceptable range measurement are supplied to a tracking filter and used to update the position solution. Range measurements deemed to be unacceptable are identified by the screening process and discarded before the erroneous range measurements can corrupt or degrade the position solution.
In an exemplary embodiment, the range measurement screening process is a two-stage screening technique involving a coarse screening stage and a fine screening stage. The coarse screening stage includes computing an estimated expected range between the reference radio which sent the measured ranging signal and the local receiving radio based on the positions of the reference and local radios estimated by their respective tracking (Kalman) filters. A coarse screening window centered about the estimated expected range is computed as a function of the estimated accuracies of the estimated positions of the reference and local radios.
If the range measurement falls outside the coarse screening window, the range measurement is declared too inaccurate for use in the tracking filter and is not used to update the position solution. If the range measurement falls within the coarse screening window, the range measurement is next evaluated using a fine screening process. The fine screening process relies on a comparison of the range measurement to a measurement history, specifically, a fading average of previous range measurements and the variability of these previous range measurements. An estimated range used to center the fine screening window is calculated from a fading average of the last N measurements used to update the position solution. The width of the fine screening window is a function of the standard deviation of the last N measurements used to calculate the estimated fading-average range.
If the range measurement falls outside the fine screening window, the range measurement is declared too inaccurate for use and is not used to update the position solution. If the range measurement falls within the fine screening window, an estimate of the range measurement accuracy is developed based on one or more of the following factors: the standard deviation of the last N range measurements; the difference (or xe2x80x9cerrorxe2x80x9d) between the range measurement and the estimated fading-average range; the number of rake taps used in the receiver; the signal-to-noise ratio of the range measurement; a xe2x80x9cquality of fitxe2x80x9d metric indicative of measurement timing accuracy; and the variance of the estimated positions of the local and reference radios. These parameters can be used to determine a more refined estimate of the range measurement accuracy than would be possible by relying on the signal-to-noise ratio alone.
For each acceptable range measurement, the estimated range measurement accuracy is supplied along with the range measurement itself to the navigation system Kalman filter. The Kalman filter uses the estimated range measurement accuracy to appropriately weight the impact of the range measurement in updating the position solution. The criteria for acceptability and accuracy is dynamically adjustable so that the screening and accuracy estimation process can be optimized for various operating environments. For example, the measurement acceptability thresholds (i.e., the size of the screening windows) can be dynamically adjusted based upon factors such as the number of measurements available and the variability of the measurements in a particular environment.
The measurement screening and accuracy estimation techniques of the present invention can be used to enhance the accuracy of position determination systems useful in wide variety of applications, including location and/or tracking of people and items such as: military personnel and equipment, emergency personnel and equipment, valuable items, vehicles, mobile telephones, children, prisoners and parolees.
The above and still further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following definitions, descriptions and descriptive figures of specific embodiments thereof wherein like reference numerals in the various figures are utilized to designate like components. While these descriptions go into specific details of the invention, it should be understood that variations may and do exist and would be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the descriptions herein.

Methods and apparatus for estimating accuracy of measurement signals