The present disclosure is related to accurate analog dimming of a light emitting diode (LED). Accurate dimming can require precise control of a power converter that supplies the LED with a current. The precise control relies on accurately sensing a level of the LED. When the power converter operates in a discontinuous conduction mode (DCM), for example at a low dimming ratio, the accuracy of the sensed LED-level can be affected by a resonant current offset, resulting from current ringing in the power converter. The disclosed circuits and methods provide accurate control of the LED-level by compensating for the resonant current offset in the sensed LED-level.

Advances in light emitting diode (LED) technology have made replacing traditional lighting a choice for consumers. Added lighting features, such as dimming, may desirable if the dimming can be carried out over a wide range without changing the quality of the or causing other notable artifacts. Dimming the LED may be achieved using a switched approach (i.e., PWM dimming) or an analog approach (i.e., analog dimming). In analog diming, a constant current through the LED is adjusted to increase or decrease the LED's light intensity. Analog dimming may reduce or eliminate some drawbacks associated with the switched approach, such as noticeable audible noise associated the switching or a flicker in the light that is noticeable by eye or by video recording equipment. Analog dimming, however, faces challenges with providing a wide dimming range over which the LED's light intensity can be accurately controlled. It is in this context that implementations of the disclosure arise.

SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC


In a semiconductor memory device including a plurality of memory cells connected between sub word lines and bit lines, a plurality of sub word line driver columns for driving the sub word lines, and a plurality of sense amplifier columns for sensing voltages at the bit lines, a plurality of sense amplifier control circuits are provided at cross areas between the sub word line driver columns and the sense amplifier columns. A first sense amplifier control circuit is constructed by a CMOS circuit forming an interface between global input/output lines and local input/output lines. A second sense amplifier control circuit is constructed by an N-channel MOS circuit forming a pull down circuit for pulling down NMOS sources of flip-flops of the sense amplifier columns and a first pull up circuit for pulling up PMOS sources of the flip-flops of said sense amplifier columns. A third sense amplifier control circuit is constructed by a P-channel MOS circuit forming a second pull up circuit for pulling up the PMOS sources of the flip-flops of the sense amplifier columns.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, to a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device
2. Description of the Related Art
As the integration of a DRAM device has been enhanced, a multi-divided array structure has been adopted. That is, a memory cell array is divided into a plurality of blocks, so that a plurality of sense amplifier columns and a plurality of sub word line driven columns are provided.
Provided at cross areas between the sub word line drivers and the sense amplifier columns are sense amplifier control circuits, each including a sense amplifier (SAP) driver for pulling up PMOS sources of flip-flops of the sense amplifier columns to a write voltage and a sense amplifier (SAN) driver for pulling down the NMOS sources of the flip-flops of the sense amplifier columns to a ground voltage. Since the SAP driver is constructed by a P-channel MOS transistor and the SAN driver is constructed by an N-channel MOS transistor, each of the sense amplifier control circuits needs a large PN isolation region for isolating a P-type well for the SAP driver and an N-type well for the SAN driver (see M. Nakamura et al., "A 29ns 64Mb DRAM with Hierachical Array Architecture", IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 31, No 9, pp. 1302-1307, September 1996).
In order to reduce the PN isolation region, a semiconductor memory device wherein each of the sense amplifier control circuits is constructed by a P-type well or an N-type well has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application No. 8-10527 filed on Jan. 25, 1996 invented by Kyoiich NAGATA et al. and published as JP-A-9-205182 on Aug. 5, 1997). This will be explained later in detail.
In the above-proposed semiconductor memory device, however, since each of the SAP drivers are constructed by a P-channel NOS transistor, the driving capability of the SAP drivers is small. Note that the current supply capability of P-channel MOS transistors is generally smaller than that of N-channel MOS transistors. In addition, since the SAP drivers are provided only in the sense amplifier control circuits formed by P-channel MOS transistors the number of the SAP drivers is decreased, so that the driving capability of the SAP drivers is decreased. Thus, the restore operation speed is decreased.

Semiconductor memory device having N-channel MOS transistor for pulling up PMOS sources of sense amplifiers


A lens barrel comprises a first frame including an inward flange having an opening as a light path for a photographic optical system, a barrier-driving member disposed in the vicinity of the opening, a second frame disposed inside the first frame and movable along an optical axis relative to the first frame, a barrier blade movable along with the rotation of the barrier-driving member between a closed position in which the barrier blade blocks at least a part of the light path and an open position in which the barrier blade is retracted from the light path, an opening-urging member capable of urging the barrier blade towards the open position and urging the barrier-driving member towards a first direction, and a closing-urging member capable of urging the barrier blade toward the closed position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lens barrel and a camera, and, more specifically, the invention relates to a lens barrel having a barrier mechanism for moving to a closed position and an open position. In the closed position, the front face of a photographic lens is covered with a barrier, and, in the open position, the front face of the photographic lens is exposed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known pair of lens barrier blades for a camera is disposed inside a photographic lens barrel (hereinafter referred to as a 'lens barrel') in the front portion of the camera. When a photograph is not being taken, the barrier blades are in a closed position in which the barrier blades cover the front portion of the photographic lens. When a photograph is being taken, the barrier blades move to an open position in which the barrier blades are moved away from the front of the photographic lens to allow a luminous flux to enter the photographic lens. Various known driving mechanisms for opening and closing the barrier blades are proposed.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-159855 discloses a mechanism for opening and closing barrier blades in which the barrier blades are opened and closed by rotating a barrier opening/closing ring, disposed on the distal end portion of the lens barrel, around an optical axis.
More specifically, a cam plate having a cam surface at its distal end is disposed inside a camera body including the lens barrel, wherein the cam plate extends into the lens barrel when the lens barrel is retracted to the camera. Arms extending into the lens barrel are provided on the barrier opening/closing ring. In this barrier opening and closing mechanism, the barrier blades move to the closed position when the lens barrel is retracted to the camera body and the barrier opening/closing ring rotates around the optical axis as the tip of the arms engage with the cam plate.
Another mechanism for opening and closing barrier blades is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-20369. In this mechanism for opening and closing the barrier blades, a barrier driving ring rotatable around an optical axis is disposed at the front portion of a lens barrel. This barrier driving ring is, for example, rotated around the optical axis by, for example, a motor driving mechanism.
More specifically, at the distal end of the lens barrel, the barrier driving ring and a barrier driving gear with one end extending into the lens barrel are disposed. Inside the lens barrel, the motor driving mechanism is disposed. In such a mechanism for opening and closing a barrier, the barrier blades are opened and closed by rotating the barrier driving ring. To rotate the barrier driving ring, the barrier driving ring is connected to the barrier driving gear and then the barrier driving gear is connected to the motor driving mechanism.


The present invention relates to novel steroidal compounds of formula (I), process for preparation of the same and composition comprising these compounds.

Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell that are responsible for generating more than 90% of the energy needed by the body to sustain life and support growth. When mitochondrial function fails, less energy is generated within the cell, resulting in cell injury and ultimately cell death. Mitochondria are susceptible to degradation due to oxygen radicals produced by their own metabolic processes. Damaged mitochondria are later expelled by the cell. Their replacement by new mitochondria is called mitochondrial biogenesis. The proliferation of mitochondria or their hypertrophy to meet increased metabolic demand is also called mitochondrial biogenesis. It is signified by the expression of additional mitochondrial proteins, particularly those related to oxidative phosphorylation. The capacity for mitochondrial biogenesis is significantly lost with age. Thus many diseases of aging are associated with loss of mitochondria in various tissues, whose specialized function is diminished in the context of diminished mitochondrial function and/or number. Many disease states, such as those that have neuromuscular disease symptoms, sarcopenia, muscular dystrophy, diabetes mellitus, dementia, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), obesity, hyperlipidemia heart failure, lupus, and ocular conditions such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD), are associated with progressive mitochondrial loss in various tissues. A number of drugs and drug classes also have an effect on mitochondrial function and biogenesis and can affect organ function and even lead to organ degeneration or other side effects which are directly related to the toxic effect of these drugs on the mitochondria.
Ischemic and ischemia/reperfusion injury are accompanied by decrease in mitochondrial function and number, leading to apoptotic cell death, necrosis, and functional organ deterioration in ischemic conditions such as myocardial infarction and stroke. Despite considerable advances in the diagnosis and treatment of such conditions, there remains a need for prophylactic and therapeutic approaches for the treatment of these conditions.
Compounds that have functions on mitochondrial activity are currently limited and there remains a need for novel compounds prophylactic and therapeutic approaches for the treatment of these conditions associated with chronic mitochondrial dysfunction and toxicity. Thus there is a need for compounds and treatments that stimulate mitochondrial function in response to increased metabolic demand and induce mitochondrial replication in response to agents or conditions that cause depletion of mitochondria in one or more tissues. Reflecting this understanding, the phrase "mitochondrial toxicity" as used herein refers to failure of the mitochondria resulting from the administration of chemical compositions to a subject.
Mitochondria are critical to cell function and the effects of mitochondrial disease can be varied and can take on unique characteristics. The severity of the specific defect may be great or small and often affect the operation of the mitochondria and multiple tissues more severely, leading to multi-system diseases. Injury to, or dysfunction of, skeletal muscle mitochondria generally results in muscle weakness and atrophy, termed sarcopenia in severe states. In the case of generalized muscle weakness, reduction in bone density can be generalized, one of the causes of the bone disease known as osteoporosis. Depleted mitochondria in the heart can eventuate in the symptoms of congestive heart failure and eventual death. Loss of mitochondrial density in the brain is associated with neurodegeneration states such as Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. Generalized loss of mitochondria including liver mitochondria can result in hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance progression to Type 2 diabetes. Liver mitochondria are injured by fructose uptake. Fructose, uric acid, and other agents injurious to liver mitochondria can cause accumulation of intracellular lipids, particularly triglycerides that contribute to the syndrome of hepatic steatosis, and increased synthesis and export of triglycerides that contributes to systemic hyperlipidemia, and ultimately obesity and insulin resistance.
Hydroxysteroids are hydroxylated compounds with a sterol structure and are known to be produced in cells when the mitochondria are exposed to high levels of endogenous H2O2 which then acts via the mitochondrial enzyme, 11β-hydroxylase, to hydroxylate a variety of steroids, including cholesterol, pregnenolone, progesterone, and others. Hydroxylation can occur in numerous positions, including the 7, 16, and 11 positions. These molecules, termed hydroxysteroids, are then sulfated and secreted into the extracellular space, where in the brain they modulate GABA-receptors and calcium channels on the plasma membrane. No intracellular activity of hydroxylsteroids has previously been described.
The present invention discloses novel hydroxyl steroids, their intermediates, process for synthesis of hydroxysteroids and their intermediates and composition comprising the same with their action on mitochondria.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Hydroxysteroid compounds, their intermediates, process of preparation, composition and uses thereof


A unitary axle seal (52) for use in an axle assembly of a motor vehicle to reduce the flow of contaminants from an exterior source (92) to an interior region (93) of the axle assembly is disclosed. The unitary axle seal (52) may be used in combination with unitized bearing seals (46) to reduce the exposure of contaminants to a bearing pack (44) contained within the axle assembly. The unitary axle seal combines a complex labyrinth (96) with an elastomeric seal (74) forming frictional sealing contacts (80,84,88) with the axle (10).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of wheel hubs and axles for motor vehicles. More particularly, the invention pertains to axle seals used to reduce the exposure of contaminants to wheel bearing seals and wheel bearings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Unitized seals, such as those used with a wheel bearing of a motor vehicle, generally include an outer sleeve and an inner sleeve supported for mutual relative rotation. It has been observed that dust or dirt in contact with the unitized seal may cause accelerated wear. The worn unitized seal does not provide a satisfactory hydraulic seal resulting in axle lubricant leakage and contamination from exterior sources which ultimately leads to customer dissatisfaction.
One attempted solution has been to provide an additional seal to reduce the flow of such contaminants toward the unitized bearing seal. Various designs have been suggested, however none have satisfactorily eliminated or substantially reduced the flow of contaminants toward the unitized bearing seal and wheel bearing. These axle seals employ two separate pieces, utilizing an elastic seal and a rigid sleeve adapted to receive the elastic seal. The elastic seal statically engages the axle, and frictionally rotates within the rigid sleeve, which is installed in a wheel support member, such as a steering knuckle. To prevent damaging the fragile seal during shipment of the axle, it must be separately placed on the axle just prior to installing the axle into the steering knuckle. While this prevents damage to the elastic member during axle shipment, the design is more costly to assemble and since the rigid sleeve must be designed to receive the elastic seal during axle installation, the resulting seal interface allows the passage of contaminants.
It would be desirable to provide an unitary axle seal capable of further reducing the flow of contaminants toward the unitized bearing seal and wheel bearings than heretofore exhibited. Additionally, it would be beneficial to provide a unitary axle seal capable of being installed in a single assembly operation, preferably on a steering knuckle prior to its shipment to a final assembly plant.


A filling system for an electronic cigarette (10) is disclosed in which a nozzle (38) of a liquid dispenser (80) contains a plunger (62) which is biased by a spring (60) into a closed position in which liquid is prevented from flowing through the nozzle (38). In use the nozzle (38) is inserted into an open end (42) of a liquid reservoir (34) for an electronic cigarette containing an air tube (32). The plunger (62) engages with the end of the air tube (32) blocking the air tube (32) and opening the liquid flow path through the nozzle (38). The arrangement of the plunger (62) and nozzle (38) is such that operation of the plunger (62) only occurs when the nozzle (38) engaged within a liquid reservoir (32). A membrane (96) can be provided to prevent leakage from the liquid reservoir (34) when the nozzle (38) is disengaged.

An electronic smoking device is an electronic device that permits the user to simulate the act of smoking by producing an aerosol mist or vapor that is drawn into the lungs through the mouth and then exhaled. The inhaled aerosol mist or vapor typically bears nicotine and/or other flavorings without the odor and health risks associated with traditional smoking and tobacco products. In use, a user experiences a similar satisfaction and physical sensation to those experienced from a traditional smoking or tobacco product, and exhales an aerosol mist or vapor of similar appearance to the smoke exhaled when using such traditional smoking or tobacco products.
An electronic smoking device, such as an electronic cigarette, typically has a housing accommodating an electric power source (e.g. a single use or rechargeable battery, electrical plug, or other power source), and an electrically operable atomizer. The atomizer vaporizes or atomizes liquid supplied from a reservoir and provides vaporized or atomized liquid as an aerosol which is extracted from the electronic smoking device via an air tube and a mouthpiece by a user sucking on the mouthpiece.
The reservoir may be either a replaceable or refillable container that is coupled to, or located in, the main body of the electronic smoking device and that is typically made of a resilient plastic material such as high-density polypropylene. The reservoir may contain a wicking material in which the liquid is stored or alternatively may just be a storage space without any wicking material. Once the replaceable or refillable reservoir is emptied it must either be replaced or refilled.
Control electronics control the activation of the atomizer. In some electronic cigarettes, an airflow sensor is provided within the electronic smoking device, which detects a user puffing on the device (e.g., by sensing an under-pressure or an air flow pattern through the device). The airflow sensor indicates or signals the puff to the control electronics to power up the device and generate vapor. In other electronic cigarettes, a switch is used to power up the electronic cigarette to generate a puff of vapor.
The ingredients of the liquid for producing the aerosol mist or vapor in smoking-substitute devices vary widely, but typically include water and flavorings in a propylene glycol and/or glycerol base. Nicotine may also be included in solutions intended to fulfil a nicotine replacement role, without the harmful products associated with tobacco smoke.
Typically, electronic cigarettes are refilled by removing a mouthpiece from one end of the electronic cigarette to reveal the open end of the refillable reservoir. Liquid for atomization is then dispensed from a dispenser that commonly resembles the small dropper bottles used for dispensing eye drops by dripping liquid from the outlet liquid-dispensing tip of the dispenser into the revealed open end of the reservoir by squeezing the walls of the dispenser.
Existing liquid dispensing systems suffer from a number of drawbacks.
Frequently electronic smoking devices, particularly electronic cigarettes have approximately the same size and shape as a conventional cigarette, typically about 100 mm with a 7.5 mm diameter, although lengths may range from 70 to 150 or 178 mm, and diameters from 5 to 28 mm. This presents a relatively small target for a user when refilling the device.
Furthermore, in many designs of electronic cigarette, the air tube providing a gas passage way between the atomizer and the mouthpiece is located in the center of the reservoir. In such designs, often it is important when refilling the liquid reservoir for users to avoid dripping liquid into the air tube as if such liquid passes down the air tube into the atomizer this floods the atomizer and temporarily stops the device from working. When the device is then operated to clear the misplaced liquid, this often results in leakage as the misplaced liquid finds its way out of the atomizer through the air passage. Clearing the air passage is also often accompanied by a "gurgling" sound and sensation which users find unpleasant. Having to avoid dripping liquid down the air tube further reduces the cross-section of the available target for dripping liquid into the reservoir.
Difficulties in refilling an electronic smoking device may cause users to miss the reservoir causing their fingers holding the electronic smoking device to come into contact with the liquid for atomization. Further liquid may spill from the reservoir prior to the mouthpiece of the device being re-attached closing the open end of the reservoir. Often liquid for atomization is relatively greasy and is impregnated with flavors which makes coming into contact unpleasant and undesirable as the liquid needs to be washed off and odors from the liquid may be retained on the hands. Further there is a risk that users may accidentally ingest the liquid if the liquid is not washed off.

Filling system for electronic smoking devices


This nonvolatile semiconductor memory device comprises a memory cell array configured having a plurality of memory mats arranged therein, each of the memory mats having a memory cell disposed therein at an intersection of a first line and a second line, the memory cell including a first variable resistance element. A third line extends through a plurality of the memory mats. A second variable resistance element is connected between the third line and the second line of each of the plurality of memory mats.

In recent years, memory employing a resistance varying element has been receiving attention as a candidate for file memory acting as a large capacity data storage medium. As an example of general configuration for aiming large capacity storage employing such a resistance varying memory, there is proposed a method that adopts a cross-point type cell structure where a memory cell is formed at a crossing point of an intersecting bit line and word line.
This cross-point type configuration is characterized in that its configurative elements are generally simple. Moreover, in this cross-point type configuration, miniaturization is easy compared to in a conventional memory cell, storage density of a cell array having memory cells disposed in an array can be increased, and, furthermore, adopting a stacking structure in a longitudinal direction enables memory capacity density to be significantly increased. As a result, this cross-point type configuration has a merit that a degree of integration of a memory cell array can be easily improved.
In such a cross-point type resistance varying memory, in order to achieve a larger capacity, the memory cell array must be made larger. In such a case, it faces some problems such as deterioration in defect rescue efficiency, deterioration in defect rescue replacement, deterioration in operating margin in an memory cell array, and deterioration in operating performance margin due to voltage drop or the like. As a result, there are many problems in achieving a larger capacity simply by a single array configuration.
Accordingly, it has been proposed to divide the memory cell array into a plurality of memory arrays to alleviate these adverse effects. A smallest unit of this divided array is here assumed to be called "a memory mat." When plural memory mats are present in the memory cell array in this manner, wiring lines linking between the memory mats and a control system circuit for controlling these wiring lines become necessary. At this time, it becomes required to switch connection between local wiring lines in each of the memory mats and global wiring lines distributed through a plurality of the memory mats. There is a problem that circuit area corresponding to a circuit for this kind of switching and to its control circuit increases, leading to an increase in chip area that leads in turn to a reduction in chip yield on the wafer.


Metal cell tanks including secondary cells respectively are connected to one another by connection members. For example, a connection member has: an insulation portion interposed between adjacent cell tanks for keeping the cell tanks electrically insulated from each other; an one-end holding portion extending from one end of the insulation portion for holding one end portion of one of the adjacent cell tanks; and an opposite-end holding portion extending from the other end of the insulation portion for holding the other end portion of the other of the adjacent cell tanks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to connection members by which secondary cells served as an electric source for driving a hybrid vehicle etc. are integrated into a module, as well as a battery pack using the connection members.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a battery pack, a plurality of secondary cells are disposed side by side in order to obtain a required output. A casing partitioned into a plurality of sub-chambers is used so that the secondary cells can be disposed side by side at regular intervals in the casing. When the casing is made of metal, it is necessary to keep adjacent secondary cells electrically insulated from each other. Therefore, the outer surface of each secondary cell is covered with an electrically insulating film or sheet (e.g. see Japanese Patent Publication No. JP 2000-348696A and Japanese Patent Publication No. JP 2002-15716A).
The number of secondary cells, that is, the number of sub-chambers in the casing is however decided on the basis of the electric power for driving a subject. For this reason, it is necessary to produce casings in accordance with subjects different in driving power.
Moreover, it is troublesome to cover the outer surface of each secondary cell with an electrically insulating film or sheet. That is, electrode terminals of adjacent secondary cells need to be electrically connected to each other. For this reason, it is necessary to avoid covering the electrode terminal portion of each secondary cell when the outer surface of the secondary cell is wound with the electrically insulating film or sheet. Particularly when the shape of the secondary cell is rectangular, winding tension is apt to be concentrated on corners of the secondary cell. For this reason, it is difficult to wind the electrically insulating film or sheet under uniform tension.


An arrangement for recirculation of exhaust gases in a supercharged combustion engine. The arrangement includes an exhaust line operable to lead exhaust gases out from the combustion engine, an inlet line operable to lead air at above atmospheric pressure to the combustion engine, a return line which comprises a connection to the exhaust line and a connection to the inlet line, so that via the return line it is possible to recirculate exhaust gases from the exhaust line to the inlet line. A first cooler incorporated in the return line for cooling the exhaust gases in the return line before they are mixed with the air in the inlet line. The exhaust gases in the first cooler are cooled by a first medium which is at a temperature substantially corresponding to the temperature of the surroundings.

The present invention relates to an arrangement for recirculation of exhaust gases in a supercharged combustion engine and to cooling the recirculated exhaust gases. p The technique known as EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) is a known way of leading part of the exhaust gases from a combustion process in a combustion engine back, via a return line, to an inlet line for supply of air to the combustion engine. A mixture of air and exhaust gases is thus supplied via the inlet line to the engine's cylinders in which the combustion takes place. The addition of exhaust gases to the air causes a lower combustion temperature resulting inter alia in a reduced content of nitrogen oxides NOx in the exhaust gases. This technique is applied in both Otto engines and diesel engines.
The amount of air which can be supplied to a supercharged combustion engine depends on the pressure of the air but also on the temperature of the air. Supplying the largest possible amount of air to the combustion engine therefore entails cooling the compressed air in a charge air cooler before it is led to the combustion engine. The compressed air is cooled in the charge air cooler by ambient air flowing through the charge air cooler. The compressed air can thus be cooled to a temperature which is only a few degrees higher than the temperature of the surroundings. In cases where EGR technology is used, the returned exhaust gases also need cooling. This is achieved by means of a so-called EGR cooler. An EGR cooler is usually connected to the combustion engine's cooling system so that the exhaust gases are cooled in the EGR cooler by the circulating coolant in the cooling system. The EGR cooler is thus subject to the limitation that the exhaust gases cannot be cooled to a lower temperature than the temperature of the coolant in the cooling system. The cooled exhaust gases are therefore usually at a higher temperature than the cooled compressed air when they are put into the inlet line to the combustion engine. The mixture of exhaust gases and air being led to the combustion engine will therefore be at a higher temperature than the compressed air led into a supercharged combustion engine which is not provided with recirculation of exhaust gases. The performance of a supercharged combustion engine equipped with EGR is therefore somewhat inferior to that of a supercharged combustion engine not equipped with EGR.

Arrangement for recirculation of exhaust gases of a super-charged internal combustion engine


A torque-release coupling can be remotely reset after an over-torque condition. A threshold torque may be adjusted while the coupling is running. A pressure of pressurized fluid adjusts a force required to release a detent mechanism that holds a torque transmitting member in engagement across an interface between moving parts.

Machine components can become overloaded, for example, though failure of other components or as a result of the work that the machine is being called upon to do. It is desirable to provide a mechanism that can prevent damage due to such overloads.
Torque limiters are mechanical devices installed in a power driveline, for example between a driver such as motor or engine, and a driven part such as a pump, cutting head, rock crusher, or the like. Torque limiters can be particularly important in large high-power machinery in which failure of components can have very expensive consequences. Machinery for processing rocks such as rock crushers, tunnel boring machines, mining machines and the like are non-limiting examples of such heavy machinery. These machines are particularly vulnerable because the quantity and quality of feedstock that they are called upon to process may vary widely—causing the loads experienced by components of the machine to be somewhat unpredictable.
Torque limiters either slip at a pre-determined torque level or else allow the driving and driven parts to be temporarily separated at a pre-determined torque level, thereby preventing overload and failure of parts of the driveline.
There are several types of torque limiter in common use: shear pin, synchronous magnetic, ball detent, pawl and spring, and various styles of friction plate and clutch mechanisms, each type having advantages or disadvantages depending on the intended use.
One of the simplest torque limiting mechanisms is a shear pin. A shear pin is designed to be strong enough to transmit torque up to a design level and to fail at higher torques. The shear pin may be designed to fail at a level such that the delivered torque will not be enough to damage machine components downstream from the shear pin. While shear pins can be effective, simple to implement and relatively inexpensive, a disadvantage of the use of shear pins is that it can be time consuming to replace a failed shear pin. This is especially true where the shear pin is located in a part of the machine that is difficult to access. In large equipment the cost of downtime may be very large.
Various torque release couplings and torque-limiting clutches are described in the literature. For example, some of these are described in the following patent publications:                US 2011/0240313;        EP 1260753;        FR 2303205;        GB 933614;        GB 1293602;        U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,443;        U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,514;        U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,663;        U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,559;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,169; and,        U.S. Pat. No. 7,237,663.
One type of torque limiting coupling is available from Lo-Rez Vibration Control Ltd. of Vancouver, Canada. In these couplings, driven and driver flanges are normally connected by an arrangement of safety elements which include balls that engage pockets. The safety elements employ a ball-detent arrangement. The driving balls are released from the pockets by a second set of balls specially arranged to "unlock" the main ball at a prescribed spring load, or equivalently, applied torque between the driver and driven parts. These couplings, while effective, are not designed to be remotely reset after an overload condition has occurred. This type of coupling can be reset by rotating the parts of the coupling into alignment and then tapping or hammering on the ends of rods that move when the coupling is released.
All of the couplings described above have various disadvantages for certain applications. For example, some of the couplings do not disengage input from output when an over-torque condition occurs but merely limit the torque delivered to the output. Some of the couplings cannot be remotely reset when an over-torque condition occurs. Some of the couplings provide no convenient way to adjust the maximum amount of torque that can be delivered.
Despite the variety of torque-limiting clutches and other mechanisms that are described in the literature, there remains a need for practical and cost-effective over-torque protection mechanisms. There is a particular need for such mechanisms that can be reset remotely after an over-torque condition has occurred. There is also a need for such systems which permit the maximum torque that the mechanisms can deliver before an over-torque condition is triggered to be adjusted.


An automatic cut-off motorized reeling assembly is provided including a fishing pole with a reel attached thereto at an inboard end thereof. The reel has a handle rotatably coupled thereto and a spool rotatably coupled thereto about an axis perpendicular to an axis about which the handle rotates. A gear assembly is connected between the spool and the handle for automatically reeling the reel only upon the receipt of voltage thus requiring the manual reeling of the reel upon the lack of receipt of voltage. A switch is connected between a power source and the gear means with a deactuated orientation for precluding the supply of voltage to the motor and an actuated orientation adapted to supply voltage to the motor. A cut off mechanism is provided for unconditionally precluding the supply of voltage to the gear assembly upon a load being detected on a line of the pole, as when a fish is caught, thereby requiring the user to manually reel the line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automatic reeling assemblies and more particularly pertains to a new motorized reeling assembly with automatic cut-off for requiring the manual reeling of a fish when caught.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of automatic reeling assemblies is known in the prior art. More specifically, automatic reeling assemblies heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art automatic reeling assemblies include U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,657; U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,071; U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,351; U.S. Pat. No. 5,400,979; U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,277; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 343,672.
In these respects, the motorized reeling assembly with automatic cut-off according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of requiring the manual reeling of a fish when caught.

Motorized reeling assembly with automatic cut-off


A method for creating an enhanced array is provided. An enhanced compiler generates an instrumented class file for an enhanced array class. The enhanced array class comprises at least one element class. The enhanced runtime loads the instrumented class file of the enhanced array class. The enhanced runtime loads a class file corresponding to the element class of the enhanced array class, and builds an internal data structure corresponding to the enhanced array class. An amount of memory storage is calculated for storing the enhanced array instance, and the amount of memory storage is allocated.

Most high-level programming languages, such as C and C++, provide a construct, called an array, which consists of a fixed number of memory locations of a single data type, for example, integers. Each memory location, or element of the array, is accessed by a numerical index representing the element's relative position in the array. However, in the Java® programming language an array is an object, and the array elements each point to a separate object that contains the element data, rather than pointing to the element data directly. As a consequence of the Java® language architecture, arrays have limitations, particularly in inefficient storage usage and performance overhead, not inherent in other programming languages. Current attempts to improve the Java® array implementation include adding a wrapper class that references the Java® array. While this allows customizable behavior, such as user-defined methods, the inefficient storage usage and performance issues remain. In another alternative, a custom application program interface (API) may be written to manipulate a raw byte buffer, thus simulating an array of data elements. However, memory usage and performance issues persist, since the objects created in this way are not entitled for the garbage collection process provided by the programming language.
As previously stated, working within the present Java® language to implement more robust array management features may have, as a consequence, performance implications. As such, it may be advantageous, among other things, to implement an enhanced Java® array as a Java® class, thus allowing the enhanced Java® array the behavior and features inherent in the Java® class generally, and thus enabling greater flexibility when working with memory structures while maintaining an encapsulated design.
Java and all Java-based trademarks and logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An image forming system, comprises an image forming section to form an image on a sheet; a fixing section to fix the image formed on the sheet; a sheet conveying passage to convey the fixed sheet; a humidifying roller arranged on the sheet passage and to humidify the sheet; a water supplying tank to feed water to the humidifying roller; an electric component; and a waterproofing member to protect the electric component from water.

The present invention relates to an image forming system provided with a humidifying apparatus and the sheet humidifying apparatus for giving water to a sheet.
As the image formation by an electro-photographic process is well-known, an image is formed by a process by which a toner image is formed by the charge, exposure and development, the formed toner image is transferred onto the sheet, the toner image transferred onto the sheet is fixed.
In the fixing process in this process, it is conducted that the toner is fused by the heat and pressure, and the image is fixed on the sheet, however, at the time of that, the phenomenon that the water content is evaporated from the sheet by the heat, is generated. Further, when the sheet is exposed to the outside air after the fixing, the phenomenon that the sheet absorbs the water content from the outside air, is generated.
Because such an evaporation of the water content and an absorption of the water content occur at a different ratio on the front and rear surface of the sheet, there is a problem that the surging or curl is easily generated in the sheet.
The phenomenon that the concave and convex are formed in the sheet S as shown in FIG. 1(a), is called as the surging, and the phenomenon that the sheet S is curved in the one direction as shown in FIGS. 1(b), (c), is called as the curl.
For these phenomena, in each processing conducted on the sheet after image formation, because the problem which is the cause of trouble in the sheet conveyance or, processing, in the bookbinding process, a problem that the quality of the product completed by the image formation and after-processing like that a bulky booklet is formed is lowered, a problem that sheets delivered from the apparatus are not uniform, and the integration is difficult are occurred, a counter-measure for the surging and the curl is necessary.
In Tokkaihei (Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication) No 4-338060, a humidifying apparatus by which the water vapor is blown to the sheet is proposed, a humidifying apparatus using the humidification roller from a point in which the control of the water supply amount is excellent, the influence on the vicinity of humidifying apparatus by the water vapor is small, the apparatus can be made compact, noticed, and this kind of humidifying apparatus is considered, and a humidifying apparatus by which in U.S. Pat. No. 5,895,154, Tokkai No. 2006-8282, the water is supplied from the water supply tank to the humidification roller, and the sheet is humidified, is disclosed.
In the humidifying apparatus, the electrical equipment such as a motor for the sheet conveyance, a solenoid for driving the gate for switching the conveyance path, DC power source which is the power source for them, control substrate, each kind of switch, is provided, however, because the humidifying apparatus accommodates the water for the humidification, and there is a possibility that the water content is affixed to the electrical parts, and their performance is lowered, or the accident such as electrical leaking is generated, it is necessary to protect the electrical parts from the water.
In the processing apparatus using the ordinary water, the protection section by which the electrical parts are protected from the water vapor is used, however, in the sheet humidifying apparatus using the humidification roller, in the water supply tank for supplying the water to the humidification roller, because the structure in which the free water surface is in contact with the outside air is used, only the water proof for the water vapor, is not enough, a counter measure to protect that the water is splashed from the free water surface by the vibration, and affixed to the electrical parts, is necessary.

Image forming system and sheet humidifying apparatus

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


In some implementations, an insect trap includes a plurality of individual cells, with each of the cells being configured to trap very few, and in some instances a single flying insect. Each cell defines a cavity and may be provided with an independently operable door to selectively close the cavity. One or more sensors may sense the presence of an insect to be trapped.

Researchers have long studied living organisms to learn more about environmental conditions. Recently, scientists have become increasingly interested in studying flying insects, including mosquitoes, to look for early signs of potentially harmful diseases. Through the study of mosquitoes, researchers may be able to identify pathogens or harmful diseases before the ill effects of those pathogens or diseases manifest in humans. Accordingly, it may be possible to earlier identify, treat and/or prevent the spread of diseases.
The science of analyzing mosquitoes and other insects has evolved at impressive speeds, but technology surrounding trapping insects has remained relatively undeveloped. Conventionally, bait, often in the form of a carbon dioxide emitter, is placed in a bag and a fan is positioned to force air into the bag. Many flying insects are attracted by the bait, and upon entering the bag, are unable to escape against the airflow produced by the fan. While this method has some success collecting flying insects, it often collects an array of different insects. Researchers then must sift through a bag of insects looking for specific insects they want to study.


A damping characteristics control apparatus is provided for a vehicle suspension having a shock absorber mounted between a sprung member and an unsprung member for each wheel. Damping force of the shock absorber is controlled on the basis of damping coefficient obtained byC(absorber)=(Gain*|y−z|/|y′|)*[(T|z′|+L)/|y−z|]p wherein C(absorber); damping coefficient, z′; sprung velocity, y′; unsprung velocity, |y−z|; relative displacement, T; interval time of sprung member moving relative to unsprung member, L; displacement of sprung member stopped against unsprung member, Gain; control gain, p; parameter for determining effective range for control about neutral position of absorber.

The present invention relates to a damping characteristics control apparatus for a vehicle suspension, and particularly relates to a damping characteristics control apparatus for controlling damping characteristics of a shock absorber mounted between a sprung member and an unsprung member for each wheel of a vehicle.
With respect to the damping characteristics control apparatus, it is known heretofore that the damping characteristics of the shock absorber is controlled according to a control law of a skyhook damper, to provide C(absorber) for a damping coefficient of the shock absorber as follows;C(absorber)=C(skyhook)*[z′/(y′−z′)]wherein "C(skyhook)" is a skyhook damping coefficient, "z′" is velocity of a sprung member and "y′" is velocity of an unsprung member, respectively, in a moving direction of the shock absorber, which is the differentiated value of a displacement "z" and the differentiated value of a displacement "y", respectively, and "(y′−z′)" is vertically relative velocity between the sprung member and the unsprung member.
The skyhook damping coefficient C(skyhook) should be of a value which is set to be relatively low for an input with its high frequency vibration component from a normal road surface prevailing, and a value which is set to be relatively high for an input with its low frequency vibration component from an irregular road surface prevailing. For example, if the skyhook damping coefficient C(skyhook) was set to be of the relatively low value, a ride comfort could be obtained against the high frequency component of the road surface, whereas, vibration of the vehicle body could not be damped appropriately on the irregular road having the low frequency component. On the contrary, if the skyhook damping coefficient C(skyhook) was set to be of the relatively high value, it could be appropriate for the irregularity, but the ride comfort on the rough road would be deteriorated. In order to solve these problems, it is proposed to change the skyhook damping coefficient C(skyhook) into a high value or a low value in response to vibration of the vehicle body, in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H05-294122, which corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,069. That is, it is proposed to detect acceleration of a mass body (sprung member) for each wheel, and obtain signals by passing the acceleration through a low-pass filter and a high-pass filter, on the basis of which it is determined whether the vibration of the mass body has been resulted from the high frequency component or the low frequency component. Then, if the low frequency component prevails, the value of the damping coefficient C(skyhook) will be increased.
According to other means for solving that problem, in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. H06-156036, it is proposed to achieve the skyhook control by changing modes for damping force in response to positive sign or negative sign of the velocity (z′) of the sprung member. Furthermore, Japanese Patent No. 2911368 discloses an equation of motion for a vehicle following a lead vehicle, based on its back and forth motion which will fit a physiology of human sensations.
Although the skyhook damping coefficient C(skyhook) is provided to be of a constant value, if the sign of z′*(y′−z′) is negative, it is required to change the skyhook damping coefficient C(skyhook) into the one of a very low value Cmini. With this low value Cmini being employed, the motion of the unsprung member will be damped. Depending on the value Cmini to be set, the changing motion will be repeated often without the motion of the unsprung member being restrained, to cause repetition of the low value and high value, which might deteriorate the ride comfort. Therefore, according to this control law, in the case where its sign of z′*(y′−z′) is negative, which corresponds to a half of the motion conditions, it will be excluded from the control, to be changed into the low value Cmini. As the control itself does not fulfill the half of the motion conditions, and the skyhook damping coefficient C(skyhook) is a fixed value even in the case where the control is effective, the equation of the control as it is could not meet every road conditions in a general state employing it.
According to the aforementioned skyhook control law, therefore, if the sign of z′*(y′−z′) is negative, the actual damping coefficient of the shock absorber C(absorber) will be of a negative value. In order to avoid this, the value employed in that period has been changed into the low value Cmini without performing the control, or a control law for changing the skyhook damping coefficient C(skyhook) depending on the frequency component of the sprung acceleration, has been added. However, only by means of that skyhook control law, the vibration of the sprung member will not be damped appropriately. This is resulted from the fact that the control shall not be performed in principle, in the case where the sign of z′*(y′−z′) is negative, and that the value of the skyhook damping coefficient C(skyhook) will have to be changed, against the vibration of the sprung member caused by a rapid change of the control conditions due to the former fact. Furthermore, as the value of the skyhook damping coefficient C(skyhook) has been set to be the fixed damping coefficient, the value of the skyhook damping coefficient C(skyhook) has to be set appropriately.
However, even if the value of the skyhook damping coefficient C(skyhook) has been set appropriately, any appropriate shock absorber damping coefficient C(absorber) can not be obtained on the basis of the aforementioned control law of C(absorber)=C(skyhook)*[z′/(y′−z′)], as long as it is the fixed value. Therefore, by changing the value of the skyhook damping coefficient C(skyhook) and Cmini depending on the road surface conditions, or providing two fixed damping characteristics for the specific characteristics of the skyhook control, to change two control modes depending on the negative or positive sign of the sprung acceleration, the skyhook characteristics has been realized artificially, with the fixed damping force characteristics, to result in a control for changing damping force characteristic modes, which is substantially different from the skyhook control law.
Also, in order to realize the skyhook control, complicated additional control means will be required. However, even if the skyhook control was completely realized, the vibration of the vehicle body suspended through the skyhook by the fixed shock absorber would be a mechanical free vibration of a spring mass system, and would hardly become a vibration based on the human physiology. In order to solve this problem, it is desired to restrain the vibration of the sprung member by means of only a single control law, without performing any change of damping force or damping force mode, which is different from the skyhook control law requiring the changeover.

Damping characteristics control apparatus for a vehicle suspension


An electrical connection configuration which can be used to upgrade an electrically-connected two part system to allow for a "first" component of the original system to interact with either a "second" component of the original system or an alternate "second" component being part of an alternate system, while restricting connection between the "first" component of the alternate system to connection only with the "second" component of the alternate system. Connection is prevented between the "first" component (e.g., a hand tool) of the alternate system and the "second" component (e.g., a control box) of the original system.

Electrical connectors have long been known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,160,457, to Walter Fischer, patented Dec. 8, 1964, entitled "Electrical Connecting Device", issued on an application filed in the United States on Nov. 30, 1962 is a good example of such connectors. The Fischer '457 Patent, incorporated herein by reference, discloses a detachable parallel electric current path connecting device, which is formed of two parts, each adapted to be connected to a respective electrical conductor, one of these parts carrying at least one male contact and the other carrying at least one corresponding female contact. This configuration has served the industry well through the years as a reliable, effective connector.
Although the above configuration includes advantages, there is always room for improvement, including improvements in how such connectors are used in various applications. For example, as upgrades are made to electrical equipment including such connectors, for safety and/or regulatory reasons it may be necessary that certain cross-system connections between system versions be prevented while other cross-system connections are allowed.
As an example, one may assume a typical system scenario in which a hand tool is attached to a control box though an electrical cord having a detachable connection therein. An upgrade is then made by the system manufacturer to both the hand tool and the control box. This results in the existence in the field of original hand tools configured to connect with original control boxes, as well as upgraded hand tools configured to connect with upgraded control boxes. If there is no desire to allow any interaction between the two systems, prior art connecting schemes can be used to provide different mating connections similar in concept to the different wall plug configurations used between 110 and 220 Volt AC systems. In other words, an original plug only fits an original receptacle, and an upgraded plug only fits an upgraded receptacle. There is no "cross-system connectivity".
However, there may be a desire by the system manufacturers to allow, as an example, the original hand tools to connect with the upgraded control boxes, but to prevent the upgraded hand tools to connect with the original control boxes. This need cannot be met by the known prior art.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an electrical connection configuration which can be used to upgrade an electrically-connected two part system to allow for a "first" component of the original system to interact with either a "second" component of the original system or an alternate (i.e. upgraded) "second" component being part of an alternate system, while restricting connection between the "first" component of the alternate system to connection only with the "second" component of the alternate system, and while preventing connections between the "first" component (e.g., a hand tool) of the alternate system and the "second" component (e.g., a control box) of the original system.


A solid-state imager is mounted at a point-of-transaction workstation for capturing images of one- and two-dimensional indicia and is operated at high speed to resist image blurring due to relative movement between the target and the imager. Dedicated hardware assistance and computation resources are allocated to decode multiple, continuous and simultaneous video streams from multiple imagers at the workstation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electro-optical reader for reading indicia and, more particularly, to a point-of-transaction workstation for reading not only one-dimensional indicia, such as bar code symbols, but also for reading two-dimensional indicia, by image capture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flat bed laser readers, also known as horizontal slot scanners, have been used to electro-optically read one-dimensional bar code symbols, particularly of the Universal Product Code (UPC) type, at a point-of-transaction workstation in supermarkets, warehouse clubs, department stores, and other kinds of retailers for many years. As exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 5,059,779; No. 5,124,539 and No. 5,200,599, a single, horizontal window is set flush with, and built into, a horizontal countertop of the workstation. Products to be purchased bear an identifying symbol and are typically slid across the horizontal window through which a multitude of scan lines is projected in a generally upwards direction. When at least one of the scan lines sweeps over a symbol associated with a product, the symbol is processed and read.
The multitude of scan lines is generated by a scan pattern generator which includes a laser for emitting a laser beam at a mirrored component mounted on a shaft for rotation by a motor about an axis. A plurality of stationary mirrors is arranged about the axis. As the mirrored component turns, the laser beam is successively reflected onto the stationary mirrors for reflection therefrom through the horizontal window as a scan pattern of the scan lines.
It is also known to provide a point-of-transaction workstation with a generally vertical window that faces an operator at the workstation. The generally vertical window is oriented perpendicularly to the horizontal window, or is slightly rearwardly inclined. The scan pattern generator within the workstation also projects the multitude of scan lines in a generally outward direction through the vertical window toward the operator. The generator for the vertical window can be the same as or different from the generator for the horizontal window. The operator slides the products past either window from right to left, or from left to right, in a "swipe" mode. Alternatively, the operator merely presents the symbol on the product to the center of either window in a "presentation" mode. The choice depends on operator preference or on the layout of the workstation.
Sometimes, the vertical window is not built into the workstation as a permanent installation. Instead, a vertical slot scanner is configured as a portable reader which is placed on the countertop of an existing horizontal slot scanner.
Each product must be oriented by the operator with the symbol facing away from the operator and directly towards either window. Hence, the operator cannot see exactly where the symbol is during scanning. In typical "blind-aiming" usage, it is not uncommon for the operator to repeatedly swipe or present a single symbol several times before the symbol is successfully read, thereby slowing down transaction processing and reducing productivity.
The blind-aiming of the symbol is made more difficult because the position and orientation of the symbol are variable. The symbol may be located low or high, or right to left, on the product, or anywhere in between. The symbol may be oriented in a "picket fence" orientation in which the elongated parallel bars of the one-dimensional UPC symbol are vertical, or in a "ladder" orientation in which the symbol bars are horizontal, or at any orientation angle in between.
In such an environment, it is important that the scan lines located at, and projected from, either window provide a full coverage scan zone which extends down as close as possible to the countertop, and as high as possible above the countertop, and as wide as possible across the width of the countertop. The scan patterns projected into space in front of the windows grow rapidly in order to cover areas on products that are positioned not on the windows, but several inches therefrom. The scan zone must include scan lines oriented to read symbols positioned in any possible way across the entire volume of the scan zone.
As advantageous as these point-of-transaction workstations are in processing transactions involving products associated with one-dimensional symbols each having a row of bars and spaces spaced apart along one direction, the workstations cannot process two-dimensional symbols, such as Code 49 which introduced the concept of vertically stacking a plurality of rows of bar and space patterns in a single symbol. The structure of Code 49 is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,239. Another two-dimensional code structure for increasing the amount of data that can be represented or stored on a given amount of surface area is known as PDF417 and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,304,786. Such two-dimensional symbols are generally read by electro-optical readers operative for projecting a laser beam as a raster of scan lines, each line extending in one direction over a respective row, and all the lines being spaced apart along a height of the two-dimensional symbol in a generally perpendicular direction. Also, the turning mirrored component of the scan pattern generators in the known workstations tend to wear out because of its constant motion and need to be replaced from time to time.
The aforementioned Code 49 and PDF417, however, both belong to a special class of two-dimensional symbols, which are especially designed to be able to be scanned by rastering laser scanners. The more general class of two-dimensional symbols, such as DataMatrix, are not designed in a way conducive for laser scanning.
Both one- and two-dimensional symbols can be read by employing solid-state imagers, including those two-dimensional symbols that cannot be read by laser scan pattern generators. For example, an image sensor device may be employed which has a one- or two-dimensional array of cells or photosensors which correspond to image elements or pixels in a field of view of the device. Such an image sensor device may include a one- or two-dimensional charge coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device and associated circuits for producing electronic signals corresponding to a one- or two-dimensional array of pixel information for a field of view.
It is therefore known to use a solid-state device for capturing a monochrome image of a symbol as, for example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,703,349. It is also known to use a solid-state device with multiple buried channels for capturing a full color image of a target as, for example, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,895. It is common to provide a two-dimensional CCD with a 640×480 resolution commonly found in VGA monitors, although other resolution sizes are possible.
However, the known point-of-transaction workstations do not read two-dimensional symbols, nor do they utilize solid-state imagers for capturing images of one-dimensional symbols or two-dimensional symbols required to be electro-optically read. To acquire a target image, a solid-state imager, for example as embodied in a consumer digital camera, must be held in a stationary position relative to the target. Only when a solid-state imager is held in a fixed position relative to a target symbol can an image of the symbol be clearly captured and decoded, with the data encoded in the symbol being sent to a host for processing. In the context of a point-of-transaction workstation where the operator swipes the symbol past the window, sometimes once, sometimes several times, and where the operator presents the symbol with an additional component of movement toward and away from a window, and in some cases where the symbols are transported on a moving conveyor past a window, the image of the symbol is blurred due to the relative motion between the symbol and the imager and, as a result, the image cannot be reliably and successfully decoded and read. Also, the field of view of a single solid-state imager is not extensive, thereby compromising the capability of providing a full coverage, light collection zone at the countertop.

Point-of-transaction workstation for electro-optically reading one-dimensional and two-dimensional indicia by image capture


Provided is a data prediction system for predicting a future prediction value. The data prediction system has a data management device which manages data and a prediction operation device which models tendency of an error amount of a prediction operation result calculated on the basis of a correlation with a major explanatory variable and corrects a future prediction value. The data management device includes a storage unit which stores prediction target past measurement data observed with a time transition and explanatory factor data explaining the prediction target past measurement data. The prediction operation device includes a first prediction operation unit which performs prediction on the basis of a correlation between the prediction target past measurement data and the explanatory factor data, a second prediction operation unit which models tendency of an error of an operation result of the first prediction operation unit and performs future error amount prediction of the operation result of the first prediction operation unit, and a correction unit which corrects the operation result of the first prediction operation unit by an operation result of the second prediction operation unit.

In an energy business field such as a power business and a gas business, a communication business field, and a transportation business field such as a taxi business and a delivery business, a value of a future demand amount is predicted to perform a facility operation or a resource allocation according to demands of consumers.
However, due to the occurrence of various events causing variations in the demand amount, a difference occurs between a prediction value calculated at a certain time point and an actual observation value. Therefore, updating the prediction value newly on the basis of a newly observed value is important for highly accurate prediction.
As technology for performing the above prediction, JP 2013-5456 A (PTL 1) is disclosed. According to PTL 1, previous result data of the same pattern as a prediction target period is extracted from result data stored for each pattern that can be classified according to a day of the week.
Coefficients included in a regression formula including a factor showing a weather condition and a load amount in variables are changed on the basis of the extracted data and a prediction value of the prediction target period is calculated using the regression formula having the changed coefficients. The prediction value is corrected using a difference between an actual measurement value and the prediction value. At the time of correction, a correction amount decreases as a time becomes earlier.

Data prediction system and data prediction method


The core substrate is capable of securely preventing short circuit between an electrically conductive core section and a plated through-hole section. The core substrate comprises: an electrically conductive core section having a pilot hole, through which a plated through-hole section is formed; electrically conductive layers coating the inner face of the pilot hole and a surface of the core section; a gas purging hole being formed in the conductive layer coating the surface of the core section; an insulating material filling a space between the inner face of the pilot hole and an outer circumferential face of the plated through-hole section; and cable layers being laminated on both side faces of the core section.

The present invention relates to a core substrate having an electrically conductive core section, a method of producing the core substrate and a method of producing a circuit board having the core substrate, more precisely relates to a core substrate capable of solving a problem of expansion of cable layers on the substrate, which is caused by a gas generated from the substrate when a thermal treatment is performed, a method of producing the core substrate and a method of producing a circuit board having the core substrate.
Some test substrates, which are used for testing circuit boards, on which semiconductor elements will be mounted, and semiconductor wafers, include core substrates composed of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP). In comparison with conventional glass-epoxy core substrates, thermal expansion coefficients of the core substrates composed of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic are small, and thermal expansion coefficients of the circuit boards having such core substrates can be corresponded to those of semiconductor elements to be mounted on the circuit boards. Therefore, thermal stress generated between a semiconductor element and a circuit board can be effectively avoided.
The circuit board is formed by laminating cable layers on the both side faces of the core substrate, and plated through-hole (PTH) sections are formed in the core substrate so as to mutually electrically connect the cable layers on the both side faces thereof. The plated through-hole sections are formed by boring through-holes in a substrate and forming plated layers (electrically conductive parts) on inner faces of the through-holes.
In case of the core substrate having the electrically conductive core section composed of, for example, carbon fiber-reinforced plastic, if the plated through-hole sections are formed by merely boring the through-holes and plating the inner faces thereof, the plated through-hole sections and the core section are electrically shorted. Thus, the plated through-hole sections are formed in the core substrate having the electrically conductive core section by the steps of: forming pilot holes, whose diameters are greater than those of the plated through-hole sections to be formed, in the core substrate; filling the pilot holes with insulating resin; and forming the plated through-hole sections in the filled through-holes. With this method, the plated through-hole sections and the core section are not electrically shorted (see JP Kohyo Gazette No. 2004/064467, JP Patent Gazette No. 2006-222216).
However, if the pilot holes are drilled, burrs are formed on inner faces of the pilot holes and the plated through-hole sections and the core section will be electrically shorted. To solve this problem, the inner faces of the pilot holes are coated with insulating layers so as not to electrically short the plated through-holes and the core section (see JP Patent Gazette No. 2006-222216). However, it is difficult to perfectly coat the rough inner faces of the pilot holes.
In a production process of a circuit board, prepregs and cable sheets are piled, heated and pressurized so as to integrally laminate them, so that the cable layers can be laminated. In this case, there are a disadvantage of generating a decomposition gas from an insulating material and vaporizing moisture absorbed in a substrate while performing the heating step. Thus, some means for discharging gasses from inner layers of the substrate have been employed (see JP Patent Gazettes No. 2004-87989 and No. 2005-136347).
In case of the core substrate having pilot holes for forming the plated through-hole sections, the gasses, which are generated in the substrate while producing the substrate, will cause the problem of short circuit between the core section and the plated through-hole sections. This short circuit must be prevented.

Core substrate and method of producing the same


Good shielding in shielded peripheral connectors is maintained by including an EMI by-pass gasket between the cable connector and the card connector. The EMI by-pass gasket is a thin but resilient piece of metal somewhat larger than the outline of the connector to connector interface. It has a orifice therein that allows it to be between the connectors as they mate. Interior folded tabs along the edges of the orifice and parallel to the length of the connectors make compressive contact with the outer surface of the connector rim of the cable connector. A front surface or step around the backshell of the cable connector pushes the gasket toward the I/O card bulkhead plate, compressing a pair of opposing bent legs running the length of the gasket against the system enclosure. This provides a low inductance direct RF connection from the rim of the cable connector to the system enclosure (chassis), and in the process, by-passes (shunts) the ground path through the I/O card itself.

The continuing proliferation of electronic equipment of all sorts has prompted governments and their various regulatory agencies to promulgate ever stricter limits on the amount of electromagnetic interference (EMI) that devices may generate. As these stricter rules take effect, and as computer equipment gets faster and faster, even simple cabling solutions that were satisfactory five or ten years ago are not suitable today.
Consider, merely as an example, a shielded SCSI or HIPPI connector on a PCI/ISA I/O card. A number of RF connections must be made to satisfactorily ground the shield in the connector and the shield in the cable. Typically, these include: a connection from the cable shield to the shield of the backshell of the cable connector; cable connector backshell shield to the rim of the cable connector; cable connector rim to card connector rim; card connector rim to card bulkhead plate; and, card bulkhead plate to the system enclosure (chassis). If any one of these connections is a poor RF connection the shielding of the connectors and the cable are compromised, and the equipment may fail to meet the standards it was certified to meet. This is especially true of I/O cables, since they are apt to be applied to and removed from their mating connectors many times during the life of the equipment. It would be desirable if there were a way to ensure good shielding performance despite deterioration in the ground path connections not within the cable connector itself (i.e., in the cable connector to card connector interface and on into those involving the card and chassis).

EMI by-pass gasket for shielded connectors


A timebase error compensation apparatus is provided in a video tape recorder having a plurality of rotary reproducing heads from which signals are sequentially switched over to obtain a continuous reproduced video signal. The apparatus comprises a compensation circuit for compensating a timebase error included in the reproduced video signal; a detection circuit for detecting a horizontal scan line period during which the signal from one rotary reproducing head is switched over to the signal from another rotary reproducing head to generate a mask control signal; and a replacement circuit responsive to the mask control signal for replacing the reproduced video signal of the horizontal scan line period with the reproduced video signal of a horizontal scan line period adjoining to the horizontal scan line period.

The present invention relates to a timebase error compensation apparatus for compensating the timebase error included in a video signal which is read from a recording medium by an information recording and reproduction apparatus such as a VTR having a plurality of rotary reproducing heads.
When there is a timebase error between horizontal sectors of video signal, the video signal is written to a memory by a clock that has the same timebase error so that it is possible to compensate for the timebase error by reading by a clock without a timebase error.
FIG. 1 shows one example of a timebase error compensation apparatus that compensates for the timebase error of video signal. In the figure, the input video signal is input to an A/D converter 1, and undergoes A/D conversion by the write clock generated by a write clock generator 2 in synchronism with the input video signal. The video signal that has undergone A/D conversion is written to a memory 3 by the write clock and is then read by the reference read clock that is generated by a read clock generator 4, and converted into an analog signal by a D/A converter 5. The read clock is normally using a fixed clock realized by quartz crystal oscillation and so the accuracy of crystal oscillation is stable and so the timebase compensation performance is generally dependent upon the accuracy of the write clock.
The write clock synchronized with the input signals, that is, the write clock that changes its phase corresponding to the timebase error, can be generated by an automatic frequency control (AFC) circuit shown in FIG. 2, for example.
More specifically, a sync separation circuit 6 separates the horizontal sync signal from the video signal, and inputs it to an automatic frequency control (AFC) circuit 7. The AFC circuit 7 is configured from a phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit comprising a phase comparator 8, a loop filter 9, a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) circuit 10 and a frequency divider 11, and the VCO circuit 10 outputs a clock having the same timebase error as the horizontal sync signal.
The input video signal is input to the memory by this clock and is read out by a clock without a timebase error and so it is possible to obtain an output video signal having timebase error. However, the AFC circuit 7 has the loop band region determined by a time constant and frequency characteristics of the loop filter 9 and so it is not possible to raise the speed of response in order to obtain a stable performance, and therefore it is not possible to follow high-speed time changes.
Here, the AFC circuit changes the phase and the oscillation frequency in accordance with the elongation or contraction of the length of one horizontal scan period, and whereas the clock is phase-synchronized with the input signals, a clock generation circuit shown in FIG. 3, which can take the same phase as the phase within a single horizontal scan period, and which is known as an Automatic Phase Control (APC) method has been used in recent years.
The sync separation circuit 6 separates the horizontal sync signal from the video signal that have been input, and supplies it to a phase detector 12. An oscillator 13 outputs clock signal that has a fixed frequency, and inputs it to a delay circuit 14, which delays it by different predetermined times and generates clock signals of a plural number of phases. These clock signals that have multiple number of phases are supplied to the phase detector 12 and a phase selector 15.
The phase detector 12 compares the phase of the signals that have been input from the sync separation circuit 6 and the phases of the clock signals from the delay circuit 14 and outputs the phase errors that are the results of this comparison, to the phase selector 15. The phase selector 15 selects and outputs the clock signal that has the smallest phase error, in response to the outputs of the phase detector 12.
By this, as shown in FIG. 4, an automatic phase controlled (APC) clock signal is generated, which is syncronized with the horizontal sync signal with its phase being reset every time the edge of the horizontal sync signal comes. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 5, if signals of each line of the video signal are written to the memory in accordance with the clock signal, then it is possible to compensate for the timebase error. More specifically, if there is a write operation to the memory space while there is a reset by the edge portion of the sync signal, and there is a read operation so that there is reset for each horizontal sector by the reference clock, then the signal after D/A conversion will be correctly reproduced (as shown in FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B).
The following will consider the characteristics for the timebase error compensation for the APC method and the AFC method.
FIG. 7 shows one example of a circuit that is used for the measurement in a timebase error compensation apparatus, and a variable delay line 16 is supplied with a video signal that does not have any timebase error, and a continuous sine wave output from a sine wave oscillator 17 is supplied as a control signal. Accordingly, the input video signal having no timebase variation is elongated and contracted sinusoidally in the direction of the timebase, by the variable delay line 16, and it is supplied to a timebase error compensation apparatus 18. If the ratio of the change components (sine wave components) between the input and the output of this timebase error compensation apparatus 18 is determined, then it is possible to measure the compensation performance of this timebase error compensation apparatus.
FIG. 8 is a graph showing the timebase error compensation performance due to the APC circuit and the AFC circuit, as measured by this method. In the figure, the axis of abscissa is the change component frequency, and the axis of ordinate is the compensation performance (suppression ratio) of the change component due to the timebase error compensation apparatus. More specifically, if the ordinate is less than 0 dB, then it shows that there is a timebase error compensation performance, and if the ordinate is 0 dB or larger, that there is not only timebase error compensation performance but an adverse effect. The solid line shows the timebase error compensation performance due to the APC circuit and the dotted line shows the timebase error compensation performance due to the AFC circuit.
As seen from the figure, in the low region component in the vicinity of 1 kHz or less, the timebase error compensation apparatus using an APC circuit has an improvement effect for the timebase error of from 7 to 8 dB greater than the timebase error compensation apparatus using an AFC circuit is used, and it has a compensation performance up to the vicinity of 3 KHz.
On the other hand, the timebase error compensation apparatus using an AFC circuit does not compensate for timebase error for components having frequencies of approximately 1 KHz or greater, and when compared to the case where an APC circuit is used, it has poorer characteristics.
In general, the change component is less visually conspicuous for the higher the region and there is the tendency for the change component itself to become smaller for the higher the region.
However, even the timebase error compensation apparatus using an APC circuit cannot follow a velocity error which expands and contracts greatly within a horizontal scan period and which is generated at a switching point at which the reproducing heads are switched over in a VTR format for home use. In addition, the switching point changes continuously with a width of several .mu.s or so in response to a tape tension, a low frequency jitter etc. of tape jitter, and the signals of the horizontal scan lines before and after the horizontal scan portion that includes the switching point are sufficient by compensated for the timebase error, and so the error in the horizontal scan line that includes the switching point is especially conspicuous visually.
Because of this, setting the switching point to a horizontal scan line other than a valid scan line on the monitor screen is made so that the disturbance in the image due to the switching point cannot be seen, but with large-screen monitors, the range of the valid scan lines has widened and disturbances in the switching points have come to be seen.
FIG. 9 through FIG. 11 show this condition. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, noise appears in the reproduced video signal in syncronism with the edge (switching point) of the drum pulse. As shown in FIG. 10, the error component due to the switching point that appears at the bottom of the screen is not removed by even the timebase error compensation apparatus using an APC circuit, and is output as shown in FIG. 11.

Timebase axis error compensation apparatus in an information recording/reproduction apparatus


A temporary sunshade for a soccer goal which has a net and a goal frame for supporting the net in an outstretched configuration, the outstretched net having contiguous generally planar net surfaces including a horizontal top panel, upright end panels, and a sloping back panel. The sunshade preferably includes a removable flexible sunscreen connectable atop preferably all of the outstretched net as a sunshade for players during periods of soccer play inactivity. The sunscreen includes an airflow opening in a back panel thereof which permits moving air to flow there through for cooling players within the goal space of the soccer goal while remaining shaded. In one aspect, the opening may be an elongated slit formed along a substantial length of the back panel of said sunscreen. In another aspect, the opening may be a plurality of spaced U-shaped cuts through the back panel of the sunscreen each defining a flap movable by air movement thereagainst which produces an opening to permit air to flow there through.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to soccer goals and more particularly to an improved soccer goal which provides shade for players when the soccer goal is not in competitive use.
2. Description of Related Art
A number of soccer goals having additional features beyond the basic structural features required of a soccer goal are known in prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,266 to Starnes teaches a soccer goal having a cover which may be used in a first position away from the opening prior to scoring and in a second position across the opening after scoring.
Lubin discloses a soccer goal in U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,085, the improvement comprising an intermediate crossbar having a first end for attachment to the first diagonal strut and a second end for attachment to the second diagonal strut to create a backstop portion. Bison, et al. discloses a sport target apparatus having a back panel in U.S. Pat. No. 5,524,901 and a soccer shooting training target is taught by Leras, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,725.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,921,257 to Heller teaches a soccer-training device and Papadopolos discloses a soccer-training goal in U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,786. A number of design patents disclosed in the Information Disclosure Statement each having distinctive ornamental features are also taught in prior art.
The present invention allows a conventional soccer goal to be temporarily converted into a sunscreen beneath which and within the goal space itself, players may obtain relief from direct sunlight during periods when the goal is not being used for direct competition or practice. Additionally, a soccer goal which is not in use may be positioned over a bench area on the sidelines of a soccer field and temporarily covered by the sunshade to provide a "dugout-type" arrangement for the players and coaches during games.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.


A cloud storage system receives information associating a user's cloud storage account with a network service account associated with a service provider. The cloud storage system identifies files associated with the network service account, retrieves metadata associated with the files, and provides a list of the files and their associated metadata to the user. The metadata stored by the cloud storage system may indicate the context of the identified files within the network service account. In response to a user command, the cloud storage system may store one of the identified files in the cloud storage account, and may continue to provide the content of the stored file within the network service account even if the stored file is deleted from the network service account.

Personal computers traditionally store files locally, on a medium directly accessed by the computer generating or editing the files. As network access has become more widespread, it has become feasible to store files on a remote network. Storing files on a remote network, also referred to as cloud storage, allows a user to access the files using any device that can access the network. Such cloud storage systems reduce the user's need for local storage capacity and assure the user that, regardless of which device is accessing a file, an up-to-date copy of the file is being accessed.
Existing cloud storage systems are minimally integrated with other network services handling computer files. If, for example, a user wishes to access files that she has received as email attachments in her cloud storage account, she must copy the file to her cloud storage account, often by accessing her email account through an email reader, copying the file to a local device, and subsequently uploading it to her cloud storage account.


A light source includes a lamp and housing. The housing has a right-angle form with a first leg for the lamp, a second leg for connecting leads for the lamp and a jointure between the legs having an aperture allowing access to the connecting leads and lead-ins. The aperture has a bottom containing openings for the lamp leads-in and a contiguous sidewall containing openings for the connecting leads. The lead-ins and connecting leads are attached in the aperture to form lugs. A cover for closing the aperture has an area matching the area of the aperture and has outer and inner surfaces. The inner surface has a central boss and depending flanges that, when fitted into the aperture after a sealant has been dispensed therein, the boss extends between the lugs and the flanges extend outside the lugs, serving to displace the sealant and force it to surround the lugs.

Many automotive vehicles employ headlamps that use tungsten-halogen light bulbs. These light bulbs are often fitted to a right-angled socket that includes means for receiving a connector. The socket includes an aperture at the angled portion that allows access to the bulb lead-ins and the connector contacts so that they can be welded or otherwise attached together to form lugs so that electrical connection can be made from the connector to the bulb.
In the past it has been the practice to dispense a viscous sealant material into the aperture after the welds have been made to seal the lugs from the environment. A substantially flat cover was then applied to the aperture for aesthetic purposes. In spite of these efforts it has been found on occasion that corrosion can affect the lugs and interfere with the lamp performance. It has been determined that the problem is caused by the difficulty in controlling the amount and location of the sealant.