A cup with an outwardly protruding straw channel and nestable food container and cover that enables simultaneous or intermittent access of the contents of the container and attached cup without disengagement of the food container from the cup, wherein a portion of the cup that holds the food container may be utilized as a fill line when filling liquids into the cup to ensure that insertion of the food container does not result in overflow of liquid from the cup. Additionally, the food container may include at least one cavity that may hold at least one independent drop-in container. A simple domed cover or variable height domed cover may keep food items that are placed within the food container warm.

1. Field of the Invention
One or more embodiments of the invention are related to the field of containers. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, one or more embodiments of the invention include a cup with an outwardly protruding straw channel and nestable food container and cover that enables simultaneous or intermittent access of the contents of the food container and attached cup without disengagement of the food container from the cup. Embodiments may include a cover that encloses the food container, for example a dome cover that for example snaps closed on an inner portion of the food container. Furthermore, according to one or more embodiments, the cup includes an outer corner portion or ledge configured as a fill line when filling liquids into the cup, to ensure that the insertion of the food container does not result in overflow of liquid from the cup. The outer corner portion or ledge that implements the fill line may also provide support for a portion of the food container. Alternatively, or in combination, the food container and cup may include at least one horizontal step wall, strength rib or other narrowing structure that may also provide support for the food container within the cup.
2. Description of the Related Art
Standard cup lids are simple covers that do not include an integrated food container. Rather, known lids cover the contents of a cup wherein the lid forms a closed container in combination with the cup itself. Known containers that couple with cups include food containers that fit onto the top of yogurt cups for example. These containers typically have to be removed from the yogurt cup and then flipped over and opened before the contents of the container and cup may be accessed. It is generally not possible to access the contents of the cup while also accessing the contents of the container without first disengaging the container from the cup. Additionally, food containers that attach to yogurt cups, for example, in an upside-down position have a limited food-volume capacity. In such cases, as the yogurt example shows, the food-container walls narrow as they proceed upward toward the bottom of the upside down container. Other known devices having a container or shelf combined with a lid have limitations, which makes these devices impractical to use.
One category of devices typically includes a container combined with a cup, but utilizes a straw hole in the middle of the lid. This makes it generally impossible to store relatively circular items, i.e., non-ring or non-annular items having no central hole, in the container, such as hamburgers, cookies or muffins for example. Another category of device typically includes a container combined with a lid, but does not allow for simultaneous access of the contents of the cup and the container, and does not allow for the container to be resealed or a drop-in seated container to be inserted and removed from the food container. Other containers that form portions of the lid have limitations in the amount of storage or shape of the storage area, which limits the quantity or type of food respectively.
Typically, cups include a straw hole located on a top horizontal portion of the cup or a lid/cover of the cup, but generally do not allow for a straw to protrude outwardly from a vertical sidewall of a body or portion of the cup. Furthermore, generally, round cups, such as plastic cups, include a rolled top edge that adds structure and strength to the top portion of a standard drinking cup. However, in such round plastic cups, typically, it is difficult to roll the top edge of a drink cup or container when complex or irregular shapes are formed at the top edge of the cup. Generally, rolled top edge cups or containers limits the use of more complex and unique shapes for an upper body of the cup or container, and limits the use of non-standard shapes for one or more food items in the container.
Thus simultaneous or intermittent access of the contents of known cups and of the contents of an attached container is not practical for at least the reasons listed above. This makes for difficult drinking/eating coffee, soda, snacks, popcorn, etc., in malls, fast food restaurants, theaters, amusement parks, and sports stadiums or in any other venue. In addition, this makes it difficult to eat and drink food in a theater or stadium with one cup-holder per seat, and makes it difficult to simultaneously access solids and liquids using a plurality of containers and container cavities, without disengaging the containers/cavities.
Thick walled, reusable food/drink containers have been developed but utilize a relatively large amount of plastic compared to a thin wall injection molded container. Skillfully engineered, thin film thermoformed or thin wall injection molded disposable containers have not been developed for the fast food and convenience store industries. Thin film thermoforming and thin wall injection molding are typically the two most cost efficient manufacturing methods for producing high volume parts. According to industry standards, thin film or thin wall construction is defined in the approximate range of 0.010 to 0.030.
Typically, thin film thermoforming and thin wall injection molding are specific manufacturing sciences that demand precise engineering and highly accurate tolerances. Strategic strength features or elements that stabilize the structural integrity of the cups and containers, generally, must be incorporated into the construction of thin wall parts. Without strength elements, thin wall parts generally become flimsy and lose their ability to precisely mate with one another. Typically, thin film thermoforming requires drafts on all parts such that the parts may release from their prospective molds. When it comes to thin film or thin wall construction, every detail is important. Without precise engineering, for example, thin wall parts may lack structural integrity and these parts may lose their ability to precisely fit together.
For at least the limitations described above there is a need for a cup with an outwardly protruding straw channel that includes a nestable food container and cover.

Cup with outwardly protruding straw channel and nestable food container and cover


There is provided a detection system capable of simultaneously detecting a plurality of fluorescences or phosphorescences having different dominant wavelengths generated from a minute region and a probe therefor. A fluorescence detection system includes a probe having a lens and optical fibers and arranged on one end thereof. The probe receives excitation light with a dominant wavelength and excitation light with a dominant wavelength at one end of the lens and converges the excitation lights at the solution containing Cy3 and Cy5 in a channel inside a microchemical chip and the probe receives fluorescence with a dominant wavelength and fluorescence with a dominant wavelength at the other end of the lens and converges the fluorescences at the tips of the optical fibers.

In a microchemical system, a very small amount of samples needs to be detected and analyzed with high sensitivity after chemical treatment has been performed using a microwell, a microchemical chip and an electrophoretic chip. Until now, in the microchemical system, there has been often used a detection method using fluorescence and phosphorescence.
As shown in FIG. 9, as a conventional technique, for example, there has been known a method of cause a plurality of laser beams to travel through a space to irradiate a measurement region therewith at the time of detecting fluorescence and phosphorescence generated from a sample flowing through a microchemical chip.
This method, however, some distance is required in order to cause the laser beams to travel, extending the laser beam by diffraction, which the size of a focal point cannot be reduced to substantially 0.5 mm or less, resultantly, a minute region cannot be detected. Furthermore, this method adjusts a position irradiated with the laser beams by adjusting the angle of a mirror or the like, however, some distance is required in order to cause the laser beams to travel, so that a subtle angular displacement occurring at the time of adjusting the angle causes a positional displacement, making it difficult to adjust the position and there is a problem that the method is susceptible to vibration.
This method is capable of irradiating the same minute region with a plurality of laser beams, however, as stated above, it is basically difficult for the method to adjust the position, requiring a very complicated optical system. When a plurality kinds of substances generating fluorescence or phosphorescence at a plurality of points are simultaneously measured, this method scans laser beams to quasi-simultaneously measure the substances. The quasi-simultaneous measurement, however, needs a more complicated optical system. In addition, a short irradiation time significantly reduces sensitivity.
As shown in FIG. 10, as a method of solving the problem, there has been known a method in which a laser beam and fluorescence (or phosphorescence) are propagated thorough an optical fiber and the laser beam is focused to a measuring region by a microlens to detect the fluorescence (phosphorescence) (refer to, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2005-30830).
However, the above method in the conventional art causes the following problem at the time of measuring concentration and state of a plurality kinds of substances generating fluorescence or phosphorescence in solution.
In the case where the above substances are irradiated with excitation light having a different dominant wavelength to excite the substances and fluorescence (phosphorescence) having a different dominant wavelength generated from solution thereby is detected, the method in the conventional art requires two detection systems of FIG. 10 as shown in FIG. 11. In the system, the focal position of each excitation light is displaced due to a width of the lens used for focusing. Using a small lens such as a microlens for focusing displaces a focal position by 2 mm to 3 mm. For this reason, the detection system shown in FIG. 11 cannot be used to detect fluorescence (phosphorescence) in solution containing the above substances which is contained in the same micro well.
The object of the present invention is to provide a detection system capable of simultaneously detecting a plurality of fluorescences or phosphorescences having different dominant wavelengths and generated from a minute region and a probe therefor.


Process for making a functionalized substrate in the form of a water-soluble film carrying a coating of a functional composition, the process comprising applying to at least one side of the film an aqueous solution comprising one or more functional materials to form the coating wherein the coating is formed from a plurality of layers in a stepwise manner and/or the aqueous solution comprises a film insolubilizer agent.

In the world of multi-ingredients products, in particular cleaning products, the formulator is faced with a series of challenges including incompatibility among different ingredients, the need of delivering ingredients in pre-determined amounts, the sequential release of different ingredients, etc.
Some of these challenges have been tackled before, however, the design of a product overcoming the above issues usually involve cumbersome processes and complex products. For example, the literature presents various solutions to the problem of ingredient incompatibility and sequential release. U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,892 discloses a multilayer detergent tablet containing an outer layer, a barrier layer and an inner layer. The tablet sequentially releases ingredients contained in the outer layer and ingredients contained in the inner layer. The time interval between the release of the outer layer ingredients and the release of the inner layer ingredients is controlled by the particular choice of an ingredient for the barrier layer and the relative thicknesses of the inner layer, the barrier layer and the outer layer. The tablet is able to separate in time the dissolution of incompatible ingredients such as enzymes and chlorine bleach. The tablet also provides sequential release of a dishwashing composition and a rinse aid composition such that cleaning is accomplished prior to the release of the rinse aid. This multilayer tablet not only requires a complex manufacturing process but also the use of a high number of non-active ingredients, ie, ingredients that do not contribute to the cleaning process such as those used in the barrier layer.
Cleaning products in the form of water-soluble pouches, sachets and capsules are becoming more widely available. Ingredient separation can also be achieved by means of multi-compartment pouches such as those described in WO 02/42,401. '401 describes dual compartment pouches comprising different compositions in different compartments.
The modification of water-soluble films to improve their handling properties is known in the literature. EP 479,404 relates to a composite packaging film comprising a continuous water-soluble base film carrying on one or both surfaces a discontinuous, at least partially non-particulate layer of a second plastics material which is less water-soluble than the base film material, for example, nitrocellulose. The composite film is produced by applying the second material from a non-aqueous solution onto the base film to form a discontinuous pattern. The discontinuous layer may be applied by printing.
WO 01/23,460 relates to a water-soluble film having a water-insoluble material present on a surface thereof, wherein the water-insoluble material is used in an amount of 0.1 to 80% by weight of the film and is in the form of particles having an average particle diameter of less than 500 μm or fibres having a length of 10 μm to 6 mm. The film has high storage stability and good feel to the touch. The water-insoluble material may be fixed to the water-soluble film by a binder. The water-insoluble material and the binder are delivered to the water-soluble material dispersed or dissolved in an organic solvent.
WO 03/031637 discloses a method of manufacturing reversible flexible substrates with actives embedded/entrapped therein. The amount of actives that can be embedded/entrapped into the film is limited by the film dimensions. It seems that high levels of active cannot be achieved with '637's method.
EP 1,275,368 relates to a perfume containing composition suitable for adding a low level of perfume to water-soluble films. The composition requires a silicone-base surfactant.
There remains the need of a method to load high level of actives onto water-soluble films without altering the properties of the film.

Process for making functionalized films for cleaning products


A spherical structure is formed by assembling a plurality of elementary constructs each of which is composed of three first triangular elements, three second triangular elements, three third triangular elements, and three fourth triangular elements. These triangular basic elements are different-sized triangular frameworks covered by respectively corresponding panels. A self-supporting spherical radome or other spherical structures can be constructed from a random distribution of these four basic elements by repeatedly arranging the elementary constructs assembled by the basic elements. Only four different triangular basic elements are required for constructing and dovetailing the whole spherical structure.

There are many possible patterns for the arrangement of the frame construction of a self-supporting spherical enclosure. Serving as a radome, both the structural factors and its effects to the electromagnetic waves should be taken into account when developing a spherical enclosure, and the frame construction must be randomly distributed for electricity sake; however, the number of its basic elements is preferably reduced when considering the costs of material preparation and element construction. Therefore, arranging the frame construction becomes highly perplexing as being limited by its mechanical structure and its effects to the electromagnetic waves. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a spherical radome structure.
A prior construction is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,495 wherein twenty large spherical equilateral triangular sections construct a sphere, and nineteen small triangular basic elements with their corresponding panels compose one equilateral triangular section. Five different kinds of small triangular basic elements are required when converting the inner large planar equilateral triangular sections into the outer large spherical equilateral triangular sections, as seen in FIG. 7. Another improved frame construction is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,078 in which only thirteen small triangular basic elements with their corresponding panels are necessary for each large spherical equilateral triangular section, and only four different kinds of small triangular basic elements are required (FIG. 8).

Spherical structure and method for forming the same based on four basic element

Chung Shan Institute of Science & Technology


In one embodiment, a method for reducing motion artifacts in an output image is provided. The method comprises capturing multiple frames of a scene; determining local motion vectors between each pixel in a current frame and a corresponding pixel in the a previous frame; and performing a temporal filtering operation based on the local motion vectors wherein pixels from a plurality frames are integrated to form the output image.

A common problem of real time image capturing systems (hereinafter referred to as "imaging systems") is that images captured by such systems may contain motion artifacts due to movement of the image capturing device, or by movement of objects in a scene that is being captured. Both types of movements generally result in blurring of captured images. In order to produce high quality crisp still images, motion artifacts must be minimized.
Consider an imaging system as shown in FIG. 1 that supports both real time video and still image capture, i.e., a system that can process and send out either a single frame or multiple frames of images in real time. In such a system, image processing algorithms can be designed to process either a single frame or multiple frames. An advantage of such a system over a still image processing system is that image processing algorithms can take advantage of the correlation in adjacent frames so that better output quality can be produced.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,988 describes a method in video stabilization. Specifically, the method estimates a global motion vector between a captured image and a reference image, determines a transformation parameter based on the global motion vector, and applies the transformation to the captured image. U.S. Pat. No. 6,654,049 suggests using color values as a means to determine motion vector. U.S. Pat. No. 6,809,758 improves on the accuracy of global motion vector determination using a global motion vector histogram that is constructed from information in multiple frames. Since multiple frames are considered, the motion vector from frame to frame can follow a smooth trajectory and the result is improved.
The above methods rely on a global motion vector to correct for an image frame and would work well in video capture by reducing camera shake artifacts. However, these methods do not reduce motion artifacts due to object motion in a scene as object motion in a scene typically affects only a portion of the scene, and hence applying a global motion vector to the entire frame is generally not effective in such case.


The present invention relates to novel methods for reducing toxicity associated with the administration of conventional "D" nucleoside compounds, including anti-HIV nucleosides and related therapeutic agents. Therapeutic methods which rely on conventional "D" nucleosides exhibit unexpectedly reduced toxicity when the methods include the co-administration of effective amounts of "L" nucleoside compounds. The method are particularly useful for the treatment of HIV infections and AIDS related symptoms in humans.

The use of various nucleoside analogs as agents for the treatment of cancer, fungal infections, bacterial infections and viral infections is not new. Most of the present therapies involving nucleoside analogs rely on nucleosides which generally have a natural "D" configuration about the sugar synthon. Although there are a number of reasons for the limitations associated with the use of nucleoside analogs as therapeutic agents including unfavorable pharmacokinetics and lack of specificity, it is the underlying toxicity of the therapeutic nucleoside analogs to the host which is perhaps primarily responsible for the limited use of these agents. One of the primary mechanisms for nucleoside toxicity in humans is by inhibition of mitochondrial DNA synthesis.
In the treatment of viral infections, the treatment of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV), related Herpes infections and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) with nucleoside analogs is now part of the armamentarium of the medical practitioner. A viral disease which recently has been studied ingreat detail and treated with only limited success is AIDS. AIDS is a generally fatal disease caused by a human pathogenic retrovirus known as human T-lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV III), lymphadenopathy-associated virus (LAV) or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
A number of nucleosides have played important roles in developing a treatment regimen for HIV infections. 3'-azido-3'deoxythymidine (AZT) is a prime example, although recent reports raise some doubts about its effectiveness. A number of 2',3'-dideoxynucleoside analogs also have exhibited significant activity against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), including 3'-deoxy-2',3'-didehydrothymidine (D4T), carbocyclic analog of 2',3'-dideoxy-2',3'-didehydroguanosine (Carbovir), 2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddC), 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxyguanosine (AZG), 2',3'-dideoxyinosine (DDI), 2',3'-dideoxy-2',3'-didehydrocytidine (D4C), 3'-fluoro-2',3'-dideoxyadenosine, 3'-fluoro-3'-deoxythymidine and 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxyuridine. See, for example, Larder, et al., Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 34, 436 (1990).
A number of the above-described nucleoside analogs have shown some promise in the treatment of AIDS or as inhibitors of HIV. These include 3'-azido-3'deoxythymidine (AZT) as well as the .beta.-D-2',3'-Dideoxynucleosides, for example, .beta.-D-2',3'-dideoxycytidine (ddC) and .beta.-D-2',3'-dideoxyadenosine and .beta.-D-2,'3'-dideoxyinosine (DDI), among other nucleosides (Richman, et al., N. Engl. J. Med., 317, 192, 1987; and Mitsuya, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 83, 1911, 1986). Other nucleoside agents which are at various clinical states of use for the treatment of HIV include .beta.-D-2',3'-didehydro-3'-deoxy-thymidine (D4T), 3'-azido-2',3'-dideoxyuridine (AzddU, CS-87, AZDU) and 3'-fluoro-3'-deoxythymidine (FLT).
In currently available therapeutics, the only approved compounds for use as anti-HIV agents alone are AZT and DDI (generally, DDI is administered to those patients who, for some reason, are intolerant to the administration of AZT). An aDDItional agent, ddC, has received approval for use as an anti-HIV agent in combination with AZT.
All of the above described anti-HIV nucleoside agents are used in the form of their naturally occuring enantiomers (D sugars). All of the approved anti-HIV nucleoside agents exhibit significant side effects in the form of toxicity. In aDDItion, resistance to these agents has recently emerged.
Thus, the search has continued to find agents which exhibit significant anti-HIV activity with reduced toxicity. Recent developments have focused on certain nucleoside analogs having an unnatural "L" configuration about the sugar synthon rather than the natural "D" configuration. These agents, especially .beta.-L-2',3'-dideoxycytidine (.beta.-L-ddC) and .beta.-L-5-fluoro-2',3'-dideoxycytidine (.beta.-L-FddC) have exhibited anti-HIV activity. At the same time that these "L" nucleoside analogs exhibit significant anti-HIV activity, in vivo studies have shown these same nucleoside analogs to exhibit significantly reduced toxicity to the host compared to anti-HIV nucleoside agents based upon the natural "D" configuration of the sugar synthon. Further studies evidence that a combination of an effective amount of at least one of the "D" nucleoside analogs with a toxicity reducing amount of at least one nucleoside compound having the unnatural "L" configuration produces a therapeutic composition exhibiting unexpectedly reduced toxicity to the host. In those instances where the "L" nucleoside has the same therapeutic activity as the "D" nucleoside analog to be administered, the result will be a therapeutic effect will be an increased therapeutic activity in combination with unexpectedly diminished toxicity. The unexpected reduction of toxicity caused by nucleoside compounds having the natural "D" configuration of the sugar synthon is a primary feature of the present invention.

Reducing toxicity of L-nucleosides with D-nucleosides


A power distribution device includes a direct current power source DC/DC converter connected to a direct current power source, and an AC/DC converter connected to an alternating current power source. The direct current power source DC/DC converter and the AC/DC converter are accommodated in a single container from which a DC load supply line is led out.

Conventionally, a power distribution system for distributing an AC power and a DC power in a building such as a house, a store or an office building, is disclosed in, e.g., Patent Document 1. The power distribution system is a grid-connected system that includes a DC power generation equipment such as a solar photovoltaic power generation apparatus, as a private power station, installed in a building. The power distribution system converts a DC power outputted from the DC power generation equipment into an AC power, and performs a grid connection of the AC power converted from the DC power of the DC power generation equipment and a commercial power source (an AC power system) supplied from an electric power company.
Such a grid-connected system employs a configuration where a DC power generated by the DC power generation equipment is converted into an AC power by a power converter (a power conditioner) and is cooperated with the commercial power source serving as an AC power source. Further, the grid-connected system enables a surplus power to reversely flow into the commercial power source (so-called electric power selling) when a power supplied from the DC power generation equipment exceeds the power consumed by loads within a building.
Furthermore, as a power distribution system for supplying a DC power to a DC load device, there is proposed a power supply system in, e.g., Patent Document 2. In the power supply system, a DC power supply unit communicates with a terminal device of the DC load device and a power-feeding control unit compares power reception information notified by the terminal device with operational power information stored in an operation information memory, and controls an output voltage to supply the DC load device with a proper voltage and current.
In such power distribution system for distributing the DC power, multiple power sources including a DC power generation equipment such as a solar photovoltaic power generation apparatus or a fuel cell, a battery, a commercial power source and the like, may be used. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a power distribution system suitable to these multiple power sources. In this case, typically, an output converter such as a DC/DC converter or an AC/DC converter is provided for each of the power sources, and outputs a DC power with a specific voltage level.
As described above, if there are used multiple power sources, the output converter such as a DC/DC converter or an AC/DC converter is required in order to distribute a power from the power sources. Thus, it is necessary to simplify and make safe the management of the plurality of power sources, such as installation and maintenance. In particular, since a plurality of heat-generating output converters is provided on a distribution board, a problem of heat dissipation property arises in a DC distribution board, unlike an AC distribution board.
Recently, there are provided an AC input terminal from an AC power source, a DC input terminal from a DC power source such as solar cells, and a DC output terminal connected to DC device all together in the distribution board. An erroneous connection between the terminals may lead to damage of devices and a serious accident, and cause danger.
Furthermore, a power distribution system disclosed in Patent Document 3 adopts a configuration for controlling the output of a secondary battery or solar cells so that a power converter or AC/DC converter can be operated at maximum conversion efficiency. Besides, in the power distribution system of Patent Document 3, multiple AC/DC converters are used depending on an amount of a power supplied to a load.
In the power distribution system of Patent Document 3, however, if the amount of the power supplied to the load varies due to, e.g., an increase of a load or a replacement of a load, the existing power converter cannot supply enough power to the load. Further, in a power distribution system having a specification where a power conversion efficiency increases with an increase in the amount of the power supplied to a load, a power conversion efficiency may lower due to a significant change in the amount of the power supplied to the load.
Such problem can be solved by changing the specification of the power distribution system in accordance with the load. In this case, the entire power distribution system has to be replaced. As a result, the existing power distribution system needs to be discarded, thereby causing an increase in cost.

Power distribution device and power distribution system using same


A process and a device are provided for ascertaining the rotation of a liquid spray arm for a domestic appliance. Lighting means serves as a light transmitter and a photoreceiver serves as a light receiver. The lighting means and the photoreceiver are assigned a light-conducting element. At a first location of the light-conducting element, at least some light emitted from the lighting means is coupled to a path so that the light is guided in the light-conducting element by total reflection. At a second location of the light-conducting element that spaced apart from the first location in the direction of propagation of the light, the light guided in the light-conducting element is coupled out of the path so that the light is received by the photoreceiver. The intensity of the light received by the photoreceiver is evaluated by an evaluation circuit with respect to the rotation of the spray arm.

Spray arms for liquids, such as water, for example, are used in domestic appliances, such as dishwashers. For safety reasons, the rotation of the spray arm should be monitored. The configuration of previous solutions for ascertaining the rotation of the spray arm involves high outlay.
For example, DE 40 20 898 A1 discloses a rotation sensor for a dishwasher which detects the rotation of the spray arm. The rotation sensor may be configured with optical means in the manner of a light barrier. Such a rotation sensor involves high outlay with respect to being arranged on the spray arm, and is also susceptible to malfunctioning.

Rotation sensor for a spraying arm in a dishwasher


In a method for operating a refrigerating unit including an expeller, condenser, evaporator and absorber, with a solvent circulation, a working substance circulation and a by-gas circulation, the working substance ammonia is expelled from a rich ammonia solution with continuous supply of thermal energy and subsequently is liquefied by heat absorption, is evaporated with absorption of heat from a cooling chamber and is absorbed from the weak ammonia solution, regulation of the thermal energy required for expulsion being effected in dependance on temperature changes with relation to a given temperature of the cooling chamber with the aid of an electronical module using fuzzy logic rules.

The invention relates to a method for operating an absorption refrigerating unit including an expeller, condenser, evaporator and absorber with a solvent circulation with a solvent alternating between strong and weak concentrations, a working substance circulation with a condition of the working substance alternating between being dissolved in the solvent, gaseous and liquid, a by-gas circulation with a by-gas alternating between strong and weak concentration of the working substance, wherein the working substance is expelled from the solution rich in working substance with supply of thermal energy and subsequently is liquefied by heat absorption, is evaporated under absorption of heat from a chamber to be cooled and is absorbed from the solution weak in working substance, and wherein the by-gas serves as carrier for the working substance between the evaporation phase and the absorption phase. The invention further relates to an absorption refrigerating unit for carrying out the method as well as a refrigerator equipped with an above-described absorption refrigerating unit.
Absorption refrigerating units in contrast to compression refrigerating units operated with a mechanically operated condenser are operated with thermal energy. The possibility to allow working with a heat generator, like a gas burner, in addition to electrical energy, led to an extended use of absorption refrigerating units of the kind cited in the beginning in small-size refrigerating units for camping vehicles, boats and the like. Furthermore, absorption refrigerating units are used where noise-lessly working refrigerators are required, e.g. so-called minibars for self-service in hotel rooms.
An absorption refrigerating unit comprises the main components schematically indicated in FIG. 2, namely expeller, condenser, evaporator and absorber. Furthermore, it has to be distinguished between three circulations, namely a solvent circulation, a working substance circulation and a by-gas circulation, the solvent in the present field of application being water or an aqueous ammonia solution, respectively, the working substance being ammonia and the by-gas being hydrogen or helium.
The complete lines in FIG. 2 represent the solvent circulation showing to mass circulations of different ammonia concentration, a flow shown in thin line having weak concentration (poor in the working substance ammonia) and a flow shown in thicker line having strong concentration (rich in the working substance ammonia).
The dotted line in contrast thereto shows the working substance circulation. In the expeller the ammonia is separated from the strongly concentrated solution by supply of heat and subsequently is liquefied in the condenser by heat absorption. The evaporation process of the liquid ammonia in the evaporator extracts heat from the cooling chamber on a low temperature level. The gaseous ammonia then flows into the absorber and is absorbed by the solvent weak in ammonia. Thus, the cooling circulation is closed.
The dash-dotted lines in the right-hand portion of FIG. 2 show the by-gas circulation, wherein the by-gas is formed from hydrogen. In the lower portion of the absorber the hydrogen is strongest enriched with ammonia gas, while the ammonia concentration decreases to the upper portion of the absorber, because the ammonia is absorbed from the weak solution flowing in opposite direction. The lower the ammonia concentration the lighter is the by-gas so that it can rise upwardly to the evaporator in the absorber. Almost pure hydrogen is present in the evaporator. In the evaporator the pure by-gas mixes with the evaporated ammonia so that the gas mixture becomes heavy and presses down to the absorber, therein simultaneously pushing the lighter gas mixture from a container in the absorber pipe windings in front of itself. Thus, the by-gas circulation is closed.
As the three circulations are in mutual connection via the pipe system of the absorption refrigerating unit, the change in one circulation causes changes in the other two circulations.
In FIG. 1 further details of the absorption refrigerating unit in accordance with the present invention are shown.
The expeller is built as vapor bubble pump in which a pump is arranged within a cylindrical heater pipe heatable from the outside and in which the rich solution is introduced from bottom side. Upon heating the ammonia evaporates from the water solution and raises upwardly in the pump pipe in form of bubbles. The difference in density between the liquid present in the pump pipe and enriched with vapor bubbles and the rich solvent column, "a" in FIG. 1, causes circulation of the solvent, wherein the solvent reaches the absorber as weak solution via an inlet pipe in counterflow direction to the rich solution.
The rising ammonia vapor contains a small portion of water which is to a great extent expelled in the pipe piece located between the expeller and the condenser. This pipe piece thus serves as water separator.
A line out of two concentrical pipes leads into the input of the expeller. In the inner tube the rich solution is fed to the expeller, while in the outer tube the weakly concentrated solution which was heated on the expeller flows back. The concentrical pipe piece thus serves as liquid counterflow heat exchanger in which the heat from the weak solution is transferred to the rich solution so that the latter reaches the expeller in pre-heated form.
An absorption refrigerating unit of the kind as described above under FIG. 2 is regulated by a thermostat arranged on the evaporator in the cooling chamber. If the temperature in the cooling chamber drops below a given desired value of e.g. 4.degree. C., the heating means of the expeller is switched off so that the temperature in the heater area will drop to such extent that the pure solvent no longer is heated. This means that the solvent circulation is interrupted. As a consequence, no ammonia vapor or liquid ammonia in the condenser, respectively, is made available so that the working substance circulation is interrupted. Thereby, also the gas circulation is interrupted, because no rich, heavy gas mixture is produced, flows downwardly and pushes the weak gas mixture in front of itself to the evaporator any longer. When the operation of the absorption refrigerating unit has stopped, the temperature in the cooling chamber increases. As soon as the temperature reaches a given threshold value, e.g. 8.degree. C., the heating means again is started by the thermostat regulation in order to again increase the meanwhile severely cooled temperature in the area of the heater to the temperature of about 160.degree. to 200.degree.. With maximum power input the heater area now is heated to 160.degree. to 200.degree., still no ammonia being expelled during the heating process. It can be assumed that the operation of the absorption refrigerating unit only is started after 2 to 20 minutes and the above-described circulations have established themselves. Only from this time on cooling power is made available, wherein then cooling is effected down to a lower temperature than the desired temperature of 6.degree. C., before the system is switched off resulting from thermostat control. Thermostat control is effected in the modes:
ON--FULL POWER--OFF.
The advantages of an absorption refrigerating unit of the above-described kind, like simple construction without moving parts and noise-less maintenance-free operation, are opposed by the essential disadvantage of a comparatively high energy demand so that a comparatively low efficiency with respect to cooling power is given. Numerous attempts and proposals to improve efficiency up to now only resulted in success to a very low degree. The reason lies in the complex cooperation of the method and device parameters depending on one another which have to be exactly tuned to match one another. When the refrigerating unit is started, no cooling power will be achieved until, after a longer heating period, ammonia is produced and made available in the evaporator. During this heating period maximal energy has to be supplied. Due to the intermittent regulation of the refrigerating unit it cannot be avoided either that too much liquid ammonia is made available in the evaporator, which will not be evaporated in the evaporator completely but in the gas heat exchanger or in the connecting line between evaporator and absorber. This means that the excess amount of ammonia cannot be utilized for the desired cooling in the cooling chamber but represents a loss.

Method for operating an absorption refrigeration unit as well as an absorption refrigeration unit


A method for adjusting parameters of a device with a weighing sensor collecting environmental parameter data of an environment where the device is currently located or environmental parameter data during execution of an application by the device. A zero compensation parameter is calculated and updated, based on the data collected. The method is applicable to a moisture analyzer and also to a vehicle scale. In the moisture analyzer, the method is triggered and executed in the analyzer, correcting the zero compensation data by using the environmental parameter data of an environment or environmental parameter data during execution of an application by the analyzer. Dynamic and real-time adjustment of a compensation parameter overcomes the problem that the scheme of pre-setting fixed parameters for zero compensation cannot deal with the complex zero drift encountered in actual environments.

Environmental factors such as temperature may cause zero drift of weighing sensors, which affects the accuracy of weight weighing of devices installed with weighing sensors. At present, in order to compensate for the zero drift, fixed compensation values are generally stored in the devices, and weighing data is corrected by the compensation values while the devices output the weighing data, thereby overcoming the influence of the zero drift on the accuracy of the weighing data.
For example, truck scales, also known as weighbridges, are main weighing devices used in factories and mines or by merchants etc. for the measurement of bulk goods. However, the actual application environments for the truck scales are relatively harsh, complicated and diverse. For some application scenarios, the temperature difference between day and night is very large, which is more than 20° C., and the temperature gradient varies greatly, which leads to a large drift of the zero of scale platforms, thereby affecting the accurate weighing. In addition, the change in the external humidity will also affect the zero. If the sensor without a welded seal is exposed to the humid environment for a long time, it will cause zero drift, which will affect the accuracy of the weighing.
Although the use of digital sensors can achieve functions such as temperature compensation, the existing compensation methods can only be used for static compensation, for example, only for static temperature compensation, and cannot compensate for zero changes at dynamic temperatures. Moreover, the truck scale is a multi-point application, that is, various weighing sensors are installed at different positions of the scale platform, and changes in the external temperature reflect different temperature gradients on the various sensors, some of which are on the sunny side so that the temperature gradient changes greatly, and some of which are on the shady side so that the temperature gradient is relatively small, and therefore, a zero change curve also varies from sensor to sensor. Therefore, the complexity and variability of the actual environment causes the zero curve to change all the time. The fixed parameters obviously cannot dynamically adjust the zero curve in the changing environment.
In addition, moisture meters use the principle of thermogravimetric analysis to record the initial mass of a sample, then heats the sample, and calculates the moisture content of the sample from the total mass loss of the sample recorded by an internally integrated scale.
For the moisture meters, during the heating process, part of the heat is transferred to weighing sensors through scale trays, which will causes the zero drift of the weighing sensors; and when the heating is stopped, the phenomenon of zero drift will also appear in the weighing sensors. The zero drift will cause the deviation of the moisture measurement of the final measured object, which directly affects the accurate weighing.
For the zero drift of the moisture meters, in the prior art, pre-calculated or -set fixed compensation parameters are recorded in a non-volatile storage device, so that during the heating process, appropriate compensation parameters are selected to compensate for the zero.
However, the heating time and the heating temperature range of the moisture meters are different, and the variation characteristics of the zero will also change accordingly. For example, for the samples with relatively large moisture and relatively large mass, the heating time will be relatively long and the heating temperature will be relatively high; and for the samples with relatively small moisture and relatively small mass, the heating time will be relatively short and the heating temperature does not need to be set very high. For these changes, the changing zero characteristic curve cannot be satisfied by the zero compensation only with the fixed parameters recorded in advance, and the performance improvement cannot be guaranteed; furthermore, changes in external environmental factors such as the humidity will also directly affect the zero change curve. A variety of influencing factors are interleaved, which causes the failure of the scheme of pre-setting fixed parameters for zero compensation.
It can be seen that, for devices equipped with and using weighing sensors, there is an urgent need for a method capable of compensating for zero drift caused by dynamic environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.
The technical problem solved herein is: in order to solve the problem in the prior art that the scheme of pre-setting fixed parameters for zero compensation is unable to deal with the complex zero drift caused by variable heating conditions and actual environments, to provide a zero parameter adjustment method for a device with a weighing sensor and a storage medium, in which by dynamically adjusting a compensation parameter in real time, the zero change curve is better fitted to ensure high-accuracy measurement.

Method for adjusting parameters of a device having a weighing sensor

Mettler-Toledo (Changzhou) Precision instruments Co., Ltd.

Mettler-Toledo (Changzhou) Measurement Technology Co., Ltd.

Mettler-Toledo International Trading (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.


A steering system for directional control of an auxiliary engine using an existing helm steering system for the directional control of a primary engine. The steering system includes a master hydraulic cylinder having a rod connected to the primary engine, a slave hydraulic cylinder having a rod connected to the auxiliary engine, and hydraulic-fluid lines connecting the slave cylinder to the master cylinder to provide fluid flow communication therebetween. Movement of the master cylinder rod causes hydraulic fluid to flow from the master cylinder to the slave cylinder which moves the slave cylinder rod so that the auxiliary engine is controlled the same as the primary engine. The steering system can be used with inboard powered boats, inboard/outboard powered boats, outboard powered boats, and sailboats, each of which have an auxiliary engine.

The present invention generally relates to a steering system for a marine vessel and, more specifically, to a steering system for controlling an auxiliary engine through a helm steering system for controlling a primary engine.
Inboard, inboard/outboard, and outboard powered boats are generally equipped with a relatively large engine for powering the boat under normal circumstances. A steering system which controls the direction of movement of the boats typically includes a steering wheel located at a helm. These large engines, however, are not practical for slow travel, as is necessary when trolling, docking, or other slow speed operations. It is very common for such boats to be equipped with a second or auxiliary outboard engine or motor which is relatively smaller than the large engine. The auxiliary motor is typically mounted on the main transom of the boat or, in the alternative, on an auxiliary transom that is carried on the main transom. Often the auxiliary motor is mounted at a location lower than the main transom, which makes it very difficult to use the conventional steering system which controls the large engine for manual steering of the auxiliary engine.
The inventors, as owners and operators of such boats, recognized that there is a need in the field for a steering system which is capable of controlling the direction of movement of the auxiliary motor in response to the rotation of the helm steering wheel. The inventors also recognized such a need for sailboats having an auxiliary motor.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and safe means for the directional control of an auxiliary motor using an existing helm steering system for the directional control of the main or primary engine. It is another object of the present invention to provide such directional control of the auxiliary motor when the existing helm steering system is either a cable-type system or a hydraulic-type system.

Auxiliary motor directional control system


A capacitor comprising a ceramic dielectric material and at least two electrodes, said dielectric material essentially consisting of a dielectric composition with a doped barium-calcium-zirconium-titanate, said doped barium-calcium-zirconium-titanate having the composition EQU Ba.sub.0.96 Ca.sub.0.04).sub.a Ti.sub.0.82-y Zr.sub.0.18 Mn.sub.y !O.sub.3 ,. wherein 0.001.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.0.01, 1.00<a.ltoreq.1.02 and being doped with tungsten in a quantity r of 0.001 to 0.005 mol/formula unit and with at least one element A of the group formed by aluminium, gallium, yttrium, zinc, nickel and ytterbium in a quantity s of 0.001 to 0.005 mol/formula unit.

The invention relates to a capacitor, in particular a multilayer capacitor with internal electrodes of base metals, said capacitor comprising a ceramic dielectric material and at least two electrodes, said dielectric material essentially consisting of a dielectric composition with a doped barium-calcium-zirconium-titanate.
Ceramic multilayer capacitors are customarily manufactured by alternately stacking layers for the dielectric material, which are made of a green, dielectric ceramic composition, and layers for the electrodes, which are made of a metal paste, whereafter the stacks of ceramic and metal layers are co-sintered.
The quality of multilayer capacitors is governed by the chemical composition of the material used for the dielectric and the electrodes, as well as by the manufacturing conditions. As regards the manufacturing conditions, in particular, the sintering conditions play a role. Depending on the sinter atmosphere, opposed oxidation and reduction reactions may take place. During sintering in a reducing atmosphere, barium titanate and the derivatives thereof, such as the doped barium-calcium-zirconium-titanates, become semiconducting; in this condition, they are unsuitable as a dielectric material. Multilayer capacitors can only be sintered under oxidizing conditions if the electrode material is composed of rhodium, palladium or platinum. However, rhodium and platinum are very expensive, up to 50% of the manufacturing costs can be attributed to the use of these materials. Therefore, there is a tendency to use the much cheaper nickel or the alloys thereof instead of rhodium and platinum. However, nickel oxidizes if it is sintered under oxidizing conditions, so that multilayer capacitors having nickel electrodes must be sintered in an inert or slightly reducing atmosphere. Sintering in a reducing atmosphere would cause the tetravalent titanium in the barium titanate to be reduced to trivalent titanium, which would lead to an extreme reduction of the insulation resistance of the capacitors. Meanwhile, however, it has been achieved to lessen the reducibility of the barium titanate by doping it with additives, which are acceptors such as Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3, Co.sub.2 O.sub.3 or MnO.
However, these dopants cannot prevent the formation of oxygen vacancies in the crystal during sintering in a reducing atmosphere, which oxygen vacancies drastically reduce the service life of the capacitors. Said oxygen vacancies have a high mobility in the crystal lattice and migrate under the influence of an electric voltage and temperature. As a result, the insulation resistance decreases with time.
The formation of oxygen vacancies can be partly undone by subjecting the capacitors, after they have been sintered in a reducing atmosphere, to a tempering process in a slightly oxidizing atmosphere at temperatures between 600.degree. C. and 1100.degree. C. In this process, the oxygen vacancies in the lattice are filled again. A disadvantage of said tempering process is the substantial decrease of the dielectric constant .di-elect cons. and the negative influence on the .DELTA.C/.DELTA.t-curve, i.e. on the temperature-dependence of the dielectric constant.
In order to overcome said complex difficulties which are encountered in the manufacture of ceramic capacitors with base-metal electrodes, it is proposed, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,319,517, to use a multilayer ceramic chip capacitor comprising internal electrodes and dielectric layers, the dielectric material of which contains a dielectric oxide having a composition of the following formula: EQU (Ba.sub.1-x-y Ca.sub.x Sr.sub.y)O!.sub.m (Ti.sub.1-x Zr.sub.x)O.sub.2,
wherein 0.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.0.25, 0.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.0.05, 0.1.ltoreq.z.ltoreq.0.3, and 1.000.ltoreq.m.ltoreq.1.020 and having added thereto a manganese oxide and/or a compound which converts to the oxide upon firing in an amount of 0.01 to 0.5% by weight calculated as oxide (MnO), an yttrium oxide and/or a compound which converts to the oxide upon firing in a quantity of 0.05 to 0.5% by weight calculated as oxide (Y.sub.2 O.sub.3), a vanadium oxide and/or a compound which converts to the oxide upon firing in an amount of 0.005 to 0.3% by weight calculated as oxide (V.sub.2 O.sub.5), a tungsten oxide and/or a compound which converts to the oxide upon firing in a quantity of 0.005 to 0.3% by weight calculated as oxide (WO.sub.3), and nickel or a nickel alloy being used as the material for the inner electrodes of said multilayer capacitor. The ever increasing requirements in terms of service life and reliability can hitherto not be met by these multilayer capacitors.

Multilayer capacitor comprising tungsten-containing BaTiO.sub.3


A process for preparing a pigment dispersion including melting a phase change ink carrier and an optional dispersant at a temperature of from about 100° C. to about 170° C. in a jacketed vessel comprising a jacket surrounding an immersion mill or basket mill attachment and a dispersion blade attachment disposed within the jacketed vessel; mixing the melted phase change ink carrier and optional dispersant with a dispersion blade in the jacketed vessel; adding a pigment to the melted, mixed phase change ink carrier and optional dispersant in the jacketed vessel; wetting the pigment; after pigment wetting, reducing the pigment particle size using an immersion mill or basket mill attachment in the jacketed vessel; and discharging the pigment dispersion.

Disclosed herein is a process for preparing a pigment dispersion.
Pigment dispersions for pigmented phase change ink (sometimes referred to as hot melt ink or solid ink) require milling of pigments to a particle size preferably as small as the primary particle size of the pigment which can be 100 nanometers in diameter or less. Pigment size reduction can be costly and energy intensive. Known technologies that are suitable for dispersing pigments in wax media at temperatures higher than 100° C. include attrition, extrusion and homogenization. These processes require excessive milling times (up to 7 days milling time) and in some cases known processes are not even capable of delivering the required pigment particle size. Furthermore, in processes that utilize milling media (stainless steel, silica, zirconia, etc.) media wear can result in ink contamination.
Pigment dispersion is an important step in the manufacturing of pigmented phase change ink. Pigments are often supplied by the manufacturer as dry aggregates and agglomerates many times larger than the primary particle size (usually on the order of less than about 100 nanometers in diameter). These aggregates or agglomerates have to be reduced in size to less than about 100 nanometers in diameter with a narrow particle size distribution to form a stable dispersion in the solid ink medium. This is needed for the resulting solid ink formulation to demonstrate good jetting and print quality performance.
Processes for particle dispersion and pigment size reduction, such as milling and homogenization, are known. These known processes operate at room temperature, or at elevated temperatures, but still significantly below 100° C.
A need remains for a process for dispersion of pigments for pigmented phase change ink wherein the pigment must be dispersed at a high temperature, such as in a wax medium at a temperature of about 120° C. or higher, wherein the said high temperature is above the melting point of said wax medium. High temperatures present serious challenges for most milling technologies. For example, if there are regions in the mill where the temperature can drop below the melting point of the wax, especially during startup, solidification of the wax can occur causing stoppage. Most milling technologies, therefore, are not suitable for waxes at such high temperatures. Indeed, many mill manufacturers have virtually no experience running their equipment at these temperatures.
High temperature processes that can be used for dispersing pigments for phase change ink applications include extrusion, homogenization and/or attrition. These processes have been examined, but they are lengthy in process time (taking many hours or days) resulting in high cost, and in many cases do not reduce the pigment particle size to the desired size. Due to the length of the processes, contamination of the pigment dispersion by media wear (erosion) is also a concern.
Currently available pigment dispersion processes are suitable for their intended purposes. However a need remains for improved pigment dispersion processes. Further, a need remains for an improved pigment dispersion process suitable for dispersing pigments in phase change ink employing high melting wax carriers. Further, a need remains for an improved pigment concentrate that can be used for dispersion processes for solid inks. Further a need remains for improved pigment concentrates for pigment dispersion processes wherein an intermediate highly concentrated pigment concentrate can be prepared and then let down to its final concentration in a final product such as a phase change ink.
The appropriate components and process aspects of the each of the foregoing U. S. patents and Patent Publications may be selected for the present disclosure in embodiments thereof. Further, throughout this application, various publications, patents, and published patent applications are referred to by an identifying citation. The disclosures of the publications, patents, and published patent applications referenced in this application are hereby incorporated by reference into the present disclosure to more fully describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains.

Phase change ink pigment dispersion process


A method for analyzing a program includes identifying code in the program having high thread wait time. A task associated with the code is identified as a potential source of performance problem for the program.

In computer programming, a thread is an instance of a sequence of code that operates as a unit on behalf of a single user, transaction, or message. Threads are sometimes described in terms of their weight, which describes how much contextual information must be saved for a given thread so that it can be referred by the system during the life of the thread.
A program that is split up into multiple threads is said to be multi-threaded. On a multi-processor system or in a system utilizing a processor that supports multi-threaded software, the multiple threads may be executed together in parallel. Each of the threads in the program may execute program code sequentially or may further be split up into child threads that may be executed in parallel. Threads have their own program counters and stacks. Similar to traditional processes, threads can be thought of as being in one of several states: running, blocked, ready, or terminated. A running thread has access to the processor and is active. A blocked thread is waiting for another thread to unblock it (e.g., on a semaphore). A ready thread is scheduled to run, but is waiting for the processor. A terminated thread is one that has exited.
Inactive threads are threads that are blocked or threads that are scheduled to run but are waiting for the processor. Current performance analyzer tools are unable to efficiently measure the wait time of inactive threads. These performance analyzer tools either do not have the capability to analyze threads that are not currently running or impose an intrusive protocol to measure the wait time of inactive threads which slows the program time to the point that real-time issues are less visible.
Thus, an effective and efficient method and apparatus for measuring thread wait time is desired.

Method and apparatus for measuring thread wait time


Provided are collision avoidance apparatus and method for a vehicle, which are capable of maintaining a braking force and assisting a steering force by providing a braking control signal and a steering control signal to a wheel of a driver's steering intention direction during braking for collision avoidance, thereby achieving lateral avoidance. The collision avoidance apparatus for the vehicle includes: a measurement unit configured to measure a motion of an opposite vehicle; and an electronic control unit configured to determine whether there is a risk of collision with the opposite vehicle, based on a measurement result from the measurement unit, and, when it is determined that there is the risk of collision, provide a braking control signal and a steering control signal to an actuator for controlling a wheel of a driver's steering intention direction and provide a braking release signal for releasing a braking force from a wheel opposite to the driver's steering intention direction.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a collision avoidance apparatus and method for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a collision avoidance apparatus and method for a vehicle, which are capable of maintaining a braking force and assisting a steering force by providing a braking control signal and a steering control signal to a wheel of a driver's steering intention direction during braking for collision avoidance, thereby achieving lateral avoidance.
Description of the Related Art
Generally, a vehicle is equipped with a collision avoidance system so as to avoid collision with an obstacle (for examples, other vehicle) located in front of the vehicle or behind the vehicle. Such a collision avoidance system assists a driver to drive safely by avoiding collision with obstacles located in front of the vehicle or behind the vehicle.
Conventional collision avoidance systems are disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 1996-0000634, and so on. A distance between a self vehicle and an obstacle is measured using a distance sensor (for example, a radar or an ultrasonic sensor) or an image sensor (for example, a camera), and a driver is informed of a collision risk by a warning sound generated when a vehicle approaches an opposite vehicle within a predetermined distance, depending on the measured distance and the velocity of the opposite vehicle.
Such conventional collision avoidance systems prevent collision by simply measuring the relative velocity and the distance. However, since a braking distance is changed according to a vehicle condition and a driving road condition, a vehicle cannot avoid an obstacle (for example, an opposite vehicle) predicted to collide with. Hence, a probability of collision with the opposite vehicle is increased.
In particular, when an abrupt longitudinal collision risk during driving is predicted, a driver tries to avoid collision by braking. When an input value of a brake pedal pressurized by a driver is large, a braking force greater than a target braking force is applied to operate an antilock brake system (ABS). At this time, a longitudinal collision risk caused by deceleration is reduced, but a steering force is lost and thus a lateral avoidance may be impossible.

Collision avoidance apparatus and method for vehicle


A host including a controller configured to be connected to a storage device separate from the host. The controller is configured to maintain random access memory (RAM) code on the host, the RAM code configured to provide a destructive function, temporarily load the RAM code onto a volatile memory in the storage device during a manufacturing process, wherein the loaded RAM code, when executed by a processor in the storage device, is configured to cause the processor in the storage device to perform a destructive function on the storage device, and remove the loaded RAM code from the volatile memory after the manufacturing process, wherein the destructive function is unable to be performed by the processor when the loaded RAM code is removed from the volatile memory.

Conventionally, a storage device may store a variety of programs. Some of the programs may be beneficial for the user or a manufacturer. However, even if a program is beneficial for the user or the manufacturer, the program may have destructive features. That is, the program may have the ability to render the storage device inoperable, even when the user does not intend to render the storage device inoperable. In such a case, the storage device may need to be sent in for repairs. This can be costly and time consuming for the user. Furthermore, this can also increase manufacturing and repair costs for the storage device if the storage device is under warranty.
However, non-use of the program may increase manufacturing costs since the program may have beneficial qualities during manufacture or design of the storage device.

Utilizing destructive features as RAM code for a storage device


A wireless communication apparatus for receiving spatially multiplexed signals in which a plurality of streams are spatially multiplexed, using a plurality of antennas, includes the following elements: a channel matrix estimator for estimating a channel matrix for multiplexed channels; a spatial decoder for spatially decoding received signals each of which has been received by a corresponding antenna so as to separate the received signals into individual stream signals by obtaining an antenna weight matrix from the estimated channel matrix, and then multiplying each received signal by the antenna weight matrix; a likelihood information estimator for estimating likelihood information using the estimated channel matrix, the antenna weight matrix, and estimated noise power; and a soft decision decoder for performing soft decision decoding on each stream signal on the basis of the estimated likelihood information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus and a wireless communication method for performing spatially multiplexed communication using a plurality of logical channels formed by a pair of a transmitter and a receiver each having a plurality of antennas. In particular, the present invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus and a wireless communication method for a MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) communication scheme in which, on the basis of channel characteristics, spatially multiplexed signals are synthesized in accordance with the MIMO scheme and are then separated into individual signals on a stream-by-stream basis.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus and a wireless communication method for spatially decoding spatially multiplexed signals into individual stream signals by synthesizing them in accordance with the MIMO scheme, using an antenna weight matrix W obtained from an estimated channel matrix H in accordance with an MMSE (Minimum Mean Square Error) algorithm. In particular, the present invention relates to a wireless communication apparatus and a wireless communication method for performing accurate likelihood estimation in a MIMO receiver that employs the MMSE algorithm.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless networks have attracted attention as a system for relieving users from the necessity of using wiring according to a known wire communication scheme. One of the standards related to wireless networks is IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11.
The IEEE 802.11a standard supports a modulation scheme that achieves a maximum communication speed of 54 Mbps. However, there is a demand for a wireless standard capable of realizing a higher bit rate. As one of the methods of accelerating wireless communication, MIMO (Multi-Input Multi-Output) communication has attracted attention. MIMO communication is communication that realizes spatially multiplexed transmission channels (hereinafter referred to as "MIMO channels") by providing both a transmitter and a receiver with a plurality of antennas. The MIMO transmitter distributes transmission data and then transmits the distributed transmission data to a plurality of antennas of the transmitter. The MIMO receiver receives space signals from a plurality of antennas and then performs signal processing on the received signals, thereby acquiring each signal without crosstalk (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-44051).
According to the MIMO communication scheme, transmission capacity increases with the number of antennas without the need for broadening a frequency band, thereby achieving an enhancement of communication speed. In addition, since the MIMO communication scheme employs spatial multiplexing, frequency usage efficiency can be improved. The MIMO communication scheme is a communication scheme that uses channel characteristics, thus it is not the same as a transmitting/receiving adaptive array communication scheme.
FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram of a MIMO communication system. As illustrated in FIG. 11, a transmitter and a receiver each has a plurality of antennas. The transmitter multiplexes a plurality of pieces of transmission data by performing space-time coding on the data. The coded data is distributed to M transmitting antennas and then transmitted to MIMO channels. The receiver receives signals via the MIMO channels from N receiving antennas, and then performs space-time decoding on the received signals, thereby enabling the acquirement of received data. It is desirable that the number of MIMO streams to be formed corresponds to the smaller number of either transmitting antennas or receiving antennas (MIN[M, N]).
Generally, each MIMO channel has a configuration that includes radio wave propagation environments around a transmitter and a receiver (transfer functions) and a configuration of channel space (transfer function). Although crosstalk occurs when signals to be transmitted from each antenna are multiplexed, a receiver can correctly acquire each multiplexed signal without crosstalk by performing receiving processing.
The MIMO receiver can acquire each stream signal x by the following procedure: acquiring a channel matrix H in some way; obtaining an antenna weight matrix W using the channel matrix H in accordance with a predetermined algorithm; and multiplying the antenna weight matrix W by each spatially multiplexed received signal y. In other words, the MIMO receiver can spatially separate or spatially decode the received signals.{circumflex over (x)}=Wy  (1)
For example, the transmitter transmits a reference signal including a known training series. Using the reference signal, the receiver can acquire the channel matrix H.
As relatively simple algorithms for obtaining the antenna weight matrix W using the channel matrix H, zero-forcing and MMSE (Minimum Mean Square Error) algorithms are known. Zero-forcing is a method based on the logic of completely removing crosstalk. On the other hand, MMSE is a method based on the logic of maximizing the ratio of signal power to a square error (the sum of crosstalk power and noise power). This MMSE method introduces the concept of noise power of the receiver, wherein crosstalk is intentionally generated to obtain the antenna weight matrix W. Comparing both algorithms, it is known that the MMSE algorithm is superior in a high-noise environment.
Generally, in these zero-forcing and MMSE algorithms, the value of signal amplitude of a signal to be received after spatial decoding is obtained so as to be equal to about unity. Consequently, the value of signal amplitude of the post-spatial-decoding received signal is approximately about unity. At this point, the strength information of the received signal, that is, pseudo SNR information, is lost. Accordingly, some likelihood information needs to be provided to a soft decision decoder.
For example, in the zero-forcing, the following equation (2) is generally used to obtain a post-spatial-decoding SNR relative estimate. This equation is based on the fact that the square norm of the weight vector of each stream becomes equal to the gain of noise power with the expectation that the expected value of post-spatial-decoding signal amplitude regularly becomes equal to unity.
                                          SNR            ZF                                          (            l            )                          =                  1                                                                                    w                  .                                l                                                    2                                              (        2        )                                                      w            .                    l                =                  [                                                                      w                                      l                                                                                1                                                                              ⋯                                                              w                  ln                                                            ⋯                                                              w                  lN                                                              ]                                    (        3        )                                W        =                              [                                                                                w                      .                                                                                1                                                                                ⋯                                                                                w                      .                                        l                                                                    ⋯                                                                                w                      .                                        L                                                                        ]                    T                                    (        4        )            l: stream serial numbern: receiving branch serial number receiving branchesW: antenna weight matrix{dot over (w)}1: antenna weight vector of l-th streamL: number of streamsN: number of receiving branches
The above equation (3) shows that an antenna weight vector of an l-th stream is a vector including an antenna weight wln between the l-th stream and each receiving branch n as an element. The above equation (4) shows that an antenna weight matrix W is a transposed matrix of the matrix including the antenna weight vector on a stream-by-stream basis as a row vector. Gain associated with spatial decoding processing in each stream is the square norm of the antenna weight vector of the stream. In the above equation (2), the SNR of the l-th stream after spatial decoding is obtained as the reciprocal number of the square norm of the antenna weight vector of the stream.
Finally, the value of the square root of the SNR estimate shown in the following equation (5) is sent to the soft decision decoder as a likelihood amplitude. As is clear from the above equation (2), such likelihood information is estimated by using only the antenna weight matrix.Y=√{square root over (SNRZF(l))}  (5)
On the other hand, in the MMSE algorithm, crosstalk (interference between streams) is intentionally generated when calculating the antenna weight matrix, and the expected value of signal amplitude after spatial decoding is not limited to unity. In view of these facts, it is considered difficult to expect accuracy from the likelihood estimate obtained by using only the antenna weight matrix as shown in the above equation (2).
This inaccurate likelihood estimation causes the degradation of decoding characteristics of the soft decision decoder, and consequently has an effect on the performance of the entire receiver.

Wireless communication apparatus and wireless communication method


Turntable runout of an optical disk drive is corrected by the application of at least three skidproof rubber pads affixed to the turntable on a circle and separated by equal angles. The height of each of the skidproof rubber pads is selected to adjust the runout of the turntable at each location. The invention accomplishes the compensation of turntable runout where, traditionally, lathe-turning was required.

The present invention relates to a disk mounting device for optical disk driver, especially to a disk mounting device with skidproof rubber pads, by which the runout of the turn table is reduced.
The accessing speed of optical disk driver is rapidly increased as the demand of larger-storage devices is urgent. Recently, the optical disk drivers with 10000 RPM spindle motor speed have become the main stream of the market.
However, the speed increment of the optical disk driver is challenged by several factors such as vibration, noise and runout of turntable thereof. It is important issue to minimize the runout of turntable in a cost effective way.
There are two approaches to reduce runout. First, the turntable is manufactured by turning off brass materials. Second, the turntable is manufactured by plastic injection and then processed by turning off.
However, the above manufactured turntable has high cost either caused by material used or additional process involved.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a disk-mounting device for optical disk driver, which has a novel assembling manner such that the runout of the turn table is reduced.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a disk-mounting device for optical disk driver a turntable, at least three skidproof rubber pads arranged on the turntable to compensate runout of the turntable. Before attaching the skidproof rubber pads, the turntable height at three points with equal radius and separated by 120 degrees is measured. The height of the skidproof rubber pads is selected to compensate runout of the turntable. Therefore, the runout of the turntable is reduced in a cost effective manner.
The various objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the appended drawing, in which:

Turntable runout compensation system for an optical disk drive


A method for real-time dynamic 4D reconstruction can include detecting one or more topology changes between reconstructed frames and a new incoming frame by detecting a set of discontinuities in a first surface mesh associated with the reconstructed frames; duplicating cells of a first volumetric cell structure associated with the reconstructed frames at the set of discontinuities to generate a set of nodes, the set of nodes having a non-manifold connectivity; and fusing a depth image of the new incoming frame with the first volumetric cell structure having the set of nodes to form a next volumetric cell structure with the non-manifold connectivity. A next surface mesh extracted from the next volumetric cell structure can then be output for rendering a live frame.

With the latest advancements of consumer-level RGB-D cameras, such as Microsoft KINECT, Asus XTION PRO, and Intel REALSENSE, as well as emerging consumer-level RGB-D cameras equipped on mobile devices, there is a growing interest of developing 4D (space+time) volumetric capture technology for reconstruction dynamic scenes such as human bodies and their surrounding environments. The state-of-the-art techniques such as DynamicFusion [Newcombe, R. A., Fox, D., Seitz, S. M.: DynamicFusion: Reconstruction and tracking of non-rigid scenes in real-time. In: Proceedings of the IEEE conference on computer vision and pattern recognition. pp. 343-352 (2015); "Newcombe et al. 2015", Fusion4D [Dou, M., Khamis, S., Degtyarev, Y., Davidson, P., Fanello, S. R., Kowdle, A., Escolano, S. O., Rhemann, C., Kim, D., Taylor, J., et al.: Fusion4D: Real-time performance capture of challenging scenes. ACM Transactions on Graphics 35(4), 114 (2016); "Dou et al. 2016"], and Motion2Fusion [Dou, M., Davidson, P., Fanello, S. R., Khamis, S., Kowdle, A., Rhemann, C., Tankovich, V., Izadi, S.: Motion2Fusion: Real-time volumetric performance capture. ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG) 36(6), 246 (2017) "Dou et al. 2017"] allow the 4D reconstruction in real-time, by incrementally fusing the captured geometry into a volume encoded by Truncated Signed Distance Fields (TSDF) while capturing the dynamic motion of the scene with an Embedded Deformation Graph (EDG).
A fundamental difficulty with 4D reconstruction (space+time) relies on the real-time reconstruction part. The most popular method is to use a pre-defined template, such as a skeleton [Yu, T., Guo, K., Xu, F., Dong, Y., Su, Z., Zhao, J., Li, J., Dai, Q., Liu, Y.: BodyFusion: Real-time capture of human motion and surface geometry using a single depth camera. In: Proceedings of the IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision. pp. 910-919 (2017) "Yu et al. 2017"], or pre-scanned geometry [Zollhofer, M., NieBner, M., Izadi, S., Rehmann, C., Zach, C., Fisher, M., Wu, C., Fitzgibbon, A., Loop, C., Theobalt, C., et al.: Real-time non-rigid reconstruction using an rgb-d camera. ACM Transactions on Graphics (ToG) 33(4), 156 (2014) "Zollhöfer et al. 2014"] as prior knowledge, and reconstruct human body parts such as face [Li et al.: Realtime facial animation with on-the-fly correctives. ACM Trans. Graph. 32(4), 42-1 (2013)], hands [Tkach et al.: Sphere-meshes for real-time hand modeling and tracking. ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG) 35(6), 222 (2016)], and body [Pons-Moll, G., Baak, A., Helten, T., Müller, M., Seidel, H. P., Rosenhahn, B.: Multisensor-fusion for 3d full-body human motion capture. In: 2010 IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. pp. 663-670. IEEE (2010) "Pons-Moll et al. 2010"]. To eliminate the dependency on geometry priors, some template-less methods were proposed to utilize more advanced structure to merge and store geometry information across the entire motion sequence, such as DynamicFusion [Newcombe et al. 2015], VolumeDeform [Innmann, M., Zollhöfer, M., NieBner, M., Theobalt, C., Stamminger, M.: VolumeDeform: Real-time volumetric non-rigid reconstruction. In: European Conference on Computer Vision. pp. 362-379. Springer (2016) "Innmann et al. 2016"], Fusion4D [Dou et al. 2016], and Motion2Fusion [Dou et al. 2017]. However, most of the existing dynamic reconstruction methods using a single RGB-D camera are still very fragile, with severely degraded reconstructed geometry under the circumstances of occlusion or fast motion and have challenges with topology changes.
This second aspect—the topology change handling—has not been addressed by existing methods. That is, none of the existing methods can handle topological changes in the fused geometry, causing the deformation fields that the system can reconstruct to be limited. Currently, the real-time template-less dynamic 4D reconstruction methods [Newcombe et al. 2015, Innmann et al. 2016, Dou et al. 2016, Yu et al. 2017, Guo et al.: Real-time Geometry, Albedo, and Motion Reconstruction using a Single RGB-D Camera. ACM Transactions on Graphics 36, 3, Article No. 32 (2017), Dou et al. 2017, Li et al.: ArticulatedFusion: Real-time reconstruction of motion, geometry and segmentation using a single depth camera. In: Proceedings of the European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV). pp. 317-332 (2018), and Yu et al.: DoubleFusion: Real-time capture of human performances with inner body shapes from a single depth sensor. In: Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition. pp. 7287-7296, (2018)] use a Truncated Signed Distance Field (TSDF) as the underlying surface representation during the whole reconstruction process. There are two reasons for such preference of TSDF over the traditional representation of meshes or point clouds: (1) The fusion of each depth image into TSDF does not need to worry about the topology of the fused surface in canonical space. In contrast, handling incremental fusion of meshes and point clouds face severe topological uncertainty whenever the incoming new depth image contains noises in geometry. (2) The geometric fusion into TSDF represented by volumetric grids can be efficiently parallelized on a graphics processing unit (GPU).
However, there exists a conflict between the use of fixed connectivity in TSDF volume grids and the discontinuity of deformation fields because the scenes being reconstructed are dynamic, meaning that the deformation field defined on the TSDF volume could be discontinuous, which cannot be represented with fixed connectivity TSDF grids.

Topology-change-aware volumetric fusion for real-time dynamic 4D reconstruction

BOARD OF REGENTS, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM


An on-demand compute environment comprises a plurality of nodes within an on-demand compute environment available for provisioning and a slave management module operating on a dedicated node within the on-demand compute environment, wherein upon instructions from a master management module at a local compute environment, the slave management module modifies at least one node of the plurality of nodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resource management system and more specifically to a system and method of providing access to on-demand compute resources.
2. Introduction
Managers of clusters desire maximum return on investment often meaning high system utilization and the ability to deliver various qualities of service to various users and groups. A cluster is typically defined as a parallel computer that is constructed of commodity components and runs as its system software commodity software. A cluster contains nodes each containing one or more processors, memory that is shared by all of the processors in the respective node and additional peripheral devices such as storage disks that are connected by a network that allows data to move between nodes. A cluster is one example of a compute environment. Other examples include a grid, which is loosely defined as a group of clusters, and a computer farm which is another organization of computer for processing.
Often a set of resources organized in a cluster or a grid may have jobs to be submitted to the resources that require more capability than the set of resource has available. In this regard, there is a need in the art for being able to easily, efficiently and on-demand be able to utilize new resources or different resources to handle a job. The concept of "on-demand" compute resources has been developing in the high performance computing community recently. An on-demand computing environment enables companies to procure compute power for average demand and then contract remote processing power to help in peak loads or to offload all their compute needs to a remote facility. Several reference books having background material related to on-demand computing or utility computing include Mike Ault, Madhu Tumma, Oracle 10 g Grid & Real Application Clusters, Rampant TechPress, 2004 and Guy Bunker, Darren Thomson, Delivering Utility Computing Business-driven IT Optimization, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2006.
In Bunker and Thompson, section 3.3 on page 32 is entitled "Connectivity: The Great Enabler" wherein they discuss how the interconnecting of computers will dramatically increase their usefulness. This disclosure addresses that issue. There exists in the art a need for improved solutions to enable communication and connectivity with an on-demand high performance computing center.


A height recording system includes a telescopic rule formed from a head and a telescopic assembly used to vary a distance between one support end forming a base for the telescopic assembly and an upper end supporting the head. The height recording system comprises: a measurement system that measures the distance; a receiver including photosensitive cell(s) to detect an optical beam output from a laser system; a module starts or validates a height measurement by the measurement system starting the measurement or the validation in response to the module receiving a determined signal from the receiver; the determined signal being representative of the laser beam being detected by one of the photosensitive cells.

Height recording systems using an optical level and a graduated telescopic rule held by a second observer are known.
Systems using laser scanning on a photosensitive mast to determine a height are also known. This type of device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,812,721 that requires a photosensitive mast comprising a plurality of photosensitive elements arranged around the mast. This device has the disadvantage of either using a very long mast fitted with large numbers of photosensitive elements and therefore expensive, or having a mast limited in size with a small number of photosensitive sensors to reduce the price of the mast, and in this case it is impossible to measure all values of height or level difference. One example of a telescopic rule is described in document U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,267.
Therefore, the purpose of this invention is to overcome one or several disadvantages according to prior art by defining a simple device comprising few photosensitive sensors capable of efficiently and quickly measuring values of height or level difference.

Height recording system comprising a telescopic rule with two ends cooperating with an optical beam scanning in a horizontal plane