A method for making a flexible film having pressure sensitive adhesive protected from inadvertent adherence. The method coats a forming screen with an interconnected layer of pressure sensitive adhesive and places a piece of flexible film in contact with the layer of adhesive. The layer of adhesive preferentially adheres to the piece of flexible film. The forming screen has a plurality of recesses therein. The coating step applies the layer of adhesive without bridging the recesses. Another step forms the piece of flexible film to create a plurality of protrusions extending into the recesses. The plurality of protrusions are registered with the interconnected layer of pressure sensitive adhesive by virtue of using the same screen to transfer adhesive and to form protrusions. The forming screen may be wrapped around a rotating drum and the piece of flexible film may be a portion of a continuous web of flexible film. Preferably, the plurality of protrusions are conical, with a base diameter of 0.015 inches to 0.030 inches, a center-to-center spacing of 0.03 to 0.06 inches, and a protrusion height of 0.004 to 0.012 inches.

The present invention relates to flexible films coated with pressure sensitive adhesive for releasable seating to a target surface, and more particularly to such films which have features for preventing premature sticking to a target surface during film positioning thereon. Even more particularly, the present invention relates to flexible films having protrusions formed on an adhesive side which act to space a pressure sensitive adhesive from a target surface until the film is pressed thereagainst. It further relates to a method of making such formed and adhesively coated flexible films.
In the art of tapes, labels, and other articles using pressure sensitive adhesive to adhere an adhesive coated surface to a target surface, there has been recognized the problem of premature sticking. That is, before the adhesive coated surface can be properly positioned over a target surface, inadvertent contact of the adhesive with the target surface causes premature sticking at one or more locations, thereby inhibiting proper positioning.
Others have attempted to overcome this problem. For example, in the catamenial field, where it is useful to adhere an absorbent pad to the inside of an undergarment, manufacturers have made it necessary to press the garment against the back of the pad before adhesive contact can occur. Protecting the adhesive from premature contact is achieved by adding strips of foam to the back of the pad, which provide an initial contact surface outwardly from the adhesive surface. The strips of foam act as standoffs from the adhesive surface. Once the undergarment is positioned properly, it may be pressed into the space between strips of foam. Adhesion to a pressure sensitive adhesive layer fixes the pad in place. Of course, for this approach to work, the undergarment has to be flexible enough to deform around the strips of foam.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,440 to Whitehead et al. discloses sanitary napkins having recessed patterns of pressure sensitive adhesives for sticking the napkins to undergarments. A water based emulsion adhesive is suggested. Foam baffles surround pockets into which the adhesive is placed. This invention is limited to target surfaces which deform into the adhesive pockets.
European Patent Application No. 0 623 332 A1 to Lauritzen describes methods for making a sanitary napkin which has a recessed adhesive pattern for attaching it to a user""s undergarment. Lauritzen forms depressions in a fluid-impervious barrier film. The depressions create raised areas in the barrier film on the side of the napkin which attaches to the undergarment. Adhesive is placed onto the barrier film side having the raised areas, but only in discrete patterns between the raised areas. The adhesive is at a level below the peaks of the raised areas and is therefore protected by the raised areas from contact with the undergarment. In an alternative, Lauritzen applies adhesive to the tips of the raised areas of the barrier film and then inverts the raised areas to form depressions. The adhesive is thereby conveniently placed in the depressions. Discrete adhesive placement fails to enable a total adhesive seal. The adhesive must be interconnected to achieve such a seal.
Lauritzen notes that the depressions must be formed such that they are strong enough to protect the adhesive from inadvertent contact during shipping and storage, yet are deformable by pressing the undergarment against the barrier film. Lauritzen states that sufficient rigidity is available from 0.03 inch to 0.06 inch thick film. In one embodiment, conical depressions have diameters at their open ends of 0.1 to 0.5 inches and depths of 0.1 to 0.25 inches. Such large depressions and thick film preclude the ability to wind up the fluid-impervious barrier film separately in a compact a roll.
In still another Lauritzen embodiment, a printing device transfers adhesive to a printing belt, which transfers adhesive to a release belt, and then to the barrier film web. This system is used to first print a pattern of discrete patches of adhesive onto the barrier film web. Then the film web is registered with a vacuum plate. When each patch of adhesive is disposed above a recess in the forming plate, vacuum forms adhesive containing depressions. Because of registration requirements, the invention is believed limited to relatively large depressions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,265 to Wood et al. discloses an adhesively coated substrate having bluntly pointed stems protruding beyond a layer of pressure sensitive adhesive. The back of this substrate may be bonded to a sanitary napkin. The napkin may then be installed onto a foraminous fabric by pressing to force the stems to penetrate the fabric to a depth where the fabric contacts the adhesive. xe2x80x9cBy penetrating fabric, the stems significantly reinforce the adhesion of the fastenerxe2x80x9d. The stems xe2x80x9cshould be resistant to compression and bending, even thought they may be quite supple.xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cThe backing with its stems preferably is formed from a tough thermoplastic resin by cast molding or extrusion molding.xe2x80x9d The stems protrude 20 microns to 3 mm above the adhesive level, depending on the coarseness of the fabric to be penetrated. The adhesive area is preferably between 3 and 30 times the area occupied by the stems. Smooth rigid surfaces are obviously inoperable with Wood et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,693 to Sanders discloses a substrate having a plurality of non-interconnecting spacing means extending outwardly from an adhesive coated surface to space the surface from another surface until the surfaces are pressed together. The spacing means of Sanders is non-deformable. Sanders points out that prior art discloses deformable spacing means where force is applied to a surface of interest, but that his spacers are non-deformable so that spacing will be maintained when the substrate is stored in a roil. The spacing members are spaced not more than 80 times the dimension of each spacer. Sanders discusses this invention for use with reclosable bags.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,141,790 to Calhoun et al. discloses one-time repositionable pressure sensitive tapes with an adhesive coated surface having clumps of particles spaced out on the adhesive to keep the adhesive from touching a target surface during positioning and until the sheet is pressed against the target surface. The particles are smaller than the thickness of the adhesive layer so that when pressed, the particles sink below the surface of the adhesive and no longer provide their spacing function. Thus, Calhoun et al. is intended for only one use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,820 to Magid et al. discloses a foam with cells. The foam is compressed to open cell cavities at the foam surface so that pressure sensitive adhesive can be applied to the open cells. When the foam is released, the cells close and hide the adhesive. When the foam is pressed, the cells bring pressure sensitive adhesive to the surface for sticking the foam to a target surface. This is believed to be both an expensive and significantly thick solution to the problem.
The prior art has focused on the use of stand-offs with pressure sensitive adhesives primarily in the area of sanitary napkins. However, different solutions are needed for flexible films intended to be stuck to themselves or to smooth rigid surfaces.
The prior art methods for applying adhesive to surfaces having stand-offs are aimed at surfaces having large sized stand-offs and/or large spacing between stand-offs. What is missing is a method of applying pressure sensitive adhesive to a flexible film with very small stand-offs and which are closely spaced, where the registration of stand-offs and the adhesive pattern is critical.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a composite material having a recessed pressure sensitive adhesive layer and collapsible protrusions which serve as stand-offs to prevent premature sticking to a wide variety of rigid and resilient target surfaces, wherein the collapsible protrusions are small and closely spaced for releasable sealing of the composite material to such surfaces or even to itself.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a composite material having a recessed pressure sensitive adhesive layer and collapsible protrusions which serve as stand-offs, wherein the composite material is relatively thin and therefore inexpensive and capable of being wound onto compact rolls for storage and convenient packaging, yet resistance to total collapse of protrusions is sufficient to prevent premature collapse before the composite material is unwound from a roll for use.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a composite material having a recessed pressure sensitive adhesive layer and collapsible protrusions which serve as stand-offs, wherein a continuous, leak resistant, adhesive seal may be made by virtue of an interconnected adhesive pattern between protrusions.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method for making a composite material having a recessed pressure sensitive adhesive layer and collapsible protrusions, without regard for registration of protrusions and an adhesive pattern, wherein the method is capable of automated continuous motion or indexing motion for a continuous web format.
A flexible film has thermoformed protrusions between a grid of pressure sensitive adhesive. The protrusions prevent adhesion of the film to itself or to another surface until the film is pressed against the target surface. Pressing collapses the protrusions locally to enable the adhesive to contact and stick to the target surface. The adhesive has limited aggressiveness so that the film may be peeled away from the target surface such that the adhesive stays with the film. Even two coated film surfaces may be pressed together to form a seal, yet they may later be peeled apart.
Articles may be wrapped with the film of the present invention, thereby providing a competitive substitute for films that supposedly cling to contact surfaces. Having an adhesive allows a film to stick to plastic containers. Plain plastic films do not stick to such containers. The film could also be used as a tape, which does not stick until pressed.
In one aspect of the present invention, a method for making a flexible film having pressure sensitive adhesive protected from inadvertent adherence coats a forming screen with an interconnected layer of pressure sensitive adhesive and places a piece of flexible film in contact with the interconnected layer of pressure sensitive adhesive on the top surface of the forming screen. The interconnected layer of pressure sensitive adhesive preferentially adheres to the piece of flexible film. The forming screen has a top surface and the top suface has a plurality of recesses therein. The coating step applies the interconnected layer of pressure sensitive adhesive to the top surface without bridging the recesses.
Another step forms the piece of flexible film to create a plurality of protrusions extending into the recesses of the forming screen. The piece of flexible film has an adhesive side and a non-adhesive side. The plurality of protrusions are registered with the interconnected layer of pressure sensitive adhesive on the adhesive side. A final step removes together the piece of flexible film and the layer of interconnected pressure sensitive adhesive from the forming screen.
The forming screen may be wrapped around a rotating drum and the piece of flexible film may be a portion of a continuous web of flexible film, such that the method is a continuous process. Also, the forming screen may be coated with a release material prior to applying the layer of interconnected pressure sensitive adhesive.
The plurality of protrusions may be formed by applying heat to the non-adhesive side of the piece of flexible film and by applying vacuum to the adhesive side of the piece of flexible film. Alternatively, the plurality of protrusions may be formed by applying heated compressed gas to the non-adhesive side of the piece of flexible film while the piece of flexible film rests against the forming screen. In yet another alternative method step, the plurality of protrusions may be formed by mechanically embossing the piece of flexible film into the recesses of the forming screen from the non-adhesive side of the piece of flexible film. Such thermoforming and cold forming methods are well known in the art.
The plurality of protrusions are preferably formed in the piece of flexible film to have a domed shape and each protrusion has a height less than a diameter of the protrusion, so that when pressed, the plurality of protrusions will collapse in a direction substantially perpendicular to a plane of the flexible film.
Each of the plurality of recesses of the forming screen are circular and have a base diameter of about 0.025 inches and depth of about 0.006 inches to 0.012 inches. The plurality of recesses are substantially equally spaced about 0.050 inches apart in an equilateral triangular pattern.
In another aspect of the present invention, a composite material is releasably sealable to a target surface. The composite material comprises a piece of flexible film and pressure sensitive adhesive. The flexible film has an adhesive side and a non-adhesive side. The adhesive side is formed to have a plurality of conical protrusions separated by valleys. The plurality of conical protrusions have outermost ends and a base diameter of 0.015 inches to 0.030 inches, a center-to-center spacing of 0.03 to 0.06 inches, and a protrusion height of 0.004 to 0.012 inches. The valleys are interconnected between the plurality of protrusions. Each of the plurality of protrusions has a domed shape. Each domed shape has a height above the adhesive side of the piece of flexible film less than a diameter of the domed shape. When pressed, the protrusions collapse in a direction substantially perpendicular to the adhesive side without blocking the coating of pressure sensitive adhesive from contact with the target surface. The pressure sensitive adhesive adheres preferentially to the adhesive side of the piece of flexible film and is peelable from the target surface.

Composite material releasably sealable to a target surface when pressed thereagainst


A system of semiconductor devices is formed by staggering like devices on opposite sides of a board, such that common leads on the opposed devices are aligned. The common leads are connected directly through the board. The staggered arrangement provides additional room for conductive lines on the board. In addition, it improves performance by reducing signal delays. The invention is applicable to a dual in-line memory module and other products formed of semiconductor devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system for providing electrical connections between semiconductor devices. The invention also relates to a method of making board mounted semiconductor devices. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved system for mounting memory devices in a dual in-line memory module (DIMM).
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Memory modules are known in the art. Such modules are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,687,109 (Protigal et al.) and 5,140,405 (King et al.). Conventional memory modules have memory chips mounted on a printed circuit board, an edge connector for connecting the module to a computer mother board, and conductive traces for connecting the chips to the edge connector. Since the board has a limited area, the system of traces can become congested. There is a need in the art for a routing system that provides the desired electrical connections with reduced congestion.

System for connecting semiconductor devices


A refrigerant reservoir (23') and heat exchanger unit (25) for a refrigerated counter (11) and method of reducing compressor load and lowering energy consumption of the refrigerated counter system is described. The refrigerant reservoir (23') and heat exchanger unit (25) comprises a reservoir having a heat exchanger section provided with a cooling coil (26) to cool liquid refrigerant from a condenser (14) as it enters into the reservoir (23'). The reservoir is secured in a cooled area of a refrigerated counter (11). The outlet (31) of the reservoir feeds an expansion valve (29) where the pressure of the liquid refrigerant is lowered to further cool the liquid refrigerant. The expansion valve (29) has an outlet (28) which is connected to the inlet (17) of the cooling coil (26) whereby the cool refrigerant liquid in a feedback path, cools refrigerant entering the reservoir. The outlet (30) of the cooling coil (26) is connected to refrigerating coils (20') of a plurality of evaporators (20) which are associated with other refrigerated counters (11) as well as the one in which the unit is secured. The evaporator (20) cools the refrigerated counter (11) and thereby the reservoir (23') to sub-cool the refrigerant liquid therein and together with the heat exchanger (25) achieves an increase in load capacity, a pressure reduction at the inlet of the expansion valve (29) and a load reduction on associated compressors (12) to provide an energy reduction.

In known refrigeration systems associated with refrigerated counters, liquid refrigerant from a condenser is fed to a reservoir which is usually maintained in the compressor room and a line from that reservoir feeds expansion valves associated with evaporators which are located within the refrigerated counters which are remote from the reservoir. As the refrigerant liquid travels from the reservoir to the expansion valve, it absorbs heat, although the convection lines are insulated. One can also imagine that if the reservoir is associated with a plurality of refrigerated counters, then several outlet lines are necessary to feed all of the expansion valves within the refrigerated counters. The compressors must therefore put out more energy to maintain an adequate pressure at the inlet of the expansion valve. Furthermore, the reservoir being in the environment of the compressors will absorb heat thereby reducing the temperature of the refrigerant and resulting in an increase of the compressor load. Accordingly, more energy is expensed to operate the refrigeration system.

Refrigerant reservoir and heat exchanger unit for a refrigerated counter system


A valve for supplying pressured air to vehicle air bags, includes a shuttle (20) with a valving member (80) having a precision polished seal surface (86) that presses against a precision polished sealed-against housing lower surface (50) of a housing (14) that confines the shuttle to sliding left and right. A recess (90) in the valving member can connect first and second holes (52 and 56, 58) in the housing lower surface, or isolate the holes from each other. The shuttle includes a shuttle frame (70) with a vertical bore (74) that receives a guiding part (82) of the valving member. A conduit extends from the valving member recess to a sealed region (102) at the top of the vertical passage to pressurize the sealed region with pressured air, to push down the valving member against the housing lower surface.

Large vehicle suspensions generally have air bags whose height must be maintained close to a predetermined height. When extra cargo is loaded on a truck so the air bag height decreases, pressured air from a pressured air source (e.g. at 140 psi) flows into the air bag, whose pressure may vary between about 40 and 70 psi, with varying load. Valves for flowing air into our out of one or more air bags are often referred to as leveling valves. One effective type of valve uses a pivotally-mounted disc that has a polished seal surface that bears against a polished housing surface. A linkage moves when the air bag height changes, to pivot the disc so as to connect pressured air to an air bag. Holes in a disc surface are of a predetermined diameter in order to pass air at a predetermined rate to an air bag. Most of the disc is not used to contain a hole or to seal, and the use of such disc results in a relatively large area on the disc and on the housing surface engaged by the disc, that have to be ground and polished with high precision. An air bag valve that minimized the areas that must be polished with high precision, would be of value.
There have been suggestions to control air bag height using an electronic control, as compared to a mechanical linkage without electronic control. Such electronic control often can more easily operate a valve that slides rather than one that turns. For example, an electrically energized solenoid provides a simple means for moving a valve member, and it generally uses a simpler connection when connected to a sliding shuttle than to a pivoting disc.


A micro mechanical backscatter sensor includes a receiver for receiving a modulated electromagnetic signal, a capacitive element operatively connected to the receiver, the capacitive element being arranged such that a voltage is generated across the capacitor in response to the frequency of the received signal, and a resonator operatively connected to the capacitive element such that electrostatic forces that are induced by the voltage generated cause the resonator to vibrate at a resonance frequency, the resonator being arranged such that an applied external force alters the resonance frequency of vibration. The sensor further includes a demodulator for demodulating the received signal, a modulator for modulating a carrier signal of the received signal by mixing the carrier signal with the resonance frequency of the resonator to produce a modulated electromagnetic transmission signal, and a transmitter, operatively connected to the capacitive element and arranged to transmit the modulated transmission signal.

Backscatter sensors are used in a wide range of technological fields, including sensor applications for sensing a range of parameters such as temperature, pressure, torque, mass, humidity, and chemical vapors. Such backscatter sensors have been realized using LC-resonator, surface acoustic wave (SAW) or bulk acoustic wave (BAW) technology. In considering factors such as cost and effectiveness, systems that use the ultra-high frequencies (UHF) in the industrial, scientific and medical (ISM) radio bands are generally of most interest. The main advantages offered by a backscatter sensor are the combined wireless and battery-less operation.
However, known devices employing the above-mentioned technologies have various associated disadvantages. Known backscatter sensing systems normally suffer from large losses owing to, for example, low Q-factor (large damping).
LC-resonators are only useful for very low frequencies (typically <1 MHz) because of a degradation in the Q-factor of such devices at higher frequencies.
In principle, a backscatter sensor can be realized as either a delay line system or a resonator circuit, and each of these methods can be realized using a method of direct perturbation (i.e., where the measurand directly influences the BAW- or SAW-element) or one of indirect perturbation (i.e., where the measurand directly influences a circuit element, such as a capacitor, which in turn is coupled in a circuit to the BAW- or SAW-element). For a delay line configuration the interrogation (or irradiation) signal is normally a pulse, while for the resonator circuit the interrogation (or irradiation) signal is normally a modulated (AM or FM) continuous wave. In practice, the SAW configuration can be used for both direct and indirect perturbation. However, the BAW configuration is generally only suitable for use with indirect perturbation. In the case of direct perturbation the sensitivity will typically be proportional to the amount of energy in the propagation (acoustic) path that is perturbed, making BAW sensors less sensitive than SAW sensors as the energy is dispersed through the bulk material, minimizing the energy density on the surface where sensing occurs.
A typical example of a BAW backscatter sensor is known to be used as a sensor in a vehicle tire that is irradiated by an antenna in the wheel arch at a carrier frequency of 2.45 GHz (maximum power of 10 mW). Initially, the signal is amplitude-modulated by a control unit in the range of 5 to 10 MHz. The sensor receives the signal and demodulates it by means of a detector diode; the modulated wave is used to stimulate oscillations in a quartz crystal resonator. The modulation is then switched off, and the carrier signal is radiated at reduced power. The quartz then vibrates at its natural resonance frequency, which varies with temperature or as it is influenced by an associated capacitive pressure sensor. These vibrations are mixed with the remaining carrier signal, which is then reflected to the antenna, this reflected signal including modulated sidebands. The control unit receives the signal and analyzes it by means of a digital receiver circuit.
A typical example of a known BAW backscatter sensor is shown in FIG. 1a. The configuration includes a varactor diode 1, a quartz resonator 2 and a capacitive sensor 3. This system is disadvantageous owing to the requirement for each of the varactor diode, quartz crystal and capacitive pressure sensor, creating unnecessarily complex circuitry. Hybrid integration is necessary, while such a sensor is relatively large, heavy and expensive to manufacture. The Q-factor of such a device is limited by the series resistance in the capacitive pressure sensor (or impedance sensor). Additionally, such a device is only operable within a limited range of frequencies.
Typical examples of a SAW backscatter sensor are also known as Acoustic Wave Technology Sensors. These are disadvantageous in that they rely on customized technology and are mechanically complex. They have a very high relative size and weight compared to other types of backscatter sensors, are expensive to manufacture and again have a limited Q-factor.
A known force sensor has a beam of silicon material that is subjected to vibration at a resonant frequency, the vibration frequency changing due to applied forces acting on the sensor.
There is therefore a need within the field of backscatter sensors to provide a simplified and inexpensive sensor that is compact and light compared to current devices, that has a less complex mechanical structure and that provides high Q-factors and that can accommodate improved detection over a wide range of frequencies.


A data reading system including one or more imagers and a lower main housing structure with a horizontal surface and a horizontal window, across which items to be read are passed. At least one or more of the imagers in the data reading system is a part of a top-down data reader having a generally downwardly-facing field of view projecting through a scan window and onto the horizontal surface and the horizontal window. The top-down data reader may be freely repositioned at a range of height positions and angular configurations for processing items of various dimensions. The data reading system may further include a calibration system for assisting in adjusting the field of view of the top-down data reader to ensure proper aim and focus of the top-down data reader after adjustment.

The field of this disclosure relates generally to systems and methods for data reading and/or image capture, and more particularly, to systems and methods for aiming and calibrating a data reader in a data reading system.
Data reading devices are used to read optical codes, acquire data, and capture a variety of images. Optical codes typically comprise a pattern of dark elements and light spaces. There are various types of optical codes, including one-dimensional codes, such as a Universal Product Code ("UPC") and EAN/JAN codes, and stacked and two-dimensional codes, such as PDF417 and Maxicode codes.
Data reading devices are well known for reading UPC and other types of optical codes on packages, particularly in retail stores. One common data reader in such systems is an imaging reader that employs an imaging device or sensor array, such as a CCD (charge coupled device) or CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) device. Imaging readers can be configured to read both 1-D and 2-D optical codes, as well as other types of optical codes or symbols and images of other items. Though some imaging readers are capable of using ambient light illumination, an imaging reader typically utilizes a light source to illuminate the item being read to provide the required signal response in the imaging device. An imager-based reader utilizes a camera or imager to generate electronic image data. The image data, typically in digital form, is then processed to find and decode the optical code.
In some data reading systems, a top-down data reader is used to capture an image of a top surface of an item for decoding an optical code that may be present on that top surface. In such data reading systems, the top-down data reader's position may be permanently fixed at a preset height position, such as a factory setting or a user-defined setting. In such data reading systems with a fixed position for the top-down data reader, issues with aiming and calibration may not be problematic because the top-down data reader may be calibrated based on the fixed position. Since the top-down data reader's position is fixed or experiences only minimal movement, further calibration by the user is usually unnecessary.
However, data reading systems with fixed data readers have several disadvantages. For example, such systems may lack flexibility and cannot be easily adapted to fit a variety of workspace configurations. In addition, such systems are typically limited to processing items that do not exceed certain height dimensions based on the fixed height of the top-down data reader. A data reading system with a height adjustable and/or remotely mountable top-down data reader may address these limitations by providing a data reader that can be raised, lowered, or otherwise repositioned as desired. However, the present inventors have recognized that such height-adjustable and/or remotely mountable top-down data readers may have issues with aiming and calibration after adjustment. For instance, the top-down data reader may require calibration after some or all adjustments to ensure proper orientation and that the data reader has an acceptable depth of field to accurately capture the optical code or other target data. The present inventors have, therefore, determined that it would be desirable to provide a scanner or reading system with a movable/adjustable top-down data reader for maximizing flexibility, and a calibration subsystem for ensuring optimal performance of the top-down data reader.
Additional aspects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

System and method for aiming and calibrating a data reader


A failure diagnosis apparatus for secondary air supplier according to the present invention determines a failure of a secondary air supplier based on pressure and pressure pulsation in a secondary air supply path. A failure diagnosis is made by determining the presence or absence of pressure pulsation in the secondary air supply path based on a determination threshold, and in the present invention the determination threshold is varied according to a pressure value in the secondary air supply path (a smoothed value or an average value of measured pressure). This permits the apparatus to make an accurate failure diagnosis, while eliminating pressure pulsations except for that due to exhaust pulsation (e.g., that due to noise of the pressure sensor and that caused by surging of an air pump).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to secondary air suppliers for supplying secondary air to upstream of an emission purifying device of an internal combustion engine and, more particularly, to a failure diagnosis apparatus of the secondary air supplier capable of detecting an anomaly of a component thereof
2. Related Background Art
An example of the known emission control systems of internal combustion engine is an apparatus with a three way catalyst in the exhaust system to reduce CO, HC, and NOx components in exhaust gas and thereby clean up exhaust emissions. Furthermore, there is a known technique of connecting a secondary air supply path equipped with a switching valve, to an exhaust manifold, and pressure-feeding air (secondary air) into the exhaust manifold by means of an air pump to increase the oxygen content in exhaust, thereby effecting the cleanup based on promotion of oxidation of HC and CO in exhaust.
In the secondary air supplier of this type, where an anomaly occurs in such a component as the air pump or the switching valve, the cleanup efficiency of exhaust will drop, so as to worsen emissions. Therefore, it is necessary to promptly determine the anomaly. A known technology of detecting the anomaly of this kind is the one disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-125945. In this technology, a pressure sensor is placed on the secondary air supply path and, when a difference between a maximum and a minimum of pressure pulsation detected thereby is smaller than a predetermined value, it is determined that the secondary air supplier is abnormal, because of the absence of normal exhaust pulsation.
However, if the presence of exhaust pulsation is determined based on the condition that the difference between the maximum and minimum of pressure values is larger than the predetermined value as described above, there will arise the following problem. Namely, for example, in cases where there is a pressure pulsation caused by another source different from the exhaust pulsation, like noise on the values detected by the pressure sensor and where the aforementioned predetermined value for the determination is set small, there is a possibility of erroneously determining the pressure pulsation as the exhaust pulsation. Even if the predetermined value for the determination is set large in order to prevent it, surging of the air pump can also cause the pressure pulsation and in that case it might be erroneously determined as the exhaust pulsation.

Failure diagnosis apparatus for secondary air supplier


A method for acceptance of blockchain payment at a traditional point of sale device direct to a merchant includes: receiving an authorization request for a fiat payment transaction including a transaction account number, transaction amount, and merchant identifier; identifying blockchain payment acceptance for a transaction account associated with the transaction account number; transmitting an address request to an exchange server including the merchant identifier; receiving a destination address associated with the merchant identifier for a blockchain network from the exchange server; transmitting a new blockchain transaction to a blockchain node in the blockchain network including the destination address and a cryptocurrency amount based on the transaction amount; and transmitting an authorization response for the fiat payment transaction to a payment network for routing to a point of sale device, the authorization response including an indication that clearance and settlement of the fiat payment transaction is not required.

Blockchain was initially created as a storage mechanism for use in conducting payment transactions with a cryptographic currency. Using a blockchain provides a number of benefits, such as decentralization, distributed computing, transparency regarding transactions, and yet also providing anonymity as to the individuals or entities involved in a transaction. As a result, many consumers may be interested in using blockchain as a payment method for transactions. However, traditionally, merchants have been required to provide new point of sale devices that are interfaced with computing devices that are suitable for accepting blockchain payments, through the merchant's own blockchain wallet. This high barrier for entry has resulted in a minimal number of merchants enabling acceptance of blockchain payments.
Thus, there is a need for a technical system that can enable a consumer to use blockchain to pay for a transaction while utilizing legacy point of sale systems.

Method and system for merchant acceptance of cryptocurrency via payment rails


A computer-readable recording medium stores a program causing a computer to determine the size of an applied 2N-branch non-contact Huffman tree depending on where in a range the total number of types (X) of character information groups exists. The size of the 2N-branch non-contact Huffman tree has the maximum number of branches, 2N. The radicand N is an upper limit of the length of a compression code. Thus, when the size of the 2N-branch non-contact Huffman tree is determined, the radicand (N) may be determined depending on the total number of types (X) of character information groups. Specifically, when the total number of types (X) of character information groups is 2x−2<X≦2x−1, if the maximum number of branches (2N) is at least 2x−1, a Huffman tree can be established. To minimize the size, N=x−1 may be adopted. Further, when the total number of types (X) of character information groups is 2x−1<X≦2x, if the maximum number of branches (2N) is at least 2x, a Huffman tree can be established. To minimize the size, N=x may be adopted.

A 2N-branch nodeless Huffman tree having a compression code length specified by an integer multiple of 2, 3, and 4 is conventionally generated by development from a node aggregate acting as a generation source of 4-, 8-, and 16-branch Huffman trees (see, e.g., Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2010-093414).
However, since a 2N-branch nodeless Huffman tree has a compression code length that can only be specified by an integer multiple of 2, 3, and 4, an exponent N of a maximum branch number 2N can inevitably only be specified by an integer multiple of 2, 3, and 4. Therefore, the maximum branch number 2N is 4 (=22), 8 (=23), 16 (=24), 64 (=26), 256 (=28), 512 (=29), 1024 (210), 4096 (212), or 16384 (=214). Therefore, a number other than an integer multiple of 2, 3, and 4 such as 2048 (=211) and 8192 (=213) cannot be specified as the maximum branch number 2N.
On the other hand, if the number of types of single characters, basic words, and reserved words (hereinafter referred to as character data) making up text data is greater than 2m (where m is an integer multiple of 2, 3, and 4) and less than or equal to 2m+1 (where m+1 is not an integer multiple of 2, 3, and 4), the maximum branch number 2N must be N≧m+2. For example, if the number of types of the character data (hereinafter referred to as the number of character data types) is greater than 210 and less than or equal to 211, the maximum branch number 2N must be 212. If the number of character data types is greater than 212 and less than or equal to 213, the maximum branch number 2N must be 214. Therefore, a size of the 2N-branch nodeless Huffman tree becomes larger, which has room for improvement.

Computer product, generating apparatus, and generating method for generating Huffman tree, and computer product for file compression using Huffman tree


This invention relates to a lead-free glass coating made by firing a lead-free glass composition comprising in weight percent from about 35% to about 77% of bismuth oxide, from about 10% to about 33% of boron oxide, and from about 10% to about 32% of zinc oxide at a temperature sufficient to fuse and cure the glass composition. The invention also relates to lead-free glazes and enamels that exhibit excellent acid resistance, possess low coefficients of linear or thermal expansion, and moderate maturation temperatures.

Lead containing glazes and enamels for glass substrates are well-known in the ceramic art. A glaze is typically thought of as a clear coating material, whereas an enamel is a glaze which contains a pigment or other particles in suspension. Such glazes and enamels are generally applied to glass surfaces in the form of a paste, the paste containing finely ground particles of glassy material, commonly called "frit," and a vehicle. After application of the glaze or enamel to the glass surface by silk screening or other techniques, the glass is fired to volatilize the vehicle, fuse the frit and bond the glaze or enamel to the glass surface.
The use of lead oxide as a frit ingredient serves to lower the melting point of the frit. Recent efforts have been made at retaining the low melt temperature of these glazes and enamels but with the removal of the lead oxide.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,847, issued to Reinherz, relates to lead-free glass frit compositions. The compositions include from 25-35% silicon oxide, 25-45% of bismuth oxide, 10-25% boron oxide, 4-19% alkali metal oxide, and 0.3-8% of ZrO.sub.2 /TiO.sub.2. Reinherz teaches that coatings which significantly exceed the 45 weight percent bismuth oxide concentration exhibit neither excellent color stability when blended with certain pigments in a glaze or enamel nor resistance to scratching.
European Patent Application 370,683, naming Murkens et al. as inventors, relates to a glass flux composition consisting essentially by weight of 45-65% bismuth oxide, 25-36% silicon oxide, 4-6% boron oxide, 3-6% titanium oxide, 1-3% sodium oxide, 0.5-2% potassium oxide, 2-6% lithium oxide, 0-3% aluminum oxide, 0-1% zirconium (IV) oxide, 0-1% barium oxide, 0-1% calcium oxide, 0-1% magnesium oxide, 0-1% zinc oxide, 0-3% lead oxide, and 0-0.5% cadmium oxide.
The article "Unusual Properties and Structure of Glasses in the System Bi.sub.2 O.sub.3 -B.sub.2 O.sub.3 -SrO; Bi.sub.2 O.sub.3 -B.sub.2 O.sub.3 -BaO; Bi.sub.2 O.sub.3 -B.sub.2 O.sub.3 -ZnO; and Bi.sub.2 O.sub.3 -B.sub.2 O.sub.3 -PbO", by Janakirama-Rao, describes various curious bismuth borate-based glasses. Bi.sub.2 O.sub.3 -ZnO-B.sub.2 O.sub.3 glass compositions are described and illustrated in FIG. 1 of this article.

Bismuth-containing lead-free glass enamels and glazes of low silica content


A controlled variable-calculating apparatus and method that can easily calculate a controlled variable from one or more input variables and that can appropriately learn control characteristics for the calculation of the controlled variable. The control characteristics are represented as a surface embedded in an (n+1)-dimensional space, and are used to control one controlled variable from n variables. The control characteristics are approximated by an assemblage of flat planes corresponding to subspaces obtained by dividing an n-dimensional input space. For example, a two-dimensional input space defined by the interior temperature and the amount of sunlight is divided into 15 subspaces. Flat planes 1-15 are made to correspond to the subspaces, respectively. If the interior temperature and the amount of sunlight are entered, a decision is made as to which subspace the environmental conditions belong. The airflow is then calculated using an equation for any one of the flat planes 1-15. If the airflow is needs to be modified, the equation for the flat plane corresponding to the corresponding subspace is updated.

The present invention is related to, and claims priority from, Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 11-28806 filed on Feb. 5, 1999, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to air-conditioning systems and, more particularly, to an apparatus for calculating a controlled variable, such as airflow (blower speed), based on n detected variables including outside (ambient) air temperature, interior (cabin) temperature, and amount of sunlight (sun load).
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional automated climate control (ACC) system typically controls airflow, air temperature at the air distribution ductr exit, or other variables according to environmental conditions such as outside air temperature, interior temperature, and amount of sunlight. Control characteristics for calculating a controlled variable, such as airflow or the temperature at the air distribution duct exit (outlet temperature), from environmental conditions are typically adjusted for each vehicle and stored in a non-volatile system memory such as a ROM, and therefore are usually impossible to modify once they are stored.
Systems utilizing such control characteristics have certain limitations. For example, to control airflow in a system in which the control characteristics are unalterable, sensors that detect outside air temperature, interior temperature, and amount of sunlight generate signals representative of the measured amounts. The airflow is calculated based on these three input signals according to the aforementioned control characteristics, and operation of a blower is controlled to achieve the calculated airflow.
FIG. 15 is a cooling airflow control characteristic map showing one example of control characteristics used to calculate airflow. In this case, the outside air temperature and the amount of sunlight are regarded as constant. Only the interior temperature is varied.
As the interior temperature approaches the set temperature (25xc2x0 C. in this example), the airflow is minimized. As the interior temperature rises above the set temperature, the airflow is increased. The flow rate is maximized around 50xc2x0 C. Where plural input signals are used, a similar map is typically utilized in calculating the controlled variable based on the control characteristics.
In a conventional control procedure using a map based on plural input signals (assuming that there are two input signals; that is, airflow is calculated from both interior temperature and amount of sunlight), as shown in FIG. 16, airflow corresponds to a point (x, y) on a plane that is determined by the interior temperature (x) and the amount of sunlight (y). However, it is unrealistic to make the airflow correspond to every point (x, y) on the plane that is determined by the interior temperature (x) and the amount of sunlight (y), i.e., the entire input space.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, the input space is divided into subspaces orcells. Each airflow value corresponds to the intersections of lines indicating boundaries between the cells. Airflow corresponding to a point inside a cell is found by bilinear interpolation.
In the example shown in FIG. 16, if two input signals indicating the interior temperature (x) and the amount of sunlight (y), respectively, are entered, a decision is made to determine to what cell a point A(x, y) on a plane determined by the interior temperature (x) and the amount of sunlight (y) belongs. Bilinear interpolation is performed, based on four vertices (x0, y0), (x1, y0), (x0, y1), and (x1, y1) defining the cell and on the stored airflow value corresponding to the four vertices.
If blw00, blw10, blw01, and blw11 represent airflows corresponding to the four vertices (x0, y0), (x1, y0), (x0, y1), and (x1, y1), respectively, the algorithm of this bilinear interpolation is as follows. First, X and Y are calculated using Eqs.(1) and (2).                     X        =                              x            -                          x              0                                                          x              1                        -                          x              0                                                          (        1        )                                Y        =                              y            -                          y              0                                                          y              1                        -                          y              0                                                          (        2        )
An airflow blw corresponding to the point A(x, y) is calculated using Eq. (3).
blw=(1xe2x88x92X)(1xe2x88x92Y)xc3x97blw00+X(1xe2x88x92Y)blw10+(Xxe2x88x921)Yxc3x97blw01+XYxc3x97blw11xe2x80x83xe2x80x83(3)
It should be noted that, although the above description is based on two input signals, calculations can be performed by a similar procedure if there are three or more input signals.
Generally, preset control characteristics based on the above conventional technique are embodied as relations of the vertices of a subspace in an input space to airflows at the vertices. Since bilinear interpolation is used for calculation of a controlled variable based on the preset control characteristics, the amount of required calculations increases with increasing the number of input signals.
In the above conventional air conditioning system, if a system user is dissatisfied with the automatically controlled airflow, the user must typically manually adjust the airflow through a switch or the like. This manual control can enable the system to store. teacher data that can be utilized to update the preset control characteristics favored by the user.
Use of such teacher data will now be explained based on the following example. Preferred airflows of three panelists (users) N, T, and Y during cooling are illustrated in FIGS. 17A-17C, which show the relation of the interior temperature to preferred airflows of users N, T, and Y where the amount of sunlight is kept at 500 W/m2. FIG. 17A shows the case in which the outside air temperature is 20xc2x0 C. FIG. 17B shows the case in which the outside air temperature is 30xc2x0 C. FIG. 17C shows the case in which the outside air temperature is 35xc2x0 C.
FIG. 18 simplifies the results shown in FIG. 17B. As can be seen, the preferred airflows of panelists (or users) N, T, and Y relative to various interior temperatures appear as a gradient of a cooling airflow control characteristic line from the maximum airflow to the minimum airflow shown in the map of FIG. 15. To realize control favored by each user by the learning of the control characteristics, it is necessary to vary the gradient of the control characteristic map lines. For example, where the airflow is controlled based on the map illustrating the preset control characteristics between the interior temperature and airflow as shown in FIGS. 19A and 19B, if the user reduces the airflow at interior temperature T1 and increases the airflow at interior temperature T2, as shown in FIG. 19A, the map is modified to the form shown in FIG. 19B. That is, a gradient is given to the characteristic line such that it passes through the modified airflows at the interior temperatures T1 and T2 at which the modifications were made.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-149602 discloses a learning technique for household air-conditioning system control characteristics. This technique modifies the control characteristics only the vicinity of teacher data by adding the difference between the present control and the teacher data, as illustrated in FIG. 20. Therefore, it is impossible to realize control of the airflow in a favorable manner for the user under all environmental conditions.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-172143 discloses a technique for learning an airflow upper limit at the start of operation of an ACC based on outside air temperature and amount of sunlight. In this disclosed technique, outside air temperature is accepted as an input signal. The graphed mapped control characteristics are used to calculate the airflow upper limit, and are modified according to the single input signal. Although the gradient of the graphed control characteristics are modified, the map is associated with only one input signal. Therefore, with respect to the amount of sunlight, either one of two kinds of maps is used, depending on whether the amount of sunlight is greater or smaller than a threshold.
The above situation is illustrated in FIGS. 21A and 21B. FIG. 21A illustrates a map prior to a learning process. FIG. 21B illustrates a map after the learning process. A map consisting of graphed lines indicating control characteristics used to calculate a controlled variable (airflow upper limit) from the outside air temperature is used. Although the gradient of the control characteristic line can be changed, only two control characteristic lines are used, depending on whether the amount of sunlight is large or small.
Accordingly, it is impossible to provide continuous control in response to the amount of sunlight. Hence, fine control cannot be provided in response to the amount of sunlight. Where the number of input signals is increased, if this method is still used, the number of control characteristic lines to be stored in memory correspondingly increases. For example, where two control characteristics are used, such as radiator water temperature and amount of sunlight, a control characteristic line is necessary under conditions where the amount sunlight is large and the radiator water temperature is high, while another control characteristic line is necessary under conditions where the amount of sunlight is large and the radiator water temperature is low. Also, a control characteristic line is necessary under conditions where the amount of sunlight is small and the radiator water temperature is high, while another control characteristic line is necessary under conditions where the amount of sunlight is small and the radiator water temperature is low. Thus, four control characteristic lines are needed.
As shown in FIG. 2A, control characteristics for calculating one controlled variable from two input signals are generally represented as a surface that is a two-dimensional figure embedded in a three-dimensional space. Ideally, the position and curvature at each portion on the surface are updated according to teacher data. However, updating such an arbitrary surface is difficult from a technical standpoint.
In view of the above limitations, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for controlling a controlled variable based on one or more input variables. It is also an object of the invention to provide a controlled variable-calculating apparatus that can learn control characteristics for calculating a controlled variable.
Specifically, the present invention provides a variable-calculating apparatus that calculates a controlled variable in response to n input variables, where n is a natural number. The variable-calculating apparatus is equipped with a storage device for storing equations for flat planes that make it possible to calculate an output number from n input variables.
The stored equations are defined corresponding to subspaces obtained by dividing an n-dimensional input space having an assemblage of points within an n-dimensional space corresponding to n input variables. The n input variables can be expressed as a point within the n-dimensional input space. Therefore, an assemblage of points corresponding to the n variables forms a region within then-dimensional space according to the range of values that each variable can assume. This region is herein referred to as the n-dimensional input space. For example, where n is 3, the region takes the form of a parallelepiped. If n is 2, it is a region in the form of a rectangle.
The aforementioned equations for flat planes are defined corresponding to these subspaces, respectively. If n input variables are entered, the controlled variable-calculating apparatus. selects an equation for a flat plane stored corresponding to a subspace to which the input variables belong. Using the selected equation, one controlled variable is calculated.
In order to calculate the controlled variable from n input variables, it is necessary to map an n-dimensional input space onto a one-dimensional space. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, mapping from a two-dimensional input space onto a one-dimensional space can be defined using a surface that is a smooth two-dimensional figure embedded in a three-dimensional space, as shown in FIG. 2A. In FIG. 2A, if the amount of sunlight and the interior temperature are determined, i.e., if a point within a flat plane defined by two values (i.e., the amount of sunlight and the interior temperature) taken on two axes is set, the airflow is computed by finding the point intersecting the surface. By extending this theory, mapping from the n-dimensional space onto the one-dimensional space can be defined using the surface embedded in the (n+1)-dimensional space.
The surface has the same nature as a flat plane when viewed closely to each point (xe2x80x9cModern Small Mathematical Encyclopediaxe2x80x9d, p. 356, 1977, Kodan-sha Bluebacks Publishing Company, Japan). This nature also holds irrespective of the dimensional space in which the surface is embedded. Accordingly, an arbitrary surface can be approximated by combining sufficiently small flat planes by making use of the relation described above. Therefore, the control characteristics represented by the surface as described above can be approximated by combining sufficiently small flat planes.
In view of this fact, the present invention utilizes an n-dimensional input space divided into subspaces, with equations for flat planes being formulated to correspond to the subspaces, respectively. The input space may also be divided into cells, and the planes made to correspond to the cells, respectively. Because it is necessary to divide the whole space into numerous cells for approximation accuracy purposes, the possibility that the number of planes is increased wastefully is high. Accordingly, in the present invention, subspaces corresponding to the input variables are specified. The controlled variable is calculated using equations for flat planes corresponding to these subspaces.
In the controlled variable-calculating apparatus of the present invention, equations for flat planes corresponding to subspaces for n input variables are selected. Using the selected equation for flat planes, the controlled variable is calculated. Generally, an equation for a flat plane is given by
f(x)=ax+by+ . . . +cz+d
Such an equation can be quickly calculated from the n input variables x, y, . . . , z. Consequently, the controlled variable can be easily calculated.
In addition, the apparatus of the present invention includes a controlled variable modifier for modifying the controlled variable from the outside, as well as a learning control device. When the controlled variable is modified via the controlled variable modifier, the learning control device stores the modified controlled variable and input variables entered on this modification as teacher data in a teacher data storage device. The data is stored as teacher data corresponding to subject subspaces corresponding to the input variables. The learning control device updates the equation for a flat plane corresponding to the subject subspace based on the teacher data corresponding to the corresponding subspaces, with the teacher data being included in the teacher data stored in the teacher data storage device.

Apparatus and method for calculating an air-conditioning system controlled variable


A testing apparatus for an optical system comprises a plurality of markers disposed along an axis to be aligned with the optical axis of the optical system, the markers being axially spaced from one another and angularly displaced relative to one another so as to effectively define a helix about the axis. When viewed from one end of the apparatus the markers provide focusing and depth of field information, and some aberrational information about the optical system. Preferably the markers are spaced so as to correspond to the depth of field of the lens aperture stop values of a camera, allowing the aperture settings of the camera to be tested.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical testing apparatus for an optical system, in particular a depth of field testing apparatus including a plurality of axially spaced markers for testing the depth of field of photographic or video lens systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known apparatus for photographically testing a camera lens comprises a flat (two-dimensional) test or resolution or focusing chart which is placed at the plane of focus and photographed, viewed on a video screen, or otherwise used in conjunction with any optical viewing system. Such charts commonly comprise sharply printed characters, lines or patterns in white printed on black or vice versa. One such pattern comprises groups of lines and spaces of known width and spacing representing discrete spatial frequencies. These are often known as "USAF", "NBS" or "Cobb resolution charts". Various aspects of optical performance can be tested using this apparatus. Known tests are described in, for example, Society of Motion Picture & Television Engines (SMPTE) Recommended Practice, March 1979, Volume 88 RP82-1978, pp 172-174, and Method of Determining the Resolving Power of Lenses for Camera (British Standard) BS 1613:1961.
It is also desirable, however, to test the "depth of field" of an optical system such as a camera and lens combination, that is, to test the extent to which nearer and further objects are in and out of acceptable focus. This is because lenses do not only image flat surfaces but they also include objects nearer and further than the plane of focus, such objects being less "sharply" defined. Various parameters influence the depth of field, for example the mathematical co-relationship of the lens focal length, the lens aperture, the focus distance and the aberrational "circle of confusion" at the image plane. The circle of confusion may be defined as the level of blurring of an infinitely small spot of light imaged by the optical system which gives rise to a blur circle at the image plane. For professional 35 mm cinematography a circle of confusion of 1/1000 of an inch (0.0254 mm) is common. A further parameter influencing the depth of field is set by the optical aberrations of the lens or lenses in the optical system. A further discussion of these parameters can be found in "Optical System Design" by Rudolph Kingslake, Academic Press 1983.
In the past, depth of field has been tested by means of what is known as a "harp" chart. This test method uses a rectangular frame with parallel strings or wires drawn from the top of the frame to the bottom. The frame, with the strings set vertically (or horizontally), is then placed obliquely through the plane of focus and in this manner the fall off in focus on either side of the plane of focus can be seen. Tags can be attached to the strings to mark different distances from the optical system being tested.
A problem associated with such an arrangement is that it is imprecise and conveys little quantitative information to the tester.
Further known tests are described for example in "Lens Evaluation with Basic Laboratory Equipment" by Bruce H Walker, Optical Spectra July/August 1970.

Optical testing apparatus for an optical system


A structural design and weld fabrication method for reinforced vinyl by eliminating butt seams, leaving 100% lap seams, as well as low cost, high strength internal beams for use in high quality air bed mattresses and all inflatable items.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a structural design for inflatable objects using 100% reinforced vinyl with 100% lap seams allowing high strength by eliminating butt seams and making low cost I-beams for use in inflatable items such as air mattresses.
2. Background of the Invention
The standard method for fabricating inflatable objects made with flexible vinyl or polyurethane materials such as air mattresses, inflatable rafts, toys, etc., is by joining all the seams by means of radio frequency (RF) heat sealing. Within the industry the majority of the seams are made with seams called butt welds. As greater strength and reliability for the welds due to use and higher pressures, lap seams were preferred over butt seams. It is known that butt seams will provide only 70 to 80% of the material strength and lap seams can provide 100% of the material strength for non-reinforced vinyl.
Reinforced material, primarily one sided reinforced material, allows for stronger product and can handle higher pressures and greater durability (double sided reinforced vinyl is thick and expensive to produce). The industry problem when using one sided reinforced material is being able to do lap seams for all the joints. This is because the limitation that only the smooth non-reinforced surfaces of the materials could be sealed to each other and still have the matted texture on the outside for the entire surface of the product. It would be possible to have the matted on the outside on say the top surface and smooth on the bottom surface of the mattress and have the smooth sides facing each other to form a lap seam along perimeter of the sides, but the corners would still need the butt welds for both top and bottom. Welding to the rougher reinforced surface would not work in the RF sealing process. The industry has never been able to find a method to weld without avoiding the butt seam. Even if a method was found, the internal I-beams required butt welds that would peel and result in bulging of the mattress or tear at the end of the I-beam resulting in a leak, hence there was no net gain in durability. Fundamentally, there are a number of links in the burst strength chain to produce a high pressure mattress. The additional cost and as well as no perceived need for the higher pressure deterred the development of such a product. As well, the comfortable sleeping pressure is usually under 1 p.s.i. The market conditions have changed since the higher material costs relative to the cheap foreign labour in conjunction with a high end or high quality type of air bed, have inspired the applicant to pursue this invention.
Therefore to produce an inflatable product with 100% lap seams when using 100% one sided reinforced materials has not been accomplished up to this time.
This invention is a novel way of designing inflatable reinforced vinyl objects to eliminate butt seams, which tends to weaken the product, and replace the butt seams with lap seams. The invention also overcomes weakness in the C-beam type of construction with the addition of I-beams in reinforced vinyl as well as non reinforced vinyl. This entails a combination of sewn I-beams made from two strips of reinforced vinyl for flange, and as well as low cost fabrics for the web of the beam. The 3 materials are sewn together to form an I-beam. The flanges are sealed to the top and bottom of the inflatable structure. This divides the tensile load over 2 welds and will make the seam act as a lap seam rather than a butt seam due to the angular direction of the peel force. The peel force in the single weld C-beam used to shape the object, has the peel force perpendicular to the surface rather than the applicant's design which reduces the resultant peel force angle, as well as reducing it by half due to the Y or I shape double weld area to the outer surface. The sewn fabric web of the beam provides the necessary strength and is cheaper than the cost of vinyl.
Typically for air mattresses and inflatable toys, the strength was limited to the strength of the butt seam. Even with lap seams in areas where the seam could be used there would normally always be some areas required to use a butt seam for the final closing or for the corners of a structure. These devices would fail over time from abuse causing high pressures, such as jumping or dropping on the bed causing a short high pressure that incrementally peels or stretches a weak point of a butt weld.
The high quality air mattresses and inflatable rafts were made of cloth and vulcanized rubber for this reason. Reinforced vinyl has been very limited due to the failure of the C-beam weld is no stronger than as with non reinforced vinyl, and failure would result along this C-beam or the butt weld, and not the outer vinyl. The additional cost of reinforced vinyl did not produce a superior product.
Currently, there are two types of air mattresses: a coil air mattress and an I-beam air mattress. These air mattresses are made of plain or flocked PVC sheeting. The flocking material used on air beds with flocked PVC is a non-woven material and consequently the flocking does not promote the strength, durability, or puncture resistance of the air mattress. The PVC sheeting has a coil or an I-beam air mattress joined by the use of butt seams.
Discussion of McCarthy
The object McCarthy's invention is to provide; an air mattress having oval beams for rigid, underlying support thus eliminating stress points at the end of an I-beam, an air mattress having a comfortable top sheet made of PVC backed textile fabric material, and to add corner strips or patches to obtain the superior lap type seams at the corners. The flocking or woven top sheet is to prevent plasticizer migration from the inner top sheet.
McCarthy does not have a mattress made of reinforced vinyl, but rather a cloth or flocked material laminated onto the vinyl and non-reinforced vinyl bottom lap seamed to the top. This top laminated material is cut back from the edge to allow welding at the seams, including the corner strips. The applicant does not require this additional preparation, but is able to used flocked or reinforced vinyl and either reversed smooth surface out/in construction, heavy gauge smooth patch, or reinforced double smooth sided patch to achieve the same or better resultant lap weld. McCarthy still has butt welds for the underlying support, but has at least reduced the end point stress by using oval beams that are butt welded to the top and bottom sheets. His conclusion brings him to the conventional design in the assumption that there is no need to use the higher strength reinforced vinyl since the failure will be due to the butt welds on the oval beam peeling from the top or bottom sheet resulting in bulges, or tearing resulting in leaks. The applicant has eliminated the weak links of butt welds in the beams, seams and corners, while using an all-reinforced vinyl construction, and is thus able to fully realize the additional strength of the reinforced vinyl.


An enclosure support for fluid nozzles in a shower facility wherein there are linkage members for oscillating the nozzles as well as an oscillating member for effecting oscillation with the linkage members and the oscillating member being connected to the support wall which is hinged for connection to a wall member. The hinging member allows for complete access to the back of the support wall without detachment from the wall. In another embodiment, there are fluid nozzles which are attached to a pulsating member with the pulsating member attached to the support wall which is hinged to allow access to the pulsating member at the back of the support wall. Alternatively, the support wall can have connected thereto both the linkage members, the oscillating member, as well as the pulsating member.

A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates primarily to showers. More particularly, the invention relates to an enclosure panel for a shower wherein nozzles and other apparatus for oscillating and delivering water to the nozzles can be connected to the enclosure panel and the panel hinged to a support for easy access.
B. Description of the Art
Recently designed showering facilities are employing multi spray outlets which can direct water over a larger area of a bather's body than is possible with a single frontal shower nozzle. In such instances, it is desirable to provide an oscillation of the multiple nozzles so as to increase the range of spray from the nozzles. It is also desirable to provide a pulsating of the water from the nozzles so as to accomplish a stimulating and hygienic body massage effect.
Providing the necessary equipment to accomplish the foregoing oscillation and pulsation presents a problem from both an installation and maintenance standpoint. For example, it would be advantageous not only to have the previously described equipment installed in a compact manner but also in a manner that the equipment is readily accessible for repair and maintenance purposes.
It is known in the art to provide a cover or extrusion which has a shower head wherein the cover can be removed for inspection or repair of the valve. This is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,333,284. It is also known to mount several spray heads on a panel with a pulsator. This is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,397,050. However, there is not known in the art an enclosure panel which houses either an oscillating mechanism or a pulsator device wherein the panel is hinged for easy repair or maintenance of these mechanisms or devices.

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A simple approach to graph layout is fast and results in graphs that lend themselves to full visualization on a standard-sized computer monitor. The algorithm implemented allows the use the same spring and repulsion energies as in the force-directed model, or any other reasonably behaved energy function. In addition, numerical methods, either the technique of polynomial approximation or quadratic approximation, are applied. This allows approximating the minimum or maximum of a general function by picking a small set of points and computing the local optima of a polynomial function that passes through them. Polynomial or quadratic approximation is used to produce candidate drawings and, ultimately, to select a low-energy drawing from these candidates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer implemented graph drawing so as to exhibit the structure of the graph through the drawing on a standard-sized computer monitor and, more particularly, to computer implemented graph drawing which combines a force-directed approach with polynomial or quadratic approximation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many disciplines of science and engineering use graphs to represent systems comprised of a large number of interacting components, especially when the individual components are simple. Physicists and chemists rely on graphs to model interactions between many particles, as in the case of molecular structure. Electrical engineers use them to represent Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits. The use of graphs is particularly important in computer science and information technology. Graphs are a natural representation for most databases and networks. Often, graphical visualizations of such systems reveal far more structure than textual ones, as per the cliche that a picture is worth a thousand words.
A person, however, needs a representation of the graph which is not only visual but readable. The conventional and intuitive way to represent a graph visually is to draw nodes as boxes and edges as line segments connecting the boxes. Even so, there are an infinite number of such drawings for any given graph, since the placement of boxes is arbitrary. Nonetheless, some drawings are more "aesthetic" than others.
Ideally, the aesthetic criteria would specify that the structure of a graph was evident to a human being. This definition, however, is so vague as to itself be an area of active research. Instead, practitioners of graph drawing accept various quantified criteria to establish the "cost" of a drawing and then seek to minimize this cost.
The graph drawing problem is that of arranging the nodes and edges of a combinatorial graph on a geometric space, such as the plane, so as to exhibit the structure of the graph through the drawing. Various existing approaches model the problem physically, treating the nodes as like-charged particles and the edges as springs, and then seeking to minimize the energy of the drawing. These approaches, generally classified as "force-directed," have three problems: speed, quality, and reliability.
In force-directed placement, there are two quantified criteria to minimize: (1) spring energy from the edges and (2) repulsion energy among all the nodes. The first models the edges as springs with an optimal rest length; when they are not at this rest length, they exert a force according to Hooke's Law. This length is either specified for each edge or assumed to be a constant for all edges. The second models the nodes as identically charged particles that repel each other according to Coulomb's Law.
The published algorithms for drawing general graphs (see, for example, G. Di Battista, P. Eades, R. Tamassia, and I. Tollis, "Algorithms for Drawing Graphs: an Annotated Bibliography," Computational Geometry: Theory and Applications 4:235-282, 1994) all use the spring/charge model described above, which was initially proposed by P. Eades in "A Heuristic for Graph Drawing", Congressus Numerantium 42:159-160, 1984. The principal algorithms in the field are those of T. Kamada and S. Kawai in "An Algorithm for Drawing General Undirected Graphs", Information Processing Letters 31:7-15, 1989, T. Fruchterman and E. Reingold in "Graph Drawing by Force-Directed Placement", Software-Practice and Experience 21 (no. 11):1129-1164, 1991, R. Davidson and D. Harel in "Drawing Graphs Nicely Using Simulated Annealing", Technical Report CS 89-13, Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, The Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, 1989 (revised July 1993, to appear in Communications ACM), and D. Tunkelang in "A Practical Approach to Drawing Undirected Graphs", Technical Report CS-94-161, School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, 1994. The last two also assign a cost to edge crossings in the drawing which is linear in the number of crossings.

Applying numerical approximation to general graph drawing

International Business Machines Corporation


Apparatus and method for acquiring and tracking a data signal are disclosed. Two different CDR circuits are configured to acquire and track data based on two different modulation schemes. While in the acquisition mode, the first CDR circuit may acquire data signal by sampling the signal at a reduced clock rate and handover to the second CDR circuit when a preamble is found. Also in the acquisition mode, the data acquisition and tracking circuit may determine the power level of the preamble signal and dynamically adjust the threshold level for the tracking period upon finding of the preamble.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to electronics, and in particular, to signal acquisition and detection.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic systems such as transceivers receive data modulated by various schemes and have modules performing clock and data recovery, or symbol timing recovery. Clock and data recovery often uses an oversampled digital phase lock loop (DPLL) operating at a clock frequency higher than a target data rate and may be designed to acquire demodulated data acquired from a modulated data stream. The data stream may be modulated by various schemes such as frequency shift keying (FSK). A data acquisition and tracking system can be designed to detect preamble of a modulation scheme to achieve signal acquisition and tracking.

Apparatus and method for modular signal acquisition and detection


A method and apparatus for managing memory allocation using memory pages. An arena is designated within one or more memory pages. The arena is divided into one or more memory blocks of the same size. Metadata is generated for the memory blocks at a location other than between the memory blocks, which is used when allocating memory to satisfy an allocation request of approximately the size of the memory blocks.

A component included in all computing devices is memory. A device's main memory (e.g., RAM, flash, etc.) provides storage that can be quickly written to and read from by a processor. Main memory is allocated to an operating system and programs during runtime (throughout the duration of execution). When a program terminates, memory allocated to that program is freed (deallocated), and may subsequently be allocated to a different program.
There are multiple conventional memory allocation schemes by which memory can be allocated and deallocated. One standard conventional memory allocation scheme is heap memory allocation.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a conventional heap-based memory allocation 100. The heap based memory allocation 100 consists of a heap 105 having a single arena 110 from which memory can be allocated. The illustrated arena 110 includes a first metadata structure 115, first memory block 120, second metadata structure 125, second memory block 130, third metadata structure 135, and third memory block 140. As illustrated, in heap based memory allocation, a memory block is always preceded by a metadata structure associated with that memory block. The metadata structure includes a header that describes the size of the associated memory block or a pointer to a subsequent metadata structure. As illustrated, first metadata structure 115 includes a pointer that points to second metadata structure 125, and second metadata structure 125 includes a pointer that points to third metadata structure 135.
To find an unallocated block of memory, metadata structures must be navigated until a metadata structure is discovered that is associated with a memory block that has sufficient capacity to satisfy an allocation request. On average, half of the unallocated metadata structures need to be examined before a suitable memory block is discovered. This can impair system performance.
When allocating memory blocks, mistakes can be made by a program that uses allocated memory such that data is written to subsequent metadata structures and/or memory blocks. This may cause portions of the subsequent metadata structures and/or memory block to be overwritten, commonly referred to as an overrun bug or buffer overrun. When subsequent metadata structures are overwritten, information about the associated memory block can be lost, and information about subsequent metadata structures can be lost. This loss of information may cause a program to crash the next time a memory allocation or deallocation request is made.
When a memory allocation is requested, but there are not sufficient available memory blocks, memory blocks may be freed by moving data from the main memory to secondary memory (e.g., to a hard disk) in a process referred to as paging. For paging to operate, main memory is divided into a series of equally sized memory pages 145. The size of the memory pages 145 depends on the architecture on which the main memory is located. For example, in the x86 architecture of most personal computers (PCs), each memory page is 4 kilobytes (4,096 bytes). To free main memory, memory pages 145 are transferred as a unit into secondary storage (e.g., hard disk, optical storage, other magnetic media).
Referring to FIG. 1, the heap 105 includes a plurality of memory pages 145. In the conventional heap-based memory allocation, as in other conventional memory allocation schemes, there is no alignment between memory pages 145 and assigned memory blocks, data structures, or arenas. Therefore, when memory blocks are moved to secondary memory, some portions of memory blocks and/or data structures may remain in the primary memory, and other portions of these memory blocks and/or data structures may be moved to secondary memory. This may significantly impact system performance.
Many modern operating systems support the ability for multiple threads and processes to be run concurrently. However, only a single thread may actually be active at a time per processor core of a computing device. Where multiple threads are run concurrently, the operating system switches back and forth between operative threads. If an active thread is switched to inactive during memory allocation, the switch may occur after a memory block has been allocated, but before an associated data structure has been updated. If the new active thread makes a memory allocation, it may allocate the same memory block that the previously active thread allocated, since the data structure does not yet reflect the fact that the memory block has already been allocated. When the first thread next becomes active, it finishes its memory allocation and updates the data structure associated with the memory block that it had previously allocated. As a result, the data structure no longer accurately describes the size of the memory block, nor does it accurately point to the next data structure. This may cause both threads to crash.
To mitigate the above mentioned problem, conventional memory allocation schemes provide locks to guarantee that only a single thread can be allocated a specific memory block. However, conventional memory allocators must lock out an entire arena of memory during allocation to assure that appropriate memory blocks are locked. Thus, only a single thread can allocate memory at a time, causing other threads to wait, and severely impacting system performance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A monolithic flowtube for use with an electromagnetic flowmeter includes an inner portion formed of an improved purity dielectric material having a reduced number of mobile ions, a pair of electrodes adjacent the exterior surface of the inner portion and capacitively coupled thereto, and an outer layer of ceramic material adjacent the exterior surface of the inner conduit and electrodes. A method of manufacturing the flowtube includes the steps of forming a dielectric material into a substantially tubular conduit, depositing a conductive material, preferably a refractory metal, onto the exterior of the tubular conduit, forming an outer layer of ceramic material over the tubular conduit, and firing all components simultaneously in a reducing atmosphere to form a monolithic flowtube body.

Electromagnetic flowmeters for measuring the volumetric flow rates of fluids are used extensively in the process control industry. In a magnetic flowmeter, an magnetic field is generated having lines of flux which are perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the flowtube through which the fluid to be metered is conducted. The flux lines are also perpendicular to the transverse axis along which a pair of measuring electrodes are located at diametrically-opposed positions with respect to the flowtube. An electromotive force induced in the fluid by the magnetic field and the moving fluid produces a voltage across the electrodes. That voltage is a function of the process flow rate.
In one type of magnetic flowmeter, the electrodes are electrically insulated from the fluid to be metered, by a dielectric material. Such an "non wetted" electrode configuration is advantageous in handling troublesome process fluids such as corrosive fluids, sewage and slurries which could damage and corrode the electrodes if in contact therewith.
In flowmeters having non wetted electrodes, the electrodes are either embedded in the flowtube or disposed on the exterior surface thereof. Either electrode configuration has problems associated therewith. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,658,652, Picone et al., discloses a flowmeter having a spool-shaped flowtube formed of a ceramic material and having a pair of electrodes disposed on the exterior surface thereof. The thickness of the ceramic material results in a weak signal at the electrodes, requiring greater amplification and processing of the signal. A reduction in the amount of material separating the electrodes from the process fluids increases the signal strength but decreases the structural integrity of the flowtube and its ability to withstand pressure exerted thereon by the process fluid.
Flowmeters in which the electrodes are embedded within the wall of the flowtube present unique manufacturing problems. For example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 58-196419 discloses a method of manufacturing flowtubes characterized by forming an electrode, by a metalizing process, on the outer surface of a first tube of unfired ceramics, and fitting a second tube, also made of unfired ceramics, about the surface of the first tube. Both tubes are then fired together to form a whole unit. A disadvantage of this method is that voids or air pockets form intermediate the two tubes during the firing process. Such voids seriously jeopardize the integrity of the flowtube and its ability to withstand the pressure imparted thereto by the process. More importantly the voids may provide a path for process fluid to penetrate which renders the meter inoperable when the fluid reaches the electrodes.
International Patent Application WO87/01197 discloses a method for manufacturing a ceramic measurement tube in which powdered green ceramic material is placed in a mold with a pair of platinum wire grids located at specific positions. The unfired ceramic material is then compressed and fired. Such a method has several disadvantages. First, the precise placement of the platinum wire grids in a mold of raw ceramic material is very difficult. If the grids or electrodes are not diametrically opposed as precisely as possible, inaccurate flowtube measurements will result. Second, the use of a wire grid results in a relatively small electrode area and a correspondingly weaker signal. Third, platinum is a relatively expensive material and will substantially increase the production cost of the tube.
Accordingly, it is desirable to manufacture a flowtube for use with a magnetic flowmeter which is truly monolithic, with no seams exposed to the process fluid, and in which the electrodes are disposed in close proximity to, but not in contact with, the process fluid flowing therethrough.
A second problem associated with flowmeters having non wetted electrodes involves zero offsets present in the output signal of the flowmeter. Such offsets appear as voltages across the electrodes, despite the absence of any fluid flow through the flowmeter which, in an ideal flowmeter, should cause an output flow signal of zero volts. Zero offsets add an error component into the output flow signal from the flowmeter and often require external compensation circuitry to correct the output flow signal.
Accordingly, it is desirable to reduce the amount of zero offset in the output flow signal of a flowmeter.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an electromagnetic flowmeter which can accurately measure the flow rate of a fluid passing therethrough.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electromagnetic flowmeter which can accurately measure the flow rate of a fluid passing therethrough at temperatures up to 400.degree. F.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a monolithic flowtube for use in an electromagnetic flowmeter for measuring fluid flow rates.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a monolithic flowtube for use with an electromagnetic flowmeter which has a pair of diametrically opposed capacitive electrodes embedded therein.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a monolithic flowtube for use with an electromagnetic flowmeter having a pair of electrodes embedded therein, the electrodes comprising a relatively inexpensive conductive material.
Yet a further object of the present invention to provide a flowtube for use with an electromagnetic flowmeter in which the component parts of the flowtube are sintered together to form a monolithic flowtube body.

Monolithic flow tube with improved dielectric properties for use with a magnetic flowmeter


The present invention provides a compound having a superior serotonin 5-HT2C receptor activating action.

Serotonin 5-HT2C receptor is one of the receptors of the biological transmitter serotonin, which is distributed mainly in the central nervous system and controls many physiological functions in vivo. A representative example is the control of appetite. It has been demonstrated in a study using rodents that stimulation of the central serotonin 5-HT2C receptor decreases eating behavior, resulting in decreased body weight. It has also been reported that, in human as well, administration of a serotonin 5-HT2C receptor activator suppresses appetite and decreases body weight (see non-patent document 1). In addition, it has been demonstrated in a rat test using a serotonin 5-HT2C receptor activator that stimulation of the central serotonin 5-HT2C receptor suppresses depression-related behaviors (see non-patent document 2), and has also been reported to be effective for many central nervous diseases such as anxiety etc. (see non-patent document 3).
The serotonin 5-HT2C receptor is also highly expressed in the parasympathetic nucleus and motor neurons in the sacral spinal cord, and is considered to control the peripheral nervous functions (see non-patent document 4). It has been reported that when a serotonin 5-HT2C receptor activator is administered to rats, penile erection is induced (see non-patent document 5), and urethral resistance is increased (see patent document 1); all these actions are attributed to stimulation of the serotonin 5-HT2C receptor in the sacral spinal cord.
For serotonin 5-HT2C receptor activators, many clinical applications are likely, with particular expectations for anti-obesity drugs, anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs, therapeutic drugs for male erectile dysfunction, and therapeutic drugs for stress urinary incontinence and the like.
As serotonin 5-HT2C receptor compounds, the following compounds have been reported.
Thiophenyl or pyrrolylazepine compound has been disclosed as a therapeutic drug for addiction, anxiety, depression, obesity and the like (see Patent Document 2), and fibromyalgia therapeutic effect of a serotonin 5-HT2C receptor agonist compound has been reported (see Patent Document 3). It has also been reported that compounds having no serotonin 5-HT2 receptor agonist action are found out as psychotropic agent for central nerve (see Non-Patent Document 6). There is a demand for the development of compounds having useful efficacy and the like, however, none of the documents have been reported the compound of the present invention.    Non-Patent Document 1: Expert Opinion on Investigational Drugs, 2006, vol. 15, page 257    Non-Patent Document 2: J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., 1998, vol. 286, page 913    Non-Patent Document 3: Pharmacology Biochemistry Behavior, 2002, vol. 71, page 533    Non-Patent Document 4: Neuroscience, 1999, vol. 92, page 1523    Non-Patent Document 5: Eur. J. Pharmacol., 2004, vol. 483, page 37    Non-Patent Document 6: Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett., 1998, vol. 8, page 983    Patent Document 1: WO 2004/096196 pamphlet    Patent Document 2: WO 2007/084622 pamphlet    Patent Document 3: WO 2011/071136 pamphlet

Abstract: The present invention relates to a compound represented by the formula (1)

Abstract: wherein    ring A is an aromatic carbocycle optionally having substituent(s) or an aromatic heterocycle optionally having substituent(s),    X is —N(R1)—, —O— or the like,    when ring A is an aromatic carbocycle optionally having substituent(s), then R1 is a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group optionally having substituent(s), or the like, and    when ring A is an aromatic heterocycle optionally having substituent(s), then R1 is a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group optionally having substituent(s), a cycloalkyl group optionally having substituent(s), or the like,        is a single bond or a double bond, and    n is an integer of 0, 1 or 2,    or a salt thereof.