An electrical connector includes contacts and an insulator fixedly retaining the contacts. The insulator includes a substantially plate-like fitting portion. Each of the contacts includes a first contact portion for connection to a counterpart connector, and a second contact portion being continuous with the first contact portion and formed at a tip side of the contact. The first contact portion is disposed so as to be exposed on one side of the fitting portion, and the second contact portion is disposed such that at least part of the second contact portion is exposed at a surface of the fitting portion on the other side of the fitting portion.

The present invention relates to an electrical connector and a method of producing the electrical connector and, more specifically, relates to an electrical connector wherein active-line type contacts are overmolded, and further relates to a method of producing the electrical connector.
As the electrical connector of this type, JP-Y (Japanese Utility Model Registration) 2605904 discloses a conventional electrical connector.
The conventional electrical connector includes an insulator having a plate-like projecting portion, contacts arrayed side by side on the lower side of the projecting portion of the insulator, and a metal shell covering the circumference thereof.
Each contact has a mounting terminal portion, at one end thereof, which is joined to a board upon mounting, a retention portion retained by the insulator, a contact portion extending forward from the retention portion along the lower side of the projecting portion of the insulator, and a tip portion that is bent upward toward the inside of the projecting portion of the insulator at the front end of the contact. This connector is of the type wherein the arrayed contacts are overmolded, and the shell is provided over the circumference thereof.
A counterpart connector contains an insulator provided with a projecting portion, and contacts retained by the insulator. The projecting portion of the insulator has a front end surface formed with an opening, and a through hole is formed so as to extend backward from this opening to thereby define a contact receiving space. Each of the counterpart contacts is bifurcated so as to have a first contact portion and a second contact portion each extending up to the opening. The first contact portion has a portion projecting toward the second contact portion to thereby form a contact-point portion.
When the electrical connector and the counterpart connector are fitted together, the projecting portion of the electrical connector is sandwiched between the first and second contact portions of the contacts provided in the contact receiving space of the projecting portion of the counterpart connector so that the contact portion of each contact of the electrical connector and the contact-point portion of the first contact portion of the corresponding contact of the counterpart connector are brought into contact with each other to thereby establish electrical connection therebetween.
In the production of the conventional electrical connector, however, when overmolding the contacts with resin to produce the electrical connector, it was necessary to take a countermeasure against deflection of the contacts caused by the flow of resin upon molding.
Under the circumstances, with respect to the conventional electrical connector, a method is proposed for taking the deflection countermeasure which contains the step of providing a carrier on the fitting side of the contacts. However, inasmuch as a cutting surface of the carrier is exposed from the fitting portion, a drawback remains that short circuits between the adjacent contacts occur upon fitting to the counterpart connector.
Further, in the conventional electrical connector, since the contact portion of each contact has a contacting surface, which contacts the first contact portion of the counterpart contact, on only one side thereof, when a large force is applied in a direction where the contact moves away from the first contact portion, it may happen that the peripheral components are deflected to cause separation of the first contact portion of the contact of the counterpart connector and the contact portion of the contact of the electrical connector from each other, thus resulting in occurrence of disconnection.

Electrical connector and method of producing the same

Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Ltd


A method for providing an article of manufacture is described such that the article has a bracket with a pair of parallel, spaced-apart arms affixed thereto, with a hole in each of the arms, the holes being aligned with each other and precisely spatially positioned relative to a fixed reference point on the article of manufacture which is external to the bracket in which the holes are made. In this manner, the cumulative imprecisions inherent in welding the bracket to the article and punching the holes in the bracket are not necessarily additive and a more precise spatial orientation of the holes with the reference point may be obtained.

An axle tube of a vehicle is attached to the vehicle frame through fixtures connected to brackets attached to the axle tube during manufacture. The precision of the attachment is directly related to the combined precision of the placement of the bracket on the axle tube and the precision of placing the holes in those brackets. During manufacture, the brackets are attached to the axle tube. In this attachment, which typically is a weldment, the brackets cannot be placed sufficiently precisely that prepunched bracket holes can be aligned regularly with the requisite precision. Therefore, it has been the practice in the art to form at least one of the holes in at least one of the brackets after all of the brackets have been affixed to the axle tube. It has also been the practice in the art to form the at least one hole which needs to be precisely placed through drilling, which has proven to be insufficiently precise. This is particularly true when the at least one hole which needs to be precisely placed is a pair of holes which need to be in close alignment. An example of this would occur when the pair of holes are to be placed such that one of the holes is in each of a pair of spaced apart arms in the bracket.


A baffle means (2) is provided at a dip pipe (1) which latter projects into the separating chamber of a facility for the separation of substance mixtures of a liquid or gaseous medium and a liquid or solid substance under the effect of centrifugal forces, the medium being discharged from the facility through this dip pipe. The baffle means (2) includes at least one baffle (3) having the shape of the shell of a truncated cone, the axis of curvature (4) of which extends in parallel to the longitudinal axis (5) of the dip pipe (1) and is offset with respect to this axis (5). By the baffle means (2), the medium is guided into the dip pipe (1) with simultaneous reconversion of the flow energy into pressure energy, there being imparted to the medium an acceleration oriented axially in the flow-off direction of the medium and an acceleration.

The invention relates to a dip pipe for apparatuses for the separation of mixtures made up of one liquid or gaseous medium and one liquid or gaseous substance having a higher specific gravity than the medium under the action of centrifugal forces, the medium freed at least partially from the substance being removed from the apparatus through this pipe, with a baffle means at one end of the dip pipe, wherein the baffle means consists of at least one curved baffle and wherein the distance of the baffle from the longitudinal axis of the dip pipe becomes increasingly smaller in the peripheral direction. Facilities for the separation of mixtures of at least one substance and one medium have been known, for example, from EP-A-398,864.
In these known devices, dip pipes are provided for the discharge of the medium freed at least in part, preferably entirely, from the substance or substances to be separated; these dip pipes project into the separating chamber.
It is also known from EP-A-398,864 to arrange baffle devices, in the form of baffle plates, between the dip pipes, these baffle devices extending in the direction of flow from the inside toward the outside in order to effect reversal of the flow direction of the medium when passing from the chamber wherein the substance mixture is set into rotation into the chamber where the actual separation takes place.
Furthermore, baffle means at dip pipes are known in the prior art (for example, Austrian Patent 13,036, British Patent 245,636), which comprise baffle plates; however, the latter are curved about the dip pipe vertical axis. This results in an exclusively radial acceleration which, however, does not contribute anything toward transfer of the medium into the dip pipe.
Further, propeller-like baffle devices are known in the state of the art having several vanes at the inlet end of the dip pipe wherein the individual vanes are oriented so that they reduce or entirely eliminate the rotary movement of the medium entering into the dip pipe. These arrangements, however, have not become popular in practice on account of problems encountered in flow dynamics. The reason for this unpopularity is that the actual flow directions in the region of the dip pipe orifice are unknown.

Dip pipe for facilities for the separation of substance mixtures


A tool box includes a base, a button, a cover and two hinges. The button is located in a recessed area of the base and connected to a fixing member that is connected to the recessed area. The button has a resilient arm extending from each of two ends thereof, and each resilient arm has a protrusion which is engaged with the positioning hole of the fixing member. Two resilient piece extending toward each other from the top edge thereof and a flange extends from one side of the button. The cover is pivotably connected to the base by the two hinges. The cover has a locking member so as to be engaged with the flange of the button. The two resilient piece push the cover upward when the cover is unlocked from the base. The hinges are not loosened after frequent use.

1. Fields of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tool box, and more particularly, to a tool box wherein the cover slightly pops when the locking member is released.
2. Descriptions of Related Art
The conventional tool box generally comprises a base and a cover which is pivotably connected to one side of the base by a thin plate. The other side of each of the base and the cover has a locking member so as to lock the cover to the base. However, the thin plate is easily broken after frequent open-and-close actions, and the tools in the tool box may suddenly drop from the tool box.
Another conventional tool box 1 is disclosed in FIG. 1 and generally comprises a base 10 and a cover 11 wherein the base 10 has pivotal members 100 on one side thereof. The cover 11 has pivots 110 on one side thereof. The pivots 110 pivotably extend through the pivotal members 100 to pivotably connect the base 10 to the cover 11. The other side of the base 10 has locking members 101 and each locking member 101 has a hole 102. The cover 11 has protrusions 111 on the other side thereof so that the protrusions 111 are engaged with the holes 102 of the locking members 101 to secure the cover 11 to the base 10. However, when the protrusions 111 are disengaged from the holes 102 of the locking members 101, the cover 11 is still covered onto the base 10, the user has to pivot the cover 11 away from the base 10 to access the tools in the base 10. This is not convenient for the users. Besides, the locking members 101 are integral with the base 10 and may be broken after a period of time of use. Furthermore, the pivots 110 are snapped to the pivotal members 100 to close the cover 11, and the pivots 110 are easily loosened from the pivotal members 100 during frequent use.
The present invention intends to provide a tool box to eliminate the shortcomings mentioned above.


A photon mode reaction is caused in an optical recording medium by irradiating the optical recording medium susceptible to the photon mode reaction with light emitted from a light emitting device when driven by a pulsed current.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for optically controlling optical devices such as optical recording media utilizing photochromic materials and the like, and to an optical control device utilizing such a method.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, extensive studies on photochromism have been made to investigate its applicability to optical information processing and recording. An attempt has been made to apply photochromic materials to a recording layer of an optical recording medium. Another attempt has been directed to provide a high density optical disk through a super resolution effect utilizing a photochromic masking layer.
In optical devices utilizing such a photochromic material, the photochromic material experiences a photon mode reaction upon irradiation with light. Typical light sources include semiconductor lasers and light-emitting diodes which are small in size and low in cost.
It is often required to irradiate the photochromic material with ultraviolet light if the photochromic material is to be colored to exhibit an increased absorption in a visible light region. However, currently available, short-wavelength light emitting devices provide an emitting light in a wavelength range from violet to blue. The coloring of the photochromic material by exposing them to ultraviolet light emitted directly from those semiconductor lasers or light emitting diodes has not been accomplished to this date.

Method for optically controlling an optical device and an optical control device utilizing the method


Improves light extraction efficiency. A light emitting device 1 using a white resin molding package 5 integrally molded with lead frames 3, 4 constituting an electrode corresponding to one or a plurality of light emitting element 2 and white resin, wherein an area in a plane view of a white resin surface on a reflective surface that is level with amounting surface of the light emitting element 2 is configured to be larger than total area in a plane view occupied by surfaces of the lead frames 3, 4 and the light emitting element. Further, a step section is formed on the surfaces of lead frames 3, 4, white resin is filled in the step section, and the area of white resin surface on a reflective surface where the light emitting element 2 is mounted is increased.

This type of conventional light emitting device is integrally molded with lead frames corresponding to each electrode and resin. This is proposed in Patent Literatures 1 and 2.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part for explaining a light emitting device that is an example of a conventional light emitting device disclosed in Patent Literature 1.
In FIG. 6, a conventional light emitting device 100 comprises a metallic lead frame 101, a light emitting element 102, reflective resin material 103, and lens resin material 104. The metallic lead frame 101 is divided into a semiconductor light emitting element mounting section 106 and a metal wire connection section 107 by a slit 105. The metallic lead frame 101 is provided with a semiconductor light emitting element mounting region 108 for mounting the light emitting element 102, and a recess section 109 is provided around the semiconductor light emitting element mounting region 108 so as to surround the semiconductor light emitting element mounting region 108. A silver plating 111 is formed, among the entire mounting surface of the light emitting element 102 on the metallic lead frame 101, on a bonding region where the light emitting element 102 and a metal wire 110 are electrically connected.
The recess section 109 is formed on the side of a surface for mounting the light emitting element 102 of the metallic lead frame 101, and a reflective body 112 is formed such that the edge section thereof is positioned by a formation region of the recess section 109. Next, the light emitting element 102 is mounted and the light emitting element 102 is covered by using a transfer molding technique to fill a region surrounded by the reflective body 112 with lens resin material 104.
The light emitting element 102 is, for example, an LED chip, and is mounted on the semiconductor light emitting element mounting region 108 with electrically conductive adhesive material 113 interposed therebetween.
FIG. 7 is a plane view of a side-view type surface-mount light emitting diode as a conventional light emitting device disclosed in Patent Literature 2.
In FIG. 7, in a conventional light emitting device 200, a recess section 203 that constitutes an opening section where light emitting elements 202 (202R, 202G, 202B) are arranged is formed on a light emitting surface, which is a side surface of a package 201. In the recess section 203, the light emitting elements 202 are arranged. The light emitting elements 202 are comprised of a red light emitting element 202R, a blue light emitting element 2028, and a green light emitting element 202G. Each light emitting element 202 (202R, 202G, 202B) is arranged in a line in the longitudinal direction of the bottom surface of the recess section 203 of the package 201.
Furthermore, silver-plated metallic member region 204 where the light emitting elements 202 (202R, 202G, 202B) are mounted is arranged on the bottom surface of the recess section 203 of the package 201. Further, on one side of the package 201 in the longitudinal direction, a plurality of extraction electrodes 206 made of silver-plated copper plate patterns, which connects an electrode (not shown) of the light emitting element 202 by an electrically conductive wire 205, are arranged while being spaced apart by a resin section 207 with a convex shape with, for example, a height of about 10 micrometers and a width of about 90 micrometers. Further, in the recess section 203, the resin section 207 with a convex shape for spacing apart the metallic member region 204 into multiple regions, covering resin 208 formed on the metallic member region 204, and sealing resin (not shown due to being a transparent resin) covering the metallic member region 204 are arranged additionally. The resin section 207 with a convex shape and the covering resin 208 are in contact with the sealing resin. Further, the resin with a convex shape is not formed below the wire 205 that electrically connects the light emitting element 202 and the extraction electrode 206 (section indicated by an arrow 209). Furthermore, resin 210 of the package 201 is exposed at the bottom surface of the recess section 203 of the package 201.
The resin constituting the package 201 and the covering resin 208 are the same material, and the covering resin 208 and the sealing resin are the same resin material. Further, on the inside of sloping surfaces of the recess section 203 of the package 201, mirror plane processing is applied by mirror plane plating with aluminum or silver.
The covering resin 208 is formed to the vicinity of the light emitting element 202 to cover the extraction electrodes 204 and 206 from the bottom section of the sloping surface in the longitudinal direction, and is extended to be formed as a single entity to cover metallic sections (such as the electrodes section) from the bottom surface of the recess section 203 of the package 201.
The surface mount type package 201 is formed by the following: after punching out a silver-plated copper plate containing steel with a die to pattern a metal section having a desired shape, the top and bottom of the metal plate is sandwiched by a metal mold that is then infused with polyphthalamide (PPA) and hardened to integrally mold the extraction electrodes 204 and 206 and the hardened resin.

Light-emitting device with reflective resin


An optical pickup has a laser mounting surface formed around an opening portion of a laser hole while a notch groove ranging from the laser mounting surface to an operating hole is formed in a laser hole side wall portion. A fitting piece removably fitted into the notch groove is provided integrally with a metal holder which is provided for supporting a photodiode and which is locked in the laser mounting surface. The operating hole is defined between a forward end of the fitting piece and an inner end of the notch groove. A laser diode is fitted into a lock hole of the holder coaxial with the laser hole while a radiator plate is attached to the outer surface of the holder. Thus, the laser diode is held between the holder and the radiator plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical pickup for use in a disk player such as a DVD player.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 16 shows an example of an optical pickup in the related art. This optical pickup is configured as follows. That is, a beam passage hole 2 with a half mirror HM penetrates a base 1 made of synthetic resin. A photodiode PD is disposed in an opening portion 2a at one end of the beam passage hole 2 while a collimator lens QWP and an objective lens OL are disposed in an opening portion 2b at the other end of the beam passage hole 2. A laser diode LD and a diffraction grating G are disposed in a laser hole 3 communicating with the beam passage hole 2. A laser beam from the laser diode LD is projected onto a disk D through the diffraction grating G, the half mirror HM, the collimator lens QWP and the objective lens OL. The beam reflected from the disk D is received by the photodiode PD through the half mirror HM so that information recorded in the disk D can be read.
In the related art, there is a structure for supporting the diffraction grating G, as disclosed in JP-A-2-218028. An example of such a structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18. A diffraction grating operating hole 30 is provided in a laser hole side wall portion 1A of the base 1 so as to penetrate the laser hole side wall portion 1A. In an adjustment process prior to shipment, an operating rod 31 inserted into the operating hole 30 is brought into contact with the outer circumferential surface of the diffraction grating G so as to rotate the diffraction grating G at a predetermined angle. Thus, the laser beam is dispersed desirably. After that, the diffraction grating G is bonded to the laser hole side wall portion 1A by an adhesive agent.
The procedure for molding the laser hole side wall portion 1A will be described with reference to schematic views shown in FIGS. 19A–19C. As shown in FIG. 19A, a core 34 is inserted into a mold 33. A slide pin 35 having the same diameter as that of a lock hole disposed in a slide hole 33a of the mold 33 is advanced to abut against the core 34. Synthetic resin is charged into an air gap 36 between the mold 33 and the core 34 so as to form the laser hole side wall portion 1A as shown in FIG. 19B. After that, the slide pin 35 is retracted, and the core 34 is extracted from the mold 33. Then, the base 1 having the laser hole side wall portion 1A with the operating hole 30 as shown in FIG. 19C is extracted from the mold 33.
In the configuration, the mold 33 with the slide pin 35 is required for molding the laser hole side wall portion 1A provided with the operating hole 30 penetrating the laser hole side wall portion 1A. Thus, the mold costs due to such a complicated structure. In addition, the molding cycle becomes complicated due to the operation of the slide pin 35. Thus, the cycle time becomes so long that the working efficiency deteriorates correspondingly. Further, even when necessity to repair the diffraction grating G due to an error in adjustment or the like occurs after the diffraction grating G has been bonded, the diffraction grating G cannot be extracted.
In addition, since the laser diode LD is pressed into the laser hole 3 of the base 1, not only the laser diode LD but also the diffraction grating G and the base 1 have to be abandoned when the laser diode LD is condemned as a defective product in examination prior to shipment. Thus, the cost for abandonment increases. In addition, the cost of material is indeed reduced due to the base 1 molded out of synthetic resin. But the radiating effect of the synthetic resin is so small that the base 1 may be deformed due to thermal expansion caused by the heating of the laser diode LD. Thus, there is a fear that an optical axis O connecting the photodiode PD and the objective lens OL may be bent to cause a reading error.


A process for producing a substantially dry product, according to various embodiments, may include receiving wet grain at a first screw The process includes receiving the wet grain at a second screw from the first screw. The process includes compressing the wet grain between the first screw and the second screw and dehydrating the wet grain when the wet grain is located within at least one zone of the first screw and the second screw to cause a physical property change to the wet grain.

Typically, dry mill ethanol processing potentially creates three forms of distiller grains, depending on the number of times the solids are passed through the dryer system: wet, modified wet, and dried distiller grains. Wet distiller grain contains primarily unfermented grain residues (protein, fiber, fat and up to 70% moisture). In some applications, the wet distiller grain has a moisture content as high as 75% and, in other applications, the moisture content of the wet distiller grain may be higher but no more than 90%. According to some conventional techniques, wet distiller grains are processed wet cake that contains approximately 65% to 70% moisture. Wet distiller grains have a shelf life of approximately four to five days. Due to the water content, water distiller grains are usually economically viable within 200 km of the ethanol production facility. For example, wet distiller grain can be sold to nearby dairies or feedlots within the immediate vicinity of an ethanol plant.
Modified wet distiller grains, which have been dried further to approximately 50% to 55% moisture, have a slightly longer shelf life of approximately three weeks. Modified wet distiller grains can be marketed to regional facilities, such as dairies and feedlots.
Dried distiller grains, which have been dried more extensively to approximately 10% to 12% moisture, have an almost indefinite shelf life. Dried distiller grains may be stored, sold and shipped to any market regardless of its proximity to an ethanol plant.
Dried distiller grains with solubles, which are commonly known as DDGS, are wet distiller grain that has been dried with the concentrated thin stillage to 10-12% moisture. Typically, DDGS has an almost indefinite shelf life and may be shipped to any market regardless of its proximity to an ethanol plant. However, one of the disadvantages associated with DDGS is that drying is costly, as it requires further energy input.
It may be desirable to provide a system and method for generating a final grain product with sufficient density for effective transportation, handling, and storage practices, without the need for adding additional binders, fillers or a combination thereof. It may be further desirable to provide a system and method capable of generating a final grain product, which will not crumble, break, or split during transport and storage.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Grain dehydrating compressor for wet grain system and method


An antenna coil is present in a hearing aid device to wirelessly transmit signals between a hearing aid device and a further device. Due to the required miniaturization of hearing aid devices, only minimal space is available for the arrangement of the antenna coil in the hearing aid device. The invention therefore provides for winding the antenna coil around or on an existing electro-acoustic transducer in the hearing aid device or around a capsule surrounding the transducer. A comparatively large antenna coil, for which little additional space is required, can thereby be provided in the hearing aid device.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a hearing aid device with at least one microphone to acquire an acoustic input signal and transduce it into an electrical signal, a signal processing unit to process the electrical signal, an earpiece to transduce the electrical signal into an acoustic signal and, with an antenna coil, to wirelessly transmit data between the hearing aid device and a further device.
Furthermore, the invention concerns a hearing aid device with at least one microphone to acquire an acoustic input signal and transduce it into an electrical signal, a signal processing unit to process the electrical signal, an earpiece to transduce the electrical signal into an acoustic signal and, with an antenna coil, to wirelessly transmit data between the hearing aid device and a further device, whereby the earpiece is enclosed by at least one shielding plate or one shielding capsule.
2. Description of the Related Art
A hearing aid with an inductive coil is known from German patent document DE 43 19 599 C1, the coil being arranged embedded in a recess in a printed circuit board.
A sound transducer for hearing aids is known from German patent document DE 690 31 432 T2, in which a coil is attached on a flexible carrier.
A regulating implant to normalize cerebro-spinal fluid pressure is known from German patent document DE 199 15 558 C2, in which an antenna is arranged on the surface of a chip.
An induction coil for hearing aids is known from German patent document DE 43 26 358 C1 which comprises a coil body made from mu-metal.
A hearing aid device is known from German patent document DE 198 54 201 C2, with an earpiece to deliver sound, an induction coil to inductively acquire signals, and a compensation inductor to generate a compensation field, in that the compensation inductor is positioned in the signal line of the earpiece between the induction coil and the earpiece, such that its compensation field is directed against the magnetic field upon operation of the induction coil, and a coupling between the earpiece and the induction coil is decreased.
An "earpiece", used in hearing aid devices, works for the most part according to the electromagnetic principle. Additionally, a magnetic circle is generated in the earpiece. Unfortunately, small magnetic leakage fields are also radiated into the external space. These undesired noise fields lead to interaction with the coils and conductors around the earpiece. It is therefore preferable to constrain or compensate the earpiece fields in the earpiece housing.

Space-saving antenna arrangement for hearing aid device


A method of an apparatus for ultrasonic inspection of multi-layered structures having acoustic transmission (I, III, V and VII) and reflection (II, IV, VI and VIII) frequency bands. Variations in one or more parameters of specific layers are largely restricted to specific frequency bands of said layers. By analyzing transmitted or reflected signals with respect to the frequency bands of the structure, interpretation of signals due to parameter variations as caused by voids, inclusions or delaminations can be effectively eliminated. The method is preferably used for the inspection of laminated structures consisting of metal layers bonded by fibre reinforced resin layers.

Ultrasonic inspection consists of subjecting a structure to ultrasonic signals, i.e. signals having a frequency above approximately 20 kHz up to approximately 25 MHz, and receiving ultrasonic signals transmitted or reflected by said structure. The transmission or reflection of ultrasonic signals by a material provides information about its structural properties, such as thickness and flaws. Flaws, such as voids, inclusions and delaminations in case of a laminated structure, are areas with different ultrasonic transmission properties. Accordingly, transmitted or reflected signals from an area of a structure having a defect differ from the signals transmitted or reflected from areas of the structure having no defect.
British patent application 2,204,690 discloses an ultrasonic method of testing the strength of a bonded joint by mutually comparing signals received from different areas of a structure under inspection. In order to separate the transmitted signals from the reflected signals or to filter out all reflected signals from positions or interfaces other than those from the joint under examination, the received signals are subjected to a first time-gating operation. The signals are subjected to a further time-gating operation for smoothening and integration purposes.
During the ultrasonic inspection of panels of ARALL (trademark), some remarkable phenomena occurred. ARALL is a laminated material consisting of relatively thin aluminum layers bonded together with a fibre reinforced resin. The material is usually fabricated in flat panels with two to six aluminum layers and one to five fibre reinforced resin layers, in particular aramide fibres, in the present specification called fibre layers. During production of the material, several types of defects can arise, the most important of which are delaminations, porous bond lines and unintended inclusions within the bond lines.
When subjecting a sample of ARALL to ultrasonic signals, areas with a relatively low transmission coefficient at one frequency showed an increased transmission at another frequency. Furthermore, areas were found with reduced transmission properties while flaws such as voids, delaminations and inclusions were absent, following microscopic examination of said areas. It was found that these effects appeared to be frequency related.
After studying the transmission and reflection properties of ARALL in the frequency domain, it was found that only within certain frequency bands ultrasound is nearly unattenuated transmitted, whereas it is totally or partly reflected in other frequency bands. This behavior can be explained in that ultrasonic signals transmitted by one layer or a combination of layers can be reflected by other layers. Multiple reflections in one layer or a combination of layers can give rise to destructive and to constructive interferences, leading to transmission and reflection bands.
Thus a multi-layer structure has been found to have alternating ultrasonic transmission frequency bands comprising relatively higher transmissivity frequency bands having a low reflectivity separated by relatively lower transmissivity frequency bands having a high reflectivity. The term "transmission band" is used herein to refer to such a higher transmissivity ultrasonic frequency band.
Physically, ARALL can be regarded as a complex (acoustical) filter. The order of the filter increases with the number of layers. As long as the layer parameters, such as layer thicknesses, the densities of the layer materials and the acoustic velocity in each layer are exactly equal among all aluminum and among all fibre layers, the filter behaves in a regular manner; i.e. the position of transmission and reflection frequency bands is determined by the actual parameter values (layer thickness and density, etc).
However, when one or more of said layer parameters vary from layer to layer for a given location, the frequency characteristics of the structure become more complex.
Accordingly, apart from attenuation or scattering due to defects such as voids, inclusions and delaminations, variations in the layer parameters of the ARALL laminates influence the transmitted and reflected signals, with the risk of misinterpretation of such transmitted and reflected signals as being caused by voids, delaminations, inclusions, etc. in the laminate.

Method of and an apparatus for frequency selective ultrasonic inspection of multi-layered structures


The invention concerns a device for forming, on a conveyor table (7), a stack (6) of stacked objects, such as, for example, newspapers, magazines or the like, which stack is to be conveyed in the conveying direction. The stack is to be conveyed in the conveying direction. The stack is conveyed to a further, different workstation, for example, whilst being conveyed from a cross boom to a shrink-wrapping unit. The invention is characterized in that the stack has a blocking arrangement which comprises at least one charging electrode (11, 12) disposed in the conveying direction on both sides adjacent the stack and at least one contact roller (16) above the stack.

The invention relates to a device for forming a stack on a transport table.
A device of this kind is known of itself and serves for example for the stacking of newspapers, magazines, or the like by a so-called cross bar at a shrink station, especially for films.
Under the influence of the staples in the magazines as well as uneven inserts, such stacks of copies of magazines tend to slide or even fall over when they emerge from the cross bar and as they are being transported to the shrink station. Therefore, stacking robots cannot be used downstream from the cross bar since a stack that has slipped cannot be picked up.

Device for forming a stack on a transport table


A navigation device is provided that includes a processor configured to track a path of the navigation device based on a first signal received by the navigation device, and calculate a calculated position of the navigation device based on a second signal different from the first signal. The navigation device may further include a graphical user interface configured to display a calculated position graphical element representing the calculated position determined based on the second signal and display a tracked position graphical element representing the path of the navigation device determined based on the first signal, the tracked position graphical element and the calculated position graphical element being distinguishable in appearance.

Portable electronic devices such as Personal Navigation Devices (PND) are increasingly utilized. A PND includes a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver configured to receive signals from a group of artificial earth satellites called the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The GPS receiver uses the arrival time of signals from four or more satellites to compute the distance to each satellite. From the relative distances the GPS receiver is able to determine its position, and therefore a user's position, using geometry and trigonometry.
In some cases a vehicle may be equipped with a navigation device integrated with the vehicle's dashboard, and with the vehicle's electronics. In other cases a portable PND may be brought into the vehicle, and may or may not receive power from the vehicle's power supply. The detected position of the GPS receiver may be depicted as a graphical element superimposed over a map on a display to help a user navigate. The graphical element may remain more or less in the same location on the display while the regions displayed on the superimposed map adjust as the vehicle moves, illustrating movement of the user across the map.
A problem sometimes arises when one or more of the signals from the GNSS are dropped. This may happen, for example, if the vehicle goes into a tunnel, or travels adjacent one or more tall buildings, thereby blocking the signal(s) from reaching the receiver. As a result, erroneous display of the position of the vehicle on the map may occur, causing the user to become lost, confused, or miss a turn.
Efforts have been made to provide dead reckoning with PNDs by providing a PND with a built-in accelerometer. This approach has several drawbacks. First, this approach typically only provides dead reckoning for a few seconds at a time. In addition, this approach involves a double integration of the sensed acceleration, which causes accumulated errors in speed and distance calculations.


A communication system including a first station having at least two first narrow beam antennas and a second station having at least two second narrow beam antennas. The first and second stations establish a first communication path for wireless communication via a pair of first and second narrow beam antennas. When communication via the first communication path is disturbed by obstacles, the first and second stations automatically establish at least one alternative communication path, which is spatially different from the first communication path, for wireless communication using the at least two first narrow beam antennas and the at least two second narrow beam antennas.

A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
The present invention relates to a communication system comprising the features of the preamble of independent claim 1. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a corresponding communication method.


A first hand-held computing device includes an analog input device and a processor. The analog input device generates analog input. The processor receives the analog input and converts the analog input to coordinates. The processor then maps the coordinates to a button for a second hand-held computing device and generates an event indicating a state of the button for the second hand-held computing device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hand-held computing devices, and more particularly to an analog input mapping for hand-held computing devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hand-held computing devices run various software applications such as address books, browsers, and games. Some examples of these hand-held computing devices are personal digital assistants (PDAs). Most PDAs include buttons that a user can press to input information into or navigate through the software applications. In one example for PALM PDAs from PalmOne Inc. in Milpitas, Calif., the buttons are for a date book, address book, scroll up, scroll down, to-do list, and memo pad. Some mobile phones that run PDA operating systems also include these buttons.
When new hardware functionality is added or developed for a hand-held computing device platform, existing software applications may be incompatible with or do not utilize the new hardware functionality. One problem is that the existing software applications for previous hand-held computing device platforms need to utilize the new hardware functionality in order to provide a large number of software applications for the current hand-held computing device platforms.
Gaming consoles such as the Playstation PS2 by Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. include two analog joysticks in their analog controllers. In order to emulate legacy Atari games, software applications for the PS2 convert the analog input from the analog controller to the Atari's d-pad and button on the joystick. However, these software applications are for gaming consoles and not hand-held computing devices.
What is needed is to utilize new hardware functionality in a current hand-held computing device to emulate a previous hand-held computing device.

Analog input mapping for hand-held computing devices


Methods, apparatuses, and systems related to an apparatus are described. The apparatus may include (1) a fuse array configured to provide non-volatile storage of fuse data and (2) local latches configured to store the fuse data during runtime of the apparatus. The apparatus may further include an error processing circuit configured to determine error detection-correction data for the fuse data. The apparatus may subsequently broadcast data stored in the local latches to the error processing circuit to determine, using the error detection-correction data, whether the locally latched data has been corrupted. The error processing circuit may generate corrected data to replace the locally latched data based on determining corruption in the locally latched data.

An apparatus (e.g., a processor, a memory system, and/or other electronic apparatus) can include one or more semiconductor circuits configured to store and/or process information. For example, the apparatus can include a memory device, such as a volatile memory device, a non-volatile memory device, or a combination device. Memory devices, such as dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), utilize electro-magnetic energy to store and access data.
Technological improvements are often associated with decreases in the physical sizes of the apparatus and/or circuits therein. However, decreasing the physical size often presents new or additional challenges. For example, some memory devices include predetermined information (e.g., failure/repair information, device identifier, etc.) stored in non-volatile memory (e.g., fuses). The information in the non-volatile memory is broadcasted to circuits/portions within the memory devices following designated events like power-on or power-reset events. Various circuits/portions within the memory devices include a set of fuse latches configured to locally load and/or store the broadcasted information. While reducing the size/footprint of each latch may be desirable, such reductions lower a drive capacity for loading to and/or accessing from the information relative to the latch. Accordingly, the amount of charge needed to change the state (e.g., latched voltage levels) of the latch is reduced, which leads to increase in data errors (e.g., soft error rates (SER) caused by the changes in the latched data.

Apparatus with latch correction mechanism and methods for operating the same


A system according to the present invention includes a server and a plurality of apparatuses each incorporating a device. The apparatuses control power supply ON and OFF states of the devices in accordance with an instruction from the server. The server collects pieces of operation state information indicating operation states of the apparatuses from the apparatuses, and groups, based on the collected information, the apparatuses into groups which respectively correspond to different operation states and respectively have different priorities. The server further sends an allowance notification indicating a device power supply allowance to apparatuses which belong to respective groups in descending order of priority taking into consideration a parameter associated with power consumption values of apparatuses to which the device power supply allowance is given. Each apparatus sets the device in a power supply ON state when the allowance notification is received from the server.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for controlling total power consumption of a plurality of apparatuses, and a control method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a need for setting an upper limit of total power consumption of OA equipments which are operating in an office. Especially, such a need has arisen in large-scale offices where there are a large number of electrophotographic image forming apparatuses such as MFPs (Multi Functional Printers), printers, and FAX (facsimile) apparatuses operating. Therefore, there is a need to reduce power consumption, or a limited power supply capability for a power supply equipment.
Conventionally, there is an example in which a total power consumption amount of a large number of apparatuses is estimated, and power supplies of these apparatuses are controlled not to exceed an upper limit value (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-227691). In this example, a server calculates a total power consumption amount of the respective apparatuses, and turns off power supplies of apparatuses with lower operation rates when the upper limit value is exceeded.
On the other hand, an electrophotography image forming apparatus uses a heater to form an image. In order to fix toner powder, which is electrostatically attracted on a print sheet, on the print sheet, the toner is attached to the print sheet under pressure by a high-temperature roller. In order to set the roller to a high temperature, a heater in an MFP consumes an electric power of several hundred to several thousand W (watt). An occupation ratio of power consumption of the heater to that of the overall image forming apparatus is high (for example, 70% to 90%). This ratio depends on the specifications of image forming apparatuses. That is, an apparatus with a higher print speed requires a larger amount of power to be consumed, and the occupation ratio of power consumption of the heater to that of the overall apparatus tends to be higher. Therefore, in an environment in which heaters of a plurality of image forming apparatuses are operating at the same time, a total power consumption amount may assume a large value.
In the heater control, the power supply ON/OFF state of the heater is controlled so as to maintain a target temperature, which is set in advance. As the simplest example of the control method, when the value of a temperature sensor exceeds a given value, the heater is set in a power supply OFF state; when it falls below the given value, the heater is set in a power supply ON state. In a typical MFP, a switching cycle between the power supply ON and OFF states is on the order of several sec to several ten sec, and the MFP consumes an electric power only in the power supply ON state. An average power consumption amount per cycle can be defined by (a power consumption amount in the heater power supply ON state)×(a duty ratio of a current to be supplied to the heater). This duty ratio is a ratio of a power supply ON time period to one switching cycle between the power supply ON and OFF states of the heater. Note that a required electric power tends to be higher as the apparatus requires a higher print speed. This is because the apparatus with a high print speed has a high conveyance speed of a print sheet, and a heat application time period when the heater applies heat to the print sheet to fix an image is short. The required electric power also varies depending on the thickness of a print sheet. Since a heat absorption amount increases with increasing thickness of a print sheet, the required electric power increases.
The duty ratio which decides the average power consumption amount of the MFP depends on the target temperature and current temperature of the heater. Furthermore, the target temperature varies depending on job execution states. Control states of the MFP are classified into, for example, the following four states: a "power supply OFF" state in which the electric power to be supplied to the heater is completely cut off; a "standby" state in which the power supply ON/OFF state of the heater is controlled so that the heater falls within a given temperature range; a "heating" state in which the heater is set in a normally power supply ON state; and a "printing" state of job data.
In a printing apparatus in which the heater control state changes like the aforementioned four states, when the power supply ON/OFF state of the heater is uniquely controlled like in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-227691, a long waiting time period from when the user inputs a print instruction until a print operation is started is often required. The above literature does not consider any change in power consumption of the apparatus depending on the apparatus state. For this reason, although the total power consumption amount exceeds a power supply capability in an office, the number of apparatuses in a power supply ON state increases in some cases.

System for controlling total power consumption of plural apparatuses and control method thereof


A first radio node for uplink and downlink co-scheduling is provided. The first radio node includes processing circuitry containing instructions executable to configure the first radio node to: determine a scheduling restriction for joint uplink and downlink scheduling based on passive intermodulation (PIM) generated during simultaneous uplink and downlink communications where the uplink communications corresponds to communications from a second radio node to the first radio node, and perform communications according to the scheduling restriction.

External passive intermodulation (PIM) may occur when one or multiple base station/first radio node antennas transmit one or multiple signals in one or multiple frequencies, and those signals interact in a non-linear manner with a structure in a propagation environment. This interaction may generate an interfering signal, at a possibly different frequency from the transmitted frequency(ies), which may radiate out of the passive PIM source (referred to as PIM source). This process may be referred to as the "rusty bolt" effect due to junctions of different materials/metals such as the un-rusted bolt portion and the rusted bolt portion that may cause PIM. In other words, in some examples, the mechanical components of the wireless communication system itself, such as rusty bolts, may become PIM sources, although other structures in the propagation environment may also become PIM sources. These PIM sources may generate interfering signal(s) that may interfere with reception of an intended wireless signal at a receiver such as a first radio node receiver. One existing manner of handling external PIM is to detect that a PIM problem exists, and to send a highly skilled technician to an antenna site to clean the antenna site to make sure that any "rusty bolt" or other component that might contribute to PIM is removed, repaired, tightened and/or replaced. This approach is very costly.
Further, when the number of antennas involved in the PIM generation is relatively small, it may be computationally feasible to attempt to reconstruct an estimated interfering PIM signal such as by using an estimated PIM channel and known transmitted signals. PIM interference cancellation may then be performed using the reconstructed estimated interfering PIM signal. However, when a quantity of antennas is too high, the numerical complexity becomes too high such as to render estimated interfering PIM reconstruction impractical and/or unfeasible, hence rendering this manner of PIM interference cancellation unfeasible.

Uplink-downlink co-scheduling with beam control and passive intermodulation awareness


A method of manufacturing a flash memory device includes providing a substrate having an insulating layer, a first mask layer over the insulating layer, a second mask layer over the first mask layer, a first photoresist pattern over the second mask layer, the first photoresist pattern having a first pitch. A material layer is provided over the first photoresist pattern. The material layer is etched to convert the material layer into a material layer pattern having a second pitch that is less than the first pitch. The second hard mask layer is etched using the material layer pattern to form a second hard mask layer pattern that extends along a first direction. A second photoresist pattern is etched, the second photoresist pattern defining a first region that is not exposed and a second region that is exposed, the second region extending along a second direction that is orthogonal to the first direction. The first hard mask layer is etched using the second photoresist pattern to form a first hard mask layer pattern having an angular shape.

The present invention relates to flash memory devices and, more particularly to a method of manufacturing a flash memory device in which a contact plug used to an upper line and a lower line is formed to have an angular shape (e.g., rectangular-like shape).
As the design rule of devices decreases, the following may occur in the process of forming the drain contact hole.
First, in the process of forming the drain contact hole using a rectangular mask, the drain contact hole becomes circular due to exposure properties, such as a proximity effect and aberration.
Second, the circular drain contact hole formed above can be difficult to control the roughness near the edge portion of the contact hole. Thus, the uniformity among the drain contact holes may be difficult to obtain.
Third, in the drain contact hole having a circular shape, bias control in the long axis and the short axis can be difficult.
Fourth, an etch process may not be properly performed when the drain contact hole is formed in a circular shape in sub-100 nm design due to the limit of the resolution of exposure equipment employing a source such as ArF or KrF.

Method of manufacturing flash memory device


Media devices may stream content from content delivery networks. Described herein are systems, devices, and methods for selecting nodes to improve content streaming. A selection server may select a node based on destination metrics provided by the media device. The destination metrics may include a variety of information such as information about the latency associated with the video stream, the bandwidth between the media device and the streaming node, or the throughput associated with the video stream. The selection server may compare the destination metrics with source metrics to determine which node to select.

Media devices may stream content from content delivery networks. Streaming content consumes resources such as hardware resources and network bandwidth resources. As the demand for the performance of video streaming changes, the resources needed to meet the demand changes. Because the demand for the performance of the data processing tasks changes, providing an efficient amount of resources needed to meet the changing demand becomes challenging.
Certain implementations and embodiments will now be described more fully below with reference to the accompanying figures, in which various aspects are shown. However, various aspects may be implemented in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the implementations set forth herein. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

Systems and methods for selecting a node for media streaming


A cable strand end fitting includes a housing adapted to be attached to a mounting member and having a passageway extending therethrough. The cable strand end fitting also includes a screw member including a passageway extending therethrough, whereby a strand extends through the passageway and has a retainer member which abuts the screw member. The cable strand end fitting includes a structure for adjusting the tension in the strand.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to cable end fittings and more particularly, to a cable end fitting for adjusting the tension in a strand.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cable strand end fittings are typically mounted on a mounting post of a carburetor or throttle body for an engine. A strand of a motion control cable extends through the end fitting and has a member staked onto the end of the strand to prevent the strand from exiting the end fitting. However, there is no adjustment mechanism on the end fitting to allow the slack or tension in the strand to be varied or adjusted.
Positioning devices have been used in the past to position an end of a conduit for a motion control cable. An example of such a positioning device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,221 to Kobayashi. This patented positioning device included an inner cable slidably disposed within a conduit and a screw member secured to the end of the conduit. An outer fitting is secured to an engagement plate and has a threaded passage. The screw member engages the threaded passage in the outer fitting to position the conduit relative to the outer fitting.
One problem of the above patented positioning device is that the conduit is adjusted and not the strand or cable. Another problem with the positioning device is that a spring is used to prevent rotation between the screw member and outer fitting. A further problem is that the positioning device is costly to manufacture.


Electronic article surveillance system includes an antenna system comprised of two or more of resonant circuits. Each resonant circuit includes an exciter coil having at least one wire turn aligned on a common coil axis. A transmitter is coupled to the antenna system and is arranged to generate an antenna system composite exciter signal. The composite exciter signal is comprised of a plurality of co-exciter signals having the same predetermined frequency. The composite exciter signal is capable of exciting an EAS security tag when applied to the antenna system. The transmitter has two or more transmitter output ports, each independently coupled to one of the plurality of resonant circuits. Each of the plurality of co-exciter signals is respectively provided separately from a transmitter output port to one of the of resonant circuits.

1. Statement of the Technical Field
The inventive arrangements relate to Electronic Article Surveillance ("EAS") systems, and more particularly to EAS systems that are compliant with certain applicable safety standards.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic article surveillance (EAS) systems generally comprise an interrogation antenna for transmitting an electromagnetic signal into an interrogation zone, markers which respond in some known electromagnetic manner to the interrogation signal, an antenna for detecting the response of the marker, a signal analyzer for evaluating the signals produced by the detection antenna, and an alarm which indicates the presence of a marker in the interrogation zone. The alarm can then be the basis for initiating one or more appropriate responses depending upon the nature of the facility. Typically, the interrogation zone is in the vicinity of an exit from a facility such as a retail store, and the markers can be attached to articles such as items of merchandise or inventory.
One type of EAS system utilizes acousto-magnetic (AM) markers. The general operation of an AM EAS system is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,510,489 and 4,510,490, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference. The detection of markers in an acousto-magnetic (AM) EAS system frequently involves use of opposing pedestals placed at an exit. Each pedestal can contain an exciter coil in the form of an inductor type loop antenna comprising one or more loops of wire. A pedestal used in EAS can have a single antenna exciter coil or multiple antenna exciter coils. For example, upper and lower antenna exciter coils are sometimes used. The coils can be fed in series or in parallel by applying an EAS marker tag exciter signal. Multiple coils pedestal antenna systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,587,489 and 5,627,516. Other types of EAS systems are known to embed the antenna in the floor in the area of an exit. These types of floor mounted coil systems are sometimes desirable for aesthetic reasons.
Markers are generally detected within a detection zone. When an exciter signal is applied to an EAS antenna in a first pedestal it will generate an electro-magnetic field of sufficient intensity so as to excite markers within the detection zone. In pedestal type systems a second pedestal will generally include an antenna having a main antenna field directed toward the detection zone (and toward the first pedestal). An exciter signal applied at the second pedestal will also generate an electromagnetic field with sufficient intensity so as to excite markers within the detection zone. When a marker tag is excited in the detection zone, it will generate an electromagnetic signal which can usually be detected by receiving the signal at the antennas.
In EAS systems that are used in European countries, it is always desirable (and many times required) that the systems have Limited Power Source (LPS) output circuits designed in accordance with International Electrotechnical Commission standard IEC/EN 60950-1 which concerns safety of information technology equipment. Output circuits designed in accordance with this standard will meet the requirements for NEC Class 2 circuits. This standard, which is established by the IEC, gives a measurement of how safe these outputs are. One of the requirements of the LPS outputs is that the peak output voltage not to exceed 42.4 Volts.

Method to drive an antenna coil maintaining limited power source output


An image forming apparatus is provided with a modulator producing a modulated signal of a pulse width decided on given image data and a driver driving an optical generator such as laser to generate a light beam. The image forming apparatus is further provided with a scanner periodically scanning the light beam generated by the optical generator and a power detector detecting information indicative of a power of the light beam scanned by the scanner. A pulse width adjustor uses the information detected by the power detector, in order to adjust the pulse width of the light beam.

1. Technical Filed of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light beam scanning apparatus and an image forming apparatus, and in particular, to a light beam scanning apparatus in which a plurality of light beams, such as laser beams, are used to scan a single image carrying member for exposure thereof in forming an electrostatic latent image on the image carrying member and an image forming apparatus with this laser light scanning apparatus therein.
2. Related Art
Recently, a various-types of imaging forming apparatuses, such as digital copying machines and laser printers, have been developed and are now already in practical use, in which exposure scanning using a laser light beam (hereinafter, simply called "light beams") is combined with an electrophotography process to form images.
In the field of image forming apparatuses, there has recently been a stronger demand for forming images at higher speeds. As one means for responding to this demand, a multi-beam type of digital copying machine has been developed. This multi-beam technique enables a plurality of light beams to be generated to perform simultaneous scans along plural lines. Specifically, a plurality of semiconductor lasers are used to output plural light beams each guided to a photosensitive drum through reflections at several optical systems, and are scanned along the drum. In the image forming apparatuses each employing the multi-beam technique, pulse width modulation circuits, which produce drive signals by performing pulse width modulation (PWM) depending on image data, are disposed in driving paths for the plurality of semiconductor lasers, respectively.
On the other hand, a single-beam technique, which uses only one light beam for scanning, but is still able to cope with faster image formation, has been known as well. Examples based on this technique include the configuration disclosed by Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-168425. In this configuration, a single laser oscillator generating a scanning light beam is disposed and a plurality of transfer channels to the laser oscillator are formed to transfer image data thereto. Practically, a data processor is provided, in which image data supplied from a scanner section are subjected to predetermined image processing and digital image data of each line are distributed and outputted into two strings of image data (two data channels): a string of image data at odd-number-th pixels (called "odd pixels") and a string of image data at even-number-th pixels (called "even pixels"). This data processor further includes two serially connected circuits each having a pulse width modulation circuit and a driver, which process the image data composing each string. Both the laser drivers, each belonging to each data channel, have output terminals electrically connected to the single laser oscillator via, for example, a wired logical add (OR) circuit. In this circuitry, timings at which both the pulse width modulation circuits for the odd and even pixels output modulated signals respectively are mutually shifted by half an operation cycle of this circuit. This allows the pulse width modulation circuits to output the modulated signals at a speed which is double as fast as a maximum rated operation speed of each pulse width modulation circuit, thus forming images faster.
However, in any of the foregoing multi-beam and single-beam techniques, two or more pulse width modulation circuits are absolutely necessary. In particular, in the case of the multi-beam technique, two or more sets of circuits each including a pulse width modulation circuit, driver and laser are absolutely necessary. This means that there is larger influence of individual differences of the components. That is, even if instructions of the same amount are given, there are hardly provided PWM-modulated drive signals of the same pulse width, due to various factors such as individual differences of the pulse width modulation circuits, differences of positions at which light beams pass lenses, and errors in transmittance. That is, even though the same command values are given, accuracy in scanning is forced to be lowered and deterioration in the quality of images to be formed is inevitable as well. The above-said drawbacks due to the individual differences invite an increase in the rate of an error per dot, as the speed of the image forming operation becomes faster.

Light beam scanning apparatus and image forming apparatus


Computer-implemented systems and methods for building a database of bales of cotton available for sale, and for electronic commerce of bales of cotton. A fiber quality measurement instrument located in a cotton gin provides fiber quality data substantially concurrently with the making up of cotton into individual bales. The fiber quality measurement instrument is connected through a communications network, such as the internet, for uploading fiber quality data to a database storage device. For electronic commerce, a search engine is connected via the communications network to interrogate the database to select bales having fiber qualities within specified ranges for a candidate buyer.

The invention relates generally to the marketing of cotton and, more particularly, to computer-implemented systems and methods for facilitating electronic commerce in cotton employing a database of bale identifications and associated fiber quality data.
Electronic commerce in cotton is known and currently practiced, with well-accepted advantages. One example of a system, implemented by Plains Cotton Cooperative Association, in Lubbock, Tex., is disclosed in Lindsey et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,383. In addition, the Staple Cotton Cooperative Association, headquartered in Greenwood, Miss., is currently engaged in electronic commerce of cotton employing a database.
Currently, whether cotton is subject to electronic commerce or not, harvested cotton is brought to a cotton gin. The gin processes the cotton, including removing seeds. Near the end of the process, the cotton enters a bale press, where the ginned cotton is compressed into bales. Each bale of cotton has dimensions of approximately 2×3×5 feet (60×90×150 cm), and a net weight of approximately 480 pounds (220 kg). Each bale is tagged with a Permanent Bale Identification (PBI) number, employing bar code technology, and then transported to a warehouse, or other storage facility.
Before the cotton can be marketed, the fiber quality must be measured. Cotton fiber quality is currently measured, or classified, by comparing either human or instrumental measurements of unknown samples to observations of or measurements on so-called cotton standards. Valuations of the cotton commodity, in transactions between willing sellers and willing buyers, typically either on a bale-by-bale basis or in fifty- to one hundred-bale lots, depend upon these classing measurements. Similarly, allocations and shipments and, ultimately, utilizations, depend upon these human and instrumental measurements of fiber qualities.
Thus, at the gin's bale press or, in some cases, at an on-site or off-site warehouse, samples are cut from two sides of each bale and are sent to a classing office (actually, a laboratory) to measure the fiber quality for purposes mentioned just above. These samples are referred to herein as bale classing samples. In the United States, the quality of a producer's cotton is determined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Marketing Service (USDA AMS). The USDA classing offices employ High Volume Instruments (HVIs) to measure the fiber qualities known as Micronaire, Length, Strength and Color. Human classer "measurements" are typically employed for the fiber quality known as Trash. In the United States, there are approximately eleven USDA classing offices, to which about 17,000,000 bale samples are sent for classing each year.
Cotton is an important commodity in world trade, and is bought and sold on the basis of US cents/pound for given fiber qualities. Fiber qualities are determined by cotton classing. Cotton classing in other countries typically uses USDA standard materials for both instrumental and human measurements, but the parties responsible for the classing function vary widely from country to country.
Accordingly, there is an inherent delay, typically around four days (two days for sample transportation, and two days for laboratory turnaround), between when a bale is produced at the gin and when fiber quality data are available so the bale can be marketed. This is so even in the cases of the electronic commerce systems implemented by Plains Cotton Cooperative Association and Staple Cotton Cooperative Association mentioned above. One adverse result of this delay is that physically relatively large warehouse and storage areas must be located at cotton gins or elsewhere in order to absorb (in effect, buffer) bales after they are made up but before their fiber qualities are known.
Moreover, since the fiber qualities of bales are not known prior to being transported to warehouses, bales having similar fiber qualities, and likely subsequently to be purchased as a lot once the fiber quality has been determined, are frequently scattered randomly about the warehouse or storage area. Later, when a lot of bales having similar fiber qualities is to be assembled for delivery to a buyer, a substantial and time-consuming effort may be devoted to physically locating and selecting the individual bales. Currently, it can cost US $5.00 or more per bale for random retrieval to locate and pick up a particular bale. A related adverse result of the delay in the availability of fiber quality data is that it is difficult for bales leaving the bale press and being transported to the warehouse or other storage facility to be designated for a particular buyer.


A method which, in response to an alerting signal from a source, manages a data transfer from the source, via a communications link, to at least two terminals coupled with the communications link. The method (a) dynamically designates one of the at least two terminals as a token terminal, (b) generates an acknowledgment signal with the token terminal, and (c) terminates the communications link during the data transfer with the token terminal. The dynamic designation of the token terminal is performed by (a) assigning a time delay for each of the terminals, and (b) determining, with each of the terminals, after the assigned time delay, whether the terminal will accept the data transfer from the source based on a condition of the communications link.

a. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns in-band signaling in a voice communications network and, in particular, concerns handshaking between customer premises equipment (CPE) and a switching system to facilitate the communication of in-band data, such as caller identity information for example.
b. Related Art
.sctn. 1.1 Caller ID
Many regional bell operating companies ("RBOCs") and other telephone service providers (collectively referred to as "TELCOs") have provided enhanced telephone services. One such enhanced service is Calling Number Delivery ("CND"). Basically, when a customer having Calling Number Delivery service and compatible equipment receives signals (e.g., ringing patterns) indicating an incoming call, the TELCO will transmit data which identifies the party calling between the ringing pattern signals. While the customer's equipment is on-hook, the information regarding the identity of the calling party is provided (e.g., via LCD display) to the customer. Thus, the customer can decide whether or not to answer the call based on the identity of the calling party. The physical layer, data link layer, and message assembly layer requirements of the Calling Number Delivery data are known to those skilled in the art and described in the Bellcore Generic Requirements entitled, LSSGR: Voiceband Data Transmission Interface Section 6.6, GR-30-CORE, Issue 1 (December 1994) (hereinafter referred to as "GR-30-CORE" and incorporated herein by reference). In general, if the customer's line goes off-hook during data transmission, the data transmission is pre-empted or stopped and normal call completion treatment is executed.
.sctn.1.1.1 CID On-Hook Data Transmission Protocol
As discussed briefly above, when a CID compliant CPE is on-hook, data identifying the caller is transmitted between the first and second power ringing patterns. For example, as shown in the known method of FIG. 1A, data may be transmitted during a time 104 starting 0.5 to 1.5 seconds (t.sub.1) after a first ringing pattern 102 and ending at least 200 ms (t.sub.2) before a second ringing pattern 106. If power ringing patterns are not provided, the data may be transmitted after an Open Switching Interval ("OSI") and a silent interval. For example, as shown in the known method of FIG. 1B, a time period for data transmission 154 follows a 150 to 350 ms OSI 152, and a 300 ms silent period t.sub.3. In general, if the line goes off-hook during data transmission, the data transmission is pre-empted or stopped and normal call completion treatment is executed.
.sctn.1.2 Caller Identity Delivery on Call Waiting
.sctn.1.2.1 Purpose of CIDCW
Most TELCOs offer enhanced caller ID services such as Calling Identity Delivery on Call Waiting ("CIDCW") for example. If a customer has Calling Identity Delivery on Call Waiting service and compatible equipment, when they are off-hook and connected with a second party ("the far-end party") and a third party ("the waited party") calls the customer, following a handshaking protocol, the customer is alerted to the fact that the third party is waiting and is provided (e.g., via LCD display) with information regarding the identity of the waiting third party. Thus, the customer may chose to ignore the waited third party, or put the far-end second party on hold and establish a connection with the waited third party, etc. based on the provided identity information.
.sctn.1.2.2 Devices for Facilitating CIDCW
As mentioned above, TELCOs offer different services to their customers. However, to use such services or to fully exploit such services, the customers need compliant equipment at their premises. Although different types and classes of customer premises equipment ("CPE") are known to those skilled in the art and described in the Bellcore Special Report entitled, Classes of Customer Premises Equipment, SR-INS-002726, Issue 1 (August 1993) (hereinafter referred to as "SR-INS-002726" and incorporated herein by reference), relevant classes of Customer Premises Equipment will be described below for the reader's convenience.
Type 1 Customer Premises Equipment can receive and interpret on-hook data transmissions which use the single data message format ("SDMF") and the multiple data message format ("MDMF") and supports Calling Number Delivery, Calling Name Delivery, and Visual Message Waiting Indicator services. (SDMF and MDMF are defined in GR-30-CORE.) In addition to supporting the services supported by Type 1 CPE, Type 2 Customer Premises Equipment can receive and interpret off-hook data transmissions which use the multiple data message format ("MDMF"). Thus, Type 2 CPE can further support Calling Identity Delivery on Call Waiting services. Finally, in addition to supported the services supported by Type 1 and Type 2 CPE, Type 3 CPE conform with the Analog Display Service Interface ("ADSI") and protocol and further supports ADSI Server Display Control and Feature Download services, as well as ADSI-based Visual Features services such as Visual Screening List Editing, Call Waiting Deluxe, and Visual access to information services such as directory, home banking, etc.
.sctn.1.2.3 Basic Operation of CIDCW
As discussed above, both Type 2 and Type 3 CPEs support Caller Identity Delivery on Call Waiting (CIDCW) service. Although the data transmission protocol for the CIDCW service is known to those skilled in the art and described in GR-30-CORE, a high level description of the data transmission protocol is provided below for the reader's convenience.
As discussed above, customers having CID (or CIDCW) service and compatible equipment can receive information identifying a waited party while that customer is off-hook. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a third party (waited party) 212 may call an off-hook first party (CIDCW customer) 204 having an established connection 206, 220, 208, via a central office switch 202, with a second party (far-end party) 210. The central office switch 202 (e.g., a stored program controlled switching system or "SPCS") should alert the CIDCW customer 204 that a call is waiting and should inform the CIDCW customer 204 of the identity of the waited party 212. Although the process for alerting and informing the CIDCW customer 204 is known to those skilled in the art and described in GR-30-Core, it is explained below with reference to FIGS. 3, 4A, and 4B for the reader's convenience.
FIGS. 4A and 4B are timing diagrams which represent signaling from a central office switch 202 (e.g., an SPCS) to a CIDCW party 204. FIG. 3 illustrates the CAS-ACK handshake and call waiting data transmission between the central office switch 202 and the CIDCW party 204. The timing diagrams are not necessarily to scale.
FIG. 4A is a timing diagram of a successful attempt by the central office switch to transmit caller identification data to the CIDCW party 204. First, as shown in time period 402, the central office switch 202 may create an open switching interval (OSI) during which the DC voltage between the tip and ring of a line is removed, thereby temporarily suspending line supervision and transmission. This time period 402 is optional and preferably lasts between 0 and 300 ms. Next, as shown in time period 404, the central office switch 202 mutes the far end party 210 before generating an alerting sequence on the line. Next, as shown in time period 406 and in FIG. 3, the central office switch 202 places a subscriber alerting signal ("TSAS") onto the line. The SAS is an audible signal which alerts the CIDCW party 204 that a caller is waiting. The SAS preferably occurs within a 250 ms to 1 second window 406. After a transition time 408 of, for example, 0 to 50 ms, the central office switch 202 provides a CPE alerting signal (CAS) to the CIDCW party 204, as shown in time period 410 and FIG. 3. The time window 410 is preferably between 80 and 85 ms.
During an acknowledgment time-out period 412, the central office switch 202 waits for an acknowledgment signal (ACK) from the CIDCW party 204. The time-out period 412 is preferably between 155 ms and 165 ms. The timing diagram of FIG. 4A illustrates the time periods following the receipt of an acknowledgment signal from the CIDCW party 204 during the time-out period 412 (i.e., a successful handshake). After an optional transition period 414 of, for example, 50 ms to 500 ms, the central office provides the caller identity data (encoded in frequency shift keying ("FSK")) to the CIDCW party 204 during time period 416. After an optional OSI time period 418 and an optional delay to voice path period 420, the voice path between the CIDCW party 204 and the far-end party 210 is restored. That is, the central office switch 202 un-mutes the far-end party. As shown in the timing diagram of FIG. 4B if an acknowledgment signal from the CIDCW party 204 is not received during the time-out period 412 (i.e., an unsuccessful handshake), then, after an optional OSI time period 418 and an optional delay to voice path period 420, the voice path between the CIDCW party 204 and the far-end party 210 is restored.
.sctn.1.3 Problems and/or Constraints with CIDCW
Problems may arise when, as shown in FIG. 5, multiple extensions (referred to as pieces of customer premises equipment or "CPEs") 502 share a CIDCW party's 204 line 206. More specifically, caller identity data, encoded as FSK data, is "in-band" data. That is, the FSK data is within the voice band of the connection 206, 220, 208. If a single Type 2 or Type 3 CPE is provided on the line 206, then the CPE will mute its transmit (talk) and receive (listen) paths so that the user of the CPE does not hear annoying FSK in-band data transmissions and so that the speech of the user of the CPE does not interface with FSK detection. However, if the line 206 is provided with more than one CPE 502, then the CAS-ACK handshake and the FSK data transmission becomes much more complicated.
If a Type 1 CPE is off-hook when a CAS is received, an acknowledgment signal ACK is not sent because Type 1 CPEs are not intelligent enough to mute their transmit and receive paths in response to a CAS. Moreover, if more than one Type 2 or Type 3 CPEs are concurrently off-hook when a CAS is received, only one of the CPEs should provide an acknowledgment ACK signal. Otherwise, the multiple acknowledgment signals ACK may distort the acknowledgment handshake to such an extent that detection of the acknowledgment signal ACK by the central office switch 202 is precluded. In such instances, the central office switch 202 will not provide the caller identity data. Finally, Type 2 and Type 3 CPEs transmit different acknowledgment signals ACK in response to a detected CAS. Since the functionality of Type 3 CPEs supersedes that of Type 2 CPEs, if both a Type 2 and a Type 3 CPE are concurrently off-hook when a CAS is received, only the Type 3 CPE should respond with an acknowledgment signal ACK.
.sctn.1.4 Flash Signals
After a successful CAS-ACK handshake and an FSK caller identity data transmission, the voice path is reestablished as described above with reference to FIG. 4A. A CPE 502 may provide a flash signal (i.e., an on-hook line condition for a predetermined period of time) to the central office switch 202 to activate a feature specific option. Basically, a flash signal causes the central office switch 202 to place the current far end party 210 on hold and connects the waited party 212 to the CIDCW party 204. A subsequent flash signal causes the central office switch 202 to connect the held party 210 to the CIDCW party 204 and to place the originally waited party 212 on hold.
.sctn.1.4.1 Constraints with Flash Signaling
When a line 206 is provided with multiple CPEs 502, all off-hook CPEs, except one, must return to the on-hook condition so that the one CPE can generate a flash hook signal on the line.
.sctn.1.5 Related Patents and Their Problems and/or Limitations
U.S. Pat. No. 5,263,084 ("the Chaput et al patent") discusses a CIDCW system in which an acknowledgment signal is not provided if any extensions of a CIDCW party are off-hook. However, the Chaput et al patent does not describe a system which considers whether the CIDCW compliant CPEs are of different types (e.g., Type 2 and Type 3) and does not specify how an off-hook condition is determined. Moreover, the system discussed in the Chaput et al patent apparently will not provide an acknowledgment signal if any extension is off-hook. Furthermore, the Chaput et al patent does not address and describe flash signaling when multiple extensions are off-hook.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,924 ("the Lewis patent") discusses a system in which multiple conforming CPEs ("CCPEs") (e.g., Type 2 or Type 3 CPEs) share a single line. In response to a CAS signal, each of the CCPEs goes on-hook. A primary CPE then goes off-hook and transmits an acknowledgment signal to the central office. After the caller identity data is received by the CCPEs, the CCPEs go off-hook, the primary CCPE goes on hook, and all CCPEs display the caller identity information. If any non-conforming CPEs ("NCPEs") (e.g., Type 1 CPEs) are off-hook, the primary CCPE does not go off-hook to transmit the acknowledgment signal. Unfortunately, in the system discussed in the Lewis patent, the primary CCPE is apparently predetermined. Thus, any added CCPEs may not be designated as a primary CCPE. Furthermore, if the primary CCPE fails, the system will not work. Finally, the system discussed in the Lewis patent apparently does not distinguish between different types of CCPEs (e.g., Type 2, Type 3, etc.).

Methods and apparatus for managing an in-band data transmission via a communications link shared by multiple terminals