A system and method for providing program guide information to subscribers is disclosed. In one embodiment, the method is applied to a satellite broadcasting system having a first satellite broadcasting a first signal having a first set of program material and first program guide information describing at least a portion of said set of program material, and a second satellite broadcasting a second signal having a second set of program material and second program guide information describing at least a portion of said second set of program material, wherein the first broadcast signal and the second broadcast signal each include service channels uniquely described by a service channel identifier. The method comprises the steps of mapping at least a portion of the first program guide information to a first service channel of the first broadcast signal; mapping at least a portion of the second program guide information to a second service channel of the first broadcast signal, wherein the second service channel is logically offset from the first service channel; and transmitting the first signal to the subscriber.

1. Field of the Invention
The preferred embodiment relates to systems and methods for providing video program material to subscribers, and in particular to a method and system for providing extended program guides to subscribers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Television programs are distributed to viewers by a variety of broadcasting methods. These methods include traditional analog broadcast television (National Television Systems Committee or "NTSC" standard), the upcoming digital broadcast television (Advanced Television Systems Committee or "ATSC" standard), cable television (both analog and digital), satellite broadcasting (both analog and digital), as well as other methods. These methods allow channels of television content to be multiplexed and transmitted over a common transmission medium.
In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for video distribution systems to provide more program channels. In digital satellite systems, this may be accomplished in many ways. One way of increasing the number of available channels is to increase the compression or decrease the error correction provided in the broadcast signal of existing satellites. Another way of increasing the number of available channels is to increase the bandwidth of the downlink from the satellite to the subscribers' receivers. Unfortunately, this technique is difficult to accomplish with existing (legacy) satellites and in a way that is compatible with existing (legacy) receivers.
As a result, video distribution systems have evolved to include additional satellites to broadcast additional program material to subscribers. Typically, satellites broadcasting these enhanced services are deployed in geosynchronous orbits in orbital locations proximate to those of the legacy satellites. This allows a single antenna to receive signals from both satellites with little or no physical scanning.
Electronic program guides for television programming are known in the art. Such program guides typically include a viewer channel number that identifies the stream of television content offered by a content provider and a description of each media program associated with the channel number. Program guide information is typically transmitted along with the television content, and typically also includes schedule information for display on users' televisions. The schedule information informs users what television programs are currently on, and what television programs will be shown in the near future.
Providing electronic program guides for the additional viewer channels carried by the multiple satellite video distribution system has become problematic. Typically, each satellite used in such systems transmits program guide information describing only those viewer channels carried by the satellite, and do so at regular and frequent intervals (e.g. every 5 seconds). This allows a new subscriber to receive program guide information for the satellite they are tuned to within a short period of time after setting up and activating the receiver station. However this has its disadvantages. Most notably, in multiple-satellite video distribution systems, when the subscriber requests program guide information regarding a viewer channel broadcast by a different satellite than the currently tuned viewer channel, the subscriber can experience a delay of several seconds before the next transmission of the program guide information is received and the information can be displayed.
For example, the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,550,576 and 5,923,362, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein, disclose a system wherein a coordinator at the subscriber location collects program guide information from a number of sources and sorts and merges the program guide information into a single guide. However this solution requires multiple tuners to simultaneously receive program guide information from two separate satellites or the above-described delay will result when switching from one program source to another.
It is possible to simply repeat the program guide information from all satellites on one channel. Such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,072,983, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein. However, the system described in the '983 patent either requires additional downlink bandwidth or must extend the period of time between program guide updates. It also wastes bandwidth by presenting program guide information about viewer channels which are unreceivable by subscribers with legacy receivers.
What is needed is a method and apparatus to integrate program guide information for media programs broadcast by a plurality of satellites, and to provide such program guide information only to media subscribers who are capable of receiving the viewer channels described by the integrated program guide without wasting bandwidth or providing the program information on a delayed basis. The preferred embodiment satisfies that need.

Method and apparatus for providing non-resident program guide information to a media subscriber


A copy command corresponding to a SCSI protocol is issued from a host computer 101 to a destination data recorder 102r through a SCSI bus 76. The recorder 102r that has received the copy command from the host 101 sends a one-byte read command corresponding to the SCSI protocol to a source data recorder 102t. If the size of a block to be sent is not one byte, the difference is sent as an error byte to the source recorder 102t.

At present time, as the capacity of data to be processed increases, the necessity for a data recording apparatus that records data on a magnetic tape is increasing. Unlike with a disk type recording medium, data is almost sequentially recorded on a magnetic tape type recording medium.
Now, assume an example that there are two tape streamers and that data is exchanged therebetween (for example, data is copied therebetween). As a prevailing method performed a the present time, data is copied between the two tap streamers through a host computer as shown in FIG. 20. When data is copied from a data recording device (hereinafter referred to as a device) 202 to a device 203, he host computer 200 reads data from the device 20 and stores the data to a buffer memory (not shown) of the host computer 200 through a bus 201. The host computer 200 causes the data stored in the buffer memory to be sent to the device 203 through the bus 201 and then the data to be written to a record medium of the device 203.
As another method, a protocol such as the SCSI system that has a data copy command in the command system is known. When data is copied from a device 206 to a device 205 corresponding to the protocol, as shown in FIG. 21, a host computer 204 causes a copy command to be sent to the device 205 through a SCSI bus 207. The device 205 that has received the copy command sends a read command to the device 206. Thus, data stored in the device 206 is automatically sent to the device 205 through the SCSI bus 207 and then written to a record medium of the device 205.
In the copying method using the host computer, since data is sent through the memory of the host computer, the memory resource of the computer and the CPU resource for data input/output commands are wasted. In addition, since data flows in the bus twice, the transmission rate of the data becomes around 1/2. Moreover, since the process speeds of the devices are satisfactorily high, the process speeds of data that is input/output to/from the host computer affect the data transmission speeds.
Furthermore, data is sent with an unit named a block. The block is a set of data with a predetermined size. A file is composed of a plurality of blocks. When data is sent through the host computer, the block size of the data is restricted by for example the size of the buffer memory of the host computer. Thus, the image of a data block on the copy source side becomes different from the image of a data block on the copy destination side. Consequently, an application that uses a block image of a file is adversely affected.
On the other hand, in the case that the protocol that has a data copy command in the command system as with the above-described SCSI system, the problems involved in the method using the host computer (for example, the problems of the waste of the CPU resources and the data transmission speeds) are solved. However, in this case, a block image cannot be stored as it is.
Devices that perform a copy operation are for example a block device (such as a disk unit) and a sequential device (such as a magnetic tape unit). In the block device, logical blocks of data are controlled as the conception of sectors. Thus, the block size is fixed. When data is copied between devices with the same sector length, it is not necessary to consider the block size. In other words, when data is copied between block devices such as disk units, a sector image is simply copied as in many real examples.
On the other hand, in the sequential device, data is recorded as variable length blocks. In other words, the amount of data being recorded varies block by block. As an example, 100 bytes of data, 50 bytes of data, and 1024 bytes of data are recorded in the first data block, the second data block, and the third data block, respectively. The images of blocks vary corresponding to the sizes of data. Thus, when data is copied by sequential devices, it is difficult to handle the variable length blocks.
When data is sent in a computer system, only data is sent. However, management data such as a data size and a block size is not sent. Thus, the data receiving side should create such management data. Since the sequential device cannot determine the block size unless it has read all data because data is sent as variable length blocks, the data may not be correctly sent.
For example, assume a device that has a plurality of data regions and a plurality of block management tables in the buffer memory as shown in FIG. 22. In addition, assume that a block management table stores for example a data start position, information that represents whether or not the data is at the beginning or in the middle of a particular block, the length of data managed by the table, and the full size of blocks. In particular, after all blocks have been sent, the information of the size of all blocks is obtained. Corresponding to the information stored in the block management table, the structure of the entire blocks of data stored in individual data regions is obtained.
In this structure, when a block excluding the block management table is written to the buffer memory, the block can be correctly restored corresponding to information written to the block management table.
However, when blocks that exceed the buffer size are written (namely, when the block size exceeds the buffer size), as shown in FIG. 23, before the block management table is created, the data is sent from the buffer. In addition, even if the block size is smaller than the buffer size, as shown in FIG. 24, when blocks are partly stored in the data region, the similar situation takes place. In this example, when blocks that are larger than 2/5 of the buffer size are sent, the buffer gets overflowed. Thus, before the block management table is created, the data is sent.
This is because data to be sent is composed of variable length blocks, unless all data has been read, the block size cannot be obtained and the available buffer size cannot be assured. Thus, when data is sent from the buffer before the block management table is created, data cannot be accurately restored.

Apparatus and method for copying data between tape streamers which provides an indication of a difference in the amount of data requested to be copied and the amount of data sent


The invention relates to a liquid preparation containing 1,2-benzoisothiazoline-3-one (BIT) and amines and optionally containing additional solvents and common additives, and containing as amine one or more amines having the general formula ##STR1## wherein R represents a straight-chained or branched alkyl or alkylene radical having 10 to 14 C atoms; n+m has a value of 4 to 12 and neither n nor m can be zero. The liquid composition, in an amount of at least 0.05 to 0.3% (by weight), can be used in products which contain water or can be diluted with water such as dispersions of synthetic materials, emulsion paints, adhesives, paper-coating materials, textile softening agents, sizing agents, surfactants, detergents, cleaning and polishing agents, spinning baths, coolants or metal working fluids, leather auxiliaries, and silicone and bitumen emulsions, as agent against material destruction caused by microbes.

The 1,2-benzoisothiazoline-3-one (BIT) has been known as anti-microbially active substance and is used as preservative in technical applications or, in general, as an additive which is suitable to counteract material destruction ("Mikromatz", in german) caused by microbes. To make this compound available in a convenient preparation that can be metered easily, an aqueous dispersion may be prepared with the crude BIT obtained during synthesis. Such dispersions, however, are not stable when stored and will settle in the course of time. GB Patent 11 91 253 has disclosed aqueous solutions of crude BIT with two or more amine compounds of the series comprising the diethanol amine, triethanol amine, diisopropanol amine, triisopropanol amine or morpholine; these aqueous solutions contain BIT in the form of a mixture of the amine salts. Furthermore, GB Patent 13 30 531 has disclosed that BIT amine salts can be imparted with better stability in a cold environment when they are present in the form of solutions in aliphatic, cycloaliphatic or heterocyclic amines having 2 to 6 C atoms and do not have hydroxyl and ether groups. The effectiveness of these preparations against material destruction, however, frequently is not adequate.


A process for forming air gap isolation regions between a bit line contact structure and adjacent capacitor structures, to reduce the capacitance of the space between these structures, has been developed. The process features the formation of insulator spacers on the sides of capacitor openings. After formation of capacitor structures, in the capacitor openings, top portions of the insulator spacers are exposed via a first selective etch procedure, allowing a second, selective, isotropic etch procedure to completely remove the insulator spacers creating the air gap isolation regions now located between the capacitor structure and an adjacent insulator layer. Subsequent deposition of an overlying insulator layer, comprised with poor conformality properties, allows coverage of the capacitor structures, however without filling the air gap isolation regions.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods used to fabricate semiconductor devices and more specifically to a method used to decrease the capacitance between a bit line structure and a capacitor structure, used as elements in a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), cell.
(2) Description of Prior Art
The advent of micro-miniaturization, or the ability to fabricate semiconductor devices with sub-micron features, has allowed the semiconductor industry to increase device performance while still reducing processing costs. The use of smaller device features allow reductions in performance degrading parasitic junction capacitances to be realized, resulting in the desired, improved performance objective to be realized. In addition the use of sub-micron features allow an increased number of smaller semiconductor chips to be obtained from a specific size starting substrate, thus reducing the processing cost of a specific semiconductor chip. However in contrast to the reduction in parasitic junction capacitance for a device formed with sub-micron features, a reduction in the space between a bit line structure and a capacitor structure, for a capacitor under bit line (CUB), DRAM device, is also encountered, thus resulting in unwanted capacitance increases, and in turn deleteriously influencing device performance.
This invention will describe a novel process sequence used to reduce the capacitance between the bit line and capacitor structures of CUB DRAM devices, via use of air gaps created in portions of the spaces between these DRAM elements. The air gaps are created as pseudo spacers, formed on the sides of the openings used to accommodate subsequent capacitor structures. The use of air gap isolation between the bit line and capacitor structures allows the capacitance of these closely placed elements, introduced via the use of sub-micron features, to be minimized. Prior art, such as Lee, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,698, describes the use of horizonal air gaps located between dielectric layers, to reduce the capacitance of a composite dielectric layer, however that prior art does not offer the novel process sequence described in the present invention in which air gap regions are formed along the vertical sides of a DRAM a capacitor opening, via formation of, and removal of, sidewall spacers.
It is an object of this invention to fabricate a capacitor under bit line (CUB), DRAM device, using sub- micron features.
It is another object of this invention to reduce the capacitance between a bit line contact structure and capacitor structures via formation of air gap isolation regions in portions of the space located between these structures.
It is still another object of this invention to form the air gap isolation regions via formation of a spacer shape on the sides of a capacitor opening, followed by selective removal of the spacer shape, performed after formation of the capacitor structure, creating the desired air gap regions.
In accordance with the present invention a method of forming air gap isolation regions in portions of the spaces located between a bit line contact structure and DRAM capacitor structures, is described. After formation of transfer gate transistor structures, on a semiconductor substrate, conductive plug structures are formed overlying source/drain regions located in portions of the semiconductor substrate not covered by the transfer gate transistors. After deposition of a first insulator, capacitor openings are formed in the first insulator layer, exposing portions of the top surface of a group of conductive plug structures, which will subsequently be used to underlay capacitor structures. Insulator spacers are next formed on the vertical sides of the capacitor openings, followed by the formation of capacitor structures located in the capacitor openings, with a top portion of the capacitor structure partially overlying the top surface of the first insulator layer. The first insulator layer is next selectively etched backed, exposing a top portion of the insulator spacers, followed by selective removal of the entire insulator spacers, resulting in air gaps located between the capacitor structures, in the capacitor openings, and the thinned first insulator layer. A second insulator layer, exhibiting poor coverage characteristics, is then deposited on the thinned first insulator layer and on the capacitor structures, however not filling the air gaps, thus providing a seal for air gap regions. A bit line contact opening is then formed in the second insulator layer, and in the thinned first insulator layer, between the capacitor structures, exposing the top surface of a bit line conductive plug structure. Formation of a bit line contact structure is then accomplished in the bit line contact hole opening, with the capacitance between the bit line contact structure and the capacitor structures reduced via use of the air gap isolation regions.

Method of forming air gap isolation between a bit line contact structure and a capacitor under bit line structure

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company


A method of in-situ pipeline replacement in which valves, fittings, and other obstructions are removed from an existing pipeline, a heat-fusible polymer pipeline having an initially deformed configuration less than the existing pipeline diameter is inserted into the remaining portions of the existing pipeline and reformed to substantially conform to the inside diameter of the existing pipeline, heat-fusible fittings are provided to replace removed portions of the existing pipeline and heat-fused to the polymer liner, and transition fittings provided to operably connect the replacement pipeline to those portions of the existing pipeline not within the replacement scope. The completed replacement polymer pipeline creates an operable wetted pressure boundary within the bounds of the replaced existing pipeline.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the technical field of heavy construction related to the installation, repair, and replacement of pipelines. Particularly, the present invention is in the technical field of in-situ replacement methods of existing pressure pipelines such as, but not limited to, drinking water, natural gas, and sewerage. "In situ" is a Latin phrase meaning "in position," and in this case means the old pipeline is replaced without complete removal or excavation.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many cast iron pipelines supplying our drinking water and natural gas and carrying away our sewerage are aging, corroding, and generally wearing out. In urban areas where space is tight and buried infrastructure is very dense, buried pipelines are particularly expensive to replace. The general approach in many areas is "run to failure" where leaks and other sometimes-catastrophic failures are repaired only after they occur. A systematic, proactive, and cost effective approach to replace our aging underground pipeline infrastructure is needed. In-situ pipe replacement using a polymer pipe is an economical and proactive solution to replacing old pressurized water, gas, and sewer pipes.
Pipelines fall into two basic groups: gravity flow and pressurized. To extend the useful life of gravity flow pipelines, such as sanitary sewers, rehabilitation techniques have been developed over the past forty-plus years. These techniques save time and money by utilizing a liner to reduce ground water infiltration and thus the treatment demand on sewer plants. The rehabilitation of gravity pipelines is a fairly simple process. A felt tube (or "sock") is impregnated with a thermo-set resin at a manufacturing facility and stored in a refrigerated facility. The impregnated tube is then transported in refrigerated trailers to a project site where it is installed by water or air inversion (like turning a sock inside out) and then the resin is cured using hot water, steam, or ultra violet light. The result of this process is a rigid, non-structural tube that becomes a liner.
The above process is referred to as CIPP (cured in place pipe) and was invented by Insituform in 1971 and is still widely used today. Because gravity flow pipelines follow a constant grade and alignment and have manholes at regular intervals, installation of CIPP is accomplished without excavation ("no-dig") by inverting the liner in and between manholes. The primary purpose of this type of rehabilitation in gravity sewers is to prevent ground water from entering the pipeline through the joints and broken pipe, thus preventing it from being conveyed to the treatment plant for processing along with raw sewerage. Treatment plants are the most expensive part of the sanitary sewer disposal process and reducing ground water infiltration saves capacity and money.
The rehabilitation of pressurized pipelines carrying water, sewerage, natural gas, or other materials is more complicated. Pressurized pipelines have no manholes for easy access nor do they follow a constant line and grade (the pressure causes the material to flow and not gravity). They normally follow the natural terrain of the ground in which they were installed. In addition, the pipeline path could vary based on the allowable engineering parameters for the particular piping material and construction method such as allowable deflection at joints or flexural modulus. Finally, pressure pipes have appurtenances attached to them like valves, tees, wyes, elbows, bends, and others which further complicate rehabilitation and replacement.
Over time, the interior of older cast iron water pipes not lined with cement mortar or epoxy become encrusted with various deposits known as tuberculation. It is important to remove tuberculation when it builds up enough to impact both water quality for drinking and water volume for fire fighting. Additionally, soil surrounding an exterior pipe wall may have a chemical composition which causes corrosion, further deteriorating the pipe.
To deal with tuberculation in old cast iron pipes, a process called cement mortar lining was developed to line the interior of water pipelines in-situ. The lines are cleaned and a thin layer of cement mortar is installed using robotic equipment that moves through the pipeline. This process does not add any structural strength to the existing pipe; it only improves water quality and flow. The preparation of pipes for the cement mortar lining process is the current foundation for in-situ pipeline replacement and for pipeline rehabilitation.
The current methods for replacing or rehabilitating water and other pressure lines include: 1) Digging and replacing the existing pipe in the same trench, 2) Installing a new pipe by digging a parallel trench and abandoning the old line once the new line is put into service, 3) Pipe bursting, which is the process of bursting the existing pipe and simultaneously pulling in a new pipe, 4) Traditional slip lining, which is inserting a smaller diameter pipe into the existing pipe, or 5) Installing a structural CIPP (cured in place pipe) liner.
Pipe bursting is well established but expensive as is any version of digging and replacing. Slip lining is simple and straight forward but usually reduces capacity to an unacceptable level because of the reduced diameter of the new pipe. CIPP for water or other pressure lines is expensive, appurtenances are difficult to attach, it may need to rely on the existing pipeline for structural integrity, and it requires a long lead time to install properly.
A viable solution for overcoming these problems is to replace the entire piping system with an in-situ replacement pipeline. This in-situ pipeline utilizes a deformed polymer pipe, such as high density polyethylene (HDPE), and can employ up to 100% of the old pipe's interior, thus having little impact on water flow or volume.
For comparison purposes, to clean and install a cement mortar lining in old water piping requires these steps:
1. Install and test a temporary surface pipeline (by-pass) to serve water users. This by-pass is temperature sensitive and in northern climates, the season is operational from about mid-March to mid-November. The old buried line is then taken out of service and dewatered. Sections of pipe containing valves, tees, bends above about 22.5 degrees, and other obstructions are removed by excavation. The line is then cleaned using mechanical scrapers.2. Spray cement mortar onto the pipe walls using remote controlled spinning nozzles.3. Open any cement mortar covered service connections by blowing air back through the service connection line from the meter vault to the main. If the service lines are galvanized steel or other deteriorated material, they are usually replaced.4. Install new valves, tees and bends to the existing pipe.5. Fill and chlorinate the line and test for pressure loss and pathogens.6. Return the line to service, backfill excavations, restore surface features (roadway, sidewalk, grass, etc.) and remove the temporary by-pass.
For further comparison purposes, to clean and install CIPP lining in old water piping requires these steps:
1. Remove a section of pipe by excavation to determine the inside dimension and measure the length to be installed. Order a liner from the factory manufactured to the specified interior dimension and length. If the liner is too large in diameter, it will create a fold which will weaken the liner. If it is too long, it will be difficult to install. If it is too small in diameter, it may be weakened by not being in contact with the cast iron pipe walls. If it is too short, it will be unusable because it would be impossible to finish the ends.2. Install a by-pass line as described above. In some instances, certain bends may not require removal depending on their degree and radius.3. Wet out and transport the liner to the site and install using air or water inversion. To reopen the service connections, cut and remove the liner covering the service connection with remote control cutters.4. Seal the liner to the existing pipeline to prevent water from getting between the cast iron pipe and the liner.5. Install new valves, tees and bends to the old cast iron pipe, backfill, and restore.6. Fill, chlorinate and test.7. Return the line to service.
Per the method of this invention, to clean and install an in-situ new pipe in old water piping requires these steps:
1. Install by-pass as described above. Remove valves, tees, bends above about 11 degrees (or another angle as specified by the deformed pipe manufacturer) and all service connections.
2. Install deformed polymer pipe and expand it (reform it to round shape), utilizing up to 100% of the existing pipe's interior diameter.
3. Attach by butt or electro fusing new valves, tees, bends and service connections to the new pipe. Most of these fittings are inexpensive, off-the-shelf, easy to install, and do not rely on the old existing pipeline for reconnection or structural support.4. Fill, chlorinate and test.5. Return line to service.
Millions of feet of cement mortar lining have been installed over the past twenty years; the process is well known, understood and accepted. The major expense of this process comes before and after the application of the cement mortar. Installing a new in-situ pipe inside the existing pipe in lieu of cement mortar lining is a natural evolution in the water pipe replacement process.
The advantages of using the in-situ pipe replacement method of this invention over other methods are:
1. The finished product is a new stand-alone pipe with no reliance on the existing pipe to achieve an acceptable pressure rating or to attach appurtenances. The old pipe is only effectively used as a sleeve that holds back the earth and creates a space for the new pipe during installation.2. Polymer materials like HDPE are widely accepted for a variety of pipeline types and uses.3. Fittings are readily available, inexpensive, and easily heat fused to the new polymer pipe and not installed onto the old pipe.4. The variation in old pipe diameters is overcome by the number of polymer pipe sizes that are available.5. This method creates a new pipeline system with, in most cases, a greater capacity than the pipe it is replacing. This is due to the smoothness of the polymer pipe interior which creates less fiction and lowers pressure loss over distance.6. Cost savings of around one third (33 percent) or greater over other methods.
By deforming the polymer pipe immediately after it is manufactured it can then more easily be inserted into the old pipe and can occupy up to 100% of the old pipe's interior. Making deformed polymer piping is established technology (see Dura-Line Corporation for example) and generally the pipe is factory formed in a u-shape about one half its final expanded diameter. The pipe is then re-rounded in-situ per established methods like heat and pressure. This is important because the deformed size makes installation easier and the expanded size makes obtaining flow easier.
Standard round HDPE pipe comes in three standard sizes: IPS, short for cast iron pipe size; DIPS, or ductile iron pipe size; or metric (imported). Fittings are made to accommodate these standard sizes. In addition to size, HDPE is rated for pressure defined as SDR (often shortened to DR), standard dimension ratio. SDR is the ratio of pipe diameter to wall thickness and the lower the value, the higher the pressure the pipe will withstand. The higher the pressure rating, the thicker the pipe wall is thus reducing the interior diameter. Manning n value is the value by which flow can be compared within various types of pipe walls. For example, the interior wall of smaller HDPE can allow greater flow than the interior wall of a larger unlined cast iron pipe.
Installation of a new deformed pipe is procedurally similar to slip lining (inserting a round, not deformed new pipe into an old pipe) but offers the significant advantage of a larger diameter new pipe with its associated higher flow rate and volume. As an example, to slip line an eight-inch cast iron pipe, the best fit would be a ductile iron pipe size six-inch HDPE pipe (Standard Dimension Ratio of 17) with an outside dimension of 6.9″ and interior dimension of 6.04″. Even with the reduced Manning n value of the HDPE material, the result is a significantly lower flow because of the smaller diameter of the new pipe. The deformed and reformed in-situ process with the same pressure rating of 125 psi would be an eight-inch outside dimension with a 7.04-inch interior dimension. It should be noted the difficulty factor of using a 6-inch HDPE pipe to slip line eight inch cast iron pipe is extremely high and would seldom, if ever, be attempted in real field conditions. This example was given for illustration purposes; in reality, the best a contractor could expect to install is a six-inch iron pipe size pipe with an interior dimension of 4.9 inches
Although flexible liners can achieve the same volume and flow, new fittings must be attached to the old pipe and not to the flexible liner. Also, the flexible liner in some cases must rely on the existing pipeline for structural integrity. The in-situ method of this invention creates a new pipeline that does not rely on the old pipe in any way after the new installation. The new pipe is structurally independent and all fittings are attached only to the new pipe. Special transition pieces are used where the new pipe exits from the old to allow the use of standard fittings such as valves, bends, tees, etc.


A meltblowing method and system for dispensing first and second fluids from corresponding first and second orifices of a die assembly to form a meltblown first fluid filament. The die assembly directs the first and second fluid flows parallelly, or divergently, or directs two second fluid flows convergently toward a common first fluid flow, whereby the first and second fluids are dispensed from orifices at equal first fluid flow rates and equal second fluid flow rates. The die assembly is compressably retained between opposing end plates coupled to an adapter for further coupling to a main manifold having a fluid metering device for supplying first fluid to the die assembly. The meltblown filaments are depositing onto a moving substrate by vacillating the filament non-parallel to a direction of substrate movement, whereby vacillation a first fluid flow is controllable by an angle between the first fluid flow and one or more flanking second fluid flows, among other variables.

The invention relates generally to meltblowing methods and systems, and more particularly to parallel plate meltblowing die assemblies and meltblowing system configurations useable for precisely controlling the dispensing and uniform application of meltblown adhesive filaments onto moving substrates.
Meltblowing is a process of forming fibers or filaments by drawing and attenuating a first fluid flow with shear forces from adjacent relatively high velocity second fluid flows. Molten thermoplastic flows, for example, may be drawn and attenuated by heated air flows to form meltblown thermoplastic filaments. Generally, meltblown filaments may be continuous or discontinuous, and range in size between several tenths of a micron and several hundred microns depending on the meltblown material and application requirements. Early applications for meltblowing processes included the formation of non-woven fabrics from meltblown filaments drawn to vacillate chaotically.
More recently, meltblowing processes have been used to form meltblown adhesive filaments for bonding substrates in the production of a variety of bodily fluid absorbing hygienic articles like disposable diapers and incontinence pads, sanitary napkins, patient underlays, and surgical dressings. Many of these applications, however, require a relatively high degree of control over the dispensing and application of the meltblown filaments, particularly meltblown adhesives deposited onto substrates which are extremely temperature sensitive. But meltblown filaments drawn to vacillate chaotically are not generally suitable for these and other applications requiring increased control over the dispensing and application of the meltblown filaments.
The referenced copending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/717,080 filed Oct. 10, 1996 entitled "Meltblowing Method and Apparatus" incorporated by reference herein marked a significant advance in meltblowing technologies, and particularly for meltblowing applications requiring relatively precise control over the dispensing of individual meltblown filaments onto moving substrates. The referenced copending application is drawn generally to parallel plate die assemblies having a plurality of adhesive and air dispensing orifices arranged in a variety of spatial configurations for dispensing meltblown adhesives, and more particularly for relatively precisely controlling frequency and amplitude parameters of individual meltblown filaments to provide selective and uniform application of the filaments onto moving substrates.
The present invention is drawn to further advances in meltblowing technology, and is applicable to the dispensing of meltblown adhesive filaments onto moving substrates, especially in the production of bodily fluid absorbing hygienic articles.
It is thus an object of the invention to provide novel methods and systems for practicing meltblowing processes, and more particularly for applying meltblown adhesives onto moving substrates.
It is another object of the invention to provide novel methods and systems for practicing meltblowing processes by dispensing first and second fluids from corresponding first and second orifices of a die assembly to form second fluid flows along substantially opposing flanking sides of a first fluid flow, whereby the first fluid flow is drawn and attenuated to form a first fluid filament. A more general object of the invention is to dispense the first fluid from a plurality of first orifices and the second fluid from a plurality of second orifices to form a plurality of first and second fluid flows arranged in an array, whereby the plurality of first fluid flows are drawn and attenuated to form a plurality of first fluid filaments.
It is also an object of the invention to provide novel methods and meltblowing die assemblies for directing first and second fluid flows parallelly, or divergently, and it is another object of the invention to provide die assemblies for directing two second fluid flows convergently toward a common first fluid flow whereby the first fluid flow is directed parallelly or divergently relative to other first fluid flows. It is a related object of the invention to dispense first and second fluid flows having equal first fluid mass flow rates and equal second fluid mass flow rates to provide more uniform dispensing and control over the meltblown filaments.
It is a further object of the invention to provide novel methods and systems for practicing meltblowing processes by depositing first meltblown fluid filaments onto a moving substrate by vacillating the filaments non-parallel to a direction of substrate movement, and more generally depositing a plurality first fluid filaments onto a moving substrate by vacillating some of the plurality of first fluid filaments non-parallel and other filaments parallel to a direction of substrate movement. It is a related object of the invention to control vacillation parameters of a first fluid flow by an angle between the first fluid flow and one or more flanking second fluid flows, among other variables.
It is another object of the invention to provide novel methods and meltblowing die assemblies comprising a plurality of at least two parallel plates compressably retained between first and second end plates, and it is a related object of the invention to dispose a rivet member through an opening in the die assembly to retain the plurality of parallel plates in parallel relationship while the die assembly is compressably retained between the first and second end plates.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide novel methods and meltblowing die assemblies coupleable to an adapter or an intermediate adapter having a mounting surface with a central first fluid outlet and a second fluid outlet for supplying first and second fluids to the die assembly, whereby the die assembly may be oriented in one of two directions distinguished by 90 degrees by mounting the die assembly on either the adapter or intermediate adapter. It is a related object of the invention to rotatably couple the die assembly to the intermediate adapter or to rotatably couple the adapter to a nozzle module to permit rotational orientation of the die assembly relative thereto.
It is still another object of the invention to provide novel meltblowing methods and systems including meltblowing die assemblies coupled to a fluid metering device for supplying a first fluid thereto, and to couple one or more die assemblies to a main manifold having corresponding first fluid supply conduits for supplying a first fluid from the fluid metering device to the one or more die assemblies. It is another object of the invention to couple the die assemblies to the main manifold with a plurality of corresponding nozzle modules, whereby each nozzle module supplies first and second fluids to the corresponding die assembly. And it is an alternative object of the invention to interconnect the die assemblies to the main manifold with a common nozzle adapter plate, which supplies first and second fluids to each of the plurality of die assemblies.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent upon consideration of the following Detailed Description of the Invention with the accompanying Drawings, which may be disproportionate for ease of understanding, wherein like structure and steps are referenced by corresponding numerals and indicators.


Integrated circuits with multiport memory elements may be provided. A multiport memory element may include a latching circuit, a first set of address transistors, and a second set of address transistors. The latching circuit may include cross-coupled inverters, each of which includes a pull-up transistor and a pull-down transistor. The first set of address transistors may couple the latching circuit to a write port, whereas the second set of address transistors may couple the latching circuit to a read port. The pull-down transistors and the second set of address transistors may have body bias terminals that are controlled by a control signal. During data loading operations, the control signal may be temporarily elevated to weaken the pull-down transistors and the second set of address transistors to improve the write margin of the multiport memory element.

Integrated circuits often contain memory elements. Memory elements may be based on cross-coupled inverters and may be used to store data. Each memory element may store a single bit of data.
Memory elements are often arranged in arrays. In a typical array, data lines are used to write data into the memory elements and are used to read data from the memory elements that have been loaded with data. Address lines may be used to select which of the memory elements are being accessed.
The memory elements may be configured in a dual-port arrangement. A conventional dual-port memory element includes a bi-stable latching circuit that stores a single bit of data (i.e., a latching circuit based on a pair of cross-coupled inverters). The latching circuit is connected to a write port (i.e., write data lines) through a set of write address transistors. The latching circuit is also connected to a read port (i.e., read data lines) through a set of read address transistors. The set of write address transistors are controlled by write address signals conveyed over a write address line, whereas the set of read address transistors are controlled by read address signals conveyed over a read address line. The read data lines are typically precharged to a high voltage value prior to read/write operations.
The conventional dual-port memory element may perform read operations using the read port and write operations using the write port. The read and write operations are controlled asynchronously using different address signals (i.e., read operations are controlled using read address signals, whereas write operations are controlled using write address signals). As a result, it is possible that the read address signal is high at the same time the write address signal is high during a write operation. This scenario in which the read port is enabled during a write operation may be referred to as a read-disturb write.
Enabling the read address transistors while the write address transistors are turned on may counteract the data loading process being performed by the write address transistors. Writing data in this way may undesirably increase the period of time that the write address signals are asserted to ensure proper loading of data. Asserting the write address signals for longer time periods limits the performance of the memory element.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A read-only data storage and retrieval device is presented having no moving parts and requiring very low power. Addressing can be accomplished sequentially where the address increments automatically or can be accomplished randomly. High density storage is achieved through the use of a highly symmetric diode matrix that is addressed in both coordinate directions; its symmetry makes the Dual-addressed Rectifier Storage (DRS) Array very scaleable, particularly when made as an integrated circuit. For even greater storage flexibility, multiple digital rectifier storage arrays can be incorporated into the device, one or more of which can be made removable and interchangeable.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic data retrieval devices, and more particularly to electronic digital logic devices having semiconductor mass storage capabilities by virtue of their data being stored in highly symmetrical arrays of diodes.
2. Prior Art
Most present day devices having mass storage capabilities rely on such moveable media as magnetic disks, optical compact disks, digital tape or the like. Some devices having large storage Capabilities have utilized large numbers of read-only memory (ROM) devices.
Many read-only memory (ROM) devices have been disclosed having a wide variety of implementations. In many of these devices the bit storage means is accomplished through the application of gates or transistors. But, a subset of these ROM devices has accomplished the bit, storage means through the use of a matrix of diodes, as was disclosed by Robb in U.S. Pat. No. 3,245,051. Many of these ROM device is include diode matrix storage means utilizing a set of conductors that act as selectors and a second orthogonal set of conductors that act as data outputs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,654, one set of generally parallel conductors acts as the Selection Input Lines and a second set of generally parallel conductors that is orthogonal to and overlapping with the first acts as the Digit Output Lines. A bit of information is represented at each point of intersection of the Selection Input lines with the Digit Output Lines by the presence or absence of a diode at that point, where the presence or absence of a diode distinguishes the logical state of the stored information bit at that point of intersection. A selection circuit selects one line of the Selection Input Lines such that the state of all of the Digit Output Lines is then controlled to the extent that each of those Digit Output Lines is connected to that selected Selection Input Line through a diode. All of the digit Output Lines are read in parallel. A disadvantage is that as the matrix is increased in size, the complexity of the selection logic that drives the selection circuits (such that one line is selected out of the many Selection Input Lines) grows exponentially. But as this matrix increases in size, so too will the number of Digit Output Lines that will have to be simultaneously supplied with current and that current will vary depending upon the state of the bits at those various locations. Also, as the number of simultaneously driven Digit Output Lines increases, some means of selecting the subset of desired data bits would have to be added.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,927, some of the problems of the exponential growth in the complexity of the addressing circuitry and of the loading on the selected addressing lines are dealt with. Addressing is accomplished by using diode-transistor logic (DTL) for the input addressing. The transistors of the DTL selection circuits act as buffer-drivers between the address selection means and the bit storage means thereby providing the current needed to source a growing number of data bit output lines. However, the transistors in this DTL circuitry add complexity to the overall circuit which will reduce packing densities and add an additional problem--that of leakage currents in those transistors--that requires additional compensating circuitry that further reduces packing densities. The use of dummy diode loads for balancing data dependent loading variations reduces packing densities even further.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,238, the problem of loading is dealt with by utilizing FET switches to disconnect all but the desired Digit Output line. The selected bit is present at the intersection of two selected orthogonal conducting lines. In this way, the number of bits simultaneously selected does not grow with the size of the array and the problem of loading can be controlled. But, such a design still requires a large number of FET transistors and the addressing means to control those FET transistors and the interconnection wiring to connect said addressing means with said FET transistors which will reduce packing densities. While the addressing means could be of the same DTL type to keep said addressing means small, the large number of buffering transistors to select the various conductive lines will remain large (at least one FET per conductive line and, on about half of the lines, two FET's). Furthermore, this inclusion of FET transistors may make the device subject to damage from static electrical discharges that might make it less practical for use in a consumer product where the consumer may handle these devices.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,347,585, Eardley discloses a dual-addressed device wherein the selected diode is at the intersection of a column line and a row line (where the column lines are connected to the diodes' cathodes and the row lines are connected to the diodes' anodes) such that the voltage potential of one column line is lowered and the voltage potential of one row line is raised thereby forward biasing the diode, if any, at the point of intersection of the two lines. One of the features of this device over the prior art (as discussed in that patent) is the circuitry for the selection logic; Eardley discloses means for line selection comprising high speed transistor driver circuits. The disclosed device also requires two types of Schottky barrier diode devices. As a result, it is anticipated that the disclosed device will suffer from several problems, particularly when one attempts to scale up the device to extremely high storage densities. These problems may include transistor current leakage becoming noticeable as the number of transistors increases and device yields becoming reduced as the complexity of multiple semiconductor fabrication steps and nore complex device interconnect circuitry increases. These problems may prevent the kind of size scaling that could result in devices in the Gigabit range that would be necessary to create memory chips that could replace today's CD-ROMs.
As will be shown below, the Dual-addressed Rectifier Storage DRS) Array comprised by the present invention solves many of the Problems associated with the above mentioned inventions while staining high data packing densities by simultaneously using both orthogonal sets of conductors to address the data bits without the need for transistor switches on each conductive line. It does this by having a diode-logic addressing mechanism directly controlling the voltage levels on the conductive lines. Also, by extending the application of the diode array to perform the functions of addressing, storage, and bit sensing, symmetry is increased and this higher symmetry results in higher packing densities.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,654, among others, a means is disclosed for programming the information into a semiconductor diode array by selectively etching away openings through the oxide layer that insulates the plurality of doped conductors from the orthogonal plurality of metalized conductors on the surface such that each opening enabled contact between the respective conductor of each plurality thereby forming a diode representing a toggled bit of stored information at that array location. The present invention discloses a means for constructing the semiconductor device up to the final metalization etch step before programming the data thereby enabling the programming of data to be performed much later in the manufacturing process.
Mass storage devices comprising moveable media such as magnetic disks, optical compact disks, digital tape, or the like, have motors and other mechanical parts that are prone to breaking or wearing out, can suffer audio disruption when subjected to vibrations, are too heavy to be carried during certain activities such as jogging, and consume significant electrical power (due to the operation of the mechanical components). Devices utilizing ROM chips are limited in their capacities due to the limited storage densities of present day ROM chips. The present invention eliminates or reduces all of these drawbacks because it uses DRS Arrays and, as a result, has the high storage densities of a CD-ROM without having mechanical parts.


An attachment device for releasably attaching a grapple to the end of a boom. The device includes a grapple body which mounts main and linkage pins which releasably couple with double pin mounting structures of different sizes and configurations. Hydraulic actuators within the housings on either side of the grapple are operated to open and close the jaws of the grapple under influence of an hydraulic control circuit. Tapered lock bushings are provided to releasably mount the main pins within openings in side walls of the housings. Adapter blocks are provided for mounting the ends of the linkage pins to the housings walls. A fastening arrangement for securing the adapter block enables the linkage pin to be mounted at different separation distances from the main pin to accommodate different types of pin mounting systems that may be encountered on vehicles at different job sites.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to grapples for use in grasping, raking, lifting or moving objects in logging operations, construction, demolition and other industrial fields. In particular, the invention relates to grapples carried on booms which are mounted on equipment such as off-road vehicles and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Grapples carried on the booms of wheeled or endless track type tractors are commonly used in logging operations to hoist and move logs or trees. Grapples are also used in a wide variety of construction and demolition activities, such as for moving concrete dividers, rails, large rocks, stumps, trees, chunks of broken concrete or asphalt, debris and other material or objects.
A typical prior art grapple arrangement employs a main boom pivotally mounted on a vehicle, a dipper stick mounted on the end of the main boom and a grapple mounted on the end of the dipper stick. Hydraulic actuators pivot the main boom relative to the vehicle and also pivot the dipper stick relative to the main boom. The typical grapple has two jaws which are pivotally connected to the end of the boom. An hydraulic actuator carried on the dipper stick operates through a linkage to pivot one jaw of the grapple for grasping and releasing objects, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,248,471 and 4,907,356. However, the equipment operators of these prior art configurations have a limited degree of control of movement for the grapples. The typical control set-up comprises one lever for raising and lowering the main boom, another lever for controlling pitch of the dipper stick and another lever for controlling pitch of the grapple relative to the dipper stick. In the case where the boom is mounted to the vehicle or structure by a swivel, another lever controls movement of the boom about a vertical axis. After the grapple is holding the load, the operator can only control its pitch attitude by means of the controls for the main boom and dipper stick; there is no independent control for the pitch of the grapple relative to the dipper stick. It would be desirable to provide apparatus in which the grapple can be independently controlled like the wrist joint of the human arm and thereby provide greater versatility in grasping, lifting and moving, and raking ground surface for the clearing of objects.
The prior art also includes grapple configurations in which the grapple is carried through a vertical swivel on the end of a boom or dipper stick, and in which a pair of jaws below the swivel joint are pivoted to open and close by a pair of extensible actuators, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,743. Configurations of this type also have the drawback of the inability to independently control the pitch of the pair of jaws relative to the boom. In addition, the provision of a single hydraulic actuator for each jaw means that, to provide the requisite thrust forces on the jaws, relatively large moment arms must be provided from the pivot center of the jaws to the thrust line of the actuator. This results in a relatively large change in the length of the moment arm, and therefore a large change in the mechanical advantage, throughout the actuator stroke. It would be desirable to provide a grapple apparatus by which the actuators can apply the requisite thrust forces to the jaws or other tools without an unduly large change in mechanical advantage throughout the stroke.
Quick couple devices have been provided in the prior art for releasably coupling grapples, buckets and the like to the end of booms. These quick couple device employ hooks which are operated to engage sets of pins provided on the grapples or buckets. However, such a quick couple device employs an hydraulic actuator to engage or release a hook with one of the pins, and this entails the use of hydraulic lines into the pressurized fluid circuit as well as a separate control. Such an arrangement increases the complexity and cost of the configuration.
The need has therefore been recognized for a grapple apparatus which obviates the foregoing and other limitations and disadvantages of prior art grapple devices. Despite the various grapple devices in the prior art, there has heretofore not been provided a suitable and attractive solution to these problems.

Grapple with universal attachment device


Methods and apparatus, including computer program products, for presenting status of digital signatures. A digital document is received that defines a presentation structure and includes a digital signature. The digital document specifies a representation of the digital signature and a location in the presentation structure for the representation of the digital signature. A status is determined for the digital signature. A status representation is associated with the digital signature, where the status representation identifies the status determined for the digital signature. Without altering the representation of the digital signature, at least a portion of the digital document and the status representation of the digital signature are presented in a user interface, where the status representation is presented in the presentation structure at a location that depends upon the location of the digital signature.

The present invention relates to processing digital documents.
A digital document is a collection of digital data that includes digital content for which a presentation structure is defined. The presentation structure is a structure that is used to arrange different portions of the digital content when the document is presented in a user interface. For the content portions, the presentation structure can specify a layout, a sequential, parallel or other ordering, a visual appearance or an audio presentation. The digital content can represent text, graphics, animation, video, audio or any other data carrying information. The content of the document can be digitally signed by adding a digital signature to the document. The digital signature is based on cryptographic techniques and is used to authenticate the signer and the content that has been signed. The authentication verifies the identity of the signer and whether the content is changed since the document has been signed. Optionally, the authentication can also verify whether the signer's digital identity certification has been revoked. Thus the digital signature can have different statuses depending on the state of failure or success to authenticate the signer or the content.
Digital signatures are typically used to sign entire messages that are electronically transmitted, for example, by electronic mail ("e-mail"). If an e-mail message is digitally signed, the recipient can identify the sender and verify if the message was corrupted during the transmission. In a user interface, document management applications typically display the status of a digital signature separate from the content of the document. For example, some e-mail applications indicate the status of the signature in a header that is defined to provide information about the e-mail message. The user interface can also display a control panel that includes menu items or control icons that can be selected by a user for information about the digital signature. In the control panel, the menu items or the icons may include text or symbols that indicate whether a document is digitally signed, and if signed, what is a current status for the digital signature.
Adobe® Acrobat® applications, available from Adobe Systems Incorporated of San Jose, Calif., allow users to embed a graphical representation of the digital signature into the layout defined by a document in Portable Document Format ("PDF"). The signature's representation can include an image illustrating a hand-written signature of the signer or any other image or symbol. Thus similar to traditional paper documents, the signer's signature becomes part of the visual representation of the document, and the location of the signature visually associates the signature with the signed content. To indicate a status of the digital signature, the signature's graphical representation has been changed in the PDF document by the Acrobats application. For example, a green check mark has been added to the signature's representation to indicate that the signature is valid.

Indicating status for digital signatures


Described herein are methods, network devices and machine-readable media for preventing the malicious use of phishing simulation records. Phishing simulation records often times can reveal which individuals are most susceptible to phishing attacks. In the event that an attacker gains access to these records, the attacker can exploit such information to send phishing attacks to those individuals who are the most susceptible. To address such vulnerabilities, a phishing simulation record of an individual is only associated with an e-mail alias of the individual. Further, such e-mail alias may be deactivated after phishing simulations have been completed. Therefore, even if an attacker were able to identify individuals most susceptible to phishing attacks, the attacker will be unable to send any phishing attacks to those individuals since their e-mail aliases will have been deactivated.

In a phishing attack, an individual (e.g., a person, an employee of a company, a user of a computing device) receives a message, commonly in the form of an e-mail or other electronic communication, directing the individual to perform an action, such as opening an e-mail attachment or following (e.g., using a cursor controlled device or touch screen) an embedded link. If such message were from a trusted source (e.g., co-worker, bank, utility company or other well-known and trusted entity), such action might carry little risk. Nevertheless, in a phishing attack, such message is from an attacker (e.g., an individual using a computing device to perform a malicious act on another computer device user) disguised as a trusted source, and an unsuspecting individual, for example, opening an attachment to view a "friend's photograph" might in fact install spyware, a virus, and/or other malware (i.e., malicious computer software) on his/her computer. Similarly, an unsuspecting individual directed to a webpage made to look like an official banking webpage might be deceived into submitting his/her username, password, banking account number, etc. to an attacker.
While there are computer programs designed to detect and block phishing e-mails, phishing attacks methods are constantly being modified by attackers to evade such forms of detection. More recently, training programs have been developed to train users to recognize phishing attacks, such training involving simulated phishing attacks. While such training is beneficial, training programs may accumulate certain information about the users, which, if exploited by an attacker (e.g., attacker were able to gain access to same), could cause great harm to the participants of the training programs. The present invention addresses such potential vulnerabilities of training programs.

Methods and systems for preventing malicious use of phishing simulation records


Techniques are disclosed herein to automatically learn a template that describes a common structure present in documents in a training set. The structure of the template is compared to the structure of the documents (or at least a part of each document) in the training set, one-by-one, and generalized in response to differences between the template and the document to which the template is currently being compared. If the structure of any particular document is considered too dissimilar from the structure of the template, then the template is not modified. Various generalization operators are added to the template to generalize the template. One such generalization operator is an “OR”, which indicates that only one of “n” sub-trees below the “OR” operator in the template is allowed at the corresponding position in a document.

1. World Wide Web—General
The Internet is a worldwide system of computer networks and is a public, self-sustaining facility that is accessible to tens of millions of people worldwide. The most widely used part of the Internet is the World Wide Web, often abbreviated "WWW" or simply referred to as just "the web". The web is an Internet service that organizes information through the use of hypermedia. The HyperText Markup Language ("HTML") is typically used to specify the contents and format of a hypermedia document (e.g., a web page).
In this context, an HTML file is a file that contains source code for a particular web page. Typically, an HTML document includes one or more pre-defined HTML tags and their properties, and text enclosed between the tags. A web page is the image or collection of images that is displayed to a user when a particular HTML file is rendered by a browser application program. Unless specifically stated, an electronic or web document may refer to either the source code for a particular web page or the web page itself. Each page can contain embedded references to images, audio, video or other web documents. The most common type of reference used to identify and locate resources on the Internet is the Uniform Resource Locator, or URL. In the context of the web, a user, using a web browser, browses for information by following references that are embedded in each of the documents. The HyperText Transfer Protocol ("HTTP") is the protocol used to access a web document and the references that are based on HTTP are referred to as hyperlinks (formerly, "hypertext links").
2. Search Engines
Through the use of the web, individuals have access to millions of pages of information. However a significant drawback with using the web is that because there is so little organization to the web, at times it can be extremely difficult for users to locate the particular pages that contain the information that is of interest to them. To address this problem, a mechanism known as a "search engine" has been developed to index a large number of web pages and to provide an interface that can be used to search the indexed information by entering certain words or phases to be queried. These search terms are often referred to as "keywords".
Indexes used by search engines are conceptually similar to the normal indexes that are typically found at the end of a book, in that both kinds of indexes comprise an ordered list of information accompanied with the location of the information. An "index word set" of a document is the set of words that are mapped to the document, in an index. For example, an index word set of a web page is the set of words that are mapped to the web page, in an index. For documents that are not indexed, the index word set is empty.
Although there are many popular Internet search engines, they are generally constructed using the same three common parts. First, each search engine has at least one, but typically more, "web crawler" (also referred to as "crawler", "spider", "robot") that "crawls" across the Internet in a methodical and automated manner to locate web documents around the world. Upon locating a document, the crawler stores the document's URL, and follows any hyperlinks associated with the document to locate other web documents. Second, each search engine contains information extraction and indexing mechanisms that extract and index certain information about the documents that were located by the crawler. In general, index information is generated based on the contents of the HTML file associated with the document. The indexing mechanism stores the index information in large databases that can typically hold an enormous amount of information. Third, each search engine provides a search tool that allows users, through a user interface, to search the databases in order to locate specific documents, and their location on the web (e.g., a URL), that contain information that is of interest to them.
The search engine interface allows users to specify their search criteria (e.g., keywords) and, after performing a search, an interface for displaying the search results. Typically, the search engine orders the search results prior to presenting the search results interface to the user. The order usually takes the form of a "ranking", where the document with the highest ranking is the document considered most likely to satisfy the interest reflected in the search criteria specified by the user. Once the matching documents have been determined, and the display order of those documents has been determined, the search engine sends to the user that issued the search a "search results page" that presents information about the matching documents in the selected display order.
3. Structure of Web Pages
The Internet today has an abundance of data presented in HTML pages. However, it is still an arduous task to find informative content from all the other content. Many online merchants present their goods and services in a semi-structured format using scripts to generate a uniform look-and-feel template and present the information at strategic locations in the template. Identifying such positions on a page and extracting and indexing relevant information is key to the success of any data-centric application like search.
With the advent of e-commerce, most webpages are now dynamic in their content. Typical examples are products sold at discounted price that keep changing on sites between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year, or hotel rooms that change their room fares on a seasonal basis. With advertisement and user services critical for business success, it is imperative that crawled content be updated on frequent and near real-time basis.
These examples show that on the Web, especially on large sites, webpages are generated dynamically through scripts that place the data elements from a database in appropriate positions using a defined template. By understanding these templates, one could separate out the more useful information on the pages from the text put in by the script as part of the template.
4. Information Extraction Systems
Information Extraction (IE) systems are used to gather and manipulate the unstructured and semi-structured information on the web and populate backend databases with structured records. Most IE systems are either rule based (i.e., heuristic based) extraction systems or automated extraction systems. In a website with a reasonable number of pages, information (e.g., products, jobs, etc.) is typically stored in a backend database and is accessed by a set of scripts for presentation of the information to the user.
IE systems commonly use extraction templates to facilitate the extraction of desired information from a group of web pages. Generally, an extraction template is based on the general layout of the group of pages for which the corresponding extraction template is defined. One technique used for generating extraction templates is referred to as "template induction", which automatically constructs templates (i.e., customized procedures for information extraction) from labeled examples of a page's content.
While an example has been provided of using templates to extract information from web pages, templates can be used to extract information from electronic documents having other than an HTML structure. For example, templates can be used to extract information from documents structured in accordance with XML (eXtensible Markup Language).
Any approaches that may be described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

Techniques for inducing high quality structural templates for electronic documents


A combine harvester comprises a threshing and separating arrangement mounted to a main firm and including a generally cylindrical chamber having a generally longitudinal axis. Part of the chamber is constituted by a separating concave assembly comprising at least two separating concaves, the one located behind the other. The concaves are taken from a choice of less and more aggressive separating concaves. The chamber comprises mounting device operable to receive and hold each of the separating concaves. The front and/or the rear concaves can be removed and replaced.

The present invention relates to agricultural harvesters and, more particularly, to axial flow combine harvesters having a threshing and separating unit with at least one generally longitudinally arranged rotor for advancing crop material along a generally helical path.
In conventional combine harvesters crop material is fed between a threshing cylinder and an associated threshing concave, which extend transversely to the direction of combine travel. Hereby the crop is threshed over a comparatively short distance. Axial flow machines use one or more longitudinally arranged rotors and associated concaves. Herein, crop material is subjected to a much longer threshing and separating action than in a conventional machine and therefore, the efficiency of axial flow machines is greater because a higher degree of separation is reached and the grain losses are reduced.
The owner wants to maximise the use of his combine harvester. Hence he desires to adapt it to a wide range of crops and crop conditions, such that the harvester can operate during an extended harvesting season.
On known axial flow combines the possibilities for changes are limited. Rotor speed and concave clearance may be adapted quite easily, but the concaves themselves are not that easily removed and replaced.
Accordingly there is a need for a versatile threshing and separating arrangement which makes it possible to adapt the combine harvester to a wide range of crops and crop conditions in a swift and effective manner.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a combine harvester comprising:
a main frame;
a threshing and separating arrangement mounted to said main frame and including:
a generally cylindrical chamber having a generally longitudinal axis and comprising a separating concave assembly; and
a rotor assembly mounted for rotation in said chamber and comprising a generally cylindrical rotor body with a separating section associated with said separating concave assembly;
characterised in that:
said separating concave assembly comprises at least two separating concaves, the one located behind the other and taken from a choice of less and more aggressive separating concaves;
said chamber comprises mounting means operable to receive and hold each of said choice of separating concaves.
This structure enables the mounting of various types of concaves at the front and rear ends of the separating section, in order to adapt the combine to a wide range of harvesting conditions and crops.
Preferably the front and rear sections have identical mounting means, such that the same concave can be installed at wish in a front or rear position in the concave assembly. Hence there is no need for dedicated front or rear concaves, and before the end of their lifetime, the more worn front concaves can be exchanged with the less worn rear concaves.
The concaves may be of the more aggressive type comprising a grate constituted by spaced, longitudinally arranged slats and a set of curved wires extending transversely through the slats. They may also be of the more gentle type comprising a grate constituted by a curved plate having substantially rectangular apertures therein.
When the threshing and separating arrangement comprises left and right chambers, the separating concaves and their mounting means preferably are symmetrical with respect to their transverse middle plane, such that the concaves can be mounted invariably to the left or right chambers. This allows for reversal of the concaves after or during the harvesting season, such that the front, most worn part of the concave is turned to the rear of the chamber.
A similar structure can be applied to the threshing concaves at the front end of the chambers.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a combine harvester comprising:
a main frame including side walls;
a threshing and separating arrangement mounted to said main frame and including a generally cylindrical chamber having a generally longitudinal axis and comprising a concave assembly comprising at least one removable concave; and
a cleaning assembly arranged below said concave assembly;
characterised in that
at least one side wall has an aperture therein for passing therethrough said removable concave, and a panel for closing said aperture; and
said combine harvester further comprises transverse rest means arranged between said side walls and between said threshing and separating arrangement and said cleaning assembly for resting thereon said removable concave during installation or removal of said concave.
Preferably the rest means are provided with an opening permitting the passage of threshed and/or separated grain to the cleaning assembly.
In one embodiment the rest means comprise a pair of transverse supports, extending between the side walls. In a preferred embodiment the supports are constituted by tubular members connected at their ends to side mounting members. The front support may extend at a lower level than the rear support, in order to adapt to the longitudinal inclination of the threshing and/or separating concave.

Removable concaves for axial flow combines


A warning system for a hair dryer to warn the user when the air inlet of the dryer has become clogged with hair or other particles, the dryer including an air filter in the inlet, an air-actuated whistle having an air inlet end and an air outlet end, the whistle being mounted in the air inlet with the air inlet end outside the filter and the air outlet end inside the filter. Air will pass through the whistle when the inlet has become clogged, causing it to blow, and thereby warning the user that the inlet has become clogged. This occurs when the air pressure differential between the two sides of the filter reaches a predetermined level.

Hair dryers include air inlets drawing air in for use in drying; and there is a tendency for the air inlets to suck in bits of hair and other particles. To avoid it reaching the fan and the heating element, and to avoid the user's hair getting sucked into the fan, a filter is usually placed in the air inlet. This filter can become covered with bits of hair or other particles and, so, block the flow of incoming air. This can cause dangerous overheating of the heating element in the dryer and of the remaining air flowing out of the unit.
My invention gives a signal to the user whenever this clogging occurs.

Hair dryer with alarm notifying user of clogged filter


A digitizer system for controlling movement of a pointer on a display unit is provided. The system includes a digitizer tablet for detecting an input position and generating tablet coordinate data according to the detected input position. A mapping unit maps the tablet coordinate data to display coordinate data based on a plurality of different predetermined scaling relationships and provides the display coordinate data to the display unit. An input device controls the mapping unit to switch between the predetermined scaling relationships.

Graphics tablets or digitizer tablets are computer peripherals used for drawing or navigating on a computer system. Graphics tablets typically include a flat sensing area and an associated tool that is usually either pen shaped or mouse shaped. These tablets measure X and Y coordinate positions as well as other parameters, such as pen tip pressure, pen tilt, mouse buttons, mouse rotation, etc. Various technologies can be used to implement the graphics tablet. One exemplary technology is resistive, where voltage ratios are measured across conductive sheets to determine position. Another exemplary technology is electromagnetic, where position is detected by interpolating signal strength across a series of inductive coils. Various other technologies are available including triangulating sound or light waves, measuring applied force at corners of the tablet, measuring electric field distortions, etc. The resolution of the detected position with these technologies is typically in the range of 0.025 mm or better.
The positional information from the tablet is most often used to move a pointer on the display during navigation, or to draw a "virtual ink" on the display during drawing operations. Since the resolution of a display is much less than the tablet, (roughly 0.25 mm per pixel) a coordinate transformation is needed to establish a relationship between the tablet and the display. The default transformation typically scales the tablet coordinates such that the entire width of the tablet scales to the entire width of the computer system desktop (where the desktop is a tiled collection of one or more monitors). The entire tablet height is typically scaled to the entire height of the desktop.
Systems with multiple monitors used to create a large desktop are growing in popularity. With small opaque digitizer tablets, mapping the small digitizer tablet across two or more monitors, or even one large monitor, results in a large physical scale difference so that a very small hand movement results in a large movement on the screen. For example, with a 4 by 5 inch tablet mapped to dual 19 inch monitors, a one inch movement on the tablet results in approximately 6 inches of movement on the monitors. In this arrangement, it is difficult for a user to perform a precise amount of movement on the desktop.

Device, method, and computer readable medium for mapping a graphics tablet to an associated display


A top-tensioned riser system comprises a substantially vertical riser extending upward from the seafloor; a conductor surrounding an upper portion of the riser in spaced-apart relation; a coaxial keel guide surrounding a lower portion of the conductor; a tensioner attached to the conductor and the riser; a keel guide support structure attached to the keel guide and connected to the keel of a dry-tree, semi-submersible vessel; and, a keel joint centralizer attached to the riser proximate the keel guide and sized to prevent radial movement of the riser relative to the conductor. Side loads on the riser (such as those arising from displacement of the vessel from its nominal position or currents acting on the riser) are reacted from the riser to the conductor via the keel joint centralizer and then to the keel of the vessel via the keel guide.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the offshore production of oil and gas. More particularly, it concerns dry-tree, vertical risers supported by semisubmersible vessels.
2. Description of the Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
A semi-submersible is floating unit with its deck(s) supported by columns to enable the unit to become almost transparent for waves and provide favorable motion behavior. The unit stays on location using dynamic positioning and/or is moored by means of catenary mooring lines terminating in piles or anchors in the seafloor. A DeepDraftSemi® platform is a semi-submersible unit fitted with oil and gas production facilities in ultra deep water conditions. The unit is designed to optimize vessel motions to accommodate steel catenary risers (SCRs)—steel pipes hung in a catenary configuration from a floating vessel in deep water to transmit flow to or from the sea floor.
The "christmas tree" (or "tree") is an assembly of valves at the top of the tubing of a completed well that are used to control the flow of oil and/or gas and to enable certain manipulations. If the christmas tree is at the level of the seabed, the well is described as "subsea completed" or "wet tree." If the tree is on the deck of a platform, the well is described as "surface completed" or "dry tree."
A dry tree semi (DTS) is a floating facility carrying surface-completed wells, i.e. the christmas trees are located above the surface of the sea, on the semi-submersible, as opposed to the seabed.
The rigid pipes (tubing, casing, etc.) that link the trees to the wells require high tension to avoid buckling. The DTS is therefore under constant tension to compensate for the heave motion of the vessel.
Generally, a DTS also carries basic drilling equipment to allow down-hole intervention on a tender assist mode. It may also feature full drilling capability.
A well bay is an area of an offshore platform where the christmas trees and wellheads are located. It normally consists of two levels, a lower level where the wellheads are accessed and an upper level where the trees are accessed often along with the various well-control panels, which typically have pressure gauges and controls for the hydraulically actuated valves, including downhole safety valve and annular safety valve. On a platform with a drilling package, the well bay will be located directly below it to facilitate access for drilling and well interventions.
Spar type platforms have incorporated a conductor and a keel joint centralizer when using air cans for riser tensioning. These conductors are large and part of the air can assembly. Installation or removal requires a heavy-lift vessel for handling. These systems generally have steel-on-steel contact for the keel guide, and therefore impart large axial tension variations to the risers. Alternatively, hydro-pneumatic tensioners have been used to tension the risers. Each known example of these systems has had four cylinders per riser.
Tension configuration (hanging cylinders) have been used on six-cylinder configurations on certain tension leg platforms and on deepwater drilling vessels using the N-Line™ direct acting riser tensioning system (National Oilwell Varco, Houston, Tex. 77036).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,648,074 to Finn et al. describes a gimbaled table riser support system for a spar type floating platform having risers passing vertically through the center well of a spar hull. The gimbaled table is supported above the top of the spar hull. The table is supported by a plurality of non-linear springs attached to the top of the spar hull. The non-linear springs compliantly constrain the table rotationally so that the table is allowed a limited degree of rotational movement with respect to the spar hull in response to wind- and current-induced environmental loads. Larger capacity non-linear springs are located near the center of the table for supporting the majority of the riser tension, and smaller capacity non-linear springs are located near the perimeter of the table for controlling the rotational stiffness of the table. The riser support table comprises a grid of interconnected beams having openings through which the risers pass. The non-linear springs may take the form of elastomeric load pads or hydraulic cylinders. The upper ends of the risers are supported from the table by riser tensioning hydraulic cylinders that may be individually actuated to adjust the tension in and length of the risers. Elastomeric flex units or ball-in-socket devices are disposed between the riser tensioning hydraulic cylinders and the table to permit rotational movement between the each riser and the table.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,013,824 to Otten et al. discloses a riser centralizer for transferring lateral loads from the riser to a platform hull which includes a keel centralizer mounted on a keel joint. The keel centralizer is received within a keel guide sleeve secured in a support mounted at the lower end of the platform hull. The keel centralizer includes a nonmetallic composite bearing ring having a radiused peripheral profile for minimizing contact stresses between the keel centralizer and the keel guide sleeve in extremes of riser and platform motion. The internal surface of the keel guide sleeve is clad with a corrosion resistant alloy and coated with a wear resistant ceramic rich coating.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,632,044 to Pallini et al. describes a ram style tensioner with a fixed conductor and a floating frame. The riser tensioner for an offshore floating platform has a frame mounted to the upper portion of the riser. Pistons and cylinders are spaced circumferentially around the riser and connected between the frame and the floating platform. A tubular guide member is mounted to the floating platform for movement in unison in response to waves and currents. The riser extends through the guide member. A guide roller support is mounted to and extends downward from the frame around the guide member. A set of guide rollers is mounted to the guide roller support in rolling engagement with the guide member as the guide member moves in unison with the platform.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,123,438 to Pallini et al. describes a ram style tensioner that includes a frame configured to be fixedly attached to the riser; plural cylinder assemblies spaced around the riser, each cylinder assembly having a cylinder and a piston configured to slidably move inside the cylinder, the piston being configured to connect to the frame; a guide roller support stationarily mounted to and extending from the frame; at least one bearing fixedly attached to the guide roller support; and a guide member configured to be in rolling engagement with the at least one bearing as the cylinder moves relative to the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,588,393 to Shivers et al. describes a method for supporting top-tensioned drilling and production risers on a floating vessel using a tensioner assembly above the waterline of the vessel. The method may include attaching at least one hydraulic cylinder on a first end to a first position on a floating vessel and on a second end to a tension frame below the first position. The next step of the method may be forming a fluid connection between the at least one hydraulic cylinder and at least one primary accumulator.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,886,828 to Shivers et al. describes a floating vessel for supporting top tensioned drilling and production risers having a hull and an operation deck disposed on top of the hull. The tensioner assembly moveably carries a conductor that communicates from a wellhead to a piece of well access equipment. The well access equipment is connected to the floating vessel. The tensioner assembly is supported by the floating vessel.
For a Dry Tree Semi (DTS) platform, a tensioning system is needed that can provide large strokes (on the order of 30 to 45 feet) and also provide sufficient support and alignment to the risers. Connecting jumpers of production riser christmas trees and drilling riser blowout preventers (BOP's) must be free to move as required by the platform motions without impacting deck or tensioning system components while preventing riser clashing. In addition, the semi-submersible configuration lends itself to a two-main-deck configuration and, due to the tensioner stroke required and the need for access to the christmas trees, tension joints, and BOP's, the tensioning system preferably has a ram or push-up type configuration. By using a push-up tensioner, the tensioner cylinder barrel may be located lower on the deck and enable access to critical areas of the system such as the tension ring and surface trees. In addition, the push-up type arrangement allows for a more compact well bay.
However, a ram type or push-up configuration is susceptible to buckling failure and high lateral loads. What is needed is a method that provides stability to the riser and tensioner while not adversely affecting the low tensioner spring rate that may be required by the DTS design parameters. A keel guide system for the riser is needed to react lateral riser loads directly to the hull structure rather than supporting high riser lateral loads at the tensioner and deck interface. Reacting riser lateral loads at the pontoon level of a semi-submersible may also improve the overall stability of the platform.

Riser tensioner conductor for dry-tree semisubmersible


A programmable divider circuit having an adjustable shift register is coupled to a clock and to an output. The shift register receives a clock signal having a clock signal frequency and outputs an output signal with an output frequency corresponding to a user selected divide ratio of the clock signal frequency. Control inputs are coupled to the adjustable shift register to receive control data for adjusting a length of the shift register, the length of the shift register corresponding to the user selected divide ratio.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to integrated circuits, and more specifically, to programmable dividers for integrated circuits.
2. Background Art
In Phase-Locked Loop (PLL) circuits and similar circuits used for frequency-synthesis applications, divider circuits are used to divide the input signals to achieve a desired output frequency. In order to provide a divider circuit, a binary counter is traditionally used to implement the divide ratio of the divider. Examples of dividers using binary counters are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,059 and U.S. Pat. No. Re. 32,605, incorporated herein by reference. Although binary counters effectively divide the input clocks in the aforementioned patents, binary counters may require a relatively large amount of space, especially for a wide range of divide options. Furthermore, increasing the range of desired output frequencies for a conventional divider circuit could substantially increase the amount of space for the divider circuit, depending upon the divide ratio bits used for the binary counter.

Asynchronously programmable frequency divider circuit with a symmetrical output

International Business Machines Corporation