A rotary sensor includes a stator element and a rotor element that is rotatably mounted in respect of the stator element about an axis of rotation. A rotary angle can be captured by inductive coupling between the rotor element and the stator element. The rotary sensor further includes a measuring device configured to capture the rotary angle depending on the inductive coupling between the rotor element and the stator element. The stator element has at least one transmission coil for emitting alternating electromagnetic fields and at least two reception coils for capturing alternating electromagnetic fields, when the measuring device is configured to excite the at least one transmission coil with at least two mutually different frequencies for emitting at least two alternating electromagnetic fields.

The disclosure relates to a rotation angle sensor and a stator element therefor.
By arranging transmission and reception coils on the stator of a rotation angle sensor, which coils are inductively coupled to a target on the rotor such that, when an electromagnetic alternating field is emitted by the transmission coil, at least two different AC voltages are induced in at least two reception coils, the rotation angle is able to be detected depending on the induced AC voltages.
This is described for example in EP 0 909 955 B1.


A grain oriented silicon steel strip is flattened by a skin pass rolling to flatten undulations caused by scribe lines imparted to the strip for mechanically refining the magnetic domain wall spacings.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to imparting a skin pass rolling operation to a grain oriented silicon steel strip subsequent to mechanical refinement of the magnetic domain spacing by patterns of scribe lines extending in a direction transversely of the strip.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Grain-oriented silicon steel is conventionally used in electrical applications, such as power transformers, distribution transformers, generators, and the like. The steel's ability to permit cyclic reversals of the applied magnetic field with only limited energy loss is a most important property. A reduction of this loss, which is termed "core loss", is highly desirable in the aforesiad electrical applications.
In the manufacture of grain-oriented silicon steel, it is known that the Goss secondary recrystallization texture, (110)[001]in terms of Miller's indices, results in improved magnetic properties, particularly permeability and core loss over non-oriented silicon steels. The Goss texture refers to the body-centered cubic lattice comprising the grain or crystal being oriented in the cube-on-edge position. The texture or grain orientation of this type has a cube edge parallel to the rolling direction and in the plane of rolling, with the (110) plane being in the sheet plane. As is well known, steels having this orientation are characterized by a relatively high permeability in the rolling direction and a relatively low permeability in a direction at right angles thereto.
In the manufacture of grain-oriented silicon steel, typical steps include providing a melt having on the order of 2-4.5% silicon; casting the melt; hot rolling; cold rolling the steel to final gauge typically of 7 or 9 mils, and up to 14 mils in one or more cold rolling stages, with intermediate annealing when two or more cold rollings are used; decarburizing the steel; applying a refractory oxide base coating, such as a magnesium oxide coating, to the steel; and final texture annealing the steel at elevated temperatures in order to produce the desired secondary recrystallization and purification treatment to remove impurities such as nitrogen and sulfur. The development of the cube-on-edge orientation is dependent upon the mechanism of secondary recrystallization wherein, during recrystallization, secondary cube-on-edge oriented grains are preferentially grown at the expense of primary grains having a different and undesirable orientation.
As used herein, "sheet" and "strip" are used interchangeably and mean the same unless otherwise specified.
It is also known that through the efforts of many prior art workers, cube-on-edge grain-oriented silicon steels generally fall into two basic categories: first, regular or conventional grain-oriented silicon steel; and second, high permeability, grain-oriented silicon steel. Regular, grain-oriented silicon steel is generally characterized by a permeability of less than 1870 at 10 Oersteds. High permeability, grain-oriented silicon steels are characterized by higher permeabilities which may be the result of composition changes alone or together with process changes. For example, high permeability silicon steels may contain nitrides, sulfides, selenides, and/or borides which contribute to the particles of the inhibition system which is essential to the secondary recrystallization process for the steel. Furthermore, such high permeability silicon steels generally undergo greater cold reduction to final gauge than regular grain oriented steels. A heavy final cold reduction on the order of greater than 80% is generally made in order to facilitate the high permeability grain orientation. While such higher permeability materials are desirable, such materials tend to produce larger magnetic domains than conventional material. Generally, larger domains are detrimental to core loss.
Once the steel obtains the grain-oriented texture, any subsequent cold rolling of the steel sheet is highly undesirable. It is well known that such rolling of the main body of the steel leads to unrecoverable deterioration in magnetic properties of the steel. The grain-oriented texture becomes disrupted as a result of such rolling.
It is known that one of the ways that domain size and thereby core loss values of electrical steels may be reduced occurs when the steel is subjected to any one of various practices designed to induce localized strains in the surface of the steel. Such practices may be generally referred to as "domain refining by scribing" and are performed after the final high temperature annealing operation. If the steel is scribed after the final texture annealing, then a localized stress state in the texture-annealed sheet is induced so that the domain wall spacing is reduced. These disturbances typically are relatively narrow, straight line patterns, or scribes, generally spaced at regular intervals. The scribe lines are substantially transverse to the rolling direction and typically are applied to only one side of the steel.
In fabricating electrical steels into transformers, the steel inevitably suffers some deterioration in core loss quality due to cutting, bending, and construction of cores during fabrication, all of which impart undesirable stresses in the material. During fabrication incidental to the production of stacked core transformers and, more particularly, power transformers in the United States, the deterioration in core loss quality due to fabrication is not so severe that a stress relief anneal (SRA), typically about 1475.degree. F. (801.degree. C.), is essential to restore properties. It is accordingly frequent practice not to apply this anneal. Thus, for such end uses, the need is for a flat, domain-refined silicon steel which will not necessarily be subjected to stress relief annealing. In other words, the scribed steel used for this purpose does not have to possess domain refinement which is resistant to the heating of a stress relief anneal.
However, during the fabrication incidental to the production of most distribution transformers in the United States, the steel strip is cut and subjected to various bending and shaping operations which produce more working stresses in the steel than in the case of power transformers. In such instances, it is necessary and conventional for manufacturers to stress relief anneal (SRA) the product to relieve such stresses. During stress relief annealing, it has been found that the beneficial effect on core loss resulting from some scribing techniques, such as mechanical and thermal scribing, are lost. For such end uses, it is required and desired that the product exhibit heat resistant domain refinement (HRDR) in order to retain the improvements in core loss values resulting from scribing.
In referring now to certain prior teaching, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,533,409, issued Dec. 19, 1984 and 4,711,113, issued Dec. 8, 1987, disclose a method and apparatus for scribing a grain-oriented silicon steel to refine the grain structure by passing the cold strip through a roll pass defined by an anvil roll and scribing roll having a surface with a plurality of projections extending along and generally parallel to the roll axis. The anvil roll is typically constructed from a material that is relatively more elastic than the material from which the scribing roll is constructed. Preferably, the scribing roll is constructed from steel and the anvil roll is constructed from rubber. The process described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,113, may be performed before or after final texture annealing but the domain refinement achieved is not maintained through the usual stress relief annealing temperatures.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,706, issued May 10, 1988, discloses an apparatus for imparting strain to a moving steel sheet at linear spaced-apart, deformed regions. The apparatus includes a strain imparting roll having a plurality of projections as in the above described U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,113, except that the projections are formed on a spiral relative to the axes of rotation of the roll. The apparatus of the '706 patent also includes a press roll, a plurality of back-up rolls and a fluid pressure cylinder interconnected so as to control pressure against the press roll.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,770,720, issued Sep. 13, 1988 discloses a cold deformation technique wherein final texture annealed grain oriented silicon steel at as low as room temperature, and as high as from 50.degree. to 500.degree. C. (122.degree. to 932.degree. F.) is subjected to local loading, at a mean load of 90 to 220 kg/mm.sup.2 to (127,000 to 325,000 PSI) to form spaced apart grooves. The sheet must then be annealed at 750.degree. C. (1380.degree. F.) or more so that fine recrystallized grains are formed to divide the magnetic domains and improve core loss values which survive subsequent stress relief annealing.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,080,326, issued Jan. 14, 1992 and 5,123,977, issued Jun. 23, 1992 and assigned to the same assignee of this patent application, a hot deformation technique is disclosed wherein the steel sheet is heated to a temperature in the range of 1000.degree. F. to 1400.degree. F. (540.degree. C. to 760.degree. C.) and while in this state it is locally hot deformed to facilitate the development of localized fine recrystallized grains in the vicinity of the areas of localized deformations to effect heat resistant domain refinement and core loss.
While the above prior attempts have, to different degrees, met the basic objectives to which they were addressed, they have created other technical and practical problems which the present invention is designed to overcome. One such problem is the stacking factor of the core assembly of the transformer. The stacking factor has reference to the efficiency of packing a stack of lamination with a maximum number of scribed sheets as compared to solid steel in a given cross section which are used to make up a transformer core assembly. Numerically, the term stacking factor is expressed as a percent ratio of a theoretical stacking height, i.e., calculated from weight, volume and density, to actual height under a given pressure. A high stacking factor permits more magnetic flux-carrying material in a given core volume. A 100% stacking factor is ideal although conventional flat electrical sheets yield a stacking factor on the order of 95%. Corrugations of the type developed as a result of mechanical scribing consisting of a multiplicity of closely spaced scribe lines traversing the strip are deleterious to the stacking factor although greatly beneficial to the refinement of magnetic domain wall spacing.
The stacking factor affects the capacity or power rating and size of the transformer and hence the ultimate use and cost. The stacking dimension is "enlarged" by the degree of penetration of the localized deformations cause by scribing and the non-uniformity in a linear direction of the deformations, (i.e. variation in the depth of the deformations). These two conditions of non-uniformity and excessive penetration of some of prior deformation techniques are also objectionable because they create problems in operation of the core-winding machine and gap patterns of the elements of the core and in the ease of moving and manipulating the scribed sheets during processing in the manufacturing of the transformers.

Skin pass rolling of mechanically scribed silicon steel


Methods and apparatus for removing scratch and wire noise from digitized images handle the difficult case of non-uniformly shaded images which is the common situation in real applications. The methods and apparatus also utilize a soft edge noise mask to allow a smoother blending of the reconstructed noise and the image around the noise. wire noise removal from digitized images wherein a scratched portion of a digitized image which requires repair or noise removal is identified and a binary mask is generated which distinguishes the defined scratched portion from the other portions of the digitized image. The methods and apparatus utilize both the spatial and frequency domains to effectively reconstruct many contiguous noisy pixels, reconstruct textures even when they are large featured, maintain sharpness and maintain continuity of features across a noisy region. A set of instructions for executing the methods is contained in a program storage device. Also, a recording media contains digital data generated using the methods.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for removing noise from digital images, such as for example, digitized photographic images or computer generated images ("CGI") and more particularly to scratches in, or debris on, old motion picture and still photographic films, as well as special effects wires, or supports, used for special effects in motion picture scenes. The present invention further relates to noise induced into digital images due to transmission errors, or malfunctions of image recording or scanning equipment. The present invention also relates to program storage devices for the methods of the present invention, and to recording medium having recorded thereon digital data prepared using the methods of the present invention.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the growing proliferation of available channels for television broadcast and the increasing use of multimedia viewing platforms, many older motion picture and still frame films are likely to see increased use through transfers to video and digital formats. Unfortunately, many old motion and still photographic films have, over the years of use and viewing, become scratched or dirtied with dust or other debris. Since high definition and digital television formats, as well as other digital multimedia formats, will allow imperfections, such as scratches or debris on the film stock, to be quite noticeable to viewers, there is an increasing need for a method of removing scratches from digitized images without degrading or otherwise adversely affecting the perceived quality of the image.
In motion pictures, for example, certain special effects require actors, models or objects in a scene to be suspended or supported via a wire, cable, rod or the like or so as to create the effect of, for example the actor, model or object floating aloft. Typically, the appearance of these wires, cables, rods etc. is later removed from visibility in the scene during post production via optical processing or, more typically these days, via digital processing of the digitized film. Similarly in desktop publishing it is often desirable to remove unwanted portions of an image or erase scratches or blemishes from photographs. It should be noted that the usage of the term "scratch" or "scratch noise" as used herein, is intended to include all of the above noted types of noise which may occur in a digitized image.
A scratch in a digitized image presents itself as unwanted pixels in the digitized image. Scratch noise typically consists of a plurality of contiguous pixels rather than small isolated groups, or clusters, of pixels. In a digitized image, scratch noise may consist of an area of pixels of, for example, 10 pixels.times.100 pixels, and may fall in an area of the digitized image wherein details such as textures or edges are crossed by the scratch. In order to remove the scratch from the digitized image, the pixels which make up the scratch area must be replaced with pixel data which represents, or emulates the original data. In order to effectively repair scratched areas, this pixel data should allow the resulting image to be as sharp in the scratch area as in the surrounding area. Further, continuity of prominent edges should be maintained, and textures created to replace the wire or scratch pixels should match the surrounding texture.
The effectiveness of currently known techniques of digital processing varies according to the features of the image and their relative size within the image at issue and whether they are regularly or randomly occurring. Examples of regularly occurring features include a brick wall or fabric weave texture. Examples of randomly occurring features may include an asphalt roadway or concrete walk or sandy beach. The effectiveness of known techniques also depends upon the size and type of the scratch area. Scratches which show up as small, isolated clusters of noise pixels in smooth or blurred areas of an image are typically relatively easy to remove through known techniques such as filtering or simple cloning and painting techniques. However, existing noise removal techniques fall short where the scratch consists of a plurality of contiguous pixels or falls in a textured area of an image or in areas having prominent edges, or lines.
Currently known techniques of image noise removal can be generally categorized into two types: 1) intra-frame techniques and 2) inter-frame techniques. The difference between these two general types of techniques centers primarily on where data for replacement of noise pixels is obtained from. Inter-frame techniques typically copy pixel data needed to replace noise pixels from preceding or succeeding frames. Intra-frame techniques, on the other hand, typically utilize data within the image frame to be repaired for replacement of noise pixels.
Inter-frame methods typically fail to provide suitable results where the images/scenes at issue reflect an extreme level of camera movement or scene activity. These methods also tend to fall short where the scratch extends across several image frames, or where the damaged image frame is the only image frame available for providing data for repairing the image. Unfortunately, it is common for scratches to run across several image frames, because of the motion of typical motion picture films through a typical motion picture projector. In these situations, corresponding pixel data from a preceding/succeeding image frame is not readily available for replacement/copying to the scratched area.
Known techniques of scratch noise removal have addressed the problem of scratch noise removal in several ways, including: (a) low-pass and other linear filtering (b) median and other non-linear filtering, (c) statistical texture synthesis (d) cloning, i.e. copying another part of the image (e) painting manually (f) projection based methods and (g) methods based on solving simultaneous equations. However, these techniques have been less than successful in providing scratch removal so as to yield optimum results in a variety of scratch/image situations. Every image can be considered to be made up of many different undulating images, each having specific rate and amount by which they undulate. Such an analysis of an image into its component undulating images can be done by a method known as fast fourier transform ("FFT"). When the image is analyzed in this way and the information produced by FFT is manipulated, this is known as working in the frequency domain. When an operation is done to the image itself it is known as an operation in spatial domain.
The methods (a) to (e) suffer from the shortcoming that they work only in one such domain. Frequency domain algorithms can capture global structure of the image but lose local control (line continuity, sharpness). As a result, lines and other details become blurred. One problem shared by all spatial-only methods is that they have local control and information but do not have any information about the global structure of the image. The limitation to a local neighborhood is due to practical computational constraints in some cases. In addition, some of these methods like median and other non-linear filtering are inherently incapable of meaningfully using the global information.
Typically the presence of scratch noise appears as a sudden variation in the pixel intensities at the scratch locations when compared with the surrounding pixel intensity values. This sudden variation appears as high frequency components in the frequency spectrum of a image. By removing higher frequency components, variation in pixel intensity can be reduced to thereby lessen the visibility of the scratch area within the image frame. This operation is known as low-pass filtering and involves transforming the image from the spatial (or image) domain into the frequency domain, filtering out a predetermined level of high frequency components and transforming the resulting image frequencies back into an image. Similar results can be achieved via an operation known as a convolution, which operates on the image directly without first converting it into the frequency domain. Low pass filtering is effective in reducing scratch noise from certain types of images, typically images having few details or smooth textures. This technique is not, however, effective for removing scratch noise from images having textures or very detailed areas or prominent edges. Smoothing by low-pass and similar linear filtering techniques, whereby variations in pixel intensities within a given area are averaged out, is not effective since it often results in reconstructed, or repaired, scratch noise areas being blurred and loss of detail in the repaired scratch area.
With median filtering techniques, a given pixel of a subject image is replaced with the median value of the surrounding pixels. Which pixels comprise the surrounding pixels of a pixel at issue is typically defined by specifying the limits of a window enclosing that pixel. For example a window of 10 pixels by 10 pixels (10.times.10) in which the pixel at issue is located could be used to define the "surrounding" pixels. The surrounding pixels can also be referred to as the "neighborhood" of a given pixel. The size of the window or neighborhood can be varied in accordance with the needs at hand. In applying median filtering to scratch removal where the location of the scratch is known, only the scratch pixels will be replaced by the median value of the surrounding pixels.
Median and similar non-linear filtering techniques work relatively well where the scratch area is limited to a relatively small group of isolated pixels. Typically scratches, and particularly wire noise, consist of many contiguous pixels. As a result, the median value of surrounding pixels is typically the value of the scratch area itself. If a small window, or neighborhood, is chosen, scratches are typically not repaired, since the median value is typically the value of the scratch area itself. In other words, the scratch pixels values are replaced with the value of the scratch pixels. Where a larger window is chosen so as to provide a greater number of surrounding pixels, blurring of the image typically results .
In techniques based on statistical texture synthesis, an area of the damaged image at issue is analyzed and a statistical representation of the image area is developed. This statistical representation is then used to generate a synthesized texture that is similar to the analyzed area . Scratch/wire noise pixels can then be replaced with the synthesized texture. Statistical methods are based on the assumption that the relationship between pixels in a neighborhood has a statistical description which can be discovered by analysis. Thus a given pixel's characteristics are supposed to depend statistically on some or all of its nearby pixels. Where there is a relationship between pixels which are relatively far apart in distance, the neighborhood necessary for analysis of those pixels must be relatively large. An example would be a brick wall with large bricks or a wide wire mesh photographed close-up. Typically in these methods the computational processing required increases as the number of pixels within the neighborhood on which a given pixel depends is increased. As a result these methods are not useful for textures having large features, such as, for example, the texture of an image of a typical brick wall.
Many popular image processing programs, such as for example, Adobe Photoshop.TM., provide a tool for copying pixels from one area of the image to another area. With these types of tools, the area of the image to be copied is typically selected, or defined, via use of a mouse, or other pointer/control device, which allows a user to manipulate a cursor or "brush" on the display screen which displays the image at issue. Using the mouse device, a source area from which pixel data is to be read, or transferred, is defined. Then a destination area to which the pixel data from the source area is to be transferred is defined. "Brush strokes", or movement of the cursor across the destination area, can be accomplished using the mouse. With each "brush stroke" pixels from the source area are copied to the destination area. This method works well when the texture, or pattern, depicted in the image at issue is random or regularly occurring in nature and has relatively small features. Small features might include, for example, spots on a piece of fruit, sand, asphalt of a road, or fabric weave. Where there are, for example, random or regularly occurring details, or patterns, depicted in the image in the form of curved or straight lines then alignment of the edges of the repaired region with that of the surrounding region is very time consuming. Repairing scratches or wires using rubber stamp painting is a task requiring lots of time and skill for many images. Since the human visual system is very sensitive to problems with edges, mismatched edges are relatively easy to pick out by the human eye.
Another technique for scratch removal has been to "paint" over the pixels of the scratch by manually matching the scratch pixels with the surrounding area. This method is very time consuming and the quality of the results obtained depends heavily on the skill of the operator. An even bigger problem is when the image has uneven intensity due to lighting conditions or inter reflections. In such cases, finding the same intensity source area can be difficult. With reference to FIGS. 6(A) and 6(B), such figures illustrate the problems resulting of the simple copying of when attempting to cover up noise in an image with non-uniform shading. Such copying can create misalignment and shading mismatch. In further detail, FIG. 6(A) illustrates an example of noise to be removed or covered up and also illustrates the dotted line region to be copied to cover up such noise. FIG. 6(B) illustrates that the dotted line region has been copied onto the noise. However, the resulting lines are misaligned, and as would be expected because of non-uniform shading, the color of the covered up area is different from that of the surrounding area.
Techniques of scratch noise removal based on projection methods in the context of signal restoration have been previously used. These methods have been used to extend the frequency spectrum of band-limited signals by alternating between signal and transform domains and applying constraints of each domain. The constraints are directed to preservation of known signal values and enforcement of bandlimits. This approach has been generalized through a geometric interpretation which is generally referred to as Projection onto Convex Sets, or POCS. POCS allows the use of any information about the image, such as, for example, the range of luminance values, distinction between defined scratch areas and non-scratch areas, as long as the information can be represented as a closed convex set to be used as a constraint.
In projection based methods an image at issue is projected upon predefined constraints to find another image which closely resembles the image at issue and which is within a defined range of images which satisfy certain pre-defined constraints. The process of finding the closest image satisfying certain pre-defined constraints is known as projecting onto that constraint. Once such an image has been found, this new image, or resultant image, is projected onto the next pre-defined constraint, if any. The constraints represent information that is known about the image. In projection based methods, an image at issue may be considered as a single point in a space which has one or more dimensions. Any point on a flat surface can be described in terms of its X and Y coordinates. Further, any point in a 3-dimensional space, for example a room, can be described in terms of X, Y and Z coordinates. Similarly, an image can be described as a single point in high-dimensional space. For example, an image comprised of 200 pixels by 100 pixels may be represented as a single point having 20,000 dimensions (200.times.100=20,000). Each dimension of the point represents one of the 20,000 pixels which make up the image. The value of each dimension represents the luminance intensity for the given pixel represented by the particular dimension. In typical gray scale imaging, a gray scale of 256 steps is often used for high quality imaging. Thus, the luminance intensity, or value, of a given pixel may range from 0-255, for example.
Through repeated projections onto various constraints, an image can eventually be found that satisfies all of the constraints imposed, simultaneously. The only condition is that the constraints should represent something known as convex sets. The concept of constraints representing convex sets can be explained as follows. When a constraint is placed on, for example, a set of images that are to be considered, the set of images is reduced to a possibly smaller set than the set of all possible images. If this new, smaller set has the property that any linear combination of two images in the set yields an image which is also within the set, then the set is a convex set. This can be expressed as follows: EQU u(x)+(1-u)(y)=z,
where 0.ltoreq.u.ltoreq.1, and x and y are images.
If x and y are two images which are members of a set S, u is a real number between 0 and 1 inclusive, and z is also an image which is a member of the set S, then the set S is a convex set. FIG. 7(A) illustrates a geometrical definition of Equation 1 and how it is satisfied in convex sets but not in concave sets, as shown for example in FIG. 7(B).
In known projection based methods of scratch noise removal, constraints such as bandlimits are imposed. An image is said to be bandlimited if the fourier transform of the image does not have an infinite frequency spectrum. Limiting the frequency band of an image does not provide desirable results in scratch and wire removal from real images.
Other known techniques of scratch removal are based on solving simultaneous equations. These methods typically involve solving numerous simultaneous equations, often as many equations as there are pixels in the image at issue. The computational requirements to carry out this technique can be quite high. Such methods are most useful in removing blur in images. Iterative and non-iterative linear algebra based methods for scratch removal, which require the solution of only a limited number of equations, up to as many equations as there are pixels in the scratch, have been proposed. However, these methods do not work well where the scratch noise at issue consists of a plurality of contiguous pixels as is typically the case with most scratch noise.
A new method described in our recently filed Japanese Patent Application No.P7-303420 (filed on Oct. 30, 1995), which Japanese Patent Application corresponds to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/733,753 (filed on Oct. 21, 1996), presents an algorithm for removing such long thin unwanted noise from images. In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/733,753, which U.S. patent application is hereby incorporated by reference, we posed the image noise removal problem as follows:
Given (i) the locations of noisy pixels and (ii) a prototype (sample) image, it is possible to restore those noisy pixels in a natural way.
In our method described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/733,753 the user specifies (a) the location of the noisy pixels by painting a mask (called noise mask) over the noise area using a digital paint brush like tool, (b) an area around the noise (called repair subimage), and (c) an area from a non noisy region to be used as a prototype (called sample subimage). FIG. 1 illustrates an example image with noise. FIG. 2 illustrates a noise mask painted on the noise. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of sample and repair subimage selection.
The embodiments of our U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/733,953 use spatial and frequency domain information from the sample and repair subimages to remove the noise. In contrast, previous popular approaches like copy-pasting, painting, median filtering and low pass filtering, etc. work only in one domain. Although the results from the method in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/733,953 are better than previously known methods, our method in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/733,953 was not designed for images which have tremendous intensity variation across their the area of such images.
The present invention seeks to overcome the shortcomings set forth above and to provide methods and apparatus of removing scratch noise from digitized photographic images which yield high quality results without the need for undue operator manipulation.

Methods, apparatus and program storage device for removing scratch or wire noise, and recording media therefor


Apparatus and methods for bagging organic and other material such as silage, compost, grain, sawdust, dirt, sand, etc., wherein plastic material is dispensed from a roll mounted on the bagging machine so that the plastic material is at least partially wrapped around the material being bagged as the bagging machine moves ahead during packing and filling.

Agricultural feed and compost bagging machines have been employed for several years to pack or bag silage, compost or the like into elongated plastic bags. Two of the earliest bagging machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,687,061 and 4,046,068, the complete disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. In prior art bagging machines, silage, compost, or the like is supplied to the forward or intake end of the bagging machine and is fed to a packing means such as a rotor, plunger, screw conveyor or the like which conveys the material into a tunnel on which the bag is positioned so that the bag is filled. As the silage is packed into the bag, the bagging machine moves away from the filled end of the bag in a controlled fashion so as to achieve uniform compaction of the silage material within the bag. The empty elongated plastic bags are in a folded condition and are initially positioned over the tunnel or forming means of the machine.
In the present state of the art, the manufacturers of the plastic silage/compost bag must blow or extrude the plastic into a tubular/bag shape, roll it onto a core, fold it into a collar, and then put the same into a box or container, which is palleted for shipping. Once the box is delivered to the field, it may take several men and a crane to lift the bag out of the box and feed it by hand over and onto the tunnel. The bag is then laboriously pushed onto the tunnel until the bag is gathered at the forward end of the tunnel so that the bag is ready for filling and packing.
A major disadvantage and cost of the current method of manufacturing plastic bags for use on bagging machines is the sophisticated and expensive machinery required by the manufacturers to fold the bags after the blowing or extruding process. Only a few manufacturers have such costly machines, and they pass the processing and material costs onto the end user. Secondly, the extra steps necessary to convert the roll of plastic into bags, fold the bags into boxes, load the individual boxes into a larger container for shipping, and then transport and deliver those boxes to the consumers adds time, packaging, space requirements, handling equipment, manpower and disposal costs to the entire process.
A further problem created by the present method of putting a plastic bag onto a bagging machine is the physical strain and danger to the men who load the bag onto the tunnel. The newer, bigger bags (14′×500′) weigh up to 1200 lbs and the industry trend is for even larger tunnels and even longer bags.
There is a need to replace the old process of manufacturing the bags and the installation of the same on the bagging machines to reduce manufacturing and handling costs, improve safety and worker ergonomics, and eliminate the stranglehold a few manufacturers have on bag distributors and consumers.

Apparatus and methods for bagging organic and other materials


A universal magnetic switching assembly for detecting relative movement between first and second members, the universal switching assembly including, a flux directing device for selectively directing a majority of applied magnetic flux, such that an externally applied magnetic field cannot be used to defeat the magnetic switch assembly. The magnetic switching assembly also including at least one tamper switch to detect application of an external magnetic field.

Security alarm systems often use magnetic switches attached to doors and windows for detecting unauthorized openings. One type of magnetic switch utilized is a reed switch. However, these switches are subject to unauthorized manipulation through use of, for example, an external magnet. Specifically, a compact high energy magnet may be positioned in proximity to the reed switch, which will then be operated (to either open or close depending on the control scheme). Once accomplished, an intruder may open the door or window without triggering the alarm system.
A number of magnetic switches have been proposed in the past to overcome the inherent limitation and serious deficiencies of reed switches including, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,997,873; 5,530,428; 5,332,992; 5,673,021; 5,880,659; and 6,506,987. These switches typically include a pair of spaced apart switch elements with a shiftable body (e.g., a spherical ball) movable between a first position where the ball is in simultaneous contact with both switch elements and a second position out of simultaneous contact with the switch elements. An alarm circuit may be electrically coupled to the switch elements so as to detect movement of the body. However, these switches may still be manipulated by an externally applied magnetic force.
Other systems have been presented that also offer limited protection from external magnetic manipulation including, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,506,987; 6,603,378; and 6,803,845. While the switch arrangements in these patents represent an improvement in the field, these switch arrangements suffer from some inherent problems. For example, while offering a degree of security against external magnetic fields in one plane, these switches may still be defeated by introducing an external magnetic force in one of several or in multiple planes. Another problem presented by these switches is that they are prone to misalignment, causing problems with accurate functioning of the system. In addition, these switches may be highly sensitive to the material to which they are mounted. For example, if these switches are mounted to a steel base, a portion of the magnetic field strength may be drawn away negatively affecting system performance.
Another system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,877,664 entitled Magnetic Proximity Switch System. This system teaches use of an armature member that may be shifted to various positions to electrically open or close various contacts depending upon the position of a magnet. For example, when a first magnet is in a first position, the armature member resides in a first position. But when the first magnet is moved to a second position, the armature member may then be drawn to a second position by a second magnet. The '664 patent further teaches that at least two switch pole pieces may be used in conjunction with each other to provide off switch axis actuation or actuation though surfaces not normal to the axis of the switch. However, a problem with the '664 patent is that, the device cannot tolerate fields off axis leading to operational problems. Without a pole piece, flux leakage could result in off axis leakage disadvantageously affecting the performance of the switch. To compensate for this, the '664 patent provides at least two pole pieces to redirect the magnetic flux. This disadvantageously requires increased space and hardware to accomplish.
Another problem with the '664 patent is that there is no way to control the amount of magnetic flux that is applied to a switch. Rather, the '664 patent is designed merely to maximize magnetic flux to the device when transmitted off axis. Accordingly, there is no way to generate or maintain a particular field strength at the switch.
Still another problem with the '664 patent is that there is no way to channel magnetic flux applied to the pole piece in different directions to, for example, multiple switches. Rather, to change the direction of the magnetic field, the '664 patent teaches that at least two pole pieces are required to accomplish this. In fact, only one cross-sectional area provides the active surface for the pole piece. Again this leads to increased space requirements, additional materials and expense.
Finally, due to the configuration of system taught in the '664 patent with the at least two pole pieces, the system is prone to misalignment problems. While the at least two pole pieces are used to channel off axis magnetic flux, they do not address the problems created caused by misalignment and must be positioned relatively close to each other to function properly.
What is desired then, is a system and method that will provide an improved magnetic switching device that is essentially undefeatable by application of an externally applied magnetic field.
It is further desired to provide a system and method that provides an improved magnetic switching device that may not be defeated with the application of an external magnetic field in one of several or multiple planes.
It is still further desired to provide a system and method that provides an improved magnetic switching device that reduces sensitivity to system misalignment.
It is yet further desired to provide a system and method that provides an improved magnetic switching device that is relatively insensitive to the material to which they are mounted.
It is also desired to provide a system and method for controlling the magnetic flux intensity that may be applied to a switch component.
It is still further desired to provide a system and method that gathers and channels magnetic flux to several or in multiple directions for application to various switches.
It is yet further desired to provide a system and method that may be used to increase the total amount of magnetic flux applied to a switch component.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Tamperproof magnetic switch assembly with universal switch


A hybrid power plant system including a gas turbine system and a coal fired boiler system inputs high oxygen content gas turbine flue gas into the coal fired boiler system, said gas turbine flue gas also including carbon dioxide that is desired to be captured rather than released to the atmosphere. Oxygen in the gas turbine flue gas is consumed in the coal fired boiler, resulting in relatively low oxygen content boiler flue gas stream to be processed. Carbon dioxide, originally included in the gas turbine flue gas, is subsequently captured by the post combustion capture apparatus of the coal fired boiler system, along with carbon diode generated by the burning of coal. The supply of gas turbine flue gas which is input into the boiler system is controlled using dampers and/or fans by a controller based on an oxygen sensor measurement and one or more flow rate measurements.

Power plants burning fossil fuels are large emitters of carbon dioxide. Coal and natural gas are the most widely used fossil fuels for power generation worldwide and in the US. When burned, coal of various types releases more CO2 per unit electricity generated than other fossil fuels including natural gas. As a result, coal-fired power plants have the highest CO2 intensity (CO2 emissions per unit of electricity output) of all thermal power plants.
On the other hand, natural gas-fired, combustion turbine based power plants have lower CO2 intensity than coal-fired plants. However, gas turbine (GT) exhaust typically has low CO2 concentration (4-5% vol) and high oxygen concentration (13-14% vol), compared to 12-13% CO2 and 5-6% oxygen for typical coal-fired power plants. The low CO2 concentration of GT exhaust can lead to large equipment size and capital investment, and high oxygen concentration can result in accelerated degradation of the CO2 solvent and increased operating cost, for a post-combustion CO2 capture (PCC) system for a gas-fired combustion turbine based power plant.
Based on the above discussion, there is a need for new methods and apparatus for reducing CO2 intensity with regard to exhaust gases generated in a gas fired combustion turbine.


A method of treating a subject for smoking cessation including periodically administering to the subject a pharmaceutically effective amount of cefdinir to treat the subject. Cefdinir for use in treating a subject for smoking cessation. A pharmaceutical composition including a pharmaceutically effective amount of cefdinir for use in treating a subject for smoking cessation.

Tobacco use causes nearly 6 million deaths per year globally, with current trends showing that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030. In the United States alone, cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year, including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. The economic cost of smoking for the United States is more than $300 billion each year, including nearly $170 billion in direct medical care for adults and more than $156 billion in lost productivity due to premature death and exposure to secondhand smoke.
At the present time, existing products for assisting in smoking cessation include nicotine-replacement products, which may take the form of a patch, gum, nasal spray, inhaler, or lozenge. Success rates relating to these products have been found to be as low as 15% after one year. Moreover, there are non-nicotine-based prescription medications on the market, such as varenicline (under the trade name of CHANTIX) and bupropion (under the trade name of ZYBAN). These medications have similarly low success rates, with CHANTIX being found in clinical trials as having only a 14% success rate after six months, while simultaneously resulting in tens of thousands of patient adverse reactions being reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Therefore, there is a need for effective and safe means for smoking cessation.


A method of responding to an adverse event associated with an implantable blood pump including detecting the adverse event, reducing a pump speed of the blood pump relative to a set pump speed in response to the detected adverse event, and determining whether at least one of a group consisting of the adverse event and a second adverse event is present following the reducing of the pump speed of the blood pump. If the at least one of the group consisting of the adverse event and a second adverse event is not present, the method includes increasing the pump speed to the set pump speed and if the at least one of the group consisting of the adverse event and a second adverse event is present while increasing the pump speed to the set pump speed, the method includes reducing the pump speed to a maximum safe operating speed.

Implantable blood pumps are commonly used to assist the pumping action of a failing heart. Typically, blood pumps include a housing with an inlet, an outlet, and a rotor mounted therein. The inlet may be connected to a chamber of the patient's heart, typically the left ventricle, using an inflow cannula. The outlet may be connected to an artery, such as the aorta. Rotation of the rotor drives blood from the inlet towards the outlet and thus assists blood flow from the chamber of the heart into the artery. One known type of blood pump is a ventricular assist device ("VAD"). Exemplary VADs include the HVAD® pump and the MVAD® pump manufactured by HeartWare, Inc. in Miami Lakes, Fla., USA.
To provide clinically useful assistance to the heart, blood pumps impel blood at a relatively substantial rate. However, blood pumps may be associated with one or more adverse events, such as suction, occlusion, or high differential pump pressure. Suction is an intermittent decrease in flow through the pump, otherwise known as a mismatch between the pump output and venous return. Suction typically occurs at the pump's inlet due to volumetric depletion within a heart chamber or due to a proximity between the pump's inlet and a myocardial structure. Occlusion is a sustained decrease in flow through the pump which may occur at the pump's inlet when the pump's inflow is sealed due to a proximity between the pump's inlet and a myocardial structure. Methods exist which include decreasing the pump speed relative to a starting pump speed in attempt to resolve the frequency, duration, or severity of the adverse event. For example, at least one known method includes implementing separate speed response strategies in response to a suction condition and a high pump pressure, respectively, rather than providing a cohesive response strategy.

Multi-input speed response algorithm for a blood pump


The invention relates to a method for managing communication connections in a communication system, comprising the following steps: generation of a connection request with a source network address internally valid in the communication system, over at least one network address translating network node to a network element outside the communication system, acceptance of a connection confirmation with a valid network address of a network element outside the communication system, providing the source network address internally valid in the communication system an the network address valid outside the communication system to a connection entry provided on the network element outside the communication system.

Network address translating network nodes are known from the prior art, which are known in technical literature as NAT (Network Address Translation). With a network address translation, "local", in other words addresses valid only within a first local network area, are translated for a communication with network elements of an external second network area. The respective address of the sending network element and/or of the network element intended for receipt is used and/or replaced as a sender and/or destination address.
A method is also known, with the aid of which network elements within a network area can first determine whether the actual network area is delimited by a network address translating network node and with the aid of which a traversal of the actual network area is assisted. Such a method is also known as STUN (Simple Traversal of UDP over NATs).
One essential operation of the STUN protocol consists in a request of the actual public network address directed at the STUN server. In addition, a request for port numbers which were allocated for the request in network address translating network nodes is also possible. In this way STUN assists with an allocation of a network address which is valid for the transportation of the following messages e.g. IP address (Internet Protocol) and a port number.
The afore-described allocation is problematical in some instances, in which a communication terminal is connected to several external communication terminals. Such a constellation occurs for instance if a local network has a plurality of accesses to the worldwide data network by way of a so-called ISP (Internet Service Provider) and the communication terminal in this way has to use a plurality of public network addresses in order to communicate with a plurality of external communication terminals by way of the different network address translating network nodes.

Method for managing communication connections by network address translating (NAT) network nodes

Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co. KG


Method and apparatus for producing a non-planar synthetic diamond structure of predetermined shape. A non-planar mandrel surface of the predetermined shape is provided and the mandrel surface is coated with a release substance. Synthetic diamond is deposited on the coating of release substance. The release substance is then activated to effect release of the deposited synthetic diamond structure. In a disclosed embodiment of the method of the invention a dome-shaped hollow mandrel is coated with a metal-containing substance, and synthetic diamond is deposited over the coating using a plasma jet deposition process. The metal containing substance is then heated to release the resultant diamond structure from the mandrel. In a form of the disclosed method, the metal-containing substance is a metal alloy which is highly polished before deposition of synthetic diamond thereon. The step of depositing synthetic diamond may include varying the deposition conditions during the depositing of diamond to obtain layers of diamond having different properties. In an embodiment of the apparatus of the invention, means are provided for rotating the mandrel in a deposition chamber, and means are also provided for moving the deposition system in the chamber, such as in an arc over the rotatable mandrel.

This invention relates to production of synthetic diamond structures, particularly those which are non-planar and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for producing non-planar diamond structures such as curved windows or free-standing domes.
Diamond has a number of properties which make it attractive for use as window material, free-standing domes, or other non-planar structures for various applications. Curved windows and domes are often used to separate a delicate sensor and/or transmitter from an outside environment. Among these properties are extreme hardness and excellent transmissivity of certain radiation. Diamond is also substantially inert, a good heat conductor, thermally stable, and an electrical insulator. However, natural diamond is prohibitively expensive for applications which require any substantial size and is difficult to form into certain shapes.
In recent years, a number of techniques have been developed for depositing synthetic diamond on surfaces of various shapes to obtain a diamond film or coating on tool surfaces and devices. These techniques include so-called high-pressure high-temperature ("HPHT") methods and chemical vapor deposition ("CVD") methods. The CVD methods include plasma deposition techniques wherein, for example, plasmas of a hydrocarbon and hydrogen are obtained using microwave energy or electrical arcing. The resultant plasma can be focused and accelerated toward a substrate using focusing and accelerating magnets. Examples of the general types of microwave plasma deposition systems that can be adapted for deposition of synthetic diamond are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,507,588, 4,585,668, 4,630,566 and 4,691,662. Examples of the general types of plasma jet deposition systems that can be adapted for deposition of synthetic diamond are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,471,003 and 4,487,162.
Although synthetic diamond has been successively deposited on tool and device surfaces for various purposes, to applicant's knowledge there are few, if any, commercially viable techniques for producing non-planar free standing diamond structures for use as windows, domes and other precisely shaped contoured structures for the types of applications wherein the above-mentioned properties of diamond are beneficial. In addition to the difficulty of obtaining a uniform thickness and quality of synthetic diamond, the production of an ultimately free-standing diamond structure poses a number of fabrication problems. It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a practical method and apparatus for producing such structures.

Method for producing synthetic diamond structures


A new Bidens plant named ‘Fisbicom’, particularly distinguished by the yellow inflorescence color, relatively small inflorescence with 5 ray florets, medium to deep green foliage, medium or weak to medium, vigor, very well branching, tight, mounding, relaively low plant habit, and early to medium flowering response.

The present invention comprises a new Bidens plant, botanically known as Bidens ferulifolia and hereinafter referred to by the variety name 'Fisbicom'.
'Fisbicom' is a product of a planned breeding program. The new cultivar has bright yellow, single-type inflorescences, free branching, and compact plant habit.
'Fisbicom' originated from a hybridization made in the summer of 2005 in a controlled breeding program in Hillscheid, Germany. The female parent was an unpatented hybrid seedling identified as 'K05-1047-1' with yellow inflorescences with 5 ray florets and with very compact plant habit.
The male parent of 'Fisbicom' was an unpatented hybrid seedling identified as 'K05-1018-1' with large yellow inflorescences with 8 ray florets and with vigorous growth habit.
'Fisbicom' was selected as one flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross in the spring of 2006 in a controlled environment in Hillscheid, Germany.
The first act of asexual reproduction of 'Fisbicom' was accomplished when vegetative cuttings were used from the initial selection in the summer of 2006 in a controlled environment in Hillscheid, Germany.
Horticultural examination of plants grown from cuttings of the plant initiated in March 2007 in Hillscheid, Germany, and continuing thereafter, has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for 'Fisbicom' are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.
'Fisbicom' has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary significantly with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity and day length.
Plant Breeder's Rights for this cultivar were applied for in Canada on May 1, 2008 and in the European Union on Jun. 2, 2008. 'Fisbicom' has not been made publicly available more than one year prior to the filing of this application.


Methods and apparatus include a handheld printer manipulated back and forth by an operator during use to print an image. An inkjet printhead of the printer has a plurality of fluid firing actuators arranged in a substantial column. A controller communicates with the printhead to identify active actuators given to fire at a particular time during use to print the image. However, to prevent unsightly print quality from occurring during overlapping adjacent print swaths, for example, certain of the identified actuators are prevented from firing. Especially, actuators in the column further from a center of the column fire less frequently than those closer to the center. A position sensor is also used to locate the printhead relative to the image. The controller correlates the position to the printhead and actuators and fires the active actuators or not.

As is known, handheld printers afford mobile convenience to users. Unlike their immobile or stationary counterparts, however, users determine the path of a given swath of printing. In some instances, this includes random movement over a substrate. In others, it includes back-and-forth movement attempting to simulate a stationary printer.
A common problem with handheld printers is poor alignment between adjacent swaths of print because position of the print element is often less accurate than with other types of printer. Alignment errors usually result in noticeable defects in the print. The most common print defects are called "print banding" and include both dark bands and white bands at the boundary between swaths where ink drops at the edge of a swath are printed too close or too far from drops in the adjacent print swath. Another category of print banding is a directional effect similar to the banded appearance of mowed glass when adjacent swaths are cut in different directions. These print banding defects may appear with other serial printers, but the defects can be minimized by printing a dithered image in multiple passes over the paper. With a handprinter, print banding is a problem because alignment errors are more likely, and requiring multiple passes is an unaccepted demand on the operator.
Another common defect with handprinting is a gap or void in the print where the operator fails to pass the print element over that portion of the page. If detected, the operator can repair the void by moving the print element back over that area so the missing content can be printed. With a handprinter, positional errors accumulate during the page, so voids that are not repaired promptly may have significant print banding where the area printed in repair is misaligned with the adjacent areas.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for robust, multi-directional and random printing handheld printers having improved print quality. Naturally, any improvements should further contemplate good engineering practices, such as relative inexpensiveness, stability, low complexity, ease of manufacturing, etc.

Handheld printer minimizing printing defects


A journaling method is provided for supporting a recovery when a system is abnormally terminated in a shared disk environment. When a system call operation to take part in a journaling is generated, in order to guarantee a recovery, a transaction is started and new transaction region is assigned. Then, a system is initialized and a transaction type is set up. Lock information on modified data is acquired and added to the transaction so that a transaction manages lock information. A reflection to a disk during a modification of metadata is prevented. Modified metadata added to the transaction and modified information on principal general data are recorded. Then, lock information connected to the transaction is released.

The journaling method is suggested in order to support a recovery when an abnormal termination takes place in the shared disk file system environment such as the SAN, wherein a transaction in the shared disk file system is defined as a series of operations for performing an operation on each file and is used as a fundamental unit of a recovery and an operation.
Since metadata is written to a disk and then is accessed by another host in a journaling recovery method of a conventional shared disk file system environment when another host accesses to the modified metadata, a disk access number (input/output number) is increased and a journaling speed is decreased.
Further, a recovery only on the metadata may be supported while a recovery on the real principal data may not be supported.

Journaling and recovery method of shared disk file system

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A pyrotechnical drive device for a safety tensioning device has a guide tube and a drive element movably mounted within the guide tube. A receiving member is connected to the guide tube. A gas generator for producing a gas when activated is provided. The gas drives the drive element within the guide tube. The gas generator includes a sleeve and is mounted with the sleeve within the receiving member. The receiving member has a wall with an opening and the opening has a size adapted to the wall thickness material of the sleeves such that, when a pressure load limit of the gas generated within the sleeve is surpassed upon activation of the gas generator, the sleeve is pressed into the opening and bursts open.

The invention relates to a pyrotechnical drive for a safety device such as a tensioning device of a safety belt etc. It includes a drive element movable within a guide tube and a gas generator positioned within a receiving member attached to the guide tube. The gas generator is activatable under certain conditions for generating a gas that acts on the drive element in order to move it within the guide tube.
A pyrotechnical drive device with the aforementioned features is, for example, known from German Patent 39 03 148. Such drive devices are especially used for tensioning devices of safety belts which act on the safety belt itself or effect a tensioning movement of an anchoring part for a safety belt lock or act with a suitable coupling onto the safety belt reeling shaft of a coordinated safety belt reeling device. In the aforementioned German Patent 39 03 148 the drive device for a tensioning device acts on the safety belt reeling shaft. The known drive device comprises at one end thereof a cylinder as a receiving member for receiving the gas generator. The gas generator in case of activation releases the gas that drives a piston arranged within the cylindrical guide tube. The piston acts as the drive element.
The aforementioned drive device has the disadvantage that when the piston jams within the guide tube, excessive pressure will build up in the portion of the guide tube positioned between the piston and the gas generator. This may result in a destruction of the guide tube, respectively, of the receiving member for the gas generator and may result in detachment and ejection of parts at the location of rupture.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve a drive device of the aforementioned kind such that an effective pressure relief valve is provided that can be manufactured easily.

Pyrotechnical drive device with pressure relief


A gauge device for use with a staple gun serves to align the staple gun relative to building siding to dispense a two prong staple from a head of the staple gun into one of a plurality of fastener apertures in siding members of the building siding. The gauge device comprises a pair of flanges arranged to depend from laterally opposed sides of the head of the staple gun at a location such that abutment of one of the flanges below a lock edge channel of a siding member locates one prong of the two prong staple to be in alignment with one of the fastener apertures and locates the other prong of the two prong staple above the top free edge of a nailing flange of the siding member.

Interlocking siding, for example vinyl siding and the like, is a common exterior finish for various buildings. Vinyl siding typically comprises a profile representing two or three overlapping siding boards in appearance as a single integral panel. A hook is formed along a bottom edge of the panel opposite a nailing flange extending along the top edge of the panel. A plurality of apertures are provided in the nailing flange at spaced positions along the top edge. A channel or lock edge is formed along the top edge of the panel also, just below the nailing flange. The channel is arranged to matingly receive the hook at the bottom edge of a subsequently installed panel of similar configuration. Fasteners are mounted within the apertures in the nailing flanges of each subsequent row as the siding is mounted on the building.
For ease and speed of installation, it is common to use powered guns to insert the fasteners, for example nail guns or staple guns. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,821,937 and 6,393,711 describe examples of nailing guns including guides which are particularly suited for siding. When installing vinyl siding however use of staples is typically preferred to better control the depth of penetration of the fasteners.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,380 to Nasiatka and U.S. Pat. No. 6,769,193 to Meisner disclose attachments for staple guns in which a pair of laterally spaced projections are provided on the dispensing head of the staple gun for aligning the staples with the apertures in the nailing flange of the siding. In order to properly align the tool however one of the projections must be aligned with and received within one of the apertures in the nailing flange, representing a time consuming and awkward task for a user to do repetitively when installing vinyl siding.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,917 to Krowl discloses an attachment for a staple gun for use with vinyl siding in which an elongate channel is provided in fixed relation to the body of the gun for sliding along a top edge of the channel in the siding receiving the hook of a subsequent panel. In this instance the moveable safety tip on the staple gun which normally requires being depressed against a surface to receive the dispensed staple therein is disengaged from use. Accordingly there is a considerable risk of injury when using the staple gun by the teachings of Krowl. Furthermore the channel is taught to be slid along the top edge of the channel in the siding so that the siding panel is accordingly urged downwardly into disengagement with the previous installed panel rather than encouraging a more snug engagement between the panels as they are subsequently installed.


A game is played on a billiard type table using balls with indicia of chess pieces. A cue stick is used to strike the balls following rules of movement that vary with the indicia on the ball to be moved. Game rules control movement and pocketing of balls are representative of the movement and capture of chess pieces, but are modified for use on a billiard table. The game is also adaptable to other playing surfaces including electronic displays.

The present invention relates primarily to billiard type games. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for playing a billiard type game that adapts rules and indicia from the game of chess to create a new and enjoyable billiard type game.
For many years the game of billiards has been a popular game played in the home, at billiard clubs, pool halls, bars, and at recreational facilities. Further, the popularity of billiards is demonstrated by the amount of sales of billiard related items, and also the many billiard tournaments, some of which are even televised. As such, various types of billiard games have been introduced into the marketplace and the prior art provides many examples of these various billiard games including various table shapes, sizes, various numbers of balls, including many colors and designs, and various rules for playing a variety of games. The prior art also shows examples of billiards combined with other games such as football, golf, and word spelling games.
Chess is a game with an even longer history of popularity. Chess has been played for over a thousand years and remains popular in the home, at school, and is the subject of chess clubs, tournaments, books and news articles. To date, no one has found a way to combine these two popular games in such a way as to be enjoyable and entertaining. Combining chess and billiards would have the advantage of combining the physically dexterous aspects of billiards with the intellectual and strategic aspects of chess.
With the increased popularity of billiard games, and leisure activities in general, many people are willing to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on billiard tables and accessories. The accessories may include multiple cue sticks and various sets of balls and racks for playing various games. Additionally, billiard tables also are large and consume substantial floor space. Consequently, the substantial cost of a billiard table and the large amount of space they consume makes it desirable to get as much use from a billiard table as possible. It is therefore advantageous to purchase accessories that permit a billiard table to be used for multiple activities, and used more often, to thereby increase the enjoyment of such a large piece of equipment. Unfortunately, most billiard games are very similar to one another and consequently players may become bored with playing the same or similar games repeatedly. Similar problems apply to the electronics industry's game playing systems. In the electronics industry, many billiard games are now adapted to being played on electronic gaming systems, personal computers, and the like. The rules are substantially the same as the physical games, but the playing surface, balls, and cue sticks are virtual and are represented on an electronic display screen. It is therefore desirable to have new and entertaining games implemented on these electronic gaming platforms.
Accordingly, a need exists for new games and related accessories for billiard tables that provide increased usage, more enjoyment, and more value for the billiard table owner. Similarly there is a need for new billiard games to be adapted to electronic gaming systems. Therefore, a game and related accessories for billiard tables are needed that provide the aforementioned advantages.

Billiard game with chess indicia and method of play


An imaging system includes a shutter, an array of photodetectors, and electronic circuitry associated with the photodetectors to read intensity values from the photodetectors, the electronic circuitry including elements configured to provide an operating bias point of the photodetectors. The imaging system includes components, such as a controller, configured to adaptively adjust the operating bias for the photodetectors wherein the adjustment is based at least in part on intermittent measurement of a flat field image. During use, the imaging system can be configured to perform intermittent adjustments of the operating bias based on changes in photodetector values for intermittently acquired flat field images. Adjustment of the operating bias may provide compensation for drift over time of the photodetectors and/or electronics due to effects including but not limited to temperature changes.

Field
The present disclosure generally relates to adaptive adjustment of an operating bias for imaging systems, such as cameras including infrared cameras for thermal imaging systems, and in particular to systems and methods for adjusting operating biases for photodetectors to compensate for behavioral changes over time.
Description of Related Art
The increasing availability of high-performance, low-cost uncooled infrared imaging devices, such as bolometer focal plane arrays (FPAs), is enabling the design and production of mass-produced, consumer-oriented infrared (IR) cameras capable of quality thermal imaging. Such thermal imaging sensors have long been expensive and difficult to produce, thus limiting the employment of high-performance, long-wave imaging to high-value instruments, such as aerospace, military, or large-scale commercial applications. Mass-produced IR cameras may have different design requirements than complex military or industrial systems. New approaches to image correction for effects such as temperature drift may be desirable for low-cost, mass-produced systems.

Adaptive adjustment of the operating bias of an imaging system


A tape measure system includes a slide element and a tape measure. The tape measure includes a housing and a tape at least partially stored within the housing. The tape can be selectively extended from and selectively retractable into the housing. The slide element slidably engages the tape of the tape measure. For instance, the slide element can include a body with an internal passage in which an extended portion of the tape can be received. The slide element can be selectively movable along the extended portion of the tape. One or more holders can be attached to the body of the slide element. The one or more holders include a passage configured to receive a marking implement therein. The slide element and/or the tape measure can be selectively moved to mark a surface using a marking implement received in one of the holders.

In construction and carpentry, a variety of tools may be used to measure and mark a location where work is to be performed. One tool that is commonly used for such purposes is a tape measure. A tape measure can be used to measure one or more distances or locations on a surface. In combination with a tape measure, a pencil may be used to mark the surface at the measured location. Alternatively or in addition, a compass may be used to draw an arc, or a square may be used to draw a line at the measured location. The use of such tools can be cumbersome.
Further, such activities may require the assistance of additional personnel. For instance, when measuring points on a surface (e.g. a floor, a subfloor, a ceiling, or walls) one person is needed to hold the tape measure at a particular spot on one end, and a second person is needed to hold the tape measure at the opposite end. The first person or the second person may be able to also mark one or more appropriate spots on the surface. However, in some instances, a third person may be needed to mark the one or more spots. Such actions are time consuming, labor intensive and costly.


Disclosed herein is an image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus can include an apparatus body, a cassette detachably mounted to the apparatus body, the cassette being configured to hold print media, and a sensor unit configured to sense whether the cassette is mounted, whether the print media are loaded, and/or whether the print media is properly positioned in the cassette.

An image forming apparatus is an apparatus that functions to print an image on print media according to an image signal provided to the apparatus. The image forming apparatus can be, for example, a printer, a copier, a facsimile, or a multi-function device that integrates or combines some of the functions of such apparatuses.
An image forming apparatus can include an apparatus body, in which one or more components for forming an image may be housed, and a cassette to supply the print media to those components. The print media can be paper, for example, but need not be so limited. Hereinafter, print media and paper may be used interchangeably for convenience.
An image forming apparatus can include a first sensor unit that senses or detects whether the cassette is mounted in the apparatus body. An image forming apparatus can also include a second sensor unit and a third sensor unit. The second sensor unit can be configured to sense or detect whether paper is loaded in the cassette. The third sensor unit can be configured to sense or detect the position of the paper in the cassette. The cassette can include a paper loading plate that is pivotally disposed in the cassette to change the position of the paper.
The first, second, and third sensor units can each include a separate sensor. Each of these sensors can occupy a significant amount of space within the apparatus. Moreover, the possibility of malfunction of at least one aspect of the operation of the image forming apparatus may increase when such sensors do not properly operate in relation to one another.
Therefore, it may be desirable to reduce the number of sensors to minimize the space that the sensors occupy in the apparatus and/or to minimize the likelihood of a malfunction of the apparatus.


A data network with a remote data facility for providing redundant data storage and for enabling concurrent point-in-time backup operations. A local data processing system with a data facility stores a data base and processes applications. A second system, physically separated from the first system, includes a data facility that normally mirrors the data in the first system. In a backup mode, the second system is enabled to transfer data from its data facility to a backup facility concurrently with, but independently of, the operation of the first system. On completion of the backup operation, the second system reconnects with and synchronizes with the first system thereby to reestablish the mirroring operation of the second system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to backup systems for computer storage devices and more particularly to a method and apparatus for performing concurrent backups in a computer system with geographically remote redundant computer storage devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Maintaining the integrity of data in computer storage devices has been and continues to be an important area of computer development. Systems today generally maintain integrity by using redundant storage devices or by using periodic backup procedures that transfer data onto a removable media. Many systems incorporate both redundancy and periodic backup procedures to benefit from the known advantages of each and to minimize the effect of the disadvantages of each.
There are several ways to implement redundancy that have a variety of names. Generally, however, the popular methods are known as RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) methods that are further defined by different levels. These levels extend from a RAID-1 level in which one data storage device mirrors the data in another data storage device to striping in accordance with RAID-0 procedures and to variants of redundant storage of data and parity information in accordance with RAID-3 through RAID-5 procedures. These systems are all characterized by performing the corresponding redundant operation concurrently with the execution of application programs in the main system.
RAID procedures are particularly useful in preventing the loss of data due to hardware failures. When a particular disk storage device fails, the data either resides on or can be reconstructed from data on other disk storage devices. However, if an event occurs, such as major damage caused by fire or the like or if an application program corrupts data, it is not possible to reconstruct the data as it existed prior to the event because redundant systems generally do not save information on an historical basis. Tape backup systems, that now also include optical disks and other media, provide a method of moving data offsite to avoid destruction as by a major physical catastrophe. They also provide an historical record because each backup generally seeks to obtain a snapshot of the entire data storage system at a particular point in time. However tape backups must be scheduled and are not made continuously.
Combining both redundancy and external backups provides the potential for achieving all the advantages of the individual integrity systems and eliminating many of the disadvantages of both. However, needs of such a system have become more difficult to satisfy in recent years. For example, demands on the use or availability of the data storage devices for applications programs have increased. The size of those data storage devices has increased from capacity measured gigabytes (10.sup.9) to terabytes (10.sup.12). In computer systems with a single data storage facility, data storage devices in the facility or some portion of them are taken out of service during the backup operation. In many systems the time for such backups cannot be tolerated by the applications running on the system. Several systems that have been proposed for providing concurrent backups while avoiding these problems are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.:
5,212,784 (1993) Sparks PA1 5,241,668 (1993) Eastridge et al. PA1 5,241,670 (1993) Eastridge et al. PA1 5,473,776 (1995) Nosaki et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,784 to Sparks discloses an automated concurrent data backup system in which a Central Processing Unit (CPU) transfers data to and from storage devices through a primary controller. The primary controller connects through first and second independent buses to first and second mirrored storage devices respectively (i.e., a primary, or mirrored device and a secondary or mirroring data storage device). A backup controller and device connect to the secondary storage device through its bus. Normally the primary controller writes data to both the primary and secondary data storage devices. The CPU initiates a backup through the primary controller. In response the primary controller then writes only to the primary data storage device and enables the backup controller to take control of the second bus and transfer data from the secondary data storage device to the backup media. After a backup operation is completed, the primary controller resynchronizes the storage devices by updating any changes that occurred to the primary data storage device while the backup operation was underway. Examples are also disclosed in which the primary controller connects to three and four storage devices that enable the system to operate with redundancy by mirroring two storage devices while the backup occurs with a third storage device.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,241,668 and 5,241,670 to Eastridge et al. disclose different aspects of concurrent backup procedures. In both systems a request for a backup copy designates a portion of the stored data called a data set. For example, if the data storage devices contain a plurality of discrete data bases, a data set could include files associated with a corresponding data base. In a normal operation, the application program is suspended to allow the generation of an address concordance for the designated data sets. Execution of the application program then resumes. A resource manager is established to manage all input and output functions between the storage sub-systems and associated memory and temporary memory. The backup copy is formed on a scheduled and opportunistic basis by copying the designated data sets from the storage sub-systems and updating the address concordance in response to the copying. Application updates are processed during formation of the backup copy by buffering the updates, copying the affected uncopied designated data sets to a storage sub-system memory, updating the address concordance in response to the copying, and processing the updates. The designated data sets can also copy to the temporary storage memory if the number of designated data sets exceeds some threshold. The designated sets are also copied to an alternate memory from the storage sub-system, storage sub-system memory and temporary host memory utilizing the resource manager and the altered address concordance to create a specified order backup copy of the designated data sub-sets from the copied portions of the designated sub-sets without user intervention.
If an abnormal event occurs requiring termination of the backup, a status indication is entered into activity tables associated with the plurality of storage sub-systems and devices in response to the initiation of the backup session. If an external condition exists that requires the backup to be interrupted, the backup copy session terminates and indications within the activity tables are reviewed to determine the status of the backup if a reset notification is raised by a storage sub-system. This enables the track extents which are active for a volume associated with a particular session to be determined. A comparison is then made between the track events which are active and volume and track extents information associated with a physical session identification. If a match exists between the track extents which are active and the volume of and track extent information associated with a physical session identification, the backup session resumes. If the match does not exist, the backup terminates.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,776 to Nosaki et al. discloses a concurrent backup operation in a computer system having a central processing unit and a multiple memory constituted by a plurality of memory devices for on-line storing data processed by tasks of the central processing unit. A data backup memory is provided for saving data of the multiple memory. The central processing unit performs parallel processing of user tasks and a maintenance task. The user tasks include those that write currently processed data into the multiple memory. The maintenance task stops any updating of memory devices as a part of the multiple memory and saves the data to a data backup memory.
Each of the foregoing references discloses an approach for performing backup operations concurrently with the execution of applications programs in a computer system. However, in each, the system operates in the environment of a single computer system under common control. For example, in the Sparks patent the CPU connects through a primary controller to the first and second memories and to the backup controller. The Eastridge et al. and the Nosaki et al. patent references disclose systems in which the execution of applications programs is also involved in the backup operation. Further the components required for the backup operation and for maintaining redundancy are all located at a common site in each of the systems.
More recently, redundancy has come to include a concept by which an array of disks at one location (i.e., a local data facility at a local site) are mirrored by a second array of disks at a remote location (i.e., a remote data facility at a remote site). The remote site may be in a common building with the local site or up to hundreds of miles away from the local site. None of the foregoing systems suggest a viable solution for providing data integrity by combining redundancy and physical tape backup in such systems particularly given the apparent dependence of each of those systems on operations within the CPU that is performing applications programs.

Method and apparatus for performing point in time backup operation in a computer system


A hinge is described having first and second members for respective attachment to two components to be hingedly interconnected. A movement arrestor is provided which serves as a check on the hinging movement of the two hinge members. The arrestor comprises a cam surface on the first hinge member and a roller mounted on the second hinge member. The roller is resiliently displaceable relative to the second member to force the roller into engagement with the cam surface so as to provide the desired check. In accordance with the invention the roller includes a polymer sleeve with which it engages the cam surface, to absorb and thereby reduce the noise and to reduce the wear produced as the roller moves over the cam surface as the hinge is opened and closed. The sleeve material may be PTFE or Nylon and may be snap fitted over the roller and may include an axial slot. The roller and cam surface are conveniently formed from metal.

It is known to provide a vehicle door hinge in which the hinging action of the door is checked, at an intermediate point in its opening movement, by a movement arrestor. Two examples of vehicle door hinges having such movement arrestors are described in the present applicants' European Patent Application No 87311085.2 (Publication No 275672), and co-pending UK Patent Application No 9112545.0.
In both cases, the movement arrestor mechanism (of the specific embodiment) comprises a cam surface on one hinge member and a roller mounted on the other hinge member by means of one or more springs which, in use, urge the roller against the cam surface. With the hinge in the intermediate check position, the roller engages a portion of the cam surface between two high points so that movement of the hinge out of the check position displaces the roller against the action of the spring means.
If both the roller and the cam surface are metal, the engagement of the roller with the cam surface as the hinge is closed may create irritating noise. In addition, the engagement of the roller with the cam surface may lead to wear of either of those components which may limit the useful life of the hinge.
One version of the hinge described in European Patent Application No 87311085.2 employs a hardened nylon roller which may at least mitigate these problems. However, since the nylon roller is not as robust as a metal roller, it is not suitable for use in hinges which have to exert relatively large check producing forces.