A multi-band antenna used in a portable electrical device can operate in WWAN. The multi-band antenna includes a PCB, a first antenna body, and a second antenna body. The PCB has a first surface and an opposite second surface and defines a through hole extending from the first surface to the second surface. The first antenna body is formed on the first surface of the PCB comprising a first radiating element and a first grounding element. The second antenna body is formed on the second surface of the PCB. The second antenna body comprises a second radiating element, a second grounding element, and a connecting element connecting the second radiating element and the second grounding element. The first radiating element and the second radiating element electrically connect with each other via the through hole of the PCB. A feeding line has an inner conductor electrically connecting to the first radiating element and an outer conductor electrically connecting to the first grounding element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an antenna, and more particularly to a multi-band antenna comprising a PIFA (Planar Inverted-F Antenna) and a monopole antenna.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the development of wireless communication, more and more portable electronic devices, such as notebooks, install antenna systems for working in a Wireless Local-area Network (WLAN). Transmitting and receiving signals plays an important role in wireless communication process. In recent years, a majority of WLAN bases on Bluetooth technical standard or 802.11 technical standard. Antenna in Bluetooth technical standard is based on 2.4 GHz frequency band, and in 802.11 technical standard is based on 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. So, an antenna in a notebook mostly works at the above frequency bands at the present time.
However, more and more people dissatisfy their electronic devices only working in an immovable network (Signal transmission distance is 10 meters in Bluetooth which almost doesn't permit the electronic devices to move.) or a only short-haul movable network (Signal transmission distance is 150 meters of 802.11 technical standard which limits the movement of the electronic device except between work rooms.) of the WLAN. Making the portable electronic devices working in WWAN (Wireless Wide Area) or GPS (Global Positioning System) is a purpose of the many people. Because the portable electronic devices can work or amuse in broaden range in WWAN or GPS. In recent years, WWAN adopts two newly presented technical standards, GSM and CDMA. Operating frequency bands of the GSM and CDMA are 900/1800 MHz, and operating frequency band of the GPS is 1.575 GHz. So, an antenna of a notebook must operate in above frequency bands, the portable electronic device is capable of working in WWAN or GPS. Taiwan patent No. I220581 discloses a PIFA antenna working in 900/1800 MHz. However, the PIFA antenna has relatively big size in height direction. So, many notebooks or other portable electronic devices do not have enough space to install such PIFA antenna. Further more, said PIFA antenna has narrow band and has disturbance between low frequency and high frequency thereof.
Hence, in this art, a multi-band antenna to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art will be described in detail in the following embodiment.


A separable gasket for use in sealing the interface between a gear housing and an engine block as well as the interface between an air compressor and the gear housing includes a first gasket portion constructed and arranged for sealing the interface between the gear housing and the engine block and a second gasket portion constructed and arranged for sealing the interface between the air compressor and the gear housing. A third gasket portion in the form of a perforated score line is positioned between the first gasket portion and the second gasket portion. In the event the air compressor requires servicing, the present invention enables the second gasket portion to be manually flexed and ultimately separated from the first gasket portion so that a replacement gasket can be assembled when the air compressor is reassembled to the gear housing. By separating the second gasket portion from the first gasket portion, the servicing of the air compressor does not necessitate any disassembly of the gear housing from the engine block nor any replacement of the first gasket portion.

The present invention relates generally to the design of edge molded gaskets which are used to help seal an interface between two substantially flat surfaces. More particularly, the present invention relates to an integrated gasket wherein one portion is used for sealing a gear housing to the engine block interface and another portion is used for sealing a gear housing to the air compressor interface. A perforated score line separates the two gasket portions and this enables the air compressor portion to be separated from the engine block portion when only the air compressor has been accessed for service.
In a variety of diesel engine designs it is common for the interface between the gear housing and the engine block to be fitted with a sealing gasket, often a steel stamping. If the engine style includes an air compressor, the air compressor will typically be located adjacent to the engine block and will attach to the gear housing. It is typical for the interface between the gear housing and the air compressor to be fitted with a separate sealing gasket, often a steel stamping. With this particular arrangement involving two separate sealing gaskets, the gasket used between the air compressor and the gear housing can be replaced without having to replace the gasket disposed between the gear housing and the engine block. Accordingly, it is possible to separate the air compressor from the gear housing in order to work on the air compressor and when reassembling these two components, a new sealing gasket can be installed. The existing gasket positioned between the gear housing and the engine block is not disturbed. In view of the advantages of two separate gaskets as described, this approach has remained the standard in the industry.
If a single gasket is used for both interfaces, it would be necessary to either reuse the old gasket, which is not an acceptable practice, or disassemble the gear housing from the engine block and replace the entire gasket, even though the gasket portion disposed between the gear housing and the engine block does not need to be replaced for any other reason. By providing two separate sealing gaskets, the need or desire to replace one sealing gasket does not necessitate any change or replacement of the other sealing gasket.
To some extent the benefits of two separate sealing gaskets are offset by the fact that two separate stampings are required which means two sets of tooling to be created and maintained. Additionally, there are two separate components to be stocked and inventoried, and two separate components to be handled and assembled. These drawbacks can be lessened by going to one sealing gasket which combines or integrates the two sealing gasket portions. With one integrated sealing gasket, less tooling is required and there is less time required to install and position the gaskets at their corresponding interfaces between the two components which are being assembled.
The present invention uniquely provides the benefits of a single sealing gasket which is used for two interfaces with the advantages of two separate sealing gaskets. According to the present invention, a single-piece, steel stamping is fabricated with the required size and shape for sealing the interface between the gear housing and engine block as well as for sealing the interface between the gear housing and an air compressor. A perforated score line partitions the stamping into a first gasket portion for the first interface and a second gasket portion for the second interface. By bending the second portion back and forth along the perforated score line (i.e., work hardening), the second portion which seals the air compressor interface is able to be separated from the first gasket portion. As a consequence, the air compressor can be serviced and/or repaired without having to disassemble the gear housing from the engine block. Upon reassembly of the air compressor to the gear housing, a new separate sealing gasket is used.
Over the years, various patents have been issued on gaskets and gasket systems for a variety of uses and applications, including internal combustion engines. The following listed patents are believed to provide a representative sampling of such earlier patents:
______________________________________ PATENT NO. PATENTEE ISSUE DATE ______________________________________ 5,022,833 Kandpal et al. Jun. 11, 1991 4,676,514 Beutter et al. Jun. 30, 1987 5,343,837 Ward et al. Sep. 6, 1994 4,690,413 Adkins Sep. 1, 1987 5,433,455 Nelson Jul. 18, 1995 ______________________________________
Since the listed patents are representative of earlier gasket designs, it is important to note that the present invention is neither anticipated nor rendered obvious by any of the listed patents.

Integrated gear housing/air compressor gasket


An assembly for feeding, printing, and cutting a continuous web of material is provided. The web is fed from a roll supported in a roll feeding unit to a printer unit. The web can carry distinct image-receiving media items or can be a plain continuous web material. The assembly is particularly useful for feeding a web carrying pressure-sensitive adhesive labels to a laser printer. The printer produces printed images on each label as the web is fed through the printer. Then, the web can be cut to produce a finished roll of printed labels ready for application. The assembly includes a roll feeding unit, a printer, a controller for the roll feeding unit, and a controller for the printer which communicate with each other. The controller is responsive to sensors and signals received from the printer controller, and the printer controller is responsive to the sensors and signals received from the roll feeding unit controller. In this manner, the feeding, printing, and cutting of the web are controlled precisely.

The present invention relates generally to a roll feed unit for feeding a continuous web of material from a roll to a sheet fed printing device such as a conventional sheet fed laser printer. In combination, the roll feeding unit and printing device provide an integrated assembly that is used to feed, print, and cut the continuous web material. The roll feeding unit can be used to feed a continuous web of print media such as, for example, a web of banner paper or a web of adhesive-backed paper. In other instances, the roll feeding unit can be used to feed a continuous web of carrier material carrying distinct image-receiving media items such as, for example, pressure-sensitive adhesive labels. In all cases, the printer produces a toner image on the web as it is fed through the printer. At the end of the printing operation, the web is cut to produce a finished roll of printed media or a finished roll of printed labels that are ready for application to packages, containers, and other articles.
One of the important concepts of the invention is to provide a roll feed assembly which functions to retrofit a conventional sheet fed laser printer so that it can operate as a continuous feed printer. A conventional laser printer includes an image transfer assembly, which transfers a toner image from an imaging belt or drum to a single sheet of paper, as the paper is fed through the printer. The feed rate of the paper is synchronized with the print drive of the printer so that the paper is fed to the imaging belt or drum at the time when the image is ready to be printed on the paper. The image is transferred to the paper, and a fixing unit in the printer fixes the image on the paper. This results in a generally high-quality printed image being produced on the paper. However, one drawback to conventional laser printers is that they are generally designed to accept only stacked, pre-cut sheets of paper. It would be desirable to provide a system that could feed a continuous roll of paper, rather than individual sheets, to a conventional laser printer. Such a system would be more efficient and economically advantageous in many applications. For example, the system could be used for on-demand printing of individual labels that are carried on a continuous roll of paper or other web material.
The industry has previously attempted to address the feeding of a continuous roll of paper to a laser printer in a number of ways. For example, Estabrooks, U.S. Pat. No. 5,768,675 ("Estabrooks '675") discloses an on-demand electrophotographic printer for printing an image on a continuous web being fed from a roll. The Estabrooks '675 printer includes an internal feeding and cutting mechanism integrated into the printing device itself for feeding a continuous roll of media through the print engine.
In one embodiment of Estabrooks '675, the front edge of the paper web is sensed by a detector. Then, the speed of the image carrier drum in the printer is accelerated. The paper feed stepper motor is synchronized so that it accelerates to the same speed as the drum, and the paper is fed to the point where the image can be precisely transferred to the paper. At the end of the printout, the drum stops rotating, while the paper feed motor slows the web speed and stops the web at a cutter for cutting the printout. A controller then reverses the paper feed motor, returning the cut edge of the paper web to the start position, where it awaits the start of the next print cycle. Thus, Estabrooks '675 solves the problem of printing on a continuous paper web with an integrated roll feeding assembly located within the printer. There is no external roll feeding unit for feeding the paper web to the printer. Furthermore, in Estabrooks '675, the paper web is cut after each printout by a cutting mechanism within the printer. Then, the front edge of the paper, which has just been cut, is retracted to a start position in front of the image carrier drum within the printer, and a new printing cycle begins.
Estabrooks, U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,740 ("Estabrooks '740") also discloses an on-demand media web electrophotographic printer containing an integrated feeding and cutting assembly. This apparatus also can be used for printing tickets, tags, barcodes, and labels on a paper web. The apparatus includes a system for monitoring and controlling the web feeding, registration, and cutting of the web by utilizing a sensor system. The sensor system includes a web buckle sensor that senses whether or not a web buckle has been formed prior to each feeding and cutting of the web. A central processor commands the feed roll unit to advance the leading edge of the web so that the edge is detected and stopped at a registration roll nip. With the leading edge of the media web positioned correctly, the processor feeds the edge of the web against an upper registration roll and web guide to form a web buckle. According to Estabrooks '740, the web buckle is necessary to allow time for a clean cut of the web to occur, but its length is small enough to avoid feeding jams. Thus, Estabrooks '740 solves the problem of printing on a continuous roll of paper with an integrated roll feeding assembly located within a printer.
Although the roll feeding systems described in the foregoing Estabrooks '675 and '740 patents may be effective in some instances, it would be desirable to have a new system which uses an external roll feeding unit for feeding a continuous roll of web material to a printer. The external roll feeding unit provides several advantages in terms of cost and ease of use. For example, by providing an external roll feeding unit that serves to retrofit an existing laser printing device, the costs of redesigning the basic printing unit are saved, and the efficiencies and low costs of conventional laser printing devices are retained. Further, it is easier to load and reload the roll of web material, and to service the roll feeding mechanisms in an external roll feeding unit versus an internal roll feed that is housed within the printing unit.
The present invention provides such a new feeding, printing, and cutting system. The web roll feeding apparatus of the present invention is an external unit that supports and feeds the web to the printer. The assembly of this invention includes a roll feeding unit, a cutter, a printer unit, a roll feeding unit controller, a printer controller, and various sensors for synchronizing the feeding, printing, and cutting of the web. These and other objects, features, and advantages of this invention are evident from the following description and attached figures.

Assembly for feeding a continuous roll of web material to a sheet fed printing device


Disclosed is an interlayer insulating film using low dielectric constant films, which can be improved in rigidity without any effect exerted on the reliability of a semiconductor device. The interlayer insulating film, which is formed in such a manner as to cover surroundings of interconnections formed on the semiconductor device, includes low dielectric constant films, each having a dielectric constant of from 1 to 3.5, which are formed in surroundings of the interconnections and between the interconnections; and a supporting layer formed in or through at least one of the low dielectric constant films formed on the upper and lower sides of the interconnections.

The present invention relates to an interlayer insulating film for insulating interconnections from each other in a semiconductor device, and particularly to an interlayer insulating film for a semiconductor device which is used for a device process based on a design rule of 0.25 .mu.m or less.
The reduction in dielectric constant of an interlayer insulating film has been examined with requirements toward finer-line geometries, reduced power consumption and increased operating speed of a semiconductor device.
Low dielectric constant materials disclosed at present are of a type containing carbon atoms or fluorine atoms for reducing the dielectric constant thereof. The dielectric constant of such a material put in practical use is substantially in a range of from 1.5 to 2.5.
Examples of low dielectric constant materials containing carbon atoms include organic SOG (Spin On Glass), fluorocarbon polymer, polyimide, and polyparaxylylene. It is known that such a material is low in density because it contains carbon atoms as an alkyl group, and it is also known that the material is low in dielectric constant because the polarizability of molecules themselves is low. Such a material being low in dielectric constant has also a high heat resistance essential as the material for a semiconductor device. The heat resistances of organic SOG, polyimide, and fluorocarbon polymer and polyparaxylylene are due to a siloxane structure, imide bonding, and benzene ring, respectively.
On the other hand, silicon oxyfluoride (SiOF) is known as a low dielectric constant material containing fluorine atoms. This material is low in density because the Si--O--Si bonding is terminated with fluorine atoms, and is low in dielectric constant because the polarizability of fluorine itself is low. The material is of course excellent in heat resistance.
The above-described related art low dielectric constant film exerts adverse effect on the reliability of a semiconductor device as compared with a related art interlayer insulating film (silicon oxide) used for a semiconductor device. The low dielectric constant film made of SiOF being silicon oxide containing fluorine atoms is known to be relatively excellent in film quality; however, it is not sufficient yet in moisture resistance and in stability against fluorine. The organic material is also poor in heat resistance, oxygen plasma resistance and rigidity.

Interlayer insulating film for semiconductor device


In a shared storage infrastructure accessible by more than one customer, the shared storage infrastructure is separated into a plurality of logical storage areas. A customer is associated with at least one logical storage area within the shared storage infrastructure. The customer and its logical storage areas are associated with at least one port in the shared storage infrastructure. Each customer has access only to the logical storage areas associated with the customer and cannot access the logical storage areas of any other customer. The shared storage infrastructure provides policy based storage management to each customer, that is, each customer appears to have access to a non-shared storage subsystem. By providing a virtualization layer, a customer may be given the ability to manage its own storage needs.

In today's business world, a company's data is often one of its most important company assets. With today's voluminous amounts of important data come the problems associated with storing the data and managing access to the data. In the beginning, computer systems had only as much storage as was available on the disk drive of the individual computer system. As the company's data grew, companies had to constantly purchase larger and more expensive memory disk space to keep pace with its increasing data storage requirements. In this very basic scenario, data storage was as secure as the physical location of the computer system, that is, only those individuals with physical access to the device or with permission to use the connected computer system could have access to the data. This process, however, was not cost efficient, as each individual computer system frequently had unused storage capacity.
Over the years, storage of data on external disk devices became common and other models for data storage emerged. In a host-centric legacy environment, one or more centralized data storage devices would be connected to a host computer and managed by the IT department. This system allowed for better management of storage space and the IT department was able to control the security of the storage space.
The advent of client/server and network computing has allowed for more complex, but economical data sharing configurations, but often at the expense of data security. For example, most companies operate a local area network (LAN) with client computers, application servers, and a combination of storage devices. Most conventional LANs do not have storage devices directly connected to the LAN, but rather use storage accessible through a server that is connected to the LAN. Individual users operate client computers (also called "network" computers, if connected to a network) for data entry and presentation. The users run applications on application servers and access data stored on various storage devices, which may be directly connected to the client or network computer or accessible over a network. Today's storage systems even allow data to be shared over a wide area network such as the Internet. In the typical LAN, however, data storage is decentralized and therefore hard to manage and control. Companies rarely know exactly how much storage they have or where valuable data may be located. Companies that do not accurately plan for future storage needs may find themselves suddenly needing extra capacity that they do not have or with excess capacity that is wasted while sitting idle. Additionally, decentralized storage suffers the additional drawback in that application-processing speed is often adversely affected because the server is spending precious processor cycles monitoring data movement between storage spaces. Furthermore, decentralized data storage is also difficult to secure properly as anyone with access to the network may be able to access the data.
One fairly recent improvement in data storage management has been the introduction of the Storage Area Network (SAN). A SAN is a centrally managed network of multi-vendor storage devices interconnected by routers, bridges, switches, and gateways, which is managed using storage management software. SANs may be dedicated to one server, but more commonly are shared between multiple servers. SANs are constructed from storage interfaces and therefore support direct, high-speed data transfers between servers and storage devices.
However, even SANs fail to solve all the problems of storage management. For example, companies must still plan for future storage needs and purchase costly storage devices on a regular basis to handle the company's growing storage needs. Additionally, if a company downsizes, it is frequently left holding costly unused data storage devices. Consequently, many companies are outsourcing their data storage and management functions to a Storage Service Provider (SSP). Conventional SSP arrangements are flexible and allow a business to pay only for the storage it uses or reserves within a particular time frame. Therefore, if a company has a sudden need for new or additional storage, it can obtain the additional storage quickly and easily without the need to wait for additional hardware to be installed.
One of the problems with the current SSP model is that a company must trust another organization to maintain the availability and security of its information assets. Current SSPs use a one-to-one service provisioning model. This means that for each customer, the SSP maintains at least one dedicated storage device. This system provides some assurance to the customer that other customers will not be able to access the customer's confidential information. This system, however, is largely inflexible and more costly to operate for SSPs because the SSP must purchase and support separate equipment for each customer, even though a larger percentage of the storage device is not currently being used by the customer. Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for allowing SSPs to securely share storage resources between multiple customers without compromising the security of any customer's data.
Furthermore, in today's IT enterprise environment the actual storage subsystem (drive, or logical volume) is typically "visible" to a particular server or host computer. In addition, the host typically has administrative type privileges and can perform actions like enabling snapshots, creating and formatting logical volumes, or, even, deleting volumes and/or data. This is true even with the advent of storage area networks, or "SANs". While SANs can make more storage accessible to multiple servers, the servers still mount actual storage devices (or at least the logical view presented by local storage controller) and a single homogenous customer enterprise has administrative control over the subsystem. Knowledge of the underlying storage implies that scalability is limited by the size of the attached storage subsystem; migration of data from one storage technology to another implies data must pass through the common host; and the ability to share a common storage amongst hosts is difficult or undesirable. These issues are accentuated in an environment wherein the servers are from different enterprise environments (such as, for example, a Storage Service Provider application) or are competitors.
In this heterogeneous customer environment, the ability for any customer to mount and manage a shared storage subsystem is neither desirable nor secure. Currently, virtualization, or abstraction, functions are handled by software layers in a host (such as, for example, volume managers) or separate, inline virtualization boxes (by, for example, smart fiber channel switches). The primary function of these subsystems/software is to present abstracted Local Unit Numbers ("LUNs") to a client machine on a SAN. They then provide the logical to physical addresses translation for the data access operations. The software abstraction layers within host environments do not allow sharing of storage between customers (as you would have conflicting virtualization control over common storage). The separate virtualization subsystems do not provide the shared management capabilities (that is, support for multiple, heterogeneous customers managing their data and it's movement), do not provide for heterogeneity amongst virtualization engines, do not provide for metropolitan area network ("MAN")/wide area network ("WAN") data replication services, nor the scalability required to manage geographically separate storage subsystems. Therefore, there is a further need to provide methods and systems for keeping track of and managing data and data access by and on behalf of multiple customers across a common storage infrastructure.

Methods and systems for shared storage virtualization


An optical sensor is configured to determine an amount of at least one material in a sample without interference from any of the material of interest present in an ambient environment in which the optical sensing is effected. The optical sensor may include a compensation detector positioned a different distance apart from a source of monitoring radiation than the distance that a primary, measurement detector is positioned from the source. Alternatively, the optical sensor may include an optically transparent material that consumes space within the sensor and, thus, eliminates ambient amounts of a material of interest from at least a portion of an optical pathway through the sensor. A calibration element transmits calibration radiation to one or more detectors of an optical sensor to facilitate correction of any changes in the manner in which the one or more detectors sense radiation. Optical sensing methods are also disclosed, as are calibration methods.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to optical sensing techniques and apparatus, and, more specifically, to techniques and apparatus for obtaining a measurement of at least one material in a sample that is substantially free of ambient gas.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical sensors have long been used to measure the amount of one or more gases in a sample of interest. Optical sensors have been used in a variety of environments, including respiratory gas monitoring. The operation of many optical sensors is based upon a scientific principle known as "absorbance" or "attenuation" of electromagnetic radiation, such as light or infrared radiation.
The wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation that are absorbed by many materials, including gases, liquids, and solid materials, are well known. These absorbed wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation are known as the "absorption peaks" for their respective materials. Some materials absorb electromagnetic radiation of wavelengths that are not absorbed at all or in significant amounts by other materials that may be present in the same sample. For example, the absorption peak for carbon dioxide is centered at a wavelength of about 4.26 μm, whereas nitrogen, oxygen, and other gases that are typically present in monitored respiration do not absorb radiation at this wavelength. Such an absorption peak is useful for monitoring an amount (e.g., concentration, fraction, etc.) of that material in a sample.
The amount of a particular material in a sample may be determined by directing monitoring radiation, including electromagnetic radiation at the absorption peak for that material in a known intensity, into the sample. If the material of interest is present in the sample, the intensity of the wavelength or wavelengths of monitoring radiation that correspond to the absorption peak will decrease, or become "attenuated." Attenuation may be measured in terms of percent absorbance or optical density (OD). A measure of this decrease in intensity, or "attenuation," of the monitoring radiation may correspond to the amount of the material in the sample.
Because the intensity of the monitoring radiation may also be decreased by factors other than absorption of the monitoring radiation by the material of interest, reference electromagnetic radiation of a different wavelength, which is not absorbed by the material of interest, and of known intensity may be directed along roughly the same optical path and substantially the same distance as those along which the monitoring radiation travels. The intensity of the reference electromagnetic radiation may be detected by a reference sensor and, thus, the decrease in intensity of the reference electromagnetic radiation may be measured. The measured decrease in intensity of the reference electromagnetic radiation may then be used to determine non-absorption decreases in the intensity of the monitoring radiation. Conventionally, any other decreases in monitoring radiation have been attributed to absorption of some of the monitoring radiation by the material or materials of interest.
Unfortunately, existing technologies do not account for the possible presence of a material of interest in the ambient environment around or within a monitor, or eliminate the material of interest from the ambient environment around or within the monitor. As a result, optical measurements of the material of interest may be somewhat inflated, including not only an amount of the material of interest in a sample, but also the amount of that material present under ambient conditions.

Ambient gas compensation in an optical system


A sequence switch unit for use in a dishwasher eliminates a need for a separate timer and relay for each dishwasher component during the washing portion of the cycle. In one embodiment, the sequence switch unit includes a switch disk having a plurality of contact blade tracks, a lower control track, an upper control track, and a ramp connecting the lower control track and the upper control track. The sequence switch unit includes a blade unit including a plurality of contact blade assemblies. Each of the contact blade assemblies has an elongate fixed blade having a fixed contact and an elongate movable blade having a movable contact. The contact blade assemblies are normally in a closed condition. The movable blades are movable so that the contact blade assemblies can be positioned in an open condition. A switch lift lever is secured to and rotatable with the switch disk, and the switch lever extends between the fixed blade and the movable blade of each contact blade assembly. The switch lift lever includes a lever blade and a finger extending from the lever blade. The lever blade extends between the fixed blade and the movable blade of each contact blade assembly. The lever blade finger is oriented to travel within the lower and upper tracks. A drive gear is coupled to the switch disk, and a motor is coupled to the drive gear so that when the motor causes the drive gear to rotate, the switch disk rotates with the drive gear.

Known dishwashers typically include a motor for driving a circulation pump, a drain solenoid for diverting water so that the water accumulated in the dishwasher can be pumped out of the washing chamber, a water valve for controlling the flow of water into the dishwasher, and a heating element for heating the water and drying the dishes. In an exemplary dishwashing cycle, the circulation pump motor is energized, and then the water valve is opened so that water flows into the dishwasher and is circulated by the circulation pump. Once sufficient water has been supplied to the dishwasher, the water valve is closed but the circulation pump motor continues to operate to circulate the supplied water. After a predetermined period of time, the heating element is energized while the circulation pump motor remains energized so that heated water is circulated within the washing chamber. The heating element is then deenergized, and the drive solenoid is energized to open the drain valve while the circulation pump motor remains energized. As a result, water flows out from the dishwasher. The drive solenoid is then deenergized so that the drain valve closes, and the circulation pump motor remains energized. The above described sequence is repeated during the wash portion of the dishwashing cycle. The sequence may be repeated, for example, four to seven times depending on the wash cycle selected.
In an all-electronic control system, the circulation pump motor, drain solenoid, water valve, and heating element typically are controlled by separate timers and relays. For example, a timer for the circulation pump motor supplies a timing signal to the motor relay, and based on the timing signal, the motor relay controls energization and deenergization of the circulation pump motor. Similar controls are provided for each of the drain solenoid, the water valve, and the heating element.
If the separate timers and relays for the above described components could be eliminated, the component cost and assembly time associated with fabrication of known dishwashers could be reduced. In addition, by eliminating such separate components, the maintenance and repair costs associated with known dishwashers also possibly could be reduced. Of course, in reducing the cost of the dishwasher, the operation of the dishwasher should not be adversely affected.


An etching method includes a step of selectively forming deposit on a top surface of a mask disposed on a film of a substrate, a step of etching the film after the step of forming the deposit, a step of forming a layer of chemical species included in plasma of a processing gas, on the substrate, and a step of supplying ions from plasma of an inert gas to the substrate so that the chemical species react with the film.

In manufacturing electronic devices, a film on a substrate is etched. A mask is placed on the film of the substrate for an etching process and a pattern of the mask is transferred to the film by the etching. The etching may be performed by using a plasma processing apparatus as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2015-173240 or No. 2018-098480.


The present invention is premised upon an assembly that includes at least a photovoltaic sheathing element capable of being affixed on a building structure. The shingle including at least a photovoltaic cell assembly, a body portion attached to one or more portions of the photovoltaic cell assembly. Wherein the body portion includes one or more top peripheral tabs each capable of fitting under one or more vertically adjoining devices.

Efforts to improve PV devices, particularly those devices that are integrated into building structures (e.g. photovoltaic sheathing elements or exterior wall coverings), to be used successfully, should satisfy a number of criteria. The PV device and the array as installed should be durable (e.g. long lasting, sealed against moisture and other environmental conditions) and protected from mechanical abuse over the desired lifetime of the product, preferably at least 10 years, more preferably at least 25 years. The device should be easily installed into the array of devices (e.g. installation similar to conventional roofing shingles or exterior wall coverings) or replaced (e.g. if damaged). It also should be designed to prevent, as much as possible, water from getting under the device and to the building surface that the device is affixed to.
To make this full package desirable to the consumer, and to gain wide acceptance in the marketplace, the system should be inexpensive to build and install. This may help facilitate lower generated cost of energy, making PV technology more competitive relative to other means of generating electricity.
Existing art systems for PV devices may allow for the device to be directly mounted to the building structure or they may fasten the devices to battens, channels or "rails" ("stand-offs)) above the building exterior (e.g. roof deck or exterior cladding). These systems may be complicated, typically do not install like conventional cladding materials (e.g. roofing shingles, tiles, slates, or siding) and, as a consequence, may be expensive to install. Also, they may not be visually appealing as they do not look like conventional building materials. "Stand-offs" to mount PV device every 2-4 feet may be required. Thus, installation cost can be as much or more as the cost of the article. They also may suffer from issues related to environmental conditions such as warping, fading and degradation of its physical properties.
Among the literature that can pertain to this technology include the following patent documents: US20040206035A1; WO2010151777A2; WO2010144226A1; EP2216829A1; and WO1998036139A1, all incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

Photovoltaic sheathing element with one or more tabs


An optical scanning device includes, in an effective scanning area in the target surface, a mechanism that causes a scanning speed at each scanning position with respect to a scanning speed at an approximately center in the effective scanning area to be within a range under a predetermined condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to optical scanning devices applicable to optical scanning devices for use in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In optical scanning apparatuses, a polygon mirror or a galvanometer mirror is used as a deflector for scanning with an optical beam. To achieve higher-resolution images and higher-speed printing, the rotation speed of the deflector has to be further increased. This poses problems regarding durability of a shaft, heating due to windage loss, noise, and others, thereby limiting high-speed scanning.
To get around these problems, deflecting devices using silicon micromachining has been studied in recent years. For example, as has been disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2924200 and Japanese Patent No. 3011144, a scheme has been suggested in which a vibration mirror and a torsion bar that pivotally supports the vibration mirror are integrally formed with a Si substrate.
According to this scheme, the size of a mirror surface can be reduced. Furthermore, since reciprocating vibrations are caused by using resonance, low noise and low power consumption can be advantageously achieved even though high-speed operation is possible. Still further, with low vibrations and little heating, the thickness of a housing that accommodates the optical scanning device can be reduced. Therefore, there is also an advantage in which image quality is hardly affected even if a low-cost resin compound with a less composition ratio of glass fiber is used.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-279947 discloses an example of an optical scanning device in which a vibration mirror is used instead of a polygon mirror.
However, when a micromirror for sine-wave vibrations is used as a deflecting unit, the deflection angle is changed in a sine wave. Therefore, an fθ lens used for a present write optical system is used for a scanning image-formation optical system, the scanning speed is low in a peripheral image height, and therefore the scanning speed on the surface to be scanned is not uniform. If the uniformity of the scanning speed is poor, image distortion and other disadvantages may occur near a main scanning direction, thereby causing deterioration in image quality. Moreover, although Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-279947 also discloses an electrical correction of the speed uniformity, if a difference caused by this correction from the original is large, dots become sparse or concentrated stepwise, thereby changing density and causing an image deterioration. For this reason, the amount of electrical correction has a limitation. It has been revealed from a sensory evaluation that, if the difference is steep between adjacent areas, the difference can be detected as a density difference, and therefore the limitation of the amount of correction is determined accordingly. When a vibration mirror and an fθ lens that vibrate in a sine wave are used, the amount of correction required for uniform-speed scanning exceeds this limitation of the amount of correction, and therefore an electric correction cannot fully satisfy the need for correction.
To get around this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-215571 discloses the use of a scanning image-formation optical system having an image-formation characteristic (f·arcsin characteristic) as represented by:H=K×sin−1(θ/2θmax)where H is an image height, K is a proportionality factor, θ is a deflection angle, and θmax is an amplitude (maximum deflection angle). With this, an optical scanning device can be obtained that optically corrects the waist position of main-scanning ray bundle to achieve a wide effective write width and excellent scanning-speed uniformity.
However, if an optical correction is performed in the scanning image-formation optical system, a light beam enters a scanning image-formation optical element, in which the shape and refracting power is changed depending on the image height, at a different position with a different angle depending on the image height. Therefore, in particular, a deterioration occurs in wavefront of the light beam on the image-formation optical element in a peripheral image height, thereby disadvantageously causing a deterioration in beam-spot diameter and further causing a deterioration in image quality due to a wave optical aberration. Moreover, a deviation between image heights of a spot diameter of the main-scanning ray bundle on the surface to be scanned is large, thereby causing a deterioration in image quality.
Still further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-286135 discloses an example in which a mechanism is provided that adjusts the positions of a light source or a coupling lens, and a cylindrical lens in an optical-axis direction to correct a beam-spot diameter on the surface of a photosensitive member. However, the number of such mechanisms that adjust the positions of the optical elements is two or more. Therefore, there are problems of less stability as a system, necessity of a scanning image-formation optical system of an fθ optical system even if an adjustment mechanism is provided, and inferiority to a vibration mirror in heating, vibration, noise, power consumption, and others due to the use of a polygon mirror.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-269599 discloses an optical pickup device in which it possible to reduce a focal distance of a variable focus lens part in a structure including the variable focus lens part and a fixed objective lens.

Optical scanning device and image forming apparatus


The present invention aims to provide a gas sensor that can favorably be assembled by proper positioning of a connection terminal relative to a separator and a subassembly unit for such a gas sensor. In an oxygen sensor, a separator has protruding portions formed on a surface of a front end part thereof; an outer connection terminal has an outer fitting portion fixed to outer circumferential surfaces of the protruding portions under its biasing force; and an inner connection terminal has an inner fitting portion fixed to inner circumferential surfaces of the protruding portions under its biasing force. Thus, it is less likely that the outer and inner connection terminals will be displaced in position relative to the separator and is possible to allow proper positioning of the outer and inner connection terminals.

As an example of a sensor having a sensor element to detect a gas under measurement, conventionally known is an oxygen sensor for measuring the concentration of oxygen in an automotive exhaust gas. There is known a sensor element for use in such an oxygen sensor, including a bottomed cylindrical solid electrolyte body, an inner electrode formed on an inner side of the solid electrolyte body and an outer electrode formed on an outer side of the solid electrolyte body, as disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2.
An inner connection terminal is fitted into a rear end portion of the sensor element and electrically connected to the inner electrode (of the sensor element). A sensor output lead is connected to a rear end portion of the inner connection terminal. In the case where a rod-shaped ceramic heater is inserted in the sensor element, the inner connection terminal is attached around the ceramic heater.
An outer connection terminal (ground connection terminal) is fitted onto the rear end portion of the sensor element and electrically connected to the outer electrode (of the sensor element). A ground lead is connected to a rear end portion of the outer connection terminal.
As shown in FIG. 13(a), the outer connection terminal P1 generally includes a cylindrical outer fitting portion P2 (having left and right wing sections) for contact with the sensor element from outside and an elongated extension portion P3 extending axially from a rear end (in the drawing, an upper end) of the outer fitting portion P2 (for connection with the lead).
On the other hand, the inner connection terminal P4 includes a cylindrical inner fitting portion P5 (having left and right wing sections) for contact with the sensor element from inside and an elongated extension portion P6 extending axially from a rear end of the inner fitting portion P5 (for connection with the lead) as shown in FIG. 13(b).
As shown in FIG. 13(c), a cylindrical separator P7 is provided with axial through holes P8 and P9 such that the extension portion P3 of the outer connection terminal P1 and the extension portion P6 of the inner connection terminal P4 are inserted and pass the through holes P8 and P9, respectively.

Gas sensor and subassembly unit therefor


A remote control method of tile display is disclosed for a tile display system, which contains a host computer, several projector modules, and a screen. The images produced by the projector modules are simultaneously displayed on the screen as a single image. The remote control method includes the steps of: obtaining setting parameters of each projector using a control program on the host computer via a network; storing the setting parameters of each projector in a storage module of the host computer; simultaneously generating a projector parameter table for each projector; updating the projector parameter table when the parameters of any projector are modified; generating a control message for the corresponding projector according to the new parameter table; transmitting the control message to the corresponding projector via the network; and converting the control message into one recognizable by the projector in order to make corresponding modifications.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a control method of tile display used in a system that simultaneously displays multiple images. In particular, it relates to a remote control method of tile display.
2. Related Art
The tile display system refers to a display system that combines more than one display devices. The display system can divides a single image into many image blocks, each of which is produced by a single display device. All the image blocks are then combined into a single and complete image. The image thus generated has the advantages of having a bigger size, a brighter image, and a higher resolution than using a single display device. For example, such a tile display system may be a TV wall, which can display a single and complete image. The image can be divided into several image blocks, each of which is generated by on TV. Moreover, the display device in the tile display system can be various kinds of projectors or TV's. In comparison with the single display device, the image thus generated has the advantages of having a bigger size, a brighter image, and a higher resolution than using a single display device. Furthermore, the image size and depth can be increased without sacrificing the brightness. Therefore, it is often used in the displays of high-tech companies or government institutes.
In addition to breaking a single complete image into many image blocks, there are also control techniques of tile display systems that combine individually generated images into a single complete image. In particular, the latter techniques have to consider three things. First, the display devices have to be accurately positioned so that there is no gap among image blocks. Secondly, one has to match each individual image block with its adjacent image blocks so that the whole image is complete and continuous. Thirdly, the color and brightness of the display devices have to be tuned so that the whole image is harmonious.
Currently there are methods for solve the above-mentioned problems. For example, one can arrange partial overlap among the image blocks to eliminate gaps and to make them continuous. Calibration factors are also used to make the color and brightness of adjacent image blocks consistent, minimizing the discontinuity between each two adjacent image blocks. Another method uses the brightness average to make the brightness of the whole image consistent. In short, the ultimate goal is to combine images generated by each individual display device into a complete single continuous image, which looks like a magnified image generated by a single projecting device. There are many methods that eliminate gaps the discontinuities between two adjacent image blocks, including the U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,073 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,390.
In the above-mentioned tile display system, whether the displayed image is three-dimensional or planar is determined by the design of each component display device. For example, some manufacturers use two projectors to generate a three-dimensional image, while other only use one projector to achieve the same effect. However, in either planar or three-dimensional displays, one always encounters the problems of discontinuity, color inhomogeneity, and brightness inconsistency. In these cases, each individual display device has to be adjusted. However, the adjustment is time consuming and often unsatisfactory if the tile display system contains many display devices. Therefore, it is imperative to have an effective and simple method that can control each of the display devices in the tile display system and each image block thus generated, producing a continuous image consistent in color and brightness.

National Center for High-Performance Computing


System and methods are described for improved indexing and processing (e.g., query processing) of date-based information. A date value may be viewed as comprising year (y), month (m), and day (d) components. A DateIndex index data structure is defined to comprise three distinct groups of bitmaps: one for years, another for months, and another for days, respectively. This index can be created on a column having a datatype of xe2x80x9cdatexe2x80x9d (e.g., standard SQL datatype which stores date literals). A month group is defined to contain exactly 12 bitmaps (call them M[1], M[2], . . . , M[12]) to track rows meeting at a specified month range for a particular column. Each successive bitmap within the group stores a successively smaller subrange of possible month values (e.g., month 1-12, month 2-12, month 3-12, and so forth and so on). In a similar manner, bitmaps may be created for tracking day and year ranges. Additionally, an xe2x80x9cexistence bitmapxe2x80x9d (EBM) is used to track whether particular rows exist in a given column being indexed. Armed with this information, the system can now resolve a desired query operation using set algebra. Depending on the particular date value(s) under consideration, use of set algebra may often be optimized, thereby reducing the number of bitmap operations required. By providing a new index structure specifically designed for date columns, the approach significantly reduces the number of bitmap operations required to do each of these operations and also significantly reduces the amount of I/O required to do each operation.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates generally to data processing environments and, more particularly, to system and methods for improved indexing and processing of date information present in data records in those environments.
Computers are very powerful tools for storing and providing access to vast amounts of information. Computer databases are a common mechanism for storing information on computer systems while providing easy access to users. A typical database is an organized collection of related information stored as xe2x80x9crecordsxe2x80x9d having xe2x80x9cfieldsxe2x80x9d of information. As an example, a database of employees may have a record for each employee where each record contains fields designating specifics about the employee, such as name, home address, salary, and the like.
One purpose of a database system is to answer decision support queries and support transactions. A query may be defined as a logical expression over the data and the data relationships set forth in the database, and results in identification of a subset of the database. For example, a typical query might be a request, in SQL syntax, for data values corresponding to all customers having account balances above required limits. During query processing, a database system typically utilizes one or more indexes to answer queries. Indexes are organized structures associated with the data to speed up access to particular data values (i.e., answer values). Indexes are usually stored in the database and are accessible to a database administrator as well as end users. The basic operation of database systems, including the syntax of SQL (Structured Query Language), is well documented in the technical, trade, and patent literature; see, e.g., Date, C., An Introduction to Database Systems, Volume I and II, Addison Wesley, 1990; the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
xe2x80x9cData warehousexe2x80x9d systems represent a type of database system optimized for supporting management decision making by tracking and processing large amounts of aggregate database informationxe2x80x94that is, the data warehouse. Data warehouses contain a wide variety of data that present a coherent picture of business conditions at a single point in time. Development of a data warehouse includes development of systems to extract data from operating systems plus installation of a warehouse database system that provides managers flexible access to the data. A well known example of a data warehouse system is Sybase(copyright) Adaptive Server(copyright) IQ (ASIQ), available from Sybase, Inc. of Emeryville, Calif.
The desire to support fast, ad hoc query processing in large data warehouse applications has led to the development of novel indexing schemes. Within ASIQ, for instance, there are several special-purpose indexing structures, including FastProjection (FP), LowFast (LF), HighNonGroup (HNG), LowDisk (LD), and HighGroup (HG). Each will be briefly described in turn.
FastProjection methodology entails vertical partitioning of the data into a single column stored as an array of data, where each cell in the array is as wide as the data column and the number of cells in the array matches the number of rows in the table. This index is used to provide fast access to the original data value given a row number. In LowFast methodology, an index is employed which comprises a B-Tree together with a set of bitmaps. The B-Tree has one node for each unique value in the column and each node has a bitmap associated with it. The associated bitmap has the nth bit on if the nth row of the table contains the value in the B-Tree. This index is used to provide fast access to a set of row numbers given a value among a small set of distinct values (under 1000). Without further optimization or compression, the technique requires a fair amount of disk space to do this.
In HighNonGroup methodology, an index which comprises a set of bitmaps is employed. The number of bitmaps in the set (i.e., 8xc3x97width-in-bytes) depends on the maximum width of the data in the column. The value for each row in the table is broken into its component bits. The nth bitmap has the mth bit on if the nth bit of the value (taken left to right) at the mth row of the table is on. This index is used to provide fast access to a set of row numbers given a range of values among a large set of distinct values (over 1000), when query grouping operations are not needed. It uses a moderately small amount of disk space to do this.
In the LowDisk methodology, an index which comprises a B-Tree and an HNG index is employed. The B-Tree has one node for each unique value in the column and each node has a small unique integer assigned to it. The small unique integer assigned to the value for each row in the table is broken into its component bits. The nth bitmap has the mth bit on if the nth bit of the small unique integer (taken left to right) assigned to the value at the mth row of the table is on. This index is used to provide moderately fast access to a set of row numbers given a value among a small set of distinct values (e.g., under 1000). It uses a very small amount of disk space to do this but is typically not as fast as the LowFast index.
With HighGroup methodology, an index is employed comprising a B-Tree, an HNG index, and a variation on the FP index. The B-Tree has one node for each unique value in the column and each node has a location in the modified FP index. The embedded HNG index is a normal HNG index and is used to satisfy wide range queries and aggregation functions (i.e., SUM). The B-Tree and modified FP are used to provide fast access to a set of row numbers given a value among a large set of distinct values (over 1000). They are also used to provide efficient handling of grouping queries. The technique uses a relatively large amount of disk space to do this.
For further description of the above-mentioned indexing methodologies, as well as a description of the ASIQ system and architecture, see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,649,181, 5,852,821, 5,794,229, 5,794,228, and 5,924,091, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
During database system operation, query processing depends on the ability to have an index perform comparison operations (e.g.,  less than ,  less than =, =, !=,  greater than , and  greater than =operations) and range operations (e.g., A less than =xc3x97 less than B). The cost of performing any one of these operations directly affects how well suited the index is for resolving a given query. Often, data warehouses track historical (i.e., date-based) information, such as sales information gathered over a period of time. Expectedly, date processing within queries tends to be quite common in the typical data warehouse. Representative examples include the following, shown as sample SQL xe2x80x9cselectxe2x80x9d queries.
select . . . from table where 1_shipdate greater than =xe2x80x981993-07-01xe2x80x99 and 1_shipdate less than xe2x80x981993-10xe2x80x9901
select . . . from table where o_orderdate less than xe2x80x981993-03-10xe2x80x99
These examples may serve to illustrate some of the indexing operations performed on date columns. Choosing an appropriate index for the date column will directly affect how quickly the query can be resolved. For a low number of date values (i.e., low cardinality data), one would typically select an HNG index type. These indexes are good for a wide range of queries, including aggregations, since query results can be obtained by reducing a given query into a sequence of logical AND, OR, and XOR operations performed on these bit vectors or bitmaps.
In gauging query processing efficiency, a good measure of the performance of any given operation (e.g., comparison operation) can be thought of as the number of bitmap-logical operations the system has to perform: the fewer bitmap operations required, the better the system""s performance. Ignoring for a moment the I/O (Input/Output) costs, one can measure the cost of performing the comparison ( less than ,  less than =, =, !=,  greater than ,  greater than =) and range operations for an HNG index on a date column by calculating the number of bitmap operations required to resolve the query. With ASIQ, a date is a 32-bit quantity (e.g., 32-bit integer). Hence, for this sample datatype, a range query requires at the most 64 bitmap operations, and a comparison operation (i.e.,  less than ,  less than =, =, !=,  greater than , or  greater than =) requires at the most 32 bitmap operations. Of course given a large data warehouse containing millions of records, the cumulative effect of these bitmap operations for a given date query may consume substantial system resources and time.
As there is much interest in improving the performance of data warehouse systems, there is a need for a new index structure specifically designed for date columns that will significantly reduce the number of bitmap operations required to do each of these operations and also significantly reduce the amount of I/O required to do each operation. The advantage of such a solution becomes even more pronounced as the number of rows in a given index space growsxe2x80x94a situation commonly encountered with data warehouses. The present invention fulfills this and other needs.
System and methods are described for improved indexing and processing (e.g., query processing) of date-based information. The system provides a specialized date index, the DateIndex, for indexing date-based information through use of bitmap groups or sets. In particular, individual groups are provided for year, month, and day components, respectively.
Each bitmap within a given group may be defined to be an infinite array (bit[ ]) of bits, with any given bit xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d having a value of 0 or 1, only. A bitmap may be used to identify which rows in a database table have a particular value X. For example, to track rows that have a value 5, as one inserts values into a given database table for each row xe2x80x9cixe2x80x9d that has value 5, one may set bit[i]=1.
A date value may be decomposed into individual year (y), month (m), and day (d) components. Within a database system, dates have the following characteristics.
Range of 12 months maximum
Range of 31 days maximum
Range of N years (N not necessarily known a priori)
A DateIndex index data structure of the present invention is defined to comprise three distinct groups of bitmaps: one for years, another for months, and another for days, respectively. This index can be created on a column having a datatype of xe2x80x9cdatexe2x80x9d (e.g., standard SQL datatype which stores date literals).
Consider, for instance, a database table with a single column C with an accompanying DateIndex index on that column. The month group contains exactly 12 bitmaps (call them M[1], M[2], . . . , M[12]) to track rows in column C containing month ranges for that column. The month group tracks rows as follows.
M[1] tracks rows in table that have dates containing months 1 through 12, inclusive
M[2] tracks rows in table that have dates containing months 2 through 12, inclusive
M[3] tracks rows in table that have dates containing months 3 through 12, inclusive . . .
M[12] tracks rows in table that have dates containing months 12 through 12, inclusive
As shown, each successive bitmap stores a successively smaller subrange of possible month values (e.g., 1-12, 2-12, 3-12, and so forth and so on). M[1] contains a 0 for row xe2x80x98ixe2x80x99 when the value of row xe2x80x98ixe2x80x99 is NULL.
The day group contains exactly 31 bitmaps (call them D[1], D[2], . . . , D[31]) to track rows in column C containing ranges of days for that column. In a manner similar to that described above for the month group, the day group is employed as follows.
D[1] tracks rows in table that have dates containing days 1 through 31, inclusive
D[2] tracks rows in table that have dates containing days 2 through 31, inclusive
D[3] tracks rows in table that have dates containing days 3 through 31, inclusive
D[31] tracks rows in table that have dates containing days 31 through 31, inclusive
Again, each successive bitmap stores a successively smaller subrange of possible values. D[1] contains a 0 for row xe2x80x98ixe2x80x99 when the value of row xe2x80x98ixe2x80x99 is NULL.
Continuing in this manner, the year group contains N bitmaps (call them Y[1], Y[2], . . . , Y[N]) to track rows in column C containing ranges of years. N is the number of distinct years. Suppose a given database table contains dates with years 1997, 1999, and 2000. In such a case, N=3 and one has the following.
Y[1] tracks rows in table that have dates containing years 1997, 1999, and 2000, inclusive
Y[2] tracks rows in table that have dates containing years 1999, and 2000, inclusive
Y[3] tracks rows in table that have dates containing years 2000, inclusive
As before, each successive bitmap stores a successively smaller subrange of possible values, in this case, year date values. Y[1] contains a 0 for row xe2x80x98ixe2x80x99 when the value of row xe2x80x98ixe2x80x99 is NULL. Note for the example dates above (i.e., 1997, 1999, and 2000), there is no bitmap containing the year range starting with 1998 since there are no rows in column C containing date values consisting of that year. In other words, no bitmap is employed to represent the subrange of 1998-2000, as there are no 1998 year date values.
The above description highlights the current embodiment whereby a bitmap is used for every month subrange (1-12) and every day subrange (1-31) regardless of whether the data set has any date values with months (or days) in the range. For example, if the data set only contains data values with months January, February, and April, then the month subrange bitmaps M[5] through M[12], inclusive, are empty.
Alternatively, one could organize the month group and day group like the year group. For example, instead of having 12-month subrange bitmaps, one employs only N where N is the actual number of distinct months in the data set (i.e., January, February, and April in the preceding example). In other words, there is no bitmap containing the subrange March-December as there are no March date values. In this manner, a similar approach may be adopted for the day group. Nevertheless, it is not believed that organizing the month and day groups like this yields any appreciable gains because of the extra processing to access the appropriate date or month group and the fact that, with the currently-preferred embodiment, empty bitmaps occupy minimal space within the database system.
Finally, in accordance with the present invention, an xe2x80x9cexistence bitmapxe2x80x9d (EBM) is used to track whether particular rows exist (with regards to a particular record identifier (RecordID)) in the column C. Here, EBM[i]=1 means row with RecordID xe2x80x98ixe2x80x99 exists; 0, of course, means the row with RecordID xe2x80x98ixe2x80x99 does not exist.
Armed with this information, the system can now resolve a desired query operation using set algebra. For a query predicate involving an xe2x80x9cequal toxe2x80x9d operation (EQ), for instance, the xe2x80x9cequal toxe2x80x9d operation may be reduced to the following.
EQ=(Y[y]xe2x88x92Y[y+1])∩(M[m]xe2x88x92M[m+1])∩(D[d]xe2x88x92D[d+1])
(where xc3x85 indicates set intersectionxe2x80x94logical xe2x80x9candxe2x80x9d operation)
A xe2x80x9cnot equal toxe2x80x9d operation (NE) may be reduced to the following.
NE=EBMxe2x88x92EQ
A xe2x80x9cgreater thanxe2x80x9d operation (GT) may be reduced to the following.
GT=Y[y+1]∪((Y[y]xe2x88x92Y[y+1])∩M[m+1])∪((Y[y]xe2x88x92Y[y+1])∩(M[m]xe2x88x92M[m+1])∩D[d+1])
(where ∪ indicates set unionxe2x80x94logical xe2x80x9corxe2x80x9d operation)
A xe2x80x9cgreater than or equal toxe2x80x9d operation (GE) may be reduced to the following.
GE=Y[y+1]∪((Y[y]xe2x88x92Y[y+1])∩M[m+1])∪((Y[y]xe2x88x92Y[y+1])∩(M[m]xe2x88x92M[m+1])∩D[d])
This can be simplified to the following using set algebra distributive laws.
GE=Y[y+1]∪((Y[y]xe2x88x92Y[y+1])∩(M[m+1]∪((M[m]xe2x88x92M[m+1])∩D[d])))
The xe2x80x9cless thanxe2x80x9d (LT) operation is defined in terms of the preceding ones, as follows.
LT=EBMxe2x88x92GE
The xe2x80x9cless than or equal toxe2x80x9d (IE) operation is defined in terms of the preceding ones.
LE=EBMxe2x88x92GT
Range operations, such as Date1 greater than X and Date2 less than Y, are simply a combination of the preceding operations as indicated below.
Date1 greater than =X and Date2 less than =Y: GE∩LE
Date1 greater than =X and Date2 less than Y: GE∩LT
Date1 greater than X and Date2 less than Y: GT∩LT
Date1 greater than X and Date2 less than Y: GT∩LE
By providing a new index structure specifically designed for date columns, the present invention significantly reduces the number of bitmap operations required to do each of these operations and also significantly reduces the amount of I/O required to do each operation.

Database system with methodology for high-performance date


A signal duration measurement system compares a known duration, T1, of a test data signal with the duration, T2, of a state of a signal under test. In one embodiment, if T2 compares favorably with T1, then the circuit generating the signal under test ‘passes.’ Otherwise the signal under test ‘fails,’ and a problem has been identified. Furthermore, in one embodiment, T1 can be selectively adjusted to more accurately measure T2. In one embodiment, the test data signal is allowed to travel a signal path, having a known signal propagation delay time, during a single state of the signal under test. The data signal at the beginning of the state, e.g. during the rise of the signal under test, is compared to the data signal captured at the end of the state, e.g. during the fall of the signal under test. If the initial and captured data signals are the same, then the duration of the state of the signal under test is greater than or equal to the signal propagation delay time. The signal propagation time can be adjusted by inserting varying delay elements into the signal path traversed by test data signal. The signal duration measurement system can be fabricated on-chip, thus making its use more practical. The signal duration measurement system is, for example, useful for measuring the state duration of signals such as self-resetting signals, which are difficult to externally measure.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of integrated circuits, and more specifically to a system and method for measuring the duration of a signal's state using on-chip circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuits typically utilize many on-chip timing and control signals. Signals have states. For example, a binary signal has high and low states, which are often referred to as "1" and "0," respectively. Many integrated circuit designs depend on a proper duration of a signal's state for accurate performance. For example, in a flip-flop based integrated circuit design, it is typically critical to ensure that a coupled clock frequency is stable at an optimum required clock cycle to allow enough time for critical paths to fully evaluate before the next clock cycle. If the clock frequency increases, the longest path may not be able to fully evaluate before the next clock cycle and the circuit would not function as desired. In another example, some integrated circuit designs, a circuit is supposed to evaluate in one half-clock cycle instead of a full clock cycle.
Other circuits, such as self-resetting circuits, have particular timing issues. For example, in self-resetting circuits, a pulse width of a reset signal, generated by the circuit itself, determines the evaluation period. Such designs are typically very sensitive to process variations. Also, unlike clock-based designs, where the circuit may fail at some frequency but function properly if the clock frequency increases, once a self timed circuit fails, it fails at any clock frequency. This is because the pulse width of the self-reset signal is hard coded in the circuit and is not controlled by an external clock. Some technologies are particularly susceptible to having and even developing timing problems over a period of time. For example, in some small-scale device technologies, "Negative Bias Temperature Instability" (NBTI) can cause the voltage threshold of PMOS devices to increase by a certain voltage level depending on the historical amount of voltage bias present between the gate and source/drain nodes of the PMOS device. A sufficient increase in voltage thresholds can generate, the self reset signal and cause variations in the pulse width of the self reset signal, which results in a hard failure at all clock frequencies.
Detecting a circuit failure caused by timing in a circuit, such as a self-resetting circuit, is very difficult using conventional technology. Conventional technology often requires probing signal paths on a chip that carry the self reset signal. A visual inspection of the waveform is performed to determine if the signal path being probed is causing the failure. Such analysis is both expensive and time consuming. Furthermore, such a test typically needs to be performed directly on silicon and cannot be performed on a packaged chip. Identifying which circuit(s) malfunction is causing the failure is also typically very difficult.

On-chip measurement of signal state duration


Disclosed is an axial-flow fan having a central hub coupled to a rotational shaft of a motor, a plurality of blades extending radially outwardly from the outer circumference of the hub for blowing air in an axial direction, the plurality of blades being integrated with the hub into a single body, and a circular fan band fixedly coupled to the peripheral ends of the plurality of blades for surrounding the plurality of blades, each of the plurality of blades having a leading edge line (L.E.L.) and a trailing edge line (T.E.L.) that are formed in a corrugated shape along almost the same direction to each other and have at least two or more pairs of inflection points formed along the lines, wherein the inflection points of the trailing edge line (T.E.L.) formed on each of the plurality of blades are placed in such a manner as to be closer to a blade tip than those of the leading edge line (L.E.L.) formed on each of the plurality of blades.

An axial-flow fan includes a circular central hub and a plurality of blades radially arranged along the circumference of the hub, and as well known to those skilled in the art, the axial-flow fan is a kind of fluid machinery which serves to blow air in the axial direction thereof by the rotation of the plurality of the blades. A representative example of the axial-flow fan is a cooling fan that blows air for heat radiation to an air-cooled heat exchanger to promote heat radiation of the air-cooled heat exchanger, such as an electric fan, a ventilation fan, and a radiator or condenser of an automobile. The axial-flow fan that is used as the cooling fan of the heat exchanger in the air conditioning system of the automobile is mounted at the rear or front side of the heat exchanger in conjunction with a shroud that is provided with a bell-mouthed ventilating port that is surrounded around the shroud and a plurality of airflow guide vanes that serve to guide the air blown by the blades of the fan to an axial direction from the front or the rear side of the ventilating port.
The axial-flow fan may be classified into a pusher-type axial-flow fan assembly and a puller-type axial-flow fan assembly in accordance with the arranged positions with respect to the heat exchanger.
A conventional axial-flow fan 10 of an automobile is mounted in the front of the heat exchanger in conjunction with a shroud surrounding the blades of the fan and guiding air toward the axial direction. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the axial-flow fan 10 includes a central hub 12 coupled to a rotational shaft of a motor (not shown), a plurality of blades 11 extending radially outwardly from the outer circumference of the hub 12, and a circular fan band 13 fixedly coupled to the peripheral ends of the plurality of blades 11 for surrounding the plurality of blades 11. The axial-flow fan is generally made of synthetic resin and integrated with the blades 11 into a single body. The plurality of blades 11 that are curved in the plane of the fan 10 are rotated as the motor is rotated, thereby producing a difference pressure according to a variation in the airflow velocity between the front and rear sides of the fan. Thus, the axial-flow fan blows air to the axial direction thereof.
Therefore, the plurality of blades 11 may have a great effect on a blowing efficiency and the amount of generated noise in the axial-flow fan 10. As shown in FIG. 8, the terms used to describe the blades 11 of the axial-flow fan 10 are defined. The axial-flow fan 10 should be designed in view of a variety of important blade designing factors, such as setting angle of the blades 11, camber ratio, cross-directional curvature, chord length, axial-directional inclination angle, leading edge line (L.E.L) and trailing edge line (T.E.L).
The camber ratio is obtained by dividing a maximum camber value into a chord length.
The setting angle is obtained by subtracting a stagger angle at which each blade 11 is erected from 90°.
According to the prior art that has been developed in consideration with the above designing factors, as shown in FIG. 3, the trailing edge line and the leading edge line of each of the plurality of blades 11 has a plurality of inflection points formed in the same direction to one another, and each inflection point of the trailing edge line and each inflection point of the leading edge line are formed on the same radius (RT3=RL3, RT2=RL2 and RT1=RL1) from the central point of the hub 12.
By the way, for the conventional axial-flow fan as constructed above, a stream of airflow is inclined to be directed straightly along an axial direction thereof, as shown in FIG. 4.
Therefore, there is a high possibility that the airflow may collide against the engine block in the engine room at a relatively high temperature. If such a situation occurs, air becomes hot and flows back to be recirculated to the front side of the heat exchanger. This makes the temperature of air introducing to the axial-flow fan substantially raised. Thus, the cooling performance of the heat exchanger becomes deteriorated.


A system for enabling an information marketplace includes a central server which stores data in a memory element. The data may or may not be encrypted. Regardless of whether the data is encrypted the server may also store a table which associates data elements and nodes with an authorization value. If a node requests data for which the authorization value in the table gives the node authorization to access, the server transmits the data to the node. If the data is encrypted, the server may transmit the encrypted data or it may decrypt the data for the node before transmission. In other embodiments, no table is stored by the server. In these embodiments the data is encrypted using one or more encryption keys. When a node requests data the server transmits the encrypted data to the node. If the node does not have the proper encryption keys, it may request them from the server.

The amount of information, as well as the number of goods and services, available to individuals is increasing exponentially. This increase in items and information is occurring across all domains, e.g. sound recordings, restaurants, movies, World Wide Web pages, clothing stores, etc. An individual attempting to find useful information, or to decide between competing goods and services, is often faced with a bewildering selection of sources and choices.
Individual sampling of all items, even in a particular domain, may be impossible. For example, sampling every restaurant of a particular type in New York City would tax even the most avid diner. Such a sampling would most likely be prohibitively expensive to carry out, and the diner would have to suffer through many unenjoyable restaurants.
In many domains, individuals have simply learned to manage information overload by relying on a form of generic referral system. For example, in the domain of movie and sound recordings, many individuals rely on reviews written by paid reviewers. These reviews, however, are simply the viewpoint of one or two individuals and may not have a likelihood of correlating with how the individual will actually perceive the movie or sound recording. Many individuals may rely on a review only to be disappointed when they actually sample the item.
One method of attempting to provide an efficient filtering mechanism is to use content-based filtering. The content-based filter selects items from a domain for the user to sample based upon correlations between the content of the item and the user's preferences. Content-based filtering schemes suffer from the drawback that the items to be selected must be in some machine-readable form, or attributes describing the content of the item must be entered by hand. This makes content-based filtering problematic for existing items such as sound recordings, photographs, art, video, and any other physical item that is not inherently machine-readable. While item attributes can be assigned by hand in order to allow a content-based search, for many domains of items such assignment is not practical. For example, it could take decades to enter even the most rudimentary attributes for all available network television video clips by hand.
Perhaps more importantly, even the best content-based filtering schemes cannot provide an analysis of the quality of a particular item as it would be perceived by a particular user, since quality is inherently subjective. So, while a content-based filtering scheme may select a number of items based on the content of those items, a content-based filtering scheme generally cannot further refine the list of selected items to recommend items that the individual will enjoy.
Co-pending application Ser. No. 08/597,442, filed Feb. 2, 1996, describes a method for recommending an item to a user which begins by storing a user profile in memory for each user. The user profile includes ratings given to items by the user. An item profile is also stored in memory which includes ratings given to the item by users. The profile of each item rated by the user is retrieved from memory and used to determine which other users of the system have rated that item. The profile of each of those users is retrieved from memory and a similarity factor between the initial user each of the users that have rated the item is calculated. The similarity factors are calculated responsive to the retrieved user profiles. A set of neighboring users is selected responsive to the similarity factors and a weight is assigned to each of the neighboring users. The neighboring users and the weights given to them are used together with the ratings given to items by those neighboring users to recommend at least one item to the initial user.
Users may, however, experience some reluctance in rating items if they are not able to control access to their preference information. This is understandable since the preference information entered by the users will have a high degree of personal content. In addition, users may enter demographic information to further aid the recommendation process and this data may be regarded as especially sensitive data. Since entry of preference data is required in order to make recommendations to the user, and entry of demographic and other data is helpful, a system needs to be provided which allows the user to indicate whether he or she desires to allow his or her data to be transmitted to nodes within a distributed system. The user may also desire to specify certain nodes which may receive the data and other nodes which should not receive data.

System for enabling information marketplace


A preassembled cam lock assembly comprising is disclosed which includes a housing defining a throughbore configured to receive an interchangeable lock core. A tail piece is fixedly secured on a rear face of the housing. The tail piece defines a stepped bore including an arc-shaped cutout. Each end of the arc-shaped cutout defines a stop surface. A cam driver is configured to be rotatably retained in the stepped bore of the tail piece. The cam driver includes a first end defining an arc shaped lost motion slot and a second end adapted to engage a cam. The cam driver has a plurality of spaced bores which are dimensioned to receive a driver pin which is movably positioned within the cutout of the tail piece between the stop surfaces. A cam is secured to the second end of the cam driver adjacent the tail piece. A drive member is positioned within the throughbore of the housing and is adapted to engage an interchangeable lock core such that actuation of the interchangeable lock core effects rotation of the cam driver. The drive member includes a drive pin which is slidably positioned within the lost motion slot of the cam driver such that rotation of the drive member moves the drive pin through the lost motion slot such that the driver pin engages an end of the lost motion slot to effect rotation of the cam driver.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to cam lock assemblies and, more particularly, to cam lock assemblies which are preassembled for a specific use.
2. Background of Related Art
Cam lock assemblies for doors and drawers are well known in the art. Typically, cam lock assemblies include a lock housing, an interchangeable core, a stop washer, and a cam or bolt. Cam lock assemblies can be used for a variety of different purposes in a variety of different orientations. When the lock assembly is assembled and secured to a door or drawer, the installer must properly orient the stop washer on the lock assembly and properly install set screws to achieve a desired result. The proper orientation of the stop washer and set screws on the lock assembly is different for different uses of the lock assembly. For example, the proper orientation of the stop washer and set screw on a lock assembly is different for a right-hand door or drawer lock than the orientation for a left hand door or drawer lock. Thus, if the person installing the lock assembly on a door or drawer positions the stop washer or set screw in the wrong orientation for a desired use, e.g., right hand door lock, the lock assembly will not function in its intended manner.
Accordingly, a need exists in the art for a cam lock assembly which is preassembled for a particular use, e.g., right hand door lock, left hand door lock, etc.


A motor assembly has a stator and rotor housed within a frame. An end shield is attached to one end of the frame for rotatably supporting a shaft extending therethrough. A fan is mounted to the shaft adjacent the end shield. A fan cover is mounted to the end shield and about the fan in a snap-fit manner. The end shield includes a front face and an annular side face, and has a plurality of slots formed in the annular face. The end shield also includes a boss adjacent each slot, which is formed to include at least one bearing surface and a ramp thereon. The fan cover includes a plurality of mounting brackets spaced about its inner periphery and extending outwardly toward the end shield. Each mounting bracket has a projection thereon, which is receivable within the slot on the annular face of the end shield. Each bracket also includes a backstop with a crushable rib thereon. As the projection is received in the slot, the bearing surface of the boss contacts and deforms the crushable rib on the backstop, thus ensuring a tight, snap-fit between the fan cover and the end shield.

The present invention is related to motors. More particularly, the present invention is related to a snap-on fan cover for use within an enclosed motor.
In certain applications, it is desirable to utilize an electric motor which is totally enclosed. Small electric motors, such as those used in refrigeration and air conditioning units, typically include a stator, a rotor and a frame or housing. The stator assembly typically includes a stator core and one or more windings disposed thereabout. The rotor includes a shaft rotatably mounted within the stator. The shaft is supported by bearing assemblies, and extends in a longitudinal direction through the motor. The stator, rotor, bearings and intermediate portions of the shaft are housed within the frame. An end shield is attached to opposite ends of the frame to enclose the motor.
To cool the motor, a fan is mounted to one end of the rotary shaft, adjacent the end shield. The fan creates an air flow about the exterior of the frame. To protect the fan blades from damage, a fan cover is placed about the fan. The fan draws ambient air through the fan cover and directs it about the motor frame.
During assembly of the motor, the frame may be placed on end, such that the longitudinal axis of the motor is substantially vertical to the assembly work station. This enables the assembler to easily attach the end shield to the frame, and the fan to the rotary shaft. The fan cover can then be positioned about the fan. During this assembly, several features are particularly advantageous. For example, it is desirable that the fan cover be quickly and easily connected to the motor. A typical fan cover may be bolted or screwed to the frame or end shield. In this type of arrangement, a substantial amount of assembly time is required. Each bolt or screw is installed and the motor is turned on its side and/or rotated to access each successive bolt. The time required to install the fan cover can be costly in a high volume production setting. Furthermore, the necessary associated hardware can be expensive, and difficult to handle.
Another concern during assembly is determining proper rotational alignment of the fan cover to the end shield. In certain arrangements where the fan cover is bolted or screwed in place, there is no mechanical means of determining proper alignment. Instead, the fan cover is positioned by visually aligning the bolt holes in the cover to the holes in the frame or end shield. This takes time. A fan cover which includes a mechanical aid to determine rotational alignment of the cover to the end shield or frame would thus ease and quicken assembly.
While fan covers which are bolted to the frame or end shield may not be efficient, they do generally securely fasten the cover to the frame. This feature is beneficial for at least two reasons. First, a strong engagement ensures that the fan cover will protect the fan from damage, and limit the flow of debris through the fan blades. Second, a tight fit between the fan cover and motor frame or end shield limits the effects of vibrational forces. During operation, the fan cover may tend to vibrate with respect to the frame. This may cause the cover to audibly rattle and, over time, loosen.
An object of the present invention is to provide a motor which utilizes an improved fan cover which can be attached to the end shield in a quick and easy manner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a motor which utilizes an improved fan cover which ensures and facilitates proper rotational alignment between the cover and the end shield during assembly.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a motor which utilizes an improved fan cover which is securely fastened to the end shield.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a motor having an improved fan cover which is resistant to the effects of vibrational forces.
These and other objects are attained in a motor having a stator and rotor housed within a frame. The rotor includes a rotary shaft, which extends outside of the frame. An end shield is attached to each end of the frame, enclosing the motor. A fan is attached to one end of the rotary shaft, and is used to cool the exterior of the frame. A fan cover substantially surrounds the fan, and is snap-fit to the end shield.
The end shield includes a front face and an annular face having a plurality of receiving slots therein. Adjacent each slot is a boss. The boss includes an inclined ramp leading to the slot. Adjacent the ramp, on opposite sides thereof, the boss includes bearing surfaces which are substantially coplanar to the front face of the end shield. The boss also includes opposing top surfaces which are substantially coplanar to the annular face of the end shield.
The fan cover includes an exterior surface with a vent therein, and an annular rim surrounding the periphery of the exterior surface. Mounting brackets are spaced apart on the annular rim, and allow the fan to be attached to the end shield. Each bracket has a projection thereon which is receivable within the slot on the end shield. The bracket also includes a pair of backstops, each having a stop surface. Each stop surface includes a crushable rib thereon, which is deformable when subjected to a load.
The fan cover can be snap-fit onto the end cover for easy assembly. The cover is positioned such that the projections on the brackets are aligned with the ramp on the boss. In this position, the projection is locked between the ramp sidewalls, limiting rotation of the fan cover with respect to the frame. The cover is pushed onto the frame until the projection is received within the slot. The bearing surfaces on the boss contact and crush the ribs on the stop surface. In this manner, a friction fit between the fan cover and the end shield is achieved.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.