In a method and a device for transferring an e-mail by a public key cryptography between an e-mail transmission device and an e-mail reception device, a trigger message to which user authentication data and a public key are added is received from a transmitting side client, and trust is assigned to the public key within the trigger message to be transmitted to a receiving side client when the user authentication data within the trigger message are authenticated. In response thereto, a response message to which user authentication data and a public key are added is received from the receiving side client, and trust is assigned to the public key within the response message to be transmitted to the transmitting side client when the user authentication data within the response message are authenticated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an e-mail transfer method and device, and in particular to an e-mail transfer method and device for transferring an e-mail by a public key cryptography between an e-mail transmission device and an e-mail reception device.
2. Description of the Related Art
As prior art methods of encoding plaintext of an e-mail on the Internet, a common key cryptography using a key common to encoding (also referred to as encrypting) and decoding (also referred to as decrypting) and a public key cryptography using keys different from each other for encoding and decoding have been known. Plaintext in this description indicates an e-mail message before being encoded.
In the above-mentioned common key cryptography, an e-mail transmission device (hereinafter, occasionally referred to as mail transmitting user or client) and an e-mail reception device (hereinafter, occasionally referred to as mail receiving user or client) preliminarily possess a common key, the mail transmitting user transmits to the mail receiving user encoded text (also referred to as ciphertext) that is plaintext encoded with the common key, and the mail receiving user decodes the encoded text with the common key. Thus, "information leakage" in the transmission process from the mail transmitting user to the mail receiving user can be prevented. However, it is difficult to place an e-signature for preventing an unauthorized third person from "pretending" (also referred to as "spoofing") and "manipulating" (also referred to as "falsification"), so that a safe distribution of the common key is required.
In order to counter the above-mentioned problem, the public key cryptography prepares a pair of different keys, so that the different keys are used for encoding and decoding respectively. One is made a public key released to a transmitting destination, and the other is made a private key (also referred to as a secret key) stored only by the transmitting side itself at hand. Encoded text (ciphertext) encoded with the public key can be decoded only with the private key which is one of the pair, and the encoded text encoded with the private key can be decoded only with the public key which is one of the pair. Also, as for the above-mentioned public key and the private key, it is mathematically difficult and actually impossible to prepare one key from the information of the other key.
Upon transmitting an encoded e-mail e.g. by the public key cryptography to the mail receiving user, the mail transmitting user encodes plaintext with the public key of the mail receiving user into the encoded text to be transmitted to the mail receiving user. The mail receiving user having received the e-mail can obtain the original plaintext by decoding the encoded text with its own private key. Therefore, even if an unauthorized third party taps the e-mail in the transmission process of the e-mail, the plaintext can not be obtained unless he/she has the private key for decoding. Accordingly, the leakage of the e-mail message to the unauthorized third party can be prevented.
Also, upon transmitting to the mail receiving user a mail e-signed by the public key cryptography, the mail transmitting user prepares a hash value (hereinafter, referred to as digest) by applying the plaintext to a certain hash function, and encodes the digest with the private key of the mail transmitting user to make an e-signature which is added to the plaintext, so that the e-mail is transmitted to the mail receiving user. The mail receiving user having received the mail with the e-signature decodes the e-signature with the public key of the mail transmitting user, and confirms whether or not the e-signature is coincident with the digest prepared from the plaintext independently.
It is to be noted that there is a possibility that the same digest can be obtained from two plaintexts logically different from each other when the digest is prepared from the plaintext as mentioned above. However, a probability of getting the same digest coincidentally from two plaintexts is actually extremely low. Also, it is impossible to prepare plaintext from a certain digest. Also, which can prepare the digest which can be decoded with the public key of the mail transmitting user is only the private key of the mail transmitting user.
Accordingly, when the comparison result of the above-mentioned digests provides a coincidence, the mail receiving user having received the e-mail recognizes that the e-mail is not transmitted by an unauthorized third party but is transmitted by the mail transmitting user undoubtedly, and further the contents are not manipulated in the process of the mail transmission.
Therefore, in the encoded and e-signed mail (hereinafter, occasionally referred to as "encoded/e-signed") by the public key cryptography, a threat on security ("pretending", "information leakage", "manipulation") is prevented. The e-mail can be safely transmitted/received to/from the opponent communicating device.
The procedure of transmitting/receiving the encoded/e-signed mail by the public key cryptography will now be described in detail referring to FIG. 19 (Internet security text <vol. 1>; publisher: IDG Japan; see page 217 of ISBN:4872804759).
When a client (mail transmitting user) 91A transmits an encoded/e-signed mail to a client (mail receiving user) 91B, the mail transmitting user 91A prepares a digest (message digest) 92c by applying plaintext 92a to a message/digest function 92b (at step S91). The mail transmitting user 91A encodes the digest 92c with its own private key 91β to obtain an e-signature 92d (at step S92).
The mail transmitting user 91A further encodes the plaintext (message) 92a and the e-signature 92d with a common key 91ε to prepare encoded text 92e (at step S93), and encodes the common key 91ε with a public key 91γ of the mail receiving user 91B to prepare a common key 91 ζ (at step S94).
The mail transmitting user 91A adds the common key 91 ζ to the encoded text 92e to prepare an e-mail 92g (at step S95) to be transmitted to the mail receiving user 91B.
On the other hand, the mail receiving user 91B having received the e-mail 92g decodes the encoded common key 91 ζ into the common key 91ε with its own private key 91δ (at step S96), and decodes the encoded text 92e into the plaintext 92a and the e-signature 92d with the common key 91ε (at step S97).
The mail receiving user 91B applies the plaintext 92a to the above-mentioned message/digest function 92b to prepare a digest 92c1 (at step S98), decodes the e-signature 92d into a digest 92c2 with the public key 91α of the mail transmitting user 91A (at step S99), and verifies whether or not the digest 92c1 is the same as the decoded digest 92c2 by comparing both digests (at step S100).
It is to be noted that in the above-mentioned description, the mail transmitting user 91A does not directly encode the plaintext 92a with the public key 91γ of the mail receiving user 91B, but prepares the temporary common key 91ε for transmitting the e-mail, encodes the plaintext with the common key 91ε, and includes the common key 91ε encoded with the public key of the mail receiving user 91B in the e-mail to be transmitted to the mail receiving user 91B.
In the encoding/decoding by the public key cryptography, processing load is heavier compared with that by the common key cryptography, and requires much time. Therefore, the entire long plaintext is not encoded by the public key cryptography, but the above-mentioned common key 91ε is encoded with the public key 91γ of the mail receiving user 91B, so that speed enhancement of processing is achieved. It is not different from the encoding with the public key 91γ of the mail receiving user 91B substantially.
It is to be noted that the above-mentioned encoded/e-signed mail is prepared by combining the encoding of the plaintext with an addition of an e-signature, e.g. by encoding the plaintext to which the e-signature is added. Accordingly, the encoded e-mail or the e-signed mail can be prepared as a sub-set of the encoded/e-signed mail.
In order to prepare the encoded/e-signed mail by the public key cryptography, the mail transmitting/receiving user is required to preliminarily obtain the public key of the opponent user and to confirm authenticity of the public key obtained and its owner.
However, anyone can prepare a pair of public key and private key, wherein there is a possibility that an unauthorized third party pretends to be an authorized mail transmitting/receiving user to release the public key. In order to counter this, a certification authority becomes necessary which manages a public key used in an electronic commerce or the like on a neutral ground as a reliable third party organization, which issues a certificate in which a signature of the certification authority itself is added to a requested public key, and which guarantees the authenticity of the public key and its owner.
Thus, it becomes possible for the mail transmitting/receiving user to register the public key and to have the certification authority issue the public key certificate in which the public key and various attributes such as names, belonging organizations and e-mail addresses are described. By the public key certificate issued from the certification authority, the mail transmitting/receiving user can confirm the authenticated public key and public key certificate of the opponent user.
It is to be noted that the entire infrastructure including the certification authority, the public key encoding technology, the public key certificate, the functions realized thereby, etc. is called PKI (Public Key Infrastructure).
As mentioned above, in order to transmit/receive the encoded/e-signed mail, the mail transmitting/receiving user is required to preliminarily acquire its own public key certificate from the certification authority and to acquire the public key certificate of the opponent user.
When the encoded/e-signed mail is transmitted/received, the mail transmitting/receiving user is required to use its own private key and the public key of the opponent user.
It is to be noted that when the mail transmitting/receiving user transmits/receives the encoded mail, the mail receiving user preliminarily acquires the public key certificate from the certification authority, and the mail transmitting user has only to acquire the public key certificate. Also, when the mail transmitting/receiving user transmits/receives the e-signed mail, the mail transmitting user preliminarily acquires the public key certificate from the certification authority and the mail receiving user has only to acquire the public key certificate.
Such a certification authority, a public key certificate and a certificate revocation list will now be specifically described referring to FIGS. 20, 21A and 21B.
FIG. 20 shows a process in which a certification authority (CA) 93 issues a public key certificate, and the mail transmitting/receiving user transmits/receives an encoded/e-signed mail. FIGS. 21A and 21B show a format 97F of a public key certificate and a format 99F of a certificate revocation list. These are formats (X.509 Version 3) prescribed by the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) and are generally and frequently used. It is to be noted that the certificate revocation list will be described later.
In FIG. 20, the certification authority 93 issues a public key certificate 97 at the request of a person or an organization (client 91C) receiving the issue of the public key certificate 97. The certification authority 93 has a server (referred to as repository) 94 for releasing the public key certificate 97. The certification authority 93 and a certification authority 95 have a relationship of mutual authentication. When the person or the organization having the certification authority 93 issue the public key certificate 97 files an application of the issue (at step S101), the certification authority 93 issues the public key certificate 97 according to the application (at step S102).
The certification authority 93 releases the public key certificate 97 issued by a repository 94 to an indefinite number of persons (at step S103).
Thus, when the public key certificate 97 is issued to the mail transmitting user (client) 91A and the mail receiving user (client) 91B respectively from the certification authority 93, the mail transmitting user 91A and the mail receiving user 91B respectively acquire the public key 91γ and the public key 91α of the opponent user. For example, the mail transmitting user 91A retrieves the repository 94 with the user name of the mail receiving user 91B to acquire the public key 91γ (at step S105), or acquires the public key 91γ from the mail receiving user 91B (see arrow Y). Similarly, the mail receiving user 91B retrieves the repository 94 with the user name of the mail transmitting user 91A to acquire the public key 91α (at step S106) or acquires the public key 91α from the mail transmitting user 91A (see arrow X).
When each of the mail transmitting/receiving users 91A and 91B respectively obtains the public key of the opponent user, the mail transmitting user 91A can transmit an encoded and e-signed e-mail to the mail receiving user 91B by the public key cryptography.
It is to be noted that the certification authority 93 accepts the application of the public key certificate 97 by electronic means, by postal mails or by applicant's visit, as required according to the level of the trust (reliance or confidence) of the public key certificate 97, and also requires attachment of another certificate such as a residence certificate, a copy of register, and a certificate of seal.
When the public key certificate 97 is used in e.g. an electronic commerce or the like between enterprises with giving/receiving a great amount of money, the public key certificate 97 with higher level of trust is required.
The certification authority 93 examines the application of the applicant, issues the public key certificate 97 according to its level, and manages the issued public key certificate 97.
Also, the certification authority 93 releases the issued public key certificate 97 to an indefinite number of persons at the repository 94 and also releases a certificate revocation list and a root certificate (described later). It is to be noted that an LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) in FIG. 20 is generally a protocol most frequently used for accessing the repository 94.
Also, when the certification authority 93 and the certification authority 95 have a relationship of mutual authentication, the transmitting/receiving user having registered the public key certificate 97 in a single certification authority 93 can transmit/receive the encoded/e-signed mail between the certification authorities 93 and 95.
The functions of the certification authority 93 are as follows:
Definition of Function in Certification Authority
    (1) Acceptance of public key certificate application
According to the level of the trust of the certificate, the application is accepted by electronic means, by postal mails or by applicant's visit, with the attachment of another certificate such as a residence certificate, a copy of register, and a certificate of seal.
Examination function according to the level of the trust of the certificate.    (2) Issue of public key certificate    (3) Management of public key certificate    (4) Release of public key certificate
Management (LDAP) of repository (server releasing required information (certificate, CRL and root certificate) concerning PKI) 94.
Release of the public key certificate 97 and release of a certificate revocation list 99.    (5) Acceptance of public key certificate revocation
A method of notifying that the public key certificate 97 becomes invalid (theft, trust decrease of object user, etc.), different from a period of validity 97b described in the public key certificate 97 (certificate revocation list; CRL).    (6) Mutual authentication with other certification authority 93
Certification authorities 93 and 95 have a relationship of mutual authentication.
Hereinafter, the public key certificate 97 will be described in detail.
In FIG. 21A, the public key certificate format 97F is provided with fields from a version 971 to an encoded text 987. Since the certification authority 93 adds an e-signature to a last signature 97d of the public key certificate 97, an unauthorized third party can not "pretend" and "manipulate". The e-signature of the certification authority 93 is made by applying a field value from the version 971 to an extension 984 of the public key certificate 97 to a hash function 101, and by encoding the result with a private key 93 κ of the certification authority 93 to be made encoded text 102.
The certification authority 93 issues the public key certificate 97 to which the e-signature 97d is added to the mail transmitting/receiving users 91A and 91B.
When acquiring the public key certificate 97 from the certification authority 93 or the opponent user, the mail transmitting/receiving users 91A and 91B are required to verify whether or not the e-signature added to the acquired public key certificate 97 of the opponent user is authenticated. Therefore, the mail transmitting/receiving users 91A and 91B are required to preliminarily acquire "public key certificate of the certification authority itself" (hereinafter, referred to as a root certificate).
As for the root certificate preliminarily acquired, it is required to visually verify (verify the signature in FIG. 20) e.g. a coincidence of its finger print (thumbmark; numerical value of a short fixed length obtained by passing the certificate through the hash function) and a finger print released on a Web site or the like. When the above-mentioned two finger prints are coincident with each other, the mail transmitting/receiving users 91A and 91B can trust the root certificate.
Also, since the root certificate of the famous certification authority 93 is bundled with software (mail client software or the like), the mail transmitting/receiving user is not required to take the trouble to obtain the root certificate separately.
Hereinafter, the certificate revocation list 99 will be described in detail.
The certificate revocation list 99 is for informing the public of the invalidity of the public key certificate 97 when it becomes invalid for some reason (e.g. theft, trust decrease of object user, etc.) outside the period of validity described in the public key certificate 97.
In FIG. 21B, the certificate revocation list format 99F is provided with fields from an algorithm 991 to an encoded text 1000. In the same way as the public key certificate format 97F, the e-signature of the certification authority 93 is added to the last of the format 99F.
In the certificate revocation list 99, a list of a serial No. 996 of the invalid certificate is described.
Each field of the public key certificate 97 and the certificate revocation list 99 shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B will now be described in detail.
X.509 Ver3 Public Key Certificate 97
    (1) Version 971    (2) Certificate Serial Number 972
This is a unique integer value per issue certification authority 93 and corresponds to a certificate in a one-to-one relationship.    (3) Signature algorithm identifier 97a
This includes an identifier of an algorithm 973 of a signature 97d of the certification authority 93 added to the last of this public key certificate 97 and a parameter 974 concerning the algorithm 973. These are respectively same values as an algorithm 985 and a parameter 986 within the signature field 97d described later.    (4) Issuer name 975
This is a name (X.500 name) of the certification authority 93 which has prepared the public key certificate 97 and has signed. X.500 name is a name for uniquely identifying an object on a X.500 directory which is a database with a tree structure. For example, {C=jp, O=organization name, CN=name of certification authority 93}, where C: country/O: organization/CN: Common Name.    (5) Period of validity 97b
This includes a beginning and ending of a period of validity in the public key certificate 97.    (6) Subject name 978
This is an X.500 name of a user. For example, {C=jp, O=organization name, CN=user name, E=e-mail address of user}, where E indicates an E-mail address.    (7) Subject's public-key information 97c
This includes a public key 981 of a user, an identifier of an algorithm 979 decoded with the key 981, and its concerning parameter 980.    (8) Issuer Unique Identifier 982
This is used for uniquely identifying the issuing certification authority 93 when the same X.500 name is reused for a different organization. This identifier is rarely used.    (9) Subject Unique Identifier 983
When the X.500 name is reused for a different user, the identifier 983 is used for uniquely identifying the user. This identifier is rarely used.    (10) Extension 984
This is a various extension field.    (1) Signature 97d
This is a signature by the certification authority 93 of the public key certificate 97. The identifier of the algorithm 985 of the signature and its concerning parameter 986 have the same values as those in the above-mentioned signature algorithm identifier 97a.
Certificate Revocation List 99
    (1) Signature algorithm identifier 99a
This includes an identifier of an algorithm 991 of a signature 99c of the certification authority 93 added to the last of the certificate revocation list 99 and its concerning parameter 992. These are respectively the same values as an algorithm 998 and a parameter 999 within a field of the signature 99c described later.    (2) Issuer name 993
This is a name of the certification authority 93 which has prepared and signed the certificate revocation list 99 (X.500 name).    (3) Dates of update 994 and 995
The date of update 994 is an issue date and time of the certificate revocation list 99. The date of update 995 is a date when the issue of the next certificate revocation list 99 is expected.    (4) Invalidated signature 99b
This includes a serial No. 996 of the invalidated public key certificate 97 and a date of an invalidation 997. By the serial No. 996, the public key certificate 97 can be uniquely identified.    (5) Signature 99c
This is a signature 99c by the certification authority 93 of the certificate revocation list 99. The identifier of the algorithm 998 of the signature 99c and its concerning parameter 999 have the same values as those in the above-mentioned signature algorithm identifier 99a.
Meanwhile, there is an authentication delegating method in which an authentication delegating server distributes an encoding public key of a service provider corresponding to a desired service to a client upon rendering services, and transfers encoded information received from the client to the provider, the client encodes information to be transmitted to the provider with the encoding public key received from the authentication delegating server, and transmits the encoded information to the authentication delegating server, and the provider decodes the encoded information received from the authentication delegating server with an encoding secret key (see e.g. patent document 1).
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication laid-open No. 2001-134534
However, in the case of the prior art shown in FIG. 20, where mail transmitting/receiving users (hereinafter, occasionally referred to as simply users) 91A and 91B of an ISP (Internet service provider) freely transmit/receive encoded and e-signed mails to acquaintances even though a PKI is utilized for an electronic commerce or the like between enterprises, there are the following problems:
Firstly, since the users 91A and 91B having already joined the ISP require the public key certificate 97 of the certification authority 93, both of the users 91A and 91B require an operational effort and an issue fee according to the level of the trust of the public key certificate 97. Accordingly, even if the users 91A and 91B desire to transmit the encoded/e-signed mail for their convenience, it is required to have the opponent users 91A and 91B bear the issue cost of the public key certificate 97 of the certification authority 93 or the like.
Secondly, since the certification authority 93 manages the public key certificate 97, a management cost of the public key certificate 97 is required. Namely, the certification authority 93 releases the public key certificate 97 to the repository 94, and renders a retrieval service to an arbitrary person, so that the costs for the management and the retrieval service of the public key certificate 97 occur in the certification authority 93. Accordingly, the certification authority 93 charges the users 91A and 91B with the fees.
Thirdly, the users 91A and 91B of the ISP have a risk for distributing private information to numerous places. When the users 91A and 91B register the public key in the certification authority 93, the public key is released to an indefinite number of persons. Therefore, there is a tendency of hesitating to entrust private information to another organization different from the ISP for fear of leakage of the private information.
Also, the PKI has the following problems concerning a certificate revocation:
Firstly, although the certification authority 93 revokes the concerned public key certificate 97 by the certificate revocation list 99 released based on the statement of the users 91A and 91B, it is not guaranteed that the certificate revocation list 99 is always reflected in real time in the users 91A and 91B having already acquired the public key.
Secondly, contrary to the above-mentioned description, since the certificate revocation list 99 is widely released to an indefinite number of users, there is a problem concerning privacy that the erosion of trust of the users 91A and 91B is released to others (not a user having already acquired the public key) having nothing to do with themselves.
The above-mentioned problem of the certificate revocation occurs since the certification authority 93 can not manage to whom the users 91A and 91B should release the public key certificate 97, or who has acquired the public key certificate 97, even if the certification authority 93 manages the public key certificate 97. As for the reason why the certification authority 93 can not perform such a management, problems on a management cost or a technology (including the absence of standardization) can be conceived.
The ISP (Internet Service Provider) provides a connection environment to the Internet for the users 91A and 91B, and provides e-mail service and a mailbox for temporarily storing the e-mails. In a process of a service subscribing procedure of the users 91A and 91B, the addresses of the users 91A and 91B are confirmed by mail, or credit information of the users 91A and 91B is confirmed by credit card numbers. Also, in the above process, the ISP transmits passwords for the users 91A and 91B to connect to the network, and passwords to connect to a mail server providing the mailbox.
User authentication of the ISP indicates an authentication mechanism utilizing a user ID and a password issued by the ISP based on the confirmed private information of the user mentioned above.
The above-mentioned user authentication of the ISP has been performed by a server of the ISP with user authentication data (user ID and password) when the users 91A and 91B of the ISP transmit/receive e-mails through the Internet, and has been widely available.


A plurality of differential data stores are stored in persistent storage media. In response to receiving a first request to store a particular data object, one of the differential data stores that are stored in the persistent storage media is selected, wherein selecting the one differential data store is according to a criterion relating to compression of data objects in the differential data stores. The selected differential data store is copied into temporary storage media, where the copying is not delayed after receiving the first request to await receipt of more requests. The particular data object is inserted into the copy of the selected differential data store in the temporary storage media, where the inserting is performed without having to retrieve more data from the selected differential store in the persistent storage media. The selected differential data store in the persistent storage media is replaced with the copy of the selected differential data store in the temporary storage media that has been modified.

As capabilities of computer systems have increased, the amount of data that is generated and computationally managed in enterprises (companies, educational organizations, government agencies, and so forth) has rapidly increased. Data may be in the form of emails received by employees of the enterprises, where emails can often include relatively large attachments. Moreover, computer users routinely generate large numbers of files such as text documents, multimedia presentations, and other types of data objects that have to be stored and managed.
Data management performed by an enterprise includes data backup, where certain data in the enterprise is copied to backup storage systems to protect the integrity of the data in case of failures or faults. Another form of data management is data archiving, wherein some subset of data is moved to separate storage systems. However, storing large amounts of data is associated with various costs, including storage media costs, power and cooling costs, and management costs.

Copying a differential data store into temporary storage media in response to a request

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A spring compressor comprising an actuator with a body and a rod that are telescopically movable relative to each other and two jaws each comprising an attachment portion (2) for attachment to the actuator and a working portion (3) for engaging a turn of a helical spring (8, 9), the working portion (3) of each jaw comprising a first part (4) and a second part (12), one of the parts being connected to the attachment portion (2) and defining a track segment (5) for bearing against a portion of a spring turn, and the other part forming an arm (12) hinged to the attachment portion (2) or to the first part (4) in the vicinity of one end (5c) of the track segment (5) about an axis (11) that is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the track segment (5), and forming at its free end a zone for taking charge of a turn of the spring.

The present invention relates to the field of tooling useful in assembling and maintaining motor vehicle suspensions.
Motor vehicle shock absorbers include helical springs which need to be compressed in order to separate them from the shock absorber member proper or to extract the suspension unit fitted with the shock absorber from a vehicle.
Numerous types of spring compressor are known for this purpose. All of them comprise an actuator (mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, or pneumatic) comprising at least two elements that are telescopically movable relative to each other, with each element having a grip member associated therewith for co-operating with the spring (a portion of a turn of the spring for each member) in order to compress it. Those various spring compressors differ from one another firstly by the means for attaching the grip members to the actuator elements, and secondly by the shapes of the grip members depending on whether they have continuous tracks for cooperating with the spring (referred to as cups) or whether they comprise two arms fixed and/or hinged to the attachment portion and having some gutter-shaped ends for receiving the turn of the spring that is to be manipulated (referred to as claws as in document EP-A-1 046 469).
With cups, at least the middle zone of the track has on its inside margin a big flap that forms a radial abutment for the turn of the spring. With claws, the portion of the jaw carrying the arm hinges includes a kind of hook (a small cradle) which receives the spring turn and which performs the same function as the above-mentioned flap.
Each of those two types of jaw possesses its own advantages and drawbacks. Cups provide the spring with support over a line of contact along which load is better distributed than with claws, where at best three point zones come into contact with the spring, so that there are high levels of stress concentration at those locations. Cups are of fixed shape which means that it is necessary to have several sets of cups for manipulating the springs of different dimensions that are to be found on the market, whereas, because of the way the arms are hinged, a single set of claws can encompass a much wider variety of spring sizes.
Both cups and claws are often ill-adapted to taking hold of suspension spring turns close to the end bearing plates of the springs. Unfortunately, with certain shock absorbers, it is appropriate to manipulate the springs as close as possible to those plates in order to eliminate the effects of the end turns of the springs relaxing while the central turns are being compressed, where such relaxing opposes the desired shortening of the spring in order to make disassembly possible.
The present invention seeks to ally the advantages of claws and of cups while eliminating most of their drawbacks, and with the additional advantage of requiring only a single set of jaws for taking action on the great majority of suspension springs present on the market.

Motor vehicle suspension spring compressor


Embodiments of this application disclose a payment method, a client, an electronic device, a storage medium, and a server. The method includes: receiving a payment instruction of a user; generating, according to audio information in a voice input of the user, a voice feature vector of the audio information; performing matching between the voice feature vector and a user feature vector; and when the matching succeeds, sending personal information associated with the user feature vector to a server, so that the server performs a payment operation for a resource account associated with the personal information. The method can bring convenience to shopping by a consumer.

In real life, people become more accustomed to online shopping. Such a shopping manner without leaving home brings convenience to people's life.
At present, people may perform online shopping by using a computer, a mobile phone, or the like. For example, people may use such devices to search for a product of interest, or browse a product recommended by a merchant. If a purchase operation is determined to be performed, a payment page is entered, and a user enters a payment password, to authenticate an identity of the user, and after the authentication succeeds, payment is performed.
In the prior art, when a user performs a payment operation during online shopping, in most cases, the user needs to manually enter a user name and a password. Such a manner is relatively complex and user experience is relatively poor.

Payment method, client, electronic device, storage medium, and server


A telephone circuit subset arrangement in which the base/emitter junction of a switching transistor (TR1) coupling an internal battery (B1) to the dialler chip's power terminals (VDD, VSS) is shunted by hook-switch signal contacts (HS) when the subset is brought into the off-hook mode, thereby turning the switching transistor off and disconnecting the battery. The circuit is so arranged that upon the switching transistor turning off, three auxiliary switching transistors (TR3, TR4 and TR5) turn on and operate the subset's line switch to connect line current to the dialler chip's power terminals. A network of resistors (R1, R2 and R3) associated with the switching transistor (TR1) ensure that on the one hand sufficient current is available to turn on the auxiliary switching transistors, and on the other hand limit the current to a magnitude which dose not cause excessive battery discharge while the subset is off-hook.

The electronic line switch fulfils a number of functions including the hook-switch function, that is, the line switch acts as a hook-switch when a hook-switch control signal is selectively applied to the line switch, a hook-switch control signal being generated when the user brings the subset into the off-hook mode. This control signal may be provided by a ten number repertory tone/pulse dialler chip or a microprocessor.
In a subset provided with a dialler chip and a conventional mechanical hook-switch, the dialler chip is provided with its operating power from current derived from the exchange battery and drawn over the exchange line through the hook-switch. As soon as the subset is brought into the off-hook mode the hook-switch contacts operate and adequate operating voltage is extended to the dialler chip which is then able to function.
In the case of a subset provided with an electronic line switch, however, when such a subset is initially connected to the exchange line, or reconnected after subsequently being un-plugged, the dialler chip is without power because its power source is cut off by the line switch which it controls. Consequently the dialler chip cannot function and the line switch cannot be signalled.
A known method by which the dialler chip of such a subset is provided with power is described in the specification of PCT/AU88/00046 (corresponding to commonly assigned U.S. application Ser. No. 07/377,830, now abandoned). This specification disclosed an arrangement wherein a storage capacitor provides a current source for the dialler chip. The arrangement is such that initially, with the capacitor discharged, upon connection of the subset's line terminals to the exchange line. Current flows via a circuit to cause a first transistor to switch on thereby rendering the subset's electronic line switch conducting. The capacitor is charged via the operated line switch until the voltage level across the capacitor reaches the minimum operation voltage of the dialler chip. A control circuit then switches off the first transistor and hence the line switch.
This known arrangement, however, is not satisfactory for providing power to the dialler chip in a lower voltage phone, and particularly low voltage phones in parallel, because of the low voltage at the phone line terminals.
Another known arrangement for providing power to the dialler chip is a bleed circuit around the line switch to bleed sufficient current from the exchange line in the on-hook mode. With low voltage subsets, particularly parallel low voltage subsets, the bleed current required to power the dialler chips would exceed the allowable on-hook current allowed by some telecommunication authorities.
A solution to the problem of providing power to the dialler chip in the on-hook mode is to provide the power with a dry cell. An undesirable feature of this solution, however, is the necessity to replace the cell when its capacity falls due to discharge. If the discharge is kept to a minimum, the cell life will be greatly extended.


A cloud network is a complex environment in which hundreds and thousands of users or entities can each host, create, modify, and develop multiple virtual machines. Each virtual machine can have complex behavior unknown to the provider or maintainer of the cloud. Technologies disclosed include methods, systems, and apparatuses to monitor the complex environment to detect network anomalies using machine learning techniques. In addition, techniques to modify and adapt to user feedback are provided allowing the developed models to be tuned for specific use cases, virtual machine types, and users.

Modern cloud environments can contain a very large number of virtual machines (VMs). Cloud systems or cloud environments are maintained by a cloud operator or owner. Often, a portion of the cloud environment or the virtual machines belong to different users or user groups. Each virtual machine on the cloud environment can deploy various applications specific to the user or user group to which it belongs. The physical structure on which the cloud environment is executed, which is typically owned by the owner of the cloud provider, may include tens or hundreds of data centers which may be distributed across the globe. In this complex and dynamic environment, maintaining a Service Level Objective (SLO) may present challenges. SLOs can be composed of parameters and metrics defining service levels for each element of a cloud solution that should be maintained, often codified in service agreements between users and cloud environment providers.
Virtualization is a process in which software based functions or services can be separated from hardware. Typically, software known as a hypervisor "sits" on top of physical hardware and abstracts the resources of the physical hardware, such as memory, computing power, and storage. Once abstracted, these virtual resources can be allocated into centralized pools of VMs, which may be considered clouds or the building blocks that form a cloud. Access to these resources can be provided by cloud providers along with the ability to rent or use those resources and create specialized virtual machines using those resources.
Further, cloud environments typically include a module that determines the state of various components of the system by analyzing data related to the components in real time. These modules may be used to determine in real time whether a given event such as anomaly is occurring or has occurred, state of a component of the cloud environment, or the cloud environment as a whole.


The highly efficient multi-frequency voltage regulating circuit is capable of converting magnetic field energy to electrical energy for charging either a battery or an energy storage device such as a capacitor. The invention provides a magnetic field sensor circuit that measures the strength of incoming magnetic field energy with respect to a reference current. The invention also provides for a programmable magnetic field detection circuit which is used to adjust the detection level of the inductor-capacitor magnetic field converter circuit. A discharge expediter circuit is provided to improve the efficiency of the magnetic field converter circuit by discharging excess energy.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to devices which convert magnetic field energy to regulated electrical energy. Specifically, the present invention regulates direct current electrical energy which has been converted from magnetic field energy, measures the strength of the incoming magnetic field energy, adjusts the detection level of the incoming magnetic field and discharges excess energy from the magnetic field converter circuitry.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Electrical current rectification circuits and voltage regulator circuits are well known to those skilled in the art of electronic design. To a lesser extent, electronic circuits which convert magnetic field energy to electrical energy, then subsequently rectify and regulate the resulting direct current voltage are also known. The problem not previously addressed by prior art is the ability of an electronic circuit to determine the strength of an incoming magnetic field as measured by electrical power for the purpose of enhancing electromagnetic communication between devices.
The present invention has the ability to determine the strength of an incoming magnetic field as measured by electrical power, to adjust the detection level of the input converter circuitry and discharge excess energy based on the measured magnetic field strength and to interpret changes in the measured magnetic field strength as a method for communicating digital data.

Highly efficient multi-frequency voltage regulating circuit incorporating a magnetic field power sensor and programmable magnetic field detection


A sliding/swing-type portable apparatus having a self-retaining function includes a main body; a battery cover coupled to the bottom surface of the main body in a predetermined position so that it can rotate about a first hinge axis toward or away from the main body and provided with a folding force, at less than a first angle relative to the bottom surface of the main body, in such a direction that it is folded on the main body, an unfolding force at the first angle or more, and a retaining force at a second angle for retaining the main body in an upright position, at a slant; and a battery pack attached to and detached from the battery cover.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable communication, and more particularly to a sliding/swing-type portable apparatus with a self-retaining function and a detachable battery pack, that provides stereo sound, and can be stably retained and maintain the retained state.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, "portable communication apparatus" refers to an electronic apparatus that a user can carry to perform wireless communication. To facilitate portability, designs of such portable communication apparatuses tend not only to be compact, slim, and light, but also provide multimedia availability, with a wider variety of functions. In particular, future portable communication apparatuses are expected to incorporate greater multi-functionality and be capable of multi-purpose utilization, in addition to being even more compact Further, they will be capable of modification for various multimedia or Internet environments. Portable communication apparatuses are now commonly used by people of all ages and all walks of life throughout the world, and are recognized by most as a nearly indispensable commodity to be carried at all times.
Conventional portable communication apparatuses may be classified into various categories according to appearance, such as a bar-type portable communication apparatus, a flip-type portable communication apparatus, and a folder-type portable communication apparatus. The bar-type communication apparatus has a single housing shaped like a bar. The flip-type communication apparatus has a flip rotatably coupled to a bar-shaped housing by a hinge device. The folder-type communication apparatus has a folder connected to a single bar-shaped housing by a hinge device in such a manner that the folder can be rotated to fold onto, or unfold away from, the housing.
A portable communication apparatus may also be classified into a neck wearable and a wrist wearable type portable communication apparatus according to the position or way in which a user wears the portable communication apparatus. The neck wearable type portable communication apparatus is worn around the user's neck on a string, and the wrist wearable type portable communication apparatus is worn around the user's wrist.
In addition, a portable communication apparatus may be classified into a rotation-type portable communication apparatus and a sliding-type portable communication apparatus according to the manner of opening and closing the portable communication apparatus. In the rotation-type portable communication apparatus, two housings are coupled to each other in such a manner that one housing rotates to be opened or closed relative to the other, while they face each other. In the sliding-type portable communication apparatus, two housings are coupled to each other in such a manner that one housing slides along a longitudinal direction to be opened or closed relative to the other housing. These variously classified portable communication apparatuses can be easily understood by those skilled in the art.
Conventional portable communication apparatuses now tend to transmit data at a high speed in addition to basic voice communication in response to increase in consumers' demand. To do so, portable communication apparatuses use a wireless communication technology capable of transmitting data at a high speed.
Newer portable communication apparatuses usually include a camera lens that enables a user to perform video communication with a desired partner or to photograph a desired subject.
To use the various functions in a portable apparatus, it is sometimes desirable to support the apparatus in an upright position. Such a conventional portable apparatus needs a separate stand to support the apparatus in an upright position for use. Alternatively, a separate charger is used as a stand when charging the apparatus.
However, it is uneconomical to have a separate stand and, when a separately provided charger is to be used to hold a portable apparatus in an upright position while charging it, it is problematic to carry the charger all the time. When a portable apparatus is retained and charged, in addition, the display device fixedly mounted on the main body of the portable apparatus can only be practically used as a phone.
The reason is that, when a portable apparatus is used to play games, to watch TV, or video, the display device must be rotated to provide the proper display orientation, and a wider display screen for convenient watching. When listening to music, stereo sound needs to be provided together with the wider display device. Consequently, it is desirable that a portable apparatus has a self-standing, or self-retaining function and a wider display device, provides stereo sound, and can be stably retained and maintain the retained state.

Sliding/swing-type portable apparatus having self-retaining function


The invention relates to a process for preparing di-n-butene and alkyl tertbutyl ethers in a coupled production from field butanes, which indicates (a) separating the field butanes 1 into n-butane and isobutane in the separation stage 4, (b) dehydrogenating the n-butane 5 in a dehydrogenation stage 6 to give an n-butene-containing dehydrogenation mixture 7, oligomerizing the n-butene in the oligomerization stage 10 to give an oligomer mixture 11 and separating di-n-butene 12 off from this, and (c) de-hydrogenating the isobutane 15 in the dehydrogenation stage 16 to give an isobutene-containing dehydrogenation mixture 17 and reacting the isobutene with an alkanol 20 in the etherification stage 19 to give an alkyl tert-butyl ether 21. In an advantageous embodiment, the field butanes 1, prior to entry into the separation stage 4, are subjected to hydrogenation conditions in the hydrogenation stage 2 and an isomerization stage 3 is assigned to the separation stage 4, by means of which isomerization stage the ratio of n-butane to isobutane is set in accordance with the desired ratio of alkyl tertbutyl ether to di-n-butene.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for preparing alkyl tert-butyl ethers (abbreviated as RTBE below, where R represents alkyl) and di-n-butene from field butanes in a coupled production, isobutane being converted into alkyl tert-butyl ether and n-butane being converted into di-n-butene, the ratio of these two products being able to be controlled by setting the ratio of n-butane to isobutane appropriately by isomerization.
2. Background of the Invention
RTBE are used as additives to gasoline to increase the octane rating. They are typically prepared by addition of alkanols to isobutene, which is also termed etherification. The isobutene can originate from four different sources- from steam crackers, propylene oxide plants, petroleum refineries (le. FC crackers) and plants for the dehydrogenation of isobutane (cf. R. A. Pogliano et al., Dehydrogenation-Based Ether Production--Adding Value to LPG and Gas Condensate, 1996 Petrochemical Review, DeWitt & Company, Houston Texas). In the first three sources, the isobutene arises as a constituent of the C.sub.4 fraction, that is as a direct byproduct. In the dehydrogenation of isobutane, isobutene is frequently a secondary byproduct of such plants, since the starting material isobutane is likewise obtained as a direct byproduct in steam crackers and petroleum refineries or by isomerization of n-butane, which itself is a byproduct in steam crackers and petroleum refineries. The current world production of RTBE is around 25 million metric t/year, with an increasing trend. The production of butenes and butanes as byproducts in a particular cracker or a particular petroleum refinery is too small to be able to exploit completely the "economies of scale", which are latent in the RTBE process. Therefore, isobutene and/or isobutane (for dehydrogenation) would have to be collected from crackers and/or refineries, in order to be able to operate an RTBE plant at optimum capacity. Alternatively, sufficient C.sub.4 fraction could be collected from such plants and these could be worked up on site to isobutene and isobutane. However, opposing both variants, and in particular the second, is the fact that the transport of liquid gases is expensive, not least because of the complex safety precautions.
The term dibutene is applied to the isomeric mixture which, in addition to higher butene oligomers, is formed by dimerization and/or codimerization of butanes, ie. of n-butene and/or isobutene, in the oligomerization of butanes. The term di-n-butene is applied to the dimerization product of n-butene, ie. 1-butene and/or 2-butene. Significant components of the di-n-butene are 3-methyl-2-heptene, 3,4-dimethyl-2-hexene, and, to a minor extent, n-octenes. Di-isobutene is the isomeric mixture which is formed by dimerization of isobutene. Di-isobutene is less highly branched than dibutene and this in turn is more highly branched than di-n-butene.
Dibutene, di-n-butene and di-isobutene are starting materials for preparing isomeric nonanols by hydroformylation and hydrogenation of the C.sub.9 aldehydes thus formed. Esters of these nonanols, in particular the phthalic esters, are plasticizers, which are prepared to an important extent and are primarily used for poly(vinyl chloride). Nonanols from di-n-butene are linear to a greater extent than nonanols from dibutene, which in turn are less branched than nonanols from di-isobutene. Esters of nonanols from di-n-butene have application advantages over esters from other nonanols and are therefore particularly in demand.
n-Butene is obtained for the dimerization, just as is isobutene, from C.sub.4 fractions, for example, as arise in steam crackers or FC crackers. The C.sub.4 fractions are generally worked up by first separating off 1,3-butadiene by a selective scrubbing, e.g. with N-methylpyrrolidone. Isobutene is a desirable and particularly valuable component of the C.sub.4 fraction, because it may be chemically reacted, alone or in a mixture with other C.sub.4 hydrocarbons, to give sought-after products, e.g. with isobutane to give high-octane isooctane, or with methanol to give methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), the most important RTBE. After the reaction of the isobutene, the n-butanes and n-butane and isobutane remain behind. However, the proportion of n-butene in the cracked products of the steam crackers or the petroleum refineries is relatively small. In the case of steam crackers it is in the order of magnitude of barely 10 percent by weight, based on the principal target product ethylene. A steam cracker having the respectable capacity of 600,000 metric t/year of ethylene therefore only delivers around 60,000 metric t/year of n-butene. Although this amount (and that of the isobutenes) could be increased by dehydrogenating the approximately 15,000 metric t/year of n-butane and isobutane, which arise in addition to the n-butanes, this is not advisable however, because dehydrogenation plants require high capital expenditure and are uneconomic for such a small capacity.
Isobutene is, as stated, a sought-after cracking product and is therefore generally not available for the isomerization to n-butene. The amount of n-butanes which a steam cracker or petroleum refinery produces directly is not sufficient, however, to produce sufficient di-n-butene for a nonanol plant of a high enough capacity that it could compete economically with the existing large-scale plants for preparing important plasticizer alcohols, such as 2-ethylhexanol. Propylene oxide plants are, as already stated, less productive still. n-Butanes would therefore have to be collected from various steam crackers, refineries or propyleneoxide plants (or C.sub.4 fraction from various sources worked up to n-butene) and the combined n-butene oligomerized in order to cover the dibutene requirement of a sufficiently large economical nonanol plant. However, the transport of liquefied gases is expensive, as already mentioned.

Process for preparing alkyl tert-butyl ethers and di-n-butene from field butanes


In a discharge lamp lighting apparatus to light two discharge lamps, one terminal of the secondary side of a step-up transformer is connected, via each of two variable inductance elements, to one terminal of each of the two discharge lamps, the other terminal of each of the two discharge lamp is connected to one lamp current detecting unit connected to a lamp current control circuit, a switch is provided at the previous step of the lamp current control circuit, an output signal from one phase adjusting circuit is connected, via the switch, to the connection portion of the lamp current detecting unit and the lamp current control circuit, and the inductance of each variable inductance element is varied by an output signal which is sent from the lamp current control circuit, and which has a phase shifted from others, whereby the lamp current flowing through each discharge lamp is controlled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a discharge lamp lighting apparatus, and more particularly to a discharge lamp lighting apparatus to light a plurality of discharge lamps for use as a backlight in a liquid crystal display (LCD) apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An LCD apparatus, which is a flat panel display apparatus, is used in various applications. Since a liquid crystal in the LCD apparatus does not emit light by itself, a lighting device is required in order to achieve a good display. A backlight device to light a liquid crystal panel from behind is among such lighting devices. In the backlight device, a cold cathode lamp is mainly used as a discharge lamp, and a discharge lamp lighting apparatus including an inverter to drive the cold cathode lamp is provided.
Recently, the LCD apparatus is becoming larger and larger for use in, for example, a large-screen TV, and therefore a number of discharge lamps are used in a backlight device in order to achieve sufficient screen brightness for the LCD apparatus. Some backlight devices are provided with such a function as to variably control the brightness (luminance) of the discharge lamps depending on the environments. What is called "burst mode dimming method" is one of the brightness control methods. The burst mode dimming method operates such that driving power supply voltage is intermittently outputted so as to provide discharge lamps with on-periods and off-periods, and the ratio between the on-periods and off-periods which are defined by intermittent operation of high frequency current flowing through the discharge lamps is varied thereby controlling the time-average brightness.
In the burst mode dimming method, however, when a plurality of discharge lamps are intermittently lighted on and off simply by a prescribed output waveform, currents flowing in all the discharge lamps are switched on and off concurrently, and if this operation is repeated, then a current ripple of a switching power supply to apply a voltage increases, and consequently load current of the switching power supply must be increased thus causing cost increase on the switching power supply.
In order to deal with such a current ripple issue, what is called "a multi-phase discharge lamp lighting apparatus" is proposed, in which output phases of control circuits to control on/off operations of the discharge lamps are shifted from one another thereby controlling a ripple ratio (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-15895).
FIG. 3 is a block diagram for a circuitry of a discharge lamp lighting apparatus disclosed in the aforementioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-15895. The discharge lamp lighting apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is adapted to drive a plurality of cold cathode lamps 107, includes a timing signal generating circuit 103, and a plurality of dimming signal generating circuits 104 and switching circuits 105, which are provided respectively in a number equal to the number of resonant circuits 106 connected to respective cold cathode lamps 107, and operates such that the timing signal generating circuit 103 receives a PWM timing signal 101 and sequentially selects one dimming signal generating circuit 104 thereby sequentially turning on one cold cathode lamp 107 connected to the one dimming signal generating circuit 104 selected.
In the discharge lamp lighting apparatus shown in FIG. 3, a current ripple of a switching power supply can be suppressed by shifting on/off phases of the cold cathode lamps 107 from one another. However, since the dimming signal generating circuits 104 and the switching circuits 105 must be provided individually for each of the resonant circuits 106, a great number of control IC's and other components are required thus resulting in cost increase on the discharge lamp lighting apparatus.

Discharge lamp lighting apparatus for lighting multiple discharge lamps


An inflation system for independently controlling the rise time and plateau level of a pressure profile applied to an inflatable chamber includes a pneumatic source disposed in fluid communication with a pressure path including a regulation device for establishing respective high and low pressure levels. A supply mechanism is disposed at the output of the pressure path and is operative to alternately expose the inflatable liner to the high and low pressure levels to define an independently controllable rise time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems for mechanically assisting the heart and more particularly to a drive system capable of controlling the rise time and plateau level of a pressure pulse applied to a cardiac compression apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Heart disease accounts for one of the leading causes of cardiac dysfunction among individuals worldwide. One of the more common heart disorders often associated with heart disease involves substantial weakening of the heart. Left unaided, a critically weakened heart often cannot pump the necessary blood required to sustain bodily functions.
An important life-saving technique for individuals diagnosed with weakened hearts includes mechanically assisting the heart to pump blood. Such support ensures an adequate blood pressure for sufficiently supplying blood throughout the body without undue stress on the heart muscle. Typically, a device such as a heart compression apparatus carries out the assistance during invasive surgery. An alternative device incorporating cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) techniques externally compresses the chest to rhythmically squeeze the heart area and assist in increasing blood flow.
Those skilled in the art have proposed a variety of devices to successfully carry out the heart compression function to maximize support for the heart and provide reliable and accurate functionality. One such device, disclosed in pending Provisional U.S. patent spplication Ser. No. 60/028,722, filed on Oct. 18, 1996 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, carries and supports the heart during invasive surgery while uniformly applying pressure directly to the heart through means of an inflatable liner. The liner is cyclically inflated and deflated by an inflation system to apply pressure to the heart.
Because each heart pumps blood according to a pressure profile unique for each patient, successful cardiac compression on the inflatable liner depends upon the inflation system being controllable to somewhat match the patient's personal cardiac rhythm or pressure profile. An important consideration is the sharp rise in ventricular pressure during the early portion of systole, which provides only about fifty to one hundred milliseconds within which to establish synchronous compression.
One conventional inflation system for controlling the rise time and plateau level of a pressure pulse utilizes a single regulator-reservoir configuration. The system includes a compressor connected to a regulator, and a reservoir disposed downstream of the regulator. An outflow valve connects to the reservoir outlet and is placed in fluid communication with an inflation chamber disposed in a cardiac compression apparatus for supporting and assisting a heart. During operation, the compressor supplies flow through the regulator, which maintains a desired pressure in the tank. Inflation of the chamber occurs by opening the outflow valve to produce an exponentially increasing pressure transient within the chamber that asymptotically approaches the supply pressure level to define a relatively constant pressure, or plateau level, within a known response time.
While this system works relatively well to ensure that the pressure applied to the liner never exceeds the supply pressure, the configuration provides a relatively accurate adjustment of the plateau level without any independent control over changes in the rise time of the start transient. Generally, the waveforms may be expressed as: EQU P=P.sub.PLATEAU *1-exp(-t/T)!
wherein t represents time, and T represents the system time constant. As illustrated in FIG. 3, regardless of the plateau setting, the time constant T remains unchanged with changes only in the magnitude of the plateau level. Because of this characteristic, control of the rise time using the conventional inflation system is generally possible only by affecting the system resistances, capacitances, or source regulator pressure. As a result, the response of the transient to reach the plateau level is typically of the order of three time constants. The rise time, known commonly as the time required to reach the plateau level, generally depends upon system characteristics such as overall resistance and capacitance. Therefore, having the capability of merely controlling the plateau level does not enable independent control over the rise time.
Moreover, because of the controlled conditions associated with surgical environments, the conventional inflation system is often disposed several feet from the inflation chamber. As a result, a relatively long hose generally couples the inflation system to the compression apparatus liner. Coupled with the effects of overall system resistances and pressure load, the resulting time constant realized by the conventional inflation system substantially degrades system performance. Alternatively, should the resistance be lowered through expansion of the tubing diameter, the size, weight and cost for the components required to effect a larger flowrate would render the system undesirable from a practical standpoint.
A second proposal solves several of the aforementioned problems by implementing a source pressure substantially higher than the desired plateau pressure. The pressure circuit is similar to the first proposal described above, but includes an additional control valve disposed in series with the outflow valve. Operation of the system depends upon precise timing to initially open both valves simultaneously, exposing the liner to an exponentially increasing pressure characteristic of the source pressure level, then closing the control valve upon reaching a desired plateau pressure and trapping the pressure within the liner for a timed duration.
While this proposal is somewhat beneficial in offering a way of controlling the rise time independently of the desired plateau pressure, the precise timing required to effectively control the plateau level by closing the control valve at precisely the right instant is difficult in practice to achieve. This is typically due to the equilibrium time required from the instant the valve closes until the plateau pressure is actually realized. As a result, the system often exhibits an undesirable overshoot or undershoot of the plateau pressure causing an unexpected deviation in the cardiac compression apparatus liner.
Therefore, those skilled in the art have recognized the need for an inflation system capable of following a predefined pressure profile with independent control of both rise time and plateau level with a minimum number of components and accurate repeatability. The inflation system of the present invention satisfies these needs.

Drive system for controlling cardiac compression


An apparatus is described for generating a sustained arc at a spark-generating device. A power converter charges an energy storage device to a voltage that will ionize an air gap of a spark device such as an igniter plug. After the voltage is applied to the spark device, the air gap is ionized and the energy from the energy storage device has been exhausted, energy continues to be supplied to the gap by the converter for a predetermined time period.

This invention relates generally to ignition systems, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for generating a sustained arc at a sparking device.
Many types of spark ignition systems are known in the art. Such prior art ignition systems generally create sparks of very short duration but with relatively high peak power. In two predominant system types, substantially all of the energy to be discharged is stored in either an inductance coil or a capacitor and then discharged rapidly to create the spark. The later system type, called Capacitive Discharge (CD) ignition is more prevalent than the former type for high-energy spark applications because capacitors are more volumetrically efficient at storing energy than inductors in most practical circumstances.
In either type of system, the typical sequence of operation is: charge an energy storage device; discharge that energy rapidly through a switch to a sparking device; and wait for a predetermined period of time before repeating the charge cycle to generate successive sparks. These three events have relatively different times associated with them. Generally, the charge cycle is accomplished in a few ten""s of milliseconds. The discharge event is instantaneous in comparison, lasting only a few hundred microseconds. The inter-spark time delay, on the other hand, is typically several times longer than the charge time. The short spark duration is a result of the RC (Resistance*Capacitance) time constant of the discharge circuit. Once ionized, the plasma presents a very low resistance, on the order of tens to hundreds of milliohms, so even for large values of capacitance the time constant, R*C, is still short. The time constant is defined as the time required for 63.2% of the initial voltage stored in the capacitor to be depleted. The energy (E) stored in a capacitor can be defined by the equation E=xc2xd*C*V2, so once the voltage has fallen by 63.2%, (i.e., to 36.8% of its initial value), only 13% of the energy initially stored in the energy storage device remains. In other words, the spark is nearly over after just one time constant.
It is desirable to increase the energy delivered by the spark to the fuel mixture in order to promote ignition. It may also be beneficial to lengthen the duration of the spark because there is also a thermal transfer time constant associated with heating the fuel droplets. For an extremely short duration spark, the spark may terminate before sufficient thermal transfer can be completed such that ignition fails to occur.
Once a plasma has been formed, it can be heated by forcing a current (I) through its resistance (R). The power (P), delivered substantially as heat, is P=I2*R, and the total energy delivered is the accumulation, or integration, of that power over time. The requirements to ionize a spark generating device and to sustain a plasma at that same device are very different. Ionization requires a high voltage to overcome the circuit discontinuity presented by the gap of the sparking device, but only a small current is required, and for a short time. Conversely, sustaining the plasma requires a lower voltage because the ionized plasma has a very low impedance, but a higher current is needed, and for a significantly longer time, to transfer any substantial amount of energy to the arc to promote ignition.
Circuits which strike (initiate) an arc and subsequently maintain it with additional energy input are known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,788,293 discloses a circuit in which a sparking device is ionized by a pulse from a high voltage ignition coil associated with a transformer, and then sustained by the discharge of a capacitor also connected to the sparking device. The current from the capacitor does not have to pass through the transformer. Similarly U.S. Pat. No. 3,835,830 describes a circuit which first generates an extra-high voltage pulse to strike an arc, and then maintains the current through the spark generating device using the discharge of a high voltage capacitor which delivers its current through a series connected winding of the same transformer that generates the initial extra-high voltage pulse.
Both of these circuits suffer from certain disadvantages. For example, in both of these circuits a high voltage is present at the sparking device before the intended sparking time. Because of this condition, in many applications, these circuits will not work reliably. They only work with high tension sparking devices, and are rendered inoperable by fouling which presents a shunt impedance across the gap of the sparking device. Low-tension sparking devices which inherently present a shunt impedance before ionization, and high tension plugs, if severely fouled with deposits that create a conductive path, will not always function correctly with these circuits.
Following ionization, both of the aforementioned circuits deliver energy to the plasma from a capacitor. Thus, the flow of energy is a decaying function; most of the energy is delivered quickly following ionization, after which the flow of energy to the plasma gradually diminishes until it is zero. Thus, neither of these circuits is capable of delivering a sustained current to the spark-generating device.
It is a general object of the invention to provide an improved apparatus for generating a sustained arc at a sparking device. It is a more specific object to provide an apparatus for initiating and sustaining a plasma across the gap of a spark generating device in order to deliver sufficient energy to a fuel mixture to ensure its ignition.
It is another object of the invention to eliminate the large tank capacitor employed in conventional high-energy CD ignition systems, while providing increased energy to the sparking device. It is a related object to provide such a device wherein the increased energy is provided by pumping energy for a longer time, rather than by increasing the value of the tank capacitor to thereby increase the stored energy.
It is another object of the invention to provide improved ignition by lengthening the duration of the spark while maintaining its energy and heat at a high level.
It is a related object of the invention to control the total energy in a spark by controlling the time duration of the sustained pumping of energy into the plasma.
It is another object of the invention to vary the level of pumping of energy through the plasma during a particular cycle to shape the electrical waveform, and consequently affect the physical characteristics of the arc to improve ignition. It is a related object of the invention to control the total energy in a spark by controlling the average current during the interval of sustained pumping of energy into the plasma.
It is yet another object of the invention to reduce wear on the spark-generating device by controlling the timing of pumping of energy to coincide with the varying physical position of the plasma arc.
It is still another object to provide ignition control adaptive to the sensed or predicted needs of the combustor by controlling the total energy on a spark-by-spark basis, responsive to the immediate conditions that affect the probability of successful ignition.
The present invention accomplishes the foregoing and other objectives by providing an apparatus which generates an ionizing pulse to a spark generating device and, as soon as a plasma forms across an air gap of the device, begins controlled pumping of energy into the arc to sustain it, heat it, and deliver energy sufficient to cause ignition.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the pumping of energy is an active process rather than the prior passive process of simply dumping a previously stored quantity of energy.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the same energy converter pumps energy to the spark generating device to sustain the arc and provides the energy for the ionizing pulse that starts the arc.
It is another aspect of the invention to utilize dual intermittent converters operating alternately to ensure the uninterrupted flow of energy to the arc so that it does not extinguish during the intermittencies of either converter.
It is another aspect of the invention that the delivery of energy to the sparking device is not a decaying function such as would be provided by a conventional capacitive discharge.
It is a related aspect of the invention to deliver the energy according to a predefined function that is not a constant during the period of the pumping of energy.
It is yet another aspect of the invention to respond to a commanded level or total quantity of energy by varying the pumping of energy. In a related aspect of the invention, the apparatus contains a predefined response pattern. In yet another related aspect, the response pattern is created by sensing the instant conditions and calculating the appropriate level and quantity of energy.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the sustaining of the arc is terminated at the time when a sensing apparatus determines that ignition has occurred.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, the pumping of large amounts of energy into the arc is deferred until the center of the plasma has moved away from the tip of the spark generating device to reduce wear on the spark generating device.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent upon reading the following description of the preferred embodiment of the invention and upon reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Method and apparatus for generating a sustained arc at a sparking device


Quaternary ammonium compounds and methods of using such compounds to, for example, break oil-in-water emulsion treatment fluids are provided. In some embodiments, such methods include introducing a quaternary ammonium compound into an oil-in-water emulsion treatment fluid that comprises an oleaginous phase and an aqueous phase; and centrifuging at least the portion of the oil-in-water emulsion treatment fluid to separate at least a portion of the oil-in-water emulsion treatment fluid into an oleaginous fluid and an aqueous fluid.

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for use in subterranean formations. Hydrocarbons, such as oil and gas, are commonly obtained from subterranean formations that may be located onshore or offshore. The development of subterranean operations and the processes involved in removing hydrocarbons from a subterranean formation typically involve a number of different steps such as, for example, drilling a wellbore at a desired well site, treating the wellbore to optimize production of hydrocarbons, and performing the necessary steps to produce and process the hydrocarbons from the subterranean formation.
Treatment fluids are used in a variety of operations that may be performed in subterranean formations. As referred to herein, the term "treatment fluid" will be understood to mean any fluid that may be used in a subterranean application in conjunction with a desired function and/or for a desired purpose. The term "treatment fluid" does not imply any particular action by the fluid. Treatment fluids often are used in, e.g., well drilling, completion, and stimulation operations. Examples of such treatment fluids include, inter alia, drilling fluids, well cleanup fluids, workover fluids, conformance fluids, cementing fluids, gravel pack fluids, acidizing fluids, fracturing fluids, spacer fluids, and the like.
During the drilling of a wellbore into a subterranean formation, a drilling fluid, also referred to as a drilling mud, may be continuously circulated from the surface down to the bottom of the wellbore being drilled and back to the surface again. Among other functions, the drilling fluid serves to transport wellbore cuttings up to the surface, cool the drill bit, and provide hydrostatic pressure on the walls of the drilled wellbore. Drilling fluids generally may be water-based or oil-based and synthetic-based fluids. One type of water-based fluid may be an oil-in-water emulsion that includes an aqueous continuous phase and an oleaginous discontinuous phase. To avoid the loss of the drilling fluid and allow its reuse, the cuttings may be separated from the drilling fluid at the surface. A variety of different solids separation equipment may be used at the well site, including shale shakers, desanders, desilters, mud cleaners, centrifuges, and the like. After removal of the drilling cuttings, the recovered drilling fluid may be reused in the wellbore, or the oil or water in the drilling fluid recycled for reuse, for example, in another treatment fluid.
While embodiments of this disclosure have been depicted, such embodiments do not imply a limitation on the disclosure, and no such limitation should be inferred. The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modification, alteration, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the pertinent art and having the benefit of this disclosure. The depicted and described embodiments of this disclosure are examples only, and not exhaustive of the scope of the disclosure.


The invention relates to a catalytic system for use in a process for the preparation, in a single step, of enones by an aldol condensation of a ketone, such as a gem-dimethyl cyclohexylethanone or gem-dimethyl cyclohexenylethanone derivative, with an aldehyde in the presence of a novel catalytic system and a co-ingredient, such as a carboxylic acid anhydride or an anhydrous salt, and without the pre-formation of an enolate. The catalytic system is a metal complex, such as a [(Cl)n(alkoxy)4-nTi] or [(Cl)n(alkoxy)4-nZr] complex where n is 1 to 3.

Cross-aldol condensations involving "low reactivity" ketones, i.e., which need strong reaction conditions to react, and/or "high reactivity" aldehydes, i.e., which undergo self-condensation or polymerization even with soft reaction conditions, are difficult processes as, in general, important amounts of strong bases are required and/or the self-condensation or the polymerization of the aldehyde or of the final enone are frequently observed.
An example of existing process for the cross-aldol condensation between a sterically hindered cyclohexylethanone, a "low reactivity" ketone, and acetaldehyde, a "high reactivity" aldehyde, is the one described in Ayyar et al. J. Chem. Soc., Prekin Trans. I, 1975, 17, 1727. However, said method needs the use of a stoichiometric amount of a strong base such as the N-methylanilino magnesium bromide for the formation of an enolate. Strong bases such as an amide anion have the inconvenience of being expensive and difficult to manipulate, therefore a process implying large amounts of base does not represent the best solution for this type of reaction, all the more for an industrial purpose.


An electricity storage device maintains low internal resistance and high electric capacity. The nonaqueous-electrolytic-solution hybrid electricity storage device employs an anode into/from which lithium can be intercalated and deintercalated and a cathode including activated carbon, even after high-temperature storage and/or high-temperature charging/discharging. Specifically, this electricity storage device includes an anode into/from which lithium can be intercalated and deintercalated, a cathode that includes activated carbon, and a nonaqueous electrolytic solution, wherein the electricity storage device employs a nonaqueous electrolytic solution that includes at least one type of compound represented by one of general formulas (1) to (5). Details on the general formulas (1) to (5) are as described in the Description.

In recent years, nonaqueous-electrolytic-solution secondary batteries having high voltage and high energy density have become widely used as power sources. In order to make effective use of such high-density electricity storage devices, attempts are being made to make more efficient use of energy by employing capacitors capable of high-speed charging/discharging as power buffers. Various nonaqueous-electrolytic-solution hybrid electricity storage devices including lithium ions in the nonaqueous electrolytic solution have been proposed as capacitors having a large electricity storage amount.
As for nonaqueous-electrolytic-solution secondary batteries, various additives for nonaqueous electrolytic solutions have been proposed in order to improve the stability and electric characteristics of the nonaqueous-electrolytic-solution secondary batteries. Examples of additives that have been proposed include 1,3-propanesultone (see, for example, Patent Literature 1), vinylethylene carbonate (see, for example, Patent Literature 2), vinylene carbonate (see, for example, Patent Literature 3), 1,3-propanesultone and butanesultone (see, for example, Patent Literature 4), vinylene carbonate (see, for example, Patent Literature 5), and vinylethylene carbonate (see, for example, Patent Literature 6). Among the above, vinylene carbonate has been widely used because of its excellent effect. These additives form a stable film called a solid electrolyte interface (SEI; solid electrolyte film) on the surface of the anode. It is thought that covering the anode surface with this film suppresses the reduction/decomposition of the nonaqueous electrolytic solution.
Unfortunately, little has been proposed regarding electrolytic-solution additives having an excellent effect on hybrid electricity storage devices that employ activated carbon as the cathode and carbon materials used in lithium-ion secondary batteries as the anode.


A strap lock has a flexible strap having a leading end and a trailing end. A locking device includes a first strap engagement portion that is capable of holding one part of the strap in position with respect to the locking device in a lock position thereof, and releasing the one part of the flexible strap in a release position. A second strap engagement portion engages another part of the flexible strap. A lock is capable of locking the first strap engagement portion in the lock position. The strap is preferably woven from strands of metal and high strength polymer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to securing devices used for locking items such as bicycles. In particular, the present invention relates to flexible and variably sized strap-type securing devices, also know as strap locks, which can be used without excess slack so as to tightly secure an object so that it will not rattle or disengage from the object.
2. State of the Prior Art
The use of sporting equipment securing devices is well known in the prior art. Sporting equipment securing devices typically consist of a cable type device with loops located at both ends used in conjunction with a padlock, a larger U-shaped lock, or an elastic band used to secure equipment during transport. While these locking devices satisfy the basic objective and requirement of securing one object to another, these devices also possess several drawbacks.
A typical cable type securing device consists of a fixed length cable with a loop located at each end. A padlock is typically passed through each loop and locked to secure the ends. In use, the cable is wrapped around a portion of the sporting equipment, for example a bicycle frame, as well as a locking structure such as a bicycle rack. The cable is wrapped repeatedly around the bicycle frame and rack until the slack in the cable is eliminated. As the loops are separated by a cable having a fixed length, an exact cable locking length between the frame and the rack is difficult to achieve. Oftentimes, it is impossible to eliminate all of the excess slack. This can prove to be troublesome in situations when a user has secured a bicycle to a rack mounted on an automobile. The excess slack could cause the bicycle to become dislodged from the rack and damaged during transport.
A U-shaped lock has also been used for the purpose of locking sporting equipment. Typically, these devices consist of a heavy U-shaped piece which may be lockingly connected to a straight piece. In use, the bicycle frame is placed proximate a bicycle rack, or perhaps a signpost. Next, the frame and the rack or signpost are encircled on three sides by the U-shaped piece and on the final side by the straight piece. The two pieces are then locked together. To store the U-shaped lock onto the bicycle, the lock is typically inserted into a separate storing rack attached to the bicycle frame or simply hung over a handlebar. As the lock is not securely attached to the frame, the lock is subject to rattling and may fall off as the bicycle is used. In addition, as the U-shaped lock possesses a relatively small fixed geometric configuration, it cannot serve the purpose of securing sporting equipment to a rack mounted on an automobile. Thus, although the U-shaped lock serves as an anti-theft device, a separate device is required to secure a piece of equipment for transport.
The problem of securing a piece of sporting equipment, without excess slack, to a transport rack has been solved to some extent through the use of elastic bands having engaging hooks located at each end. In use, the elastic band is wrapped around the bicycle frame and the rack and then secured by joining the hooks. The elastic nature of the band allows the user to stretch the band while wrapping around the frame and rack thus eliminating any excess slack. However, these elastic bands are generally easily disengaged and thus fail to serve as an anti-theft device.
Hence, it is apparent that a continuing need exists for a variably sized sporting equipment securing device which is lightweight and which may be exactly sized not only to remove excess slack but also to securely store the device onto the sporting equipment.


A ladder-mounted equipment holding assembly and method for operating a ladder-mounted equipment holding assembly. The equipment holding assembly provides an elongated mount sleeve that is configured to slidably fit through the holes in the sides of a ladder, and receive a corresponding rung in the ladder. A pair of caps serve to centrally fasten the mount sleeve to the rung. The caps have clips that align with corresponding tracks formed in the mount sleeve. Interchangeable equipment anchoring accessories detachably attach to the free ends of the mount sleeve. The anchoring accessories comprise eclectic shapes and dimensions, such as threaded pipes, hooks, rings, and clips. The anchoring accessories serve to hold a corresponding equipment in an accessible position for a user working on the ladder. The equipment includes paint buckets, brushes, and tools pertinent to operations on ladder.

The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
Typically, ladders require a user to carry items up and down a ladder while climbing up and down the ladder. This process of carrying may require multiple trips up and back down the ladder for certain tasks and projects. Contractors and home owners are just a couple of the types of people who experience this issue. This is also a safety hazard as well and contributes to falls and injuries from using a ladder.
The present ladder-mounted equipment holding assembly attaches to the ladder rungs and allows a user to keep all necessary items attached to the ladder itself so that he doesn't have to go all the way back down the ladder to grab something. The ladder-mounted equipment holding assembly also allows a user to have his hands free while working, rather than having to hold the items at the top of the ladder or middle of the ladder with nowhere to safely store the items. The ladder-mounted equipment holding assembly is also adjustable so that it can attach securely to a ladder of any width.
Other proposals have involved equipment and tool holders directly on a ladder. The problem with these holding equipment and tools is that they do not accommodate eclectic types of equipment and tools, having different styles, shapes, and sizes. Also, the equipment is not held along the legs of the ladder for easy access. Even though the above cited equipment and tool holders directly on a ladder meet some of the needs of the market, a ladder-mounted equipment holding assembly that detachably couples to a ladder to hold eclectic types of equipment related to operations performed on the ladder, is still desired.

Ladder-mounted equipment holding assembly and method


A disposable food container comprises a lid and a base optionally connected to each other along a resilient hinge. The lid includes a top wall, a continuous lid side wall, and a plurality of lid corners. The lid side wall encompasses the top wall and extends downwardly and outwardly from the top wall. The plurality of lid corners are at least partially formed by the lid side wall and include a pair of front lid corners. The base includes a bottom wall, a continuous base side wall, and a plurality of base corners. The base side wall encompasses the bottom wall and extends upwardly and outwardly from the bottom wall. The plurality of base corners are at least partially formed by the base side wall and include a pair of front base corners. If the container is provided with a resilient hinge, the pair of front lid corners and the pair of front base corners are spaced away from the hinge. The container includes a corner latch closure for releasably engaging the lid and the base in a closed position. The corner latch closure includes at least a pair of slots and at least a pair of slot engaging structures that can be interlocked with each other. The pair of slots are formed by the respective front base corners, while the pair of slot engaging structures are formed by the respective front lid corners.

In the food service industry, food products such as sandwiches, appetizers, and the like are commonly served to customers in disposable food containers. One type of disposable food container includes a lid and a base hingedly connected to each other along a resilient hinge. The lid is held closed by some type of latching mechanism. The efficacy of the latching mechanism has a great influence on the performance of the container and its acceptance by customers. Latching mechanisms that hold the lid closed very securely tend to be difficult for customers to open for access to the food products therein. Conversely, latching mechanisms that are easily opened are prone to accidental opening while being transported, thereby leading to spillage of the contents and extremely negative customer reactions to the container.
One common type of latching mechanism is a central front latch closure including a single slot and a single tab that can be interlocked with each other. The slot is formed in a central front portion of the base, while the tab is formed along a central front portion of the lid. A drawback of the central front latch closure is that it is prone to failure. The weak tab and slot will often break or release, thereby causing the container to accidentally open. In some cases, the container will accidentally open even when the tab and slot maintain their integrity.


Techniques for use with a fuse-based non-volatile memory circuit include digitally controlling a resistance threshold of the circuit. The circuit includes a fuse circuit and a comparator circuit. The comparator circuit is configured to compare a first signal indicative of the fuse resistance to a second signal indicative of a reference level. At least one of the first and second signals is digitally controllable. The comparator circuit is configured to generate a digital output signal indicative of the comparison. The circuit may include a first digital-to-analog converter circuit configured to generate a first analog signal based on at least a first plurality of digital signals. The first signal is at least partially based on the first analog signal. The circuit may include a control circuit configured to digitally control the digitally controllable ones of the first and second signals at least partially based on the digital output signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to integrated circuits and more particularly to integrated circuits including resistor-based non-volatile memory circuits.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a non-volatile memory circuit is used to store information. For example, a resistor-based non-volatile memory circuit uses unprogrammed and permanently programmed devices to represent different logic states. A sense amplifier may be used to determine the state of the non-volatile memory circuit, i.e., distinguish between the programmed and unprogrammed state of the device by sensing a resistance of the device. A high resistance corresponds to a logic '1' and a low resistance corresponds to a logic '0.' Exemplary devices used in non-volatile memory circuits include metal-fuses, polysilicon-fuses, MOS gate resistances, or other suitable devices.

Variable sense level for fuse-based non-volatile memory