A screw lid opener is disclosed which can be converted in an extremely simple manner from one lid radius to another With a screw lid opener having a lever-like handle with a clamping device thereon for holding a screw lid, the lid radius is set by three clamping cheeks for clamping on a screw lid. The clamping jaws are arranged at a distance from a center between the clamping jaws. In accordance with exemplary embodiments, at least one clamping jaw, whose distance from the center can be changed, is provided. This permits the conversion from one lid radius to another. Advantageously all three clamping jaws are embodied to be movable in the same way. With the same spectrum at various radii of lids, this results in a shorter travel for the individual clamping jaw.

A kitchen tool is disclosed for opening screw lids of containers, such as jars and bottles.
Often, screw lids are hard to open, in particular for older people. The force needed for opening is not available to some. The required friction between the hand and the rim of the lid can often not be achieved without aids.
Therefore attempts have been made to create a screw lid opener, with the aid of which even children and oldsters can unscrew a lid from a vacuum-packed jar of preserves, for example.
However, the conversion of known screw lid openers to a different radius of the screw lid is relatively complicated, so that children and women in particular avoid their use.


A computer-implemented method and system for the validation of a true browsing user on a website is disclosed. The invention allows for the collection of data regarding the evolving threat landscape created by online attackers. The system and method fingerprint user behavior to detect differences between a local user, a remote/foreign user, and an automated script. The system then covertly transmits that information back to a financial institution client without giving online attackers the opportunity to notice such transmittal. Certain embodiments of the invention also correspond with the browsing user to validate their identity. The claimed system and method proactively reveal attackers and attack ploys, additionally enabling institutions and security consultants to adapt to attacks in an automated fashion.

Man-in-the-Browser ("MITB") attacks bypass all cryptographic mechanisms against interference, including, but not limited to, passwords, credentials, encryption, and SSL, by taking over the interface between the user (i.e. client) and the website (i.e. server). These attacks cause significant damage and are easy to code and deploy.
Data that leaves a client computer/device is vulnerable to a wide array of attacks, including, but not limited to, unauthorized collection of data, spoofing attacks, sniffing attacks, phishing attacks, password compromises, and attacks against client users and server information repositories. Personal computer users scan for compromises with antivirus applications that are only minimally effective. On the institutional level, risk managers look for abnormal transaction patterns to detect online fraud. Thus, attacks are currently undetectable if they fail to trigger antivirus warnings or abnormal transaction alerts.
A MITB attack circumvents standard user defenses while making it easy for adversaries to automate attacks. MITB attacks, including but not limited to those enabled by the Zeus toolkit, often go further than watching what occurs in browsers. These attacks frequently impersonate the user or alter data before it is displayed to the user. Client defenses currently require individualized surveillance of target machines and comprise eliminating or thwarting attacks only as they are detected.

Method and system for web integrity validator


The present invention relates to a portable electric wrapping apparatus, comprising a motor to drive a main shaft, which moves a tensioning mechanism and a sealing and cutting unit. The tensioning mechanism and the sealing and cutting unit can be designed as individual modules and put together with the main body. The tensioning mechanism may be two frictional wheels each having cutting grooves or a single wheel aiming at the frictional plates to evenly apply pressure to the packaging tape therebetween and strain it for wrapping a package tightly. With the aid of a tension control rod, the tensioning mechanism can move the sealing and cutting unit downward to weld and cut the packaging tape automatically.

To efficiently pack articles to be delivered people typically use packaging tape having a certain width to wrap around cartons housing these articles. Conventional wrapping apparatuses are operated manually and use metal buckles to fasten two ends of a strap. Such an apparatus must be manipulated by manual and is quite convenient. In addition, metal buckles do not have a strong grip so that it may allow a strap slides out of places. Besides, metal buckles may injure human body and so it is desirable to have an improvement made on this matter.
Currently there are electric wrapping apparatuses in the market, which use a motor to drive a tensioning mechanism and a hot sealing unit to perform wrapping. However, a typical deficiency is that the channel through which packaging tape passes must be curved to prevent tape from retreat during hot melting. Such a configuration results in poor tensioning. Moreover, frictional wheels are driven directly by a motor shaft and so it can not reach a high reduction ratio. Such a high rotation speed and quick rubbing will degrade the frictional wheels in a short time. Further, conventional apparatuses have an integrated construction and they can not be made as individual modules. Thus this design increases production costs and limits the application.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide an innovative portable electrical wrapping apparatus having an original construction that can quickly fold a strap around a package tightly.

No. 34-3, Lane 101, 38th Rd., Taichung Industrial Park


Compositions and methods for improving gastrointestinal function and reducing the presence of gas bubbles in a gastrointestinal tract. A composition includes an effective amount of ginger root extract for reducing gas bubbles in a gastrointestinal tract and further includes propylene glycol and sodium chloride.

The digestive system includes the gastrointestinal tract and other accessory organs of digestion. Digestion involves the breakdown of food into smaller components until nutrients can be absorbed and assimilated into the body. The gastrointestinal tract is an organ system within many animals that takes in food, digests the food to extract and absorb energy and nutrients, and expels the remaining waste. The mouth, esophagus, stomach, and intestines are part of the gastrointestinal tract.
The digestive system includes complicated organs performing complex chemical and biological processes. Because the digestive system is very complex, many individuals suffer ailments of the digestive system that may be chronic or transitory. Common ailments of the digestive system include, for example, gastroesophageal reflux disease, irritable bowel syndrome, gallstones, constipation, stomach pains, excessive gas, and others. Some individuals struggle with chronic discomfort or pain associated with digestive system and can therefore benefit from regular administration of composition for improving gastrointestinal health. Further, some individuals experience transitory digestive discomfort and can benefit from natural or medicinal remedies for improving gastrointestinal health or reducing the presence of gas in the gastrointestinal tract.
In light of the foregoing, disclosed herein are compositions and methods for improving function of the gastrointestinal tract and reducing the presence of gas in the gastrointestinal tract.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method for dynamically modifying a mobile device. The method includes a computer processor identifying a plurality of profiles on a mobile device. The method further includes a computer processor receiving one or more inputs on the mobile device. The method further includes a computer processor identifying at least one trigger that corresponds to the received one or more inputs, wherein the at least one trigger is associated with at least one profile of the plurality of profiles. The method further includes a computer processor determining if the at least one trigger activates a response, based at least in part, on data included in the at least one profile that is associated with the at least one trigger. The method further includes a computer processor responding to the determination that the at least one trigger activates a response and applying the response to the mobile device.

The present invention relates generally to the field of mobile computing devices, and more particularly to a mobile computing device responding to internal and external stimuli.
Developments in cellular and computing technology have resulted in proliferation of smart mobile computing (e.g., handheld, electronic) devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers, advanced e-Readers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. Further advances in miniaturization and materials have produced wearable devices with advanced capabilities, such as digital eyeglasses (e.g., smart glasses) and smart watches. Companies and businesses are developing e-commerce applications to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the growing number of highly-connected mobile users. While businesses strive to enhance the user experience of e-commerce applications, mobile computing devices are expanding beyond e-mail, photography, web browsing, multi-media presentations, and Bluetooth® communication. Enterprise systems allow a user to remotely access work-related functions, such as e-mail and databases on a mobile computing device. Mobile devices contribute to the growing network of social interactions and the connectedness of users. Advanced features incorporated into mobile devices include accelerometers, global positioning system (GPS) navigation, thermometers, altimeters, barometers, compasses, chronographs, near field communication (NFC), and radio-frequency identification (RFID). In addition, numerous miniaturized accessories transform some mobile devices into equipment with additional functionality that ranges from amusement (e.g., radio control toy console, fish finder) to mission-critical (e.g., smoke alarm, infrared hot-spot detector, medical condition detector, portable microscope, radiation detector, etc.).
As mobile devices become ubiquitous, these devices are as common to some users as a wallet/purse or a set of keys. For other users, a mobile computing device is a veritable electronic "Swiss army knife," handling a plurality of functions and in some cases replacing the wallet and keys of a user. Coupled with Internet access, functions or programs that are not currently available on a mobile device can be quickly updated, acquired, and used.

Mobile computing device reconfiguration in response to environmental factors including consumption of battery power at different rates

International Business Machines Corporation


An exemplary lockable package holds a sliding element within a lockable sleeve. The sleeve comprises a base and a top. The base includes a release button defined by a release surround and a hinge that connects the release button to the base. The release button also includes a free end. Pushing inwardly on the release button urges the free end inwardly to disengage a locked sliding element. The sliding element comprises a sliding base, a sliding top, and an article cover that spans the primary containers. For example, the primary containers are pouches that hold consumable articles, such as vitamins, or personal care articles, such as contact lenses.

Child-resistant or lockable containers, wherein multiple movements are required to open the container, have many uses. One use for a lockable container is to inhibit access to articles such as medicine and medicaments in the form of pills and tablets, which if consumed by an unintended person could be fatal. For example, locking caps on medicine bottles are well known. The typical locking cap mechanism requires a coordinated alignment and tipping, or axial pressure, or inward radial squeezing while turning the cap, to remove it from the bottle and in order to access the articles therein.
By way of another example, articles may be packaged in a primary container and the primary containers grouped and packaged in a secondary container, such as a paperboard box. Examples of primary containers include chips, satchels, pouches, pillows, vials, blister packs, and the like. When a typical paperboard box holding one or more primary containers is opened, all of the articles are immediately available. Children who can open such secondary containers now may have access to a dangerous quantity of articles not intended for their consumption.
Against the present state of the art, the Applicant seeks to create a need and market for containers that can store and orderly dispense articles and/or primary containers held in compartments. In addition, the Applicant seeks to create a need and market for containers with one or more compartments located on a sliding element, such as a tray. The Applicant also seeks to create a need and market for a container having a slidable, compartmentalized tray with child-resistant features that require coordinated motions to unlock. Further, the Applicant seeks to create a need and market for a child-resistant secondary package having a slidable, compartmentalized tray, which is inexpensive to manufacture and re-useable.


The present invention provides a technique for reducing the number of write barriers without compromising garbage collector performance or correctness. To that end, a compiler defers emitting write barriers until it reaches a subsequent instruction in the mutator code. At this point, the compiler may elide repeated or unnecessary write-barrier code so as to emit only those write barriers that provide useful information to the garbage collector. By eliminating write-barrier code in this manner, the amount of write-barrier overhead in the mutator can be minimized, consequently enabling the mutator to execute faster and more efficiently. Further, collocating write barriers after the predetermined instruction also enables the compiler to generate object code having better cache performance and more efficient use of guard code than is possible using conventional write-barrier implementations.

In the field of computer systems, considerable effort has been expended on the task of allocating memory to data objects. For the purposes of this discussion, the term object refers to a data structure represented in a computer system's memory. Other terms sometimes used for the same concept are record and structure. An object may be identified by a reference, a relatively small amount of information that can be used to access the object. A reference can be represented as a "pointer" or a "machine address," which may require, for instance, only sixteen, thirty-two, or sixty-four bits of information, although there are other ways to represent a reference.
In some systems, which are usually known as "object oriented," objects may have associated methods, which are routines that can be invoked by reference to the object. They also may belong to a class, which is an organizational entity that may contain method code or other information shared by all objects belonging to that class. In the discussion that follows, though, the term object will not be limited to such structures; it will additionally include structures with which methods and classes are not associated.
The invention to be described below is applicable to systems that allocate memory to objects dynamically. Not all systems employ dynamic allocation. In some computer languages, source programs can be so written that all objects to which the program's variables refer are bound to storage locations at compile time. This storage-allocation approach, sometimes referred to as "static allocation," is the policy traditionally used by the Fortran programming language, for example.
Even for compilers that are thought of as allocating objects only statically, of course, there is often a certain level of abstraction to this binding of objects to storage locations. Consider the typical computer system 100 depicted in FIG. 1, for example. Data, and instructions for operating on them, that a microprocessor 110 uses may reside in on-board cache memory or be received from further cache memory 120, possibly through the mediation of a cache controller 130. That controller 130 can in turn receive such data from system read/write memory ("RAM") 140 through a RAM controller 150 or from various peripheral devices through a system bus 160. Additionally, instructions and data may be received from other computer systems via a communication interface 180. The memory space made available to an application program may be "virtual" in the sense that it may actually be considerably larger than RAM 140 provides. So the RAM contents will be swapped to and from a system disk 170.
Additionally, the actual physical operations performed to access some of the most-recently visited parts of the process's address space often will actually be performed in the cache 120 or in a cache on board microprocessor 110 rather than on the RAM 140, with which those caches swap data and instructions just as RAM 140 and system disk 170 do with each other.
A further level of abstraction results from the fact that an application will often be run as one of many processes operating concurrently with the support of an underlying operating system. As part of that system's memory management, the application's memory space may be moved among different actual physical locations many times in order to allow different processes to employ shared physical memory devices. That is, the location specified in the application's machine code may actually result in different physical locations at different times because the operating system adds different offsets to the machine-language-specified location.
The use of static memory allocation in writing certain long-lived applications makes it difficult to restrict storage requirements to the available memory space. Abiding by space limitations is easier when the platform provides for dynamic memory allocation, i.e., when memory space to be allocated to a given object is determined only at run time.
Dynamic allocation has a number of advantages, among which is that the run-time system is able to adapt allocation to run-time conditions. For example, the programmer can specify that space should be allocated for a given object only in response to a particular run-time condition. The C-language library function malloc( ) is often used for this purpose. Conversely, the programmer can specify conditions under which memory previously allocated to a given object can be reclaimed for reuse. The C-language library function free( ) results in such memory reclamation. Because dynamic allocation provides for memory reuse, it facilitates generation of large or long-lived applications, which over the course of their lifetimes may employ objects whose total memory requirements would greatly exceed the available memory resources if they were bound to memory locations statically.
Particularly for long-lived applications, though, allocation and reclamation of dynamic memory must be performed carefully. If the application fails to reclaim unused memory—or, worse, loses track of the address of a dynamically allocated segment of memory—its memory requirements will grow over time to exceed the system's available memory. This kind of error is known as a "memory leak." Another kind of error occurs when an application reclaims memory for reuse even though it still maintains a reference to that memory. If the reclaimed memory is reallocated for a different purpose, the application may inadvertently manipulate the same memory in multiple inconsistent ways. This kind of error is known as a "dangling reference."
A way of reducing the likelihood of such leaks and related errors is to provide memory-space reclamation in a more automatic manner. Techniques used by systems that reclaim memory space automatically are commonly referred to as garbage collection. Garbage collectors operate by reclaiming space that they no longer consider "reachable." Statically allocated objects represented by a program's global variables are normally considered reachable throughout a program's life. Such objects are not ordinarily stored in the garbage collector's managed memory space, but they may contain references to dynamically allocated objects that are, and such objects are considered reachable. Clearly, an object referred to in the processor's call stack is reachable, as is an object referred to by register contents. And an object referred to by any reachable object is also reachable. As used herein, a call stack is a data structure corresponding to a process or thread (i.e., an application), whereby the call stack comprises a sequence of frames that store state information, such as register contents and program counter values, associated with nested routines within the process or thread.
The use of garbage collectors is advantageous because, whereas a programmer working on a particular sequence of code can perform his task creditably in most respects with only local knowledge of the application at any given time, memory allocation and reclamation require a global knowledge of the program. Specifically, a programmer dealing with a given sequence of code does tend to know whether some portion of memory is still in use for that sequence of code, but it is considerably more difficult for him to know what the rest of the application is doing with that memory. By tracing references from some conservative notion of a root set, e.g., global variables, registers, and the call stack, automatic garbage collectors obtain global knowledge in a methodical way. By using a garbage collector, the programmer is relieved of the need to worry about the application's global state and can concentrate on local-state issues, which are more manageable. The result is applications that are more robust, having no dangling references and fewer memory leaks.
Garbage collection mechanisms can be implemented by various parts and levels of a computing system. One approach is simply to provide them as part of a batch compiler's output. Consider FIG. 2's simple batch-compiler operation, for example. A computer system executes in accordance with compiler object code and therefore acts as a compiler 200. The compiler object code is typically stored on a medium such as FIG. 1's system disk 170 or some other machine-readable medium, and it is loaded into RAM 140 to configure the computer system to act as a compiler. In some cases, though, the compiler object code's persistent storage may instead be provided in a server system remote from the machine that performs the compiling. The electrical signals that carry the digital data by which the computer systems exchange that code are examples of the kinds of electromagnetic signals by which the computer instructions can be communicated. Others include radio waves, microwaves, and both visible and invisible light.
The input to the compiler is the application source code, and the end product of the compiler process is application object code. This object code defines an application 210, which typically operates on input such as mouse clicks, etc., to generate a display or some other type of output. This object code implements the relationship that the programmer intends to specify by his application source code. In one approach to garbage collection, the compiler 200, without the programmer's explicit direction, additionally generates code that automatically reclaims unreachable memory space.
Even in this simple case, though, there is a sense in which the application does not itself provide the entire garbage collector. Specifically, the application will typically call upon the underlying operating system's memory-allocation functions. And the operating system may in turn take advantage of various hardware that lends itself particularly to use in garbage collection. So even a very simple system may disperse the garbage collection mechanism over a number of computer system layers.
To get some sense of the variety of system components that can be used to implement garbage collection, consider FIG. 3's example of a more complex way in which various levels of source code can result in the machine instructions that a processor executes. In the FIG. 3 arrangement, the human applications programmer produces source code 310 written in a high-level language. A compiler 320 typically converts that code into "class files." These files include routines written in instructions, called "byte codes" 330, for a "virtual machine" that various processors can be configured to emulate. This conversion into byte codes is almost always separated in time from those codes' execution, so FIG. 3 divides the sequence into a "compile-time environment" 300 separate from a "run-time environment" 340, in which execution occurs. One example of a high-level language for which compilers are available to produce such virtual-machine instructions is the Java™ programming language. (Java is a trademark or registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc., in the United States and other countries.)
Most typically, the class files' byte-code routines are executed by a processor under control of a virtual-machine process 350. That process emulates a virtual machine from whose instruction set the byte codes are drawn. As is true of the compiler 320, the virtual-machine process 350 may be specified by code stored on a local disk or some other machine-readable medium from which it is read into FIG. 1's RAM 140 to configure the computer system to implement the garbage collector and otherwise act as a virtual machine. Again, though, that code's persistent storage may instead be provided by a server system remote from the processor that implements the virtual machine, in which case the code would be transmitted, e.g., electrically or optically to the virtual-machine-implementing processor.
In some implementations, much of the virtual machine's action in executing these byte codes is most like what those skilled in the art refer to as "interpreting," so FIG. 3 depicts the virtual machine as including an "interpreter" 360 for that purpose. In addition to or instead of running an interpreter, many virtual-machine implementations actually compile the byte codes concurrently with the resultant object code's execution, so FIG. 3 depicts the virtual machine as additionally including a "just-in-time" compiler 370. The arrangement of FIG. 3 differs from FIG. 2 in that the compiler 320 for converting the human programmer's code does not contribute to providing the garbage collection function; that results largely from the virtual machine 350's operation.
Those skilled in that art will recognize that both of these organizations are merely exemplary, and many modern systems employ hybrid mechanisms, which partake of the characteristics of traditional compilers and traditional interpreters both. The invention to be described below is applicable independently of whether a batch compiler, a just-in-time compiler, an interpreter, or some hybrid is employed to process source code. In the remainder of this application, therefore, we will use the term compiler to refer to any such mechanism, even if it is what would more typically be called an interpreter.
Now, some of the functionality that source-language constructs specify can be quite complicated, requiring many machine-language instructions for their implementation. One quite-common example is a source-language instruction that calls for 64-bit arithmetic on a 32-bit machine. More germane to the present invention is the operation of dynamically allocating space to a new object; this may require determining whether enough free memory space is available to contain the new object and reclaiming space if there is not.
In such situations, the compiler may produce "inline" code to accomplish these operations. That is, all object-code instructions for carrying out a given source-code-prescribed operation will be repeated each time the source code calls for the operation. But inlining runs the risk that "code bloat" will result if the operation is invoked at many source-code locations.
The natural way of avoiding this result is instead to provide the operation's implementation as a procedure, i.e., a single code sequence that can be called from any location in the program. In the case of compilers, a collection of procedures for implementing many types of source-code-specified operations is called a runtime system for the language. The compiler and its runtime system are designed together so that the compiler "knows" what runtime-system procedures are available in the target computer system and can cause desired operations simply by including calls to procedures that the target system already contains. To represent this fact, FIG. 3 includes block 380 to show that the compiler's output makes calls to the runtime system as well as to the operating system 390, which consists of procedures that are similarly system resident but are not compiler-dependent.
Although the FIG. 3 arrangement is a popular one, it is by no means universal, and many further implementation types can be expected. Proposals have even been made to implement the virtual machine 350's behavior in a hardware processor, in which case the hardware itself would provide some or all of the garbage-collection function. In short, garbage collectors can be implemented in a wide range of combinations of hardware and/or software.
By implementing garbage collection, a computer system can greatly reduce the occurrence of memory leaks and other software deficiencies in which human programming frequently results. But it can also have significant adverse performance effects if it is not implemented carefully. To distinguish the part of the program that does "useful" work from that which does the garbage collection, the term mutator is sometimes used in discussions of these effects; from the collector's point of view, what the mutator does is mutate active data structures' connectivity.
Some garbage collection approaches rely heavily on interleaving garbage collection steps among mutator steps. In one type of garbage collection approach, for instance, the mutator operation of writing a reference is followed immediately by garbage collector steps used to maintain a reference count in that object's header, and code for subsequent new-object storage includes steps for finding space occupied by objects whose reference count has fallen to zero. Obviously, such an approach can slow mutator operation significantly.
Other approaches therefore interleave very few garbage collector-related instructions into the main mutator process but instead interrupt it from time to time to perform garbage collection cycles, in which the garbage collector finds unreachable objects and reclaims their memory space for reuse. Such an approach will be assumed in discussing FIG. 4's depiction of a simple garbage collection operation. Within the memory space allocated to a given application is a part 420 managed by automatic garbage collection. As used hereafter, all dynamically allocated memory associated with a process or thread will be referred to as its heap. During the course of the application's execution, space is allocated for various objects 402, 404, 406, 408, and 410. Typically, the mutator allocates space within the heap by invoking the garbage collector, which at some level manages access to the heap. Basically, the mutator asks the garbage collector for a pointer to a heap region where it can safely place the object's data. The garbage collector keeps track of the fact that the thus-allocated region is occupied. It will refrain from allocating that region in response to any other request until it determines that the mutator no longer needs the region allocated to that object.
Garbage collectors vary as to which objects they consider reachable and unreachable. For the present discussion, though, an object will be considered "reachable" if it is referred to, as object 402 is, by a reference in a root set 400. The root set consists of reference values stored in the mutator's threads' call stacks, the central processing unit (CPU) registers, and global variables outside the garbage collected heap. An object is also reachable if it is referred to, as object 406 is, by another reachable object (in this case, object 402). Objects that are not reachable can no longer affect the program, so it is safe to re-allocate the memory spaces that they occupy.
A typical approach to garbage collection is therefore to identify all reachable objects and reclaim any previously allocated memory that the reachable objects do not occupy. A typical garbage collector may identify reachable objects by tracing references from the root set 400. For the sake of simplicity, FIG. 4 depicts only one reference from the root set 400 into the heap 420. (Those skilled in the art will recognize that there are many ways to identify references, or at least data contents that may be references.) The collector notes that the root set points to object 402, which is therefore reachable, and that reachable object 402 points to object 406, which therefore is also reachable. But those reachable objects point to no other objects, so objects 404, 408, and 410 are all unreachable, and their memory space may be reclaimed.
To avoid excessive heap fragmentation, some garbage collectors additionally relocate reachable objects. FIG. 5 shows a typical approach for this "copying" type of garbage collection. The heap is partitioned into two halves, hereafter called "semi-spaces." For one garbage collection cycle, all objects are allocated in one semi-space 510, leaving the other semi-space 520 free. When the garbage collection cycle occurs, objects identified as reachable are "evacuated" to the other semi-space 520, so all of semi-space 510 is then considered free. Once the garbage collection cycle has occurred, all new objects are allocated in the lower semi-space 520 until yet another garbage collection cycle occurs, at which time the reachable objects are evacuated back to the upper semi-space 510.
Although this relocation requires the extra steps of copying the reachable objects and updating references to them, it tends to be quite efficient, since most new objects quickly become unreachable, so most of the current semi-space is actually garbage. That is, only a relatively few, reachable objects need to be relocated, after which the entire semi-space contains only garbage and can be pronounced free for reallocation.
A conceptually simple way of deciding when to perform such a collection operation is simply to have it be triggered when the absence of enough free space prevents an attempted allocation from occurring. The mutator operation would then be interrupted to perform a garbage collection cycle, in which all objects, reachable from the root set are identified, and the space occupied by the other (garbage) objects is placed in a list of free memory blocks. For certain types of applications, this approach to collection-cycle scheduling is acceptable and, in fact, highly efficient.
For many interactive and real-time applications, though, this approach is not acceptable. The delay in mutator operation that the collection cycle's execution causes can be annoying to a user and can prevent a real-time application from responding to its environment with the required speed. In some applications, this effect can be reduced by choosing collection times opportunistically. For example, a garbage-collection cycle may be performed at a natural stopping point in the application, such as when the mutator awaits user input.
So it may often be true that the garbage collection operation's effect on performance can depend less on the total collection time than on when collections actually occur. But another factor that often is even more determinative is the duration of any single collection cycle, i.e., how long the mutator must remain quiescent at any one time. In an interactive system, for instance, a user may never notice hundred-millisecond interruptions for garbage collection, whereas most users would find interruptions lasting for two seconds to be annoying. To reduce the collector's adverse affect on mutator operation further, many collectors operate incrementally: they reclaim less than all of the unreachable objects' memory space in any one collection interval.
Most collectors that employ incremental collection operate in "generations" although this is not necessary in principle. Different portions, or generations, of the heap are subject to different collection policies. New objects are allocated in a "young" generation, and older objects are "promoted" from younger generations to older or more "mature" generations. Collecting the younger generations more frequently than the others yields greater efficiency because the younger generations tend to accumulate garbage faster; newly allocated objects tend to "die," while older objects tend to "survive."
But generational collection greatly increases what is effectively the root set for a given generation. Consider FIG. 6, which depicts a heap as organized into three generations 620, 640, and 660. Assume that generation 640 is to be collected. The process for this individual generation may be more or less the same as that described in connection with FIGS. 4 and 5 for the entire heap, with one major exception. In the case of a single generation, the root set must be considered to include not only the call stack, registers, and global variables represented by set 600 but also objects in the other generations 620 and 660, which themselves may contain references to objects in generation 640. So pointers must be traced not only from the basic root set 600 but also from objects within the other generations.
One could perform this tracing by simply inspecting all references in all other generations at the beginning of every collection cycle, and it turns out that this approach is actually feasible in some situations. But it takes too long in other situations, so workers in this field have employed a number of approaches to expediting reference tracing. One approach is to include so-called write barriers in the mutator process. A write barrier is code added to a write operation in the mutator code to record information from which the garbage collector can determine where references were written or may have been written since the last collection interval. For each of a plurality of heap subdivisions that may be collected in different increments, a respective list is kept of where references to objects in that heap subdivision have been found. Each list can then be maintained by taking such a list as it existed at the end of the previous collection interval and updating it by inspecting only locations identified by the write barriers as possibly modified since the last collection interval.
One of the many write-barrier implementations commonly used by workers in this art employs what has been referred to as the "card table." FIG. 6 depicts the various generations as being divided into smaller sections, known for this purpose as "cards." Card tables 610, 630, and 650 associated with respective generations contain an entry for each of their cards. When the mutator writes a reference in a card, it makes an appropriate entry in the card-table location associated with that card (or, say, with the card in which the object containing the reference begins). Most write-barrier implementations simply make a Boolean entry indicating that the write operation has been performed, although some may be more elaborate. For example, assume reference 624 on card 622 is modified ("dirtied") by the mutator, so a Boolean entry in corresponding card-table entry 605 may be set accordingly. The mutator having thus left a record of where new or modified references may be, the collector may scan the card-table to identify those cards in the mature generation that were marked as having been modified since the last collection cycle, and the collector can scan only those identified cards for modified references.
Of course, there are other write-barrier approaches, such as simply having the write barrier add to a list of addresses where references were written. For instance, the list may be stored in a sequential store buffer that is updated by write barriers in the mutator code. When the sequential store buffer is filled, the mutator may be interrupted so a garbage collector can reclaim unused memory based on addresses in the buffer. At the end of such a collection cycle, the buffer is cleared and the mutator resumes until it is interrupted again by the next garbage-collection cycle.
Also, although there is no reason in principle to favor any particular number of generations, and although FIG. 6 shows three, most generational garbage collectors have only two generations, of which one is the young generation and the other is the mature generation. Moreover, although FIG. 6 shows the generations as being of the same size, a more-typical configuration is for the young generation to be considerably smaller. Further, each generation may be dispersed over various address ranges of memory instead of comprising a contiguous block of memory as shown in FIG. 6. Finally, although we assumed for the sake of simplicity that collection during a given interval was limited to only one generation, a more-typical approach is actually to collect the whole young generation at every interval but to collect the mature one less frequently.
Some collectors collect the entire young generation in every interval and may thereafter collect the mature generation collection in the same interval. It may therefore take relatively little time to scan all young-generation objects remaining after young-generation collection to find references into the mature generation. Even when such collectors do use card tables, therefore, they often do not use them for finding young-generation references that refer to mature-generation objects. On the other hand, laboriously scanning the entire mature generation for references to young-generation (or mature-generation) objects would ordinarily take too long, so write barriers are typically used to set card-table entries associated with the mature generation to thereby limit the amount of memory the collector searches for modified mature-generation references.
Write barrier code is often inserted into mutator code in close proximity to a corresponding mutator instruction that modifies a reference. In an imprecise card-marking scheme, the write barrier code marks the card-table entry that corresponds to the card in which the modified object begins. In a precise card-marking scheme, the write barrier marks the card-table entry that corresponds to the card in which the modified field is located. FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary reference-modifying mutator instruction (line N+1) and its corresponding sequence of write-barrier code (lines N+3 through N+5) for marking a card-table entry in accordance with a precise card-marking scheme.
FIG. 7's line N+1 is an assembly instruction (STW) that stores a word-length value into an object reference field located an offset C from the object's starting address. Lines N+3 through N+5 illustrate the reference-modifying STW instruction's corresponding write-barrier code. In this example, the write barrier adds three instructions not originally present in the mutator code: ADD, Shift Right Logical (SRL) and Store Byte (STB) instructions. Specifically, the instruction at line N+3 stores the address of the modified object field in a "working" register, and the instruction at line N+4 divides this address by the card size to determine how many cards into the mature generation the modified field is located. Here, the card size is assumed to be a power of 2 bytes. Lastly, the instruction at line N+5 marks a card-table entry with a binary "0" corresponding to the card in the mature generation that stores the modified object reference field. As described, each card-table entry is assumed to have a length of one byte.
As seen with regards to FIG. 7, the inclusion of write barriers in the mutator code increases the size of mutator code, e.g., by three instructions per reference-modifying mutator instruction. Further, one or more additional instructions (not shown) may have to be added to the mutator code to store the base memory addresses of the card tables whose entries are marked by the mutator's write-barrier code. Clearly, this added code overhead may significantly increase the mutator's execution time, especially when the mutator code contains a relatively large number of reference-modifying instructions. So adding write barriers to increase the garbage collector's efficiency tends to compromise the mutator's.

Deferring and combining write barriers for a garbage-collected heap


A dimming control system includes dimmer modules that receive dimming level information from one of at least two control modules. Each dimmer module includes a microprocessor that provides internal intelligence for controlling power to a load in response to dimming level information. Control modules receive industry standard protocol dimming information from various sources, convert it to dimming level information, and serially communicate the dimming level information to the dimmer modules. Dimmer modules and control modules are mounted in a rack which includes a backplane having a nonvolatile memory device that retains configuration data even if control modules are removed from the rack. An inactive control module can assume control of the rack when an active control module fails.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to dimming control systems employing interchangeable dimmer modules and enclosures for mounting such dimmer modules and more particularly, to a unique dimmer module architecture employing on board intelligence for dimming control and a rack mounting system for the intelligent dimmer modules employing dual communications control modules for communication with individual dimmer modules in the rack and non-volatile memory in the rack backplane for storage of configuration information and independent operating parameters.
2. Description of the Related Art
Lighting control systems for architectural, theatrical and movie/television applications typically incorporate numerous individual dimmer circuits, which are rack mounted at central locations for control of disbursed individual and grouped incandescent or inductive loads. Conventional dimming communications protocols have been developed for various input communications devices to communicate with rack mounted dimmers and typically individual racks incorporate a controller for receiving such commands and distributing commands to the individual dimmer modules.
Various technologies have been employed for individual dimmers including choke based and electronic dimmer systems. Control of both types of systems has been accomplished using pulse width modulated (PWM) control approaches. Consolidation of processing in a centralized controller for large numbers of dimmer control circuits creates significant complexity in the controller. It is therefore desirable to distribute control functions while centralizing communications for dimmer rack systems. Such distributed processing is also particularly advantageous with newly developed lighting control systems employing local area networks for command and control communication.
Dimming racks in the prior art typically support numerous dimmer modules. To allow flexibility in lighting requirements, dimmer racks must support dimmer modules having varying power ratings and physical interconnection requirements for load outputs. It is therefore desirable for dimmer racks to incorporate means for assuring mating of properly configured dimmer modules with compatible load and wiring configurations within the rack while maintaining commonality of interface structure to reduce cost and complexity in the rack system. The capability to preconfigure racks with specific dimmer module information and to provide redundant control capability for system failures, panic mode operations and independent control of rack based looks for lighting controlled by the racks is desirable.
The present invention provides the desired features overcoming deficiencies in the prior art while maintaining produceability of both dimmer racks and dimmer modules for cost considerations and commonality with prior art control systems.

Dimming control system with distributed command processing


A people conveyor (2), which is configured for conveying passengers by at least one conveyance band (8) travelling along a closed loop, comprises at least one handrail element (6) which is configured for moving parallel to the at least one conveyance band (8) along a travel path forming a closed loop; and at least one force sensor (18a, 18b), which is configured for detecting a force (FS1, FS2) exerted by the at least one handrail element (6) in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the at least one handrail element (6) and for providing a corresponding force signal.

The application is related to a people conveyor and to a method of determining power for driving a handrail element of a people conveyor.
People conveyors, such as escalators and moving walkways, usually comprise a conveyance band, which is configured for conveying passengers, and at least one handrail element moving parallel to the conveyance band.
The power necessary for driving the handrail element contributes considerably to the total power needed for driving the people conveyor.
Problems with the handrail element may increase the power necessary for driving the handrail element and/or decrease the lifetime of the handrail element.
It therefore would be beneficial to provide a people conveyor and a method which allow monitoring in real-time the power which is necessary for driving the handrail.

People conveyor and method of determining power for driving a handrail element of a people conveyor


Ball launching and catching toy and game including launching a fuzzy ball from a slingshot type of launcher, and catching the fuzzy ball with a mitt having a retentive surface. The preferred launcher includes a pair of stretchable elastic members flanking a pocket member having a topside adapted to carry a fuzzy ball to be launched and an underside with an attached loop, and including as launching steps gripping the pair of stretchable elastic members and engaging the loop of the pocket member with the fuzzy ball lying thereon, and stretching the elastic members upward and outward from the pocket member, then disengaging the loop and thereby enabling the stretched members to contract, thus launching the ball from the pocket member. The mitt may be separate or attached to a launcher.

The slingshot has been known since time immemorial as a weapon and a toy. My noted patents illustrate a modern slingshot type of launcher for substantially spherical toy missiles (water balloons, for example) and how they can be propelled over an extended distance by a single person using both hands and one foot to stretch and aim the launcher while standing on the other foot. Of course, several persons can combine to use such a launcher, one each for holding the respective stretchable members by respective hand grips, and another one to pull the missile pocket to stretch those members preparatory to launching the toy missile--as the missile pocket is released to enable the stretched members to contract rapidly for launching.
Catching toy missiles from that sort of launcher has been quite impractical because of their structure, the speed they attain, and their force of impact--at least for many or most of the children who undertake to use the launcher. Overcoming the catching difficulty could enhance the fun of the improved launching method for many.


Oxygen regulator (1) to deliver breathing gas in a cabin (10) of an aircraft comprising a first inlet (12) for pressurized breathing oxygen, a second inlet (14) for diluter gas, an outlet (16) to provide a breathing mixture to a user, and a regulation device adjusting the concentration of breathing oxygen in the breathing mixture. The regulation device comprises a emergency device (30) that adjusts the concentration of breathing oxygen in the breathing mixture as a function of a variation speed of the cabin altitude.

Such aircrafts are equipped with a pressurized cabin. The pressure value of the cabin is often referred to as the cabin altitude. Cabin altitude is defined as the altitude corresponding to the pressurized atmosphere maintained within the cabin. This value differs from the aircraft altitude which is its actual physical altitude. Correspondence between pressure and conventional altitude are defined in tables.
The aircrafts are further equipped with a breathing system to deliver a breathable gas to all passengers and crew members in emergency situations such as a cabin pressurization accident or smoke in the cockpit. The breathing system includes pressurized oxygen cylinders, chemical generators, or On-Board Oxygen Generator System (OBOGS) or more generally any sources of oxygen.
The breathing system further comprises breathing masks and a regulator. Usual oxygen regulators include at least a dilution mode, in which the equipment delivers a breathing mixture of breathing oxygen and diluter gas (air), the concentration of the breathing oxygen depending on the cabin altitude.
Furthermore, the regulator may be able to supply the required respiratory gas volume according to the wearer's demand.
In the event of a depressurization, the cabin altitude increases and tends to converge towards the aircraft altitude. In the same time, the pilot reduces the aircraft altitude in order to minimise the time during which the cabin altitude is too high to enable passengers who have not correctly donned a breathing mask to survive without after-effects.
Then, the pilot may slightly increase the aircraft altitude to a diversion altitude in order to improve the operating conditions of the engine and to reach a diversion airport.
The minimum concentration of oxygen in the breathing mixture is set for civil aviation by the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR). The minimum oxygen concentration for crew demand equipments as requested by the FAR is shown in particular in document WO2007/121773.
Most of the current crew breathing masks are equipped with oxygen regulators using pneumatic technology to satisfy to this requirement. In this technology, ambient air is sucked by a Venturi made through high velocity oxygen flow. An aneroid capsule (called also altimeter capsule) regulates the altimetric oxygen enrichment by adjusting the section of the ambient air inlet.

Oxygen regulator to deliver breathing gas in an aircraft


Lamination transfer films and methods for transferring a structured layer to a receptor substrate. The transfer films include a carrier substrate having a releasable surface, a sacrificial template layer applied to the releasable surface of the carrier substrate and having a non-planar structured surface, and a thermally stable backfill layer applied to the non-planar structured surface of the sacrificial template layer. The sacrificial template layer is capable of being removed from the backfill layer, such as via pyrolysis, while leaving the structured surface of the backfill layer substantially intact.

Nanostructures and microstructures on glass substrates are used for a variety of applications in display, lighting, and solar devices. In display devices the structures can be used for light extraction or light distribution. In lighting devices the structures can be used for light extraction, light distribution, and decorative effects. In photovoltaic devices the structures can be used for solar concentration and antireflection. Patterning or otherwise forming nanostructures and microstructures on large glass substrates can be difficult and not cost-effective. Accordingly, a need exists for fabricating nanostructures and microstructures in a cost-effect manner on a continuous carrier film and then using the film to transfer or otherwise impart the structures onto glass substrates or other permanent receptor substrates.

Structured lamination transfer films and methods


An unfixed toner image of a reference pattern is formed on a photosensitive member, the unfixed toner image is measured by a development density sensor 13, and the amount of toner to be supplied to a developing device 4 is controlled by a toner supply control unit 60 on the basis of a measurement output, thereby maintaining the image quality constant. If it is judged from a result of a detection of a state amount such as the temperature and the humidity by a state amount sensor 19 that there is a fear that the image quality exceeds an allowable range, a fixed image of a reference pattern is formed on a record medium such as a banner sheet, and the fixed image is measured by an optical sensor 10. Operation amounts such as the charge amount and the exposure value of an image output unit 100 are controlled by an image density control unit 20, thereby maintaining the image quality to be within the allowable range.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an image forming apparatus of the electrophotographic type, and particularly to an image forming apparatus of the electrophotographic type in which the image quality is controlled so as to be always held to a predetermined level.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, it is known that the sensitivity of a human being to a color difference is very high. When the color difference .DELTA.E between images to be compared with each other is about 5 in an L*a*b* color space, for example, the images can be distinguished from each other irrespective of the observer and conditions. It is reported that, when .DELTA.E is about 3, many observers hardly distinguish a color difference (see D. H. Alman, R. S. Berns, G. D. Snyder, and W. A. Larsen, Performance Testing of Color-Difference Metrics Using a Color Tolerance Dataset, COLOR research and application, vol. 14, Number 3, June 1989).
From these facts, it will be seen that, when the target level of the image reproducibility is set to be within the color difference recognition limit of a human being, an image forming apparatus is required to produce a color difference as high as .DELTA.E=3 or less.
As well known in the art, however, a prior art image forming apparatus of the electrophotographic type cannot fulfil such a high requirement. This is caused by the following reason. In an apparatus of the electrophotographic type, an electrostatic phenomenon is used, and hence the image output state of the apparatus itself is changed in accordance with the conditions of the environment where the apparatus is placed, such as the temperature and the humidity, or by temporal deterioration of a photosensitive member, a developer, or the like, with the result that the image reproducibility is varied.
To comply with this, an image forming apparatus of the electrophotographic type usually employs a feedback control to maintain the image density to an optimum level. In a control method which is most usually used, specifically, the reproduction state of the density and the environmental conditions of the interior of the apparatus are monitored by using a density patch, an error with respect to the target density is obtained, and the error is multiplied by a feedback gain, thereby calculating a correction amount of a preset value of a control actuator.
As the density patch, used is a density patch of an unfixed toner image after the developing process, or that of an image which is formed on a record medium such as a paper sheet and which has undergone the fixing process. A density patch of an unfixed toner image is used because such an image can be produced and erased more easily than a transferred image or a fixed image which is formed on a sheet, and has a high correlation of density with a fixed image. By contrast, a density patch of a fixed toner image is used because such an image itself is obtained by the user as a final image form and the quality of the image can be evaluated in consideration of factors including variation factors in the transferring and fixing processes.
As the environmental conditions of the interior of the apparatus which are to be detected, frequently, the temperature and the humidity which conspicuously affect the electrostatic phenomenon peculiar to the electrophotographic type are detected. As the control actuator, the voltage applied to the charger, the exposure value, the development bias, and the like which affect the developing properties are often used.
For example, Japanese Patent Publications (Kokai) Nos. SHO 63-177176, SHO 63-177177, and SHO 63-177178 disclose a technique in which the development density is desirably controlled by changing the development potential. Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. HEI 1-169467 discloses another technique in which a density patch of a toner image is measured and exposure conditions and development bias conditions are controlled, thereby obtaining a desired image density.
However, the optimum development potential is always affected by various external factors which cannot be controlled, such as the temperature, the humidity, and the accumulated copy number. Therefore, there arises a difficulty that the development potential, the exposure value, the development bias, and the like must be set in consideration of these factors. Although a density patch of an unfixed toner image is highly correlated in density with a fixed image, it is impossible to detect an influence exerted by such factors in subsequent processes or the transferring and fixing processes.
In a method of monitoring the density of a fixed image, as typically shown in Japanese Patent Publications (Kokai) Nos. SHO62-296669 and SHO63-185279, an image reading unit incorporated into the main unit of an apparatus is often used. However, the work of transferring an image which has been once output to the image reading unit so as to be again subjected to the reading operation must be conducted by the user. As a result, this method has a disadvantage that such a very cumbersome work must be conducted in a usual image management routine.
Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. HEI4-55868 discloses a technique in which the density of a fixed image is online monitored via an optical fiber, and Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) No. HEI7-168412 discloses another technique in which such a density is online monitored by dedicated detecting means. In these methods, a test sheet must be output frequently or at each time when the image management is to be conducted. This produces a problem in that the user must bear the cost of the sheets. Since test sheets are frequently output, moreover, the image forming speed of the apparatus is substantially lowered, thereby producing a problem in that the original productivity of image formation of the apparatus is lowered.
Japanese Patent Publications (Kokai) Nos. HEI4-204461, HEI7-225505, and HEI3-87859 disclose a technique in which means for detecting conditions such as the environment is disposed and operations such as charging, exposure, and development are controlled. In the electrophotographic type in which electrostatic processes are mainly conducted, however, sufficiently high control accuracy cannot be always attained because relationships between optimum preset values of the development potential, the exposure value, and the development bias are nonlinear.
Because of these reasons, in an image forming apparatus of the electrophotographic type, effects such as those of various environmental conditions, for example, a high temperature and humidity state or low temperature and humidity state, and those of temporal deterioration of a photosensitive member, a developer, or the like must be previously known. As an apparatus of a higher control performance is to be developed, data must be collected in detail over a wider range of conditions. Therefore, enormous development manhours are required.
Furthermore, a feedback gain which is determined as a result of expending such enormous development manhours is not always optimum because of differences among apparatuses and a wide variety of use conditions. Particularly, the effect of temporal deterioration on the image density is largely varied depending on the degree of deterioration of parts used in each of apparatuses and the manner of operating each apparatus by the user. Therefore, it cannot be said that the control performance for image density is kept perfect for a long term after shipment.
Recently, methods which use a fuzzy system or a neural network system have been proposed as shown in Japanese Patent Publications (Kokai) Nos. HEI4-319971, HEI4-320278, and HEI5-207275.
In the proposed methods, however, only the control accuracy is improved by using a feature of a fuzzy system or a neural network system that it can cope with a case where the input and output relationship is complicated and nonlinear. Consequently, such methods are substantially useless for solving the above-discussed problems in that a large amount of data must be collected, that enormous development manhours are required, and that the control performance of each apparatus for the image density for a long term after shipment cannot be ensured.
In a fuzzy system, a membership function must be tuned by the engineer, and, in a neural network system, the learning operation may be automated but supervisory data for learning must be previously prepared by the engineer. In this way, actually, both the methods require considerably large development manhours.
Even in the case where a fuzzy system or a neural network system is used in which data of temporal deterioration are previously collected and which is configured in consideration of the collected data, there is a problem in that, when the input and output relationship is changed by actual temporal deterioration, differences among apparatuses, or replacement of parts, it is impossible to automatically cope with such a change. In other words, even when a fuzzy system or a neural network system is used, the control performance of each apparatus for the image density for a long term after shipment cannot be ensured.

Image forming apparatus having high image quality control mechanism


A chat input identifier may receive various chat inputs based on voice or text inputs from a user. The chat input identifier may apply different filters to the chat inputs to identify one or more chat correction pairs (e.g., chat input with errors, corrected chat input) from among the plurality of chat inputs. The chat correction pairs are used to train an auto-correction model. The trained auto-correction model receives a given chat input that has one or more errors. The auto-correction model processes the given chat input to generate a corrected version of the given chat input (without the need to obtain a correction from the user). The corrected chat input is then provided to a dialog-driven application.

Chat-based software applications are becoming more widely used across various industries. For example, many websites provide a text-based user interface that allows a user to type a question about a product, submit the question, and receive an answer that is automatically generated in the back end by a dialog-driven application. Some chat-based applications may allow a user ask questions by simply speaking. In that case, speech recognition software may convert spoken words into text, which is then submitted to a dialog-driven application for processing.
Although the use of chat-based software applications provides a convenient way for users to quickly obtain answers to various questions, errors in the chat input may prevent an application from interpreting a question provided by a user. For example, if a question submitted via a text-based user interface has a typo or if there are speech recognition errors, then the dialog-driven application may not understand what the user is asking for. The user may need to repeat the question one or more times in order for the dialog-driven application to properly interpret the question, which may cause user frustration and a longer response time to provide an answer.
While embodiments are described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments are not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit embodiments to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words "include", "including", and "includes" mean including, but not limited to.

Identifying chat correction pairs for training models to automatically correct chat inputs


A platform for a turbomachine is fitted to a variable-setting stator blade to repair a worn area on a plate of the blade. The worn area may be caused by contact between the plate and a part of a casing during operation of the turbomachine. The plate may be machined before the platform may be properly fitted to the plate. The platform may include an anti-rotation tab to prevent the platform from rotating relative to an axis of rotation of a pivot of the blade. The platform may also include a collar to cover an outer diameter of the plate. After the platform has been fitted to the plate, the case may contact the platform instead of the plate.

An articulated system, such as the variable-setting stator blades of a gas turbine engine compressor, comprises parts that move relative to one another. FIGS. 1 and 2 show schematically a variable-setting stator blade 1 mounted so as to rotate in the casing 3 of the machine. The blade comprises an aerofoil 12, a plate 13 and a shank forming a pivot 14. The pivot 14 is housed in a bore or radial orifice made in the casing 3 via various bearings. One of the bearings consists of a bush 4 in sliding contact with the shank forming the pivot 14, directly or via a shrink-fitted band 14′. The bush 4 fixedly attached to the casing in the bottom of a facing made in the wall of the latter is in contact with the plate 13 via an annular boss 4′. The opposite face of the plate 13 relative to the bush is swept by the gases of the stream. A washer 15 holds the blade in its housing. A lever 16, itself actuated by members not shown, controls the rotation of the blade about the axis XX of the shank to place the latter in the required position relative to the airflow sweeping the aerofoil. The relative movements result from the sliding of the contact surfaces, here the shank and the plate with the bushes. When the engine is operating, it is noted that the stresses to which the parts are subjected expose the contact surfaces to wear that may lead to losses of functionality of the system.
In the case of the assembly presented hereinabove, it is noted that wear occurs on the plate at the annular boss 4′. The worn zone begins by taking the form of a groove and then it extends over the whole plate. FIG. 3 shows a blade worn in this way. It can be seen that the plate 13 is hollowed out at 13′.
Currently, there is no satisfactory solution for repairing these blades.
The Applicant has set itself the objective of perfecting a repair solution that is simple to apply.
The solution of the invention should also be capable of being applied to new blades before they are placed in service in order to prevent the part from wearing. The solution should therefore also make it possible to reduce the wear of the plates and increase the gap between the periodic maintenance operations.

Stator blades, turbomachines comprising such blades and method of repairing such blades


A plasma display device is disclosed. In one embodiment, the plasma display device includes a plasma display panel on which an image is displayed, a chassis base coupled to the rear side of the plasma display panel and formed of a material in which plastic and a conductive material are mixed, and at least one circuit board mounted on the rear side of the chassis base and driving the plasma display panel. According to embodiments of the present invention, a lightweight plasma display device can be manufactured, since the weight of the chassis base can be reduced by manufacturing the chassis base from a mixed material of plastic and a conductive material. Also, the grounding and EMI shielding of the circuit board or a signal transmitting member can be achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma display device, and more particularly, to a plasma display device having an improved chassis base structure coupled to the rear of the plasma display device.
2. Description of the Related Technology
A plasma display device is a flat panel display device which displays images by using a discharge effect. Due to its strong performance and characteristics such as high resolution, high luminance, high contrast, shorter image sticking (short-time image-retention), and large viewing angle, and a large but thin screen size, the plasma display device is expected to be the next generation display device which will replace the cathode ray tube (CRT).
Typically, the plasma display device includes i) a plasma display panel, ii) a chassis base coupled to the rear of the plasma display panel, iii) circuit boards that drive the plasma display panel and are mounted on the rear of the chassis base, and iv) a case that accommodates the plasma display panel, the chassis base, and the circuit boards.
The chassis base is generally formed of a metal such as aluminum, and dissipates heat generated by the plasma display panel and supports the plasma display panel and the circuit boards.
However, the metal chassis base may add excessive weight to the plasma display device. Furthermore, to mount the circuit substrates to the metal chassis base, the mounting structure must be manufactured and an additional process for mounting the mounting structure on the chassis base is required, thereby increasing manufacturing costs.

Plasma display device with chassis base formed of plastic and conductive material


During a first P3 sweep that is associated with a first TCI state and during a second P3 sweep that is associated with a second TCI state, the UE stores the RSRP for each UE RX beam for each UE panel. Then, when the UE is scheduled for a downlink transmission through a DCI pointing to two these two TCI states, instead of only selecting the UE RX beam for respective panel based on the highest RSRP, the UE also takes the hypothetical inter-stream interference in to account when selecting the UE RX beams.

Narrow beam transmission and reception schemes are typically needed at higher frequencies to compensate for high propagation loss. For a given communication link, a beam can be applied at both the transmit/receive point (TRP) (i.e., an access point, such as a base station, or a component of an access point that comprises an antenna arrangement and a radio unit) and a user equipment (UE) (i.e., a communication device, such a smartphone, sensor, appliance, table, etc., capable of wireless communication with a TRP). The pair of beams consisting of the beam applied at the TRP and the beam applied by the UE is referred to as a "beam pair link (BPL)" in this disclosure.
Referring to FIG. 1, a beam management procedure is employed to discover and maintain a TRP 104 beam 112 (e.g., a TRP transmit (TX) beam) and/or a UE 102 beam 116 (e.g., a UE receive (RX) beam). In the example of FIG. 1, one BPL has been discovered (i.e., the beam pair that consists of TRP beam 112 and UE beam 116) and is being maintained by the network. A BPL is expected to mainly be discovered and monitored by the network using measurements on downlink (DL) reference signals (RSs) used for beam management, e.g., a CSI-RS (channel-state-information RS) or SSB (Synchronization Signal Block). The CSI-RSs for beam management can be transmitted periodically, semi-persistently or aperiodic (event triggered) and they can be either shared between multiple UEs or be UE-specific. In order to find a suitable TRP TX beam the TRP 104 transmits CSI-RS in different TRP TX beams on which the UE 102 performs RSRP measurements and reports back the N best TRP TX beams (where N can be configured by the network). Furthermore, the CSI-RS transmission on a given TRP TX beam can be repeated to allow the UE to evaluate suitable UE beam (UE RX beam training).
It has been agreed in 3GPP that CSI-RS resources used for beam management can consist of one or two CSI-RS ports. If the TRP has dual-polarized antennas (for example a panel as illustrated in FIG. 2A), one possible working assumption in New Radio (NR) for beam management is to configure each CSI-RS resource with two ports, one port per polarization, i.e. each TRP TX beam is transmitted over two polarizations. In this case the UE can measure an average RSRP over both polarizations and report back the best TRP TX beam(s).
There are basically three different implementations of beamforming, both at the TRP and at the UE: 1) analog beamforming, 2) digital beamforming, and 3) hybrid beamforming. Each implementation has its pros and cons. Digital beamforming is the most flexible solution but also the costliest due to the large number of required radios and baseband chains. Analog beamforming is the least flexible but cheaper to manufacture due to reduced number of radio and baseband chains. Hybrid beamforming is a compromise between the analog and digital beamforming. One type of beamforming antenna architecture that has been agreed to study in 3GPP for the New Radio (NR) access technology is the concept of antenna panels, both at the TRP and at the UE. An antenna panel (or "panel" for short) is an antenna array of single-polarized or dual-polarized antenna elements with typically one transmit/receive unit (TX/RU) per polarization. An analog distribution network with phase shifters is used to steer the beam of each panel. FIG. 2A illustrates an example of a two-dimensional dual-polarized panel and FIG. 2B illustrates an example of a one-dimensional dual-polarized panel, where each panel is connected to one TXRU per polarization.
P2 and P3 Beam Sweeps
It is expected that the determination of a BPL between TRP 104 and UE 102 (i.e. finding a suitable TRP beam and UE beam) starts with a P2 beam sweep (after a potential coarse estimated direction has been found from a P1 sweep, for example based on SSB during initial access). A P2 beam sweep is illustrated in FIG. 3A. A P2 beam sweep is a process that includes the TRP 104 transmitting CSI-RS in different TRP TX directional beams 303 and the UE 102 measuring RSRP for each of the directional beams (or "beams" for short) in the set of TRP beams 303 (using a fixed UE RX beam 301) and sending back to the TRP 104 the CSI-RS resource index(s) (CRI(s)) corresponding to the highest RSRP(s), where each CRI corresponds to one of the TRP TX beams 303. During such P2 beam sweep it is expected that, for each UE antenna panel, UE 102 will apply a wide beam 301 (a.k.a., a non-directional beam or omni-directional beam) (e.g. the widest beam that the UE is able to generate) so that as many propagation paths as possible between the TRP 104 and the UE 102 are captured by the P2 beam sweep. Following the P2 beam sweep, the TRP is expected to do a P3 beam sweep, which is illustrated in FIG. 3B. A P3 beam sweep is a process that includes the TRP 104 transmitting a burst of CSI-RS in (typically) the best reported TRP TX directional beam from the P2 procedure (which in this example is TRP TX beam 312), which means that the UE 102 can sweep through different UE RX directional beams 305, perform measurements on the CSI-RS and select a preferred UE RX directional beam (e.g., UE RX beam 314). How the UE determine the candidate UE RX beams is up to UE implementation.
It is expected that a UE will use two or more panels, preferably pointing in different directions, in order to improve the coverage and increase the order of spatial multiplexing. One example of such implementation is illustrated in FIG. 4, where two one-dimensional panels are located in different directions at a UE 402. The antenna elements (or panels) can be either dual-polarized or single-polarized.
For high-gain beamforming, each beam is only optimal within a small area, and the link budget outside the optimal beam deteriorates quickly. Hence, frequent and fast beam switching may be needed to maintain high performance. To support such beam switching, a beam indication framework has been specified in NR. For example, for downlink data transmission (i.e., a transmission on the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)), the downlink control information (DCI) contains a pointer to a transmission configuration indicator (TCI) that informs the UE which TRP TX beam will be used so that the UE can adjust its RX accordingly. This is beneficial for the case of analog RX beamforming where the UE needs to determine and apply the RX beamforming weights before it can receive the PDSCH.
In case a TRP 504 would like to use two TRP beams pointing in different directions to transmit data to a UE 502 (see FIG. 5), or if two TRPs located at different positions should transmit to one UE simultaneously (i.e. simultaneous multi-TRP transmission), the UE might need to receive data from two different directions, as shown in FIG. 5, for a single TRP 502 with two panels. To handle this, it has been agreed in Rel-16 that a single DCI message can contain a pointer indicating two different TCI states, and hence indicating two different TRP TX beams.


The invention comprises a thermal breaking system that can be used in the manufacture of windows, doors, and other building components. The thermal break system comprises first and second portions. Interposed between said portions is a thermal break. The thermal break and the portions define a longitudinal channel in which a thermal barrier is integrally formed. The thermal break can comprise a longitudinal flange to increase its adhesion to the thermal barrier. Further the thermal break can comprise four side walls that define a hollow center or void.

The invention relates to a thermal break for frames of windows, doors, and other building components. Specifically, the invention relates to an thermal break insulating section for aluminum or other metallic windows, doors, and other building components.
According to the American Architectural Manufacturers Association ("AAMA"), improving the thermal performance of glazing systems has become increasingly important in recent years. See Structural Performance Poured and Debridged Framing Systems, Publication No. AAMA TIR-A8-90. There currently exist a number of design options to improve thermal performance. The primary method of improvement has been to include a thermal break in the framing system. A thermal break breaks the continuity of the framing system with the inclusion of a low conductance material thereby reducing conductivity of thermal energy. The reduction of conductivity is beneficial to a building's energy consumption properties. The reduction can also improve the resistance of framing members to condensation or frost formation. Further, the inclusion of a low conductance material providing a break in the framing system can have the desirable effect of improving the acoustical properties of the framing system. The desirability associated with improved acoustical properties is evidenced by the Federal Aviation Administration's program related to the reduction of Airport Nose Compatibility. See FAA Part 150, Airport Noise Compatibility Planning.
A significant segment of thermally broken glazing systems currently available use a thermal break design known in the art as "poured and debridged." With respect to aluminum framing systems, for example, the aluminum exterior and interior framing portions are extruded as one piece. An elastomeric material acting as a thermal break can be poured into an extruded cavity connecting the interior and exterior framing portions of the one piece extrusion. The pouring in of said elastomeric material constitutes the "poured" portion of the "poured and debridged" design. After the elastomeric cured, the extruded bridge connecting the interior and exterior portions of the one piece extrusion is removed. Said removal constitutes the "debridging" aspect of poured and debridged designs. FIG. 1 shows a typical example of the one piece design, while FIG. 2 shows a poured and debridged one piece design. Other aspects of the "poured and debridged" design will be readily appreciated by the skilled artisan and are not specifically referred to herein, however, an explanation of additional relevant aspects of the "poured and debridged" design is provided in the above referenced AAMA publication.
Various problems exist that are associated with the poured and debridged process. For example, one piece designs require a multitude of dies for each desiring variation in the extrusion. Further, often architects and designers prefer to have the exterior portion of the framing system to be painted or anodized a different color from the interior portion of the framing system. To do so requires the manufacturer to take painstaking steps for example, the steps include masking one half of the one piece extrusion during painting or anodizing and then separately painting or anodizing said masked portion a separate color. Further, the debridging of one piece extrusion generates a great deal of waste. In the case of aluminum systems, high amounts of metal shavings must be discarded. There is also a cost associated with the labor needed to perform the debridging process. Further, the width of the thermal break is limited to the width of saw blades able to debridge one piece extrusions. Thus, limitations associated with saw blade widths translate into limitations of the width of the debridging cut, and ultimately, the width of the thermal break. Still further, the saws and other equipment necessary in the debridging process have a high cost of upkeep, and when being repaired, result in down time in the manufacturing of windows, doors, and other construction components.
As an alternative to poured and debridged systems, it is known to take two separately extruded portions (e.g. interior and exterior portions) of a framing system and join them through the use of a pre-manufactured polyamide plastic strip having glass fibers impregnated therein. Said strips provide the thermal break. However, those systems and methods still conduct thermal energy. Thus, there exists a need to reduce the thermal conductivity of these systems. There also exists a need to increase the structural properties of those systems. There also exists a need to widen the thermal break to decrease thermal conductance and to increase acoustical properties. However, to widen the thermal break requires that the break be additionally reinforced. This could be done by adding polyurethane or similar material as a reinforcement and a thermal barrier. However, polyurethane, as an example, binds poorly to polyamide plastic strips of the type mentioned above. It would be desirable to be able to provide a thermal barrier, polyurethane for example, in conjunction with a thermal break, the thermal barrier providing the structural reinforcement necessary for adding width to the thermal break. The greater widths that could be achieved decrease thermal conductance and increase the acoustical properties of the thermal break system.

Thermal breaking system for construction materials and the like


Systems and methods for operating a power take off of a vehicle are described. In one example, operation of the power take off may be maintained even when slip of a power take off clutch is detected. In particular, the power take off may be operated at a lower output until the power take off may handle larger loads.

A vehicle may be propelled via one or more torque sources. The vehicle may also include a power take off (PTO) unit that transfers torque from a vehicle driveline to an external mechanical device that may be driven by the one or more torque sources. The power take off may rotate at a desired speed to supply mechanical power to the external mechanical device. The power take off may include gears and a clutch. The gears may change a rotational speed of a vehicle driveline to a speed that may be acceptable for the external mechanical device. In addition, the gears may change an amount of torque that a torque source provides to an external device. However, the PTO may not be able to supply a rated amount of torque at all times. For example, the PTO may supply less than a rated amount of torque when a temperature of the PTO exceeds a threshold temperature. Therefore, the PTO may be stopped to reduce a possibility of PTO degradation. In addition, if the PTO loses efficiency in its ability to transfer torque and/or power, the PTO may be stopped to reduce a possibility of degradation.
The inventors herein have recognized the above-mentioned issues and have developed a method for operating a power take off of a vehicle gearbox, comprising: maintaining or increasing a closing force applied to a clutch of the power take off and reducing torque output of an electric machine in response to slip of the clutch exceeding a threshold.
By maintaining or increasing a closing force that is applied to a power take off clutch and reducing output of an electric machine when the clutch of a power take off slips, it may be possible to avoid power take off degradation while the power take off may continue to deliver mechanical power to a device that is external to a vehicle. For example, if power take off clutch slip and a temperature of the power take off device increase causing the power take off to operate outside of a desired operating range, torque output of an electric machine may be reduced so that power take off clutch slip may be reduced. In addition, a temperature of the power take off device may be reduced after torque output of the electric machine is reduced since the power take off clutch may slip less and because less torque may be transferred by the power take off. The power take off may continue to supply power to an external device even though the power take off device may supply less power to the external device. This may allow the external device to continue to operate while reducing a possibility of power take off degradation.
The present description may provide several advantages. In particular, the approach may reduce a possibility of power take off degradation. Further, the approach may allow devices that are coupled to a power take off to continue to operate. In addition, the approach may allow operators to determine rotational angles of power take off rotation where torque is high so that loads that are coupled to the power take off may be adjusted and aligned to smooth power take off operation.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

Methods and system controlling a power take off


A master cylinder includes a housing and a piston movable therein, which is sealed relative to a pressure chamber by way of a sealing element fixed on the housing. The pressure chamber is connectable to an unpressurized supply chamber by at least one transverse bore provided in the piston, wherein the transverse bore has a slot-shaped configuration and opens into at least one groove provided on the outer surface of the piston.

The present invention relates to a master cylinder, in particular for hydraulic automotive vehicle brake systems.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,187,934, for example, a master cylinder is disclosed which includes a piston movable therein, which is sealed relative to a pressure chamber by way of a sealing element fixed on the housing, the pressure chamber being connectable to an unpressurized supply chamber by multiple transverse bores provided in the piston. It is a disadvantage in the prior art master cylinder that transverse bores in the piston must be deburred in order to avoid damage to the sealing element when overriding the transverse bores. Also, many small-diameter bores are required to permit a high amount of fluid flow without causing damage to the sealing element. A large-diameter bore would permit a high amount of fluid flow, however, would increase the risk of destroying the sealing element and cause a large lost travel.


In order to properly expel one or more mobile terminals from a cell that a wireless base station is accommodating, the management station includes at least one processor configured to obtain, for each of the plurality of mobile terminals, speed data indicating a moving speed of the mobile terminal; select one or more mobile terminals each having a moving speed, indicated by the speed data, satisfying a first criterion among the plurality of mobile terminals; and control the wireless base station such that the selected mobile terminals are out of communication with the cell.

A wireless communication system for, for example, mobile telephones has proposed a Self Organization Network (SON) in order to automatically manage the configuration of the wireless communication system, optimize the performance of the system, and deal with problems. One of the proposed examples of SON uniformalizes traffic through the adjustment of transmission power of a wireless base station in which traffic is being concentrated and the peripheral base stations thereof. Specifically, the traffic load on each wireless base station is monitored and transmission powers at base stations are adjusted such that some of the mobile terminals accommodated by a concentrated base station in which traffic is concentrated, are newly accommodated by a peripheral base station under the control of a managing station such as an MME. Namely, transmission powers of the respective base stations are adjusted such that some of the mobile stations accommodated by the concentrated base station are accommodated by the peripheral base station (that is, such that some of the mobile terminals being communicating with a cell of the concentrated wireless base station come out of communication with the cell).

Wireless communication system, management station, and method for managing