Processes for regenerating sorbents at high temperatures, and associated systems, are generally described.

Mitigation of global warming requires the development of new technologies designed for a world in which climate change is a harsh reality. It is widely agreed that a multi-faceted approach is required to distribute risk amongst competing technologies. However, the existing energy, chemicals, and heavy industry sectors hold a powerful advantage in low cost readily available feedstocks and prevailing infrastructure. Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) makes up an important part of the multi-faceted effort because of its compatibility with the status-quo. In the energy industry, such a system would see the continued use of fossil fuels with carbon removed either prior to combustion or after combustion. The removed CO2 may find use in industry or be cheaply and securely returned to the subterranean environment for permeant storage. In other industries such as cement and steel, CCUS may be the only practical option in a carbon constrained future. CCUS could therefore move rapidly and capitalize on the benefit afforded to incumbents while addressing the underlying issue of CO2 emissions.
Current methods of carbon capture have not been widely deployed in part due to technical and economic limitations. Accordingly, improved methods for carbon capture, utilization, and storage are needed.

Processes for regenerating sorbents, and associated systems


The present invention provides a piezo-electric/electrostrictive device including a pair of thin plate sections in an opposed relation to each other, a fixing section for supporting the thin plate sections, and at least one pair of piezo-electric/electrostrictive elements are provided to the pair of thin plate sections. The thin plate sections include movable sections having end surfaces in an opposed relation. Recesses are formed between the thin plate sections and the fixing section and/or the movable sections.

Recently, in the field of optics, magnetic recording, and precision processing, there is a demand for a displacement element capable of adjusting the length and position of an optical path by orders of submicron. In an attempt to satisfy such a demand, developments have been pursued for a displacement element which utilizes a displacement generated by an inverse piezo-electric effect and an electrostrictive effect obtained when a voltage is applied to a piezo-electric/electrostrictive material (for example, ferroelectric substances and the like).
As a conventional displacement element such as described above, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-136665 discloses a piezo-electric actuator having a structure where a piezo-electric/electrostrictive material is formed into a plate-like body which is then perforated, thereby integrally forming a fixing section, movable sections, and a beam section for supporting them into one-piece unit, and an electrode layer is formed in the beam section. In this piezo-electric/electrostrictive actuator, when a voltage is applied to the electrode layer, the beam section shrinks in a direction that connects the fixing section to the movable sections due to the inverse piezo-electric effect and electrostrictive effect. As a result, the movable sections can be displaced along an arc or rotatively displaced within the surface of the plate-like body.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-64640 discloses a technique using an actuator with a bimorph. The electrode of the bimorph is divided into a plurality of electrodes, and the divided electrodes are selectively driven. In this manner, positioning can be performed with high accuracy at high speed. This prior art publication shows (in particular, in FIG. 4) the structure where two bimorphs are positioned in an opposed relation to each other.
However, the conventional actuators described above are entirely constituted by fragile materials which are relatively heavy in weight. Therefore, they have low mechanical strength, and are poor in handling characteristics and impact resistance.
Conventionally, in an attempt to improve the mechanical strength of the conventional actuators, the strength of the section easy to vibrate has been enhanced. For this purpose, the enhancement in the rigidity of the vibration section has been conducted. The enhancement adversely affects the basic properties of the actuator itself, such as resonance characteristics and displacement, and causes a problem in that the adjustment of the basic properties becomes difficult.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Piezo-electric/electrostrictive device and method of manufacturing same


A new annular-core optical fiber is useful, inter alia, for stabilizing the behavior of an optical attenuator based on a Long Period Grating (LPG) against fluctuations in the polarization of the fundamental optical signal. The fiber dimensions and Δn are selected such that when a LPG of some period is used to couple fundamental-mode radiation in the fiber into higher-order modes, the wavelength of peak coupling into an HE mode is removed by at least 30 nm from the wavelength of peak coupling into the nearer of a TE mode or a TM mode.

Long period gratings (LPGs) are known to be useful for attenuating the light guided in the fundamental mode of a single-mode optical fiber. An LPG operates by providing a periodic perturbation that couples light from the fundamental, LP01 mode of the fiber into higher-order modes. The higher-order modes may be core-guided, cladding-guided or radiative. If not inherently radiative, higher-order modes are readily stripped from the fiber by bends, tapers, or other well-known extractive elements.
The resonant wavelength at which the LPG is most effective for modal coupling depends upon the period of the LPG, which can be selected by design. The strength of the coupling is subject to control when, for example, the LPG is induced by periodic microbends which are mechanically created by an adjustable, serrated clamp in contact with the fiber. Because both the resonant wavelength and the coupling strength are subject to control, an LPG is a useful building block for important optical elements such as gain-flattening filters.
Although useful for purposes such as optical attenuation and optical filtering, the LPG is known to suffer certain drawbacks. Specifically, when microbends are used to induce the LPG, the modal coupling induced by the LPG is polarization-dependent. For example, it is often desirable to use an LPG to couple LP01 radiation into the mode (actually a scalar modal approximation) designated LP11. The LP11 mode comprises a triplet of exact modal solutions having different polarizations, denominated TM, HE, and TE. (The HE component, in turn, is a doublet whose individual components have mutually orthogonal polarizations.) Each of the three LP11 components TM, HE, and TE will generally resonate with a given LPG at a slightly different wavelength. At each of these resonances, a locally maximum amount of power may be transferred from the fundamental mode to the higher-order mode. Coupling into the HE component is substantially independent of the state of polarization of the input fundamental-mode radiation. At a certain polarization of the fundamental mode, however, coupling into TM will be mostly suppressed, whereas at the orthogonal polarization, coupling into TE will be mostly suppressed. Because the fundamental polarization fluctuates randomly in many practical fiber-optic transmission systems, the optical attenuation produced by the LPG is found to be unstable in such systems.
Thus, there has been a need for some way to stabilize the behavior of an LPG-based optical attenuator.

Optical fiber having enhanced separation of higher-order modes


A document handling system is adapted to accommodate a plurality of different currency types. The system includes a sensor for counting the number of bills in a stack of bills. An operator interface panel includes a display for displaying information to an operator. An input device specifies the type of currency and the denomination of currency to be processed. The system may further include an authenticating unit for authenticating each of the bills based on one or more attributes detected from each bill. Based on the designated currency type and denomination, the system appropriately adjusts the display and/or selects which attributes are used to authenticate bills.

The present invention relates generally to the field of note counters and, more particularly, to a note counter capable of accommodating a variety of international currency bills and which may be customized according to the type of international currency system being evaluated.
Note counters are machines which are designed to rapidly count the number of xe2x80x9cnotes,xe2x80x9d or currency bills in a stack of currency bills. Stacks of bills to be counted by a note counter are usually pre-sorted so that every bill in the stack is of the same type of currency system and denomination as the other bills in the stack. There are a variety of different types of note counters, ranging in sophistication from those which simply count the number of bills in the stack, without regard to the quality or authenticity of the bill, to those which are capable of discriminating between acceptable and non-acceptable bills, such as between genuine and counterfeit bills, in the stack. In either type of note counter, the operator usually enters the denomination of the bills through some sort of operator interface such as a keypad. Thereafter, in either type of note counter, the aggregate value of counted bills may be computed by multiplying the number of counted bills by the denomination indicated by the operator. In the more sophisticated note counters capable of discriminating between acceptable and non-acceptable bills, acceptance or rejection of an individual bill is based on a comparison of one or more sensed characteristics of the bill with prestored data defining an acceptable bill.
There are a variety of different types of sensors, including, for example, authentication and counting sensors that detect magnetic and/or optical characteristics. Several characteristics which may be detected from the bills include, for example, magnetic content, optical reflectance or transmittance, size (e.g., length or width), watermark, fluorescence, color, etc. The prestored data defines an acceptable bill and is compared to data corresponding to the detected characteristics from the bills under test. The prestored data varies according to the characteristics detected and the type of sensors employed.
As a general rule, the type of sensors, the sensed characteristics, the prestored data and the operator interface which is appropriate (or desired) for a particular note counter will vary according to the type of currency system and the denomination of the bills that are to be processed by the note counter. For example, with respect to the type of sensor and the characteristics sensed, a note counter using an optical sensor and size detection may be appropriate for counting British currency but less desirable for counting United States currency. Similarly, even where the type of sensor and sensed characteristics are otherwise the same, the prestored data defining an acceptable bill will vary according to the currency type and/or denominations to be accommodated. For example, in a note counter using size detection as a discriminating parameter, an xe2x80x9cacceptablexe2x80x9d size for a British £5 note (145.5xc3x9777.8 mm) will differ from an xe2x80x9cacceptablexe2x80x9d size for a German 5 DM (deutsche mark) note (120xc3x9760 mm).
Prior note counters were dedicated to one particular type of currency system. Thus, these note counters were configured for that type of currency system, e.g., the appropriate sensor alignment, the appropriate authentication tests, etc. In some of these prior system, the operator interface only had denomination keys for that particular type of currency system. For example, note counters designed to process United States currency included selection options for the currency denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 and displayed the U.S. dollar ($) sign. Conversely, note counters designed to process British currency included selection options for the British currency denominations of 5, 10, 20 and 50 and displayed the British pound (£) sign. In other system, denominational information was input via a generic numerical keypad.
Regardless of the type of note counter, therefore, it can be seen that the features needed or desired to accommodate a particular type of currency system may differ from features which are needed or desired to accommodate another type. Note counters known in the art do not have the flexibility to accommodate multiple types of currency systems because their features are rigidly dedicated to handling a particular type of currency. For example, such a dedicated counter may be defined to perform a particular type authentication test requiring a particular type of sensor, to sense a particular characteristic of a bill, to compare sensed data a particular set of prestored data defining an acceptable bill and/or to have an operator interface which is fixed to a particular display language, currency symbol and type of currency system.
Consequently, there is a need for a note counter that is capable of accommodating a number of different types of currency systems through its operator interface, sensor(s), sensed characteristic(s), and/or prestored data defining an acceptable bill. The present invention is directed to satisfying these needs.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for counting documents, such as currency from a plurality of different currency systems.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for authenticating currency from a plurality of different currency systems.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for counting and authenticating currency from a plurality of different currency systems.
In accordance with still yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system that automatically determines appropriate operating parameters corresponding to a designated type of currency system and denomination.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system that allows an operator to customize the system operating parameters so that the system can process currency from a plurality of different currency systems.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system that can be easily changed from accommodating one currency type to another, for example, by simply using one or more keys or pushbuttons. For example, depressing one or more keys or pushbuttons may permit scrolling through and selecting from among a plurality of different currency systems that can be processed.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system that can automatically learn the characteristics of authentic currency from a plurality of different currency systems.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system that allows the parameters corresponding to a plurality of different currency systems to be easily changed and/or adjusted.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system that allows a programmed set of operating parameters to be quickly and easily transferred from one system to another.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system that allows a manufacturer to produce a single system for operation in a plurality of countries having different currency systems.
These and other aspects of the invention are embodied in a system for processing a plurality of different types of currency. The system, according to one embodiment, includes an input receptacle for receiving a stack of currency bills to be counted, a counting sensor for counting the number of bills in the stack, and an output receptacle for receiving the bills after they have been counted. A transport mechanism is included for transporting bills, one at a time, from the input receptacle past the counting sensor to the output receptacle. An operator interface panel is provided and includes a display for displaying information to an operator. An input device specifies the type of currency, e.g., country, casino or arcade script, or the like to be processed by the system and the denomination of currency to be processed. A processor is also included for calculating the total value of the bills based on the number of bills of each type counted by the counting sensor and the type and denomination(s) specified by the input device. The total value is displayed, together with a symbol corresponding to the type of currency specified by the operator. The system may further include an authenticating unit for authenticating each of the bills. The system may also include a resident flash memory and be capable of supporting a flash card for interacting with the resident memory.
According to another embodiment, a note counting system is provided with size detection sensors. The size detection sensors are used to measure the size of bills being processed. Based on the measured size, the denomination of a bill being processed is determined. Then, based on the determined denomination, other parameters are automatically selected by the system. For example, master information to be used for authentication can be selected based on the determined denomination. Likewise, the operator interface panel may change to indicate the determined denomination of the bill.
In another embodiment, the system includes a learn mode and a standard mode. One or more sensors are provided, each adapted in the learn mode to process one or more master currency bills to obtain master information associated with at least one attribute of the master currency bills. The sensors are adapted in the standard mode to process a stack of bills to obtain data associated with at least one attribute of the bills. The system further includes a processor that is adapted in the standard mode to determine the authenticity of each of the bills by comparing the data associated with a selected attribute to the master information corresponding to the selected attribute.


A centrifugal separator includes a rotating body rotating in use around an axis. The rotating body comprises a bowl, which comprises a base at one longitudinal end of said bowl, said base defining a rear longitudinal area. An outlet passage extends through the base and an outlet housing is provided in the rear longitudinal area. The outlet housing is communicating with the outlet passage to receive liquid therefrom and the outlet housing has an outlet opening discharging in use liquid from the rotating body. The outlet opening comprises a weir edge defining in normal use a level of a surface of a liquid in the bowl. The outlet housing is rotatable around an adjustment axis and the outlet opening is placed in a side wall offset from the adjustment axis.

A centrifugal separator of this art is known from WO-A-2008/138345, which discloses a centrifugal separator having a projecting casing mounted on an external side face of the base or base plate of the separator. The casing has an open side with a discharge opening placed at an angle relative to the plane of the base plate to allow liquid to be discharges in a partly tangential direction to recover energy from the discharged liquid. In the discharge opening a weir plate is fitted to define the level of liquid in the bowl of the centrifugal separator. In order to adjust said level the weir plate must be substitute by a different weir plate of a different size and thus different weir plate must be kept in stock to provide the possibility of adjusting the level of the liquid in the bowl.

Centrifugal separator and an outlet element for a centrifugal separator


The present invention relates to imaging of a human or animal heart, particularly imaging of movement of the heart and can be used for imaging function and form in a wide range of research, medical, veterinary and industrial applications. In particular, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for imaging a subject heart, the method including the steps of (1) recording at least one in vivo image of a lung of the subject in one or more regions; (2) applying said at least one in vivo image to a 2D or 3D heart model; and (3) reconstructing a 2D or 3D image field of the subject heart.

It is to be appreciated that any discussion of documents, devices, acts or knowledge in this specification is included to explain the context of the present invention. Further, the discussion throughout this specification comes about due to the realisation of the inventor and/or the identification of certain related art problems by the inventor. Moreover, any discussion of material such as documents, devices, acts or knowledge in this specification is included to explain the context of the invention in terms of the inventor's knowledge and experience and, accordingly, any such discussion should not be taken as an admission that any of the material forms part of the prior art base or the common general knowledge in the relevant art in Australia, or elsewhere, on or before the priority date of the disclosure and claims herein.
It will also be appreciated that references herein to 'motion' are interchangeable with 'flow' or 'velocity' (being a function of motion over time).
Cardiovascular disease is a major killer worldwide and diseases of the cardiovascular system such as thrombus formation and pulmonary diseases such as emphysema are leading causes of mortality and morbidity in developed countries. Accordingly, there is a substantial patient population that is in need of cardiac imaging so that appropriate medical therapy management can be instituted. Medical diagnosis is significantly based on echocardiograph (ECG) measurements but these have limited diagnostic value for many medical conditions and the quality can be poor.
Being able to obtain more meaningful measurements and to visually study the mechanically dynamic aspects of the cardiovascular systems would contribute to better understanding of the fundamental operation of the human body and would be a useful aid to the combat of dysfunction and disease.
The ability to recognise and treat disease or dysfunction in the cardiovascular system is dictated by our ability to image the heart and blood vessels with high resolution. In particular, it is important to detect cardiovascular problems before they become clinically evident. The earlier these problems are detected, the better the prognosis. One of the most significant problems associated with measurement of the cardiovascular system is that the constant motion of the heart makes it difficult to visualize the heart and coronary arteries sufficiently to allow full evaluation.
The ability to measure three-dimensional (3D) blood flow fields in vivo is an important capability for studying the effects of blood flow properties on the development, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, such as atherosclerosis. To gain useful information from in vivo blood flow field measurements, non-invasive measurement through optically opaque tissue at high resolution is required.
The development of technologies underpinning in vivo measurements of form and function of the human body are discussed in various reviews. (See for example Fouras A, Kitchen M J, Dubsky S, Lewis R A, Hooper S B and Hourigan K 2009 Journal of Applied Physics Vol. 105).
Various forms of imaging have been developed for non-invasive assessment of the function and structure of the cardiovascular system. For example, cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is based on the same basic principles as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) optimised by the use of ECG gating and rapid imaging techniques or sequences. By combining a variety of such techniques into protocols, key functional and morphological features of the cardiovascular system can be assessed.
Attempts have been made to improve cardiovascular measurement by combining of computer tomography (CT) and MRI. In essence, the very fast acquisition times of CT is used to capture images of the heart while it beats. The images are sequenced to create a movie representing the heart beating in near real time.
Compared to CT, MRI has the advantage of being able to image the heart in any plane, without the need to administer contrast material or subject a patient to radiation. However, like other currently available techniques for flow field measurement in opaque vessels, MRI based techniques, suffer from poor spatial and temporal resolution, limiting the application of these techniques for in vivo flow analysis.
Better results have been achieved with techniques such as Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) in which the displacement of tracer particles is determined using statistical cross-correlation of regions within particle image pairs. Several variants exist for volumetric flow analysis, including Tomographic PIV, volumetric particle tracking and Holographic PIV.
PIV Imaging Generally
PIV is well known for accurate measurement of instantaneous velocity fields. PIV techniques using visible light are limited to optically transparent sample. However, the use of X-rays with PIV has extended the application of this method to opaque tissue, making this imaging mode ideal for in vivo blood flow field measurement.
In PIV, regions of fluid containing multiple tracer particles (typically illuminated by a visible wavelength laser) are imaged at two points in time, separated by a known time interval, and processed using correlation software. Specifically, the image pairs are allocated into discrete interrogation regions. Cross correlation is performed between image pairs on each interrogation region and statistically, the maximum value of the cross correlation is the most likely particle displacement within the interrogation region.
In recent years PIV has been combined with X-ray imaging. The penetrating power of X-rays allows flow to be measured within opaque objects, with applications for non-invasive, high resolution blood flow field measurements.
2D Particle Image Velocimetry
Kim and Lee (Kim G B and Lee S J 2006, Exp. Fluids 41, 195) have measured flow in tubes with particles and blood cells as tracers using X-ray PIV. The methods taught in that study are limited to two components of the velocity (averaged over the dimension perpendicular to the image plane) within the measurement volume. The PIV algorithms used belonged to the prior art relating to optical/laser based velocimetry. These algorithms assume pulsed (instantaneous) illumination and zero out-of-plane flow gradients and therefore fail to take into account the 3D characteristics of imaging real flows using X-rays. This results in a significant under estimation of flow velocity.
3D Particle Image Velocimetry
Recently X-ray PIV analysis has been extended to include 3D flow data. Fouras et al (Fouras A, Dusting J, Lewis R and Hourigan K et al, 2009 Journal of Applied Physics Vol. 102:064916) teach that the correlation peak represents a probability density function (PDF) of the velocity within the measurement volume. When combined with certain assumptions about the flow field, it is possible to convert this volumetric PDF of the velocity to a velocity profile. This results in the capability to measure 3D flow data from single projection X-ray images.
CT is a technique used to reconstruct an object in three-dimensional space from two dimensional projections. Typically, integrated object density in the projection direction is calculated from the X-ray attenuation, which will be proportional to the pixel intensity values on a digital projection image. The object structure is then reconstructed from projection images taken at different viewing angles, using Fourier back-projection or algebraic methods. Variants also exist for reconstruction of objects from few projection angles, which use iterative methods to reconstruct the sample's structure, often exploiting prior knowledge of the sample, for example that it is made up of a single material.
CTXV can thus deliver three component velocity measurements for complex 3D flow fields such as those found in the cardiovascular system. Single projection images are insufficient for evaluating three components of velocity. Images taken at a single projection angle contain no displacement information in the direction parallel to the X-ray beam. This limits single projection X-ray PIV to two component velocity measurements. In a method similar to CT, CTXV overcomes this limitation by using multiple projection angles. Signal-to-noise ratios can be enhanced using phase contrast imaging and phase retrieval methods.
Specifically, as in single projection X-ray PIV of the prior art, cross-correlation functions are calculated for interrogation regions within image pairs. The velocity field is reconstructed in axial slices, defined by the rows of interrogation regions for all projection angles. A three component, 2D, rectangular grid model represents the velocity field for each slice. Estimated cross correlation functions are generated for every angle and every interrogation region within each slice. The estimated cross-correlation functions are generated using convolution of the measured autocorrelation function with the velocity PDF for the interrogation region within the model. The velocity coefficients in the model are iteratively optimized, minimizing the error between measured cross-correlation function and the estimated cross-correlation functions, across all projection angles and interrogation regions simultaneously within that slice. Using this iterative approach, a model is reached which accurately represents the three component velocity field within each slice.
A relatively small number of projections are required and this is important for minimising radiation dosage. It also allows the integration of CTXV with a CT reconstruction such as described above, delivering simultaneous measurement of both form and function.
In particular, International patent application PCT/AU2010/001199 (claiming priority from Australian provisional 2009904481) relates to a very high resolution method and device for CTXV imaging of the movement of living tissue. CTXV has the advantage of offering the best resolution and penetration of all medical imaging modalities, with reduced delivery of X-rays compared to alternative techniques such as high resolution CT. However, any patient exposure to X-rays is a concern and there is an ongoing need to extract as much useful data as possible per exposure to X-rays or more preferably, reduced the amount of X-ray exposure without reducing the quality of data obtained.
In 2011 another medical imaging modality was established with release of the first commercial device for electrical impedance tomography (EIT). EIT creates an image of the relevant part of the body based on conductivity or permittivity from surface electrical measurements. Typically, conducting electrodes are attached to the skin of the patient and small alternating currents are applied to some or all of the electrodes. The resulting electrical potentials are measured, and the process is repeated using various applied currents. However, proposed applications of EIT have not extended past monitoring of lung function, detection of cancer in the skin and breast and location of epileptic foci in the brain.
Another imaging modality in development is hyperpolarized helium MRI (HHMRI). A patient inhales the hyperpolarized gas and MRI is used to show how the gas flows in the lung, and detect whether regions are ventilating normally or abnormally. HHMRI uses a special technique based on alignment of the nuclear magnetic moments of atoms of helium gas so that MRI signals are enhanced by up to six orders of magnitude. Imaging the lung or other areas where the water content was low, conventional MRI had proved inadequate. The hyperpolarized effect is short lived, with the effect decreasing over a period of about 80 hours depending on how the gas is stored and transported. In the past, MRI imaging has often proved inadequate in areas where water content is relatively low, such as the lung, however its application is substantially limited to areas of the body which can be permeated by helium gas.
There is also a need to increase capabilities for measuring both form and function of the heart and other tissue in the vicinity of the lungs in terms of structure, volume and motion and provide a truer 3D reconstruction of flow fields.


A method and system for automatically updating subscriber service accounts to accommodate a numbering plan change, such as an NPA split, is provided. Subscriber service account information, such as account information pertaining to speed dialing, is automatically updated by a subscriber account update process, which runs periodically on an administrative computer system connected to an ISN via a wide area network. The subscriber account update process accesses NPA split tables to determine pending NPA splits. For each pending NPA split, the update process determines impacted ANIs that have existing service accounts. Then, for each such impacted ANI, the update process creates a new service account, which is indexed by the new ANI, to which the impacted ANI is being converted. The new service account includes account information previously stored in the existing account. The existing account is updated to refer to the new account. In this way, a subscriber having an impacted ANI can access the subscriber's service account using either the impacted ANI or the new ANI during the permissive dialing period. In addition, the update process deletes obsolete service accounts a certain period of time after the mandatory dialing period of an NPA split has begun. The updated service account records are automatically stored in the accounts database and are replicated and distributed throughout the ISN to NIDS servers using a data replication and distribution system.

Many telecommunications networks provide services on a subscription basis. A subscriber to a subscription service has an account with the telecommunications service provider that provides the service. The account provides access to service-specific data, customer authorization and billing information, and other information. A subscriber's account is automatically accessed by the service provider's telecommunications network when the subscriber indicates a desire to use the service.
For example, MCI, a large telecommunications carrier, offers a subscription-based speed dialing service. In response to entry of a shortcut code, the speed dialing service automatically dials an associated telephone number, which is retrieved from the subscriber's account. Before using the speed dialing service, the subscriber specifies pairs of a shortcut code and a corresponding destination telephone number, which are stored by the service in the subscriber's account. A shortcut code is typically a single- or double-digit Dual Tone Multiple Frequency ("DTMF") signal, typically sent by pressing buttons on a touch-tone telephone. Once the speed dialing information is specified, the speed dialing subscriber service provides a sort of "memory" for dialing phone numbers frequently called, which operates independent of the physical device used to dial the destination number. Speed dialing is particularly useful, for example, for dialing long numbers greater than ten-digit telephone numbers, such as international telephone numbers, which cannot be stored in the local memory of many telephony devices.
In a typical implementation of a subscription service, the account information, such as the speed dial destination numbers, are stored in a subscriber account that is specific to each subscriber. It is possible for multiple subscription service s to be provided for a single account. Commonly, access to the account is achieved using the subscriber's ANI. An "ANI" is an automatic number identifier, which identifies the telephone number that is assigned to the calling station that originated the telephone call. An ANI is sent with every telephone call made from a calling station, and thus identifies the "caller" of a telephone call.
During typical operation, a subscriber dials into the subscription service account using a specially designated telephone number, such as a toll-free 800/888 telephone number. The subscriber then provides a personal identification number ("PIN") to authorize access to the subscriber's account. The telecommunications network that provides the service accesses the subscriber's account information using the subscriber's ANI, which is passed with the telephone call information.
FIG. 1 is an overview block diagram of the architecture of an example telecommunications network used to provide a subscription-based service such as speed dialing. An intelligent services network ("ISN") 103, commonly known as a call center, provides operator services and other enhanced services, such as subscription-based services, through various electronic devices and computer systems. The ISN 103 is connected to a customer's telephony device 101 through a switching network, such as an external public switched telephone network ("PSTN") 102. The PSTN 102 is connected to the originating telephony device 101 typically by a local exchange carrier ("LEC"), which is not shown.
The ISN 103 includes a number of different client devices, such as one or more audio response units (ARUs) 105, one or more application processors (APs) 108, and various operator consoles 109, which are connected through an Automated Call Distributor (ACD) 104 to the PSTN 102. The components of the ISN 103 are typically interconnected through a local area network ("LAN"), such as an Ethernet LAN 113. The various components of the ISN 103 are used to provide high-level services to telephone customers that access the ISN 103 via the PSTN 102. For example, the operator consoles 109 are used to respond to requests for operator-assisted calls. Similarly, an ARU 105 is used to provide an automated service such as a scripted menu-driven service that is controlled by a customer using a touch-tone telephone. The ISN 103 client devices utilize one or more Network Information Distribution System ("NIDS") servers 110 to store database information, such as the subscription-based service accounts. Typically, the subscription service accounts are created, stored, and managed on a computer system (such as mainframe 111) which uses a data replication and distribution system to distribute, via a token ring wide area network ("WAN") 112, account data to the various NIDS servers 110, which are geographically spread throughout the ISN.
To use the speed dialing service provided by ISN 103, a telephone call (a call) originates from the calling station 101 by dialing the specially designated telephone number. The call is routed by the switching network through the PSTN 102 to the ISN 103 to process the call. The call is received by the Automated Call Distributor (ACD) 104, which routes the call based on the specially designated telephone number to the ARU 105. The ARU 105 processes the subscriber's request and, in doing so, retrieves the subscriber's service account record(s) from one of the NIDS servers 110. The ARU 105 then provides the requested service to the subscriber.
More specifically, the ARU 105 includes a Network Audio Server ("NAS") 106 and an automated call processor ("ACP") 107. The ACP 107 performs application processing and provides instructions to the NAS 106. The NAS 106 is equipped with telephony ports and can receive telephone calls, such as those sent from the ACD 104. The NAS provides a scripted menu (for example, "Press 1 to access your speed dial account; press 2 to change account information . . . "). The NAS 106 accepts caller input via DTMF signals. Once the ARU 105 receives the call that is requesting speed dialing, the subscriber enters a PIN to authorize access to the subscriber's account. The ARU 105 uses the subscriber's ANI, which was passed by the PSTN 102 through the ACD 104 to the ARU 105, to retrieve the subscriber's account records from one of the NIDS servers 110. The ARU 105 through the NAS 106 obtains the subscriber's shortkey selection and then retrieves the corresponding destination telephone number from the speed dialing information stored in the retrieved account records. The ARU 105 then initiates a telephone call request to the retrieved destination telephone number on behalf of the subscriber.
Thus, in typical operation, a subscriber's service account is directly tied to the subscriber's ANI. As a result, when the subscriber's ANI is changed, the subscriber service account that corresponds to the affected ANI must be updated to reflect the new ANI. Different phenomena in a telecommunications system may cause an ANI to change. For example, changes to a numbering plan may affect the distribution of ANIs in a geographic area. In North America, a local exchange carrier ("LEC") is responsible for assigning ten-digit telephone numbers within certain numbering plan areas ("NPAs"). An NPA is commonly known as the "area code," which is the first three digits of a terminating ten-digit telephone number according to the North America Numbering Plan. When the LEC runs out of ten-digit telephone numbers within a particular NPA, the LEC must create a new NPA and reassign some of the existing telephone numbers to the new NPA. As a result, many subscribers' ANIs (their telephone numbers) change. The creation of a new NPA and reassignment of telephone numbers is referred to as an NPA split. An NPA split results in interruptions to account-based subscriber services unless the accounts are updated to reflect the ANI changes. Typically, the subscriber service accounts are updated in a manual process, which relies on an order entry system residing on the mainframe 111 to update each record for each subscriber ANI.
The update problem is further complicated when caused by an NPA split because the ANIs serviced by the LEC are not changed immediately at a specified (or known) time. Rather, the LEC changes the various ANIs in the affected NPA region over the course of several weeks or several months. During this period, known as a permissive dialing period, the LEC can originate telephone calls using either the old ANIs or the new ANIs. When the permissive dialing period ends, the mandatory dialing period begins, and the switch is required to originate telephone calls using new ANIs. Because it is impossible for the service provider to know for a particular ANI the exact moment of the ANI cutover from the old ANI to the new ANI, current systems manually change each subscriber's ANI-based accounts using the order entry system when the mandatory dialing period begins. This may result in interruption to the subscriber's service if the subscriber's particular ANI is cutover sometime during the permissive dialing period (before mandatory dialing begins) and the subscriber's account is not updated until the mandatory period begins.

Method and system for automating updates to subscriber service accounts to accommodate numbering plan area splits


A pool safety sensing system to attempt to reduce the likelihood of drowning visually observes a zone with a camera, and if detected motion occurs, and alarm is generated. The alarm can be visible, audible, text based (email, with or without attached images, instant message) or telephonic. Alarm events can be stored for future reference. Zones of sensing or zones to ignore when monitoring may be defined in the field of view of the camera. Motion thresholds, such as size of moving object, speed of movement, can be employed to adapt to particular location requirements and types of sensing.

This invention relates to swimming pool safety, security and intrusion detection, and more particularly to a video analysis based surveillance system for watching swimming pool area activity.
Some 248 children drown annually in swimming pools, typically as a result of unmonitored children entering the pool area when adults are not present and falling into the pool. 2054 hospital emergency rooms visits related to near-drowning incidents occurred in a recent year, 42% of those requiring hospitalization, with medical costs ranging from $20,000 to $150,000, depending on the severity of the incident.
These pool accidents can happen quickly. 75% of the victims noted above were missing less than 5 minutes.
Typical home security monitoring systems are not suitable for addressing this problem, as they employ remote central station monitoring, which can be slow to respond (or not respond at all). Such remote stations result in notification that is too late given the short response window required to prevent permanent injury to a drowning victim, as brain damage can occur within 3 minutes of drowning.
In an attempt to address the issue of unattended child or unauthorized pool access, alarm systems for swimming pools are available. These systems include water disturbance or displacement detectors which determine when either the surface or subsurface of the water moves or is displaced as a result of a person entering the pool water. Such detector systems have disadvantages, being susceptible to false alarms. Also, since such an alarm does not activate until after the child is in the water, the alarm response is reactive rather than preventive and critical time is lost.
Mechanical safety systems may also be employed, such as fencing the pool area to prevent access to the pool area and/or pool covers to prevent access to the water. These types of solutions do not provide any notification of entry to the pool or pool area, can be expensive to install, require active participation (e.g., locking a gate or installing the cover after each use of the pool), and can be intrusive to the yard (aesthetically unpleasing fencing, for example).

Pool video safety, security and intrusion surveillance and monitoring system


A retractable drinking bottle includes a reel, and a cord which ties a bottle to the reel. In the retracted position the bottle is placed side-by-side to the reel housing, and when the user desires to take a drink the bottle is grasped and pulled away from the reel. Thereafter, the bottle is retractable back to the reel. The reel preferably includes a housing that contains a retraction mechanism and a spool upon which a flexible line is wound. The preferred housing also includes a clip for attaching the reel to the user's clothing or to a vehicle such as a bicycle. An elastic cord is releasable attached to the end of the reel line, and the cord is formed into a loop. The bottle includes indentations sized to be received inside the loop of the cord. The bottle is also formed such that in the retracted position it nests inside the reel housing. The bottle is retractable to the holder after taking a drink, and the bottle is retained by the holder and cannot be dropped. The holder secures the bottle such that it will not vibrate or move about, and a drink is procured while exerting little force on the bottle. An alternate embodiment consists of a retractable reel and an adapter that retains an elastic cord that holds a conventional, cylindrical drinking bottle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a receptacle and cooperative holder for carrying liquids during periods of exercise. More particularly, the present invention relates to a retractable drinking bottle attached to a user directly or to a vehicle such as a bicycle.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Walking or running, bicycling and other similar activities are all popular forms of exercise. During such sustained physical activities the participant often desires a refreshing beverage such as water. Having a water bottle conveniently available ensures the participant's vital body fluids are replenished, without the need to interrupt the physical activity.
Cage bottle holders are well known for bicycles. These simple wire cage-like holders for conventional plastic cylindrical bottles are typically mounted to the bicycle frame below the level of the user's seat. When the cyclist becomes thirsty, he or she grasps the bottle from the holder, takes a drink, and then must replace the bottle inside the cage.
Although such cage holders have proven generally suitable for their intended purposes, they possess inherent deficiencies which detract from their overall effectiveness and desirability. During the time when the cyclist is physically manipulating the bottle, especially when he or she is replacing the bottle in the cage, the cyclist is distracted and may be off balance. This occurs because the cyclist must briefly look at the cage holder and lean towards it to reinsert the bottle inside. As a result, accidents can and do happen when the cyclist fails to see an approaching hazard ahead or falls off the bicycle. Other types of bottle mounts similarly require positioning and alignment of the bottle prior to reattaching it to the mounting portion of the device.
Worse yet than the rider being momentarily distracted or off balance, the rider could loose control of the bottle and drop it, in which case it would need to be retrieved or would be lost. Either stopping to get the bottle or leaving it in the road could pose a safety hazard for that rider, and other riders in the vicinity.
Another problem with cage bottle holders is invariably the cage is too tight or too loose. When the cage is too loose the bottle may vibrate and fall out of the holder, e.g. if the rider hits a big bump in the road. If the cage is too tight, it requires greater force to remove the bottle from the holder and reinsert the bottle back into the holder, which could cause the rider to loose his or her balance and fall. Additionally, scraping or rubbing the bottle against the cage usually damages the ornamental colors painted on the exterior of the bottle.
Although the prior art has recognized to a limited extent the shortcomings of such cage-like holders and other bottle holders, the proposed solutions have, to date, been ineffective in providing a satisfactory remedy. For example, drinking apparatus have been proposed for bicyclists and runners which include an elongate straw running from a restrained bottle. The elongate straw may be rigid and fixed such that one end resides in the bottle and the opposing end extends towards the user's mouth where it is convenient to sip a drink. Alternatively, the elongate straw may be flexible such that it is pushed back into the bottle after use, or retractably wound or self wound using memory flex tubing.
One problem with such devices having elongate straws is that considerable suction is required to drink from the bottle. This may prove exhausting for an athlete who is already tired by exercise. Additionally, the long straw is open on one end meaning the contents of the bottle are subject to contamination. Solutions have been proposed including placing one-way valves in a mouthpiece at the end of the tube extending to the user's mouth, but these systems are complex and expensive.


The present disclosure discloses a method and a device for accessing location related information. The method includes: receiving a request for assigning a network address to a POI; encoding the POI based on a preset geographical name code database to obtain a POI code of the POI; mapping the POI code into a network address, the network address comprising at least one of an IPv6 unicast address, an IPv6 multicast address, or a domain name; and sending the network address to a network device, enabling the network device to obtain location related information of the POI by accessing a site corresponding to the network address.

Presently, a plurality of Internet devices can perform geographical location by attaching to a network device, to determine a geographical position itself. However, the Internet device in a position is still difficult to receive a specified signal for the position and is also difficult to communicate with surrounding Internet devices.

Method and device for accessing location related information


A printed circuit board comprises a plurality of inner and outer holes. An electrically conductive barrel may be disposed in each outer hole, and an electrically conductive barrel and a probe may be disposed in each inner hole. The electrically conductive barrels may protrude from the bottom of the interface board at substantially similar fixed heights. Transfer paths may couple at least some of the barrels in the outer holes to selected barrels in the inner holes.

Printed circuit boards may comprise a variety of circuits, such as amplifiers, filters, and timers. A circuit tester may send electrical test signals to test points on the circuit board to validate the functionality of the circuits. The circuit tester, by analyzing the effects of the electrical test signals on the circuit board, may determine whether the circuit board is operating properly.
A circuit board may interface with the circuit tester through a test fixture that facilitates the transmission of the test signals from the test points to the circuit tester. As the size of circuit testers has increased, the cost of producing test fixtures for such circuit testers has also increased.

Hewlett-Packard Development Compnay, L.P.


The present application provides an adaptor, the adaptor includes a plug, a signal extension cord and an adaptor body; the signal extension cord is in an L shape, and one end of the signal extension cord is connected to a sidewall of a tail end of the plug, the other end of the signal extension cord is connected to the adaptor body, such that the plug, the signal extension cord and the adaptor body are integrally formed a U-shaped structure, and when the adaptor is configured to be plugged into a communication interface of an electronic device, the adaptor body is configured to be located on a back side of the electronic device. The present application provides an adaptor, which has a function of curved structure, and improves the user experience when holding the electronic device.

With the development of technology, various wireless transmission technologies have emerged, and wireless connections can be established for communication between electronic devices.
Currently, there are many types of adaptors on the market that are used to establish wireless communication between two electronic devices such as mobile phones and headsets. The user can plug the adaptor into the mobile phone and receive the audio signal through the wireless headset, without being restricted by the wired headset wire when playing games and watching videos.
As shown in FIG. 1, the plug and the adaptor body of the existing adaptor are directly connected and integrated, and the adaptor body is fixed at the tail end of the plug. The plug and the adaptor body extend in a horizontal direction, such that the overall length of the adaptor is longer. When this kind of adaptor is plugged into a mobile phone, due to the long overall length of the adaptor, the adaptor will protrude a lot from the interface of the mobile phone. When the user is holding the phone horizontally, the adaptor will disturb the hand of the user, which reduces the holding feel of the user.


A non-directional coupler including a semiconductor junction in series with a capacitor, the semiconductor junction being formed so that the threshold frequency short of which it behaves as a rectifier is smaller than the coupler's operating frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of couplers having the function of sampling part of the power present on a main line towards a secondary line for control and feedback. Couplers are generally used in closed-loop gain-control systems to provide a real measurement of the power.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
FIG. 1 very schematically shows an example of a conventional circuit using a coupler. This example relates to the control of a power amplifier 1 (PA) for amplifying a useful signal UTI for a transmit antenna 2. In this type of application, the transmit power is controlled with a power reference PL. A coupler 3 is interposed between the output of amplifier 1 and antenna 2 to extract data proportional to the power actually transmitted. This data is exploited by a detector 4 (DET) providing a measured value MES to a comparator 5 with required power PL. Comparator 5 provides a control signal REG to amplifier 1.
Two large coupler categories are essentially known. A first category relates to so-called distributed couplers, which are formed from coupled transmission lines. A second category relates to couplers with local components, based on capacitors and inductances.
Distributed couplers are directional, that is, they detect the direction of the measured power and are sensitive to dimensional variations of the lines. Such couplers are bulky due to the size of the lines to be formed, especially for radio frequency applications (from several hundreds of MHz to a few GHz).
Couplers with local components are non-directional. They have the advantage of having a large passband and of being more compact.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a coupler is defined by four ports or terminals IN, DIR, CPLD, and ISO. Terminals IN and DIR are on the main line while terminals CPLD and ISO define the coupled secondary line. In FIG. 1, terminal IN is on the side of power amplifier 1 while terminal DIR is on the side of antenna 2. Terminal CPLD is the terminal on which is sampled the information proportional to the power in the main line. In a non-directional coupler, to which the present invention applies, terminals IN and DIR are one and the same and terminal ISO generally does not exist.
The main parameters of a non-directional coupler are:
the coupling factor (generally on the order of from 10 to 30 dB) which corresponds to the path loss between ports IN and CPLD (the other port being loaded with a standardized impedance, generally 50 ohms); and
the insertion loss in the desired passband which corresponds to the path loss between ports IN and DIR (the other port being loaded with a standardized impedance, generally 50 ohms) and which is desired to be as small as possible (smaller than 1 dB and preferably on the order of 0.5 dB) to minimize the attenuation of the wanted signal due to the presence of the coupler.
FIG. 2 shows the electric diagram of a conventional non-directional coupler with local components. Such a coupler is essentially formed of the association of two cells 31 and 32 respectively forming high-pass and low-pass filters. Cell 31 comprises a capacitor C31 having a first electrode connected to transmit line 12 (confounded terminals IN and DIR) and having a second electrode connected, by an inductance L31, to ground. The second electrode of capacitor C31 also constitutes an input terminal of cell 32 formed of an inductance L32 connecting this second electrode to terminal CPLD, terminal CPLD being further grounded by a capacitor C32.
A disadvantage of passive couplers with local components such as that illustrated in FIG. 2 is linked to the dispersions (on the order of 20%) of the inductive and capacitive components upon manufacturing thereof. Such dispersions are reflected on the coupler parameters, which are given for an operating frequency band.
Theoretically, it is also possible to form high-pass and low-pass filters based on resistive and capacitive elements to form a coupler. However, the required number of stages (filter order) results, in practice, in a large size filter. Further, the dispersion problem is also present for resistors.
Above all, such structures are, in practice, not integrable in high-frequency applications (over one hundred MHz) more specifically aimed at by the present invention, due to the small required values, especially for capacitors (less than one picofarad).


An optical recording structure comprises a thermally stable substrate and a polymeric layer deposited on the substrate comprised of a poly(ester-amide). Laser beams are directed at the deposited polymeric layer to record or erase information. The recording structure has an excellent dimensional and mechanical stability on storage, readily and easily records information, and has an ability to be easily and completely erased.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention generally relates to optical recording mediums and techniques for recording of information thereon. More particularly, the present invention relates to an information recording medium, preferably in the form of a disk or in tape format, suitable for use with an optical recording and playback apparatus.
2. State of the art
Optical recording methods have been proposed in which light from a laser is focused upon the surface of a recording medium with sufficient intensity to cause a detectable change in the physical characteristics of the surface material. Among these methods is the establishment of an information pattern of pits in the surface an optical medium. In such methods, the information representative pattern of pits can be formed in the surface of the recording medium by suitably controlling the intensity of the focused light in accordance with the information to be recorded while relative motion is established between the recording medium and the focused light spot.
Recently, there have been efforts to develop an information recording method in which information is written in a thin film of metal or the like formed on a substrate by using a laser ray or beam. According to such a method, information recording has been accomplished by forming holes or recesses in metallic thin films under the action of a thermal energy beam such as a laser ray. This method is suggested in , for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,803.
Dies and pigments have also been employed in information layers of recording media, often to enhance the sensitivity of the recording layers at the particular wavelength of the laser being used. Their use can provide a much sharper recording and playback of the information.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,895 describes a recording medium which includes a light reflecting material, such as aluminum or gold, coated with a dye-containing light absorbing layer, such as a fluorescein layer which is operative with an argon laser light source. The thickness of the light absorbing layer is chosen so that the structure has a minimum reflectivity. An incident light beam then ablates, vaporizes or melts the dye-containing light absorbing layer, leaving a hole and exposing the light reflecting layer. After recording at the wavelength of the recording light, maximum contrast between the minimum reflectance of the light absorbing layer and the reflectance of the light reflecting layer exists.
Techniques for erasing the deformation pattern have involved reheating the thermoplastic film above its melting point to a significantly higher temperature than during recording in order to permit surface tension to smooth out the surface. Selective erasure may be accomplished by confining the heating to a selected area. After cooling, another deformation pattern may be recorded in the thermoplastic film.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,475,760, describes a system for directly recording information in a thermoplastic film as a deformation by using a high energy laser scanning beam of small diameter. The sensitivity of the films for laser film deformation recording can be enhanced by the addition of pigments or dyes which exhibit a high absorption at the laser wavelength. Erasure of the film deformation is accomplished by recording over the information to be erased using a similar laser beam but with a much smaller scan line spacing, preferably to provide overlap of the scan lines.
In a paper entitled "Single Wavelength Optical Recording in Pure, Solvent Coated Infrared Dye Layers" by Gravesteijn, Steenbergen and Van der Veen, experiments on the use of certain dyes for optical recording in digital and video applications at GaAlAs laser wavelengths are reported. The paper was presented at the Proceeding of the SPIE, "Optical Storage Media" Volume 420 Jun. 6-10 1983. The specific dyes discussed in the paper are squarylium dyes and pentamethine dyes. It is disclosed that solubility in organic solvents can be greatly increased by the introduction of t-butyl groups into thiopyrylium end groups. Other U.S. patents which disclose the use of a light absorbing dye in a recording layer include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,412,231 and 4,446,223.
The use of dyes in conjunction with optical recording media comprising a styrene oligomer is disclosed in an article by Kuroiwa et al. appearing in the Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol 22, No 2, February 1983, pp. 343-348. Among the dyes and pigments discussed as being useful is a copper phthalocyanine pigment. Phase separation and incompatibility between the dyes and oligomers are noted in the article as being problems in the use of dyes for optical information media.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,977,064 describes an optical recording medium of two recording media layers with each layer containing different light sensitive dyes. The two layers have individual specific reflectance, transmittance and absorbance which allows for detection of a variation in the amount of light reflected from the boundary between the two layers.
Various optical recording media have also been investigated. U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,782 describes an optical recording medium of a dimer acid polyamide in which information is recordable and erasable. U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,760 describes thermoplastic films utilized as erasable recording media. Suitable thermoplastic films are disclosed as including vinyltoluenebutadiene, polystyrene orthoterphenyl, polyethylene, and nitrocellulose.
The recording medium, of course, is one of the key elements in any optical recording system in which the information is recorded or read by light. Such a system would have usefulness in the storage of audio and video information, data processing and document processing. The commercial viability of an optical recording medium would depend upon such technical parameters as the sharpness in recording, playback of the information, and the useful life of the information medium. Maintaining the sensitivity of a recording medium throughout the cycles of record-read-erase is also an important consideration.
Although many different media have been investigated for possible use in the various aforementioned recording systems, and in particular the laser systems, a suitable recording medium or disk which is stable and economical, yet readily erasable when desired, has yet to be provided. Such a recording medium, would be readily accepted and would fill the void in the video recording market place. The search for improved, erasable optical recording media is ongoing.


An apparatus and method are provided for digitally controlling an oxygen sensor. The apparatus comprises a computer and digital circuitry coupled to the oxygen sensor to convey information between the oxygen sensor and the computer. The oxygen sensor includes a pump cell and at least one Nernst cell configured to indicate the difference in oxygen content in a test medium relative to a reference medium. A pump control circuit operates the pump cell according to signals received from the computer based on output signals from the Nernst cell. A reference voltage circuit enables the computer to determine impedances of the oxygen sensor as a function of sensor temperature and pressure. A Nernst read circuit transmits output signals from the oxygen sensor digitally to the computer. Digital signals received by the computer are compared with stored reference information so as to determine the oxygen content of the test medium.

An oxygen sensor generally measures an oxygen concentration of a test medium, such as exhaust gases of an internal combustion engine, relative to a reference medium, such as the atmosphere. Oxygen sensors find applicability in a wide variety of areas, such as, by way of example, automotive applications, oxygen analyzers and ppO2 meters for determining oxygen concentrations of breathing gas mixtures utilized in scuba gear, soil oxygen sensors utilized in soil respiration studies, electrochemical sensors and optical sensors frequently used in marine biology or limnology oxygen measurements, and other similar types of oxygen sensors.
Oxygen sensors utilized with internal combustion engines are commonly available as either narrowband sensors or wideband sensors. A narrowband oxygen sensor comprises a single measurement cell, called a "Nernst cell," which produces an output voltage that is dependent upon a difference in concentration of free oxygen in a test medium, such as exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine, and a reference medium such as the surrounding atmosphere. The concentration of oxygen in the atmosphere is approximately 20.8%, whereas the concentration of oxygen in exhaust gas is 0% when the engine is operating at stoichiometric conditions. Thus, the difference in oxygen concentration is 20.8%, and the narrowband Nernst cell consequently produces a voltage of approximately 450 millivolts (mV). As the difference in oxygen concentration deviates from 20.8%, however, the Nernst cell produces disproportionate output voltages that are not indicative of the actual oxygen concentration differential. Therefore, narrowband oxygen sensors are not suitable for use with internal combustion engines operating outside of stoichiometric conditions.
A wideband oxygen sensor typically comprises a Nernst cell and a pump cell enclosed within a shared volume. The pump cell is an electrochemical device which selectively pumps free oxygen within the test medium into and out of the shared volume in direct proportion to an electric current directed to the pump. During operation, a wideband oxygen sensor controller uses the pump cell to maintain a stable oxygen concentration within the shared volume such that the Nernst cell produces a steady output voltage of 450 mV, which indicates a 0% oxygen concentration in the exhaust gas. The amount of current that must be supplied to the pump cell and the output voltage of the Nernst cell indicate the actual concentration of oxygen in the exhaust gas relative to the surrounding atmosphere.
Existing wideband oxygen sensor systems utilize an analog control circuit to control the current directed to the pump cell. An inherent difficulty with such systems is that the Nernst cell and the pump cell have internal resistances that are temperature dependent. The temperature of the oxygen sensor must be maintained to keep the internal resistances of the Nernst cell and the pump cell at constant values specified by the manufacturer. Thus, a method of measuring the internal resistances within the oxygen sensor must be employed. Typically, an alternating current (AC) signal is directed through a resistor having a known value, and the resultant attenuation of the AC signal is measured to determine the internal resistance of the Nernst cell. Although the AC signal approach leads to reasonably accurate measurements, the AC signal has a tendency to create oscillations within the analog control circuit, causing it to become unstable. Consequently, the Nernst cell signal must be processed by a low-pass filtering circuit to remove the AC signal and enable the analog feedback loop to operate properly.
A drawback to filtering the Nernst cell signal is that it slows down the entire system. This slowing down of the system is so severe that the system cannot resolve transitioning concentrations of oxygen in exhaust gases, such as during vehicle acceleration, deceleration, and other engine-load changes. While the wideband oxygen sensor is perfectly capable of resolving transitioning concentrations of oxygen, the analog control circuit and filtering circuitry renders the sensor useless except under steady states of engine operation. What is needed, therefore, is a discrete-time, digital controller for an oxygen sensor which accurately resolves oxygen concentrations of exhaust gases during transitioning concentration states, as well as steady states.


A trailer (50) is attachable to a pulling vehicle (22). Attachment to the pulling vehicle (22) provides steering rigidity around a vertical axis (32), permits pivotal freedom around a horizontal transverse axis (30), and optionally permits pivotal freedom around a longitudinal axis (34). A wheel (14), which preferably is steerable, at least partially supports the trailer (50). In a preferred embodiment, a body of the trailer (50) is a clamshell body (52) that is disposed vertically and transversely for traveling, and that includes clamshell portions (54A and 54B). Optionally, the clamshell body (52) is positioned horizontally, the clamshell portions (54A and 54B) are separated, and a tent (74) is erected above one of the clamshell portions (54A or 54B).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to vehicle-attachable trailers. More particularly, the present invention pertains to trailers for non-articulated attaching to a pulling or towing vehicle, for general hauling purposes, for transporting recreational vehicles, and for use as camping trailers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Personal trailers are almost a necessity for home owners who typically need to transport dirt, rock, fertilizer, or building supplies. Trailers have also become a necessity for transporting recreational vehicles such as motorcycles, all terrain vehicles, jet skis, and snowmobiles. Finally, the popularity of outdoor camping and the desire for low-cost lodging has made camping trailers popular. However, backing a trailer is tedious for those who have not developed the skill that is necessary for quick and easy backing.
Camping trailers provide a way to enjoy the outdoors and also avoid much of the cost of lodging. However, the length of conventional trailers make them a nuisance if they are pulled when visiting places of interest, especially towns. And, if left disconnected and unattended, they may be stolen. Thus there is a need for a camping trailer that is both steeringly rigid with the towing vehicle and longitudinally compact.


This invention has as its object to provide an image input system which is easy to use. To achieve this object, an image input system has an image input device (camera) having a plurality of operation modes, and a computer having a plurality of software programs corresponding to the plurality of operation modes, and when the image input device is connected to the computer, when a power supply of the image input device is turned on after the image input device is connected to the computer, or when the image input device is switched to another operation mode while the image input device is connected to the computer, the software program corresponding to the operation mode of the image input device is automatically started.

The present invention relates to a system which connects an image input device such as a digital camera having a plurality of operation modes, and an image processing apparatus such as a personal computer or the like, and inputs and saves images, its control method, and a storage medium.
Conventionally, when an image captured by a digital camera is input to a personal computer, the following procedure is required:
1. The camera is connected to the personal computer via a serial cable.
2. The user starts an application.
3. A TWAIN driver is started from the application.
4. A button or menu command for connecting the camera is pressed.
5. Thumbnails of images in the camera are displayed on the window of the TWAIN driver.
6. The user selects an image to be captured into the personal computer and presses a capture button.
7. The selected image is transferred to the personal computer.
In this manner, in order to capture an image in the digital camera into the personal computer, a given procedure is required, and the user must have certain knowledge. Recently, an RS-232C serial cable is prevalently used as an I/F for connecting a personal computer and camera. This I/F has high compatibility, i.e., is supported by all personal computers, but has low transfer rate. With the use of this I/F, the configuration of image input software such as a TWAIN driver or the like has a fixed procedure for transferring thumbnail data with a small data size first to display image indices in the camera, and then transferring only original images selected by the user.
However, Microsoft Windows98™ formally supports USB (Universal Serial Bus) as a new I/F, and STI (Still Image Captures Architecture and Interfaces) is prepared as a software I/F for digital cameras. USB has a maximum transfer rate of 10 Mbps; an original image can be directly transferred without making the user feel stress as long as it is a compressed file such as a JPEG file or the like. In this manner, an environment for allowing to readily build image input software with a higher degree of freedom without fixing the procedure to that for displaying thumbnails and then transferring only a required original image is in order.
USB can implement hot plugin (a USB device can be plugged or unplugged while a PC is running, and the OS can recognize the plugged or unplugged state), and a mechanism for automatically recognizing the connected camera, and automatically starting a predetermined application associated with the camera by the STI can be provided. As can be seen from the above description, an image can be captured from the camera to the personal computer by the following procedure:
(1) The camera is connected.
(2) The associated application is automatically started. The application automatically starts a corresponding TWAIN driver, which automatically connects the camera and displays thumbnails in the camera.
(3) The user selects an image to be captured and presses a capture button.
(4) The selected image is transferred to the personal computer.
In this manner, steps 2. to 5. in the above procedure can be automated.
The STI has a mechanism for starting corresponding PC software in response to connection of a camera as a trigger. Hence, tedious operation can be greatly reduced, and it is easy even for a novice user of the personal computer to use such system.
However, the STI architecture considers the TWAIN driver as main image input software, and suffers the following shortcomings:
(1) The number of types of applications that can be associated is only one, and the application which runs upon connecting a camera is fixed.
(2) The associated application starts a TWAIN driver corresponding to the camera.
(3) Starting the TWAIN driver means that the application cannot be basically used for purposes other than that for capturing an image into the personal computer.
On the other hand, the digital camera has not only a function of sensing an image, playing back the sensed image on its LCD, and transferring the image to the PC, but also more functions. The number of functions of the digital camera is increasing. For example, the following functions falling outside the range of a function of merely capturing a sensed image into a PC are available:
(1) Slideshow function: All or selected images in the camera are automatically played back on the camera LCD or on a TV via the video output at predetermined time intervals.
(2) On-line image sensing function: An image is previewed on PC software while the PC is connected to the camera. By pressing an image sensing button of that camera or on PC software, the camera senses the previewed image, and automatically transfers the sensed image to the PC. This function become actually usable after USB is supported as a standard I/F. The conventional RS232C can only preview an image for about one frame per sec in a size as small as a thumbnail image, and is not practical.
(3) Divided image synthesis function: In order to sense a panoramic image which cannot be sensed by single image sensing, image sensing is divisionally done a plurality of number of times. These images are automatically stitched by PC synthesis software (to be referred to an stitch synthesis software hereinafter) to form a panoramic image. Upon synthesis, since a common region in neighboring images is detected to automatically recognize the synthesis position, the neighboring images must have common portions. To facilitate such image sensing, the camera has an image sensing mode called a stitch assist mode. At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, a preview image 4b is displayed while displaying a previously sensed image 4a on an LCD, so that the user can easily find the common portion (overlap region). Note that, reference numeral 5 denotes a release switch.
Also, these functions will more often be used in future since they are superior features of digital cameras over film cameras (silver halide cameras).
On the other hand, digital camera users may not always be more or less accustomed with PC operations. That is, users who used film cameras so far may purchase digital cameras as their alternatives. Hence, such users are accustomed with camera operations but are not accustomed with PC operations. Means which allow such users to easily use functions in addition to a function of transferring an image to the personal computer are strongly demanded.

Image input system connectable to an image input device having a plurality of operation modes


A method and apparatus for positioning labels on a graphical display, which, in an illustrative embodiment, can include labels for aircraft icons in an air traffic control system's computer graphics display. The present invention advantageously identifies clusters of overlapping labels and objects, and calculates non-overlapping label positions on a cluster by cluster basis. In another aspect of the present invention, the movement of labels is accomplished in a smooth, incremental fashion so that cognitive distraction to the user of the graphical display terminal is kept to a minimum.

Interactive computer graphics applications frequently require that two-dimensional labels be attached to objects that are displayed on a screen. Such labels provide information about the objects they are related to and are useful for users of such systems. These labels are typically drawn as a two-dimensional overlay on top of the two-dimensional or three-dimensional graphical object rendition that otherwise appears on the graphics display screen. One example of such an application is an air traffic control system where a graphical display of aircraft in flight is rendered on a display screen for use by an air traffic controller in controlling air traffic within a given region of interest. Within the region, for each real aircraft, there is rendered a displayed aircraft icon. Each aircraft icon has a two-dimensional label is attached to it, providing crucial information such as flight number, speed and altitude.
Since the airplanes move in and out of the region of interest over time, so do the aircraft icons and their respective labels. Because the air traffic controllers need ready access to all the information presented on their computer graphical display, it is important to prevent the labels from overlapping each other and other crucial features in the display such as the aircraft themselves. This can cause the information presented to become very difficult to read. In certain circumstances, overlap problems become so severe that the controllers cannot read the labels or other features on the display.
In some air traffic control computer graphical displays, the users must manually reposition the labels so that they do not overlap or hide other useful information. This step requires additional work on the user's part and is, in fact, not even a practical solution in the case of a three-dimensional perspective graphical display, where changing the viewpoint causes large changes in the spatial relationship of the displayed graphical objects.
The problem of how to reposition labels to alleviate the forgoing problems may appear intuitively simple at first, but it is actually quite difficult. The general problem is known to be 'NP-hard' by those of skill in the art. That means that for large problems it is not possible (within the current understanding of computer systems) to generate a system that can find the optimal solution to the problem in a reasonable amount of time. This is because finding the optimal solution requires searching through the entire potential search space. Previous automated label placement schemes do exist, however, all have limitations that result in them being less effective than is needed and desired.
In addition to the air traffic control systems, object label placement on computer graphical displays can be problematic in other applications as well. For example, similar labeling problems occur in command and control displays, which show the location of friendly and enemy units on two-dimensional or three-dimensional displays. Automatic label placement may also eventually be needed in 'Augmented Reality' displays (which display virtual labels over three-dimensional real objects in the environment as a person looks around). Aircraft head-up displays are another example of where object label placement may becomes increasingly important.
The object label placement problem for computer graphics applications is closely related to placement problems for static displays, such as maps. Cartographers have long faced the problem of assigning text labels to map features while avoiding label overlap and covering other important features. There are a number of references, but a good summary and evaluation of existing techniques is provided in: "An Empirical Study of Algorithms for Point-Feature Label Placement", published by Jon Christensen, Joe Marks, and Stuart Shieber in ACM Transactions on Graphics 14, 3 (July 1995). An extended version by the same author is provided in Labeling Point Features on Maps and Diagrams. Technical Report TR-25-92. Center for Computer Technology, Harvard University, 1992 (revised June 1994). Another version of this discussion is available in Graphics Gems IV, Paul Heckbert (editor), Cambridge Academic Press, 1994.
In fact, label placement problems have proven to be NP-hard. For example, in a situation where each aircraft label can be placed in one of twenty positions adjacent to the aircraft, and where there are one-hundred total aircraft in the region of interest and on the graphical display screen, the search space consists of 20100 total sets of possible positions to evaluate. Clearly, this is far too many to evaluate in any reasonable time frame given the current state of computational technologies. Thus, an NP-hard problem means that there is no way to sufficiently prune this search space to avoid exponential growth caused by the combinatorics of the problem. A conceptual way of thinking about this is to imagine placing one label down on one aircraft. That takes up space that is no longer available for any other label. It is possible that, as labels continue to be placed, the situation will eventually arise where another aircraft label requires the space occupied by the first aircraft's label. Thus, decisions made early on in the label placement process can have ramifications much later in the placement process. The problem grows exponentially as the number of aircraft and possible label positions increase.
Existing label placement algorithms can be divided into two categories: exhaustive search and greedy search. Exhaustive search techniques essentially perform Depth First Searching with various bracketing and pruning heuristics. They are effective only on a small data set and are known to be less practical than greedy search algorithms. Greedy algorithms do not guarantee an optimal solution, however, finish in a practical amount of time by limiting the search space. A wide variety of greedy algorithms exist, ranging from random placement, to force-based methods, to mathematic optimization techniques, and discrete gradient descent (i.e. repositioning one or more randomly-chosen labels simultaneously and keeping the new configuration if it results in an overall improvement). Greedy algorithms in general have trouble escaping from local minima. Local minima are effectively non-optimal solutions that require repositioning large numbers of labels simultaneously to overcome the dangers associated with the solution. One particular algorithm is called 'Simulated Annealing' yields the best results. It is essentially a stochastic gradient descent search that sometimes allows the label placement to change to a worse solution, according to a particular schedule. 'Simulated Annealing' has the characteristic that as the time it is allowed to run approaches infinity, the solution generated approaches the optimum. The references above compare all published algorithms and conclude that Simulated Annealing finds a better solution than all other algorithms for all sizes of data sets.
The problem domain for label placement in an interactive computer graphics environment differs significantly from label placement for static maps and displays. In an interactive computer graphics environment, the three main differences are that; (1) the labeled objects change position with time, (2) little time is available for computing the label positions (a fraction of a second), and, (3) a human user observes the labels as they move around the display. Therefore, the object label placement system should minimize performing actions that distract the user from the underlying tasks. In the case of a static map, a placement system can run for several minutes, or longer, to generate a good solution. In an interactive computer graphics application, the time allotted for such calculations may have to be limited to 100 milliseconds, or less per iteration. Thus, the problem becomes finding a 'good enough' solution within the available time. Simulated annealing is not an appropriate solution for the interactive computer graphics application. The computation time required is too large to support in an interactive application, and it does not give any consideration to the cognitive distraction potentially caused by the solution.
Heuristic methods for interactive computer graphics applications focus on generating solutions with minimal computation and limited exploration of the total search space. Two main types of solutions have been tried, and they are force-based methods and fixed-position methods.
Force-based methods are commonly used in visualization of graphs and other objects. Labels and objects that are not to be covered are given a repulsion force. Other labels that encroach on such an object are 'pushed away' by a repulsion force inversely proportional to the separation distance. These forces are often modeled on springs or gravitational forces. In practice, force-based methods perform poorly respecting the label placement problem. They are vulnerable to getting stuck in local minima, even in simple cases. For example, when two aircraft cross paths, their associated labels can get stuck on the opposite sides because the repulsive forces prevent them from crossing paths. The optimum solution is for the two labels to swap positions, but the force-based technique instead pushes the labels in the opposite directions. Force-based schemes also perform poorly in the area of minimizing cognitive distractions. Labels stuck in between other labels or objects are jostled about; resulting in oscillations and wiggling that attract unwarranted user attention.
Another approach is the examination of a fixed number of label positions about an object. In general, this is a locally greedy approach with no backtracking. Each aircraft has a fixed number of positions where the labels can be placed in positions spaced equally about and relative to the aircraft icon. For example, there may be eight positions equally spaced about a circle with the aircraft icon located at the center of the circle. The system then iterates through all the aircraft icons on the display, one by one, in some order. For each aircraft, it checks all eight spaces to see which are empty, and puts the label in an empty position (if available, in the preferred location, such as the upper right corner). If none are empty, it picks one of the positions that causes the least amount of overlap. This method is efficient because of its simplicity and can generate reasonable results. However, it is very susceptible to local minima, and in practice the labels placed according to these solutions tend to oscillate.
Thus there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for placing two-dimensional labels on an interactive computer graphics display.

System and method for automatic placement of labels for interactive graphics applications


A child care storage having a steam sterilizing apparatus, wherein the steam sterilizing apparatus includes an outer tub defined by walls of a steam sterilizing compartment; a hollow upstanding coupling member installed on the center bottom of the outer tub and having an interlocking hole formed at its top; an inner tub inserted inside the outer tub for accommodating infant accessories therein, the inner tub having a reception hole formed at its bottom center and a latch part formed along the circumference of its bottom center; an evaporation vessel having a flange along its circumference, the flange being coupled to the latch part of the inner tub; a flat-type heater installed under a rear bottom surface of the evaporation vessel; and a supporting plate for placing the flat-type heater thereon.

Recently, with a rise in the standard of living, there have been increasing demands for diversified types of special-purpose refrigerators, for example, a kimchi refrigerator for the ripening of kimchi, a cosmetic cooler for storing cosmetics at a low temperature and so forth.
Though such various types of special-purpose refrigerators have been developed, developments have rarely been made upon a storage apparatus for an exclusive use in baby or child care.
If infant food or infant products such as powdered milk, breast milk, medicine and the like are stored in a conventional household refrigerator, they will be soaked with the odors of other foods stored in the refrigerator. As a result, the quality of the infant food or the infant products will be deteriorated and, even worse, hygienic problems may be resulted.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a multi-functional child care storage including a plurality of functional compartments for storing or treating infant food or infant products in various ways.
In order to meet the need, there has been suggested a multi-functional child care storage, for example, which is disclosed in a co-pending, commonly owned application, International Application No. PCT/KR2006/000575 filed on Feb. 21, 2006, entitled 'MULTI-FUNCTIONAL CHILD CARE STORAGE', which is hereby incorporated by reference. The multi-functional child care storage has a plurality of functional compartments. Among them, a steam sterilizing compartment accommodates infant products such as a baby bottle, a handkerchief, a gauze, a toy and so forth, and sterilizes these by hot steam.
FIG. 1 schematically shows the steam sterilizing compartment of the multi-functional child care storage. The steam sterilizing compartment 140 has a door 143 at its top by being closed and opened to define a sterilizing space 141, and a steam sterilizing unit 142 to disinfect the sterilizing space 141 by hot steam.
The steam sterilizing unit 142 is placed in the steam sterilizing compartment 140 such that it closely fits on the surface of walls 112. Moreover, the steam sterilizing unit 142 includes a rack holder 142d having a plurality of steam passage holes 142f thereon; an evaporation vessel 142a molded from stainless steel or the like, which is placed below the rack holder 142d and accommodates water therein; a heater 142b placed underneath the evaporation vessel 142a to uniformly heat the evaporation vessel 142a and vaporize water within the evaporation vessel 142a into the sterilizing space 141; a steam outlet 142c incorporated with the door 143 for discharging steam from the sterilizing space 141; a cover 142i mounted on the steam outlet 142c for preventing a user from injuries caused by releasing steam, and forcibly emitting hot steam toward the rear thereof; a rack 142e on which a plurality of upstanding supports 142g are mounted to receive the infant accessory thereon, further having steam passage holes 142j which are formed at its bottom.
Therefore, as described above, it is possible to sterilize the baby bottle 1 stored in the sterilizing space 141 by using hot steam generated by the steam sterilizing unit 142.
Meanwhile, in the steam sterilizing compartment 140, since the evaporation vessel 142a and the rack holder 142d become contaminated gradually in use, they are needed to be cleaned often.
However, there is a drawback that it is difficult to disassemble the evaporation vessel 142a from the steam sterilizing compartment 140.
Accordingly, it is preferable that the rack holder 142d and the evaporation vessel 142a are allowed to be easily released for cleaning and/or repair.

Child care storage having steam sterilizing apparatus