A safety restraint anchoring device for use in a vehicle includes an anchor plate having an opening defined therethrough, the plate being adapted to have multiple portions thereof fixed to a support panel in a vehicle body, and a rigid rod member connected to the anchor plate. The rod member has a loop shaped portion extending through the opening and projecting away from said plate, and the loop shaped portion is adapted to securely receive a child restraint seat attachment tether. The rod member also has ends welded to a surface of the anchor plate and the loop shaped portion of the rod member extends through the opening in the plate. The anchor plate is adapted to be welded or otherwise fixed to a lower surface of the support panel and the loop shaped portion of the rod member extends through an opening defined in the support panel and projects away from the support panel when the anchor plate is fixed to the support panel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to child restraint anchorage systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to the following: a weld-on child restraint anchor, which preferably uses a vehicle""s parcel shelf box structure for attachment, an installation kit for installing a child restraint anchor system into a vehicle as part of the vehicle""s parcel shelf box, and to methods of using same.
2. Background Art
In accordance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) 213 and 225, manufacturers of child restraints have begun producing a new generation of child safety seats, which attach to vehicles in a new way. These new safety seats include a top tether strap designed to improve seat stability and to reduce the potential for head injury. Beginning Sep. 1, 1999, vehicle manufacturers have equipped most new passenger cars (excluding convertibles), minivans, light trucks, and SUV""s with corresponding top tether strap anchorage attachments. With a new generation child seat, a consumer installs the seat in the rear seat of a vehicle using the seat belt to secure the bottom of the seat, and the child seat tether and tether hook to secure the top of the seat to the vehicle""s child anchor.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, conventionally many vehicle manufacturers use a bolton style child anchor 2 that is secured with a bolt 4 to a child anchor weld nut 6, which nut is typically welded to a flange on a vehicle""s front stiffener panel 8 or a separate smaller bracket (not shown). The anchor 2 has an opening 14 to which a tether hook 24 of a child safety seat may be connected. This style of child anchor is relatively straight forward, but it has some disadvantages and inefficiencies associated with its use. For example, one disadvantage with the conventional arrangement of FIGS. 1, 2, is the time-consuming and awkward installation process. Installation of such arrangement occurs at the vehicle factory, and specifically it takes two workers approximately 45 seconds to install it at 3 seat locations, and installation requires the use of an anti-rotation jig to guarantee that the anchor is straight and facing forward. In a vehicle assembly line context, relative to its size and complexity, this is a time-consuming and awkward process.
The conventional design is also obtrusive in appearance, and can hinder easy tether hook attachment. To improve the appearance, a hinged tray cap 12 is often used to cover the bolt-on anchor when not in use. However, when in use the hinged cap is in an open position that exposes an undesirable portion of the body colored steel around the anchor, which is not otherwise covered by any cover panel, such as the panel 20. It is sometimes also difficult with this conventional design to install the tether hook 24 of a child safety seat (not shown), because the projecting head of the bolt 4 is disposed relatively close to the tether securing opening 14 in the projecting portion of the anchor.
Other known disclosures of mounting structures for seats exist, such as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,157, but such mounting structures do not provide the anchoring necessary for restraint systems. Additionally, other various anchorage devices are known in the art for anchoring cargo and other materials, such as are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,991,271; 4,842,458; 4,219,229; 4,072,113. These anchorage systems are far more complex and difficult to install than the present invention, are generally obtrusive, and are not designed to meet the strict government testing requirements required of anchors for safety restraints.
While numerous anchorage systems of various types exist, and in light of the new Federal Safety Standards, a need still exists for an improved anchorage system for a child safety seat having enhanced structural strength and reliability, but which is also economical to manufacture and install, convenient to use, and which also has an improved aesthetic appearance.
The present invention has been developed to overcome the foregoing limitations and disadvantages of known anchorage systems for child safety seats.
According to the invention there is provided a safety restraint anchoring device for use in a vehicle having a support panel, the assembly comprising:
an anchor plate having an opening defined therethrough, the plate being adapted to have multiple portions thereof fixed to the support panel; and
a rigid rod member connected to the anchor plate, the rod member having a loop shaped portion extending through the opening and projecting away from the plate, and the loop shaped portion being adapted to securely receive a child restraint attachment tether.
Such safety restraint anchoring device according to the invention is very advantageous in comparison to conventional anchoring devices for several reasons. One important advantage is that the anchoring device of the invention greatly reduces or even eliminates the undesirable moment that occurs at the point of attachment of the anchor plate in the conventional device as shown in FIGS. 1-2. Particularly, the connection of the rod member to the anchor plate and the connection of multiple portions of the anchor plate to the support panel permits the loop shaped portion to yield enough relative to the support panel that the ultimate force vector applied to the support panel when the tether pulls on the loop shaped portion is more parallel to the panel surface. Correspondingly, the anchoring device has greater reliability and durability than conventional designs.
Further, such anchoring device is much less expensive to manufacture and install because it has fewer components than the conventional designs, noting that the anchoring device includes only the anchor plate and bent rod which are connected to the vehicle, and because it can be easily installed outside of an assembly line environment.
Preferably, the anchor plate is welded to a lower surface of the support panel, while the loop shaped portion of the rod member extends through an opening defined in the support panel and projects away from the support panel when the anchor plate is fixed to the support panel such that said anchor plate is concealed from view within a passenger compartment of the vehicle beneath the support panel. This is desirable because the anchoring device does not detract from the appearance of the vehicle interior, i.e., the only nominally visible portion thereof is the projecting loop shaped portion of the rod member, and because there is no component of the anchoring device (such as the bolt head in the conventional device of FIGS. 1, 2) to interfere with connecting a tether to the loop shaped portion.
Also, it is preferred that the support panel includes a main panel and a stiffener connected thereto, and the anchor plate has one end thereof welded to the main panel and an opposite end thereof welded between portions of the main panel and the stiffener. These features are very advantageous because the anchoring device is very securely, yet easily connected to the support panel through the welds, essentially forming a strong front box section by the connected main panel, stiffener and anchor plate.
According to the present invention there is also provided a method for forming a child restraint anchor structure in a vehicle, comprising the following steps: forming a child restraint anchor assembly, including an anchor plate having an opening defined therein and a rod member fixedly attached to the underside of the anchor plate with a loop shaped portion extending through the hole; and fixing the anchor assembly to a support panel of a vehicle body having an opening formed therein such that the loop shaped portion of the rod member also extends through the opening in the support panel. The fixing step involves securing one end of the anchor plate to a portion of the support panel, and then securing an opposite end of the anchor plate to another portion of the support panel.
Again, such method according to the invention is relatively simple and economical to perform in comparison to conventional practices, and yet results in it a very strong and reliable anchor device as discussed above; it is preferred that the support panel includes a main panel and a stiffener connected thereto, while the anchor plate has one end thereof welded to the main panel and an opposite end thereof welded between portions of the main panel and the stiffener.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a safety restraint anchoring system for a vehicle which has a relatively simple construction, as well as excellent strength and reliability.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system which is also easy and convenient to install.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a system which is inconspicuous and easy to use.
Other objects, advantages and salient features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, which should be read in accordance with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the following description, like numbers refer to like parts.

Anchorage system and apparatus for a child safety seat and method of using same


An image enhancement system includes a scanning device including a photosensor element having a plurality of different color channels. The system also includes an exposure control module configured to vary an exposure time of the plurality of different color channels to generate at least two different exposure level scans of a media object. The system further includes an imaging application configured to generate an enhanced scanned image of the media object using image data obtained from the at least two different exposure level scans.

Media objects, such as photographs, slides, documents and other types of media, often include image portions of varied lighting (e.g., some portions that are lighter or darker than other portions of the same media object). A scanned image of the media object oftentimes does not capture a desired level of detail and/or contrast for each of the different portions of the media object.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Disclosed herein are compositions and methods for the treatment or prevention of neurological disorders. Also disclosed are compositions and methods for the treatment or prevention of skin pathologies. The invention further discloses compositions and methods for the modulation of acetylcholine receptor activity. Antibodies generated against SLURP-1 and related proteins are also included.

The Ly-6/uPAR superfamily of receptors and secreted proteins contains a carboxy-terminal consensus sequence motif CCXXXXCN (SEQ ID NO:1) and one or several repeats of the Ly-6/uPAR domain, which is defined by a distinct disulfide bonding pattern between eight or ten cysteine residues (See Ploug et al., J. Biol. Chem., 268, 17539–17546 (1993); Ploug and Ellis, FEBS Lett., 349, 163–168 (1994); Casey et al., Blood, 84, 1151–1156 (1994)).
The superfamily can be classified into two subfamilies on the basis of the presence or absence of a GPI-anchoring signal sequence (See Adermann et al., Protein Sci., 8, 810–819 (1999)). GPI-anchored Ly-6/uPAR receptor proteins include the retinoic acid-induced gene E (RIG-E, or human Ly-6E), the E48 antigen (human Ly-6D); Ly-6H; the PSCA; CD59 or protectin; Lynx1 and uPAR (See Shan et al., J. Immununol., 160, 197–208 (1998); Brakenhoff et al., J. Cell Biol., 129, 1677–1689 (1995); Horie et al., Genomics, 53, 365–368 (1998); Reiter et al., Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 95, 1735–1740 (1998); Tone et al., J. Mol. Biol., 227, 971–976 (1992)). The E48 gene is known to be expressed in human keratinocytes, but not in lymphocytes, and it modulates desmosomal cell-cell adhesion of keratinocytes (Brakenhoff et al., J. Cell Biol., 129, 1677–1689 (1995); Schrijvers et al., Exp. Cell. Res., 196, 264–269 (1991)). The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) interacts in dynamic association with integrins and initiates signaling events that alter cell adhesion, migration, proliferation and differentiation (See Blasi and Carmeliet, Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell. Biol., 3, 932–943 (2002)). uPAR is a distant Ly-6/uPAR family member and, contrary to other members, it contains three contiguous copies of the Ly-6/uPAR domain. Differential cleavage of these domains regulates the multiple functions of uPAR (See Palfree, Immunol. Today, 12, 170 (1991); Montuori, et al., J. Biol. Chem., 277, 46932–46939 (2002)).
The second subfamily, which has a Ly-6/uPAR domain but no GPI-anchoring signal sequence includes SLURP-1 and SLURP-2 (See Adermann et al., Protein Sci., 8, 810–819 (1999); Tsuji et al., Genomics, 81, 26–33 (2003)). Mutations in the gene encoding SLURP-1 have been implicated in Mal de Meleda (MdM), as the MdM gene is located in a cluster of Ly-6 genes on chromosome 8q24.3 (See Fischer et al., Eur. J. Hum. Genet., 6, 542–547 (1998); Fischer et al., Hum. Mol. Genet., 10, 875–880 (2001); Eckl et al, Hum. Genet., 112, 50–56 (2003); Ward et al., J. Invest. Dermatol., 120, 96–98 (2003)).

Use of SLURP-1 compositions for treating schizophrenia

Applied Research Systems ARS Holding N.V.


A process for cancelling the effects of noise jamming in a radar system having a dual-polarization monopulse antenna, a computer processor, and target detection algorithms, wherein the noise jamming produced by a hostile electronic countermeasure on a target is cancelled so as to detect the target in the optimum detection channel. The process consists of the steps of receiving signals from multiple monopulse polarization aperture combinations of the radar antenna, sampling the signals from the radar antenna, digitizing the sampled signals, calculating combination values based upon the samples of the digitized signals, computing several potential target detection channel signals based upon the combination values and samples of the digitized signals, applying the detection channel signals to the computer processor and selecting the optimum detection channel signal for detection of the target using the computer processing whereby the signal is then applied to target detection algorithm of the radar processor.

In modern radar electronic warfare, a variety of counter-measures are used by hostile or enemy targets to avoid detection and/or deny range information, the distance between the aircraft and the target. For example, a pilot of an enemy aircraft with an on-board or escort ECM system wishes to avoid being prey to a missile by denying range for missile launch envelope calculation by another radar. A typical radar ECM is the noise jammer which conventionally broadcasts random in-band electronic energy to overcome for a period of time the ability of a victim radar system to detect and obtain range measurements of, or range on, the target being protected by the noise. Methods have been devised to overcome this kind of jamming, as for example, the polarization canceller. Recently, rapidly blinking and polarization agile noise jamming ECM techniques have been developed. Blinking jamming results when the enemy jammer periodically broadcasts powerful noise energy to defeat conventional polarization canceller ECCM techniques with rapid blink rates, because as the radar system's receive polarization adjusts to the jamming noise, the noise disappears. In polarization agile noise, the enemy ECM system switches rapidly between different polarizations of antennas. Conventional Polarization canceller ECCM for noise jamming fails for this jamming technique as well, when it is too rapidly agile, because as the radar system becomes accustomed to one polarization, another polarization is transmitted by the hostile target.
Furthermore, conventional polarization ECCMs for noise jamming techniques do not operate well with multiple jammers in the antenna main lobe. Such techniques are configured to cancel only single jammers in the main lobe, and are ineffective against multiple jammers.
Consequently, it would be an advance in the art for radars to be able to and cancel the effects of multiple noise jammers in the main lobe order to range on and track enemy targets in range and doppler.

Polarization ECCM technique for radar systems


In an upright (3) of a sewing machine (1), a thread spool holder (24) is mounted in a recess (13) so that it can pivot out of the recess (13). On this holder, thread spool pins (23) are placed, as well as an arm (35), on whose upper end thread guidance elements (33) are fixed. For use, the cover (15) which covers the thread spool holder (24) in the stowed state is opened, and the thread spool holder (24) is pivoted out from the recess (13).

The present invention relates to a thread spool holder for a plurality of needle thread spools.
On household sewing machines, a pin for holding a thread spool, also called a needle thread spool, is mounted typically on the part near the upright, for the most part on the top side or on the rear side. The pin can be arranged vertically or horizontally and is often formed so that it can be moved and lowered axially into the sewing machine when the sewing machine is being transported or not being used.
In the course of expanded possible uses for household sewing machines, especially if embroidering devices are used on these machines with suitable adapters, for each color change of the needlework, the needle thread and thus the needle thread spool must be exchanged. Consequently, several needle thread spools with various threads or thread colors are required. In commercial sewing machines or embroidery machines, for this purpose it is known to arrange multiple thread spool holders, in multiple in the configuration of so-called carousels, next to the sewing machine. It is further known to place such multiple thread spool holders above the sewing area on the upper arm of the sewing machine. Because commercial embroidery machines are always set at a fixed location and do not have to be put away after use, these usually rather voluminous thread spool carousels, which are free-standing or arranged above the embroidery machine, do not disrupt the handling of the machine. Such known devices are not suitable for household sewing machines, which are put away in a case after use and for which there is often very little room in the homes.

Thread spool holder for a plurality of needle thread spools

Fritz Gegauf Aktiengesellschaft BERNINA-Nahmaschinenfabrik


A manufacturing method of a pattern transfer mask includes the following steps. A basic mask is provided. The basic mask includes a plurality of patterns formed by a patterned absorber layer on a substrate according to a first writing layout. A photolithographic process is then performed by the basic mask to obtain individual depth of focus (iDoF) ranges of each of the patterns and a usable depth of focus (UDoF) range of the patterns. At least one constrain pattern dominating the UDoF range is selected from the patterns in the basic mask. The rest of the patterns except the constrain pattern are non-dominating patterns. A second writing layout is then generated for reducing a thickness of the patterned absorber layer in the constrain pattern or in the non-dominating patterns.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing method of a pattern transfer mask, and more particularly, to a manufacturing method of a pattern transfer mask with an improved usable depth of focus (UDoF) range.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the continuously improved semiconductor integrated circuit technology, the patterns of the semiconductor devices become finer for increasing the integrity of the integrated circuit. However, the finer the pattern becomes, the smaller the requirement for size uniformity becomes. As the patterns are generally formed by photolithography processes, deviations in the exposure process may be a factor influencing the size uniformity of the patterns.
In the exposure process, many parameters such as the exposure amount and the depth of focus may contribute to the critical dimension (CD) results. The pattern transfer mask used in the exposure process generally has pattern groups with different pattern densities. Based on the acceptable CD variation ranges of the result patterns, each of the pattern groups on the pattern transfer mask has an individual depth of focus (iDoF) range, and a usable depth of focus (UDoF) range of the pattern transfer mask can be defined by the iDoF ranges of the pattern groups with different pattern densities. As the integrated circuit designs become more complicated, the UDoF range of the pattern transfer mask becomes smaller, and the process window will be limited accordingly.

Manufacturing method of pattern transfer mask


A molding apparatus for the manufacture of pipe advantageously uses a cooling plug that is adjustably-secured to the extrusion head to compensate for misalignment of the extrusion head relative to recirculating mold blocks. This provides a simplified adjustment for adjusting the molding apparatus to correct for wall thickness variations in the molded pipe. This apparatus can be used in combination with existing alignment systems.

Various methods have been used for forming double wall corrugated pipe. The corrugations of the double wall pipe are initially formed from a first stream of plastic drawn into contact with mold blocks that define the shape of the corrugations. A second stream of plastic is subsequently extruded to form the inner wall of the pipe and merges with the inner edge of the corrugations. The double wall corrugated plastic pipe, due to the effective placement of material, can withstand significant axial loads and is commonly used for forming of plastic pipe in a diverse range of diameters. In addition to its high strength, the double wall pipe has the advantage that the inner wall of the pipe provides a smooth interior surface for the flow of liquid along the length of the pipe.
In order to obtain the desired strength in the molded plastic pipe, it is important to effectively center the extruder, and in particular, the extruder head relative to the circulating or moving mold blocks of a corrugator. This alignment determines tolerance variations in the thickness of the walls from one side of the pipe to the other side of the pipe. Improved and consistent strength is obtained when there is little or no variation in the pipe wall thickness about the circumference of the pipe.
Various approaches have been used to adjust the alignment of the extrusion head with the recirculating mold blocks. The combined extrusion head, extruder, and corrugator, are large and have a high mass. Therefore, aligning of the extruding equipment to the corrugator is difficult and somewhat sophisticated. The other approach is to adjust the mold blocks of the corrugator while keeping the extruder fixed. Depending upon the manufacture of the corrugator equipment and the type of mold blocks being used, this approach may be slightly more advantageous but it is still difficult and time consuming. Furthermore, poor alignment is expensive as excess plastic material is used to obtain the necessary strength. Excess plastic also contributes to slower manufacturing rates and/or higher costs.
In the manufacture of high strength plastic pipe such as double wall pipe, some ribbed pipe and changing thickness solid wall pipe, a cooling plug is associated with the extruder head and is designed to initially support the inner wall of the pipe and to also remove heat therefrom.
The present invention discloses an improved method and apparatus for the manufacture of such high strength pipe where problems associated with the mold blocks leading to excessive tolerance variations in the thickness of the walls of the pipe, are reduced.


If an amount of fuel is not increased and a direct injection air-fuel ratio learning has not been completed, fuel injection from a port fuel injection valve is stopped without executing EGR, fuel injection control is executed such that the fuel injection occurs only from an in-cylinder fuel injection valve, and the direct injection air-fuel ratio learning is executed. If the amount of the fuel is increased, the fuel injection from the port fuel injection valve is stopped without executing EGR and air-fuel ratio feedback control, and an engine and an EGR valve are controlled such that fuel injection occurs only from the in-cylinder fuel injection valve.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a control device for an internal combustion engine and a hybrid vehicle. More specifically, the invention relates to a control device for an internal combustion engine that is equipped with an in-cylinder fuel injection valve that injects fuel into a cylinder, a port fuel injection valve that injects fuel into an intake port, a purification catalyst that is provided in an exhaust system, and an exhaust gas recirculation device that recirculates exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine to an intake system of the internal combustion engine, and to a hybrid vehicle that is equipped with the control device for the internal combustion engine.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, as this kind of control device for an internal combustion engine, there has been proposed a control device that calculates an adhesion ratio as a ratio of adhesion of fuel injected from an injector to a wall surface of an intake port and a wall surface of an intake valve and a residual ratio as a ratio of port adherent fuel and valve adherent fuel remaining adherent to the wall surface of the intake port and the wall surface of the intake valve, referring to a map, and calculates a fuel injection amount through model calculation using the calculated residual ratio and the calculated adhesion ratio as parameters during base operation in which the target air-fuel ratio is set to a value in the vicinity of a stoichiometric air-fuel ratio (e.g., see Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-187071 (JP-2007-187071 A). If the amount of fuel is increased with the target air-fuel ratio being set different from a value during base operation, this control device calculates a residual ratio and an adhesion ratio at the time of the increase in the amount of fuel referring to a map other than the one used during base operation, and calculates a fuel injection amount through model calculation using the calculated residual ratio and the calculated adhesion ratio as parameters. Thus, the fuel supplied into the cylinder is optimized.
By the way, in a control device for controlling an internal combustion engine that is equipped with an in-cylinder fuel injection valve that injects fuel into a cylinder, a port fuel injection valve that injects fuel into an intake port, and an exhaust gas recirculation device that recirculates exhaust gas of the internal combustion engine to an intake system, the suppression of a deterioration in exhaust emission properties at the time of an increase in the amount of fuel for increasing the amount of injected fuel with a view to adjusting the temperature of an exhaust catalyst has been recognized as a task. In fuel injection control of the internal combustion engine, air-fuel ratio learning as the learning of a fuel injection amount for making the air-fuel ratio approach a theoretical air-fuel ratio is executed to restrain the exhaust emission properties from deteriorating. However, when the amount of fuel is increased, the execution of this air-fuel ratio learning is not suitable. Thus, it has been desired to restrain the exhaust emission properties from deteriorating by executing air-fuel ratio learning at a more suitable timing.

Apparatus for controlling the learning of the air fuel ratio of an internal combustion engine


A method and apparatus for encoding data for wireless transmission. The invention includes multi-level coding in which data is partitioned between two encoders, one for encoding Most Significant Bits (MSBs) and the other for encoding Least Significant Bits (LSBs). By partition bits separately for the MSBs and LSBs, the complexity of the decoder may be reduced. The MSBs and LSBs are interleaved such that each MSB is a function of just one LSB, simplifying branch metric selection during Viterbi decoding. This also allows parallel de-interleaving by the receiver, which reduces the interleaving latency of the receiver. A block interleaver jointly optimizes the symbol hamming distance of the symbols and the bit hamming distance of each constituent encoder for the MSBs and LSBs.

Many wireless systems implement encoders and decoders for reliable transmission of data across wireless channels. The purpose of forward error correction (FEC) is to improve the capacity of a channel by adding carefully designed redundant information to the data being transmitted through the channel. The process of adding this redundant information is known as channel coding. The two major forms of channel coding are convolutional coding and block coding. Convolutional codes operate on serial data, one or a few bits at a time, while block codes operate on relatively large (e.g., couple hundred bytes) message blocks.
The most popular among the schemes is the use of Binary Convolutional Codes (BCCs) for encoding the data and a Viterbi decoder for decoding the data. Viterbi decoding at the receiver is one of the most sophisticated blocks in the physical layer.
With the FCC recently (2002) providing GHz bandwidth in the unlicensed spectrum, it is now possible to provide data rates exceeding Gigabytes per second (Gbps) in wireless systems. However, providing Gbps data rates in a wireless system using convolutional encoding and Viterbi decoding requires the processing of more than a billion sequential Add-Compare-Select (ACS) operations in one second. This task is not possible to achieve with current state of the art hardware, as the time needed to perform an ACS operation exceeds one nanosecond. Hence, multiple Viterbi decoders are needed to operate in parallel to meet real-time constraints. Unfortunately, this solution greatly increases hardware complexity and reduces the efficiency of the Viterbi decoder.
This is a relatively new problem, since previously not enough bandwidth was available in wireless systems to make it an issue. Hence, there was no need to design such high speed decoders. Current Viterbi decoders can go up to 480 Mbps for systems using Ultra-Wide Band (UWB). Multiple decoders make Gbps rate possible but at a significant increase in hardware cost.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a solution for designing Gbps wireless systems with reduced decoder complexity compared to traditional designs for Gbps systems.

Method and apparatus for encoding interleaving and mapping data to facilitate GBPS data rates in wireless systems


A dynamic authentication process having multiple tiers of validation. A first tier of validation authenticates the credit transaction based upon static personal identification numbers. If this first tier of validation is satisfied, a threshold determination is made as to whether a secondary tier of validation is required. These thresholds are defined by either the service provider or the card holder to address the additional costs of a second tier of validation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to methods for validating transactions, and more specifically the present invention is directed toward a dynamic method for credit authentication.
2. Related Art
Credit card, calling card, and bank card fraud cost businesses (and consumers) millions of dollars annually. Current security mechanisms are not fail-safe, and protection mechanisms for consumers and businesses require improvement to stem these fraud-related losses.
Today, the validation of credit transactions is ineffective to deter persons intent on committing fraud. For example, anyone with a credit card number and expiration date can charge to the account when ordering by phone or by computer dial-up. This problem is further exacerbated by the ease with which credit card numbers can be obtained. One need simply sift through the trash for discarded statements, receipts, and carbons to obtain valid credit card numbers.
Calling card transactions exhibit similar problems. For example, calling card numbers are routinely "surfed" at airports by people watching over the shoulders of card users as they key in the calling card number. Thereafter, the calling card number is distributed and rampant fraud results.
One conventional method for combating fraud has been the provision of static personal identification numbers (PINs). Typically, these PINs are defined by the user to reflect personal information (e.g., birth date, anniversary date, etc.). While the personalization of these PINs aids the user in remembering these numbers, it also aids a person in guessing the PINs. This security risk increases when users define the same PINs for multiple cards.

Method for authenticating credit transactions to prevent fraudulent charges


There is provided a strain-relief, liquid tight for connecting conduit or the like to a bulkhead such as an electrical box, with the connector having a body having front and rear portions, and a substantially hollow inner throughbore formed along a longitudinal axis thereof. The front portion of the connector body is adapted for attachment to a bulkhead. A flexible seal member is mounted at least partially within the hollow inner throughbore for receiving a conduit inserted therethrough, this seal member facilitating a substantially liquid tight seal about an inserted conduit during use. An at least partially hollow grip for selectively gripping the conduit is included, and a clamp nut is telescoped over the rear portion of the body for selective longitudinal adjustment therealong. The longitudinal adjustment of this clamp nut provides inward radial compression of the flexible grip about the conduit. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the grip member comprises a plurality of gripping fingers cantilevered from a ring-like base portion, and the seal member is at least partially disposed within the grip member. A cam surface is provided in the interior of the body, and a compression member on the clamp nut urges the gripping fingers against this cam surface thereby causing the fingers to be compressed radially inward. This results in the conduit being gripped and also enhances the sealing of the seal member about the conduit.

Numerous devices have been utilized to connect conduit, cable, wire and the like to electrical boxes and similar bulkheads. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,470, (issued to Studenski) depicts a screw-type cable fitting wherein the securing of a cap nut (11) to the device forces the free ends of clamping lamellae inwardly to hold the cable within the fitting. Additionally, a packing ring may be provided wherein said ring is radially compressed against the sheath of the cable to provide a seal. Another screw-type coupling is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,657 (issued to Heniger), wherein the threading of a cap nut onto the coupling causes a plurality of prongs to collapse a sealing element. Likewise, U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,079 (issued to Navarro) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,348 (issued to Kitagawa) show similar arrangements for cable fittings.
None of these references, however, provide a liquid-tight and strain relieving connector having not only an improved liquid-tight seal and superior gripping of the conduit or cable being connected, but also a means for sealingly attaching the connector to a bulkhead.

Liquid-tight, strain-relief connector for connecting conduit and the like


A cap assembly includes a valve seat member having a tubular outer wall adapted to be mounted on an open top end of a container, and an inner tube disposed in the outer wall and having an axis parallel to an axis of the outer wall. The inner tube has a bottom end formed with an aperture. The outer wall is formed with a radial outlet. The valve seat member further has an L-shaped fluid conduit with an open bottom end that is adapted to communicate an interior of the container with the radial outlet. A stem member extends upwardly through the inner tube via the aperture and has a bottom end provided with a valve piece. The stem member is biased such that the valve piece seals the open bottom end of the fluid conduit. A cap body has a top portion formed with an opening, and a peripheral portion mounted on a top end of the outer wall of the valve seat member. A press member has an operating portion extending upwardly and slidably through the opening and a pressing portion abutting against a top end of the stem member. The stem member is movable downwardly such that the valve piece is moved away from the open bottom end of the fluid conduit when the operating portion of the press member is pressed downwardly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cap assembly adapted to be mounted on an open top end of a container, such as a heat insulating flask, more particularly to a cap assembly which can be operated by applying pressure to a press member of the same to permit pouring out the contents of the flask.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, the open top end of a heat insulating flask is closed by a cap which plugs tightly the top end or which is mounted threadedly on the top end of the flask. The cap should be removed or loosened when pouring out the content of the flask. Therefore, the heat insulating effect of the flask is reduced, and the flask is inconvenient to use. Moreover, injuries might result when a flask containing hot fluid therein is accidentally overturned without plugging the open top end of the flask tightly.


An advanced image intensifier assembly provides enhanced functionality. A grounded photocathode provides shielding from electromagnetic interference, improving the ability to work in multiple light conditions. Bi-directional wireless communication and non-volatile storage allow critical information to be permanently stored and read wirelessly at a scanning station, easing in identification of units. Because bi-directional communication components can be embedded within an image intensifier assembly, existing end-user night vision devices can be upgraded by simply replacing the image intensifier assembly. For enhanced safety, a programmable shutdown capability is provided. This renders the device inoperative in the absence of continuous input, either wireless or manual, from an authorized operator, thus rendering the device useless if captured by enemy combatants. Finally, direct 1-volt operation enables the device to be powered by, for example, a single AA battery.

This specification relates to the field of night vision devices, and more particularly to an advanced image intensifier.
Image intensifiers are used in night vision devices to enhance images in low light conditions. As a general principle of operation, photons representing an image are converted into electrons, which are then substantially amplified, and finally the enhanced electron stream is again converted to photons on a phosphorescent screen, yielding a green image. There are at least four recognized "generations" of night vision technology, with the generations characterized by increasing range and clarity of images.
Up until the late 1990's image intensifiers incorporated non-gated power supply technology. The advent of gating power supplies (known in the night vision industry as "auto-gated power supplies", referring to the fact that they incorporated feedback and control circuitry to automatically vary the duty cycle of the photocathode gating signal in response to operating levels within the image intensifier), enabled "unfilmed" image intensifier technology and improved the performance of image intensifiers in daylight conditions.
But there are problems with currently available auto-gated power supplies. The primary disadvantage is electromagnetic interference (EMI). Because of the fast rise and fall edges of the high voltage gating signal, high EMI emissions result, making it difficult and expensive to meet the requirements of military night vision EMI specifications. The EMI emissions from an image intensifier incorporating a currently-available auto-gated power supply emanate primarily from the front face of the image intensifier. This is because the high voltage gating signal that is applied to the photocathode causes it to radiate from its full active area. Because of the EMI disadvantages, night vision manufacturers have, in many cases, been prevented from achieving fast enough rise and fall times to enable gating duty cycles low enough (less than 0.001%) for full daylight operation.


A method for determine blurring in a test video sequence due to video processing includes detecting blocks within each frame of the test video sequence that have valid image edges. An edge point within each valid image edge block is selected and a series of points defining an edge profile in the block along a line normal to the valid image edge at each edge point is defined from an enhanced edge map in which video processing blockiness artifacts have been removed. From the edge profile a blurring value is estimated for each frame or group of frames within the test video sequence. Additionally a reference blurring value may be derived from a reference video sequence corresponding to the test video sequence, which reference blurring value may be generated at a source of the reference video sequence and transmitted with the test video sequence to a receiver or may be generated at the receiver. The reference blurring value is then compared with the blurring value from the test video sequence to produce a relative blurring value for the test video sequence.

The present invention relates to video quality of service, and more particularly to the measurement of blurring in video sequences due to video processing.
A number of different factors influence the visual quality of a digital video sequence. Numerous subjective studies have shown that the amount of blurring in the video sequence is one of the factors that has the strongest influence on overall visual quality. Therefore the ability to objectively measure the amount of blurring in the video sequence is a key element in a video quality metric. A codec developer or compression service provider may use this information to modify the compression process and make informed decisions regarding the various tradeoffs needed to deliver quality digital video services.
Although studies have been done in blur identification, most blur identification approaches, such as spectrum, bispectrum and maximum likelihood based approaches, were developed under the assumption of uniform blur or under the restriction of only tolerating the existence of white Gaussian noise. The blurring effect resulting from block Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) based compression may vary from one block to another due to different quantization parameters used for coding different macroblocks. Additionally noise originated from quantization of DCT components is not independent in the spatial domain, but contributes to blocking errors and high frequency noise around edges. Blur distortion in MPEG and H.263 video sequences is caused by DCT quantization. When the quantization truncates the high frequency DCT coefficients completely, the loss appears as blur in the video sequence. Because quantization level changes across block boundaries, the resulting blur as well as quantization noise vary accordingly.
A single-ended blur estimation scheme was proposed by Jiuhuai Lu in the Proceedings SPIE 4301—Machine Vision Applications in Industrial Inspection—San Jose, Calif., January 2001 in a paper entitled "Image Analysis for Video Artifact Estimation and Measurement". The scheme has several steps, including pre-processing to eliminate artifacts that produce spurious edges, evaluation point selection to choose appropriate places for blur estimation, blur estimating at each selected evaluation point and averaging to provide a frame-based blur estimate. For blur estimation edges of blocking boundaries may be reduced by simple lowpass filtering. The evaluation point selection determines a set of image edge points on the basis of edge intensity and connectivity to eliminate blurring due to other than quantization in compression. Finally a statistical approach is used to estimate the extent of picture blur by extracting an edge profile spread at the selected edge points using a norm of the edge gradient as follows:                1) compute the gradient vector at the current evaluation point,        2) sample the edge image e(x,y) along both sides of the gradient vector centered at the evaluation point,        3) set the data series of the sampled edge values as the edge profile at the evaluation point,        4) compute the edge profile spread.The edge profile p is centered at point (x,y) being evaluated and is equally spaced. An autocorrelation of the edge profile is obtained and used to obtain the edge profile spread. The edge profile is corrected if it has a tilted baseline before computing the autocorrelation function. The blur estimation of the video picture or frame is the average of the edge profile spread at all chosen evaluation points. This disclosed technique is general and does not provide specific details for providing an accurate and robust measurement, and only applies to single-ended applications, not to double-ended or reduced-reference applications.
What is desired is to provide an accurate, robust, repeatable and computationally feasible method of measuring blurring in video sequences for use in any application that requires video quality measurement.

Measurement of blurring in video sequences


Disclosed herein are processes for hot rolling billets of uranium that have been alloyed with about ten weight percent molybdenum to produce cold-rollable sheets that are about one hundred mils thick. In certain embodiments, the billets have a thickness of about ⅞ inch or greater. Disclosed processes typically involve a rolling schedule that includes a light rolling pass and at least one medium rolling pass. Processes may also include reheating the rolling stock and using one or more heavy rolling passes, and may include an annealing step.

Uranium that may be isotopically enriched in 235U may be alloyed with molybdenum for use as a reactor fuel. One desired configuration of such an alloy is a 10-15 mil (0.010-0.015 inch) foil strip of uranium that is alloyed with about ten weight percent molybdenum. Such material may be fabricated by cold rolling a sheet of the alloy that is about one hundred mils (about one-tenth inch) thick to the desired final thickness (10-15 mils). However, it is difficult to produce sheet stock that is one hundred mils thick in quantities that are sufficient for practical use. A principal reason for this difficulty is the result of a fundamental difference between the effectiveness of typical hot rolling processes that may be used on unalloyed uranium and the results of those same hot rolling processes when they are used on uranium that is alloyed with molybdenum. Unalloyed uranium foils may fabricated by casting a thick billet (⅞ inch or thicker) and then using standard hot rolling processes to reduce the thickness of the thick billet to the desired thickness (e.g., about one hundred mils thick). However, when those same standard hot rolling processes are used on comparable thick cast billets (⅞ inch or thicker) of uranium alloyed with ten weight percent molybdenum, the billets typically fail (break) during the hot rolling process. This renders thick cast billets of uranium/molybdenum generally unusable for foil production. To overcome this problem, various alternate production techniques have been suggested or employed. For example, in one alternate process, a thick (e.g., ⅞ inch or thicker) billet of uranium alloyed with molybdenum is cast, and then it is milled (machined) to one-tenth inch thickness for the subsequent cold rolling process. However, this first alternate method produces an unacceptable amount of scrap. In a second alternate method, a thin (e.g., ⅜ inch thick) billet of uranium alloyed with molybdenum is cast and then it is hot rolled using the same rolling schedule (reduction steps and temperatures) that is applicable for unalloyed uranium. While such thin billets typically do not break during these hot rolling processes, very large quantities of these thin castings would be required to produce the amount of foil needed for commercial applications. What are needed therefore are more reliable and practical methods for using thick castings (⅞ inch or thicker) of uranium that is alloyed with about ten weight percent molybdenum as the starting material for preparing stock material that is suitable (i.e., that is about one hundred mils thick) for cold rolling into foil.

Hot rolling of thick uranium molybdenum alloys


When a message having at least one attachment is obtained for indexing, it is indexed as N+1 separate documents, where N is the number of attached documents. If the message is part of a message thread, then information regarding the last message in the thread is retrieved, and search index attachment meta data for the last message is extracted. A unique identifier is computed for the newly obtained attachments, and used to search for matches in the attachments for the last message in the thread. If there is a match, then the newly obtained attachment is not indexed, but the unique identifier of the previously indexed matching attachment is added to a body index document for the new message. A unique identifier associated with the new message is also added to a list of parent identifiers associated with the attachment.

Electronic messaging systems, such as electronic mail ("email"), have become ubiquitous for both business and personal use. Examples of email applications include Microsoft® Outlook, Outlook Express, and Web based email systems provided through an Internet browser program, such as services provided through Google, Yahoo, and other Web portal providers. Email systems are often architected in a client-server software model, in which client software is provided in end user computer systems to enable users to compose, send and receive messages, while a server software component is provided to perform various centralized functions.
Typical email applications provide a user with a graphical user interface through which messages can be composed and sent, and through which messages can be received. A number of mailbox constructs are usually maintained for the user, including an Inbox to store received messages, an Outbox into which messages are put pending being sent, and a Sent mailbox for storing messages that have previously been transmitted. An email message usually includes or is associated with a list of destination addresses or user names identifying users to which the message is to be delivered, sometimes known as a "TO:" field. A "FROM:" field is also included or associated with a message, and identifies the send of the message. A "SUBJECT:" field for an email message includes a text string defining the subject of the message. A message body contains the content of the message, including text, images, links, or other content. A number of separate documents may also be attached to the message before it is sent, containing additional content to that contained within the message body. An "ATTACH" button object or the like is often provided in the graphical user interface. If the user uses the mouse to click on the "ATTACH" button, the user interface allows the user to indicate one or more documents to be attached to the message, such that they are conveyed with the message to the indicated recipients. Content stored in attached documents may be of any specific content type or format, including text, audio, video, or other application specific content. After the message body, destination email addresses, and any attachments to the message are defined, the user can click on a "SEND" button or the like to cause the message to be sent.
When a message is received, the email client software provides the ability for the receiving user to reply to the received message, for example by way of a "REPLY" and/or "REPLY ALL" button within the graphical user interface. Clicking on the "REPLY" button sets up a message, including the received message, for editing and sending back to the original sender of the received message. Clicking on the "REPLY ALL" button sets up a message, including the received message, for editing and sending back to the original sender and any other recipients of the original message. Often, the message sent back to the original sender includes both the original message body, as well as any attachments that were included with the original message. When a reply is sent that includes all previous message information, such as attachment documents, such a reply is sometimes referred to as a "reply with history". The original sender, or any other recipient of the reply message, may then similarly generate another reply. A series of reply messages, based on a single "root" message, each of which may add some amount of text or other content to the preceding message or reply, and typically each having a common associated "SUBJECT:" string, may be referred to for purposes of explanation herein as an email message "thread".
Existing email systems also provide the ability for a user to perform text searches across messages in the various mailboxes that contain messages. In order to improve the performance of such operations, it is useful to create and maintain a "search index" data structure. A search index enables efficient matching between tokens in a search query and the contents of messages. In order for the contents of any document, such as an email message, to be represented in a search index, the document must go through an "indexing" step, resulting in information describing the document contents being added to the index. Unfortunately, indexing large numbers of documents can be expensive both in terms of CPU utilization and search index size. For each document indexed, multiple processing steps may be required, such as conversion from a document markup format to a searchable or plain text format, language detection, tokenization, stemming and insertion into the index.
When a message thread is generated, the messages within the thread frequently re-send the same attachment multiple times, without modification. This results from use of the "reply with history" feature. As a result, when messages in a thread are indexed into the search index, an attachment may be re-indexed every time a user adds a message to a thread including the attachment. For example, if messages sent using a REPLY command are stored in an OUTBOX structure, including their attachments, those attachments may be re-indexed each time a message in the thread is received to the user's INBOX, and each time a message the thread is sent and stored in the user's SENT mailbox. Thus for purposes of document indexing, each message in a thread is treated by existing systems as a new object. Existing email clients that support attachment indexing index every attachment, regardless of whether or not is a duplicate of an attachment that occurred in a previous message.
For the reasons above and others, it would be desirable to have a new system for indexing email messages that avoids re-indexing of duplicate attachments that may be present in message threads. The system should advantageously reduce the total number of document index operations performed, while supporting a full text search index that enables searching across all messages stored in one or more user mailboxes.

Method and system for providing a search index for an electronic messaging system based on message threads

International Business Machines Corporation


A technique for supporting over-the-top video-on-demand separates metadata ingest and real content ingest such that navigation needs only the metadata ingest to have been completed. The real content ingest can occur later if the navigation results in the real content being selected and if the selected content has not been ingested already. Additionally, content identifiers with limited range are used over and over to identify a practically unlimited range of available over-the-top content by mapping virtual content identifiers to dynamic content. The content metadata and real content ingest are synchronized on a video-on-demand system using the dynamically allocated content identifiers. Playlists can be virtualized with a logical content identifier which maps to a list of virtual content identifiers. Existing video-on-demand infrastructures can simultaneously support both static and dynamic content with preexisting video-on-demand back offices and video-on-demand clients.

Simultaneously delivering hundreds of video program channels in real time to consumers requires large amounts of expensive bandwidth and there is no guarantee that the viewers will be satisfied with any particular program at any particular time. Digital video recorder (DVR) set top boxes (STBs), like TiVo, allow consumers to selectively record programs that they like and view them later at their convenience. But this still requires that the selected programs must have been broadcast recently and the DVR prepared to capture it. Other distribution channels such as movie theaters and video rental outlets offer very restricted choices, require personal visits to brick-and-mortar locations, and charge premium prices because the content is so fresh from its original release.
Video on-demand (VOD) was initially offered on a few cable channels and the menu of offerings was very limited. Navigating through the short menus was not much of a problem. However, video-on-demand technology and the programming being offered have expanded enormously, and navigating through all of the material to find a program for ingestion into the system and for viewing has become quite a challenge.
The widespread acceptance and installation of broadband Internet now allows an interactive way for consumers to surf through vast stores of video content they would like to select and view. The broadcast bandwidth needed by TV broadcasts, cable systems, and direct satellites, is not needed when only a single program is being viewed. So, the video industry is moving rapidly toward providing consumers with any program content, anywhere, at anytime.
For example, a device can be attached to the back of a television set to provide access to streaming video delivered over a broadband connection. This service is widely referred to as "over-the-top". Because traditional middleman distribution services are bypassed, the video content goes directly to the consumer on top of the broadband connection. For service providers that have a large installed base of video service delivery infrastructure for linear and on-demand video services, being able to provide access to over-the-top content through existing infrastructure is a great value.
Compared to traditional video-on-demand, online video is more dynamic, has more titles in short format, and depends on different video encoding formats. While the video encoding format problem can be solved with universal transcoding, the dynamic nature and the plethora of over-the-top content create new challenges to the existing video-on-demand system.
Conventional video-on-demand back offices (VBO) control video-on-demand ingest on video-on-demand servers. The ingest process does not provide enough automation to support dynamic ingest. Dynamic ingest is triggered, e.g., when a VOD server application does not find a client's requested content in its local storage. In typical VOD current architectures, the navigation server is tightly coupled with video-on-demand content management, and the video-on-demand navigation only allows a set top box to navigate among content that has been previously ingested to the video-on-demand system. Some video-on-demand navigation servers support searches, but the searches are limited to previously ingested video content. Though this works fine for a movies-on-demand service that has a limited number of titles and the release schedule is rather static, this is not a good approach for the more dynamic over-the-top content.
In a typical video-on-demand system, the VOD back office is a complicated control plane system that provides the basic control infrastructure to deliver video-on-demand service. Any new on-demand video features must be added through the video-on-demand back office which slows down the service velocity for the service provider to launch any new on-demand video services. Video-on-demand navigation servers provide the user interface on a STB that is needed to navigate the available video-on-demand content. Conventional video-on-demand navigation servers are tightly coupled with video-on-demand back office content management and the navigation server communicates with a video-on-demand back office to build a menu hierarchy and search databases using all of the titles that have already been ingested and processed.
The ingest of content for conventional video-on-demand servers, e.g., movies-on-demand, is prearranged and happens regardless of what users are selecting to watch. Prearranging the ingest of all available over-the-top content not only wastes system resources since most of the content will not be watched at all, but it is also becoming technically infeasible considering the dynamic nature of over-the-top content and the potentially infinite amount of content available. In many cases, the existing VOD navigation and back office systems also impose severe scalability limits on the total number of uniquely addressable assets—they were designed to manage a relatively short number of premium, long-form assets and not the massive number of assets available in an over-the-top environment.

Dynamic video-on-demand navigation and on demand ingest


The present invention relates to a method for depositing an adherent zinc coating onto a zinc-containing magnesium alloy substrate in order to render the surface suitable for electroplating. The coatings are applied from a pyrophosphate-based zinc electrolyte solution containing a small quantity of fluoride ions. Depending on the zinc and aluminum content of the magnesium alloy, the zinc electrolyte solution is applied by immersion deposition or electrolytically.

The present invention is directed to an improved method of producing adherent metal coatings on the surface of magnesium/zinc alloy substrates.
Plating on magnesium alloys has been used for a number of years. However, in order to obtain good adhesion of the metallic coating to the magnesium/zinc alloy substrate, numerous processing steps have generally been required.
An example of one process is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,349,390 to Olsen et al., the subject matter of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. The steps in this process are as follows:                1) Surface preparation by mechanical pretreatment;        2) Degreasing using organic solvents or alkaline cleaning solutions;        3) Activating the surface of the magnesium alloy substrate;        4) Chemical zinc precipitation by immersion plating in an alkali metal pyrophosphate solution containing zinc ions, preferably at temperatures above 60° C.; and        5) Electrolytic metal coating.
Magnesium is a very active metal, and the pickling steps in the above described pretreatment sequences tend to open up any underlying porosity in the magnesium substrate. Thus, although an adherent deposit of copper may be subsequently obtained, the cosmetic appearance and corrosion resistance of coatings applied on top of this copper deposit tend to be very poor.
Traditionally, the only way to obtain plated magnesium articles of good cosmetic appearance and corrosion resistance is to apply a thick layer of copper and mechanically polish the article at this stage to seal any porosity. Subsequently, the coated articles must be re-racked and re-activated before plating with subsequent metals, such as nickel and chromium. This makes the production of plated magnesium articles very expensive, especially as any "polish through" of the copper during the polishing operation will render the article useless.
More recently, magnesium alloys which contain a significant proportion of zinc have been developed. These alloys are claimed to have superior casting qualities and reduced levels of porosity.
The inventors of the present invention have surprisingly found that these alloys can be processed for plating using an etch-free pre-treatment process, which eliminates the need for a pickling or activation stage in the plating process. Thus, the porosity of polished magnesium castings is not opened up and articles of excellent cosmetic appearance and good corrosion resistance can be obtained without any intermediate polishing operations on the copper deposit prior to nickel (or other metal) plating. This has obvious commercial advantages in terms of reducing the number of processing stages necessary to produce a high quality finished article.
Upon further investigation, the inventors of the present invention have also discovered that the presence of zinc in the cast article is not the only factor relevant to the level of adhesion obtained during the etch-free process sequence. Another critical factor for successfully processing the magnesium alloy article is the aluminum content of the magnesium alloy. High zinc alloys tend to have a low aluminum content. Aluminum is added to magnesium alloys to harden the casting and produce grain refinement, but also gives a long freezing range, which may increase casting porosity.
The inventors of the present inventions have found that in order to be able to process castings using the desired "etch-free" process of the invention, the aluminum content of the casting must be controlled. For example, in alloys containing 4% or more of zinc, it is desirable that the aluminum content be less than about 9% and in alloys containing less than 4% of zinc, it is desirable that the aluminum content be less than 6%.
Without wishing to be bound by theory, the inventors believe that this is due to the presence of intermetallic magnesium/aluminum phases precipitated at the surface during cooling from the melt in the casting process. These intermetallic phases then produce micro-galvanic effects during the pre-treatment and plating process which leads to poor adhesion unless pickling and activation stages are employed in order to equalize surface potential.
The inventors have determined that alloys having less than 6% zinc can be processed by applying the zinc coating in an immersion process, with a zinc processing solution containing pyrophosphate, fluoride and zinc. The inventors have also determined that when the alloy contains more than 6% zinc, superior results can be obtained in an electrolytic process, where the application of a cathodic current forces the zinc to deposit from the solution.

Pretreatment of magnesium substrates for electroplating


A system and method for improving the efficiency with which data communications are passed through a protocol stack. Protocol layer modules within a protocol stack built upon the Streams framework are modified to establish tight embraces between adjacent modules. A tight embrace may be established by passing from one, upper, protocol layer module to its adjacent lower protocol layer module a pointer or reference to the upper module's functionality (e.g., rput) for reading a data communication into the upper module from the lower module. Similarly, the lower module passes the upper module a pointer or reference to its functionality (e.g., wput) for writing a data communication into the lower module from the upper module. After a tight embrace is established, the protocol layer modules can directly invoke each other's functionality, without incurring the overhead associated with the Streams framework's “canputnext” and “putnext” messages.

This invention relates to the field of computer communications. More particularly, a system and methods are provided for performing data communications through a protocol stack without incurring the overhead normally imposed by the Streams framework.
The Streams framework, or subsystem, provides a flexible programming model for communication services within computer systems executing a Unix-based operating system. The Streams subsystem defines standard interfaces within kernel space, to provide a modular approach to implementation of a network protocol stack. Within the Streams framework, each protocol layer's module normally communicates through the framework, which provides system calls, kernel resources (e.g., queues) and kernel routines for transferring messages along communication streams built upon the protocol stack.
For each communication stream, the basic Streams model provides a downstream queue for outgoing messages and an upstream queue for incoming messages. Messages are passed up and down the stream, traversing modules which provide the protocol functionality. Transferring a message or communication from one module to the next involves two functions, "canputnext" and "putnext." The canputnext function determines whether Streams resources (e.g., the queues) can accommodate the message, while the putnext function takes the message and passes it from one module to the next within the stream. When passed from one module to another, a message leaves the first module and enters the Streams framework then the streams framework calls the next module to pass the message on.
It is possible to add and remove modules from a stream at any time during operation of the stream. The ability to add and remove modules requires that the stream be stopped so that the reconfiguration can be effected with no impact to the communications already queued on the stream.
The Streams framework allows queues to build up between modules if the modules have perimeters defined. The perimeters ensure that once in the perimeter, whether it is an outer or inner perimeter for the module, mutual exclusive access to the driver/module-specific data structures is protected by the perimeter.
While perimeters generalize the locking and queuing required to implement a protocol stack, they can cause unnecessary processing overhead when a streams module is implemented with maximum multi-threading capability. In particular, while the Streams framework allows completely multi-threaded modules, it still requires a stream be locked via canputnext and putnext functions.
While executing these functions, the Streams framework employs mutual exclusion (i.e., mutex) locks to control access to a communication stream's queues and to ensure that the stream is not changed (e.g., to add or remove a module) while it is active. Thus, the Streams framework locks the communication stream, accepts the communication (e.g., queues it) and then unlocks the stream. This procedure must be followed for every communication transfer from one module to another.
The continual locking and unlocking of Streams resources causes a noticeable degradation in communication performance. Even though the addition/removal of modules to/from a communication stream may be relatively rare events, the Streams framework imposes a penalty on stream communications in order to accommodate such changes.
One attempted method for avoiding the Streams framework overhead described above involves merging adjacent protocol modules. However, this can be quite difficult, in order to address complexities of both modules. Also, merger of just two modules may not be enough. For example, when attempting to improve the efficiency of passing messages between TCP and IP, UDP (User Datagram Protocol) may also need to be merged since IP underlies both TCP and UDP.
When modules are merged, the resulting protocol stack becomes much less flexible. For example, a third-party module that could normally be inserted between the modules (e.g., a firewall module inserted between IP and a device driver module) cannot easily be added to the modules after they are merged. In addition, it may require substantial time and effort to combine the modules and test the result to ensure all ramifications of the merger are understood and addressed.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and method for passing data communications between protocol layer modules within a communication stream, without incurring the Streams framework overhead normally associated with such activity, and without merging the modules.

System and method for eliminating Streams framework overhead in data communications


A radiation detection aircraft has at least one component member of the aircraft having scintillator material. A signal converter is coupled to the at least one component member. An accumulator is coupled to the signal converter.

Embodiments of this disclosure relate generally to a radiation detection system, and more particularly, to an aircraft having components of a radiation detection system integrated into the aircraft structure.
The threat of terrorist groups and rogue nation states using radiological and/or nuclear weapons against the United States has dramatically increased over the past several years. Unfortunately, the design, development, manufacture and storage of these materials and weapons generally occur in locations that are difficult to locate.
Presently radiological and/or nuclear material detection is done either by manned ground teams, manned aircraft and/or UAV aircraft. Manned ground teams have limited use since manned ground teams generally only use hand held detectors which may have very limited range. Furthermore, manned ground teams may be exposed to safety and security related consequences with the potential likelihood of interdiction, capture and/or awareness by the enemy. Because of this, covert and overt mission capabilities are extremely difficult.
Manned and UAV aircraft also have certain limitations. Manned and UAV aircraft generally use solid-state radiological and/or nuclear detectors. Solid-state radiation detectors may generally be characterized with low detector volumes. This is due to the interaction physics within the radiation detector and the statistical likelihood of interaction between the radiation photons to be measured and the volumetric size of radiation detectors.
Furthermore, in manned and UAV aircraft, the detectors are housed in an aerodynamic and structural airframe that is generally mounted externally to the aircraft. As the payload of the manned and especially unmanned air vehicle system is limited, this subsequently limits the radiation detector volume and therefore the sensitivity of the radiation detection system.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method that overcomes the above problems.

Aircraft having an integrated radiation detection system and method therefor


An RF unit, a modem unit and a processing unit receive packet signals sent from other radio apparatuses and broadcast packet signals. If no packet signals are received over a predetermined period of time, a timing control unit has the RF unit, the modem unit and the processing unit perform an intermittent receiving processing and has them stop broadcasting the packet signals. When the packet signals are received while no packet signals has been received over the predetermined period of time, the timing control unit has them perform continuous receiving processing and has them start broadcasting the packet signals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a communication technology, and it particularly relates to a radio apparatus that receives a packet signal containing predetermined information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Road-to-vehicle communication has been under investigation in an effort to prevent collision accidents of vehicles on a sudden encounter at an intersection. In a road-to-vehicle communication, information on conditions at an intersection is communicated between a roadside unit and an in-vehicle unit. Such a road-to-vehicle communication requires installation of roadside units, which means a great cost of time and money. In contrast to this, an inter-vehicular communication, in which information is communicated between in-vehicle units, has no need for installation of roadside units. In that case, current position information is detected in real time by GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like and the position information is exchanged between the in-vehicle units. Thus it is determined on which of the roads leading to the intersection the driver's vehicle and the other vehicles are located. Also, pedestrians carry radio apparatuses to prevent collision accidents between vehicles and pedestrians. Further, the degree of risk is determined from the GPS information on the pedestrians and the vehicles and then the pedestrians and the drivers are informed of the thus determined degree of risk.
It is also desired that not only the collision accidents of vehicles but also the collision accidents between vehicles and pedestrians be prevented. In order to prevent the collision accidents of vehicles, the collision of packet signals between the inter-vehicular communication and the road-to-vehicle communication needs to be suppressed. At the same time, in order to prevent the collision accidents between vehicles and pedestrians, a radio apparatus is carried by a pedestrian, who is an elementary school child, for instance. Since the radio apparatus carried by a pedestrian is battery-powered, the presence of the pedestrian cannot be conveyed to a driver if the remaining battery level gets low.

Radio apparatus that receives packet signal containing predetermined information

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A software system efficiently procures operating resources within an enterprise. A requisition record generating module generates a requisition record for a requisition. The requisition record indicates at least an operating resource that a requestor desires to purchase. The requisition record generating module generates the requisition record responsive to a combination of input by a requestor and operating resource information in an operating resource information database. An approval path determining module. responsive to the requisition record and to approval rules in an approval rules database, determines an approval path for the requisition record, among various ones of a plurality of possible approvers, required to approve the requisition record. An approval path handling module guides the requisition record along the determined approval path, and the approval path handling module generates a global approval indication in response to the requisition record successfully traversing the approval path.

Today, operating resources account for as much as a third of a sales dollar in the typical Fortune 1000 company. Nearly 95 percent of all goods and services purchased by corporations are done so through paper-based processes. Predominant use of paper-based buying is evidence that legacy business-to-business electronic commerce systems do not provide a solution for the bulk of corporate buying processes. Research indicates that a cost savings of 5 percent in operating resource goods and services cost will commonly result in a 28 percent increase in a company's profits.
Traditionally, methods of purchasing operating sources (e.g., industrial supplies, office supplies and other non-production supplies) are extremely fragmented and, thus, inefficient. What is desired is an integrated, enterprise-wide solution.


A method for detecting an obstacle by using two cameras of three or more cameras, the obstacle being on a reference plane in a field of view common to the two cameras, the method inputting a first image and a second image from the two cameras, respectively, transforming the first image to a transformed image, obtaining a degree of similarity D indicating a similarity between an image in a processing region established in the second image and an image in a corresponding processing region established in the first image, obtaining a degree of similarity P indicating a similarity between an image in the processing region established in the second image and an image in a corresponding processing region established in the transformed image, detecting the obstacle based on the degree of similarity D and the degree of similarity P on a reference plane region, and selecting and outputting either a result of detection of a plurality of the obstacles or a position of an obstacle detected as being the closest to the three or more cameras.

The present invention mainly relates to a system and a method for detecting an obstacle on a road such as a vehicle going ahead, a parking vehicle, or a pedestrian by vehicle-mounted camera system for realization of supporting safety driving of a vehicle or automatic running of a vehicle.
Technologies for detecting an obstacle may be roughly classified into that of utilizing a laser beam or an ultrasonic wave, and that of utilizing a TV camera. Utilization of a laser beam is expensive. Utilization of an ultrasonic wave causes a problem in detection accuracy of an obstacle because of a low resolution of the ultrasonic wave. In addition, with an active sensor utilizing a laser beam or an ultrasonic wave, recognition of a lane is impossible only by the sensor itself.
Compared with this, a TV camera is relatively inexpensive and also is suitable for detecting an obstacle in resolution, measuring accuracy, and a measurable range. A TV camera utilizing system may be classified into that of utilizing a single TV camera and that of utilizing a plurality of TV cameras (stereo camera).
The system utilizing a single TV camera uses a method in which a road region and an obstacle region is separated on the basis of key information about brightness, color, or textures, which are obtained from an image picked up by the camera.
For example, a region with medium brightness with low chroma, i.e. a gray region, is extracted to obtain a road region, or a region with a few textures is obtained to provide the rest as an obstacle region. There are, however, many obstacles having similar brightness, color, and textures to those of the road to make it difficult to use the method for distinguishing the obstacle region and the road region.
Compared with this, in a method used in the system utilizing a plurality of cameras an obstacle is detected on the basis of three-dimensional information as a key. The method is generally called as "stereopsis".
The stereoscopic viewing is a method in which two cameras, for example, are disposed on the right and left, respectively, a relationship between images by the right and left cameras is obtained about the same point in three-dimensional space, and thus, a three-dimensional position of the point is obtained by adopting a procedure of triangulation. The position and an attitude of each camera about the road that are obtained beforehand allows a height from the road plane of any given point in the image to be obtained by the stereoscopic viewing. This can distinguish the obstacle region from the road region by knowing as to whether a point is positioned at some height or not. The stereoscopic viewing makes it possible to avoid a problem caused in the case where a single camera is used.
In a normal stereoscopic viewing, there is a problem in that a process of carrying out matching is necessary. The stereoscopic viewing is in general a technology of obtaining a three-dimensional position of any given point given in an image about a coordinate system fixed in the stereo camera (hereinafter referred to as a stereo camera coordinate system). The matching means a searching calculation necessitated when making a point being the same in the space into correspondence between right and left images with a problem of extremely high in calculation cost. Thus, the matching is a factor of preventing the stereoscopic viewing from being brought into realization.
In this respect, each of procedures disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-76128 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-293693 provides a method of detecting an obstacle on a road (hereinafter referred to as a related procedure) with a very high speed without carrying out the matching processing even though a stereo camera is used.
In the above related procedures, a road surface is supposed to be a flat plane, an image transform T is obtained in which a picture element point (pixel) of a road surface region in one camera image (a first camera's image) is made into correspondence with a corresponding pixel of a road surface region in the other camera image (a second camera's image) on the basis of a geometrical relation between the stereo camera and the road surface, and an obstacle is detected from a difference between a transformed image by the image transform T (transformed image) and the second camera's image. That is, any given picture element on the road surface region displayed in the first camera's image is correctly transformed to a corresponding picture element in the second camera's image by the image transform T. Contrary to this, a picture element on a region of an object with any given height (i.e. an obstacle) is not correctly transformed into a corresponding picture element. Therefore, an obstacle is detected at a high speed by obtaining a difference between a position of the pixel elements in the second camera's image and that in the transformed image.
However, in the case where reflected images of an obstacle, structures around the road, and scenery of environment are produced on the road surface as observed in a wet road surface in rainy weather, it was impossible by the related procedure which was for detecting an object with a height other than zero to correctly detect an obstacle.
This is because the reflected image from the road surface can be virtually regarded as an object with a negative height, and no virtual image can be correctly transformed to a corresponding picture element by the above image transform.
Accordingly, the present invention was made in view of the above situation with an object of providing a system and a method of detecting an obstacle which has a feature of necessitating no stereoscopic correspondence like in the related procedure and is still capable of correctly detecting the obstacle even in the case where a reflected image from a road surface is produced.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for detecting obstacle


The invention relates to a twelve-hour structure for a thrust reverser, that comprises a half beam (1) capable of holding a reverser half cowling and including a plurality of hinge yokes (9c) for rotatingly mounting said half beam (1) on a nacelle-holding mast. The half beam (1) is at least partially made of a composite material.

Traditionally, a thrust reverser with grids comprises two half-cowlings mounted each sliding on a half-beam mounted pivoting on a nacelle-holding mast.
The sliding movement of each half-cowling on its associated half-beam makes it possible to make the thrust reverser go from a direct jet configuration to a reverse jet configuration, and vice versa.
The rotational movement of each half-beam on the nacelle-holding mast makes it possible to make each half-cowling pivot relative to said mast for maintenance operations.
As illustrated in the appended FIGS. 1 and 2, each half-beam 1 is formed in a ribbed metal alloy 3, and typically comprises, on its outer face, primary 5 and secondary 7 rails capable of allowing the movement of the associated half-cowling (not shown), and a plurality of hinge yokes 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d capable of allowing the articulation of the half-beam 1 on the associated nacelle mast.
A receptacle 11, mounted on the upstream part (relative to the direction of air flow in the nacelle) of the half-beam 1, allows the fixing of a front frame designed to support the grids of the thrust reverser (frame and grids not shown).
As visible in FIG. 3, the half-beam 1 is attached by riveting 13 on the upper part 15 of an internal fixed half-structure panel 17, generally made of a composite material, and defining, with the associated thrust reverser cowling, the cold air jet.
The assembly formed by the half-beam 1, its rails 5, 7 and its hinge yokes 9a to 9d is often referred to as "twelve-hour structure", given its position at the top of the circle defined by a nacelle section, and by analogy with the dial of a watch.

Twelve-hour structure for thrust reverser, in particular with grids


In one embodiment, a system, method, and apparatus to generate a merged record comprises: a client server configured to generate a first report having at least one internal term and at least one descriptive term and a recovery server configured to: receive the first report, associate the at least one internal term with at least one of a plurality of public terms, associate the at least one descriptive term with a generic code or a product code, and associate the at least one descriptive term with at least one main code, the associated main code based upon the associated generic code or product code.

Everyone has forgotten a personal item at least once. Once lost, the items may or may not ever be returned to the rightful owner. For example, when on vacation, a user may forget an item(s) in a hotel room. In another example, a customer may forget an item in a rental car, sporting event, or any other establishment or event. The most common item left in hotel rooms is chargers, such as a cell phone charger. However, any other valuable items may also be lost or left behind such as clothing, cell phones, jewelry, and the like.
When reporting the lost item, the user or customer or the establishment may submit a lost report. Then when the item is found, the establishment and/or the finder may submit a found report. However, to determine whether the lost report matches the found report requires a person to manually compare the information between the two records to determine if the found item matches the lost item.

System, method, and apparatus for locating and merging data fields of lost records with found records


An apparatus and method for molding composite material with a selectable uniform predetermined temperature during most of the curing time. The mold apparatus has two cooperating and complementing mold bed assemblies hingedly mounted to each other and movable between two extreme positions, open and closed. A composite inner skin and outer skins sandwich a spacer in between. The spacer member includes interconnecting passages throughout. An outer perforated composite skin member covers the spacer member. A source for pressurized gas is applied to the mold assemblies when in the closed position. A predetermined cooperative temperature is selectably used to uniformly control the curing characteristics of the first and second skin members as the pressurized hot gas or air forced to pass through the outer skin and the spacer member adjacent to the inner skin thereby exposing the form being molded to a uniform temperature gradient. A mechanism for moving the upper mold bed assembly is provided with skates to permit its stress free movement in response to temperature expansion and contraction forces.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of composite molding for blades used with wind generators of electricity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many molds and techniques for working with composite materials have been developed in the past. Many of them look for different means to affect the critical process of curing the composite material being used. Most of the molds in the prior art rely on either large ovens or external ducts to control the temperature of the mold, and indirectly the temperature of the material inside the mold during setting or curing. The use of ovens for these elongated blades is clearly impractical. One of these molds is disclosed in Spanish patent No. ES 2,089,965 wherein a large oven is required. Another example of a mold used in the industry is the one disclosed in Spanish patent No. ES 2,007,179 where the two halves are subsequently attached together. The use of laminar enlargement is disclosed in Messerschmidt patent No. ES 8,503,080 with an oven. The use of fiberglass cloth with polypropilene threads or fibers is described in European patent No. EP 856,900 but, again, the molde is introduced in an oven. Some designs include mechanisms for introducing air inside the mold. One of these designs is the one disclosed by Lemelson in U.S. Pat. No. 4,043,721 for a composite body molding apparatus. The patented mold, however, uses a pipe 26 to deliver hot air inside the mold to affect the curing process. A number of holes in pipe 26 deliver the hot air in certain areas of the material but the temperature gradient is not uniform. In the present invention, on the other hand, perforated skins of the composite article being molded thereby not only obviating the need to use a pipe or other means of introducing and routing the hot air inside the mold but also the present invention achieves a more uniform temperature gradient for the article being formed.
Other patents describing the closest subject matter provide for a number of more or less complicated features that fail to solve the problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention.

Mold and method for working with composite material


Briefly, in accordance with one or more embodiments, a MAP may be used by a base station to allocate network users for one or more users in a wireless network using persistent scheduling. In the event one or more of the users does not successfully receive a MAP transmitted by the base station, the user may stop transmitting and/or receiving in order to minimize and/or avoid collision with transmissions from other users. The affected user may transmit an indication of the error in receiving the MAP to the base station, wherein the base station may retransmit the previously transmitted MAP to the affected user that did not successfully receive the MAP from the origination transmission. One or more users may utilize a shared NAK channel to indicate to the base station an indication of the error in receive the MAP.

In wireless networks using technologies, such as an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 standard, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), and/or a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standard or the like, the scheduling is centralized (referred to as dynamic scheduling) and may be performed by the base station (BS). The scheduling information is conveyed by the base station to one or more mobile stations (MS) in the form of control information that is referred to as MAP. The size of the MAP is proportional to the number of mobile stations scheduled in a given frame. If the packets to be scheduled are relatively small in size, such as in Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) type applications, then a relatively larger number of users can be scheduled in a frame, resulting in larger MAP overhead. Persistent scheduling is believed to be a potential mechanism to reduce such overhead. In persistent scheduling, instead of refreshing resource allocation for a given mobile station in every frame, a mobile station may be scheduled persistently for a multiple number of frames, for example, N frames. The scheduling or MAP information may be conveyed only in the first frame and then skipped in subsequent N −1 frames, thereby saving overhead.
A major problem with persistent scheduling may occur when one or more mobile stations lose the MAP information, for example due to poor channel conditions. In the case of dynamic scheduling, loss of MAP information in a given frame may result in wasted resources only in that particular frame. In the case of persistent scheduling, however, resources may be wasted in multiple frames. If a mobile station misses a MAP carrying the persistent allocation information, the base station will keep allocating resources every frame, but the allocated resources will not be used by the mobile station, thereby resulting in a waste of resources. If mobile station misses a MAP carrying cancellation of persistent allocation information, then the mobile station may continue transmitting in those resource blocks, and such transmission might collide with transmissions from one or more other mobile stations, which may result in wasted resources and/or unnecessary delay. The situation may worsen in which grouping and bitmap assignment are utilized since such information may affect multiple users, and any errors in the bitmap errors could propagate in time for several frames.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and/or clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, if considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding and/or analogous elements.

Avoiding collisions between users if map containing persistent scheduling information is lost