A voice response system for use in obtaining return qualification information for a product using a non-unique product identifier, including: a dial-in voice system operable to prompt a caller for the non-unique product identifier, wherein the non-unique product identifies the product as a member of a defined product group; a product registration database including a plurality of different, non-unique product identifiers; a return policy storage that defines return policies for each of the non-unique product identifiers; and an arrangement that looks up a specific return policy for the non-unique product identified entered by the caller and provides information to the caller regarding return qualification for the product identified by the non-unique product identifier.

The present invention relates to voice recognition units or systems (VRUs) for enabling users to remotely obtain information in an efficient and accurate manner from a database using voice commands and/or responses over a telephone system. More particularly, the invention relates to a VRU system that enables users to obtain information regarding return, warranty, replacement and/or repair of previously purchased products from an electronic product registration (ER) system, such as the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,978,774 and 6,018,719, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
Electronic registration (ER) systems rely on the use of a unique identifier, such as a serial number, for each product that is purchased. The serial number is obtained at the point of sale for inclusion in a registration database, together with other information, such as a date of transaction. This database can then be accessed in connection with an attempted product return/warranty transaction for the purpose of determining if the product qualifies for return/warranty under applicable return/warranty criteria (which is also stored in or made available to the system). Such electronic systems may also be used in connection with repair and/or exchange transactions, in addition to returns, by enabling an accurate determination as to whether the product qualifies for any of these actions under the appropriate policies and criteria under which the product was originally sold.
The ER system uses pre-established return/repair policies and procedures that are programmed into the system so that the system can perform a check when a product is presented for return to determine if the product qualifies for return, replacement and/or warranty repair based on sales transaction information available in the ER system for the particular product at issue. Thus, known ER systems include a database of return qualification information (or warranty/replacement criteria) for various manufacturer's which enables the system to make an accurate determination with respect to whether or not a particular product or item (that is uniquely identified by the system using a serial number or other unique identifier) actually qualifies for return (or warranty/replacement) based on the appropriate qualification criteria. Such ER systems have greatly reduced improper and fraudulent returns and warranty claims.
ER systems have, in the past, used a unique identifier for each product that is registered, thereby enabling the system to provide return qualification information respect to the particular product being returned. Voice recognition systems for accessing the ER database have also been based on unique identifiers. Thus, in the past, products that do not include a unique identifier associated therewith have not been able to be incorporated into ER systems for access by VRU systems.
Voice recognition systems have been successfully used in the past in connection with electronic registration systems for purchased products for the purpose of enabling users to obtain information about return, warranty, replacement and/or repair of the purchased products. Voice recognition (VRU) systems have been used in the connection with such electronic registration (ER) systems to enable remote access to the registration data that is collected by the ER system. Due to the fact that the ER systems have been based on serialized products (i.e., products each having a unique serial number), the VRU systems used therewith have also been based on the use of serial numbers. An example of a VRU system that uses serial numbers is disclosed in PCT application No. PCT/US01/25296 filed Aug. 14, 2001, and entitled "Voice Recognition Method and Apparatus Using Dynamic Link Library", the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein.
While such VRU systems have proven to be very useful in their current forms, additional improvements in such systems are still desired in order to provide additional functionality that will benefit customers, retailers and/or manufacturers. To this end, the instant invention provides an improved VRU system that has increased functionality, by providing an enhancement to known VRU systems that enable information on non-serialized products (i.e., products that do not have a unique identifier) to be accessed by users in a manner that is similar to the serialized VRU systems.
In accordance with the invention, the improved VRU system enables non-serialized data or identifiers to be used to access return/warranty qualification information that applies to a class or group of similar products. For example, in accordance with the invention, model numbers or other non-serialized data (such as UPC or SKU numbers) that do not uniquely identify a particular product can be entered into the VRU system for the purpose of obtaining return and/or warranty information for the product. The invention enables information to be accessed through a VRU on products that may not have been originally intended for electronic registration, due to, for example, their price, nature or other characteristics. The invention also enables products that have already been sold without collecting registration data at the point of sale to be added into the ER system for access by the VRU system.
In accordance with the invention, the VRU system accesses a database that has been previously loaded with information on model numbers (or other non-unique identifiers) and applicable return and/or warranty criteria for products having these model numbers. The database may also contain serialized information so that the VRU system can perform serial number (or other unique identifier) lookup operations and model number (or other non-unique identifier) lookup operations. Thus, the instant invention enables non-serialized products to benefit from electronic registration in substantially the same manner that serialized products have and are currently benefiting from electronic registration. While the non-serialized information does not provide the same level of accuracy as a serialized system, in that specific sales information on a specific product is not available for the non-serialized products, the information is still useful in making logical decisions about whether or not the product qualifies for return or warranty based on information in the system about the entire class or group of products to which the product belongs.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a voice response system is provided for use in obtaining return qualification information for a product using a non-unique product identifier. The voice response system includes: a dial-in system operable to prompt a caller for the non-unique product identifier, wherein the non-unique product identifier identifies the product as a member of a defined product group; a product registration database including a plurality of different, non-unique product identifiers; a return policy storage that defines return policies for each of the non-unique product identifiers; and an arrangement that looks up a specific return policy for the non-unique product identifier entered by the caller and provides information to the caller regarding return qualification for the product identified by the non-unique product identifier.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method is provided for operating a voice response system. The method includes: storing different non-unique product identifiers into a system; storing a return policy in the system for each of the non-unique product identifiers, wherein the return policy defines criteria under which products having the non-unique product identifier associated with the policy can be returned; prompting a caller using a dial-in voice system for a non-unique identifier associated with a product for which a return is desired; Looking up the entered non-unique identifier to determine if it corresponds to one of the stored non-unique identifiers in the system; if the non-unique product identifier does correspond to a stored non-unique identifier, obtaining a stored return policy for that non-unique product identifier; and communicating return qualification information based on the stored return policy back to the caller through the voice system.

Voice recognition and apparatus using model number lookup


In a method and a device for controlling an internal combustion engine (1), the accuracy of the detection of knocking in an internal combustion engine (1) can be increased by determining a reference ignition advance angle for an actual operating point of the internal combustion engine (1) at which the efficiency of the engine is a maximum. An actual ignition advance angle at which the internal combustion engine (1) is to be operated at the actual operating point is determined. Signals from a knocking sensor (14) are detected, allowing conclusions to be drawn concerning a knocking event in a combustion chamber (30) of the internal combustion engine (1). To detect knocking, only the signal values which lie within a predetermined evaluating interval are used, wherein the position of the evaluating interval is determined depending on the difference between the reference ignition advance angle and the actual ignition advance angle.

Modern engine electronics systems and associated control methods enable ever greater optimization of the efficiency of an internal combustion engine. In the case of Otto engines the timing position of the ignition point plays an essential role therein. The efficiency or torque produced by an Otto engine has a maximum which is dependent on the ignition advance angle. For the sake of protecting components, however, this optimum ignition advance angle can only be set to a few operating points. In large parts of the operating range of the internal combustion engine, operation of the internal combustion engine at this optimum ignition advance angle would lead to engine knocking and thus eventually to damage to the internal combustion engine. For this reason, in these operating ranges, the internal combustion engine must be operated with an ignition advance angle at which the efficiency is reduced. In the attempt to reach the highest efficiency level possible for each operating point, whilst simultaneously avoiding damage, modern engine control concepts include 'knocking control systems' which detect engine knocking and adjust the set ignition advance angle accordingly. By this means, the set ignition advance angle can be made to lie very close to the knocking limit of the engine.
In order to detect engine knocking, a knocking sensor can be integrated on or in the engine. The knocking events typically take place within a limited crankshaft angular interval about the top dead centre point of the piston. In order to ensure reliable detection of a knocking event by means of the sensor, it is necessary to restrict evaluation of the sensor signal to the narrowest possible crankshaft angular interval within which knocking could possibly occur. The narrower the crankshaft angular interval for evaluating the sensor signal, the more reliably knocking can be detected and separated from normal combustion. However, the knocking tendency of an internal combustion engine is influenced by a large number of factors, such as the ambient air temperature, the engine temperature, the exhaust gas recirculation rate and the fuel quality.
In a known method, these factors are permanently kept available for defining the evaluating interval of the knocking sensor signal, so that it is always substantially longer than the actual knocking event. Apart from the actual knocking events, the signal from the knocking sensor which is to be evaluated therefore also has the basic engine noise that remains even despite filtration, together with other interfering signals, which negatively influence the accuracy of knocking detection. The interfering signals include, for example, sounds from the opening and closing of the inlet and outlet valves.

Method and device for controlling an internal combustion engine


A polarizing device having a synthetic resin film of a polarizing plate sandwiched and bonded between two glass members. At least a surface on one side of the polarizing plate is bonded to one of glass members by the use of a tackiness agent. Adjoining surfaces of the two glass members, which are located on the side of the sandwiched polarizing plate, are finished to a high degree of planeness, and at least one of the two glass members is in the form of a resilient glass plate capable of flexural deformation in a lateral direction.

1. Field of the Art
This invention relates to a polarizing device with a high degree of planeness, cross dichroic prism and liquid crystal projector applying the polarizing device, and a method for fabricating the polarizing device.
2. Prior Art
There are liquid crystal projectors which employ a liquid crystal display device (an image sensor) for the purpose of projecting a picture image on a screen by way of the liquid crystal display device. Liquid crystal projectors, which are capable of projecting still picture images or movies on a large screen, are in wide use for presentation purposes or in home theaters. In a liquid crystal projector, a liquid crystal display device plays a role of image modulation in producing a picture image to be projected. Liquid crystal projectors which are capable of projecting color images on a screen can be categorized into two types, i.e., a three-panel type projector employing three liquid crystal display devices and a single-panel type projector employing a single liquid crystal display device. Lately, particularly three-panel type liquid crystal projectors are in general use because of high resolution of projected picture images.
In the case of a three-panel type liquid crystal projector, while light from a light source is separated into blue, green and red light components by color separation using dichroic mirrors and dichroic prism. The respective color components are modulated by the use of a liquid crystal display panel, and resulting image light of the respective color components are synthesized into a color image by the use of a dichroic mirror and a dichroic prism and projected on a screen by a projection lens.
A polarizing plate is located in light paths to and from a liquid crystal display device for the purpose of matching the direction of polarization of input and output light. By a polarizing plate on an input side, light rays of each color incident on a liquid crystal display device is attuned to linearly polarized light vibrating in the plane of polarization of either p- or s-polarization light, and modulated with picture signals of a corresponding wave range, rotating the plane of polarization. Of light rays of each color component which have been transmitted through the liquid crystal displace device, light rays polarized light in a specific direction of polarization alone are transmitted through the polarizing plate which is located on the output side, and the resulting image light of the respective color components are synthesized into a color image by means of a dichroic mirror and a dichroic prism.
Thus, polarizing plates are essential component parts for a liquid crystal projector, and optical accuracy of polarizing plates has a great influence on a picture image to be projected. That is to say, it is important for a liquid crystal projector to employ polarizing plates which are accurate in optical performance quality. Nevertheless, polarizing plates which are made of a synthetic resin film are soft by nature and difficult to maintain a high degree of planeness. In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2000-352615, attempts are made to improve picture quality by solving the problem of irregularities in contrast as caused by polarizing plates. More particularly, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2000-352615, in order to solve the problem of degradations in contrast attributable to distortions of a synthetic resin film, a polarizing plate is bonded on glass which is small in absolute value of mean linear expansion coefficient
As mentioned above, a polarizing plate is made of an inherently soft synthetic resin film. A polarizing film with a polarizing function is bonded with a protective film, so that a resulting polarizing plate is soft as a whole. In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2000-352615 mentioned above, by the use of a tackiness agent, a soft polarizing plate is bonded to a glass member like a prism which is high in rigidity. However, the tack strength of the tackiness agent is not strong enough for perfectly smoothing the surface of a bonded polarizing plate to a high degree of planeness, and more or less undulations remain on the surface, resulting in a polarizing plate which is inferior in surface planeness suffering from problems such as low accuracy in focusing picture images on a screen and low quality of projected picture images.

Polarizing device, cross dichroic prism, liquid crystal projector, and method for fabricating polarizing device


An example apparatus includes: a feed forward equalizer (FFE) with a FFE output, adder circuitry with a first adder input, a second adder input, and a first adder output, the first adder input coupled to the FFE output, a multiplexer (MUX) with a first MUX input, a second MUX input, and a MUX output, the first MUX input coupled to the first adder output, the second MUX input coupled to the FFE output, a decision feedback equalizer (DFE) with a DFE output coupled to the second adder input, and a timing error detector (TED) with a first TED input coupled to the MUX output.

Some wireless and wireline receivers, such as Ethernet physical layers (PHYs), carry out symbol and timing recovery techniques to facilitate communication between devices. Some Ethernet PHYs are oversampled systems that use robust clock synchronization techniques to achieve robust timing loop synchronization performance, which is a parameter associated with improved link up times and bit error ratio (BER) performance. Some Ethernet PHYs utilize a one-sample-per-symbol system architecture to reduce cost in terms of area and power. Some such Ethernet PHYs do not have robust timing loop synchronization performance.

Symbol and timing recovery apparatus and related methods


Embodiments implement a tool for interrogating heterogeneous computing systems. Environment variables of a computing device including at least an operating system can be detected. Script commands configured using the retrieved environment variables can be built, where the built script commands are customized based on the detected operating system. Structured query level commands configured to retrieve metadata about enterprise elements associated with the computing device can be built. The SQL commands and script commands can be sequentially executed on the computing device, where the execution of the SQL commands and script commands is customized to the computing device such that device specific database execution parameters and application execution parameters are returned. A structured language document organized according to the returned database execution parameters and application execution parameters can be generated.

Modern enterprise computing implementations have grown into complex systems that include layers of different applications, databases, and other software systems. In addition, customizations are often implemented on top of frameworks to accomplish enterprise specific functionality. As a result, the computing devices that implement enterprise systems can include multiple layers of complexity within heterogenous environments. This can present unique challenges when maintenance, upgrade, or troubleshooting processes are performed. A tool that is capable of interrogating the various computing devices that implement an enterprise system can provide tangible benefits for the enterprise.

Tool for interrogating heterogeneous computing systems


In an interactive on-line system, a registration management system mounted on a server 10 includes a teaching affairs management system which registers information on teaching subjects, teaching schedules and teachers, and a reservation management system includes a lecture booking system which provides a trainee of the information registered in the teaching affairs management system in an on-line state when the trainee books a lecture and manages the information on the teaching subject, teaching schedule and teacher selected by the trainee. According to the registration management system, the booking state of lectures or the like inputted from the terminal of each user and such service resources as the teaching subject, teaching schedule or the like which can be supplied to users are easily managed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a management system which is used for an interactive on-line system such as the teaching system and the like, using a communication network and which manages reservations and the like inputted from users through their terminals and service resources and the like which can be supplied to the users.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there becomes such a problem that users who have purchased personal computers cannot use the personal computers themselves or cannot master application programs in proportion as personal computers are popularized. In order to solve such problem, manufacturers, distributors, software houses or the likes are opening classrooms for teaching how to use personal computers. Users who feel it difficult to study how to use personal computers by themselves are attending the classrooms.
However, the learning effect of each user is not so high, because such classrooms teach many trainees at the same time usually. In addition, the users cannot select the classrooms freely because dates and hours when the classrooms open and places where the classrooms locate are fixed. Therefore, the users must meet fixed conditions of the classrooms.
Even when a lecture is given on a one-to-one basis for a user, the user must go to the place of the classroom or a teacher must go to the place of the user. As a result, the user must pay a high fee.
On-line teaching courses on various subjects increase with the progress of communication networks. When a user takes one of the teaching courses, he is not required to go to the place of the course and the service offering side can provide him with teaching service at relatively free time.
However, any on-line teaching systems having a high degree of freedom in the teaching time has a difficulty in the management of curriculum programs, etc. Especially, when the scale of the teaching system becomes larger, it becomes difficult to match the teaching subjects and teaching hours desired by users to the expertise and available hours of teachers.

Management system for interactive on-line system


Rigid foams having improved insulation properties are made by reacting a polyisocyanate with an isocyanate-reactive material in the presence of a blowing agent mixture composed of from about 1 to about 30% by weight of at least one C.sub.2 -C.sub.5 polyfluoroalkane and from about 70 to about 99% by weight of an HCFC, preferably an HCFC selected from chlorodifluoromethane, 1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane, 1-chloro-1,1-difluoroethane and mixtures thereof.

The present invention relates to a process for producing rigid foams with improved insulation characteristics (as measured by K-factor) and to the foams produced by this process.
Rigid polyurethane foams and processes for their production are known. Such foams are typically produced by reacting an isocyanate with an isocyanate-reactive compound such as a polyol in the presence of a blowing agent. Chlorofluorocarbons were the blowing agents most commonly used until recently. However, when it became known that these chlorofluorocarbons posed environmental problems, the search for alternative blowing agents began.
Among the blowing agents considered to be promising alternatives to the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)are the hydrogen-containing chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), highly fluorinated compounds (HFCs) and mixtures of HCFCs and HFCs. HCFC-141b is one of the more promising alternative blowing agents and has been the subject of a number of publications.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,808, for example, discloses low thermal conductivity foams made with a combination of HCFC-141b, perfluorinated compounds and carbon black. The perfluorinated compounds taught to be useful in this blowing agent combination include perfluorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons, perfluorinated cycloaliphatic hydrocarbons, perfluorinated N-aliphatic amino ethers, cyclic amino ethers, 1,3- or 1,4-amino ethers, perfluorinated ethers and perfluorinated tertiary alkylamines.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,996 discloses rigid insulating polyurethane foams prepared from ternary blowing agent mixtures which blowing agent mixtures were composed of water, HCFC-22 or HCFC-141b and a perfluorinated hydrocarbon having from 3 to 8 carbon atoms.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,863 discloses a process for the production of closed-cell polyurethane foams in which a mixture of a 2 carbon hydrogen-containing halocarbon (such as HCFC-141b and HCFC-123) with a shrinkage-minimizing halocarbon such as any of the known CFCs, HCFC-22, HFC-32, HCFC-124, HCFC-133a, HFC-134a, HCFC-142b and HFC-152a is used as the blowing agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,804 discloses rigid foams produced using a blend of a chlorofluorocarbon and an alkyl alkanoate as the blowing agent. HCFC's such as 1,1-dichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane and 1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane are among the chlorofluorocarbons taught to be suitable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,242 discloses polyurethane foams made with two different halocarbons and an inert organic liquid are combined in specified amounts to form a ternary mixture which mixture is used as the blowing agent. The halocarbons taught to be suitable blowing agents for the disclosed ternary mixtures include at least one halocarbon having a boiling point below about 10.degree. C. and at least one halocarbon having a boiling point from about 20.degree. to about 35.degree. C. Halocarbons having boiling points below 10.degree. C. include 1,1-difluoroethane, 1,1,1-chlorodifluoroethane, 1-chloro-1,1,2,2,-tetrafluoroethane, 1-chloro-1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane and mixtures thereof. Halocarbons having a boiling point from 20.degree. to 35.degree. C. include trichlorofluoromethane, 1,1-dichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane, 1,1,1-dichlorofluoroethane. The inert organic liquids which are included in these ternary mixtures include pentane and substituted pentanes, hexane and substituted hexanes and haloalkanes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,547 discloses mixtures of specific chlorofluorocarbons and specific hydrocarbons which are useful in the production of rigid, closed cell foams. The chlorofluorocarbons useful in these disclosed mixtures include 2,2-dichloro-1,1,1-trifluoroethane and 1,1-dichloro-1-fluoroethane. The hydrocarbons useful in these mixtures include n-pentane, 2-methyl butane, hexane, the position isomers of hexane and mixtures thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,162,384 discloses foamed plastics made with blowing agent emulsions composed of at least one low boiling perfluorinated, N-aliphatic, cyclic 1,3- or 1,4-aminoether blowing agent, a foamable reaction mixture and a fluorochemical surfactant.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,164,418 discloses a process for producing foams using fluoroalkanes represented by the formula C.sub.a H.sub.b F.sub.c are used as the blowing agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,254,601 and 5,272,183 each discloses HCFC-Blown rigid foams having low thermal conductivities. These foams are produced using a blowing agent mixture that includes from about 0.1 to about 1.0% by weight water and 1,1-dichloro-2,2,2-trifluoroethane or dichlorofluoroethane.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,926 discloses foams blown with mixtures of 1,1,12,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane and one or more hydrocarbons or partially halogenated alkanes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,891 discloses rigid polyisocyanate-based foams which are produced using water and a C.sub.1-4 hydrofluorocarbon having a boiling point of 300.degree. K or less as the blowing agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,866 discloses polyfluoroalkanes which are useful as propellants. Water and other highly volatile organic substances may optionally be included in a foam-forming mixture in addition to these polyfluoroalkanes.

Rigid foams with improved insulation properties and a process for the production of such foams


The invention relates to a sintered metal material comprising at least one magnetic part, characterised by directional through-pores having a size of between 1 and 100 μm, said material having a density varying by less than 20% from one sample of 1 cm3 to another taken from a one-piece part made from the material.

There are several processes for producing materials with oriented porosity:
A first technique consists in creating a composite material, one of the phases of which will be removed by decomposition or by evaporation, described by the article by D. C. Dunand in Advanced Engineering Materials 6 (6) (2004).
Jorgensen et al propose, in Acta Materalia 59 (2011) 640-50, densifying steel wires with titanium sheets or powder, then removing the steel electrochemically. The size of the pores is then determined by the diameter of the wires. This process does not enable very fine porosities. In addition, the materials obtained have porous and irregular walls and the architecture is difficult to control.
A second technique consists in sintering the powder under gas pressure to create bubbles in the material which will then be oriented by a thermomechanical treatment of the part. Kearns et al have thus studied, in International journal of powder metallurgy 24 (1) (1988) 59-64, the manufacture of porous titanium parts by hot isostatic pressing of metallic powder in the presence of argon, complete densification being prevented by the presence of the gas. A heat treatment of the part at high temperature for several days then enables the expansion of the gas bubbles by creep of the material around them. In order to orient the pores, the part can be rolled or extruded. Davis et al (Journal of Materials Research 16 (5) (2001) 1508-19) merged these last two steps by carrying out thermal cycling under unidirectional mechanical stress on the superplastic alloys. These processes make it possible to obtain large porosities, up to 40% under certain conditions, but require very expensive equipment as well as numerous steps, including the heat treatment which can be very long. In addition, a high density of open-ended porosities is obtained only for superplastic alloys, and in this most favorable case, the aspect ratio of the pores is 2 on average. The preferential orientation of the pores is therefore not very pronounced.
In order to simplify this process and to ensure a strong pore orientation, D. Spoerke et al (Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A 84 (2) (2008) 102-418) propose replacing the powder with titanium wires. Even if pore aspect ratios of up to 25 are obtained, the total porosity does not exceed 13%, with open porosities not exceeding 10% thereof.
Finally, the materials referred to as gasar or lotus according to CN104593630 or Nakajima H, Material Science 52 (2007) 1091-1173 have cylindrical porosities created by the difference in the solubility of a gas in a metal in the liquid and solid phase. The molten metal is saturated with gas and then solidified directionally. The gas is then discharged at the solidification front, creating porosities in the direction perpendicular to the front. This method is however very tricky to implement, since numerous parameters need to be optimized, especially the nature and the pressure of the gas, the solidification rate, etc., leading to porosities of considerable size, of the order of a few hundred microns to a few millimeters.
M. Porter et al. propose, in J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 99 (2016) 1917-1926, manufacturing zirconia/magnetite composite porous materials by a conventional freeze-casting technique under the action of a magnetic field. Here too, the internal structure of the porous material is governed by the directional solidification of the solvent. Indeed, the magnetic particles in suspension are sufficiently fine for gravity to be negligible and for the dispersion of the particles to be due to interparticle forces (Van derWaals, electrostatic, steric). The magnetic particles agglomerate in areas of higher magnetic flux density and create inhomogeneities in the final material, but do not become uniformly distributed in the solution and ultimately do not participate in the overall architecture of the part. In addition, in this process, the structure of the porous material obtained is intrinsically linked to the directional solidification of the solvent, which leads to several difficulties:
If the powders are too fine they may not be discharged into the inter-dendritic space, but be included in the dendrites and thus hinder the pores of the final part;
The first ice crystals in contact with the cooling plate are equiaxial, which creates a more dense layer at the end of the process, which limits the overall permeability of the part. This layer is difficult to remove a posteriori since cutting up a porous material by conventional techniques clogs the pores and may create a dense layer at the surface;
As the ice dendrites form, the thermal gradient experienced by the liquid solvent decreases since the ice is insulating, and this therefore produces crystals which will become increasingly large. There is therefore an inhomogeneity of the porosity in the thickness of the part;
This process is highly dependent on the solvent used. This is because each solvent crystallizes in a certain way. For each solvent, it is therefore necessary to perform a new parametric study to obtain the desired properties.
In the field of ceramics, the technique referred to as "freeze-casting", described by S. Deville in Acta Materalia 55 (2007) 1965-74, makes it possible to obtain ceramic materials with oriented porosities in a few steps:
1. A mixture of nanoscale powders and solvent is prepared.
2. The mixture is placed on a cooling plate in order to directionally solidify the solvent, forming dendrites in the direction of the solidification front.
3. The solvent is then sublimated under vacuum, passing under its triple point: the green body obtained has oriented porosities that reproduce the shape of the former dendrites.
4. The material is finally sintered at high temperature to obtain the final p art.
The material thus obtained has oriented microporosities from a certain thickness. The first water crystals are equiaxial, then the dendrites begin to form and become uniform in size and direction from 60 μm of thickness.
The Applicant has discovered that the application of this process as described in the above article with metallic powders in an aqueous solution to obtain oriented porosities of the order of ten microns is virtually impossible. This is because metallic powders are denser and larger than the ceramic powders (because the latter can be ground very finely), the Applicant having observed sedimentation before solidification of the water. The dendrites therefore fail to force the powder into the inter-dendritic space and the final porosities are not oriented. If the viscosity of the solvent is increased, the material obtained can be very porous but not oriented because the dendrites fail to develop within the three-dimensional network created by the binder. A porous material with non-oriented porosity is obtained.
This is why, in the literature, very few cases of metallic freeze-casting are recorded. The process as such was only able to be applied to fine, and therefore light, titanium powders, whether in aqueous solution as by JC Li et al., Acta Materalia 59 (2011) 146-58; Chino Y. et al, Acta Materalia 56 (2008) 105-13; or with camphene as a solvent as by SW Yook et al, Materials Letters 63 (2009) 1502-4.
M. Fukushima et al, in Materials Letters 153 (2015) 99-101, have been able to circumvent the problem of sedimentation by adding a gelling agent to the aqueous solution. A first step consists in cooling the mixture below the gelation temperature in order to obtain a homogeneous dispersion of the powder in a highly viscous medium in which there is no sedimentation, then in solidifying the water directionally. This process is however very difficult to implement because the three-dimensional network created by the gel hinders the growth of the dendrites and can easily give rise to a non-oriented structure. In addition, it is necessary to use an extremely fine powder of approximately 400 nm, which is therefore expensive, so that it can be effectively forced into the inter-dendritic space. These powders less than 1 μm in size also have increased toxicological risks.
Recently, techniques to obtain copper parts (A. I. Cuba Ramos et al, Materials Letters 153 (2015) 99-101 or nickel parts (H. Jo et al., Metallurgical and Materials Transactions E 3E (2016) 46-54 by freeze-casting from oxide powders have been developed. The disadvantage of this technique is the strong shrinkage during sintering due to the reduction of the oxide which causes the appearance of cracks, as well as the heterogeneity in size, shape and orientation of the pores due to the difficulty of success of the unidirectional freezing step.
The above processes, according to the observations made by the Applicant, make it difficult to obtain a material with porosities of the order of ten micrometers, which are open and strongly oriented.
To the Applicant's knowledge, therefore, there is currently no process enabling easy production of homogeneous parts with oriented porosity of the order of ten microns from metallic powders of micrometric dimensions which are denser than titanium.
The invention improves the situation.

Sintered metal material having directional porosity and comprising at least one ferromagnetic part, and production method thereof

OFFICE NATIONAL D'ETUDES ET DE RECHERCHES AEROSPATIALES (ONERA)


The present invention is directed to a spray system for an agricultural machine in which multiple spray nozzles for spraying a liquid product can be dynamically arranged in number and location along a preconfigured rail acting as a boom. Each spray nozzle can include an attachment arrangement for conveniently attaching, tightening, loosening and/or detaching the spray nozzle with respect to the rail. In one aspect, the attachment arrangement can comprise a fastener configured to tighten or loosen a clip with respect to a body for engaging the rail. A separate product line for supplying liquid product to the spray nozzles can flexibly include numerous ports, more than there are spray nozzles, with some ports attaching to spray nozzles via branch lines, and other ports being sealed to inhibit flow.

Agricultural machines, such as self-propelled sprayers, are getting larger to increase operating efficiency, such as by covering more area in a single pass of a spraying session. Spray nozzles in such systems are typically mounted with holes that are drilled at specific spacings in a supply pipe or tube with nozzle bodies being clamped to such locations. However, this arrangement can be restrictive in several ways. For example, the boom design may be restricted to providing space for only the particular relationship of nozzle and feed line. Manufacturers must maintain inventor of drilled pipes for every spacing on every section of every boom length offered. Dealers ordering stock units must guess what spacing a future buyer might desire or risk the cost of parts and labor for a conversion. Operators and resellers may be restricted to only that spacing unless the feed line is replaced. Flow may be restricted by the diameter of the drilled hole. Moreover, on occasions when a user may wish to spray two products at once, room must be found for a complete second feed line with nozzles. A need therefore exists for an improved spray system that eliminates one or more of the foregoing disadvantages.

Spray system with rail mounting for an agricultural machine


An I/O control window is created on a user's terminal screen when a parallel program is executing. The I/O control window displays an array of graphical elements (preferably small colored squares), which are partitioned into groups of one or more such elements, each partition representing a task (or thread) of the parallel program. In each partition there is one graphical element which represents the I/O status of the task or thread represented by that partition and is called an I/O status indicator. Each I/O status indicator is capable of assuming any one of several different graphical states (each graphical state preferably being a color for the graphical element), one of which indicates that the corresponding task or thread has provided text output that has not been displayed to the user yet and another of which indicates that the corresponding task (or thread) is requesting text input from the user. The user can open a text window on the user's terminal screen which is dedicated for I/O with a particular task (or thread) by placing a mouse on a graphical element in the I/O control array partition representing that particular task (or thread) and pressing a specified mouse button. Many separate I/O windows like this may be opened at the same time and any I/O window can be closed as well through use of the mouse.

Massively parallel multiprocessors are computers with hundreds or even thousands of processors. One of the main problems in using such machines is how to implement interactions between a running program and a user, and specifically, how to implement terminal input and output (I/O) of text information. Textual input is complicated by the fact that the user might need to control the routing of the typed input to a certain processor. Textual output can be a problem because the user might be flooded by independent output streams from all the processors, which might number in the hundreds or even thousands of processors. Regrettably, humans by nature can only concentrate on one data stream at a time. Most parallel processing systems do not provide any special support for terminal I/O. Hence when many processors generate output, these output streams are interleaved by the system and presented to the user as one stream. If this is the case, the programmer must add processor identification tags to the outputs, and the user must then sift through the output to search for those parts that were generated by a particular processor. FIG. 1 illustrates such a conventional interleaved text output stream with output in uppercase and input in lower case.
Input requires even more work. When many processors request input, they are served in an unspecified order. Therefore the programmer must designate a particular processor that will receive all the user text input. That particular processor must then send the user text data to the relevant processor according to instructions received from the user as part of the input.
In the Express system marketed by ParaSoft Corp., the terminal I/O problem is reduced to some extent by limiting the semantics of I/O so as to reduce the number of possible I/O patterns. For example, both input and output can be done in "single" mode or in "multi" mode. In the case of output, single mode means that all the processors must output exactly the same text. This is checked by the system, and then only one copy of the output is displayed to the user. For input, it means that all the processors get copies of the same thing. Output in multi mode means that each processor buffers its output internally, until they all agree to "flush". The outputs from the different processors are then displayed to the user one after the other, according to the numerical order of the processors. For input, multi means that the input requests are serviced in sequence one after the other. A major drawback of this approach is that it limits the patterns of I/O, and more specifically that it requires that the processors always synchronize in order to perform I/O.
An alternative approach is described by J. E. Lumpp et al. in "CAPS: A Coding Aid for PASM," Comm. ACM, Vol 34, No. 11, pp. 104-117 (November 1991), where separate windows are provided to all processors in a partition. While this decouples the I/O operations of different processors, it does not scale up very well for a large number of processors in a partition. If the number of processors is large (say a hundred processors in a partition), it is clearly very awkward to manage the display screen (having a hundred windows). The situation becomes unmanageable for a massively parallel partition that might contain thousands and even potentially tens of thousands of processors.
While graphical user interfaces have been provided for a user to monitor and debug a parallel program, typically in an analysis phase done after the execution phase in which monitored data is collected, no serious attention has been given yet to the problem of providing graphical support to the user during the time that a parallel program is running for text I/O at a user terminal.

Graphical user interface for managing text i/o between a user and a parallel program

International Business Machines Corporation


Examples are disclosed relating to computing devices and methods for determining angular orientations of a first planar substrate rotatably coupled to a second planar substrate. In one example, a method comprises: receiving at a three-axis magnetic sensor in the second substrate a magnetic field emanating from a magnet array in the first substrate; determining magnetic flux densities at first and second sensing axes of the sensor throughout a range of degrees; and using the magnetic flux densities to determine multiple angular orientations of the first substrate relative to the second planar substrate.

Some computing devices include substrates that are rotatably coupled to enable folding of the device and positioning of the substrates at different relative angles. For example, in a dual screen smartphone or laptop, two touch screen displays may be rotatably coupled at a hinge such that the two displays are movable with respect to one another.


A fixing unit for fixing a toner image on a recording material includes: a rotatable fixing roll; a fixing belt stretched on the fixing roll; at least one tension roll stretching the fixing belt with the fixing roll; a pressurization member disposed to give a pressure to the fixing roll; and a stripping member disposed to press the outer surface of the fixing belt onto the pressurization member in a vicinity of a downstream side of a first contact portion between the fixing roll and the pressurization member.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a fixing unit used in an image forming apparatus for an electrophotographic manner, and more particularly to a fixing unit having a rotatable belt member.
2. Related Art
In image forming apparatuses such as copiers and printers employing an electrophotographic manner, an image is formed as follows. First, for example, the surface of a photosensitive member (photosensitive drum) formed in a drum shape is uniformly charged by a charging unit. The charged photosensitive drum is scanned and exposed by light controlled in accordance with image information and an electrostatic latent image is formed the surface thereof. Subsequently, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum is made into a visible image (toner image) by a developing unit and the toner image is transported to a transfer unit, where the toner image is electrostatically transferred onto a sheet of recording paper. The toner image transferred onto the sheet of recording paper is subjected to a fixing process, thereby completing the toner image.
The fixing unit used in such an image forming apparatus has, for example, a configuration that a fixing roll in which a heat-resistant elastic layer and a detachment layer are stacked on the surface of a cylinder-shaped core bar having a heating source (heater) disposed therein and a pressurization roll in which a heat-resistant elastic layer and a detachment layer made of a heat-resistant resin film or a heat-resistant rubber film are stacked on a core bar come in close contact with each other. A toner image is fixed onto a recording sheet by allowing the recording sheet having supported a non-fixed toner image to pass through a contact area (nip portion) between the fixing roll and the pressurization roll and performing a heating and pressurizing process to the non-fixed toner image. Such a fixing unit is referred to as a two-roll type fixing unit and has been widely used in general.
In recent years, increase in productivity and color has been rapidly advanced in image forming apparatuses and apparatuses having a double-sided printing mechanism have been spread more and more. Accordingly, a fixing unit which can cope with increase in process speed has been required more and more.
However, when the increase in process speed is accomplished by the use of the two-roll type fixing unit, it is difficult to sufficiently perform a fixing process to plural recording sheets continuously supplied for a short time. That is, in the two-roll type fixing unit, since the core bar constituting the fixing roll or the elastic layer made of a silicon rubber coated on the core bar serve as heat-resistant bodies, it is difficult to instantaneously and sufficiently supply a heat amount, which corresponds to the heat amount released from the surface of the fixing roll to the recording sheets, from a heater disposed in the fixing roll.
Therefore, a surface temperature of the fixing roll gradually decreases during the continuous feed of sheets to gradually deteriorate the fixing performance. In addition, at the time of initiating the image forming apparatus, a so-called "temperature dropping phenomenon" that the surface temperature of the fixing roll temporarily droops can occur easily. Specifically, when thick sheets of paper having a great heat capacity are used as the recording sheets, the heat amount released from the surface of the fixing roll increases. Accordingly, the deterioration in fixing performance or the droop in temperature increases, thereby easily causing deterioration in image quality due to the fixing failure.
Accordingly, a technology for solving the above-mentioned problems in a case that the two-roll type fixing unit is used and embodying a fixing unit coping with the increase in speed of an image forming apparatus, there is known a technology relating to a fixing unit in which a heating member is constructed to suspend a film-shaped belt member (fixing belt) on plural tension rolls. That is, there is known a technology of fixing a toner image by previously heating the fixing belt with a heater disposed inside the tension rolls before the fixing belt enters the nip portion and heating the recording sheet and the toner image through the heated fixing belt in the nip portion.
In the fixing unit employing such a belt member, since the heat capacity of the belt member is small, it is easy to recover the belt member to a predetermined fixing temperature for a short time even when heat is released to the recording sheet during the fixing process. Therefore, such a configuration of the fixing unit is very suitable for accomplishing the increase in speed of the image forming apparatus.
In the fixing unit employing the fixing belt, a toner image is supported on the surface of a recording sheet. Accordingly, when the toner image is fused by the heat from the fixing belt, the toner image serves as adhesive and an adhesive force acts between the recording sheet and the fixing belt. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a mechanism for stripping the recording sheet from the surface of the fixing belt. Specifically, when the increase in speed of the image forming apparatus is required and the detachment failure occurs in the fixing unit to cause a jam of paper, the number of successive recording sheets to be damaged increase due to the influence of the jam of paper. Accordingly, it is necessary to stably detach the recording sheet having passed through the nip portion at a high speed from the fixing belt.
As the mechanism for stripping the recording sheet from the surface of the fixing belt, a configuration that a stripping claw is disposed at the downstream side of the nip portion to abut the fixing belt is employed. Further, in a configuration that the fixing belt stretched on the fixing roll and the heating roll and the pressurization roll are disposed in close contact with each other, a fixation member for setting the curvature of the fixing belt great at an exit portion of the nip portion is provided at the inside of the fixing belt and at the position corresponding to the exit portion (the most downstream portion) so as to detach the recording sheet by the use of variation in curvature of the fixing belt.
However, in a fixing unit using a fixing belt, when a stripping claw is used as the mechanism for stripping the recording sheet from a surface of the fixing belt, it is necessary to dispose the stripping claw in contact with the fixing belt so as to stably detach a recording sheet from the fixing belt. As a result, the surface of the fixing belt can be easily worn out by the stripping claw. When a worn mark is generated on the surface of the fixing belt, a fixing stain corresponding to the worn mark can be generated on a fixed image, thereby deteriorating image quality. In addition, toners offset onto the worn mark can be gradually deposited, thereby generating contaminations on the fixed image. Furthermore, when the wear of the fixing belt is advanced, the thin fixing belt may be finally destroyed, thereby damaging the function of the fixing unit.
When a fixation member for making the curvature of the fixing belt great is disposed at an exit of a nip portion as a mechanism for stripping the recording sheet from the surface of the fixing belt, the fixing belt comes in close contact with a pressurization roll by only a tension of the fixing belt at an intermediate nip region between an entrance of the nip portion where the fixing roll and the pressurization roll come in close contact with each other and the exit in which the fixation member is disposed. Accordingly, the nip pressure at the intermediate nip region is relatively low. When the recording sheet or the toner is heated in a low nip-pressure region, moisture in the recording sheet can be vaporized into steam or air in the toner can be thermally expanded, thereby generating air gaps (bubbles) between the fixing belt and the pressurization roll. When such air gaps are generated, a non-fixed toner can be easily disturbed because the air gaps are floated in a state that the toner on the recording sheet positioned in the nip portion is not completely fixed. As a result, image defects such as stains may be easily generated in a fixed image.
In the fixing unit using the fixing belt, when the stripping claw is used as the mechanism for stripping the recording sheet from the surface of the fixing belt, it is necessary to dispose the stripping claw in contact with the fixing belt so as to stably detach the recording sheet from the fixing belt. As a result, when the stripping claw is used, the surface of the fixing belt can be easily worn out by the stripping claw. When a worn mark is generated on the surface of the fixing belt, a fixing stain corresponding to the worn mark on the surface of the fixing belt can be generated on the fixed image, thereby deteriorating image quality. In addition, toners offset onto the worn mark can be gradually deposited, thereby generating contaminations on the fixed image. Furthermore, when the wear of the surface of the fixing belt is advanced, the thin fixing belt may be finally destroyed, thereby damaging the function of the fixing unit.
When the fixation member for making the curvature of the fixing belt great is disposed at the exit of the nip portion as the mechanism for stripping the recording sheet from the surface of the fixing belt, the fixing belt comes in close contact with the pressurization roll by only the tension of the fixing belt at an intermediate nip region between an entrance of the nip portion where the fixing roll and the pressurization roll comes in close contact with each other and the exit in which the fixation member is disposed. Accordingly, the nip pressure at the intermediate nip region is relatively low. When the recording sheet or the toner is heated in the low nip-pressure region, moisture in the recording sheet can be vaporized into steam or air in the toner can be thermally expanded, thereby generating air gaps (bubbles) between the fixing belt and the pressurization roll. When such air gaps are generated, the non-fixed toner can be easily disturbed because the bubbles are floated in the state that the toner on the recording sheet positioned in the nip portion is not completely fixed. As a result, image defects such as stains may be easily generated in a fixed image, thereby causing the deterioration in image quality.


A knife assembly for a waste processing system includes a plurality of cutters disposed on a drum. The cutters further include a cutter body, a knife assembly including a first clamp, a second clamp, and a knife. The knife is removably affixed between the first and second clamp and has at least one cutting surface which extends beyond respective ends of the first and second clamps, whereby the cutter body and knife assembly are operably disposed on a drum for a waste processing system.

The present invention relates to waste processing machines, and more specifically to waste processing machines including material reducing knife assemblies for processing wood such as brush, branches, and the like, and a method of manufacture thereof.
A variety of machines have been developed to recycle, reduce, or otherwise process wood and brush products. Included therein are machines that chip, cut, grind, or otherwise reduce waste (wood) products including, generally, chippers (disk and drum types), hammer mills, hogs, shredders, grinders, and forestry mowers.
These waste processing systems typically include an infeed system and a waste reducing system, wherein the infeed system is used for directing the waste material to the waste reducing system, the waste reducing system being used for reducing the waste material. Examples of such waste processing machines are disclosed in: U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,912, issued Apr. 11, 2000, entitled "Break-Away Processing Tool For A Waste Processing Machine"; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,863,003 and 6,299,082; issued Jan. 26, 1999 and Oct. 9, 2001, respectively; all to Smith; and entitled "Waste Processing Machine"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,210 issued May 9, 2000 to Smith, entitled "Rotor Assembly For A Waste Processing Machine"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,517,020, issued Feb. 11, 2003 to Smith, entitled "Replaceable Raker Assembly For Processing Tool Of Waste Processing Machine"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,082, issued Oct. 9, 2001 to Smith, entitled "Waste Processing Machine"; U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,845,931, 7,121,485, 7,384,011, and 7,726,594; issued Jan. 25, 2005, Oct. 17, 2006, Jun. 10, 2008, and Jun. 1, 2010, respectively; all to Smith; and entitled "Multi-Functional Tool Assembly For Processing Tool of Waste Processing Machine"; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,166, issued Jan. 16, 2007 to Smith, entitled "Rotatable Assembly For Machines", all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
It is also known to provide a wood chipper for chipping wood such as brush, branches, and the like to produce wood chips. An example of such a wood chipper is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,539, issued Nov. 23, 1999 to Morey, and entitled "Wood Chipper With Infeed Chute Safety Device" which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In these known systems, the wood chipper generally includes an infeed assembly, feed wheel assembly, and a cutting assembly having a rotatable disc or drum with at least one knife or blade for chipping the wood entering the wood chipper and reducing it to wood chips. The chipper also includes a discharge chute for allowing the wood chips to exit the wood chipper, as well as for generally directing them during discharge. Typically, the feed wheel assembly includes: a stationary lower feed wheel, connected to a lower housing; a movable upper feed wheel, connected to an upper housing, and movable relative to the lower housing for allowing wood to enter the cutting assembly. The wood chipper also includes an engine connected to a hydraulic pump, which pumps fluid to drive hydraulic motors to rotate the feed wheels.
Other examples of such wood chippers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,707, issued Mar. 7, 2000 to Morey et al., entitled "Drum Assembly For A Wood Chipper"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,125, issued Mar. 14, 2000 to Morey et al., entitled "Wood Chipper"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,988,539, issued Nov. 23, 1999 to Morey, entitled "Wood Chipper With Infeed Chute Safety Device"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,642, issued Dec. 14, 1999 to Morey, entitled "Wood Chipper With Infeed Chute Safety Device"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,596, issued Apr. 20, 2004 to Morey, entitled "Multiple Wheel Feed Wheel Assembly For A Wood Chipper"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,684, issued Mar. 19, 2002 to Morey, entitled "Adjustable Tension Feed Wheel Assembly For A Wood Chipper"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,830,204, issued Dec. 14, 2004 to Morey, entitled "Reversing Automatic Feed Wheel Assembly For A Wood Chipper"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,814,320, issued Nov. 9, 2004 to Morey et al., entitled "Reversing Automatic Feed Wheel Assembly For Wood Chipper", all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Although these types of waste processing machines have worked well, the existing wood chipping mechanisms or systems suffer from the disadvantage of, inter alia, and with particular reference to the knife or cutting assemblies, requiring a relatively high grade material. To wit, in order to provide these cutting assemblies with the required wear resistance and overall toughness, the materials and manufacturing processes used in making these knives are relatively particular and therefore, costly. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a new waste reducing knife assembly that overcomes the above-identified disadvantages.
Accordingly, a need exists for novel systems and methods which have, among other advantages, reduced manufacturing costs, as well as the ability to be easily replaceable, while providing acceptable wear resistance and toughness. Therefore, a knife assembly and method thereof that solves the aforementioned disadvantages and having the aforementioned advantages is desired.

Knife assembly for a waste processing machine and method of assembly thereof


A system and method for providing messenger services is disclosed. The system includes a presence information database (DB), a terminal, and messenger server. The presence information database (DB) stores messenger status information of each of a plurality of subscribers subscribing to the messenger services, and registration information shared between the subscribers. In response to a request of the first subscriber, the terminal stores a first subscriber's schedule therein, and transmits the first subscriber's stored schedule and a change request signal of messenger status. The messenger server receives the schedule and the change request signal of messenger status information based on the schedule and changes first subscriber's messenger status information in response to the schedule.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for providing messenger service, and more particularly, to a system and method for providing a messenger service for indicating messenger status information of messenger service subscribers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a messenger service is frequently used for communicating and exchanging content between remote users through a communication network.
The messenger service provides messenger service subscribers with a function of indicating messenger status information together with communication functions, such as, message transmission, file sharing, chatting, video conference, etc., between the messenger service subscribers. Messenger status information of a subscriber indicates a current status of the subscriber using messenger service, for example, an on-line status showing that a subscriber is connected to a network, a temporarily away status showing that a subscriber has temporarily left his/her terminal, and a busy status showing that a subscriber is busy conducting other tasks, etc.
A messenger server stores subscriber messenger status information in real-time in order to provide the messenger status information of the subscribers. Here, each subscriber's messenger status information is selectively stored by the subscriber from among pre-determined messenger status information. The messenger server informs other subscribers, which have previously registered the subscriber in their contact lists, of the subscriber's stored messenger status information. Then, the other subscribers can recognize current status of the subscriber through the messenger status information.
However, the prior art method described above indicating messenger status information, cannot inform detailed status of a subscriber if there are relatively few messenger status records to choose from. Also, the prior art method has disadvantages that the messenger status information must be directly changed by the subscribers each time their status is changed.

System and method for providing a messenger service capable of changing messenger status information based on a schedule


Provided are several polishing compositions useful for modifying a surface, such as a semiconductor wafer suitable for fabrication of a semiconductor device, especially when used in fixed abrasive planarization techniques. The polishing compositions include a synergistic mixture of water, an oxidizing agent, a complexing agent, and metal ions. Also provided are various methods of surface planarization.

During integrated circuit manufacture, semiconductor wafers used in semiconductor fabrication typically undergo numerous processing steps, including deposition, patterning, and etching steps. Details of these manufacturing steps for semiconductor wafers are reported by Tonshoff, et al., "Abrasive Machining of Silicon", published in the Annals of the International Institution for Production Engineering Research, (Vol. 39/2/1990), pp. 621-635. In each manufacturing step, it is often necessary or desirable to modify or refine an exposed surface of the wafer in order to prepare the wafer for subsequent fabrication or manufacturing steps.
For example, after a deposition step, the deposited material or layer on a wafer surface generally needs further processing before additional deposition or subsequent processing occurs. In another example, after an etching step, there is often a need to deposit either, or both, conducting or insulating materials in layers on the etched surface areas of a wafer. A specific example of this process is used in metal Damascene processes.
In the Damascene process, a pattern is etched into an oxide dielectric layer. After etching, optional adhesion/barrier layers are deposited over the entire surface and then a metal is deposited over or on top of the adhesion/barrier layers. The deposited metal layer is then modified, refined or finished by removing the deposited metal and regions of the adhesion/barrier layer on the surface. Typically, enough surface metal is removed so that the outer exposed surface of the wafer comprises both metal and an oxide dielectric material. A top view of the exposed wafer surface should reveal a planar surface with metal corresponding to the etched pattern and dielectric material adjacent to the metal. The metal(s) and oxide dielectric material(s) located on the modified surface of the wafer inherently have different physical characteristics, such as different hardness values. An abrasive article used to modify a wafer produced by the Damascene process must be carefully designed so as to simultaneously modify the materials without scratching the surface of either material. Further, the abrasive article must be able to create a planar outer exposed surface on a wafer having an exposed area of a metal and an exposed area of a dielectric material.
Such a process of modifying the deposited metal layer until the oxide dielectric material is exposed on the wafer outer surface leaves little margin for error because of the submicron dimensions of the metal features located on the wafer surface. It is clear that the removal rate of the deposited metal must be fast to minimize manufacturing costs. Further, metal removal from areas which were not etched must be complete. Still further, metal remaining in etched areas must be limited to discrete areas or zones, and the remaining metal must be continuous within an area or zone to ensure proper conductivity. In short, the metal modification process must be uniform, controlled, and reproducible on a submicron scale.
One conventional method of modifying or refining exposed surfaces of wafers employs methods that treat a wafer surface with a slurry containing a plurality of loose abrasive particles dispersed in a liquid. Typically this slurry is applied to a polishing pad and the wafer surface is then ground or moved against the pad in order to remove or take off material on the wafer surface. Generally, the slurry also contains agents which chemically react with the wafer surface. This type of process is commonly referred to as a chemical-mechanical planarization or polishing (CMP) process.
One problem with CMP slurries, however, is that the process must be carefully monitored in order to achieve a desired wafer surface topography. Another problem is the mess associated with loose abrasive slurries. Another problem is that the slurries generate a large number of particles that must be removed from the surface of the wafer and disposed of following wafer treatment. Handling and disposal of these slurries involves additional processing costs for the semiconductor wafer fabricator.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A dead-reckoning sensory system includes a receiver unit and a transmitter unit in wireless communication with the receiver unit. The transmitter unit is operable to be mounted to a wheel of a vehicle, determine information characterizing the heading and distance traveled by the vehicle, and transmit the information to the receiver unit.

In vehicle and other navigation applications, a low-cost dead-reckoning system requires accurate measurement of vehicle heading and distance traveled. Vehicle odometer sensors are either difficult to access or not available. Most wheel sensors do not provide rotational sense information, and a forward/backward sensor must be used. Heading information must be provided by other sensors such as a gyroscope or compass.

Wireless wheel-sensor system for dead reckoning navigation applications


A screw-fastening tool having a continuously-variable transmission traction drive includes a continuously-variable transmission, a thrust cam mechanism of the continuously-variable transmission and a clutch plate of a fastening torque setting mechanism arranged in series between an electric motor and a spindle. A traction grease having a high traction coefficient is used as a lubricant for a traction drive. A grease reservoir or felt members in sliding contact with oppressing parts are disposed in a transmission case.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a power tool, such as a grinder, a screw fastening tool, or a cutting tool, having an electric motor as a driving source. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to a power tool, such as a chain having an engine (internal combustion engine) as a driving source.

Power tool with continuously-variable transmission traction drive


A sealing mechanism including a first seal member, a second seal member arranged so as to face the first seal member, and a deformed nucleus member arranged in a space formed at least partially between the first seal member and the second seal member, and becoming a nucleus of deformation in the sealing mechanism. The deformed nucleus member is configured by a combination of rod-like members and plate-like members respectively formed from a plurality of materials having different linear expansion coefficients, and is fixed to each of the first seal member and the seal member. The deformed nucleus member contracts in at least one direction on a cross-section of the seal groove, along with an increase in temperature of the deformed nucleus member. The first seal member and the second seal member respectively have abutment surfaces abutting on an inner surface of the seal groove or the facing surfaces.

For example, in a compressor, a gas turbine, or a steam turbine, a seal plate is installed on a horizontal flange surface of a casing in order to prevent an inner fluid from leaking to between stages or to the outside. However, since tolerance needed for assembly of the horizontal flange surface and the seal plate is generally provided, it is impossible to completely prevent leakage of the fluid. Thus, the installation of the seal plate mainly aims at reducing a leakage amount.
Patent Document 1 describes that, in a bearing structure including a bearing part and a shaft fitted to the bearing part, the bearing part is at least partially formed of a thermal expansion material which has a negative thermal expansion coefficient in a range from a low temperature region to a medium temperature region and a positive thermal expansion coefficient in a range from the medium temperature region to a high temperature region, or the shaft is at least partially formed of a thermal expansion material which has a positive thermal expansion coefficient in a range from the low temperature region to the medium temperature region and a negative thermal expansion coefficient in a range from the medium temperature region to the high temperature region. With the above configuration, it is possible to suppress friction between the shaft and the bearing part in the low temperature region, and to suppress the flow-out of oil and the run-out of an oil film in the high temperature region.


The present invention relates to a composition capable of reducing or eliminating offensive odors emanating from sites including, animal holding areas, animal waste areas, feed lots, water holding areas, landfills, trash transfer centers and leachate reservoirs. The composition comprises an acid component, or salt thereof, an iron component and a nitrogen source. The invention also relates to a method of odor reduction or elimination based on the above-described composition. Furthermore, the composition utilized in the disclosed methods includes a polysaccharide hydrolase component, and at least one molybdenum, copper and/or gum component.

Odor reducing or eliminating compositions have application in a number of areas. Of particular importance are those situations where the odors are sufficiently offensive to be problematic for individuals having to work in proximity with the odor producing material. Examples of such situations include cattle feed lots, swine barns, poultry houses and the like. In these settings, the ability to reduce or eliminate odor production would greatly enhance the quality of the working environment. The present invention provides a composition suitable for use in such settings.


A flexible resilient ribbon having first and second conductive surfaces is wrapped over the top edge of a pocket wall forming a bowed-out first conductive surface adjacent to the top edge of the wall which biases the first conductive surface into contact with the second conductive surface when a card is absent from the pocket, an alarm circuit IC terminal is connected by a network which includes a fixed resistor to power supply negative and the first and second conductive surfaces each of carbon, in series removable contact, connected to power supply positive.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to an alarm system for a card or document holder pocket, more specifically to a self-contained portable alarm system having a unitary ribbon which is folded over the edge of a pocket opening and folded within the pocket and which gives alarm when the card or document is removed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is replete with patented designs for card holder alarm systems that signal a warning when a card such as a credit card is removed from a wallet pocket.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,959,789 patented by F. M. McGahee on May 25, 1976 describes a check or credit card monitor consisting of a case having an alarm circuit, time delay circuit, power supply, and a cover having a plurality of separators adapted to hold documents between them. Each separator has an electrical contact. The separators are biased together by a spring clip so that the electrical contacts touch one another when the card is removed from between the electrical contacts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,250 patented by C. D. McNeely Oct. 30, 1984 describes a wallet having an alarm circuit connected to a plurality of electrically and mechanically parallel metal clips and a printed circuit conductor line. Each clip independently closes mechanically and electrically on a printed circuit conductor line unless the closing is prevented by an intervening credit card in the clip. A single closing of the parallel circuits is sufficient to activate the alarm circuit.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,652,865 patented by A. Maharshak on Mar. 24, 1987 describes a plurality of pockets in which each pocket has conductive disks on the pocket walls at the center of each inner side of the pocket so that they contact when the card is removed from the pocket. One of the disks is magnetic so that the disks are drawn together.
In another embodiment electrical conductive areas on the pocket walls on the opposite inside surfaces of the pockets are biased toward one another by leaf springs inserted into the spaces between outer and inner layers of the walls of the pockets.
In another embodiment a pair of parallel conductive strips spaced from one another and parallel to the edge of the pocket opening traverse one inner face of the pocket. A longitudinal plate is positioned on the opposite inner face of the pocket so that it crosses both strips.
In another embodiment a single conductive strip extends approximately corner to corner of one inner face of the pocket the ends being spaced from the top and bottom of the pocket, and a single conductor strip extends approximately corner to corner of the opposite inner face of the pocket the ends being spaced from the top and bottom of the pocket, so that the conductors intersect at about the center of the pocket. The conductors pass through the seams of adjacent pockets so that the contact arrangement at the center of the pocket is in each pocket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,094 patented Dec. 26, 1989 by D. Kopel describes a wallet structure in which the pockets are made from a long flexible dielectric sheet that is folded normal to the length of the sheet in a fan fold to form card accommodating compartments by various means including adhesive and/or stitching Preferably a decorative material such as leather is secured around the dielectric sheet and over its exposed edges.
A first conductive bus extends the length of a front surface of the sheet adjacent to one edge of the sheet. A second conductive bus extends the length of the front surface of the sheet adjacent to the other edge of the sheet, parallel to the first conductive bus. Each of the first and second busses continues over each fold normal to the fold and coincides with itself in each pocket formed by the folds.
Alternating conductive strips on the front surface extend from each conductive strip normal to the strip, separated by and spaced from fold lines of the accordion fold so that in each pocket a strip from the first conductive bus on one inner wall of a pocket contacts a strip from the second conductive bus on the opposite inner wall of the pocket at the center of the pocket. The contact activates an alarm. Contact is prevented by an intervening credit card in the pocket.
In order to assure contact between the strips in each pocket in the absence of a credit card between them, a plurality of resilient cushioning pads are secured to the rear surface of the dielectric sheet, one pad of the plurality of pads behind one of the conductive strips in each pocket.


A client terminal for conducting wireless communications with an access point apparatus having apparatus unique information. The client terminal includes: an acceptance unit that accepts entry of the apparatus unique information; a conversion unit that converts the apparatus unique information entered through the acceptance unit into temporary connection information; a temporary connection establishing unit that establishes temporary connection with the access point apparatus to acquire main connection information required for main connection with the access point apparatus based on the temporary connection information; a reception unit that receives the main connection information from the access point apparatus; and a main connection establishing unit that establishes main connection with the access point apparatus based on the main connection information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communication technology such as a wireless LAN, and in particular to a client terminal, an access point apparatus, and a wireless connection system for conducting wireless communications.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, wireless communication apparatuses, for examples, apparatuses having a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) function have been widely available on the market and have been used at offices and at homes. However, in the wireless communications, radio waves are used as communication media and thus data can be received anywhere in the range in which radio waves can reach, and it is difficult to limit the communication destinations. Thus, security measures have been a particularly important problem.
For example, with a wireless LAN compliant with IEEE802.11 standard, for example, the main security measures can be roughly classified into three of access control based on a MAC (Media Access Control) address, access control based on SSID (Service Set Identification) and encryption of communications using an encryption key of WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy).
The MAC address is a unique value assigned to each network card. In the MAC address access control, only client terminals each with the MAC address registered in an access point apparatus are accepted in the access point apparatus and client terminals having other MAC addresses are excluded. However, the MAC address is distributed in the radio zone in a state in which the MAC address is not encrypted and thus if a third party intercepts the MAC address, spoofing can be done easily.
The SSID is an ID added to each access point apparatus and is provided for the purpose of permitting communications to be conducted only in the SSID match combination.
Last, the encryption using an encryption key such as a WEP key is defensive means for changing the encryption key for each communication destination, thereby preventing a packet from being broken if the packet is intercepted. Although the means involves a problem of vulnerability concerning the used encryption key, it is widely known as comparatively high security means as compared with the MAC address and the SSID. To furthermore enhance safety, a more advanced encryption system, a method using authentication based on IEEE802.1X and the like are carried out and proposed.
For example, JP-A-2004-072682 proposes a connection method for making comparatively safe wireless communication connection even in a client terminal not previously possessing the account or certificate corresponding to an authentication process in a communication system wherein authentication such as IEEE802.1X is required. In this method, a wireless communication link using a comparatively low-level encryption system is once established between an access point apparatus and a client terminal and authentication data required for conducting wireless communications based on a high-level encryption system wherein an authentication process is required is transmitted to the client terminal and then the link is once discarded and again wireless communications based on the high-level encryption system using the authentication data are conducted.
Wireless connection at a high level of safety has been made possible as described above.

Client terminal having a temporary connection establishing unit


A method for facilitating the downloading of an application from a server computer to a client device, whereby the client device generates to the server computer an initiation request for information describing available applications. In response to receipt of the initiation request, the server computer retrieves, for each available application, information describing the respective application, and a link to an application descriptor for the respective application. The server computer transmits the information and link to the client device, which in turn displays the information and stores the link. When the user selects an application, the link for the selected application is recalled and is reached on the server computer for retrieval of the application descriptor. From the application descriptor, the client device may determine whether the application fits the device profile and, hence, whether to download the application.

A wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet, typically comprises at least one server, such as a relatively high-capacity computer, configured for serving a number of client devices, such as personal computers or mobile phones, connected to the WAN. It is often desirable to download, from the server to a client device, applications, such as games, or application content, such as wallpaper, ring tones, sound clips, and/or the like. To facilitate the download of an application (used herein to include content as well), a client device is conventionally provided with a browser having a content/application download model (CADM), such as a Java Application Management System (Java-AMS), Open Mobile Alliance-Content Download (OMA-CoD), Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW), and the like.
In using a browser to download an application in a conventional manner, a user first selects an application to download, and the browser then downloads from the server an application descriptor for the selected application. The client device then examines the application descriptor to determine whether the application is suitable for downloading to the device. If it is determined that the application is suitable for downloading, then, using the information in the application descriptor, the client device proceeds to download the application from the server for use by the user.
While browsers are effective mechanisms for downloading applications, they utilize a protocol stack, and the combination of the browser and the protocol stack consume in a client device a substantial portion of available memory and processing power. Even when a browser is not being used, it often continues to run in the background, thereby continuing to consume valuable memory and processing power. While this is not a significant drawback for conventional desktop computers, such as personal computers, which have substantial memory and processing power, it can constitute a problem with handheld devices, such as wireless personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile cellular phones, and the like, that are configured for downloading applications from WANs, such as the Internet, and have relatively limited memory and processing power.
It is anticipated that the number of software applications available on WAN's, such as the Internet, and the like, will increase, such applications including enhanced browsers that will replace existing browsers. However, it can be problematic to download a new browser using an existing browser because, for example, the two browsers must be stored in memory, at least temporarily, at the same time, requiring not only additional memory, but also additional processing power. Furthermore, while a new browser mechanism may be provided with features (e.g., browsing) used often by the user, it may not be compatible with an existing download mechanism (e.g., CADM) residing in the handheld device. In such cases, when the user upgrades to a new browser, the new browser may not be able to download additional applications.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for enabling handheld devices to download applications in a manner which is economical with respect to memory and processing power of the handheld device, and which is also preferably not dependent on a particular browser.

System, and associated method, for downloading an application


Systems and methods for image processing are described. One or more embodiments of the present disclosure compare a vector graphics object with a guide line to obtain an attachment point of the vector graphics object, modify the guide line to obtain a guide shape, extend a line through the attachment point to obtain a projected point on the guide shape, divide the guide shape based on the projected point to obtain a partial curve, and modify the vector graphics object based on the partial curve to obtain a modified vector graphics object.

The following relates generally to digital image processing, and more specifically to editing vector graphics objects.
Digital image processing refers to the use of a computer to edit digital images using a processing network or an algorithm. In some cases, digital editing may be performed on images using image editing software to increase general appeal and consistency of the image. In some examples, the vector geometry of an image such as vector graphics objects can be represented by quadratic or cubic Bezier curves. Editing these Bezier segments may be performed by vector applications such as Adobe® Illustrator. Accordingly, users can manipulate anchor points or corresponding control points to edit Bezier curves.
Conventional image editing systems for editing graphic objects are not able to edit multiple vector graphics objects simultaneously to ensure visual consistency and coherence across segments of the vector graphics objects. Thus, when images include multiple different vector graphic objects, maintaining an inherent relationship between the vector graphic objects during editing is challenging. For example, a designer using conventional image editing systems has to edit each individual object and manually maintain the visual coherence and consistency of the multiple objects. Therefore, there is a need in the art for improved vector graphics systems to jointly edit multiple vector graphic objects while maintaining visual coherence.


The invention provides FGF21 mutant polypeptides with reduced proteolysis and aggregation, pharmaceutical compositions comprising the same.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to nucleic acid molecules encoding FGF21 mutant polypeptides, FGF21 mutant polypeptides, pharmaceutical compositions comprising FGF21 mutant polypeptides, and methods for treating metabolic disorders using such nucleic acids, polypeptides, or pharmaceutical compositions.
2. Background of the Invention
FGF21 is a secreted polypeptide that belongs to a subfamily of fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) that includes FGF19, FGF21, and FGF23 (Itoh et al., 2004, Trend Genet. 20: 563-69). FGF21 is an atypical FGF in that it is heparin independent and functions as a hormone in the regulation of glucose, lipid, and energy metabolism.
FGF21 was isolated from a liver cDNA library as a hepatic secreted factor. It is highly expressed in liver and pancreas and is the only member of the FGF family to be primarily expressed in liver. Transgenic mice overexpressing FGF21 exhibit metabolic phenotypes of slow growth rate, low plasma glucose and triglyceride levels, and an absence of age-associated type 2 diabetes, islet hyperplasia, and obesity. Pharmacological administration of recombinant FGF21 protein in rodent and primate models results in normalized levels of plasma glucose, reduced triglyceride and cholesterol levels, and improved glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. In addition, FGF21 reduces body weight and body fat by increasing energy expenditure, physical activity, and metabolic rate. Experimental research provides support for the pharmacological administration of FGF21 for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, obesity, dyslipidemia, and other metabolic conditions or disorders in humans.
Human FGF21 has a short half-life in vivo. In mice, the half-life of human FGF21 is 1 to 2 hours, and in cynomolgus monkeys, the half-life is 2.5 to 3 hours. In developing an FGF21 protein for use as a therapeutic in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, an increase in half-life would be desirable. FGF21 proteins having an enhanced half-life would allow for less frequent dosing of patients being administered the protein. Such proteins are described herein.

FGF mutants with reduced proteolysis and aggregation


A display system conversion technique that provides text-mode (e.g., VGA mode) display capabilities to a computer system that lacks text-mode display hardware is disclosed. By using the display conversion technique, programs which assume or require text-mode display hardware can be made to operate properly on computer systems that lack such text-mode display hardware. According to one implementation, a display system for a computer system having an operating system, includes: a display device for displaying an image, a frame buffer for storing a bitmap of the image, a display driver for causing the bitmap to be forwarded to and displayed on the display device, and a text-mode-to-bitmap conversion system for converting text characters received from the operating system operating in a text-mode to the bitmap of the image which is stored in the frame buffer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display system and, more particularly, to a display system for a computer system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many computer systems, such as IBM compatible personal computers, use a Video Graphics Adapter (VGA) graphics standard, which defines many different graphics modes, including text modes and bitmapped modes. Certain application programs or operating system programs require that a display system be set to a particular one of these modes. One such program is the operating system program referred to as NetWare produced by Novell Corporation of Provo, Utah. NetWare requires that the display system operate in a VGA mode, i.e., controlled by a VGA device.
Unfortunately, some computer systems, such as Apple Macintosh computers, do not support the VGA graphics standard because they do not have any VGA hardware. These computer systems (i.e., Macintosh computer systems) can only operate their display system in a bitmapped fashion. As a result, the NetWare operating system will not operate on such computer systems.
Thus, there is a need to enable computer systems which have a display system that lacks VGA functionality to properly execute programs that require the display system operate in a VGA mode.

Method and system for providing video graphics adapter functionality on a simple frame buffer