In a method and apparatus for forming a bonded web comprised at least in part of a polyester, a first material web and a second material web are arranged in opposed relationship with each other at least along those portions of the first and second material webs to be bonded together. At least one of the first and second material webs is comprised at least in part of the polyester. The opposed webs are transported in a machine direction to the nip of a bonding apparatus comprised of a first bonding member and a second bonding member defining the nip therebetween for passage of the opposed first and second material webs therebetween in the machine direction. A shear force is applied to the webs generally in the machine direction at the nip and the webs are mechanically bonded together at the nip while the shear force is applied to webs.

This invention relates generally to the mechanical bonding together of two or more material webs, and more particularly to apparatus and methods for increasing the bond strength between mechanically bonded web materials.
Mechanical bonding is a conventional bonding technique used to quickly bond together two or more webs or layers of material. One example of a mechanical bonding technique is commonly referred to as ultrasonic bonding in which the material webs comprise at in part a thermoplastic material that when exposed to a high frequency vibration, such as ultrasonic vibration, the thermoplastic materials of each web are heated, slightly melted and flow into each other to form a mechanical and/or chemical bond to hold the two webs together. As an example, ultrasonic bonding is common in the manufacturing of absorbent articles, which find widespread use as personal care products such as diapers, children's toilet training pants, adult incontinence garments, sanitary napkins and medical garments and the like, as well as surgical bandages and sponges.
One commonly employed ultrasonic bonding apparatus includes a rotatably driven ultrasonic horn and a corresponding rotatably driven anvil in closely spaced relationship with the horn to define a nip therebetween. In some ultrasonic bonding apparatus the anvil and horn contact each other at the nip while in other ultrasonic bonding apparatus typically referred to as a fixed gap, or non-contact ultrasonic bonding apparatus the anvil and horn are held in spaced relationship with each other at the nip. Two or more material webs that are to be bonded together are fed to the nip in opposed (e.g., overlaid) relationship. As the webs pass through the nip, the ultrasonic horn is excited at an ultrasonic frequency, typically in the range of about 15 kHz to about 40 kHz to ultrasonically bond the material webs together.
Because the ultrasonic vibration quickly heats and sufficiently melts the material webs to bond the webs together, high speed manufacturing is possible. For example, the material webs can be fed to the nip between the horn and anvil at speeds of at least 100 feet per minute and it is commonly faster, such as 800 feet per minute, 1,000 feet per minute or more. The linear speeds of the horn and anvil, i.e., the tangential speeds of the horn and anvil at the nip, typically match the rate at which the material webs are fed to the nip.
With recent advancements toward the use of more biodegradable materials in absorbent products, materials such as polylactic acid fibers may now be used in forming material webs for disposable absorbent articles. Polylactic acid fibers are generally known to have a relatively high stiffness and resiliency, a narrow softening range (also referred to herein as a melting band), and a high glass transition temperature as compared to more commonly used thermoplastic materials. One drawback that has come about as a result of shifting toward such materials is that these materials are less susceptible to being ultrasonically bonded together using existing bonding approaches.

Method and apparatus for mechanically bonding material webs


A multimodal biometric method is provided for authenticating at least one user, in which at least one user is assigned to one of at least two classes, in which similarity measures are used that are measures of the similarity of biometric data, determined for the user, to reference data for one of the classes, in which a overall statistical statement on the user's membership of the class is present for each of the at least two classes as a function of the similarity measure, in which the overall statistical statement for each of the at least two classes results from the combination of the statistical statements of at least two individual biometries for the respective class, the statistical statements of the individual biometries being statistical statements on the user's membership of the class as a function of the similarity measures, and in which the user is assigned to one of at least two classes when a specific assignment criterion is fulfilled.

Biometric methods can be applied to authenticate users; that is to say, the user is recognized by bodily features or characteristic modes of behavior. Multimodal biometry integrates two or more individual biometries (for example, speaker, signature, hand geometry, fingerprint, iris, face recognition) into an overall system. Biometric methods with individual biometries are disclosed, for example, in the form of dynamic signature verifications in WO 98/24051, WO 98/25228, WO 98/50880, WO 99/08223, in the form of a speaker verification in DE 19952049 A1, and as methods for hand recognition or for determining the position of a hand in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,533,177, 5,751,843, 5,828,779, EP 0 560 779 B1, EP 0 713 592 B1, EP 0 800 145 A2 and WO 98/38533.
Multiple biometries can contribute to higher security and/or to enhanced comfort. The assignments for the individual biometries must be optimally combined or fused in this case.
The following requirements can be demanded in detail of a multimodal biometric system:                higher security than best individual biometry;        quick assignment time;        low and, in particular, prescribed average false acceptance rates FAR; and        low and, in particular, prescribed average false rejection rate FRR.
Biometric methods are two-class assignment problems in which the features of the class of the originals (authorized users) are to be separated optimally from the features of the imposter class. Multimodal biometrics also constitute binary classification problems, the dimension of the feature space being a function of the number of the individual biometries used.
Various approaches exist for combining a number of individual biometries in a multimodal biometric method. These are:                Logic operation: AND-/OR-/combined operation; after Dieckmann, U. et al. "SESAM: A biometric person identification system using sensor fusion", Pattern Recognition Letters 18, 1997, pages 827–833.        Weighted total score: from individual scores or individual costs, for overall threshold; after Brunelli, R. und Falavigna, D. "Person Identification Using Multiple Cues", IEEE. Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Vol. 17, No. 10, 1995.        Support vector machine (SEM): support vectors that separate the classes are determined by training process; after Ben-Yacoub, S. "Multi-Modal Data Fusion For Person Authentication Using SVM", IDIAP Research Report 98-07 Martigny-Valais-Suisse, 1998.        Bayesian statistics: normal distributions of the scores are presupposed; after Bigün E. S. et al. "Expert Conciliation for Multi Modal Person Authentication Systems by Bayesian Statistics", Proceedings 1st Int. Conf. On Audio-& Video-Based Personal Authentication, 1997, pages 327–334.        Neural networks (NN): data-driven class separation; after Brunelli, R. und Falavigna, D. "Person Identification Using Multiple Cues", IEEE. Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Vol. 17, No. 10, 1995.
In all biometric methods, reference and test features are compared with one another, and a decision is made with the aid of similarity measures as to whether they originate from the same user. In other words, the similarity measures are measures of the similarity (correspondence) of biometric data determined for the user to reference data of users for the respective class. Measures of the similarity are either distances, so-called costs, between reference and test features or patterns, or so-called scores that constitute a measure of the probability that reference and test features originate from the same user. The value range of the costs lies between zero and a certain maximum value, low costs corresponding to high similarity, and high costs to low similarity. The values of the scores lie in the range between zero and one. Scores of one stand for maximum correspondence, and scores of zero for minimum correspondence.
With reference to the prior art, the combination of biometries via logic operations, which is chiefly used in the case of current commercial multimodal systems, may be explained by way of example. An AND operation is the logic combination of n biometries, a user being accepted only when for all individual biometries the costs (K1, K2, . . , Kn) lie below, or the scores (S1, S2, . . , Sn) lie above, specific thresholds (T1, T2, . . , Tn).
Logic AND operation criterion in the case of costs:(K1<T1)&(K2<T2)& . . . &(Kn<Tn)
Logic AND operation criterion in the case of scores:(S1>T1)&(S2>T2)& . . . &(Sn>Tn)
A possible assignment limit G and the associated acceptance region A (hatched region) of the costs and scores in the case of a logic AND operation for the combination of two biometrics 1 and 2 explained more accurately further below are illustrated in FIG. 1. The costs K1 of the biometry 1 are plotted on the abscissa, and the scores S2 of the biometry 2 are plotted on the ordinate.
In the case of the OR combination, in a biometry a user need generate only costs below, or scores above, a specific threshold value.
Logic OR operation criterion in the case of costs:(K1<T1)|(K2<T2)| . . . |(Kn<Tn)
Logic OR operation criterion in the case of scores:(S1>T1)|(S2>T2)| . . . |(Sn>Tn)
An assignment limit G and the associated acceptance region A (hatched region) of the costs or scores in the case of a logic OR operation for the combination of biometry 1 and biometry 2 are shown, by way of example, in FIG. 2.
The existing approaches and systems partly exhibit a few disadvantages. These are concrete assumptions relating to the individual biometrics, for example, that costs of the individual biometries are normally distributed, a high training outlay (NN, SVM), inadequate error rates and difficult modification for the use of other biometries, systems or another number of biometries, since the combinations such as, for example, weights in the case of the methods of weighted total scores are optimized to the systems and biometries used and to their number.
It is an object of the present invention to develop a multimodal biometry in the case of which the disadvantages outlined are avoided, and in the case of which, in particular, it is possible to set or select a desired false acceptance rate and, therefore, a certain degree of security.


A household appliance, includes an appliance cabinet, an appliance user interface having multiple settings. Each setting has multiple selection options. There is a bi-color LED associated with each of the selection options. The bi-colored LEDs are used to indicate the current settings of the appliance and the availability of appliance selection options. The bi-colored LEDs can also be used to provide feedback during programming of the settings of the household appliance.

The present invention relates to household appliances, and more particularly, but not exclusively to the user interface and controls for a household appliance. It is desirable that appliances be easy to operate. However, as the number of available options and controls associated with, for example, washing machines, have increased. The use of a washing machine has also become more complicated for operators. This invention is contemplated to be used on all types of household appliances. However, the remainder of the examples relate to washing machines. It is advantageous to show washing machines as examples for this invention due to their control/cycling/programming nature. In other words, since washing machines have many combinations of operation, they are good examples to show the breadth of this invention.
Also, washing machine user interfaces have historically been mechanically based systems. Thus, an operator could make their selection of settings such as by turning a selector associated with a knob or pushing in buttons. As control systems for the washing machine have moved to digital controls, a need for a user interface that not only allows a user to set the controls but also displays the status of the controls is needed.
Therefore, it is a primary object, feature, or advantage of the present invention to improve upon the state of the art.
It is a further object, feature, or advantage of the present invention to provide an appliance with an improved user interface.
A still further object, feature, or advantage of the present invention is an appliance that has an easy to use user interface.
Yet another object, feature, or advantage of the present invention is an appliance that has programmable user settings.
A still further object, feature, or advantage of the present invention is an appliance that allows an operator to determine which function selections are available while the appliance is in operation.
One or more of these and/or other objects, features, or advantages of the present invention become apparent from the specification and claims that follow.

Household appliance with user interface with bi-colored LEDs


A set of receiver path circuits is allocated for processing a radio-frequency (RF) signal provided by receive antennas coupled to the receiver path circuits. The RF signal may belong to a first signal class, such as Wi-Fi. A first gain control signal is applied to each of the allocated receiver path circuits to condition a signal level of the RF signal for the first signal class. A second gain control signal is applied to another set of receiver path circuits coupled to the receive antennas to condition the RF signal of a second signal class. First receive gain control signals are generated from the RF signals of the first signal class by the allocated set of the receiver path circuits. The first receive gain control signals are configured to optimize the signal level for processing the first signal class. A second receive gain control signal is generated to optimize the signal level of the RF signal for the second signal class.

Extraordinary growth in mobile business and personal telecommunications over the past decade has driven design efforts for more efficient radio-frequency (RF) spectral utilization and higher data throughput. Wireless local area network (WLAN) technology has undergone so many improvements that the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineering (IEEE), which maintains the widely used 802.11 standards, commercially known (and referred to herein) as Wi-Fi™, has had to resort to recycling the alphabet for extending their revision tracking convention. As of the filing of the present application, IEEE 802.11ac is in its late draft stages and standardizes highly anticipated improvements, including, but not limited to wider bandwidth, higher data rates and multi-user (MU) multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO).
Wider bandwidth, however, carries with it additional challenges in receiver implementation. For example, IEEE 802.11ac specifies a 5 GHz bandwidth that encompasses the RF band for, among other things, certain radar systems. When radar signals are present, Wi-Fi transmitters are prohibited from transmitting in the same band and, accordingly, many equipment manufactures implement Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) by which, upon detecting a radar signature in channels through which certain devices are communicating, DFS-enabled equipment can be switched to alternative channels. DFS implementations seek to utilize as much bandwidth as possible and thus a great deal of effort has been devoted toward spectral intelligence (SI) techniques that can accurately identify the presence of different types of signals. For example, if true radar emissions can be discriminated from signals that resemble radar, such as by electromagnetic radiation other than radar that occupies the same band, false reporting of the presence of radar can be averted. In the absence of true radar, a network node may be free to use that portion of its bandwidth that would otherwise be excluded by the false reporting. SI is also being used to identify RF interference in the Wi-Fi band so that its impact can be mitigated, such as by selecting an alternative channel on which to communicate. Microwave ovens, cordless phones, RF jammers, motion detectors, neighboring wireless networks, and wireless security cameras are just a few sources of interference that can severely impact performance of a wireless network. Advanced SI techniques can now identify the source of interference and locate the source on a map. Network management processes can report that location to responsible parties and make automatic adjustments to optimize wireless coverage while the interference remains active.
While implementing SI on Wi-Fi equipment offers many advantages, optimizing the radio receiver for both signal analysis and Wi-Fi communications is key in achieving its maximum benefit. For example, automatic gain control (AGC) for optimal Wi-Fi signal processing is not conducive to optimal SI. Current technologies attempt to apply a common AGC mechanism for all signal processing modes, but as the requirements of Wi-Fi become more demanding, such compromise is no longer a viable solution.

Independent and concurrent automatic gain control for wireless communication and spectral intelligence


A channelizer for processing a wideband signal to extract a plurality of narrowband signals is disclosed. The channelizer is capable of processing a received wideband signal to extract a plurality of regularly spaced narrowband signals therefrom. The wideband signal is processed in such a manner that the extracted narrowband signals have a sampling frequency that is not limited to an integer multiple of the channel spacing and is valid for any combination of downsampling factors and number of channels.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wideband channelization techniques, and more particularly, to a method of wideband channelization wherein the sampling frequency of extracted channels is not limited to an integer multiple of the channel spacing within a filter bank channelizer.
2. Description of Related Art
Radio receivers requiring simultaneous reception of multiple radio channels require the extraction of a number of radio signals from a single wideband signal. Such receivers may include macro base stations, micro base stations, pico base stations and others.
Presently, radio channels extracted from a wideband signal using a filter band channelizer have a sampling frequency f.sub.s that is restricted to an integer multiple of the channel spacing. In many applications, such as cellular radio, it is highly desirable for the sampling frequency to be an integer multiple of the symbol rate (i.e., not an integer multiple of the channel spacing). One solution to this problem is to feed each output of a channelizer to a digital sample rate converter to convert the sample rate of the output to an integer multiple of the symbol rate. However, having a digital sample rate converter on each output channel of a channelizer increases the cost, complexity and power consumption of a receiver. A method for directly providing a sampling frequency that is an integer multiple of the symbol rate without increasing cost, complexity and power consumption of the receiver would be highly desirable.

Wideband channelization with variable sampling frequency


Systems and methods are provided for a supply knowledge portal. The supply knowledge portal provides a new metric dashboard that delivers real-time information on the status and health of the hospital supply chain. The new dashboard is driven by the transactional data generated from system point of use devices and allows end users to view data at various levels starting at the facility level and moving down to filter for specific areas, devices and, at the lowest level, items.

Point-of-use devices in a supply chain, such as electronic supply cabinets, can allow controlled and monitored access to items in the supply chain and track transactions at the point-of-use, such as addition or removal of items to or from the point-of-use device. Tracking information for these transactions can be stored, per transaction, for a system of point-of-use devices, in a large database. These databases can allow bulk download of the transaction information for generation of reports by end users. However, the transaction-based storage of the tracking information requires massive databases for storage and is inefficient for storing, updating, and accessing the information.

Supply knowledge portal systems and methods


A wireless charging system provides charging to a multi-display device. A docking station in the system includes at least two transmission sources positioned so that a charger on the device is in range of at least one of the transmission sources when docked. In some embodiments, the docking station receives the device in a non-planar configuration and the charger receives charge on whichever side of the docking station it is docked on. In some embodiments, the system determines which side of the docking station is activated to provide charging. The multi-display device can be activated in a mode of operation associated with the side of the docking station determined to be providing charge.

The present invention generally relates to electronic accessories and, more particularly, to a wireless charging dock for a multi-mode capable device.
Some portable electronic device may include multiple displays. For example, some mobile phones, game systems, and computing devices use two displays in juxtaposition. Conventionally, these devices are re-charged via wired connection to an outlet.
Typically a charger on the device is plugged into a power source to recharge. In multi-display devices, the charger may be found on one side of the device due to space and cost considerations in designing the device. Thus, when re-charging the device, the device may be required to dock onto a charging station in one orientation.
As can be seen, there is a need for a charging system that allows charging of electronic devices in more than one orientation.

Wireless charging system for multi-mode device


A dustcover device for protecting an optical disk drive (20) having a tray (22) includes a bezel (30), a dustcover member (40) and a coil spring (50) mounted to between the bezel and the dustcover member for driving the dustcover to move upwardly to an upper position vertically. The bezel defines an opening (320) and a plurality of receiving grooves (324). The dustcover member comprises a dustcover (42) movably mounted to the bezel and a frame (44). The frame is rotatablely attached to the bezel, for driving the dustcover to slide downwardly to a lower position along the receiving grooves of the bezel. When the dustcover is in the upper position, the dustcover is received in the opening of the bezel. When the dustcover is in the lower position, the opening is open for the tray sliding into or out of the bezel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dustcover devices for data storage devices, and particularly to a dustcover device having a dustcover that protects a data storage device from dust.
2. Description of Prior Art
Data storage devices, such as optical disk drives, are installed in a computer enclosure for communication and handling data. An optical disk drive comprises a case and a tray received in the case. The tray can accomodate an optical disk therein; and read data from the optical disk. A front bezel is positioned before the optical disk drive. An opening is defined in the front bezel. The tray can be moved into or out of the case through the opening of the front bezel.
A dustcover is often mounted to the front bezel to envelop the opening, for preventing dust going into the computer enclosure. CN Pat. Nos. 98108816.3 and 98220678.X disclose some designs related to this dustcover. Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a dustcover device described in CN Pat. No. 98220678.X comprises a front bezel 10 and a dustcover member 14. An optical disk drive having a tray 12 is mounted behind the front bezel 10. The dustcover member 14 comprises a dustcover 140, a pair of axes 142 installed in the front bezel 10 to support the dustcover 140 and a coil spring 144 mounted between the dustcover 140 and the front bezel 10. The dustcover 140 is pivotally mounted to the front bezel 10, and can rotate round the axes 142. When the tray 12 slides out of the optical disk drive, the dustcover member 14 is rotated to a lock state so that the dustcover 140 is open to allow the tray 12 moving and extending through. When the tray 12 slides into the optical disk drive, the dustcover member 14 is rotated to an unlocked state so that the dustcover 140 is closed. However, the dustcover 140 includes a protruding part which extends out of the front bezel 10 whether the dustcover 140 is open or closed so that the dustcover 140 is prone to damage in transportation or in use due to any accidental impact. This contingency usually leads to a short life of the dustcover member 14 and an unpleasant appearance of the dustcover device.
A new dustcover device for data storage devices that overcomes the above-mentioned problems is desired.

Dustcover device for data storage devices

Hong Fu Jin Precision Industry (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd.


A multible value image filtering device selectively filters segments making up an image signal. The selection is made according to the segments' characteristics, such as the optical density or amount of change of optical density between adjacent segments. The characteristics are compared to a threshold which can be changed according to various conditions, such as the type of document being scanned.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to multiple value image filtering devices which can be used in an image scanner capable of reading multiple optical density values of picture images and, more specifically, to such multiple value image filtering devices designed to eliminate noise from multiple-valued picture image data.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Conventional picture image reading devices read picture image information on original documents and represent that information as picture image data capable of assuming multiple values. Such image reading devices are used for reproducing the lighting and shading of photographs and other images. Conventional picture reading devices, however, often produce picture image data having black or white dots in parts of the reproduced picture images. According to one description, the dots resemble "parched sesame seeds mixed with salt." An example of these dots is shown in area 11 in FIG. 1.
These dots, which are called "noise," occur because of the complicated interaction of various factors such as fluctuations in the output of the individual pixels themselves in the image sensor, a local lack of uniformity in the exposure of the picture images to light in an exposure unit, or a non-constant moving speed of the scanning unit in relation to the original sheet.
This noise causes considerable deterioration of the quality of reproduced picture images similar to the deterioration in a television system in which noise appears as snow grains on the television screen.
FIG. 2 illustrates the construction of a conventional multiple value image filtering device for removing such noise. This device is provided with a linear low pass filter 13 and is designed to receive multiple value picture image data 14 at its input. Linear low pass filter 13 sequentially receives segments of multiple value picture image data for individual pixels and inhibits the passage of those segments of the picture image data having a sharp change in density. A sharp change, which is manifested by segments in a high frequency range, indicates noise. Multiple value picture image data 15 without noise can be obtained from the output of linear low pass filter 13.
If the cut-off frequency of low pass filter 13 is set too high, filter 13 permits image data containing noise components to pass through as normal picture image data without modification. If this occurs, the noise has not been completely removed from the conventional multiple value image filtering device.
The lower the cut-off frequency level is set, the more thoroughly the filtering device eliminates noise. Hence, for eliminating noise only, the cut-off frequency should be as low as possible. The lower the cut-off frequency, however, the more probable it will be that components of proper picture images are also eliminated. If proper image data components are eliminated, the reproduced picture images are dull and lack adequate definition, especially in areas in which a white background makes a transition into black characters or vice versa.
The effect of too much filtering can be seen by reference to FIG. 3(a) and FIG. 3(b). FIG. 3(a) illustrates the state of multiple value picture image data output in 64 chromatic grades from a scanner sensing one line of a picture image. On the vertical axis, the value "0" represents the state with the highest degree of black color while "63" represents the state with the highest degree of white color. The horizontal axis represents calibrated positions on the main scanning direction, the main scanning width being divided into 100 equal parts. The relationship between the vertical and horizontal axes is same in FIG. 3(b).
When the multiple value picture image data shown in FIG. 3(a) are filtered through the linear low pass filter 13 in FIG. 2, the resulting picture images will be as shown in FIG. 3(b). As the result of eliminating the high frequency components, the picture images show a density waveform that is flattened without picture image information where considerable changes in density occur. This effect is present regardless of whether the eliminated picture image information represents noise. The result is that the density in that area is reduced and approaches the density in the adjacent parts so that the difference in density is rendered less conspicuous. Consequently, the contour of the picture images loses sharpness and the shades of the picture images become indistinct.