The present invention is a folding bed that is embedded into a filing cabinet. The folding bed comprises of three folding sections pivotably connected to each other to be sized to fit vertically into the compartment of the filing cabinet. The folding bed including a pull-push assembly to pull the folding bed out of the cabinet and a rotation system to rotate the folding bed from a vertical position into a horizontal position and reverse. When the door, which looks like a combination of two drawer doors, is opened, the folded bed is easily slid out of the cabinet and rotated to the right or left direction depending on the position of the cabinet proportional to a wall or other obstruction and opens the foldable bed in a horizontal position and retracts the foldable legs to support the bed on the floor.

People who work in an office all day long, usually need to take a short rest (nap) during the daytime. Studies have shown that a short nap of 20-30 minutes can help to improve mood, alertness and performance. Shift work may cause fatigue and performance impairments, especially for night shift workers.
Nowadays more and more companies are encouraging employees to take an on-site nap. Data shows that 29% of workers report falling asleep or becoming very sleepy at work, and a lack of sleep costs the United States $63 billion each year in lost productivity. However a short nap can boost alertness and improve performance.
Many companies have set up a quiet room for their employees, where they can nap or even meditate during the day. Some other companies have introduced "nap pods," which are futuristic-looking lounge chairs that play soothing sounds so workers can catch a quick snooze when they need one. One of the main issues with such nap spaces is that they are usually full and booked and may not be available at all times.
To benefit from a short nap in a work place, and considering the limited space, a foldable and convertible bed that can fit in a filing cabinet would be very desirable. Filing cabinets exist in most work spaces, and a filing cabinet with a bed inside it would not change the look of the office space. The current cabinet-type folding beds are not suitable for an office and they are usually made for use in a house. There are also folding beds that can be stored under a desk, but they are generally too large and bulky to be used in an office space.
There is also other convertible furniture disclosed in the prior art that provides a way to conserve living space while providing temporary sleeping accommodations. Most of them have complicated mechanism for unfolding, which adds unnecessary weight to the cabinet.
In summary, the currently available folding beds are not suitable for use in an office and they need extra space for storage. Also, the current cabinet beds are not suitable for use in an office environment.


Provided are a method and apparatus for guiding a scan line. The method includes: detecting a bloodstream region indicating a flow of blood from a color Doppler image; determining a central axis of the bloodstream region; measuring an angle between the central axis and a scan line used to obtain the color Doppler image; and displaying the angle on a screen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method of diagnosing an object by using ultrasound waves, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for guiding an angle of a scan line along which an object is scanned.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus generates an ultrasonic signal (with a frequency equal to or greater than about 20 kHz in general) by using a probe for a predetermined portion inside an object, and obtains an image of the predetermined portion inside the object by using information about a reflected echo signal. In particular, an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is medically used to detect foreign materials inside an object, measure a damage of the object, and examine the interior parts of the object. Such an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus is widely used along with other imaging diagnostic apparatuses because the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus has higher stability than an X-ray-based diagnostic apparatus, displays an image in real time, and has no risk of radiation exposure.
An image obtained by an ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus (hereinafter, referred to as an ultrasound image) may be displayed on the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus, or may be stored in a storage medium and displayed on another image display apparatus. For example, an ultrasound image may be reduced in size and then may be displayed on a screen of, for example, a mobile phone, a portable electronic device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or a tablet personal computer (PC).

Method and apparatus for guiding scan line by using color doppler image


A Prone Fly Exercise Apparatus comprising a hinged base portion, two inclinable arms containing parallel track means hingedly attached to the base, two handgrips that are each slidably mounted on the parallel tracks and connected to adjustable tension cords, a means for raising the parallel track containing arms to provide an incline, and a means for adjusting the tension cords. For the first exercise, the adjustable tension cords are placed between each edge of the apparatus and each handgrip. For the second exercise, the adjustable tension cords are placed between the handgrips, attaching the handgrips to each other. The apparatus is compactly foldable and easily stored.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to exercise equipment. More particularly, this invention relates to an apparatus designed for performing prone versions of a fly exercise and a bent-over lateral raise exercise.
(2) Description of the Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
The current state of the art is flooded with exercise equipment tailored for specific uses. Exercise equipment has been continually improved upon, providing safer, more efficient, and more practical features.
The popular fly exercise is traditionally performed on an incline bench with free weights or in a standing position with a cable weight machine. The fly exercise is excellent for targeting most major upper body muscle groups such as the chest, tricep, shoulder, and upper back muscles.
There are several disadvantages to using and owning a traditional exercise device designed to be used to perform this exercise. First, cable weight exercise machines and free weights can be dangerous to the user and others who have contact with the equipment. Those types of equipment are not safe if there are young children with access to it. Second, all the machines in the prior art are relatively large and bulky. Third, the prior art machines can be costly. However, traditional equipment offers the significant advantage of the ability to exercise most major upper body muscle groups with a full range of motion and resistance.
Therefore, there is a need for a fly-type exercise apparatus that offers a full range of motion and resistance, but is also safer, more compact, affordable, and more convenient.
There is currently no device in the prior art that allows a fly exercise to be performed in a prone position. My invention solves the disadvantages of traditional fly exercise machines with a machine designed to allow the user to perform a fly-type exercise in a prone position. Because the machine contains no weights and folds for storage, it is inherently safer and more compact than traditional machines. The novel design allows for maximum resistance and increased range of motion. The user can alternate between the prone versions of two exercises. The apparatus is inclinable on each side to allow for greater range of motion, and is fully adjustable to allow for increased or decreased resistance. The combination of the user's position, utilizing the user's body weight, elastic resistance, and dual inclinable arms provide exercises that mimic in muscle use, form, and resistance, the traditional weight machine exercises commonly known as a fly exercise and a bent-over lateral raise.
There are several types of devices in the prior art designed to facilitate varying exercises in a prone position. However, none of these devices disclose the instant invention.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,915 discloses a track with movable handgrips to allow the user to self-adjust the spacing between the handgrips. However, the handles are locked in place when in use. The movement of the handgrips is not intended during exercise. Elastic resistance to movement during exercising is not provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,518,483 discloses an exercise device to be used in a prone position. It contains two movable carriages that can be selectively stationary or free-moving with a variable resistance means. The device is intended to be used with one carriage as a knee rest and the other as a handgrip, and is designed to be used only as such. No inclinable portions are disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,935 discloses an exercise device containing a pair of parallel tracks with a pair of slides slidably engaged on the tracks. Resilient resistance is provided by a combination of springs and elastic bands resulting in the spring-biased poles moving toward each other and against the springs when the slides are moved away from each other. This device is adjustable to be used in varying stretching exercises, but is not designed for any weight-mimicking strength building exercises. The ends of the tracks are not inclinable, and the resistance is not user-adjustable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,417 discloses an elongated frame with one set of parallel tracks extending throughout the entire frame. Two handles are set in the tracks. Three sets of compression coil springs are utilized, one placed between the handles, and the other two between each handle and the end of the frame. The springs primarily act as shock absorbers during standard push up exercises, but can be used as user-variable resistance to sliding the handles. The resistance is varied by moving the pins behind the outer ends to different selected sets of vertically aligned holes. Therefore, the resistance is not easily adjusted by the user. In addition, no means is provided to completely remove either force of resistance while exercising with the other. The track is not inclinable in any way. The apparatus is not compact and foldable. Consequently, this device cannot be used to achieve the same results and perform the same exercises as those provided by my invention. And lastly, the size and lack of mobility make it less practical and convenient.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an exercise device for performing a fly exercise in a prone position.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an exercise device for performing a prone version of a bent-over lateral raise traditionally performed with free weights.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a device for performing both a fly exercise and bent-over lateral raise type exercise in a prone position with an apparatus that is more convenient, compact, safe, and cost-effective.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that combines the user's position, the user's body weight, elastic resistance, and dual inclinable arms to provide exercises that mimic in muscle use, form, and resistance, the traditional weight machine exercises commonly known as a fly exercise and a bent-over lateral raise.


The present disclosure relates to the technical field of digital projection display, and discloses a projection method and a projection apparatus. The method includes: acquiring a target object image; identifying attribute information of a target object based on the target object image; acquiring preset projection content based on the attribute information of the target object; acquiring a projection path; and projecting a projection screen based on the preset projection content and controlling the projection screen to move along the projection path. In this way, the projection is more flexible and more pertinent.

With the rapid development of the semiconductor display technologies, various portable electronic devices are being continuously designed and manufactured. Wide application of the portable electronic devices pushes requirements of the users on display devices to develop towards miniaturization, high resolution, and movability.
Under such intense demands, projection technologies have got rapid development, and varieties of small-size and high-performance portable projectors have been placed into the market. At present, various application scenarios need motion projection, such as, families, shopping malls, traffic, large-scale stages, and the like, such that an immersive experience is created by combining motion with content.
However, the traditional motion projection solution is not mature. A traditional projector generally moves along a fixed moving path based on a preset program and projects fixed content, which thus lacks flexibility and pertinence.

Projection method and projection apparatus


A ladder barrel for use in Pilates type exercise is disclosed. The adjustment mechanism to hold the barrel in place on the floor rail comprises a locking rail and a cam mechanism to press the locking rail into engagement with the floor rail, holding the barrel in position. The locking rail has spring biased plungers to hold it out of engagement with the floor rail when the cam is not engaged.

Ladder barrels are a well known piece of exercise equipment, most often used in a Pilates type exercise program. In order to be usable by a number of people, it is well known in the art to make the ladder barrel 100 such that the distance between the barrel 101 and the ladder 102 can be varied by sliding the barrel along the floor rails 103. In prior art ladder barrel (not shown) the barrel 101 is generally secured to the floor rails with threaded clamps. It is important that the barrel 101 be firmly secured in place, since any movement of the barrel during use could result in injury to a user. However, threaded clamps can be difficult to screw tight enough and, if screwed tight enough, can be difficult to unscrew.
The foregoing example of the related art and limitations related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.


A vehicular headlamp 1 including a projection lens 16 installed on the optical axis Ax extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle a light source 12a provided behind the rear side focal point F of the projection lens 16, and a reflector 14 that reflects direct light from the light source 12a forward and toward the optical axis Ax; and in this headlamp, an additional lens 30, which deflects and directs light from the light source 12a to the front is provided around the outer perimeter of the projection lens 16, and grooves 33, which have side faces that direct at least a part of the incident light toward the side of the vehicle, are formed in the outer surface of the additional lens 30.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a projector-type vehicular headlamp.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in a projector-type vehicular headlamp, a projector lens is disposed on an optical axis that extends in the longitudinal direction of a vehicle, and a light source is provided on the rear side of the rear side focal point of the projection lens so that light from the light source is reflected by a reflector toward the optical axis.
FIG. 9 shows a conventional example of this type of projector-type vehicular headlamp.
The vehicular headlamp 101 of FIG. 9, disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0190572 A1, includes a projection lens 102 that is disposed on an optical axis Ax extending in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle, a light source bulb 103 that is provided on the rear side of behind the rear side focal point F of the projection lens 102, a reflector 104 that reflects direct light from the light source bulb 103 forward and toward the optical axis Ax, and an additional lens 105 that is mounted in the form of a ring around the outer perimeter of the projection lens 102.
The additional lens 105 directs light, which is radiated from the light source bulb 103 to the outer perimeter of the projection lens 102, forward in a form of light that is roughly parallel to the optical axis Ax.
When an ordinary projector-type vehicular headlamp is lit, light is emitted from and visible through only the projection lens. However; as shown in FIG. 9, if the additional lens 105 is provided around the outer perimeter of the projection lens 102, the light-emitting surface area of the entire lamp can be enlarged to such an extent that the additional lens 105 directs the light forward. Accordingly, the lamp has an increased better visibility to drivers of oncoming vehicles and the like, thus improving safety when the vehicle is running.
However, the additional lens 105 used in the lamp of FIG. 9 is a lens that forwardly directs light which reaches the outer perimeter of the projection lens 102 and is thus not utilized by or enter the projection lens 102. As a result, the additional lens 105 does not direct light to the side of the vehicle.
Thus, the problem with this lamp is that it cannot contribute to enhance the visibility of the vehicle to the pedestrians or the like who are on the lateral side of the vehicle.


A system for controlling the access of services from a service provider to a client terminal provides capabilities for the user to change and modify the desired services and have the modified access information communicated to the client terminal or navigation device. The system provides a wireless connection between the client terminal and the server by way of a communications network. The server at the service provider may allow a user to modify the configuration data relating to the access rights of the client terminal. The modified configuration data may be stored on the server and wirelessly transmitted to the client terminal and stored on the client terminal. The modified configuration data may provide access to the services provided by a second service provider allowing the navigation device to access the services that are available on the second service provider as well as those available on the first service provider.

1. Technical Field
This application relates to a system for controlling the access of client terminals to services on a service provider. In particular this application relates to a system for controlling access to the services provided by a server to client terminals via a communication network. The system also provides a method of controlling the access of user services by a navigation device through a portal.
2. Related Art
Navigation devices may include telecommunication features such as a GSM modem. These telecommunication features may make access to information provided on different communication networks easier. Handheld digital wireless devices such as navigation devices, mobile phones, pagers, two-way radios, smart phones, and communicators, are able to communicate with each other and are able to exchange data by using a common communication protocol and application environment. One possible communication protocol used for the communication of wireless devices with, for instance, the Internet, is a Wireless Application Protocol ("WAP"). WAP is an open global specification that enables users of mobile wireless devices to easily access and interact with information provided on a server through the Internet.
WAP technology may also be used for different services available to the user of a navigation device. For example, such services may provide the user of the navigation device with information relating to location-based services such as traffic services, emergency services, or other services provided by car manufacturers. If the navigation device is provided in a vehicle, services such as finding a special hotel or a certain restaurant, and the like, might also be provided. These services may be accessible by a communication network, for example, through the Internet.
For some services, the user will subscribe with the service to obtain the information. It is possible that some services may be provided free of charge to certain client terminals if the provider is providing the service as a marketing tool. In other instances, only certain terminals or navigation devices or a special group of users may access the services.
Thus, there is a need for a system that permits control for the accessibility of client terminals to a server on which services are provided.

System for controlling access to services provided by a server to a client terminal


Flooring underlayments may be formed by combining an epoxy based resin component, a curing agent component, and an aggregate component. The resulting underlayment may be a lightweight material with a low viscosity that allows the underlayment to be self-leveling. Further, the underlayment may be designed for application in both wet and dry spaces. In certain embodiments, the underlayment may have a weight less than approximately 7.8 kg/m2 (1.6 lb/ft2) when applied at a nominal thickness of 0.635 cm (0.25) inches. Moreover, the underlayment may be designed to conform to the SOLAS requirements administered by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Specifically, the underlayment may be designed to conform to IMO Resolution MSC.61(67).

The invention relates generally to flooring underlayments, and more specifically, to epoxy based flooring underlayments.
In general, underlayments may be applied underneath a flooring material, such as ceramic tile, terrazzo, vinyl, or polymeric decking materials to contour the flooring surface. For example, underlayments may be used to smooth surfaces and/or to slope a surface toward a drain. Underlayments may be particularly useful in the construction of ocean-going and/or sea-going vessels, such as cargo vessels and the like, where typically the primary decking surfaces are made of steel plates welded together. Although the steel plates are often welded together to form a generally even surface area, the metal decking may be warped or may have other surface irregularities such as raised weld seams. Underlayments may be applied to the decking surfaces to reduce variations in deck height.
To accommodate various amounts of surface irregularities, underlayments that can be applied in thicker layers may be desired. However, the underlayment thickness may be limited by factors such as drying or curing time, compressive strength, flexibility, weight, and compliance with government and/or customer regulations. For example, underlayment and deck smoothing materials used on commercial maritime vessels may need to be approved under requirements of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) administered by the International Maritime Organization (IMO). In another example, military maritime vessels may be required to meet Military Specification MIL-PRF-3135 for deck covering underlay materials. Among others, the requirements may include smoke and toxicity standards, flammability standards, and weight limits. Moreover, self-leveling underlayments may be desired to facilitate application. Further, for wet spaces, rather than cemetitious based underlayments, epoxy based underlayments may be preferred for their increased moisture resistance. Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide lightweight, epoxy-based underlayments with relatively low toxicity and flammability properties.


A process for producing an optically active .alpha.-substituted organic acid represented by formula (II), comprising the steps of (a) treating a racemic substituted nitrile or amide represented by formula (I) with a microorganism selected from the group consisting of the microorganisms of genuses Alcaligenes, Pseudomonas, Rhodopseudomonas, Corynebacterium, Acinetobacter, Bacillus, Mycobacterium, Rhodococcus and Candida, or preparations thereof; and (b) recovering the resulting optically active u-substituted organic acid represented by formula (II): ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 each represent a halogen atom, a hydroxyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted alkoxy group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group, a substituted or unsubstituted aryloxy group or a substituted or unsubstituted heterocyclic group with the proviso that R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are different from each other; and X represents a nitrile group or an amido group, ##STR2## wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are as defined above.

Known processes for producing optically active .alpha.-substituted organic acids from racemic .alpha.-substituted nitriles or u-substituted amides by the biochemical action of microorganisms or preparations thereof include those processes disclosed in, for example, PCT Patent Application No. 500004/1988 (WO 8607386) and JP-A-60-188355 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,812,403) (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"). These publications also disclose that the microorganisms used for said processes can be used for the production of optically active amino acids from aminonitriles or amino acid amides.
However, there are scarcely any known processes for producing optically active .alpha.-substituted organic acids other than amino acids from the corresponding racemic nitriles or amides by biochemical action. There are known only processes for producing optically active .alpha.-oxy acids from .alpha.-oxy acid amide compounds and specific hydroxynitriles. There are only three known microorganisms used for these processes. That is, a bacterium belonging to genus Aeromonas, a bacterium belonging to genus Moraxella and a yeast belonging to genus Torulopsis (see, JP-A-61-88894 and JP-B-54-14668 (the term "JP-B" as used herein means an "examined Japanese patent publication")).

Process for producing optically active .alpha.-substituted organic acid and microorganism and enzyme used therefor


A method, apparatus, system, and signal-bearing medium that, in an embodiment, simulate allocation of a simulated resource to simulated partitions in a simulated logically-partitioned computer and determine whether the allocation conflicts. The simulation may include summing amounts of the simulated resource for the simulated partition in an order, where the order of the simulated partitions is received via a user interface. In various embodiments, the allocation may conflict if the allocation exceeds the capacity of the simulated logically-partitioned computer or if the simulated resource is restricted to exclusive allocation. The result of the simulation, including whether the allocation conflicts, is presented via the user interface. In various embodiments, the simulated resource may be memory, an I/O controller, or a storage device.

The development of the EDVAC computer system of 1948 is often cited as the beginning of the computer era. Since that time, computer systems have evolved into extremely sophisticated devices, and computer systems may be found in many different settings. Computer systems typically include a combination of hardware, such as semiconductors and circuit boards, and software, also known as computer programs. As advances in semiconductor processing and computer architecture push the performance of the computer hardware higher, more sophisticated and complex computer software has evolved to take advantage of the higher performance of the hardware, resulting in computer systems today that are much more powerful than just a few years ago.
Because of the power and complexity of computer systems, purchasing or upgrading a computer system is a difficult task. A customer must determine the proper computer system, software, and features to purchase (including the size, speed, or capacity of various devices), order the computer system and its features, and configure and install the computer system. Users often experience great difficulty in determining whether they are purchasing the correct computer system that will have enough capacity and power to run their applications and store their data, now and in the future.
These difficulties are exacerbated when the computer system uses logical partitions. In a logically-partitioned computer system, a single physical computer operates essentially like multiple and independent virtual computers, referred to as logical partitions, with the various resources in the physical computer (e.g., processors, memory, storage devices, and input/output controllers and devices) allocated among the various logical partitions. Each logical partition executes a separate operating system, and from the perspective of users and of the software applications executing on the logical partition, operates as a fully independent computer. The separate logical partitions typically operate under the control of a partition manager or hypervisor. Planning, ordering, configuring, and installing a logically-partitioned computer is even more difficult than a non-partitioned computer because the logically-partitioned computer may have multiple operating systems, each partition may be allocated only a portion of the resources of the computer system, and the partitions must be planned for and configured.
Multiple partitions may be defined that are allocated resources in such a way that all of the partitions may not be started at the same time. Thus, the computer's resources may be oversubscribed, i.e., the allocation conflicts. For example, the memory allocated to the partitions may exceed the memory capacity of the computer, or an I/O (Input/Output) controller may be allocated to multiple partitions, but it is capable of being used by only one partition at a time; hence, the resource allocations conflict or are oversubscribed.
This oversubscribing concept provides the advantage that it allows a single computer system to have multiple virtual images of partition combinations that can be activated at different times to allow a single hardware footprint to provide completely different resources, depending on the combinations of partitions that are activated. But, oversubscribing resources to partitions also has the disadvantage that the customer may experience difficulty in knowing which combinations of partitions are capable of being activated at the same time, and which are not, without actually buying the computer and the resources and attempting to activate the partitions.
Hence, a need exists for a technique that is capable of defining partitions that oversubscribe a computer system's resources and can also determine which combination of partitions are supported on that computer system.

Simulating partition resource allocation

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention provides a method and a device which enable laser markings to be performed and reduce the need of intervention by a service technician and still enable accurate grey scale markings to be performed reliably. Embodiments of the invention relate to a method and a device such that the device for laser marking is equipped with a measuring head which measures a laser output or laser pulse energy absolutely and using a measurement result thus obtained in order to change and suitably adapt an assignment function which assigns laser control values to grey scale values.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for laser marking security documents and a corresponding device which enable the storage of graphic information, which describes a graphic having different brightness values, in a security document.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
From prior art, it is known to mark security documents using laser radiation. In particular security documents, which are produced based on plastics, can be marked by means of laser radiation such that graphic information is stored on the surface of or inside the security document. To achieve storage inside a security document, pigments are for example added to a transparent material layer, which indeed promote absorption of laser radiation but do not at all or only insignificantly impair a general transparency of the material. The laser irradiation is absorbed locally in the layer provided with the pigments and this, for example, causes a carbonation of the plastic. Depending on the energy irradiated, different degrees of blackening, i.e. different grey scales, appear. The energy necessary for generating a certain grey scale is thus dependent on the security document to be marked.
For identically-made security document blanks, the energy quantity needed to induce a certain degree of blackening or a certain grey scale value is already known. In devices known from prior art, lasers are used which can be controlled, as regards their laser light output or a laser pulse energy, via a laser control signal. Preferably, pulsed lasers are used for laser marking, and the graphic information is composed of dots. Herein, all graphically representable information is viewed as graphic information. Thus, the graphic information can comprise an image, e.g. a facial image, a line drawing, text, numbers or similar, individually or in any combination. Particularly preferably, exactly one laser pulse is used for marking for each pixel which has a certain grey scale value. However, it is also possible to use several laser pulses of defined energy for generating one and the same pixel or to partially overlap several dots. However, the laser output or laser pulse energy can only be influenced relatively by such a laser control signal. This means that an accurate laser output or laser pulse energy cannot be accurately specified. Therefore, it is necessary to perform a calibration in the manner that, for each grey scale value which is to be marked, a calibration is performed in the manner that the laser control signal, i.e. the control value of the laser control signal, is varied until a marking with the corresponding grey scale value is achieved. Using the control values, thus ascertained, of the laser control signal, an assignment function can then be generated which assigns a corresponding control signal value to grey scale values to be marked, so that a corresponding laser pulse energy or laser pulse output for marking a pixel with the corresponding grey scale value is achieved. Since, due to thermal fluctuations and other environmental influences for the same control value of the laser control signal, the actually generated laser light output or laser pulse energy can vary slightly, it is known from prior art to decouple a part of the generated laser light onto a photodiode and to use the signal thereof, which is a measure for the captured laser output or pulse energy of the decoupled laser light, as a control signal for a control circuit, said control circuit effecting a correction of the laser control signal. While this makes it possible to use a calibrated device for laser marking over longer periods in order to obtain security documents having sufficient quality and reproducibility of the individual grey scale values, recalibration cycles are necessary at intervals, in which the actually generated grey scale values are compared to the grey scale values to be achieved. These calibrations can only be performed by specially trained technicians and/or require sophisticated optical measuring devices which can accurately compare the grey scale values to each other.
It should be noted here that the optically perceived grey scale value is usually determined by a plurality of pixels. On the one hand, the actual grey scale value of the individual pixels plays a role. Likewise, however, the perceivable grey scale value is also affected by a pixel density, i.e. a number of pixels per area. Usually, the individual pixels are each introduced into a document in a grid which is uniform for a graphic information. Of course, it is also possible to arrange the pixels at different distances to each other. When ascertaining or defining the grey scale values for the individual pixels for laser marking, the distances are known at which the pixels are formed in a document. The grey scale values for the individual pixels are defined accordingly. In the security document, in which the formed pixels can partially overlap each other, a graphic information then emerges which, for an observer, produces the desired grey scale impressions. However this assumes that not only the distances of the pixels but likewise the individual grey scale values of the individual pixels, which are formed by means of laser marking, are correct.

Method and device for laser marking with grey level calibration


An automatically adjustable locking pliers or tool includes a jaw fixed to a first handle and a jaw that pivots about the first handle. The pivoting jaw is connected to a lower tightening handle. A lever connects the tightening handle and first handle. A self-adjusting sizing and locking mechanism includes a thumb jaw sizing piece located near the jaws and movable to open the jaws so that they can be sized around a workpiece. When the thumb jaw sizing piece is released, the jaws automatically size and clamp lightly around the workpiece. The locking mechanism uses balls between a locking rod and a tapered surface. Locking occurs when the balls wedge between the rod and the tapered surface. A release cylinder is connected to a release paddle movable to unlock the mechanism. The sizing piece and locking mechanism are operable to automatically size and lock the pliers or tool.

This invention relates to the field of tools for mechanical work. More particularly, an automatically sized one-handed locking plier is presented.
Locking pliers have been sold in their standard form for decades with little significant improvements. While the pliers perform wonderfully and are a staple in every toolbox around the world, certain improvements would make the locking pliers even more useful. Locking pliers differ from ordinary pliers in that they contain a mechanism to lock the jaws of the pliers onto the work piece. Many different types of locking pliers have been produced, and they are commonly known in the trade as Vise-Grips.RTM. or simply "locking pliers".
Some of the problems with locking pliers include the fact that they are tedious in use, since iterative screw adjustments must be made to size the jaws to the part.
Pliers that can be easily operated with one hand and that automatically size the jaws to the part, but still provide the quality and clamping force of the standard locking pliers, would provide an advancement in the ease of use and utility of the pliers.
Examples of useful locking plier tools are found in various United States patents of general interest in the field.
One good example of a locking plier tool is found in the 2000 United States patent issued to Warheit, U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,019. Warheit discloses the typical locking plier tool used to clamp onto a work piece. The Warheit device has a thumb actuated control member which facilities work piece pressure adjustment and tool release by one hand. The typical locking pliers, as shown in the patent issued to Warheit and other U.S. patents, include an upper jaw that is permanently attached to an elongated body. A lower jaw is pivotably attached to the locking pliers as well as a lower handle tightening mechanism. A pivoting lever normally connects the upper body and lower tightening mechanism. The pliers are usually tightened for work piece sizing and for grip strength by a thumbscrew mechanism, generally found at the end of the upper body handle.
Several problems have been encountered in the use of previous tools and improvements could prove beneficial. One such problem is that while the tools must be sized to fit the work piece, the sizing is usually done by a thumbscrew mechanism that requires both hands to operate the mechanism. One hand is needed to hold the locking pliers onto the work piece while the other hand is needed to turn the thumbscrew adjustment. It is a primary object of this invention to provide a locking plier type of hand tool that automatically sizes the jaws of the locking pliers onto the work piece.
Another problem with the locking pliers heretofore known in the art is that the sizing of the pliers onto the work piece has a direct correlation to the hand pressure or gripping pressure used to lock the pliers onto the piece. Once the pliers have been sized approximately, a further manipulation of the adjusting thumbscrew would be necessary to adjust the handle grip strength. It is another object of this invention to provide a locking plier that not only automatically sizes the jaws to the workpiece, but also has an adjustment screw, operable by the same hand that holds the pliers, for adjusting the handgrip strength to a set handgrip for each workpiece.
Another major drawback in the use of ordinary locking pliers is that the handgrip strength tensioning mechanism and the sizing mechanism require both hands of the mechanic. Since both hands are needed to attach and tighten the pliers to the workpiece, the task of adjusting the locking pliers is both cumbersome and time consuming. It is a still further object of this invention to provide a locking pliers wherein the use of the pliers is conveniently and quickly accomplished so that the workman uses little or no time when changing from one work piece to another.
A final aspect of this invention allows the locking plier to remain loosely gripped around the work piece when the pliers have been released into their open position. This is a particularly useful feature of the locking plier mechanism of the instant invention since it allows the workman to remove the wrench, with one hand, at the workman's convenience. This feature eliminates the wrench falling on the workman if he is an awkward position. Further in connection with this capability, another advantage of the invention is that releasing the pliers can be accomplished with exertion of a relatively light force, even when the pliers are set to a high gripping or clamping force, as the required release force is not a function of the gripping force. Thus, a further object of the invention is the capability to more easily release the pliers, yet still provide a loose gripping force for holding the pliers on a work piece.
Other and further objects of this invention will become obvious upon reading the below described specification.

Automatic sizing one-handed locking pliers


A method for preparing a pattern to be printed on a plate or mask by electron beam lithography comprising the following steps: modelling of the pattern by breaking down this pattern into a set of elementary geometric shapes intended to be printed individually in order to reproduce said pattern and, for each elementary geometric shape of the model; determination of an electrical charge dose to be applied to the electron beam during the individual printing of the elementary shape, this dose being chosen from a discrete set of doses including several non-zero predetermined doses recorded in memory. The set of elementary geometric shapes is a bidimensional paving of identical elementary geometric shapes covering the pattern to be printed. In addition, when the doses to be applied to the elementary geometric shapes are determined, a discretization error correction is made by dithering.

It applies to the field of lithography with a tunable variable shaped electron beam, according to which an electron beam transmitted by a machine has a shape which can be tuned thanks to mobile try squares. The tunable shape is usually rectangular and the lateral dimensions of this rectangular shape are tunable thanks to the try squares.
The invention applies more particularly to a method of this type comprising the following steps:                modelling of the pattern by breaking down this pattern into a set of elementary geometric shapes intended to be printed individually by tuning the shape of the electron beam in order to reproduce said pattern, and recording of the model obtained in memory, and        for each elementary geometric shape of the model, determination, by a processor having access to the memory, of a dose of electrical charges to be applied to the electron beam during the individual printing of this elementary geometric shape, this dose being chosen from a discrete set of predetermined doses recorded in memory.
Electron beam lithography cannot dispense with a phase of preparing the pattern to be printed because of the proximity effects caused by the diffusion of the electrons, chemical species in the resin, or other effects liable to deform the pattern to be printed, and that it is necessary to compensate. In general terms, a well known method consists of modelling the pattern by a set of simple elementary geometric shapes, for example rectangles, which can each be printed individually by exposure to the variable shaped electron beam for a certain length of time (referred to as the exposure time). The set of geometric shapes does not precisely correspond to the contours of the pattern but, by judiciously parameterising the exposure time and by allocating for each a dose, previously calculated, of electrical charges to be applied to the electron beam for printing thereof, the pattern can be printed with satisfactory precision and having compensated for the aforementioned effects.

Method and system for preparing a pattern to be printed on a plate or mask by electron beam lithography

Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives


A method and system for easily storing logo data in a target printer. A data storage file for storing the logo data in the target printer is produced by creating the print data, generating a set of commands for storing the print data in the non-volatile storage of the target printer, compiling the data storage file containing the print data and command data set, and outputting the data storage file. When a host terminal accesses this data storage file, it runs the commands in the detected command data set, thereby sending a storage command data set to the target printer. The target printer then runs the storage commands and locally stores the logo data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for storing print data in a printer that prints the stored data in response to a specific print command, a method for generating the print data file, a data storage medium embodying a computer program for implementing the steps of the method, and a file generator for compiling the data storage file.
2. Description of the Related Art
In addition to printing the name and price of the purchased products, as well as other transaction information, on sales receipts, modern POS terminals also commonly print a logo containing the store or company name on the receipts. Most such logos typically include a design graphic and decorative characters in the form of image data which is contained in image files.
Image files are typically rather large, which means there would be a noticeable increase in the time required to print each receipt if the logo data had to be sent to the printer each time a receipt is printed. This presents a problem since, it desirable to complete the checkout process, i.e., register the purchased products and print the receipt to complete the transaction, as quickly as possible. Fast printing is particularly desirable for a POS terminal.
Frequently printed logo data is therefore commonly stored in the non-volatile memory or storage of the POS terminal printer. The host system then only needs to send a specific command to the printer in order to print the logo. When the printer detects this command, it simply reads the logo specified by the print command from the non-volatile storage in order to print the logo. This technique eliminates the need to send the logo data (particularly image data) from the host, thus reducing the load on the host, eliminating the corresponding transmission time, and thereby significantly improving the effective print speed.
Modern POS printers are now capable of printing two or three colors. The ability to print multiple colors greatly increases the applications for which POS printers can be used beyond simply printing logos. Potential applications include, for example, printing product advertisements, event announcements, and coupons. Color images are also significantly larger than black and white images, and processing color images accordingly requires more time. The need to quickly print color images on a POS printer therefore makes it even more important to store the image data as logo data in the printer. As the number and variety of printing applications for a POS printer increases, storing the logo data in the printer will be increasingly more important.
As described above, the effective printing speed (throughput) can be improved and the processing load on the host can be alleviated by storing the logo data in non-volatile storage in the printer. However, after the logo data is generated various additional steps are needed in order to store the logo data in the printer's non-volatile storage.
Consider a POS printer connected to the host device of the POS terminal at a checkout station in a store. To store the logo data in the POS printer while the printer remains connected to the POS terminal, a logo storage program must be installed in the host device of the POS terminal. For example, the logo data (image information) is saved as a file. The logo storage program installed in the host then reads this file and stores the logo data to the printer. This requires reading the file, and sending the logo data and a store command to the POS printer. These steps are also necessary when the logo data file is sent to the POS terminal via a LAN or other network and the logo data is transferred from the POS terminal to the printer.
Installing such a logo storage program in each POS terminal is extremely time-consuming and cumbersome. It is alternatively possible to disconnect each POS printer from the POS terminal, and connect each printer to a dedicated logo data writer in order to store the logo data to the printer. This, however, requires that each printer be disconnected and then reconnected, which is even more time-consuming and further complicates the logo data storage operation.

Method for generating a print data file, method for storing print data, a data storage medium therefor, and an apparatus for generating a data storage file


A system and method for providing a network that includes at least two microprocessor-controlled devices that include a first microprocessor-controlled device and a distinct second microprocessor-controlled device, and at least two bi-directional fiber optic cables to provide a communicative ring amongst the at least two microprocessor controlled devices by connecting the at least two microprocessor-controlled devices in a daisy-chain, where the first microprocessor-controlled device and the distinct second microprocessor-controlled device communicate via at least two of the bi-directional fiber optic cables.

(1.) Field
The disclosed methods and systems relate generally to fiber optical communications systems, and more particularly to methods and systems for providing a fiber optic ring.
(2.) Description of Relevant Art
Security and/or surveillance is a seemingly continuous problem which can experience increased emphasis based on local and/or global security threats. The demand for security can also be understood to also increase based on technological advances in networking and/or telecommunications which allow entities to construct and maintain remote facilities that may be unmanned, for example. Costs associated with providing personnel to monitor otherwise remote, unmanned locations, and/or locations at which little if no activity is otherwise expected, can be burdensome to entities that wish to expand and/or are otherwise intertwined with an industry that can be associated with distributed facilities and/or services.
Further, measurement systems that can be distributed, regardless of their application to security systems or otherwise, can be compromised by a failure in one or more components and/or one or more of the communicative links. A measurement system component and/or communications link failure may remain undetected and/or can cause significant degradation in overall system performance.


A tennis ball retrieval system comprises a removable cap which is preferably sized to fit a standard tennis ball container. The cap has an opening and an inwardly projecting flange for effectively reducing the opening to less than the diameter of a standard tennis ball. The apparatus preferably also includes tennis ball containers having a standard diameter but being capable of containing more than three tennis balls, or having grooves to allow the container to be connected to a like container with a connecting member, or both. Additionally, a strap can be included which allows the container to be carried on one's shoulder.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ball pickup devices.
2. General Background of the Invention
Tennis balls are usually sold in cylindrical cans containing three balls. These cans were at one time made of metal, but more recently are made of clear plastic. The cans have a first, open end and a second, closed end, and are pressurized and sealed with a metal pop-top. A removal flexible plastic cap is removably fitted on the first end, over the metal pop-top, to hold the balls in the container when the metal pop-top is removed.
Various devices to pick up balls have been proposed. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,045,068; 4,063,769; 4,088,251; 4,522,438; and 4,629,235 (tennis ball retrievers); and 3,412,897; 3,901,545; and 4,058,336 (golf ball retrievers). Most of these devices are quite complex and expensive to manufacture, and are not capable of being easily pressurized.
Prior to the present invention, there was no ball pickup device simple and inexpensive enough to also function as a packaging container for tennis balls.


A microporous polyolefin membrane comprising a polyethylene resin, and polypropylene having a weight-average molecular weight of 6×105 or more and a heat of fusion of 90 J/g or more (measured by a differential scanning calorimeter), a fraction having a molecular weight of 1.8×106 or more being 10% or more by mass of the polypropylene.

Microporous polyolefin membranes are widely used for various applications such as battery separators used for lithium secondary batteries, nickel-hydrogen batteries, nickel-cadmium batteries, polymer batteries, etc., electrolytic capacitor separators, various filters such as reverse osmosis filtration membranes, ultrafiltration membranes, microfiltration membranes, etc., moisture-permeable, waterproof clothes, medical materials, etc. When the microporous polyolefin membrane is used for battery separators, particularly lithium ion battery separators, its performance largely affects the properties, productivity and safety of batteries. Accordingly, the microporous polyolefin membrane is required to have excellent mechanical properties, heat resistance, permeability, dimensional stability, shutdown properties, meltdown properties, etc.
In general, microporous membranes composed only of polyethylene have low meltdown temperatures, while microporous membranes composed only of polypropylene have high shutdown temperatures and poor mechanical strength. Accordingly, microporous membranes comprising polyethylene and polypropylene as main components are preferably for battery separators. To provide microporous membranes with improved mechanical strength, ultra-high-molecular-weight polyolefin is preferably added. For instance, JP3-64334A proposes a method for producing a microporous polyolefin membrane comprising (1) forming a gel-like molding comprising a composition containing ultra-high-molecular-weight polyolefin such that the ratio of (weight-average molecular weight/number-average molecular weight) is in a desired range, and a membrane-forming solvent, (2) stretching the gel-like molding without removing the solvent, and then (3) removing the solvent.
Japanese Patent 3348965 proposes a biaxially oriented microporous film made of a composition comprising 20-80% by mass of high-molecular-weight polyethylene having an intrinsic viscosity [η] of 10 dl/g or more, and 80-20% by mass of high-molecular-weight polypropylene having an intrinsic viscosity [η] of 3-15 dl/g, and having excellent closing temperature properties, rupture temperature properties, rigidity, tensile strength and air permeability.
However, microporous membranes comprising polyethylene and polypropylene, particularly those containing ultra-high-molecular-weight polyolefin, tend to be poor in such properties as thickness uniformity, etc. For instance, when ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene is added to microporous polyolefin membranes comprising high-molecular-weight polyethylene and high-molecular-weight polypropylene, the membranes tend to have sharkskin surfaces (see JP6-96753A). When microporous membranes having poor thickness uniformity are used as battery separators, they are likely to suffer short-circuiting, poor production yield, and poor cyclability due to low compression resistance.
In such circumstances, a microporous polyolefin membrane comprising polypropylene having MFR of 2.0 or less, and a polyethylene composition with weight-average molecular weight/number-average molecular weight of 8-100, the polypropylene content being 20% or less by mass was proposed (JP2002-194132A). Specifically, JP2002-194132A discloses a microporous polyolefin membrane comprising 30% by mass of powdery ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene having a weight-average molecular weight of 2.0×106, 65% by mass of powdery high-density polyethylene having a weight-average molecular weight of 3.0×105 (a polyethylene composition composed of the ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene and the high-density polyethylene having Mw/Mn of 20.5), and 5% by mass of a pelletized propylene homopolymer having a weight-average molecular weight of 6.0×105 and MFR of 0.5. This microporous polyolefin membrane has excellent thickness uniformity and good production yield.
As microporous polyolefin membranes having well-balanced thickness uniformity, heat resistance, mechanical properties, permeability, dimensional stability, shutdown properties, meltdown properties, and compression resistance, JP2004-196870A proposes microporous polyolefin membrane composed of polyethylene, and polypropylene having a weight-average molecular weight of 5×105 or more and a heat of fusion (measured by differential scanning calorimeter) of 90 J/g or more, the polypropylene content being 20% or less by mass, and JP2004-196871A proposes a microporous polyolefin membrane composed of polyethylene, and polypropylene having a weight-average molecular weight of 5×105 or more, and a melting point (measured by a differential scanning calorimeter at a temperature-elevating speed of 3-20° C./min) of 163° C. or higher, the polypropylene content being 20% or less by mass. However, the meltdown properties of any of the microporous polyolefin membranes disclosed by JP2002-194132A, JP2004-196870A and JP2004-196871A are not necessarily satisfactory, because of the polypropylene content of 20% or less by mass.
If the polypropylene content were increased in microporous polyolefin membranes comprising polyethylene and polypropylene, until sufficient meltdown properties (specifically meltdown temperatures higher than 175° C.) can be obtained, the membranes would be likely to have decreased permeability and prick resistance. Thus, the microporous membranes for battery separators comprising polyethylene and polypropylene are required to have high meltdown temperatures and well-balanced permeability and mechanical properties.

Microporous polyolefin membrane, its production method, and battery separator


In a method for the manufacture of a microarray, surface areas of a chip are brought into contact with different aqueous solutions that contain at least one coating substance. For each of the individual surface areas, an absorbent substrate is provided and is filled with the solution that is to be brought into contact with the surface area in question. Then, for the printing of the surface area with the at least one coating substance contained in the solution, each substrate is brought into contact with the surface area in question.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for the manufacture of a micro array, whereby surface areas of a chip are brought into contact with different aqueous solutions that contain at least one coating substance. The invention also relates to an apparatus to provide a chip for a micro array with aqueous substances that contain coating substances.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A method of this type for the manufacture of a micro array and an apparatus for the coating of a chip of a micro array are known from DE 101 32 761 A1. In that apparatus, a planar glass plate is used, the surface of which is structured so that it has hydrophobic and hydrophilic coating areas. Then, on the hydrophilic surface areas, small-volume aqueous probes in the range of picoliters to nanoliters are applied. For the positioning of the hydrophilic surface areas underneath the dispenser, the glass plate is moved relative to the dispenser. The construction of the dispenser is not described in any further detail in the above referenced unexamined application, although in practice it is customary for the deposition of biological or biochemical samples to use a nanoliter pipette that has a capillary filled with the aqueous solution, has a discharge opening on its one end and a piezoelectric actuator on its other end, by means of which the solutions in the capillary can be transported to the discharge opening, where they can be dispensed in the form of a microdrop. A nanoliter pipette of this type is described, for example, in T. Vo-Dinh et al., DNA Biochip Using a Phototransistor Integrated Circuit, Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 71, No. 2 (Jan. 15, 1999). The nanoliter pipette, however, has the disadvantage that as the drop separates from the discharge opening, the microdrop can be deflected slightly to the side. The microdrop can consequently land to one side of the surface area of the chip that is to be coated with the aqueous solution, where it becomes mixed on a neighboring surface area of the chip with a solution that is different from the original aqueous solution, or with another aqueous solution that will subsequently be applied. The danger of a mixing of this type is present particularly when the individual areas to be coated are located very close to one another so that as many fields as possible can receive different coatings on a chip with compact dimensions. However, the entire micro array is unusable if the chip is coated incorrectly in even one single location.
The object of the invention is therefore to create a method and an apparatus of the type described above that make possible a fast, simple and reliable deposition of the coating areas on the chip.

Method and coating apparatus for the manufacture of a microarray


A conference session key distribution method used in an ID-based cryptographic system includes selecting two different temporary secret keys, generating a message and generating session key generation variables using the temporary secret keys of a session initiating party. Only valid participating parties receive the session key generation variables. Each party determines the session shared key from the session key generation variables.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data transmission method. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of distributing a conference session key which is shared in order to encrypt data between a plurality of parties.
2. Description of the Related Art
As computers become ubiquitous, networks connecting the computers become more important and useful. However, recently, attacks on computers and networks have increased. Thus, network security techniques are needed.
An inter-party key sharing protocol is a protocol used for keeping data transmitted through networks secret. A standard protocol is a Diffie-Hellman type protocol, which is based on difficulty in solving an elliptic curve cryptographic discrete logarithm problem. The Diffie-Hellman type protocol is based on a public key infrastructure (PKI) encryption. However, PKI encryption has shortcomings, e.g., requiring participation of a reliable authentication center, since integrity of a public key must be guaranteed by the authentication center.
Because of the shortcomings of PKI encryption, much research has been conducted on an ID-based key sharing protocol which is not based on PKI encryption. Unfortunately, conventional ID-based key sharing protocols have problems, e.g., they are vulnerable to a disguised attack and cannot provide forward secrecy.

Conference session key distribution method in an ID-based cryptographic system


An apparatus (100), a method (200) and a computer program (910) are provided for monitoring a connectivity service in a transport network (170). The apparatus (100) comprises an obtaining unit (120), adapted to request and obtain, for the connectivity service, a Service Definition and Measurement Points, MPs. The Service Definition comprises a set of measurable parameters. The obtaining unit (120) is further adapted to request and obtain a mapping of each of the measurable parameter(s) to Operation Administration and Monitoring function(s), OAM function(s), of the connectivity service. The obtaining unit (120) is further adapted to request and obtain a mapping of the measurable parameter(s) and OAM-function(s) to which tool(s) to use for measuring the measurable parameter(s) of the connectivity service. The apparatus (100) further comprises a measuring unit (130), adapted to perform measurement of the measurable parameter(s) between the Measurement Points using the tool(s).

Today's evolvement of different types of communication networks is very fast, as well as the different kinds of services that are supported by these different communication networks and thus offered to users of the different communication networks. Often, different types of communication networks are interconnected and used jointly to support various end-to-end services.
A connectivity service provides data communication between two or more entities via a transport network. The transport network itself may rely on e.g. Multi Protocol label Switch Transport Profile (MPIS-TP), Carrier Ethernet and Optical Transport Network (OTN).
In order to ascertain that a transport network is functioning properly and to detect any faults, excessive loads etc., the networks are most often monitored and supervised. This is normally referred to as Operation, Administration and Management (OAM) and this term is also used to describe processes, activities, tools, standards for operating, administrating, managing and maintaining transport networks and connectivity services. Different standards are used for OAM depending on, for example, the technology used for the connectivity services and the transport network.
For Ethernet transport networks, two available standards are ITU-TY.1731 and IEEE 802.1ag. These standards define fault management and performance monitoring in Ethernet networks. Different parameters may be measured for this purpose, such as frame loss ratio, frame delay and delay variation. Measuring these different parameters assists with Service level Agreement (SIA) assurance and capacity planning. Regarding fault management, the common standards include functionality for continuity checks, loopback measurements, link traces and alarm suppression.
Different connectivity services can have different SIAs, depending on the type of service and the requirements of the customer. Depending on the specific service, different parameters have different importance. Speech, for example, demands very low delay and jitter (delay variation), whereas for data communication delay typically is of less importance and capacity of higher importance. So, different parameters are important to measure for different services.
For IP transport networks, one available standard is RFC 792. This standard defines the Internet Control Message Protocol which is an OAM protocol for IP-based networks. It provides functionality for packet delay, packet round-trip and packet loss measurements. It also has capabilities for tracing the route between hosts in a similar way to the Ethernet link trace function defined in ITU-TY.1731.
Each network technology defines a set of performance parameters to be measured for OAM purposes. Some examples of such performance parameters again are, delay, delay variation, loss, jitter and capacity for defining SIA performance parameters. Both the parameter definition and naming may vary depending on the standardization body, i.e. the organization in charge of the various standards. Some examples of such organizations are the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF), International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T), Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineering (IEEE) and Internet Engineering Task once (IETF). As a consequence, there exist a vast variety of parameters, some being similar in name and definition, but still somewhat different Even one and the same parameter may have different names in different standards.
Different operators also provide different connectivity services. It is not unusual for an operator to provide thousands of different connectivity services, in the future also hundreds of thousands different connectivity services, all having different SIAs. As a result, it becomes very complex indeed to keep track of which parameters are available for each service, and what the acceptable intervals are for each parameter. By an acceptable interval is meant the values a parameter may have to fulfill an SIA for the parameter in question. Further, different tools are used to measure different parameters. Not only does an operator need to keep track of all the various parameters, the operator also needs to know which tool to use for measuring a specific parameter according to different standards. The parameters, the OAM functionality and the measurement tools are technology dependent while the SIA and acceptable intervals are dependent on the specific connectivity service.

Apparatus and method for monitoring of connectivity services


A long afterglow luminescent material of the formula aMO.bM′ (SβSe1-β).cAl2O3.d B2O3.eP2O5: xEu.yLn, wherein M is/are selected from Sr, Ca, Ba, and Mg, and any combinations thereof; M′ is/are selected from Sr, Ca, and Ba, and any combinations thereof; Ln is/are selected from Nd, Dy, Ho, Tm, La, Ce, Er, Pr, Bi, and Sm, and any combinations thereof; a, b, c, d, e, x and y are mole ratios, wherein 0.5<a<6.0, 0.0001≦b≦2.0, 0.5≦c≦9.0, 0≦d≦1.0, 0≦e≦1.0, 0.00001≦x≦0.25, 0.00001≦y≦0.3, 0≦β≦1.0, 0.5<(a+b)≦6.0, 0<(d+e)≦1.0. The preparation process thereof is a high temperature solid-state reaction comprising an oxidation stage and a subsequent reduction stage.

Since its invention in the nineteenth century, the traditional long afterglow luminescent material of ZnS series has been undergoing continuous improvement, and several typical products have been developed, such as ZnS:Cu (which emits green light), (CaSr)S:Bi (which emits blue light), and (ZnCd)S:Cu (which emits orange yellow light), and have been applied in some commercial fields, however these materials have some defects, such as poor stability, prone to decompose in air, prone to turn gray and even dark in color under sun shine, short luminescence afterglow time which is generally within 0.5 to 2 hours, and low luminescent brightness etc., and can not meet the requirement of practical use. In order to improve the brightness and the afterglow time of these materials, radioactive elements such as Co, Ra, H3 have been added into these materials to produce long afterglow luminescent materials with radioactivity. Such materials can give out light continuously and have ever been used in the fields of aircraft instrument, clocks etc., however their applications were greatly confined because of the radioactive contamination and high cost.
Long afterglow luminescent materials of aluminate system were invented at the beginning 1990s, as described in China patent ZL92110744, ZL98109570.4, ZL 95118116.5, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,376,303, 5,424,006, their luminescent brightness, long afterglow property and stability were remarkably superior to the sulfide series products described above, and the materials have been used in daily goods, safety marks, clocks etc. However the long afterglow luminescent materials of aluminate system described above still suffer from some disadvantages in practical applications, such as    1. Short afterglow time: the prior art long afterglow luminescent materials of aluminate system have a nominal afterglow time over 24 hours, which however is determined based on the final luminescence intensity equivalent to the brilliance of 0.3 mcd/m2. In fact, the identification capability of naked eyes is very weak under such brilliance, and the application of the long afterglow luminescence materials is greatly limited.    2. Poor applicability: a luminescent material with high brilliance does not necessarily mean the products made with, the luminescent material have high brilliance. The brilliance of a luminescent product depends to a great extent on the matching of the luminescent material with the medium for manufacturing the luminescent product. Many luminescent products can not meet the requirements of various applications, and in practical applications, most of the luminescent materials were used after being fabricated into products.    3. Fast charge is impossible: the light absorption rate of the long afterglow luminescent material prepared by the prior art is slow, and very difficult to reach saturation, which results in that the luminescence intensity and afterglow time of the luminescent materials and the luminescent products can not meet the requirements of practical use well.    4. Lacking of variety in luminescence color: the luminescence color suffers from lacking of variety, and if it is desired to realize multiple colors (peak wavelength of emission spectrum: 440-620 nm), it is necessary to utilize a number of luminescent materials of different systems. It is still unavailable for luminescent materials of the same system realizing multi-color luminescence.

Long afterglow luminescent material and its manufacturing method

Dalian Luminglight Science and Technology Co., Ltd.


An improved automatic transmission has a reverse gear piston which can be engaged as a transmission brake. The piston is movable in a first direction and has a surface. A hydraulic means supplies transmission fluid to a space between the surface and the housing to engage the piston and removes the hydraulic fluid from the space to disengage the piston thereby releasing the transmission brake. In one embodiment, the hydraulic means has a passageway with the first cross-sectional area through the housing and a second cross-sectional area larger than the first cross-sectional area in the housing that is exposed to the space thereby reducing friction between the fluid and the second cross-section which reduces the release time of the fluid from the space. In another embodiment, the transmission has a means for adjusting the cross-sectional area of the passageway through the housing. In another embodiment, a means for bleeding air from the fluid in either the space or the passageway is added to reduce air compression/decompression problems. In yet another embodiment, an explosion proof bellhousing around the flexplate area protects the engine, transmission, passenger compartment, and roadway from flying debris in case of a failing flexplate.

Automatic transmissions manufactured for conventional automobiles are not well suited for racing vehicles. A number of problems, including the components being subjected to a higher rotational speeds as well as being subjected to higher stress, arise when automatic transmissions manufactured for conventional automobiles are used in racing vehicles. This can cause breakage of a large rotating component into fragments that can cause breakage of other parts of the transmission. A number of prior art patents, including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,193,415 and 5,090,528, disclose solutions to this problem.
One of the component parts of an automatic transmission is a part called the valve body. The valve body consists of passageways and valves that shuttle oil (automatic transmission fluid) around to various sections of the transmission. When the oil is commanded by the valve body to go to a certain section of the transmission, that section of the transmission performs its intended function. The functions could include to shift up, down, softly, reverse, etc. The valve body gets its input from a variety of sources which are typically the driver through the shift lever, the engine speed, the load and transmission oil temperature. The valve body is designed or programmed to control the transmission according to a set of rules which relate to all of the inputs together.
One of the commands that the valve body issues is how hard the transmission should shift gears. This is done by including in the valve body a spool valve that is moved by a vacuum canister (also called a ("vacuum modulator") that is attached to the outside of the transmission case. The vacuum canister reacts to the amount of vacuum present in the intake manifold of the engine. At light loads, there is a high vacuum present. At heavy loads, i.e. full throttle, there is very little vacuum present.
At heavy loads, it is desirable to make gear shifts as quickly and abruptly as possible. This maintains the maximum amount of power flowing through the drive train and it prevents the destructive slipping of the clutches which might occur due to the heavy loads during a shift. At light loads, the vacuum modulator moves the spool valve in the opposite direction which tells the transmission to make a soft or lazy shift. The power going to the transmission is low so that clutch slippage is minimal. The purpose of the soft shift is to prevent an uncomfortable "bone jarring" gear change from occurring at light loads.
In drag racing, all shifts are made at full power and the quickest shift possible is desired so that a modulator circuit is not required. The modulator circuit is not wasted, however, because the transmission is modified by adding a transmission "brake". This brake usually consists of a valve body that has had its internal oil passageways changed (specifically the modulator circuits). The vacuum modulator canister that was attached to the outside of the transmission case is replaced with an electric solenoid. The solenoid pushes on the former modulator spool valve. Instead of sending oil to tell the transmission how hard to shift, the modulator spool valve sends oil to the reverse gear apply piston. When the oil is directed to this piston, it moves and locks up the reverse gear clutch which applies reverse gear.
With the reverse gear applied, the transmission is placed in a low forward gear as well. Thus, the transmission is jammed because it is in reverse-and forward gear at the same time, effectively creating a transmission "brake". The engine can run at full throttle and the car won't move because of the jammed transmission.
During drag racing, two cars line up side by side on the starting line. After a countdown, typically accomplished by a Christmas tree sequentially counting down a series of lights, the driver releases an electrical switch that supplies power to the transmission brake solenoid, which has replaced the vacuum modulator canister, resulting in the release of the reverse gear. Since the car is also in low gear, the full power of the energy is instantly applied to the rear wheels of the car resulting in maximum acceleration.
For absolute maximum acceleration with existing transmissions, release of the rear gear must be made as quickly as possible. This is desirable to "shock" the rear tires and suspension to make the tires adhere to the pavement instead of spinning. In addition, it is desirable to minimize the amount of reaction time for the car to start moving from the time the electrical signal is removed from the transmission brake solenoid. This permits the racing vehicle to have a quicker start time.
Typical conventional automatic transmissions have passageways that feed oil through the housing and into the piston of the reverse gear. This feed oil passageway supplies the oil to the reverse gear piston which locks up the reverse gear clutches and applies reverse gear. At the same time, this passageway must be the passageway through which the oil is released, flowing in an opposite direction to release the reverse gear. In the prior art, in an effort to speed up the oil flow out of the piston area when the transmission brake is released, racers have drilled out the feed passageway to increase the size of the passageway. Although the larger passageway allows oil to flow faster out of the area, there is a trade off because the larger passageway increases the total amount of oil in the reverse gear apply system. That is, when the gear is first applied, more oil must flow into the reverse gear apply system to fill the enlarged passageway. Therefore, more volume must consequently be removed from the reverse gear apply system when the reverse gear is released. Thus, this trade off limits the amount of improvement possible in decreasing the starting time of a racing vehicle. There is a need to speed the oil flow out of the piston area without drastically increasing the amount of oil in the reverse gear apply system.
By designing a new transmission case, it is possible to create more efficient fluid passageways that release the transmission "brake" extremely quickly. For some car designs, however, a "brake" release that is too fast causes the tires to be "shocked" too hard, resulting a loss of traction (a common condition in stick shift racing cars). An adjustable means to slow down the release of the transmission "brake" is needed to make the transmission compatible with different racing vehicles.
Another problem hindering the speed of release of the transmission brake is the amount of air present in the reverse gear apply piston area. Under racing conditions, air is always present in the oil because of foaming. Foaming occurs when oil is churned up by the rotating parts while in the presence of air. A quick decrease of the volume of oil in a confined reservoir without air present results in a quick decrease of pressure in the confined reservoir. If air is present, the air expands thus slowing the quick decrease of pressure, which in turn slows the release of the transmission brake. Further, since the amount of air in the system is never the same, the release times of the transmission brake will vary. There is a need to bleed the air consistently in such a system as successful drag racing today requires that a vehicle repeat within thousandths of a second.
Existing racing transmissions sometimes have a hole drilled in the backside of the reverse gear apply piston to bleed air out. This solution has three drawbacks. First, the piston must be installed with the hole on the top and it must not be allowed to rotate with time (since the air will always rise to the top--above the fluid). Second, the hole is on the clutch disc side of the piston where dirty, unfiltered oil is present. This can allow chunks of debris or clutch dust to plug the hole, and it allows dirty oil into the pressure side of the piston causing permanent scoring of the seal area and damage to the piston seals. Finally, the clutch plates contact the outer diameter face of the piston. In order to prevent the clutch plates from blocking the bleed hole, the hole must be drilled near the center of the piston, thereby leaving a large air pocket at the top portion of the piston.
Another problem with such a transmission is that under racing conditions, the engine flex plate sometimes fails and shatters, sending flying debris out of the transmission/flywheel area similar to an explosion. The racing sanctioning bodies have mandated the use of "explosion proof" flexplates. For extra safety, "explosion shields" are also mandated that attach to the transmission in the flywheel area to prevent parts from flying up through the floorboards of a car. There are currently no requirements to prevent debris from exiting the bottom of the transmission/flywheel area. The existing shields are straps of steel or composite materials that bolt to the top of the transmissions in the flexplate area. The existing production transmissions are not designed for, nor are adequate to act as explosion shields. During an explosion, the entire bellhousing (the flexplate area of the transmission housing) shatters and is destroyed. There is a need for a shielding means to protect the bellhousing, engine compartment, car interior, and roadway from flying debris in the case of a flex plate failure.
One current solution is to separately cast the bellhousing so that it is strong enough to resist flexplate explosions. The drawback to this solution is that the entire front of the transmission must be cut off and machined to accept the separately cast bellhousing unit. There is a need for a convenient and lightweight flexplate shield.


A method and system for predicting spatial and temporal distributions of therapeutic substance carriers within a body of a user, comprising: at a computing system, receiving an image dataset and a spectra dataset of a therapeutic substance carrier generated from at least one of an imaging model and a spectra-generating module; transforming the image dataset and the spectra dataset into a set of characteristics, wherein the set of characteristics comprises electrotopological characteristics and geometrical characteristics; generating a set of pharmacokinetic parameters and a set of pharmacodynamic parameters for the therapeutic substance carrier based upon the set of characteristics and a transformation model; and transforming the set of pharmacokinetic parameters and the set of pharmacodynamic parameters into a spatial distribution and a temporal profile of the therapeutic substance carrier, based upon a predictive model incorporating physiological parameters of the body, thereby predicting distributions of the therapeutic substance carrier within the body.

Pharmacokinetics is the study of the time course of a drug within the body, based upon absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion (i.e., ADMET properties), as well as other properties. For a nanotherapeutic to be effective, it must have certain pharmacodynamic and/or pharmacokinetic properties so that it can sufficiently inhibit or modulate a disease process. Drug discovery processes are typically lengthy and costly, spanning an average of 13 years in the United States, and averaging over 800 million dollars in development costs. Typically, pharmacodynamic and/or pharmacokinetic properties of a drug are evaluated experimentally, in vivo and in vitro, during pre-clinical and clinical phases of development; however, approximately 60% of potential drugs fail at this stage, and over half of these failures can be attributed to deficient pharmacodynamic and/or pharmacokinetic properties. While models exist to analyze pharmacodynamic and/or pharmacokinetic properties of a therapeutic substance carrier (e.g., drug or drug carrier, cosmeceutical active, other active, etc.), current models have limited accuracy, cannot be generalized to a wide variety of drug types, are computationally expensive, and are insufficient for many other reasons.
Thus, there is a need in the therapeutic substance delivery field for a new and useful method for predicting spatial and temporal distributions of therapeutic substance carriers. This invention provides such a new and useful method.

Method and system for predicting spatial and temporal distributions of therapeutic substance carriers


Exemplary embodiments relate to pressurizable housings for a soft robotic actuator. The pressurized housings may be divided into an upper chamber in fluid communication with an internal void of the actuator, and a lower chamber connected to an inlet and an outlet. The upper chamber and lower chamber may be separated by a piston. By supplying a fluid to the lower chamber via the inlet, the piston is moved into the space previously occupied by the upper chamber, which reduces the volume of the upper chamber and increases the pressure in the internal void. This action allows the actuator to be rapidly inflated, and further simplifies the pressurization system and reduces its weight.

Soft robotic actuators have generally been pressurized by supplying an inflation fluid to the internal reservoir of the actuator via a supply line. The inflation fluid may be delivered under action of a pressurizing device, such as a compressor or pump.
While effective, this configuration may have difficulty in supplying a high pressure in a short amount of time (due to limits on the amount of inflation fluid that can be supplied by the pressurizing device). This is particularly true when multiple actuators are inflated together, as might be the case with a gripper made up of several actuators. Thus, it may be difficult to cause a soft actuator to curl in a relatively fast or forceful manner.
Furthermore, conventional inflation mechanisms may to be relatively complex and costly. An operator of a robotic system may plan to use the system as part of a large automation line requiring many actuators, perhaps at several points along the production line. Still further, when retrofitting new actuators into an existing line, it may be difficult to fit a conventional model (including necessary mechanisms for inflation) into a small available space. Yet further, existing actuator assemblies may be more complex than necessary if the operator's needs are relatively simple.
Moreover, compressors and pumps tend to be heavy and relatively large, increasing the cost, weight, and size of the overall robotic system when deployed as part of, or in close proximity to, the gripper.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Pressurizing housing for a soft robotic actuator


An information handling system (IHS) is provided that permits continued recording of a medium when a planned power loss occurs while the medium is being recorded in a media drive. If a low power condition is encountered during recording, the IHS saves location information regarding a last written block prior to the planned power loss. When power is restored, recording resumes at a location related to the location information.

The disclosures herein relate generally to information handling systems (IHS's) and more particularly to IHS's including media drives.
As the value and use of information continue to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system (IHS) generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
IHS's often include media drives such as CD and DVD drives for reading and writing information on removable media. These drives are often used to pre-master content. Pre-mastering is a process that takes source data and creates a disk in the desired format, for example, CD or DVD format. One prerequisite of pre-mastering is uninterrupted recording. Media drives typically include buffers to lessen the likelihood that the data stream to the drive will be interrupted. However, even with large buffers, it is possible that the buffer will run out of data and a buffer underrun will occur. When such a buffer underrun occurred in older drives, the disk medium was rendered useless after the underrun and interruption in writing data to the disk medium.
One attempt to lessen the impact of buffer underrun during recording is to monitor the amount of data in the buffer. When the amount of data in the buffer becomes less that a predetermined amount, the drive writes a link on the disk medium and waits. The link is interpreted as an error block. When the buffer is refilled to an appropriate level, the drive starts recording after the error block or link. More advanced drives without linking are now available that enable a resumption of recording at the location on the disk medium where the interruption occurred.
Portable battery powered IHS's encounter another problem when recording to a disk medium. More particularly, problems occur when the IHS encounters a low power condition such as a critical battery warning at the same time the IHS is writing information to the media drive. If the recording is not completed before the battery runs out of energy, the IHS will force a shutdown. In that event the recording will terminate prematurely and the disk medium in the drive is rendered useless.
What is needed is an IHS which addresses the media drive problems discussed above.

Information handling system including media drive resume recording feature


A method of data exchange between volumes without using any unnecessary resource in a storage system includes allocating cache areas for data exchange on a memory, determining the location of data to be exchanged, reading out data from the determined location in source and destination volumes and storing data in their respective caches, and writing data stored in the cache to thus determined location of the volume different from the one that the data was read out.

This invention relates to an improved method for managing volumes in a storage system.
The amount of data that is handled by a firm of the present day is increasing, together with the increase of storage capacity of the storage system. While the capacity of the storage system increases, rather than the volumes in a storage system won't have a homogenous performance but each of them will have a variety of performance levels, respectively. The optimum strategy of layout design of volumes to be used to store data based on the importance is required. In addition, since the importance of data is not always at a certain level, moving data between volumes having different performance is often needed.
Moving data between volumes is done in general by copying data from the source volume to the destination volume. In this case the data that exists in the destination volume is overwritten. The destination volume should be selected which must be an unused volume (the volume that stores only unnecessary data). Because of this, the storage management strategy with the assumption of moving data being anticipated requires for the system to have always an empty, blank volume to be served as a new destination of data. Always having a bunch of blank storage volumes to be served as the new destination volumes may be wasting the resource, and a high performance spare set of disk drives among other things not used for the routine work is not desirable in view of cost saving.
In contrast to this, JP 2002-32197 A suggests a method for exchanging data between the source volume and the destination volume for the purpose of moving data between volumes. According to this method the data can be moved without overwriting existing data on the destination volume. In this prior embodiment, two extra volumes are provided for temporary data backup in addition to two principal volumes from and to which the data is exchanging, to copy data from two principal volumes exchanging data to the temporary backup volumes, then to copy the data backed up in the temporary volumes to their respective destination volumes. According to this method, moving data is available even when the destination volume is not empty, if only two temporary backup volumes are provided.

Method for exchanging data between volumes of storage system