There is provided a prize management system of a game machine in which a plurality of kinds of prizes (3, 5, . . . ) are accommodated in a case (1), a player operates from the outside of the case to select and catch his/her favorite prize, and the selected prize is discharged to a taking-out port, comprising a non-contact detection section (41) provided with each one of the prizes for specifying a kind of each prize, chute sections (25) and (27) for passing the prize in a path leading to the taking-out port of the prizes, reading sections (29, 31) for reading with non-contact the detection section of the prizes passing through the chute section. The prizes are managed on the basis of a result read by the reading section.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a prize management system of a game machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 3 shows a schematic game machine according to a related art. This game machine is configured so that a plurality of kinds of stuffed animals 3, 5, . . . are accommodated in a case 1, and a player his/herself can operate to acquire a prize. In other words, the case 1 is provided with a transparent prize accommodating chamber 7 which front face is made of glass, and a plurality of kinds of stuffed animals 3, 5, . . . are accommodated as prizes in the prize accommodating chamber 7. Further, the case 1 is provided with drop ports 9 and 11, and at the lower portion thereof, taking-out ports 13 and 15 for taking out prizes are provided. Then, movable holders 17 and 19 are provided in the prize accommodating chamber 7. These movable holders 17 and 19 are operated by a player through, for example, buttons 21 and 23 and the like provided on the front face of the case 1.
When the player operates the button 21 or 23, moves the holder 17 or 19 to catch his/her favorite stuffed animal 3, 5, . . . , the holder 17 or 19 automatically moves to the drop port 9 or 11, and releases to drop the caught stuffed animal on the drop port 9 or 11. Accordingly, the player can take it out from the taking-out port 13 or 15.
Therefore, when the player succeeds in catching the stuffed animal 3, 5, . . . by the holder 17 or 19, he/she can acquire the stuffed animal 3, 5, . . . from the taking-out port 13 or 15.
In order to confirm what kind of stuffed animals 3, 5, . . . are preferred and selected by players and how many stuffed animals in the prize accommodating chamber 7 have decreased, an administrator of the game machine needs to count the number thereof one by one. As a result, there has been a problem that the management is remarkably complicated.


An apparatus and method is provided for inhibiting theft of electrical wiring through the access opening of an electrical fixture supporting pole, such as a street light pole. Prior to securing the pole to the base, a wire clamping element is placed on the base around the passage for the power supply cable. The electrical power supply cable is clamped to a vertical surface of the clamping element, and the free end of the cable is extended to a location proximate the second opposed vertical surface of the clamping element. The electrical connection cable from the electrical fixture is then attached to the power supply cable, and the pole and the clamping element are secured to the base such that the access opening is positioned to provide access to the connections of the power supply cable and electrical connection cable from the electrical fixture, but access to the clamping device which secures the power supply cable to the first surface is not possible without removing the pole.

Municipal street lights, traffic lights, highway lights and lighting for parking lots, playing fields and the like are generally mounted on hollow metal poles which are secured to a concrete base by anchor bolts. The lighting fixture is mounted at the top of the pole. The electrical wiring for providing electrical power to the lighting fixture is connected to underground cables which extend upwardly through the pole base. Near the bottom of the pole, an access hole or hand-hole, covered with a removable cover plate, is provided so that a service person can access the wiring for servicing, such as changing a fuse.
Due to increases in commodity prices, particularly the price of copper, theft of copper wiring from street lights has become a serious problem. Thieves access the wiring through the hand-hole, connect the wiring to a truck or car and pull up long sections of wiring which is sold as scrap metal. Damage done to the lighting system by such activities is considerable. Merely locking the hand-hole cover does not solve the problem. There is therefore a need for a system which inhibits wire theft from street and traffic light poles.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related thereto 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.

Method and apparatus for reducing wire theft from street light and utility poles


Conductive memory array having page mode and burst mode write capability. The conductive memory array includes two-terminal memory plugs and driver circuits configured to write information to the memory plugs in two cycles. The array also includes associated circuitry that allows it to carry out such two-cycle writes in either page mode or burst mode.

Conventional nonvolatile computer memory requires three terminal MOSFET-based devices. The layout of such devices is not ideal, usually requiring an area of at least 8f2 for each memory cell, where f is the minimum feature size. However, not all memory elements require three terminals. If, for example, a memory element is capable of changing its electrical properties (e.g., resistivity) in response to a voltage pulse, only two terminals are required. With only two terminals, a cross point array layout that allows a single cell to be fabricated to a size of 4f2 can be utilized. The performance of cross point arrays utilizing two-terminal memory elements would be further improved if one were able to read and write to multiple elements simultaneously, so as to speed data transfer, especially if such data transfers were accomplished via either page mode or burst mode.
It would therefore be desirable to fabricate a cross point array from two-terminal memory elements. To speed the data transfer process, it would further be desirable to read and write to multiple memory plugs of a cross point array simultaneously, for example by employing page mode and/or burst mode.


An image data processing apparatus selects and extracts the elements of a desired 8.times.8 matrix from four matrices in real space each having 8 rows and 8 columns and effects an inverse discrete cosine transform on the four matrices. The elements of the four matrices each of the 8 rows and 8 columns are arranged into four vectors each of 64 elements. The elements of the vectors are supplied serially to four 64-output serial-to-parallel converters, which output the elements in parallel. Data selectors then select the 64 elements of one of the vectors. Half of the selected elements are processed by a 32-element inner product processing circuit, which produces a first inner product output signal. The remaining selected elements are processed by another 32-element inner product processing circuit, which produces a second inner product output signal. The first and second inner product output signals are added into a final output signal by an adder.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to an image data processing apparatus for extracting any desired data in N rows and N columns (N is an even number of 2 or more) in a real space from four sets of data in N rows and N columns in a real space which have been produced by processing each of four sets of data in N rows and N columns in a space of spatial frequencies for an inverse discrete cosine transform.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Compressing image data for transmission often employs the discrete cosine transform (hereinafter referred to as "DCT") of two-dimensional image data arrayed in 8 rows and 8 columns, and decoding compressed image data into original image data often employs the inverse discrete cosine transform (hereinafter referred to as "IDCT") of two-dimensional image data arrayed in 8 rows and 8 columns (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 62-61159). In reality, a real space is divided into a number of blocks each in the form of a matrix of 8 dots.times.8 dots, and each of the blocks is processed for a DCT, thereby determining DCT coefficients in a space of spatial frequencies. If it is assumed that a matrix of 8.times.8 image data in a real space with elements xi, j is indicated by X, a matrix of 8.times.8 DCT coefficients in a space of spatial frequencies with elements ci, j is indicated by C, and a transform matrix of 8 rows and 8 columns for a DCT is indicated by N, then the following equations (1) are satisfied for DCT, IDCT: EQU DCT: C=(1/4)NXN.sup.t, EQU IDCT: X=(1/4)N.sup.t CN (1).
The matrices N, X, C are defined as follows: ##STR1##
In the above equations (2), a=cos(.pi./16), .alpha.=cos(2.pi./16), b=cos(3.pi./16), c=cos(5.pi./16), .beta.=cos(6.pi./16), d=cos(7.pi./16), and the matrix N.sup.t is a matrix transposed from the matrix N. The DCT is a linear transform from the matrix X to the matrix C, and the IDCT is a linear transform from the matrix C to the matrix X.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. IA of the accompanying drawings, a real space is divided into a number of blocks each in the form of a matrix of 8 dots.times.8 dots, and the matrices of image data in 8 rows and 8 columns, which correspond to the respective blocks, are represented by X0, X1, X2, . . . , respectively. As shown in FIG. 1B of the accompanying drawings, a space of spatial frequencies, which corresponds to the real space shown in FIG. 1A, is divided into a number of blocks each in the form of a matrix of 8 dots.times.8 dots, the blocks corresponding to matrices Ci. Normally, the data of the matrices Ci are successively compressed and transmitted to a receiving side, in which the received matrices Ci are successively processed for an IDCT so that they are decoded into the original matrices Xi in the real space.
For image data compression according to a DCT with motion compensation, image data is produced by shifting image data of a preceding frame by a motion vector, the produced image data is subtracted from image data of a present frame, and the resultant image data is processed for a DCT. The processed image data is then compressed and transmitted to a receiving side. In the receiving side, the transmitted image data is processed for an IDCT so that it is decoded into the image data of the present frame. To the decoded image data of the present frame, there is added image data that has been produced by shifting the decoded image data of the preceding frame by the motion vector, thereby generating an original image in a real space. When the image data which is the difference between the image data of the preceding and present frames is thus processed for a DCT for image data compression, the efficiency of image data compression is further increased. For the receiving side to decode the image data that has been compressed according to a DCT with motion compensation, it is necessary to determine, as shown in FIG. 2, the image data of a block 2 (shown hatched) that is present in a position where one divided block of 8 dots.times.8 dots in a real space has been shifted by a motion vector 1.
FIG. 3 of the accompanying drawings shows a conventional image data processing apparatus for determining the image data of a block that is present in a position where a block has been shifted by a motion vector. As shown in FIG. 3, the image data processing apparatus comprises IDCT circuits 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D for effecting a two-dimensional 8.times.8 IDCT on input data, and a selector circuit 4 having four input terminals and one output terminal. Generally, a block present in a position where a block has been shifted by a motion block overlaps four blocks each composed of 8 dots.times.8 dots. It is assumed that the matrices corresponding to these four blocks are represented by Xa, Xb, Xc, Xd, and the matrices in a space of spatial frequencies that have been produced by effecting a DCT on the four matrices are represented by Ca, Cb, Cc, Cd, respectively. These matrices are related with respect to an IDCT according to the following equations (3): EQU Xa=(1/4)N.sup.t CaN EQU Xb=(1/4)N.sup.t CbN EQU Xc=(1/4)N.sup.t CcN EQU Xd=(1/4)N.sup.t CdN (3).
The first IDCT circuit 3A is supplied with the 64 elements ca0,0.about.ca7,7 (which are actually compressed) of the first matrix Ca on the receiving side. Likewise, the second, third, and fourth IDCT circuits 3B, 3C, 3D are supplied respectively with the 64 elements cb0,0.about.cb7,7 of the second matrix Cb on the receiving side, the 64 elements cc0,0.about.cc7,7 of the third matrix Cc on the receiving side, and the 64 elements cd0,0.about.cd7,7 of the fourth matrix Cd on the receiving side.
The first IDCT circuit 3A supplies the selector circuit 4 with the 64 elements xa0,0.about.xa7,7 of the first matrix Xa in a real space which has been produced by an IDCT. Similarly, the second, third, and fourth IDCT circuits 3B, 3C, 3D supply the selector circuit 4 respectively with the 64 elements xb0,0.about.xb7,7 of the second matrix Xb, the 64 elements xc0,0.about.xc7,7 of the third matrix Xc, and the 64 elements xd0,0.about.xd7,7 of the fourth matrix Xd. The selector circuit 4 selects 64 elements xf0,0.about.xf7,7 determined according to the motion vector, from the supplied (64.times.4) elements, and outputs the selected 64 elements xf0,0.about.xf7,7.
For example, it is assumed that the image data of the block 2 is to be determined. The block 2 overlaps four blocks each composed of 8 dots.times.8 dots. The matrices corresponding to these four blocks are represented by X8, X9, X13, X14, respectively, and the matrices in a space of spatial frequencies which correspond to the matrices X8, X9, X13, X14 are represented by C8, C9, C13, C14, respectively. On a receiving side, the 64 elements, which are compressed, of the matrices C8, C9, C13, C14 in a space of spatial frequencies are supplied to the respective IDCT circuits 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D, and the IDCT circuits 3A, 3B, 3C, 3D supply the 64 elements of the matrices X8, X9, X13, X14 in a real space to the selector circuit 4. The selector circuit 4 then selects and outputs the 64 elements of the 8.times.8 matrix that corresponds to the block 2.
Generally, a matrix processing circuit for processing serially inputted 8.times.8 matrices and serially outputting the produced matrix requires 8 multipliers, and the IDCT calculation according to the equation (1) contains two multiplications between matrices. Therefore, the conventional two-dimensional IDCT processing circuit requires 16 (=2.times.8) multipliers. Inasmuch as the conventional image data processing apparatus shown in FIG. 3 has four IDCT circuits, it requires a total of 64 (4.times.16) multipliers. Since the circuit scale of a multiplier is considerably larger than the circuit scale of an adder or a subtractor and also since the overall circuit scale of a processing circuit composed of multipliers is determined substantially depending on the number of the multipliers used, the conventional image data processing apparatus composed of plural IDCT circuits has been relatively large in overall circuit scale.


A capillary electrophoresis system includes a plurality of capillaries arranged in parallel on a vertical plane at an identical distance from each other, each of which has a sample injection end immersed in a cathode buffer 23 and pointed downward vertically to facilitate connection between the cathode buffer 23 and a sample solution. The sample elution end is connected via a pump block 11 and a connection tube 3 to an anode buffer 24. The height is made identical between the liquid levels for buffers 23 and 24 to prevent movement of the separation medium in the capillaries. The sample introduced from the sample injection end 20 moves upward vertically via electrophoresis to the sample elution end in the capillary and is passed through and detected at the fluorescence detection position 19. The effective separation length is thus decreased to 10 cm or less to attain high throughput.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the field of analysis and separation of DNA, RNA and proteins. In particular, the present invention refers to an apparatus that allows for the separation and analysis of DNA, RNA and proteins.
2. Description of the Related Art
This invention concerns an apparatus for separating and analyzing DNA, RNA and proteins. Particularly, it relates to a capillary electrophoresis system effective to sequencing of DNA and RNA or, measurement of polymorphism, based on the versatility of individuals.
Analyzing technology for DNA and RNA has become important more and more in medical and biological fields concerning DNA analysis and DNA diagnosis. DNA analyzers at high speed and high throughput have been developed in relation with genome projects.
Capillary electrophoresis is a method of high speed and high resolution since higher electric fields can be applied due to high electric resistance and high efficiency of heat dissipation compared with slab gel electrophoresis. (Anal. Chem. 62, 900 (1999) (Prior art 1)).
As shown in FIG. 16, an electrophoresis system using a single capillary is known (Prior art 2: WO95/21378). The prior art 2 includes the following descriptions regarding FIG. 1. Nucleic acid fragments are electrophoretically separated in a capillary 134 filled with a flowing polymer solution as an electrophoretic separation medium. The temperature of the capillary during electrophoresis is an important parameter that gives an effect on both the extent of denaturation of samples and the separation speed of fragments. An elevated temperature can be used for lowering the viscosity of the separation medium during introduction of the separation medium into the capillary, to shorten the time of filling. A temperature control unit 130 is used for keeping the capillary 134 filled with the electrophoretic separation medium to a predetermined temperature. Since the resolution and the electrophoresis time are determined partially based on the length of the capillary, the temperature control unit contains a portion of the capillary for the length from 30 to 35 cm. The temperature of the capillary is controlled by using an insulated pressure plate and bringing the capillary in contact with a thermally controlled surface.
A sample is introduced into the capillary 134 filled with the separation medium. A sample injection end 142 of the capillary 134 and a cathode 150 are immersed in a sample 158 contained in a sample container 126 disposed to an auto-sampler 166, a sample elution end 138 of the capillary 134 and an anode 146 are immersed in an electrophoretic buffer 154 contained in an electrode vessel 118 and the sample is introduced into the capillary by application of electric field. An injection voltage is applied to the capillary by a power supply unit 122 connected to the anode 146 and the cathode 150. The injection voltage and injection time are controlled by a computer 174. After the injection of the sample into the capillary, electrophoretic separation is conducted.
The auto-sampler 176 changes the position for the sample injection end 142 of the capillary 134 and the cathode 150 from the container 126 containing the sample 158 to a container 170 containing an electrophoretic buffer 182. A voltage is applied to the capillary 124 by the power supply unit 122 connected to the anode 146 and the cathode 150, and sample ingredients pass the capillary by electrophoresis depending on the size thereof.
In order to avoid abnormality in fragment phoresis by siphoning of the electrophoresis medium, it is important to keep the liquid levels of the buffer identical between the container 170 and the container 118 during electrophoretic separation.
The fragment is detected after the separation by a detection unit 162. The detector used herein can include (1) a unit for spectrally separating an emission light (such as a grating or a prism), (2) an array of a plurality of detection elements sensitive to irradiation of light (e.g., diode array, CCD, photomultiplier), (3) an excited light source (e.g., incandescent lamp, arc lamp, laser, laser diode) and (4) a spectral array fluorescence detector using an optical system enabling directionation and conditioning for both of excited light and emitted light.
Before electrophoretic separation of the next sample, the electrophoresis medium in the capillary is replaced with a new one. There are described two methods of replacing the inside of the capillary with the new electrophoresis medium. In one method, the electrophoresis medium is replaced by the following procedures. A positive pressure from a pump 104 is applied to a container 108 containing a new electrophoresis medium and the medium is pumped out from the vessel 108 to a tee 111. Since a valve 112 is closed at this instance, the new electrophoresis medium flows mainly to a sample injection end 142. After the capillary is filled with the new electrophoresis medium between the sample injection end 142 and the tee 111, the valve 112 is opened and a new electrophoresis medium flows from the container 108 to a container 118 for containing a buffer. As a result, the capillary is completely filled with the electrophoresis medium between the sample injection end 142 and the sampling elution end 138. Since the length of the capillary between the sample elution end 138 and the tee 111 is shorter than the length of the capillary between the sample injection end 142 and the tee 111, when the valve 112 is opened to apply a pressure to the container 108, the new electrophoresis medium flows mainly to the sample elution end 138. After the capillary is filled with the new electrophoresis medium between the sample injection end 142 and the sample elution end 138, the valve 112 is opened so as to connect the sample injection end 142 and the sample elution end 138 to form a current path between electrodes 146 and 150. The foregoing provides an are explanation for FIG. 1 of the prior art 2.
An electrophoresis system for DNA using a single capillary is supplied as a commercial product from Perkin Elmer Co. (name of product: ABI Prism 310). A high throughput system capable of analyzing a plurality of samples simultaneously, by arranging 96 capillaries into an array is supported as a commercial product from Perkin Elmer Co. (name of product: ABI Prism 3700).
In genome analysis, DNA fragments formed by finely fragmenting large size DNA, at random are read and an original DNA is read by joining the result of reading. As the DNA read length capable of being read by electrophoresis at one time is increased, the efficiency and the speed of the entire analysis also increase.
Accordingly, in the capillary electrophoresis system, a capillary of increased effective length is used so that long DNA can be read. For example, in ABI Prism 310 or ABI Prim 3700, 600 base lengths can be read in about two hours, by electrophoresis under standard conditions (200 V/cm, 50(C), by setting the effective separation length to 50 cm and using a polymer solution POP 6 supplied from Perkin Elmer Co.
As the speed, the throughput and the read length have been increased for the capillary electrophoresis systems, it is expected that the entire base sequencing of the human genome will be completed substantially in 2001. After the base sequences for the entire genome are found, the necessity for reading long DNA will be reduced. It will only be necessary to read specific regions on the genome.
For example, it has now been advanced in a large scale national project to investigate single nucleotide polymorphisms present on the genome, on every group of persons and examine the relationship thereof with diseases or reactivity to chemicals. In the featured medical treatment and new industries, it will be important to relate not only the single nucleotide polymorphism but also specific sequences with diseases or various phenotypes. It is also possible to examine the expressions in each of the organs and each of the states of individual persons, not just with the genome, based on cDNA sequencing. Since a number of samples such as various persons, various diseases and various organs have to be analyzed, it is necessary to outstandingly improve the analysis throughput of the system. In such DNA analyses, reading long base lengths is not necessary, but relatively short base lengths have to be read at high speed, with higher throughput.
However, the constitution of the system for analyzing a great amount of relatively short DNA is not considered in commercial products and an effective separation length as long as 50 cm has been used. When electrophoresis is conducted under standard conditions (200 V/cm, 50° C.), using POP 6 as the polymer solution, a plurality of samples can be electrophoresed serially at 65 min cycles to read 200 bases for each sample, which includes periods of 15 min for filling the polymer solution and pre-electrophoresis. When 96 capillaries are used (in ABI Prism 3700), the upper limit for the analysis is 2127 samples in 24 hours.
This invention intends to provide a high performance capillary electrophoresis system capable of conducting capillary electrophoresis, with short effective separation lengths stably capable of electrophoresis at high throughputs and ultrahigh speeds, and applicable to the separation and analysis of nucleic acids and proteins or the sequencing of nucleic acids, and further to measurements for polymorphism analysis, based on the versatility of base sequences of individuals.


A method and apparatus for RF access to system identification and fault information includes storing system information in a computer component forming a part of an information handling system, receiving a request for at least a portion of the system information via a radio frequency identification (“RF”) transponder link, and automatically transmitting a response from the computer component via the RFID transponder link such that the response includes the portion of the system information.

As the value and use of information continues 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 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.
A server is one example of an information handling system. Typically, the server is constructed from several computer components. Each component may include a nine to twelve digit manufacturer identification number such as a piece part identification number ("PPID"). The PPID may be used to indicate where and when the component was manufactured. The PPID may also include the component serial number that defines the component. Generally, the PPID is stamped or labeled on each component such that a person must physically read the number.
During a fault or system error in the server, it is possible that one or more of the computer components may need to be removed and replaced. Because a service person such as a field repair technician will have to diagnosis the server error, the technician is typically in physical contact with the server. As such, the technician generally has to test different components to determine the faulty components.
In addition, the technician may not have the correct component to replace the faulty component. Thus, the technician may have to attain the correct component before returning to the server causing a subsequent service call and longer service downtime.
To aid in determining the server error, the technician may use an error log to diagnosis the problem with server. Because the error log is stored in a Baseboard Management Controller (BMC) resident on the server, the technician may be able to access the log directly from the server. However, if the error caused the server to become non-functional (i.e., crash), the technician may be able to view the log using a physical connection to the server. In some cases, the server may need to be removed and returned to a service center to diagnosis the error.

Method and apparatus for RF access to system ID and fault information


The invention relates to a locating method and an arrangement for determining the location of a terminal in a radio system comprising a plurality of base stations and terminals. At least two base stations with known locations transmit a signal used in locating the terminal, and the signals are transmitted in beams with directional antenna patterns and the direction of the beams is changed as a function of time. The terminal determines the location of the base station and the transmission direction of the signal used in location determination by means of the beam transmitted by said at least two base stations. Since the terminal is located at the intersection of the beams of the base stations transmitting from known locations, the location of the terminal can easily be determined. The solution takes multipath propagation into account.

The invention relates to a locating method for determining the location of a terminal in a radio system comprising a plurality of base stations and terminals.
The invention further relates to a locating arrangement for determining the location of a terminal in a radio system comprising a plurality of base stations and terminals.
A typical mobile telephone system covers a large geographical area and comprises a plurality of coverage areas, i.e. cells, each usually served by one base station. The cells vary greatly in size, usually in accordance with the amount of the call traffic in the area. In areas of high traffic density, the cell size is usually smaller than in areas where fewer calls are made. Irrespective of the size of a cell, it would often be useful to know the geographical location or direction of movement of a subscriber terminal.
Several different methods have been developed for determining the geographical location of terminals. The location information of a terminal can be utilized for a number of purposes. If the user desires, he or she can determine his or her location; the location of a terminal placing an emergency call can be determined in order to be able to send help; or call charging can be dependent on the location. The distance of the terminal from the base station communicating with it can easily be determined on the basis of propagation delay. Among the most widely used methods is a triangulation method in which the signal of the terminal is measured by means of three or more base stations, and the location of the terminal is computed on the basis of the propagation delay of the signals. This solution is also known as the TA (Timing Advance) method.
In another known solution, the terminal receives information on the clocks and location coordinates of the base stations located in the vicinity of the terminal from the cellular system. Next, the terminal measures the time differences of the signals received from the base stations in question and determines its location on the basis of the measured time differences and the information received from the system.
The problem of the known methods, such as the triangulation, is however that the location of the terminal cannot be found out very accurately and the location information thus obtained cannot be utilized in applications in which accurate geographical parameters are essential.
An object of the invention is thus to provide a method and an arrangement implementing the method so as to solve the above problems and determine the location of a terminal accurately.
This is achieved by a method of the type disclosed in the introduction, the method being characterized in that it comprises the following method steps: at least two base stations with known locations transmit a signal used in locating the terminal; the signals are transmitted in beams with directional antenna patterns; the direction of the beam is changed as a function of time; the terminal measures the signals transmitted by said at least two base stations and used in location determination, on the basis of which measurement the location of said base stations and the transmission direction of the signal used in location determination are determined and the location of the terminal is determined on the basis of the location of the base stations and the transmission direction of the signal used in location determination.
The arrangement of the invention is characterized in that at least two base stations with known locations comprise a transmitter for transmitting a signal used in locating the terminal and having a directed beam, and the transmitter is arranged to change the direction of the beam as a function of time; the terminal comprises means in a receiver which are arranged to measure the signals which are arranged to determine the location of the base station and the transmission angle of the signal used in location determination, and the radio system comprises means for determining the location of the terminal on the basis of the measurement performed by the terminal.
Several advantages can be achieved by the method and arrangement of the invention. The location of the terminal can be determined accurately with no need for great changes in the software of the base stations or terminals. The signalling load of the network part in the radio system is light. The arrangement of the invention is more accurate than the TA or OTD (Observed Time Difference) methods, for example, and no active call is necessary for determining the location. Furthermore, the arrangement of the invention operates equally well indoors and outdoors and the terminal can also determine its location itself. In addition, the solution according to the invention can easily be combined with other known locating solutions.


A metal-physical model is used in a computer controlled cooling device for a rolling and cooling process for rolling a hot strip or a plate. The cooling parameters are calculated based on initial conditions. The computer uses the metal physical model to instantaneously alter the cooling parameters in response to changes in the final rolling temperatures and the rate at which the hot strip or plate is moved through the cooling device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to controlling the cooling rate and cooling time for a hot strip or plate after the final rolling of the hot strip or plate. More specifically, the present invention relates to a model-assisted process for controlling the cooling of the hot strip or plate in controlled rolling and cooling processes where a structure (hot strip or plate) of hardened austenite is final rolled in temperature ranges in which no recrystallization occurs and is cooled in a controlled fashion, in that it is transported at a controlled speed through the cooling device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optimal quality in microalloyed steels is dependent on the formation of a very fine-grained secondary structure with favorable combinations of properties during the transformation in the cooling line of the austenite that has not recrystallized or has recrystallized only partially. The optimal values for this austenite hardening result from 70-80% reduction at low temperatures (below 900.degree. C.). What is vital is that the hardened state of the deformed and hardened austenite be maintained to the point of the .gamma./.alpha. transformation. Maintaining the hardened state until that transformation depends on the conditions for the precipitation of the microalloy elements and the retardation of recrystallization this causes. In addition to maintaining the hardening of the fine austenitic grains, it is necessary to carry out deliberate cooling, so that the structure obtained after transformation consists for the most part of ferrite and bainite. Pearlitic structures are undesirable. Changes in the final roll temperature during processing and changes in the speed of processing affect the above transformation and change the final ratio of the structural phases of the steel. These changes in the ratio of structural phases of the steel alter the characteristics of the steel. Therefore, a problem with conventional cooling of the final rolled hot strip or plate is that inevitable fluctuations in the final roll temperature and processing speed result in a final product having non-uniform characteristics.

Model-assisted process for the controlled cooling of hot strip and plate in a computer-guided rolling and cooling process


A battery module includes a plurality of rechargeable batteries respectively including externally protruded terminals, a bus-bar electrically coupling at least two of the terminals of the rechargeable batteries, and a protection member disposed between the bus-bar and the rechargeable batteries, and including a protruding portion formed along a circumference of the bus-bar.

1. Field
The described technology relates generally to a battery module. More particularly, the described technology relates generally to a battery module with an improved structure of protecting a bus-bar.
2. Description of the Related Art
A rechargeable battery differs from a primary battery in that it can be repeatedly charged and discharged, while the latter makes only the irreversible conversion of chemical to electrical energy. The low-capacity rechargeable battery is used as the power supply for small electronic devices, such as cellular phones, notebook computers and camcorders, while the high-capacity rechargeable battery is used as the power supply for driving motors in hybrid vehicles and the like.
Recently, a high power rechargeable battery that includes a non-aqueous electrolyte having a high energy density has been developed, and is constituted by a large capacity rechargeable battery in which a plurality of rechargeable batteries are coupled in series in order to use it to drive devices requiring a large amount of power, for example, motors such as for electric vehicles.
In addition, a large capacity rechargeable battery generally includes a plurality of rechargeable batteries that are coupled in series, and the rechargeable battery may be formed of cylindrical and angular shapes.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the described technology and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method and system to reduce fuel consumption and environmental impact in a two-stroke engine. Fresh system oil having a TBN less than 10 is provided and used in the two-stroke engine to produce partially used system oil. The partially used system oil is withdrawn from the two stroke engine and at least one friction modifier is added to at least some of the withdrawn partially used system oil, wherein the addition of the at least one friction modifier reduces the friction coefficient of the withdrawn system oil, resulting in a system oil having reduced friction. The system oil with reduced friction is combined with partially used system oil remaining in said two-stroke and the combined system oil is used to lubricate pistons of said two-stroke engine.

Two-stroke cross-head engines used in marine and/or stationary applications are equipped with two separate lubricating oil systems. One lubricating system comprises so-called system oil that normally is used for lubrication and cooling of the engine's bearings and e.g. oil-cooled pistons as well as for activation and/or control of various valves or the like. The other lubricating system comprises an all-loss lubricant (cylinder oil) that normally is used for lubrication of the engine's cylinders, piston rings and piston skirt.
In typical two-stroke cross-head engines, the cylinder oil is spent continuously by each turn of the engine whereas the system oil in principle is not spent (except by smaller unintentional leakages). The lubrication system comprising the cylinder oil is also often referred to as an "all-loss" lubrication system as the oil is spent. The use of and various types of both system oil(s) and cylinder oil(s) is very well known in the art.
The cylinder oil typically contains certain additives that function to reduce, minimize or neutralise the acid level of the cylinder system.
Typical cylinder oils usually have an SAE (Society of Automotive Engineering) viscosity equivalent to about 50 and normally have a total base number (BN) of about 40 to 70 for the neutralisation of acid products produced during the combustion process. Typical system oils usually have an SAE viscosity of about 30 with a relatively low BN content, typically around 5 and provide long-time performance. These exemplary values may vary dependent on the actual application and the specific design of the systems that the oils are used in.
In recent two-stroke cross-head engine designs involving electronic and/or hydraulic control and/or activation of valves, etc., the minimum performance requirements of the system oil has been substantially increased compared to earlier design using traditional mechanical control/activation.
The performance level of lubricants is typically measured periodically and may not go beyond certain limits if the oiled component's condition should not be jeopardized. One cause of performance loss is caused by particle contamination. These particles include combustion by-products and wear components, which can be partially removed by oil separators. However, in the case of two-stroke cross-head engines, one of the sources of contamination is spent cylinder oil leakage past the stuffing box causing both the viscosity and base number of the system oil to increase over time, a process that cannot be reversed by separators. This causes the system oil to gradually degrade over time so component wear increases and engine efficiency decreases. When the system oil is approaching its condemning limit it will have to be replenished or changed.
Patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 6,074,995 discloses a friction modifier composition comprising an oil of lubricating viscosity and containing a friction-reducing amount of an additive.
Patent specification U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,990 discloses adding a synergistic blend of friction modifiers to a crankcase lubricating oil of an internal combustion engine in order to improve the fuel economy. However, there is no suggestion of how to apply this with respect to a two-stroke diesel engines.
Patent specification EP 0 573 231 discloses triglycerides as friction modifiers added to oil for improved fuel economy in an internal combustion engine.
Patent application US 2003/0171223 discloses lubricating oil compositions with improved friction properties.

Method and system for improving fuel economy and environmental impact operating a 2-stroke engine


Aspects of the present disclosure relate to retransmissions of data within wireless communication networks. For a retransmission, at least a portion of the encoded bits of an original transmission may be mapped to different bit locations in one or more modulated symbols based on a non-random mapping rule. In some examples, the encoded bits of a symbol may be reversed within the symbol for a retransmission. In other examples, the first and last encoded bits within a symbol may be switched for a retransmission. Other non-random mapping rules, such as a bit location offset, may also be used to map encoded bits to different bit locations in the modulated symbol within a retransmission.

Block codes, or other error correcting codes, are frequently used to provide reliable transmission of digital messages over noisy channels. In a typical block code transmission, an information message or sequence is split up into blocks, and an encoder at the transmitting device then mathematically adds redundancy to the information message. Exploitation of this redundancy in the encoded information message is the key to reliability of the message, enabling correction for any bit errors that may occur due to noise. That is, a decoder at the receiving device can take advantage of the redundancy to reliably recover the information message even though bit errors may occur, in part, due to the addition of noise to the channel.
Many examples of such error correcting codes are known to those of ordinary skill in the art, including Hamming codes, Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem (BCH) codes, turbo codes, low-density parity check (LDPC) codes, and convolutional codes, among others. Many existing wireless communication networks utilize such error correcting codes, such as 3GPP LTE networks, which utilize turbo codes; and IEEE 802.11n Wi-Fi networks, which utilize LDPC codes.
However, even with a robust error correcting code, channel conditions may vary such that from time to time a bit error rate may exceed that which may be corrected. In such a case, retransmission of all or part of a packet can further insure error-free communication. Hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) is one such retransmission scheme utilized in many existing communication networks. HARQ can act as a fall-back mechanism, providing for retransmissions when error correction schemes fail to correct for bit errors.
While error correcting codes and HARQ algorithms continue to rapidly advance the capabilities and potential of communication systems, additional enhancements are desired, particularly for potential deployment of future wireless communication networks beyond LTE.

Mapping of channel encoded bits to symbol for retransmission


Provided are a nonvolatile memory device and a driving method thereof. In the method of driving a nonvolatile memory device, a structural shape and position of a memory cell to be driven is determined, and then the memory cell is driven with an optimized operating condition according to a distribution of the memory cell using a determination result.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention disclosed herein relates generally to a nonvolatile memory device, and more particularly, but without limitation, to a method of driving a nonvolatile memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nonvolatile memory devices retain data stored in cells even if power is not supplied. Flash memory devices are one type of nonvolatile memory. Since flash memory devices electrically erase a block of data cells at a time, flash memory devices are being widely used in computers, memory cards, etc.
Such a flash memory device is classified into a NOR flash memory and a NAND flash memory. One distinction between NOR flash memory and NAND flash memory relates to how memory cells are connected to a bitline. In general, the NOR flash memory device is advantageous in high-speed performance, whereas it is disadvantageous in high integration due to its high current consumption. The NAND flash memory device is advantageous in high integration because it consumes smaller amount of current than the NOR flash memory device.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a memory cell array 110 using a double patterning technique (DPT). Generally, the DPT is a patterning technique to overcome a limitation of a photolithographic apparatus. According to the DPT, the memory cell array is formed in such a way that even-numbered patterns are formed first and odd-numbered patterns are thereafter formed.
FIGS. 2A through 2C are pictorial illustrations of shapes and configurations of wordlines and bitlines in FIG. 1. Specifically, FIG. 2A is a sectional view illustrating a channel of a memory cell, which is taken along line A-A′ of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2A, a channel width of a wordline differs according to whether the wordline is an even-numbered one or an odd-numbered one. Herein, the even-numbered wordline has a channel width Lg1 that is smaller than a channel width Lg2 of the odd-numbered wordline. FIG. 2B is a sectional view illustrating a width of an active region of a memory cell, which is taken along line B-B′ of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 2B, an active region of an even memory cell has a width AW1 that is smaller than a width AW2 of an active region of an odd memory cell. FIG. 2C illustrates metal widths of odd and even-numbered bitlines. Referring to FIG. 2C, the even-numbered bitline has a width BW1 that is smaller than a width BW2 of the odd-numbered bitline.
FIG. 3 is a graphical illustration of threshold voltage distributions of memory cells manufactured according to the DPT. Referring to FIG. 3, there is a difference in threshold voltage distribution according to whether the memory cell is an even-numbered cell or an odd-numbered cell. Herein, the even-numbered memory cell means a memory cell connected to the even-numbered wordline, and the odd-numbered memory cell means a memory cell connected to the odd-numbered wordline. In a typical nonvolatile memory device performing a program operation according to an incremental step pulse programming (ISPP) method, however, program operating conditions, for example, a program start voltage (Vo), an ISPP incremental level (ΔISPP) and a program stop voltage (Vm), are determined from a total distribution irrespective of whether the memory cell is an odd-numbered cell or and even-numbered cell. Here, the program operating conditions satisfy following Equations 1 and 2.Vm=Vo+mΔISPP  (Equation 1)ΔVw=Vm−V0  (Equation 2)where m is an iteration number of a program loop for reaching a program stop voltage (Vm).
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the total distribution is relatively broader than the distribution of even-numbered memory cells and odd-numbered memory cells. Consequently, it is difficult for the typical nonvolatile memory device to have an optimized programming time because the program operating conditions are determined from the total threshold voltage distribution. This is because the programming time is proportional to the width of the threshold voltage distribution in general. Further, the width (ΔVw) of the distribution becomes great in ISPP operation, and hence the iteration number (m) of the program loop increases correspondingly. This leads to an increase in stress of a memory cell, resulting in deterioration of reliability of the memory cell in the long run.
FIG. 4 is an equivalent circuit diagram and an associated voltage-time curves for a conventional bitline structure and sensing method. The width of the bitline differs according to whether the bitline is an odd-numbered bitline or even-numbered bitline, as illustrated in FIG. 2C. Referring to FIG. 4, therefore, parasitic resistance and capacitance also differ according to whether the bitline is an odd-numbered bitline or an even-numbered bitline. That is, a parasitic resistance Re of the even-numbered bitline is greater than a parasitic resistance Ro of the odd-numbered bitline, and a parasitic capacitance Ce of the even-numbered bitline is smaller than a parasitic capacitance Co of the odd-numbered bitline. This is attributed to the fact that the width BW1 of the even-numbered bitline is smaller than the width BW2 of the odd-numbered bitline. This may cause a RC time constant to differ according to whether the bitline is an odd-numbered bitline or even-numbered bitline. For convenience in description, it is assumed that an RC time constant (ReCe) of the even-numbered bitline is greater than an RC time constant (RoCo) of the odd-numbered bitline.
As a result, sensing operating conditions (e.g., precharge time, development time) will differ according to whether the bitline is the even-numbered bitline or the odd-numbered bitline. Herein, the precharge time refers to a time taken for a bitline voltage to rise up to a precharge voltage, e.g., a power supply voltage. The development time refers to a time taken for the bitline voltage to drop to a trip voltage Vtrip from the precharge voltage. If the bitline is an even-numbered bitline, the precharge time is shorter than that of the odd-numbered bitline, and the development time is longer than that of the odd-numbered bitline. On the contrary, if the bitline is an odd-numbered bitline, the precharge time is longer than that of the even-numbered bitline, and the development time is shorter than that of the even-numbered bitline. However, the typical nonvolatile memory device operates with the same sensing operating condition regardless of whether the bitline is an even-numbered bitline or an odd-numbered bitline.
That is, under the sensing operating condition of the typical nonvolatile memory device, a sensing time Ts is determined such that it includes both the precharge time Tpc of the odd-numbered bitline which is relatively longer than that of the even-numbered bitline and a development time Td of the even-numbered bitline which is relatively longer than that of the odd-numbered bitline. As illustrated in FIG. 4, waiting times Tw1 and Tw2 take place in the even-numbered and odd-numbered bitlines, respectively. That is, the typical nonvolatile memory device cannot optimize a sensing time.
Referring to FIG. 4 again, in a precharge operation of the even-numbered bitline BLe, the even-numbered bitline BLe is precharged faster than the odd-numbered bitline BLo. However, the precharge time Tpc is limited by the precharge time of the odd-bitline BLo. In a development operation of the odd-numbered bitline BLo, the odd-numbered bitline BLo is developed faster than the even-numbered bitline BLe. In this case, however, a cell current development time Td is limited by the development time of the even-numbered bitline BLe. This leads to degradation in read/verify characteristics of a nonvolatile memory device. Improved nonvolatile memory device structures are therefore needed.

Nonvolatile memory device and driving method thereof


An ammonia synthesis process and apparatus are provided which are energy efficient and minimize greenhouse-gas-emission during the processing of natural gas and air. In the process a stream of natural gas is divided into two streams, one of which is mixed with air and ignited to provide heat for the thermal decomposition of natural gas into hydrogen and carbon and also to provide deoxygenated nitrogen for an ammonia synthesis process. The process essentially prepares hydrogen and nitrogen on a low average temperature side of a chemical reactor and then feeds both gases to the high average temperature side of the chemical reactor where they react to form ammonia. The formation of ammonia is exothermic, whereas the thermal decomposition of methane is endothermic and the combustion of methane to remove oxygen is also exothermic; the sum of the heats absorbed and released in these reactions is positive. Catalysts, high temperatures and pressure are used to promote the rapid formation of ammonia, as is standard practice in the chemical industry. Catalysts, and high temperatures are used to promote the thermal decomposition of natural gas and combustion of oxygen that provides hydrogen and nitrogen for ammonia synthesis.

It is conventional to synthesize ammonia by the Haber-Bosch process developed in the mid-twentieth century. The Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis is accomplished by the reaction of nitrogen and hydrogen at 700° C. and requires 700 atmospheres to achieve good yields. This exothermic reaction releases heat, which must be removed from the reaction facility. Due to low conversion efficiency per pass, hydrogen and nitrogen must be recycled and ammonia removed by condensation at high pressures. Nitrogen is prepared by combustion of the oxygen from air to leave CO2 and water vapor; the heat of combustion is used for thermal decomposition of methane.
Numerous patents discuss ammonia synthesis from nitrogen including:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,142,993 which deals only with an improved Haber process, using an improved doped carbon catalyst; for ammonia synthesis;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,552 to Graham, et al. again discloses an improved Haber process, which involves hydrogen recovery from ammonia synthesis in which purging streams are recycled to the reaction zone to improve ammonia yields.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,553 to Null, et al. again also discloses an improved Haber process, which involves hydrogen recovery from ammonia synthesis in which purging streams are recycled to the reaction zone;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,509 to Weston, et al. in which synthesis gas is used to produce ammonia and digestion of phosphate rock and eventually ammonium phosphate;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,262 to Lichtin, et al. produces ammonia by catalyzed reduction of nitrogen absent photo energy;
U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,855 to Lichtin, et al. produces ammonia by photo promoted catalyzed reduction of nitrogen; and,
U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,669 to Pinto produces ammonia synthesis gas from natural gas by several reforming steps involving the water reforming shift process by adjusting the temperature of the reforming tubes and the air fed to the secondary reformer stage.
Hydrogen can be prepared from natural gas by water reforming or thermal decomposition. Water reforming is most often used because it is exothermic, and thus requires no energy input. Thermal decomposition is not often used because it requires energy input. In thermal decomposition, refractories are heated and natural gas is flowed over them; in the process of the endothermic decomposition the refractories cool and must be reheated. For this reason this process is not often used, as discussed in the McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology 8th Ed., 1997, "Carbon Black" p. 234–235. To be cost effective the thermal decomposition process must be combined with some process or processes that release heat. With catalysts the thermal decomposition process can be made to operate at 700° C. This process is sometimes called the Bosch process
Numerous patents discuss hydrogen synthesis in which hydrogen, if desired, can be reacted with nitrogen to produce ammonia including:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,898 to Noyes discusses high temperature conversion of methane to hydrogen and carbon;
U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,175 to Murphy and U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,649 to Roussey, et al. are concerned with conversion of a methane feed to hydrogen by microwave radiation in an electromagnetic field;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,059 to Hellring, et al. is concerned with the upgrading of natural gas into higher order hydrocarbons;
U.S. Pat. No. 6,245,309 B1 to Etievant, et al. discloses a hydrogen generator from fuel gas having a chamber provided with means for maintaining a predetermined temperature and electrical discharges at a reduced current level; and,
U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,979 B1 to Choudhary, et al. catalytically converts natural gas to synthesis gas.
It is also known to use the exothermic energy from a reaction in one area of a plant to provide energy to facilitate the reaction of endothermic reaction in another area of the plant. Numerous patents discuss such utilization including:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,059 to Hellring, et al. are concerned with the upgrading of natural gas into higher order hydrocarbons discloses the concept of balancing the heat requirements of the several steps by transferring energy from the exothermic reactions to the endothermic (see col. 7 lines 1–30).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,341 B1 to Hebert, et al. also involves the transfer of energy from the exothermic reaction area to the reaction streams by indirect heat exchange through heat exchange channels.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,245,309 B1 to Etievant, et al. discloses a hydrogen generator from fuel gas having a chamber provided with means for maintaining a predetermined temperature and electrical discharges at a reduced current level.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,293,979 B1 to Choudhary, et al. catalytically converts natural gas to synthesis gas by a technique where the exothermic oxidative conversion of the oxygen with the natural gas is carried out in the same environment as the endothermic steam reforming of the natural gas resulting in an enhanced energy efficient environment (see col. 7, lines 15–63).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,333,014 B1 to Filippi in a process arrangement for the co-production of ammonia and methanol, transfers energy from a hot stream by indirect heat exchange with another input stream; and,
U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,451 B1 to Pagani, et al. in a plant for the synthesis of ammonia and urea increases its output capacity by using a means for adjusting the various feed streams.
The methods disclosed above and their respective apparatuses are deficient in that none suggest carrying out the processing of methane or natural gas into ammonia in a limited environment that prevents the emission of greenhouse gases or utilizing the exothermic energy of one intermediate process enclosed in a reaction vessel to energize the endothermic energy consumption of a second intermediate process in said vessel and adjacent thereto for improved efficiency of production of ammonia. The importance of ammonia as a safe compound and carrier of hydrogen for fuel cells has been recognized in the new hydrogen fuel economy. Thus, the present invention fills the need for an energy efficient means to produce a safe hydrogen-containing compound, such as ammonia, from natural gas fields without harmful environmental effects.

Combined methane decomposition and ammonia formation cell

University of Central Florida Research Foundation, Inc.


A zoom lens system, includes a first lens group of a positive refractive power viewed from the object's side having a concave lens and convex lens adhered to the concave lens and at least two meniscus lenses whose entrance surfaces are convex; a second lens group of a negative refractive power; a third lens group of a positive refractive power having at least one biconvex aspherical lens, at least one convex lens and a concave lens; and a fourth lens group of a positive refractive power having one concave lens and two convex lenses.The second lens group is movable for changing the magnification, and the fourth lens group is movable for compensating the shift of an image plane caused by the movement of the second lens group and for focusing an image.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zoom lens system, more particularly to a zoom lens system capable of high magnification with a high F-number as well as a high resolution.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Generally, a digital camera uses either a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a charge tube of a small charge area to form an image of an object. The digital camera converts the formed image into electrical signals. For the above reason, the digital camera uses bright lenses as picture-taking lenses.
Moreover, the digital camera needs optical members such as an optical low-pass filter, or an infra-red cut filter between the picture-taking lenses and the CCD. Also, the digital camera needs optical devices such as a tricolor separation prism to form each image of the three primary colors of red, green and blue onto each CCD for a three-plate digital camera. Therefore, the digital camera requires a longer back focal length than a focal length to accommodate optical devices, such as the above-mentioned tricolor separation prism.
Also, as the need for photographing moving objects increases, digital cameras have used a high magnification zoom lens system as a picture-taking lens. A general zoom lens system of a digital camera includes a first lens group of a positive refractive power which is fixed, a second lens group of a negative refractive power which is movable along an optical axis for magnification changes, a third lens group of a negative refractive power which is movable along an optical axis to maintain an image plane during magnification changes, and a fourth lens group of a positive refractive power which is fixed.
In recent years, as digital cameras have used electric motors to move the lenses for focusing, it has become necessary to limit the size and weight of the first lens group. Thus, an inner focusing method is generally used. The inner focusing method allows compact and lighter-weight lens groups while maintaining a total length of the optical system, which enables a small motor to move the lens groups.
Conventional four-lens-group zoom lens systems employing inner focusing method are disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Sho 63-44614, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Sho 61-178917, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Sho 63-123009, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 3-259209, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 5-72474, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 7-270684, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 8-5920.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Sho 63-44614, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 3-259209, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 8-5920 disclose a system of four lens groups that has a first lens group of a positive refractive power viewed from the object side which is fixed, second and third lens groups of a negative refractive power which are movable to change a magnification, and a fourth lens group of a positive refractive power which is fixed.
However, the systems disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. Sho 63-44614, and Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 3-259209 cannot obtain a high resolution because of a large number of aberrations, and cannot achieve a sufficiently long back focal length.
The system disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 8-5920 is better than the systems disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Sho 63-44614 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 3-259209 in terms of back focal length and optical performance. However, the number of lenses in the moving lens groups requires a more powerful motor to move them when changing the magnification. Moreover, in a telephoto mode, the short distance between the second and the third lens groups, which are the magnification changing group and compensating group, respectively, requires a complex mechanical structure that is not easy to implement.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Sho 63-123009, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Sho 61-178917, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 7-270684, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 5-72474 disclose four-lens-group systems comprising a first lens group which is fixed, a second lens group which is movable for changing the magnification, a third lens group which is fixed, and a fourth lens group which is movable for both compensating and focusing.
However, the systems dislcosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Sho 63-123009, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Sho 61-178917, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 7-270684 cannot achieve a high resolution due to a large number of aberrations. Also, a number of lenses in the second and fourth groups of the system disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 7-270684 makes it difficult for a small motor to move the lenses.
Even though the system disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. Hei 5-72474 shows a good optical performance with a simple structure, its aperture ratio is as small as F-2.0 and its employment of a pair of double sided aspherical lenses in the lens groups makes it difficult to manufacture.


A piston assembly for a shock absorber includes: a bypass passage formed along a vertical length direction of a piston rod in a small-diameter portion that is stepped in a lower portion of the piston rod reciprocating within a cylinder; a main piston connected to the small-diameter portion; an orifice assembly coupled to the small-diameter portion and disposed under the main piston to form an orifice passage, which communicates with the bypass passage; a housing coupled to the small-diameter portion and disposed under the orifice assembly, the housing having an opened upper side and forming a pressure chamber; and a sliding valve coupled to the orifice assembly and accommodated in the pressure chamber to generate a damping force by selectively opening and closing the orifice passage while reciprocating through a high-frequency section and a low-frequency section. Accordingly, the piston assembly is capable of improving a ride comfort by exhibiting a damping performance over a low-frequency section and a high-frequency section.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piston assembly for a shock absorber, and more particularly, to a piston assembly for a shock absorber, which is capable of improving a ride comfort by exhibiting a damping performance over a low-frequency section and a high-frequency section.
Description of the Related Art
Generally, a shock absorber is designed to support a weight of a vehicle body and suppress and dampen a vibration transferred from a road surface to the vehicle body, contributing to improving a ride comfort and protecting loaded goods and various parts of a vehicle.
Such a shock absorber includes a cylinder filled with a working fluid (oil), a reciprocating piston rod connected to a vehicle body, and a piston valve connected to a lower end of the piston rod to slide within the cylinder and control a flow of the working fluid.
However, in such a shock absorber, members corresponding to a low-frequency section and a high-frequency section need to be separately installed.


Several methods for estimating search engine market share for individual and groups of websites are described. Keywords, search domains, seed websites, seed keywords and other starting points are used to estimate relative market share for websites identified in search results at one or more search engines.

The Internet, and in particular, the world wide web (the "WWW" or "web") has become an important commercial vehicle. Many companies use WWW websites (which are also referred to as "sites") to advertise their wares and products on their own websites and on websites operated by other entities. Many companies provide their products and services entirely through the WWW.
Various search engines have been developed to allow WWW users (or "surfers") to find particular websites. In many cases, a website owner relies on web users finding the website by first conducting a search using a search engine and then selecting the website from the search results.
Search engine market share is a measure of the relative traffic received by sites from search engines in comparison to other websites. Typically it is desirable to measure the relative market share of a website in comparison to other websites in the same or similar commercial space. However, the search engine market share of a website may be measured relative to any other website or group of websites.
It is desirable to provide a tool to estimate the search engine market share for a website relative to other websites

Methods for estimating search engine market share for websites


An impression forming mechanism comprises; an arm with an indentor for forming an impression on a surface of a sample, and an arm operating part for operating the arm in order to apply a force to the sample, wherein the arm operating part is disposed below the arm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an impression forming mechanism which is used for a testing apparatus for evaluating material characteristics of a sample by applying force to the surface of the sample with an indentor in order to form an impression thereon and a hardness testing apparatus comprising the above-described the impression forming mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a hardness testing apparatus for evaluating material characteristics of a sample by applying force to the surface of the sample with an indentor in order to form an impression thereon.
FIG. 7 shows a force applying mechanism which is used for the above-described hardness testing apparatus.
In FIG. 7, a hardness testing apparatus 200 which is a so-called Rockwell hardness testing apparatus, comprises an impression forming mechanism 210 comprising weights 201, a loading arm 202, a cam 203, a force shaft 204, an indentor shaft 205, an indentor 206, or the like.
In the impression forming mechanism 210, the weights 201 having a predetermined weight are hung from an end of the loading arm 202. The end of the loading arm 202 moves down by the rotation of the cam 203. A predetermined force is applied to the force shaft 204. The force applied to the force shaft 204 is transmitted to the indentor 206 through the indentor shaft 205. An impression is formed on a sample mounted on a sample mounting member 207 by moving down the indentor 206.
A force applying control of the above force applying mechanism is carried out by hanging the weights 201 having a predetermined weight from the loading arm 202.
Further, a force applying control, for example, disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,616,857, is known. A force applied to a sample is measured by a load cell disposed on the axis which is the same as that of an indentor. The force applying control is carried out so that an actual force measured by the load cell will approximate to a set force on the basis of result of comparing the actual force data with the set force data.
Recently, it is necessary that measuring instruments and apparatus including the above-described hardness test apparatus should be small.
However, in the above-described hardness test apparatus, the loading arm 202 is disposed apart from the indentor 206. Because the principal part of the impression forming mechanism is disposed in the position which is higher than that of the indentor 206, there is a problem that the hardness testing apparatus is so difficult to be small in the height direction.
Further, in the force applying control carried out by using weights, there is a problem that it cannot be confirmed whether the force having a set value is applied to a sample while an impression is formed on the surface of the sample.
In the case of the force applying control carried out by using the load cell, although the force for forming an impression can be set to the set value approximately, the load cell is strained by applying the force thereto. As a result, there is a problem that a measurement error is caused in proportion to an amount of the strain. Because the load cell is precious relatively, a force applying mechanism which can carry out the force applying control cheaper and more precisely is required.
In order to solve the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an impression forming mechanism which can easily make a testing apparatus be small in a height direction and a hardness testing apparatus which is made to be small.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an impression forming mechanism which can carry out a force applying control cheaper and more precisely and a hardness testing apparatus which can carry out a force applying control cheaper and more precisely.
That is, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the impression forming mechanism which is used for a testing apparatus for measuring material characteristics of a sample by forming an impression with an indentor on a surface of the sample, comprises; a body part, an arm which is supported by the body part so as to be movable rotationally, for attaching the indentor to a free end portion thereof, and an arm rotating force applying part for applying a force to the arm in order to move a free end side of the arm rotationally and in order to apply a pressing force for forming an impression on the surface of the sample, wherein the arm rotating force applying part is attached to the body part below the arm.
According to the present invention, because the arm rotating force applying part for moving the free end side of the arm rotationally is disposed to the body part below the arm and the indentor is attached to the arm directly, the structure of the parts disposed above the indentor can be more simple than that of the mechanism in which the arm is disposed apart from the indentor and in which a part for operating the arm is disposed between them, according to the earlier development. The impression forming mechanism can make a testing apparatus be small in a height direction by attaching the impression forming mechanism to a hardness testing apparatus.
For example, the testing apparatus for measuring material characteristics of a sample by forming an impression with an indentor on a surface of the sample is a hardness testing apparatus for measuring a hardness of a sample, a testing apparatus for measuring an electric resistance of a sample when an impression is formed on the surface of the sample or the like. However, the testing apparatus is not limited to them. The all of apparatuses having an impression forming mechanism are included.
For example, the arm rotating force applying part is a motor for moving the arm rotationally by moving up and down a ball screw, a hydraulic device or a pneumatic one for moving the arm rotationally by moving up and down a piston, or the like. However, the arm rotating force applying part is not limited to them. Any device which can move the arm rotationally, may be used.
The impression forming mechanism may further comprise a rotating force transmitting member for transmitting the force generated by the arm rotating force applying part to the arm as a rotating force.
According to the present invention, in particular, the force generated by the arm rotating force applying part can be transmitted to the arm as a rotating force by the rotating force transmitting member completely.
For example, the arm rotating force applying part may be a rigid body or an elastic body like a plate spring.
The body part may contain a part of the arm rotating force applying part.
Because a part of the arm rotating force applying part is contained in the body part, the impression forming mechanism can be small.
The impression forming mechanism may further comprise an electric operating member, wherein the arm rotating force applying part applies a rotating force to the arm by operating the electric operating member.
Because the electric operating member applies the rotating force to the arm, the rotational movement of the arm can be controlled more precisely than the movement of the arm, which is carried out by weights and cam mechanism according to the earlier development.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the impression forming mechanism which is used for a testing apparatus for measuring material characteristics of a sample by forming an impression with an indentor on a surface of the sample, comprises; a force applying part for applying a force in order to apply a pressing force for forming an impression on the surface of the sample to the indentor, a force transmitting member for transmitting the force applied by the force applying part to the indentor, which is deformed elastically by the force applied by the force applying part, a deformation measuring unit for measuring an amount of an elastic deformation of the force transmitting member by setting a predetermined reference position of a predetermined part thereof to a reference point, and a force applying control unit for controlling the force applied by the force applying part on the basis of the amount of the elastic deformation of the force transmitting member, which is measured by the deformation measuring unit.
According to the present invention, the force applied by the force applying part is transmitted to the indentor by the force transmitting member. At the same time, the force transmitting member is deformed elastically by the force. An amount of an elastic deformation of the force transmitting member is measured by the deformation measuring unit by setting the predetermined reference position of the predetermined part thereof to a reference point. Because the control of applying the force by the force applying part is carried out by the force applying control unit on the basis of the amount of the measured elastic deformation, it is possible not only that the force (load) for forming the impression becomes the set value approximately but also that the force applying control is carried out without the load cell. As a result, the force applying control can be carried out cheaper.
Further, because the loading arm is used and the force control is carried out on the basis of the displacement of the force transmitting member, it is not necessary that the compensating control which must be carried out when the force control is carried out by using the load cell because of the structural defect of the load cell, in which an amount of an indentation (that is, a hardness of a sample) includes an amount of a strain of the load cell, is carried out. As a result, an amount of an indentation of the indentor can be measured precisely. The above method is effective, in particular when an amount of an indentation of the indentor is measured dynamically and a hardness of a sample is calculated.
For example, the testing apparatus for measuring material characteristics of a sample by forming an impression with an indentor on a surface of the sample is a hardness testing apparatus for measuring a hardness of a sample, a testing apparatus for measuring an electric resistance of a sample when an impression is formed on the surface of the sample or the like. However, the testing apparatus is not limited to them. The all of apparatuses having an impression forming mechanism are included.
For example, the force applying part is a motor for moving the arm rotationally by moving up and down a ball screw, a hydraulic device or a pneumatic one for moving the arm rotationally by moving up and down a piston, or the like. However, the force applying part is not limited to them. Any device which can move the arm rotationally, may be used.
For example, the force applying part is an elastic body like a spring, a rubber or the like.
Although a linear scale, a capacitance displacement transducer, an LVDT (a linear variable differential transformer), an electric micrometer or the like is used in the deformation measuring unit, the present invention is not limited to them. Any unit which can measure an amount of the elastic deformation of the force applying part, may be used.
In the force applying control which is carried out on the basis of the amount of the elastic deformation of the force transmitting member, which is measured by the deformation measuring unit, for example, an amount of the measured elastic deformation is compared with a reference amount of the elastic deformation, which is previously set, and then the control is carried out on the basis of result of the above comparison, or the like.
The predetermined reference position may be a position in an initial condition in which the force transmitting member is not deformed elastically, or may be an optional position in a condition in which the force transmitting member is deformed elastically.
The control of the force applied by the force applying part may be a closed loop control.
According to the present invention, in particular, because the control of the force applied by the force applying part is carried out in a closed loop, the force applying control is always carried out. As a result, the force for forming the impression can become the set force more approximately.
The force transmitting member may be a spring body.
According to the present invention, because the force transmitting member is a spring body, the spring body and the deformation measuring unit can obtain the effect which is the same as the load cell. As a result, the force control can be carried out precisely. The impression forming mechanism is manufactured cheaper.
The spring body is a plate spring, a rod spring, a helical spring or the like.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the hardness testing apparatus comprises; a body part, an arm which is supported by the body part so as to be movable rotationally, for attaching an indentor to a free end portion thereof, an arm rotating force applying part for applying a force to the arm in order to move a free end side of the arm rotationally and in order to apply a pressing force for forming an impression on a surface of a sample, and a hardness calculating mechanism part for measuring a shape of an impression formed on the surface of the sample, and for calculating a hardness of the sample on the basis of a result of measuring the shape of the impression, wherein the arm rotating force applying part is attached to the body part below the arm.
According to the present invention, the hardness testing apparatus can be small by applying the above impression forming mechanism.
For example, the hardness calculating mechanism part may be a device for calculating a hardness of the sample on the basis of the depth of the impression, or a device for calculating a hardness of the sample on the basis of the size of the indentation formed by the indentor. However, the hardness calculating mechanism part is not limited to them. Any hardness calculating mechanism part which can measure the hardness of the sample, may be used.
The hardness calculating mechanism part is, for example, a Rockwell hardness testing apparatus, a Vickers hardness testing apparatus or the like.
The hardness testing apparatus may further comprise a rotating force transmitting member for transmitting the force generated by the arm rotating force applying part to the arm as a rotating force.
The body part may contain a part of the arm rotating force applying part.
The hardness testing apparatus may further comprise an electric operating member, wherein the arm rotating force applying part applies a rotating force to the arm by operating the electric operating member.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the hardness testing apparatus comprises; a force applying part for applying a force in order to apply a pressing force for forming an impression on a surface of a sample to an indentor, a force transmitting member for transmitting the force applied by the force applying part to the indentor, which is deformed elastically by the force applied by the force applying part, a deformation measuring unit for measuring an amount of an elastic deformation of the force transmitting member by setting a predetermined reference position of a predetermined part thereof to a reference point, a force applying control unit for controlling the force applied by the force applying part on the basis of the amount of the elastic deformation of the force transmitting member, which is measured by the deformation measuring unit, and a hardness calculating mechanism part for measuring a shape of the impression formed on the surface of the sample, and for calculating a hardness of the sample on the basis of a result of measuring the shape of the impression.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide the precise and cheap hardness testing apparatus by comprising the above impression forming mechanism.
For example, the hardness calculating mechanism part may be a device for calculating a hardness of the sample on the basis of the depth of the impression, or a device for calculating a hardness of the sample on the basis of the size of the indentation formed by the indentor. However, the hardness calculating mechanism part is not limited to them. Any hardness calculating mechanism part which can measure the hardness of the sample, may be used.
The hardness calculating mechanism part is, for example, a Rockwell hardness testing apparatus, a Vickers hardness testing apparatus or the like.
The control of the force applied by the force applying part may be a closed loop control.
The force transmitting member may be a spring body.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the impression forming mechanism comprises; an arm with an indentor for forming an impression on a surface of a sample, and an arm operating part for operating the arm in order to apply a force to the sample, wherein the arm operating part is disposed below the arm.
The arm operating part may apply a rotational force to the arm in order to move the arm rotationally around a fixed end of the arm.
The impression forming mechanism may further comprise a motor for operating the arm operating part.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the impression forming mechanism comprises; an elastic body f or storing a force for forming an impression on a surface of a sample, a deformation measuring member for measuring an amount of a deformation of the elastic body, and a force control unit for controlling the force stored in the elastic body on the basis of measuring the amount of the deformation of the elastic body.
The force control unit may comprises a closed loop system for controlling the force stored in the elastic body in a closed loop.

Impression forming mechanism and hardness testing apparatus