A stone cutting system and method for cutting a stone sheet having a substantially planar surface utilizes a frame upon which a stone sheet to be cut can be positioned, a motor for supporting a cutting tool adjacent the stone sheet and for rotating the cutting tool, and an articulated arm assembly enabling the cutting tool to be moved to any of a number of coordinate positions across the surface of the stone sheet. By rotating and moving the cutting tool in cutting engagement with the stone sheet, material is removed from the stone sheet by the cutting tool.

This invention relates generally to means and methods for cutting stone and relates, more particularly, to such means and methods for cutting a stone sheet, such a granite or marble sheet.
The class of stone cutting systems with which this invention is to be compared includes those which are used to shape or cut a stone sheet. A stone sheet, comprised, for example, of granite, can be cut or formed with such a cutting system for use, for example, as a kitchen countertop. Since a kitchen countertop commonly requires that an opening be cut out of the countertop material for acceptance of a sink installed therein, these cutting systems should possess the capacity to cut or form a sink-accepting cutout in a stone sheet.
Stone-cutting systems of the prior art are commonly complicated in construction, expensive to purchase and are time-consuming to use. It would therefore be desirable to provide an improved cutting system which is relatively inexpensive to construct and can be used to cut a sink-accepting opening in stone relatively quickly.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved stone cutting system and a method of use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide such a system which is relatively inexpensive to construct and relatively easy to use.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide such a system which employs a cutting tool which is supported for movement across the surface of a stone sheet while the tool is maintained in cutting engagement with the stone sheet.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such a system wherein the cutting tool of the system can be manually guided across the surface of the stone sheet.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such a system wherein the cutting tool is movable into and out of the stone sheet to accommodate an adjustment in the depth of cut in the stone sheet.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide such a system which is capable of forming a cutout in a stone sheet relatively quickly.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide such a system which is uncomplicated in structure, yet effective in operation.


An outboard motor is provided, the motor including a V-multicylinder engine arranged horizontally and an intake silencer arranged above the engine. The V engine has an engine block including cylinder blocks extending in a V configuration, forming an opening to the rear of the outboard motor. The intake silencer is arranged above the engine block to match the shape of the V engine. The intake silencer has two inlets opening rearwards of the outboard motor and one outlet positioned between the inlets for introducing air to combustion chambers of the cylinder heads. The two inlets are positioned above the cylinder blocks in a V configuration, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved outboard motor with an intake silencer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Intake noise caused by outboard motors without intake silencers or outboard motors with intake openings directed to the hulls to which they are mounted, is transmitted directly to operators. To prevent it, outboard motors have been provided with intake silencers in the passage of intake air to reduce intake noise. An outboard motor with such an intake silencer is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI-8-310487.
This outboard motor has an intake silencer interposed in the induction system of an engine. The induction system has a throttle body arranged in the laterally and generally middle part in the front portion of an engine room in the outboard motor, and takes air in from both right and left sides of the throttle body. Thus the total cross-sectional area of two intake openings of the intake silencer is greater than the cross-sectional area of the intake air passage of the throttle body, securing a sufficient amount of intake air.
The above conventional intake silencer is arranged to face the hull (in the front portion of the outboard motor in the advancing direction), and the intake openings face upwards in the vertical direction, so that intake noise is directly transmitted to an operator, resulting in an unsatisfactory endeavor in the reduction of intake noise.
The present invention was made with the above points in mind and it is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a V-engine-mounted outboard motor in which intake noise is prevented from being directly transmitted to an operator without making the outboard motor larger.
According to the present invention, there is provided an outboard motor comprising: a V engine arranged in a horizontal direction, the engine comprising: an engine block comprising two cylinder blocks extending in a V configuration, forming an opening to the rear of the outboard motor, and a skirt integrally formed with the cylinder blocks and housing a crankshaft arranged vertically; and two cylinder heads having a plurality of combustion chambers, being provided at the rear ends of the cylinder blocks; and an intake silencer comprising: two inlets positioned above the cylinder heads and opening rearwards of the outboard motor for taking air in; and one outlet positioned between the two inlets for letting the inlet air out to supply it to the combustion chambers.
Thus in the present invention, the V configuration of the V engine mounted to the outboard motor is utilized to sufficiently secure the volume of an expansion chamber and the opening of the intake silencer while making the lateral dimension of the intake silencer smaller than that of the opening end of the V configuration. The two inlets open rearwards of the outboard motor so as to prevent intake noise from being directly transmitted to an operator, thereby increasing the noise dampening effect of the intake silencer. Further, since upper space of the engine block is utilized to arrange the intake silencer therein, the dimension of the outboard motor in the back and forth direction is made smaller, making the outboard motor compact. Furthermore, since the two inlets are provided, a cross-sectional area of each inlet is made smaller, saving space.
The outboard motor further comprises a transmission system for transmitting drive force from the crankshaft to a camshaft for opening or closing intake valves and exhaust valves provided in the combustion chambers, the transmission system being provided between the engine block and the intake silencer.
Thus, since the intake silencer is arranged above the transmission system provided above the engine block, space above the transmission system is usable, making the outboard motor compact.
It is preferred that a throttle body connected to the outlet of the intake silencer be arranged between the cylinder heads extending in a V configuration above the camshaft of the transmission system so that space is efficiently utilized without waste. The outlet of the intake silencer is connected to the throttle body via a grommet in an embodiment, for example.
In the present invention, the intake silencer has a body with a top wall configured flat. Thus the height of the intake silencer is made smaller, resulting in the smaller height of the outboard motor.


Technologies are generally described for systems, devices and methods effective to execute a first computing task by a processor of a data center. In some examples, the first computing task may be executed using an instruction set extension. Execution of the first computing task using the instruction set extension may require a first number of clock cycles. In other examples, execution of the first computing task without using the instruction set extension may require a second number of clock cycles. In some examples, a savings value may be determined. The savings value may represent a difference between the first number of clock cycles and the second number of clock cycles. An amount of processing time may be allocated on the processor to a second computing task. The amount of processing time may be based on the savings value. The second computing task may be different from the first computing task.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Data centers may include one or more computing devices. For example, a data center may include various processing elements and/or memories. Data centers may be configured to perform computing tasks. For example, data centers may perform computing tasks according to one or more service level agreements. Service level agreements may specify performance requirements for execution of particular tasks at a data center.

Instruction set extension concealment in data centers


Radar apparatus for determining the height of a low-elevation target, the target being illuminated by a transmitter (7) and an antenna (3) via a TR-switch (6). Electromagnetic radiation reflected directly by the target and indirectly by the target via the earth surface is received by the antenna (3) and processed in a sum receiver (9, 10, 11), connected via the TR-switch (6) to the antenna (3), into complex sum signals, and in a difference receiver (12, 13, 14), into complex difference signals. A signal processor (15), receiving the complex sum signals and the complex difference signals, is provided with an algorithm which determines the height of the target. The algorithm enables the determination of the target height while the antenna remains directed at the target.

The invention relates to a method for determining, by means of a radar apparatus, the height of a low-elevation target, the radar apparatus being provided with a transmitting and receiving unit to which are connected a transmitting and receiving antenna and a signal processing unit, whereby:
the target is illuminated by electromagnetic radiation emitted by the transmitting unit and the transmitting antenna; PA1 the transmitted signal is reflected directly via the target and indirectly via the target and the earth surface in the direction of the receiving antenna; PA1 by means of the receiving unit, complex sum signals .SIGMA. and complex elevation difference signals .DELTA. are derived from signals received by means of the receiving antenna; PA1 by means of the signal processing unit, an algorithm is carried out for deriving the height of the target from the complex sum and elevation difference signals.
The invention furthermore relates to an apparatus for determining the height of a low-elevation target, comprising a radar apparatus provided with a transmitting unit to which a transmitting antenna is connected, a receiving antenna to which a receiving unit is connected, whereby the target is illuminated by electromagnetic radiation emitted by the transmitting unit and the transmitting antenna and the transmitted signal is reflected directly by the target and by the target via the earth surface in the direction of the receiving antenna and whereby, by means of the receiving unit, complex sum signals .SIGMA. and at least complex elevation difference signals .DELTA., which are representative for the target, can be generated, a signal processor connected to the receiving unit, provided with an algorithm for determining the height of the target h.sub.t, and means connected to the signal processor for directing the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna at an aiming point.
The height of a target can be determined by means of a monopulse radar apparatus. The monopulse principle is described in "Introduction to Radar Systems" by M. I. Skolnik, second edition, pages 160-190. A problem encountered in the determination of the height of a target which is flying at a low altitude above the sea surface and, to a lesser extent, also the earth surface, is described on pages 172-176. This problem is due to the phenomenon that the radar apparatus not only receives echo signals directly from the target, but also target echoes reflected by the sea surface. Without the occurrence of this multipath effect, the height of the target can be easily derived from the values of the target range R and the elevation error voltage E(.theta.), delivered by the monopulse radar apparatus. The multipath effect causes the elevation error voltage to assume a complex value which renders an accurate determination of the target height impossible.
The occurrence of said multipath effect can only be avoided by selecting a radar antenna beamwidth which is narrow to such an extent that only echo signals directly from the target are received, thereby excluding unwanted target echoes reflected by the sea surface. This method has the drawback, however, that with such a narrow beam, a relatively long time might be required to acquire the target. The patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,743,907 provides an elegant solution to obviate this drawback. By fully integrating two monopulse radar apparatuses, the first radar apparatus having a relatively large wavelength and a consequent wide beam, the second radar apparatus having a relatively small wavelength and a consequent narrow beam, it is possible to achieve an optimal performance in both the acquisition and tracking phases. Such a system, however, entails considerable cost.
A method for accurately determining target height, notwithstanding the occurrence of multipath, is described in the patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,031. According to the method disclosed in this patent, the radar antenna is not directed at the actual target, but at a point in space exactly between the actual target and its image. By subsequently measuring with at least two different radar wavelengths, which bear a predetermined relation, a system of equations can be solved, from which several possible target heights can be derived. Thus, by successively comparing possible target heights derived on the basis of this method, the target height can be determined.
An alternative method for accurately determining the target height is described in patent EP-B 0.087.355. According to this method the antenna orientation is constantly varied. Using measuring values obtained at various antenna orientations, it will again be possible to solve systems of equations, from which the target height can be derived.
Both methods are cumbersome and have the drawback that the monopulse radar apparatus is directed at an aiming point which does not coincide with the target. For a monopulse radar apparatus, this misalignment is an evident suboptimal condition which, however, in light of the state of the art is required in order to obtain a solvable system of equations.

Method and apparatus for the determination of the height of a target


An adapter feeding apparatus which is capable of feeding adapters (1) in a predetermined position to the next process step at a stable and constant pace is disclosed. The adapter feeding apparatus includes a hopper portion for receiving the adapters (1), a guide passage portion for guiding the adapters (1) from the hopper portion into a drum element, an adapter delivery mechanism for delivering the adapters (1) one by one, an adapter transport mechanism (15) having a pair of guide rails (44) downwardly inclined in a transport direction (P) and spaced to inhibit the passage of a positioning rib (20) therethrough, the adapter transport mechanism (15) for rotating the guide rails (44) upwardly outwardly, a chute portion (16) for guiding the adapters (1) from the adapter delivery mechanism to the spacing between the guide rails (44) upstream of the transport direction (P) of the adapter transport mechanism (15), and an adapter extraction and supply mechanism (17) for extracting the adapters (1) sequentially transported downstream of the transport direction (P) of the guide rails (44) one by one to feed the adapters to the next process step.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adapter feeding apparatus for sequentially feeding adapters in assembling plug joints connected to an engine direct-coupled coil of an ignition coil system for an internal combustion engine of an automotive vehicle for electrical connection to a spark plug.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventionally, this type of plug joint includes a tubular adapter 1 made of PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) and the like, as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. The adapter 1 comprises an adapter body 1a, a bushing mounting portion 1b formed on a first end of the adapter body 1a and to which is mounted a bushing element 2 made of silicone rubber and the like for connection to a spark plug, and a cap mounting portion 1c formed on a second end of the adapter body 1a and to which is mounted a cap element 3 made of silicone rubber and the like for connection to an ignition coil and for contact with an outer peripheral surface of a periphery of a plug hole in a cylinder head.
The bushing element 2 is bonded to the bushing mounting portion 1b of the adapter 1 with an adhesive, and the cap element 3 is bonded to the cap mounting portion 1c with an adhesive for assembly of a plug joint 5.
However, the plug joint 5 has been assembled in such a manner that an operator manually supplies the adapter 1 in a predetermined position to an adapter holding and rotating mechanism for holding and rotating the adapter 1, applies an adhesive, for example, to an outer peripheral surface of the bushing mounting portion 1b of the adapter 1 being rotated by the adapter holding and rotating mechanism by using a brush, and then mounting the bushing element 2 on the bushing mounting portion 1 to bond the bushing element 2 to the bushing mounting portion 1b.
Likewise, the operator applies the adhesive to the cap mounting portion 1c and then mounts the cap element 3 on the cap mounting portion 1c to bond the cap element 3 to the cap mounting portion 1c.
Thus, the operator manually supplies the adapters 1 to the adapter holding and rotating mechanism, resulting in variations in adapter feeding paces.
Additionally, the feed of the adapters 1 depends upon operator's skill. A resemblance in configuration between the bushing mounting portion 1b and cap mounting portion 1c of the adapter 1 might cause the operator to make the mistake of feeding the adapter 1 in an improper orientation due to operator fatigue, resulting in low reliability.


A control system for a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning unit having a heating stage, a cooling stage, and an economizer is provided. The system includes a memory configured to store a first predetermined temperature range and a second predetermined temperature range. The system also includes a control having an input device configured to receive an indoor air temperature representative of the air in one or more zones and a supply air temperature representative of the air entering the one or more zones. The control selectively activates at least one of the heating stage, the cooling stage, and the economizer when the indoor air temperature is outside of the first predetermined temperature range. The control also selectively activates at least one of the heating stage, the cooling stage, and the economizer when the indoor air temperature is within the first predetermined temperature range and the sensed temperature of the supply air is outside of the second predetermined temperature range.

The present invention relates generally to a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for controlling a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system.
Heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems are used in both warm and cold climates to control the temperature of the air in a building or zone or zones within a building. An HVAC system typically includes a fan, a heating unit, and a cooling unit. The HVAC system may be operated in one of three modes: a heating mode to heat the enclosure, a cooling mode to cool the enclosure, or a ventilation mode to ventilate the enclosure.
Typically, a supply duct and a return duct connect the HVAC system to the zone or zones being conditioned. The fan operates to push air through the supply air duct and into the zone(s). Air is circulated through the zone(s) and back to the HVAC system through the return duct. The HVAC system may also include an outdoor air damper, commonly referred to as an economizer, that can be selectively opened to varying degrees, to allow outside air to mix with the return air to provide fresh air to the zone(s).
The operation of a HVAC system is governed by a control system, typically including a thermostat and associated programmable control hardware and software that sense parameters and control the various components of the particular HVAC system. The control system allows a user to select the operating mode of the HVAC system. In addition, the user may select a desired temperature for the zone or zones. The control activates the heating and cooling units in the HVAC system to maintain the desired temperature in the zone(s).
If the HVAC system is set to operate in the cooling mode and the temperature of the area exceeds the desired temperature, the HVAC system will activate the fan and the cooling stage. The fan blows air through the cooling unit and into the zone(s), thereby reducing the temperature of the air in the zone(s). Once the zone(s) are cooled to below the set temperature, the control device will turn off the cooling unit, or lower the stage of the cooling system, if it is a multi-stage system. Similarly, if the HVAC system is set to operate in the heating mode and the temperature of the zone(s) drops below the set temperature, the control device will activate the heating unit to warm the zone(s). The fan blows air through the heating unit and into the zone(s), thereby warming the zone(s). When the temperature rises above the desired temperatures the control device will shut off the heating unit, or lower the stage or capacity of the heating system, if it is a variable capacity or multi-stage system.
In certain HVAC systems, such as a constant volume HVAC system servicing a plurality of zones at a relatively constant volume of air flow, the unit will switch to the ventilation mode after the heating or cooling needs of the enclosure are satisfied. In the ventilation mode, the economizer is opened to allow outdoor air to enter the HVAC system. The fan mixes the outdoor air with the return air to ventilate the zone(s). The amount of air that is allowed through the economizer is governed by local building codes. According to these codes, the damper must typically be open at least 15% to 35%.
If there is a large temperature difference between the outdoor air and the air in the enclosure, the ventilation mode may cause discomfort within the zone or room. If, for example, the HVAC system is located in a hot climate where the outdoor temperature is much greater than the temperature of the zone(s), the mixture of the hot outdoor air with the air in the return duct results in supply air that is much warmer than the air in the zone. When this warm supply air enters the relatively cool enclosure, the flow of this warm air will be uncomfortable to persons near the supply vents and may cause hot spots in the room or zone. In addition, adding this warm supply air to the zone(s) will cause the temperature of the enclosure to rise rapidly. Similarly, if the outside air is very cold relative to the indoor temperature, the air supplied in the ventilation mode will be too cold and will cause similar problems in the opposite extreme.
In light of the foregoing there is a need for a method and system for controlling a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system to control the temperature of the supply air in the ventilating mode.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method and system for controlling a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning unit and maintaining the temperature of the conditioned air within a comfortable range. The advantages and purposes of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages and purposes of the invention will be realized and attained by the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To attain the advantages and in accordance with the purposes of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention is directed to a system for conditioning air to be applied to one or more zones, so that the conditioned air applied to the zone(s) is maintained within a comfortable range. The system includes a conditioning unit that has a heating stage, a cooling stage, a fan, and an air damper, typically an economizer. The conditioning unit operates in an active mode where one of the heating stage and cooling stage is activated to condition air and in a ventilation mode where the fan moves supply air into the enclosure. Typically, the economizer is at least partially open during the operation of any of these modes. A supply air duct is provided for conducting the supply air from the conditioning unit to the zone or zones to be conditioned. A supply temperature sensor senses the temperature of the supply air. There is further provided a central control that activates one of the heating stage and cooling stage when the conditioning unit is in the ventilation mode and the temperature of the supply air is outside of a predetermined temperature range.
In another aspect, the invention is directed to a central control for an air conditioning system having a cooling stage, a fan, an air damper, and a temperature sensor. The air conditioning system operates in an active mode where the cooling stage is activated and in a ventilation mode where the fan is operated to provide supply air to zone(s). The temperature sensor senses the temperature of the supply air. The central control includes a thermostat to set an upper temperature setpoint and a lower temperature setpoint and associated hardware and instructions (such as software) to control the components of the system. The central control activates the cooling stage when the air conditioning system is operating in the ventilation mode and the temperature of the supply air is greater than the upper temperature setpoint.
In yet another aspect, the invention is directed to a central control for a heating system having a heating stage, a fan, an air damper, and a temperature sensor. The heating system operates in an active mode where the heating stage is activated and in a ventilation mode where the fan is operated to provide supply air to zone(s). The temperature sensor senses the temperature of the supply air. The central control includes a thermostat to set an upper temperature setpoint and a lower temperature setpoint and associated hardware and instructions (such as software) to control the components of the system. The central control activates the heating stage when the heating system is operating in the ventilation mode and the temperature of the supply air is less than the lower temperature setpoint.
In still another aspect, the invention is directed to a method of conditioning the air in one or more zones. The method involves operating a heating, ventilating, and air conditioning unit in a ventilation mode to provide supply air to the zone(s). The temperature of the supply air is sensed. When the system is in the ventilation mode, one of a heating stage and a cooling stage in said conditioning unit is activated to condition the supply air when the sensed temperature of the supply air is outside of a predetermined range.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.

Control for a heating ventilating and air conditioning unit


Methods and apparatus for determining the operating states of a plurality of capacitive sensing buttons in a capacitive sensing user interface are disclosed. The capacitive sensing buttons are sampled in a round-robin fashion such that the decay time samples for the buttons are acquired in an interleaved manner during each sampling cycle. Provisions are made to reduce the initialization delay, to reduce transient-induced errors, and to obtain the operating states based on updated decay data samples for the buttons.

Switches utilizing capacitive sensing user interfaces have been utilized in various electronic devices and electromechanical devices, such as cellular phones, audio/video players, and elevators. These switches may implement various functions, including simple on/off state functions. Without moving parts, switches utilizing capacitive sensing user interfaces typically have higher durability and better resistance to contaminants than other types of switches, such as dome-switches, mechanical-switches, etc.
A capacitive sensing user interface for implementing a switch may include a set of capacitive sensing elements, e.g., capacitive sensing buttons, keys, or switches, as discussed with reference to FIGS. 1A-B. FIG. 1A illustrates a schematic representation of a top view of a capacitive sensing button 100, hereinafter "button 100"; FIG. 1B illustrates a cross-sectional view of button 100.
Button 100 may include an anode/sensor 102 and a cathode/ground 104, both typically made of a conductive material, such as copper. Anode 102 may be coupled with a signal source (e.g., a voltage or a current source) and may receive charge from the signal source through a conductive trace 112 (shown in FIG. 1B). Cathode 104 may be disposed such that a gap 106 exists between anode 102 and cathode 104. Accordingly, anode 102 and cathode 104 may form a capacitive device.
Button 100 may also include a substrate 110 for supporting anode 102 and cathode 104. Substrate 110 may represent a flex circuit board and may be made of polyimide, such as Kapton® available from E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, www.dupont.com. Button 100 may also include a cover or lens 108 for providing mechanical, environmental, and/or electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection for button 100.
A human finger typically has higher conductivity than the air surrounding button 100 and in gap 106. Therefore, if a finger is in the vicinity of button 100, for example, touching lens 108, the capacitance between anode 102 and cathode 104 may increase. By appropriately detecting the increase in capacitance due to the presence of the human finger, a switch may thus be implemented by the capacitive sensing interface of FIGS. 1A and 1B.
Although only a single button 100 is discussed in connection with FIGS. 1A and 1B, it should be understood that a capacitive sensing user interface may include any number of capacitive sensing buttons, similar to button 100, for activating (and deactivating) a set of functions of an electronic or electromechanical device.
To further elaborate, FIG. 2A illustrates a schematic representation of an example state-determining circuitry of a representative capacitive sensing user interface system 200, hereinafter "user interface 200." User interface 200 may include, for illustration, a capacitive sensing button 202, representing a single button of the capacitive sensing user interface. Another capacitor 234 is also shown, representing the capacitive effect experienced when the user's finger is in the vicinity of user interface 200.
User interface 200 may further include state-determining logic comprising a driver 212, a comparator 208, an AND gate 220, a timer 218 (or counter 218), and a processor/controller 216. Generally speaking, the state-determining logic operates in two phases: the precharge phase and the discharge phase. These two phases (i.e., precharge phase and discharge phase) are shown in FIG. 2B. The state-determining logic charges up the capacitor during the precharge phase and monitors during the discharge phase the rate at which the voltage on the capacitor's plate decays. From the rate of decay of the capacitor's plate voltage, the state-determining logic then determines whether a user's finger is present in (or absent from) the vicinity of the switch associated with that capacitor. The operation of the state-determining logic of FIG. 2A will now be discussed in connection with the signals of FIG. 2B, which are obtained at various nodes (e.g. node 222) of the state-determining circuitry illustrated in the example of FIG. 2A.
Generally speaking, driver 212 is coupled to receive a supply voltage VDD from a voltage or current source (not shown to simplify the illustration). At the start of the precharge phase, DIR signal 230 is set to high (as evidenced by the low-to-high transition 250 of the DIR signal in FIG. 2B). As long as the DIR signal 230 is high, driver 212 provides this supply voltage VDD to node 222 to charge up capacitor 202. With reference to FIG. 2B, the high state of DIR signal 230 is shown by reference number 292. With driver 212 supplying supply voltage VDD to node 222 during the precharging phase (characterized by the high DIR signal in FIG. 2B), the voltage at node 222 is shown rising over time to a voltage level 294 (i.e., some voltage level at or below VDD), reflecting the fact that capacitor 202 is charged during the time when DIR signal 230 is high. During this precharging period, the counter of counter circuit 218 is set to zero to prepare for counting during the subsequent discharge period.
At some point in time, a processor turns off DIR signal 230, as evidenced by the high-to-low transition edge 256 of DIR signal 230 in FIG. 2B. Turning off DIR signal 230 begins the discharge phase and activates counter 218 to begin counting as will be discussed later herein.
With DIR signal 230 turned off, driver 212 no longer supplies VDD to node 222 of FIG. 2A. Node 222, which is coupled to capacitor 202 and is charged up prior to DIR signal 230 being turned off, now begins to discharge through a resistor 232. This discharge causes the voltage level at node 222 to gradually decay (as seen by the downward slope 258 of signal V222 in FIG. 2B).
Since node 222 is input into comparator 208 to compare the voltage at node 222 (V222) against a threshold voltage VTH, the output of comparator 208 will be high during the time that the voltage at node 222 (V222) exceeds the threshold voltage VTH. On the other hand, the output of comparator 208 will be low when the voltage at node 222 (V222) decays to below the threshold voltage VTH. Generally speaking, the threshold voltage VTH for a given button may depend on factors such as, for example, the component sizes, the construction details, and the materials employed that are specific to that given button.
In the example of FIGS. 2A and 2B, comparator 208 is implemented to output the comparison result only during the discharge phase, resulting in the comparator output 224 signal shown in FIG. 2B. In this implementation, the output of comparator 208 goes high at edge 260 the start of the discharge phase (coincident with falling edge 256 of DIR signal 230) and stays high until the voltage at node 222 (V222) falls below the threshold voltage value VTH. When the voltage at node 222 (V222) crosses the threshold value VTH (shown by reference number 262 on the V222 signal of FIG. 2B), comparator output 224 goes low at edge 264.
With reference to the circuit diagram of FIG. 2A, note that the output 224 of comparator 208 is inputted into an AND gate 220. The operation of AND gate 220 is such that when both comparator output 224 and a periodic clock signal 236 are high, a high output is produced at AND output 238. This situation occurs during the high portions 270, 272, 274, 276, 278, and 280 of periodic clock signal 236 in FIG. 2B since comparator output 224 is also high during that time. The resultant signal for AND output 238 is shown in FIG. 2B, showing six pulses 280-290 to mirror the six clock cycles 270-280 of 236 during the time comparator output 224 is also high. Counter 218, which is activated by way of Enable signal 240 at the start of the discharge phase to begin counting, will count these six pulses 280-290 and derive from the period of 236 the decay time it took for the voltage at node 222 (V222) to decay from its charged value to threshold voltage VTH. If the period of 236 is about 10 ms, the six pulses will be about 60 ms, for example. Accordingly, the decay time sample is 60 ms.
An alternate implementation may have comparator 208 outputting a high value as soon as the voltage at node 222 (V222) exceeds threshold voltage VTH during the precharge phase. This implementation (which is not shown in FIG. 2B) may result in AND gate outputting pulses before the start of the discharge phase (i.e., as soon as the output of comparator 208 goes high). However, since counter 218 does not start counting until the start of the discharge phase, only six pulses 280-290 will be counted, and the result is the same as far as the value of the decay time.
Note that even though only one capacitor 202 is shown in FIG. 2A, multiple capacitors implementing multiple capacitive sensing switches may be provided. Using an appropriate multiplexing circuit and a selector signal (which may be controlled by processor 216), individual capacitors may be polled for their decay times.
So far, the capacitance effect of the user's finger being in the vicinity of the capacitor sensing interface (e.g., capacitor 202 of FIGS. 2A and 2B) has not been discussed. This capacitance effect is modeled in FIG. 2A by parallel capacitor 234 and is now discussed with reference to FIG. 2C hereinbelow.
FIG. 2C illustrates the use of a decay time sample to determine the on/off state of a given button. In the absence of the user's finger, curve section 252 may represent the decay of voltage V at node 222 (see FIG. 2A) after supply voltage VDD is removed from node 222. On the other hand, when a user's finger is present in the vicinity of the capacitive sensing interface, curve section 254 may represent the decay of voltage V at node 222 after supply voltage VDD is removed from node 222.
Since the presence of the user's finger tends to increase the capacitance of the button, it may take a longer time during the discharge phase for voltage V at node 222 to decay from its charged value (which is charged up during the precharge phase as discussed earlier) to threshold voltage value VTH. Accordingly, as illustrated in the example of FIG. 2C, a decay time tp associated with the presence of the finger is greater than a decay time ta associated with the absence of the finger. By comparing the decay time sample measured for a button with a threshold characteristic time tTH, it is possible to detect whether a user's finger is present near a capacitive sensing button or whether the user's finger is absent.
Generally speaking, as in the case with the threshold voltage VTH, the threshold characteristic time tTH may be predefined for each button. The threshold characteristic time tTH for a given button may depend on factors such as, for example, the component sizes, the construction details, and the materials employed that are specific to that given button. When a decay time sample is greater than tTH, the button is deemed to be activated by the user, and the function associated with the button is activated (e.g., the on state). When the decay time sample is less than tTH, the button is deemed to be not activated by the user. Accordingly, the function associated with that button is not activated (e.g., the off state).
It is generally known, however, that there may exist various ambient and/or transient noises in the operating environment of capacitive sensing user interfaces. For example, there may be noises generated by the radio frequency (RF) circuitry in a cellular phone or by the 60 Hz AC line voltage in a typical home or office/factory environment.
If a single decay time sample is employed for determining the on/off state of a button, random transient noises (such as noises from a nearby radio frequency (RF) circuit or 60 Hz line voltage) may unduly affect the accuracy of the on/off state determination. This is because the presence of transient noises may momentarily increase the capacitive value of a given button. If the decay time sample for that button happens to be measured while the button is affected by transient noises, the resultant on/off state determination may be erroneous. For example, it is possible that the on/off state-determining logic may misinterpret the increase in the decay time sample due to transient noises as "user's finger present" and may deem the switch to be activated by the user even though the user's finger is nowhere near the capacitive sensing button of that switch.
To ameliorate the error-inducing effects of transient noises, multiple decay time samples may be sampled consecutively and statistically processed (e.g., averaged) for a capacitive sensing button before the on/off state determination is undertaken. With reference to FIG. 2B, DIR signal 230 may be turned on and off multiple times for each capacitive sensing button to generate multiple decay time measurements (with each decay time measurement comprising a plurality of pulses) for that button. With reference to FIG. 2A, multiple decay time samples may be received from counter 218 and averaged by processor/controller 216 to determine the on/off state of the button.
Since it is unlikely that transient noises may last long enough to affect multiple decay time sample measurements, the error-inducing effect of transients on the state determination process may be reduced simply by taking multiple decay time samples for each button before determining the on/off state of for that button. On the other hand, since a human finger moves relatively slowly, the detection of a long decay time in multiple decay time measurements are likely to indicate the presence of a user's finger.
To elaborate, suppose six hypothetical consecutive decay time samples for a hypothetical capacitive sensing button are obtained for capacitor 202 of FIG. 2A. The values of the decay time samples may be 10 microseconds, 12 microseconds, 14 microseconds, 184 microseconds, 16 microseconds, and 17 microseconds. In this case, since the long decay time sample occurs only once, it is likely that the increase in decay time of 184 microseconds is due to a transient event. In this case, the processor may simply average out the anomalous sample or may ignore the anomalous sample altogether. On the other hand, if the decay time samples are 10 microseconds, 180 microseconds, 192 microseconds, 188 microseconds, 174 microseconds, 190 microseconds, the fact that five out of six decay time samples show a long decay time is probably indicative of the presence of a user's finger in the vicinity of the capacitive sensing button.
FIG. 3 illustrates an example prior art scheme for determining on/off states of capacitive sensing buttons utilizing multiple consecutive decay time samples for each button. In the example of FIG. 3, curve sections 302-304 may represent the voltage decay associated with button 202 in multiple decay sampling cycles. Curve sections 306-308 may represent voltage decay associated with a different button 204 in multiple decay sample cycles, and curve sections 310-312 may represent voltage decay associated with a different button 206 in multiple decay sampling cycles
Decay time samples 322-324 may be acquired consecutively and then averaged to determine the on/off state of button 202. The process may then continue in a round-robin fashion with button 204 and button 206. For example, after the on/off state of button 202 is determined, decay time samples 326-328 may be consecutively acquired and then averaged to determine the on/off state of button 204. After the on/off state of button 204 is determined, decay time samples 330-332 may be consecutively acquired and then averaged to determine the on/off state of button 206.
There are, however, disadvantages associated with the prior art method for determining on/off states of capacitive sensing buttons. As illustrated in the example of FIG. 3, the on/off state of button 206 may not be determined until after a substantial period of time, including the time needed to acquire multiple decay time samples for button 202 and button 204, has elapsed. Thus, in the example of FIG. 2, at least four decay time determining cycles (associated with decay time samples 322, 324, 326, and 328 for buttons 202 and 204) elapse before button 206 has its turn to have its on/off state determined. Although the example of FIG. 3 measures only two decay time samples for each button, if a greater number decay time samples per button is desired (e.g., 6 or 20 decay time samples for each button), button 206 may have to wait for a significant amount of time before its turn to have the on/off state of its button determined. In the electronic device application, if the delay in determining the on/off state for a button is longer than a certain period of time, such as 20 ms for example, that delay may be perceived by a user of the capacitive sensing user interface. As a result, the user may perceive the electronic device as "slow" or "unresponsive" and the user experience may not be satisfactory.
Further, if there exists a noise which substantially overlaps the time during which the multiple decay time samples for a given button are acquired, that noise may significantly affect the accuracy of decay time determination and may tend to cause false positives or false negatives (or incorrect state determination in general) for that given button. This is so even if multiple decay time samples are acquired and averaged before the on/off state determination is made. For example, if a quasi-periodic noise tends to concentrate between time tr and time tx of example FIG. 3, the quasi-periodic noise overlaps the multiple decay time samples acquired for button 202 and may cause false positives with respect to button 202 even if multiple decay time samples are obtained and averaged before the on/off state of button 202 is determined.

Capacitive sensing user interfaces and implementation thereof


A mass storage memory module system including a memory module having memory holding members which can be connected to each other, and removably connected to a memory controller. One or more modular memory holding members can be connected to each other to expand the overall storage capacity of the memory module. The presently described expandable memory module does not have a storage capacity limit. A memory holding member includes a plate, a plane, a board and another material having at least one memory device, or, on which at least one memory device is held or to which at least one memory device is mounted.

Flash memory is a commonly used type of non-volatile memory in widespread use as mass storage for consumer electronics, such as digital cameras and portable digital music players for example. Such flash memory take the form of memory cards or USB type memory sticks, each having at least one memory device and a memory controller formed therein. Another mass storage application is solid state drives (SSD) which can be used as replacements for computer hard disk drives. These solid state drives can be used in computer workstations, networks, and for virtually any application in which large amounts of data need to be stored. Cloud computing is an application where user data is stored in a virtual location in the Internet, as opposed to locally in a workstation or other local area network (LAN). It should be appreciated that progressively increasing amounts of mass storage are required as more and more users adopt cloud computing for storing their data.
Non-volatile mass storage can take the form of packaged memory devices mounted to printed circuit boards (PCB) having a connector interface for insertion into a complementary socket of a host system. These are also known as memory modules. These PCB's are shaped in size for receiving any number of memory devices, where the surface area of the PCB ultimately determines the total number of memory devices which can be mounted to the PCB, thereby determining the overall storage capacity of the memory module. A commonly known example of such memory modules are DRAM memory modules for use in a host system, such as a laptop or personal computer.
The problem with such memory modules is that they have a fixed memory storage capacity. Therefore if more memory storage is required, additional modules are added to the host system, provided of course the host system is configured to accept additional memory modules. Typically though, the existing memory module is replaced with a new memory module having an increased storage capacity. Memory module manufacturers are therefore faced with producing different memory modules, each having different storage capacities, in order to provide cost effective solutions for different users and systems. This problem is compounded by the fact that the memory device manufacturers continue to develop semiconductor memories with ever increasing densities, and/or techniques for increasing the number of memory devices within each memory package. Therefore, the memory module manufacturer is faced with the costs for developing new memory modules, which are ultimately passed to the consumer.
Furthermore, current non-volatile memory module architectures face a practical limit to the number of memory devices which can be connected to the PCB, regardless of the size of the PCB. Therefore, current non-volatile memory module architectures may not meet the increasing storage requirement demands of users who may wish to store their large multi-media files, such as, for example, audio and video files.

Flash memory module and memory subsystem


A system and method can control exhaust braking in a vehicle. The vehicle includes an engine system. The engine system includes internal combustion engine, an intake manifold, a control module, an exhaust system, and a variable geometry turbocharger (VGT) having a turbine. The turbine includes turbine blades and vanes movable with respect to the turbine blades. The method includes the following: (a) receiving an exhaust brake torque request; (b) determining target pumping losses in the internal combustion engine based on the exhaust brake torque request; (c) determining a target exhaust gas pressure within the exhaust system based on the target pumping losses; and (d) determining a target vane position of the vanes based on the target exhaust gas pressure, wherein the target vane position yields an exhaust brake torque in accordance with the exhaust brake torque request.

Some engine systems may employ exhaust braking to decrease a speed of a vehicle in motion. As used herein, the term "exhaust braking" means a process for reducing a speed of a vehicle by increasing the pumping losses of an engine. The term "pumping losses" means the negative work done on an engine. In turn, the term "negative work done on an engine" means work that is in a direction opposite to the displacement of a piston of the engine. Accordingly, the negative work done on an engine may reduce the engine speed.
Exhaust braking may be performed, for example, by obstructing a flow of exhaust gas downstream of an engine such that the exhaust gas is compressed in an exhaust manifold of the engine system in order to generate back pressure in a combustion chamber of the engine. In this disclosure, the term "back pressure" means exhaust gas pressure in a direction from an exhaust port of an engine toward the combustion chamber of the same engine. During exhaust braking, the back pressure causes negative work on the engine.

System and method for controlling exhaust braking in a vehicle


A brake pad retracting device is disclosed. An example vehicle braking system comprising a rotor, and a caliper including a brake pad slidably engaged with a guide pin, and a coil spring through which the guide pin extends, the coil spring having a first end and a second end, the first end having a first inner diameter sized to enable the first end to move freely over a surface of the guide pin, the first end to engage the brake pad to urge the brake pad away from the rotor, and the second end having a second inner diameter sized to frictionally engage the surface of the guide pin, the first inner diameter greater than the second inner diameter.

Known vehicles include a disc brake system to decelerate the vehicle. The disc brake system typically consists of a rotor (or disc) that is attached to an axle, and a caliper containing two brake pads. The brake pads are located on opposing sides of the rotor (or disc) and move freely in the caliper. The brake pads typically include a layer of friction material attached to a steel backplate. A braking action occurs when the brake pads are urged against the rotor under hydraulic pressure, which creates a frictional force that decelerates the vehicle.


A system and method of providing for the control of a music player to a device driver. One embodiment of the system comprises an electronic music player that is connected to a plurality of music renderers via device drivers via a music renderer controller. The music renderer controller comprises a device integration application program interface for providing a standard interface for communicating with each of the device drivers. Each of the device drivers manage a selected music renderer. The device drivers can display a graphical interface for displaying notifications, customized controls, links to websites, or any other type of information desired by the manufacturer of the device driver. The device drivers can also customize the interfaces of the music render to rename textual elements that are displayed by the device driver. Furthermore, the device drivers can command the music player to suspend and resume playback of music items during selected periods.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to music renderers. More particularly, the field of the invention relates to providing music items to music renderers.
2. Description of the Related Technology
With the advent of new music storage formats, such as MPEG Audio Layer 3 (MP3), the music industry has seen a remarked increase with respect to individuals using their home computer for playing music and individuals purchasing new types of music renderers, such as portable music devices, for playing music.
Using these new music storage formats, it is possible to shrink the sound data from sources such as a compact diskette (CD) without sacrificing sound quality. CDs typically render music at about 1400 kilobits per one second of stereo music. However, by converting data from a CD to another data format, such as MP3, the size of the data can be shrunk by a factor of about 12 without significantly sacrificing the quality of the music.
Many individuals use the Internet to find and download music in these new formats to their personal computer. At the personal computer, the user can, via a playback device program, play, edit, or copy the downloaded music. Furthermore, from the personal computer, the user can download the music to a portable music player so that the downloaded music can be played wherever the user travels. Portable music players, such as the Diamond Rio 500, allow individuals store up to two hours of digital-quality music and up to 32 hours of spoken audio programs. The Diamond Rio includes 64 MB onboard memory, expandable to 96 MB with removable flash cards.
Most music players provide a certain core group of features, such as playing and recording music. However, other than the core group, it is difficult to predict all of the features that will be supported by the music players. As hypothetical examples, optional features can include: providing compact diskette "burning", providing storage library hierarchies for music items, associating notes with music items, etc. Thus, since these features are not anticipated, the features are not supported by many legacy playback device programs.
To overcome this problem, as new features are introduced, the playback device programs are redesigned by the provider of the playback device program to provide support for the new features. Disadvantageously, the redesign takes time. Furthermore, the new version of the music player must be transmitted to the user. Both of these events are an inconvenience for the user.
Thus, there is a need for a music player that can take advantage of newly developed features of music renderers. Furthermore, the music player should not have to be redesigned to support the new features.

System and method of providing for the control of a music player to a device driver


A method and apparatus for delivering web-page content for a limited-display computing device are disclosed. In one embodiment, upon receiving a web page request from a limited-display computing device (e.g., a palmtop computing device), a transcoding proxy server then transmits the web page request to a server computer that contains the requested web page document. Upon receiving the web page document corresponding to the web page request, the received web page document is searched for a run of images. If the web page document does not include a run of images, the web page document is transcoded using the normal transcoding process. However, when a run of images is found in the document, the images in the run of images are rendered to generate a composite image which is scaled. The remainder of the web page document is transcoded using the normal transcoding process and the results are transmitted, along with the scaled composite image, to the limited-display computing device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of computer systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for coupling information to a limited-display computing device.
2. Related Art
As the components required to build a computer system have reduced in size, new categories of computer systems have emerged. One of the new categories of computer systems is the "palmtop" computer system. A palmtop computer system is a computer that is small enough to be held in the hand of a user and can be "palm-sized." Most palmtop computer systems are used to implement various Personal Information Management (PIM) applications such as an address book, a daily organizer and electronic notepads, to name a few.
The latest generation of palmtop computers are enhanced with the capability to be coupled to the Internet using wired or wireless technology. This gives their user's access to an extremely large amount of information. However, Internet web pages are typically developed for color display screens having a resolution of 800×600 or larger. This presents a problem for palmtop computer systems and other computer systems having limited display capabilities (e.g., small size displays and limited color displays).
Web pages use numerous small images in order to create a full-size display, some of which may or may not be displayed at any one time (e.g., images displayed on mouseover). Because of the large number of images and the complex relationship between images, it is difficult to know which images should be displayed on the limited-display computer system. For example, if all of the images that make up a web page that includes a complex header and text were to be transcoded vertically along with the text in a size suitable for display on a limited-display computing device, the resulting would include a long sequence of irrelevant images followed by text. The long sequence of irrelevant images (e.g., images displayed on mouseover) are burdensome to scroll through in order to get to the more relevant text. In addition, it would take an extensive amount of time to download such an extensive amount of images.
To overcome the aforementioned problems, various techniques have been developed for generating displays on computer systems having limited display capabilities. One technique, referred to as web scraping, requires that one or more person actually view an original web page on the Internet and determine which content is relevant and how the relevant content should be arranged. The scraped content is stored on a special web server that is accessible by the computing device having limited display capabilities. Though web scraping provides good images that include relevant information, only web pages that have been scraped are available. This significantly limits the user's Internet experience.
Another technique for enabling limited-display computing devices to handle web pages from the Internet involves the use of web clipping techniques. Web clipping techniques use a web clipping application that is installed on the limited-display computing system and that transmits a request to an Internet server for limited web content (a "web clipping") from a specific web page. The server then generates and transmits the web clipping to the requesting limited-display computer system. Though web clipping techniques provide access to the Internet, only those Internet servers that provide web clippings that are compatible with the particular web clipping application can be accessed. Thus, the use of web clipping techniques also significantly limits the user's Internet experience.
Another technique for enabling limited-display computing systems to handle web pages from the Internet involves the use of a transcoding proxy server. The transcoding proxy server access web pages in response to requests from a limited-display computer system and transcodes the web pages in a format that the small display screen of the limited-display computer system can handle. Because of the difficulties associated with transcoding images, transcoding proxy servers use a "best guess" processing of the web pages that strips out all of the web content that the small display screen cannot handle (e.g., images, Java, JavaScript, tables, etc.). The transcoded web pages are then transmitted to the limited-display computer system. However, "best guess" processing techniques provide a very poor quality web page product because of the loss of images that are an integral part of many web pages. In addition, the display does not fully convey the look and feel of a full-size web page display.
What is needed is a way to obtain information from web pages that is in a format that can be displayed by a palmtop computing system and that accurately conveys the look and feel of the full-size web page.


A developer cartridge, developing unit, and image forming apparatus are provided. The developer cartridge includes a cartridge cabinet including a developer accommodate chamber, a supply opening, and a return opening. The developer cartridge further includes a rotational shaft that is rotatably supported in the cartridge cabinet, a first agitating blade that is attached to the rotational shaft and that is located in a position opposed to the return opening, a distance from the rotational shaft to a distal end of the first agitating blade being shorter than a distance from the rotational shaft to the return opening, and a second agitating blade that is attached to the rotational shaft and that is located in a position opposed to the supply opening, a distance from the rotational shaft to a distal end of the second agitating blade being longer than a distance from the rotational shaft to the supply opening.

There has been proposed a laser printer including a toner replenishment method for replenishing a developing device from a toner cartridge with toner (for example, see JP-A-9-319202).
In the laser printer including the toner replenishment method, the toner cartridge is configured attachably to and detachably from an inside of the developing device. In a state of attaching the toner cartridge to the developing device, an inside of the toner cartridge communicates with an inside of a developing chamber of the developing device by a toner supply opening provided in a center in a width direction of the toner cartridge and by toner suction openings provided on both sides of the supply opening. An agitator for supplying toner from the toner supply opening to the inside of the developing chamber while agitating the toner is disposed inside the toner cartridge. Inside the developing chamber, a developing roller, a supply roller for supplying toner to the developing roller, and an developer transport member for transporting toner are arranged. The toner supplied from the toner supply opening to the inside of the developing chamber is transported from the toner supply opening toward each of the toner suction openings on either side of the supply opening of the toner cartridge by the developer transport member of the developing chamber. Then, the toner is returned from each of the toner suction openings to the inside of the toner cartridge. Consequently, the toner can be deposited uniformly along the whole supply roller while the toner circulates between the toner cartridge and the developing chamber, and the toner is prevented from being retained in a part of the inside of the developing chamber.

Developer cartridge, developing unit and image forming apparatus including the same


Systems and methods for monitoring conditions in a room are disclosed. Sensors may be placed in a room that measure various environmental conditions of the room, such as temperature, CO2, ventilation, humidity, volatile organic compounds, sound, static, light, pressure and odor (e.g. H2S). Depending on the use of the room, a selected number of these measurements are signal conditioned to be able to be displayed in real time, or near real time, on a computer display monitor or other visual display in a three dimensional format or more called a sweet spot. At the same time the computer can display onto the visual display an optimum sweet spot that is calculated from an algorithm given the special features, contents, and the like that characterize the room. The deviation between 1he two sweet spots, i.e., actual and theoretical, may be calculated, and recommendations made on the visual display that will cause the actual sweet spot to coincide with the algorithm sweet spot. The actions may then be carried out in real time, or near real time, to correct for the unusual conditions in the room.

Classrooms are the places where most learning takes place. Keeping student attention is very important if teachers are to transfer their information. However the conditions in a classroom are not always conducive to maximum attention. Most classrooms have associated therewith a heating and a cooling system for providing some form of heating for the winter and cooling for the summer, both systems generally being part of a building HVAC System (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system). The condition of the heating and cooling systems varies greatly depending on age, maintenance, design and installation. In many cases the insides of the school buildings have been modified or changed but the HVAC system has been kept the same.
The efficiency and configuration of an HVAC system for a classroom is not usually monitored because there are typically no monitors in the room. HVAC systems are typically tuned for the system as a whole, i.e. for the entire building or a large zone within the building. A particular room within a building may vary widely from the tuned system. The room usually has a thermostat to control heat but that is about all. What devices that are found in a room are usually sensors that are part of 1he HVAC controls for the room. The HVAC controls send signals to the ductwork control components to mix air to supply the correct temperature and/or to the boiler to adjust the boiler water temperature and corresponding heat output. However conditions in a room are affected by more variables than just temperature.
When people are active in a room the conditions in that room can change considerably. It is not unusual for conditions to exist that cause children to become sleepy created by the CO2 rising when expelled by breathing, and a rise in temperature by a high set thermostat and radiant body heat. Such conditions can quickly destroy the optimum conditions for good predominance and learning and the teacher's moment passes. Because such conditions happen in real time it is hard for the teacher to see that such conditions that negatively impact learning are occurring, and even harder to know how to respond to them because there is no quantitative information in the room to which the teacher can refer.

Systems and methods for monitoring room conditions to improve occupant performance


Highly portable, handheld instrument which can be pointed at the produce to be checked. Light from a source within the instrument is directed onto the produce to induce fluorescent emission from the produce, and fluorescent emissions from the produce are monitored with a detector within the instrument to detect the presence of pesticide residue on the produce. The light from the source is filtered to selectively pass light of a wavelength which induces maximum fluorescent emission from the pesticide to be detected, and the emissions from the produce are filtered to selectively pass emissions having a spectral content characteristic of the pesticide to be detected.

1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains generally to the detection of pesticides and, more particularly, to a handheld instrument and method which are particularly suitable for detecting pesticides on lettuce and other produce.
2, Related Art
Organic farming has been one of the fastest growing segments of American agriculture in recent years, and many people prefer organic produce because of its superior taste and quality. Organic farmers are not allowed to use synthetic pesticides or fertilizers, and organically grown produce contains significantly lower levels of pesticide residues than conventionally grown produce. With its more stringent growing requirements, popularity among consumers, and relatively limited availability, organic produce generally commands a higher price than conventional produce.
Organic produce is currently checked for pesticide residue by washing the produce with water and then sending a sample of the water to a laboratory for analysis. That is a time consuming and expensive process and one which is not suitable for in situ checking to see if a given load of produce has, in fact, been organically grown.
Heretofore, there have been some attempts to provide portable instruments for checking produce for the presence of pesticide residue through fluorescence spectroscopy in the field. Such attempts still require the use of an aqueous sample which is placed in a cuvette and analyzed in a spectrometer. While such instruments avoid the need to send the sample to a laboratory, the use of the aqueous sample is still time consuming and cumbersome.


A fuel injector incorporates a flow control into the needle valve and valve body to regulate fuel flow through the injector. The flow control defines an initial pilot fuel flow path that is closed by needle valve movement away from the nozzle seat. A primary fuel flow path requires axial movement of the needle valve through a mid-range position in which neither fuel flow paths are open. At low engine speeds, the needle valve is not driven through its mid-range position and closes prior to being driven to its fully open position, resulting in a pilot injection. At higher engine speeds, the needle valve is driven through its mid-range position eliminating a distinct pilot injection to provide only rate shaping.

Motor vehicles are required to comply with increasingly stringent limits on noise and emissions imposed by federal, state, and local regulatory bodies. Since published research has demonstrated noise and emissions from an internal combustion engine are influenced by the time history of the fuel flow rate through the injector spray holes, or injection rate shape, considerable effort has been expended to adjust and control the shape of this injection flow rate curve in response to the specific requirements of a particular engine application. Most hydraulic methods of regulating the flow rate at the injector involve either the use of a partial restriction or alternate flow path upstream from the nozzle spray holes to regulate the amount of fuel to reach the exit of the injector. The function of the alternate flow path in prior designs has typically been to divert a portion of the fuel to either an accumulator or the pump fuel supply system via a second external outlet located on the injector. A number of different approaches to implement these two methods have been taken.
Some injectors include two springs for biasing the needle valve toward its closed position. U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,193 to R. Raufeisen et al. entitled Fuel Injection Nozzle provides one example of this type. The two springs allow the injector to open in two stages. The needle valve opens a first distance under the influence of only one spring at a first pressure substantially lower than required to overcome the second spring preload. During this first stage of injection, the flow rate through the injector is throttled at the needle valve tip. Once the second stage opening pressure is reached, the needle valve moves to the maximum travel limit imposed by the needle lift adjusting screw to allow unrestricted flow to reach the injector spray holes. For many fuel systems the pump plunger motion and resulting rate of pressure rise in the system vary with engine speed. At idle and low engine speeds where the rate of pressure rise is low, sufficient time is available for the first stage operation to significantly influence the initial rate of fuel injection. As engine speed increases, the transition to second stage operation occurs more rapidly and lessens or eliminates the first stage regulation. Consequently, two spring systems typically provide rate-shaping at lower engine speeds, but not distinct pilot and main injections.
A further approach to regulate the flow rate through the use of throttling is outlined in U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,887 to W. Kelly entitled Fuel Injector Method and Apparatus. Two stage injector operation is obtained by metering fuel through a reduced radial clearance for a portion of needle valve travel before increasing the flow path area to provide unrestricted flow to the spray holes at the maximum limit of needle valve travel. With this type of flow path area to needle valve positional relationship, both rate regulation, and in some fuel systems utilizing a low initial rate of pressure increase, pilot injection, may be obtained with this type of injector in a design that can be manufactured at a relatively low cost.
An implementation scheme for diverting a portion of the fuel pump delivery is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,536 to Yen et al entitled Injection Rate Shaping Nozzle Assembly for a Fuel Injector. Needle valve position is used to open and close flow rate limited spill paths within the injector to connect high pressure supply and low pressure drain circuits in the fuel system for a period of time during the injection. The flow rate of fuel entering the combustion chamber is claimed to change in a predetermined time varying manor as a result of this injector design.
Since power output, emission requirements, and economic constraints vary considerably with different engine applications, methods in addition to the above-discussed prior art are still required. One area of particular relevance is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,526,939 to Reitz et al. entitled Diesel Engine Emissions Reduction by Multiple Injections Having Increasing Pressure. For this approach, electronic control of fast acting valves on common rail fuel systems is used to produce multiple injections for the reduction of particulate and NOx emissions. While the added expense and complexity associated with this type of fuel system may be justifiable for some engine applications, others may benefit from a different more simplistic and robust hydraulic control method to create either rate shaping, or rate shaping with pilot or multiple injections through the use of flow path closure within the injector.

Fuel injector with hydraulic flow control


A new and distinct cultivar of Impatiens plant named ‘Balcelbrisal’ characterized by its bright salmon-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and vigorous, upright mounded growth habit.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Impatiens plant botanically known as Impatiens×hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Balcelbrisal'.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Arroyo Grande, Ca. during May 2002. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Impatiens cultivars with numerous large flowers, attractive flower colors, and freely basal branching growth habit.
The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar was the proprietary Impatiens×hybrida breeding selection designated BFP-2874, not patented, characterized by its medium pink-colored flowers, dark green-colored foliage, and compact, mounded growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar was 'Balcelneon', U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,995, characterized by its red purple-colored flowers, each with a light pink-colored eye, that are positioned above and beyond the foliage, dark green-colored foliage, and upright, mounded and uniform plant habit. The new Impatiens was discovered and selected by the inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during October 2002 in a controlled environment at Arroyo Grande, Calif.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since October 2002 at Arroyo Grande, Calif. and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.


Provided is a method for process monitoring in automation technology based at least on one capacitive and/or conductive measuring probe for determining at least one process variable of at least one medium in a container, an apparatus suitable for executing the method, as well as a computer program and a computer readable medium. The method includes method steps of ascertaining whether the measuring probe is at least partially in contact with the medium and registering as a function of time at least an electrical conductivity of the medium, a dielectric constant of the medium and/or a degree of coverage of the measuring probe by the medium. The method also includes a step of monitoring the process running within the container based on the electrical conductivity, the dielectric constant and/or the degree of coverage as a function of time.

A capacitive and/or conductive measuring probe is used in automation technology in many cases for monitoring a fill level. When the well known, conductive measuring method is used for this purpose, it is monitored, for example, whether via the conductive medium an electrical contact between a probe electrode and the wall of a conductive container or a second electrode is present. Corresponding field devices are sold by the applicant, for example, under the mark, Liquipoint.
In the case of media with lower electrical conductivity (<1 μS/cm), for example, distilled water, molasses or alcohols, or even in the case of media with an electrical conductivity of less than 1 μS/cm and a dielectric constant of less than 20, for example, oils and fats, however, a change of the conductivity of the medium relative to the conductivity of air is too small still to be able to be registered safely by the electronics of a typical conductive fill level measuring device. In these cases, usually the likewise well known capacitive measuring method is used, where the fill level of medium is ascertained from the capacitance of the capacitor formed by a probe electrode and the wall of the container or a second electrode. Depending on the conductivity of the medium, in such case, either the medium or a probe insulation forms the dielectric of the capacitor. Field devices using the capacitive measuring principle are sold by the applicant in many different embodiments, for example, under the marks, Liquicap and Solicap.
Fill level detection by means of a capacitive measuring method is, indeed, possible, in principle, for conductive and non-conductive media. However, for media with increased conductivity, preferably an insulation of the measurement probe is necessary, since the medium otherwise effects a short circuiting of the measurement circuit. The impedance of this insulation, especially that of the guard electrode to be described below, is, however, disadvantageous for clinging media, since the impedance then contains a supplemental, series connected impedance for the medium.
Known from DE 32 12 434 C2 for preventing accretion formation is the use of a guard electrode, which coaxially surrounds the sensor electrode and lies at the same electrical potential as the sensor electrode. Depending on character of the accretion, there is in the case of this embodiment the problem of suitably producing the guard signal. Expanding on this, DE 10 2006 047 780 A1 discloses a measurement probe with an amplifying unit and a limiting element, in order to be insensitive to accretion formation over a large measuring range. Additionally, DE 10 2008 043 412 A1 discloses a fill level measuring device with a memory unit, in which limit values for various media are stored. In the case of ex- or subceeding such a limit value, a switching signal is produced in such a manner that accretion formation does not influence reliable switching.
In order to be able to register a process variable, especially a predetermined fill level, of a medium with a single measuring device independently of the electrical properties of the medium, known from DE102011004807A1 is a probe unit with an at least sectionally coaxial construction for an apparatus for capacitive or conductive determining of at least one process variable of a medium in a container. This probe unit can be applied essentially flushly in a container, this being especially advantageous relative to hygienic standards, which must be maintained for certain applications.
A multisensor of such type is also subject matter of DE102013102055A1, which describes a method and an apparatus, by means of which a predetermined fill level can be determined alternately in a conductive and in a capacitive operating mode. In order further to be able to achieve an improved measuring resolution, known from DE102014107927A1 is to supply a measurement probe with an excitation signal composed of two periodic signal portions, wherein a first signal component is generated for a capacitive operating mode and a second signal component is generated for a conductive operating mode.
Disclosed in DE102013104781A1, finally, are a method and an apparatus, which permit the monitoring of at least one medium specific property of a medium in a capacitive and conductive operating mode. In such case, the medium specific property can be the electrical conductivity of the medium, or even a dielectric property of the medium, such as, for example, its dielectric constant.


A comb filter for use in a video decoder is described. The comb filter includes a line memory for storing as successive pairs of U and V samples of a decoded video signal corresponding to a previous horizontal line of video information and a line memory for storing a second previous horizontal line of video information. The filter also includes a circuit to calculate an average value of both U and V from a previous sample and a corresponding sample from a previous line. The filter also includes a circuit for calculating a correction term for each one of the averages. The correction term is calculated from the opposite color component as was used to calculate the average value.

This invention relates generally to video decoder systems and more particularly to comb filters used in video decoder systems.
As is known in the art, a composite video signal has luminance (Y) and color difference signals (U & V) combined together into one signal. The U and V signals also referred to as chrominance signals are quadrature modulated onto a subcarrier and added to the luminance signal to produce the composite video signal. By using a high frequency subcarrier, the color signal only disturbs the high frequency portion of the luminance signal.
A typical decoder architecture employed to decode the composite video signal generally includes an A/D converter which samples the composite signal and feeds the output of the A/D converter to a notch filter. The notch filter removes the color information centered about the color subcarrier frequency leaving the luminance signal Y. The composite video signal is also fed to a quadrature demodulator and a pair of low pass filters which recover the color difference signals U and V. The quadrature demodulator includes a phased lock loop which locks onto the color burst signal and controls a direct digital synthesizer which generates a local copy of the color subcarrier. The local copy of the color subcarrier is used to demodulate the composite signal fed to the demodulator. With this simple decoder architecture mentioned above, the high frequency luminance is still present as a cross-luminance term in the U and V signals. That is, the simple decoder arrangement mentioned above cannot distinguish between luminance and color information centered on the color carrier. One approach used to overcome this problem is to add to the simple decoder architecture a comb filter. The comb filter is used to remove or reduce the cross-luminance information in the U and V signals. Several types of comb filters can be used at the demodulation stage in the decoder. The comb filters fed by the U and V components from the output of the decoder can reduce the high frequency luminance.
It is also known in the art that currently there are two popular standards for video encoding. One standard called the NTSC standard and the other is called the PAL standard. The essential difference between the NTSC and the
standard is that the phase angle between the color difference components on successive lines is 180.degree. for the NTSC standard and -90.degree. for the PAL standard and that the NTSC standard has a subcarrier frequency of 3.58 MHz, whereas the PAL standard has a subcarrier frequency of 4.43 MHz.
For the PAL standard a number of comb filter implementations can be used after demodulation. Each of them, however, has certain disadvantages. For example, in a simple one horizontal line PAL comb filter, the color difference components (U, V) can be simply averaged over a current line and the previous line. The problem with this arrangement, however, is that this comb filter only cancels hue error but does not cancel cross-luminance error. A second PAL comb filter which averages a signal over a current line and a second previous line has the disadvantage that it only cancels the cross-luminance error but does not cancel the hue error. A three horizontal line comb filter which operates over four lines can cancel both the U and cross-luminance errors; however, it has a significant disadvantage that it greatly reduces the vertical bandwidth and needs to store three horizontal lines of video information. Thus, this implementation is more expensive than the foregoing implementations.

Adaptive comb filter that cancels hugand cross-luminance errors


A network intrusion detection unit (NIDU) identifies a protocol used to transmit a packet and the flow to which the packet belongs. The NIDU determines whether a rules table exists for the protocol, and determines, if the rules table exists, whether a state table includes a matching flow entry corresponding to the flow. If the state table includes the matching flow entry, the NIDU determines whether a state of the flow will transition from a current state indicated in the matching flow entry to a valid destination state indicated in a state-transition rule in the rules table. If the state of the flow will not transition to a valid destination state, the NIDU discards the packet.

In general, a network is a group of two or more electronic systems linked by a wired or wireless transmission medium to transmit data, commonly referred to as a data packet or a packet, from a source electronic system to a destination electronic system. Data packets are transmitted based on a set of rules, commonly referred to as a protocol, that are used by the source and the destination during a communication session. Examples of networks include a personal area network, a local area network, a metropolitan area network and a wide area network, such as the Internet. Examples of electronic systems include a personal computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or palmtop computer, a cellular phone, a computer system, a network access device, and a television set-top box.
A data packet may travel through one or more intermediate electronic systems, commonly referred to as network devices, during transmission from a source to a destination. Examples of network devices include, but are not limited to, a switch, a router or a bridge. In general, a network device is a packet-forwarding device that receives a data packet and determines an electronic system (either another network device or a destination) to which to forward the data packet.
An unauthorized user may attempt to access a network. Unauthorized access of a network is commonly referred to as network intrusion. A network intruder may attempt to inhibit the ability of authorized users to access the network, or attempt to prevent the use of a service on the network, for example, electronic mail (or e-mail). Such an attack on a network is commonly referred to as a denial-of-service (DoS) attack.
One technique for implementing a DoS attack is to send a large amount of data to a service that is unable to handle the data and thus begins dropping data. For example, a network intruder may transmit a large number of requests to connect to an e-mail server that is unable keep up with the connection requests. As a result, the e-mail server may start dropping connection requests, including legitimate requests, thereby inhibiting authorized users' access to e-mail service.
A network intrusion detection system (NIDS) is a system used to determine whether a network is under attack. Typically, a NIDS examines packets entering a network to determine whether an unauthorized user is attempting to access the network. For example, a NIDS may determine whether there are a large number of connection request packets, which may indicate an attempted DoS attack. A NIDS may run either at a destination, where the destination's incoming traffic is examined, or on a network device between a source and a destination, in which case all network traffic is examined.
One type of NIDS is a signature-based NIDS, where the NIDS determines whether a packet includes a particular string of data that associates the packet with a network attack. Because the signature-based approach is based on data in the packet, only known attacks, i.e., attacks where a particular string of data is known to be associated with particular network attack, may be addressed. In addition, a signature-based NIDS examines an intrusive packet's data after the packet reaches an application that provides a service, which means that the attack is successful. Consequently, the goal of a signature-based approach is to prevent future attacks from being successful.
Another type of NIDS is an anomaly-based NIDS, in which network behavior is predicted and modeled, and certain behavior is identified as abnormal. An anomaly-based approach may be based on known protocol behavior, rather than on packet data known to be associated with a network attack. Consequently, an anomaly-based NIDS can address unknown, as well as known, attacks. In addition, an anomaly-based NIDS can prevent an attack before an intrusive packet reaches an application that provides a service. An anomaly-based NIDS is difficult to implement because of the difficulty in predicting and modeling network behavior and identifying abnormal behavior.
A conventional NIDS is susceptible to an attack in which packets are transmitted at high rates of speed, sometimes referred to as a saturation attack. A conventional NIDS examines the packets of each flow. In general, a flow is a stream of packets transmitted between a source and a destination during a communication session. If packets are transmitted faster than the NIDS is able to examine them, the NIDS may start dropping packets or even completely shut down. A conventional NIDS is not able to throttle flow examination, i.e., examine the packets of fewer than all flows, which would reduce the likelihood of a successful saturation attack.

State-transition based network intrusion detection