A first feature (e.g., chart or table) includes a reference to a dynamic pointer. Independently, the pointer is defined to point to a second feature (e.g., a query). The first feature is automatically updated to reflect a current value of the second feature. The reference to the pointer and pointer definition are recorded in a central registry, and changes to the pointer or second feature automatically cause the first feature to be updated to reflect the change. A mapping between features can be generated using the registry and can identify interrelationships to a developer. Further, changes in the registry can be tracked, such that a developer can view changes pertaining to a particular time period and/or feature of interest (e.g., corresponding to an operation problem).

Electronic developers use programming languages and/or user interfaces to develop webpages, app software or other interfaces. In one instance, the developed electronic media can be dynamic and selectively present interaction options or content that depend on factors such as past user selections or recent events. In another instance, the developed media's interaction objects or content can be subject to repeated developer updates.
In either instance, the developer is faced with a problem of how to address uncertainty in the face of designing other portions of the media. The developer may choose to attempt to reduce or eliminate dependencies on the uncertain aspect, or he may be faced with repeatedly updating dependent aspects based on a current dynamic or selected value. The former approach limits the media's functional and presentation capabilities. The latter approach requires substantial time investment and is error-prone.

Central registry for binding features using dynamic pointers


A phenol-formaldehyde resin, having a low concentration of tetradimer, making the resin suitable for preparing a binder composition for making non-woven fiber products, such as fiberglass insulation, prepared by reacting phenol and formaldehyde in the presence of a sulfite source.

Phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resins and especially PF resins extended with urea (PFU) find widespread use as adhesives and bonding agents for making a wide variety of products, especially non-woven fiber products such as fiberglass insulation.
Indeed, PF and PUF resins have been the mainstays of fiberglass insulation binder technology over the past several years. Such resins are relatively inexpensive and provide cured fiberglass insulation products with excellent physical properties.
One of the complications presented by using conventional PF and PFU resins in formulating binder compositions from such resins is the presence of bis (4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethylolphenol)methane (also known as tetradimer) in the resin compositions. Tetradimer is generally present in conventional PF resins at a concentration of about 10 to 18% by weight (adjusted for a typical resin concentration of 50% solids).
The problems presented by the presence of tetradimer in PF and PFU resins are well documented. When these resins are diluted with water during the preparation of a binder composition (particularly when the formaldehyde content is reduced below about 2-3 weight percent), the tetradimer is prone to precipitation in tanks and piping and posses a plugging problem in binder application equipment, such as sprayers. Consequently, as efforts to reduce formaldehyde concentration and accordingly formaldehyde emissions in such binders increase, problems created by tetradimer precipitation are exacerbated. Unfortunately, the tetradimer crystal phase is very difficult to re-dissolve and often must be removed and discarded, increasing production expenses and decreasing binder efficiency. Thus, care must be taken to accommodate the presence of tetradimer in these resins to avoid production down time for cleaning the un-welcomed precipitate.
The prior art has sought ways of minimizing tetradimer production during the synthesis of PF resins. Higginbottom U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,367, for example, describes an aqueous resole resin composition that is purportedly stable with respect to the unwanted crystallization of tetradimer and also is purportedly low in free phenol (P) and free formaldehyde (F).
According to the Higginbottom patent, the aqueous resole composition is prepared using a complicated two-step process. First, a molar excess of phenol (P) is reacted with formaldehyde (F) (1 mole phenol with 0.05 to 0.3 mole formaldehyde) under an acidic condition sufficient to form a novolac resin. Thereafter, the resin is neutralized and then made alkaline as additional formaldehyde is added (broadly described as 1.75 to 3.5 moles per mole of original phenol), and reacted under basic conditions to yield the resole resin. The level of free formaldehyde in the resole resin is then reduced further by adding a formaldehyde scavenger near the end of the resole reaction in an amount of 0.5 to 1.5 mole equivalents per mole of free formaldehyde. Urea is one of several scavenger options disclosed.
The Higginbottom patent alleges that that the sizable population of 2,2′- and 2,4′-dihydroxydiphenylmethanes that is produced, along with a minor amount of the tetradimer, helps to suppress crystallization of the tetradimer and allows the level of free (unreacted) formaldehyde to be reduced almost completely in the resole, often through the use of a formaldehyde scavenger.
The resole resin obtained by the process of the Higginbottom patent is said to have a water tolerance in the range of 100 to 800 percent, i.e., haze occurs when an amount of water from 1 to up to about 8 times the amount (mass) of resole is added to the resin. This latter property constitutes an additional impediment to the widespread use of the Higginbottom resole resin for making fiberglass insulation as higher levels of dilution are generally preferred when making a fiber mat binder. Indeed, it is preferred that the resin exhibit an infinite water dilutability, which is considered to be a dilution ratio of at least 50 parts water to one part resin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,108 purports to produce a PFU resin of improved storage stability against tetradimer precipitation by using a carefully controlled acidification reaction to form urea-formaldehyde (UF) polymers of limited molecular weight that are fully water soluble. With the pH initially on the alkaline side, urea is added to the PF resole resin for reaction with free formaldehyde present. The pH is then adjusted to be acidic and is maintained in an acidic pH range for a limited time at a slightly elevated temperature. At the end of the limited time, the resin solution is neutralized, allowed to cool, and is then ready for storage. The UF polymers so-formed allegedly inhibit the crystallization of tetradimer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,032 also purports to produce a PF resin of improved storage stability against tetradimer precipitation by using one member of a particular class of tertiary amine alcohols as a catalyst.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,881,814 alleges that the addition of a small amount of sodium tetraborate early in the preparation of a PF resin reduces the amount of tetradimer formed and improves the stability of both the base resin and its pre-react (PFU).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,906,130 also reportedly produces a resin low in tetradimer concentration. Again, a two stage process is described in which a novolac resin first is prepared at a low F:P mole ratio (0.01:1 to 0.3:1) preferably using a strong acid catalyst. Following neutralization, a conventional alkaline catalyst then is added and additional formaldehyde is added thereafter as quickly as possible to the reaction solution while maintaining the temperature at or below 55° C. A key feature of the invention is that the temperature during the resole reaction is limited to a temperature below about 60° C., in order to make a low molecular weight resin and obtain maximum methylolation of the phenolic core, rather than causing linking condensation reactions that build molecular weight. The resulting resin has a large free formaldehyde concentration, which then is reduced by use of a formaldehyde scavenger, preferably urea, before using the resin for formulating a binder composition.
Notwithstanding these approaches, there remains a need for newer, less complicated methods for addressing the problems presented by tetradimer formation when preparing a phenol-formaldehyde resin suitable for making a binder composition for non-woven fiber products, such as fiberglass insulation.

Phenol-formaldehyde resin having low concentration of tetradimer


An automatic call distributor (ACD) for routing application, external position and internal position telephone calls to one of a plurality of agents is disclosed. Priority levels of the different types of calls are selectively assigned for each individual agent and can be changed as desired. When a plurality of incoming calls having different call types are received concurrently for a particular agent, the call of the call type having the highest priority as determined for the particular agent is connected to the particular agent first.

The present invention relates to automatic call distributors in a telephone system.
In the past, automatic call distributors (ACD) have been known to route calls to a number of agents in a telephone system. In such call distributors, the telephone system recognized application calls originating from the outside which are directed to any one of a plurality of agents on a basis when the agents are most available, and position calls which are made directly to a particular agent. However, no distinction has been made between position calls to the particular agent which originated outside the ACD and position calls which originated inside the ACD, nor were the position calls prioritized.
As a result, the agent may have to handle a plurality of low priority calls before handling calls of higher priority which should have been handled earlier, resulting in inconvenience to the callers and inefficiency of the system.

Automatic call distributor with prioritization


A golf cart including a frame having a first portion and a second portion. A front wheel mount is pivotally connected to the first portion of the frame and is pivotable about a first axis. A front wheel is rotatably connected to the front wheel mount, allowing for rotation of the front wheel about a second axis that is generally perpendicular to the first axis. The front wheel mount further allows for arcuate movement of the front wheel about the first axis. There is a pair of rear wheel members, each rear wheel member having a first end and a second end, the first end of each rear wheel member is pivotally connected to the second portion of the frame. There is a pair of rear wheels, each rear wheel is rotatably connected to the second end of one of each of the rear wheel members. A handle is connected to the second portion of the frame. A collapsing mechanism is moveable between a first position and a second position. The collapsing mechanism is connected to the first portion of the frame and to the rear wheel members. The front wheel moves away from the second portion of the frame when the collapsing mechanism is moved towards the first position, and the front wheel moves towards the second portion of the frame when the collapsing mechanism is moved towards the second position. The rear wheels move away from the frame when the collapsing mechanism is moved towards the first position, and the rear wheels move towards the frame when the collapsing mechanism is moved towards the second position.

The present invention relates to collapsible carts, and in particular to collapsible golf carts, which collapse into a compact configuration to facilitate transportation of the golf carts to and from the golf course.
Golf is a sport which requires its players to have a large selection of clubs available for use in a variety of situations. As a consequence, players frequently use a golf cart to transport their selection of clubs during a game of golf. However, golf carts are often bulky, making them difficult to store and less easily transportable to and from the golf course than may be desired.
To overcome this problem collapsible golf carts have been developed. Such carts often include foldable or removable parts. However, these collapsible golf carts tend to be cumbersome to collapse and the compactness of the collapsed configuration is limited. There is thus a need for a golf cart that can be collapsed easily into a very compact structure.


A black stripe detector is configured to detect whether or not each pixel of an input video signal is a pixel in a black stripe region, and to generate a black stripe identification signal. A signal combiner is configured to combine the input video signal and the black stripe identification signal with each other to generate a combination signal. A keystone correction processor is configured to implement keystone correction processing for the combination signal, and to generate a keystone-corrected video signal. A signal separator is configured to separate the keystone-corrected combination signal into a keystone-corrected video signal and a keystone-corrected black stripe identification signal. A video signal processor is configured to implement predetermined video signal processing for the keystone-corrected video signal by using the keystone-corrected video signal and the keystone-corrected black stripe signal.

The present disclosure relates to a video signal processing device and a projection-type display device.
As aspect ratios of an effective region of a video signal, various types are present, which include: 4:3 of the NTSC system; 16:9 of the high vision system; 1.375:1 for use in a movie, and the like. For example, in order to create a video signal with an aspect ratio of 16:9 based on a video signal with an aspect ratio of 4:3, black stripe regions are often added on the right and left sides of a video region with the aspect ratio of 4:3 to create a video signal with the aspect ratio of 16:9.
As described above, when creating a video signal with another aspect ratio based on a video signal with a certain aspect ratio, in some cases, the black stripe regions are added to the upper and lower or right and left sides of the video region, and the video signal with another aspect ratio is created.

Video signal processing device and projection-type display device


One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that uses a block-partitioned technique to efficiently solve a system of linear equations. The system first receives a matrix that specifies the system of linear equations to be used in performing a time-based simulation. This matrix includes a static portion containing entries that remain fixed over multiple time steps in the time-based simulation, as well as a dynamic portion containing entries that change between time steps in the time-based simulation. Next, the system performs the time-based simulation, wherein performing the time-based simulation involves solving the system of linear equations for each time step in the time-based simulation. In solving the system of linear equations, the system factorizes the static portion of the matrix only once, and reuses the factorization of the static portion in performing an overall factorization of the matrix for each time step of the time-based simulation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer systems for performing sparse matrix computations. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus that uses a block-partitioned technique to efficiently solve sparse systems of linear equations.
2. Related Art
The solution of large sparse symmetric linear systems of equations constitutes the primary computational cost in numerous applications, such as finite-element design, linear programming, circuit simulation and semiconductor device modeling. Efficient solution of such systems has long been the subject of research, and considerable progress has been made in developing efficient algorithms to this end. A direct solution technique known as "Cholesky Factorization" is the most widely used approach to solve such a system. Under Cholesky factorization, the complete solution sequence requires many stages, including matrix reordering, symbolic factorization, numerical factorization and triangular solution. Of these stages, numerical factorization is typically the most computationally expensive.
One method of performing numerical factorization is based on a right-looking supernode-supernode method described in "Parallel Algorithms for Sparse Linear Systems" by Michael T. Heath, Esmond Ng and Barry W. Peyton, in "Parallel Algorithms for Matrix Computations" by Gallivan, et al. (Editors), SIAM (1994) (referred to as HNP). In a sparse matrix, a supernode is a set of contiguous columns that have essentially the same sparsity structure. Supernodes can be used to organize the numerical factorization stage around matrix-vector (supernode-column) and matrix-matrix (supernode-supernode) primitive operations leading to a substantial performance improvement arising from more efficient use of the processor caches and pipelining units.
In some applications, for example circuit simulation, existing numerical factorization techniques perform unnecessary work because the matrix system arising in such simulations is only partially modified from one time step to the next in a time-dependent simulation. For example, in a circuit simulation, linear circuit elements, such as resistors and capacitors, do not change from one time step to the next. In contrast, non-linear components, such as diodes, exhibit a nonlinear relationship between current and voltage and are typically time-dependent. Hence, the matrix system for simulating the circuit includes some static entries that remain fixed over many time steps, and some dynamic entries that change from one time step to the next. This means that the much of the work involved in factorizing the static entries every time step is largely wasted because the static entries do not change between time steps.
Hence, what is needed is a method and an apparatus for solving systems of linear equations without performing unnecessary work in factorizing static matrix entries.

Block-partitioned technique for solving a system of linear equations represented by a matrix with static and dynamic entries


An upright vacuum cleaner including a canister assembly pivotally connected to a nozzle assembly and an extensible hose which forms part of the vacuum path between the nozzle assembly and the canister assembly and which can be disconnected from the nozzle assembly for above-the-floor cleaning. Disconnecting the hose deenergizes an agitator motor in the nozzle assembly. The canister assembly includes a housing with an integral hand tool and attachment storage area which retains the tools and attachments, as well as the extensible hose, within the periphery of the housing. The upright vacuum cleaner also includes a height adjustment mechanism which deenergizes the agitator motor when the nozzle assembly is in its closest relation to the floor surface being cleaned.

Upright vacuum cleaners which are convertible for cleaning surfaces above a floor surface (i.e., above-the-floor cleaning) are well know in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,898,621 discloses a conversion arrangement for an upright vacuum cleaner. Typically, and as is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 2,898,621, the suction hose permitting conversion extends from the nozzle assembly, around the periphery of the vacuum cleaner housing, to the canister assembly which houses the dust bag. Such an arrangement is disadvantageous because the suction hose can easily become caught on, or entangled in, various surfaces when the vacuum cleaner is manipulated for floor cleaning.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,850 discloses an upright vacuum cleaner convertible for above-the-floor cleaning with an integral tool storage compartment. Again, the suction hose is disadvantageously arranged because it extends well beyond the periphery of the vacuum cleaner housing.
When operating a convertible upright vacuum cleaner as an above-the-floor vacuum cleaner, it is advantageous to disengage the agitator brush to prevent possible damage to a floor surface that might occur while the vacuum cleaner remains stationary for a prolonged period of time. U.S. Pat. No. 2,502,674 discloses an arrangement whereby an electrical switch responsive to the insertion of a tool for converting the vacuum cleaner for above-the-floor cleaning causes a clutch to disengage the agitator brush upon insertion of the tool. Such an arrangement is complex and costly, requiring numerous additional components in the construction of the agitator brush.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,218,180 discloses an upright vacuum cleaner wherein the agitator brush is oscillated back and forth by an electrical vibrator. A switch responsive to the insertion of a tool used to convert the vacuum cleaner for above-the-floor cleaning causes an open condition in the electrical circuit to the vibrator. This arrangement is disadvantageous because it requires a separate converter tool for above-the-floor cleaning and because a vibration type agitator brush is not effective in loosening dirt embedded in a carpeted surface.
In addition to being able to disengage the agitator brush when operating a convertible upright vacuum cleaner as an above-the-floor vacuum cleaner, it is also advantageous to disengage the agitator brush when cleaning bare floor surfaces to prevent possible scratching. U.S. Pat. No. 3,291,418 discloses a mechanism for sensing the presence of a bare floor surface. A pressure sensing switch mounted within the nozzle housing in proximity to the agitator brush closes the electrical circuit to the agitator motor when a preselected vacuum level is achieved. The vacuum level generated in the nozzle differs depending on the floor surface being cleaned (i.e., a carpeted surface as opposed to bare floors) because a carpeted surface prevents air leaks around the mouth of the nozzle that would otherwise be present when cleaning a bare floor surface. This arrangement is very complex and is not reliable for all surfaces.


A system for sensing a fuel level includes sensors that sense the fuel level and a voltage source that applies a constant voltage to the sensors for a predetermined time. The system includes a control module that measures outputs of the sensors at a beginning and at an end of the predetermined time. The control module determines a number of the sensors that are submersed in fuel or air based on the outputs and calculates the fuel level based on the number of the sensors that are submersed in fuel or air.

Generally, mechanical devices called floats are used to measure fuel levels in fuel tanks. A float rides on an upper surface of fuel in a fuel tank. The float is typically connected to one end of a pivot arm. Another end of the pivot arm typically includes a wiper mechanism. The wiper mechanism brushes against a resistive strip when the pivot arm moves due to changes in fuel level. Resistance of the resistive strip changes when the wiper mechanism moves. Changes in resistance of the resistive strip represent changes in fuel level. Accordingly, changes in resistance can be displayed on a panel to indicate changes in fuel level in the fuel tank.
Mechanical parts used in conjunction with floats tend to degrade or breakdown over time due to wear and tear. Thus, floats may not accurately indicate fuel level. Instead, electronic sensors may be installed in the fuel tank to sense fuel level. Signals generated by electronic sensors can be analyzed to determine fuel level in the fuel tank. Electronic sensors tend to indicate fuel level more accurately and reliably than floats since electronic sensors do not have mechanical moving parts.


A wizard user interface generates an interim system product during forward traversal of the wizard's pages and causes the generated interim system product to revert (i.e. be restored to a condition associated with a previous wizard page) during backward traversal of the wizard's pages. Advancing to a next page of the wizard causes a system product to be generated. The generated interim product is application dependent and may comprise one or more components, such as a generated electronic file or an amendment to an existing file for example, which are not merely by-products of the wizard mechanism. Backtracking to a previous wizard page causes the generated interim system product to revert. The wizard user interface allows observation of, and interaction with, the generated interim system product by the user prior to wizard completion.

Contemporary computer systems employ various user interface (UI) mechanisms to facilitate data entry. One commonly utilised UI mechanism is the wizard. Wizards are typically employed when a data entry task lends itself to being broken down into a series of steps in order to improve the comprehensibility of the data entry task (e.g. when data to be entered by a user is deemed too confusing for entry by way of a single screen).
A wizard is a series of dialog boxes or "pages" that is presented in a particular sequence. Each page of the wizard corresponds to a step in the overall data entry task. The pages are often graphical but are not necessarily so. Typically, each page contains data entry fields of various types (e.g. radio buttons, text entry fields, checkboxes, etc.) and textual instructions describing the actions that should be taken by the user to enter data on the current page. A set of navigational controls is displayed in conjunction with each page to permit the user to traverse the wizard page-by-page. These navigational controls typically comprise four buttons: a "next" button for advancing to the next page of the wizard, a "back" button for going back to a previous page (i.e. backtracking), a "cancel" button for aborting the wizard and a "finish" button for completing the wizard.
In standard operation, upon the occurrence of a triggering event the wizard will be invoked and the first page of the wizard will be displayed. The user interacts with the wizard, by way of a mouse and keyboard for example, to enter any data requested on the first page and, when finished, selects the "next" button to advance to the second page. This process is repeated until all of the wizard's pages have been traversed. If necessary, the user may select the "back" button to review previously entered data or to correct a previous entry. While the wizard's pages are being traversed, the wizard essentially acts a buffer, containing any data entered by the user until the wizard is completed.
When all of the wizard's pages have been traversed and all of the required data entered, the "finish" button will become active. Upon its selection by the user, the wizard is completed, i.e., the UI is exited and the entered data is processed according to the wizard's underlying purpose. The processing associated with wizard completion usually results in the generation of a system product (i.e. a set of one or more system components, such as generated electronic files or amendments to existing files for example, that are created pursuant to the wizard's purpose, but are not merely by-products of the wizard mechanism).
Because the above-described wizard UI only generates the system product upon wizard completion, the correlation between the data entered on any given wizard page and the component(s) of the resultant system product may be unclear to a user. This may be especially true in cases when the number of wizard pages is large or when the system product has many components. Disadvantageously, this uncertainty may negatively impact the user's ability to comprehend the wizard UI and the associated application software.
What is therefore needed is a wizard UI that is capable of providing the user with greater visibility into system product generation during wizard traversal. What is also needed is a system for displaying such a wizard UI. What is additionally needed is a method of developing software to implement such a wizard UI.

Wizard user interface providing interim system product generation and reversion during wizard traversal

International Business Machines Corporation


A conical nail file having a handle and two conical files each formed of a convex conical surface and concave conical surface confocally arranged to terminate in a conical apex is provided and designed to interfit underneath an acrylic nail and reach and file the area of the acrylic nail adjacent to the free end of the natural fingernail and the nail bed.

1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to fingernail files, and more particularly to a conical nail file for filing the underside of a nail adjacent to the cuticle.
2. Background
Long, manicured painted fingernails have been popular throughout humankind's history. The traditional way of creating long, manicured fingernails is to allow them to grow, and to carefully care for them by filing to keep them in proper shape and by periodic painting with fingernail polish. However, there now exists a number of alternatives to the natural, long fingernail, including the acrylic or artificial fingernail formed either with the aid of an artificial fingernail tip which is attached to the natural fingernail, or simply by molding or sculpting an acrylic fingernail which itself is directly attached to the tip.
In both cases, the natural fingernail is first prepared by filing it and etching it with an acid, and then washing it with alcohol to prepare a clean surface to which an adhesive and/or the acrylic material will adhere. Typically, this is done with a traditional flat nail file followed by a wash in alcohol, and the application of a priming chemical, typically acid based, such as methacrylic acid in solution with iso butyl methacrylate.
Once the fingernail has been prepared, a liquid acrylic solution, which will harden and eventually form the final acrylic fingernail, is prepared by the mixture of an acrylic polymer with an acrylic monomer, such as acrylic ester polymer and benzoyl peroxide silica with acrylic ester monomer with NN4 diamethyle P and toludine 0 hydroxy benzophenone. The combination forms a plastic acrylic which can be applied using a small brush to the natural fingernail and sculpted with a brush. This type of acrylic will harden generally within a few minutes, and repeated applications of additional acrylic material can eventually be formed into a natural looking, but long and sculpted, acrylic fingernail.
The acrylic material can be applied either atop a plastic fingernail tip, which has been glued using various adhesives to the natural fingernail, or simply attached directly to the primed natural fingernail and sculpted to form a long, acrylic fingernail.
In the case where the tip is not used and a sculpted fingernail is desired, oftentimes the manicurist will use a temporary bridge-like mold or form, which is positioned in front of and adjacent to the natural fingernail to support the sculpted acrylic fingernail until such time as it hardens and is able to remain in place without the aid of a mold.
Once the acrylic fingernail has been formed using the brush, it is filed using traditional flat fingernail files of varying grits, starting with a coarse grit and ending with the finest of grits to form the finished fingernail. The finished acrylic fingernail is then painted an appropriate color and the formation of the acrylic fingernail is completed.
In both cases, the use of acrylic material can often result in the sealing off of the area between the cutis or nail bed and the free end of the natural fingernail. This is both unsightly, and also presents hygienic problems, particularly with respect to the developments of molds and funguses between the natural nail and the nail bed. Therefore, it is necessary, once the acrylic fingernail has been formed, to file out the area between the acrylic fingernail and the natural nail bed to open it up to the same degree that it naturally would be with a short, manicured, natural fingernail. It is difficult to reach this area on the underside of the fingernail, since it is a concave surface and not easily filed or cleaned using a traditional flat fingernail file.
Some of the prior art solutions are to use a metal or wooden pick, and even a conventional power routing tool with a fine router bit. However, all of these prior art solutions pose some danger of injury to the end of the finger and/or the nail bed and have generally not proven to be satisfactory.
Accordingly, what is needed is a fingernail file specifically designed to reach into and file the concave underside surface of the acrylic fingernail adjacent to the free end of the natural fingernail and nail bed.


A fuel injection control apparatus for controlling an amount of fuel injection into a fuel injection port of an intake passage in an internal combustion engine, the fuel injection control apparatus including an exhaust air-fuel ratio sensor configured to detect an exhaust air-fuel ratio, an exhaust temperature sensor configured to detect an exhaust temperature, an intake air flow meter configured to detect an intake air amount in the intake passage, and a controller configured to estimate a wall flow amount of the fuel injection port based on the fuel injection amount, the exhaust air-fuel ratio, and the intake air amount, estimate a catalyst bed temperature of a catalyst provided in an exhaust passage based on the exhaust air-fuel ratio and the exhaust temperature and to correct the estimated catalyst bed temperature in accordance with the wall flow amount, and control the fuel injection amount based on the catalyst bed temperature.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to fuel injection control apparatuses for an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of Related Art
In existing systems, in order to suppress overheating of a catalyst bed temperature ("bed temperature") of an exhaust converting catalyst depending on an operation state of an internal combustion engine, fuel injection amount is increased based not only on an amount of heat supplied to the catalyst from exhaust gas but also on an amount of heat generated due to the catalytic reaction.
However, at the time of fuel cut control or a rapid decrease in intake air amount, the fuel adhering to the wall surfaces of a fuel injection port of an intake passage ("wall flow") may flow into the catalyst in an unburned state. As a result, estimation accuracy of the catalyst bed temperature may decrease, or the catalyst bed temperature may become excessively high, depending on the wall flow amount.
An object of the present invention is to provide a fuel injection control apparatus for an internal combustion engine which is capable of accurately estimating the catalyst bed temperature even when the wall flow amount of the fuel injection port fluctuates, or of preventing overheating of the catalyst bed temperature.

Fuel injection control apparatus for an internal combustion engine


A bearing device includes a rotary part which is configured to be rotatable about a rotational axis and has a rotary surface intersecting the rotational axis, and a stationary part which has a stationary surface facing the rotary surface. One of the rotary surface or the stationary surface includes a bearing surface part for forming a bearing oil film. The rotary surface includes a first inner circumferential region, and a first outer circumferential region facing the stationary surface on a radially outer side of the bearing surface part and having higher oleophobicity than the first inner circumferential region.

In a bearing device rotatably supporting a rotational shaft by a bearing oil film, since oil flow forming the bearing oil film may lead to a reduction in bearing load, an attempt to suppress such oil flow has been made.
For example, Patent Document 1 describes that in a fluid dynamic bearing where a lubricating fluid film is formed between a rotational shaft and a stationary member, in order to reduce leakage of the lubricating fluid, an oil repellent film is formed in a section, of the respective surfaces of the rotational shaft and the stationary member, adjacent to the lubricating fluid film.

Bearing device and turbocharger including the same

MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES ENGINE & TURBOCHARGER, LTD.


A method is provided for copying in which a duplex copy can be smoothly made. In making N sets of double-sided copies of M one-sided documents, a method of copying includes a first document circulating step of copying images of even ordinal numbered documents on unused sheets and then stores these sheets into an intermediate tray. The second document circulating step of copying images of odd ordinal numbered documents on rear faces of one-side copied sheets forming double-sided copied sheets which are discharged. A cycle detecting solenoid for separating each circulation of the one-sided documents is provided and breakdown judging step of judging by a controlling device that a cycle detection sensor is out of order in the case where the cycle detecting solenoid is operated and a polarity of the cycle detection sensor is not changed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for copying by an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine capable of making a duplex copy in a manner that in a first circulation of documents fed from document feeding means, sheets onto whose one side an image of one of even or odd ordinal numbered documents is transferred (referred to one-side-transferred sheets hereinafter) are stored in an intermediate tray, and in a second circulation of the documents, the one-side-transferred sheets stored in the intermediate tray are fed to image transferring means to transfer an image of the other pages of the documents onto the other side of the one-side-transferred sheets.
2. Description of the Related Art
With reference to a method for copying by a conventional copying machine, it is known that an intermediate tray of the copying machine comprises a cycle detecting sensor and a cycle detecting lever, wherein the lever is provided with the sensor and, in a mode that two sets of copy of the documents are temporarily stocked in the intermediate tray, for example, in S.fwdarw.D mode (one-sided documents to double-sided copy), used for separating each set.
In the prior art, when it is judged that the cycle detecting sensor is out of order, an operation of copying in S.fwdarw.D mode is disabled and a double-sided copy cannot be obtained.
Even when the cycle detecting sensor is out of order, a duplex copy can be made, with the result that the user does not notice that a breakdown has occurred and hence the breakdown remains without being fixed. In the case where an operation of copying in S.fwdarw.D mode is continued without the breakdown being fixed, a drum is caused to rotate in skip mode about two times as many as the case of non-skip mode, so that a problem will arise such that the drum cannot last for the specified life time.
In a state that a sensor for detecting the presence or absence of sheets in the intermediate tray does not detect the presence of sheets and the cycle detecting sensor of the intermediate tray is off, when a copying operation is started, the copying machine stops operating due to a misdetection of the sensor.
In the prior art, when it is judged that the cycle detecting sensor is out of order, an operation of copying in D.fwdarw.D mode (double-sided documents to double-sided copy) is disabled and a double-sided copy cannot be obtained.


A parking assistance system and a method for controlling the same are disclosed. The parking assistance system includes a parking-mode input unit, a parking-associated functioning unit having a plurality of parking-associated systems, a setting unit for selecting parking-associated systems that are operated, and a controller configured to control the respective parking-associated systems by receiving an input signal through the parking-mode input unit. The method for controlling the parking assistance system includes transmitting a parking-mode input signal by turning on a parking-mode input unit, recognizing that a parking action is ready to be executed through the parking-mode input signal, and controlling a set of parking-associated functioning units according to a predetermined condition stored in a setting unit.

In general, various systems for parking assistance such as, for example, a Parking Assist System (PAS), an Around View Monitoring (AVM) system, and Reverse-gear tilt-down outside mirrors, detect the driver's parking intention using an R (reverse)-gear switch signal of a shift lever or a direct switch-on/off action, or the like, so that the above-mentioned parking assistance systems can be activated. In this case, respective input signals are different from each other. For example, the R-gear switch signal is not received as input during a front view parking mode, and therefore it is difficult for individual parking assistance systems to be effectively turned on or off at an appropriate time. Therefore, there is a need to determine whether each parking assistance system will be turned on or off prior to execution of the parking mode.
In addition, the auto hold function of the vehicle needs to simultaneously control on/off functions of each parking assistance system during the parking mode. If the auto hold function is activated, the auto hold function can be conveniently used in a general city driving mode. However, when a driver attempts to park a vehicle during the auto hold function activation, a vehicle halt state is continuously maintained after the driver steps on the brake pedal. This can cause inconvenience to the driver during parking. In that case, when the driver reattempts to park the vehicle, the driver has to turn off the auto hold function by stepping on the accelerator pedal.
The driver may feel uneasy doing this, resulting in reduction of vehicle safety. In order to address the above-mentioned problem, the driver has to turn off the auto hold function when attempting to park a vehicle, and also has to turn on the auto hold function when the driver does not park the vehicle, resulting in greater inconvenience of use.

Parking assistance system and method for controlling the same


Disclosed is a method for preparing a liposome formulation. In the disclosed method, a lipid fraction is dissolved in an organic solvent. The solution including a bioactive component and the lipid fraction, together with a carrier, is put in a reaction vessel, and a supercritical fluid is introduced thereto, so as to prepare particles coated with the bioactive component-lipid. The supercritical fluid is discharged by compression to obtain proliposome particles, and then the proliposome particles are hydrated by an aqueous solution including water so as to form a liposome solution. Preferably, the formulation may include one or more bioactive components. As required, the liposome formulation may be further processed by methods such as particle size reduction, removal of organic solvent, and freeze-drying. The preparation method can be easily carried out at a laboratory scale. Furthermore, the same method can be employed in liposome formulation preparation in mass production, or at a commercial scale.

A liposome is a vesicle including phospholipids and their derivatives. It spontaneously forms a vesicle when phospholipids and their derivatives are dispersed in water, and has a characteristic of a lipid bilayer which includes an aqueous nucleus therewithin. Various liposomes have been used as carriers for drugs, enzymes, and therapeutic agents such as gene sequences in medical, pharmacy, and biochemistry fields.
Examples of liposome compositions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,983,397; 6,476,068; 5,834,012; 5,756,069; 6,387,397; 5,534,241; 4,789,633; 4,925,661; 6,153,596; 6,057,299; 5,648,478; 6,723,338; 6,627,218; US Patent Publication Nos 2003/0224037; 2004/0022842; 2001/0033860; 2003/0072794; 2003/0082228; 2003/0212031; 2003/0203865; 2004/0142025; 2004/0071768; International Patent Publication Nos WO 00/74646; WO 96/13250; WO 98/33481; Papahadjopolulos D, Allen T M, Gbizon A, et al. "Sterically stabilized liposomes: Improvements in pharmacokinetics and antitumor therapeutic efficacy" Proc Natl Acad Sci U.S.A. (1991) 88: 11460-11464; Allen T M, Martin F J. "Advantages of liposomal delivery systems for anthracyclines" Semin Oncol (2004) 31: 5-15 (suppl 13). Weissig et al. Pharm. Res. (1998) 15: 1552-1556.
Various methods for preparing liposome have been known in the technical fields of the present invention, and some of them are described in detail in Liposome Technology 2nd Edition in G. Gregoriadis, CRC Press Inc., Boca Raton (1993).
In a case of these conventional liposome preparation technologies, it is possible to effectively prepare liposome at a small laboratory-scale manufacturing scale. However, the technologies have a large problem in that at a large commercial manufacturing scale, it is impossible to effectively mass-produce liposome due to some problems such as removal of an organic solvent used for dissolving phospholipids, and a size of a reactor for forming a lipid membrane.
As one of liposome preparing methods for commercial-scale mass-production, US Patent Publication No. 2004/0175417 discloses a method for preparing liposome, in which a complex of amphotericin B and phospholipids is formed in a mixed solution of oxidized chloroform and methanol, and then is spray-dried so as to provide lipid powder. However, this technology has a large problem in that high-boiling point solvents, such as dimethyacetamide (DMA), dimethylformamide (DMF), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), cannot be employed in a process because heated air is used for removing an organic solvent during a thy-spray process. The above mentioned solvents such as DMA, DMF and DMSO are generally known to sufficiently dissolve amphotericin B and maintain the stability of the dissolved amphotericin B.

Method and apparatus for preparing novel liposome


Disclosed are an electrode for high-frequency surgery, a high-frequency surgery device, and a method for controlling same, wherein the electrode for high-frequency surgery can be easily inserted and moved inside the lumens inside the body, and can expand a conduction area of a high-frequency current after reaching an area to be treated. The electrode for the high-frequency surgery, according to the present invention, comprises: a balloon; and a conductive structure, which is arranged on the outside of the balloon and the exterior shape of which varies according to the volume of the balloon.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrode for radiofrequency surgery, a radiofrequency surgery device, and a method of controlling the same, and more particularly, to an electrode for radiofrequency surgery that is used to remove an abnormal tissue inside the body by using heat generated when a radiofrequency current is conducted, a radiofrequency surgery device, and a method of controlling the same.
Related Art
Recently, a surgery method in which an abnormal tissue inside a body is cut by using heat generated when a radiofrequency current is conducted inside the body. In the surgery method using the radiofrequency current, as compared with a surgery method in which a part of the body is cut and various surgery tools are directly inserted into the body, there are advantages in that pain is small and a treatment time and a recovery time are shortened.
The electrode for radiofrequency surgery is already disclosed in "Korean patent No. 10-0758025; electrode for radiofrequency surgery". The Patent includes a bent hollow electrode and a sharp electrode needle. Accordingly, in the Patent No. 10-0758025, a conducting part is accurately positioned, and heating of the conducting part may be precisely controlled.
However, In the Patent No. 10-0758025, since the heating of the conducting part is concentrated at a predetermined portion, there is a problem in that the radiofrequency current is not efficiently used in a wide area to be treated.
Further, in the Patent No. 10-0758025, while the bent hollow electrode is inserted or moved in the lumen of the body having a relatively narrow internal space such as esophagus, duodenum, small intestine, and large intestine, there is a problem in that the electrode needle interferes in a normal tissue to damage the normal tissue.

Electrode for high-frequency surgery and high-frequency surgery device


The dynamic range of an image intensifier camera may be extended by using an automatic exposure control system which, in response to imager output (for example, the output of a charge coupled device (CCD) imager included in a solid state image intensifier camera), (a) generates a first control signal that controls the gain of the I.sup.2 Tube itself; (b) generates a second control signal for selectively gating the I.sup.2 Tube on or off; and (c) generates a third control signal for controlling a light attenuator that, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, is included in the camera. The automatic exposure control system contemplated by the invention has a control range in excess of 10.sup.10 .times.; takes a measurement of the exposure from an imager (again, for example, a CCD sensor) for comparison to a desired setpoint; the measurement used may be a peak, an average or some weighted function and the automatic exposure control logic then adjusts, in order, the I.sup.2 Tube gain, the I.sup.2 Tube gating and the light attenuator (using the aforementioned first, second and third control signals), to adjust for steadily increasing light from the object under observation. In addition to automatic exposure control systems per se, the invention is also directed to camera systems which incorporate such automatic exposure control systems and to methods for realizing the automatic exposure control systems of the type described hereinafter.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to imaging systems or cameras (such as video cameras), and exposure control systems for such systems/cameras.
More particularly, the invention relates to image intensifier cameras (cameras that includes an Image Intensifier Tube, referred to hereinafter as an "I.sup.2 Tube"), and automatic exposure control systems for such cameras.
According to one aspect of the invention, the dynamic range of an image intensifier camera may be extended by using an automatic exposure control system which, in response to imager output (for example, the output of a charge coupled device (CCD) imager included in a solid state image intensifier camera), (a) generates a first control signal that controls the gain of the I.sup.2 Tube itself; (b) generates a second control signal for selectively gating the I.sup.2 Tube on or off; and (c) generates a third control signal for controlling a light attenuator that, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, is included in the camera. The automatic exposure control system contemplated by the invention has a control range in excess of 10.sup.10 .times..
According to a further aspect of the invention, the automatic exposure control system takes a measurement of the exposure from an imager (again, for example, a CCD sensor) and digitizes it for comparison to a desired setpoint. The measurement used may be a peak, an average or some weighted function. The automatic exposure control logic then adjusts, in order, the I.sup.2 Tube gain, the I.sup.2 Tube gating and the light attenuator (using the aforementioned first, second and third control signals), to adjust for steadily increasing light from the object under observation.
In addition to automatic exposure control systems per se, the invention is also directed to camera systems which incorporate such automatic exposure control systems and to methods for realizing the automatic exposure control systems of the type described hereinafter.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
A variety of automatic light control systems for imaging/camera systems are well known in the prior art. In addition, a wide variety such systems that utilize image intensifiers (such as an I.sup.2 Tube) and/or solid state imagers (such as a CCD imager) are also well known.
These systems have many applications, including television camera systems, navigational and tracking systems, etc. For many of these systems it is desirable to have a wide dynamic range of performance which permits system operation over a wide range of changing light conditions, ranging from very low light conditions (e.g., systems which operate at night), to high intensity light conditions.
Several patents are briefly described hereinafter for background purposes and to illustrate the state of the prior art.
Prince et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,050,085, describes a mechanical system for automatically regulating light input to an electro-optical imaging system used in tracking and navigational systems. According to Prince et al., light measurements, that include peak, average and weighted measurements, are taken and used for controlling an I.sup.2 Tube, a vidicon with adjustable gain, a mechanical iris controller and a number of amplifiers.
Gilligan et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,014, describes a pulse modulated automatic light control system for a television camera.
The use of CCD or solid state imaging devices in place of film in cameras is described in Ochi et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,016. A further example of a prior art CCD or solid state imaging device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,851,914, to Pfanhouser et al., which describes a high speed full frame imaging CCD camera.
Woolfolk, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,057, describes an exposure control system for a TV camera which uses a gated I.sup.2 Tube to enable low light television systems to be used over a wide dynamic range of light input.
Lam et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,918,534, describes an image processing system which includes an I.sup.2 Tube, an LCD attenuator, a TV camera and a brightness control circuit which controls the attenuator.
Gilligan et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,985,773, discloses an exposure control system for a TV camera which includes an I.sup.2 Tube controlled using an amplitude adjustable, periodically pulsed signal.
Wijen, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,275, describes a video camera with light intensity control means including an adjustable light attenuating liquid crystal plate.
Yoshimura et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,424, describes a solid state video camera (CCD based) that includes noise reduction signal processing apparatus.
Seppi et. al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,532 describes a method for improving the dynamic range of an X-ray camera which includes an IIT. The video signal is digitized for further processing in the control circuitry.
Alford et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,428, hereby incorporated by reference, discusses (in the "Related Art" section of this reference) the use of CCDs in camera images to enable the production of smaller and more durable camera imagers; the effort spent on developing exposure control systems for effectively controlling imager sensitivity to incident light on the imager (that is, controlling the amount of charge a CCD accumulates during a field integration period); prior art exposure control systems which relied on (i.e., are implemented using) mechanical devices (such as a mechanical iris/or mechanical shutter wheel, etc.); relatively large vacuum tube type imagers; on chip shuttering options which allow accumulated charge in the charge storage wells of a CCD to be dumped before the end of a normal integration period, etc.
In addition to the outlining of systems exemplifying the state of the art, the incorporated reference discloses a high performance exposure control system for effectively controlling CCD light sensitivity under varying light conditions. In particular, the Alford et al. reference teaches controlling CCD light sensitivity by electrically controlling a CCD such that the CCD discharges the charge resultant from incident light for a percentage of a field integration period. In other words, the incorporated reference electronically varies the CCD's exposure time.
The technique proposed by Alford, et al. for controlling exposure in their solid state imager, namely electronically controlling CCD exposure time directly, has a potentially negative impact on imager tube life (for example, I.sup.2 Tube life), which is a major contributor to imager failure rates. The failure mechanism of these devices is associated with the average current, which is not held constant by Alford at al., and similar systems.
Furthermore, the use of tube current for exposure level detection does not lend itself towards tailoring the exposure control loop to various applications in which it may be desirable to emphasize, de-emphasize or even ignore portions of a scene contributing to a desired exposure level.
Still further, none of the exemplary prior art discussed hereinbefore provides a wide range exposure control mechanism for image intensifier cameras, where wide range is defined as a control range in excess of 10.sup.10 .times..
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide image intensifier cameras having a wide dynamic range of performance which permits system operation over a wide range of changing light conditions, ranging from very low light conditions (e.g., systems which operate at night), to high intensity light conditions.
In particular, it would be desirable to provide methods and apparatus for being able to extend the dynamic range of image intensifier cameras to a control range in excess of 10.sup.10 .times..
Furthermore, it would be desirable to provide methods and apparatus for controlling the dynamic range of image intensifier cameras, in particular those cameras utilizing I.sup.2 Tubes, which prolong tube life by directly controlling the image intensifier tube itself (as opposed to controlling, for example, CCD exposure time as performed by Alford et al.).
Still further, it would be desirable to provide methods and apparatus for controlling the dynamic range of image intensifier cameras which allows the response of the exposure control loop to be tailored to various applications in order, for example, to allow specific parts of the scene can be emphasized, de-emphasized or ignored totally as they contribute to the desired exposure level.

Methods and apparatus for providing wide range exposure control for image intensifier cameras


A flexible memory mapper for selectively inverting the state of an address line on an address bus includes a selectable inverter element and a control circuit. The selectable inverter element has a control input coupled to an output of the control circuit, an input, and an output. The control input, the input, and the output are capable of being in two logic levels. When the control input is in a first logic level, the input is passed through uninverted to the output of the selectable inverter element. When the control input is in a second logic level, the input is passed through inverted to the output of the selectable inverter element. The control circuit output feeds one of two logic levels to the control input of the selectable inverter element, outputting the second logic level in response to an input address within a selected address range and a user selectable input bit, and otherwise outputting the first logic level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the mapping of a first memory address into a second memory address. More particularly, the present invention relates to the mapping of a large BIOS into any system ROM address space, the accessing of an entire flash ROM from a 32K window of the system ROM, and in the case of flash ROMs, the switching of a boot block code section with a BIOS code section in the system ROM address space.
2. The Prior Art
A computer system includes a ROM which is used to hold initial startup code and the System BIOS ROM. The computer may also contain other ROMs on add in cards. When additional ROM add in cards are built onto the system board, they are often combined with the system ROM, since one larger ROM is cheaper to produce than several smaller ones.
ROMS require 16 to 19 address lines, depending upon their size. The CPU memory map is shown in Table 1 as follows:
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ CPU Memory: Size Function ______________________________________ 100000 & above Main memory F0000-FFFFF 64K System ROM E0000-EFFFF 64K System ROM extension D0000-DFFFF 64K Miscellaneous CC000-CFFFF 16K Other ROMS C8000-CBFFF 16K Disk C0000-C7FFF 32K Graphics ROM A0000-BFFFF Video 00000-9FFFF Main Memory ______________________________________
The available address space for the ROMS is a 256K address space from C0000-1M. The memory space F0000-FFFFF is allocated to System ROM. Although the 64K space E0000-EFFFF is allocated as a System ROM extension, the space may be used for other purposes if not used.
The memory spaces above 1M and below C0000 are not available for the ROMs. The memory space above 1M is inaccessible in some modes. The 64K space C0000-CFFFF is preferably left unused in order to allow customers to use this space for programming purposes. From 0 to A is system memory, which is never on the ISA bus.
BIOS
The BIOS serves many functions, both at start-up and after the operating system has taken control of the microprocessor. The BIOS is used for system configuration and IO related functions. An important function of the system BIOS is that it can map in the setup screen, PCI plug and play code, plug and play storage areas, etc.
The prior art merely imposes limitations on where each block can be mapped, limited to the granularity of the size of the block being mapped. To prevent two blocks from accessing the same location in the system memory, a need exists in the prior art for a more versatile means of mapping into the system ROM. Furthermore, a need exists in the prior art for a method of mapping into the system ROM while maintaining a 32K byte granularity.
As the BIOSes provide more functionality, the normal 64K space allocated in ROM is not sufficient. Although expansion is possible, 128K is the limit. A need exists in the prior art for a mapping method which would allow paging of a large BIOS into any ROM address space.
Flash ROM reprogramming
Flash ROMs are a non-volatile form of storage which have recently been used for embedded code storage (e.g., BIOS code). Most importantly, they provide the user with an easy, low-cost method of reprogramming the BIOS and storing system configuration information after the system is in the user's hands.
Windows 95 provides only a 64K byte memory space when it requests that plug-and-play information be written to non-volatile storage. Both the program to perform the reprogramming and the flash ROM to be programmed must reside in this area. Ideally, 32K of this space is allocated to the flash ROM area and 32K is allocated to the code. The code must move itself between the two halves, being able to program a maximum of a 64K byte memory space. A need exists for a means for accessing the entire flash ROM from a 32K window.
"Boot Block": Address Switching
Reprogramming a flash ROM requires that it be completely erased before reprogramming. If reprogramming is interrupted, such as by a power loss, the flash ROM could be left in an erased or partially erased state. If this occurs, the computer will no longer operate after the power is restored because the initial startup code has been erased or corrupted. This problem was solved by a "boot block" function.
The "boot block" function includes a small section of the flash ROM which is unalterable once programmed by the manufacturer. This "boot block code" contains a startup program which checks the integrity of the remainder of the ROM, then reprograms the corrupted portion of the ROM from a disk.
The boot block area is initially located where the CPU begins executing code, at the highest location of the ROM. Once the integrity test is complete, a typical system remaps the ROM by inverting the highest address bit to the ROM, since it is considered undesireable for the integrity test code to be taking up this prime location in the memory map. Since the "boot block" code resides in the ROM where the system BIOS is generally found, the BIOS replaces the boot block code via an "Address Line Inversion".
The "Address Line Inversion" is performed by inverting the highest address bit (MSB) to the ROM, switching the upper and lower halves. The address bit that must be flipped is different for different size ROMs. For 1 Mbit ROMs A16 is flipped, 2 Mbit ROMs A17 is flipped, and 4 Mbit ROMs A18 is flipped. According to the prior art, the control functions are built into the core logic, and are specific to a particular size ROM. A need exists in the prior art for a versatile method of selectively inverting the highest address line from the processor which is used by the ROM (e.g., flash ROM).

Configurable address line inverter for remapping memory


A configurable input element of a controlling device is configured by using a data representative of an over-the-top (OTT) media app determined to be installed on an OTT device and a data representative of the OTT device to identify at least one command that is required to be transmitted to cause the OTT device to launch the OTT media app. The at least one command is provisioned to the controlling device and assigned to the configurable input element. When the input element is subsequently activated, the controlling device will transmit the at least one command to cause the OTT device to launch the OTT media app.

Systems and methods for obtaining information about appliances that are included within a given environment, such as the home, are known in the art. Most often, such information is obtained to configure or "set-up" a controlling device. In this regard, a controlling device is typically configured by being provisioned with an appropriate set of command data, from within a library of command data sets, for each of the specific appliances to be controlled. The appliance identifying information in such a system is typically information that serves to identify each appliance by its make, and/or model, and/or type.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 10,305,969, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a system and method for appliance detection and app configuration. A presence of an appliance on a wireless network, which includes a smart device, is detected and data received from the appliance is used to initiate a retrieval of the app. When the retrieved app is installed on the smart device the app is usable with the smart device to provide at least an interface between the smart device and the appliance. In some circumstance, installation of the app on the smart device may also include causing the app to be synchronized with a corresponding app that was prior installed on another smart device capable of communicating with the appliance.
In an additional example, US Publication No. 2016/0219141, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a method and system in which an appliance includes a Bluetooth module which is used to communicate with an appliance app on a smartphone. The appliance app connects with the appliance and with the appliance manufacturer to provide a connection path from the appliance to the manufacturer's diagnosis computer system. The appliance and the manufacturer's diagnosis computer system can then interact and perform information transfers and diagnostic operations as desired. In some cases, the appliance app is also involved and is used to request user operations, both for information and to assist in the diagnosis if needed.
As a still further example, U.S. Publication No. 2015/0229985, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describes a controlling device having a configurable key. An overlay, such as a sticker, is provided to the configurable key and includes an indicia representative of a media content and machine readable data indicative of an identity of the media content represented by the indicia. A memory of the controlling device stores a correspondence between the configurable key and data indicative of a source of the media content. Upon activation of configured, configurable key, the controlling device uses select command codes from a library of command codes and the correspondence between the configurable key and the data indicative of the source of the media content to transmit one or more commands for causing one or more appliances to access the source of the media content.

System and method for configuring input elements of a controlling device


A permeable membrane comprising a gas permeable substrate film and a layer of a polymeric perfluoro compound on the substrate exhibits selective transport of oxygen over water vapor and a metal-air electrochemical cell comprising such a membrane has enhanced control over its water content. Suitable polymeric perfluoro compounds include perfluoropolyalkylene oxides such as polyperfluoropropylene oxide or polyperfluoropropylene oxide co-perfluoroformaldehyde. The polymeric perfluoro compound layer is desirably crosslinked to form a thin layer on the substrate film or to form a self-supporting membrane. A suitable substrate film is a microporous polymer membrane.

Metal-air electrochemical cells utilize oxygen from ambient air as a reactant in an electrochemical reaction to provide a relatively lightweight power supply. Generally described, a metal-air cell includes an air-permeable cathode and a metallic anode separated by an aqueous electrolyte. During operation of a zinc-air cell, for example, oxygen from the ambient air is converted at the cathode to hydroxide ions, zinc is oxidized at the anode and reacts with hydroxide ions, and water and electrons are released to provide electrical energy.
Cells that are useful for only a single discharge cycle are called primary cells, and cells that are rechargeable and useful for multiple discharge cycles are called secondary cells. An electrically rechargeable metal-air cell is recharged by applying voltage between the anode and the cathode of the cell and reversing the electrochemical reaction. During recharging, the cell discharges oxygen to the atmosphere through the air-permeable cathode and the anode is electrolytically reformed by reducing to the base metal, the metal oxides formed during discharge.
One problem with metal-air cells is that the difference between the ambient relative humidity and the internal relative humidity of the cell can cause the metal-air cell to fail. If ambient humidity is greater than the equilibrium relative humidity value for the metal-air cell, the metal-air cell will absorb water from the air through the cathode and fail due to a condition called flooding. Flooding may cause the cell to leak. If the ambient humidity is less than the equilibrium relative humidity value for the metal-air cell, the cell will release water vapor from the electrolyte through the air cathode and fail due to drying out. In most environments where a metal-air battery cell is used, failure occurs from drying out.
Drying out and flooding are greater problems for secondary (rechargeable) metal-air cells than for primary metal-air cells. Although ambient humidity may not be a sufficient problem to flood or dry out a cell after a single cycle, cumulative water gain or loss from a series of discharge and charge cycles can cause premature failure of a secondary metal-air cell.
Thus, it has been desirable to control the exposure of the air cathode in a metal-air cell to air so that the amount of oxygen supplied to the cathode is sufficient to generate the power demands of the cell, but the amount of air to which the cathode is exposed is insufficient to cause premature failure of the cell through flooding or drying out. To control the exposure of the air cathode in a metal-air cell to air, cell case structures and air management systems have been developed to limit the air exposure of the air cathode to air.
One approach to controlling the water vapor content of a metal-air cell is through the use of an air manager system. In an air manger system, a fan supplies air through a system of sized openings and plenums in a housing containing an array of metal-air cells. The exposure of the air cathode of the cell to air is controlled by the rate of delivery of air by the fan and the size of the plenums and the openings in the housing. Such arrangements have been effective to control the water content of metal-air cells; however, they are relatively costly to produce because of the necessity of air-tight seals and appropriate part tolerances to deliver the appropriate amount of air to the cells.
Another method for controlling the amount of water vapor in a metal-air cell is with a membrane such as a thin layer of microporous material disposed adjacent an air cathode. The pores in the membrane control the exposure of the air cathode to air to limit the flow of water vapor in and out of the cell.
Still another article for controlling the water content of a metal-air cell is a perforated mask covering the air cathode and forming an air plenum adjacent the air cathode. The openings in the mask are sized and distributed across the mask so as to allow a sufficient amount of air to the air cathode for an adequate production of power from the cell, but limit the amount of air to which the air cathode is exposed so as to prevent premature failure of the cell from flooding, drying out, or contamination. Although such arrangements are effective to control the water vapor content of the cell to some extent, greater control is desirable.
Accordingly, there is a need for a metal-air cell with enhanced control over the water content of the cell.

Membrane for selective transport of oxygen over water vapor and metal-air electrochemical cell including said membrane


A method and system of analyzing signal-vector data from first order sensors including providing a training data set, adjusting the training data set using a background adjustment technique, normalizing and transforming the training data set into wavelet coefficients, using an automated analysis of variance feature selection technique and a pattern recognition technique to classify the training data set. The method and system may also include performing these operations on an unknown sample data set collected under unknown conditions and comparing the unknown sample data set to the classification model to provide an identity of the unknown conditions associated with the unknown sample data set. The present invention is also directed to a computer system for analyzing signal-vector data according to this method and a sensing system that includes a sensor and a microprocessor on which is stored a classification model for real-time sensing of unknown sample data sets.

Most conventional sensors for the detection of chemicals and/or fire are electrochemical sensors. Electrochemical sensors operate at a fixed potential. Changes in that fixed potential, caused by the presence of an analyte, signal the analytes presence. Most often these sensors are directed towards the recognition of a single analyte and utilize a single sensor or a simple array of sensors.
Current concerns about homeland security, battlefield protection and terrorist activities have created an interest in sensors that detect a variety of chemicals, such as a variety of blood agents, toxic industrial chemicals, explosives, etc, preferably with specificity for the identification of type and quantity of chemicals detected.
Also, an interest has developed in fire prevention and fire detection. Along with fire detection, early detection of various gases or of precursors of fires, before the presence of flame and smoke, which are necessary for detection using conventional smoke detection/fire detection devices, is also desirable. For example, with increased automation on ships, the Navy has sought fire detection systems capable of improved performance over conventional smoke detectors. To the extent such precursors can be identified, fire prevention can occur in advance of mere fire detection to avoid damage to expensive infrastructure.
Although the use of multiple conventional electrochemical sensors monitoring multiple criteria has been studied for this type of chemical identification with varying degree of success, most of the sensors did not have the specificity desired. For example, in fire detection, multiple criteria electrochemical sensors have difficulty discriminating fire-like nuisance sources, such as welding, grinding steel, and cutting with a torch. Further, multiple criteria electrochemical sensors are typically limited to only a few standardized test sources, without providing the range of detection capability often desired.
Cermet sensors are well known in the art that use various ceramic metallic (cermet) films. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,218,687, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Rather than operating based on a single potential, some cermet sensors characterize data using cyclic voltammetry, in which current is measured while manipulating the potential in a cyclical fashion. Thus, the data provided by such sensors is provided in a cyclical waveform.
Cermet sensor arrays have been used for more realistic and difficult conditions than prior electrochemical sensors and have been used to identify chemical analytes and fires, particularly distinguishing nuisance sources from harmful events. Such cermet sensors are capable of high temperature operation and can be fabricated using both thick and thin film techniques. Cermet sensors are small, lightweight and low cost alternatives to conventional electrochemical sensors. Plus, cermet sensors have design flexibility since different cermet sensors may respond to the same gas in different ways. Using conventional methods for data analysis of cyclic voltammetry, cermet sensors are capable of detecting very low level concentrations (part per billion) for a variety of analytes using aqueous electrolytes, but only higher levels (parts per million) for gas phase detection.
However, the use of cyclic voltammetry creates complex data waveforms having a great deal of information, such as peak position, magnitude, and shape, all of which can be exploited for analytical purposes. Such waveforms contain data that incorporates variations in the presence, concentration, temperature, accessibility to the sensor, function of the sensor etc. which must be selectively analyzed before any meaningful information about the identity and/or quantity of a certain analyte or fire/non-fire condition can be ascertained.
Previously pattern recognition software has been used to analyze waveform data. However, the shear volume of data generated by cyclic voltammetry has caused concern about accuracy of probable identification of analyte sources, particular in the presence of quite similar nuisance sources. Further, the volume of data required may be more than a microprocessor embedded within a portable device used for field applications is capable of processing in a fast, real-time manner.
Wavelet analysis of analytical data prior to pattern recognition has been used in a variety of different applications. For example, wavelet analysis has been used in medicine to specifically look at identifying conditions from time-dependant data such as EEG and ECG scans and in identifying features of interest in medical imagery. Non-medical applications also included image analysis, as well as optical character recognition, and acoustic pattern recognition.
In sensing applications, wavelet analysis of linear voltammetric data of analytical chemical data, has been demonstrated as a means of de-noising linear voltammetric data. An "electric tongue" system has been developed for monitoring industrial liquid process streams. They utilize a "Wavelet Neural Network" as a pattern recognition technique which incorporates wavelet transformation into a feed forward multilayer neural network architecture. The parameters of the wavelet transform are thus modified by the error propagation structure of the neural network during training. Wavelet packet transforms have also been used for pattern recognition. The wavelet packet transforms have included the use of a Euclidean distance measure to generate the best wavelet basis set of an analytical signal for classification purposes. This approach has been generally applied only to spectroscopic and chromatographic data. Wavelet transformation has also been used for semi-conductor based gas sensors, particularly the use of discrete wavelet transform as a data pretreatment step prior to pattern recognition via a number of different techniques. Wavelet transform followed by classification by a PNN has been done by HPLC-DAD data in the classification of Chilean wines, peak detection in LC-TOF MS data and to capture features in NIR data.
In these various known data analysis techniques, the wavelet-transformed data are not down-selected or narrowed based on any particular classifying ability. As such, the data continues to include random variables and data points which are not necessary for classification purposes. The inclusion of unnecessary data points increases processing time and creates additional variables which can unnecessarily complicate or interfere with pattern recognition. In some cases, the wavelet coefficients may be selected based upon mere visual inspection. However, it is particularly difficult to discern narrow differences by mere visual inspection. In other cases, another "quick and dirty" method has been used to reduces the wavelet data, but not by any particular method particularly suitable for classification purposes. These "quick and dirty" methods do not ensure selection of the most desirable features of a wavelet, which can lead to lack of accuracy in pattern recognition.

Method and system for analyzing signal-vector data for pattern recognition from first order sensors

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A saddle-riding vehicle includes a radiator in front of an engine of the saddle-riding vehicle and on one lateral side of the vehicle in a vehicle widthwise direction with respect to a center line in the vehicle widthwise direction. The radiator includes: a radiator body that allows coolant of the engine to flow through the radiator body; a radiator fan at a rear face of the radiator body; and a fan cover that covers the radiator fan from a rear of the radiator fan to guide exhaust air from the radiator to the one lateral side in the vehicle widthwise direction.

Some saddle-riding vehicles such as motorcycles have been known in which a radiator is disposed on one lateral side of the vehicle in a vehicle widthwise direction (for example, JP Patent No. 6224148). Such a radiator cools coolant of the engine with incoming wind during traveling and cools the coolant of the engine using a cooling fan during driving at low speed and during stopping. Exhaust air after cooling the coolant is discharged to the outside of the vehicle body from an exhaust air port in a shroud.
In such a vehicle, for example, when a fuel tank is increased in size and thus has a larger dimension in the vehicle widthwise direction, the shroud is arranged at a more outward position in the vehicle widthwise direction. In this case, the exhaust air from the radiator flows more outward in the vehicle widthwise direction during traveling, so that the exhaust air blows onto a leg of a rider, possibly causing deterioration in comfort of the rider during driving.


Described are methods, systems, and apparatuses, including computer program products, for selectively displaying song lyrics in a rhythm-action game. In one aspect this is accomplished by determining a number of vocal cues to be displayed on a display in communication with a game platform, where the vocal cues are each associated with a lyric. Provided a number of areas available to display a set of lyrics, either before run-time or determined at run-time, the game platform determines, based on a lyric priority associated with each lyric, which of the lyrics associated with each vocal cue to display when the number of vocal cues exceeds the number of areas available.

Music making is often a collaborative effort among many musicians who interact with each other. One form of musical interaction may be provided by a video game genre known as "rhythm-action," which involves a player performing phrases from an assigned, prerecorded musical composition using a video game's input device to simulate a musical performance. If the player performs a sufficient percentage of the notes or cues displayed for the assigned part, the singer may score well for that part and win the game. If the player fails to perform a sufficient percentage, the singer may score poorly and lose the game. Two or more players may compete against each other, such as by each one attempting to play back different, parallel musical phrases from the same song simultaneously, by playing alternating musical phrases from a song, or by playing similar phrases simultaneously. The player who plays the highest percentage of notes correctly may achieve the highest score and win.
Two or more players may also play with each other cooperatively. In this mode, players may work together to play a song, such as by playing different parts of a song, either on similar or dissimilar instruments. One example of a rhythm-action game with different instruments is the ROCK BAND® series of games, developed by Harmonix Music Systems, Inc. and published by Electronic Arts, Inc. and MTV Games. ROCK BAND® simulates a band experience by allowing players to play a rhythm-action game using various simulated instruments, e.g., a simulated guitar, a simulated bass guitar, a simulated drum set, or by singing into a microphone. Other examples of rhythm-action games, focused specifically on singing or vocal performances are the KARAOKE REVOLUTION® series of games published by Konami Digital Entertainment, the SINGSTAR® series published by SONY Computer Entertainment, and LIPS™ published by Microsoft Corporation. An example of a prior art systems and methods for comparing a received vocal input's pitch and timing to a particular vocal track pitch is U.S. Pat. No. 7,164,076 to McHale et al.
Prior rhythm-action games directed to vocal performance typically allow one or more players to sing the main vocal part of a song, i.e., the vocal melody. Often the interfaces of these games are similar to traditional karaoke interfaces in that the lyrics appear as words on a display in a sequence and some indication is given to the player which lyrics should be sung when. For example, in Microsoft's LIPS™ game, a lyrical phrase is displayed in white text in the center of the screen and when a word is supposed to be sung, that word's text changes color from white to yellow. Naturally, at the end of the phrase, the text of the entire phrase is yellow. While the current phrase is being performed, the next phrase is displayed in grey text below the current phrase and at the end of the current phrase, the new phrase is shifted up and the text is changed from grey to white.
Beyond what is offered by traditional karaoke systems, many vocal-oriented rhythm-action games also indicate to the player the pitch the player is expected to sing. In LIPS™, a series of stationary hollow horizontal cues or "note tubes" are arranged vertically according to the pitch to person is expected to sing; higher notes are displayed as tubes located higher on the display than tubes representing lower notes. The length of a note tube generally indicates the duration of the lyrics or syllable, and the tubes fill in with color only when the player is singing on key. When the next phrase is to be sung, the prior set of tubes disappears and the next set of tubes is displayed.
In SINGSTAR®, a similar pitch-relative stationary tube system is used—that is hollow tubes show what the player is expected to sing—but the input from the player also paints tubes on the screen reflecting the player's pitch. This has the effect of filling in the hollow tubes when the player is on key and coloring in areas above and below the tube when the player's voice is sharp or flat, respectively, to the expected pitch.
KARAOKE REVOLUTION® presents pitch differently that LIPS™ or SINGSTAR®. In KARAOKE REVOLUTION®, a lane is displayed to the player with a note tubes within it that scroll from right to left with lyrics that scroll under the corresponding note tubes. Both the lyrics and note tubes pass through the vertical plane of a target marker, or "Now Bar," that indicates when the lyric is supposed to be sung and at what pitch. Additionally, an arrow-shaped pitch indicator moves vertically within the lane with respect to the note tube to indicate how sharp or flat the player's voice is compared to the expected pitch represented by the note tube and aligns with the note tube and gives off "sparks" when the player is on key. Unfortunately, the display method used in KARAOKE REVOLUTION® is incompatible with certain displays and causes the lyrics of a song to "tear" and blur, thereby interfering with the player's enjoyment of the game.
Another problem with prior rhythm-action games is the handling of multiple singers. Often only one player is allowed to provide the vocals for a group. Where multiple players can sing, even as a group, players' performances are isolated with respect to each other—that is for each player a separate lane is presented on the display. This is true even when both players are singing the exact same part. Furthermore, though these existing rhythm-action games provide a single user with the ability to sing as part of a band, or sing the same vocal parts as another player, i.e., both players sing the melody as a duet or to sing as lead and backup vocals, none allow players to dynamically switch which vocal part the player is singing. In existing rhythm-action games where players can sing simultaneously, players are locked into a particular part. For example, in KARAOKE REVOLUTION® PRESENTS AMERICAN IDOL® ENCORE, during a "True Duet" where two players sing simultaneously, before the song starts, one player must choose to sing "lead vocals" while the second player chooses "backup." Once gameplay begins, each player is required to sing only the assigned phrases for the part they initially selected, and are penalized as "missing" his or her assigned part if they sing the part assigned to the other player. These part assignments remain until the end of gameplay, thus preventing player from experimenting with different parts unless they physically exchange microphones. The present invention overcomes these deficiencies in several ways.


Control and calibration solutions are described that provide control and calibration data that is recognized by a test meter allowing the meter to segregate the control and calibration data from regular test data. Recognition and segregation of the control and calibration data can occur automatically with no additional input from the meter's user. Methods for use of the solutions are also provided.

Measuring the concentration of substances, particularly in the presence of other, confounding substances, is important in many fields, and especially in medical diagnosis. For example, the measurement of glucose in body fluids, such as blood, is crucial to the effective treatment of diabetes. Proper performance and calibration of the device used in the measurement and the ability to avoid the co-mingling of control and calibration data with test data is critical to providing an effective treatment.
Diabetic therapy typically involves two types of insulin treatment: basal, and meal-time. Basal insulin refers to continuous, e.g. time-released insulin, often taken before bed. Meal-time insulin treatment provides additional doses of faster acting insulin to regulate fluctuations in blood glucose caused by a variety of factors, including the metabolization of sugars and carbohydrates. Proper regulation of blood glucose fluctuations requires accurate measurement of the concentration of glucose in the blood. Failure to do so can produce extreme complications, including blindness and loss of circulation in the extremities, which can ultimately deprive the diabetic of use of his or her fingers, hands, feet, etc.
Multiple methods are known for measuring the concentration of analytes in a blood sample, such as, for example, glucose. Such methods typically fall into one of two categories: optical methods and electrochemical methods. Optical methods generally involve reflectance or absorbance spectroscopy to observe the spectrum shift in a reagent. Such shifts are caused by a chemical reaction that produces a color change indicative of the concentration of the analyte. Electrochemical methods generally involve, alternatively, amperometric or coulometric responses indicative of the concentration of the analyte. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,029 to Columbus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,410 to Pace, U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,536 to Columbus, U.S. Pat. No. 4,008,448 to Muggli, U.S. Pat. No. 4,654,197 to Lilja et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,564 to Szuminsky et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,420 to Nankai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,015 to Szuminsky et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,243,516 to White, U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,999 to Diebold et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,636 to Pollmann et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,890 to Carter et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,884 to Hill et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,727,548 to Hill et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,817 to Crismore et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,004,441 to Fujiwara et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,919,770 to Priedel, et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 6,054,039 to Shieh, which are hereby incorporated in their entireties.
An important limitation of electrochemical methods of measuring the concentration of a chemical in blood is the effect of confounding variables on the diffusion of analyte and the various active ingredients of the reagent. For example, the geometry and state of the blood sample must correspond closely to that upon which the signal-to-concentration mapping function is based.
The geometry of the blood sample is typically controlled by a sample-receiving portion of the testing apparatus. In the case of blood glucose meters, for example, the blood sample is typically placed onto a disposable test strip that plugs into the meter. The test strip may have a sample chamber (capillary fill space) to define the geometry of the sample. Alternatively, the effects of sample geometry may be limited by assuring an effectively infinite sample size. For example, the electrodes used for measuring the analyte may be spaced closely enough so that a drop of blood on the test strip extends substantially beyond the electrodes in all directions. Ensuring adequate coverage of the measurement electrodes by the sample, however, is an important factor in achieving accurate test results. This has proven to be problematic in the past, particularly with the use of capillary fill spaces.
Other examples of limitations to the accuracy of blood glucose measurements include variations in blood composition or state (other than the aspect being measured). For example, variations in hematocrit (concentration of red blood cells), or in the concentration of other chemicals in the blood, can effect the signal generation of a blood sample. Variations in the temperature of blood samples are yet another example of a confounding variable in measuring blood chemistry.
Finally, the accuracy of blood glucose measurements also depends on the proper performance of the test meter and its proper calibration. Thus, control and calibration reagents are needed as well as methods for their use to monitor the meter's performance and accuracy. Because the review of test data obtained over a period of time and typically stored in the meter can provide valuable trends to an individual or the individual's physician, it is important that any control or calibration data ("control/calibration data") generated by the meter not be intermingled with test data. It is one object of the present disclosure to provide control and calibration reagents and methods for their use that will allow control and calibration data to be determined, recognized as control and calibration data by a test meter, stored in the meter, if desired, and not co-mingled with an individual's test data.

Control and calibration solutions and methods for their use


A handicap placard holder and method of use comprising a display surface for the placard, triangular side panels on sides of the display surface and bent at an angle from the display surface, means for holding the placard in place on the display surface, and means for attaching the holder to a dash of a motor vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to apparatuses and methods for displaying handicap placards in motor vehicles.
2. Background Art
As the importance of access for physically challenged individuals has increased, and with recent increases in the population of the elderly, the use of handicap placard in motor vehicles has also increased. Typically, because placards tend to slide around on a dashboard if displayed there while a vehicle is moving, individuals clip their placards to a sun visor, store them in a dash slot, or store them in the glove compartment while the vehicle is in motion. They then need to bring them out and place them on the dash when parked in a handicap parking stall.
Related technologies are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,112,443, to Stubbs, entitled "Emergency Signalling Apparatus and Method"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,642, to Collette, entitled "Message-Reflecting Apparatus and Method of Use"; U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,376, to Barel, entitled "Motor Vehicle Accessory Particularly Useful for Holding a Sign or Other Article"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,083, to Leff et al., entitled "Communication Aid"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,022, to Wood, Jr., entitled "Reflected Sign"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,756,106, entitled "Vehicle Message Holder"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,292, to Eckberg, II, entitled "Sign With Changeable Inserts"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,069,606, to Shevin et al., entitled "Display Card Holder"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,967, to Davis, entitled "Emergency Sign Device"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,531,880, to Ramee, entitled "Combination Identification Display and Gate Key Card"; U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,958, to Westin, entitled "Vehicle Advertising Device"; U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,637, to Saben, entitled "Mirror-Mounted Auxiliary Object Holder"; U.S. Pat. No. 1,733,293, to Brow, entitled "Map Support for Motorists"; and U.S. Pat. No. 1,697,700, to Tucker et al., entitled "Card Holder for Automobiles".
However, no existing device provides the features of simplicity and reliability provided by the present invention.