A session is established between a user system and an existing version of a network application. Once the session is established, session information corresponding to the session is determined and then communicated to the user system. The session information typically includes a version identifier that identifies the existing version of the network application. Requests received during the same session are accompanied with the session information. The session information is used to route the requests to the existing version of the network application.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method, system and program product for managing multiple network (e.g., web) application versions.
2. Related Art
As technology continues to improve, computer users are increasing relying on networks such as the World Wide Web to conduct personal and professional business. For example, today a computer user can pay bills, order goods/services and obtain information using any network-enabled computerized device (e.g., a personal computer, a laptop, a hand-held device, etc.). To meet this growing demand, many businesses currently provide a variety of on-line services. In general, a business that wishes to allow their customers to transact business in a network environment (e.g., on-line) must implement one or more network (e.g., web) applications. For example, if a bank wishes to offer on-line banking services to their customers, the bank must implement a web banking application on a server or the like to which the customers can connect. Once the necessary banking application is provided, the customers will establish web-based "sessions" with the banking application to conduct their banking transactions.
Unfortunately, although providing on-line capabilities to customers can prove to be a great convenience and attraction to customers, problems arise when the web applications must be updated. Specifically, many applications are regularly updated to provide additional features, an improved look and feel, etc. Deployment of a new version of a network application typically involves removal of the old version. Such removal, however, can be the cause of many problems. For example, customers that have an active session formed with the old version should continue to communicate with the old version. If the customers suddenly begin to communicate with the new version, errors in the underlying transactions could occur. Accordingly, if the old version is removed while sessions are still active, many problems could arise.
Previous attempts to address these issues often involved stopping the server on which the network application is deployed. For example, one previous attempt required stopping the server, updating the application and then re-starting the server. Another attempt involved loading the new version on a different server, and then stopping the old server. Still yet another attempt involved installing the new version with a different uniform resource locator (URL) representing the application, updating the references to go to the new URL, and then stopping the old server. With any of these approaches, however, there is often a delay between server stop and start, which results in the loss of network traffic. Moreover, any users who have sessions with the old versions will see the new version when the switch happens. If there are important updates occurring with the new version, failures may result where the session "state" is not compatible between the two versions. In addition, if the URL is changed, the administrator of the server must update any other applications that reference the current application being upgraded.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for a method, system and program product for managing multiple network application versions. Specifically, a need exists for an existing version of a network application to be identified based on a version identifier. A further need exists for requests received pursuant to an active session between the existing network application and a user system to be accompanied with the version identifier. After a new version of the network application is deployed, a further need exists for new sessions to be established with the new version, while existing sessions with the old version continue to operate.

Method, system and program product for managing multiple network application versions

International Business Machines Corporation


A charged particle beam writing method for determining an optimal exposure dose for each position in a pattern to be drawn on a target before actually drawing the pattern by irradiating the target with charged particles and drawing the pattern with the obtained optimal exposure doses, comprising the first step of determining the first approximate optimal exposure dose for each position on said target, the second step of determining the second optimal exposure dose for each position on said target by determining a corrective value di for correcting said first approximate optimal exposure dose obtained by multiplying the error in the exposure dose of the position produced when exposed to said first approximate optimal exposure dose by a regulation coefficient of a value substantially equal to the exposure dose U(x, y) to back scattering charged particles and adding said corrective value to said first approximate optimal exposure dose, said exposure dose being variable as a function of the location (x, y) of the position, the third step of repeating one of (1) the second step for a predetermined number of times, (2) the second step until each of said second approximate optimal exposure doses tends to converge, and (3) the second step until all the errors in said second approximate optimal exposure doses are found within a predetermined value.

This invention relates to the technology of charged particle lithography and, more particularly, relates to a charged particle beam writing method and writing system to reduce a proximity effect.
In recent years, electron beam writing system have popularly been used for drawing fine patterns on samples such as semiconductor wafers and mask substrates. However, such apparatus are accompanied by a problem of distorted patterns given rise to by back scattering electrons, which is called as proximity effect.
The exposure dose correction method is an effective way of correcting the proximity effect. With this method, the exposure dose by electron beams is defined for each position to be exposed to electron beams on the sample as a function of the size of drawing pattern and the line density of the pattern to be drawn. Known techniques for defining the exposure dose include (a) the one using a matrix (M. Parikh, J. App. Phys. 19, p4371, p4378, p4383 (1979)) and (b) the one using simple approximation formulas (e.g., J. M. Parkovich, Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B4, p159 (1986)).
With technique (a), the relationship between the exposure dose and the exposure dose is expressed in terms of a matrix for each position to be exposed to electron beams on the sample and an optimal exposure dose is obtained for the position by determining an inverse matrix for the given matrix. This technique is advantageous in that the determined optimal exposure dose is accurate if a sufficiently small figure is used for determining the exposure dose. On the other hand, it has a disadvantage of consuming enormous time for various calculations. For instance, several hundred to several thousand hours may be required to correct the exposure dose for an entire LSI chip for direct drawing.
With technique (b), an approximate optimal exposure dose D,is determined by calculation using, for example, the following formulas. EQU D'=C/(1/2+.eta.U) (i) EQU U=(1/.pi.).intg. exp {-(x-x').sup.2 }dx' (ii)
where C is a constant and .eta. is the ratio of the exposure dose of the applied resist to forward scattering electron beams to the exposure dose of the resist to back scattering electron beams. The integral of parameter U is determined for the area to be patterned.
(In the following description, the size, length and position of the figure are normalized so as to make the amplitude of back scattering .sigma..sub.b equal to 1.)
It will be understood by referring to FIG. 1 that equation (ii) can be transformed into formula (iii) below. EQU U=.SIGMA.{erf(x.sub.Ri -x)-erf(x.sub.Li -x)}.times.{erf(y.sub.Ui -y)-erf(y.sub.Di -y)} (iii)
where erf represents an error function and the integration range is between 0 and u. EQU erf=.pi..sup.-1/2 .intg. exp (-u.sup.2)du (iV)
Thus, the exposure dose is estimated at position (x, y) and the addition using .SIGMA. is conducted for rectangles located, at least partly, within a circle having its center at (x, y) and a radius of about 2 to 3. The circle may be replaced by a square or a rectangle having its center also at (x, y) and sides that are about 4 to 6 long.
Calculations using formulas (iii) and (iv) can be carried out very quickly if the following procedures are employed.
(I) Prepare in advance a table for the error function. PA0 (II) Determine the value of parameter U for each peripheral figure, using the table of (I) and carrying out the calculation of formula (iii). PA0 (III) Determine an approximate optimal exposure dose, using the result of (II) and formula (i).
As will be seen from above, the technique of using approximation can be operated very quickly. In fact, the operation of correcting the LSI pattern directly drawn by electron beams can be carried out in an hour for a chip by also using the representative figure method. Note however, the obtained result represents an approximate value after all.
FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate the error that occurs with the approximation technique. FIG. 2B shows the absorbed energy amount in a resist observed along the dotted chain line of FIG. 2A when a pattern as shown in FIG. 2A is irradiated with electron beams. In FIG. 2B, the solid line shows the ideal exposure dose, whereas the broken line shows the approximate exposure dose obtained by formula (i).
As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the error in the exposure dose can be as large as 3 to 4%, which has been neglected but is not negligible when lines with a minimal width of less than 0.2 .mu.m are drawn directly by electron beams. In the case of preparing a reticle, the lines on the reticle may show a width that is as small as less than 0.5 .mu.m.
Calculations for proximity effect correction are performed for the entire area of the pattern to be formed by lithography to consequently give rise to a problem as described below if calculations are carried out for proximity effect correction within the electron beam writing system. For instance, if the calculations for proximity effect correction takes an hour and the lithographic operation also takes an hour, the time consumed for the entire operation including the operation of proximity effect correction will be two hours.
A huge amount of data is required for drawing a large LSI pattern and a high precision level is required for drawing an LSI pattern with an enhanced degree of integration. As a result, the time required for the calculations involved in the operation of proximity effect correction will become enormous than ever. If the time consumed for the calculations using hardware is held to a realistic level, the electron beam writing system cannot carry out a pattern drawing operation without a large set of figure data necessary for drawing a pattern. Thus, the time required for the calculations can significantly reduce the operating efficiency of the electron beam writing system. In some cases, the operation of proximity effect correction can take a large part of the operating hours of an electron beam writing system.
In short, known techniques of correcting the proximity effect by correcting the exposure dose are accompanied by the following problems. Firstly, while those involving the use of a matrix may be precise, they can consume a large amount of time for calculations. Secondly, accuracy is sacrificed if approximation is used for the calculations in order to reduce the time consumption. Thirdly, the time consumed for proximity effect correction increases with the increase in the size of the pattern to be drawn and the rise of the required precision level to consequently reduce the operating efficiency of the charged particle writing system.

Charged particle beam writing method for determining optimal exposure dose prior to pattern drawing


A pressure retaining device for retaining a pressure in a communication passage which are communicated between a supply tank for supplying a first fluid and a nozzle for ejecting the first fluid, comprises a compressing unit provided across an intermediate of the communication passage for compressing the first fluid transferred from the supply tank to the nozzle, and a pump for supplying to the compressing unit a second fluid on which a pressure is loaded thereby. In the construction above, the second fluid is supplied by the pump to the compressing unit to compress the first fluid in the compressing unit, and the first fluid in the nozzle is then compressed by a pressure loaded on the first fluid in the compressing unit.

The present invention relates to a pressure retaining device, a pressure retaining system, and an ink jet printer.
A conventional maintenance (pressure retaining) mechanism comprises, for example as shown in FIG. 1, a printing head 101 having a set of nozzles arranged in rows, an ink cartridge 102 for storing ink to be supplied to the printing head 101, an air pump 103 for pumping compressed air, and a charge tank 104 connected across an air passage between the ink cartridge 102 and the air pump 103 for temporarily storing the compressed air. The conventional maintenance mechanism further includes, for example, an open/close relief valve 105 connected across an air passage between the charge tank 104 and the air pump 103 and a compressing open/close valve 106 connected across an air passage between the ink cartridge 102 and the charge tank 104, thus allowing the compressed air generated by the air pump 103 to be applied to the ink in the ink cartridge 102 for positive pressure purging and then exposure to the atmosphere after a predetermined length of time.
When employed in an ink jet recording apparatus, the conventional maintenance mechanism may be accompanied with a carriage which carries a printing head and a sub tank unit. The conventional maintenance mechanism also includes an ink cartridge connected by a supply tube to the printing head, an air pump for supplying the ink cartridge with compressed air, a pressure regulator, and a switching valve. When the storage of ink in the sub tank becomes smaller, the switching valve is turned on for communicating between the air pump and an ink bag in the ink cartridge. This permits the compressed air to be delivered from the air pump via the pressure regulator and the switching valve to the ink bag from which the ink is transferred to the printing head or the sub tank (See Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-138506, Paragraphs 0030 to 0037 and FIGS. 3 and 4).
However, in the prior arts shown in FIG. 1 and depicted in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-138506, as the relief valve and the pressure regulator are connected between the (air) pressure pump and the ink tank (ink cartridge), they are actuated for controlling the compressed air delivered from the (air) pressure pump to the ink tank (ink cartridge). Accordingly, since its space for installing a large part such as the relief valve or the pressure regulator is essential, the ink jet printer will become large in the overall size and be increased in the production cost. Also, since the flow of the compressed air to be delivered to the ink cartridge is determined by the volume of the pressure regulator provided at the front side (the upstream side) of the ink cartridge, its pressure applied to the printing head will be varied depending on the remaining amount of the ink in the ink cartridge.
For controlling the compressed air with ease and less cost, a mechanism has been proposed where an orifice is provided in the air supply conduit extending from the air pump to the air chamber of the ink cartridge for discharging the compressed air generated by the air pump from the orifice to control the pressure and conduct the purging action (For example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-58348, Paragraphs 0031 to 0035 and FIG. 6).

Pressure retaining device, pressure retaining system, and ink jet printer


An auxiliary device for a mechanical arm includes a supporting base, two reciprocating engines, a rotational plate, and four suction members. The reciprocating engine includes a cylinder and a driving rod. The cylinder is configured for driving the driving rod linearly and reciprocating along its longitudinal axis. The cylinder is rotatably fixed to the supporting base, thereby defining a first rotational axis therebetween. The driving rod is rotatably fixed to the rotational plate, thereby defining a second rotational axis therebetween. The rotational plate is also directly and rotatably fixed to the supporting base to be rotatable about a third rotational axis defined therebetween. The three rotational axes are parallel. The four suction members are fixed to the rotational plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mechanical arms and, particularly, to an auxiliary device for a mechanical arm.
2. Description of Related Art
Mechanical arms, while widely used in manufacturing, may be limited in application by the inability to perform fine adjustment of position when locating a workpiece.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an auxiliary device for a mechanical arm that can overcome the stated limitations.

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


In order to eliminate a steering hanger beam and to take efficient advantage of the empty space within an instrument panel, an instrument panel construction includes a main instrument panel unit 50 which is formed with an open cross sectional shape, and which comprises a plate shaped upper surface member 51 which extends substantially in the horizontal direction of the body of the vehicle across its transverse direction, and a front surface member 52 which curves towards the passenger compartment of the vehicle from said upper surface member 51 and extends downwards substantially in the vertical direction; and in that this main instrument panel unit 50 is made as a single unit from magnesium alloy by a die casting process, and is fixed to left and right front pillars.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an instrument panel construction for a vehicle.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-103518, filed Mar. 31, 2004, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a vehicle is provided with an instrument panel which extends in the transverse direction of the vehicle body, and various types of devices such as meters, audio equipment, air bags and the like are set into this instrument panel. Furthermore, in the prior art, in order to enhance the rigidity of the vehicle body, a steering hanger beam which extends completely across the transverse direction of the vehicle body has been provided forward of the instrument panel, with the steering column being fixed to this steering hanger beam.
As a prior art type instrument panel construction, there is a per se known type of instrument panel construction which is made from a resin of closed cross sectional form, in which equipment such as an air conditioning device or an air bag or the like is housed in the interior of the instrument panel which is made with a closed cross section. Furthermore, in this instrument panel, a bracket for supporting the steering is fixed to the vehicle body, and the steering column is fixed to this bracket.
Furthermore, as another type of instrument panel construction, there is per se known a structure in which the instrument panel and the steering hanger beam are joined together into one unitary member with resin.
With these type of instrument panel constructions, at the upper side portion of the instrument panel, there is provided a reinforcement portion which consists of a plurality of plate portions which are extend horizontally and which are arranged to have a certain gap between them in the vertical direction, and this reinforcement portion serves the function of a steering hanger beam. Furthermore, the steering column is inserted through an opening which is provided in the instrument panel, and is supported therein.
However, with the instrument panel construction described in the Japanese Patent Publication No. H10-273072, since the instrument panel is made with a closed cross sectional shape, there are limitations upon housing of the various equipment in its interior, so that it is not possible to take efficient advantage of the empty space within the instrument panel. Furthermore, since such equipment must be fitted within this closed cross sectional shape, the convenience during assembly is poor.
Moreover, with the instrument panel construction described in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-72421, the reinforcement portion which is endowed with the function of acting as the steering hanger beam extends completely across the vehicle body in its transverse direction, so that it is not possible to house equipment in the interior of the instrument panel. Accordingly, it is not possible to take efficient advantage of the empty space within the instrument panel.
Thus, an objective of the present invention is to provide an instrument panel construction for a vehicle, which is able to take efficient advantage of the empty space within the instrument panel, and which is able to omit the steering hanger beam.

Instrument panel construction for a vehicle


A hydroelectric installation comprises an electric generator and associated hydro-turbine. The hydro-turbine comprises a runner rotatably mounted within a casing or passageway in which water flows between an upper elevation source in fluid communication with an inlet port and a lower elevation discharge region or outlet port. The turbine also includes a water closure component or head cover. The generator is laterally supported by a guide bearing attached to a turbine component thereby eliminating the use of generator guide bearing brackets, bridges and the like, and reducing the complexity of the concrete structures surrounding the unit.

Hydroelectric turbine installations of the type illustrated in FIG. 1 conventionally include a power generating unit having a longitudinal axis 10, the unit consisting of an electric generator 12 and associated hydro-turbine 14. The hydro-turbine comprises a runner 16 having a hub 18 and a plurality of runner blades 20 connected to the hub. The runner is rotatably mounted within a casing or passageway 22 in which water flows from an upper elevation source in fluid communication with an inlet port 24 to a lower elevation discharge region or outlet port 26. Water passing through the passageway imparts a rotating movement to the runner, which when transmitted to the generator causes the generator to produce electrical energy. Turbine 14 also includes various water closure components or covers 27 to contain the water so that it does not escapee and guide the water so that it can be utilized for the intended purposes. Hydro-electric installations also often include associated components such as wicket gates 28 which are designed to regulate the amount of water flowing through the passageway and, accordingly, the quantity of electrical energy produced by the generator.
For proper operation of the hydroelectric turbine installation the turbine will need to be securely positioned and rotatably guided within the passageway. As can be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, accurately and reliably guiding the turbine in rotation within the passageway permits the reduction of dimensional clearances between the tip of the blades and the passageway. This will limit efficiency losses caused by water leaking between the passageway and the tip of the blades.
Similarly, the generator, which is connected to the turbine shaft 30, will have to be laterally guided relative to the passageway. The lateral guiding of the generator is typically achieved by a generator guide bearing 32 which is commonly attached to structural components such as guiding brackets or frames 34, or the like, these structural components being themselves anchored to concrete decks 36. The hydroelectric unit is also ordinarily supported in the direction of axis 10 by a thrust bearing 38. However, because of the size and weight of hydro-turbine installations, and to allow such installations to withstand the axial thrust applied to them by the water travelling through the passageway, the structural components and decks that guide and support the installation axially and radially will typically be relatively massive.
Furthermore, generator guide bearing brackets, bridges, or frames are typically disposed at a relatively significant distance from the inlet port 24 of the passageway. This will naturally increase the length and weight of the turbine shaft, necessitating the use of sturdy brackets, bridges, or frames to properly provide lateral support to the generator. This will also require massive concrete decks to separate the generator from the turbine.
In light of the foregoing, although it is widely recognized that hydro-electric turbine installations provide a very useful form of production of energy in certain cases the complexity and associated cost of these massive support brackets, decks, and other structures, or the space required to erect them, will prevent the otherwise desirable use of such installations. Accordingly, it has become highly desirable to provide effective ways to overcome these shortcomings without materially impairing the operating characteristics of these hydroelectric installations.


Methods and apparatus for relaying data in a peer-to-peer network. In one implementation, a wireless device includes: an antenna; a wireless communication interface connected to said antenna and supporting wireless communication across a wireless connection provided by said antenna; storage supporting storing data; and a controller connected to said wireless interface and to said storage, supporting an application service, a message service, and a relay service for relay messages; wherein said application service provides execution and management of one or more application programs accessible by said controller using application data stored in said storage, said message service provides building messages and processing received messages, and said relay service provides building a new relay message indicating a selected recipient to which the wireless device does not have a direct wireless connection, sending a built new relay message, and sending a received relay message that indicates a recipient other than the wireless device.

In a typical peer-to-peer network (or "P2P network"), each member (or peer) in the peer-to-peer network establishes a connection to each of the other members. Using these direct peer-to-peer connections, the members send data to and request data from the other members directly, rather than using a centralized server (e.g., compared to a typical client-server network where members interact through the server), though the data may pass through other network devices, such as a router or access point. The connections can be wired (e.g., using a network cable to connect to a peer or a network) or wireless (e.g., using an interface supporting an IEEE 802.11 or "Wi-Fi" protocol). Typically, each member in the network has similar responsibilities in the network and the members are considered generally equivalent (as network members). For example, in a peer-to-peer network with N peers, each peer has N-1 connections to other peers.
In some peer-to-peer networks, a server is also used by the members for some centralized services, such as address discovery (e.g., for establishing the connections for building the peer-to-peer network).

Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc.


A garden seeder having a seed bin; a seed wheel having a plurality of circumferentially attached seed dispensing cups; a first axle mounting the seed wheel within the seed bin for orbital movements of the seed cups through scooping and dispensing positions; a ground wheel; a second axle mounting the ground wheel upon the seed bin; a Geneva drive connecting the seed wheel to the ground wheel for translating rotation of the ground wheel to intermittent orbital motions of the seed dispensing cups through the seed scooping and seed dispensing positions; and a handle connected operatively to the seed bin.

Common push drive or manually driven rolling garden seeders are known to be adapted for dispensing seeds at selective and varying intervals along a seed planting furrow. However, structural reconfigurations of such seeders which are typically necessary for altering seeder's seed planting intervals are typically mechanically complex, and are cumbersome. For example, in one such known rolling garden seeder, mechanical detachment and withdrawal of a first seed dispensing wheel, followed by mechanical interchange of a different seed dispensing wheel is undesirably required in order to alter the seeder's seed planting interval.
The instant inventive garden seeder solves or ameliorates problems and deficiencies discussed above which are confronted upon use of common mechanical seeders by incorporating within a wheeled garden seeder specialized structures including a variably driveable geneva drive having a seed dispensing wheel output.


There is provided a double-sided substrate cleaning apparatus including a carrier station for loading/unloading a carrier in which objects to be processed are stored, a convey mechanism for conveying an object taken out from the carrier station, at least one cleaning mechanism, arranged along a convey path on which the convey mechanism conveys the object, for cleaning the object, and an object reversing mechanism, arranged along the convey path, for reversing the object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a an apparatus for cleaning a surface and a back surface of an object to be processed, e.g., a semiconductor wafer (to be referred to as a wafer hereinafter), and a method using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art A method of cleaning an object to be processed, e.g., a wafer, before a coating process or the like is performed with respect thereto is disclosed in, e.g., Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 57-90941. In this method, an object to be processed is rotated while it is held in a horizontal position, and a process solution (cleaning solution) is supplied to a surface of the object. In addition, a brush is pressed against the surface of the object to remove granular contaminants therefrom. Especially in a cleaning process performed when a resist pattern is to be formed on an object to be processed, both a surface and a back surface of the object must be cleaned in some cases. Recently, as semiconductor devices increase in integration density, and various types of semiconductor devices are manufactured in small quantities, surface treatment and back surface treatment of wafers are performed in an arbitrary order. However, there is no cleaning apparatus which can cope with such various processes.

Double-sided substrate cleaning apparatus and cleaning method using the same


A coffee maker includes a housing and a brewing assembly. Pushing a handle leftward moves projections along slides in a direction for rising a cylindrical member until being stopped. A funnel-shaped member with a coffee bag placed therein can be slid along the rails toward the housing until being stopped. Pushing the handle rightward moves the projections in an opposite direction for lowering the cylindrical member until being stopped. The coffee bag is pressed by a clamping member and the funnel-shaped member. The coffee maker will supply hot water to an inflow opening such that hot water may then fall through a recess, a mesh element, and a cavity to pass through the coffee bag and proceeds to form coffee extract. The coffee extract may pass an outflow opening and a filter prior to flowing out of the coffee maker.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to coffee makers and, more particularly, to a coffee maker with improved characteristics including the ratio of hot water to coffee to be added being precisely estimated so as to brew the optimum coffee extract.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, a household use coffee maker uses a coffee making process comprising pouring coffee powder into a meshed holder, supplying hot water from a hot water boiler to the holder for brewing coffee, and spouting coffee through an outlet opening.
However, this is unsatisfactory for the purpose for which the invention is concerned for the following reasons: A person cannot precisely estimate the ratio of hot water to coffee powder. Thus, it often happens that the made coffee is either too strong or too weak. Moreover, it is typical for a person to use a spoon to pick up coffee powder prior to pouring same into the holder. Thus, it is also often that coffee powder falls onto another component of the coffee maker, the ground, or the table if sufficient care is not taken. This makes the coffee maker or enviromnent dirty. Thus, the need for improvement still exists.


Example room dividers are disclosed herein. An example room divider includes a first panel and a second panel. A first seal between the first panel and the second panel is to provide a first line of contact with at least one of the first panel or the second panel. A second seal between the first panel and the second panel is to provide a second line of contact with at least one of the first panel or the second panel. A touch-and-hold fastener connects the first panel and the second panel. The touch-and-hold fastener is positioned between the first line of contact and the second line of contact.

Some room dividers are comprised of a series of semi-flexible curtains that are suspended from an overhead structure and are interconnected along their vertical edges by hook-and-loop fasteners. Such room divider assemblies provide a relatively quick, easy, and affordable way for separating interior spaces having different environmental requirements or for isolating spaces from dust, paint overspray, odors, and/or other airborne contaminants.
Insulation may be added to the curtains of the room dividers to reduce heat migration within a building and help maintain a desired air temperature and/or humidity within designated areas. Such areas are often used for storing refrigerated or frozen foods and/or other perishable goods.
Some room dividers are made of curtains having special qualities for certain purposes. For example, some curtains have acoustic insulation for noise absorption, impenetrable strength for security, and/or flame resistance for limiting the spread of smoke and fire.


Cross-correlation of delay line characteristics is described. An integrated circuit for cross-correlation testing includes: a first ring oscillator and a second ring oscillator. The first ring oscillator includes a first test circuit, and the second ring oscillator includes a second test circuit. The first test circuit is coupled via first programmable interconnects to first ring oscillator circuitry, and the second test circuit is coupled via second programmable interconnects to second ring oscillator circuitry. The first test circuit includes a first programmable delay line, and the second test circuit includes a second programmable delay line. The first test circuit and the second test circuit are configured to provide separately controllable outputs for cross-correlation as between the first programmable delay line and the second programmable delay line.

Programmable logic devices ("PLDs") are a well-known type of integrated circuit that can be programmed to perform specified logic functions. One type of PLD, the field programmable gate array ("FPGA"), typically includes an array of programmable tiles. These programmable tiles can include, for example, input/output blocks ("IOBs"), configurable logic blocks ("CLBs"), dedicated random access memory blocks ("BRAM"), multipliers, digital signal processing blocks ("DSPs"), processors, clock managers, delay-lock loops ("DLLs"), and so forth. Notably, as used herein, "include" and "including" mean including without limitation.
One such FPGA, the Xilinx Virtex® FPGA, is described in detail in pages 3-75 through 3-96 of the Xilinx 2000 Data Book entitled "The Programmable Logic Data Book 2000" (hereinafter referred to as "the Xilinx Data Book"), published April, 2000, available from Xilinx, Inc., 2100 Logic Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95124. (Xilinx, Inc., owner of the copyright, has no objection to copying these and other pages referenced herein but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.) Young et al. further describe the interconnect structure of the Virtex FPGA in U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,616, issued Jun. 22, 1999 and entitled "FPGA Repeatable Interconnect Structure with Hierarchical Interconnect Lines".
Another such FPGA, the Xilinx Virtex®-II FPGA, is described in detail in pages 33-75 of the "Virtex-II Platform FPGA Handbook", published December, 2000, available from Xilinx, Inc., 2100 Logic Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95124. And yet another such FPGA, the Xilinx Virtex-II Pro™ FPGA, is described in detail in pages 19-71 of the "Virtex-II Pro Platform FPGA Handbook", published Oct. 14, 2002 and available from Xilinx, Inc., 2100 Logic Drive, San Jose, Calif. 95124.
Another type of PLD is the Complex Programmable Logic Device ("CPLD"). A CPLD includes two or more "function blocks" connected together and to input/output ("I/O") resources by an interconnect switch matrix. Each function block of the CPLD includes a two-level AND/OR structure similar to those used in Programmable Logic Arrays ("PLAs") and Programmable Array Logic ("PAL") devices.
Other PLDs are programmed by applying a processing layer, such as a metal layer, that programmably interconnects the various elements on the device. These PLDs are known as mask programmable devices. PLDs can also be implemented in other ways, for example, using fuse or antifuse technology.
The terms "PLD" and "programmable logic device" include these exemplary devices, as well as encompassing devices that are only partially programmable. For purposes of clarity, FPGAs are described below though other types of PLDs may be used. FPGAs may include one or more embedded microprocessors. For example, a microprocessor may be located in an area reserved for it, generally referred to as a "processor block."
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,075,418 B1 ("Kingsley"), a ring oscillator circuit is described. The ring oscillator circuit may be located in an FPGA and used for providing an oscillating test signal. A counter may be coupled to the ring oscillator circuit to determine the period of the ring oscillator circuit. As described in Kingsley, an FPGA may be configured with multiple test circuits, among which may be the ring oscillator circuit. It is further described in Kingsley that components may exhibit different propagation delays depending on whether they are configured to respond to rising or falling clock signal edges. Moreover, it is described in Kingsley that asynchronous test circuits may be included in the ring oscillator circuit, and that these test circuits may represent propagation delays on a test path. These test circuits may be used to characterize various types of propagation delays to produce speed files which predict performance of a design instantiated in an FPGA.
Heretofore, measurement of delay line skew and delay were done using labor intensive test bench measurements. The precision of such test bench measurements was somewhat limited. This limitation made cross-correlation of delay lines even more problematic.
Accordingly, it would be desirable and useful to provide means for cross-correlation of one or more delay line characteristics that overcomes one or more of the limitations associated with use of a test bench.


This disclosure relates to a method and system for summarizing multimedia content. The method may include receiving multimedia content. The method may further include identifying one or more primary objects, wherein identifying the primary objects comprises identifying one or more actions associated with the primary objects and one or more interactions between the primary objects and one or more secondary objects. The primary objects are associated with one or more parameters. The method may further include determining at least one primary object of interest from the primary objects by selectively prioritizing the parameters. The method may further include summarizing the multimedia content based on the primary object of interest, actions associated with the primary object of interest, interactions between the primary object of interest and the secondary objects, and interactions between the secondary objects and one or more tertiary objects.

With the evolution of digital camera and its use in capturing videos, a large chunk of content may be present in a video. As multimedia content is very diverse, user is often interested in a gist or a summary of the multimedia content that is adequate to provide the intended information. Moreover, the user will not have enough time to look into details of every document in an area of their interest.
Video summarization helps in efficient storage, quick browsing, and retrieval of large collection of video data without losing important aspects. The video summarization is also effective in reducing size of the documents. The video summarization is especially useful when the user is interested in only those scenes with a particular character or object present in it.
Presently, there are several technologies that summarizes videos for user consumption. However, these technologies have a disadvantage of providing equal weightage to all objects present in the multimedia content. For instance, there might be a situation where an object (or a person) remains quiet and inactive in a frame, yet was found to be a significant character in the multimedia content. The presence of the object (or the person) may be required in a summary to maintain the continuity of the summary. In the present technology of video summarization, there is no way of maintaining the continuity by including such objects or persons in the summary.
It is therefore desirable to provide a mechanism for summarizing and rendering multimedia content. It may be further desired to summarize the multimedia content based on user interest or object of interest.

Method and system for summarizing multimedia content


A purge/vent system (10) for and method of purging/venting a brush arm bearing. The purge/vent system includes a driven mechanism (12) and a support member (14) having a first cavity (48) for containing the driven mechanism. A gas supply system (24) is in fluid communication with the first cavity proximate the upper end (18) of the driven mechanism, and an evacuation system (26) is in fluid communication with the first cavity proximate the lower end (20) of the driven mechanism. In operation, the gas supply system supplies a gas to the first chamber and the evacuation system draws the gas from the first chamber. As the evacuation system draws the gas from the first chamber, the gas is drawn across and/or through the driven mechanism to keep the driven mechanism dry and/or remove foreign material from the first chamber.

The present invention relates generally to the field of equipment maintenance. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a system for and method of purging/venting a rotational bearing of a semiconductor wafer-cleaning brush arm assembly to prevent foreign material from fouling the bearing.
During the manufacturing of semiconductor devices, substrate wafers are subject to a number of processes that form multiple film layers upon one face of the wafer. These layers are made of one or more materials that, when arranged in a predetermined pattern, form parts of the microelectronic components of the devices. At various stages of wafer processing, the surface of the wafer must be polished to produce a uniformly smooth surface across the entire wafer. This polishing is typically accomplished by chemical mechanical polishing, a process that utilizes a chemical slurry in combination with a mechanical polisher to polish the wafer surface.
Immediately after polishing, the wafer is contaminated with the chemical slurry and other foreign material, such as particles removed from the surface of the wafer during polishing. Before the wafer can undergo further processing, e.g., deposition of another film layer, the wafer must be cleaned of the contaminants. Typically, the wafer is cleaned in a dedicated post-chemical mechanical polishing cleaning machine having a chamber for cleaning the backside of the wafer and a chamber for ultra-cleaning the processed surface of the wafer.
The processed surface cleaning chamber includes a rotating brush mounted on a brush arm. To clean the processed surface of the wafer, the wafer is mounted in a chuck within the cleaning chamber. The brush arm is then moved so that the rotating brush is brought into contact with the processed surface. The brush then makes several passes over the processed surface to remove the contaminants while de-ionized water is sprayed onto the wafer from a plurality of directions.
Generally, the brush arm comprises an elongate body having first and second ends spaced from one another. The rotating brush is located at the first end and a drive shaft for driving the rotating brush is located at the second end. The rotating brush is mounted in a first cavity at the first end of the brush arm via a rotational bearing. A drive belt extends between the drive shaft and the rotational bearing within a second cavity. The first and second cavities are prone to invasion by water and other foreign material from the ambient environment surrounding the brush arm through seals at the drive shaft and the rotational bearing. The first and second cavities are also prone to condensation problems from moist air trapped within them.
Moisture from water invasion and condensation frequently damages the bearings and may cause foreign material, such as particles from worn bearings, to be expelled out of the brush arm, contaminating the cleaning chamber. To avoid detrimental damage to the bearings and contamination of the cleaning chamber, the brush arm is typically changed relatively frequently. Frequent changing of the brush arm, however, causes extensive tool downtime, increases the chance of contaminating the cleaning chambers and increases tool operation and maintenance costs.
In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a system for purging/venting a driven mechanism with a gas, wherein the driven mechanism has a first portion and a second portion spaced from the first portion. The system comprises a support member for supporting the driven mechanism and defining a first cavity for containing the driven mechanism. The support member has a gas supply port for supplying the gas to the first cavity proximate the first portion of the driven mechanism and an evacuation port for removing the gas from the first cavity proximate the second portion of the driven mechanism. The support member is configured so that the gas does not drive the driven mechanism.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to a method of purging/venting a driven mechanism located within a cavity of a support member, wherein the driven mechanism having a first portion and a second portion spaced from the first portion. The method comprises the steps of supplying a gas to the cavity proximate the first portion of the driven mechanism and evacuating the gas from the cavity proximate the second portion of the driven mechanism so that said gas does not drive the driven mechanism.

System for and method of purging/venting a brush arm bearing

International Business Machines Corporation


A continuous length of material comprising a central straight portion. An arcuate bend is formed at the first end by a downward bend relative to the central straight portion. An eye extends from the arcuate bend with a first end extending from the arcuate bend and a second end formed from an upward bend in the continuous length of material to elevate the second end of the eye above the central straight portion. A locking leg extends from the second end of the eye downward forming a locking hook.

In producing large concrete products such as box sections, round pipes, culverts or manholes, two reinforcement wire mesh cages are required to provide the necessary strength. The cages must be spaced from each other and also spaced from the surfaces of the form used to produce the particular concrete product.
For concrete products of sufficient size, standards require a minimum amount of steel reinforcement which can exceed two reinforcement wire mesh cages. For such products, one cage with large diameter wires or two on each side or more wire mesh cages may be placed together on each side of the form to provide the necessary reinforcement strength. In other words, rather than one reinforcement wire mesh cage on each side of the form, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,999,965, two or more cages on each side of the form may be provided.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved spacer that can be used with multiple cage reinforcements.

Spacer for multiple cage reinforcement wire mesh for concrete products

HAWKEYEPEDERSHAAB CONCRETE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.


A lightweight, laminated structural component, such as a skin section for an aircraft fuselage, is constructed of at least two sheet metal plies that are adhesively bonded to each other. One ply is an uninterrupted ply. The other ply is a lattice with open fields surrounded by strip shaped lands which fortify load exposed areas of the lamination. The open fields of the lattice make mechanical or chemical pocketing operations unnecessary. By shaping and positioning the strip shaped lands including struts in accordance with load patterns to which an aircraft skin is exposed in use, the skin characteristics can be tailored as required.

Conventionally known lightweight structural components comprise an outer skin which is reinforced on an inwardly facing side by a stiffening or stiffening members. For example, conventional aircraft fuselages are constructed in such a way that the outer skin is reinforced or stiffened with the aid of ribs and stringers including so-called "clip". The stiffening members are secured to the inside of the outer skin by rivets, by adhesive bonding, or by welding. In order to adapt the skin thickness to localized load requirements, the skin thickness is reduced in areas where lower loads are effective to thereby reduce the weight of the skin particularly between the stiffening members. Thinning of the skin is performed by mechanical or chemical milling operations. These operations are known as "pocketing".
European Patent Publication EP 0,649,373 B1 corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,326 discloses a compound plate comprising at least a first and a second metal ply which are connected to each other by an adhesive layer. Such metal polymer laminates are particularly suitable for use as lightweight structural components in the aircraft construction because these laminates combine advantageous mechanical characteristics with a low structural weight. Due to the limited width of the sheet metals or metal foils to be connected with each other it is necessary to employ a splicing operation for the production of skin sections or fields for an aircraft fuselage. This reference describes the splicing operation. A local adaptation of the laminate thickness of the structural component to different load requirements in different locations is not addressed in this reference.
International Publication WO 98/53989 A1 describes a further lightweight structural component with adhesively bonded metal layers or plies. Compared to the disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,326 the International Publication discloses an improvement of the known splicing concept for bonding individual laminated composite panels to a structural component. Again, no local adaptation of the laminate thickness to different load requirements in different locations within the panel area are disclosed.

Lightweight structural component made of metallic ply materials


A voltage drive circuit is constructed by stacking NMOS and PMOS transistors to provide high voltage levels with an output voltage swing greater than the breakdown voltage of the individual transistors used to build the voltage drive circuit. The voltage drive circuit may include a series stack of capacitors connected between gates of the stacked PMOS and NMOS transistors. The capacitive loading causes the gate signals to change more synchronously. Errors in timing for these gate signals, which would otherwise result in damage from exceeding the breakdown voltage across a pair of terminals of one of the NMOS and PMOS transistors, are mollified.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to voltage drive circuits, and more specifically, to a high voltage drive circuit assembled from medium voltage devices.
2. Description of Related Art
Some electronic systems utilize one or more integrated circuits made of Field Effect Transistors (FETs) for amplification and switching purposes. The electronic systems may be integrated with display screens for displaying information to a user of the system. However, conventional integrated circuit (IC) FETs have a limited capability to withstand voltage between any two nodes, including gate-source, gate-drain and drain-source node pairs. Such voltage limitations may limit the usefulness and cause a breakdown of the IC in cases where the IC is fabricated using a process which yields FETs having a relatively low breakdown voltage.
Input devices including proximity sensor devices (also commonly called touchpads or touch sensor devices) are widely used in a variety of electronic systems. A proximity sensor device typically includes a sensing region, often demarked by a surface, in which the proximity sensor device determines the presence, location and/or motion of one or more input objects. Proximity sensor devices may be used to provide interfaces for the electronic system. For example, proximity sensor devices are often used as input devices for larger computing systems (such as opaque touchpads integrated in, or peripheral to, notebook or desktop computers). Proximity sensor devices are also often used in smaller computing systems (such as touch screens integrated in cellular phones).

High voltage driver using medium voltage devices


An MR system for interventional procedures, includes an MR imaging device and an interventional instrument, for example a catheter. The MR device is arranged to acquire images of a part of an object. The entire catheter can be imaged in an MR image by providing a conductor loop which comprises two non-magnetic conductors which are situated at some distance from one another underneath the surface of the catheter, and extend along substantially the entire length of the catheter. Furthermore, the catheter may be provided with a conductor loop and a coil in a location on the catheter. By separate adjustment of the current flowing through the conductor loop and the coil, it is possible to image the location on the catheter with a contrast which deviates from that of the remainder of the catheter.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an MR system for interventional procedures, including an MR imaging device which is arranged to acquire images of a part of an object and includes a magnet for generating a steady magnetic field, a gradient system for generating temporary magnetic gradient fields, and an interventional instrument or device, for example, a catheter, which includes means for generating an additional magnetic field. This invention also relates to an interventional instrument for cooperation with MR imaging device.
2. Description of the Related Art
An MR system of this kind is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,198. In the known MR system the catheter is positioned, in cooperation with the MR device, so as to subject the object to an interventional procedure for which the catheter has been designed. This is, for example balloon angioplasty of a patient. Furthermore, in the known MR system the image processing unit determines the position of the catheter tip in the object on the basis of two successive MR images of the patient. The additional magnetic field is then switched off during the generating of the MR signals for the reconstruction of a first image, whereas it is switched on during the generating of the MR signals for the reconstruction of a next MR image. The additional magnetic field generated by a coil provided in the catheter tip disturbs the magnetic fields generated by the MR device, so that a difference arises between the two MR images. The processing unit determines the position of the catheter tip on the basis of the difference between the two MR images. Subsequently, via a cursor the position of the catheter tip is superposed on the MR image of the body so as to be displayed on a monitor.
It is a drawback of the known system that only the catheter tip is imaged in an MR image.

MRI-system and catheter for interventional procedures


Resource management techniques in multi-processor systems are described. Embodiments include a multi-processor system having a primary processor for communication with pipelined secondary processors. The secondary processors include registers containing status information for tasks executed by the respective secondary processors. The primary processor is provided with direct access to contents of the registers and manages computational and memory resources of the multi-processor system based on the acquired status information.

I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of multi-processor systems and, more specifically, to techniques for resource management in multi-processor systems having a primary processor and pipelined secondary processors.
II. Background
In complex computer systems common workload is often performed in parallel by a plurality of processors. A multi-processor system typically includes a primary processor administering a plurality of pipelined (i.e., connected in series) processors or co-processors, which are collectively referred to herein as secondary processors. In some applications, master-slave relationship may be formed between the primary processor and secondary processors. Such multi-processor systems may be used, for example, for processing of large amounts of video data or rendering graphics, among other computationally intensive applications.
In operation, instructions and, occasionally, data blocks are forwarded by the primary or a respective intermediate secondary processor downstream to the adjacent secondary processor, and acknowledgements confirming completion of particular tasks (i.e., task status data) are communicated by the secondary processors upstream to the primary processor. During execution of an application program, the primary processor assigns new tasks to the secondary processors or re-allocates computational and memory resources in the system upon receipt of acknowledgements that the preceding tasks have been completed.
However, repetitive re-transmission of the acknowledgements to the primary processor through a chain of pipelined secondary processors takes substantial time and constitutes a computational overhead, which adversely affects overall performance and efficiency of the multi-processor system. In particular, delays associated with sequential re-transmission of the acknowledgements limit command throughput and design flexibility of such systems. Despite the considerable efforts in the art devoted to increasing efficiency of resource management in the multi-processor systems having pipelined secondary processors, further improvements would be desirable.

Direct path monitoring by primary processor to each status register in pipeline chained secondary processors for task allocation via downstream communication


An elongate spike configuration of air filter for an automotive vehicle includes a cowl arranged to extend parallel to the ram air flow about the vehicle and resulting from movement of the vehicle at speed. The cowl is rotational and is power driven in rotation during operation of the vehicle such as to smooth ram air flow, reducing turbulence and excessive ram air pressure so as to improve running smoothness of the vehicle engine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a ram-air spike filter apparatus and method, and particularly to an air filter which is both decorative and utilitarian. More Particularly, this invention relates to such a spike air filter which has application to a large V-twin type of motorcycle. A decorative aspect of the air filter according to this present invention results from a dynamic or "mobile" aspect of its appearance while the motorcycle engine is running or in operation. That is, the housing or "spike" of the air filter includes a polished, facet-cut cowl portion which is rotational, and which rotates continuously, catching and reflecting available light. Also, the rotating housing portion serves the utility of the motorcycle by opposing and smoothing ram-air flow resulting from movement of the motorcycle, which ram-air flow and attendant turbulence and pressure fluctuations may otherwise cause the motorcycle engine to run too lean or to run roughly were the air-smoothing accomplished by the spike air filter not effective.
2. Related Technology
Motorcycles generally use an air filter to both filter and control the flow of air from ambient into the engine's intake tract. While it is generally believed that a low or zero flow resistance air filter is desirable, in point of fact most motorcycle engines and carburetors require a small but positive resistance for the air filter. The exception to this rule is those engines using a ram air intake tract, in which the carburetor venturi and its venting system are both exposed to ram air pressure. However, having ram air applied to only the carburetor venturi is likely to make the engine run erratically, or to surge and buck instead of running smoothly and powerfully.


Provided is an image pickup device that includes: pixels each including a photoelectric conversion element and one or more switching elements; control lines provided to perform open/close control of at least one first switching element; a buffer circuit provided for each control line, and configured to output a voltage to each control line; second switching elements each provided between corresponding one of the control lines and a power source of the corresponding buffer circuit; and a switch control circuit that is, upon image pickup driving, configured to control one of the second switching elements, provided between a defect holding line that includes an electrically short-circuited part in the plurality of control lines and the power source of the buffer circuit of the defect holding line, to be in an open state, and configured to control another one of the second switching elements to be in a closed state.

The present disclosure relates to an image pickup device that includes a photoelectric conversion element and an image pickup display system that includes such an image pickup device.
Various image pickup devices of the type including the photoelectric conversion element in a pixel (an image pickup pixel) are proposed. Examples of such an image pickup device may include, for example, a so-called optical touch panel, a radiation image pickup device and so forth (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-135561).

Image pickup device and image pickup display system


A device, system and method are disclosed for presenting a bill to restaurant patrons, and facilitating the payment of the bill by the patrons. A basic embodiment of the device includes a computing system and a billfold for housing at least a portion of the computing system. The computing system includes at least a pressure sensitive display, a magnetic strip reader for inputting payment information, a memory for storing computer executable instructions and a processing unit for executing computer executable instructions.

A restaurant bill is typically presented to a patron in a billfold. The billfold is typically made using two pieces of stiff cardboard or plastic covered in a flexible vinyl or leather covering. Optionally, the billfold may include some soft padding material between the stiff cardboard or plastic and the flexible outer covering. A hinge, made from the same flexible vinyl or leather material used to cover the cardboard or plastic, attaches the two pieces. The billfold may be opened and closed like a book, and include a number of interior pockets for holding a variety of items including: the bill, cash, a credit card, a pen etc. The billfold is thin enough to allow a waitperson to carry numerous billfolds in apron pockets or pant pockets. The thin feature of the billfolds allows a waitperson to carry a billfold for each table that the waitperson is servicing. The billfold is very commonly used, and when people dine out, they have come to expect their bill to be presented to them in a billfold.
It is very common for people to eat out at restaurants in groups. When a waitperson takes a group's order, they will typically take the order and assume that only one bill should be presented to the group and let the group sort out payment, unless the group notifies the waitperson otherwise. The process of sorting out what each member of the group should pay, for items they ordered and also gratuity is cumbersome. In some cases, sorting through payment of a bill may even result in socially uncomfortable and embarrassing situations. For example, if the group decides to divide the bill evenly, one member of the group may object, because their order was substantially less expensive than other members of the group. As another example, one member of the group may have a policy of leaving only a small amount of gratuity, whereas other members of the group may have a policy of leaving a generous amount of gratuity. This could lead to an embarrassing situation of trying to encourage a member of the group to leave a larger amount of gratuity. These situations complicate the payment of a restaurant bill.
From a restaurant's perspective, accepting a number of payments for a single bill is also inefficient. People pay restaurant bills using a variety of payment methods including cash and credit or debit cards. Presently, if a group of patrons decides to divide a bill, a waitperson may have to process a variety of payment forms. For example, some members of a group may pay in cash while other members of the group may pay using credit or debit cards. In this situation, a waitperson must go to the table to get instructions from the patrons for processing the various payment methods. The waitperson must then go to a central location where credit or debit cards may be processed, and a cash register can be accessed to retrieve appropriate change for those patrons paying in cash. The waitperson must then return to the table with credit or debit card receipts for signature by those patrons paying with credit or debit cards, and return the appropriate change to those patrons paying in cash. This time consuming process may be particularly inefficient when a restaurant is very busy and/or short staffed.
What is needed is a device that generally has the appearance of a billfold, with which patrons and waitpersons are familiar, but that allows for efficient payment of a bill, including dividing payment among members of a group of patrons.

Device and system for presenting and facilitating payment of a restaurant bill


The present invention refers to a process for disposing of materials which are explosive active masses and/or contain them comprising the following steps:. feeding the materials to be disposed off in a rotary cylindrical furnace (1), conveying the materials into a reaction zone and simultaneously forming compartments of the materials during conveyance, with the materials being thermally reacted in an oxygen-containing environment and the reaction products being fractionately discharged in the form of solid, liquid and gaseous products.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention refers to a process for disposing of materials which are explosive active masses and/or contain them, a device for carrying out said process and also a waste disposal plant.
2. Description of the Related Art
Materials which are or contain explosive active masses such as, for example, pyrotechnically active masses, propellants, smoke compositions and irritants, subcaliber ammunition, in particular fixed ammunition and phosphorus-containing ammunition, have to be disposed of once they can no longer be put to use due to expiry of their storage life. This group of substances to be disposed of also comprises trinitrotoluene, hexogen, octogen, nitropenta, tetryl as single components or in the form of mixtures. A safe mechanical separation of the active masses is in this case not possible without danger due to the pyrotechnical or explosive potential and to the high compactness of the active mass or can only be technically carried out with disproportionate expenditure.
The materials to be disposed of according to the invention generally have an outer metal shell, an initiator and the active mass. This metal shell is, as a rule, inert during reaction, whereas the propellants for the thermal reaction react during intended use as well as during waste disposal. As propellants, in particular cellulose nitrate, nitroglycerin, dinitrotoluene, trinitrotoluene as well as various stabilizers are applicable. In particular in the case of incendiary and tracer projectiles, the ammunition also contains phosphorus in varying amounts.
If luminaries are used, they generally preferably consist of an aluminum shell, an igniter and the active mass with the active mass comprising a light metal powder as energy supplier, an oxidizing agent capable of splitting off oxygen, an organic binding agent for mechanically solidifying the mixture and optionally mineral and/or organic color enhancers. As a rule, magnesium is used as light metal powder since other possible metals are either toxicologically hazardous or too expensive. As oxidation agent, nitrates and in particular sodium nitrate are used as a rule with chlorates or perchlorates being employed in exceptional cases. Polymers are used as organic binding agents. As color enhancing agents, halogen-containing compounds, in particular fluorine-containing or chlorine-containing metal salts are contained. When this fluorescent ammunition is burnt off, predominantly metal oxides such as magnesium oxide, sodium oxide and aluminum oxide, nitrogen, nitric oxides and carbon oxides and possibly hydrogen halides are created.
The German patent specification DE 42 21343 of the same applicant describes a process and device for working up pyrotechnical material, in which the pyrotechnical material is burnt off in a controlled manner in a tubular reactor and the resulting slag is optionally again reacted and the resulting raw gas is supplied through a high temperature area in order to decompose any still existing organic substances.
Subsequently, the raw gas is purified by various gas purification processes such that it can be released into the atmosphere as exhaust air.
The device of the prior art uses a discontinuous feeding device by means of which the material to be disposed of is fed to the tubular reactor.
It is a disadvantage in the process of the prior art according to DE 42 21 343 that, on the one hand, the resulting slag has to be reacted again and, on the other hand, that the device is operated discontinuously since, in case of a continuous feeding, great difficulties would occur in letting the pyrotechnical materials be burnt off in a controlled manner.
A further disadvantage of both processes is that essentially only one kind of pyrotechnical material can be fed per charge.
In comparison, the German patent specification DE 44 44 809 achieves an improvement in that this prior art describes the use of two separate reactors, a so-called burn-off chamber and a separate reactor. According to the process of DE 44 44 809, a specific pyrotechnical material is caused to react in the burn-off chamber while simultaneously another pyrotechnical material is burnt-off in a controlled manner in the second reactor. The slag created in the second separate reactor is locked out and then optionally again reacted in the burn-off chamber so that here at least two different pyrotechnical materials can be simultaneously processed in one plant.
A first approach to conduct different pyrotechnical materials in continuous operation through a single plant can be found in the German patent specification DE 195 09 196. According to this process of the prior art, the material to be disposed of is filled into a container, which is then supplied to a first burn-out chamber in which the bodies are heated to ignition temperature and optionally left to smoulder off in one or several further burn-out chambers, with the bodies being directly heated with broad-flame burners at a temperature within the range of 300.degree. C. to 500.degree. C. The smoke gases are here continuously sucked off and supplied to a thermal subsequent treatment and then further purified in an environmentally acceptable manner via known purification processes.
The burn-out chambers are arranged in the form of tunnel segments. The containers receiving the material to be disposed of are, according to the prior art of DE 195 09 196, conducted through the individual burn-out chambers on rails by means of pneumatically operated slides. The charge and discharge of the containers occurs by means of corresponding locks via a roller conveyor.
However, the high mechanical expenditure of the total container transport mechanism and the energetically unfavorable direct heating of the containers within the burn-out chambers are disadvantages of this process.
Starting from this prior art, it is therefore the object underlying the present invention to provide a process and a device for waste disposal of materials, which are and/or contain explosive active masses, which can be operated continuously and which can simultaneously be charged with different materials of an essentially wider scope of application, and which at least largely avoid the disadvantages of the prior art.

Process for disposing of explosive active masses and device therefor


The present invention provides an optical touch system configured to determine an object region according to a brightness information acquired by a brightness sensing unit and to identify a block information of objects within the object region according to an image information acquired by an image sensing unit. The present invention further provides an objection detection method for an optical touch system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a touch system and, more particularly, to an optical touch system for detecting multi-touch gesture and an object detection method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the touch panel has been widely applied to various electronic devices due to its convenience, and the optical touch panel is especially favored by designers as it can be used for multi-touch operation.
Please refer to FIG. 1A, it shows a conventional optical touch panel 9, which includes two image sensors 91 and 91′, invisible light sources 92 and a touch surface 93. When two fingers 8 and 8′ are close to the touch surface 93, the image sensors 91 and 91′ can respectively acquire an image window W91 and W91′ as shown in FIG. 1B. The image windows W91 and W91′ contain shadows I8 and I8′ of the fingers 8 and 8′ from blocking the light sources 92 and background images BI, wherein as the background images BI in the image windows W91 and W91′ are corresponding to the image of the light sources 92, they have a higher brightness. A processing unit (not shown) can generate a 2-dimensional plane space corresponding to the touch surface 93 according to the image windows W91 and W91′, and calculate positions of the fingers 8 and 8′ on the 2-dimensional plane space according to one-dimensional positions of the shadows I8 and I8′ in the image windows W91 and W91′.
However, when one of the fingers 8 and 8′ blocks the other with respect to the image sensors 91 and 91′, for example as shown in FIG. 2A, the image windows acquired by the image sensors may have different numbers of shadows; for example, the image window W91 acquired by the image sensor 91 contains two shadows I8 and I8′ but the image window W91′ acquired by the image sensor 91′ contains only one merged shadow I8+I8′. As a result, the processing unit is not able to calculate correct positions of the fingers 8 and 8′ on the 2-dimensional plane space according to the shadows I8, I8′ and I8+I8′.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an optical touch system capable of acquiring image windows having brightness information and image features. The optical touch system may identify an object range according to the image windows having the brightness information and distinguish the objects blocking each other according to the image windows having the image features thereby increasing the accuracy of object positioning.

Optical touch system and object detection method therefor


A method and arrangement for the application of under compensated error diffusion to a pixel quantizing method in the conversion of image data from a number of input levels that is relatively large with respect to a number of desired output levels.

Image information, be it color or black and white, is commonly derived by scanning, initially at least, in a gray level format containing a large number of levels, e.g.: 256 levels for black and white and more than 16 million (256.sup.3) levels for color, which is usually unprintable by standard printers. In the following, the term "gray level" is used to described such data for both black and white and color applications. Standard printers print in a limited number of levels, either a spot or a no spot in the binary case, or a limited number of levels associated with the spot, for example, four in the quaternary case. Gray level image data may be represented in a very large number of values. Accordingly, it is necessary to reduce gray level image data to a limited number of levels, so that it is printable. Besides gray level image information derived by scanning, certain processing techniques such as those described for example in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/600,542, entitled "Method for Image Conversions With Error Diffusion", by R. Eschbach, produce gray level pixel values which require conversion to a limited set of legal, or correct output values.
One standard method of converting gray level pixel image data to binary level pixel image data is through the use of dithering or halftoning processes. In such arrangements, over a given area, each gray level pixel within the area is compared to one of a set of preselected thresholds, comprising a matrix of threshold values or a halftone cell. The effect of such an arrangement is that, for an area where the image is gray, some of the thresholds within the matrix will be exceeded, while others are not. In the binary case, the portions of the matrix, or cell elements, in which the thresholds are exceeded are printed as black, while the remaining elements are allowed to remain white. The effect of the distribution of black and white over the cell is integrated by the human eye as gray. Dithering presents problems, however, in that the amount of gray within an original image is not maintained exactly over an area, because the finite number of elements inside each halftone cell only allows the reproduction of a finite number of gray levels. The error arising from the difference between the threshold value and the actual gray level value at any particular cell is simply thrown away. This results in loss of image information. Dithering creates significant image artifacts because it ignores this error completely. A well known example is the banding or false contour artifact that can be seen in smooth image areas. Here, the image input gray level varies smoothly over an area while the halftoned image has to make a transition from one halftone dot (gray level) to another. This transition can clearly be seen as a band running through smooth image parts.
Algorithms that convert gray images to binary or other number of level images attempting to preserve gray density exist, and include among them error diffusion, as taught, for example, in "An Adaptive Algorithm for Spatial Greyscale" by Floyd and Steinberg, Proceedings of the SID 17/2, 75-77 (1976) (hereinafter, "Floyd and Stainberg"). Another, more elaborate method would be the error diffusion techniques of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/396,272, entitled, "Edge Enhanced Error Diffusion Algorithm" by R. Eschbach and assigned to the same assignee as the present invention. Additional modifications to the error diffusion algorithm taught by Floyd and Steinberg have been proposed, e.g.: a different weighting matrix, as taught, for example, in "A Survey of Techniques for the Display of Continuous Tone Pictures on Bilevel Displays" by Jarvis et al., Computer Graphics and Image Processing, Vol. 5., pp. 13-40 (1976), and in "MECCA--A Multiple-Error Correction Computation Algorithm for Bi-Level Image Hardcopy Reproduction" by Stucki, IBM Res. Rep. RZ1060 (1981). Modifications of the error calculation and weight allocation have been taught, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,322 to Kurosawa et. al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,774 to Temple, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,065, to Ulichney.
Error diffusion attempts to maintain gray by making the conversion from gray pixels to binary or other level pixels on a pixel-by-pixel basis. The procedure examines each pixel with respect to a threshold, and the difference between the gray level pixel value and the threshold is then forwarded to a selected group of neighboring pixels, in accordance with a weighting scheme. The thus corrected image pixels are then considered input to the processing. In this way, the error calculated includes all errors previously made.
An alternative error diffusion procedure is taught in "Images from computers" by M. R. Schroder (sometimes spelled Schroeder) in IEEE Spectrum, pp 66-78 (1969) (hereinafter Schroder). In this method the error is only calculated between the original input pixel and the output, neglecting all previously made errors. This method leads to a poorer gray level representation than Floyd and Steinberg but to higher image contrast. Modifications to the algorithm by Schroder are taught, for example, in "Design of Optimal Filters for Error-Feedback Quantization of Monochrome Pictures" by Jung Guk Kim and Gil Kim, Information Sciences 39, pp 285-298 (1986).
In representing small variations in image appearance with an error diffusion technique, rather large areas of the image are required for the variation to be represented. Thus, while error diffusion is effective in maintaining gray over the image, it requires a rather large area of the image for the error compensation to be effective. Over such areas, undesirable textures and long range patterns, inherent in the distribution of error, may occur.
It is believed that as the number of output levels increases, the need for error correction is reduced. Thus, error correction is essential in quantizing to a binary level, while less necessary for several level systems.

Method for quantization gray level pixel data with application of under compensated error diffusion


A circuit for driving a MOS-type semiconductor device having a source, a gate, and a drain. The circuit includes a MOSFET including a source, a gate, and a drain which is connected through a control circuit to the gate of the MOS-type semiconductor device to be driven, a Zener diode, a diode connected to the Zener diode in reverse series between the gate and the drain of the MOSFET, and a resistor connected between the gate and the source of the MOSFET.

Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a MOS-type semiconductor device drive circuit. In particular, the invention relates to a drive circuit in which either an inductive load or a resistive load may be connected on the low voltage side of a MOS-type semiconductor device so as to achieve high speed operation.


The present invention relates to an electrical socket for a standard light bulb. The socket is configured to allow the bulb to be pushed into and pulled from the socket. The sockets are provided with spring members where the spring members have ridges thereon to engage the threaded end of the light bulb. The spring members are unevenly spaced about the circumference of the socket and the spring members are provided with an upper end that can move vertically away from the bottom of the socket. When a bulb is pushed into the socket, the force of the bulb on ridges on the spring members cause the spring members to elongate and allow the bulb to slide into the socket. When the bulb is pulled from the socket the spring members elongate allowing the bulb to slide from the socket.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical sockets and, more specifically, to a light bulb socket having an improved and expedient means of connection whereby the user may insert into place and establish electrical connection to a light bulb by simply inserting said light bulb into a base socket with no rotational manipulation, furthermore the user may also remove a light bulb from the present invention by an opposed pulling action.
The present invention is an electrical socket having spring members for grasping the threaded end of a light bulb. The bulb is held in position in the socket so that a central point on the bottom of the threaded end of the bulb is held in contact with a leaf spring located on the inner surface of the bottom of the socket. The outer bottom surface of the socket has two areas for securing the leads of an electrical wire thereon properly connecting the bulb with the necessary electrical power.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other light sockets designed for installing and removing light bulbs. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,214 issued to Ortega on Jan. 10, 1995.
Another patent was issued to Ehrman on Jan. 11, 1994 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,278,741. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,628 was issued to Skegin on Oct. 13, 1992 and still yet another was issued on Nov. 28, 1989 to Toyoshima et al. as U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,434.
Another patent was issued to Maddock et al on Oct. 18, 1988 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,409. Another patent was issued to Wiley et al on Mar. 16, 1982 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,796. Another patent was issued to Al-Turki et al on Nov. 23, 1999 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,070. Another patent was issued to Hsu et al on Sep. 1, 1998 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,800,212. Another patent was issued to Kondo et al on Jan. 21, 1997 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,513. Another patent was issued to Armbruster et al on Apr. 25, 1989 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,393.
Another patent was issued to Morrison et al on Jul. 15, 1975 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,895,195. Another patent was issued to Glantz on Oct. 28, 1975 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,536. Another patent was issued to Hagelberg on Feb. 3, 1976 as U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,122. Another patent was issued to Hultberg on Sep. 16, 1980 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,623. Another patent was issued to Knapp on Jul. 21, 1981 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,279,458. Another patent was issued to Eisert et al on Oct. 22, 1985 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,499.
Still another patent was issued to Doherty on Sep. 6, 1988 as U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,966. Another patent was issued to Lorentzon on Jul. 9, 1991 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,124. Another patent was issued to Henry on Oct. 10, 1995 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,611. Another patent was issued to Kondo on Jan. 21, 1997 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,513. Another patent was issued to Cheng on Apr. 28, 1998 as U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,758. Another patent was issued to Conroy on Nov. 27, 2001 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,380. Still yet another patent was issued to DiFusco on Nov. 25, 2003 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,305.


A method of mitigating lost circulation in a subterranean wellbore for oil and gas includes introducing basaltic particles and a carbonated mixture to the lost circulation zone of the subterranean wellbore, contacting the basaltic particles with the carbonated mixture, dissolving at least a part of the basaltic particles with the carbonated mixture, reacting divalent cations with the carbonate anions in the carbonated mixture to produce carbonate minerals, providing stimulus to the basaltic particles and the carbonated mixture, depositing at least a part of the carbonate minerals to fractures of the lost circulation zone, monitoring the reacting and depositing; and optionally repeating one or more of the aforementioned steps. A drilling system for oil and gas extraction includes basaltic particles, a carbonated mixture, at least one stimulus generator, and a mitigation device.

Various challenges are encountered during drilling and production operations of a well. For example, fluids used in drilling, completion, or servicing of a wellbore can be lost to the subterranean formation while circulating the fluids in the wellbore. In particular, the fluids may enter the subterranean formation via depleted zones, zones of relatively reduced pressure (as compared to the wellbore), zones having naturally occurring fractures, or having fracture gradients exceeded by the hydrostatic pressure of the drilling fluid, and so forth.
The extent of fluid losses to the formation may range from minor losses (for example, less than 10 barrels/hour (bbl/hr)), also referred to as seepage loss, to severe losses (for example, greater than 100 bbl/hr), to even greater amounts, such as where fluid fails to return to the surface, also referred to as complete fluid loss. As well, the type of degree fluid loss may differ depending on the type of fluid in the wellbore. The degree of loss for oil- and synthetic oil-based muds are considered more significant at reduced amounts versus the same quantity for water-based muds due to the potential economic and environmental impacts.
Lost circulation can be encountered during any stage of operations. Lost circulation occurs when drilling fluid (or drilling mud) pumped into a well returns partially or does not return to the surface. While a small amount of fluid loss may be expected, excessive fluid loss is not desirable from a safety, an economical, or an environmental point of view. This is especially true when working with water-bearing formations, such as aquifers that have drinking quality fresh or mineral water, or such as brine- or formation water-bearing formations, which may contaminate hydrocarbon production, cause corrosion issues, and foul cementing jobs. Lost circulation is associated with problems with well control, borehole instability, pipe sticking, unsuccessful production tests, poor hydrocarbon production after well completion, and formation damage due to plugging of pores and pore throats by mud particles. Lost circulation problems may also contribute to non-productive time for a drilling operation. In extreme cases, lost circulation problems may force abandonment of a well.

Method and drilling system for mitigating lost circulation with basaltic particles


A truck assembly is used in a wheeled recreational device including a base plate and hanger. The base plate defines a plurality of mounting holes adapted for receiving respective threaded bolts, and further defines a corresponding plurality of fastener retention regions surrounding respective mounting holes. Each fastener retention region includes point-engaging structure adapted for engaging at least two points of a multi-point threaded nut, such that the point-engaging structure substantially prevents rotation of the threaded nut upon mating attachment of a corresponding threaded bolt. The hanger resides adjacent to the base plate, and includes a wheel axle adapted for carrying at least one wheel of the recreational device.

The invention in its exemplary embodiments described herein relates broadly to a truck assembly for a wheeled recreational device, such as a skateboard. The truck assembly incorporates novel features and components including, for example, an improved base plate. In one exemplary implementation, the novel base plate is designed to facilitate mounting of the truck assembly to an underside of the skateboard deck.

Truck assembly for wheeled recreational device


A method of preventing headache in a human is disclosed which comprises the administration to a human in need thereof of an effective amount of a compound of formula I ##STR1## wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.3 are, independently, --H, --CH.sub.3, --CO(C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl), or --COAr, where Ar is optionally substituted phenyl;. R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of pyrrolidine, piperidine, and hexamethyleneimino; or. a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof.

Headaches have been a common malady in humans throughout history, and today still remain a major problem and source of suffering and economic loss. Many hundreds of millions of dollars are spent each year on the treatment of headaches, and yet many people are often prevented from normal daily activities due to this malady.
The malady known as headache is an amorphous disease. Its symptoms are often described by the patient in very idiosyncratic terms. Descriptions of headaches by patients include terms such as "stabbing", "burning", "throbbing", etc.; and yet, what a headache is is generally understood by everyone. Its occurrence is also heavily dependent on the particular circumstances of the patient, in some cases headaches occur in relation to stress (either physical or psychological), while in other cases they are related to environmental factors or physical activities. Headaches may occur randomly or in repetitive patterns, such as the case with migraine headaches.
The epidemiological causes of headache are highly varied, ranging from relatively minor factors, such as eye strain or neck muscle strain, to very serious pathologies, such as stroke, tumor growth, and the like. However, regardless of causative mechanism, the presenting symptom to the attending physician is often simply the complaint of headache.
Treatment of headache symptoms are as varied as the causative events. Amelioration of headache symptoms may involve the treatment initiating conditions which may seem apparently distant to the presenting complaint, (treatment of hypertension or various cancerous tumors, change of eye glasses, performing special exercises, and the like). However, the most common treatment is the palliative use of analgesics, which include aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (ibuprofen, acetaminophen, etc.), opiates, ergot derivatives, and corticosteroids.
Prevention of headache is likewise an area of varied regimens, including the treatment of underlying pathologies as mentioned, supra, and changes in life-styles or stress levels. However, in cases where there are no specific initiating events, prevention of headaches with pharmacologic agents is not a common medical practice. The primary reason is that agents used to treat headaches are not usually used to prevent them, and this is due to the detrimental side-effects of those agents, e.g., the gastro-intestinal toxicity of aspirin or ibuprofen, the addictive potential of the opiates, etc. For further information, see: "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine", Ed. Isselbacher, K. J., et al., 9th Ed., McGraw-Hill Book Co., NYC, Chp.4, pp.18-28 (1980) and references therein.
It would be of great value to medical practice, if a pharmacologic agent were available which would prevent headache without the detrimental side-effects seen with the current headache treatment drugs.